Temporal Flux

Chapter Sixteen: Hollow's Eve Continued

The feast was as wonderful as it was every year. Since almost everyone thought that it was Jared's first Halloween in Hogwarts, they were trying to asking him how they did things in America. It was good thing that his mother always bought him lots of books about different cultures.

"I hear that the children go out in costume," said Seamus to Jared.

Jared nodded. "Only the Muggles do that though. The covens are careful to keep their practices under wraps. It's not like here where there's a large governing body that regulates things."

"So, you're a member of a coven?" asked Dean.

Jared answered, "The covens can be very large depending on where you're from. The larger covens are in the older cities, but that can be different. It depends on the history of the area. L.A. has lots of different covens because of the different cultures in the area. America's the world's melting pot after all. Believe or not L.A. may be the shortest acronym, but it's the city with the longest name in the U.S."

"What's the full name of the city?" asked Lavender.

"El Pueblo del la Reina de Los Angeles," replied Jared. "It means something like the Town of the Our Lady of the Angels. The Spaniards named it when they claimed it. The nickname merely says the Angels."

Parvati said with somewhat dreamy eyes, "Then you must be an angel yourself." Jared kind of choked back.

Ron wasn't saying much because he was marveling at what a fantastic liar his child was, while Hermione was talking to Ginny about something else. Harry kicked Ron's shin under the table. "Ow! What you do that for?" demanded Ron as he ducked under the table for a bit to rub his shin.

Now, Ron didn't exactly ask why Jared was there. At this point, he was getting over the shock that he was going to exist in the first place. If Ron knew why Jared was really there, he would be more alarmed. "What are you staring off into space for?" asked Harry.

Jared was sitting next to Harry and looking at Ron with some concern. Just like Hermione would, if she wasn't distracted at the moment with Ginny. Jared shift uncomfortably as he picked up some more food for his plate, but he couldn't quiet reach the pumpkin pasties. Ron pushed it to him and saw that his hands were just like his for that brief moment that their hands were on the plate. "Thanks, Ron," said Jared politely. For Jared, that was the first really kind gesture that he had seen Ron do to him.

"You're welcome," muttered Ron as he looked away.

"Are you all right tonight, Ron?" asked Hermione teasingly. "You must be under some kind of spell or something." Ron gave her a confused look. "I mean you've all of a sudden gotten more helpful and polite in one night. What made you change so drastically? And where did you put the Ron that I know?"

Normally, Ron would have said something snappy to her, but he didn't. "You know, Ron, you've been kind of quiet tonight," observed Neville. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," sputtered Ron quickly. "Nothing's wrong." His whole face felt like it was on fire. He was almost ready to blame Jared for the whole thing. For making him feel uncomfortable, but Ron quickly reminded himself that he was supposed to act like everything was fine.

"Ron, you look very red," commented Hermione with concern. "Are you sure you're not sick or anything?"

Ron stammered because she noticed what she was hoping she wouldn't, "I-I'm f-fine." To make matters worse, she pressed her fingertips against his forehead. He pulled back as if her fingertips were on fire. "Just leave me alone, Hermione!" he exclaimed defensively.

Hermione was startled by his reaction and withdrew from him instantly. "Sorry. I'm just worried."

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" asked Jared angrily.

Ron was about to get angry at him, but taking one look at his face made him feel bad. It was Hermione who came to his defense. "It's all right, Jared. It's okay," she said softly. Ron felt the guilt crawl up his neck at her tone. She still stood up for him even after he had gotten mad at her.

"Sorry," he muttered under his breath. This didn't seem to appease Jared at all, but he wasn't looking at Ron anymore. Rather, he was looking at Ginny who looked at him briefly before looking away.

Jared gave Harry a sidelong glance and figured out what was going on. His mother didn't rise a fool after all.

Sometime later, Jared waited in the common room for everyone to go to sleep. He knew that Ginny and Harry were coming down to explain what was happening. The longer he waited, the anger he got. When he heard them come down, he started talking before he saw them.

"Okay, what happened?" he demanded with his arms crossed over his chest. "What's wrong with Ron? What did you tell him?" His eyes were directed at Ginny who kept looking away from him.

"I told him," she admitted.

"You couldn't keep your bloody trap shut, could you?" As Jared said this, losing his fake accent altogether.

"You've really got Ron's temper," observed Harry. Jared glared at him. "I tried to stop her, but she wanted to say something. I said it was a bad idea, but Ron was starting to figure it out anyway."

"I'll have you know if there's one thing I've inherited from my father it's my temper!" shouted Jared.

"Among other things," said a quieter, calmer voice from the stairs that led to the boys' dorm. It was now Jared's turn to be stunned into silence as he looked at Ron who was coming down slowly. "So, when were you going to properly introduce yourself?"

"Not if I could have avoided it," muttered Jared as he glared at Ginny who was concentrating on the ceiling.

"Now, now. Let's try to get along now. After all, you're family," said Harry. "And we shouldn't be so loud. Hermione might come down or something."

"Are you going to keep this from your mum?" asked Ginny to Jared.

Jared sighed and buried his face in his hands. He mumbled something, but no one could hear him. Ron stepped forward and leaned in more. He gently tapped his finger against Jared's hands. "Why are you even here?" he asked. "That's what I want to know. And if you're really my son, I would like to see some proof."

"Oh, come on, Ron!" exclaimed Ginny. "Look at him. The nose. The ears. The lips. The hands. Look at how he's built, too. And all unwelcomed, sarcastic commentary. He's got a mischievous streak a mile wide. If that doesn't scream Weasley, then I don't know what does."

"How many other people know?" asked Jared.

Harry answered, "Just Fred and George. We made them promise not to tell anyone."

"Great. Uncle Fred and Uncle George," muttered Jared as he raised his hands to the air. "And no, I'm not telling my mum about me. Look at him, he's a mess." He gestured at Ron.

"How did you come from me?" asked Ron.

Jared put his hands on his hips, which was like his mother and replied, "We had this talk when I was fourteen. I really don't want to relive it. It was uncomfortable enough for both of us the first time we had it."

Ginny giggled at this. Harry didn't say anything as Jared went on, "I guess I should probably tell you about why I'm here. Getting you up to speed might help us. And by us, I mean us as a family."

"Well, being the only non-Weasley here, I feel a little odd," said Harry finally. They looked at him, and he shrug, "I thought it was my turn to say something."

"No, you stay," said Jared. "You're my godfather. Why don't we all get comfortable? This is going to take a while." To Ron, that was one of the few things that made sense. They all settled in the chairs and Jared began his long, complicated story.

When he was done, it took Ron a little bit longer to process it. "So, someone out there wants to kill me?" he said slowly. "Did Harry tell you what happened in the forest?"

"Yes," said Jared with a nod. "Magus is psychopath. His crimes are hate crimes. He kills Muggles as well as those who support them. It took years for you to track him and eventually bring him down. Azkaban isn't the same place it used to be. The Dementors aren't there any longer. In fact, I've never even seen one."

"That should make you feel better, Harry," said Ron. "Because none of this is making me feel any better."

"I've read as much of the journal," announced Ginny. "There isn't much going on. Other than what happened in the forest, Hermione doesn't know what's going on. She's pointing out that you two have so much in common and should get along better." She gave pointed looks at her brother and nephew.

"Whatever," muttered Jared. "If anyone had a problem it was him. I didn't do anything. He's paranoid."

Ron, who was still in a bit of shocking about Jared, didn't glare at him like he normally would have. Of course, the mystery of where Jared had learned the ability to be so obnoxious was now obvious. So, for the time being Ron let it slide. "I didn't know she kept one," he said.

"Yes, she does," said Ginny. She waved her hand towards Harry and Jared, "These two were too squeamish to read it, I've been reading it. You probably shouldn't read it, Ron."

"No, I want to see that," said Ron loudly as he got to his feet to get to his sister. "I want to see what she wrote about me."

Ginny shook her head, "Isn't obvious that she didn't write anything bad about you? Ron, let it go." She had the book closed in her hands and she was using it as a shield, which was a bad idea because Ron knocked it of her hands.

The book landed on the pages, but the picture came out face up. Ron picked it up and gazed at it. Just when he didn't think Hermione could look prettier, she managed to do it in the picture. The little baby in her arms was dozing as she waved his little fist in the air. "Ahem," Jared interrupted his thoughts, "That would be me."

"I know that," said Ron. "You look almost cute."

"Hey! I was a cute baby," exclaimed Jared defensively. Ron went up to him and put the picture side by side with Jared's face. He looked at the baby in the picture and at Jared. He did it twice. "If I look bad, it's really your fault," muttered Jared.

"You have your mother's eyes," concluded Ron. "I took this picture, didn't I? Rather, I'll be taking this picture."

"You'll keep it on your desk at the Aurors office," confirmed Jared. "It's your favorite family picture. It was taken my first day out of St. Mungo's and that's our front door. I've lived in London most of my life."

"So, I'm a success?" asked Ron, disbelieving again. He never would have thought he would amount to anything, but looking at his young family for the first time it seemed that it was true. He suddenly occurred to him that he wouldn't have even thought he had a chance with Hermione unless he made something of himself first.

"Yes," said Jared with a nod. "It's kind of hard to follow after you as your son. Everyone's expecting something great from me. It hasn't happened yet. You were a prefect your fifth and sixth year. Next year, you'll be Head Boy. You'll also get offers to become a professional Quidditch player as well as the chance to be an Auror. So, will you, Uncle Harry, one the last parts."

"For you, Uncle Harry, it's no contest. You're already tired of all the attention, so you turn down the offers immediately. But, for you, Dad, it's different. You want to make some of yourself, but when you find out about the traveling schedule, you decided not to take them up on their offer. You go on to be an Auror instead, which was probably the better decision. Although, it's more dangerous than playing Quidditch, which really worries Mum a lot." Jared hadn't notice that he had completely lapsed on what he was calling them earlier. In fact, this was the first time that Ron had heard himself referred to as "Dad."

Ginny broke the silence, "See, you go on to be like Bill and Percy after all, Ron. It's not completely unique, but you divert and go on to be something you really wanted to be."

"I can't believe it. I don't really want to be like Percy," muttered Ron. "What happens to everyone else in the family?"

"Now, that would be telling," replied Jared. "Well, almost everyone gets married and has kids of their own. I guess Grandmum is still waiting for Uncle Fred and Uncle George to settle down, but neither of them are willing to give up being bachelors. Uncle Bill is the first to get married, then Uncle Charlie. All their kids are boys, too. Aunt Ginny got married, too, and has her own family with the only girl out of all of you. I'm an only child."

"You're an only child?" asked Ron. Not that he was eager to have as many children as his parents, but it did seem odd to him that he would only have one child.

"Mum had some scarring from one of the attacks before," answered Jared. "You consulted both Muggle doctors and wizarding healers. Both of them said that it would be difficult and dangerous for Mum. You weren't too keen on having children after that, but Mum managed to convince you to have me. So, here I am. She almost died when I was born. There was a lot of bleeding, so after that you said no more and that I was perfect already."

"Oh."

Ginny raised her hand to get some attention. "You mentioned that most of us get married, but you didn't say anything about Percy." Her voice was quiet because she and Ron were still rather sore about Percy's behavior in the previous year.

Jared didn't look at either of them for a moment and looked down at his hands. "I wouldn't know anything about Uncle Percy," he whispered. "He died before I was born."

It was like Ginny and Ron were looking at a reflecting pool and someone had dropped a stone, distorting what they were staring. Harry looked at each of them and saw that Ginny had a breath caught in her throat. Ron shook his head from the shock. "When did he die? I mean when he is going to die?" he demanded in a whisper.

"I don't know," answered Jared. "By the time, I was born, no one wasn't talking about him much. All I remember are the pictures over the mantel in the Burrow. Grandmum would put them up, while Granddad couldn't look at them at all. The rest of the family went on with their lives, but I think that there was always a void whenever there's a family get together at the Burrow. There's always a chair that remains empty at the table. I would have liked to know him."

Ginny got up abruptly and left without a word. She didn't even bother to pick up the diary from Ron on her way out. She had gone upstairs as quickly as possible. They heard her slam the door to the fifth year girls' dorm.

Ron ran his fingers through his hair. "But you're not here to stop that, are you? You're here to keep me alive," he whispered.

Jared nodded and glanced at Harry. "We should find out how and where. We know the why and the who," said Harry. "I got word for Remus about it. He said that there isn't anyone known as Magus according to the Ministry records. He said that he was able to get your father to help, but your dad was wondering why I'd ask. Ron, we need to focus. We need to find out what will happen. It's not just you whose in danger, so is Hermione and Jared. There's a chance that Magus already knows that Jared is here." He was desperate to get Ron to focus on something else.

"I know," whispered Ron. He got to his feet. "I'm feeling tired. I think it's time we all go to bed. Come on, Jared." Jared looked at Harry briefly before he got to his feet and followed his father. Harry followed reluctantly after them.

Jared got into bed, half expecting Ron to tuck him in, but fell asleep before he could draw the curtains closed. Ron shook his head again and got up to close them for him.


AN: Does Jared have a girlfriend? No. He's actually single, and he's kind of a free spirit. He does have two best friends like his father did, but he isn't interested in his close female friend. It's funny as the story goes along that I'm developing more of a world where Jared is from and what kind of people he knows.

Anyway, this is a very short chapter, and it's supposed to be. If anyone else has a pressing question (please don't ask for when the next update will be…I say in the journal), I'll post the answer in the notes as

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. This story belongs to me and cannot be posted anywhere else without my permission.