At lunch, it was a fairly nice day out, so Jade, Alana, West, and her
fellow underage champion and his friends took their plates outside and
sat under a tree by the Great Lake. Alana was consuming her food like a
vacuum, West was picking at her salad limply, and Jade was detailing her
library adventures.

"There was this blond boy, looked kind
of like a ferret I guess, and he was really rude. Shoved my books onto
the floor three times!"

Harry dropped his fork. "Stay away from that boy, Jade."

"Why?" She took a bite of her potato.

Harry's
friends, a red haired boy named Ron and a smart girl with bushy hair
named Hermione, shook their heads. "His name is Draco Malfoy, and he's
nothing but trouble," Hermione said, pushing back her hair.

"What did you do to him?" Ron asked through a mouthful of turkey sandwich. "Did you hit him?"

Alana bounced up and down, their earlier tussles clearly forgotten. "Did you? Did you?"

"No,
I didn't. I called him a presumptuous blond git, though. It was very
satisfying." Jade smiled a little at the memory. "Why is he such a
little pill?"

Harry shrugged. "I have no idea, but he likes to
spend his time annoying the heck out of everyone. Maybe no one pays
attention to him at home or something."

"Whatever his problem is, I've officially decided to hate him." Jade put her dish down in the grass.

Alana gasped and dropped her cupcake on the ground. "Jade, you've never hated anybody ever!"

She
shrugged. "A phoenix can change its flame, I guess." After saying this,
she cringed at the close allusion to her power. "He's awful. I can just
tell. If I never see him again, it'll be too soon."

"Speak of the Dark Lord," Hermione muttered.

Jade
looked up and saw the blond boy, Draco Malfoy, standing there glaring
at all of them. She stood. "What do you want from us now?"

He grinned. "Do I always have to want something?"

"Yes," everyone chorused.

"Fine. Pevensie, I want to talk to you."

She crossed her arms. "Talk."

He gritted his teeth. "In private."

"Alright.
Five minutes. And don't try anything sketchy." Jade pulled her robes
back onto her shoulders and followed him to the other edge of the lake.
"What?"

"I regret getting off on the wrong foot with you," Draco said in a voice which sounded thoroughly unnatural.

"And you really wanted to ask me..."

"Are you really prepared to do the tournament? You're a third year. Do you need help?"

"If
I was going to get help, you can bet your last Galleon that it wouldn't
be you. I have my friends to help me." She resisted the urge to add a
childish 'so there'.

"Why are you so aggressive towards me?" He looked hurt, but at the moment Jade couldn't even really muster up any empathy.

"The
very first time I met you, you threw my books on the floor three times,
insulted me, and made all kinds of assumptions about me. I didn't
appreciate that." She glared at him. "I don't like people who make me
angry...when I get mad, bad stuff happens. People get hurt."

"What happens?" Draco had an expression of interest on his face.

"Test me and find out." Jade's voice was low, she was losing control...

"Fine, okay. What exactly makes you think you're capable of being in the tournament?"

Jade
exhaled shallowly, like an angry bull, and began to glow red. Sparks
flew around her, and the tips of her curls turned scarlet. Flames licked
around her like armor, and a streak of light like a whip appeared in
her hands. NO! she yelled at herself mentally. Stop, Jade. You have more control than this.

Her
inner mantra apparently worked, because she stopped glowing and
plummeted to the ground. Unfortunately, she landed right on top of
Draco. The two tumbled to the ground, and she took a moment to breathe
before she got up. When she raised her head, she saw Jack staring at
her. She scrambled to her feet, and he walked over to her, looking
infuriated.
"Jade, what was that? I thought we were dating!"

"No. Jack, I fell, and knocked him down accidentally like a bowling pin. I had to catch my breath."

His voice was hard. "I don't know if I can trust you, Jade."

"Why?" Her voice was hurt. "What have I ever done that could possibly make you not trust me?"

"You entered this tournament, for one thing. I can't believe you. I thought you didn't like danger and excitement. You could get killed."

"Jack, for the last time, I didn't enter! I'm in it now, yes, but I wish you would just have a little faith in me!" Jade's cheeks were red and her eyes were angry. She utilized all of the control methods she knew to keep herself from flaming again.

"Sure, whatever."

"You know something, Jack? I'm done with you."

She stormed away from him, fire pulsing through her like blood.