Monday 18th November
Sitting at the
Slytherin table this morning for breakfast, I was surprised to glance over at
the entrance and see Josie coming in with Fabian by her side. The two of them
are usually in the Great Hall long before me – especially first thing on a
Monday morning. Spotting some of Fabian’s friends, the two of them made their
way through the gap between our tables and slid into the space that seemed to
be saved for them. Seeing Josie sat in direct line with me I smiled – she may
not have been able to see me, as her back was towards me, but seeing her there
made me happy. I hadn’t seen her since Saturday evening, at dinner after the
Quidditch match. When I couldn’t find her yesterday, I was tempted to ask one
of the Ravenclaws if they had seen her, but after everything that had happened
between Ivy, Blondie and Fabian, I didn’t want to go and upset her. Another
thing that made me smile – Josie usually sits at the end of the table closest
to the door, but today she was sat right in the centre of the hall.
Dipping
my spoon into my bowl of cereal, my arm was knocked, splashing milk across the
table. “Jed,” I hissed grabbing a napkin. “Watch it, will ya?” Okay, I was
still a little grumpy – it was early on Monday morning.
“Sorry,”
he muttered. “But look.” He nudged me again and pointed ahead at Josie.
“I
know,” I smiled. “I can see Josie too.” Jed let out a sigh through his nose.
“Well
duh,” he said, flicking my arm. I snapped my hand over where his finger hit me
and jerked it away. “Isn’t tall, blond and blah-blah a little too chummy-chummy
this morning?” Rolling his eyes in Josie and Fabian’s direction, Jed pointed
his thumb towards them.
“What?”
I frowned at him, before looking back at Josie. Josie was sat between Fabian
and his friend Malachi. The boys were leaning back behind her to talk. “Okay,
so leaning behind Josie to turn to his friend, Fabian’s put his arm out around
her a little – that’s normal, so that she doesn’t lean too far back and bump
into one of them,” I told him as I shook my head. “It’s instinct.”
“Does
instinct follow you in from the front door?” asked Jed with a raised eyebrow.
“Does
hallucination before eating enough breakfast mean anything to you?” I asked
with a laugh. What was Jed playing at?
Looking
past me, Jed smirked, before grabbing the jug of maple syrup and pouring a hug
dollop on top of his pancakes.
“Nah,”
replied Jed. “It’s a male thing.”
“A
male thing?”
“Yeah,
you know, kinda like claiming her as his property.” I threw a hand to my mouth
to stop myself from spitting my orange juice out everywhere. “Not like that!”
Jed exclaimed. “Well probably not in this case, anyway.” Scratching a fork to
his head, Jed frowned at Fabian, before stabbing his pancakes. “It’s more like
the older brother protecting his younger sister sorta thing. Notice how he
purposely made them walk past Malfoy. That hand thing is for his benefit.”
“For
what exactly?”
“Ya
know,” said Jed, tiling his head to one side. “Sorta, don’t mess with my little
sis’, or you’ve gotta go through me an’ my pals. By the way we’re Third-Years
and could hex you into next summer – just sayin’.” Jed’s mouth prodded up in
one corner as he shrugged. “That sorta thing.” Goodness – I didn’t realise guys
were so competitive and overprotective when it came to friendships, especially
those that involved girls.
*
We managed to catch up
with Josie in Herbology. I was a little worried about joining her. “Is it okay
if we sit with you?” I asked her before Jed and I sat down.
“Of
course,” Josie replied with a smile. “Why wouldn’t it be?” Phew. Everything
seemed fine.
“Well
you know…” I muttered with a shrug. “After Saturday I was-” Jed cleared his
throat. “We were,” I corrected myself, “worried about you.”
“We
didn’t want you t’ hate us, j’st ‘cause Malfoy’s a big mouthed idiot,” Jed
added. Shaking her head, Josie smirked.
“I’m
not mad at you two,” she told us with a smile. “I never could be. You’re the
best friends that I’ve ever had.” Smiling she looked from me to Jed and back at
me again, before looking down at her textbook. She smiled as she whispered
something, but before I could ask her what she said, Professor Sprout came in
and started our lesson. Today, we were learning about the healing properties of
dried nettles. Apparently, they can cure boils when mixed in a herb tea – I
might have to try and remember that one. You never know when the shouting
around here can lead to a curse and I wouldn’t fancy walking around the school
with a face full of disgusting, oozing lumps. I wonder if it works on spots
too… Hmm, one will have to investigate.
*
After Herbology, I
walked with Jed and Josie back to the Great Hall for lunch. When we got there
Malfoy was already making a scene in front of a crowd of whoever would listen
to him. He was blabbering on about Miss Know-It-All-Hermione-Granger from
Gryffindor when all hell broke loose. “That filthy little Mudblood,” Malfoy
spat.
“Malfoy,”
Jed yelled shooting his wand out of his robes and pointing it straight at
Blondie’s head. “Don’t you dare use that word.” Malfoy’s skin grew paler than I
even thought it could. The smug grin dropped from his face and his eyes widened
with fear as he stared at the end of Jed’s wand. Snarling his nose, the lines
on Jed’s forehead thickened as he breathed deeply through his nostrils. “You
dare move an’ I’ll hex you so bad they’ll send you to ‘Saint Mungo’s’ an’
I’ll make sure my mom leaves you for dead.”
My
eyes widened as they shifted from Jed to Malfoy. I could see Blondie squirm
under Jed’s control. He struggled to even swallow, staring at the tip of Jed’s
wand all the while. Everyone around us fell silent. All of the tables were
watching us. Why, I don’t know. I don’t even know what Blondie said that was so
bad. Even the teachers were staring. Why wasn’t anyone intervening? “I mean it
Malfoy,” Jed warned through gritted teeth. Josie sniffed at his side. Blondie
broke eye contact with the wand and stared at them, emotionless. I heard Josie
sniff again before running out of the hall. I looked from her to Jed and back
again. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t just leave Josie. But Jed looked
like he could use the backup – I didn’t want him to do anything stupid.
Squaring his shoulders, Jed lowered his wand. “You’re just lucky my dad’d snap
my wand if he found out I’d hexed anyone,” he growled and marched off out of
the Great Hall. Not knowing what to do, I rushed off after him.
Turning
the corner, I watched as Jed held his hand out to Josie, who was sat at the
bottom of the staircase with red, blotchy eyes. Standing up, Josie thanked Jed
as she rubbed her left eye. Confused, I stood in front of them and shrugged. “I
don’t get it,” I told them. “What was so wrong?” Josie glanced up at me, before
looking back at the floor. Jed stared at her, his shoulders drooped at his
sides, and then he looked over at me. The life was drained from them. All of
the anger from Jed’s face had come to pass. He was still red, but his features
had dropped. Still with no answer, I muttered, “What did he mean Mudblood?”
Josie pinched her eyes and seeped a breath, while Jed clenched his fists – a
vein bulged at his left temple. Josie’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at me.
Her bottom lip trembled. She gazed at Jed as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Staying silent, he stared back at her all the while.
“It’s
the worst word that you could ever say. It means dirty blood,” Josie whispered.
She stared at Jed the whole time, but I knew she was speaking only to me. Her
chest shook. She too clenched her fists and pressed them against her shuddering
ribcage. “Some pure-blood wizard families think that if you’re half-blood or
Muggle-born that,” she closed her eyes to steady her breathing. “That, that you
aren’t worthy of being a witch or wizard,” she said staring at Jed again. “They
think that your blood is dirty… tainted… that you’re a filthy germ and don’t
deserve your powers.” As Josie pinched her eyes tight (no doubt to try and stop
herself from crying), Jed broke eye contact with her.
Looking
down at my feet, he mumbled, “That was low.” As he looked up to me and our eyes
locked, he added, “Even for Malfoy.” Noticing Josie look over at him he held an
arm out towards her. Her bottom lip quivered as she took a step towards him and
nuzzled her head against him. Wrapping his right arm around her he rested his
chin on the top of her head. He held an arm out towards me and I threw my arms
around both of them. Without meaning to, I burst into tears. I couldn’t stop.
My eyes just wouldn’t stop leaking. I squeezed both of them tight. Over and
over again in my brain I kept thinking of every single tortuous thing that I
could remember Professor Quirrell had mentioned to us in Defence Against the
Dark Arts and wished each and every one of them on Malfoy.
*
I don’t know how we
got through the rest of the day. I really don’t. Malfoy is just lucky that I
don’t sit close enough to him in any lessons to do him any harm. So what if
he’s the better wizard? I bet I could show him a thing or to. The act of
surprise is better than skill. Sure, Blondie could talk the talk, but faced in
an actual battle – we’ll see who’s the better witch/wizard.
- Josie -
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