Chapter 4

Jay's POV

It was time to go back to that bloody school again for. At least it's my last year. I got everything in my trunk, including my Dark Arts books I've been hiding. Not that my parents know.

My room was a mess. I had been looking for the present Jareth gave me. Usually I put it on the window sill next to my twin bed, but now it was gone. I sighed and looked around again.

Sunlight, the only light source in my possession, flooded the room, casting shadows on the slightly pink walls and ceiling. Why pink, I'm not sure, but I guess mom was hoping for a girl. Too bad. The bed was too simple to really mess up while I was searching. All it had was a white pillow as hard as a rock and a thin, blue blanket. My clothes and Hogwarts uniforms were on the cream carpeted floor, thrown out when I was digging through the wardrobe. The only things that were still in their place were the stuff on my shelf. It was white and covered in stacks of drawing pads, books, and knick-knacks. Other than that, the room was devoid of personal and family mementos or whatever. It was like that so I would never be tied to this dreadful place, making it easy for me to leave and never come back.

Well, the orb isn't here. Hmm, I wonder if they know where it is. Walking down the stairs I looked into the kitchen.

Like my room, it was sunlit with a cream colored floor, tile instead of carpet. Unlike my room, the wallpaper was pale blue. It almost makes me appreciate my suggested nonexistent masculinity. Anyways, the rest of the 'family' was eating lunch at the round wooded table next to the door that led into the backyard. My dear dad James and stupid Harry had their Quidditch gear on, splattered with scruffs and grassy stains. However, the grass smell couldn't quite penetrate the rich odor coming from the food my dear mother Lily had prepared by hand. I snorted a little. Since she was Muggle-born she never fully took to a Wizarding, hands-free life with house elves that cooked and cleaned.

I swear I wonder how I was related to her. The scene was a Kodak moment: Lily in a pink, flowery apron over a yellow sundress with matching oven mitts holding a pot of food with a ladle. The perfect mother. Bleck. I hid behind the wall, scanning the room for my orb.

Anyways, James and Harry's conversation broke on me. Dad was telling him about the old days, no doubt. I could tell since he always wore this odd happy look that was tinged with sadness as he talked about it. It was rather pathetic. Instead of looking towards the future he stayed stuck in the past where he was treated like a king. Harry, of course was listening in rapture, his food falling off his spoon. What a suck up.

I sighed. There was no sign of the orb, and it was driving me crazy. At that moment, though, something interesting came up.

James was still going on about Quidditch. "Just as I was about to catch the Snitch-"

"Hey Dad!" Harry interrupted.

"Yes?" Dad said wearily.

"Guess what I found in the snake's pit." (The "snake's pit" was what they called my room. I was practically nonexistent to them so they never even said my name.)

"What did you find?" both Lily and James asked. They would love it if they found something that could put me away for good…

Harry took whatever it was out of his pocket.

It was my orb!

That little brat stole my orb!

"It's kinda neat, isn't it," Harry continued. "Can I keep it?"

"No!" the parents said in unison.

"But-"

"No!"

James had stood up. "Give it to me."

Meanwhile, I was fuming behind the wall. I don't think I ever hated them anymore than I did now. Only my well-earned Slytherin instinct for self-preservation kept me from bursting out in rage. Sure, I was mad, but I didn't want to die. I almost snarled when stupid Harry thrust my orb into James's outstretched hand. If they were any harsher, they'd break it!

"… This is bizarre," James said after a moment of concentrated examination. "It's like goblin magic, but it's somehow different…"

He was touching my present! Poking and prodding it! I couldn't take it anymore! I had to keep it from his grubby hands. I dashed from my hiding spot…

Sorry if it's small… Only one new reviewer! No one knows my story T^T Anyway! The qualified reviews are 3 now! MWAHAHAHAH! I went up one x)

Cookie for FanfictionGothicPrincess~! You have been reviewing my story every chapter. Thanks my loyal one :D