Jamie hadn't gotten out of bed since she arrived at the lake house with Severus and Draco. She had crawled under the faded quilt covers shortly after arriving, falling asleep in the warm sunroom that had become her bedroom. Severus had woken her later for a quick dinner of takeaway from The Three Broomsticks before she had slunk back into bed.
It was the same for the next two days before Severus woke her early, requesting she wash up, dress, and join them for breakfast before they made a plan of work for the day. She had burst into tears, throwing the covers of her head, which had seriously rattled him.
He retreated, wondering where in the hell his courage had gone? He had never once allowed a student—or anyone really, to refuse his orders. The show of emotion had never bothered him before, students could scream and cry in his face and he would never back down. But when his beloved goddaughter breaks down and refuses to leave her haven of grief…well, he had been shook.
"She still not getting out of bed," Draco remarked from where he was seated at the breakfast table. Containers of takeaway breakfast were spread out on the table…he needed to go to the market and get real food soon. Groceries, stock up… make cooking one of the chores they could take turns on. Something productive…responsible.
"She started to cry," he remarked to his student. In the nearly three days they had been at the lake house, he and Draco had grown more at ease with each other. Draco seemed curious, yet surprisingly respectful of the grieving girl, and Severus at least had someone to talk to fill the silence or drone out the sniffles from the sunroom.
"She can't wallow all summer, that's not healthy," Draco protested, and Severus shot him a glare, as if he were attacking his goddaughter. Draco tried again. "You know it's not healthy, it's not good for anyone…and sir, the crying is driving me crazy!"
"Me too," Severus relented. Perhaps this was all a big mistake. "I don't know how to get her to see reason, to motivate her to get out of bed and try."
Draco shook his head, stumped as well, and they left her to it as they both made their way downstairs once again.
He heard a clatter and a sniffle, jolting him from his sleep. Lifting his head, he peered out the window of his small room, catching sight of the moon hanging high in the night sky. The sky and the lake were so dark, almost the same color, that it appeared there were two moons shining at him.
It was late, Professor Snape was grumpy and snappy from trying to figure out how to get Shacklebolt to stop her crying and had decided to stay up and work by himself. Draco had retired to bed out of sheer boredom, only to be awoken just then.
He heard someone sniffling, a small squeak of frustration and slightly louder crying coming from the bathroom next door. Padding out of his room, he could see light shining from beneath the door and shadows that made it obvious someone was inside.
He knocked on the door, calling for Shacklebolt.
"Go away," she hissed through the doorway before letting out another choking sob.
"You're crying, open up," he insisted, shaking the door handle.
"I said go away!" she snapped angrily. He rolled his eyes and shoved the door open, nearly knocking her over. He had quickly learned the lock on the bathroom door didn't work when he had nearly walked in on Professor Snape yesterday.
Jamie was standing at the mirror, her long hair matted as she hacked at it with kitchen shears, eyes foggy with tears which were streaking down her face.
"What the bloody hell, woman," he snatched the shears from her hand. "What are you trying to do?"
"Get. Out." she drew herself up to her full height, nearly snarling at him, eyes burning as she moved to shove him. He knocked her hands aside, frowning at her in disappointment.
"And let you accidentally cut an ear off and bleed out all over the bloody floor—give Snape a heart attack when he finds you?" Draco shot back. "Screw off, Shacklebolt."
She moved to snatch the scissors from his grasp, panting heavily as more tears fell down her face.
"Shacklebolt—Jamie, knock it off, alright?" he sidestepped her. "You're completely emotional right now, you couldn't even knock me over if you wanted me to, which isn't like you. Now tell me, why are you hacking your hair off?"
"I—because," her lip wobbled. "It's hot and it's all matted and I can't fix it and so I—" she turned to look at the mirror and let out another sob. "I ruined it."
"Well, you've certainly looked better," Draco remarked gently. He motioned for her to sit down on the closed toilet and she stared at him. "What? Go on and sit, I'm going to fix this mess before Snape comes up and you add another thing for him to worry himself over. News flash, Shacklebolt, the man is an arse when he's stressed."
He prompted a small grimace from her as she sat down, huddled on the seat, wiping at her drying tears.
"He's been stressed?" she asked hoarsely as Draco evaluated her hair. Even he had to admit she had great hair, a dark auburn color, wavy and shiny and long. It was nearly to her waist, or had been, before she had hacked it all over, leaving chunks missing.
"He's trying to get you out of bed and living again, Champ," Draco said as he gathered up a section of hair. He chose the area with the shortest strands that had been chopped off and he worked to trim it all off in a neat line. "You're scaring him with all the tears and the gloom and doom, it's not good for you to wallow, Shacklebolt."
"I'm sad," she protested, anger flashing in her eyes.
"Duh, no one said you can't be sad," Draco replied evenly. "You just can't give up; you're going around like you a zombie. It's scary and it's not you. Go ahead and be sad all you want, but I highly doubt that Diggory kid would want you to just lie down and die, too."
A pile of her hair was gathering on the floor, yet he was doing a decent job of saving her from looking like a mad woman. Her hair would be short, cutting off slightly above her shoulders, but it would be presentable.
"I don't know what to with myself," Jamie admitted, her face dry and her breathing even. He made a sound of acknowledgment as he finished up the last section.
"I don't think you have to find all the answers, Champ, I think you just need to put one foot in front of the other and take it day by day, at least. Just try to get through the summer and do something with yourself each day, maybe you'll surprise yourself with how much that helps."
"Are you sure you aren't studying to be a counselor or something," she quirked and eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he put the shears down. She vanished the hair with her wand, staring down at the tiled floor blankly.
"Snape and I need some help and someone to look after the place…and maybe cook, we don't know how to cook," he remarked. "D'you think you can manage that at least?"
A small smile played at her lips as she stood, glancing at her new hair in the mirror.
"I was raised by two Weasley women, of course I can manage that," she replied smugly, a shadow of her old self on her face.
AN: Before you all say I'm going to force Jamie to move on too quickly, calm yourself. Nowhere have I said Jamie's on her way to a summer romance. Jamie has to learn to like herself—to FORGIVE herself, and find herself before she can love anybody again, and I think she knows it.
For Gilmore Girls fans, my Draco is inspired by the beauty and wit that is Logan Hunsberger. Also, I picture Severus looking more like Adam Driver (still with Alan Rickman's voice—because Adam is in the true age range that Severus was supposed to be in).