The Tale of Jamie Devereaux

Oi, Piggy

Chapter Thirty-Five: Oi, Piggy

Sirius Black had seen his childhood home in several states. He remembered the stuffy holiday parties his parents would host in the parlor, how nothing was out of place—not a hair on his head. He remembered the way pureblood families would gather for extravagant dinner parties in the dining room and how their pompous ideals would travel upward to the bedrooms where their children would gather. Despite all these various stages of Number 12 Grimmauld place, Sirius had never seen the townhouse filled with warmth and laughter. That was until Molly Weasley and Loren Bruce took it upon themselves to transform the temporary safehouse into a home. In only three weeks, the two mothers had altered almost all of the first floor and several bedrooms. Although she had no magic of her own, Loren's ability to conquer magical problems with muggle solutions was proving exceedingly useful for the Order's safe house. The muggle woman had bought cruelty-free rodent traps for all the pixies that were loose. She also had corrupted every Weasley toward a new love of muggle music by buying a stereo that had caused Arthur Weasley to almost implode from shock and excitement.

Jamie Devereaux was forbidden from leaving the Black home, much like Sirius, until Dumbledore settled people's fears of the little blonde. Minerva McGonagall had to reassure Jamie every time she entered Grimmauld place that she would still be able to go to Hogwarts that following school year and complete her education. The Transfiguration professor had decided that what Jamie had done the night of the third task had only been possible because of the sheer amount of emotion that everyone was emitting as well as the emotions Jamie herself was feeling. Situations like that would not occur through the halls of Hogwarts, but if enough students and parents suspected something was fundamentally different about Jamie Devereaux, she could face backlash from being back in the castle.

The half-Veela was slowly coming back into herself, having had several long talks with her mother about Cedric and how the Hufflepuff boy would want Jamie to continue to live her life regardless of what had happened to him. There was also the fact that Cedric Diggory had died a heroes death in every sense of the word, and it was up to Jamie to respect his death and help the order convince the rest of the wizarding world that Cedric had been murdered by Voldemort in that graveyard with Harry Potter. Still, every now and then after Fred Weasley would make the young Bruce laugh particularly hard, she would pause and stop smiling. Her emotions were much more hay-wire than they usually were, making Jamie think three times before speaking to anyone other than Fred. She had already accidentally forced Ginny Weasley to tell her about her permanent crush on Harry and Molly Weasley revealed a secret ingredient to a family casserole that she had never told another soul.

The Weasley family was surprisingly accepting of the additions that were Loren and Jamie Bruce into their family, regardless of how honest they were forced to be. Loren was ecstatic to be surrounded by so many people, seeing as how often she was alone. Overall, the dynamic was one of a never-before-seen extended family where everyone was either laughing hysterically, screaming when something new and foul was discovered in a blocked off room, or tip-toeing around Jamie Devereaux.

"Absolutely not." Kingsley Shacklebolt said decisively as he headed toward the front door to leave. Sirius watched in amusement as Loren Bruce's short legs strode determined after the Auror.

Loren stepped in front of Kingsley so he couldn't leave, "Give me one good reason why." She said, crossing her arms.

Kingsley sighed loudly and looked up at the ceiling in exasperation. He had only known the black-haired woman for a few weeks and already she was becoming a predominant pain in his side, "Because you've already cluttered this place with enough muggle contraptions."

The muggle woman rolled her eyes, "I don't hear anyone else complaining. A Television is just what this place needs. I'm missing all of my good programs and Jamie has to watch the Brady Bunch movie and make fun of it with me." When the tall wizard continued to look at her with that exhausted look on his handsome face Loren narrowed her eyes, "I can't believe I'm even asking your permission. I'll go out and get one myself."