The Pen is Mighty

The Pen is Mighty

by Chasergirl

Prologue-The Highs of Being Low

         The Leaky Cauldron. To most witches and wizards, it is a staple of Diagon Alley. Children come there with their parents to get a good meal, and if they're lucky they get a sip of mulled mead from their mum or dad. Young couples celebrate their freedom from formal schooling with a few rounds of pumpkin juice and a moonlit window. Older witches congregate around the counter to discuss the latest in de-gnoming while warlocks sit in the back resorting to fist-fighting to prove their favorite Quidditch player is the best in all of merry ol' England. To most of its visitors, The Leaky Cauldron is quite simply a marvelous place to rest one's feet and fill one's belly, where friends and family can share good times.

     For me, however, The Leaky Cauldron was a place that made me happy my mother was a muggle.

     As long as no one in my family ever took my mother to Diagon Alley, she would never be able to find me, face down on the bar counter, drunk out of my mind. Not that I did that often, mind you. For the most part, I was a sober, respectable girl. That night was a special night. Too many things in my life had gone wrong. I had been out of hiding for a good three months, all because You-Know-Who had been defeated. Wait a second, he's gone now. Why am I afraid of using his name? From now on, I'll say Voldemort. Wow, that was tough. Anyway, my family had been in hiding so as not to be found by Voldemort or one of his death eaters. My father had been doing some business with the Order of the Phoenix (translation-he volunteered to do some spy work at the Daily Prophet in order to assure no more foul play with the paper), and once one of the office death eaters got wind of this, the Spinnet household was marked. My father (lucky for us) was old enough to retire, and within a week of his discovery did so. After that, he, my mother, and I sought out places to take refuge. My sister would have come with us, except that she was at Hogwarts, and everyone figured she'd be safer there. Eventually, we traveled overseas and hid using a Fidelis Charm, making Aaron Johnson (Angelina's dad) our secret keeper. Of course, all this had ended months ago. My parents were now safe at home, my sister had come back from school, and I had reached a whole new low in life. Yes, being in hiding was no picnic, but at least no one expects you to have a job while you're there. Sure, I had taken on small jobs, like waitressing at the ice cream shop and working in the back at Quality Quidditch Supplies, but nothing I did could ever make enough money for me to move out of my parents' house. I was feeling guilty about spending my parents' money for everything. It wasn't as if I could work for my mom, either. Preparing bludgers for shelving was one thing, but she worked as a paralegal in a muggle law firm. Even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to last a week surrounded by nothing but muggles pushing paper and talking about bylaws I don't understand. I had applied for bigger things-Witch Weekly, Quidditch Quarterly, Gnomes and Gardens, even the Quibbler. Still, my efforts were fruitless. Hence, I decided to forget my woes and get drunk instead.

     According to what Tom the innkeeper says, I apparently get very loud when I'm drunk, reciting lines from poems and songs he's never heard of. For the longest time I didn't know what he was talking about; sure, I remembered being loud from time to time, but I swore that I didn't know any poems to recite, at least, not any he wouldn't know. That night, however, I discovered exactly what he was talking about. Allow me to explain. I was sitting at the counter, nursing my fifth or sixth mulled mead (I can't remember which), head halfway down when Tom sent a tall frosty mug my way. Oi! Another mead! Just what I needed to make everything okay again. I chugged down the rest of my first mead, and did sort of a half-dive towards the new mug. It was a good thing it was past midnight; I managed to avoid total humiliation and get by with just slight embarrassment when I slipped and knocked my chin against the counter. Funny-how long had that been there? Oh, never mind. I pulled myself back up and successfully grabbed my prized mug. I looked up at Tom with wide eyes, thankful that he had blessed me with such a miracle. I took one giant gulp...and spit the whole thing out out of pure shock.

     "Pumpkin juice! I've been drinking mead's all night and you give me juice!" I cried out, probably making a fool of myself in the process.

     "Yes, it's pumpkin juice. One more mead for you and I'll probably go to Azkaban for poisoning you." Tom replied calmly. "Don't worry, it's on the house."

     Well, some good that did me. I didn't want on the house, I wanted alcohol! I knocked down the juice in protest, only to notice that, as it slid down to the floor, it looked a little bit like soup.

     "Beautiful soup! Beautiful soup!" I began to sing, waving my arms madly like a conductor. I'm sure the other patrons were just delighted to hear my rendition of a song they've never even heard of. Well, that is, most of them have never heard of. Just as I was getting to the next line, I was startled by a deep, manly voice.

     "Alicia? Alicia, what are you doing here so late and why the bloody hell are you singing songs from 'Alice in Wonderland'?"

     Oh God, it was Lee Jordan, the ex-boyfriend. Great, this was exactly what I needed: to be a jobless drunk who serenaded her ex with songs from a Children's book. I had already properly made a fool of myself, so obviously there was only one thing to do: continue to do so until he went away.

     "Lee! How...how are you? Have you tried the beautiful soup? It's just refreshing! Not nearly as refreshing as the mulled mead, mind you. Heheh, I just said "mulled mead mind". What's that called when you use the same letter over and over again at the beginning of words? Alliter...no, Constana...no...Constipation! That's it! Isn't that funny, Lee?" I rambled. He just stood there, looking horrified.

     "Alicia, just how many of those things have you had?" he demanded.

     "Oh, a good sive or fix. Heheh, I mean five or six. The numbers get all fuzzy in my head sometimes. Sort of like the bubbles in my throat." I giggled.

     "Alicia, why on Earth are you out here getting drunk?"

     "Why? I'll tell you why! Because life stinks, that's why! You think everything's all happy-happy, floating on your special little cloud, and then BOOM! Lightening strikes you dead!"

     "What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

     "I'm talking about getting a quality education and then being told you're only qualified to check inventory on Quidditch pants! Pants! The average witch doesn't even wear pants!"

     "She does when she plays Quidditch."

     "Yeah, well, who cares? I wanted to get a real job. A job where I can afford a real life! Nobody'll hire me! Not Witch Weekly, not QQ, not even the Quibbler. The bloody Quibbler told me I couldn't write!"

     About this time, I forgot about the rules of gravity and just sort of fell of my stool into Lee's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Surprisingly, Lee didn't throw me off of him or back away to let me fall. Instead, he grabbed my arms to balance me, then lifted me up so that my head lay on his shoulder. As I cried into his shirt, I noticed it smelled of chocolate and peppermint. Mmm, he was working at Honeydukes again. I have to say that, even now, this is my all time favorite smell. That night, the alcohol just enhanced it.

     "Wow, Lee. y'know, you're so comfortable when I'm drunk. Well, you're always comfortable. And you smell really, really good. Do you taste like you smell? Let's see."

     And with that, I said to hell with all dignity and licked his neck. Funny, he didn't taste nearly as good as he smelled. Not to say that he didn't taste good. He did taste very good. Okay, now I'm getting off the subject.

     "Alicia, perhaps I ought to take you home," he politely suggested.

     "Home? I can't go home! What would my mother say? Too much to drink and can't get a job? Pathetic! I even went back to my dad's old stomping ground!" I explained.

     "You applied for the Prophet?"

     "Damn right I did! Told them I was Parker Spinnet's daughter all the way! Wasn't a story I couldn't write, I told them! And it's true! I could get them anything they wanted! I bet I could get an interview with Arthur Weasley if I wanted it!"

     "Alicia, no one can get an interview with Arthur. He just doesn't want to talk to the press."

     "He likes me! He'd let me have it! But no, that's not good enough for the Prophet!"

     "You told the Daily Prophet that, and they still said no?"

     "Er, no. I didn't tell them that. And they haven't gotten back to me yet on a job."

     And then, for no explainable reason other than that I'm the epitome of an emotional drunk, I started to weep uncontrollably again. And once again, Lee was totally cool about it. Why exactly did we break up again? Oh, right, the whole "I need to go into hiding and having any connection with me at all could put you in danger" thing. How could I forget about that?

     "Everything's just so messed up, y'know?" I began as he sat me down at a table, "I mean, I can't get a job and move out of my parents' house. I've got no friends..."

     "Nonsense. You know you've got Angelina and Katie," Lee reassured as he wiped my eyes clean.

     "Ange? Ange has her own problems. George is in the hospital, and Fred can't deal with it. He's broken up with her. And Katie, oh, don't get me started on Katie."

     "What's wrong with Katie?"

     "She's been lying to everybody about her boyfriend, Michael."

     "What about him?"

     "How about she's afraid to admit that 'Michael' is a 'Michelle'?"

     "Wow. George'll be crushed when he comes round. Might put him back in the hospital."

     Heh, leave it to Lee to always find humor in a situation. Everyone knew George fancied Katie for awhile. George fancied everyone for awhile. At one point in time he even fancied me, but let's not go there.

     "I'm just so scared that everything is just falling apart. Can't you see it falling apart?" I asked, barely coherent.

     "I don't see anything falling apart," Lee replied, "I just see one of the strongest girls I know getting a little scared about the future. Want to know what I see?" I nodded. "I see a world where Katie is honest to herself and to the world about whoever she is, and Angelina and Fred will be happily together in love forever, and where you will be extremely successful and extremely happy and never have to drink again. How's that sound?"

     "Bloody impossible," I replied, still crying a bit. Lord, I don't know if it was the alcohol or the surprise of seeing Lee again, but my emotions were shot to hell. I just kept looking into his big brown eyes and thinking of how beautiful he was. His face, his smile, the way he could just be so comforting when the world was crumbling. I had missed this while in hiding. I had missed him.

     "Lee? What if I told you that I didn't want a real job? What if I told you all I wanted to do was sit at home and write a book? A real, honest-to-goodness book that makes the world a better place. What do you say to that?" I questioned as my head buzzed of booze.

     "I'd say good for you. You should do what you want. If you want to write a book, then go on and write your book! You should do what makes you happy...except for overindulge in mulled mead." Lee said as he pressed his hands to my shoulders to hold me still. I don't think my heart has ever felt as light as it did in that moment. It was a nice, comfortable moment, so of course I had to ruin it by blurting out the first thing that came to my head.

     "Lee, I love you! I loved you before, I love you now. I love you always!" I screamed loud enough for everyone in the pub to hear. All three customers, anyway.

     Lee just looked up to me with a sad look in his eyes.

     "You wouldn't be saying that if you weren't drunk."

     "You're right. I wouldn't have the courage to say it."

     The silence lasted for what seemed like an eternity, until finally a stray hiccup exited my mouth and ended the awkwardness. Lee smiled as I started giggling profusely. He then promptly stood up, grabbed my hand, and pulled me up far too fast than I really wanted to go.

     "Come on, " he began, "I'll take you home." Panic started to spread through my brain.

     "Home? I can't go home! Mum'll kill me if she caught me drunk. That's why I come here instead of any of those muggle joints!" I protested.

     "Don't worry. When I said "home", I meant my home. You're spending the night in my bed.'

     "Uh, Lee..."

     "Don't worry. I'll be on the couch. Just come on. I can't let you try to Apparate anywhere in your condition."

     I smiled as he looked at me. That was Lee Jordan for you, ready for a prank whenever you wanted one, but always soft enough when you really needed him to be. I tried to walk forward a bit, but I stumbled and landed right on my arse. Smooth move, Spinnet. Lee, on the other hand, thought this was hilarious and, in an attempt to be as manly as possible, hoisted me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. As we bobbed out of the Leaky Cauldron, I began humming "Beautiful Soup" in his ear, which kept him laughing.

     "Lee? When you say that I should do whatever makes me happy, you really mean it? I should write a book if it makes me happy?" I asked just as we reached the front door.

     "Yes, Alicia. I want you to be happy. Write your book, sing your song, do whatever. Just be happy, damn it! Okay?" he responded somewhat playfully.

     "Lee?"

     "Yes, Alicia?"

     "I'm happy. Right now."

     "Don't worry. Just wait 'til morning and you'll feel a lot different."

     With those words, I passed out on his shoulder and we apparated to his place. He was right, too. The next morning, I did feel a lot different, and that difference led to what would be the rest of my life.