Author's note: Well, here it is. Finally. The first chapter of my first fanfiction. I've had this idea for ages, but I never really wrote it down and was happy with it until now. Let me know how it is. Let me know if you like my portrayal of the canons, if my OC is a Mary Sue (something I've been wondering about), if the plot – so far – is any good, if you hate it, just review please! And just to let y'all know, this story is unbeta'd as of now, so if there're mistakes, blame me.
P.S.: If you wish to beta, just send me a note ^^
Summary: Jane Waters is an exceptional seer with some problems. She doesn't want to make friends, doesn't believe in free will, and certainly doesn't want to be with her 'soul mate'. Who thinks that kind of thing exists, anyways? Not her.
Pairings: James S. Potter/OC (later on), Tom Riddle/OC (briefly)
Warnings: Possible mentions of homosexual romances (in much later chapters), slight OOCness in canon characters, epilogue what epilogue?.
Word count (chapter): 1,537
Word count (total): 1,537
Disclaimer: If I was JKR, would I be here? hell no. I'd be out there actually publishing shit. Seriously, though, I don't own the characters and settings, ect.
('.') (^3^) ('.')
It is, for the most part, a matter of personal opinion when you are attempting to pinpoint the precise time at which Jane Waters' life changed completely. Personally, I believe that it wasn't just one moment in which her life changed completely, but rather a series of events, of dominos, that altered it. Most unfortunately, I am not entirely positive she would believe me. If I ever do communicate my thoughts to her, she will point out that not even I can fully comprehend how her mind and life work together, how it all fits into the organized chaos that fascinates me so. She does respect my opinion and understands it from an objective point of view; for that, I am thankful.
Like I said, it is a matter of opinion, so perhaps you should see the facts and divulge your own theory before siding with Jane or me.
('.') (^3^) ('.')
Jane was born into a family that was, at the time, wealthy and influential. What gave them such importance was the fact that her mother was a seer, her grandmother was a seer, her great-grandmother was a seer, and so on. The family was composed strictly of pureblood witches and wizards, but the strong seer gene was more important then. People trusted prophecies readily; one could say that it is Jane's fault that they do not any longer.
At an early age, she showed signs of magic. If the seer gene was to develop within the youngest Waters, it would not do so until she was older, and so her mother had no reason to worry that her only child would taint the name that held so much leverage in the wizarding world.
She was unusually quiet and contemplative throughout her childhood, taking to studying like a duck to water. Instead of spending her days in the company of others her age, Jane stayed shut in her room as often as possible, nose constantly buried in books thicker than her waist. The result was an overprotective mother who didn't let her precious little girl out of the house save for holiday visits to relatives and daily exercise, because 'a strong, healthy mind should always be paired with a strong, healthy body'. And of course, there was the inevitable result of a young girl who seemed to have never experienced periods of immaturity and considered a good time to be a philosophical debate with the nearest talking portrait. She did not know anyone that she considered a friend until the age of eleven.
At that point she was enrolled in the esteemed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, an eleven-year-old girl with a mind whose brilliance equaled that of people twice her years.
('.') (^3^) ('.')
It was too bright and too noisy at Hogwarts during the nighttime hours. Jane was used to complete darkness, a darkness in which it mattered not whether she had her eyes open or not, so total it was. And she was used to near-absolute silence, with only the heavy tick-tocking of an old grandfather clock. She had, of course, attempted to block out the whispers of sheets and steady breathing and snores coming from her roommates, but it wasn't much help in the least. No matter how tightly she shut the bed hangings, moonlight managed to sneak into her sight.
Silencing spells, Jane had learned rather quickly, were meant to be cast on oneself to keep from being heard by others. They were not exactly meant to be cast on your peers so that they might stay quiet in the night. If they awoke and found that their voices were gone, after all, they would surely question why, and Jane wouldn't have that. Plus, silencing spells did not block out the shuffling sheets and occasional patter of feet across cold stone floors.
"Time," she whispered. The face of the clock that floated in the air by the far left post of her bed lit up briefly before fading again, leaving a slight glow behind in the semidarkness. She sighed. It was three thirty-two a.m., too late to bother trying at sleep and too early to get up for the day. Strange. Five years of attending the school, and she had yet to accustom herself to the dorm life.
The first night back after a summer of pure home was always the hardest. With a second quiet sigh, Jane sat up in bed and ran a hand through her messy brown hair before dragging it over her lightly freckled face and covering her green-blue eyes, digging her knuckles in to rub the sleep out. That evening she was to attend yet another one of Slughorn's supper parties. The only thing that kept her going was Tom. She smiled to herself, pushing the covers aside and stepping into her slippers.
The Common Room was silent and warm – understandably so at such an ungodly hour of the morning. Jane flicked her wand at the nearby candles, illuminating the small corner that she so often occupied. The flickering light failed to bring light to the arching ceilings and deep shadows of Ravenclaw's home, but brought enough to brighten the papers already laid out on the scarred tabletop. Hours ticked away as she sat doing extra work for her NEWT classes. They were trying, but worth it. Especially when she saw the look on Tom's face when she reminded him of his grades and how she had surpassed them with flying colors.
('.') (^3^) ('.')
"What are you planning on doing when you graduate, Jane?" Tom asked. The pair paused at the landing at which they would have to separate.
"You ask me almost every day," she responded. "My answer hasn't changed. If I had a choice, I would work for the Ministry. They've given me three more offers since we last talked."
"But it's the Ministry."
"I know you don't like the Ministry. I'm just thinking about my future, though. They pay good galleons, you know that."
"They're the enemy, Jane. Why don't you come with me when you've graduated? Take your NEWTs a year early. I know Dumbledore's said he'd be more than happy to let you. I talk to him too. We could start that organization I've told you about."
"Tom… Well, first of all, it's Professor Dumbledore. Second, I know you talk to him. He talks to me about you, how he's worried about you. And third, I've told you about my views on your – organization. It's dangerous Tom. Stupid, dangerous, and stupid. I love you, but I think I'm even more worried about you than Dumbledore is. You're scaring me. All this talk of such dark magic, gathering… followers."
"That's only because you can see what'll supposedly happen to people. Things can change. People can change."
She turned away, rubbing non-existent tears from her eyes. It was all about the show, sometimes. "Things can't change, Tom. They just don't. I've never, ever seen something from my visions not come true. It just doesn't happen. And you're in so deep with this. Even if I did believe in, well, free will, I wouldn't think that you'd want to change. You have changed, and not for the better. But you've been changed for good."
He ran his long, slender fingers through his hair, sending a shiver down Jane's spine. It reminded her of another time, another situation, one that she did not want to think of. "You just don't understand."
She shook her head. "Goodbye, Tom. I'll see you tomorrow. Lunch?"
"As always."
('.') (^3^) ('.')
Jane was eager. She had finished her NEWTs a year early, and had just technically graduated from Hogwarts. That, however, was not why she was eager. She was happy because she and Tom were going into Hogsmeade to celebrate. He had never actually taken her out before, even though they had, in a way, been a 'thing' since her fourth year. They got each other Christmas and birthday gifts, visited and wrote each other over the summers; he would spend winter and spring break at her family's house, and they ate lunch together when at school.
They understood one another. They gave one another healthy competition in school, they made one another smile and laugh. Things had changed that year, though – his seventh and her sixth year. It had begun with his constant pestering about what she was going to do with her life. He wanted desperately for her to join him after graduation, and she had said yes if only to satiate him. And then her visions had begun to focus on one thing, and one thing only. She was trying to ignore them, but they had become more and more persistent.
She banned those thoughts from her head as she ran a brush yet again through her hair and smoothed the front of her white, perfectly ironed button-down shirt. It was all she owned. That kind of shirt. Her mother insisted that she wore them, along with blue and black plaid skirts, nude stockings, and polished black shoes. "Anything else would positively ruin your reputation. You are the image of perfection, the family is the image of perfection, and you will not change that."
('.') (^3^) ('.')
Author's note: Let me know what you think! I'll upload another chapter ASAP. If I get some feedback, that is. Seriously, even one review would keep me going! I was gonna continue this chapter with her and Tom's… er… date, but I ran out of juice.