InsaneJournal

History: Oscar and Melony Jones were overjoyed when they discovered they were about to have a baby girl. The relatively old couple had been trying to conceive a child for years, though once Hestia came into the picture, there was absolutely no stopping her. She was born on a cool day in September (September 9th to be exact), and she always claimed that Autumn was her favourite season. Still is. The Jones gave Hestia every comfort possible, though they still made sure to keep her humble and instilled in her the importance of gratitude and respect.

As a child, Hestia was always incredibly curious. She would wander off for hours, exploring her surrounding area, only to return home to find her parents severely distressed. She never considered that there were dangers out in the world that could harm her. However, her parents saw things differently and asked that she be careful about the places she went exploring. It was here where she first heard the idea that not every person was a good one, and it was later on in life that she would learn to understand why that was exactly.

Although her parents had both attended Hogwarts, it was her mother who taught Hestia about the wonders of the Muggle world. Melony was a Muggleborn and believed for many years that she had dreamed up Hogwarts and having magical abilities. However, she had done no such thing, though she didn't plan on forgetting all about her Muggle heritage either. It was to be passed down to her daughter, and thus, Hestia's curiosity about the Muggle world was born. It was only during her Hogwarts years that she would eventually learn to not only trust Muggles but also to incorporate herself seamlessly into their culture as well.

There were very little doubts about whether or not Hestia was a witch. At age seven, she managed to evade injury when pot of flowers tipped over on her head. She somehow managed to cause the pot to freeze in midair above her head, until she had scooted out of the way. It shattered momentarily, but her parents were quite proud. Besides, Melony was able to fix the pot with a wave of her own wand. And eventually, owls began arriving for Hestia, inviting her to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was beyond excited.

Her years at Hogwarts were particularly pleasant. She was quickly Sorted into Ravenclaw for her quick-wit and yearning to fill the void that ignorance left behind. And although she was quite a few years younger, she intently remembers those four Gryffindor pranksters who pretty much ruled the school. Her parents and professors often mentioned that dark times were upon them, what with the rumours of an approaching war and a frighteningly evil wizard, whom very few dared to even speak his name, on the rise. Hestia, being one to also reason things out, did not fear so much this evil wizard, for one so dark could not stand for very long without either destroying himself or meeting his match. There is always a bigger fish.

The summer before Hestia's final year at Hogwarts found Hestia investigating a nearby Muggle neighborhood. It was here that she was to meet the most endearing Muggle girl by the name of Megan. After Hestia asked if she could see Megan's tellyvision (she lied and said her parents' telly was broken), the two girls began a lovely friendship that would inevitably change the course of Hestia's life forever. For it was Megan's brother, Richard, who caught sight of the dark and mysterious Hestia and was quite taken by her.

That year, Hestia and Richard wrote back and forth to each other while she was at Hogwarts. She hadn't told him that she was a witch or that she was attending a school for witches and wizards, though her parents had suggested the idea numerous times to her. It was unfortunate that by the time she was ready to confess her true reasons for going to boarding school all those years, she was to find herself quite pregnant and quite jobless. As if to add insult to injury, Richard went AWOL on her once she finally managed to tell him that she was, in fact, a witch. He disappeared and was never heard from again, not even from his own sister, who despite having been lied to by Hestia, decided to help out her friend as best as she could.

Hestia would recall the 11th of March of the year 1980 to be the happiest -- albeit the most painful -- day of her entire life. She went into labour at her parents' house while she was over for dinner and was quickly moved to St. Mungo's, where her beautiful daughter, Megan Annie, was born. Raising a child by herself proved to be an interesting task for Hestia, who always seemed to have all the right answers to everything. With a baby in tow, she scoured much of the Wizarding World in search of a job, and she was finally offered a position as a secretary in the Portkey Office at the Department of Magical Transportation.

Although Hestia's parents did not approve of the entire situation, they just could not say no to little Megan, who was just about the happiest baby in existence at age one. She would giggle and baby-prattle on and on for hours on end, much to the delight of her grandparents. And eventually, they decided it was best to help Hestia with little Megan, taking care of her when Hestia had to go to work and giving the young mother some helpful parenting tips. It was with their help that Hestia began to teach little Megan all about the Wizarding World as well as the Muggle World, for her baby was very much a part of both.

As the years went on, Hestia tried her best to stay away from the politics that often surrounded the Ministry of Magic. She began working her way up the corporate ladder and had made Assistant Head of the Portkey Office by the time Megan was eleven-years-old and received her Hogwarts letter. They did a lot of dancing and jumping around on that night. And soon, her baby girl was off to Hogwarts to become the woman Hestia always wanted her to be: strong, loyal, independent and... and a Hufflepuff. Well, it wasn't too much of a disappointment, because it assured Hestia that on the inside, Megan had a caring and brilliant heart.

As if letting go of little Megan wasn't hard enough, the world seemed to have started shifting once more, and no longer were they in times of peace. Times of conflict soon began knocking on their door, and Hestia grew more afraid of letting Megan get on that train as the years went on. Would this be the last hug? Would this be the last goodbye? Would she never see her daughter again? Or vice versa? These were the thoughts that haunted Hestia as she waved goodbye when the train would whisk her precious baby girl off to a faraway place where her mum wasn't exactly a hop, skip and a jump away.

In order to relieve herself of these unpleasant thoughts, Hestia began to give aid to an organisation that had existed once in the past, an organisation that due to her pregnancy, she was not able to help the first time around. However, this time the task was evident from the very start. Protect Harry Potter. And protect him, she would. She ensured that he arrived safely by Portkey for the Quidditch World Cup, though was completely appalled when she heard the news that a Portkey had been used to transport the boy into the midst of Voldemort's presence.

She fought tooth and nail to uncover that the Head of the Portkey Office was actually under the Imperious Curse, and that was how they were able to secure a Portkey without the rest of the office being notified. After this mild scandal, Hestia was promoted and was now the Head of the Portkey Office. It was through her discovery that members of Order of the Phoenix were able to trust her with a very important mission. She was to be a member of the Advanced Guard and safely transport Harry Potter from his Aunt and Uncle's house to the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. While this was a rather trying experience, in which Hestia had to gather up whatever courage she had, she and the other members of the Advanced Guard completed their mission successfully.

The years passed quickly and eventually, with the murder of Albus Dumbledore, Hestia very much disapproved of Megan returning to that Death Eater-infested school. However, being very stubborn much like her mother, Megan took it upon herself to inform Hestia that she could very well take care of herself, and thus, she was off to Hogwarts to finish her final year. It was possibly the hardest year of Hestia's life. She was so worried about her daughter, about the war, about pressures at work. It was enough for anyone to have a meltdown. But Hestia was much stronger than that. She had overcome obstacles in her life far greater than this, and with a child no less. Thus, she was level-headed and worked out her frustrations and worries about her daughter by exercising on a daily basis.

During the battle of Hogwarts, she was one of the Order members who had been called and immediately rushed over to do what she could. Having never fought in a real battle before, Hestia felt a bit out of touch with her Defense Against the Dark Arts. Add to that the worry of finding her daughter injured or dead, and Hestia was pretty much a walking nervous wreck. Unfortunately, while Hestia escaped relatively unharmed, Megan suffered terrible injuries from a magical fire. Hestia did what she could after that, caring for Megan while she was in the hospital. Ever the fighter, Megan pulled through, and Hestia was proud of her daughter. Megan had grown up to be her own person, not her mother or father's clone. And Hestia felt at ease knowing she could handle things her way just fine.

Hestia continues to work at the Ministry. She is finding her position quite difficult with recent events of Muggles discovering Portkeys and using them to transport themselves to far off places by accident. It's been quite a mess, really, and Hestia tends to come home with random headaches and little annoyances. She tends to exercise them off, but some times, she's just much too tired to think, much less move. She finally feels like she can move on in her life romantically. There had been several men before (all of whom were unworthy, just because she didn't need a slob lounging around her flat all day), but none had caught her eye. She hopes that since Megan is well underway that she can now dedicate a teeny, tiny portion of her life to finding someone to date. And no, she doesn't care if that makes her sound old.