Friday 14th February
Oh
gosh, dare I even say it? It’s Valentine’s Day. The school went all out as
well. There were pink and red streamers wrapped around the pillars in the Great
Hall and the tables were scattered with confetti hearts. Even the food was
themed. Heart shaped pancakes, toast and crumpets, pink drinks – it was a
little over the top really. Lots of the girls were really into it. More of the
older girls could be seen scribbling away in Valentine’s cards, hiding what
they were writing from everyone else. Pansy, of course, was no exception.
“D’you think he’ll like it?” she asked showing us a pink coloured card with a
red heart on the front, which simply read, “Be my Valentine.” I just smiled and
nodded along with Scarlett and Priscilla.
It
wasn’t very magical. In fact, it was even more lame than the Muggle cards.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to have a Golden Snitch on the front and have it
say, “You’re a catch,” or in Blondie’s case, “You’re my Golden Snitch.” He is
golden when it comes to snitching – oh seriously, what the perfect card. I
should so send him one as a joke. But honestly, if Pansy’s card is anything to
go by, the wizarding world sucks at Valentine’s Day. How’s about a flaming
heart saying: “You + Me = Incendio,”
or, “I Accio You.” Seriously, I should be a wizard greeting card designer. At
least people would be more impressed with the stuff that I come up with than a
plain pink/red heart that says, “Be mine.” I mean, how tacky?
Jed
groaned as he entered the Great Hall and dropped into the space beside me.
“Seriously, pink?” he frowned looking around at the decorations. “And what’s
with the toast?” he asked picking up a piece by the tip of the heart and
dangling it in front of him, as though touching it properly would infect him
with some crazy, girly disease.
“I
know,” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Disgusting, right?” Jed agreed. I told him
about Pansy’s card and let him in on my little card-designing plan.
“That’s
ace,” he laughed, ripping the heart shaped toast between his teeth. “You should
totally trick Malfoy with that card. You should sign it from a secret admirer.
It’ll drive him mad.” I couldn’t help but laugh, Jed was getting more carried
away with this than I was. As Blondie and his cronies walked in, Jed elbowed me
and whispered, “Do it.” He sniggered. “You know you want to.”
I
thought about what Jed said for a while. It would be really funny, and it was
the most perfect thing for Blondie – you couldn’t use that line on anyone else
in the whole school. But did I really want to? What if someone saw me and asked
what I was doing? I guess I’d blend in. All the other girls were doing it. As
Blondie appeared at the table a few seats down from Jed, Jed leant towards me
and whispered, “If you don’t do it, I will… and who knows what I’ll write
inside…”
“Fine,”
I agreed with a giggle. Why not use the best slogan on the person it fitted
most perfectly. Diving into my messenger bag, I pulled out some parchment and
all of my different coloured inks. If we were going to prank Malfoy, we had to
do it properly.
Okay,
so that’s what my finished drawing kind of looked like.
“Whoa,
MJ,” gasped Jed. “You didn’t have to go all out.”
“I
didn’t,” I shrugged. “It’s just a sketch.” Jed seemed really impressed. All I
did was draw a circle and gave it wings. It’s wasn’t a masterpiece. When it
came to the inside we decided to keep with the flow of the front of the card:
To Draco,
You’re my Golden Snitch - just don’t snitch on me.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
love,
Your secret admirer
x x x
“Perfect!”
beamed Jed. “Now all that’s left is to slip it into his textbook during Potions
an’ hey-presto, he sees your amazing design and it drives him mad for the rest
of the day… if we’re lucky all weekend.” I pressed a hand to my mouth to hide
my laughter, as Jed slotted the card into his bag.
As
breakfast came to an end, I must admit, I caught a case of the giggles. It was
partly from Pansy, but mostly from mine and Jed’s prank. I couldn’t wait to see
the look on Blondie’s face when he sees it. Thinking about the card, I caught
myself staring at him. I shuddered, hoping that he hadn’t noticed. I didn’t
think he did, anyway. Bringing myself back to reality, Jed elbowed me. “Fancy
going for two in a row?” Jed asked with a grin. He pointed towards Fabian and
Josie, who were leaving the Great Hall together. Getting out of our seats, Jed
and I followed them.
“Josie…”
Jed called after her, as we skipped out of the Hall. “Fabian… wait up!”
“You
alright Jed, MJ?” Fabian smiled, as we caught up with them.
“Where
are you two off to?” Jed asked.
“I’ve
got Care of Magical Creatures,” Fabian told us. “Josie’s got Charms.”
“You
can walk with us if you like,” Josie offered. Fabian looked down at her and
smiled, before turning back to us and agreeing.
“Nah,
you’re okay,” I said with a grin.
“A
couple’s plenty company,” said Jed.
“Yeah,”
I agreed with a smirk. “We wouldn’t want to intrude or anything.”
“Hey!”
Josie exclaimed, as her cheeks reddened. “That’s not funny. You know we’re just
friends.” Holding a hand to his stomach, Jed burst into a fit of giggles.
“Sorry,
Josie, you’re just funny to wind up,” he told her.
“Don’t
worry about it,” beamed Fabian. “It was funny.” Smiling down at Josie, as she
looked up at him, he told her, “You’re cute when you blush.” This only made
Josie’s cheeks turn a deeper pink.
“Hey,
don’t worry you’re not our first target,” Jed admitted, as Josie buried her
face behind her Charms textbook. “Gotta run,” Jed said as he grabbed my arm.
“Lots of people to annoy, not a lot a time t’ do it in.”
*
During
Potions, Jed managed to casually walk past Blondie’s desk and
accidentally-on-purpose knock his textbook off the table. “Sorry Malfoy. I’ll
get it,” Jed told him, as he secretly slipped our card into Blondie’s book. It
wasn’t until part way through class that Blondie found it. It was a
theory-based lesson today and Professor Snape got us to refer to several pages
in out Potion’s textbooks. When Blondie flicked through his book, the page with
the card in peered open. I watched as he stared at it, before looking around to
make sure that no one was watching. I shot my eyes down to my desk, before
sneaking a glance back up at him. He slipped it off the desk and onto his lap,
before glancing down to read it. His cheeks turned pink. Stuffing the card into
his pocket, he spun his head around, examining the class. I shot my eyes down
at my textbook and pretended to be reading. “We got ‘im,” Jed muttered to me. “This’ll
drive Malfoy mad.”
*
Throughout
the rest of the day we tried other silly little things on people too. It was
just harmless fun, but it was so funny. We hinted at Dean, in Potions, that
Scarlett had a thing for him – within minutes he was over at her table asking
if she needed help. When she turned him away, Jed leaned over and told him,
“She’s just playing hard to get.” Then there was Potter – we had to get him.
Jed found some stale sweets in the bottom of his bag. We dipped them all in red
ink before tying them up around a piece of parchment with the note, ‘A Crimson
heart for a scarlet guy,’ which was obviously posted from Scarlett’s Gryffindor
twin, Crimson. He got caught by Snape for reading admirer notes in class. We
did stop him before he tried to eat one of the sweets though – we aren’t that
mean. Then at lunch Jed started chatting away to Justin Finch-Fletchley from
Hufflepuff, whilst he got me talking to Hannah Abbott, also from Hufflepuff.
Jed’s idea was to trick them into thinking that the other liked them, only for
us to find out that they actually did. Jed was a little annoyed, but I found
the whole thing quite sweet.
We
met up with Josie after we had eaten lunch and the three of us roamed the
castle for a while before our next lessons. Jed and I had Defence Against the
Dark Arts, while Josie had Potions. The three of us were on the second floor,
having come from Professor Flitwick’s office, where Josie had gotten him to show
us a plate full of dancing cupcakes – it was really cool. Turning onto the main
corridor stretch, we noticed Blondie, Crabbe and Goyle walking a little way
ahead of us. Walking beside me, Jed poked me and jerked his head towards Josie,
before looking over at Blondie. These two were the next victims, I mean targets
for today. “We’ll kill two birds with one stone,” Jed muttered to me. As I
frowned, he whispered, “Watch,” and his plan began.
“Hey
José,” Jed whispered, loud enough for her to hear him from being on my other
side, but quiet enough so that Malfoy and his minions didn’t know that we were
behind them. “Still think we ought to ask Malfoy about that thing we saw
drinking the unicorn’s blood?” It wasn’t as though the question had come out of
the blue. We had already discussed several times that if anyone had any more
information about the unicorn attacks then it would be him. He was actually
there when the creature was attacking the unicorns.
“Come
on Josie,” I said nudging her. “Go ask him.”
“No,”
she hissed, hugging her arms around herself. “Besides, it was dark; we don’t
even know what we saw.” I sighed. This was going to be more difficult than Jed
realised.
“Not
again José,” Jed sighed at her. “We’ve been through this. We know it was a
unicorn. You said it yourself, its blood’s silver.”
“Well
why me?” she asked, looking over at Blondie. Her cheeks turned red, as she
looked back and Jed and me.
“Because,”
said Jed with a shrug. He walked behind me and appeared on Josie’s right side.
Placing an arm around her shoulder, he said with a grin, “He’ll tell you.”
“No,
he won’t,” she retorted, pushing Jed’s arm off her. “Can’t you guys ask him?
Just sit next to him in the Common Room when he’s on his own or something.”
Just at that moment, Crabbe and Goyle disappeared down a staircase, leaving
Blondie on his own.
“It
would seem suspicious if we ask him,” I told her. “But you can just tell him
that you’re interested in unicorns, or that you want to hear his fascinating
story.” I rolled my eyes at my own comment. Josie smiled at me.
“Well
now’s your chance,” said Jed. He nodded at me and the two of us pushed her
forwards.
Staggering
forwards, Josie bumped into Blondie’s back. “Hey! Watch it!” he growled, as he
turned around.
“I’m
sorry!” Josie exclaimed, with blushing cheeks. “Jed and MJ pushed me.” She
turned around to glare at us, but Jed grabbed my arm and we darted into a
nearby empty room to spy. Seeing us hide, Blondie’s expression softened as he
looked back at her. Brushing a hand through his hair, he pulled it to the side
in a swift attempt to neaten it. His pale complexion deepened to a slight pink.
I think being caught off guard without his bodyguards and being able to see how
obviously we set the two of them up, Blondie almost seemed lost for words. However,
he soon got his cool back, as he smirked, and they carried on walking.
Peering
out of the classroom doorway, I sighed to Jed, “We can’t hear them now.”
“Well
then we’ll move closer,” said Jed.
“We
can’t,” I hissed. “There’s nowhere else to hide. Besides, Blondie won’t be his charming
self if we’re there.”
“True,”
Jed muttered. “But it doesn’t mean we can’t try. If that fails, we’ll just have
t’ get it out of ‘em. You take José an’ I’ll talk to Malfoy tonight.” I nodded
– it seemed like a fair enough plan.
Poking
my head back around the doorway, I watched as Blondie and Josie passed a
staircase. “Come on,” I told Jed. “Let’s hide there.” Running down the
corridor, Jed and I tried not to giggle as we darted behind the wall of the
staircase. Leaning back against the wall, Jed kept watch this time. “What’s
happening?” I hissed.
“He’s
leaning towards her,” Jed told me.
“What?”
I gasped.
“He’s
whispering to her.”
“Let me see,” I cried. Jed shimmied back a bit and the two
of us stuck out heads out. Blondie grabbed Josie’s hand and pulled her towards
the next staircase. Hidden behind the wall we could no longer see them. I
gasped. Jed pulled me back.
“Ssshussh,” he hissed. “They could’ve heard you.” We
waited a moment before peering back around again. We couldn’t risk them seeing
us. Jed peered around again. His head shot back to mine as he said, “Malfoy’s
alone.” Josie must have left down the staircase. I sighed. I guess we wouldn’t
know what had happened until we managed to speak to them later. I just don’t
like waiting.
*
During
Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms, Jed and I had a little play about
with more matchmaking. We managed to convince Crabbe that Scarlett has a crush
on him. He spent the whole of Professor Quirrell’s class gazing at her, then in
Charms he turned her textbook to mush, when he overdid the Spongify charm. It
was so funny. After class, Jed even tried wind up Potter’s friend Weasley – he
tried to get him to think that Granger had a crush on him. The two of them
avoided each other for the rest of the afternoon. Jed wanted to try something
on Longbottom too, but I managed to convince him not to. I just felt a little
sorry for him. Everyone’s always picking on that boy – even the teachers.
*
When
it came to dinner, we laid off the matching up. I tried to make sure that I ate
my food quickly, because I wanted to make sure I caught Josie before she left
the Great Hall – she never stays long. She must really eat her dinner
super-fast. Seeing Josie get up to leave, I called after her, while Jed
promised to talk to Blondie. Josie waited for me just outside of the Hall.
Closing the door behind me, I smiled at her. “Hi José!”
“You know, what you did back there wasn’t very nice,” she
said hotly. I found myself frowning. “At lunch… after we saw Professor
Flitwick… second-floor corridor…” My spine tingled. I lowered my head. “He
could’ve shouted at me,” she exclaimed. “I could’ve been a part of some really
horrid trick.”
“I’m sorry,” I blurted out. For the first time from
joining in on Jed’s Valentine’s jokes today, did I actually feel guilty. My
heart panged. She was right. I was always the one worrying that Blondie was out
to get us, thinking that Josie couldn’t see it, yet here she was telling me off
for being careless. “Josie, I’m so sorry,” I sobbed. She folded her arms and
turned away from me. “Jed seemed to think Blondie would tell you.”
“Why? Jed’s more his friend and your both in Slytherin,”
Josie snapped, as she looked at me.
“Because you’re a Ravenclaw,” I told her, as though it was
obvious. “He’d just think you were after knowledge.”
“So, you say,” she retorted. “Then why wouldn’t you let me
ask him myself, instead of pushing me into him and running off? If he’d have
yelled at me, we’d have gotten nowhere.”
I looked away from her. I couldn’t bear to see her teary
face. She was mad at me. She had every reason to be. Playing pranks is always
fun until someone gets hurt – it’s just that emotionally is sometimes the most
difficult to spot straight away. My stomach churned. Having eaten my dinner too
quickly and not had time to digest, the guilt that I now felt threatened to
force the food back up. I gipped my stomach tight. “Was it bad?” I asked her.
Josie turned her back to me again. “Please, José,” I begged. “Can’t you tell me
what happened?”
“Why should I?” she asked.
The door to the Great Hall opened. We both turned to see
who was there. Striding out with a grin on his face, Blondie tossed an apple in
the air. “Evening girls,” he smiled, as he caught the fruit.
“Hey Malfoy,” I said forcing a smile.
“Hi Draco,” Josie smiled and gave a little wave.
“Whatcha doing?” he stopped to ask.
“Just talking,” I replied with a shrug.
Looking at Josie, Blondie said, “I hope you haven’t been
snitching on me,” with a huge smirk. Biting her bottom lip, Josie shook her
head. “Good,” he laughed, throwing his apple up again. “Well you two have fun.
Catch ya later,” he said to us and gave Josie a wink. Josie’s cheeks reddened
as she giggled.
“Bye Draco!” she called after him.
“See ya Malfoy,” I added. Well she certainly
perked up a bit.
Once Blondie was out of hearing distance, I turned to
Josie. “Okay, what was that all about?” I asked her.
“What?” she said with a shrug. She pressed the backs of
her fingers against her cheeks.
“You and Blondie… what did he do?” I asked her.
“Nothing,” she muttered. Oh no, here we go again. Whenever
Josie says, ‘nothing,’ she means something.
“Josie,” I sighed, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Fine,” she sighed with a smile, rolling her eyes at me.
“I’ll write it down for you.” A grin broke across my face, as she looked down
at her watch. “Meet me back here thirty minutes before curfew,” she said. My
forehead creased, as my brain registered what she just said. “You’ve got to
give me time to write it. I’ll meet you back here in an hour – it’s about
halfway from both the Slytherin and Ravenclaw Common Rooms.” I agreed. Josie
smiled weakly at me before dashing off in the direction of the Ravenclaw tower.
*
Meeting
up with Jed in the Slytherin Common Room later, he handed me a Hogwarts napkin.
“Everything you need to know about what I got outta Malfoy’s on there,” he told
me, as he dropped into the space on the sofa beside me. Glancing down at the
napkin, there really didn’t seem a lot there. Either Jed was rubbish at writing
everything out, or he really didn’t get much of a chance to speak with Blondie.
Jed
was right; there wasn’t a lot to go on. That does prove something about the
fake Valentine’s card I sent him though – he had been thinking about it. He had
to have done for him to say, ‘I’m over it.’ So, what if he stopped thinking
about it? The main thing is that it messed with his head – hopefully for the
majority of the day. He didn’t even seem that sore at us for pushing Josie into
him earlier. Someone’s got him in a jolly mood. Still though, that doesn’t
solve our unicorn’s blood mystery. I just hope that I get more luck out of
Josie.
*
Checking
my watch, I made sure that I got to the Great Hall at exactly twenty-five
minutes past seven. I couldn’t have waited another five seconds in the Common
Room. As soon as Josie’s head appeared from the staircase partway down the
corridor, I sped-walked towards her. “Josie!” I called out to her, grinning as
wide as I could. Seeing me she smiled and handed me a coil of parchment. “Thank
you,” I gasped. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“You haven’t read it yet,” she smiled at me.
“I know, but thank you,” I told her.
“I tried to include all of it,” she told me as she looked
down at her feet, poking the point of her shoe at a spot on the ground.
“Don’t worry,” I told her. “It will be perfect. I know it
will.” I let her know again just how much I appreciated her writing everything
out, before I let her leave. I wanted to read it all there and then, but I knew
that with eight o’clock approaching, I needed to get back to the Slytherin
Common Room as quickly as possible. Once there, I found Jed and plonked myself
down beside him and began to read.
Okay…
where do I start? Well I guess at the part that we were most hoping for – the
information about the dying unicorns. So, if you drink the blood of a unicorn,
you become cursed… who would want to curse themselves? As for them being locked
away – if no one ever catches them then whoever it is creeping about out there
will still be doing what he’s doing. I really hope that Blondie’s right and
that someone does catch whoever is doing that. They sound dangerous.
Now as for the rest of Josie’s essay, I actually decided
against showing this one to Jed. He’d probably complain that it was too long to
bother reading anyway (with any luck), but also because I feel like it’s pretty
personal. Josie’s really letting me read this. I feel like I can see everything
going on. I can picture me and Jed hiding and spying on them, then I can
picture Josie and Blondie’s conversation. Is it strange that I can picture the
whole thing so clearly, like the way she would have looked at him and the way
that everything was said.
And then what was with him finding her in the library?
Okay, so I’m glad that Blondie was thinking about my ‘Golden Snitch’ joke – I may
have to let Josie in on the fact that it was me. But what was his purpose… the
motivation…? Did he try to find her purposely to see if she knew who the card
was from? Did he think it was from her? Oh dear. The ‘smart and witty’ comment
was quite flattering though. It’s strange how one silly, little day can make
people so vulnerable. I guess that was Blondie game in teasing Josie about some
supposed crush – he was shifting the vulnerability onto her.
Part of me feels like
she isn’t telling me everything though. She ended it so abrupt. Okay, so one
possibility is that she ran out of time… but, ‘Okay. That’s it.
Done,’ and how the two of them were
behaving after dinner… very suspicious. I really
need to talk to Josie about this. I wish we were in Fifth-Year, so that we had
an hour longer – once you get to Fifth-Year curfew is nine o’clock instead of
eight. I’m sure that I heard it’s ten o’clock if you’re a Prefect. What I
wouldn’t give for one more hour. Oh well, I’ll just have to pester Josie about
it tomorrow.
-
Josie -
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