Jez ran into the Room of Requirement, tears streaming down her face. Stupid, stupid, stupid girl ... She stood very still and screamed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm s-so-sorry ..." Her scream turned into sobs. She crouched on the floor, her arms around herself. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice drowned by her tears.
After a few minutes later, Jez stood up and observed the dummies stacked by the wall. She didn't want to fight them. She had no grudge against them. She closed her eyes and thought hard.
A figure materialised in front of her. It's features defined - waist-length, tangled black hair hanging loose; bright, piercing violet eyes; too-straight nose; fair skin; long blue jeans and white T-shirt with a golden snitch on the front. Her eyes were slightly red, and tear tracks stained her cheeks.
A perfect copy of Jezabel Black stood in front of the real one.
Both Jezes grinned, and leapt forward at the same time. It wasn't a duel; it was an all-out fight. Jez and Jez_2 punched, kicked, bit, scratched and tore at each other in a wild cat fight. It was like seeing two tigers going at each other. Finally Jez_2 pinned Jez to the floor and started tearing at her face with her fingernails. Jez screamed but couldn't get her double off her.
She was in trouble, and this time nobody was here to get her out of it.

Nate had planned on going to the Room of Requirement eventually, and when his sobbing returned and kept him from sleep he found himself walking the corridor down to that fateful room. But this time there was something unusual: the door was wide open.

Nearing the opening, a sound started to register in Nate's ears. It was a sharp, peircing sound. Peeking around the doorframe to see what was dying inside the Room, he saw that the thing being mauled was Jez. Being attacked by Jez.

Nate's dueling reflexes kicked in the moment he saw blood on Jez's face: someone was going to pay. His wand whipped out and pointed at the Jez on top. "Stupefy!" he yelled, aiming carefully. This wasn't a time to take any chances.

Jez was screaming hell bent - or trying to - when she heard a familiar voice shouting something. Jez_2 rolled off her, and Jez backed up, panting, glancing around for her saviour. Her eyes fixed on Nate, standing there with his wand out. Oh. Jez was about to explain when Jez_2 jumped to her feet. Apparently she'd only been stunned, not knocked out. Damn.
"Nate!" Jez_2 sounded as shocked as the real Jez felt. "What're you doing here?" She bit her lip in exactly the same way Jez often did.
Jez stood up too. "Pam gave you my message?" she asked. Thank Merlin she had.
Jez_2 rounded on her. "My message, I think, since you're technically a product of this room." She narrowed her eyes and pointed her wand at Jez. "Want to help me take her down?" she asked Nate. "I think we both hold a grudge."
Jez's wand was in her hand and pointing at her double before she'd even finished the question. "No he won't," she snarled. "Our fight, Jez." Ack, shouldn't have called her Jez!

"What message? I couldn't stay asleep, and decided to come down here anyways. The common room was empty," Nate said, his red, tear-stained eyes shifting between the two Jezes. Things got really weird around here.

At least they had somehow explained why there were two of her, though. So one of them is a product of the room... Because Jez was mad at herself! But which one... Nate ran through the situation in his head. There weren't many, and they all involved risking Jez's well-being. But there was one that might work...

His wand was still out, and he threw two spells out in quick succession: "Expelliarmus... Incarcerous!" both Wanda flew through the air, and Nate caught them in his left hand as the thick ropes from the Incarcerous moved rapidly forward to bind both Jezes, hopefully back to back.

Both Jezes yelled in shock as they were forced together, back to back, elbows poking each other in the ribs.
"Nate," growled Jez, giving Jez_2 a furious sideways look out of the corner of her eye, which was about as close as she could get to a Death stare. "Give me back my wand so I can curse this twit into oblivion."
"Get me out of here!" yelled Jez_2, struggling against the ropes, and poking Jez more. "Nate, just curse her and be done with it!" She looked murderous, and it was so like Jez herself in a rage that the real one was almost taken aback. Almost.
"Shut it, you moron," said Jez contemptuously. "And stop pretending to be me - I'm the real one."
"No, I am!" snarled back Jez_2. "You're not fooling anyone, you idiot. Nate knows I'm the real Jez - don't you?" The last part was directed at Nate, and Jez's heart sank. He probably had no idea, and with herself disarmed and Jez_2 confusing him, the real one had no way to prove it was her.

Nate scratched his head and put his wand away. Still too risky. "Alright, I have an idea to prove which Jez is real. I'll ask questions that only Jez would know. Some of them will hurt, but they'll be necessary. I want to take the real Jez home this summer, not some magical clone. So, question one... Why are you here right now?"

Jez winced. Ouch. Going straight into it, aren't we?
"Nice to know you still want me to come," said Jez_2 before Jez could say anything. "I'm here because I made a terrible mistake, and I needed to ... fight. Because that always solves everything." The bitterness in the last sentence was so sincere it could have been.
Jez took a deep breath. "I'm here because I'm not good enough. I'm a horrible person who steals boyfriends and best friends, and I'm not good enough for the one person who tries and gets very close to understanding me. I tried to stop him getting hurt, but ended up causing him and myself more pain. I'm ... sorry." She turned her face away, ashamed. Way to break it to him, ace.

Would he go first? Dallin frowned. "Um... sure." Even though he didn't want to. It'd been a very long time since he'd tried to do this spell, and when he did he'd only seen his patronus for a few seconds. He had no idea if he'd be able to do it again, now.

After a few seconds of thinking, he had found a memory that he was pretty sure would be one of his best bets to get the spell right. Then, he took a deep breath and said in a strong, clear voice, "Expecto Patronum!" To his disappointment - although he really should have expected it, the only thing that came from his wand was a silvery mist that in no way resembled the German Shepard that Dallin had been hoping for.

Frowning again, he turned to Treyen and shrugged. "Um... that usually happens for me. Usually, I just have to try a few times, then I'll get it." Teaching skills; Dallin had none.

Nate wasn't entirely sure what to make of both answers. The first answer sounded like typical Jez, but the second made sense. After all, that's precisely how Nate felt at that exact moment. He didn't want to show his confusion, though, so he amended to look pensive.

Moving on. "Alright, next question..." Something the clone wouldn't know. "...Why would you clone yourself?" Nate found himself staring down the Jez that had spoken first, mostly because the other had turned away. He felt bad for that Jez; her emotions seemed very real.

"Because I need to fight a worthy opponent," said Jez_2, staring Nate in the eye.
"Because I need to fight myself," said Jez at exactly the same time. Jez_2 poked Jez in the ribs.
"Give it up."
"You give it up."
"No, you!"
"No, you!"
It must be very confusing for Nate, thought Jez as she and her clone bickered. They were no nearer identifying the real her, and she still had no idea how to ... wait a second. A smile crept over Jez's face as she formulated a plan.
"I can make the Room give me things I want!" yelled Jez, interrupting the petty argument. "If I'm a product of the Room, it won't do anything for me. So if I wanted a wand ..." She closed her eyes and thought hard. She's already tried making Jez_2 disappear, and realised that hadn't worked. For some reason, the Room hadn't wanted to take her back yet, which was insulting in a way.
Both Jezes disappeared from the ropes and reappeared a few metres away from each other. Jez_2 was looking angry and sullen. Jez's face was cool and determined as she pointed a shorter, darker wand than her own at her double.
"You believe me now?" she asked, not taking her eyes off Jez_2

Nate's head cocked to one side as he watched the whole scene unfold before him. "I should've thought of that..." he mumbled. Straightening his wand arm at the unarmed Jez, Nate walked over and stood next to the Jez with a wand.

"Wait, if that works for you..." he said, thinking hard. I need the false Jez to disappear. "Then it should work for me!" he said as he held out Jez's wands towards the girl to his right. The fake one should disappear...

Jez_2 let out a howling scream of fury as white light encased her. Jez covered her eyes with her arm to protect them, and when she looked again, her clone was gone. She breathed a sigh of relief, and glanced at Nate. "Thank you," she said quietly.
Awkward pause. Jez bit her lip and looked at the floor, ceiling, dummies in the corner, anywhere except at Nate. A few hours ago she'd told him she wanted to end anything between them, and then realised she'd made the biggest mistake of her life so far. How do you put that in words? She already had, but she didn't want to repeat herself. Her pride got in the way at the most annoying times.

Nate's face faded from shock at the success of what he had tried to sympathy as he looked directly at Jez's wandering eyes. "Look at me," he whispered gently. It was now or never.

"Back to question one. Why are you here right now? Seriously, why? I'm lost. You've changed, Jezabel. It isn't bad, per say, but you seem to have more... more feelings in general. So what are they now?" Nate asked, softly placing his hand on Jez's cheek and wiping some blood from the corner of her mouth.

Good Merlin don't do that. Don't touch me. I'll break down ... Jez took a deep breath, looking right at Nate. "I'm ... not good enough. I'm a problem kid, I'm screwed up. I can't take two steps without going back five. I fight my way out of problems because I can't solve them by myself. But I'm too proud to ask for help." Her eyes closed momentarily as she thought how best to explain. "I didn't want to drag you in deeper," she said quietly. "I thought if I just kept everyone at arm's length, I wouldn't get hurt anymore." It hadn't worked.

Nate shook his head. "Jez, that isn't ever the right thing to do. That will only end up with you getting hurt more," Nate said. Not to mention the actual physical pain her clone caused. "You look like you need to vent or else you'll explode. And as much as I enjoy explosions..." Nate trailed off. That sentence didn't need finishing.

Jez half-smiled. "I know." She whirled around and pointed her wand at the dummies. "Confringo! Confringo! Confringo!" They sprang to life and advanced. "I think now's a good time for venting, don't you?" she said, her face brightening at the prospect of blowing something up. That always made her feel better, and it might put off the awkward conversation she knew had to happen. She ran up and jumped one dummy, sticking the tip of her wand into a hole in its head that might have been an ear on a human, and yelled, "Bombarda!" The dummy's head blew of and Jez was thrown to the ground. She rolled, jumped back up and ran at the next one, her eyes wild. She was in her element.

This was.... Interesting. And, Nate found, strangely attractive. Only Firestarter Nate could be drawn to a girl who had just blown off a dummy's head. He could have watched Jez viciously assault every dummy in the room if it weren't for the burn he received on the back of his left forearm.

He spun fast, reflexes taking over. "Flippendo!" he yelled, knocking the dummy back into the advancing ranks. He scanned the room: nothing interesting. Nate decided he ought to change that. We need a fun, destructive method of dummy killing.

To his enjoyment, many large weights appeared, hanging from the ceiling by thick chains.

Jez looked up and saw the weights. "You didn't ..." she laughed, glancing at Nate. "Genius!" She pointed her wand at a chain above a cluster of dummies. Wait for it, Jez ... "Diffindo!" The chain sliced in half, and the weight fell heavily on the dummies. They collapsed under it, and were crushed like biscuits under a rolling pin. Jez grinned. "Love the feeling of crushing dummies," she commented. Hehehe ...
A burning pain on her arm brought her back to reality. Jez spun around and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to the dummy before pointing her wand at the stumbling figure and shouting, "Incendio!" Flames licked at the thing as it smashed into a fellow dummy and took it down too.

Nate smiled maniacally and nodded. "Oh, but I did! Diffindo!" he yelled rapidly, almost slurring his words. The weight above him sliced in half, the chain with it. They swung apart a little and then slammed to the ground on either side of Nate's body. His little alley gave him just enough room to turn and fight on both sides, but forced the dummies to come in single file. Easy to take out.

Strains of Reductos, Incendios, and Confringos later, Naye found his channel quiet. Double checking each entrance for dummies, he smirked triumphantly and kicked a spare head that was by his foot.

Then, just for fun, he sent up sparks in the shape of the Ravenclaw crest,

Pam ran around the corner only to be greeted by a huge wall. Collapsing into a sitting position, she thought to herself, I need to know Jez and Nate are ok! I need to know JEz and Nate are OK!! She watched as a door formed in the wall. It had intricite details, and a big handle.

She opened the door slightly to reveal Nate and Jez fighting some dummies. She let out a sigh of relief. They were ok, safe. Safe from her anyways. She wanted nothing to do with the harming of her best friends.

Jez saw the sparks as she fought off a sparky dummy. She laughed. "Show-off!" she called. The dummy saw its opening and slammed into her, knocking her against a fallen weight. Winded, she tried to shout a spell but couldn't. The dummy seemed to grin as it came down on her, its hands outstretched.
Jez panicked, pointing her wand at it but unable to say anything.
A stream of violet light sprang from her wand and coiled around the dummy. Jez watched in amazement as the light tightened and the dummy exploded into dust. The light snake back towards her, and she backed away against the weight, not wanting to be its next victim. But as the ribbon of light connected with her wand tip, it vanished.
Jez gasped, unable to process what had happened. That violet light had saved her once before, when she'd been trying to escape form bullies. She'd been five at the time. So this had been a piece of uncontrollable magic, like she'd done when she was little ... She needed to learn that spell for real.

Jez heard the door open, and her head snapped around. She saw Pam there, and a smile spread across her face. "Pam!" she said happily. "Come on in, join the party!" She noticed a dummy trying to sneak towards the door to make an escape attempt, and quickly jumped up and pointed her wand at it. "Everte Statum!" The dummy flew back and away from the door.

It seems like Dallin didn't want to be first, and truth be told, he should want to, because Treyen has never done the spell before, which meant that the only one that could be successful in this was Dallin, not him.

Either way, he agreed. And all Treyen could do was watch closely and try to mimic what Dallin did when his turn was up. And he ought to think of a memory as well, a happy one, the happiest he could come up with.

But the Prefect frowned once Dallin started to speak again. "What do you mean get it? You did it." Not a corporeal patronus, but the silvery mist was a sign of that. "Not the corporeal one...but the mist could repel something, don't you think?" like squirrels, maybe. Or a small dementor. And NO, he wasn't making fun of Dallin in no way, chances were Treyen wasn't going to get more than a silvery mist as well.

His turn. Yes?

Happy memory? He still had no idea but for whatever reason he thought of the time that Saylen had given him Aslan. That was quite a moment. "Expecto Patronum!" and he pointed his wand at the nothingness in the room only to see the same silvery mist that had come out of Dallin's wand, the only difference was...Treyen's was a bit more sparkly...and he raised his eyebrow at that. "That probably wasn't a strong enough memory." However, something clicked in his brain.

There was a memory he could use, which wasn't exactly a memory, "I'll try again." He informed Dallin, as if the Ravenclaw was his professor. Ha. Unnecessary, but he still said it.

Treyen cleared his throat and...focused, just like Kingsley had said years ago. Perhaps pretending there was a dementor in the room would help? Probably. He breathed in and out before he gave this another shot. With a different memory. "Expecto Patronum!" Blink.

He might have frozen or completely moved, but the silvery shape vanished as if on flames the second he dropped his wand to the floor. Yeah, he kinda dropped his wand. "Did you see that?" Blink. Whatever that had been was pretty awesome.

Though...was it...? Nah, it couldn't have been. Or could it have?

Pam jumped in the room, and pulled out her wand. "Petrificus Totalus!" The dummy's arms were bound to its sides. Next she jumped between her bound dummy and a weight. "Accio Dummy, Accio Weight!" She ducked to the ground and rolled out of the way. The weight collided with the dummy, knocking it to the ground. "Wingardium Leviosa! Incendio!" Next the dummy flew into the air and an orange flame engulfed it.

She hoped it impressed them.. She didn't want to seem childish on her first duel in the 'sacred RoR'.

As Treyen got ready to try it for himself, Dallin just... stood. He didn't say anything, he just watched the prefect. For a moment he distracted himself with trying to think of an even better memory for himself. Once he decided on one he tuned back into Treyen just as the Hufflepuff cast the spell.

Just the mist. Well, sparkly mist, sort of. Dallin almost laughed, but he kept it in. There was no need to laugh at that. Dal would be a good teacher and focus on the positive. Because of the time spent not laughing, Dallin missed what Treyen said about trying again. He nodded, though, to pretend that he'd heard him.

Now, he made sure to pay careful attention as Treyen tried the charm again. And - Dallin stared. There had been a shape! And if he wasn't mistaken, the shape had been a bird.

He turned slowly to the prefect, chewing on his lower lip as he thought about the patronus. He ignored the question and asked his own; "Was that... a phoenix?" If so, that was lame. But only because Dallin's patronus was a German Shepard, and not 'magical.' A phoenix, though... that would be such a cool patronus!

Was it time to pick up his wand? Most definitely! Then Treyen ought to stop staring into space and pick it up.

That's what he thought. What Dallin had said. But that was kind of impossible, wasn't it? That his patronus was a phoenix. He knew magical creatures weren't uncommon to have as a patronus...but what exactly did he have in common with a phoenix if that had been one?

"I'm not sure. I...it seemed like one...especially at the end." When Treyen dropped his wand and the thing extinguished itself as if on flames. Hey, at least it hadn't been sparkling when it vanished. "What's yours?" the Prefect had his eyes on his wand...as he considered to give the spell another try and see if it was a phoenix or not.

Or...Dallin could go next...