This chapter is dedicated to Cristalfairy. Hope you get plenty of rest and take care of yourself!
Disclaimer: Nothing, except the plot and Jade of course, is mine so please don't sue…
~*~Dudley goes to Hogwarts~*~
Chapter 15
Jade
Hermione looked worriedly from Harry to Remus then back to Harry and sighed softly. They were in one of the outdoor restaurant in Paris; currently waiting for the orders they had placed a while ago. Since they had saw Draco Malfoy hand in hand with Jade, Harry had gone into statue mode and was staring at his shoes as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Remus, not knowing what to do anymore, ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back against the chair he was sitting on.
"Harry?" Hermione said timidly but the Gryffindor seeker didn't even look up.
Hermione frowned at her failed attempted to make Harry aware of his surrounding. Snuffles, who were sitting in between Remus and Harry at the time, nuzzled his head against Harry's arm, hoping to get some sort of a reaction from him but Harry still wouldn't budge an inch.
"C'mon, Harry. I'm sure she was just trying to jinx him up close or something. She wouldn't choose that Malfoy over you," Ron said, leaning forward towards Harry, who was across the table.
"Ron's right, Harry. Just try to forget about what happened today and enjoy what's to come. She's just another girl, Harry," Remus said and Hermione nodded her head slowly.
"Professor Lupin's right, Harry. There must be some other girl you've got your eyes on, other than her," Hermione said but Harry still refused to acknowledge them.
Just then, after feeling that all attempts of snapping Harry back to reality were completely useless for the time being, Remus stood up.
"Why don't you all keep Harry accompanied for awhile? I have some things to do. I'll be right back. C'mon, Snuffles," Remus said, before he smiled at the three of them and walked away with Snuffles trotting beside him.
Ron sighed heavily as Remus left.
"Harry, snap out of it. I'm sure she has a very good explanation," Ron said again.
"For once Harry, Ron might be right. Maybe what I said about her earlier isn't true at all. She is a fellow Gryffindor anyway. She might have something up her sleeves," Hermione said as she squeezed Harry's shoulder lightly.
And Harry, being the stubborn Gryffindor that he was, kept ignoring their comments about what they thought Jade might have been up to. After awhile, Ron looked up and his eyes went wide.
"What's wrong with you?" Hermione asked when she saw Ron's sudden reaction.
"That git surely picked the right time to make things more complicated than it is," Ron frowned but before Hermione could ask him what he meant, somebody spoke from behind her.
"Well, well. What do we have here? Potty, Weasel and the little Mudblood. What a sight to behold," a drawling voice said and Hermione turned around, although she already knew whom it was.
"What are you doing here Malfoy? I thought you were too 'cool' to hang around people like us," Hermione asked venomously.
"I didn't want to but Jade here persuaded me. You know Jade, don't you?" Malfoy smirked, lifting his intertwined fingers with Jade.
"C'mon Drake, let's get out of here," Jade mumbled as she blush lightly and tried to pull Malfoy away from the crowd.
"What's wrong Jade? Scared that people would think you betrayed your housemates?" Ron said hotly.
"Shut up, weasel," Malfoy snapped.
"What's the matter, Malfoy? Worried that I'll make your little girlfriend here cry? I'm not sure that she will though since I don't really think she's capable of any feelings," Ron said, getting up from his seat.
Hermione, instead of pulling Ron away from Malfoy, stood up and stood by Ron.
"Why should she cry, Weasel? After all, she is a Gryffindor. Oh look, a Gryffindor. Dating a Slytherin," Malfoy pointed out just to annoy Ron.
"Well, if you're trying to imply that a Gryffindor is not worthy to date a Slytherin, you're wrong. You actually got it backwards since it's the Slytherin who is the one not worthy to date a Gryffindor," Harry said without turning around to face Malfoy and Jade.
Ron and Hermione just looked at each other, as Malfoy suddenly turned scarlet out of anger.
"C'mon Drake, let's go," Jade said and Malfoy just let her pull him away.
"Look everyone, Malfoy actually need a girl to pull him out of a fight," Ron teased as the two of them walked away from the three and Ron laughed.
"Good going, Harry. I don't think he'll be messing around with us as much," Ron said after Malfoy and Jade's silhouette were out of sight.
Both Ron and Hermione then sat down again.
"So, are you okay now?" Hermione asked cautiously.
For a while, Harry went back into his statue mode, which made Ron and Hermione shifted in their seat uncomfortably. A few seconds later, Harry looked up at the both of them and gave them a small smile.
"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine," he said with another smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Are you sure? I mean if you want to talk about it…" Hermione said.
"I'm fine, Herm. Don't worry about it. I'm a big boy," Harry said again.
"That's great! Hey Harry, while you were in your statue mode just now, I saw this one girl. She's really something mate! Too bad she's not in the same school as we are," Ron beamed.
"Yeah, too bad. Hey Ron, have you thought about what to get for your father yet? I mean, we really don't have that much time here," Harry asked.
"No, not really. Why? Do you have anything in mind?" Ron asked him back.
"Well, since your dad love to take things apart, I figured why don't you get him a tool box or something. He'll have a blast taking things apart with that," Harry suggested and Ron nodded his head slowly.
As the two boys continued to talk amongst each other, Hermione had the chance to study Harry's behaviour. Hermione just frowned to herself as she spotted something fake among the genuine. Harry was a good actor but Hermione's a good observer. Almost nothing gets pass her. The 'Jade' thing was eating him alive, she could see, but he was too much of a Gryffindor to admit it.
"Herm, are you coming with us?" Ron asked and Hermione snapped back to reality.
"I'm sorry. I was thinking about something else. What did you say you were going?" Hermione smiled sheepishly.
"I said, would you like to join us do some Christmas shopping? Harry gave me some great ideas on what to give my dad and we're gonna go check it out," Ron said as he looked at Hermione with a puzzled look.
"Isn't it a bit early for Christmas shopping? I mean it's not for another month," Hermione asked.
"Yeah but I don't think I'll ever gonna get another chance to come here again," Ron pointed out.
"Well, in that case, sure, why not?" Hermione smiled.
"Great! Hey look. Here comes Lupin and Snuffles," Ron said, making all their attention towards the two.
"Where have you been?" Harry asked.
"Oh, around. Nice to see you're not posing as a statue anymore, Harry," Lupin said.
He then took a seat beside Harry like he did before and placed a few plastic bags beside him. Snuffles barked happily. Harry just grinned, patting Snuffles.
"So, what's in the bags?" Harry asked again, now scratching Snuffle behind the ear.
"Something you'll find out in a few months time. Until then, no peaking in the bag," Lupin warned and Harry pretended to pout.
Lupin rolled his eyes in returned.
"Hey Harry, I've been meaning to ask you something. Have you thought about where you're staying after you graduate? I don't think you wanna live with those…err… relative of yours anymore," Ron asked as the waiter finally served their orders.
"Do you mean to tell me that only now they're serving you guys? I mean we left and came back…" said Remus when the waiter had left, patting Snuffles on the head.
"Yeah, sad isn't it? I wonder if they even killed the chicken enough?" said Ron, as he was poking the poultry on his plate.
"Actually, now that you've mention it, I have no clue. I really don't wanna spend my parents' money just to get myself a place. I really don't know," Harry interrupted as he began to cut his steak.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Luckily Ron actually brought the matter up. Sirius and I have been discussing about it and we kind of have a place in mind. That is, if you want to, of course," Lupin said, feeding Snuffles his food by dropping it into the dog's open mouth.
"Sure, if I can afford it that is," Harry replied, feeding the hungry black dog too.
"I'm sure you will. You see, your parents used to live in Godric's Hollow ever since even before you were born. Though the place is a little… erm… messed up but it belongs to your family. If you like, we could 'fix' it up for you so you could move there after you graduate," Lupin said and Harry's face brightens up.
"Really? That would be great! I've completely forgotten about the place. But are you sure you won't mind fixing it?" Harry asked eagerly.
"I'm sure it won't be a problem," Lupin smiled at the sudden change in Harry's mood.
"Thanks Remus!" Harry exclaimed happily.
Snuffles then barked and Harry beamed at him too.
"You too Sirius," Harry said, though softer, to the black dog beside him as he patted Snuffles' head.
"Well, that's settled. Eat up everyone. We have a big day ahead of us," Lupin said and they continued eating with occasional verbal exchange among them.
~*~
Harry was in hell. He was literally using up all of his energy just to maintain the façade that was on display so that not one of them could see through it. He knew they would fuss over him if they knew what was eating him alive. All of them were in a store somewhere in Paris' well-known city area where Hermione was helping Ron choose something for his father. Ron kept shaking his head as Hermione showed something too girly to buy while he himself browsed through what was on display.
"C'mon Harry, let's sit down outside while we wait for them to finish arguing about what to buy," Lupin suggested and Harry just nodded his head.
Lupin then led the both of them, not forgetting Snuffles, to one of the benches under a tree. The both of them then sat side by side with Snuffles resting his head on Harry's lap.
"Spill," Lupin said simply and Harry looked confused.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry said before he turned away.
His hand unconsciously playing with Snuffles fur.
"I know about the Malfoy and Jade incident while we weren't there earlier today. Sirius and I bumped into them on our way back to the table. Malfoy was mad at you for some reason that I don't want to know. Harry, I knew your dad for a long time and I've known you long enough to know that you're his son. So, even though you act like it's not bothering you, you're actually dying inside. Why don't you just talk about it? It will help," Lupin said.
Harry just kept quiet as he ponders on his options.
"I… I can't. I'm sorry but I just can't. Please don't push because I can handle this myself. I will tell you when I'm ready but until then, I just can't," Harry said sadly and Snuffles looked up at the both of them.
Lupin placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"I'm sorry but I'm just worried about you. Well, when you're ready to talk, you do know that you can come to me, right? Until then, I won't push," Lupin said and Harry nodded his head.
"Do you mind if I take a walk. There is this park nearby and I promise it won't take long. I just need to clear my head," Harry said as he looked up.
Lupin thought it over for a while and then nodded his head.
"We'll come look for you when we're ready to go. Don't go too deep into the park or we wouldn't be able to find you," Lupin said as the both of them stood up.
Harry then made his way to the park. Snuffles, who was standing beside Harry, barked a few times.
"No, you stay here with me. I'm sure Harry can take care of himself," Lupin said as he pulled back on Snuffles' collar.
Sirius yelped a little at the tug but stayed. He barked a few times at Harry, as if he was warning Harry to be careful. Harry smiled at the two before leaving the two.
Since it was noon at that time, there weren't many people in the park. Harry inhaled deeply as he walked around the park, trying to clear his mind. Whatever happened, he was sure they have their own purpose. There was no use thinking about it. After awhile of walking, Harry finally sat on a bench under an old oak tree.
"Hey Harry," a soft voice said from behind him and Harry turned towards the voice.
"Oh, it's you. What are you doing here?" Harry asked her and Jade smiled softly at him.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" she asked and Harry scooted to one side of the bench.
Jade sat down beside him, thanking him softly.
"Where's Malfoy? I thought you were-"
"With him?" Jade finished his sentence for him and Harry nodded his head slowly. "Is dating a Slytherin really that bad?"
"It is if he's a Malfoy," Harry replied.
"Harry, I'm sorry if you have some sort of dislike him but you really shouldn't assume such things. He really is a nice guy once you get to know him," Jade said and Harry snorted softly.
Jade smiled at him.
"Why did you choose him? I mean there are lots of other guys. Why Malfoy?" Harry asked after a slight pause.
"Why Draco and not you, you mean?" Jade asked him back and Harry blushed lightly. "Harry, I've known Draco almost my entire life. You know, him being a Malfoy and me being a Goyle. He's almost like my brother. Harry, he's not my boyfriend."
"But back there. In the restaurant…" Harry stammered.
"I didn't say he was my boyfriend. He said I was his girlfriend. He was just kidding around. Really Harry, just give him another chance. Sometimes people aren't what they seem, you know," Jade said.
"Yeah right. Like I would ever cut that guy some slack. He might be nice to you but when it comes to me and the other Gryffindors, it's a whole new ball game," Harry laughed.
"Well, you may be right but if you're ever given a chance to see the other side of him, just don't throw that chance away, okay? Try to remember that there are always two sides to everyone," Jade said and Harry nodded his head slowly.
He was just about to start a new conversation topic when somebody called out his name from behind him.
"Harry!! Harry, c'mon! We've got to get out of here!" Ron cried from behind.
Harry stood up and turned towards him. Ron, Hermione, and Lupin as well as Snuffles were running towards him, Lupin's wand was out.
"Ron, what's wrong? What happened?" Harry asked as a panting Ron pulled his hand as soon as he reached him.
"We have to get out of here. A Death Eater's been spotted and it's coming right for you. Dumbledore had been sending out messages ages ago so that everyone report back to Hogwarts!" Ron explained.
Jade, who was standing beside Harry, gasped and Ron narrowed his eyes at her.
"Where are they heading?" Harry asked as he started to panic.
"To the old abandon warehouse. The transporter centre. Some of them are headed here too so we really need to leave this place," Hermione replied as she too began to push Harry towards Lupin.
"But the transporter centre is miles away. We wouldn't get there in time," Harry said as he began to run towards Lupin and Sirius with Ron, Hermione and Jade.
"We have no other choice. That's why we have to hurry," Hermione said again.
Then, the six of them started to find themselves a taxi so that they could get there faster.
"How did they know we're here? I mean how they know where Harry was?" Hermione asked after the six of them finally managed to squeeze together into a taxi.
Harry, who sat in between Jade and Ron, saw the glares Ron was throwing at Jade's direction and nudge Ron's sides. Lupin had taken the front while Hermione and Snuffles took seats opposite the 'trio'.
"Well, there's lots of ways but we can't just point fingers at anyone. There is a possibility that's just a coincident," Lupin said.
"This is no coincident, Professor. Nobody could point the exact location where the transporter centre is or even where Harry is at the time. This has to be an inside work," Hermione said and Ron nodded.
"Like I said before, we can't just point fingers at anyone. Let's just wait until we get back and hear what Dumbledore has to say," Lupin replied.
After that, nobody said another word until Lupin told the taxi driver to stop one block before the centre.
"Stay close, all of you. We don't know exactly if the Death Eaters have arrived or not," Lupin said after all of them had gotten off the taxi.
After making sure that all of them were huddled close together and after he made sure nobody was around, he conjured a shield around them.
"If anything should happened, all of you are to head straight to the site and grab the portkey. Don't look back, just go," Lupin instructed.
"What about you?" Harry asked.
"Don't worry about me. I know how to take care of myself. And you," Lupin said to Snuffles. "Don't change no matter what and stay with Harry at all cost." Snuffles gave a soft bark. "Okay, everybody ready? Wands out and let's go."
As each of them pulled out their wands from their pockets, Lupin led them towards the warehouse slowly, occasionally hiding behind buildings or dumpsters. Finally, when the door to the centre was in sight, Lupin turned towards them.
"The cost is clear. Now, remember what I said, just grab the portkey and forget about the rest. I scanned the site for any other Hogwarts students and I found none so you can just go ahead with the plan. I'm going to break down the shield so it wouldn't hold any one of you back. Stay close to each other and stay safe. When I count to three, all of you make a run for it, okay? One, two, three go!" Lupin said.
As soon as he said three, the shield went down and the six of them broke into a run and headed straight towards the corner of the room where they were transported to earlier. Almost instantly, about twenty Death Eaters ambushed them from all corners of the room.
"Use the stunning spell and just try to get to the portkey!" Lupin instructed.
The four Hogwarts student just nodded their heads and soon after, stunning spell was flying across the room.
"C'mon Harry! We're almost there!!" Hermione yelled as she cast the stunning spell towards another Death Eater who was attacking her from her right.
"Jade, are you okay?" Harry yelled.
He threw a punch at a Death Eater that was trying to grab his wand.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me, just get that Portkey!" Jade yelled back.
Snuffles, who were by Harry side, bit down on one guy's leg and Harry punched him square in the face.
"C'mon, the portkey is right over there!" Ron cried and the famous trio finally managed to fight their way towards the corner of the room.
"Is everyone here?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, yeah! Let's just go!" Ron cried as he picked up the portkey, which was an old football.
"Wait! Where's Jade?" Harry asked, looking frantically around them.
"Ahhh!!!!!!!!" a voice screamed from behind them and Harry turned around almost instantly.
"Jade! Let her go!!" Harry cried as he saw Jade being captured by one of the Death Eaters.
"Wands down or the girl gets it!" the Death Eater, that was grabbing Jade's wrist, yelled.
"No, don't listen to him! Just get out of here! Ahh!!" Jade cried as the Death Eater twisted her arm harder.
"Jade! Let her go!!" Harry yelled and he attempted to lunge towards the Death Eater but Ron pulled him back.
"Harry, are you crazy?! That guy will kill ya!" Ron said as he pulled Harry back.
"He won't. Voldemort doesn't want me dead! Let me go!" Harry yelled but Hermione was helping Ron restraining him.
"Harry, please. Be reasonable! We have to get out of here before the others do something to Lupin!" Hermione said.
"The portkey doesn't work with only three person touching it! Snuffles don't count!! And what do you plan to do about her?" Harry snapped.
"Snuffles does count! Let's just go. She can handle this by herself," Ron yelled as he tugged Harry's arm harder.
"Shut up, all of you! Wands down or else she's dead!" the Death Eater threatened them again.
"Don't listen to them! Grab the portkey and get out of here before they get through Professor Lupin. I can handle this guy!!" Jade said again but the Death Eater pointed his wand at her neck.
"Jade, hang on. Ron, Hermione, let go of me!! I have to save her!" Harry cried.
"Harry, what are you doing? Get out of here!" Lupin cried as he punched another Death Eater.
Snuffles was pulling the hem of Harry's robes, along with Ron and Hermione who was pulling both of Harry's arms.
"Harry, listen to me. You have to get out of here and save yourself! Which do you prefer? Save me and kill all of us or sacrifice me and save everyone?! Harry, use your head! If you die, everyone in the wizarding world dies. You will wipe away their hope!" Jade yelled.
"No, I can do it. LET ME GO!!!" Harry yelled.
All of a sudden, there was a strong gush of wind that nearly blew them away and before they knew what was going on, Harry's bangs were blown back followed by a blinding flash of bright green light.
"What's going on? What's happening?" Ron yelled.
"I don't know. Harry, are you okay?" Hermione yelled back but Harry didn't reply.
"Hermione! Ron! Get Harry out of here while they can't see you! Try to feel around for the portkey!! It's not that far away from you!" they heard Lupin yelled from one side of the room. Ron let go of Harry's arm and felt around for the portkey on the floor. After a few moments, the light died down.
"Whoa, what happened?" Ron said softly as he looked around the room.
Every single Death Eater that was in the building was face down on the cold hard floor.
"Is everyone alright?" Lupin asked as he got up to his feet and walked towards Ron.
"I'm fine," Ron said as he allowed Lupin to help him up.
"Hermione?" Lupin asked the witch.
"Professor, help. Harry's unconscious," Hermione said.
Both Ron and Lupin turned around to see Harry's head rested on top of Hermione's lap, as Hermione said, unconscious. Snuffles were nuzzling Harry's head trying to wake the Gryffindor up.
"Oh dear God. What happened, Hermione?" Lupin asked as he rushed towards the both of them.
"I don't know. I was gripping his left arm when that bright light hit us and then, after it died down, Harry just collapsed," Hermione said and soon started crying while stroking Harry's black hair.
"Where's Jade?" asked Remus softly after he made a head count.
"Professor, look at his scar," Ron said suddenly. Harry's scar, which was normally just another scar, was glowing with a sort of golden light.
"We need to get him to Dumbledore. Immediately! This is something way beyond me," Lupin said softly as he lifted the unconscious Harry up into his arms.
A/N: Hellooo!!!!!!! Another chapter up. Sorry it took longer than expected. Well, the good news is that I'll have time to write now since my beta and I are out of school. But the bad news is that I'm now juggling two stories so it could take awhile. BTW, I kinda made a mistake before that affected the whole story but I fixed it (I hope). To straighten stuff out, I just wanna tell you that it's actually November already. About the first Quidditch match, I'll put it up after Christmas. Sorry 'bout that!!! Oh yeah, my new story is up so go read it and review. A bit of warning though. It's not exactly straight. HP/DM mind you so if you don't like slash stuff, I'd advice you not to read it. If you have no problem on the slashing bit, I'm asking you to go read it. Finally, Merry belated Christmas to those who celebrate it and Happy New Year!!!!!!! (sw: A Happy New Year to all too!)
A/N 2: For those of you who want me to tell them when the story's updated, leave your e-mail address in your review.