Wake Up Solo Finished

Tuesday | 27 December 2022 | around 3 am

Aaron had never felt so confused on waking up before, but there was no time for disorientation. His brother's words shocked him into action, and he sat up immediately. Bad idea though, because there was a lot of smoke up there on the top bunk bed.

"C'mon, get down!" Avery shouted, then Aaron heard him cough too. The Hufflepuff's brown eyes were finally able to make out the fact that there was smoke pouring into their room through their closed bedroom door. And an orange glow coming from there as well. A fire. Aaron immediately hopped down the bunkbed ladder, his fourteen-year-old body making quick work of that.

"What's happened?" he said, coughing a little more from the huge inhale earlier. It was a bit clearer air down near the ground where they now crouched.

"I dunno, but we've gotta get out. Through the window?" Avery suggested, and Aaron nodded straight away. Even though they were on the first floor American: second floor, they had jumped down before last summer on a dare. Aaron followed his twin to the window and they shoved it open, allowing smoke to go billowing out into the night sky. Chae-rin was likely out hunting right now, so he didn't need to worry about her. His thoughts did go briefly to his parents and his sister, but they were on the ground floor anyway, and there was clearly no way he and Avery could go through the hall to get to them. The window was safest.

They climbed out facing the backyard and jumped down. Aaron landed easy enough, his training in taekwondo and his recent training with trick riding aiding him in this. Avery though, he must've hesitated, and it resulted in a painful landing for him. Aaron helped his twin to his feet, and they figured that he might have a small fracture or something, but they both knew they needed to get to the front of the house. From down on the ground, they could see through the house windows that the flames were spreading fast on the ground floor. The source might even be down there.

So Aaron held his brother's arm over his shoulder and they quickly went through the backyard gate to the front yard. The fire hadn't drawn a lot of attention yet, but there! His family!

"Dad!" Aaron shouted in relief. But as the two fourteen-year-olds made their way towards the other figures on the front yard, a sudden explosion from the house knocked him and Avery off their feet. That explosion shattered the glass of the windows on the first floor, and the twins had their faces on the grass and hands covering their heads for protection. That's what woke up the neighborhood, Aaron saw lights coming on in neighboring houses as he finally raised his head.

"Do you have Gemma?!" their father asked, having run over to help them up. It was only then that Aaron realized it wasn't his whole family on the front lawn. It was his dad and his mum. His mum was in tears and coughing, clearly having inhaled a lot of smoke, and his dad must've carried her. She cried out their little sister's name between coughs. It was immediately evident that the twins didn't have their sister though, but still Aaron answered.

"N-No," Aaron answered, a sense of dread creeping up on him. "She wasn't with you?"

"She wasn't in her room, so she must've gone up to the bathroom or I'd hoped to your room." The panic in Richard Jones' voice was palpable. It was setting in that one of the family of five was still trapped in the burning building. Aaron's brown eyes looked back at their home which was now almost completely engulfed in fire, the light of it searing into his retinas.

"Aaron, your magic. It can save her, can't it?" the sudden and desperate idea had come quickly to his father. Aaron looked at the man. "You can stop the fire or save her somehow," he said, the weight of the demand not allowing Aaron to break eye contact.

"Dad, I-"

"Aaron, please! You have to! I know you can!" His father had never sounded so broken to him before. It was a side of him that the fourteen-year-old boy had never thought he'd see. The look in the man's eyes was weak as he begged his son to save his daughter's life. This was his father. The man who was supposed to be the protector of the house, the one who would take charge in situations like this. Seeing him broken like this had Aaron feeling weak in the knees.

"I- I can't-"

"YOU MUST! SHE CAN DIE, AARON. SHE WILL DIE!" he shouted, grabbing Aaron's shoulders and shaking him slightly.

Death? Aaron was paralyzed with fear, completely overcome by the pressure his father had just placed on him and the guilt at what might happen if he failed. He was a terrible caster. He would probably make things worse. What would he cast, Extinguo? Would that even be enough? What else could he do? Surely she wouldn't die - that was a ridiculous notion. Death was something for old people, not for his primary school sister.

And there were other Muggles coming out of their houses now, on the phone to the fire department, some friendly neighbors rushing over with water for his Mum. If he tried to cast now, he'd probably get expelled. Or thrown in jail. Surely this wasn't all on him.

"Dad, I can't do it-" he stammered out again, frozen to the spot. Rather than understanding and sympathy, his father's expression turned to one of absolute rage and panic. He said something to Aaron in that moment that would probably shatter their relationship forever - if not, at least for years to come.

As Aaron heard sirens in the distance, he watched as one of their neighbors practically tackled his dad, holding him back from running back into the burning house. Why did no one have to hold Aaron back? Why was he such a coward? A complete failure of an older brother? His little sister was still inside, probably terrified and hiding somewhere, and he could do nothing but watch the scene unfold. Wait for the firefighters - the men who were trained to do this - to arrive. Fear had gripped Aaron Jones like nothing ever had before. He felt like he was choking.

The injured Avery had gone to sit with their mother, comforting her as she wailed on the ground for her daughter, crying like he had never heard anyone cry before. And still Aaron stood there on the lawn, facing the house. A kindly neighbor tried to move him - to bring him to the ambulance that had arrived nearby - but he couldn't budge. Minutes were passing. The house was burning. The firefighters were dousing it in water, and some had gone in to find his sister. No hesitation at all. But the fire was too strong and the men had to leave the house as parts of it collapsed, and they didn't have her. Gemma was still inside.

A coldness descended on him as the reality of the situation set in. She was dead? This truth hit him like a ton of bricks and still no tears were shed. He felt like stone. This was his fault. His dad was right. He could've at least tried. Prison be damned, that would be better than a dead sister.

Numb to the reality of it all, Aaron finally allowed himself to be escorted to a paramedic to get checked out at the ambulance. Smoke inhalation, they said. But he was hearing none of it, he just let them treat him with oxygen and wrap a blanket around his shoulders. There was a lot of chatter going on over the next ten minutes, as the fire was brought under control and they once again tried to find his sister. But he knew the truth. She was dead, and it was his fault. Just like his father said. So the chatter he heard over some walkie-talkies went in one ear and out the other, his eyes dazed over as he stared at the roof of the ambulance still parked at home.

"...it's a miracle..."

"...not a single scratch..."

"...like magic..."

But then there was crying. A familiar crying. His body shot up at the sound of Gemma's voice, and he tossed the oxygen mask aside to run over to the neighboring ambulance where his mother and brother were. There she was. His little sister was now cradled in his mother's arms, gripping her like a vice. And she was fine. She was alive. She was okay.

But as tears finally streamed down Aaron's relieved face, a look at his father's expression standing nearby made him realize that things would never be the same again.

28 December 2022 - 2 January 2023 | Wales

The next few days were a blur. Their home was in shambles by the time the fire got under control, definitely uninhabitable. Aaron's grandparents arrived to the hospital and seemed to take charge since his parents were clearly shaken by everything. There were talks of insurance and paperwork and hospital stays. Avery ended up with a sprained ankle, and their Mum had a bad third degree burn on her arm that meant she needed to stay a bit longer. Aside from those injuries and some smoke inhalation, though, the family was fine. In particular, Gemma was fine.

The words Aaron heard over the walkie talkie played in his mind. Like magic. It truly was a miracle that Gemma was okay. She said she had hidden in a closet, but her story sounded like it had been in a place that the explosion surely would've destroyed... All that mattered was she was okay, but still. Avery is the one who said the words to Aaron one afternoon at the hospital cafeteria. That maybe she was a witch. And the way he said it reminded Aaron vaguely of the jealousy he had once sensed from his brother years ago. That wasn't a good sign. The thought of his little sister being a witch both excited and terrified Aaron. What would it do to their sibling dynamic if Avery was the one "left out."

And then there was Aaron's dad. They hardly spoke since that night - it was mainly talk of "Grandma said to check if you ate dinner" or "Is your mother asleep in the other room?" Nothing relating to what had been said. Aaron was secretly glad that no one else had heard the exchange - he wasn't sure if he'd be able to face his family at all if they had. Not that he was doing a great job of it now anyway. He focused on staying out of the way of the doctors and nurses, and staying the quiet helpful grandson to his grandparents as they handled the bulk of the work.

Whenever he was alone, he was just suffocating from the guilt. He couldn't sleep - nightmares every time he closed his eyes - and he could hardly talk to his little sister. Gemma had no idea of the guilt she inspired in him whenever he saw her, and no idea that Aaron could've saved her if he'd been brave enough and not hesitated. Avery had started to withdraw as well ever since the mention that she might be magic, so Aaron found himself with no support.

Returning to Hogwarts was something he found himself looking forward to. An escape from the harsh reality that was his muggle life now. Once everyone except his mother was checked out of hospital, it was decided they would stay with their grandparents for the foreseeable future. But that didn't impact Aaron, who would need to be back in London in just a few days to take the train back to school. So while Gemma and Avery went with Grandma back to her home, Aaron stayed with his Dad and Grandpa in Cardiff at a hotel near the hospital until it was time to go back to school. He and his father still hardly crossed paths, and his Grandpa was too busy to pay him much attention outside of the necessities, so it was a lonely few days leading up to his return to the wizarding world.

The only person he could think to reach out to was @Aly Salinger. Their train ride just before the break (and the month leading up to it) had been awkward and resulted in a question of if she even wanted to still be dating. Without a solid answer to go off of - and the fact that she had never even responded to the Christmas present he sent her, and the associated letter asking if she still wanted to keep dating - Aaron found himself angry with her.

Aly,

Since you made it pretty clear this past month that you're not interested in me anymore, and the fact that you didn't respond to my Christmas letter, I'm taking your answer as a no.

So when we get back to Hogwarts, we officially won't be dating anymore,

Aaron

The passive aggressive letter came after several others trying to explain to her what had happened with the fire and the whole situation with his family. But he threw all of those away because it was clear she didn't care about him. If she cared, she would've written back by now and said yes of course she wanted to keep dating. If she cared, she would've stood up to her parents if they tried to block her from writing back. If she cared, she would've known something was wrong by now and reached out. But no, it was pretty clear from the way she'd been acting leading up to this break that she was no longer interested in dating him. He had no idea why things had been going so downhill in December, but he had really tried to get through to her to no avail.

Chae-rin was sent that evening to deliver the letter to Aly, and she returned the next morning with nothing. Aaron's heart panged a bit when his beloved snowy owl returned empty-clawed. He had been hoping for something, anything. He was drowning in guilt and didn't know who to reach out to. And the one person he wanted to talk to more than anyone else was ignoring him - and now officially his ex.

Soon after his lonely New Year's, Aaron was being shipped back to Hogwarts. The guilt he carried with him would only be alleviated once he was back in the air flying his broom. He was sure of it.