Jade spent her day outside the next day. She wanted to stay away and avoid any kind of merriment everyone was fussing about, over the stupid Valentine's Ball. She thought she would spend her time, talking to the boys in the Slytherin studies but found that they too were getting ready. Slytherin girls were much more worse when it came to getting ready for the Ball.
Jade threw a roll of bread into the water and the Squid tried attacking it with its tentacle.
"It's just you and me tonight. Every one of those wankers are going to be dancing over stupid Valentine's Day. What's so special about it anyways?" Jade asked. A tentacle shot through the air. "Tell me about it." Jade said, tapping her cigarette for the ashes to fall.
"I see someone's not getting ready for the Ball tonight." A voice said behind Jade.
Jade turned around and saw Harry standing there, smiling slightly. "Well…since you're also not in there, I guess that makes two." Jade said. He pointed to the rock next to her.
"May I?" he asked politely.
"Did I tell you to fuck off?" Jade asked. She was being humorous but he didn't seem to get it.
"Oh, if you want me to leave, I will." He said going to leave but Jade clicked her teeth.
"No, I meant, yes you can sit with me. If I tell you to fuck off, that means fuck off. I just don't like formalities, that's all." Jade said as he sat next to her.
"Yeah I guessed. No thank you." Harry said when Jade offered him a cigarette.
"Am I the only one who smokes except for the Slytherins?" Jade asked.
"You might not know this, but the Patils and Seamus has been recently trying it." He said and Jade gasped with fake shock.
"Scandalous!" she said.
Harry chuckled and Jade grinned. For once, she liked her cheeks stretching out into a smile now and then. "So why aren't you going to the ball tonight?" he asked, looking at her. Jade caught his bright green eyes and looked away.
"I'm not good with Balls." Jade said. She heard Harry snort next to her and she gasped. "No! I didn't mean it like that! You're mighty perverted aren't you Harry Potter?" Jade asked knocking him on the shoulder with her elbow.
"Well you shouldn't have worded it like that." He pointed.
"True, why aren't you going to the Ball then?" Jade asked.
"Oh no, I will be going tonight, it's just that it usually takes me ten minutes tops to get ready. No need to stand in front of the mirror for hours on end." He said seeing the smile on Jade's face.
"I wonder why we don't hang out as often." Jade said. Harry smiled back.
"We can start now if you'd like." Harry said.
"When did you become so charming? What happened to your little girlfriend, what's her name, Ron?" Jade asked.
Harry paused and suddenly burst into laughter. "You know, I thought you were going to ask about Cho!" he said seeing Jade raise an eyebrow.
"You were dating Cho Chang? The one who dated the dead guy, Diggory?" Jade asked seeing Harry look suddenly uncomfortable and nod slightly. Jade didn't mean to get him uncomfortable. She heard the tales through Draco and Hermione about Cedric Diggory's death. She always liked Harry and respected his courage and ongoing battle with The Dark Lord, which in Jade's opinion was the biggest coward in the world. Of course she would have worded it differently, but there was no need right now. They were both sitting in silence, listening to the giant squid occasionally moving its tentacle in the surface of the water, to make them know that it was still there. Jade looked around and reached into her pocket.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked seeing Jade take out a big piece of bread.
"Food!" Jade said throwing it to the squid.
"You can feed the squid?" Harry asked.
"What do you see me doing?" Jade asked, sitting back down.
"No I meant, are you supposed to?" Harry asked.
"Am I supposed to? Of course! It looks hungry! Poor thing. I would have thrown Weasley in there, but damn it, he has so many relatives, one of them would at least care to notice that he was gone. Even you." Jade said as Harry laughed.
"He's not that bad you know. He just doesn't react the way he does with his loved ones, other than that, he's completely harmless." Harry said.
"Hmm, I bet." Jade said, her hands starting to get cold. "It's freezing outside. Do you want to head back into the castle?" Jade asked jerking her head towards the castle.
"Yeah, do you want some hot chocolate?" Harry asked seeing Jade shrug.
"Sure, I guess." Jade said nodding.
"It's on me." Harry said as they both laughed over it. They walked into the castle, talking about the Kitchens.
"Fuck! I've never heard that before! In all my life in Hogwarts, I've never been to the Kitchens!" Jade said.
Harry grinned and ran a hand through his thick black and untamed hair that defied gravity. "See now you have a good reason to spend more time with me." Harry said.
Jade liked his style. He was boyishly charming. They reached a painting where there was a bowl of fruits. Harry reached out to the pear and started tickling it. It giggled and the painting jumped open, leaving Jade extremely surprised and excited. "Oh my God! It giggled! You can-wow!" Jade said laughing.
Harry walked in and held out his hand. Without thinking, Jade grabbed it and he walked her in a room with a table in the middle. "Dobby?" Harry asked.
An elf popped in front of them, startling Jade, whose instant reflex was to kick it.
"Harry Potter asks for Dobby's service?" Dobby asked bowing deeply.
"Don't do that Dobby, please. Two hot chocolates." Harry said. He turned to Jade and asked her if she wanted anything else.
"I think Flitwick on a unicycle; juggling Snape, Filch and Mrs. Norris would be fine." Jade said. Harry went into another fit of laughter and Jade stood there, realizing that he was still holding her hand. She went to pull her hand away but the door opened and they turned to see Draco and Ginny walking in.
"Oh…hi." Ginny said seeing Harry and Jade, holding each other's hands. Draco was left speechless. Jade was holding Harry Potter's hand. For what bloody reason?
"What are you both doing here?" Jade asked, taking her hand away from Harry. Dobby came back with their hot chocolates and set them on the table.
"We were hungry. What are you both doing?" Draco asked a little too harshly than he wanted to.
"We were planning to shag each other senseless, but darn it, you caught us." Jade said snapping her fingers.
"I don't find that funny at all." Draco said.
Jade smirked and leaned against the wall, narrowing her eyes at Draco. "Ever since you started dating, your humor has been sucked dry. You find nothing funny at all…why is that?" Jade asked.
Draco didn't respond. Ginny, who was eyeing Harry precariously, had said nothing either. Jade turned to Harry, who kept stealing glances at Ginny. Jade raised her eyebrow and saw the tension between them…what was this about now? Jade turned to Draco, who had his eyes locked on hers. Suddenly, Jade didn't want to be there anymore.
"Excuse me." Jade said leaving.
Jade lied on her stomach as Hermione straightened her hair.
"Does this look nice with my dress or should I make it wavy?" Hermione asked looking at Jade's reflection through the mirror.
Jade didn't look up. "Very nice." Jade responded in her monotonous voice.
"Jade! You're no help!" Hermione said.
"Very ni-wait, what was your question?" Jade asked. She grinned as Hermione playfully glared at her, still upset that she wasn't attending the Valentine's Ball. Jade heard Ginny shuffling around in the bathroom. This was a no brainer; Ginny Weasley was probably going to be an eye sore.
"Where's my perfume? Jade, are you sure you don't want to come? It'll be really fun." Ginny said and Jade shook her head.
"There's no reason for me to hang around there. Have fun." Jade said when Hermione walked out, checking her appearance.
"All right, I'm done. Ready Ginny?" Hermione asked as Ginny nodded.
"Bye Jade. I'm going to miss you." Hermione said walking over and hugging Jade tightly.
"I'll be so drunk, I won't even think about you." Jade said with a flash of her teeth.
"Don't you dare! Don't drink too much Jade. I swear I'll never speak to you if you do." Hermione said. Jade made a face and saw them leave and lock the door.
It was awfully quiet in this room. Jade had nothing to do. For some horrible reason, a strange desire erupted inside of her. She really wanted to impress Draco. What if she could look like Ginny? This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Jade shook these thoughts from her head and went to reach for the crate of Firewhiskey under her table. She lingered for a moment. Jade looked up to the bathroom and to Hermione's trunk full of clothes. Jumping off the bed, Jade got to work.