Title taken from: "Gossip, as usual, was one-third right and two-thirds wrong.” ― L.M. Montgomery, Chronicles of Avonlea

---

It was damned hard to study when the people around you in the library couldn’t keep their mouths shut, Jordyn thought bitterly as she flipped through the herbology book she was studying from.  She wasn’t currently enrolled in herbology class, but she wanted to be a healer and she had to know things.  She thought that maybe even if she wasn’t in the class, if she showed enough of an interest and accomplishments she could take the test anyway.  She’d gotten one of the other Slytherins in the class to give her the assignments. 

Sure, it was another class load of work without any of the practical application, but if she could at least read the NEWT requirements then she’d be set for the test.  Flipping the page on carnivorous plants and their applications in other disciplines of magic, Jordyn took a deep breath through her nose, unable to ignore the sounds behind her. 

“You would not believe what is going on with my brother,” a sharp voice harshly whispered.

There was a beat in between, “What?” another high pitched voice responded, clearly interested by the tone of her voice. 

Jordyn glanced over her cloaked shoulder, her nostrils flaring with frustration at the younger students who didn’t even seem to notice. She frowned and turned her eyes back to her book.  She hoped there was a paragraph that indicated the enzymes the plants used to break down proteins in their food were equally as effective for eating away at wagging tongues. 

“Jai has been with this girl – he will not tell me anything about her.  But, he ditched me last night for her.”  Jordyn’s fingers froze on the edge of the page and she was suddenly listening a little more intently. 

She hadn’t been with Jai the previous evening.  “Are you serious?  Your brother? Jai Patil.” the other girl seemed to ask right out of Jordyn’s brain and sounded just about as skeptical as Jordyn’s thoughts were. 

“I’m so serious,” the girl elongated the vowel to punctuate her point.  “I mean it’s kind of insane.  I think he’s with her all the time.  I was thinking of getting him some slip gloss or something.  He doesn’t need to chap,” the girl cackled with delight and Jordyn couldn’t believe what she was hearing. 

Her cheeks must have been a suitably disastrous shade of red and she gingerly shut the book she was looking at (she didn’t want to draw attention to herself) and tucked it under her arm.  The girls continued to speculate as Jordyn walked away and she felt like such a classic idiot. 

Her heels clicked on the ground as she approached the circulation desk and she put her book on the return cart – she didn’t even want to go through the process of putting it away and exited the library without a second thought. 

Taking a deep breath, she needd some air – she needed some space.  How could she be so stupid?  Walking up a set of spiral stairs, she headed to a place she knew was open and airy, where she’d be able to clear her head in the early evening hours without being a bother to anyone – or having anyone bother her – the astronomy tower.

She would have seen the irony in the location if she were less furious.  Mostly at herself.  Of course that made sense.  She’d suggested going slow and boys were like that.  Walking to the edge of the tower, she wrapped her hands around the railing and kicked one of the iron bars with her shoe.  She was so stupid. 

The news she'd heard from Verity Shellcrown was almost too much to bear. Lydie felt like her head was going to explode -- judging by the way her mind was racing, it didn't seem impossible. Would he really keep a secret that big from her? Jai always seemed annoyed when she interrogated him about girls, but Lydie figured that was part of the whole brother-sister relationship. He'd shared with her before, when they were younger, about girls he crushed on at Hogwarts and she'd met the girls he dated before. Why was he hiding it now? Lydie was miffed. Shortly after departing from Verity, Lydie headed in the direction of the place where it was most likely that she would find her brother: the Astronomy tower.

Normally, stars were seen and not heard, at least from the location Jai was placed in. So, when he heard a loud clang, Jai quickly pulled his eye away from the telescope he was gazing into and looked around. It had been a while since he'd done this and he noticed that the lights were now off and it was pretty dark. With a flick of his wand he turned them on, then slowly began to inspect about the classroom for any signs of danger. It wasn't common for people to try breaking into the Astronomy tower (there wasn't anything good to steal like in the Potions classroom), so Jai was a little nervous. As far as he could tell, there was nobody else in the classroom so he decided to take a peek in the hallway where he saw Jordyn. He immediately smiled.

"Hey," he said, "What are you doing here?" He looked closer at her and noticed that her knuckles were gripping the railing and her face didn't look entirely pleased. "Is everything okay?"

Oh, of course.

That would happen.  She was just the idiot to go exactly where she wanted to go least and where she’d be most likely to run into just the person who was making her feel like such a capital fool. 

Her knuckles gripped onto the railing even tighter, not really wanting to betray how angry she was and Jordyn had to take a couple of breaths.  He didn’t even sound like he had anything to hide.  She never thought he’d be a bad liar.  She thought he was sweet and kind and honest: wasn’t that where all the awkwardness came from?  From being honest? 

“I needed some air,” she finally responded tersely, training her gaze out and over the grounds rather than at him because if she looked, she was either going to yell or cry and both were not what she wanted to do.  She’d feel exceptionally vulnerable then, and that was not a feeling Jordyn wore well. 

But, it was an opportunity to ask a question and see what he said.  She’d heard it straight from his sister, she knew something already, and perhaps it was underhanded, but she wanted to know.  Jordyn continued to keep her eyes trained forward, taking a deep shaky breath.  “How was your night last night?”

Jordyn's body language clearly exposed her discomfort and Jai was concerned. There was something she wasn't telling him, and the excuse that she was just 'getting some air' was really vague. Jai's instincts told him to reach out and touch her, help calm her down - but he knew that if he did that, it probably wouldn't help Jordyn's anxiety. It might help his growing concerns about her, but right now she was more freaked out than he was.

His suspicions were furthered when Jordyn abruptly asked him how his night was, without even looking at him. Jai reflected on his night: he'd been with her for a while, but he'd had an Astronomy club meeting the night before. Jai had been just about to tell her this when he saw a flash of bright pink that was rapidly heading in their direction. And Jai knew exactly who it was. She came up and pointed her finger in his face without even acknowledging, or seeming to notice, that Jordyn was standing there.

"Jai! How could you keep such a secret from me!" Lydie shrilled. She crossed her arms and glared at her brother. "You know that I always tell you mine. This is completely unfair!"

Jai was at a loss for words. He was so embarrassed, and all too aware of Jordyn's presence. Lydie seemed to forget the fact that Jai never wanted to hear her secrets, nor did he care about most of them. Sure, he loved his sister, but he really didn't want to hear about how badly she wanted to snog Sterv Schwepwide or whoever it was.

Lydie snapped. "JAI!" she shrieked. "Are you going to tell me about this girl or not? How am I supposed to know if she's good enough for you?" This was not, of course, the entire reason for Lydie's anger. She was trying to get a more secure position with the Hogwarts Howler and the more gossip she could unearth the better. "Do I have to call mom and dad? Should I be worried? Why are you hiding her from me?"

Being bombarded with so many questions at such a rapid rate was overwhelming for nervous Jai, even if it was only his stupid little sister. Since she had turned thirteen she had gone from being pretty cute to a total terror. "I- " he looked over at Jordyn, even though he had been trying not to to avoid exposing her. He mustered up enough confidence to say "I don't have to tell you anything, Lydie!"

Oh just to put the icing on the pumpkin pasty.  Like it wsan’t bad enough that she heard about this girl that Jai was apparently ditching his sister for, and as an extension, her, and now the blur of pink was up here and pointing fingers at him, throwing out shrill accusations about how things were unfair and she wasn’t even paying attention to the fact that Jordyn was even in the room.
 
Of course, she could have laughed.  As though this girl was the one being treatd unfairly.  She hadn’t been made a complete fool of!  How mortifying.  Jordyn wondered what would be worse – if she sneaked away and didn’t say anything or if she just continued to stand there, seething with white knuckles over the banister.

What would be more suspicious?  Did it even matter?  Even if she wanted to move her feet, she didn’t think she would even let go of the railing.  And he wasn’t even saying anything – or course he wasn’t, because he probably didn’t know how to answer when one of the girls – who apparently might not even be good enough for him according to his sister – was standing there and there was another girl out there somewhere. 

This was like a scene out of one of the dramas she listened to with Gracie or Neely on the wireless.  Was this what her life was coming to?  Seriously.  That thought was enough to make her loosen her grip and turn around, a small move, but significant nonetheless. 

She felt a little speechless though, and didn’t really know if she could – or would say anything, even if she had the chance.  Instead, she tightened her jaw and flexed her fingers down by her sides. 

It wasn't easy to make Jai angry, but if anyone could do it, Lydie could. She was by far the person who made him angriest -- even when they'd been younger, there had been several times when she really annoyed him. His typical response was to tell her to leave him alone and he would lock himself in his room. But this was way too much-- Lydie could not get away with this. Not only was she being completely unreasonable in regards to his personal life, but she was doing it all right in front of Jordyn. Jai felt himself clenching his fists and his jaw.

"Lydie! Shut up!" he yelled once she finally stopped rambling. "You have no right to know anything about my life. And I don't care about the stupid nonsense that goes on in yours!" He really didn't want to look immature in front of Jord, but he was outraged. "How dare you come to me like this! Do you care about anyone but yourself?!"

When she stopped talking and let her brother yell, she got a chance to actually look around her and finally noticed a girl standing there. She vaguely recognized her as someone older. She was wearing quite a lot of black. Was this the girl that Jai was hanging out with? Lydie's thoughts were interrupted by a verbal assault from her brother.

"Jai! I'm sorry," she added. Her brother would have to forgive her, even if he was totally angry. To get Jai yelling had to mean that she'd really done it this time, but she knew her brother would forgive her. She very deliberately shifted her eyes to where Jordyn was standing and looked quickly back at her brother. It would be too much to ask him to introduce her, probably. "Hi," she said in the least awkward way she could attempt. "I'm his sister."

 Seeing Jai yell was a little unsettling.  Jai didn’t strike her as the type to get really mad at things.  Jordyn was a hard person to be around, she knew that, and her thoughts and words didn’t always make sense, but he didn’t get mad at her.  At least not yet.  Even if she wanted to throttle him at the moment, that wasn’t exactly Jordyn’s mode of operation, either.  She didn’t like to scream and yell. 

Feeling the red of anger fading from her cheeks, Jordyn just looked on a little surprised as the yelling stopped and there was a very pregnant pause in the group.  At that moment, when it became quiet and still, Jordyn felt like a deer.  If she moved too much she’d be seen, and even breathed the wrong way, she’d be seen and then shot, probably or hexed, or something of the sort. 

Her finger must have moved or something because the smaller, female version of her brother looked at Jordyn   She sucked in a deep breath and waited for it.  But, instead of the sharp, accusatory voice she’d thrown at her brother, she wasn’t exactly quiet, but she definitely wasn’t mad at her. 

There was another moment between them, and Jordyn’s eyes shifted from the brightly colored clothing to the lanky frame of the older Patil (exceptionally quickly) before her eyes settled back on Lydie, as Jai had called her.  Pursing her lips, she didn’t know quite what to say, but “Hello,” was a good start.

She wondered if she should extend her hand, finally deciding to do so, the delicate black gloves still stretched over her pale hands.  “I’m Jordyn,” she informed her neutrally.  She still didn’t really know what she was to Jai, clearly, so she could only be one thing: herself. 

This whole situation was really overwhelming. Jai had not been prepared for Jordyn to meet anyone in his family or even for anyone to find out they were together. They didn't have a label, they were just kind of dating and seeing where it was going but he was really enjoying it and she wanted to take things slow and this was not slow because Lydie was always talking so fast and she made him so mad and now they were talking and Lydie was definitely going to embarrass him because that was what Lydie did. Jai's eyes darted back and forth between them and he didn't realize he was holding his breath, his entire body tense.

He wasn't a violent person, he never hit his sisters, never got into fights. He wasn't going to hit anyone right now. But his mind was violently raging against his sister and against this situation, and he felt a panic attack approaching. Jai swallowed his anxiety as best he could and with a shaky voice said, a little too loudly, "THIS is Lydie." His voice was shaking. "She's leaving now."

"But Jai! Jordyn and I were just getting to know each other," Lydie pleaded. Was this the girl? Now she had a name, at least. Was it immoral to report her brother in the Howler? She would have to think about this, but she knew she didn't have too long.

Again, the edge to Jai’s voice was not what Jordyn expected, and she wasn’t sure she liked it.  Though, it did provide an interesting new aspect of him she didn’t think existed. 

He looked – and sounded – a little more erratic than she would have thought though.  It wasn’t a sort of even keel frustration or anger.  She could hear the shake in his voice and Jordyn retracted her hand, not quite sure she liked the gleam in Lydie’s eyes in the same way she didn’t like angry Jai.  Confrontation made her uncomfortable, and someone who spent a majority of her time finagling her way out of outright conflict, or honesty in a lot of ways as well. 

Whatever the case, Jordyn looked between siblings and shrugged.  She didn’t want to say too much, she still felt uncomfortable, she was still mad, and now she was trying to deal with keeping her composure because there was the double-edged sword of being found out (and once people started talking they would definitely figure out what was going on – or what had gone on and it would be the end of her reputation as she knew it) and trying to be polite. 

“I’m afraid there’s not much to know,” Jordyn finally declared diplomatically.  “I’m afraid I should apologize for eavesdropping,” she lied easily, almost too easily.  “I was in the tower and overheard… so sorry, Lydie – and Jai.” It felt wrong to apologize to him, but if it fit the lie, it fit the lie. 

Lydie wasn't leaving yet, and Jai was doing his best to keep from seriously panicking. He and Jordyn were not at that phase of their relationship yet. Jai still felt the need to check his breath when they kissed -- they certainly weren't at the stage where they could be loudly arguing with family members. This was the first time Jordyn was even meeting his sister. Though he wasn't entirely shocked by Lydie's actions, he was disappointed that this was the way that Jordyn would get to meet a family member of his for the first time.

"I'm afraid there's not much to know. I'm afraid I should apologize for eavesdropping. I was in the tower and overheard... so sorry, Lydie - and Jai."

Not much to know? Jai felt a small jab in the pit of his stomach, a pang in his chest. He did his best to avoid changing his expression. And what, exactly, had she overheard? Lydie was a gossip, and he could only imagine the nonsense she could have been spouting that Jordyn had overheard. Before Jai had a chance to respond, though, Lydie was on the case.

"So you're not the girl?" Lydie asked, a little disheartened by the fact that she might not know who the Girl was yet. "Do you have any idea who it might be? Jai, is it Clover Amberdine? Be honest." The girl had a face like a horse, but Lydie had always been a bit suspicious of Jai's taste in women.

Jordyn blinked.  Didn’t this girl understand that it was time to go?  Or at least that her brother was uncomfortable and that she was interfering in something – in a larger confrontation than just a little nosy sister could be involved in.  Though, to be perfectly honest, Jordyn could thank Lydie for bringing Jai’s… apparently proclivity toward more than one girl at a time… to light. 

When she looked back at him, she wasn’t sure she really saw it – but she didn’t know him well, and she didn’t hang out with many hufflepuffs at all.  Generally, they kept their separate ways and Jordyn was firmly entrenched in her Slytherin group of friends.  It’d been a sort of fluke that they’d even exchanged words in the first place. 

Raising eyebrows at the sister, Jordyn diplomatically shook her head – since it was obvious to anyone in a ten mile radius (or at least Jordyn), tat this wasn’t the time or place, and certainly not when it involved Clover?!  That was rich. 

Despite herself, Jordyn snorted and then looked up at Jai, lips pursed as though she’d bitten into a lemon and eyes barring into him.  Interesting question, Lydie, her expression almost seemed to say: what’s your answer? The way her chin lowered and she discreetly brought her arms to fold over her chest as she took a step back.  Clover! Of all people! With those teeth - and that limp, perpetually damp hair... It stung a little, to be frank, being second fiddle to that.

Really, Jai couldn't believe what was happening. It was pretty surreal for him to have Jordyn and Lydie talking to each other. He'd always tried his best to keep his private life and his family life strictly separate. It wasn't that he was ashamed of his family or of his friends, they just never intermixed. Jai liked putting things into categories - it was easier that way. He had wanted to introduce Jordyn to his family, though. Eventually. But by the sound of it, their relationship wasn't going as successfully as Jai had thought it was.

"So you're not the girl?"... Do you have any idea who it might be? Jai, is it Clover Amberdine? Be honest."

Jai's instant reaction was to scoff and say "Of course not!" This, of course, gave him away -- so that meant that there was a girl. Lydie couldn't stay here any longer. He didn't even look at Jordyn for fear of the horrible things she might be thinking about him. This had turned into quite the catastrophe. "Lydie. I will tell you when I'm ready." He said this very patiently, knowing that he would tell his sister when the time was right. They had always been close, even if she was going through a crazy phase right now. Jai could still see the fun, cool Lydie hanging behind the 'cool teenager' facade.

"Do you promise?" Lydie asked hopefully, feeling special because her big brother would actually share something with her. For a few years now, Lydie had been forced to do some snooping to find out anything about Jai's life. When hew as away at Hogwarts, he wrote the occasional letter and always responded to hers, but never gave away anything about girls or anything about his social life at all, really. It was mostly about comets and shooting stars and boring stuff.

Jordyn’s angry emotions were all jumbled up.  She was mad at Jai for whatever he was doing behind her back.  She was also mad at his sister for helping her find out (even if she didn’t know that she did that).  She was mad at herself for being stupid.  But then, she was happy Jai was being so steadfast about not telling Lydie anything, but then again, she was standing right here.  She didn’t want him to say anything, she didn’t want gossip to travel, but then again, it felt kind of awful when they weren’t saying anything at all.

Oh this was complicated, and all of that happened in her mind in like the fifteen seconds of silence that registered between brother and sister.  Who knew having feelings was such a hassle?  She sort of missed the distance of unrequited crushes and silly flirtations.  At least then she didn’t have to think so much to figure out what she was feeling. 

Actually being involved with someone was practically impossible.  Taking a deep breath whole also trying not to look like she was really breathing all that hard, Jordyn didn’t know what she was waiting to hear.  Then, there was the even worse part that she couldn’t say anything until the girl was actually gone.  Bah! 

“Maybe I should go,” Jordyn keenly observed, moving toward the door a little bit.  Apparently they could so deal with this later. 

This whole situation was growing out of control. He felt like everything he said was wrong, and could tell that Jordyn was desperate to leave. He really wished that he could become invisible, because this whole scenario was ridiculous and he wanted it to be all over. Had this whole thing with Jordyn ended before it really even got started?

"Maybe I should go."

"Please don't," Jai said softly before he had the chance to stop himself. He wasn't really thinking about his sister anymore and how he wished she would go away, and miraculously she didn't make a peep responding to his whisper. As nutty as his sister had become recently, they had always had a close connection and she seemed to know when he was truly getting upset.

Lucky for her, Lydie had developing sense of when to stop, even if she was a little off target sometimes. As Jai looked at this girl with different eyes than she had ever seen him with, Lydie clamped her mouth shut. She was beginning to realize that perhaps this was the girl and that she had done something a little obnoxious. "I'm going to go --" she said after a moment. After an awkward pause she added, "Going to go get something to eat. I'll talk to you later!" She was beginning to feel very awkward about this whole thing, her brother dating. It was weird and she maybe didn't want to tell the Howler anymore. She'd have to mull it over.

Jai barely noticed his sister leave, but he was thankful when she did. They would talk later, and he was glad that Lydie had finally understood that her presence wasn't wanted here. He loved both of his sisters dearly, but he didn't want to scare Jordyn off. "I'm really sorry about that," Jai said, hoping that she would stay now that Lydie was gone.

Jord stopped in her tracks when he asked her not to leave.  She bit the inside of her lip and rubbed the heel of her shoe against her ankle, not really sure what she was going to do.  She could still leave, really, she sort of wanted to.  But he looked sort of panicky and upset, and that felt mean, even to Jordyn. 

Luckily for Jordyn (and Jai, she supposed), the younger girl finally got the hint and hastily beat a retreat under the guise of an excuse that was tenuous at best.  Obviously she had no intent to go eat anything, but it was better that she was going.  There was a little part of Jordyn that thought perhaps it was best anyway.  She needed to go and stop stoking the fire. 

It wouldn’t work out for her, nor would it make what Jordyn and Jai had to talk about any easier.  Clover – ugh! Even if it wasn’t her, the thought made Jordyn kind of sick.  She wasn’t delusional, she didn’t think she was the only girl in the world, nor did she think she was the easiest to deal with, but, she had always thought it’d be a little harder to do that to somebody, even somebody like her. 

He was apologizing now and that was just even more confusing, particularly because she didn’t want an apology about his sister – at least not that facet of it.  Gnawing on the inside of her cheek, Jordyn shook her head.  “Jai,” she looked up through her thick and painted lashes, “You don’t have to… I mean,” she sighed, frustrated.  She didn’t talk about how she felt, and she didn’t talk about how things impacted her because they weren’t supposed to. 

“What are we doing?” she finally asked, letting her shoulders drop.  She didn’t know how to really word it, but she thought it communicated enough.