THE FOLLOWING TUESDAY, JADE found herself back in the dungeons. Except this time Professor Slughorn was back, and so was Draco Malfoy.
Jade reluctantly entered the Potions classroom. She sat in her usual seat next to Malfoy, neither of them looking at the other.
It couldn't be that bad, right? Slughorn was there so the only thing Malfoy could possibly do is give her a backhanded compliment on her potion skills.
"Miss Rosier! I hope you had a splendid weekend!" Professor Slughorn said to her, smiling so his face looked extra round.
"Thank you, professor. It was alright other than Katie being cursed," Jade said, shooting Draco a glare.
He met her stare and rolled his eyes.
"Oh yes, quite tragic. Hopefully, Miss Bell is recuperating at Saint Mungo's. They have the best healers, most of them were my students." Professor Slughorn responded.
Jade gave him a fake smile to acknowledge what he said and turned back around. Draco pushed his book towards her, tapping on the page of the potion she would do today with his ring-clad hand. She collected the ingredients in silence and began her work on the potion.
Like always, she followed all of the instructions perfectly while Draco looked on. Jade felt herself disassociate from her environment, hyper-focusing on the potion. It was as if she was alone in the Potions classroom, and she greatly preferred that over her current situation.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed when the scraping of Slughorn's chair interrupted the silence and pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Miss Rosier, Mr Malfoy! I have a staff meeting at 6 o'clock so I must get going or else Professor McGonagall might not be very pleased with me," Slughorn gave a hearty laugh, "I expect you both to behave. I will have to give you both a month of detention if you decide to duel each other again. Have I made myself clear?"
Jade wanted to roll her eyes, but Slughorn was staring at Draco and her intently. She very much wished she could curse Draco again.
"Yes, sir," Draco answered.
"Very clear, sir," Jade replied.
Professor Slughorn seemed satisfied with their responses because he beamed at them and left. The second he was out the door, Jade could feel the temperature in the room start to increase.
"How was your detention with McGonagall?" She dared to ask him.
She wasn't sure when she had made up her mind that he was involved with Katie's incident. Even if he wasn't the mastermind or didn't curse her directly, Jade still had an inkling he knew more than he let on. Was that the task Snape referred to?
Draco looked at her, "How did you know I was in detention? Have you and Potter started a fan club for me?"
"Convenient you weren't in Hogsmead when Katie Bell was cursed," Jade said as she cut dandelion roots.
He chuckled, "Oh, Rosier. Quite a large assumption you seem to be implying."
Jade narrowed her eyes, "Is it really?"
"I was clearly not in Hogsmeade, and it is unfortunate Bell was cursed as it now seems like you're down a chaser for the next Quidditch match," Draco mused.
She felt her anger start to bubble up inside her, but she tried to keep it under control. "Doesn't matter, we could still beat Slytherin any day."
"Let's not lie to ourselves, Rosier."
"Stop deflecting. Are you also trying to tell me that it was a coincidence that I happened to bump into Blaise outside the very restroom in which Katie found the cursed object just a few minutes after that?" Jade asked him.
Her question seemed to have caught him by surprise because she thought she had seen something flicker in his eyes before they turned back to their usual cold, icy grey glare.
"As you said, I was in detention. Hard to keep track hard of my friend's whereabouts from there."
Jade let out a small laugh, "Not hard if you had previously asked him to do your dirty work for you."
Draco looked away from her and instead at the potion she was working on, "Zabini is his own person. Whatever encounter you had was of his own will. You certainly must know that with all the flirting you two have been doing."
She furrowed her brows. Flirting? Sure, the attractive Slytherin and she might have been having their own exchange of flirty banter but since when had Draco Malfoy noticed?
"I didn't know you paid attention to every single interaction between Blaise and I," Jade said.
"It doesn't take a genius to see he fancies you," Draco said sharply.
"Are you calling yourself daft?" Jade laughed as she put the finishing touches on the potion.
Draco never wanted to curse someone more in his life. Jade noticed; he looked murderous. He also looked good when angry.
"Quiet, Rosier," He spat.
"Oh, you think you can order me to shut up? Sorry to inform you that is not within your capabilities, Malfoy. Plus, what's it to you if Blaise fancies me?" Jade smirked.
"Only watching out for my friend. Wouldn't be a good look to shag a nasty blood traitor like you," Draco said.
"I wonder if Blaise thinks I'm nasty," Jade raised an eyebrow.
Her innuendo did not go unnoticed; Draco grit his teeth.
"Didn't I tell you to hold your tongue?" He said, pointing his wand at her.
Jade opened her mouth to reply but no sound came out. She was confused for half a second until she realized he had non-verbally used the Silencing Charm on her.
"As you can see, I, too, know nonverbal magic," Draco said, amused.
Now she was fuming.
She quickly took out her wand and got her revenge with another non-verbal spell, the Langlock jinx.
Jade was too fast for Draco to see it coming. He immediately felt his tongue glue itself to the roof of his mouth, preventing him from speaking.
She smiled, feeling satisfied that he couldn't speak either. Draco's eyes were shooting daggers at her, but Jade remained unbothered.
In the silence, she finished her Potion and set it on Slughorn's desk. The silence was deafening as the two of them put back the remaining ingredients and cleaned the table.
They spoke in venomous glares.
Professor Slughorn walked in as they finished organizing everything, "Ah! I'm glad you two were able to get through today's session without any of that quarrelling!"
Jade and Draco could only pathetically nod, neither of them being able to respond.
"Well, run along! Dinner has begun, and you both have proved your cooperativeness today."
Draco left the classroom as soon as Slughorn said they could go.
He quickly walked to the Great Hall and sat between Blaise and Theodore, across from Pansy and Daphne.
"Hi, Draco," Pansy smiled at him.
He only nodded at her. His mind was preoccupied with Jade fucking Rosier and the jinx she had put on him.
"How were Potions with Jade?" Daphne asked him.
Draco didn't miss how Blaise perked up at the mention of Jade's name. He balled his fists, extremely infuriated he couldn't speak.
"Malfoy?" Theodore asked him after he didn't answer Daphne.
That is when Draco noticed Theo was taking notes on his Transfiguration book. He took the quill from his friend's hand and began to write in his book.
"Hey!" Theo protested.
One of you gits better cast the general countercurse spell at me right now, Draco wrote.
Theo snatched the quill back and looked at what Draco had written before he burst out laughing. Blaise peered over at the book and also began to laugh. It wasn't long until they were roaring with laughter as Draco glared at them.
"Finite Incantatem," Pansy pointed his wand at him.
Draco felt his tongue finally detach itself from the roof of his mouth and immediately took a long swig of water.
"I reckon you and Zabini have a curse coming your way," Draco told Theo.
"Mate, what happened?" Blaise asked, trying to stifle his laugh.
Daphne grinned, "I told you not to mess with Jade."
Draco scowled at her. "That psycho put a fucking jinx on me!"
Blaise and Daphne laughed at his words, but Pansy looked sympathetic, "She's horrible!"
"No, I'm sure Draco did something to deserve that one," Daphne contemplated.
"I might have cast the silencing spell on her first, but only because she was getting on my nerves," Draco admitted.
"I wouldn't mind her casting the silencing spell on me," Blaise commented.
"You're still onto that?" Theo asked him.
"Onto what?" Pansy asked, confused about what they were talking about.
Draco smirked, "Blaise has got the idea here that Jade is the right witch for him!"
"I never said I wanted to marry her. I just think she's cool," Blaise defended.
"Cool as in you want to date her and shag her," Draco scoffed.
"Oi, that's my cousin!" Theo whacked Draco's arm.
Pansy rolled her eyes. Why were the boys so concerned with Jade Rosier? "So you're telling me Blaise fancies Jade, and you're upset about it."
"Yeah, Draco, why are you upset?" Daphne snickered.
"As I said before, she's a blood traitor who is best mates with Potter and his little friends. Not worth it." Draco stated.
Blaise looked away from them and towards the Great Hall entrance, "Well, I disagree."
Draco followed his line of sight and saw what Blaise was staring at: Jade.
❦ ❦ ❦
Jade waved goodbye to the Potions Professor before walking out and heading to the Great Hall.
Luckily, Malfoy had a head start so she did not run into him on her way there. Her anger was still at a hazardous level, and she felt it spread through the castle with each stomp of her boots.
When she entered the Great Hall, she made a beeline to the Gryffindor table.
"Hey, Jade! How was potions tutoring?" Harry greeted her as she sat down next to him.
Hermione and Ron greeted her as well, but the girl remained silent.
This was beyond frustrating for her.
Jade tapped at her lips to indicate that she couldn't speak. Now she needed one of them to figure that out quickly so they could cast the counter-spell.
"Oi, mate, I think she's asking for a kiss," Ron joked.
She grabbed a spoon and threw it at his head as he moved, barely missing it.
"Bloody hell woman!" Ron exclaimed.
"Jade, can you speak?" Hermione asked.
She shook her head no.
"Finite Incantatem," Hermione pointed her wand at her.
"Ronald, next time you're hexed I won't hesitate to let you figure it out yourself. Thank you, Hermione," Jade said, glad to hear her voice again.
"What happened?" Harry asked her.
Jade looked over at the Slytherin table and saw that Draco, unfortunately, had his ability to speak restored as he chatted with Blaise and Theo.
"Draco happened. That slimy git. He used the silencing charm on me so I jinxed him back with Langlock," Jade told them.
Hermione frowned, "I know he's the worst, but you two shouldn't be throwing spells at each other every chance you get. You could get in real trouble!"
"Snape already deducted fifty house points from Gryffindor a month ago because he caught us duelling after our potions session," Jade rolled her eyes.
"Wicked," Ron said.
"No, not wicked. You could also get hurt!" Hermione reasoned.
She ignored her warning, "Not bloody likely."
"Did Malfoy say anything about what happened to Katie?" Harry asked.
Jade sighed, "Only that he's not involved. He seemed adamant that he was nowhere near Hogsmeade."
Harry nodded, and she could see the look of disappointment on his face that Malfoy hadn't spontaneously confessed to her about his involvement.
"Come on, mate! Did you really think he was going to own up to it? And to Jade, of all people?" Ron told Harry.
That seemed to have cheered Harry up because the conversation turned away from Malfoy, and Jade felt like she was finally able to breathe again.
❦ ❦ ❦
After dinner, Draco walked back to the dungeons with Blaise and Theo. Thankfully, the conversation had turned away from Jade. He had no intention of wanting to think of her existence until he had to interact with her again the following Tuesday.
That was until the three of them were talking in Blaise and Theo's shared dorm and Blaise brought the girl back up.
"Are you still seeing Parkinson?" Blaise asked him.
"I've been preoccupied with more important things, but if you're asking if we're still sleeping together then that's a yes," Draco informed him.
"Don't you feel bad she's liked you for years?" Theo asked.
Draco scoffed, "As if you two haven't strung along multiple girls before. And no, I don't think Pansy likes me that way anymore. She and I have made it clear it's just sex."
"Well, I wouldn't string Jade along if she gave me the chance," Blaise said.
"You sound like a lovestruck idiot," Draco told him.
"Yeah mate, what's with the sappiness," Theo added.
Blaise laughed, "Relax. She just seems so good. Does that make sense? I know it's stupid with everything that's going on, but she just makes me forget what side I'm on."
"Do you want to forget what side you're on?" Draco threatened.
"No, it's just–. I dunno. She's refreshing. She seems untainted of all that Slytherin family nonsense. She's so detached from it all."
He wanted to laugh, but he didn't. It was ironic. Draco witnessed Jade have a breakdown precisely because of her mother and that Slytherin family nonsense. Blaise had no idea what she was like.
The conversation had gone on too long and it made his blood boil. He felt himself get angrier the more they talked about her.
"Whatever, I'm off to bed," Draco said, and with that, he left the room.
Draco was feeling many things other than anger, but he had no idea what any of it was. Hatred, it had to be. He slammed the door closed to his room, the sound reverberating off the walls.
He undressed and pulled on some pyjama pants before getting into his large four-poster bed. He closed his eyes, expecting himself to be lulled to sleep, but there she was.
"I didn't know you paid attention to every single interaction between Blaise and I."
Her voice was in his head. Did he pay attention to their interactions that much? It was impossible to ignore if it happened in his presence.
"Oh, you think you can order me to shut up?"
She was so arrogant. He had no idea where she had developed all that confidence but it gave her quite a mouth. He wished he could shut her up all the time so he wouldn't have to listen to her witty comebacks.
"I wonder if Blaise thinks I'm nasty."
And then there was that. He was not as good a liar to deny that Jade Rosier was gorgeous. He would never admit that to anyone, though. He could see her snogging with Blaise, and the idea made him sick. He couldn't bear the thought of them doing anything more.
Jade Rosier had infiltrated his mind and distracted him of his purpose this year. His task.
No. Get out of my head, he thought. He was not going to let his hatred towards the girl make him deviate from his plans. He had a mission this year and he had to get it right. Or else, who knows what would happen to him?