The top of your list (Jamie)

[Deleted]

March 25th, 2025

Andy was exhausted. She hadn't slept in almost forty eight hours. She did manage to shower before leaving the house, but she just let her air had dry which meant it was pretty frizzy and curly. Which she rarely let happen. She didn't put on make up either. This wasn't wasn't entirely unheard of for her, but combined with the hair it was not herself. On top of all that, none of her clothes were at the house because of her having stayed with Susan, so she was wearing one of Viks flannel button up shirts over her leggings from two days before. She managed to put a belt on over the shirt so it looked like it was kind of on purpose.

She hoped Jamie would be working, as she came in with the list Callisto had given her. She walked in, and sighed with relief when she saw the blond at the counter. She wanted to play it cool, but the mere sight of Jamie made her breath catch and her lip quiver with the emotions she'd been holding in. She crossed the store to her, and placed the list down on the counter, "I-I need these, please."

@jamie

[Deleted]

Working in the front of the shop wasn't where Jamie preferred to be, but someone had needed to put the potions she and Sienna had brewed in the front of the store. The potions shelf looked a bit of a mess - Jamie guessed someone had rifled through it earlier in the day and no one had gotten around to straightening it out again. Jamie went behind the counter so she could update the stock book, but before she could retreat back into the brewing room, the bell above the door rang. Jamie looked up, and saw a familiar face at the door.

"Andy?" Jamie couldn't imagine why Andy would need to come to the apothecary, especially looking the way she did. She didn't look... normal. Before Jamie could ask anything more, Andy set a list down on the counter, saying she needed the ingredients. Jamie skimmed over the list, pressing her lips together. She recognized these ingredients. "Are you okay?" Jamie's voice shook. "Why do you need an antitoxin?" Maybe she was drastically misinterpreting the list, but Jamie couldn't think of any other potion that would need all of these.

@lestrange

[Deleted]

The sound of Jamie saying her name was almost enough to break her down. She had been strong in front of Callisto. In front of Vik. In front of herself. But she was kidding herself if she thought she could walk in there and stay strong in front of Jamie. Jamie looked over the list, and Andy could tell by her change in expression and tone that she knew exactly what the ingredients were for. Obviously when she specifically asked about the antitoxin. "It's n-not me it's..." she stopped, swallowing the lump in her throat that just replaced itself. She wasn't supposed to say it was Vik, because the poison in him would lead to the Black Market and he could get in trouble. He told her not to go to Mungo's. But who would Jamie tell...?

It was strange, the sensation in her veins. The second she found out Vik was poisoned the familiar black sludge started to form, running through her body until her heart turned cold. It was the feeling she'd always felt when she was ready to kill someone. But since she couldn't leave Vik to do that she had just been walking around with this until it turned into cement. But now, hearing Jamie's voice and seeing her face, the cement started to fall apart and turn into liquid again, shifting back into blood... And tears.

@jamie

[Deleted]

It was a relief to hear Andy wasn’t the one who need the antitoxin. Jamie doubted she’d be standing if she was the one who was poisoned, but the icy clench in her chest released slightly at the confirmation. Andy trailed off before finishing the sentence, but Jamie made a soft hushing noise in the back of her throat. “I don’t need to know. As long as you’re okay.” Jamie whipped out from behind the counter, a little angry at herself for not doing it sooner. Andy’s eyes were turning pink at the edges, tears pooling in them, and Jamie needed that to stop. She needed Andy to be alright more than she needed to breathe.

She wrapped her arms around Andy quietly, hoping her hug wouldn’t be refused. “I’ll get the ingredients. Do you need me to make the potion, too?” It didn’t matter if the potion wasn’t for Andy – it was obviously for someone Andy cared about, and Jamie wanted to make sure it was done right. Yes, Jamie wanted to know more – she could help – but that was the least important thing on her mind right now.

@lestrange

[Deleted]

Jamie said she didn't need to know, which only made Andy want to tell her when more. When Jamie came around the counter and wrapped her arms around her, Andy found herself unable to lift her own in return. She just let the hug happen to her, and almost immediately felt the tears starting to fall from her eyes. Jamie, while still holding her, suggested that she could make the potion as well. Andy nodded, "that would be fine," she choked out. Callisto had taught her how, and Andy wasn't that bad at potions, but it was probably better to have a professional take care of it anyway. On the other hand, she didn't want to leave Vik alone for too long, but she had just given him a dosage and he would be knocked out for the next few hours anyway. Plus, she kind of needed somewhere away from him to process. "Is there... Somewhere I could sit down?" she asked, voice still tight. She wished that Jamie could just come home with her, but Vik really didn't want anyone knowing what happened.... And bringing Callisto, an incredibly lawful person, was bad enough. Plus, Jamie eas obvious on the clock.

@jamie

[Deleted]

Andy didn’t hug her back, but she also didn’t push Jamie away, which was good enough. Andy looked exhausted, so it was entirely possible she couldn’t summon the energy to do it. Andy agreed to let Jamie brew the potion, and Jamie nodded, stepping back. Andy was crying freely now, and Jamie reached to brush some of them away. It was going to be okay – she was going to make it okay. She couldn’t tell Andy that yet, though, because it would just sound hollow.

Andy asked if there was a place to sit, and Jamie nodded. “You can come into the back with me. I’ll get started on the potion and you can sit with me, okay?” Hopefully Sienna had left for the day, or at least wouldn’t question why a random woman was coming into the back room with Jamie. She opened the door to the back room, waving Andy towards her brewing station. Jamie quickly grabbed an extra stool, leaving Andy the choice between it and Jamie’s normal brewing chair. “I’m going to go grab the ingredients. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do while I'm gone.” Jamie attempted a smile, but it felt rather forced. Not knowing how to make Andy feel better sucked.

@lestrange

[Deleted]

Jamie said that she could come to the back and sit and Andy just nodded, not speaking at the moment. She followed Jamie back, walking carefully as to not sway on the spot due to lack of sleep. As soon as the stool was pulled out Jamie collapsed into it, basically. She didn't sit on the chair, because the stool just seemed closer. Jamie said she'd grab the ingredients and made a little joke, which made Andy smile just a tad. ”Yeah, okay,” she agreed. She stayed still as Jamie grabbed the stuff, closing her eyes slightly and taking in a deep breath.

Once Jamie was back, she looked up. ”Thanks for your help, Jamie. I don't know what I would have done... anyway, this last batch should be all he needs before he's better,” Andy said, sort of promising in a weird way that she wouldn't be bothering Jamie about it again – even if she didn't say those exact words.

@jamie

[Deleted]

Jamie noticed the way Andy practically threw herself at the stool, her heart tugging a little. She could make the antidote, but she couldn’t take away the fatigue and pain Andy was carrying, and that killed her. Jamie grabbed everything she needed efficiently, glad she had memorized the layout of the back room by now. When she returned to her cauldron, Andy thanked her.

“It’s really not a problem. I want you… I want you to be able to come to me for anything. Anything.” Jamie repeated the last word for emphasis. She didn’t know much of what Andy got up to in her work as a hit witch, but she imagined it some of it was less-than-savory. Jamie didn’t want Andy keeping things from her because it was gross or something. “Do you want to talk about it?” Jamie asked quietly, lighting the fire under her cauldron and beginning the potion. Considering Andy hadn’t been forthcoming with details so far, Jamie guessed the answer was no, but it was better to ask than not.

@lestrange

[Deleted]

Jamie said she wanted Andy to be able to tell her anything... and Andy wanted to, she just didn't know if she should. Andy bent at the waist, pressing her elbows into her knees and her hands into her hair. When she heard Jamies question, albeit asked softly, she looked up, fingers laced through her hair. "I... I guess I could..." she knew Jamie wouldn't tell anyone, right? Especially if Andy asked her not to. "It's my boyfriend. He got poisoned but... he can't go to Mungo's, nobody can know," she explained, swallowing hard. She released her hand and let her hands fall back toward her lap. "He doesn't need people investigating it. I'm just taking care of him myself, with Callisto's help," did Jamie know Callisto? Andy had no idea, but it wasn't like she was really in a position where she felt the need to elaborate. "Barely slept..." her eyes started to sting again and she looked down, clasping her hands together. "And I miss him," her lip started to vibrate again and her eyes felt like they were burning her skull. A small sob came out of her and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Before she knew it, she was full on sobbing. She hadn't really been able to since Vik was poisoned, and even before then when she saw Phil a few days before. Having sleep deprivation, someone she loved and trusted right in front of her, and worrying about Vik and feeling guilty about missing Phil... all at once it was like the floodgates burst open and what came out was a horrible sound. That sound was gasping, groaning, whimpering, clutching her mouth with one hand and her stomach with the other.

@jamie

[Deleted]

Jamie was more surprised than anything when Andy said that she could talk about what happened. The story that spilled out – that her boyfriend was poisoned, but no one could know – was, in a word, awful. Jamie didn’t know who the Callisto person who was helping Andy was, but she hoped the woman knew something about healing. This potion was an antidote, but it wouldn’t be enough on its own to get someone back to top form. There was intrigue there – why couldn’t anybody know if someone was poisoned? – but Jamie was less concerned with the reasoning and more concerned with how Andy seemed to be falling apart in front of her eyes. She said she barely slept (which was obvious), and that she missed him, but Jamie didn’t have long to puzzle over who he was (though she had some guesses) before Andy burst out into sobs.

“Oh, Andy…” Jamie murmured, voice soft and concerned. She moved to be next to her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around Andy’s shoulders. She kept one eye on the potion, but it was stable and Andy definitely wasn’t. “You’re doing everything you can, angel.” Jamie wished there was more comfort that she could offer, but she couldn’t un-poison Andy’s boyfriend or give her more sleep or make her stop missing someone. “I’m here.” That was the best she could do.

@lestrange

[Deleted]

Jamies arms were around her but Andy barely noticed at first. But then that word. Angel. Andy felt her hands starting to shift in their shaking. Instead of being scattered and emotional, the buzzing through her fingers turned sharp and even more rapid. She felt her hands clench into fists and she shoved herself out of Jamies hold, standing quickly and whipping around to face her. "What is wrong with you!? You always think people are so good. That there is this light in everyone that you believe in. You don't even know me," she was yelling. Yelling at Jamie Greyback. The one person who had never abandoned her. Yet, here she was, shouting at her. She pulled her wand out to cast a quick silence charm, so no one outside this room would here what she had to say next. Then, she tossed her wand on the table, not paying attention to what it ran into on the way. "You don't know the things I've done, Jamie," her tears kept coming, but her loud voice was somehow steady. "I KILLED Jude Wyatt. I found his apartment and I bashed his head in with my violin. He had a girlfriend, Jamie. A nice one, as far as I could tell. And I killed him in cold blood. I killed this random group of guys who were running an illegal dog fighting business. Just muggles. Nobody special. I burned," he voice cracked, "every letter Phil wrote to me while he was in Brazil. I killed someone with a hairpin. Just because they bothered me a little." Suddenly all the anger and fury evaporated, and she stood there still, releasing her fists. Her voice dropped down a town or two, her blood starting to turn that familiar black she loved so much. "And I'll kill whoever did this to Vik."

@jamie
(have fun!)

[Deleted]

Andy was angry at her.

Jamie was angry at herself, too. Not for believing the best in people – she would never regret that, especially when people was angry – but for not seeing that she was hurting Andy. She was the one who pushed Andy over the edge, she was the one who had made Andy rage and rage and rage. Jamie took it in, one shouted confession after confession. Jamie didn’t know her. Andy killed Jude. Andy killed Muggles. Andy burned Phil’s letter. Andy killed, Andy killed, Andy killed –
Andy would kill again.

And God, Jamie hated herself, because she was going to let Andy kill someone. There was no doubt in her mind that she would let Andy walk out of the potioneer’s, wand in hand, to go kill another person. Because she loved Andy, and she couldn’t stop. Even if she could stop, Jamie wouldn’t want to, because there was something exhilarating about knowing she loved someone so wild. The wolf in her was practically leaping in glee, because it had found someone like it.

Maybe that’s what had drawn them together in the first place – a predator recognizing a predator. Jamie wanted to be angry at herself, because she knew that killing wasn’t good, but words were spilling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“I want you to kill my father.” Andy’s voice hadn’t shaken, and Jamie’s didn’t, either. There had been nothing she was ever so sure of her in life than that she wanted Fenrir dead – it had nearly driven her mad when they were in school. She had found herself again, because Jamie wasn’t a killer, but… but she could love one. “Will you do that for me, angel?” Jamie knew what that word meant. She knew when people thought of angels, they thought of halos and sparkling white and gold and goodness and light, but, well… avenging angels were more Jamie’s style.

@lestrange

[Deleted]

Wait. What? Andy's blood turned red again and her entire body relaxed from the tension. "What... what?" she repeated out loud. Jamie used that word again, but it seemed different now. Andy blinked. Then blinked again. Hard, holding her eyelids down long enough to see the black before opening them again. "You can't be serious. I just, I just told you I kill people and you say that?" Then, she was laughing. Not a wild maniac laugh or anything just... laughter. She shook her head, reaching her hands up to calm her hair down that seemed a little out of control for the moment. "I'm not sure I'm that confident in my abilities to kill the most dangerous werewolf known to our kind. As much as I love you, I don't want to be a werewolf too," she added. Her voice was entirely back to normal now. She was seeing clearly, oddly. "I can try."

@jamie

[Deleted]

It seemed she had startled Andy, which made sense, since Jamie had startled herself, too. Andy seemed disbelieving, and Jamie just shrugged. “Love keeps no record of wrongs,” she answered. That wasn’t entirely the story, but Jamie needed time by herself to process why she was so okay with this before attempting to explain it to anyone else. If Andy had really expected Jamie to turn her away, they didn’t know each other as well as they thought. Andy laughed, and Jamie watched her – not laughing, but not frowning. Just waiting.

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” Jamie said quietly, looking at her hands. “And I wouldn’t want you to be a werewolf, either.” She knew the burden that brought upon people, and part of loving someone was wanting the best for them. The best for Andy was definitely not becoming a werewolf. “Thank you.” Jamie swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. For… everything.” For not being the person Andy needed, for asking her to kill someone, for something else entirely that Jamie didn’t have words for.

@lestrange

[Deleted]

"Do you always talk like a bumper sticker?" Andy joked. Vik had told her all about those when they were looking at nice cars at the parties they went to. They always had funny or 'inspirational' quotes on them. She shook her head, still in disbelief that Jamie, the kindest person she knew, wasn't even bothered by her psychotic alter lifestyle. Even Phil had a hard time dealing with that. Still... Andy did remember how Jamie wanted her father dead. Or she at least remembered how angry he had made her. And why not? He was terrible. Andy couldn't understand hating your parents... and wanting them dead.

Jamie said it was a lot to ask, her voice soft. Andy furrowed her brows together as she listened to her, seeing how clear it was that Jamie was genuinely sorry for asking... but that she still wanted it. Jamie said she was sorry for everything and Andy wasn't even entirely sure what that entailed. She shook her head, then took the necessary steps toward Jamie to reach her. She placed both hands on Jamie's shoulders, pulled her toward her and gave her a short kiss. Then she moved Jamie back so she could look right into her eyes. "Don't even apologize to me," she insisted. Then she looked over Jamie's shoulder where the potion was brewing. "Does that need to be checked on, though?" she had almost forgotten.

@jamie