A murderer for a father: Jean L. Black ||Sirius Blacks daughter

Valentines Ball

The ball wasn’t supposed to be on the actual valentines day, but rather the day before. Well actually the evening before. All students had gotten free periods from lunch onwards so that everyone could get ready.
In the Gryffindor common room Jean, Ginny and Hermione stood by mirrors. Hermione had decided to tame her hair for the occasion, Ginny wanted to finish curling her eyelashes and Jean tried to get her curls to stay in place.
,,So, ‘mione, have you gotten a date now? I heard that Ron wanted to ask you”, Ginny asked. Hermione glanced at Jean, who had told Ginny about Ron’s plan, and mouthed: ,,Screw you.”, before she answered: ,,Well he did actually ask me, but he was incredibly obnoxious about it. He made it seem like he was only asking me because I was his last resort, Merlin its like the yuleball all over again.” Ginny looked quite embarrassed for her brother and Jean put a hand to her forehead in disbelief. ,,I swear to godric, one day I’ll murder him”, Ginny sighed, casually throwing her ginger hair over her shoulder. Jean giggled and even Hermione cracked a smile. Then, she glanced over at the big grandfather clock and gasped. ,,C’mon guys hurry we’ve only got a few minutes left before the ball starts. Fifth years are supposed to open the ball with a dance, Jean you’ll dance with Jacob”, she stressed, ushering her friends towards the door.
Down in the great hall
Jean, Ginny and Hermione came down the stair in astonishment. Everything around the great hall and the great hall itself was beautifully decorated with hearts. The decor was in a wide spectrum of pinks and reds with some white mixed into it. Jean spotted Jacob standing at the end of the staircase. He didn’t seem to notice her yet. One of his friends pointed him out to her as she came down the stairs, beaming. He stood there with an open mouth when she came closer to him. Laughing and slightly panting, Jean smirked: ,,Hi my love.” Jacob, still seeming to be star struck, smiled back at her. ,,You look lovely”, he finally said, hugging her. Jean blushed. ,,Thank you, so do you. Wanna go in?”, she smiled, seizing Jacobs arm. He seemed to get over Jean’s appearance and nodded, returning back to normal. ,,We’re s’posed to dance now, aren’t we?”, he asked, as they walked into the great hall. It was basically a mix between a wedding venue and a garden. Everywhere they looked, there were flowers and hearts and even a few doves. The ceiling had been transformed into what looked like the sky in every muggle fairy tale. Jean and Jacob looked up to the sky, both in a great amazement. Jean clutched Jacobs arm as she mumbled: ,,Beautiful, isn’t it?” He nodded, then he spotted Harry and Ron, sitting by themselves. ,,You wanna say hi to Ron and Harry?”, Jacob asked, basically already dragging her along.
Jean knew that Jacob was very fond of Harry and admired him because of his backstory. The two of them had a lot in common actually. Harry and Jacob were both very good at defence against the dark arts and both wanted to work at the ministry when they were finished with school. Harry was equally as fond of Jacob as he was. The two of them had become great friends, which was partly Jean’s influence. But Ron and Jacob got along quite pleasantly as well. They had a mutual interest for quiddich and even though Jacob didn’t play, he loved to gossip to Ron about all the quiddich drama. Besides that, they played wizard chess together from time to time, Ron winning every time. Jacob didn’t mind though, he was just happy that Jean’s friends liked him.
Ron looked up quite grumpily when he saw the two approaching. Harry just sat next to him, apparently either waiting or hiding from Cho. Jacob sat down next to them, pulling Jean into his lap. ,,Ron, why are you so grumpy?”, Jean asked, fearing that she already knew the answer. Frowning, he answered: ,,I blew it. Messed up my chances with ‘mione. I just wanna leave.” Harry rolled his eyes. ,,Just apologise, its not that hard Ron. Ask her to dance or something, I dunno”, he suggested, his head turned to the crowd. Jean raised an eyebrow before she said: ,,Look Harry, Cho’s over there.” His eyes widened, frantically looking around. ,,Where, mates we need to get out of here”, he muttered, hiding his face behind Ron. ,,I was joking, what are you so jumpy about? Did you get into a fight again?”, she sighed, smirking. Harry got relieved immediately and whispered: ,,She’s just mad that I needed to postpone our date for tomorrow by an hour. The girl is crazy, she’s literally turning herself into a human garden hose every chance she gets.” Before anyone could answer, McGonagall’s voice rang though the hall: ,,All fifth years please gather outside.” Jacob grinned at Jean, holding out his hand. ,,Shall we?”, he asked. Jean nodded cheerfully and got up. ,,You guys should come along. Harry, you’ve got a date and Ron, stop being a wimp and just ask Hermione”, she ordered and looked at her two friends. Ron looked at her, then he laughed: ,,Jean, you sound like mum. But fine, I’ll ask her. If she smacks me, its your fault.” She rolled her eyes, before she asked: ,,And you? If she won’t dance with you, I will, now come on.” Harry frowned but was dragged along by Ron.
Outside the great hall, almost every fifth year had gathered around Professor McGonagall. The four were the last ones to show up. Harry spotted Hermione and Ginny. They were talking and laughing, when the four of them came over. Ron was exceptionally quiet for once and just stared at Hermione. Harry seemed to have a similar expression on his face, the difference was,  that he was looking at Ginny. Jean found that very amusing, and glanced at Jacob. ,,They look like you, when you see me”, she chuckled quietly in Jacobs ear. He smirked. Jean gave Ron a little nudge as McGonagall commanded them to stand in pairs. He turned around to her briefly, before he stood next to Hermione, holding out his hand awkwardly. Hermione seemed shocked by this but took his hand with a flustered look on her face.
Jacob held out his hand for Jean as well now, smiling a little awkward. She turned back around from spying on Ron and Hermione, saw Jacobs hand and her heart leapt. Just now was it, that she realised that she was exactly where she wanted to be in that moment. She thought that exactly this must’ve been what McGonagall had meant by forgetting about the dark things happening, for even just one evening. Smiling, she seized Jacobs hand and together with the other fifth years they entered the great hall.
3 Hours later
A big part of students had left the ball by now and mostly couples were still there. Jean and Jacob sat at a table, accompanied by Harry, who had been abandoned by Cho to dance with Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw quiddich captain. Now he sat with the two silently, waiting for Ron to come back. Ron had been dancing with Hermione all evening and neither of the three had seen much of him or Hermione for hours. A few minutes ago they spotted them dancing rather intimately. Jacob tried to start up a conversation: ,,So Harry, how come you haven’t been playing quiddich lately? I haven’t seen you on the pitch for quite some time now.” Harry seemed to have been sunken in his own thoughts, because he looked puzzled when Jacob looked at him urgently. ,,So sorry, I didn’t listen. What was it?”, he mumbled guiltily. Jacob smiled and repeated his question: ,,How come you weren’t on the quiddich pitch lately? Are you injured or something?” Harry sighed, before he started: ,,Umbridge banned me after I almost jinxed Malfoy. Literally, she’s the worst.” Jean smiled, knowing what he meant all too well. Jacob looked at Harry compassionately. ,,Sorry to hear that, mate”, he sighed. Harry just shrugged, before he said: ,,No offence but I really want to leave. Cho ditched me and-” He couldn’t finish his sentence, because in that moment, Ginny came over to them, smirking cheekily. ,,Hey Potter, care to dance?”, she asked, holding out her hand for Harry. He looked around at Jean and Jacob, who were both nodding encouragingly. Then he smiled and grabbed Ginny’s hand.
When Harry and Ginny left, Jean rested her head on Jacobs arm. He looked at her lovingly. ,,What?”, he asked smirking. ,,Nothing”, she replied, wrapping her hands around his arm. Jacob seemed to understand her and mumbled: ,,Wanna dance?” Jean beamed and nodded. That was enough for Jacob and he swept her off her seat and pulled her along, onto the dancefloor.
Once they started dancing, it seemed to be just the two of them. There was this tenderness and affection between them, that made the air between them spark. Jean stared into Jacobs eyes, full of love, but yet astonishment. There it was again, this effect that she had noticed in the picture of his grandma as well. Like fire in deep water, but she couldn’t quite place where she’d seen it before. Jean placed her head on Jacobs chest, hearing his heart beat. Something about it was incredibly calming and she felt very safe and comfortable with him. Jacob pressed a kiss on Jean’s head, before spinning her into his arm. He had her in his arm now, holding her tightly. Jean put her hand on his cheek and gave it a soft stroke. ,,You’re amazing”, she breathed. He just smiled and pressed a kiss onto her lips.