Jenna sat down in a corner for a little while. She tried not to eavesdrop on Cho and Harry's conversation, and had her eyes fixed on the door. She even had her wand on the table, ready to use it if there was to be any trouble with Death Eaters.
Jenna was worried now more than ever, seeing as many of the Death Eaters had escaped Azkaban only recently, and they were in fact the most dangerous of them all.
"Will your date be here any minute or should I take your order?" the waiter asked Jenna impatiently for the second time.
"Um... I'll still wait," said Jenna as she looked away from the shop's door, just then her glance accidentally falling upon where Harry and Cho were sitting.
As the waiter left her side, Jenna saw that Harry was now looking awkwardly at Cho's hand, as if he was thinking about reaching out and holding it, but was too hesitant. Meanwhile, Cho was mournfully looking at all the couples in the shop who were kissing.
Jenna took her eyes off them and gazed back at the door with her wand nearby on the table. She didn't want to eavesdrop on what they were saying, but it was becoming harder not to listen, seeing as after a while, they started to speak louder, as if yelling at each other.
"Look," Harry finally said desperately, "let's not talk about Cedric right now... Let's talk about something else..."
"I thought," Cho started, tears now spattering down onto the table. "I thought you'd u-u-understand! I need to talk about it! Surely you n-need to talk about it t-too! I mean, you saw it happen, d-didn't you?"
Everyone in the shop was now watching them, falling quiet to see what was going on.
"Well — I have talked about it," Harry said in a whisper, "to Ron and Hermione, but —"
"Oh, you'll talk to Hermione Granger!" Cho said shrilly, her face now shining with tears, and several more kissing couples broke apart to stare. "But you won't talk to me! P-perhaps it would be best if we just... just p-paid and you went and met up with Hermione G-Granger, like you obviously want to!"
Harry stared at her, utterly bewildered, as she seized a frilly napkin and dabbed at her shining face with it.
"Cho?" he said weakly, wishing the couples would start kissing again to stop them from staring at him and Cho.
"Go on, leave!" she said, now crying into the napkin. "I don't know why you asked me out in the first place if you're going to make arrangements to meet other girls right after me... How many are you meeting after Hermione?"
"It's not like that!" said Harry, and he was so relieved at finally understanding what she was annoyed about that he laughed, which he realized a split second too late was a mistake.
Cho sprang to her feet. The whole tearoom was quiet, and everybody was watching them now.
"I'll see you around, Harry," she said dramatically, and hiccuping slightly she dashed to the door, wrenched it open, and hurried off into the pouring rain.
"Cho!" Harry called after her, but the door had already swung shut behind her with a tuneful tinkle.
There was total silence within the tea shop. Every eye was upon Harry. He threw a Galleon down onto the table, shook pink confetti out of his eyes, and followed Cho out of the door.
Jenna sighed to herself when the shop's door closed, shaking her head in disappointment and mumbling, "Oh, Elvendork..."
***
A few weeks passed quickly. Another Dumbledore's Army was being held that night in the Room of Requirements. Crookshanks was laying on the carpet before the Gryffindor fireplace, enjoying the common room's peaceful silence. Although she jumped out of her skin when suddenly the flames in the fire turned green for only a split second.
This was a signal meant for Jenna; whenever the flames turned red, that meant a meeting was being held in Dumbledore's office, and green flames meant an Order meeting in McGonagall's office.
On cue, Crookshanks got up and left the common room as soon as someone else opened the portrait to get inside. Jenna didn't know what was going on this time, but she made her way toward McGonagall office as quickly as possible.
Once she reached the office, Crookshanks raised her paw and scratched at the door a few times, until someone opened it. With that, Jenna snuck inside the room and abruptly transformed back to her human form once the door had closed.
Looking around, Jenna saw McGonagall, Snape, and Hagrid inside the office. McGonagall looked extremely pale, Snape seemed colder than ever, and Hagrid was crying and sobbing into a large napkin.
"What is it?" Jenna is questioned, looking around at each of them, and noting that for some reason Dumbledore was missing from their meeting. "What's going on?"
"Why don't you ask your precious nephew?" Snape answered coldly, and Jenna glared at him.
"Dolores found out about the secret society they had created," McGonagall answered, and at those words Hagrid cried even louder. It was lucky they had protective charms all around the room, otherwise the whole castle would've heard his sobs.
Jenna stood frozen on the spot, staring back at McGonagall through her hazel eyes. She felt her mouth go dry, having no idea how she was supposed to react, yet desperately wanting McGonagall to go on and finish explaining.
"One of the students told Dolores about it, and she caught Harry," McGonagall went on. With each word that she spoke, Jenna's heartbeat went on faster. "She called a few Aurors and the Minister, and took them up to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore took all the blame, of course. Harry will remain at Hogwarts, but they were planning on taking Dumbledore to Azkaban."
Jenna's eyes widened and her heart sank in her chest, waiting for her to go on.
"Dumbledore escaped," said McGonagall, pursing her lips together worriedly. "Umbridge has become the new Headmistress of Hogwarts."
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Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬
Fanfiction{𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝟰} By the time the first Wizarding War came to an end, Jenna Potter had lost everyone she had and the love of her life was sent to Azkaban for a crime he hadn't even committed. And so, she ran away in order to forget all about her painful...
