Apologies for my incredibly slow updates.

Chapter 11 should contain the first Triwizard Task, unless this chapter gets too long. Ah well, it should work out.

Thanks all of you for your support (and constant "please update!" posts) that helped me to keep going even when I decided that I hate Severus Snape (as an adult, not as a kid) and Snily (apart from small child fluff) is pretty gross.

Dedicated to all of you readers who have stuck with Jade and me since Book 1. Ily all :)

***

The next morning was, well, tense.

As I got out of bed and picked up my uniform to go get changed, Anja was just waking up. I wanted to say something, but from the cold glare she was giving me, I could tell she wasn't interested in conversation.

Evangeline told me softly in the bathroom that I looked tired and angry, and asked if there was anything wrong.

I replied that there was nothing, and left the bathroom quickly.

At breakfast, Anja sat down with Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode, further down the table. Blaise sat down on my left, looking a bit confused as Evangeline took the seat on my right. Blaise bent down (he was a fair bit taller than me) and whispered in my ear, "What happened with Anja?"

I didn't really want to explain to Blaise the circumstances of our argument, so I just told him, "We just had an argument last night. Anja's a bit annoyed...I guess she doesn't want to talk. It's okay," I explained and faked a smile onto my face. Then I grabbed a piece of toast from the Slytherin table to avoid further questions.

He nodded, and looked across at my sister. When she caught his gaze, she frowned, and Blaise glared back. "She's so irritating," he muttered, and I couldn't help but laugh.

Across the table, Theodore Nott (how had I not noticed him until now?) leaned forward, a nervous smile on his face.

"Hey, Jade."

"Hi, Theodore." I smiled back at him at him, and when we made eye contact, my stomach flip-flopped.

Theodore swallowed and glanced up the table before returning his gaze to me. "Um, can you meet me near the Whomping Willow after Potions class?"

I nodded wordlessly, shocked into silence. "Uh-sure."

Is this some kind of date? I asked myself. The start of a date?

***

The first class for that day was Transfiguration. McGonagall seemed to be in a really good mood, because she didn't give us any essays to write or spells to practise.

"Today, we will be covering the object-to-animal spell." She demonstrated the spell by turning a candle on her desk into a little owl. Professor McGonagall explained the Similarity Index and its purpose in detail - comparing the features of the object before and the animal after the transformation.

After about six attempts, I managed to turn my candle into an owl. The only problem with the owl was the fact that there was a whole lot of wax sticking to the top of the owl's head and a slightly blackened-looking piece of string sticking out of the wax.

Oops...

I cursed under my breath. How had I been so lax as to forget that there was wax and string on the candle? I thought that I'd been focused, and yet I'd still messed up.

My distraction couldn't have been because of Theodore... I'd tried to keep my mind off our meeting.

This isn't good enough, I told myself angrily. I have to focus better. I have to keep my mind off distractions.

"Excuse me, Miss Evans? Did you hear me?"

A cold voice dragged me from my musings. Professor McGonagall was standing beside my desk, staring down at me with a frown.

I felt my face grow hot. "Sorry Professor," I mumbled. "Um...I was - uh, what was the question?"

From the desk across from mine, Alex looked over at me, clearly concerned... On his other side sat Anja.

I turned away. I knew Alex was dating my sister, but we'd been best friends since we were around 5 years old and he was like my brother.

My professor sighed. "Very well. 3 points from Slytherin and don't you go daydreaming again or it will be 5 points more. Please describe the similarities and differences between your candle and owl."

So I did. When I was finished, I knew McGonagall's respect for me had been redeemed (mostly).

My hand went to my neck and the jade pendant round my neck that my parents had given me long before I knew who they were, and I couldn't help but also brush my fingers against the cold metal of the Time-Turner.

She nodded. "Thank you. Class dismissed."

I walked down the corridor and headed for the bathroom - I had to go to Divination and it was probably better to disappear from sight in there instead of in the middle of the corridor. Blaise would probably be a bit suspicious.

Then again, considering that he was Blaise Zabini, probably not.

I entered the (luckily empty) bathroom and turned the Time-Turner twice. A few moments later and some time earlier, I was standing in the same bathroom two hours earlier. I left the bathroom and walked off to Divination.

When I arrived outside the ladder leading to the secluded classroom, my friends Kaya and Holly were already deep in conversation. I sneaked up behind Kaya. Holly spotted me but didn't say anything, continuing her conversation as if nothing was happening.

"Hi!" I yelled. Kaya jumped and turned around. When she saw that it was only me, she grinned and rolled her eyes.

"Jade. Hi."

I laughed. "Hey, Kaya. Hey, Holly. Enjoying yourselves?"

"Oh - yeah," Holly replied overenthusiastically. "We're just discussing the many uses of crystal balls -"

"Dropping them on people's heads, tripping people over, making loud noises, causing distractions," Kaya added, smirking. "Very helpful."

"Enter, third-years." A misty voice emanated from the ladder.

I rolled my eyes. Third years? Really? But I went up the ladder along with the rest of my class, then settled myself in a seat for another exciting lesson.

"Today you will all be looking into the skies to see what the planets and stars have in store for your futures. Please begin by finding out what your star sign is, and then predict one significant event in your near future, for you to record," Trelawney told us.

I opened my textbook and found that my star sign was Scorpio.

Scorpio, the scorpion. It sounded interesting (and somewhat dangerous, which seemed fitting considering I was a Slytherin), but I didn't have a clue what that actually meant for my future.

(Not that I believed most of this rubbish.)

As it turned out, Kaya was a Taurus and Holly was a Pisces, but I had no idea what being a bull or a fish meant. Maybe being a Taurus meant you had a violent or sadistic side...that wouldn't be too hard to believe. As for a Pisces? Perhaps it meant you were insane.

That wouldn't be particularly unbelievable either.

Well, apparently our star signs along with planets aligning at certain times meant a lot for our futures, our luck, our relationships...

Naturally, Kaya dismissed it all as superstitious nonsense. "This is rubbish," she groaned five minutes later when we were told to determine an event based on Jupiter. "How is this going to tell me anything? I still can't believe I signed up to do this class. Ugh."

With visible effort, she opened her notebook. "Hmm, let's see. I am going to suffer a near-death experience at the young age of, hmm, 17 - or maybe 18," she wrote out loud. "Trelawney loves predicting violence, so that should be fine. Besides, there is some chance of that happening, with dangerous murderers on the loose and all that."

Holly laughed a bit nervously. "True. Now, what shall I write...? Hmm. When I am sixteen, I will be attacked by a traitor. I think there was something in this textbook about a betrayal...yeah. That'll do. Maybe a Slytherin traitor - Trelawney seems to favour the Gryffindor girls." She looked up at me and grinned. "No offence, Jade."

I laughed. "None taken, Holly. I know about her prejudices. Besides two are just making things up, aren't you?"

Kaya shrugged. "It was mentioned in the textbook that there would be some kind of attack for Tauruses when Jupiter did something with Mars and the Moon. Which happens to be in a few years. But it's not like I believe that stuff. And I took some liberties with the interpretation." She grinned. "Obviously, my Inner Eye is malfunctioning."

Holly shook her head. "Mine's all in there. Betrayal. Attack. What else can it mean?" She caught sight of my concerned expression. "Jade, you don't actually believe this rubbish, do you? It's just made up by people who claimed to be seers, like, a hundred years ago."

"More like a thousand," Kaya muttered sarcastically, and I laughed.

Holly frowned. "Did they even speak English back then?"

Kaya shook her head. "Nope – but do you call what Trelawney speaks English? It's certainly not intelligible or logical English anyway!"

Holly grinned. "So what are you predicting, Jade?"

But I barely heard her as I thought over their predictions. Betrayed and attacked, and almost killed. In only 2 or 3 years. There was only 1 reason I could think of for attacks on innocent Ravenclaws was Voldemort. Especially since neither Kaya nor Holly were pure-bloods.

He was supposed to return in 1995 – next year, at the end of 4th or the start of 5th year – according to my father. Death Eaters would return next year.

Death Eaters, like my father, like Lucius Malfoy, like Draco, soon...

Like me.

I didn't want to think about me being a possible Slytherin traitor and betraying Holly. I'd never do that. Not for anyone.

But I was still going to have to lie to my friends, I was still going to have to become a Death Eater.

...And that was when I looked up and realised that the other girls were still watching me expectantly, so I opened my book to the Scorpio pages, searching for something relevant.

"Okay. Jupiter and Neptune...a great evil in my future. They're supposed to line up in winter 1995, some time. And, hmm, a betrayal of good. Lovely. Well, I don't think Divination's going to keep us too positive."

I sighed. Not much would, honestly.

Kaya nodded. "Did Trelawney write this book, or are all seers useless violence-lovers?"

"Well, if she wrote this, then she's over one thousand years old," I pointed out with a wry grin.

Kaya rolled her eyes at me. "You know what I mean. Is there anything happy that can even happen?"

Holly flipped through the pages. "Maybe this planet-studying stuff is supposed to warn us about bad things in our futures," she suggested. "Though personally, I'd rather be warned about an evil teacher or student than a betrayal that may or may not happen in 3 or 4 years. Or, even better, be warned about a giant block of chocolate. I like chocolate."

"I know," Kaya and I responded in unison, and we all laughed.

"True, Holly, but how can we be warned about an evil teacher or student? I mean, we might be able to tell that there is one, but how would we know who it was? Like, Jupiter represents Slytherin boys and Venus represents Gryffindor girls? I doubt that's possible," I argued.

"True," Kaya mused. "It's very rare for Gryffindors to be murderers."

I rolled my eyes. "This class is ridiculous."

Right then, Professor Trelawney approached our small table. I gasped, hoping she hadn't heard what I'd said. Apparently she hadn't – then again, she seemed deaf 90% of the time anyway – because she started talking to us. "Good day, girls...I hope you have found nothing too terrible for your futures...? What are your star signs? What have you predicted? Miss Evans?"

She looked at me expectantly. I sighed and looked at my notebook. "Uh, my star sign is Scorpio. I should be expecting some kind of great evil in the near future. Mid-next year, most likely."

She nodded mournfully. "That's terrible, Jane! Did you know that most Scorpios are especially receptive to the noble art of Divination? It appears that you are no different! Do you have any ideas as to the identity of this great evil?"

I frowned. Receptive? I doubted that. Very, very much. But I had a question to answer. I thought for a moment. "Um. I suspect the Dark Lord. Oh, and by the way, my name is Jade. Not Jane."

Her eyes went wide in horror. "Uh-right," she answered me shakily and staggered away rapidly.

I turned to Holly and Kaya. "Honestly. Jane. Ridiculous. I think she's drunk."

The two Ravenclaw girls didn't respond. They were too busy staring at me in shock.

"What?" I demanded. "Why are you staring at me like I'm a ghost?"

Holly lowered her voice. "Well – we couldn't help but notice that you called You-Know-Who...the Dark Lord. And only You-Know-Who's followers called him that."

Oh no – oh no, this was really bad. My father's habits were rubbing off on me. And now my friends thought I supported him. Voldemort.

"T-that's nothing," I stuttered. "It's just that, well, most of the Slytherins call him that."

They exchanged glances. Oh, damn. Theodore is one of their best friends. He is a Slytherin. That is problematic.

Had I just lost the trust of two of my best friends?

***

That afternoon, I was pacing the fourth-year boys' room.

Crabbe and Goyle had mysteriously disappeared – Draco didn't seem concerned though, so they probably had remedial Transfiguration or something. Theodore was absent – probably with Kaya and Holly. Blaise and Draco were sitting on Draco's bed, talking quietly.

Occasionally I caught snatches of their conversation – "We can't – Blaise, we won't – No – They don't – It's okay – Seriously?"

Obviously, I didn't have a clue what they were talking about.

After some minutes of pacing, I sat down on Blaise's bed. It creaked and he glanced over at me. "Why are you even in our room, Jade?"

"Anja's in my room, and Daphne doesn't want me in their room – I think they were having a make-up session."

Due to the fact that there were so many Slytherin girls in our year, they'd split us up – Pansy, Millicent, Evangeline, Anja and me in our room and Daphne Greengrass and her group in the other room. Daphne didn't much like me, so I tended to stay away from their room.

"Anja's your sister, isn't she?" Draco asked me in confusion, and I nodded. "Why is she a problem, then?"

Blaise answered for me. "They had an argument." Then he looked at me. "So how can you get into our room? None of us can get into either of the girls' rooms. That doesn't seem fair!"

I shrugged. "They trust girls more, I guess."

"Why were you pacing like that, anyway?" Draco asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be going out now?" Blaise added, smirking slightly. I looked up at the clock in a sudden panic, realising that I was going to be late.

(Only 5 minutes late, but still.)

"Um, sorry guys, but I have to run. Do I look okay?"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "You look fine, Jade. Honestly. Girls."

"It's not just girls!" Draco protested. "It's perfectly reasonable to be concerned about your appearance. Besides, need I remind you who spent half an hour admiring his reflection in the bathroom?"

"That was one time!" Blaise argued. "And it was in second year! That was two years ago! And anyway, you're one to talk! You're –"

I left the room quickly, before I had to endure more childish bickering. I had to meet Theodore.

I arrived at a safe distance from the Whomping Willow. Theodore was standing there already, hands shoved in his pockets and head down. He looked up and saw me, and his face broke into a smile. "Hey."

"Hi, Theodore. Sorry I'm late – I was busy trying to listen in to Blaise and Draco's whispered conversation," I replied, and laughed awkwardly.

"Those two are very secretive," he laughed. There was something about his smile...

"Oh, and call me Theo," he added. "All my friends do."

"Of course – Theo. So, what are we doing here? That tree is very dangerous, so I was hoping we weren't going to get attacked."

Theodore – Theo – looked at me seriously. "Don't worry, Kaya and Holly showed me that you just have to sort of poke it right there." He indicated the knot on the tree. "Then it freezes. Amazing, really."

I nodded. "Yeah. Anyway..."

"Right," he continued with a laugh. "I just wanted to...talk. I guess."

Talk. Butterflies filled my stomach. Well, snakes would be more accurate.

We started walking, and conversation came easily. I hadn't been expecting that – I thought I'd have been stuttering over my every word, but it was a comfortable conversation. We talked for a while.

"So, do you spend all your time with the girls?" I asked him curiously.

He shrugged. "Mostly, but I'm obviously close to my roommates. Draco especially. We have the strangest conversations at night, though."

"What do you even talk about?"

"Oh, really random things. Last night Blaise asked me if I had any food, but the conversation ended with Draco talking about Quidditch and Harry Potter. That's all he ever talks about, I swear. It gets really irritating sometimes," Theo complained.

"He talks about Harry?"

"Yeah. All the time. Stupid bloody saint Potter, with his stupid scar and stupid friends and stupid Firebolt," he imitated. I burst out laughing.

"Well, if I ever want to insult you I know what to say. 'Stupid bloody saint Nott, with his stupid eyes and stupid friends and stupid intelligence.'"

He looked at me with a smirk. "Intelligence? Eyes?"

I shoved him. (Gently.) "Oh, shut up."

"I'm honoured," he continued as if he hadn't heard me. "I'm glad I have eyes worthy of being called 'stupid' by you. Not sure how to comment on the intelligence part."

I shook my head in mock disappointment and looked around. We were near the lake now, with the forest to our right. The sky's light blue was fading into an orange-pink glow.

"What's the time?" I asked him.

"About 6," he answered. "We've been out here for a whole hour."

It hadn't felt like an hour since I said goodbye to the boys and came out here. "That was quick."

He nodded and grinned. "But time flies when you're having fun, eh? Clearly I'm a very enjoyable person to be around."

I laughed. "Clearly."

He stopped walking. "You think?" he asked seriously.

"Of course you are, Theo," I reassured him, a bit concerned by his sudden question.

"Hey, Jade, listen – I was wondering if you wanted to – uh – if you wanted to be my girlfriend. It's okay if you don't want to, you know, go out with me, but –"

My mind sort of exploded at that point and I was internally screaming. My thoughts:

1) Theodore wanted me to be his girlfriend?

2) Theodore wanted me to be his girlfriend?

3) Theodore wanted me to be his girlfriend?

4) Theodore wanted me to be his girlfriend?

"Yes. Okay. Yes. I do. Yeah. Yep." I cursed my stupid mouth.

He laughed at my word vomiting. "Um, excellent. Glad to hear I'm not the only one who can't talk."

I grinned in relief.

***

The two of us didn't get back to the Common Room for another half hour.