"I suppose so," Jake nodded. "But there is such thing as having wayward magic. I can't control it usually... maybe it's just in my head..." he suggested, shrugging his shoulders. Wow... in his head. What a comforting thought.

Not.

Letting a smile flit across his face, Jake nodded. "Yup," he stated, remembering the problems they had trying to find the right person who was magic and everything to take Jake in. "But she isn't like an all rounder. I mean... it's not fair on her... She has to make money for us, and she loves her job. I couldn't take that away. I mean... she takes bags of time off in the summer... sooooo... at least I get to spend time with her then," he said, feeling immensely uncomfortable with the fact that he'd not be able to see her until July.

Sigh.

"It ain't all bad, I guess," Jake remarked, though the more he thought about it, the more it really did seem kind of bad.

Tibi watched more green gems drop through the Slytherin hourglass as Jake talked. He nodded along, wondering what it would be like to have someone at home who knew magic.

"Maybe it is... and.." Tibi hesitated. Was he insulting Jake? No... he didn't think so... "well.. maybe whatever it is in your head that makes it hard to do magic will go away like being scared did?" Tibi shrugged. "I think it would be a shame if you left." He looked up and down the hall. "I mean.. who else would I talk to? I don't have many friends here." Tibi frowned.

Changing the subject back to families, Tibi leaned his head against the wall, a faraway look on his face. "I wonder a lot what if would be like if my dad hadn't died. If I'd grown up knowing about magic. I mean.. Mum knew, but she didn't tell me. And she can't do any." Would he be better at it? Would he not feel so out of place? Would he not be scared all the time?

Tibi rubbed his eyes. "I miss her loads. We used to spend all our time together, just us. And now I don't see her at all." He frowned again and picked at the knee of his pants. "It's hard."

All Jake did in response to that was shrug. He really had no idea what would happen about that. His self control and whatnot and things to do with his mind weren't exactly... predictable.

"Ahhh, my mother is... was... I dunno, but she went to Hogwarts... and I grew up not knowing I was magic..." Jake explained, actually glad to have someone he could kind of relate to.

"Families are... complicated," he pointed out, watching Tibi.

"Really?" Tibi turned his head suddenly. "She didn't tell you?" His face clearly betrayed his confusion. "When'd you find out, then?" Tibi thought it was really weird that a magic parent wouldn't tell, but what did he know.

"I only found out when my letter came. Didn't know anything about my dad being a wizard." He shrugged. "The sorting hat told me he was a 'Gryffindor from a line of Gryffindors,' though." He frowned a little, remembering it. "Ruddy hat told me I wasn't as brave as my dad so I couldn't be one, too." But, he cracked a smile, feeling a little better, "but I can't say I'd disagree, really."

Tibi thought for a moment. He couldn't ask his dad stuff obviously, but could Jake still talk to his mum? "Do you ever see her? Your birth mum, I mean?" Tibi whispered it, softly He didn't know if he was prying... but he was curious.

"I found out in my letter, too," Jake nodded, remembering the day he'd sat in his computer chair and span for hours and hours on end, before finding out he had a letter... opening it...

...

And pitching a total fit against his mother.

Smiling a little, Jake nodded. "I thought I'd be in Slytherin... my mother was," he added, and lifted his hand to show Tibi the ring on his little finger with the Slytherin crest on it. "The hat was stumped with me. Didn't have a clue where I could go I think... and the general rule for that is Hufflepuff."

And their house had a kind of stigma. That ole 'bunch o' duffers' one. Grrrrr.

Making a face, Jake shook his head. "Nope. And I don't want to see her, and I doubt she wants to see me," he said bluntly. And that was the end of that. Glancing down at his watch, Jake pulled another face. "I should go. I'm dead tired... always am these days," he added, feeling irked by this fact. In his firt year he could go for days at a time without sleep. Jake pushed himself up from the floor.

Tibi looked at the ring with interest. He couldn't picture Jake in Slytherin, but wouldn't say so. "I'uno... I think Hufflepuff's a great house," responding to Jake's insinuation that it was the catch-all house. Sure, they got into a bit of trouble.. but, well, who didn't.

He was a little shocked by Jake's blunt response about not wanting to see her. He wasn't gonna push it, that was for sure. Something had clearly happened. "Oh." that was all Tibi offered in the way of response, feeling a little awkward for having asked.

Tibi scrunched up his face as Jake stood. It seemed weird that he'd always be tired... what was going on with this kid? Tibi rose to his feet after Jake. "Yeah... probably a good idea." He glanced over at the hourglasses. In the time they'd been sitting there, Slytherin had gone and tied Ravenclaw. Nodding his head in their direction, he said, "I should probably go do some more of my homework."

"It was good to see you, Jake," Tibi offered, scuffing his shoes against the floor awkwardly. "You.." he paused. "You're sure everything's alright, right?"

Tibi just had this awkward feeling that something was OFF.

"Maybe I'm not seeing the same people you do," Jake joked (haha) as he looked down at Tibi. "Things probably seem bad because I'm in a bad mood alot," he added, glancing over at the hourglasses again and squinting at them. Ugh, his eyes hurted; maybe he'd need them looked at.

Watching Tibi stand up and tilting his head as he asked a question, before smiling and ducking the question. "No, I'm not alright," he said, grinning as he turned away. "I'm also half-left."

And with that, and another toothy smile, Jake turned and jogged off. Not in the direction of the common room, though. But towards the stairs. He'd find somewhere upstairs to sleep today.

Tibi wore a look of concern for his friend as he fessed up to a bad mood but then dodged the question. "Well, alright then. Goodnight."

Tibi watched as Jake jogged off to.. somewhere that wasn't his common room and shrugged. Standing in the hallway alone, then, he sighed, before turning back to the hourglasses and frowning. Staring up at them, he wondered what had happened to change the points so much.

Biting his lip, and looking back over his shoulder in the direction Jake had gone, Tibi wandered toward the Great Hall... finally hungry and needing something to eat.

Iris was just walking out of the great hall to go onto the grounds when the house point keepers caught her eyes. The light from one of the windows was shining on them, making the rubies, saphires, emeralds and the little yellow gems glow beautifully. Iris took out her camera again and stood so that she was blocking some of the light from the window from reaching the hourglasses, creating a silhouette of herself on the hourglasses. She held her camera up and took a picture up, smiling at the idea. No one else will have thought of it, right?

As she put her camera away again, she could have sworn that she saw a flash of blonde hair ... Nahh.... Cartwrights not here. He's with Fallon. Iris smiled at the reassuring thought and walked outside.

When he first entered the Great Hall right after coming back from the grounds, for some reason, the house point hourglasses ironically was the first thing that took his attention. Naturally, since they were in the last place again, the amount of rubies inside one of the glasses was less then emeralds, sapphires or whatever gem was the Hufflepuff's. Sighing a little he took out his camera and decided to take a sarcastic photo of Gryffindor's current state. *Click* And staring some at his work he walked to Gryffindor House Table.

Reese didn't want to be here right now. She kinda enjoyed being up in the common room where she could cry over Mel's death. But, she really needed to get out of the common room before Torin or someone became worried about her. So, here she was, standing in front of the hourglasses carrying a wrapped present in her hands. This present was for Jack if she happened to run into him today, because (like an idiot) she didn't get to see him on Christmas so she wasn't unable to give it to him then.

She sat the present down on the ground in front of her and then began to run her fingers through her hair. It was probably a fact that she looked like a total mess right now since she has had a miserable few last days. Oh, well. Just looking at the hourglasses and seeing that Slytherin was in second place made her feel a tiny bit better.

Jack had read over the letter a billion times, and yet he still couldn't believe it was true. Sure, he had joked about this happening to him, but he had never in a million years expected it to become REALITY. And at THIS point in his life, no less. Anyways, there was only one person he wanted to share this news with at the moment, and that was Reese.

He had searched all the higher floors for her, but hadn't seen a trace of her, so he had been on his way down to the dungeons when he finally spotted his girlfriend looking at the hourglasses. He hurried over and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Reese! I've been looking for you everywhere!" he exclaimed. WHOOOOOOA. He stopped immediatly when he saw the state she was in. She looked like a complete mess! "What's up? Something wrong?" he asked. It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't seen her in FOREVER...he had been so busy with practice he had barely noticed. Now he felt horrible! "Are you ok?" he asked again.

Reese took a step closer to the hourglass with the green rocks in it and tilted her head slightly to the side. They were only a few points behind Ravenclas. Just a FEW POINTS! She had faith in her Slytherins that they could get first place - or back in first place - soon. Not really needing to be here anymore since she had already seen how many points they had, she was about to pick up the present until she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She straightened back up and turned around to face the person that was behind her.

She opened her mouth to say something about him looking everywhere for her, but she closed it when he went on and asked if she was okay. Sighing, she shook her head. "I've been better," she answered. "This week has just been...tough, I guess you can say." Tough didn't even begin to describe this week, truthfully.

Forget the letter--there were clearly more important things happening right now! Keeping it concealed in his pocket, he rubbed her arm in a comforting sort of way. "What's wrong? What happened?" he asked.

If it was Torin AGAIN he was going to punch him. For reallllllz.

Reese took in a deep breath, hoping that she would be able to keep hold her tears back while she was going to try and explain to Jack what happened. "Well, I don't know if you remember Melinda Black. She use to be a Ravenclaw a while back ago and she was one of my best friends," she started to explain. "And, um, I was talking to Em in the corridors yesterday and it turns out that...that she died." If she hadn't promised Torin that she wouldn't tell about the boy that was murdered, she would have added that in th her explanation of why she has had a horrible week.

"I'll be okay, though," she reassured her boyfriend. "It's just going to take a few days - or weeks - to get over the shock of it all." She looked down at her feet as she waited for Jack to say something. As she waited, she wiped the few tears away that had started to roll down her face.

Oh nooooooo! He had been running possible reasons why she would be upset through his mind, but that had definitely NOT been one of them. That name sounded so familar but...he couldn't remember if he had ever met her.

He put his arms around her and gave his girlfriend a BIG hug, and kissed the top of her head (YAY! A good reason to be tall! He could do cute stuff like that!) before wiping away the tear streaks on her cheeks. "I'm sooooo sorry, Reese. It'll get better, I swear," he said. Sure, she'd probably take a while to get over it, and probably would question whether it really WOULD get better, but he'd make it better. He'd send her flowers every day! He--wasn't sure where he'd get all the galleons for that BUT HE WOULD DO IT!

Reese wrapped her arms around Jack when he pulled her into a big hug. She stayed quiet as he wiped her tears away and then looked up at him when he said everything would get better. That's the thing, she knew everything would sooner or later get better, but there would always be that empty feeling inside of her. It was the same empty feeling she had when she thought her brother had died. Instead of replying back, she just nodded her head. In time, everything would get better.

She unwrapped her arms that were still around Jack and took a step back. Okay, she really needed to change the subject before she ended up crying and wouldn't be able to stop like what had happened in the common room after leaving Torin and Em yesterday. "So, was there something you wanted to talk to me about before I told you about my horrible week? You said you were looking for me," she asked. Her eyes slwoly moved down to the box beside her feet and she picked it up. "Also, Jack. Merry, er, last Christmas," she added as she handed over the present that held the telescopre that she had gotten him with his name engraved on it.

Jack patted the pocket of his robes where the letter was hidden, and debated whether or not he should tell her about it. In a way, the letter contained some VERY exciting information, but on the other hand...well, he had a choice to make now and he felt bad about springing it on her like that. Especially when he wasn't even sure what he was going to do yet.

"Oh, it's erm, nothing...I just got a letter about something..." he muttered. Maybe she wouldn't ask anymore?

OOOOH presents! That would cheer her up. He grinned when he saw that she had given him a new telescoope...that was exactly what he needed! And with his name on it! "Wow...thanks! It's awesome...I loveeeee it!" he said with a grin, kissing her on the cheek before reaching into his bag and handing her a small box with earrings inside. "Go on, open it!"

Reese looked down at Jack's robe pocket when he patted it. Hmmm. She wondered what he was hiding in there, but soon enough, she found out. "A letter, you say? And what exactly is this letter about?" She asked him. "Come on, sweetie. You wanted to tell me and know here's your chance." She was becoming curious on why now he seemed to not want to tell her what he was orginally planning on telling her. Hopefully, it wouldn't be MORE bad news.

A little smile formed on her face and after Jack kissed her, she said, "I'm glad you love it. I thought you might need a new telescope. One that, you know, doesn't punch." Her little smile turned into a bigger smile when Jack pulled out a small box and handed it to her. She opened the box and her jaw dropped when she saw the most beautiful earrings inside. "Oh, Jack. I love them," she commented. "They are so pretty." She stared at the earrings a few more seconds before closing the box and giving her boyfriend a hug. "Thank you," she added.

Jack laughed. "Yeah...that would definitely help if it didn't give me black eyes," he said. He put it safely in his bag and patted it a few times, just to be sure that it was nice and secure in there. He looked up at her and hugged her back. "I'm sooo glad you like them!" he said. He was about to tell her how expensive they had been when...noooo. Not a smart idea. Tha was one of those things you're NOT supposed to tell your girlfriend.

He bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, erm, you see...I got a letter the other day from someone. One of the guys from the, erm...the Ballycaste Bats," he explained. He wasn't sure if she knew who they were, so he elaborated.

"They're a Quidditch team. They saw me play last term and found out I had been appointed to Quidditch captain and...they want me to think about coming to play for them on their reserve team," he told her. "Not THIS year or anything, they said they want me to finish training this year but--if I feel I'm ready next year, they want me to report to camp and drop my last year of schooling," Jack added.

He pulled out the letter and handed it to her for her to see. "Now, I'm probably not going to drop out, especially if it's just for the reserve team but...there's still a lot of time," he said. Not THAT much time, though. Jack really did need to weigh the pros and cons some more.

GAHHH he should never had said anything! Especially after what happened to her this past week...it was probably too much. He was such an idiot!

Reese smiled and shook her head. "I think we should get Cam back for that," she told him. "You know, the Charms homework was the prank someone. We should totally prank Karsten." She placed the little box inside her robe pocket and then took a quick look at the hourglasses before looking back at Jack.

She blinked. Ballycaste Bats? Yep, she had NO earthly idea who they were until Jack mentioned them being a Quidditch team. "That would be great if you played on the..." She never finished her sentence, because of what had just come out of Jack's mouth. Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she just stared at her boyfriend.

He would have to - what? DROP OUT OF HIS LAST YEAR?!

She slowly took the letter out of Jack's hand and opened it up. Her eyes scanned the page and when she was done reading, she folded it back up and looked up at Jack. "This is probably an honor right here. No, wait, this IS an honor even if it is the reserve team," she finally said. "And, I'm proud that they want you on the team." I'm not proud that you might have to drop out of your last year, though, she added in her head.

"I'm taking it that you haven't made your final decision yet," she said as she handed him back the letter. "You're right, you do have a lot of time to think about it." It was tough to think about Jack making the decision to go and not coming back next year, which would probably result in them breaking up since she knew she couldn't do a long-distance relationship. Gah, it was heartbreaking to think about it!

She knew Jack said that he was probably not going to drop out, so maybe he was leaning more towards staying at school. "So, are you leaning more towards staying out school?" She asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, definitely leaning towards staying...I mean, I can't be a Quidditch player forever, right?" he said with a small chuckle. Despite what he said, there was a tiny part of Jack's brain that was reminding him that he had NO idea what he wanted to do with his life besides Quidditch. After getting that letter, he really didn't WANT to do anything else now that his once far-off dream had now become a reality. Sure, that whole astronaut thing would have been awesome, but did he REALLY expect NASA to except someone without any REAL muggle schooling into their training camp? Of course not! The only way he'd stand a chance of getting in there was to Confund them all.

And now that he had the letter--he didn't want to do anything except play Quidditch. But the logical part of his brain kept telling him that he should stay and finish his education...you know, just in case it didn't work out.

Plus, did he really want to leave Reese behind? And Chris? And Torin, Fyo, Rafe, Cela, Daphne and all his other friends before he was ready? Of course not! He wasn't ready to say goodbye to them. Not even CLOSE.

He paused and bit his lip again. "The only thing that...erm...might change that, is if they write back and say that I only have one opportunity or something. In that case, I kind of HAVE to take it," he explained. He'd be loony to let that opportunity just pass on by.

Reese shrugged. "I guess you're right," she mumbled. The part he said about him saying he was definitely leaning towards staying kind of went in one ear and went out the other. Her mind just continued to thing about how happy she was with Jack right now and what might happen from this point right now to the end of the term. Part of her really wanted to cling to her boyfriend right now and BEG him to make his final decision be to stay at school, but she had to tell herself that she was happy for him, which she had said earlier, and she just didn't need to get in the way of his future.

"I'm really am glad that you have- and... I am..." Forget it, there was NO way she could even say a complete sentence at a time like this. And, if it wasn't recognizable now, this was probably the cherry on top of a perfect week (oh, the sarcasm!) Looking down at her feet, she kept thinking of everything she wanted to say to Jack right now and how she was going to say it before she opened her mouth. So, next time, she wouldn't be saying incomplete sentences and making a fool out of herself.

Right when she knew what she was going to say, she looked back up at him, but the Gryffindor had already started speaking again. "I...I see," she silently answered. Once again, she looked away from Jack, but this time she was staring back at the hourglasses behind her. She wanted to cry over all this, but she needed to be strong. Be strong and support her boyfriend. Yeah, that was so much easier said than done. Seriously, who was she kidding? She couldn't be strong right now since this whole week had gotten to her, but she COULD support Jack, but not without letting a few tears drop along the way.

"Jack," she whispered, and then she finally looked back at him; the tears in her eyes were finally visable. Without saying another word, she took a step closer to her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around him. She wanted to tell him that she would still love him with whatever decision he made, but with the tears rolling down her face and the fact that she might studder if she tried to talk, she wasn't too sure if she should try to say anything.

Gah, he was right--he should have just waited to tell her. He was such an IDIOT! Worst boyfriend ever, that was for sure. Jack felt even worse when she started to cry, and simply walked over to him to give him a big hug. Jack gulped down the lump forming in his own throat and hugged her back.

"Don't cry!" he said. Crying girls just made him so...nervous. "I'm not going anywhere just yet...and like I said, I'm leaning towards staying. I really am. Education is important," he said simply, as if that totally settled the whole thing.

"I know, but it's just..." Reese unwrapped her arms that were around Jack and took a step back. "I don't like to think that you might be leaving, even if you say you are leaning towards staying, that could change. You are the best boyfriend I've had and, trust me, the last two boyfriends I've had were jerks; especially since one cheated on me," she said. Glancing back towards the hourglasses, she wiped some of her tears away. Gah! Seriously, she should have never left the common room. It was hard enough dealing with Mel's death and that boy's death, and now she had to wait a while to see if her boyfriend might not be coming back, and waiting for something like that just didn't go well with her.

As she was looking at the Gryffindor hourglass, she remembered that she had something to tell Jack. Something she should have told him a long time ago. By a 'long time ago', she should have told him a few months into their relationship, not when they were almost coming up on their one year anniversay.

"So, Jack, there's something I've been wanting to tell you," she spoke up after being quiet for a few seconds, and then she looked back at her boyfriend. "I should have told you this a while ago, but I wasn't sure how to tell you." Here goes nothing... "Do you know a Reese Northway? Cale and Anna might have talked about her before. Well, that's me. I use to be a Northway," she explained. "I use to live with my dad and my stepmother, who I thought was my real mom for the longest, in Sutton Coldfield, but then moved to live with my godmother due to my adopted brother. I lived with her for a year or so until my mom came down here after marrying Heath Upstead. If it wasn't for that, I might actually be living in Ireland and going to a private school. I don't know why, but my mom wanted me to move and stuff, but after meeting Heath it all changed."

She paused for a moment to think about what she was going to mention next. "Heath adopted me and my brother over the summer, because we didn't want to be a Northway anymore. That explains my last name changing. And, yes, Jake isn't my real brother and neither is Dale. Ryan, though, he's my real brother," she added. "Heath isn't my real dad, which is obvious after explaining all that, but I still call him my dad because he's more than a dad to me than my real father. Did you understand all that?" Hopefully, she didn't go too fast to where she lost Jack.