Chapter 25

Depended upon

Someone shook my shoulder and I groaned, tried to roll over, suddenly realized that I was not actually in my bed.

Oh. Right.

The light pressure on my lap reminded me of something. I turned it over in my head until the images became clear again, and I remembered the whole story before I even opened an eye to find myself in front of the twins' incredulous faces.

I was sitting on the couch, and my neck was stiff like you wouldn't believe. I couldn't believe I'd actually fallen asleep here, in the middle of the afternoon.

My hand was on the little boy's shoulder. It softly rose and fell as he breathed deeply, his head resting on my right leg, my foot having gone numb for a while now. Absentmindedly, I stared at him and almost forgot that the twins were home.

"Ands!" Fred's voice brought me back to reality, and man, did he sound pissed. This was the tone of voice Fred used whenever he knew he was out of the loop. He hated being clueless about whatever was going on around him; George didn't like it any more than he did, but he was better at reigning in his curiosity, in my opinion. "What's going on? Who's the kid?"

Jamie stirred and I shushed Fred at the same time that George hissed "Quiet, mate!" Our eyes met, and I turned to Jamie again to hide my light blush.

And now, we were thinking in sync. Oh, goody.

Yes. It had been a month and I was still not over my stupid infatuation with my best friend. I would be teen-girlish about this and say that it seemed that, no matter what my brain was yelling at me (namely "It won't happen, so just forget it already!"), my heart was refusing to move on. That sounded like something from a soap opera. Gah.

But Fred wasn't about to be frazzled. He grabbed my shoulder and shook it until I looked up at him again, a bit annoyed. Then George took things into his own hands and, getting to his knees in front of the couch, lightly lifted Jamie's head from my lap. The boy's breathing didn't even alter, and I squirmed out from under him.

"Right," I whispered once the three of us had left the room. The twins crossed their arms on their chests at the exact same time and leaned on the opposite wall of George's bedroom, Fred looking dubious, George just plain curious. "I can explain everything."

oOo

Bill raised his hand and knocked on the wooden door.

The freezing January wind ruffled my hair wildly, slapping my cheeks. I wrapped my arms around myself in an effort to keep warm and looked at the deserted street.

"What is this place?" I asked Bill, but before he could even open his mouth to answer, the door in front of us opened and a small woman stood in the center of the border of light that emanated from the inside, her face hidden in the dark. I could only stand frozen, not knowing what we were supposed to tell her; thankfully, Bill seemed to be a bit more awake than I was.

"Hello," he said in a low voice, taking a step closer to the bundle of light. "My name's William Weasley and I-"

But he didn't get the chance to continue. The woman, as soon as he'd told her his name, had rushed forward and was now shaking his hand wildly, her fingers clawing at his forearms.

"Oh, thank God," she murmured over and over, her head nodding along with her words, the tears visible on her cheeks now that she had stepped out of the threshold. "Thank God you're here."

oOo

She made us sit at the kitchen table in front of steaming cups of tea while she went upstairs to get her son. I used the opportunity to turn towards Bill and whisper furiously.

"What the hell is going on here?" He'd come to pick me up at the flat about twenty minutes earlier, claiming that he needed me for some urgent matter. I hadn't really minded going with him if it meant I could help with some Order mission; what was frustrating, rather, was that he refused to tell me what was going on, instead apparating us to this place with no explanation whatsoever. George and Fred had been gone when I'd left, going to check out some new broadcasting location with Lee ; it had been around seven AM when Bill had come around to pull me out of bed, and I'd been too groggy to ask any question then. But I was more than awake now, and more than impatient to know what was up.

He raised an eyebrow at my tone. "I don't have time to explain right now, do I? Just wait. You'll understand in half a second."

I grumbled; "You know I hate being used like this when I have no idea what's going on."

"Patience isn't one of your many qualities." He retorted, but I had to bit back an angry response; the woman, who'd introduced herself as Rachel Ackerley before had just come back, dragging a small boy behind her.

And that's when I got my very first look at Jamie Ackerley, although I could hardly know back then just how much this meeting would mean to me afterwards.

oOo

As Bill and Jamie's mother started talking, the situation I was in started to clear up a bit.

This woman, as far as I could tell, was a muggle just like me; she'd been married twice in her life, to a wizard first, with whom she'd had a son, Stewart, and then to another man, Jamie's dad, a muggle as well. He was working at the moment, and Stewart was in his fourth year at Hogwarts. His half brother, Jamie, who was seven, had already started to demonstrate some magical abilities, and this was in fact the very reason why Bill and I were here.

"Stewart has told us about it all," Rachel said in a broken whisper, looking towards the living room where Jamie was playing with small soldiers, laying flat on his stomach on the worn-out carpet. "How the students with Muggle parents had started being persecuted in school months ago. For some time though, it seemed muggle borns weren't in real danger, and me and Frank found no reason to be worried. After all, Stewart's father was a wizard, and thus being a half blood, there was no reason to fear that anything might happen to him. As for Jamie, we didn't have any proof then that he was a wizard, and in any case we thought he'd be safe here."

I nodded, my chin resting in my cupped hands and followed her gaze towards the small black-haired boy, who was moving his lips as he silently played with the tiny figurines.

"But things changed after Christmas." Bill prompted her, frowning. Rachel swallowed, and looked down at her hands, which were clenched on the table in front of her.

"Stewart came back with terrible news, both concerning Hogwarts and the whole of London; muggle borns being hunted down, pulled out of school and brought to the Ministry, both adults and kids being sent to Azkaban after unfair trials. It scared us something awful," her eyes swam, she bit down on her lip. "Of course we had no choice but to sent Stewart back to school after Christmas." Her eyes found mine, as if begging me to understand. "We couldn't have him stay here, bring unnecessary attention towards us. And he isn't a muggle-born, there isn't any reason anything will happen to him back at Hogwarts, right?"

I nodded, startled by the tightness of her eyes, the idea to disagree with her words not even crossing my mind.

She hesitated before saying what came next.

"Jamie started doing some things," she finally whispered after a few seconds. "Things like Stewart used to do before we realized he was a wizard. Frank and I think Jamie might be like his half-brother, and like Stewart's father."

"Jamie's a muggle-born," I clarified uselessly, but still needing to name it nonetheless, looking at Bill, finally understanding what was going on. "You're scared he might be in danger."

"Stewart came to see Ginny about a week ago, back in Hogwarts." Bill explained, crossing his arms on his chest. "He knew she was part of Dumbledore's Army; he told her his family needed help, and Ginny was able to contact my mother, who told me everything in turn. I can help you."

Rachel lost the watery façade then; her eyes hardened, her lips set themselves into a thin straight line.

"They sent us a note; Jamie's name was added to the Muggle-borns wanted for questioning list. They want us to bring him to the Ministry."

"You can't!" I broke in, earning a hard glance from both my companions. "They'll take him," I added more silently, not wanting the little boy to hear me. "They'll send him somewhere, away from here. The Ministry claims muggle-borns aren't real wizards; they're all being removed from their homes, from schools, and we have no idea what happens to them afterwards."

"I know that," she answered, her jaw set. "I'm not an idiot. I would never take him to London. Don't presume that my status as a muggle prevents me from understanding how corrupt your world has become."

"I'm a muggle," I told her, and her stance seemed to emanate much more warmth from that moment on.

"Nonetheless," she continued, looking back towards Bill, relaxing just a bit. "I have no idea how they found out about Jamie's abilities, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that my son is in danger; I heard about kidnappings, people being arrested, taken from their homes. I am unable to protect Jamie. If someone were to burst open the front door, walk right in here and take him, there would be absolutely nothing that I could do to stop him."

"Which is why we came here." Bill put in. "We can help you protect your son."

I raised an eyebrow at that. Rachel didn't appear to share my lack of confidence, however. The look of deep relief I'd seen on her face when we'd first arrived had come back, despite a sort of resigned air about her, as if she could picture the hardship that would follow this meeting. I looked back at Bill, curious about what he was undoubtedly about to propose so as to protect Jamie, and also about the reason why he'd brought me here in the first place; but it was Rachel who spoke next, with a grim smile.

"You'll have to take him from me," she whispered. "So as to make sure he's safe. You'll take him away."

"Yes," Bill agreed sternly. "You live too far away from London for there to be any other possibility at the moment."

She nodded as if to show she understood and I shot a surprised look towards Bill.

"Is there really no other way?" I asked in a low voice. "Can't we have someone look out for him differently?"

Bill looked exasperated at my comment. As Rachel turned towards the kitchen counter to prepare some more tea, he grabbed my elbow and pulled me closer to where he was sitting.

"Mel, I think I know a bit more about this than you do, right?"

"Why the hell did you bring me here if you didn't want my help, Bill, huh?" I whispered furiously, trying to free my arm from his grasp. "If you don't need my opinion, then I don't see why you asked me to come along in the first place; so, please care to explain, I'm all ears!"

He sighed in exasperation, and cast a look at Rachel's back. "You're a muggle, aren't you? I thought you'd make the family feel more comfortable."

"Bullshit," I countered, noticing the way he'd averted his eyes. "That's a bloody lie. You wouldn't bring me here unless it was something important."

He didn't have time to answer; Rachel had sat down again and was already pouring some more of the warm beverage in our cups. She crossed her hands on the table in front of her afterwards and looked up at us again.

"Jamie will be well taken care of," Bill took up his explanation again rapidly. "My family will make sure of that. However, I think that it would be safer if you and your husband were to leave this place as well. Wait, hear me out," he added as soon as she began to protest. "The Death Eaters might come after you if they realize you've had any contact with members from the Order of the Phoenix. They could try to hurt you to get to us… and, by extension, to your son."

As Rachel began to argue, I pushed my cup of tea away from me and stood up abruptly; this discussion, Rachel's clear intention of letting her son be taken away from her so he could be safe, the simple notion of it was far too familiar, and I couldn't stand another minute of it. So I left them there to talk things out and walked over to the living room, towards where the little boy was sitting, and rested my back against the wall, watching him absentmindedly, thinking about what would happen to him from that point on. At some point, though, he appeared to notice my presence.

"You can sit down, if you want."

His voice brought me out of my silent musings. I raised my head and looked back at him as he continued to play with his little soldiers. When I didn't answer right away, he looked up to meet my gaze, all business-like.

"You don't have to just stand there."

"Okay," I replied hesitantly, and sat down cross-legged on the worn-out carpet. The truth was that I didn't really know how to behave around little kids; I remembered how great Fred and George were with their little sister, and suddenly wished they were here to help me talk to the small boy.

"What's your name?" he asked me after a few silent seconds, raising himself up from his position to sit cross-legged, mirroring my own stance. Okay, answering that question was easy enough.

"Melinda."

"I'm Jamie."

"Yeah, I know." I chewed on my lip. "How old are you?" Wasn't that the standard follow-up get-to-know-each-other question? I honestly didn't have a clue what I was doing.

"Seven and a half," he said seriously. "What about you?"

"I'm eighteen." I pondered this for a second. "And a third."

"You're old." He rested his elbow on his raised knee and cupped his chin in his hand. "Are you a mum?"

"What? No." Weird question, but I suppose such things weren't really clear in a little kid's mind. "I'm a teenager." He nodded like this made sense to him.

"Like my brother."

"Sure."

"My brother's really great. His name's Stewart, you know. He has a magic wand, he's a wizard. Are you a wizard?"

"Technically, I'd be a witch. But no. I'm not." He pursed his lips and frowned, so I tried to clarify. "I'm like… your parents. A muggle. I can't do any magic."

"That's sad. Magic's nice, you know. Sometimes Stewart makes the furniture in my bedroom fly when I ask him. Sometimes I can do things, too."

"Really?" I scouted a bit closer to where he was sitting, my interest lighting up almost immediately. "Like what? Could you show me?"

He shook his head. "Not right now."

"Not right now?" I repeated, frowning.

He took up the little soldiers again, all serious. "Right now, we're going to play."

I cocked an eyebrow, a smile playing on my lips. "Right now, we're going to play, huh?"

"You be the good guys." He pushed several of the tiny figurines over to me. "I'm the mean guys who've invaded your castle."

"Okay," I replied easily, coming a bit closer to him again. I grabbed two of the little soldiers and scrutinized their expressionless, painted faces. "We can play for a little while, if you want."

oOo

The parting scene all but broke my heart. So let's skip over the many tears that appeared like they would never stop flowing from both Jamie's and his mother's eyes; the "We'll see each other very soon" and the impossibility to clarify when that "soon" would be.

What was important was that, when Rachel was finally able to detach herself from her son's grasp, he grabbed me around the waist instead, and as his mother looked on, she came towards me as well and took my hand.

"You'll take care of him. Won't you?"

And right then and there, I realized that this was why Bill had brought me along, why he'd needed me to come with him to meet this woman and her son. He wanted me to be the one to take Jamie in.

And, hell, I just couldn't refuse, could I?

So I said yes.

oOo

"Ands," Fred whispered once I'd finished with the story of how my day had gone. "You're kidding. Right?" George shot him a look and he raised his hands as if to convey his incredulity. "What? You can't honestly believe this!"

"Actually, I can," George answered sternly, his arms crossed on his chest. "Jamie's a muggle-born. Voldie's regime is currently hunting down muggle-borns. Jamie's parents aren't able to make sure he stays safe, so we take him in. It makes perfect sense, and, as a matter of fact, I can't believe we didn't think of doing this before; there are many Hogwarts' students that we could've decided to hide before they were pulled out of school and taken Merlin knows where. Remember Dean Thomas? It's a good idea." He looked towards me and grinned. "Bill was right to think you'd take him; Jamie will probably be more comfortable around muggles, since he's used to living alone with his parents. Don't worry, Ands, we'll help you with the little kid."

"Sure, that goes without saying," Fred added quickly, putting an arm around my shoulders. "How long are we supposed to keep him?"

"I don't know. However long this stupid war lasts, I suppose." I sighed. "I should have asked you guys before I agreed to take him in, this being your place and all."

"Are you kidding me? As far as we're concerned, this here is our place, you know." George smiled at me, and I swear, I felt my heart skip a beat.

"Having a little kid along should be fun," Fred said to nobody in particular, thankfully pulling George's gaze away from me. "I've always wanted a brother."

"Idiot," George commented as I laughed. "You won't mind being in charge of diaper duty, then?"

"He's seven, dorks."

"And a half!"

We all turned around at the exact same time; Jamie had gotten up without us hearing it and now stood in the doorway of George's bedroom, his dark hair dishevelled. Fred hesitated only half a second.

"Hey, mate!" He practically skipped over to the yawning boy and patted his head crazily. "I'm your fun Uncle Gred, and this here is Forge."

"Okay…" Jamie answered slowly, sensing the wrongness in this greeting. He turned towards me quickly. "Mel, I'm hungry."

"What would you like, little dude?" George asked, sticking his hands into his jeans' pockets. "Your fun Uncle Gred will be more that happy to go out and buy you anything you want."

Jamie brightened considerably at the idea, while Fred grimaced almost immediately; I had to fight the giggle threatening to burst from my lips.

"And so, the fun begins."

oOo

And I'm back! (once again) Sorry for the wait. I am going to finish this story, I promise.