AN: I'm sorry for the delay in posting. With everything going on, many things in my own life have been affected. I know that is the same for many of you as well. I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy, and this can bring some distraction and good feelings for even just a few minutes. Thank you for reading. Peace and love.
"Severus feels really bad about keeping things from you," Draco told her. He had appeared, standing over her. She had dipped out of the school, already ignoring orders, and gone to sit on the rocky shore by the lake.
She gave a snort, ignoring him.
"I understand why you're thinking the way you are," Draco sat beside her. "But you have to understand, he was just trying to buy time so they could give you actual answers."
"I don't know if I want answers, Draco," she said finally. "Maybe it's better not knowing."
"Dumbledore promised us he would find an answer after you left," he said. "We made him promise…at least, an answer on what being the Master of Death means."
She was silent. It was cold. It already been an incredibly long semester, with no end in sight.
"I don't know what I would have done if you had died," Draco nudged her with his shoulder. "I felt sick when I heard you tell us what happened…I guess I never thought it would be possible. You seem so…indestructible."
"I didn't even think about it," Jamie murmured. "I pushed Neville aside, it was like…my body knew exactly what to do. I stepped in front of him and, it didn't even scare me knowing what was about to happen…I didn't do the same for Cedric. I don't understand it."
They both silently thought what she had said over. Jamie knew she would do it again, without hesitation, for any of them. Even if it meant she didn't come back the next time. What did that mean?
"They asked me to talk to you about cooling things down with Umbridge," Draco admitted. "They're worried she'll expel you."
"That's not going to happen, and you know why," she shook her head. Umbridge had already burned every bridge in Hogwarts, there were no redeeming qualities to the woman, nothing particularly holding Jamie back from making her reign miserable. Especially now.
"The fighting…Jamie that was a risky move," Draco said. Jamie shrugged, not caring. "You're better than that."
"No, I'm not," Jamie retorted. "Let's not forget who I was last year…who I still am, deep down. You know what I've done. I'm toxic. I'm poison. Maybe that's why I'm not dead. There's something wrong with me."
"That's not true, I don't want to hear you say that," Draco grabbed hold of her shoulders, giving her a gentle shake. "People love you, okay? They care about you. Diggory…Diggory cared about you. He died for you. He thought you were worth it. You are worth it."
"Yeah that's girlfriend material right there," Jamie sneered. "I'll use you and string you along all year only to get you murdered by a psychopath. Get in line, boys."
"Jamie, you're a beautiful, intelligent, incredibly kind, loyal, interesting woman," Draco told her seriously. "You're definitely girlfriend material in my opinion."
"But I can't be your girlfriend Draco, I'll ruin you," she told him. "I'd ruin anyone."
"You haven't ruined me yet," Draco disagreed. "You've made me better…you've made Severus better…your friends…your parents…your brother. You makeus better. We need you."
"What if I die," she let him wrap his arms around her. "What if I die…what if I died last night? Then what?"
"You didn't," Draco said. "That's the point. You didn't. We'll do whatever we have to do to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Jamie leaned her against his chest, letting him hold her. She didn't care if anyone saw. She was so tired. So very tired.
"What would you do, if you were me?" She asked after a while.
"I'd find out what everything means, and then I'd make sure no one was able to use it against me," he said.
"How do I find out?"
"We'll find out, together," Draco promised her. "We'll start looking…researching, we'll go wherever we need to find answers. We'll go this summer if we have to, we'll run away and won't come back until we know."
"You'd do that, you'd come with me?" She felt tears prick her eyes.
"Wherever you go, I'll follow you," he said quietly.
"Okay."
It had been almost two weeks since she had died and come back. She and Draco had worked things out, but she still wasn't on speaking terms with the headmaster, Severus, or her parents.
At her command, no one in the D.A. spoke of what had happened when she had protected Neville. With Umbridge cracking down around school and the promise of a reprieve over the holidays, Jamie felt the ordeal had been quickly forgotten.
It was on the eve of December when they accessed the Room of Requirement for another D.A. meeting, only to see the space had been decorated and Dobby was beaming proudly in the midst of it.
"Harry Potter, Miss Jamie!" Dobby squealed with excitement. Jamie had encountered Dobby periodically; she knew the house elf had a special bond with her brother. He had once been a Malfoy elf, she remembered. "Dobby has created a special Christmas surprise to cheer up the young people!"
Jamie let out a slightly bewildered laugh as the other students trickled in, gazing at the room. A Christmas tree sat in the corner, rapped in paper garland she suspected Dobby and the other elves had made themselves. Lights, sparkling snowflakes, mistletoe, and golden ornaments were suspended from the ceiling. The chandelier which had…hit her, had been restored and now held flickering fairy lights.
"Is…is this Harry's face?" Jamie peered up at one of the golden ornaments hanging above her head. Her face broke out into a shit-eating grin as she read what it said: "Have a very Harry Christmas…it is your face, brother!"
She broke out into loud guffaws, doubling over, as Harry's face turned bright red and the others broke out into laughter, congratulating Dobby on such perfect Christmas cheer. Dobby was bursting with pride as Jamie gathered herself together, giving him a little hug as a thank you for tremendously uplifting the mood of the room.
"Alright, alright," Harry tried to calm the room. "Thank you very much Dobby, we are definitely feeling the holiday spirit now. You're welcome to stay and join us tonight if you'd like…everyone split off into pairs, Jamie I need to go over this drill with you first to make sure I have it right."
"Incoming," Draco hissed as he passed by her in the hallway. She jolted and ducked behind a statue as Umbridge stalked by moments later, cutting through the crowds of students on their way to class.
"Thanks, you saved my ass," Jamie told Draco once the threat was cleared. They fell in alongside each other as the crowds dwindled, pretending to be looking through their bags or papers and not speaking to each other. "Angelina warned me this morning Umbridge is out looking for some of us to question."
"No worries," he grinned. "You ass is infinitely worth saving, if you ask me."
She snorted loudly at that, cheeks warming.
"Hey," she muttered, pausing in the hallway. The corridor was nearly empty now. Most students would think they were either unaware of each other or exchanging rude remarks.
"Hey," he replied, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Your birthday is tomorrow," she said pointed out. He shrugged, pretending to be interested in his watch.
"And?" He was hovering outside the doorway of his Charms classroom.
"And I want to celebrate with you," she bent to tie her shoelace. "Our room…after dinner?"
"It's a date," he replied before slipping into his classroom.
"Hey," he was all smiles as he opened the door of the secret room. It was dimly lit, and no looked no different than normal. They embraced, and Jamie noticed they clung a little longer than normal to each other.
"Happy Birthday," she beamed at him. "I have a surprise for you."
"I've never had a Shacklebolt surprise before," he grinned. "I'm curious."
"Of course, you are, darling," she gestured for him to sit on the ground. She joined him moments later, a small orange box in her hands. "Ta da."
She presented the box, holding it aloft on her palm. He stared at it, confused.
"I don't know what this is."
"Oh rats! Of course, you don't know what this is, I forget Slytherin isn't in our audience range," she made a face. "This my friend, is a premium, one-of-a-kind, highly coveted piece of merchandise. Very limited quantity, not officially on the market, and thanks to me being a product consultant with a certain Weasley's Wizard Wheezes LLC, I was able to request a custom one. For free."
"Okay…so it's not just a box then?"
"No…!" Jamie blew out air in exasperation. "This is a soon-to-be patented Daydream Charm. It's an incredible bit of magic, giving users a real-life daydream experience for thirty minutes. It looks, feels, smells, tastes real, the whole deal."
"Whoa."
"Whoa is right," she grinned. She could tell Draco was more entertained by her impromptu sales pitch of the product. He was grinning at her, lazing back on his hands, watching her wave the box around as she wove tales of wonder about it. "I had them create a custom one, though I didn't exactly get into details on why. Said I needed a break."
"So, what…exactly is it going to do for us?" Draco leaned in to peer closely at the box in suspicion.
"We'll lay down here, open the box and close our eyes, in an instant, we'll open our eyes and be somewhere else," she explained. "It'll be absolutely real for us, for thirty whole minutes, we won't be able to tell the difference."
"And what is the daydream?"
"Do you trust me," she asked him quietly. He nodded, his eyelids heavy as he gazed at her, looking completely comfortable and at serious.
"Unquestionably," he replied.
"Then lay down, and I'll show you what it is," she instructed. He lay back, as did she see, placing the box between them.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes." They could audibly hear her lift the lid, moments before she told him to quickly close his eyes.
Silence.
"Open your eyes," her voice breathed in his ear. He flinched slightly, opening his eyes, which was harder to do than he expected, as he was suddenly facing quite a lot of sunshine.
His mouth dropped open as he sat up, blinking in awe as the sounds of water and nature flooded his ears. He could smell the wilderness, the fresh air. They were sitting on a small shore along a river, nestled in a beautifully lush forest. Birds were chirping, bees were buzzing, and the river was rushing by and trickling.
"It's not quite the same as the lake," she said, "but I thought you might like it. This is the prototype of the new line: fantasy adventures."
"It's…it's…wow," he was floored. He turned to her, noticing she was now dressed in only a thin black tank top and a pair of cutoffs, just as she had worn that summer. He looked down to see he was in shorts and t-shirt as well.
"Come on," she stood up, helping him. He noticed there was a weird vessel a few feet away from them, waiting on the shore. It was long, oval-like in shape, flat, smooth and looking to be made of a plastic-y material.
"Muggles use these," she told him. She was dragging it to the water, wading in the shallows of the river where it was gentler. He noticed then how hot it was, he could feel sweat on the nape of his neck.
"Come on," she urged him.
"What are we doing?" He joined her in the shallows. She straddled the board with some difficulty at first motioning for him to do the same. As soon he sat, they were off, drifting with the current, having lost their footholds to keep still.
"We're floating," she called back cheerfully. They were getting a little wet, floating, their legs in the water as they rushed by. They were passing through the forest, past flowers and deer and even an otter swimming by.
"This is incredible!" He called over the rushing water, laughing as they careened around sharp bends or down little waterfalls. They were laughing, relaxing, enjoying the sensation of cool water and the hot sun beating down on them.
All too soon, they were stopping, moving toward the shore. She seemed to sense something he wasn't quite aware of. He noticed the sounds were getting quieter.
"It's ending," she told him as they stood on the shore. Draco noticed just how beautiful she looked, almost soaked, a little sun tinged. Her hair was free and slightly wild, eyes glowing with happiness and exhilaration. She looked as she did on the lake this summer.
She reached up and cupped his cheek, he could see the forest around them was starting to fade out, growing dark. He moved his hand up to rest on hers, watching as her hazel eyes flickered shut. He shut his eyes moments later.
The sensation of laying on the floor came first, followed by the silence of being in the room. He then became aware of a warmth on his face, her hand cupping his cheek. His own hand was lying over hers, and they were dry and back in their original clothing.
He opened his eyes to see her gazing at him, a small smile on her face.
"I loved that," he murmured. "Thank you."
"Happy Birthday," she breathed as he squeezed her hand with his.
"You're out of bed after curfew, Miss Shacklebolt," Severus's voice caused her to jump as she made her way back to her common room after splitting off from Draco. She clutched her heart, eyes darting as he drifted out from the shadows. She had moving so quickly and had been so close to not getting caught.
"It's Draco's birthday," she said as an explanation.
"So it is," he replied, running a hand through his hair, which was getting longer. "Where were you?"
"Somewhere safe," she said, skirting around an answer. He accepted it, because he let it go.
"I'm a little surprised you are talking to me at all, actually," he motioned for her to walk alongside him. She noticed he appeared to be escorting her to her common room.
She made a sound of acknowledgement, remembering she had been actively ignoring him for the last several days.
"I'm sorry that I kept such a big, personal secret from you," he said earnestly, reaching out to touch her should gently. "You must know how much I love you and care about you…I…well, I was only trying to protect you by holding back information until I had more answers for you. I didn't want to frighten or upset you, which I inevitably did regardless."
"It's just…" she could feel a sudden crash of emotion and she began blinking her eyes quickly as her voice cracked and her lips wobbled. "Severus, you always tell me things, always. I've always been able to count on you telling me things when everyone else, especially Dumbledore, was hiding the truth. It hurt."
"My dear, please believe, I was terrified when I learned about the prophecy, I was trying to protect you, just as your parents were," he implored. "I'm so sorry, Jamie, truly I am."
"I know you are," she swiped at her face. "I know you are…and I forgive you. Just—just please Severus, please promise you'll tell me things, especially big things like this. I need to know. I have to know."
"I will, I promise you," he swore. "I made the mistake of trying to solve things on my own, from here on out, we'll face it together."
"Together."
They were silent as they continued walking, comfortable, at ease.
"You've been spending a lot more time with Draco lately," he said as they reached the common room. "You asked him to view the memory of the prophecy with you. You went to see him for his birthday. Why is that?"
"I don't know why," she sighed.
"Jamie."
"Severus."
"You know why," he told her earnestly. He placed his hand on her shoulder gently. "You know."
"No, I don't know," she insisted as the portrait door opened, and she stepped inside. She turned to him, bewildered.
"Yes, you do."
"Severus," she let out an incredulous laugh. "I really don't."
"You do, Jamie," he shook his head. "You love him."
