Hi everyone! I wanted to try my hand at a medium-length fic and, well, I’ve always wanted to do a Hogwarts au. So here we go! Ft: Jay, pining, and soulmate tattoos. Holy cow. The first of four chapters, I think? Yeah.
“Well that could have gone a lot worse.”
Jay brushes the pad of his thumb over his soulmark words. It’s a nervous habit of his; whenever he needs something to do, his fingers gravitate towards his leg. Normally he’s more private about it, but he’s sitting alone in a compartment with nothing else to do while he waits for his friends to find him.
In the six or so years since he’s had his mark, Jay’s narrowed his potential soulmates down a little bit. For one, he knows she goes to Hogwarts. “I’m going to magic school, Dad, and you can’t stop me!” made a pretty big impression on itty-bitty ten year-old him, even before he knew that magic existed. He assumes she’s around his age too. But the sentences he receives every night are frustratingly vague. Like, really. How is he supposed to find his soulmate based on “Did you do the charms homework?”
The door of the compartment slams open. “Jay!”
Jay has just enough time to pull the leg of his trousers down before a mop of blonde curls obscures his vision.
“Hey, hey, kid!” Jay complains, pushing the kid away from him. “Yeesh! Give me a warning before jumping me like that!”
Lloyd grins. His cheery yellow-and-black tie is already looped around his neck and Jay would totally say “Over-eager much?” if it wouldn’t be so hypocritical of him. “Well that wouldn’t be half as fun.”
Jay grumbles, but scoots over so Lloyd can sit down beside him. “How was your summer?” he asks.
“Where do I start?” Lloyd says, but he’s beaming so Jay doesn’t think he means it in a bad way. “So my dad knows these people in the Magical Creatures Department, right? And he talked with them at the end of last semester and they work at a dregon reservation and when they heard about my ability they said they’d love to have me as an intern!”
Lloyd shakes his head vigorously. “Yep! I got to spend my whole summer working with dregons. It was the best thing ever.”
“That’s so cool, Lloyd,” Jay says, and he means it. “Is that why you weren’t responding to any of my letters?”
Lloyd’s face falls. “I’m so sorry about that, Jay! I really meant to, I swear, but I was so busy and by the time it was night I just-”
“Jeez, Kid, relax! I was just pulling your leg. I’m not mad- promise.”
Lloyd relaxes. “Thanks. How was your summer?”
“Eh.” Jay shrugs one shoulder even as he scrambles for an answer. What do you even say after your friend tells you how they got to live out their dream? “Yeah, so my dad got hurt working on one of his projects and had to go to the hospital and I took over most of his job and did that practically all summer.” Yeah no, Jay. “It was okay,” he says finally. “Not much happened. Nothing worth talking about, anyway.” He pauses. “Hey- have you seen any of the others yet?”
“I saw Zane as I was looking for you. He said he’d be down later.” Lloyd makes a dismissive gesture, head buried in the satchel at his feet. “Aha!” He throws three chocolate frogs onto the seat beside him and straightens out again. “Want one?”
“Do I?” Jay scoffs. He opens the frog and violently chomps its head off. It’s a never-ending joke among their friends that Lloyd always has candy on him.
The compartment door slams open. Again. Jay hopes it’s not bothering the other compartments too badly. Kai struts into the room, a wide easy grin on his face. He slings his pack onto the seat across from Jay and drops down into it. “Long time, no see, Lloyd!”
“Yeah, Kai, it’s not like I was just at your house last Friday or anything.” Lloyd rolls his eyes but doesn’t resist when Kai leans over to ruffle his hair.
Kai’s dressed in black skinny jeans with the knees ripped out and a red tee-shirt. Jay doubts he even knows the muggle band whose logo is on it. “Nice shirt,” he says, because Jay is just like That.
Kai looks down at himself. “You think? Nya got it for me. I haven’t listened to them, but she said I would like it.”
Jay has serious doubts that Kai would be a One Direction fan and he reminds himself to high-five Nya when he sees her next. Speaking of which…
“Doing prefect stuff, what did you expect?”
“Oh.” You’re such an idiot, Jay. Of course. “Right. Ha ha.”
Kai rolls his eyes. “Oh no. I’m not gonna spend my last year at Hogwarts watching you awkwardly pine after my sister. Just ask her out already, man!”
Jay balks. “Ask her out?” he squeaks, voice cracking. “I- I can’t do that!”
“And why not? You’re a good guy, Jay. A lot better than that Ronin jerk from fourth year.”
“What if she doesn’t like me that way?” Jay fiddles with the hem of the trouser leg hiding his soulmark.
“They you buck up and get over it.” Kai steals the last chocolate frog from Lloyd. “Seriously. It won’t be that bad. If Nya didn’t like you already, you wouldn’t be part of our friend group.”
And ouch. It’s not like Jay needs reminding that all the rest of his friends have known each other since diapers and he’s only there because of his witty personality. Well, okay. Cole was raised muggle too. But everyone loves Cole, so he doesn’t count. “I’ll think about it, okay?” he finally says.
“Good,” Kai says. “Hey, Lloyd, do you have any Bertie Bott’s?”
“Do you even have to ask?” Lloyd drawls, already taking a package from his bottomless pit of a racksack.
A half-hour passes with the three of them making a game out of trying to guess bean flavors, then they move on to poker (something Jay introduced them to in fifth year). Jay is in the middle of his turn when the sound of the door opening comes from behind him. He twists around; Cole, Nya, and Zane file into the compartment- the latter stooping slightly to make it through.
“Hey, sis,” Kai says. Jay takes opportunity of his distraction to swap out the eight in his hand for the king he’s sitting on. Lloyd grins at him and mimes zipping his lips.
Sometimes, Jay wonders how someone as devious as Lloyd ever landed himself in Hufflepuff.
“And the overachievers greet us with their presence!” he says with a flourish. “Good to see you guys. Busted any firsties on your way down here?”
“Oh, yes,” Nya snarks back. “You know I can’t help myself. I see those little first years and I just gotta reprehend them.”
“Congrats on head boy, Zane!” Lloyd says, because Lloyd is actually the only nice person in their circle of friends. “My dad told me about it this morning.”
Jay sits up straighter. “Wait, really? That’s awesome, Zane!”
The Hufflepuff ducks his head, but Jay can tell he’s pleased. “Thank you. What are we doing here?”
“Winning at poker,” Jay says. He lays down his hand.
“You cheated,” Kai immediately says. “I don’t know when, but you cheated.”
Jay spreads his arms in mock-innocence. “Who, me? Why, Kai, I thought you didn’t buy into house stereotypes!”
“I don’t buy into the house stereotypes because they’re crap. But I’ve been your friend for four years, Jay. I know how you play.”
“I can confirm or deny nothing,” Jay says, which of course is confirmation in itself. He rakes in the prize pot- another chocolate frog, along with two sickles and a handful of knuts. “Thank you, gentlemen, for your contributions.”
“Deal me in,” says Nya, dropping her sack by the bench. “Cole, Zane?”
“I’ll play,” Cole says. Jay scoots over so he can sit down. “And I’ll keep track of this cheater, too.”
“Hey!” Jay mock-scowls at him and makes a mental note to up his game. “Fine. Go ahead and gang up on the only muggleborn in the group.” He deals out the cards.
They play three more games, then drift off to do their own things for the last forty-five minutes. Jay flops down beside Cole. “You excited to get your butt handed to you in quidditch?” he asks.
Cole snorts. “More like you’re going to get your butt handed to you. Don’t think I forgot how you almost crashed into the goalpost last year.”
“That was one time. Besides, that was only because your lousy beater skills. Seriously. Isn’t like the one rule beaters actually have to keep the buldgers away from the seeker?”
“We can keep the buldgers away from the seekers, but we can’t keep the seekers away from the buldgers,” Cole says sagely.
They stare at each other for a moment. Then a grin tugs at the corner of Jay’s mouth and he’s laughing, throwing his head back. He comes back to find Cole watching him, a strange look in his eyes.
“So,” Jay says, fidgeting.
Cole snaps out of his mood. “Have you had any more ideas for our senior prank? I know I just texted you a couple days ago, but-”
“Oh, yeah!” Jay shoots up in his seat. “I had a great one last night. So get this. What if you made a pillow fort barricade in the entrance to the great hall?”
“Pillow fort?” Cole repeats. He adjusts his glasses. “Hmm. If we got everyone in on it, that could be good.”
Jay shrugs. “Just offering up ideas.”
When they’re ten minutes out, they pull themselves up and start gathering their things. Jay changes into his robes, but Kai only shrugs his over top of his other clothes. The train finally pulls into the station and there’s the typical mad dash to get out. Jay steps off the platform, grinning at the crisp autumn air.
“Jay!” Cole waves him over to a carriage. “Over here!”
“Thanks!” Jay says. He throws his sack into the coach and pulls himself up after it. It’s a slightly squished ride, but they’ve been doing this since Jay’s third year. He leans over Kai to see out the window. When the castle comes into view, a wide grin splits across his face that he couldn’t control if he tried.
Once inside, Kai, Cole, Zane, and Lloyd split off towards their own tables. Usually they’ll end up sitting together throughout the school year, but there’s something special- respectful, even- about sitting at your own table for opening night. Jay slides in beside Nya, unlooping his green-and-silver scarf from around his neck.
“Nice job with Kai’s shirt.”
“I hope you get some good photos when he finds out.”
“You mean if.” Nya grins slyly at him. “You can keep a secret, right, Jay?”
Jay smirks back. “‘Course I can.”
“Merlin’s beard, just kiss already,” Cryptor groans from across the table.
Jay springs apart from Nya, face burning. “It’s not like that!” he almost yells.
“Really?” drawls Cryptor, raising an eyebrow at him. “Because it sure looks like that.”
“It’s not,” Nya says, and something heavy sinks in Jay’s stomach. Way to go, Jay, you just friendzoned yourself. “Besides-”
“We’re just friends,” Jay blurts, because why the hell not? He’s already this far gone.
“He’s gay,” Nya finishes.
Jay’s eyes bug out. “What? I’m not-” he swallows. “Gay.”
“Hey, it’s nothing to be ashamed about, okay? You don’t need to whisper it like it’s a bad thing.”
“Well, it’s not a true thing either!” Jay sinks down on the bench. “You guys are mean.”
“Sure thing, Jay.” Jay can’t see her face, but it sounds like she’s rolling her eyes.
When the food appears, though, he pulls himself back up again. You can never say no to free food.
The next day comes too early. Nya drags Jay out of bed and down to breakfast, because she’s one of those annoying morning people. Jay absently scratches at his leg as he sips at his coffee- he didn’t get a chance to check his mark last night.
“We have charms next,” Nya says, dropping into the seat beside him. Jay makes a noncommittal noise. She sets his timetable in front of him.
Jay barely scans it as he puts it in his bag. While he’s bend over, he slides his trouser leg up to glance at his mark. “Well that could have gone a lot worse.” has been replaced with “Shit, I’m gonna be late!”. He can’t help but grin. His soulmate doesn’t usually swear, so something must have seriously riled her up.
A shadow falls over him; he looks up to see owls bringing in the post. Nya’s speckled owl lands beside her plate with her copy of the Prophet. She feeds it with one hand, spreading the paper open with the other.
“Mornin’.” Kai slides in next to him, hair looking even crazier than usual from bedhead. Cole sits down beside him.
“Hey, guys!” Jay greets, almost back to his usual chirpy self. Coffee really does work wonders.
Cole grunts back. The response is so unlike him that Jay pauses to look over. The Gryffindor’s frowning as he stacks pancakes on his plate.
Jay sits back. Cole’s another one of those early morning people, and usually he’s more upbeat than this. He leans in towards Kai. “What’s got Cole all pissy today?”
Kai leans in too. “You didn’t hear it from me, but I think it’s something his soulmate said.”
“If you guys are gonna talk about me, could you at least wait until I left?” Cole stands up suddenly. “I’m not hungry. I’m going down to the potions classroom; Kai, you coming?”
Kai shoots Jay an apologetic look. “We do actually have a class at the crack of dawn. Insane, I know. I’ll catch up later.”
And the Gryffindors are gone as soon as they came. Confused, and a little hurt, Jay finishes his own breakfast and walks with Nya to the Charms classroom. They’ve got this class with Ravenclaw, most of whom are already sitting at their desks. Jay claims one near the front and off to the side, scooting over so Nya can sit beside him.
“Hello, students,” Professor Clouse intones. He’s a middle-aged Professor with an affinity for purple that almost rivals their transfiguration teacher, Professor Chen. “You are now in your sixth year of Charms coursework. Now I’m sure many of you have been expecting a relaxed year in which you may slack off. I’m here to correct that notion. You may not have your N.E.W.T.s this year, but there is no time but the present to start preparing.”
He turns to the board at the front of the room. “Have any of you dunderheads heard of nonverbal spellcasting?”
He starts writing on the board. Jay slinks down in his seat. Is this seriously all we’re doing this year? he writes on the corner of his parchment. He tilts it towards Nya. She reads over it with pursed lips.
Nonverbal spellcasting is important and advanced, she scribbles back.
Yeah, if you’re dueling. Anything other than that and it’s a waste of time.
But don’t you get annoyed having to constantly say your spells?
No? Jay chews on the end of his pen. I like talking.
Nya huffs. Just pay attention.
They’re split off in groups and given feathers to practice on. Leviosa, Jay thinks, waving his wand. Predictably, nothing happens. He leans back, letting his wand rest against the desk. Ugh. Now I’ve gotta do more work.
“Sahs,” Jay says, dropping his book-bag into the seat beside Lloyd.
Lloyd scrunches his nose up. “Better,” he decides. “You still need more of the 'hs’ sound though.”
“Shoot.” Jay drops his head onto the table. “What did I say?”
Lloyd grins lopsided. “Something like cricket. What are you doing here?”
“Wow, no need to sound surprised,” Jay drawls. “I am capable of studying, you know.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Fine, okay. I’m looking for Charms books.”
“For an assignment?” Lloyd sits up. “What do we have?”
“No, not an assignment,” Jay says, scanning the bindings on the shelves. “We’re learning nonverbal charms, which I think is a waste of my time, so now I’m looking for a new semester project to do.”
“Sometimes I wonder how you didn’t end up in Ravenclaw.”
“Sometimes I wonder how you didn’t end up in Slytherin.”
“What, because of my parseltongue?”
“No, because of your deviousness. Don’t think I forgot the laundry prank you pulled in second year.”
“Oh yeah. That was brilliant.”
It was, but Jay’s not going to give him the satisfaction of his approval. He drops several tomes onto the table, making Lloyd jump and scowl. “Think this will be enough to get me started?” he asks sarcastically.
Lloyd raises an eyebrow at him from where he’s now half-hidden behind a pile of books. “Nah, I think you need at least three more.”
Jay scowls. But he does end up pulling out two more books and added them to his selection.
Lloyd sets a chocolate frog on top of the stack when he’s finished.
“Sorry about earlier,” Cole says without introduction.
Jay’s eyes shoot up. They find Cole’s, and the two of them stare at each other for a short second. “No worries,” he says back, and he means it. “Hey, we all have bad days.”
They’re at the Hufflepuff table for dinner tonight, spots of green and red amid a sea of yellow. Jay moves over so Cole can sit. He does, fiddling with his napkin. “I don’t want to take that out on you, though.”
Jay pauses mid-bite to look at him. He doesn’t know why Cole’s being so awkward about it. “Dude, it’s cool, okay? That was hours ago. I’m fine.” In a moment of impulse, he adds: We’re best friends, and nothing’s gonna get in the way of that.“ Immediately he feels something whither up and die in his soul. Wake Me Up Inside starts blasting in his head. He might whimper a bit. Oh my gosh. Dangit, Jay, you can’t just call someone your best friend like that! What if he doesn’t feel the same way?
"Best friends,” Cole repeats, but he’s smiling now, so Jay takes that as a victory. He breathes out.
“Yeah. I don’t text anyone else nearly half as much as I do you.”
“That’s because none of our friends have phones.”
“Hu-huh. Nya got a phone for her birthday this year. And Kai has a phone, but he only uses it to post selfies on Chirp.”
“None of our friends have phones that they use,” Cole amends. He almost looks relaxed again now. “Thanks, Jay,” he says, more quietly.
“Don’t mention it,” Jay says. “Are you still gonna let me borrow your notes for History?”
Cole laughs and slides his plate closer.
Three days later sees Jay with two new messages: “I swear that staircase has it out for me” from his soulmate and a letter from his head of house telling him his career advice meeting is later that day. Jay follows the instructions and finds himself standing outside the DADA classroom a little past two. The student before him comes out and he takes a deep breath, pushing open the door.
“Welcome, Mr. Walker,” Professor Garmadon says. He’s not looking at Jay at the moment. Jay takes several hesitant steps forward and perches himself at the edge of a chair. “How are you enjoying your sixth year thus far?”
“Uh, it’s pretty great,” Jay says, eyes darting around the room. Professor Garmadon is still imposing, even after all these years. He wets his lips. “So you wanted to talk to me about my career choices?”
“Yes. It’s a standard practice that all sixth years have.” Professor Garmadon finally looks up. His eyes are this weird red color. Jay wonders if they’ve always been that color, or if he’s just really close to him right now. “As you know, your N.E.W.T tests are next year. Starting your preparation now will help you know which N.E.W.T.s you want to take.” He leans back in his chair. “What is it that you were planning on doing, Mr. Walker?”
Jay swallows. “I- I was actually planning on an internship with Borg Industries.”
“Borg Industries?” Professor Garmadon looks up from his notes. He raises an eyebrow. “Aren’t they the ones trying to connect magic with muggle technology?”
“Yeah.” Jay shakes his head too fast.
Professor Garmadon makes a note of something on his board. “I must tell you, positions within the company are highly contested. You might want to consider an alternative plan.”
“I have good enough charms scores!” Jay blurts. “And an E in Ancient Runes. Oh, and I’m practically fluent in Latin!”
Professor Garmadon looks up sharply. “You speak Latin?”
“I started learning in third year, after I went to the Tower with Cryptor.”
“That’s right. You are acquaintances with his son.” The corner of Professor Garmadon’s mouth twists up. “Well, Mr. Walker, it seems I must reevaluate your situation. If you are truly fluent in Latin, then your chances of landing an internship are greatly improved.”
“Thank you, sir!” gasps Jay, jumping to his feet. “Oh my gosh, I’ve gotta go tell Nya…”
“Mr. Walker!” Jay freezes, hand on the door. He turns slowly back. Professor Garmadon is frowning at him. “There is one part of the interview I must warn you about. Dr. Borg is looking especially for innovators to bring on to his staff. Thus, there is a practical exam portion where you will be asked to show off a spell you have created yourself.”
It feels like Jay’s just been doused in ice water. “What?” he whispers. “I’ve- I’ve gotta-”
“Mr. Walker.” Jay finds himself looking up at Professor Garmadon. His eyes are severe, but after several moments of staring, something in them softens. “I wouldn’t let you continue down this path if I thought for a moment you weren’t capable.”
“You may leave, Mr. Walker. Send in Miss Zuka after you.”
“Wait, my dad told you he believed in you?”
“What? No, it wasn’t like that!” Jay reaches the end of the room and turns on his heel, pacing back to where he started. “He just told me I was capable of getting an internship.”
“My dad never says anything he doesn’t mean. That’s so cool, Jay!”
Jay lets out a rather unmanly shriek as he ducks the chocolate frog that comes whizzing towards his face. “Yeesh, Lloyd, you almost took my eye out!”
“But I didn’t! Besides, I thought your quidditch talent would have seen that coming from a mile away.”
“Seeker, Lloyd. Seeker.” Jay flops down on the couch beside him. “I chase a ball that’s trying to get away from me, not flying into my eyeball! Cole, tell him.”
“Don’t throw chocolate frogs at people’s eyes, Lloyd,” Cole says absent-mindedly as he pages through a book.
Lloyd scowls. “Spoilsport. You always side with him!”
“It’s because I’m always right,” Jay says smugly.
(He probably did deserve that pillow thrown at him.)
Quidditch tryouts come on a rainy Friday afternoon a week into the school year. Jay drags himself outside to the pitch, wrapped up in his fluffy green scarf. The walk down to the pitch is cold and wet and he keeps up his litany of grumbling the whole way there.
The pitch is filled with new faces- some of which Jay is sure he’s never seen before. He glances over the crowd as he heads to get his broom. Two of Slytherin’s chasers and their keeper graduated the year before, and Jay knows Shade is dropping out to focus more on his studies. That means that half the team is gonna be made of newbies, taking down Slytherin’s shot at the Quidditch Cup significantly.
Jay takes his broom from the closet and set about to tuning it up. He doesn’t envy Nya’s position as quidditch captain at all.
“Okay, snakes!” Nya shouts. And speak of the devil. She’s standing by one of the goals, hands cupped together for a bigger shout. “Everybody, to the center!”
Jay sidles up to her as she waits for them to gather. She’s wearing a muggle raincoat today, with jeans and a gray long-sleeve tee-shirt underneath. “See any potential?”
“How can I?” Nya says to him, aside. “They haven’t flown yet.” She raises her voice. “The only positions we’re looking to fill are chaser, keeper, and beater! If you were here to tryout for seeker, sorry! Better luck next year!”
About a half-dozen kids break off and head back inside. Nya shakes her head. “Okay. Now I want keepers to go stand by the goals. The rest of you, stay put.”
When the keepers leave, they divide the rest into two teams and set them up against each other. Jay’s job isn’t to find the snitch this time, it’s to watch everyone from above for a different perspective. He points out the weaker fliers to Nya when he returns to the ground, and by the time the tryouts are over they’ve got the chasers they need, along with a beater and a keeper who could be good if he honed his skills.
They traipse back into the Great Hall, pausing to scourgify the mud off their robes. Jay checks the time. He has a half-hour before he needs to be to Transfiguration- more than enough time to run down to the kitchens for a quick snack.
When he slides into the classroom twenty-nine minutes later, Lloyd has his usual seat held open for him. Jay drops down beside him. “Know what we’re doing today?”
“Nope.” Lloyd pops the 'p’. “As long as it’s not more theory work, I’m happy.”
Jay groans. “Don’t remind me.” They’re learning human transfiguration now- which sounds like it should be awesome if the theory wasn’t so hecking complicated. Jay doesn’t quite get why it has to be so confusing. Transfiguration for him has always been more about intent and imagination than knowing all the reasons an incantation does what it does.
He rests his head on the desk. “Maybe we’ll actually get to practicals today.”
“Maybe,” echoes Lloyd, but he doesn’t sound convinced.
“Welcome, students!” cries Professor Chen. The Transfiguration teacher grins down at them from his stand. “Today we will move on from simply doing our theory work into the realm of practicality.” He pauses for the lackluster cheer they give. “Split off into pairs and gather by the mirrors.”
Professor Chen is kinda a whack-job, but he genuinely loves his subject. Jay can’t decide if that makes him more or less creepy. His robes are a shocking purple and today he’s wearing a weird snake hat. More creepy, he decides. Definitely more creepy.
“The charm I’m teaching you today is the hair-color changing spell.” Professor Chen claps his hands together. “Listen, children!” He says the incantation and has them repeat it and practice the wand movements separately. Then he sets them loose to their own devices.
Charms has always been his thing, but Jay’s not half-bad at transfiguration either. It takes several times, but by the end of the class, he’s has succeeded in changing Lloyd’s hair to be a shocking lime green. In response, Lloyd makes his blue.
They keep the colors even after class ends.
“That good?” Zane pats him on the back. “I brought you coffee.”
“Zane, you are a god among men,” Jay says, grasping blindly for the cup.
“What are you working on now?” Zane slides gracefully into the chair beside him. They’re in the Hufflepuff common room because it’s cozy there and Jay doesn’t need a second reason.
“Latin.” Jay finally raises his head. “We were practicing the hair color-changing charm in Transfiguration last Friday.”
“Crinus muto,” Zane supplies.
“Yeah, that one. It got me thinking about how words affect a spell. Because muto means change, you know, but when its used in a spell with crinus it only applies to hair. I’ve been experimenting with lux and colors.”
He holds up his wand. “Viridis lux.” The tip of his wand lights up in green. “See? And then that got me wondering if different cases or declensions would make a difference too. Like, do you think the hortatory subjective would make a stronger spell?”
Jay shakes his head. “Not yet, but I was planning to.” He kicks his chair back. “Lux.” The tip of his wand lights up. “Nox.” He runs through his declension endings mentally. “Lucem faciamus.”
There’s no difference between this light and the last. Jay scribbles the result down in his notebook. “Okay, so that’s that then.”
“That was just one ending,” Zane says. “Try the imperative.”
“Maybe you should drop the accusative and go back to the nominative. That’s been proven to work.”
This time, the light does almost seem brighter. Jay beams. “Nice! It’s a definite start.” He writes down the result, then looks over to where Zane has pulled out his own books. “What’re you working on?”
“History of Magic.” Zane puts on his reading glasses. He looks very sophisticated. Jay just looks dorky when he wears his. “Professor Wu has us constructing a timeline of events, technological developments, social and political climates and achievements that the wizarding world has gone through in the last couple hundred years.”
“That actually sounds fun,” Jay says, surprised. Usually it’s all he can do to stay awake during the class. “So you’re researching stuff to put on it?”
“Not exactly. I wanted to enchant my parchment to be interactive. Do you know any?”
“Like, to make drawings move? That type? Cole would know more than I do.”
Zane tilts his head. “Yes, in a sense. I was hoping to make some sort of guide- but one with a personality, almost? They would at least have to be able to relay information.”
Jay pats him on the back as he stands. “Well, good luck with that. It sounds like it’s gonna be really cool.” He stretches, yawning. “I’ve got Ancient Runes in ten minutes, so I’ve gotta bolt. Thanks for the coffee!”
The weeks fly by. Jay had wanted an easy year- a break from both O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. The teachers seem not to have gotten this memo. Jay has more homework than ever, and between that and the quidditch practices Nya has twice a week, he barely has time to see his friends.
The day of the opening match of the year finally arrives. Jay strides out onto the pitch, grinning and waving at his friends gathered in the Slytherin side of the stands. It’s a Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw game, and the audience is a sea of green and blue.
He takes his place. The day is pleasantly nice: a bit on the chilly side, but hey, it’s the middle of November so that’s only expected. Nya and Acronix, the obnoxious Ravenclaw quidditch captain, shake hands.
The whistle sounds. Jay rockets up. He stops when he’s sufficiently high enough up and starts scanning for the snitch. Ravenclaw makes a goal, he thinks, as the crowd roars. He starts circling the pitch in slow, wide circles. Khan, the Ravenclaw seeker, falls into position behind him.
They continue like that for some time, long enough for Slytherin to make three goals. Jay’s on his nth loop when he sees it- a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye. Trying not to make it obvious, he nudges his broom that way.
The snitch is flitting about near the center of the pitch. It’s near the ground, meaning Jay will have to dive. Keeping one eye on the snitch, Jay glances back at Khan, evaluating. Khan is a seventh year. He’s heavier than Jay, but Jay’s pretty sure he could beat him in a flat-out race. And he doesn’t seem to have noticed the snitch yet…
Jay dives. The spectators go wild. In his peripheral vision, he sees Khan following. Jay grits his teeth and urges his broom faster. The ground races up at a dizzying speed. The snitch is a beacon of gold, calling them both.
The ground is really close now. Fear spikes through Jay’s heart. What is he doing? Suddenly he can’t breathe. He can’t do this. He’s going too fast. He’s gonna lose control of his broom and become a Jay-shaped splatter on the field.
It’s too close. Jay squeezes his eyes shut and pulls up. The crowd screams. “What is he doing?” one particularly enraged voice cuts through.
“He just threw the game!”
Then half the stands erupt into cheers. Jay doesn’t need to look back to know that Khan got the snitch. There’s a leaden feeling in his stomach, and he thinks he might be sick.
“What was that?” Nya seethes, when she finds him hiding in the broom closet. “You had that, Jay. You still had plenty of time before you would have hit the ground. What gives?”
“I panicked, okay?” Jay slams the lid of his maintenance supplies shut. “My mind blanked out and I panicked.”
Nya sighs. “C'mon, get up.” She grabs his elbow and pulls him to his feet. “I’m not gonna chew you out right now. Obviously, it wouldn’t do any good. We’re going to the after party and you’re gonna stop moping in here.”
Jay pauses mid-step. “I can’t go in there!” He wrenches his arm from her grip. “Or did you forget why I’m moping in here in the first place?”
Even in the dim light, Jay can tell Nya’s rolling her eyes. “Stop whining and buck up. You’re a Slytherin, Jay. You gotta face life with your head high.”
“No, you’re thinking of a bloody Gryffindor.” Unbidden, his mind flies to Cole. “We Slytherins prefer to slip into the shadows when things go disastrous.”
“I’m not dealing with this right now. We are going to the party-” she jabs a finger at his chest- “and you are going to have a good time. Is that clear?”
“Yes, ma'am,” Jay says dutifully. Sometimes you just gotta choose your battles, and this is not one of his.
The Hufflepuff common room is decked out in blue and bronze. Jay gets a literal face-full of the bloody Ravenclaw colors as a streamer falls into his eyes. He pushes it aside with a scowl.
“Jay!” Cole is suddenly at his side. His eyes are bright and there’s a glass in his hand. “I’m glad you came!”
“Please tell me that’s butterbeer,” Jay groans. He takes the glass from Cole and sets it on a table.
Cole raises an eyebrow. “Do you really want me to tell you that, or…”
“No, never mind.” Jay glares at him. “Yeesh, Cole, I can’t believe you’re getting drunk- and right after I screw up the first match of the year.”
“I’m not drunk,” Cole pouts. Actually pouts. His bottom lip is slightly jutted out and everything. Jay can’t stop staring. “My dad’s a movie star, remember? I know how to hold my liquor.”
Jay flops down into one of the chairs. “Ugh. I can’t believe that actually happened.”
Cole takes the seat beside him. “You freaked. Everyone does that.”
“You don’t,” Jay accuses.
Cole rolls his eyes. “I’m not a seeker. My job is to hit balls at people, remember?” He exhales. “Okay, think about it this way. Have you dove like that before?”
“Then you can’t be blamed for freaking out,” Cole says firmly. He looks at Jay with such intensity that Jay almost finds himself agreeing with him. “Someone or something else will happen next week and you’ll just be old news.” He grins lopsided. “Sorry Jay, but you’re not that important.”
Jay can’t help it. The corners of his mouth twitch up despite himself. “Wait, really, Cole? And here I thought you thought the world of me.”
He’s trying for easy ribbing but Cole’s looking flustered now and Jay wonders what he said wrong. “Sorry. That came out weird.”
Jay fidgets. “Um, thanks for that. The pep talk, I mean.”
“No,” Jay says immediately. He forces a laugh. “But it was really nice of you. Honestly, I don’t know why you put up with me. I’m nothing special.” And wow, did someone somehow dose him with veritaserum? Because he’s still talking. Why is he still talking? Holy cow, Jay, shut up already, you freaking gremlin!
“Jay-” Cole says, and there’s a quietness to his voice that wasn’t there a moment before. Jay hates it, hates how it makes him feel. “I don’t know how to get this this through to you, but you’re my friend. You’re all of us’s friend, and we think you’re brilliant. Why can’t you just hear that?”
“I-” Jay can’t respond. The earnestly in Cole’s eyes is killing him and he looks away. “Oh, look, there’s Lloyd! I need to go say hi to him.” He stands. “Uh, thanks again. For the talk. And stuff.”
“And stuff,” Cole agrees, and there’s a sardonic tilt to his mouth. “Go say hi to Lloyd. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
