Jenna had poured some milk and cereal into her bowl over breakfast. Once again, she had woken up earlier than her other three roommates and so was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall all by herself.
Jenna was reading through a spell book she had burrowed from the library yesterday, which contained many interesting and yet easy jinxes. It obviously had nothing to do with her studies and current lessons, though she still enjoyed reading about them.
But just then, her attention was caught when she saw James, Sirius, and Peter walk into the Great Hall, looking the Gryffindor table up and down, as if desperately looking for something.
When James caught Jenna's eyes, he told his two friends something, and so the three of them made their way over to her. She didn't have much time to escape, because they had already spotted her.
"Oh, no..." Jenna groaned under her breath as the three boys approached her.
"Hey, J.P," said James the moment they reached her.
"If you say so," Jenna said coldly, eating her cereal.
"What?" James frowned in confusion, but then he shook his head briskly, continuing, "Listen, have you seen Remus?"
"No," Jenna answered curtly.
"But we can't find him anywhere!" said James, and Peter nodded.
"So?"
"It's really strange," said Peter. "It's as if he just vanished. Poof!"
"Where have you searched for him?" Jenna asked them.
"Er... the dorm," said James, counting with his fingers, "the common room... and... and... um..." He looked over at Sirius and Peter for help.
"And the Great Hall," Sirius completed his sentence.
"That doesn't count as everywhere," said Jenna. "You should search the library, or even the classroom. He might've already gone down to the Transfigurations class. This castle is huge. He could be anywhere."
"Exactly!" James huffed. "That's why I'm asking you to come and help us search around for him. The more people we have on the search party, the quicker we might find him."
"Well, it's not my responsibility that your best friend is missing," Jenna said bitterly, still not over the fact that her own brother had ditched her two times already. "Besides... I already have some other things to do."
"Like what?" James raised a curious brow at her.
"Er..." Jenna tried to think quickly, but she smiled to herself when she saw Lily, Marlene, and Alice enter the Great Hall the next moment. So with a grin, she told James, "I promised the girls that I would hang out with them today."
"The girls?" Sirius repeated. "Who are the girls?"
"Lily, Alice, and Marlene." Jenna shrugged casually, as if this were the normal thing in the world. "We're all in the same dorm."
"And since when do you hang out with the girls?" James questioned, folding his arms.
"Since you were too busy hanging out with the boys!" So flipping her long blue hair back, Jenna got up to her feet and walked past the three boys, moving toward Lily, Alice, and Marlene.
"Hey there!" Jenna waved at them gleefully as the three girls were walking through the Hall.
"Did she just wave at us?" Marlene asked the other two girls quietly, looking at Jenna in disbelief until she reached them.
Although they were caught even more off guard when Jenna wrapped a hand around Marlene's arm, saying with a sweet smile, "Ready to go?"
"What are you playing at, Potter?" Marlene snapped.
Knowing that James was probably still watching them curiously from afar, Jenna whispered quickly to them, "I'm trying to prove a point! So please just act along!"
"Well, can you prove your point without your hand grasping my arm?" Marlene hissed quietly, so only the three other girls could hear her. "Besides, we just got here! I'm starving!"
Jenna held back the urge to roll her eyes and kept on smiling in a fake sweet way. She then whispered to Marlene warningly, "I'll give you five Sickles to act cool."
"Hey! I already am cool!" Marlene protested.
Although she didn't get much more time to argue as Jenna started to drag her away. Alice and Lily glanced at each other in confusion and shrugged, before following the two girls out of the Great Hall.
Once they were in a safe distance and had gone up the marble staircase near the entrance hall, Jenna finally let go of Marlene and sighed in relief.
"What was that all about?" Lily asked worriedly as they entered the first floor, still not sure what had actually happened.
"Long story," Jenna replied shortly.
"But why —"
Lily was saying, but before she could get another single word out, she was cut off when a gloomy voice behind them said, "Look who's here!"
Turning around, they saw Mulciber and Aver approaching them, a grim and dark look upon both their faces.
"What is it?" Jenna started wittily. "Was one punch enough for you, or do you want another Potter to punch you too?"
"Watch your tone with us, Potter," Mulciber snarled. "You step another toe out of line and we can get you expelled."
"I'd certainly like to see you try!" Jenna snapped, drawing out her wand in a quick motion.
"Jenna, don't!" Lily cried out, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.
Avery smirked. "Yes, that's right. Let the little Mudblood defend you."
At the mention of the word, Alice gasped and Marlene took out her wand angrily. But once Jenna's hair suddenly turned red, that was when the two boys gulped in fear and took a step back.
"You really shouldn't have said that," said Jenna before pointing her wand directly at Avery and shouting, "Locomotor Mortis!"
"AARGH!" On cue, Avery's legs locked up together and he hurtled over, falling down to the ground on his face.
Mulciber's eyes widened. He went to pull Avery up, but he froze on the spot when Marlene pointed her wand at him and said darkly, "You're next."
Yelping, Mulciber left Avery behind and ran away. In horror, Avery got up and hopped out of the corridor with his two legs stuck together, and the four girls burst into laughter the moment they were gone.
"That — was — awesome!" said Marlene between roars of laughter.
"But I don't understand," Lily started in confusion the moment their laughter had died away. "Why was it bad to say Mu—"
"Shh! Don't say that word!" Jenna briskly said, shaking her head.
"But what does it mean?" Lily questioned. Although by the reaction that the other three girls had shown, she could tell that it wasn't something you would hear in a nice conversation.
"It — well —" Marlene started, but couldn't finish her sentence, so she turned to face Alice and Jenna for help.
Alice looked completely away, so Jenna took it upon herself to say, "I-it means... it means dirty blood."
"Oh..." Lily's face fell at those words. Severus had already explained the blood statuses to her before, saying how much it mattered in the Wizarding world. But she hadn't expected it to be a problem for her so soon.
"I'm sorry, Lily," said Alice, giving her an sympathetic look.
"So... do you — do you guys think the same way about me?" Lily muttered in a small voice, throwing her gaze down.
"What!? No! Of course not!" Jenna said quickly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "This is so wrong. All of it. Blaming someone for the family they are born into... it's disgusting! I mean, who cares if you were raised in a Wizarding family or not? All that matters is that you have as much right to be here as anybody else. And that doesn't change the fact that you're practically one of the smartest students in the whole year."
"Exactly!" Marlene nodded in agreement, smiling brightly at Lily. "Don't let those arses bring you down, Lil."
"Lil?" Lily repeated, giggling at the nickname.
"Yeah, it's fun!" Marlene shrugged with a grin. "You know what? I think we should all have nicknames! And Alice could be called the Cinammon Roll!"
"Why?" Alice chuckled.
"Cause you're too nice for your own good," Marlene reasoned.
"And what does that make me?" Jenna raised a brow at her playfully.
"Hmm... I shall call you Red Jenna," said Marlene, recalling the way Jenna's hair had turned red out of anger, right before she attacked Avery.
Jenna thought to herself with a grin, impressed. "I approve of the name."
"And we should have a cool one for me too!" Marlene said proudly. "I mean, did you see the way Mulciber literally ran out of the corridor after I said 'you're next'? It was freaking awesome!"
"Maybe we can call you —"
"Oh, I got it!" Marlene clapped her hands together in excitement, cutting her off. "From this day on, ladies, I shall be called 'Marlene Cool McKinnon'."