Jinx whipped her head around to find the tall, rude, blond boy from earlier lounging on a couch, watching her. He hopped up with all the grace of a prowling cat and approached Jinx with a suspicious sneer on his face. He seemed to assess her, arms crossed over his chest, before speaking a single word, "..Draco."

"...What..?" Jinx questioned in shock. 

The boy sighed. "My name's Draco, Malfoy," he restated, his facial expression still hard, as if he were still debating whether to show any expression or not, "I think we got off on a bad start." He then held out his hand. After a few seconds of frozen silence, a snicker escaped Draco's lips, "I don't bite."

Jinx felt her cheeks blush lightly as she took Draco's hand and let him shake it. Her hands were cold, but his were even colder. The cool smoothness of his palm against her own sent a shiver up her arm and down her back. "Well then, here's to starting over," Jinx stated with an uncertain half-smile.

Draco shot down a charming half smile that made Jinx's heart beat accelerate. The boy who seemed so harsh and cold had such a gorgeous grin. "You must be a pure blood, being sorted to Slytherin," Draco guessed in attempts of making small talk. 

"I am," Jinx confirmed as she made her way to a couch in the common room and sat down.

But as she walked, Draco noticed a limp in her left leg. His mind flashed back to the white wolf, covered in blood; don't you have any idea who this is? Draco squinted his eyes and followed her, taking a seat next to her. "What happened to your leg?" He asked knowingly. 

Jinx hesitated for a few moments. "..I don't like to talk about it," she replied simply, trying to avoid the question. But this proved pointless very quickly; it was clear that Draco had already made the connection.

A sudden excitement and curiosity bubbled up in Draco's gut as his eyes widened. "Your a bloody animagus, aren't you," he muttered in a forceful whisper so as not to wake any of the sleeping students.

Jinx felt her heart drop. But still, what Draco had figured out was only a small part of the truth, so she didn't worry too much. "In a way..yes," Jinx replied, refusing to look Draco in the eyes.

"I knew there was something going on here," Draco remarked proudly, "first that wolf, then you...but you're really just one in the same."

"You're the boy from last night?" Jinx guessed. Normally she'd remember who she saw, but her mind had been fuzy from exhaustion and weakness.

"That's right," Draco agreed slyly, "your limp gave you away."

Jinx sighed in stress; the last thing she wanted was to become a center of attention. And being exposed as an animagus, even if it weren't entirely correct, would definitely make her more popular than she'd like. But before long, as if he could read her mind, Draco smiled slightly and assured, "I won't tell anyone."

"Really?" Jinx was surprised, eyes widener than the moon.

Draco looked deeply into the girl's popping eyes; he could see the sparkling ocean through them. Then he realized that that sparkle was her gratitude. His eyes travelled over her pail face in a split second and he came to a conclusion of his own; Jinx was different. Although he didn't know how, or whether it was good or bad, Draco was sure that this beautiful girl would play a large part in his life.

And he hoped it was a good part.

Staring into such an innocent-looking pair of eyes, Draco found his heart fumbling in a way it never had before. "Of course," he replied quietly, in a new gentle tone that Jinx had not expected at all.

She was caught off guard, but of course she excepted it; she'd rather make friends than enemies, especially in these dark times. And friends would be hard to come by, for Jinx knew how attractive the Dark Lord's power could be to the young and ambitious. "Well then, good night, Metlock," Draco bid in his usual mischievous tone of voice and walked to the boys dorms.

Jinx went to her own gendered dormitories and got ready for bed. Within five minutes she was out like a light.

• November 3, 1995 •

After a few days of being back at Hogwarts, Jinx found herself making many friends in Dumbledore's army, as well as in Slytherin. A few of her dorm-mates, Pansy, Rosetta, and Addison, had grown very fond of and made friendships with her. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had also grown on Jinx, and she on them. She was on her way to see her Gryffindor friends this day, for the four of them shared a Potions class.

"Open to page three hundred and thirty eight," Professor Snape ordered in a monotonous voice. Everyone in the classroom immediately did as they were told. "Today you will learn how to create the standard sleeping draught."

Jinx and Harry had partnered together, while Ron worked with Hermione. The mixing began as all of the pairs got to work on their potions. Snaoe walked around the room as everyone worked,making sure no one was misbehavior or acting immature.

"Alright," Jinx affirmed as she turned to her partner, "what's next?"

Harry looked back into his Potions book and read aloud, "four Valerian Sprigs, and that's all."

So together the two gathered the sprigs and threw them into their mixture. After seven, clockwise stirs with an oak spoon, the potion was completed. "All done," Jinx announced with an accomplished sigh.

"Brilliant," Harry remarked with a smile. He looked around and noticed quickly, "looks like we're the first pair to finish."

"Don't jump to your celebration too quickly now," Shape warned blandly as he advanced toward the pair. "You made it, but does it work?" He questioned. From a small cage, the professor released a young rabbit. The animal quickly hopped over to the potion and drank it thirstily. Within second, the rabbit was out cold.

Professor Snape's eyebrows raised a bit in surprise, "..very good." It was all he said before continuing to stalk around the room.

Once he was gone, Jinx and Harry shot each other giddy smiles. Potions had become Jinx's favorite class, considering creating potions was about the only magic allowed now. After class, however, she would be in the Room of Requirement yet again. She day dreamed about it; the rebellion, the training, the magic, the freedom.

Once Professor Snape dismissed class, the four friends met secretly with the rest of Dumbledore's Army and snuck to the Room of Requirement together. Today they would practice attacking spells.

"'Avifors'," Harry announced to the large group of students, "a non-lethal offensive spell that can turn your opponent into a bird; it may seem childish, but it is very difficult for a bird to turn itself back into a person." A wave of snickering swelled at Harry's humor, then he continued, "who wants to go first?"

After a long silence, Ron stepped up timidly, "I will."

"Brilliant," Harry smiled. He then reached his wand and pointed it at Ron. Ron winced away slightly as Harry shouted, "avifors!"