Disclaimer I don't own anything.
Author Notes: I had to rewrite the dates a few times.
Justin Russo
When someone looses a loved one, they tend to close up and don't let anyone in. They don't get close to anybody and if for some chance they ever did, they would tell them as little as possible about themselves.
That was the case for J.R.
He didn't have friends because he didn't want any. He didn't want to let anyone in. That's the way he has been for years without any problems.
That is until he met Gus.
When he saw Gus in trouble that night, he could have just walked away, but he didn't. He chose to save him. J.R hated the fact that just because you're stronger than someone else, it doesn't mean they have the right to do whatever they want. That's the reason he saved him that night.
Ever since then, Gus has been sticking around with him. He didn't ask him to be his friend or do small favors for him. J.R didn't know why, but he could have just told him to leave him alone, but he didn't. After all those years of being alone, it felt nice to have someone around. In the time they been together, J.R slowly began to consider Gus his friend. J.R didn't say much about himself when he asked about him, but Gus didn't seem to mind. When he asked what his name was, he didn't want to tell him, but felt like he should at least tell him something. That's why he told him just to call him J.R and again he didn't mind. J.R was fine with the way things were, but everything changed when Gus said all those things in the museum. He felt bad because Gus was being a good friend telling him that he will always be there for him. And here he was, Gus saying all those things, always telling him everything, and him never telling Gus a thing.
This is the reason why he was taking him to a place he never took anyone. A place were he only came by himself.
This morning it looked like it would rain again and it did. The clouds turned darker and wind began to blow.
The cemetery was deserted mostly because it started to rain harder. People went home or went to take shelter somewhere. J.R parked his bike in front and got of. He went inside, opening the gate, without taking of his helmet. The cemetery was empty, so Gus decided to go on top of J.R's shoulder.
Gus was wondering why they were walking on a cemetery, especially in a weather like this. When J.R said he had to go 'somewhere', he didn't think it would be a place like this. J.R was a quiet person most of the time, but the quiet that he was in right now felt different. It made Gus very uncomfortable.
The cemetery looked bigger than it did from the outside, tomb stones were everywhere. It looked like J.R knew his way around pretty well. He knew exactly where to go. After walking deeper into the cemetery for a few minutes, J.R finally stopped.
In front of them, there were four tomb stones. Gus looked at J.R's face, but he didn't turn his head, he just kept on looking at the tomb stones. Gus turned his gaze back at the four graves. He read the names that were inscribed on the stones.
JERRY RUSSO
Beloved Father and Husband
1967 – 2008
THERESA RUSSO
Beloved Mother and Wife
1969 – 2008
MAX RUSSO
Beloved Son and Brother
1995 – 2009
ALEXADRA RUSSO
Beloved Daughter and Sister
1993 – 2013
Gus was silent; he didn't know what to say. He wanted to ask him if these people were who he thought they were, but couldn't. He remained silent. He tried looking at J.R's face, but couldn't see a thing through the black helmet.
After 15 minutes of not moving, J.R's hand went inside his left pocket. He took out what seem to be a silver locket. He opened it and stared at it for a few minutes. He stopped looking at it and gave it to Gus.
Holding it with both arms, he looked what was inside. It was the same picture that was back in J.R's apartment. It was the picture of the entire family in it, but smaller. Gus has seen the picture back in the apartment before, but never said anything about it. He assumed they were his family.
After being quiet and unmoving for some time J.R finally lifted his arms and took of his helmet. His eyes that are usually empty were now filled with two different emotions. Sadness that could match the ocean and deep anger that made Gus want to be as far away as possible from him. The sadness left, but the anger stayed. His hands formed into fists that began to shake. They were held so tight that his knuckles turned white. His mouth was tightly shut. His body began to shake from all the rage that was building inside him.
Gus has never seen him like this; it looked like he was ready to rip someone apart. Suddenly the shaking he stopped. He unclenched his hands and his shoulders sagged. The anger was gone. The only thing that remained was the sadness that came back.
"You know" he said with a defeated voice. "When you have something that is really precious to you, you don't truly appreciate it until it's gone." He finished with such a voice that even made Gus sad.
"My dad always was so strict when it came to magic, but he was a great teacher." He started to open up. "He took great pride in me for always following the rules and listening." He said with a sad smile. "We also, always enjoyed watching football together"
"My mom, even though she was human, still putted up with all the crazy magic that went around the house."
"She always treated us like we were five. Hugging us and kissing us."
Gus was listening attentively, not wanting to interrupt him. He had this peaceful look on his face. The same face he saw him with this morning when he was asleep. He didn't want to disrupt this rare peaceful moment.
"My little brother Max was a very lively kid. He was a gullible person with a short attention span. He always liked to have fun with magic"
"He would always either, with me or Alex, pull pranks on each other."
"Then there is Alex" he turned his gaze from the graves to the rainy sky. He closed his eyes and let the rain hit his face.
Gus couldn't believe it, for the first time sense he met J.R, he was actually smiling! It wasn't a big smile, but it wasn't small either. It was a true smile.
"Alex was always breaking the rules. She would always use magic outside of the house even though she always got in trouble because of it. I usually was the one had to fix her messes. She also tried to make me use magic behind our parent's back. She kept telling me that I follow the rules way to much. Because of her I turned into a better wizard." When he opened his eyes, Gus became even more shocked. His eyes didn't look empty and lifeless anymore. They actually had some life in them.
"Even though she always called me names and said I was to up tight about magic, she really cared about me." He looked back at Gus, still smiling.
"She just didn't make me a better wizard; she made me a better person"
The Wizard Council was sitting around a rectangular table. They were discussing about the action they had taken. It was mostly all the members agreeing, saying it was the right decision to make. While one member disagreed with all of it. He thought they were going about it the wrong way.
This person was none other than Professor Crumbs.
"You should have never made a deal with that man" Prof. Crumbs states.
"He was the only option we had." Prof. Harlin. He was an old man, who appeared to be a strict and harsh person. He was a person who had no sympathy for anyone.
"That man doesn't know the meaning of word self control" Prof. Crumbs replied, sounding angry.
"It doesn't matter if he kills him. As long as this matter doesn't reach the public's ears, it shouldn't matter what befalls the boy" He responded, calm.
"What of the Macuros?" Prof. Crumbs said trying to hold his anger
"What of it?" Prof. Harlin said not seeming to care.
"Only a few people in this world know how to actually read the thing. It's not a threat to us, if no one knows how to read it." Prof. Harlin said with much confidence.
"All this just to maintain face. Just because this council is too ashamed to admit, that it wasn't able to stop one wizard from stealing from the most respected council in the magical world!" He said raising his voice.
"We all took a vote to see what action to take. And this was it" Prof. Harlin said, not affected by Prof. Crumbs out burst.
"That man is a cold blooded killer!" he yelled, slamming his hands on the table as he stood up.
"Prof. Crumbs" he said calmly. "We all know why you are so against all this." Prof. Harlin looked directly at the Headmaster. "The boy use to be your student, your best student. And of course you grew fond of the boy over the years. When his family past away you tried to help him, but he was already to far gone to be helped." he said with a small smirk.
Prof. Crumbs went silent.
"Besides, once he has been taken care of, this entire matter will come to an end" he finished.
Prof. Crumb's eyes hardened as he stared at the Wizards Council.
"Let me make something very clear." Prof. Crumbs said slowly.
"Whatever that boy is planning, I assure you he will succeed. Nothing in this world will stop him from getting what he wants." Prof. Crumbs said to the council with a large amount of conviction in his voice.
"Your right, he was my best student, but above all." He said tuning around leaving.
"He is Justin Russo, the best wizard I have ever known." And with that he was gone.