Hello everyone! Yes, I'm back, after a long sabbatical away from fanfiction. I've decided to redo a number of my stories, which is why there have been no updates from me in so long.
For those of you who have read "The Trouble with Mortals" I humbly thank you. This is the revamped version of that story. I've added a new character, who I hope will help spice things up a bit. But first, a few explanations/recognitions are in order.
Jack Pook is of my own creation, though he is loosely based off of a couple of characters from Charles De Lint's Jack of Kinrowan (not the title character though—that Jack's a girl). Jack is basically a male counterpart of Puck; or rather, more like what the traditional view of Puck is. For those of you who don't know, my Puck is female. I like it that way, so that's how it is. Jack was a gift from Oberon to Titania—he is sort of Titania's Puck. He is a pooka, which (at least in my world) is sort of a cousin to the hobgoblins. Just so you know, Jack and Puck have a bit of a love/hate/annoy relationship. They tend to pick on each other, not so much like brother and sister as little kids who like each other. Think pulling of pig-tails and running away. As of this story they don't have a romantic relationship, though that is in the works for the future.
-sigh- Now then. This next part may not be terribly relevant, but here it is. I've based my Oberon and Titania from the "Shakespeare Retold" series that BBC did last November. I haven't seen it (damn it!) but I've ransacked the website for clips and photos. This is really only relevant because Oberon's black and Titania's white. Never thought I'd go for a black Oberon, but Lennie James totally looks the part. For pictures, see my profile. And just so you know, I've based my image of Jack off of Dean Lennox Kelly's portrayal of Puck in the same show. I really must thank this production—until I saw the pictures of it, I had no visual idea for Jack, and had been wrestling with it for over a year. Then I saw Kelly's picture as Puck and thought "My lord, it's Jack!"
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter, and the images for Oberon, Titania, and Jack belong to the BBC people. The character of Jack is loosely based off of characters by Charles de Lint, as is his name. The mythological critters belong to themselves; all I can lay claim to is my own twisted version of their universe. So there.
If anyone knows how I can get a hold of the DVDs of Shakespeare Retold, I would be ever so thankful for that information.
Now, after that incredibly long and flatulent introduction (as my politics professor would say), on with the show!
Chapter 1: We have to do what?
Puck sat idly in front of a massive willow tree that served as the entrance to Oberon's bower. Her lord and his lady could be heard inside, laughing and carrying on. Glancing back over her shoulder, the sprite sighed. Standing guard for Oberon was proving to be no fun. Chin in hands, Puck cast an annoyed sideways look to the pooka squatting on a rock off to her left. Jack Pook sat with a nail file in one hand, peering at the other as he swiped the emery board back and forth. The habit had always rather gotten on Puck's nerves, for some strange reason…which at the moment, gave her an idea.
Feeling bored, Puck opened her mouth to say something smart-alecky to Jack, just for the fun of picking a fight. Before she could, however, a small figure burst through the clearing, coming to a stop in front of Puck. The jester stood as the younger fey gasped to catch his breath.
"Urgent message," the brownie gasped. "For Lord Oberon." Puck merely crossed her arms and shifted her weight as she gazed at the faerie.
"And?" she asked. So-called "urgent" messages came through all the time, often nothing more than petty differences among the lesser courts. Oberon had instructed Puck that he and Titania were not to be disturbed. She certainly wasn't going to be the one to bother him over nothing.
The brownie narrowed his brow in confusion and frustration. "I must speak to Lord Oberon!" he exclaimed. Puck raised an eyebrow at him.
"You're going to have to do better than that," she answered. The young sprite growled furiously, then turned to Jack.
"Please," he begged. "It's important. I must speak to him!" Jack looked up, an uninterested look on his face. He glanced first at the messenger, then at Puck.
"Sorry, mate," he answered. "Not my prerogative. You're gonna have to convince her of that." The brownie looked back to Puck, who had a particularly wicked grin on her face. At least she was having some fun now.
The brownie apparently decided that trying to reason with the jesters was useless. He tried to move past Puck, only to have her side-step into his path. He tried to dodge the other way, but she was still too fast for him. "You're going to have to be faster than that," she chided.
By this point the brownie appeared to be to the point of physical violence. But before any damage could be done, the branches of the willow were swept back, and Lord Oberon came striding out, Titania just behind him.
"What's going on out here?" he asked. The brownie stood gaping at him, and Puck just shrugged her shoulders.
"Nothing to be concerned about, m'lord," she answered.
"Urgent message for you, sire," the brownie burst out, finally finding his voice. Oberon raised his eyebrows at Puck and crossed his arms across his chest.
"What is it?" he asked, sounding both terse and a little weary. The brownie shot a victorious look at a nonchalant Puck and stepped forward.
"My lord, we have received word that Illyria is seeking out changelings, presumably to rise up against you. My masters know of at least four wizarding children that she has her eye on. They believe that she will try to snatch them within the next couple of seasons." The brownie conjured up four pictures and handed them to Oberon with a bow. As Oberon looked at the pictures, he continued. "As you see, my lord, one of the children is twice fey-blessed. And my masters have reason to believe that all will be crucial to the mortal world in their lifetimes. If they are taken, important timelines may be destroyed. Surely we cannot allow that to happen!"
"I should think not," Oberon said quietly, holding up one of the pictures to the light.
"My masters wish to leave the proper course of action to your great knowledge, and ask only that they be informed of your plans. They offer any assistance that they may provide," the brownie finished.
Oberon stared at the pictures for a moment longer, before letting out a huff of air. "Yes, well, you may tell your masters that I thank them for the information, and that the problem will be taken care of. I shall inform them if their assistance is needed." The brownie bowed and, just as suddenly as he'd arrived, was gone again.
The quartet of fey were quiet for a few moments, as Oberon's gaze went back to the pictures. Puck sat back on her log, and Titania had perched herself next to Jack, and was idly playing with the tuffs of hair that poked out from beneath his hat. "Any thoughts, my love?" she asked as she rose and wrapped her arms around Oberon.
"Plenty," he answered, glancing down at her briefly, then back to the picture in his hand. After a moment, he turned. "Puck."
The sprite stood and walked over to him, and he handed her the pictures. "What do you think about playing in the mortal realm for a bit?"
Puck looked up at her master, a wicked grin on her face. "What exactly did you have in mind?" Oberon had turned back to his lady and wrapped his arms around her as he answered.
"You'll infiltrate the school, posing as a student. Keep watch over the children. Nothing too drastic."
The female jester giggled. "And maybe a few tricks along the way?"
Oberon smiled. "I don't see why not. Just don't attract unnecessary attention to yourself. And nothing that would give yourself away to Illyria."
"Have you ever known me to attract unnecessary attention to myself?" Puck asked playfully.
Her master narrowed his eyes at her, and one of his eyebrows crept up. "I'm not going to answer that," he said. Puck smirked, and stooped down to pick up her jacket. "You can take Jack with you."
Puck froze, one arm in her jacket, and stared at her lord, wondering and hoping that he was joking. She could tolerate Jack alright, even have a good time with him occasionally, but for something like this…"I can handle it myself."
Oberon cocked his head slightly at her and crossed his arms against his chest. Puck stepped forward, rising up to the unasked question. "I'm sure that Jack would be better served here. He'll just get in my way."
"Hey now!" Jack objected, finally looking up from his perch. It wasn't that he truly cared to go, one way or another, but he couldn't just let Puck talk about him as though he were useless. Both Puck and Oberon ignored him, and continued to stare at each other, as was their custom when they disagreed on something. It was actually a rather comical sight in itself; two figures standing in mirror poses, each with their arms crossed firmly against their chests and standing to their full height. Except, of course, that one was a tall dark man topping six feet and the other was a petite female with wild curls who barely came up to his chest.
This feigned struggle for power ended the same way as most. "You will take Jack with you," Oberon said firmly, his tone reminding Puck that he was, of course, the one in charge. As his changeling, she was bound to his will. But that didn't mean that she couldn't contest it from time to time.
Puck rolled her eyes. "Alright," she groaned, clearly not liking the decision. Oberon gave her a semi-suspicious half-smile, but decided to count his blessings for now and to be on the look-out for any of her tricks along the way.
"Very well. We'll need to hurry, though; there isn't much time for us to make our preparations."
The streets of Diagon Alley were filled with the usual pre-school year chaos. Children and parents were coming out of the woodwork, or so it seemed, with shops filled to capacity as old and new students alike struggled to find all of the necessary items on their back-to-school lists. Unseen above them sat an odd young man bundled up in a buttoned-up brown leather coat, tan scarf, and a gray toboggan that covered most of his chin-length blond-brown hair. He held one hand out in front of him, studying his nails, before pulling a nail file from one of his many pockets and setting to work. Beside him sat a short young woman in a patchwork jacket and uncontrollable dark brown curls. The duo sat on the edge of the roof of one of the stores on the main street, legs dangling in the air, watching the hustle and bustle below. The man sighed, dropping his hands in disgust.
"What are we doing up here?" Jack asked, looking at Puck. The female sprite lifted her chin from her hands to meet his gaze, and let out a sigh of her own, though her's rang with the impatience of a teacher with a slow pupil.
"We're watching," she answered, as though it should be obvious. "If Oberon wants us to blend in with the students, then we need to watch how they act."
"But why? They're just kids. We know how kids act. Hell, most of the time we act more like kids then those little buggers down there."
Puck just shook her head, never losing the air that she thought Jack was being a simpleton. "These are wizard children. They're different. You've never spent any time around wizards, and it's been far too long since I've had any dealings with them. So we need to observe how they act before we go in and completely give our selves away to anyone paying attention."
"Oh." Jack looked at the nail file in his hand, then back down to the street below them. "So…what now?"
A sigh of defeat was his answer. Puck hung her head before reaching over and snatching the nail file from the pooka's hand, elating a "'ey now!" from Jack. It disappeared into one of her many pockets. "Would you stop that?" she snapped. "We have to figure out how we're going to do this." Puck tapped her chin with a finger. "We can't go in there as strangers…though I don't really relish the idea of going in as brother and sister either."
"I should think that cousins ought to do nicely," answered a regal voice. The sprites turned to see Oberon and Titania standing on the roof behind them. Their king stepped forward before continuing.
"Everything is in order at the school. You've both been added to the rostrums, in the appropriate houses and years. No one in the administration should notice your arrival." Jack and Puck stood and met their lord and lady as he spoke, though when Jack though Puck wasn't looking, he tried to reach around her into the pocket he'd seen his nail file vanish into. Oberon rolled his eyes as the two scuffled, and rose his voice to catch their attention.
"You'll each be responsible for certain children." The jesters separated and again stood before Oberon, though a few quick jabs and pokes were still exchanged every couple of seconds. The lord pulled two sheets of paper from his coat and handed one to each of them. "Unfortunately, the children are housed rather unevenly. So Jack, you'll be responsible for one boy, while Puck will have the other three."
"Well why does she get three?" Jack protested. "Why can't I have three and she get the one?"
Oberon just glared at him for a moment, crossing his arms across his chest. "Because she's older and because I said so," he answered. The lord turned back to where Puck was standing…or at least had been standing…
Precariously balanced at the edge of the corner, Puck was squatted hands over feet, looking curiously at something down on the street. It had caught her eye while Jack was protesting his orders, and she'd lost no time in heading to the edge to see what was happening. She'd spied three of their soon-to-be charges on the street below- two boys and one girl. One of the boys and the girl, one with bright red hair, the other with mousy brown, had been coming up one side of the street, while the other boy (who was a pale blond) stalked up to them from the other. Puck watched with delight as the three appeared to have some sort of confrontation. Indeed, the boys even looked close to brawling.
Eventually they separated, the blond boy shoving past the other two and continuing down the street. He must have said something nasty, because the girl had to stop the red-head from charging after him. Puck was almost disappointed—she was curious as to what would have happened. As she watched the children, an idea occurred to her, and she tapped her fingers together as she pondered it.
"Puck?" Oberon called, recognizing his changeling's present state, and somewhat worried (and curious) as to how it might interfere with their plans. There was no response for a moment; Puck was still thinking, rolling her idea over in her mind. Oh yes…that just might work…if they did it correctly, of course.
"Oh Jaaaack," Puck called in a sing-song tone, completely ignoring Oberon. She had a particularly wicked grin on her face. "I think I know just how we can pull this off."