~SOMETHING DIFFERENT~

Part One

chapter four

~(JACK)~

When Jack woke up it wasn't with a loud gasp and in his old home with his two parents and Emma realizing that all of it, his parents fighting, his moms death, being taken away from Emma, had been a terrible dream. No, that was not what happened, no matter how much he wished it. Jack woke up to his body aching, his chest tight, his head throbbing, and his throat very dry. His eyelids were heavy and he struggled to open them and when he did manage that he was met with blinding white light. He took several tries to get adjusted and when he did the sight he was met with was unlike any he had seen.

'Where am I?' Jack seemed to be in a hospital but it looked very old fashioned. There were hardly any equipment like heart monitors and the beds didn't have any fancy settings on them, they were just plain beds and there were about ten on each side of the room with patients in them resting. 'Why am I in a hospital in the first place?' Jack tried to think back to the last thing he remembered but his head throbbed and made it very difficult to think.

'What happened? Why does everything hurt?' Jack thought putting a hand on his head.

Then he remembered the ally and the man inside who had attacked him. His breathing hitched and he sat straight up in an instant. This was a bad idea because as he did so white, hot pain came from his torso. Jack gave a pain filled yelp and placed his hands on his chest as though that would cease the pain. Jack winced as another jolt of pain came and he closed his eyes, trying to shut out the pain. But as soon as his vision went black all he could see was that mans face and his gruesome knife. Jack snapped his eyes open and gave a sound of distress. His breathing had picked up to almost hyperventilating and he searched frantically around the room for the exit.

He had the overwhelming urge to get out of this room and outside into the fresh air. Jack saw the door at the end of the aisle of hospital beds. He slowly and painfully made his way out of his bed. Of course as soon as Jack put weight on his feet his legs gave out from under him and he crumpled to the floor. Jack grasped the bed but didn't have the strength to pull himself up.

"Hey, kid," Jack heard the patient across from him say, "You alright?"

'That's a dumb question,' Jack thought bitterly 'I'm in a hospital, you idiot. It's no wonder why you're here, I see.' Jack head was spinning and he felt cold sweat go down his face. He heard the man call for a nurse, or healer, and before Jack knew it he was back in his bed and being given something from a bottle.

"You need to relax, Jack." Said the nurse said to Jack in a soothing voice. "This will help relieve the pain and help you sleep."

'I don't want to sleep.' Jack thought to himself drearily 'I just need some…fresh…air.' But whatever she just gave him was ridiculously strong and after a few small blinks of his eyes, Jack was asleep.

XxX

When Jack woke up next he noticed that outside the windows it was dark out and inside there were, oddly enough, torches hanging on the wall omitting a warm glow.

'Well that does make adjusting to the light easier.' Jack thought to himself groggily, still under the effects of the sleeping medicine. Jack looked around the room to see if there was a nurse who could get him some water. Jack felt like he hadn't had anything to drink in days, and for all he knew he could be right about that. But when he looked to his right he saw something that he hadn't expected at all.

A little girl with brown hair and a round face was sleeping in a chair with her head on his bed and holding his right hand. It was someone that Jack hadn't seen for a very long time.

"Emma?" Jack said in a hoarse voice, staring at his sister in shock.

'Please don't let this be a dream.' Jack thought, 'I can't believe this!'

She was here! Next to Jack, holding his hand, blowing little exhales of breath onto his arm and her head putting pressure on the mattress. She wasn't a dream! She was as real as the pain in his torso and the dryness of his throat. Jack tried to reach across his body with his free hand to stroked Emma's brown hair, but the pain was to hard to ignore, so he settled to just rub circles on her hand with his thumb.

'She's here,' Jack couldn't stop thinking it, 'she's here.'

He stayed like that for a while, taking in his little sister's sleeping face. Her mouth slightly opened, the little freckles under her right eye, the tight grip on his hand like she would never let him go, everything. He could look at her long enough; she had gotten so big and was becoming so beautiful.

'I'm gonna have to chase the boys away from her pretty soon.' Jack thought with a small smile.

After fifteen minutes of being conscious and feeling the happiest he's been in years, the quite in the room was broken when a man's hushed voice spoke from Jack's left.

"I see that you've been reunited, dah?"

Jack turned to see who was there and saw, sitting back in a chair with his tattooed arms crossed in front of him, the Russian man who had talked to Jack that fateful day in New York. Jack stared at him quizzically and the man stared back at him with a mirthful look in his eyes.

"Are you stalking me?" Jack asked the man after a minute of silence.

The man gave a deep chuckle, making sure that it was low enough to not disturb the other patients in the room. "No, my boy," The man said, "I am not stalking you. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Nicholas St. North, but you can call me North."

"And you already know my name." Jack said to North with a slight coolness in his gravely voice. "I'd like to know why you know my name and how Emma is here. Also," Jack paused and then sheepishly asked, "Could I have some water, please?"

North gave another small chuckle. "Of course Jack." He handed Jack a glass of water that was sitting on the side table. Jack took it gratefully and with in five gulps, it was gone.

"Now," North said as he took the empty glass from Jack, "How I know your name is because of little Emma here. If you haven't notice, I am old man and I have had many experiences in my life. But my life has felt empty for a long time, I have never found a wife; therefore I have no children. I adopted Emma almost a year ago and I couldn't be happier."

Jack looked down at his sister wistfully. 'She found a family. Does she even really need me anymore?'

"However," North drew Jack's attention to him again, "While Emma was grateful to be with me, she was very, how do you say, melancholy. She told me about the big brother that she had and missed very dearly. I had asked her about him, you, and she told me everything that she remembered. She told me about how you were always there for her and took care of her no matter what." The way that Emma talked about him made Jack smile fondly. "I knew from hearing all these things that I wanted to meet you and to rejoin the two of you." Jack looked up taken aback.

"But why would you want to meet me?" Jack inquired, not knowing why anyone would want him. He was such a screw up and nothing ever went right when he was around.

"Why indeed!" North said with a laugh. "You must know that since meeting Emma and taken her home, I've seen her smile very few times. But when she talked about her big brother Jack, why I've never seen a bigger smile on any child! Not even on Christmas! Now, stop being so surprised and lets get back to story.

"I got in touch with social worker in charge of your files and asked to know where I could find you. But they said that you ran away and they had only been able to track you down to New York but other then that they knew nothing. This caused some distress for Emma but I told her that I would everything to find you. So, naturally, I came to New York and had a close friend of mine watch over Emma. I searched for you for 2 months, using old picture that Emma had of you. I talked to everyone who seemed to know anything. You are very hard person to track down, Jack."

"It's a gift." Jack said with a small shrug and a smirk, starting to feel a little comfortable around North.

"Indeed." North said, returning Jack's smirk with his own. "As I was saying, two months I had been searching for little boy in city that has millions of people. I was almost giving up and believe that I would never find you. But then while walking back to my hotel, I saw a child sitting outside in front of building, begging for money. I couldn't believe my eyes when I realized it was you! I must have checked the picture ten times to be sure!" Here he gave a loud laugh and it caused Jack to chuckle, liking the man more and more. "I went up to talk to you as you know, but I supposed that I was too excited and came across as a, uh…stalker?" He asked Jack and raised a bushy white eyebrow.

"You came across as a creeper who wanted to kidnap me and chain me in your basement." Jack informed him bluntly.

North looked sheepishly at Jack and rubbed the back of his neck. "I apologize for that, and for this next part as it might make me sound like a 'creeper' again. When you ran off sort of followed you, but only to keep eye on you and make sure I didn't lose you. But of course I did and because of my foolish actions, you were attacked and I can't apologize enough." North tone grew heavy and Jack could see that this man was very tired, he possibly lost sleep worrying about if Jack was okay. Jack, although slightly distress from the remembrance of the incident, reassured North that it was Jack's fault to. "I found you and took you here to St. Mungos, we caused quite a scene in the entry room when I came in. The Healers were uncertain you would make the night, but you proved us all wrong. Once I made sure you would live I went back to my home in England to get Emma and we arrived earlier this afternoon. Emma hasn't left your side since; I had to convince the Healers to let us stay after visiting hours because after Emma hard that you were awake just a few minutes before we got here, she was determined to not leave you alone."

Jack let everything sink in for a time, but mostly taking in the fact that Emma had been searching for Jack too.

'All this time I was worrying about finding you and I searched everywhere.' Jack thought as he gazed at his sister. 'In the end, you found me.'

"How long was I out?" Jack asked absentmindedly. He wasn't even really that concerned, just curious.

"Three days." North informed him.

North and Jack sat in a comfortable silence after that, but Jack realized he had more to ask North.

"That man," Jack wasn't even really sure if his attacker could be even classified as human, he was more like a demon, "Who was he? Why did he…why did he do this to me?" Jack looked up at North, his heart felt like it was caught in his throat.

North gave a great sigh. "Jack, I will explain why you were attacked by that man, but first for you to understand that I must explain something else."

Jack silently wished that North would hurry up and just tell him, but he had a feeling that North did everything for a reason. So Jack patiently waited and listened to what North had to say.

"First off," North began, "What do you think about magic?"

Jack raised an eyebrow at North. 'Is he serious? Magic?!' "Like the wand waving, abracadabra, hocus pocus, potion making, broom riding magic?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Yes," North affirmed Jack, completely dead serious, "What do you think of it?" He repeated, leaning forward in his chair.

"It doesn't exist." Jack said firmly.

"And why do you think that?"

"I don't think it, I know that it doesn't exist. Magic is just something that you tell little kids to make them feel better." Jack looked down at his lap, "I learned long ago that believing in fairy tales and magic doesn't help you in the real world."

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong, my boy. Magic does in fact exist." North corrected him. Jack look at him disbelievingly.

"Prove it."

North smiled and brought out a smooth, thin stick and gave it a small wave. As soon as that happened snow and beautiful, twinkling lights fell from above Jack and circled around him. It was the most amazing things Jack has ever seen. He held up his hands and got the perfect snowflakes in his palm and felt an enjoyable chill. It was then that Jack realized what had just happened. Jack turned his head to North, wide eyed and jaw hanging low.

"Okay." Jack said in a small, high pitched voice, "I believe you. Continue."

North smiled at Jack's astonished expression and slipped the stick, wand, into his pocket. "Now that you believe let me explain a little more. Yes, magic is real and I am a wizard and so are you."

Jack let that sink in. 'I can't be a wizard! I'm not anything special. I've never even done magic before!' When Jack expressed his thoughts to North, North just gave a little smile.

"That is not truth, Jack. For you see you have used magic before." At Jacks confused expression North continued, "First let me explain something I couldn't earlier. When you ran off I did not follow you. When I first came across you I could sense strong magic in you. I knew that if you ran off I would have trouble finding you again so I placed a magical tracer on you. You see, when wizards are in trouble, the magic in our core will respond to the trouble. I invented this little trick to keep track of my comrades a while ago and to aid them. When you were attacked, your magic reacted and tried to protect you in a great burst of energy."

'So that's what the jolt was? My magic trying to protect me?' Jack thought.

"How come my magic never protected me before? Why did it choose only then to help me?" Jack felt abandoned for some reason and he was confused. This was all so much to take in. Especially after some sort of drug induced sleep.

North gave a gentle, knowing smile. "Magic is something very hard to control and to understand. It takes years of learning to even grasp basics." North explained vaguely. "However, one thing I am most certain about is that magic is something very special inside us all. It is our centers, if you want to think it that way. It is with us are whole lives and determines what and who we are! Even so, it takes the right time to appear before us. That night in the alley was the right time for your magic to appear. Understand?"

'Something special, huh?' Now that Jack thought about it, he did feel different somehow. He felt a small coldness in him, right in the center of his body, but it wasn't an uncomfortable cold. Jack felt it calming him, soothing all his worries. 'I could get used to this feeling. Whether it took a long time to make it's presence or not, I'm glad that my magic saved me.' He sank farther back into his pillows feeling a little tired but wanting to keep going.

'This is a lot to take in for a guy who just came out of a drug induced sleep. Way to go Jackie boy.' He gave himself a mental pat on the back.

"Okay," Jack said to North, "Magic is real and we are both wizards and all that jazz, but what about him?" Jack's voice unconsciously filled with antipathy. "He said that I had 'something special' in me that he wanted and it sounded like he knew you. Do you know who he is?"

North's expression became weary almost instantly and ran a hand through his hair. "I do know that man. He goes by a few names but his true name is Kozmotis Black."

Actually putting a name to that monster made him seem much worse. Jack's head throbbed and he put his hand to his head. 'Well the name does fit.' Jack thought, 'Black?'

"He is a member of a group of dark wizards," North continued, "They are called Death Eaters."

"Wait? Dark wizards?" Jack asked slightly confused, "Death Eaters? Who came up with that name?" He said, trying to sound light-hearted but when he saw North's grim expression he decided to just let North explain.

"There are two sides to wizards, Light and Dark. Most wizards are on Light side, like myself. We try not to play gods and use magic for anything but good. But then there are those who relish in power and would do anything for it. About 15 years ago, a dark wizard gained power and followers and started a terrible war. He was very large threat and many wizards to this day fear the sound of his name. He was known as The Dark Lord Voldemort and he and his followers killed thousands before he was defeated. Kozmotis Black, or Pitch Black as many came to call him, was one of The Dark Lord's generals. He was one of the fiercest duelists and his skill in using the dark arts was second only to Voldemort. I was unfortunate enough to duel him on a few occasions and they had all been near death experiences. After Voldemort fell, he went into hiding and hadn't been heard of for nearly eight years."

"Until that night, three days ago." Jack said heavily.

"Yes," North agreed. "I contacted the wizard government about your attack and my sighting of Pitch and they are trying to find him. They even got the non-magical world looking for him under a story that they would understand. Jack," North leaned in, "If there is anything that you think that might be helpful, anything that he said, please tell me."

Jack would rather not think about that night at all anymore. He wanted to put it far away in the back of his mind or forget it completely. But he knew that would never happen. It would always be with him whether he wanted it to be or not.

"He said that I had something that he needed, something he had be looking for along time. He said that a lot of people had it in them but he needed a kid, like me. Someone who was all alone and had no family that would…miss them" Jack said the last part softly to himself, but he knew from the large hand on his shoulder that North had heard him.

Jack tried to think of anything else but it was getting harder and his head was throbbing more and more. "Wait," He said remembering something, "He said that he needed two things in me. Do you know if that would help?" Jack looked at North.

"Hmm," North said as he combed a hand through his beard, "It is not much, but it gives me an idea of why he possibly did it." He huffed out a great sigh. "Jack, remember when I told you that Pitch was very skilled in Dark Arts?"

"Uh-huh." Jack said tiredly.

"Well that includes him being skilled in Dark rituals. He preformed a handful during the war and caused great panic, which only added the rituals. It was said that he used certain…ingredients to make the rituals so potent. You see Jack, he used the organs and body parts of wizards and witches to fuel the intense magic of the rituals."

Jack let that sink in. "W-what are you trying to say? Do you think that he tried to t-take my…organs…for some sort of ritual?" Jack's eyes felt like they were going to pop out of his head and hit North in the face.

North regretfully nodded. "Jack, you are on pain reducing potions so you can not feel your body well, but you are in very bad shape."

"How bad?" Jack asked, not really wanting to know.

"When I found you," North started slowly, "You were lying in ally all covered in blood. You had so many cuts, deep and long. There were two in particular that stood out. One over your heart and the other is over your liver. The skin was pulled away and it was clear that he," North paused and took a deep breath and when Jack looked at him he saw the North look almost angry, "that he tried to take your organs.

"I took you here because with simple spell and few hours you would be good as new. But for some reason, no matter how hard Healers tried, your wounds would not close. It was discovered Pitch used dark artifact on you that was used often by him in the war. It was a dark dagger made out of black sand and when used it attacked like acid and ate away skin. Why Pitch uses this dagger was never discovered but it made him very feared and powerful. If it wasn't for his absolute loyalty to the Dark Lord, I do believe he would've tried to defeat Voldemort on his own.

"To get the black sand out of your system required very painful procedure and made it so they had to close wounds non-magical way. You will have scaring I am most sad to say."

Jack didn't know what to feel. He felt numb, but he could feel the wetness of tears going down his cheeks. His head throbbed and he could feel whatever they gave him for pain coming off and his body was slowly starting to ache. But he wanted to know more, so much more. He ignored everything his body was telling him and asked North more questions.

"B-but why couldn't he take someone else's organs?" Jack asked, looking down at his hands fretfully, "I mean, n-not like I want this to happen to anyone." He looked up at North, eyes shrink wrapped in tears, "But why did he specifically pick me? Did he know that I was a wizard?"

"I believe so, my boy." North said as his eyes softened, "A wizards body is all connected to magical center, so everything in us has magical properties. It has been said that before a wizard trains and hone skills, that is when wizard is has most raw power. I believe that Pitch wanted to take your organs specifically because you are untrained wizard with raw power. You were homeless so he was able to get to you easier than if he went after child with mother always watching them."

Jack couldn't hold it together any longer. He let out a sob and draped an arm over his face.

'Why? WHY?!' Jack screamed in his head. 'Why couldn't I have a normal life with Emma? Why couldn't my mom be alive and my dad still be a dad? How come I didn't get a childhood? What did I do to disserve these things to happen to me? Is this really how life goes? Kids being attacked by psychos and not even get the assurance that it could've been anyone? That it was all just dumb luck and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time? No. Pitch had me picked out and it would've happened anyway. I was just lucky it was after I met North. Why is it always me? Why does God like to toy with my life?! Am I such a bad person that I need to be punished in this way?'

As Jack lay there in his hospital bed crying his eyes out and North sat next to him his chair trying to think of some way to help. Some way to distract Jack and to get him to stop crying, if only for a little while. North didn't want to wake up Emma and have her see her brother weak and crying. He didn't think that would be fair to Jack or to her.

'What to do, what to do?' North thought to himself. 'I need to find a way to cheer Jack up without saying something and making it worse. I need to find a way for him to laugh.' North looked down at Jack, at the arm hiding most of his face in shame, at his bandaged forehead, and then at his hair. It was then that North remembered something else that had happened to him. 'Ah-ha! This just maybe it!' North quickly conjured a mirror and tried to grab Jack's attention.

"Jack," North placed a gentle hand on Jack's arm, "There is something you need to see. Something else that occurred because your magic protected you."

Jack was still very hysterical when he heard North say this. It took him a minute to calm down enough to ask "What?" in a small shaky voice.

"See for yourself." And with that North placed the mirror on Jack's lap. Jack looked down at it and then raised an eyebrow at North. "Go on." North encouraged.

'My face better not be deformed,' Jack thought as he slowly raised the mirror. At first he only saw his red, puffy eyes and his bandaged forehead. Then he tilted the mirror up slightly and saw his hair. At least, he was pretty sure it was his hair.

His hair, which he was used to being brunet, was pure white. He then looked at his eyes closer and past the red puffiness he saw that instead of brown, they were a bright blue. Jack's jaw dropped and he stared at the new developments in his features. Jack slowly turned his head to North and North chuckled at his reaction.

"Let me explain." North said with a grin. "When your magic was released it put immense stress on your body. As a result, your body's way of handling it was to turn your hair white. If not for that, more damage could have occurred to your body. As way to deal with the power spreading out of your system, your eyes absorbed a great amount of your magic and sent it circling through your body normally. If they had not done this you would have most likely lost all your magic."

Jack looked back at the mirror, astonished. He carefully slipped his right hand out of Emma's limp grip and pulled a lock of his white hair. Actually touching it and feeling it against his fingers made it much easier to believe. Without even meaning to, Jack let out a small laugh. It was then followed by another, and then another, and another. Pretty soon Jack was in a giggling fit and had to cover his mouth with his hand to stop from being to loud.

"I look so stupid!" Jack said between his laughter. North joined in with his own hushed laughter.

"What makes you say that?" North asked, cheerful that Jack was laughing.

"I look like hahaha an old man!"

"And what's wrong with that?" North asked incredulously, sitting up straight and crossing his arms. This only made Jack laugh even harder.

"I-I hahaha look, ow, l-like your son! Hahaha!" Jack was laughing so hard that new tears were coming to his eyes, but his stomach was starting to hurt so he tried to calm down a little.

North's eyes softened. "You could be. If you wanted to, of course."

Jack stopped laughing completely now but he still had a smile on his face. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"I could adopt you. Like I did Emma." North smiled at Jack expectantly.

Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'He wants to adopt me? He wants me to be his son? Why? Is it because he just wants Emma to be happy?' Then another part of his brain spoke up. 'NO Jack you little dolt! Why would he sit here and watch you cry and try to comfort you unless he cared about you? He seems genuine, like you can actually trust him.' But Jack still felt uneasy.

"How do I know you won't get tired of me and Emma one day?" Jack remembered the day when his father walked out of the door without even saying good-bye. Jack's last memory of him was his back; sometimes that was his only memory of him. "How do I know your not going to leave us?" Jack was scared of what North would say. He really did like North and he didn't want to think of the man like this but he couldn't help it.

"Jack Frost," North leaned closer to Jack, grabbed his hand, and looked him right in the eye, "I promise to never leave you like your father did. I promise to never separate you from Emma like child services did. I promise to never, never hurt you like Pitch did. I swear to be the greatest father to you, if you would honor me with that privilege. Believe me when I say this Jack, I will never get 'tired' of you or Emma." He leaned back in his chair, "Is not possible. I care for you both too much!"

Jack couldn't breath. This man who really only met him an hour ago wanted to be his father. His father! It filled Jack with such joy he almost jumped out of his bed to hug North. Almost. He settled for just a nod.

"Okay." He said, grinning the biggest grin he had ever done.

North laughed and clapped his hands. "Prekrasniy! Wonderful!" North stood and ruffled Jack's hair. "Now, you must sleep."

"But can't I wait for Emma to wake up?" Jack asked, "Please?"

"No." North said firmly, sounding exactly like a parent. "You can see her in the morning, you need your rest. You are still very injured. I can tell that the potions are wearing off so I will call Healer to give you more. I will be right back." North left Jack alone with the sleeping Emma and he started to stroke her hair.

'She's so beautiful. I can't believe we're together again. Please, if there is a God above, don't let this be a dream.'

When North came back a few minutes later, the nurse, or Healer as it seems that's the wizard term, came to Jack's side.

"Hi Jack, good to see you back with the living." She said teasingly with a British accent.

"Good to be back. Those other dead people weren't all that lively." Jack joked back. She giggled softly and helped him drink the liquid in the glass vial. Jack was already feeling the effects; becoming drowsier and his soreness was decreasing.

"Get some sleep Jack." North said as he ruffled Jack's newly white locks. "I will see you in morning." With that, North went over to pick up Emma.

"Wait." Jack said and North halted. "Can you wait till 'm sleepin' ta leave?" Jack knew that it wouldn't be long anyway until he was asleep and it wouldn't matter if North were there or not. But Jack felt the need to feel like someone was watching over him.

North smiled at him, "Of course, my boy. I will stay as long as you need me to."

Jack fell asleep soon after that. North felt it didn't matter any more if he took Emma back to their hotel. She was already asleep and if Jack did wake up again and found himself alone, well North couldn't do that. And after actually meeting Jack and talking to him, North couldn't bring himself to leave him.

'Such a small child.' North thought. 'Yet he is stronger the wild horses.' North looked at Emma and Jack, both sound asleep. 'My children. My little ones.' North felt his heart fill with pride and swore to himself that they will never feel suffering like they have already lived ever again.

North settled into his chair, copied his adopted children and fell asleep.

XxX

Jack had been in the hospital for three weeks before he was released. When Jack had woken up from the night North explained everything to him, Emma was already up and had almost pounced on Jack when he awoke. But North warned her that she could hurt Jack so she made sure to give him a gentle hug, one that lasted for several minutes consisting of both of them crying and telling each other "I missed you so much" or "I'll never leave you again". When they parted, Emma laid next to him on his bed and they talked for hours about nothing in particular. They just relished being together.

But Jack's recovery was harder than he expected it to be. He first saw his wounds when getting his bandages changed and he reacted badly to it, very badly. Seeing the red, irritated gashes and stitches littering his body, he had a massive panic attack and it took both North and Emma half an hour to calm him down. He couldn't stand the sight of his wounds. Two jagged "Y" shaped cuts over his heart and to the right of his stomach were the worst ones. They were deep and the Healers said that they were taking longer to heal then they normally would, even with the help of various potions and creams. They suspected that these areas were effected longer by the black sand of that knife then the other slashes. What sickened Jack the most about his injuries was that even though Pitch only needed two organs, he still made numerous cuts all over Jack torso. It was as if Pitch just wanted Jack to be in pain, to suffer.

But having Emma and North beside him got him through all the rough parts. They stuck with him when he just needed someone to be there. They made him laugh if he got depressed and they took his mind off of things. North had gotten all the papers sorted out and had officially adopted Jack and they really did seem like father and son. Emma and Jack had easily slipped back into the role of siblings, almost like they were never separated. Jack constantly teased her and they would banter about the smallest things, North would just sit back and watch in amusement.

Since Jack still wasn't fit enough to travel by any magical transportation back to North's home in America, they had to travel the non-magical way, or the muggle way. Jack was still getting used to all the weird magical terms. When they were in the airport waiting for their flight, Jack felt very nervous. It felt like everyone was looking at him and the crowds were almost too much. It seemed that at any moment, Pitch would appear out of the crowd and take him away to finish the job. Jack held tightly onto Emma's hand as the walked to their gate and onto their plane. North got seats in First Class and Jack was sitting next to Emma, so Jack's nerves weren't that bad as they would be because there weren't that many people near them. But it wasn't until they were flying and Jack looked out the window that he felt at ease.

They were so high and the world was so far away. Jack couldn't believe that he was away from the messed up world below, if only for a little while. It was amazing and filled Jack with such joy and he pressed his face against the window to get a better look. North saw his delight and leaned over the aisle to talk to him.

"Jack." North said and Jack reluctantly turned his attention to North and away from the amazing sight outside of the window. "In Wizarding World," North began, "we have many modes of transportation. One is magical flying broom sticks that you can ride."

Jacks eyes widened with amazement. "Really?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes!" North laughed. "I am actually maker of several types of brooms."

"Really?!" Jack asked, getting more and more excited. "Can you make me one?"

"Maybe one day. We even have a sport were they use brooms, called Quidditch."

They spent the rest of the flight with North telling Jack all about the Wizarding World. Emma had fallen asleep as she had heard all this before and Jack traded seats with her so that he could be closer the North. They had covered some of the basics when Jack was in the hospital, like the schooling, some basic laws, the money, but right now they were getting into the good stuff.

"Are dragons real?" Jack asked when they got onto the subject of magical creatures.

"Yes!" North informed him. "All sorts of dragons! There are many different breeds in world."

"What about werewolves?"

"They also exist."

"Cool." Was all Jack could say. In fact, every time North answered a question his response would be either be "cool" or "awesome". Jack couldn't think of any other way of saying it. Everything he was learning was just so cool and awesome!

Their plane landed around six in the evening and Jack was dead tired. He had been nervous about flying and seeing his new house so he barely got any sleep the night before. He had been planning on sleeping on the plane but then he started talking to North, and well you now the rest of the story.

He had been able to fall asleep as they took a taxi from the airport to North's house in upstate New York. It was a two hour drive and Jack did feel a little more rested when they stopped, but he knew he was gonna have to sleep as soon as he was settled.

When they got out of the taxi, Jack starred at the house in astonishment. Oh, and when I say house, I really mean giant mansion. Jack had never seen a bigger house. It had big steps leading up to an unnecessarily big door. The outside seemed to be made out of white marble and had several sections leading out and stood thee stories tall. Around the mansion were trees and pathways that lead to unknown places that Jack had the great urge to follow.

"Uh, North?" Jack asked.

"Yes, my boy?"

"How much money do you make from making brooms?"

"Well my brooms are best in world!" North said with a wave of his hand. "All professional Quidditch players use them and even Minister of Magic owns one of mine."

Jack didn't really know how to react to this information. 'Best in the world, huh?' The ten year-old thought. 'He better make me one.'

They all walked up the steps together and North opened the door to Jack's new home. The inside wasn't what Jack expected it to be like. He expected everything to white and all spread out, leaving a lot of empty space. What greeted him were warm colors like red and yellow. The floor plan of the house was close together but it didn't feel cramped. It felt warm and cozy. The entry room had a wide wooden door to the left and an open archway in front of them that seemed to lead into the living room. To the right was a large staircase that lead to the second floor and split into two hallways.

"Wow." Jack said and looked around him in amazement.

"Jack, Jack, Jack!" Emma said excitedly as she grasped his hand and jumped up and down, "Your going to love it here! There's so much to do! I can't wait to show you the back yard and the pond in the woods behind it! Dad never lets me go there alone but since you are here we can go together!"

"Yeah," Jack said with a tired chuckle, "sure."

"I have to show you my room! It's got a bunch of fairies painted on the walls that move! And they sometimes talk to you!"

"That's really cool!" Jack said enthusiastically, remembering how much she liked fairies and the moving pictures that wizards have. 'Two of her favorite things in one.'

"Not so fast, little one." North interjected. "Jack is tired and needs rest. You can show him your room tomorrow but right now let's take him to his room."

Emma looked down dejectedly for a second but then was soon smiling all over again. "Okay~!" She said and started to half skip half drag Jack up the stairs with North following behind them. The lead him up to the second level and down two hallways before they reached two doors. Jack could tell that the one on the right was Emma's room because of the sparkly sign on the door that said in choppy writing "Emma's Room".

"This is your room." North said as he opened the door on the left and lead gestured Jack to enter. Jack stepped in and looked around his bedroom, his first bedroom.

It was a fair size with bright blue walls and two windows in the wall across from the door and a window in the wall to the right of the door. It was pretty plainly decorated. It only had a bed, a dresser, a few shelves, and a desk in it. Jack went over to the bed and sat down on it.

"I know is not much," North started looked around the room and walked over to Jack, "But I did not want to fill room with things that I didn't know if you would like. We will go shopping and get things to hang on walls or books to put in shelves. We go tomorrow, today you rest." North patted Jack's shoulder. "Get some sleep, my boy." With that North took Emma out of the room and left Jack to sleep.

Jack looked around the room that was almost too large. 'What am I even gonna put in this room? I've never had one so I guess I'll just have ta figure it out. North will probably help if I ask.'

Jack then took of his shoes and climbed under the sheets and drifted off into sleep. 'Wow. This bed is almost too soft.' Were his last thoughts before he went under.

XxX

It was almost a year later that the man had visited. Jack and Emma were enjoying the last month of summer and were just coming in from swimming at the pond. They came in from the back yard using the kitchen door and sitting at the table was North, but he wasn't alone. Sitting with him was an old man with long, white hair and a long beard, longer than North's! He had blue eyes hidden under half-moon shaped glasses. His was wearing a robe that made Jack want to cringe, as it was brightly colored and covered in odd designs.

"Ah!" North said. "There you are, my little ones! Jack, go up stairs and change into dryer clothes and then come back down. My friend and I need to talk to you. Emma would you please just stay in your room for a little bit?"

Jack and Emma were confused but they did what North said. Jack quickly changed out of his swim trunks and shirt and pulled on khaki shorts and a hoodie and rushed back down stairs into the kitchen.

Jack sat down next to North at the table and across from the strange man.

"Jack, this is my good friend Albus Dumbledore."

"Hello Mr. Dumbledore." Jack said.

"Hello Jack." Dumbledore said. "How are you?"

"Um," Jack said uncertainly. "I'm okay, I guess."

"Jack." North said and Jack turned to look at him. "Albus is the Headmaster of Hogwarts and he came to personally tell you that you have been accepted."

Jack smiled at that and looked at the man across from him. "Really?" Dumbledore chuckled.

"Why of course. You have performed magic and Nicholas asked me if I would discuss with you about a certain matter."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked them, confused at the now solemn look on his adopted father's face.

"I explained to Albus," North started, "your situation and told him about that incident."

Jacks face darkened and he looked down at his hand. "Oh." Was all he could say.

"Your father and I wanted to make sure that you were ready, Jack." Dumbledore said. "We wanted to know what you thought and then we will all decide from there. So, do you think you are ready? Really think, take your time Jack."

And Jack did. It had been about nine months since he had been attacked and he was doing fine. 'No you aren't, Jack,' He said to himself 'don't lie to yourself.'

Okay so he wasn't doing that well. Not that well at all, really. He had good days like today where everything was fine and he barely even thought about any of it. But there were a lot of days that he felt broken and woke up and he knew, he knew that he would have an out of breath feeling all day. He couldn't stand looking at his body. The scars were sometimes too much for him and his panic attacks didn't seem to be getting better. He had terrible nightmares most nights. North had started making him a dreamless sleep potion, but it could only do so much. Then there were the crowds. Jack couldn't stop thinking that somewhere, hidden in the hordes of people, is Pitch waiting for him. He felt like a rope was being tied around his throat when he went in a crowd.

Jack looked at North and saw in his eyes that no matter what Jack chose, he would have his back no matter what.

"I'm not ready." Jack told Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded in understanding. "Then I have another question for you."

"O-Okay. Go ahead."

"Would you think you think you would be ready next year?" Dumbledore asked him and Jack looked at North. North smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder, telling him silently that he believed in Jack.

Jack smiled at the thought. 'I have North and Emma. What can't I do with them helping me through?"

"Yeah." Jack told Dumbledore. "I believe I will be."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his glasses mischievously and Jack found himself coming to like this old man. "Then I have a suggestion. Why don't you come to Hogwarts next year? You would start your first year where most would their second year but I don't think that would be a problem. At Hogwarts you can make friendships and grow and learn. I believe that after the life that you have lead, you more than deserve to be at Hogwarts."

Jack looked at North to see what he thought and North gave him a nod and a firm squeeze on his shoulder. Jack felt confidence that he hasn't felt very often. He knew that he could do this. He believed in himself that he could overcome these demons and nightmares plaguing him. He knew that North would be there for him when he needed him and would pick him up if he ever stumbled or fell.

"Yeah." Jack agreed. "I'll do it."

~(TO BE CONTINUED)~

A/N OH MY GOSH! This was the longest thing I have ever written! 8,123 words and 19 pages! Crap! Okay whoa man whoa. I'm sorry it took me forever to update put I really didn't want to split this chapter up at any point and I just wanted to get it done! And now it is and I have a feeling of accomplishment and you guys have a long chapter to read! Everyone is happy!

Okay so please tell how you liked it. I feel like I butchered Dumbledore at the end. What do you guys think? Also just putting it out there that I am now done with Jack's back-story. Who should I do next? Hiccup, Merida, or Rapunzel. I might do Merida next but I'm still no sure.

Please review and follow! Hopefully I can get a new chapter up in the next couple of weeks! Okay bye lovelies! I LOVE ALL OF YOU!