16/03/22

STILL ALIVE!

Sorry for the delay in update, just been a tad lazy and a little busy with other things.

If anyone can pick up where the first half of this chapter is from, please comment :)

Also I was planning on making this a little longer, but i felt it was getting too long.

3 U-D123 :)

For the next few days, there was not a lot of friendship happening between the boys and Hermione.

Harry and Ron were still mad at her for getting Harry's brand new top-of-the-range broomstick taken away meaning there was little chance Harry will ever see it again.

While Hermione was still mad at the boys for not seeing how dangerous an unsigned gift – like said broomstick – could be.

Jack (and Baby Tooth) were staying in the Neutral Party area, saying that he understood that Hermione was just trying to be helpful and looking out for Harry, but he was also saying that she shouldn't have gone behind Harry's back and told the teachers about it without his say so.

"Look at it like the Firebolt is a magical gem everyone wants to have," Jack said seeing that Hermione was about to let her feelings be heard (again). "And you are the child of those who are meant to protect it. Ok?" he paused here to make sure she understood, getting a nod he carried on. "Ok so what if, you're family calls some others for a party and one of those guests brings their child – roughly the same age as you – and you start out to become good friends and gemstone nerds.

'Now, knowing how much showing them the magical gem will mean to this friend, you take them to see it – even though your family would have told you already not to let ANYONE in to see it – at least without their say so." Jack said clearly making sure she understood what he trying to teach her.

"You open the door to the room holding it," he whispered building tension, and making Hermione lean forwards a little. "You walk in, you're so enchanted by the gem you don't see the dark grin on your new friends face, and then... SHE KICKS YOU IN THE BACK!" Jack yelled making Hermione jump "You're on the ground not sure what was going on, you see your new friend let off a signal flare telling their real friends where to come. You're outnumbered. You don't know what to do, who to trust, what's going on! You're so distracted trying to keep everyone away from the gem one managed to sneak pass you and they reach for the gem and THEY BREAK IT! letting all the evil the gem was protecting the world against out and let it start destroying everything in sight!"

"Um Jack I think you're going off the lesson a little bit," Harry said calmly, seeing the look in Jack's eyes and how he was panting a bit as he got to the end of his 'story'.

"Huh? On yeah, the point is," Jack said calming down and looking to Hermione. "Trust is a very fragile thing. Something some people, like the friend in the story, try to take advantage of it, just to get what they want. If you break someone's trust, you weaken your links of friendship with them, and sometimes make it so they can never trust anyone ever again. You understand Brownie Locks?"

"I... I think I do," Hermione said looking away from Jack as she spoke. "But... But what if the broomstick– I mean the gem was actually evil and –"

"Hermione forget if the item is good or bad," Harry said firmly making her be quiet for a bit. "Would a true trusting friend, literally go behind another friend's back and use them to get to something that they knew was important to them?"

Hermione stayed quiet, and just got up and went up to bed.

"Think she's learnt her lesson about butting in where she's not wanted?" Ron asked once they heard the door close.

"Meh, I doubt it," Jack said sighing and stretching a little as he got up from the table where he was doing his Transfiguration homework.

"Hey Jack?" Harry asked after a bit getting a 'Hmm?' in response. "Did what happened in your story, really happen somewhere? Only you were telling it as if you knew it did, so..."

"I'm not sure if it really happened." Jack said after a moment thinking. "It's a known story from some countries in Asia. If you want to know if it's real you'll need to ask someone from there, but they might not know either."

"Well that's useful," Ron said rolling his eyes as he ate his way through his Christmas sweets.

Baby Tooth was watching him, buzzing her wings, her arms crossed not believing he was eating so many things that were bad for him – and his teeth.

o0o

The weekend before school started again, everyone who went home for Christmas came back, and Oliver Wood found Jack and Harry in the common room.

"Have a good Christmas?" he asked in a way of greeting, but didn't wait for an answer before he sat down, lowered his voice and said "I've been doing some thinking over Christmas, you two. After last match, you know. If the Dementors come to the next one... I mean... we can't afford for either of two to – well –"

Wood broke off there, looking awkward.

"We're working on it," Harry said quickly.

"Yeah, Professor Lupin said he'd teach us how to ward the Dementors off." Jack added "First lesson should be this coming week if you want to learn too."

"Ooh can Elisa and I come?" Annie asked who was sitting with them doing her own homework.

"Sure," Jack said smiling hoping they would come anyway.

"Ah, right," Wood said his worried expressions clearing up "Ok, well in that case – I mean we didn't really want to lose either of you from the team just because of those monsters. And have you ordered a new broom yet?" he asked aiming this question directly at Harry.

"No." said Harry.

"What?!" Wood cried out in surprise "You better get a move on, you can't ride that old Shooting Star in our match against Ravenclaw –"

"The reason why he hasn't ordered on Oliver is because he got one for Christmas, but because it was an unsigned gift its been confiscated." Jack explained.

"Oh," Wood said calming down a little "Ok,what broom was it?"

"It was a Firebolt." Harry said sighing "But don't go getting your hopes up, Oliver," he continued seeing the look on Wood's face. "Like Jack said it's been confiscated."

"Why?"

"Sirius Black," Harry answered sighing "He's supposed to be after me, so when Professor McGonagall heard it was an unsigned gift they took it away and are now checking for jinxes."

"But – but how could Sirius Black have given you that broomstick?" Oliver asked confused "He's on the run. He can't just go walking into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a broom just like that."

"Well be probably sent someone else to fulfill the order, or owl-ordered it, I hear that's an option to get things you want without actually going anywhere." Jack said speaking up his mind, but was ignored by Harry and Oliver.

"I know, but McGonagall is still worried – for some reason – and says that they're still going to strip it down." Harry said sighing, pulling out the bit of paper with the broom's number on it which he carried around everywhere as a form of comfort and hope that he'll get the broom back.

Wood looked like he was going to be sick.

"I'll go and speak with her Harry," he said getting up "Try and make her change her mind."

"Good luck with that," Jack said grinning a little while Oliver left.

"Why say that?" Annie asked, tilting her head in confusion carefully as Baby Tooth was sitting on top of it.

"Because I have a feeling that once Professor McGonagall sets her mind on something, unless she's bewitched to think differently, she will never change her mind." Jack said calmly.

The lessons started the next day and the last thing anyone – besides Jack - wanted to do it seemed was spent two hours in the grounds on a raw January morning when the sun not even properly out yet.

However Hagrid it seemed had built a bonfire and lying in the middle of it was a small clump of salamanders, and the Magical Creatures class had a rather fun lesson collecting dry wood and scrunching up old pages of the Daily Profit to keep the fire burning.

Jack was one of the ones one 'Paper scrunching up' duty (with Baby Tooth as his helper) meaning that he didn't need to be too near the fire, but he looked up when Lavender Brown and Parvati cried out and pointed to at a little flame that seemed to come out of the bonfire and heading towards Jack and the papers, a trail of flames following behind him.

Thinking quickly, while at the same time not thinking at all, Jack made a snowball from the snow on the ground and shot it at the loose salamander, putting out his flame.

Once he was out Jack went over to it and scooped it up in his hands, making sure it was all right.

"It's nice to see you too Burni, but stay with the others ok?" Jack said gently as he recognized the little salamander.

Frowning Burni fired up his back a little – his trail getting a little worse, but Jack just moved him from hand to hand until Burni cooled himself down.

Thinking it might make the little creature happy, Jack scooped up some snow and sprinkled it over the little lizard. Slowly Burni's flame trail went out showing everyone he was happy now.

The class was amazed and 'awwwing' when the saw Burni try and catch them on his tongue.

Ignoring them, Jack returned Bruni back to his friends and went back to the papers, looking up when he saw everyone was now watching him, Neville even accidentally dropping some wood he was carrying.

"Come on guys, the fire is going out. Do you want magical fire lizards to be mad at you just because you're paying more attention to me?" Jack said throwing the newest paper ball at the fire hitting its mark.

Slowly the class got back to how it was before the class slowly coming to a close and the bonfire still lit by the time they left.