ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴ ᴏʀ ʜᴇʟʟ ⟶ ɢinny ᴡeasley

xiv

Jude Travers wasn't someone to be late anywhere —in fact, she hated it— so she showed up at Minerva McGonagall's office even a couple of minutes before the clock rang, signaling the time. She waited patiently —or at least, she wanted to pretend— outside the room, picking her nails against her skin as she huffed: Gryffindors could be many things, but certainly, from her experience, never punctual.

Even if she didn't show it, she hated getting in trouble because of that Finnigan. She knew she had caught his eye years before she even became a Death Eater, being the target of many of her comments for being a Slytherin and pureblood, although Jude was frequently guarded by several of her Gryffindor friends —Fred and George, to be exact. Jude had never paid much attention to him because, to be honest, sometimes she also couldn't understand what he was saying with that accent of his. Yet now Finnigan was making himself known in a way that was inevitable for Jude to collide with him.

She had never been punished before, and while she knew that afternoon wasn't going to be the biggest blemish on her record, she still couldn't help feeling upset for three reasons: first, it was an afternoon of Quidditch training, and with Blaise out of the game, Draco had only Jude's company to organize the tactics; second, spending the afternoon locked up in class cleaning prevented spending more time with Riley; and thirdly, out of pride. So, with a single action, she had managed to disappoint at least three people, including herself.

She raised her head slowly when she heard other people's shoes clattering against the stone floor. Neither Finnigan nor Ginny deigned to look at her face, and as much as Jude thought Seamus had reason to do so, she couldn't help but think that Ginny was there because of her, too, and that added another person to her mental list of disappointed people.

None of the three said anything, not a lift of the head, not a knowing look, and that annoyed Jude no matter how much she tried to hide it. In other circumstances, Ginny would even have thrown herself into her arms, hugging her, but at the same time scolding her for getting into trouble. Jude thought she had learned that from her mother at too young an age; now there was only emptiness, and when not, looks of indifference.

"I hope you've gathered enough energy because I assure you this won't be an easy task," were the words of welcome, and Jude saw Seamus roll his eyes out of the corner of her eye. "If you please."

McGonagall started walking, expecting the three of them to follow her, and they did. Jude was surprised to see that they were each going on a different pace, not even the two Gryffindors were walking together, but were slightly apart. Jude thought there was a good friendship between them now that Ginny was dating Dean Thomas again and he was Finnigan's best friend. Jude swallowed imperceptibly knowing that she had missed a lot in the life of the Gryffindor, and that she would inevitably continue to do so.

She thought Ginny had surely received —or would soon receive— a howler, because it was unthinkable that a Weasley, other than Fred or George, would get into trouble. She thought how upset she would be about it, because Ginny considered herself the closest daughter to her mother, and Jude knew how much she hated disappointing her mother. That only increased her fervent hatred for Finnigan, who hadn't even bothered to defend Ginny.

They reached the top floor, where the Astronomy and Divination classes were. Jude had been up there a few times, only on Wednesday nights for Astronomy, since she hadn't taken the second class. She bitterly remembered when she said she wouldn't believe something she didn't see and Hermione fervently supported her, claiming the same thing. Now there was nothing left.

"I'll pick you up at eight, when the feast starts. Everything must be ready by then. Understood?" Again no one said anything, they just nodded. "Miss Travers and Miss Weasley will have that class. Mr. Finnigan will clean the last one on the hall."