Okay, everyone, my sequel to "The Other Dursley." I hope you guys will like it.
And this is a rewritten version. Hopefully, it's a bit better now.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I DO NOT OWN Harry Potter. All rights to both the books and films go to the wonderful J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros.
Jemma Dursley and the Phoenix Soul Reborn
Chapter 1: Another Normal Day
A winged snake.
Of all things, it had to be a winged snake. Take one of the things she feared most, put wings on it, and you had a mind monster to plague your dreams. The snake was horrifying to look at. Its fierce red eyes narrowed into dangerous slits; its muddy green-scaled body coiling; and slithering through the air as its enormous bat-like wings flapped at a steady rhythm while it searched for its prey.
She was scared. No, she was plain terrified. But she had to push away her fear for now. She couldn't afford to be afraid now.
Not when she was flying hundreds of feet above the ground, without the foggiest on how she was flying in the first place.
Not while she was dodging wayward curses and jinxes being fired from the throngs of people down below.
Not when the monster of her nightmare had found its target.
When she dove down to pursue the damn thing, she realized that she was at Hogwarts. But it wasn't the Hogwarts she knew from when she was little. As she flew down until she was practically gliding just a foot above the people's heads, she could see that Hogwarts had become a battleground. Some of the towers had collapsed, bits of stone littered the ground... along with the bodies.
There was a shout, a burst of bright green light, and one came crashing through one of the windows. Just her luck, she was flying underneath and she frantically careened to avoid getting taken down along with the body as shattered glass rained down.
Horrified screams and a loud hiss got her attention and she lifted her head to see the winged snake far ahead. Beating her wings at a furious pace, she flew towards it and got a glimpse of what the snake had its eyes on.
Down on the ground, standing and covered in battle grime, was a determined-looking young man pointing his wand at the scaly winged creature.
The snake drew its head back and opened its mouth, revealing venomous fangs the size of lances.
It was going to kill him.
Her voice came out, sounding like her normal voice but with a melodious ring to it, as she screamed the man's name...
"HARRY!"
The sound of her alarm clock's beeping brought 12-year-old Jemma Dursley out of her troubled dream; and she gasped as she woke up. Furiously blinking her eyes to get rid of the image of the winged snake from her nightmare, Jemma slowly breathed in and out until her heart stopped beating fast in her chest. Once she had calmed down, Jemma glanced at her clock. It was 5AM in the morning.
And it was a Saturday.
"Ugh... Stupid early riser's habit..." Jemma groaned, sinking back into the covers, and tried to sleep again. However, once Jemma was up, she was up.
Getting out of bed, Jemma decided to put her room in order. Her bed, a pile of fluffy white pillows and red and yellow blankets, was made. Hedwig, her stuffed Snowy Owl who had been a birthday present from her older brother, Dudley, was placed on top of her neatly folded blankets. Moving on to her desk, Jemma grabbed the crumpled up balls of drawing paper, a couple of empty sweet wrappers, and tossed them into the bin. A sketchpad lay open on the desk, showing a finished drawing of a phoenix that had yet to be colored. Making a mental note to color the drawing later, Jemma went to her closet and opened it. She hastily grabbed a gray flannel jumper, track pants, and a pair of socks before changing into them. Pulling on her red trainers and wearing her watch, Jemma tossed her nightclothes into the hamper near her bedroom door. She might as well head out for a run while the day was still early and fresh.
Opening the door as quietly as possible, Jemma tiptoed out of her room and found herself standing in the narrow hallway of her family's apartment. The door right next to hers led to Dudley's room while the door next to that led to her parents' room. Hearing her father's loud snoring coming down the hall, Jemma quietly made her way to the kitchen and fixed herself a light breakfast of jam and toast. Nibbling her toast cautiously, as if the slightest sound of chewing would wake her parents or brother up, Jemma looked through the large window in the apartment's living room. She could see the entire street from down below because their apartment was on one of the highest floors.
An old man was crossing the street, waving hello to the police constable, while a newspaper salesman was going about his early morning work in delivering the newspapers.
A young lady had just opened her boutique and was, now, fixing the displays in the front window.
'Just another normal day in London,' Jemma thought as she finished her breakfast.
Bringing a water bottle and some dried fruit with her, Jemma left the apartment at 5:45AM. The elevators in the apartment building stayed operational 24/7 so Jemma didn't need to hurry up the stairs to get to the highest floor. Five minutes later, she reached the apartment's rooftop. Jemma made her way to the edge and kept an eye on the skies.
At exactly 6AM, right on time, her friend arrived.
A magnificent phoenix, the size of a peregrine falcon, landed gracefully on the ground with a newspaper clutched in its golden beak.
"Morning, Seraphine. What news do you bring?" Jemma smiled as she held out the dried fruit in exchange for the newspaper.
The phoenix's voice, female, sounded in Jemma's mind as she pecked at the fruit contentedly. 'Well, according to the Daily Prophet, more Death Eaters are being rounded up... Ooh, dried apple, my favorite... Kingsley Shacklebolt's passed Arthur Weasley's new Muggle Protection Act with some help from Hermione Granger... Ron Weasley's considered his greatest achievement to be having been included in the famous witches and wizards for the Chocolate Frog cards... Ick, prunes... Let's see... what else...?' As Seraphine paused to think, Jemma eagerly read through the newspaper Seraphine had brought without looking at the moving pictures until she found a certain picture that made her heart ache with longing.
A young man with unruly black hair and bespectacled eyes stood next to someone wearing grand wizard robes and the article's title read out in bold print:
Harry Potter to Join Ministry's Auror Department
Written by: Kickis Trecus
Shortly after helping Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic rebuild in the wake of the Second Wizarding War, Harry Potter has decided to apply for training to become an Auror alongside his fellow Hogwarts classmate (and new co-proprietor of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes alongside his brother, George Weasley) Ronald Weasley.
Most of the wizarding world knows Mr. Potter as the famous "Boy Who Lived" and, most recently, "Saviour of the Wizarding World" after defeating the infamous Dark Lord, You-Know-Who...
'You-Know-Who's name is VOLDEMORT or, as I like to call him, "Nasty Dark Wizard with a Name So Stupid." Really, Seraphine, you'd think they'd ought to be using his real name now, would you?' Jemma telepathically snorted to her phoenix (who was now pecking at the dried prunes without much gusto).
'You have to understand that it's only been a year, Jem. A lot of people are still on edge because of the damage the war had caused. And the news of some Death Eaters still roaming about the country helps in keeping fear alive. I even heard that some 11-year-olds were held back from attending Hogwarts last year because of the war. Wonder how they'll be sorted into their Houses this term...' Seraphine told her, looking at the young girl with inquisitive brown eyes.
Shrugging, Jemma went back to reading the article.
Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley were unavailable for an interview. Gawain Robards, current head of the Auror Office, was nonetheless delighted about hearing of Mr. Potter's desire to become an Auror.
"Mr. Potter's feats of daring bravery along with his extensive experience of fighting the Dark Arts will prove to be a tremendous asset in the path he's chosen. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if he'll rise among the ranks to become the next head of this department very soon! Along with Mr. Weasley, an equally experienced and daringly brave wizard, I daresay that I've got my work cut out for me training the new recruits..." Robards commented during the interview...
"Get rid of one dark wizard, then, move onto the next one. Classic Harry..." Jemma sighed, shaking her head in amusement, before folding up the paper. She would add this to her secret stash later when she got back from her morning run.
Seraphine, having now abandoned the prunes, flitted over to her. 'Meet you at the park?' she asked Jemma, who smiled as she glanced at her watch.
"It is now 6:30AM and I shall meet you there in, perhaps, 30 minutes?" she challenged her.
Seraphine ruffled her magnificent plumage and spread her wings. 'I'll be betting you wouldn't be able to resist stopping by the zoo to greet your other friends. I'll see you at 7:30!' she telepathically replied with a slight laugh to her voice.
"Ah, you know me too well, Ser'. I'll see you in a bit," Jemma laughed and, as her feathered sister flew off, headed back inside the building and took the elevator all the way down to the first floor.
Taking a swig from her water bottle, Jemma took off into the streets at a run. She passed by several shops, waving cheerfully to the owners as they opened for the day, and breathed in the early morning London air. As she rounded a corner, Jemma saw the apartment building she, her family, and several other ordinary families lived in rising in the distance.
Compared to the quiet suburbs of Little Whinging, London was bursting with activity even at the early hours of the day. This proved to be quite fitting for Jemma, lively spirit that she was. She simply loved traversing the streets to see what was going on outside.
Currently, it was nearing the end of her summer holidays. In a few weeks time, she would be heading off to school for her second term. Jemma was going to miss roaming around London any hour she wished. She would miss taking summer classes in fencing, too, as well as volunteering at the London Zoo's aviary...
'If only summer lasted just a tiny bit longer...' Jemma thought as she ran like the wind through the streets with the birds flying overhead and chirping noisily to her.
Jemma and her family moved to London the summer of 1997 and exactly one year had passed since she learned that her wizard cousin vanquished the Dark Wizard, Lord Voldemort. During that time, her parents did everything they could to make sure that they would start fresh and have a normal life that they hoped would stay that way.
Dudley got into various contact sports while Jemma found a fencing instructor living nearby and began to do volunteer work at the London Zoo's aviary, where she became a favorite among its inhabitants. Her parents, however, still wanted her to be as ordinary as possible so they made sure to keep a watchful eye on their young daughter in case she had any ideas of doing something remotely rebellious or scandalous.
But during weekends, Jemma had free reign and could do whatever she wanted... as long as her parents weren't trying to make her join any social gatherings of their friends at work or whatnot.
Sure, she was on good terms with her family's neighbors, some of them having families with kids her age, and attended birthday parties when invited, but Jemma preferred to be alone.
Yes, she had made the acquaintance of some students from school but she still kept to herself.
That made it harder for anyone to put a decent label on her.
Most of Jemma's classmates thought she was weird because she preferred to be alone often outside with a book in her hand - and sometimes staring; sometimes talking to birds. To them, she was the definition of bizarre.
The adults, particularly her teachers, were more concerned about Jemma's severe lack of socialization and friends. Frankly, they all wondered if there was a problem with the child.
Neighbors of the Dursleys in the apartment always had something to say about Dudley, good or bad, but had nothing to say about Jemma, who was often forgotten.
Dudley, the older of the two siblings, was considered the pride and joy of Vernon and Petunia Dursley while Jemma was the black sheep of the family.
Dudley was now beginning to shed some of his excess fat and had achieved a somewhat fit, yet, stocky build. He was, now, attending a good university with mediocre, but (barely) passing marks, began wearing suits like the ones his father would wear to work, and had joined his university's rugby team.
Jemma had grown into a willowy youth of a girl, her raven black hair long and sleek like a horse's mane. Her fashion sense was normal for a girl about to enter her teenage years, but she didn't like wearing dresses or long skirts. She had more of a tomboyish look to her, really. But, if people took enough time to look, they would see that Jemma had a kindly face, a warm smile that seemed somewhat hesitant, and lovely doe brown eyes. In school, she did all right, but she was always the one who sat in the back of the room and was hardly noticed. No one bullied her, yet, no one paid attention to her either.
It was too bad that her parents couldn't quite see it. They were too caught up in their own affairs to really pay that much attention.
Vernon and Petunia, after Jemma's first year in her new school, had received a letter from Jemma's headmistress that expressed concern for Jemma's lack of friends on campus. The teachers said that, while polite, Jemma didn't like being around other children her age and often wanted to be alone.
And, ever since summer started, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley had tried to get Jemma to attend social gatherings like parties at Vernon's company, Grunnings, only for her to staunchly refuse.
Dudley, who had come home a few days later than Jemma for the summer, tried to introduce his sister to some college friends of his, but Jemma always slipped away.
It was as if Jemma didn't want to have friends. In truth, she wanted to, but just couldn't relate to anyone. Often, she would be polite, cordial, and that was it. It didn't help when she developed slight trust issues and suspected that any invitation without any details of the destination or what would be the occasion was just some excuse to prank her.
In short, it was as if Jemma didn't care.
And, in some factors such as popularity, she really didn't. For her, popularity wasn't important. What was new and trendy right now, ultimately, would be overtaken by a new fad. A lot of her classmates cared about of being popular. She was content to stay at the back of the room and not be noticed.
But that didn't mean she didn't want friends. Oh, Jemma wanted friends so badly. She wanted someone she could talk to, listen to, have fun with, and share her deepest secrets...
And that was the problem.
Jemma had really deep secrets and, whenever she tried to make friends, she would always be pushed to reveal one of them.
But how do you reveal to a fellow 12-year-old boy or girl that you're related to a young wizard hero without sounding like a mental case?
Jemma had just reached The Regent's Park, after taking a quick detour to the London Zoo in order to greet the zoo vet as she was getting ready for work (and lengthened her stay by talking to some of the eagles in the clinic), and found Seraphine resting in the branches of a nearby willow.
The female phoenix turned her graceful head to the young girl and, once again, her gentle voice filled Jemma's brain. 'Strange... I figured you'd be here at a later time...'
Jemma glanced at her watch and saw that it was only 7:15AM. 'Huh, slow day...' she mentally chuckled before settling down on a bench to drink the rest of her water.
A man wearing a hooded sweatshirt sat next to her and unfolded a newspaper. Jemma casually glanced at the paper before nearly spitting her water out when she saw the pictures moving.
"That's a copy of The Daily Prophet!" she exclaimed, startling the man sitting next to her.
The man turned his steely gray eyes at Jemma and frowned. "Yes, and what business is it to you?" he asked coldly. Jemma blushed, realizing that she had been rude, and quietly took out her own copy of the Prophet. "That's yesterday's news, girl," the man sneered at her.
"Oh..." Jemma mumbled, feeling mortified, before the man handed her his newspaper, much to her surprise.
"I read it earlier this morning, anyway," the man shrugged.
"Thank you..." Jemma said softly, unsure on what to say, and pored over the pages.
Seraphine alighted down to the bench and the stranger nearly jumped off the bench in surprise. "A phoenix?! How...?" he managed to mutter when Jemma said, "It's okay. She's friendly," in order to calm him. Seraphine cocked her head curiously at the stranger before shrugging her wings and settled herself on the bench to read the newspaper with Jemma.
"Huh... 'Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is on his second year of teaching. The jinx on the job had been removed after the fall of the Dark Lord...'" Jemma read aloud while the man warily eyed her and Seraphine.
The man carefully looked over Jemma from head-to-toe, then, his gray eyes widened.
"I remember you."
Jemma looked up at the man as he stared at her. "In my third year at Hogwarts... You're Potter's cousin, aren't you?" he asked carefully.
Raising an eyebrow, Jemma stared back at him. Then, upon looking more closely at the man's gray eyes, something clicked. "Malfoy? Is that you?" the youngest Dursley asked, brown eyes wide.
The man pulled down the hood of his sweatshirt and white blond hair became visible. "Fancy seeing you here in London... what's your name again?" he looked momentarily confused as he tried to recall a name.
"Jemma. And it's quite a surprise to see you here, Malfoy," Jemma said coolly, remembering how Malfoy had bullied her when she visited Harry during his third year in Hogwarts.
Seraphine, upon recognizing Malfoy from some of the stories Jemma told her, turned her luminous brown eyes at Malfoy and ruffled her feathers indignantly and even clacked her beak a few times to show her disapproval.
Draco blushed and shoved his hands into his jean pockets. "You're still remembering that little incident during the Christmas holidays?" he asked Jemma, who rolled her eyes at him.
"You get cornered by three bullies when you're eight and see if you can't remember it after a few years. That time when you threatened to hex me is something I can't really forget," the young girl told him before risking it and asked, "Have you heard anything from Harry these last few days?"
"Doesn't he write to you?" Draco asked her and, to his confusion, Jemma's doe brown eyes turned sad.
"No..." Jemma said softly. She knew Harry had decided to cut off all ties with her before the war in order to protect her. But, still, it didn't stop her from missing him so much. Now that the war was over, she had been secretly hoping that Harry would contact her again... only to have her hopes dashed when no letter was delivered to her via owl after Seraphine had told her the news.
Seeing that he had brought up a touchy subject, Draco coughed slightly in embarrassment. "Sorry..." he apologized.
"It's all right. I still miss him, but I understand that he's busy. As long as Harry's okay, I'm okay," Jemma shrugged, smiling slightly. Swallowing the last gulp of water, Jemma got up from the bench and stretched. "Well... it was rather... nice to see you again, Malfoy, but I best be going," she chirped and made a hand signal to Seraphine, the phoenix taking flight at her command, before handing Draco the newspaper.
Draco's mind was going into overdrive. He had just met the little girl he had once terrorized in his third year again, only she wasn't a little girl anymore. He wanted to apologize a little more for his past behavior, tell her that, if it hadn't been for her cousin, he and his family would have been stripped of their wands or, worse, sent straight to Azkaban, and tell her that he was turning over a new leaf.
But all Draco Malfoy could say to Jemma Dursley before she left was this.
"You can keep the newspaper."
"All right. Thank you," Jemma said politely and, pocketing her two copies of The Daily Prophet, took off running.
Draco was left standing there, almost as if in a daze, before sighing and Apparated.
Trusting Seraphine to stay out of sight without having to be told, Jemma went back to her family's apartment to find her parents having their breakfast with Dudley, who was still looking rather sleepy.
"Morning, Jem..." Dudley yawned, sipping his coffee to try to wake himself up.
"Morning, Dud," Jemma said, now on slightly friendlier terms as of late, and nodded to her parents.
"Good morning, Jem dear. Have a nice run?" her mother asked sweetly.
"Yeah, it was good," Jemma shrugged before heading to her room.
"Jemma, why not sit down and have breakfast with us?" her father, Vernon, inquired.
"Oh, I already had breakfast before I left, Dad. I'm just going to take a shower," Jemma replied, already closing her bedroom door.
While in the shower, Jemma pondered on her meeting with Malfoy. It was rather strange, in her opinion, to have just bumped into her cousin's former school enemy in a rather ordinary place such as the park. She often thought people like Malfoy didn't like to mingle with Muggles.
And that's what Jemma was. A Muggle. A non-magic person.
Or so she had once thought.
For, not too long ago, Jemma had received a very special message from a very special phoenix.
Fawkes, Seraphine's father and once loyal pet phoenix of the late Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, had visited Jemma late one night in her old home in Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey and had not only entrusted Jemma with the egg that, on Halloween Night, hatched into the youngest Dursley's feathered sister... but had also revealed to Jemma that she was magical.
And she wasn't just magical.
Jemma was a Phoenix Soul, a powerful witch that had the ability to command fire and possessed the gifts of a phoenix. So she was told and had yet to discover. To be honest, Jemma wasn't really sure how her magic would present itself. She asked Seraphine once but even she couldn't give her an answer.
'It'll probably come when you least expect it, Jem. No use worrying about it now,' Seraphine had told her.
Jemma took her advice, but secretly hoped that her magic would show itself when she was on her own. The last thing her family wanted, after Harry, was to have another bout of magic in their household. So, in the meantime, Jemma contented herself with being ordinary...
Well, as ordinary as she could be, anyway.
After showering and dressing up, Jemma heard her parents calling her to the living room and she went.
Once she was there, her father smiled widely at her.
"My boss just called. Said I've been promoted and there'll be a party in my honor this afternoon," he said jovially while his wife looked beside herself with joy.
"We must all go! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!" Petunia said excitedly.
"But I had plans to go to the local pub with..." Dudley tried to protest but Vernon chuckled, "Now, now, Dudley! I'm sure your friends won't mind if you miss one night out. Besides, the party's going to be held in this new restaurant that's just opened down the street. It's hard to get reservations there!"
Before Jemma knew it, she was being forced into what she deemed to be the gaudiest and, to her horror, pinkest party dress she had ever seen.
"There is no way I am wearing something that pink," she stubbornly said to her mother.
"Jem dear, it's only for one night," Petunia frowned as she put the dress over her daughter's head and, without meaning to, yanked down on it hard.
"OW!"
No sooner had Jemma yelped did she hear her mother scream, "OH GOD!" and quickly pulled the dress on to see her mother pressed against the door in fear, her hand to her chest.
'Had she seen a mouse in my hair or something?' Jemma thought before glancing down at her dress. Her brown eyes widened as she saw that the atrocious pink dress complete with pastel pink ribbons had been changed into a fiery red one with burnt orange ribbons.
Smiling at the improvement, Jemma looked up at her mother who seemed transfixed at the sight of her. "I like this one better," she grinned before her mother suddenly seized her hand and she went rigid at the sight of her mother's cold face.
"You will not speak a word of this to your father or your brother, understand? And, while we're out there, make sure you control... whatever it is!" she snapped. Jemma, startled and confused, merely nodded. "Good," With a huff, Petunia left the room to primp herself up.
Jemma looked at her reflection in the mirror and, slowly, realization dawned on her. She had heard from Harry about how wizards and witches can perform magic even at a young age, even before getting their first wands, and she realized what got her mother into such a frenzy.
Jemma had just performed her first bout of accidental magic.
'Great. So much for a normal day...' Jemma thought, sighing, as she wondered what unusual feat would she accidentally perform next.
Well, that's my first REWRITTEN chapter. How was it? Leave your reviews (I accept constructive criticism and even wild raves) whenever you want.
If you guys were a bit surprised at how I added Draco so early into the story, I honestly just thought of putting him there to add some intrigue to Jemma's ordinary day and, if you guys have any suggestions for the next or future chapters of this story, I'd love to hear them.
-GuardianDragon98
