Karkat:

After winter break, the teachers went back to being assholes. During the break, they were all chummy. I guess it may have been Christmas Spirit? I don't know. All I know is I've never had so much homework. Luckily, I became friends with Jade Harley. At first, she found my personality to be harsh, negative, and basically she thought I was a douchebag. Who wouldn't, right? Then, I realized that I had been a douchebag. I mean, I was constantly harassing her and belittling her and John, and so I apologized, and we made up. I realized she as stupid as I thought, and she realized that I wasn't as much of an assho- oh, forget it. At least now she considered me a lovable asshole.

At any rate, Jade was there to help me with schoolwork where I lacked. I sucked at Charms and Transfiguration, and I was a joke in Astronomy. She helped me study for those exams, and in return, I helped her out with potions and Defense against the Dark Arts. Together, we were a sort of dream team, and I hate to admit it, but she was really very cool. Cooler than Strider with his ridiculous shades and his weird ironic bullshit.

Mostly, I was happiest when I was hanging out with all my friends. Kanaya and I were getting closer, and while she could be a little... mommyish at times, she was nice and seemed to understand me. I hated/liked Sollux, which was weird. He was infuriatingly douchey at times, but I still considered him one of my best friends. Gamzee was like a big giant retarded dog I had to look after. He was constantly going the wrong way or fucking something up. i'd hate to see the poor bastard if I wasn't here to hold his hand and wipe his ass for him. Rose was really smart and it was kind of disheartening. Dave was the ultimate asshole, and he really liked to rub it in our faces. Even Jade, who liked everyone, hated him, even though I secretly kind of shipped them. Feferi acted like a princess all the fucking time, but she was nice to have around. Terezi was fucking insane, but we shared a weird relationship based on mutual admiration and hatred. Course sharing a room with Eridan was a goddamn delight. He was such a drama queen, and to make matters worse, he made me and Gamzee wait for him every morning so he could put on his makeup. You heard me, the kid wore makeup.

One morning, I was waiting for Eridan to get his entitled ass downstairs, and he showed up with purple eyeshadow. I held back a laugh as we ascended to the great hall for breakfast.

Even Feferi was giggling at this ridiculous look.

Anyways, that night we all met up in Ravenclaw and talked. Eridan refused to go. He dramatically insisted that everyone was laughing at me. Apparently the wrong response was, "Well, yeah." I was content because we were all together, though I would never admit it.

It was nice to be secure in something, even if it wouldn't last.

Jade:

I was so excited to be back in school after winter break! I was so glad to have seen Bec again-I'd really missed him-but I was really happy to see all of my school friends.

Of course, then John had to go back on his word and had been planning pranks for the past few days! I didn't speak to him for a few days, but after yelling at him for a little bit, we were friends again. I knew it wasn't his fault. It was all because of Strider. I despised him. Uugh.

When I got to the Gryffindor common room one January night to study, I found that Sollux had brought another kid with him. He was a Slytherin, and his name was Karkat, and right off the bat, I didn't like him. He was so angry and mean to everyone! I didn't see how Sollux and Kanaya could be friends with him. Even Rose seemed to like him, and Terezi...I'm not even going to get into their relationship, because I think they despised each-other, but in a good way. Argh! Even thinking of that asshole stopped my brain from speaking sense.

Anyways, he kept belittling me, as well as John, so I yelled at him, and usually ended up stomping off in a huff. Some of the things he said though were really mean, and he lied a lot. Typical Slytherin.

But then...late in January, he actually apologized. I accepted, and we became tentative friends. Soon, I figured out he was actually really funny, and kind of squishy on the inside. Our group expanded, and now, I hung out with Rose, Kanaya, Terezi, Sollux, Aradia, and Karkat most of the time.

"I don't understand the point of cooking that way," Kanaya said, eyebrows furrowed during one such afternoon. "Why not use magic, if you can?"

"Because it's fun!" I said. "And technology gets the job done."

"Also, underage, muggle born students can't use magic away from Hogwarts," Rose added in quietly.

"How do you ever do anything?" Terezi inquired.

"I find that muggles can do a lot of things wizards can't," Sollux added in, a bit defensive.

"Yeah, like what?" Terezi was amused.

"Well, first of all, we have a piece of technology that can search for information that comes from anywhere in the world, and find it in an instant." Sollux, of course, jumped to technology first.

"Also, when you think about it, the way wizards are functioning right now is pretty screwed up," Aradia said. I was surprised to hear her speak, as she barely ever said anything. "It's the kind of society that would be considered a dictatorship in the muggle world." She had a point. I'd never thought of it like that.

"I...don't understand," Kanaya said, and I looked at her in surprise. It was rare that she was in the dark on a subject.

"Well, look at it like this," Karkat interjected. "It's like...if society was set up by...blood color. Why not? Everybody had a different color of blood, on all colors of the rainbow, and if your blood was purple or pink-"

"Pink's not in the rainbow," Rose interjected.

"Shut the fuck up. If your blood was purple or pink, it automatically made you better than everyone else, while if your blood was red or orange, you got the worst jobs and didn't deserve the same rights. Everyone else is in between. It's like that with wizards, except it's based entirely on blood type instead of color. It's fucked up." Karkat finished speaking, and there was a silence. Terezi had a comprehending look on her face, with more than a little bit of anger. Rose was nodding slowly, and Kanaya still looked befuddled. I couldn't tell what Aradia and Sollux were thinking, but Karkat was beginning to look a little self-conscious.

"Wow, Karkat, I think that's the longest speech I've ever heard you make!" I interjected cheerfully, and the seriousness of the moment was broken.

There were flowers for me on Valentine's day. It was weird. I don't know who liked me, and they were from an anonymous stranger. I had little cards from all my friends, and all the notes and candy made me smile. Class was getting harder, but I was doing fine. Most of my friends (Karkat excluded) did homework as early as possible, so I had no chance of falling behind.

It was the middle of February, a few days after Valentine's day, when I noticed a boy in a wheelchair who looked absolutely miserable. His eyes were puffy, and he was sort of curled up on himself, brown hair covering his forehead. I bounced up to him. "Hi!" I said, and his head jerked up. "What's your name?"
"T-Tavros," he stuttered. I smiled at him.

"I'm J-"
"Jade, I know," he interrupted. I laughed.

"I didn't realize I was so famous! Why are you off sitting in a corner of the library by yourself?"

"I-I really need to study. I'm falling behind on all my classes, he admitted to me, a little bit shakily. I frowned.

"Why don't you get help?" the boy looked away.

"Okay, then, I'll help you! What are you studying right now?" I plopped myself down in a chair next to him, and leaned over the book. He stared at me. "What?"

"Why would you help me?"

"Cause I like to help people, silly. That looks like herbology. It's my favorite."
"Do you understand how the mandrake-"

"Yup!"
"I didn't even finish my question."

"You didn't need to. I know lots of stuff about mandrakes." I frowned at the book he had open.

"But that doesn't have much on them at all. You'd be much better with," I stood up, browsing through the books on a shelf next to my head. "This one!" I said triumphantly.

"Thank you," Tavros said timidly, and I shook my head.

"It's my pleasure."

Over the next few weeks, I spent as much time as possible with Tavros. I noticed this one girl, Vriska, who was especially mean to him. He was friends with Gamzee Makara, from Slytherin, but he needed more friends, so I dragged him everywhere with my friends. Kanaya took to him quickly, and I wondered what was going to happen between her and Vriska.

But that wasn't my business at all.

Unfortunately, Dave, who I had only been forced to interact with in Herbology, approached me in late February. I was walking through the halls with Terezi, Kanaya, and Karkat when I heard, "Hey, Harley!" from behind me. I spun around, and was aware of my friends stopping as well. John, Rose and Dave were approaching from the opposite direction, the former two looking like they'd rather be anywhere else.

"Strider," I said, coolly acknowledging him. Terezi sniffed.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Don't flatter yourself, Pyrope. I needed to ask Harley something." Dave snapped, and I heard Karkat give a muffled little snort somewhere off to the side. I shot him a glare.

"What exactly do you want?"

"I wanted to know why the wheelchair kid is with you so often. Seriously, he is like a wart clinging to your foot that you just can't get rid of."

"Don't insult him, mister." I warned. "He's my friend!" Dave crossed his arms.

"Is that all?" I heard Karkat stifle yet another snort, and somewhere in the back of mind, wondered what in the name of all that was sane he was on about now.

"What exactly are you insinuating," I hissed out. "Because if we're going on that path, why don't you tell me what exactly is going on between you and John?" I heard someone cough, and I think it was Kanaya. Rose, meanwhile looked like she was about to double over in laughter. Dave spluttered, trying to think of something to say.

"I-I'm not a homosexual," John stuttered out weakly. I raised my head triumphantly, and turned my back on Strider, walking away.