Jemima James's Story

Jemima had woken up to her another day at Hogwarts, and had been facing away from the window, her dorm mates waking up also. She crossed her fingers and rolled over under her yellow bedsheets. She smiled happily as she saw the sun in it's last few stages of rising, glad there would be sun this year. She was lucky she'd woken up in time, she was still recovering from a bit of jet lag, even though the majority of her journey had consisted of disapparition spells. She sat up, and swung her feet over the side of her bed, her toes barely touching the ground. She got onto her feet with a grin and a little bounce, wishing a cheery "Good morning!" to the other second year girls in her dorm. They grinned back, puffy eyed and yawning. Jemima ticked off a day on her calendar, and used a water spell to give her bonsai tree on her bedside table a little watering. She rubbed her apple and maple wand on her pajamas to give it a little buff, and gently set it down next to her modified bass and speaker to get dressed for school.

After brushing her short green hair, Jemima put her wand in her pocket, and bounced down the stairs. Her black shoes made a light tapping noise as she did a mixture of skipping and walking through the common room, saying good morning to anyone that passed by. She had definitely gotten up on the right side of the bed today. She bounced out of the Hufflepuff common room entrance, her large satchel swung beside her, full of books and notes. She pattered down the steps of the grand staircase, stopping at certain points and moving quickly at others. She smiled at paintings, and they smiled back, and one puppy in a painting of a witch with her dogs followed her through many paintings until their owner dragged them back with a spell. She giggled at the puppy's expression, but almost bumped into an older white haired boy. "Oh! I'm sorry!" She smiled cheerfully, before furrowing her brow and putting her hands on her hips. She smiled as she remembered. "Oh, you're Ayumu right? First year Hufflepuff like me last year!" She grinned and held out her hand to the taller boy, her green eyes sparkling with mirth. "I'm Jemima James, Jemima Fabio James to be exact, seeker for the Hufflepuff quidditch team!" Jemima's eyes drifted off to the side and her face fell into an expression of the kind someone would see on the face of someone in love as she mentioned she was seeker for the Hufflepuff quidditch team. She did love saying that. She almost zoned out into a quidditch daydream before she snapped back to her senses. "You need any help?" She raised her eyebrows in both question and friendly worry for the first year. Even though Jemima knew Ayumu was older than her, he was still a first year, and first years often needed help.

Jemima was excited when she learned that she and Ayumu would be playing against each other. For her it was always more exciting when you were playing against people you knew. "This place is huge, and its moving every few minutes. I can't find my way out... I need to get to the Potion's Class actually. I think its in the dungeons? I left a book there today, and I'm pretty sure I'll be needing it.." Jemima grinned, and jerked a thumb behind her. "If you want I could-" Suddenly, Jemima was cut off by another boy, who she recognised to be Theodore, the older potions student who's work she admired. "The potions class is in the dungeons. What are you? New?" Jemima tucked a strand of green hair behind her ear and grinned at Theodore. "Oh hi there Theodore!!" She hadn't really seen Theodore lately, and he still hadn't really replied to her question. She looked up with Theodore at the constantly moving stairs, changing and sliding, grinding and crunching as they did so. It really reminded Jemima of how lucky she was to be at Hogwarts.

Jemima was distracted by the stairs for a while, when Theodore spoke again, this time directly to her. "If you were heading somewhere else I'd be glad to show him which stairs to take." Jemima looked back at Theodore, but didn't have to look to far down due to their heights. "Hm? Oh no, no it's perfectly fine, you go ahead, I'll get Ayumu to where he needs to go." She smiled at them both before clapping her hands together, making an echo throughout the staircase. "Right, Ayumu and cat, we'll go back down into the dungeons, and Theodore can be on his way." She grinned, and was about to head down the stairs when Jemima remembered something. "Oh, and Theodore, are you sure you don't want to study potions with me? I'm doing a personal side project on Strengthening Solution, and the fifth years are doing it too, so we could like, study together and stuff!" She smiled happily, her eyes shut in a cheesy grin. She opened her eyes and started heading down the stairs. "Just think on it! Come on Ayumu!" Jemima beckoned over her shoulder as she skipped down the stairs to the dungeons.

Jemima skipped down the hallway, getting to the potions classroom quickly, but not too quickly. There wasn't much need to rush. She swatted her hand when Ayumu said she should go. "I told you, it's fine! We're going to the same class anyway!" She grinned and pointed at the Potions classroom door. They'd arrived quickly, and the bell had barely finished ringing. "Let's slip in and get your books!" She grabbed his hand and opened the classroom door quietly, as people were just coming into class. They picked up the book and left quickly. Classes would start in less than a few minutes, so they'd best use a trick Jemima had up her sleeve. She made sure no one was looking, and pulled aside a tapestry on the wall. She pulled Ayumu inside and smiled. "My mum found this passage in her last year, after collecting lots of rumors and clues and stuff. She was in Ravenclaw. I use this in emergencies, and being late for Mr Sou's class is definitely an emergency. I'm assuming you've discovered one of the more strict teachers in the school?" She smirked and beckoned. "Come on! This corridor doesn't come out in the Quad!" She turned forward and scampered quickly up the steps.

The passageway came out behind another tapestry, of a very smug looking wizard. Jemima looked around, got her bearings, and ran down the corridor. They came out a level above the ground floor. Jemima walked down the stairs quickly, Ayumu following. She saw a peachy haired boy go pas them, then turn around. It was Jared, an older Hufflepuff. Jemima smiled briefly at his sort of compliment, and grabbed Jared and Ayumu's hands. "Jared, Ayumu, Ayumu Jared. Late. Transfiguration. No time complete sentences. Run." She pulled them along somehow, and ran them both to the quad, whether they liked it much or not. They were late, but hopefully not too late. They got to the Quad after much running and student dodging, and arrived just in time. Jemima panted, and bent over, leaning on her knees, exhausted by the sprint. They'd arrived in time though it seemed. A trickle of students were arriving, but most appeared to be finishing off breakfast or something. At the thought of breakfast, Jemima's stomach grumbled. She looked into her satchel. She had backup in case of times like this. She pulled out three bacon sandwiches.

She handed one of the glad wrapped pieces of food to both Jared and Ayumu. "Here, have this. No doubt you guys are hungry. It's a little cold cos it was made last night, but it still tastes good. Hogwarts kitchen elves can't be beat." She smiled, and bit into her own sandwich. As Jemima ate, she saw a taller woman lying on a bench with a book on her face. It was Ms Gordon, one of Jemima's favourite teachers. She walked over and sat on an opposite bench, near the top of Petra's head. She chewed her bacon sandwich, swallowed, and held one out to the teacher. "Want a sandwich? You'd better eat it on the go or you'll be late to teach your own class." Jemima smiled although Petra couldn't see her. There was something about smiling that meant you didn't need to see the face to know someone was smiling.

“Hiya JJ, causing trouble?” Jemima looked up as she heard someone address her by one of her favourite nicknames. She smiled when she saw it was Claire. "As always." Jemima replied as usual. Even if the reply was often false, she thought it was quite clever. “You been harassing the kitchen staff?” Jemima jokingly put a hand on her heart and made an expression of shock and disbelief. "How could you think of such a thing!" Jemima chuckled. "Nah, you know they don't mind me asking for food. They do love chatting with me about New Zealand's pavlova occasionally." Jemima smirked and in her head she mischievously giggled as she brought up the pavlova with the Australian Claire. She smiled at Xing Hei as he was introduced. "Ah, I've seen you around. I've heard that your potions theories are amazing.We should work together sometime. Studying with other people is always more fun and efficient I've found." Jemima gestured to Ayumu and Jared. "Oh, this is Ayumu and Jared. They're Hufflepuffs like me and Claire." She pulled the three Hufflepuffs into a sort of mixture between a group hug and huddle. Her short arms barely reached Jared's other side, as he was on the other side of Claire. "If Hufflepuff had a chant I would get it started right now, but there's only a school chant, which is cool, but I won't." Jemima spoke of what she was thinking aloud as usual. “So, what are we doing in class today and who do I get to practice on?” Jemima furrowed her brow and blew a strand of her green hair out of her face before answering. "I'm not really sure, but I'm sure I'll completely fail at it anyhow. Potions and Herbology is more my thing." She grinned sheepishly, still holding her fellow Hufflepuffs in a tight hug. She'd actually kinda forgotten she was doing it. She looked at Claire beside her. "How have you been? Haven't seen you much lately." She let go of Ayumu for a moment to pull a sandwich out of her bag. "My last sandwich. You want it?"