Imagining Happiness (Jake)

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Silence overcame the pair and for that Tess was thankful.She wanted to take it all in; to truly envision the world around her as it should be. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath. In. Out. In. Out. Until theroom disappeared the noise deafened and soon she found herself in the summerhome.

It was a sunny afternoon and she found herself moving intempo with the music. Across the room her grand-mere Angelique sat in aperfectly perched position. Much like a hawk, her eyes stared intently as Tess moved about the room spinning as the music pushed her to.

“Straighter back” she called out.

And as requested, Tess molded herself. That was always something her grand-mere called her “moldable”. For everything asked of her,the young teenager did. It was during her spin that the older woman cut the music and called her over. Immediately, the teen was by her side and sent a sincere smile to the older woman.

“Mon chere” she began, “You are getting much better. Your toes are pointed, your spins are high. You are as graceful as a swan. Now on tothe more challenging portion.”

Both sat across from one another as Tess soon transformed once more. Her back straightened, her legs rested against each other and to theside as she sipped her tea. A slow lift of the older woman’s smile was Tess’ first signal. As graceful as possible, she moved her hair to the right allowing her slender neck to show. Slowly her eyes lifted to make demure eye contact.Perfect, soon came the tentative smile. Good and small sip of her tea before she looked away. And immediately after, almost as if manipulated,Tess went back to her original posture. Her grand-mere touched her pearls,and tilted her head signaling the next move. This one she knew that the young girl struggled with.

As careful as she could,she moved her hair once more, sipped her tea and leaned forward allowing a small crevice of her blouse to open. Her back was perfectly arched, but her face screamed innocence and…

“No”

“What did I do wrong grand-mere?” Tess frowned as she moved back to her original posture.

Angelique shook her head and grabbed her granddaughter’s chin and lifted it. “Fear mon coeur” she shook her head. “Your eyes are unfortunately the window to your soul and you look terrified of your actions. Now you tell your most beloved grand-mere…why are you so terrified?”

Tess sighed. She was embarrassed to admit it but she wasfearful of being used as a piece of meat for a person of the opposite sex.Being a teenager she already felt awkward in her body and this definitely did not help. Biting her lip she looked once more to the ever patient woman.

“I am scared” she admitted. “I do not like doing this…being a pawn for whatever father wishes for me to do. I-I don’t want my actions to Instill a horrible idea of-”

“Of what? Marriage?” Angelique laughed softly. “My dove that is set is stone, so the sooner you place your feet on the ground the better. I do not want to hear such nonsense from you.”

“I don’t want to be a toy, grand-mere” she tried to keep the whining to a minimum but it showed. She was fifteen and her desperation showed clearly in her face. “To throw me at someone and for them to step over me I-”

She was immediately interrupted by a sharp nail against her lips in a shushing motion. Staring up at the woman’s blue eyes, she could tell from the expression that it would be another teaching moment.

“Mon Coeur” Angelique cooed. “While being married is set in-stone, the choice in husband is always yours” At the disbelief in her granddaughter’s eyes she continued. “Do you think I wanted your grand-père to be my husband? Well it would surprise you if I told you I did? He was by far the strongest and handsomest of the suitors and I made sure that if I was to marry I would choose who it would be. Because darling….a voice is not always spoken through your lips but rather through your body as a whole.” Caressing the teen’s cheeks she continued. “Every blush, every arch, every expressionis your voice. And while it’s not there yet….” She trailed off.

It was the moment she stared intently into Tess that really instilled the thought within her. “Tess, mon chere, please know that it took me a long time to develop my voice and now that I have it, I will never be silent again. You will too gain your voice and you will bring men to their knees” A large smirk developed on the woman’s face before bringing her favorite grandchild into a hug. “You ma Coeur are meant for great things and not even a marriagewill bring you down”

Those words echoed over and over again into her head before Tess found her body humming with excitement. And at that moment is when she knew it was time. She imagined the warm hug and the motivational words before she muttered the charm.

The wisp began once more yet the repetition of the phrase made her heart thrum with power as she continued her charm. The wisp became a bright light and soon shined over the room. It was silly, Tess would later think but she swore she saw a shape of a large creature beginning to be created before she began to shake and the light dimmed.

Once more she was back in the room her body shaking and trying to come back to reality.

Subject: Re: Imagining Happiness (Jake) Fri Nov 24, 2017 8:53 pm

Jake waited patiently, quietly, for Tess to try the spell, and after a few moments of concentration on the Slytherin witch's features, she took the step of attempting the spell. Jake waited patiently, and for the briefest of moments, Tess' efforts were rewarded with the image of some kind of animal.

There was not enough time to decipher what the animal was, though, for almost as quickly as it had appeared.

It was a step in the right direction, though, and as Tess came back to the room, Jake moved and offered her his arm for stability. She was shaking, the signs of exhaustion that came with strong magic. "Come, have a seat at my desk for a moment." Jake told the young witch softly. "You need to get some sugar in you to replenish your energy." He added, motioning for her to take a seat as he grabbed some of the chocolate he'd gotten for this very reason.

Offering the Slytherin a bar, Jake perched on his desk, keeping his eyes on Tess to make sure she hadn't over done the spell.

"You did amazingly!" He praised after he was sure she wasn't going to pass out. "You had the beginnings of a corporeal Patronus then. With a little more practice, I think you'll be able to do it in full. Getting the beginnings of the corporeal is the hardest part." Jake encouraged, because Tess had done so much better than her first attempt already, he did not want her to give up!

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