"Skye!" Jemma called to the other girl's back outside in the common area the next day. "Skye, wait up!" Jemma held her books a little tighter and had to jog to reach her girlfriend's side. Her strides were much longer than Jemma's and usually she slowed down, but Jemma was having trouble keeping up.

Skye had been acting really strange since the night before. Usually The taller girl waited for her at the entrance to the Great Hall after dinner and they spent their remaining time together before they were confined to the common rooms of their houses, but she had been nowhere in sight the previous night.

Skye heard her name being called and she sighed heavily. She slowed her strides and let her girlfriend catch up. She was still in a sour mood from the night before, and she was sure that Jemma had noticed. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't outright tell Jemma that she was jealous of whoever she had been talking to the previous night. The shorter girl would think she was silly, or stupid, or something. She couldn't just act like it didn't bother either, and so, stuck between a rock and a hard place, Skye decided to continue to be broody.
"Hey, Jemma."

For some reason, today the tone of Skye's voice felt like a slap to the face and she almost stopped in her tracks. Skye wasn't mad at her, was she? She couldn't remember anything she'd done, but maybe she'd forgotten to meet her for something. She often did because she was so wrapped up in her work, but her girlfriend never minded before.

"What's wrong?" Jemma tried to remain cheerful, but whenever Skye was moody, it tended to seep into her as well. They were almost like one person in that respect.

"Nothing," Skye answered flatly. She didn't even look at Jemma. If she did, she might spill her jealous little secret, and then Jemma would laugh at her and call her silly and there was no point in that. It would pass soon enough, Skye hoped. Normally she was more chatty than this and she knew Jemma would want more of an explanation than that.
"I'm just a little nervous for Apparitions on Monday is all. We are going to actually start going places," Skye lied. Well technically they were going to begin actually apparating starting on Monday, but that certainly wasn't why she was upset. In fact, she was very excited about Apparitions...but Jemma didn't know that.

"Well, I'm sure you'll do excellent. You've been preparing for a while now." Jemma beamed, happy that there wasn't anything actually going on. She'd been worried for a minute there. The issue quickly vanished from her mind, as she knew Skye would be over it come Monday, and instead she'd be gushing about how fun it was.

"Hey Simmons." A greeting reached Jemma's ears and she caught Bobbi's eyes ahead of them, traveling to her next class with a pack of her blue-clothed friends. She was given a wide grin and Jemma gave a little wave as they passed each other.

"It's free period, what would you like to do?" Jemma asked Skye, completely forgetting that there'd been any problem at all.

Skye's neutral expression quickly turned into a scowl when she saw the blonde walk by. She had a stupid grin on her face and Skye wanted to smack it right off and onto the ground...maybe step on it some too. Her mood worsened when she caught Jemma waving at her. She needed to cool down, or she was going to lose it again, and this time there was no plate of potatoes to slam someone's face into.
"You know what, I forgot," Skye stopped suddenly and faced Jemma, grabbing a tight hold of her own bag strap as she tried to look anywhere but in her eyes, "Trip wanted me to come to the pitch during break today to finish our conversation from yesterday that I missed because I was chasing your doppelganger...so I'm going to go." Skye motioned behind her towards the direction of the quidditch field with her thumb, "You should probably go to the library and study for that Arithmancy thing…"

She leaned down a bit and kissed Jemma on the forehead, just lightly, and turned and darted off down the stairs without saying anything else.

Jemma closed her eyes and felt the ghost of Skye's touch lingering on her forehead. Something felt off about the way Skye was acting, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Any other day Skye would have blown off Trip if there was even a possibility that she wasn't busy. She felt a little avoided, honestly.

She sighed and sat down on a nearby bench, pulling a novel out of her bag. Skye wouldn't have known because she didn't walk her to class today, but she'd already taken her arithmancy test and she'd used the time turner to come back to her free period with Skye. That's ok, Skye wasn't required to spend every spare minute with her.

"Oh no. What's happened? You look upset, girl," Trip got up from the bench he was sitting on in the main hall. He hadn't been at the quidditch pitch like Skye had said because she had actually never agreed to meet him there. It had been a lie. She had done that a lot today it seemed.
"Nothing," She answered the same as she had with Jemma. She came and took a seat next to him, shoving her bag off of her shoulders and onto the ground.
"Don't give me that. Where's lil'mama? You two have this period free don't you?" The tall Gryffindor sat back down, leaning back against the bench and watching his Slytherin best friend slowly lose it.

"That stupid...stupid blonde from Beauxbaton keeps hitting on Jemma," There was a quiet 'oh' as Skye continued, "They're all buddy buddy, smiling and waving at each other." Skye was propping her face up with her hands, her elbows on her legs and she had an irritated look on her face.

"She's just making friends, Skye. Thats part of the whole tournament thing after all, girl. Got to keep the schools in good faith with one another. Simmons isn't going to do anything to hurt you. If you don't know that after five years then you're dumber than I thought," Trip smiled wide when Skye shot him a glance, her irritated face turning into a silly one as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm still jealous though. I can't tell her. That would be silly," Skye sighed and sat back in the bench with him, putting her arms behind her head, "She would call me silly and tell me not to worry...but that's not going to make me not worry. Remember when she first started talking to Fitz?"
"Oh, here we go…" Trip just shook his head and listened as Skye gushed on and on about how she had been so jealous when Jemma had met Fitz that the two didn't talk for two whole weeks before Jemma finally confronted her about it. The whole thing blew up and it only made Skye even more embarrassed to tell her about it. Especially when Jemma had called her silly, as predicted, and assured her that they were just friends. She was okay with Fitz now, but this new one was different. Blondie needed to be stopped.

"Sounds like you just need a break for a while. Get your mind off things. What do you think about the tournament?" Trip asked, watching as the wheels in Skye's brain began to switch gears. It would be good for the girl to come off it for a while. It might lessen the explosion later when the inevitable reveal happened.

"It sounds interesting," Skye nodded, grinning now as she thought about it, "I can't think of anyone who would enter except maybe Tony. He is a seventh year though and about to graduate. What would be the point of going into the games and dying on accident? Seems like a waste of good brain power."
Trip laughed, nodding, thinking about the seventh year Slytherin Skye was talking about. The kid was a genius, but also a notorious prankster. He could see Tony wanting the fame of the tournament, but he didn't think he was that dumb.

"I bet Steve will. He won't be able to resist. He's always out to prove himself," Trip said, to which Skye nodded.

"He's only sixteen though. According to the new rule only students seventeen and up and enter," Skye reminded and looked around at the people who were passing by. A lot of the conversation seemed to be about the tournament today.

"I bet I could do it," Trip said, matter of factly, turning to Skye with a cocky grin.
The brunette laughed and shook her head, "You! I doubt it! I don't think hexes and enchanted snowballs will get you through those trials! I have a better shot than you. At least I know actual spells!"

"Oh girl, if you're so good then, I dare you. I dare you to write your name down and put it in the goblet."

"What? No way," Skye shook her head and stood up from the bench, grabbing her bag. Jemma would kill her if she did a stupid thing like that. That was probably the epitome of stupid things that she could possibly do.
"Hey now, you can't go back on a dare. Remember our friendship agreement from fourth year?" Trip pointed an accusing finger at Skye as he stood up as well.
"Fine, but I dare you to do it too. Reverse dare. We both have to do it," Skye concluded, holding out her hand for Trip to take. It took the man a moment to think before he smiled. Neither of them would get picked, not with so many better candidates for the goblet to spit out. He took Skye's hand and shook it firmly.
"Deal. Tonight after dinner then."
"Tonight after dinner," Skye smiled and put her bag back over her shoulder. If she didn't leave soon she would be late for History of Magic, and though the situation with Jemma did make her jealous, she wouldn't miss sitting next to her in class. She needed to make up for ditching somehow.

When dinner came around again, Jemma grumpily marched over to her seat next to Fitz and dropped her bag on the ground. If the Great Hall hadn't already been loud and bustling with activity, everyone would have stared at her for creating such a loud crash.

"Bloody hell!" The noise did startle Fitz, however, who practically jumped out of his seat. "What is wrong with you?" He asked.

Jemma had been in a sour mood since her free period. She was sure now that Skye wasn't just nervous about Monday, it had to be something else. It just had to be. The Slytherin girl continually avoided her and when they were together, she wouldn't look her in the eye. Something was up.

"I think Skye's mad at me." Jemma pouted. If Skye had been acting normal, she would have run over and kissed the annoyed look right off her face. She apparently thought it was cute when Jemma was moderately agitated. Fitz raised one eyebrow in question. The two girls never fought, they were like the Hogwarts Power Couple. The only time he'd ever known about them having any sort of disagreement was when Jemma starting spending a lot more time with him.

"What could she possibly be angry about?" he asked, lowering his eyes to follow Jemma's movement as she sat down.

"You know as much as I do." Jemma groaned and dropped her face into her hands. Skye was absolutely ridiculous.

"Maybe it's the time turner thing." Fitz suggested. Jemma suddenly jumped to attention. That could be it! This whole thing started just after that. Maybe after their makeout session Skye realized that she didn't appreciate Jemma hiding something big like that from her. She'd seemed pretty ok with it at the time, but that was because they were up in the attic of the library and nothing else had mattered.

"You're right. I probably shouldn't have lied to her about it for so long." Jemma sighed. She'd have to apologize after dinner, if she could catch the girl.

"Why the long face?" Jemma suddenly heard and felt Bobbi's presence. When she was around, she made herself known. She slipped into what seemed to be her new seat next to Jemma and cocked her head to the side, wondering if there was anything she'd be able to do to make the tiny girl smile again.

"Nothing," Jemma sighed, remembering the way Skye had said the exact same thing to her earlier. It clearly never, ever meant nothing.

"Doesn't sound like nothing. If you ever want to talk, give me a shout." Bobbi offered a small smile and an affectionate nudge on her shoulder. One corner of Jemma's mouth tilted upwards a little bit. It was nice to have more than one friend.

Dinner went by in a similar fashion as it had the night before for Skye, who basically sat brooding the entire time while this time her quidditch mates were smart enough to avoid her. She was hungry, but she was too miffed to eat as she watched Bobbi continue to chat Jemma up and make her smile. That was her job, and it was being stolen from her. Somehow Skye didn't equate not making Jemma smile to not being around because she was avoiding her.

Skye was about to stop watching, tired from all the eye daggers she had been throwing the blondes way and was about to finally decide to eat, when she had seen her get up, giving Jemma a sweet little goodbye and make her way out of the dining hall. She could confront her. She could tell her that Jemma was her girl and no one else's. She could march right up to her and stand her ground.

Still fueled by jealousy, Skye shot up from the table, soon followed by Trip, who took Skye's signal of getting up that it was time to put their names in.

Here they stood now, in front of the protective age circle around the fiery goblet, Skye with her arms crossed and brows furrowed again. She had followed Bobbi all the way in here, meaning to confront her about Jemma, when she had watched the girl stride effortlessly over the age line and drop a small piece of paper into the goblet. The girl didn't even spare a glance at her as she walked back out, and Skye had stopped in a daze.

"She thinks she's so great. Waltzing in here and dropping her name in like she owns the place…" Trip heard her grumble. He could only chuckle as he shook his head.
"I take it she's the one who's talking to Jemma?"
"Talking to Jemma...touching Jemma...making Jemma laugh...making Jem-"

"Okay, girl, okay. I get it. Now, what you gonna do about it?" Trip asked, gently nudging Skye with his shoulder towards the age line.

Skye rolled the small piece of paper around in her hand for a moment, thinking it over. She would never get picked. There were so many better witches and wizards from Hogwarts that the goblet could pick as its champion. It would never be her. Obviously Bobbi wasn't worried by it, so why should she? She wasn't a scaredy cat. She wasn't afraid. She was just as confident as blondie.
"I'm doing it."

"You go girl," Trip laughed and watched as Skye took the step over the line. Her shoulders shifted back as she stood more upright, and she marched right up to the goblet and tossed her paper in. Too late to change her mind now. She withdrew her hand and returned across the line to Trip.

"Alright, man. Go for it."
Trip did the same, and soon they both stood, having put their name into the goblet of fire.

"How do you feel?" Trip asked, nodding towards the door so they could walk out together.

"Like...a Champion," Skye teased and shoved him playfully as they left the room. Now that her bout of jealous rage was over and she had calmed down, she thought about Jemma. She missed her and having not spent the last afternoon with her made her all achy inside. Dinner would probably be over by now, so she waved goodbye to Trip and made her way to the entrance of the Great Hall to wait for her girlfriend.

"Skye!" Jemma exclaimed when she saw her girlfriend leaning against the doors this time. She could feel the grin on her face and she probably shouldn't have been so excited just to see her there.

"I'll talk to you later, Bobbi. See you in class, Fitz." She waved goodbye to her friends and rushed over to Skye with her books held close to her chest like an excited schoolgirl. It kind of reminded her of first year, when she and Skye first met and she was still all nervous around her.

Skye smiled when she saw Jemma rushing up to her. It slipped a bit when she spied Bobbi again, and her eyes narrowed in distaste, but only for a moment before Jemma turned back around.

"Hey you," She smiled wider and her hands somehow found their way to Jemma's hips and pulled her up close. Skye resisted looking to see if Bobbi was still there. If she was, all the better. She leaned down and planted a needy kiss onto Jemma's lips, one usually saved for the safety and comfort of the library attic, but she thought to spare one now. Skye let it linger for a moment, just long enough to turn Jemma's face red before she pulled away with a wicked grin on her face.

"Look, I'm sorry I've been moody today. I can make it up to you...in the library," Skye winked and relinquished her hold on Jemma's hips to take her books from her and hold her hand instead. They did have an hour or two before they had to be back in their common rooms.

"I've missed you." Jemma smiled mischievously and tugged gently on Skye's tie. Before Skye could drag her off to the library, Jemma pulled away for a moment.

"Skye, I'm sorry…" Jemma glanced down at their shoes on the floor for a moment and was very aware of the weight the time turner put on her chest.

"What? Sorry for what? You haven't done anything…" Have you? Skye frowned at herself. Of course she didn't do anything, how daft could she be? Still, the thought of her all buddy buddy with the blonde brought the knot back in her throat and she swallowed hard, calming herself down enough for the news.

"I know you're mad I didn't tell you about the time turner. That's why you've been avoiding me, isn't it?" A little anxiety could be heard in Jemma's voice, like she was eager for forgiveness.
"Oh," Skye sighed in relief and smiled at Jemma, motioning for her to walk with her towards the library. It was a good cover. If that's why Jemma thought she was upset, then she wouldn't have to worry about telling her about how stupid she was being jealous. "Yeah...you got me," She brought Jemma's hand up and kissed it gently, "I feel sort of stupid about it now. Thats sort of a dumb thing to get mad over…" She played along.

Thank god for Fitz, Jemma thought. She never would have figured out that Skye was upset about the time turner because she'd seemed so enthusiastic about it at first. If everything with Skye was back to normal, everything would be perfect. She hadn't been able to enjoy the excited energy running around the school when she was constantly worried about Skye and the strange way she was acting.

"So we're alright?" Jemma asked hesitantly. She needed assurance that Skye wouldn't be disappearing on her again anytime soon.

"Absolutely. Right as rain..lil'mama," Skye laughed when she used the nickname Trip had given Jemma. She wasn't so sure that Jemma liked it, but Skye had to admit, Trip had been spot on when giving it to her. "Now let's go, or you're not going to get anything."

Jemma giggled and intertwined their fingers, happy that everything was back to the way it was.