Chapter Three: Twenty Questions
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Ginny looked straight at Jade with all seriousness.
"He used to be…well, he used to be quite… Portly, and now he's, he's…"Ginny trailed off, her eyes moving in the direction Neville had gone.
"Not!" Hermione put in for her, amused with Ginny's stuttering, but relieved she didn't say it and make this much of a fool of herself. "Neville looks nothing like himself, the old him I mean." Harry Grinned, knowing exactly what was on their minds just by the looks on their faces, but Ron ignored it and continued with his meal.
"Oh, so you're saying you think he's better looking now?" Jade prodded with a giggle, both girls exchanged glances and turned red as they looked down at their plates. "He's umm…" she began, trying to relieve their stress somehow, she smiled. "Nice." She finished and Harry looked at her with a raised brow.
"Not you too?" he half questioned and Jade shook her head.
"No, I-" Ginny cut her off, smiling profusely.
"Are you dating one of my brothers yet?" jade's eyes widened and she stared at her in shock. "What? I know they both like you, after we met you, that's the only thing they talked about when they came home on the weekend." Jade laughed, and Ginny side-glanced to see Ron watching her, Ginny had had her suspicions when they were at the leaky cauldron.
"They'd asked me to come meet your mum that weekend, but my parents were taking me to Paris." The entire group was watching her and she didn't know what to say.
"So, are you and one of them…"? Hermione inquired without finishing her sentence, jade was avoiding all eyes and looked down with a soft shake of her head.
"No, just friends…" she answered quietly, when the truth was that she found herself liking Ron out of the four Weasley boys she'd met (Bill had come to the shop to visit at one point)
"So Harry, do you think McGonagall will let you re-join the Quiddich team?" Ginny asked suddenly, gaining the attention of everyone, Jaden silently made a note to thank her, even though it was she who'd brought up the other question.
"She should, I mean, she wasn't going to kick him off the team in the first place, that was Umbridge's idea." Ron answered the question, leading in to a lengthy conversation on that subject before they had to go to their first classes for the day.
Professor Sprout made her own welcome to Jaden when she walked passed as they were beginning their lesson on Isifia Grass, a plant that had a mind of it's own not to let anything within a foot of it without getting cuts that would ooze a certain green, sappy sort of substance that slowly caused the subject to lose their appendages one-by-one. But when the plant was rooted, taking much effort to do so, and dried it was used, as it's own cure.
In transfiguration they were given the remains of a dead animal (bones) and were asked to transfigure them back into their original state as an animal. Jade and Hermione were paired together at a table and both had no troubles in completing their assignment, Jade ending up with a bat, though a bone had been broken, leaving her bat with a broken wing, and Hermione finding herself with a rather large, yet not fully grown Griffin. Harry and Ron were paired and seemed to be having trouble, somehow managing to allow only half of the creature to re-form.
"Miss Granger, seeing as you and Miss ferrara have completed your assignment with outstanding outcomes, would you please switch with Mr. Weasley and assist Mr. Potter while Miss ferrara does the same for Mr. Weasley." Jaden was surprised to no end, but Hermione nodded easily.
"Yes Professor." She answered and moved herself to the other table, clutching the griffin in her arms. Ron looked over at Jaden awkwardly and then collected his remains and moved beside her ever so quietly, without a word.
"Umm, you can try arranging the bones, it helps to concentrate on its true form."Jaden said to alleviate the silence, but he only looked up at her and then backs down quickly.
"Ill try that…thanks." He said silently and she couldn't help but think it was her problem was with, did he think she'd asked Fred and George to lie to them and keep her a secret. She frowned as he tried to arrange the bones.
"Do you…is it…" she fund herself looking for the right way to phrase the question, he looked up questioningly and met her gaze, this time leaving his eyes there.
"What?" he asked and this time it was her who looked away, frustrated.
"Do you hate me?… or something?" she questioned as bluntly as she hadn't wanted it to be. She looked back at him to see shock and red in his ears.
"N-n-no, why…" he trailed off and she knew what he was trying to ask her.
"Because, at the leaky cauldron you'd gotten that sour face and again this morning when Ginny asked me if I was going out with Fred or George." He reddened more and removed his eyes from hers. "Of you're worried about me ruining the relationship you have with your brother, you don't have to worry about it because…" he cut her off.
"No, you saw what Fred and George treat me like, I'd be absolutely peachy if some girl came along and ended up –keeping- them from me…" he trailed off and she waited for anything else, something lagging behind the rest to come out, but it never did, so she was left wondering.
"So…?" she prodded, egging that much out of him. He glanced over, and then back down again, shrugging innocently.
"I don't know I just…I-" Jade smiled. "I think you're too good for either one of them." Jade tried to stifle her laughter and he looked over nervously.
"Does that mean you think I'm a snob, or-"
"No" he cut her off in a hushed voice abruptly. He groaned in frustration as he tried to find placing for the last bone, jade reached over and took it from him.
"Here…" she said, moving over and placing it exactly where it belonged. He side glanced over at her, almost watching her, but she pulled away. "Now try." Jade said, implying the bones. Ron took his wand and successfully transformed the bones back into their original form, surprising Ron himself.
"Uhh… thanks." He said nervously, scratching the back of his neck.
"Well done Mr. Weasley." Professor McGonagall said as she passed by, looking a bit puzzled at his successful attempt, studying it for some flaw.
"Thank you Professor." He replied in a soft voice, as if he wasn't used to compliments, which would have to be an understatement.
"So what do you think of me then?" Jade asked in a half-whisper as McGonagall moved away from them, he looked at her surprised and began to stutter upon words.
"I um, well I, I think, I-" even though Jade found this amusing, and couldn't' help but smile, she was genuinely curious. "I think you're nice." Jade's brows rose.
"Nice…" she repeated his word like it was both cute and an insult. "Thanks Ron, I think you're nice too." Jade sat down and rubbed her finger along of the bat that still sat in front of her, having unsuccessfully tried to fly several times throughout class. Just as Ron was about to say something else, McGonagall interrupted the entire class and dismissed them.
That night, after dinner, they sat together in the library, all three of them, working on one of Snape's infamous essays. Ginny, happened to be occupied doing her homework with some newfound friends. Harry had been called to McGonagall's office, leaving only Jaden, Ron and Hermione in the library until Harry was done. Frustrated, Hermione stood.
"There has to be more information on Shae Berries, this can't be it, I'm going to see if I can find some." Jade barely looked up enough to nod, showing she was listening, before turning back to her parchment and one of the books she had propped open.
"Ok." Ron said, and that was all he said, leaving silence to return, besides that of other students throughout the library. "You know…" Ron started, leaning towards Jade, in a whisper. "I didn't mean what I said in transfiguration." Jade cocked a grin, but continued what she was doing without looking up.
"So you really don't think I'm nice?" she questioned with a cocky tone.
"No, I just didn't mean it the way you may have taken it…" he voiced like he was in a hurry, curiously, she did look up.
"So what –did- you mean?" she questioned, grinning. He began turning red again and it amused her to no end, but she had to end it. "Look, whatever you meant by it, is good enough for me ok." She was telling less than the truth and –she- herself knew this, throughout the day she'd realized exactly how much time she'd spent before coming to Hogwarts, comparing him to Fred and George, or simply thinking about him.
"I found it, I found the exact book I was looking for, it has the properties of the Shae Berry and it has the characteristics and other such plant life related to it." Hermione said as she came back, smiling profusely as she took her seat again.
"Oh goody!" Harry's sarcastic voice came into the conversation as he joined them, bag in hand, yet a bit of a smirk protruding the sarcasm upon his face.
"What's gotten you all giddy? You have to write the essay as well." Jaden said, questioning him, in the last little while, she'd learned al lot about him she didn't know and it was starting to feel like they hadn't spent their entire lives apart. Harry grinned even more as he took his seat at the table.
"McGonagall says I can re-join the Quiddich team, then she said she was going to make me captain as well." Ron got this big grin.
"Way to go mate reinstated and upgraded all in the same year." Harry shook his head.
"I was a bit surprised myself." Aden looked clueless at him. Hermione was the first to notice this.
"Harry, you could at least be courteous enough to explain to Jaden –why- you were kicked off of the team in the first place" Harry looked at Jade.
"Oh, sorry, I got kicked off the team for pummeling Draco Malfoy." A light went off in Jade's head.
"Draco Malfoy? Would he happen to be tall and blonde with like… grayish eyes?" Harry looked at her confused and then exchanged a glance with Ron.
I'm going to stop there for now, because I'm itching to write on one of my other stories, one that happens to be going a little better than this one… hope you liked it, I'll try and update tomorrow because I won't be doing anymore updating on any of my stories for quite some time, the Christmas holidays are coming up and I'm busted for time.to my reviewer:
Yeah whatever: thanks for reviewing, glad you liket his one...