Potter | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 60

The next morning, Jenna woke up in a better mood than she had in the past few months, and the reason behind it was unknown to her.

She went downstairs in the kitchen, expecting to see Sirius and her brother there for breakfast, but only Mickey was there, preparing pancakes and bacons.

"Hello, Mickey," said Jenna sleepily, yawning as she sat down behind their small table. "Where are Mum and Dad? They're usually both up early."

"Er..." the house-elf started awkwardly. "Th-they're at work, of course."

"Work?" Jenna repeated, raising a brow. "But they've always had Thursdays off."

"Then... er... M-mickey doesn't know, Miss."

"Hmm," Jenna thought to herself, looking at him suspiciously. "If you say so..."

With that she went back upstairs and opened James's room and found him sleeping on his bed, snoring lightly.

"Oy, James! Wake up!" she called him out loudly.

"Piss off," James mumbled angrily, pulling the blanket on his head.

"Alright, then," Jenna muttered to herself before she went forward and pushed him off his bed in a quick motion.

"AARGH!" James shrieked, glaring up at her furiously from where he lay on the ground. "WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!?"

"Served you right!" Jenna said with a triumphant grin.

Just then, Sirius came running in the room, looking as if he had just hurtled awake. "What's going on? Who screamed?"

     "James screamed."

"I didn't scream," James huffed, standing up and putting on his glasses which laid on his nightstand.

"Morning, Jenny," Sirius winked at Jenna with a grin, but she immediately looked away to avoid his gaze, trying to forget last night's incident.

"Would you just say what's wrong!?" James repeated angrily, frowning.

"It's Mum and Dad," said Jenna. "They're not in the house."

"So what?" James huffed. "They're not allowed to go out?"

"Look, I asked Mickey where they'd went and he started acting really weird," Jenna reasoned.

"I don't think that means anything," said Sirius, dropping himself down on the bed. "House elves are always weird, stupid, and annoying creatures."

"I don't know what kinds of house elves you're talking about Padfoot, but Mickey's not like that," said James.

"Well, ours was," said Sirius grimly. "That stupid Kreacher... I always hated him."

"Look, house elves are usually sweet. I don't care how yours was," said Jenna hurriedly. "But I know Mickey. Whenever I ask him where our parents are, he either answers quickly or says that he doesn't know calmly."

"So you think he knows something's going on?" James asked.

"Probably," Jenna shrugged.

"Well, we can order him to tell us."

"Not unless Mum and Dad had forbidden him."

"Good point," James mused. "Let's find out then, shall we?"

With that, the three of them went back downstairs to the kitchen, where the house elf had already set out a lovely breakfast table.

"Oh, good morning —"

"Where are Mum and Dad, Mickey?" James asked quickly, breaking him off.

"M-mickey already told young lady," he said in a stutter. "Mickey d-doesn't know."

"Well, I order you to tell us what you know," said James rather firmly, though it slightly pained him to talk that way to the poor elf, who was in their family since before he was even born.

"Mickey can't say! Mistress banned Mickey to speak of it!" The moment he said the words, he gasped loudly and clapped a hand on his mouth. "I shouldn't have said that!"

With that he walked towards the table and started banging his head against its leg.

"No! Stop!" Jenna cried out. "Mickey, I forbid you from hurting yourself!"

The house elf quickly stopped and stepped away from the table, looking at the ground uneasily.

"You think they're at work?" Jenna turned to James and suggested hopefully.

"But it's Thursday," James frowned. "They have today off."

"But maybe — maybe they were called out to work," Jenna tried to reason. "With You-Know-Who and his followers out there, they need as many Aurors as possible."

James suddenly went pale by those words, as if realizing something. "You — you don't think they're in trouble, do you?"

By those words, Jenna's hair turned grey automatically in worry, her face draining of any color.

Of course she had always feared her parents' well-being, knowing that their job was highly dangerous and risky.

But she didn't want to think about it. And right now, it felt so real. It felt plausible, and it had her scared.

"Look, guys, don't worry," Sirius started as the twins looked as if they were going to be sick. "I'm sure they're fine. They're powerful enough to take care of themselves. And maybe they really were called to the office. So why — why don't you contact them and see if they're there or not?"

"G-good idea," James nodded hesitantly. "We can use the Floo Network."

"Yeah," Jenna said in a hollow voice and ran towards the fireplace and kneeled down before it.

She was just about to take a hold of the Floo Powder's bowl that Mickey cried out, "Oh, no! Young lady mustn't!"

"Will you tell us where they are?" Jenna raised a brow, but Mickey only shook his head anxiously. "Fine, then."

With that, she bent down and threw the Floo Powder inside the fireplace and suddenly a green flame raised from within it.

Jenna then called out clearly, "Auror Headquarters, Ministry of Magic."

There was another uproar of green fire and so Jenna leaned forward and stuck her head inside the fireplace.

She felt the world spinning and a sickening feeling came over her, but it came to a stop as the Auror's office came into sight.

"Er... hello?" she called out at the passing people, hoping to catch someone's attention.

"Who is this!? What do you want!?" someone growled and Jenna took aback at the sudden harsh voice, choking on a bit of ash.

"Th-this is Jenna Potter. Daughter of Fleamont and Euphemia Potter," she said, staring at the man who was glaring down at her suspiciously, his face full of scars. "Y-you're Alastor Moody, aren't you?"

"Potter, eh?" Moody growled again, still not looking convinced. "What do you want?"

"Er... I was wondering if my parents were there?" Jenna questioned. "I just — um — wanted to talk to them."

"No, they're not here," said Moody harshly. "And if I were you, I wouldn't just stick my head into a fireplace like that, not knowing who to expect on the other side. Constant vigilance is important, Potter. Constant vigilance!"

With that, Jenna briskly nodded and pulled her head away from the fire, finding herself back at the Potter Manor's living room.

"Well?" James raised a brow as Jenna stood up, looking more anxious than ever.

She just gulped, her heartbeat speeding up. "They weren't there."