Jupiter | Harry James Potter

lxii ; ten things i hate about you

        "Guess what I got for my birthday?" Neville said suddenly with a large grin, breaking the prolonged silence that filled the small compartment.

"Another remembrall?" Harry asked with a slight smile, unsuccessfully hiding the small laugh which was etched teasingly into his words. Jupiter squeezed his hand as a warning to lose the attitude, and she could see him fight to lose the smirk.

"No," Neville shrugged. "I could do with one, though. I lost the old one ages ago..." Jupiter hit Harry abruptly on the chest as he let out a small snicker. Neville didn't seem to notice, however, because he was digging a hand into his school bag. After a little bit of rummaging, he pulled out what appeared to be a small gray cactus in a pot, except that it was covered with what looked like boils rather than spikes. "Mimbulus Mimbletonia!"

"That's really cool, Neville," Jupiter smiled politely as she noticed the rest of the compartments' obvious displeasure at the sight of the plant. 

"Isn't it?" Neville grinned. "It's really, really rare! I don't know if there's one in the greenhouse at Hogwarts, even... I can't wait to show it to Professor Sprout. My great-uncle Algie got it for me in Assyria. I'm going to see if I can breed from it."

Harry quickly spoke up after catching a sharp, yet subtle, glare from Jupiter. "Does it, er, do anything?"

"Loads of stuff!" Neville beamed proudly. "It's got an amazing defensive mechanism! Hold Trevor for me..." he dumped the toad into Jupiter's lap and took a quill from his school bag. Luna's eyes appeared over the top of her upside-down magazine again, watching what Neville was doing. Neville held the Mimbulus Mimbletonia up to his eyes, his tongue between his teeth, chose his spot, then gave the plant a sharp prod with the tip of his quill. 

Liquid squirted from every boil on the plant, thick, stinking, dark green jets of it. The jets hit the ceiling, and the windows, and spattered Luna's magazine. Ginny, who had flung her arms up in front of her face just in time, merely looked as though she was wearing a slimy green hat, and Jupiter, whose hands had been busy preventing the escape of Trevor the Toad, had thankfully been saved by Harry, who threw his arms in front of her to cover her. Unfortunately for him, in doing so, he had received a faceful of the rancid sap. 

"Sorry!" Neville gasped. "Don't worry! Stinksap's not poisonous!"

As Harry sat there in silent defeat, his lips pursing in an attempt to keep the liquid out of his mouth, Jupiter quickly handed the toad back to Neville. "You're sweet," she muttered to Harry, fighting back a laugh as she wiped the lenses of his glasses for him. 

"I know," he said bitterly as she ran a hand over his lips, then wiped the excess off of her fingers and onto the side of her cloak. 

"Oh, hello, Harry," a nervous voice said suddenly from the door of the compartment. "Um, bad time?" A very beautiful girl with long, shiny black hair was standing in the doorway smiling at him. It was Cho Chang, the Seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. 

"Yes," Jupiter answered for Harry before he could even open his mouth. A fiery pit of jealousy opened in her stomach at the sight of the girl, and it sent more anger through her blood than she had felt in a long, long time. 

"Um..." Cho muttered, her eyes widening at the realization of the girl sitting next to Harry. "Well, I just thought I'd say hello... bye then." She closed the door and departed, looking rather pink in the face. 

"Hey," Harry said, noticing Jupiter's intense stare at the fading girl. Jupiter pulled her eyes back to him, though she kept the same intensity. "Calm down."