Another birthday disagreement

Twelve years later…

'Guess who I run into today?' Eileen smirked, taking a sip of her glass.

It was July, and the four of us were together at Jake's celebrating his twenty-fifth birthday. We had just had dinner and were now opening – and drinking – the bottles of liquor we had gifted him with.

'Who?' Jaz asked.

'Dante Woods' she replied with a snigger.

'You're kidding!' I laughed.

Jaz and Dante had broken up shortly after he graduated from Hogwarts, and we hadn't heard much from him since then.

Jake, who was slouching on the sofa, sat upright. 'How is he?' he questioned.

'He's fine, he's working for your mom now too' Eileen replied. She had a job at the Department of International Magical Cooperation, which was headed by Mrs. Adams.

'No way!' Jake gasped.

'Yes… and he also introduced me to his very cute new boyfriend' she glanced at Jaz.

Jake and I almost spilled wine all over the carpet.

Everybody turned their eyes at Jaz. She didn't look surprised at all.

'You knew about this?' I asked.

'Oh, no, I didn't, or I would have told you. But, I mean… I had this feeling… there were… signs' she giggled 'I noticed after dating him for a while that he seemed very keen to show everyone he was snogging the teachers' daughter, but he was never so interested in me when we were alone' she shrugged. 'Besides…' she looked at me 'I don't know if you will remember that… but one of the first things he asked me at the Yule Ball was the question.'

I burst out laughing. 'Yes, I remember you told me about that. But I didn't think it was odd, I mean, everybody wants to know that.'

Eileen was glancing from Jaz to me, puzzled, blinking her eyes that same way her mother did when confused.

'What question?' Jake asked.

Jaz chuckled.

'The question everyone wants to ask male metamorphmagus' I grinned.

Jake stared at me bewildered for a few seconds, and then howled 'Oh… he wanted to know if you can metamorph that' he guffawed.

'Exactly' I leered.

Eileen went red but laughed too.

'I just don't remember what you told him' I turned back to Jaz 'because we used to lie about that all the time, back then, to have fun with people's reactions.'

She chortled. 'No, I told him the truth.'

Eileen and Jake gaped at her.

'So you know it?' Jake asked in shock.

Jaz and I laughed even harder.

'Of course I do! You can't find anything about Ted that I don't know.'

I nodded to them, agreeing.

'You two are so awkward together' Jake shook his head.

'Yeah, sometimes I think Teddy is your twin instead of me' Eileen added.

I chuckled, but Jaz's smile faded away.

'We're not brother and sister, we're friends' she retorted.

'So' Jake cut in, turning to me again 'are you going to tell us if you can do it?'

'Well' I began, flushing 'in theory, yes. But metamorphing requires concentration. No one can do it in the heat of the moment.'

Eileen went even redder.

Jake shrugged. 'Well it's not like you need it anyway'.

I almost spilled my drink again, howling with laughter, and the girls widened their eyes at Jake, Jaz's cheeks blushing madly too now.

'What?' Jake exclaimed 'I've seen him changing his clothes hundreds of times.'

Eileen facepalmed 'I really didn't need to know all of that, you know.'

'Oh, please, Eileen' I rolled my eyes 'we're family.'

'Why do you guys keep saying that? We're not related' Jaz insisted.

'What the hell, Jaz' I glowered at her, crossed. All that rejection was starting to annoy me 'why do you get so offended by that?'

'I just… don't like it. It's weird'.

'Why?' I felt rage swelling inside me 'is it because of my parents? Are they too weird for you to be related to?'

I regretted it the moment the words came out of my mouth. But I was too angry to apologize.

Eileen and Jake immediately started shouting at me to shut my mouth and stop talking nonsense. But I didn't even look at them. I was staring at Jaz, my jaw clenched, and she was staring back at me, her mouth agape with incredulity.

'I can't believe you said that' she replied, quietly, her eyes filling with tears.

That killed me. A wave of remorse hit me right away. It had been unfair, coward. Jaz cared for my parents as much as I did. She made sure to take extra classes with me during our sixth and seventh year to learn with Mr. Snape how to prepare my dad's potion. And she still came to my parents' house before every full moon, just to keep me company while I prepared it. She did it because she knew it made me feel more confident, even if I hadn't got it wrong since my sixth year – although her dad kept supervising me doing it until I graduated. She also did it because she wanted my mom and dad to be safe as much as I did. And because she loved having dinner and spending time with them. And part of me knew she did it as well to ensure she remembered it and would be able to prepare it if one day I couldn't do it. She had already concocted it by herself a few times when I was sick or travelling for work missions.

Before I could say anything else, however, she had bade the other two goodnight and left.

I slumped on the armchair. The two others were glaring at me in silence.

'I know, I shouldn't have said it' I turned to look at them 'I just don't get it. You two never complain when I call you brother or sister.'

Jake, tipsy and angry with me, seemed about to lose his temper.

'Of course she doesn't want you to see her as a sister, mate!' he cracked, exasperated 'Open your eyes! She's crazy about you since forever!'

I stared at him, frowning.

'What? Shut up, Jake, you're drunk and talking rubbish. That's not true.'

'It is, Teddy' Eileen added, sternly. I looked at her in disbelief. 'Since she was fourteen, for heaven's sake, you're the only one who doesn't see it.'

Everyone stayed quiet for a moment, while I blinked at her skeptically.

Eileen carried on. 'She only went with Dante to that Yule Ball in our fourth year because you had already asked that Hufflepuff girl from your potions class. She was heartbroken, and she knew you were jealous of him.'

'Has she told you that? Or are you assuming this?' I asked, enraged.

'No, she didn't, but…'

'So you're just making this all up! It's all in your head! Listen, Jaz and I know everything about each other. She'd never hide something like that for so long.'

Eileen and Jake glanced at each other.

'What is more' I continued, irritated 'we talk about girlfriends and boyfriends to each other all the time. She knows about my dates and I know about hers. It has always been like that. She wouldn't keep a secret such as this one.'

'Oh, imagine that' Eileen sneered 'It would be almost as if she was her father's daughter.'

I gaped at her, shocked. Those words had really hit me.

'You don't have to believe it if you don't want to' Eileen went on, her voice serious again 'just don't ever accuse her of something like that again. That must have destroyed her, Teddy. She loves your parents as if they were ours.'

The wave of guilt in my chest seemed to drown me for a moment.

'I know that' I stared at the floor 'I will apologise tomorrow.'

That night I had to take a Sleeping Draught so that I could close my eyes. I did it only because on the other day I would need to prepare my dad's potion and I needed to be sufficiently rested for that. Otherwise, I would have probably just lain in bed all night long replaying fourteen years of friendship in my head.

...

On the next day, I left the Department of Magical Law Enforcement during my lunch break and dashed into St. Mungo's. When I asked for Jaz, however, I was told she had to leave to answer an emergency.

When I left the Ministry later, I went straight to my parents' house. I climbed down the few steps from the kitchen to the garage and started mixing the ingredients. A few minutes later, my mom appeared at the door, her hair a dark shade of purple that day. I kissed and hugged her, tighter than usual, so that the sadness inside my chest softened a bit.

'What is it with you today, son? Where's Jasmine?'

I slumped on the old small sofa beside the work desk where the cauldron was simmering. 'I'm not sure she's coming today, mum.'

She widened her eyes. 'Why? Did something happen to her? Is she alright?'

'She's fine. It's just that… we had an argument yesterday at Jake's.'

Mom rolled her eyes. 'Oh, please, like she wouldn't come for something such as that.' I raised my eyes to her, hoping she was right. 'As if you didn't know her, Teddy.'

'Didn't know who?' a voice came from the stairs.

Jaz stopped at the threshold.

I stood up and my mom walked to her and squeezed her waist 'I was just asking about you, sweetheart'. She glanced from Jaz to me. 'I'll help Remus with dinner' she kissed Jaz and climbed back to the kitchen. She had barely disappeared, and my cheeks were already wet from tears.

Jaz sighed and walked to me. 'It's ok, Ted, I know. I know you didn't mean it'. She wrapped her arms around me, her forehead pressing my collarbones, and I buried my face in her hair, sobbing like I only did in front of her, mumbling 'I'm sorry, Jaz, I'm so sorry… I regretted it from the moment I said it, I did it just 'cause I was angry, Jaz, I'm sorry… I love you so much, you're so important to me…' as she patted my back, murmuring 'I know, I know, Ted, it's alright'. After a while, we both ceased crying, and then we just kept quiet, hugging tightly, still but for her thumb rubbing my lower back.

'Ham-ham' my dad cleared his throat, standing at the door 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything.'

We slowly unlocked from each other and turned our heads to him, both moping ours eyes. 'It's ok, dad' I replied. Jaz, with red eyes, gave him a hug and a kiss.

Without taking his hand from her shoulder, my dad looked from Jaz to me and then back to her. 'Did Teddy do something to annoy you?'

I was already used to that. My dad would defend me from every single person in this world, except from Jaz.

'No, of course not' she answered 'we just had a disagreement yesterday, but we made up.'

'Oh' he nodded 'ok. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. I'm making your favourite' he smiled broadly at her.

When he left the garage, Jaz sat on the edge of the work desk, as usual, and I kept busy with the potion for a minute.

'There's something we need to talk about' I broke the silence.

She swallowed.'Yes?'

'I thought we didn't have secrets.'

'We don't' she said, but her voice was trembling.

'Don't we?'

She didn't answer right away. After a while, voice still shaking, she replied.

'What do you mean?'

'I'm talking about why you don't like when you're called my sister.'

'What did Jake and Eileen say to you after I left yesterday?'

'That I have been blind for fourteen years.'

Jaz kept quiet. I raised my head to look at her.

'I could be angry with you for hiding something important from me for half of our lives, you know' I went on 'but I'm just asking you to tell me the truth.'

She opened her mouth. I knew she was trying to say something but that nothing was coming out.

'You had feelings for me' I stated.

She swallowed again. After a moment, she nodded.

'You still have feelings for me.'

A few more seconds went by before she finally spoke, calmly.

'Ted… you need to understand my side on this. You never showed any signs you felt the same, you called me your sister. I knew it was a lost battle. Confessing my feelings would only make things awkward, or worst, make you flee away. And I could deal with not being your girlfriend, but I could never, ever stand to lose my best friend' tears were streaming from her eyes now again, and I felt more shedding from mine too.

'You would never, ever lose me, Jaz, never' I shook my head 'I just would have been more sensitive. I'm constantly talking about other women in front of you. And it kills me that I could have been hurting your feelings all this time. When you…' at that point I was crying so much I had to draw a deep breath to continue 'you were always there for me, Jaz. Always. For my family…' I had to stop, because I was sobbing so hard I couldn't keep going.

'No, don't say that' still sitting on the desk, she pulled me to another hug, placing her knees each side of my hips and nesting my face on her neck. 'You could never hurt me, Ted, never. You're the best friend I could ask for. And that will always be enough for me. Now, don't beat yourself up over this, please, you know I can't stand to see you in pain.'

Once more, we stayed like that until we both calmed down.

During dinner, everything went back to normal. We argued over quidditch teams, laughed with my mom and dad and drank more wine than we should on a weekday.

'We haven't seen Jane and Severus for weeks! I hope they will come by for dinner soon' my mom complained to Jaz. My dad had already retired, but Mrs. Snape was still teaching, and Mr. Snape had left the potions lessons and was now the school headmaster.

'Oh, I'm sure they will be here for the next moon' Jaz replied 'dad can't stand too long without drooling over Ted' she rolled her eyes.

After dinner, I took Jaz to the door. I always stayed over at my parents the first night of the full moon, to make sure the potion worked and that they were both safe.

I opened the door and looked at her to wish her goodnight. Her thick lips were stained in crimson.

'Why are your lips so red?' I raised an eyebrow.

'Because we were drinking wine, silly' she laughed.

'But… does this always happen?'

'Yeah' she batted her eyelids, confused. She recomposed herself and grinned at me 'goodnight, Ted' and was about to cross the threshold when I held her wrist.

'Jaz?'

'Yes?' she turned around.

'Do you remember when we were in our fifth year' her expression suddenly changed, looking anxious 'that incident with Professor Trelawney?'

'Oh…' I could tell she was trying to put on a casual tone 'you remember that, do you?'

'Yes' I replied 'what did it say? The prophecy?'

She raised her eyes to me, plainly unnerved, and sighed, apparently giving up on acting cool.

'It said when two of us let the truth out, the other two would fall in love, and then everything would fall apart, or something like that.' She shrugged 'so I reckon it's a good thing you don't have feelings for me' she smiled wryly 'or we'd be screwed. Goodnight, Ted'.

I gulped. 'Good night'.

Yeah, I told myself, good thing.