I've Been Burned. (Viola)

[Julie Paige McGreggor]

Julie was glowing. No, not physically glowing of course. But glowing. Anyone who walked by could just see the happiness radiating from her. She and Jason had been going out for about a month or two, and they had recently been out club hopping. Jason was a great dancer, and a real charmer. She felt kind of bad though, because she had resorted to her old habits. She couldn’t help herself. Jason was a friend from her teenage years. She couldn’t help but feel like a teenager whenever she was around him. They spoke so much about their individual Hogwarts memories and had a lot of fun together. Julie was actually beginning to believe that she could be with this guy for a very long time, possibly even for the rest of her life. She didn’t know what made her feel this, but she just did. Last week, Julie did something with Jason that she normally would have regretted, but for some odd reason she did not. When she was a teenager, Julie had been involved with the ever so tempting life of the addict. She loved to drink, was a smoker, and even did some other things with Ricky on occasion. After moving out of her aunt and uncle’s place however, Julie had decided to give that stuff up. But the other night, Julie couldn’t help but say no to Jason when he offered to buy her a drink. It was like high school all over again. Before she knew it, both Julie and Jason had had far too much to drink.

The next morning, Julie woke up in her bed, which was normal enough. The odd part about it though, was that Jason was fast asleep right next to her. They’d both had a bit of a hangover, but otherwise were fine. They had come to a joint decision that there was really nothing wrong with what they had done. They were two grown adults in a serious relationship. It was allowed, wasn’t it? Julie smiled, remembering that morning that she had woken up with Jason by her side. It was a nice feeling. Even now, a week later, Julie was still glowing from the event. However, she found it a bit odd that Darcy, Jason’s daughter hadn’t showed up for class yesterday. Julie had tried calling Jason, but he hadn’t answered. She’d even attempted to send him a letter through owl post, but she received no answer. It didn’t affect her mood though, for Julie had a date with Jason tonight. She’d decided she was going to cook for him and they‘d eat in her studio. She normally wasn’t much of a cook, but she attempted to make him a nice (slightly burnt) lasagna.

Julie walked around her small kitchen, passing a letter from Hogwarts which was calling her in for a job interview about being a counsellor and some kind of ethics teacher in their school. Julie had her class here. She didn’t need to go back to Hogwarts. But it was a good letter to have, just in case. Maybe Vi would take interest in it? Just as Julie raised her wand to magically remove the dish from the oven, a handsome black owl flew in through her kitchen window. How odd it must have looked to the muggles, to see an owl fly into an apartment window in the middle of the day. Julie’s wand guided the pasta on top of the stove as she walked over to the owl and removed the neat letter on his ankle. The owl flew away seconds later, which made Julie stare at the window in confusion. Wasn’t he supposed to wait until Julie replied to the letter? Julie shrugged and opened the letter, noticing it was from Jason. Julie started reading the letter with an excited smile, but her face fell with every word she said.

Dear Julie,

I am so sorry this had to happen. Please know that I never meant to hurt you. It’s just that, I lost my restaurant. It was my only source of income. I’m a father first and foremost, and I need my parent’s financial aid to give Darcy a good life. Morgan is finally back from her vacation, and she’s not exactly much better off. I’m torn between being with you and being there for my daughter. She deserves a normal happy family with a normal life. As a child, I was given everything my heart desired. I want Darcy to have that option as well. So, I’m really really sorry this has to happen, but I’m back to Italy with Morgan. I’ll be taking Darcy with me, and mum and dad are moving down there as well. Morgan has a great place where I can find work until I get back on my feet. You’re a really great person, and if the situation was different, I would have definitely decided to stick around. But I have no other choice. I have to watch out for my daughter. I’m sorry Julie. I love you.

Keep in touch,

Jason.

Julie’s eyes filled with tears until her eyes couldn’t hold them in anymore. She let the tears stream down her now rosy cheeks and crumpled up the letter in her hands. She grabbed her wand and thrust the dish of pasta into the garbage with a spell with so much force that the small metal can tipped over and fell with a deafening smash. She ran out of the room, her emotions mixed between furious anger and immense sadness. She rang the doorbell to Viola’s apartment. She knew she was home. Julie had been on the phone with her before and she’d heard her voice echoing out of her bathroom into Julie’s bedroom being that the walls were so very thin. She waited for Vi to answer, still in hysteric tears. Jason’s letter was clenched in her fists so tight they turned a pale white. Julie was about to turn back to her apartment when suddenly, Viola opened her apartment door.

[Viola Hudson]

Vi felt dirty. She felt like she had intruded on someone’s life, snapped away their dignity and taken every last thread of confidence they had. And oh so dirty. Of course she hadn’t really intruded on anyone’s life. In fact there hadn’t really been much intruding- both parties hadn’t put up much in the way of ‘no trespassing’ signs. As for the dignity, both Viola and the other person involved had lost that when they drank their first drink together, when their lips met for the first time in a clumsy, messy kiss- and especially when the first piece of clothing fell to the floor. And the confidence had never really been there last night. Just a fake copy of confidence and a lot of alcohol, make-up and leg. Viola hadn’t acted the way she had that night in months and now she felt ashamed. Although her partying hadn’t stopped much recently, she had started to ‘respect herself more’. That was not Vi talking of course. It was in fact the article that was attempting to reach her through the glossy, vibrant pages of the magazine she held between her hands those months ago. Of course people had said that to her before. Her friends- even her best friend. Past boyfriends. People she still talked to from Greenfields. Everyone she knew but Shane bloody Fulton had said it to her- and he didn’t respect her anyway so wouldn’t even consider Vi respecting herself. So she had started to take a little more care with her body and heart.

But now all that time and effort she had put into being a bit more of a ‘good girl’ was out of the window, never to be seen again. She’d done the dirty once more and couldn’t go back now. What was his name? She had no idea. Something like Ryan or Richard... eugh. Viola hated names that began with ‘R’. With a frown she stuck her head around the threshold to her bedroom. He was still lying there. The sun through the window was warming his naked back nicely and he wriggled happily, much like a small child would. Yuck. Good-looking and cute though he was, Viola felt sick. “You’re leaving.” She announced and in one swift movement she seized his jeans, pants and shirt from a nearby chair, threw them at his groggy face and dragged him to his feet and to her door. And then Viola pushed him outside with one arched brow and pursed lips. She didn’t even look at his face, determined to have no memory of this for later. She only heard his baffled words in thick Welsh as he struggled to force his naked form into his jeans as quickly as possible.

What have I done? Viola lent against her front door heavily, her eyes closed as she felt the guilt and shame push through her pounding hangover. She felt as though she had cheated on someone. But who? Vi wasn’t in a relationship. There was no-one who would be angry that she had done what she had with a complete stranger. Well, the guy wasn’t a complete stranger- she had noticed him at the nightclubs a few times. Vi supposed Julie wouldn’t be too pleased that her best friend had put herself into the same mess she’d tried so hard to get out of. But this wasn’t Julie’s fight anymore. She had Jason. Viola winced as her head throbbed at the thought of this man that had somehow pushed his way into Julie’s life. She hadn’t shown this to her best-friend of course, but she had her doubts about Jason. She hated Morgan, and anyone associated with her made her uncomfortable and more than a little suspicious. Vi made out to Julie that she liked Jason enough. But secretly she was waiting for something or someone to get Jason away. She felt almost as though something awful was on it’s way- she had felt that way even the first time she had met the guy. His kid was adorable of course. But there was a sense of foreshadowing whenever Vi thought about Jason.

A movement by Viola’s leg made her eyes snap open (bringing about another jolt of pain to her head) and look down. Two massive eyes were staring back up at her. “Oh, Alfie.” She sighed heavily and gathered her puppy in her arms lovingly, burying her nose into his fur. “What are we going to do with ourselves baby? Just you and me, that’s how it should always be. And maybe Julie. And Heidi. I guess… I guess Ben could come along too to keep an eye on us.” And with that thought, Viola’s head cleared a little. She blinked a few times to push out any oncoming tears and began to step away from the door. “Now you need a little treat for being so understan-” Her sentence was interrupted by her doorbell. It was an incessant tune that drilled its way into her head, increasing the pounding headache that was already there. Instantly a frown creased her brow. She turned this on the door as if expecting it to apologise. A quick dab of her eyes, a swift shrug of the arm that was holding Alfie so she could have a free hand to open the door, and she was set. Vi was dressed in a short kimono-style dressing gown of deep green silk, but it didn’t bother her to open the door like that. So she did so, Alfie’s head resting against her neck as she viewed the person behind her door.

“Sweetie, I’m a bit busy-” Viola began, but one look at her friend’s face and she finished abruptly. “What has that self-righteous idiot done?!” Her first words were automatic, her fears rising, all paranoid thoughts suddenly popping up with justifications. Beneath the shock and sadness she got at seeing the tears on Julie’s face, her head wondered with a start if Julie had seen the retreating, half-naked man leave Vi’s door on her way over. She hoped not. Viola could stand up to almost anyone and take whatever abuse they threw at her. But she couldn’t have Julie know about her one-night-stand. She couldn’t have the one person she could rely on look at Viola in the way so many disapproving tutors, parents, employers used to. Setting Alfie down swiftly Vi pulled Julie inside and shut the door behind her. Then Viola pushed her friend into a chair firmly and stared into her eyes. Why do all the decent people get burnt by the flames the idiots in the world light? She waited for just a moment before she heard Julie’s voice, quite the opposite of calm.

[Julie Paige McGreggor]

Julie didn’t know what to think of this. Jason’s sudden departure was well…just that. It was sudden. Julie hadn’t expected it, not at all. Jason had been able to awaken a side of her that actually and truly loved a guy. Ricky Harrison had awakened just that same side, only Jason actually treated her right. Well, he used to, back when he was actually around. Now Julie just wanted to forget about him, to act like his decision hadn’t burned her the way it did. But she couldn’t. How could one forget something like this? How could he expect her to understand that he had chosen to leave Julie for a woman who had abandoned him? He was stupid! Morgan was nothing but trouble for him, and he was seriously about to run off to Italy to go raise his daughter with her? What was his problem? Did he seriously think Darcy was better off over there? Just because Morgan was wealthy and a Slytherin graduate that automatically made her better than Julie was. Just the thought of being replaced by such a witch drove Julie crazy. She hated that Jason had chosen her.

In fact, she hated it so much that every time the name Jason popped up into her head, her anger levels rose and yet another tear flooded down her rosy cheeks. She simply refused to believe it. Jason was such a nice guy. He would never do anything to hurt Julie, especially not something like this. Maybe Jason’s parents had set this up? It was no secret that Mr. and Mrs. Blade had never liked Julie. They had a sour face on every time they came to pick Darcy up from class, and the bitter feeling intensified when they found out that Jason was now dating the lowly art teacher from Wales. She had actually managed to develop a bit of their accent from being here this long. She liked the place well enough. It was odd how she had managed to come across her little apartment. Vi actually managed to find it first, but Julie could have picked anywhere to live once she moved out. The cute apartment here in Wales seemed perfect. Besides, Julie wanted to get as far away from London as possible, and here was the perfect place to do just that.

Julie looked up at Vi, who was holding her adorable puppy, Alfie. Alfie barked madly at the site of Julie. She enjoyed dog sitting for Vi any time she couldn’t care for the cute little thing. Normally whenever she was at Fulton’s club. Julie sighed. Shane. He would know what was up with Jason. Shane was Jason’s best friend. Julie made a mental note to accompany Viola to the club next time she went in for work. Julie was going to have a bit of a talk with the manager of the place. Julie walked inside, noticing the rather sexy nightgown her friend was wearing. She rarely ever wore the thing, so it was surprising that she had decided to wear it now. But Julie was too occupied with the contents of the letter that was still bundled in her hand to really think about why Viola would be wearing such a gown.

Yet another weird part of this whole situation was that Vi had automatically assumed that Jason had been the one who wronged her. For all Viola knew, Julie could have been crying about a kid in her class that was in the hospital or if God forbid something had happened to Carson at school. No, Viola hadn’t assumed any of those things. She’d automatically pointed the finger at Jason, and sadly, she wasn’t mistaken in doing so. “How…how did you know it was Jason?” She asked, stuttering and stumbling over her tears. She took a seat in one of Vi’s eccentric chairs as Alfie decided to leave Viola’s arms to jump up and try and make Julie feel better by licking the wet tears on her cheeks. Julie managed a weak smile. “Alfie…not now please.” She spoke kindly to the dog, setting him down on the floor.

[Viola Hudson]

Vi stared into Julie’s eyes, her heart beating fast. Julie was uncontrollable and Vi had to fight to keep her own nerves under control. Seeing her like this affected Vi deeply. But she knew she had to be strong for her best friend in order for her to pull through. She hesitated for a moment when Julie asked her question. It must have seemed odd that Viola automatically went to Jason. But she sought back to her former words and attempted a half-hearted smile. “I didn’t name him, I just said ‘that idiot’, sweetie.” The fact that Julie had thought straight away that Vi was referring to Jason merely from those harsh words would have amused her in any other situation. But not this one. There was nothing amusing about this. With a deep breath, Vi looked back into her best friend’s orbs with a sigh. She wanted with all her heart to burn Jason with angry words, to tell Julie just how much she had doubted his commitment. Vi had spoken with him when he and Julie had started going out. She hadn’t arranged to be alone with him even then- she always avoided such occasions. But it had just worked out like that. In the few moments she had, Vi had taken the chance to spout a stream of angry, forewarning words at the man. Much in the manner a protective big brother or father would, she had warned Jason that if he messed with Julie, he’d be taking on the feisty ex-Hufflepuff too.

With a wince, Viola answered Julie’s question. Although she didn’t lie, she certainly could have added more. “I’m just wary, honey. You always have a habit of going for the bad guys and I didn’t want you to get hurt… again. Seems I should’ve been a bit more wary eh?” Another strained smile. It was true. While Julie got the ‘bad’ guys Viola was different- she had no preference anymore. At least it seemed that way with her latest endeavour. Her brow itched to frown then, her lips wanting more than anything to twist into an angry scowl. And her head- it was pounding, pounding with the hangover from that stupid night, from the stupid drinks, that stupid one night stand. And she had to hide it all. Hide it all from her best friend. So she fixed onto her face an expression of permanent worry, which wasn’t at all hard anyway. Her heart still ached for her friend. Alfie obviously was worried too and Viola admired his puppy forwardness as he quickly bounded towards Julie. It was obvious that Julie was not in the mood for scolding small puppies and her tone lacked the desired effect on the curious puppy. “Alfie! Bed, now.” Viola spoke much like a responsible parent would when sending a child to their room for missing curfew or coming home drunk. And although Viola herself had never experienced such emotions from a parent- she had never known her parents after all- she was pleased with the way in which she ordered her puppy off. She sounded like a mother. Obediently the fluffy thing trotted past and was soon comfortably snuggled into his basket beneath the radiator, keeping his eyes firmly trained on Julie and Vi, his dark tail gently swishing from side to side.

Viola returned to her friend and focused on the crumpled piece of paper in her hands. Gently she teased it from Julie’s determined fingers, one thumb softly stroking Julie’s wrist as she finally pulled it free. “What…” The whispered question was left unsaid. Slowly Viola stood to read the letter. As her eyes danced across the scrawled words her scowl finally emerged. The beating drum in her head grew harder and harder until she could no longer ignore it. She finished reading and spun around on the heels of her feet. Moments later she was back, clutching a glass of what was certainly not water between her fingers. After a few drinks she offered it to Julie before taking a deep breath. Her angry eyes flashed as she spoke. “He’s a good-for-nothing moron, honey. You’re better off without him. What is this crap?” She flourished the letter in her hands, emboldened. “If he cared at all about Darcy he’d keep her here- where she belongs. I don’t give a crap about him but you adored that kid, I could see it in your eyes. How on earth could he not see that as love?! The kid needs love to grow. Frigg money. Doesn’t matter in the slightest- if anything it will teach the kid how to be a spoilt brat like her witch of a mother.” She threw her eyes back at the paper and before long they latched onto another word, feeding her rant. “You’re a really great person… Who the heck does he think he is?! Of course you’re great, you’re the bloody best. Whereas that witch is a walking nightmare, so why on earth would he want to be with that?! And this.” She jabbed at the last three words of Jason’s main paragraph. She didn’t need to say a thing. It spoke for itself. If he had loved her, he would not have left.

In her fury that someone had so easily crushed her best friend’s heart, she hadn’t actually paid attention to that very best friend. Now her blazing eyes spotted Julie in the chair still and she sighed. All of the anger wash out of her and in one swift motion she held one corner of the letter between her right hand fingertip and thumb, and the same for the left. And then she ripped the letter in two. The movement gave off a satisfying sound that pleased Viola. So much so that she folded the paper and did it again and again until all that was left of Jason’s last words were shredded scraps in her fingers. And then she snatched up her wand from nearby. With a quick mutter of ‘Incendio’ she set alight each scrap of paper slowly. As the flames burnt away the ink and the paper turned to powdery ash she dropped each scrap, allowing the flaming pieces fall to the floor one by one, where the flames ate up the evidence of Jason’s pitiful final words. Viola did all of this almost in a trance. Once finished she leant over to Julie and crouched near her. “You don’t need him.” Her words were firm, strong- on the outside. But inside they meant a whole lot more to Vi and she doubted every syllable. Not for Julie and her idiot of an ex, but for herself and every man she had every been with, every man to ever tell her she was beautiful, sexy, unique, different, strong. Because beneath it all Viola needed those words more than she needed anything else.

[Julie Paige McGreggor]

Julie was glad that she would always have Viola right here beside her. Vi had been there throughout most of Julie’s life. They’d met during their first year together, and sadly, Vi had seen it all. Julie still couldn’t understand how Vi was able to put up with Julie’s roller coaster of a life. When it wasn’t family troubles, it was romance troubles. If it wasn’t Julie’s abusive parents in Azkaban or her horrible aunt and uncle in London, it was Ricky and his problems. Julie could not count the times Vi had consoled her until she felt better. Of course, Julie had always returned the favor when her best friend was upset, but she was starting to think that keeping Julie’s sanity in check was a full time job for her best friend. Somehow though, she always seemed to know what to say. Julie managed a small smirk at Viola’s words about her thoughts on Jason. Even before this all happened, when Jason was Mr. Perfect, Julie had always got the idea that Vi didn’t really like Jason all too much. It was probably because of his connection to Morgan, who had brought the girls nothing but trouble over the years. During their Hogwarts years, it seemed there was a constant battle and you were either on the Julie/Vi side, or the Morgan side. Things never changed, and the fight still continued. Apparently, team Morgan had won out in the end. This mere thought had killed Julie more than she would have liked. “Well it was no secret you weren’t too fond of him. And that’s the thing…Jason’s not a bad guy. Well, at least he wasn’t a bad guy. I dunno. I don’t even know the difference anymore.”

Normally, Julie would be able to tell if something was wrong with Vi. After all this time, the two were like sisters. They weren’t born with that sisterly telepathy thing, but Julie liked to think that they had acquired the skill somehow through all the time they’d spent together. If it wasn’t for the fact that Julie was falling apart and burning in the fiery depths that most called heartbreak, Julie could only suspect that there were other things on Vi’s mind as she tried to comfort her. She watched with sad, teary hazel eyes as Alfie the puppy skipped off toward his bed as Viola had ordered him to. Viola seemed so much happier now that she had Alfie to keep her company. Julie admired the tone in her friend’s voice, the motherly one that Julie rarely heard before Alfie came along. Vi was still a teenager at heart, even though Julie had done quite a bit of growing up. Of course there was a large change in Vi’s personality since they were sixteen, but she was still living the life any teenager would dream of. Much like Julie, Vi didn’t really like to conform to the norms of society, at least from Julie’s point of view anyway. She’d taken up a job singing in a popular night club and had permanently adjusted herself to the city’s night life. Meanwhile, Julie had taken up work in her own home, working with the children and teenagers that were almost all a reflection of who Julie was at some point in her life. But how could she possibly go on teaching like this?

Julie sniffled as another layer of fresh tears appeared on her rosy cheeks. She didn’t want to leave her kids here, when Julie’s class had already become a part of their lives. The kids looked forward to coming here once a week, but how could Julie put up with continuing to teach them? Julie supposed she could probably continue teaching the older classes, like the Juniors and the Seniors, but they all went to Hogwarts anyway so Julie didn’t even get to see them during the year. Julie only barely noticed that Viola had pried the letter out of Julie’s hands and read it angrily, ripping it to shreds a moment later. Julie winced and then, remembering the many letters they’d sent back and forth to one another, she broke out into tears once more. She couldn’t continue to live here anymore. Everything about the place reminded Julie of Jason and his wonderful daughter Darcy. How could she continue to sleep in a bed and look to her side remembering the night Jason had been right beside her? How could she even try to continue to teach the same class that Darcy had once attended? The kids would all be wondering where Darcy had gone, and Julie wouldn’t have the strength to even mention her name without breaking down. “Vi…I can’t stay here anymore. Everywhere I look, I think of him. It makes me sick. I need to get out of here…” Julie said in a tone that was almost pleading for Vi to understand, trying to fathom where on earth she’d go instead. Maybe she’d move back into London? She wouldn’t move back to her aunt and uncle’s place, but maybe she could barely scrape up enough cash to get a new apartment there, maybe share the rent with Vi if she wanted to come as well? But if she was giving up her pre-school level class that meant she’d be completely out of the job until the summertime…so where would she go? Julie quickly refused Viola’s offer for a drink. She wasn’t in the mood right now.