The Last Heir of Merlin

The next morning, Jake went and found Oliver Wood, Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and Keeper. Oliver was optimistic about it, saying that having a reserve was always useful. He would let Jake tryout for the team the following week. Not many people were interested in the Quidditch Team lately, so he was happy to have someone at least want to show up for the tryouts. Jake would have to try out in front of the whole team, but he was more than willing to put himself through that.

Throughout the rest of the week, Harry had spent time avoiding Lockhart, Jake noticed. He also tried to avoid Colin, but he seemed to have Harry's entire schedule memorized. Colin seemed to have the biggest thrill just saying, "All right, Harry?" At least a half-dozen times a day.

He always looked like he'd faint, though, when Harry would respond with, "Hello, Colin," no matter how exasperated or tired Harry sounded. It was starting to annoy Jake just how often he saw Colin Creevey. He wasn't ever going to say anything, but good lord was it grating on the ears.

By the time the weekend arrived, his Broom still hadn't arrived, and he was annoyed. What made Jake even more annoyed was that he had been accidentally awoken when Oliver Wood woke Harry up for some early Quidditch Practice. "Could you talk any quieter, Wood?"

"Sorry, Fernandes. If you make Reserve Seeker, you'll have to get up this early as well," he informed Jake.

"And I won't complain when I do become Reserve Seeker," he said and glared at Oliver, "but I'm not yet," his voice was laced with venom.

"Might as well come down and at least watch the Practice, then," was all Wood said before leaving.

Jake sighed and got dressed to go down to the Field and watch Gryffindor Practice. He sat in the stands with heavy eyes, waiting for them to arrive on the field. He was waiting for so long, Hermione and Ron showed up with some breakfast. Hermione was kind enough to bring him some toast and marmalade too, which he promptly thanked her for, "What are you doing down here so early?" She asked him.

"Wood accidentally woke me up and said I should come down here to watch the practice since I was already awake," he said, rubbing his eyes, "I haven't even seen them yet..."

"There they come now," Ron pointed to the team as they came out onto the field. "Aren't you finished yet?" Ron called over to him with a smirk.

"Haven't even started yet..." Harry looked their way, hungrily eyeing the toast and marmalade. "Wood's been teaching us new moves."

They saw Harry mount his broomstick and kick at the ground, soaring high into the sky. From off to the side, the three of them heard Colin's camera clicking as he snapped photos of Harry, "I wish Colin would give it a break for just one day..." Jake said with an exasperated sigh.

"He is a bit overbearing, isn't he?" Hermione asked aloud to Jake and Ron.

They all suddenly saw them heading for the ground and Wood called out, "Flint!"

They all rushed down to the Field to see what was happening. They made it down just in time to hear that they were training their new Seeker and Keeper.

Jake saw Malfoy step up, "Meet our new Seeker," Flint said. Another boy stepped forward, one that Jake didn't recognize. He must've zoned out during the Sorting because his name was eluding him, "and meet our new Keeper."

"Malfoy is your Seeker?" Jake asked like he was having a bad dream that he'd eventually wake up from.

"You mad, Fernandes?" Draco asked him.

"Why would I be mad?" He asked, but didn't give them the chance to answer, "Did you use Daddy's money to buy the whole team Two-Thousand and Ones?"

"So what if I did?" He retorted.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," Hermione said, crossing her arms and feeling triumphant, "they got in on pure talent."

"No one asked for your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood!" Draco Malfoy yelled for everyone to hear.

Hermione looked like she was going to cry this time and the Weasley Twins tried to charge Malfoy, but Flint stopped them. Ron was yelling at Malfoy and even drew his wand to retaliate against him. He tried, but because of his broken, taped up wand, the spell backfired and Ron began belching up slugs. The Slytherin's had just started to laugh, but the air became heavy, and they found it hard to breathe.

The next thing anyone knew, Marcus Flint was shoved about ten feet to the side by some invisible force. The Weasley Twins were also tossed aside as Jake walked forward towards Draco Malfoy, looking ready to outright murder him. Draco couldn't run, he was bound to the spot. He saw glowing red eyes as he found it hard to breathe. He clutched his own throat as he fell to his knees.

The only thing that saved Draco Malfoy was someone interfering. That someone was Hermione Granger; she placed a hand on Jake's shoulder, bringing him out of his murderous trance, "Jake... please... he's not worth it..." Hermione pleaded with him.

His eyes changed back to normal and he was still looking at Malfoy, who could breathe easily once more, "Hermione just saved your life, so if you call her that one more time, mark my words, Draco Malfoy, I will kill you, whether she's there or not," he made his promise to Draco Malfoy.

The both of them turned away from the pathetic Slytherin and Jake only just realized Ron had a Slug problem, "Let's take him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," Harry said as he and Jake lifted Ron up and carried him all the way there. Hermione was trailing closely behind them, staring at the back of Jake's head.

*******

As they neared Hagrid's hut, about twenty feet away, the front door opened, but it wasn't Hagrid that came strolling out, it was Gilderoy Lockhart, wearing robes of palest mauve today.

"Quick, behind here," Harry hissed at them, and they dragged Ron behind a nearby bush. Hermione was eyeing the Professor with newfound disgust.

"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" Lockhart was saying loudly to Hagrid, who looked unimpressed, "if you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one - I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, good-bye!" And he strode away towards the castle, his mauve robes trailing after him.

They waited until he was out of sight before pulling Ron up to Hagrid's door. They knocked Urgently, and Hagrid appeared at once, looking very grumpy, but his expression softened and brightened when he saw who it was, "Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter see me - come in, come in - thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again-"

Harry and Jake supported Ron over the threshold into the one-roomed cabin, which had an enormous bed in one corner, a fire crackling merrily in the other. Hagrid didn't seem perturbed by Ron's slug problem, which Harry was explaining as he and Jake lowered Ron into a chair.

"Better out than in," Hagrid said cheerfully, plunking a large copper basin in front of him, "Get 'em all up, Ron."

Jake walked away and stood near the wall, leaning up against it, "I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop," Hermione said, glancing over at Jake. She then watched Ron when she heard him heave up another slug, "That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand..."

Hagrid was bustling around making them tea, and his Boarhound, Fang, was resting his head on Harry's lap, slobbering all over him. "What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Harry asked as he scratched Fang's ears.

"Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well," he growled, moving a half-plucked rooster off his scrubbed table and setting down the teapot, "like I don't know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."

Jake knew it wasn't like Hagrid to criticize a Hogwarts teacher, and was eyeing him carefully. That prompted Hermione to ask something, "Why did Professor Dumbledore hire him? Was it because he was the best man for the job?" Her tone made it sound like she couldn't believe that was the case.

"He was the on'y man for the job," Hagrid said, offering the three of them a plate of treacle toffee while Ron coughed and belched up slugs with squelchy sounds, "an' I mean the on'y one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. A lot of 'em say it's cursed or jinxed or somethin'. No one's lasted long fer a while now, see. So tell me," Hagrid said, jerking his head at Ron, "Who was he tryin' ter curse?"

"Malfoy, he called Hermione something - it must've been bad, because everyone went crazy, and Jake almost killed him," Harry informed Hagrid.

"It was bad," Ron said hoarsely before having to cough up another slug.

"He called Hermione a Mudblood," Jake spoke for the first time since arriving there in an angry tone.

"He didn'!" Hagrid growled.

"He did," Hermione said, looking at Jake, "He also called me that on the train ride here, and Jake punched him in the nose for it. I didn't know what it meant before Jake described it as a racial slur, that's when I knew how bad the word was," she said, looking at Hagrid, "I was also standing right there beside him a little while ago when I heard him tell Malfoy that if he called me that again, he wouldn't hold back."

"Yeh better hope Lucius don' get wind o' this," Hagrid said.

"Malfoy won't tell his father, he's too afraid of the embarrassment. He got a stern talking to after what I said back in Diagon Alley," Jake said, his breathing slow as he closed his eyes to maintain his focus. "Malfoy shouldn't even be allowed to use that word in public. It's a disgrace to Pure-Bloods to use such a foul word..." Jake scoffed, "Dirty blood... Hermione is easily the Brightest Witch of our age, far better than Draco Malfoy, and far better than any Pure-Blood Wizard."

"Besides, if Pure-Bloods hadn't married Muggles and Muggleborns, we'd have died off centuries ago-" Ron managed to get out before more slugs came up.

Hermione was looking at Jake and she felt something. It was a small something, but it was definitely there. She began to tear up, "Thank you," she said quietly, but with how small the cabin was, they could all hear her. And they all knew who she was thanking.

"Don't mention it," he responded and smiled at her.

"Harry," Hagrid said suddenly, as though the thought just struck him, "Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard yeh've been givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?"

Harry looked ready to explode, "I have not been giving out signed photos! If Lockhart's still spreading that around-"

He calmed down when he saw Hagrid having a great laugh, "I'm on'y jokin'," he said and patted Harry genially on the back, sending him face first into the table, which Jake found amusing, "I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need tae. Yer more famous than him without tryin'."

"Bet he didn't like that," Harry said, sitting up and rubbing his chin.

"Don' think he did," Hagrid said, his eyes twinkling, "An' then I told him I'd never read one o' his books an' he decided to go. Treacle Toffee, Ron?" Hagrid offered to him.

"No thanks," he said weakly, "better not risk it."

"Yeh better be glad he don' know about yeh, Jake," Hagrid said looking right at him.

"You know?" He asked the giant man.

" 'Course, Dumbledore told all of yer teachers," he said like it was obvious. That also included Quirrell, who was a servant of Voldemort, and apparently Hagrid, "He refused tae tell Lockhart, and fer the better, if yeh ask me."

"Thank the lord... I'd rather it not be public knowledge..." Jake said with a heavy sigh.

"Oh, come an' see what I've bin growin'," he said to the three not belching up slugs and they followed him out of the hut to a garden patch. Behind his house was about a dozen of the largest pumpkins any of them had ever seen. "Gettin' on well, aren't they?" He said happily, "Fer the Halloween feast... should be big enough by then."

"What have you been feeding them?" Harry asked in awe.

Hagrid looked around to make sure they were alone, "Well, I've bin uh... I've bin givin' them... yeh know... a little help."

Jake wasn't entirely sure what Hagrid was using, maybe a wand that he'd just never seen, but it was definitely the result of a charm.

"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose?" Hermione asked between disapproval and amusement.

Hagrid nodded and Jake spoke next, "Awesome. You've done a great job with them, Hagrid."

"That's what Ron's sister said," he said nodding back to the hut where Ron was still heaving slugs, incapable of moving at the moment, "Met her jus' yesterday," Hagrid's beard noticeably twitched, "Said she was jus' searchin' the grounds, but I bet she was looking fer someone. If yeh ask me, I don' think she'd say no ter a signed photo-"

"Oh, shut up..." Harry said in an exasperated tone.

Jake snorted with laughter and Hermione hid her mouth behind her hand as she giggled.

It was nearing lunchtime and they hadn't had a whole lot since early morning, especially Harry who hadn't had any breakfast, and they all barely touched the Treacle Toffee Hagrid made because of how inedible it always is. At lunch, Professor McGonagall came over to Harry and Ron and handed them respective Detention notes. Ron was stuck cleaning Trophies in the Trophy room, which was a disaster waiting to happen as he was still belching up slugs.

Harry was unfortunate enough to be requested specifically to help Lockhart answer his fan mail. It was starting to be a long night.

*******

Harry and Ron had just left for their evening of detention, and Jake and Hermione were working on some homework they still had to finish from the week.

Hermione was working on Charms homework while Jake worked on Herbology. She was getting it done slower than usual, because she kept glancing up at Jake for two reasons. Whatever she felt earlier at Hagrid's was one reason; her worry for him was the second. His temper was quick to rise when it involved her being insulted or being in danger.

She was observant, though, and noticed that she always brought him back to his senses. She would try to get him to get his temper under control, but in the event it wasn't possible, because she knows things happen beyond a person's control sometimes, she would bring him back.

Back to her, because Hermione realized the feeling she had earlier, she liked him as more than a friend. Maybe it was puberty talking, but she couldn't deny that she liked him as more than a friend. She looked at her schedule and saw the top right corner of the page. Ron hadn't been able to read the name because of her handwriting, but it was Jake's name with Heart next to it. Hermione figured she probably always liked Jake a little bit in that way, but because of what he did and what he said, she liked him in that regard more than she used to. The one thing she worried about was if he would ever feel the same about her. She knew she wasn't that pretty, and her enlarged front teeth weren't great to look at. She was always awkward with trying to be social with anyone who didn't share her interests, Harry and Ron were the only two exceptions.

The more she thought about it, the more foolish she felt for even liking him. There was no way he'd ever like her the same way. She would just settle for silently liking him, and hoping he never found out. There wasn't a way he'd find out, but all the same, she hoped he never did.

"Hermione," a voice said, and a hand was waving in front of her face.

"Huh?" Was all she could manage as she looked over to Jake.

"I asked if you were okay? I noticed you barely made any progress on your Charms homework over the past five minutes... you don't need help do you?" He asked in a cheeky tone.

"Of course not," she huffed, "don't be silly."

He simply smiled at her, "Alright, but if you do, I'm right here."

"I know," she said as she got back to work to make up for lost time. In doing so, she finished her Charms homework in twenty minutes. It would've taken an average student an hour to finish without interruptions, but Hermione was no average student. Like Jake had said, she was the Brightest Witch of their age, which made him the Brightest Wizard of their age, and Hermione thought that without falter.

They had planned on waiting up for Harry and Ron, but they were just too exhausted to wait after getting their homework finished, so they both went up to their respective dorm rooms. Hermione laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering if she should ever tell Jake about her new-found feelings? She ultimately decided that their friendship was more important, so she turned to her side and closed her eyes, trying her best to not think about him so she could actually try and get some sleep.