Chapter 7: Chapter 7Summary:Dumbledore is back...
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 7
"You finished your work so soon, Ms. Peverell? Surely, if you want to gain entrance into Hogwarts your essays would have taken longer to write than this?" Dumbledore questioned, eyeing the large stack of papers before him spread across his desk.
The Headmaster's office wasn't all that different from what Jasmine remembered it being back in the nineties. There were still a lot of different kinds of monitoring devices, more books than any one person should legally own, an ornate desk that had seen far better days, and a well-worn padded desk chair. Fawkes was trilling quietly from his perch in the corner, looking rather young today as he preened. Jasmine had given him a gentle pat on the head that had sent the phoenix into a happy chirping mess. Jasmine wasn't entirely sure if Fawkes recognized her as Death's Master. There were few wild creatures that weren't afraid of her due to her powers. Phoenixes were outside of the realm of life and death since they live in a cycle of constant rebirth and death. To a certain extent, Jasmine has more in common with Fawkes than humans at this point.
Jasmine and Euphemia were in front of his desk, Euphemia tapping her nails impatiently on the old wood, on the morning of July thirtieth. Between Jasmine and Remus, the charms work, and revisions had gone twice as quickly and was far more enjoyable with company. He knew the page numbers where most of the answers were and Jasmine was a fast writer and a quick study.
She had also promised Remus at least four chocolate bars for all of his help. The werewolf had agreed to her terms without protest. James and Sirius had teased the two of them the entire time they were in the library. Remus swore his revenge for the teasing once they finished with her last essay. Jasmine just hoped that she would be home in time to see it. Remus had always been the best prankster, from what she had seen in the future. They tended to have the most finesse behind them, and no one ever saw them coming. Remus was such an unassuming and innocent looking wizard.
She was brought out of her musings when her guardian stopped tapping her fingers and shifted so that she was leaning forward, ready to attack.
"Albus, I've read the essays, they are at least worthy of Exceeds Expectations, if not an Outstanding. I've sent letters to Minerva and Filius asking if they were in the castle at this time of year and any colleagues that would be willing to help read my ward's work. I want her accepted into Hogwarts before we leave today. I'm quite done playing games. You've never stopped orphans from joining Hogwarts late. I don't see why Jasmine is different."
Euphemia had warned her before they had left the manor that she might not like some of the things that Dumbledore might say about her or her school work, but her guardian had sworn that she was going to defend her until she was accepted.
Oh, Jasmine knew why Dumbledore didn't want her here. She was dangerous to his agenda in every sense of the word. Her magic wasn't light and she was willing to kill to protect herself. Second chances weren't her thing and she rarely looked for the good in people. Not someone that Albus Dumbledore would want in his school. Too bad for him that her current guardian wasn't going to just let the Headmaster do whatever he wanted.
"Euphemia, your ward has been damaged by dark magic that, from what I understand, has yet to be identified. She has been emotionally scarred and traumatized. I don't want other students getting hurt because she couldn't control herself."
Jasmine's mouth went dry. Was he insinuating that she was mentally unsound to the point that she would attack students? She had been cleared by the best healers, thank you very much. The only time that she been this demonized by someone was during her fifth year when the Ministry had been attempting to make her sound crazy to the masses and even then, most people didn't believe them. It was odd seeing Dumbledore, someone who had always vouched for her, trying to ban her from a school that she considered her second home for her last nine lives.
Euphemia straightened her shoulders, her chin raised slightly, looking every inch the insulted pureblooded woman she was. She had gone from the proud mother to deadly Auror rather quickly and it made Jasmine feel really warm and slightly fuzzy over the fact that her guardian was being protective of her.
"Albus, you are treading on very thin ice. Jasmine, despite my protests, has done all the work that you have required her to. She sees a mind healer twice a week, who has cleared her as mentally sound four times, under your insistence. My ward also spends plenty of time with children her own age, since my son and his friends enjoy her company. I find it highly insulting that you are trying to bar her from entering Hogwarts on nothing but fabricated worry. I am also going to be finding the name of the people that have been giving you classified medical information about my ward to you."
"Euphemia, there is no need to go after innocent people over nothing-"
Sadly, Dumbledore never got the chance to finish his response. McGonagall and Flitwick had arrived, both entering the room at a rather sedate pace, worry etched into their rather stiff movements. Both of them looked very different, but at the same time, strikingly similar. McGonagall didn't have nearly as many grey hairs as Jasmine remembered her having in the future. She supposed that the Marauders within the next two years really drive this poor woman straight to grey hair. Flitwick just seemed to be generally more energetic than what she remembered, but then again, she had never been too close to the charms professor.
McGonagall turned to look at Jasmine with a guarded expression, her eyes hard. Flitwick was watching her out of the corner of his eyes, his hand always near his wand. There were sizing her up for one reason or another. Were they planning on attacking her? What had Dumbledore said about her to his staff?
Then again, her face wasn't the most pleasant to look at…Jasmine knew that. The scars that littered her face, while not completely deforming, were obvious and rather striking in nature. She was going to need to get used to being stared at for different scars. The original one on her forehead had been easy to hide and was famous for being a symbol of hope. The scars on her face just looked out of place and reminded people of all the things wrong with her. If Jasmine had been someone who actually cared what other people thought, there might have been some worry of her getting depressed over the future ridicule from her peers.
Though, why the professors were staring at her strangely was extremely odd to her and was not something that she wanted repeated in the future. She wanted to be judged based on her academic prowess, not some lies that the headmaster had told them. She wasn't some kind of caged animal that was ready to attack at a moment's notice. She had better things to do than attempt to kill people. Euphemia either didn't notice their demeanor, or she just chose to ignore it, as she bade both professors over for a proper introduction.
"Filius, Minerva, this is my ward, Jasmine Peverell. Jasmine, these are two of your professors, Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick, they teach transfiguration and charms respectively," Euphemia said introducing the hesitant professors to her.
Jasmine nodded and took a step towards them. Might as well bite the proverbial bullet and get this over with. "Hello, it's nice to finally meet you. James and Sirius have told me a lot about you," she said with a small smile, her accent bleeding through, just reminding them how foreign she really was and Jasmine nearly winced. If only she could drop the accent, but it just didn't seem to want to leave her.
McGonagall grimaced, no doubt imaging the kind of things that James and Sirius had been telling her about Hogwarts. She had seemed to drop the somewhat terrified attitude when she mentioned the Marauders. It seemed her favorite group of trouble makers were a fantastic subject to break the mood in the room with. "I hope that those two haven't been feeding you lies, Ms. Peverell," she replied somewhat tersely.
"I image the tales they tell are rather full of pranks and mischief?" Flitwick asked, his demeanor changing from on guard to rather friendly, though his hand was still a hairs breath away from his wand.
Jasmine snorted remembering quite a few stories that James and Sirius had told her over the past few days. "Some of it I find very hard to believe, but there's always a nugget of truth in their stories. They hold you in high regard," she told them honestly. No matter what, the Marauders did, they always respected the Professors that deserved it.
"Now, while I do enjoy a good introduction, there are other matters that need to be addressed. Why don't we look at some of those essays you've written, Ms. Peverell," Dumbledore interjected, a frown adorning his face.
"If you insist," Jasmine agreed with a shrug as she made her way over to her pile of essays, pulling out her charms and transfiguration work first and handing them to the professors.
It didn't take long to realize that Jasmine's work was well done by the professors, much to the Headmaster's disapproval. "Your grasp of theory is rather remarkable, Ms. Peverell. Who was your charms instructor prior to living with the Potters?" Jasmine sensed Euphemia shake her head behind her and Flitwick looked flustered for a moment before backtracking, "that is, if you're comfortable sharing."
Jasmine could tell that Dumbledore thought that he had gained some kind of ground with that question. She wasn't sure what the man expected to happen in that moment, but Jasmine wasn't going to go ballistic. "My patrons taught me everything I know. I was given a detailed education on every form of magic they could think of that would have me win a fight against any of the other competitors."
"Competitors?" McGonagall muttered sounding lost. Had Dumbledore explained her situation at all to her professors?
"I was a part of the child dueling ring that the Death Eaters so lovely destroyed a few weeks ago. Grueling training under the people that kidnapped me is what kept me alive," Jasmine replied, feeling the scar on her mouth curling slightly at her lopsided smirk.
"You're a duelist?" Flitwick asked, glint of interest sparking in his eyes. Jasmine had never, in all her nine lives, received that look from her charms professor.
"Yes, I was the best in my circuit," she answered with a tight-lipped grimace. She had worked hard to get where she had been, but none of it held fond memories for her. Flitwick nodded, eyes widened slightly realizing just what kind of conditions she had learned the rules of combat.
"That is not what we're here to discuss today. Minerva, do you think that Jasmine should be eligible for Hogwarts?" Dumbledore questioned impatiently, tapping his foot on the hardwood floor.
Both professors turned their attention away from Euphemia and Jasmine and returned back to her never-ending pile of summer work. They seemed just as annoyed reading nearly a hundred different essays as she had writing them.
It took around two hours, but a decision needed to be made about Jasmine's mental stability. Honestly, Jasmine was somewhat nervous. What if Dumbledore had threated their jobs and she wasn't going to be getting into Hogwarts? While she didn't mind living at the Potters' manor, she really didn't want to be there alone most of the time or be taught by tutors. Jasmine really wasn't comfortable with private tutors, not after the Chesters.
Minerva sighed, as her eyes scanned yet another essay, this time on the subject of ancient runes. "From what I've read of her work, she is more than ready for the fifth-year curriculum. She's the kind of essay writer that her cousin should strive to emulate. Ms. Peverell has a lovely way with words and it seems to me that all of this work wasn't needed. I would have only needed to read one essay and a bit of practical application," she replied, sending a rather heated glare towards Albus, who rightly cowered under her intense gaze.
It seemed that with McGonagall on her side, Jasmine now had a far greater chance of getting accepted without as much of a fight then when she entered Hogwarts in earlier this morning.
"Well, then Ms. Peverell, you are accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Dumbledore said with a weary sigh. He summoned the sorting hat from the back of the room and held it out for Jasmine to take.
"Why are you giving me a hat?" Jasmine inquired, taking it from the Headmaster and holding it at arm's length.
McGonagall stepped forward to answer, "This is the sorting hat, it is going to put you in the house you are going to spend the rest of your schooling in."
Jasmine nodded, pretending to be skeptical about this part. She had been in her first life, but after that, if just became amusing. The hat always knew who she was and how many times she had been sent back. The hat found her annoying, yet interesting to sort in each iteration. She wondered if it would happen again.
Her fingers rubbed against the worn fabric before she put it over her head and heard a familiar voice whine. "Not you again."
"You know you love me," she replied mentally with a smile. She loved the hat.
She could feel it sigh in her mind before searching her conscious and unconscious mind to attempt to figure out a house for her. "You're, as always, difficult. You fit in to every house except for Hufflepuff. You'd go on a murder spree there. Slytherin, as always would be a fantastic fit, but, as always, your politics wouldn't align with theirs and it would lead to far too much fighting. Then there's Gryffindor, their brash warrior nature suits as well as their loyal nature, though you are more of a planner than you used to be…Your mind is something that many would crave to have and Ravenclaw could suit your needs. The head of house of Ravenclaw would certainly help you, but I can see you growing bored in a house solely focused on intelligence."
Jasmine sighed, thinking things over. She knew which house she wanted to be in. It wasn't every day that she gets to see her long dead parents fall in love with each other. "I feel like you know my choice," she told the hat, who mentally shrugged.
"I know what you want, but I just want you to know that if you were to go into another house, you'd have an easier time changing the world. Your mission might be easier."
"The might is what worries me. I'd rather be happier and take things slightly slower than have to deal with political fallout in school. I admire Slytherins for their commitment to politics and I know that I'm going to be involved with them later in life, but no one expects the political Gryffindor straight out of Hogwarts. I had taken the Ministry by storm in my last four lives by doing that."
The hat hummed in reply before shouting, "Gryffindor!"
McGonagall looked pleasantly surprised, holding the hat to her chest. Flitwick seemed disappointed. Jasmine supposed that he had wanted her in his house.
The sorting hat was taken off her head and Dumbledore looked like he swallowed something unpleasant. Did he think that the hat had made a mistake?
"Is there something wrong, Headmaster?"
Dumbledore gave her a look over from head to toe. "No, I just thought that you would have gone into a different house, Ms. Peverell."
No doubt he assumed that she would have been sorted into Slytherin. Honestly, the house of snakes isn't too bad, once she got past the blatant racism and classism, the people she had befriended in Slytherin were her friends for the rest of her life. Slytherins, once their loyalty was gained, was hard to break. It was one of the many reasons that Jasmine felt Voldemort gained followers so easily. They had all been friends in school and Tom Riddle had quite a few favors to call in from people he'd attended Hogwarts with.
"Is there something wrong with the house that I've been put into?" She asked hesitantly, and Euphemia and McGonagall shook their heads no rather quickly.
"Absolutely not, Ms. Peverell. Gryffindor is a lovely house and as the head of it, I welcome you to Hogwarts. Your list of school supplies will be sent to you home with James'. It was lovely meeting you," she told Jasmine before turning to her guardian, "and it was nice to see you again, Euphemia. Tell Fleamont I said hello."
Euphemia smiled. "Yes, and I'll tell him that you still insist on using his full name, even after the hundreds of times he's told you otherwise."
~*~
The rest of the summer had gone by rather quickly. Jasmine's birthday came and went in a quiet fashion. There was cake, with lots of frosting. She received a few gifts from the Potters. Euphemia had given her a few robes and muggle sets of clothing, it wasn't something that she had thought of, but it was something extremely useful. Monty had given her a more advanced potions kit as well as a book that has some tips scribbled in the margins, which made smile thinking of her experience with the Half-Blooded Prince. Remus had owled her a bit of chocolate with a note hoping that she had a good day. He apologized for not being there, telling he that he was under the weather. The full moon was that night. Monty, James and Sirius also purchased a broom for her. Though, it might have been for them more than for her. Euphemia wasn't the biggest fan of quidditch so any excuse to play was worth it.
Which meant for the rest of the day, the whole family was outside riding different brooms playing quidditch for the entire afternoon. Jasmine might have shown off a bit. She had missed being in the air and might have done some rather dangerous dives. After they had finished James swore that he was going to convince her to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Euphemia swore that if Jasmine tried some of those dives at school she would lose her broom privileges. James and Sirius sent her conspiratorial winks behind Euphemia's back.
Figures.
After that, the summer came to a speedy close. The only incident that came up was Ro constantly harassing Sirius. The little kitten enjoyed stalking Sirius all day long. Ro more than likely could tell that Sirius was a dog Animagus and needed to make sure he didn't get into trouble without her telling on him. She had ruined nearly all of his pranks while he was at the manor. More than once Jasmine heard Sirius yelp from another place in the manor before he'd come sprinting into her room demanding that she learn to control her cat.
She was never going to control Ro, she was a bit of a wild cat full of mischievous Death magic. All of Death's creations tended to have minds of their own that even the Master of Death couldn't really control without them acting up. Ro was much like the invisibility cloak, playful and a fantastic hider.
As soon as Sirius would leave the room, Ro would appear right were his feet had been. The kitten had literally run back with him, completely invisible.
The little scamp.
Leaving for the Hogwarts Express was looming in the near distance. For the first time in a long time, she didn't want to go to Hogwarts. She was worried about a few things…one: meeting her mother, and two: dealing with people that were going to look at her face and sneer at her.
She knew that dealing with Slytherin's was going to be a pain in the ass. She luckily had the bloodline to protect her from some of their jibes. She was also the last of a very powerful line in the English Ministry, as well as a pureblood. She was going to need to use that to her advantage soon. Though, she need to find a good place to gain a foothold within Slytherin from her place as an already somewhat outcast Gryffindor.
Euphemia had kindly asked her to watch out for James and Sirius this coming year. She didn't trust Dumbledore and was worried that he was trying to recruit both James and Sirius to the Order of the Phoenix. Jasmine, of course, promised to do her best. She wasn't sure on how successful she could be, given they did join in her future, but she'd do her best to make her guardian proud.
But, here she was, packing her trunk, tucking away Ro's favorite cat toy, bed and scratch post. She then placed her school books around them as well as her favorite robes, for classes and for Hogsmeade excursions. With a one last look around the room, she sighed and closed the lid to her trunk.
Notes:I hope you enjoyed. =)
Leave your kudos and comments below!
I should be posting again soon.
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 8: Chapter 8Summary:To Hogwarts!
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 8
Traveling on the Hogwarts express with the Marauders was far different from anything she had experienced prior. She had enjoyed quiet rides with Ron and Hermione in a few lives, but most had been spent with Luna Lovegood (when she was old enough to attend), Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini, and occasionally Fred and George. A train ride with Slytherins tended to be filled with civilized conversation, polite questions about the summer, and then coded talk about the war, that if anyone overheard, they'd think they were talking about Quibbler articles. Luna truly was a misunderstood genius. Now, everything was different, none of those people were even thoughts in their parents' minds and she was no longer Harriet Potter.
Jasmine had been ushered into their compartment and sat down with an unnecessary amount of ceremony (there was some bowing involved and a bequeathing of a password), before she had been introduced to Peter for the first time. He was still just as pathetic as she remembered. The only real difference was that he had both hands, all ten fingers and more hair. A rat would always be a rat. Though, surprisingly enough, she didn't murder the him then and there, reacting like that would have proved Dumbledore right...and worse, have her expelled. If he only knew the trouble she'd be saving him in long run. But, it wouldn't have solved any of her future problems and he hadn't joined the Death Eaters quite yet. She wanted to catch him in the act of betraying his friends and then torture the information he had on his dark master out of him slowly and ever so painfully.
Just to bother the rat, Jasmine let Ro roam the cabin. She gave him a loud hiss before settling behind Jasmine for a nap.
That didn't mean that Jasmine wasn't going to watch him very closely. Peter was quiet and not making eye contact with her. She knew that James had written about her to him. James had told everyone he could that he basically had a sister now. She just wondered how much of the truth James told his friend about her past. Peter seemed to be terrified of her, after all, then again, her battle scars were rather terrifying out of context. Either way, the Marauders were planning their welcome feast prank. It was a tradition that they did every year and they always had to top the year before.
The only issue was that Remus had to leave part way through to go to the prefect meeting, much to the other boys' horror. Sirius was begging him to skip it, just to stay with them. "Those gits don't need you! Stay here and help us plan, Moony, we're almost done!"
"You know I can't do that, Sirius. I need to meet the other prefects."
Sirius whined again, looking even more like a wounded dog than he already did with his overly shaggy hair and pleading grey eyes. Was he making them water on command?
Jasmine had quite enough of their bad behavior.
"Just go, Remus. I'll make sure these monsters behave themselves while you're gone."
James and Sirius stuck their tongues out at her before Remus left with a fond smile.
"I swear your nine not fifteen," she grumbled, pulling out a book and silently locking the door to keep James from finding some poor unfortunate soul to prank.
As soon as they knew Remus was out of sight both James and Sirius reached for the handle, only to be shocked. Her cousin yelped and held his hand up to his mouth in pain. Sirius shook his out once and then went to grab the handle again, only to be rewarded with the same results. Peter was watching the whole interaction with a mortified curiosity.
"What did Remus do? Is this some kind of new method for him to get us to behave? We need to have our traditional prank of Snivley before we get to Hogwarts and need to deal with rules," Sirius pondered, glaring daggers at the handle. Jasmine smiled behind her book as they attempted to break the hex.
"Reckon it's been weeks since he's washed his hair," James said, sharing a grin with his friends, but Jasmine frowned, drawing the lead Marauder's eye.
"Who are you talking about?" She asked, feigning innocence. She hated that her father and his friends had been bullies. Especially since she had been picked on in every life she had lived by multiple different people and mediums. She was going to stop this here and now, hopefully.
"Oh, some git from Slytherin. He's a future Death Eater in training."
"And, he's best mates with James' future wife, Lily Evans," Sirius interjected, elbowing his friend in the ribs. James went crimson.
Jasmine closed her book with a resounding thud. "It sounds like you're jealous to me, which is no reason to pick on someone. It's the same things that many of the patrons would do to the children that they would steal and capture. They would find something physically wrong with the newest child and have the others gang up on them, even drive them to suicide. It was all for fun and games. Do you hurt this person for fun, James?"
She saw the moment that her words registered with James. When he realized that maybe what he did to Severus wasn't all in good fun and the potential ramification that it might have on his relationship with Jasmine.
"Oh, come on, he's a future Death Eater. He deserves it," Sirius shouted, waving his arms around, attempting to scare her into submission.
Jasmine Peverell was not one to be tamed by angry men.
"He has a muggleborn friend that you are attempting to drive him away from and potentially into the arms of real Death Eaters. By all accounts, James should be pranking you then, Sirius. If anyone would become a future Death Eater, you would through your association with your family," she snapped back.
"I chose to leave my family behind," he roared, getting into her face.
Jasmine stood, never breaking eye contact. In the background James and Peter were trying to pull them away from each other. Ro yowled from her left.
Jasmine chose her words very carefully. James had his hand on her arm, just in case things got physical. He was probably more worried over what she could do to Sirius than the other way around. "You didn't leave, your ran away. Not everyone has the options of running away to a safe place when things are bad at home, Sirius."
She could see the righteous anger start to leave his eyes and melancholy take over. He sat back down with his arms crossed.
Jasmine knew that she could guilt James into leaving Severus alone. She only needed to twist his arm just right about her past and mention how disappointed she'd be, and he would think about stopping or hesitate enough to miss the moment of opportunity. Sirius was another matter entirely. He was a Black, and they were vindictive to an absurd degree. Jasmine knew that she was going to get into a lot more of those screaming matches with Sirius in the future over his pranks.
She sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose and sat down. "Look, I get that you love to prank people. I just think that pranking shouldn't be bullying. I've seen and dealt with so much of it. I don't want to see people I consider my family doing what others had been doing to me for years. I know what it is like to be on the receiving end of an unfriendly wand."
James deflated slightly, running a nervous hand through his hair, causing his glasses to go askew. He gently took a seat next to an unresponsive Sirius. "No, I understand what you're saying. That sometimes, our pranks could be considered…" he swallowed. "Cruel to the point of bullying and even abuse."
No doubt, he'd been called out about it before, by the lovely Ms. Evans. Jasmine wondered why it took her in particular to talk sense into him. Maybe he hadn't believed that Lily didn't enjoy seeing him show off. She was a talented witch, maybe he felt that proving he was just as adept at magic made him seem better somehow. His through process didn't seem logical, but he was a teenager.
"The one that you were talking about for the Feast seems fun. It targets everyone, even the Professors. That's a prank, that, while it might not be appreciated by everyone, treats everyone the same. That shows restraint and magical talent. Your paramour might enjoy it. It seems like a lot of fun," Jasmine told him with a small smile.
James' hazel eyes lit up and the mere thought of Lily liking his prank. He was already in love with her and he didn't even know it. It made Jasmine happy to know that James held a genuine love for her mother. She had heard that he had cared about her more than anything in world, but she had never seen it to believe that it was completely true.
The compartment was quite for a few minutes. No one wanted to be the first one to speak and James knew the moment he opened his mouth it was going to be about Lily, no one wanted to hear about his crush, again. Sirius was huffily sulking in his seat, Peter was pointedly looking anywhere, but at Jasmine and Jasmine had opened a book and was reading, ignoring everyone in the room with her. This lead to Ro getting bored and this kitten got bored easily. It also always led to a lot trouble for all parties involved…
So, the cat launched herself across the compartment and onto Sirius' unsuspecting face. This was followed by Sirius yowl of pain, James, Peter and Jasmine all vainly trying to dislodge the cat that had forced her claws in Sirius' hair and she wasn't letting go.
It was pure pandemonium.
It was the scene that Remus walked into.
Everyone had stopped when the door had slid open, their eyes wide. Even the cat seemed genuinely shocked that someone dared to disturb them. "Should I come back later? This seems like a bad time?" Remus asked dryly, a grin fighting its way on his face. He'd seen Ro attack his friend before at the manor. He had always assumed that Jasmine had sent her cat after Sirius, but now he was realizing that it might not have been that way. Jasmine had denied being a part of her cat's nefarious plots after all. She'd warned them of Ro's intelligence. None of them had listened.
"Moony, while your scathing wit and sarcasm is usually appreciated, celebrated, some might even claim. We need your help here," James replied pulling at the claws once more, only getting a hiss of pain out of Sirius.
"Just get the bloody cat out of my hair!" Sirius shouted. Jasmine could see people gathering in the hallway, trying to see what the Marauders were up to this early in the school year.
Jasmine had enough of her cat playing games. This is why Death shouldn't be allowed to create living things as replacement hallows. Death magic tended to make things playful in the worst of ways. "Ro, that's enough," Jasmine told the cat, pushing some of Master of Death authority into her voice.
Ro's claws retracted, and she hopped onto the opposite side of the cabin, jumped up onto the trunks, striped tail hanging from the luggage rack. "Your cat is mental," Sirius muttered, eyeing the feline above him. Jasmine swore the cat had a grin on her tiny face.
Jasmine's eyes narrowed. They'd be having a talk later. If a cat could pale in worry, Ro would have done just that. She had gone too far in her quest for gaining attention of an entire room.
"Remus, is everything alright? I heard shouting," a voice asked from behind Remus. A mane of red hair was the first thing that Jasmine noticed, followed by a bright pair of innocent green eyes, which hardened the moment her eyes landed on James, who was patting Sirius slightly bloody head.
"Think it will be okay, Prongs?" Sirius inquired, a frown molded onto his usually smiling face.
Jasmine noticed that Lily's face was slowly beginning to match her hair as she watched James tend to his best friend, bent over him slightly so he could get a better idea of the damage Ro did to Sirius already fragile head.
Was Lily checking him out?
No, she was turning an odd shade a purple…
That couldn't be healthy.
"Pads, I think your hair will make it through the evening. It was a close call, but Jasmine managed to convince the feline devil to let go," James replied dramatically and both boys broke out into near contagious laughter.
"Potter!" Lily shouted, wand out as she took inventory of the cabin around her, that for the most part was completely intact, save for Jasmine's book that dropped onto the floor as well as some bags that had fallen from the seats in their scuffle to remove Ro.
The demeanor change in James when he heard Lily's voice was interesting. He stood rim rod straight and ran a hand through his hair. "Evans, what brings you to the Marauders' cabin?" He asked voice oozing with false bravado.
No wonder she couldn't stand him.
Jasmine crinkled her nose in distain and moved to pick up her book, finally catching Lily's notice.
The redhead gave her a once over, more than likely trying to figure out what she had been doing in the Marauders cabin in the first place. She appeared to be the same age, her tie claimed she was a Gryffindor, but she wasn't a familiar face. But, then Jasmine noticed that Lily's gaze lingered on the scars littering her face and her slightly unfocused left eye and she averted her gaze. "Who are you? You weren't in school with us last year…" Lily trailed off looking up quickly to make eye contact before looking over Jasmine's left shoulder.
"I'm Jasmine Peverell. If you've been reading the Prophet there is a fairly large article from early July that has quite a bit about where I'm from," Jasmine replied, her accent coming out rather thick, "And, I'd appreciate it if you would look me in the eyes when speaking to me. I know the scars are odd, but they aren't that bad, honestly."
The article only covered the rescue of the kids locked in the basement of the manor. Mrs. Potter had told her to tell people she was one of the many that had been locked down there to avoid the public eye as sole survivor of the upper floor attack.
Lily flushed a bit at being caught avoiding her face, but she pushed forward. "Is there a reason that you are spending time with Potter and his gang of miscreants?" She spat, giving the Marauders, save Remus, rather hate filled glares.
Jasmine rolled her eyes at the naiveté of her question. Lily really had no right to be prying into her personal life. They had just met. It didn't matter all that much that she was spending time with James or not. "Well, it be hard to avoid James, since his family took me in after a string of rather unfortunate events that I don't have to go into detail for you," Jasmine answered hotly, her temper starting to flare up a notch.
She might have lived nine different lives before this, but being asked about abuse never went well with her. Jasmine always got defensive about this kind of thing.
"I just feel that I should know the people that I'm going to living with for the rest of the year. I read about the article you mentioned, and I had a few questions…"
What a presumptuous brat. Did she have any idea what she was asking Jasmine to relive?
Jasmine felt like a deer caught in headlights for a moment as she remembered the fight that led her to be in the Potter's care. There was a rather large group congregating outside of their cabin and she really didn't want to make some kind of scene by yelling before she even got to school. She didn't need anything getting back to Dumbledore that she was unhinged by students telling stories of the attack.
James seemed to sense her discomfort and put a hand on Jasmine's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "Evans, I think you might have stepped over a line. My cousin has been through a lot and she doesn't need to explain herself to you," he said, not sounding like the cocky arse from a few moments prior. Lily seemed to realize the same thing, her posture going from offensive to defensive under James' rather intense glare, something she hadn't really ever received from him before.
"Sorry," she whispered before turning around and making her way further down the train.
As soon as she was out of the doorway, Remus slammed the door shut before any of the on lookers could start asking questions. Sirius cast a powerful locking charm and Peter pulled a few pieces of chocolate for everyone to share.
"I told Evans to leave," James said stunned at his own behavior, staring at Jasmine as if she had compelled him to do it against his will.
Much to Jasmine's surprise, Sirius was the one to reply, "Mate, Prongs, she's your cousin, basically you sister. Evans insulted and scared her a little bit. You were doing your sibling duty to protect her."
"But I just turned Evans away!"
Jasmine rolled her eyes. "Well, she seemed far more interested in the James that protected his cousin from harm than the arse that greeted her. What was wrong with you talking to her like that? Has your mum not taught you how to speak to women?" Jasmine answered in reply, causing James to flush a bright red.
"Oh, she taught him, but I don't think any of the lessons or howlers taught him anything," Remus replied with a toothy smile, amber eyes dancing as he more than likely recalled dozens of times James had received a howler from his mother demanding for his behavior to improve.
"What are you talking about? I just said hello to her," James grumbled, crossing his arms in front of him, a pout forming.
The picture of a spoilt child.
"James, everything about you changed as soon as you noticed her. Your posture shifted, you ran a hand through your hair, and then your tone of voice changed to a rather conceited pureblood heir. It wasn't you. I can understand why she doesn't like you if that's the James you show her whenever she's around," Jasmine replied. "I didn't like that James either."
James looked to his friends for confirmation. Sirius lounged against the far wall, taking up far too much room and squishing poor Peter. "I have to agree with Jazzy-pants. You are different around Evans, always have been."
Remus nodded continuing where Sirius left off, "Well, at first you were outright nervous all the time. He could barely string sentences together around her for the longest time. She must have thought he was an idiot, but then, I think, that you hid your nervousness through your arse-holery."
Jasmine couldn't have said it better herself. She just wanted to know why none of his friends had pointed this behavior out before now? Maybe they had, and James had denied the whole thing? That was always a possibility.
James let out a long-suffering sigh, "well, it doesn't matter, because she still hates me. Let's get back to our welcome feast prank."
Notes:I hope you enjoyed!
Leave your kudos and comments below!
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 9: Chapter 9Summary:Hogwarts...
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 9
Jasmine was ushered into the Great Hall, the Marauders leading her towards the Gryffindor table with wide grins on their faces as they pointed out and explained the different seating areas, as well as casting spells subtly for the master prank to go off. She ended up sitting sandwiched between James and Sirius with Peter and Remus across from her. The Great Hall wasn't all that different in the past, there were still candles floating in a charmed ceiling of the night sky, the house tables were longer, but in the same space. It was familiar, a welcome change from being in the past where everything seemed utterly different.
She wasn't left to her thoughts for very long before they watched as hordes of first years were brought in and sorted.
She had never seen so many kids get sorted at once and she looked around the school, there were at least seven hundred students in the hall and the staff table had ten professors she'd of subjects she had never been offered.
If Jasmine had thought that this school had been magically powerful with only a third of student body and faculty, she had been severely underestimating how concentrated magic could feel with so many untrained witches and wizards in a single space could create.
The war had taken too many people, too many muggleborns children in particular. Wizarding Europe needed to keep this blood alive and she was going to need to be that propellent of change. She had to get her father's research out and into the open. She'd found some rather interesting theories in a journal before she had left and wanted to bring her findings out publicly. Jasmine had a feeling that this discovery was what had her father killed in the first place, though the research was supposed to have been destroyed in the "car accident" that had taken his life.
She'd change as much as she could, make the future a better and safer place, not just for her, but for all the people that were going to be born in, friends that she was never going to meet.
Jasmine would do it, she'd save everyone, even if it killed her. Voldemort was going to be stopped far before he could get a larger foothold into the wizarding world. She had around six and half years before he would attempt to kill James, Lily and their future child. Not a lot of time to build supporters, but she could do it. Jasmine had knowledge on the future, she had an advantage. The first step to dismantling Tom was to take away his funding, which would mean talking to the Malfoy family and Black families, since they were his staunchest, and wealthiest, supporters.
Dumbledore stood after the last first year took their seat at the Slytherin table. "Another year at Hogwarts has begun! Now, as you know there are a few rules that I feel are necessary to repeat, due to some rather rambunctious students continually breaking them," his eyes traveled to the Marauders, who saluted him. A few chuckles were given at their antics before the Headmaster resumed speaking, "to reiterate, no one is to go into the Forbidden Forest, it received its name for a reason. The next announcement is that Professor Flitwick is going to start up his dueling club again. He is going to hand pick four or five students from each year to practice, and compete in duels with other schools."
Dumbledore looked like he swallowed something foul after he made that particular announcement. Jasmine wasn't entirely sure why. This way he would know who the best duelists in his school were. He could then attempt to recruit them to his order. But, it didn't seem like he was interested in fighters at this point, just sheep.
Jasmine grinned rather lazily at the idea of knowing all the best duelists in the school. She could use some friends that had similar skill sets to her. "Now, without further ado, let the feast begin!" Dumbledore said, clapping his hands, signaling for the food to appear, but nothing happened.
James grinned.
Dumbledore tired again.
Nothing changed and Sirius grinned.
The Headmaster tried a third time and still nothing.
Remus looked like he was on the verge of laughter, Peter wasn't even trying to hide his amusement.
Dumbledore looked at the boys, raising an eyebrow. James counted down from three with his fingers.
The room rocketed with color a as soon as his pointer finger went down. There were startled shouts and some terrified screams, but as soon as the bright lights did the entire welcome prank come to fruition. All the tables had patronous like animals matching the house floating above each table in their house colors. Quite a few students were mesmerized by the impressive charm work that was needed to pull this off, while upper year students were becoming impatient, waiting for the Marauders to finish up their prank so they could eat. They sat above the table where the food would be and with a snap of James' fingers and a wave of Remus, Peter and Sirius' wands the animals literally vomited the food up onto the tables.
It sounded disgusting and looked accurate to how a lion, badger, snake and raven would vomit. Luckily, the food looked perfectly fine and just as delicious as she remembered. Though, many students seemed to be afraid to eat what was in front of them, but then the Marauders started to pull and pick food from the table and eat with gusto.
Jasmine took a peek at the staff table and saw McGonagall holding her fork so tight her knuckles were turning an unhealthy white. The boys really pushed the woman to her limit when it came to how much she was willing to handle for a prank. Jasmine could see the inner desire to take off house points, but refrained herself since it would put Gryffindor in the negative and no one wanted that.
It also didn't seem like Dumbledore was going to reprimand them for their creative introduction to new term at Hogwarts. Jasmine had to admit that it was interesting to watch, and the first years seemed to be utterly fascinated with the magic used in their prank. She somewhat wished the Weasley twins had been able to actually discuss pranks with Remus and Sirius in her futures. When she had spoken to her Godfather about the mischief they got up to in school he never mentioned things like this and they seemed like they were important moments in his childhood. She had assumed that all of their pranks were targeting certain people and bullying for the most part. She had been skeptical about this prank when it had been planned on the train since it seemed tame.
Jasmine was honestly still waiting for the Slytherins to have something horrendously wrong with their food that was going to make them sick or something. Luckily, it never happened.
Halfway through dinner Jasmine was tapped on the shoulder by a young blonde Gryffindor girl. She had a familiar round face and smile, but she couldn't put her finger on where she'd seen her. The Marauders opted to ignore her and continue to eat their dinners.
"Is there something that you need?" Jasmine asked politely, her fingers drumming on the table to alleviate some nervousness. No one had bothered to speak to her besides the Marauders since Lily's attempt on the train.
Her bright blue eyes lit up at Jasmine's receptiveness, "Yes! I wanted to introduce myself, I'm Alice Lancaster. Lily told me that you'll be sharing a dorm with us this year. I wanted to say hello before we all get sent off to bed."
Jasmine's heart jumped into her throat. This was Neville's mother. She had never gotten to speak to her Godmother before. Alice had always been too insane to understand her in the future. Neville looked so much like her that it hurt. Jasmine vaguely wondered where Frank Longbottom was, but she figured she'd find out soon enough.
Jasmine held out an, ever so slightly, shaky hand. She hadn't been this nervous to introduce herself to anyone in a while. She would have been nervous to meet her mother, had it not gone so wrong. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Jasmine Peverell."
Alice nodded, a stray curl drifted into her face. Jasmine's introduction seemed to confirm something for the fifth year Gryffindor that brought a friendly smile to her face. "That's what I thought. You made quite a stir politically when you claimed your last name on British soil. In a few more years your family's fortune would have gone to the Ministry."
Yes, Jasmine had heard something like that happened from Euphemia when she was still in the hospital. Most of the purebloods around Britain knew that a Peverell Heir had been found and their house reclaimed. Jasmine just hoped that there were quite a few Pureblood Lords quaking in their boots. She was still waiting for a complete bank statement from Gringotts for all debts owed to her family.
"I heard something along those lines," Jasmine replied with a wry grin.
"Glad to know that there are still people willing to stir the political pot, as it were, that aren't dark wizards. We need more neutral families back in the mix."
Jasmine couldn't agree more. "Glad that I can be of service."
"Yes, well if you ever need time away from these miscreants," she motioned to the gaggle of Marauders surrounding her, "you're welcome to come and sit with me and my friends a bit down the table. Merlin knows how you've put up with them for so long already."
Jasmine snorted at the slightly offended looks the boys sent her way. "It takes the patience of a saint, let me tell you."
Alice laughed, light and airy, a dimple became more pronounced on her left cheek. Her name was called from down the table and sighed. "Duty calls," Alice said and pivoted on her heels and turned back towards Lily and another girl that Jasmine didn't recognize.
"What did Alice want?" Sirius asked, a mouthful of what Jasmine thought was chicken and mash, but honestly didn't care enough to find out.
"Chew with your mouth closed, you mutt," she replied, swatting him once as he swallowed, "But, she just wanted to know if I was the Pureblood Heir she thought I was or not. The revival of the Peverell line has created quite a stir in the Ministry. There were quite a few pockets that were going to be lined with my family's money once it got into Ministry hands in three or four years."
James waved a fork in the air, bits of food falling off, "Mum was talking about that. She was furious that they were going after a line's money like that. It was line theft, plain and simple. The Ministry shouldn't be allowed access to family vaults, not even branch families, it wouldn't be right, not unless the last head declares it otherwise."
Remus frowned, "But then it would just sit in Gringotts forever."
"Not like the goblins would care all that much, but heirs to lines tend to pop up ever few generations after a line is thought to have ended. It's where the whole theory of muggles stealing pureblood magic comes from."
Jasmine rolled her eyes at the stupidity of the claim. "Except, if they check linage charts, all muggleborns are from squib lines that trace back to pureblood families."
Sirius bit rather viciously into a chicken leg, "Yes, but most pureblood burn off or never acknowledge that a squib is even born into their line. Their records are lost so they can claim that the muggles are stealing their magic."
Jasmine twirled her fork in thought before pointing in at Sirius. "The only issue with that claim is that the linage test gives the name and generations leading back to the pureblood line. They can't deny what is in front of them. The tests are drawn from goblin magic that deals in blood and that can't lie, no matter how dirty some purebloods may think certain kinds are," she commented. James, Peter and Remus were just watching the interaction between Sirius and Jasmine. It wasn't often that Sirius was actually, well, serious.
Jasmine seemed to know that right buttons to press to get him to use his pureblood upbringing. It made him sound knowledgeable.
A truly terrifying sight to behold.
Despite being one of the top students in his year, Sirius certainly didn't act the part and most forgot, until he'd talk about blood magic, politics or anything else that pertained to pureblood history and politics. He had been raised as the Heir to the House of Black.
Even though James had a similar upbringing, his parents had kept him out of a lot of the more serious political matters until they felt he was old enough to handle what was going on in the world. They had only just started teaching him the finer points on land dealings, business and politics. Sirius had been doing this since he could speak.
Sirius folded his hands out in front of him, "I've never heard of this linage test before. It could change the wizarding world if you could bring it out into the open."
"It would figure you hadn't. It is mostly used on unnamed attack victims, hence why it was used on me. They weren't sure if I was ever going wake up and needed to inform my family of either my hospitalization or my passing. Muggleborns would need to ask for the test to be performed and since it is so obscure not many would even know to request one. If I can information about the test then I could potentially change the political climate regarding muggleborns and squibs," Jasmine replied, tapping her fingers on the aged wooden table in front of her. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to figure out what she needed to get done.
So much planning and so little time to get it all done…
Notes:I hope you enjoyed!
Leave your comments and kudos below!
See you soon,
~SugarPhantom