Jude Porter and the Last Phoenix
True to his word, Jude worked on his father's home in Godric's Hollow all summer. He used the muggle way, saying that he wanted to spend as much time there as possible, building back what Lazarus destroyed. He used the money he had in his vault to get as much advice he could from muggles and wizards who build houses. Luckily, he didn't even make a dent in the insane amount of money his vault had.
He spent his days building the house and his nights in the Leaky Cauldron with his parents, telling them about how progress was going. His parents were happy for him, if a bit skeptic. The only thing they ever wondered was why Jude never said anything about the house to James and Emma.
Jude was very tightlipped on why he hadn't revealed anything to his best friends. After the fight with Lazarus, he became a bit distant. Even so, he still tried hard to get back to how he used to feel; happy and cared for.
Ever since finding out about his mother, that had been the only thing on his mind. While he did spend his days working on the house, he also spent some time with a few wizard investigators. He wanted to find his mother and he knew this was the only way to do it. She was hiding and he needed to know what it was.
It was pouring rain. Jude couldn't feel the freezing temperature but that didn't take away the fact that he was completely soaked, his clothes stuck to him as he dripped water on Bonnie Wesley's doorstep. The journey to the house was a long one and it had been a while since he had been this deep into the muggle world by himself. He wondered why she chose to leave the wizarding world. Was it because of him?
He peered through his rain drop coated glasses and gazed at the front door of the house, the last thing separating him from the woman who left him after he was born. He lifted a hand and knocked as well as he could with a shaky hand. His heart pounded in his chest, so much so that he felt his body sway with each beat. He inhaled deeply, trying to calm his wild heart, and waited.
The next 30 seconds were the longest he ever felt in his life.
A creak indicating the door opening had him standing up straight, trying to look presentable despite his soaked clothes and hair.
They had told him that Bonnie had blue eyes, lighter than his own, red hair, and an attitude to match it. The only thing he inherited from her was the shape of his eyes. And now, as he gazed at her, he realized how much of a difference that could make.
Bonnie regarded him cautiously, narrowing her eyes, "Can I help you?"
"Ah…" His throat seized, cutting off his greeting. He swallowed dryly, ignoring the sting of pain that accompanied it, "A-are you Bonnie Wesley?"
"Who's asking?" Bonnie questioned suspiciously, leaning on the door jamb. "You look a little too young to be a cop."
"Too young to be an auror too," Jude quipped, watching as the woman's eyes widened in shock at the reveal.
Bonnie grabbed his arm, tugging him inside. "Get in here. I don't want my neighbors staring at us." She gestured for him to follow her through her small house. She had him wait in the living room while she got something to help dry the water on him.
She glared as she handed him the towels, "Any reason a young wizard is soaked on my doorstep? Did McGonagall send you?"
Jude shook his head as he rubbed his hair dry, "No. She doesn't even know I'm here. She didn't give me your address either."
"Well then what is it?" She demanded. "I haven't even been near a wizard or a witch in years. I haven't been doing magic either so I don't need someone seeing if I somehow ratted out the wizarding world."
The young male opened his mouth, stopping when his breath halted in his chest. He closed it, rethinking his words. He gazed at her, his pained eyes hidden behind the many droplets on his glasses. "I just wanted to see you."
Bonnie stared incredulously, "Why?"
"I thought you died," He continued, voice wavering. "All my life I thought you and my dad were dead. I had to find out from a man trying to kill me that you've been alive the entire time. I had to find you. I had to see if you were real."
A spark of realization finally hit the woman. Her face contorted in horror. "No, you're…"
"Yeah," Jude nodded weakly. Tears stung his eyes but he made a great effort to keep them at bay. "My name is Jude Porter. I…I'm your son."
Bonnie let out a breathless chuckle as she stumbled onto her couch, "Yeah, I can see that." She put her head in her hands and breathed deeply.
Jude watched her take in the information and felt his own anxiety telling him to leave and never come back to face this, to never find out what she would say to him.
A moment later, Bonnie stood with a heavy sigh. She addressed him as if she was speaking to a dog, "I'm going to put some tea on. Would you like any?"
"Please," Jude nodded. He then gestured to himself. "I'll use a spell to dry myself off so I won't wet your seat."
Bonnie simply stared for a brief moment before making her way to the kitchen. Jude took the time to quickly bring out the fire in him to dry his clothes. He was glad the tea was taking a while because he still wasn't good at producing the fire if he wasn't angry.
The two were seated minutes later, silently sipping their tea. Bonnie finished hers off and set it down on the coffee table between them before speaking, "So, Jude, what do you want to know?"
Jude stared down at his tea, mulling over questions in his head. He simply shrugged, "I guess my first question would be, why did you never look for me?"
"Okay," Bonnie exhaled, rubbing her jean clad legs. She clasped her shaking hands together tightly. "I don't know what McGonagall told you, but I wasn't ready to be a mother. I wasn't even ready to be anyone's anything. I just wanted to be independent.
"Your father, he meant well and he was such a nice man, but I didn't want to be with him. When I found out I was pregnant with you, I had options but Daniel already loved the idea of you. Before I could protest since it was my body, he spent his days creating spells to transfer any pain I had to himself. Never have I ever seen a man ready to take on pregnancy like that."
A ghost of a smile played on her lips. "Once I gave birth to you, he gave me the option of staying and helping to raise you. He even said I didn't have to be seen as your mother; I could just be Aunt Bonnie." She shook her head slowly, "I didn't want that. I didn't want to be a mother or an aunt. I just wanted to leave."
Her eyes fell to her clasped hands. "I know it sounds harsh for a mother to not love her child even a little but it's what I felt and I'm not ashamed of it."
"I'm not asking you to be ashamed of it," Jude stated.
"Good," Bonnie sniffled and continued. "I found out 2 years later that Daniel was killed in a fire and I couldn't believe." A chuckle of disbelief left her, "Daniel 'Fire is my best friend' Porter had been done in by a mere house fire. I knew it wasn't true, but I thought that if you had died in the fire, Daniel surely wouldn't have lived long enough after. That's how much he loved you."
A familiar warmth purring in his chest had Jude's lips tugging into a small smile. "I'm glad someone did." The smile died as he spoke up once more, "One last question. If you had known I was alive before I went to Hogwarts, would you have taken me in?"
Bonnie contemplated her answer before replying soundly, "No."
"That's all I wanted to know," Jude said quietly, ignoring the pain in his heart. He stood up from the couch.
"Jude," Bonnie began, pleading. "I have a life-"
Jude shook his head, frowning lightly, "I didn't come here to derail your life. I didn't come for your love or approval. I'm just here so the both of us know that the other exists."