A whole day had passed since Jamie had left with Dumbledore. After Draco had agreed to join Snape (who had instructed him to refer to him as Severus when outside of school) as a spy, there wasn't a whole lot left to discuss.
Snape—Severus, had told him that Dumbledore would come calling soon enough with instructions, he was in the middle of dealing with Jamie. Apparently, Jamie had thrown a wrench in Dumbledore's plans, but for the better. Severus also explained the basis of The Order of The Phoenix, and how he had surmised Jamie would be their figurehead now that she was outed as a Potter and was legally an adult.
The following day was spent brewing as normal, Severus assured him it wouldn't be constant missions and it was a slow period as of now.
On the second morning, Draco was sat at the kitchen table with a sad bowl of oatmeal he had made. Jamie's cooking was deeply missed in the short time she had been away from the house.
Speaking of the devil herself, Jamie trudged in from the front door, worn out, and slumped at the kitchen table.
"Rough few days?" Draco asked her as she took the Daily Prophet from the delivery owl, rubbing at her bleary eyes.
"See for yourself," she mumbled, shoving it aside, getting up to make a pot of coffee on the stove, riffling through the cupboards for more oatmeal.
Draco turned to the front page, which had a blown-up photo of Jamie smiling as she read to a group of children all dressed in uniforms of some sort.
The headline read in bold, blazing letters: Jamie Shacklebolt (Potter) visits orphanage, spends time with children who lost parents to first war and other violence.
The story, written by a Xolia Lovegood, praised Jamie for her maturity and dedication to giving back. There was mention of living a life seeking normalcy, kept hidden for fear of the Dark Lord returning (fears that had come true) and how she was using her voice to speak out against violence and hate.
Lovegood briefly mentioned the fact Jamie was an accomplished witch; having won the Triwizard tournament, and the gravity she seemed to comprehend as she spoke of losing a dear friend and classmate, Cedric Diggory, and why she felt it was important to take over guardianship of her brother, The Boy Who Lived.
"As a Potter, I want Harry to never forget where he comes from and the strength we have inherited," Jamie was quoted as saying. "I also want him to understand how important it is for us all to speak up for those who have no voice or who are marginalized in our world. Our parents fought for peace and equality, tolerance of others, and I want to continue their fight."
Running alongside the article, Lovegood had rehashed all of Harry's successes, the grisly murder of Cedric Diggory and horrific end to the Triwizard Tournament.
"Rather political for The Prophet," Draco remarked as he accepted a mug of coffee from her. She snorted, shaking her head as her eyes flashed dangerously.
"Xolia snuck it in—" she paused as an owl soared through the window, dropping a note. "Yup, that'll do it. She was fired this morning after the paper came out."
"What?"
"We knew it was a possibility," Jamie sighed, waving her hand airily. "We wanted to test and see where The Prophet's loyalties lie. I'm sure Severus filled you in on The Order? He told me as much."
"They fired your friend, and she doesn't care?" Draco said after nodding in confirmation. Jamie had clearly had second thoughts about the oatmeal, because she began mixing up batter as the griddle warmed up. His stomach growled in anticipation.
"Nope, she's been wanting to start her own paper anyway," Jamie replied. "Her father runs sort of a tongue-in-cheek magazine, really wacky, but they've plans to revamp it into a newspaper-magazine, which will be ten times more informational and less biased than the blasted Prophet, anyway."
"Clearly a lot has happened since you've been away," Draco accepted a plate of pancakes. "Shall I refer to you as ma'am, seeing as your Harry's new guardian?"
"No need for the ma'am, yet," came her cheeky reply around a mouthful of food. "How are things 'round here? Severus up yet?"
"I think he's down in the lab, I'm off today and tomorrow," Draco shrugged as he worked on demolishing his plate.
"Good, that means you—" she stabbed a finger at him, "can ferry me around the lake all day. My brain is exhausted and I'm starting to get pale again, I need the sun and water and the sweet, sweet sound of your voice as you complain about my laziness."
He snorted out a laugh, rolling his eyes. "Do I have any say in this?"
"Do you need a say?"
"Well, no, that sounds like not a very awful way to spend the day," he relented.
Jamie just gave a laugh as she finished eating. She made up a plate and grabbed another cup of coffee, disappearing downstairs to greet Severus.
Draco sat back, a little befuddled from being caught up in Hurricane Jamie. He had seriously underestimated her before they had come to speaking terms, she was relentlessly energetic and quite stubborn. Her vigor in taking over the cottage and now her new-found role as an activist and social influencer was almost staggering.
She had begun to carry herself differently, her shoulders were back and her confidence nearly palpable as she spoke. Gone was her usual childish ego and bravado, Jamie had somehow turned into an adult overnight.
Draco realized they both probably had done a lot of growing up this summer, and weren't done either, judging by the way the social climate was going. He didn't have much of a doubt their lake days were going to be few and far in between, but he wanted them whenever he could get them.
His mind had been drifting to Lily Potter frequently since his talk with Severus. The resemblance between her and her daughter was uncanny, yet he believed Jamie was a different force of nature all together. Severus had said as much, Jamie lacked the natural gentleness Lily had been beloved for, likely due to the fact Jamie had much more trauma to work through in her short life.
Lily Potter was a fascinating woman from what Severus had alluded to, borderline genius, charismatic, and a friend to all. Clearly, completely undeserving of being murdered. Jamie herself was unmatched by anyone else, she was in a whole other universe and had so much to do and say. He didn't believe she was deserving of the same fate as her mother, either.
Draco was reluctant to call them friends, he didn't have a lot of real true friends, so he wasn't entirely sure how she qualified. She irritated the hell out of him most of the time, but he also didn't mind spending time with her or listening to her talk. She was kind to him, for the most part, and they were stuck together.
He didn't anticipate their friendship lasting after the summer, but they had a bond from their experiences, and he would be somehow working for her, or alongside her cause, anyway.
Draco had simply resigned himself to the fact he should enjoy his time with her while he had the chance. Soon, she would be busy leading a rebellion and he would be the sneaky spy no one thought about.
The weeks were beginning to blur together. Jamie felt like she was moving at a constant breakneck pace.
Moving between the summer cottage and Grimmauld Place and out into the wizarding world and back again, Jamie rarely had opportunities to rest. When she did, she was spending time with Severus or Draco, trying to catch her breath without seeming as if she had abandoned them.
Meals were stockpiled and kept ready to reheat when she was away for longer periods of time, which kept them alive and happy. She had even left lists for Draco to take when he had to do the Hogsmeade runs for her.
On very rare, lonely instances, Jamie would find herself with a free day or two and back at the summer cottage, only to discover Severus and Draco were away on Dumbledore business.
It was one such evening, late, and Jamie had no idea when they would return or if she would see them again before she was due back at HQ. She briefly thought about going back to HQ, but it was crowded and rambunctious and she missed her boys, as she thought of Severus and Draco.
In between regular meetings where intelligence on Voldemort and his followers were shared, Jamie also learned there was a lot of legwork and kissing babies with what they did. They were attempting to appeal to the younger generation while also enticing good people to join their cause and enlist in The Order.
They were also trying to shift the right people into the seats on Wizengamot.
Jamie herself was eligible for the Potter seat, which had been filled by a sub, the previous belief being Harry would have been the next eligible heir when he was of age. Many old families held claim to seats, but there were also seats open for other members of the public to be voted into it. It was a matter of getting people brave enough to vote for change.
Jamie had to be out of school in order to take the seat, and her parents refused to allow her to drop out, so she had elected to place her own sub in the seat until it was time to take it over. She had asked Emmeline Vance to take it, as she respected the older woman and knew she would use it wisely and respectfully.
They were all also sharing a lot of input as the Lovegood's Quibbler was revamped as The Messenger. Xolia and her father were working full time to write editorials and share breaking news stories relevant to the public, as well as also featuring and promoting the people who were fighting for good. The twins were contributing comic book strips and Luna was offering horoscopes and gardening tidbits, and Soleil was running a series on the breakdown of the first war. They were looking to expand the staff; Lee was in talks of starting a radio show in conjunction where he would read the headlines and go into some of the news topics.
The papers were selling subscriptions out fast, and sources had informed Xolia that The Prophet's profits were taking a dive. No one wanted to read biased Ministry tripe anymore.
They were moving. They were building slowly. With new members joining almost daily, they were gaining traction with the younger generations, but Jamie was already frustrated with the blasted seventeen-years-of-age rule barring young people from officially joining The Order.
Jamie was constantly being put into pretty dresses or smart trousers and button-down shirts with the sleeves rolled up. She visited the hospital, the orphanage, volunteered at parks and playgrounds being built, and went before the Wizengamot to implore them for violence and tolerance reform.
Hermione Granger was working on legislation with Remus about creature's rights and Xolia had run an exposé about how awful working and living conditions were for creatures and beings in the magical world were—including the lack of Werewolf rights.
It was exhausting, it was frustrating, yet Jamie felt incredibly in control and fulfilled. She was working toward either preventing a war all together or giving everyone a leg up on it, and mostly, she was keeping Harry safe.
Harry was looking healthier, he was clean, and now that Jamie could publicly access her parents' vaults, she was dressing him in new clothes that fit. Harry was kept out of the meetings, he had very little need to worry about the goings on, and he could spend his days goofing off with her cousins and Hermione who had come to join them, or Luna or Soleil when they stopped by.
After two days of doing press and charity work, Jamie was exhausted, and she was unsure of when exactly she fell asleep on the couch.
It wasn't until she was lifted up that she jolted awake, only to discover she was in Severus' arms.
"Hey," she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tiredly. "Everything okay? No one hurt?"
"All is well," came Severus' rumbling reply as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and Draco laughed. "Time for bed."
"I didn't get to spend time with you, either of you," she protested, fighting to keep her eyes open.
"Tomorrow," he promised her. "I'll take a half day off from brewing and the three of us can spend time on the lake, how does that sound?"
"Nice," she mumbled, burying her head into her pillow as he plopped her down. He pulled off her shoes and covered up with the quilt, closing the door behind him.
A few moments later, a line of light flashed across her face as her door opened up once more.
"Wha—" she groused, lifting her head.
"Relax Shacklebolt, it's just me," Draco's voice was heard from somewhere near the side of her bed. "You left your wand on the coffee table."
She heard him place it on her bedside table gently.
"Draco," she called out blearily.
"What?"
"I've missed you," her eyes were already growing heavier. She felt his hand on her hair as he ruffled it.
"Don't be silly, go to sleep," she could hear the smile in his voice as he walked away, closing the door behind him.
