9th January, 1889 — The Grounds

Care of Magical Creatures was over, the OWL class spilling back up along the path and the lawns to the Great Hall for lunch. Classes were bad enough - there was no escape, and as Divination had proven yesterday, even a teacher's eye couldn't quell the chaos - but the walking to and from had become exponentially worse in the last few days, because for a few snatched moments here and there Jemima was a free target.

She had gathered up her things as quickly as possible and lurched forwards, walking fast, her head down but glancing nervously from side to side as she went. Care of Magical Creatures, indeed: now she knew what it was to be prey.

She could see Miss Borgin up ahead, and Mr. Vance was not far off on the left, and those were two people she would much rather avoid, so Jemima swiftly swerved right, colliding unceremoniously with one of the fourth years from class. Mr. Montgomery, as it happened.

Jemima's schoolbag slipped off her shoulder and fell out open on the grass, quills and books and inkbottles dropping here and there. If she had not remembered what she had written about Mr. Montgomery before, the fallen bag was deja vu enough: his mother's letter.

Goodness. Uh - sorry, Jemima mouthed, meaning to say it out loud - sorry for bumping into him, sorry for... the rest of it - but finding instead that no sound came out, her throat too dry.

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Usually, Thomas was a bit more attentive in Care of Magical Creatures, but he had found himself distracted. The castle was filled with too many whispers for anyone to be at ease, and it didn't help that a few of those hushed words were about him. For the most part, his mother's scandal had faded into the background; it was a rare occurrence that he heard about it, and it was usually only used as a low jab. However, since the release of the diary, it had become a topic of conversation once again.

That was unacceptable.

The fourth year had thought he'd done a fair job at blatantly ignoring Jemima. He knew it would be difficult to keep his temper in check, so he had chosen a spot as far from her as humanly possible. It had worked, for the most part. That is, until she collided with him and sent both her belongings scattering and the books he had previously been clutching.

"Are you oka--You." The initial concern he held for anyone else he might have bumped into quickly dissolved into a furious scowl. It was her. Of all the damn people in the bloody castle, it had to be Jemima Farley.

"Sorry isn't enough," was his indignant reply as he quickly swooped for his own books, leaving her belongings to lay untouched in the snow.

  

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By the awesome MJ <3

For a split-second, Jemima thought she might have finally met a pupil who had reserved judgement far enough to treat her with some decency, perhaps even ignore the issue. (She had never brought up his mother before).

But Thomas Montgomery had too much of a temper for that. She remember previous instances of his overreactions. She had written about his overreactions.

Jemima gulped, as he glared at her, and followed suit in trying to gather up her belongings. If sorry wasn't enough - what else did she have but sorry?! - perhaps if she helped him picking up one of his books, he might see it as an olive branch. Some kind of truce. "Here," Jemima said, fumbling clumsily for his things too in the snow, aware of what a mess her own belongings looked like scattered around them - "I don't know what else to say, I'm sorry about the letter - I'm sorry for looking at it." She blurted out hurriedly, all the same. "I suppose it's nice, really, that she writes to you -"

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At first, it seemed as if Thomas was going to let it go. Jemima did apologize about looking at the letter, and her gesture of picking up one of his books had been noticed. Perhaps, it had all just been a misunderstanding. He probably would have read a dropped piece of paper, as well.

However, she continued to speak, and that set his jaw askew.

Through gritted teeth, the somewhat short-tempered Ravenclaw (at least when it came to his mother) spat out, "Don't. Talk about. My. Mother." He wrenched the offered book out of her hands and stood up straighter. "It isn't nice she writes to me." It was embarrassing. It was unacceptable. Why should he respond to a woman who had caused their family to turn into a laughing stock? And, more importantly, abandoned them.

"What would you even know?"

  

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By the awesome MJ <3

Jemima's eyes widened as the boy's temper flared. It would be better not to answer, Jemima knew, better just to flee, never mind her circle of schoolbooks dampening in the snow. But she had already accidentally looked at that letter from his mother - and then written about it in her diary, spreading the truth to the whole school - so she could hardly make things worse for him now, could she?

He must need some comfort about the whole thing. He must. Perhaps all he needed was to talk about it, at last! And then he might repair his relationship with his mother and would forgive her for what she had done - would thank her even, maybe!

So Jemima ignored his instruction and plodded on, hopefully. "Well - I - she must miss you, I'm sure. Maybe she's sorry too, and regrets... er, what she did?" People made mistakes, after all! And people deserved forgiveness, hello!

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Thomas could feel his temper growing. It was difficult to reign it back in once his fuse lit. He was usually a fairly docile kid, but he allowed his emotions to fester, too afraid to let them show. He bottled up all of his feelings about his mother's abandonment to the point that he would explode even at the mere mention of her name. He couldn't bear bringing her up around his father. The man was crushed. He didn't want to contribute to his sadness.

"If she missed me so much, she never would have ran out on us," he growled, inadvertently spilling some of his actual feeling about the subject. He was bitter. If she wanted to rekindle a relationship with them, she needed to show up and actually be there in person. And not have ran off with a pornographer of all things at all.

Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, he glared at Jemima, "Next time, keep your nose out of mine and everyone else's business."

  

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By the awesome MJ <3

Jemima vaguely realised she was not making this at all better and that perhaps the most sensible thing would have been to run off before Mr. Montgomery got any angrier than he was. Unfortunately, Jemima had dealt with far too much confrontation for one year - too much for a young lady, at all! - and while there were plenty of people, beastly Ravenclaws, and half-vampires she was scared of, she didn't think she was scared of tetchy Mr. Montgomery and his mummy issues. And Jemima could not stand to be growled at. She had been trying to be nice and apologetic and comforting about this, for heaven's sake!

"She must have started missing you, if she keeps trying to write so badly," Jemima pointed out, sure that there had been more than one, from what she had read in the letter she'd seen, and the way he had been talking - "Though I can't imagine why, with how cross and unforgiving you are! Is it really so hard to have just a little compassion -" (Why she had spontaneously turned to insulting him as well as humiliating him, she admittedly couldn't say, but it was too late to take it back: the word vomit had started spewing now.)

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Maybe Jemima was right. Why else would his mother have tried to write him if not to try and reconnect? In truth, what he wished for, deep down, was that he could reestablish a relationship with her, but the young Ravenclaw was too blinded by anger and sheer embarrassment to fully see the logic in it all. Perhaps, he was just too afraid to face the hurt his mother had left behind. That would mean he would have to navigate his emotions which were much too conflicting for him to even begin to unpack. And there was still the question as to why she was writing now when he had sent countless, unanswered letters that first year.

As the Hufflepuff continued on her tirade, Thomas could feel the heat building in his face, his quick fuse about to reach a boiling point. Why couldn't she stop speaking? This was what got her into trouble in the first place, sticking her nose where it didn't belong. His secrets and humiliations weren't the only ones leaked to the entire school.

"It's hard to have compassion for someone who has insulted dozens of her peers, or spilled their secrets for all the school to see."

His biting remark was said through clenched teeth. The dark haired boy wasn't sure when, but his wand had found its way into his right hand. Thomas wanted this conversation to be over. With a flash of impatience in his eyes, he aimed his wand at Jemima's forgotten school supplies and promptly turned them into a collection of tiny, white mice that skittered across the snow at their feet.

"Never talk about my mother again."

  

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By the awesome MJ <3

Jemima could scarcely listen to his retort when her eyes fell upon his wand in hand and the flush on his face. Oh no, oh no, this was not good. This was a danger sign. She had heard he could have a temper, and she had heard about his penchant for Transfiguration. So they were too young to have properly learnt how to do human Transfiguration, but what if he tried it on her all the same? She had insulted him now, so he had ample cause: why hadn’t she thought of this before? What if he tried to turn her into something slimy and gross like a snake? Or furry and gross, like a ferret? Or - what if the spell didn’t even work, and she found herself stuck like some kind of half-human, half-beast. Miss Borgin would not be the one baptised Beastly any more!

Entirely paralysed by these fears, Jemima was slow to notice what had become of her supplies, until one of her inkpots went scampering over her feet. “Eughhh!” She squealed in distress, kicking her foot with such force that the white mouse was flung into the air away from her. But they were teeming around her on the floor, and she flailed about with her hands in agitation as she realised those were all her school things she was trying to shoo.

Mr. Montgomery looked especially fiendish when Jemima looked at him, trying (and failing) to glare at him with tear-stung eyes. “I meant for your mother!” She cried, about compassion. Clearly no one at school had any for her any more -

Though surely someone would now that Mr. Montgomery had victimised her so?

“I was only trying to help,” she said with a sniffle as the tears started to fall, getting down on her knees to fumble squeamishly for the straggler mice.

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The following 1 user Likes Jemima Greengrass's post:1 user Likes Jemima Greengrass's post
   Jonathan Lawrence

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Perhaps he shouldn't have done it. Jemima seemed to have meant well, but the festering wound that was his mother was something he hadn't learned to cope with. It didn't help that others were now reminded of the entire scandal, thanks to the witless girl in front of him.

The dark haired boy opened his mouth to say something else, but the only noise that slithered out was a sigh. He promptly turned on his heels and stormed off, not even daring to glance back at the poor Hufflepuff. Maybe he shouldn't have turned her school supplies into animals that darted off so quickly. Hopefully, she would be able to catch them all so she could reverse the spell.

But that wasn't his problem.

Still fuming, the boy trudged through the snow, abandoning her.

The following 1 user Likes Thomas Montgomery's post:1 user Likes Thomas Montgomery's post
   Elias Grimstone

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By the awesome MJ <3