Jake stormed out of his Defense Class, breathing angrily through his nose as he tried to calm himself down. He can't believe that horrid woman got to him, and he had been doing so well controlling his anger. He closed his eye for a moment and took deep, calming breaths. He couldn't lose his cool again in front of Umbridge, not so soon. He was a Prefect, and he had to start acting like one, otherwise he would really not be much better than Ron if his red-haired friend had been chosen over him. That thought actually angered him, but he pushed his anger aside to be dealt with in another way later.
He opened his eye and decided to go outside; since Defense Against the Dark Arts was the last class for the day, he didn't care at all where he went. Upon getting outside he saw Care of Magical Creatures class being held off in the distance, and Professor Grubbly-Plank was showing what looked like a new Third-Year class a Porlock up close. He smiled as he went to the Lake's Edge, where his eye was drawn to the far end of the lake, the place where Hermione was almost kissed by a Dementor, and the place where he cast his Corporeal Patronus form, which was an Alligator. He was standing there, and his hand absent-mindedly went for his wand, where he aimed it above and in front of him, " Expecto Patronum ." The Alligator sprang from his wand and landed in the Lake. He smiled as it swam around a moment before coming to a stall in the water, just like an Alligator would to hide at the surface, ready to strike its prey. He let his Patronus be for the time being and he sat down, getting started on some homework already given to him for the first day.
Before he knew it, the bell had rang, signaling the end of classes for the day. He sighed as he knew Hermione was going to give it to him later, if not the moment she saw him, so he figured he should get it over with, and stood up, dispelling his Alligator and packing his things up before going back up to the Castle. He couldn't wait to see how everyone talked about what he did in Defense Class. He figured it would either be him getting angry and storming out, or Harry's yelling match with Umbridge, 'Or it could be both, but students around here tend to focus on one rumor at a time,' he thought to himself.
Just as he got to the Stone Steps to walk up, many students began pouring out, but upon seeing him, they gave him a wide berth and all of them were on the edges to the steps to get down them. He sighed again and pushed forth, the flood of students stopping temporarily to let him back into the Castle. He walked up the Marble Staircase with the intention of going back to Gryffindor Tower, but he ran into Hermione along the way, "Jake, there you are, could you follow me please?"
"Of course," he said and proceeded to follow Hermione. She took him up several flights of stairs, through some secret path's to younger Year students, and finally up to the Fifth Floor, and stopped right in front of the Prefect's Bathroom.
She turned her head to look at him, "We can talk privately in here," and she opened the Bathroom door, leading him inside.
He walked in and looked around, "Pretty spacious in here, and that bath is more like a swimming pool," he pointed out, to which she definitely agreed.
She led him over to some elongated seats far off to the side, "Could you sit, please?"
He nodded and sat down, with her sitting down next to him a second later, "Hermione..." he started, but lost his words.
"Jake, you promised me-"
"I know, I know... and I'm sorry... I know saying it probably doesn't mean much to you anymore, but I am sorry..." he said, not looking her in the eye, "the way Umbridge was talking... it shouldn't have gotten to me as badly as it did..."
Hermione looked at him carefully, "So why did it?"
"Because Voldemort's Return to Power is directly the fault of the Ministry... I've known this to be true for the past several months... but when she said what she did... it just bothered me..." his fists clenched for a moment, before they relaxed and he hunched forward a bit.
Hermione placed her hand on his upper back, "I understand why you got angry, everyone in that class pretty much was angry."
"But no one else can release their anger as dangerously as I can..." he sat back up and looked at Hermione, "I will not get angry again this year... unless something horribly outlandish happens to you, I will not get angry again this year."
Hermione looked at him carefully for a moment. She knew he wanted to do exactly as he said, and he really did try in Umbridge's class, so she couldn't be too upset with him. She smiled and moved closer to him by getting on the elongated seat on her knees to be level with him, and she kissed him.
It didn't last for long and they broke apart a few seconds later, "I know we are only human, Jake, humans with magical abilities, so I can't hate you or be that upset with you for getting angry. I'll always love you," she caressed his cheek, which he leaned into.
"I'll always love you as well, Hermione," he smiled at her, "come on, let's go to the Tower for now, I managed to get most of my homework given to us earlier today done."
"I would hope you had done something productive with your time while not in class," she smirked at him as she stood up with him. "At least you didn't get into a shouting match with Umbridge, though... it's probably already all across Hogwarts that Harry and Umbridge shouted at each other."
Hermione was in fact, correct about her assumption; by dinner time later that day, the entire school was aware of the fact Harry and Umbridge got into it. What also got around the school, but wasn't as talked about, was the barely contained rage Jake displayed in class. Naturally, the Slytherin's capitalized on it and used it as an excuse to brand him as the most dangerous person attending Hogwarts. The Slytherin, of course, were the only ones to talk about it openly, and when they saw Jake was doing nothing about it, they got bolder with it all throughout dinner.
The ones near the Gryffindor Table had no trouble talking vocally about Harry, "He says he saw Cedric Diggory murdered..."
"He reckons he dueled with You-Know-Who..."
"Come off it..."
"Who does he think he's kidding?"
"Pur- lease ..."
"What I don't get," Harry said in a shaky voice, setting his fork and knife down from his hands trembling horribly, "is why they all believed the story two months ago when Dumbledore told them..."
"That's the thing, Harry," Hermione said grimly, "I don't think they did..."
"Come on," Jake said, slamming his utensils down on the table, "let's get out of here."
They all stood up, Ron looking sadly at his half-eaten Apple Pie as he followed them out, everyone in the Great Hall staring at them as they exited into the Entrance Hall.
"What do you mean you're not sure they believed Dumbledore?" Harry asked as they got to the First Floor landing.
"Look... you don't understand what it was like after it happened..." Hermione said quietly, turning to look at Harry, "You arrived back in the middle of the lawn... clutching Cedric's dead body... none of us saw what happened in the maze... we only had Dumbledore's word for it that Voldemort had come back, killed Cedric, and fought you."
"Which is the truth!" Harry yelled at her.
"I know it is, Harry, so will you please stop biting my head off?" Hermione asked patiently. Harry's face didn't change, but he looked away from her, "it's just that before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how you're a nutcase and Dumbledore's going senile!"
Rain pounded on the window panes as they strode along the empty corridors back to Gryffindor Tower. Jake was carefully breathing in and out of his nose, maintaining a breathing pattern of calm. He glanced out of a rain-washed window at the dark grounds as they turned into the Fat Lady's corridor. There was still no light on in Hagrid's cabin.
" Mimbulus Mimbletonia ," Hermione said to the Fat Lady before she even had the chance to ask for the Password. The portrait swung open to reveal the hole behind and the four of them scrambled back through it.
The Common Room was nearly empty when they entered; nearly every Gryffindor was still down at dinner. Crookshanks uncoiled himself from an armchair and trotted over to meet them, purring loudly, and when the four of them took their favorite chairs at the fireside, he leapt lightly up onto Jake's lap, curling up into a small orange puffball.
" How can Dumbledore let this happen!?" Hermione yelled suddenly, making Harry and Ron jump. Crookshanks didn't even budge, like he was used to this from his owner. Hermione had pounded one arm of the chair in fury, causing some of the stuffing and padding to protrude through the holes. "How can he let that terrible woman teach us!? And in our O.W.L. year too!"
"It's exactly like I thought... he probably wasn't able to get anyone, and Wizarding law allows the Ministry to appoint a teacher in the event the Headmaster or Headmistress is unable to do so themselves..." Jake said.
"Well, we've never had great Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, have we?" Harry asked, completely disregarding the fact Lupin was their Third-Year teacher, "you know what it's like, Hagrid told us, nobody wants the job, they say it's jinxed."
"If Dumbledore wasn't able to find someone himself... that's not good... that Umbridge woman is despicable," Hermione said, "oh, she didn't appreciate your name you gave to her, but I think everyone in the class appreciated," Hermione couldn't help the half-smirk that appeared on her face.
"It was brilliant," Ron said, "and she's trying to get people to spy for her. Remember when she said she wanted us to come and tell her if we hear anyone saying You-Know-Who's back?"
"Given what happened at the end of last year with Dumbledore and Fudge... that doesn't surprise me at all," Harry said darkly.
"How about we do our homework, get it out of the way?" Hermione suggested and they all got their stuff and then returned to their chairs by the fire, "Jake already got most of the homework done after he walked out, so he doesn't have much to do."
"That won't happen again... I'm a Prefect, I need to act like it," Jake glanced at Hermione for a moment, then got out the only bit of homework he had yet to do, Snape's assignment.
"Shall we do Snape's stuff first?" Ron asked, dipping his quill into his ink, " The properties... of moonstone... and its uses... in potion-making... " he muttered, writing the words across the top of his parchment as he spoke them. "There," he underlined the title and then looked up expectantly at Hermione and Jake. "So what are the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making?"
Hermione wasn't listening, though, and Jake was just simply ignoring him as he wrote, and already was eight lines down on the parchment before Ron even got the title written. Hermione was squinting over into the far corner of the room, where Fred, George, and Lee were now sitting at the center of a knot of innocent-looking first years, all of whom were chewing something that seemed to have come out of a large paper bag that Fred was holding.
"No, I'm sorry, they've gone too far," she stood up and looked positively furious, "come on, Jake."
Jake looked up at her to see her face, "What?" He asked and looked past her, "Oh... that... let's go," he stood up with her, and as he did, one by one, each of the First Years, as though hit in the head with invisible mallets, were slumping unconsciously into their seats; some slid right onto the floor, others merely hung over the arms of their chairs, their tongues lolling out. Most of the people watching were laughing; Hermione, however, squared her shoulders and marched directly over to where Fred and George now stood with clipboards, closely observing the unconscious First Years. Jake was following her, but much more calmly and casually.
"That's enough!" Hermione said forcefully to Fred and George, both of whom looked up in mild surprise, but even she noticed the slightest flicker of fear in their eyes as they glanced at Jake.
That didn't stop them from cracking jokes, "Yeah, you're right," George nodded, "this dosage looks strong enough, doesn't it?"
"I told you this morning, you can't test your rubbish on students!"
"We're paying them!" Fred said indignantly.
"Are you giving them hazard pay?" Jake asked.
Hermione looked at him, mortified, but Fred just scrunched up his nose, "What?"
"With how dangerous some of your stuff can be, I doubt you're paying them enough to warrant use of your product on them."
"Calm down, both of you, they're fine!" Lee said reassuringly as he walked from First Year to First Year, inserting purple sweets into their open mouths.
"Yeah, look, they're coming around now," George said.
A few of the First Years were indeed stirring. Several looked so shocked to find themselves lying on the floor, or dangling off their chairs. These students were clearly not told what would happen.
"They're fine because you gave them a purple sweet, what would happen had they not received that?" Jake asked, but he didn't receive an answer, "No answer?" He asked.
Even though he was calm and very clearly not angry, his mere presence lately had an effect on a person. The constant shiver running down your spine, the feeling of dread someone felt. If it wasn't Voldemort causing that to happen, it was Jake.
"Feeling alright?" George asked in his calmest voice to a First Year.
"I-I think so," she said shakily.
"Excellent!" Fred said happily, but the next second Hermione was taking the clipboard from him and Jake wandlessly seized the paper bag of the sweets from his hands.
"It is NOT excellent!" Hermione yelled.
" 'Course it is, they're alive, aren't they?" George asked angrily.
"You can't do this, what if you'd made one of them seriously ill?" Hermione said loudly.
Everyone in the Common Room was looking their way, but they had stopped laughing from a moment ago when the First Years had fainted. Not because it was wrong, but Jake had a natural effect to cause unease wherever he went, and only if he wanted to.
"We're not going to make them ill. We've already tested them all on ourselves, this is just to see if everyone reacts the same-"
"So what if one of them had an adverse effect that required being rushed to Madam Pomfrey?" Jake asked, "what if one of them dropped dead immediately upon ingesting it?" Once again, he was met with no response. Fred and George simply didn't have an answer for him, and he figured it was because neither of them had thought about the severe potential consequences.
"If you both don't stop doing this I'll..." Hermione paused for a moment, she knew what she planned to say, but she wanted their attention from Jake and on her. When they looked at her with glares, she played her Trump Card, "I'll write to your mother."
They both went wide-eyed, "You wouldn't..." Fred sunk back into his chair, a horrified look on both his and George's face as they looked at her.
"Oh, yes, I would," Hermione said grimly, "I can't stop you both from eating the stupid things, but I can stop you from giving them to First Years."
Hermione took the bag from Jake and thrust both it and the clipboard into Fred's arms. She gave them one last threatening look before both she and Jake stalked back over to the fireplace.
They resumed their seats and she looked at Jake, "Thank you for your support back there."
"Anytime," he smiled and they got back to their homework, not sharing anything they wrote with Ron, no matter how much he begged. Harry at least got a fair bit written down before he ultimately stopped.
Jake and Hermione both got Snape's assignment done in almost no time, and that meant he was completely done with homework. He was looking over Hermione's work, not to help her, just to see what she would do for Arithmancy and History of Magic when a Third Year walked up to them. It was a girl, and she had a note in her hands.
He turned upon feeling her presence and looked at her, "Yes?" He asked calmly.
"Um... I-I was asked to give this to you..." the girl said and handed him a note.
"Thank you," he said and accepted it. The girl took off back to her friend's.
Jake set the note down on the table and pulled his wand out. He pressed it onto the note. Hermione was staring at him, then the note, then back to him, and then back to the note.
Nothing happened.
Then he set his wand down, picked up the note, and opened it. Hermione watched his face, but it was as neutral as it ever was. He suddenly crumpled the parchment and tossed it into the fire. "Jake?" Hermione asked. He didn't say anything, "Jake, what was-"
"It was nothing," he said, his eye focused on the table in front of him.
Hermione looked at Harry and Ron, both of whom were glancing between her and Jake.
"I'm going to bed," Jake said, grabbing his stuff and going towards the boys dorm.
"What was that about?" Harry asked as he looked towards the staircase.
"I don't know..." Hermione looked to the fireplace, "and he burned the only evidence..."
"Well... if he wants to talk about it, he will... right?" Ron asked.
"With him... I don't know..." Hermione sighed. She no longer felt any motivation to continue her homework. She packed up her stuff, but didn't grab it just yet. She looked around the room and saw the Third Year who brought it to him. She stood up and marched right over to the girl and her group, "Excuse me."
The girls looked up and appeared to shrink upon the sight of Hermione, "Uh... h-hello..." one of the girls said.
It wasn't the one who brought the note, "Hello," Hermione replied, and looked at the girl who did bring the note, "Who asked you to take the note to Jake?"
"N-No one..." she said.
Hermione closed her eyes and sighed, "That wasn't even an attempt at lying well... just tell me who gave it to you."
The girl looked twitchy, her eyes darted around the Common Room, "I-It was a Slytherin..."
"And what do you think the letter said?" Hermione asked. This girl wasn't going to tell the truth, Hermione was going to have to accept that for now.
"Well, since it was a Slytherin... I guess nothing good..." she said, her face burning red.
"Right, who asked you? Do you remember what the Slytherin looked like?" Hermione asked.
"W-Well... h-her face looked k-kinda like a Pug..." she stuttered out.
Hermione's anger spiked drastically, "Parkinson!" Her fists were clenched.
"Y-Yeah... i-it was her..."
"Oh, when I get my hands on her, I'm gonna-" she stopped herself before she said something she'd regret. Hermione stomped her way back to Harry and Ron, "I'm going to bed!" She grabbed her things and went up the stairs to the girls dorm.
*******
The following day dawned just as leaden and rainy as the previous day. Hermione was sitting at the table in the Great Hall, pouring herself a cup of coffee, when Jake walked in. She looked and saw his necklace she had gotten him a couple years back, the gemstone flashing in the morning light as he walked. He sat beside her and grabbed some breakfast. She looked at him, "That note you got... It was given to you by Parkinson."
"Parkinson?" He asked her.
"Yes," she looked at him, and he was looking at her.
His eye focused on something past her as he thought for a moment. He focused back on her, "Okay, thanks for telling me," he smiled and went back to his breakfast.
"Are you not mad? I was downright furious when I found out," Hermione said.
Jake merely shrugged, "It's not unexpected from her. Besides, I promised you that unless you were in immediate danger, I wouldn't get angry this year."
Hermione looked at him carefully, "Yes, but..." she realized she couldn't say anything that wouldn't contradict her own words.
That morning they had Double Charms, which was followed by Double Transfiguration, and like the other classes, except for Defense Class, the first fifteen minutes were spent talking about how important this year was for them as it was their O.W.L. year.
"What you must remember," Flitwick said in a squeaky voice, "is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have not already given some serious thought to your careers, now would be the time to do so! And in the meantime, I'm afraid we shall be working harder than ever to make sure you are prepared and do yourselves justice!"
They then spent more than an hour reviewing the Summoning Charm, except for Jake, who took the time to spend on some Seventh Year spells. He did at first, but with it distracting everyone else, he resolved to just read in his Transfiguration book.
Transfiguration itself was even worse, depending on who you were, "You cannot pass an O.W.L.," McGonagall said grimly, "without serious application, practice, and study. I see no reason why any of you shouldn't get an O.W.L. in this class." Neville had made a sound of disbelief, "Yes, you too, Longbottom," McGonagall had said, "there is nothing wrong with your work except lack of confidence. So... today we are going to start Vanishing Spells. They are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not normally attempt until your N.E.W.T. year, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your O.W.L. Of course, one of you has already proved to be able to competently and consecutively perform N.E.W.T. level Spells, both in and out of this classroom."
McGonagall didn't have to say the name for everyone to know she was talking about Jake. When they were tested on the Vanish Spell, because Jake had already performed it on his own at Merlin's Tower, he got it successfully on his first attempt. McGonagall didn't reward him any points, but she did ask him to perform a Conjuring Spell, which he performed flawlessly, which did earn him Ten Points.
Hermione had gotten the Vanishing Spell with their Snails done on her second attempt, earning another Ten Points for Gryffindor. She had long ago decided to strive for the Second Best of every class, because after the end of last school year, she realized it was impossible for her to match Jake in the academic aspect, and absolutely no one could match him in Magical Prowess, he had already proved that as far as she was concerned.
Because only Jake and Hermione were capable of accomplishing the spell, neither of them had homework from McGonagall's class. This had sent Harry and Ron into slight panic, as they already had a mountain of homework to get done. Harry less so as he at least got half of his Potions assignment done, but that wasn't saying much.
They had been noticeably absent at lunch, and Hermione deduced it was to get caught up on homework, "We do have a lot this year... it might break some students..."
"Weed out the weak," Jake said callously.
Hermione hit his shoulder, "How can you say that?"
"Humanity has forgotten what 'Survival of the Fittest' means, including the Wizarding Community. If we get to have children in the future, Hermione, they will grow to be strong and intelligent because of who their parents will be," Jake said quietly so that no one heard him.
Hermione's face burned at his words, 'So he does want children? I figured he would, but he wants them with me... it's still so surreal, knowing that he feels the same way about me as I do about him...' Hermione was happy, until a grim thought entered her mind, 'He's of the Purest, most untainted bloodline... Do I really want to muddy that up?' She thought badly about herself. She had no familial history of Magic, being the first of her family to have magical abilities. She faced the fact, she was a Mudblood; it was just such a harsh term and used only by uncivilized buffoons that she'd never publicly tell anyone that. Least of all, she'd never tell Jake she was that out-loud. But she couldn't deny the truth. She loved him more than anything, more than anyone, but what her desires were, she saw them in a new light; a tainted light. Fear and doubt started to creep into her mind, causing her to begin rethinking everything she loved about Jake, and whether she should love him at all. She couldn't let it bother her for now, though, so she shoved it to the back of her mind for the time being.
By the time the afternoon hit, it was cool and breezy outside, and as they walked down the path to Hagrid's Cabin, they felt the occasional rain droplet hit their faces. Professor Grubbly-Plank stood there, awaiting their arrival some ten yards away from Hagrid's Cabin; she had a long trestle table in front of her laden with many twigs, but Hermione and Jake knee better.
As they reached Grubbly-Plank, a loud shout of laughter sounded behind; turning, they saw the Slytherin walking up to Grubbly-Plank as well, Draco Malfoy, surrounded by his usual cronies, was striding over to them. He clearly just said something highly amusing, because Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, and all of them but Pendragon were bellowing heartily as they gathered around the trestle table. Hermione noticed they kept looking at Harry, so the subject of the joke was pretty obvious.
"Everyone here?" Grubbly-Plank barked at them once they had all arrived, "Let's crack on then - who can tell me what these things are called?"
Immediately, Hermione's hand shot into the air; from out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Jake's hand did not. He didn't raise his hand at all yesterday, either, and that wasn't usually like him. She heard some chuckling and movement behind her, before a shriek of laughter was heard. A second later it turned into a shriek of fear as the twigs on the table leapt into the air and revealed themselves to be what looked like tiny pixieish creatures made of wood.
Parvati and Lavender made sounds of amazement, but it was hardly the most awe-inspiring thing they'd ever seen, Jake knew that much. "Kindly keep your voices down, girls!" Grubbly-Plank said sharply, scattering a handful of things that looked like brown rice among the creatures, who immediately fell upon the food. "So - anyone know the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?"
"Bowtruckles," Hermione said, "they're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees."
"Five points for Gryffindor," Grubbly-Plank said, "yes, these are Bowtruckles and, as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"
"Woodlice," Jake said promptly, "but they'll eat fairy eggs if they can get them."
"Excellent, take Five points as well for Gryffindor, Mr. Kidd. So whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree which a bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of woodlice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will gouge out human eyes with their sharp fingers," Grubbly-Plank explained.
"Well, a Boggart already beat them halfway there for me," Jake said, getting some laughs from both Houses.
Even Professor Grubbly-Plank had a hard time keeping the corners of her mouth from rising, "If you'd like to gather closer, take a few woodlice and a bowtruckle - I have enough here for one between three - you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body parts labeled by the end of the lesson."
Jake ended up being left out of the grouping of three, but he knew the Bowtruckle thoroughly enough, so he was able to sketch one and label each body part in half an hour, the longest part being the sketch taking twenty-five minutes.
During the sketching, Harry had gone up to Grubbly-Plank, but Jake couldn't make out what was being said, but if he had to guess, it had to do with Hagrid. He then saw Malfoy waltz up to Harry and engage in brief, hushed conversation. As Malfoy walked away, Jake's eye glowed red for half a second, and from his angle, Malfoy had tripped, but it wasn't obvious as to why. He wasn't looking at Malfoy when he caused him to trip, but Draco knew that he was the reason for it. Every Gryffindor laughed at Draco when he tripped, minus Jake and Hermione. She found it amusing, but didn't openly laugh, and Jake was the one who caused it, so he knew what was coming, which caused it to negate the humor effect.
"Dumbledore would know if something had happened to Hagrid," Hermione said at once when Harry was back over to her and Ron, "it's just playing into Malfoy's hands to look worried, it tells him we don't know exactly what's going on. We've got to ignore him, Harry."
Malfoy then began rambling on about things, insulting Hagrid, the usual, but it really got to Harry that time, and he almost snapped the Bowtruckle as he held it in his hands. The only reason he didn't was because it slashed his hand, leaving two gashes, and the Bowtruckle made a break for the Forest. It didn't make it, because it was soon hoisted into the air by Jake, whose eye was glowing red, and it was held in place where Grubbly-Plank could snatch it, "Thank you, Kidd, Five more points to Gryffindor."
Jake nodded towards her as the Slytherin all guffawed stupidly, Harry wrapping his hand in a handkerchief Hermione leant to him, and they marched off to Herbology the moment the bell sounded.
"If he calls Hagrid a moron one more time..." Harry snarled.
"Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy, he's a Prefect, okay? He'll make your life more difficult at Hogwarts than it already is set to be this year..." Hermione said.
"I know..." he conceded a moment, "I just wish Hagrid would hurry up and get back, that's all," he said in a low voice as they reached the greenhouses, "and don't say that Grubbly-Plank woman's a better teacher!" He added threateningly.
"I wasn't going to," Hermione said calmly.
"Because she'll never be as good as Hagrid," Harry said firmly.
"Well I wish I could agree, but I said this last year, Hagrid is a good teacher, but he loses his rhythm easily. Grubbly-Plank is a better teacher by definition. We've learned more in her classes than we have in Hagrid's classes. Yes, Hagrid's are more eventful, but Grubbly-Plank's are more informative," Jake said defiantly. He knew Harry also knew this, but Harry was never going to admit that, ever. Harry did, however, glare at Jake.
They stood outside the greenhouses, and the nearest greenhouse opened and some Fourth-Years spilled out of it, including Ginny and Luna, "Hi," Ginny said brightly as she passed.
Luna had been a bit farther back, but the moment she saw Harry, she made a practical beeline for him. Many Gryffindor turned to watch curiously as she did. She didn't even bother to say hello as she began to speak, "I believe He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, and I believe that you fought him and escaped from him."
"Er - right," Harry said awkwardly.
Both Parvati and Lavender began pointing and laughing at Luna's earlobes, which were sporting orange radishes for earrings, "You can laugh!" Luna said, her voice rising, apparently she was under the impression that the girls were laughing at what she had said as opposed to what she was wearing, "but people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"
"Well, they were right, weren't they?" Hermione said impatiently. "There weren't any such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
She caught sight of Jake actually turning to her and giving her a look of disbelief. Luna gave her a withering look and flounced away, radishes swinging madly. Parvati and Lavender were no longer the only ones laughing with their hands on their stomachs.
Jake was quiet as Harry spoke, "D'you mind not offending the only people who believe me?" Harry asked her as they made their way into class.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry, you can do better than her ," she said with mild disgust, "Ginny's told me all about her, apparently she'll only believe in things as long as there is no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs The Quibbler ."
Hermione stood in her usual spot with Harry and Ron, but when she looked, Jake was not to her left. She looked around hastily and saw that he was on the opposite end of the room. He must not have appreciated what she said, because he was willing to deal with the Venomous Tentacula as opposed to standing next to her. Hermione was brought from her depressing thoughts when Ernie walked up to them, "I want you to know, Potter," he said in a loud, carrying voice, "that it's not only weirdos who support you. I personally believe you one hundred percent. My family has always stood firm behind Dumbledore, and so do I."
"Er - thanks, Ernie, truly," Harry said, clearly taken aback, but pleased.
Professor Sprout had walked in and for a moment didn't speak. She was looking from one end of class to the other; she had noticed, like everyone else, that Jake was not standing next to Hermione. In fact, he was standing next to Hannah Abbott, talking to her before class started. Hermione's heart ached, 'I caused this... why did I say those horrible things about Luna? Did I even mean them? Am I being forced to say things I don't mean, all for a higher purpose?' That lost thought she actually laughed at, because there was no way she was being controlled on what her next words were going to be. The longer Hermione stared at him and Hannah, the more depressed she became, so she stopped staring and focused on her work.
Surprising no one, Sprout spent the first twenty minutes talking about the importance of their O.W.L.s. Jake wasn't worried, he was confident in his N.E.W.T.s, which were over two years away, so he was more than confident in his O.W.L.s.
"Jake, what made you decide to come over and talk to me?" Hannah asked him while they were working.
"Truth be told, you probably heard what Hermione said about Luna... I consider Luna a good friend, weirdness and all, and Hermione just insulted that friendship I have with Luna, right in front of me..." he said, not looking Hannah in the eye.
"She is a little weird... but that wasn't right for Hermione to say that... at least not in front of you..." Hannah gave him a sad smile.
"Thanks," he smiled at her and focused on his work until class ended. He and Hannah were the last ones to leave given how far from the door they were. "Hannah, thanks for listening to me vent during class... it's weird having someone to vent to who's not Hermione."
"It's not a problem at all, Jake," she smiled at him, "you know, last year, at the Ball... dancing with you was the most fun I had that night."
"Was it? I'm sure a lot of girls felt that way..." He trailed off.
"I'm sure they did, but that doesn't mean it's not true," she said as they stopped at the entrance back into the School just before dinner started, "I wish I hadn't said yes to Ernie, honestly."
Jake looked at her carefully. He really looked at Hannah, and while he didn't find her to be the most beautiful girl ever, she was still innately pretty.
She looked at him and then said, "I'm sorry, I know we both smell horrible from Herbology..." she inched closer to him, "so I hope it doesn't ruin this..."
Jake inched closer to her as well, and when they were both close enough, their lips connected for a few seconds in a kiss that he quite honestly didn't expect to enjoy, but found that he thoroughly did.