Drops of Jupiter

Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's time to change, hey, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey

Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated

Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there

Jaimie didn't know what time it was, nor did she care. To her, it seemed that time had stopped, it seemed that her whole world collapsed, she wasn't even aware that Dumbledore had taken them to the Leaky Cauldron and had Tom, the bar keeper, give Jaimie a room for the night. Remus would be staying there, watching Jaimie on Dumbledore's orders, for his parents were slightly injured and were in St. Mungos getting treatment this minute. But Jaimie didn't notice any of this, nor did she make a notion that she did. She couldn't get the picture of her family's, her only family, three bodies, lying lifeless on the street. Her mind was going a mile a minute, she stared off into space. She sat on her bed in the Leaky Cauldron, staring out the window, still a cloudy day, no sign of life seen or heard. Lily and Remus stood in a corner, not talking, but staring at Jaimie with such pity and sorrow in their eyes. Lily had not wanted to leave her side, and had her parents owled that she would spend the night with Jaimie. At one point, all three of their trunks were sent to them, since the next day they would be starting classes at Hogwarts. But to Jaimie it seemed pointless to go back. Everything was pointless.
Jaimie sat on the end of the bed nearest the door, staring out the window. The tears no longer came, she was all cried out, instead, there was a gaping and empty hole that was her father, mother and Dominique in her heart, that no amount could fill.
After five hours of silence, in which Remus and Lily had fallen asleep, Remus on a chair and Lily on the other bed, Jaimie first spoke, "Why?" She whispered faintly.
Remus snorted, and woke up, Lily stirred, and rubbed her eyes.
"Why . . . " She repeated.
"Jaimie?" Remus said, getting up and sitting next to her. Lily did too, and sat on Jaimie's opposite side, and looked at Jaimie piteously.
Lily pulled her into a one armed hug, and lay Jaimie's head on her shoulder, Remus took her hand. It was in this way that Albus Dumbledore had come to find them, as he walked in wordlessly.
"I'm glad you asked that, Miss Dijon." He said wearily, before he set himself down on the opposite bed, across from Jaimie.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Remus said, surprised.
"Yes, I'm afraid," He replied wearily.
"Any more news, professor?" Lily asked.
"Well, I am here to answer any questions that you want to ask."
At this, Jaimie looked up, and gazed emptily at Dumbledore, she sniffed and said, "Who . . ." She began.
"Ah, I figured that you would have wanted to ask that question. Perhaps I should start from the beg-" He was interrupted by a sudden arrival at the door. Lily and Remus turned their heads toward the door, their faces indifferent, Jaimie hadn't even turned around.
Sirius and James stood, panting, looking frantically around. Sirius sighed and staggered to the group, James following him, "Professor Dumbledore, Lily, Remus, Jaimie. I heard what happened." He kneeled in front of Jaimie, who looked at him with the same empty expression she had given Dumbledore, and looked long into his face. Sirius hadn't even waited for a response from the girl and hugged her, and after a moment, when the shock of the sudden movement sunk in, she placed her arms around him and cried. She cried while at the same time talking in sentences for the first time since this afternoon.
"They're gone! They're gone! Why'd they go? They were supposed to be here forever, why'd they leave? I hate them! I hate them!" She wept. She clutched Sirius in a very tight grip indeed, but he didn't care, what mattered was that he was here, and that she was alive, not well but alive all the same.
"I hate them!" Jaimie repeated, tightening her grip once more on Sirius. He forced himself away and looked straight into Jaimie's tear-stained face.
"Jaimie, don't say that! You don't hate them-"
"On the contrary Mr. Black, it is quite natural to hate the deceased. It is completely understandable to feel loathing for their early departure from us. So unfairly torn away from our clutches, when their time with us was ill spent. However, if I say so myself, no time spent with our loved ones is truly ill spent. And the dead can never truly be gone. They will live on, not physically but spritiually, forever our hearts." Silence was followed by this little statement, as they all speculated what he had told them. Dumbledore left them little time to reflect and he continued, face completely serious. "But alas, I am getting ahead of myself, I am here to inform you all why it happened. I am sure Ms. Dijon would like to know."
Jaimie, with renewed spirit at what Dumbledore said, nodded, her eyes still glassy, and looking ready to spill once more.
Sirius picked Jaimie up, and sat on her seat, Jaimie sitting on his lap. James sat next to Lily, who in light of the recent events, did not seem to think it mattered.
"As I was saying, before I was interrupted,"
"Sorry, professor," James and Sirius apologized sheepishly.
"Quite alright boys. Well, I suppose it started a few years ago, with a student named Tom Riddle. He was before your time, so its natural you would not know him. Well, he was incredibly brilliant, head boy in his day. But he was completely immersed in the Dark Arts. When he left school, he traveled the world, sinking himself deeper and deeper into them, going through so many dangerous and complicated transformations, that when he had come back, he was completely unrecognizable. His new name is Lord Voldemort."
"What kind of a name is that?" Sirius blurted out suddenly.
"It is a name that was rearranged from his true name, Tom Marvolo Riddle. He despises his father, who was a muggle, who had left his mother and son when he had found out that his wife was a wtich. Shortly after his birth however, his mother died, his father not even bothering to claim his son. He became bitter and angered at his father's ignorance, and therefore he could not stand to be named after him.
"He hated him so much, that he had decided, based on the actions of a misunderstood muggle, that all muggles and muggle-born witches were somehow inferior to those of pureblood. And so he started his campaign of terror, one that the Ministry has been trying very hard to terminate. But it is useless, more and more wizards, it is my belief that they are those who are pureblood, have been joining him. They have banded together, on the simple task of purging the muggle population, as well as those who oppose him, and help wizard kind dominate this earth. They have donned the name of Death Eaters.
"So far, they have accomplished the murders of several muggles, which have been very difficult for the Ministry to make excuses for, as well as the erradication of the wizard world's most famous and powerful families, those who have opposed joining him. Jaimie, it is my belief that these are the people who have caused this atrocity to you." He looked into the Jaimie's eyes, as if looking for a seed of understanding, however there was none. She had a million questions inside of her.
"How do the ministry know that it was this Lord-person that killed my . . . " She may have recovered her abilty to speak, but she couldn't bring herself to say it, it was still much too painful to bear.
"Above every murder they commit, they send out a sign, called the dark mark, signalling that he or one of his followers had indeed been there." He explained, without asking her to finish her question.
"How did it happen?" Jaimie asked.
"As I think you are aware, your father was an auror. Lord Voldemort and his followers had decided to go on a killing spree, and came to Diagon Alley. Both your and Mr. Lupin's parents were there, and they fought bravely. Your sister was there as well and tried to help your parents. I'm afraid to say that she was the first to fall. Your father had sent messages to the Ministry who quickly sprung to action and arrived just as your parents were killed. I believe Mr. Lupin's parents were next, but the Ministry had fought against Lord Voldemort's followers as I had fough Lord Voldemort. We were able to throw them back."
Jaimie, stared at the ground, her family fought for their lives.
"Why would they kill people?" Lily asked in the silence.
"Some people take pleasure in others' suffering." Dumbledore said knowledgeably.
"Why?" Lily pressed.
"It is not something I can easily explain to one. I will simply put it as human nature." He said. Getting up, he sighed and said, "Now let us leave the questions there, I need hardly impress upon you the urgency for sleep. After all, term starts early the next morning, and I expect you all to attend, much like the past six years. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to take my leave."
He bent over Jaimie, and placed a wizened hand upon her shoulder, "Jaimie, please do not feel that you are alone in this. I shall do well to remind you the wonderful friends you have surrounded yourself with, and the fact the my presence should not be overlooked, please feel free to come and see me if you so desire." He smiled genially down upon her, and she nodded, the tears threatening to spill once more.
He walked to the door, and took one last glance at the group within, tipped his pointed hat and said, "Good night to you all." and he disappeared through the corridor.
Dumbledore's departure left the five teenagers in silence. No one knew what to say, or do, so they didn't do anything. When five minutes had passed, and still no one spoke, Sirius took the chance.
"Um, I've run away from home." He said, so randomly Jaimie stared suspriciously at him on his lap.
"What?" Remus asked, disbelief in his voice.
"I've run away from home. James' parents are going to let me spend holidays at their house, until I can get on my feet."
"Why?" Lily asked.
"My parents are jackasses. Their wands are so high up their asses, they'll need the tongs to get them out."
"At least you have parents." Jaimie replied, sadly.
The air became awkward. Jaimie looked as if she was about ready to cry once more, but she didn't, she had no more tears to shed, she was drained of all emotion. She felt numb, and disoriented, and felt lost. Sirius looked at her solemnly and said, "Anything you want to say? Its not good to keep your emotiongs bottled up." He said.
"No. I think I'll go to bed."
"Are you-"
"I'm sure." Jaimie interjected.
She pulled back the blanket on the bed, and settled herself inside, and pretended to go to sleep. Sirius, Remus and James stood around for a time, but eventually they left; Sirius and James back to James' house, and Remus to his room next door. Lily had seen them out, before returning to the room. She opened her mouth to say something to comfort her friend, but knew no words could console the pain that Jaimie was feeling, so instead, settled herself in bed, and fell asleep.
Jaimie lay in bed that night, fully awake, thinking about what Dumbledore said, and thinking about what was going to happen to her. She felt exhausted, but tried hard not to sleep, for fear that the sight of her family's lifeless bodies would haunt her dreams. But despite her restraint, her fatigue had won, and she fell into a surprisingly dreamless sleep.
The next morning, she was awoken by Remus' voice, and the smell of toast in the air. For a fleeting and relieved moment, she thought that yesterday's events were a dream. That her family really wasn't dead, and that Dominique would be rushing about the house complaining to them how late they were. But to her utter disappointment, she found she was wrong. She found herself in the room at the Leaky Cauldron, Lily dragging her trunk down, and came back in and took Jaimie's trunk in turn. She tried her best to be as cheerful as possible for Jaimie's sake, and Jaimie tried her best as well. As she got dressed and took the buttered toast that Remus had held for her, she wondered how they were to get to King's Cross, Dad was usually the one to take us-, She paused. Thinking about him was much too painful, and so stopped. Instead she preoccupied herself with her appearance on the mirror. But she too stopped this, her resemblance to her mother was even more pronounced by her absence.
She stood in front of the mirror, and looked sadly upon her reflection. A single tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away. She straightened up and told her reflection firmly, "Be brave, you've still got Sirius and the others, and its like Dumbledore said, They're not really gone, they're inside me, living in me." The words had come, though she half heartedly believe it. But still, they were gone, and mourning them would do no good and wishing that things were different would not help her continue with her life. "They're not truly gone." She said, steadily.
"That's it, dear." The mirror replied wheezily back.
Just then, Remus appeared out of breath and peeked in, "Its time to go, come on." She walked to the door and paused, Remus stood there, wringing his hands, and opening and closing his mouth, as if trying to say something, "I-" He began, but thought better to continue, and then had a change of heart and said, "I'm sorry Jaimie, about what happened." He gave her a hug, and held her at arms length.
"Are you going to be ok?" He asked, kindly.
"I'll manage," She gave him a smile, it was a weak one, but knowing that she could do that he was relieved, and continued down the handsome staircase ahead of Jaimie.
Jaimie paused, a little amused at the tried conversation.
"Remus," She called.
He turned to her politely puzzled, as she followed him to the stairs and hugged him, "I love you, too."
From between Jaimie's arms, Remus smiled contently, and hugged her back, happily. Remus untangled himself and said, "Come on, or we'll be late." He walked down the stairs leading Jaimie down, where Lily and her Aunt Charlene and Uncle Alan stood, looking completely healthy. When they had caught sight of Jaimie, they had come charging toward her and pulled her into a tight hug, Aunt Charlene fussing over her, crying hard all the time and Uncle Alan checking to see if anything was wrong. When she had reassured them she was all right, they stood back and Aunt Charlene wiped her eyes with a checkered handkerchief and said, "Jaimie, you know your parents appointed us your guardian should anything, well, happen to them. So if you want, you can come live with us."
Jaimie nodded, and thanked them, though she hardly felt the need to.
So with that out of the way, the five of them had gotten into an old fashioned dark green car, and sped off to King's Cross.
When they arrived, Uncle Alan had summoned carts to carry their things, and headed of to platform nine and three-quarters. One by one they disappeared through the invisible barrier and reappeared on platform nine and three-quarters, a hidden platform where the students of Hogwarts School of Witchccraft and Wizardry would board to get to the castle. When Jaimie, Lily and Remus had secured a compartment, they bid Aunt Charlene and Uncle Alan good-bye from the window.
"Write! We'll keep your house clean, so when you get back for summer holidays we can get down to moving your things!" Aunt Charlene called.
"Okay!" Jaimie said, though she did not mean it. She did not want a single item touched in her house. She wanted it to stay that way, to keep it as a sort of shrine, a memorial for her family and their life before things had changed so suddenly.
Just then, a warning bell had erupted from the train, and it slowly started to move. The parents who were standing on the platform, started waving good-bye to the train until they turned the corner and were out of sight.
Jaimie sat looking out at the neat houses that they past. The sky was a complete blue, not a cloud in the sky. She looked at it calmly, as people came by their compartment and said hi, occasionally coming in and saying their apologies to Jaimie or giving her a hug, before going on their merry way. Sirius, James and Peter had shown up in their compartment, all three of them carrying their trunks on their shoulders as if they were weightless and came in,stowing their trunks in the racks above their heads. Sirius sat next to Jaimie and put an arm around her shoulder, Jaimie promptly putting her head on his shoulder as he stroked her head gently. James had tried sitting next to Lily again, and once more she did not mind, but engaged in conversation with him (which was a miracle indeed for Lily despised James). Remus sat in the seat opposite Jaimie and looked out the window, occasionally talking to Sirius about a few things, and Peter sat next to James and stared open mouth at him. Around noon, the witch with the cart of candy came by asking if they needed anything. Sirius, Remus and James each bought a fair amount and shared it with the others. At one point, their conversation turned to the Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters. They had to tell Peter about the whole thing from the start since he wasn't there. They were wondering loudly to the others the identity of the Death Eaters, when they had a far from welcoming surprise.
The compartment door slid open so forcefully it bounced back a few moments. There standing in the corridor stood Damion Malfoy, looking very haughty and disdainful, next to him stood a greasy haired, hooked nosed Severus Snape and on his other side was a broad shouldered boy that Jaimie had only seen a couple times. They stood in the corridor for a minute, James and Snape stared daggers at each other, the look of complete repugnance pronounced on each face.
"What do you want Malfoy?" Sirius growled.
"Nothing to do with you Black." He said, as he swept inside, Snape and the other boy did not follow him. He walked up to Jaimie and Sirius, and forced himself between them, amid the indignant cries of Sirius and Jaimie.
"What the hell, Malfoy?!" Sirius spat, standing up.
Damion placed an arm around Jaimie, who stood up as well, next to Sirius. The others followed suit, ready to hold anyone back in case a fight would ensue. Snape and the nameless boy swept in, on either side of Damion.
"What do you want Damion?" Jaimie asked, calmly, she still wore the bracelet around her wrist, the bruise he had given her not disappearing yet.
"I just wanted to see how you were. I heard about what happened at Diagon Alley yesterday, and was completely outraged." He drawled, not looking as if he'd meant any of what he said.
"I'll be fine, now can you please leave." She placed an arm around Sirius' waist, not to show off but to keep him from lunging at Damion.
"I also wanted to say how sorry I was for being such a complete idiot, and to tell you that I am ready to take you back."
At this Sirius stepped forward, Remus and James had to grabb his arms to stop him from hitting Damion, and since he couldn't touch him he only said, "You better be glad that these two are holding me back, Malfoy, if they didn't you wouldn't have been recognizable from a mandrake."
"A worthy threat I'm sure, but, like I said, this has nothing to do with you, Black. You're not worth my time."
"Sirius!" Jaimie said, pleadingly. She tightened her grip around his waist as he made another attempt at dive at Damion, but was held back once more. Damion turned to Jaimie, unfazed at Sirius' foiled attacks, and said, "I'll talk to you another time, when your not so preoccupied." He kissed Jaimie on the cheek, and she returned it by wiping it off with her sleeve. He smiled disdainfully at her, took one look at Sirius, who was trying harder than ever to try to get at Damion, and swept out of the compartment, Snape hissing back dangerously, "Watch out, Potter, or you might find yourself in a very compromising sitiuation."
They disappeared, and Sirius relaxed, Remus and James finally releasing their death grip on him. Unconsciously, Lily had been clutching James' shoulders, until her knuckles turned white, James, turning to Lily, noticed this, and looked to her with a slightly confused, slightly amused smile. Pulling a face, Lily let go of him, and sat down.
Jaimie's heart was pounding. Sirius had very nearly gotten to Damion, and Damion seems to not have changed, in fact he seems even more happy than two days ago. She thought to herself. Everyone had resumed their seats before the arrival of Malfoy, Snape and the nameless boy. Sirius, placed an arm around Jaimie, and was looking very formidable indeed. Trying to lighten the mood, Peter, who had been standing behind Lily during the three boys' visit, said with awe, "Sirius you looked like you were ready to tear him limb from limb."
"I was about ready to. He kissed you on the cheek?" He asked, turning to Jaimie, who had resumed looking out the window.
"Yeah, it was like having a kiss by a . . . a block of ice. There was no emotion or anything. And his eyes, they were scary." She said, looking at Sirius, who smiled warmly at her.
"But Padfoot, mate, that was scary. We had to bolt your feet to the floor to keep you from hitting that idiot." James said, smiling slightly.
"Yeah, you were like a dog." Remus said, his eyes twinkling.
Sirius, James and Remus all laughed at this, Peter looked indifferent and Jaimie and Lily looked at the scene with growing confusion.
"I don't see what's so funny." Jaimie said.
"Inside joke, don't worry about it." Remus said, after he stopped laughing.
"That's nice." Jaimie said, sarcastically.
Sirius gave her a kiss on the cheek, the left one; the right had been kissed by Damion, and he smiled to himself. She lay her head against the compartment wall, and stared out the window again. The view had now changed to rolling hills, and ice capped mountains in the distance. They all were looking out the window, as no one was saying anything.
"We must be nearly there." Lily pointed out.
"Yeah, we should be there in an hour or two." Remus said, checking his watch.
Just like the first part of the trip, the last part was just as quiet. Though James and Lily were both acting warmly to each other. Jaimie suspected that since he had been there for Jaimie the day before, that he wasn't as bad as he seemed.
Finally, the voice of the conductor sounded from the front of the train, announcing that they were five minutes from arriving at the station, and that their things were to be left in the train as they were to be taken up seperately. Jaimie heard the rumble of a stomach, and only then realized how hungry she was. The only thing she had eaten all the day was the toast that Remus had offered her, and she wasn't hungry then either, and she declined to eat the candy that the others had selflessly shared. The train had started to slow down, and in a few minutes came to a jolting stop. They all stood up, and flocked to the compartment door, and out of the train. They looked around for the horseless carriages, and spotting them, walked toward them. Lily, James, Peter and an unknown person climbed into one carriage while Sirius, Jaimie and Remus climbed into another. One of Jaimie's friends had entered the carriage with them and was surprised to see that Damion was not with her.
"Where's Damion?" She asked, a bit confused.
"I don't know, and I prefer it that way." Jaimie replied stiffly.
Of course she knew that people were going to start noticing that she had broken up with Damion. She also knew that people were going to say bad things about her since she was Sirius now, though unofficially. But she also didn't care, ever since her break up with Damion she cared less for what they said about her. She didn't even bother to hide her nonchalance when her friend had tried to make conversation with her. The girl decided that talking to Jaimie was like talking to a horse and so she quit and just stared out the carriage window moodily.
When they had arrived at the castle, she quickly seperated herself from their group and did not make an appearance to her all through the night. She noticed her friends had not bothered talking to her and surmised that the girl had warned them not to. So she spent the start of term feast with Lily, Sirius, James, Remus and Peter, and prefered it this way.
The sorting had ended, and the golden platters and goblets that stood in front of each person was filled with and everyone started taking a bit of each. Jaimie, who was hungry, only ate a bit, she didn't feel much like eating, even though her stomach was empty. Worried, Lily filled her plate with potatoes chicken, roast beef and dinner rolls and forced her to eat the lot.
When the magical golden plates and goblets had emptied themselves of food, Dumbledore stood up, resplendent in robes of blue with yellow stars and moons upon the fabric, he made his usual start of term speech.
"Now that we have stuffed ourselves with enough food and drink, please excuse an old man for making a few announcements. First years should note that the Forbidden Forest on the grounds are as the name implies, forbidden. Our older students should kindly do well to remember that as well.
"Second, I should like you all to be aware of the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Dijon and Ms. Dominique Dijon, who was a student among our masses. Whatever story you have heard, I am here to tell you of the truth. They were not killed by accident, or by a dangerous animal, but by a powerful wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort." Whispering erupted from throughout the halls as he said this, but unfazed he continued.
"Let us have a moment of silence to remember these great people." The hall became quiet. Sirius had placed a supporting hand on Jaimie's back, and held his head down. Jaimie felt her eyes water, but the tears did not come. She looked around the halls to find all of the students bow their heads in respect. Her heart swelled to twice its size, as this very kind gesture was made. And then Dumbledore looked up, and continued, "They will forever be in our hearts.
"Now, could the prefects please escort the first years to their respectful dormitories. Have a good new term."
With that everyone got up from their seats and filed past the two doors and into a hallway. Jaimie, Sirius, James and Peter, excluding Remus and Lily as they were prefects, trekked the familiar path to Gryffindor Tower and stopped in front of a painting of a large woman in a pink dress. She had a stern face, and when they had approached, she said, "Password please."
Jaimie looked at Sirius with a blank expression, who looked back just as emptily. They didn't know the password yet. Luckily, Remus and Lily arrived with the group of first years, and said that the password was "Venemous Tentacula."
The portrait of the Fat Lady swung forward promptly to revealed a large hole that opened into the Gryffindor common room. It was a large room that was filled with tables,chairs and large comfy recliners by a blazing fire. Sirius led the way inside, Jaimie, Lily, Remus and the group of first years following his suit.
Sirius gave Jaimie a good-night kiss on the cheek before seeing her climb the the staircase leading to the girls' dormitory.
Jaimie opened the door to the familiar room with its four four-posters, crimson hangings around each bed, trunks laid at the ready at the end. She found hers, and pulled back the covers just as Lily walked in, feet dragging and eyes drooping.
They changed into their pajamas in silence, before they both went to bed, pulling their hangings shut. Jaimie managed to hear Lily's greeting of good night before drifting instantly into sleep.


A/N: Sorry that this chapter took so long. I had a particularly hard time finding a suitable song for this chapter. Thanks to those who have reviewed, you brighten my day!