Where Dark Meets The Light

Chapter 4: Ready

Several days after the first task, Jay and Nev found themselves at a loss. They knew they could not keep knocking Charlie out and doing the tasks for him. The only problem was how they could make sure her dumbass brother would survive the tasks.

They had been lucky so far, but it was a matter of time before people saw the pattern. Charlie couldn't remember his fight with Voldemort or his fight with Voldemort during second year, and now his first task.

They had no choice but to try and drag him through the next task as himself.

In addition to that, Neville noticed that Jay was looking more and more tired. It took her a while to admit she'd been having nightmares to him, even longer what they were about.

The implication that both her and Charlie were going to be killed at an unknown time in a deserted graveyard was not exactly good for one's sleep. Neville himself had had a few nightmares about Jay and Charlie laying on old graves, eyes wide open and unblinking.

They both knew that Charlie would probably not figure out what the task was going to be without help. So they would shove him a bit. How far they would have to shove was a bit hard to estimate. They couldn't push too hard, as it would raise suspicion, but they also couldn't under do it, otherwise the boy would surely drown in the second task.

It was a lot, and Neville could feel the weight of the responsibilities heavily. This was no longer just training. If things went wrong here, it could easily kill either of them. The first task had shown that.

On a happier note, Yule was arriving quickly. This year there would be a ball for third years and up. And Neville already had a date.

Jay didn't.

It wasn't that she hadn't had any offers, Merlin helps him, but Jay insisted that if she were going to pull a big façade, that she could not just show up with a muggleborn. It would have to be a half-blood of high standing or a pureblood.

And while she had a point, that greatly limited the pool. It left her with only a few choices, many of which were immediately struck off the list (like Crabbe and Goyle). She eventually settled on one.

Draco Malfoy.

Neville smirked, thinking of the aneurism that James and Lily would have if they knew their little girl was planning on asking a Malfoy out.

The only problem was, Jay was chickening out. Like she was afraid that the boy, who had been looking at her all year, was going to say no.

How his baby sis could be so smart, yet such an idiot at the same time was beyond him. He also had to pretend to not know about the bet McGonagall and Snape had on when Draco would ask Jay out. Not if, when. Honestly, weren't they supposed to be teenagers?

And then there was the issue of Jay having clocked Charlie a solid one in the face. The entire school was now against her with the exception of the students she wanted to. While Jay knew he did deserve the punch, seeing her brother's hurt expression made her stomach twist uncomfortably. It wasn't his fault that he was an idiot, after all.

Still, the plan was coming together wonderfully. If they kept going at the rate they were, by the end of the year no-one would be surprised that she went 'dark'.

While they were pretending to grow apart during school hours, there would always be the room of requirement.

Jay was currently looking at Neville, evaluating his progress. His stance was good, his speed excellent, and he adapted to situations quickly. He was still no match for Jay, but he was getting there. If she had to guess, he was at the level of a last year Hogwarts student in the knowledge of spells, and a first-year Auror with the casting of said spells.