A murderer for a father: Jean L. Black ||Sirius Blacks daughter

The horrible pink toad

Eventually, everyone had to go back to Hogwarts and other than usual, nobody looked forward to it. Ever since the whole Umbridge disaster and her delusional rules, Hogwarts had become almost unbearable. The only thing that cheered some of them up, were the meeting with the DA again. The entirety of January they had been meeting up regularly again and they’d gotten stronger and stronger, to the point where none of the 45 people that were part of the DA had any worries about failing their defence against the dark arts O.W.Ls.
January seemed to fly by and before they knew it, everyone found themselves in the great hall for an announcement.
,,What d’you reckon he’s got to say? I hope it’s not another one of that horrible pink toad face”, Jean whispered to Ginny. She shrugged before she mumbled back: ,,No idea. I swear to godric if Umbridge makes us quit quiddich now, I’m hexing her.” Jean had to supress a giggle. Then the two girls heard someone clear their throat. It was Dumbledore, smiling at his students. ,,As many of you know, Valentines day is coming up and given the very grim circumstances, Professor McGonagall and I have decided to host a valentines ball this year”, he announced before his voice was drowned in murmurs and cheers of the Hogwarts students.
Harry turned to Jean and said: ,,So the rumours were true then.” She nodded gleefully. ,,Jacob suspected it even before Christmas. I’m quite happy, since the yule ball was a big disaster”, Jean sighed and glanced over to the Hufflepuff table. He was talking to his friends before he noticed her staring. Smirking, he winked at her and blew her a kiss. This made Jean’s cheeks turn very pink. Harry noticed and teased: ,,He’s a romantic, isn’t he? Jean is in love.” While getting even redder in the face, she buried her head in her hands, before she nudged him. ,,Jealous?”, Ginny came to Jean’s defence. Harry got very flustered and mumbled: ,,No, not at all.” Then Ron tapped Harry on the shoulder and said: ,,Let’s go, we’ve got practice now. Jean, you coming?” Harry nodded sadly and got up, whilst Jean just nodded before casually leaving her seat. ,,You lot go on, I’ll catch you in the changing room”, she replied,  making an ushering hand gesture. ,,I’ll watch you play, since you know, I can’t”, Harry smiled. Ron looked at him compassionately before he grabbed him by the arm and made their way towards the door.
,,Need a word with Jacob, I assume? I’ll wait for you by the door”, Ginny sighed, before she too, got up and left. Jean smiled, thankful that she didn’t gave to answer more questions than she wanted to. Sighing, she got up and made her way over to the Hufflepuff table. Jacob was talking to his friends, having a laugh. ,,So, who are you gonna ask to the ball, mate?”, a bloke with blonde hair and blue eyes asked. Jean recognised him as her fellow DA member Ernie Macmillan. Jacob cracked a soft smile and answered: ,,You already know.” Ernie scoffed and asked, apparently not noticing Jean coming towards them: ,,You’re still going out with that murderers daughter? Jacob, mate no offence but you could do so much better.” Jacob looked very uncomfortable now, almost angry. Jean though, stopped dead in her tracks. She wanted to hear what Jacob would say. Then, he leaned forward to Ernie and asked in a low voice: ,,So Sorry I didn’t get that, did you call my girlfriends dead father a murderer? Ernie, Jean understands me and I’m very happy with her, so if you wouldn’t mind, quit bullying her and get a life. I’ll-I’ll go to herbology now, bye.” With that he turned around to leave and spotted Jean standing there quite lost.  Puzzled, he looked at her. ,,You really meant that?”, she asked, trying not to sound too emotional. Jacob looked at her with a slightly concerned expression but then he nodded. ,,Aren’t you supposed to be at quiddich right now?”, he changed the subject. Jean nodded, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and briskly walked towards Ginny, who was still waiting for her. She raised an eyebrow and asked: ,,What took you so long?” Jean smiled before she answered: ,,I’ve got the best boyfriend in the world. Ernie Macmillan just made fun of me and Jacob stood up for me. Anyways let’s go, Angelina will go nuts if she sees us late.”
The following week
Everyone was over the moon for the valentines ball and several people had volunteered to help set up the location. Except one person, Dolores Umbridge. Not even Snape seemed as grim as her about the romantic atmosphere and the constant whispering in class. Over the past week, loads of girls had asked Harry out, but he had yet refused everyone. The tension between Ron and Hermione had changed from bickering, to pure awkwardness and neither Harry nor Jean knew why.
,,No, Harry I’ve told you, he hasn’t asked me to go with him yet”, Jean explained, clutching her book whilst walking along a corridor. The topic was once again the valentines ball. Even though it was still a week until then, Harry’s been bugging her about Jacob asking her to go. ,,But he should’ve by now. Its only a week to go”, Harry responded. Jean scoffed, her curls bouncing as she moved. ,,Harry, he will ask me, I’m certain but school’s been so busy we haven’t had a minute alone yet. Besides you haven’t asked out Cho either yet”, she mentioned smirking. Harry made a face before he admitted: ,,I wanted to but haven’t gotten a chance yet and if you don’t have a date then I thought that we could go as friends.” Jean stopped, looked at Harry and rolled her eyes. ,,You haven’t even tried to ask her. You and her have been going out, haven’t you? She’s just waiting for you to ask, trust me on that one”, she explained, taking up speed again. Harry ran after her and mumbled: ,,Yea, I know but she’s been acting weird lately. So jealous and I dunno, crying all of the time.” Jean just shrugged before she said: ,,Listen, if she says no, you tried. If she says yes, you’ve got yourself a date. You don’t know until you’ve asked her, now Harry excuse me, but I really need to get to Charms now.” And with that she just walked away, hoping that she wasn’t to harsh.
Minutes later, Jean walked into the charms classroom and took a seat next to Jacob. ,,Sorry that I’m late Professor, I was held up”, she muttered before she sat down. Professor Flitwick just made a hand gesture, indicating that it was okay. Suddenly the whole class heard an annoying sound: ,,Hem Hem.” Flitwick turned around to see where it was coming from, when Umbridge stepped put of the shadows. Jean rolled her eyes together with the majority of the class. She thought she even caught Flitwick doing a small eye roll. ,,That was today?”, Jacob muttered to her. Jean sighed inaudible and breathed: ,,Sadly yes. And I’m late to exactly this lesson.”  Umbridge was wearing a bright pink Robe with an awfully shade of red for her hat. Adding to her appearance was that fake sweet smile. ,,Professor Flitwick, I trust that you are aware that I will be monitoring your lesson and teaching today. The first thing that I will have to ask you is, aren’t you going to punish Miss Black for being late and then having the audacity to talk to Mr Scamander?”, she demanded, smiling at him supposedly sweetly. Flitwick was rather overwhelmed with these sudden allegations and questions. He just ignored her and turned to his students. Umbridge seemed to find that exceptionally rude and scribbled something onto her notepad. ,,Okay my dear students, since valentines day is coming up, I wanted to teach you a spell that’s very useful for romantic days like these. Orchideous, also known as the bouquet spell, conjures a bouquet of flowers at the tip of the casters wand. Let me show you”, Flitwick explained. After he drew his wand, he moved his wand in a circle and after a pink light ignited the tip of his wand, a beautiful bouquet of roses appeared in his hands. He seemed to be very pleased with it and smiled: ,,There, now you. Don’t forget to move your wand in a circle, counter clockwise and say ‘Orchideous’. Pip pip.” Everyone in the class murmured, very excited and stunned by thus spell. Nobody looked at Umbridge, scribbling away on her notepad.
Jean was sunken in her thoughts. The whole umbridge trouble didn’t sit quite right with her. The woman had something to hide, or she was just an awful person. Before she could think deeper though, she discovered that flowers were held up to her face. When she looked past them, she saw Jacob beaming at her. Jean smiled and took the flowers. ,,Will you go to the ball with me?”, he asked, still beaming. Jean’s stomach was doing flips again. ,,’course I will. I’ve been waiting for you to ask”, she answered, caressing Jacobs cheek. Before Jacob could respond, they heard Umbridge’s: ,,Hem Hem” again. The both of them winced, before looking at her. ,,Miss Black, Mister Scamander, I trust that you are aware of the rule that boys and girls are not allowed to be seen closer than 8 inches”, Umbridge smiled, looking at Jean with disgust. ,,So Sorry Professor, but you wouldn’t mind me being closer than that with my boyfriend, would you? And since no one else does it, this is not your lesson and I felt the need to tell you that”, Jean smiled back, matching Umbridge’s energy almost mocking her. Umbridge let out a fake little giggle before she got close to Jean’s face and whispered: ,,My office, Miss Black, this afternoon.” Jean just squinted her eyes and watched as the toad faced witch walked away as if she’d won. 
,,You should’ve just let it be, love”, Jacob mumbled, taking her hand. Jean sighed. ,,I know but she’s bothering me. She’s been looking at me like I’m some sort of criminal all year”, she replied, resting her head in her arms. Jacob looked at her compassionately and conjured another flower. Smiling, he handed it to her with the words: ,,Don’t be upset my lily flower. She’s a git, we all know that, but maybe you should just play nice... for now. You know, for your hands sake.” Jean smiled when she saw the Lily. She looked at her hand were was written, like carved in with a knife; I shall not be disrespectful. The wound was still red but had stopped bleeding, since the last time that Jean had detention with Umbridge had been a while. Jacob had noticed it as well. Gently, he ran a finger over her hand, which made her wince because of the pain it still caused. Sighing Jean mumbled: ,,I know I shouldn’t mess with her, but she infuriates me with all the horrible things she does to even first-years.”
The conversation was interrupted by Flitwick, who dismissed the class. Jean couldn’t wait to get out of there and change the subject. Hastily, she gathered her stuff, seized Jacobs hand and stormed out of the classroom, pulling him with her.
Down at hagrids cabin, Jacob kissed Jean goodbye before he rushed to his next class. Jean spotted her friends at a tree. Briskly, she walked over to them, throwing her bag on the ground. ,,Bloody hell, someone’s angry”, Ron greeted her, struggling to keep Hermione’s cat Crookshanks away from him. Hermione scooped Crookshanks up, putting him in her lap. The four had a free period now and decided to just spend some time outside. Despite it being February, the sun was out and even though they still had to wear their scarfs, it had gotten increasingly warmer. ,,Well thank you very much for noticing Ron, I am very upset”, Jean snapped, sitting down besides Harry on the dry grass among the snow that probably Hermione had melted. ,,And I assume you’ll tell us why in a second”, Harry smirked, examining his hand were umbridge had left a wound as well. Ron laughed at Harry’s statement before Jean took a deep breath and began: ,,Okay first off, Jacob asked me to the ball-“ Hermione interrupted her: ,,That’s great, isn’t it?” Jean looked at her before continuing: ,,Yes, but Umbridge was in Professor Flitwick’s class to ‘examine’ his teaching are some other bloody excuse to be there. Just after Jacob had asked me to go to the ball with him and I accepted, she just... appeared out of thin air and scolded me and Jacob for being ‘too close’. All I did was have my hand at his cheek. Then I made the mistake with not holding my tongue. Now I’ve got detention later this day.” She let herself fall against the tree, making snow fall down from it. ,,I think you should just play nice. We can’t risk getting caught now, remember. Or tell Dumbledore, I bet he doesn’t know what this toadface is doing to his students’, Hermione suggested, catching the snow and preventing it of falling on them. Ron looked shocked but at the same time in awe of Hermione’s little outburst and calling Umbridge a toadface. He looked at Jean, then Hermione and then Harry and at the same time they all burst out laughing. Even Jean forgot that she was actually upset. After they managed to contain themselves again, Harry asked: ,,About Jacob though, he did ask you to the ball then?” Jean sighed, before she smiled: ,,Yes Harry he did and I said yes. You will need to go ask Cho now.” Ron looked at Harry in compassion. ,,bugger”, Harry sighed, his eyes filled with a slight panic. ,,What’s the big deal though, your date with her didn’t go that bad. Besides, she’s practically your girlfriend”, Hermione threw in. ,,Well, she's been really, really jealous lately and we are actually together but I don't know how to even ask her. What if she says no?", he replied, looking mildly embarrassed and
a bit flustered. Ron made a face before he asked: ,,Jealous of who? She's your girlfriend, you just said it, why would she be jealous of anyone. Besides you've fancied her all throughout our fourth year. Just ask." Jean nodded agreeing and Hermione looked impressed of how well Ron had said it. Harry scratched his neck, looked away and mumbled: ,,Fine, I guess I'll ask her tomorrow." Ron smiled and nudged him in the side approvingly.
Later, Jean went to make her way to her detention in Umbridge’s office. She already dreaded having to see her again. Jacob accompanied her to the door. ,,Good luck J. Don’t mess with her tonight, please”, he advised, staring at Jean urgently. She just rolled her eyes and frowned. ,,You can get me at 10 I reckon. I’ll wait over there on the bench”, Jean grumbled. Jacob gave her a compassionate smile, kissed her softly and muttered: ,,Love you, good luck.” Still frowning, Jean mumbled back: ,,Love you too”, and watched as Jacob walked away briskly.
Sighing, she knocked on the door before stepping inside. ,,Good evening, miss Black”, Dolores Umbridge welcomed her in her fake friendly voice. ,,Good evening”, Jean answered through gritted teeth. She really loathed this woman with all her heart and didn’t make an effort to hide it. ,,You will be doing some lines for me tonight, miss Black. I trust Mister Potter has already informed you about this experience”, Umbridge smiled with a trace of glee in her smile. Jean just stared bluntly at her, knowing damn well what she was referring to. Still she decided it was best to play dumb. ,,No, no idea what you mean by that”, she smiled coolly. Umbridge extended her arm towards a chair, ordering: ,,Sit.” As Jean walked past her, she narrowed her eyes and seemed to find a trace of great satisfaction in Umbridge’s face. Once she had sat down, she stared at the parchment in front of her. Umbridge crept around her chair, smiling: ,,You will write; I must not be disrespectful.” Jean frowned, before asking sassily: ,,And how will I do that? You haven’t given me any ink.” Umbridge chuckled while walking to her desk and picking up a quill. ,,You will use one of my special quills. It doesn’t require any ink. Now write, dear”, she smiled as she placed the quill in front of Jean. ,,And how many times?”, Jean asked with the slightest trace of annoyance in her voice. Umbridge hot close to her face, before whispering: ,,As long as it takes for the message to sink in.”
Jean began writing. She knew that Umbridge’s quill was using her blood to write the lines. Harry had told her all about his detentions. After the five first lines, her hand started to hurt, as I’d someone had cut her with a knife. She looked at the back of her hand, just to see the words I must not be disrespectful written onto it. Clenching her hand to supress the pain, she continued writing. She wasn’t about to let Umbridge see that she was in great discomfort. As Jean looked over to the toad faced witch, she saw that she was smiling at her. ,,Something wrong, dear?”, Umbridge asked in a fake voice. Jean just shook her head, looking at her in to much pride to say anything.
An hour later, Jean’s hand was bleeding and burning from the cuts. She was mildly swearing under her breath, as Umbridge announced: ,,You’re free to go now, Miss Black.” Jean glared at her, packed her things and made her way to the door, when she was stopped. ,,And Miss Black. You know, deep down you deserved to be punished”, Umbridge smiled, taking a sip of her tea. Jean just frowned and muttered: ,,Good night.”, before she got out of the pink, ugly office with kitten plates on the walls.
,,Bloody cunt. Hope you die”, Jean swore, as she looked at her bleeding hand. As she took out a handkerchief to stop the bleeding, she noticed Jacob hurrying towards her. ,,Are you alright?”, was the first thing he asked when he arrived in front of her. ,,She made me do lines. That bloody toad face made me cut my own hand by making me write for over an hour”, Jean complained, showing him her hand. ,,You need to go to Dumbledore with that. That’s assault”, Jacob mumbled, taking out his wand. ,,No chance. Dumbledore has basically lost the school at this point. It’ll be pointless, he can’t do anything”, Jean sighed, while she watched Jacob. ,,I can mend it for you. The scar will stay though”, he suggested, holding her hand gently. At this point Jean was just done, so she agreed: ,,It’s fine. Anything to get rid of that bloody pain.” Nodding, Jacob proceeded. Jean leaned into him. She couldn’t see stuff like that, it made her dizzy and anxious. Jacob tenderly placed his hand on her back, stroking her soothingly. ,,One second, and... all done”, he whispered softly, kissing her still stinging hand. When Jean looked at her hand, all the blood had vanished and everything that was still visible was a scar when she clenched her hand. ,,Thanks”, she mumbled, hugging her boyfriend. Jacob smiled: ,,No big deal.”
The couple stared at one another for a bit, neither of them knowing what to do or say next. Both of them seemed to have forgotten that they still stood next to their professors office, who happened to be the reason that Jean now carried a scar with her for the rest of her life. ,,Let’s get away from here. Its past bedtime and Umbridge could come put of that door any second”, Jean suggested, grabbing Jacob by the hand. He nodded appreciative, and the two of them began walking away.
,,Where can we go though?”, Jacob asked, still walking. ,,Gryffindor tower. She has no right to be there. Ginny gas shown me a secret passage, we can hide there”, Jean answered, determent. Once they were there, in the narrow, dim lit passageway, Jean leaned against a wall. Jacob stood in front of her, an arm lifted up over here Jean was standing. ,,So, the ball?”, she began. He looked at her confused. ,,What about it? If you don’t want to go with me that’s fine”, he assured, sad looking. Jean looked back at him bewildered. ,,What, no of course I’m going with you. Who told you I changed my mind?”, she asked, assuring him that she did indeed wanted to go with him and no one else. Jacob scratched his neck. ,,Your cousin did, Draco Malfoy. He said to not be surprised if you ditched me”, he admitted. Jean was fuming. ,,First, don’t refer to him as my cousin. I have nothing to do with him or his bloody stuck up family. Secondly, you can tell him to kindly fuck off the next time he dares to say stuff like that. Jacob Scamander I am 100 percent certain that I want to go to the ball with you. Would’ve asked you myself if you didn’t do it”, she explained, very truthful about what she said. Jacob smiled, quite amused by his girlfriends fierceness. ,,I bloody love you, you know that?”, he smiled, pulling her close. Jean immediately calmed, as she replied: ,,I know, I love you too.”
A few days later Harry had asked Cho to the ball and she actually said yes. Now all of them just had to take a little trip to diagon alley to get their outfits.
Hermione and Jean went to Madam Malkin's Clothing Shop, whilst the boys went to admire a new broomstick. Harry and Ron had promised to follow them in a minute. Jean was quite happy that they weren't there yet. She needed to talk to Hermione about a very serious thing.
,,So, 'mione, who are you taking to the ball? Has anyone asked you? Did you ask anyone?", Jean began, hoping to get an answer out of her. Hermione, who was looking at a periwinkle dress, looked up. ,,Hmm, no not really. I was planning on asking Ron to go but I'm not sure. He was awful before the yuleball and to be honest, I don’t want to be his last resort again", Hermione answered quickly, glancing at the door to make sure that him and Harry wouldn't come in. Then she turned to look at another dress. Jean nodded  before following her. ,,You could ask him to go as friends", she suggested when she caught up with Hermione. Sighing, she turned around to u. ,,But what if he has a date already. I've seen Lavender Brown staring at him all year and it seems to be getting worse", she answered. Jean looked up, a fierce sparkle in her eyes all of a sudden. ,,I'll ask him if he has a date. C'mon Hermione, I see the way you look at him, seize your chance", she tried to persuade Hermione.
Before she could answer, the girls heard the little bell on the ceiling ring. Ron and Harry came through the door, beaming and chattering. The both of them had amazement in their eyes. ,,Hello girls, found anything?", Harry asked when he noticed Jean and Hermione standing in between dresses. Hermione seized a sky blue dress, with a bit of lace, nodding. Jean took a look at a red dress. It had a V-neckline and a slightly more puffed out skirt. Additionally it had a lacy top and it seemed to be glittering. Nodding, she pulled it out. ,,Suits are over there. Ron, pick what you want, it's on me", Jean smiled, preventing Ron not getting to pick his suit because of the price. He wanted to protest but Jean put a finger to her lips, indicating that he should save it. ,,Shut it or I'll jinx you", she just smiled, before she pulled Hermione with her towards an employee to help them get their dresses sized.
An hour later
Jean had fallen in love with the red dress and wanted to buy it. Hermione ended up picking a red dress as well, it was more plain than Jean’s but still very beautiful. Harry and Ron had gotten the same plain, black suit with different ties. Harry had gotten a regular one, whilst Ron went with a bow tie. Now the four of them walked out of Madam Malkin's happily, making their way towards the meetup spot to get back to Hogwarts.
Jean was beaming all over, clearly very happy with her choice of dress. Ron caught up next to her, saying: ,,Hey, thanks for the suit again. Otherwise I would've worn the old one that my brother Bill had for his yule ball. I just need to tell my mum that I've got a suit now." Jean smiled at him. ,,No worries, Your Mum will understand. Besides, it wasn't like a million galleons, so you're fine. By the way, completely out of context, but do you have a date to the ball? Just asking mate to mate, of course", she replied, trying to make the last part as casual as possible. Ron made a surprised face. ,,Why are you asking?”, he asked sceptically. Jean just shrugged before she replied: ,,Just curious. So, you got a date?” He got quite flustered as he responded: ,,No, but I was planning on asking Hermione to go... as friends of course.” Beaming, Jean clapped. ,,Ask her, I know for a fact that she’ll say yes” , she encouraged her friend. Ron scratched his neck, then he sighed. ,,Fine, I’ll ask her”, he finally replied, speeding up his walking. Jean quietly celebrated her successful mission and ran to catch up with him.