Worth the Time
I don't own Girl Meets World, Harry Potter, or the MCU!
Thea landed hard, stumbling on impact she had to catch herself on the wooden desk next to her.
"5:07pm, arrival from the Department of Magical Transportation, Ministry of Magic, London." The portly wizard behind the desk announced, marking the paper in front of him "Althea Matthews?"
More bureaucracy, Thea resisted the urge to roll her eyes "Yes, sir."
"Right, you've got some paperwork, mostly signatures, shouldn't take you too long." A thin packet dropped into Thea's arms "Once that's done you can be on your way. You have transportation lined up?"
"My mother is picking me up." Thea flicked through the papers "Are these for anything in particular?"
The man shrugged "Acknowledgement of the Statute of Secrecy laws, agreement to abstain from any romantic relationships with non magicals, warning about underage magic, and a submission for wand inspection to be performed before you return to London. Pretty standard stuff."
"Isn't there a bill about to be signed permitting romantic relationships with non magicals?" That got his attention, Thea smirked, she liked to keep informed about her home country, even if she wasn't living there anymore.
"Well aren't you a smart one?" A bushy eyebrow was raised in her direction "Yeah, there is, the Goldstein-Kowalski bill. Hasn't been signed into law yet though so we still need the form."
"Of course." Thea hurried to scribble her name on the dotted line, it wasn't like it really mattered to her at the moment, she'd said it more to prove she wasn't a clueless teen.
"Your papers say you're from New York originally, what're you doing all the way across the pond?" Small talk was better than the bureaucratic crap, though not by much.
"Attending Hogwarts." Thea shrugged, signing the last page.
"Huh, didn't know they took Americans over there. Good for you, kid." He took the papers, scanning them quickly "Your wand examination will be before your return portkey in two weeks, shouldn't take more than a few minutes. Everything looks in order here, you can head out."
"Thank you." Thea smiled politely.
"You're welcome, kid. Enjoy being stateside again."
Thankfully, MACUSA was much easier to navigate than the Ministry. It didn't take Thea long to find her way to the enormous atrium and from there the massive revolving doors that would take her to the hustle and bustle of Muggle NYC. Somewhere on the streets, heading her way would be her mother's car, coming to bring her...home.
It was a stroke of genius on her part that she'd added wheels to her school trunk, if you didn't look too hard, it resembled a large suitcase, and it made transporting it much easier. Thea took a deep breath as she squeezed the handle and stepped through the great door.
The blaring of car horns and the smell of the hot dog stand farther down the sidewalk assaulted her senses. She'd forgotten what it was like to be in the city that never sleeps. The Burrow was so remote you'd rarely hear more than the ghoul rattling in the attic and Hogwarts was in the Scottish countryside, so isolated and silent.
"THEA!"
Thea turned just in time to catch the little boy running full pelt at her "Auggie!" She peppered his curly head in kisses as he buried his face in her stomach.
Topanga caught up to her children, reaching out and enveloping them both in a tight embrace. She had all her kids back, even if it was just for two weeks, it was the chance of more. They stood there, all wrapped up in each other for a long minute, before people started pushing to get around them and they broke apart.
"Hey, Mum." Thea grinned "It's good to be back."
"Thea! Thea! We brought you a cookie!" Auggie chirped, latching on to his older sister's arm "C'mon! C'mon it's in the car! And Daddy's getting you a cake for after dinner and you can meet Ava and we have presents for you and-!"
"Slow down, bubba." Topanga laughed "Ready to go home, honey?"
"So ready."
Auggie babbled the whole car ride back to the Matthews apartment. He asked about Hogwarts and magic and the Weasleys, Thea answered every question patiently when he let her get a word in.
"-And Ava's amazing, I love her so so much! She told me I do, so I know it's true. She taught me how to make all the goals in soccer, I used to just sit on the field and play with the dandelions but now I actually kick the ball! Are dandelions weeds? Daddy says I'm growing like a weed, but I don't wanna be like a weed, unless dandelions are weeds, then I can grow like a dandelion! Mommy, are we almost home? I wanna show Thea my room! You'll love it, I decorated it like a castle so we can play like I'm at wizard school with you!"
"Yes, Auggie, we arefinallyhome." Topanga parked the car and turned around to look at her babies "Why don't you go tell Daddy, we're here?"
"So you can talk to Thea alone? About Riley, right?" Auggie's bright smile dimmed considerably.
"Go ahead, Augs." Thea kissed his forehead "We'll be right in."
"Don't let Riley make you go away again." Auggie crossed his arms "Promise."
"I promise."
Auggie grinned and bounced out and up the steps.
"I do want to talk to you about Riley." Topanga sighed "He's too smart for his own good."
"It was the obvious topic. She still hates me, doesn't she?"
"She doesn't hate you."
"Last time I was here she told me to, and I quote, 'get out of her life.' You don't have to pretend, Mum, she hates me." Thea sighed "I don't know why and I don't know how to fix it. I don't even know if I want to fix it."
It was hard to hear Thea call her 'Mum.' Topanga had always been 'Mom' or 'Mommy' and it was such a little thing, but it broke her heart just a little, it was a sign of how different things were. How different her daughter was. It was just an accent, but at the same time, it was so much more.
"Your Dad and I have warned her to be on her best behavior, I hope she will be." Topanga swallowed "We'd like for you to come home more, for Christmas and spring breaks and every summer, we don't want this to be a one time thing."
"I don't either."
"Riley knows that if she acts out there are going to be major consequences, but that doesn't mean she-what?" Topanga fumbled as the words hit her "You don't want-?"
"I don't want this to be a one time thing either. I want to come back more." Thea smiled, reaching out and taking her mother's hand on the middle console "If that's okay?"
"That's more than okay, sweetie." Topanga lunged forward and squeezed her oldest "We would love that. So, so much."
"Can't...breathe!" Thea choked out "You're...crushing me!"
Topanga laughed but loosened her hold "You are so dramatic, you get that from your Dad. But, speaking of dramatic, please tell me you were exaggerating about a giant snake, getting petrified, and screaming baby plants?"
"Heh heh, well..." Thea winced "Oh look, Auggie's coming back out to get us, guess we better get inside before Dad's head explodes. Coming Auggie!"
"We will be talking about that later."
Thea opened the car door and let her little brother drag her inside. Cory was bouncing on the balls of his feet and pulled his eldest into a tight hug.
"Hey there kiddo."
"Hi Dad."
Thea was so much taller than the last time he'd seen her, though she still barely passed Topanga in height, her hair was shorter and curlier, she seemed to have lost most of her New York accent, she sounded so grown up.
"I missed you."
"You just saw me last summer!" Thea giggled, but she let herself be wrapped in her father's arms "I missed you too."
And just like that, the world was almost perfect. If only for a moment.
The click of the front door opening made Thea stiffen. Would this reunion with her sister be any different than the last? Riley was chewing anxiously on her lip in the doorway, unsure if she'd even be welcome for the return of her sister as all eyes turned to her.
"Hi, Riley." Thea broke the silence.
"Hi." Riley mumbled, she stared resolutely down at the door frame, not wanting to look up and see the look on her sister's face "I-um, welcome home, I guess."
"Thanks."
Auggie took the opportunity to start tugging at Thea's arm "Come see my room! I decorated it all cool just for you! Daddy helped but it was my idea."
Thea let herself be pulled away by the baby of the family and she didn't look back. Riley finally met her mother's eyes. Topanga sighed, her daughters had two weeks to work out their mess. Maybe this time it wouldn't end in a fight.
Dinner was spread out on the table before the family, it wasn't quite as grand or fancy as the Hogwarts house elves usually prepared, but it was all Thea's favorite foods made by her mother. There wasn't much that could top that. Thea loaded her plate and let herself sink into the joyful family atmosphere, it reminded her of the Burrow, staying with the Weasleys'. Was it sad that the Burrow hadn't reminded her of her New York home in years?
Across the table, Riley was picking at her food. Her thoughts were swirling as she tried to decide where to start, what to say to her sister.
"Fred and George aren't much for studying, but Percy and I are both in a study group with a some Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and we even got a few Slytherins to join!" Thea was telling them about her friends from school "There's Addie Wilkins, she's in my year, she wants to join the Ministry. Felix Fortesque, he's going to take over his Uncle's ice cream parlour in Diagon Alley, do you remember that place?"
"The one that made my mouth change colors?" Auggie asked, Riley had seen pictures, Auggie's mouth changed from pink to green to purple to blue every few seconds.
"That's the one! The Rainbow Bloom flavor's my favorite too."
"And I've told you about Harry and Hermione."
"Ron's friends, right?" Cory asked "Sounds like those kids get themselves in a lot of trouble."
"You don't know the half of it." Thea laughed "Harry broke his arm during a quidditch match last year and Lockhart removed all the bones in his arm."
"There's a spell to remove bones?" Riley was horrified "Why?"
"Search me." Thea shrugged "Better than removing their memories, though he tried to do that too. But the spell backfired, karma I guess."
"Remove their memories?" Riley frowned "Like what those people did to Maya."
Thea winced, that was clearly still a tender topic "Not exactly."
Topanga jumped in "What happened to this Lockhart teacher? I don't like the sound of him. He's the one you hexed, isn't he?"
Thea couldn't help her smile, that had been a good day, even if Harry lost some bones "Ha, yeah. He's in St. Mungos now, the wizard hospital, when the spell backfired he lost his entire memory. He was an incompetent teacher and an even worse wizard so I can't say I'm too upset about it."
"Why was he a teacher?" As an educator himself, Cory was particularly offended by the thought of this Lockhart being a professor.
"Well, the last teacher had Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head so I think Dumbledore hired the one person he was absolutely sure wasn't a Death Eater. Even You-Know-Who had standards."
"Wait, I thought You-Know-Who was dead?"
Thea winced again, she was giving too much away, if she didn't want her family to worry then she should steer the conversation back to safer topics "Did I tell you Percy got his OWL results back? He got all O's, and he's Head Boy, he's puffed up like a pigeon. His head's so big it'll be a wonder if he can get out the door."
Her parents seemed to take the hint and dropped the subject, but Thea was sure it would come back up later, probably when they cornered her about her petrification. Speaking of, she'd been still too long and her joints were starting to ache. Subtly, she started rolling out her shoulders and ankles.
"You okay, sweetie?" The sharp eyes lawyer didn't miss a thing.
Thea nodded "Just a little stiff, I'm fine, Mum."
"Do you want some tylenol or something?"
"Madam Pomfrey gave me some potions, I'll take one of those if it doesn't get better."
"Is it because of the pet-ru-fic-ation?" Auggie sounded out the word carefully.
"Petrification." Thea corrected gently "And yes, it's a side effect, but I'm fine, really!"
Auggie frowned "What is petrification?"
How to explain this without scaring her little brother or her parents? Thea had really hoped to avoid this conversation, preferably forever.
"Well, there was a mon-anaccidentat school. A few students got sort of frozen, I guess is the easiest way to describe it. I was one of them. It's why I couldn't write to you for the last few months after Christmas."
Riley had barely noticed the lack of letters from Thea, she had studiously ignored them for so long "You were frozen? Was it cold?"
"Not cold, just really still and boring." Thea smiled weakly "It was an easy fix, Professor Sprout has mandrakes in the greenhouses and Professor Snape brewed the antidote to wake us all up."
"So it's like you were asleep?" Auggie grinned "Like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty."
"Exactly." Thea kissed his curls "Except it was a yucky potion that woke me up, not true loves kiss."
"Comin' in hot, Matthews!" Maya burst through the door, putting an end to all magic talk for the night "It's Maya time!"
"Some things never change." Thea mumbled "Good to see you again, Maya."
Maya tripped in surprise "You're really back then?"
"In the flesh. Don't tell me you missed me."
"Pshh please, I did not miss you." Maya scoffed "I just thought you were gonna chicken out. You were gonna come back at Easter and you never did."
"I was sick, thanks for the concern." Thea rolled her eyes "But I'm better now, and I figured, no time like the present."
"Well, it's good to see you again, Thea. I mean that."
"Thanks."
"HART!" Riley frowned, that was Lucas's voice.
"I gotta run." Maya dashed up the stairs.
Lucas stormed in, his baseball jersey was splattered in a hideous splashes of hot pink paint "Where is she?"
Cory, ever the coward, pointed to the ceiling.
"I have a game in two days, Maya!" Lucas chased after the blonde.
Zay climbed through the living room window "I still think it's weird you just come in the front door without knocking. It's rude is what it is. Hey mashed potatoes!"
Thea tilted her head as she stared at the boy now sitting across from her filling a plate, clearly this was normal. Ah well, who was she to judge? She went to a school where mail was delivered by owl.
"Lucas! You can't kill Maya!" That was the voice of a genius, a genius she recognized "We can get the color out! Lucas!"
"Hi Farkle." Thea waved as Farkle scurried inside.
"THEA!" Farkle flung himself at his old friend.
"Thea?" Lucas popped his head around the top of the stairs.
"Thea!" Zay, mouth full, pointed excitedly at the brunette sitting across from him.
"I have no idea who you people are." Thea laughed.
Farkle finally released her "When I heard you were really coming back I couldn't believe it! How was your flight?"
"Lots of turbulence, but it went by quickly."
Riley grit her teeth, Thea hadn't taken a plane. How could her sister lie to her supposed "friends" so easily?
"Where have you been? You never call or text." Farkle complained.
"My school's pretty remote, cell service is absolutely awful. And there's a strict cell phone policy." Thea had an explanation for everything "Not to mention the time difference."
"Right." Zay swallowed another mouthful "Riley said your school's in Scotland, right?"
He reminded Thea of Ron, always eating "Yes. I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Thea, pleasure to meet you."
"Zay, pleasure's all mine, your majesty."
"Majesty?"
"You sound like the Queen of England." Zay shrugged "It fits."
"Do I?" Thea frowned "I suppose I do now. Most of the students are from the UK, and I stay in Ottery St. Catchpole in the summers."
"Why haven't you come back to New York before now?" Lucas joined the conversation, seeming to have forgotten about Maya and his salmon jersey.
Thea's eyes darted to Riley before she answered "It was just easier that way."
"She's coming back all the time now though!" Auggie cheered, snuggling into his sisters side "As long assomebodydoesn't mess it up again."
"No one's messing anything up."
"I didn't mess anything up!"
Riley's temper was flaring, she didn't like how Lucas was looking at Thea with starry eyes. They were closer in age anyway, why would he go for a girl like her when Thea was right there? And if Thea really would be coming back more she could easily make a long distance relationship work.
"You left." Riley fired the accusation at her sister, the green eyed monster taking over "You stayed away. I didn't make you do that!"
"'Get out. Get out. Get out of my house. Get out of my life. I hate you. Get out.'" Thea quoted flatly "Those were your exact words, weren't they? How else was I supposed to take that other than stay away? And if you'll recall, I've tried reaching out, I've tried talking to you. I wrote you letters, I sent gifts, everyone else comes to visit in the summers, you never do. That's your choice."
Riley blushed, she hated how her sister remembered exactly what she'd said, word for word. She hadn't meant it, not really. She had just been upset.
"Why would you say that, Riley?" Lucas frowned "That doesn't sound like you."
"I was mad about-"
"Ahem!" Topanga coughed "More green beans anyone?"
"Me please!" Zay helped himself.
"I'm going to my room." Riley scowled.
She stormed up the stairs, leaving a cloud behind her.
Thea took a deep breath "Sorry you had to see that."
"Lucas." The Texan introduced himself "I should probably go after her."
"Maya's up there." Cory shook his head "Let them have some bay window time. It'll calm her down. Mashed potatoes?"
It was always mashed potatoes.
Farkle tried to ask Thea more about her school, what classes she was taking, and so Thea spent the rest of dinner lying through her teeth. The rest of the visit would probably be much the same.
The next week passed in the blink of an eye. Thea met Ava and Smackle, let Farkle show her the town, and attended Lucas and Zay's baseball game with the rest of her family. Through all this, Riley didn't say a word to her, steadfastly ignoring her older sister's presence.
So Thea found herself alone in her room that evening, working on her transfiguration essay for Professor McGonagall. She jumped when the little mirror on her desktop started to shimmer and Harry's face swam into view.
"Thea!"
"Bloody hell! Harry?" Thea spilled her ink pot all over herself "What's going on?"
"Well..."
"Oh what did you do this time?"
"Nothing!" Harry rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly "I mean, I may have, accidentally blown up Aunt Marge."
"Blown up?!"
"And maybe I sort of ran away from the Dursleys. But I thought I was gonna be expelled or be sent to Azkaban and I panicked."
"Go back." Thea took a deep breath, clearly Harry wasn't arrested or expelled so maybe this wasn't as bad as she thought "When you say you blew up your Aunt...?"
"Like a balloon." Harry looked only a little guilty "She was insulting my parents and I just got...mad. But she's not really my Aunt, she's Uncle Vernon's sister, but I have to call her Aunt anyway. So then I ran away and I caught the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron where I met the Minister of Magic and he said they don't send people to Azkaban for blowing up their Aunts' and that I was going to stay here for the rest of the summer."
"Are you okay?" Thea focused on the most important thing "You're not hurt, are you?"
"No, I'm fine." Harry was quick to reassure her "But I wanted to ask you something, when I was in the park, before the Knight Bus got there, there was something in the bushes and, I dunno, it just gave me a really weird feeling."
"What kind of weird feeling?"
"Like, it was something from our world, something magical. But what would something like that be doing in Magnolia Crescent?"
Thea frowned "It's probably nothing to worry about, was it doing anything? Did you get a good look at it?"
"Just watching me." Harry shrugged "Big, black, with really strange eyes. It ran off when the Knight Bus turned up."
That...didn't sound good. But there was no need to worry Harry, it hadn't caused any harm. Maybe it was just a large dog and Harry's anxieties had gotten the better of him.
"I wouldn't worry about it." Thea decided "It was probably just a stray or something."
"I'm sure it was magic, Thea. I'm telling you, it didn't feel like a normal dog."
"Well, maybe it was a magical creature that just got too close to the muggles. There are lots of creatures out there that look scary but really aren't all that dangerous." Thea pointed out "Just ask Hagrid."
Harry wrinkled his nose "I don't think Hagrid's the best person to decide what's dangerous and what's not. He sent me a biting book for my birthday."
Thea laughed "You might be right. But it sounds like the Knight Bus scared it off, with any luck it found its way home and if it didn't, the Ministry would have heard and sent someone to get it home. I really don't think you should worry about it, Harry."
Harry didn't look entirely convinced but let the subject drop "I guess."
"So you're staying at the Leaky unil term starts?" Thea asked, trying to get his mind of the mystery animal "Ron and them will be there in a few days, and I come back in a week, it'll be fun, I'll buy you an ice cream."
"Fudge says I'm not allowed to leave the Leaky and Diagon Alley." Harry sighed "Did you know Sirius Black was a wizard?"
"Sirius Black?" Thea hummed "The name's familiar but I can't remember where I've heard it before. Maybe I read it somewhere?"
"He escaped from Azkaban, he was on the muggle news on my birthday." Harry shook his head "Apparently he's a Death Eater, killed a bunch of muggles and a wizard."
There was something missing from the story, Thea thought, why would Fudge forbid Harry from leaving the safety of Diagon Alley? There were dozens of Death Eaters or former Death Eaters who were still at large that would love to kill Harry. What made Sirius Black so special that Fudge himself would bar Harry from stepping foot in muggle London?
She was pulled from her thoughts by a knock at the door "Thea!" Auggie chirped "Mommy says lunch is ready!"
"Just a second, Auggie." Thea had an idea "Hey, Harry, want to meet my family?"
Harry blushed "I don't want to intrude."
"Don't be silly, they'd love to meet you." Thea insisted, picking up her mirror and heading down to the kitchen "Mum, Dad, Auggie, meet my friend Harry."
She turned the mirror around so Harry could see the Matthews at the table.
"Say hi everyone!"
Harry could tell immediately that the home was full of love. It looked cozy, in a different way than the Burrow, but still more welcoming than Privet Drive ever did. The table didn't have the normal chairs around it, but instead benches on either side and one at the end where a man with curly hair sat. He must be Thea's Dad, Cory, the teacher. Next to him was an older version of Thea who must have been her mother, and finally a little boy with a head full of curls. Thea's sister was nowhere to be seen.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Harry!" Topanga smiled " We've heard so much- is that a mirror?"
Auggie jumped up "It's magic! Mommy look!"
"I thought you weren't supposed to do magic outside of school?"
"I enchanted the mirror before I left for the summer. It's a loophole." Thea grinned.
"You are just like your mother." Cory pretended to sigh.
Topanga and Auggie were examining the mirror, asking rapid fire questions about how the charm worked and what activated it with questions about Harry mixed in every now and then. Thea laughed as Harry struggled to keep up with the interrogation. Ten minutes in, Thea could tell Harry was getting overwhelmed, and stepped in.
"Okay okay, I promise I'll tell you all about the mirror later. Harry have you eaten yet?"
"Er, no. I ordered a hot chocolate on the Knight Bus but Stan ended up pouring it all over me when we jumped to Aberdeen."
Thea winced in sympathy "First rule of the Knight Bus, don't try to eat or drink on it. It'll just end in a mess."
"Well I know thatnow."
"Go get yourself some food from the Leaky." Thea ordered "Tom's shepards pie is delicious, but the beef, lamb and guinness stew is pretty good too. You've had a long day, we can talk more tomorrow."
"That does sound good." Harry admitted, feeling his stomach growl at the thought of food "It was nice to meet you all."
"Nice to meet you too, Harry." Cory waved "Hopefully we can meet in person soon."
Harry grinned "That'd be great! Alright, bye Thea!"
"Bye Harry." Thea deactivated the charm and set the mirror down "So what's for eating?"
Conversation lulled as they ate, until Auggie, ever observant Auggie asked "Why's Harry had a long day?"
"He blew up his Aunt."
"WHAT?"
Thea only had a few days left in New York, she spent as much time as she could with her family, even if Riley was steadfastly avoiding her. She played with Auggie, talked to her Mum and Dad about her course load for the next year, and tried every night to engage with Riley. Maybe she should have left well enough alone with her sister. It was two days before Thea was set to leave when she called for a family meeting. Topanga had forced Riley to join them, threatening to take away her phone if she didn't.
Thea handed out small packages to them all "Go on, open them!"
In each box was a tiny mirror. Cory and Topanga both got watery eyed and Auggie burst into tears, knowing what it was.
"What's the big deal?" Riley scowled "It's just a mirror."
"It's not just a mirror. It's charmed, you say the name of the person you want to speak to and you appear in their mirror and they appear in yours." Thea explained "It's much more convenient than writing letters."
"So you made wizard facetime?" Riley scoffed.
"I found the instructions scribbled in a library book last year." Thea shrugged "It was just luck I had got that book, Professor McGonagall recommended it to me. But now we can talk while I'm at Hogwarts and we don't have to wait for letters to be delivered."
"I can still send you letters thought, right?" Auggie checked "How else are you gonna get my drawings?"
Thea kissed the top of his head "Of course you can still send me letters, I want you to!"
"This is so thoughtful, sweetheart, thank you." Topanga wiped a tear from her eye.
Riley felt her temper boil over. She lifted her mirror and flung it, as hard as she could at the ground. It should have shattered on impact, but instead it bounced, landing face up, unbroken.
"Riley!" Cory scolded.
Riley snarled "I don't want it!"
She stamped on the glass, hoping that would do the trick, but her foot slipped right off causing her to lose her balance. The mirror remained whole.
"I don't want your stupid mirror!" Riley shouted, righting herself "I don't want your magic! I don't want you here! Why are you still here?"
In the face of her sister's rage, Thea was remarkably calm "This is my family. If you don't want the mirror that's fine. But I'm here because this was my home and this is my family. I let you drive me away once, but I won't let you do it again. I don't care that you don't want me here,I am here. You can either get used to it or get over it."
"You don't belong here!" Riley spat "You're magic, you belong with freaks like you. Go be with them and leave us alone."
"No!" Auggie started crying again.
"I'm not going anywhere." Thea put a gentle hand on her brother's shoulder "I belong to both worlds now. I'm not a freak just because I'm different from you. I am a witch but I'm also a Matthews."
Riley picked up her mirror and threw it at the wall.
"You can stop trying to break that." Thea rolled her eyes "There's an anti-shatter charm on it. You could drop it off a cliff and it still wouldn't break. So give it up. It's here to stay, just like I am."
"But you are leaving, you're going back to that stupid school!"
"And I'm coming back. You're not getting rid of me so easily this time."
"Why did you have to leave in the first place?" Riley was crying now too "You left us! You left me!"
"I came back!"
"You LEFT! I lost you! You were supposed to be my big sister! You were supposed to be there for me! But ever since you went to that stupid school you don't care about us, about me! You got yourself a whole new family, a whole new life! Why do you even need us anymore? You got a new little brother and sister with that Weasel family-"
"Weasley!"
"Whatever! You don't need us anymore! Why come back now? Well we don't need you anymore! We were doing just fine without you! You should stay in stupid England with your stupid magic at your stupid school! Just stay away from us!"
"No." Thea's voice was cold "I won't. I'll stay away from you, but you will not keep me from the rest of my family. You won't keep me from the people I love, never again."
Riley screamed, in a last ditch attempt to break her mirror she flung it with all her might at her sister. Thea caught the gift and cradled it gently in her hands, watching as Riley stormed upstairs, slamming her bedroom door shut.
The family was silent, watching as Thea carefully packed the mirror back in its little box.
"Thea?" Auggie finally ventured.
"I'm okay, Augs."
"I'm so sorry, sweetie." Cory tried to hug his oldest, but she stepped carefully out of reach.
"Don't be. She's trying to make me leave again. That's her problem."
"I can't believe..." Topanga struggled "She's wrong, you know? We do need you. We love you."
"You don't have to worry, Mum." Thea turned to face her parents and brother "I told you, I'm done letting her rule me. She won't keep me away anymore."
Auggie flung himself forward, burying himself in his favorite sister's arms. Thea stroked his curls and let his tears soak her shirt.
"I'm going to have a talk with her." Topanga stood up "She can't keep acting like this."
"Don't bother." Thea shook her head "All that's going to do is make her more mad at me. I don't want to deal with that for the rest of the visit."
"There has to be consequences." Cory insisted "She can't behave like that."
"No, she can't." Thea agreed "But she clearly has to learn that the hard way. One day she'll do this and it will destroy everything. But she won't destroy me. I'm not going to rise to her bait and fight with her, she wants me to leave her alone, fine. I won't write to her, I won't send her gifts, I won't talk to her. Her punishment is that she's lost me. Her consequence is that she no longer has a sister."
"But that's a punishment for you too. You won't have her either."
"Let's be honest, Dad. I haven't had her as a sister in years."
Word count: 5569 words
Raise your wands for Dame Maggie Smith. I hope you enjoyed the don't forget to comment, vote, and add to your reading lists! #AllEyesOnRafa #FreePalestine
Love,
The Author