Chapter 15: I Celebrate my Birthday With Spiders and Centaurs.

(James)

Now this wasn't just any spider this was an Acromantula. If you don't know what that is, think of the biggest spider you've ever seen. Now imagine it but hairier. Now imagine it has a pungent odour that you can't stand. Now imagine all that but about thirty-two times bigger. Now you've got a vague image of an Acromantula. Still, though, it's probably not big enough or scary enough.

Since I'm supposed to be start being a better person, I'll admit it. I screamed. I screeched like a little girl when I saw that spider.

I remembered when I was around three years old and I'd done something to piss off Teddy. I couldn't even remember what it was. But he overreacted and decided he'd get me back. Well, he did all right. That night when I went to bed I realized my pillow was made of hairy black spiders. It had been dark and I hadn't been able to see. From that moment on I refused to sleep in the dark and I'd been terrified of spiders.

And here was this big hairy spider standing before me, hissing.

I tried to remember what to do but I couldn't think straight. "Er, impedimenta?"

That was just pathetic, James, I told myself as the spell had absolutely no effect. The Acromantula was slowly inching towards me. I tried not to panic.

I cast every spell I could think of but nothing had an effect. After the tenth spell the hideous creature was about a foot away from me. I lunged but it was too late. It grabbed hold of my leg and I was hoisted into the air, hanging upside-down.

It was there, twelve feet in the air, inches from fangs dripping with poisonous venom that I remembered.

"I dunno guys. I mean the forbidden forest?"

"C'mon, James, don't be a wuss," groaned Josh.

"I know why you don't want to go Jamie," Fred said with a grin. "It's because he's scared of the dark."

My checks grew hot. "No! I- it's just… what if we run into the spider things Teddy was talking about?"

"You can easily defeat an Acromantula by hitting it in the underbelly with a spell. Stunning spells are especially effective," Ben informed us from where he sat on his bed.

"There you go, Jamie, now what do you say?"

"Fine, I guess. I do like adventures."

"Stupefy!" I yelled aiming it at the giant spider's underbelly.

It worked. The thing crumpled to the ground. Unfortunately I was still caught it fangs, and during the fall my pants got ripped right off.

Doing my best to look casual- and ignore the pain in my leg- I looked at the camera. I flashed one of my confident grins with a wink and then grabbed my pants, mended them, and put them back on.

"Good job," said Brianna with a smile.

"Are you kidding?" I sighed. "You're one of the volunteers too?"

"Nice hippogriff undies," she said.

"Why were you even looking there?" I countered.

"Your pants got ripped off and it was caught on film. It's kind of hard not to look."

I grumbled and took the orange coin from Brianna's hand.

"Good luck," she called as I half, ran, half limped away.

"Whatever," I grumbled and I could hear her laughter.

I went to the easier stations after that. I defeated three more centaur, three sphinxes, four boggarts which took the form of my dead family, and another Dementor thing. I stayed clear of the Acromantula.

"Attention champions," said an echoing voice, "You now have fifteen minutes left in the competition. If you do not make it back before the final bell you are disqualified."

It checked the map to see how deep in the forest I was. It would take me ten minutes, running to get back to the grounds. So I started jogging.

Along the way I stopped off to fight the last boggart. It was painful to see Albus, Lily and my parents lying there on the ground, eyes open, fear present in their face. How could some creature turn into such realistic images of dead people?

I made it back to the ground with two minutes to spare. I basked in the glory of the cheering and took several bows, and blew kisses to the crowd.

"Congratulations, James, you have earned 69 points," announced Neville after counting my coins. "You are currently in first place."

I looked and noticed Scone wasn't here yet. The bell rang out and he returned literally three seconds after. I'm in first and Scone was disqualified? Best birthday present ever!

"I'm terribly sorry, Samuel, but you arrived after the bell and therefore you have zero points."

I tried to contain my excitement.

Flitwick magically amplified his voice and turned to the crowd. "In fourth place we have Samuel Scone of Ravenclaw with zero points, in third we have Steffi Roberts of Hufflepuff with forty-three points, in second we have Lucas Reed of Slytherin with fifty points, and in first we have James Potter of Gryffindor with sixty-nine points."

The cheers were deafening. "Potter! Potter! Potter!" They chanted. "Gryffindor is the best, we are better than the rest, go Gryffindor!"

"This means," Flitwick said loudly over the crowd "the total points as of now are James in first place with 126, Steffi in second with 111, Lucas in third with 103 and Samuel in fourth with 65."

The cheers grew again. "But," Flitwick practically screamed, "Those scores are not final for we have a deal for our champion. You may trade your coins in for clues about the next task. And Samuel, we have agreed that you may also participate despite being disqualified in from the competition, but we shall be taking away half your coins."

Scone grinned and I resisted the urge to shout about how unfair that was. Disqualified means disqualified.

"Now the rules of this are simple. Forty coins will buy you everything. We will give you all the details of the challenge. For thirty-three coins we will reveal the type of challenges you will face. For twenty-seven we will reveal the terrain. For twenty coins we will give you riddles that you'll have to decode in order to discover smaller clues. If you trade your coin that's how many points you lose."

Scone was grinner even broader now and I resisted the urge to punch him again. He probably didn't even have enough coins to but anything good.

"You shall have three minutes to discuss if you want any of these hints with your head of house. You will not know what the other champions decided unless they decide to reveal it to you themselves. Now you may begin conversing with your head of house."

"What do you think James?" asked Neville.

"No," I said. "Absolutely not."

"Really? But you're ahead. It could be helpful."

"And I'd rather stay ahead while these idiots waste their points on useless hints."

"You're positive?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll tell Filius then."

Once Neville said that I almost called him back but I saw Scone out of the corner of my eye, watching me. I had said I was sure, Scone could probably see the confidence on my face, and I didn't want to look weak. Like I wasn't sure of myself. So instead of doubting myself I did my best to look even smugger than Scone.

Two minutes later Flitwick made another announcement. "It's been settled. All the champions have decided. The second task of the Four House Tournament is now over. The third task will be taking place in March. Details will be announced later on. Good night everyone."

The second we were dismissed I approached Scone, and dragged him away from his admiring fans. I stared him down and I couldn't sworn I saw a little fear on his face.

"You cheated," I stated bluntly.

Scone glared and any trace of fear was replaced with confidence and smug Scone-ness. "You cheated."

I knew what he was talking about but I played dumb. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do."

"Alright, fine. I do."

Scone stared at me for a second. Slowly his confident façade disappeared and he looked at me suspiciously. "What do you want?"

I didn't know what he was talking about but I decided to play it to my advantage. "I want you to tell me what you did with your coins. And what your item was in the tournament."

"That it?"

"Tell me that and then I'll see if I feel like I'm in a generous mood."

"I used forty coins and now I know everything about the next task. What it is, where it is, what type of creatures will be in it."

I narrowed my eyes as I noticed Scone didn't answer my second question. He was trying to hide something. "What was your item, Scone?"

"What do you care?"

"What was our item?" I demanded.

"A potion. Paid a Slytherin to make it for me. I can't remember what it's called. Basically makes people listen to you. Like the Imperius curse but on anyone you talk to and it's not as powerful."

The Persuasive Potion. Scone used it. He knew of it. But he didn't know the name. "Which Slytherin made it for you?"

"Cassidy's little brother," he replied. "Is that all?"

"For now."

"Keep my secret, and I don't hurt you for telling about our arrangement." He saw the shocked look on my face and smirked. "That's right. I wasn't kidding when I said I would know. But the way I see it, we're even."

I was about to push further but then I realised, quit while you were ahead. Better I stay quiet and not let Scone know how much information he gave away. Not let him know that I had no idea about his supposed secret. Better I just leave the box alone, for now. But that didn't mean I was done with it. No, I'd find out what was in that box, and if it truly was illegal I'd get Scone arrested in a moment's notice.

(Hugo)

"There's absolutely nothing here!" Frank complained. "No books talk about some great wand except the Elder wand."

Lily sighed loudly. "You found anything on Legilimency, Hugh?"

"Nothing. Nothing I didn't already know at least. It'd be helpful if we knew the name for it."

"Mind-Walking," Albus said.

Jacob snorted. "It's been weeks. This is our third time looking through these books and there's nothing called Mind-Walking."

"It's only been twelve days," Lucy commented.

Jacob glared at here. "Whatever. Point is it's not here. I still think we should check the Restricted Section."

"Shut up!" hissed Lucy. "Madame Prince might hear you. Checking the Restricted Section is the reason why James and Alice are in detention right now!"

"I can't believe James Potter, head Marauder, got caught sneaking around."

"He probably wouldn't have if Alice wasn't with him," said Lily. "And I agree with Jacob. We should try again."

I sighed. Lily wasn't herself anymore. It was like someone had drugged her with a love potion. She was obsessed with Jacob and only seemed interested in his ideas. It was bizarre. Lily Potter used to be strong independent girl. Now she was a mindless love drone.

"Sneak in after-hours then," I whispered, trying to hide my annoyance. "You two. See how things go."

"All right," Jacob said.

"Perfect," Lily swooned, but Jacob didn't notice.

Suddenly James burst into the library, running at full speed. Madame Prince tried to kick him out but he completely ignored her. Alice followed hissing at James to calm down.

"Al," James breathed. "I think I found Mystie."

At this point Alice had caught up to James, and began dragging him out of the library- not before Madame Prince could hand him a detention slip- and beckoned us to follow.

When I stepped outside I saw Cassidy waiting with James-who was doing his best not to stare at her- and Alice.

Albus and Cassidy hugged and kissed on sight which made James and Jacob do fake barfing motions.

James cleared his throat loudly which made Cassidy and Albus break apart. Albus glared at James who gave a shrug in return. "Cassidy thinks she's figured out what's going on with the whole Mystie situation. Care to explain Cassy dear?"

Cassidy smiled and James looked like he was about to fall off his feet. Albus' eyes narrowed. Alice snorted. Lily gazed at Jacob, just as love sick as her brother. Jacob laughed at James, completely oblivious to the fact that Lily was to him as James was to Cassidy. And I stared at all six of them wondering how this group of people could be so messed up just because of a stupid little thing called love.

"Yes, well," Cassidy began breaking the little scene that had formed as everyone focused on her, "I think that Mystie is one of my roommates. Melissa Young- she's always been a bit of a gossip. And ever since, I came here she's been, uh, Team Jassidy, as she calls it-"

"Jassidy?" Jacob repeated, stifling a laugh.

"Jassidy," James echoed. "I like it. Definitely better than… what would you call it, Albassidy? I mean that's just stupid."

"What about Calbus?" Al suggested. "Jassidy sounds like the name of a retarded dog or something."

"Calbus sounds like the name of a cow," James shot back.

The brothers held each other's gaze for a long time. They may be getting along, but unless Cassidy shipped herself back to America their relationship would never be the same again. She was always getting in the way. Which was stupid.

"Jily," Lily said suddenly, almost a little dreamily.

"What?" James said turning to her. Jacob looked up too.

"I, uh…" Lily looked lost.

"Did you just-" Jacob began.

I sighed and then smiled. "Don't flatter yourself, Jacob. She was talking about James and Alice. Jally."

"I thought she said-" I kicked James in the shin to shut him up.

"Oh, yeah that makes more sense. Jally. James and Ally. What about Jalice?"

Alice blushed the tiniest bit. "It's okay, Ally," James said in a proud voice. "No girl can help but go a little red at the thought of dating all this-"

Alice snorted. "Only in your dreams."

James gave one of his famous lopsided grins. "And in yours."

"If I remember correctly you came here with incredibly important news…" Albus reminded us.

"Right," Cassidy said. "So this girl in my dorm, who hated the concept of me and Al together, changes her hair color in seconds. Goes into the bathroom and five seconds later she comes out with a different hair colour. She claims she has a secret dye that works really well but I don't believe her. I've never seen her change her appearance or her hair colour in person, but she has to be a Metamorphagus. She wouldn't be able to change her hair that fast. And she follows the Hogwarts News like her life depends on it."

James tapped his foot impatiently. "Which is why I don't understand why you two made me come here before we catch her!"

"Think it through James. What are you going to do? Kidnap her on her way to the loo, take her into a broom closet and interrogate her?"

James seemed to see nothing wrong with this idea. "She screwed my brother! She deserves to be interrogated!"

"She didn't actually screw me, James. A little embarrassment but I'm fine," Albus spoke in a slightly exasperated tone as if he'd told his brother this before. "But she just hates me and I need to find out why."

"Yeah, well, hatred of one Potter equals hatred of all Potters. And extended family. Which means this girl is going to have to deal with the Weasley/Potter gang!"

"Ignore him," Alice said to Albus. "He's just slightly delusional."

"Delusional?" James demanded. He began arguing with Alice about how he was completely sane and if she couldn't see that then she was delusional.

"So we have idea. But no confirmations?" I summed up.

"Right," Cassidy agreed. "I can watch her. See if I can find any proof."

"Good," Albus said. "Get Lysander and Lorcan on it too. Maybe even Dylan. Oh, and Luke and Alec are in your year. Have all of you work on it."

Everyone stared at Albus for a second. Even James paused mid-sentence. Slowly a grin spread across his face. "Did I just here my baby bro giving orders?"

Albus grinned a little sheepishly. "No. You heard Albus Potter getting things done."

James stared again. "Unbelievable," he muttered. Then he went up and hugged Al. "Good job, Albus."

I wondered what had inspired that change in Albus. One year ago he would have never given an order like that. He would've waited for someone else to do it. But now things were different. Al wasn't scared anymore. Maybe it was our adventure with Tantibus last year, maybe it was winning Cassidy over- even if I thought that was a mistake- or maybe it was leading the rescue mission to save me over the break. But whatever the reason Albus Potter had grown up. Maybe I should follow that suit. Maybe we all should. Because Albus had realized something that hadn't quite dawned on us yet. A war was starting. And we were smack in the middle of it.

(Lily)

"It's dark now. We should get going," Jacob said looking at his watch.

"Whatever you say," I replied. Hugo rolled his eyes and I glared at him.

"Yeah, you really should," Hugo said. "Jacob why don't you go get the Cloak from James? Lily and I will wait here."

Jacob nodded. I was about to follow him up the stairs when Hugo grabbed the back of my robes.

"I love you Lily and I don't want our friendship to be ruined."

I frowned, a little taken aback. I hugged my cousin. "Nothing is happening to our friendship, Hugh. Last year when we weren't that close. That was the worst year of my life. I never want that to happen again."

"Then I can be completely honest with you?" he asked.

If it had been anyone else the words would've made me think twice. I would've been worried about the truth and whether it would hurt. But I knew Hugo. And I knew he would never tell me anything hurtful unless I absolutely had to know it. So with him, I nodded without hesitation.

He took a deep breath. "Last year I told you that you weren't spending enough time with me. Well, now you're doing that, which I'm thrilled about, don't get me wrong, but you also started spending a lot more time with him." Hugo jerked his head towards the stairs Jacob had just taken towards James' dormitory. I could tell me was trying to hide it but the look on his face was exasperated, as if he had been annoyed about this for a long time.

"What are you talking about, Hugh?" I asked with a bit of a laugh. "You think I'm spending too much time with Jacob?"

Hugo opened his mouth and then shut it. He took a calming breath before speaking, "I think you have a crush on him."

I told myself not to get red but it was Jacob we were talking about. I couldn't help myself. "So what if I do?" I asked smiling a little too widely.

"I'm sorry, Lils, but you gotta know he doesn't feel the same way."

I wanted to yell, say that there was no way Hugo would've told him that. Instead I masked my anger, although I didn't do the best job. "You can't know that, Hugh."

"Yes, I can Lils. He's my best friend. We talk about girls sometimes, and… and he has a crush on someone else."

I felt my eye twitch. "Who?" I asked the friendly tone of my voice changing, without me even realizing it.

Hugo took a step back. "Sorry. Bro code. I can't tell you. I'm only telling you because I don't want you to get hurt, Lils."

"Yeah, well, I'm fine Hugh," I replied trying to keep the coolness in my voice to a minimum.

Hugo winced at my exaggerated use of the nickname. For us Lils and Hugh symbolized our friendship. It represented our love towards the other, a reminder that we always cared. They especially came up in conversations like this when we were trying to constantly remind each other that we weren't trying to hurt the other person. In this case though, it was just getting annoying.

"C'mon, Lils, I told you that it was bad news before I said it," Hugo tried to reason.

I sighed. He was right after all. I had asked for it. "I don't even like Jacob. Not really," I lied.

Hugo tilted his head and gave me that don't even try that look. "Lily. I covered for you today. I mean Jily?"

I snorted. "I said Jally. You know that."

"Don't keep telling yourself that. There's plenty of other fish in the sea. What about Liam?"

"Me and Liam still talk a lot. I saw him yesterday. What's your point?"

"My point is that instead of obsessing over a guy who's into someone else you can go with Liam. Or better yet," Hugo added a frown on his face as if he had just realized something important, "Stay true to the deal we made last year. No dating until fourth year?"

My tone became icy again. "I wasn't the one who mentioned dating in the first place."

"C'mon, Lils, I know you. I can tell the way you look at him. Going on this secret mission with him? You don't even care about finding the book you're just want some time alone with him."

Jacob came bounding down the stairs. I glared at Hugo but smoothed my face when Jacob looked at me. "Even if you're right Hugo, it's not for the reason you think."

I put my hand on Jacob's shoulder and steered him out of the Common Room.

Me obsessed with Jacob? That was ridiculous. If I had wanted to date him I would have a long time ago. Maybe I liked him a little, but that was normal. He's my friend, everyone likes their friends. There was nothing weird about our relationship. Nothing.

"What was that about?"

I turned to Jacob and smiled. "Nothing. Hugo just can't give up on the fact that there's something wrong with Cassidy," I lied. It wasn't totally a lie. It was true that Hugo had discussed with me many times that Cassidy was no good. Especially since she gave us that information on Mystie.

Jacob frowned a little. "Really? What'd you mean when you said 'Even if you're right it's not for the reason you think.'"

"Hugo seems to think she's lying about the whole Mystie thing because she's a rotten person. I just don't see why he and Alice hate her so much."

"Alice hates her?" Jacob asked confused.

I rolled my eyes. "It's like you notice nothing about the world around you. Did you not see the way Alice was impatiently tapping her foot and glaring the entire time Cassidy was talking?"

"No," Jacob replied with a shrug. "Guess I just didn't notice."

We walked under the cloak in silence for a bit. I couldn't help but notice how close we were. How I could feel him breathing and he could probably feel me breathing too.

Suddenly he grabbed me and pulled me towards him. I was a little flustered but I didn't pull away.

"Lily!" he scolded after a few seconds of waiting. "You almost ran right into that prefect."

I shook my head to clear it. "Sorry, I didn't notice."

"And you say I notice nothing," he muttered.

More silence and then we arrived at the library. I checked my watch. "It's half past two," I said quietly.

"And what time did Alice say the Prefects come around?"

"Two forty," I replied.

"We're under the cloak," he pointed out. "Even if we don't wait until they're done, it's not likely they'll catch us."

"You think we should just go in?"

Jacob grinned. "Why not? What's the point of life without a few risks, right?"

Without really thinking I grabbed the corner of the cloak and threw it off us. Jacob looked shocked for a second but then smiled. "I like the way you do things, Potter."

"Shall we get these books or what?" I said as a reply.

"After you." He held open the door for me.

We headed straight for the restricted section. We began scanning the spines of the books. After about five minutes of silence Jacob said casually, "I hardly know you."

"What?"

He turned to look at me. "You've saved my life, I've saved yours. I've told you things about my past that I've never shared with anyone else. But I don't know you."

"I guess I don't really know you either."

"What's your favorite color?"

"Orange," I said without hesitation. Orange had been my favorite colour since I could remember simply because my best friend, Hugo, had orange hair. "What about yours"?

"Blue. Reminds me of the sky and the sky reminds me of freedom."

I nodded, slightly impressed. "That was deep."

He gave me a grin. "You didn't think I could be deep."

"Apparently there's a lot I don't know about you."

"Tell me more about you. Tell me something you've never told anyone else."

I thought for a minute. "Um, when I was four I had a funeral for a bug James stepped on."

His grin widened. "You've never told anyone that before?"

I shook my head. "Well, I might've told Hugo. I'm not quite sure there's anything he doesn't know about me."

Jacob sighed. "I want that. I want to be able to have that relationship with someone."

"We can have it."

"We can?" he asked, almost a little doubtful.

"We can," I confirmed. "Or at least we can start."

"Okay. So tell me something I don't know about you. Tell me a story."

I thought for a minute. "One time when Teddy was babysitting James and I locked him in the basement."

"Why?" Jacob asked with a laugh.

I shrugged. "He wouldn't let us swing on the chandelier. We saw it in a movie and thought it looked cool. Teddy said it looked dangerous. James got annoyed and created this master plan to trap him in the basement. The shocking part is it actually worked."

"Did you get in trouble?"

"Nope. I pretended to be asleep by the time my parents got home. And James never minded taking the punishment, even when he was seven."

"Cute," Jacob smiled. He thought for a minute. "My past isn't really filled with happy stories but one time Marlo and I convinced everyone there was a dragon in the school. Even the teachers."

I burst out laughing. "How'd you do that?"

"Well, we built a dragon for the art fair, and then I used magic to make it come to life. It even spewed fire!"

"Is someone in here?" called a voice from the front of the library. I turned to Jacob.

"This is the fun part," I whispered. Then I called out "Yes!" really loudly.

"Who's there?" came the voice of a male.

"Your mamma!" Jacob shouted.

We both burst out laughing.

"This is not funny!" the voice snapped. It sounded closer.

Jacob grabbed my hand, the cloak, and the book we found and ran. "Catch us if you can!"

We darted between the shelves of books, laughing our heads off, as the prefect chased us, but couldn't catch us.

Jacob handed me the books and threw the cloak over himself. He ran towards the Prefect and tapped him on the back.

"What was that?" demanded the angry Ravenclaw.

Jacob laughed and ran back towards me. He beckoned for me to come under the cloak with him. I did and we left the library leaving the confused, angry Prefect shouting at a bunch of book shelves.

It was in that moment, as Jacob and I were running, laughing our heads off that I realised Hugo was right. But so what? There was nothing wrong little crush.

When we arrived back at the Common Room, Hugo was waiting for us. Besides him, and one person in the corner reading alone, the Common Room was empty.

"Did you guys find anything?" asked Hugo jumping out of his seat the moment he saw us.

"Yeah, sort of," Jacob replied, not looking at Hugo. "Let's, uh, go up to the dormitory."

"Why?" Hugo asked. "Frank is sleeping up there."

Jacob didn't respond and I followed noticing he was looking at the girl in the corner. Then I realized who she was.

"Go talk to her," I insisted.

"No, Lily. Trust me it won't go over well."

"Why, Jacob?" asked Jasmine without looking up from her book. "Why don't you tell your friends why it won't go well?"

Several emotions crossed Jacob face before he could control them into a smooth mask, revealing nothing. "C'mon, guys, let's go."

"No," Jasmine said, finally looking up. "For once in your life don't run, Jacob."

Jacob swallowed hard and approached his sister slowly. She had a slightly amused look on her face like she was enjoying Jacob's uncomfortableness.

"Leave this alone, Jaz," he said, practically begged.

She shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you even made it into this house Jacob. You're a bloody coward. Stop running from the past and face what you did!"

Jacob just looked from Hugo and me to his sister and back again.

"Fine. I'll tell them. Have it your way."

"You wouldn't."

"There's lot of things I wouldn't think you would do either Jacob, but I guess we were both wrong." They stared at each other for a long time before Jasmine spoke again, "I'm sure my brother's told you something," Jasmine began. "That Jonathan used to hit him, torture him I suppose. But did he ever tell you why?"

I noticed my hands were balled into fists at my side, but I couldn't unclench them. "Yeah, because Jonathan is an abusive psychopath who was jealous that Jacob is a wizard," I snapped.

Jasmine gave an amused laugh. "I'm magical and he never hurt me."

"Either you're a liar or you're delusional," Hugo retorted.

It was almost as if I could see the ice in Jasmine's blue eyes. So intense and determined and angry. I felt sorry for the girl. "I'm not delusional. Don't forget you've only heard the story from the point of view of a cowardly boy desperate for friends."

I turned to Jacob who was just standing there. His face was wiped clean again, but underneath the mask I could see the fear, the hurt, the betrayal. I reached out for Jacob's hand but he moved away.

"Jacob isn't a coward!" Hugo barked.

Jasmine nodded. "Right. Funny how Jacob can't even tell me that for himself." Jacob gave no response. He just stood there with his arms crossed starring at his sister. "C'mon, Jacob, deny it. Tell your friends I'm lying."

Jacob didn't say anything at all.

"That's what I thought. Anyway, people aren't born evil. You don't see babies go around committing murder, do you?"

Jasmine paused as if waiting for an actual answer. When no one gave her one she went on, "Jonathan was never good person. After all good people aren't born either. They're made. And so are bad people. Jonathan was just a kid who had everything in his life taken away from him."

I snorted loudly. "He's a sadist, and sadists are born not made."

"Not true. Jonathan had no choice. He grew up with parents who didn't really love him, he was never loved and that does something to a person. It turns them into a monster."

"Or it turns them into someone who wants to fight those monsters," I said determinedly. "That's what it turned Jacob into."

Jasmine shook her head. "Jonathan may be sadistic but it was Jacob who caused him to be that way."

"Please, Jaz," Jacob said in a quiet voice, looking up and meeting his sister's eyes.

I saw Jasmine's expression soften for a split second before it went back to a mask of ice. "Jonathan only did what he did to Jacob because he believes in justice."

"Justice? How is torturing an innocent child justice?" demanded Hugo.

"Torturing an innocent child isn't justice. But torturing a murderer is."

Jacob dropped his head, looking at nothing but the floor.

"Jacob?" Hugo said, worriedly. "Jacob."

"Why aren't you denying it, Jake?" I asked, a little desperately.

"Because it's true," Jasmine insisted. "The boy you love, the one you think is some sort of hero, murdered his own father!"

A/N: Hey guys :) sorry I was a little late. And I'm sorry about the cliffhanger (well, not really the last one) :P

1: Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I was sort of busy with pother stuff and sort of just lazy. Next chapter will be updated on the 16th or 17th. Most likely. I'm counting on it. Like 90% chance.

2: I'm in the play at school and since the date where we actually preform is near we're doing later rehearsals. I'm not sure if that's going to affect my updating but it might so just a warning.

3: QotC: What's your guy's opinion on Snape. Personally I despise him. I could go on hour long rants about why. So if you'd like to have a friendly debate or simply tell me you agree then review or PM me!

4: I feel the need to clarify because it's not really supposed to be a secret from the readers but I'm not sure if I made it clear... Scone thinks James knows what's in the box (the package James was arrested over.) He doesn't. Not yet anyway.

5: The whole talking about ship names thing was kind of pointless but it was fun to write so you know, whatever :)

Will James ever find out what's in the box? When? What could've been so illegal that they were willing to send a teenager to Azkaban over it? Will Lily ever recover from her love sickness? Will they ever find out what wand Code is after? Is Melissa Young really Mystie? Is Cassidy lying about Melissa? Will Jacob notice how lovesick she is? Will they ever find a book on Mind-Walking? Did Jacob reallt murder his father? How? Why? When?

"The minute people fall in love, they become liars," Harlan Ellison.

-Monkeywoman14