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EVERYTHING is dark.
"I did it to protect you." He says. She widens her eyes, tries to focus on the shape that swarms before her. It dances in an odd sort of blur, comes together in the form of him. Maintaining her focus is a quest in itself so she hardens her gaze on his glasses. She stares at its outlines until it looks like vast material.
"You can't just do something like this." She whispers, head clouded with the sight of him and thoughts of resentment.
His hand slides under the nape of her neck and she hears him click his tongue. He lifts her head just a little, high enough to make spots dance around him and the room.
"If I didn't do it, you'd never have told me."
She squints her eyes, pinches the bridge of her nose. "Of course I wouldn't have."
It was a stupid thing of him to think. She'd never have told him anything. It wasn't personal, it was a silent promise she'd made to Finnigan. He tested her and if she – like she did now, even though unwillingly – had told anyone, she'd be seen as untrustworthy. The Death Eater that breaks promises and lies to everyone's face. She wouldn't have changed and it would give him a pleasure she was not willing to grant him.
"Why not?"
Wasn't it obvious?
She shakes her head. "You don't understand what it is like, Harry."
"So you say." He sounds bitter.
"It's true."
"It's what you always tell me."
She bites the inside of her cheek, tries to remain conscious. "Don't you have better things to spend your time on? Shouldn't you be off — saving lives – or studying for Auror training? Hell, shagging with the other two members of your Twatty Trio?"
He snorts and she can finally make out the shape of his face. "I am flattered that you know where my interests of study lay, but I have to admit that you got that last part awfully wrong."
A smile lingers on the corners of his lips.
"Don't laugh!" She says, the tone of her voice steadying. "Why would you, out of all people waste your time with someone like me?"
He shrugs. "I wouldn't know. The War has made me dark and twisty. A bit like you." His smile drops and she wonders if he's rethinking it all now. Her. He should. "I also like the way you moan." And that smile creeps up his face again. She rolls her eyes and he fires out an addictive laugh. "Oh stop it," She says, a grin tugging at her lips now too. "You are absolutely not funny."
"Your expression betrays yourself, Jade." He laughs and she lightly thumps his shoulder. It only provokes him more, as his laugh grows more fervent. Like it comes from deep within him. It's a horrible sound. She's astounded by it. Someone this beautiful—a War Hero—laughing like an untamed animal. It is not attractive but the mere sound of it makes her giggle. He lets go of her to cross his arms over his chest, catching his breath.
"My, my, Harry. When's the last time you've had a laugh? You look close to dying because of it." She jeers, putting her head down on the floor. He tries to shoot her a grim expression. She furrows her eyebrows. He betrays himself again and starts laughing.
"You're a joke." She says.
"You love it."
She shakes her head, looks at him with an unprovoked playfulness in her eyes. "You, Harry Potter, are a lot of things. I'm most miserable to inform you that funny isn't one of them."
His hand reaches for his heart. "That hurts me, Jade."
"You're easily hurt for someone who defeated a Dark Lord."
"He wasn't that special." He says and moves around her to lay next to her.
They both turn silent. She usually doesn't like moments like this, but it is not an uncomfortable silence for once. She feels at ease with it.
"I still don't like what you did." She says, refusing to look at him. Instead, she fixes her gaze on the panels of the ceiling.
"I got angry."
"It is no excuse."
He cocks his head sideways and she does too. "I just want you to be safe. Have you seen the state of your neck? It's blemished with bruises."
"I can take care of myself. I am not your quest of the year. You do not have to accomplish anything."
She knows this will make him think about it. It is what he has to do. As expected, when she glances at him, his expression has lost all cheerfulness. He pulls his eyebrows together, looks away from her. "Is that what you think you are? A quest?"
She pulls herself up on one elbow. "Aren't I? You're used to accomplishing tasks and tests all year long. Hell, it is all you've done since you are here. Am I wrong to think of this act, invading my mind, as some test you have put yourself up to?"
His mouth moves but no words come out.
She reaches out her hand, rests it on his shoulder. "I can take care of myself."
"You are no quest to me."
"Okay."
He turns his head to her. "Do you think I liked all those things? I never got the chance of growing up in a magical environment without –"
He clamps his mouth shut.
"Neither did I." She says, thinking of her parents.
"I don't regret doing it." He says and his eyes harden. "Seamus assaulted you."
"Okay."
"Okay?" He shoots up. "That is exactly why I should have done it! You--"
"No, it isn't." She interrupts him. "There is a plan." She thinks of Draco. If there was someone with a quest, it was him. It was her. It was Blaise, Pansy and Theo.
"Does that plan of yours include a death wish?" He snaps, the tone of rage becoming raw in his voice. "Don't think that I didn't see you think it— you were laying there—vulnerable—wishing for him to continue."
"I was high on his curse." It's the truth. But not fully. She swallows thickly.
"Then what is your plan?" He asks, also scooping himself up on one elbow.
"To enjoy my last year of school. To ignore him."
"You're a liar."
"That's what snakes are for." And she grins, even though it makes her feel uneasy.
"You don't have a plan." He says.
"I wish I hadn't."
He looks at her with a puzzled expression, like he isn't sure what to make of her.
"I'm not telling you."
"Okay."
They both lay down again and she tries to ignore the flutter that rummages through her chest as his hands swoop over hers.
***
Harry leaves soon after. She stays hidden in her bathroom. She steals a brown liquid from Granger's shelf, smears it all over her bruises. It's too light for her skin. At least the red is gone. She still looks ridiculous though.
She searches through the other products on Granger's shelf and mixes some of them with a small brush she found in Granger's little beauty sack. It feels like it's taking hours.
A knock sounds on the door. "Can you leave the bloody bathroom?" It is Granger. Jade rolls her eyes. "No."
"I need to use the toilet."
"Piss in your bed."
"Alohomora." The door is thrown open.
"Well, Granger. That's an invasion of my privacy." Jade drawls, not bothering to put away the brown sticky liquid. She rethinks her choice of calling it liquid. It is an odd thing.
"Are you using my concealer?"
Oh, that was what it was called.
"Apparently I am, Granger," Jade says, patting the brush over the skin of her throat. "Are you going to curse me for it? It is Gryffindor's hobby, I've heard."
The brunette is nailed to the floor.
"Lost your wits have you?" Jade continues.
Granger regains her posture, takes a step towards her. "First of all, for us, there is no Gryffindor and Slytherin anymore. It is just Eighth year. We're all dressed in black."
Jade arches an eyebrow, looks at Granger through the mirror. "Tell that to the rest of your house."
"Stop calling it our house. It is yours too."
"You lot are not family to me." She snaps.
"Let me help you," Granger says. "I can teach you how to use concealer properly. Those bruises will be there for a while." She shuffles closer to Jade.
"Stay away from me," Jade warns, a sharpness to her voice. "I will hex—
"You can't hex me."
Jade tightens her fist around the brush. "I've got this."
"Don't be so prideful."
"Don't be so heroic."
Granger grins.
"What are you smiling at?"
Granger takes the advantage to shove her aside, starts to rummage in her little beauty bag. "I correct you on the status of our current houses so rightful of my own but now I am telling you to be less of a Slytherin while you tell me to be less of a Gryffindor."
Jade doesn't get the humor of it. "We are not in the same house. We have different morals."
"That doesn't mean that I can't help you put on your bloody concealer!" She slams her fist down on the side of the sink. It is like she's trying to make a statement. "The one you, for all matters, stole from me."
"Real power you have there, Granger." Jade mocks. "Can't you just glamour it with your wand?"
"Why would I do that?"
"To help me."
Granger takes the brush out of her hands, starts dabbing it in a darker shade of concealer. "I am helping you."
The brush tickles her skin and Granger explains. "Your skin is a fair bit darker than mine, but even though you have to use a shade lighter than your natural skin tone, the one you chose was too light."
Jade looks at all the different shades on the pallet. "Isn't that one better?" She says, pointing at the shade next to the one Granger picked.
"For the second layer, yeah."
Granger continues to work on her throat and Jade looks at her. Really takes her in. Blue would match better with her chestnut curls.
"You're more of a Ravenclaw to me." Jade says thoughtfully.
"Tell that to the Sorting Hat." Granger snorts.
Jade grins. "See? Only Ravenclaws talk to hats."
Granger rolls her eyes. "That is if the hat is wise."
They both smile. Who would have thought?
***
It seems that Granger isn't that bad after all. Still bad. Not horrible. After being all prepped up by her, Jade sits on her bed.
She hears them all downstairs.
Laughing.
She has laughed too, today. Twice. More than she has in the last year. It is pathetic, she figures. But she can't help it.
Pansy hasn't come to their bedroom all evening. She is lounging downstairs too. Something tugs at her chest. It is painful, but it tugs. Hard. She should be down there too.
She could at least try to be pleasant. For Draco. For Pansy. For Theo and Blaise.
For Harry.
No, not for him. In fact, for nobody except for herself. So she musters the courage, has to do something unlike herself for once, because she isn't wearing emerald and silver anymore. She is wearing black. She has to merge. So she gets up and opens the door.
The corridor is filled with warm light. It is a glow of orange, a stark contrast against the black of the night sky outside. She walks down the stairs, head down, only looking up to find a wisp of black or silver hair. She sees them first, lounging in the sofa farthest in the room, away from all the rest of their year. They see her too and their laughter dies quickly. It merges into a stiff silence and she just wants to run upstairs again.
She picks the skin around her nails and looks away.
Her gaze lingers on Seamus Finnigan and all the others of former Gryffindor. He gazes at her neck. He searches for those bruises. Surprise motherfucker, she wants to say. She doesn't.
Instead, she walks to Draco. There's an empty seat next to him. She could sit there.
"Hi," She says stiffly. "Can I sit?"
He looks like lightning has struck him and the smile and gleefulness that had covered his face mere seconds ago has completely disappeared. She does that to him, she figures. It makes her want to cry.
"Of course, Jade." He says.
So she sits.
The conversation carries on without her and whenever she tries to say something in between they don't let her. So she wisely shuts up. She presses her chin into the heels of her hands, digs her nails into the skin of her jaws. She should have stayed upstairs.
That is until a voice interrupts them.
"Jade, can I talk to you?"
She looks up and meets Harry's emerald eyes. They're shining. Determined.
All around her, it grows quiet. The only thing she hears is the loud thudding of her heart.
"No, she can't," Draco says, putting a possessive hand over her thigh. She shuffles away from him. "Yes, I'm coming."
Pansy hisses. Jade shoots her a grim glare. She gets up. "Is there something wrong? Did I—
But in the next second, he's tugged her closer to him. She lets out a soft squeal. Her breath hitches. But all nervousness is gone when his hand disappears in her curls and his breath ghosts over her skin. "That'll show them," He whispers, loud enough only for her to hear. "I am so utterly done with all of their crap."
She nods, doesn't know what else to do. And then his lips meet hers. She whimpers softly, feels firework igniting within her as his teeth graze the skin of her lips. His hand tightens in her curls and she kisses him back eagerly.
"What the fuck!" She hears Draco shout.
And for once in her life, she does not care. She just lets herself be engulfed by the feeling of Harry. He kisses her softly, lovingly, and then he moves to the edge of her mouth, kisses all the way up to her ear.
"We are going to leave this room." He whispers huskily. She already feels close to rupturing. "I so desperately want to fuck you, Jade. Right now."
He guides her away.
And everything inside of her screams. Screams that he's too impulsive. Too reckless. But she goes along anyway.
It seems like Jade is warming up to the Gryffindors. Who would have thought? What are we thinking of this? I'd like to read your opinions.
Also, are we expecting smut in the next chapter? HELL YES WE ARE! (I am honestly so excited because this chapter took so long because I was already writing the next chapter's smut lol!)
ALSO ALSO... I am starting a one-shot smut book! Add it to your library ahh!!! and leave me some requests to work on)