So, here it is. The first chapter of WTW.. Hope you like it!
"I used to always think that I'd look back on us crying and laugh, but, I'd never thought I'd look back on us laughing and cry."
~ Chapter 1 : Buried Hopes ~
Present day..
• July 17th, 1995 •
The first thing that struck JJ as she woke up, was that she'd have to physically get off her ass to reach the curtains and close them.
She knew who opened them and let those drastic, too bright rays of light, enter her room. She hated her godmother at times.
Literally despised her.
Popping one eye open, she checked her room to see if the coast was clear.
And yes, it was. Thankfully.
Her Quidditch instincts kicking in, she winged her legs off, pulled the comforter away in one stroke, immediately rolled out of bed, and strolled into her bathroom.
The sight of her own face was enough to see a distraught irritable teenager staring back at her through the mirror.
I can't do this right now. No, not now she thought, reinforcing that into her mind and forcing herself to stay in the present.
Quickly brushing her teeth, taking a shower and pulling on a 'New York 11'- the NY state Quodpot team's sweatshirt along with a pair of jeans, she made her way downstairs as a staircase was attached to the hallway outside her room, due to it being closer to the attic.
As soon as she got down, she saw the kitchen which was to the left along with the living room and a quaint balcony towards the right.
Though some people would argue that JJ should be loyal to Team Dragon, the Boston Quodpot team as she was from Massachusetts, actually, she liked the NY Quodpot team better. They played way better than the Dragons and deserved her support more, according to her logic.
And it's not wrong to take into account that her support was also based on the fact that, when she was young whenever there used to be a Dragon vs. New York 11 match, she and her dad would sit in the stands all day and no matter how long it took, they wouldn't leave until the match ended and they watched their favourite team win.
They'd always be on opposing sides, her dad having his Boston pride filled to the brim and all...
Her dad and she, the sports geeks. Always arguing over which was better-Quidditch or Quodpot, Team Dragon or Team New York 11, Fitchburg Finches or Sweetwater All-Stars, Puddlemere United or Holyhead Harpies. It went on that way.
Her mother used to always tease them about this crazy obsession they had over sport and how she ended being the only woman in the household with no nutty competitive genes.
JJ's heart tightened agonisingly at the thought of her.
She shook her head trying to get rid of her thoughts and walked into the living room.
Against the wall which was decorated with blue and off-white wallpaper, there stood an enormous white couch with side futons as its companions and a centre brown table in front of it.
And just to the right, was a side balcony full of fuchsia, geranium, hibiscus and other no-maj grown flowers. She recognised some of the spellbinding ones as well, such as the moly florets along with aconite or monkshood buds, aum plants whose specialty being healing and many more that JJ could not make out in her dazed state.
She checked the room for any note that Brooke left. Not finding any, she made her way towards the kitchen.
She looked around for any note of some sort as she sat on the tri-legged chair. Deciding she should check her No-Maj phone for messages of some sort, she quickly whipped up a sandwich for herself and had some breakfast.
Or what they'd call lunch at a time of two o'clock on a Saturday afternoon.
JJ went back to her room and saw her phone along with her wand, innocently sitting on her side table.
Flipping the phone she saw an indication of one voice-mail. She pressed a button and Paige's voice rang out of it.
"Jemma, if you're listening to this I'm gonna assume that you've finally woken up. Have something to eat. I know you were upset last night, before I left. My shift at the Sanatorium just ended, but an emergency case came in involving a Congress officer of the Unit of Magical Hexes and Curses, and a troll bite. Don't ask. I just wanted to check in on you kiddo. I know you're mad. You probably still are. But just understand Jem, I want to protect you. That's all I want. And staying in Vermont right now, is not good for the both of us. For you, in particular. If something ever happened to you... I'd never forgive myself. So, please. Think it over. We have another week's time. Considering this would be a good option. Anyway, I hope that you have listened to this message and had something to eat. I'll see you after I get home sweetheart."
The beep indicated the end of it. JJ silently thanked Vicky for forcing her to learn about no-maj technology at that moment.
A heavy sigh escaped her. She knew considering what Paige had talked about would be the right decision.
But she didn't want to think about it. She just...didn't.
Even the thought of leaving the States and shifting to London seemed ridiculous to her.
Especially at this time.
Primarily, now more than ever when her friends needed her.
Merlin. She shuddered at the thought of telling Vicky and Ben about this. Knowing them, they just might murder her for even giving this any thought.
Now, that Matt was...
Her throat closed up at that. She couldn't do this. No.
But deep down, she knew this was the logical decision to make. One part of her was going, 'Fuck, logic. What you're thinking of doing is selfish. What Paige is saying is selfish. It isn't right. You've got to stay here.'
And the other part, 'This is the right decision to make. You need to let things get settled down before you can go back to Ilvermorny. You have to leave. You have to do this.'
That's it. She made her mind up.
Throwing her knee length boots on and sticking her wand in her right one, she ran down the stairs and hurriedly, scribbled a note on a piece of parchment that she'd gone to North Adams and would be back within a couple of hours, so that Paige would know where she was if she came home from her shift to an empty house.
JJ texted Vicky telling her to bring Ben to North Adams right away as she needed to talk to them. The both of them. Immediately.
Quickly grabbing her keys, she slammed the door and made her way out onto the street, determined to make her decision by the end of the night. By tomorrow, at the latest.
She weighed her options. Though she was well-off, grabbing a taxi would be expensive from Brattleboro to North Adams. But it'd be worth it as a bus would be too long.
She needed this. She needed her friends. She needed news on what was happening with the MACUSA and the Stygians. She needed to know whether the rumours on Halifax being back were true. She knew that his cronies were back. She herself had witnessed it last year. She needed clarity. And she needed it, now. Right now.
As she hired a taxi and told the cabbie the directions, finally settling into her vehicle, her thoughts fumed over how gutless the witches and wizards of her world were being.
Nobody wanted to hear the truth.
Oh, no.
They were too frightened of Voldemort. They were too apprehensive over even the thought of the Dark Lord's return.
Of course, he was back.
It was imbecilic to entertain any other notion.
If the Stygians were making a return, so was Voldemort. That much was clear to JJ. She, Vicky, Ben and Matt had agreed on this together last winter.
Before the Crystal Ball, they had understood the importance of the attack of the Death Eater... of the attack on the European Quidditch Worldcup Tournament in England.
The fact that the members of Voldemort's inner circle had attacked last summer just before the way things were playing out at Ilvermorny in December, could not have been a coincidence.
Along with the fact that Harry Potter had entered the Triwizard Tournament, it was even more suspicious.
It just couldn't.
And hence, after everything had happened at Ilvermorny, she had not been all too surprised when the news came out, that Harry had seen Voldemort come back and one of the other participants from Hogwarts had been killed by the Dark Lord himself.
In fact, after everything that had happened in February, she was numb to this news. She had had a feeling throughout the year that something like this would happen.
Now, the entire British Wizarding World was marking Harry Potter along with Dumbledore, the legendary wizard known everywhere, even in the States, as liars. As delusional demented wizards who are just squealing around for attention.
It was laughable, actually.
Harry Potter, the boy she had been unknowingly friends with years ago, a teenage wizard famous enough as it is, would lie to get attention.
The whole thing was just comical.
And then there were her American wizards. Branding her and her friends for being reckless and irresponsible teenagers. Saying that what had happened at Ilvermorny was an 'accident'. A prank gone wrong due to imprudent young witches and wizards playing the fool.
Tarnishing Professor Burcullough's name for supporting JJ and her friends statement.
The nerve of these people.
Calling them names was one thing. Trying to not concern themselves of the danger lying in front of their eyes, another.
But the worst of them all, was labelling what had happened as an 'accident'.
A 'prank'.
It was unforgivable. She'd never forgive the government, what her government, The Magical Congress of the United States of America was doing in league with the British Ministry of Magic.
After all her parents had done for it.
She snapped out of her thoughts as the taxi came to a halt.
"That'll be 400$, miss" he said, as the cap on his back molar shone.
She handed him the No-Maj dollar money and thanked him.
She got out.
Her view was filled with sights of colonial-revival styled houses and Canadian feature buildings painted in brick red and other pastel, yet bright coloured dwellings.
North Adams.
The least populous city in the county of Berkshire and in Massachusetts. It's streets were always filled with art and culture and no-maj sports fans as well.
'It's a perfect location', thought JJ fondly.
The city was quite close to Mount Greylock, hiding their school within vicinity where it was concealed from non-magic gaze by a variety of powerful enchantments, which sometimes manifested in a wreath of misty cloud.
The number of weekend trips that she made to this city and to Pittsfield, over to the Callaghans, were endless.
Too many to count over the past few years.
As she walked to the Melting Pot, a place to mingle with wizarding folk, she was yet again, reminded of the fact that she hadn't talked to Ben or Vicky since a month or so.
Camouflaged underneath incantations and charms, the place was completely a no-maj free zone. Run by an old family of werewolves known as the Cintaras, the eatery was quite popular among locals as well as the students of Ilvermorny.
The Melting Pot was their spot, the place where she and her friends were known to go to.
It's where JJ had teased Matt about his first crush- Megan Keelian, a pretty No-Maj born from Seattle, in their third year.
This was the site Vicky had thrown up behind, after having too much of fire-whisky, the aftermath of the harsh words exchanged between her and her Dad on staying at JJ's for Christmas in their second year.
She and Ben had toasted to a good match of Quidditch between Wampus and Thunderbird, in third year.
Fourth year, this was the joint where she, Ben and Vicky had gotten together and missed Matt immensely after the whole nine yards had been covered on what had happened in February.
After all that they had been through, she might just leave.
She couldn't help but think of Ilvermorny, the one place she had finally understood why she was the way she was.
The grey and sleet coloured castle walls which she and her friends had first discovered magic in, was what could only be described as, home.
Ilvermorny was home.
She remembered the day her letter had arrived.
It was delivered by a Pukwedgie, named Amare after his ancestor, who seemed quite grumpy to have been delivering a letter in the snowdrift that had covered Brattleboro at 3:00 am on that exalted fall morning.
Her sorting and wand ceremony were spectacular as well.
The way the wings of the Thunderbird had fluttered when the house chose her, the warmth and maroon firework sparks that had erupted when she touched her wand... those were things she could never forget.
Her footsteps echoed on the glorified Main Street of the city, making her way towards her location.
'If I leave now, I'll miss the summer August Downtown celebration in the city' she thought, grasping at straws to stay.
She took a right at Main Street and came up on a light sky blue wall.
JJ pulled out her wand from her right boot. A unique ten and three-quarter inches length, made of vine wood and with it's core of her house bird's tail feather, it seemed like it was made just for her.
Knowingly, she tapped the wall three times in a discreet manner.
And out arose, a medium sized homely cottage restaurant with a huge board displaying a cauldron shaped sign in gold with a wooden spatula within it, charmed to churn every few minutes like someone was whipping up butter inside the vessel.
The Melting Pot.
She had finally made it to the greatest maker of Death by Chocolate Pie on earth.
As soon as she stepped in, the smell of varnish and wood smoke from the potbellied stove hit her senses immediately. The windows emitted a vague, gauzy light, from the afternoon sun, not much reinforced by ceiling lights. Rows of seats in numbers of two, three, four and six were aligned with opaque round tables arranged in a manner of smallest at the front, largest at the rear, along with corner booths paired up with tall legged stools.
The floor was bare wooden planks.
Pushing the door, JJ went inside and saw that the place wasn't jam-packed as usual. In fact, very few people were inside which was quite odd.
She strolled in and got a corner booth, hoping Vicky and Ben would be there soon.
"It's been a while since I've seen ti around here, JJ" rang a Spanish laden voice.
The familiar Boston accent mixed with Spanish had her head turning towards the sidebar which was attached to the near end of the restaurant, to spot the speaker.
Francesca Cintara was officially in the house today.
The oldest of the Cintaras.
Grandmama to all her young pups, she was known to be very protective and motherly towards the people she loved.
The Cintaras had an amazing family history of being converged with Wizarding Magic as well as their werewolf line. Though the government disapproved of their family and the way they were, according to JJ, they were badass in every sense of the term.
They owned loads of restaurants and eateries, both No-Maj and Wizarding. The Melting Pot, was one of the famous ones that their family had proprietary rights over.
So, it was not much of a surprise to see Francesca there. Unusual, but not entirely surprising.
"Good to see you as well, Mrs. Cintara" she replied, tipping her head back with respect.
"Come here, niño" she waved her forth with her hand.
JJ slid out of the booth and headed over to the sidebar.
"I've heard the rumours on what happened at the castle. I must say, I'm not surprised that ti fueron envuelto Davenport" the twinkling in her dark somber eyes, showed how thoroughly interested she was.
JJ's shoulders tensed at that. She did not want to relive this. Not again.
"I see."
"That's all? That's all ti 'ave got to say Jemma? Nothing else?"
She looked like she was enjoying JJ's discomfort.
Balling up her fists in frustration, she threw her an aggravated look.
"What would you like to hear? The entire story on a repeat? But then again, it's not like you would believe me entirely even if I told you so, would you?" Her question held the anger she'd repressed for all those accusing her as a liar and who were covering up the truth inch-by-inch.
"You'd be surprised, niño." Her tone turned sympathetic at that.
"I'm don't listen to what those government bozos are feeding the pueblo, Jemma. I knew your parents very well. I know ti very well" she emphasised.
"Believing them would be foolish. Especially when I know and have personally heard of what happened to your amigo, Matteus."
JJ's blood turned cold at that. It felt like the air pressure around her had increased and it felt like the blood vessels in her brain were going to pop any second.
"Listen to me, when I tell you this niño. Bracken was feared because he was the ring leader of the Dark Lord's precious outer circle, the Stygians. The pueblo are scared. That is the reason they are in such denial. Fear tends to override logic and reason.
That is why they are blaming tu y tus amigos for cooking up stories instead of seeing what's right there.
That is the same reason they are trying to put down buen viejo Maura's reputation as well.
It isn't safe for you, Jemma.
It isn't safe especially for ti.
If the Stygians are arising, then they'll target you.
You, the daughter of the Aurors who took down Halifax will be their main target. For revenge. For symbolism. For muchos things. It'd be safe if you left, niño. For a while, at least."
The fire that had died last night during her conversation with Paige, burnt bright once again.
"So you just want me to flee? Like a coward?" Her voice, calm and dangerous like the sea, didn't let a hint of anger touch the older Cintara. But her eyes.. her amber eyes glazed and that, said it all.
"This isn't about you niño. Can't you see? They will come after your amigos. After Paige. How will you protect Paige, your madrina if you're at Ilvermorny? How many people do you think would get hurt if they came after ti?"
"You make me sound as important as Harry Potter, Francesca".
The older Cintara's eyebrows furrowed at that.
"Ah. The hijo-que-vivió"
JJ didn't even need to know Spanish to know what that meant.
"He is right. Yes. What he is claiming is true as well, I'm guessing. As the return of the Stygians definitely marks the return of the Dark Lord, he is important. But he is known. Whereas you are not as well-known as him. Hence he might even get amparo. Whereas you will get none. So, mark my letra, niño. You leaving would be the right thing to do"
JJ's nails cut into her palms. She had fisted her hands too tightly. What Francesca was saying was right. But how the hell could she do this? This might just change everything, once and for all.
She turned her head away and looked towards the door.
The older Cintara's eyes glinted knowingly at her and she walked away, behind the sidebar into the kitchen, possibly.
Like clockwork, in walked two teenagers into the eatery.
A boy and a girl.
The lanky male teen with his military cut cropped hair and fair skin tone would've fit right into the surroundings, being in a jacket, his casual t-shirt and dark jeans. With his palms enclosed in fingerless gloves and the way he strolled in, JJ knew Benson Amherst could be easily called ordinary. That is, if it weren't for the fierce look in his copper blue eyes, that seemed so out of place on a barely fifteen year old boy's face.
The petite pretty girl dressed in a jean skirt and crème crop top paired with a denim jacket, could also be easily thought of as a normal high school girl, if a No-Maj saw her. With strawberry blonde curls and her short stature, she wouldn't seem like much off a threat or so. Then again, JJ knew better as she had seen the blonde in action last winter and knew how fast her inquisitive mind worked. After all, looks are everything but deceiving to the naked eye.
As soon as they spotted her, they made their way across towards her.
The three of them silently without saying a word to each other, slipped into a corner booth away from public eye.
A thick silence followed, for the first time, in many years after they settled down.
"What happened?" Being the first thing that hastily tumbled out Veronica Sawyer's mouth.
"Nothing." JJ forced herself to not look at her and focused on Ben.
Narrowed startlingly clear blue eyes focused on her, trying to gauge something from her expression.
"JJ, come on. Seriously, what happened?" Vicky reinforced the question with conviction and worry in her voice.
She sighed heavily, knowing that she better tell them as it was now or never.
She broke her gaze from Ben and looked at Vicky.
"Paige wants to leave. She wants to shift to London."
There it was.
JJ could feel the shift in the air.
Tension developed like someone had discussed using an Unforgivable in a duel.
"What?" Ben's voice cut through the air.
With barely concealed panic, Vicky burst into protest "You can't leave. She can't leave. How can she even consider this? No, no. You can't leave. This is ridiculous. Tell her Ben. Please tell me you tried to convince that this is obnoxious. Jemma, tell me that you did. Tell me that you fucking convinced her! Please Jemma."
Vicky rarely ever called her Jemma. Just like how she rarely ever called her Veronica.
JJ didn't say anything. She looked at Ben. She tried to convey her inner turmoil in that one look.
How she didn't want to leave.
How it was ridiculously painful to even think about leaving them after what happened.
How she couldn't still comprehend what had happened. What had happened to Matt... What had happened to them.
Apparently failing to understand her non-verbal communication, Ben looked at her and said "Why? Why does she want to leave all of a sudden?".
"She thinks it's dangerous now that we've established that the Stygians are rising up again".
"And what? She thinks that you guys will be safe in London? Which is one of the major bases of You-Know-Who himself?" With anger tinged aggravation, he replied.
"Vicky. Understand. She thinks that as Bracken was taken down by my parents and many Stygians were caught by them, Paige seems to think that I'd be a major target for them. That they'd want to get rid off me first before continuing their lovely services to Voldemort".
Ben flinched, involuntarily at that.
"I..." Vicky's voice trailed off, her brain working through what JJ had said.
"This is ridiculous. We just lost Matt and we're being branded as liars by more than half of the American Wizarding community. You leaving to London will make it worse JJ. It might even just make us look guilty. How the fuck did you not explain all that to Paige?"
"You think I didn't try?" Quickly losing her patience, JJ asked.
"You think I'd try to reason with her. She's scared Ben. Just like everybody else. Unlike the rest of them, she's scared of losing me. It's the one thing that scares her the most and you and I both, know it."
"So how can I argue with her when I know deep down that if I stay, if I come back to Ilvermorny next year with you guys, that I'm endangering all of you? I'm endangering God knows how many innocent people if I return to Ilvermorny next year. And I'll put Paige in an impossible position as well. I can't do that Ben."
"You know that I can't. The one thing I can never ever do, to you two in particular after last year, is to put you guys in danger again."
Ben's copper blue eyes hardened at this. He tightened his jaw and sat back adorning a stubborn, furious expression. He hated her logic.
"You know no matter what, we're always on your side, right?" Vicky's soft, dulcet tone rang out.
"I know." said JJ, her eyes filled with pain and yet, her lips stretched into a bittersweet smile at her friend's declaration of loyalty.
"You should go." The empathetic blonde replied.
"What?" Ben said in shock.
"What...?" JJ echoed the blue-eyed boy's question.
"You should. You'd be safer in Britain under the Boy-Who-Lived's popularity and his controversies. They'd not be able to splash your name and Burcullogh's if you're not even present in the States now would they?"
JJ's eyes hardened at the mention of Harry, but she nodded at Vicky's explanation.
"You've completely lost it, haven't you Sawyer?" Ben's livid tone shook.
"You want our best friend to move to an entirely new country when Dark practitioners are after her? She'd be alone! And with no one to back her up, if she got into trouble. Paige's not gonna be there every second, is she? How is she gonna be safe? How is she better off in Britain? What if Death Eaters recognise her? It's not like Stygians and Death Eaters are not in contact, is it? What if-"
"Enough, Ben".
"JJ you can't be seriously -"
"She has to do this Ben. Don't you get it? No matter how unsafe she is there it'd be ten times worse here! And how dare you accuse me of having no concern for her, you asshole! She was my friend before she was even yours!" Vicky yelled, enraged at Ben's accusation.
"I.."
Before Ben could start, JJ cut him off, "She's right Ben. You know it. Please just stop it the both off you. For Merlin's sake, 'cause at this rate, the Stygians would very likely find me here, right at this moment following the sounds of your voices".
Annoyance seeped through her. She rubbed her forehead with her thumb and index finger trying to fight away the thought that if Matt were here he'd probably be able to shut the two of them up faster than she could.
They both had the decency to look sheepish for a few seconds.
Once again, Ben's expression turned into a vehement one.
"Seriously though, you're actually considering this insane plan of yours? To leave the States and go to London?" he sneered.
"Yes." she replied with defiance.
She then revealed her conversation with Francesca Cintara before their arrival.
"Everything she said, it just justified what I have to do guys" she said, rolling her shoulders in defeat.
Ben got a frenzied look in his eye. "I cannot do this. I can't just stand by and watch you leave. And there seems to be nothing more to say, so..." he grounded his words out.
Turning away from the both of them, he turned his back and abruptly, left the Pot's premises, not even bothering to say a goodbye.
Shock coloured Vicky's expression. JJ felt like she'd been dropped in a dark hole and someone was asking her to find something in it.
"Let me get him back." Vicky turned to move when a flash of movement occurred.
JJ caught her wrist and said "He's mad. Ben can stay mad for a while."
"No, just listen" she grinded her teeth at Vicky's denial of Ben's behaviour.
"Listen Vick, I don't know whether I'll be able to say goodbye to you later so..." She hugged her swiftly. Vicky wrapped her arms around JJ and hugged her tightly.
"Stay safe, alright? Don't be fucking brave. We all know you're brave. You don't have anything to prove...To anybody. Please just don't die. I need you."
Emotion clouded JJ at Vicky's words.
With a muffled, "I won't", she let go of her. And motioned for her to go after Ben so he wouldn't end up doing something stupid.
As she watched Vicky run out of the restaurant to catch up with Ben, JJ couldn't help but wonder how badly she had wounded her relationship with Ben by taking this decision to move to London.
Sigh.
When would her life ever get easier?
AN: Done. Jeez, I feel like I wrote a lot after years...or something like that. Btw, so sorry if the Spanish translations aren't that accurate. Used google translate for that. Pardon me for that, my readers.
Anyways, next chapter, an Order meeting revolving around an old member and melancholic nostalgia.
Watch out for it, next weekend it'll be up. If I get time, maybe even sooner.
- Mwth
ns3.133.128.223da2
