The Twin Lockets

The Twin Lockets

Chapter Ten: New Acquaintances

Jenna and Hermione stared at the Penseive. They had just viewed Lily's memory together. They now both stared at their hands, not quite sure of what to say.

"I don't see how this affects me at all," Jenna said, at last.

Hermione sighed. "Don't you see? The woman in the picture was your mother. And the people talking..."

"I know who they are," Jenna said sharply. "But I don't think I'm the one you should be showing this. Shouldn't that little scar-headed friend of yours see it, instead?"

Hermione shook her head. "Not yet. And I don't think that I should be the one to tell him. But, you could."

"He wouldn't believe me," Jenna said.

"Then make him believe you," Hermione said.

Jenna did not reply. Instead, she muttered, "Come on. Let's go before McGonagall comes."

Hermione followed Jenna out of the Headmistress' office. "So, what are you going to do?"

"What can I do?" Jenna asked, not looking at Hermione.

"Jenna, this could hold the key to winning our war!" Hermione said in a half yell. She gulped. "What if Dumbledore..."

"Don't finish that sentence." Jenna rolled her eyes. "Even if it means what you think it means, it wouldn't help you win your little war. In fact, it might even cause you to lose it."

Hermione stopped. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that acting on the memory might cause you to lose your war," Jenna repeated. "You thought yourself that Harry was not meant to view it. Well, maybe we weren't meant to view it either."

"Oh, Jenna! How can you say that?" Hermione gasped. "This memory could help us so much! Dumbledore would've wanted us to find it, I'm sure! It proves that I'm right. It proves..."

"It proves nothing! Nothing at all!" Jenna yelled.

As Jenna stomped away, Hermione came after her. "You know," she whispered, "there is always one way we could find out what it means. What it means for Harry."

"And what's that?" Jenna asked.

"We could go there. To the place mentioned in the memory," Hermione whispered.

Jenna paused. "I'm listening."

"Not now. I'll tell you later when to meet me there. Remember: Corpus Vipera."

"Corpus Vipera," Jenna repeated. "Odd password, isn't it."

Hermione nodded. "Yes. It is."

Jenna thought a moment. "Fine then. Just give me a time and I'll be there."

Hermione sighed with relief. So, maybe this Jenna girl would be on their side after all.

~*~*~

Ron sat on the bench, watching Harry fly loops on the Quiddich field. Their first practice would be on the next day, but Ron didn't feel quite like playing then. He just watched Harry fly across the field, practicing on a Snitch he'd borrowed.

"He's not half bad, is he?"

Ron looked up to see Jenna behind him, watching Harry. "No," Ron said. "He's not."

"I can't fly for the life of me. It's odd that he can," Jenna said, a pinch of annoyance to her voice.

"Yeah, well, it takes practice," Ron said, making sure not to look at the dark haired girl.

Jenna sat down next to Ron, too close for his liking. "It's strange, isn't it?"

"What is?" Ron asked.

Jenna shrugged. "Just that Harry doesn't like your little Slytherin friend and you don't like me."

"Who says that William is my friend? And when did I ever say I didn't like you?"

"First of all, you're right. William doesn't exactly have any friends. But, that makes you the closest thing he has to a friend, seeing as you're the only one that has actually spoken to him this year, I think. Second, you don't need to say it. I can tell when someone doesn't like me," Jenna answered.

Ron didn't respond, but just stared at Harry.

Jenna paused. "You know, I meant it when I said I liked the name Ron. When was growing up, I knew someone named that. It..."

"It what?" Ron looked up.

"You don't mind if I blab on?" Jenna asked, neither rudely or jokingly.

"Go ahead."

"When I was growing up, I knew someone named Ron..."

"You already said that."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I did. Anyways, he was an old, Muggle man. His wife used to babysit me when I was little. Ron -the old man, not you- used to play a lot of games with me. He always told me jokes and made me feel like I was worth something. I miss him. He was a lot nicer than Victoria," Jenna said.

"Who?"

"The woman that adopted me," Jenna said. "Victoria Maus. She's a strict, old thing. A lot like McGonagall, only without any of those good qualities. She's always been protective of me, like she thought some sort of monster was after me. Which, knowing her, she probably thinks there is. You know, I bet the only reason she's letting me go to Hogwarts this year instead of home schooling is because she has an old friend teaching this year."

"Who?"

"Professor Harrington," Jenna answered. "They used to work with each other. They were nurses at Saint Mungo's. They hadn't spoken up till recently, but apparently they have some sort of deal they made about taking care of me back when I was born and my mother died. I guess it's Harrington's turn to stand over my shoulder."

"Why?" Ron asked. "Why are they so..."

"Over protective?" Jenna asked. Ron shrugged, which was, more or less, a yes. Jenna let out a laugh. "Who knows? Maybe to watch out for the monster that's after me."

Ron shuddered a little. "You know, when Harry and I met you and you said that you'd always liked my name, I thought you were talking to him."

"Maybe I was, a little," Jenna replied. "I like his name, too. Harry. It suits him."

"Yeah," Ron said, looking back at his green-eyed friend, who was currently racing a few Griffindore's and even a couple Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's across the Quiddich pitch. He gave a small pause before saying, "You know, we don't have to be enemies."

"Sure," Jenna said. "We'll probably still not like each other, but we might as well not be difficult." She thought a moment. "By the way... why was it that you didn't like me to begin with?"

Ron shrugged. "I don't really know. I just had this strange feeling about you. Like maybe you weren't who you said you were."

"Nobody is," Jena responded, simply.

"Yeah, I guess. And, also, you reminded me of somebody," Ron said.

"Who?"

"I don't really know," Ron said. "Just somebody that I wasn't too keen on befriending. Just a gut feeling."

"Always trust your gut feeling," Jenna said. "Who knows, I could be a million times worse than you think."

"Are you?"

Jenna grinned. "You tell me."

With that, she stood up and walked down the steps to the ground, going back to Hogwarts.

Ron watched the black eyed girl leave. He still didn't particularly like her, but he didn't dislike her anymore, either. Perhaps she was just one of those people that took getting used to. Ron smiled to himself as he thought about how much he sounded like Hermione in his reasoning. "There's good in everyone," Hermione would say. Well, perhaps it was his turn to finally learn that.

Still, she troubled him a bit. And, as she walked away, for some odd reason she reminded him a bit of Harry.