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Chapter Quote:
"Why is it, when something happens, it is always you three?"
~Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Chapter 21
Jade
March 17, 1997…
"I'm going to kill Seamus," Jade muttered as she and Elliot walked down the hallway to the boys' bathroom where her boyfriend had decided to put her potions book, and that was her next class. Ziva had gone on ahead to Potions to save seats for them.
"I'll join. If we're late because of him…"
"No, only I get to kill him. He's my boyfriend."
Ellie grinned. The two girls entered the boys' bathroom, hoping no one would be in there. There wasn't, and Jade found her book resting in the sink. The two girls turned around to leave but heard voices. They ducked into a stall and prayed whoever was in there wouldn't realize they were there.
"-as good as you'd like to be, you can postpone the test, do it with me over the sum- Myrtle, this is the boys' bathroom!" A familiar voice exclaimed. Jade and Elliot peered through the crack in the door.
"Oh. It's you two," Myrtle said glumly.
"Who were you expecting?" Ron queried, sounding slightly befuddled that Myrtle might actually be on good terms with someone other than Harry.
"Nobody. He said he'd come back and see me, but then you said you'd pop in and visit me too, and I haven't seen you for months and months. I've learned not to expect too much from boys."
Jade and Elliot smothered the giggles rising up their throat because Ron and Harry's expressions were priceless.
"I thought you lived in the girls' bathroom?" Harry said, obviously trying to cover up the very obvious fact he'd been avoiding the moaning ghost.
"I do, but that doesn't mean I can't visit other places. I came and saw you in your bath once, remember?" Myrtle remarked.
"Vividly," Harry replied.
"But I thought he liked me. Maybe if you two left, he'd come back again… We had lots in common… I'm sure he felt it…"
"When you say you had lots in common," Ron began, sounding rather amused now, "d'you mean he lives in an S-bend too?"
Myrtle defiantly said, "No!" She glared at Ron. "I mean he's sensitive, people bully him too, and he feels lonely and hasn't got anybody to talk to- anymore might I add- and he's not afraid to show his feelings and cry!"
"There's been a boy in here crying? A young boy? And who hasn't he got to talk to anymore?" Harry prodded curiously.
"Never you mind! I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, and I'll take his secret to the-"
"- not the grave, surely? The sewers maybe," Ron snorted.
Myrtle gave a howl of rage, but Harry punched Ron in the arm and made him apologize.
"Myrtle, please tell me who the girl was at least," Harry inquired.
"A Gryffindor is all I know," Myrtle answered. "Never found out her name. She doesn't come to my bathroom anymore with him. They would sneak in there in the middle of the night to talk." Jade felt a pit in her stomach forming. Myrtle was talking about Ziva. But thankfully, the specter didn't know her friend's name.
"What would they talk about?"
"Loads of things."
"What does she look like?"
"Tall, long blonde hair, fifth year I believe. She was definitely younger than him."
"Thank you Myrtle," Harry said.
"Have fun taking that secret with you two the sewers," Ron added. The ghost shrieked angrily at him and dove into a toilet.
"There's not many tall blondes in Gryffindor. In fact, I can only think of one," Ron said after she'd left.
"Ziva, but what would she be doing sneaking out in the middle of the night for?"
"I don't know. Let's ask her when she's alone."
"That'll be difficult. She's hardly ever without Jade and Elliot recently."
"The girl can't be with them all hours of the day, can she? We just need to find that right time," Ron said. He slung his bag over his shoulder. "And you're right. I'll do the practice sessions in Hogsmeade before I decide about taking the test."
The two boys left the bathroom and Ziva and Jade stepped out of the stall.
"We can't let them get to Ziva without her knowing what they're doing. She'll totally blow her cover," Elliot pointed out.
"We'll tell her in potions which we're going to be extremely late for if we don't run there. Come on!" Jade urged. They sprinted out of the bathroom and down to the dungeon, only barely making it in time to class.
"Did you get your book?" Ziva asked.
Jade pulled it out of her book and smiled triumphantly. "Yep, sure did. Listen, we need to talk to you."
"About what?"
"You know how Seamus hid the book in the boys' bathroom right? When Ellie and I went to get it, Harry and Ron came in so she and I hid in a stall. Well they started talking to Myrtle and she sort of ratted you out about sneaking out with Malfoy but they don't know it's Malfoy because she didn't tell them but they guessed correctly about you even though that moaning specter didn't tell them and-"
"What's your point?" Ziva interrupted.
"Harry and Ron want to ask you who it was that you were seeing. They want to find you when you're alone, and I know you can't be with us twenty-four-seven, but we wanted to give you a heads up that they're going to try and ask you."
Ziva shrugged. "I'm amazing at keeping secrets so I'll be fine. Thank you though for the warning."
"Anytime. That's what friends are for," Elliot chirped.
Draco
The whole month of March had been dreadful. Without Ziva to talk to and actually tell her everything going on, he had to resort to talking to Myrtle. It wasn't all that bad; the ghost really liked him and kept his secrets. It wasn't the same as having a physical human being there though. He missed Ziva leaning into him when she knew he needed some form of comfort. He missed her cracking a bad joke to lighten his tense moods.
He was in the middle of potions, watching Zabini do his part in the partner potion making. Draco had done the first half; it was his friend's turn to do the second part. Slughorn was walking around, giving tips to students who seemed to be having difficulty.
"Professor?" A girl asked.
"Hello, Miss Herondale," Slughorn said. "And Miss Greengrass. How may I help you?"
Draco lifted his head to look at his ex-girlfriend. She seemed to be her usual self, save for the fact that her makeup barely hid the dark circles underneath her eyes. He wondered how much sleep she'd been getting and if it was because of all the homework she had or for some other reason.
"Sorry to interrupt your class, but I'm here to retrieve the salve for Madame Pomfrey," Ziva said.
"And I'm here to turn in an assignment," Astoria said.
"Ah, yes! Wait here. I'll go get the salve." Professor Slughorn disappeared into his office. Ziva started talking to Hermione. The girls discussed something that Draco couldn't understand, but they kept looking over at Harry and Ron.
"Here you go Ziva. Say, why is Madame Pomfrey having you do her errands?" Slughorn inquired as he handed the bottle to Ziva.
"I've been helping her out in the hospital wing recently. I have time to kill and I actually know a thing or two about healing since both my parents are healers at St. Mungos."
"I see. Well have a good rest of your day and I'll see you next class. And Miss Greengrass, I'll take that assignment from you."
"Bye Professor," Ziva said, smiling. She swept out of the room. Draco wanted to go after her but knew better. He knew she didn't want to see him, and even though he couldn't fathom what he'd done wrong, he respected her choice.
Draco saw Astoria walk briskly out of the room, as if she had an important mission to undertake. He guessed she was going after Ziva to talk to her. If she thought that the Gryffindor would talk openly to her about Draco, she was going to be severely mistaken. Or so he thought.
Ziva
The hallway was empty when Ziva entered it from the potions room save for a girl walking behind her. She didn't pay any attention to the Slytherin until the student called her name. Ziva turned around.
"Yes?" She queried.
"It's Ziva Herondale, right?" the girl asked.
"Yes."
"My name is Astoria Greengrass. Pardon me for asking this, but how are you?"
Ziva was taken aback by the question. Why would this random stranger want to know how she was doing? "I'm well… and yourself?"
"I'm good. Just curious about something. May I walk with you back to the hospital wing?"
"Sure."
The two girls started off, and Ziva's mind was racing. What was going on here?
"Might I ask you what happened between you and Draco?" Astoria inquired casually and quietly. Ziva nearly stopped breathing at the sudden change in topic. How did this girl know about them? Who told her? And when? She demanded all these questions to be answered by the Slytherin student. Astoria held up her hands in defense. "I meant no disrespect. I overheard your argument with Draco a few weeks ago and he told me about you two. Don't worry, I haven't told anyone, and I swear he doesn't know I'm talking to you."
"Why haven't you told anyone?"
"It's not my place to. And I know what would be the consequences for the both of you if I did."
"… Thank you for that. I'm going to assume you won't tell a soul what I'm about to tell you, about what happened between me and Dra- Malfoy."
"I swear."
Ziva took a deep breath, and wondered vaguely why she was trusting this random Slytherin. "I sent a note with my friends Jade and Elliot to Malfoy for our next meeting place and time. He never showed up, and I remembered he had told me the day he doesn't show up was the day we were through. And I waited three hours for him. I got pissed and broke it off. Then he had the audacity to act like he'd done nothing wrong. So that's what happened to make a long story short."
Astoria raised her eyebrows. "I'm sorry. I know saying that doesn't help, but I am. I know we're in different houses and all, but if you ever need to talk to someone besides your friends now, I'm available."
"Why are you being nice to me?" Ziva suddenly asked. "I'm not meaning to sound rude, but I just had a random Slytherin student who knows about my relationship with Malfoy and I find it strange that you want to know everything."
"Because I've had a crush on Draco for a long time, but I know I'm not his type and I've gotten over him. I'm too quiet and passive for his taste. But I saw the way he looked after he would sneak out to meet who I now know was you. I'd never seen him look happier, which is saying something because he hasn't looked all that great this year, like something is-"
"Bothering him? Yeah, I know. He never told me what it was; said he couldn't. Anyways, it doesn't matter. Unless he had an extremely valid reason for not showing up that night, I won't give him a second chance. Listen, I need to get to Madame Pomfrey. Thank you for listening, and thank you for caring, but I don't want you trying to get me ad Malfoy back together, okay?"
Astoria sighed. "All right. I won't. It was nice talking to you Ziva."
"You too, Astoria."
So do you think Astoria is up to something or do you think she genuinely cares about Ziva and Draco? You decide! Review! :)