Now or Never

Chapter Three: Ordinary Day

Jereville was a quiet, normal town. Every house looked pretty much like another, and every family was nearly the same. At the rather normal hour of six o'clock in the morning, everything was nearly silent as people got up in the morning to get ready for school or work. However, if one listened closely enough, the muffled sounds of a woman screaming could be heard coming from the house on the corner of Willow Street.

In every normal town, there is always at least one odd family. In Jereville, the Donovan family was one. Not that they were exactly a family, in the sense that they were all related. Still, the two people that lived there regularly were close enough to be a real family.

Madame Jade, as Jaclyn Donovan was often called due to her status as a psychic and the fact that she was always seen wearing green, was the head of the household. Despite her oddities, mostly everyone liked her. She was a very nice person, always ready with a kind word, an ear for the woes of most people, and sometimes even a free look into a person's future that she labeled logical advice. She was also always willing to rent out a room of her now rather larger-than-average house to people who could not afford a hotel, for whatever reason they had.

However, on this particular morning three days before her charge (as she often labeled the child she lived with) was due to finally finish his elementary schooling, she was fuming mad.

"David James Tektik! Get yourself and your blasted mutt down here this instant!" she was currently yelling up her stairway.

Almost immediately, a child came stumbling out a doorway, attempting to pull on his tied sneaker as he hopped on one foot towards the staircase with the result that he fell flat on his face.

Undaunted, he finished pulling on his shoe and stormed down the stairs, the black form of his pet dog following at his feet.

"Yeah, Jac?" he asked innocently, his American speech tinted by a slight British accent.

"Explain," his surrogate mother hissed, pointing toward her beloved kitchen, a place known affectionately as the Muggle Paradise From Hell by David.

David headed for the kitchen, making an ineffective attempt to push his dirty-blond fringe out of his eyes as he walked. Within thirty seconds, the explanation drifted back.

"There's a big snake on the table!" David yelled.

"Well get it out!" Jaclyn yelled back.

A minute later, David was back, a huge grin on his face. Ignoring him, Jaclyn turned her wrathful gaze on the dog.

"Sirius Damian Black," she growled out the dog's real name, "if you see fit to corrupt this boy with more of your abnormal pranks, you will regret it. Understood?"

If a dog could gulp in fear, this one would have done so. Padfoot, as he was often called, however, settled for backing away nervously.

"Are you ready for school, David?" she asked suddenly, turning back to the boy. "If not, you'd best finish getting ready quickly so you can catch your bus, and I can beat the snot out of your godfather while you're not here to witness it."

David grinned as he bounced back up to his room to gather his school supplies. Ten minutes later, he was skipping happily out the door and down the street, soon joined by three of his friends.

Not even a minute after he'd left, there was a tapping at the kitchen window. Jaclyn allowed the owl to flutter in before paying it and sending it quickly on its way.

She opened the newspaper, pulled the part for foreign matters away from the rest of it, and tossed it over to Padfoot, who had just returned to his original form.

Ten blissful minutes of silence passed.

"Merlin!" Padfoot suddenly exclaimed. "Jac, this is absolutely perfect!"

Though rather disgruntled at being interrupted while she was reading, Jaclyn looked curiously up at her best friend.

"Look!" Padfoot could barely contain his excitement as he pointed to an article on his part of the newspaper and shoved it in Jaclyn's face.

"And?" she asked as she finished reading it.

"This is our chance! What better reason could we have to move to England? If Dumbledore hired you, and I'm sure he would 'cause you're such a great Seer and all, the three of us could live there, you'd get a better paying job, I'd have an easier time trying to find Peter, and Harry could go to the school his parents went to, and Hogwarts also happens to be the best Wizarding school in Europe, maybe even the world! He'd get a great education! And we'd both be there to help him if he needed help! It's absolutely perfect!"

"Maybe," Jaclyn consented softly when Padfoot had finished his tirade. "I haven't got enough to keep me here, and everything for you is definitely in England, Sirius, but what about Harry? You know how close he is to his friends, he might not want to leave them. He's got a great life here, and I don't want to take that away from him. Do you?"

"No, no, of course not," Sirius replied, looking crestfallen as he sank back into his chair. "You're right, of course. I didn't think of that. Why would he want to leave? I was just so excited at the thought of going back...."

Jaclyn bit her lip. She hated seeing anyone miserable, and right then the miserable person happened to be her best friend. Unfortunately, there was only one thing she could think of to cheer him up even the tiniest bit.

"Tell you what, Sirius," she said kindly, putting her hands over the two clutching Padfoot's untouched cup of coffee, "we'll ask Harry what he thinks. We could be wrong, he might want to go over there, we can't tell for sure what he wants. We'll ask him right when he comes home from school today."

Padfoot gave her a weak smile in reply, not believing he had a chance, but appreciating Jaclyn's attempt all the same.

"Thanks, Jac," he said just as the doorbell rang. He immediately turned into his Animagus form and followed Jaclyn to the door.

"Madame Jade," came the tearful voice of a beautiful young woman on the porch. "I need a reading. I think a made a big mistake last night, and I desperately need to know what the fates have to say."

"Of course, dear. Come in," Jaclyn replied kindly, stepping aside to let the girl in. she had a feeling that it was going to be a long day.

* * *

Nearly eight hours later, David returned from school.

"How was your day, David?" Jaclyn asked almost immediately, a normal occurrence when David came home from school.

"'Bout the same as usual," David replied casually as they walked for the kitchen where he, Jaclyn, and Padfoot would spend an hour talking before Jaclyn went back to work and he did his homework. "Aced another of those spelling tests, apparently. Took a math test too. it was pretty easy, but I think I might've gotten a couple wrong. Spent lunch with the gang. Helped Allyson with an idea for that story she's writing and Alyssa with a coupla songs. Saved some fourth grader named Lily from that Zoe bully. Y' know, the usual."

"A girl named Lily?" Sirius asked absently.

"Yeah," then he paused, "but from what you told me of my mother, the girl couldn't've been anything like her. She was a completely blonde ditz."

"Ah," Padfoot returned.

David glanced warily at his godfather, but continued relating the day's events.

Nearly a half an hour later, it was Jaclyn's turn to talk.

"Well, first thing's first," she began, suddenly serious. "Harry, how would you feel about moving to England?"

"W--what?" David stammered, not expecting that in the slightest. Jaclyn only smiled and continued.

"Don't make some foolhardy decision, either. I want you to think. I'll give you the facts first.

"There was an article in the newspaper today that reported that Hogwarts is in need of a new Divination teacher. If I applied for the job and got it, we would have a bit more money. We'd move to England, which would probably put us much closer to Peter Pettigrew. You would be going to what is possibly the best school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. You would live in the country where your parents were born, be able to see your parents' graves, and possibly meet their old friends.

"However, when we went to England, you'd be forced to leave your friends, and you'd only be able to talk to them through letters. I know how close you are to your friends, and I won't force you to leave them. We'll only go if you want to."

David's almost unnaturally pale green eyes stared into Jaclyn's equally pale blue ones. Then he ducked his head down and began playing with the small hoop in his left ear he'd gotten when he turned ten--a sure sign that he was deep in thought.

It only took a couple minutes for him to make his decision.

"I want to go," he said. "Any chance of taking the blame off Sirius for betraying my parents, no matter how slim, is something I'll take. I want Sirius to be free. And Pettigrew punished, as he should be."

"Are you absolutely certain, Harry?" Jaclyn asked.

David barely hesitated before he answered in the affirmative.

"Then I will speak with Dumbledore the day after you finish school."

* * *

It was the day of Jaclyn's interview, and she was about to speak face-to-face with Albus Dumbledore.

She was also having the closest thing to a nervous breakdown she'd ever experienced.

"Relax, Jac, you'll be fine," David was saying soothingly in an attempt to calm his friend. "You're a great Seer--the best any of us know."

Joshua, who had insisted on going with them for moral support was rubbing his sister's back, though he was incredibly amused by the whole thing.

Padfoot, on the other hand, wasn't helping at all. In fact, he was fast asleep.

Suddenly, a strict-looking witch whose name Jaclyn hadn't quite caught asked her to go talk to the headmaster.

With every sign of calm confidence, Jaclyn went up the spiraling stairs to the office.

Joshua, David, and Padfoot were all left waiting for her to finish the interview. Of course, Padfoot hadn't even noticed Jaclyn leaving, seeing as he was fast asleep, but even he was slightly concerned.

"Do you think she'll really get the job, Josh?" David asked.

"She'd better get it. She'd be a wonderful teacher, that man would be a fool not to realize that. And she's wanted a new job for a while, too. Truth be told, I think she's getting sick of hearing the same things over and over again from those Muggles in your neighborhood.... She'll probably keep your house though, she might want to go live back there again," Josh replied, but he sounded more like he was talking to himself than to David.

"Oh. I really hope she gets it. Sirius has been kinda depressed lately...."

Joshua smiled softly--Sirius never actually seemed depressed, he always had a big grin on his face, and was always up for a new prank. He supposed David would be right, though--not only did he live with the guy, but he seemed to have some special ability to sense a person's emotions, no matter how well they hid them.

"I'm sure she'll get it."

Nearly a half an hour later, Jaclyn finally came back down the stairs.

"How'd you do?" David asked immediately, feeling that Jaclyn was still really nervous.

"I don't know yet. I have to wait an entire week," Jaclyn replied, grinning. "I think he liked me, though. I hope. Anyway, wake your mutt up, we've got to leave.... I might pack a little bit of stuff just in case.... Oh, I hope I get this job."

"You will, Jac. The best Seer in New Jersey not getting a good job? Impossible!" Joshua said.

"I may be the best in New Jersey, but that doesn't mean I'm the best applying. Now, can we go?"

David shook his head as he moved to wake Padfoot up. When he did, the dog opened sleepy eyes to look up at him, but followed when David tugged lightly on his collar. He supposed it was time to wait another week, but he hoped Dumbledore would make the decision quickly. He wanted to be back in England, as soon as possible.