Keeping up the Tradition

[Jeremy Thorne]

The vacation had been quite good for Jeremy Thorne. His dad had been able to take some time off and he and Jeremy had gone off to San Fransisco, with Jeremy acting as a tour guide to his dad. He'd taken his dad to all of the places he'd been with his Muggle Studies class, and even though he'd been there before, the elder Thorne had done a good job of allowing his son to share his knowledge. Jeremy's time with his mother, while short, had also been pleasant since she was very pleased with her son's turnaround. The young boy had gotten great grades in his classes and to top it off he'd been named prefect, which nearly made his mother forget how he'd begun the school year.

After several days back, Jeremy felt like he'd never left the place. The professors were already jumping into lessons, never failing to mention that it was their OWL year. It was back to the same old routine of classes, homework and quidditch practice before long. As he made his way to the library, Jeremy stopped for a moment, realizing there was something he would rather do at the moment. To some, that thought might have been surprising, but the young Ravenclaw had grown a lot during the summer, spending more time outdoors than he ever had. The result was that he had grown another few inches, making him even more lanky at 5'7 and he was beginning to enjoy other people's company. Jeremy jogged down the stops and got off on the fourth floor, but instead of heading towards the library, he went in the opposite direction, stopping in front of what he knew to be the Hufflepuff House. If there was one person he wanted to see right now, it was Sapphire and he figured this was the best chance of making that happen. They usually met up at the beginning of each semester to catch up, or it seemed to work out that way any way. He hadn't seen her since the week of exams and he'd found himself thinking about her several times during the summer, especially when something funny happened that he wanted to share.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Summer for Sapphire meant hiding in her room as much as Mother would allow seeing as the Soul children needed so much attention. She knew that this was the only a manner of which Dimpha tortured them but still it was better she supposed than living in the streets. She often wondered now if her real parents had ever thought about going find her or if they even knew that they had a daughter. Thoughts like that made her even more depressed so she sank back into her fantasy world which she had created for herself with the help of someone very special.

It must have been somewhere in between the bedtime dances of the Factory Wonderland Orphanage and Captain James Silica's explorations of the uncharted skys of Wa'basu that Sapphire realized that she was indeed developing for the boy who was helping her a little bit with her research. A boy by the name of Jeremy Thorne. They didn't see each other during exams for clear reasons and then it was time to go home which Sapphire dreaded most of all. At home the story expanded to unimaginable expanses all while she was trying to hide herself or if anything her pain for her "family".

She was back now, a bit more filled out as puberty did a number on her body, but still the same glassed geek that she saw in the mirror every day. She knew however that she was going to see her best friend today. It had always been that when school started that a strange force seemed to make it so they saw each other to catch of on their holiday. Though Sapphire hated to right out lie to Jeremy she could never really tell him the truth about how she was treated with in Bella-Donna manor so she was able to get away with telling him something that was somewhere in between.

As if he had gotten the same thoughts that she had Jeremy was waiting for her in front of Hufflepuff looking as he really wanted to see her.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Very soon after Jeremy had settled himself in to wait, he saw her appear and he stood up a little straighter. The boy was usually slouched over, almost never standing up to his full height which he still wasn't quite used to. A grin spread over his face as he held up a hand and waved to her. Then, he realized how overly eager he was being and he stopped. He didn't want her to think he was being weird or something.

Over the vacation, Jeremy had been tempted a number of times to send his Hufflepuff friend an owl about something he'd heard that he wanted to share with someone who would actually get it, something he had read that he thought would be good for one of her stories or just to share something about his summer, but he hadn't. Mostly it was because he wasn't sure whether she was allowed to get owls. She never seemed to want to speak about her house, her parents or anything and the one time she had, it had ended in tears. Jeremy didn't want to do anything that would have resulted in trouble for Sapphire, so he'd stopped himself from sending even a small note to her.

As he waited for her to reach him, he noticed that just like he'd grown taller and had thinned out even more, Sapphire had changed too. She looked a bit older and behind her glasses, her face looked wiser and prettier to him. Not wanting to stare, he looked down at his robes where his new prefect badge was shining. That was just the first of many things he wanted to share with her. "Hey Saph" he said, his voice slightly deeper than it had been before the break.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Bag swinging, Sapphire ran than tossed her arms around a little more friendly-ish than she had meant to but she was just so happy to see him that she couldn't help but give him the biggest hug she could. She looked down where he looked down then looked back up at him with a wide smile on her face. She tapped it and nodded her way of say congratulations. I hope I get to be one someday. She signed hoping that he would get it though she did dig in her bag for her trusty notebook.

Oh Sapphire was allowed to get owls but getting one from Jeremy would have meant that she was going to get ridiculed by the Soul children until she cried. Not that they didn't find other things to tease and harass her about but she didn't want to give them one more thing to tease her about that and she really did want Dimpna to find out about Jeremy. She saw how she treated William's wife and didn't want her to hurt Jeremy the same way. Pushing the thoughts aside, Sapphire took out the notebook and a scroll. She handed Jeremy the scroll then wrote Don't look at it until your in your room. She said with a wide smile on her face.

Sapphire had spent three weeks drawing a poster for Jeremy. She had noticed over their time researching that his favoret of her characters was the pirate captain. As a thank you for helping her she drew him in front of three of this crew members, his arms crossed in front of his chest with his pilot's jacket and goggles on. To his right was Gearswitch, a woman pirate with braided hair in a bandanna and an bronze deadly looking gun held up close to her face in an imposing stance, to Silica's left was his first mate giving the world his crazed look behind them all was a giant of a man with a slow smile on his face as if there wasn't much going on in his head. Sapphire wanted to know what he thought of it but she also didn't want to be there for when he first saw it. It's a present as a thank you for helping me. And now a congratulations. She wrote then pressed her fingers against her lips to show that she was giggling.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

To say that Jeremy was pleased with Sapphire's reaction would have been the greatest understatement of the year. Hugging her back, Jeremy felt like blurting out everything that had happened to him in the summer, but he knew there would be time enough to share it all so he waited. With a small squeeze, he finally let go and was happy when Sapphire tapped his badge and congratulated him in her own way. "I bet you will" he said encouragingly.

Jeremy now knew enough sign language to get by in a conversation with Sapphire, but he knew he'd never really be fluent in the language. There was always a word, a phrase or an idea that he didn't know how to sign and when he didn't, he went to his old standby and spoke the word, grateful that Sapphire was only mute. She had to resort to a notebook and a quill to get him to understand and Jeremy watched her take it out, his hands going into his pockets. When she handed him the scroll, Jeremy took it in one hand, thinking she just wanted him to hold it until he read the message. "This is for me?" he asked, surprised and confused about what it was. He tried to take a peek, but the scroll was tightly wound, not allowing him to see anything. "Ok...I won't."

He smiled at her and when she began writing again, he read quickly and then blushed slightly. "Oh...you didn't have to do that Saph" his eyes dipped down and then he looked up, his eyes widening as if he'd suddenly remembered something. "I sort of got something for you too" he said shyly, his voice cracking and turning higher pitched for a second before switching back. Merlin, I hate when that happens. Digging around in his robe pocket, Jeremy finally felt what he'd been searching for and pulled a small rectangular paper package out. He pulled out the contents and handed over several photographs which he'd taken during vacation. There was one of the beach he'd been on. It had been early morning when the beach was fairly empty. One of a surfer riding a huge wave in some surf competition, One of the golden gate bridge, another of Alcatraz, standing solid with nothing but seagulls inhabiting it now, and the last one was of him getting a caricature drawn of himself. "I took these with a muggle camera. That's why they don't move" he explained, moving closer as he pointed to each picture and told her what it was.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire pressed her hand into her lips in another giggle sign. It bothered her some times, not being able to make a sound but she got by with motions like that. She wondered what it had been like to have a voice, even one that would crack like Jeremy had just done. Quite cutely too. She thought. When she was handed the photos she was more than curios. Sapphire looked through them with interest in a bit of jealousy. She wished she could to placed like this but because she was a 'failed one' She wasn't even allowed off Bella-Donna grounds most days. Muggles miss out on a bit don't they but they look like they are having so much fun Sapphire wrote then started to prod surfer with the quill to see if it really would not move.

It stayed quite still but Sapphire could still imagen what it was like to ride waives like that. What was it like to actually be there? She wrote then went back to looking at the bridge and the ocean. What she wouldn't give to see the ocean like this. She had seen it from the Harbor from time to time when she had been really dreading going back home. There where times when she wondered if there wasn't a way for her to dive in and become a part of it without dying. It was silly but it was an example of how her brain worked sometimes.

She stopped at one that looked like a prison and turned it to look at it from every angle. The only thing she could peg it as was An American Akasban? this was also the question that she wrote for Jeremy still studying it. Would there be dementors there too keeping all the American bad people inside with sea and horror. She had heard stories of Akasban but those that where raised by Dimpna had nothing to dear from the bars. Their lives with her where never truly happy. Unless she liked you, unless you where a favoret. Then the world was yours. She finished with the pictures and gave them back to Jeremy hoping that he would tell her all about his holiday which seemed to much better than her's by a long shot.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy chuckled as he watched Sapphire attempt to make the surfer move. He had done the same exact thing when his father had brought the photos back from being developed. Nothing had happened of course just like nothing was happening now. "I guess. They don't know what they're missing though" he pointed out as she continued to look at the beach photos. Her next question made him think a bit. Having grown up near the ocean, it had become like background noise to the teen. Explaining it to someone who hadn't ever been was going to be tricky. "It was great. When you feel the sand under your feet, feel the sun beaming down on your face and hear the waves washing on shore, there is nothing better than that."

As she moved on to another picture, Jeremy watched over her shoulder quietly. It was the muggle prison and as she wrote her question, he nodded. "It's called Alca- something" he stated, remembering only half of the name. "It was kind of creepy. The guide told us that sharks swim around the island. I didn't see any though" he finished as he took the pictures back from her. "How was your vacation?" he asked as he slipped the photos and the scroll into his robe. He looked up at his friend, his blue eyes staring in a friendly way as he waited for her to sign or write her reply. He knew that he ought to practice his signing more and realized that he had been speaking the entire time instead of practicing.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire listened to him explain the pictures with interest. She found that she didn't really care what he was saying as long as he was talking to her, something that she would't tell him even if she could speak. It was a bit embarrassing. She let go the horrible image of someone being eaten by a shark to start writing about the nicer parts of her holiday For the first month back after I finished with my chores I drew and story boarded. Things are getting ugly between Bart and Cage all because Ms. White won't choose one of them to be courted by but she has a reason not to do so. Neater know the real Alexandria White. They know her as Veronica Toolie, a simple mechanic from Junction City. She's sure that once they find out that she's really the keeper of the secret orphanage at the edge of Terralark nether would want anything to do with her but telling them would mean putting her comrades Hatter and March in jail not to mention losing the orphanage. Capetian Silica is in the middle of a battle with a school of bird-fish that are threatening to crash his air ship. The second month I spent drawing your present. She wrote then realized that she had very little real life in there. She handed it to him anyway with a huge blush on her face.

Sapphire hated the fact that she had to invent a better world than what she lived in at home but it was either that or go mad like her brother Jasper. He hadn't been right for a while. He kept talking about being incomplete something that the others had no idea about. He seemed somewhat whole to them even though the expiraments seemed to have done a number on his mind. Not rare to say the least. I can show you the pages if you want to see them. She signed blushing deeper still I wrote a lot of them for you. She signed before she could really think about it. If she thought about it she wouldn't have done it and with realizing how she felt about him it seemed a bit unfair that he didn't know. Even if he did confuse all of what she was showing as friendship. In fact it could make things a lot easier of he did.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy could have read over her shoulder if he wanted to. He was certainly tall enough to, but instead the teen watched Sapphire write. It didn't leave him much to do while he waited, so he spent the time throwing furtive glances her way, trying his best not to let her catch him staring. When she handed him the paper, there was a slight blush to his cheek, but Jeremy couldn't figure out why. He read slowly, smiling as he read about the comic she was working on. Sapphire was an amazing artist, able to bring any word or idea to life in a short amount of time. He read through the first part quickly, not being much into the love story, though he hoped Ms. White would end up with Bart somehow. Surely, of the two men, Bart seemed less likely to hate her for what she'd done. Moving on, his eyebrow rose as he read that Silica was in a battle. Surely, Silica would win that one. He had to. "So, it is a picture" he said, a grin widening on his face. Now, he really couldn't wait to get back to his room.

As Sapphire began signing, Jeremy stared down at her hands, not wanting to miss what she was saying. Sign language was still new to him, and if he didn't concentrate he missed words. He started to nod, but paused as she began signing again. It took him several seconds to translate the message in his mind, but when he did, his blue eyes shot up. "For me?" he asked in disbelief for the second time.

Realizing that she was blushing, Jeremy looked back down, a flush coming over his cheeks. Surely, she didn't mean it in anything other than a gesture of friendship. Of course not. Instead of looking back up, he concentrated on moving his hands into the still strange shapes. Yea, I'd love to see them. It was really nice of you to draw them for me. Now, that he had a moment to compose himself, Jeremy was able to look back up again, though he still had trouble keeping his eyes on Sapphire. "I kind of did some research for you. About airships and pirate treasure and some other stuff. It's not much" he shrugged. "It's not with me though. I left it in my room." The pile of papers was right on his nightstand right under his copy of Ancient Runes Made Easy.

 

[Sapphire Bookchild]

Sapphire watched almost entranced at his fingers. Not because she couldn't understand what he was saying. If anything she could could have just glanced at his fingers and understood. What was so interesting to her was that he was trying to talk to her in the way that she had to communicate with the world every day. He had revered back to talking saying that he had done some research for her but the gesture was something that touched her deeply. One people knew that she could hear them they talked to her normally whether they knew sign language or not Sapphire wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. He deserved at least that.

It's ok. We can look at your notes later. For now let's get something to eat in the Great Hall, I am starving. She signed while nodding. She had accendently told him that his gift was a drawing. Oh well he was going to figure it out sooner or later. She just hoped that he would like what she drew. It had been drawn with him in mind after all. She pretended a lot of things because her mind was so hyper active a lot of the time so now why not pretend that he had asked her to go out with him. For now she could pretend. Even if they where just friends. She could hope.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy had barely regained his composure when something rather shocking happened to him. As Sapphire wrapped her arms around him, Jeremy had no idea why she was doing so. He hadn't said anything out of the ordinary for him. At least he didn't think so. He was just being his normal friendly self, and he did really want to see the comic. Sapphire's comics were always really entertaining and since he hadn't seen her art and the story for the entire break, he was looking forward to catching up on all that had occurred for the characters. When she kissed him, his face turned beet red, and he was certain that she would feel the heat on his face on her lips. Standing there, Jeremy realized that his reaction was a bit odd. It was as if something had happened over the summer. Looking at Sapphire, he couldn't quite explain what it was, but it confused the heck out of him.

Jeremy almost needed to shake himself out of the thoughts he'd fallen into to read what Sapphire had written. "Good idea. I'm always starving" he chuckled, his stomach grumbling in agreement. He turned to face the stairs again and waited for her to begin walking before he began walking beside her. It was nice to be walking next to her, and even though Jeremy wasn't entirely sure how he was feeling at the moment, he was still happy to be with his friend, Sapphire. "I'll bring the notes to your common room later on tonight if you want?" he suggested shyly as they made their way down to the Great Hall.