look into the light [adrian]

[Deleted]

january 25, 2025

The Three Broomsticks was crowded, just as it always was when the students were in Hogsmeade, but Jamie had come early that morning to snag a booth near the back of the restaurant. It was too cold outside to just wander around the village, so even though the pub was a bit claustrophobic, it was the best option. Jamie kept shooting glances towards the entrance, ready to flag her brother down when he came through the door. She hadn't seen him since she had returned from the Muggle world - he had been away for Christmas, and then at school - so she was a little nervous. Not that she expected Adrian to be angry; if anyone could understand doing anything for their mother, it was Adrian. That was why he had gone to America in the first place. Even though it was awful that Ilvermorny had been destroyed, Jamie couldn't help but feel a little glad about it, because it brought her brother back to her. It was almost like they could be a family again, even though everything else had changed.

@adrian

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Adrian was laughing as he entered the broomsticks. He was happy, which wasn't entirely unheard of for him. Even if he tried to act like a broody teenager most of the time, he couldn't help that he was as happy as he'd ever been. It would be better if his mom was nearby and not all the way in America, but being a wizard made distance not so wide. He had kissed Lily goodbye just outside the door, letting her run off with other people while he had quality time with his sister. Sure, the kiss was a little long and maybe a little too much for bystanders to watch, but he didn't really care.

He spotted Jamie, due to a wave, and made his way over to her. The happiness he was exuding probably would have killed his cousin Daniel. That was an amusing thought. Maybe another double date someday would get Dan off his back forver. "Jams," he greeted, shooting her with double finger guns before plopping onto the seat across.

@jamie

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Adrian came through the door with a smile on his face, and Jamie’s heart warmed. Her brooding little brother, happy! None of the Greyback siblings were much good at brooding, though – Jamie had even tried it out once, but it hadn’t lasted long. “Adri,” she greeted in return, chuckling a little at the finger guns he gave her. “What’s put so much pep in your step, little brother? Other than seeing me.” The corners of her eyes crinkled when she grinned at him. This wasn’t difficult at all, Jamie realized; she shouldn’t have let it become such a big deal in her head. “Do you want anything to eat? Drink? I’m buying.” Now that she had a real job and everything Jamie didn’t have to be reserved with her offers to buy things for her siblings – their birthdays this year were all going to be amazing.

@adrian

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She greeted him with a chuckle, asking what had put so much pep in his step. She also offered to buy something for him and he nodded, "sounds lovely. I'll take a butterbeer, of course, and... whatever you're eating just order two," he suggested with a shrug. He turned slightly to look toward the door, kind of wishing he could see Lily who was probably out in the snow wreaking havoc on someone. He turned back to Jamie. "Oh, yes, the 'pep' in my step. Well, I've got a girlfriend," he suggested with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Wow, he was really on a high right now. He was starting to wonder if Lily spiked his muffin this morning with some sort of drug or something. He wouldn't put it past her to slip him a potion to make him act like a fool as some sort of prank. She had a way of being the most annoying and best person he knew.

@jamie

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Adrian agreed to let her buy him lunch, and Jamie got their order together for whenever a server next came by. He announced the reason for the pep in his step was having a girlfriend, and Jamie’s eyebrows shot into her hairline. “Please tell me this girlfriend is a certain redhaired Potter girl.” Jamie had been there to see Lily through the fallout of Adrian’s moving to America, and she could only imagine how gutted Lily would be if he was in love with someone else. She didn’t think it was likely, but if it was necessary she would chew Adrian out right here in the pub. He was her brother, but Lily was as good as her sister and she didn’t deserve to be hurt by that. “And when did this happen?” Not that Jamie expected to be told everything as soon as it happened, but she was hoping it was a recent development.

@adrian

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“Please tell me this girlfriend is a certain redhaired Potter girl.” At Jamies words Adrian felt his entire face break out into a grin, and his face felt a little warm. Okay, Lily definitely slipped something on him. Oh my goodness, was it a love potion!? He would kill her. He gave a little nod, and Jamie asked when it happened. "She came to L.A. with me over winter break. Basically on the drive from me getting her at the airport she jumped me," he waved a hand, "don't worry, she waited until I pulled over the car. Thank gods," he added with a small chuckle. He leaned forward a little, his voice dropping as if he was telling some kind of secret. "I don't know," his tone was more serious now, "I think it's different this time, though. I mean, I don't feel as intimidated by it all..." He leaned back again, nodding toward her, "and you've been off in muggle world, eh? How the hell was that?"

@jamie

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The look on Adrian’s face was all Jamie needed to know she had guessed the identity of his girlfriend correctly. He was such a sap and – was he blushing? Jamie’s older sister senses were tingling, and she had to bite back the urge to tease Adrian a little. He got enough of that from Lily. “I’m glad you two are being responsible with your jumping.” Jamie gave him a pointed look. She was just getting used to being a sister to so many people – she didn’t need to add aunt to her list of responsibilities.

“It’s good that you feel good, Adri.” Adrian and Lily’s relationship being stabler could only be positive, as far as Jamie was concerned; a relationship built on explosive emotions never lasted for long. “The Muggle world was awful,” Jamie announced, surprised with her own forwardness. “I just wanted to be on a broom, but no, that would be breaking the Statute of Secrecy!” Yes, Jamie understood the reasoning behind not using a broom in a Muggle suburb, but she had missed being in the sky. She had missed a lot about the wizarding world, actually. “I’m happy to be back here. Someone needs to look after you.” Jamie winked.

@adrian

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Jamie said that she was glad they were being responsible with their 'jumping', and he shrugged. ”Not every time,” he reported back, his voice cool and calm as ever. It was mostly a joke, but he had to do it after that pointed look she gave him. It was... nice, having an older sister to talk about that kind of stuff and to be slightly reprimanded by. He was glad that he had Jamie to talk to rather than turning to Louisa or Dan. That would have been awful.

Jamie said it was good that he felt good about it all, and he knew that she approved of Lily – obviously. She did say the muggle world was awful, though, which made Adrian frown. Her words about the broom made him crack a smile again, though. ”Yeaaaah, would have been worth it though,” he debated. ”I'm not playing Quidditch this year, though... wanted to get my grades up. I do NOT want to be stuck at school another year,” he breathed out, shaking his head. Lily wasn't doing great in class but... he didn't really want to ask her how bad or good it was actually going.

Jamie added that she was happy to be back, that he needed looking after. Her wink made him laugh, ”yeah, too bad you aren't at the school. I could be getting into all kinds of trouble,” he suggested. ”But... I mean, other than the broom thing... were things taken care of?”

@jamie

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Jamie didn’t know what to do with Adrian’s report that he and Lily weren’t careful with their jumping every time – especially because of the cool tone he delivered it in, like it wasn’t a problem. Jamie took a moment to assess the situation before determining it was probably a joke meant to rile her up. She narrowed her eyes at Adrian. “Do you really want me to give you a birds and bees talk? Because that’s where this is heading.” Hopefully that would mortify Adrian enough that he wouldn’t joke about it again.

“It would have been,” Jamie agreed. Adrian went on to say he wasn’t playing Quidditch in favor of keeping his grades up. “Do you know what you want to do after graduation?” Jamie asked. She had been eager to get out of school so she could start working – which, in hindsight, had been an error. She was guessing he wasn’t interested in Quidditch as a career, otherwise he would’ve spent his last year playing, but Jamie didn’t know. She didn’t even know if Adrian was planning on staying in Britain, but was a bit too afraid to face that head on.

Adrian asked about things other than the broom, and Jamie cleared her throat, breaking eye contact. “They’re… good. Better, at least. I mean, they think she’ll be fine.” Talking about her mother wasn’t something Jamie particularly enjoyed. Even if they had made amends, everything still felt… fragile.

@adrian

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She narrowed her eyes, asking if he really wanted the birds and the bees talk. He shook his head, laughing. "No, gods, no. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," some of the time. "Don't need any pups in the family," he added. Which, was also a joke but also could really happen which was an incredibly freaky thing that he never, ever wanted to have to explain to anyone ever. The whole school monitoring wolfbane thing made it hard to run around as wolves anyway, so it was all good.

She agreed that it would have been worth breaking the statute to fly a broom, but he knew she didn't mean it. Otherwise she would have done it, right? She asked what he wanted to do after graduation and he perked up. "Dragons! I mean, work with them," he explained. Adrian had always loved dragons and thought they were basically the best thing since toasted bread, or whatever the expression was. He wanted to ask what she was doing about Quidditch, but hesitated.

She said things were better and that her mother would be fine, and he just gave a quick nod of recognition before moving on. "Great, great. So here you are now, wrecking stuff and reprimanding your siblings. Tell me, does Max get the same treatment I do?" he smirked.

@jamie

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Adrian insisted that even if he and Lily weren’t always responsible when they were jumping each other, there was no chance of pups joining the family, which relieved Jamie. She was not prepared for that thought, and she was pretty sure Lily would be pissed if she got saddled with a kid. “Good. I didn’t really want to give that lecture.” Jamie didn’t know if she would ever want to give that lecture, but in the future maybe she’d be better prepared for it.

“I didn’t think your career involved turning into a dragon, so I’m glad working with them is the plan.” It made sense, Jamie thought; dragons were dangerous and Adrian enjoyed giving her regular heart attacks, so it fit. “Just don’t go getting burned to a crisp, okay?”

Adrian accepted what she said about her mother without harping on it, for which Jamie was grateful. She didn’t want to talk about it, and he obviously realized that. “Max isn’t a Gryffindor, so she doesn’t need constant babysitting,” Jamie teased. Jamie loved Gryffindors – she had dated one and was dating a different one at that very moment – but their general attitudes towards life made it difficult not to worry about them.

@adrian

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Jamie said she didn't want to give him the lecture and he grinned, nodding. "Yeah, I didn't want you to either," he laughed. "Though, a part of me is curious what you would have said.I I'm sure it would have been a good laugh," he added. He had no doubt that ti would have been, but it was good to save them from the uncomfortable part, sure.

She said she was glad working with dragons was part of the plan, but that she didn't want him getting burned to a crisp. "Nah, trust me, I'll figure out how to become one - like you said - before getting burned to a complete crisp. Maybe a little crisp. Come on, scars are sexy, right?" Honestly, it was kind of scary to think about how dangerous dragons really were, but a part of him didn't care. Okay, the bigger part of him didn't care. He lived for that stuff. "Hopefully I'll eventually be in good enough standing with a dragon friend that I could take flight. Lily would probably like that, too," he mused.

As for Jamies treatment of the other siblings, she said Max wasn't in Gryffindor and therefore didn't need constant babysitting. His jaw dropped, "Jamie! I'm offended. Slytherins cause trouble more slyly than us Lions, so if anything they need more babysitting cause' you don't know what they're up to." He nodded firmly, as if he was making some sort of business pitch. "And those Hufflepuffs. Gods help us."

@jamie

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Adrian agreed that he didn’t want to know about her birds and bees lecture, and Jamie’s lips curved up at his laughter. There was something so nice about being able to sit and laugh with her brother, and she took a moment to breathe it in. “If you and Lily do have kids, you can send them to me and then find out what I would’ve said.” That would give him plenty of time to forget they made this agreement at all.

Jamie scoffed when Adrian said he might let himself get burned to a little crisp because scars were sexy. “Whatever you say.” None of Jamie’s lovers had had scars that she knew of, so she couldn’t comment on whether or not scars were actually attractive, at least to her. Adri said he would hopefully be in good graces with a dragon so he could take flight, and her eyebrows shot into her hairline. “I’ll stay on my broom, thanks.” It wasn’t that Jamie was afraid of dragons, but she was not going to trust one to carry her on its back. It was the kind of thing that Lily would eat up, though – Jamie could agree to that.

“Do you have something to say about Hufflepuffs, little brother?” Jamie challenged. “Keep in mind my opinions on Gryffindors can be quickly changed to be much more negative than just ‘needs constant babysitting’.” Sibling banter was fun.

@adrian

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She said if he and Lily did have kids than she would give them the talk for him. At least, that was what was implied. "Deal," he agreed. Yeah, he definitely wouldn't remember that because he wouldn't be having kids for many, many, many years from now. Still, it was a funny thought.

'Whatever you say' she commented, in reference to scars being sexy. He chuckled. Lily had her scars and he had his, whether figurative or literal there was something charming about them on her. When Adrian talked about flying on a dragon though, Jamie's eyebrows reached for the heavens, which made him laugh even more. "Well, you fly your way and I'll fly mine... that sounds like a metaphor," he added, contemplative.

She asked what he had to say about Hufflepuffs and he feigned a look of innocence. "Hey, hey woooah. I'm just saying, all those smiles have to have a dark side, don't they? Doooon't theeey?" honestly, Adrian had gotten pretty good at being an annoying little brother.

@jamie