𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 ! [ draco malfoy ]

twelve

     IT WAS FAR PAST seven o'clock when the Gryffindor Quidditch team's practice came to a halt. Harry had scheduled it for Tuesday and Jade couldn't have been happier when she told Slughhorn to inform Malfoy that she had to cancel their tutoring session.

     It was Dean's first practice with the team, as he had replaced Katie due to her still being at St. Mungo's. He worked pretty well with his girlfriend and ex-girlfriend, surprisingly. Jade was a bit worried the three of them would have a difficult time working together but they made an amazing trio. Harry, of course, was perfect, and the Beat­ers, Peakes and Coote, were getting bet­ter all the time.

     The on­ly prob­lem was Ron. His inconsistency, exacerbated by nerves and a persistent lack of confidence, emerged like a shadow under the looming prospect of the season's opening game. Jade recognized the old insecurities bubbling to the surface, casting a pall over the otherwise vibrant atmosphere.

     After letting in half a dozen goals, most of them expertly scored by Ginny and Jade, Ron's technique devolved into a chaotic frenzy. His movements became wilder with every attempt to block the Quaffle until, in a moment of sheer frustration, he unleashed a punch directly at the oncoming Jade Rosier.

     "It was an ac­ci­dent, I'm sor­ry, Jade, re­al­ly sor­ry!" Ron shout­ed af­ter her as she zigzagged back to the ground, drip­ping blood everywhere. "I just—"

     Jade landed on the cold, unforgiving ground, instinctively reaching for her stinging lip. Blood oozed from the fresh wound, coating her hand. As she touched the injury, her vision blurred momentarily, and for a haunting second, she felt transported back to the presence of her mother.

     "Pan­icked," Gin­ny said an­gri­ly, land­ing next to Jade and ex­am­in­ing her swollen lip. "You prat, Ron, look at the state of her!"

     "I can fix that," said Har­ry, land­ing be­side the two girls, point­ing his wand at Jade's mouth, and say­ing "Episkey. And Gin­ny, don't call Ron a prat, you're not the Cap­tain of this team —"

     "Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat and I thought someone should —"

     "In the air, ev­ery­one, let's go..."

     Jade was grateful for their bickering because it honestly kept her from disassociating and allowed her to continue to practice. The heated exchange between Ginny and Ron grounded her in the present and allowed her to focus on the Quidditch practice. She wasn't sure how well she'd do on a broom if she were in the middle of a panic attack...

     "Good work, ev­ery­one, I think we'll flat­ten Slytherin," Harry said brac­ing­ly.

     Jade knew he was trying to boost the team's morale after the state that Ron was in. He wasn't wrong, everybody had been doing exceptionally great except for her redhead friend.

     As she walked up to the castle, Harry and Ron jogged to catch up with her.

     "Jade! I'm so sorry again for hitting you, I really didn't mean to," Ron apologised, genuine concern etched on his face.

     Grinning, Jade replied, "Next time, Ronald, I might have to punch you back."

     Ron chuckled, relieved by her lack of anger.

     By the time they reached the second floor, Ron was look­ing marginal­ly more cheer­ful about his abilities after some much-needed confidence boosting from Jade and Harry.

     Har­ry pushed open the tapestry to take their usu­al short­cut up to Gryffind­or Tow­er and they found them­selves look­ing at Dean and Gin­ny, who were locked in a close em­brace and kiss­ing fierce­ly as though glued to­geth­er.