It was late in the afternoon, the sun was out but there was this unbearable suffocating heaviness in the air. Odelle said it was because their house was too close to the lake, but Jessa was convinced of something else. She didn’t tell Odelle, though. Her older sister enjoyed making fun of how little sense Jessa made when she tried to explain something.

Now, they were out with the house-elf, just a little outside their gardens. Odelle seemed concerned, but the nine-years-old Jessa was more concerned with the small turtle slowly making its way to the cucumber purposefully placed on her foot.

“Can we go to the park today?”

“No.” Odelle answered automatically as she paced slowly, kicking the grass.

“Why not?”

“You know why.”

“He doesn’t have to know everything.” Jessa moved the cucumber to the other foot when the turtle almost grabbed it. The creature turned around to patiently re-take the journey.

Odelle didn’t answer.

“Are you mad he always uses Muffliato when he talks to mum?” Crouching on the ground, Jessa leaned her chin on her knees and looked up at Odelle.

There was a strong kick, dirt popped out of the ground and a “No”.

Holidays meant sitting by the fire in the common room with a bucket of ice cream in her lap, Jumbo resting on her feet. The holidays back home was boring. Her grandparents must’ve planned a ball for all the pureblood families, been trying hard to get back to that prestigious society after reproducing a Squib. She snorted to herself as she shoved a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

“Crazy girl!” She didn’t even lift her eyes to know who it was. Only one boy called her crazy with that condescending tone. “It’s snow outside, why don’t I fill your bucket with ice and mud instead?” He cracked up with his wannabe girlfriend.

“No, thank you. I like my ice cootie-free.” Jessa replied cheerfully, batting her eyelashes. He looked confused.

She rolled her eyes and waved her wand. It didn’t take another attempt for the wand to spit out a rope, and have them tied tightly together. The boy and the girl both gasped, the former looked particularly frustrated. “YOU--!” Then they both fell face first on the floor. The girl seemed quite happy with this prank, though, so Jessa winked at her and laughed to herself.

It was the first time she was allowed to go to the park. The public one where you can find other people and walk up to any of them and say hi. Jessa was beside herself with joy, she didn’t even have any chaperons except for Odelle and the house-elf! And they were sitting together on the bench with pouty faces. Seriously, she didn’t understand Odelle’s knack to stay morose whenever mum and dad fought. It was never going to end. Grandma told Jessa that when you love someone, you’re not afraid to fight with them because you always find a way to make up. It made sense in Jessa’s head at the time, besides she was too busy licking chocolate off her fingers. Granma had the best chocolate ever.

Now, Jessa was wandering toward the small creek. Two girls sat on the grass just by the water, they had chains of dandelions in their hands. Jessa ran up to them with a big grin, her very first attempt at talking to strangers. “Hi!”

The three girls would grow up to live together in the cold city of London, working for their dreams to come true and their inner star to shine.

Jessa’s arms were stretched to the sides, struggling to keep her balance on the broom. A small crowd was gathered down on the grounds. The blonde boy was hovering opposite of her, a smirk was playing on his face giving it a rat’s look. Ekh. It was a dare between them, who’d last on a broom in the air with no hand support. Even though neither one was on the quidditch team, Jessa thought she had the advantage with her running and stretching routines. Now, after half an hour, it was proving to be really hard to keep your legs wrapped around the broom without wiggling your bottom a little.

“Feeling stiff yet, scrawny?” The boy sneered, though an owl fluttered up above forcing him to dive towards the ground.

“HA!” Jessa exclaimed, clutching the broom and making her way down after him. The crowd had dispersed for them, but before she had her feet on the ground, the boy’s wand was pointing at her legs and next thing she knew she was face-planted on the grass.

They earned a detention and spent the day at the Healer, but Jessa had a stupid, victorious grin on her face.

“Do you go to school on a broomstick?” The boy with the mole on his forehead asked.
“No. I ride a dragon when I go to school.” Jessa was trying so hard to keep a straight face. Her grandmother and father insisted she entertained the guests today, and entertainment was her specialty.
“Where do you park them?”
“On the roof.”
“What if they burn your hair? You have pretty hair.”
Aww. “I grow more hair.” She looked sideways at the horrified man and wife, listening to the little conversation going on between the two teenagers. Her dad wasn’t here to tell her off, but her grandmother was sitting with a sour-lemon expression on her face, speechless.
The boy seemed naïve enough to believe anything she told him, though. That was entertaining. He inched forward, awed by what she was telling him. “What’s your school called again?”
“Winchester’s Wizarding School for Wacks and World Wonderers.”
“That’s an odd title.”
“I like my school.” Jessa said, foolishly defensive of her made-up school.
“Okay, that’s enough.” Her dad bellowed with a quietues spell, walking in to the hall. She grinned at him, he didn’t return the amusement, “She doesn't go to school.”

It was a rare day when her mother lied with her in bed and stroked her hair to sleep. Jessa wasn’t feeling sleepy, though, she was more awake than ever and wanted to capture every second before her mum went back to her room and didn’t come out for a long time.
“Grandma didn’t seem so happy with the owl she got from the Tremletts today.” Her mum’s voice was barely over a whisper, but Jessa could hear the amusement in her tone.
“It was my Charms time. I had to practice.” The thirteen years old replied, grinning in the dark.
“Sticking Lady Tremletts tongue to the roof of her mouth breaks a couple of social laws, I’m sure.” Her mum chuckled tiredly, and pulled her daughter closer to her lap.
“Nana is too concerned with what people think or say about us.”
“Maybe. But this time, she is right. That wasn’t graceful of you, Jessa.”
It was the first time her mother agreed with her grandma on something. She was surprised to hear that. “So, we’re not invited to the concert this weekend?”
Her mum laughed, “No, I’m afraid her son won’t have us.”

Jessa’s grandmother was a short woman but with enough authority in her attitude to have the entire manor’s staff on their toes at all times. Mrs. Shusterman was known of her strict rules and rigid face expression. It was known that this woman took no nonsense from anyone, not even her husband. Except for her youngest granddaughters.

Jessa sat by the fireplace, a giant book was open as she pretended to read while her grandmother watched from the luxurious armchair. The house-elf stood, shivering a little, by the giant door waiting for any commands from his mistress. Jessa asked her grandmother to have him sit by the fireplace but the answer was a half an hour lecture about wizards and inferior creatures.
Her eyes caught her grandmother’s feet, crossed over at the ankles. She was wearing her wool socks. Jessa casually grabbed her wand and pretended to read from the book, as she used the knitting charm to knit her nana’s socks together.

Later that night, when she was grounded in her room after a heated lecture from her dad, the house-elf sneakily brought her a rich chocolate cake with a delicious cup of tea.

Odelle and Jessa sat in one of the deserted rooms in the big house, Odelle used the bluebell flames to illuminate the dark room and Jessa couldn’t help but stare too much at them, in awe of what her older sister could do. Today was Gisselle’s birthday, everyone either went into hiding or buried themselves with excessive tasks around the house to avoid the subject. Ever since Jessa could remember, Gisselle never came to the manor, she only knew her face from the photos her mum hid in her drawer.
“How come mum and dad are the only ones allowed to celebrate with Gisselle?” The twelve years old asked, bitterly. An image of a beautifully decorated hall with a giant cake came to mind.
“Oh I’m sure it’s not a celebration.” Odelle replied, her hands stuffed in her pockets and her eyes glued to the floor.
“What is it then?”
“Mourning.”
“But she’s alive.”
“She’s not a witch, though.”
“So what, she’s our sister.”
Odelle kicked the dusty floor and blew off the flames. “They don’t think it matters.”

Her grandmother’s vault never opened for anyone but her grandmother. If this wasn’t suspicious, Jessa didn’t know what was. There was a puzzle connected the two doors together. Jessa had drawn the exact same puzzle on a parchment and took it to the smartest kid in school, she had to beg some Ravenclaws to do it but the curiosity got them to do it eventually. She had to give the runny nose guy a kiss, but it must be worth it.

Now she stood inside her grandmother’s room, and looked at the bookshelves and the overly large desk that stood by the window. Nothing was unusual in this room, why the heck was it so restricted then? She got closer to the windows, letting out a long sigh. A reflection in the glass caught her eye, she turned around and there it was, on the wall just by the bookshelf was a golden doorknob, but there was no door frame. She opened it. Inside was a small room with golden coins and a large chest in the middle.

“Out.” Her grandmother’s voice came from behind her.

They sealed the room after that, and Jessa never knew what was inside that chest.

Reading was not on Jessa’s fun list. She never found the patience to sit still with a book in her lap, even animated books bored her to death. Today, and after a stern talk from one of the professors, she promised to read some. The perfect place to do that without having someone spy on her was on top of the tree by the lake was where most of the fun happened. The view from above was both fantastic and overwhelming, Jessa had to lower herself after an hour of no-reading, but then she was closer to the ground where students came and went.

With a devilish smile, she idly grabbed her wand and started casting SpeRevelio on them in hope that someone had something interesting hidden under those robes’ layers.

Nine or so students later, it happened. An older girl with big hair was passing by when, thanks to Jessa’s spell, had pygmy puffs sprouting out of her bushy hair and falling to the ground. It was a hilarious scene everyone paused to point and laugh at the Pygmy fountain. “Shusterman! I will get you! I swear—“ and she broke into tears as Jessa broke into laughter.

32. Peskipiksi Pesternomi
October, 2072

“AAAAAHHHH! GERROFF ME!”

There was shouting and squealing in the common room when I walked in that one evening. There was a girl by the lounge chair having an angry dance with a bunch of pixies, her hair was being pulled from every direction I had to wince at that. , I realized after assessing the situation closely that the squealing was from the few pixies this girl had in her hands and waved around. “What are those doing in here?” I readied my wand and approached carefully.

“QUESTIONS LATERWHAAA!” I watched her roll down on the floor dramatically and kick her feet up in the air. Wow. This one sure was a theatrical, huh?

“Pesksipiksi Pesternomi.” I knew this spell was practically a lie but hey, I wasn’t going to throw myself at those nasty creatures for a total strangers.

Surprisingly, my spell scared the girl and she let go of the ones she had in her hands to cover her face which caused them to join their friends in pulling her hair stronger.

Oh well, I tried.

It was chaos in Hogwarts today. Crowd was roaring, everyone was jumping and waving, some cried for the attention of one of the three heartthrobs standing a little below them. Jessa was no different, she was standing on her seat—no, jumping and screaming at the top of her lungs. It wasn’t the tournament that drew her nor the victory of her new school, it was the excitement and the desire to be in the midst of all this crowd insanity.

“Look at his hair!” Her friend shouted into her ear and giggled. Jessa paused her screaming to giggle along, “He’s so cute!”

She looked down to see a girl conjure a big bouquet of flowers and preparing to fight through the crowd to hand it over. Prepare being the keyword. Jessa JUMPED on the girl’s back and tried to snatch the bouquet from her. They fought for a good three minutes, completely ignored by the hectic crowd, until Jessa managed to pull it out of her hand and falling back with the girl on top of her, under the benches.

They spent the entire afternoon stuck down there and neither one of them could give The Champion the flowers.

Jessa was on top of the big oak tree outside the manor, dangling upside down and trying to see if her hair could reach the ground. It sounded much more fun when Linzi suggested the game. Now, Jessa could feel the blood gather in her head causing her eye to water and her neck veins to bulge.

"Linzi!" Nana's voice boomed through the gardens causing the skinny elf to jump and stumble away from the tree. "What are you doing here, we have a feast in a few hours, go help with the preparations."

Jessa hauled herself up on the tree's branch. "But we're playing."

"I do not see how her standing around is playing. She's no good here."

"No, she is! She can make my hair touch the grass, look!"

"Enough! Linzi." The old woman stared at the trembling house-elf.

"Linzi, stay." Jessa jumped down from the tree and defiantly stood between her and her grandmother. That was only for a moment, though, before she was hurled up in the air and then into the small stream nearby. Linzi was running towards the manor with grandmother at her heels. Jessa felt her tears of rage roll down her cheeks.

"..and then when Peter walked in, we all sprayed him with glitter, it was hilarious." Jessa finished her story with a giggle. Her mother was only half-listening but she was smiling and that was more than enough for the fifteen years old. "Did you go to Hogwarts, mum?"

Deidra opened her eyes slowly, "I did, yes. A long, long time ago".

Jessa straightened up from her mother's lap. "You were a Slytherin?"

"Ravenclaw." Deidra smiled and in one of those rare moments, she looked down into her daughter's eyes. "You're beautiful." It was only a whisper but Jessa heard it and her face literally brightened. She was beautiful, her daughter, so excited and spirited, it was so tragic she came late, at a time where no one had the energy to try and make life a happy place for her.

"Were you and dad friends back then?" No one ever answered Jessa's questions, but today her mother looked better, much better.

"Yeah. Best friends." Deidra smiled sadly and touched her daughter's cheek.
"He was in the first memory of my Patronus."

"How come you're always mad at each other now, then?"

Deidra sighed and sank back into the pillows.