Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling as well as any familiar characters and/or places. I am merely just playing with them, and am grateful to Jo for creating this wonderful world that I have come to grow and love.

Authors Note: I have been planning this story for ages now, gosh. Since around Febuary 2007, I beleive (which would disregard Deathly Hallows) and I finally got around to really wanting to post it. I always knew I was going to finish this story, but when was always the question. I hope you all like it and please comment with your reviews, as they are much appreciated. Also, I would like to thank my wonderful beta Tash (Pondering), who has done an amazing job helping me out so far. Thanks, hun. (1637 words)



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Of Blood and Purity
by potterfan226
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Prologue �“ I’ve Got Dreams to Remember
3 April, 1971

If there was anything that Adelaide hated more than anything, it was the fact that whenever she tried to find peace and quiet in her small, rundown home, it was so hard to come by. Every day, she tried to work on her files, however when she finally found a nice, cozy spot and assured herself that her husband, nor daughter, would make any noise, she was proven wrong yet again.

Adelaide Benton was a rather shy and secretive elderly woman who had been happily married for over forty-two years to her husband Phillip. She had white-blonde hair which, surprisingly, had not turned completely gray over the sixty years of her life, particularly the last ten, and very pale, sea-green eyes which, in her opinion, became paler with every year that passed. Adelaide wondered every day just what it was that kept her going. With a ten year old daughter who at times could be a complete hell raiser, Adelaide miraculously managed to live through each day without feeling the least bit sick of her family.

Her time on this earth was wearing thin. Any day now, Adelaide predicted, the clock which held her life together would tick its last tick, sending her six feet under the ground. Although she was a witch, and even though that magical folk seemed to live longer than an average day Muggle, Adelaide’s patience with this earth, and herself, was dwindling.

She hastily scribbled down a few side notes into a wire-bound notebook, with a quill dripping of ink, on an entry which she had written several months ago. Adelaide had a very vivid memory, which came with the territory of being a Seer, and when she had been presented with the dreamlike vision at the time, Adelaide’s interest grew. It was so real, so full of detail that made it impossible for Adelaide to ignore. It was almost like reading a page out of a mystery novel by one of her favorite authors.

She sighed as she finished reading the last sentence of her entry. Adelaide scratched her head and flipped a few pages back to the beginning.

It was still quite dark outside, however the sun could be seen just creeping over the horizon, revealing a man in billowing black robes. He had a triumphant look on his face as he addressed those around him.

“For those who ever believed that I would be defeated by a worthless teenager, I laugh at you, for look at him now! He lies at my feet, dead, while I remain standing, more powerful than ever. Bow to me, for I, Lord Voldemort, am your new master!”

Adelaide continued reading. She contemplated the dream for several hours that night, as she did every night, scratching her head at the names that popped up more than once, and sighed in disappointment at the blanks that needed to be filled in … the page in general gave her a bad feeling, a feeling of defeat. It just couldn’t be true, she told herself, yet it was almost too real to not be. Adelaide sighed yet again; she had to face the truth, there was no point in denying it. She was a Seer who had had a premonition and needed to take course of action. She got up and walked to the door of the den and stuck her head out and called.

“Jordanna, dear, please come here.”

Footsteps down the hall were heard, and within just a few seconds, a young girl appeared in the doorway.

“Yes, Mother?”

“Come in.” Adelaide held the door opened and Jordanna walked in nervously. She was never allowed in the den; it was just one of the rooms in the small house that was off limits. However, it wasn’t like she had never been in here before. She suspected that the den was the one place in the house where her mother could go to relax every day, but she, Jordanna, always managed to sneak in and pester her mum with petty questions.

Adelaide slowly made her way to the sofa and sat down. She motioned her daughter to do the same.

“Jordanna, dear,” she began, “as you are aware, you start Hogwarts this September-”

Jordanna nodded slowly. “Yes, Mum.”

Adelaide paused. “Now, your father and I have never really taught you about the wizarding world, and what Hogwarts would be like, so I am about to tell you. As you know there are four houses-”

“Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin,” Jordanna said matter-of-factly, a small smile plastered upon her young face.

Adelaide nodded. “Correct. Your father and I were both in Hufflepuff … but you however, I want -” She paused and contemplated what she was about to say while wringing her hands together slowly. “-I want you to be different from us.”

Jordanna raised her eyebrow in a confused matter. “What do you mean?”

Adelaide sighed. “Pure-bloods in the wizarding world are intended to befriend only pure-bloods. Especially those with families who trace back generations upon generations.” She paused and stroked her daughter’s hair lightly. “What I’m trying to say is that you, being a pure-blood, will be expected to follow the way in which some people might consider ‘the right way’.”

Jordanna raised her eyebrow again. “I don’t get it, Mum.”

“Well,” Adelaide began, “‘the right way’ is mostly the way in which those who are in Slytherin consider to be right. I want you to go that way, Jordanna.”

There was a long silence. “You want me to … be in … Slytherin?” Jordanna asked. She seemed still quite confused. “But why?”

Adelaide sighed. “You know what a Seer is, right, dear?”

Jordanna nodded. “Yes.”

“Well,” Adelaide started. “Seers, as you know, have the ability to see the future. I am a Seer, as you are well aware of. Several months ago, I had a vision, Jordanna, of what I believe was the future. Now I’ve been contemplating this vision for-”

“What did you see?”

Rubbing the back of her neck, Adelaide pursed her lips together. “What I saw was the end of the war, which is just beginning. You’ve heard your father and I read about these mysterious deaths in the Prophet these past few months; it’s all the act of one individual, I suspect. It’s common sense to have two sides of a war, Jordanna, and the side that I saw win was the dark side. A side that a Slytherin would generally belong to. What I want from you is to befriend that side: be one of them.”

“Mum, I’m still confused.”

“Jordanna, this is crucial, you must listen,” stressed Adelaide. “In the wizarding world, you must either be on the side of light, or on the side of dark, not in between; that’s not how it works. What I saw in my dream was the side of dark winning. And I can’t stress enough, that I only want what’s best for you; you are my only child, Jordanna, and if it means being someone who you’re not just to get through in life, to survive, you must do it.”

Eleven-year-old Jordanna sighed in thought. “So let me get this straight,” she confirmed slowly. “You, you want me to get sorted into Slytherin, so I can befriend other pure-blooded families so I �“ I won’t d-die?”

Adelaide nodded. “Sadly, yes.”

Jordanna opened and closed her mouth several times. Stuttering, she said “But I-I don’t t-think I can.”

Closing her eyes, Adelaide stood up and began pacing around the small room, rubbing her hands together anxiously. “Jordanna, you must. You must do whatever �“ it takes to befriend these children. You’re a smart girl. I do not want to have to attend your funeral, or kick myself in my grave knowing you died and I knew exactly what I could have done to prevent it.” She stopped pacing and turned to face her small daughter. “The Bentons are one of the poorest wizarding families in all of England; we have no money to bribe with, and we are known to be blood traitors. The Bentons have been Hufflepuffs for as long as I can remember, or could even trace back. These children will not go easy on you if they know that, Jordanna. You must be one of them; I cannot stress that enough. You are a Benton, Jordanna, and when a Benton puts their mind to something, they follow through. Do not disappoint me on this.”

Jordanna’s mouth was opened slightly as tears spilled over the brim of her eyes and down her cheeks. Adelaide made her way over to the couch slowly and brushed the tears away with her thumb. Her daughter jerked back slightly at her touch.

“Jordanna, trust me on this.”

She nodded. “I will.”

“Promise me you’ll do whatever �“ it �“ takes-”

“I will.”

Adelaide bent over and kissed the top of her daughter’s head. “Good girl. I know you don’t fully understand, but in a few years, once the Dark Lord has begun this war, you’ll begin to see why I did this. There are still quite a few months before Hogwarts starts and I figure you should have enough time to … change your ways.”

Jordanna nodded. She stood up quickly under her mother’s arm and exited the room as quickly as she could. Adelaide sighed as she watched her daughter go.

“She will understand,” Adelaide told herself confidently. At that precise moment, she heard a crash of glass come from the other side of the house. Adelaide sighed. She felt like an awful parent for putting her child through what she was making Jordanna do, but she just wanted her child to live and to be safe. Was that so bad to want?

“She just needs some time.”

Author's Note: this wasn't my favorite chapter, but it had to be done :) I want to thank my lovely beta once again, Tash (Pondering) who did a lovely job on this chapter. Thanks hun! (3990 words)


Chapter 1 �“ The Truth Doesn’t Make A Noise
1 September, 1971


Eleven-year-old Jordanna Benton sighed as she checked yet another compartment on the Hogwarts Express; this one was occupied by five Hufflepuff fourth years who seemed to be having Exploding Snap war, where by the looks of it, their hair was charmed to the Hufflepuff house colors of yellow and black upon losing.. One girl who was sitting on the seat closest to the window had her entire head colorized, plus her eyebrows. She looked rather annoyed as she watched the game on the floor take place. She couldn’t be very good, Jordanna thought, for the train had departed less than five minutes ago from the platform.

Jordanna sighed again and continued on her way. At the rate this was going, she was never going to find a seat and would end up sitting in the corridor like a loner during her first ride to Hogwarts. To top it off, she was nearing the end of the train; the likelihood of sitting alone was becoming more plausible.


She looked out the window in the corridor and continued walking; she watched the countryside speed by like a blur and half smiled when she realized she was really going to Hogwarts. She had only dreamt of it, but now it was real.

“Watch it,” a sharp voice came from in front of Jordanna. She tore away from the window and looked straight. She had walked directly into another girl who had been going in the direction Jordanna had just come form.

“Oh, uhm,” Jordanna mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

The girl eyed her curiously. “You a first year?”

Jordanna nodded. “Yeah. I’m Jordanna Benton.” She held out her hand to the girl who shook it.

“Elena Parkinson. First year, too.”

Jordanna raised her eye brows in surprise, but quickly lowered them. She had definitely heard that name before. “Parkinson?” she asked, trying to sound as casual as she could. “So, er, you’re a Slytherin, I’m assuming? Or, well, going to be …”

Elena nodded. “Yes,” she said matter-of-factly. “The Sorting Hat’s got another think coming if I’m placed anywhere else.” She paused and raised her eyebrow in suspicion. “Why? What about you? You another one of those Gryffindor blood traitors?”

Jordanna shook her head. “Parkinson, right? Trust me, being a Slytherin is something I definitely want.” She stopped and rolled her eyes. “But I come from a long line of Hufflepuffs.” Elena raised her eyebrow suspiciously again. “I’m nothing like my parents; in my opinion, Hufflepuff is just a house to house all of those who don’t belong anywhere else. Those who are too weak to stand up for themselves, to be unique. Slytherins are cunning, Ravenclaws are smart, and Gryffindors are brave, as they say.”

“What about the Hufflepuffs? Would ‘wimps’ be a good word to describe them?”

Jordanna nodded.

Elena’s suspicion quickly disappeared as she suppressed a laugh. “Great minds think alike,” she said simply. “Benson, is it?”

“Benton.”

“Right.” Elena pointed to Jordanna’s bags. “I’m assuming you can’t find anywhere else to sit? If you want, you can come and sit with me. If you like Slytherin as much as you say, you’ll definitely like everyone in there.”

When Jordanna nodded, Elena pushed her way past her and led both of them to a compartment near the middle of the train. When she opened the door, five heads looked up, past Elena and at Jordanna.

“This is Jordanna Benton,” said Elena as she helped Jordanna lift her trunk into the luggage racks above. “Don’t worry. She’s a pure-blood �“ right?” Jordanna nodded. “- yeah, pure-blooded first year.” The others nodded to indicate she was allowed in and Elena pointed to a brown-haired boy who sat next to the door. “This is Evan Rosier; he’s a first year too.” Then Elena pointed to a rather tall and skinny raven-haired boy who was twirling his wand in between his fingers. “That’s Andrew, my brother. He’s a fifth year along with Narcissa Black-” a long blonde-haired girl nodded. “-and Lucius Malfoy.” Lucius did nothing to greet Jordanna, however merely continued to stare absent mindedly at her, flipping a page of the newspaper in his hands.

“And that-” Elena pointed to a petite brunette who sat across from Evan, “-is Adrienne Wilkes; she’s another first year.” She shut the door behind her and sat in between Lucius and Adrienne, leaving an empty spot next to Evan; Jordanna hesitantly sat beside him.

“So, Benton,” Narcissa Black began slowly, “Pure-blooded, as you say?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, never heard of the name Benton to be honest,” Narcissa continued.

“Long line of Hufflepuffs, she said,” Elena chimed in; Jordanna cringed slightly and looked at Elena, who was now staring closely at her nails as if she had just done nothing wrong.

“Then why is she here?” Lucius asked, speaking for the first time, putting down the issue of the Daily Prophet that he had been holding in his hands.

“Hufflepuffs are wimps, and I’m definitely not one of them.” Jordanna said quietly. “Most of them are just as bad as, er, Mudbloods. Don’t you agree?” She felt herself cringe at the use of the word ‘Mudblood’. Growing up, she had been taught not to use the word, as it was disrespectful, but now since the circumstances had changed, Jordanna felt it was necessary.

Both Lucius and Narcissa raised their eyebrows in surprise and then looked at each other quickly, as if communicating without talking. They both turned back to Jordanna and nodded slowly in unison.

“Touché,” Lucius said impressively. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“Do you plan on being in Slytherin?” Evan Rosier asked from beside Jordanna. Jordanna looked around the compartment and saw everyone divert their attention back to her.

She nodded. “Well, yeah, why else would I be here?”

“But if your family is all in Hufflepuff,” he continued, “how can you be so sure you’ll be in Slytherin?”

Jordanna sighed and shrugged. “All I can do is hope,” she said truthfully. “I know I’m not like the rest of my family, and have done things in the past to make me Slytherin-worthy. Plus, I have too much ambition to be in Hufflepuff.”

“The worst you can do is Gryffindor,” Elena said who was still fiddling around with her nails. “You’d be far from a Slytherin if you were placed there.”

The others nodded in agreement and the subject of Jordanna and the Hogwarts houses seemed to slowly die. Everyone went back to doing their own things, and ten minutes later, both Lucius and Narcissa left the compartment for their newfound duties as Prefects. By the time they had returned, night had fallen and the Hogwarts Express was just minutes away from stopping at the platform in the wizarding village Hogsmeade, where from there, they would be transported up to the castle.

But as the arrival into Hogsmeade drew nearer, Jordanna was beginning to feel slightly nervous. What if she was placed into Hufflepuff like the rest of her family? She would definitely lose her new acquaintances (if she could even call them that) and knew her mother would be disappointed. What would she do from there? Follow what her mother had made her swear to do, or just be herself?

“Firs’ years,” called a voice over the crowd of students once the scarlet steam engine had stopped completely. “Firs’ years this way.”

“Wow,” Elena gasped as she hopped off of the train and caught a glimpse of the giant-sized man who was calling them over. “He’s huge.”

“Oh, that’s Hagrid,” Andrew explained. “He’s the gameskeeper round here; dunno why to be honest, he’s kind of useless. I only ever see him near the edge of the Forbidden Forest and then during the holidays when he lugs in the Christmas trees. But yeah, he’s pretty huge.”

“Oafish, more like it,” said Jordanna, unable to contain herself.

“That’s not even a word,” Adrienne pointed out as she hopped off of the train after her.

Andrew laughed. “Calm down, anyway, who cares? Next time you see Cissy and Lucius, be sure to tell them that.” Jordanna raised an eyebrow and Andrew chuckled. “They feel the same way,” he explained simply.

“Oh …”

“Firs’ years, this way, firs’ years,” Hagrid called out once again. Jordanna looked at the crowd of the other first years and noticed that it seemed to be growing every minute. She wondered how many students there were just in each year.

“Well, I need to catch a carriage,” Andrew said. “Go meet the oaf; the faster you go, the faster you’ll all be officially one of us.” He winked and turned on his heel and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Jordanna, Elena, Adrienne and Evan alone.

“He’s right,” Evan said. “Let’s go.”

The four walked over to the group of first years and were immediately ushered off by Hagrid to the lake that, by the looks of it, seemed to surround half of the landscape of Hogwarts. And in the lake, Jordanna noticed, were several small wooden row boats which seemed to lack oars. She looked at the rest of the other first years curiously, where some seemed to be as confused as her, while other didn’t even seem fazed.

“Now four ter a boat,” Hagrid called out once the reached the water’s edge. “No more, no less.”

Elena pushed her way through the crowd in hopes of climbing into the first boat. Jordanna and the others followed. As Jordanna waited for the others to climb in before her, she felt someone bump into her from behind. She turned around and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, sorry,” mumbled the dark haired boy. “I tripped.” He paused and Jordanna saw his line of vision move up and down her body. “I’m Sirius B-”

She forced a smile sarcastically. “That’s nice.”

“Benton, you coming?” Elena’s voice came from behind. Jordanna nodded and then with one last look at the boy named Sirius, she turned on her heel and entered the small boat. Elena was chuckling.

“That was Sirius Black …”

“Oh,” Jordanna said quietly, blushing slightly. “Narcissa’s brother?”

Elena laughed again and shook her head. “Oh, Merlin no,” she explained. “He’s her rather annoying cousin, you see. She doesn’t really like him; she says he doesn’t act like a Black or a pure-blood …”

Jordanna raised her eyebrow. “How do you know all of-?”

“We’re pure-bloods,” Adrienne said simply. The others nodded. “Real pure-bloods are all intertwined one way or another. If it’s not by blood or marriage, it’s by our parents or relatives who befriend other pure-bloods. Most of our parents try to arrange to marry us all off to one another to keep the line, well, pure.”

“Yeah,” Evan said as he looked at the surroundings around him, not really paying much attention to the conversation. “After a few years it’s more like you’re marrying your own family.”

Jordanna wrinkled her brows in confusion.

Elena nodded. “Yeah. That’s why the Slytherins all seem to know each other, their families, their business, etcetera, when they arrive at Hogwarts. A lot of families have yearly get-togethers, like mine, the Blacks, the Rosiers, the Wilkes’ just to name a few. That’s how Evan, Adrienne and I all know each other.”

“We’ve been good friends since we were six,” Adrienne added.

Elena nodded. The boat that they were currently sitting in jerked a bit forwards. “Oh finally, we’re moving.”

As if there was an invisible rope attached to every boat on the lake, each of the boats began moving forwards, smooth sailing across the lake. Jordanna smiled as she took in her surroundings. It was amazing.

“At least it’s not raining,” Elena said as she looked around. “In my brother’s first year, they all got drenched; there was a massive thunderstorm.”

Adrienne and Jordanna both chuckled while Evan rolled his eyes in humor.

The rest of the boat ride to the other side of shore was rather quiet, except for the boat next to them, where its occupants (including the boy called Sirius) were discussing the sorting ceremony that would occur once they got to the castle. As they went on about being sorted into Gryffindor and Slytherin, and possibly even Hufflepuff, Jordanna was beginning to feel slightly nervous. The ceremony was less than minutes away she suspected; what if, she thought again, she wasn’t placed in Slytherin, but rather, Hufflepuff? She wondered just what her mother would say if that turned out to be the case.

She sighed and then caught sight of the gleaming castle of Hogwarts and shook the thought out of her head for the time being. The castle was enormous and beautiful; she quickly counted at least six floors but somehow she suspected there were more.

Jordanna was jerked back into reality when she felt the small boat hit the edge of the shore. She and the others hastily climbed out of the boat and waited for the others to arrive as well.

“Now follow me,” Hagrid called out to the crowd once everyone had exited their boats. All of the first years followed him at a quick pace, having to take one or two large strides whereas Hagrid only took one. Within just a minute or two, Hagrid had thrown open the castle’s doors and stepped into the entrance hall. A slightly aging woman stood on the other side of the hall in front of two large oak wooden doors, waiting to greet Hagrid and the group of first years.

She had black hair that was pulled into a tight bun which sat on the top of her head and wore a long, billowing purple cloak over her shoulders. In her arms she had a scroll of parchment and a floppy black hat.

“’Ere yer are, Professor McGonagall,” Hagrid said in his booming voice.

“Thank you, Hagrid,” the woman named Professor McGonagall said. She pursed her lips slightly and watched as Hagrid disappeared around the corner.

“Through these doors,” McGonagall began once Hagrid had completely disappeared, “you will be sorted into one of the four houses in front of the rest of your peers and future teachers. The houses are as follows: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Immediately after the sorting ceremony, the feast will commence.” She turned around and faced the doors. “Now follow me.”

Professor McGonagall took one step towards the oak doors which opened immediately with her movement and presence. Jordanna’s eyes widened as she looked around the large hall as they entered. On both sides of her and the other first years sat two long tables which Jordanna suspected were the tables that sat students from each house. And at the front of the hall, behind a three-legged stool in which a ragged looking hat sat on, was another long table. Due to the elderly witches and wizards sitting there, Jordanna guess that it was reserved for the staff.

The entire hall was quiet and quite nerve-wracking as all of the older students stared at the young first years entering the Great Hall.

“Look at the ceiling,” whispered someone from behind Jordanna. All of the first years looked up and some even gasped. The ceiling was completely transparent. It showed the dark and starry sky outside and the clouds which hastily covered a half-moon right above the castle. They continued to murmur until a cough echoed through the hall.

The entire hall was quiet once again and Jordanna looked around to see if she was missing something. Wasn’t the ceremony supposed to start? At that precise moment, the hat which sat on the stool broke out into song, startling Jordanna slightly.

“A thousand years or more ago,
When I was just first founded-”

Jordanna broke her gaze with the singing hat, for she had become distracted with the looks of the other students in the hall. They all looked happy to be there; some, she noticed, weren’t even paying attention to the bad singing of a rugged hat, whereas others seemed quite intrigued. Jordanna didn’t understand what was so special about the hat … it was only singing, after all.

The hall suddenly broke out into cheer, and Jordanna turned around, noticing that the hat had finished singing. From beside her another first year squeaked excitedly, “It’s even better than Hogwarts: A History claims!”

McGonagall stepped forward up onto a small platform where the stool stood. She cleared her throat and silence fell. “Now when I call your name,” she began, “proceed forward and you will be sorted into the appropriate house.” She unrolled the piece of long parchment she had been holding earlier and cleared her throat.

“Benton, Jordanna.”

Jordanna silently cursed. Stupid alphabet, she thought angrily. She slowly made her way over to the small platform, stepping up and taking another step forward to sit on the stool. She stared at her feet as the Sorting Hat was placed on her head; she could feel the eyes of everyone, particularly Elena, Narcissa and Lucius burning into her.

“Ahh, Miss Benton,” a voice said in the back of her head. “The last one I believe?”

Jordanna looked around the Great Hall, slightly confused as to where the voice was coming from. “Er yes?” she thought slowly, taking a whim of a guess at its source.

“Excellent,” the voice seemed to be contemplating, “Excellent; your mother, Miss Benton, was the infamous Seer if I remember correctly?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, she was a smart one.”

Jordanna frowned. “Then if she was so smart, why was she in-”

“In Hufflepuff?” the voice asked, completing Jordanna’s thought. “That, Miss Benton, is for me to know, and for you to find out.” There was a pause. “Now tell me, which house do you want to be placed into?”

“Slytherin, of course,” Jordanna thought confidently.

“But for all of the wrong reasons.”

Jordanna raised an eyebrow, which thankfully was covered by the overly large hat which seemed to fall past her nose. “What-?”

“I can see into the back of your mind, young Benton,” the voice said, cutting Jordanna’s thought off. “And the reason you wish to be placed in Slytherin is not a reason I whole-heartedly agree with.” There was a rather long pause, in which the hat seemed to be thinking which left Jordanna slightly speechless, comprehending what the hat had just said. “That is why I shall place you in the house I feel is best suited to you, RAVENCLAW!”

Jordanna closed her eyes in disappointment as a table somewhere in front of her began clapping and cheering. The Sorting Hat was removed from her head and shamefully, Jordanna walked through the crowd of first years to the Ravenclaw table. She sat beside a small blonde-haired girl, a second year, Jordanna suspected, who greeted her with a smile.

The rest of the ceremony went by slowly for Jordanna. She examined her fork the entire time and ate as little as possible during the feast. When it was time to go to bed, Jordanna tried looking for Elena Parkinson (who was placed into Slytherin the moment the hat touched her head), but was ushered off by the Ravenclaw Prefect up to Ravenclaw tower.

Jordanna had had a very hard time falling asleep that night. She kept thinking of the Sorting Hat and the other Slytherins, and even dreamt about attending a ceremony in which Elena married the famous Salazar Slytherin in the dungeons of Hogwarts. However she was woken abruptly by a snore from one of the girls in her dorm.

The next morning after getting dressed, Jordanna headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She ate alone and was somewhat depressed; however her mood was brightened slightly when the Heads of Houses passed out the timetables to each student. She noticed that the first year Ravenclaws had at least one class a day with the first year Slytherins. That would mean she would see Elena, Adrienne and Evan daily - she somehow hoped that that would be a good thing.

Jordanna looked around the Great Hall and spotted Elena sitting at the Slytherin table with the same people she had been with last night, plus a few extra unfamiliar faces. Jordanna looked down at her time table again, and then thought of her mum.

“Promise me you’ll do whatever �“ it �“ takes-”

She made her decision. Jordanna stood up and walked around the edge of the Ravenclaw table, and made her way over to the Slytherins. She stopped short and the others looked up in surprise.

“Well, well,” Elena said, raising her eyebrow and smirking. “What do you want, Benton?”

“Look, Parkinson,” Jordanna said, sitting down across from her and putting her elbows on top of the table to lean on. “That Sorting Hat … it’s bogus …”

“Yeah?” Elena challenged, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Jordanna nodded. “Yeah. Look, I belong in Slytherin …”

From beside Elena, Narcissa put down her goblet and asked, “How can we be so sure?”

Jordanna took a look around the Great Hall nervously and then dropped her voice to a whisper. “You know this so called war that’s on the brink of starting?”

The nearest students around her immediately stopped what they were doing and all exchanged a glance. Lucius narrowed his eyes, as did Andrew, and the two met the others’ eyes.

“How d’you know about-” Narcissa began, but was cut off by Jordanna.

“The war?” she supplied. The others nodded suspiciously. “Well, wouldn’t a real pure-blood know about that?” She specifically looked at Adrienne as she said it, whose face seemed blank.

“Who’re you working for?” Lucius finally asked.

Jordanna let out a laugh. “Oh please; my mother is a retired Healer and my dad is a Muggle coffee shop owner. I highly doubt two old folk who are socially incapable when it comes to wizards and the wizarding world would know about a war …”

At least she was partially telling the truth.

“Then how do you-?”

“Look,” she cut him off. “You wanted to know why I deserve to be a Slytherin.” She lowered her voice again. “This so called ‘war’ and the mastermind behind it … the Dark Lord as they call him, I believe, well let’s just say I think he has the right idea when it comes to blood and purity.”

A few spots down a boy with a long, crooked nose and slightly greasy hair stopped short of putting his fork into his mouth, and lowered it slightly, but Jordanna paid no attention to him. Everyone exchanged glances again and Lucius folded his arms in deliberation. From beside him, Narcissa caught a glance at everyone around them at the table and then turned to Jordanna, her face still quite expressionless.

“You know what, Elena?” she began, turning to the young girl beside her. “She’s got potential.”

Jordanna raised her eyebrows in surprise, but quickly recovered and lowered them. She hadn’t excepted them to give in so easily; she had at least four other excuses to argue with, but she smiled to herself as she threw them into the trash inside of her mind, thankful that she no longer needed them.

“Plus,” Jordanna said quietly, “You know what they say about Ravenclaws - we’re smart. Trust me; if you ever need help with anything, I’m sure I’d be able to pull it off.”

Lucius unfolded his arms and sighed. “You’re interesting, Benton, I’ll admit that. You seem like you’re on the right track. Plus one more pure-blood we can save is an advantage for saving the wizarding world.”

Jordanna grinned mischievously. “Trust me,” she said, “you won’t regret it.”

Elena nodded. “You better hope so. Listen, Jordanna, this is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You can be a Slytherin-”

“However not officially,” Jordanna said quietly.

“Exactly. You can be one of us, however one screw up…” Elena made the actions and noise of cutting her neck with a knife.

“You’re out.” Narcissa finished.

Jordanna grinned again and leaned back, whispering, “Excellent.”

Please review.

Author's Notes: Sorry for the long gap between the updates; I had exams in January and then the queue closed when I was ready to post - but it's all good. I want to once again thank Tash, my beta, for doing an awesome job betaing and helped me with Mrs Black's characterization. Hope you like. (3262 words)



Chapter 2: A White Christmas Is Only The Beginning
24 December, 1975


A lonesome figure stood on the snowy doorstep of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, her hands stuffed in her pockets as she waited for someone on the other side of the door to let her in. The sun had fallen hours ago, leaving the sky dark as a bottle of ink and quite starless with all of the cloud cover which was spread out across the sky. The snow on the ground and the rooftops of houses was as white as ever, so thankfully it wasn’t daytime, for then the girl standing on the doorstep would be squinting and straining her eyes against all of the brightness. The girl could also feel a cool, crisp breeze on her face from the snow blowing off of the rooftops. She shivered slightly as she brushed her cheek off.

She also wore a large, black hood over her head and would glance over her shoulder every moment or two, hoping that no one could see her standing on the doorstep of a house that normally wasn’t visible to the neighbors. She sighed just as she heard several clicks on the other side of the door, which then swung open to reveal an elderly woman who looked quite annoyed.

“Oh, Jordanna,” the elderly woman began, her annoyed expression fading. “I thought that you maybe were one of those Muggle sales �“ oh never mind,” she shook her head and stepped back, allowing Jordanna to enter the house. The woman shut the door quickly and with a tap of her wand, the locks sealed themselves shut again. Jordanna lowered her hood and observed the foyer she stood in.

It was rather dark to be the opening of a house, Jordanna thought; however she had been to Grimmauld Place a few times before in order to know that just like the foyer, the house in general was rather dark. A serpent shaped gas lantern on the wall beside her burned a black candle; Jordanna noted that the candle did not seem to diminish.

She turned around, breaking concentration from the candle and turned to the elderly woman, who was now stowing her wand back into her apron. “Mrs Black, you look better than ever.”

Mrs Black merely shook her head. “I’m old, dear.”

Jordanna smiled and looked over her shoulder slightly. “So, er, is Regulus home by any chance? He told me to drop by if I felt like it-”

Mrs Black nodded and pointed to the staircase behind Jordanna. “He’s in his room; he doesn’t want to come out.”

“D’you know why?”

Mrs Black shook her head. “I think he and Sirius had a bit of a fight, to be honest. He hasn’t come out all day.”

Jordanna smiled again. “Thanks, Mrs Black. I’ll just show myself up.”

She turned on her heel and began walking up the staircase which led to the several floors above. She heard Mrs Black disappear into a door down the hall. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, as it was called, was a typical large house which housed some of the purest of pure-bloods in the entire wizarding world. It was quite intriguing to be in the house, Jordanna thought, for it had everything from a dungeon below to a library on the highest level. She passed the first floor and continued onto the second.

Like the foyer on the main floor, the rest of the house was just as dark. Each level had its own serpent shaped gas lantern, illuminating the area just enough to see where you were going, and where each door was located in the hall. Each level, Jordanna noted, had around three to four doors that were visible from where she stood.

Once reaching the third landing, Jordanna exited the staircase and walked down the hall. Regulus, the youngest Black, had his room right at the end of the hall. Like the other doors, his door was made of dark wood and had an old fashioned brass knob. She pressed her ear to the door and listened for any noise, but heard none. She looked at the doorknob and slowly placed her hand on it, turning it quietly without bothering to knock.

Jordanna pushed the door open and cringed at the sound of a slight creak. She paused and looked around the room and smiled at the sight of the boy on the other side of the room at a desk, his back to the door, hunched over what looked like a stack of papers.

“Bother to knock much?” he spoke, not making an effort to turn around and look at the entrant.

Jordanna chuckled silently and closed the door, making her way ever so quietly to the desk he sat at. She extended her arms and placed her small hands over his eyes.

“What the-?” Regulus spluttered, sitting up straighter and attempting to turn around to see.

“Guess who?” Jordanna whispered into his ear. Regulus stopped moving and sighed.

“I know that voice,” he said. Jordanna removed her hands from his eyes, made her way a few feet over to the bed and sat down while Regulus turned around fully.

“You better,” Jordanna said. “We’ve known each other for how long now?”

“Four and a half years,” Regulus answered.

Jordanna grinned and shook her head in a laughable manner.

“Sounds about right,” she said.

Regulus nodded and leaned back in his chair; the only source of light he had in his room now shone directly upon him, illuminating his handsome features. Regulus had a pale, oval shaped face with a rather small forehead. His grey eyes stood out amongst his facial appearances; they almost looked like a dull sheet of ice which could pierce anything in its path. Jordanna had seen and known this feeling before. Even though Regulus’ company was rather enjoyable, he was known to make even his closest friend in his company feel unwanted at times, especially in his time of anger.

Jordanna watched Regulus lick his lips casually; unlike the rest of his face, his lips stood out the most, even more so than his eyes. Unlike the rest of his face, his lips were full of color and always so soft.

“So how come you’re here?” Regulus asked, bringing his hands together in front of him.

“I needed time away from my home,” she said truthfully. “You can only take so much of quiet at a time.” Jordanna paused. “Plus it’s Christmas Eve. I wanted to see you …”

Regulus nodded slowly and then stood up, making his way over to the girl on his bed, sitting down next to her. “I wanted to see you too,” he told Jordanna. “I haven’t seen or heard from you since break started.”

“I’ve been with my mum-”

“Is she feeling better?” Regulus interjected, his voice still quite casual.

“Not really,” she told him. “She’s still quite sick. She’s as pale as a ghost, but she’s hanging in there.”

There was silence amongst the two of them. Jordanna took the time to look around his room, which, in the two years they had been dating, had not changed in the slightest sense. Somewhere in the house, Jordanna then heard a loud conversation take place between a man and a woman. The woman she could easily identify as Mrs Black, however the man seemed to sound a bit young to be her husband.

“Is your mum arguing with your brother again?” she asked slowly.

Regulus glanced towards the door and shrugged. “Wouldn’t doubt it,” he said. “He’s been arguing with everyone today; I heard him telling my father that he wanted to move in with Potter,” he shook his head and then looked back at Jordanna who had taken to staring at him intently. “What?”

“You two are so different,” she told him.

“I should hope so.”

“In a good way, of course,” she said to him. “I mean, you’re everything a girl could want, Regulus; you respect your family’s traditions; you know what is considered right and wrong in this excuse of a world and you can be so evil at times it could make anyone want to jump in your arms and snog you senseless.”

Regulus looked impressed with himself. “And him.”

Jordanna sighed in thought. “I guess he’s everything a blood traitor could want. I mean, okay I’ll admit it, he’s good looking �“ hold on, hold on, let me finish,” she added, seeing Regulus’ expression turn cold. “But he hangs out with Lupin, Potter and Pettigrew - I mean c’mon, they’re all absolute idiots …”

Jordanna raised his eyebrow mischievously. “Plus,” she said, “He can’t be half the man you are.”

Regulus grinned. “You think?” he asked quietly.

“I know,” Jordanna grinned. She extended her arms and wrapped them around Regulus’ neck and was about to expect a long snog session when …

“Think you ought to be doing that Reg?” came an unexpected voice from the door. Both Regulus and Jordanna looked around to see Sirius standing casually against the door frame.

“Get out,” Regulus said coldly, standing up and making his way over to his older brother.

“It’s a free country,” Sirius said, “plus you’re always snooping around in my room, I’m just returning the favor.”

Jordanna sat up on the bed, now slightly annoyed at Sirius. She had to put up with him and his cockiness all of the time in class when at school, but on the holidays, Jordanna sighed, it was overwhelming.

“Just get out, Sirius,” Regulus said again. “Or I’ll-”

“What?” Sirius cut his younger brother off. “You’ll tell Mummy and Daddy?” He chuckled whole-heartedly. “Please, then I can tell them that you were about to shag your girlfriend under their roof …”

Regulus’ eyes thinned, and was about to open his mouth to say something when Jordanna cut him off. “Well at least they like me,” she said, making her way over to the door. “I think they’d rather be in the company of me rather than you, so if their real son wants to have sex with his girlfriend … so be it.”

Sirius laughed again and grabbed his heart. “Ouch! That hurt, Benton. Please, you think I don’t know that?” He shook his head. “Of course they prefer you over me; dunno why to be honest, you’re not a Slytherin either …”

“Sirius, shut-”

“You shut up, Regulus,” Jordanna cut him off. “I can handle this. I may not be an official Slytherin, Sirius, but I’m whole lot better than you; you’re just a blood traitor, I’m not. End of discussion.”

Jordanna turned to Regulus and pecked him on the cheek. “I ought to be going,” she said quietly. “I need to tend to my mum.”

Regulus did not nod or say anything. Instead he continued to stare at his older brother, who was knocked slightly off balance as Jordanna exited the room. Sirius watched her go, and once out of sight, he laughed.

“That’s one piece of work you got there-”

“Just get out!” Regulus took his wand out of his pocket and waved it, sending the wooden door slamming shut in front of Sirius’s face, locking it in the process. Regulus made his way over to the dresser he had been sitting at earlier and was sitting down when he heard:

“I’m going to pretend that that door didn’t just slam on my foot! Just watch your back, Regulus, I’m warning you.”

He listened as he heard Sirius begin walking down the hall, and huffed when he heard them disappear down the stairs.

“Idiot.”




It was the last day of Christmas Holidays and Jordanna was sitting quietly in the kitchen, lazily mixing the cereal in her bowl. Even though it was ten o’clock at night and cereal was quite the morning thing to eat, Jordanna didn’t care. She always ate cereal; she could live off of it if she had to.

She had spent all day packing her belongings so she could return to Hogwarts the next day. She would, of course, be riding the Hogwarts Express back to the school, and hopefully would be in the company of Regulus, or Elena, and not anywhere near Sirius Black. As she contemplated that night when she had been at Grimmauld Place, she realized she hated Sirius even more, if that was even possible. She somewhat dreaded going back to school just because she didn’t want to put up with him and his attitude.

She gently threw her spoon back into her bowl, not wanting to finish the rest of her late night snack, and was putting the bowl into the sink when she heard her mother calling her weakly.

“Jordanna, please come here.”

She sighed, paused, and then said, “I’m coming.” She made her way into the den where her mother was lying on a pull-out bed which they had placed in there a year ago. Her mother was lying on her back, her quill in her right hand and had her left hand extended, attempting to grab something off of the desk beside her.

“Yes, Mother?”

“Will you be a dear and pass me my notebook?” Mrs Benton said quietly. “I just saw something I thought I ought to write down.”

Jordanna pursed her lips together and made her way around the bed and grabbed the black wire bound notebook. She handed it to her mum and then sat down on a chair.

“Are you sure you ought to be tiring yourself out?”

Mrs Benton shook her head. “Jordanna this isn’t tiring; it’s my life. I’ve gotten used to the strain it puts on my mind.”

“But-”

“I’m alright, dear, trust me. Now pass me that ink bottle.”

Jordanna obeyed. She sat in the room for half an hour, watching her mother hastily scribble notes into her notebook, pausing every couple of minutes to close her eyes to think. When she finally stopped writing, she flipped her notebook back a couple of pages and began to read from the top, hastily adding in notes here and there. Jordanna waited another couple of minutes for her mother to stop, and when she finally did, Adelaide turned to her daughter.

“Now tell me, what did you do today?”

Jordanna shrugged. “I packed …” she said. “And cleaned.”

“That’s all?”

“Yeah.”

There was a long pause in which Jordanna moved uncomfortably in her chair. She honestly did not like sitting by her mother’s side in the den because it made her feel depressed. Just sitting there, watching her mother waste away while quickly writing as much as she could in her notebook … Merlin, she hated that notebook, the only good that came from it was that if her mother had not pressured her those somewhat years ago for her to befriend the Slytherins, she would not be whom she was today. She would probably be friends with the Gryffindors … Jordanna shuddered.

“What exactly do you write in there?” she asked quietly.

Mrs Benton looked up and smiled. “Everything,” she answered. “Well everything to do with the war; I’ve been fascinated by it ever since I had that first premonition, Jordanna. I know I won’t be here to see the end of the war, which could be years from now, so this is my only means of communication. I have pictured the ending so many times, and while at times it changes, there are still lots of gaps. I hope that by the time I die, I will have it all figured out.”

“But what if someone finds out?” Jordanna asked quietly. “What if they figure out you knew all along just what is going to happen? Doesn’t that put you in danger? Doesn’t that put me in danger?”

Mrs Benton shook her head and attempted to sit up in her bed. Jordanna stood up quickly and helped her.

“Remember when you were eleven and going into Hogwarts?” Jordanna nodded. “And that I told you I wanted you to become a Slytherin, befriend the side of the dark so you could be safe?”

“I thought you said that the ending changes every time?” Jordanna asked.

Mrs Benton nodded. “Not every time, dear. There are times, few times, when the side of light wins but I don’t pay attention to those ones much because the details are unclear. You can’t live off of unclear details. But that’s why I am so grateful that you are friends with the sons and daughters of the pure-bloods in the world … you’re in a relationship with Regulus Black, Jordanna, you couldn’t be any safer …”

“But-”

“But nothing, dear,” Mrs Benton said quietly. “After years of studying the matter, and fearing I won’t figure everything out before I die, I can say that I feel safe leaving this life because I know you will be safe.”

Jordanna was quiet. Sure she had known her mother was passionate about the future and what it would bring but she had never known she would do anything to make sure it turned out the way she wanted it to.

“How do you known that one action won’t change the way the war will turn out?” Jordanna asked quietly.

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “You’ve always said that everyone in the world plays a part in how it will end, how it will impact the future. What if, say, someone close to the Dark Lord, his most faithful servant say, dies of, I don’t know, a stray curse?”

“But I still know, dear,” Mrs Benton said quietly. “The only way for the war to take a drastic turn is if all of those details in those certain premonitions I’ve had are filled in, so they all make sense. The likelihood of that happening, Jordanna, is very small.”

“How do you know? What if they are all filled in?”

Mrs Benton sighed and placed her hands folded on top of her notebook. “You’re right, dear, they could be filled in, but that’s not what I was concerned about. One of the first visions I had, dear, was of you, and ever since then I’ve based my information and theories off of that particular one.”

Jordanna looked up slightly confused. “What?”

“I’ve seen your future dear, and every time you are happy, living and most importantly, safe. And if I always have premonitions of the side of dark winning, it’s not hard to piece two and two together.”

Jordanna looked at the notebook in her mother’s lap. So that was why her mum had been so urgent about everything. She had known all along that her daughter would be safe … Jordanna felt somewhat small in a sense. She felt something tug at her heart. It wasn’t only just because Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters would win the war; it was much more than that. She had left out half of the details as to why she wanted her one and only child to be someone she wasn’t.

Don’t think like that. Jordanna shook her head. She was happy who she was. She had some of the best friends in the world, and had a boyfriend who made her feel happy.

“Aren’t you happy, dear?” It was almost like her mother had read her mind.

Jordanna fidgeted in her chair. “Of course I am.”

“Then why are you worrying?”

Jordanna suddenly stood up. “I’m going to go and eat a bowl of cereal,” she said quietly. “G’night.” She exited the den quickly, leaving Adelaide Benton to smile sadly.

Author's Note: This story is still in the 'introduction' stage, as I've had Jordanna explore more than one location in the first couple of chapters, but the next chapter should go smoother, as it's starting to get (more) down to the plot line. I once again want to thank my lovely beta, Tash (Pondering) who helped me out with a slight 'had' situation my opening paragraph seemed to be having (and loads more). Thanks! (3887 words)



Chapter 3: Everything In Its Right Place
5 January, 1976


The previous night had been as normal as the first day back to school could get. At eleven o’clock in the morning, Jordanna, along with all of the other students who had gone home for the holidays, had boarded the Hogwarts Express on platform nine and three-quarters. They had arrived at the Hogsmeade station near Hogwarts several hours later; most had been happy to be back, while others had dreaded the homework they knew would be coming in the next couple of weeks.

Jordanna had lounged around in the Slytherin common room with the others that evening, impatiently waiting for dinner to start. A disruption in the kitchens earlier that day had caused the House Elves to delay dinner, causing many students to become disgruntled. Although it wasn’t quite appropriate for a student from another house to be in a common room that wasn’t theirs, no one ever said anything. Jordanna was just another fellow Slytherin to most of her classmates.

As Jordanna took her usual spot in the common room, Elena began to laugh as she, too, took a spot by the fire.

“I heard you had a bit of a fight with Sirius Black on the holidays …”

Jordanna shrugged. “I wouldn’t say it was a fight,” she said. “It was more of another heated run in with Black. I feel sorry for Regulus, though, he had to put up with his brother for years before Hogwarts and I only have to see him during class …”

“Well if you look at it on the bright side,” Adrienne began as she flipped through a book half-heartedly. “There are only, what, two more years left of school-”

“That’s definitely something to look forward to,” Jordanna said sarcastically.

However once dinner had begun, Jordanna had been forced to sit with her friend Emily Chambers at the Ravenclaw table. Emily had dragged her to sit with her at the appropriate table when Jordanna had gone up to the girl’s dormitory to put her bag down. It wasn’t that Jordanna didn’t like Emily, for when not around her Slytherin friends she was with the Ravenclaw girl, but there were times when Emily could get a bit annoying. She never fully understood as to why a Ravenclaw would be hanging out and dating the Slytherins in the school, and quite frankly, Jordanna never wanted to explain.

At breakfast the next morning Jordanna had once again sat at the Ravenclaw table with Emily; she was a morning person who could get up at the crack at dawn if desired, while her friends all slept in as late as they possibly could.

It was a normal Monday morning and Jordanna ate her eggs in quiet, observing Emily reading a book as she slowly sipped a cup of tea. Emily was a girl with long, blonde hair which made Jordanna dread her own, rather dull brown locks. Jordanna watched Emily’s dark eyes move quickly across the page of the book and every once in a while, she blinked. Emily was a tanned olive color, and had a slight Scottish accent. She was a fairly nice girl and always kind to those around her, with the exception of those like Elena Parkinson and her friends.

Jordanna had always wondered why Emily was still friends with her if she was friends with Elena. Maybe it was the fact that she saw something in Jordanna that she, herself, could not. Jordanna shrugged off the feeling and continued eating her eggs.

“What do you two have first period?” a voice from beside Emily suddenly spoke. The two girls looked up to see a small brunette leaning across her friend Sienna to talk.

“Potions, Marybeth, just like you.”

If there was anyone else in the world that could be more annoying than Sirius Black, it was Jordanna’s fellow classmate, Marybeth Corner. She was exactly the type of person who got their nose into everyone else’s business. She was Hogwarts’ go-to girl for gossip, and all while it was interesting to hear about other people’s business, Jordanna hated it when the rumors being spread were about her.

Marybeth chuckled. “I forgot we had Potions first.” She went back to sitting normally in her seat and Jordanna rolled her eyes in anger. Her voice, a high pitched squeak, was just one of the many annoying things about Marybeth Corner.

First period came twenty minutes later and once in the dungeon, Jordanna spotted her usual seat open beside Evan. She quickly made her way over and sat down next to him, throwing her bag on the floor at her feet. She looked up at the board, hoping to see what they would be doing today, but sadly there was nothing.

“We aren’t doing notes today, are we?” she asked Evan. He shook his head.

“I’m pretty sure we’re making something; Slughorn just hasn’t been in here yet. I saw the supply cupboard open and he wouldn’t leave it open if we weren’t making anything.”

She nodded. “Good. I don’t feel like doing an essay on herbs or something.”

Jordanna looked around the classroom and watched as more Ravenclaw and Slytherin students filed into the dungeon. The class seemed to be split half and half, with the Ravenclaws on the side closest to the door and the Slytherins further into the dungeon. Jordanna, however, was the exception. She always was when it came to seating arrangements. She sat right in the middle of the Slytherins. Her first couple of years at Hogwarts, Jordanna had always been the girl everyone stared at. So what if she wasn’t best friends with people from her own house? What she did and wanted to do was her business.

“Good morning, class,” said the all too familiar voice of Professor Slughorn entering the dungeon as a bell overhead rang. Jordanna watched him waddle into the class, a dessert of some type in his right hand with his lesson plan under his arm. “It’s good to have you all back. Today we will be making a potion with a two foot essay preceding it; instructions will follow later. Please, no groaning.”

Slughorn then placed his dessert on the desk in front of him and took his wand out of pocket. He waved it and several types of instructions in white chalk immediately appeared on the board in front of the class. Jordanna read the instructions as quickly as she could and then hopped off of her chair with Evan when Slughorn told them to start.

As Jordanna collected a few vials of salamander blood, from beside her, Evan was attempting to grab the pomegranate juice which was stored on the top shelf of the room. After many failed attempts of trying to reach it from the back of the crowd, Evan summoned it, causing Jordanna to chuckle.

The rest of the class was spent making a Strengthening Solution. It was a fairly easy period, as most of the harder work in the potion was to be done the next class. Jordanna knew she was awful at brewing potions, and so did the rest of the class, but she pleasantly surprised when Slughorn ‘okayed’ her brew when the bell rang eighty minutes later.

After packing up her bag lazily, Jordanna exited the dungeon with Evan, Elena and Adrienne and said goodbye to the three of them as they turned down the hall towards the Slytherin common room. She continued walking to the main level of the school, hoping to grab a bite to eat in the Great Hall before her next class.

Upon entering the Entrance Hall, Jordanna was able to catch a glimpse of the grounds outside as she walked by. The entire landscape was white, covered in fluffy snow. There was one barely visible pathway leading to Hagrid’s cabin, and another leading to the greenhouses which were just around the corner of the school. Although winter could be absolutely beautiful, the weather was dreadful, especially this year in particular.

The air outside for the past two and a half months at Hogwarts was colder than usual; for those students with classes outside, like Care of Magical Creatures or Herbology, the walk to said destinations could sometimes be unbearable. The wind was always at a high speed, blowing the snow on the ground everywhere, making the pathway sometimes incredibly hard to find.

Jordanna sighed; some luck she had. Her last class of the day, she’d be bundled up outside with Professor Kettleburn and his Care of Magical Creatures class. She wondered if maybe Kettleburn would sympathize for his students and hold the class indoors … Jordanna shook the thought out of her head and continued walking towards the Great Hall, but just before she entered, she looked over her shoulder and spotted a group of students crowding the bulletin board. Curiosity getting the better of her, Jordanna turned around and stood at the back of the crowd.

“What’s it say?” she asked an older student who had just emerged from the front of the crowd.

“Hogsmeade trip on Valentines Day,” the older boy said. “McGonagall just posted it.”

Jordanna furrowed her brows. “They’re already announcing it? But they usually don’t until a few weeks before …”

The boy shrugged. “Dunno,” he said before walking away. If it was just a Hogsmeade trip, she was certain she could get more details about it later. She could bet that there were signs posted all over the school. Jordanna sighed and then turned around once again and headed back up the main staircase, forgetting about grabbing a bite to eat.

The disadvantage of it being a Monday morning was that first period she and the other Ravenclaws had Potions down in the dungeon and then following a short break was Charms which just so happened to be on the seventh floor of the school. It often made her late for class when she had to go to her dormitory to get another textbook or to place her Potions one down. Emily had once suggested carrying both of her books, but Jordanna did not want to. She did not want to lug around two heavy textbooks.

A few minutes later as she approached the seventh landing she paused as she heard a few voices from around the corner. The corridor, quite surprisingly, was seemingly deserted. She rounded the corner and immediately shook her head at the sight of James Potter and Lily Evans, two fifth year Gryffindors.

“C’mon Evans,” James Potter was saying. “Just come to Hogsmeade with me-”

“I said no, Potter,” Lily retorted back, her face starting to match the shade of her red hair. Jordanna, a few feet away, leaned back against a suit of armor and continued watching, amused. “And the answer has been ‘no’, I don’t know, the past dozen times!”

James sighed. “Evans-”

“And that’s another thing, Potter; if you’re trying to win my affection, which you most certainly will not, try using my first name instead of my last. It seems nicer.”

Stubborn James sighed yet again. “Fine, Lily, please just go with me to Hogsmeade next month. It doesn’t have to be a date …we can just hang out …”

Lily paused; she seemed to be thinking it over, much to James’ happiness, but his face fell instantly when she said, “No” rather bluntly before walking away.

James stood there, watching her round the corner to where Jordanna suspected was the Gryffindor common room. She removed herself from the wall and walked forward.

“Pathetic,” she laughed as she approached James.

He turned around and frowned. “What do you want, Benton?”

Jordanna shrugged. “Nothing. I just find it amusing that a guy can get rejected so many times, and yet, still have the energy to bounce right back up and ask the same girl out over and over again.”

James stood there and rolled his eyes. “I don’t have any patience right now, Benton, so if you don’t mind I’m going to go to my next class.” He started to walk past Jordanna but stopped when she began talking again.

“You know,” she began, “what makes you honestly think that after dozens of times of saying no, Evans will magically say yes?”

James turned. “Looking out for her Benton, are we now?” He looked slightly amused. “Not quite like you.”

Jordanna’s eyes thinned. “Never. But as a completely unrelated third party, and being a girl myself, I must say, I’m surprised that Evans hasn’t knocked the living daylights out of you yet. I would if a guy like you kept doing the same thing to me as you’re doing to Evans.”

James ran a hand through his hair. “Well you know what Benton? This is none of your business-”

“Maybe not,” Jordanna cut him off quietly. “I’m just stating the obvious.” She turned on her heel and began walking down the hall, leaving James Potter quite still and quite confused. She also heard him mutter “Oh crap,” when the overhead bell rang, signaling the start of the next class.

And thankfully, Jordanna had made it just in time.




After a quick lunch that day that Jordanna spent mostly in the library, checking out books for a Charms essay before they were all borrowed, Jordanna headed up to the North Tower for her first Divination class of the New Year. At the bottom of the trapdoor that led to the classroom were other fifth year Ravenclaws and, much to Jordanna’s dismay, Gryffindors.

One of the main reasons Jordanna had ended up taking Divination in her third year was because of her mother, and not because she considered it an easy subject like the other duds in her year did. Even though she was not a Seer like her mum, Jordanna always found the subject to be a particularly interesting one. The only disadvantage about taking the class was that she was always stuck with people like Sirius Black and James Potter in her class.

“We’re actually early,” said a small, squat Gryffindor boy by the name of Peter Pettigrew as he approached the crowd of his fellow students. He was one of James Potter and Sirius Black’s best friends, which still to this day, surprised Jordanna. “We’re never on time.”

“New Year, m’boy,” Sirius chimed in happily. “And that calls for new measures, eh, Prongs?”

James, who was often referred to as Prongs by his groupies, nodded. “Plus Moony made sure of it we were early …” He glanced sideways at a boy leaning against the wall, a textbook open in his hands. He was Remus Lupin, and for the life of her Jordanna could never figure out why he hung out with the other three idiots. He was probably the nicest out of the bunch, the smartest, and was also a Prefect. He hung around with a group of boys who caused trouble simply because they were bored, yet Prefects were assigned to help prevent trouble like that. He definitely sat in the wrong compartment during the ride to Hogwarts in their first year.

A bell overhead rang and instantly the trapdoor on the ceiling sprung open, revealing the ladder which led to the rather big, yet stuffy, Divination classroom. One by one, everyone climbed up into the room.

“Good afternoon, class,” said the woman at the front of the class once everyone had entered. She was an elderly lady who could easily pass off as a Muggle woman who answered a Muggle telephone for a living, giving people their fortunes and had her fair share of tabby cats. She wore the same thing every day: a white cardigan with an emerald shawl wrapped around her shoulders and a long white skirt which fell past her ankles. Her hair, the same as her clothes, also never changed: long, flowing and vibrant red. Her name was Madam Amelia, and was the one of the only teachers at Hogwarts to not have ‘professor’ in the title of their name.

Although Madam Amelia didn’t talk much about her life before Hogwarts, she was written about in her fair share of textbooks. After some research, Jordanna had figured out Madam Amelia was a fairly good Seer and had helped the Ministry many years ago with her special ability. However it was never disclosed as to what exactly she helped the Ministry with. That piece of information always seemed to be left out.

“Today, class,” she began as everyone took their usual seats in the classroom, Jordanna sitting with Emily at their table near the fireplace, “we will go back to a subject we did a few years ago. I know a lot of you had trouble with it, why, I don’t know, however you should have known it would not be the end. With your OWLs this year, part of the exam just might include this subject.”

Madam Amelia waved her hand and a cupboard next to the fireplace sprung open, revealing a whole lot of tattered textbooks. Jordanna recognized them immediately.

“Dreams,” Amelia continued. “It’s a tricky subject, yet can tell you things that you yourself might not even know. For the next month or two we will continue dream documentation, and they must - be - real. I won’t stress enough that false information will be not be tolerated. Yes, Miss Evans?”

Lily, who was sitting on the other side of the class with her friend, sat up straight and cleared her throat. “What happens if we don’t have a dream one night?”

Amelia smiled and then sighed. “Dear, every night you have a dream, however it’s up to you to remember and figure them out. Any witch or wizard has that ability; you can’t be lazy about it. This isn’t an easy subject, as I’m sure some of you thought when you signed up. No, this is a practice of the Inner Eye, and this study will help you with that.”

She walked over to the dresser and extracted the textbooks with her wand; they were all levitated to place themselves in front of each student. “For the first two weeks or so starting today we will work as a class studying dreams in general; there will be notes so I won’t tolerate any excuses as to why you cannot take notes. Trust me; I’ve heard ‘em all. Then the two weeks preceding you will work individually by studying and explaining your dreams. One foot essay for each dream-”

Madam Amelia raised her eyebrow and look pointedly at Peter Pettigrew who had groaned and muttered something under his breath as she announced the particular assignment. “-which will all be due at the end of the two week period. After that you will be assigned into pairs in which you will then analyze their dreams. You will also have two weeks, and maybe if I’m generous, three tops. It all depends on how you work, and yes, that does mean giving me regular updates on where you are at. I know this takes up quite a chunk of the semester, however it will prepare you for your OWLs greatly �“ although you may not realize it �“ and for if you choose to study with me next year.”

“But isn’t that a lot of work?” asked a blonde haired Gryffindor girl who was sitting beside Lily.

Madam Amelia shook her head. “Balance is the key, children-” Jordanna frowned at the use of the world ‘children’. She was definitely not a child. “-and if you balance out your work for this subject along with your other subjects, this will be no simpler than doing a two line essay. So if you were not listening, Miss Vance, as I suspect you were not, no, this is not a lot of work.”

Emmeline Vance blushed as she was caught talking under her breath to Lily. Emmeline moved slightly in her seat and sat up straight to prove to Madam Amelia that she was indeed paying attention.

“This should be fun,” Emily said sarcastically from beside Jordanna. She leaned on her elbow on the small rounded table and sighed. “I have no clue why I took this subject,” she confessed. “I should have taken Muggle Studies.”

Jordanna shrugged. “It’s interesting.”

Emily nodded and made a face that plainly said “yeah, sure it is.” She opened the textbook in front of her entitled The Dream Oracle and began reading its content, but only after a few pages of skimming, Emily nodded and snapped the textbook shut.

At the front of the class Madam Amelia was now pulling down a chalkboard attached to a string that hung from the ceiling. The class had gone quiet and she pulled her wand out of her pocket and tapped the board. “Now, let me ask you: what’s a class without some notes?” She chuckled as the class groaned and opened their bags to take out a quill, ink and parchment and began to write.




Seventy, long minutes later the bell rang once again and the class exited the Divination classroom and began heading down the many flights of stairs. A few of the students went the opposite way and continued down the hall of the seventh floor whereas the other students continued downwards.

“I don’t know how you enjoy that!” Emily exclaimed once on the sixth floor. “I feel like I have no voice in that class; it’s too damn quiet!”

Jordanna shrugged. “Long story; my mum got me into that stuff.”

As they continued down more flights of stairs, she turned around when she heard her name being called from behind. “Jordanna!”

She turned around and smiled at the sight of Regulus walking slowly towards, a rather large transfiguration book under his arm. Emily bit her lip and then said, “Look, I’ll just see you in Herbology.” Jordanna nodded and directed her attention back to Regulus as he finally approached.

She hugged him and gave him a peck on the cheek. “How’s your day been?”

Regulus shook his head and dropped the large textbook at his feet; it fell open and a few pieces of paper fell out. He shrugged and looked back up. “Boring as hell,” he said. “But look, I was wondering, are you going to come to the Slytherin common room later tonight?”

Jordanna shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe. I haven’t seen Elena since first period-”

“Do you have to come to see only Elena? Why not just me?” He gave a small smirk and Jordanna laughed.

“Well I suppose I could pop by there after dinner,” she said. “Come find me and I’ll sit with you guys.”

Regulus nodded and then grabbed her hand, bringing her closer and kissing her just as someone walked by and said, “Get a room.”

The two broke apart and Jordanna gritted her teeth as she saw Sirius walk by, James, Peter and Remus in tow.

“Man, I never get enough of that guy.”

Regulus shook his head. “Just ignore him.” He pulled his wand out from his pocket and muttered a charm and his book and notes flew back into his arms. He walked away.

“At least he’s more cheerful than last time,” Jordanna noted under her breath as she watched Regulus walk away, going in the opposite direction in which his older brother had just went.

Author's Note: OH MY GOSH, you wouldn't beleive how GOOD it feels to start posting again! I wasn't on a hiatus (well I was but it wasn't by choice - my computer decided to get a handful of viruses - see my Profile for complete details). I'm hoping to get back into a pattern of posting as much as I can. I start school again in September, so I'm going to try and do my best. SORRY for the INCREDIBLY LONG WAIT! And special thanks, again, to Tash (Pondering), who I seriously need to email at the moment! Enjoy! (4215 words)



Chapter 4: Valentine’s Day
13 February, 1976


The rest of January went with a blast and by the time Jordanna knew it, it was February. February also meant one special holiday, Valentine’s Day, which would allow those students from the third year and up to visit the village of Hogsmeade for the occasion. This year Valentine’s Day fell on a Saturday, so a trip to the wizarding village had been planned for the entire day.

Students with permission to go to the village were free to do anything within the allowed limits. They could go to and from Hogsmeade all day if desired, however the rather chilling weather would almost certainly prevent most from doing so.

On the Friday before the trip to Hogsmeade, Jordanna found herself in the Ravenclaw common room, lounging in a chair next to the fire and finishing a Divination essay that she would rather get out of the way before the weekend started. In Divination, Jordanna’s class had just completed their individual tasks for their dream documentation (to be handed in complete on Monday) however she wasn’t too particular as to being partnered up with someone so they could analyze her dreams. She was fine with reading someone else’s, however Jordanna was afraid that she would dream of something she didn’t want anyone to know.

Madam Amelia had said no lies, after all.

Jordanna paused her writing and stuck her quill in between her teeth in thought. The previous night she had dreamt about playing Quidditch for the Ravenclaw team, however, the problem was Jordanna couldn’t play Quidditch to save her life. She had been terrible in her first year when Madam Hooch had first taught them how to fly. She had barely gone a few feet off the ground before shrieking and falling off. And then she had been forced to watch James Potter fly by her, as though flying was just as easy as breathing. It was just another reason to add onto the list as to why Jordanna hated the Gryffindors: they all thought they were show-offs and could do anything and everything.

She quickly flipped through her textbook and tried to find the translation of ‘Quidditch’. When she found it, she raised her eyebrow in surprise. “Bitter disappointment,” she mumbled, “that’s a load of bull.” Jordanna shook her head and hastily wrote it down, changing a good portion of the answer to suit her writing and then returned back to her essay. She must have a bogus textbook, she concluded. Perhaps she would do a swap with Emily next time she wasn’t looking.

“Jordanna.”

She looked around and saw Emily entering the common room.

“What’s up?” Jordanna turned to her essay again as Emily approached her sitting place and finished up her sentence. Emily sat down across from her and opened her bag on her lap and extracted two textbooks. Jordanna kept writing.

“Have you finished your Potions essay yet?” she asked. Jordanna looked up and saw a tattered school textbook in Emily’s lap; it was one of Professor Slughorn’s textbooks from his classroom that he had lent out a few days ago.

She shook her head. “No. I was going to do it later on.”

Emily sighed. “Damn; I don’t get what he means by ‘justify your answers.’ I mean, how do you justify how alchemists founded-”

“I have no idea,” Jordanna cut her off, returning to her Divination essay and chuckling. “Everyone knows I’m horrible at Potions so I don’t really try nowadays.”

Emily forced a smile and nodded. There was a slight silence between the two of them as she bit her lip and looked down at the textbooks in her lap. “Are you even going to do the essay?”

Jordanna nodded. “Eventually.” She looked up and shrugged. “Or I might ask Evan to do it for me; he actually gets half of the crap Slughorn teaches and assigns.”

Emily’s face fell at the mention of Evan’s name. She particularly didn’t like discussing the Slytherins with Jordanna, for she didn’t really like them. The fact that her friend was practically one of them created even more tension between the two girls. Emily was always afraid of saying the wrong thing, so normally, she kept her mouth shut.

“Oh,” Emily began, “I, er, see-”

Jordanna stared at Emily and sighed when she saw her face. “I’m sorry; it’s just, well, I kind of sometimes forget you don’t like them.”

Emily shook her head. “It’s alright; everyone has someone in the world they’d rather not be around, and, well, some of the Slytherins are mine.” She paused and shrugged. “Just like you and Sirius Black and his friends.”

“I don’t like Sirius Black because he’s an arrogant, self-centered-”

“Idiot?” Emily supplied. “Jerk?”

Jordanna, slightly flustered, nodded. “Yeah. That’s why I don’t like any of them Gryffindors. They’re all alike.”

Emily bit her lip. “That’s why I don’t like the Slytherins. They all act like they are the only person in the world, and that everyone should bow down to their every need.” She shrugged. “At least that’s how I see them.”

There was a long moment of silence between the two girls, where Jordanna stared at the textbook in her lap and tapped the side of her quill against it.

“Then why do you hang out with me? Everyone always says I’m just like Elena and Adrienne. They’re Slytherins, aren’t they?”

Shrugging, Emily sighed. “I don’t see you as a pure Slytherin, Jordanna. If you were, you would have been put into-”

“Into Slytherin?” Jordanna said rather loudly, cutting Emily off. She looked taken aback slightly, but recovered quickly and nodded. “Just because I wasn’t ‘officially’ placed in Slytherin, Em, it doesn’t mean I’m not one. The Sorting Hat can’t be right with every single damned eleven-year-old that walks into this place, I mean, c’mon, it’s a hat.”

Emily blinked several times, and when she went to open her mouth to speak, Jordanna shook her head and cut her off.

“Listen,” she began, realizing that an argument between them could go on forever. “This is stupid; you’re who you are, and I am who I am. Nothing can change that.”

“You never know.”

Jordanna ignored her. “As you’ve said many times, you don’t like Elena, or Adrienne, or Regulus or any Slytherin for that matter - I shouldn’t bring them up when we’re together …”

Emily shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.” She suddenly stood up and bent down to pick up her bag and her textbooks. “It’s who you are; I don’t expect you to change how you act and who you like for me.”

Jordanna sighed yet again as she watched Emily walk away, her long blonde hair bouncing as she walked up the staircase towards the girl’s dormitory. Jordanna tore her sight away from the stairs and tried to focus back on her homework, but found she couldn’t.

After what felt like an hour of accomplishing absolutely nothing, Jordanna snapped her Divination textbook shut. Stupid Emily, she thought.

She stood up, gathered all of her belongings and walked up into the dormitory, yearning to lie on her bed and welcome the sleep she desperately needed.




The next afternoon could be identified as just as chaotic as the first day back to school had been. There were couples scattered everywhere in the Great Hall, most hand-in-hand, and others standing awkwardly beside each other. There was even the odd large groups that were filled with boys and girls, some standing closer together and some in which the girls were all arm-in-arm whilst the boys stood awkwardly behind them, trying to start a conversation.

Jordanna stood with her hands in her pockets, leaning against a suit of armor with Adrienne. The two girls were waiting for Elena to return from the Slytherin common room so they could venture off into Hogsmeade together.

“What’s taking her so long?” Adrienne complained as she looked at her watch again. “She’s been nearly ten minutes.”

Jordanna shrugged. “Who the hell knows …”

Adrienne pulled her sleeve down and began to fiddle with her green scarf which was wrapped tightly around her neck. Everyone going to Hogsmeade was dressed warmly, as if all expecting the same cold, blowing snow that had been going on all winter. A few people, Jordanna noticed, looked like large bundled up fruit cake. She found this funny, but she knew that once outside, she’d regret dressing so lightly and wished she would’ve dressed like the fruit cake she had been laughing silently at.

“Okay, let’s go,” came a voice behind the pair. Adrienne and Jordanna turned around and watched Elena approach, out of breath.

“Elena,” Adrienne shook her head. “What the hell were you doing?”

“I forgot my scarf,” Elena said and Jordanna snorted. She turned slightly. Sarcastically, she asked, “Think its funny, Benton?”

Jordanna laughed. “Yeah.”

“Yeah, well, you try walking outside in this weather, freezing your butt off.”

“Let’s just go,” Adrienne grabbed the two girls’ arms and linked her own in each of theirs. They walked through the front doors and out onto the front steps of Hogwarts. Jordanna looked around; just as she suspected, it was cold.

The three girls didn’t talk the entire way there. Jordanna had her head bent, trying to cover her face with her jacket while her hands were still tightly stuffed in her pockets. Adrienne was doing the same; however, Elena had now put up her hood and tightened it as far as she could. The blowing snow was working against those going into Hogsmeade, making it hard to walk. Jordanna, after about five minutes, began to trudge her way to the village. She was already tired and her legs were cold, somewhat wet, and it hurt the back of her legs to walk. She would have put a warming spell on herself back in the Great Hall, but honestly (and stupidly) she didn’t think of it at the time, and didn’t want to freeze her hand retrieving her wand from the inside of her jacket.

Once in the village, Adrienne led the way to a rather crowded The Three Broomsticks. There were many students from Hogwarts already packed into the small Pub, leaving no extra seats for the three girls to sit. In the booth next to the door that normally sat four comfortably, Jordanna quickly counted at least six. She snorted quietly at the sight of a tiny blonde sitting on top of who appeared to be her boyfriend, leaving room for his beefy friends. Elena suddenly nudged Jordanna �“ an old wizard appeared to be getting up from the booth he had been sitting in alone. She quickly made her way over.

“I’ll get the drinks,” Elena said as Jordanna and Adrienne sat down. “But I only have enough for one Butterbeer each.”

“S’all right,” Jordanna said. “Regulus’s taking me out to eat after.”

Elena shrugged and then walked away, leaving the two girls alone.

“So where is Regulus anyway?” Adrienne asked as she removed her coat and scarf.

“Apparently, the same place Evan is.”

“So you don’t know?”

Jordanna shook her head. “Nope; haven’t got a clue.”

Adrienne just laughed.

Elena returned several minutes later, three bottles of Butterbeer in her hands. She put them on the table and then slumped in next to Adrienne; the two were now sitting across from Jordanna. Each of them took their Butterbeers and popped
off the top of the bottle. Jordanna took a long gulp.

“How many couples do you reckon are in Madam Puddifoot’s?”

Elena shrugged as she took off her coat. “Well it’s Valentine’s Day, so I guess a lot?” She raised her eyebrow. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Jordanna said truthfully, sighing. “I’m kind of hoping Regulus will take me there, you know? I mean, that’s where we were when he asked me out.”

Adrienne made a tutting noise. “If you still haven’t mentioned it, sorry to say, I don’t think he will.”

Elena snorted in her Butterbeer. “She’s got point: Regulus is handsome, and well, yeah, knows how to ‘talk to the ladies’ as Evan puts it, he isn’t that smart. He’s ‘bout just as smart as his brother.”

Jordanna rolled her eyes. “His brother is a doorknob. Seriously.”

Adrienne laughed.

Jordanna sighed as she slumped back in her seat. “Don’t even start with that joke, please; it’s the worst joke in history.” She took another sip of her Butterbeer and looked out the window. There were still lots of people walking the streets of Hogsmeade; most were walking into stores and very little were coming out. Also, Jordanna noticed, there seemed to be quite a lot of adults in Hogsmeade today. This included the professors of Hogwarts and adults whom Jordanna had never seen before. Personally, if she were older, she would not come into the village on a day that Hogwarts students would be roaming the streets. She’d never get anything accomplished.

“So did you see the Prophet, this morning?” Elena asked; Jordanna looked away from the window and shook her head.

“No, why, what did it say?”

Elena took a sip from her Butterbeer and smiled. “There was a mass killing spree on Muggles in London today.”

Jordanna blinked. “Really?” she asked, intrigued. “So I’m guessing it was Him?”

“The Dark Lord?” Elena asked. “Of course, who else would it be? I talked to my brother today and he said that London is in whole uproar; none of the Muggles know what happened because Ministry workers got there and as soon as they took their statements �“ not that they needed to �“ they modified all of their memories. Personally I don’t know why they bother to do that.”

“Well,” Adrienne said, “C’mon, Elena, they have to.”

“Yeah, but the secret of the wizarding world can’t go on forever; eventually all of the Muggles will know what’s going on. Might as well get it over and done with now.”

“Plus,” Jordanna added, leaning back in her seat, “if they knew, you know how terrified all of them would be? Just walk down the street in some wizard robes and hold out your wand and guarantee that those Muggles will be trembling in their own shoes. Just imagine how much power you could hold over them …”

Elena smiled. “See, Jordanna’s got it right.”

Adrienne sighed and took another sip of her Butterbeer. She looked out the window and bit her lip. She looked somewhat annoyed. In the five years that Jordanna had known the two girls, she had come to realize that Adrienne absolutely hated when Elena would win an argument between the two, of any kind; she hated when she would have an opinion about something and Elena would come in and step all over it, declare her own opinion and pretend that it was only hers that mattered. But that still didn’t stop the two of them from being the best of friends.

Jordanna watched as Adrienne tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Adrienne did not look like a typical Slytherin. She had curly blonde hair which sat in ringlets just above her shoulders; there were some days when she would completely straighten her hair and would look amazingly different. However, like quite a lot of the other Slytherins, Adrienne also had colorless, grey eyes. To be honest, Jordanna thought, it didn’t quite suit her, but then again, neither would the green eyes that Jordanna had. She was also quite feminine and petite and was known to be somewhat shy at times, but for the most part, didn’t care what people thought of her and wasn’t a person you’d want to get into a fight with. When Elena wasn’t around, Adrienne could be quite the bitch she wanted to be.

But she was still quite different from Elena in many ways. For instance, Elena had long, black hair which fell loosely around her lower back and had small beetle black eyes. On many occasions, Elena tried to defend herself by saying her eyes were just a shade of dark brown, but everyone knew well enough that they weren’t, and knew well enough that there wasn’t any sense in arguing. Elena was also very outgoing and outspoken; she definitely wasn’t afraid to express her thoughts and usually didn’t care if she hurt anyone’s feelings in the process.

And then there was Jordanna herself. She looked down at her Butterbeer in her hands. Before her life at Hogwarts, she had been a loud, yet shy girl who loved to cause trouble. She knew she gave her mother grief growing up and had a particular love for breaking things which just added onto the stress that Adelaide Benton already had on her shoulders. But now, at fifteen years old, she was still a girl who could be generally loud when she wanted to be, but could still be shy in some uncomfortable situations. Being friends with the Slytherins had definitely changed her attitude and perspective on pretty much everything.

One of the major things that had changed in her almost five years at Hogwarts was that she no longer had the courage to annoy her mother to world’s end. Her mother was pretty much a woman who could croak at any moment, and Jordanna couldn’t find it in her heart to even disagree with her. She did everything she was told, but it didn’t mean she necessarily liked to take orders day and night when at home. She still respected the dying woman who did make her daughter who she was today, but there was something that (even as a little girl) made Jordanna feel uncomfortable when around her mother. Growing up, she just shut it out by being an annoying child, but nowadays, she simply couldn’t.

“You alright?”

Jordanna looked up from her hands and at the two girls sitting across from her. Adrienne looked somewhat concerned whilst Elena had taken to grooming her nails.

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She smiled and then added, “I just wish Regulus would come already. I want to be back at school before the weather gets even worse.”

Adrienne looked out the window and shrugged. “Yeah it is getting pretty bad-” she paused and then squinted slightly. “Isn’t that Evan?”

Both Jordanna and Elena looked out of the window and sure enough Evan was running towards The Three Broomsticks, hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched over, yet his head was quite upright revealed to the cold.

“What the hell is he running from?”

“The cold, idiot!”

“Oh shut up, Elena!”

The three girls watched as Evan approached the pub and walk in the door. A jingling bell signaled his entrance and they watched as he maneuvered his way through the crowd, his head looking over everyone’s as if looking for someone.

“Evan!”

The boy looked and quickly made his way over, squishing in beside Jordanna.

“What are you doing?” Jordanna asked as he took off his coat and stuck it behind his back.

“Looking for you.”

Jordanna raised her eyebrow. Evan brought his hand upwards and shook all of the white snow flakes out of his shag of brown hair and then grabbed Elena’s Butterbeer from across the table and took a long gulp, much to her displeasure.

“Me?”

“Yeah, Regulus wants you to meet him at Madam Puddifoot’s.”

Jordanna smiled. “Really? That’s great, when, now?”

Evan nodded and Jordanna sprung up and put on her coat. “Well, can you move?”

Evan sighed and slid out of his seat and stood up to let Jordanna pass. She waved to the others and made her way through the crowded room to the front door, pulling her hood up as she went. As soon as she opened the door, Jordanna felt the strong cold wind against her face as she walked hurriedly across the High Street.

The bad thing about having a date in Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop was that it was completely on the other side of Hogsmeade, so walking from The Three Broomsticks all the way down High Street was quite unbearable. The wind was still working against those walking down the street and it seemed that they had picked up in the half hour that Jordanna had already been in Hogsmeade. As much as she wanted to be with Regulus, walking the other way back to Hogwarts was starting to look quite temping.

Upon entering the tea shop, Jordanna lowered her hood and shivered slightly. She looked around and saw that the tea shop was decorated with pink and red, had paper hearts pinned up against the wall, and even had an enchanted Cupid flying around, poking awkward couples with arrows.

She spotted Regulus at a rounded table near the window, close to counter on the other side of the room. Jordanna hung up her coat on the hook beside her and made her way around the other couples.

Regulus stood up and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek as Jordanna approached. She smiled.

“How’d you know I wanted to come here?” she asked, sitting down opposite of Regulus.

He merely shrugged. “Well we could have walked around outside …” Jordanna chuckled slightly but then frowned at the thought of even going outside unless it meant she was going back to Hogwarts. “Plus, Evan told me that Adrienne told him that you told her last week that you wanted to come here.” Jordanna frowned even more.

“So where were we going to go?” she asked.

Regulus shrugged and leaned back into his chair. “Dunno, around …”

There was a long awkward pause in which Jordanna examined her hands which were folded neatly on top of the table. She should have known that Regulus would manage to screw this holiday up one way or another; he never did get it right. Despite what Elena and Adrienne had said, she had dropped hints to Regulus about coming to the teashop. She found it sad that he finally understood when Evan had flat out told him. “You alright?”

Jordanna sighed. “Fine. I’m fine.” She bit her lip and forced a smile. She had just been about to open her mouth to say something when a figure appeared next to them.

“What can I get the two of you?” It was Madam Puddifoot, the owner of the romantic tea shop. She was wearing a bright pink apron and had her dark hair pulled into a bun at the back of her head. Jordanna smiled at the older woman.

“I’ll just have a tea.”

“And for you, Mister Black?”

“I’m fine for now.”

Madam Puddifoot walked away to get their order and Jordanna turned on Regulus.

“She knows your name?”

He shrugged. “I had to convince her to let us in here,” he said. “It was full when Evan and I came here so, er, yeah.”

Jordanna narrowed her eyes. “What exactly did you do?”

Regulus shook his head. “Look, never mind,” he said quickly. “It’s Valentine’s Day, let’s just get it over with. We’re supposed to be on a date, remember?”

“Whatever.”

Madam Puddifoot came back with a single tea and gently handed it Jordanna, who took it warmly and took a nice long sip. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, dear.”

For the next hour both Jordanna and Regulus didn’t talk nearly enough as they should’ve. Madam Puddifoot came back not too long after giving Jordanna her tea and asked if they’d like something to eat. Jordanna ordered a small slice of pink frosted cake which seemed to be quite popular, and once again Regulus ordered nothing. Jordanna was now slightly annoyed. Not only was Regulus being the worst date ever, he seemed bored and looked like he didn’t even want to be there.

As Jordanna took the last bite of the cake, she watched as Regulus fidgeted in his seat. She narrowed her eyes observing and then cleared her throat.

“You know, I’m think I’m going to head out.” She stood up.

Regulus stood up quickly. “Why?”

Jordanna pushed in her chair and tried to look for her jacket, but then remembered she had hung it on the hook near the door when she had come in. “It just looks like you have to be somewhere else, that’s all, Regulus.”

His expression was quite blank. “Jordanna, I just wasn’t hungry.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s alright. I want to get back before the weather gets worse anyway.” She stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a sickle. “That’s all I have, sorry. I’ll probably see you in the common room tonight.”

“Jordanna-”

“No, Regulus, I really ought to be going.” She leaned across the table and gave him a peck on the cheek and then turned around and headed for the door. She heard him call her name again but pretended to not hear. At the door she quickly put on her jacket and pulled her hood over her head tightly and then opened the door and walked out.

“Boys,” she muttered bitterly to herself as she walked, this time with the wind. Since the wind was still so strong it seemed to almost pick Jordanna up off her feet. “And weather,” she added. Whoever invented the two of them, she thought, was obviously the world’s biggest idiot.