Meeting The Deadline ((Jude))

[Zara Phoenix]

“I’ll talk to you later, Sapp. I’ll be in the Student Lounge if you need me, cause I really need to get Snape’s essay done.” Zara waved goodbye to her twin sitting at the Ravenclaw table as she exited the Great Hall, stomach satisfied after a hasty yet fulfilling lunch. She walked briskly through the corridors, nodding a few simple greetings to passerbys, before disappearing into the Gryffindor Common Room. She couldn’t stop to chat, because as she had told Sapphire, Zara had a long piece of homework to complete, given to her by Professor Severus Snape. She had left it late for multiple reasons, which she regretted having told herself, for the Potions homework was to be handed in this afternoon, and she had barely even researched the topic, never mind started writing it. The Common Room was largely empty as Zara rushed through, filled with only a few keen students as they toiled away their early lunch hour on essay assignments. Zara smiled at one girl she recognised, and ascended the steps to her dormitory three at a time. She grabbed some parchment and other necessary materials and left again, her wand twirling in her fingers as she headed past the Common Room once more and made for the Student Lounge.

Not pausing for breath, because Zara knew every second counted when it came to writing Potions essays, she seated herself on the closest chair and table she came across in the Student Lounge. The area was completely empty, which she found somewhat surprising, because the Student Lounge was the place to chill and hang, especially for the students in the lower years. Zara always chose it because she disliked working in absolute silence; she preferred her homework areas to be warm and comforting, with mild chatter surrounding her unless she had to really concentrate on something. Hence why Zara’s preferred place to work in was the Student Lounge. The fireplace in it was always burning warmly, washing a reassuring feeling over her. Zara would’ve said that the Gryffindor Common Room was just as good, but the one inconvenience of it was that if anyone needed to find her who wasn’t in Gryffindor house, for example, Sapphire, she was difficult to get a hold of. The Student Lounge was open to all pupils, and Zara sometimes worked with Sapp on their homework, for they shared a few NEWT lessons.

Zara shoved her parchment onto the desk and got to work immediately, mentally telling herself that it was a good thing the Student Lounge was so eerily quiet for once. This was a piece of homework that needed her utmost concentration, especially if she was to finish it in under an hour. Zara wrote a few lines before pausing and opening her large Potions textbook, skimming the creased and worn out yellow pages for information she could use. She barely noticed as the minutes ticked by that someone else had entered the Student Lounge fifteen minutes after her initial entrance. Zara only glanced up forty minutes later, when she had completed two sides of neatly scrawled handwriting; the quill in her hand fell to the table in relief as she sat back and breathed with a satisfied smile. “Done.” Zara murmured to herself proudly as she shuffled the papers together and peered over it critically. Finally, her eyes swept the Student Lounge again, only to come to rest on a familiar figure sitting at the next table. “Oh, hi Jude.” Zara blinked, smiling in greeting at her fellow Hufflepuff classmate. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice you before. I only just finished this horrible Potions essay. I don’t think you do Potions, do you?” Zara asked the quiet boy. She hadn’t really ever spoken to Jude much; all Zara knew about him was that he was somewhat reserved, and his girlfriend was someone from her house, but the year below. An Eevie, if Zara wasn’t mistaken. “How are you then, Jude?” Zara asked friendlily, leaning across the table to smile. “And how’s Eevie?”

[Jude Esben H7]

Jude kissed his Eevie and they said seeya later, because Jude and Eevie never said good bye, saying good bye meant that you weren’t every going to (or didn’t want to) see the other person again. Jude always wanted to see Eevie. The thought of spending a single day without her was painful, heck, even a single hour without her, though he was forced to do that often. Every day a couple times a day, depending on what classes she had. Jude didn’t even have the luxury of going to classes to distract himself from Eevie’s absence. It seemed like when she was in class he wasn’t, and when he was she wasn’t. It also seemed like Jude spent more time out of class then Eevie did, but that made sense because Eevie was taking more classes then Jude was. Making a schedule for Jude was always difficult. He couldn’t take quite a few of the classes because either they didn’t work well with his brain, or something involved scared him. He couldn’t take things like Arithmancy or History of Magic, because numbers and dates got mixed up in his head. He couldn’t take Astronomy because all the stars blurred together and he couldn’t see shapes in them. He couldn’t take Transfiguration because he had a firm belief that objects should never change shape unnaturally, and he couldn’t take Potions because...well let’s face it...Snape scared the living daylights out of Jude! In the end, Eevie had helped Jude formulate a schedule that consisted of two Herbology classes, Charms, and then Defense Against the Dark Arts...even though that one scared him too, they figured at least one of them should know a little about it. So Jude had decided to take it even though he often came out shuddering and heading straight for Eevie’s arms.

But at this current moment, Jude was forced to leave Eevie’s arms, and head off to find something else to do while she went to Arithmancy, you know, the one that gets jumbled in Jude’s head? All he had to do was look at her homework and he got dizzy. And so she was off and so was Jude, off to find something to keep himself busy so that he didn’t go completely insane. Because believe it or not Jude wasn’t insane yet. He still had a ways to go. Anyways, Jude walked into the castle from the grounds, having just been eating lunch outside with Eevie. From there, he found that he had absolutely no idea where he wanted to go, but soon a wonderful idea struck his mind and he headed off in the direction of the kitchens. Jude had figured out how to get in there years ago. Some older student had told him how when Jude had explained that he was deathly allergic to everything that they served in the great hall. Okay, so it was a little bit of a lie, but it did get him into the kitchens, and to some good food, so it was all worth it. Jude got inside the kitchens and smiled around at all the elves. He stood there for a long time before someone finally realized that he had come in, and he was joined by a tiny little elf, shorter than most. Jude smiled down at him. And the elf smiled back. “What can I do for you Jude? Pomegranate?” Jude nodded a lot and the elf wandered off, returning a few minutes later with a large round fruit and a knife. Before handing the fruit up to Jude, the elf cut it in half and wrapped up one side, handing that bit to Jude first. Jude put it in his bag with a smile, and then took the open side of the pomegranate eagerly. “Thank you very, very much Scrunch.” Jude waved to all of the kitchen staff before leaving, picking off seeds from his new pomegranate and putting them in his mouth. As he left he decided he’d go to his usual waiting place in the student lounge, because that was where Eevie would go to find him, though Jude was sure she could find him anywhere, she had a Jude detector, he just knew it.

When Jude made his way into the student lounge it amazed him how quiet it was. There was only one other person in the room, whom Jude recognized as a Gryffindor in his year, Zara was her name, or at least something with a ‘z’, but the girl seemed quite busy working on a paper. That was fine with Jude though, he rarely talked to girls. Girls had a habit of being mean, in fact the last girl other then Eevie that Jude had had a run in with had been very, very mean. And so Jude made his way to his usual seat, and he ate his pomegranate. It had been almost an hour before the girl finally looked up and saw Jude, and Jude froze. He was just getting into his bag to get out the second half of his pomegranate when the girl acknowledged him. Jude smiled at her and then shrugged when she said she was sorry for not seeing him, then shook his head vehemently when she asked if he took potions. Jude pulled his pomegranate from his back and unwrapped it as the girl asked him how he was. Jude was only planning on shrugging indifferently but then the girl asked how Eevie was and Jude grinned. Obviously this girl knew Eevie, and that meant that she was probably a nice girl and it wouldn’t hurt Jude to talk a little. So he stood from his seat and moved to the same table as the other girl, leaning back and pulling a seed from his pomegranate. “Eevie is just fine, but she’s off at arithma-whathca-mabob...so I have to wait here for her so she can find me.” Jude grinned and nodded enthusiastically, though when he spoke his voice was just barely above a mumble. It was audible however, seeing as he and Zara were the only ones in the room. Jude looked across at the girl’s essay and frowned a bit before looking up at Zara again. “Snape scares me.”

((I'm sorry that this post is such a monster! Jude just hasnt been posted in so long he's all eager now haha))

[Zara Phoenix]

((Lol, not a problem. Trust me, I of all people understand posting monster posts!))

Zara continued to smile though she could immediately detect Jude’s hesitance communicating with her; the way he obviously wanted to avoid any contact was plain to see, though she had expected this. She had always been a bit confused by his behaviour… so were a lot of other people, but Zara didn’t make a big deal out of it. He and Eevie seemed to like each other a lot; had been together for a while now, if memory served. It was good to see relationships last, rather than ones that broke in less than an hour. Zara believed in healthy, strong, committed romances, not one-minute flings, but of course, no one she had met so far seemed to justify Zara’s needs – or they were just too different for her to like them in a romantic way. Zara had always just thought Jude as a quiet boy, but she noticed just how shy he was in response to her words. Jude obviously didn’t like talking much, preferring to make gestures and continue eating his pomegranate. Zara didn’t mind though; his behaviour was confusing… perhaps offensive to some people, but she could tell Jude was rather harmless. He had always appeared this way in the last six years, really. Jude looked so innocent shaking his head to Potions, and Zara almost laughed out loud. Instead, she grinned in understanding. “Lucky you.” She sighed a little, tucking her essay away. “It’s not fun at all. But that’s what you get when you want to become an auror.”

Suddenly, Jude’s behaviour seemed to change in an instant, much to Zara’s surprise. In a moment he was sitting by her table, comfortably and calmly talking as though he knew Zara all his life. The situation almost made her laugh out loud again – this Jude was certainly spontaneous and surprising, Zara thought as she smiled brightly in response. Although she was somewhat shocked at Jude’s randomly friendly behaviour now, she accepted that it was probably due to her mentioning Eevie, and that helped Jude connect with her. He was obviously fond of his girlfriend, Zara observed as he rattled on happily about Eevie. She seemed the very centre of his life, and Zara felt warmed by this… knowing that such close relationships existed out there. She wasn’t envious of Jude and Eevie; not yet. She hadn’t the time for a boy… though Zara was sure she’d like a partner in the future. Someone who shared her love for Quidditch, probably. “Good to hear it.” Zara smiled gladly at Jude concerning Eevie’s welfare. “Tell her Zara says hello.” Zara hadn’t really spoken to Eevie much, but they knew of each other, so Eevie shouldn’t be surprised if Jude did pass the message on. He did seem somewhat besotted by her, Zara mused contentedly to herself, judging from his immediate reaction to Zara asking about Eevie.

“Arithmancy, you mean?” Zara chuckled, nodding. “I don’t like that subject, do you? I suppose that’s why you don’t take it either.” So this explained why Jude wasn’t with Eevie. Usually the two were always seen together; couples generally were. But Eevie and Jude seemed inseparable, if Zara’s opinion was anything to go by. Suddenly Jude was so enthusiastic and talkative, but he was still quiet despite his excitement. Zara assumed he was just a natural quiet one, as rumour said. Suddenly Jude made a random statement, and Zara burst out laughing in good humour. She quickly reeled in her hilarity in case she scared off Jude, and turned to him with an infectious grin. “He scares me too. That man scares everyone. And you now what he’s like – he hates Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. I don’t think Potions should be compulsory for the lower school, never mind for becoming an auror. I don’t see how it benefits us at all.” Zara frowned a little and leaned back in her chair. “What do you take then, Jude? I’ve never asked you. And Eevie too. Do you guys have the same lessons?” Zara figured she’d ask about Eevie too – seeing as Jude opened up more concerning his long-term girlfriend. Zara was curious about Jude too, hence why she stayed to talk to him. She could get back to the dorm and get ready for her afternoon classes, but this was a rare opportunity to get to know her classmate more, and she wanted to take it.

[Jude Esben H7]

Jude had always found it much easier to talk with people about things that he enjoyed. And so the main way to get him to talk was to ask him about something that he knew. Zara had done that quite right. She had asked about Eevie, and if there was one thing that Jude knew about it was Eevie. She really was his whole entire world, and everything revolved around Eevie. Jude was absolutely thrilled to meet friends of Eevie’s because then he could talk to them all about Eevie. It never once occurred to Jude that perhaps people might have gotten sick of listening to him go on and on about his girlfriend because he never once got sick of talking about her. Everything in his life was centered around Eevie Bloch. Every move he made, every thought in his head, every decision he decided had something to do with Eevie. When he woke up in the morning his first thoughts were about what Eevie was doing (Even though the answer was that she was probably not even awake yet. Jude was an early riser, and so he was up and sitting outside Eevie’s common room before the sun had completely gotten up yet.), and when he fell asleep at night he was wondering if Eevie was sleeping soundly, and if she was, whether or not she was dreaming of him. Even Jude’s dreams were nearly always centered around Eevie. Unless they were nightmares, then they tended to be about Snape eating sunflowers.

Jude nodded happily when Zara asked him if he’d tell Eevie that she had said hello, which he most definitely would do. Eevie would be quite pleased to see that Jude had socialized with someone. She was always proud of him if he broke out of his little box once in a while and socialized with someone other than her and house elves. When Jude wasn’t with Eevie, that’s where he tended to be, in the kitchens with the house elves. Something about the elves made it a lot easier to talk to them then to talk to other people. Probably because the elves that Jude socialized with her much friendlier then most people and they were always willing to find him a pomegranate. Once they even let him help cook something, but that had resulted in a small fire, and so Jude had banished himself from the kitchen. He had been quite torn up about his lack of cooking skills of course, but both Eevie and the elves assured him that it was less his fault and more the ovens for giving him the option of burning down the kitchen. So Jude had stopped cooking and now he was much more content eating fruit. Jude’s diet mostly consisted of fruits and vegetables. He wasn’t a meat type of person, just the thought that it had once been alive and making noises kind of bothered him. Plants however, he was much more ok with eating. Especially fruits that came from trees and things, because they weren’t so much the actual plants as the product of the plant. Pomegranates came from trees, and sot therefore when they were harvested a tree was not killed. Which made Jude smile. Knowing that the three would live another day to make another fruit.

Jude nodded along with Zara when she asked him if he had meant Arithmancy. Yes, that was what he had meant, and when he thought the word in his head that’s how it sounded, but when he went to say the word out loud his mouth just got lazy and he didn’t feel like making sure he was saying it right. So he kind of just made up half the word. Jude picked a seed from his pomegranate and shook his head as Zara asked him if he liked the subject. “Too many numbers.” He nodded matter of factly just as one of the seeds on his fruit busted and juice squirted onto the sleeve of his white uniform shirt. He groaned and looked up at Zara. “Pomegranates stain.” He sighed and tried to suck the juice out of his shirt as Zara asked him if he and Eevie had a lot of classes together. He shook his head and pulled his mouth from his clothing. “No. Eevie takes classes that I can’t really take. Most of them have things that don’t sit right in my head, or else they scare me.” He nodded a lot. “Like she takes potions, but I don’t because Snape scares me. And she takes arithmancy and astronomy but I can’t because the numbers get mixed up in my head, I can’t see shapes in the stars, and I’m afraid of heights.” It wasn’t just the height of the tower that scared Jude, but also just the idea of sitting and looking at stars that were way up in the air scared Jude. They were so high up!

[Zara Phoenix]

((Sorry it's so late, and not very long! I'm ill today, so that can be my excuse. ))

“Yeah.” Zara laughed when Jude said there were too many numbers in Arithmancy, “That is the point of the subject, after all.” She joked, watching her fellow seventh year pick at his pomegranate. Jude reminded her of a little child, but an intelligent, big child, and although his behaviour was indeed odd, Zara found it liberating talking to him. Jude didn’t strike her as the type to be judgemental or cunningly deceitful; he seemed open and honest, which Zara admired in people. There weren’t many truly honest individuals around, and she could understand the significance behind white lies, but what she was usually annoyed about was what extended beyond those little lies; the bigger untruths that made Zara lose trust in anyone. When she did come to getting a boyfriend, one important aspect to him, she hoped, was that he would be honest. She had a feeling the person she would in the future fall in love with would not be the perfect person she had built up in her mind over the years, and that whatever his flaws, she would have things about him she would love to pieces; but she dearly wished for him to be honest with her. Otherwise, Zara knew even then she would find it difficult to make their relationship work.

Zara glanced up when Jude groaned, and noted the stain on his shirt from the pomegranate. “Oh dear,” Zara murmured sympathetically, and without much thought she drew her wand from her pocket to point at Jude’s shirt. “Careful.” She warned as she motioned for Jude to stop sucking his shirt. She uttered a quick spell that immediately cleaned the stain off. “Stain all gone.” Zara said brightly with a smile. She hoped to keep Jude happy; it felt like she talking to a child whom she wanted to keep content. For some weird reason, Jude evoked in her the maternal streak she hid mostly, or rather, refrained from using because there was no need. With Jude though, Zara felt the immediate need to make sure he wasn’t unhappy, because she could imagine when he was unhappy, it made the people around him feel the need to take away the source of his unhappiness too. Zara didn’t want to think she was treating Jude like a child, but she couldn’t help it; maybe it was the fact he had been sucking the juice out of his shirt, a child-like action, but she really wanted to baby him, even pat him on the head. The thought was an insane one, so of course, she remained still in her seat after she pocketed her wand again, listening to Jude talk about Eevie.

Zara nodded with an understanding smile as Jude explained about his subjects. “I don’t think there are many people who aren’t scared of Professor Snape. And it’s okay if you can’t do numbers. Nothing wrong with that, we all have our own strong and weak points.” Zara said caringly. “Eevie is obviously good at her numbers then?” Zara prompted, before smiling at Jude’s simple comments. “Well, you don’t have to actually fly up to the stars to see them, so you could watch them together anyway with Eevie, even if you can’t see the shapes. Stars can be admired for their beauty, not just for their… shaping.” Zara shrugged with a laugh, having never been the best student at Astronomy herself. Then she realised why stargazing would be a problem for Jude. “Oh, you mean to say you can’t go up the tower to look at them?” Zara asked, before smiling in kindly, “Well, you could always stargaze from the Grounds. Bring a telescope down. I’m sure Eevie would like a star for her birthday or Christmas present.” Zara joked, wondering how she’d react if the typical romantic love story of a man plucking a star from the heavens for his partner would ever happen to her.