Masquerade

Prologue

Rain poured down outside, splashing against the window pane. Lightning danced across the sky in blinding flashes, long rumbles and deafening crashes took turns following.

Jakki gazed out the window, playing with a strand of hair. It was dark out; it was after sunset, with out a moon or stars to brighten the night because of the storm. It was quite outside, except the rain and thunder. Godric's Hollow tended to always be quite. Nothing ever happened; it was a sleepy little place, according to Jakki.

Jeshickah, Jakki for short, was sixteen, and she was a witch. She was supposed to be going back to Hogwarts for her seventh and final year in September. However, it was June, and from the look of things, Hogwarts wouldn't be opening come fall. She had applied to an exchange program later on in the summer to get her mind off things, but hat was not coming fast enough for her. Her older brother worked in the Department of International Cooperation and her mother worked in the Department of Education so she had a good chance of getting in. She had been working on her letter for almost a week and had finally sent it in that morning. Now all she could do was wait for the answer.

She went over her list of people who had sent in letters of recommendations for her; trying to see if any of the letters would deplete her chances.

Michelle. Her new sister-in-law was the first to pop into her mind. Last Christmas she had been forced into a frilly bridesmaid's dress and stand next to her in the wedding that made Michelle her sister-in-law and she was furious at her brother for marrying the preppy woman. Michelle and Jakki were complete opposites and Jakki couldn't stand the older woman. And Michelle insisted on trying to make Jakki more like her, something the girl couldn't stand.

Holly quickly followed, she was Michelle's little sister and just as much of a pain to Jakki. Holly was just a younger version of her older sister, preppy and girly. The only difference between them was Holly couldn't stand Jakki just as much as Jakki couldn't stand her. They were mortal enemies forced to be sisters-in-law.

Mercey Lewis was a great person to think of after the new in-laws from hell. She was Jakki's best friend and they had been so since before they were first-years in school. Jakki and Mercey were just like sisters. They were inseparable and she had written the best letter for her friend, which made Jakki very happy to have her as a friend.

Ashlee came up next for some reason. She had been Jakki's pen friend from America for almost a year now, and they were getting pretty close considering the distance between their countries. When her mother had brought up the suggestion to go on an exchange program, Jakki asked if Ashlee would write a letter for her, after all who better than an American to recommend a candidate to go to America?

Her older brother's best friend also wrote a letter for her. Ricky had been her brother's best friend since they had been little boys. He was almost like a second brother to her, since they had known each other for the longest time. He had even been the one to give her the nickname 'Jakki' when she felt she had outgrown 'Jess' and 'Jessie'.

Just thinking about Ricky made her remember her brother, Jonathan. He had written her a letter, to but sadly it couldn't be accepted because he worked in one of the departments in the ministry that ran the exchange program. She had always been close with her brother, but their six-year difference seemed to help the relationship. It had been a hindrance when Jon had been younger but since he was fourteen, things only got better with it.

Mercey's little brother wrote a letter but the girls ripped it up and threw it away. Joel had a crush on Jakki; he was two years behind them in school and was just getting into girls. She couldn't stand the kid and he seemed to have an infatuation with her. She knew how much he liked her and sometimes it just scared her.

Her parents had written her a letter too, it was almost rejected, but because her father was a muggle it canceled out her mother working in the ministry. She was glad they could still write her a letter, it made her feel a lot more confident in her chances of getting in. If every other candidate got to have their parents to send in letter, so she could too. Plus her parents always thought that Jakki should go to another country to further her education. And going to America was just the right solution!

She didn't have to use much persuasion to get her boyfriend, Travis, to write a letter for her, but if she actually was accepted to go, it would take a while to get him to let her go. They had been going out for a year and a half and always spent a lot of time together, he parents though they spent too much time together.

Jacelynn and Angela were also on the list. They were Jakki's other close friends. She didn't know them as well as she knew Mercey but she still loved them, just not as much as she loved her family, Mercey, and Travis. She was a loyal friend and she would always be one to the friends that were just as loyal to her in return. The only thing the two girls had asked for in return was lots of pictures of 'hot American guys'.

The most surprising letter-writer for her was from Professor McGonagall. Jakki had always been a bit of a rebel, and often got in trouble with the transfigurations teacher. Thus, it had been a huge shock when she found a nice letter from the professor in the stack of recommendations. Not even her Head-of-House, Professor Flitwick, had written a letter for her. Then again she could just be trying to fulfill her duties as the new Headmistress, something that had come to mind after she had sent everything in.

All in all, she was pleased with the outcome and was very confident in her chances of getting into the program. She had wanted to go to American ever since she had heard all the good things Ashlee had said about it in the letters they sent back and forth.

The rain was still poring outside, but the lightening had subsided a bit. It was late, not too late, but late enough that no one was outside. Everyone seemed to turn in early when it wasn't all that nice outside. Those times were Jakki's favorite times to go out. This was perfect weather for her, and the perfect opportunity to go out and enjoy it and be alone.

She looked in the mirror on the wall behind her door. Since she always kept the door closed, the mirror was always visible. She sighed regretfully at her reflection. She had never really liked the girl she saw in the mirror everyday.

She was rather thin, nicer people tended to call it willowy. She had dark ash blonde hair (some insisted it was brown), and was streaked with lighter blonde from the many times she had highlighted it. Her eyes were aqua in color, changing with blues and greens on occasion. She was fairly pretty, with clean features and nice skin. A light year-round tan showed her assortment of pearly white scars on her arms and legs from the years of trying to keep up with Ricky and Jon when they were younger.

Growing up with an older brother (and his friend) had changed her from the sweet little lady her mother wished she would have been. She still had a sweet smile, even though it often sported a malevolent smirk or menacing grin, and cute dimples that often drove boys crazy. She lacked in the skills it took to be girly and flirty when the occasion arose, despite how she looked. She never wore skirts or dresses if she could avoid it, and when she did it was under extreme protest. Instead well-worn jeans, often times very faded and bearing rips, were her favorite articles of clothing. In the summer she wore more tank tops and t-shirts than she normally did. But she never wore shorts in public.

Now she was wearing a too-small tank top and particularly short pair of shorts, both making her look exceptionally tall and gangly. She seemed to wear shorts as pajamas quite frequently, (even though, she never did in public) just as something to wear around the house when no one was around. And she never left the house in them when someone could see her. No one would be outside tonight, it was raining and everyone in her neighborhood hated the rain. "I'll just change when I come back in," she told the mirror when she decided she didn't want to change something she'd rather be seen in. she ran into her bathroom to grab a towel to set inside the door for her when she decide to come back in, so she wouldn't drip all over the floor.

She could hear the television in her parents' room. Her father was a muggle, and he was the one that moved his kids and his wife into the neighborhood he had grown up in, refusing to give up his 'electronics', as well. Jakki was thankful for the television's noise often times, when it gave her a good cover in those times she snuck out of the house. Now was one of those times she loved the noise.

She passed the room quietly, and down the stairs, passing the kitchen on her way to the front door. She tried not to disturb her cat, Moshi, and three kittens, Lioness, Scrap, and Yamani, all sleeping in Moshi's cat bed. She was almost at the door when she felt yellow cat eyes watching her. She turned back to see Moshi staring at her.

"I'll be back in a bit, so go back to sleep." She told he cat in a whisper and left the room.

The rain was still coming down hard when she got to the front door. She dropped her towel just inside the door, and kicked off her slippers right next to it. She pulled the band from her hair, letting it fall down her back. She felt a little stupid and even a bit cliché as she stepped outside. I feel like I should be in some muggle chick flick movie, she thought.

She had her face turned up to the sky with her eyes closed, enjoying the rain, when she heard it. There was a noise. In the old abandoned house next door.

No one had lived in the house since Jakki was born. Jon said he remembered some one living in there when he was little, but he couldn't remember much about it. He had always teased Jakki about it, saying the people that had lived there moved away when she was born because she was so annoying, but she knew it was a lie. When he and Ricky were fourteen they had snuck into the house, hoping to find a ghost. Jakki was only eight and too afraid to go in.

She was still to afraid to go in but if some local boys were in there messing around she was going to mess them up! So she made her way determinedly across the lawn and to the porch in the front of the other house. She hated when neighborhood boys tried to scare her, and she knew they were trying to do just that with the house.

She checked the folded-over band on her shorts; her wand was tucked invisible in the back. Good. She would need it if she was going to get those boys back.

She pushed open the door, it squeaked. No problem, if the muggle boys thought the house was haunted, this would only scare them more.

There was a lot of cobwebs and dust everywhere she looked. It defiantly looked like an abandoned or haunted house. Jakki got the shivers, she was still afraid of the house but she knew she had to beat the boys at their own game.

She jerked her head up to the ceiling when she heard a noise, going stiff with fear. Something fell to the ground the floor above her, and someone swore. Okay, now it's my turn to scare you. She thought as she made her way up the stairs, of what she assumed was the parlor off the small hallway she had first come into.

Up the stairs she saw a lot of things she would have expected to see in any other normal house (normal for her anyway, not normal for muggles). She saw a bathroom, with old and dusty make up containers, hair potions and things she saw in her bathroom, along with an assortment of things she had seen in her brother's bathroom. There was a bedroom with a large bed, covered with bedding decorated with brooms and Snitches, a closet with robes in it she saw through the door that was hanging off its hinges, two dressers she couldn't see anything in, and a desk scattered with spell books and assorted wizarding magazines, all covered with a good layer of dust.

Across the hall she saw what she thought was a flashlight's beam through the door that was cracked open slightly. She put down the old Quidditch magazine she was looking at, and went to investigate.

She looked through the crack in the door first. Someone was looking over into a crib. That was weird but what she saw in his hand was just as odd. He had a wand, tip alight, looking over things with it. No other wizards lived in the area; it was only her mother and her now.

She pulled her wand free from the waistband of her shorts, her hand was still a little wet from the rain, so she gripped it a bit tighter. She gathered her courage and took a deep breath. She was ready to take on muggle boys who wanted to scare her, but to take on someone with magic, when she couldn't even legally use magic outside school yet, that was entirely different.

Slowly she lifted her shaking hand and pushed open the heavy wood door. It didn't make much any noise, which was peculiar considering the front door had squeaked. The stranger hadn't turned around, Jakki couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing at the moment, but still pressed on.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked, glad her voice sounded stronger than she felt, holding her wand in front of her like a shield.

He spun at her voice. Surprising her to see how young he was, he looked to be about her age. He had a shock of messy black hair, glasses hiding bright green eyes. She couldn't see his scar but she knew who it was immediately without it.

He stared at her confused for a moment, the look clear on his face. Before he could formulate any kind of answer for her question, she had reloaded and fired again, now that she knew who it was, she had more questions for him.

"Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be off doing something heroic?" she asked coolly, returning her wand to the folded up waist band of her shorts. She would have been embarrassed by how she looked at the moment but her anger beat it out.

"What?" his confusion subsided. "What am I doing here? And what do you mean by 'off doing something heroic'?"

"You know what I mean," Jakki glared, now trying to forget that probably looked like an idiot in her shorts and tank top, dripping wet, a puddle of water gathering around her feet. "You're always off playing the hero in all kinds of schemes. How do I know what your really doing up here? You could be up here trying to pull me into one of them."

"I don't even know who you are," he insisted, dropping his wand hand to his side. "And-wait, er…who are you? I thought this was a muggle neighborhood."

She rolled her eyes in disgust. "Oh, so you think you're the only one special enough to live in a muggle neighborhood? Well, sorry, but you're not."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Harry demanded defensively from her rude suggestions. "And, who are you anyway?"

"Hi," she pulled on a falsely nice voice, but she was still sure he was getting that she was being sarcastic. "I'm Jeshickah, my friends call me Jakki. I'm sixteen years old, and I'm going to be a seventh year Ravenclaw this fall. Now, I have just one question," the false smile slipped from her face and the sweetness left her voice as she shouted. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Seeing that at this rate, no one was going to accomplish anything, Harry gave up on trying to understand this new girl. "I'll explain it all later if you want, but right now, don't you want to get out of those wet clothes? It's almost midnight, you must be getting cold."

Jakki crossed her arms defiantly, looking away from him, clenching her teeth. She was getting a little cold in the drafty house, not to mention the house had always given her the creeps and this was no exception. She didn't want to admit that he was right but she did want to get back home. "Fine," she gave in at last, but not without a frustrated sigh. "But we're gonna go to my house."

"Okay with me, how far away do you live?" he asked, with a shrug, thrusting his wand back into the back pocket of his too-large jeans.

"Just next door, so move hero-boy." She insisted, pointing behind her and to the door.

Jakki lead Harry back to her house, and snuck him up to her room, glad that her father had fallen asleep watching TV. He wouldn't be waking up any time soon.

She made Harry stay in her room while she changed in her bathroom. Switching her wet shorts for her favorite pair of jeans, and soaking top for one of the sweatshirts she barrowed from her boyfriend. She brushed her hair quickly, braiding it tightly to keep it out of her face. When she returned to her room she found her guest looking through the papers on her desk.

"Hey! That's private." She cried, snatching a letter away from him. "Do you always trifle through peoples private things?"

"No," he looked embarrassed as he stepped away from the desk. "I just have one question."

"Well, fire away!" she sighed, trying to collect all her private letters, and stashing them in one of the drawers.

"You said you were a Ravenclaw, so I guess I'm just wondering why I haven't seen you in the halls or something." He said, grabbing the chair from the desk and sitting down.

"And, where was the question there?" she asked, flopping down on her bed facing him, after she turned over a picture of Travis beaming up at her in its frame on her nightstand.

"I think so," he frowned when she chuckled at him.

"Well, I wasn't much of a good student, I guess." She shrugged. "A lot of the professors kept me after class, or gave me extra homework, or detention. So I guess adding that to homework, I never had enough time to hang around in the halls. Besides, we're in different Houses, that may have contributed to some thing."

Harry nodded; it made more sense than it didn't, so he just accepted it. From there their conversation elevated and they talked until both of them were yawning. At that point, Jakki threw him a pillow and a blanket, and they both went to sleep, she stayed in her bed, and Harry curled up on the floor near the desk.