Disclair:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 261: Paths Not Taken
"And here you can have a shelf with ingredients." Jas was explaining to Bella how to make use of the space in the chamber. "The cauldron is best if it goes near the pond, just in case it explodes and… are you listening to ?"
He noticed that she was no longer paying attention to what he was saying and instead, she was staring at him.
"Thank you," Bella then said.
Jas cleared his throat. "I believe you have already thanked enough…" She had not let him go for almost five minutes.
"It's not that," she responded. "I was thinking about everything that happened last year. When you pushed on the train…"
"That was an accident." Jas recalled that this took place on the initial trip to Hogwarts. He had gotten a bit too distracted and ended up bumping into Bella.
"Sure…" She still didn't seem too convinced. "Then you bumped into again during our first Potions class."
"That was also an accident," Jas pointed out. "I rember apologizing both tis, but you were really out for violence."
"Oh yes, I was…" Bella smiled. "I thought you were pranking , like you and my cousin Sirius did for most of our third year. I was so furious that you would think I was going to be an easy target."
"I wasn't much of a prankster anymore," Jas said.
"Yes, I am aware of that now. I didn't know about your 'change' until so ti later, when I started to ask about you to the other students," Bella said. "But that day during our first Potions class… was the day I beca interested in you. When you showed your brewing technique."
"And then you began pestering to teach you that sa brewing thod." Jas was wondering where she was going with this.
Bella did not deny it. "And you agreed to teach ."
"If I rember correctly, you followed , found out my secret lab, and threatened to tell if I refused to do so."
"I have to admit that... at the ti, it seed like a good idea," Bella said.
"But…" Her expression beca more serious. "You probably had, like, a hundred different ways to get rid of while keeping your secret safe."
Now that she understood how powerful and resourceful Jas was, she was sure of this. "But you still decided to play along and agreed to give so potion lessons. Why did you do that?" She had been wondering this for a while now.
"Mmm… perhaps I was chard by those pretty violet eyes," Jas said playfully.
Bella raised an eyebrow. "I doubt that."
"Maybe…" Jas began. "Maybe I realized that, beneath all that Slytherin hostility, was soone who just wanted a chance to prove herself. So I gave you a chance to walk a different path, and you did not disappoint ."
"Mmm…" Bella felt there was sothing more to it. Sothing that Jas was not willing to tell her just yet. But she was not upset about it. Right now, she only felt grateful toward him.
"A different path…" she muttered. "I was just thinking about that. If it wasn't for you… how different would my life have been? Wouldn't I have ended up being forced to marry that bastard Rodolphus? Would my family have joined the Dark Lord's side, and then… would I have beco one of his followers, just like Malfoy did?"
Jas knew the answer to that. Of course, this was sothing he could never reveal to anyone...and especially not to her.
"Instead of dwelling on paths not taken, a more productive use of your ti would be to think about the future."
"The future, huh?" Bella considered his words for a mont. "You an like getting married and starting a family? That future?"
"I was thinking more about your studies and what you want to do after graduating," Jas said.
"I can do that too, but…" She wriggled the fingers on her left hand toward him. "My sister pointed out to the other day how, usually, the girl gets a ring to symbolize the engagent. When are you going to give sothing like that?"
Jas seed to recall sothing. "Now that you ntion it, I do have sothing for you." He put his hands inside his robes.
"Really?" Bella looked surprised. "I was mostly jesting. You don't actually have to give a ring now. Although you did promise a tiara…haven't forgotten about that one."
"No, I do have a ring for you." Jas pulled a box from one of his robe's dinsional pockets and opened it up. "I just finished this last night."
Bella glanced over at the box. Inside it was indeed a ring, but it didn't look like an engagent one. This one had a completely black surface and looked like polished obsidian.
"You actually made a ring for ?" Bella asked. "Wait… this is not just a ring, right?" The feeling this ring was giving her was very familiar, as she had used them before.
"Of course it's not just a ring… do I look like a jeweler to you?" Jas looked offended at the implication that he would create sothing so useless.
He handed her the ring, as well as a small conjured blade. "Put a drop of your blood on it. That way, it will beco bonded to you."
A year ago, Bella would have questioned this, but she had grown accustod to this kind of thing from Jas, so she did as told. She poked her index finger and allowed one drop of her blood to fall on top of the black ring.
The blood was imdiately absorbed into the ring, and it seed to react.
Bella felt an imdiate connection and heard the sound of a palpitating heart being sent directly into her mind.
"Wait, I can feel it!… is it still—"
"Indeed, it is not ready to be born yet," Jas responded. "I have been able to modify the incubation process so it can take place in its ring form. All you have to do is wear it on your finger at all tis. The chira will take a tiny amount of your magic and beco attuned to you. Once it's ready to be born, you will know."
Bella glanced down at the 'living' ring in front of her. "You really give the strangest presents."
Reviews
All reviews (0)