The next day was a soggy one. Their feet splashed around the plants in Double Herbology, and they could barely hear Professor Sprout for the rain pounding the greenhouse glass. Care of Magical Creatures was also moved indoors to a free classroom to avoid the storm-swept grounds.
Quidditch Practice had also been canceled, and Angelina told Jake she wasn't mad he didn't show up to Practice the day before, "That's fine," he said to her at dinner, "because I found the place we are going to be meeting for our group."
"Where is it?" She asked.
"Seventh Floor, across from a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach Trolls ballet," he said quietly, "spread the word to every Gryffindor that was in the Hog's Head."
"Alright," she promised and then bounded back to her seat.
Jake returned to his food when he felt Hermione's eyes on him, "What?"
"Nothing," she smiled at him, "I'm just glad you figured out the location for us to hold the meetings."
"I am too, and I've come to terms that it's not in any book," he said reluctantly, "I had a vision of it, and that's how I found it."
"Not the first time you've seen something in a sort of vision," she said, turning to her plate. The news had been spread to all Twenty-six other students who showed up to the Hog's Head by the end of dinner, getting word to Pendragon wasn't easy, but at half-past Seven, the four of them left the Gryffindor Common Room, with Harry clutching a particularly old looking parchment.
"Hold it," he said as they got up to the top of the staircase that led them to the Seventh Floor. He looked at the map, tapped it with his wand and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
A map of Hogwarts appeared on the blank parchment, "Looks like Filch is on the Second Floor," Jake said.
"Mrs. Norris is on the Fourth," Harry said.
"Where is Umbridge?" Hermione asked.
"In her office, alright, come on," Jake said and walked ahead of them. Harry put the map away and followed Jake. They found the tapestry again and turned to face the wall opposite it. Jake thought to himself, 'We need a private place for Defensive Magic practice... a place where only the ones who signed the contract can find.'
To his friends' surprise, a door suddenly appeared, "Whoa..." Hermione said in awe.
"Come on," he said and walked up to the door, carefully placed his hand on the brass doorknob, and opened the door.
Inside they found a spacious room with bookcases lining the walls, and large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors, and a large, cracked Foe-Glass that looked familiar to Jake.
"These will be good when we practice Stunning Spells," Ron said enthusiastically, kicking one of the cushions lightly with his foot.
"And just look at these books!" Hermione said, feeling completely on Cloud Nine. She walked up to one of the bookcases, " A Compendium of Common Curses and their Counter-Actions... The Dark Arts Outsmarted... Self-Defensive Spellwork... wow," she turned to Harry and Jake, "this is wonderful! There are so many books here! Everything we could need is here!"
And in Hermione fashion, she slid Jinxes for the Jinxed off the shelf, plopped into a cushion, and began reading.
There was a gentle knock on the door, and when Jake and Harry turned, they saw Ginny, Dean, Neville, Fred, and George all walking in, "Woah... what is this place?" Dean asked.
"We'll explain after everyone's here," Jake said.
Soon enough, everyone arrived in a sort of flood, with them all plopping down into a cushion. The door was closed by Jake, his eye red, and it gave a satisfyingly heavy click when it shut fully. Hermione carefully marked her place and rested the book on her lap as she looked at Jake patiently.
"Well," Harry started, slightly nervous, "this is the place Jake found for us, and er - you've obviously all found it okay-"
"It's fantastic," Cho said happily, and several murmurs agreed with her.
"This place is wonderful," Katie said, "Good find, Jake," she smiled at him.
"It's bizarre," Fred said, "we once hid from Filch in here, remember George? Only it was a broom cupboard then..."
"Well," Harry looked around and to Jake, "anything you want to say?"
"I've put thought into what we should practice first," he stopped when Hermione's hand was raised, "Yes, Hermione?"
"Well," she lowered her hand, "I just thought we ought to elect a leader-"
"Harry's leader," Cho said, looking at Hermione like she'd gone mad.
"Jake should be leader, honestly," Katie said, "He's immensely powerful and knows almost every spell in existence."
"I think they should both be leaders, since they'll both be teaching us, but I thought we should vote on it to make it official and formal," Hermione said to them, "everyone in favor of them both being our leaders, raise your hand," she said.
Everyone put their hands up, even Zacharias, though it was half-hearted.
"I think we also should have a name for our Group, it would promote a feeling of Unity and Team Spirit, would it not?" She said and pretty much everyone agreed.
"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" Angelina asked hopefully.
"I like where your mind is, but no," Jake said.
"What about the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group?" Fred suggested.
"I was more thinking of something that didn't spell out what we were doing," Hermione said, "that way we can refer to it safely outside of meetings."
"I propose the Defense Association?" Cho said, "we can call it the D.A. for short."
"Yeah, the D.A.s good," Ginny agrees, "but how about we call it Dumbledore's Army, since he's the Ministry's worst fear, right?"
'The last person who deserves something named after them is Dumbledore... but I can tell I'm out voted...' Jake thought to himself.
Hermione forced a smile at the suggestion, "All in favor of the D.A.?" Hermione asked, getting to her feet and raising her hand only on principle. Over half of them raised their hands, but no one missed that Jake didn't raise his, "Alright, that's a majority - motion passed."
'Nothing can go wrong in a Democracy...' He thought cynically.
Hermione took the paper with all their names and pinned it next to the door, begrudgingly writing DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY at the top of it.
"Okay, so first, I think I agree with Harry on this and suggest we practice the Disarming Charm, Expelliarmus . It's a basic spell, many of you remember it from three years ago-"
"Oh please ," Zacharias Smith cut him off, "I don't think Expelliarmus is going to help against You-Know-Who, do you?"
"I've used it against him," Harry said quietly, "it saved my life last June."
The room became quiet, and Smith held his mouth open stupidly.
"But if you find it beneath you, you are free to leave," Harry said, but no one moved, not even Smith. "Okay, then I suggest everyone divide into pairs and give it a try, alternating between who says it when, just to get a feel for the spell."
Everyone split into pairs, Pendragon pairing with Neville, and Hermione, begrudgingly, paired with Ron. The room became filled with shouts of Expelliarmus , wands flew in many directions, missed spells hit books on shelves and sent them flying, much to Hermione's dismay.
Looking around, Jake was glad he wanted to start off with the basics. There was a lot of shoddy spellwork amongst the group; and most of them failed to even disarm their opponent properly, instead causing them to jump back a few paces or wince as the spell flew by.
"We should probably go around and help them out," Harry suggested.
"Agreed," Jake said and they walked amongst everyone. However, they underestimated how many of them needed help.
"Okay, stop! STOP!" Harry yelled but no one seemed to hear him.
Jake gave it a try, "STOP!" His voice boomed around the room, causing everyone to halt what they were doing.
"That wasn't bad," Harry said.
"But there's more room for improvement than I would like to admit," Jake said, causing some of them to turn red in shame.
"Let's give it a try again," Harry said.
"And no unnecessary wand work, don't get overly excited, and focus. A Death Eater will exploit these to kill or severely injure you," Jake said and it seemed to get everyone to understand the severity of learning properly.
Everyone went again, and it was much better, but still had room for improvement, so Harry and Jake walked around, helping anyone who needed it. Jake helped Cho and Marietta, before going to both Patil twins, who promptly giggled at needing his help.
He heard Harry go and help Cho, and then Luna talked about her father's support of anything Anti-Ministry, which got a smile from him.
Pretty soon, however, it was ten-past Nine, and Jake got their attention again, "Alright, it's pushing it as it is for the time, otherwise non-Prefects risk getting caught by Filch."
"Same time, Same place next week?" Harry asked them.
"Sooner!" Dean said and a lot of them nodded eagerly.
Angelina, however, had to put in her words, "The Quidditch Season is about to start, we need Practices too."
"Let's say next Wednesday night at Seven-thirty then, and we can figure out more days in the future," Jake said.
Harry pulled out the Map and watched for signs of Filch and Mrs. Norris. He let everyone leave in Threes and Fours, until the four of them were the only ones left, "That was really good, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was great, did you see how many times I disarmed Hermione?" Ron asked them.
Hermione tutted as they walked out of the Room of Requirement and it dissolved into its doorless, stony wall, "That was only once that you actually meant to," she stung back at him, "if you want to feel good about the one where you knocked my wand out of my hand when you tripped, be my guest."
"Ron, with how many times Hermione got you before that, you'd be dead if she was a Death Eater," Jake said as they went down some stairs to the Fifth Floor to Gryffindor Tower.
"It's a good thing she's not... she's scary with her spellcasting..." Ron admitted.
Hermione was unable to stop the smile that formed on her face.
*******
It had been three weeks since they had their first D.A. meeting. They had so far managed one meeting a week, and they had practiced the Impediment Jinx, the Reductor Curse, and revised their Disarming Charm, just to be sure they hadn't lost their edge for it.
Jake was proud of their progress, and every time he looked at Umbridge, he smiled contently in his mind.
Getting a fixed schedule was proving to be impossible, but he and Harry agreed that an inconsistent schedule was better, making it harder to figure the group out by following a schedule.
Hermione brought up the idea to him that night after their third meeting, "I think we should make a way for us to communicate to the other members of the D.A., without them just walking suspiciously up to our table, or another House's table, and asking what's going on. Keeping suspicion away is our concern here."
"I know what you're thinking, a Protean Charm," Jake said.
"Precisely!" She smiled at him, "And I have just the things to use for it. Fake Galleons."
"Absolutely brilliant, Hermione," Jake praised her.
She couldn't stop her cheeks from burning, "When we next meet, I'll hand them out to everyone. I don't see a reason for us four to all have one, except for you or Harry."
"Give it to Harry," he said. He looked down at his palms. His muscle was no longer exposed, and the Hypodermis Layer of his skin came back, but that was as far as it went. His classes had been interesting, but he pushed on through the pain he felt in his hands when it came to holding a wand or quill. If he started doing everything wandlessly and non-verbally, it'd look suspicious, so he pressed on, ignoring the pain in his hands. It was still sickening to look at, but he hid it from everyone. And Snape would one day pay, not just for this, but for how he had treated Hermione since First Year as well.
Hermione caught his gaze and she looked down at his palms, 'Next time Jake tries to kill Snape... I may not stop him...'
It was at the end of their Fourth meeting when Hermione explained the Fake Galleons, "You see the numerals around the edge of the coin?" She held one up as an example, "On real Galleons, that's just the serial number referring to the Goblin who cast the coin. On these fake coins, though, the numbers will change to reflect the time and date of the next meeting. These coins will grow hot when the date changes, so if you're carrying them in a pocket, you'll be able to feel it. We take one each, and when Harry sets the date for the next meeting, he'll change the numbers on his coin, and because I've put a Protean Charm on them, they'll change to reflect his."
Hermione was met with a blank silence, which caused Jake to smirk. She looked around, rather disconcerted at the reaction.
"Well - I thought it was a good idea and-" she had been cut off.
Terry Boot had cut her off, "You can do a Protean Charm?"
"Yes, so ca-"
"But that's... that's N.E.W.T. standard, that is," Terry said weakly.
"Oh," she then tried to be modest, "oh, well, I suppose it is... Jake can too. I asked him if he thought using a Protean Charm was smart, and he knew I was thinking of it before I said anything."
Terry looked at the both of them, "How come neither of you are in Ravenclaw?"
"Well, the Sorting Hat did seriously consider putting me in Ravenclaw, but in the end it decided on Gryffindor. So are we using the Galleons?" She asked them.
There was a murmur of assent and everyone bounded forward to get one.
"You know what these remind me of?" Harry asked her quietly.
"What would that be?" She asked, but she already knew what he was going to say.
"The Death Eater's scars. Voldemort touches one and all of his supporters can feel it because it burns... and they know they've got to show up and join him," Harry said grimly.
"Truth be told, that is where I got the idea from, but I figured engraving it onto a coin instead of our own skin was a better idea," she said quietly.
"Yeah," Harry pocketed his Galleon, "I prefer your way much more."
"You know," Jake said after Harry walked over to Ron, "if you had been put in Ravenclaw, I'd be there with you."
"Really?" She asked him, looking up at him.
"Yeah," he gazed deeply into one of her eyes, "the Sorting Hat knew I wanted to be where you were, so he was going to put me in whatever House you had been sorted into."
Hermione blushed and turned away from him, 'We... fate... if it exists, it really wants him and I together...'
As the first Quidditch Match of the season, the Gryffindor v Slytherin match, drew nearer, their D.A. meetings had been placed on temporary hold as Angelina gave them almost daily practices, but Jake still only went Monday and Friday. Those were his terms for being back on the Quidditch Team for as long as Harry could play. The fact that the Quidditch Cup had not been held for so long added considerably to the interest and excitement surrounding the forthcoming game. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were taking lively interest in the outcome, as they would be playing both teams in the coming games; and the Heads of House of the competing teams, though they attempted to disguise it under a pretense of sportsmanship, were determined to see their sides Victory. It only became apparent to Jake just how much McGonagall cared when she abstained from giving them homework in the week leading up to the match.
"I think you've got enough to be getting on with at the moment," she had said loftily, stunning her class completely. She turned to Harry, Ron, and Jake, "I've become accustomed to seeing the Quidditch Cup in my study, boys, and I really don't want to have to hand it over to Professor Snape, so use the extra time to practice, won't you?"
Snape was no less obviously partisan: he booked the Quidditch Field so frequently, Gryffindor had a hard time getting out to the field. When Jake informed McGonagall, she appealed to Dumbledore, and it must have worked, because the time for Practice had opened up. However, Snape refused to listen to any reports of Slytherins attempting to Jinx, Hex, or Curse Gryffindor players in the corridor. When Alicia had turned up in the Hospital Wing with her eyebrows growing so thick and fast that they obscured her vision and mouth, Snape insisted she must have tried to use a Hair-Thickening Charm, ignoring the Fourteen eyewitnesses who insisted that they had seen Slytherin Chaser Warrington, hit her from behind with a Jinx in the Library.
Jake did his best to keep his teammates safe, but seeing as five of them were grades above him, it was proving difficult. He did feel optimistic about their chances against Slytherin, though, despite Ron's performance. It wasn't up to Wood's level, but he was still better than anyone expected him to honestly be. The only real problem was his tendency to lose his confidence when he made a blunder; if he let one goal in, he would get flustered and was likely to let more goals in as a result.
On the other hand, Jake had seen Ron make some spectacular saves. One instance was on a Friday practice he went to, Ron had been hanging one-handed from his broom and kicked the Quaffle with such force that it flew towards and through the Center Hoop at the other end of the field. Angelina had compared it to Irish International Keeper, Barry Ryan, against Poland's Top Chaser, Ladislaw Zamojski, in a recorded game from years back.
The only serious threat to Ron's performance was the Slytherin team's unsportsmanlike conduct. Pendragon tried to keep them in line, but he was only one person, and his teammates seemed to only keep him around because of how good of a Keeper he was. Jake and Harry had been used to Slytherins snide comments for years. Pansy made the comment to Harry one evening, "Hey, Potter, I heard Warrington's sworn to knock you off your broom in the coming match."
Harry had the perfect response, "Warrington's aim is so pathetic, I'd be more worried if he was aiming for the person next to me." Hermione, Ron, and Jake all laughed, and Pansy's smirk had been wiped from her face.
But Ron had never endured a relentless torrent of jaunts, insults, jeers, and intimidation. When some large Slytherin Seventh Years had whispered to him if he had a hospital bed prepared for him, Ron had turned a light shade of green.
October had extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces. The skies and the ceiling of the Great Hall had turned a pale, pearly gray, the mountains around Hogwarts becoming Snow-capped, and the temperature in the Castle dropped so far that many students wore their thick, protective dragon-skin gloves in-between lessons.
Jake found that it hurt his palms considerably, whether his gloves were on or not. In the end, he decided to deal with the sharp pain from the cold as opposed to the glove-on-skin contact.
The morning of the match had dawned bright and cold. Jake had gotten dressed that morning in a Gold and Scarlet long-sleeved shirt and his red-and-gold scarf, and that was the extent of support he was willing to show that day. He was obviously wanting to see Gryffindor crush Slytherin, but if he had to fill in for whatever reason, he wanted to not have to take off bulky items.
He was already in the Great Hall when it started to pack with other students. He turned and saw Slytherin students at their table, but something was off about them; they all were wearing Silver Badges in the Shape of Crowns. He barely made out what the badge said, and when he did, he wanted to explode them right there on the chest of the wearer.
Harry and Ron sat across from him a little while later, and when Ron had entered, the Slytherins laughed uproariously, "I must have been mental to do this," Ron said in a croaky whisper across from him.
"Don't be thick," Harry said firmly, passing Ron a choice of cereal, "You're going to be fine."
"I'm rubbish," he croaked again, "I'm lousy, I can't play to save my life, what was I thinking?"
"Get a grip," Harry said sternly, "look at the save you made with your foot the other day!"
Ron turned to Harry, and Jake saw his face was pained, "That was an accident," Ron whispered miserably, "I didn't mean to do it - I slipped off my broom when none of you were looking and I was trying to get back on and I kicked the Quaffle by accident."
"Well," Harry started, having quickly recovered from the unpleasant surprise, "a few more accidents like that, and the game is in the bag, isn't it?" Harry asked as Hermione sat on Jake's right, Ginny sitting on her right; they were both wearing red-and-gold scarves, and rosettes.
"How are you feeling?" Ginny asked her brother.
"He's just nervous," Harry said for Ron, as the latter seemed like he'd rather attempt drowning himself in the dregs of his cereal and milk.
"Well that's a good sign," Hermione said, "I never feel you perform as well in exams if you're not a bit nervous," Hermione said heartily.
"Hello," said a vague and dreamy voice behind them. Jake turned to see Luna standing there, wearing a giant Lion hat on her head. Some students were pointing and laughing, but like in true Luna fashion, she didn't let them bother her, "I'm supporting Gryffindor, look what it does."
She pulled her wand up to the hat, tapped the side of it, and it gave an extremely realistic Lion roar that made most in the vicinity jump.
"It's good, isn't it?" She asked happily, "I wanted to have it chew up a Serpent, you know, to represent Gryffindor defeating Slytherin, but there wasn't time... anyway, good luck to Gryffindor!" She then bounded back to the Ravenclaw table.
Angelina had walked up to them after Luna left, flanked by Alicia and Katie, the latter of which smiled at Jake and waved. He smiled and nodded back to her. He couldn't actually remember the last time he waved at someone, and he wasn't about to start again with his palms in their current state.
"When you're ready," Angelina said, "we're going to go straight down to the Pitch and check out the conditions, then go and change."
"We'll be there in a bit," Harry assured her, "Ron's just got to have some breakfast first."
It became clear very quickly that Ron was incapable of eating anything more, though, so Harry and Ron stood up to go and join the team in the changing rooms. Hermione quickly pulled Harry to the side after she stood up and whispered urgently, "Don't let Ron see what's on those Badges the Slytherins have." She feared the worst for Ron, for the Badges read:
WEASLEY IS OUR KING
He had been about to ask her, but she shook her head warningly. Ron ambled over to the both of them, looking lost and desperate.
"Good luck, Ron," Hermione gave him a reassuring hug, just to try and ease her friend's nerves, and turned to Harry, "And to you as well, Harry," she smiled and went to join Jake, "what do you think?"
He was still seated, waiting for the crowd to die down before he got up. He got up and sighed after a moment, "I think Ron's going to have a very hard time... and I won't help him... he'll just have to learn to get used to the Slytherins' unsportsmanlike conduct... why Dumbledore doesn't do something about it, I'll never know."
"Well, we better get going," she said and walked with him to the Stadium, finding seats that gave a good view of the field, sky, and opposite end of the seating area. Jake saw that Umbridge had chosen to sit with the Slytherins as opposed to the Teachers area.
The Slytherin side of the stadium was suddenly filled with singing. He tried to just tune it out, and when the Gryffindor team emerged, the singing was drowned out by the cheering and whistling, which he did not partake in.
"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch called out after the cheering had died down, but the singing could still be heard, albeit it was muffled, like they were still trying to get a rhythm going.
Madam Hooch placed her whistle in her mouth and blew it, the balls released and Fourteen broomsticks flying into the air. Ron flew straight for the Hoops, and a bludger had already targeted Harry, who evaded it with ease.
"And it's Johnson," Lee began his commentary, "Johnson with the Quaffle! What a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years, but she still won't go out with me-"
"JORDAN!" Came the distinct voice of McGonagall.
"Just a fun fact, Professor, adds a bit of interest - and she's ducked Warrington, passes Montague, she's - ouch - been hit by a Bludger from Crabbe... Montague catches the Quaffle, Montague heading back up the Pitch and - nice Bludger there from George Weasley, that's a bludger to the head for Montague, he drops the Quaffle, caught by Katie Bell, who reverse passes it to Alicia Spinnet and Spinnet's away-"
Lee's commentary rang through the stadium, and it was always a treat to listen to.
"-dodges Warrington, avoids a Bludger - close call, Alicia - and the crowd are loving this, just listen to them! What's that they're singing?"
And as Lee paused to listen to the song, it became apparent what the singing was. The song rose loud and clear from the sea of Green and Silver:
Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring,
That's why Slytherins all sing:
Weasley is our King!
Weasley was born in a bin,
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley will make sure we win,
Weasley is our King!
"-and Alicia passes back to Angelina!" Lee shouted in his attempts to drown out the singing, but the Slytherins only seemed to get louder with each pass through the verses. "Come on now, Angelina - looks like she's got just the Keeper to beat! SHE SHOOTS - SHE - aahhhh..."
Pendragon had saved the goal; he threw the Quaffle to Warrington who sped off with it, zigzagging in between Alicia and Katie. The singing seemed to get louder and louder as he got closer to Ron.
Weasley is our King!
Weasley is our King!
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley is our King!
Jake was getting irked, badly. If this was allowed, surely him casting one massive Silencio at the Slytherins in the crowd was allowed, right?
Before he could get the chance to find out, Lee continued his commentary, "It's Warrington with the Quaffle, Warrington heading for the goals, he's out of Bludger range with just the Keeper ahead.
A great swell of song rose from the Slytherin stands below the players:
Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring.
"-so it's the first test for Gryffindors new Keeper, Ron Weasley, brother of the Beaters, Fred and George, and a promising new talent on the team - come on, Ron!"
But the scream of delight came from the Slytherin end: Ron had dived wildly, his arms wide, and the Quaffle soared right between his open arms, right through the Center Hoop.
"Slytherin score!" Lee yelled over the cheers, "so that's Ten-nil to Slytherin - bad luck, Ron..."
The Slytherin proceeded to sing even louder:
WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN,
HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN.
"-and Gryffindor back in possession and It's Bell tanking up the pitch-" Lee cried valiantly, but the singing was so deafening, he could barely make himself heard over it.
WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN,
WEASLEY IS OUR KING!
The deafening chant from the Slytherin was getting on Jake's last damn nerve, but he wouldn't unleash his anger, he wouldn't. He promised Hermione.
"-and it's Warrington again," bellowed Lee, "who passes to Pucy, Pucy's off past Spinnet, come on now Angelina, you can take him - turns out you can't - but nice Bludger from Fred Weasley, I mean George Weasley, oh who cares, one of them anyway - and Warrington drops the Quaffle and Katie - er - drops it too - so that's Captain Montague with the Quaffle. He takes it up through the Pitch, come on now, Gryffindor, block him!"
The singing didn't let up for a second.
"-and Pucy's dodged Alicia again, and he's heading straight for the goal, stop it, Ron!"
No one had to watch the game to know what happened next. Gryffindor all around Jake groaned, even Hermione, which was coupled with the fresh screams of cheers from the Slytherin side. He looked across the stadium and saw someone, probably Parkinson, with their back to the game, conducting Slytherin House to chant:
THAT'S WHY SLYTHERINS ALL SING,
WEASLEY IS OUR KING!
But still, Twenty-Zero was nothing this early, and Gryffindor could catch up easily, Jake convinced himself. But Ron, however, let two more goals in. Jake looked at Harry as he continued circling the stadium, frantically looking about for the Snitch. Jake knew that Harry was trying to end the match as soon as possible to save Ron from further embarrassment.
"-Bell dodges Pucy, ducks Montague, nice swerve, Katie - throws it to Johnson - Angelina taking the Quaffle past Warrington, she's heading for the goal, come on Angelina - GRYFFINDOR SCORES! It's Forty-Ten, forty-ten to Slytherin and Pucy has the Quaffle..."
The match continued on, Harry dodging Bludgers and Malfoy as he searched around for the Snitch. Jake suddenly saw him go into a dive, and he looked and saw the Snitch, it was hanging around the foot of one of Slytherins goalposts. Malfoy dived too, and it was a race between both Seekers.
They chased the Snitch close to the ground, and it was over in seconds as Harry's hand grasped the Snitch and he pulled up from the ground, holding the Snitch in his hand as he rode around about five feet off the grass.
Jake was smiling as Ron's suffering was finally over, and in the time he took to look at his red-haired friend, an uproar of angry jeers from the Gryffindor stands caused him to look at Harry, and he saw that his friend was laying on the grass on his back, "What happened?"
"It was Crabbe..." Hermione said in a spiteful tone. She and Jake hurried down to the field to check on Harry and Ron, and some time in between them going to the staircase and making it down to the field, Harry and George both had charged and were pounding Malfoy into the ground.
Jake could only imagine what Malfoy had said to cause them to do that. Alicia and Katie were struggling to hold Fred back, but they managed it.
" IMPEDIMENTA !" He heard Hooch yell as she pointed her wand at Harry and George, "What do you think you're doing?" She demanded from them.
Jake tried to get closer, but every Gryffindor had come behind him and Hermione and his path was blocked. He vaguely heard Hooch say something about the Head of House's office, so he tried pushing his way through the crowd to make his way back up to the Castle, but it was difficult. He didn't just force them out of his way, though he wanted to, which resulted in him not knowing how much time he wasted trying to get up to the Castle. Hermione was hot on his heels as he marched free of the crowd.
Jake could hear the sound of his and Hermione's footsteps as they walked in the corridor. She was speaking, but his mind wasn't registering what she was saying. They got to McGonagall's office in time to hear Umbridge speaking, "So... I really think I will have to ban these two from playing Quidditch ever again." Harry must've spoken quietly, because Umbridge's response was to him, "Oh, yes, Mr. Potter, I think a lifelong ban ought to do the trick," she paused, then said, "You and Mr. Weasley here, and I think his twin to be safe... he was being held back by his teammates, so he was ready to resort to violence too. I want their broomsticks confiscated, of course-"
Jake pushed the door open, and Hermione followed him in, "Does this ban apply to Vincent Crabbe as well?" He asked, walking calmly and confidently.
"Why on Earth would I ban young Mr. Crabbe?" Umbridge tried to play dumb.
"Well, as I recall seeing," Jake was technically about to lie, but Hermione saw it happen, so he basically saw it too, "after Harry had already grabbed the Snitch, he was hit with a Bludger in the back... by Vincent Crabbe."
Umbridge stood there, looking at him analytically, but he took the chance to talk again, "I'm sure you are aware it is illegal to attack a player with a Bludger after the match has ended, Umbridge, and Crabbe hitting the Bludger after the whistle had already called the match end was a malicious attack on the Gryffindor Seeker, so should Crabbe not be hit with the same lifelong ban? Or if you refuse to acknowledge that Crabbe deserves the same punishment, then you really have no basis for banning Harry, Fred, or George." Jake challenged her. He honestly didn't care what stance Umbridge took, well, that was a lie, he knew she was buddy-buddy with the Slytherin, so banning Crabbe from Quidditch would tarnish her relationship with them. He was banking on her not wanting to ruin that. And if she tried to sidestep it and continue with her original ruling, he'd make her very sorry.
Her contempt of Harry, though, he underestimated, "Alright then, Potter, Weasley, Weasley, and Crabbe will all be banned lifelong from Quidditch, and their brooms confiscated," Umbridge smiled sickeningly at him.
He didn't reveal to her that he was surprised, he kept his stony expression on his face, "So... I'm guessing Educational Decree Number Twenty-five was just introduced? Allowing you and only you to give out such a harsh punishment?"
"Why yes, how did you know? I just introduced it to Professor McGonagall here," Umbridge said, face filled with confusion.
"It's the only logical answer. I'm guessing it was because Professor McGonagall overrode your stupid decision to deny Gryffindor the right to reform their team, despite you letting Slytherin reform theirs immediately?" Jake asked, but knew he was right.
Umbridge said nothing as she rolled up the parchment and walked out of McGonagall's office. His Head of House looked at him, "Kidd, that was an impressive display of wit and cunning..."
Hermione was looking at Jake, 'He would've done well in Slytherin... he's got the Qualities of one...'
"Thank you, Professor," Jake watched the door Umbridge had left a moment ago. He turned to his Head of House, "I only wish there was more I could've done..."
"There was nothing you could've done, Kidd, don't blame yourself," McGonagall told him.
"Still..." he looked down, his hand twitching slightly from bumping against his clothes. He hoped his face remained neutral, "Excuse me," he said and made to leave the office.
Hermione watched him leave, and glanced back at her Head of House, "Is Jake okay?" McGonagall asked, using his first name, which she rarely did for students.
"I don't know, Professor..." Hermione looked back to him just as he opened the door and closed it behind him, "I honestly don't know... but I'm going to find out," she said with conviction and made to leave the office as well.
She caught up with Jake as he was going up a secret staircase, "Jake, is anything wrong?"
He turned to her, "Is anything right?" He asked her.
"Don't be like that..." Hermione walked up to him, "If something's wrong, you can always tell me, you know that..."
He said nothing for a moment, but then turned back to Hermione, tears coming from his eye and behind his eyepatch, "Hermione... you are the most important person in my entire life... if anything fatal happened to you... I don't know if I could keep going..."
Hermione began to tear up, "Jake... wh-where is this c-coming from?"
"Before I met you... and after my adoptive father killed my adoptive mother... I thought I was going to be alone... I had no one for a while..." he said, turning fully to face her, "but then when we met in Diagon Alley... we became fast friends, and I found a reason to be happy again... when that Troll attacked you in First Year, I was afraid of it taking you from me, so my anger took over, and I killed it..."
Hermione wanted to interrupt, but she refrained, deciding to let him say everything he had to say.
"In Second Year, when Malfoy insulted you with that foul word... I wanted to kill him, but I didn't because of you... you're my anchor, Hermione... when that Basilisk petrified you, I was angry, more angry than at the Troll, so I killed it... in Third Year I made the mistake of not agreeing with your judgment... and almost lost the very thing that kept me going... you..." he stopped to take a deep, unsteady breath, "at the end of the year, when I cast a Corporeal Patronus... it didn't matter the memories I used, any memory with you would have worked... but seeing you almost get kissed by that Dementor, that was what got me to jump into action... if I had known of a way to kill them, I'd have killed them for almost taking you away from me... and last year, when Snape insulted you so callously, with no regard to your feelings... I almost killed him... but your voice in my head kept me from doing so..." he closed his eye and fell to his knees, Hermione going down with him willingly, "I can't lose you... if I lose you... I'm taking the world down with me..." he said with his eye and eyepatch resting on her shoulder, venom and hatred in his voice, "I will take everyone with me..." he whispered to her.
Hermione felt a mix of many emotions. She felt touched that he cared for her so much, but she was worried about him. She still didn't know where exactly this came from, but he was keeping this bottled up, all of it, and he wasn't able to anymore. Hermione realized that it was more important than ever that she be there for him as his support. He needed her, she needed him.
He didn't know it, but Hermione was afraid every time he got seriously injured. She wanted nothing more than to make his pain and injuries disappear. She wanted to tell him everything was going to be okay, but she couldn't promise that. What she could promise him was to always love him, no matter what happened. She held him gently and let him cry until he settled down. She wouldn't move a centimeter until he was ready.