The Tale of Jamie Devereaux

Prologue

Prologue

A man with a face that slightly resembled a bear stared at the young toddler that rode a tricycle in her driveway. She rode it down the ramp in glee but then, instead of riding back up the ramp the oddest thing happened. The little blonde pigtails floated above her head, acting like wings. She hovered above the ground with her tricycle in tow. With this new-found height she was able to "ride" down toward the top of her driveway, despite it being a hill.

The bear-ish man stared in shock. He blinked his eyes rapidly, thinking he must still have some of the pints from last night in his system. He looked at the woman on his right, her head down in concentration as she pushed the stroller containing their one-year-old. "Maddie," the man said, drawing his wife's attention, "do you see anything odd with that wee girl over there?"

The red-headed woman with kind eyes and a large nose looked across the street. All she saw was a young girl going in circles around her drive way. She furrowed her brow in concentration and then it struck her, "I mean, yes. She is rather beautiful, isn't she! How I hope our dear Kit looks like that in a few years." The woman looked up at her husband expectantly. He met her eyes and smiled, ignoring his original thoughts of what he had seen. Toddlers, no matter how beautiful, were not able to fly. It was the lights playing tricks on him.

With his mind made up, he took over the task of pushing their baby, and held his wife's hand as they continued their morning walk.

Jamie Bruce was always attracting attention. Whether it from the mail man that thought her saw her cause a flower to bloom in an instant; or her teacher that could have sworn she had finished all her grapes only to see 30 more appear in her lunch box. People also couldn't help but stare at her when she wasn't doing anything at all. Her long blonde hair flowed down her back and constantly looked like there was a fan blowing it stylishly behind her. She had tanned skin and dark eyes that looked green when the light hit it. At only ten years old, people would stop her and her mother as they walked together and comment on her appearance.

These comments, of course, Loren Bruce never allowed her daughter to hear. Her greatest fear was that Jamie, James when she was in trouble, would discover just how beautiful she was. Instead, she would talk over any comment toward her daughters looks and focus on how bright and kind she was.

Loren noticed the strange things that happened around her daughter. How she seemed to float at times. Her toys that Loren swore were locked away in a cabinet because they made too much noise would somehow find their way back to Jamie. She shook it off as her own forgetfulness. She was a single mother and often found herself forgetting things or being so tired that she saw the impossible happen in her own home. Loren remembered Jamie's father well. He was a beautiful, almost mystical man. His name was Devereaux and they were together only a short time before things ended between them. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her life. He was light where she was dark. While Jamie clearly took after her father's blonde hair and striking features, the tanned skin and dark eyes were due to Loren. Loren Bruce had wild black curls, tan skin, and dark green eyes that could bring warmth to the coldest of strangers. There was nothing but warmth in Loren's appearance. Many believed Jamie to be adopted, until they saw the two smile next to each other. The unmistakable matching dimples with lopsided grins could only be related. Jamie grew up often wishing she looked like her mother. But for Loren, she was glad that James Devereaux Bruce had something of her father's in her.

When Loren found out she was pregnant she decided to have Jamie, named James Bruce after her father. Her life became Jamie. For every confusing and shocking situation she was in she took it in stride, marking it as an exciting new involvement of motherhood. In fact, her own positive and warm outlook on life had her quite convinced that there was nothing peculiar about her daughter at all. Surely other mothers had their share of forgetfulness. Surely other mothers were so warn from exhaustion that their screaming toddler seemed to almost alter in appearance. In fact, with each passing year these instances of strange goings-on did seem to happen less and less. Jamie became a happy, kind, intelligent girl always asking questions and getting to the bottom of their answers just as quickly. Loren was so proud of her daughter, that it didn't strike her as odd when she found a letter addressed to J.D. Bruce herself.

It was Jamie's first piece of mail addressed to her, so Loren waited until the young eleven year old girl was awake and floating down the stairs of their two bedroom house before giving it to her. When Jamie opened the sealed letter she stared at it in confusion. Knowing big words had not stumped Jamie for some time, Loren leaned to read the letter over her daughter's shoulders.

Dear James Devereaux,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Just as both Loren and Jamie were attempting to digest the information so hastily and crudely given on the warn piece of parchment, there was a quick knock at the door. The two Bruce women, who rarely were paid visitors, exchanged a look of utter bafflement with one another.

Loren straightened herself up, attempting to appear as tall as possible for someone that hardly reached more than five feet. When she opened the front door there was a thin, stern woman wearing strange robes and glasses that perched at the tip of her nose, "Hello there," she said in a quick and light Scottish accent, "I see you have read your acceptance letter." 

Jamie Devereaux Bruce (at 15)

Loren Beatrice Bruce

The rest of the cast is the same! Enjoy reading!