Less than a week later, Jade was saying goodbye to her parents and boarding the Hogwart's Express. She completely ignored Aunt Augusta, since it had been her master plan from the beginning to link Jade to Cormac. Ginny had seen her weaken dramatically ever since Fred broke things off with her. She understood how she must have felt since she went through the same thing with Michael but she knew that she never loved Michael the same way Jade loved Fred.
"Are you okay?" Ginny asked, touching Jade's shoulder.
"Yeah. I just need to sit in a quiet compartment for a while." Jade said seeing Ginny nod.
"I'll go and tell Harry and the others that we're here." Ginny said. Jade nodded and Ginny left the compartment and walked into another where Ron, Hermione and Harry were with Neville and Luna.
"How is she?" Neville asked.
"She's…not good to be honest." Ginny said.
Everyone in the compartment frowned, thinking it would be a good idea to use Cormac as live bait for the giant squid in Hogwart's Lake.
"Isn't this a little awkward?" Luna asked, taking out the Quibbler.
"Are you sure she doesn't want to talk about it?" Hermione asked, seeing Ginny nod.
"She's exhausted, that's all. She cried about it for days and now she's drained. It's really important that she have time to reflect on some things by herself. Lord knows how much peace and quiet a girl needs after a breakup." Ginny said.
In the passing months, Ginny practiced for Quidditch and fought more with Dean. She started to understand that her relationships started out promising but always lacked in something essential from the get go. Love wasn't supposed to make her feel irritated and less attached to someone she claimed to care about. Ron was poisoned and recovered quickly but left the entire house and their family worried. She grew closer to Harry, talking him through some of the things that he had been worrying about. He helped her cope with the stress of Jade and Fred's situation as well as removing herself from Dean.
Right now, he was talking about something she didn't care about. She was tired from practicing all day and right now, she wished Dean was away from her.
"Let me help you through the portrait." Dean said.
"I can manage myself, thanks." Ginny said, starting to walk into the portrait. Instead, she felt him gently push her and she turned around.
"Don't push me, please, Dean, please! You're always doing that; I can get through perfectly well on my own!" Ginny said.
"I didn't even touch you! Why do you have to lash out on me whenever you're on your monthly?" Dean asked. Ginny stared at Dean, her jaw dropping.
"My monthly? Before talking about my monthly, how about talking about yours?" Ginny asked. Dean narrowed his eyes.
"Don't talk to me that way." He said.
"And what makes you think that you have the right to speak to me that way? I don't need to take shit from you because I frankly don't deserve it." Ginny said.
"I have been nothing but nice to you all throughout the school year. I've been helpful and supportive and you push me away!" Dean yelled.
"That's because you're smothering me! You treat me like I'm crippled and that I can't help myself! I'm a grown woman! I can open doors and walk corridors by myself and if you don't like it then piss off!" Ginny shouted.
"Fine! I will! When you start to realize how much you need me and how badly you treated me, you'll come back." Dean said. Ginny snorted.
"I doubt that's ever going to happen." She said. Dean looked angry and Ginny marched up the stairs to her dormitory. She walked into the room seeing Jade studying.
"Is everything okay?" Jade asked softly. Ginny slammed the door shut, took off her cloak and threw it across the room. She walked towards her bed and flopped on it, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. She looked red faced and panted before looking up.
"I just broke up with Dean." Ginny said. Jade closed her books and walked towards Ginny, hugging her as she cried. "I know it isn't me, I just have horrible luck." Ginny said.
"You'll find a man strong enough to handle your bearings. It's okay love, just let it all out." Jade said.
Ginny spent two hours, crying and Jade sat up, letting Ginny sob into her lap. Eventually Ginny cried herself to sleep and Jade dozed off, sleeping upright.
They woke up with a jolt when they felt someone shaking them awake and screaming.
"WE BROKE UP!" Astoria screamed in the middle of the room.
"What the fuck?" Ginny asked her voice still thick from sleep. Jade took a few deep breaths to stabilize herself from the shaking and head pounding she felt from being violently woken up.
"I think I'm having a heart attack." Ginny said, falling off the bed.
"Did you two even listen to me at all?! I just broke up with Draco! I'm in pieces!" Astoria cried.
"Are you fucking mental? It's three in the morning and you're here screaming about a breakup! If the others wake up and find out we have a Slytherin in our dormitory-"
"I just broke up with a man that I have been deeply in love with and probably still am…and you can only think about rule breaking?" Astoria croaked.
"Honey, I do care, I really do but…this is so weird." Jade said, her eyes still adjusting to the light in their bedroom. Ginny whimpered from the floor, hiding from sight because of the bed.
"I'll die a strong willed spinster!" Ginny wailed. Astoria sniffed and nodded towards Ginny.
"What the hell's wrong with her?" Astoria asked.
"Oh…" Jade said, turning around, only seeing Ginny's feet. "She broke up with Dean a few hours ago." Jade said.
"Really?" Astoria asked, starting to tear up again. Ginny sat up, her hair flying everywhere and her face red and swollen.
"He said I was on my monthly!" Ginny wailed.
"He said I'll never understand!" Astoria wailed, walking towards Ginny who crawled towards her.
"I missed you Ass! Why did you leave me?" Ginny asked as Astoria wiped her eyes and shuddered from her breathing.
"I missed you too! I was so stupid to give everything up for a boy. I realized how selfish and stupid I was the moment I walked out! I'll never do it again! I promise! You girls are the only important thing in my life!" Astoria said, hugging Ginny.
They sobbed and promised each other a life together. Jade crossed her arms, trying not to giggle. It was the first time after breaking up with Fred that she found something to truly smile about. She didn't realize how hard and loud she was giggling until Astoria and Ginny paused, slowly turning their heads at her. They looked identical, their eyes and upper lips swollen, their skin blotchy and wet.
"What are you laughing at?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah! Just because you're the only one taken and not dumped like the rest of us, doesn't give you the right to…oh my god, what did I say?" Astoria asked as Jade immediately burst into tears.
"I didn't mean to be mean. Look! I'll slap Ginny for you! Why is she crying?" Astoria asked shrilly. Ginny sniffed and took a seat next to Jade, rubbing her back.
"Fred and her split up during the Christmas break." Ginny explained.
"But why? You two looked so happy!" Astoria said.
"I slept with McLaggen." Jade squealed.
"What the fuck? Why fuck for? For heaven's sake, were you cursed? Did he slip you a love potion? Were you drunk?"
"Drunk!" "That still doesn't make sense! Even corpses would wake up to say 'no thank you, fuck off' if McLaggen came on to them!" Astoria said.
"I don't even remember it happening. I was so wasted and messed up." Jade cried.
"I know how much he loved you. I just hated him because Draco didn't like him and that I heard about the Davis girl. But he loves you to death, I've seen that." Astoria said.
"Malfoy cares about you too. He was so worried about you; he came to me for help. He didn't care whether or not anyone else liked him, as long as you were happy, he would have done anything." Jade said.
"But that's the problem! He's working on a mission for the Dark Lord! I don't want him to get involved with that! We fought about this ever since last summer but he's so helpless. The Dark Lord's got his father by his hairy white balls and his mother's a mess, bless her soul. She wants him to be safe and happy just like me but Malfoy's obligated to work for the Dark Lord. How could I stay with someone when they're willingly and knowingly destroying themselves? So I left." Astoria said. The girls burst into tears, crying with each other.
"I can't believe you and Fred split. I thought you were going to stay forever! But then again, I never would have thought you'd sleep with McLaggen. I mean, after seeing you both at the shack!" Astoria said, seeing Jade look up.
"What shack?" Jade asked.
"I saw you and him having sex in the Shrieking Shack!" Astoria said.
"Ew! You saw my brother and Jade having sex?" Ginny gagged.
"Up against the wall, stark naked…which was a bit surprising giving that I literally followed you both in two minutes later." Astoria said.
"Oh thank god it was you! I was so worried it was someone else and they told the Professors!" Jade said.
"Ew…still." Ginny said.
"We'd have sex everywhere. I hate not being with him. Every time we were with each other, it was sensational, mindblowing, toe curling-"
"That's my brother you're talking about!" Ginny said.
"If I could do anything I could, I'd never even go to Bali…hell, I'd never even meet Cormac!" Jade said.
"Draco's sort of the same way but he's so much more romantic than you could ever think of. He gets so creative and passionate and I can just feel him when we're-"
"That's Malfoy you're talking about! What's wrong with you both?" Ginny asked.
"What's wrong with us? What's wrong with you? I haven't even heard you make a good thing out of Thomas." Astoria said.
"What's there to say? I didn't feel the same way the way you two describe it about your significant others." Ginny shrugged.
"That's because you've never been with the boy you've fallen in love with 5 years ago at the same King's Cross station." Jade said. Astoria smiled and wagged her eyebrows at Ginny who blushed and covered her face from them seeing her smile.
"I'm sure he feels exactly the same way about you Gin." Astoria said.
"Of course he does, have you seen the way he looks at her these days?" Jade asked Astoria who nodded.
"Three tables away and it still clear as day. Potter's got a stiffy with your name on it, Gin." Astoria winked. Ginny grabbed a pillow and swung over Astoria's head.
"Sorry, it's been over a year since we last heard your filthy mouth! Allow me to take some time to get used to it!" Ginny said, ducking from Astoria's pillow.
"Take all the time you need! I've become a permanent fixture here and I promise to never act like what I did, especially for a man. You girls are my first priority and will always be! Everything else can get on line!" she said.
"You two have fun; I can barely keep my eyes open." Jade yawned, crawling into her bed. She felt Astoria and Ginny hit her with their pillows and she got up, yelling at them.
"You two think that's funny?!" Jade asked.
"Look at that Gin, if she flares her nostrils anymore, she'll spray us with her troll bogey!" Astoria yelped when Jade hit them with her pillow. "No you didn't!" Astoria screamed as the entire room filled with thick white feathers. Ginny got on top of her bed, screaming from the top of her lungs.
"THIS. IS. SPARTAAAAA-ARRRGHH!" Ginny screamed when Jade and Astoria kicked her off.
"What the hell is going on in here?!" a voice asked.
Jade, Astoria and Ginny quickly looked up from the pile they were in together and saw Hermione along with a few other girls standing at the doorway in their pajamas.
"Oh hello there! We were just…Jade; tell them what we were doing." Astoria said, patting Jade's shoulder who was under Ginny and Astoria.
"Can't…breathe." Jade said hoarsely.
"Then you tell them, Gin." Astoria said without moving.
"We were wondering how many ducks sacrificed their lives…for our pillows." Ginny said.
"That's a good one, I would have never thought of that!" Astoria whispered.
"I would have thought of better ones if the oxygen wasn't blocked from going to my brain!" Jade said, still on the bottom. They looked at Hermione who gave them a stern stare.
"We'll give you a free quill not to mention this to anyone! You like quills, don't you Hermione?" Astoria asked, holding out a feather.
