I'm reminded of a phrase and even though it doesn't completely fit here, I'm going to mention it. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!"
Welcome to chapter 93. It is time to travel back to the future, but not the one where Lily's living. It is finally time for us to sit back and enjoy the life of John and Jane, as they grew up from young children to teenagers and adults, the period which forged them into who they are/were.
Enjoy! ❤️
"Hey kiddo," began Sirius as he sat down beside John.
However, John did not respond. He sat there in silence and clearly looked upset.
"If only I knew you were listening to me..." began Sirius and paused. John didn't seem to have any reaction. "I'd probably say that I am here to take you somewhere..." he added and glanced at John. He still sat silently, without any change in his expression. "Without telling your Mom and Dad, of course," continued Sirius. Right when he uttered those words, there was a slight change in John's face, he looked every so lightly excited and curious.
"But, you are not listening to me," remarked Sirius and continued sitting beside John for a few minutes.
After a while, John couldn't resist it and glanced at Sirius. "Uncle Black," he called out.
"Yes?" responded Sirius.
"Where?" asked John.
"To get something that'll put a smile on your face," replied Sirius. John stared at Sirius carefully. "You are not going to want to miss it," added Sirius.
After a moment, John nodded and with that, he got up and so did Sirius. The pair made their way out of the house. First Sirius took John to get ice cream and then to get some chips, and John looked completely despondent. It was then that Sirius took him to a wand shop.
John continued walking ahead when Sirius caught his arm. "Hey, we are here," he remarked.
"Where?" asked John as he looked up and read the sign outside the shop. "A wand shop?" he retorted, confused. "What are we doing here, Uncle Black?" he asked. "I can't own a wand, remember?" he added.
"Who told you that?" asked Sirius, chuckling.
"I didn't get a letter to go to Hogwarts. I'm not a wizard, I'm a squib, I'm useless... I cannot own a wand or do anything that normal people do," ranted John in reply.
"You are not a squib, John," began Sirius but got interrupted instantly by John.
"Why didn't I get a letter then?" he retorted.
"Going to Hogwarts is not what makes you a wizard," said Sirius, calmly.
"Everybody goes to Hogwarts and that's where they learn everything. Only I have to go to school, here, where no one's interested in magic," retorted John, his eyes welling up.
"Oh, dear boy... You have got it completely wrong," whispered Sirius as he knelt before him. "You are going to become the best wizard, John Weasley... the best there was," he said, smiling. "And do you know why?" he asked.
John stared at Sirius and wiped his eyes. "How?" he asked, instead.
Sirius chuckled in response. "You are a special one. And special kids get special treatment," he replied. "You won't need to go to Hogwarts... we will bring Hogwarts to you," he added in response.
"How?" asked John.
"You will have the best professors possible," replied Sirius. "Even better than the ones at Hogwarts," he continued. "I'm not counted of course," he chuckled. After a moment, he went on. "Aunt Hermione was the best student in her year... Your father is the best wizard I have known... Uncle Remus once taught at Hogwarts, a long long time ago... And I'll come and visit you every fortnight and tell you everything that's going on at Hogwarts," he remarked, smiling.
"You will visit me? What about Hogwarts, will the school allow you to leave?" asked John.
"Of course, I'll visit you. And no one's stopping me from meeting my favourite twin," replied Sirius, laughing.
"Jane's your favourite twin," retorted John, sulking.
"She's not... If she was, why would I be with you and buying you your first wand?" replied Sirius. "Come on, let's go in," he added.
And there started something very different from what John wanted, yet something he would go on to enjoy.
One of the first things that John found happiness in was the fact that, for a good 9 months of the year, he was going to be completely independent in his home and away from Jane. The twins did not get along at all, and the freedom from her taunts, her bullying and just her mere presence was something he was going to enjoy.
As months went by, John's life changed dramatically. It became a lot more jovial, exciting and tiring. Soon after not receiving the letter from Hogwarts, he transferred schools to a different muggle school, one of the best in his neighbourhoods. Earlier, both John and Jane were enrolled in a muggle school, pretty much for fun. But now that John had to continue his education in the muggle world, it made all the more sense to transfer schools. And changing schools turned out to be a great move for John immediately started making new friends. From someone who didn't say much, who remained in Jane's shadow all his life, he turned into someone else at the new school. And the students there were quite jovial and nice as well, which helped. And finally, the muggle world had only recently started to find out and understand the wizarding world. And John took the opportunity to put on a mask that hid who he truly was. However, the moment he got out of school and came back home, his demeanour changed. Somehow, he couldn't be the same boy back home. For the first few months, every time he saw his parents, he had this deep shame that he didn't receive the letter. Every time he saw his parents look back at him, he found those eyes piercing into him, staring at the wizard who failed to get into wizarding school.
It took some months for Daisy to talk it out with him, again and again, for them to get on the same page about the letter situation. Every opportunity she got, Daisy reiterated to John that he was special, that she had absolutely nothing but love for him, and that it didn't matter whether he got into Hogwarts or not. His equation with Ron, on the other hand, had a lot to desire. Ron didn't bother much about talking it out with John. He was a busy man, an important man in the wizarding world and apart from keeping up appearances at home, he didn't do much else.
While John enjoyed his time at school, and back home, often he felt indifferent, or he acted like a brat, his best time of the week came whenever he had his training session.
Hermione and Remus took John under their wing completely. And Sirius made time for himself once or twice a month, over the weekends, to come back from Hogwarts, spend time with John and also teach him in the process. John learnt everything about magic from Remus, Sirius and Hermione. He had a library of books to read at Hermione's house, and he was born with his mother's genes. John started to read and he realised how much he loved reading. Remus spent a lot of time working with his spell-work while Hermione took care of him getting some theoretical knowledge on the side. But it was when Sirius came home from Hogwarts that John loved it the most. He spent virtually all his time at 12, Grimmauld Place whenever Sirius was around. But John's connection to the magical world wasn't limited to just the three of them. Ron always had one or more friends from his time at Hogwarts, or his colleagues from work visit him. And John had a good rapport with pretty much every one of them. But, he was still lacking something. Of all the people that trained him, Ron wasn't one of them. Often, he'd have one of the adults come up and talk to him where he'd ask them why Ron never helps with magic. And none of them would have any convincing response.
But, life went on. John spent his formative years in this fashion, loving his muggle life and training with spells and magical theory when back home.
Jane had a very different experience at Hogwarts than she had imagined. From the moment she stepped inside the castle, she was the most popular girl. Everybody knew who she was, and in a way, a lot of them were almost anticipating her arrival. And from the very beginning, Jane seemed to enjoy the attention she was getting.
But things started to go sour pretty soon. For, Jane wasn't the only popular one. Everyone who knew of Jane also knew of John, and everyone started asking her why he wasn't there. And quite immediately, the news spread around that Ron Weasley's son, Jane's brother, might be a squib. And children around her started using this as a way to get to her, to tease her. But Jane had her people around her that kept her fairly protected. There was another anomaly that happened the moment Jane set foot inside Hogwarts. Jane was the first Weasley in half a century to not be sorted into Gryffindor and to add to that, she got sorted into Slytherin. But, Jane didn't care about that. From the moment she got sorted into Slytherin, she embraced it like no one else.
While things may have started a bit sourly, things started to go upward for Jane. She was a very good student in everyone's eyes, she started doing well in classes and her parentage meant that she was immediately deemed for greatness.
A few years went by and both John and Jane were growing up in their own style. John grew a lot more into himself in the muggle school and his skills with the wand grew along with him. His appetite for reading enabled him to read a lot more, not just wizarding books but also muggle-related knowledge. Hermione kept insisting that he read more, and make friends with people and also nudged him along to learn and continue to learn. Jane, on the other hand, was the more studious one and she was doing well with her spell-work as well. Right in her second year itself, she was termed the gifted one when she managed to vanish a mouse in the transfiguration class. As a couple of years went by, her magical prowess only grew further. While everything was going perfectly for Jane, she did develop a bit of a short temper that got her into trouble a few times.
However, there was one aspect of the twins' life that both of them felt a little uneasy about. And it was their relationship with each other.
From the very first semester that Jane was gone, during the Christmas break when she came back, the twins had changed their behaviour towards each other. Where they used to fight and have rows again and again, this time around, there was none of that. Instead, it seemed like, both of them had decided to keep away from each other's way. Apart from the fact that they lived in the same house and that they bumped into each other often, there was nothing that indicated that they were even remotely interested in spending time with each other. Jane was loving life back home after spending her first semester at Hogwarts, whereas John was busy with his friends and otherwise, busy training during the extended free time he had. The same pattern followed when Jane came back half a year later, and the next time, and the time after that.
While they were acting nonchalant about each other, they did think about each other, what they were doing and so on, when they were separated. Jane, when she would be back in Hogwarts would at times be asked about what John was doing back home. And in reply, she'd often brush it off, or reply something weakly and move on. And in response, she'd have people wonder how badly she'd be missing him. Something similar would happen with John, back in his muggle school. Keeping the banter aside, he had friends confess to him how they wished they had a sibling as well. And every time such conversations happened to either of them, they'd wonder where it had all gone awry. They were just kids after all.
The change in their relationship started back when Jane went to Hogwarts for the first time. But soon, something would bring them a little bit closer, give them the push that would begin a wonderful bonding.
Jane was back home after finishing her 3rd year at Hogwarts. John was also enjoying his year break. On this particular late afternoon, Jane was back in her room, Daisy was out working, Ron was home going through some old albums and John was outside, with a friend.
John came back home and found himself cornered by Jane.
"Who's she?" she asked, curiously.
"Just a friend," replied John and walked right past her.
"You've got yourself a girlfriend?" asked Jane, surprised.
"She's not my girlfriend. She's teaching me French," replied John. "Why don't you mind your own business?" he retorted as he walked into the living room.
"Why do you look terrible?" asked John as he glanced at his father.
"The Gods are punishing me for my indulgences," remarked Ron, as he flicked through the album in his hand.
"Are you drunk in the middle of the day?" asked John, annoyed as he walked into the kitchen.
"I'm not drunk... I have just had 1 drink," replied Ron, though in fairness, he did look like he was sloshed.
"You're such a nerd," chuckled Jane as she sat down in the living room.
"Who are you calling a nerd?" retorted John, angrily, shouting from inside the kitchen.
"The guy who's learning French... when he could be..." replied Jane, but didn't finish her thought.
"If I'm the nerd, what are you?" retorted back John. "I bet you are with your book all the time, mugging up the answers to every question," he added. "All those top grades don't come that easily, do they?" he smirked.
"I'm not with my book all the time," said Jane, defending herself. "I don't even study that much," she added.
"Said every single bookworm ever," chuckled John, sarcastically.
"Don't call me a bookworm," snapped Jane, angrily.
"Will you two let it go for once?" came Ron's voice angrily.
"She started it," remarked John as he walked back to the main room, while Jane glared at him unhappily.
"Dad, what are you looking at?" asked Jane, as she glanced at Ron, diverting her attention.
"I... uh..." began Ron, clearing his throat. "Why don't you two sit with me?" he remarked. "I was just looking at some photos," he replied.
"Are they old photos from when you were young?" asked Jane, excitedly as she sat down beside him. John followed suit and sat down on the other side, though he was much more subdued.
And Ron began showing his kids photos from the beginning, his parents, all his brothers, photos of Bill and Charlie going to Hogwarts, the awards they had won, then came photos of Percy, and then Fred, George, Ron and of course, Ginny. And the moment the twins saw Ginny, they came to a pause.
"Who's that?" asked Jane, curiously, pointing at Ginny.
"Ha ha..." chuckled Ron. "That... that's our sister, Ginny... Ginerva," replied Ron.
"You have a sister?" asked John, shocked. Jane had a similar reaction.
"Why have we never seen her before?" asked Jane.
"She... uh... she passed away..." replied Ron. "A long long time away..." he added, mournfully.
"What?" gasped Jane, shocked.
"She died during the war?" asked John, shocked.
"No... not during the war. Before that," replied Ron. "Something happened to her... and she couldn't recover," he added after a few seconds of silence. Jane stared at John and shook her head at him, and the twins didn't prod him further.
The three of them continued scrolling through the photos, but after a while, John excused himself from the group to go meet a friend and after some more time, Ron and Jane and moved on to other things.
Later that night, it was close to midnight when Jane came out of her room and walked to the living room. To her surprise, she found John sitting, looking at the same photo album.
"There's something about these old albums, right? I never get the same feeling scrolling through my phone," remarked Jane as she walked over to him.
"Yeah..." sighed John in response.
"What are you doing up so late?" asked Jane, curiously.
"I don't go to sleep until a little bit later," replied John. "What are you doing here?" he asked, curiously.
"I couldn't get any sleep. I kept lying around thinking," sighed Jane as she sat down beside him.
"What about?" retorted John as he closed the album and stared at her.
"Well..." began Jane. "It must have been difficult for Mom and Dad growing up," she remarked. "With all that was going on with Voldemort," she added.
"Great minds do think alike," chuckled John in response. "I was just going through the photos, wondering how difficult it must have been for Mom and Dad... to see people close to them die during the war," he remarked.
"Exactly," exclaimed Jane. "I didn't even know that he had a sister... He lost brothers, friends, relatives... everyone... during the war," she sighed, mournfully.
"Everyone lost during the war..." sighed John.
The twins sat there in silence for a couple of minutes.
"So, how's school like?" asked Jane, breaking the silence.
"It's alright," replied John.
"Come on... tell me more, I'm bored and can't get any sleep," retorted Jane.
So, John began narrating his school life in response. The different subjects he had, and how some of them were similar to what Jane might be studying at Hogwarts. He told her about his friends, and how everyone reacted when he told them that he was a wizard.
In response, Jane told him about Hogwarts, the different things that make the castle a magical beauty, what the different professors are like, the ones she detests and the ones she likes.
Jane was also curious to know how John was doing with his wizardry training. John told her the different schedules and plans Remus and Hermione had given him. John had advanced much more than most of the students in Jane's year, and yet there were some subjects and aspects that he lacked heavily.
"I never feel like doing potions," remarked John. "I can't just sit there and watch it brew. Plus the instructions in the book are wrong," he added.
"You can't blame the books just because you are not good at it," chuckled Jane in response.
"I'm not the only one... Aunt Hermione is of a similar opinion. She doesn't think the books have the correct instructions either," retorted John.
"She's just being nice to you. We all know she has a soft spot for you," chuckled Jane.
"Ha ha! Very funny," retorted back John, sarcastically.
"Seriously though, I'm impressed that even without school, you are doing so well," remarked Jane.
"Got a long way to go, sis," chuckled John in response.
"Take the compliment for once," retorted Jane.
"Fine... thank you, it means a lot coming from a distinguished witch like you," replied John smiling and got a punch on his shoulder in response.
After a couple of minutes, John got up from his seat. "Right... It's getting late now," he remarked as he did.
Just as John was walking away, Jane spoke up. "Once I go back to Hogwarts, if I write to you, will you write to me back?" she asked.
John chuckled in response. "Suddenly you are all nice and warm, are you?" he asked.
"I have been away from you all this while, haven't I," retorted Jane.
"If you do, so will I," replied John, smiling.
And with that, John left for his room.
As a few weeks went by the twins seemed to have turned a new leaf in their relationship. Along with writing her parents a letter about her happenings, Jane wrote her brother a letter as well. The moment John received his, he started laughing. He didn't actually think she'd write to him. But there he was, holding the letter. It was a crisp and short letter from Jane talking about the new year, subjects she had taken and a couple of funny incidents from her potions class. In response, John wrote a letter back to Jane, telling her about the recent happenings in his life, the fact that he had now learnt French and German to fairly decent conversational standards and that he was learning Spanish and Japanese. After much contemplation, John also slipped in a quiet line, about how he had started seeing someone.
In the first semester, the number of letters the twins sent each other was 2, it rose to 5 the following semester and a year later, they were pretty much sending each other letters once every couple of weeks. When Jane returned home, they made it a point to practice duelling with each other. Jane also had a lot to offer in terms of John's overall development as a wizard.
The twins were going to turn 16 in a few weeks. Jane had just come back home for the Christmas break. She was in her 5th year and was going to give her OWLs while John was preparing a for big year in his school as well with his GCSEs just around the corner. And like they did every year since Jane started going to Hogwarts, the twins had their birthday bash evening on New Year's Eve.
It was a fun evening, but John started noticing a pattern with his parents. Both of them had started spending far little time at home, with each other. His father seemed to be drowned in his work while his mother seemed to be invigorated with her work as well. In the past couple of months, while he was busy with his day-to-day activities, he didn't notice it much. But, now that he was on a short break and Jane was also here, the pattern seemed to become glaringly obvious. Both Ron and Daisy barely made it to the family party on time, while everyone else, Rose, Teddy, Remus, Sirius, Hermione and Petunia were there well in advance.
So, a few days later, once Jane had gone back and he could get some limited time with his mother, John brought the point up.
"Mom," he called out.
"Yes, dear," replied Daisy, staring at her laptop.
"How's work been lately?" asked John.
"It's alright... been a bit hectic lately, to be honest," she replied.
"Oh... okay," sighed John.
After a couple of minutes, Daisy spoke up. "What's on your mind, darling?" she asked.
"Nothing significant..." replied John as his voice trailed away.
"What's the insignificant thing?" asked Daisy, in response.
"Why are you always working, and never at home?" asked John. "I don't see you much, nowadays," he remarked, cautiously. "And Dad's busy too, he only comes home late... I don't know, I felt like something was up," he added.
"Oh... okay," sighed Daisy, in reply. "Your dad has always been a busy man, John. He has a lot of important things to do at the ministry," she replied. "And I have been busy for the past few weeks. I promise it'll be over soon," she added, warmly.
"So, everything between the two of you is alright?" asked John.
"Yeah... yeah, it is," replied Daisy.
After a few seconds, Daisy closed her laptop and glanced at John. "Let's do something fun," she remarked, smiling.
"Like what?" asked John, confused by her sudden enthusiasm.
"Let's make toffee pudding," exclaimed Daisy, buoyantly.
"What? Really?" gasped John. "I'm taking the lead," he remarked, overjoyed.
"No magic," warned Daisy.
"Of course, not," replied John.
And the mother-son combo got to work immediately.
As the toffee pudding preparation went underway, John spoke up.
"I was meaning to talk to you about something," said John.
"Tell me," responded Daisy.
"I was reading your book the other day," he began.
"My book?" asked Daisy.
"I meant, I found it on your table," chuckled John. "It was something about modern data encryption," he added, sounding unsure.
"Woah! Okay," replied Daisy, curiously.
"Can you tell me more about encryption? What is it?" asked John.
Intrigued by her son's fascination, Daisy described in brief what encryption and decryption were, how people in ancient times used to do it how the modern data computers have enhanced it, and so on. While she talked about the subject, she watched John curiously. For one, he seemed to enjoy everything she was talking about and for another, he was asking questions continuously.
"Are you interested in this field?" asked Daisy.
"I don't know if I want to do something in this field. But it seems interesting. I wonder whether there's anything similar in the magical world," remarked John, curiously.
"Wizards are stupid... curse of the magic, I suppose," chuckled Daisy, remembering something.
"We are not stupid," protested John, laughing.
"I can teach you some basic tricks," suggested Daisy, smiling. And John immediately seemed excited by the prospect.
"I like this attitude in you," remarked Daisy after a couple of minutes. "You are always ready to learn new things," she said.
John nodded in response. "I like learning about new things," he replied.
"And you should never let it go," remarked Daisy. After a pause, she continued. "I grew up with a silver spoon, all things considered. I never had to do anything growing up. I just did," she began as she glanced at him. "And of course, when I married your father... he was this big personality... got all the awards, recognition," she continued. "I still didn't have to do anything, but I did. I work because it's fun, and I enjoy doing it," she added and John listened to her keenly.
"You, in a way... are born into royalty," chuckled Daisy and John gave a chuckle in response. "And that's why I want you to never let go of this passion you have for learning," she finished and embraced him in a hug.
"Wow... that was heavy," smiled John as he took the warm hug happily.
So, while the duo made their dessert, they also discussed the basics of coded messages. As the days and weeks went by, Daisy made it a point to spend special time with her son to teach him more about the topic, and John was always ready to learn.
As a few months went by, John started to like coded messages and he even got his sister to take part in it.
"You want us both to own a number, that only we'll understand?" asked Jane.
"Right... everybody will see it if they read our letters, but only we'll understand what it really means, or who the letter is even from," replied John.
"Okay, and you also want us to write coded letters to each other?" asked Jane.
"Come on... it'll be fun," replied John.
"Fine, I don't have an issue with it. But what will our numbers be?" asked Jane, curiously. John stared at her, quietly. "What?" asked Jane, confused.
"I have something stupid... But it works, kind of," replied John.
"Show me what you've got," chuckled Jane.
"What am I to you?" asked John.
"An idiot?" replied Jane.
"Really?" retorted John, a scowl on his face.
"Sorry... fine, you... are my brother," replied Jane.
"And you are my sister," said John. "Or if I were to put it another way... Bro & Sis," continued John. "If you take all the alphabet's positional numbers, you get 2 for B, 18 for R, 15 for O, 19 for S and 9 for I," he added.
"Hold on... Let me think..." sighed Jane and went quiet for a moment. "That would make yours 21815 and mine would be... 19919," remarked Jane.
"Exactly," exclaimed John, proudly.
"That's silly... You can't be serious," retorted Jane, laughing.
"Do you have any better ideas? I'm all ears," retorted John.
"That's like the easiest thing to guess. Like, we'd be so caught... within days," chuckled Jane.
"Apparently... and I quote... Wizards are stupid," replied John.
After a few seconds, Jane spoke up. "Are we doing this for real? Sign our letters with our numbers," asked Jane.
"Yeah!" replied John and took a piece of parchment.
"Have a nice day
Without wax – 21815"
He scribbled and handed it to Jane.
"What's without wax?" asked Jane, confused.
"It's a dumb one and I'm not risking you making me feel like one," chuckled John in response.
"As if I would need a reason," retorted Jane and got shoved aside by John in response. "Don't push me," remarked Jane, annoyed and shoved him back.
…
While some relationships had their bonds strengthened, some had their bonds wither away. There was something in the air and John felt it. He felt it back then, a few days into the year when he questioned his mother about her equation with his dad. And he was feeling it now. He had been feeling for the past few months. While he was spending some quality time with Daisy, he had noticed it even more obviously that his father and mother were pulling apart. There used to be small arguments now and then, but even those had dried up. If John didn't utter a word to either of them, the house would remain dead silent.
He had even written to Jane about it. Every time he wrote to her, he'd mention to her, how something was seriously wrong between their parents. Jane brushed it off initially, but the longer John kept harping the same, the more genuinely worried she got. And when she came back home after finishing her OWLs, she saw it with her own eyes. Daisy and Ron rarely spoke to each other. The only thing they did together was sleep. And both of them had somehow ended up with extremely busy work lives.
When Jane went back to Hogwarts to start her 6th year, she had a bad feeling. And the twins' fears came true when Jane returned for the Christmas break. One evening, a couple of days before New Year's Eve, Daisy and Ron confessed to their kids that they had decided to split. Despite anticipating something like this, the news came like a thunderbolt. Both John and Jane instantly revolted against their decision. Both of them spoke with them together and separately, but nothing they did anything to change their parents' minds.
All it did, was at the end of the day, make Jane furious with Daisy for she blamed her mother for the marriage ending that way. John, on the other hand, supported his mother wholeheartedly, but he wasn't angry at Ron. He was determined to continue to try and pursue them to get together.
A couple of weeks went by on a sombre note. Daisy moved out of the house and shifted to a new one. John decided that he'd spend his time at both houses, his Dad's and his Mom's. Jane went back to Hogwarts and somehow, like wildfire, the news of her parents splitting had reached the ears of the students there. John, on the other hand a better time of handling this news with his friends at school, who like always, were there for him.
A couple of months went by in a flash and what John initially thought would be a temporary thing, was now looking more and more permanent. He had made numerous attempts to bring them together, but all of them failed. He even went and tried to get some assistance from Uncle Black and Uncle Remus, but they couldn't accomplish much either. His only hope rested with Aunt Hermione. However, she was extremely busy with her campaign. She was potentially just a couple of months away from becoming one of the youngest Minister of Magic ever. In the brief time he had with her, she promised to speak with his parents. But nothing seemed to come out of it.
It was late in the night. John, on that night, was staying with his mother. It was well past midnight and John found himself lying on his bed, sleepless. And just then, an owl flew towards his window, dropped a letter and sat down on the window sill.
"What in the..." wondered John and stared at the clock. He got up and picked up the letter to read it.
"I have done something terrible... Absolutely terrible, John... and I don't know what to do. I don't know what came over me," read John and his eyes went to the bottom of the letter.
"Without wax - 19919," read John and stared at the letter, confused.
"Everyone was giving me a hard time about our parents splitting. And then they started calling me names, our Mom names... and then they took it too far. They had some unpleasant words about you as well. I got angry and took all 5 of them to a place I know in school," read John, angrily.
"I'm going to get suspended, John... I don't know what to do! They might permanently remove me from Hogwarts. This is it..." continued reading John, anxiously.
"What have you done, Jane?" wondered John, worried as he continued reading.
"I... uh... I told you about the spell I invented, right? I used it on them, John. They were all screaming in pain. I should have stopped. Why didn't I stop?" read John, stunned.
"What am I going to do now?" and the letter was done. That was the most anxiety-inducing, worrying, chaotic piece of writing John had ever read. And any bit of sleep he had in him for the night dissipated away.
A bombshell was going to arrive the following morning, or perhaps, it already had, to his dad's house.
The following morning, John left Daisy's house without saying anything about the letter he had received. When he went back to Ron's house, the bombshell had just arrived. Ron was called to the school, all the professors had their say on the matter, and so did the 5 students that Jane had hurt. Eventually, Jane escaped with a slap on the wrist. She was suspended for a month, nothing more.
The moment Ron and Jane arrived home, it felt like a volcano was about to erupt. And erupt it did. Daisy was the first one to start the yelling contest. But, Ron wasn't far behind. Both the parents took their turn in tearing Jane apart. And Jane stood there, in tears, guilty over what she had done.
As the students had narrated what Jane did to them, she took all of them to a disappearing room at the castle, duping them into a false adventure. And the moment they went inside, they were simultaneously put in an illusion by Jane. And in this illusion, they all lived their worst nightmare, over and over again. And after some time, Jane released them from her prison and made them carve their apologies into their own hands. They were in the middle of this torture when Jane suddenly made them stop. But it was way too late.
The scolding and yelling went on for a couple of hours. But the effect of what Jane had done carried forward for days and days.
Daisy had somewhat come to terms with what Jane had done. At the end of the first week, during the weekend, Daisy called Jane to her house and she spoke with her calmly. Jane continuously apologised to her mother, but Daisy wasn't interested in that. She wanted Jane to realise the gravity of what she had done, and had it not been for Ron, where she'd be right now.
However, Ron was not at all ready to accept Jane's behaviour. Every single day, he came back home and berated Jane. From words like disobedient, irresponsible, rude to spoiled, selfish, vile, disgraceful... the barrage of scolding Jane received seemed endless.
After a few days, John tried to intervene, but he got his share of scolding from Ron.
The last week of Jane's suspension had started. By this point, Ron's behaviour had mellowed down a little, or so the twins thought. One evening, he came back home and seemed to be in a bad temper. And the moment his eyes fell on Jane, something happened to him. He started yelling at her at the top of his voice.
And that was also the day, John lost his cool.
The moment he heard Ron yelling, he ran outside his room and to the living room.
"Stop yelling," yelled John, angrily.
"Stay out of this one, John. I'm not going to repeat myself once again," exclaimed Ron, angrily.
"You're hurting her... every day! She knows what she did was wrong. Enough with this madness, is this how you treat everyone who works under you when they do something wrong? She is your daughter, for crying out loud," retorted John, instantly.
"What she did wasn't just wrong. It was a crime! She's lucky she is not spending her days at Azkaban. And I don't think it will ever get through her thick head," retorted back Ron. Jane stood there, tears streaming down her face.
In a rush of blood, John took out his wand and pointed it at a water jug sitting a few feet beside Ron. Instantly, the jug broke and the water spilled all over the floor, making Ron's footing wet. Within a millisecond, something escaped John's wand and made its way towards the wet floor. The next instant, Ron fell to the ground with a thud, seizing. Almost immediately, John retreated his wand.
Ron stopped seizing and stared at his son, in shock. Jane had her hands on her mouth. She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed.
John, however, walked towards Ron, with an unflinching expression on his face. "I dare you to utter another word against either of us," remarked John, in an eerily calm tone. Ron stayed lying on the ground and stared the both of them, speechlessly.
"Jane," exclaimed John. "Come on, we are not sleeping here tonight," he remarked. Jane didn't dare utter another word and after a couple of minutes, the twins walked out of the house.
A long silence lasted between the pair as they made their way out of their father's house. To Jane's surprise, John didn't take her to their mother's. Instead, he took a different route and finally, the twins ended up at Sirius' house instead.
"I think we need some alone time," remarked John breaking the silence. "There won't be anyone here and this is the only place I had the keys to," he added as they walked in.
"John," exclaimed Jane. "You are shaking," she added staring at his arms.
"I'm terrified, that's why," retorted John.
"What happened back there with Dad?" asked Jane.
"I... couldn't take... his shouting... every single day. Enough is enough," replied John, angrily.
"John... but..." began Jane, but John interrupted her.
"I want to take an early night, tonight," he remarked. "Get a good night's sleep, or two, if you'd like," he added. "But, you are not going back to Hogwarts without telling me what happened to you, what came over you, that you tortured your classmates," he finished.
Jane stared at him for a few seconds and finally got closer to him and hugged him tightly. "I can't control it always..." she remarked. "They were really mean to me... they said things about Mom, about you... and I couldn't control it," she replied.
"Jane," began John as he put an around her. "All of us are here to help you," he remarked. After a pause, he continued. "Sod it... forget everyone. I'm here to help you. Whatever it is, we'll work on it together, deal?" he suggested and Jane nodded in response.
After the incident between John and Ron, the twins stayed at 12, Grimmauld Place for a few days before returning back home. Jane was to leave for Hogwarts in a couple of days. For the remainder of the 2 days, Ron didn't say anything to Jane. Right when Jane was about to leave, Ron just wished her well and that was about it.
His equation with John remained pretty much the same as it was before all of this. It was almost as if everyone had decided to ignore the giant elephant in the room.
As the days went by, John saw even fewer of Ron than before. And as for John, he was way too busy with his life to worry about anything. Jane completed her 6th year and moved on to her 7th easily. She was almost halfway through her 7th when the Ministry contacted all the interested 7th-year students of Hogwarts to apply for the Auror training program. Jane gladly enrolled herself, for her grades were amongst the best and she was arguably the best witch in the entire school. Enrolling herself halfway through the year also meant that she was back home.
By then, the equation between Jane and Ron had pretty much gone back to how it used to be. Ron, while he spent a lot less time with his kids, he was still around and about. And whatever time he spent with John and Jane, it was mostly jovial.
One fine afternoon, however, Ron brought up the topic once again.
"Jane," called Ron, as he knocked and walked into her room.
"Yes, Dad," replied Jane as she glanced at him.
"I wanted to speak with you... about what happened last year," began Ron and Jane immediately went stiff. John, who was always paranoid about his father, was trying to listen from the other room.
Jane nodded slightly, and Ron continued.
"I'm not here to scold you," began Ron. "Now that you are growing old, you are going into the training program, you are going into the real world. And there, you cannot act the same way," he remarked. "I know that there have been some instances where you have lost control of yourself. You cannot let that happen, please understand this," he added.
"Dad..." began Jane in response, but got cut short.
"Jane... I know that you are trying, I know that you cannot control it, but you have to try. Otherwise..." he remarked, remorsefully. After a pause, he continued. "Otherwise... things won't go so well for you," he finished.
Jane nodded in response and with that, Ron walked out of her room.
"What was that all about?" asked John after a few minutes as he walked into her room.
"I don't know, maybe he has wanted to speak with me about it all this while," replied Jane.
"Did you tell him what you told me?" asked John. Jane shook her head in response.
"It's best if it stayed between us," remarked John.
"What am I going to do, John?" retorted Jane, almost pleading. "I never want to feel that way again. I loved hurting them, I was laughing when they were screaming... And I hate that I enjoyed it," she said, almost in tears.
"You are not going to do anything," replied John, confidently. "We will never allow you to get into a situation like that again, where you feel like you can't control yourself," he added.
"Do you think I should back out of the Auror training program?" asked Jane.
"No, absolutely not," replied John. "Maybe, you will learn how to curb your instincts," he added.
…
A couple of months went by.
"I should probably get home now," remarked Ron, as he got up from his seat.
"Are you sure you are alright? I can see it in your face, Ron. Something's not right," remarked Hermione.
Ron hugged her and remained embraced tightly.
"What is going on Ron?" asked Hermione, a little concerned.
Ron released a hug that lasted well over a minute. There were very few people in the world who could hug the Minister of Magic, but that's what you get for knowing someone close to 3 decades.
"Bye," said Ron and left the office, leaving Hermione behind wondering what was going on.
It was late in the evening. Amid a torrential downpour, Ron Weasley disapparated from the Ministry. And just like every day, he apparated outside his villa, walked in and directly went to the basement.
A few hours went by and Ron finally came back up. The house was still empty. John and Jane had seemingly gone out for the night.
One after another, Ron went into his bedroom, then to his son's bedroom and finally into his daughter's bedroom.
At the stroke of midnight hour, Ron Weasley walked back to his basement. A few seconds later, there was a popping sound and that was that.
The following morning, exactly at 6 AM, Daisy was woken up by a text message,
"If you're reading this, it means, something has gone wrong. I'm sorry for what happened. I never meant for this to happen, but as they say, we can never control everything. The truth is a special thing. We suppress it, it comes back to the top. We hide it, and it reveals itself. There is one truth that is known to everybody and there is one that we believe in. We all have our truths, often mixed with our lies that we created to survive. This is my truth.
When I was a boy, I was naive enough not to see it. It took me years to accept it. And here I am, ready to create my truth. To become the friend I was meant to be, to become the husband I was supposed to be and to become the father that I should have been.
Do not go gentle into that good night!
With Love
Ron Weasley"
A few minutes later, she received a call from Hermione.
"Where's Ron? Is this some kind of a birthday prank?" asked Hermione. "Is he home? I just got a message... I don't know what it's supposed to mean. He came to my office yesterday, he looked dull. Did you two have another fight?" she continued frantically.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" she added desperately. But Hermione got no response, not in that phone call, not an hour later when she saw her in person.
Daisy rushed to Ron's house and found it empty. She rang her son and after a long ring, John picked up his phone.
"Mom," he answered, barely awake.
"Where are you? Is Jane with you? Why aren't you home? And where is Dad?" asked Daisy.
"I'm at Rose's place. We had a long night, Mom. Can we talk later?" replied John who was about to hang up when he heard Jane's voice.
"John... John... What is the meaning of..." asked Jane but paused when she saw that he was on the phone. "Who are you on the phone with?" she asked, instead.
"Come home, right now," came Daisy's voice. "It's urgent," she added, barely keeping herself together.
"Mom wants us home. Says, it is urgent," remarked John, confused.
"Did you receive a text from Dad?" asked Jane and handed her phone to him. John read the message and got up instantly.
The twins rushed home and found Remus, Sirius, Hermione and Daisy there.
"What happened? What's going on? Where's Dad?" asked John, hastily the moment they reached.
"Your Dad... is nowhere to be found," announced Remus, sombrely.
"What?" retorted Jane, confused. "What do you mean, he is nowhere to be found?" she asked.
"We don't know where he is. He is... just... gone," replied Sirius, calmly.
"He must have gone out for a drink to a friend's place or something... Today's his birthday," retorted John.
"We are still checking everywhere... But he's nowhere to be found," sighed Remus, looking defeated.
"What?" gasped Jane, taken aback. None of this made any sense. "Last I saw him... was yesterday morning," remarked Jane.
"I saw him last... amongst us," retorted Hermione. "He was with me, at my office, yesterday evening," she added.
"Where did he go after that?" asked John.
"I thought he went home," replied Hermione, looking distraught.
"He doesn't want to be found," remarked Daisy, weakly. "He sent us this message, the 4 of us, the ones closest to him... for a reason," she replied as she sat down, almost tripping as she did.
John opened his mobile and read the text once again. "It reads... it reads like a... like a," remarked John, but couldn't say anything out loud.
"John," exclaimed Jane. "Shut up," she said, angrily.
"We couldn't have possibly searched everywhere... I'm going out to search for him," remarked John, hastily.
"Exactly... I'm going out as well. Let's split, we'll cover more ground then," remarked Jane, glancing at John. And the twins rushed out of their home in search of their father.
As the hours went by, as the silence from the other end persisted, as everyone spent more and more time with Ron absent, there was a growing sense of worry. It seemed like the inevitable was staring at them. Ron was missing!
{… Back to the present …}
Jane woke up from her sleep and realised that it was pretty early in the morning. Just as she was about to go back to sleep, she felt something. It was like a voice in her head, it was Daisy's voice. It kept repeating, "I want to see you".
It had been a couple of days since Jane had found out, through the news, that Harry Potter was admitted to St. Mungo's. Though there wasn't much else to go by, the news had informed the viewers that it was suspected to be an attack by "The Dark Lord".
The moment Jane felt Daisy's voice, she got up briskly and after a couple of minutes, apparated out of her hideout and went to St. Mungo's. The moment she reached outside the hospital, her eyes fell on Daisy, who was standing outside, awkwardly. Covering her face as much as she could, she walked quickly to Daisy.
"Mrs Smith," exclaimed Daisy. "You are here," she remarked, holding the coin Jane had given her a few months back.
"Let's go somewhere else," retorted Jane and took her hand. The pair scampered away from the hospital to a less crowded section of the street.
The moment they came to a halt, Daisy hugged Jane and didn't let go.
"Are you alright? Hey... don't cry," asked Jane and consoled her.
"Why isn't he waking up? What happened to him?" asked Daisy, as she released her grab a little.
"I... don't know, Daisy. But, Harry will be alright, okay?" replied Jane. "He is strong... stronger than we give him credit for. He will be up and about in no time," she added, reassuringly.
"I want to see him... before they take him away," said Daisy, anxiously.
"Where are they taking him?" asked Jane, surprised.
"They said Iceland. But, I don't know where," replied Daisy.
"Iceland?" retorted Jane, surprised. "They are taking him where Ginny is admitted," she remarked.
"Oh," wondered Daisy. "Wait... Ginny," she sighed. "Harry will not end up like her, right, Mrs Smith?" she asked, panicked.
"No... Harry will be alright. He will be alright," replied Jane, reassuringly, though she was no longer sure.
After a couple of minutes, Jane spoke up. "I can't be out here for long. I need to go, is that okay with you?" she asked.
"Yes... I'll go back home with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. You should go before anyone sees you," replied Daisy, cautiously.
Jane took Daisy back to where she was standing, right outside the hospital.
"I need to go inside and have a look," remarked Jane.
"Are you sure, that seems risky," replied Daisy.
"I have to take it," replied Jane. "Is there anyone inside whom you know?" she asked.
"I... uh... Remus is inside," replied Daisy.
"I'll tell him to be with you. You shouldn't be alone here," remarked Jane and Daisy nodded in response. With that, Jane sneaked into the hospital.
It took only a few minutes before Daisy's wait ended. Jane came back outside the hospital, along with Remus.
"Harry will be alright. I did a mental read on him. He's definitely in there," remarked Jane, with a smile.
"So, he will recover soon? He doesn't have to go to Iceland?" asked Daisy, elated.
"No... No, he still has to be taken there. They will be able to treat him. But, Harry will be back," replied Jane.
"Oh!" sighed Daisy, a little disappointed.
"Remus... keep an eye on her," remarked Jane. "I can't stay longer, dear," she added, glancing at Daisy. And without waiting any longer, she apparated out of there.
The moment Jane reached back to her hideout, she kicked the floor in anger.
"What are you doing, Jane?" she asked herself, angrily.
"How could you let this happen to Harry?" she wondered.
Harry was now the most important person alive and Jane was furious with herself for allowing Voldemort to attack him so easily. She was also furious with herself for believing in Hogwarts' protection.
"I need to expedite everything," she told herself and clutched the chain she was wearing tightly. After staring at it with a confused look, Jane once again apparated out of her hideout.
…
A couple of days went by. And Jane found herself right where she wanted.
"Who has the elder wand, Gregorovitch?" asked Jane, angrily.
"I... uh... don't know... It was stolen... long back... stolen from me... young boy... he was..." muttered Gregorovitch, stuttering in pain. He was tied upside down from the ceiling of his house, there were bruises all over his body and if not for being tied up, he'd have collapsed to the floor without any resistance.
"Who stole the wand from you?" asked Jane instantly.
"I don't know... I don't know... please... don't hurt me... please..." pleaded Gregorovitch.
Jane pointed her wand at him, "Legilimens".
And Jane saw the face of an attractive young man in Gregorovitch's memories, escaping with a wand. Right when Jane was about to ask him about the young man, the door swung wide open with a bang and in walked 4 wizards, all with their wands pointing at her.
"Surrender now," came the voice of a man.
Jane stared at the 4 of them with an annoyed expression. Almost instantly Jane pointed her wand and slashed it at them.
A strong gush of wind blew their way and all four of them fell backwards. Jane moved towards them quickly and before they could react, she hit them with a stunner after another.
While 2 of the 4 wizards who came to rescue Gregorovitch lay on the ground, paralysed, the other 2 seemed to get up and block Jane's attack. But Jane was immediately at them. Another slash of her wand saw one of the wizards clutch his chest in pain for there was a huge gash, and blood was oozing out.
The final one remaining put up a fight. He seemed to defend everything that Jane threw at him. But, Jane had her trick up her sleeve.
"Procidat Incipio," she muttered under her breath. And instantly, the man dropped his wand and seemed to go into a trance. Immediately, Jane pointed her wand at him and produced a few restraints to tie him up completely.
She turned her attention to the 2 wizards lying on the floor motionless. A slash of her wand inflicted a few lacerations throughout their body. And Jane turned her attention back to the final wizard.
She pointed her wand at him and flicked it once. The man came out of the trance and fell to the ground. "You are one of Benjamin White's men, aren't you? You were there in Nurmengard as well," she asked, angrily.
But the man did not answer.
"Fine, have it your way," remarked Jane and slashed her wand at him, slicing his throat.
Jane stared around her at the bloodbath. "You guys never let me do anything quietly, do you?" she sighed, disgusted.
And after a moment, she walked back to Gregorovitch, still hanging from the top of the ceiling. "Okay, what do you know about the deathly hallows?" she asked, staring at him.
"Deathly... Hallows? Don't know... don't know... please... don't hurt me..." pleaded Gregorovitch in response.
"You are one of the secret keepers of the Hallows, aren't you? Don't lie to me, Gregorovitch," retorted Jane, angrily.
"I... I... don't..." began crying Gregorovitch.
But Jane was already fed up. "Legilimens" she yelled.
Gregorovitch's thoughts flew through her. But Jane couldn't decipher much from it. He seemed to be thinking about some old house, and then Jane saw a ring, a wand and a cloak of some kind. And finally, Jane saw a street which she seemed to remember vaguely.
"You have been of great help, Mr Gregorovitch," she remarked, smiling, after a moment.
"No... wait," screeched Gregorovitch.
But Jane was quick with it. "Avada Kedavra!" and Gregorovitch hung upside down, lifelessly.
Jane stared around at the house, sombrely. She had started this journey looking for the most powerful wand to have ever existed, and now she was hunting something she didn't even understand fully.
Jane clutched the chain she was wearing and stared at it. She knew that the symbol on the chain meant something, she just didn't know what it was.
*Silence* *Silence* *Silence*
PS - I'll be back with the next chapter in a couple of days. Ciao!