Hullo,

More chapters!! YAY!!! mainly explainations and stuff. Still fun!

Jimmy leapt back from his table, swatting at the flames with his notebook. Harry jerked his brother out of the way just before the purple fire from the cauldron exploded, singeing the air where the confused brunette had been standing not moments before. Harry peered at his twin with a raised brow.

"What?" Jimmy asked through his coughs, fanning away the smoke.

Harry sighed and stood back as Snape hustled over to their desk in the back of the Potions classroom.

"What happened here?" Snape demanded, wrinkling his nose at the putrid stench emanating from Jimmy's cauldron.

"I don't know. I followed all the directions and somehow I ended up with THIS," Jimmy said from behind the collar of his sweater, trying to minimize the horrible smell.

"Obviously not. I want this cleaned up and five points from Gryffindor for Mr. Potter's lack of attention," The Potions Master barked, stalking back to the front of the class who were both chuckling at the flounder and trying not to pass out from the stench.

Jimmy whipped out his wand, mumbled a spell, and waited as the tip of his wand sucked up the smoke and the smell before approaching the area. Harry frowned at the charred tabletop and offered his brother a pat on the back.

"You probably just slipped up. It happens, its all right. If Snape was any decent teacher, he'd give you a break given what happened last night," Harry said with a slight smile.

Jimmy heaved a great sigh and proceeded in transfiguring the scorched table back to its original oak color. Collapsing down onto his chair, Jimmy glanced up at the clock. Only ten more minutes, there would be no WAY he could make another batch of the Levitation Potion before class let out. What was going on with him? He'd NEVER messed up a potion before, why now?

Sinking his head into his arms, Jimmy groaned, receiving gentle pats on the head from Harry.

"Its ok, Jim."

"Bow wow."

Harry chuckled a bit and plopped back down onto his stool, glancing at his brother. Jimmy had been fine most of the day surprisingly enough, it was odd that he'd messed up only in Potions and earlier in Transfiguration. Harry floated his gaze over from Jimmy's messy raven spikes to find Skye engrossed in her work. Harry narrowed his eyes and wished beyond anything he had laser vision. Jimmy had for some reason asked Harry not to tell anyone about Skye's attack on him last night, which proved harder than expected when trying to explain to Madame Pomfrey why Jimmy was fainting left and right and to Hagrid who was convinced something had happened.

Unconsciously, Harry gripped his fingers around his wand, boring holes into the back of Skye's head. As if she felt the glare, Skye turned slightly and met with the Gryffindor's eyes. He held them long enough to tell her without words exactly what he meant to do to her.
To his surprise, Skye shifted in her seat and quickly looked away. Ha! She knew she was screwed. Good. She's probably worried when The Order is going to pounce her and she knows she can't run for it. We'll just let her stew for awhile before confronting her.

"Harry..."

Harry tore his eyes away from the girl to find Jimmy staring at him with a frown on his face," What?"

Jimmy took a quick glance in Skye's direction, then turned to face his brother once more," Leave her alone, ok?"

"Why?"

"Just do it...As a favor to me, let me handle this."

It was Harry's turn to frown now," She tried to kill you, Jim. I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Just trust me, alright? I need to do this. I just have this feeling." Jimmy said, his eyes drifting aside as thoughts clearly bombarded his mind.

Harry shifted uneasily but complied.

"She's messing with me, I just know it...But...It wasn't her last night that attacked me..." Jimmy mumbled to his knee.

Harry leaned forward," Then who was it?"

Jimmy looked up into his brother's eyes, fear flickering there," Voldemort."

Harry started as the bell sounding for dinner echoed off the dungeon walls. Jimmy gathered their things up as Harry bottled a bit of potion and handed it in.

The two made their way silently back up the stairs, mixing in with the loud chaos of hungry students. Jimmy had just sat down when Harry hastily grabbed his arm and yanked him back up.

"Lets eat outside today," Harry demanded more than suggested.

Jimmy nodded nonetheless and tossed some biscuits, tarts and a few pieces of chicken into a large napkin, stuffing the package into his bag before following Harry out the doors. They wandered past the pitch and down to the edge of the lake, settling on a clear patch of smooth rocks still warm from the evening sun. Jimmy set his bag at his feet and spread out the napkin in-between them. The brothers munched wordlessly on the chicken, staring blankly out at the lake with a million thoughts coursing through their heads.

"What did you mean when you said it was Voldemort?" Harry asked suddenly.

Jimmy licked his lips and tossed his bones into the lake, watching as a huge tentacle quickly dragged them underwater," I mean, it was Voldemort. I've never seen him before, but I knew it was him staring out at me through her eyes. I could feel it."

Harry nibbled thoughtfully on the meat, rolling the statements around his mind," If what you're saying is true then..."

"Skye could be doing things NOT of her own free will," Jimmy finished with a sigh." Yep."

"That's not good...That's incredibly not good," Harry muttered, his eyes watching the fleck of light dancing on the water's surface.

"You're telling me. Who knows what she's been doing so far."

Harry knitted his brows together," What we know for sure is she DID give some consent to it all. That dark mark didn't get there by itself."

"Which only makes her even more dangerous. A willing mind is easier to control than a fighting one." Jimmy added on, even more concerned for his well being than before. "But there's just something about her that I can't quite pin down."

"Like what?"

"I'm not sure...God, Harry, I wish you would've been there last night. The look on her face...I don't know," Jimmy frowned even harder than before, struggling to decipher what he had seen.

"What is it, Jim?" Harry pressed on, staring worriedly at his brother.

"I must've been in that shower for a good fifteen minutes before I even noticed she was there. She could've killed me then...but she didn't...There were a good dozen times she could've had me, but she didn't. It wasn't until I got my towel and wand did she start attacking me."

Harry absentmindedly picked pieces from his biscuit," That's odd."

"Exactly...But the most unnerving thing was when she had hit me with this spell I'd never even heard of before. I had barely enough strength to lift my head, so I was sure I was done for. But no. She just stood there for a good twenty seconds, staring. It was like-"

"She hesitated," Harry finished for him, looking even more agitated than before.

"Yes...But why? Why would she hesitate?" Jimmy asked to no one in particular.

"Why indeed," Harry mumbled under his breath, feeling even more suspicions come flying at the subject.

//-------

" SO, what you're saying is that you're letting her walk free?"

Jimmy didn't have to look to see that Ron had a look that clearly showed his thoughts on the matter.

"Are you NUTS!?"

Yep, he was like a book sometimes.

"Quiet, Ron." Harry warned.

Ron threw up his hands, looking round at the three other people in the common room," Let them hear. Cause everyone should know you two are NUTS!"

Harry hastily clapped his hand over the redhead's mouth, giving apologetic looks to the confused Gryffindors trying to do their homework. Turning back to Ron, he gave him a sharp look and hissed," Shut up, would you? The last thing we need is to alert ANYONE that Skye is a threat."

Jimmy vaguely heard them banter back and forth, and honestly, he wasn't in the mood. He needed some alone time to figure things out. And if his gut instinct was right, Skye would show up and he'd finally be able to get the answers he needed without worrying Harry to an early death.

"I'm going for a walk," He mumbled and walked off before either boy could protest.

Jimmy quickly took three flights of stairs down and turned onto the corridor. He could only hope Harry or Ron didn't follow him. He really needed this time to himself and all their concerns and simple explanations weren't making things any better. Deciding that this hallway was pretty much going to maintain its person less scenario, Jimmy picked out a spot beside a large tapestry of a gallant prince kissing an old hag. Peering up at it, he thought he recalled the actual story behind the scene. He'd come across it in the orphanage library (which was really just a small shelf of books). It was in the Canterbury Tales, told through the red dressed woman. It had something to do with the prince deflowering some maid, and then the Queen punished him by sending him on a quest to discover what women really want. He had eventually ended up at the old hag's doorstep, promised her his hand in marriage in exchange for the answer. Actually looking at what the red-woman had described made a funnier impact than when he had first read it.

"Poor guy." He muttered to himself.

"Ironic how the story goes, isn't it?"

Jimmy quickly looked over and forced himself to remain calm as his eyes landed on Skye standing not three feet from him," I guess. The Queen knew he'd never get it, so the question's really irrelevant. It all just proves how indecisive women really are."

"We're not indecisive, we just want different things," She replied, her hands tucked behind her back.

"What do YOU want?"

Skye blinked.

"I know you want something more, I can tell. Its in your eyes." Jimmy said matter-of-factly.

Something in Skye's crimson eyes seemed to simultaneously shut down and turn on. Her gaze flittered back up to the tapestry," I wish my quest was as straight forward as his...I wish my task was as simple as finding the answer to a single question."

"What is your quest then?"

Skye hesitated then finally turned her eyes back to the Potter," Much more than discovering what women want."

"Does it have to do with a certain Dark Lord?" Jimmy asked, then quickly added before she could respond." Or are you in need of discovering what YOU want?"

Skye sighed, looking as if there were a fierce battle going on in her mind.

Jimmy watched her, seemingly not afraid. He took his time in taking in the girl. Her eyes had aged drastically since the last time he'd seen them. They held an exhaustion only survivors of a terrible war had. He frowned a little and felt himself developing something close to pity for her," You know...Following someone else's agenda won't exactly get you to where you want to be."

"But I have no choice," She blurted out. Tears were soon spilling down her cheeks as her frame took on a shocking fragile sense." I can't back out like the rest of them. I don't get what I want."

" What is it that you want?"

Skye looked over, her tears pausing long enough for her to take the first good look of him she'd had. He looked exactly like his brother, she thought to herself. But he's not. He knew something was off about her, despite the fact that she'd tried to murder him. He sensed things about people that Potter just didn't. He was more open and understanding, he'd been places and seen things to allow him to see her better than anyone else ever had. He really saw her.

Skye watched as Jimmy tilted his head, an expectant look in his warm emerald eyes. His coal hair didn't obscure those eyes like it did on Potter and he seemed so much more solid and sturdy. Skye knew the thoughts and emotions pulsing through her body would be used against both her and Jimmy, but she didn't care.

He saw her. He saw past the black mark on her arm, past the initial mistrust, past the orders and saw what was lying beneath: She was suffering.

"I want to breathe..."

Jimmy frowned. Before he knew what he was doing, his hand was entangled in Skye's, giving it reassuring pressure. Skye's eyes seemed to crumble from within as her delicate features contorted in obvious conflict. Jimmy reached up and gently brushed aside a fallen lock of black hair away from her burgundy eyes."You'll breathe soon enough."

Skye gazed up into his eyes, seeing the sincerity in them. "Promise?"

"I promise." Jimmy replied softly.

"OY! JIMMY!"

Jimmy jumped and spun around to see Harry and Ron heading their way. Turning back around Skye was already backing up.

She allowed herself to linger in his deep eyes a few moments longer before leaving his touch and racing down the opposite way. Jimmy stared after her as the two boys caught up, both panting.

"What happened!?"

"Did she hurt you?!"

Jimmy shook his head, letting his mind slowly realize that there was nothing left to watch disappearing around the corner. He didn't even bother to get upset at the assumption the Gryffindors made about him not even able to defend himself around a GIRL.
Dazedly, he let Harry and Ron lead him back downstairs, both putting in their opinions of what just occurred.

Well into the still hours of the night, Jimmy lay awake in his bed, remembering Skye's eyes. He meant what he had said and he fully intended on making that promise true. Jimmy felt compelled to help her; his insides didn't allow any other choice.

Unbeknownst to him, Skye was lying in her bed, thinking the same thing in her own restless reverie.