Jake stepped back from Hannah Abbott, looking at her through his sole eye. She was smiling as she looked at him; he could see her top teeth as her lips parted to reveal them.
"I know we don't have many classes together," Hannah said, "but we should hang out after classes some time."
"I think I'd like that," Jake smiled at her, "I'm gonna go and grab a seat at the Gryffindor Table, I'll talk to you later, Hannah."
"Okay, take care, Jake," she winked at him and walked off, leaving him there alone.
He looked back out to the sky over the Forbidden Forest for a moment, before turning and going inside. He walked and heard an angry voice that sounded an awful lot like Angelina's, "Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team , and find someone who fitted in with everyone ? Didn't I tell you I booked the Quidditch Pitch specially? And now you've decided you're not going to be there!" He heard her yell as he got closer to the Great Hall, "I wouldn't be so mad if Jake hadn't resigned from the team, but he did, which makes you our only Seeker. And you've gotten detention!"
"I didn't decide not to be there!" He heard Harry yell. He stepped into the doorway of the Great Hall and watched a moment, "I got detention by that Umbridge woman, just because I told her the truth about Vol-"
"Well, you can just go straight to her and ask her to let you off on Friday," Angelina said fiercely, and Jake was sure he could see her nostrils flare, even from that distance, "and I don't care how you do it, tell her You-Know-Who's a figment of your imagination if you like, just make sure you're there !"
She stormed away from Harry and made to leave the Great Hall. She passed Jake, making sure to give him an angry look, one that he just returned with a neutral glance, before he walked in to join his friends, albeit with some reluctance at the moment.
"You know what?" He heard Harry ask Hermione and Ron as he got closer, "I think we'd better check with Puddlemere United whether Oliver's been killed during a training session, because she seems to be channeling his spirit."
Jake sat down next to Hermione, who was across from Harry and Ron, "What d'you reckon the odds are of Umbridge letting you off on Friday?" Ron asked him.
"Less than zero, obviously," Jake said, "she seems to have a special vendetta against you, Harry, with how defiant you were to her."
"Better try, though, hadn't I?" Harry asked rhetorically, starting to eat his food, "I can offer to do two detentions or something..." he trailed off as he swallowed his food, "I hope she doesn't keep me too long this evening... you realize we've got those essays, to practice Vanishing Spells, work out the countercharm for Flitwick, finish the Bowtruckle drawing, and start that dream diary for Firenze?" Harry mostly was speaking to Ron, because Jake and Hermione had most of it done, or wasn't assigned the homework, or aren't in the class in the case of Divination.
Ron then groaned and looked up to the ceiling, " And it looks like it's going to rain!"
"What's that got to do with our homework?" Hermione asked him.
"Nothing," Ron said at once, his ears reddening.
Jake merely looked at Ron. He knew what Ron was upset about; his red-haired friend was going to practice his Quidditch skills to try out for the team. He merely got Ron the broom as a way to placate him, he hadn't actually expected him to put it to use so soon. He was silently happy for Ron, "Angelina not only dislikes you at the moment, Harry, but I heard what she said about me, and if looks could kill, I'd be dead after the way she glared at me when she stormed out of the Great Hall."
"Do you plan to reapply for the team?" Hermione asked him.
"No," he replied simply and got some food.
A while later, just before five o'clock, Harry bade them farewell and left the Great Hall to go to his detention with Umbridge, "Do you think it'll be bad?" Hermione asked.
"Hard to say, knowing Umbridge, I don't think it'll be too horrible..." 'But I can't shake the feeling that it's going to be bad...' Jake thought to himself.
"Well, I've got an essay I have yet to finish, I'll be in Gryffindor Tower if either of you need me," Hermione said and stood up, taking her leave.
Jake watched her leave until she disappeared from sight. He turned to Ron, who was eating dessert, "So what position are you trying out for?"
Ron got choked and had to take a moment to calm down, "What?" He asked in a strained voice.
"The Quidditch Team, what position? Keeper? It should be the only one actively open," Jake said.
"Yeah... h-how did you know?" Ron asked, his ears turning red again.
"Why else would you be upset about it possibly raining this evening?" Jake asked him.
"Jake... what do you want to be after Hogwarts?" Ron asked suddenly.
"An Alchemist, why?"
"I figured you'd want to work as an Auror or something... or you know... be a detective or something... you may not realize it, but I have noticed how great you are at deduction," Ron said in praise for him.
"Well... thanks, Ron," Jake smiled at him, "and good luck with the tryouts this Friday. Just remember to be confident, and you'll make the team no problem."
"Is that how you became Reserve Seeker in Second Year?" Ron asked him.
"Yeah, I knew I could achieve it, and I did. You aren't entirely confident in yourself when here at Hogwarts," Jake said bluntly, "don't deny it, Ron, because it's true. You need to be confident in things you do, otherwise opportunity will pass you by."
Ron didn't say anything for a moment, "Yeah, you're right."
"I know I am. You might want to head down to the Stadium before it does decide to rain," Jake said.
"What?" Ron looked around urgently, and then gathered his things and went out of the Great Hall without another sound.
Jake just shook his head and stood up. He made to leave the Great Hall and heard something from his left. He turned more than he normally would've and didn't see anything immediately. He walked over and looked underneath the Marble Staircase, "Luna?"
She looked up at him and quickly tried to wipe her face. She had been crying, and he intended to find out why. He walked over, but he didn't sit down immediately, "Jake, how lovely to see you again," she said to him, her voice was hoarse.
"May I sit?" He asked gently.
"Of course," she said, trying to smile through her obvious pain.
He sat down on her left, "What happened?"
"Nothing... not really..."
"You can talk to me, Luna," Jake said, "was it what Hermione said?"
Luna looked at him, but didn't say anything immediately, "It normally doesn't bother me, others saying things like that to me... but I thought Hermione was my friend? Why would she say those things?"
"I don't know... I haven't talked to her about it since it happened earlier. I probably need to, but I just haven't yet," Jake answered, looking at Luna.
Her tears came back as she leaned her head onto his arm, his shoulder being just too high for her to lean on. They sat there for a while, Luna crying as she leaned on him. He didn't say anything as she cried it all out. An hour had passed and she finally felt a little better, "Thank you, Jake, thank you for sitting with me. I feel better than I have all day."
He stood up with her, "You're my friend, Luna, of course I will."
She threw her arms around him, "Thank you."
He embraced her gently, "Anytime, Luna."
She let go of him and went back to Ravenclaw Tower, much happier than before. Jake returned to Gryffindor Tower and he actually didn't see Hermione anywhere, or Ron for that matter. It was raining, so either Ron was practicing in the rain, or he was up in his bed doing something, because he wasn't down in the Common Room either. Harry must also have still been in detention with Umbridge, it was only an hour after all after he left the Great Hall, and detentions usually lasted two hours. He sighed and decided to patrol the corridors.
He left Gryffindor Tower, much to the Fat Lady's displeasure, and began roaming the corridors. He wished Hermione was with him, at least if she was they'd be able to talk. He wandered the corridors for about three hours and didn't find a single troublemaker, but it was still early in the year. He returned to Gryffindor Tower exhausted, and he went straight to bed.
*******
The following day was not the brightest day that week, but that wasn't saying much. Jake was down in the Common Room when Hermione descended the Girl's Staircase, "Morning," she said to him.
"Morning, Hermione, how did you sleep?" He asked, turning to look at her.
'Even after making him angry at me, he still asks me how I'm doing... I really don't deserve him...' "I slept well, how about you?"
"After I got back from Patrol, I slept alright," he almost yawned, but prevented himself from doing so.
"You went on Patrol last night? When did you decide that?" She asked him as she sat down across from him.
"Only after I got back to Gryffindor Tower at about Six o'clock," he said and looked back down at a sheet of parchment.
"Why did you get back at Six? Dinner ended at Five yesterday..." Hermione trailed off.
"I sat with Luna for an hour underneath the Marble Staircase," he said honestly.
Hermione's mind raced with unthought-out images, 'He sat with Luna? Was he snogging her?' She didn't know what to say in response.
"She was crying when I found her, in case you were wondering," he said in a callous tone. He didn't mean for it to sound as such, but he said it before he could stop himself.
"Oh..." Hermione felt horrible at that moment.
"Hermione, what happened?" He looked up at her.
"I don't know... she just says things exist that don't... and she believes it," Hermione said.
"You didn't believe that a Thestral existed until you felt one with your own hand, what makes you so sure the things Luna says exist, don't exist?"
"Because-" she paused, 'Why don't I believe them just because I can't see them? Maybe that's why, I need definitive proof to believe something, and feeling thin air was all the proof I needed to tell me a Thestral existed...'
"If you don't have an answer, that's fine, but you have to apologize to Luna," he said.
Hermione was feeling defiant, "Why should I?"
"Why shouldn't you? You have no reason to not apologize to her. She's my friend, and I won't have her mistreated by one of my other friends, even if you're my best friend, that doesn't give you a free pass to insult another friend of mine," Jake explained to her.
"Your logic is flawed, Jake," Hermione said, "Ron is your friend, and yet I insult him whenever he does something really stupid without backlash from you."
"I insult him as well, but Ron asks for it, Luna doesn't. Hermione, are we really going to be back to square one on this?" He asked, his heart feeling heavy as he asked her that.
"On what?" She asked uneasily, but in a tone that revealed her frustration.
"Our relationship?" He said it. He said the one word she was afraid of hearing.
"I guess we are then," her voice was shaking as a few more Gryffindor came down into the Common Room. They all sensed the tension between them and made their way out of the Common Room to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
"Alright then," he said, rolling up his parchment and stuffed it into his pouch, leaving a disheartened Hermione with tears forming in her eyes.
*******
The day went on like any other, only Jake and Hermione didn't speak a word to one another the whole day. It was surprising to many that they weren't talking, given that they were both best friends and the new Gryffindor Prefects, but some weren't surprised at all. The Slytherin's especially made sure everyone knew that it was obvious a Pureblood and Mudblood could never work. Malfoy had almost gotten the words out, but Hermione noticed that Ivan had stopped him. Jake may not have been talking to her, but he still would've ripped Malfoy's skin from his body if he'd gotten the word out.
Hermione had noticed Harry was distracted, and hadn't gotten much homework done, if any. He had performed horribly in Transfiguration, she heard him mumble about his unfinished bowtruckle drawing, and to add onto that, more homework from McGonagall, Grubbly-Plank, and Sinistra wasn't helping at all. What made it worse for him was Angelina reaming him again about not being able to show up to Keeper Tryouts on Friday, "I'm in detention!" Harry yelled after her as she walked away angrily, "D'you think I'd rather be stuck in a room with that old toad or playing Quidditch!?"
"At least it's only lines," Hermione said consolingly, as Harry sank back onto the bench. "It's not as if it's a dreadful punishment, really."
She saw him open his mouth, but then he closed it again. She figured he realized he was being ridiculous about complaining over one of the more easy punishments to get by with.
"I can't believe how much homework we've got," Ron said miserably.
"Well, why didn't you do any last night?" Hermione asked him, "where were you, anyway?" She remembered he hadn't shown up to the Common Room, much like Jake hadn't, but he explained why, she soon found Ron wasn't going to be as open about it.
"I was... I fancied a walk..." Ron said shiftily.
Hermione just glared at him, and shook her head. She looked down the table and saw Jake, he was sitting across from Katie, but he wasn't talking to her; in fact, she noticed he wasn't talking to anyone. 'He's being a right prat, anyway. Maybe I shouldn't have been so mean to Luna, but she's being ridiculous about those creatures.'
She looked behind Harry and Ron to the Slytherin table and she saw Ivan staring at her, at least she thought he was staring at her. She pointed to herself and Ivan nodded from across the Great Hall. She felt her cheeks burn a little as Ivan continued to stare at her.
It was after Dinner when she talked to Ivan out in the Entrance Hall. Harry had left for his second day of detention, which she wished him luck in, and walked up to Ivan, "Hello, Ivan, how are you?"
"I'm doing fine, Hermione. How about yourself?" Ivan asked her.
"I've been better, but thanks," she smiled at him.
"So what's up with you and Jake?" He asked her.
"We... we had a row... and now we aren't speaking..." she said to Logan.
"I'm sorry to hear that... I won't ask what it was about, don't worry, but I hope you both work through it," he said.
"I hope so too, but it's possible we won't..." her voice was starting to shake again. She breathed in and out slowly and deeply, controlling herself.
"I know you both will," he smiled at her, "but if you don't..."
Hermione looked at him. She quickly looked around and was pleased to see they were alone. She turned back to Logan and stepped closer, pressing her lips to his. One thing became immediately clear to her; it didn't have the same feeling as it did when she kissed Jake. It wasn't as good as it was with Jake, no kiss with any guy would ever be as good.
Logan didn't push her away. So that was good, but he wasn't kissing her back, either. She pulled back from him, "I'm sorry," she said quickly and turned away from him, hurrying up the Marble Staircase. 'Stupid... you are so stupid, Hermione... you don't have guys simping after you the way girls simp after Jake, you have to understand that... you aren't pretty, no guy wants you...' She walked into an empty room and broke down in tears.
*******
As the week continued, Hermione noticed Harry was becoming more and more irritated with his detention, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why if it was only Lines. She also saw that Ron was exhausted, but every time she asked him about it, he just gave an excuse to her and avoided her further questioning.
To occupy her time, she did Patrol the night before on Thursday, Jake had gone with her, but it was silent and awkward. They came across a Sixth and Fourth Year hiding in a broom cupboard, a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor, and Ten Points from both Houses had been taken off. Hermione remembered the one time she had been in one with Jake, but they had gone back in time and couldn't afford the time for any tomfoolery.
That night had otherwise gone on in silence.
Friday came with a false ray of hope. The first ten minutes after most students woke up had been sunshine. But it soon disappeared behind the clouds and the day became sullen and sodden, just as the rest of the week had been.
The only real saving grace for the day was the Keeper Tryouts, but that did nothing really for Harry, Hermione, or Jake. Jake knew that Ron was trying out for Keeper, but he was the only one that he knew of, and until Ron revealed it to his other two friends, it was going to remain that way.
"On the bright side, this is your last day of detention," Hermione said to Harry as they sat down for dinner after classes that evening.
"All the good it does me since I'm missing the Keeper Tryouts..." Harry grumbled.
"Well, just don't get detention again and you'll be able to go to practices," Hermione shrugged as it was the logical lines of thought.
"Yeah..." Harry agreed, but she felt it was mainly just so she would shut up.
She huffed, but said nothing else to him.
When Harry left for his detention, Hermione went out of the Great Hall to go down to the Quidditch Pitch to watch the tryouts. Naturally, she expected to see Jake down there, 'Probably just to see Katie play, though... typical male...' Hermione arrived at the Pitch, and she did indeed see Jake sitting out there already. Against her better judgment, she went and sat beside him, "Good evening," she said politely.
"Evening, Hermione, come to see who makes Keeper?" He asked her.
"I have, what about you?" She inquired.
"Did Ron tell you he was trying out for Keeper?" He asked back.
"No, no he didn't..." Hermione looked out to the field and saw Ron and two others who she figured were all trying out for Keeper, "do you think he has a shot?"
"If he's confident in his abilities, I think so, yeah," Jake said as he eyed his red-haired friend down on the field. He looked to his right at Hermione; she was still insanely beautiful, and he would always think that about her. 'Maybe she deserves better, though... someone who doesn't have a horrible temper, someone who will love her all the time... but actually show her that... I love her more than I can describe, but I don't show it, because we both agreed to put that on hold... it may be permanently on hold now...' He exhaled, garnering her attention.
"Something wrong?" She asked.
"It's me... when isn't something wrong?" He glanced at her, but she looked down at her knees.
The tryouts started soon, the other two potential Keepers, named Vicky Frobisher and Geoffrey Hooper, went before Ron. Hermione found very quickly that Hooper complained and whined, a lot. He wasn't bad, but his whining was unbearable. Vicky was good at her attempts, but announced that if Practice got in the way of her Charms Club, she chose the Club every time. Hermione knew that wouldn't get her on the team, so as long as Ron didn't do atrociously, he should easily get Keeper.
"How do you think he will stack up to Wood?" Hermione asked Jake.
"Oliver Wood was a great Keeper, that's not easy to live up to," Jake replied.
"What about Ivan?" She asked, and after what happened with him, she regretted saying his name.
"Pendragon is a great Keeper as well, I don't think Ron will be on his level, though. Pendragon has been Slytherin's Keeper since Second Year," he answered.
"You're right... Can we change topics?" She asked just as Ron was about to start.
"What would you like to talk about?" He asked, keeping it civil.
"Harry... have you noticed him behaving... odd or different?" She asked, wondering if he noticed too.
"He has, but if he wants to tell us, he'll tell us. We can't make him," Jake said. He didn't agree with his own words, he wanted to sit Harry down in a chair and use Veritaserum on him to gather the info, but that wasn't an ideal thing to do. Besides, he had his own secrets he hadn't told Harry, so of course he wouldn't make Harry tell him something that his scar-headed friend didn't want him to know.
"I guess so..." Hermione knew he was right, but she also knew that it wasn't right.
They watched Ron give it his all during the tryouts, and he did much better than what really anyone would've expected. Not the greatest, and he honestly might perform worse in an actual match, but he performed the best out of the three.
After tryouts, a party was going to be thrown regardless of who won, but it was more enjoyable with Ron having become Gryffindor's new Keeper. Jake didn't ever really care much for the parties, so he resolved to sit next to the fireplace with Hermione across from him, a butterbeer in her hands. He looked and saw she was tired, but she pressed on, telling him she'd be fine.
Ron walked up to them, "Can you believe it? I made Keeper!"
"I know, we saw, congratulations, Ron," Jake stood up, "I knew you could get it," he embraced Ron in a brotherly hug before he let him go.
Hermione stood up, drink still in her hands, "Congrats, Ron, really," she said, smiling, "you deserve being Keeper after that display," she hugged him as well, her drink almost spilling as she did.
Jake noticed that Ron was hugging Hermione for much longer than he liked. He didn't say anything, though, and waited another five long, painful seconds of them embracing. Ron looked towards the Entrance to the Common Room, "Harry must be back, I'm going to tell him the good news," Ron said in a slightly higher voice than he was a moment ago. It wasn't louder, but it was higher pitched.
'Ron must know something we don't...' Jake thought and looked back to Hermione, who had already slumped back down in her chair. He sat back down across from her, keeping his eye watchful. He knew how teenage boys were, he was one himself, but not all of them had the self-control he exhibited around teenage girls. Especially one so tired and not in her right mind like Hermione was right then. He wasn't going to let her leave his sight until she had gone up to bed. 'Don't worry, Hermione, even if you hate me, I'll always watch out for you...' He looked at her with a strengthened resolve, 'Always.'