A/N Joss Chapter eleven

It was an interesting morning, the first day back to school. First of all, I basically forgot it was the first day back, which helped immensely. Luckily, Emma had nagged me weekly to get ahead on my packing. It's almost like she knew I'd be running around like a chicken with its head cut off five minutes before we had to leave. Not that I looked like that. At all.

"Joss! We're leaving in five minutes, with or without you!" Emma called from the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes and made a face. Emma had been awake since Merlin knew when this morning, maybe working an early shift, and had come over at some ungodly hour, demanding I wake up and finish packing. Needless to say, I wasn't won over by that idea. I should not be living if the sun isn't up for a solid five hours beforehand.

I was running down the stairs though a good six minutes later with the trunk levitating behind me. Jo looked up from tying her shoes – poor child still had to hand-tie them. Emma was leaning against the wall by the front door, arms crossed and looked down to check her watch.

"Do you have to push it every time?" she asked tiredly.

"We've never missed the train before." I reminded her, slipping my boots up and biting my lip in concentration, watching them tie themselves.

Jo groaned in frustration. I knew she wanted to do wandless magic now, not wait until she was seventeen. I'd say patience was a virtue, but since I was constantly being told I had no patience myself, I don't want to have the whole pot-kettle conversation this early in the morning.

"What is that?"

I whipped around curiously, honestly trying, to figure out what had caused my mother's shrill shriek.

"What?" I asked.

"What have I told you, Jocelyn, about using m- alternate methods of transportation in this house?" she said, hands covering her face like she was seriously distraught or something.

Jo snorted.

"Alternate methods of transportation?" she sniggered under her breath.

I bit back a grin and turned to look at Mum.

"Mother, it's barely magic! It's not like I'm making it talk or anything."

I swear she gave a pitiful moan at the word magic and Jo shoved a hand over her mouth. I had to be honest; I was suppressing the urge to laugh too. My mother sometimes got worked up over the smallest things. I remember I didn't like the color earrings she got me for my birthday so I changed them and it took Emma nearly three hours to stop her from hyperventilating. For someone who had four kids with a wizard, I'd think she would be a little more used to it. But apparently not, which was why she never liked to go to the train station with us.

"Sure you're not coming, Mum?" Emma asked.

I kicked my sister in the knee sharply with a pointed look and Jo eyed Emma wearily. Why on Earth would we want Mum to take us there? Yeah, when we first were going, maybe, but not for my last year. It was bad enough with my older sister babysitting until I got on the train. I didn't need my psychotic mother there as well, making a scene.

My Mum nodded, though suddenly she looked teary eyed. She surged forward before I could blink and I can imagine I looked like a deer in headlights as she cupped my face and kissed rather hard on my forehead, her tears dampening my face. Emma looked somewhat confused and Jo was blinking rapidly, like she was trying to clear her head.

"This is your last year! You're getting so old now, so big! And then there'll only be little Josephine left and then my nest will be empty!" My mother wailed.

"Uhm…Mum…" I tried.

"How did this all go by so quickly?"

You probably were too drunk to remember half of it, I reasoned.

"I'm getting so old! My children are all so big now! No one needs mummy anymore! Mummy's just an old bat now, crying all over you, unneeded." She moaned, fingers clutching my face shakily.

I turned a horrified gaze towards Emma who took a moment to assess the situation before stepping into action, nearing my mother like she was some cornered animal. Hell, maybe she was.

"Mum? Mum, why don't you go take a little nap, yeah? I'll take the girls off to the train and get them sent off and then I'll come back and we can look at…at…"

"I want to see their pictures, their little beautiful pictures, of all of you…so young…so pretty…so dependent on Mummy…"

"Uh, right. Right, Mum, we'll look at some pictures as soon as I get back, yeah?" Emma agreed carefully.

Our mother nodded and wobbled towards the stairs, slowly going up and we waited until she was secured in her room before Emma grabbed under each of our arms and hauled us out the door.

"Mum's gonna be a right wreck when you get back." Jo observed.

Emma hummed and climbed into the car, waiting for us. I buckled myself in and leaned my head against the cool window glass.

"When isn't she?" I muttered dryly.

Mum's always a mess.

-0-

I was sprawled out on my side of the seat, sucking on a chocolate covered blood pop and talking about all the classes I had to take if I wanted to be a Hit-Wizard when I graduated this year. Jo was curled up in her own seat, making some paper birds fly around the compartment absently. If I was honest, she was a skilled wandsman. She knew her fair share of spells and was quite good with them.

"What do you think Mum'll say when she finds out?" Jo wondered.

I shrugged.

"She's Mum, she'll freak out, probably go into heart failure and Emma will have to revive her over dinner. She's still expecting us to join the Muggle community."

Jo snorted and watched one of her paper birds change colors mid-flight.

"This stuff really bothers her, huh? I don't understand. If it bothers her so much, why marry Dad?"

"Who knows? Woman's crazy."

Jo nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. Subconsciously I knew she shouldn't be. And I should be either. We shouldn't have to deal with a delirious mother all the time. I shouldn't have to clean up after her and put her to bed when she upsets herself or hide her drinks when she's had too much. I shouldn't have to watch my magic around her, watch a part of myself around her, so that she doesn't get upset. But she'd been that way as long as I can remember, and she wasn't going to change anytime soon. It'd get worse, if this thing with Archie turned into anything serious. I'd just got a rotten bit of cards for this life, I suppose.

Jo glanced up at the window looking out at the corridor and smiled, waving. Looking up briefly I saw her roommates, some girls whose names I forgot, waving at her to come outside. Jo spared me a glance, as if needing my permission or something and I rolled my headed, pushing my chin in the direction of the window and she smiled, telling me she'd be back in a minute and heading off.

Her birds were still going in circles about the ceiling, like an intense game of ring around the rosey or something. I leaned back against the far wall and watched them absently, wondering if I could make them chirp too. Maybe a nice tune or something…

"Well, look who it is. My favorite Wilde."

I groaned, leaning my head back in dismay and clenching my eyes shut. It wasn't bad enough that he wrote my every day of summer holiday, now he was barging in on me.

"Weasley, what is it you want exactly?"

I watched them both sit down across from my, matching grins on their faces as they leaned back, all casual and the like. I briefly wondered, if they stayed much longer would the frown on my face become permanent?

"My dearest lady-love seems cranky. Rough morning?" Fred asked.

I narrowed my eyes, feeling a headache coming on.

"And getting rougher by the second."

He placed a hand against his heart, a mock gasp escaping his lips. But his lips twitched at the corners – not that I was looking at his lips or something. Though there were many things that irked me about this set of twins, Fred did have a nice mouth. There was this one little freckle on the side where this almost-dimple would go when he smiled – but I wasn't looking. Honest.

"Nice birds." George commented, craning his neck to look up curiously at the ceiling.

"Not mine. Jo's." I muttered.

I watched, bemused and slightly confused, as this look came over his face and he smiled. Not a smirk, not a grin, not something that showed he was about to do something mischievous, but a smile. I had no idea what that meant but it didn't make me any less unsettled. I could deal with the smirks that lead to their pranks, but I had no idea what their smiles led up to.

"Creative." He murmured.

Fred raised an eyebrow at his twin and we may have shared a confused glance but then I just crossed my arms and watched them. I don't know when this whole irritation with them started. Fred and George Weasley were a grade lower than me, in Jo's year. I took notice of them their first year, which wasn't hard considering they were loud and rambunctious in this way that made me want to laugh every time they spoke. I didn't pay attention to the sorting that year beside Jo, but I paid attention to them. But they were always just the kids in my sister's year. I didn't personally know them. I heard about them, constantly, they spent nearly as much time in detention as I did. Which is why it was inevitable that we met there.

I had completely de-haired Mrs. Norris and one of the portraits, some real snobby bloke, ratted me out to Filch. I searched a detention that night and the twins happened to be there as well for turning the newly furless cat an array of colors that hadn't been removed for a week afterwards. Kids tend to bond in detention. Troublemakers-United and all that jazz. I had been in my fourth year then.

But they were always the kids I knew, the kids I sometimes talked to, the kids I had no problem pulling pranks with and covering for and all around playing around with on occasion. But I never considered us friends, like the type of friends who would go to Hogsmeade together or sometimes. I had friends for that. But they didn't irritate me. The twins had never irritated me. And then something obviously happened. Last year I was roped into hanging around them more, sometimes bringing Jo along, and I hadn't even noticed it. But suddenly Fred was everywhere. We served detentions together, got called into the Headmaster's office together, sometimes even ate meals together. And then the letters came this summer. I didn't even know what to do with them.

"So, lovely, how was your holiday?" Fred asked, making himself comfortable across from me.

"Peachy. This twit kept writing me all holiday, non-stop. Can't figure out why."

His grin didn't fade any. Honestly I never expected it to.

"Sounds romantic. Tell me, did he sweep you off your feet?"

"The only thing that sweeps me off my feet is my broom."

"And that sounds like a challenge."

"It's not one."

"Sounds like one."

"Then you should get your ears checked."

"I think they can hear every beautiful word you're saying just fine, love."

"Don't call me that."

"What shall I call you then? My fair maiden? My lady love? Honey? Babe?"

"Joss."

"But everyone calls you that. We need a special name for each other!"

"Oh, I've got a special name for you Weasley-"

"Oi, you two want to stop flirting for two seconds before I have to evacuate the area?" George chimed in, watching us with his nose crinkled.

I would've blushed right then, if I did that sort of thing. But I don't so I just pulled back and decided my face was hot because the sun had been shining on it through the window. Fred and I, apparently during our argument – not our flirting – had leaned closer together. I had leaned over my seat, towards the empty space in the middle between the benches and he was hunched forward, elbows on his knees and chin in his hands. I swear, he gave me the cheekiest grin right then.

"We were not flirting." I said adamantly.

"Yes we were."

"Don't start with me-"

"I'd love to start something with you. What did you have in mind?"

"Weasley-"

"George, she clearly means me, leave. I'm not into sharing."

"Don't even bring me into this conversation." George said with a shudder.

"I don't even want Fred to be in this conversation!" I cried.

"Denial is so pretty on you." he cooed.

The heat rising up my neck wasn't a blush; this time I was sure of it. I was itching to whip out my wand.

"Leave!" I demanded.

"Why would I do that? We're having such a lovely chat."

"Honest to Merlin, I will knock some sense into you if I have to."

"I have plenty of sense, I assure you. Such as the fact that I can sense how you really feel about me, despite all this façade you put on."

I heard a groan slip through my mouth as I covered my face with my hands which were clenched into fists. Where the hell was Jo?

"Mate, I think she's about to hex you." George said, amusement was completely evident in his tone.

"Have you seen her hex someone? She's very aggressive, it's quite hot actually."

"Well she's about to be on fire in a moment."

Fred grinned at me and winked. He bloody winked at me.

"It's alright, love," he said as he stood. "I don't mind a good game of hard to get. I have a feeling you'd make the chase quite exciting."

George made a beeline for the door, throwing a "tell your sister we said hello" over his shoulder. Fred took a step outside and threw me another wink and a wave. The door closed quickly but I heard the satisfying yelp.

Jo came back inside the compartment a moment later, eyeing the corridor wearily. She turned to look at me curiously.

"Why does Fred Weasley have a long pink and curly pig tail springing from his arse?" she asked.

I grinned this time, winking.

"Because I thought it only fitting the pig should show his tail proudly."