As Jean awoke, she could feel her head pounding. She sat up to realize she was at home in her own bed. Any other morning that would not have seemed out of the ordinary. But she could not recall the night before. She didn't remember getting ready for bed or even coming home. What happened last night? What was the last thing she remembered?
Then like a spark in the back of her mind, suddenly came to her.
The day on the train. The little girl with red hair and brown eyes that led her around. All of the cousins. The man with bright blonde hair. And Harry Potter.
Obliviate.
What did that mean? Oblivion? Or the Latin oblivio or oblivisci, she mused. Unaware? Banished?
To forget?
Was that right? What did he want her to forget? Had she forgotten?
She jumped out of bed only to lose her balance. She brought a hand up to her head. Did she get a concussion? It didn't matter, she needed to find out what else happened. She paused. Wait. Was she going on the assumption that magic was real?
No. Maybe. It was too much to just let it all go, she needed to find out what that man had intended.
But what if this man was violent? Crazy? They were all a little crazy…
She shook her head and pushed away all the doubt. She had to find out more. How did she get home? She was dressed in her pajamas and almost everything appeared to be just as it should, only she knew that it wasn't. She examined herself in the mirror looking for a bump on the head or any other bruises. There was nothing. She shook herself again. She had to go find out what she could. She got herself ready for the morning and pondered all of this more over her breakfast. She needed to go now. It was as though every cell in her body was on edge impatient waiting for the day to begin. As she grabbed her coat and stepped out the door, she realized she didn't know where she was going to go. The train station? It was not likely they would be there again.
But where else could she go?
A little more than an hour later, she walked over to the wall that she had fallen through the day before. She ran her hands across it. Nothing happened. It appeared to be just another wall. But she hadn't touched it the day before, she had just fallen through it and other people walked through it. She looked around nervously. "Here goes nothing." And she walked directly into. Her head pounded harder than it did before. Definite just a wall. "Well so much for that."
As she massaged her head she looked down to the ground and saw something shining. She bent down to pick it up. It was a bronze colored coin. She turned it over in her hand. It looked like it could have been one of the same coins the students had paid the trolley lady with.
"Miss, are you alright?"
She closed her hand around the coin. "Yes, sorry. I just-" She looked up. It was the second man from the platform yesterday. The one that had frozen in place. The one that went after her and Lily with his wand. "I wasn't looking where I was going. You know they say that walking and texting is dangerous, but it's just so hard to stop." She gave a weak smile as she slipped her hand with the coin into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone.
The man watched her face carefully for a moment. "Alright then, do you need help finding your way to your train?"
"No, don't worry. I think I will be able to find it on my own. Thank you for the offer though."
She quickly walked away. She wasn't quite sure why she had lied. She had been looking for answers and found someone who could have probably provided some help but felt compelled to lie.
When she had walked far enough away, she looked behind her as she rounded a corner towards the tube trains. The man was discreetly following her. She looked around and saw the Piccadilly line would be leaving any minute. She looked behind her again and saw the man advancing quickly, giving up the guise of casually following her. She just made it through the doors and saw him fighting his way through the crowd, but realized he was too far away and would not make the train.
She gave a sigh of relief and sat down in a seat nearby. Now what?
She looked up at the destinations. Russell Square. No. Holborn. No. Covent Garden. Maybe. Leicester Square. Yes. She had a friend that worked not too far away from that. It would also put some distance between the man from King's Cross.
She felt around in her pocket until she pulled out the small coin. She studied it closer. The one side had what looked like an elk and read "unum knut". On other side was the imprint of an old man with a long beard and the words "Gringotts Bank." She had never heard of such a bank. She pulled out her phone and found that a quick Google resulted with nothing helpful. She tucked the coin back in her pocket and dialed. She heard the familiar male voice pick up on the other end of the call.
"Ludicrous Patent Office."
Jean smiled to herself and rolled her eyes. He always answered with his ridiculous nickname for the law firm. "Hi. I was wondering if you had any lunch plans?"
She heard a chuckling on the other end of the phone. "I have not heard from you in who knows how long yet I get no, 'how are you?' No concern for my well-being?"
She smiled, "All you have to do is agree to lunch and I am sure we will spend more than enough time discussing all the intricacies of your life."
"Alright, alright. Do you have a place in mind?"
"Well I will be getting off at Leicester Square station, but I can change there and meet you closer-"
"No, how about I meet you around there so you don't have to change trains." He gave her the name of a local pub and promised to head over shortly. When she arrived, she got a table near the window that looked out on to the street while she waited for him. She read over the menu for a bit and put in an order for a drink. After a few moments, she found herself watching the passersby. She began to notice the voluminous cloaks people were wearing that all seemed to come in and out of the rundown establishment across the street. How odd. But certainly not the most unusual thing she had seen in the last 24 hours.
She felt the hand on her shoulder and stood up to embrace her friend in a hug, "Blaise." He smiled as his tall frame towered over her. Everything about him was impeccably styled from the perfect Windsor knot to the shine of his Italian loafers.
He took the seat across from her. "Hello," he said with a smug smile in place on his face.
"I didn't see you come in."
"Oh, I came from the other direction. Besides you are usually so engrossed in your own thoughts, I'm not surprised you didn't notice." He teased.
"I suppose that is true some of the time." She paused as he raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Most of the time."
"Yes, well as glad as I am that you arranged this lunch, do you want to tell me why you decided to call me out of the blue?"
She bit her lip. "I just wanted to see you while I was in town."
His dark eyes scrutinized her. "Jean, I know for a fact you come into the city once a week to go to that bloody British Library. Try again."
"I missed you?"
He laughed. "I'm sure." He said as a waitress came to take their orders.
For a while, they shared small talk about their lives and ate their meals until there was a lull in the conversation. Jean stared out the window as the rain began to fall.
"Ah, so we have finally reached the point where you tell me what is really going on with you," Blaise said.
"Yes, well. I don't know what to say without sounding crazy." She said still staring out into the rain.
"You, my darling, could never be crazy. A bit eccentric. Never crazy."
She picked up her glass and narrowed her eyes at him as she took a sip. "I had a …a strange day yesterday." He watched her carefully, waiting for her to continue. "Well, I don't remember coming home for one. Or going to sleep."
He studied her for a moment before a smirk slipped on to his face. "My, my. Getting sloshed on a Tuesday? I didn't know you had it in you."
Jean scowled at him. "No. Nothing like that. But what I do remember does not make much sense…but then a man followed me through the train station on my way here. I don't know… I just felt a little off…"
"Well, why don't you tell me more and we'll see if we can make sense of this."
She sighed and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. She began speaking softly, but as her story went on the strength in her voice grew. "Yesterday morning, I met a little girl who asked me if I was someone else. But then she left. While I was walking to my platform, some woman knocked into me and I went through a wall. Through a wall. As though it wasn't even there. On to a completely different platform. Then there were the parents of the same little girl. But then another man-the man from today-appeared through the wall. Only he came towards me and the little girl with a stick. Or wand. I don't know. That was what the little girl called it. Then she stopped him. I think. Froze him in place." She tucked a curl behind her ear before continuing.
"So, we jumped on to this old-fashioned steam engine. The little girl introduced me to all her cousins. They showed me this card with a picture of a girl that looked like me-bit too much like me really. And there was this incredibly unhelpful trolley lady. Then the children did some magic tricks. And I don't know it all seemed like magic tricks, I think. But then we got off the train at this station in the middle of nowhere. And the girl's parents were there to collect her. Honestly, they acted a bit odd in general. And then this man with the palest blonde hair I have ever seen, well he was just… Well, I don't know but then the girl's father raised his wand at me. The last thing I remember is when he said obliviate. Then just darkness. "
She paused for a moment. "I woke up in my apartment with the most intense headache. And I don't know, it's just not…something is not right. So, I went back to the train station for a clue or to prove myself wrong. But I found this." She pulled the coin out of her pocket and handed it to Blaise quickly while she continued on. "And then the man that had tried to attack me first yesterday at the train station was there and asked me if I needed help. Not only that, but he followed me through the train station. And it just seems so…" She finished with a sigh.
Blaise maneuvered the coin through his fingers. He looked from her back to the coin repeatedly.
"Well, say something." She finally told him.
"It sounds like a bit much." She sighed and looked out the window again. Blaise continued, "It's not that I don't believe you. I just think that…look did you consider that it was just a dream?"
She began to protest but he held up a finger to silence her. "It is possible that you have noticed this man before. And maybe you used his likeness in your dream. Maybe he wasn't following you through the train station for some sinister reason, but to get your phone number or out of concern. I mean you were, what feeling a wall to see if you would go through it? Is it not possible that he was concerned?"
She considered this and its plausibility. It was possible. "But what about the coin and what happened to me all of yesterday?"
He motioned with the coin toward. "Well, this is from an arcade over by Piccadilly Circus. See…" He pulled another one out of his pocket. She took them both in her hands.
"Hmm…" They were identical. It was possible, she never was a patron for games. "But wait, since when do you spend your free time playing video games with children?"
He took both coins back from her and slid them into his pocket. "One, it's not just for children. But I went there on a date last weekend."
"Oh. Really?" He smiled at her smugly in return. So, she rolled her eyes and continued, "Well still what happened to me yesterday? If this was all a 'dream'?"
"My guess," he said as he flattened his hand against his chest. "Is that you have been spending too much time on work-again-and as overworked as you are, you slept through most of the day with this fever dream. It's why you have a headache and have felt out of sorts."
She tilted her head. It was plausible. She hadn't had a proper night of sleep in the past two weeks. "But…it felt so real. And I just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong."
He grumbled something incoherent under his breath before replying. "Well, dreams are like that sometimes."
She looked back out on to the street as she thought it through. Blaise continued to explain and comfort Jean. But she was focused on the rain pouring down outside processing his perspective. Most people had umbrellas or hoods thrown over their heads. They dodged puddles and rain runoff. Something about the way one man moved caught her eye, yet she watched him without really seeing him. That was until the hood of his cloak blew back in the wind. For a moment, Jean saw the pure blonde hair before it was enveloped in the billowing cloak again.
Jean leapt out of her seat causing one of the glasses fall over and douse Blaise in beer.
"What in the bloody hell?" Blaise called as she dashed out of the restaurant. As he looked out the window, he uttered one damning syllable before throwing down money on the table and chasing after her. "Fuck."
Outside, Jean could feel the rain pounding into her skin as she ran across the street. She realized she left her coat on the back of the chair, but it was too late. She ran to the building and yanked open the old door with a rather theatrical entrance. Most of the patrons in what appeared to be a pub stared at the woman who was dripping wet when she walked in. It took her a moment to spot the man standing at the bar. The hood now rested on his shoulder, she recognized him from the night before without question.
"Draco."
The man froze, before slowly turning around to stare at her with an unreadable expression.
The door just behind her was opened to a second dripping new occupant. Blaise swiped his face in an attempt to shift away from the rain. "Damnit, woman. You can't just take off like that."
But Jean did not turn around. She repeated the name. "Draco."
Blaise's jaw dropped before he had time to recover. He took a step closer to Jean. He opened his mouth to say something, but Draco silenced him with a look. One could hear a pin drop in the usually busy pub.
Draco narrowed his eyes towards Jean. "How do you know that name?"
"It's what Harry Potter called you last night. At the train station."
Draco shifted his glance to Blaise as it turned murderous. "Would you care to explain?"
"Me? I wasn't there last night, you prick."
Jean paused and looked between the two of them. "You know each other."
They both looked at her somewhat nervously. Blaise took a step forward. She took a step back. "Jean-"
"You know each other."
"Jean-" Blaise began again.
She turned fully towards him. "You knew it wasn't a dream, didn't you?" There was a temperature change in the room. Blaise opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. "You lied to me. You tried to convince me it was a dream." Blaise's eyes shifted to her right and fear was written across his face.
She could hear Draco's voice behind her. "Everyone out. Now." She barely registered the scuffle of chairs as the other patrons exited the pub.
"How do you know him? Do you know what is going on?" She demanded of Blaise, who still looked terrified in front of her.
She almost didn't notice Draco approach her until he was just behind her. She spun around to him. Unlike Blaise, he did not cower under her gaze. He stared back down at her. "You need to calm down." He told her.
"Calm down? How dare you-"
He gritted his teeth. "If you don't calm down, you will burn this place to the ground."
She took a step back from him "What?"
"Look at your hand." He said enunciating each syllable carefully.
She narrowed her eyes at him defiantly but then turned her head to see a ball of fire flickering within in the palm of her hand. It was spitting out sparks around her that singed the wooden furniture. She gave a shout and jumped backward. The flames extinguished themselves.
"What is going on?" She shouted. Jean looked between the two men. Blaise straightened himself out, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a wand. Jean stepped back again away from him. She steeled herself against him.
Realizing this, Blaise paused and held up his hands in surrender.
"That can wait. It would appear, she is not very trusting of you right now." Draco said with a smirk.
"Oh, come on, I'm dripping wet. You are both dry already."
Jean looked down and realized he was right. She had entered the pub dripping wet from head to toe but now was nearly completely dry after only a few moments. She silently puzzled over this.
Draco spoke again. "You can wait a bit longer."
"Prick." Blaise pulled at his tie and took off his suit jacket. He put the wand back in his pocket.
Draco smirked at him. He then turned to Jean who was still examining her dry attire with confusion. "Follow me." She bit her lip. "I promise you'll be fine," he reassured her in a gentler tone than she expected.
For a reason she couldn't explain, she trusted him. Tentatively. "Where are we going?"
"Well, we are in need of some help." He said cryptically.
Blaise smiled at that and step forward to follow them as well before adding, "And help will always be given to those who ask for it at Hogwarts." Draco sneered at him. Jean was unsure if it was because of Blaise's obvious glee or the implication that he would also be coming with them. Either way, it seemed the three of them were headed to Hogwarts.