It's been three years; three very long years since I've been out of Hogwarts. Okay so three years really isn't that long but it sure feels like eons ago since I walk the corridors of Hogwarts. Life really hasn't changed too much since then. For example, I still live with my best friends, Lilly, and still have lunch every day with her and Hugo (Lilly's cousin). We have a cozy little flat right in London; close to Quidditch Weekly and Ollivander's, where I work. The business of wand making normally passes down within the family but Ollivander's eldest had no interest in taking over the business and his youngest since deceased; I was chosen to eventually take over the business. After receiving my own beech wand I had a desire to learn why I had received that particular wood. I studied wand lore as a hobby at school and now working with it. Life really couldn't be sweeter, seriously. I'm living with my best friend (Who I'm currently talking too during this monolog), working my dream job and living up life. The down side: James Potter.
Of course it would be Lilly to bring me back to reality. She says it's her job to interview and keep people grounded but I'm not famous or even near her line of work. But none the less, she interrogates such as she's doing now:
"Margarita Jane Parker better known to her friends as MJ or just Parker is a two year Hogwarts graduate working with Ollivader just sold her first wand made by herself: Rowan 13 inches with Phoenix feather core. How do you feel?"
"Shut it Lilly" I laughed. Lilly had been my best friend since we started we were sorted into Gryffindor together, "When's Hugo getting here?" Hugo, one of her cousins, was my other best friend and typically joined us for lunch.
All three of us work within London. Me for Ollivander's, Lilly is a reporter for Quidditch Weekly and Hugo worked at the ministry and since we don't all go to school anymore we made a pact to have lunch together every single day at the Leaky Cauldron joined typically by one of our other classmates mainly the Scamander twins.
"Probably following around his mum or Uncle Percy" shrugged Lilly and then right on cue walked in Hugo.
"So you sold the first wand you ever made. Nice job MJ" he said while ordering our food from Mrs. Longbottom or Alice's mom as we more know her as. I just sold my first wand this morning and already everyone seems to know. News travels fast in the magical world, faster than a rumor in a small town.
"Thanks. Why were you late?" I asked him
"Well…um…"…Lilly cut him off, "I knew it! You finally asked her out" Her meaning Jill Stevens or better known as Hugo's favorite co-worker and not for her brains might I add.
"Well what did she say" I asked
"She said no" he said pointedly
"You were better off with Alice. I cannot believe I just said that," Said Lilly having little sympathy for her cousin
"Come on, Alice wasn't that bad" Hugo said defensively to which I countered,
"Hugo, she cheated on you with one of tu mejor amigo"
"You mean my ex-best friend" It's safe to say Hugo was still a bit bitter about his best friend and girlfriend sleeping behind his back
"Look, Hugh I know what Lorcan did was awful and I know he misses you" I said trying to make him feel better on a touchy subject
"Plus" Lilly added, "you don't have to plot revenge. Being with Alice is bad enough punishment for any one guy. What was her excuse again?"
"Alright, alright," he put up his hands again defensively, "Wasn't my fault she didn't think I could handle her career (meaning Alice). As a budding author working at Flourish and Blott's" said Hugo with heavy sarcasm reaching the end of the sentence.
"Yes because working at Flourish and Blott's is such a winning career choice. I can see her now as the next Gildaroy Lockhart" Lilly was mirthless. She and Alice never liked each other probably because Alice fancied Albus more than she wanted to be friends with Lilly. It wasn't that she wanted Hugo for her name since Alice's dad happened to be Professor Longbottom, but more for her ability to keep up with queen bee status. How girl like that come from someone like Professor Longbottom was something that I could never fathom. So when Lilly says he was better off with Alice one knew that she really did not like Jill Stevens. But honestly I didn't like Jill Stevens either.
"Can we get back to a less revolting topic" I asked my best friends.
"There's nothing wrong with Jill" Hugo puffed up defensively resembling his uncle Percy.
"Right Hugo, you and Jill Stevens is about as possible as James and I"
"You know MJ, you and James have potential" added Lilly. Insert face palm at the mention of the impossible.
"Lilly I hope you realized that I was using it as an analogy showing Hugo that the thought of him and Jill Stevens is improbable and again, slightly revolting"
"Didn't work MJ" said Hugo, "In fact it made me realize I have a chance with Jill after all"
"Again can we find something else to talk about" I have such amazing friends right here.
"Fine, any ways we have the engagement party tonight at the Burrow. MJ, we'll meet at our flat and then apparate from there. I cannot believe you've been my best friend for almost ten years and have never been to the Burrow" Lilly was always a control freak and family oriented so really it is surprising that I've never been there.
"As strange as it sounds Lilly, I have a family larger than yours that I spend every summer with. Just Ask Hugo"
"It's true, she dragged me to a family function and I thought I was going to suffocate under the massive amounts of relatives"
"Fine, fine. It doesn't matter. Just meet me at the flat after work. Well I'm off, see you two later" and like that Lilly was off to look at terrifically good-looking men all day. I went to meet Lilly at work one day; that's when I discovered why she was so interested into her job. Heck, I would be too, looking at fine blokes all day.
Work was a bit average for the rest of the day. Really it's not busy most days during the school year so I have free time to study and hone in my wood working skills. I always loved working with a beech as it was the same wood for my wand but that's a little bias. In the shop it's pretty busy from July to August as it seems every first year going to Hogwarts likes to shop at the last minute leaving it pretty crazy in the shop. Some days I wonder how Ollivander got along without me.
Most days I would spend organizing the wands by wood and then by core. I liked to have some order when I search for the right wand for young witches and wizards. Finding the right wand it a tricky business and I liked to simplify by knowing where to look for the wand I need. One would think, since Ollivander has been working this way so long that changing the store would have struck a nerve with him. In reality I'd say he's glad to have me organize even if it takes me a significant amount of time (I'm just finishing up Dogwood today!)
During this time I tend to let my mind wander to various topics form wizarding politics to muggle futbol; go Real Madrid! But today I was reflecting to lunch earlier with Lilly and Hugo. Once upon a time I would have thought a future with James and myself was plausible. In fact I had been in love with him since my first year; key word: had. I had been in love with him. I was a small little Gryffindor and while I could speak English, more days than not, I would rather talk in my native tongue of Español.
"Yo quiero Effi! I was jumping between three third year Hufflepuff while howling for my Effi to return to me. Dominique Weasley told me Hufflepuffs were not the brightest but were hard working and nice. If they were so nice why did they take my pygmy puff Effi? They continued to toss her to each other and laugh at me.
"No one can understand you. Can't you speak English" he talked to me like I was two. They thought I couldn't understand what they were saying
"Why are you even here? I bet you can't even perform magic" said the second boy. I would later in life learn that his name was Derrick. He tossed it to the third boy who went on to decide since I can't do magic that I was going to take over for Filch.
"Aha, I think we need to show her what's going to happen around here" He snickered giving me a bad feeling about what was going to happen. Jelly-legs Jinx, and then they didn't have the decency to at least give me back Effi. Sure jinx me but taking my pet to? Dominique lied; Hufflepuffs are mean and I never wanted to be friends with one again.
It was then that my hero stepped in to save me: James Potter.
"Give the girl back her toy" he said. James sounded liked King Arthur and the three Hufflepuffs were to bow down to their king.
"Effi is not a toy! She's a pet and my best friend" I said indigently.
"She talks" yelped one of my tormentors as he pointed a finger at me. James glared and they cowered. I would have too if I wasn't so enamored with his king like qualities and that I was still under the Jelly-legs Jinx. I could be his Guinevere but of course I wouldn't dump him for some knight like Lancelot.
"Here you go, uh…" said James snapping me out of my reverie about Camelot
"Parker, my friends call me Parker" if only Lilly and Hugo counted as friends.
"Well then Parker, stay away from third years and keep your pet in your room from now on" He was scolding me. He was only a fourth year; but yet again, he was James.
"But they're Hufflepuffs! Dominique said they were harmless as they were too stupid to hurt anyone"
"And you believed her" I nodded, "Don't you have your own mind? Don't listen to anyone and learn to make your own judgement"
"Why should I listen to you?" I asked him. I may have thought him immaculate but that didn't make his word the authority.
Of course I didn't get an answer. I smiled as I thought about the memory as that was the very point where I first fell for James Potter. It's too bad that's as far of a relationship we had all through Hogwarts. To him I was only Lilly's little friend. Granted, this was just my opinion of the situation and to my later knowledge, it was wrong.
But that didn't matter anymore. Any chance of a relationship was dashed after the Sally Perkins lie. Of course that's another story for another time. I must have let my mind wander off too much because when I looked back down I was sorting the Dogwood with Dragon Heart core with the Phoenix feather core. Being this off in my organizing was a sign that it was probably time to leave work. I didn't have a set work schedule and could leave at night whenever I wanted. Of course this was only if I got a good portion of work done.
"Well, I'm off then. I'll see you tomorrow" I shouted into the back
"That's fine dear just don't forget that next weekend we are going out looking for wood. It'll be good practice for you" Said Ollivander coming out of the towers of wands.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world"
"And Congrats to you Miss Parker for selling the first wand picked out and made all by yourself. I'm sure the young man who bought that will do well"
"I sure hope so Ollivander. I put hard work into that wand and I plan on seeing how it's been working for him"
"Miss Parker, the first wand you sell is a memory you won't forget."
"I don't plan on forgetting that wand. Is has a core from the sibling of the bird who gave me my core in my wand" And with that I was off to my own flat. It felt nice having my own apartment here in London but I really did miss the coast of Spain. The Mediterranean was beautiful year round but at least with my family living there I could go and visit when and if I can get a weekend off which was not any time soon.
"Hey Lilly," I called out when I got home, "I'm going to change and I'll be ready". Now was the hard part: finding an actual outfit to wear. Eventually I settled on a red cocktail dress that flared out starting at the waist. Casual but still dressy for the occasion and red looked great with my dark hair and skin tone. It's times like this that I'm happy with my hair and skin since most days I was jealous of Lilly and her red hair and pale skin. I look in the mirror at my olive skin, large green eyes and midnight black hair amazed at how different I looked than most all of my friends here. At Hogwarts I would stand out as most families were traditional English folk; heck I'm lucky I could speak English well enough as I didn't learn English until I was about ready to head to Hogwarts and now I'd like to my English is pretty good.
"Hmm, I like that dress. Have one in a different color that I could steal?" asked Lilly
"I think I have one similar in a darker green. Might wash you out though but try it on"
"You're a doll MJ" exclaimed Lilly before raiding my closet
"You got home hours before me and now you're telling me by looking through my closet that you are in fact not ready?" I asked while watching my best friend dig into the closet even though the dress is right in front of her not that I felt like telling her any time soon.
"We were already going to be late so it didn't matter if I put in a few extra minutes to look good"
"Lilly, does it really matter? I mean most of the people there are your family who've see your worst"
"I may be related but you're not"
"Where are you going with this" I was a little worried about where Lilly was dragging this conversation.
"MJ you're single, hot and I have plenty of male cousins whom you would work well with"
"Most normal girls would not set up their best friend with their relatives. You do realize this?"
"I'm just a girl who doesn't want to see their best friend with a douche bag"
"Lilly, you said all your guy relatives were douche bags"
"Yes, but I can track them down without repercussions if they hurt you"
By this time she had found my dress and put it on. We were lucky that we were both the same size as neither of us ever grew up to be tall. Both of her parents are on the shorter end and well, I'm just short. We had apparated to the Burrow where the rounds of seeing everyone began. First was to greet the lovely couple for which the party was thrown for, that way I could go off and creep on people in the corner instead of having awkward conversation with a bunch of people I hardly know. I'm a right old social butterfly don't 'cha know.
"Courtney, Fred, congrats! How are both of you" I asked as I glided up to them within the kitchen area of the Burrow
"Thanks Parker, we've been doing really well. But this wedding stuff is a bit much for me; luckily I'm marrying the most organized women ever. You should really see her and my mum when they talk wedding. It's like hawks going in for their prey. Scary," Fred shuddered a little bit but quickly shrugged his shoulders in an 'I'm sorry' way after Courtney gave him a knowing look. It was almost disgusting how in love they were with each other; having all their silent conversations. Courtney and Fred were both strong silent types but shared a special bond that one could see without them having to even open their mouths. Part of me knows the only reason I find their love so disgusting is because I'm jealous that I don't have that.
"Enough about our love life," Said Courtney, "How is yours coming?" Is she crazy thinking that I have a love life, oh wait Courtney is living in a land of love and probably does not see that not everyone is blessed with someone in their life.
"Well, I'm starting to really consider about getting hitched to my work."
"You're in love with Ollivander" Fred just stared at me like I said Voldemort had babies with a goat
"No, Fred! I mean the wands like in wood that you wave not Ollivander. He's older than my great-great grandparent's graves"
"Wands that you wave…" said Fred suggestively
"Fred, you pig, you know that's not what I meant" Fred just chuckled to himself and of course Courtney smiled at him like he was an angle and not a dirty-minded Weasley.
"Don't worry Parker. It just takes patience; take me for example. I had to wait until he wasn't a douche bag just too even talk to him" It was true, Fred was a real jerk to her before they got together
"Wasn't exactly easy waiting around for you" He said
"Whatever do you mean?"
"It took you forever for you to even talk to me. Drove me nuts that first bit to even get your attention"
"That's what happens Fred when you are nasty to someone every single day for seven years" and here they were going to squabble about who had it worse. I'd place my bet on Courtney any day; she's a Slytherin and knows Fred well; which is not a good combination if Fred had any hope of winning this fight.
"Well thanks for the advice. I think that I'm just going to walk around for a little bit" I walked off quickly, as it was starting to get awkward watching a small squabble even though knowing those two it would last a total of five minutes then things would go back to normal.
After about two hours the party was starting lose its appeal. Lilly was off talking to all her cousins and I would too if I actually knew them. Other than Lilly I knew Hugo and Albus both at this time were off with significant others and I didn't really feel like barging in on them. Surprisingly, Hugo managed to get Jill Stevens to come with him. Stalking them has taken up the majority of my time and has allowed me to see many others of things; such as Lilly talking it up to Lysander Scamander. This would be a big deal if it wasn't already obvious for years that they had a thing for each other.
"You've noticed them too" I heard a deeper voice from behind me. I turned around and it happened to be Lilly's oldest brother, James.
"This is the most obvious they've made it in the last two years, so yeah I noticed"
"You are her best friend," He sounded slightly depressed but maybe that was because he was losing his best friend to Courtney and didn't have anyone to replace him, "How have you been Parker". It always hurt for some reason that James only used my last name but mostly because I knew that he didn't know my real name. Not many do.
"Not bad. How about you Potter" I could use last names too
"I'm hurt Parker" He put his hand to his heart, "After all these years of being my little sister's best friend and you've only used my last name"
"What are you talking about" I've called him James, or at least I have to other people
"Parker, I have used your first name all these years and you still can't call me James"
"I think you've lost it Potter. We've never used each other's first names"
"Yes, I do. I call you Parker every time I see you"
"James…"
"You said my name!"
"I'm not finished talking," he shut his mouth to let me finish, "James, Parker is not my first name"
It seemed like eternity after I said Parker wasn't my first name. In reality it probably was only five seconds of him just staring at me with his mouth wide open. It was starting to make me uncomfortable just having him gaping at me. I could tell near the end of the five awkward seconds of silence he was starting to feel uncomfortable or maybe he felt like an idiot; both were possible. James knew he messed this one up; as potter he made is clear what he was feeling. Example A) How to tell if a Potter said the wrong thing: The ground becomes suddenly interesting to them, a hand goes in the hair and then they draw circles with their newly interesting feet. It was safe to say James had completed each step making the situation even worse.
"Well, um…I think that I'll just head home now…" I said as I was getting up from my seat next to James
"Wait Parker…er…I don't know your first name, don't leave me here to fend all of them off by myself"
"Really…those people you're fending off are your relatives. And I quote, 'Parker…er…I don't know your first name' is really suppose to make me want to stay?" He taken one too many bludgers to the head if he thought I was going to stay and talk if he hasn't figured out my name in 10 years.
"You were three years younger than me. Did you really expect me to know your name?"
"You know Sally Perkins name but then again you knew her better than me. I think you know where I am going with this" The second half of that technically should have been said in my head but yeah, that clearly slipped out judging by the look on Potter's face.
"You too! How did you know about Perkins"
"Am I that invisible to you James? I was Sally's roomie for 7 years along with being your younger sister's best friend. At least you could have learned my name by now" Yes Lilly, James and I totally have romantic potential.
"You weren't invisible" he said dejectedly, "I just was…you know what, never mind. You probably want to go now." I very much wanted to go. It didn't take long to make it outside of the barriers at the Burrow to apparate back home. Lilly wouldn't be home for a few hours if at all; she was talking to Lysander and as that was starting to maybe amount to something I had no chance of seeing my best friend until morning. It also didn't help that I had left a Weasley party early; that doesn't happen…ever.
I hopped in the shower thinking about what happened last night. The thing is, that I've told James my real name before. Like Margarita not MJ or anything such and he didn't remember. Of course I should expect him to remember as he was a seventh year, just won the house cup and had drank way too much cervesa de la noche. My name wasn't the only thing he clearly forgot about over the last three years. I shouldn't have thought about that night but it still hurt when James could remember a thing thus the joke about Sally Perkins. Sally Perkins really was a nice girl but she was so in love with James that I pretty sure the only reason she got an O on her potions exam was from trying to get James to fall for her so many times. Sally Perkins could brew the strongest love potion Professor Zabini had ever seen.
It was probably two-three in the morning by the time Lilly got back in which isn't going to be fun in the morning since she has early Saturday breakfast with her family this morning.
"What took you so long" I asked her even though I shouldn't be up myself as I work tomorrow
"Talking" one word answers were not Lilly, something went down with her last night
"If you mean taking all night to confess your undying love for each other, than yeah I know that part"
"We did not confess our 'undying love' to each other" Lilly used quotation marks around the words undying love. That didn't stop Lilly from blushing.
"So there were some words that passed between you two" She shook her head but blushed even more, "Aha! It wasn't words was it" Lilly covered her head into the blankets
"You know Lilly, I'm sure you and Alice will get along well as sister-in-laws" I laughed knowing Lilly did not enjoy Alice
"I can see the Scamander Christmas now" Laughed Lilly, "Maybe I'll help out in the kitchen and 'accidently' set her on fire"
"Try getting that one passed Luna but then again Luna is not much of a fan of Alice either" we giggled like little third years at Hogwarts. You'd say that we needed some sleep but who sleeps anymore. Wait, I sleep.
"MJ, before you go to work a letter from Valencia came today" Lilly said as I got up off the couch we were perched on. I shrugged it off telling her that I'd deal with it later. It was probably going to be about some family thing that I had to attend where over 250 people will be there and I'll only know half. Yeah, that sounds about average of mail from my relatives.
My family is hard to explain because it's so large. At the moment though, there is only eight of my first cousins but I am very close to even my fourth cousins. Valencia is the oldest cousin two years above me then there is Paolo, me, my sister Thalia, Paolo's sister Estafani, my youngest sister Paloma and the youngest cousin Isadora. Wait, I lied, I have one more primo; Alexi which is a boy name. Mi Madre is Spanish while my father is from England but he moved in my second year with my mother back to Salamanca, Spain to be with her family. Mi Madre is one of seven, and mi abuela is one of fourteen all back in Spain. Of course Lilly and Hugo know I have a huge family (seen with Hugo's own eyes) but they don't know mi familia. They don't know that I haven't spoken to Thalia in two years; they don't know I look up to Valencia even if she's an alcoholic. They don't know. There is one person who did know and again that leaves us with James Potter.
