AN) Please review and give your honest opinion. I'm still shaky on whether I should continue the story or just nix that idea.
Jude shot a skeptical look at Melanie.
"Mel, enough with your stupid, little games. Now, where's that little bastard?" Jude asked in an annoying manner.
Melanie's jaw dropped at Jude's foul language. She was only eleven, and those words were forbidden from even partially dripping out of her mouth. "JUDE!" she whined, as if her parents were to hear all the way from god knows where they were now. At that moment, Lynn White and Scott White, Melanie and Jude's parents, walked into the door merrily.
Before their parents could set the stuff down from their shopping, Melanie quietly and shamefully stated to herself, "It's not a stupid game. I'm telling the truth; I have been all this time. I'll show them."
"'Ello Darlings, we're home!" they chimed in a synchronized fashion.
"Mum, please stop calling us that… or at least me!" Jude stated in an embarrassed tone as he walked down the steps. "I'm sixteen now, and I don't need those rubbish names to be shouted at me every single time you ever walk into a room and see me!"
Mrs. White had a shocked expression on her face. Her mouth was open like a gaping hole, and her eyes looked like they had a mixture of fury and alarm concocted in them.
"I…I…" Mrs. White stammered with a loss of words.
"Bloody hell, Jude," Mr. White spoke forcefully yet quietly into Jude's hear so that only the two of them could hear. "If you ever talk to your mother like that you'd better expect my foot to be placed right up into your- " Melanie interrupted her dad in the middle of his threat towards her blasphemous brother.
"MUM MUM MUM!" Melanie shouted eagerly. "DAD DAD DAD!"
Melanie was practically jumping down the stairs, acceptance letter in hand. She was so overjoyed that her eyes could've told her tale of happiness. She, now, knew exactly what was wrong with her. She was a witch; there wasn't another explanation to resolve her conflict of her strange mental abilities.
"Oh boy, do I have some wicked-sweet news for you guys! It's just the news I've been waiting for all this time!
"Okay, Mel, what is it?" her mother asked, trying to sound interested. Since Melanie was eleven, anything could've excited her to this extent like… she saw a bunny in the woods today, or she could've sworn that she saw Chuck Norris round-house kicking trees near their house.
Melanie explained the tale, in depth, of how she and her brother ran through the woods chasing after the mysterious owl. She just happened to leave out the cause of their excursion, because if her parents knew that she watched a horror flick without their consent, grounding was soon to be in order.
"…And then I went up into my room to go find the owl. It was sitting on my bed, and, mum, it was the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen in my life!"
"You're only eleven years old," Jude interrupted with a smirk.
"Shut up! You didn't see it up close, you GIT!" Melanie retorted, infuriated.
"Knickers- stealer!"
"AIRY FAIRY!"
"YOU ARSE!"
Melanie gasped at the putrid name. "THAT'S IT! ATLEAST I DON'T CURSE LIKE A DRUNKEN SAILOR WHEN MUM AND DAD AREN'T HOME!"
"ATLEAST I DON'T WATCH HORROR FLICKS WHEN MUM AND DAD AREN'T AROUND AND START SCREAMING 'JUDE, COME AND HELP ME! THE WITTLE SCARY CHILDREN ARE FRIGHTENING ME! EEEEEEEEEEEK'"
"That's enough!" Mr. White shouted with great force, stopping the bickering between the two rivals. "Get on with your story, Mel. Mum and I need to put everything away that we bought today."
"As I was saying before I was RUDELY INTERRUPTED BY SOME GIT, the bird had a letter in its mouth. I opened it and it had this weird crest thing on the front. It had all these different mystical looking creatures in all these weird colors. I read the letter… and it said that I was accepted into the Hogwarts, the School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Isn't that exciting, mum? Dad?"
Melanie didn't get a response. Mr. White was wide-eyed. Mrs. White looked as if she was about to bawl her eyes out. Jude had a little smirk on his face. That expression soon was wiped off as he noticed that his parents were laughing along at, what he thought was, "Melanie's little joke."
"Mum, what's wrong? Aren't you happy? I knew I wasn't crazy because I could move things with my mind!"
"M…m…move things with your mind?" Mrs. White stuttered. The tears started to move fluidly down her pale cheeks. If Mr. White hadn't draped his arm around his wife's shoulders firmly, she would've probably fallen apart. Mrs. White wasn't a strong woman when it came to emotionally wretched matters.
Mr. White stroked his wife's pale, blonde hair with his shaky fingers. He tried to stare at her with a reassuring look in his eyes, but the fear and shock was obviously seen behind that false emotion.
"Mum, what's wrong? Yes, for a while I've noticed I could move the telly remote without me touching it," Melanie stated in a confused tone. She didn't understand the worry and grief her mother was portraying. After her statement, Melanie concentrated as hard as she could and moved one of her parent's bags without the slightest touch. She forced the bag over to her mother and placed it right beside her.
"My god… that's amazing…" Mr. White let the words slip out of his mouth.
Mrs. White took the bag and threw it across the room, almost hitting Melanie. A lamp was broken and pieces shattered everywhere. Melanie stood still, not knowing what to do. She was in such a state of shock that she could've sworn she was paralyzed. It was surprising that a woman who was so obviously broken, could've used that much anger to almost hit her daughter.
"It's a wonderful gift, I think," Melanie tried to say optimistically.
"Nobody cares what you think; obviously, you've made mum quite upset by telling her what you think," snapped Jude. He was worried, himself. He didn't know what to say or do that would make matters better. Now wasn't the time for his clever jokes and charm.
After five minutes of awkward silence flooding the room, Mrs. White started to uncontrollably shriek, "MY BABY! MY POOR BABY! She's a freak, now! And it's all because of you, you bastard!" Mrs. White violently pulled her husbands arms off her and looked him harshly in the eyes. "It's your side of the family that made her this way! You foul PIG! I thought it couldn't possibly happen if Jude was… a… "squid" or whatever you call them."
"It's a squib, deary," Mr. White rebutted calmly. "And besides, he's not a squib because we're not both magically inclined. Please, don't call my family those horrific names. They were nothing but kind and understanding towards you and my choice of marrying a muggle. There's nothing to do but prepare her for her wizard schooling."
"NO! NO! NO! I WON'T LET MY BEAUTIFUL BABY BE KNOWN AS A FREAKISH THING! WHAT WILL THE CHILDREN IN SCHOOL THINK WHILE SHE'S GONE?" The tears stopped flowing down Mrs. White's cheeks that were no longer pale but a deep shade of fiery red. "Why did I marry something with such a repulsive family as yours?!"
"NOW HOLD IT, LYNN," Mr. White bellowed in a not-so-calm tone. "Kids, go to your rooms, now!"
Without any backtalk, Jude and Melanie ran up the stairs with such great fear that tears started to role down Melanie's perfect complexion. They both went into Melanie's room, afraid of being alone. Besides, the comfort was needed from one another. Melanie dropped onto the floor as soon as Jude closed the door behind them. She, involuntarily, crawled up into a fetal position. She rocked back and forth, her chin on her knees.
Five minutes past and the words "BITCH" and "BASTARD" and "FAMILY MADE OF SCUM" were translucently heard from upstairs. Large droplets of tears were steadily flowing down Melanie's face, causing her hair and tattered jeans to be drenched.
"Mel…" Jude said with the best comforting tone he could manage at the time. "It's not your fault. Mum's just a little…"
"She hates me now," Melanie confessed dreadfully. She choked on her tears while attempting to speak. "I...shouldn't…have…said…anything… I'm so dumb. Why am I such a git, Jude?"
Jude put his muscular arm around Melanie with care. He rubbed her arm and tried to hold her from swaying back and forth so rapidly. "You're not dumb; I would've done the same thing. Mel, you look pale as ever." It was true… the frightened and guilty look would not leave Melanie's face. "C'mon, Love, let's go down to the woods and get some fresh air. You need it."
"Jude, I think it's both of us who need the fresh air," Melanie replied, not trying to make a humorous comment as she once did before.
They both crawled out of Melanie's window and climbed down the ivy that hung along the side of their house. "Be careful," Jude suggested as if he were Melanie's mother.
"What does it matter?" Melanie commented back. "If I were to fall, mum wouldn't care. She wouldn't have to deal with me, a freak and a disgrace to the family. If only I could fall and end her misery… Too bad I'm only two feet away from the ground; then mum's wishes for a freak to be gone from the family would be fulfilled."
Two months passed, and the month of august was beginning to wane. Mrs. White sat outside on a lawn chair in their front yard. She stood blankly at the trees before her. That's all that surrounded her now, trees, and a fate that was too horrible for words. She would have to deal with an abnormal family. It was bad enough that her relatives didn't approve of her choice of a husband, but this made matters worse. She had a daughter that was a witch. She couldn't bear the thought of her daughter going to that wizard school.
Jude ran up to his mother eagerly, as if the world would become brighter for her because of his enchanting presence. "Mum, would you like some tea?" Jude asked with a careful tone, trying to pick his words carefully.
"Go away," his mother stated, bluntly.
Jude was used to this behavior nowadays. His mother was always so alone and empty. She couldn't stand the thought of company, and she would start to cry vigorously every time she saw Melanie. The sight of Mr. White almost made her gag; she was repulsed by even seeing his head buried in the daily newspaper at the kitchen table.
The next day, it was rainy out and Mrs. White couldn't sit in her usual spot outside. She sat on the couch, staring at the TV that no one dared to turn on.
A ruckus was made as Mr. White and Melanie were getting ready to depart from their hell hole of a home. It was shocking to believe that just a few months prior to that moment, everything was just peachy, and Mrs. White would be glad to have a family outing. But now… things were extremely different.
"And where are you two going?" Mrs. White inquired in a monotone. There was no worry, compassion, or curiosity in her voice, only annoyance.
"Uh… We're going to Diagon Alley," Mr. White stated without fear.
"Where is that?" Mrs. White spat, irritated.
"London, we're going to do business that you would consider vial and that I don't dare to speak of. Now if you will excuse Mel and me; we're off."
"How could there be such a place of disgusting m…m…magical beings in the heart of London," Mrs. White inquired with a wee bit of curiosity in her tone now. "From what you told me, you're not allowed in magical places really. You're a mugger-"
"It's muggle, my ignorant wife," Mr. White rebutted with confidence. "And if you actually listened to someone for once instead of talking out of your arse, then you'd know that I'm not a muggle but a squib. I'm not capable of performing magic like the witches and wizards who use magic and are surrounded by mystical beings that shan't be imagined by the simple mind of a fool like you." Mr. White knew that the words of witches and wizards stung his wife, and he liked every bit of her pain.
"My mum will pick 'er up and they'll do their 'school shopping'. I feel that Mel should get to know my mum more, and her commencement into the magical world would be better off if led by her Gran. We're off now. Jude, I suggest you go and get together with some chaps; god knows you wouldn't want to be in this house alone with this bloody ol' witch. Not the same witch as our daughter, though. Her kinds of witch like abilities are not something that I'm proud of."
"Alright, dad. Bye, mum," Jude said quickly and left the awkward situation.
"Good-bye, mum," Melanie tried to say with compassion. Her mother did not answer, and that hurt Melanie more than if she called her absurd names.
Melanie and Mr. White drove straight to London. After a long, grueling, and awkwardly silent drive, they arrived at the heart of London.
"So, here we are; it's time. Granny will have shillings for you; that's money in the wizard world, dear. I love you so much. I'll love you no matter what, and you know that. I don't care what you are, you're my blessed little Melanie, and I wouldn't give the world for such an intelligent beauty as yourself."
Melanie started to cry softly in front of all the passersby's in London. She attempted to stifle her tear drops, but the attempt was hopeless. These words were just what she needed after her horrible stay at home for all these months. Her dad, secretively, passed her a sheet of paper-
"Here are all the things you'll need." He said quietly. "It was in the letter that you received from the owl. I guess you were so excited that you must've dropped it in your room. Bye, my little darling."
Mr. White grabbed Melanie's chin with such care and kissed her cheek with all the fatherly love he could offer. The peck was meant to be soft, but felt like a tone of bricks on Melanie's cheek. The force felt so great that more tears squeezed out of her eyes.
"Bye, dad, I love you too…" Melanie tried to say something sweet, but before the words could leave her quivering mouth something grabbed her shirt with a great tug.
Before she knew it, she was in a place that had to be none other than Diagon Alley. It took a while for her to take in all the crazy things that were surrounding her. Her father was right, a simple imagination couldn't possibly think of such a place as this. Melanie turned around after a few seconds of gazing at the magical scenery and looked towards what had to be… her Granny.
"Oi! You're more beautiful than your dad has tried to explain for so many years. Now, let's start with getting you a wand at Ollivander's, deary. Come along now…we have so many places to go yet so little time."
