Jade walked through the empty halls alone, patrolling the corridors. As a prefect she had to make sure everyone was back in their dorms this late at night. Ginger was trailing behind her, tired but wanting to stay next to her owner. She was also sure Malfoy had ignored his duties and gone to bed early. As she paced in annoyance, she saw a shadow creep from behind the walls. She narrowed her eyes, lifting her wand into the dimly lit pathway with a whisper of, "Lumos!"

The light omitted from the end of her wand just barely lit up the face of the shadow at the end of the hall. She gasped in fright for a second, before she recognized Ron Weasley. He jumped out of his skin at the sight of her, letting out a small yelp. "Bloody Hell!" he exclaimed. He looked her over with a hand over his heart. "What are you doing out here this late?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" she replied with a pout.

"I'm a prefect."

"So am I. I'm on patrol - what are you doing so far away from Gryffindor Tower this late?" As she questioned him, Jade fully took in his appearance. He was soaked - dripping water all over the stone floor. A broom was in his hand, and he wore simple, sweat clothes.

Jade was about to comment when a voice rang out from behind her. "Ron?" She yelped and jumped close to the wall. Her face became flaming hot as she saw Harry Potter walking up to them. He smiled at her apologetically. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

Jade peeled herself from the wall. "What? I wasn't scared."

Ron snorted beside her. "What are you doing here?" Harry asked him.

Ron tried to hide the broom behind his back, but it didn't exactly work out. "Nothing."

"Were you playing Quidditch?" Harry continued. "Why so late?"

"Oh!" Jade realized. "You're trying out for the team, aren't you?"

Red crept into Ron's face. "Maybe," he mumbled.

Harry looked confused. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Ron looked at the ground. "I thought you'd laugh at me."

"Why would I do that?"

"Don't know," Ron mumbled. "I'm so nervous. Ugh!" He slapped his cheek. "And Emma's going to be there!"

"So what?" Harry questioned curiously. If it were possible for Ronald to turn a darker red, he did.

Jade unintentionally saved Ron from answering when she noticed Harry's hand. "What happened?" she cried, subconsciously reaching out and grabbing it. Her thumb rubbed over the painful-looking cuts in the skin, and she looked in horror as they spelled out, I must not tell lies. "What did she do to you?" she breathed.

Harry tugged his hand away from her, and she blushed hard - they didn't know each other very well, after all. "Nothing."

"That's not nothing!" Ron argued, trying to get a good look at the hand and completely forgetting his Quidditch struggles. "You've got to tell someone, mate."

"No," Harry refused immediately. "I won't give her the satisfaction."

Jade frowned. "Satisfaction? That's insane. Tell Professor McGonagall, she won't stand for that!"

"Who are you again?" Harry asked shortly.

Jade felt embarrassed inside, but she didn't let it show. With a glare and curl of her lip, she snapped, "Jade Baem. Do what you want - see if I care. Just get back to your dorm. I'm the Prefect patrolling over here, and even if Mr. Weasley is also a Prefect, you aren't, Potter. Besides - I'm not afraid to report the both of you. Or take away points."

Harry just turned and left, but Ron gave her a quick second glance before jogging to catch up with his best friend. "Emma said she was nice," Jade heard him whisper. "I think you upset her."

Jade and Jessica ended up walking to all their classes together. On their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts hour they were dreading, a familiar cheerful voice rang out her name. Jade turned to see Emma walking with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and waving a friendly hand. "Hey!" she said sweetly. "Want to walk with us?"

Emma's smile was infectious, and made Jade return it. "Sure. Uh, this is my friend Jessica."

Jessica showed the Gryffindors one of her rare but cute smiles. "Jessica Hwang. I already know who you are, of course."

The famous trio gave cautious smiles - Jade had a suspicion they were hesitant of their Slytherin status - but Emma shook Jessica's hand eagerly. "Nice to meet you."

"Harry!" A pretty girl wearing Ravenclaw robes ran up to them, a shy smile plastered to her face.

"Cho," Harry greeted, turning red in the face. Jade felt her hands ball into fists.

"Are you excited for Quidditch tryouts?"

"I can't go," Harry answered with a grimace. "Umbridge's given me detention that day."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cho rested her hand on Harry's shoulder. The rest of her words just came out as blah, blah, blah in Jade's mind. She was fuming.

When the girl left, Jade asked calmly, "Who was that?"

"Cho Chang." Ron was the one to answer, looking surprised. "Don't you know her?"

"How would I know her?" Jade saw Ron's cheeks get red and sighed. "All Asians don't know each other, Ronald. And I'm Korean, not Chinese." Ron spluttered, trying to say that wasn't what he meant while Hermione glared at him. Jade waved it off.

The Gryffindors began walking, and Jade noticed Jessica walking purposefully slower. She matched her pace. "You're much prettier than that girl," Jessica whispered.

Jade blinked. "What?"

Jessica looked in her eyes seriously. "You're much prettier. And she seems like a whiner anyway. You just need to get closer to Harry, and he'll see."

Jade was shocked. "I - how do you -?"

The usually expressionless girl gave her a small smile. "You've had a crush on him ever since second year. We've been friends for years, how could I not notice?"

It warmed Jade's heart but also made her feel guilty to know that for the school years they spent silently sitting next to each other in class - which Jade had always assumed was because she was the only one Jessica would tolerate - the other girl had considered them friends.

"You should eat," Emma insisted, looking at Ron's unusually empty plate. The red haired boy sighed and managed to take a bit of a chicken leg.

"I for one think it's refreshing, I wish everyone would boycott the food here," Hermione sniffed. Ron narrowed his eyes and took another, much larger, bite.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Emma said, patting Ron's arm before taking another bite of her dinner.

Ron flushed, probably nervous for his tryout, before standing quickly. "I need to be going." He turned to Harry and said, "Good luck with Umbridge," before rushing away from the Gryffindor table.

"I hope your detention goes well," Emma said to Harry absentmindedly as she pushed back from the table and rushed after her friend.

"Ron- wait!" The boy stopped and turned, allowing Emma to catch up. There was a small crowd going to watch the try outs, students walking leisurely across the grass towards the Quidditch pitch. Ron and Emma joined them, Ron looking rather green while Emma kept her attitude optimistic.

The sky was beginning to darken and the grass was wet, a chill in the air. As Ron did, Emma had on the sweater Mrs. Weasley had made her the last Christmas, navy blue with emerald green E, to keep warm. "Have you been practicing?"

Ron nodded. "But it wasn't enough."

"Of course it was," Emma decided. "You'll make it."

Ron could only groan, as the entrance to the Gryffindor locker room neared. The pair stopped, Ron looking so dreadful Emma was surprised he was still standing.

"Good luck," Emma said with a reassuring smile. And before Ron could react, she stood on her toes to kiss him on the cheek, and then rushed towards the entrance to the seating. Emma snuck a quick glance back, and saw Ron with his hand on his cheek, looking stunned.

Emma quickly climbed the stairs to a high seat next to the 3 posts. She sat down, a bit isolated from the other Gryffindors watching the try out. A breeze ruffled her brown hair and turned her cheeks rosy pink. There was a small commotion on the pitch, and out came the players. Emma stood up and clapped. "Go Ron!"

A few other spectators followed her lead, however, none of them cheered for Ron. From the pitch, Ron gave her a meek smile. Emma waved and grinned widely, hoping to give her miserable friend a bit of courage. Ron joined six others at the base of the rings, standing next to last. Emma was surprised to see Ginny join the other Chasers near the captain of the team, Katie Bell. Some measly first years were trying out for the position of Seeker, a pointless quest, as everyone knew harry would be returning just as soon as his detentions were over with, and a few large, troll like boys joined Fred and George as Beaters.

After a short discussion, one person from each group took a turn filling their position. The results really were miserable, it showed on Katie Bell's face. Bludgers were going everywhere, not one person had managed to catch the Snitch, and it was almost impossible to tell who was worse, the Chasers or the Keepers. Luckily Ron hadn't taken his turn yet, he was still standing nervously at the base of the posts.

So far, Emma thought that the Keepers hadn't shown much promise. A few had managed to make some nice saves, but weren't consistent with their skill. She had her fingers crossed in her pockets as Ron's turn came. The lanky boy mounted his broom and pushed off the ground, soaring up to the rings. He wobbled ever so slightly.

Katie Bell came flying at Ron from across the pitch and threw the Quaffle at the rightmost ring. Ron dove for it and made a nice save. Emma smiled to her self and clapped quietly, receiving annoyed looks from Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patil. Emma turned back to Ron, who continued to make shaking, but valid saves. His final save was by far his best, Ron swung down from his broom so that he hung on like a sloth and blocked the Quaffle with his head. There were some approving murmurs from the spectators as Ron sped back down to the grass. Emma shot him a proud grin, which he returned with what looked like a sick grimace.

The final Keeper was Cormac McLaggen, a big, loud, obnoxious boy that Emma tried to avoid. He was much more bold than Ron, flying up to the rings with speed and confidence. McLaggen was making just as many saves as Ron had when Emma began to get nervous for his friend's position. When McLaggen was just a few blocks away from being done, Emma gripped her wand in the pocket of her robes and whispered as quietly as possible, "Confundo."

McLaggen's broom jerked slightly to the left, causing him to miss the next save. The boy's face contorted with confusion, and he was so confused that he missed the next goal thrown by Ginny as well. Katie blew a whistle, calling and end to the tryouts. As a slight drizzle began to fall, the Gryffindors trudged back into the locker room.

Emma's stomach buzzed with nervousness. She hoped McLaggen wouldn't know he had been confunded, and hoped that her spell had been enough to save Ron. She made her way back down the steps and waiting in the drizzle outside of the locker rooms. Other players made their way out, most looking dispirited. Fred and George came out and stopped.

"Ronald's inside, I expect you'll see him in a minute," George said, looking grim.

"He may need the stop end of one of our Puking Pastilles," Fred hinted as the twins walked away. Then, with a wink, "Or a big kiss!"

Emma rolled her eyes, actually very unsure on whether Ron got the position or not. Her question was answered- Ron came barreling out of the locker room, his eyes wild. He hugged her tightly and spun in a circle. "I'm Keeper!"