Time Lapse (J.P)

Mirrors

You ever have those mornings when you want to laze in bed, not fully awake but not completely asleep either? It's as though the rest of the world still has to invade your senses and the only thing you want to think about is the heaviness of your eyelids, the heat of the blanket that covered you, and the desire to ignore everything around you. Well just because you ignore everything doesn't mean you will be left alone. Believe me, I tried. 

"Judith! WAKE UP!" A screech pervaded my ears, I winced at the sudden weight that crushed my lungs, the culprit continued to scream repeatedly, bellowing without pause for me to get up. My face scrunched together, "You need to get off for me to get up!" I yelled back at Thomas, quickly I shifted my weight to my arms and set myself in a crawl, Thomas the annoying wanker fell off in one swoop. I heard the thud on the floor before his groans, "That's what you get for deciding to crush me under your fat arse,"
He gaped at me in false horror, "I'll have you know this is all skin and bones!"

"And no muscles; shrimp." 

Thomas pouted at me; crossing his arms at his chest, "I should have left you to wake by yourself" I laughed, "Please you need me to cheat for your homework,"

"What's this about cheating?" Mom asked as she entered the room, Thomas paled, quickly bringing himself up from where he lounged on my carpet to stand. He smoothed his rumpled clothes, fixing his dark shirt and jeans, before laughing nervously as he tried to change the topic, "Tell Judy Moody to get her high laziness out of bed," He pointed at me, 

"Excuse you, I prefer to be called trash than lazy, if you're gonna insult me then do it right." 

Mom rolled her eyes, she walked closer to Thomas and grabbed his face, before licking her thumb and trying to rub whatever imaginary speckle of dirt she saw.  I stared at her trying to figure out if this was a safe day or not, the moment she entered the room I felt tense, but slowly as she acted normal I trusted her presence. 
"Mom no," Thomas groaned trying to rip his face away from her jaws. Although he quickly gave up when her other hand pinched his ear, "Ok, ok ow, you can stop," he sighed in defeat, his shoulders sagging.

"There's no way you can win against the head of the house Tommy," I teased him gently, by then I had pulled myself away from the covers, going to my closet and deciding to wear whatever was comfy. "Ah ah, Judith," Mom turned around so that she was looking at me. She shook her head at me, her red bob shaking with her rejection. Oh no she's gonna make me wear a dress. 

Now let me get this straight, I have nothing against dresses, I just hated how short I was that some dresses which are meant to reach mid-thigh went closer to my knees. "Mother please," I said in exasperation, creating a distance between her and I as I went back to the closet. "I'll only be wearing it for several hours before I have to change into the school uniform at least let me wear something comfy for beforehand."
"You are not wearing pajamas again." Thomas snickered from her words. I turned a glare towards him, before attempting to toss a pillow at his head. He quickly fled the room ducking before my weapon could land. I could hear him yelling as he went down the stairs, "No mom! Let her wear the Iron man pajamas again!" 

I could hear his laughter echo before I heard my dad yell from the first floor. "No boy is going to see my little girl in her jammies!" I rolled my eyes, "You think I would be wearing lingerie by the way he acts as though everything I wear is scandalous." I told my mother who rolled her eyes at dad's words. 

"No one is going to see any of that any time soon," I huffed at her, 

"Of course not mom, I could never let that poor sod be murdered by dad. The big scary Auror." 

She only smiled at me, her orbs studied my features, "You look more and more like her every day."

"You mean your cousin?" She readied herself. 

"Yes," My mother pulled me down onto the bed with her, "And because of that I need you to be careful," My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean mom?"

"You remember that press from the daily prophet, the evil man that escaped Azkaban?" Her fingers weaved together with mine on the bed. "Sirius Black?" 

"Yes well," Her voice hovered, "keep away from him, from any news of him in general,"

"Mother," I sighed, She shook her head at me, bringing my face closer to hers, a reflection of her own before age and stress wore her down. My mother's face was weighed by frown lines and scars a homage to her own time spent fighting. I could feel the tremors in her hands, "I need you to listen to me, Sirius Black loved her, he truly did, and when she loved another he killed them both." 

"Harry Potter's parents?" I asked for confirmation. "And because I look just like her you think he'll come after me too?"

"So many years in Azkaban will drive anyone into a deeper spiral of insanity and with his past it was inevitable." My ears perked, his past? What led the man from being a respected and beloved friend to my family to the madman? I asked my mother, yet by then she had shut down. The memories drowning her once again. We sat in silence, my questions beginning to pester me, there had to be more to the story, if the man truly loved the Potters why would he kill them? What was the motivation, jealousy? Anger? Hatred? Fear? 

He was a Black, perhaps he wanted to protect his family since they served the Dark Lord. 

I bit my lip, my hands tightened against my mothers, I leaned my head against hers's letting her know that I was there. Whatever nightmare she was facing, she would see the replica of her cousin when she woke up again. I knew my face would make it worse for her, She'll think I'm that woman if this is a bad day, but I just wanted to be close to my mom. Not the shell of her.

Sometimes I wondered if it was too late for that.

 If I were to look for answers I would only be hurting her. But then I could see a glimpse of the woman I was named after. More than just the occasional tales that my father would say when my mom was out. More than just the comparisons. 

I could actually see her rather than feel as though I'm supposed to be like her. 

A deep sigh broke me from my thoughts, "At least wear something nice today, You're a prefect you should dress well." My mother's voice was a wisp, loud enough for me to hear but not others at a distance. "Of course mom," My worry drove my answer, her mind was in a fragile state right now, and I didn't want our tiff over my clothes to be a reason that she went back to her pills. 

"You two are taking forever, not talking about boys right?" My dad entered the room, his eyes sparkling despite the things he would face at work.

"No dad, Mom and I were just having another talk about you know," I stuttered my words as I glanced from mom to him. He read my message, nodding his head; leaning down to kiss my mother's head. His lips lingered; his hands placed on her shoulder and back. In his arms my mother seemed to finally breathe, a red blush returning to her face. "Come on sweetheart, she knows,"

My parents were about to leave my room before my dad turned and grabbed the discarded pillow from the floor; where it landed after I threw it at Tommy, he threw it with perfect aim, having been a chaser on the quidditch team in his younger days. Right at my face, "Dad," I whined, 

"I know how you operate Judith, no lingering on those questions," 

"Do you really think you can control curiosity?"