Chapter 16: Jasmine McEwan

The days rolled by, and soon enough, it was Christmas Day. Harry and Ron began the day by ripping through enormous piles of presents left at the feet of their beds.

"Whoa, Harry, thanks!" yelled Ron in ecstasy, pulling an orange Chudley Cannons T-shirt out of a box.

"No problem," Harry replied with a grin, unwrapping a huge assortment of Every Flavor Beans from Ron. "What'd Hermione get you?" he asked randomly, wondering to himself what it could possibly be.

"I dunno…I don't see anything wrapped here…" Ron responded, digging through the mountain of wrapping paper and opened gifts. "Maybe she's going to give it to me later…" he said doubtfully.

"Or maybe," Harry said slyly with a wink, "it's something that can't be put in a box."

Ron blushed crimson at this remark.

"Oh, come on…" he stammered, "you don't think…she wouldn't…would she?" He met Harry's eyes and went an even deeper red.

Harry knew that Hermione and Ron had been meeting secretly in the common room when no one else was around (thanks to the Invisibility Cloak-yeah, spying was juvenile, but hey, it was fun, too). However, whenever they were in the Great Hall, class, or even on break, they barely said a word to each other, and Hermione spoke to Hunter, though on a rarer basis than usual. This completely mystified Harry, but Ron seemed to be slightly more in the know.

Hermione walked in just then, juggling Crookshanks, a parcel wrapped in Father Christmas paper, and a green envelope.

"This is yours, Harry; sorry it's late," she said, tossing the package to him. "And for you," she added softly, turning to Ron and handing him the green envelope. "You may want to wait to open it, though," she finished, sitting down on Ron's bed next to him.

"Okay," he replied, tucking the envelope carefully under his pillow. "What've you got, Harry?"

Harry, after examining the new copy of 1,001 Important Seeker Techniques he had just unwrapped, handed it over to Ron. "Let's go do something; I'm not going to waste the whole day just sitting here!"

Actually, the rest of the day was spent by Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron just sitting around, lounging, enjoying their Christmas gifts and candy, and playing a few games of Exploding Snap. Before they knew it, it was time for the Christmas feast.

"Break it up, you guys, break it up!" Ginny scolded Ron and Hermione, though with a smile on her face. "I'm hungry, and everyone else's gone down to eat; no more of this tickling business."

They laughed as the two couples walked down the corridors to the Great Hall, each boy holding the girl's hand tightly in his own.

"Wait, wait, there's a Slytherin!" Hermione gasped. Ron immediately released her hand from his grasp. The two Slytherin girls sneered at the group and strode on.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked, completely confused.

"Well, you see, it's complicated…"began Hermione thoughtfully. " Technically, I haven't 'broken up' with Hunter just yet. And, quite frankly, I'm pretty scared to end it so abruptly."

"What-"

"Hunter's not the nice guy that everyone always sees…he's really clingy, and he's said some really scary things in the past… "I'd kill myself if I couldn't be with you" and "If I see any guy touch you, I'll rip him to shreds". So what I've been trying to do is slowly back away from the whole relationship, rather than go, "Oh, it's not working out, I've got someone new, see ya!" Plus, if he ever knew Ron was a factor in this, he'd go mental."

"Oh…" Harry was still confused.

"What it comes down to is, I'm scared to drop him, for my safety and Ron's," she finished bitterly. "Hopefully, he'll just get sick of me and break it off himself."

By now, they had made it into the Great Hall, where the Christmas decorations, as usual, shone spectacularly.

"Who's that?" whispered Ginny to Ron, nodding toward the Slytherin table.

"Dunno…" He glanced in the direction she had nodded. He did a double take. Seated next to Hunter was a beautiful young woman who couldn't have been a day older than thirty. Her blonde hair fell to the middle of her back. Her eyes were the exact shape of Hunter's, but their color was a piercing ocean blue. In fact, if she had the hazel eyes, she could have passed as Bianca's older sister.

"Maybe Hunter has another sister?" Harry guessed.

They abandoned the discussion while they consumed a huge assortment of different foods. Just as they were getting up to leave, two figures strode over to them.

"Hey, everyone!" Hunter greeted them brightly. "Hermione," he added with a polite nod. "I wanted to introduce you all to my mother, Jasmine McEwan. Mom, these are some friends of mine: Harry Potter, Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger." He emphasized Hermione's name.

"Pleasure," Jasmine replied coolly. Her eyes flickered over Ron and Ginny. "I know your parents quite well," she said to them. Her gaze then fell on Hermione. "I've heard…so much about you. My son is quite taken with you." Hermione nodded slightly, a pink tinge appearing in her cheeks.

"Well, we'd better get going," Hunter butted in.

"Nice meeting you all," Jasmine said, though she didn't look as if she meant one word of it. The two strode off toward Bianca, who jumped and looked startled.

"That was weird," Harry commented as he and Ron climbed the stairs to their dormitory that night.

"Yeah…" Ron breathed, lost deep in thought. Then he remembered the letter. "Harry! She-Jasmine, Hunter's mum- is having some crazy meeting with Hunter and Bianca. I want to hear what they talk about."

Harry stopped before turning the doorknob to the bedroom. "Are you mad? You can't just barge in like that! Besides, how d'you know about this meeting?"

"I-er, found one of Bianca's letters from her mum," Ron replied guiltily. Harry opened his mouth, but Ron added quickly, "I'm worried about Bianca; she's always got these weird bruises and cuts, and maybe Hunter's got something to do with it, I dunno…" He trailed off, thinking again. "And I want to know how Hermione factors into this, 'cause I know she does somehow…"

Harry sighed. Clearly Ron was not going to be swayed. "All right. We'll take the Invisibility Cloak and eavesdrop on this little conversation."

A/N: Okay, please review! I always appreciate it! Coming soon….Chapter 17: Behind the Dungeon's Door….muhahaha!! Bye for now!