"He has loads of books. You're in luck," Jake smiled more to himself as he continued reading. And then... "I'd be surprised if you hadn't. Truebridge can make any lesson enjoyable."

Hmmm? Oh.

"Don't worry about it. Not many students talk to me," Jake pointed out and he held up his book; What Every Body Is Saying. "It's not about runes; it's about body language."

Bringing the book back down again, Jake looked contemplative for a moment or two. "Hey... what do you think about all these lessons being muggle-centred and stuff. I've been hearing things about the statute... I wouldn't be surprised if they got rid of it."

Surprised? No.

Furious? Yes.

"Why not? You don't seem... unpopular, if that's the right word," she said, laughing. "And the book sounds interesting, or the title at least. I always judge the books by their cover... and titles." She was almost grinning now. Hopefully, she didn't look stupid.

"Oh, I noticed that too. It's weird, even if I don't exactly care if we talk about them or not. What did you hear about the statute? You made me pretty confused now," she said, smiling. Yes, Helena was always curious. But she could live without knowing as well. "I hope I'm not too curious."

Jake gave it a bit of thought. "I have... friends. Most are professors. Most have left," he shrugged, turning the page of his book again. "A lot of people don't like me because of something that happened a few years ago."

At once, Jake immediately thought of Wesley and her reaction. That... had been upsetting.

Heh. "I don't think it's just about talking about them. We're learning about ways we could help them if the statute went away. It might happen," he shrugged. "I dunno. I heard people talking about it when I was in Gevrik's office. I wasn't paying attention."

As for the curiosity. "I don't believe there's such a thing as being too curious."

Helena felt her cheeks turn red again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean you didn't have friends or something like that." Something that happened a few years ago? "Did something... bad happen?"

Great, you had to say it, she thought. "I'm sorry, forget about my stupid question." He probably wouldn't want to talk about it.

Helena stopped for a moment to think about what was he saying. He? Oh, she forgot about the name part. "So, if the statute is gone, does that mean that... muggles are going to know about us?" That wouldn't turn out well. "And I just realized I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Helena," she said, holding out her right hand.

"Never said you did," Jake smiled at the younger girl, showing he wasn't mad or anything. And yeah. Mkay. "Well, in my third year, me and this other girl were posessed. Some kids ended up dying. Then the next year, me and her and a few other kids were imperiused. There was a big like... battle. But yeah... one of my friends only recently found out about the kids me and LouAnn killed... she didn't take it well."

Not at all.

"Uhh... I dunno. Maybe they will. Maybe they won't know but we can give them those flu potions or whatever. I dunno... but the one reason I want the statute gone is because of the crups. Other than that, I couldn't care less."

Looking at the outstretched hand, Jake stood up and headed over, shaking the younger girl's hand. "Nice to meet you, Helena. I'm Jake."

Helena's mouth practically fell open, her eyes gone wide. "You were forced to kill?" She still couldn't believe that something that horrible could happen to someone. "And I guess that's the reason that 'lot of people' don't like you?" That must feel terrible. "If you ask me, they're stupid," she finished, smiling.

Jake could only shrug. "Can't get too hung up on it."

The young man stood up, stretched the cramp out of his legs, sat down and put his feet back up on the desk again.

"Peaceful in here," he stated simply.

Helena looked back in her book. She forgot about it.

She looked up again and giggled. "I noticed you made yourself pretty comfortable there. Won't Truebridge mind if he comes in?" Okay, maybe it was a stupid question. Truebridge didn't seem the type to start yelling or something like that.

Comfortable, whut?

"Huh?" Jake responded, looking confused before his feet caught his attention. "Oh..."

Wow, he hadn't even realised. That was his dad showing through.

"Well, my sneakers are clean... but if he does come in I'll put them down again."

Speaking of feet on the desks, Jake cracked a genuine smile. "Oh man, I remember when I was a first year and Truebs taught History of Magic. We had to take our shoes and stuff off and stand on the desk and catch chocolate frogs and discuss whoever was on our card. I got Hengist of Woodcroft."

Good TIMES. Helena probably didn't care but the sudden memory had struck Jake... he'd had to say it.

Helena laughed. "Don't worry. I didn't mean your sneakers were dirty." She found it pretty cool actually, to sit like that on a teacher's desk. That was something she couldn't do, and probably never going to do.

"He taught History of Magic? That's great!" And catching the chocolate frogs... interesting. "And you made me feel stupid now, because I don't know who is Hengist of Woodcroft." That was a shame, because she liked history and read a lot about it.

"Yup, and Defence Against the Dark Arts," Jake added, turning the page in his book. "This'll be his third subject he's taught at Hogwarts, I think."

A true hattrick.

Wait... hm? "Oh... he was like, the founder of Hogsmeade or something I think. Mediaeval times."

Yuuuuup.

Jake paused before speaking again. "I didn't mean to make you feel stupid."

Defence Against the Dark Arts? Wow.

Helena was whispering now. "I think I would've liked him better as a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I don't really like... the headmaster." There. She said it. But it was true, wasn't it? Anyway, this could turn out sooo bad if Jake told someone else that she doesn't like the headmaster. But he wouldn't tell... hopefully. This was one of Helena's problems, she trusted almost everyone before knowing them better.

As for the stupid part... Oh well. "You're not the first one." She giggled. "I always feel like this when I don't know something." And maybe he was asking himself why wasn't Helena in Ravenclaw. All that books and reading and writing. Maybe she has a dark side... somewhere... there.

"Tate's alright," Jake shrugged, laying his book on his lap as he stretched out slightly. "I didn't like him either, for a while. And I think he knew as well."

Heh. Jake was always going on about Tate being a jerk.

"He's very... straight-forward, and I guess people say he's insensitive. After the term when three kids died, he started here and at once the rule was 'do not die'."

Jake smiled at that. When you weren't mad at him, it was quite funny.

"I didn't think he's insensitive. Maybe it's just me. And maybe I'll like him... someday," she said, smiling. "And that rule sounds very... interesting." Do not die. Okay. Simple enough.

Helena looked back at the book she was still holding, and still ignoring, apparently. "Do you think professor Truebridge will let me borrow this book? I'd love to read it before we get too many assignments." Of course, she'll have to ask first.

"As long as you promise to take care of it I guess... he might come in here soon; you can ask him then," Jake nodded. He was pretty sure the man would let her. Truebs was cool like that.

He did wonder if Pofessor Truebridge would come in here... Jake could return his own borrowed book.

"He'll think I didn't even touch it," said Helena, now grinning. She had a lot of books at home and took care of every single one.

Again, she turned her head back to face Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms, this time determined to read something as well.

Great. Now her head started to hurt. She put the back of her hand on her forehead and felt it burn. Great. From all the things that could happen that moment, she had to have a bad headache. But it'll pass, won't it?