Super Glue for Broken Families

Jack paused. There was the bombshell. So it had been the doing of a slight, pretty blonde girl - a girl barely out of school had managed to sentence a boy barely through puberty to fend for himself in a world that did no favors for his kind. She did not say a word on it, however, though she could not be happy with the girl. It was these sort of actions Jack had worked so tirelessly to overcome, and each reminder was equally unfortunate.

She took a small breath, before responding as simply as possible. "If you continue to be frank with me, I foresee so reason to deny you access to him. Why was he turned out? Because of the condition alone, or was he acting like an immediate threat?"

'No. Well. Sort of.' Hallie mused for a moment, her tears finally coming to a halt. 'There were many reasons. I was scared that he'd attack us and break our family apart even more. But I was... Scared.' She paused, her eyes for once blank. 

'I was scared of looking at him everyday and knowing that it was my fault. I was only thirteen but still I could have gotten myself bitten instead of him, given him chance to escape and... I didn't want my Mum to know that she'd raised a coward.' 

The final words were spoke with a bitter taste in her voice. Hallie wasn't a coward she was incredibly brave, especially after what she'd done at the shrieking shack - saving Maura from the clutches of James Darling and Alexis D'Eath. Yet, she was simply a girl who had slipped in weakness once in her life. 

Jack paused. She was forcing herself to not snap at the girl as she would have done in her younger days. She had to remind herself that she had lived a very experienced, full life and knew things most others would never have to encounter. She had told the girl that she was not going to judge her, so she had to force herself not to scorn her now. This was not hate or malice, this was ignorance. Jack could not blame the girl for not knowing any better - though she wish she could.

She paused. "What I am about to say is not scorn, but educational. People who have been bitten by werewolves do not become threats. In their human forms, they are as harmless as anyone. And with wolfsbane, even the wolf is safe. Werewolves become dangerous when they are unfairly treated as though they are. I'm telling you this because you are becoming an adult and you need to know."

She paused. "Toby is very hurt. I'm not one to sugarcoat. He is very hurt, I think, by what you've done. I don't think he blames anyone for what happened to him - I haven't seen that in his nature. But he's hurt that he's not allowed to be apart of his family."

'I know that.' Hallie retorted to Jack as she began to explain about werewolves. The ex Gryffindor had just completed her NEWT Defence Against the Dark Arts so was fully aware of the conditions and the prejudice that thrives among the disease. It seemed to Hallie that Jack wasn't understanding how young, immature and inexperienced she was when she had escaped the werewolf.

'I know that werewolves are descriminated against and that they aren't harmless.' She continued, standing up and walking to a photograph of Hallie as a seven year old girl, tickling her brother whilst her Father laughed in the background. How she missed them both. 'But I was scared. I was scared about that one time each month when he would transform and could slaughter us in our sleep. I was scared to feel... feel the guilt constantly everytime I looked into his poor blue eyes. I did this to him, I felt guilty and I couldn't face the fact I'd infected my brother. I should have plucked up some courage and made sure he was ahead of me when we both ran. I should have stopped and realised that he had fell. I should have told my Mum one of the werewolves was him. I shouldn't have gone out in the forest the morning after and asked him to leave. I get that!' The final three words were a lot louder as she gradually increased her volume and tempo as she vented the thoughts that had polluted her brain for the past years.

'And every day I have to live with the fact that I am the reason for Toby's pain and...' She paused, lifted the photo from the mantle piece and returned to the sofa, passing the photo to Jack. 'I still love him. And I know it was a mistake and immature and irrational but I learnt from this. I became a stronger person, I became the person that I am today and although I once showed cowardice in my life I have shown bravery beyond peoples imaginations. I saved my best friends life whilst being placed under the cruciatus curse. I hid with Toby in the cupboard whilst death eaters stormed into our house and murdered our father. I was the one who explain to Toby where our Father had gone. I don't think that is cowardice after all.' Hallie concluded her monologue by brushing stray tears from her waterline.

'Please. Promise me you will get in touch with me when Toby wants to get in touch. I- I need to be the one to explain to him what I did. Please.'

Jack ticked her head. "Knowledge without application is worthless," she said, sounding like an old wiseman or something. "I'm not trying to be harsh, but aren't you now a graduate. Harsh lessons will find you. You may have been scared, but you were not the one bearing the brunt of an affliction, the fear of a new life. Your fear helps no one - not yourself, and not your family. This is not about your pain, but about your ability to bring back a family that should never have been torn apart."

She knew she was being hard on the girl, but Hallie was now the sister of a werewolf, and life was not going to be easy for her. Though Jack knew her words sounded like pain atop more pain, she knew they were the kindest thing she could do for the family. She was preparing the blonde girl to be the strong one in the family. She was preparing the girl to be the savior of a bad situation.

"This is no longer about you," she concluded. "Put out every thought of yourself. Forget your own pain and focus on ending the pain of your brother. Can you do that?"

Hallie stared at the lady. She was indeed a graduate and she knew that she could apply her knowledge now much more than when she was thirteen years old and didn't have much. However it would be no use arguing with the quidditch player who Hallie thought seemed too insensitive to care about everyone in the situation. Not that Toby hadn't been through much he had probably been to hell and back, but their Mum and herself had been through a different type of pain. 

There had been a funeral a year later. Just a small service for Family members and close friends if the Cooper family. For the entire summer Hallie didn't speak to anyone. They all believed Toby to be dead and Hallie mentally tortured herself over this, it had her who'd told him to leave. It was her fault if he had been dead. 

'I am stronger. I can do this. I can help Toby.' She replied. A fire raging in her stomach. Hallie wasn't lying, she knew inside her that she would be able to cope with the situation. She had lost her brother was once before and she wasn't about to lose him again! 

Jack could see the frustration of youth, the pain of inability, the hurt ignorance brought all flickering in the girl's eyes. The girl indeed was much stronger than many her age would have been. A real coward would have had Toby locked up or killed. A real coward would have broken down with the secret. Still, this was cowardice and ignorance, no doubt about it. Still, these flaws attacked everyone at least one in life, and at least Hallie was getting help at reversing the consequence they had brought.

"Good," Jack said. She began rifling through her bag, saying, "It's a good thing I carry these with me everywhere. Old habits die hard." She handed Hallie an official looking pamphlet that read Ministry and Werewolves : the facts. "Most of it is bullshit," Jack stated plainly. "There's a lot of prejudice still in the Ministry, but if you're going to help Toby, you'll have to know all about what the Ministry expects. You'll have to go in and have him identified as a werewolf, explain that he hasn't checked in because of the situation and because he's underage, and sign on as his sponsor. Every werewolf that doesn't want to have the Ministry on their asses every second of the day has a sponsor. The sponsor is responsible for ensuring the werewolf has a good supply of Wolfsbane, is taking safe precautions during the full moon, and is assimilating well. I sponsor five or six, actually, so I could help you with it."

Hallie took the pamphlet from Jack and began to read snippets of sentences as she glanced over it. It suddenly felt so real. She could finally help Toby, rewrite her wrongs. Despite that it was a lot of work being a sponsor and if she was accepted as a trainee auror then it'd be a hefty of volume of work - unless her Mum helped.

Mum. Hallie hadn't thought about her at all in the conversation. How was she going to tell her that Toby was safe. Unroot the past when Toby hadn't even agreed to seeing Hallie. No. She wouldn't tell their Mum, not yet anyway. The ex-Gryffindor would meet with Toby a few times, break the ice, stabilise a bond before reintroducing them - make sure she wasn't a flight risk.

'Will you contact me when Toby is ready to see me?' Hallie asked. She hoped it'd be soon, as soon as possible. But there was the chance Hallie could hear back from the auror office about her employment, maybe even start work too before Toby decided to meet her. 

The girl seemed to be calming and becoming more serious with every passing moment, which gave Jack a little hope. It was hard for Jack to be optimistic, especially in this particular age. She was much more optimistic with younger kids - her cousin probably being the eldest she found real hope in. Once they became adults, they held the same risk factor for disappointment as anyone else. But she was hoping Hallie would be able to do more for the situation.

Jack stood, sensing that she had long overstayed her welcome. She did not need to wait for Mrs Cooper - Hallie had it covered, she thought. Besides she was the responsible one - it would best be left to her. She gathered her things and nodded in affirmation. "You'll be notified immediately, I assure you. Until then, then?" And she held out a hand for the girl to shake, for they were now almost partners in this issue.

Hallie places the pamphlet down on the sofa before too rising. Taking Jack's hand she slowly replied: 'Thank you. Thank you.' Hallie wanted to say more. She wanted to thank Jack for coming to her about Toby, for keeping him safe, for giving her the chance to redeem herself but it was too emotional for her. She just hoped that Jack could see how truly thankful she was. 

Walking to the front door Hallie opened it allowing Jack to leave. 'Take care.' The ex-Gryffindor said, catching her reflection in the mirror by the door. Her mascara had streaked down her face, her eyes were red raw and she looked completely exhausted. Their short meeting had turned out to be more strenuous than Hallie had thought when she opened the door to the unknown earlier that day.