Potter | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 26

Jenna was left there bewildered as Sirius walked away by those last words. She couldn't even bring herself to go and rejoin the party.

     So she just made her way back to the Gryffindor common room and crawled under her blankets without even bothering to change her dress, and kept staring at the ceiling until she fell asleep.

      The next morning, Jenna was awoken my numerous noises from their dorm. So she halfway raised her head and tried looking around through her eyes which were barely open.

     "What's g-g-going on?" said Jenna as she yawned, looking around. "What are you doing?"

     "Packing our stuff," said Alice, placing her books in her trunk.

     "We're returning home today for Christmas break, Jenna," said Lily. "Remember?"

     Jenna looked around at them all, still not fully awake.

     "Honestly, woman, how hammered are you?" Marlene asked, chuckling.

     "What? No! I didn't even touch a drink last night!" Jenna retorted.

     "You were sleeping so heavily that we had to go to breakfast without you," said Marlene. "I mean... we did try to wake you up. But you just kept kicking us! We had to leave, for the sake of our kidneys."

     "Where did you disappear to last night, anyway?" Lily asked, who had packed up everything the previous night. "I was so worried."

     "I was — er — tired." said Jenna.

     "Even Clint was looking for you," Lily continued, unpacking everything that Marlene had packed terribly and putting them back in the trunk neatly.

     "Oh, shoot!" Jenna groaned, standing up. "I have to go apologize to Clint for ditching him like that."

     "Well, I wouldn't really bother if I were you," Marlene said with a grin.

     "What do you mean?" Jenna asked, raising a brow.

     The three girls gave each other uneasy looks, but none of them said anything.

     "What? Tell me!" Jenna insisted.

     "He's — he's been jinxed last night," said Alice hesitantly. "He's in Hospital Wing now."

     "What!?" Jenna exclaimed, her eyes widening.

     "Both him and Nick!" said Lily, just as angrily. "It was Potter! I'm sure of it!"

     "Clint was just a friend! Oh, I'm gonna kill him this time!" Jenna grumbled, making her way over the door.

      "Jenna, wait! You can't leave now!" Lily called after her, causing her to stop. "The train's leaving in an hour and you haven't packed a thing!"

     "Well... can you please do it for me?" Jenna asked Lily with pleading eyes. "Just this one time!"

      "But—"

     "—C'mon, Lily! Please! I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

     "But—"

     "—Thank you! You're the best! I love you! Bye!" and then she blew Lily a kiss, walking out of the dorm and closing the door behind her.

     Lily sighed, turning over Alice and Marlene and shaking her head. "Every year."

***

To her luck, Jenna spotted James the moment she walked down to the common room, but oddly, he was alone.

     "Where are your friends?" Jenna asked bitterly, walking towards him.

     "Upstairs. Packing," James answered.

     "And why are you here?" Jenna said suspiciously. "Cause I won't buy it for a second if you tell me you've already packed."

     "Course I haven't," James gave her a look, as if personally offended. "I left Moony on the job."

     Jenna opened her mouth to protest and tell James that he had no right putting the burden on poor Remus, but closed her mouth when she remembered she had done the exact thing to Lily.

     "What are you doing here, then?"

     "Waiting for Evans," he said with a happy grin. "Wanna say goodbye before the Christmas break."

     "Which reminds me," Jenna started angrily. "You jinxed Lily's date last night, didn't you? The Ravenclaw boy, Nick! And Clint!"

     "No, I didn't," said James stubbornly.

     "Don't lie to me, J.P!" Jenna pointed a finger at him sharply. "I know you! I know you did it!"

     "Alright, alright!" James raised his hands up defensively. "Fine, I admit it. I jinxed Nick. Served him right! But I swear, I had nothing to do with Clint."

     "Then who did it, if not you!?"

     "I don't know," he said earnestly. "I just found out when you said it. He's our team's keeper, and I knew you had asked him as a friend. I wouldn't hurt him."

     "So you would've jinxed him if I had asked him as a real date?" Jenna crossed her arms.

      "No, I respect your decisions," said James firmly, but then grinned, "It's their decisions I don't give a crap about and must therefore hex their arses off."

     Jenna chuckled and shook her head, walking away from her brother and towards the portrait hole.

     "Where are you going!?" James called out after her.

     "To see Clint!"

     And by that, Jenna left the common room and made her way towards the Hospital Wing.

     When she got in, she saw that Nick had already left, and Madam Pomfrey was helping Clint to stand up from his bed, readying him to leave.

     Gulping, Jenna walked towards him. "Hey, Clint."

     "Oh, hi, Jenna," he said rather coldly as Madam Pomfrey left his side.

     "Look, about last night," Jenna started. "I'm so sorry. I should've told you I was going back. I don't know what got into me—"

     "—It's alright," he said, and Jenna was grateful that he looked like he meant it.

     "What happened to you, anyway?" she mused.

     "I don't know, really," Clint said with a sigh. "I left the party to come and look for you. Next thing I know, someone attacked me from behind with the Jelly Legs Jinx."

     "Do you have any idea who it was?"

     "No," Clint shook his head. "Do you?"

     "I have a hunch," said Jenna through gritted teeth.