Jake stood there in the Common Room as Harry and Ron both went with McGonagall. Dean brought him up to speed on what Harry said happened.
"Arthur was attacked?" Jake asked, but it was rhetorical.
"That's what Harry said-" Neville was about to confirm, but Seamus interrupted him.
"Absolute nutter, he is," Seamus snarled.
"When you are asked for your opinion, you will be notified, Seamus," Jake said, "until then I advise you to shut the fuck up."
Seamus didn't say anything more, merely sneering and getting back in his bed. Jake sighed and got dressed after realizing he was still in his underwear, put his eyepatch on, and went down to the Common Room. A few minutes later, McGonagall came back to get Fred, George, and Ginny, whom he heard screaming from up the girls staircase. He didn't bother asking what had happened, because he knew none of his questions would yield answers.
Hermione came down a few minutes later, "What happened? I heard McGonagall rushing through the staircase and then Ginny screamed."
"Harry said Arthur was attacked, but I've not really gotten much more than that," he sighed and looked at her.
"Attacked? I wonder how he saw that?" Hermione asked.
"Well... Harry said Voldemort had a Snake, right? What if he saw it because of the link he seems to have with Voldemort?" He asked her.
"That's..." Hermione trailed off, "I mean... you're probably right, honestly."
"I just can't understand why he has the link... it surely wasn't deliberate, because Voldemort was attempting to kill Harry when he was a baby..." Jake sighed in frustration.
"Best to not put too much thought into something we don't have any concrete answers for," Hermione advised.
"Yeah..." he said, but it was going to bother him. Another thing that bothered him was the dream turned nightmare he had. His own mind was torturing him with images of his Boggart, and after a joyous, exciting dream too. He couldn't understand, and he couldn't ask Hermione to help him understand. He didn't want her to know his Boggart had changed. Even after everything they've been through, Hermione would feel bad and blame herself for his Boggart being what it now was. He looked at her on his right and his heart became heavy with worry.
To their surprise, Dumbledore showed up in the Common Room about twenty minutes later, McGonagall flanking him, "I figured, since you both are best friends with Harry, you should both be made aware of the situation.
"Arthur was attacked, and he's been taken to St. Mungo's. His family and Harry will all be staying at the usual place," Dumbledore said, and they both figured Grimmauld Place, "So while you are on Christmas Break, if you wish to drop in and give your best wishes to Arthur and his family, do not hesitate to do so."
"It was him , wasn't it?" Jake asked.
Dumbledore didn't say anything for a moment, "Yes..."
Jake sighed, "Thanks for telling us, Professor."
"Of course, well, I wish you both a well and Happy Christmas," Dumbledore said and left Gryffindor Tower.
"I advise you both to try and get some more sleep, if you can manage to," McGonagall said and went back to her chambers.
"I'm wide awake now... I won't be able to get back to sleep..." Hermione said.
Jake turned to her, "Some time over the break, we should go and see them at St. Mungo's, just to check up on Arthur and ask Harry for more information."
"Yeah... Dumbledore didn't tell us everything, though I'm not surprised by that anymore," Hermione said.
When morning arrived, anyone who would be going home for Christmas made to pack their stuff up and were taken down to Hogsmeade Station to board the Train back to King's Cross. The entire train ride, Jake wanted nothing more than to kiss Hermione for hours, but for obvious reasons, he didn't.
He also kept thinking about his nightmare, and whenever he looked at Hermione, he felt an overwhelming desire to protect her with any spell that would keep her alive. He didn't have to, Hermione could handle herself fairly well, but he couldn't lose her; he wouldn't lose her.
The day trudged on as they both read to pass the time, and they eventually got to King's Cross. They had long since taken their robes off, so Jake got Hermione's bags for her and they stepped off the train and into the slowly fading sunlight. Hermione led the way to the barrier and she stepped through seconds before he did. When he stepped forward and found himself off of Platform 9¾, Hermione had already gotten a head start as she had seen her parents.
He walked at a casual pace so as to not jostle around her belongings, and soon found himself standing in front of the Grangers, "Mum, Dad," he heard her say when he got close enough, "it means so much to me that you both are trying to be civil for Christmas."
"Well of course, Hermione, you are our daughter, after all," John said, embracing his daughter.
Jane looked over at Jake, "Good evening, Jake," she said, obviously trying to ignore his eyepatch from still not being used to it, "I hope you are well?"
"As well as I can be, Mrs. Granger, thank you," he smiled.
"Well, shall we get going then?" John said and Hermione and Jake agreed.
He followed them and put Hermione's things in the trunk, Crookshanks obviously riding up with Hermione and Chloe already was on her way to the Granger residence.
He got in the back with Hermione, who proceeded to talk about the year so far, avoiding the Ministry's denial of Voldemort, Voldemort altogether, and the fact their daughter is part of an illegal school club. What she did talk about was how boring one class was because she didn't get to use her wand. When prompted by her parents, she said History of Magic. She praised Defense Against the Dark Arts in the past because of how fun spell learning was in the class, but it'd be weird to suddenly dislike the class, so she said History of Magic.
"History of Magic is the one where you have that Ghostly Professor, right?" Jane asked, turning halfway in her seat to talk to the kids.
"Yeah, it wasn't so bad for a while, but lately it's just... a drag," Hermione said, surprising her parents.
"That is so unlike you, Hermione, normally you love learning no matter how dull to others," John said.
"Trust me, if you had to sit through a lecture with Professor Binns in his monotonous drone about Goblin Rebellions in the 1400's, you'd have a hard time finding the fun in learning as well," Jake said, looking out the window as the scenery flew by.
"Easy for you to say," Hermione said, a hint of awe in her voice, "you just sit in class and doodle on your paper."
Jane gave him a curious look, "You don't pay attention?"
"It's not that, mum, he's got nothing to learn in class," Hermione said.
"I've studied everything up through Seventh Year in every class I'm currently taking," Jake said.
"So... are you allowed early graduation?" John asked him.
"No, I already asked Professor McGonagall, but she said the Curriculum Structure for Hogwarts doesn't allow for it," Jake said and looked at Hermione, "not that I would have done so anyway."
Jane smirked and turned back around in the passenger seat.
A while later they got to the Granger Household. He'd never been to Hermione's home before, so he suddenly felt nervous. More nervous than he expected to be, at any rate. As he got Hermione's stuff from the trunk, he felt eyes on him. He turned and looked around slowly, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. He glanced up and saw a Pitch Black Raven staring at him, "How long have you been perched there for?"
Chloe said nothing and just looked at him. He shook his head and hoisted out the luggage, walking over to Hermione and her parents, who hadn't gotten up to the front door yet. "Well... I won't be coming in right yet," John said.
"Why not?" Hermione asked, her face scrunched up in confusion.
"Well... Hermione..." Jane started, but didn't seem quite sure of how to say it.
"Your mother and I... we-" John was about to say, but then someone opened the front door of the home.
"Jane, what's taking so - oh - sorry, didn't know I was interrupting," a man said from the doorway.
Jake was looking at him, and the man was staring back at him, 'Of course at the eyepatch.' Jake thought to himself.
"Mum? Who is that?" Hermione asked, looking back at her mother, her back to the stranger in her home.
"Your father and I - we are divorced, Hermione, so we started dating again..." Jane said, trying to soften the blow as much as she could.
Jake was looking at Hermione's face, and she had a look he couldn't read, "That's your new boyfriend?" She asked, trying to remain calm.
"Yes," Jane said.
"What about you?" Hermione looked to her father, "have you found a new woman?" For some reason, she felt like she'd been betrayed by her parents. Obviously not the case, but if they had told her before now, before coming home for Christmas, she wouldn't feel like this.
"Yes... I'm currently staying at her place," John said, sounding regretful in his answer.
"You both... you can't honestly expect me to celebrate the holidays with two strangers... you don't expect that, do you?" Hermione asked, her voice cracking ever so slightly.
"No, sweetie, of course not, we - we aren't asking you to do that," Jane said, trying to calm her daughter down.
Jake walked over to her and set her bag down, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Hey..." he spoke calmly.
Hermione looked at him, tears starting to form in her eyes. She blinked and her vision blurred. She breathed in slowly, then exhaled slowly, "Sorry... sorry I - I don't mean to be a crybaby about this..."
Jane embraced her daughter, "No, no you're not... how about you and Jake come in and go to your rooms and unpack? We can talk about this after you've done that, okay?"
"Okay..." Hermione said and looked around her father, "I love you, dad," Hermione said to her father.
"I love you too, Hermione. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay," she said and turned to Jake, "come on, let's go inside."
He nodded, picked her bag up again, and walked with her up to the house. The man had long since gone back into the house, and wasn't to be seen upon walking in, "Mark must be in the kitchen. Let me go talk to him for a moment."
Jane disappeared from their sight, "Let's go to my room so you can set my bags down," Hermione led him to her room.
He followed and looked around her room from the entrance, feeling it wrong to walk in without being invited.
She turned to him after getting to her bed, "Are you just going to stand there or are you going to come in?"
He looked at her before nodding and walking in slowly. He got up to her bed and set her bags down, "Sorry... I got nervous... this is my first time in your room, even though we aren't gonna do anything that would get us in trouble, it just didn't feel right to walk on in."
Hermione smiled and stepped closer to him, "How considerate and gentlemanly of you," she stood on her tiptoes and placed her hands on his shoulders, bringing him closer so she could kiss those lips of his. They separated when a voice cleared their throat.
"Aren't you two getting well acquainted with each other," Jane smirked at them.
"Mum! That's not funny!" Hermione yelled with reddened cheeks.
"S-Sorry... Mrs. Granger..." Jake apologized.
"What are you apologizing for?" Jane asked him, "I know you and Hermione care for each other like no one else, but I'll tell you what I told her; just don't do something you might regret later."
"Understood," Jake agreed.
"You'll be staying in the makeshift guest room, just across the hall. It was an office your father had, remember?" Jane spoke to Hermione, "but... well, he realized it wasn't going to be used again, so he cleared his stuff out of there. It sat empty for the past six months, until just earlier this month when you asked if Jake could stay as well. I got it ready for you, it's not much, but I hope it's cozy enough for you to sleep at night," Jane said to him.
"I'm sure it's way more than I should get," Jake said, laughing a little harshly.
"Oh nonsense, you are a guest and the best thing to happen to my daughter, Jake. If you and Hermione were... both adults, I'd have no objection to you both being in the same room," Jane smirked as the two teens' faces burned with embarrassment.
"Mum!" Hermione thought she was going to die from embarrassment.
Jake was looking anywhere but Hermione or her mother, too embarrassed to look at either of them.
"Alright, I'm going to go and get dinner prepared, obviously, none of the uh... usual talk around Mark. Poor fellow would probably go into shock if he knew the truth," Jane left and went to make dinner.
Hermione turned to Jake, "I am so sorry about that..."
"It's fine... I've just had probably five years taken off my life, but it's fine," Jake said, carefully looking back at Hermione.
"I think I did as well..." She took him across the hall and looked around the room, seeing that there wasn't much to it as it was a Guest Room, "like Mum said, it's not much, but it'll do you no problem."
"It's more than enough," Jake said and sat on the bed, "not too comfy..."
"Oh, well, I-I can-"
"It's okay, this is just right," he said, surprising her.
"What do you mean, 'this is just right,'? If it's not comfortable then-" Hermione continued trying to make it a big deal.
"Hermione," Jake said, putting his hands on her shoulders, "I mean this is good. I hate sleeping in, and this bed allows me to not get comfortable enough that I'll not get up in the morning after Eight in the morning."
"Well - I suppose that's fair..." Hermione grumbled in agreement. She looked at Jake carefully, wanting. "Well, I'm going to go unpack my bags."
"Want me to help?" He offered.
"No!" Hermione said loudly and quickly. "No, no, I - I got it. Don't worry," she said with a bit of force behind her voice.
"Okay...? If you're sure," Jake said and eyed her carefully.
"I am, but thank you," Hermione quickly left his room and went to her room. She pushed it closed and locked it, sighing raggedly, "That was close..."
She walked over to her luggage and dug through it to the bottom. She pulled out the object she'd gotten over the summer, quickly stowing it in her nightstand. If she had been caught with it, she would have literally died from embarrassment. On the bright side, she'd gotten much better with it, so buying it wasn't a waste. She then went and unlocked the door, opening it back slightly so that it could simply be pushed open.
"Hermione! Jake! Dinner's almost ready, would you both mind setting the table?" Hermione heard her mother call them.
She walked over and opened her door just as Jake appeared in his doorway. She smiled at him, which he returned, and they walked down the hall and towards the dining room. Jake just followed her because she knew where the dinnerware was.
After setting the table, she and Jake were approached by Mark, "So, you're Jane's daughter..."
"And you're her new boyfriend..." Hermione said tersely.
Mark seemed fidgety, "Right... er-"
Jane came in with a large plate of food, "Well sit down, won't you, surely it's more comfortable than standing, innit?" Jane asked as she giggled.
"Of course, mum," Hermione smiled and sat down, with Jake sitting beside her. Mark and Jane sat down opposite of them, with Jane sitting down only after getting four plates of food fixed up and sat in front of one of them each.
It was a few moments into the dinner before anyone talked, and that was Jane, again, "So, how was school these past three and a half months?"
"Pretty good, mum, Jake and I are learning quite a bit more than last year," Hermione said as vaguely as possible.
"Your mother didn't tell me what you were studying to be," Mark piped in.
"She didn't?" Hermione asked, furrowing her brow at her mother.
"Well I figured you'd be able to explain it better than I could, dear," Jane said, giving her daughter an apologetic look.
Hermione gave a fake, but convincing smile, then thought quickly, "Well, I'm studying to be a Financial Expert, or at least once I go to University I will be."
"Nice, maybe you can give me some help later on after you graduate from University," Mark chuckled. Jane gave a short, hearty laugh as well, "What about you? What are you going to University for?"
"A Chemist," Jake said casually.
Mark sat there, stunned for a bit, "I wasn't expecting you to be an American..."
"Oh, did I not tell you?" Jane asked.
"I'd remember if you told me your daughter's boyfriend was American," Mark said, looking at her.
"Well, it's in the open now," Jake said, continuing to eat.
"Right," Mark cleared his throat, "So a Chemist, eh? Going to work at a local Drugstore, eh?"
"What? No... no, I realize now there's a difference between what a Chemist is in America and Britain. No, I'm studying to be a Chemistry Expert, a person mixing Chemicals and the like in a laboratory," Jake explained.
"Okay, you lost me at Chemistry Expert," Mark said. Jake smiled at continued eating. Mark then asked, "So, apologies if this is insensitive, but what's with the eyepatch? Did you lose an eye, or do you wear it to look cool?"
"It's impolite to show it at dinner, but I actually lost an eye," Jake said, glancing to his right at Hermione. She was intently listening to what he said, as though ready to quickly stop him if he said too much of something.
"Oh, well how about later?" Mark asked.
"Sure," Jake gave him a brief smile.
"So mum, how long ago did you meet Mark?" Hermione asked her mother.
"Oh, it's been about three months now," Jane said sheepishly, having kept her new relationship a secret for that long, "I didn't know how to tell you without you being here to tell... I'm sorry, dear."
"No, it's alright," Hermione forced a smile; it was far from alright, "but I wish you'd told me sooner."
"This food is wonderful, Ms. Granger," Jake said, smiling at her as he cut through the developing tension.
"Oh, thank you, Jake," Jane smiled as the tension lifted.
"It really is wonderful, mum," Hermione piggybacked off Jake's praise for the food.
Jane swelled with the praise, "Oh, really now, I feel like you're just saying it."
"No, I'm being completely serious, the food is amazing," Jake said, smiling at Jane.
It was silent for a few moments, then Hermione directed a question to Mark, "So, Mark, what is it you do?"
"Hermione!" Jane lightly chastised her daughter.
"No, it's a valid question," Mark said to Jane, then looked back to Hermione, "I'm in a High Risk, High Reward business."
"Oh, Stock Market?" Jake asked.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Mark asked, but Hermione was the next to speak.
'Oh... how wonderful.' "Oh, and what does that entail?" Hermione asked, faux intrigue at the forefront of her outward expression. She only did it to be polite, but he talked for a solid five minutes about things neither teenager really cared about.
Dinner had been finished before too long and Jane had just stood up, "Well, who's ready for dessert?"
"What'd you make, mum?" Hermione asked, practically drooling at the thought, already knowing what her mother made.
"Banoffee Pie," Jane said, and wasn't surprised when Jake was the only one to stare at her with a blank expression, "It's got bananas and toffee in it, hence the name."
"Oh... after explaining it, that makes sense," Jake said, smiling lightly. In truth, it sounded good, but he'd have to try it first to know for sure.
"It's not an original dessert, but I've gotten quite good at making it. I'll go get it," Jane stood up, "Hermione, if you'll clean the plates up from dinner."
"Okay," Hermione said, standing up as well. She gathered up the plates, and Jake offered to help, but Hermione told him to stay seated, she would get them; after all, four plates was nothing she couldn't handle.
She got into the kitchen and deposited the plates into the sink. Her mother was beside her, slicing up the Pie, "You know, that was rather rude how you asked Mark what it was he did for a living."
"Well, I needed to know that he could take care of you," Hermione said, looking at her mother, "I know you and dad still have the Dental Practice, but you're my mother, I can look after you too. It doesn't have to just be the other way around."
"Alright, I know when you make valid points, Hermione, you are incredibly intelligent," Jane smiled and handed her two plates, "let's go and give the men their dessert."
Hermione almost physically cringed, "Did you really have to say it like that?"
Jane merely smirked at her daughter as she and Hermione carried two plates each back into the dining room. To their surprise, the both of them were engaged in conversation, but what they were talking about was lost to the girls as their arrival drew their attention to them, "We've brought you both dessert."
"It looks," Mark paused, and looked at Jane and not the dessert when he spoke, "absolutely delicious."
Hermione managed to keep from vomiting as she sat down beside Jake, giving him his plate, "It may not be an original recipe, but mum makes it taste delicious."
"Only one way to find out," Jake said and stuck his fork into the pie. He put the piece in his mouth and chewed for a moment. Hermione watched him every second as he chewed, looking for any possible sign of discomfort as he ate. Much to her chagrin, his face was neutral as he chewed, and she knew he was doing that on purpose just to annoy her.
The wait was getting to her, "Oh, just answer, is it good or not!?"
He looked at her and smirked, "It's one of the best desserts I've ever had."
Hermione returned his smile, "You're a prat, you know that?"
"Yes, but I'm your prat," he said and took another bite of the banoffee pie.
After dessert, the used plateware was taken to the sink and Hermione and Jane washed the dishes. Jake offered to help, given that he felt like he was being useless, but Jane wasn't having it, and spoke playfully to him, "You will go to the sitting room and plop your arse on the couch."
He knew better than to argue with Hermione's mother, given that Hermione and Jane were a lot alike, so he did exactly what she told him to do. He sat down on the couch, with Mark in a chair on the far end of the room. Mark didn't seem keen on finishing their conversation about Soccer, so he planned on just reading, but as he got up to go and find a book, Mark said something, "So uh... do you wanna show me what's underneath that eyepatch now that dinner's over?"
He turned and looked at Mark, gauging him, "Alright," he didn't really want to, but he figured it'd shut him up about it. He walked over and sat where Mark could see his left eye socket, lifted up the eyepatch, and then opened his eyelids to reveal the cavernous hole in his head.
Mark had the look of regret the moment he was shown it, "I think I'm gonna be sick..."
Jake closed his eyelids and put his eyepatch back in place, "I told you. I lost it two years ago."
"How'd you lose it?" Mark asked.
It was a good question; naturally you'd want to know how a person sustained an injury. For very obvious reasons, Jake couldn't just tell Mark the truth, but he didn't feel right not telling him either. It was a solid thirty seconds before he spoke again, "A tree branch..."
"A branch?" Mark asked.
"Yeah... nature doesn't like me very much," Jake chuckled, trying to find humor in it.
Before Mark could really comment again, Jane walked into the room, "Jake, Hermione is requesting your assistance."
"Did she say what it was, by chance?" Jake asked her.
"No, she wasn't keen on sharing the details, but she's sitting out back on the patio," Jane informed him.
"Okay, thank you, Ms. Granger," Jake said, standing up from the couch. He walked through the kitchen to the back sliding glass door, opening it and then closing it behind him, "Hey, you requested my assistance?"
"Yes, the scene out here," Hermione, who was sitting down, motioned to the moonlit scenario they found themselves in, "I need you to kiss me and share with me this romantic feeling I have."
Jake smiled and held his hand out to her. Hermione looked up at him, and in the moonlight he could make out a faint blush on her cheeks, and she gently took his hand, standing up and coming to his chest. He inched his face closer to hers, and she met him halfway, allowing them to share a kiss under the moonlight.