“He’s barely been talking two minutes,” Ivy whispered back.
The summer after sixth year had gone by in a blur, and before anyone knew it, they were back at Hogwarts. Seventh year had been charmingly uneventful, and after everything they had been through, even N.E.W.T.s didn’t seem like too much of a challenge. It was strange and surreal, though, sitting in the Great Hall one last time for a graduation feast”just the notion that none of them would ever come back was enough to send chills down anyone’s spines.
Jordan had, rather predictably, been selected as Head Boy, and that meant he had the dubious privilege of making a speech. It was admittedly not as long-winded or boring as it might have been, but since it was, after all, Jordan, it still managed to be just pedantic enough to make Emma hit her head repeatedly against the table.
“He keeps talking about how we’ve all changed,” said Haley. “Well, I mean, of course we’ve changed. If we hadn’t, our underwear would smell really bad by now.” Emma and Tyrone went into hysterics, and Ted even had to stifle a laugh. Leave it to Haley to make such immature jokes even when she was old enough to graduate.
“I think we should all listen,” Ivy said, almost too politely. “He deserves it. Besides, it might get more… interesting. ”
Emma and Haley exchanged glances. Even for Ivy, this was going a little bit far. She was normally considerate, of course, but no one was considerate enough to give Jordan respect. And to suggest that he might say something interesting was completely preposterous.
“We’ve all learned so much,” Jordan was saying, “and not just from our classes. We’ve learned from each other, and we’ve learned from our experiences. We’ve learned not just””
But suddenly, he was stopped mid-platitude by a rather exciting explosion of sound and colour. All of the windows in the Great Hall flew open, and swarms of Billywigs winged their way in, accompanied by a few hundred multi-coloured parrots shrieking random phrases at the top of their lungs. As the Billywigs made their way around stinging everyone as much as possible”Billywig stings didn’t hurt, but they did make their victims levitate several inches off of the ground”and the parrots took the liberty of pooping on anything they came across, all of the balloons decorating the Great Hall burst at once, showering the assembly with gallons of chocolate pudding, whipped cream, sprinkled, and maraschino cherries.
One Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes Wildfire Whizbang firework after another after another illuminated the enchanted ceiling, on which the stars and planets had mysteriously rearranged to spell out, “CLASS OF 2021 RULES! TT + EW FOREVER. PROFESSOR ZABINI SHOULD… WELL, YOU KNOW THE REST.” Every hat in the room was exploded and showered confetti down on the Great Hall.
And as if that weren’t enough, a slide-show of embarrassing and hilarious pictures of various students and staff was flashing across all of the walls of the Great Hall, accompanied by the singing of a mysteriously familiar voice.
“We go together, like ramma-lamma-lamma, kadingity ding dong
Remembered forever as shoo-bop-shoo-wadda-wadda yippity-boom-de-boom
Chang chang, changity chang shoo bop, that’s the way it should be-eee…
Wahooo…. YEAH!”
“What the…” said Emma, levitating a foot above her seat and covered in sundae decorations, bird feces, and confetti.
“What was…”
“How…”
“Who…”
“Did you…”
A cacophony of equally puzzled voices rang out, all talking at once.
“Anatoly did the slide show and I did the song, but that’s it,” Haley exclaimed. “I swear, I didn’t know anything about the rest!”
“I did the parrots,” said Emma. “Don’t ask me about the Billywigs.”
Ted raised his hand, smiling sheepishly. “That would be me,” he said.
Ivy smiled. “And I made everyone’s hats explode, and I did the fireworks.”
Haley shook her head. “We’re such a bad influence on you,” she laughed. “I can’t believe you did that all on your own, Ivy. You saw me scream and fall off the bench when the hat exploded.”
“I think it’s pretty obvious that I did the ceiling,” Tyrone volunteered. “Sticking my own initials on it was a dead giveaway. But… who did the balloons? Those were genius!”
Up on stage, Jordan was even more covered in gook than anyone else in the Great Hall, his speech and credibility completely and utterly ruined. But he was… smiling? “I hope you all enjoyed the balloons I rigged,” he said. “I would be a pretty poor Head Boy if I didn’t follow in the footsteps of my grandfather James. Good night, everyone.”
And amid all of the chaos and noise, everyone in the Great Hall cheered and threw their hats in the air. Rabbits leaped out of every hat.
“Oh, that was me, too,” Jordan added shyly.
“We’re for each other like a wop-bamma-loo-mop, a wop-bam-boo
Just like my brother, like
Chang-chang, changity chang shoo-bop, we’ll always be like one
Wa-wa-wa-one!”
“I still think it’s incredibly cool that we each came up with a prank, all on our own,” Haley squealed later that day, still clutching her diploma but cleaned up. Although the graduation ceremony had already occurred, the Hogwarts students wouldn’t actually leave the school until the next day. They had the rest of the night and the next morning to pack up their things and (more typically) party straight through the night.
Haley had brought three suitcases at the beginning of the year, and that didn’t seem like nearly enough anymore. Her things seemed to have multiplied tenfold, and even with the help of Emma and Tyrone jumping up and down on the lids of her suitcases, it was quite impossible to get them to shut. Haley was basking in the glow that came with being unanimously voted for the title of “Most School Spirit” by her fellow Gryffindors in the House Common Room party.
“I personally liked the ceiling,” Emma said, smiling at Tyrone. “Not exactly suave, but original.”
“Hey, Suave is my middle name,” replied Tyrone.
Emma poked him, almost making him fall off of Haley’s suitcase. “I thought it was Jonathan.”
“It’s actually Vincent,” said Tyrone, looking a bit wounded. “But you know what I mean. Besides, I got voted ‘Most Suave’ at the Gryffindor House Party. You’re just jealous because ‘Scariest Lady’ isn’t as cool.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “Oh, I don’t know. You have your moments, but you didn’t seem that suave last summer when you took me to that Muggle cinema, and they had that dispenser for hot cheese that you could put on your popcorn or nachos, and you decided to show off and pump it right into your mouth. And then, of course, the cheese was too hot, so you ran around screaming like a girl and waving your arms with hot cheese coming out of your mouth like you had some weird kind of rabies.”
Haley giggled so hard that she gave herself hiccups. Emma had taken the opportunity to tell and retell that story ever since it had happened, but it still made Haley laugh every time. The image of Tyrone terrifying unsuspecting Muggle filmgoers by running around gargling nacho cheese was so funny that Haley was still upset that she hadn’t been there at that particular movie.
“Hey, screaming and running around with a mouth full of cheese is a courting ritual in the land of my father’s ancestors,” said Tyrone in a smooth, serious voice. “Whoever keeps the cheese in his mouth the longest gets the girl. The custom is, if the cheese is too hot for you, so is the girl.”
Emma laughed. “Really?”
“No.”
“Too bad,” sighed Emma. “It should be. I personally found that incredibly attractive.”
“Really?”
“No.”
Haley groaned, bopping Emma on the end with her diploma. “You’re not going to kiss again, are you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. She froze, and Emma and Tyrone both stopped where they were and stared at her. “I… I did it…” whispered Haley. “I… RAISED… ONE… EYEBROW!” She then proceeded to let out the biggest ‘squee’ of her life, hugged Emma, spun around in a dizzy circle, sang an incredibly loud High C, gave Tyrone a kiss on the cheek (“Don’t you infringe on my property!” Emma had exclaimed in an extremely Ronnish manner”), and… passed out.
Emma and Tyrone exchanged glances.
“That was dramatic,” said Tyrone.
“That was Haley,” said Emma. She paused, prodding Haley’s unconscious body with her toe. “You know…” she said slowly. “Haley’s out cold. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Tyrone smiled evilly. “Does it involve scientific experiments?”
“I would have to say it does.”
Snogging ensued.
Unfortunately for Ted and Ivy, they’d been absent from Haley’s moment of triumph and victory. The night of graduation was a full moon, and they were taking the opportunity before the moon rose to pack up everything in the Shrieking Shack. It was strange to think that they’d never come back to the Shrieking Shack, that once they left Hogwarts, they would have to celebrate full moons elsewhere.
As Ted organized the last of his comic books, he turned to Ivy and said, “Hey… guess what I found earlier today?”
“Your other lobster sock?” guessed Ivy. Ted had once had a pair of lucky socks with lobsters on them, but he’d lost one of them in his first year. Of course, they were ridiculously tiny for him now, but the idea that one missing sock had been hiding somewhere in the school had always irritated him. Now that he was packing up everything, there was a good chance that he’d end up finding his lobster sock somewhere.
But Ted shook his head. “No,” he said, “Actually, I found my first grey hair.” He smiled. “I’m turning into my dad.”
“Grey hair?” exclaimed Ivy. Something seemed so weird about the idea. Wizards generally lived longer than Muggles, and they usually aged more slowly, too. She hadn’t noticed much grey in her own father’s hair.
“I think it’s partly hereditary,” Ted shrugged. “But mostly, it’s because I’m a werewolf, of course.”
Ivy had forgotten. She’d always known that werewolves aged prematurely, that the strain of transformation wasn’t good for human bodies, but she’d never really thought about that in conjunction with Ted. “Do you wish you’d taken that potion?” she asked.
Ted laughed. “Ivy, if I cared about the way I looked, I would’ve taken that potion a long time ago. No, I’m really glad I didn’t. But… I don’t know, finding grey hair is just weird. It’s weird enough that we’re graduating. I feel really old all of a sudden”it’s like that Basilia girl said. I remember when I thought ten was old.”
“I know,” Ivy said quietly. “I remember when Jordan wasn’t a Seer and Emma and Tyrone hated each other and you… you were shorter than your dad and you sounded a lot like Haley.”
“I remember the first time I had transformation in here and it scared the living daylights out of you,” added Ted.
Ivy smiled dreamily, sitting back on the floor. It was really odd to think about being scared of Ted, in any incarnation. She hadn’t known what to expect that first night, and that first shock of watching the boy she knew turn into a completely different animal had completely overwhelmed her. But she’d gotten so used to it now that it was hard to remember how she had felt. “I’m really going to miss being here,” she said at last. “I know it sounds kind of weird, but I’ve gotten so used to being here every full moon, and… now this is the last one.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” said Ted. His voice sounded strange, nervous and tight. It was such an abrupt shift from the tone of the conversation that Ivy stared at him. Ted was swaying nervously from foot to foot in a truly strange way, the corner of his mouth twisted. He was blinking rapidly, his hands clasped awkwardly behind his back.
“What?” Ivy frowned, confused.
Suddenly, Ted collapsed. Ivy’s first thought was that he had passed out again and jumped to her feet, letting out a little cry, but then she realized that he had simply tripped. “Are you okay?” asked Ivy, laughing softly.
“I’m fine,” Ted said, but he didn’t really look it. He looked pale, and his breathing was faint. Ivy was about to run out of the Shack to fetch Madame Patil, but suddenly, Ted did something that made her stop where she was. He pulled out a small, square box labeled, “FENCHURCH’S JEWELERS” from his pocket.
Ivy’s breathing quickened too, now as she stared at that box. She thought she knew what it might be, but she couldn’t be sure, and she didn’t want to get her hopes up. Meanwhile, Ted was having a bit of trouble attempting to open the box. The catch was very small, and his fingers fumbled clumsily with it.
“Why is everything going wrong? First I can’t kneel properly, now this?” he said, laughing nervously as the box popped open and something small and shiny flew out. “ACK!” shouted Ted, scrambling for it, but Ivy grabbed it out of the air. “Good save,” said Ted, sighing with relief. “Go on, look at it.”
Ivy opened her palm to see… a diamond ring. She gasped.
“Er… Ivy… this is really awkward, but… er, what do you think about marrying me? Do you want to?”
Ivy reeled, almost letting the ring slip between her fingers. She hadn’t been expecting this, not in a million years. Oh, she’d imagined this scene before, of course, in the way that all teenage girls did. But she hadn’t imagined it in the Shrieking Shack, or sprung so randomly on her… and certainly not so soon. She opened her mouth, but she couldn’t get anything to come out.
“You… I mean, you don’t have to say ‘yes’ right away, if you don’t want to,” Ted said, licking his lips nervously. “Erm, I don’t mean to scare you off or anything… I thought now seemed like the time to ask, but it’s not like I’m saying we need to go get married or anything. I definitely don’t want to rush you, you can do whatever you want”I mean, I love you, I’m not going to be upset if you…”
“Ted… of course I’ll marry you,” Ivy said quietly.
“What?”
“I said…”
Ted grinned. “I… I heard you. I’m just kiiiinda in shock right now.”
“Yeah… yeah, me, too…”
Ted slipped the ring onto Ivy’s finger, and she studied it. The diamond wasn’t very big or showy, and a diagonal scratch cut through it, but when the light hit it the right way, it was exactly the same light twinkly blue as Ted’s eyes. She loved it.
“At least one part of this proposal went right,” said Ted. There were tears glistening in his eyes, making them shine like the diamond on Ivy’s ring. He paused. “Ivy…”
“Yes?”
Ted sighed. “Do you think I can stop kneeling now?”
Ivy laughed, and she found it extremely hard to stop. Everything seemed funny when she was giddy with happiness. At last, she helped Ted up and sat down with him on a sofa, snuggling against him and feeling as though she was projecting a neon glow from her head to her toes. Jordan would probably say that everyone had an aura and that this was no different from usual, but she couldn’t remember ever feeling so warm and… shiny.
“The reason why I said this doesn’t have to be the last transformation here in the Shrieking Shack… I talked to my mum and dad, and they said that they could buy it. Seriously, the whole place. There aren’t going to be any werewolves anymore after me, not with Zabini’s potion, so no one will need to use the Shack anymore. And Hogsmeade is a great place to live.” He let her lean back against him and wrapped his arms around her. “We don’t need to hurry into actually getting married or anything. People can be engaged for years and years, so if you meet anyone you like better, you can always change your mind.”
Ivy hugged him. “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said.
“I just… I really wanted to ask you. I didn’t want to have to wait until we’re old and gr”” he stopped himself. “Until we’re old,” he amended, smiling.
Ivy looked up into his face. Although the moon hadn’t come out yet, it was almost as though Ted had transformed into something completely different, from the best friend and boyfriend she’d known for so long to the man she was going to marry. It seemed odd to think of sweet, gawky Ted as a man, even though he was fully of age. She’d known him for so long that it was easy to forget how much they’d both grown up. But now, with his ring on her finger and his future entwined in hers, it was like she was seeing him for the first time. She could see him in five years, ten years, twenty years, fifty years, sitting beside her on a warm summer’s night with the same sincerity and warmth and pride in his eyes.
So often, people said things like ‘I love you, never change,’ but Ivy didn’t know why. If you really loved someone, wouldn’t you love them no matter what? Everybody changed, after all. Didn’t it make more sense to say, “I love you, keep changing”? Ted certainly wasn’t the same goofy little boy she’d met at age eleven, or the same uncertain teenager she’d suddenly been smitten with that Christmas Day at St. Mungo’s, or even the person she’d kissed in an abandoned broom closet just two years before.
Ted’s face was thin, tired, and worn, but there was so much joy and kindness and warmth in it that he looked almost handsome. Ivy couldn’t believe that she, who just a few years ago had been a shy little girl, was going to be married, and that she was lucky enough to have someone like Ted.
“Wait until everyone finds out,” Ivy said, smiling mischievously. “We won’t get a moment’s peace.”
“That’s what full moons are for,” replied Ted, moving a little closer.
Ivy looked around the Shack, already so familiar to her. It was comforting to know that it would one day be her home, that there were many more nights together in the Shrieking Shack to come.
“You know, Tyrone calls this place the Love Shack,” Ivy mentioned, turning her hand this way and that to admire her ring.
Ted laughed. “Shall we put up a sign? It might scare people off even more than when they thought it was haunted.” He shifted a little on the sofa. “Hey… Ivy? Just curious, do you ever think about… you know, what married people do?”
“You mean arguing?” replied Ivy. She smiled at the expression on her fiance’s face. “I’m kidding, Ted. But… if you’re asking me if I ever fantasize about you, then… yes.” She peered at him with amusement dancing in her eyes. “Did you think I was a complete angel with no hormones at all?”
Ted chuckled to himself. “A lot of people do,” he said. “I’m just glad you don’t think I’m some dirty creeper." He grinned. "I'm not saying now or anything of course. I mean, I might turn into a wolf any second, that could get awkward, you know?"
"You're so...fantastic," said Ivy.
"Of course, I'm on page 41 of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, remember?" said Ted. And then suddenly, he kissed her like he never had before, pulling her down onto the bed and letting her long blonde hair over both of them like a blanket. When they broke apart after what could have been a few months, Ted looked like a child who'd been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. "That was new," he said.
"What was all that about transforming into a wolf any second?" Ivy said lightly. She cupped his chin in her hand. "Not that I minded, of course."
Ivy and Ted stayed up for hours talking about their plans for the future and just enjoying each other’s company. At some point, Ted had made the transformation into a wolf, and Ivy had switched to her Animagus form, but Ivy could never manage to recall exactly when in the conversation this had happened. After knowing him for so long, Ted was just Ted to her, no matter what he looked like.
As Ivy drifted off to sleep, the last thought in her mind was, I can’t wait to see the look on Jordan’s face when he finds out.
Jordan was already fast asleep by the time Ted proposed to Ivy, a small smile still on his face even as he dreamed. He could hardly believe that he had pulled a prank during his own graduation speech”he’d never pulled a prank before in his life. But if he was going to leave Hogwarts forever, he wanted to go out with a bang.
Just a few years ago, he would have been very displeased with anyone unprofessional enough to do such a deed, but becoming a Seer had made him realize that sometimes, a dose of the unpredictable was just what the doctor ordered.
Speaking of being a Seer, his dream was one of “those dreams,” as he usually referred to them. He was standing on the wide expanse of the Hogwarts lawn, looking out at the crowd of students milling along and lying lazily under the trees in the balmy spring weather. He didn’t recognize any of them, although there was something strangely familiar about a few of them.
“It’s twenty-six years in your future,” said a soft male voice next to Jordan.
He jumped. “You can see me?” he asked, turning around to stare at a boy about his age. The boy was around the same height as Jordan, with tanned skin and thick black hair falling to his shoulders. His green-black eyes were eerily like Jordan’s own.
“Merlin,” Jordan said. It wasn’t a question.
“So this is what happens when two Seers have the same vision,” Merlin replied cheerily. “Jordan Potter. I know all about you, of course.”
“Do you, now?” replied Jordan, feeling slightly uneasy in the presence of the great Seer.
Merlin smiled. “Oh, don’t look like that. I’m sure you’ve had visions about me, or you wouldn’t know who I was. Most people tend to expect me to be old, for some reason.” He gestured toward a boy standing under a spreading oak tree and trying (and failing miserably) to catch Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans in his mouth. “That’s your son right there.”
Jordan gaped. “What… I have a son?” he exclaimed. “I get married?” Merlin might as well have told him that he would give birth to a lemur. Jordan had never exactly seen himself as the marrying type. The idea of having a child was too weird to even think about.
He looked closely at the boy who was apparently his offspring. The boy was not particularly good looking, and he was lanky, taller than Jordan even though he looked three or four years younger. But despite his gangly appearance, he had a certain poise about him that made him look a lot more composed than Ted ever did. His eyes were the same bright green as Harry’s, the bright green that Jordan’s had been a few years before, and he wore rectangular glasses with thick black rims. His wavy, bright red hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. Jordan couldn’t imagine himself letting any child of his grow a ponytail, but the look did suit him a lot better than it ever had Ron Weasley.
As he watched, a very pretty girl in Slytherin robes walked past. She had thick white-blonde hair that contrasted interestingly with her large dark brown eyes, and that dangerous sort of expression that often comes with very attractive people.
“Hey, Meg!” called Jordan’s son. “Meg, Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Oh no,” moaned Jordan, looking away, “he’s going to get destroyed.”
Merlin smiled. “What do you mean?”
“Well, one, she’s in Slytherin. And two, she’s absolutely gorgeous. Doesn’t he realize he doesn’t stand a chance?”
As he watched, though, the girl stopped in her tracks and turned around to smile at the boy. “Nigel, just who I wanted to see,” she said, advancing toward him. She kissed him on the cheek.
“Omega Katharine Malfoy,” proclaimed Nigel Potter, “You have made a wise choice. Kiss me on the lips next and butterbeer’s on me.”
“What…” exclaimed Jordan, staring. “How can…”
Merlin looked as though he was trying his hardest to hold back guffaws. “He’s not his father, Jordan. I thought you of all people would understand that much.”
Oh no, I’ve given birth to Tyrone Thomas, thought Jordan, ranking up there on the list of Highly Improbable Phrases. “Omega Malfoy,” he said out loud. “That’s quite a sensible name. If she’s an only child, she’s the end of the Malfoy line, as Ophidias would be the last male heir. I wonder if he chose that name on purpose.”
“Speaking of names,” said Merlin, “I’m rather curious as to why you named your poor son Nigel.”
“I… don’t know,” replied Jordan. “It was probably my wife’s idea.” He paused. “Who do I marry, anyway?”
Merlin shook his head. “If you knew, you would feel obligated to marry her, and no one wants that. The future can always change. I’m not going to tell you your destiny.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “You know, you’re just as much a Seer as I am. You can always find out for yourself. You can find any of this out for yourself.”
Jordan exhaled deeply. “I don’t mind visions, at least not as much as I used to,” he said, “but voluntarily choosing to look at the future? It doesn’t feel right to me. I’ve always been cautious. Maybe I’ll adjust to it later, but…”
“But it still feels safer to ask me,” finished Merlin. He smiled. “That’s understandable. Everyone’s said my whole life that I’m too curious for my own good. I know how almost my entire future’s going to go. Of course, that’s probably dangerous. Like I said, the future can change. I have a feeling I’ll be in for some disappointments.”
The future can change… Jordan had used that phrase many times, but hearing it from Merlin reminded him of something. His first ever vision, the one in which he had been homeless and Haley had told him that Ron had died and everyone was angry at him for what had happened to Emma, swam into his mind. “There was one vision I had once,” he said slowly, “My first one. I… I can control my dreams when I want to, can’t I?”
Merlin nodded. “Lucid dreaming is one of the many perks we get,” he replied. “Do you want to see if it’s any different?”
Jordan nodded and closed his eyes. As he did so, he realized how weird it was to close his eyes when he knew he was dreaming and his real eyes had been closed all along. That was the strangest thing about lucid dreaming. Another logical impossibility.
When he opened his dream-eyes, he and Merlin were standing on a lonely street lined with bare trees on a grey, overcast day. A teenaged couple strolled hand-in-hand, and a middle-aged man in truly hideous purple leggings jogged steadily to the beat of his headphones. An elderly woman and a girl who couldn’t be older than two sat on a bench together, feeding pigeons.
Suddenly, a young woman in a pink dress appeared out of thin air with a slight pop. She seemed totally unfazed by this, not even pausing to look about her at her surroundings before walking briskly down the path.
But although she was nonchalant about her sudden materialization, this in no way reflected the attitudes of those around her. Behind Jordan, the teenaged couple screamed and clutched one another, the man in the purple leggings swore loudly, the elderly woman nearly toppled off of her bench in shock, and the two-year-old girl giggled and clapped her hands together.
Not oblivious to this reaction, the young woman stopped in her tracks and slapped herself in the forehead. “Oh, right,” she muttered. “How could I have forgotten?” She rummaged in the denim purse slung across her shoulder and pulled out a wooden stick. She waved it and mumbled a few words to herself, and instantly, everyone seemed to warm considerably to this new arrival.
“Sorry, Walid. What were you talking about again?” Jordan heard the female half of the teenaged couple behind him say.
The male half of the couple replied casually, “I dunno, Jenny, it wasn’t important. It sure didn’t have anything to do with some lady randomly appearing out of nowhere!” He laughed at the preposterousness of it all.
The man in the purple leggings winked and nodded at the young woman as he jogged past, and the elderly woman on the bench called, “Happy Christmas!” (Which was slightly odd, seeing as it seemed to be summer, despite the leafless trees and grey skies.)
The young woman in the pink dress grinned with satisfaction, her freckled nose wrinkling mischievously, and she stowed the stick back in her purse before continuing on her way.
Her dark hair shone in the muted sun as it bounced around her shoulders, and the stiletto heels of her fashionable shoes (open-toed to reveal sparkly pink toenails) clacked pleasantly on the pitted asphalt. She was rather pretty, bright-eyed and slim, and impossible to classify by age. Jordan recognized Haley, ten years older and much more elegant than the sister he knew, but definitely Haley nonetheless.
He couldn’t help but hold his breath as she made her way down the path, hoping that she wouldn’t sit down next to a homeless man on the bench, that his vision had changed. But he had no need to worry, because she turned at the next corner and continued on to a tall, sleek-looking office building. She stepped through the automatic sliding doors, giggling to herself as she did so”apparently, they were still a novelty for her”and stopped at desk of a rather bored-looking secretary chewing a disgustingly enormous wad of gum.
“Hello!” she chirped cheerfully. “I’m here to see Jor”I mean, Mr. Potter?”
The secretary gave her a contemptuous look. “Do you have an appointment?”
“Nope,” Haley replied happily.
“Do you have a photo ID?”
Haley gave her a patient smile. “My picture’s on that bus over there,” she offered. “Does that help?” She giggled slightly at the surprised look on the secretary’s face. “I know, I’m wearing a blonde wig in that picture, but it’s me-- I’m Glinda right now in the revival of Wicked on the West End. You should come and see the show, it’s pretty good. But I think my baby brother’s waiting for me.”
Happily, Haley made her way down the meandering hallway until she reached a glassed-in door that read “J. J. POTTER, CEO.” Apparently, she knew her way around the office building. She didn’t bother to knock on the door, but simply pushed her way in.
Sitting behind a desk and talking on the phone was a man in his late twenties, his gelled hair messy and the sleeves of his black button-up shirt rolled up. The top button was undone and he wore no necktie. Jordan saw himself, ten years in the future, and felt his heart quicken. It was just too weird to think about for too long. The older Jordan was slightly broader in the chest and shoulders, had a five-o-clock shadow and a deep crease between his eyebrows, and his features looked subtly more defined, but it was unmistakably him nonetheless.
“Haley!” exclaimed the older Jordan, and his voice sounded exactly the same. “I’ll call you back,” he said quickly into the telephone, and hung up. “I haven’t seen you since Christmas. How are you?” he asked.
The older Haley smiled. “I’m doing awesome. I just came from babysitting Ted and Ivy’s kids, though, and I don’t know how they manage with them all the time! I volunteered you to take care of them next time.”
“Thoughtful,” replied the older Jordan. “They can’t be worse than you were when you were their age. Though I seem to remember Henry was a holy terror when I saw him at Christmastime.”
Haley laughed. “Oh, he still is. But he’s four. He’s allowed to be. The one that tires me out is Rebekah. And not just because she’s a Metamorphmagus. Now that she’s five, she can read, and she’s definitely too clever for her own good. She reads anything she can get her hands on.”
“Oh no, I stand corrected,” groaned the older Jordan. “They could be worse than you. They could be me.”
“She’s definitely not you,” Haley assured him. “She’s a writer. Guess what. She can already spell ‘passionate.’”
The older Jordan blinked. “Oh dear,” he said simply.
“And ‘bosom.’ Ivy told me that Rebekah’s stories are very popular with the rest of her kindergarten class.” She smiled. “Anyway, the real reason I’m here is, Dad and Uncle Ron are retiring next month, and we’re throwing a party. We thought you might like to come.” She poked her brother in the arm with one of his own pens. “Make sure you bring a nice gift, Mr. Millionaire. Oh, yeah, and Emma’s having another baby”might want to bring a gift for them, too. They think it’ll be another girl. Tyrone says that even if this one’s not a boy, he’s naming her Tyrone Junior anyway.”
“Well, the other two girls both have boy names, don’t they?” said the older Jordan. “Tony and Joey?”
“They’re short for Antoinette and Josephine, though,” Haley informed him. “Emma just refuses to ever call them that.” She paused, and her expression grew more serious as she took a seat in front of her twin’s desk. “Jordan,” she said quietly, “are you happy?”
The older Jordan gave her a genuine smile. “I truly am, however much you try to convince me I’m not.”
“Are you sure?” Haley began absentmindedly folding a business card into a little origami frog. “Because… I know you’re really famous and really rich messing about with computers and buying out Micro… thing… and…”
“Microsoft and Apple?” the older Jordan prompted her.
“Those,” continued Haley, nodding. “But…don’t you miss magic? You’re so good at it! You’re a Seer, for crying out loud! I still don’t see why you have to live like a Muggle.”
The older Jordan produced a large rubber band ball from his desk drawer and handed it to Haley, knowing that she could have hours of fun with it. “I still do magic sometimes,” he said. “When I need to. I just don’t think it’s that important. I know I’m good at doing magic, but I’m not very good at using it. I’ve realized I understand technology a lot better”and technology’s very near magic, anyway. Much more precise, too”you always know what you’re getting at with technology. Logical impossibilities don’t often turn up. I’ve wanted to work with computers since I was fifteen, though, you should have seen Aunt Hermione’s face when I went in for career advice. I just never expected I’d be this successful.”
Haley sighed. “So long as you’re happy, I guess,” she said. “But it’s so weird. Everyone talks about you, Harry Potter’s genius son, Head Boy, Seer, perfect O.W.L.s, perfect N.E.W.T.s, working for Muggles. You could use all those brains to give wizards a hand, too.”
“Wizards have magic”we already have the upper hand,” pointed out Jordan. “And it’s not like you’re not working for Muggles. I saw your face on a bus. Rather ironic that you’re playing a witch right now, isn’t it? I saw in that article about you in Witch Weekly that you use your real wand onstage.”
Haley giggled. “So you did read that after all! Aha!”
“I bought it for my wife,” he said staunchly. “I didn’t know you were in it.”
“I was on the cover, Jor-jums,” Haley pointed out sweetly.
The younger Jordan, the Jordan who was having the dream, turned to Merlin, his eyes wide. “Is this really my future?” he asked breathlessly. It was far better than he’d ever dreamed. Not only did he manage to work with computers, he was the head of the most successful computer company in the world. And he still managed to keep up with his family and friends.
“Based on the choices you’ve made so far, at least,” Merlin replied. He rubbed his chin. “Speaking of which,” he said, “from one Seer to another, do you think I’d look good with a beard? I’m thinking of growing one.”
Jordan grinned. “I think a beard would be a very good idea,” he said. I just told Merlin to grow a beard, he realized. This is bizarre. What if I said he shouldn’t? Would people stop saying ‘Merlin’s beard?’
“Merlin, I have one more question,” he said at last. “Am I really talking to you… or is this all just in my head?”
Merlin raised his eyebrows. “Of course it’s all in your head. But why on earth should that mean it isn't real?"
Jordan knew Merlin’s tone. It was the way he always sounded in Jordan’s visions when he quoted people. “Who said that?” he asked.
“Someone from the future,” Merlin replied almost immediately, then seemed to realize who he was talking to. “The future for me, that is. She’s quite established in your world. You may have heard of her-- she’s another Seer, and quite famous.”
Jordan furrowed his brow. Merlin was the only famous Seer he had ever heard of. “What’s her name?” he asked.
Merlin smiled mysteriously. “J.K. Rowling,” he replied.
“DAAAAAAD! DAAAAAD, get up already! For the love of Merlin, I thought you were dead!” yelled a distinctly unharmonious voice in Jordan’s ear.
He groaned and forced open his eyes a crack, to see the eager, blurry face of his thirteen-year-old son directly in front of him. “What time is it?” he muttered, feeling the inside of his mouth was made of cotton.
“Time for you to get an alarm clock!” the boy hollered in that hoarse, barely-pubescent voice of his. It wasn’t exactly the first sound Jordan had wanted to hear upon awakening.
“Where’s your mother, Nigel?” said Jordan, feeling around for his notebook and pen on his bedside table.
“Downstairs, making French toast with sprinkles and ice cream with Aunt Haley!”
Jordan grunted. It was too early to hear so many exclamation marks. “The last thing you need is more sugar,” he said, then squinted. “Wait, Haley’s here?”
Nigel laughed. “EVERYBODY’s here, Dad. I’m surprised you didn’t wake up. Aunt Ivy says you can sleep through a circus parade.”
“That was one time!” Jordan said stiffly. “Look, can you go and… get your things together? Missing the Hogwarts Express again would be far from ideal.”
“Jawohl, mon capitan,” said Nigel, flinging himself headlong at the door.
Jordan wondered sometimes whether trying to teach his son basic French, Spanish, Mandarin, and German as an infant had been worthwhile. All it had seemed to do was confuse the poor boy. He jotted down the basic details of the dreams he’d had the night before in a bedside notepad. It was all routine for him”he used Occlumency against himself throughout the day to prevent visions from distracting or embarrassing him, but he gave his Seer powers full reign by night. And this meant not a single night passed without several extremely bizarre dreams”most of which he recorded and sent to the Department of Mysteries, just in case. For those he couldn’t explain in words, there was always Telemency.
Jordan smiled to himself as he scribbled down his last dream, the recurring one he’d had for decades, where he was seventeen again and speaking to Merlin. That was before he’d had the guts to manipulate his own dreams, back when being a Seer was still so new and mysterious to him.
As he washed his face, he peered critically at his reflection in the mirror. Every now and then, after a night of bizarre dreams, he had to double check how old he was. Between dreams of his teenage years and murky visions of his future, forty-two-year-old Jordan sometimes came as a surprise. Almost any other small, wiry man with delicate features like his would look youthful, and for the most part, Jordan did”but the deep furrow between his eyebrows, lines on his brow, and the ancient solemnity in his eyes aged him.
He left his messy hair and stubble exactly as they were, both out of convenience and style, and threw on one of his many pairs of black trousers. His closet was filled with countless button-up shirts, mostly black with a few white ones, and one in the far corner that was a rich shade of deep plum. After a moment’s hesitation, he pulled on the purple shirt and headed down the stairs.
Nigel hadn’t been kidding. The entire downstairs of his house had been transformed into some kind of three-ring circus. He couldn’t find his wife anywhere”she was probably downstairs trying to find Nigel’s suitcase, as of course he hadn’t even started packing for the semester. But pretty much everyone else he could think of was there, and making such a ruckus, it really was a miracle that he’d slept through it all.
“What,” said Jordan, frozen slack-jawed on the staircase, “Is your son doing hanging from my chandelier, Haley?”
“Pull-ups!” Haley yelled over the din.
“Well, that explains it, then,” muttered Jordan, but he couldn’t keep up the cranky act for long. He bounded down the stairs as though he didn’t have a bad back, and hugged his sister in a way that quickly reminded him just how bad his back was.
“About time, I was getting ready to jump on your bed and start belting show tunes at you, just like the old days,” chirped Haley. She smiled. “Missed you, Jor-jums.” She hadn’t changed much over the years. She was still just as small and almost as slim, and looked much younger than she was, though she now had a sophisticated look about her that suited her. Her hair was longer, and she wore it styled in loose waves, and she wore designer jeans with sleek pink peek-toe pumps and a pink silky blouse.
Her husband was busy trying to convince their eleven-year-old daughter, Elektra, that if she was going to sit on the expensive piano, she probably shouldn’t play it with her muddy feet, while Elektra’s twin brother, Dorian, dangled from the chandelier. The twins’ older brother, Jules, was starting on a plate of the infamous French toast and chatting away with Nigel and their friend Joey Thomas. Haley’s two older children, fifteen-year-old Indigo and sixteen-year-old Luc, were playing wizard chess on fifteen-year-old Tony Thomas’ back, while nine-year-old Charley Thomas slowly tried to pull her father’s wand out of his back pocket.
Emma’s head snapped around. “Constant vigilance!” she barked, looking and sounding utterly terrified. Her daughter dropped the wand with a clatter.
“You should know better than to attempt anything while your mother’s around,” scolded Jordan. “Wait until you’re alone with your father, he’ll most likely not notice a thing. Or at least, he’ll pretend not to, for your sake.”
Tyrone flashed Jordan his infamous bright white grin. “Hey, I almost didn’t notice you! There’s so many kids here, I didn’t see you coming.”
“This is my point exactly,” said Jordan. “If it wasn’t for your mother, he’d be entirely lost.”
Tyrone’s face was as dazzlingly gorgeous as ever, and his arms were still impressively muscular. But at the first signs of male pattern baldness, he’d shaved his head completely and grown a neat little goatee to compensate. Since retiring from major league Quidditch, he’d developed a slight pot belly, but he had what it took to turn heads even so.
“So,” said Emma. “What’s new in the Muggle world? More wars, I’m guessing? Even more crazy weapons that make the Killing Curse look like a picnic?”
Jordan bowed his head. “If I hadn’t known better, I’d have assumed you were a Seer,” he said wryly. Emma was lovely in the same way that a glacier or a lioness was lovely, looking immeasurably professional and intimidating in her French twist and Auror robes that did not entirely obscure her curvy frame. Her face was tighter and harder, her cheekbones more pronounced and her jawline grimmer, but her eyes glimmered brightly nonetheless. As third-in-command Auror behind her own father and Jordan’s, she would be taking over the department when they both retired at the end of the year, and she was more than ready.
Across the room, Jordan saw Ted and Ivy’s seventeen-year-old son, Henry, sitting by himself. He was pretending not to watch the action all around him, though Jordan could see his eyes darting from behind lowered lids. Jordan smirked to himself. The boy reminded him a lot of himself, back when he was so serious and self-absorbed, he didn’t even realize how ridiculous he was. Now, much older and wiser, he knew exactly how ridiculous he was, and he was sure Henry would be all too aware of that fact soon enough.
“Jordan, hey!” called Ted, giving him the kind of enthusiastic hug that Jordan would never allow from anyone but Ted. It was amazing how someone so skinny could give such suffocating hugs. “It’s been way too long. How are you, mate?”
“Excellent,” Jordan said, in a somewhat muffled voice. “You?”
Ted grinned. “Never better,” he said, releasing Jordan. He’d certainly looked better. He looked old enough to be Jordan’s father. His long shaggy hair was completely grey, his face was deeply lined and aged, and the dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced than ever. But as gaunt and tired as he looked, there was the same boyish enthusiasm as ever shining in his round blue eyes, and he was as energetic and cheery as he’d ever been.
Ivy smiled. “Now it’s my turn,” she said, hugging Jordan herself.
“You two have an exciting year ahead of you, if I’m not mistaken,” Jordan said. “Is everything ready?”
“Everything except Henry,” said Ted. “Something tells me he’s not too happy about all this.”
Ted had decided after a long and distinguished career at St. Mungo’s to fill in as Hogwarts Healer now that Madame Patil had finally stepped down. Ivy had spent the last three years as Charms Professor at Hogwarts since retiring from the Experimental Charms department at the Ministry, and the location was convenient for both of them, as they lived on the former site of the Shrieking Shack.
Jordan looked over at Henry, still sitting alone and determinedly avoiding eye contact with anyone else. “He’ll grow out of it,” he said. “If I could, anyone can.” He ran a hand through his messy hair. “So I suppose if you’re going to be the new Hogwarts healer, you’ll be seeing a lot of Nigel. He seems to spend most of his free time in the hospital wing”he’s always just getting into the strangest scrapes. His mind just doesn’t seem to work the same way as other people’s.”
“I think it runs in the family,” said Ivy, smiling. She looked every inch the Professor with her hair cut into a smooth chin-length bob. It had darkened with time to a subdued ash blonde, and the years had softened the sharp, angular edges of her face. There were worry lines around her mouth, but they were only complemented by her laugh lines.
Jordan rolled his eyes. "I'm not entirely sure you understand. Just last week, he asked me if he could legally change his name to Muttonchops McGee for 'artistic reasons.' My wife said he could as soon as he could actually grow muttonchops, and within half a hour, there was a horrible explosion in his room. Apparently, he tried to make a hair growing potion and ended up catching his hair on fire."
"Was he okay?" asked Ted.
Jordan laughed. "Naturally, he's Nigel." He was about to launch into a long speech detailing why Nigel’s strange brain was completely different from his, but he was interrupted by a loud, booming voice roaring, “RUNNING AWAY, ARE YOU?” Tyrone was standing behind him, arms folded. “Hey, this is the first time I’ve gotten to see you in forever, and you blow me off to talk to these losers? Who do you expect me to hang out with, the kids?”
“Yeah, we all see enough of our kids,” added Emma. “You’re a bit more interesting.”
Jordan raised his eyebrows. “That is saying a lot, since you normally tend to go on about how boring I am.” He smiled. “Do you think we were more interesting than the kids when we were their age? Or are all teenagers equally dull?”
Haley looked slightly offended. “We were not boring,” she exclaimed. “We got Malfoy, we stopped Apple, we went back in time! And in case you forgot, we’ve got a Seer, an extremely loveable werewolf, an Animagus, a Triwizard Champ, and a Haley!”
“Hey, don’t forget the devilishly sexy Quidditch star!” added Tyrone.
Emma snorted. “Oh, shut up, Tyrone. You’re not the big hot-shot you used to be.”
“Maybe not,” Tyrone said in a deep, breathy voice. “But I’m much more… experienced now. They don’t call me Tyrone Thomas the Tank Engine for nothing.”
“You’re the only one who ever calls yourself that,” pointed out Emma. “And what does that even mean, anyway? What’s an engine?”
Jordan began glancing around the room for the quickest escape route, but luckily, before Tyrone could say anything even creepier, Ted said, “I think we were always plenty interesting even without being Seers and Animagi and all that. Face it, we’re all pretty weird as it is.”
“I’m not!” said Ivy.
Jordan raised an eyebrow. “I’m fairly certain you married a werewolf. If nothing else, you’re weird by association.” He started off into space, looking almost as though he was prepared to have another vision. “Our parents were the heroes, we’re the amazing freak show. What does that make our children?”
“DAAAAAAAAAD! How do you get jelly off the ceiling?” yelled Nigel from across the room.
Ivy smiled. “I think this is the generation that gets to have fun,” she said.
And about two hours later, when the Hogwarts Express had departed and Jordan and Giorgi came back home to their big, empty, quiet house, he sat down at his desk and thought about what Ivy had said. By the time his own father was Nigel’s age, he’d already been heralded as the saviour of the wizarding world more times than he could count. He’d risked his life in the name of what was right and saved countless lives.
And Nigel was… Nigel. Happy-go-lucky, accident-prone, slightly zany Nigel. A very bright boy, but one whose magical abilities left more than a little bit to be desired. If Nigel heard there was a deadly disaster looming on the horizon, he’d wait for the grown-ups to straighten it out. If he was trapped in a room, face to face with evil incarnate… well, he was probably dead meat. But that was how it should be for a thirteen-year-old boy. For once, a Potter boy got to have a normal, happy childhood.
And what of Jordan? He’d had his forays into danger in youth, orchestrated his own plans to preserve liberty and justice. But he wasn’t about to claim he’d done anything near what his father had. He’d never been a teenage superhero, and he certainly hadn’t eased into a peaceful retirement at age seventeen.
He smiled quietly to himself and leaned back in his chair. There’s plenty of life in me yet, he thought. And based on the visions he’d been having lately… his biggest adventures were all still ahead of him.