Chapter 4: Chapter 4Summary:Jasmine arrives at Potter Manor...
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 4
The morning Jasmine moved into Potter Manor was louder and a bit more chaotic than she had expected. The floo trip, as expected, was awful. She ended up sprawled on the wooden floor, soot from the fireplace covering her from head to toe. No matter how many bloody lives she lived floo travel just never agreed with her. Maybe it had to do with her connection to Death or maybe it was just that the magic didn't quite agree with her.
She dusted herself off and sat up, taking it slow. She was still recovering from her stay in the hospital and draining her magical core. She was going to become out of shape soon if she didn't start her training back up. Just another thing to add to her never-ending list of things to do.
Then as soon as she attempted to stand up, a small explosion echoed through the room, bringing her back to her knees. Euphemia was crouched on the floor in front of her with a fond smile on her face and a hand extended out to help Jasmine up. The Auror had to have noticed the confused look Jasmine's face. "That would be Monty. He's been trying to make a new potion for one of his business ventures and it hasn't been working as expected."
The manor rumbled precariously one more time before a distant shout of "I'm alright," echoed throughout the house. The voice was completely unfamiliar, slightly raspy, but distinctly male.
"Monty, get out of your potions lab, Jasmine is here!" Euphemia called and a crash sounded from the distance. Jasmine stood up and dusted herself off as she waited for Fleamont Potter to make an appearance. He hadn't come to visit her in the hospital, but Euphemia had mentioned something about his poor immune system and when Jasmine saw him for the first time she understood why she mentioned it. Fleamont Potter was a thin, pale, man with kind amber eyes and smile on his face. This was the man that had reinvigorated the Potter fortune with his line of haircare products. He didn't seem like much and it seemed odd that James was his son, while the had the same hair, he got quite a bit of his looks from his mother, from his high cheekbones to his mischievous grin. It was interesting to see what traits had been passed down.
"So, you must be the mysterious Jasmine that I've been hearing so much about," he walked up to her in three quick strides down the staircase and into the sitting room before engulfing her a tight hug. Jasmine felt tear prickle slightly at the corners of her eyes at hugging someone that she had considered a grandfather that she'd never gotten to meet. It was like a phantom dream come true.
She cleared her throat. "Yes, I'm Jasmine, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir," she replied a wobbly smile on her face.
He tweaked her nose, making her go cross-eyed for a moment. "Nonsense, call me Uncle Monty. Sir makes me feel rather old. I'm a wizard still in the prime of his life," he told her, his brown eyes dancing.
She nodded and opened her mouth to ask something, but James came flying down the stairs, his hair a mess and a letter clenched tightly in hand, some ink staining his pale fingers. He seemed excited, especially when he came bounding up to Jasmine and pulled her in for another hug.
Jasmine had never really received too much physical contact in any of the lives she'd had, well maybe except the first two. But, after living your life nine times, love became an obstacle more than something enjoyable. She always had the single goal of repopulating the wizarding world, or just figuring out a way to stop everyone from dying out, which was to stop this war from happening.
She held back a sigh, knowing that it would be out of place in this moment, but she just wished she wasn't tasked with this burden alone. She'd had a plethora of friends in other lives, Theo, Blaise, Hermione, George and Fred had always been there for her in all her lives. She was going to miss them this time around.
Now, she was in a time period she wasn't familiar with and fighting a Voldemort that was saner and therefore more powerful than ever before. But, she could save so many people from destroying themselves, maybe even bring some families back together.
She returned James' hug with a light squeeze, silently vowing that no one near her was going to have to suffer like they had in her original timeline. She was going to make sure of that, even if it meant going against fate to do so.
"Hey, Jazz! Let me take you to your room and then I can show you all the different pranking products that-"
His mother interrupted him mid-sentence. "James, we talked about this. Jasmine needs time to settle in and then she needs to do her school work. Headmaster Dumbledore has given her some extra school work to make sure that she is adequately prepared for the Hogwarts workload."
James pouted and Jasmine groaned thinking about all the extra work she was going to need to make up just so she could attend Hogwarts come September. She was barely going to have any time to rest.
~*~
And, for the next two weeks, all she did was work. She spent all of her time in the Potter Manor library with her books spread out around her. The smell of old paper and polished wood permeated the air. Light was coming through stained-glass windows in bright reds, oranges and golds.
Jasmine sat in a far corner of the library, a large oak desk in front of her as the late afternoon late came in from behind her. In front of her were school books, while others were family Peverell family grimoires that she had taken out of her locket. They held secrets to her magic and her family that only she could know as the last of the Peverell line. Jasmine had never gotten to see the Peverell family secrets before, even though Death had chosen her as his master, these books had been lost with the original Jasmine. And, oh, was she finding interesting information about the Peverell family. Death had created the Elder wand for the intent that the family use it to kill Dark and Light Lords that were attempting to tip the balance of magic. She hadn't really expected that of the elder wand's history. No wonder it was meant for the Master of Death. With a raised eyebrow she turned the page and kept reading putting her parchment and quill to the side.
She had finished most of her school work, the main issue was that she couldn't do the practical since she didn't have a wand. She hadn't spoken to either Euphemia or Monty about it. She wasn't quite sure how to approach either of them about getting a wand. Euphemia was always running back and forth to work, and Monty was in his lab creating things all day for his business.
So, she decided to work on her rune work and everything that didn't require wand waving. It wasn't that she couldn't do it non-verbally and without a wand, but that would seem out of place for a nearly fifteen-year-old witch to accomplish. Potions had become a side hobby since quite a few potions didn't require a wand, just precise hands and careful measurements. Monty had been more than pleased to see that someone else in the family was interested in potions. He had mentioned it more than once at the dinner table. It seemed to bring a smile to Euphemia's face seeing her husband as happy as he was.
James hadn't noticed her wandless predicament, but then again, he'd been busy sending frantic letters to Sirius all week.
The Black heir hadn't been over since he'd visited her in the hospital and James was beginning to worry about his best mate. Jasmine hadn't voiced her opinion, but she knew from future knowledge that Sirius' family life was less than ideal, but she wasn't going to tell James that because explaining herself would cause more problems than explaining how she knew.
She kept her silence, instead reading up on different runes it wasn't until mid-July that Euphemia asked Jasmine what she wanted for her birthday, which was still the 31st of July. "A wand," she replied quietly over breakfast.
The three Potters stopped eating at the same time. "I thought you got your effects back from the Chester Manor?" Monty asked hesitantly.
Maybe she shouldn't have brought it up…
There was no going back now. "I wasn't allowed a wand. All fighters were expected to use wandless magic or our fists. Wands would make it too easy to escape."
"Why didn't you say something about not having a wand?" James asks indigently, slamming a hand down on the table.
Jasmine involuntarily flinched, and Euphemia sent James a deadly glare. "We'll go to Ollivander's and get you a wand. James, you mentioned that Sirius was coming over this evening?"
James nodded, twiddling his thumbs. He was hiding something, that much Jasmine was sure of, and Jasmine could tell that Euphemia and Monty knew it as well.
~*~
Ollivander's was the same as she remembered, dusty with stacks of wands. She could feel the magic in the air of untapped potential of each wand. Ollivander himself was quite a bit younger, his hair wasn't as grey, but his eyes were still wide and all knowing. "Ah, Euphemia, is this the new ward that I have been hearing about?"
The Auror nodded, "yes, and she requires a wand."
So, the game of getting a wand began. Stacks and stacks of wands were brought before her and none seemed to be her match. Her old holly wand was brought before her and nothing happened, which was a something of a shock for her. Well, she wasn't a horcrux this time around, which was a pleasant change. She hated needing to die to rid herself of it in her past.
"Tricky customer, eh? Let me think…"
He paused for a moment before looking Jasmine over once more. He seemed to be looking at her left eye and shivered. Ollivander went into the back of store and came out with another box. She could feel the magic thrumming within it.
This was definitely the wand for her. Ollivander carefully opened the box and inside was an elegantly crafted honey hewed wand. "Walnut, 12 ¾ inches, threstral hair. For a witch that survived death through clever wits, I believe this may be the wand for you."
The second her hand touched the wand a powerful wave of magic rushed through the room and grey sparks erupted from the wand. "Ollivander, sir, how did you manage to get a hair from a threstral? They're rather shy creatures from what I've read."
It wasn't often that people would even attempt to find the lovely misunderstood creatures that were threstrals. Ollivander gave her a tight-lipped grin. "My dear, this wand is one of the few that I haven't made myself. It was given to me by a friend many years ago."
Jasmine swore she felt Death's cold hand on her shoulder and resisted the shiver that wanted to make its way up her spine. It seemed that Death was setting things up behind the scenes. At least she had someone helping her this time around.
"Ah, I see. Well, when you see him again, tell him thank you for me. It's a lovely wand," she replied, slipping the wand into a holster that Euphemia demanded that she put on, because no child under her care was going to have their wands in their pants. Jasmine had nearly burst out laughing wondering if she trained Moody sometime in the near future.
"That will be five galleons, since I didn't make it myself, I see no reason to charge you the full price." Euphemia nodded, putting the gold coins on the counter and steering Jasmine out of the store.
The sun out when they left, a nice change to the constant rain that had plagued the area for the last few weeks. "Now, Jasmine, why don't we get you a real birthday present now? I know that your birthday isn't for another week, but I figure while we're here I should get you something."
The, "after all, you have so little," went without saying. So, Jasmine attempted to figure out what she could want. She hadn't been asked in over six years what she'd want for a present. Not since her aunt gave her that stuffed wolf for her ninth birthday.
"I wouldn't mind a pet, if that's alright. I know James doesn't have one, so someone might be allergic, but-"
"James has a lovely barn owl named Alfred. You don't see him because the house-elves take care of him. Is there a certain kind of pet you would want? Hogwarts allows toads, owls and cats, so choose wisely."
Euphemia chuckled and put a strong hand on Jasmine's shoulder and let her to the same store Hagrid had taken her to through many of her lives. Her beautiful Hedwig wouldn't be here, not for quite some time and Jasmine felt that if she got an owl she'd be cheating on her unborn snowy owl. She'd wait till 1991 and pick up Hedwig then, but until that happened she'd need to find a new companion to spend her lonely days with.
So, she gravitated towards the cats, the black ones in particular. They were considered omens of bad luck, and Death seemed to like them well enough. He always tended to like clever animals. Of course, the store had dozens of kittens, but none of them seemed to catch her fancy. They were cute, but they didn't seem to have the intelligence that she had found in Hedwig.
Her eyes eventually caught a small black feline in the very back of the shop hiding on top of a bookshelf filled with different assortments of animal food. The little creature was still young, maybe only just old enough to be sold in stores. It had mismatched eyes much like her own, one green and the other grey. It wasn't completely black, it had a single white paw and a white tip to its swaying tale.
They locked eyes for a single moment before the kitten jumped down and gracefully landed on Jasmine's shoulders, small claws digging into her skin.
"Ah, she came down for you? That cat has been a right pain since she came here. We got that little monster from Austria, apparently she was bred with some kind of magical leopard and was the runt of the litter," the store owner explained, eyeing the little cat warily as it purred and wove its way through Jasmine's hair. Was this woman expecting the kitten to attack her at any moment?
"Is that kitten dangerous?" Euphemia asked in disbelief as Jasmine gave a gentle stroke down its back. The kitten nearly went boneless in bliss.
"It can be, if it feels threatened. The leopard it was bread with was known for disappearing into the snow and mauling its prey. But, I doubt that thing is going to grow very much. I'll sell it for ten sickles," she responded, a hopeful gleam in her eyes at the idea of getting the animal out of her shop.
Jasmine had to resist the grin that wanted to spread across her face. This little kitten could hide like she could under the invisibility cloak? A perfect companion for Death's Master. "I'm going to call you Ro," short for Rowena in honor of Rowena Ravenclaw, for those that don't ask about her name will never receive the wisdom of the meaning behind it. The kitten purred in response and Jasmine felt a bit of magic wash over her, it was chilled like fresh snow and the kitten looked at her with knowing eyes.
Good, that cat knew what it was dealing with. It would have been difficult explaining to an animal that it was living with the Master of Death. It tended to be something that animals sensed innately in her, while humans floundered about and would never know the difference. Well, until it was too late.
Regardless, they paid for the kitten and some supplies to keep it happy and went back to the manor without fuss, much to the shop keeper's astonishment. When they arrived in the main foyer a large trunk greeted them as well as a windswept and exhausted Sirius Black with James nowhere in sight. He was three and a half hours early and by the concerned look on Euphemia's face this wasn't a normal occurrence.
"Sirius, what are you doing here? Does your mother know that you're here?"
Sirius let out an animalistic snarl, but there were unshed tears in his eyes. "I've been disowned, blasted off the family tapestry. So, no, my mother doesn't know where I am, but she doesn't really care."
Euphemia rushed over to him and wrapped him in a tight embrace. Jasmine saw his shoulders shaking and excused herself from the room. Sirius wouldn't want her to see him like that. So, she did the next best thing and went to find James.
Though, half way to her room she remembered she was holding a large cat carrier and bags of litter and cat food. Jasmine let Ro into her room first, letting the kitten get used to her new surroundings before continuing her search for her cousin.
It wasn't too difficult to find him. Much like his father, all you had to do was listen for the explosions or loud crashes and they tended to be nearby and a thud came from James' room, followed by, "Bugger! Shite!" and then another crash, she knew she was in the right place.
Jasmine figured that while knocking was more polite, James might genuinely need help. She put a tentative hand on the door knob pushing her magic out to see if he'd placed any charms on his door, he hadn't, so she turned the knob and opened the door.
She had to actively bite her lip to stop herself from bursting out laughing. Someone botched up his Animagus transformation, because James currently had a rather impressive rack of antlers on top of his head. He was currently in front of his mirror, his wand pointed at the antlers, but nothing was happening.
"Do you need some help?" She asked her voice lilting, laughter ringing in her voice. She was leaning against his doorframe. He jumped bringing his arms towards his antlers to cover them.
It was sufficient to say that it didn't work.
"Jazz, what are you doing here?"
"I heard crashing and rather foul language, usually that spells trouble. Is there a reason you have antlers?" She replied, walking up to James and poking the antlers and he recoiled.
"Look, just pretend that you didn't see anything and I'll figure out how to fix this on my own."
This wasn't the time for James to act like he had any idea what he was doing. Did he realize how dangerous practicing to transform without anyone present was? By the distraught look on his face, she figured he might have learned his lesson.
Jasmine sighed, hands on her hips. She moved closer to him once more ignoring his squawk of protest and waved her wand, making the antlers disappear. James patted his head, once…twice before giving her an incredulous look. "It was a partial Animagus transformation, correct? I was reading about that in my transfiguration textbook. Is there a reason that you are practicing extremely volatile magic on your own?"
James worried his lip between his teeth as he formulated an answer. "Sirius and I have a bet going about who can do it first. I thought that I had it-"
She was honestly surprised that James gave that much information away, but Jasmine supposed that he had been caught red handed. At least he hadn't been caught by his parents. She couldn't image that would have gone over well with Euphemia. "Don't practice that kind of magic alone next time, alright? I don't care how illegal it is, I don't want to see you get hurt over it," she interrupted him midsentence, "also, Sirius is in the main hall, something happened with his family."
James didn't wait for her to say anything else before he sprinted towards the entrance without a backward glance.
Jasmine sighed and made her way back to her bedroom. She'd call a house-elf later in the evening for food. She didn't want to disturb Sirius or James or Euphemia and Monty. They all had enough to deal with. No matter how welcoming they were, she was still a bit wary of trying to get close to them. Even as Harri, she had never managed to get really close to anyone in a parental sense besides Sirius. She also didn't want to cross paths with Euphemia, who Jasmine heard screaming through the floo at Sirius' mother for nearly thirty straight minutes.
Jasmine wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of her temper and kept to herself. She really didn't want to deal with anyone's anger when her injuries were only just healing, and while she didn't think that anyone here would hurt her on purpose, she wasn't going to take a chance when they were all worked up.
No one came to her room to ask why she didn't come to eat or just see if she was feeling alright. Around seven she called for a house-elf to her room that brought her a bit of roast beef and some dark greens from dinner.
She ate in silence, with only Ro for company, but she was sound asleep on her pillow. It was in lonely moments like these that she missed Death. She had always thought that if she had lived with her grandparents she wouldn't have been bored or ignored, but she still felt like a guest here, even though she has been living here for nearly three weeks. But, maybe part of it was her fault. She wasn't seeking them out and they didn't want to drive her away. She had been isolated for so long in so many lives…it was hard to reach out.
Another hour passed with nothing changing besides the setting sun. Jasmine sighed, she needed air. She frowned, looking outside, she could see the moon beginning to peak out, so at least she could go and sit on the roof. It was moments like these when she missed flying, but no broom would be able to match the speed of a firebolt for another few decades.
The house was silent as she made her way to the staircase that would take her to the roof entrance. She turned the worn brass handle and expected to embrace the cool evening air. When she opened the door she found a wand pointed at her throat and the furious bloodshot eyes of Sirius Black greeted her.
He was nearly a full head taller than her, which brought her to his pale and exposed collarbone. In another world she would have been afraid of Sirius pointing a wand at her in a nightmare driven haze from his Azkaban days, this Sirius didn't have years of Auror training, he was a scared little boy. She could stop him if she had to, so she waited for him to make the first move.
Though, when he realized who she was he nearly dropped his wand in shock and embarrassment. "Buggering hell, what are you doing up here?" He snapped, arms crossed, as he tapped his foot.
Was he expecting her to leave? Such an impatient little pureblood. Well, she was going to disappoint him. She had come up here for a reason and just because he was in a foul mood didn't mean she had to suffer because of it.
She brushed passed him, causing him to almost stagger back. Jasmine had fought opponents much larger and won without incident. Sirius was no trouble at all. She sat down in front of the rail, legs hanging over the edge between the bars, her face pressed into slightly worn rusted metal. She could sense a gaggle of gargoyles on her left and Sirius just standing there not moving. It seemed she left him speechless.
It brought a small smile to her face.
"You can sit down, you know. I don't bite unless provoked," Jasmine said, her voice only just loud enough for Sirius to hear. She sensed him tense up before his shoulders sagged and he joined her on the edge. Gravel crunched under his boots…was he stomping? What a child…
His legs were quite a bit longer and he knocked into her feet as he settled down next to her, a bit too close for comfort, but that was Sirius. She noticed that his arms were lined with bruises and some shallow cuts. Jasmine could feel the dark magic coming off the injuries.
What had his mother done to him before he'd left?
Why had no one offered to heal him? Then she noticed that he had rolled his sleeves up, more than likely to assess the damage.
She heard a sniffle come from him as he poked his arm, but didn't acknowledge it. She had noticed that his eyes had been a bit red, but if he was going to live here, he was going to need to get used to her presence. Jasmine wasn't one to let people push her around, nor did she enjoy seeing people in pain.
"You know, if you want to send a curse package to your family, I know quite a few undetectable ones. Might give your mother that heart attack you spoke about the day we met."
Sirius gave her a watery chuckle, but when he replied there was only venom in his voice. "What do you know about my family?"
She shrugged, "Well, Euphemia was screaming loud enough to wake the dead. I figured somethings out on my own, not to mention your arm. I doubt you did that to yourself," she replied evenly. She wasn't going to rise to Sirius' temper.
"Sorry that you heard…that. I think everyone forgot that you were here," he said, and Jasmine flinched at the admission. She had been worried about that, but that wasn't why Sirius had said it, he was trying to hurt her. Sirius was lashing out. She was something different and new that could take James' attention away from him.
"Well, I am here, and I know quite a bit about purebloods holding you captive and using curses as a way of punishment. You escaped, Sirius, you should be proud of yourself for leaving."
His hands clenched on the rail, his nails biting into the rust, his hands spasming unnaturally. "I didn't leave, I was cast out. I've lost my home! I was blasted off the family tapestry!"
And there was where his true anger was lied.
"Did your father disown you? He's the Head of House of Black, right? He should be the only one with the authority to cast you out. You still wear your Heir ring, which would have disappeared otherwise. At least, that's what I understand about pureblood politics," she said slowly, waiting for the explosion. She flexed her right hand, her family ring glinting in the fading evening light.
She didn't get the angry response she had been expecting. Instead, she got a loud and long sigh. Sirius turned his head towards her, probably looking at her left eye, expecting her to return his eye contact. She did eventually turn to face him, he was giving her a rather inquisitive look. It was angry, but slightly confused, as if no one had even thought of telling him to talk to his father.
"My father is away on business for the summer and by the time he gets back my mother will have him convinced that I'm the monster she always claimed. There is nothing that I can do," he muttered, pouting a bit by the end.
There was an easy solution to this that he probably hadn't considered. "Have you tried sending a letter to your father?"
"No, the Potters are taking me in. I'm not going back there. It's better if I'm not heir. Regulus would be a better Head to the Black family. He's what the family wants."
"Is he what your family needs? There has to be a reason that your father hadn't disowned you previous if you're so different…"
Sirius snarled. "He doesn't care. I'm. Not. Going. Back."
Jasmine forgot that she was dealing with a teenager…a teenage Sirius Black on top of that. He had told her that he had been stubborn as teen. She hadn't really believed what her godfather had told her until now. Uniting the Black family was something that Jasmine needed to do to bring the other purebloods to her side.
"I never said to go back. You could always stay here, but if you are still legally the Heir to the Black family, you should tell your father that your mother abused-"
"I was not abused!" He snapped.
Alright, denial it is.
"You've been twitching all evening. Cruciatus curse damage is considered abuse. It gets people sent to Azkaban. Just because you can't see the damage it doesn't mean it isn't real," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
He slammed a hand on the rail, causing rust to flake off. "What the hell do you know?"
She waved a hand in front of her left eye and motioned to the rune next to it. "I wasn't born blind in one eye, Sirius. My patrons liked to throw curses at me when I wasn't getting a spell right. More than once they would be curses that would attack my nerves, never leaving me a mark. There was one day I didn't move away quick enough when a curse came hurtling towards my face. It was a variation of a cutting hex. I suppose that being sick with the flu didn't count as an excuse to get out of a four-hour training session and I suffered for it. I lost my eye. Madam Chester complained the entire time that I wouldn't be able to fight for them anymore and cursed me silent as she permanently burned a rune into my side of face to gain back some monetary value into their merchandise."
Sirius' gaze lingered on the rune etched next to her eye. It would never fade, a permanent reminder of what happened to her, not to mention the scars across her face. "Did they cause the…" he motioned to the scar over her eye and mouth.
So nosy, but he the genuine curiosity on his face was rather endearing. She traced the scars on her face. "no, those were parting gifts from the death eaters…the healers still aren't sure what curses were used to make them, but all they know is that I'm very lucky to be alive after that fight and six years under the Chester's…tender…care," she explained, kicking her feet a bit, enjoying the feel of nothing under them.
They sat in silence for a while, neither moving from their spots, just watching the moon rise. A breeze picked up causing her to shiver slightly. Sirius was poking his arms again and winced every time he found a sensitive area. "Is there a reason you haven't gotten those looked at?"
The Black Heir gave her a rather intense glare, as if daring her ask again. She raised an eyebrow and stood her ground. He sighed, "I didn't want James to know what my mother did. He'd make a big deal out of it."
Jasmine ran a hand through her hair, wincing when it caught a tangle. She really needed to cut it, but pushed those thoughts out of her mind. "I have some potions that should help with the bruises and cuts. But, if the tremors don't stop in an hour, we need to tell Euphemia or Monty. They'll need to take you to a healer to get the damage assessed. Cruciatus curse exposure can cause permanent nerve damage, which could ruin your chances in a multitude of careers."
Sirius recoiled at the thought and pushed himself up, and offered a hand to her. "Just don't tell anyone."
She nodded, but didn't promise. She was going to talk to Euphemia about it, she needed to know that Walburga had abused Sirius to the point that he needed to run away. She put her callused hand in his and they made their way back into the manor. They had a tentative partnership. Hopefully it would last.
Notes:I hope you enjoyed.
I should have time to post a few chapters this week.
Leave your kudos and comments below.
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 5: Chapter 5Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 5
Jasmine woke up on a dimly lit park bench. She remembered falling asleep in her room after patching Sirius up. She had felt drained, only patting Ro on the head once before drifting off.
Death was looming over her, a thin blue lipped grin could be seen under his hood. "It has been some time since I've spoken to you last, Master."
If she was seeing him then her mortal body was having fits. She no doubt would be scaring her family something awful while she awaits Death's message. If they even remembered her existence with Sirius in the house. "It has been awhile. I'm assuming the cat and wand were gifts?"
The deity nodded, his hood shifting to expose a pale throat. "They're apology gifts for the faulty body I prepared for you." At least he was being somewhat courteous, even if it was a bit creepy.
"Is that all you came to tell me?" She asked, sitting up next to him.
He shook his head. "Riddle knows that someone survived the attack at the manor. Be warned that he is searching for you," Death warned, a chilled hand rested on her exposed upper arm.
"Tom will always be after me. I'm surprised that he hasn't found out my identity yet."
"He may want you for an apprentice."
Jasmine snorted. "Only in his wildest dreams and my most vivid nightmares," she snarked, feeling herself beginning to lose her connection with Death, the park becoming dimmer.
She sent him an inquisitive look. This was a rather quick visit. "You gave the appropriate answer. Enjoy your time with your mortal acquaintances," he replied, before she felt herself slip away.
Always that charmer, Death.
Waking up, Jasmine found, was no easy task after a seizure. She felt heavy and tired, all of limbs felt like weights. Both her hands felt warmer than the rest of her arms. She forced her eyelids open and found that both James and Sirius were sleeping next to her bed in the arm chairs that had been against the far wall next to her school books, clutching her hands. Ro was purring next to her ear in an attempt to, more than likely, welcome her back to the world of the living.
She wiggled her fingers, causing both of them to stir from their slumber. James was the first to realize that she was awake and pounced on her. "Jazz! You're alright? Do you need something? I need to get dad and floo mum!" He exclaimed dashing out of the room, leaving a groggy Sirius as her only company.
He rubbed his grey eyes to clear the sleep from them before turning his attention to her. "What happened? James said that your healers mentioned that the fits are from the curses that were inflicted upon you after the battle?"
She nodded, knowing that she couldn't tell him the whole truth and just went with it. "Yes, these fits can happen at any time. Its why I had to spend so much time in the hospital before I was brought to live here," she replied, pushing herself up on shaky arms. Sirius was at her side helping with hesitant hands. It wasn't exactly proper for a male pureblood heir to be in the same bedroom unattended with a female heir, nevertheless touch her, but propriety be damned. Jasmine sure as hell didn't care, she was just grateful for the help.
"Bloody hell, you scared all of us. I've never seen Mrs. Potter look so worried. Was it my fault that you had that fit? You were exposed to the curse damage…" he asked, gaze going towards his healed arms.
"No, it wasn't you," she said a little breathless. Her magic was fluctuating, but still there. It wasn't like the last time when she woke up drained, but she's still needed to refrain from any form of spell casting for a few days.
Sirius seemed to relax a bit at the reply. Had he really thought that it was his fault that she had been sick for what she assumed was the entire night?
Before she could speak to him further, James and Monty came back into the room. Monty must have been pulled straight from his potions lab since he had spots of different liquids on his robes, his hair was pulled back and away from his face with a band and there was some soot on his finger potentially from where he burned himself turning off his potion to come up and see her.
When he realized that she was awake and alert Monty rushed over to her and wrapped her in a tight hug. His lean from enveloping her, the potions fumes from his robes were almost comforting.
She tensed for a moment before she awkwardly pat him on the back. "We were so worried about you. When Euphie said that you had fits, I didn't image that they were that terrifying," he told her before pulling away and giving her a once over, "I'm so sorry we never checked on you last night. If we had known…"
Jasmine put a slightly shaking hand on his. "It would have happened regardless. I didn't want to get in anybody's way. Sirius needed you significantly more than I did," she admitted, keeping her gaze locked on her wine-red sheets.
Monty ran a hand through her hair in a comforting gesture that she relaxed into. "You're not in anyone's way, least of all Sirius'. You two are both family, and to a Potter, family is important. Euphie and I are the adults here, you are under our care and that means that you don't have to avoid us when you feel you need something. I know that I work from home and am in the lab quite often throughout the day, but if you ever need anything just come and talk to me. Or, you can spend time with James and Sirius," Monty replied as she began to doze off again.
She hated this feeling. She wasn't a toddler that should be exhausted all the time. This also wasn't something she was going to recover from until she turned seventeen, and even that wasn't guaranteed if Death had messed that up as well. But, she was far too tired to fight and drifted off to her grandfather pulling her covers up around her and tucking her in a long rest.
Her dreams were eventless, her mind too tired to even come up with anything to wake her up. Eventually, she felt a hand on her arm, shaking her awake, there was a pleasant aroma of breakfast foods brought her back to consciousness.
Her eyes fluttered open and were greeted to the bespectacled face of James Potter holding a tray of food followed by Sirius dragging over the two chairs they had slept in the night before. "Good morning, Jazzy-pants!" Sirius sung horrendously off key as he swung a chair towards the bed and sits down on it.
James rolled his eyes, putting the large tray of food down on the bed. It was pancakes, porridge, toast, French toast, jams, and syrups.
The two teenage boys grabbed a bit of everything before they slathered it with syrup and jam. Jasmine grimaced and pulled a bowl of porridge, some cream and honey towards her. She figured that she needed something mild after being in bed for what she assumed was two days.
"How are you feeling?" Sirius asked after he swallowed a chunk of raspberry jam covered pancake.
Disgusted, if she were to answer honestly, but she did feel better. "I'm alright. I don't feel like I'm going to pass out. Thank you for the food and company," she replied with a genuine smile and James lifted a fork in response as he swallowed another mouthful.
"Mum and dad are out today, so Sirius and I figured we could work on our Animagus transformations with you watching us!"
Oh, what could go wrong there?
Jasmine let out a dramatic sigh, "As long as I don't have to leave the bed, I'd be more than happy to help."
The boys cheered and started to eat faster. Jasmine continued to eat slowly enjoying the company. "Oh, Moony is coming tomorrow! So, we really want to get this right to surprise him!" Sirius told her through a mouthful of food.
So, Remus was coming over.
"Who is Moony?" She asked, playing dumb.
James elbowed Sirius fairly hard against the ribs. "Moony is the nickname that we have for our friend Remus. I told you about him while you were still recovering. He's one of the four Marauders!"
"He's rather bookish in nature, so you'd get along pretty well," Sirius muttered as he got up and waved his wand around attempting his first transformation of the day, and oh dear, did it take more than one attempt to even get remotely close to proper transformation.
James managed it first, much to Sirius' dismay and he turned into a large buck. He pranced around the room loftily before Jasmine pointed at him, "Change back."
Now, James looked was a deer caught in headlights, unsure of what to do next before he took a deep breath and changed back, completely human and no antlers on his head. He lifted a triumphant fist into the air. Sirius rolled his eyes and within the hour he succeeded as well and the two, in their transformed states were frolicking around her room like fools.
Sadly, the day had to come to an end and the next day she was back to the library working on a long history of magic essay for a ghost that was never going to read it. She knew that she needed her work to be perfect, otherwise Dumbledore wouldn't allow her to receive an education at Hogwarts. She needed to get into Hogwarts, solely to destroy the diadem of Ravenclaw and potentially slay a basilisk. To do that she needed to get this horrendously dull work finished.
The library became her secondary home once more. There were less books piled next to her than before, many put into her trunk while others were placed into a bookshelf in her bedroom. The rhythmic scratching of her quill on the parchment and Ro's purring was the only noise in the echoing room.
Finishing the work was, of course, easier said than done. Despite the fact that she had been through Hogwarts multiple times, she had never done the coursework twenty years in the past. There were more class options, and the curriculum was significantly more difficult. Some of the work that she was doing she learned in her sixth years. The war had more of an impact on the school system than she had initially realized. There was a lot more dark and grey magics taught in DADA and charms. Ancient Runes even touched upon blood warding and magics. Had the war caused so much fear over the Dark Arts that anything with even a dark leaning had been taken out of the education system?
Dumbledore might have had a hand in taking quite a bit of dark magic and grey magic out of Hogwarts by twisting the arms of the Ministry. Then again, the dark families had done a great job at discrediting themselves in this upcoming war.
Jasmine bit her lip. She was going to need to find a way to convince these families that fighting with Voldemort was a foolish idea and she was going to need to think of it quickly. She'd need to appeal to upper class wizarding families and give them solid evidence of inbreeding that was destroying the wizarding world as well as the major consequences of living under the foot of a dark lord or a light lord…
There were a few families that she could think of that had the influence that she needed, but contacting them would be tricky, she'd need Slytherin contacts and that would be difficult without the Marauders hovering around her. As much as she loved James and Sirius, she could tell that they were going to be overprotective gits when she got to school.
They also had the map, she wasn't sure how she was going to manage to talk to, or make alliances with any of them.
Speaking of the Marauders, Sirius and James had been bouncing about the manor all day waiting for Remus to arrive for one in the afternoon. The full moon had ended about three days ago, so Remus would be somewhat recovered from the ordeal and well enough to deal with his friends' antics.
As soon as the werewolf arrived the three had started playing hide and jinx, a tradition according to James. He warned her that it could get a bit loud and not be alarmed when she heard loud bangs in the house. It was nice of him to think of her. It wasn't long before the sound of small explosions and tremors went through the house as, Jasmine assumed, James went about searching for his friends since she couldn't hear Sirius' constant prattling.
That was until a rather loud bang rang throughout the house and Sirius shouted something rather obscene that had Monty telling him to watch his language or he'd be brushing his teeth with soap.
So, that left Remus to the tender mercy of his friends. She didn't envy the young werewolf.
"Moony! Come on out! Prongs and I only want to hex you a little bit!"
Jasmine snorted, that sounded inviting. It wasn't until someone opened the door to library, slunk in and closed the door silently behind them did she get a good look at Remus. He was a completely different person than the man she knew in her time. Certain things were to be expected, Remus was younger, with a fewer scars littering his face, his hair was a full thick creamy brown, no greys to be seen, his eyes are a happy glowing amber, his clothing fit him properly, and there were no signs of wear and tear in anything he wore. He seemed happy and healthy, his inner wolf hadn't started to completely tear him apart from the inside after the loss of his entire pack.
When he turned around and saw that he wasn't alone, he nearly smacked into the door in shock before something registered. "Oh, you must be Jasmine. I completely forgot that you would be in here…" he rambled in a hushed voice, still playing the game and Jasmine smiled at his commitment to avoiding the two troublemakers a floor down.
"And those two prats would never check the library since I'm in here. It's nice to meet you, Remus. James and Sirius don't stop talking about you. If I didn't know about James' obsession with Lily Evans, I'd have assumed that the group of you were in some kind of threesome."
Remus spluttered, his cheeks heating up, a blush creeping its way down his neck as he made his way over to her and hid behind a bookcase out of sight of the main entrance. It seemed he hadn't forgotten about the game he was playing, but he was polite enough not to brush her off. He quietly coughed to get her attention, "we aren't in a threesome, though sometimes I wonder about James and Sirius."
Jasmine chuckled as she marked her page in her history textbook, her margins were covered in notes she had taken, and certain elements were highlighted in different colored ink for future reference. He looked over her shoulder at what she was working on in the mid-afternoon light. "History of the early modern witch trials across Europe…that was an essay topic towards the end of fourth year. Why are you working on an essay for that? Aren't you also going into your fifth year?" He asked, brows furrowed.
He had a good memory to remember what year he wrote an essay about something this obscure.
She sighed, closing the book, she had finished the essay, finally done with her history work. "I have to do the spring term of all fourth-year assignments to prove that I am mentally competent enough for the fifth year course load."
Remus put a hand on the table and read a bit of her essay and whistled. "With writing like that you'll manage for sure. Sirius and James hand in a lot worse and they're in the top of the class…somehow."
At least he was honest about his friends.
She rolled her eyes fondly at the mention of her the two still searching downstairs. "Yes, well, their practical work has to make up for it. They seem rather…inventive from what they tell me of their pranks," Jasmine replied as yet another explosion went off, this time much closer to the library.
Remus tensed, his eyes scanning around the room searching for a better place to hide. She vaguely wondered what kind of jinxes the two of them used to have Remus so nervous. She glanced behind her to see a small pocket of space between her chair and the window. It would hide him rathe well.
She tapped his shoulder and pointed to the spot. He practically dove there. It wasn't a moment too late, since Jasmine heard the two Marauders outside the library, mummering to each other as if nervous to enter Jasmine's domain. Though, it seemed that bravery won out since James opened the door slowly, causing the hinges to creak as he poked a head in, Sirius' following moments later. He spotted her against the far wall, like always, a book in hand, this time a charms textbook. "Have you seen Moony?"
She heard Remus' near silent breathing hitch. Jasmine closed the book on her lap, pretending to be significantly more annoyed than she was. "No, James, I haven't. I've been working on History of Magic essays as you two have been practically destroyed the manor. Your mum is going to be home in two hours, I hope you manage to clean up before she gets back."
Sirius' eyes widened, and James whined. "But if Moony wins we owe him a term worth of chocolate! Do you know how much chocolate he eats, Jazz?"
She grinned a little bit thinking about all the sweets they would more than likely owe Remus now. "Yes, but if you mum finds the house a mess than you'll be dead and then where will you be?"
James sighed, crossing his arms, contemplating for a moment before sighing. "Pads, she's right, we need to clean this place up. Dad probably doesn't realize the mess we've made. If mum comes home and sees this…" he trails off when a shiver goes down his spine.
The two turned to leave, but Sirius stopped pointing at Jasmine, "If you see Remus, send him to us, yea? This way we can still win."
Jasmine hummed in reply, waving the two off. She knew that they believed her lie. Why would she cover for Remus when she knew them better? But, her original soul was still the daughter of a Marauder. She was going to take the chance to prank them back, even if it started an open war.
The door closed behind them and Remus didn't move a muscle for a few moments, just to make sure that they weren't coming back.
After five minutes passed she heard him move. "Should be safe," he said stretching his arms above his head. His fingers brushed her bare arms on their way up that, if done on purpose could have been seen as something sensual.
He froze, realizing the same thing and that blush began to return. "Sorry," he stammered, avoiding eye contact. Jasmine wondered how often Remus was close to girls his own age if just brushing against her arm was enough to cause him to blush.
"What's to be sorry for? Nervous, Remus?" She teased, poking his nose, causing him to back into the window behind him as if he'd been burned.
She had known that Remus had been labeled the "shy" Marauder, but she hadn't really believed it until now. "I'm not a fan of people touching me. I could have a bad reaction to it."
Was he concerned that she'd catch his lycanthropy through touch, did he?
"Don't be ridiculous. You wouldn't hurt me by touching me, Remus. You've been literally less than a few centimeters away from me for nearly twenty minutes had nothing has happened. What do you think will happen if I touch you?"
He bit his lip, pulling at a scar on his chin that was still rather angry and red. She had seen it years in the future when it had nearly faded into nothing. Had he received it during his last transformation?
"I'm rather sickly and I know that you've been in the hospital. I don't want you to catch anything that I might have. You don't need any more setbacks," he replied, taking another step away from her.
She ran a hand through her unbound mane of dark locks and sighed. No wonder it took him another twenty years or so to find love. He was keeping everyone at least a full meter away from him at all times. She set her book down and back on the table.
"Remus, I don't need to be isolated from germs. I wasn't in the hospital for that sort of thing. I've never even been one to catch colds or flus…" she said, tapping her chin in thought and she could tell that Remus was nervous. He had gone from comfortably talking about schoolwork to tiptoeing around his biggest secret.
He shifted from foot to foot, still avoiding her eyes before Jasmine approached him faster than he thought her possible and hugged him. He was taller than her by at least a head, and he tensed under her touch. "I don't care how contagious you think you are, you still deserve to have people care for you," she told him before pulling away, "now you better go and find James and Sirius, they've probably cleaned things up and you need to collect your winnings."
For a moment, he just stood there dumbfounded before he scrambled towards the door. Jasmine sighed. She might have ruined any chance she had of having a normal relationship with Remus. The teen needed to know that he didn't have to keep people away from him though. She had never believed Sirius in her past lives when he had told her how hard it had been to become friends with Remus.
The werewolf's hands stopped at the door handle, pausing just above it before he turned around and looked at her again. His eyes kept darting from her to the door. Was she truly that frightening?
He squared his shoulders and walked back over to her, "Are you going to come down for dinner?"
Jasmine blinked, surprised by the sudden question. Monty and Euphemia had been forcing her to attend all family dinners for the past few days. Though, from the way Remus was acting and the amount of work she still needed to get done, there was no way she would be able to sit through an entire dinner if she wanted to finish all her work by the end of next week. Dumbledore hadn't given her a deadline per say. He more than likely figured that she wouldn't be able to finish the work he had given her and decided that she wasn't going to be able to attend Hogwarts by default.
She wanted to have all of her work done by the second first week of August, which was swiftly approaching. But, Remus was offering to go to dinner with her as some kind of potential peace offering she was more tempted to take that.
"I'm not sure I have the time," she answered honestly, eyes drifting towards the books around her.
"Would you like some help after dinner? I'm rather good in charms and defense," he offered with a shrug and a shy smile.
Jasmine gave an exaggerated sigh before nodding. "I suppose that eating would more than likely help my study habits. And, a charming tutor never hurt either," she replied with a wink. She could see a flush on the back on his neck before she turned around to exit the library, Remus hot on her heels.
Notes:I hope you enjoyed!
Leave your kudos and comments down below!
I'll post again soon!
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 6: Chapter 6Summary:Jasmine explores the past...
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 6
As soon as they entered the dining room Sirius and James physically pounced on the first person to enter the room. Which, much to their growing horror, was not Remus. Remus certainly did not have long black hair, nor did he have breasts which Sirius had accidentally just groped. No, the werewolf in question was just staring wide eyed at the three of them on the floor.
At least the hardwood floor had cushioning charms on them. No doubt from years of dealing with Marauder madness, Euphemia and Monty had made the manor impervious to their antics for the most part. Or at least, made it so they wouldn't accidently injure themselves. Jasmine just kept her gaze locked on the ceiling and wished that this moment was over.
Sirius still hadn't moved his blasted hand. "Sirius, you better move your hand before I permanently sever it from your body," she hissed, it nearly coming out in paeseltongue, if she didn't know any better.
The Black heir gave her a feeble grin before removing his hand from her person. James was attempting to disentangle himself from the heap of limbs they had become, but was slow going, especially since his glasses flew somewhere across the room. Jasmine was not amused, and none too gently shoved them off her.
"Prats," she muttered she straightened her clothing, her face feeling rather heated, embarrassed about the whole situation.
"What are you two doing?" Euphemia's voice called from the second entry way into the dining room. Sirius quickly stood up bolt straight.
"Nothing, Mrs. Potter."
Not like that didn't sound suspicious.
"I dropped my glasses, mum," James answered back, patting around the area of his fall in a vain attempt to find his spectacles. Jasmine remembered when her eyesight had been that bad, nine lives full of it, but in her time, there were ways to get that corrected. So, for a little less than half of seven of those lives she had fixed her eyesight. She wasn't entirely sure of when it had become common practice in wizarding optometry.
Jasmine sighed, spotting them to the left of her, with her enhanced rune vision, near her feet and picked them up. She turned the over in her hand, the gold wire looked fine and the lenses, luckily, weren't scratched. That was rather good fortune for him.
"James, stop fumbling around, I found them," Jasmine replied, easily making her way over to her cousin and sliding them onto his face.
James' face puckered for a moment as his eyes readjusted to the glasses. It was jarring to have everything be blurry one moment and then clear the next. "Thanks," he muttered as he got himself off the floor.
"Are they broken again, James?" Euphemia asked, rather exasperatedly. Jasmine wondered how often they needed to be repaired.
He shook his head.
"Very well, since the house still seems to be standing we'll all be having dinner on time today as well as a lovely dessert, prepared by our house-elf Penny."
Dinner was a loud affair, it had been ever since Sirius had joined the family and now, with Remus, the volume seemed to have doubled from the boys' side of the table. Jasmine ate quietly, just watching the three Marauders laughing and teasing each other. Sirius even launched a bit of mashed potatoes at James, which earned the dog Animagus a harsh glare from Euphemia. Monty gave them a subtle thumbs up.
"Jasmine, how is your summer work coming along?" Euphemia asked, from her right, her voice clear even through all the laughing.
She gave a small smile to the Auror. "Alright. I just have charms left. I finished History of Magic this afternoon. After dinner I'll be getting back to work. I want to hand all of it in before the end of the first week of August."
Euphemia nodded and leaned over to ruffle Jasmine's hair a little bit. "I'm very proud of you. The amount of work that the Headmaster gave to you was unreasonable, but I'm glad that you rose to the challenge."
"I wasn't the best in my dueling circuit for nothing. An unfair workload is something that I'm very used to. My patrons enjoyed giving me spells that they knew I wouldn't be able to figure on time, so they could punish me. Eventually, I stopped getting punished because I read ahead and worked twice as long until I understood the spell, practical application, use and theory," she explained dipping into Jasmine's memories to make sure she had as much accuracy in her statements as possible. Jasmine had nine lifetimes worth of knowledge packed into her mind. So, she knew quite a lot more than any child her age should, but then again, her host body did as well. The original Jasmine would have made a lovely Master of Death, if she hadn't died before collecting all three Hallows of course…
Monty clicked his tongue. "You were the best duelist?"
Hadn't she mentioned that fact before? She shrugged and nodded, seeing no harm in sharing that. "Yes, I clawed my way to the top with sheer magical talent and force."
"Weren't your…patrons…worried that you would turn on them?"
Jasmine chuckled humorlessly, putting her utensils down, her appetite ruined. "No, by the time they let us roam the upper levels before a match, we were considered fairly loyal to them. If we misbehaved, the children downstairs would be killed or maimed. Insubordination was not worth attempting…"
"But you thought about it?" Sirius asked hesitantly, the boys conversation had stopped and all attention was on her.
As if that was even a question. "Of course, it was the only thing that kept many of us sane. We craved freedom more than anything, and we could have more than likely killed most of the patrons on our own, but we didn't want anyone getting hurt over it. For the most part, we were all orphans from around Europe, there was nowhere for us to go," her voice cracked and she shivered, "in the end none our imaginary plans mattered since anyone old enough to have imaged such freedom was killed when those Death Eaters entered."
"All you friends…" James trailed off, not daring to finish the sentence.
"Are dead? For the most part, some were found a few days after the battle in the basement, but nearly all my close friends were murdered by this rising Dark Lord and his minions."
Voldemort always seemed to have a driving need, no matter what life she lived, to kill everyone she loved or cared about. At least this time she was getting a chance to rebuild her life. She had never managed that before.
Euphemia clapped her hands rather loudly, tearing Jasmine away from her darker thoughts. "Now, why don't we talk about what we're going to be doing for your birthday, Jasmine?"
The girl blushed, pushing around some food on her plate. She was never a fan of celebrating her birthday, five lives starting at the Dursley's had ensured that. Somewhere deep in her soul she felt that her birth was more of curse, something that should never be celebrated, but forgotten. None of her friends and family throughout her lives ever thought that and always did something for her. It seemed that the Potters were no different and by the way Sirius and Remus were looking at her, they were going to come and celebrate as well. It was sweet of them and Jasmine truly did appreciate it.
She swallowed, suddenly nervous, "I suppose something small, would be fine. You've already gotten me Ro, so maybe a cake would be nice."
"What flavor?" Remus asked, ever the sweets connoisseur.
"I'd prefer chocolate. I haven't had a chocolate cake in years."
Remus gasped and grabbed his heart as if he were dying. The two other Marauders were staring at her strangely.
"What? I needed to eat healthy and sweets were forbidden. If I was caught eating any there would have been major consequences," she replied defensively. Out of everything the Chesters did, depriving her of sweets wasn't all that bad. Sure, kids loved sweets, but they certainly didn't need them. Jasmine's body, despite the bumps and bruises was extremely in shape and for the most part healthy. The girl had been trained to hold her breath for nearly two minutes, to run long sprints and fight with various weapons. She was powerful and could more than likely take out Sirius, Remus and James on her own with her bare hands.
With all the school work she was slightly lacking in her usual work outs that she and Ro did in the mornings. She needed to keep her body just as healthy as her mind and since her body was just about back to fully functioning capacity, she could start exercising again. Morning jogs would be a good addition to her day, maybe she could convince James to come with her, tell him it would help his Quidditch performance. Sirius would hate her for it because James would continue it into the school year, it would be perfect.
"Chocolate cake it is," Monty said, seeming just as excited about the dessert as Remus was. Jasmine wondered how good the House-elves cake was for this kind of reaction.
Regardless, dinner ended without any further inquiry into Jasmine's past and she went back up to her work without eating dessert.
This body wasn't a fan of too many sweets and probably never would be. She could enjoy a piece of dark chocolate every now and again, but sweet pudding that had been served made her stomach churn something awful.
Remus joined shortly thereafter with a shy knock on the library door, a charms book in hand.
Jasmine smiled in response. She hadn't thought that he was really going to come and help her. "James and Sirius aren't upset that you're spending time with me instead of them?" She asked as they were opening books to the correct pages, setting out ink pots and parchment for the essays.
Remus gave a small snort, "They don't realize that I spend a good part of the early afternoon with you. James wants us to get to know each other. He wants all of his best mates to get to know his new sister. And he told me, that since I liked books and you're stuck reading them for the rest of the summer, I should make myself useful."
That sounded like James. He had given some input on the transfiguration section of her work, but she knew quite a bit about it already. It was similar with charms, but there were a few spells that she had to write papers about that she hadn't even heard of this time around and wondered why Flitwick had taken them out of the curriculum in her time.
With Remus' help Jasmine was able to finish quite a bit more work than she expected. Between the two of them they had managed to a make a large dent in her charms work, which was the last of her work that needed to get done before the school year started. She could almost taste freedom.
"Thank you for helping me," she told him after she had finished writing her fifth essay of the evening.
He turned away from his advanced charms book to answer, amber eyes meeting her for the first time, "It's nothing. You're a quick study and not a royal pain in the arse like James and Sirius tend to be about learning."
Ah, James and Sirius, they must have been getting impatient. Remus seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself teaching her. Oh, how she wished that werewolves weren't hated in the wizarding world so much. Remus would make a such a great teacher. He had been the best defense teacher at Hogwarts in most of her lives. If he didn't have his fury little problem to deal with, he would have been so successful. He was too brilliant for his own good. Well, all the Marauders had been. Even Peter, in his own traitorous, rat bastard kind of way.
"I have a question about Hogwarts, Remus," she asked around nine in the evening. She had been getting bored writing about summoning charms, her hand was cramping and needed a break.
Remus was sitting on the chair up-side-down, his head dangling off the plush top as he read over one of her essays. He pushed the essay up, meeting her gaze.
"And what question might that be?"
"Are there any clubs besides Quidditch, because that's all James and Sirius talk about. And, while I do enjoy flying I want to do something else besides get permanent brain damage from a sport."
Remus grinned, "Yes, there are more clubs than just the Quidditch teams, don't tell James I told you. He mentioned that he wanted you to try out for the seeker position. It's the team's only weak point. I then had to remind him that you hadn't been sorted yet, but he thinks you're going to be in Gryffindor and I'm inclined to agree with him."
So, they all thought that she was a lion? They'd be right. For the most part, she had been sorted into Gryffindor and occasionally Slytherin, once in Ravenclaw, that had been an interesting seven years she'd never want to repeat. The girls in her year, besides Padma, had been awful.
"As for clubs, there's chess teams, gobstone team, the Slug-Club is one that a professor runs…" he then listed out quite a few clubs that Jasmine hadn't even known existed, well, they hadn't in her time. There hadn't been enough students to support so many clubs.
"Is there a dueling club?" She eventually asked. She knew that Flitwick had been a professional duelist and had a club for a while, but she wasn't sure if it was within this generation that he ran it.
Remus frowned thinking it over. "No, not this year. Professor Flitwick ran one two years ago, but for the most part he teaches dueling privately to those he thinks are worthy. You might want to ask him about once you get sorted."
Jasmine tapped her quill absently on her parchment for a few moments, wondering if it was even worth it to talk to Flitwick. Maybe she should just practice her dueling in the room of requirements on her own. Her thoughts then turned to Dumbledore. He really didn't like her, which felt a little odd, he had always liked her in the past, even when she didn't quite follow his rules to the letter. What would he do if he found out that she was dueling unsupervised…he'd more than likely have her expelled, claiming she was training to join Voldemort. There mere thought made her want to gag. "And Professor Flitwick teaches what subject?" She asked as she added a bit more detail about summoning charms into her essay.
"Oh, he teaches charms and is the head of house for Ravenclaw. He's a really nice professor, I think you'll like him," Remus answered, as he pointed out a small mistake on the third line of another essay. Jasmine sighed, and pushed her current work away to revise something else.
This work felt like it was never going to end.
Bloody hell.
Notes:I hope that you enjoyed the chapter.
There is more to come.
Leave your kudos and comments below!
~SugarPhantom