"It's not funny," said Ron fiercely. "If you must know when I was three, Fred turned my... teddy bear into a great big filthy spider because I broke his toy broomstick... You wouldn't like them either if you held your favorite toy and suddenly it had too many legs and..." He broke off, shuddering.
Hermione and Jade were obviously still trying not to laugh.
Feeling they had better get off the subject, Harry said, "Remember all that water on the floor? Where did that come from? Someone's mopped it up."
"It was about here," said Ron, pointing past Filch's chair not daring to move closer to the spiders. "Level with this door."
Ron reached for the brass doorknob but suddenly withdrew his hand as though burned.
"What's the matter?" inquired Harry.
"Can't go in there," said Ron gruffly. "That's a girl's toilet."
"Oh, there won't be anyone in there," Jade and Hermione replied standing up and coming over. "That's Moaning Myrtle's place. Come on, let's have a look."
And ignoring the large 'OUT OF ORDER' sign, Hermione opened the door.
It was the gloomiest, most depressing bathroom they had ever set foot in. Under a large, cracked, and spotted mirror were chipped sinks. The floor was damp and reflected the dull light given off by the stubs of a few candles burning low in their holders; the wooden doors to the stalls were flaking and scratched and one was dangling off its hinges. Hermione put her fingers to her lips and headed toward the end stall.
When she reached it she said, "Hello, Myrtle, how are you?" Harry and Ron went to look.
Moaning Myrtle floated above the toilet tank, picking a spot on her chin.
"This is a girl's bathroom," she said, eyeing Ron and Harry suspiciously. "They're not girls."
"No," Hermione agreed. "I just wanted to show them how er... nice it is in here." She waved vaguely at the dirty old mirror and the damp floor.
"Ask her if she saw anything," Harry whispered to Hermione.
"What are you whispering?" asked Myrtle, staring at him.
"Nothing," said Harry quickly. "We wanted to ask-"
"I wish people would stop talking behind my back!" said Myrtle, in a voice choked with tears. "I do have feelings, you know, even if I am dead-"
"Myrtle, no one intends to upset you," replied Jade. "Harry only-"
"No one wants to upset me! Ha! That's a good one!" Howled Myrtle. "My life was nothing but misery at this place and now people come along ruining my death!"
"We wanted to ask you if you've seen anything funny lately," said Hermione quickly. "Because a cat was attacked right outside your front door on Halloween."
'You sound like a muggle cop from a muggle TV show.' Jade thought giggling to herself.
"Did you see anyone near here that night?" asked Harry.
"I wasn't paying attention," said Myrtle dramatically. "Peeves upset me so much I came in here and tried to kill myself. Then, of course, I remembered that I'm... that I'm..."
"Already dead," said Ron helpfully.
Jade instantly glared at him and almost punched him again but stopped herself as she didn't want to lose points from her house for it if the other two told on her. Myrtle sobbed tragically, rose up in the air, turned over, and dived headfirst into the toilet. She splashed water all over them and vanished from sight.
However, from her muffled sobs, Jade could tell she had rested somewhere in the U-bend. Jade, Harry, and Ron stood with their mouths open.
However, Hermione shrugged wearily and said, "Honestly, that was almost cheerful for Myrtle... Come on, let's go."
Harry had barely closed the door on Myrtle's gurgling sobs when a loud voice made all four jump.
"RON!" Percy Weasley had stopped dead at the top of the stairs, prefect badge almost glowing in the light, an expression of complete shock on his face. "That's a girl's bathroom!" He gasped. "What were you-?"
"Just looking around," Ron shrugged. "Clues, you know-"
Percy swelled in a manner that reminded Harry forcefully of Mrs. Weasley.
"Get. Away. From. There!" Percy said, striding toward them and hurrying them along, flapping his arms. "Don't you care what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner..."
"Why shouldn't we be here?" Ron snarled, stopping short and glaring at Percy. "Listen, we never touched that cat!"
Jade walked silently toward the great hall. This looked like more of a family matter than a school-related issue to her and she didn't want to be involved.
~timeskip~ three days later in the library
Since the incident in the girl's bathroom with Myrtle, Jade noticed Ron and Hermione were extremely irritable. However, they had different reasons for their irritated behavior. Ron because his brother was constantly following him to ensure he wouldn't ruin his reputation as head boy, Hermione had been trying to figure out who the Slytherin heir was and why they'd want to hurt muggle-borns.
"Who can it be, though?" Hermione said in a quiet voice, continuing a conversation they had just had. "Who'd want to frighten all the Squibs and Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts?"
"Let's think," said Ron in mock puzzlement. "Who do we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum?" He looked at Hermione.
Hermione looked back, unconvinced.
"If you're talking about Draco-" Jade began, glaring at the redhead.
"Of course I am!" Ron exclaimed, not caring that he'd get slapped by her again if he couldn't convince her. "You heard him, didn't you? 'You'll be next, Muggle-borns!' come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him-"
Jade's anger only grew when he insulted one of her best friends yet again. Just as she was about to raise her hand to slap him, Hermione said; "Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?" skeptically.
"Look at his family," Harry replied, closing his books. "The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin; he's always boasting about it. They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough."
Jade slammed her books shut and packed up her anger at their careless conversation about the Malfoy family. This pissed her off to her boiling point. If she stayed a moment longer she'd hex all three of them without hesitation.
"I'm sorry but I'm friends with Draco, so when you've got something better to talk about then and only then will I speak to any of you." She said as she stormed out.
Since the disastrous Pixie episode, Professor Lockhart has not brought live creatures to class. Instead, he read passages from his books to them and sometimes re-enacted some of the more dramatic bits. He usually picked Harry to help him with these reconstructions. So far, he'd been made to play a simple Transylvanian villager who Lockhart had cured of a Babbling Curse, a yeti with a head cold, and a vampire who had been unable to eat anything except lettuce since Lockhart dealt with him. Today, however, Harry was hauled to the front of the class this time acting like a werewolf. Jade rolled her eyes angrily. She still hadn't talked to them since the library incident regarding Draco and his father.
"Nice loud howl, Harry- exactly... and then, if you'll believe it, I pounced... like this... slammed him to the floor... thus with one hand, I managed to hold him down... with my other, I put my wand to his throat... I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm- he let out a piteous moan... go on, Harry- higher than that... good... the fur vanished- the fangs shrank... and he turned back into a man. Simple, yet effective... and another village will remember me forever as the hero who protected them from werewolf attacks." The bell rang and Lockhart got up.
Jade however was glad to leave this "fable-teller's" classroom, as she liked to call him. Even though Jade had gotten mad at Ron, Harry, and Hermione for insulting the Malfoy's the other day, she was also glad they had. Because it was due to that, that she'd come up with the right song to sing tomorrow... now she's starting to plan out what she will do performance-wise, but that's really the easy part she thought as she walked through the halls. Jade was on the second floor heading to the Quidditch pitch to watch Draco's practice again, when she saw the Gryffindor trio run towards Myrtle's bathroom. However, all she did was roll her eyes at them and continued on her way. As she reached the pitch, she pulled out a piece of paper and began to write the lyrics to her song on the paper. Soon after, Professor Snape walked up and sat beside her. Jade glanced briefly up to smile at him, then returned to the song lyrics.
"So you're here again?" Snape asked in his usual monotoned voice, noting he'd also seen her there yesterday.
"Yeah, being here leaves me free from thinking about much... other than Quidditch and my songs," Jade said without looking at him.
"Hmm, one would wonder why you aren't hanging around those Gryffindors you seem so fond of." He told her with a raised eyebrow.
Jade placed the paper and quill in her lap as she looked at Snape with obvious irritation in her expression.
"Pft. The fondness I may have had died yesterday when they were careless enough to talk badly about the few people who've become like family to me since- I-I'm sorry Professor but I must leave." She sniffed in an attempt to regain some composure as angry tears threatened to fall from her eyes.
He stood to comfort her and wiped her tears.
"Don't be sorry." He said just loud enough for her to hear as she left.
~A quick POV~ Snape
I saw Miss Green in the Quidditch stands again today. I walked up and sat next to her, then asked her why she was there. She'd pretty much told me she was there so she didn't have to think about anything. I wondered why she didn't want to think about anything, so I asked why she wasn't with Potter and his friends. However, by the time she'd told me as much as she'd been able to, she was mad enough to cry. As I pondered the situation, the memory of a conversation with the Dark Lord resurfaced in my mind. It was last year when he had met her, and he had become quite curious about her origins. He had specifically instructed me to uncover the truth about her parentage, and now I had a unique idea.
'I could use her tears to identify who her parents are far sooner than if I'd used her blood,' I thought to myself.
It was a peculiar notion, but one that held potential. Tears, as emotional expressions, often held traces of genetic material, and if analyzed properly, they could potentially reveal valuable information about one's lineage. As I delved deeper into my thoughts, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement. This unconventional method had the potential to unlock hidden secrets, reveal long-lost connections, and provide answers that had remained elusive for far too long. The power of tears, both as a symbol of vulnerability and as a source of genetic information, intrigued me. In conclusion, I realized that using her tears to identify her parents was an innovative approach that had the potential to yield results far sooner than conventional methods. The Dark Lord's curiosity sparked this idea, and I was determined to carry out the task assigned to me. By analyzing the tears, I hoped to uncover the truth about her parentage and provide the Dark Lord with the answers he sought.
In a moment of emotional support, I embraced her tightly, gently wiping away her tears. Unbeknownst to her, I swiftly collected those precious droplets and carefully stored them in a transparent bottle that I happened to have on hand.
As she departed, I softly whispered, "Please do not apologize."
Little did she know that her tears had taken on a luminous glow within the confines of the bottle. With a sense of urgency, I made my way to my personal laboratory, eager to study this peculiar phenomenon.
~With Draco in normal POV~
Snape had told him and his father what had happened with Jade and her Gryffindor friends the other day, which caused her to be irritated almost all day. Then he found out they were also the reason she cried and left the Quidditch pitch before practice was over. To say Draco was mad well that was an understatement and he vowed to himself he'd make Potter pay somehow. Since he met her, he has become quite protective of her, treating her like a family member. Now, however, as he watched her set up the magical speakers near where everyone would be sitting he got an idea that he'd pass along to Snape and the rest of the Slytherins. If his idea works, she'd be pleasantly surprised when she sings before the game tonight.
~With Jade~
She connected her magic to each speaker before placing them where they needed to be. The moment Jade saw Draco leave, Pansy approached and asked if she could help. Jade smiled as she told her where to place some speakers. After that was done, they turned their attention to the instruments and positioned them closer to the center of the field.
"So where did you get the instruments?" Pansy asked when they'd finished.
"I asked Mr. Malfoy if I could borrow his piano but the rest is just something I changed into an instrument but was something else originally," Jade told her as if it was an everyday thing.
"Really... Mr. Malfoy let you take his piano out of his home?" Pansy asked sounding surprised and somewhat doubtful.
"Yeah, under the condition that I personally play it since he doesn't want any spells cast upon it and I have to return it to him before he leaves today," Jade said with an excited smile as they left towards the dungeons to shower and get ready.
After half an hour Jade was done showering and as she waited for Pansy to be done she got dressed. When Pansy got out of the bathroom they headed up to the great hall. There, they found the rest of the Slytherins huddled at the long table, all looking upset about something but Jade didn't ask about it. As eleven o'clock approached, the whole school headed down to the Quidditch stadium. It was a muggy day with thunder in the air. Jade saw Ron and Hermione hurrying over to Harry wishing him good luck as he entered the locker room.
'Luck, yeah he'll definitely need it.' Jade thought as she walked to the field.
Jade confidently approached the piano and sat on its bench. She smirked when she heard some of them whisper, surprised that she was in the field.
'Hm? So only the teachers and Slytherins knew I was singing today? Even better!' She thought as she pointed her wand at her throat and activated the spell to the speakers.
As the crowd gathered in the stands Jade started hearing loads of loud whispering about why she was there and why she was sitting at a piano. Soon enough she stood up from the piano and faced the crowd with a large smile on her face that she could no longer hide.
"Welcome everyone... I'm sure some of you are wondering what I'm doing with a piano... well let's just say a while ago someone asked me to be the entertainment while you all wait for the Quidditch players to get ready to play." She said with a pause to see their reactions.
Upon seeing several shocked reactions from the Gryffindors and almost equally surprised reactions from the other houses.
"Well At first I almost canceled singing tonight until a few days ago... when a few of my 'friends'... gave me the perfect idea for a song... It's a song I often listened to before I found out I was a witch." She said, her face suddenly changing from a sweet angelic smile to an ice-cold glare that would scare the devil himself back to hell.
"I will dedicate this to every Slytherin here today, as I'm sure each and every one of them has also felt this at some point from someone from the other houses." She said before sitting on the piano's bench and playing softly.