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study-coffee-chicago · 5 months

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Witches AU (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister Imagine)

A/N: I'm back! Sorry, it took so long for an update. I moved out of state for grad school a few months ago and I'm working 30-35 hours/wk on top of a full graduate-level course load. Because of this, this imagine is not proofread because I wanted to get this out to you guys. (I also wanted to post this before Halloween, but I had a ton of exams, so I'm just getting it up now.)

Anyway, enjoy!

Math has always sucked. It's confusing and why do you even have to know all of this stuff?

Wasn't this stuff just made up thousands of years ago? So why do I even need to know it? Isn't it all fake anyway. Like, maybe it's not even real and we're just learning stupid shit to learn stupid shit, you thought to yourself as you stared at your math test in front of you.

You looked around the room. You knew you weren't supposed to do this, but you muttered a transference spell under your breath to transfer the information from deep inside your brain where you couldn't find it onto the paper.

Hailey Upton was watching from her teacher's desk out of the corner of her eye, obscured by a book so her students wouldn't know that she was watching.

She knew a witch when she saw one.

***

Will might call his little brother, Jay, overprotective, but at the moment, Jay didn't care. His witch's mark burned, alerting him that either you or Will had just used magic.

Typically, this didn't happen, but there was a potion one could make so that one knew when another person used magic. Jay knew his mom used this on him and Will when they were younger even though she had never told them.

The most important ingredient in this potion was blood from the person who you wanted to know was using magic. This had been easy enough for Jay to come by. All he did was break open your razor, take out a blade, then quickly dip it in the mixture.

Jay had shuddered to think about where the razor had been when he took the potion like a shot a few minutes later. Then, he quickly brushed his teeth to rid himself of the taste of the potion.

Jay glanced at the clock.

You were in math class right now. He knew this because whenever he needed to text you, he made sure to do so during your lunch period, and a lot of times you'd text him back and say something along the lines of gotta go. Math class with a crying emoji.

And, you had been telling him for the past few days how you had a math test.

The man was both a witch and a police detective.

He easily put the pieces together: you used magic to cheat on a math test.

You broke the rules.

Do not use magic in your profession unless it is for the greater good.

Since your profession was currently a student and there was nothing at school that would really be for the greater good, Jay and Will had discussed it and had deemed that you weren't allowed to use magic at school.

Jay made a mental note to prepare a truth serum for you to drink when you got home from school.

***

"Jay, she's a kid," Will said when Jay called him later that day when he was on his way home from work.

"Yeah, and? Mom and Dad took our magic from us when we tried to throw a basketball game in our favor."

"Yeah because we were basically trying to injure the other team."

"Fair point. But, if we let her get away with it now, she'll think she can get away with it all the time and next thing you know, she's cheating on her SATs."

"Fine. Just give it back to her by the end of Halloween."

"Will, I'm not that stupid. I'll make sure she gets them back by then. Don't want her losing her powers forever."

The rule was, and always has been, if a witch loses their powers and still doesn't have them on the night of Sanheim, the night when the spirit world and mortal worlds collide--which is now called Halloween--they would lose their powers forever.

Will and Jay lived in fear whenever they did something wrong during the month of October that their parents would take their powers from them, but luckily, they never did anything that stupid...at least, not during the month of October. November and December, now those months were different stories.

"Might make her wait until the last minute until she gets them back, though," Jay said.

"Just, make it at least an hour before midnight. We don't need any issues."

"Yeah, yeah. And, before you mention it, yes, I'm giving her truth serum when she gets home in case I'm wrong."

"Good. I'll be expecting a phone call from her."

"Why?"

"We both know she calls me when she's pissed at you," Will said. "And then she'll want me to call you and tell you to give her her powers back. Or, she'll beg me to override your spell."

"Please don't give in, Will. I know how you get."

Will rolled his eyes. "I won't. Unless you start cutting it close, then I might have to. But, we both know how hard eye of newt is to get these days, so please save me the money."

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. But, I gotta go. I have a truth serum to make."

"She's gonna know what you're making the minute she walks into the house. That one smells terrible."

"Oh, trust me, I know.

***

When you saw Jay's truck in the parking lot of your apartment building, you thought nothing of it; you just thought he and his team had finished with a case early.

But, when you walked in, you gagged and dry-heaved.

"Oh my god," you groaned and plugged your nose. "Jay, what are you cooking? It smells like burnt, day-old, rotten fish."

Jay walked out of his room with a clothespin pinching his nose closed.

"I'm giving you one chance to come clean or else you get to taste it."

"Come clean about what?" you asked while you set down your backpack so that you'd have something to do with your hands.

"Cut the crap, Y/N. You have one chance to tell me why my witch's mark burned when you were in math class today or else you get to taste the truth serum. And, just a heads up, the taste is worse than the smell and the aftertaste is even worse. And it's slimy."

"You charmed my magic?" you asked.

"Was that a confession?"

"No!"

Jay walked further into the kitchen and opened a drawer that contained silverware. He pulled out a spoon and then made his way to the pot that was bubbling on the stove. "Last chance, kid."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me." He stuck the spoon in the potion and dished some out.

You unplugged your nose and smelled. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. And then, you dry-heaved and started to feel the snack you ate in your second to last class churn in your stomach.

"Fine! I used magic to help me with one problem on my math test, happy?"

"Very." Then, he snapped his fingers and the pot disappeared, taking the smell with it. Then, he snapped again, but this time, he did so with both hands and made a gesture with his arms from you to him.

You hoped he was taking the nausea from your body.

You swore you could still it, though, so you walked over and opened the pumpkin spice candle that sat on the kitchen counter. Maybe he just wanted you to admit that you were guilty and all of this would blow over...it wasn't like Jay, but, he had gotten out of work earlier than usual, so maybe he was in a good mood.

You pointed your pointer finger at the candle and muttered the spell.

Nothing happened.

"Yeah, you're gonna need this," Jay said and then made a lighter appear on the counter with a snap of his fingers. "Your finger's gonna be out of commission for a while."

"What do you..." Then, your eyes widened and your jaw dropped. Will always told you stories of when Mom and Dad took his and Jay's magic away when they used it when they weren't supposed to. "You didn't!"

"Don't cheat on your math test."

"Jay! It was one question! And, I just couldn't remember the formula! I didn't even use it for the problem! Just the formula! You gotta believe me! I promise!"

Jay muttered something under his breath and then stared right at you, just above your head.

Unbeknownst to you, he had made a puff of smoke pop up above you, which said truth or lie...and you were telling the truth. Despite this, Jay wasn't going back now. He had to teach you a lesson. And, he'd make sure to give you your powers back by Halloween.

"Thank you for telling me the truth," he told you. "But, you have to understand, that magic is a slippery slope. You can't just use it for your own gain all the time. Mom always said that magic is for the greater good, and what you did today was selfish--"

"But--"

"No buts. You'll get your magic back when I say you can have it back."

"But Sanheim's in two weeks! If I don't get my powers back by then, I'll be mortal! Please, Jay! Give them back!"

"No can do, kid. You made your bed, now you have to lie in it."

"I'm calling Will!"

"We already talked about this, so good luck."

You huffed and marched off towards your room.

"I hate you!"

"If you want your powers back by Sanheim, I'd shut up if I were you! And, make sure you wake up earlier tomorrow to pack your lunch for school because your powers can't do it for you!"

You threw your head back and groaned. If you had your powers, you'd seriously hex your brother right now.

***

"Y/N, can I talk to you for a minute?" Miss Upton asked at the end of your math class the next day.

Oh no. Jay called her. Now you were in trouble at home and at school.

"Sure," you answered.

Once all the students left, she closed the door and then gestured for you to sit in the chair across from her desk.

You were in deep shit now.

"Did you cheat on the test yesterday?"

"I--" You were about to tell her that you didn't, but you knew lying would just make it worse. It was better for you to just come clean. You hung your head. "Yes," you admitted reluctantly. "But, it was only the volume formula for a cylinder! I didn't use it for any number or anything! I just couldn't remember the formula."

Miss Upton nodded. "I see." She'd dealt with kids cheating before, so she knew that if a kid admitted to it, they were usually telling the truth about the cheating. They either doubled down on their lie or told the truth; there was no in-between. "Tell you what, since this is the first time this has happened and you only used it in the formula, I won't tell the principal, and I'll just adjust your grade and take off the points for that problem as if it were incorrect."

You didn't know what to say; you thought for sure that this was going to go on your record the second you admitted to cheating. So, all you could feel was gratitude. "Thank you. It won't happen again, I swear!"

"I wouldn't get too far ahead of yourself," Miss Upton warned. "I do need to have a conversation with your parents about this."

"My um, my guardian," you told her. "It's my brother who's in charge of me. My, um, my parents both passed."

"Y/N, I'm so sorry."

You nodded. "Thank you."

There was a lull in the conversation as Hailey processed what you had just said. She knew that your brother signed permission slips and all that for you, but she thought that was just because your parents were busy working. But, she knew she needed to continue this conversation.

"I'll need to have a conversation with your brother, then. I'll make the phone call during lunch. I'd like you to be present for the meeting."

"Okay. He already knows."

Hailey furrowed her eyebrows. Typically kids wouldn't come clean about this to their parents. But, she thought you were a witch; she just wanted to see what you'd say next.

"You told him?"

You shrugged. "Guilty conscience, I guess."

"I see." She paused. "Well, that was everything about the test. One more thing."

"Yeah?" You knew geometry wasn't your best class, but you didn't think there was anything else in this class that warranted your attention, much less would be brought to Miss Upton's attention.

"Agam ense?"

Your eyes widened, but you quickly recovered. She did not just ask you that.

Agam ense.

When flipped from its backward state, was Esne maga.

Are you a witch? in Latin.

No way Jay's giving you your powers back now.

***

What Jay did not expect to be getting was a frantic phone call from you at 10:06 in the morning.

"I gotta take this. It's Y/N." He told his team. Then, he walked into the break room, which was soundproof.

"Why are you calling me? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" He had already taken your powers, he really didn't know how normal adults disciplined their kids. Maybe take her phone? No, that would be a safety issue. So, what was he supposed to—"

"Miss Upton knows," you said.

"Knows what? That you cheated?" Jay asked. He hadn't even thought about telling your teacher due to the fact that he had been absolutely livid with you yesterday. Maybe he should've done that.

"Yes, but she knows that I'm..." you trailed off. Then, you whispered. "She knows I'm a witch."

Jay took a deep breath to avoid losing his shit. They were gonna take you from him and put you in a mental hospital. He'd have to get a lawyer ASAP. So, all he could manage was, "How?"

"She's one two. She even spoke bruja to me. That's how she asked."

"Did she show you her mark?" Jay asked.

"No. But she erased the board by pointing her finger at the board and making the eraser erase. I didn't believe her, so I told her my water bottle was empty, because it was, and with a snap of her fingers, it was full again."

"Holy shit," Jay muttered.

"I'm telling you in case she brings it up tonight when you have to meet her about me cheating. She's gonna give you a call in an hour during lunch."

"Okay. Wow, okay. I expected something bad, but not something like this."

You stayed quiet, waiting for Jay to lose his shit for being so careless. But, instead, you just got silence. "So, you're not mad?"

"If it was a mortal who caught you, then I'd be mad. But, a witch can find their own kind. So, in this case, I'm not mad. Plus, I already took your magic. I don't know if there's anything else I could really do."

"So, I'll get my magic back by Sanheim?" You asked hopefully.

"We'll see. Now, get to class, kid."

Once he hung up, he sighed. He was about to leave the break room and get back to working on his current case, but then he remembered that he needed to call Will to tell him about the latest development in your cheating and powers saga. Sometimes, he wished he were mortal. But then, he remembered he didn't have to wait for the coffee to brew in the morning because it was done with a snap of his fingers...literally.

***

"What did Will say?" Jay asked when he walked into school that afternoon, half an hour after school had been let out for the day. He had told his team he had to talk to your teacher, and, since the case was close to being closed, they let him leave early.

"Left me a voice memo. Almost made me go deaf because I had my headphones in when I played it," you answered.

Jay winced. "That bad, huh?"

"I'll let you listen to it when we get home."

"Nah. Don't think I need to. I called him after you called me and he basically told me what he was going to say to you...thought he would've cooled off between then and talking to you, though."

"Definitely not. He even mentioned experimentation, the pyres, hangings—"

"Yup. He told me that's what hew was going to tell you. Definitely didn't cool off. Maybe he needs to take a walk before recording those."

You agreed, then took a deep breath. "Let's get this over with." Then, you led the way to Miss Upton's classroom.

"Mr. Halstead, Y/N, please, take a seat," Miss Upton said and gestured to the two chairs that she had placed in front of her desk.

"Please, call me, Jay," Jay said when he took a seat. "I'm too young to be addressed as Mr. Halstead."

"In that case, call me Hailey," Miss Upton said.

"Alright, Hailey, where would you like to start?"

Hailey opened a drawer of her desk and pulled out a few pieces of paper, which were stapled together. She laid it out in front of her and you could see that it was the test that you had taken yesterday. "So, Y/N told me that she had a guilty conscience so she came clean to you yesterday that she cheated." She flipped to a page of the test. She only cheated to get the formula for this problem. And, since this is her first time being in any sort of trouble, I've explained to her that I'm only going to take off the points for the problems where this formula was used and I'm going to refrain from telling the principal."

"Yes, she told me," Jay confirmed. "And, I can promise you, that it will not happen again."

"I'd hope not. I just want to go over next steps with you if this were to occur again..."

You zoned out at this part because you knew this wasn't going to happen again, not after Jay took your powers away. Now, if you had gotten away with it, then this might be a different story. But man, that consequence really made you rethink your actions.

"Just remember, Sanheim," Miss Upton said.

The mention of the ancient festival that Halloween is based off of made you refocus.

What about Sanheim?

"I know. I won't be too hard on her."

You assumed the two had quickly discussed that Jay had taken your powers...or, Jay hadn't mentioned a single thing and Hailey had just mentioned that as a reminder. Maybe she had been rebellious during her teen years and had a scare just like you had.

Jay's phone buzzed. "That's probably work," he said. "Is this all? If not, we can continue this conversation later. Maybe, over coffee?"

Your jaw almost dropped, but you refrained from doing that. You knew Jay was a flirt, but this was a whole new level.

"That was all. And, coffee would be nice. But, let's continue this later. I have other tests to grade."

She shot you a wink, and you were grateful she understood that you were weirded out by this whole interaction.

Then, the two of you began to walk out of the classroom, but not before Jay snapped his fingers.

He paused a second and you continued to walk out of the classroom. Obviously that was something for Miss Upton.

"I'll see you then," she said.

And then Jay came out in the hallway.

"What did you do?" you asked.

"Just had a sticky note pop up with a time and a coffee shop. We're meeting on Friday before school."

Then, once you were safely out of the building and into the parking lot where no one would hear you, you said, "Please don't date my teacher...at least wait until I get my powers back. Or, wait, maybe date her. It might get my grades up."

Jay rolled his eyes. "I'll do what I want, thank you very much. Plus, she's a witch, so if anything happens, I don't have to have that conversation."

"Always easier dating a witch than explaining things to someone. How do you think the Salem witch trials started?"

"Exactly. Now, I gotta get back to work. See you later."

"See you. Can I have my--"

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"You were going to ask for your powers back. It hasn't even been 24 hours. No."

You walked away, but not without muttering, "I hoped because you're going on a date you might be in a good mood. Guess not."

"I heard that!"

***

10 days later, October 28

It was 4 days until November 1. You had 3 days, 6 hours, and 37 minutes to get your powers back before they were gone for good. Jay was in a good mood after his not one, but two dates with Miss Upton, and hadn't worked any crazy cases at work. At least, he hadn't worked any that you knew of anyway.

Also, for the past two days, you had followed Will's advice: Maybe stop asking and Jay will give them back.

You were skeptical about this advice, but you figured it was worth a shot. But, your patience was wearing thin.

He still hasn't given them back! you texted Will.

And he's still at work and you still have 3 days! he answered.

You sighed and flopped down on the couch. He'd give them back...right?

***

October 31

It was currently Halloween on a Saturday night. While all of your friends were out (underage) drinking, you were sitting at home, trying to focus on watching Hocus Pocus (even though it was definitely not an accurate portrayal of witches), and every five minutes you were trying to move something or get another glass of apple cider from the kitchen by using a spell. But, nothing worked.

You looked at the clock on your phone as the credits to the movie began to roll. It had just hit 11pm.

"How's it feel?" Jay asked.

"What?" you asked. You were too focused on how the hell you were going to live as a mortal. Because, if Jay hadn't given you your powers back yet, you'd never get them back.

"Your powers. I just transferred them back to you."

"No, you didn't. I didn't feel anything."

Jay furrowed his eyebrows. "Yes, I did."

You tried to fold the blanket by using a spell.

Nothing.

"Maybe I have to say it out loud instead of whispering."

He recited the spell which translated to: Now that she has learned to use her powers for good and not for selfish deeds, give her back her powers that she needs.

"Try something now."

You tried the simplest spell, a spell to levitate anything in front of you.

Nothing.

All your rage came flying out at once.

"I. Hate. You!" you screamed at the top of your lungs. "I won't get my powers back because you just had to prove a point and wait until the last fucking minute! Fuck!"

"Y/N, I'm sorry! They should be back, it's not midnight yet!"

"Well, they aren't back! I hate you!"

Then, you grabbed your keys and slipped on your tennis shoes, not caring that you were just in sweatpants and a hoodie despite it beginning to snow.

Normally, Jay would yell at you to come back, but he had more pressing matters to attend to.

He quickly pulled out his phone and walked into his room. After dialing Will's number and putting the phone on speaker, he opened his safe and then took out the false bottom where he kept the family's spellbook that had been passed down for generations.

"Hello?"

"Will I fucked up!"

Will looked at the time on his phone and his heart dropped. "You didn't read the fine print, did you?"

"What fine print? There's no fine print!" He flipped to the page where the spell was. "All the letters are normal sized!" He began to read the spell over the spell over the phone. "If not given back by the person who took these powers when Sanheim turns to the first of November under the dark of Boston's sky, then this witch will remain powerless forever."

"Boston, Jay! What time is it in Boston?"

"What are you talking about? It's--" And then it dawned on him: Boston was one hour ahead of Chicago; It was already November first there. "Shit."

"Keep looking through the spellbook," Will urged. "I'm on my way over. There is no way Y/N's losing her powers over a technicality."

***

You sat in the dark of the night, using your phone as the only light to look at your mom's gravestone. If she were here, this never would have happened. She would have given you your powers back earlier. And now, you were mortal. You could die of anything. And, without powers and your parents, was life even worth living at all?

***

"There has to be something in here," Jay muttered as he flipped through the spellbook from front to back once more.

Then, a knock sounded. "It's me!" Will yelled.

"Come in!" Jay yelled back.

The minute he heard the door open and close, he grabbed the spellbook and brought it out to the kitchen table.

"Last page. Everyone's notes," Will ordered.

"I already looked there!"

"Well look again!" Will ordered. He had half a mind to rip the book off the table and throw it at Jay's head, but he decided not to...but only because he didn't want to rip any pages and ruin the spellbook.

The two poured over the book for ten minutes and were about to flip the page when Will stopped them.

"Remember, blood is stronger than any spell," he read.

"Yeah, so? Family's stronger than magic."

"What if Mom meant blood, like actual blood."

Jay's eyes widened. "You're a fucking genius!"

Then, he flipped back to the page where the original spell was while Will grabbed a knife from the kitchen.

"You cast the spell, so it's all you," Will said.

Jay took the knife from Will and then cut his finger just enough that blood started to pool. Then, he held his finger over the page.

One drop...Two drops...Three drops.

The page turned black and white lettering began to materialize on the page.

"If ye be in dire need of thy powers," Jay began to read, "like this spell, thou shalt need three witches, one must be a descendent of those who were imprisoned for their crimes and could have perished in the pyres, by hanging, or drowning."

"Great," Will said. "So we need three witches and one has to be a direct descendent from either England or Salem."

"Hailey," Jay muttered.

"What?"

"Hailey Upton, Y/N's teacher. We went on a few dates, she's a witch, she mentioned she grew up out east!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're dating Y/N's teacher? Since when?" Will asked while Jay ran to his room and grabbed his phone.

"I wouldn't call it dating. We've only gone on two dates. I told Y/N not to tell you or else she wouldn't get her powers back."

"And now she might not even get them back! I'm calling Y/N to tell her to come home, you call Hailey. You sure as hell better hope that you're right about where she's from."

***

"A technicality!" you yelled when you walked inside your and Jay's apartment after getting that phone call from Will. "I lost my powers because of a fucking technicality?"

"Take a deep breath." You recognized that voice. But, why...

"Miss Upton?" you asked.

"We need three witches to break the spell and one has to be from Salem," Jay said.

"Or, a descendent of those who came from Salem. Technically, I lived in Boston. Then I moved here when I was twelve," Hailey said.

"Okay, so you guys can reverse it?" you asked. You really didn't care about the semantics right now.

"We think so," Will said.

Then, he grabbed one of Jay's hands and Jay took his other hand to grab Hailey's.

"Ready?" Jay asked.

"Yes," Hailey answered and Will nodded.

The three of them closed their eyes and recited the spell.

The second they were finished, you could feel the blood moving in your veins, almost like there were bubbles. Your fingertips glowed for five seconds after that. And then, you felt normal again.

"Did it work?" Jay asked.

"I don't know, it felt weird, but I don't know."

At this point, you were scared to try any magic because what if you just imagined those feelings? what if it was just your eyes playing tricks on you?

"Try a spell," Will urged.

You pointed your finger at the table and focused on thinking about an Oreo milkshake. And then, one appeared!

"They're back! They're back!" you yelled and grabbed the milkshake. Then you took one sip. But then, you remembered something. "Thank you, Miss Upton! You're the best teacher ever! I'm sorry I cheated and I'll never do it again! I promise!"

Miss Upton smiled. "I know you won't."

"I think," Will began, "this calls for celebratory IHOP."

"Yes!"

"I'm down," Jay said.

"Not for you, Jay. This is only for me, Y/N, and Hailey if she wants to come. You're the one who got us into this mess in the first place."

Jay rolled his eyes, but deep down, he knew he deserved it.

"I can make some really good pancakes," Hailey offered.

You might have just been in high school, but you knew where this was going.

"C'mon, Will, let's go," you said and pulled him out the door while drinking your milkshake.

"I don't have a tail or anything, do I?" Jay asked when you and Will had left.

Hailey laughed. "No, you don't."

"Good, because I'm sure those two are going to hex me one way or another. That's probably what they're talking about right now."

Hailey laughed. "I'm not saying you deserved it..."

Jay cocked his head to the side. "Yes, you are." He took a step closer. "Did I ever tell you how pretty you are?"

Hailey shook her head. "Is this your way of flirting?"

"Depends. Is it working?"

"Maybe," Hailey smiled. Then, the two began leaning in. Hailey could almost feel Jay's lips on hers when she noticed something and pulled back. "Why does your breath smell like toad?"

Jay threw his head back and groaned. "Will! Y/N!"

"I'm sure we can find a spell to fix that, c'mon," Hailey said.

Then, she grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to the kitchen table and their two spellbooks, which would eventually turn into one big one as the years passed and they fell deeper and deeper in love.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to reblog and comment! Even though I don't respond to a lot of the comments, I do see them and I love seeing them! Thanks again for reading! Also, if you want to be added to my taglist, just let me know and I can add you!

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