the right side of rock bottom [harper]

[Deleted]

december 26th, 2024

Christmas had come and gone, and Jamie was once again in the wizarding world. She had spent Christmas with her mother, but it was a rather sedate affair. Even though she was doing much better, Jamie's mother still tired quickly and wasn't up to having a huge celebration. Not that their Christmases were ever that large, considering that their family was, supposedly, just the two of them. (Jamie was still trying to figure out how to explain to her mother that she had a plethora of half-siblings, and a sister that wasn't related to her by blood at all.) The day following Christmas promised a large amount of sales as shopkeepers tried to rid themselves of extra Christmas stock, and Jamie was going shopping. She hadn't gotten gifts for quite a few people yet, since she hadn't known if she'd be able to return to the wizarding world for Christmas. She was sure they wouldn't mind getting their gift a day or two late, especially if they weren't expecting a gift from her at all.

Horizon Alley was surprisingly empty, but Jamie supposed that was because people were still holed up with their families, sleeping off large Christmas dinners and trying to figure out what to do with the various gifts they had received the day previous. Jamie wasn't going to complain about the lack of congestion, though - especially because there was no one to tell her to stop humming beneath her breath as she strolled down the alleyway.

@harper

[Deleted]

@jamie

12.26.2024

Harper never really disliked the Weasley family Christmas bash, but she was starting to get tired of it the older she got. Gone was the magic (pun intended) of her childhood Christmases with all of the cousins around, and now everyone only talked about their jobs and what was going on in the real world. She liked it when they didn’t have to do that, but unfortunately it was inevitable. So while Christmas Day proper was impossible to escape from, she could always run free on Boxing Day without a care in the world. And probably snag some really good deals in the muggle shops. Starting off in London wouldn’t work though, the muggle stores still maintaining holiday hours and not opening until much later. Magical shops didn’t always follow those rules though, so off to Diagon and Horizon Alley she went, long before anyone else in the house was awake.

The air was chilly, but the briskness had her wide awake within seconds of stepping into Horizon Alley. Despite Christmas being the day before, it felt more like it today than it should have. The whole holiday feel was still floating about. Minus the crowds. Harper didn’t have an exact plan for the stores she wanted to go into, so wandering down the street worked just fine for her. Taking in the silence on a perfectly cold day rarely happened, and when it did, it was usually ruined by a cough from Ondina because she couldn’t stand anyone else having any sort of happiness. Moving out would teach her. Probably.

Shivering from both the cold and the thought of her sister screaming at her again about trying to leave and get her own place, Harper spotted a familiar head of hair ahead of her. “Jamie!” she called without even thinking. This was good! She hadn’t seen Jamie in months. Running so she could catch up, Harper stopped next to the blonde. “Merry Christmas,” she grinned.

[Deleted]

It never really occurred to Jamie how small the wizarding world was compared to the Muggle world, until she came to one of the wizarding locales and almost inevitably ran into someone that she already knew. She still managed to be surprised every time she heard her name called, though, and Jamie startled slightly before turning around to see Harper coming down the alley towards her. Jamie stopped long enough to let Harper catch up to her, smiling brightly at her ex-girlfriend. Jamie wasn’t exactly the kind of person to leave relationships with bad feelings, and she was rather pleased with her and Harper still being friends after their breakup.

“Happy Christmas!” Jamie returned enthusiastically. “I’m surprised to see you out and about. Isn't your brother home for Christmas?” Harper’s brother was still at Hogwarts, and Jamie always got the impression that the Weasley family rather expected their children to be home for Christmas. Maybe that was her views of what a traditional family Christmas was like, though. “Or is that why you’re out?” Jamie teased. Sometimes family could be… well, a lot. Especially if the entire Weasley clan had gathered! Either way, Jamie was pleased that she got the pleasure of Harper’s company, at least for a little while.

@harper

[Deleted]

@jamie

12.26.2024

Maintaining a grin while thinking about Xavier’s boring existence at home was tough. Not nearly as difficult as feigning ignorance of Ondina’s terrible personality, but still hard nonetheless. “That is exactly the reason I’m out right now,” she answered. “Gets too stuffy with the two of them both in the house sometimes. I got to taste freedom for a year and jinxed myself for it,” Harper shrugged. She should have known it was going to be bad once her sister was graduated. Waking up stressed out wasn’t healthy, and her coworkers wondered why she always showed up to work early and left late. It wasn’t like she was crazy passionate about charming objects (not that she disliked the job), but avoiding Ondina when she was blowing steam out of her ears was pretty easy to do when not at home. “Trying to handle that after the big family get together is tough too. Everyone is always exhausted and they get snippy. Self included.” Better to remove herself from the situation entirely and escape to do some shopping. She was pretty sure that was a form of self-help or whatever.

“So,” she started to ask as she looked at Jamie, “How was yours? I feel like it’s been a while since I last saw you…” Harper trailed off, knowing that it was probably because of work. It always was with her, so it was safe to assume Jamie was the same way, being fresh out of school and all that. The first year was always the toughest. That was what her parents had told her. Getting a grasp on the working world and learning the ropes for a new job took up a lot of time. And then there was the constant need to try and impress the bosses – Harper had done a lot of that as well and it kind of paid off. Now she was free to spend her time at work charming more than silverware. She hated charming silverware.

[Deleted]

Harper answered that her siblings being home was exactly the reason she was out, and Jamie gave her a sympathetic smile. Despite having a half-dozen half-siblings, Jamie had never had to grow up with any of them, which definitely gave her a different perspective on siblinghood. Her siblings were more like her best friends that she also happened to be related to, which was… well, different than having to go through every damn thing with someone else tagging along. Especially since Harper was older than both of her siblings and, like she said, had had a year where she was out of school but both her siblings were still in it. “It must be harder now that you’re all older, too.” Not that young kids didn’t have personalities, but the older siblings got the more obvious it was where they clashed. “I cannot possibly imagine having as many cousins as you do.” Not to mention as many famous family members. It was a lot, especially if Harper just wanted to have a normal life. Not that life with Harper could ever be entirely normal, but, normal-er.

Jamie cleared her throat nervously when Harper said it had been a while since they had last seen each other. “My mum took ill over the summer, so I actually haven’t been around at all until this past week.” And yes, it would be hard to see someone who literally wasn’t there at all. “Christmas was alright. Small, low-energy.” It was small out of necessity, with little money coming in, but Jamie and her mother hadn’t often done extravagant Christmases to begin with – it didn’t make sense to with only two people. “But I’m hoping to be around more come the new year. Reconnect with people.” Jamie paused after that last statement, blinking at Harper. She had just assumed that them drifting apart was the way things were, since Harper had been working and she had still been at school, but… maybe it didn’t have to be that way?

@harper

[Deleted]

@jamie

12.26.2024

Jamie hit the nail right on the head with her statement about it being harder around her siblings now that they were older. Like square on head, enough to drive the nail down in one fell swoop. Harper never wanted to squash self-thinking or intelligence, but there were more times than not where she would rather her siblings be permanently mute. Ondina without noise coming from her would be the greatest thing in the world. Xavier would probably welcome it, and then ask to be deaf too so he wouldn’t have to hear anyone squabbling around him again. To him, she was probably too ordinary and that made her stupid. She had given up trying to ask why that was, because she felt like there would be too many non-answers and that she should already know why that was. Leaving him to his own devices was better, and at least that way they were both happy. But her sister would never shut up and would make her displeasure clear and as loud as humanely possible. “Well, you know how Ondina is,” she muttered, knowing she wouldn’t have to get into much detail on that one. “I’ll take all of the cousins over her. They aren’t miserable and pissy all the time for no reason,” Harper took a deep breath before letting it out. “Sorry, this is what I was getting out of the house to do and now I just unloaded it all on you.” Verbally venting it felt better than taking her mind off of it by walking around and spending money. At least in this manner she heard herself say it, whereas having it stuck in her head was going to plague her again the second she stepped back inside the house and heard Ondina’s screechy voice.

Venting her stupid sibling problems was nothing compared to what Jamie dropped on her. Harper didn’t say anything at first, wanting to let Jamie finish first. Eyebrows furrowed, Harper knew that she had a concerned look on her face. She could feel the skin above her eyes creasing. “Merlin, Jamie, is she okay?” her hand instinctively reaching out for a corner of Jamie’s sleeve. The thought of Jamie taking care of her mum all on her own was heart-wrenching. Nobody should have to do that by themselves, in her opinion. “Because if not, Mungo’s will probably let her in…” Would they? Harper didn’t actually know. There were enough witches and wizards these days that had muggle family members that it seemed like it was possible they could allow it. It was top of the line medical treatment after all.

[Deleted]

Jamie gave a sympathetic grimace when Harper said she knew how Ondina was. Jamie had never had the pleasure of spending an extended period of time with Harper’s sister, but she had a reputation that preceded her. Jamie hadn’t met a Hufflepuff that had liked Ondina, and she tended to trust the opinions of her housemates when it came to someone else’s general personality. “I’m sorry that she’s like that.” Harper’s siblings didn’t seem to make it easy to have a good relationship, that was for sure. “It’s fine!” Jamie insisted when Harper apologized for unleashing everything. “I like hearing how you’ve been,” the Hufflepuff added, more quietly than before. Hearing about someone else’s woes made hers feel more normal. It was nice that not everything was sunshine and roses for everyone.

“I mean, she’s not good, but she’s mostly out of the woods, the doctors say.” Of course, doctors had been wrong before, but Jamie was desperately trying to hold onto the hope that she had been given. Her mother was improving, and that was more than could be said of the majority of the last six months. She didn’t want to alarm Harper, or worse, make the Gryffindor feel bad. A lot of Jamie’s friends and family seemed to be taking her mother’s illness as a personal failing – as if they could’ve somehow stopped the sickness themselves. “I’m sure there’s a rule against that.” Jamie regretted that she couldn’t help her mother with her magic, but she wasn’t a healer by any stretch. She wasn’t even sure that magic worked on Muggles. She should have paid more attention in her theory courses at Hogwarts, Jamie thought with a big of a grimace. “Either way, things are getting better. But thank you.” She appreciated the concern, especially because it wasn’t overbearing or smothering – just genuine care, expressed in the best way that Harper knew how.

@harper

[Deleted]

@jamie

12.26.2024

A smile found its way onto Harper’s face when Jamie said that she liked listening to her. It had been a while since she had really let out her feelings on anyone. Not only wasn’t it her thing, but she didn’t like burdening others with her own thoughts and feelings. Her parents probably would have listened to all of her woes and spirited words about her siblings, but there was little they could actually say back in response. They still had to love Ondina and Xavier, even if their quirks awarded them awful personalities. Harper had begun to learn that she didn’t need her siblings’ approval anymore, which had only taken nineteen years for her to get through her head. “I guess I really needed to get it out,” her laugh trailing off into another sigh. The next step was moving out and removing the tumor named Ondina from off of her back. Doing that would be a breath of fresh air.

Out of the woods wasn’t one-hundred percent better though. Harper didn’t like things that weren’t absolute, specifically health. Jamie’s words were weighted in a way that Harper could see the toll this had had on the Hufflepuff. Unyielding positivity amongst tragedy was something only Jamie was able to pull off. “You’re welcome. If you need any help, even if it’s getting groceries or something, let me know. You deserve a break every once in a while too.” Letting everything go for a few minutes had always helped Harper out. The screaming redheaded tirade always choked herself out in the end, but a motorcycle ride got her away faster. Forgetting about a sick parent was a little different, obviously, and she had a difficult time equating to the situation from her own experiences, her earlier sentiments being the extent to what she knew to do and say. “Want to get out of the cold?” Harper asked with a shiver, remembering again that it was December. “Hot chocolate? On me, of course.”