The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix Part Three

Talk Later

A/N: A very special Thanks to @CuteK86 for all of your help with the Odair brothers and in your collaborative work on this chapter. I truly appreciate you. Jasper and I are so honored that you have put in so much work to creating a fic based on his original character, and I hope that I am able to bring some mirrored honor back to all of your hard work as well with this chapter. (And for those who have not read it, please check out Sarah's beautiful work in progress: https://www.wattpad.com/story/295140428-freaks-year-one )

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"Shhh."

"I am shh-ing, don't be such a grump, Toby."

"You're not shh-ing, you're telling me you're shh-ing, so you're not actually shh-ed!"

"Both of you shh," Jasper cut in, his voice barely more than a breath.

Toby looked abashed and Ethan looked rather smug.

Jasper signaled for them to follow him, and he ducked down the hall, sneaking past their mother and father's room on tip-toe. The hardwood floor of the hallway was cold under foot, Jasper's threadbare socks afforded little protection on a night like this, with icy temperatures and a wind that howled against the house.

Jasper paused in front of their parents' bedroom door and motioned for Toby and Ethan to go ahead past - he wanted them safely tucked into Francis and Edgar's room ahead of him so that if anyone caught trouble for making noise in the hall it would be him, Jasper, that got it, not them.

He listened through the door for any hint of sound coming from within, but there was nothing aside from that whistling wind catching the shutters outside their parents' bedroom window. If they were lucky then their father had drunk enough that he would sleep through that sound as well as any they made in the hall. Hell, if they were lucky then their father had drunk enough that he would sleep... and just never wake up, for that matter.

Jasper felt guilty even thinking that.

"Jaz."

He looked up at Toby's head sticking out of the door of the younger boys' room. He waved his palm for Jasper to follow - and Jasper nodded, tip-toeing the rest of the way after them down the hall and ducking inside.

The bedroom was dark, only what little light the moon afforded them illuminated it. Jasper closed the door quietly, turning the knob so that the hardware wouldn't click, and he drew his wand. "Lumos," he breathed.

God, he needed to work on silent spellwork. He hoped that perhaps the second term would see him able to do that a bit. Maybe if he asked Professor Virindi, maybe she could help him.

The wand tip was bright and he used a trick he'd learned from Meg Johnson to dim the light. Like hushing a baby or blowing out a candle, one blew at the tip of the wand and the light would soften. Now it was just a nice glow.

Francis and Edgar had stretched their quilts over the space between their beds to create a small fortress. Edgar was on his knees at the foot of his bed, grinning with pride. He waved for Jasper, Toby, and Ethan to come in, and turned, crawling under the blankets himself and disappearing in the cavernous space below.

Jasper glanced at the door and turned back, quickly turning the lock, before going and joining his brothers in the blanket fort. His wand was much appreciated by all four of the others, even the dim glow seemed bright under there.

"Hi," Francis signed with a wave.

"Hi," Jasper waved back.

Francis smiled and hugged a stuffed owl against his stomach. He had gotten it as a gift from Jasper one year for his birthday.