Jack Frost lounged on his back as the wind blew him wherever it was headed. He tried to let the clear night skies ease his twisted thoughts. Getting the hang of being a guardian was confusing. There was no manual on what he was supposed to do now that he had helped save the world from Pitch. The other guardians had jumped right back into their work, but Jack's only work was goofing off and somehow now that felt...irresponsible. Sure, he was the Guardian of Fun, but he felt as if he needed more direction now.
North had Christmas and Bunny had Easter to keep them focused. Tooth and Sandy were constantly busy with their jobs. Jack didn't really do anything but fly around causing mischief, and now that just felt...empty. Actually he felt a bit empty in general. You would think that after recovering his memories, saving the world, and starting to be recognized by children, Jack would feel better, but somehow he was more hollow than ever.
He looked up at the silent moon and whispered, "Why? Why do I feel this way? What am I not doing? Where am I meant to be?"
The moon just beamed down at him and Jack sighed and began to head home. Just then a sudden strong gust of wind sent him spiraling down out of the upper atmosphere and towards the earth below. Jack cried out flung his arms and legs out trying to stabilize himself in the suddenly twisting gusts of wind. Jack could see trees and housetops getting much too close at much too fast of a pace, and just when he thought that he wouldn't be able to escape the vicious winds he was flung to the side and out of the column of swirling air. He looked up at the angry sky, the dark clouds and wind being pulled into a the twisting vortex that tapered down to end just above the ground a few meters away. There at the base stood a large group of people.
They were standing in front yard of a small cottage. One small teenager stood facing a mass of people, his green eyes glowing with anger as power swirled around him. Instinctively Jack could tell that this boy was the source of the twister raging above, just ready to be unleashed on the ground below. He could see that heated words were being exchanged between the boy and the group, but the howling wind was stealing any sound away. Cautiously, Jack inched forward to hear what was going on. As he got closer he realized that each person in the large group was holding a small stick pointed at the boy.
'Ahh,' Jack thought, 'Wizards then.'
Jack had see his fair share of the magic users over the centuries of his life. He was as invisible to them as he was everyone else, with the exception of Jamie and his small group of friends, but Jack tended to avoid them since they tended to be more aware of magical phenomena and instead of falling for his pranks tended to shoot rather nasty blasts from their wands in his general direction. Jack didn't know how wizarding magic would effect an elemental force like himself or the other guardians, but he chose not to test it out to see.
"Give him back, now!" Jack had just gotten close enough to hear what the boy was shouting.
"Now, Mr. Potter, you know the new laws demand that all dangerous creatures are to be taken into ministry custody." The witch at the front of the group said, although her eyes looked nervously up at the raging heavens.
"He is a baby! He is not a monster, nor are half the other people that you have enslaved!" The boy was now shaking with rage. Jack could see that the boy's eyes were focused, not on the woman speaking, but on something in the center of the group of wizards. Following his line of vision, Jack saw a sight that made his stomach twist and his own anger build.
There, huddled in a cage was a small toddler, his face was red from screaming and his arms were outstretched to the young man facing down the group. There must be some sort of magic blocking the noise since there was no sound coming from the tiny boy. The toddler grabbed the bar of the cage and Jack could see a hiss of smoke and the boy pulled his hand back again, a raw burn forming where his skin had touched metal. Jack shot forward, heedless of all the magic users, who couldn't see him anyway, until he was at the side of the cage. He blew a soft breath towards the red skin of the child's hand and saw the relief in his eyes as Jack's cooling magic soothed the burn.
Thunder and lightning suddenly crashed overhead and the teen roared in fury, "Give him back or I swear you will see exactly what your Savior is capable of."
Everyone in the group seemed to sway back away from the enraged young man. "Mr. Potter you will be able to patission the Wizingmot at their next hearing in three months. Until that time this thing will be kept at a specialized containment facility…"
Jack could tell that the teen was about to snap whatever tenuous control he had managed to be keeping and Jack didn't want the young child caught in the crossfire of whatever was about to happen. With a focused effort Jack forced his magical ice into the hinges of the small cage until he could feel the metal creaking with strain, then with a hard swing of his staff he struck the cage right on the stressed hinge. With a sharp crack the cage door crashed open and the child's screams were instantly heard across the field. That was evidently the breaking point for the teen and the wind suddenly crashed down on the group of wizards. Jack threw himself halfway in the cage, covering the small boy protectively with his body.
This action proved unnecessary however, as the wind swirled around the cage, crashing the wizards to the ground and absorbing anything that was shot from the wizards' wands. However, the cage and the boy remained untouched as the dark haired teen walked calmly through the wind towards the cage, the only sign that he was even slightly affected was his hair whipping about his eyes, even as the other wizards were tossed through the air like rag dolls. Jack moved out of the way as the teen reached the cage and the toddler launched himself into the teen's arms. The moment the teen had a firm grip on the toddler the wind died away and the black clouds cleared to reveal the smiling moon.
The wizards, who were scattered across the yard, were starting to sit up, some of them groping around in the grass around them for their wands that had been lost in the tempest. The teen glowered around at the men and women, even as his hand rubbed the toddler's back soothingly.
"If you dare to touch him again I will bring hell fire like this world has never seen down on anyone who gets in my way." He growled, "I saved this world from a mad man so that the world could be a better place. But instead of taking the opportunity to improve, you and your ministry are making it worse than ever!"
For a moment it looked like the spokeswoman would speak again, but the teen interrupted her before she could make a noise.
"I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want to live alone in peace, but you are hurting good and innocent people. I will no longer stand idly by while you make a mess of the gift that I gave you all. Mark my words that this will be a day that the ministry will come to regret!" And with a flick of his wrist the many witches and wizards still sprawled across the grass went flying out of the small yard and Jack felt a slight tingle as a shimmering barrier erected itself around the house with only the teen, the toddler, and Jack on the inside.
Curiously Jack raised a hand to the barrier. It felt warm and sent a pleasant tingle up his arm, but as he pushed he could feel how strong it was. In the back of his mind he wondered if his magic would be able to break through, but that was not his priority at the moment. He turned back to the toddler and the boy holding him and moved closer so he was standing beside them in case anyone else tried to hurt the child. The toddler was still clinging to the teen so hard it looked as if he were trying to burrow inside him. The teen's eyes were following the wizards outside the barrier as if daring them to try to break through. The wizards, however, seemed to have lost all interest trying to get the toddler and were scurrying around collecting various wands, hats, and papers that had been blown about, then with a pop they were each disappearing.
Only once the last person disappeared did the teen's shoulders relax. He burrowed his face in the toddler's hair and he could hear him whispering. Leaning closer Jack heard what the teen was saying.
"I'm sorry, Teddy. I am so sorry. I won't let anything like that happen again. I am so sorry. I love you."
Jack was sure that the teen was crying now too into the little boy's hair as the two clutched each other. Jack felt a painful warmth settle in his chest at the sight, filling that void that had been eating away at him. Their strong bond was beautiful, but it was horrible that it had been tested and caused them both so much pain. The teen turned away from the lawn and started inside the small cottage. Jack had a second of indecision before he slipped inside along with them before the teen closed the door with his heel.
'Well it is not like I can leave with that barrier up anyway.' Jack justified to himself, trying to feel like less of a stalker. He didn't often hang around inside people's homes, with the exception of Jamie's room, but that was different since the boy could now see him, and he still didn't go poking around other parts of his house.
The teen, Mr. Potter, Jack recalled one of the wizards saying, settled himself and the toddler on a small couch in a little living room. With another wave of his hand a fire sprang up in harth. Jack was immediately drawn to the heat. He wondered if it was odd that a winter spirit would be so comfortable, and even enjoy heat.
"Expecto Patronum!" Jack jumped at the teen's voice and the sudden burst of silver that erupted from the teen's hand and coalesced into a large deer, "Hermione, Ron, I need you!"
The deer went running off through the wall and Harry resumed rubbing and mumbling soothing words to the still crying toddler. Jack wished that he could help soothe the little one in some way, his sobbs were heartbreaking. "It's ok. It's ok. I got you. I got you." The teen kept repeating, rocking and rubbing the baby, although Jack got the feeling he was trying to settle himself down as well. Jack could still feel waves of power radiating off the teen and he wondered if that was a regular occurrence, or if it only happened when the boy was worked up. Jack took a small step closer and could feel the teen's magic tingle over his cool skin. It was an oddly nice feeling.
With one last hiccuping sigh the little boy's sobs quieted to sniffles and he seemed to slump bonlessly in the teens arms.
"There you go." The teen said and even smiled softly for the baby's benefit. "That's my teddy bear."
The toddler leaned back a little so he could look up at the teen. Jack would guess the kid was a little over a year old, and he was pretty confident in his ability to guess accurately. Kids were his job after all. Toddlers were especially fun because they were amazed by even the smallest things Jack could do, like dancing snowflakes, and tickling breezes.
"Feel better, Bear?" The teen asked the toddler. The toddler didn't answer, but suddenly the boy's hair and eyes, that had up until now matched the teen's in color and texture, morphed into a warm chocolate brown, and his skin turned a bit more tan.
"Good," the teen smiled a bit wider and Jack noticed for the first time just how cute the teen was. He was about the same age as Jack was when he died, but he was built smaller, although they were both similarly thin. But the most arresting thing about the boy were his eyes. They were large, almost too large for his face, and seemed to glow from some inner source, like the boy had swallowed the sun and it was shining through his eyes. Jack shiver at the thought of how that gaze would feel focused on him. Although, since he was invisible, that was not likely to happen, unless the teen happened to look in his direction, and even then he would just be looking through him. It was a depressing thought, even though it was the way Jack had existed for over three centuries.
There was a loud wooshing sound that cause both the heads of both boys on the couch to turn, and caused Jack to jump into the air and alight on a small bookcase. He would have chuckled at his own jumpiness if he hadn't been surprised by the fact that two humans had just popped out of the fireplace. He really needed to hang around more magic folk. For an immortal magical spirit it was embarrassing to be so awestruck.
"Harry!" The girl who had just materialized out of the fireplace cried hugging the two obviously distraught boys on the couch. "What happened? What's wrong?"
"The Ministry tried to take Teddy. Nearly succeeded too!" He cuddled the small boy close again. "We were playing in the yard and I let him cross the wards to go get his ball and they had him in a silver cage in seconds! They must have been waiting for hours or days just to ambush him."
"Fuckers!" Spat the tall redhead as he plopped down on another sofa across from the other.
"Language, Ron." The bushy haired girl chided as she released the boys from her hug and joined the redhead. From the way they folded into each other Jack could tell they were a couple.
"Well I hope Harry kicked their ignorant as...bottoms." He looked at the brunette girl in fear but she just shook her head at him before turning back to Harry.
"I don't know what else we can do. We have fought this ban on magical creatures through every legal means possible! The world is just so scared the people are just lashing out at everything. Did you know that they are talking of withdrawing all wizarding accounts from Gringotts so that they can "monitor" the goblins without worry of them tampering with wizarding money. Professor Flitwick has already been asked to leave Hogwarts." The girl bit her lip, "I mean he is a war hero and only part goblin!"
The boy, Harry growled low in his chest, "This is ridiculous. Is this what we risked our lives for? Is this what I bloody died for?"
Jack had a sudden epiphany that he found deep growly voices attractive. He noticed, however, that the toddler did not seem as enthused with the tension that was building up again in the teen. The toddler who had started to relax, tucked his head back into Harry's neck.
"Hey little man," Jack smiled at the boy as he hopped from the bookshelf he was still perched on to land on the long table behind the sofa. Jack blew a gentle breath over the toddler's flushed cheeks, trying to sooth the heated flesh. The boy looked up over Harry's shoulder, his curious eyes shifting into a golden amber. Jack made a couple of sparkling little snowflakes drift above his hand that he held at the boy's eye level. Gold shifted to a light purple as a small smile quirked at the boy's lips and he poked more of his face over Harry's shoulder.
"Your name was Teddy, right?" Jack said softly, aware that no one could hear him, but he liked to talk...even if it was just to himself. "You like animals, Teddy?"
Jack consolidated the snowflakes into a ball and formed it into a bunny about the size of his thumb, and much like he did when convincing Jamie that the Guardian's were real, he animated the sculpture and had it jump around his palm. The smile on Teddy's face grew bigger and his hair shifted to a bright orange. Jack grinned, "That is quite cool, little man!"
Jack moulded the bunny into a turtle and had it swim through the air, being sure to keep it out of view of the other occupants of the room. The turtle became a whale, then a bird, then a cat that sprang to the back of the couch and licked Teddy's nose. The boy giggled and was now fully extracted from Harry's lap and was happily sitting next to him, leaning over the back of the couch watching Jack's little show.
"What's so funny, Cub?" Harry asked, tickling the toddler. It was amazing how the child's laughter had obviously relaxed the other occupants of the room. Jack had tuned out their conversation, but it seemed to have turned to lighter topics. They began discussing a friend's upcoming wedding...something about goldenrod bouquets to keep Nargles at bay. Teddy was bouncing in anticipation of the next animal. Jack made him a mouse which then shifted to an owl. Teddy clapped his chubby little hands.
Next Jack formed the snow into a little wolf that pounced about wagging his tail. Teddy's eyes grew large and his nose twitched. Jack smiled warmly as the toddler stared at the little wolf and sniffed the air, his little brows furrowed in concentration and the boy sniffed the air again. Then with puzzled eyes the toddler looked straight at Jack, then with a drooly grin, all the color drained from his features leaving him with ice blue eyes and white hair. Jack toppled back off the table in surprise. How the toddler had seen him was a mystery. He definitely hadn't been able to see him moments before.
"Hey Bear, that is a new one!" Harry plucked the toddler back on to his lap, looking the small boy over. He chuckled, "I don't even think Malfoy and Luna's kids will be this pale."
"Merlin, I don't think that the world is ready for them to procreate yet. I hope they choose to wait a few years so I can mentally prepare." The redhead moaned.
Teddy was squirming to get back to where he could see Jack more clearly, but Harry was holding him fast. Teddy glowered at him, his hair turning a dark green. Harry just grinned at him, "Nope, it is time for little boys who have had crazy nights to go to bed."
At the word bed Teddy's eyes turned green to match the teen's again, and he stuck his bottom lip out in a very persuasive pout, in Jack's opinion. Harry however was unswayed and just places a smacking kiss on the toddler's nose.
"That is our cue, out of here before the waterworks start." Ron smirked as he stood and stretched.
Harry grimaced, "He has been getting better. It helped when Remus and Tonk's portrait was finished. I know he was too young to really remember them, but I really think that it helps having them in the room."
"That is great, but remember what that article I gave you said. After all the trauma you both went through it is ok to need to comfort each other." The brunette smiled, "A year of co-sleeping isn't going to damage him, in fact there are many studies that show co-sleeping as the most natural…"
"I know, I just realized that I wasn't doing it for him, I was doing it for me. I need to get over these night terrors on my own, not use Teddy as a distraction."
"You don't have to do it on your own," Hermione smiled, "But I understand that you don't want to use Teddy. Maybe you could start trying to date…"
Harry groaned and Ron interjected between his friends, "And now we are off!" He practically dragged the brunette with the complicated name to the fire, "Just floo if ya need us mate. For anything. And don't worry we will figure out a plan for the ministry!"
"Thanks guys, I really needed to talk it out." Both gave the toddler a hug and kiss.
"Anytime, love you Harry!" They waved and disappeared into a flash of green flames.
Jack felt a pang in his chest at the slightly bereft look on the teen's face as he looked after his friends. He had the urge to go and hug the dark haired boy, but knowing that he would phase right through him made the thought useless. The thought of not being able to make contact with Harry seemed wrong and Jack didn't think he could take the teen not noticing his touch.
"Alright Bear, let's get ready to tuck in for the night!" Harry said with false cheer in his voice that turned into a real chuckle as he looked at the pout still adorning the toddler's face. "Come on, if we hurry and get in our jammies there will be enough time for you to talk to your Mum and Dad."
The toddler's hair turned a blinding shade of pink and his eyes a golden amber as he smiled at Harry. Harry grinned at that, "Yup that's it Bear!"
Jack pretended that he didn't feel like a creeper as he followed the pair up a narrow set of stairs and down a hall to what had to be Teddy's room. Harry plonked Teddy down on a fluffy poof that made a squeaking noise and Teddy bounced lightly on it. Harry shook his head with a small smile and muttered something that sounded like, "Only Luna." He then turned to a small chest of drawers to grab a set of pajamas and a fresh nappy for the toddler. Jack took that as his cue to study the array of books and toys that littered the shelves along the edge of the room.
Wizards, it seems, have very interesting toys. Jack was studying something that look like a self propelled gyroscope that glowed different colors when he heard Teddy giggle madly and Harry start to make vrooming noises. He turned to see Harry holding the now pajama clad toddler aloft above his head as he made a zigzag pattern across the room to a large rocking chair. He settled Teddy in his lap facing the wall where a large portrait hung. Jack hadn't noticed it when he first entered and quickly rushed over to see more clearly when he saw the man and woman in the picture start to move. He really had to spend some more time around wizards!
"Hi Remus! Hey Tonks!" Harry smiled up at the portrait.
"Wotcher Harry?" The woman beamed at Harry and the toddler who was waving wildly at the painting. "How was my boy's day?!"
Teddy's hair turned neon blue and freckles bloomed across his face. The woman, who had to be the boy's mother, laughed and then mimicked the boy's change. Teddy clapped and shifted again, and soon the two were thoroughly absorbed in a battle of...changing? Jack really had to find a better word for the transformation ability.
While the toddler was distracted the man in the painting was looking over Harry. "Something wrong Harry?"
Harry sighed rubbing the hand that wasn't balancing a bouncing Teddy over his face, "God, Remus, you have no idea! The ministry was here. I just wanted to settle down and have a quiet life, but I feel like I am getting backed into a corner and will have to do something."
The man, who must be Remus, looked concerned, "What happened?"
Harry tightened his grip on Teddy, "They tried to take Teddy, put him in one of those camps for magical creatures."
Warm amber eyes flashed gold and the kind face of the man in the painting hardened. Jack also noticed that the woman in the painting was looking at Harry now too, although she was still distracting the toddler with funny faces.
"I will never let that happen," Harry said, burrowing his face in Teddy's currently red curls.
Remus smiled sadly at the teen, "We know that Harry. That is why we entrusted him to you. We know that you will do everything in your power to protect him, even when it seems like the world is going mad."
Jack could see the tears filling the teens eyes, but refusing to spill over, "What am I supposed to do Remus? Should fight this? Should I just gather up Teddy and run? We gave up so much in the war, so many people sacrificed themselves to make the world better, and now it seems as it has gotten even worse! We have spoken out, fought legislations in the courts, and even held bloody press conferences. Nothing has made a difference!"
"Trust your instincts, Harry. What does your gut say to do?" The woman chimed in.
"A big part of me wants to take Teddy and run, start afresh somewhere far away. But then I think of all the people that would be stuck here. All the people the ministry has already imprisoned, all the families that are getting torn apart. I can't just leave them!"
"It looks like you already have your answer." Remus squeezed the woman in the portraits waist as they smiled at the pair in the rocker, "None of us were ever ones to run from a challenge."
Harry smiled back sardonically, "Yeah, I guess not."
"Now, speaking of challenges, has my little fella decided that it is time to start talkin' yet?"
Harry laughed at the blatant change in topic, "Naw, not yet, he is being stubborn. He understands so much now, but hasn't made a peep."
Teddy turned to Harry with a frown and his hair turned a dark red.
All the adults laughed, including Jack, which caused Teddy to turn towards him again and once again he mimicked Jack's coloring, or lack thereof.
Remus whistled, "Oh, is that one new?"
"He did it for the first time down stairs just now." Harry turned Teddy around to face him and kissed his button nose, "Just too handsome for words."
Jack felt a pleasant warmth bloom in his chest at Harry's words. He realized he was being ridiculous. He was over three hundred years old, he was much too old to have a...crush. Damn, but that is what it felt like. He had never actually been infatuated before, but he had read about the feeling extensively. He wasn't about to admit to anyone that he would spend hours in closed libraries reading sappy romances, but they cheered him up when his loneliness started to feel too overwhelming.
He was startled out of his musings by Harry and Teddy standing up, evidently finished up their conversation without Jack's notice.
"Night night Teddy Bear," Harry whispered as he lowered a yawning Teddy into a large crib.
Teddy looked up and Harry, once again mimicking Harry's features, and held his arms back up. Tears were welling up in his eyes and he squeezed his little hands together in the universal sign for 'pick me up'. Jack saw Harry's internal battle as he looked down at that sad face before caving and picking the toddler back up. He rested Teddy's head on his shoulder and walked over to the window where he rocked the toddler, humming lowly.
Jack lost track of the time as he just watched their form silhouetted in the moonlight. His chest felt pleasantly tight as his gaze lingered over the beautiful calm expression that fluttered over Harry's face as the teen closed his eyes and rested his cheek against Teddy's curls. Jack wanted to wrap his arms around the pair, be somehow enfolded into their little unit. Instead he forced himself to back out of the room. He was such a creeper, watching a guy rock his kid to sleep! He walked down the hallway, studying all of the pictures moving along. They seemed less impressive than the sentient looking painting he had just observed. He placed a hand over the framed picture of the couple that had just been visiting earlier that evening, though they looked much younger in the photo. He could feel a slight tingle of magic emanating from the paper, although it felt different from the type of magic thrumming through his own veins.
Jack was caught up momentarily in the hows and whys of magic. He has never really devoted much study to how his magic works. He knows that as an elemental spirit his power stems from nature, specifically the moon in his case, although there are other spirits who get their power from the earth or sun. He knows that in most cases elemental magic is stronger than the internal magic that is wielded by mortal wizards, but it also came with more constrictions. His invisibility, for example, or his intermittent ability to touch physical objects. There were times that he could pick things up and move them around, but at other times he phased right through them and couldn't pick up so much as a book. He hadn't quite figured out the when and why of this, but it seemed to have to do with his intention. If he was all alone and just picking up a book to read it he was normally able to, but if others were around or he was trying to get noticed he couldn't. Yet he could move things around perfectly well around the other guardians, or is he was on a mission. And sometimes around Jamie...it was too confusing and Jack gave up thinking about it.
There was a small creek and Jack turned to see an empty-armed Harry quietly tiptoeing out of Teddy's room. The teen closed the door so just a sliver of hallway light would peek through into the dim room. He pulled out his wand and whispered a few words while waving it at the door before sighing deeply. He looked tired, Jack thought to himself, and really Jack couldn't blame him. From what Jack had gathered it seemed that Harry was raising Teddy on his own and the pair seemed to be up against some major challenges. Jack hadn't understood everything that the teens had been talking about but he caught the gist.
The wizard government seemed to be starting a genocide against creatures...of which Teddy was one? Jack wondered what he was. He had also picked up on the fact that there seemed to have just been a war or major shift in power of something. Whatever had happened the teens had definitely been involved. Harry had even said something about dying, which made an uncomfortable heavy feeling try to crush Jack's chest. Jack was determined to get a better picture of what was going on. If this government was treating other children like Teddy it may be something he should get the Guardians in on. They were not allowed to meddle in distinctly human (including wizard) affairs, but since this was crossing the line to include magical creatures some of which may be of the elemental world like Jack, they may be able to get involved.
Jack was pulled out of his thoughts as Harry began to walk away down the hallway. Jack was torn. Hanging around in the guy's house was creepy enough, following him around as he got ready for bed? He figured that crossed a line. So instead he figured he would leave the two to sleep and go and poke around the first floor.
