CHAPTER 4 – HEARTS A-BLOOMIN’
November was drawing near. Winter became wickedly freezing. Even the winter cloaks draped over their robes were useless to the students of Hogwarts. The trio had to wear double layer of clothing before putting on their robes and their winter cloaks. And for the first time in their 12-year life, they’ve seen real snow falling, up close and personal.
The trio became famous within a fortnight of their arrival to Hogwarts and their fame has been dragged on ever since. Draco’s cauldron explosion incident was not easily forgotten, and neither was the incident on Rach and Becka flying in the air to save Jude from falling to her death.
Life was still not easy for Jude. She still had the tendency to blunder, especially in Potions, and Draco and Tony had to work hard to earn back those lost points, much to Draco’s annoyance. Either she burst her cauldron or she transfigurated a quill into something outrageous. Becka occasionally had her misgivings, but she wasn’t as serious as Jude, and she was in good terms with her seniors Harry, Ron and Hermione and Darren’s sister Angelica, who was also sorted to Gryffindor. Rach stood out from the rest. She earned a lot of points for being the smartest kid among her Ravenclaws and everyone looked up at her as the future Top Student of the Year, which kind of threatens Hermione’s postion.
“Light, Levi, meet me at the field at 6 o’clock sharp tonight,” Prof. Snape said one day after Potions class. “And bring your other friend too, that Yearne girl.”
“Yes, sir,” Becka replied.
“Why?” Jude asked, much to the students’ horror. They were surprised to see someone who dares to question Prof. Snape’s orders. Tony took her aside before she starts asking more questions. Luckily Prof. Snape ignored her.
“I’ll see you then, Light, Levi. Be punctual,” Prof. Snape said before gathering his books and left the lab. Jude wanted to ask more but Tony grabbed her just in time. Draco went over to Jude with a sour face and said, “Now you’ve done it, new kid! You want to know why he called for you and that dunderhead Levi? What he’s trying to tell you is you both got detention! Nice going, new kid!”
“Clear off, Draco! It’s none of your business!” Ron Weasley growled. “And stop calling her ‘new kid’! She has a name here!” Jude glared back at Draco, giving him the same message with her eyes, although she felt bad about making herself black-listed.
“Lots of luck, new kid! You’re gonna need it,” Draco hissed before leaving the lab. Becka glared at Draco too before she came up to Jude and patted her shoulder. Jude sat with a plop on her stool and sighed.
“Hey, Jude,” Harry said encouragingly. “It’s not so bad, really. Plenty of people get detention from Prof. Snape. You’re not the only one.”
“I’m the only one from the East, that is!” Jude muttered as she cleared the mess her failed potion created.
“It might not be a detention,” Becka said as she helped her. “Rach is going too yet she’s the smartest person among us and earns the most points. So far I don’t remember her and I losing any major points.”
“I’m going to kick her off my stand if it is the last thing I do!” Hermione grumbled as she got ready to leave. “Never in my whole life have I met someone so…so smarty-pants like that no good…”
“Rach? Forget it, Mione. You’ll never topple her off,” Becka said in an as-a-matter-of-fact way. “She got straight A’s in her primary school and she was among the Top Three in her class. You’re wasting your time.”
“I’ll waste my whole life if I want to! Nobody gets the better of me! Nobody!”
“Uh-oh. Someone’s valedictorian title is in jeopardy,” Ron teased, which earned him a sock on his head.
“What’s her problem?” Jude asked, surprised.
“We had a combined class with Rach’s during Herbology,” Becka explained, “and Rach answered Prof. Sprout’s questions so in-detailed, no one thought that Hermione could ever top that up. Hermione sorta flipped her gourd over it. So, I’ll see you at the field tonight then.”
“Yeah,” Jude fell into a glum. If it really was a detention, then this is just her day.
Tony paced up and down. He glanced at the clock on the Slytherin common room wall. 6.05 p.m. ‘Jude and her friends should be at the field by now,’ he thought worriedly. ‘What will happen to her? What’s going on at the field?’
“Do you think she’ll be alright, Max? I’m worried. I’m scared that Prof. Snape’s gonna dig a hole and bury them alive or something. After all, it is a field.”
Max whined. He had quite good terms with Tony, so when Jude asked Tony to baby-sit Max, Max did not hesitate to follow him. Tony didn’t mind baby-sitting Max. In fact, he liked it. He’d do anything for Jude. Ever since that fateful day when she save him from being choked to death by that Bertie Bott’s Bean, his heart became more than just gratitude for her. At first, it used to be gratitude, until that day when he saw her falling asleep on the common room sofa after reading some sort of Muggle novel. She was wearing a silky, quite transparent nightgown and had her long waist-length hair down, its dark brown colour shone under the light of the fire. Her skin was slightly tanned and was smooth and scar-less, unlike his. By then he knew, he had fallen in love with her. He wanted to have a ‘go’ on her there and then but his conscience got the better of him.
He blushed terribly at that thought and slapped himself out of it. He stroked Max to distract himself. Hesitantly, he asked the German Shepherd dog, “Do you think your mistress would like me for who I am and not who I was?”
“In your dreams, Brixius,” Draco’s cold, sarcastic voice sent a pain into his ear. He turned around and saw Draco grinning from ear to ear along with his pathetic-looking henchmen. Draco dismissed them and sat proudly on the sofa beside him.
“Bug off, Malfoy. Nobody asked for your opinion,” Tony muttered, trying to hide his still-red face.
“Nobody asked you to take it, anyway,” Draco sneered and pulled a tongue at the growling Max. Obviously the dog had no intention to have any good terms with Draco. Draco stared at Tony for a while and said, “If you’re thinking of having the new kid as your girlfriend, save it for someone else.”
Tony turned sharply to Draco and demanded, “What do you mean?”
“I mean what I meant. You can’t have Light.”
“Don’t tell me you…”
“Not that I want to impose, but yes, I got my eyes set on our dear new intern, Judith Cecelia Light.”
“Cecelia? I didn’t know she had a middle name,” Tony was taken aback at upon hearing this new information.
“Oh, I know lots, my dear Brixius boy. I knew right before she even came to this school. I did a thorough research on her when I heard wind about her being chosen to study in this school. Father has been a very big help in entertaining my interest on her. She is perfect.”
“Perfect? What demented plans you have in mind here?” Tony eyed at him suspiciously.
“Oh, you are so rude! My plans are never demented. They are ingenious. I am going to win her heart and once she has reached the Status, we are going to be so perfect. Father would be glad to have Light as his daughter-in-law. Think of the heirs we’ll create.”
“Then why did you treat her like a piece of dirt if you like her so much? You seemed pretty mean to her ever since she got here.”
“It really breaks my heart to do this to her, really, but that is the only way I can discipline her and make her stronger at heart. I want to make her immune to insults and nastiness if she ever wants to step into the real world of witchcraft and wizardry, and especially into the Malfoy family. Coldness at heart and power in the hands is the ultimate status of my family.”
“If you were to succeed in making her cold and heartless, she won’t like you anymore than you do!”
“Oh, I have ways of melting cold hearts. Besides, I can even train her to melt her heart only for me.”
“You are so demented,” Tony glared at him in contempt.
“Say whatever you want. I call it the perfect romance.”
“I hope she’s OK down there at the field,” Tony sighed as he continued stroking Max.
“Do you want to find out?”
“Why would Prof. Snape want Becka and her friends to go to the field? I just don’t get it.”
“Ron, you’ve been complaining about it since the past 15 minutes. Give it a break.”
Harry, Ron and Hermione were in the Gryffindor common room enjoying the warm fire. Hermione was burying herself in loads of books she borrowed from the library and Ron and Harry were seated together trying to finish their homework. Only that Ron’s mind was not on his homework, but on the trio and their mysterious meeting with Prof. Snape, much to Harry’s exasperation.
“But don’t you think it’s weird?” Ron insisted, falling onto his knees and putting his hands on Harry’s knees suddenly. “I mean, Becka had never done a single offence since the first day of school, that Slytherin girl Jude had only lost a couple of points, which I’m sure Malfoy has earned them back, and that smart Ravenclaw girl Rach has been like the genius after Mione. There is no way they deserve detention. What’s going on here?”
“Come on, Ron,” Harry said, flicking Ron’s hands away, “Snape has a perfectly good reason for calling those three girls to the field, whether it’s detention or not.”
“I hope it is,” Hermione said grudgingly. “I hope Snape hurts her real bad.”
“Oh, please don’t let him hurt my Jude and Becka!” Ron said woefully.
“Your Jude and Becka? Ron, what’s going on here? I don’t exactly get the picture,” Harry said in a sly tone.
Ron cupped his mouth shut and blushed almost as red as his hair. He lowered his head and remained silent.
“Don’t tell me you have a crush on our Becka and that Slytherin girl Jude!” Hermione said in horror and disbelief.
“So…So what if I am? It’s not a crime now, is it?!”
“Well, to have a crush on Becka or Jude, that’s normal, but having a crush on both of them? I don’t know…” Harry wrinkled his nose doubtfully.
“I know, I know, I’m a pervert. I’m a two-timing jerk. But what can I do? I’m mesmerized at Becka’s beauty and her maroon hair…oh, it is so lovely! To top it up, she’s sweet and kind and all that. She is like a red-haired angel! I love her so much!”
“Luckily she doesn’t have the same red hair like you,” Hermione snorted, “or you’ll swoon over her even more.”
“I can understand you liking Becka,” Harry agreed. “She is quite beautiful. But what’s Jude’s case?”
“Oh, I don’t know. She’s also quite pretty, and she had the guts to defy Malfoy. Well, I suppose it’s because of a certain aura in her. You know, she had that sort of…aura, that sort of charm, that sort of…charisma! Oh, I don’t know how to explain it! But every time I see her, it’s as if you can’t keep your eyes away from her! Don’t you feel that way, Harry?”
“Come to think of it, she does have that sort of attraction. It feels like looking at a Veela or some sort…”
“That’s it! That’s exactly how I felt! I’m sure she had the bloodline of a Veela! I know it in my bones!”
“No wonder you were suicidal enough to stare at the Slytherins table,” Hermione groaned in exasperation.
“I got to know what is going on at the field! I’m going to take a peek!” Ron got up suddenly and rushed to the door. Harry followed suite—he didn’t want his best friend to get into any serious trouble. Hermione had no intention to go at first. Ron turned around and asked, “Mione, come on! Aren’t you going?”
“I’m not going with you to see you drool over some new intern,” she replied indignantly.
“Just come along for the kicks! What if it really is a detention? You don’t wanna miss the satisfaction of seeing your archenemy being punished now, do you?”
Hermione didn’t have to be asked twice. She got up at a thrice and trailed behind the two boys.
Behind Ron’s back, she glared at him with a hint of jealousy.
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