Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, nor do I own Harry Potter. (J.K Rowling owns them, lucky woman.) I only own my original characters and my own original plot.

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Chapter 23: The Week After

Jesabelle slowly walked through the corridors and soon came up to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

Jesabelle looked up and the Fat Lady looked upon with her with pity.

"I'm sorry milady, but I do not know the password, but I am a Gryffindor." Jesabelle said sincerely.

"Yes, I know my dear, but I'm afraid I can't let you in without a password." The Fat Lady said sadly.

At that moment, Neville and Ron were coming up and saw Jesabelle.

"Jesabelle." Neville called out, walking over to her, Ron following.

"Hello Jesabelle. Did you-?" Ron was suddenly cut off when he saw that Jesabelle was crying quietly.

"Jesabelle?" Neville asked. "What's wrong?"

"You dears should go inside. I don't think you would like to be talking about personal issues in the corridor. The walls have ears you know." The Fat Lady said, swinging open, even though no one gave her the password.

"Thank you." Ron said, walking into the surprisingly empty common room, save for Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, of whom Harry and the others invited up to chat.

Neville followed, arm around Jesabelle's shoulders.

"Jesabelle?" Harry asked, getting up from the sofa he was sitting on and rushing to his cousin.

"Harry." Jesabelle whispered.

Harry led her over to their favorite place of the common room, where the others had gotten up, wondering what happened.

"Sit down Jesabelle." Harry said.

"No, I don't want to." Jesabelle said. "I shouldn't even be here. But I don't want to go back to the Heads Dorm."

"What? Why? What happened?" Harry asked, standing in front of her, holding her hands in his.

"He, he," Jesabelle began.

"He, what?" Harry asked. "What did Draco do?"

"He doesn't love me." Jesabelle said, looking up at Harry, her face wet with fresh tears. "He needed me for pleasure!" she screamed, her voice slowly getting louder. "But since he couldn't even get that, he said that he wouldn't even waste his time! HE SAID IT WAS ALL AN ACT HARRY, AN ACT!"

She collapsed, Harry pulling her into a tight hug and she wept, the tears falling as if they would never end, her body racked with sobs.

"You were right Harry." She whispered. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But all of you were right."

"Shh, don't cry. It's all right, we're here."

The others looked on, their hearts breaking to pieces as they watched the tow cousins. One filled with sorrow of having been hurt by the man she loved, the other filled with sorrow to see the other in so much pain.

Harry himself was close to tears as he held Jesabelle.

Luna walked up to Harry and Jesabelle and slowly rubbed Jesabelle's back with her hand as a sign of comfort and support.

"He never loved me." Jesabelle said. "But I gave him my heart."

Harry and others by then were already feeling her pain.

A few minutes later, Jesabelle pulled away, sniffling and wiping her tears with her hand.

"I'm sorry I wrecked your shirt Harry." Jesabelle said.

"It's okay Jesabelle." Harry said softly.

"I shouldn't be burdening you with this." Jesabelle said.

"Oh come on," Ron said, "why else are we here?"

Jesabelle smiled and hugged Ron, kissing him on the cheek.

"You're here, Ron, because someone needed to love Hermione." Jesabelle said, making Ron and Hermione exchange embarrassed looks as the others grinned.

Jesabelle gave them all a small smile and began to walk towards the direction of the portrait hole, which was already opening to let students in.

"Where are you going Jesabelle?" Harry asked.

"Back to my room." Jesabelle said.

"Are you sure you want to go back?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I mean, you could just sleep with us tonight." Hermione said as Ginny nodded.

"No, I'll have to face him sometime, I mean, we still have that Care of Magical Creatures project." Jesabelle said.

They all watched as she waved them good night and walk off, not knowing whether they should keep her close or to let her go face it all on her own.

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Jesabelle walked into the Heads' Dorm, not surprised to see that Draco wasn't there, but in his room.

She sighed heavily, trying to keep her tears in check. It had taken a lot of her strength to walk out of the Gryffindor common room with the usual mask she used to hide her emotions.

Realizing this, she twisted her face into an ugly expression, being reminded of Malfoy and his own façade.

She collapsed onto an armchair nearby the window and stared outside. Draco Malfoy had been using her. She should have known. The whole lot of Malfoys, save for one, are bloody idiots. She really didn't understand why she fell for him in the first place.

"Why did it have to be you, Draco Malfoy?" Jesabelle whispered, looking out to the moon. "Of all people why you?"

While Jesabelle whispered, she did not realize that Draco's bedroom door was slightly open, and Draco was watching her from inside. She may have been whispering, but he heard her clearly.

"Why did it have to Lucius' son?" he heard her whisper. "He's just like his father, no doubt about that. The splitting image. It scares me sometimes."

Draco listened more attentively. Jesabelle had just compared him to his father. That was as much as an offense as being told that he smelled like dragon dung in the morning.

"It was a risk, I know." She said. "Especially since the Dark Lord is keeping an eye on him, even though most people do not believe it possible."

Draco's eyes widened, she knew about Death Eaters.

"They always said that Draco Malfoy would end up like his father, but I always believed that maybe he wouldn't that maybe he would be different. That just because he was a Malfoy did not mean that he was going to be a Death Eater." Jesabelle said, sighing.

Draco felt his heart clench. So she did think that he could change.

"I thought he could change. I thought that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to meet an end like that of his father. But I guess I was wrong." She said sadly.

Draco sighed, he should have told her the truth, but would she believe him if he did?

"I was so stupid to believe the things I did. Everyone told me he would be trouble. But I didn't listen; now look at me, a slave to Malfoy and his façade! What am I coming to?" Jesabelle said, exasperated.

Draco could see her face. She began to cry again.

He hated the fact that he just couldn't go out there and wipe the tears from her eyes. He was so angry at himself that he wanted to just run over there and beg forgiveness, but something was making him stick to where he was standing. His body did not want to move.

This was the opportune time to tell the truth and apologize but for some reason, neither his mind nor his body would let him do it. He knew that if he did apologize and if things would be right again that he was putting her in even more danger, especially since she had a hunch about him being a Death Eater.

"When will it end?" Jesabelle sobbed, closing her eyes. "Why me?"

He did know how long he stood there, watching her, but suddenly, he realized that she had fallen asleep. His first thought was to go out there and put a blanket over her, but that could result in an all-out scream fest in the morning. He resolved to close the door, and go to sleep, but first making sure that no one could get into the Dorm when they didn't need to be.

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"I can't believe this!" Ron said. It was Monday, a week after the end of Draco and Jesabelle's relationship. For most of the week they would be performing their N.E.W.T.s. They were in the library, studying for their Herbology N.E.W.T, while was to be observed, as all the test will be, by an official from the Ministry of Magic.

Hermione was beginning to have nervous break downs every hour, while Luna and Ginny studied like mad. Neville remained calm, while even Harry and Ron were nervous.

"Calm down Ron." Neville said while Jesabelle snickered silently.

"Why should I calm down?!" Ron said, throwing his arms up. "It's the N.E.W.T.s! The bloody tests that will really determine our futures!"

"I think Hermione is having an effect on you Ron.' Jesabelle said. "You're starting to worry about your future."

The others laughed at this while Harry punched Ron jokingly on the arm.

"She's right mate." Harry said. "In my opinion, I think the change is rather entertaining. Different, but entertaining."

Ron sighed and returned to his book while the others grinned.

Madame Pomfrey rushed over to them and reminded them to keep their voices down, it was a library after all, and the other students studying for their tests were already throwing them bad looks.

Jesabelle continued smiling and returned back to her open Herbology book and notebook. She was beginning to lose concentration again. She always found her thoughts drifting to Draco. She stared at it for a while, not realizing that she was beginning to drift off.

"Jesabelle." Harry said.

Jesabelle's head snapped up, focusing on Harry's face.

"Yes?" Jesabelle asked.

"You need to study for this test." Harry said.

"Well so do you!" Jesabelle teased.

"True, but I think you need the time more than I do." Harry said.

Jesabelle sighed and returned to her notebook. Harry and others rose and told her they would be out by the lake, receiving an understanding nod from her.

She flipped through its pages, reading over the poems she wrote for a living. The notebook itself looked old, the parchment already turning a golden brown, its pages already growing crisp. A friend of hers gave her the notebook and told her that writing always helped the soul. And it did, help her soul, at least a little bit. The notebook was nearly completely filled by now, only a few crisp pages left to write on.

She flipped back some more and found a poem that she remembered writing the night after Blake Marshall broke up with her in her sixth year.

"Invisible"
March 7, 2002
In the dead of night

I see your face
I call out your name
I stop in front of you
I greet you happily
I have a smile across my face
But then,
As I move closer,
My smile begins to fade
For it seems you cannot see me
It seem that you cannot hear me
It is like I do not exist
You cannot see me, period.
Is it my heart?
Is my mind deceiving me?
I wave my hand in front of your face
I scream in your ears
But you are contempt
You look straight at me
You don't show any sign,
That you know that I am there
It is like you are ignoring me
Them you suddenly walk away
I begin to run after you
I'm sorry if I hurt you
I love you so much
Please don't leave me
I'm so sorry
Please tell me
What did I do wrong?
I am lost
But whatever I did, I'm sorry
I love you
Please
Don't act like you don't see me
Please
Open your eyes
Please

Try to see me....

Jesabelle sighed deeply and closed her eyes. She had been so stupid that time. She promised herself after that event that she would never make the same mistake. But lo and behold, she did, again, and she was angry at herself for it. She broke her own rules.

She opened her eyes again and saw Draco Malfoy walk in, his cold eyes darting around for a place to study, his façade placed firmly on, his school books underneath his arm, carrying a bag on his back. She quickly looked away, the old sickness of her stupidity welling up inside her again. No, she wouldn't let him see how much the whole ordeal between them was hurting her. She resolved to do that the day after they broke up, knowing fully well that he would enjoy it if he knew.

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Draco searched the room for a place to study. His eyes continued its search until it rested on a certain black-haired female Potter, who seemed to be studying on her own. He inhaled deeply and took a table on her far right, making so that she could only barely see him, but he could see her clearly.

He watched as she sighed deeply again and close the notebook she was looking at, focusing on her Herbology book, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. He could tell that she was tired. She probably hasn't slept in days. She probably cried herself to sleep. He was guilty, oh boy was he guilty, big time. He could see the lines across her face crease as she re- read the same page that she had just read half an hour ago. He could see the bags under eyes had darkened since the last time he actually had enough courage to look at her. The past week had been hell for him, as it had been for her.

He rolled around in his bed some of the days of that week, willing for sleep to take him, but it never did, and when it did, he would have nightmares, which involved seeing Jesabelle dying at the hands of his father. He always awoke after hearing his father's laughs, cold sweat running down his neck. It was usually after that that he would walk out into the Common Room and check on Jesabelle, opening the door just a crack, and then realizing that she wasn't even there. He usually searched the room, but the search was always fruitless.

He probably guessed that during the evenings when he would find her bed empty, that she was up in the tower he found her in on Christmas Day. Remembering the events of that day always brought shivers down his spine, knowing fully well that he missed her. He loved her.

What's worse, though, was that he had to make her feel pain in order to let her go. It was stupid really, but it was the only way he knew how to break it off. He wasn't even sure if she was completely safe. The Dark Lord and his father always had spies around, even here, at Hogwarts. They were probably watching him right now. Watching her right now.

He shivered again, despite the warmth of the room. He really had to find out who these spies were, and soon.

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Jesabelle had watched him take a seat on her far right. She really had concentrate, and not day dream. Her N.E.W.T.s depended on it.

The past week had been like some sort of exile for her. It was like she was separated from all of society, that she alone was feeling the pain.

Harry, Ginny, and the others were there for her, thankfully, but they could not ease her aching heart. They couldn't fill the void that Draco had left behind. For all they knew, she was coping with the break up and was beginning to accept it. But what they didn't know was the nights she spent up in the Heads Dorm tower. She always went up there and sat on the window sill. The same window sill that she shared her first kiss with Draco. It still pained her to think about it, but it always made her feel a great deal warmer when she was feeling cold.

She hadn't slept much since the break up, barely more than two to three hours a night. She was afraid to fall asleep, for she was afraid of dreaming again. Her dreams were always so dark when she did have the nightmares, but she would never remember them when she woke up, which angered her most of the time, since she didn't understand it. But what she did understand was that she loved him.

She often found herself day dreaming about him, about how he would hold her close to him in front of the fire, how they would just talk about random things, about how he would always kiss her to show her how much he loved her. But, she realized, the kisses she used to think passionate and tender was nothing more than acts of lust and want. She felt the all too familiar tears well up in her eyes again, but could not control as she usually did. She hated it when she had too much time to herself like this, with nothing to distract her. She got up, gathered her things, and left the library silently, hiding her tears.

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Draco watched as her eyes welled with tears that were threatening to fall. She knew he was thinking about him, he could tell from her eyes. It hurt her beyond explanation to see her silently get up and leave, only really understanding that breaking up with her the way he did was a mistake.

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Sorry! I know, it's been a while, but hey, I updated! I hope you all like it!

Please Read and Review!

Coming Up....... Chapter 24: N.E.W.T.s! And the real thoughts behind Harry and the others concerning Jesabelle and Draco.

Thanks everyone!