Harry Potter and Changing Destinies

Chapter 27

While the married couples trained so did one other…

“It had been what a week, two he didn’t know since Bri had broken down against him and almost that long since he began following her in the mornings to her “practice spot” he liked to call it out in the woods a few blocks away from his and George’s apartment. Where he sat and watched her train. Sometimes calmly, just to practice and keep it all fresh. On these days she would play pulsing beats that got a person moving but weren’t heavy handed such as Hey Hey by Superchick or My Prerogative by Britney Spears, but sometimes the practice was as if she was exorcising demons while playing something with a hard and pulsing beat and message that rocked a person to their core such as Crazy Bitch by Buckcherry or Passion’s Killing Floor by H.I.M.; which he had learned from a half-muggle friend of his was a group name that stood for His Infernal Majesty. Today, apparently was one of those exorcising demons days,” Fred thought as he watched Bri’s explosive moves and combinations of magic and muggle karate as Downfall by Trust Company and Headstrong by Trapt played from a small radio on the ground a few feet away.

“She had been at it for what three straight hours,” he thought as he checked his muggle watch, “and still hadn’t taken a break.” Just as she fired what looked like a blast of white from her outstretched fist at a target she had created earlier on and it flew past it instead of hitting it straight on. As she screamed and hit the ground with her fists as she fell to the ground on her knees Fred thought it best to leave her be but something within him made him move to her side.

“Bri?”

“Go away, you fucking stalker!” Bri screamed at Fred.

“I don’t think so, Babe.” Fred tried to joke.

As he knelt at her side and reached to touch her shoulder she attacked. She threw punch after punch and kick after kick at him. He quickly went into self-preservation mode even as he let her keep striking knowing this in some way is what she needed most at the moment. Finally, he got tired of it and started fighting back. He could see the moment of shock, but just as quickly as it came it disappeared. And as they fought on and on he began to notice how she began to actually relax and smirk.

Fred was completely confused by this enigma of a woman, but he just couldn’t stop caring for her. His shock of her actions got even worse when she said with a chilling laugh, “You’re a tough one aren’t ya’ Red?”

“Have to be when you got six other siblings in the same house as you and only one bathroom, my dear.”

“Nice for you,” she scathed as she finally stopped fighting and collapsed against a near by tree.

“What the hell has gotten to you?” Fred grumbled as he also collapsed against another tree across from Bri.

“Oh, I don’t know…idiot wizards with red hair who keep following me like I’m a child.”

“I’m concerned.”

“I don’t need a fucking babysitter. I’m a Hunter for fuck’s sake! I think I can handle a little training out in the woods.”

“What about emotions?”

“My emotions are perfectly fine thank you very much you Ass!”

“Oh, really? That’s why I hear you crying and screaming in your sleep when I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the damn loo.”

“That’s none of your business. They’re bad dreams nothing more.”

“Oh, really? That’s why you scream that fucker’s name every time! Telling him not to touch your sister and mum!”

At this Bri’s eyes widened and he knew he had hit a mark. As pain entered her eyes he hated himself for it, but he knew this had to be done. She had to face what had happened and move on… “Hopefully with him…yeah that’s what you need to be thinking about when you have one totally emotionally unstable female Hunter standing across from you Freddie my boy…you love life which is nonexistent by the way,” he thought to himself angrily.

Just as he came back to himself she lunged and as they rolled around on the ground she kept trying to grab his head and hit it on the ground, but every time he would roll them over. Finally, after what must have been 10, 20 minutes he found himself on top of her struggling form as he pinned her down.

He smirked down at her throwing daggers eyes and said, “As much as I love this new position of ours. I’ll have to say let’s wait on actually using it until we know each other better…And hey, I know the perfect way to get to know one another. You tell me why you let the fucker get to you so and I’ll share a secret with you.”

Bri tried to fight for a few more moments, but finally gave up saying, “Fine. Just get off me you lug.”

Hesitantly he did and moved over to sit below a tree as she did the same across from him and sat looking up at the sky as a flock of birds rose to fly in the air from some trees farther into the woods. Just as he thought she had changed her mind and wouldn’t talk she sighed and began her tale and as if the radio knew this was going to be a depressing and soul-wrenching tale it switched from Dangerous to Know by Hilary Duff to Unaffected by Hoobastank and many other such songs until the tale was done.

“The thing you have to understand first is Blade and I we are…were…best friends before we became anything more and I’ve had grow up fast with the life my family was given. I’m not used to sharing or letting outsiders in. So, when I make friends its completely. I don’t like to lose, to fail. It’s not part of who I am. I met Blade and Dragon in school we were like Hermione, Harry, and Ron were. We were our school’s Golden Trio. We couldn’t be found separately there were at least two of us together at all times. Blade and I, we could relate to each other in some way. He was an only child with only his mom. His father was no where to be found. It was only me, mom, and my baby sister. My dad was only a little to not at all involved in our lives. My sister’s dad ran out when he found out mom was pregnant. With the flimsy excuse he couldn’t have kids. I had to step up at a young age and help my mom out when and how I could. I helped raise my sis like another mom actually. Blade did the same too, but he had it a bit harder because his mom had really bad depression and drinking problems. She was never violent, but he had to take care of her and himself. With me, my mom found a guy and at first he was great but once they married he became a totally different person. He tried to control our every move, he made me do all the housework and if anything went wrong it was either me or mom’s fault. My little sis got treated like a princess, I even resented her for the longest time. It took my mom 13 years to find the courage to divorce him. With this I had to step up even more. To help take care of house and watch out for him. Can you imagine being 17, in school and having to watch your back for your ex-step-dad? Or having to mother your sister because your mom is so tired and in so much pain from working two 8-hour shifts at the health center where she works as a CNA, Med Aid, and Nutritionist that only gets paid for the CNA work? That’s the lowest rung of the ladder if your wondering. Thankfully, she’s found a good guy finally and she’s really happy. So, is my sister for that matter. Can you imagine being 17 and having to pull a double shift to pay bills? Plus having to go to school full time? We were stressed and didn’t trust others easily. We only trusted each other and Dragon.

Ever since we turned 13 people had been saying we were dating and doing more than we were. We laughed at them and just went about our normal lives having as much fun as we could. So, in our last year when we did start dating no one was shocked. None of us, Dragon, Blade or I could imagine being apart and we all knew we wanted to do the same thing so we entered Hunter training together, but then Dragon got an offer to study dragons so she went. We didn’t mind, but when they put someone with us we just couldn’t get a rapport with them. So, the Hunters just said we should stay as a two-member unit. We had been living together since we began training, but nothing really physical had happened. We’d fooled around but nothing complete you know. We just didn’t have to.

He had asked me to marry him and we had “celebrated” of course that night…The night that we had the class about the rogue vampire in the cemetery. So, when he saved me I didn’t want to leave but he made me, which pissed me off might I add. What hurt was that I had to watch him being changed as I faded back to our apartment. From that moment on I was frantic, any and all calls about rogue vampires made me think of him and I went out on each call by myself. I was supposed to be a leave, they wanted me to take a break because I was stressing but I’m a Hunter. I had to hunt.

I had just gotten back to the apartment from slaying a rogue vampire and was feeling depressed that it wasn’t him yet again. When I got in the apartment and tried the lights they wouldn’t come on so I set the fireplace going and was getting undressed in our room when I heard the bedroom door shut. I turned around to find him. I was so relieved. I was stepping forward to him, I was going to say how happy I was he was home and that he got away from Draksin when the fire sparked and I saw his face. It was evil. At that moment he attacked. He kept trying to…to…but I stopped him and began fighting like the devil was in the room with me and he was. I finally got him out of the apartment doorway and cast a propelling charm. When I was alone I collapsed, I broke down. I don’t like breaking down, so when I was done which the next day or so I think I swore I was going to slay him myself and free his soul, if not him.

And I did. The next time I met up with him. It was what had to be done but it was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I even took off my ring and placed it with the ashes. So, you see why I don’t trust easily and don’t want this…whatever it is between us?”

“Yeah, I get it but I don’t agree. You said you don’t like to lose well if you don’t move on you will have, big time.”

“I know, but I can’t. Not just yet, ok?”

“Okay, well now that we’ve had practice and the heart to heart part of the day, how about some breakfast at Big Bob’s down the street?”

“Okay. I’m up for that,” she said with a smile as she let Fred help her up and in gathering her stuff so they could go to the muggle restaurant to eat before they went back to the apartment.

As they walked Fred and Bri were both silent, wrapped in their own thoughts of what was to come and what they had to do.