New chapter time :D

Chapter Quote:
"Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth."
~Albus Dumbledore

Chapter 16

Elliot

Waiting at the platform for Jade and Ziva was infuriating, especially being all alone. Knowing Jade, she was probably already there and somewhere Elliot couldn't see her and freaking out about being around people. With a resigned sigh, she started walking around, trying to find someone she knew so she didn't have to stand around awkwardly.

Elliot passed a few Slytherins at whom she glared at, but they were younger so they backed away from her. Just as she walked past the middle of the train, she saw Neville. Beaming, Ellie started walking faster but stopped short when she saw Ziva standing in front of him. The two were smiling at each other; pissing Elliot off. They looked too… too…

"Ellie! Oh my god I found you thank Merlin's beard for that! I was about to have a panic attack and-" Jade rambled, her hair a violent shade of white.

Elliot interjected with, "You are having a panic attack."

"Right… well I'm better now. Have you found Ziva yet? She's almost always here before us." Jade's hair returned to its normal dark blue.

"She's talking with Neville right now."

"Oh? And you're not with them? That's odd. Where are they?"

"Over there," Ellie replied shortly, pointing at the two. Hearing the hidden anger in her voice, Jade assured, "I'm sure they're just talking. I don't think Ziva would take Neville from you. She's never liked him like that before."

"Yeah, but in case you haven't noticed since you've been all googly eyes with Seamus, Neville has become quite handsome this year," Ellie retorted.

"No need to get so snappy," Jade said in annoyance. The two girls continued to watch Neville and Ziva talking. They were both laughing, only making Elliot more suspicious about what Ziva's intentions were with him. Ziva looked into her bag; Ellie realized it was the one with the Undetectable Extension Charm. She pulled out a camera, pointing it at Neville. The camera flashed. Ziva smiled before giving Neville a hug and making her way over to her friends.

"Hey guys," she greeted cheerfully.

"Hey!" Jade replied with the same enthusiasm.

"Hi," Elliot said curtly before heading to the train.

Ziva

Ziva scrunched her eyebrows at her red-headed friend, wondering what the hell her problem was and what Ziva had done to piss Elliot off. Instead, Ziva turned to Jade and said, "Smile!"

Jade made a funny face instead of a smile as Ziva took the picture. With a laugh, she showed her best friend the outcome of the picture. Jade hollered with victory (for what reason Ziva didn't know) before running to catch up with Elliot. Ziva followed although she stayed quiet. The trio boarded the Hogwarts Express; laughing and chattering people greeted Ziva's ears as they searched for a place to sit. She passed Ginny who had a pink fuzzball thing on her shoulder. Ziva took a picture. She had a feeling that this would be the last (semi) normal year she'd have at Hogwarts. She couldn't understand why, she just had a feeling.

They passed Seamus who gave Jade a kiss. Ziva took a picture, making the couple blush and making Jade's hair turn bright red, making the group laugh. Seamus tagged along with them in finding an available compartment to sit in. They passed the one that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in. Ziva took a picture quickly before leading the way some more. As they were about to enter another part of the train, Malfoy nearly ran into the group.

She shouldn't have done it. Her friends would be interrogating her about it for the next hour, but Ziva took the picture anyway. Draco glanced up right as the camera flashed, looking much more vulnerable and innocent than he ever did in public.

"Ziva, what the hell are you taking a picture of Slimeball for?" Elliot demanded.

"Every memory counts," Ziva replied, smiling at Malfoy through her eyes.

"Let's keep moving. I don't want to be in his presence," she said sarcastically.

"Feeling's mutual, I assure you Toadbottom," Draco answered haughtily.

"Guys, move on. Let's go. We don't want trouble," Ziva insisted.

"Sure you don't…" Ellie mumbled. Ziva bit back a retort on that. Instead, she brushed past Draco and went to find a seat. Finally, they found one. Ziva took one side next to the window. Jade and Seamus took a bench for themselves. Elliot sat next to Ziva. She seemed reluctant to.

Ignoring her bipolar, itchy friend, Ziva closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Jade

Jade felt kind of bad for Ziva with the way Elliot was being towards her. Ziva had just closed her eyes and gone to sleep, as squished up against the window as she could possibly be. Ellie had pushed herself as far away from Ziva as possible. Jade tried to ease the tension by changing her hair different colors into the funkiest combinations possible. At one point she managed to get a full rainbow. One time her hair looked like an ocean wave, rippling with different blues. Seamus seemed to enjoy it, but he had told her that he enjoyed being with her period which had made her feel all warm and happy on the inside.

Ten minutes into the train ride, Neville joined them, sitting in between Elliot and Ziva. He engaged Elliot in conversation within a few minutes. Jade wondered if her friend realized that Longbottom only had eyes for her, no one else. Jade figured that Neville was like a big brother to Ziva. For some reason, those two had always gotten along.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" the old lady asked from outside the hallway. Seamus pulled out five galleons and bought a treat for all of them, even though Ziva was still asleep. Her eyelids were moving a lot; she must've been dreaming.

"Should we wake her?" Seamus whispered in his sexy Irish accent.

"Nah, let her sleep," Elliot said, chewing on a Bertie Bott's bean. She gagged before swallowing. Must've been a bad flavor…

"Ellie, honestly, I'm sure it was nothing; get over it," Jade told her.

"What happened?" Neville queried, his eyes flitting between the two girls.

"Oh, Ellie saw Ziva talking to the guy she likes earlier and thought she was flirting with him. I think that Ziva was just being friendly. You know how she is. She can get along with practically anyone."

"Who do you like?" he prodded.

"Not telling," Ellie mumbled. "Thanks for explaining all that Jade. I really appreciate it."

"She mad at you too, now?" Ziva's groggy voice asked with a hint of amusement.

"Thinks she's on-" Jade began.

"It'd explain a lot. Maybe we should get her ch-"

"I'm fine you two. Drop it," Elliot ordered. Jade and Ziva rolled their eyes.

A knocking at the door interrupted the not so interesting conversation. A girl, most likely a first or second year, stood in the doorway, looking petrified to be talking to upper classmen.

"Can we help you?" Ziva asked kindly.

"I-I have letters for Ziva Herondale, Neville Longbottom, a-and Jade Carter," the girl stammered, handing the three letters over quickly. Neville took them and handed them out to their respective person. Opening the letter, it said:

Jade,

I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C.

Sincerely,

Professor H.E.F. Slughorn

"Who is Professor Slughorn?" Neville inquired, scrunching his eyebrows.

"Must be new this year. Probably for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Should we go?" Jade asked.

"I guess it'd be rude not to… Yeah, let's go," Ziva said, standing up. She waved goodbye to Elliot and verbally said bye to Seamus before exiting the compartment. They had to pass through the Slytherin compartment to get to Slughorn's. Jade made a face at Malfoy and Pansy since he had his head in her lap.

"What are you looking at you filthy half-blood?" Pansy demanded.

"Oh, just going to a special meeting to which you're not invited to," Jade replied.

"And what are you looking at Herondale?" Malfoy sat up at the mention of the name. He made eye contact with Jade, then Neville, then Ziva; that's where his gaze stayed. Whether it was because she was Pureblood or for some other reason, it made Jade curious. What was Malfoy's interest in Ziva?

"I see your relationship with him has improved compared to fourth year," Ziva remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"How do you know about that?!" Pansy squeaked.

"It wasn't that hard to tell, Miss Priss. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a more interesting place to be." Ziva gave Jade a light shove to get her going. Jade didn't need any more encouragement. If the Slytherins decided to gang up on them, no matter how good the three Gryffindors were at spell-casting, they would be beaten; although Jade would've loved to hex Malfoy for the hell of it.

When the lunch was over, the train was nearly at Hogwarts.

"So much for lunch. That took almost… what? Three, four hours?" Jade grumbled.

"I know. It was crazy. Anyone else want to sock Blaise in the face?" Ziva grumbled. Jade raised her hand.

When the three reached their compartment, Seamus was asleep on the seat he and Jade had previously occupied a few hours earlier. Elliot was staring out the window. The red-headed girl turned to look at them, gave them a small, somewhat friendly smile before looking back out. Both of them had already changed into their school robes. Jade decided she should change before the train arrived.

Ziva

Elliot was really starting piss Ziva off now with the way she was acting towards her. What the hell had Ziva done? She started to think whatever she had possibly done had been unconsciously done. Whatever it was, she would find out later. She wasn't in the mood for drama with her first day back at Hogwarts.

The train screeched to a halt at the platform. Ziva waited patiently for the crowd to get off the train before attempting it herself. Jade and Seamus had maneuvered their way off the train well before-hand. Neville and Elliot had finagled their way into the crowd, leaving Ziva alone. She didn't necessarily mind at the moment, not with her ginger friend's current attitude.

Finally, the mass of students thinned out somewhat for her to get into the corridor and off the train. Hagrid was there waiting for first years. Ziva ran up to hug him. She loved the game keeper. Considering his size, most people would believe him to be some mean monster but in reality, Hagrid wouldn't hurt a fly.

"Nice ta see ya, Ziva!" Hagrid exclaimed. "How've ya been?"

"Better now that I'm back at Hogwarts. Everything okay here?"

"Eh, it's okay I guess. Oh, before I forget, Professor Snape's lookin' for ya."

"That's doesn't sound good. All right, thank you Hagrid. I'll see you tomorrow!" Ziva jogged off. She searched for the sight of the tall, greasy-haired professor. She found him watching the last few stragglers got off the train.

"Hagrid said you were looking for me Professor?" Ziva said politely, standing with her hands behind her back.

"Yes," he replied in his slow, calculating voice. "Professor Dumbledore wishes to see you after the feast along with Professor McGonagall."

"Should I wait at the entrance to his door then?"

"Yes."

"All right then. Thank you, professor." Ziva was about to walk off when he told her, "Stop. Miss Herondale, due to new security measures and current dangerous situations, I shall ask you to stay here until someone else comes off the train to walk with you up to the castle."

"Yes, professor." She waited dutifully by his side, trying to come up with some sort of conversation in her head. Unlike most Gryffindors, Snape seemed not to mind Ziva. He despised Jade, mainly because she usually blew something up in potions.

"Ah, Mister Malfoy. I'm glad you're finally here. You will walk with Miss Herondale up to the castle. Due to the tardiness of you both, you have missed the carriages. Now get going."

The two students walked away from Professor Snape, trying not to be too close or too far from each other. Once out of hearing distance, Draco asked, "How've you been?"

"I'm well. You?"

"Okay, I guess. Have you stayed out of trouble?" His mouth twitched upwards into the smallest of smiles, knowing her answer.

"Barely," she chuckled. "You know how I am. I always manage to get myself in bad situations."

"Just don't get yourself killed."

"The only way that'll happen is if you kill me, remember?"

"Then you won't be dying," Draco promised. "Why were you waiting with Professor Snape?"

"Told me Dumbledore and McGonagall needed to speak with me after the feast. I don't know what about which kind of worries me." She bit her lip, involuntarily letting her brain start going off in every direction possible, thinking of what on earth the two professors wanted to see her for.

"Ziva!" Draco whispered loudly. She shook her head, clearing her discursive thoughts. She also realized that after one more corner, the castle would be in view.

"Hmm?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just letting my thoughts run away. Do you want to meet up tomorrow night? Astronomy tower?"

"That sounds more than great," Draco chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

He gave her a hug just before they rounded the corner to the castle. In case anyone was there, the two didn't want that person seeing them getting all friendly with each other. They separated. Draco let Ziva go ahead of him. She entered the castle, embracing the familiarity of its warm atmosphere. She set her stuff down with all the other suitcases before entering the Great Hall. The Sorting Hat was just about to begin its song.

"What did Snape want?" Jade asked when Ziva sat down.

"Something about Dumbledore and McGonagall needing to see me," she replied. Leaving it at that, the group fell silent and waited for the Sorting.

Once the entire feast was done, and once Ziva had eaten to her heart's desire (which was a lot), she headed to Dumbledore's office and waited patiently for him and McGonagall to come. It didn't take long.

"Please, Miss Herondale, follow me," Dumbledore said kindly, leading her up to his office. McGonagall followed behind her. Ziva gulped, having the strongest feeling she was in trouble. Had they figured out she and Draco had been seeing each other secretly? No, they wouldn't be punishing her now. They would've done it last year.

"Miss Herondale, I heard you had quite the summer," Dumbledore remarked.

"What did you hear… sir?" Ziva asked hesitantly.

"You were on the bridge that collapsed, you were tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange with the Cruciatus Curse. The question is: how did you get yourself into those situations?"

"And out of them!" McGonagall added in a shrill tone. "Good grief, Bellatrix Lestrange!"

"I was walking on the bridge at the time of the collapse. A gentleman dove in and saved me. As in the case of Bellatrix, I tried to get away from her and Greyback but they chased me and cornered me. I, uh… I might've shot my mouth off at them… One of the Death Eaters prevented her from torturing me further." Ziva avoided mentioning anything about Draco or Mr. Carter. She didn't want them to know they were involved.

"I see, Miss Herondale." Dumbledore gazed at her from the top of his half-moon glasses. He knew she was hiding something, but he did not pry which Ziva was grateful for.

"Sir? Did you just wish to ask me about my summer?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay after it all happened. Something like that cannot be easy to endure. If you need to talk about anything, no matter how bad it may seem to you, know you can talk to me or McGonagall."

"Thank you, professor."

"Now, off to bed. You have a big first day tomorrow. Goodnight Miss Herondale."

Ziva said goodnight and high-tailed it out of there. Jade and Elliot would already be asleep and with her luck, they'd remember to ask about the meeting in the morning. She'd have to come up with some sort of lie. They couldn't know she'd been on the bridge nor could they know she'd been tortured.

But there was one thing Ziva knew for sure that calmed her down somewhat. Her secret about her and Draco's relationship was still a secret.

Hope SACarter and Ginger enjoyed the chapter since they had their characters play a part in this :) Please review! Please please please!