Work in progress. Will eventually develop further.

Prologue - Before the Storm

"Jamie, it's bedtime!"

"Mom, I'm not tired yet!"

"You will be, son!" And then she laughed. Petulantly, Jamie turned off his N64 and then stood up to turn off the t.v. Pouring himself a cup of milk, he clambered up the stairs into their shared, low-lit bedroom. Glow-in-the-dark stars dotted the ceiling. An orange night light of Tigger glowed against the wall. Jamie's mother was already in bed, the Star Wars blanket up to her knees. In her lap was a hard-copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which Jamie both loved and dreaded.

Because, while he loved the story, he still didn't know how to read.

His mother smiled reassuringly as Jamie hopped into bed besides her. "Like my mustache?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. She snorted and then made to wipe the milk off his upper lip with her sleeve. She then patted his face, softly.

"Silly boy." She smiled. "Do you want to help me with reading tonight, Jamie?"

No, he thought. Instead, he said, "Yeah, Mom, sure," and then watched his mother open her book to where they last stopped. Chapter 5, Diagon Alley. As always, his mother started reading first, and Jamie listened. Which wasn't hard to do. He could close his eyes and very easily imagine himself in Harry's place, standing in Diagon Alley with the big, bearded Hagrid, being overwhelmed and immersed and in love with the world of magic. Even video games didn't seem to have a spark that Harry's world seemed to provide. He listened to them tap their way through the bricks to get to the magical market, to the Leaky Cauldron, and then onwards to Gringotts! Jamie smiled as he imagined himself walking through it, following Harry.

And then the world misted away when his mother stopped reading. "Jamie," she said. Jamie slowly opened his eyes. "Were you falling asleep?"

He shook his head. "I was listening," he said honestly.

"Do you want to try reading instead of me?" she asked.

"I don't know if I can," he said, dreadfully.

"Give it a try, at least." She leaned the book towards him, pointing to a word with her finger.

"'Harry,'" he said, surprised. Because he knew that was what's Harry's name looked like. He looked up and saw that his mother was happy. She was glowing with a rich smile. He looked down, sheepish, back to the book. She had pointed to the next word.

"Un-," he started. "-fohhhlded?" His cheeks blushed with embarrassment.

"Unfolded," she said. "Think of the word 'old.' Just imagine that in the word, unfolded."

"Unfolded," he repeated, and then once more. He hoped he could remember that.

"Good."

"'a,'" he said. That was easy. "'seh-cooond.' Second. Second?"

"Right, Jamie."

Another handful of words and Jamie's head ached. He was frustrated by his slow reading. The magic was gone. The story was gone. Harry Potter was longer there. All that stood before him was just a string of words to decipher. He sunk his head in the pillows and sighed. "I don't want to read anymore," he pleaded. "Can't you read the rest, Mom?"

His mother paused and pondered his words visibly. She kept her finger on the word he was supposed to read next. Night.

She said, finally, in a compromising tone, "Well, why don't you take a look at the words while I read, so that you can get a feel for what the letters sound like?"

"I just don't like reading, Mom," Jamie finally admitted. She laughed.

"I'm not surprised, most kids don't. I didn't like books when I was your age."

Jamie sat up, eyes wide. "You were like me?"

"Yes, can you believe it?" She whispered. She placed the book down and wrapped her arms around Jamie, making him feel warm, and small. "It was a long time ago, but I was just like you. Small and cute." And then she tapped Jamie's nose, making him smile. "And then I grew up, somehow. And while I growing up, I ended up liking books. I hope one day you feel the same way I do."

Jamie couldn't really imagine that. Because reading was so hard, and it didn't make sense. Sometimes, the letter 'a' sounds like a "ae" sound by itself, but when it was other letters, it sounded like a "ah" sound. Except for when there was an 'e' at the end, then it was supposed to sound like, "ae" again. There was so much complexity in pronouncing the one letter, and it was the first of twenty-six! How was Jamie supposed to learn all the rules?

Hopefully, though, as he looked his mother in the eyes, Jamie asked, "Does it really get better?"

"It always get better, with every book you pick up. One day, you'll even be an expert, and you'll know all the words to a book," she whispered, like it was a secret. "You know, there are so many other books besides Harry Potter in my library. I can promise to share them with you when you're ready." She was referring to her library, tucked away in her office, and she had spoken of it like it was a treasure trove. Which, to her, it really was. Jamie rarely had an opportunity to stand in her office, but when he did, she would be there besides him, touching the spines of the books reverently, like they were precious jewels.

Interested, Jamie asked, "You promise?"

"Absolutely," she said. "Now that you seem motivated, do you want to try again?"

"Maybe."

She laughed once more. "Oh, Jamie."

The wind whipped wildly his face, and Jamie laughed as it tore off his cap and messed with his hair. He was delighted, as he sat on the railings of a ship sailing through the Arctic. It was, putting it mildly, his greatest adventure, sitting right over his expedition within the Bermuda Triangle.

"Dan!" He called out. And his friend had set down his book to stand besides him, smiling jut as wildly. "Can you believe it!? Here we are!"

"We've been on this ship for a week now!" Dan yelled over the wind. His hands clenched the railings.

"Oh, but you have to admit that the excitement is neverending!"

Dan conceded. "I agree! But we should head below deck. It's cold up here! And Carter said a storm appears to be on the cusp."

Jamie, reminded of the cold, shivered in response. He looked at the sky and saw dark clouds rolling from a distance. "Alright," he said, and clambered back onto the deck. As they descended to their quarters, Jamie looked back onto his life.

Jamie was twenty-three when he decided to be a marine biologist. It was, frankly, a decision he had prevented himself from making for a long time. He often hated thinking about his future, because he would often end up also reflecting on the past, thinking about the opportunities he missed and time he had wasted so far. But, it was time to move on from working on fishing boats and retail jobs to make ends meet. He had saved money and potential financial aid.

He ultimately had no excuses.

And just like that, it took him four years but he managed to move on from his associate's degree in arts to a master's degree in oceanography. He was twenty-eight when he was invited to an arctic expedition for research purposes. And Jamie was lucky to be invited along with his fellow graduate student and friend, Daniel "Dan" Lyons.

Dan was the lovable sort. Bright and witty, but soft-spoken, he had a personality to connected well to many other's. He attached himself very quickly to Jamie when they first met in graduate school, citing a shared love of books. Jamie and Dan ended up somehow forming their own personal book club, swapping books they had found in used book stores and then raving about it over beer.

For this expedition, besides all the books stored on his Kindle Paperwhite, Dan had brought hardcover copies of some of his favorite childhood books. As they chatted and entered their living quarters to sit on their beds, Dan decided to reveal his stash. He pulled the box from underneath his bed and took the top off. "You better thank me," he said, smiling.

"You didn't," Jamie cried happily. He took the copy of Philosopher's Stone into his hands and slowly thumbed through the pages, feeling nostalgia between the lines. It took him about a month to finish the book with his mother, much less with the rest of the series. It was some of the happiest moments he shared with her.

Dan winked. "Don't tell anyone else," he whispered. "You know Melinda, she'd steal them in a heartbeat."

Jamie rolled his eyes. "We're all children on this vessel."

"You said it," he said, looking pointedly at Jamie. The man stuck out his tongue, petulantly. "But that's a good thing. There's no better crew."

"I agree," said Jamie, as he leaned back onto his bed, placing the book on his chest. Finally, he said as he turned his head, "Dan, did you ever wonder what it would be like to be a wizard?"

"Didn't we all?" Dan laughed. "I think I even started making my own acceptance letter from Hogwarts. I even stole a candle from my mother's prayer room so I could melt wax to seal the envelope."

"You're kidding. Did she find out?"

"Of course she did. I accidentally lit the letter on fire and she had to run to my room with a glass of water as I was screaming. She was incredibly angry."

Jamie laughed. "That's precious," he said, grinning. He sat up, placing the book in his lap. "Well, I also had an interesting experience with my mom." Dan cocked an eyebrow. "My mom had an old broom she kept in her closet, and I thought it looked just like a Nimbus 2000. My first thought was to try to ride the thing – mind you, I was ten – stop laughing!"

Dan stopped snickering, but was smiling. "Oh Jamie, keep going," he whispered.

Jamie gave him a stink-eye. "Fine. Well, I took the broom while my mom was at work, wrote Nimbus 2000 on the handle with a marker, and then I took the hatch from the attic up to the roof. I said to myself that I was only ten, I didn't have my Hogwarts letter yet, and that this could be a way to help wake my magic up. Like it did for Harry when he was running from his bullies."

"You didn't!"

"Oh, you know me! I took the broom to the rooftop and I jumped off. Broke my arm in nearly three places, and I tried to hide the fact that I did break my arm because I knew my mother would be angry. The moment she came home, she noticed, because I was white as a sheet."

Dan exploded into laughter.

"She asked me what was going on, and I tried to deny it. 'Nothing, Mom,' I said! And I was hiding my right arm behind my back – like this. I think my mom was caught between amused and disturbed, and was debating on what she should act as. Finally, she took a look around the house and asked me why the closet was open."

"Idiot." Jamie threw a pillow at him, which he caught.

"But, yeah, finally, my mom decided to finally test me and touched my left arm. I screamed, and she was laughing as she took me to the hospital and grilled me for details. And that was how I broke my arm for the first time."

Dan grinned. "She must have had a grand time being your mother."

"Yeah," Jamie said softly, smiling. "She was a great mom."

The two of them looked at each other, happy to be in each other's company. "I'm glad to be on this trip with you, especially you," Jamie said honestly. "You're a good man, Dan, and a great friend."

Dan sighed. "Honestly, I feel the same, Jamie. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have even had the chance! If you hadn't took the chance to take me into Professor Johnson's line of sight, I don't think I would have been able to approach him by himself and impress him."

"I don't regret it. You're an amazing oceanographer, and Johnson loves your work. He just needed to get to know you," the man insisted.

Sheepish, Dan replied, "You have a lot of faith in me, Jamie. I'm not the best oceanographer in the group."

"But you're the most passionate. Your drive to succeed in this field is what allowed me to finish my master's without quitting! You built me up with your tenacity." He leaned closer to Dan, whispering furiously, "You're an asset to this team, Dan, and don't you forget it!"

Dan smiled, bright eyes glowing.

Suddenly, the intercom buzzed on. "All crew members, do not approach the deck. We are sliding into a level 2 storm. Winds are supposed to approach 90 kilometers per hour. Be prepared for further safety instructions."

"Another one?" Jamie said, scrunching his eyebrows.

"C'mon," Dan said, standing up and stretching. "I'd say we should meet up with the rest of group. Discuss the plan for inclement weather."

"Agreed," Jamie said. They left their shared room, without thinking of the possibility that it would be the last time they would see it.

Preview

"Harry and Hagrid," Jamie said breathlessly. He watched the two of them approach the Owl Emporium and smiled widely. "Today's the day! I'm right at the beginning of the first book!"

"What first book?" Jamie froze.