FHB: Chapter 2

As he gave his mother a peck on the cheek and his father an awkward handshake, Lucius couldn’t have felt more relieved that he was going to board the train soon. The days before his departure was filled with frequent breath catching and heart pumping moments as Lucius tried to avoid his father at all cost. He knew that if his father caught him alone, he would have to tell him his decision… and it was one decision that his father would have hated enough not to speak to him again.

Lucius never wanted to be a disappointment to either of his parents, but he knew that some of the choices he had to make would inevitably disappoint one of them. This thought had created uneasiness in his chest and when the Hogwart’s Express blew its last call, Lucius quickly said his goodbyes and hurried off.

Once he had entered the narrow walkway of the train, Lucius headed straight to the prefects cabin. He did not have to walk far while pulling his luggage as a group of Slytherins immediately came to his side when they saw him. One took his luggage from him and another pulled on a smug looking face as he shouted for students to make way.

Lucius merely smirked at all the attention he was getting. It was no stranger to him and he found the familiarity rather comforting. Everything seemed to be falling into place and the uneasiness in his chest soon disappeared.

Upon reaching the prefects cabin, the Slytherins said courteous goodbyes and gave offers of assistance. Lucius merely waved them off and left them standing outside the sliding door as he entered.

You would think that only younger Slytherins would take on house elf duty around Lucius, but that was not true. The Malfoys were so well known in the ministry that most pure-blood families, who were dying for some status, would make their children suck up to Lucius.

From the first day he boarded that train… till his last, Lucius would never have to lift a finger. That day was no exception as older Slytherin prefects came to greet and congratulate him. Being that Lucius never really said much, as he found himself thinking more that he should, he just gave the warm welcome a smile.

“We have saved a place for you, Lucius,” a tall blond girl said.

“No one would bother you there,” another female prefect added.

Lucius nodded as they led him to the back of the cabin, where it was quieter and far away from the other houses’ prefects’ eyes. They seem to envy his status, and yet Lucius found it funny how some of them would actually try to talk to him when he was alone. Sure, they stayed away when he was surrounded with his house mates, but they were never far when he was alone.

When Lucius finally settled down, the other Slytherin prefects weren’t sure if they should join him.

“Not tired standing, are you?” Lucius merely asked.

A few of them gave nervous chuckles before they took a seat across from him. None sat next to him and when the train started moving, those who were still contemplating decided to sit somewhere else.

It was an awkward few minutes for the other prefects as the train started to exit the station. But Lucius was pretty fine with the silence as he began his own internal conversation. Those usually revolved around how he could get favours from professors and his studying schedule for the year, after all, he had O.W.Ls that year.

Just as he was finally mentally laying down his plans for the year, he heard someone walk up to his section of the cabin.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” a tanned skinned girl asked politely.

Her brown eyes went from one Slytherin prefect to another before it finally stopped at Lucius.

“It’s taken,” a Slytherin prefect immediately answered.

“But no one is sitting here, or are they invisible?” the girl joked.

There was no laughter as everyone in that section merely looked at her, some with narrowed glares.

After a few minutes of silence, which the girl did not seem to mind, Lucius asked, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Tanya, Tanya Lovegood,” Tanya answered with a smile.

“Haven’t seen you around before,” a Slytherin prefect pointed out.

“I’m new. Just transferred.” The cheery tone in her voice never died down.

“She’s related to that psycho second year… Lovegood,” one of the Slytherin prefects said to the other.

“Who?” that prefect responded with a question.

“That boy people call Xeno. Not right in the head I tell you, talks to himself all the time,” the prefect replied, not at all concerned of offending Tanya.

“He’s my second cousin. I’ve only met him once. He’s a nice boy,” Tanya said to Lucius.

Just then, an odd thought crossed his mind. Lucius noticed that all the other seats were already occupied, and this girl desperately needed a seat even though she had a weird way of showing it.

Lucius wondered if he should just let her join them, or would it be more fun to just let her stand there.

To Be Continued…

(Leave a comment below or vote on whether Lucius should make the offer!)

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Chapter 35

Joanna hurried to a small closet before she apparated to five different places before she headed to Tom’s house. She didn’t want to be followed and she knew Dumbledore still did not truly trust her. When she entered the house, she started shouting his name, but she heard no reply.

Entering the reading room, she found the darkness and the cold so unwelcoming.

“Tom?” Joanna shouted but the only reply she got was dead silence.

Immediately she headed to his bedroom, and when she entered, it was the same; dark and cold.

“Nagini?” Joanna called, and even the snake was no where to be found. Joanna felt like she had just missed them and there was a sudden tightness in her chest. She was afraid for him, she was afraid of loosing him.

“Tom, where are you?” Joanna whispered as she sat on his bed and stared blankly at the floor. She was trying not to panic, trying not to give in to the fear, trying not to cry.

Just when she thought she was just wasting her time, she heard him.

“What are you doing here?”

 “Tom?” Joanna looked up and saw him standing by his desk. Immediately, she got up and ran to him. She threw her arms around him and she felt him return the hug.

“Tom, the ministry knows about the muggle attack,” Joanna suddenly pulled back and warned.

“The ministry knows about what?”

“Don’t try to play dumb. That muggle town, you were planning for a muggle attack weren’t you? You have to call it off! The ministry are sending aurors in the moment the attack happens!”

“I’m not calling it off,” Tom replied with a straight face.

“People will die if a battle starts!”

“It is too late to call it off. Everyone are at their positions waiting for my orders.”

“Tom please,” Joanna whispered her plea, hoping that it would have a different effect on him.

“Sorry,” Tom said as he made some distance between them.

“Tom, don’t do this. I can’t lose you,” Joanna said.

There, I said it, I admitted it, Joanna thought to herself.

“I won’t die. You’ll see me again,” Tom replied as he shifted his gaze away from her.

There was a short moment of silence before he walked up to her, placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, before disapparating.

Immediately after he disappeared, the tears fell, because Joanna knew she wasn’t going to see him again. Falling to her knees she attempted to control her sobs, but it was impossible. She had a very bad feeling and she couldn’t shake it off.

After multiple attempts of trying to calm herself down, Joanna forced her way back to the ministry. Even at 6 in the morning, people were still bustling around, but the crowd was thinner than it was before.

Joanna slumped on her desk and caught a couple of hours of shut eye before she was wakened by her colleague.

It was 10 in the morning when teams were being sent off one by one into the small town. There were easily 50 of them up against a rough estimate of 30 dark witches and wizards.

Joanna was in team B. The team where 10 of them were to try and get as many muggles to safety. She was glad she didn’t have to be in the battle, but she was still afraid she might have to watch it all go down.

At 10:10, she apparated into an alley where she charmed a mother and child to return home. Just as she watched them disappear into safety, she saw a sign on one of the shops on the main street. The sign read, ‘Erlton Motel’. Was that where Tom was staying?

Ignoring the shouts of her teammates as she dashed across the soon to be blood wet streets, all Joanna could think about was stopping Tom. Entering the strangely empty motel, Joanna hurried up the stairs and onto the first landing. Was she going to knock on every door? She had to try.

When it came to the fourth door with no answer, she felt like crying again. Just then, the next door opened and Joanna’s draw dropped.

“What… Joanna?” Malfoy managed to ask in shock.

“Malfoy?”

“What are you doing here?” they asked each other simultaneously.

 Neither of them answered.

“Where’s Tom?” Joanna quickly asked.

Malfoy did not answer her question. He just stared at her, unsure on what to do. Just before he could say a word in reply, they heard it. Screams, yells and eruption of spells; the fight had begun.

Malfoy immediately said, “I’m late.” Before attempting to walk pass her.

Joanna pulled out her wand and pointed it right in his face.

“Where’s Tom?!” Joanna demanded.

“Where else?” Malfoy answered, backing away from her. When he realized Joanna had lost her interest in him, Malfoy ran pass her to join the rest.

Where else, Joanna thought.

She had to save him. Or she had to trust he would be safe, like he assured. Whichever she had to do, it was no easy decision.

To Be Continued….

(Leave a comment below or vote on whether Joanna should wait for the fight to end, or attempt to do something!)

Chapter 34

Not wasting anymore time, Joanna chased after Tom. As her feet took quick steps, her mind was coming up with a reasoning that would convince her more than Tom. Hoping that they could both forget what they saw, Joanna entered the reading room blurting out her thoughts. But when she realized that Tom wasn’t there, she stopped mid way.  Sighing to herself, she slumped into the sofa and stared at the flames in the fireplace.

“I’m sorry,” Joanna said with a sigh.

With that, she left. She did not bump into Tom much after that incident, and if she did see him, he would vanish before she could say his name. Soon, she was back at work in the Ministry. Days got busy again and she barely had any time to herself. Some nights, she found herself missing Tom and his company. Even Nagini came into mind. She wished she didn’t have to work so much and that she could still spend some nights talking to him in his reading room.

If she ever told all her inner thoughts to her friends, especially Annoria, she would have been told that she was in love. But that was stupid wasn’t it? How could she love a boy she hated at the same time? Her own Jiminy Cricket would prove her wrong. Sure she hated his dark side and his desires, but she loved everything else.

“This is confusing,” Joanna always said to herself every time she tried to find out how she felt for Tom. It became tiring just trying to figure out something she was denying with all her might.

“Focus Joanna, focus!” Joanna scolded herself every day when her mind started wandering off into the world where she was with Tom. Those worlds were the only time Tom existed in her life these days, but when a new case came up at work, Tom had reappeared in reality.

“We have information on a muggle attack,” her team leader announced at one of their morning meetings.

“What information?” her colleague asked.

“A team of Aurors have been spying on a few suspicious gatherings around the country, and word was being spread about a group attack on muggles,” her team leader explained.

“Where?” Joanna immediately asked, hoping it was not the place she saw in Tom’s file.

“A muggle town outside of the city called Maryfields.” Her leader began handing out pictures of the place.

Immediately, Joanna’s heart sank. She was not going to snitch on Tom but how was she going to be part of this? Tom was involved in this group attack and Joanna did not want to have to face him on the battlefield.

“When?” her colleague asked, snapping her back into the meeting room.

“We believe it would be happening this Sunday. We already have a team stationed there to keep an eye out. But right now, we need to form teams and be ready to go in when it happens. We do not want innocent blood to be shed over the actions of some attention seeking morons,” her team leader said, clearly angry.

They were all angry. Except for Joanna. She was confused and worried for Tom.

Since Sunday was two days away, she helped in spreading the information to everyone on the long list she was given, that she did not even have time to use the bathroom. It was impossible to escape her team for even a couple of minutes and she wondered how she was going to try and tell Tom.

On Saturday night, a couple of important people from the ministry decided to drop by their office. Together with them was Professor Dumbledore. Oh, how Joanna did and did not wish he was there!

“Do you think it is possible to arrest the culprits before anything bad happens?” Dumbledore asked.

“We have been trying to catch them in the town, but it is almost impossible. They might not even show up till Sunday itself.”

“Ah, well. That would probably be their plan. Their leader … is smarter than we think,” Dumbledore said and turned to Joanna.

I’m not their leader, Joanna thought and then realized what he meant. Dumbledore was suspecting Tom.

And just as Joanna predicted, after the brief with the ministry officers were over, Dumbledore caught up with her and asked, “Have you seen Tom recently?”

“No. I haven’t seen him in years,” Joanna lied and continued, “You think he is involved?”

“Yes, I’m certain. I know that boy, and this is just his first act. Probably testing the waters,” Dumbledore said.

Joanna did not know what to say, because Dumbledore was probably right. “Don’t worry Joanna, I’ll be going with all of you tomorrow,” Dumbledore added.

“Great,” Joanna replied before excusing herself.

She needed to see Tom, she needed to warm him before it was too late. But there was so much to do that night and everyone was keeping everyone accountable, she couldn’t leave. If she did, she would be taking a risk. But as Joanna started pacing up and down by her desk, she realized that no one even said a word to her. Was it possible for her to sneak off?

To Be Continued…

(Leave a comment below or vote on whether Joanna should stay or leave to warn Tom!)

Chapter 33

Joanna got up and Nagini immediately exited the room. Hurrying after it, Nagini waited for her at corners, just so Joanna would not lose sight of it, before it continued slithering. Finally, after a few turns, Joanna found herself standing in front of a white door. The knob was not dusty like the rest which meant Tom used it.

Nagini hissed at her, as though urging her to hurry up. After hesitating for a moment, Joanna turned the knob and entered the unlocked room.

The room was Tom’s bedroom. Clean and tidy like the reading room, there was a table, with books and papers scattered on them, and a fireplace with ashes. Nagini did not stop to look around like she did, as it slithered to a chest at the corner of the room and hissed for her attention.

Giving into Nagini’s demands, Joanna headed over and attempted to open it, but it was locked. There was some locking charm around the chest which made Joanna even more curious of its contents.

Should she open it? Joanna was tempted to. She had learned a lot of unlocking spells and she was certain she could get this chest opened in no time, but that would mean intruding Tom’s privacy. Nagini didn’t seem to care though, as it kept on hissing.

Not really thinking it through, Joanna pulled out her wand and tried a few spells on the chest. Third time was indeed the charm as the chest glowed around the gaps. Excited, Nagini slithered onto her lap and waited for her to open it. Not wanting Nagini to stay any longer on her lap, she pushed the top over and found herself starring down at a folder and a square cage, covered with white cloth.

Pretty sure Nagini had no interest in the folder, Joanna took the cage out and pulled the white cloth off. A sudden shrill came from the contents as blue Cornish pixies began shaking the cage. Accidentally dropping the cage, Nagini hurried towards it and started striking at the pixies.

“You eat pixies?” Joanna asked in disbelief.

Joanna reached for the cage, pointed her wand and jinx the afraid and noisy pixies. The pixies started to fall into a dreamy state and that was when Joanna opened the top and pulled out one pixie. Placing it on the ground, Nagini immediately grabbed for it and slithered away to a corner.

“So much for a thank you,” Joanna said as she placed the cage back into the chest.

Naturally, she reached for the folder and when she saw its contents, Joanna wished she had not.

There were names, places, spells, and internal information about the ministry of magic that even Joanna could not get her hands on. Joanna told herself to stop reading and put the folder back where it belonged, but her eyes and hands worked in harmony to disobey her commands.

“Erlton Motel?” Joanna asked herself more than the audible. The motel was located in a muggle town outside the city. Why was Tom so interested in a muggle town? Unless…

Joanna’s thoughts were cut short when Tom entered the room. Immediately the file and its contents fell from her hand.

“I can explain,” Joanna quickly said.

Tom merely stared at the papers on the floor before turning to Nagini and casting an inaudible spell at it. Nagini hissed and attempted to slither under the bed. But Tom’s second spell caught it by the tail and sent it up onto the ceiling before falling to the ground.

“STOP! Don’t hurt it!” Joanna shouted.

Tom seemed to have not heard her as he cast another spell, followed by a sentence in parseltongue.

Nagini curled up at a corner as Tom headed up to it, wand still pointed at the terrified snake.

“No!” Joanna ran towards him and pulled him away from Nagini. He looked as though he was about to kill his own pet.

There was fury in his eyes when she finally looked him in the face, but a few moments later, the fury left.

“You shouldn’t have read that,” Tom said as he looked past Joanna.

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s my fault, not the snake’s. Please don’t hurt it anymore,” Joanna pleaded.

Tom did not reply. He simply turned around, waved his wand at the papers sending them back into the chest, before exiting the room. The chest sealed itself with the same glowing edges, and Joanna stared at it for a while before wondering if she should go after him.

She was afraid to face him, because she knew she was at fault. She could have just jeopardized their relationship for knowing too much. Turning to Nagini, hoping for an answer she knew she wouldn’t get from the poor baby snake, she found that the snake had disappeared under the bed, leaving her to decide.

Should she try to explain, or should she just leave and come back when she had her words figured out?

To Be Continued…

(Leave a comment below or vote on whether Joanna should go after Tom or come back another day!)

A Slippery Gift

She hatched into the family of the rather insane Mr. Grabbill Hookland.

Grab, whom his friends commonly called him, was a collector of rare magical creatures. He would keep them as pets and sometimes mate them. And when the little cross breeds were born, he would sent them as gifts to his nephews and nieces.

Yes, an odd man he was.

You would usually see him in his black tuxedo, striding on the streets of London, claiming to be a business man. And with a wicked sense of cruelty towards muggles, he would often invite them home to give them a scare. Of course, with a memory charm, he covered up that hobby of his easily.

Among his friends, Grab constantly bragged about his “pets”, and how fantastically unique they were. He would flaunt the new breeds and the recently hatched, and today, he flaunted a snake.

“Oh, such beauty isn’t she?” Grab said to Tawrent Lovegood.

“Yes. Rather.” Tawrent gave the snake a poke and sank deeper into his chair. He hated snakes, especially this one. There was something about it, something that made it feel dangerous to be around it.

“Do you know that this one can grow up to 50 feet! If brought up properly that is,” Grab stroked the snake’s head.

“How… delightful,” Tawrent said uncertainly.

“But I’m not keeping this one.”

“Which unlucky nephew or niece are you giving this creature to?”

Grab laughed at what he thought was a joke. “Well, I have a special buyer who’s particularly interested.”

Grab went on to placing the baby snake into a small plastic box. He then waved his wand and brown paper messily wrapped itself around the box. A small card addressed to an unknown source also sat nicely on top of the box. And as an owl swooped into his living room, Grab tied the gift to its legs.

“You know who to send it to,” Grab said cheerfully to the owl. And the owl obediently went on its delivery.

“Is it legal?” Tawrent asked as he watched the owl fly off.

“What is? Selling my pets?”

“Yes. Especially to people you don’t know,” Tawrent said.

“Why not?” Grab smiled as he sipped at his tea.

“I thought there’s a license process for sales and purchases of such creatures.”

“You have too many friends in the ministry that the law is starting to confuse you.”

“I just don’t want you to get in trouble,” Tawrent said with a sigh.

“I won’t be in trouble. This buyer knows a great deal about snakes.”

“Really.” Tawrent was not convinced.

“Oh yes. But I told him that at this age, the snake needs a lot of grooming, and if he has any intentions for it, he best wait till it is fully grown. I also told him not to show it off to anyone, since, it is a very rare breed that I would consider dangerous.”

“Right. Lets hope he doesn’t send it on a killing spree.”

“That would be a waste of her potential if he didn’t. But I think he only wants a companion.” Grabbill laughed.

“Odd choice for one.”

…..

The packaged arrive in a house outside of town. The special buyer sent the owl off with the money he owed before heading to his reading room to unwrap it. But before he could do so, he saw an intruder hiding in the shadows.

Panicking, he pulled out his wand and demanded, “Who are you?! How did you get in?!”

Before he could react. he saw a flash of green light, that even an attempt to draw his last breath was impossible.

“Thank you for the slippery gift,” the person in the shadows said, before heading to the package.

Knowing that the old man he just killed was a loner, he took his time at opening the gift he claimed. And when he first laid eyes on the snake, he was amazed at the beauty of it.

“Hi,” he said.

The baby snake curled at a corner and watched him closely.

“I won’t hurt you. I just want to be friends,” he continued.

He then put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a rat he had bought from the market earlier in the day.

“Here’s a treat,” he said, as he carefully released it into the plastic box.

She hesitated for a moment, watching his hand pull out from her safe zone. Then, without thinking twice, she striked at the rat.

“Fast one,” he said, sounding impressed.

“I am,” she replied.

“I hope you liked it.”

“Thank you,” she said as she moved out from her curled position.

“Do you have a name?” he asked.

She shook her head at him in reply.

“I shall call you Nagini then. Do you like that name?”

“I guess. Do you have a name?”

“Yes. I’m… master. Call me master.”

“O.k master,” Nagini replied.

“Let’s go home,” Master said as he picked up the snake and disappeared in a swoosh.

Chapter 29

Once she had said yes to Nyla, the second half of the year sped up so fast. Time really flies, even in the magical world. The exams came and went, and Joanna was certain she did well enough to confirm her a spot in  the ministry once she graduated. Though Joanna and Tom had made up, they were merely on ‘hello’ terms, and slowly but surely, they grew apart. Joanna could not see how she could support Tom as an auror-to-be, and Tom did not want to associate himself with anyone that had to do with the ministry; but they did not see each other as enemies, rather the friend that was once close.

Finally, the year came to an end and as Slytherin, once again, took the house cup, the mixture of groans and cheers made Joanna wish the year could have ended later. Hogwarts was like the home she never had, and even though she had to go through the ups and downs, she made friends whom she loved dearly, that would have included Tom if she wasn’t so unsure about how she felt about him.

Once the ‘Goodbye and good luck’ speech was given by Professor Dippet to the graduating class, the night ended with hugs and wishes among the seniors. Some of the juniors stayed back in the great hall to say their goodbyes, as the following day, everyone would be boarding the Hogwarts express and most of them wouldn’t see each other for a while. Joanna was sure to thank the teachers first, and when she came face to face with Professor Dumbledore, her prediction of what he would say came through.

“I’m glad you’re taking up the Auror job. It’s a very good career,” Professor Dumbledore said with a smile.

Joanna merely returned the smile and nodded. She wasn’t so certain if it would be a good career, considering all the battle scars one would collect over time.

Finally thanking all the teachers, who ended saying the same thing about her job offer at the ministry and how she did rather well without failing a single subject, she naturally headed up to Tom.

Since she knew she wouldn’t be seeing him again she thought that an appropriate goodbye should be said.

“So, I heard you’re the top of the class again,” Joanna said, diverting Tom’s attention away from a junior who kept smiling at him without saying a word.

“Yes, I did. You did pretty good yourself,” Tom immediately replied, turning his back against the junior who narrowed her eyes at Joanna before storming off.

“You have an admirer.” Joanna chuckled.

“Annoying,” Tom said as he rolled his eyes.

“Well, what are you planning to do?” Joanna asked, out of curiosity.

“I thought of coming back, to teach.”

“Teach?” That surprised Joanna.

“Yea. Defense against the dark arts,” Tom said.

“Defense against the dark arts?”

Wasn’t Tom for the dark arts? Not against the dark arts? Joanna thought to herself.

“You look shock. Why?”

“I just thought… I mean… it’s not really you to-“

“It’s an interesting subject,” Tom said with a smile. A smile that hid his ulterior motives, but Joanna didn’t bother to pry.

“Well, all the best!”

“You too,” Tom said.

“I’ll see you around,” Joanna added, before she headed towards Annoria, who had been calling her over for the last one minute.

…..

One year into her training at the Ministry of Magic, Joanna was finally promoted as an official Auror. She was assigned to a team and her first so called mission was to track down a wizard who was putting spells on muggles to do his biding. Once that mission was over, another one came, followed by many many more. It’s strange how some wizards loved abusing their magical abilities, even on harmless animals. Most of them were rather disturbed and Joanna was sure she have not met the worst of the worst just yet.

With all the work, Joanna realized that she had not spoken to her friends for months. This auror job is taking up a lot of my time, Joanna thought, as she sat down one night just to reply the letter Annoria had sent her three months ago.

Hoping to catch her breath, the following day, Joanna requested a one month leave, which was supposedly the unclaimed holidays she lost over hunting down crazy wizards. Once it was confirmed, she wrote another letter to Annoria, hoping to meet up.

Annoria must have been extremely free or jobless as her owl returned quickly. Two days after that, they met at the Three Broomsticks and recollected the days where Joanna took Matilda up on a duel.

“I thought you were going to kill her!’ Annoria said, laughing at the memory.

“I thought so too. Wow, I miss those days.” Joanna indeed missed those carefree days.

“Your job is pretty demanding huh?”

“Who knew animal cruelty would fall under our jurisdiction,” Joanna replied.

“Seriously?’

“If the animal was used for dark magic that is. So, what are you doing now?”

“I’m working in Gringotts.”

“Is it not busy? Aren’t Goblins rather demanding?”

“No, not really. I handle most of the paperwork, but it’s not something magic can’t do by itself.”

“That’s good.”

“You know what I heard? Tom was offered jobs in the Ministry of Magic. Is it true?” Annoria continued, clearly wanting to do some gossiping.

“I don’t know. I’m rarely in the office. Who did you hear it from?” Joanna was now curious on how Tom was doing.

“Friends of friends in the ministry. But they said he turned them down, for whatever reason. He disappointed a lot of people.”

“Tom never liked the ministry, it would be against his secret oath or something to work in it.”

“But that’s just a waste of talent. I heard he’s working at Borgin and Burkes now. YOU should pay him a visit.” Annoria failed to hide her smile.

“You should come along with me,” Joanna casually replied.

“I don’t like Knockturn Alley. It’s creepy. But you should go, I mean, you haven’t seen him in a while, and he could have only gotten more handsome than he was before,” Annoria teased.

Joanna laughed as Annoria winked her eye at her. Should she pay Tom a visit? Or should she just scrape the idea all together?

To Be Continued…

(Leave a comment below or vote on whether Joanna should pay a visit or ignore the suggestion!)

Little B

“Father! Father! Look!” Little B ran into his father’s meeting with the Minister of Magic, looking rather preoccupied with the gold button he was holding up high.

“It’s a button! I found… a button.” Little B looked around the room, and the men in suits were staring back at him. And then looking at his father, he knew he had done something wrong, even though he did not know what it was.

Taking him roughly by the wrist, his father pulled him outside and shouted, “Nancy!”

A young lady hurried to them, apologizing as she mumbled something about losing him. But his father merely grunted as he shoved Little B to Nancy and disappeared behind the white wooden doors.

“You have been a bad boy Little B!” Nancy said as she looked into the eyes of the confused child.

“I did something wrong,” Little B said as he dropped his head, along with the gold button in his hand.

Nancy sighed as she took him by the hand and pulled him along the red carpeted hallway. She then brought him to his father’s office where she sat him down, gave him some cookies and milk, and told him not to move.

Little B did as he was told, as he knew he was already in big trouble. He wished his mother was around, so he could ask why his father was angry with him, but she was away, visiting his sick aunt.

Little B had never followed his father to work. He was not allowed to. But since his mother was away, they had no one to look after him and his father was forced to bring him along. This was his first day in his father’s office, and he somehow knew it would be his last. His father would rather put him at a muggle daycare center than take him to work after what had happened today.

Overwhelmed with confusion, Little B quickly wiped the tears off his cheeks.

“Man do not cry! Father says so,” he told himself as he waited.

Little B waited till his father returned, but he did not say a word as he watched his father work. He did not mutter, or grumble. He did not even raise his hand when he got thirsty. Little B waited till the clock chimed at 5 p.m, when he hurriedly followed his father out of the office, ready to head home.

It was not till they reached the floo network that his father saw him and muttered, “Ah, at least you are smart enough to tag along. I would have left you behind if you have not.”

Those words left a sting in his little heart. Did his father actually forget about him?

Little B did not say anything as he hurried into the chimney, next to his father, and held on to his father’s cloak.

Moments later, they had arrived home, and before he could speak, his father waved him away.

Little B retreated to his room, changed into a new set of clothes and sat on his bed, waiting to be called for dinner. And then the knock on the door came.

“Dinner time Little B,” his old and fragile house elf said.

Little B then smiled to himself. Maybe at dinner time, he could talk to his father and say he was sorry, then his father would not be angry with him anymore. With hope, Little B hurried to the dinner table and waited.

After all the food was served, Little B waited for his father to join him, but his father never came.

“Is father coming for dinner?” Little B asked the house elf, but the house elf shook his head sympathetically at him.

Unwillingly, he waited no longer and finished up his meal. He then let the house elf help him in the shower, and get ready for bed. But just as he was about to tuck himself in, his house elf came with a parcel in hand.

“From your mother,” he said, and then he left.

Little B excitedly ripped it open to find a color changing quill and a letter attached to it. He may not be very good at reading, but he knew his mother’s letter would not be hard.

‘ Happy Birthday Little B!

You are mommy’s big boy now! How is it like being three years old?

Mommy is really sorry. Mommy wish she could be there to blow the candles off your cake with you, but your aunt is very very ill.

You must hang in there Little B. Mommy will be back soon, and then mommy can continue your favourite bedtime story about Little Barty!

I hope you like your present. You can draw a picture for mommy with it!

I love you Little B. So so much! ‘

“There’s no cake, mommy,” Little B said in response to the letter.

And then folding the letter, he slid it under his pillow and rested his small head.

Pulling up the blankets to his chest, Little B recited, “There was once a boy named Barty Junior. He was a very happy boy. His mommy loved him so much, and his daddy too. His daddy was an important man, that was why he can’t take Barty to the park. But Barty don’t have to worry, cause he has his beautiful mommy to take him. Barty loves his mommy, and his daddy. And Barty will always be a happy little boy…”

The Hero Boy

Ms. Marisa was Roy’s favorite nanny. She only took care of him during the summer as during the rest of the  year, she was away at her school, studying magic.

Roy, being only 9, was already a big fan of magic, and even though he was not allowed a wand of his own, he always used his father’s old wand whenever Ms. Marisa was around.

The only reason why Roy never gave Ms. Marisa a hard time was not because she fed him candy or let him zoom around on his broom inside the house, it was because she loved teaching him magic.

Everything Ms. Marisa learned in school, she would teach him, and today, as Roy pointed his father’s old wand at his pet rabbit, a silver like string came floating out from its head.

“Did it work?” Roy asked as he watched his rabbit hop back to the water bowl and drank from it, which it had already done 30 seconds ago.

“Try it again,” Ms. Marissa said.

“Obliviate!” Roy said, as he gave his wand a slight twist at the rabbit. Once again, the poor rabbit drank from its bowl of water, completely oblivious to the fact that it had already done so early.

“Ob-“

“Wait! We don’t want your rabbit to get all bloated with water!” Ms. Marisa pulled the wand from Roy just in time.

“But, it didnt work!” Roy knew full well that it did. He just wanted to do the spell again.

“It did. And I’m going to teach you another, don’t you wanna learn another?” Ms. Marisa asked, seeing his frown.

A smile immediately crossed his face as he nodded his head vigorously.

“Well, this is a simple summoning spell. All you have to do is concentrate on something, for example that book on the table, and say accio book.” With a small tilt of the wand, the book came flying towards Ms. Marisa, and Roy couldn’t help but gasps in excitement.

“My turn, my turn!” Roy grabbed for his wand and tried. He tried and tried till he had managed to get the book to hover a few centimeters above the table.

“Clever boy!” Ms. Marisa patted him on the back.

Just when Roy was about to attempt at making the book go higher, a crashing sound, which came from downstairs, made both their heads turn to his bedroom door.

“Is your parents home? I don’t remember hearing the fireplace pop,” Ms. Marisa asked, in a tone unlike her usual.

Roy shrugged. He had not heard the fireplace pop either, and it was strange, because his parents always used the floo network from work to home.

“I’m going down to check.”

“No! Don’t leave me! What if it’s a bad wizard?!”

Ms. Marisa, who apparently did not hear him, exited his room and shut the door behind her.

Roy hurried to the door and pressed his right ear against it, trying to hear what was going on, but he heard nothing. Curious, he sneaked out of his room and tip toed down the staircase. It was then that he heard a loud crash followed by a thud that shook the ground beneath him.

“Ms. Marisa?!” Roy shouted.

“It’s o.k Roy. I knocked him out,” Ms. Marisa said proudly, under her shaking voice, as she came out from the kitchen.

“What happened? What did you do?” Roy quickly asked as he peeked into the kitchen doorway, spotting a huge man, sprawled unconscious on the ground.

“I knocked him out with some of your mother’s pots and pans.” Ms. Marisa laughed nervously at the thought.

“With accio spell?” Roy asked keenly.

“Yes. Now go be a dear and flame for the ministry.” Ms. Marisa pointed at the fireplace.

“Wait, what did that man want?”

“He wanted… erm.” Ms. Marisa paused and hesitated before she continued, “You.”

“Why?”

“Wanted gold from your parents Roy. Now you better flame for the ministry while I watch him.”

Roy nodded and headed to the fireplace. He threw some purple powder into the flames and as it turned yellow, Roy peered over and shouted, “Someone tried to kidnap me! You have to come now!”

A female face appeared in the flames and replied, “We’re right on our way Master Lockhart.”

Just then, a crazy idea flashed across his not so innocent mind. Roy reached for the wand he had tucked into his shirt earlier and pointed it at Ms. Marisa.

“What are you doing?” Ms. Marisa asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.

“I’m sorry Ms. Marisa, but I have to do this,” Roy said, as he contemplated his plan.

“Do what?” Ms. Marisa chuckled, thinking Roy was just being playful.

“You’ll help everybody love me more,” Roy tried to explain.

“What are you talking about?” The expression on Ms. Marisa’s face had not change as she shook her head and laughed.

“Obliviate!” Roy shouted, and to his surprise, a silver string slowly floated out of her head. He expected the spell not to work, but it did.

As he happily watched a blank expression wipe across Ms. Marisa’s face, Roy cooked up a whole new story in which everyone, to his deepest satisfaction, believed to be the truth.

Roy was lonely and he wanted people to like him, to love him and to know him. His parents didnt have time for him and now that he was about to make the headlines as a hero who saved his nanny from an intruder, his parents would have to give him all their attention.

Roy was the hero boy, the boy whom every child wanted to be friends with and the boy whom every parent would want as a child. He was going to have it all.

True enough, he made the headlines on the Daily Prophet the next day, “Gilderoy Lockhart, the Hero Boy.” All that at what cost? A nanny who started loving him even more.