Chapter Nine – Fisticuffs
All four girls woke up relatively late the next morning, considering how late they assumed they stayed up until, but none as late as Jamie had.

"Jamie, come on, wake up, lunch time," Hermione said, shaking Jamie awake.

"If I m-m-m-must," she yawned, stretching so much some cracks could be heard and got up and quickly got dressed, still yawning as she followed Hermione through the common room and led her all the way to the Great Hall. The hike gave her enough time to compose herself. She also decided to talk to Hermione about her being Harry. She couldn't handle all the secrets anymore; at least not with Hermione.

"Err, Hermione? Can I talk to you?"

"Of course you can. What is it?" Hermione may have had some suspicions at first, but since last night she definitely knew Jamie was Jamie.

"I'm a… Metamorphmagus."

"I once knew someone who… Wait! Harry!" Hermione realized.

"I'll tell you all about it later or you can talk to Dumbledore about it but can I be myself in peace? Please? I just really don't think I can do this without someone to talk to…"

Hermione nodded, surprised at the sudden confession.

Ron waved them over at lunch. Jamie smiled at how happy Ron looked to see her and she thought about the bet. Ron was going to win no matter what – she couldn't be 'won over' by Harry, now could she? But Ron had given himself great chances to win.

He introduced her to a lot of other Gryffindors. She suspected he'd told them all about the bet. But she didn't mind. She only had one guy in mind and he wasn't in Gryffindor. Draco Malfoy was looking at her, probably wondering who she was. That was confirmed to Jamie when he inconspicuously followed her out of the Great Hall when she left alone to the bathroom.

She jumped when she almost ran into him coming out. "H-hi!"

"Hello. Who are you?" Malfoy asked curiously.

"I'm Jamie Jones," she smiled and offered her hand.

He shook it politely. "I'm Draco Malfoy. Are you a Gryffindor?"

"No, I haven't gotten a house yet. I don't even know if I will. I can hang out with anyone I want to, I suppose."

"Want to come meet some Slytherins?"

She smiled happily. "Sure!"

They went outside, where the other Slytherin sixth-years were hanging out.

"Guys, this is Jamie." He announced.

"Ooooooooh are you the new girl everyone's talking about? You HAVE to hang out with us, it's the only way to go!" Pansy said, pulling her down to sit with their group. She was suddenly glad she'd worn her green shirt and started to like the Slytherins more and more. Whether they were accepting her just because of Draco earlier of not, they genuinely accepted her now.

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Ron and Hermione were walking back from the common room in search of Jamie. They hadn't seen her since lunch, Hermione was worried and Ron really wanted to see her. She wasn't in Gryffindor Tower at all, so they headed back downstairs to find her.

What a shock they had gotten when they saw her laughing and talking with the Slytherins, as if she and Pansy were best friends. Hermione couldn't see how she could do that in her position and Ron was jealous of Malfoy, who was sitting beside Jamie and looking at her… seductively?

Ron stomped over, Hermione not detaining him. She was looking at Jamie, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

As soon as Ron arrived, all the Slytherins looked at him in disgust and Jamie rolled her eyes. Malfoy got up. "Something on your mind, Weasel?"

"I wanted to talk to Jamie." He growled.

"She doesn't want to see you. She has friends, unlike you."

Jamie didn't even feel like stepping in. She didn't mind – she was having a blast, and Ron didn't prove very entertaining. Even the Slytherin rumor mill was fuller and more exciting.

"Jamie, can I talk to you?" Ron asked around Malfoy's shoulder.

"You already are."

Ron frowned and pushed Malfoy away when he blocked his view. In a second, Malfoy threw a punch and they started fighting with their fists, feet and even teeth. Both Hermione and Jamie raised their wands and froze one of the contenders. Well, Hermione froze Malfoy with a body-bind, but Jamie actually stunned Ron.

"Jamie!" Hermione gasped.

"He could've left when Draco told him to, but noooooo, he just had to stay and start a fight! Now, unfreeze him and you can go on with your pathetic lives." Jamie retorted, angry about everything that had just happened.

Hermione woke Ron up and replied, "No. I won't unfreeze him. He'll just have to stay there." She then walked away, pulling a dazed Ron behind her.

Malfoy, fully conscious but unable to move, felt like making certain peoples' lives like hell. Starting with the Mudblood know-it-all Granger, he thought.

"Anyone know the counter-spell?" Jamie demanded of the Slytherins. Unfortunately, the only one there that did know was the one that couldn't talk. "I'll be right back, then." She sighed.

She ran all-out to the library, losing Gryffindor 15 points as she claimed to be one. She found the book in record time and lost another 5 points heading back. She was happy about that.

"It's in there, the librarian told me." She panted. Pansy looked it up while Jamie lay on the grass. Blaise was the one who found it, being the smarter one and looking up different letters in the index, not just P for 'Petrificus Totalus'. He was also the one who performed the spell.

Malfoy got up with Goyle's help and starting ranting and cursing about Hermione. Then he took it out on his thugs, reprimanding them for not knowing the simple spell. Jamie cringed when he turned to her.

"AND YOU!" she jumped. "You're the only one that would think of going to the library in this sad group! You really are something." He smiled an actual smile, not a smirk, and calmed down. Jamie could feel herself blushing at the compliment.

Pansy, who wasn't reprimanded or complimented, smiled at Jamie like a friend would. What would she have done if Jamie hadn't been there? She didn't even realize it was really Jamie's fault that Ron had come over in the first place, or even Draco's for inviting her.

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"Hermione, where are we going?" Ron had to almost jog to keep up with her. She was fuming.

"We're going to see Dumbledore!" Hermione said, enraged and running.

"Why? We're not telling on Malfoy, are we?"

"No, we're… telling on Jamie."

"What for? She didn't do anything!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. It was Fleur Delacour all over again. "She was hanging around with Slytherins. She stunned you to get you off of Malfoy!"

"Hey, we get to see Harry!" Ron said suddenly.

Hermione was in front of the stone gargoyle and bit her lip. No, they wouldn't see Harry. They hadn't in a while, whether anyone thought so or not.

"Chiclets," Hermione said, remembering the little packet of the little pieces of gum in her pocket and sighing. Jamie could have been such a good friend…

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, poring over papers when the two students burst in.

Hermione was the first to speak. "Professor Dumbledore, we really have to talk to you about… Jamie."