Smoke and Dragons

[Bren Bartlowe]

"Uncle Jayke! Uncle Jayke! I think I am finally all packed up and ready to go" Bren said as he stood by the door with a slightly excited look on his face as he seemed to teeter from side to side with impatience. Finally, at long last his time had come to take that last full leap into becoming a wizard. He had waited forever and a half to turn the proper age to start his education and now that the time had arrived he could not hold on a day longer. Ironically, he still had some time before the beginning of the school year was to start so a little more waiting would be in order but that did not stop him in his enthusiasm. His uncle had agreed to allow the boy to live with him during the school years, and then for summer breaks he would spend that time at home with his momma, Doris. Of course, Doris was not all that keen to let her only child out of her sight but with a job in the United States, she simply had no other options but to allow her younger brother to keep an eye on him. Sure, the boy would be in school but if something was to happen and he needed someone it was nice to know that someone would be in the area to respond quickly. The school had an exceptional track record but sometimes things happened, and a guardian was needed to sign the proper forms or make the necessary visits. Bren would spend the holiday breaks with his uncle which would be exciting as he would be allowed to see and visit his friends if he decided to not spend the time at school. All in all, it was something vastly different than what he was use to so he was nearly bursting at the seems.

"Come on Uncle Jayke you are killing me, ugh!" He said with a small pout as he fell to the floor on his butt and crossed his legs in mild protest. He rathered enjoyed his Uncle Jayke as much if not more than he enjoyed his Uncle Teddy. Both were a bit different from each other, and both were extremely different from his mother. It was at times hard to believe that they were all related. He would, in fact, say that the at least one of them had been adopted or abducted by aliens or something. It was a wildly absurd claim but one that made sense the more he thought about it, though if he had to but a galleon on it, he would say it would have to be his Uncle Jayke. The man was an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, and dipped into a question. At times, he seemed otherworldly, in how he talk or rambled about the most peculiar things. His stories were fantastical and so out there that they had to be true as no sane person would ever come up with such interesting little tales. Also, when combined with his pipe and the strange shapes that could be seen in them, he would imagine that the man was magic incarnate. Jayke often had a whimsical approach to magic that he would put on display for his nephew that left the boy utterly awestruck. It was the reason Bren was so desperate to get into Hogwarts and hopefully be sorted into the Hufflepuff house like his uncle. His mother had been a Slytherin, and so had his uncle Teddy but not Jayke, no he had of course been sorted into the least likely house out of the four. Bren hoped that he too would be meet fascinating people and creatures in his seven years there and learn a ton of cool magical spells and potions. His Uncle had been rather savvy with potions and was well educated in magical creatures from all over the world. Though Bren wanted to one day, see a living breathing dragon! His Uncle promised him that if he passed all of his classes that hew would get that chance as a graduation gift. Jayke knew a person. He always knew a person. It was another mysterious aspect about his uncle that was always very curious. He seemed to know just about everyone. Bren glared as his uncle peeked his dark hair head around the corner and offered him that mischievous smirk, the look that Bren would likely grow to hate in the years ahead as it was a look that said he was up to know good.

 

[Jayke Bartlowe]

"Are you sure you want to take him for the school year? He could always stay with me in the States and attend Ilvermorny." Doris said as she ignored the demands of her son. She leveled a look over the rim of her teacup before taking a small sip of the otherwise hot beverage. Jayke smiled at his older sister as he puffed away on his pipe causing dark green clouds of smoke float and pool overhead, the smell of cinnamon and fresh pine filling the air as swirling shapes danced about overhead. "No, it is about time he spent some more time with me. The school year starts soon, and so this will give us some time to get better acquainted." He said thoughtfully as he crossed one leg over the other before taking a sip of his tea. "Do you plan on having the talk with him then?" Doris said as she brushed a crumb from the bun cake that they had been snacking on since Jaye had sat down. Her glacial blue eyes were scanning Jayke's face as she secretly waited to pass judgment on him. Jayke had grown impervish to his sister's many looks and glances over the years. She had taken after their mother who never once seemed to have anything nice to say without saying something critical first. She was a stern woman, unlike their father but she was still their mother, and he both loved and missed her dearly. "I have not made up my mind up yet, Sister. I simply have no idea when I will say it, but I know that the clock is running out before I have no other choice. After all, then we had an agreement, did we not?" Jayke said as he took a bite of his slice of cake, this time avoiding eye contact when it was possible. "Yes we do brother, you have until the boy comes of age which is sixteen by this families standards and if you have not told then I will tell him for you. Or he and you get nothing more from the estate." She said briskly as she sat perfectly still in the spotless kitchen. While he had hoped that she would not resort to such devilish tactics to get her way, he knew that she was not one to bluff. She had every intention of keeping to their parent's wills and by-laws set down in those wills. If he failed to tell the boy the truth than he would doom the boy to a difficult life.

"I am very much aware of the time constraints that I have, after all, it was partly my doing to begin with so it is very hard to forget, even without you reminding me at least once every visit," Jayke said with a smile. He had made an agreement with his parents and his sister eleven years ago that on by the boy's sixteen birthday he would tell him that he, Jayke, was the boys lawful father. After Bren's mother had died, Jayke was not in a place to raise a child and so he had given his son to his sister for safeguarding. She agreed to raise the boy as her own but only until he was old enough to know the truth. Her parents did not trust Jayke to do the right thing and so in their will, they put in a clause that would force the man's hand and that of his kind-hearted sister. If Jayke or Doris did not tell the boy the truth by his sixteenth birthday then the full estate and its vast wealth wold be passed on to Theodore who was not to spent a single knut on either of his siblings or else the property would be dissolved, and all three of the Bartlowe children would be left with nothing. It was a magical contract and was bidding with no loophole in sight. So Jayke was painfully aware that he would have to tell his son the truth or put the whole clan in trouble. The thought scared him deeply as he did not want to destroy the fragile illusion that everyone had built over the years. He knew that the consequences of not telling him far outweighed the outcome. His sister did love her brother but not enough to gamble away the bloodline of the family, and it's future successors. He knew he would do the right thing in the end, but it was getting to that point that was the difficult part. "Go before the poor child dies of excitment."" Jayke sister said with a laugh as she escorted him to the hallway. There Bren sat on the floor with a stubborn look on his face that was too much to handle. Jayke laughed a hearty laugh as he reached down and ruffled the boy's blonde hair. "You best kiss your mother goodbye it will be a good long while till you see her again," Jayke said as he helped the boy to his feet. Bren wasted no time in flying down the hallway where he nearly tackled his poor mother, as was evident in the sound the woman made. She, however, bore the weight of the small boy and reached down and placed a kiss on both his cheeks. Jayke smiled warmly as he puffed on his pipe and as the two separated he saw the making of a tear in his sister's eye. She had done him a favor that he would never be able to pay back but one that he would not take for granted either. Soon Bren would know the truth, and his world would be turned upside down. "Already, well let's blow this popsicle stand we have a world to see and so many people to meet along the way that you may not get to see them all in this lifetime. But I reckoned we will do our best in the meantime." Jayke said as he pulled his wand out of his pocket and wrapped an arm around his sound before the two vanish from sight, bags and all.