The Golden Marauders

The Date

Jade wasn't sure what she was thinking.

A couple of days ago, Daniel, one of the beaters on the American Quidditch team, asked her to Hogsmeade. She had said yes. He was handsome, to say the least. He is taller with toned muscles. His short curly brown hair was stark against his pale skin. His eyes reminded Jade of the sky as the sun rose over Potter Manor, and she couldn't help but enjoy the thought of them going on a date.

However, images and thoughts of Marco never left her mind. She would look at Daniel and see Marco's warm brown eyes looking back at her.

If she and Marco wouldn't be a thing, what was the harm in going on a date with someone else?

Technically, nothing. Jade, however, felt otherwise. Yet, as she left the Slytherin Common Room, and made her way to the courtyard to meet Daniel, she didn't let the feeling discourage her. She had bid Elyse goodbye with the promise of meeting her and the others at the Three Broomsticks.

When Daniel caught sight of her outside the Great Hall, his face brightened. He jogged towards her with a large smile on his face.

"Hey," he said smoothly. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," Jade nodded. "I am meeting up with my friends at the Three Broomsticks later. Would you like to join?"

She honestly wasn't sure why she was inviting him. It was extremely rare for anyone outside their friends to join their outings, and she didn't have any interest in changing that. 

"As long as no one takes my head off," he joked smoothly as they made their way to the small town. "Even I, who has been at this school all of five minutes, know what happens when they gone on a date with you."

Daniel had a point. Anyone who so much as looked in Jade's direction mysteriously ended up in the hospital wing. James had claimed to know nothing about it, but she knew otherwise.

As the date proceeded, Daniel was nice enough. Well, more than nice. He opened and held every door for Jade. He offered to pay for prank products and books she was interested in. She couldn't deny that he was kind. If she had to wager what house he would've been in, her money would have been on Hufflepuff. 

Yet, she tried not to think about that, or just Hufflepuffs in general. She couldn't even stand to look at them on her way out of the castle and while she was at Hogsmeade. Every time she saw one, she thought of Marco. 

Marco and his beautiful dark brown eyes. Marco and his laugh, that alone could cause her to conjure a full patronus. Marco and all their adventures. Marco and his Adam's apple. Marco and his smile. Marco and his soft lips. 

Marco and the odd feeling in her gut that appeared every time she looked at Daniel. She knew of course why it was there. 

But Marco didn't feel that way about her. 

As Jade and Daniel met the Golden Marauders at the Three Broomsticks it was clear she wasn't the only Potter Twin who decided to bring someone. When she walked in, she instantly caught sight of Skylynn latched onto her brother's arm. Her eyes met Elyse's and it was clear she was near tears. The rest of the group seemed rather miserable. 

Jade couldn't look at Marco. If she did, she would've seen the look of longing in his eyes.

"Hello, everyone," Jade greeted, ignoring the awkwardness of the environment. "This is Daniel. Daniel, this is James, Elyse, Freddie, Roxanne, and Marco."

Jade purposefully ignored Skylynn.

Daniel scratched the back of his neck nervously and waved. 

"You're one poor wanker," Freddie joked, shaking his hand. Whether Freddie might it as James or Marco being his downfall or Jade breaking his heart, she didn't know. 

"You're the American beater, right?" Elyse asked instantly, desperate to take her mind off of James and Skylynn. Besides her father, Oliver Wood, always says Quidditch is the best thing to discuss to make conversation. 

Before Daniel could respond, Marco interrupted. "Tell me you're a brute without telling me you are a brute."

Roxanna, as if sensing Marco's change in demeanor, looked up from her book. It was rare Marco grew hostile. 

"I'm a beater!" Freddie protested running a hand through his red hair. 

"My point exactly," Marco rolled his eyes, the corner of his lips lifting up in amusement. "Right, James?"

The group turned to the boy, who was zoning out. His shoulders sagged but his back was stiff as a board. His face looked lifeless. 

"James?" Jade asked softly. "Are you alright?"

"He's fine," Skylynn answered for his, something flashing across her face. "Aren't you, babe?"

James nodded his head, giving his sister a small ghost of a smile. 

***

"Thanks again for today," Jade smiled at Daniel. As they made their way to the Great Hall. "I had fun today."

"No problem," he returned the gesture. "I also had fun today."

"I'm sorry my friends weren't their usual selves today," Jade apologized with her brows furrowed "My brother isn't normally so closed off. He is normally welcoming everyone and anyone, something he got from my mum no doubt. And Marco...I don't know what's gotten into him either."

"There's no need to apologize for them," Daniel insisted. "You guys are a very tight nit group. My buddies and I are like that back home."

The two walked in silence for a moment while Jade's thoughts drifted back to James. He was so...well not James. He seemed like a shell of who he actually was. 

"If you don't mind me asking," Jade broke the silence. "What do you know of Skylynn?"

"Not much," he answered with furrowed brows. "She is very prideful and conceited. If you're asking for your brother, it was a shock seeing them together. I was never under the impression that he particularly liked her."

Jade said nothing but nodded, signaling that he was listening to her. The two walked in silence again. As they continued on their path, they heard shouting. They shared a quick glance before rushing forward. 

The first person Jade saw was an instant red flag: McLaggen. Yet, for the first time, it wasn't him causing the issue. Then again, being a bystander to whatever was happening and not helping also wasn't exactly a golden ticket. 

As she shoved her way through the crowd, she saw one of the younger Slytherins shouting at her little sister, Lily. 

"How's it feel to be the forgotten Potter?" he sneered. Jacob was in her year, but she didn't put it past him to pick on younger years. "There's Teddy, the head boy and metamorphagus. He isn't even a Potter, but, mind you, he gets more recognition. There's James and Jade, who are leading Hogwarts to victory in the Quidditch Tournament. Then there's Ruby, who made a name for herself when she came out. But what about little baby Potter? Nothing but the savior's illegitimate child, does he forget about you at home? Does he hate you because his whore of a wife-"

Jade threw herself at the boy, knocking him to the ground. She stood over him with a menacing look on her face. Her fists were balled and her eyes were electric with hatred. The only thing that kept her from pummelling the boy before her was Marco's presence, which she could feel to her right. 

"Get up," she ordered. Quickly, the boy scrambled to his feet. "Apologize to Lily."

She muttered a quick apology before sprinting down the corridor. Jade raised her wand and shot a stinging jinx his way. 

As the crowd disappeared and Jade made her way to Lily, Marco not far away, they noticed someone off to the side. Someone who was there the entire time and didn't say a single thing, didn't jump to the defense of his sister and family. Someone who would've done so in a heartbeat. 

James.