Semper Fidelis

Chapter 2

evanesco (transfiguration)
a spell used to vanish an object or person "into non-being, which is to say, everything"

-~-~-~-

Chapter 2

James could not contain his excitement. Today is the day. Their plans to go to Diagon Alley on the weekend after he received his letter fell through when he was bombarded with school work. With it being June then, all his teachers were trying to get last minute evaluations before final exams. And then the examinations kicked in and of course his mum made him study for those. He's just finished his last exam yesterday (it was Maths, and he performed those long divisions effortlessly), so now he's finally done! It's already mid-July and he's been driving his mum crazy with endless questions about Diagon Alley as he anticipated their trip.

"Mum! I'm almost done getting ready! Are you?!" James yelled from his bedroom as he quickly glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He's wearing his favourite pair of slim fit black jeans, a blue and white striped t-shirt, and a Levi's denim jacket. He combed a hand through his unruly black hair and wrinkled his nose when it would not stay in place. Typical. He grabbed a pair of grey hightop Converse from the floor as Hermione walked through the open door.

"There's no need to yell James, I'm right here." Hermione said as she stood behind her son and grinned at him through the mirror. Her once bushy hair has now been tamed into gentler curls which hung right below her shoulders. Perched on her nose is a pair of tortoise shell glasses, a prerequisite and side-effect for pouring over tomes daily. "Look at that - it seems like we're matching!" She exclaimed and winked at James. He giggled and nodded, seeing that she's wearing practically the same thing as he save for crisp white skinny jeans and an added crossbody bag to carry her wand and wallet. She rolled the sleeves of her denim jacket to her elbows and placed her hands on his shoulders.

Hermione had been preparing herself over the last few days for this trip. She knew exactly how much James wanted to be part of the magical world after discovering his talents and she'll be damned if she stopped him. She knew there will be consequences for her but one look into his eyes had sold her. His happiness is worth more than her history with magic and she simply refused to be the one to hold him back.

She crouched down and looked at him, her chocolate brown eyes meeting his. She brushed his hair from his eyes and placed a smooth hand on his cheek. "Baby, before we go, I want to remind you of what we talked about before. It... it was my choice to leave Hogwarts before graduating. There are... people that want to look for me. Not to hurt me! But to simply find me. But love, I don't think I want to be found."

James held the gaze of his mother. He had noticed a change in her this past year after he found out he, or rather, they were magical. It didn't escape his notice that for his entire life leading up to last summer, he'd never heard her utter a single spell or do anything magical. Heck, his mum is the smartest person he knows! She helps him his Maths and Chemistry (he pretty much has the entire periodic table memorized) and all his other subjects that he could very well say she's the most scientific and factual person he knew. Magical spells, brewing potions, wizarding schools and the likes simply do not make up the picture that is his Mum.

But that image was changed last summer (almost exactly a year from now) when he accidentally floated a glass out of the cupboard right on top of his head. His eyes bugged and he gasped as he felt this sort of connection between him and the glass sever. It started to fall on top of him. His mum was in the room having noticed the little bit of magic he displayed (though he didn't know that what he did was magic then) and was able to prevent the disaster by using her own. She gasped and yelled the words "Arresto Momentum" and the glass stopped in midair, five inches above his head. James remembered how his eyes bugged from their sockets as he stepped away from the path of the falling object and looked at his mum, then back to the glass still in the air, and back to his mum again. He remembered swiping a hand furiously on either side of the glass to check for any strings before shakily grabbing it out of air and turning to look at his mother.