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Previous Chapter
I don't own anything; it's the property of JKR, Raincoast, RTD, Cowlip, Showtime, et al.
Warnings for this story: slash, of course, language, adult themes.
Additional notes, including spoilers, etc, can be found before the first chapter.
One of my goals in this chapter was to take advantage of the opportunity to get Jennifer and Justin's relationship from episode 2.2 (when things are very tense) to 2.4 (where things are much better between them), since canon didn't really address it.
Coming Home I: Familiarization of Liberty
Chapter Five
"—and he's living in my room!"
Brian sighed, rubbing his temples. He'd had far too much Captain Astro and not nearly enough Jim Beam for this conversation. "Are you using it?"
"Brian!"
"Seriously. If I'd kicked you out yesterday, where would you have gone?"
He watched as Justin thought about being Justin and disputing Brian's ability to do that, but in the face of Brian's pointed look, he answered, reluctantly, "Debbie's."
"Then what's the problem?"
"He's stealing my life!"
Brian laughed. "Single White Fag's a bit dramatic, don't you think? If you aren't living it, it's not yours, and he can't be stealing it. And even if he were, he'd be doing you a favour. Unless you've been lying this whole time."
Justin deflated a bit, shaking his head.
"So what the hell does it matter?" Brian moved into Justin's personal space before the kid could resume his rant. "Now," he said decisively,
"I am expecting phone calls or, more likely, visits from two disgruntled lesbians and one indignant Italian matriarch. When they try to reach me, I'd like to be unavailable. Any ideas?"
The phone was ringing when Jennifer got home, and it took two rings before she realized that no one else was there to answer it.
She dropped her parcels unceremoniously on the table and caught it just before the answering machine kicked in.
"Hello, Jennifer Taylor speaking," she said absently, chasing the note that her bags had displaced. Picking it up, she read that Daniel and Molly were at the park, and with a glance at the time, she mentally began adapting her dinner plans accordingly.
"Hi, Jennifer, it's Lindsay Peterson." That was unusual, enough so that Jennifer's attention was dragged back to the call.
"Hello, how are you?" she asked politely, wondering what had prompted the call from a woman she barely knew. The other woman sounded nervous, Jennifer realized, and she immediately feared something had happened to Justin.
"I'm well, thank you. I-I heard you might be looking for someone to tutor your nephew. I'd love more information. If you haven't found anyone yet."
Jennifer sat, stunned.
"Of course, you can absolutely say no," Lindsay added awkwardly, as the silence stretched.
"Oh! No, sorry— I was just surprised, that's all. I told Debbie I was looking less than half an hour ago. She didn't tell me she had someone in mind, so I wasn't expecting a call."
Lindsay laughed. "It would have been Justin, actually; Brian mentioned it when he picked up Gus."
Jennifer made a noncommittal noise in response. The subject of Daniel's schooling and their decision to look for a tutor hadn't been discussed during Justin's visit to the house. But it had come up in Brian's interrogation of her nephew at Woody's.
And even without knowing about their particular requirements, Brian may have come up with the perfect solution.
Given Daniel's... unusual background, they needed to find someone discrete, loyal, and preferably someone she knew. That left very few options, but it would be difficult to explain the obscure knowledge and glaring gaps in Daniel's education.
Lindsay Peterson might just be ideal. She was on a leave of absence from her job as a college professor, giving her time and teaching experience. Justin admired her greatly. As the mother of Brian's son, there was the potential for conflict, though Justin had told her stories in which she and her partner Melanie had stood up for Justin when he and Brian were having difficulties. And even if Justin and Brian were to end their relationship, Jennifer knew Justin would always be part of the Liberty Avenue community.
For that matter, given her involvement with PFLAG and her budding friendship with Debbie Novotny, so might Jennifer.
She began explaining their requirements.
Brian allowed Justin to sulk for a couple of days, but early Thursday morning, he dragged him out of the loft and into the jeep. Since Brian had a crosstown meeting anyway, he figured he could drop Justin off at his mother's so he could deal with his family shit.
Justin chose to sulk silently for the duration of the drive, for which Brian was exceedingly grateful.
When they go to the house, they found the front door open and Jennifer in the driveway. Brian pulled up, and Jennifer walked over to meet them.
"Well, this is a surprise. What brings you by?" She sounded as nervous as she did pleased.
Justin didn't deign to answer, so Brian explained. He even used the phrase "to talk," for fuck's sake.
That coming by hadn't been Justin's idea and his lack of enthusiasm were obvious, and her smile dimmed slightly. "We're heading out to Molly's riding lesson; you should join us," she nonetheless invited warmly.
Before it became obvious that Justin wasn't going to reply, Molly called to her mother from the front door. Looking up, Brian noticed Justin's nemesis standing near the jeep. He was staring at them intently, obviously wary of Justin and protective of his aunt.
Jennifer turned to answer Molly, and Justin turned on the puppy eyes, trying to convince Brian to let him skip the bonding session and tag along. Even if he could think of a bribe with a chance of succeeding, however, he wouldn't be able to articulate it in front of his mother.
It didn't take long for Justin to realize that it was a losing battle.
With a dramatic sigh, Justin got out of the jeep, closing the door with as much force as he thought he could get away with using.
Brian arched an eyebrow but otherwise let it slide. "Play nice with the other kids," he said, putting the jeep into reverse. Checking for traffic provided him an opportunity to observe Justin pointedly moving silently past his sister and his cousin to claim the passenger seat.
Shaking his head in exasperated amusement, Brian drove off.
The ride to the Academy was awkward, to say the least. Justin was doing his best to pretend that Draco didn't exist, and he was obvious enough about it that Molly soon noticed. She took Draco's part, but while he was grateful for her support, he didn't want to be responsible for shattering what was left of the family. A hand on her arm and a slight shake of his head quieted her before her mother needed to intervene; unfortunately, she settled into a noticable sulk, and Justin's resentment magnified at Draco's influence over his sister.
The first time Draco had accompanied Jennifer and Molly to the Academy, the owner had given Draco the opportunity to ride as well, and now he had standing permission to exercise the more tempermental horses, the ones who weren't being ridden by the students, once class had begun.
He usually enjoyed watching Molly's class as they prepared, especially his cousin, who was as talented as she was excited. Knowing that Jennifer had been raised for the first decade of her life, at least, at Malfoy Manor which boasted an exceptional stable, it was surprising only that Molly hadn't begun riding lessons before this summer.
This morning, however, Draco was standing awkwardly next to Jennifer and Justin, wishing that the instructor would hurry and begin. Jennifer, he assumed, was waiting for privacy, which they wouldn't have while he was loitering nearby, before she broached the subject of Draco and his sudden appearance. Justin, on the other hand, was just being difficult.
After the fifth conversational gambit that Justin shut down with one word answers or ignored altogether, Jennifer excused herself. Ostensibly
she left to get her sweater from the car, but the heat and her glassy eyes made that unlikely. Knowing it wouldn't take long for her to pull herself together, Draco spoke quietly.
"Listen, you self-absorbed git. My father didn't slap me or beat up my boyfriend; he all but tried to sell me into slavery. My mother did the only thing she could to get me out; she sent me here. It may have cost her her life, and I have no way to find out without broadcasting where I am and nullifying her sacrifice." Justin gaped at him when he started speaking and looked like he was close to interrupting, but Draco continued before he could say anything.
"Your mother loves you, is proud of you, and is trying in every way she can to ensure you have the best life possible. Maybe you could, for just one minute, get over yourself and remember that she's your mother. She's always going to think of you as a child, her child, but she sent you to Brian anyway because that's the only thing she could think of that might help. She's gone more than halfway. Maybe you could give her a break. Or do you want to lose both your parents?"
Before Justin had a chance to respond, he was out of earshot, heading to the stable.
It didn't take long for the tension of memories that had been raised to be lost in his joy of riding. It was one of the things he missed most when he was at school and had expected to miss here.
When he thought he would be able to face the prat without hitting him upside the head, he returned to the paddock, he saw Justin standing next to his mother. Jennifer was watching Molly and Justin was sketching, but they were speaking quietly to each other at the same time.
They both looked relaxed, even happy.
Jennifer waved when she saw him, and Draco returned it before heading back to the stable, where he smugly congratulated himself.
Justin found him there, grooming the horse he'd been riding. Draco waited as his cousin watched silently for several moments before speaking.
Justin spoke first. "I always wanted to learn to ride."
Draco put years of his mother's training to use and replied, politely, "Why didn't you?" Jennifer had seemed pleased by Molly's interest in learning.
"My dad always said that with the amount of money he shelled out for his country club membership, we should take advantage of their facilities, so I learned golf and tennis instead. I didn't want to learn golf or tennis, so I dropped the lessons as soon as I was able. My mom just told me that my dad's afraid of horses."
"It's not too late."
Justin laughed. "I'd look a bit silly out there with a bunch of nine-year-olds, don't you think?"
Draco shrugged in acknowledgment. He probably wouldn't have felt comfortable in the group either. "I'm sure there are adult classes." He nearly left it there, remembering the last time he'd offered to help a potential friend and how badly that had blown up in his face, but he thought about how tense Jennifer had been about the estrangement, how happy she had seemed just a few moments ago. If she were willing to forgive the brat, Draco had no right to hold onto the grudge when he hadn't been wronged. "Or I can teach you, if you want."
Justin cocked his head and stared at Draco before replying, "My schedule is pretty tight, especially with school starting soon, so scheduling another set of lessons is probably a bad idea."
Draco tried not to be too disappointed: he hadn't realized until that moment how much he'd hoped for a chance at a friend his own age.
"But private tutoring might be okay," Justin continued. "Can I get back to you when I know how busy I'll be with school?"
"Sure." Turning back to the horse, Draco smiled.
AN: That's the end of Familiarization of Liberty. As they are completed, additional scenes will be posted and linked in the index; they'll be vignettes really, of other moments that occur before the story resumes in Sins of the Father. They will not be essential to your enjoyment/understanding of the sequel (they'll be of the DVD extras variety), so don't feel you need to wait for them. If you have something in particular you'd like to see, please review or message me, and I'll see what I can do.
The sequel, Sins of the Father, is a WIP, set after Season Five of QaF (so, full series spoilers) and well after the books (and I don't know yet how canon-compliant it will be). Forewarned is fore-armed. It begins here.
Previous Chapter
I don't own anything; it's the property of JKR, Raincoast, RTD, Cowlip, Showtime, et al.
Warnings for this story: slash, of course, language, adult themes.
Additional notes, including spoilers, etc, can be found before the first chapter.
One of my goals in this chapter was to take advantage of the opportunity to get Jennifer and Justin's relationship from episode 2.2 (when things are very tense) to 2.4 (where things are much better between them), since canon didn't really address it.
Originally posted: 11 Dec 09
Coming Home I: Familiarization of Liberty
Chapter Five
"—and he's living in my room!"
Brian sighed, rubbing his temples. He'd had far too much Captain Astro and not nearly enough Jim Beam for this conversation. "Are you using it?"
"Brian!"
"Seriously. If I'd kicked you out yesterday, where would you have gone?"
He watched as Justin thought about being Justin and disputing Brian's ability to do that, but in the face of Brian's pointed look, he answered, reluctantly, "Debbie's."
"Then what's the problem?"
"He's stealing my life!"
Brian laughed. "Single White Fag's a bit dramatic, don't you think? If you aren't living it, it's not yours, and he can't be stealing it. And even if he were, he'd be doing you a favour. Unless you've been lying this whole time."
Justin deflated a bit, shaking his head.
"So what the hell does it matter?" Brian moved into Justin's personal space before the kid could resume his rant. "Now," he said decisively,
"I am expecting phone calls or, more likely, visits from two disgruntled lesbians and one indignant Italian matriarch. When they try to reach me, I'd like to be unavailable. Any ideas?"
The phone was ringing when Jennifer got home, and it took two rings before she realized that no one else was there to answer it.
She dropped her parcels unceremoniously on the table and caught it just before the answering machine kicked in.
"Hello, Jennifer Taylor speaking," she said absently, chasing the note that her bags had displaced. Picking it up, she read that Daniel and Molly were at the park, and with a glance at the time, she mentally began adapting her dinner plans accordingly.
"Hi, Jennifer, it's Lindsay Peterson." That was unusual, enough so that Jennifer's attention was dragged back to the call.
"Hello, how are you?" she asked politely, wondering what had prompted the call from a woman she barely knew. The other woman sounded nervous, Jennifer realized, and she immediately feared something had happened to Justin.
"I'm well, thank you. I-I heard you might be looking for someone to tutor your nephew. I'd love more information. If you haven't found anyone yet."
Jennifer sat, stunned.
"Of course, you can absolutely say no," Lindsay added awkwardly, as the silence stretched.
"Oh! No, sorry— I was just surprised, that's all. I told Debbie I was looking less than half an hour ago. She didn't tell me she had someone in mind, so I wasn't expecting a call."
Lindsay laughed. "It would have been Justin, actually; Brian mentioned it when he picked up Gus."
Jennifer made a noncommittal noise in response. The subject of Daniel's schooling and their decision to look for a tutor hadn't been discussed during Justin's visit to the house. But it had come up in Brian's interrogation of her nephew at Woody's.
And even without knowing about their particular requirements, Brian may have come up with the perfect solution.
Given Daniel's... unusual background, they needed to find someone discrete, loyal, and preferably someone she knew. That left very few options, but it would be difficult to explain the obscure knowledge and glaring gaps in Daniel's education.
Lindsay Peterson might just be ideal. She was on a leave of absence from her job as a college professor, giving her time and teaching experience. Justin admired her greatly. As the mother of Brian's son, there was the potential for conflict, though Justin had told her stories in which she and her partner Melanie had stood up for Justin when he and Brian were having difficulties. And even if Justin and Brian were to end their relationship, Jennifer knew Justin would always be part of the Liberty Avenue community.
For that matter, given her involvement with PFLAG and her budding friendship with Debbie Novotny, so might Jennifer.
She began explaining their requirements.
Brian allowed Justin to sulk for a couple of days, but early Thursday morning, he dragged him out of the loft and into the jeep. Since Brian had a crosstown meeting anyway, he figured he could drop Justin off at his mother's so he could deal with his family shit.
Justin chose to sulk silently for the duration of the drive, for which Brian was exceedingly grateful.
When they go to the house, they found the front door open and Jennifer in the driveway. Brian pulled up, and Jennifer walked over to meet them.
"Well, this is a surprise. What brings you by?" She sounded as nervous as she did pleased.
Justin didn't deign to answer, so Brian explained. He even used the phrase "to talk," for fuck's sake.
That coming by hadn't been Justin's idea and his lack of enthusiasm were obvious, and her smile dimmed slightly. "We're heading out to Molly's riding lesson; you should join us," she nonetheless invited warmly.
Before it became obvious that Justin wasn't going to reply, Molly called to her mother from the front door. Looking up, Brian noticed Justin's nemesis standing near the jeep. He was staring at them intently, obviously wary of Justin and protective of his aunt.
Jennifer turned to answer Molly, and Justin turned on the puppy eyes, trying to convince Brian to let him skip the bonding session and tag along. Even if he could think of a bribe with a chance of succeeding, however, he wouldn't be able to articulate it in front of his mother.
It didn't take long for Justin to realize that it was a losing battle.
With a dramatic sigh, Justin got out of the jeep, closing the door with as much force as he thought he could get away with using.
Brian arched an eyebrow but otherwise let it slide. "Play nice with the other kids," he said, putting the jeep into reverse. Checking for traffic provided him an opportunity to observe Justin pointedly moving silently past his sister and his cousin to claim the passenger seat.
Shaking his head in exasperated amusement, Brian drove off.
The ride to the Academy was awkward, to say the least. Justin was doing his best to pretend that Draco didn't exist, and he was obvious enough about it that Molly soon noticed. She took Draco's part, but while he was grateful for her support, he didn't want to be responsible for shattering what was left of the family. A hand on her arm and a slight shake of his head quieted her before her mother needed to intervene; unfortunately, she settled into a noticable sulk, and Justin's resentment magnified at Draco's influence over his sister.
The first time Draco had accompanied Jennifer and Molly to the Academy, the owner had given Draco the opportunity to ride as well, and now he had standing permission to exercise the more tempermental horses, the ones who weren't being ridden by the students, once class had begun.
He usually enjoyed watching Molly's class as they prepared, especially his cousin, who was as talented as she was excited. Knowing that Jennifer had been raised for the first decade of her life, at least, at Malfoy Manor which boasted an exceptional stable, it was surprising only that Molly hadn't begun riding lessons before this summer.
This morning, however, Draco was standing awkwardly next to Jennifer and Justin, wishing that the instructor would hurry and begin. Jennifer, he assumed, was waiting for privacy, which they wouldn't have while he was loitering nearby, before she broached the subject of Draco and his sudden appearance. Justin, on the other hand, was just being difficult.
After the fifth conversational gambit that Justin shut down with one word answers or ignored altogether, Jennifer excused herself. Ostensibly
she left to get her sweater from the car, but the heat and her glassy eyes made that unlikely. Knowing it wouldn't take long for her to pull herself together, Draco spoke quietly.
"Listen, you self-absorbed git. My father didn't slap me or beat up my boyfriend; he all but tried to sell me into slavery. My mother did the only thing she could to get me out; she sent me here. It may have cost her her life, and I have no way to find out without broadcasting where I am and nullifying her sacrifice." Justin gaped at him when he started speaking and looked like he was close to interrupting, but Draco continued before he could say anything.
"Your mother loves you, is proud of you, and is trying in every way she can to ensure you have the best life possible. Maybe you could, for just one minute, get over yourself and remember that she's your mother. She's always going to think of you as a child, her child, but she sent you to Brian anyway because that's the only thing she could think of that might help. She's gone more than halfway. Maybe you could give her a break. Or do you want to lose both your parents?"
Before Justin had a chance to respond, he was out of earshot, heading to the stable.
It didn't take long for the tension of memories that had been raised to be lost in his joy of riding. It was one of the things he missed most when he was at school and had expected to miss here.
When he thought he would be able to face the prat without hitting him upside the head, he returned to the paddock, he saw Justin standing next to his mother. Jennifer was watching Molly and Justin was sketching, but they were speaking quietly to each other at the same time.
They both looked relaxed, even happy.
Jennifer waved when she saw him, and Draco returned it before heading back to the stable, where he smugly congratulated himself.
Justin found him there, grooming the horse he'd been riding. Draco waited as his cousin watched silently for several moments before speaking.
Justin spoke first. "I always wanted to learn to ride."
Draco put years of his mother's training to use and replied, politely, "Why didn't you?" Jennifer had seemed pleased by Molly's interest in learning.
"My dad always said that with the amount of money he shelled out for his country club membership, we should take advantage of their facilities, so I learned golf and tennis instead. I didn't want to learn golf or tennis, so I dropped the lessons as soon as I was able. My mom just told me that my dad's afraid of horses."
"It's not too late."
Justin laughed. "I'd look a bit silly out there with a bunch of nine-year-olds, don't you think?"
Draco shrugged in acknowledgment. He probably wouldn't have felt comfortable in the group either. "I'm sure there are adult classes." He nearly left it there, remembering the last time he'd offered to help a potential friend and how badly that had blown up in his face, but he thought about how tense Jennifer had been about the estrangement, how happy she had seemed just a few moments ago. If she were willing to forgive the brat, Draco had no right to hold onto the grudge when he hadn't been wronged. "Or I can teach you, if you want."
Justin cocked his head and stared at Draco before replying, "My schedule is pretty tight, especially with school starting soon, so scheduling another set of lessons is probably a bad idea."
Draco tried not to be too disappointed: he hadn't realized until that moment how much he'd hoped for a chance at a friend his own age.
"But private tutoring might be okay," Justin continued. "Can I get back to you when I know how busy I'll be with school?"
"Sure." Turning back to the horse, Draco smiled.
AN: That's the end of Familiarization of Liberty. As they are completed, additional scenes will be posted and linked in the index; they'll be vignettes really, of other moments that occur before the story resumes in Sins of the Father. They will not be essential to your enjoyment/understanding of the sequel (they'll be of the DVD extras variety), so don't feel you need to wait for them. If you have something in particular you'd like to see, please review or message me, and I'll see what I can do.
The sequel, Sins of the Father, is a WIP, set after Season Five of QaF (so, full series spoilers) and well after the books (and I don't know yet how canon-compliant it will be). Forewarned is fore-armed. It begins here.
