Jake was sitting in the Common Room a couple of days later, glancing up every now and then at the Portrait hole, waiting to see if Hermione would walk through. She seemed to arise much earlier than usual and return much later than usual. He would wait up until she got back, but he would fall asleep before she did come back, if she came back.
Harry and Ron came down from the Dormitory and he looked over at them, glaring at them both, but mainly Ron. Harry at least had good reason to be upset with Hermione, it was his broom she had confiscated to be checked for jinxes and such, but Ron? He was angry at Hermione just because it was a glorious broom. Ron had no right to be angry at Hermione as much as he was.
They bypassed him and went straight out of the Common Room. That was fine with him, because he didn't want to look at them right now. He didn't even want to look at or be himself right then. He wanted to apologize to Hermione, but since she was avoiding him, it wasn't easy to do so.
He was thankful when everyone returned from break, maybe he'd have better luck finding her if she thought she could sneak through the crowds. He heard Oliver walk up to Harry that evening, "Had a good Christmas?" He asked. Jake didn't know why he bothered, because he went straight into the next thing without waiting for an answer, "I've been doing some thinking over Christmas, Harry. After the last match, you know. If the Dementors come to the next one... I mean... we can't afford you to - well-" Wood broke off, looking awkward.
Did Oliver forget Jake was the Reserve Seeker? Because he was feeling forgotten right then, "I'm working on it," Harry had said quickly, "Professor Lupin said he'd train me and Jake to ward the Dementors off. We should be starting this week; he said he'd have time after Christmas."
"Ah," Wood said, sounding a bit relieved. Oliver then looked over at the boy in question, "Jake, I don't want you to think that I've forgotten about you, but... well... with the one-eye, I'm not exactly sure how well you'll do in an actual match, you know?"
"Sure," he responded sarcastically, not even looking up from a book he was looking at regarding dangerous Hippogriffs.
"Have you ordered a new broom yet?" He heard Oliver ask Harry.
"No," Harry said simply.
"What!? You'd better get a move on, you know - if you want to play the next game. Jake will have to fill in for you if you don't-" Oliver was about to go on a tangent, but Ron stopped him.
"He got a Firebolt for Christmas," the Ginger prat said.
"A Firebolt ? No! Seriously? A - a real Firebolt ?" Oliver was pretty much in shock.
"Don't get too excited, Oliver," Harry was about to drop the bombshell, "I haven't got it any more. It was confiscated," Harry then proceeded to tell Oliver why.
"Jinxed? How could it be jinxed?"
"Sirius Black," Harry said wearily, "He's supposed to be after me. So McGonagall reckons he might have sent it."
Wood waved aside the information of a famous murderer being after his Main Seeker, he said, "But Black couldn't have bought a Firebolt! He's on the run! The whole country's on the lookout for him! How could he just walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy a broomstick?"
"I know," Harry said glumly, "but McGonagall still wanted to strip it down-"
Oliver paled when Jake looked up at them, "I'll go and talk to her, Harry," he promised, but it wouldn't do any good, "I'll make her see reason... a Firebolt... a real Firebolt, on our team... she wants Gryffindor to win as much as we do... I'll make her see sense... a Firebolt ..."
Jake shook his head, 'If only they knew I had a Firebolt as well, Wood wouldn't just be casting his Reserve Seeker aside so casually.'
*******
Lessons had started again the following day. Of course, now that Jake had actually managed to see Hermione for what felt like an eternity of not seeing her, he was unable to actually talk to her. Well, he was able to in their Care of Magical Creatures, but she didn't seem too keen on stopping for very long to talk with how cold it was on a January morning, "Hermione, please? Please talk to me?" His voice crack was the only thing that got her to stop and look at him, hurt in her eyes, "Please... I was so stupid for saying what I said. Going to McGonagall was the right decision, I was just being stubborn about it with how irked I was at Harry's dismissive nature towards the possibility of it being sent to him by Sirius Black. You were right... as usual..."
Hermione looked and saw tears streaming down his face, and from under his eye-patch. She wasn't able to stay mad at him after that. She walked up to him and embraced him, both feeling much warmer just by being so close to one another, "I was really hurt when you said that," she said while her cheek was against his jacket.
"I don't doubt that for a second, and I should never have hurt you like that..." Jake said, and Hermione could tell that he was hurting as well from his own actions. She squeezed him tighter in the embrace, letting him know that he was still her best and closest friend. "I'm so sorry, Hermione... I'll never take your judgement on something for granted ever again."
"It's okay, Jake, honest," she said, wiping the stray tear that fell from her eyes. 'It's okay, because I love you too much to ever be more than upset with you.' She thought to herself. They carried on in Hagrid's class like nothing had ever happened between them.
The first Divination class of the new term, they got started on palmistry, and Trelawney didn't even wait to tell Harry that he had the shortest life-lines she'd ever seen; alternatively, she told Jake he had the longest life-lines she'd ever seen. This upset Hermione greatly, because Trelawney explained unnecessarily that his long life would lead to even greater destruction and genocide.
The class Jake had been looking forward to was Defense, as Harry had to remind Lupin about the Anti-Dementor lessons he said he'd teach them.
All Harry briefly said to him was that Lupin still had to figure out how to go about it, as they couldn't use a real Dementor. Jake nodded and marched off ahead of them and found Hermione, trying to get her books back into her bag, "Need help?"
She looked up and her scowl softened into a look of appreciation, "If you don't mind... how do you do it? You never told me," the scowl immediately returned.
"Well-"
"Still looks ill, doesn't he?" They heard Ron ask Harry as they got closer, "What d'you reckon is the matter with him?"
As they passed, Hermione couldn't help herself and tutted at them. They turned and Ron looked furious, "What are you tutting us for?" He asked irritably.
"Nothing," she said and slung her bag back over her shoulder.
"Yes you were," he said, "I said I wonder what's wrong with Lupin and you-"
"Well, isn't it obvious ?" She said with an air of superiority, "Jake already knows." Hermione looked at him and he nodded. To be fair, he had a strong, sneaking suspicion, but he needed one more thing to prove it.
"If you don't want to tell us, don't!" Ron snapped at her.
"Fine, we won't!" Hermione said haughtily, grabbed Jake's wrist, and dragged him off to the Great Hall.
"Hermione, do you actually know?" He asked her.
She answered him, but not with an answer to his question, "So how do you have all of your books so easily managed?" She asked as they stopped outside the Great Hall.
He sighed and looked around, "At Merlin's Tower, there was a bag there, a nearly infinite bag." He pulled the bag out and showed her, opening it so she could look inside, "I've got all of my books in here, and it weighs almost nothing."
Hermione was in awe, "Jake, this is incredible!"
"I'm not sure what kind of enchantment or charm is on it, but I can store your books in here if you wish? It'll prevent you from dropping them all over the place," he suggested to her.
"Nah, it's okay, but this is still incredible," she said with a look of awe still on her face. They then walked into the Great Hall for dinner.
*******
At Eight o'clock Thursday evening, Harry left Gryffindor Tower, Jake in tow after telling him that he was heading over to the History of Magic classroom. Jake followed him, but he kept conversation with Harry to a minimum. It was dark and empty when they arrived, but they both lit the lamps with their wands and only had to wait about five minutes for Lupin to show up.
He was carrying a large suitcase, larger than the one he owned, "What's that?" Harry asked him.
"Another Boggart. After the other one was... destroyed..." he glanced at Jake, who proceeded to look at his feet. "I've been combing the Castle ever since Tuesday and was fortunate enough to find this one lurking inside Mr. Filch's filing cabinet. It's the nearest we'll get to a real Dementor. The Boggart will turn into a Dementor when he sees you, Harry, so it's probably best if we let you always be in front of the Boggart. This will allow us to practice without failure, and when we aren't using him, I have a cupboard underneath my desk that I think he will like," Lupin explained to them. Jake raised his hand, "Yes?"
"Professor... I don't know for sure... but I have a feeling my Boggart might have changed," Jake said.
"What makes you so sure?" Lupin asked him curiously.
"Well, I'm not afraid of my adoptive father any longer. But at the Quidditch Match when Harry lost his Nimbus, the way the Dementor's made me feel... I felt rage and fear... I think my Boggart might also be a Dementor now..." he trailed off.
"Well, there is only one way to find out. Harry, we will let Jake go first, just to see what his Boggart has become real quick," Harry agreed to it, "Now, assuming that it is a Dementor, I will tell you how to deal with it, and if not, well you already know what to do," Lupin chuckled a bit, drawing his wand, prompting them to do the same, "So the spell I'm going to teach you both is incredibly advanced magic; well above Ordinary Wizarding Level. It's called the Patronus Charm."
"How does it work?" Harry asked nervously.
"Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus," Lupin said, "which acts as a kind of Anti-Dementor guardian, acting as a shield between you and the Dementor."
"So that's what Dumbledore used back during the Quidditch Match to drive them off... he used a Patronus Charm," Jake said, remembering what Dumbledore did.
"Did he now? That sounds like the Headmaster," Lupin smiled, "The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very thing the Dementors feed upon - hope, happiness, the desire to survive - but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can't hurt it. But I must warn you both, this Charm might be too advanced for either of you, even if you do have the blood of Merlin," Lupin smirked at Jake, "but many qualified Witches and Wizards have failed to produce one."
"What does a Patronus look like?" Harry asked.
"Well, there are Corporeal, and Incorporeal, not everyone will be able to conjure up a Corporeal Patronus. Some choose to cast an Incorporeal Patronus if they are under cover. Jake, did Dumbledore's take the shape of an animal?" He asked.
"No, it was just silvery mist," Jake replied.
"Curious. I know the Headmaster can cast a Corporeal one, he must've chosen to not for a reason... anyway, some Witches and Wizards will have the same Patronus if it's Corporeal, and there are meanings behind it, but that isn't relevant right now. What is relevant is whether either of you will even manage to conjure one at all," Lupin explained.
"So how do you conjure one up, Professor?" Harry asked him.
"With an incantation that goes like this," he cleared his throat, " Expecto Patronum . And you need a strong, happy memory to make it work."
Jake heard Harry repeat it under his breath a couple of times. 'Expecto Patronum, huh? What memory can I use?' He asked himself, he then thought back to the first time he met Hermione, he was quite happy then, because she was just like him.
"Ready to see what your Boggart is, Jake?" Lupin asked and he nodded. Lupin walked over to the suitcase and opened it up. The Boggart emerged as a Dementor, like he expected.
He raised his wand and said, " Expecto! Patronum! " Nothing happened. His mother's pleading with his father was heard in his head not long after. " Expecto P-Patronum ..." he started to back up, his mind was getting clouded by his mother's pleading, and his father's yelling. He could see in his mind the memory he was trying to focus on, but it was being pushed back. He reached out to grab it, forcing his way through the negative memory's. The moment he was reinforced with the Happy Memory he opened his eye, which was red, but not glowing, " EXPECTO! PATRONUM! " He yelled and a Silvery Mist came forth from his wand, halting the Dementor in its tracks, and forcing it back some.
Professor Lupin, knowing it wouldn't go back in the trunk as is, jumped in between them, which caused it to change to the Moon like it did last time, " Riddikulus !" He yelled, and the Boggart flew back into the trunk from being a Balloon. He turned around to congratulate Jake, but the last thing he saw was Lupin running towards him, yelling his name.
He awoke some time later to see an unconscious Harry off to his right. He jerked upright and felt his vision in his right eye go blurry. Professor Lupin was by his side in a moment, "Jake, are you alright?" He handed him a piece of Chocolate.
"Yeah... that... that took a lot more out of me... than I expected..." he said, taking a bite from the chocolate and feeling immediately better, and remembered the Moon being what Lupin was afraid of. He connected the dots back to the lesson of Snape having them do the Werewolf assignment.
"Jake, that was superb. I didn't really expect you to get it on your first try, but you managed it on your third attempt saying the incantation, that is most impressive and a sign of your ability as a Wizard," Lupin smiled at him.
"Thank you, Professor... Can I ask you something?" Jake asked, hoping Harry didn't wake up while he was discussing it with Lupin.
"Of course, ask me whatever you want."
"Okay... you're a Werewolf, aren't you?"
When Jake asked him that, Lupin paled considerably, "How did you know?"
"The Moon being your Boggart. I didn't see it when you interfered during the first lesson. The moment Harry's became that Dementor, my mind was flooded with yells of hatred, so I missed it then... but when Snape gave us the Werewolf assignment in your absence... it was too specific of a choice to be coincidental. Plus, the Goblet Snape makes for you... it didn't really help connect the dots, but it makes sense," Jake stood up, "it's a Potion to help control the effects of Lycanthropy, isn't it?"
"Jake, you are an incredibly intelligent Wizard with strong deductive reasoning. Everything you said is true," Lupin didn't even try to deny it.
"Explains why you've been 'ill' around the Full Moon as well."
"Indeed. So you don't hate me for it?" Lupin asked him.
"Of course not. You're easily the best Defense Professor I've had, but Quirrell and Lockhart both were useless... the bar has been set pretty damn high, though, because of you," Jake smiled at him just as Harry began to awaken. "How many times has he fallen out of it?"
"Twice so far. Now that you're up, I think it's best you have another go. I think the problem was, and don't misinterpret my wording, but I believe you were exhausted because of the lack of magical power you put into it. I believe you underestimated the spell, and therefore it, for lack of professional wording, showed you who's boss," Lupin couldn't hold back his chuckle.
"Great..." he sighed sarcastically, "Well, another go then," he faced the case with the Boggart in it and his wand was firmly grasped in his hand. Harry was still sitting on the ground as Jake thought of a new memory; one that he knew he was at his happiest moment to date. The Boggart-Dementor came out and he raised his wand, " Expecto! Patronum! " He yelled and the Silvery Mist came out in full force, forcing the Dementor to submit and the Boggart itself fled back into the trunk, regardless of Riddikulus not being uttered once.
"Most impressive, Jake!" Lupin yelled as he forced closed the trunk. He sat on it and looked at the young progeny, "If I may ask, what memory did you think of?"
"..." He was silent for a moment, "When Hermione... last year she was petrified by a Basilisk... and just before the year ended, she and every other victim were cured of it... I'd never been so happy in my entire life to know that she was still with me," he said, a salty liquid flowing from his tear ducts, and underneath his eye-patch.
"Yes... I can see how that would be a strong, happy memory for you. You've proven you can cast the Patronus Charm, there is no doubt about that. Harry, another go? Perhaps a different memory?" Lupin turned his attention to Harry, who looked ready for another attempt.
It was another two attempts before Harry actually managed to repel the Dementor. Lupin was congratulating them both on their accomplishments tonight, "You both are remarkable Wizards, it makes sense that you both have the highest grades in my class, Jake having the absolute highest. Of course, your friend Hermione excels in the class as far as written assignments go. She is incredibly intelligent as well, and probably the most book smart of the four of you," Lupin noticed a thick tension, but did his best to ignore it, "Well," he cleared his throat, "same time next week, just to be sure you both still have it to cast the Patronus. Have a good night," Lupin dismissed them.
They both walked back in silence to Gryffindor Tower. Jake was still peeved at Harry, even though he was more justified in his frustration with her than Ron. When they got back, the Common Room was still buzzing with people, Hermione was off into a corner, working all of the homework she and Jake were assigned. He looked at Harry, who averted his gaze and went to see Ron. He himself went over to his best friend, "Made much progress?"
She looked up and he noticed she was looking drained, "Yes, I think..." She looked through her homework, but didn't say anything when she finished and went back to working. He went and got his bag from the Dormitory and came back to work with her for a few hours until bed. "How did it go?" She asked without looking up.
"Not the greatest at first, but I pushed through it and came out successful," he smiled at her, which she missed. He frowned, realizing how much the work was taking out of her. He himself wasn't finding it to be that draining, but they still haven't gotten to the heaviest workload of the year, yet. He was worried about her and her mental health.
With his help, she was able to get done sooner than she predicted she would. She thanked him tremendously, embraced him a moment, and went up to her dorm room. His heart felt heavy for a moment; he remembered the memory he used to conjure the Patronus the second time. He was the happiest he'd been in years, but the only reason for that was the Basilisk petrifying her to begin with. He ended up losing a couple hours of sleep that night.
*******
Ravenclaw and Slytherin had their match the week after term had started, and Jake kept hoping Malfoy would fall off his broom, but that never happened.
Probably for the better, honestly as Slytherin won, but barely; according to Oliver, this was good as if Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw as well, it would propel them into Second place in the running for the Quidditch Cup. Had Ravenclaw won. The chances would've been much less in Gryffindors favor.
This also meant Oliver had them, especially Jake, practicing extra for Quidditch, despite him telling Wood that his schedule didn't allow for it. He almost went to McGonagall, but found that he was still not stressed to the point of snapping at someone, so he would keep at it for now.
On the bright side, his use of the Patronus Charm went well enough that Lupin didn't see a need for him to continue going, which was a relief to Jake, because that was one less thing he had to worry about.
The week after that, Hermione had completely hidden herself amongst her work one evening in the Common Room. Jake was just outside her wall of books, there if she needed his help. He was working on an essay for Flitwick when he heard Oliver talking to Harry, "Bad news, Harry, I've just been to see McGonagall about the Firebolt. She - er - got a bit shirty with me. Told me I got my priorities wrong. Seemed to think I cared more about winning the cup than I do about you staying alive. Just because I told her I didn't care if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch on it first," Wood shook his head in disbelief, "Honestly, the way she was yelling at me, you'd think I'd said something terrible. Then I asked her how much longer she was going to keep it," he stopped talking a moment, before Jake heard him say in an attempt to sound like McGonagall, " 'As long as necessary, Wood' I reckon it's time you ordered a new broom, Harry," Oliver said.
Jake felt unusually angry at him. He stood up and looked over at Oliver, "What, did I get removed as Reserve Seeker?" He asked and Oliver turned around, looking like he made a huge mistake, "Why the fuck am I going to Practice Five Nights a week?"
"Jake, l-listen, it's not-"
Hermione was looking up now at Jake, noticing his spiked anger, "I dove off of my broom last year in the only match I had to play, and won Gryffindor the match against Slytherin. Is that not good enough for you? Shall I just resign, and in the event Harry doesn't get his fucking broom back before the match, what are you gonna do then!?"
"I-I didn't mean to just forget about you. But Harry has a Firebolt and-"
"Oh, he's got a fucking Firebolt, does he?" Jake was angry, and he knew he was exceptionally angry, because he was cursing a lot, "Well guess what?" He couldn't stop himself from blowing the secret he wanted to keep for when his first match came, so he revealed his advantage over the other Houses, "I have a Firebolt as well!" He heard gasps around the room, "I was going to save it as a surprise for when I had to play in Harry's stead, but fuck it, who cares now!? I might not stay on the team long enough for it to matter, and I might just torch the broom while I'm at it, just out of pure fucking spite!"
He was visibly shaking from how frustrated he was. Hermione was about to stand up and calm him down when he sat back down, let out an exasperated sigh, and continued his work. No one knew what to say in response, or even whether they should respond. He had brought everyone to silence, without his eye glowing red.
Hermione knew her work was stressing her out, but she had originally thought Jake wasn't stressed. She was going to have to reassess the situation; he was obviously not as okay as he wanted her to believe.
No one said anything else to or about him the rest of the evening, not even Hermione, but that was because she didn't know what to say, and she had so much homework, she didn't have a chance to give it any thought.
*******
As the Quidditch Match got closer and closer, and Harry's Firebolt showed no sign of being returned before that, Oliver was apologizing profusely to Jake, almost begging him to play in the match against Ravenclaw. After the incident in the Common Room, Jake hadn't gone to a Practice out of contempt for the Quidditch Captain. He was frustrated with Oliver, and rightly so, he felt.
It was on a Saturday morning, the first Saturday in February, when Jake finally went and saw the Headmaster. He gave a few passwords that he felt Dumbledore would use for the Gargoyle guarding his office, but none of them were successful. It was by some stroke of luck that he had come down from his office on his own, "Ah, Jake, what a pleasant surprise, is there something wrong with the breakfast?" Dumbledore had asked him.
"No, Professor, I have something important to talk to you about, if you've got the time for it?" Jake asked, hopeful.
"I believe I can squeeze in a few minutes for you, what is it you needed me for?" The Headmaster had asked.
"Well... it's about Hogsmeade... the Permission Slip that required a Parent or Guardian to sign... um... I-I don't have either of those... sir..." Jake didn't really know where he was going with this. He had walked up to the Gargoyle with confidence, but the moment he actually was able to talk to Dumbledore, he didn't know how to approach the question.
"So it was not possible for you to get it signed when your Letter for the new year arrived. I see the dilemma, and I do acknowledge that it is different from Harry's situation. He did have family to get it signed, but he did not, so he has to stay behind," Dumbledore said, no hint of any emotion in his voice, "I will have a word with the Minister on the matter. I shall get back to you before the next Hogsmeade trip, sound fair?"
"Yes... uh y-yes, sir, that's honestly more than I expected," Jake couldn't help the smile widening on his face.
"Glad to hear it. Now run along, breakfast won't last forever," Dumbledore smiled and Jake left to go find Hermione and tell her the potentially good news.
On his way to the Great Hall, he ran into Katie, who was wearing her Quidditch Robes, "Hey, Jake, going somewhere in a hurry?"
"Oh, hi Katie," he said kindly, "I was on my way to the Great Hall for Breakfast, why do you ask?"
"Maybe afterwards, we could go to the Quidditch Pitch? I want to see you on your new Broomstick, but... I also wanted to just talk with you, if you want?" She asked him, being uncharacteristically shy about it.
"Uh, i-it depends on how much Homework I have," he said honestly.
She looked ever so briefly disappointed, before rebounding into a smile, "No worries, I know you are taking loads of classes, so it's okay. I'm going to be out there practicing on my Chaser moves with Angelina and Alicia, so if you change your mind, you know where to find me," she winked at him and took her leave.
He felt his cheeks burn ever so slightly as he watched her walk away. He didn't know what was wrong with him; no he actually did, he just couldn't bring himself to admit that he was a teenage boy and he was starting to see his female peers differently, but he also did honestly want to kind of give his Firebolt a spin before the match, he just hadn't so far out of spite.
He went to the Great Hall and saw Hermione with her Arithmancy book propped up against a Juice jug, eating some scrambled eggs. He walked over to her and sat down beside her, grabbing some bacon and eggs for himself, "So I just got back from seeing Dumbledore-"
Her attention was on him in a heartbeat. She quickly swallowed the food she had so she could speak, "What did he say?"
"He understood the situation, and said that while he couldn't just sign my Permission Slip for me, he was going to talk to the Minister about something, telling me he'd get back to me before the next Hogsmeade trip," Jake explained the potential for a Hogsmeade outing.
She quickly embraced him tightly, "That's wonderful! Maybe we finally have a Hogsmeade d-" she immediately stopped herself. Her excitement almost got her in trouble.
"A what?" He asked, not understanding.
"A - A Hogsmeade day of fun," she quickly salvaged.
"Yeah, that would honestly be nice," he smiled at her before turning back to his breakfast.
When breakfast had ended, he told Hermione he was finally going to put in some practice on his Firebolt and that he'd see her later. She wanted to go and watch, but with all the homework she hadn't done yet, she couldn't really afford to do much else during the day. He made his way down to the Pitch and saw the three Chaser's, both Beater's, and the Keeper all there practicing. Quidditch uniform on and Firebolt in hand, he walked out to the field and they all descended, gazing upon the beauty that is the Firebolt. Wood looked relieved to see Jake there to practice with it, "I'm really glad you showed up, Jake. I don't suppose you've practiced with it at all yet, have you?"
"No, this will be my first time on it," he said, looking down at the finely crafted wooden handle. He mounted the broom, hovered in place for a moment, and when his path in front of him was clear, he shot forward so quickly, he was sure his stomach had been left on the grass. He circled the stadium once in record time and came to hover in the middle of the field, high above the grassy floor.
The rest of the team hurried up to meet him, all impressed at the speed of the Firebolt, "That was so fast!" Angelina said in awe, "I barely even registered you did a lap around the Pitch."
"With that broom, you may not even need Fred or myself to keep the Bludger away from you," George said, chuckling.
"With that broom, the only thing keeping us from victory in the coming match is just the lack of practice with it," Oliver said, "Alright, let me go and release the Snitch to see how fast you can gather it up."
When Wood had gotten the Snitch and released it, Jake gave it a minute head start. He looked around for it and the second he found the golden glint, he launched after it, capturing it in his grasp in twenty seconds.
Wood asked Jake if he wanted to be the Main Seeker, but he quickly declined the offer, citing his reason as the event that happened before term started. Oliver understood and didn't ask him again.
The practice went on for several more hours and when everyone was leaving to go back inside and out of the cold, Katie stopped him a moment, "Jake, I was wondering if you had a moment to talk?"
"Sure, what about?" He asked her and she walked in with him, being the last two into the Castle.
"Nothing in particular, I just want to talk," she smiled.
"Okay... how good do you think our chances are at winning the coming match?" He asked.
"Pretty good with your Firebolt. I know if Harry had his, I'd still say the same," she voiced, "but I like watching you zip around the Pitch, chasing after the Snitch," she said boldly.
He felt his cheeks burning again, "Y-You do?" She nodded, "Why?"
"You just look cool flying around on your broomstick," she said sincerely. He picked up a hint of flirtatious intent in her voice. "I also want to be better friends with you," her smile was ever present on her face.
"Well, n-no harm in that, is there?" He asked rhetorically.
"Is it alright if I hug you? I remembered seeing you as a First Year, you weren't the fondest of physical contact, but in your Second Year, whenever Hermione did, you didn't flinch or anything. So I figure I should ask before I just up and do so," she explained.
"I don't mind it. Thank you for asking me first," he said and Katie then embraced him for a moment before stepping back to give him space.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but that felt nice."
"It felt different for sure, but not in a bad way," he said. Her quick, but warm embrace had sent a wave of energy through him, and he knew why. He was a teenage boy, his hormones were causing him to act differently.
"Well I'll let you go, I'm sure you want to get out of those robes and enjoy the weekend. I need to go find my friend in Hufflepuff and discuss our next Hogsmeade adventure. Have fun," she said and walked away, but not before winking at him again.
He would never understand women at all. It didn't help that he had started to see girls as attractive last year, just after the first Basilisk attack on Mrs. Norris when he saw then Hufflepuff Second Year Hannah Abbott with a larger chest than any other Second Year girl. He had a rather difficult time hiding this fact. He closed his eyes and tried to will himself to calm down, but he didn't succeed. He awkwardly walked back to the Common Room, being greeted by Sir Cadogan.
"Aha! Fiendish Rogue! Draw your sword! Have at you!" The stout knight tried to be intimidating.
" Excalibur ," Jake said with as little enthusiasm as he could.
Cadogan's face scrunched up in anger and opened for him to enter Gryffindor Tower. "SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!"
Ron was yelling angrily and he was shaking a white sheet right in Hermione's face. Jake ran over immediately and forced himself in between Ron and Hermione, "Back the fuck up Weasley! What's going on?"
"JUST LOOK!" Ron shook the sheets again.
Jake looked and saw blood on the sheets. Jake connected the dots, realizing that the blood was most likely Scabbers, as these had to be Ron's bedsheets.
"HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?" Ron continued to yell. He then threw something past Jake and whatever it was floated down onto Hermione's Rune translations. Jake looked closer with his eye and saw some Ginger Hairs. Jake turned back to Ron and pulled out one of his own Ginger hairs, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT-"
"Will you shut up!?" Jake was sick of Ron's incessant yelling. He picked up the hair Ron threw down and compared them. He held them close to his eye, examining them as close as he possibly could. "Indistinguishable," was all he said.
"What?" Harry asked.
"It's impossible to differentiate between these hairs," Jake said, putting an end to part of Ron's accusations.
"Then explain the blood!" Ron demanded.
"Oh, it's not possible to do that. No one saw what happened, we can only speculate. And why do you honestly fucking care? I reiterate what I said a while back, you barely wanted anything to do with him the past two years, and you've always called him useless," Jake said.
"But he was still mine!"
"He was Percy's first, isn't that what you said? I remember at Christmas you were complaining about all the Second-hand stuff you have to get because your parents simply can't afford to get brand new stuff. I figured you'd be happy to have such a useless Rat gone?"
"Jake!" Hermione said in a scandalized tone.
"No, I wanna know, which is it, Ron?" Jake stood his ground and watched Ron's ears turn red.
Instead of saying anything else, he stomped away, back to the Dormitory.
"Jake, was that necessary?" Harry asked him.
"What's the use of making wild accusations without proof? Hermione, where's Crookshanks?" He asked her.
"Asleep on my bed," she said and went to go get him. She came back a moment later with a grumpy looking cat.
Jake got close to Crookshanks and eyed him, "Did you eat Scabbers?" He asked, not expecting an answer. All he did was meow adorably, despite the grumpy look.
"This is ridiculous," Harry said and went to go and check on Ron.
After Harry left, Jake straightened up, "Hermione..."
"Jake, I don't think-"
"Why would Crookshanks be specifically after that Rat? Technically, Crookshanks should also try swatting and eating Chloe, because cats also hunt birds, but he hasn't bothered her once since getting off the Train. I know I keep reiterating this, but he's an incredibly intelligent cat..." Jake said, looking back down at him. Chloe took that moment to fly in through the window and perch on the back of an armchair. Crookshanks looked at her and didn't take his eyes off of her, "Set him down."
"What?" Hermione asked, wide-eyed.
"I wanna see what he does," Jake said. She set the cat down and Crookshanks immediately just sat down and licked his paw. After a moment of doing that, he walked over to the chair that Chloe was perched on, jumped up into the seat, and stretched himself along the backrest of the chair. Chloe didn't flinch or even bat an eye that Crookshanks had just done so. She did eventually look down at him and tilted her head. They stared at each other for a solid two minutes before Crookshanks slunk back down into the chair to continue sleeping.
Hermione looked at Jake, "That's weird... the way they went at each other on the train... I'd have thought they would still attack each other. But when Crookshanks went after Scabbers that first time... Chloe also caught Scabbers by the tail and held him there out of everyone's reach..." Hermione couldn't figure it out.
Jake stared at them both, 'They are both intelligent creatures, no denying that... each with near-human level intelligence... what am I missing!?' He raged inside his head. It was beginning to bother him that he couldn't figure it out. What could it have been about Scabbers that both of these creatures wanted him dead for? The fatigue from the day started to take its toll on Jake. He looked back to the boy's staircase, "I do not look forward to the next several nights."
"They'll be fine... eventually... you made some good points, though..." Hermione said, "but you were rather harsh with your words."
"Ron needs to accept the fact of the matter. He never once cared about Scabbers until this year, why?" Jake asked, knowing Hermione didn't know.
"I don't know, but we aren't going to figure it out, so we might as well just let it go..." Hermione then returned to her homework. Jake looked through his pouch and pulled out his homework, sorting through everything that had been completed to find an unfinished essay for Herbology. He got to work on finishing that while Hermione worked on Ancient Runes.
*******
Two days later and the Quidditch Match for Gryffindor v Ravenclaw would be starting that morning. Jake awoke early and pulled his Firebolt out of its current holding. He didn't dare leave it out where someone could potentially tamper with it, not that anyone would, except for maybe the Slytherin, but he was sure Pendragon would keep them in check as best he could; he seemed to be well respected amongst the Slytherin, despite how different he is from the lot of them.
He walked down to the Common Room and saw Hermione there, "You're up early."
"So are you," she said without turning her head, but he could see the faint hint of a smile on her face from the side.
"I'm going to the Great Hall, you coming?" He asked her.
"Of course," she stood up, marked her place in her book, and walked out with him, noticing that he had his Firebolt with him. As they walked, something caught her eye that she didn't see in the Common Room, "Do you ever take that off?"
He looked down at his nearly identical necklace that she also had, just a different gemstone, "Only when I bathe and sleep," he looked over at her on his right, "it means too much to not wear it otherwise."
Hermione felt her cheeks burn a little. She pulled hers out from under her shirt, pulling the Time-Turner with it, which she quickly stuck back down her shirt, "That's pretty much the only time I take mine off as well."
When they walked into the Great Hall, there were some Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students already there. They turned and saw the Broom that he had. Jake went to sit down as he heard loud muttering about the broom and how it looked like a Firebolt. Jake found a mostly empty space at the table and set his Firebolt on the table, " Aliquet ," he said after pulling out his wand. His Firebolt then hovered in place so that everyone could admire it. He got himself a mild breakfast of toast, butter to spread on it, some slices of bacon, and a goblet of juice to wash it all down with.
As more and more people flooded into the Great Hall, Hermione watched as everyone was whispering to their friend or looking shocked and rubbing their eyes to make sure they weren't seeing things. Several people from the other three Houses came over to the Gryffindor table to make sure the Broom was what they thought it was.
"Sure you can manage that broom, Fernandes?" A cold, drawling voice said from behind Jake and Hermione.
He turned around and stood up, "The only thing I can manage better than this broom is stomping your ass at Quidditch."
"Got plenty of special features, hasn't it?" Malfoy's eyes glittered maliciously, "Such a shame it doesn't come with a new eye for you to see with." Crabbe and Goyle, who always accompanied Malfoy wherever he went, began to guffaw.
"It's a shame you suck at everything and have to be coddled by your Head of House," Jake fired back to a raucous laughter from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables.
His face flushed and he took his cronies back to the table with him. Jake sat back down and saw that his housemates were still chuckling and giggling to themselves. He smirked and couldn't wait to crush the Slytherin in their next game.
At a quarter to Eleven, the Gryffindor Team went to the changing rooms and Jake stood there, Firebolt in his hands. The weather was vastly different from when they faced Hufflepuff, which Jake didn't get to participate in. Had Cedric not caught the Snitch, he definitely would have.
"You all know what we've got to do," Wood said, just before they made their way out onto the field. As they walked, he spoke again, "If we lose this, we are out of the running. Jake... I know you won't fail."
"Damn right I won't," he said with a confidence he only remembered having last year when he told Harry he was going to kill the Basilisk down in the Chamber.
They walked out onto the field to a tumultuous applause. The Ravenclaw Team was standing in the middle of the field already, waiting on them. Jake saw Ravenclaw's Seeker, Cho Chang, and she winked at him. He missed a look of contempt that Katie was giving her, "Wood, Davies, shake hands," Hooch said. After they did she spoke again, "Mount your brooms! On my whistle... three - two - one-"
The second her lips touched the whistle, Jake bolted into the air, receiving a booming applause from most of the crowd. He was in the air and hovering in place, already on the lookout for the Snitch before anyone else was in position. While he was keeping an eye out, he listened to the always comedic commentary told by none other than the Weasley Twins best friend, Lee Jordan.
"They're off, and the big excitement of this match is the Firebolt which Jake Fernandes is flying for Gryffindor. I was in the Common Room when he made the big reveal, where he said he had wanted to wait until this match to do so, but without repeating what he said, just know, he wasn't happy. On another note, according to Which Broomstick , the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the National teams at this year's World Championship-"
"Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" McGonagall interrupted him.
"Right you are, Professor - just giving a bit of background information. The Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and-"
"Jordan!"
"Ok, ok, Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell of Gryffindor heading for the goal-"
Jake watched Katie as she belted up the field towards Ravenclaw's goalpost. He tore his eye from her and began to look once again for a glint of Gold. He started to fly around to try and find it more easily, and that was when he noticed that Cho Chang was tailing him closely. He knew she was a good flyer, he saw her destroy Hufflepuff. They barely lost to Slytherin, though, and that was good for Gryffindor. She had kept cutting across him, which began to irk him.
"Show her your acceleration, Jake!" Fred yelled, as he whooshed past in pursuit of a Bludger that was aiming for Alicia.
Jake did exactly that and he had the Firebolt accelerate, quite nicely, around the back end of Ravenclaw's goalposts, which caused her to fall behind. The Comet Two-Sixty was just no match for the Firebolt. He figured Katie must've scored the first goal of the match, because he heard a celebratory sound from the Gryffindor end of the stadium. That was when he saw it - the Snitch was fluttering close to the ground, near one of the barriers. He did a quick loop, faking Chang out, and sped down to the ground. She recovered, but not soon enough. Jake knew he was probably giving Hermione a heart attack right now, as she watched him dive to the ground. He got a thrill from doing it, though, knowing that the ground was quickly arriving. He was ten feet away from the Snitch-
A Bludger, hit by one of the Ravenclaw Beaters, came out of nowhere, aimed right for Jake's outstretched arm. He pulled his arm back before it could be broken, and he pulled up to avoid hitting the ground. He quickly looked back for the Snitch, but in those few, crucial seconds, it had vanished without a trace.
There was a great sound of disappointment from the Gryffindor's, but Ravenclaw's were cheering up a storm, "Gryffindor lead by eighty points to Zero," Lee said. Had they really gotten Eighty points already? Jake looked and sure enough, the Gryffindor Chasers proved their worth, "Look at that Firebolt go! Fernandes's really putting it through its paces now. See it turn - Chang's Comet is just no match. The Firebolt's precision-balance is really noticeable in these long-"
"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!" McGonagall's voice could be heard booming.
Ravenclaw had managed to score three goals, which put Gryffindor only Fifty points ahead. Jake had to find the Snitch soon, otherwise Gryffindor would risk losing. One thing he did notice, was that Chang was following him instead of looking for the Snitch herself, "You incapable of being a Seeker?" Jake asked her.
She didn't respond to his taunt as he got an idea. He looked down and began rocketing towards the grass below, and sure enough, she had started to follow him. He got closer and closer to the ground, pulling up at the last possible second. She must've managed to as well, as he didn't hear the satisfying sound of her hitting the grass.
He pulled up and continued looking around, but then he heard a scream from below him. He looked and saw Cho pointing at three... Dementors? It was weird, because he wasn't hearing his mother's pleading or his father's yelling. He quickly realized they weren't Dementors. He smirked and pulled out his wand. He aimed it at the ground in front of them and yelled, " Bombarda !" He holstered his wand, not giving them another thought.
He looked up and saw the Snitch flit past. He turned and hurried after it. His broom was too fast for Chang and he grasped the Snitch with little issue. Madam Hooch's whistle sounded, ending the match and giving Gryffindor the win. The second he looked around, he saw six scarlet blurs speeding towards him; the Gryffindor Team had all tackled him, mid-air, and hugged him in every which direction. He tensed up from the sudden and unexpected contact, but none of them noticed. The three Chasers all kissed him, Katie getting close to his mouth; he felt her kiss just at the corner of his lips, and he knew his face was burning.
Somehow, the team managed to make its way to the ground while still holding Jake in the center. He managed to get free of his teammates, only to look up and see a crowd of Gryffindor running towards him like raging bulls. His eyes widened as he was engulfed by the cheering crowd. They all congratulated him, but his spirits weren't as high as they could've been, as he didn't see Hermione anywhere. He figured maybe he'd just missed her, but he'd know for sure when he got back to the Common Room
One voice stuck out to him, "That was quite impressive, Jake. I've never seen a Third Year cast an Exploding Charm so well before. By the way, how did you know they weren't Dementors?"
"Thanks! I didn't hear my mother or father, so I knew they were not real. So who were they?" He asked loudly.
Lupin led him through the crowd and to where they could see them, "You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright," Lupin said with a chuckle.
He stared at them and saw that it was Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint. Malfoy appeared to have been standing on Goyle's shoulders. They were all currently struggling to remove themselves from the long, black, hooded robes they had worn. Jake couldn't help his smiles when he noticed McGonagall, an expression of utmost fury on her face, "An unworthy trick!" She shouted, "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker I assume? Detention for all of you, and Twenty-five Points EACH from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake!" She turned and noticed the Headmaster himself, "Ah, here he comes now!"
Jake was elated to hear this news and was then hugged from behind. He tensed again, but calmed when he realized it was Katie, still excited about the victory. He couldn't help smiling again and Gryffindor made its way back to the Common Room for a huge Celebration. The way they were talking on the way back, you'd think they'd already won the Quidditch Cup.
*******
As he expected, the party Gryffindor threw lasted well into the evening, and probably would into the night. He hadn't gotten a chance to break away from anyone to find Hermione, but eventually found the chance and took it. When he did, he looked over and saw Hermione, homework piled around her. He could've sworn he had helped her with most of it, but maybe he was thinking about last weekend. He knew he was almost all caught up with the week's homework, but this caused him to realize something; he hadn't worked with Hermione on homework for longer than a couple of hours at a time. 'Why does it seem like she has so much more homework than even me?' He asked himself. He just couldn't wrap his head around it.
"Hermione, did you even come to the match!?" He asked in a yell over the party goers.
"Of course I did, you did well," she looked up at him, smiling, "and I'm really glad we won!"
He then decided to test out something, "That Patronus I cast at those Dementors was fantastic wasn't it?"
"Yes, truly amazing! I can't believe they'd show back up!" She looked back down, but looked back up at his next words.
"Hermione... why are you lying to me?"
"What do you mean?"
"I cast the Exploding Charm on them, Hermione... and it was Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint, you didn't have to lie about not going..." he said, his voice starting to break slightly.
She saw the look of hurt in his eye as he looked at her, "Jake, I am so sorry... I've just been so swamped with work..."
"We have the same classes, how do you still have so much more work than me?" He asked, trying to recover his voice.
Hermione was about to answer when Ron cut her off, "If Scabbers hadn't just been eaten , he could have had some of these Fudge Flies," Jake turned around to shut him up, but he still said a few more things, "he used to really like them-"
Behind Jake, he heard Hermione burst into tears. He turned to comfort her, but she already had her things packed and she was fleeing up the girl's staircase. He stood there, mouth hanging open, wondering for a second what just happened. "Can't you give her a break?" He heard Harry ask.
"No," Ron said flatly, "if she just acted like she was sorry - but she'll never admit she's wrong-" he suddenly stopped talking when he started clutching his throat. Harry turned to Jake and went around the front of him to see his eye glowing red.
"Jake, I know I'm not Hermione, but please stop? Ron's a git, you know that, he just says things without thinking a lot of the time," Harry was just saying anything to try and calm him down. He looked back to Ron and saw him turn an unhealthy shade of blue, "Come on, Hermione wouldn't want him dead-"
He saw Jake's eye change back to its usual Blue and Ron went into a coughing fit. Jake turned to face him, "You make her cry again, Weasley, and I won't show you mercy." Jake then went to the Boy's Staircase. No one had noticed anything had happened over the loudness of the party, but he didn't really care. He stomped his way up to the Third-Year Dorm Room and got ready for bed. He pulled his curtains closed, took his eye-patch off, and stared at the ceiling for about an hour before falling asleep.
He awoke some time later, feeling something to be off. He was still drowsy, but he flung his curtains aside and he saw something unusual; a man was standing over Ron's bed, "AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! NOOOOOOOOO!" He heard Ron yell. The man flung himself from Ron's bed and ran. Jake's adrenaline woke him up and he realized the threat. He ran out of the dorm room like a fool and chased him down, but by the time he got down to the Common Room, he had vanished. He stood there in his night clothes, without his eye-patch on. He hadn't seen himself without the eye-patch since the day he had to have it, so he didn't know how bad it looked. He felt the area and his eyelids were closed, so that was something.
The boys came down not long after, and the girls not long after that, "What's all the noise?" A fifth year girl asked.
"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!" A seventh year Prefect girl said.
"Excellent, are we carrying on?" Fred asked when he arrived.
"Everyone back upstairs!" Percy yelled, coming through with his Head Boy badge attached to his nightclothes.
Jake looked over at Hermione; she was in a long, pink nightgown. She was averting her gaze from him. He looked over several of the girls and saw they were staring at him. They all quickly looked away when he looked at them. He was sure that it wasn't that impressive, maybe they were just gawking at him, he didn't know.
"Perce - Sirius Black!" Ron said faintly, "In our Dormitory. With a knife. Woke me up."
The Common Room went very still.
"Nonsense!" Percy yelled, but his voice had a slight yip to it, "You had too much to eat, Ron - had a nightmare-"
"I'm telling you-"
"Really, now that's enough!" Professor McGonagall came back in through the Portrait, wearing a tartan nightgown and hair-net, "I am delighted as much as the next that Gryffindor won, but this is ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"
"I didn't authorize this, Professor," Percy said, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to go back to bed. Ron here had a nightmare-"
"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yelled, his ears turning red, "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"
'Hmm... why would he be over Ron's bed? Did he just mistake the beds? No, even in the dark one can tell Harry and Ron apart. Why would Black have been over Ron's bed?' Jake thought to himself.
Professor McGonagall stared at Ron, "Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he have gotten through the portrait hole?"
"Ask him!" Ron yelled, pointing at Cadogan's portrait, "Ask him if he saw-"
McGonagall glared at him as she walked out to talk to Cadogan, "Did you let a man enter just a few minutes ago, Sir Cadogan?"
"Certainly, Good Lady!" The stout Knight responded proudly.
McGonagall paled, "You - You did ? But - but what about the password?"
"He had 'em!" Cadogan said, sounding even more proud, "He had the whole week's passwords! Read them off a little piece of paper!"
Professor McGonagall managed to pull herself into the Common Room, facing the stunned crowd. Her face was as white as chalk, "Which person," she said in a shaky voice, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords, and left them lying around!?"
There was a dead silence that hung about the room. No one dared move a muscle, except for one. It was the terrified squeaks that gave him away, but Neville Longbottom raised his hand shakily into the air. Jake facepalmed, he didn't quite know what to think about the current situation, but what he did know, was that he was foolish for chasing down Sirius Black.