Chapter Text
Friday's afternoon was always a treat - especially when the weather was still nice and that did not last long in the Northern part of Scotland. So, an early September Friday afternoon that still had good temperatures and sunshine was something you had to go outside and enjoy. One cannot do this too often during the rest of the school year - once the rain hit, it hardly let them go. Or – as his brain reminded him - once the schoolwork started. So better now or never, carpe diem as the wise would say.
It didn't take long for Jacob to grab the book he had started during the train ride days ago to try and finally finish it. Students didn’t really bring along a lot of Muggle things to school mostly because all the tech stuff refused to work here, but good old books acted exactly the same as they would at any other place. Well, if you didn’t charm them. And reading at school, far away from his parent’s eyes allowed him to peacefully enjoy some Muggle literature that he had bought when he had been out to get his school supplies and sneaked into his package.
His journey from the dormitory through the Common Room was basically undisturbed: the huge castle was not-so-surprisingly empty - as probably one of the last days of summer almost everyone was spending their free time outside, enjoying the opportunity to cast spells again or catching up with friends.
He easily cut across the hallways and halls of Hogwarts, knowing the place by heart. Not only because he practically lived here for 6 years now, but as a prefect, he had to memorize all the shortcuts and hiding places. He was still pretty sure the old building had its secrets and surprises waiting to be discovered. Maybe he will be lucky to reveal some of them during the term if he can find the extra time for that. Probably his night patrol shifts will be fewer in numbers and that was something he really regretted - he used that time to discover the castle’s little secrets. Rumours have that there once had been a map that could find its way through the students and showed secret entrances and hidden corridors of Hogwarts, but he hadn't managed to get his hands on it.
Reaching the wooden door that led him outside, he pushed against it to slowly open it. The happy noises from the rest of his schoolmates rushed to him – maybe others wouldn’t think much into it, but for him, it was somehow a reminder of how rarely he will have such moments during this year and that feeling hovered above him like a dark cloud, following him around, making him just slightly anxious.
It was only the beginning of his 6th year and he started to feel the pressure building on, after his last year's O.W.L. exams N.E.W.T.s was coming and many students were already a wreck because of it and the teachers did not make it easier: already giving them all the extra work and telling them they cannot expect anything else for the rest of the school year either.
He still had a year until this nightmare, but since Hermione Granger set foot in the Ministry, she was extremely driven to bring some reforms as well; God knows they needed it. Even if the whole magical society thought they are better than Muggles, the truth was Muggles weren’t that helpless either, moreover, they progressed in areas the wizards and witches didn’t, such as sciences, some medical care aspects and education.
She was seriously determined to lead Hogwarts’ courses into the 21st century, offering more options to the students and introducing the advanced classes after the O.W.L.s - this way the students could concentrate sooner on the subjects they needed for the N.E.W.T.s, giving them more time to prepare and practice. Of course, there was a “Career advice talking session” before, but it evolved and expanded to the whole year and offered a solution.
The reform was still very new and still in the experimenting phase and it still needed some fine-tuning, but it worked. Many students took the opportunity and applied for the advanced lessons - it was recommended to apply for a maximum of two subjects, no more, because the amount of work these classes demanded was a lot.
He applied, of course, he did. Picking the subjects had been another question: Jacob was determined to avoid anything political related, mainly because he was highly uninterested in them, but he also knew leaving that path untouched would annoy his parents endlessly. Astronomy was tempting, but even if it was his hobby, he didn’t plan to go for it as a career. But charms and potions could work. He loved them, he was good at them and these two subjects were the ones he needed to have a N.E.W.T. exam to apply for a Healer training - an idea he toyed with because honestly, he could easily imagine himself as a Healer. He loved to help people and prefered to do it in a peaceful way, rather than protecting people through fighting: that’s why he would never work as an Auror.
But on top of his future planning and the advanced lessons, his prefect duties were calling him as well. Thankfully, he had at least had a year of experience in making order out of the chaos (or trying to) and that year went rather smoothly. If this prefect-year will be even just slightly similar to the last one, then he won’t have a lot to worry about – well, as far as his community tasks went. Of course, there always was someone who was a more problematic student than the rest, but no one died or got seriously injured last year and that is good news in Hogwarts’’ history, to be honest. Okay, if he wanted to be completely honest that one Castle-climbing case was a close call, but it miraculously turned out okay.
Entering the courtyard and Jacob almost already mixed into the mass of the students, the only reason that still made him stand out was his height: he was already his height as he was already taller than most of the kids. Wherever he looked he saw black robes everywhere: students walking, talking or already planning their learning schedule with such worry on their faces. That was a clear sign that some mid-term stress caused breakdown is coming and the Hospital Wing won't miss the usual mental breakdown patients this year either.
God, the weather was hot, he should get rid of his robes. Well, take it or leave it, no way he will walk back now – and with that - he was already heading toward the lake, reaching up to loosen the black and yellow striped tie around his neck.
Some of his housemates and older students greeted him and he did the same, a group of first years almost ran into him, forcing him to quickly halt to avoid the impact – who thought walking across the field of grass could be this dangerous, but honestly Jacob didn’t mind it. It was good to see how happy the new arrivals already were – being alone for the first time without the safety of the family could be tough, but they adapted super quickly. It also reminded him of his first time here, without his parents being near to him. But his first time was a bit different because he felt more relieved than scared. He quickly shook his head and hurried along on his way – the family topic wasn’t a great subject to think about, because it reminded him of the duties that had been set for him, even though he wasn't so sure if any of those even remained or if his family already gave up on him.
Being the heir of a long line and great pureblood family was something others often envied, while the truth is that it rather felt like a golden cage. Yes, he had everything that anyone could wish for: money, great education, very influential parents, he probably won't have to worry about his career either (if he decides to follow the family's footsteps, mind that), literally the best of the bests of everything, except...
Stop it!, he mentally scolded himself. No, he doesn't need to go down into that hole, not now. It was more than enough to face it during summer, but not here, where he was usually happy and free to do whatever he wanted, but the N.E.W.T. exams were important for his future and that reminded him it is soon time to make decisions. Big ones.
The truth is Jacob rarely saw his parents or had a heartfelt conversation with them - if that ever happened. They were around, they gave him everything he possibly could need for school or life - they provided all the money, reputation and power, everything except their love. But they made it very clear the family had expectations.
Almost all of his family members were politicians, maybe an inventor or two. Some "failures" happened, the ones who didn't fit into the family picture, but they were practically erased from the family history and they never talked about it again. And Jacob had the feeling that he would one of those failures.
Not like he didn't do well in school, on the contrary, he had been smart even as a kid and now starting his second year as a prefect and had good chances to reach the Head Boy title as well, but... he only happened to achieve all his student glory in the wrong house.
Oh yes, he did commit the rebellious act of breaking the family line of decades of Slytherin students by being sorted in the Hufflepuff House. The Sorting Hat didn't even consider Slytherin, he was rather debating between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, so if he is looking at this subject from a different angle it could be worse. Being in Gryffindor would definitely earn him a banishment - if not literally and not right away, but he would be a taboo in the family circles and would quickly become one of Those Whom We Don't Talk About.
It was a bit funny somehow. Coming from the main family branch and being the only male “true born” heir made the banishment - thing a bit more complicated for them and that was somehow entertaining - in a sad, twisted way.
Well, people always said that he was sometimes too optimistic. Even naive according to his grandmother who rather meant it as a form of a “weakness in personality”. Slytherins were never naive, of course, no they are a lot smarter and calculating to be naive.
As he reached a nice spot under a big ash tree and decided to sit down there, not making a big fuss of the slightly wet grass that greeted him as he hit the ground, leaning against the trunk and let his legs stretch out comfortably, book in his lap and already open, his thoughts wandered into the possibility of how his life would turn out if he was sorted into Gryffindor.
It would be horrible, that’s a fact. Not because he shared his family's opinion about the Gryffindor House - Jacob didn't have any serious problem with the lions. Well, not without any reason at least. He did find Gryffindors reckless and sudden, also stubborn, and they definitely had some hero complex as well. He didn’t hate the house – but he never understood them either and they constantly proved to be hard to reason with. Most of them were itching to find something they could heroically step up against and defend the weaker, who easily ignored the rules for the greater good and justice. And usually, that "something" was the Slytherin House.
The majority of the last year was spent dealing with the casualties this stupid rivalry resulted in. 70% of the points were taken away because of random hexing, fighting and dueling between Slytherins and Gryffindors and the given punishments had a similar ratio. All this house rivalry thing was nonsense he knew and one would have assumed it was resolved since the Great War, but seems like the opposite happened - now Gryffindors were making punishing Slytherins as their life goal and Slytherins acted upon it: if everyone thought they could be only the worst, then be it, give them a reason to think so. This year will be already difficult - more than enough - without the constant tension between the houses. If only the students could come to their senses… It was so harmful because while he knew Slytherins are willing to do anything for their goals it didn't mean they were evil. His parents, his whole family weren’t necessarily evil – well yes, they did things to move opponents out of the way, but they never hurt anyone. Oh wait, let's rephrase that: they never hurt anyone openly. Well.... physically. They did crush careers, but they never killed. His family was a grey one in many-many shades, but they weren't evil. And what Gryffindors are doing now is putting a mark on a whole house and judging them, even hurting them. And that is not very heroic at all – the golden house wasn't that golden after all and not all snakes were vipers.
A troubled sigh escaped out of him loudly – it won't change soon and there is no need to think about this now when he could read his book. Trouble will come to him anyway even without summoning it, it always did. So why not seize the moment and…
BAMM!
The blast was loud and it echoed above the lake as the noise hit the surrounding trees and it sounded like a powerful curse – and the following screaming indicated had reached its target. Jacob only took a moment to regret how he wasted the opportunity to enjoy some peace and then his prefect-mood kicked in, pushed himself on his feet to take look at what had happened this time.
He didn't need to rush, the dueling opponents weren't too far, he only needed to follow the sudden flow of other students who were extremely curious to see what just happened. One glance was enough to see the dueling students weren’t really opponents anymore, rather an attacker and a victim, seeing how one of them stood with a raised wand while the other rolled on the ground, screaming, hands on the face. It was an epic shot, a very well-aimed one and if it would happen during class as a practice on a dummy would earn some extra points to…
It only took one moment to notice the crest of a lion being presented in front of a red background on the robes of the attacker. House Gryffindor. Of course. He was 98% sure the victim was a Slytherin student.
The injury didn't seem to be too bad – the forever classic Bat-Bogey Hex was still very well-loved among the students. It's a nasty one, but nothing permanent.
All the noise must have attracted even more attention because a familiar voice hit his ears asking what happened and a female figure pushed through the now growing crowd - it was a Ravenclaw prefect from the same year as Jacob. He felt a bit relieved as he nodded to her, thanking the extra hands that she offered then stepped to the screaming, still rocking boy, still hiding his face - but as the Ravenclaw girl bent above him and pulled him up on his feet, he gave out his identity: he was the student of the Slytherin House from the year below Jacob and he knew the boy very well: he was that skinny thing, who always reminded Jacob of a weasel and whom he sent to series of detentions last year.
Stepping closer to the Ravenclaw, Jacob assured her he will deal with the rest if she can take the boy to the Hospital Wing for further care.
As the screaming was farther away, Jacob slowly turned to the remaining member of the duo and instantly faced wilong dark ponytail, equally dark pair of eyes, and an angry look that was mixing with defiance. It was a female, shorter than him by a head now – his sudden summer growth spurt having done its work apparently - and it wasn't the first time she looked up at him with the same expression. The first time he had seen this look coming from her was the time when she stared at him exactly like this. On that occasion, he had been the one who was able to force her back from outside of Hogwarts to actually inside of the castle where she was supposed to be, like all the time and not climbing the building like a freaking spider. He would easily recall this look in any given moment by now - and no bloody hell, this is only the first week. This was a record even from her.
"Why of all Gryffindors it is always you, Croft, I find in the middle of chaos?"
The chaos that you usually cause, let me add.
The girl was a now 5th-year student and a freaking pain in his back since he got the badge. You couldn't find a truer Gryffindor than Lara Croft if you equalled Gryffindors with trouble. The girl was always in the middle of it like the rules didn't even exist in her understanding and she just had a talent for going around the said rules. The hero complex? She had it; be it about "defending younger students" or "they tried to attack my friends in the back" she always found an excuse to explain her behaviour. Maybe it worked with the Head of the House and other prefects who also disliked Slytherins, but not with Jacob. Therefore, Lara and he had a small history of losing points and giving detention. Sometimes both happened at the same time.
Her expression was changing now and she had the nerve to flash a smile at him – a smug one but, it never reached her eyes, it wasn't genuine.
"What can I say, I am an innocent victim here."
He scoffed – Lara Croft is anything, but innocent or a victim. She couldn't be either of them even if she tried her best, she knew, he knew it.
"So what, he accidentally walked into your hex's way?"
The smile became mischievous, eyes sparkled. She most definitely enjoyed testing him and his boundaries. "Oh, I didn't say that."
Right. The first freaking week of school and she is already a handful as always. He didn’t really look forward to chasing her across the whole damn castle this year – she had become more and more inventive during last year and Jacob was pretty sure it won’t be different now either. God help him.
"Now I hope it was worth it because this earned you 20 points from Gryffindor – does your house already have that much or going into the negative scale now?"
Poking could go in two directions, if she tries to get under his skin, he can repay the kindness. It may not be too professional, but Jacob was only a human; he had truly hoped all the circus would start at least a week later, considering how important this year is for both of them: her O.W.L.s will happen too and he truly hoped Lara would try to enjoy the last peaceful moments before the craziness goes loose and she will find other creative methods to let the stress go, but no fucking way, she had to go ahead of all that.
Oh, he crossed a line and hit a sore spot apparently. Her grin disappeared, face paled first then some rosiness appeared on her cheeks – out of anger, clean, powerful anger. It burned in her like a fire: Croft seriously had some anger issues. He had no idea where it came from – heard some gossip about how her mother died early and her father was so busy with work – some famous archaeologist you see, some muggle thing that includes digging out old garbage from the ground or something. Secretly, Jacob found it very interesting, he loved history, but if anyone would see him researching a muggle job, that would be scandalous, clearly. Anyway, his parents didn't give a shit about him either and he still wasn't hexing every other student that crossed his path.
"That is not fair!" her voice was shaking ever slightly, she was clearly ready to go into a verbal fight about fairness and justice, but Jacob wasn't having it, not now.
"That’s enough" he warned her in the very calm, deeper tone of his "Because one more word and it will result in your longest detention in your Hogwarts life and it is very early in the year yet away." He wasn't exactly sure if he technically could sentence someone to a year-long detention - probably not - but he didn't want to enlighten her about that. Maybe there still was some Slytherin in him after all.
She took a deep breath, clearly considering not giving a single fuck and just letting it all out, all her rage toward him and he was ready for it. But eventually, she took a deep breath, making her choice: she was smart enough to know better. Letting the air out of her lungs, Lara poised herself marvellously quickly, head high, spine straight and unbendable. She took one last icy glare at him - it was so forceful that he was sure it would make many people step back and scatter away like a beaten dog, but she needed more than this to make him run.
She didn't waste any more of her time on him after that, simply turned around and left Jacob behind, accepting her defeat – this time – as gracefully as she possibly could.
As he turned around to tell the rest of the students to continue with their day, Jacob didn't feel victorious, he knew very well that Croft is not that kind of a student who was being caught once and that would be enough to stop them to try something like that ever again. Oh no, it was only the beginning. Hell of a start of the year, that was for sure.