The Vortex: Rectification

Chapter Eight.

Forty-Eight.

"So, you see my dilemma don't you" I grumble, eyes focused on the purple scented candle that is balanced on my leg. "My movement in correct, as if it ever hasn't been and I'm even casting out loud and yet nothing is happening!"

My head falls back against the wall I am leant against, legs crossed on the soft comforter and the sound of bubbling potions a calming background noise. "I can feel my magic though, admittedly it's nowhere near as strong as it should be but there should be a flicker of something happening, right?"

Aleera never responds to my questions, I got used to the silence pretty quickly but something everyone else may have forgotten is that the likelihood that she can still hear us remains quite high. At least she isn't aware of the fact she can't move and has been trapped in this cocoon of unmoving for decades, but it will sound like our voices are a part of a dream she can't control.

Something that will more than likely be of comfort when she is awake enough to digest and rationalise her feelings. All of the conversations that felt like fleeting thoughts will be solid memories for her to rely on and all the time she missed in between won't be as devastating as it feels right now.

Aleera's auburn hair is spread around the pillow, still dull and lacking it's vibrance but shorter than it had been when I arrived. I probably shouldn't smile at the fact we both are now sporting hair shorter than either of us could have imagined, mine still sits just below my shoulders but Jamie has mostly saved the uneven strands.

Her body lays away from the centre of the bed, the time on the alarm clock on her bedside table reads five-am and so laying down she remains. Once the day starts going, Jamie or Harry are normally the ones who come in and get her fed, topped up on potions and moved into a different position.

I guess a small win of this situation is the fact that the piles of books I have begun reading again that are all stacked against the wall on her bed have no threat of falling onto her when she moves during the night and yes, I do know that's morbid. As it seems I have been coming out with things that I would have never even allowed myself to think before, in an odd way it's been kind of nice to spew out all those thoughts.

"So, we obviously know that while I was with Dracius and had that stupid bracelet on that my magic began to repurpose itself as to not kill my own magical core and be left with no magic ever again" I start blabbering again, talking to Aleera is cathartic in a lot of ways but it doesn't make the lack of responses easier to deal with most days. "But that means that my magic isn't responding to my attempts to cast spells and instead is remaining in my veins, as if ready to fight off an attack on my body, which although helpful before isn't needed now"

The small white timer sat in the middle of the brewing stations desk begins to ring, the sound shrill and alerting. If it was anyone else, I would be worried about waking them up, but I don't believe we will be having the same issue with Aleera right now.

I dip the stirring wand into the dark potion, the smell of the concoction still pungent against my nose even after all this time but the movements are beginning to feel more natural to me again. The time between stirring, consistency and colour are imbedded into my mind like they never left, and I don't need to reference the recipe anymore and that very small win is already lifting my mood.

Change doesn't happen overnight, much to my annoyance, and the conversation with Alexander didn't cure me of all my worries and negative feelings. If anything, it has given me more to think about then I had already, but it isn't all negative anymore and as I take on more responsibility than I was before. I feel less like a burden, and a failure to what I once was and instead like this timeline is slowly beginning to be my home again.