Ch. 4- Christmas Surprises
A/N: I own nothing except Joie...and hey, the story does start to get interesting, at least I think it does. And, I can't remeber if I've said this before, but it will take a few chapters to get Sirius and Joie together, but I PROMISE if you stick with me it will happen. Okay, I'll stop talking now and let you read!
Father of mine
Tell me where have you been
You know I just closed my eyes
My whole world disappeared
Father of Mine- by Everclear
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I let myself into the house. It was late- one o'clock in the morning- but I didn't think dad was home yet. It didn't shock me, although I wished he were there. I'd never grieved properly over my mother and he always changed the subject whenever I brought it up.
I went up to my room, dropped my stuff on the floor, and fell into bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
"Joie…Joie, wake up!" A voice was pushing itself into my dreams. "C'mon, get moving!"
I opened my eyes to see my dad walking out of my room. I got out of bed and stretched. I wondered why dad was home.
"Morning." I said, as I walked into the kitchen. Dad grunted. I sat down and poured myself a bowl of cereal. Dad never looked up from his paper.
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As it turned out, Dad had two weeks off for Christmas. Not that it mattered much. He might've been at home, but he still worked 24/7. I spent my time catching up on my homework and reading books. At night I rarely ever slept anymore. I was too scared to close my eyes and chance seeing my mother's face in my dreams. Never being able to her in time to save her. So, I spent my nights cleaning and organizing the rooms in the house. And then, when all the rooms had been done, I'd go back and reorganize them.
Christmas Eve, however, I was exhausted. I'd spent the last couple of days arguing with dad about everything. So that night I slept like a rock.
When I woke up Christmas morning, I went downstairs to find a small stack of presents for me under the tree. Dad was already up and waiting for me. I saw the present I'd gotten him among his pile.
"Alright, let's open 'em up." He said pulling one towards him.
When I'd finished I had gotten a book on sleeping cycles from Remus- we'd probably be having a talk soon. This was Remus' subtle way of saying he knew something was wrong. From James I got a prank book and assorted things from Zonko's. Peter gave me a ton of Honeydukes sweets. But Sirius went all out- like he always did. He'd gotten me a pair of simple black dress robes that fit me in all the right places and a necklace from which a sun pendant hung. There wasn't anything from Dad.
When he'd opened my gift, he just sat there looking at it. He loved to paint and he was good at it too. Hr used to paint for a living, but he hadn't done it since we'd moved. I'd gotten him a set of a hundred paints and all new brushes, as well as some new canvas. After a minute or so, he set them aside and moved on. He didn't say a word and that killed me. I wanted to cry, but that would be showing weakness. And I didn't show weakness. Even at the funeral I hadn't cried- I'd still been in too much shock.
"I'm thinking of transferring you to a school here in America." Dad said, as we sat down for breakfast.
"What?" I said, my fork half way to my mouth. I was sure I'd heard wrong.
"Look, Joie, it's time for you to start growing up and leave childish things behind." He said, in business-like tone, as though he was trying to persuade me to buy whatever he was selling. "And I think it's time you started acting like a young lady and started befriending girls. Those boys you hang out with are nothing but trouble."
"'Those boys' you're speaking of are like my brothers an they should be like sons to you." I said, angrily. "Or have you forgotten all that you've done for them?"
"You need to do things that are normal of girls your age." He said. "And hanging around with just boys is not going to help you any."
"So now I'm not normal?" I asked, incredulously. "Just because my best friends happen to be guys?"
"I don't know what to do with you! What would your mother think?" He said. My heart stopped and my breath caught in my chest. It was the first time Dad had said anything about mom since she died.
"Mom would want me to be happy. She'd want you to be happy, too." I said, when I finally found my voice.
"Well, I've already enrolled you in Edwin's Institute for the Magically Gifted." Dad replied, as though we were agreed. "You start after vacation."
"Like hell I do!" I yelled. "I'm not going and you can't make me!"
"You'll do as I say!" He yelled back.
"I'll do as I please! I'll-" I started, but all of sudden a hand came out of nowhere and a second later my cheek felt like it was broken. It took me a moment to realize that Dad had backhanded me.
"Don't you ever talk back to me! You had better show me some respect!" He roared. Then he stormed out of the kitchen.
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I spent the rest of the day in my room. I was debating on what I should do. I could stay and try to reason with my dad or I could owl James and see I could spend the rest of vacation with him. I chose the latter.
James-
Can I spend the rest of the holidays at you house? I'll explain why later.
Joie
I paced the room until I got his response
-Yeah that's fine. See you soon.
James
I wrote back-
-Great, don't wait up for me, I won't be there until late.
Joie
I waited until midnight to sneak out of my room. I bewitched my trunk to make it float and I made my way to the fireplace. I threw in a fistful of Floo Powder and said as quietly as I could, "The Potters', Bristol, England".
After what seemed like forever I felt myself stop and I stepped out of the fireplace. I dusted myself off and made my way down to the guest room where I always stayed in. I dropped into the bed and thought of what my father would do when he found the note I'd left him.
Dad-
As you've probably gathered already, I ran away. I'm not transferring just because you say so. And I'm not putting up with you hitting me. You won't see me until the summer holidays and I'm still not sure if I'll come back then. All I have to say is this: Who are you and what have you done with my real father? 'Cause you certainly are no father of mine anymore.
Sincerely, Your Former Daughter,
Joie
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The next morning when I got up it was close to ten o'clock. I looked in the mirror of the vanity that was against one wall. The girl looking back at me looked terrible. My eyes were puffy, red, and baggy because I'd cried all night and I hadn't had any sleep. I had a good-sized bruise from where Dad had hit and it hurt like hell.
"Morning, Sunshine." James said, as I walked into the kitchen.
"Morning." I said, my back to him. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and sat down across from him, keeping my head down.
"So, you going to me why you came?" He asked after a minute. I looked up at him, feeling tears in my eyes. "Oh my god."
"Dad and I got into an argument." I said, as he came around the table, and taking my face in his hands, examined the bruise closely. "He told me he was transferring me to some American Institute. He said that it was time for me to grow up and start hanging out with girls and to do "normal" things for a girl my age."
"You've got to be kidding." He said, in disbelief.
"No. I told him that he couldn't make me transfer. And then he backhanded me and said to never talk back to him." I continued, my voice quivering slightly. "So, I ran away, and left him a note. I said that I might not come back. I'm afraid that if I do he'll just get worse."
"What if he comes to school and tries to take you?" James asked.
"He'll have to kill me first." I said, so seriously that I scared myself.
"Well, you're more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need." He said, after a moment. "God knows my parents love you."
"Thank you, James. You have no idea how much this means to me." I said.
"You're like family, Joie.' He said, pulling me into a hug. "We'd never turn you away."
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"Where's Sirius?" I asked, as we got off the train.
"Oh, he went back to school early." James said. "Something about his parents."
I was kind of worried about going back because I knew I'd probably have to talk to Dumbledore. And what if Dad showed up? I didn't think Dumbledore could really stop him. And if Dad wanted to take me bad enough, I wasn't sure if I would be able to fight back.
"So, Moony, how was Christmas?" James asked, as we climbed into a carriage.
"It was okay." Remus replied, shrugging. "Weird not having you there, though."
"Yeah, well, I'm sure yours was better than mine." I muttered.
"I'm assuming that it has something to do with the nice bruise on your face." He said, calmly.
"You always were an observer, Moony." I sighed. "Yes, it has pretty much everything to with this bruise. The fact that my father has been possessed by some demon and is trying to make me transfer schools and force me to be more "girlish" and the fact he backhanded me and told me never to talk back to him again." I added, bitterly.
"Your dad?" Remus said, skeptically. I nodded. "There's something I never thought would happen."
"You and me both." I said.
We got up to the castle and made our way to the common room. I wanted to see Sirius- he always knew what to say and how to take my mind off of the things that were circling around me. But he wasn't there.
"James you got the Marauder's Map on you?" I asked quietly so that only he heard me.
"Yeah." He said, handing it to me. "Why-" he started, but I was already out of the portrait hole.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." I said, hurriedly. I scanned the map, but I didn't see him on there. I frowned- was he in Hogsmead? I thought for a minute of all the places he could be and then it clicked. The Room of Requirements, of course.
I made my way up to the seventh floor corridor and the spot where the room was. I walked past it three times, thinking only of Sirius and that I needed to find him, wherever he was. A door appeared and I creaked it open. What I saw made my heart stop.
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oh, a cliff hanger! What does she see? What will happen? Review and you will find out!