Chapter Three

"Bog water, on my sheets soaked through to my bed, all over my clothes. Dirt, up my walls, all over the floor and on the ceiling. It will take me days to clean up and I'll never get the smell out you stinking, chicken molesting toe-rag!" Sarah shrieked, punctuating every sentence by banging the Goblin onto the floor by it's neck.

"Not my fault, not my idea Lady! Splodge promise!" Splodge squealed in fear for his life thinking he should have

gone with the bog. "It was King! King said to!" Displaying the admirable loyalty all Goblins feel for their sovereign. Sarah paused.

"The King?" She snarled.

"Yes, yes Lady! King!" Splodge cried falling to his knees in relief. Sarah's eyes narrowed dangerously, her face turning red. She stalked to her dresser, avoiding the stains and miscellaneous objects the Goblin had strewn, and

pulled out a clear crystal. She looked at it for a moment quizzically, shrugged and threw it up in the air, she disappeared in a cloud of glitter. Splodge gulped, the King was a goner.

She appeared outside large doors in a sort of foyer, the crystal pulled towards them.

"In there is he? Right." Still seeing red, Sarah saw her bedroom again and almost went cross-eyed. She threw open the doors so they banged against the walls.

"JARETH!!!!!!" A huge sea of faces turned towards her, some pointing sticks at her. Heedlessly, she marched towards him, fists clenching. He looked inordinately pleased to see her. That'd change. Fast.

"Sarah! Light of my life, Queen of my heart (and hopefully my Kingdom soon) what on earth are you doing here?" The egotistical twit was grinning at her. Grinning.

"You idiot!"

"I love you too."

"Narcissistic, cheating, brainless, inconsiderate, glitter-producing, imbecile!"

"Carry on like that and I might get hurt darling!"

"Did you even think about what Karen will do t me when she smells that? I have to live in that room for another 4 or 5 years and not only will it stink, the dirt will stain and judging by the movements of some of the rotting food that delightful Goblin, I'll need to fumigate it as well!" She was pratically sobbing by the end of this.

"You are such a prat, Jareth, and I'd rather eat radioactive strawberries than marry you!" She snarled.

"Really Sarah, strawberries? I'd've thought you'd have gone with peaches, dear. Fond memories and all."

"What? Of smashing the ballroom up? Yes that was quite exciting, but the rest of the dream was so dull, I'd recommend shoving the peaches up your arse rather than offering them to anyone, you never know, it might dislodge the stick!" Sarah was fast becoming incoherent.

"Ouch Sarah, but what do you want me to do about it. Besides, it shouldn't bother you now, after all, it's not like you have to live there."

"What?! I just said I'm there for another 4 years at least!"

"Provided you can get back. By the way, love the pyjamas they really suit you, of course, I'm sure they would look even more charming on the floor." Sarah flushed a bit then…

"What do you mean provided, of-"

"How did you get here?"

"How do you think I got here? Train?"

"You used a crystal, and how many of those do you have?"

"Just the one, it was bad enough-"

"One, how many do you have now?" She rolled her eyes

"None I-Oh." Her eyes widened and her lips parted. Making a herculean effort Jareth ignored this and smirked.

"Exactly."

"Well, you can just send me home, Jareth." Sarah raised her eyebrows. Examining his nails and cocking his head Jareth asked,

"Why, precious, would I want to do that?" She lunged for his throat, he caught her hands and bared his teeth in a grin pulling her closer to him.

"Careful now, precious, we wouldn't want you to get hurt." He said mildly, looking down at her. Realising exactly what the view afforded him, Sarah stepped away and hissed,

"Keep me here, Goblin King, and I'll make your life a living nightmare." She spun on her heel and headed towards the door, not hearing Jareth whisper,

"No more than it is without you."

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Now this was just fantastic.

A weird looking bloke turned up, creating a thunderstorm from nothing.

He turns out to be the new DADA teacher.

He interrogates her about 'new friends' which admittedly she doesn't get, but…

Then he creates a sort of bubble thing.

And summons one from her.

Then a crazy lady with apparently homicidal intentions towards earlier-mentioned weird-looking bloke.

And this 'Goblin King' was in love with her!

Potential murder and a romance, all she was missing was the chicken and, if things carried on at this rate, that should be forthcoming at any time! Although, if things did carry on at this rate, they could probably expect some of the Hufflepuffs to have conniptions. Ah well, she didn't like them anyway. Oh happy day! Excitement at long last! The hall was breaking out in murmurs, oooh, a scandal. Ginny was feeling positively giddy, she felt like clapping her hands and cackling.

Now, all she had to do was think what to do about the situation. She liked the look of the girl in pyjamas and she'd probably be feeling so lost stuck here. Ginny felt a stab of sympathy. She looked towards Professor King who looked as though all his Christmases had come at once. Dumbledore was standing now, ready to explain to (and mollify) the students. The hall fell silent. She took advantage.

"Sir!" Dumbledore looked down at her.

"Yes, Miss Weasley?" She took a deep breath and thought how to present her case.

"Sir, I was just thinking, the girl. She looked like a Muggle; she must be feeling a little lost. I thought I might go to her, get her something to eat, maybe…" She trailed off, raising her eyebrows inquiringly. Dumbledore looked towards Jareth then answered.

"That seems like a good idea, Miss Weasley. Get her settled in your dorm, as it appears she will be staying with us, if you would also be so kind as to lend her some clothes, or perhaps a dorm-mate, if you need help tp do modifications I'm sure a member of staff would help." He smiled at her.

"Thanks, Professor!" She jumped up and scurried after the girl.

Sarah couldn't believe she had been so monumentally stupid. She had forgotten, in her rage, who she was dealing with, not that that was an excuse. Ugh, now she was stuck here. She kicked at some dirt. A flash of red appeared at the door as she glanced back, when she turned around she saw it was a girl. Curiously she waited until she was in front of her. She was breathing heavily, so Sarah started the introductions.

"Hi, I'm Sarah Williams, who are you?" She offered her hand. The girl shook it warmly, smiling mischievously.

"Hi I'm Ginevra Weasley, feel free to call me Ginny though." She replied, mock shivering when she said her first name. "If you want to come with me, we can see about food and hot chocolate, and some clothes." Sarah blushed, feeling embarrassed about her obvious dependence. Ginny looked at her, correctly interpreting her expression and took hold of her arm.

"I sort of know how you feel," she said quietly, "my family doesn't have much money so I always have worn and second-hand things but I hate when people give me things for free-like I'm some sort of charity. Makes me think they're taking a pop at my parents." She got a furious and determined look on her face as she said, "but they love me and that's all that should matter." She looked down, "not that anyone gets that, they don't understand."

Sarah looked at her, really looked. Ginny had huge blue eyes, their sparkle muted at the current subject, a ghost of dimples, freckles and, of course, the bright red hair. With her sharp features and grin, she reminded her of a picture of a fey-creature she'd seen framed in an antique shop.

"Yeah, that's all that should matter. My Dad loves me, so I know. It doesn't always feel like it but…" She shook her head, "my Mum left, oh ages ago, then my Dad re-married. I was determined to hate her," she laughed. "My evil step-mother, then she got pregnant. Toby was, well, a target I suppose. Then I… wished him away to the goblins."

"What?" Ginny turned to face her and Sarah told her. It was kind of nice to get it off of her chest and when she'd finished telling Ginny about what happened today she started to giggle. Ginny joined in and when they walked back to castle they were in hysterics. When they'd finished Ginny started talking herself, about Tom and Harry and the War and magic and what Jareth had done before Sarah had arrived.

"…and you can imagine how surprised I was when an insane girl in pyjamas turned up and started yelling at my teacher and trying to throttle him!" This sent them into another set of giggles.

"Well, although, admittedly I have had the worst week of my life but at least I've made a friend. I wonder what Jareth meant just walking up to you and asking questions."

"Really, jealous?" Ginny asked raising an eyebrow. Sarah snorted, "as if."

"Seriously, though, Sarah. He's in love with you, you know."

"Don't be ridiculous, he is not."

"Whatever you say Sarah-precious." She trilled. "Let's go to the kitchens and then I'll show you the dorms."