Sorry it took so long. Got a serious case of writers block and real life kept getting in the way. I'd say I recovered pretty well. Don't hurt me! Sorry Ron and Hermione fans, but they are just not my favorite people.
After a single week of playing Good Samaritan, Jade had settled into a routine. He had become well known as the guy to ask if you were struggling in your classes. He was unsure who started the nickname but soon he was referred to all over school as Slytherin's Sweetheart. Even Griffindors and Slytherins had taken to calling him "Sweetheart" with various doses of mockery. He was trying not to complain; he did sort of bring it on himself.
One morning, Hermione walked up behind him at breakfast. "I don't know who you think you're fooling but this charade has gone on long enough. It's time to take responsibility."
Jade forced himself not to panic, "Can I help you?"
The girl brandished her wand dramatically, "Finite incantatum!"
A staring contest commenced. "What exactly did you hope to accomplish?"
"I don't understand. That should have worked." The girl frowned and proceeded to throw a dozen other counter-curses at him. "I don't know how you did it, but it is time to come clean Harry!"
Jade laughed cruelly at the girl, "I'm going to ignore the fact that you have been casting at me for the last five minutes because you have clearly cracked under the pressure of remaining top of your year for so long. Seriously, you think I'm Harry Potter? You're delusional and I'm insulted. I'm clearly much better looking than Boy-Wonder and a hell of a lot more intelligent." The Slytherins chuckled appreciatively behind him.
Malfoy spoke up, "Do you really think, Granger, that the Griffindor Golden Boy would last five minutes in Slytherin, if by some miracle he convinced the sorting hat to place him here? Leave it to a mudblood to come up with something so ridiculous." His underlings guffawed accordingly. "And our boy's right about being more attractive," the blond punctuated this comment with a wink in Jade's direction.
Draco Malfoy is flirting with me. I think hell just froze over. Wait, since when is Malfoy gay? He has always been a bit of a ponce, but I thought that was just a pureblood thing. Jade was certain he had a deer-in-the-headlights look plastered all over his face.
The blond just gave him that trademark smirk and turned back to Hermione. "If you know what's good for you Granger, you turn your little frizzy-haired mudblood self around and march back to the Griffindorks before someone decides to teach you your place."
Hermione tossed one more glare in Jade's direction, "This is far from over," and stomped back to Griffindor table.
Jade sighed, "Of course it is."
The rest of the day was blessedly normal until that evening, when a certain blonde sauntered up to him in the commons and flounced down next to him on the sofa. Jade ignored him in favour of the book he was engrossed in. The boy huffed in annoyance and Jade tried not to smirk. The book in question caught fire. Jade yelped and snapped it shut, putting out the flames. He glared at the overly smug boy on his left. "You are so lucky this book has protection charms for that."
The blonde smirked lazily. He was sprawled against the arm of the couch, looking entirely too comfortable. "What would you have done if it didn't?"
"What do you want Malfoy?"
The blonde's smirk widened, "I see my reputation precedes me."
"It's your father's reputation actually, but the Malfoy looks are unmistakable." That earned him a scowl. "You know you're going to get wrinkles if you keep that up?"
Malfoy's face instantly went blank. Then he seemed to realise what he had done and tried to glare. Jade bit his cheek trying not to laugh. When he met the other boy's eyes they both gave in to helpless chuckles.
The blonde composed himself fairly quickly, "Actually I blessed you with my company this evening to inform you that you owe me."
Jade blinked, "What?"
"You did not really believe that my assistance this morning came without a price? I realise you are new here but no Slytherin is that naive."
Jade eyed the other boy warily, "What do you want?"
"I haven't decided yet, but rest assured that when I do, I fully intend to collect." The blonde bounced to his feet and strutted away with a new spring to his step.
Jade sat quietly in the Leaky Cauldron with the hood of his cloak pulled up, waiting. He figured he would draw less attention if no one could guess his age. The Cauldron was seedy enough this time of night that a hooded stranger barely got a second glance. When Voldemort's return became public knowledge it seemed like most decent folk had stopped leaving their homes after dark.
He smiled when his invited companion slid into the seat across from him, "How did you know?"
The werewolf chuckled, "You've changed everything but your scent, Cub."
Jade threw up a few privacy wards. "Thanks for coming, Remus."
"Thank you for trusting me enough to invite me."
"Your letter nearly gave me a heart-attack; I thought Dumbledore had found me."
"Yes, I was surprised by Fawkes assistance as well. It seems your circle of influence has spread to include other wizard's familiars, the famous Potter charm at its finest. Though I suspect it skips a generation; your father always tried too hard. He really was an arrogant prat," Remus gave a mournful smile.
Jade decided to get to the point, "Look Remus, I called you here tonight because we need to talk. I want you out of Grimmauld place. I'd like you to move in to the Potter manor down Lupi Lane. You need a place to stay where you aren't being watched all the time and the house elves could use someone to dote on. I'm running out of projects to keep them busy. I'm not asking you to abandon the Order nor will I ask you to spy, but if Dumbledore wants you to do something too dangerous or starts giving you 'busywork' I want you to be able to tell him where to shove his suggestions without risking your livelihood. You're the closest thing to family I've got, Rems; so help me, if you die before a ripe old age, I will learn necromancy just to bring you back and then give you to the twins to test their new products. Do I make myself clear?"
Remus' eyes widened with mock terror, "Oh very, very, magnificently clear. "
Jade smirked, "Good."
"You don't have to do this cub; I'd be happy to spy if that's what you want, or leave the Order. Just say the word. My loyalties are with you; don't ever doubt that."
"Do whatever you believe in, Remus. I can't make this call for you." Jade stood and pulled the man into a hug, "I better head back before someone misses me. It was great to see you again. Send a house-elf if you need contact me."
"Wait, where are you hiding? I mean, you don't have to tell me, but it would help my peace of mind to know."
"Oh, I'm hiding in the best possible place, "Jade grinned at Remus' blank expression. "Plain sight, of course. Hogwarts." He disapparated with a wink.
Harry would later look back on it as the single, stupidest moment of his life; that was including knowingly walking into the trap that led to Sirius' demise and looking in Snape's pensieve. He still had nightmares about the look in the potion master's eyes.
It was one of those deceptively peaceful days, right before Halloween. That really should have clued him in. It was bright, sunny, and fairly dry, so most students capable of a mild warming charm were spending the afternoon outdoors. Jade was curled beneath a tree with a book. This is starting to become a bad habit of mine. Malfoy was a few feet away, holding court and shooting little smirks Jade's way whenever he looked up. That boy is really starting to freak me out.
Hagrid had a new pet, which the Griffindors were all watching. It was a pregnant wyvern with a badly wounded side, most likely from an acromantula attack. She was too heavy to fly for more than a few feet and was unlikely to last long on the ground with her injury. Hagrid had set up a pen and was given permission to keep her until she had laid her eggs and healed enough to be moved. The pen had a 15 foot wall all the way around with a walkway at the top where the beast's admirers could stand. The wyvern was chained to a peg in the center of her pen.
The wyvern was a cross between snake and dragon. She had a snake's body with slender limbs and long leathery wings. She did not have the armour of a dragon and could only breathe a weak flame, though she did have a full set of rather impressive teeth and razor sharp talons. She was 18 feet long from her snout to the tip of her tail. Her scales shone a breathtaking aqua-green in the afternoon sun. She was lithe and graceful, or would be if she was not badly hurt and fat with eggs. She had a beautiful voice as well; musical and just on the edge of Jade's comprehension. He caught every third word, like listening to someone with a strong accent. He did not really need to understand; they were mostly curse-words anyway. He could have happily sat there and just listened to her for days.
Malfoy caught his attention when the blonde began to make his way toward the pen. Jade frowned, torn between following the boy and staying put. Malfoy was certain to be up to no good and Jade was curious to see how the Griffindor/Slytherin dynamic worked without him. The smarter move would be to stay where he was and not risk getting caught up in the conflict, but Jade had a feeling he should go. Something was drawing him to make one decision over the other, like it always did when someone was in danger. This was the first time these 'instincts' had beckoned him in a situation that did not require a snap decision.
Jade examined the feeling. It did not feel the least bit out of place. In fact, it felt 'in place' like something that is always in the room with you but you have completely forgotten about until you need it. Jade decided to try something he had recently read about. He focused on the memory of how he felt the first time he held his wand and tried to feel that again. He sank into the memory like he was trying to conjure a patronus and suddenly it was there, that warmth, that homecoming, thrumming just beneath his skin, begging for direction.
That should not have been that easy! Most wizards can never find their magical core, let alone use it. And what the hell is it doing in my skin? It's supposed to be a little tangled ball in the center of my body! Great, I really am a freak! Maybe I need a Healer. Maybe I'm blowing this all out of proportion and I haven't actually found my magic. There's only one way to find out. Jade focused on combining the two feelings; easier said than done but his occlumency practice helped. The thrumming just barely brushed against the insistent tugging when the world disappeared in a flash of fangs that had Jade on his feet and sprinting toward the wyvern pen.
Fabulous. I have abnormal magic and I'm a bloody seer. At least I know Dumbledore hasn't been messing with my head. Why is it always me? He scaled the wooden ladder just in time to see Ron furiously charge at Malfoy, colliding with the blonde and causing him to topple over the railing into the pen. Jade never even slowed down. He jumped headlong into the pen after the other boy. He rolled into a painful but relatively safe landing, just in time to dodge the fangs from his vision.
He drew his wand and placed himself between the wyvern and Malfoy. The blonde was on his knees and making no motion to stand. The wyvern had coiled back on her haunches and was swaying her head back and forth like a cobra about to strike. ...Nasssty...hatchlingsss...protect... She sent a spout of flame in their direction and Jade hastily cast a freezing charm.
"Are you injured?" Jade's voice was low and calm, eyes never leaving the serpent.
"I think my ankle is broken."
Strike. Sidestep. Thank Merlin for quidditch reflexes!
...Vermin...
Jade wet his lips and made a really stupid suggestion, "If I distract her, how long will it take you to make it to the exit?"
The blonde glanced at the door, which was far off to the right, "Two minutes, maybe."
"Start moving." How am I supposed to do this without hurting her?
Malfoy began to crawl, moving his injured limb as little as possible. The sudden motion caught the attention of the already pissed-off wyvern, which moved to lash out at the blonde. ...SSStupid...
Jade ducked past the creature, sending a mild stinging hex at her good side. Not ssso fassst beautiful, it came out in parsel tongue.
Malfoy froze.
Jade dodged another lunge and snarled at the other boy, "Move, damn it!"
He moved.
Figuring that horse had left the stables, Jade tried to sooth the wyvern. No one else was close enough to hear, Easssy girl. No one wantsss to hurt you or your hatchlingsss. He could not be sure that she understood, but the parsel tongue made her hesitate.
"Don' hurt 'er. Ye could kill 'er young," someone had retrieved Hagrid.
A glance revealed the half-giant carrying the Malfoy heir out of the pen. The serpent took advantage of his distraction and he felt long talons separating the flesh below his ribs. He rolled with the blow and switched his wand to his left hand just in time to freeze another spout of flame. She seemed spurred on by the smell of blood, and the pain was slowing him down. He felt fangs sink into his shoulder. He switched hands again and a stinging hex to the eyes made the beast let him go with a howl of pain and rage. Ignoring the agony in his side, he sprinted for the exit before the wyvern could see again. He made it to the door just in time to duck past a stunned Hagrid and collapse next to a still-injured Malfoy.
As his breathing slowed, he felt his consciousness slipping away. He was vaguely aware of Hagrid picking him up, but even the extra pain that caused was not enough to jolt him back to awareness. The last thing he heard was a voice that sounded suspiciously like Malfoy's, "Wait, not the hospital wing. Take him to Snape."
To say Severus was surprised was a ferocious understatement. There standing outside his door, was an extremely panicked Hagrid, carrying what looked suspiciously like one of his students. "Did you perhaps get lost on your way to the hospital wing?"
"Please, Professor. Malfoy wouldn' let me take 'im to the 'ospital."
Severus raised an eyebrow but stepped aside, "Place him on the couch and kindly remove yourself from my quarters."
The half-giant obeyed, and a quick diagnostic charm later, Severus was pouring potions down Lefey's throat.
Cliffy, again really sorry. The next chapter will be up asap I promise. I've got plans! Mwah ha ha hah! Let me know what you think!