Jinx Proof Cursive

Chapter One

By: Jondy Macmillan

Shailly McCallister wasn't born a witch. Or perhaps the truth was that she was born a witch, and just never knew it. Either way, when she was nine years old, Shailly didn't know anything about the secret world that existed right upon side her own. What she did know was that if she came home after five without eating, the fumes from her dad's bathtub distillery would make her dizzy and vomit. What she did know was that her mummy wasn't really spending the night out with the girls every Tuesday night. And what she did know was that the time all the flowers in the back garden had died and then come back to life had been her fault. Yes, Shailly McCallister knew a lot of things by the time she had turned nine. But she still had a lot to learn.

She'd been running down an alley right off Leceister Square when she bumped into the pretty lady with the red hat. It was a broad hat, the kind she saw in her mummy's favorite old movies. The lady wore a proper red suit with it, and high heels that seemed a little too clean to be tramping around this particular alley. By contrast, Shailly was in her dirty old trainers and a torn jumper, with dirt on her cheeks because she'd already fallen once and tomato sauce smudged across her mouth.

The pretty lady looked at Shailly with a kind expression, "Where are you running to so quickly, little girl?"

"I have to go home, or my daddy will get mad," Shailly admitted, "I was just at the library."

"You have something, right there," the lady pointed to her lips, "Let me get a handkerchief."

As the lady was digging around in her purse, Shailly held a hand in front of her face and concentrated hard. Seconds later, the tomato sauce was gone and her cheeks were clean. After that time she'd redone the entire flower garden, this was easy. She thought the pretty lady hadn't seen, but when she looked up, the woman was staring at her with a keen interest in her eye.

"Interesting skills you have," the woman knelt down beside her, "Do your mummy and daddy know?"

Guiltily, Shailly shook her head, "Please don't tell them, ma'am."

The woman only smiled in reply, "My name's Quinn Hargrove. What's yours?"

"Shailly McCallister," Shailly replied shyly.

"Well Shailly, you better get on home before your daddy gets worried," the woman smiled kindly.

"My daddy never worries," Shailly answered with a grin, "He only gets mad."

Before the woman could say anything, Shailly was off and running. Even though Quinn Hargrove had been a lovely woman, she'd made Shailly feel weird. When her mummy asked her what she'd done all day, Shailly didn't mention the strange woman.

A week later, Shailly had all but forgotten about Quinn Hargrove. So she was quite surprised when she came home from school to find the woman sitting on her old, beaten up plaid patterned couch. Her dad was listening to the woman with a very interested expression in his eyes, while her mum was gazing absently out the window. Shailly, standing in the doorway with her muddy overalls and skewed pigtails automatically knew something was wrong. Her mummy was never home on weekdays until eight, and her daddy hardly ever got out of bed except to make a new bottle for himself or one of his customers.

"So what I'm saying is, I could give you twenty five thousand pounds up front, and then another twenty five thousand once she graduates," the woman was telling her father earnestly.

"Fifty thousand pounds," her daddy whistled, "That's a pretty penny."

"It's not much at all," Shailly's mum snapped.

"Verena, we need the money," her father retorted, "Don't deny it."

Shailly's mother turned to inspect her daughter with a sorrowful look, "But…my baby."

Quinn piped in, "I could add an additional twenty five thousand when she reaches the age of twenty."

"Seventy five thousand," Verena McCallister breathed.

"We could buy that place your cousin's been pushing for only a quarter of that," her husband pushed.

With one final glance at Shailly, Verena said, "Alright then. We'll have a legally binding agreement, of course."

"Of course," Quinn smiled, and Shailly felt her gut clench.

Two days later, Shailly McCallister became Shailly Hargrove.

In retrospect, Shailly didn't regret the way her parents had sold her away like an animal. They hadn't taken very good care of her in the first place. But at the time, Shailly had kicked and screamed and cried her little heart out. Right up until she had seen the great sprawling mansion the Hargrove family lived in, Shailly had put up a fantastic tantrum. She mellowed out a little after that.

Shailly didn't meet the rest of the Hargrove family until she'd already lived in their house for two whole days. A tiny maid scurried up to her near dinner time and handed her an adorably uncomfortable looking red dress. The Hargrove's really liked red.

The maid stuffed her into the dress and dragged her down to the dining room; a place she'd wandered through once or twice but looked as though it had never been used. To her surprise, Quinn was seated at one end of the table in a gorgeous evening gown, and sitting directly across at the head of the table was the most handsome man Shailly had ever seen. He had a strong face with an aquiline nose and piercing gray eyes. His hair was the color of fire, but his skin was a dark olive color. Shailly imagined he looked good standing next to Quinn, who had dark hair and lovely features.

A boy around Shailly's age was sitting at one side of the long rectangular table. Like the man, he wore an impeccable looking suit, although the boy looked very uncomfortable. The chair the maid led Shailly to was right across from the boy.

Once Shailly was seated, Quinn rose and announced, "I'd like to introduce you both to Shailly. Saxon, from today on this little girl is our daughter. Karsh, say hello to your new sister."

"Hi," the boy waved half heartedly at her, "I don't want a sister."

"Hi," Shailly acknowledge, "Karsh is a funny name."

The two children made faces at each other from across the table. Saxon Hargrove, the man, smirked and said to his wife, "I can see they'll be the most loving of siblings."

Quinn gritted her teeth and smiled right back at her husband.

Karsh was…like a fire. He burned brightest when people were around. Like adding logs to a fire, each new person that entered a room would make Karsh seem more and more spectacular. He would laugh more, he would smile more, and he because of that even more people would want to get to know him.

Shailly didn't know this at first, of course. What she knew was that her new brother spent most of his time getting into trouble. There wasn't a single day he wasn't scolded by one of the maids, or worse, his parents. He liked to sneak out to the village, and he was bloody persuasive in getting Shailly to come with him. By the time they were ten, there wasn't a single thing Karsh couldn't make Shailly do, just by asking.

The first time they talked was after dinner that night. Shailly had already been tucked into her nice, warm, huge bed. She started when she heard one of the doors open, and bravely peeked out over her covers to see who it was. Ever since the first day, Shailly had been convinced that such a big house had to be haunted. Scared that it was a ghost, Shailly was relieved to see Karsh's small body illuminated by the hall lights.

"What are you doing here?" Shailly demanded.

Karsh shrugged and walked over to her bed. Without warning, he pulled back the covers and clambered into the bed with her.

"You can't do that," Shailly protested, "You're a boy."

"So?" he asked.

"Boys aren't supposed to sleep in the same bed as girls," Shailly informed him.

"Are you a girl?" he asked.

Startled, Shailly retorted, "Of course I am."

Karsh just shrugged, "I've never met anyone my own age before. You could have been a boy."

"Well I'm not," she replied loudly.

"Shhhh, they'll hear! They always come and yell at me when I'm not in my room," Karsh said sadly.

"Well why aren't you in your room?"

"I get scared. I think it's haunted, you know," Karsh confided in her. For the first time, Shailly examined Karsh. From the moonlight she could make out his round face, his long eyelashes, and his tiny mouth. His skin was dark, even darker than his father's, but his eyes were just as gray and stormy. And he had dark red hair, like the wine Quinn had drank with dinner. He had long, gangly limbs, and even as he put his arms around Shailly for warmth, she could tell that he was uncomfortable in his own body.

Shailly wondered what she looked like to him. Chubby cheeked, with wild strawberry blonde hair and big blue eyes, she probably didn't appear to be big sister material. And actually, wasn't Karsh supposed to be the big brother? Giving in with a sigh, Shailly placed her arms around Karsh, "It's okay. I'll protect you from the ghosts."

Fearfully, Karsh whispered, "This doesn't mean you get to be my sister, you know."

"That's fine. Who would want a spoiled brother like you?"

From that day on, Shailly and Karsh had been fast friends. No matter what mischief Karsh got up to during the day, Shailly was with him. And every day, Karsh snuck out of his bed and into Shailly's, alarmed that the ghosts might catch him. Shailly wasn't sure how Karsh could be so fearless during the day, but so scared at night.

Karsh showed her how to do things she never thought she could, like make blades of grass into butterflies and fly on fake brooms. Every once in a while out of the corner of her eye, Shailly would see a maid lighting a candle without a match or stirring the stew without touching the spoon. She ignored it. A year and a half passed, and although Shailly had noticed that the Hargrove family was odd, it never quite sunk in. It was only when the letters came that Shailly realized.

"I'm a witch."

"Yes," Quinn replied cheerfully, "And a smart one as well. Hogwarts only takes the best."

"Is Karsh going to go there?" Shailly inquired, "I want to go where Karsh goes."

Standing against one wall with his arms crossed, Karsh echoed, "I want to go where Shailly goes too."

"Ah," Quinn glanced at her husband uncertainly, "Well Karsh is going to a place like Hogwarts, but not to Hogwarts."

"I want to go where Karsh goes," Shailly announced stubbornly.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, love," Shailly was surprised as Saxon swept her up onto his knee. He rarely showed signs of affection, which is probably why Shailly's next question was only a meek, "Why not?"

"Karsh is going to take over my business when he grows up. He needs to go overseas and learn how to communicate internationally," Saxon explained.

Shailly didn't understand the entire thing, but she did hear, "Overseas? Karsh is going to go over the entire sea?"

"I don't want to," Karsh growled fiercely.

"Well you're going to," his father commanded, not even looking at his son. Instead he cradled Shailly gently, "Don't worry. You'll see your brother over breaks."

"He's not my brother," Shailly said happily, "He's Karsh."

"And she's not my sister. She's Shailly, and I'm gonna go to the same school as her!"

Quinn and Saxon exchanged looks. Karsh beamed at Shailly, and she beamed right back.

They didn't go to the same school. But Quinn hadn't lied. Every summer and every winter, Karsh and Shailly reunited. They had their own lives at school. They never owled each other except as a formality, and never visited, but the second they were home for hols, Shailly and Karsh picked up right back where they'd left off.

It was the second day of her seventh and final year at Hogwarts that Shailly heard the news. She received the owl at breakfast. Her two best friends, Arcadia Webster and Maeve Bixby were sitting on either side of her at the Ravenclaw table.

When Shailly had been a first year at Hogwarts, she'd been made fun of for her shoulder length, strawberry blonde hair. In a sea of students who were blonde, brunette, and dark haired, Shailly had stuck out. It didn't help that she was skinny, freckled, and much too tall for her age. Then she'd met Arcadia. Arcadia had a deep, fiery red coloration to her long mane, and even in their first year had quickly become one of the most popular girls in school. Arcadia was fair and willow slim, with a kind smile and an aristocratic face. Maeve had been the last addition to their group; she had deep auburn colored hair that was cut short to her ears. Maeve was wild, and often looked like an untamed animal when you glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. She never held back her laughs, and liked to burp and swear like a boy. They had all become friends because of their hair and its coloring. It was a stupid reason, but it was a reason none of them ever regretted.

"What's it say?" Maeve demanded, popping her Drooble's gum loudly. Maeve never ate breakfast because she said it made her feel gross. At first, Shailly had thought this meant Maeve was on a diet, up until she saw the feasts Maeve called dinner. The auburn haired girl could probably devour an entire third world country's food in one sitting.

Shailly smiled, jumping out of her chair and racing out of the Great hall. Confused, Maeve turned to Arcadia, "What the bloody hell was that all about?"

"I don't know," Arcadia worried in her sweet voice, "Perhaps there was an emergency?"

"Lets follow her," Maeve jumped to her feet. Arcadia shrugged and did the same.

Unaware of her friend's confusion, Shailly sprinted to the headmistress's office, taking the steps up two at a time. When she burst in, Professor McGonagall glanced up, surprised.

"That was quite quick, Miss Hargrove," the old woman lifted an eyebrow.

"Is Karsh here yet?" Shailly gasped for breath.

With a kind smile, Professor McGonagall replied, "Any second now, I expect."

As if he'd been waiting for the perfect moment to make a dramatic entrance, the fireplace suddenly flared to life. Seconds later, he emerged. As though he'd expected her, his arms were already spread wide to welcome her in.

"Karsh," Shailly cried, flying into his embrace. Her almost-brother hugged her tightly.

"Hey there," he whispered, and Shailly felt her insides melt. Even though she'd just left home two days ago, Shailly hated being away from Karsh. Every single time, she missed him like crazy.

The sound of loud panting broke the two's joyful reunion apart.

"Miss Webster, Miss Bixby? Can I help you?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly, "You both look as though you've run a marathon."

"That's because Shailly's so damn fast," Arcadia cursed, "Er- sorry Professor."

Eyeing her two friends, Shailly said, "Uh, hey guys. Are you okay?"

"Are we okay?" Maeve demanded, "You took off like a bat out of hell, and you ask if we're okay?"

"Er, sorry. It's just…well, this is my brother. Karsh," Shailly grinned. The most innocuous looking boy either girl had ever seen stepped out from behind Shailly. At least that's what they thought, right up until he smiled and waved. His smile was slow and crooked, and transformed his entire face into this sort of 'I'm up for anything if you are' kind of look. He had dark ruby colored hair, and rather large ears, but his stark gray eyes stood bright against his facial structure.

"Hi," Maeve gasped, staring openly.

"Hi," Arcadia greeted him politely, not nearly as impressed, "Nice to make your acquaintance."

"You as well," Karsh replied, and Shailly reflected that she'd even missed the sound of his voice.

"I hate to break all this up," Professor McGonagall interrupted, not sounding sorry in the least, "But I have to get Mister Hargrove sorted and set up, so if you girls would like to start heading to class?"

"Oh my gosh!" Arcadia exclaimed, "We're late!"

Grabbing Shailly and Maeve's hands, Arcadia started to pull them out of the office.

"Bye Karsh!" Shailly exclaimed happily. Maeve and Arcadia echoed her with less enthusiasm.

It was after class, during the girls' free period that they finally got a chance to discuss Shailly's brother's arrival. They'd snuck over behind one of the huge willows on the lake. Maeve had a pack of wizard-lite cigars that she'd stolen from her dad, and she'd quickly become addicted to them. This was the only place that she could get away with smoking, however.

Maeve took a long drag on her cigar, staring moodily at the water, "I hate to tell you this, but your brother is hot."

"Hot," Shailly repeated, with an arched brow, "You wouldn't think so if you saw him chug a gallon of orange juice every morning."

"He is very attractive," Arcadia put in, almost timidly.

"Karsh is…Karsh," Shailly shrugged, surprised at Arcadia's uncharacteristic reaction. Hadn't she been all not-interested back in McGonagall's office? Anyway, Arcadia didn't normally go for boys like Karsh, "I don't know. He's my… brother."

Shailly frowned after she said this. She hardly ever referred to Karsh as her brother. It just felt weird. Oh well, it wasn't like he had heard. He hated it when anyone called them siblings, including his own parents.

"Is he dating anyone?" Maeve demanded.

Shailly groaned, "Yeah. Noxious Flicka Reiker."

"Flicka, Flicka…any relation to Farica Reiker?" Maeve joked. Farica Reiker was the lead singer in an American witch band all three girls absolutely adored.

"Actually, her cousin," Shailly frowned, "Karsh is in a band that's opened for Farica's once or twice. He just transferred in from the US. Anyway, I don't know how that piece of fluff and Farica can possibly share the same DNA."

"Well then, here's to fluffy bunnies of girls stealing all the decent guys," Arcadia held out the cup of pumpkin juice she'd been nursing, "Cheers."

"You shouldn't talk," Maeve grumbled, "You're a real bit of cumulus yourself."

"Well, I bet now that they're so far away, Flicka and Karsh will break up," Shailly crossed her fingers behind her back. Although Karsh's parents wholly approved of him dating Flicka, the few times that Shailly had met her the girl had quickly grated on her nerves. She didn't understand how Karsh could tolerate her. Pondering this, Shailly leaned her head back against the willow tree. She couldn't wait to sit down and talk to Karsh. Why was he here? What had made Quinn and Saxon decide to finally let him transfer?

The sun felt nice on her face. So much so that Shailly didn't notice when she eventually drifted off to sleep. Maeve and Arcadia must have decided she looked tired, because when Shailly finally woke up, it was late noon and she'd missed all of her classes. Her best friends were nowhere in sight.

"Great," Shailly muttered, picking herself up off the grass, "Professors are going to murder me in my sleep."

As she straightened, familiar arms encircled her waist. Familiar heat pressed up against her back. Familiar yet unfamiliar lips touched the area where her neck and her shoulder intersected. Shailly stiffened for a moment, and then relaxed into the embrace. Unlike his parents, Karsh was always affectionate.

"Hey you," Shailly turned, hugging her almost-brother once more for good measure, "Spill. Why did they let you come to Hogwarts?"

Karsh laughed, a good clear sound, "To tell the truth, I have no idea. They told me right after you left that I wasn't going back to Shimmercobble. They wouldn't tell me why."

"Leave it to Quinn and Saxon," Shailly shook her head, "Oh! Hey, what house did you get sorted into."

"Er," Karsh made a show of nervously running his hand through his thick hair.

"Not Slytherin," Shailly gasped, "They're all complete toads!"

"No," Karsh replied thoughtfully, "I think it's called…Ravenclaw?"

Shailly smacked him, "You git! You're in my house. Don't mess with me like that!"

"Aw, but if I can't mess with my best friend, who can I mess with?" Karsh wondered aloud, "Hey Shai, you look cold."

He was dressed only in a sweater, jeans, and a scarf, but upon noticing her shivering, Karsh automatically unwound the scarf and wrapped it around her neck.

"I don't need this," she objected, athough she was feeling the damp from sitting on the ground all that time seeping into her bones.

"Do you want my sweater, too?" Karsh asked, making to take it off.

"No!" Shailly exclaimed, eyeing the bit of his stomach that had just been exposed. She had to admit, Maeve was right. Karsh was some kind of gorgeous. Shailly blinked, trying to chase that thought away. Now where had that come from?

She eyed Karsh fiddling with the pendant around his neck. It was a silver double necked guitar charm on a black leather cord. Shailly had bought it for Karsh two years ago, back when he'd first started playing guitar. His mother had wanted to know why he was so interested in some weird muggle thing, and he had done his best to shield Shailly from blame. To tell the truth, even though Shailly pretended to be a pureblood now, she still remembered what it was like back with her real parents. She remembered TV and movies and pictures that stayed still all the time, not just when they felt like it. She still had a special fondness for muggle things, and because of that, Karsh had also grown interested.

She was glad though. Karsh was an amazing guitarist.

Deciding she was daydreaming too much, Shailly demanded, "Did you break it off with Flicka yet?"

"For you, anything," Karsh replied smoothly, "No. Actually I was planning on writing her tonight."

"Breaking up in a letter? How anti-debonair of you. You're scared of her, aren't you? Admit it!"

"Terrified," Karsh relented, "She's a scary girl."

"Hmm, well, if you like, Maeve and Arcadia both seem kind of interested in you. Not that I sanction you dating my friends," Shailly said sharply.

"You actually want me to look into them?" Karsh asked, surprised.

"Didn't you hear the last part?"

"Oh. Well, I was thinking of not dating for a little while," Karsh lowered his eyes, "There's a girl I'm sort of interested in."

"Who?" Shailly asked, her interest piqued, "I hope it's not some girl at Shimmercobble. You'll never get to see her."

"Distance isn't an issue. Never has been," Karsh answered shortly.

Shailly thought hard, "A girl from the village?"

"Like mother and father wouldn't flip over that," Karsh mused, "A muggle girl. How novel."

"Hey! I'm muggle born you know," Shailly informed him as though it were news.

"I know, I was kidding."

"So who could it be?" Shailly watched Karsh sit cross legged in the very same spot in front of the willow she'd slept against. After a second's hesitation, she sat next to him.

"Guess," Karsh suggested, a wicked smile crossing his face. He put an arm around Shailly and pulled her in close so that they could both keep warm. As the sun descended, a cool autumn breeze was picking up.

Shailly stared into the surface of the lake as though it might tell her Karsh's secret. Gasping suddenly, she asked, "Is it a boy? Because I'd be completely okay with that."

Karsh blinked, "Uh. No."

"Blast. Who could it be then?" she turned to meet his eyes, blue against gray. Sometimes she wondered whether they really did look the part of siblings. They both had the red hair, albeit different variations, and they both had eyes that were at different spectrums of the color blue. Their skin was vastly different, and their faces looked nothing alike, but still…Shailly wondered sometimes if the strangers who passed them thought they looked like siblings. Perhaps they thought the two were a couple. For some reason, the thought made Shailly warm.

Grinning, Karsh leaned in, his warm breath brushing her ear, "It's a secret."

"No fair," Shailly complained.

"Heh. I'll never tell," he taunted her.

Wrestling him to the ground, Shailly straddled him and demanded, "What about now?"

"Nope," Karsh shook his head, dirt getting in his hair.

She started to tickle him, knowing his every weak point, "Now?"

Laughing hard, Karsh replied, "Nope."

She continued to tickle him until his breath was coming out in gasps, but even then, he wouldn't surrender the name.

Later that night, Shailly lay in bed wondering who exactly the girl Karsh liked could be. It wasn't that the subject was bothering her so much as that she was curious. Absently, Shailly wondered if the girl Karsh liked couldn't be her. She'd played with the thought time and time again over the years. It wasn't that they were supposed to be siblings that bothered her; after all, they weren't blood related and Shailly had seen so little of Karsh over the past eight years she'd been part of his family that she basically saw him as a childhood friend. A childhood friend who lived in the same house as her, but a childhood friend all the same.

It was just that normally, a guy like Karsh would be way out of her league. There were guys who reminded her of him at Hogwarts; sexy Shale Oakley, sweet Rusty Emerson, fun loving twins Wyatt and Shiloh Kingsbury, and wild Arley Wright. But none of them ever paid her any attention. The only reason Shailly even had talked to such guys was because of school or Arcadia's popularity.

Shailly sighed, burying her head into her pillow. This was probably going to bug her for the rest of the night. Who in the world did Karsh like?

A/N: Um. I hate Fish. She made me do it. I know, Giddy Brew has more spin offs and side stories than it could ever need.

Just for the record, the original story for this is Giddy Brew. That has two side stories, I Hate Every Beautiful Day, and A New Heart for Christmas- both of which accompany chapter 16 of Giddy Brew. There is also a slight spin off of seven drabbles, called Wicked, which takes place after Giddy Brew.

Then there is Giddy Brew's official sequel, Poison Fairytales. Poison Fairytales, as of now has two side stories- one of which is The Stars Beneath Your Feet, which takes place before Poison Fairytales and is about the two main characters of PF (Harper and Conrad), and the other is not published yet, but is about another PF character, Merlin.

This, I suppose, is a prequel to Giddy Brew- but you do not have to have read Giddy Brew to read this. For those of you who haven't, Karsh Hargrove is the father of one of the main characters of Giddy Brew, Casey Hargrove. This story will mostly be fluff with a little bit of drama. I estimate about five to ten chapters, and I still blame the Fish.