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.