Title: Ripple Effect
You'd be surprised just how far a single act in the throes of hate can go to change a person's life. A single, spitefully spoken word could bring a person to the depths of despair, a single action could spawn a lifelong vendetta, a single thought could bring down an empire.
When Andrew Joshua Talon spitefully threw away every last Hogwarts book in his home, wishing that he had never been involved in the world of magic, he would never know just how far four of those books would travel and just how much the world would change because of it…
[Picture Emily Rose (Haven; SyFy) when you think of Jessica.]
Prologue- Jess
A Year and a Half Prior To Canon Start
"Alright class, that's all for today." Jessica smiled as she watched her pupils happily jump out of their seats, grabbing their bags as they dashed out of the class. "Don't forget to study; we might be having a pop quiz sometime this week."
Then, her eyes narrowed as they fell upon the thin, malnourished form of one of her pupils, the only one to not rush out the door. "Marianne? Please call Dudley in for me. Tell him it won't be for long and that he isn't in any trouble. Potter, you stay where you are."
The boy, shaggy black hair falling over his forehead and into his nearly glowing eyes, sighed and trudged back to his seat. He'd just shuffled back into his seat when the –ahem- slightly overweight form of Dudley Dursley waddled into the class. "Yes, Miss Drew?"
"Tell your parents, Dudley, that I'll be by later with Mr. Potter." She smiled at the boy. "He failed to submit his assignment yesterday and his grades are slipping, not that they were ever good before but I'd like to continue with the class average I've had for the past three years and I won't have him ruining that for me."
The boy frowned in consternation, trying to understand what she meant, before abruptly perking up. "He's in trouble again, isn't he?"
Jessica smiled indulgently. "Yes, Dudley, he is. Just tell your mum that and that I'll be by later to drop him off, okay?"
The overweight child grinned, nodding to show that he understood, before turning to the other child in the room and pulling a face. "Nye-hah, you're in trouble again, freaky freak!" He taunted in what could only be described as a stage whisper before tearing out of the classroom like the hounds of heel were on his heels.
The class was quiet with the boy's departure save for the sounds of Jessica's movements as she walked up to the boy's desk, pulled a chair from the desk beside his and turned it to face the boy before sitting in it.
Then, the staring began; Jessica setting her hands on the boy's table and staring into his bright green eyes while he sat straight in his chair and stared right back into her hazel eyes.
Someone had to break.
It started with a slight, almost spasm-like movement of the shoulders, a gasp of air accompanying it, followed by a firming up of lips then more spasms and tightening of stomachs, then the firm lips shifting into tiny grins that grew by the second until…
Teacher and student exploded into peals of laughter, unable to contain their mirth any longer.
"I just don't get tired of it!" Jessica snorted between guffaws. "He looks like a ball, is shaped like a ball and waddles like the ball of blubber that he is!"
"You think that's funny?" Harry gasped as tears pooled in the corners of his eyes. "You should have seen the face he made; he looked like a bulldog mixed with a walrus and an unhealthy helping of orangutan!"
"And his voice!" They chorused before dissolving into teary puddles of mirth.
This was Jessica Drew: finished from a respectable university over in the States at 22, came to live with her aunt in London the same year, found a job as a teaching assistant at Amanda Privet's school the following year (it helped that her aunt knew the last living Privet quite well), became a full teacher the year after and now, at 26, she was the closest thing one Harry James Potter had to a mother, an aunt and a cool big sister figure all rolled up into one impressive figure.
"So- oh God that was a good laugh- what would you like to have?" She asked between breaths as they finally wound down with the laughter. "I've got mac-and-cheese and two BLTs."
She'd taken an interest in the sad looking malnourished boy that seemed to always bury himself in books he'd borrow from the library when she'd been moved by Mrs. Privet to take the fifth grade. She had come to understand that Harry, a fourth grader back then, was a lonely, abused child that sought friendship but was too damned scared to try. The first time she'd held him back in school, he had seemed terrified of her. It had felt like a lance of ice stabbing right through her gut when she saw the obvious fear in his eyes. She'd had to take things slowly, especially since he wasn't in her class but things had gradually gotten better. Now, as the fifth grade gradually drew to an end, she believed that he saw her as an older sister figure because she definitely saw him as a younger brother.
"I'll have the BLT please." He grinned at her. "If you made the mac-and-cheese, and I suspect you did, then the BLT's the only safe choice."
"Why you little runt!" She growled playfully as she reached across the table to muss his already shaggy hair. "I should starve you for that one!"
A few months back, that last comment would have had him throwing up his defensive walls and retreating into himself. Now, he just laughed at her and ran to get her lunch bag from the table.
"So, how're your eyes?" She asked a few minutes later between bites of her lunch. Even if it was only to herself, she had to admit that the BLTs were likely a better choice than the cooked meal. 'Less to screw up, I'd guess.' She was utter shit at making anything that required more than a few minutes at the stove.
"They still hurt." Harry replied between bites of the first sandwich. He'd caught her slight grimace when she bit into the mac-and-cheese and had decided that he'd join in the agony. Oh, the things he did for love! At least she'd suffer a bit before he did so. "I guess it's my fault for reading by the light of Dudley's old toys."
"Ya guess?" She jibed playfully. "Honestly, Harry, I'm almost tempted not to show you what I've got in store for you today!" 'And, hopefully, it'll be a lot smaller compared to what I plan on giving you later this year.'
"What?!" He seemed almost stricken upon hearing her words. "Come on, Jess! You promised!"
"I know I did but I can't keep encouraging such a dangerous habit!" 'Okay', she decided as she pushed the bowl away from herself, 'no more forays into cooking! This shit is vile!'
"Aw, come on Jess!" Harry stopped eating and focused completely into projecting his pleas into his eyes as he stared at her. He even added a whine to his voice for good measure. "Plea~se?"
"Okay, okay!" She caved in almost immediately "Finish up with that and we can go."
If he hadn't already made up his mind, then her words certainly galvanized his decision. Stuffing the last portion of the sandwich into his mouth, he slid the case over to her and nearly choked trying to convey his words.
"Jesus Christ, Harry! Calm down!" She exclaimed as she quickly made it over to his side and rubbed his back. "Thanks for the offer Harry but do try not to kill yourself!"
As he calmed down and got his breath back, Jessica polished off the proffered sandwich, thanked him again and led him to the library, explaining a few things to him as they moved.
"… I'm to deal with the newest batch of books and since I had the weekend off, I decided to sort them out over the weekend." She finished as they walked into the library. It wasn't a particularly large room but it was well arranged, the books all neatly arranged by various themes on different shelves save for a pile on a table in the corner that she led them toward. "When I saw these, though, I felt like you'd like to go through them before I lump them in with the rest of this lot."
Harry's eyes were practically shining as he rushed over to go through the stack. "Last of the Mohicans? Pride and Prejudice? The Swiss Family Robinson?! Oh Jess you are the absolute best!"
"And don't you forget it!" She replied smugly. Inside, though, she was just happy to see the boy so excited. "And that's not all. Apparently, whoever owned this stack was a bit of a magic nut too. Check these four."
Instantly, he was by her side, almost like he's teleported (sure, and dragons existed and had weird names like Hungarian Horn-Tail or Chinese Fireball) there. "Lemme see, lemme see!"
"Calm down there bub!" She laughed as she fished the quartet of books out of the stack. "Well, here they are: Transfiguration 101; Ancient Runes for Modern Youths; Charms: the Absolute Basics and Fact or Fantasy: the Magical World's Reality. What do you think?"
And, though neither she nor Mr. Talon, wherever he was, realized it, that very moment when Harry James Potter stood in the library, running his hands over the books, was the moment things changed…