Hihi! I'm back! Yeah, here's chapter 10. I hope you all enjoy it! Please
read and review!
Chapter 10: Exploding Plants and Odd Behavior
Jesabelle walked down the stairs from the girls' dormitories and noticed a few people looking at a piece of parchment on the Gryffindor bulletin board. Jesabelle walked over to it and read:
Gryffindor Quidditch Team.....Congratulations! Chasers: Jesabelle Potter, Ginny Weasley, and Ella Bell (A/N: Katie Bell's sister) Seeker: Harry Potter Keeper: Ron Weasley Beaters: Colin Creevy, Dennis Creevy
"Oh great! I made the team!" Jesabelle said as she started grinning.
"So, you've read the notice then?" Harry said from behind her.
"Yeah. That sure made my day, thanks Harry." Jesabelle said, giving Harry a tight hug.
~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry and the gang were walking down to greenhouse eight, where they were going to have double Herbology that day.
"What do you think Sprout will be giving us today?" Harry asked the others.
"I don't know. I heard that we have to take care of this really odd- looking plant." Neville said. "It might be exciting to see a new breed of plant today."
"Oh dear." Jesabelle said from Harry's left.
"What's wrong Jesabelle?" Harry asked, turning to his cousin.
"Herbology has always been my worst subject." Jesabelle said.
"Well, Neville is a whiz at Herbology. If you need any help, you could ask him." Luna said, giving Neville a smile.
"Oh no Luna, I'm not that good, but if you do need any help Jesabelle, don't hesitate to ask." Neville said, smiling back at Luna.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They all piled into the greenhouse, standing behind one of the tables situated around the house, each with a pot and a cloth covering the top, placed every few inches away from each other.
A few minutes later, Professor Sprout stepped into the greenhouse, greeting them a good morning.
"Hello everyone! Now, today, for the double periods, we will be working on some very exotic plants. Do not touch them yet," Professor Sprout said, looking at Crabbe, who was about to take off the cloth to see what was beneath it. "I do not think you would like to see what is beneath that cloth just yet. Now class, I would like you all to slip on your gloves and divide into pairs. Once you are all finished pairing off, I would like you all to focus back here to me at the front."
Everyone went abuzz with anticipation. It only too about a minute or two to get a partner. They all focused back to Professor Sprout, who also had a covered plant in front of her as well.
"All right then, everybody has a partner? Good! Now, I would like one of your partners to lift up the sheet and throw it aside. Please be very gentle, we wouldn't want to wake them." Sprout said, smiling.
"Wake THEM?" Ron asked, giving Harry, who was his partner (naturally) a worried look.
"Oh Ron, it's not like there are going to be spiders under that cloth." Hermione said, grinning at Ron.
Ron pouted and stepped back a bit as Harry made to pull the sheet off the mysterious plant.
Everyone was silent as they watched each other lift the cloths. When Harry lifted it off, he was met with a most disturbing sight. Under the cloth lay a pot with soil in it, fertilizing a plant with a greenish- browning stem and black snakes sticking out of it, wiggling slightly and hissing softly at them, their red eyes looking around.
Jesabelle did not like the looks of the plants and moved even farther away from the plant.
"The Medusa-Veneseus Plant!" Sprout said, looking down at her own plant.
Everyone looked at the plant. It was about a foot and a few inches tall, 1 ½ inches thick, and about an inch wide. The stem of course had the snakes sticking out of the stem every few inches apart, there were about three on each side of the stem, which had red one inch thorns sticking out of it as well.
"Now, take a look at the black snakes connected to the stem." Sprout continued, gesturing to the snakes. "Be careful and do not touch them. Like regular snakes, they are extremely poisonous and if bitten, you may have a high fever. If that does not do you in, then it will proceed to give you monstrous boils. And if THAT does not stop you, your heart will just fail you and stop beating. And all this due to the very strong poisons possessed in these reptiles' mouths." Sprout said.
Everyone backed a few inches more away from the plant. The snakes were already adjusting to the atmosphere and were starting to jump at them, hissing and spitting.
"Can anyone tell me the uses for the snakes' bodies?" Sprout said.
Neville and Hermione's hands both shot up at the same time.
"Yes, Neville?" Sprout said, smiling at Neville.
"It' juices may be used in healing potions that are used for healing eye injuries. The eyeballs are used for potions that deal with healing very bad bites from certain magical creatures. And its teeth may be ground to dust and used for other certain potions." Neville said.
"Wonderful Neville! Twenty points to Gryffindor." Sprout said, causing the Slytherins to scowl greatly. "What are the ingredients used in the potion that would heal all the symptoms you may receive if bitten by a snake from this plant?" Sprout continued.
Hermione's hand shot up again. Sprout nodded to her.
"The ingredients needed are tear drops from a mandrake baby three months old, hippogriff feathers, and thestral blood." Hermione said with a smile.
"Excellent! Another twenty points to Gryffindor." Sprout said enthusiastically.
The Slytherins scowled even worse, as the rest of the class laughed silently, looking at them.
"For this class, you and your partners will be working on gathering these snakes and setting them up for the potions Madame Pomfrey may need in the future." Sprout said, smiling slightly at Harry and the others, who looked at each other a bit uneasily. "There are two vials of sleeping potion in a box a few inches away from the pot containing the plant. Now, there you will also find some pieces of raw meat, two small knives, and some goblets of water." Sprout continued.
The class eased a bit and walked over to the boxes and looked inside, to see what the items Professor Sprout was talking about, and to see if they were complete.
"You are to take one goblet of water and put two and only two drops of sleeping potion into it. If you go over, you may kill the plant. One of your partners will distract the plant with pieces of raw meat while the other pours the goblet of water containing the potion into the fertilizer." Sprout said. "After that, you must wait twenty minutes until all of the snakes are asleep. You then cut them off the stem, and begin cutting their bodies into half inch pieces."
She stopped, looking at the class, to see if they comprehended everything that she had just dictated to them. Jesabelle and Ron were giving the plants uneasy looks while Harry and Ginny kept stealing quick glances at each other.
"I must warn you, under no circumstances are the sleeping potions to be used for other than the plants. If anyone is caught trying to give the potion to another person, they will automatically get detention." Sprout said. "And one more word; if you kill your plant, you and your partner will automatically get points taken off from your final score. You may begin."
The class immediately took the objects out of the their boxes and set to work on the plants. Ginny and Hermione already had their plant fast asleep about thirty minutes into the class, while Ron and Harry were struggling slightly. But no one struggled as much as Jesabelle and Neville did. It was Neville's job to pour the potion into the fertilizer, and Jesabelle was supposed to distract the plants with the raw meat.
Neville waited as Jesabelle, meat in her right hand, her wand on her left, was anxiously trying to distract the plant, which seemed to be extra hungry. It appeared to be a hopeless cause, for every time the snake tried to take the meat from Jesabelle's hand, which would have been a good opportunity to offer it the meat, Jesabelle's hand moved away in fright.
It got to the point where Jesabelle began poking each snake with her wand with each chance she got, hoping that this tactic may distract them as well.
To make things worse, about an hour or so into the class period, while Jesabelle poked the stem with her wand, she began to get irritated.
"These stupid snakes!" she yelled, now whacking the stem with her wand.
"Jesabelle, you're not supposed to do that!" Neville said, trying to stop her, but she ignored him, still furiously whacking at the reptiles.
After five whacks, a burst of purple light suddenly came out of her wand and hit the stem. The snakes froze, and then, their heads suddenly exploded, making Jesabelle and Neville duck down as guts spilled all over their working area.
"Oh goodness!" Professor Sprout said.
"I am so sorry Professor. Oh no!" Jesabelle said, looking at her wand, and then back at the dead plant, as she rose from the ground.
"You were not supposed to perform such things Ms. Potter. You were supposed to be patient!" Sprout said, picking up the pot and disposing of it while everyone else laughed at her, excluding Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and the Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs.
The bell suddenly rang and everybody picked up their bags, heading up to the castle.
"I'm sorry Neville that must have been embarrassing." Jesabelle said, looking at the ground, her face red with embarrassment.
"It's all right. Trust me; I've had worse moments than that." Neville said, putting an arm around Jesabelle's shoulders.
At that moment, a bunch of Slytherins, lead by Parker waltzed up to them.
"The de-gnomer killed another plant!" Parker said, mockingly.
"Come off it Parker." Luna said.
"Oh Jesabelle," Parker said, ignoring Luna, "did you ever tell your friends about the mandrake you swelled last year?"
Jesabelle looked down at the ground again.
"You have to hear the story!" Parker said, turning to a bunch of seventh and fifth year Slytherins. "We were repotting mandrakes, and Jesabelle accidentally spilled some of the potion we made earlier that day onto its face!"
The whole crowd began to laugh.
"The thing's head began to swell the size of a lemon. It took our professor days just to get the head to shrink back to its normal size. Jesabelle failed that class at the end of the year though." Parker continued, laughing at Jesabelle.
Jesabelle was nearly as red as Ron's hair by that time, her head still hung low. Suddenly Hermione, who was in the back of the group with Ron, began stalking towards Parker, her right hand slowly rising with each step she took. Ron quickly took note of this and held her back.
"Ron! Let me go!" Hermione said.
"You were going to slap her like you did Malfoy weren't you?" Ron asked.
"Yes. Now just let me go and I can go and give that crowd something to laugh about." Hermione said, still struggling.
"You're head girl, remember? I don't think you want to risk your reputation." Ron said.
Hermione sighed and eased up. Ron let her go and turned to Harry, who had his fists clenched, staring at Parker as if he was going to break her neck.
"Just ignore her Harry." Jesabelle suddenly said.
"Let's go." Neville said, his arm still around Jesabelle's shoulder.
They turned to leave when Parker suddenly yelled behind them, "Oh Jesabelle! Don't forget about the time your ropes caught fire during potions? Now that was a real laugh."
The Slytherins laughed again as Parker began running around frantically, patting her robes, pretending it was on fire and she was putting it out.
Jesabelle lifted her head and to the others' surprise, her face wasn't shining with tears, it was swelling with anger. Her face was very red now, and Neville kept a firmer grip on Jesabelle's shoulders.
"Oh, now are you ready to fight?" Parker said, turning to her.
Jesabelle looked her in the eye.
"And here I am thinking that you were going to have your 'bodyguards' do the work. I swear, Jesabelle, when are you going to learn how to defend yourself?" Parker said smugly. The Slytherins laughed louder.
Draco Malfoy suddenly appeared from the side, and Jesabelle was the only one who noticed him. He wasn't laughing at all, much to her surprise and wonder.
"Your mother did a terrible job of raising you, I mean what kind of mother let's her daughter get hurt like this?' Parker said to the crowd.
"Now, there will be no need for such remarks to be made, Ms. Parker." Draco suddenly said, stepping up in front, between Jesabelle and Parker, who were about three feet apart. The Slytherins suddenly stopped and looked at Malfoy as if he had gone over to the "dark side".
"Excuse me Draco?" Parker said, taken aback.
"Just because you are a prefect, you do not have the right to insult any other student, or their families. To be a prefect is a privilege, not a right. In fact," Draco said, suddenly reaching out, and pulling Parker's Prefect badge from her robes, "based on your behavior, I don't think you deserve this badge, I don't even know why the teachers made you a prefect in the first place."
The Slytherins' mouths dropped open as Malfoy chucked the badge into a nearby trash bin.
"Now, I suggest you all head back to your common rooms, or proceed directly to the Great Hall for dinner." Malfoy said.
All the Slytherins gave him a dirty look as they all walked up to the Great Hall. Parker stood there for a few seconds, glared at Malfoy, then at Jesabelle, and ran up the castle stairs.
Harry and the others stood rooted to the spot. Malfoy turned to them and said, "I don't think you all just want to stand out here, night is closing in. Besides, I'm willing to bet you are all at least tad bit hungry. Good evening." And with that Malfoy walked away.
Harry and the others began walking up to the common room in silence. They all sat there, apparently so shocked with what happened.
After about ten minutes of this, Jesabelle broke the silence saying, "What just happened?"
"I do not know." Hermione said.
"What does he think he's playing at?" Ron asked.
"This is way too weird. Bloody hell." Harry said.
"Are we all asleep and having the same dream?" Neville asked, pinching himself, he certainly felt the pain and sighed in exasperation.
"Maybe he's turning over a new leaf." Hermione said.
"Right Hermione and I'm Hagrid's second cousin." Ron said.
"It could be possible." Hermione said.
"We should give him a chance, that's an awfully big step to go for turning over a new leaf." Ginny said. Jesabelle nodded and sighed.
"That darn Parker." Jesabelle said, changing the subject. "She knows that Herbology is my worst subject."
"It was like Malfoy extracted all of his...his, uh 'Malfoy-nes' to Parker." Ron said.
"Argh!" Jesabelle said, pounding a fist on the table in front of them, making the other Gryffindors look at them oddly yet again. "Everything I touch dies!"
"Oh don't say that." Harry said, hugging Jesabelle from the side.
"Neville will help you out!" Ginny said.
Jesabelle smiled and they decided to skip dinner, not wanting to meet Parker again. Instead, they did their homework, and had fun doing it together.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Time moved quickly on to October. Harry was training the Gryffindor team harder and harder as each day inched closer to their fist Quidditch match, which was against Slytherin. It was scheduled to take place on October 25, Saturday.
Ron had been training over the summer and he grew to be a superb keeper, no longer caring about the taunts below him in the stadiums that came from the Slytherins.
Dennis and Colin Creevy were working very good as well, except for the one incident where they made a hole through one of the benches in the stadium due to poor aim.
Jesabelle, Ginny, and Ella were doing a great job, creating diverse tactics and strategies that boosted their confidence as they perfected it.
Harry couldn't help it. He was the captain and the seeker, but instead of focusing on catching the snitch, he was thinking more about "catching" Ginny.
"Stop watching her Harry, you might get hit by something, or worse, Ginny could notice that you're looking at her." He said to himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On the Saturday night before the game, which was now a week from now, Jesabelle was coming up late from Quidditch practice. She decided to stay back after everyone else had left, since she had already finished all of her homework. She flew a few times around the stadium and touched back down.
Jesabelle walked down the corridors to the common room. She turned the corner and suddenly heard voices coming from the outside of the Heads' dorm.
"I am very sorry Professor, but I can't really concentrate in this dorm." She heard Hermione say.
"And for what reason is that Ms. Granger?" Dumbledore replied.
Jesabelle stopped behind a statue of a plump looking witch and carefully peered around to see Hermione and Dumbledore, about a foot or two away from the entrance to the Heads' dorm.
"The atmosphere is just all wrong for me Professor." Hermione said. "For some reason or another, I just can't seem to study as well in there. And I don't want my scores to drop."
Dumbledore sighed slightly and looked at her, just as Draco walked out of the portrait covering the entrance to the dorm and making his way towards them. Jesabelle felt her heart leap at the sight of him, but dismissing it, irritated, now was not the time for that.
"I understand Ms. Granger, but I am afraid there is no room in the seventh year girls' dormitories in the Gryffindor Tower for you. Until you can find someone from there to take your place, I am afraid that you will have to remain here until further notice." Dumbledore said, as Draco stood by his side, obviously there just for show.
Jesabelle didn't know why, but she stepped from behind the statue and walked to them, broom in hand saying, "If Hermione and Draco don't mind, I could give up my bed to Hermione, and take her place in her dorm, seeing as her studies could suffer from the atmosphere."
They all turned to her, startled.
"That is very kind of you, Ms. Potter. Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger, do you have anything to say against this?" Dumbledore asked, turning to the Head Boy and Girl.
"Oh no, I don't mind at all Professor." Malfoy said, much to Jesabelle and Hermione's surprise, he didn't even put up a fight.
"All right then it is settled, you may move your things in tomorrow Ms. Potter. A good night to you all." Dumbledore said, nodding to them and heading to the direction of his office.
"Since that is settled, good night ladies." Draco said, stepping into the Head dorm.
Hermione and Jesabelle said good night and headed to each other's dorm, still very puzzled about Malfoy's behavior.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What?!" Harry asked the next morning at breakfast, "You moved in with Malfoy?"
"Yes Harry, I did, stop making a fuss over it. Hermione couldn't study very well in there; I was doing her a favor. And besides, it's not like its Ginny who's moving in with him." Jesabelle said.
Harry put his hand over Jesabelle's mouth, looking five people down the table to where Ginny was sitting with some sixth years, making sure that she didn't hear Jesabelle's last remark. When he was reassured, he removed his hand from Jesabelle's mouth.
"If he does anything to you, tell me, all right?" Harry asked.
Jesabelle nodded and rolled her eyes, laughing to herself at how protective Harry could be when the time came.
Yup there you go! Quidditch and romance are coming up so stay tuned! Thanks! Please read and review! ^_^
Chapter 10: Exploding Plants and Odd Behavior
Jesabelle walked down the stairs from the girls' dormitories and noticed a few people looking at a piece of parchment on the Gryffindor bulletin board. Jesabelle walked over to it and read:
Gryffindor Quidditch Team.....Congratulations! Chasers: Jesabelle Potter, Ginny Weasley, and Ella Bell (A/N: Katie Bell's sister) Seeker: Harry Potter Keeper: Ron Weasley Beaters: Colin Creevy, Dennis Creevy
"Oh great! I made the team!" Jesabelle said as she started grinning.
"So, you've read the notice then?" Harry said from behind her.
"Yeah. That sure made my day, thanks Harry." Jesabelle said, giving Harry a tight hug.
~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry and the gang were walking down to greenhouse eight, where they were going to have double Herbology that day.
"What do you think Sprout will be giving us today?" Harry asked the others.
"I don't know. I heard that we have to take care of this really odd- looking plant." Neville said. "It might be exciting to see a new breed of plant today."
"Oh dear." Jesabelle said from Harry's left.
"What's wrong Jesabelle?" Harry asked, turning to his cousin.
"Herbology has always been my worst subject." Jesabelle said.
"Well, Neville is a whiz at Herbology. If you need any help, you could ask him." Luna said, giving Neville a smile.
"Oh no Luna, I'm not that good, but if you do need any help Jesabelle, don't hesitate to ask." Neville said, smiling back at Luna.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They all piled into the greenhouse, standing behind one of the tables situated around the house, each with a pot and a cloth covering the top, placed every few inches away from each other.
A few minutes later, Professor Sprout stepped into the greenhouse, greeting them a good morning.
"Hello everyone! Now, today, for the double periods, we will be working on some very exotic plants. Do not touch them yet," Professor Sprout said, looking at Crabbe, who was about to take off the cloth to see what was beneath it. "I do not think you would like to see what is beneath that cloth just yet. Now class, I would like you all to slip on your gloves and divide into pairs. Once you are all finished pairing off, I would like you all to focus back here to me at the front."
Everyone went abuzz with anticipation. It only too about a minute or two to get a partner. They all focused back to Professor Sprout, who also had a covered plant in front of her as well.
"All right then, everybody has a partner? Good! Now, I would like one of your partners to lift up the sheet and throw it aside. Please be very gentle, we wouldn't want to wake them." Sprout said, smiling.
"Wake THEM?" Ron asked, giving Harry, who was his partner (naturally) a worried look.
"Oh Ron, it's not like there are going to be spiders under that cloth." Hermione said, grinning at Ron.
Ron pouted and stepped back a bit as Harry made to pull the sheet off the mysterious plant.
Everyone was silent as they watched each other lift the cloths. When Harry lifted it off, he was met with a most disturbing sight. Under the cloth lay a pot with soil in it, fertilizing a plant with a greenish- browning stem and black snakes sticking out of it, wiggling slightly and hissing softly at them, their red eyes looking around.
Jesabelle did not like the looks of the plants and moved even farther away from the plant.
"The Medusa-Veneseus Plant!" Sprout said, looking down at her own plant.
Everyone looked at the plant. It was about a foot and a few inches tall, 1 ½ inches thick, and about an inch wide. The stem of course had the snakes sticking out of the stem every few inches apart, there were about three on each side of the stem, which had red one inch thorns sticking out of it as well.
"Now, take a look at the black snakes connected to the stem." Sprout continued, gesturing to the snakes. "Be careful and do not touch them. Like regular snakes, they are extremely poisonous and if bitten, you may have a high fever. If that does not do you in, then it will proceed to give you monstrous boils. And if THAT does not stop you, your heart will just fail you and stop beating. And all this due to the very strong poisons possessed in these reptiles' mouths." Sprout said.
Everyone backed a few inches more away from the plant. The snakes were already adjusting to the atmosphere and were starting to jump at them, hissing and spitting.
"Can anyone tell me the uses for the snakes' bodies?" Sprout said.
Neville and Hermione's hands both shot up at the same time.
"Yes, Neville?" Sprout said, smiling at Neville.
"It' juices may be used in healing potions that are used for healing eye injuries. The eyeballs are used for potions that deal with healing very bad bites from certain magical creatures. And its teeth may be ground to dust and used for other certain potions." Neville said.
"Wonderful Neville! Twenty points to Gryffindor." Sprout said, causing the Slytherins to scowl greatly. "What are the ingredients used in the potion that would heal all the symptoms you may receive if bitten by a snake from this plant?" Sprout continued.
Hermione's hand shot up again. Sprout nodded to her.
"The ingredients needed are tear drops from a mandrake baby three months old, hippogriff feathers, and thestral blood." Hermione said with a smile.
"Excellent! Another twenty points to Gryffindor." Sprout said enthusiastically.
The Slytherins scowled even worse, as the rest of the class laughed silently, looking at them.
"For this class, you and your partners will be working on gathering these snakes and setting them up for the potions Madame Pomfrey may need in the future." Sprout said, smiling slightly at Harry and the others, who looked at each other a bit uneasily. "There are two vials of sleeping potion in a box a few inches away from the pot containing the plant. Now, there you will also find some pieces of raw meat, two small knives, and some goblets of water." Sprout continued.
The class eased a bit and walked over to the boxes and looked inside, to see what the items Professor Sprout was talking about, and to see if they were complete.
"You are to take one goblet of water and put two and only two drops of sleeping potion into it. If you go over, you may kill the plant. One of your partners will distract the plant with pieces of raw meat while the other pours the goblet of water containing the potion into the fertilizer." Sprout said. "After that, you must wait twenty minutes until all of the snakes are asleep. You then cut them off the stem, and begin cutting their bodies into half inch pieces."
She stopped, looking at the class, to see if they comprehended everything that she had just dictated to them. Jesabelle and Ron were giving the plants uneasy looks while Harry and Ginny kept stealing quick glances at each other.
"I must warn you, under no circumstances are the sleeping potions to be used for other than the plants. If anyone is caught trying to give the potion to another person, they will automatically get detention." Sprout said. "And one more word; if you kill your plant, you and your partner will automatically get points taken off from your final score. You may begin."
The class immediately took the objects out of the their boxes and set to work on the plants. Ginny and Hermione already had their plant fast asleep about thirty minutes into the class, while Ron and Harry were struggling slightly. But no one struggled as much as Jesabelle and Neville did. It was Neville's job to pour the potion into the fertilizer, and Jesabelle was supposed to distract the plants with the raw meat.
Neville waited as Jesabelle, meat in her right hand, her wand on her left, was anxiously trying to distract the plant, which seemed to be extra hungry. It appeared to be a hopeless cause, for every time the snake tried to take the meat from Jesabelle's hand, which would have been a good opportunity to offer it the meat, Jesabelle's hand moved away in fright.
It got to the point where Jesabelle began poking each snake with her wand with each chance she got, hoping that this tactic may distract them as well.
To make things worse, about an hour or so into the class period, while Jesabelle poked the stem with her wand, she began to get irritated.
"These stupid snakes!" she yelled, now whacking the stem with her wand.
"Jesabelle, you're not supposed to do that!" Neville said, trying to stop her, but she ignored him, still furiously whacking at the reptiles.
After five whacks, a burst of purple light suddenly came out of her wand and hit the stem. The snakes froze, and then, their heads suddenly exploded, making Jesabelle and Neville duck down as guts spilled all over their working area.
"Oh goodness!" Professor Sprout said.
"I am so sorry Professor. Oh no!" Jesabelle said, looking at her wand, and then back at the dead plant, as she rose from the ground.
"You were not supposed to perform such things Ms. Potter. You were supposed to be patient!" Sprout said, picking up the pot and disposing of it while everyone else laughed at her, excluding Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and the Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs.
The bell suddenly rang and everybody picked up their bags, heading up to the castle.
"I'm sorry Neville that must have been embarrassing." Jesabelle said, looking at the ground, her face red with embarrassment.
"It's all right. Trust me; I've had worse moments than that." Neville said, putting an arm around Jesabelle's shoulders.
At that moment, a bunch of Slytherins, lead by Parker waltzed up to them.
"The de-gnomer killed another plant!" Parker said, mockingly.
"Come off it Parker." Luna said.
"Oh Jesabelle," Parker said, ignoring Luna, "did you ever tell your friends about the mandrake you swelled last year?"
Jesabelle looked down at the ground again.
"You have to hear the story!" Parker said, turning to a bunch of seventh and fifth year Slytherins. "We were repotting mandrakes, and Jesabelle accidentally spilled some of the potion we made earlier that day onto its face!"
The whole crowd began to laugh.
"The thing's head began to swell the size of a lemon. It took our professor days just to get the head to shrink back to its normal size. Jesabelle failed that class at the end of the year though." Parker continued, laughing at Jesabelle.
Jesabelle was nearly as red as Ron's hair by that time, her head still hung low. Suddenly Hermione, who was in the back of the group with Ron, began stalking towards Parker, her right hand slowly rising with each step she took. Ron quickly took note of this and held her back.
"Ron! Let me go!" Hermione said.
"You were going to slap her like you did Malfoy weren't you?" Ron asked.
"Yes. Now just let me go and I can go and give that crowd something to laugh about." Hermione said, still struggling.
"You're head girl, remember? I don't think you want to risk your reputation." Ron said.
Hermione sighed and eased up. Ron let her go and turned to Harry, who had his fists clenched, staring at Parker as if he was going to break her neck.
"Just ignore her Harry." Jesabelle suddenly said.
"Let's go." Neville said, his arm still around Jesabelle's shoulder.
They turned to leave when Parker suddenly yelled behind them, "Oh Jesabelle! Don't forget about the time your ropes caught fire during potions? Now that was a real laugh."
The Slytherins laughed again as Parker began running around frantically, patting her robes, pretending it was on fire and she was putting it out.
Jesabelle lifted her head and to the others' surprise, her face wasn't shining with tears, it was swelling with anger. Her face was very red now, and Neville kept a firmer grip on Jesabelle's shoulders.
"Oh, now are you ready to fight?" Parker said, turning to her.
Jesabelle looked her in the eye.
"And here I am thinking that you were going to have your 'bodyguards' do the work. I swear, Jesabelle, when are you going to learn how to defend yourself?" Parker said smugly. The Slytherins laughed louder.
Draco Malfoy suddenly appeared from the side, and Jesabelle was the only one who noticed him. He wasn't laughing at all, much to her surprise and wonder.
"Your mother did a terrible job of raising you, I mean what kind of mother let's her daughter get hurt like this?' Parker said to the crowd.
"Now, there will be no need for such remarks to be made, Ms. Parker." Draco suddenly said, stepping up in front, between Jesabelle and Parker, who were about three feet apart. The Slytherins suddenly stopped and looked at Malfoy as if he had gone over to the "dark side".
"Excuse me Draco?" Parker said, taken aback.
"Just because you are a prefect, you do not have the right to insult any other student, or their families. To be a prefect is a privilege, not a right. In fact," Draco said, suddenly reaching out, and pulling Parker's Prefect badge from her robes, "based on your behavior, I don't think you deserve this badge, I don't even know why the teachers made you a prefect in the first place."
The Slytherins' mouths dropped open as Malfoy chucked the badge into a nearby trash bin.
"Now, I suggest you all head back to your common rooms, or proceed directly to the Great Hall for dinner." Malfoy said.
All the Slytherins gave him a dirty look as they all walked up to the Great Hall. Parker stood there for a few seconds, glared at Malfoy, then at Jesabelle, and ran up the castle stairs.
Harry and the others stood rooted to the spot. Malfoy turned to them and said, "I don't think you all just want to stand out here, night is closing in. Besides, I'm willing to bet you are all at least tad bit hungry. Good evening." And with that Malfoy walked away.
Harry and the others began walking up to the common room in silence. They all sat there, apparently so shocked with what happened.
After about ten minutes of this, Jesabelle broke the silence saying, "What just happened?"
"I do not know." Hermione said.
"What does he think he's playing at?" Ron asked.
"This is way too weird. Bloody hell." Harry said.
"Are we all asleep and having the same dream?" Neville asked, pinching himself, he certainly felt the pain and sighed in exasperation.
"Maybe he's turning over a new leaf." Hermione said.
"Right Hermione and I'm Hagrid's second cousin." Ron said.
"It could be possible." Hermione said.
"We should give him a chance, that's an awfully big step to go for turning over a new leaf." Ginny said. Jesabelle nodded and sighed.
"That darn Parker." Jesabelle said, changing the subject. "She knows that Herbology is my worst subject."
"It was like Malfoy extracted all of his...his, uh 'Malfoy-nes' to Parker." Ron said.
"Argh!" Jesabelle said, pounding a fist on the table in front of them, making the other Gryffindors look at them oddly yet again. "Everything I touch dies!"
"Oh don't say that." Harry said, hugging Jesabelle from the side.
"Neville will help you out!" Ginny said.
Jesabelle smiled and they decided to skip dinner, not wanting to meet Parker again. Instead, they did their homework, and had fun doing it together.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Time moved quickly on to October. Harry was training the Gryffindor team harder and harder as each day inched closer to their fist Quidditch match, which was against Slytherin. It was scheduled to take place on October 25, Saturday.
Ron had been training over the summer and he grew to be a superb keeper, no longer caring about the taunts below him in the stadiums that came from the Slytherins.
Dennis and Colin Creevy were working very good as well, except for the one incident where they made a hole through one of the benches in the stadium due to poor aim.
Jesabelle, Ginny, and Ella were doing a great job, creating diverse tactics and strategies that boosted their confidence as they perfected it.
Harry couldn't help it. He was the captain and the seeker, but instead of focusing on catching the snitch, he was thinking more about "catching" Ginny.
"Stop watching her Harry, you might get hit by something, or worse, Ginny could notice that you're looking at her." He said to himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On the Saturday night before the game, which was now a week from now, Jesabelle was coming up late from Quidditch practice. She decided to stay back after everyone else had left, since she had already finished all of her homework. She flew a few times around the stadium and touched back down.
Jesabelle walked down the corridors to the common room. She turned the corner and suddenly heard voices coming from the outside of the Heads' dorm.
"I am very sorry Professor, but I can't really concentrate in this dorm." She heard Hermione say.
"And for what reason is that Ms. Granger?" Dumbledore replied.
Jesabelle stopped behind a statue of a plump looking witch and carefully peered around to see Hermione and Dumbledore, about a foot or two away from the entrance to the Heads' dorm.
"The atmosphere is just all wrong for me Professor." Hermione said. "For some reason or another, I just can't seem to study as well in there. And I don't want my scores to drop."
Dumbledore sighed slightly and looked at her, just as Draco walked out of the portrait covering the entrance to the dorm and making his way towards them. Jesabelle felt her heart leap at the sight of him, but dismissing it, irritated, now was not the time for that.
"I understand Ms. Granger, but I am afraid there is no room in the seventh year girls' dormitories in the Gryffindor Tower for you. Until you can find someone from there to take your place, I am afraid that you will have to remain here until further notice." Dumbledore said, as Draco stood by his side, obviously there just for show.
Jesabelle didn't know why, but she stepped from behind the statue and walked to them, broom in hand saying, "If Hermione and Draco don't mind, I could give up my bed to Hermione, and take her place in her dorm, seeing as her studies could suffer from the atmosphere."
They all turned to her, startled.
"That is very kind of you, Ms. Potter. Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger, do you have anything to say against this?" Dumbledore asked, turning to the Head Boy and Girl.
"Oh no, I don't mind at all Professor." Malfoy said, much to Jesabelle and Hermione's surprise, he didn't even put up a fight.
"All right then it is settled, you may move your things in tomorrow Ms. Potter. A good night to you all." Dumbledore said, nodding to them and heading to the direction of his office.
"Since that is settled, good night ladies." Draco said, stepping into the Head dorm.
Hermione and Jesabelle said good night and headed to each other's dorm, still very puzzled about Malfoy's behavior.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What?!" Harry asked the next morning at breakfast, "You moved in with Malfoy?"
"Yes Harry, I did, stop making a fuss over it. Hermione couldn't study very well in there; I was doing her a favor. And besides, it's not like its Ginny who's moving in with him." Jesabelle said.
Harry put his hand over Jesabelle's mouth, looking five people down the table to where Ginny was sitting with some sixth years, making sure that she didn't hear Jesabelle's last remark. When he was reassured, he removed his hand from Jesabelle's mouth.
"If he does anything to you, tell me, all right?" Harry asked.
Jesabelle nodded and rolled her eyes, laughing to herself at how protective Harry could be when the time came.
Yup there you go! Quidditch and romance are coming up so stay tuned! Thanks! Please read and review! ^_^
