Chapter 25: Chapter 25Summary:And we have our meeting with Dumbledore...
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 25
Dumbledore's office was a hornet's nest of activity. The room was filled with aggravated voices and desk pounding, giving Jasmine's already aching head more of a reason to throb. All the Heads of House were crowded around the Headmaster's desk shouting over one another. McGonagall was the one with her hands slamming against the polished desk. Euphemia was standing in the corner of the room, looking like she was about rip someone to shreds. Madam Pomfrey was next to the entrance and Jasmine was dreading dealing with the fussy matron. Dumbledore, in bright lilac robes, didn't seem to know what to do as he tried to calm the four different Heads of House with peaceful hand gestures.
Lily was nowhere to be found. Jasmine hoped that she was bringing her assailants here while Jasmine dealt with the adults.
All eyes turned to the group of teens as they came in, most of them zeroed in on Sirius, who was still carrying Jasmine. She knew that she still looked worse for wear, no doubt bruises were forming on her face and the cuts that were visible were bleeding a bit sluggishly. Her ribs were still aching something fierce and even if her shoulder was back in its socket, it still hurt like hell. Euphemia was the first to break the silence, "Jasmine, what happened? I got a fire call from James saying that you had almost been killed in a fight?"
Jasmine sent her cousin a glare before he shrugged his shoulders with a sheepish grin. Leave it to James to exaggerate the entire thing to get everyone up and arms. Then again, fighting soon to be Death Eaters in school, even if they were in training, was an ordeal to overcome.
James rubbed the back of his neck. "Evans came running in panicking, what was I supposed to think?" He gave the most innocent bat of his eyelashes as he responded. What a little liar. Lily might have a temper, but she was level headed most of the time and wouldn't have told James that she had almost died.
Jasmine hadn't even come close to dying. Merlin, she was a few moments away from maiming those to idiot Slytherins before Lily, Frank and Alice stepped in on her behalf. Euphemia started to tap a foot impatiently.
Jasmine figured that this would be a good time to explain what happened before her guardian hurt someone. "While, I did get into a fight. I wasn't near death. Avery got a lucky hit in with a blasting hex. I was pushed into a wall rather forcefully, which caused most of my injuries," she began, but she got some confused looks…maybe she started at the wrong moment in the story. Sometimes it was best to start at the beginning. "Okay, I'll start again. Right after dueling practice I was attacked by six students claiming to follow the new rising Dark Lord. I had already rejected an offer earlier in the year and he took that as an insult. Avery and his friends were attempting to teach me a lesson, though, they are far more damaged than I ended up," she replied levelly, attempting to keep her voice calm and even, though she could feel a wheeze starting in her voice as she spoke, hopefully her rib hadn't punctured her lung. She was far too tired and stung-out for that.
The Headmaster looked positively delighted behind his spectacles. This could be what gets her kicked out of school. Jasmine wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to attempt to expel her over this.
"Madam Pomfrey, Jazz is having a bit of trouble breathing, can you take a look at her?" Remus asked from her left. Traitor.
Pomfrey came bustling over to her, wand raised, a potions kit attached to her hip. The matron had come prepared to deal with far worse. "Mr. Black, hold her still for me while I do a quick medical scan," she told Sirius with her no-nonsense tone that left no room for argument, and Jasmine resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It wasn't like she was in any position to make a run for it, no matter how much she disliked medical treatment. Sirius, the other traitor, obeyed without protest.
Jasmine felt Pomfrey's wand tap her head and she shivered as the matron's magic scanned her for health complications and injuries. She heard Pomfrey tut as the results appeared somewhere next to her. "Two fractured ribs, a recently reset shoulder, a sprained ankle, bruising to your arms, legs and the majority of your left side. You're very lucky that there were no internal injuries."
Euphemia visibly paled at the list and turned towards the Heads and Dumbledore. "I want the names of those that attacked my ward, now," she ordered, McGonagall put a hand on Euphemia's shoulder, who forcefully brushed her off. The Gryffindor Head of House backed up a little bit, her posture stiff, but respectful of Euphemia's space.
Jasmine's guardian was in no mood for dealing with any of Hogwarts' nonsense.
"I agree, these children need to be punished. If what Ms. Peverell said is true, we have students willing to nearly kill another to appease this new Dark Lord," McGonagall hissed, she sounded more like her cat Animagus, her inner animal spilling over. This wasn't her friend Euphemia Potter right now, this was the Head of DMLE and she was pissed.
Pomfrey motioned for Sirius to bring Jasmine over to a nearby stuffed armchair, her hands rifling through her bag for the appropriate potions to administer. "I left them in the hallway where they attacked me, stunned. I didn't want them getting away, some of them were sixth and seventh years that I don't know by name," Jasmine informed them, which started another round of shouting as she was gently lowered into the chair with more care than Jasmine thought Sirius capable of. The armchair was softer than she expected, and Jasmine wondered if someone had conjured it. She didn't remember seeing one this shade of moss green in this office before. James hovered over her left side, Sirius on her right and Remus at her back. The adults were shouting at one another and Jasmine couldn't really be bothered to interfere.
Two vials were pushed into her bloody hands. She downed both of them and shivered as they went down, making sure not to gag at the horrendous taste. A bar of dark chocolate was placed in her trembling hands as soon as the vials were taken. "For the aftertaste," Remus muttered from behind her. He had even remembered that she wasn't a fan of overly sweet things and gave her some bitter chocolate.
How kind of him.
She reached back and gave the hand next to her head, which she knew was Remus' a light squeeze. He flinched at the sudden, and unexpected, contact, but didn't pull away. Jasmine could feel the exhaustion of the day starting to catch up to her.
"We haven't even gotten the entire story from all the witnesses! How do we know that there wasn't some kind of misunderstanding?" Slughorn asked, and Jasmine swore that Euphemia was going to light his hair on fire.
"There is nothing to misunderstand, Horace. Those students cornered my ward and attacked her. Two of your Slytherins pinned her to floor and were about to do Merlin knows what to her if Ms. Evans hadn't intervened!"
Jasmine cleared her throat loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the room. She wasn't going to let their stares shake her confidence as she spoke. "As lovely as it is to be spoken about as if I'm not here…I'd prefer it to be known that if my attackers aren't removed from the school, I will be filing an injunction with the board of governors. I will not have Death Eaters in training running around the school threatening other students. Not many of them could defend themselves as well as I did," Jasmine promised. This was for Marlene, who Avery had mercilessly attacked during the dueling tryouts, for all the racist slurs he'd thrown at Lily, and for all of his future victims. Even getting rid of a few Death Eaters was a victory. Their families would lose political prowess if their kids didn't graduate from an accredited school. They could hire all the tutors they wanted, but Jasmine would make sure that everyone knew that they were expelled for assaulting another student.
Everyone seemed speechless at her admission. She supposed that it wasn't often that a student was willing to take her assailants to court…or threaten to sue their school for not following through in expelling them. Dumbledore had gained that blasted twinkle back in his eyes. "My dear, would you really ruin the lives of so many people over a silly fight?"
Why in the bloody hell does he want DEATH EATERS in this school? It always baffled her as Harriet when she knew that he knew who was a Death Eater in training and never expelled them for terrorist actions against the government. It seemed that the Headmaster enjoyed watching the light and dark students in his school duke it out against each other.
Then it hit her, Hogwarts was a training ground for soldiers. If he kept violent students willing to kill, Dumbledore would have an easier time picking his newest Order members. If some kids got hurt in the crossfire, that was just the cost for the greater good. If they strayed to the dark side, it was the students fault for falling prey to Voldemort.
"Yes, when someone tries to kill me, I generally don't let that go," Jasmine retorted, forcing herself to sit a bit straighter in the chair, her ribs protesting the entire time. She could see Euphemia's fists clench from across the room. "If you don't believe me, I'd be happy to tell you the events under a truth serum. I'm sure that my attackers would be able to corroborate if given the same potion, if it has to come to that."
Jasmine would go to Daily Prophet if she had to. Removing Death Eaters from the school is only a small step to changing the future. Dumbledore didn't seem pleased, a frown was etched on his face. She was very tired of the Headmaster questioning everything that she said because she came from a grey family that had always remained neutral in every war. While Jasmine planned on fighting against Voldemort in the future, it wasn't going to be for the light side with Dumbledore running the show.
She knew better than that.
"Are you sure that they were trying to kill you? With your history, it might be difficult for you differentiate between a prank and an actual threat."
She wasn't going to kill him…she wasn't going to kill him…
She felt her magic threatening to destroy everything in the office.
Jasmine would show him a real threat…
"Headmaster, are you insinuating that Jasmine isn't mentally sound?" Sirius asked, his voice quiet and dangerous. He stepped in front of her, James and Remus on either side of him. It was the first time that Jasmine had really ever seen him furious in this life. She'd found him distraught, angry and frustrated, but never blindly furious. This was the hotheaded Gryffindor she'd been told about in various lives. One that tended to make really stupid decisions without any thought on the consequences.
"Sirius, my boy, I fear that young Ms. Peverell has had a hard life and that has skewed her judgement on certain situations. I highly doubt that a group of students planned on killing her tonight."
Jasmine could feel the angry dark magic radiating from Sirius. "Sir, I mean no disrespect, but she had multiple broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and has severe bruising down her sides. That's no prank, I know pranks, they don't leave injuries like this. Even if they didn't try to kill her outright, they were still going to hurt her irreversibly and that's inexcusable. Not only is she a student here, but she is also an heir to one of the oldest Noble Houses in Great Britain," he replied, putting his hand on her shoulder, his fingers getting caught in her hair.
"I agree with Ms. Peverell and Mr. Black, Albus. These students shouldn't be allowed back on Hogwarts' grounds when they tried to maim a student or worse," McGonagall said, her accent thicker than normal as she tried to reign in her temper.
A knock on the door disturbed the tension in the room. "Come in," Dumbledore said just loud enough for the visitors on the other side to hear. Lily came in and floating behind her were three of the perpetrators, Alice and Frank were assisting in escorting the rest of Jasmine's attackers into the room.
Lestrange was awake and shouting, but it seemed that there was a silencing charm on him as he screamed himself horse. Jasmine waved, each finger curing towards her palm, a vicious grin on her face. She swore he began to froth in rage, rolling around suspended in the air.
Didn't he paint an insane picture to the professors.
"These are the students that attacked you?" Flitwick asked, his eyes narrowing at the two Ravenclaws among them, disappointment clear on his face.
Jasmine nodded. "Yes, though, I'd have Madam Pomfrey check on the Ravenclaw on the left, Avery hit him with some kind of curse that knocked him unconscious and I know that it wasn't a stunner. The color was all wrong," she told Pomfrey, who immediately came over to the Ravenclaw, his skin was a pasty oatmeal color. It didn't take long for the Matron to give a gasp of horror. "Albus, I need to get this boy to St. Mungos, now! His organs are failing, and his blood is boiling."
That sprung the teachers into action as the activated Dumbledore's floo network. Madam Pomfrey and Flitwick ran through with the dying Ravenclaw hoovering between them. They were gone in an instant and that was when Euphemia turned back to the Headmaster, face red, her eyes alight, and nostrils flared. "I want these students conscious, so I can speak with them. They are all under arrest for attempted murder until I get a clear picture of what happened tonight. I will not let Hogwarts become a battleground for rising Death Eaters to try new spells."
Slughorn stepped forward, until Euphemia turned on him and he took a large step backwards. "If that's the case, then your ward should also be put under arrest until further notice, we don't know if what she's saying is true. For all we know, she could have been the one throwing around dark magic," he said, voice trembling under Euphemia's rage.
"Are you claiming that Ms. Peverell, Ms. Evans, Mr. Longbottom and Ms. Lancaster's testimonies will be to the contrary? That my students are lying about an obvious assault?" McGonagall snapped as she squared her shoulders daring the potions professor to disagree with her.
Jasmine took a deep breath. Maybe it was time to bring some reason back into the room.
"Just test their wands. Look at the spells cast. Mine are all stunners and one or two blasting hexes to keep them away from me. It's concurrent with the injuries they sustained. If you check their wands, there will be blood boiling curses, melting curses, and loads of other dark magic. I will not have my place at this school threatened," Jasmine stated as she waited for her guardian to test each and every wand including her own.
The picture of the attack was slowly becoming clear and that Jasmine hadn't been lying. She had been unjustly attacked by six students and hurt badly in the process. Dumbledore looked like he swallowed something foul when he realized that he was going to actually have to do something about the way that his students acted. As much as a beloved headmaster that Dumbledore had been in Jasmine's many lives, she never found him to be that good at his job. He was too passive. He never did anything to those that broke the rules. Honestly, he never really did much to prevent the rise of Voldemort. Dumbledore to a certain extent seemed to encourage him, which was something that she didn't understand. The supposed, all powerful, headmaster waited for a child of prophecy to be born to get rid of the problem he created in the first place. The Order did all of the work for him while he sat here and played chess with people's lives.
Jasmine just hoped that she was steering James and Sirius away from what could be the final nail in the coffin them. She wanted to keep her dear friends away from Dumbledore and his Order. She was setting up Hogwarts to be a place where bullies wouldn't reign as kings of the school and this wasn't a training camp to two different sides of a war to come.
Notes:First semester of graduate school is just about finished.
Next one starts in one month. I'll see if I can find some time to post more often.
Thanks for the comments and kudos!
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 26: Chapter 26Summary:Jasmine's first Christmas with the Potter family.
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 26
The winter holidays began the next morning and Jasmine was forced to spend the first two days of her vacation with her feet up in bed while her ribs healed. It wasn't something that she enjoyed, she'd much rather be flying around the yard with Sirius and James, but her health was a priority. Euphemia made sure that she stayed put, while she filed injunctions with the Board of Governors over the expulsion of her ward's attackers. Quite a few of them saw no reason to expel the students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, since they hadn't had any prior write ups for violent spell casting or bullying. This kind of action could ruin their lives, their precious pureblood lives. They were throwing the Slytherins out to rot, since they had more priors for attacking muggleborns and halfbloods than some Death Eaters Harriet had put on trial in her past lives. Jasmine had been appalled at the reaction by the Board, those students tried to kill her.
Euphemia was a hairs breath away from bringing up a load of dirty laundry that she had on nearly all the members of the Board, just to sway the vote without a fuss, but Monty, the occasional voice of reason, cautioned her against it, not wanting to turn the majority of the pureblood community against them…again.
So, Jasmine was in limbo, waiting to hear back from politicians. It wasn't her favorite thing to do, nor was it her favorite thing to dwell on while she was stuck in bed, but there wasn't much else to do.
She just got to watch her friends have fun without her, which, even after living past a hundred years in different lives, still made her want to groan in frustration at being kept still. Jasmine was never good at that, and Harriet sure as bloody hell wasn't.
Sirius decided that he wasn't going home for Christmas this year. Even though he and his father had reconciled, Sirius refused to be in the same house as his mother. Which, Jasmine told him, was the right choice for him and his mental health. He'd seemed broody after he'd announced his decision on the train.
Sirius could still be the Black Heir without ever seeing his bitch of a mother ever again. Honestly, Jasmine hoped that she would be disowned sooner rather than later. She was going to try and kill Orion in about two years' time, if her plans hadn't already been pushed forward due to Sirius taking responsibility has Heir to the most Ancient and Noble House of Black. Wulberga was a piece of work and didn't deserve to be near the head of the household. Jasmine just hoped that she got to the Black family in time.
Speaking of the Black family, she had received a rather interesting card from them a few days before Christmas. Jasmine had received quite a few get-well cards and early Christmas gifts, which she had put at the foot of her bed for safe keeping. Though, it was the Black family invitation from the Family Patriarch to attend their annual Christmas Party that was sitting on her nightstand that caught her attention whenever she was in the room.
Sirius was going, after a long fire call from his father he'd been promised that his mother wouldn't be in attendance. It was to be his first event as the official Black Heir since his mother had chased him from his home nearly half a year earlier. When she heard that, she'd tapped the "attending" box with her wand on the parchment, letting Orion Black know that she was going to go. Honestly, it seemed to relieve Sirius and Jasmine was more than happy to accompany him. She knew he'd need some kind of Gryffindor support from his Slytherin family. Though, Jasmine wasn't sure if she'd be the best help when it came to being overtly Gryffindor in a room full of Slytherins, but she'd do her best for him.
This is what brought James and Sirius to her room early Christmas Eve morning. It had been snowing outside for hours and was too cold and windy for anything outside. Monty had blown up one too many potions from their racket, so they'd been banished to the upper floor rooms and away from anything priceless.
"Why do you think that they invited Jazz?" James asked flipping the parchment up-side-down and left and right, as if it was going to say something coded if he looked at it from a different angle. He had his head hanging over the side of her bed, his wild hair out of his face for once and nearly brushing the floor.
James and Sirius had thrown themselves on the bed next to her, getting bits of mud on the sheets. They were pawing through some of her mail that she had stacked on her left. There was never time to rest when she was suing six families for attacking her. If the Board of Governors wasn't going to do anything, she sure as hell would. Three of them owed her family monetary debts already. She was going to make good on her promise of making them go bankrupt and indenturing them to the Peverell House.
Sirius was rolling around on the bed. Jasmine had used a heating charm to keep the sheets warm and it was obvious that the boys had recently been outside. Ro had swiped at Sirius when he disturbed her resting place on her pillow against the headboard. The Black Heir gave her a little scratch behind the ear to appease her. By the slight twitch of her tail, the offering was accepted.
"She agreed to ally with my family," Sirius explained, his nose scrunched up in displeasure at his formal answer, "I also think that my father just wants to meet the witch that is causing an uproar within the ministry."
Jasmine rolled her eyes as she snatched the letter out of her cousin's hand. "You'd think I was destroying their way of life," she muttered before smacking Sirius' hand away from her more confidential work, "that's for my eyes only, Heir Black."
Sirius rolled around on the bed some more in retaliation, her letters nearly falling off the side. Jasmine had a feeling that he was about to change the subject. Talking about his family or politics tended to put him in a bad mood, so he avoided it like the plague. "Ugh, all this Heir nonsense is making me sick. Are you excited for your first Christmas in Britain?"
"Sirius, I've spent the last seven years in Britain, but I think this will be the first one that I get to enjoy instead of spending it in the dueling ring," she replied with a small shrug and James pushed him off the bed.
There was a small squeak and a thump before a large Black dog leapt up and tackled James.
And the room devolved into chaos.
Ro was hissing from atop Jasmine's head, her claws digging into her scalp. James and Sirius were wresting on the left side of her bed, knocking into various pieces of furniture as they did so.
So much for a peaceful morning.
"Do you always have to put your foot in your mouth, Pads?" James gasped from under a mound of shaggy fur and drool. Sirius covered his face with his paws and Jasmine sighed with a fond roll of her eyes.
"There was no harm done. I don't find it offensive that you ask me questions that could pertain to my past. I never really gave the location of my captors' home, you couldn't have known. For future reference, it was off in the English countryside and I was expected to speak English most of the time. So, I've been here for Christmas before, technically. I just usually spent it with the other kids that they kidnapped from other Eastern European countries. So, Christmas was always a mixed bag of traditions."
James cocked his head to the side. "So, the accent is fake?" Sirius transformed back into his human form to hear her answer.
Jasmine sighed, and closed her eyes, when she opened them their usual spark was gone as she reached back into her memories thinking about her host's life before all of this. "No, the accent isn't fake. I lived over half my life in Austria. I might have grown up speaking both English and German in the home, but I predominantly spoke German. Though, after living with the Chesters my accent is less noticeable than when they first acquired me."
James was searching around the room, trying to figure out how to push the conversation away from their current line of discussion. His bespectacled eyes landed on the small pile of gifts at the foot of her bed. "Who's been sending you gifts?"
Jasmine perked up a bit, happy for the distraction. She had received a few more gifts so far than she thought that she would. "Well, there's one from Lily, one from Marlene, Alice sent one, Severus sent something, Sirius' brother sent me one, there was one from a lovely girl named Pandora Shrewson, who I dueled with a few times, and of course, there is one from Remus," she replied, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
Sirius pouted, crossing his arms over this chest at the offending, perfectly wrapped gift from Regulus. "My twat of a brother sent you something? Didn't the two of you only meet once?"
She nodded, eyeing the bright green and silver wrapped gift. "That doesn't mean that I didn't leave an impact. I'm told that I'm hard to forget," she said with a cheeky grin that had Sirius laughing a bit and her cousin was grinning.
James nudged her playfully, but Jasmine could see him eyeing Lily's silver and gold wrapped gift to her. "So, what should I expect from a Black Family Christmas party, Sirius?"
Sirius flopped back onto the bed and groaned. "My entire twisted family is going to be there: Aunts, Uncles, my Father, Grandparents, family friends and allies. It's going to be a lot of dark families there tomorrow. I hope that you're ready to deal with them all. My family is going to try and make you look like a fool," he warned and Jasmine new that he was silently hoping that she'd back out.
But, neither Jasmine, nor Harriet, had ever been one to backdown from a challenge. "They sound like a horrifically interesting bunch."
"Well, at least Christmas Day you'll spend with me, Sirius, mum and dad," James said, striking his fist on the bed. Ro hissed at him before she moved herself to a quieter portion of the room.
~*~
Christmas with the Potter family was a loud and rambunctious affair. It started with opening presents under the tree. Jasmine had carried her small pile that had been at the foot of her bed down the stairs. By the time she had arrived, James and Sirius were already exchanging gifts and putting all of them into piles for each member of the family. There wasn't an abhorrent pile of gifts, which surprised Jasmine. She had always heard that her father had been really spoiled…but she hadn't seen too much of it. That could be because she was the main concern of the family, being as damaged as she was, or that somethings might have been just a touch exaggerated coming from people that didn't have as much growing up.
James certainly didn't act like Dudley.
Jasmine opened the gifts from her friends first. Lily had given her an ancient runes text focused on Japanese runes, which was something that Jasmine hadn't covered in any of her lives, so it would prove to be an interesting read. Marlene got her a scar reducer cream, which she knew not to take insultingly since the girl enjoyed fashion and felt that if Jasmine tried she could remove the scars on her face. Alice had given a new cat toy for Ro and a bundle of herbs sewn into a little snitch to use for minor joint pain. Severus sent a book on potions with a blank notebook for any changes that she made to the recipes. Regulus' gift made her laugh, it was a letter writing set with a card that read: "so you'll always know that your letters are curse free between us."
"What does he mean by that? Did he try and curse you?" Sirius snapped, reading the letter over her shoulder.
She rolled her eyes and shoved him into a pile of gift wrap. "Hardly, he tried to hand me a letter from your family and I refused to touch it. I didn't know where it had been or if someone had tampered with it. Your brother made a joke."
"My brother has a sense of humor?" Sirius muttered as he got back to his gifts.
Jasmine turned back to hers, there were only a few left from friends, one being from Pandora, who gave her a lovely leather bound copy of the Tale of Three Brothers. If she didn't already know that this woman was going to be Luna's mother, she'd be more concerned about her innate knowledge of things.
Monty and Euphemia gave her a broom servicing kit, engraved with her initials and some snitches as well as some new robes and cat toys for Ro. Sirius, Remus and James all combined their gift. It was a silver pendent with protective runes carved into the metal. They were all protective enchantments, professional grade work, nothing that the Marauders could do on their own. She'd helped them revise their homework, after all.
"To keep you out of trouble. Merlin knows it keeps finding you," James told her when she gave them a rather confused look.
"Moony came up with what runes to carve into it, I thought of the design and Prongs asked him mum where we could find someone to make it," Sirius elaborated for James, who hadn't quite answered her question.
"Thank you, I'll never take it off," Jasmine replied, pushing her hair out of the way so she could wrestle with the clasp.
She felt a pair of hands bat hers away. "Jazz, stop contorting," Sirius teased as he fastened it. The pendant settled a few centimeters above her breasts. It would be perfect for any occasion and would fit under her school uniform without drawing attention to herself. Jasmine could feel the magic of the necklace hum and settle around her. These runes would help against minor curses and protect her from quite a bit of physical damage. It was definitely something practical.
She had given both Sirius and James books on dueling and a copy of the letters she was going to be sending to the Avery household to tell them that they were going to be in her debt for the next two decades, at least, for all that they owed her, especially after their son had tried to kill her. It was strongly worded and with enough backhanded talk that the boys were rolling on the floor laughing.
Euphemia wasn't all that pleased with her, but Jasmine just shrugged her shoulders. She knew the boys would enjoy a good laugh at the expense of someone else's pain.
Monty, James and Sirius spent the rest of the morning singing off key carols, while Jasmine helped Euphemia make breakfast. This was one of the few holidays during the year that they gave their House Elves the entire day off. Jasmine thought that it was a really sweet tradition, one that she was going to take with her throughout this life and if she had to, into the next one as well.
Though, the only thing that Euphemia knew how to make were extremely burnt pancakes, which was apparently a tradition for Christmas here, but Jasmine stepped in to at least make something edible. Apparently, everything that Monty attempted to make came alive in the kitchen, it wasn't something that Jasmine really wanted to experience firsthand. It sounded terrifying and sticky.
"Where did you learn to cook, Jasmine?" Euphemia asked as Jasmine easily cracked a few eggs into her freshly made pancake batter.
Honestly, Jasmine never learned to cook. She had watched her aunt and mother make dinner many different times, but never asked to participate. She had always preferred to help her father with his research then to make food. Harriet on the other hand, had nine lives worth of cooking experience. Some of it was cultivated at the Dursley's house and other recipes were found and perfected through pure curiosity. "My aunt and mother taught me this when I was little. It was a Saturday morning tradition since we'd all be home," she replied with a sweet reminiscent smile, even though it was peppered with lies, it felt right.
The lie had been a combination of both words. Jasmine's mother and aunt had done a traditional Saturday morning breakfast every time all four of them were in the house on the weekend, but Jasmine had never learned how to cook from them. Instead, Harriet learned this recipe from her bitch of an aunt, who would beat her over the head with the frying pan if she took too long to learn, or Merlin forbid, burn their breakfast.
Jasmine brushed off the darker thoughts of her many pasts and helped her happily humming aunt serve some edible food to her family.
Notes:Sorry for taking so long to post.
I've been busy with real life stuff with the holidays and new year prep.
I hope you enjoyed!
And for those asking, yes this is a repost from Fanfic, and I am the original author. I have a different penname here, on AO3.
If you would like confirmation, you can DM me on FF. I didn't steal this fic. Though I do appreciate all the people that DM me to let me know that it is being reposted.
Leave your comments and kudos below!
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 27: Chapter 27Summary:It's party time!
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 27
It was later that night when Jasmine and Sirius were apparated to Grimmauld Place by Euphemia. They were both in their best dress robes. Sirius was, of course, fidgeting with the collar of his shirt. He had been pacing around Potter manor for the last two hours coming up with ridiculous escape plans. Jasmine understood where his stress and anxiety came from. This was going to be the first time that he had been in the presence of his family since his untimely departure this past summer. Jasmine just wasn't a fan of his blatant pessimism. She had made sure that there was no chance she'd be harmed before coming. Sirius' father had sworn that nothing was going to happen to either of them. If he went back on his word, well magic would catch up with him very quickly.
Euphemia smacked his hand away from his collar for the sixth time that evening as they approached the door. "Behave tonight, Sirius. Jasmine, I'm trusting you to keep an eye on him," Euphemia told them, her voice stern, but teasing before she disapperated. This left the two of them on the street staring at the townhome. Jasmine could hear some classical music bleeding out from under the doorway. Neither really wanted to move. Jasmine was hoping that Sirius would push through his nerves, but they were proving hard for him to overcome.
So much for Gryffindor courage…
"What if they try to kill us? What if everything that my father has been telling me for the past month and a half was a lie?" Sirius asked before Jasmine could knock, her knuckles less than a centimeter from the door.
She had been so close.
Jasmine crossed her arms over her chest, as the laced jade and charcoal colored hemming of her robes caught the light from the overhead lamp. This was getting ridiculous. She could only here Sirius ask the same questions so many times before she got tired of humoring him and this had been going on all night. "Then I'll duel them all and kill them," she replied as she rapt on the door before Sirius could stall this confrontation any further.
Kreacher greeted them, sneering at Sirius, in only a manner that Kreacher knew how to do. "Master Black is home and has brought…filthy-"
"That's enough Kreacher," a sharp commanding voice snapped from just beyond the entry way. Sirius tensed up a bit and Jasmine put a supportive hand on his arm, reminding him that he wasn't alone.
They stepped in without any further delay and came face to face with Orion Black, well, Jasmine assumed it was Orion. He looked too much like Sirius for it to be one of his Uncles or Aunts…then again with all the inbreeding…
"Hello, father," Sirius greeted, his head slightly bowed, as was expected when an Heir returned home after an extended trip away.
Orion wasn't nearly as ugly as Jasmine had imagined as Harriet. He certainly looked regal enough to be a pureblood and it was obvious where her friend had gotten his bone structure and frame from. Sirius had always painted him as some sort of disfigured tyrant, but then again, her godfather had been known to…embellish.
"Would you introduce me to your companion?"
Ugh, etiquette.
Jasmine put on her best pureblood mask. She'd been practicing that in the mirror the past few nights. She needed to move her body a little bit differently to acquire mixture of the perfect posture and complete facial disinterest that was considered socially appropriate in these circles.
Daphne would have been proud of her with the easy way that she schooled her features and brought herself forward to play the part of the traditional pureblood heiress.
"Father, this is Heir Jasmine Peverell, you have no doubt heard of her."
Jasmine gave the appropriate curtsey and Orion kissed the back of her hand in greeting. It was dated and horrifically old fashioned, but at least he was polite and didn't spit on her for associating with Half-Bloods and Muggleborns.
"What a pleasure meeting the young woman who brought my errant Heir back home. Welcome to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black."
Sirius gagged behind his father's back, almost making her laugh, almost.
"The pleasure is all mine, Lord Black. Your home is lovely."
And for once, in all the lives she'd lived, the house was beautiful. It hadn't been abandoned for years and gone into magical decay. The entire space was lively, thrumming with familial magic. Naturally, there were dark artifacts everywhere, she could sense that, but the wallpaper was still stuck to the wall, and there wasn't toxic mold literally crawling around the ceiling. There were people milling about in all the entryways, chatting in brightly lit hallways. Food was floating around that looked edible.
All in all, the place seemed quaint, if not a little too ostentatious for her tastes. "What happened to this place? Did mother have a stroke and redecorate?" Sirius asked just loud enough for his father and Jasmine to hear.
Ah, so this brightness wasn't normal.
"She has gone to spend some time at her father's house while I look into some more serious allegations that have come to light about her. Regulus asked if I could redecorate, try and make it more appealing to your Gryffindor sensibilities."
Yes, the allegations that Madam Black was going to murder him. Jasmine had anonymously sent Orion those files. If Wulburga was gone, they must have had some truth to them. Jasmine might have greatly prolonged, or even completely saved Orion Black from an untimely murder.
"I hope you liked my letter, Lord Black. I usually don't share my information for free like that," Jasmine said with a causal shrug. "But, I figured that it was in the holiday spirit as an ally to your house to return your good will with some of my own."
Orion's head snapped back towards her fast enough that she thought he'd given himself whiplash. Sirius hadn't said a word. Jasmine thought that he might have actually been stunned into silence. "That was your information… Where. Did. You. Get. It," he asked through gritted teeth. He approached her, and almost looked like he was going to grab her shoulders and shake her, but he resisted.
That would be considered highly inappropriate.
The cheeky grin on Jasmine's face was enough to have Sirius in a panic over his father's shoulder. Now, it was time to lie a little, but this fib could get her places she needed to go in the coming months. "I know a natural born seer. She gives me names and dates and I figure out what they mean. She's known for predicting death dates and occasionally when killers are going to strike. Your welcome," Jasmine, when she was still stuck as a dueling slave, had known a young female seer like that. The poor dear died in a nasty cage match against four much older fighters, but her predictions had never been wrong, not even about her own death.
Orion's shoulders lowered a fraction. It was just enough to let her know that no danger was coming her way. Seers tended to be rather private people. If one trusted you, then they'd tell you predictions, if they didn't then you'd never hear from them again. If Jasmine said she had a seer, who was going to refute her? It wasn't often that any real magical seer would bring themselves forward to show off their talents. No self-respecting seer would sell their talent for money or gimmick.
Lord Black knew this and smirked. She swore she heard Sirius gulp from behind his father. "Well, aren't you full of surprises. I'm glad that we have taken you on as an ally. With resources like that at your disposal, I'm surprised you haven't done more with your time," he replied as a large group of busty older witches cackled their way into the entrance hall to see what had brought their host away from the party.
"Orion, dear, is that young Sirius?" One slurred, cup of wine in hand.
"I think it is! Oh, Cassi, he even brought that new heir that everyone's been whispering about!" The one on the left said with a hiccup.
They had both turned to the tall, well dressed woman in the center. Her hair was grey, and she was well past her prime, but still stunning to watch as she easily moved through her drunken…cousins…friends…and over to Jasmine. She hadn't staggered and was remarkably composed for someone who's cheeks were extremely flushed from drinking.
So, this was the infamous Cassiopeia Black. The keeper of all the debts and blackmail that the Black family held so dear before it died out in another five years.
"I was expecting someone more…foreign," Cassiopeia Black commented, not insultingly, but she hadn't meant it as a compliment either. Her breath smelled like mead and wine, but also like some of the food that had been floating around. She might not be as drunk she her friends were if she had been pacing herself a bit.
A good cover to gain secrets with.
This wasn't the first question that Jasmine had expected to receive, but at least it wasn't too difficult to answer. "My father was a pureblood British national and so were his parents before him. I grew up learning English and German, but my father knew that one day he'd have to move back here. So, he taught me proper pureblood English culture, mannerisms and language. My accent is one of the only things that I kept from my mother."
"What an odd choice for a keepsake. Orion, I like this one! She isn't afraid of me!" She laughed, her voice nearly a shriek, causing both Orion and Sirius to cover their ears. Jasmine stayed still, knowing that this had to be some kind of test. Sirius had mentioned something like that in the future when she had asked about his family and how they treated strangers. His aunt had been known for testing people and their resolve for her antics. Jasmine just hoped that she passed.
Cassiopeia leaned into her cousin in a drunken manner and Orion didn't even twitch. "This one is a keeper. She's got spunk and nerves, something that this house needs more of! If you'll excuse me!" She shouted stumbling for a moment before righting herself on a banister and making her way back towards her friends and the main sitting room off of the parlor.
"Sirius, go and introduce your new…friend to the guests. I need to go and sort your great aunt out," Orion muttered, just loud enough for the two of them to hear. Sirius' father made a quick exit where some rather loud shouting could be heard by none other than Cassiopeia and Sirius sighed.
"Well, some things never change."
"I thought that you said your great aunt was scary?" Jasmine questioned as Sirius led her deeper into the house where there was a large group of teens about their age and older huddled around small side table with half-filled wine glasses resting on top. Regulus was there, as well as the Black sisters, Narcissa and Bellatrix, Severus had apparently been invited and was beginning to look the role of heir and less like a frightened deer, Marianna Dubois was present and would one day mother her dear friend Blaise, and then there was Theodore Nott, one day to be Senior, sulking next to the girls.
It was odd seeing Bellatrix dressed for a formal occasion without her wand out cursing everything in sight. Even after she escaped prison, she was a shell of the woman she had been. Her weight had never returned, and she could put many asylum patients to shame with how crazy she had become. But, here and now, Jasmine could understand why many people thought that she had been beautiful at one point. Her hair was a mass of well-groomed curls, living up the Black name. Her make-up was done just enough to make sure that she looked elegant without it being considered too much. Her dress robes were a bit risqué, she showed an ample amount of cleavage, though the large emerald pendent resting right above her breasts went nicely with the Slytherin green and silver of the rest of her outfit.
Narcissa was stunning as always, never a hair out of place with that woman, and it seemed that nothing had changed with her over all appearance save a wrinkle or two.
Interestingly enough, all of their wrists were bared, everyone showing clean unblemished skin. No dark marks in sight. None of them had sided with Voldemort quite yet, which was good for both Jasmine and Death. More than likely the Lords of their families hadn't decided if they were joining the Death Eater's cause quite yet. Hopefully, Jasmine would be able to sway them away from joining someone that will destroy their world.
"Aunt Cassiopeia is terrifying. You're just lucky that you arrived late enough that she'd already had quite a few drinks. She had an entire speech prepared for you," Regulus interjected, cutting his brother off before he could even begin explaining to her how utterly horrifying his aunt was.
"Is this the little poppet I've been hearing about for the past few months? Little ickle-Jasmine Peverell?" Bellatrix asked, her grey eyes focusing on the scars along Jasmine's face. Her voice was higher than she'd remembered in her lives as Harriet, not quite as crazy either, but she knew that could change at any moment. Bellatrix grabbed Jasmine's face and squished it between her hands, making the Gryffindor's lips pucker a bit. "A fierce little thing with all your scars. I imagined you'd be taller though…"
Okay, Bellatrix still might be a bit off her rocker.
"Bella, play nice and introduce yourself," Narcissa quietly commanded. Her blonde hair in an elegant knot at the top her head, silver earrings dangling from each lobe. Not a hair out of place and with the engagement ring on her finger, Jasmine would also assume she was the soon to be Lady Malfoy.
Hopefully Lucius wasn't too much of a tool yet. Jasmine only had so much time to save nearly every family in the wizarding world.
Bellatrix pouted, actually pouted, and released her face. She held out a hand to shake. It reminded her of her first interaction with Draco Malfoy. Jasmine didn't want this to end in a rivalry and took it and before she knew it her arm was being yanked up and down with far more force than necessary, "I'm Bellatrix Black. It's good to see that there are more powerful female heirs pushing at the light wizards, little ickle Peverell."
"Bella, she isn't here to discuss your odd way of viewing politics," Theodore groaned, Jasmine supposed that this was a normal conversation that Bellatrix had. Did Bellatrix want some kind of career in politics? Sirius had never mentioned anything like that to her in the future. He had always said that Bella was crazy and a muggleborn and halfblood hater. But, for right now, Jasmine was going to try and not let the future corrupt too much of what she was doing in each and every social interaction that she had. Her Sirius had held a lot of grudges during his lifetime. He'd spent too long in prison and that made him very bitter. When the racist remarks start to fly, then, and only then, will she act.
"I'm pushing everyone. That's the beauty of being a neutral family, I can side with whoever I want in political situations. Amelia Bones is pushing boundaries as well. She has made no move to marry and has secured a rather high position in the DMLE," Jasmine replied, ignoring the Nott heir's pained grumblings of unnatural women.
"What do you want them to be doing, Heir Nott?" Sirius asked, formally addressing Nott, which caught the young man off guard. Sirius gave him an unholy grin in response, waiting for the Slytherin to dig himself in a hole.
"It is unnatural for a well-bred pureblood woman to want to work. She should be raising children and helping in the home. It's the way that things have always been done."
Bellatrix scoffed and Jasmine mimed vomiting, which got a round of cackles from elder Black sister. "Witches have been working outside of the home for centuries. Having an heir secured is important, but when you have a large family you don't need to be worried about an heirship. Even if you are, a career is still possible."
Who would have thought that Jasmine would agree with Bellatrix?
"Bellatrix is right, Heir Nott," Jasmine almost actually threw up at saying it, "It's up to the witch whether or not she wants to work. Who's to say that she isn't the highest ranking noble in the house and her husband stays home with the kids while she's working?"
Nott rolled his eyes, but Marianna sent him a glare worthy of her future name of Black Widow and seat holder to last standing neutral family in wizarding Britain. "My family expects me to marry and work, heir Nott. There is nothing improper about that. You insult many families when you say their witches aren't bred properly because they have work outside of the home," her French accent was thick, but understandable. Her family's unnatural violet eyes sparked with unrefined, but visible power.
The argument lasted for another few minutes. Nott was extremely outnumbered and none of the other male heirs were attempting to help him. It was then that Jasmine realized that she wasn't having an awful time. She actually wanted to get to know Bellatrix before the insanity kicked in. If the woman wasn't crazy in the murdering sense yet, then something in the next few years would need to drastically change to get her to not only join Voldemort, but to also lose her sense of self. Narcissa wasn't a stuck-up bitch and Regulus was adorable in the same way a puppy tended to be.
"At least one other woman in this house wants to push things. Merlin knows Cissy only wants to make heirs with her soon to be husband."
Narcissa flushed a bright crimson high on her cheeks. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be a housewife. It was what we were bred for Bella. I'm providing mother with one daughter she can count on having grandchildren from."
Bellatrix snorted into a glass for what looked like pumpkin juice, but Jasmine would bet gold that it was spiked. Her eyes were just a little too glossy and her words just a little too loose for Bellatrix to be completely sober.
The sister's fight was drawing attention of most people in the main parlor. The boys were beginning to look uncomfortable at the talk of siring children and Jasmine didn't feel like breaking up the soon to be duel that would take place between Narcissa and Bellatrix.
"Who is your betrothed?" Jasmine questioned, stopping this argument from getting any more out of hand than it already was.
The group let out a pained groan when Narcissa's eyes clouded a little, "Lucius Malfoy. We courted through our last years at Hogwarts. He was a year ahead of me. He is the heir to the Malfoy fortune."
She talked about Lucius for another five minutes, while the rest of them made odd faces behind her back, seeing who could make the most before getting caught. Unsurprisingly, Severus won. He'd become a master at masking emotions in the near future, if he wasn't already practicing now.
It wasn't long until Jasmine was separated from the group, even if it was just to use the loo. Sirius warned her not to stray too far from him. Anyone in his family could attempt to send her straight to Voldemort if they dared betray his father's alliance.
Everything had been running smoothly, until she'd stepped out and come face to face with Cassiopeia Black. Her dark eyes narrowed, shoulder's squared and no hint of alcohol in her system. Jasmine had been right, she had been faking the drunkenness to get people to underestimate her. Jasmine was gripping her wand under her robe if she had to defend herself against Sirius' aunt.
"Why are you here, girl? This family has had quite the shock with your little revelation about Wulberga. The traitorous wench has been sent away. Our position in this war is now uncertain with Sirius returning as heir…was this your plan? Are you Dumbledore's newest plot to power?"
Jasmine resisted the urge to scoff at the mere thought of Dumbledore using her to disrupt the dark wizards and witches when he himself thought that she was one. "The Headmaster would rather snap his own wand than use me to do anything. I just want the wizarding would to fall back into balance. It hasn't since Grindelwald took power. Too many wizarding lines were brought to an end from his corruption and now this new Dark Lord is attempting another magic genocide against budding magicals."
Cassiopeia snarled. "Mudbloods and Blood Traitors-"
"Magical blood in muggleborns comes from the squibs that you, and other purebloods, pretend that you don't have, and then cast off into the muggle world. It takes a few generations, but eventually the magic will show up again. Magic needs fresh blood to keep bloodline traits strong. It's why so many dormant talents are gone from many different families," Jasmine snapped, she could feel the tight grip that she usually kept on her magic slip for a moment.
Cassiopeia sucked in a breath feeling the power rolling off Jasmine. "It isn't possible for squibs to have magic-"
"Yes, there is. They have a very small amount of magic that they can't access. Eventually, after two generations or so the magic will nearly always resurface, but most squibs hate magic and never tell their family about their heritage, thus they spend their lives in the muggle world until one of their children inherit it. The entire premise that muggleborns steal magic is rubbish."
Cassiopeia puffed herself up a bit more, leaning into Jasmine's personal space. The young Gryffindor didn't flinch. She stared down the older woman without a hint of fear. "I hope that you have some proof of your claims, girl, otherwise, you aren't going to make it very long. I'll personally make sure of it. I will not see my house fall," she threatened.
Jasmine squared herself up, hoping that her nerves would hold out through the rest of this conversation. "Then we're in agreement. I have no want or need to destroy a family as prestigious and honor bound as the Black Family," Jasmine replied, eyes narrowed, her voice coming out barely above a hiss, "but, if I find that any of you are lacking, don't think I won't take you out. You all know what my family is known for."
The older woman grinned, as she put a hand in her pocket and pulled out an ornate necklace. "I knew Orion chose to ally with you for a reason. You have what it takes to make it in this world, Lady Peverell. The House of Black welcomes you."
Cassiopeia dropped the trinket in Jasmine's hands. The silver chain folded over a carved stone. It was lighter than it looked, and magic hummed beneath the surface. Jasmine pulled the stone forward and gave it a quick glance, it had small runes inscribed on the sides and the insignia for the house of Black on the front.
Her weathered hand curled around Jasmine's. "It's an ally stone. The house of Black has many enemies. Should you need our help, it will come. You brought our heir back and saved the Lord of the house. We are in your debt, and we Blacks don't take that lightly."
Jasmine felt her left eye twitch. "So, this was all an elaborate test then?" She asked, more than ready to be done with this party for the evening.
Cassiopeia tipped her head to the side, her blood red robes fluttering around her, a faux pensive look adorning her face. "My dear, whatever are you talking about?"
Well, that answered that question for her.
Jasmine resisted a sigh. If she did that Cassiopeia would win by breaking her composure. "I can take a hint, Madam Black. Sirius is going to worry that someone finally killed me. Thank you for your unique hospitality," Jasmine replied before leaving the elder Black alone in the hallway. She wondered if the paintings had been listening and were giving Orion a play by play of the whole interaction.
She hoped that she lived up to his expectations.
Notes:Sorry for the wait. I'm in school right now and just have very little time to post anything.
Thanks for the comments and kudos!
~SugarPhantom