Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Jade and Emma's Story

Chapter 1

Jade sat on her black comforter, stuffing skirts and sweaters to wear under her robes in her suitcase. She slipped colorful tops in between the dozens of black and green her mother liked to buy her. Leaning over, she grabbed her annual Hogwarts letter from her bedside table, careful not to drop the hard, gold badge placed on top of it. She ran her finger over the large P one time before she dropped it into the bottom of the suitcase. Her hand reached out and found the fur of her black cat, who blended into the bedding.

"Prefect," she scoffed. "As if any of the other Slytherins would listen to me. Is it wrong that I kind of don't want to go? Ginger?"

The cat lifted her head and let out a disgruntled mew before closing its eyes and sleeping once more.

Jade sighed "You're right, I shouldn't let them get me down. I don't care what they think anyway." Even she didn't believe her words as she picked her cauldron up from the floor and shoved it between the clothes. Slamming the top shut, she grabbed the letter and swept out of her room. She set the letter and list on the table in front of her mother, attempting to quickly leave the room. She was not successful.

"Jade!"

She turned and faced her mother again, who was scanning the list intently. "How long has this been in your room? Irene gave me hers last week."

Jade only responded with, "Sorry."

Immediately, her mother's tune changed. She looked up with a bright smile. "Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll go to Diagon Alley tomorrow. It's your fifth year! Did anything else come with your letter?"

"No," Jade lied smoothly.

Her mother looked a bit put off. "Oh, well no worries. Do you need new roes? New cauldron? Whatever you want, honey."

Jade shrugged. "Okay."

Mrs. Baem focused back on supervising Daisy, the tragically friendly house elf, prepare dinner. "Oh, and let Irene know about our plans for tomorrow," she added as an afterthought.

Jade knew where her little sister would be. She pushed open the back door and found her out on the back balcony, sitting on the rail and dangling her feet over the edge. Pausing for a moment, Jade looked at her sibling in a mix of pity and envy. Being a Ravenclaw, Irene wasn't eligible for their mother's eager love. Mrs. Baem was extremely proud of her pureblood lineage, and was hoping to also keep their family purely Slytherin. However, Irene didn't seem to mind. She was an odd girl; while she shared Jade's slight dorkiness as well as their long dark hair, pale skin, and brown eyes, she was much more outgoing and eccentric than the elder. She was happy and friendly, though she seemed to spend most of her time with a girl in her House named Luna. Jade had never met her.

"Rene."

Irene turned and smiled brightly. "J."

"Mom says we're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow."

Irene swung her legs around and hopped off of the balcony ledge, "Cool, I need some stuff. You think she'd let me get new robes?" She didn't wait for Jade's answer. "Maybe if you asked her for me," she joked. And with a bound, she was gone.

Jade watched her sister skip away in amusement, before taking her spot on the balcony rail. Again her thoughts drifted back to Hogwarts. Although she wasn't very enthusiastic to see her housemates, thinking of the castle gave her a sense of nostalgia and she wished to walk through the halls again. She thought of her room and the girl who slept next to her, Jessica. Everyone called her the Ice Princess because of her cold disposition, but Jade honestly felt she was the nicest of all of them. Though they didn't speak, she was never mean and did kind little things- Jade was sure Jessica had organized her things several times. Maybe the mess just bothered her.