Here folks! I know it's a bit late. But I haven't been feeling too good for the last few days.

RxR!

Jade stood stock still, her eyes wide in terror as she heard Umbridge's footsteps getting nearer. Her face was paler by the second and dread had made her mind go blank. It was as if a very painful death was approaching her. No, this was worse than death. This could cost her everything, her Head Girl-ship, her perfect student reputation, and-and when her uncle would find out…..

She felt someone sharply pulling her hand and her panic-ridden mind caused her to whip around so fast that she cricked her neck painfully. George gave her a slightly worried look and then tugged at her hand again to indicate that they should be fleeing. But Jade's legs seemed to have lost the ability to move. George on the other hand was growing concerned, less about being caught by that foul Umbridge, but more about how the Slytherin was reacting to it. Her will and sense appeared to have abandoned her completely.

It was now that he truly appreciated the fact that she was Hogwarts' Head Girl and belonged to a family that was considered (however wrongly) highly prestigious within the wizarding world, especially the ruling elite. He could never imagine how horrifying an experience of getting caught and punished by a Ministry worker; who's Head was a close friend of her uncle, would be for her. Since rule-breaking and narrow escapes was something George had been doing for seventeen years; nor did he particularly have a status to protect, his father was considered strange even without his family's shenanigans. The worst outcome of this for him, would be expulsion and then confrontation with his mother, which although a very terrifying involvement in itself; George was used to it.

But Jade…

He looked at her white face and completely vulnerable expression. It seemed like she was being confronted by her worst nightmare.

Did she think this would go back to her Uncle? What would happen if it did?

He wondered what Lucius Malfoy would be like at home, to produce such a high amount of anxiety in his niece's heart on such a small matter.

Perhaps as much as a git he is.

Although George had believed he was only like that to enemies and people he disliked, for example wizards who were not rich and pure-blooded like him, so it came as a small surprise that Malfoy was as haughty at home as he was in front of everyone else.

But there wasn't time to waste on that right now, he had to do something. Gripping the paralyzed Jade he started to lead her back, there was the library, a classroom and a….dead end.

The High Inquisitor's steps were getting louder and the red-head felt increasing alarm too. If this had been another teacher or maybe Filch; he would not have been scared at all. But since meeting the ministry-appointee he had decided that there was a teacher that surpassed even Snape in vileness.

So naturally, he was more apprehensive than he should have been.

But their current situation had a part in it too, he couldn't see any of the secret passages here, Jade in her present condition might not even be able to run the other way if they chose to risk it. The library could be an option of course; but he did not think that if Umbridge searched the place, which he was positive, she would, that they both will be able to evade her forever.

The only solution left was the classroom, which Umbridge would definitely look in as well…

But not if she already finds her culprit.

George paused and closed his eyes for an instant; this was possibly the most horrible idea he had ever had. But he knew that there was no other way, except for the both of them being caught. He knew he was being bizarrely heroic and for a Slytherin, but his impulse overrode him and running towards the classroom, he pushed the Head Girl inside.

He had just locked and silenced the door when the stout figure of the High Inquisitor rounded the corner and came face to face with him. She was holding her wand in front of her which she now stowed back in her robes. Then looking up at George, there was a slight pause before her pouchy face warped into a nauseating smile and she said in a soft whisper,

"Mr. Weasley, May I ask what are you doing here?"

"You got a whole week of detention with Umbridge?" Lee Jordan exclaimed over the Gryffindor table as he, George and Fred had breakfast.

"Yeah." George replied sullenly while biting through a piece of buttered toast.

Fred said nothing; he hadn't known that George had come late into the dormitories as he had been already fast asleep. What bothered him further was the fact that his twin had decided to do so without inviting him, or even telling him.

When Fred had been informed; he had been utterly perplexed, why had been George lurking near Umbridge's office? That shouldn't be done on any time of the day (lest a prank is in order) much less near curfew. It also seemed like that he didn't have any purpose of being there…or so Fred had been told.

And he had been caught!

Fred had never anticipated this from his twin who, along with him was adept in close calls like these. It was seven years' worth of experience which George destroyed last night. Fred would have liked to lecture him about that, but had abstained because he had noticed a sudden change in George's demeanor from morning. He had expected him to wail about the absolute unfairness of this treatment and probably refer to Umbridge as a complete hag.

But none of it came. It seemed that George wasn't as bothered by his detention as he should be.

Fred was brought about of his reverie as Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet approached their table. Lee was quick to tell both of them the newest problem. George resisted the urge to lash at him, as Lee was only eager to talk to Angelina, whom he has had a crush on since first-year. After hearing him, the dark girl rounded on George with a horrified expression on her face.

"Detention? A whole week?" she asked fanatically.

"Calm down, there at eight every night, so I'm still going to come to practices. Don't worry." He reassured her.

The captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team let out a relieved sigh and then gave him a sympathetic look.

"Sorry about that. So, why did you get detention anyway?"

Lee interjected again to answer and George was left to silently ponder over his current dilemma alone.

After that encounter with Umbridge and the announcement of his punishment, she had sweetly lead him back to his dormitory; 'so that he could not wander off anywhere else' and feeling quite morose and helpless he had obeyed. He just hoped that the Head Girl would have regained her senses once there was no more danger and had returned to the safety of her common room.

He was tempted to glance over at the Slytherin table but stopped himself, he did not care that much; nor was he in a mood to see the nasty smirks on the other Slytherin's faces, because he was quite positive that most of them, or even most of the school knew about last night's hitch.

His gaze instead lingered to a duo standing at the Great Hall's entrance, apparently causing a commotion. One of them was a small red-haired girl, who was lunging repeatedly; ashen-faced to get her wand which was held above her out of reach by a tall well-built boy (probably a seventh-year) who was smirking calmly at the red-head's vain attempts.

It occurred to George that he should probably stop the guy, he was obviously bullying her; but before he could get out of his seat he saw that the two were approached by a prim Hufflepuff boy with a white ponytail. His calm and immaculate appearance was marred by the fact that he was red with anger and as George watched, another argument ensued. The large boy however seemed quite unruffled as he withdrew his attention from the red-haired girl and turned to the Hufflepuff instead, and by the looks of it, quite diligently answering him and managing to make him more annoyed.

The girl who had used the commotion to retrieve her wand was now standing there awkwardly, perhaps trying to come up with a solution to stop the boys quarreling. Seeing that, George relaxed.

So they are her friends after all.

Nearby he saw a handsome green-haired student, with a ponytail longer and more stylish than the Hufflepuffs', surrounded by about a dozen girls, all of them who seemed to want to go to the upcoming Hogsmeade trip with him. He gave them a charismatic smile before telling them that choosing between such beautiful women was impossible. George averted his gaze when the girls started giggling in response and feeling slightly disgruntled, chose to distantly watch two boys of Ravenclaw. One who had yellow, unruly hair and looked rather like a child and was ravishing his breakfast in a manner that, in George's opinion would have made Ron Weasley look decent, alongside his blue-haired companion who was quietly feeding his pet gerbil a piece of toast.

The red-head stared at them for a while before someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up to see his twin's expression-less but somewhat tense face and heard the following words.

"Come on mate, were going to be late for McGonagall."

With that he left a worried George with a tacit notice: he had to explain himself, fully and quickly.

"So you are the new Head Girl, Miss Lestrange."

"Yes, Professor Umbridge."

The short defense against the dark arts teacher gave her a pouchy smile which she assumed would have been courteous but Jade was not fooled by it; Umbridge's beady eyes were cold….and calculating. She seemed to be looking for even a minor slipup or inaccuracy in the new Head Girl.

Jade tried her best not to look discomfited, because she knew exactly why she was under-going such thorough speculation. It was perhaps her Uncle's good terms with the Ministry that its appointee was maintaining even a basic amount of politeness.

Though she also knew that Lucius Malfoy's influence could go only this far, if even the slightest of mishaps occurred, rather than supporting her; Lucius would not even blink an eye but when she will be back among the privacy of Malfoy Manor; he will quietly assign her a fitting punishment for dare trying to foil with his reputation.

The Head Girl thought all this while gazing back confidently at Umbridge's narrowed eyes.

"Well, you seem to have commendable grades. Never had a detention before either, It appears that the

Headmaster has made an appropriate choice," but Umbridge's tone was sour and unbelieving.

Jade could feel the unspoken 'for once' in her tone.

Umbridge gave her another one of her sick smiles which also looked a bit triumphant.

"However, If you are the Head Girl I expect for you to know where your loyalties lie; Miss Lestrange."

George closed the door behind him as quickly as he could without giving away how distraught he was.

It was night at Hogwarts School and George was just returning from his detention with Professor Umbridge. And he walked, no jogged down the corridor away from her office, sweat running down his forehead and his heart beating faster than normal.

He had never believed that something so sadistic lived inside the High Inquisitor. He had disliked her ever since he saw her interrupting Dumbledore and gave that monotone speech which he hadn't even bothered to listen.

But one night in detention with her, transformed the feelings of dislike into intense hatred.

Not to mention he felt utterly traumatized.

Who would have thought that she was really this sick?

Lost in his disturbing daydream, and in a hurry to get as far away from Umbridge's office as possible, George almost collided into a suit of armor.

Not again!

As he caught up with his senses he heard a voice calling his name and as he turned towards its source his eyes widened in shock.

Jade Lestrange was standing in front of him, holding a bowl filled of yellowish liquid, looking straight at him with serious eyes but an expression full of guilt.

"Lestrange" George said.

Jade seemed to be struggling for words because at George's statement she had averted her gaze, trying to hide her face.

"Here." Jade replied and forcefully pushed the bowl towards him. He looked down toward it and saw tentacle-like things swimming around it and immediately felt a little sickened.

Merlin, don't say that I have to drink this.

"And this is..?" George countered feeling highly hesitant.

George could almost feel the internal struggle Jade was going through. She looked like that she would like to run away right then but the guilt inside her wanted to help him too. His reluctance was annoying too, honestly was he this stupid?

That irritation calmed Jade down a little and meeting his uncertain and slightly worried eyes she grabbed his right hand and gently dipped it inside the yellow potion.

"Hey….Ahhh." George stopped his protest as he felt the painful stinging in his hand soothe instantly.

"What is this?" The read-head asked in amazement as he adjusted his hand more comfortably in the healing potion.

Both of them were now walking towards the Gryffindor dormitories although nobody had proposed it out loud. Jade had been awfully jumpy this night which had not gone unnoticed by George. Could it really be that she was feeling guilty? And perhaps she was apologizing by providing a relief for his pain? George understood that, but he wished she would be more straightforward with it.

Maybe her pride comes in between.

Jade on the other hand, was still avoiding his gaze; neither was she listening to what he was saying. Her eyes were instead fixed on the ugly scars on George's hand, feeling guilt, sympathy, hate, gratitude and confusion all at once. It was only after she heard him call her a few more times did she respond.

"Huh? Uh. It's called the Essence of Murtlap."

"How do you –"

"It has happened before," she interrupted him, "a housemate of mine had a same case some weeks ago."

George raised his eyebrows at this; the pure-blood loving hag actually punished a Slytherin? It was quite obvious that Umbridge favored her native house more than the others, because for a start; they were the sons and daughters of high-esteemed wizarding families, on whom (or rather on their gold) practically the whole Ministry of Magic depended. Messing with their children would have too many risks.

And that all of them were rotten to the core. Birds of a feather…..

When met by this scathing thought, George surprisingly paused and glanced sideways to his companion.

Perhaps not all of them…..

"…he was punished for not turning in his homework, the usual really-" he heard Jade explaining. "Yukimura told me that he came to him because he couldn't find Professor Snape….."

Yukimura…..wasn't he the new Head Boy?

"…Yukimura freaked out when he saw the boy's hand of course, but I must give him credit that he didn't let the word spread out. I had read about the Essence of Murtlap somewhere so we were able to help him-"

"What's his name?" George interjected.

"Huh?"

"What was the name of the boy who got punished?"

"Daniel Rockwood"

Daniel Rockwood? As far as George knew (by eavesdropping on strictly confidential Order meetings; courtesy of Weasley's Extendable Ears) he was the only son of a convicted Death Eater Augustus Rockwood, who was arrested for leaking the Ministry's secrets to You-Know-Who. His dad had told him that he used to work in the Department of Mysteries before he got caught.

It made sense now, no extra graciousness for someone who has a publicly condemned father. Even if he is a Slytherin, he is of no use or threat to the government. George suddenly felt his hatred for the Ministry increase.

It's the same with her….

George thought as he looked at Jade who a second before had been staring at him; now whipped her gaze elsewhere. The prankster felt annoyance spark within him. Why can't she talk to him straight?

She seemed to be fighting to say something again; her fists were tightly closed while her raven hair hid half of her face. After a few incoherent noises and some meaningless gestures, Jade's shoulders straightened and with the air of a person who wanted to get over with something quickly, she turned to face him.

Her mouth twisted once more in discomfort but then she leveled her features into a somber expression, eyes shining with candor.

"I am sorry." She spoke.

Her words didn't register completely at first, mostly because they were greatly shocking for George. However, Jade didn't seem to be waiting for a reply; she kept speaking.

"It was completely my fault that we got caught, I was the one that stalled you and pushed you into that suit of armor. Moreover I am sorry that I am such a coward that I couldn't even help myself and run away. I am a total idiot and this time you showed more nerve than I ever could. I apologize for being useless. I owe you for this." She finished and lowered her gaze in shame.

"It's fine." Jade's eyes widened as she heard him.

"You looked like that your whole world was falling apart." He continued.

Even though he hadn't meant it to be, Jade took that remark to be teasing and angrily opened her mouth to retort before being stopped by a totally nonchalant George.

"It's okay. I understand. I'm just used to situations like these and of course I had less to lose, so I reacted fast enough. I don't know much about you, but I can say this, It's alright to be scared sometimes, Lestrange…''

But…

Jade's cheeks turned slightly pink as she stared at the red-head's soft and kind expression. He seemed so…sincere.

He didn't laugh…..

"….and when you're scared it's not wrong to accept help. After all…."

No one has ever said that before.

George raised his hand and moved it towards a mesmerized Jade. Her eyes flicked to it and she found her hand moving to shake it on its own.

What am I doing?

"…that's what friends are for."

Friends…..

SQUELCH!

"Oh." George said.

Jade looked down and giving a revolted squeak, jerked her hand away from George's while the latter sniggered heartily.

The Head Girl, whose face was screwed up in disgust snatched her wand from inside her robes and hurried to clean her hand which was covered in yellow goo.

"It's quite sticky, isn't it?" the red-head commented casually while the corners of his mouth twitched.

Jade's returning glare caused him to grin more fully.