Hey, everyone. Thanks for reviewing the first rewritten chapter. It made me really happy. Now, then, let's see if Jemma's "normal day" will end ordinarily... although, I highly doubt it.

NOTE: I DO NOT OWN Harry Potter! All rights go to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros.


Chapter 2: From a Spark into a Flame

The party was merely a fancy dinner that her Dad's boss had paid for and Jemma found herself bored to death due to the fact that only adults were present. On the bright side, the food looked pretty good.

While her father merrily chatted and drank with his boss and other staff members around the large table where they were all seated, Jemma engaged in a staring contest with her wound-up mother, who sat across the table from her. Petunia Dursley had hardly touched her food, whilst her son eagerly ate up, and kept her beady eyes focused on her youngest child as if she were a bomb about to go off.

After a while, Jemma got bored of staring at her mother's wary expression and turned her attention to the meal. Some of the food looked too fancy for her, but Jemma had an adventurous palate. The grilled salmon and Caesar salad, she ate happily, while she cautiously nibbled on the caviar. Dessert consisted of a rich hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and chocolate sauce that Jemma ate with gusto. Glancing up from her food, Jemma saw that her father was having a lot to drink and briefly wondered if he would be so drunk that her Mum would have to drive them home.

By the time the rest of his family had finished eating, Vernon had received several compliments from both his boss and fellow employees coupled with several glasses of fine wine and brandy.

His voice a bit slurred from the alcohol, Vernon pointed a chubby finger at his two children and said, "One perfectly normal, darling son and one rather odd, lunatic daughter..."

"Dad..." Dudley looked at his father, looking slightly abashed, and cast an apologetic look at his sister. Petunia pursed her lips into a tight grim line while Jemma merely rolled her eyes.

'Nothing new here...' the youngest Dursley thought as she sipped her drink.

"Why, Vernon! What made you say such a thing about your little girl? She looks like a lovely angel, especially in that fiery dress of hers," Vernon's boss, the Head of Grunnings, remarked and smiled nicely at Jemma.

Vernon chuckled and proceeded to go on about Dudley's accomplishments that consisted of grades that, really, weren't all that impressive and his ability to beat down opponents in rugby before frowning at Jemma.

"Well, she is bit strange. Prefers to keep to herself, has no friends in school no matter how much we encourage her to socialize, always wants to be alone, asks questions, questions, and more questions, and she spends far too much time waving her fancy sword around at those fencing lessons of hers or running around the streets like a hoodlum..." he said with disdain.

"I like fencing. It's loads of fun. And I'm part of my school's track and field team so I have to stay in shape," Jemma said flatly. 'Think of something else... think of something else... think of something else...' she thought to calm down.

Her father's boss and the other employees gave her praising looks while Vernon laughed mockingly. "And another thing! She spends too much time at the zoo, conversing with the birds like a crackpot loon!" Vernon said with a barking laugh that made Jemma's ears turn red with annoyance.

'When Transfiguring, it is important to make firm and decisive wand movements...' Jemma mentally recited a passage she remembered reading from Harry's old "A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration," hoping to take her mind off of her father's ridiculing.

"She volunteers at the London Zoo's aviary," Dudley explained quickly.

"I like birds, that's all..." Jemma shrugged, seeing the flames of the candles on the table flicker dangerously. She caught her mother's eye and saw that she was not pleased at what was happening. 'I'm trying, Mum! Dad's not helping!' Jemma thought irritably and, seeing the flames flicker again, willed to remain composed as her father carried on with his tirade on her.

"Well, Jem dear, you best drop out of volunteering then. Fencing is all right as it teaches you how to fight but you'll learn nothing from birds. Best to stop volunteering and devote your time to something more useful," Vernon said dismissively.

'Do not wiggle or twirl your wand unnecessarily, or the Transfiguration will certainly be unsuccessful...' Jemma mentally recited, closing her eyes for a few minutes.

Petunia, upon seeing that her daughter wasn't paying attention, chose to speak up. "I agree with your father, darling. You spend too much time alone in the aviary and it's about time you make some friends here," she agreed with her husband. Jemma opened her eyes to look at her mother with an annoyed look on her face.

"Mum, it's what she..." Dudley, wanting to defend his sister, began to say before Jemma sharply said, "What I like to do in my life is my business, Mum and Dad. And you don't have the right to make me stop doing what I love so let's just drop the matter for another time." Brown eyes flashing angrily as the candle flames flickered again, more dangerously this time.

Petunia glared at Jemma but Vernon gave his daughter a disgruntled frown. "Now, now, Vernon! Volunteering is a rather noble thing! And, clearly, your daughter has a passion for caring for birds," one Grunnings employee said, the others murmuring in agreement with him.

"All because of that brat..." Vernon grumbled, catching his boss's attention.

"What was that, Vernon?" his boss, a portly man with thinning gray hair and mustache, asked.

"Our nephew. He had a ruddy bird as a pet and he's the reason Jemma's all fascinated with them... The bloody freak," Vernon muttered.

Jemma barely heard her mother's sharp intake of breath and didn't notice Dudley slightly move his chair away from the table. She fixed a stern, unflinching glare at her father, whom she had once adored during her childhood, as she gripped the sides of her chair.

"I didn't know you had a nephew," her father's boss said, surprised.

"He was a delinquent, sir, that's what he was. Sent him off to St. Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys to shape up, but he hardly changed. If possible, he became more of a delinquent than ever!" Vernon exclaimed, face all red due to the alcohol.

"That's a lie! Harry was never a delinquent!" Jemma shouted and the glass of wine his father's boss had just raised to his lips suddenly shattered! Dudley let out a squeak as the candles began to burn brightly while Petunia scooted her chair away, face white with horror. But Vernon, under the influence of all he had to drink, remained indifferent to the looks being sent his way. Jemma began to see red and she could feel herself shaking with absolute rage.

"It's all his fault my darling Jem's turned against me! She was our little princess, but that freak had to come and taint her with his freakishness! A freak! That's what my blasted nephew was! A freak just like his freakish parents! A freak like his equally freakish friends! A freak! A bloody, honest to goodness FREAK!"

No sooner had her father finished his scathing remarks did Jemma finally blow up.

"HARRY IS NOT A FREAK!" the youngest Dursley all but screamed and, at the same time, the small licks of flame burning on the candelabras blazed brightly until they became tall towers of flame!

Jemma, stunned, scrambled out of her chair along with the other guests. One of the employees present, a slim stringy-haired woman, shrieked, "Deviltry! She's a demon in disguise!"

A waiter wielding a fire extinguisher ran to their table and another sprinted to the guests with a large bucket of ice water. The head of Grunnings, aside from having a few glass splinters in his hand, was unfortunate enough to have had his tie set on fire when the flames acted up and was quickly doused. When questioned, the guests all had the same answer.

"Rather strange, really. Vernon's girl just shrieked and the candles went ablaze."

"That young lady there... had a bit of a tantrum and, then, the whole table was nearly set on fire... Almost as if she was able to control how the candles burned..."

Jemma didn't have time to hear the rest of the testimonies since her mother, helping her stumbling father, pulled her and Dudley out of the restaurant before things got out of hand. And, judging by the shocked looks of the guests and her father's angry rhino face, Jemma had a feeling that she was going to be in trouble.


"YOU GOT ME FIRED!" Vernon exploded, the large vein on his temple throbbing madly, while he and Jemma stood facing each other in the living room of the family apartment. Dudley and Petunia were sitting on the couch, their faces tense, as they watched father and daughter have a row.

"Well, if you hadn't gotten yourself all tipsy, maybe you'd still have a job!" Jemma shouted defiantly, hands on her hips.

"And you?! How long has she been like this?!" Vernon then wheeled around to his wife, a livid expression on his face.

"Sh-she ch-changed her dress's color before we left... But, Vernon, that was just one time! It was probably her first time with ma-" Petuia stammered before her husband went over to her and, to Jemma and Dudley's horror, slapped her!

"Mum!" Jemma cried out as her mother fell onto the couch face first.

"Dad, stop! She didn't mean to! Jemma didn't mean to! It was all an accident!" Dudley quickly blocked his Dad before he could have another go.

"You two, rooms, now!" Vernon roared, completely out of control.

Helping his whimpering mother stand up, Dudley tried to grab Jemma but Vernon slapped his hand away. Jemma gave him a look that clearly meant she wanted her brother and mother to leave before things got bad and, reluctantly, Dudley obeyed and left the living room with a weeping Petunia.

Now, Vernon turned to Jemma with a stormy look on his face. "You did it on purpose, didn't you?" he asked in a dangerously low voice.

"Set the table on fire? That was an accident. I didn't know I could do that," Jemma said quietly. Her father laughed coldly.

"Of course you didn't... First time doing those freakish things... Still not in control... I'll fix that..." Vernon muttered before seizing a belt.

Jemma immediately knew what was going to happen next and her eyes frantically darted around the room to find a way to escape.

But there wasn't one.

"Beating didn't take it out of the boy. What would Petunia say if I beat you? No matter... a good whipping ought to beat the strangeness out of you," Vernon then grabbed his daughter by the hair, dragged her to the couch, forced her to hold out her arms in front of her... and brought the belt down.


Harry Potter suddenly looked up from the huge amount of paperwork he was doing, eyes wide in alarm. His best mate and fellow Auror-in-Training, Ron Weasley, also looked up and saw the slightly alarmed look on his face.

"Everything all right, mate?" Ron asked as Harry tilted his head a bit as if trying to hear something.

"It's nothing..." Harry mumbled, going back to his paperwork.

"Doesn't sound like nothing when you said that..." Ron said, knowing that Harry had a knack for keeping his worries hidden, and waved his wand on the pile of paperwork on Harry's side of the desk they were sharing. Harry gave him an exasperated look as all of his papers flew to Ron's side.

They'd been in the Ministry of Magic's Auror Department office all day, it was getting late, and they had to accomplish all of this paperwork before they left! Then they had a full day of hands-on training tomorrow! They needed every bit of sleep they were going to get tonight if they wanted to, at least, stay awake!

"Mate, I saw that look you had on your face. Something's wrong," Ron said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Sighing, Harry pushed his glasses up his nose. "I don't know... Just suddenly thought about Jemma, that's all..." he mumbled, remembering the last time he had seen his younger cousin, his face tinged with sadness.

Jemma had been ten going on 11 the time they said goodbye... How much had she grown now?

Seeing his friend's saddened look, Ron smiled reassuringly. "Cheer up, mate. I'm sure she's fine. She's Jemma, the one who pulled down Malfoy's pants down while wearing your Invisibility Cloak in third year, remember?" he reminded Harry, who couldn't help but laugh at the memory of his plucky younger cousin pranking his former school nemesis.

"Do you think she remembers us, Ron? It's been a year..." Harry mumbled uncertainly.

"Of course she would still remember! You're her cousin, mate. She'd remember you the most. The two of you grew up together," Ron reminded him.

That's when a familiar face peeked out from the half open door.

"Hey, 'Mione," Ron mumbled, blushing, and quickly went back to his paperwork while Harry managed to get his own back onto his side of the desk.

"Still have work to do?" Hermione asked with a slight smile.

"Afraid so," Harry shrugged, wearily finishing one paper and moving onto the next. Why did Auror training have to involve so much paperwork? Wasn't it supposed to be all about catching Dark Wizards out there and not sitting at a desk, signing random sheets of parchment?

"The meeting at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures just finished. So far, all of the new rules regarding house elf payments are being approved," Hermione said casually.

"That's good," Ron said, managing to look up from his paperwork to smile at her, Harry nodding in agreement.

Then, Hermione took a deep breath and, slowly, let it out. "I don't really know how to say this... But, Harry, Malfoy's looking for you," she said after a minute of careful deliberation.

Harry looked up from the desk, eyebrows raised, while Ron gave Hermione a wary look. "He's not here to hex him, is he?" Ron asked his girlfriend cautiously.

"No, he's not. And, even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to. I confiscated his wand the minute he told me why he was at the Ministry," Hermione grinned and, as proof, showed Harry and Ron a wand that was clearly not hers.

"Brilliant," Ron grinned back while Harry stood up, stretching a bit, and followed Hermione out the door.

Draco had changed out of his sweatshirt and jeans from earlier morning into a tailored suit. Once he saw Harry, Draco smiled coolly. "Burning the midnight oil, Potter?" he asked.

"You can say that, Malfoy," Harry shrugged before lapsing into silence while Hermione (and, peering out of the door, Ron) watched closely.

Ever since the end of the Second Wizarding War, Harry had made his peace with Draco and vice versa. Too much had happened between them during their years at Hogwarts and during the war so, frankly, the peace between them was still fraught with tension. They still couldn't forget all their animosity towards each other and weren't too keen to become friends right away.

While they weren't friends, per se, and had yet to be on the first name basis, they were now civil towards each other. No hexing or cursing, and both men hoped to keep it that way.

"Hermione said you wanted to see me?" Harry spoke first after a long silence.

Draco nodded. "I was in a park in London this morning and... I met your cousin," he said bluntly.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, surprised, while Harry frowned in confusion. "I've got two cousins from my Mum's side of the family. Which one are we talking about?" Harry asked his old school rival.

"Jemma," Draco smirked upon seeing the surprised look on Harry's face and added, "The very same one who pulled a fast one on me during third year. I swear, I think she's a Weasley in disguise." with a light laugh.

Harry stared at Draco, astonished. 'So Jem now lives in London...' he thought. "And... is Jemma doing all right? What was she doing? When you saw her?" he asked, knowing that he sounded a bit too eager for information. But he couldn't help himself. He hadn't seen or heard anything about his younger cousin in a long time...

Draco shrugged. "Nothing, really. I think she was just having a morning run. Oddly enough, she had her pet phoenix with her," he replied before cringing slightly as Hermione exclaimed, "Jemma has a pet phoenix?!"

Harry shared a confused glance with Ron. As far as he knew, the Dursleys didn't allow pets into their abode.

"The thing looked exactly like the one Dumbledore had (Harry didn't fail to notice the flash of guilt in Draco's eyes as he said his former professor's name), but she said it was a female," Draco said, watching the Boy Who Lived's face closely.

Harry, once he had processed the information regarding Jemma and that she had a pet phoenix, nodded slowly.

"Jemma... she... well, she misses you. She was asking me if I had any news from you. But I bet that phoenix of hers is keeping her updated, delivering yesterday's copies of the Prophet," Draco told him, noticing the guilty look in Harry's eyes. And, truly, Harry felt guilty. He knew that it would be best if he stayed away from the Dursleys, but it was awfully hard for him to keep away from Jemma. There was no doubt that Harry missed his younger cousin...

As Draco turned to leave, making sure to ask Hermione for his wand back, before Harry decided to say, "Thank you." Making the blonde wizard look over his shoulder and say, "First time anyone's thanked me in a long while." With a slight smile on his lips.

Once Draco was gone, Harry went back to finishing his paperwork with Ron, who was now chatting with Hermione over what just happened.

"You think he was telling the truth?" Ron asked him as they left the mostly quiet Ministry.

"I think so..." Harry shrugged and absentmindedly fingered with the bracelet on his right wrist. It was made of fraying red and yellow gold ropes with a scarlet red phoenix feather cleverly woven into the strands. A lucky charm, actually, made by Jemma before they said goodbye...

Hermione, curious as always, looked at the bracelet that her friend had been wearing ever since their Horcrux hunt and finally understood. "Jemma gave that to you, didn't she?" she asked quietly. Nodding, Harry prepared to use Floo Powder to get home to the Burrow... and he let his mind wander to Jemma.

Was she okay? Harry really hoped that she was.


Back in her room, Jemma winced as she stared at the angry red welts and marks caused by her Dad's belt. Luckily, she'd only gotten about ten strokes so it wasn't so horrible. Still, it hurt like hell. But not as much as hearing her father's threats to disown her if she showed more signs of "freakishness." Every lash she got, Jemma had to promise her Dad that she wouldn't do anything again. But she knew that it was stupid to promise that. She was going to keep having accidental bursts of magic until someone helped her control it. To do that, she would have to go to Hogwarts and study.

'They'll never let me go. Mum and Dad will try to hide me every chance they get. Unless they send zillions of my Hogwarts letter in the same fashion Harry got his...' the youngest Dursley thought bitterly.

More than anything, Jemma wanted nothing more than to see Harry again. She wanted to march up to him, shout at him, scream at him, for leaving and not contacting her once the war was over, and for just not being there. This was the second time Jemma had ever felt angry at Harry, the first time... was when she found out that they would have to say goodbye. Remembering that day brought tears to Jemma's eyes. Suddenly, her brown eyes widened as she looked down at her mangled arms.

'Phoenix tears have healing powers... I can't believe I forgot about that...' Jemma mentally berated herself and, with help from the pain she was feeling, began crying on her outstretched arms to heal her injuries.

Once she had healed herself and the redness of her arms vanished, Jemma went to her closet and grabbed some nightclothes to change into. Then, when she didn't hear anything coming from either her parents' or Dudley's rooms, Jemma knelt down beside her bed and took out a large trunk from underneath.

It was where she had stashed all of Harry's old school books (First Year all the way to Sixth Year) from Hogwarts and a ton of other stuff she had gotten from Harry's friends. Chocolate Frog cards she got from Ron, her copy of "Hogwarts: A History" from Hermione, and drawings of the House Crests of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin as well as Hogwarts castle Harry drew for her during his First Year. Harry had let her keep all of this for safekeeping, knowing that he wouldn't need them when he left to fight in the war, and it gave Jemma some comfort knowing that she could have his school things to remember him by.

Taking out the old red wool Weasley sweater she wore almost every chance she got when she was eight, Jemma crawled into bed and held it close to her chest. Today had been one heck of a day and it had ended badly. For a while, Jemma lay moping in her bed until she decided to look at the positive. And, once she did that, she managed to smile a little.

The day Fawkes had told her had finally arrived. Her magic was beginning to show itself. She would have to tell Seraphine about this first thing tomorrow morning and see what she could do to train up.

Jemma hugged the old Weasley sweater close to her and began to sing...

"Close your eyes, dear little one...

Sleep, sleep till rise of sun...

Don't be afraid for I'm here...

Bad dreams and pains won't come near...


I'll stay awake through the night...

Then we'll play come morning light...

As you dream, know this be true...

I'll always, always, love you..."

Yawning after she had finished singing, Jemma glanced at the small framed photograph by her dresser. It was the one picture of Harry that she had, taken by her friend, Dr. McKellar, when they had visited her at a nearby local zoo a few years back, and Jemma treasured this far above anything else.

Jemma smiled at the picture of her and Harry, smiling happily with their arms around each other, and whispered, "Goodnight, Harry..." before closing her eyes and falling asleep.


Phew... I'm going back to school on Monday so updates will be sporadic again. I'll just have to make sure the rewrites of the next chapters and succeeding new chapters will be good. Wish me luck!

Read and review! Those two things make me very happy ;)

-GuardianDragon98