How it had all changed in the space of the day.
She had held all the cards, making the decisions as to who she kept close, and now it was all spiralling out of control. One by one things were going wrong, her power was diminishing, and the momentum was slowly building up.
"Have you seen Fred?" George asked her grudgingly, the only person left who was willing to be near her. His voice was still in the silence, the only accompanying noise being the spit of the flame on the pillar that kept the hallway lit.
"No," Jessica started to say, being careful not to say or do anything that would trigger him off as well, "not since..."
"Well we can't find him," George interrupted sharply. He lazily lifted his finger up to point at the purple badge on her chest and looked away wincing, as if it brought him anguish to even look at it. "He walked off when you got your little marker there and no one has seen him since."
This was worrying. Fred hardly ever missed meals, and it was very rare for George to not know where he was. As Fred had told her before, they knew everything about each other. So for George to be clueless it meant that something was seriously wrong. "He can't have gone far, could he?" Jessica prompted on, "Umbridge has put up so many security procedures so it's impossible to get out of the grounds."
"Yeah," said George, with a deep sigh, "well you would know wouldn't you."
She would have rathered he had just started shouting at her, it would have been easier to digest. The despondency in his tone cut her like a knife, and his disappointment harmed her more than the aggressiveness of his younger brother. Jessica didn't know if he was now standing with her because he still liked her or if he was doing it just to keep an eye on where she was, letting Ron, Hermione and Ron find Fred before she did.
"Just why Jess...," he said to her soberly with sorrowful eyes, " have they forced you into this or something?"
Jessica looked down at the bronzed medal on the left side of her chest and wanted to immediately rip it off. It wasn't her, it was weighing her down, and it was a symbol of the betrayal that wasn't even her choice.
"No, they didn't force me," she lied and George's eyes closed, his head falling downwards.
George was her last chance to tell her side of the story, as he was the closest friend next to Fred she had. He was also the most understanding of the lot, which she was sure was the reason he was still there, and she knew he would listen to her out of principle even if he didn't want to.
"George, I need you to understand," she said as she looked up at him with her biggest pleading eyes, "I had to keep this a secret from you guys."
"Yeah, you like keeping secrets don't you," George scoffed with a dejected smirk as he continued looking at the floor. He stepped back away from her, wanting to maintain a distance. "You made my brother one and now look what's happened. He can't talk to anyone about this because you're involved, he can't tell anyone how he feels except me and even then that's hard to do because we're always surrounded by people."
His head lifted to meet hers and she could see that his features had now turned pointed in irritation. He appeared to care more about Fred than the Inquisitorial Squad in general. "I told you Jess," he said with emphasis, "he doesn't process this stuff well."
Her fingers clutched together and started nervously fidgeting. She hadn't thought about that. She just thought if he had George to tell then he would have his best friend in the loop and be okay. "I'm sorry," Jessica apologised, "but I had to, and this was why. I thought I could manage it without hurting everybody but I saw where everything was heading and it got too much. That's why I broke it off with him...and told you all to stay away from me last week in the Hospital Wing."
"Oh, so this is why you told us all to leave you alone was it?" said George, tucking his hands inside his pockets and laughing sardonically in response, "bringing down your social-climbing were we? Realised that having a seat in the Ministry was more comfortable than being with the Order?
Again, this is what she had feared. Them totally getting the wrong end of the stick. "No George that's not it, I'm still part of the Order," she tried to assure him as she pressed a fingernail a little too hard into her skin out of anxiousness, leaving a mark, "everything I have done so far is to protect you from what's coming."
George shook his head in denial, causing tuffs of his red hair to flop down into a fringe. "No Jess," he said calmly, " all you've done is protected yourself."
"Myself?" Jessica retorted sarcastically, her voice rattling against the walls. At least he was still there, not abandoning her as the others had done, but that didn't mean she couldn't get angry when he was pressing her buttons. "Yeah, I've really protected myself by doing this haven't I? Those two weeks unconscious in a hospital bed was such a holiday George, really loved it!"
"Don't twist my words," he sneered.
"No, honestly, you really think I've done this to benefit myself?" she asked. Her arms crossed against her chest to stop her fidgeting and her volume increased in frustration, causing George to roll his eyes. He thought she was just making excuses to make herself look good, but for the first time, she was able to argue with the truth. "How do you think you guys got to play Quidditch again huh?" she asked him loudly, "did you honestly think what I told Angelina was true? That Umbridge just randomly gave permission after I asked?"
George groaned and looked up at the ceiling, trying to stay calm because he had now become intrigued by her story, "What did you do Jess?"
Jessica took a deep breath and started rambling, trying to get the whole story out in one go. "Umbridge initially wanted insights on the teachers so I told her some things she was going to find out anyway from her inspections. Stuff that I'd heard you guys say so I knew it was true. I didn't think it would end up getting Trelawney fired but..."
"Hang on," George interrupted, holding a hand up to her and tilting his head slightly to the side to check that he had heard her right, "you almost got Professor Trelawney fired so that we could play Quidditch?"
"Not intentionally!" she exasperated, seeing how bad that now sounded hearing him say it out loud, "you were all so sad and I wanted to help because you guys have been so good to me-"
"Help?" George interrupted again, his voice getting rougher and deeper as his anger started to boil at what had now become apparent to him, "Jess, that's ridiculous! We would have rather not played this entire year if it meant the teachers were safe and you stayed on our side!"
"But you and Fred said Quidditch was the only reason you were here..." Jessica croaked, feeling her voice becoming weaker as she became overwhelmed with vulnerability, "I needed you both to stay by any means necessary. You're the only friends I have."
"You say that yet we're not the ones with stupid matching friendship badges," he sniped.
"George this is something I have to do," she pleaded and then realised their loudness could alert Pansy in the room next door. She turned to a whisper. "You've got to believe me. I'm doing this for you all. With this Decree 29, I can protect you."
She wanted to tell him about her promise to his mother, to give evidence that she meant well. But again, she was restricted from the secrets she had promised to keep. If he knew his mother had told her to look out for them, he would've been even more confused, and then annoyed at Mrs Weasley for her overprotectiveness. That aspect of her parenting was what he and Fred clashed with their mother about the most.
"Either you're really stupid Jess, or you think you have more power than you have," said George, looking down on her in pity, "because I can't see how you're going to stop all of them from hurting us. No matter what they've said to you to get you involved, it's not true."
"I'll think of something," she said positively with a weak smile, though she had no idea where to start.
"And what about everyone else?" said George confrontationally, walking close and getting in her face as he started listing names, "Neville, Dean, Angelina, Alicia, Katie, the first years, the other houses...are you going to harm them to protect us six? Are you prepared to do that because that's what they'll make you do. They're cruel!"
"No, I'll find a way," she insisted, muddled by his accurate observations. It hadn't even crossed her mind that she would have to give punishments to those other people in order to protect those she cared for. She had never seen George so angry, and though they shared the obvious same features, it was now that she saw how alike he and Fred actually were.
"No, you won't," said George, smiling in dismay, "you're weak Jessica, that's why you're in this position in the first place. Any one of us would take a thousand punishments if it meant protecting someone else, but you've made sure you're sitting on the golden throne. Protected and untouchable."
Coming from George, who she considered the most level-headed of all, these words hit her hard. "Don't you dare call me weak George," Jessica snapped back, "don't stand there all self-righteous when you know nothing about me."
"Yeah well, at least Malfoy and that know they're deceitful, you're just trying to justify yourself by saying you're doing the right thing," he responded viciously, and as Jessica navigated the angry face in front of her, she knew that he had given up. She had now lost George too. "I thought you were better than this, we all did. The next thing you'll be saying is that you're doing it for 'the greater good!"
As she looked him in the eyes, her energy battery now reaching breaking point, she had to use a great effort to hold back the tears.
"...but I am," she whispered softly, barely even making enough sound for George to hear her.
George didn't respond, but she had obviously said the wrong thing to put the final nail in the coffin. His mouth laid partly open, flabbergasted, and his eyes communicated every dig he wanted to throw at her.
"What's happening here then?" said Pansy as she came out of the Hospital Wing, her arm wrapped up in a neatly applied bandage. She was looking between the two opposed wizards in front of her with glorious amusement, analysing how quickly she could get involved.
"Oh, you can fuck off and all," said George, switching his anger to the newer and easier target, "I'll wipe that smug smile off of your face one of these days Parkinson I promise you that."
"Oi, don't take how you feel about me out on her when she's clearly hurt," Jessica intervened. She had already seen Draco not care for Pansy whilst being hurt, so she felt she owed it to her as a girl to ensure no other guy did the same. "Or aren't all you Gryffindors about chivalry?"
Pansy looked at her surprised, and for the first time, without negative undertones. George however, was the complete opposite.
"I'm going to give you one last chance," he said firmly, looking at Pansy out of the corner of his eye and then whispering down low to Jessica, "pick the right side before this all goes to shit. Pick me, pick your friends, pick Fred. Do the right thing."
She looked hopelessly at him. He had no idea the difficult situation he was putting her in by asking her that. Of course she wanted to say yes and walk with him back to the Gryffindor common room, but she couldn't, not in front of Pansy. The time for how things were before this was over, and having the best of both worlds was no longer an option available to her.
"I am doing the right thing," Jessica said through gritted teeth, "I'm keeping this school safe. Now run along before I give you detention, I'm sure you don't want another scar on your batting hand. Gryffindor needs all the help they can get tomorrow in your match against Ravenclaw."
George went to say something, then bit his lip, giving one final glare at Jessica before walking away in the same direction that his siblings had. As she watched him walk away with heavy footing, the consequence of what she had done absorbed into her brain.
That was four down, and two left to face.
***
"So are you going to tell me what that was just about?" Pansy asked airily as she walked next to Jessica side by side down the staircase to the ground floor.
"Nothing," said Jessica, hardly having the effort to speak anymore, "that's what that was about."
Pansy screwed up her face in response like Jessica was meant to be grateful for her finally speaking to her like a normal person, "you really need to get a thicker skin Clarke."
Jessica didn't care for Pansy's careless words, all she could see was George's last look. She had lost them all, and she had never felt so empty.
They turned the corner into the direction of the Great Hall, opposite to which was the staircase to the Slytherin common room, and Jessica couldn't wait to get in there so she could sleep this terrible day away. As they stepped down the mini staircase to the flat floor, two students came stumbling in through the front doors in the entrance, engulfed in the darkness of their school robes. It was a girl and boy Jessica guessed, given how closely intertwined with each other they were.
"Oh hi Jess," said a voice as the girls head came up for air. The moon's reflection made her dark curly hair shine when she stepped into its glow, and Jessica returned the warm smile as she recognised who it was.
"Hey Angelin-"
Jessica stuttered as the boy Angelina was with stumbled into the light, revealing his mane of thick bright-red hair. Her energy battery that been running out all day smashed to pieces, shutting down and making her numb like a robot that had just had its wires cut. The blood inside of her veins ran cold, and every internal organ felt like it had fallen down into her stomach. It couldn't be. Her eyes were surely playing tricks on her.
Either that or she had just stepped back in time.
"Oh hell no," muttered Pansy, seeing Jessica's reaction and bringing out her wand to force the two apart with a spell.
"Fred Weasley and Angelina Johnson" she announced boldly, "you are currently violating Educational Decree number 26 as you are not six inches apart from each other. I will be writing up your detention tomorrow morning and I will personally be running your punishment."
Jessica felt like she was going to throw up as she dared to take a look at Fred's face for a second. Pansy's jinx had made him hit his back on the stone wall, yet he was not reacting in any pain, in fact, he was completely unemotional. He was staring ahead at the wall opposite, the corners of his opal eyes pulling downwards, resembling the statue that was only placed a few feet away from him.
He had just rebounded like a boomerang, straight back to Angelina. No grieving period, no trying to hear her out, it was just back like they had never happened.
She knew what he had done, he had tried to erase her from his life as quickly as he could. But what she couldn't understand was how easily he had done it. It had only been a couple of hours.
"You don't have that power yet, Umbridge said you're not even instated until tomorrow!" Angelina understandably argued back to Pansy, rubbing her elbow as she got off the floor eight feet away from Fred.
"Hence why I said tomorrow and not tonight...listen," Pansy sneered. Jessica could feel the tears welling up behind her eyes, but anger was starting to boil also, stopping the waterwork barrier from breaking.
How dare he just move back to Angelina and act like they even existed.
"As this is your first violation under the new regime I, unfortunately, am only permitted to give you lines," Pansy continued, "It'll be at 8 pm in my provided headquarters, so you'll have to let the Quidditch team know that practice is postponed. You'll get a memo at some point tomorrow reminding you of the time and location."
The thought that perhaps he didn't care as much about her as she thought he did painfully entered her brain, and also how Hermione might have been right when she said he just easily went from one girl to the next.
"You don't have the authority," Angelina argued, "Jess tell her, you know how hard it is for us to get our pitch time approved nowadays!"
Jessica couldn't speak. Though Angelina had done nothing wrong, she didn't even want to look in her direction. She would always be the other girl, and Fred clearly still felt something towards her no matter what he had told Jessica.
"This gives me the authority," Pansy replied smugly, holding up the badge on her robes, "oh and I wouldn't advise being late or not turning up, because it'll only get worse. I get the creative choice of what's written, so don't piss me off. For you Weasley I think I'm just going to go with 'I just made a big fucking mistake'."
Fred didn't flinch when she said this or when Pansy pulled Jessica away to the top of the stairs. In fact, he didn't move at all. Not even when Angelina looked at him puzzlingly after seeing Pansy and Jessica both seething at his face.
Putting her arm around her, Pansy helped Jessica down the steps of the dungeons as she seemingly had lost all control of her legs. She had no energy left, and her whole body was trembling with mixed emotions.
"Are you okay?" Pansy whispered when they were out of hearing range from the ground floor above.
"Don't pretend you care," Jessica hissed, "I'm fine."
She wasn't fine.
Pansy tutted, "What a great way to be thankful for what I just did for you."
Jessica scoffed as a tear escaped out of her right eye. She thought she had none left to cry after reading Mrs Weasley's letter, but she was clearly mistaken. "Pansy I know you hate Angelina, you'd do anything to get her in trouble," she sniffed, "don't make out you did that for me."
She could feel the metal of her signet ring against her skin as Pansy's hand started to rub her arm, attempting to comfort her. "No I know you really like him, don't think I haven't noticed what you sleep with," said Pansy, indicating she had seen Fred's tie. There was no point in Jessica attempting to have any privacy anymore, Pansy always seemed to find out everything. "And contrary to popular opinion I'm not a total bitch," she continued, "I said you needed tougher skin, not a stone-cold heart. Seeing that is shit, and it's going to hurt. Trust me, I've had that too."
"With who?" Jessica asked her, ready to pounce on the first insight into Pansy's life that she could. She would give anything to hear something that made her seem more human.
"It doesn't matter," said Pansy, quickly changing the subject, "anyway, you stood up for me earlier so it was the least I could do. I've told you before, I will not stand for a Slytherin girl being made a fool of. This is what happens when you give a guy something for free that he shouldn't usually be able to afford, they start thinking they're entitled to more."
With this Jessica couldn't hold it in any longer. The flames of rage were starting to cave in underneath the more powerful waters of her aching heart, allowing a waterfall of tears to pour out. It was what she had always been scared of at the back of her mind. She had lost all of those who had built her foundation in the wizarding world, all to clasp to the answers of what had happened to her life before all of this. She had no one left who cared about her, and now a piece of her heart was lying broken on the stone steps of the entrance hall.
"Over a fucking Weasley..." Pansy mumbled to her out of sympathy when they reached the bottom of the staircase. She flicked he black hair back and pulled Jessica into her to let her cry on her shoulder just as Theo happened to walk out of the common room with his coat on. He often went for nightly walks alone around the castle, and tonight he had left late. Theo noticed Jessica crying on Pansy's shoulder and walked hurriedly over, concern rapidly spreading across his face.
"Who did this? It wasn't you was it?" he asked Pansy.
Jessica continued crying, letting out everything that had been building up these past two months. She felt a hand on her shoulder, as Theo touched her in support.
"Oh yeah, because it's just like me to make a girl cry then let her stain my new robes," Pansy hissed sarcastically, "of course it wasn't me!"
"Wow is this you trying to be a friend then? I thought the day would never come," said Theo humorously, "who was it if it wasn't you?"
"Who do you think?" muttered Pansy.
"Oh," sighed Theo, understanding Pansy's cryptic message. "Don't tell me he's gone back to her already?"
"Yep, less than half a day the dick, though we kind of called it."
"Well I don't need half a day, it'll take me ten seconds to punch him."
"I'll hold him down for you if you want, I think he's still lying on the floor upstairs after I pulled a knockback jinx on him."
"Nice one."
"Thank you."
Though she was crying, Jessica's ears hadn't switched off. It was clear that they had both discussed her and Fred's relationship together in spite of them both separately promising Jessica that they would keep it a secret. This was confusing because Jessica had never heard them be this nice with each other, let alone be in the same room long enough to share secrets.
Pansy grabbed her suddenly and pressed her up against the wall, shaking her shoulders. "Right that's enough," she said, her brown eyes almost bulging out of their sockets, "we can't do this all night. We're going to make him regret it, do you hear me? We're going to make him regret that decision he just chose to make."
"How?" sobbed Jessica, not reacting well to Pansy's tough approach, "Pansy I don't want you to hurt him, that's not what I want-"
"Have you not seen us," Theo insisted confidently as he squeezed her shoulder, pointing at himself and Pansy with his other hand, "we don't have to hurt people for them to know who we are, we have so much to teach you."
"We can make you the girl everyone wants, and trust me you'll love the power it will give you," Pansy added excitedly, a sparkle glimmering in her eye, "you've had this coming since the day you arrived here. There's so much potential in you that you were just wasting with Weasley, we could all see it."
"No, I could see it, you were jealous," Theo told her, flashing her one of his perfect smiles.
Jessica felt a spark of satisfaction inside her with the knowledge that this was potentially true, and the look Pansy gave Theo certainly increased those odds. "There's more than one way to hurt someone," Pansy continued as she drew her menacing eyes away from Theo and back to her, "and if you do as I say you're going to break his heart just like he's done to yours tonight."
"You just want to get back at Angelina again..." Jessica sighed as she tried to get Pansy off her. She was devastated, but that didn't cloud her judgement. She had learnt her lesson.
Pansy grabbed her back and held her against the cold dungeon wall, holding her chin and forcing her to look her in the eyes. "Jess I couldn't give a fuck about Angelina, she's making an idiot out of herself now, she's doing the job for me," Pansy told her, and her unblinking eye contact made Jessica believe that she might be telling the truth, "this is about you. You can either sit in the dormitories and bitch and moan about how sad you are about this like you're some pathetic little first year or you can take a breath, do your hair, pull up your skirt a couple of inches and strut into the Great Hall tomorrow with your head held high and every guy begging at your feet. Which is it?"
Jessica's tears stopped flowing like Pansy had just cut the supply line. She had to admit, that offer seemed very appealing right now. If Fred could just run back to Angelina, after everything he had thrown at her with the Slytherin boys when she had done nothing of the sort, then she might as well have some fun whilst getting over him. She had been tied down with him, willingly, ever since she started Hogwarts. She had never had a normal school experience here without him.
"Do you really think you could do that with me?" Jessica asked them both.
Pansy responded with a wide grin, her tongue tracing over her top set of teeth. She looked at Theo, who returned the same back to her. "Eh, you say that like it's a challenge," Theo responded and Pansy pulled out a black satin hanky from her robes, ready to wipe away all traces of Jessica's tears.
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Hi Guys,
Hope you liked Part 2, things will be getting a little greener from now on if you get what I mean.
The next update is planned for next week, so please leave comments/vote in the meantime if you're enjoying this book so far. I appreciate every one of you that leave something, it makes me so happy :)
Lots of L,
K xx