Amelia Justice Bones

James never closed the store early. Ever. His parents never did when they were there, and James knew they expected him to follow that same level of consistency. 

But he just couldn’t.

The very real grief he’d felt, the worry that it was a premonition of some sort– it was too much to stand there and help people fill prescriptions. He’d put a note of apology on the door that said to come back tomorrow. Hopefully people would understand.

To be fair, James hadn’t really been conscious of where he was going. It wasn’t until Amelia was there in front of him that he realized he’d been heading toward her in hopes of comfort. It was silly, but something in him felt like if it was something still to come, she had to be the person who’d comforted him. No one else made sense.

“Hoping to see you actually,” James said, ducking his head. Normally Amelia was so take-charge, and he couldn’t decide if it was good or bad that she was being so gentle with him. 

⚖️

Amelia couldn’t help but smile softly at hearing that James had been hoping to see her. It was still almost a little odd, knowing his fondness for her, knowing how Sirius felt about him, knowing the history there. Could it be helped that she rather enjoyed causing some annoyance between them too, to talk to James more? It wasn’t as if he were a bad man, he was kind, and responsible, and...

She paused a second, realizing what time it was, realizing where they were, and well, shouldn’t James be at the store? Her thoughts were a flurry, realizing that maybe he’d seen a vision again as well, maybe it was one bad like hers, or worse perhaps, to make him be here at this time. And well, since she was feeling awful as well, maybe something was in order to fix that.

“Well, you’ve found me,” Her voice was a little stronger, a bit more like that take-charge she always was, and she moved to grab onto his arm. “And,” She continued, “I am in desperate need of some ice cream, and I believe you are as well. We can get ice cream, and then maybe some sweets, and you can either tell me about what’s wrong, or we can pretend it isn’t happening, okay?”

The snort didn’t really help Amelia’s words, but it was impossible to get through that thick skull of hers. Lily had never seen the world in such stark contrast; Greaser versus Soc hadn’t meant much to her, other than the fact that Soc’s seemed to hate her simply for being born in her situation. It was a tough pill to swallow, one that consistently kept her coming back with kindness. “And you do know how often you generalize and see the worst in people?” Lily said, the words out of her mouth before she could stop them. “A little kindness, empathy even, goes a long way, Ms. Bones.”

Lily almost had to laugh at Amelia’s next words, the hypocrisy laced in them. A part of her wanted to point it out, but it felt impossible in this moment, especially at the woman’s next words. “Truth be told, this isn’t my favorite holiday either,” she said, breathing out a sigh. “I’m more of a Halloween girl, myself.”

It took everything not to roll her eyes at Amelia. Was she always this ridiculous? How did someone put up with her? How did Dol? “Well, you’re going to miss all that food you so generously provided. Seems like a waste, if you ask me. Besides, shouldn’t someone get in there and show us Greasers how to dance properly?”

⚖️

Amelia couldn’t help but want to roll her eyes at Lily, but held back on it. Instead, she snorted and added, “And do you know how often your kind of people show the worst of themselves, making it oh so easy to point it out?” She looked Lily up and down, judging her, and clearly judging her harshly, before she continued, “It’s hard to have empathy for those who don’t want to better their situation, isn’t it?”

There was a pause, however, when Lily said it wasn’t her favorite holiday, and there was a feeling, a tiny, an almost feeling, that Amelia almost wanted to feel something, to agree with her. “I suppose that is one of the few holidays without family having to be around,” She muttered out with a laugh, then added, as if to save herself, “Or I suppose it’s the free candy you like.”

Amelia laughed then, shaking her head quickly. “I didn’t donate any food,” She pointed out, “I don’t provide for others. And as for the dancing, unluckily for you, I don’t dance and I don’t want to see just how bad all of the others in there are doing. I’m rather expecting one or two of them to break an ankle or something tonight. Have you seen Mrs. McCrady?” The old woman would be the first on the dance floor, and Amelia was waiting for a hip to go out on her.

Amelia’s family was complicated, or at least that was Dolores’ impression of the situation. She didn’t know all the details but rift between Amelia and her brother seemed to have lasted longer than any family tiff she’d ever had. Cause unknown, Dolores was left to speculate. Her suspicion was that it was an argument over money. Money had a way of driving families apart, arguments over wills and who deserved what could ruin a relationship. It was a matter of greed, something Dol thought most Socs had in abundance. “Ah.” 

She pondered on the favour for a moment, before taking off to peep her head around the door. She surveyed the hall, double and triple checking each table, not wanting to give the wrong information - she wasn’t about to loose Amelia as a client over something as small as this.

“They’re not there.” She announced upon her return. “But-” Why? Why was she continuing to speak? She didn’t need to, and she knew the woman wouldn’t thank her for it. Still, she continued. “- don’t hide from them forever. Family are difficult to replace.” 

⚖️

Amelia watched Dolores for the moment, trying her best to not cross her arms over her chest, or put her hands on her hips. No, she didn’t want Dolores to think she was getting mad at the younger girl for thinking about it, lest she start griping about it or something. Amelia had to seem calm and collected, and not like she wanted to just snap at her to just go look.

Luckily for Amelia, Dolores did, and Amelia took a deep breath, watching and waiting for the other girl to return. She knew there had to be a lot of people in there, but she knew Dolores was good at spotting things, people, so she was sure that the other would see if they were or not. She could only hope that it was in the negative, for her own sake.

When Dolores returned, Amelia let out a rather relieved breath at hearing that her brothers weren’t in there. However, then Dolores continued to speak, and Amelia couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows and let out an incredulous laugh. Had she really just said that?

“Family is easy to replace,” Amelia snorted simply, “Especially when one’s own doesn’t support your dreams, or anything you care about. Maybe you should find them, and tell them that, huh?”

Amelia still felt as if her shoulder ached, as if the pain she’d felt in that vision had been real. She’d cleaned up the coffee that she’d spilled, set all the papers to right, and hoped that the cleaner that the Black’s hired would do a better job of cleaning the carpet than she had. That was not her job, she thought decidedly, and she wasn’t about to be on her hands and knees scrubbing it clean like a Greaser or something.

Instead, she decided she needed to take a break from work at the moment. Maybe if she went on a walk, it would clear her head and maybe make her forget the pain. Anything to get her mind off of what had just happened, if she were truthful. The whole thing made her mind feel muddy, and she just tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other on solid ground as she made her way out towards the exit.

“Oh! Mr. Potter, hello,” She stated as she stepped outside, pausing at seeing him and raising an eyebrow. “Here to get some work done, or waiting outside to bother my boss a bit more with your being here?” She teased him faintly then, though her voice was a little softer than her usual, off.

Hearing Amelia’s voice calling her name on her day off gave her the same strange sensation that hearing her wake-up alarm during the day did. Amelia wasn’t supposed to be here, and Dolores certainly wasn’t supposed to be at her beck and call. She turned to face the other woman, reminding herself that the entire town was here, it shouldn’t be that unusual. She was probably just saying hello. But no. She wanted something.

“I’ll be over to clean on Thursday afternoon.” She said firmly, not wanting to negotiate on days - she didn’t have many other slots as it was. She knew it wasn’t really what Amelia wanted anyway. Dol hated the idea of doing something for Amelia outside of work hours. Why should she do a favour for this woman if she wasn’t even being paid for it? It was only a quick look, but it was the principle of the thing that annoyed her, as if even outside of work she existed to serve the Socs.

“Who are you avoiding?” It wasn’t an acceptance that she’d help, more of a challenge. While cleaning houses she was sometimes able to pick up on little bits of gossip happening in the Soc community - who was cheating on who, who felt slighted by who - it made her days more interesting. This piece of gossip could be her payment for checking in on the hall. That, and maybe Dolores would help herself to something of Amelia’s next time she was left alone in her home.

⚖️

Amelia clicked her tongue and waved her hand absently, because honestly she wasn’t really calling Dolores over to talk about the schedule anyway. Besides, Thursday worked for her, as it always did, and she wasn’t about to argue something different if she didn’t need to. Not that there was ever too much to clean anyway, when she spent most of her time at work.

It was Dolores’ question that made her pause and purse her lips together. “Those no good relatives of mine, of course,” She spoke after a long moment. It wasn’t as if her fight with her siblings was any big secret; in fact, most of the town seemed to know that she hadn’t spoken to her brothers in years. No use to toe around it, when it was pretty clear who she was trying so hard to avoid.

“I just need you to step in and see if either of them are in there, and let me know where, so I can avoid them,” She added then, “Simple enough, yes?”

It was almost laughable, how much Amelia hated her. If she weren’t so annoyed by the fact that she did, Lily might back off. She might just walk away, learn when that sickly sweetness she’d learned to pour was too much. Still, she couldn’t help herself from adding, quickly, “Well, I can’t quite say that your tone or your words are at all welcoming. People do learn to read between the lines, even us Greasers.”

Her head tilted to the side, as if playing dumb, although they both knew she was much more than that. Maybe that was what irked Amelia. Lily challenged her worldview, made her realize that not all Greasers were the way she was taught. That made Lily’s skin crawl, especially because there were so many amazing people among her so-called “greasers”. Why her?

“I’m rather hungry, yes,” she said, shrugging. “Long day of work will do that to you. And I appreciate that the town came together to give free food to everyone. Quite a lovely celebration, don’t you think? And, rather reminiscent of the holiday’s meaning itself.” Lily couldn’t help but ask, “And you’re leaving? So early? I hear the dessert will be the best part.”

⚖️

Amelia let out a deep sigh, rolling her eyes at Lily’s words. “Or,” she snorted at her, “It’s Greasers making something up, and not understanding something, just so they can play the victim all over again. You do know just how much that happens, don’t you?” Though, who was to say if they were or weren’t, or if Amelia was just too used to seeing them as such.

“Of course, but you’d assume that you’d be used to a long day of work,” She quipped simply, “And I suppose if there’s something we can do, is donate to the poor among us, yes?” She smiled, a sickly sweet one, clear she didn’t really care, “I suppose I’ve never been the holiday sort.”

Pausing, Amelia then shook her head. “I’m not leaving so early. Just not quite in the mood to go in just yet,” She stated with a slight huff, “Not with some of that riff raff that’s in there currently.”

Amelia was working hard, considering it was a day that she was supposed to have off. Not that she ever really took days off, of course, and not that she wanted to. She did enjoy hanging out with Glenda and the others, of course, but work was the most important thing in her life, and she'd be damned if she'd stop working hard towards her goals.

So, the office on a day of it was, buried in trying to copy down the work that Mr. Black had so hap hazardously scrawled down and handed to her for 'clean up'. She wanted to remind him that she worked more for his son, not him, but she wasn't about to lose her job over something so stupid. Instead, she went to work, carefully copying everything in her neat handwriting, writing slowly.

The rush of air against her face, solid wood in her hands. Up in the air, above a field of flowers somehow, looking down. “AMELIA BONES!” Her mother yelling, sounding afraid. Suddenly feeling off balance, wobbling and trying hard to stay steady; instead falling and looking at the broom above her, screaming, and then pain.

Amelia jerked back away from her desk, hand sprawled out like she'd been trying to catch herself against it. The papers were scattered all over the floor, pens scattered everywhere, and the coffee she'd been drinking spilled along with them. She was breathing hard, shaking as she came back to herself, tears welling in her eyes.

That pain had felt so real. She reached a hand up, rubbing her shoulder slowly, as if she thought the pain would still be there. It wasn't, of course, but it had sure felt like it. As she calmed her breathing down, reaching up to rub her eyes, to stop the tears, she felt her heart pounding in her chest. What the hell had that been?

There were fields around Erised, of course, but none of them that looked as wide open, that looked as inviting, that felt as... that felt like home, like that one had. Nor was there any way for her to be up in the air like that, especially not on a goddamn broom like that. What was she, a fucking witch or something?

What really stung about the whole thing, however, was the way her mother had been there. The way her voice had sounded, as if she was actually worried about Amelia, like she actually cared for her safety... Even with the exhilarating feeling of being in the air somehow, even with the pain that she'd been feeling that hurt so bad... That was what she clung to; her mother.

Looking down at the mess she'd made, she sighed loudly. She needed to clean this up, and then she needed to get out of the office for awhile, for some air.

It was a day full of curiosities. First, the fainting spell. Then, the dream that was too much like a memory. Then, she’d run into far too many Socs than she would’ve liked. Of course, Amelia was not going to be the last of the night, but she might be the cruelest. Always had been, for some reason. Hated her from first glance. Lily didn’t particularly like her much, either, but not due to anything other than her words. The way she acted as if she were better than everyone; worked harder, smarter. 

In reality, Lily knew the stretch of the Bones family’s money. There was no doubt Amelia might have worked for her position, but she hadn’t had to try very hard at all to win it.

As if talking to one of her angry children, Lily took a deep breath and said evenly, “I have every right to be walking here as you do, Amelia. Please don’t confuse accident for rudeness.” Carefully, she held open the door for the other woman, and maybe it was the stress of the day or the fact she hadn’t eaten a full meal since before dawn broke, that Lily added, “After you, of course. Wouldn’t want those gorgeous heels to step on my toes.”

⚖️

Amelia couldn’t help but let out a half scoff, half laugh at hearing Lily’s words. She rolled her eyes, shifting to cross her arms over her chest as she looked at the younger girl. There was something so irritating about her, something so annoying and Amelia truthfully couldn't put her finger on it. She supposed it came from her being a Greaser, because what else was there?

“I didn’t say you didn’t ‘have a right to be here’,” Amelia quoted, rolling her eyes lightly at Lily, “Though I would prefer if you Greasers paid a little more attention and tried to stay out of the way for once, instead of being little gremlins.” She glanced back towards where she could still hear some children running around, then looked back at Lily.

Her eyes narrowed at the younger girl’s next set of words, and she cleared her throat, pointedly. “Oh, I’d hate to ruin your thrift shop shoes, wouldn’t want to put another hole in them that you can’t afford to fix,” She snickered lightly, “But no, I’m not headed in. I’m sure you’re in a rush for the free food though.”

Amelia had refused to go into the building with Lily; not because she wasn’t hungry, because she was, and not because she wanted to be rude to Lily, because that was one factor of it. The bigger factor, however, was the idea that either one of her siblings could be in there, and after what had happened today, she didn’t think she could deal with running into either of them.

Taking a shaky breath, Amelia did a few paces on the sidewalk again instead, weighing her options. Should she try and go in and see if she could get some food, and stay away from the morons she didn’t want to deal with? Or, did she choose to go home and just get her own food, which was probably something that made far more sense at this point?

“Oh! Dolores!” She stopped at seeing Dolores Umbridge, moving over to her to get her attention. Dolores wasn’t her friend, Amelia wouldn’t be stupid enough to befriend a Greaser of all things let alone one that worked for her, but they knew each other enough. “I did need to ask you about the schedule for this week,” Amelia stated, then paused.

“Also, I need you to do something for me. Could you be a dear and go in and check and make sure someone isn’t in there for me? Just a quick check,” Amelia offered a soft, near smile, sure that Dolores could do that.

Amelia had actually stuck around to nibble at some of the food that was provided, though had stuck towards the back away from things. The last thing she wanted to do was run into one of her stupid siblings, or actually have to deal with any of the gross Greasers that were just wandering around, of course ready to have a free meal. Not that any of them did anything without there being something in it for them, she thought.

She decided to go back to the desert table for another cookie, reaching out to get one when she nearly crashed into a person who’d stopped in front of her. Pulling back, Amelia wrinkled her nose and opened her mouth to say something, but froze and bristled at seeing who it was. She’d heard rumors, of course, since she hadn’t spoken to her siblings in years, but seeing this...

“Alice,” Her voice was almost sickly sweet, clearly not meaning to be a good thing, “I didn’t realize you’d be getting any deserts. Are you still dealing with the worst of my so called family? Or is it him dealing with such a Greaser?”

It was rude, and Amelia knew it. She should be kinder, it was Easter, after all, wasn’t it? But it wasn’t in Amelia’s nature to be nice to people she didn’t quite like, and she was already in a bad mood from earlier anyway.

Amelia was annoyed, and truthfully she had been since the image of the castle had come into her mind earlier in the day, with the kids and the egg hunt. She still had no idea what it was about, or why she’d had it, or why she felt both happy about it, and like there was some homesickness suddenly clenching around her heart like a fist, refusing to let go.

Standing outside the Rec Center, Amelia had her nose slightly turned up as she watched all of the Greasers that were going in. There was free food, of course they were going to be here, and she wanted to roll her eyes at just how desperate they were for free food, instead of working to earn it. She herself didn’t really need to go in to get dinner; and if she were honest, she was more concerned with running into those so-called siblings of hers, or her ex.

Turning to leave instead, deciding that was a better course of action, she nearly ran straight into the red head that was headed towards the door, and she scowled darkly at her.

“Are you Greasers seriously always in the way like this? First the kids, now you; it’s no wonder the lot of them have no manners if this is one who’s teaching them,” Amelia spat faintly at Lily, “Why don’t you do us all a favor and fix that?”

Amelia wasn't sure why she'd even bothered to come to the festival.

There wasn't a point for her to be there, really. She had a lot of work to still catch up on in the office, and so maybe the Black's had closed the office for the day, but that didn't mean that she couldn't just go in and do her own work while they were out and about, right? Or she could have just taken work home and done it there, or worked on her writing, or on anything else!

But Glenda had mentioned being there, and so had Sirius, and Amelia knew there would be plenty of others. Many whom she didn't want to run into, but that was a whole other story in itself. The ones who wanted her to go, she would just have to suck it up and listen to, for today at least. She could try being polite enough, and if she managed to avoid people, all the better.

Leaning against a tree, Amelia watched as the children ran around, screaming and making all sorts of loud noises as they hunted and fought for the eggs. She reached up, rubbing her temple with one hand and letting out a sigh. This was one reason she never wanted to have children, she thought to herself, who could stand such noise?

Darkness, pierced by the light from lanterns, hung on a post at the end of a boat. Swaying, with the sound of water lapping against the side of the boat. Gasps, and then the sight of a large castle in the distance, owls flying overhead. A loud, booming voice, "Welcome to--"

Amelia startled, wincing and then swearing under her breath as she nearly stabbed herself in the eye with a finger as she'd had her hand still close to her face. Furrowing her brows, she glanced around, for a moment thinking someone had yelled that last part. Welcome to the festival? Was someone announcing something?

It had been so vivid, and Amelia felt even more confused. She'd never been near a castle, no matter how much she'd wanted to see one for all her life, and certainly hadn't gone by way of a boat like that. None of it made sense as to why it had flashed through her mind, and Amelia wasn't sure what had caused it.

Lack of sleep, perhaps? She had been doing so much work lately, and she hadn't been sleeping as well. Or, maybe it was her imagination trying to push something for one of the stories she'd been writing. Sure, it wasn't meant to be something as crazy as a castle and boat, but perhaps her brain thought that could fit into the novel somewhere, somehow?

"Oi! Miss, you're gonna step on that egg, move!"

Amelia startled and took a step away from the tree, blinking at seeing one of the small, and rather dirty, children coming towards her, pointing to the ground by her feet, next to the tree. She glanced down, then rolled her eyes at seeing that there had indeed been an egg hidden there, almost half-covered in grass.

"Maybe you should focus on acting like a decent person, instead of getting your grubby little hands on all the eggs you can," She snipped at him, "I swear none of you Greasers have any manners."

With that said, Amelia moved and walked away from the tree, heading back towards where some of the booths were set up. She needed a drink, she decided, and she needed to sit down somewhere, and figure out why she suddenly felt so light-headed.

In the Real World, Amelia has always been very conscious about money. Yes, the Bones family had money, but that didn't mean Amelia was going to take it from her parents and act out. Amelia was very careful with what she did, and even when she got her own job and apartment, was always looking out for her finances.

In the Real World, Amelia was great about doing her homework, but she was never a stickler about it. Actually, in her first couple years at Hogwarts, there were times that Amelia forgot about her homework, or even didn't complete it all the way, because she was so busy with other things (including getting into trouble). However, as she got older, and became a Prefect and Head Girl, she got a bit better at making sure her homework was done.