Chapter 12

Though the concussion hadn't gone down fully, Jude was allowed to leave the infirmary, but wasn't allowed to play quidditch until it did go away. While he didn't like the fact that he couldn't play quidditch, he sucked it up and went to his classes.

Professor Flitwick welcomed him back with a smile. Jude was sure he thought the younger male wasn't going to compete against Ravenclaw with his head injury.

Professor Walton congratulated him on the win and excused him from the homework he had missed.

Professor Young, still bitter from the Slytherin loss, gave Jude all the homework he missed and a specific time to finish it. He'd need Emma and James to help him get it on time.

Professor Neal welcomed Jude back with a smile and a nice, relaxing lesson on looking at the stars.

Professor Lamb let James show him all the new moves they had been practicing. Jude was great at them which excused him from the homework he had missed.

Neville excused him from homework and kept asking if he was okay. Jude always answered with a smile. Neville told him he was accident prone when he was Jude's age, so he was just worried.

Professor Alexander seemed like she regretted handing Jude all the stuff he had missed. He didn't hold it against her, he just wished he didn't miss so much of his classes while he was bedridden in the infirmary.

Jude sighed as he set the assignments down at the Great Hall. He felt his arms shake from the exertion he put them through the last 3 hours. He couldn't wait to finally have a nice hot me-

"Porter!" He heard someone shout before said person glomped him.

Jude winced, feeling a headache pulse from his temples. If things kept up like this, he was never going to recover from his concussion. He glanced behind him and forced a grin on his lips, "Oh, Curry. Hey." He glanced behind the tanned boy as well. "Clark and Adams too. What are you guys doing here?"

Jared sat down across from Jude, "We wanted to see how you were doing, mate. A person doesn't get hit by a bludger and come out looking fine and dandy, you know."

"I do know," Jude's lip twitched. "Since I did get hit by one."

Leon rolled his eyes, nudging Jared out of the way so he could sit down as well. "Sorry about him. I'm here to see if you needed help with your work. It seems like a lot."

Jude grinned gratefully at the boy, "Yeah, I sure do. Thanks mate."

Leon and Jude worked on the assignments while Carlos tried to pitch in certain topics. Jared was bored out of his mind trying to entertain himself.

James showed up almost an hour later with Emma by his side. He glanced at his roommates flatly, "And what do I owe the pleasure of you boys doing here?"

Carlos' eyes lit up once they landed on the Potter boy, "Oh, hey Potter. We came to visit Porter since he's recovering from his injuries."

"We're roommates," James deadpanned as he sat down. Emma sat next to Jude, also helping him with his homework. "You see us all the time."

Jared shrugged, "It's not a crime, Potter, to check on our friend."

"It is when you didn't check on the first day," James sneered.

"James," Emma put a hand on his arm, trying to sooth him. "It's fine. Just let them be. Jude doesn't seem to have a problem."

Jude glanced up from his work, smiling slightly at his sulking friend, "Adams' helping me, so I don't mind. The other two are being quiet, so that helps as well."

James huffed before trying to see if he could salvage a snack before supper. Leon sighed lightly, standing up and stretching. "I think that's enough for today, Porter."

Jude nodded, smiling at the other boy, "Thanks, Adams. I have to the end of the week to turn these in, but with your help, I'm almost halfway done."

Leon smiled slightly, "That's good. All I ask now is that you recover, Porter." He began to walk away and waved over his shoulder, "I'll see you in the dorms."

James glared at the other two boys, "Why don't you follow his example?"

Carlos moaned pitifully, standing with Jared, "Tell us how you really feel, Potter. At least Porter is nice about it."

"I don't care, Curry," James rolled his eyes, waving a dismissive hand at them. "Just go on."

The two boys walked away. Jude stared at their retreating backs before turning to James, raising an eyebrow questioningly. The brown eyed boy grinned, "Sorry for acting that way. I just really needed them to leave so I could tell you something important."

Jude tapped his fingers impatiently as he waited for supper to start. He regarded James, "What's so important that you couldn't say to them?"

James glanced around, making sure no one was listening and leaned towards Emma and Jude, "About Liam. I think we should trail him, just to see if he's doing anything like dark magic."

Jude tensed, clenching his jaw, "James, we can't do that. We can't just go on suspicion. Besides, if he is doing dark magic, he could very well kill us if he ever finds us."

"Look," James sighed, rubbing his eyes. "My dad these kinds of things all the time. He, my uncle Ron and my aunt Hermione went on these quests to find Voldemort or something that would lead them to him. It was all to help my dad. You're my best friend, Jude, so I'm going to help you with this. There's a reason your scars burn when you see Lazarus."

Jude frowned, taking off his glasses. He swallowed, "Even though you're my best friend, James, I can't have you getting hurt for my sake. Whether Lazarus is going to start something with me or not, I can't risk you getting hurt." He glanced to the red head next to him, "Or Emma. You both won't be getting hurt because of me."

Emma clutched his hand, smiling reassuringly, "It's our choice. You're not forcing us into anything. Whatever happens to us will not be your fault because we chose to stick beside you."

James grinned in anticipation, holding out his hand, "Well, mate?"

Jude stared at the slightly blurry hand in front of him before putting on his glasses and sighing reluctantly, "Alright, mate. Let's do this."

"Let's have a quest," James cheered.

Jude was just happy supper started only moments after that statement.