Chapter 34: Chapter 34Summary:Back to Hogwarts we go!
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 34
They returned to Hogwarts with little fuss. Blaise and Theo promised to speak to her soon and Jasmine promised to write to Mikhail in the near future. She had put in the earrings she had been given by her two oldest friends. They were simple silver studs with small finely cut pieces of what appeared be jade on the front. The one that she put in her right ear had runes cast in it for transmitting her thoughts across the world and the other was just the matching set for it to look as normal as possibly on her. Jasmine had only heard from them briefly to check if the earrings worked when they arrived back in the states. She assumed that they were being kept busy while their radio silence remained.
Now, Mikhail on the other hand, was writing to her regularly. He knew that she had plans for the future, even if she wasn't responding to every letter he sent. Some were delayed responses to other letters. Jasmine's old friend trusted his gut when dealing with her and he knew that she was always up to something. Mikhail wasn't wrong, and she appreciated that he knew her well enough to know that she was planning something.
Jasmine knew that she needed to make certain connections within Europe if she wanted to save the Wizarding World from extinction, but for now, she was just going to send her old friend messages about her life. She'd call in favors soon, but the time wasn't quite right yet.
Honestly, her life had been fairly mundane since she returned from the tournament. Dumbledore and the rest of the staff had a feast in honor of the two medal winners, a third-place win by Pandora, a sixth year and then Jasmine's first place finish. Both were announced in front of the entire Great Hall, followed by some "did you miss us" fireworks from the Marauders. Remus had obviously been busy while he'd been by his lonesome. The werewolf was grinning, but every so often he'd rub his eyes and yawn a bit.
If Jasmine's calculations were correct, the full moon was coming up within the next four days. Poor Remus must have felt like shite, but he was laughing and smiling and having a great time with Sirius and James. Jasmine wasn't going to ruin their fun.
"It is with great honor that we welcome back our Hogwarts representatives that went to the dueling championships! We are proud to announce that two of our students managed to medal at the events. One of them being a sixth year Ravenclaw: Pandora Shrewson who placed third in her event…" Dumbledore began before letting out a controlled sigh, "And fifth year Gryffindor Jasmine Peverell, who placed first, the only Hogwarts representative to do so in over two hundred years." The Headmaster looked like he had swallowed something foul when he congratulated her on a job well done. His face matched his magenta robes. McGonagall looked rather concerned for her boss as he sat down at the Head Table, but made no move to actually go and see if he needed anything.
The feast started with its usual fanfare and noise, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Occasionally, a teacher would come by and congratulate her. Brightbark avoided speaking to her all together, which Jasmine was more than happy with, the Professor wasn't someone she'd want to converse with on regular basis as it was. The farther away from him the better in her opinion.
It was nearing the end of February and Jasmine was waiting to hear the final results of the trial against Avery. He was being tried as an adult for his crimes, not only against House Peverell, but against House Milton as well, since their only son, and heir, had most of his organs melted. Milton survived, barely, he'd more than likely never be able to live a day without a constant potions regiment.
The poor bastard didn't deserve that kind of life. Jasmine didn't even know his family line in the future. More than likely he had been killed in some kind of battle early on in the war. Hell, Avery might have killed him in some kind of skirmish by accident and the curse hadn't been caught on time.
So, now, Jasmine was stuck waiting while a bunch of old Witches and Wizards decided the fate of one of the most notorious pieces of garbage in Wizarding history while she was still in class. Sometimes she missed being an adult, just so she could assist in making major decisions again.
She had been debating on whether or not to go to Hogsmeade for the first time in her Hogwarts career during this life. Sirius and James hadn't stopped badgering her about it since she had started school, but she had been avoiding the small town. The last time she had seen it in every life it was burned to the ground. She wasn't the biggest fan seeing it in one piece when she knew what would happen to it in the near future.
"Jazz, come on, stop being a mood killer. Just come and spend time with us!" Sirius whined for the fifth time that morning over breakfast. The Black Heir was hardly put together on the weekends. His hair was the only thing kept tamed back, while his uniform was untucked and tie only loosely put around his neck. She had been enjoying reading an article about the Avery case, but was distracted when a hand covered half the page.
"And what would I be doing in Hogsmeade with you?" She asked, eyebrow raised. Sirius pouted.
"You could enjoy your adolescence like the rest of us, or even, Merlin forbid, socialize outside of the political sphere for an afternoon," he replied dryly, Remus choked on his morning tea across the table.
James seemed to be the only rational one in the group, "Pads, if she doesn't want to go…"
"Prongs, not you too! I thought that you wanted Jazz to have fun?" Sirius questioned, hand over his heart as he dramatically fell into the seat next to her cousin.
Jasmine rolled her eyes. "Seeing as I'm free this weekend, I'll go to Hogsmeade with you, but I doubt that it will have anything that I haven't seen before," she warned, wagging a finger at her shaggy haired friend.
Sirius whooped in victory before he went back to eating his morning meal. "Honestly, you give into him far too often," Lily commented quietly from her left. Lily had taken to sitting closer to the Marauders since the dueling tournament had ended. It seemed that battling with one another had lessened the animosity between James, Sirius and Lily somewhat.
"Jealous, Evans?" Sirius asked with an over exaggerated bat of his eyelashes.
"Don't make me hex you up to your eyeballs, Black. It's far too early for me to need to resort to kicking your arse."
Then again, maybe it was just lessened between James and Lily, who were avoiding eye contact with each other and only engaging in basic conversation. Jasmine was just glad that they weren't flirting with one another.
~*~
It wasn't long before she was wrapped up in her warmer outerwear to brave the ice cold Hogsmeade streets. The Marauders escorted her around, showing her all of their favorite shops.
Sirius and James were in front, swinging their arms left and right and presenting each shop with more enthusiasm than Jasmine really felt up to mustering on a day this bitterly cold. Remus was next to her, his hands in his pockets. He looked a bit nauseous and his every movement was rather stiff. She wouldn't be surprised if he was running a fever of some kind. Remus was really trying to not ruin his friends' fun, but Jasmine kept watching him stagger slightly out of the corner of her eyes.
The other two Marauders were as oblivious as ever, just in their own little world. They were about to pass Zonko's when Remus almost fell. He didn't say anything, but Jasmine had enough.
"Why don't you two go ahead and buy some of those new fireworks you were telling me about yesterday. Remus and I will be around."
James wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Don't do anything too crazy with Remus."
Remus flushed a bright red. "Don't do anything too wild with Sirius, James. Lily might start thinking that you aren't interested in her," Jasmine replied dryly. Both boys jumped away from each other giving about a meter of distance between them before dashing into the store. Remus was doubled over laughing by the time the door shut with a quiet click.
It wasn't long before his laughing turned into coughing and Jasmine led him inside of Honeydukes to get him out of the cold. "You should be in the infirmary, Remus. You not well enough to be out today," she scolded lightly, tapping him on the nose. His already flushed face darkening another shade and up to his ears.
"I didn't want to ruin anyone's day by missing out on the fun. You've all been away at the tournament and this was our first time being around each other as a group outside of school."
She patted his back. "Remus, we could have stayed at the castle had enjoyed a quiet day reading or planning pranks. There will always be another Hogsmeade weekend. Your health comes before all of that," she told him in her most soothing voice, which seemed to calm him down some.
"Jasmine, my health will always be awful, it's just the way that I am. If I stopped every time I had an ache or some kind of pain, I'd never leave Gryffindor Tower."
Jasmine knew the feeling of living with chronic pain. Her current host body is in better shape than her past lives' bodies that had been put in the Dursley's tender love and care, but this one had the memory of all the abuse she had suffered at the Chesters' household.
"Remus, I know about pain. That's why I want you to get some rest. You don't need to make yourself worse."
He bit his lip. "I'll go back to the castle, if and only if, you do something for yourself, besides worry about me before we head back."
Jasmine let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine, while you purchase some chocolate for yourself, I'll go and buy some stationery. I've heard that the shop next door is getting quite the buzz internationally."
"That doesn't sound like something fun, Jazz."
"I send my politically charged letters on my good stationery, thank you very much, Mr. Lupin. I find that extremely fun," she replied, her nose in the air. She winked at him on her way out. She couldn't be too long, she knew that he was going to need help walking back to the castle. She'd reem out James and Sirius after she escorted Remus to infirmary.
So, she made her way towards a small ink and stationery store that had only been open a handful of times when she was in Hogwarts in the future. The way that the owner fused magic and paper was apparently the finest on the continent. If she remembered properly, the shop ended up being quite the buzz internationally when Harriet went to school and tended to her shops abroad most of the year. That more than likely hadn't happened yet, so she was going to take advantage of the business before it left.
The door was heavier than it looked and Jasmine gave a small huff as she pushed it open. The small bell above the door gave a gentle chime as she made her way in. The store was quaint, quiet and smelled of freshly made parchment. There were rows of stationary sets, ranging in themes from weddings to casual letters. She could feel the magic around each and every piece of paper in the room. Ancient runes dotted the edging to the point that they looked like designs along the rim. Jasmine could always admire fine craftsmanship. A petite witch, with a mound of neatly styled brown hair up in a bun, came bustling her way. The woman had a smile on her face when she saw Jasmine admiring her handiwork.
"Can I help you find something today, Miss?" Her voice was slightly deeper than Jasmine had expected, an alto instead of a soprano, bit it fit her nonetheless.
Jasmine pulled her gaze away from the paper. "Yes, I'm going to need some personal stationary for missives that I'm going to be sending out of future business contacts. Do you have any suggestions on what kind of stationery I should use?"
The young woman's face lit up at the offer to help. "I could show you quite a few different kinds. Do you have a price range in mind? My stationery sets don't come cheap," she warned, pulling a floating quill and paper out to take notes.
It was rather considerate to ask. Not many school children would have the money to buy expensive stationery like this. "Money isn't a problem. I need protective runes around my letters to make sure that they can't be opened by anyone other than the intended reader. More than one of my letters has been reported opened in past few months and I can't seem to find the balance between my rune work and parchment I write on."
Jasmine had tried in multiple lives as Harriet to perfect rune work on parchment. It usually ended in the parchment torching itself or looking like someone had scribbled nonsense around the edges.
"I have a few different kinds that would fit your needs. Would you like your coat of arms on the back or front of the parchment?"
Jasmine grinned, her fingers ghosting over the rune pattern. "The upper right on the front, as well as in a stamper. It seemed that mine had been lost since my family left England. Upon my return, many things have turned up lost."
The shopkeeper sucked in a breath, really taking her time to look Jasmine over before a hand flew to her mouth. "You're the Peverell Heir! I haven't introduced myself yet! I'm Malinda Jones."
"I am the Heir to the Peverell Family. You can call me Jasmine."
It wasn't long until Jasmine had picked out a design she was partial to. Malinda's craftmanship was top notch and something like she had never seen before. It was no wonder that she becomes famous in the next few years.
The parchment she picked had vines of runes around its perimeter, arching and curving in all the right places, her coat of arms watermarked on the top right. She had ordered a large amount to be delivered to her, as well as a stamper.
She spotted Remus leaning against the wall of shop as she made her way out. He was eating some chocolate. James and Sirius were nowhere in sight.
"Were you out here long? It's freezing," she asked, her breath coming out in white puffs. She had only been in the shop for about twenty minutes, but that was more than enough for her already sick friend to get worse.
Remus shook his head, his cheeks flushed an unhealthy pink. He had to have been waiting for her for at least ten minutes. "There was a long line at Honeyduke's. No doubt that Prongs and Padfoot are dealing with the same thing at Zonko's," he replied, and on any other day she might have believed his lie, but his teeth were chattering and his lips were starting to turn a bit blue. He'd been out here far too long for her tastes. Warming charms only went so far in this kind of weather.
Jasmine pulled him away from wall, taking his hand in hers, they felt like ice to the touch. "Remus, you need to take care of yourself," she muttered, dragging him towards the castle and recasting numerous warming charms.
He was looking back at the small village where they were leaving their friends. "What about-"
"We're going to forget about James and Sirius for right now. You need a fever reducer and then I'm going ream their skinny necks for forgetting what time of the month it is."
It wasn't long before they got back to the castle and Madam Pomfrey was hovering around Remus, who was immediately put into one of the infirmary beds. The Matron was shaking her head at her initial scans of the young werewolf. "Mr. Lupin, you should have come to me this morning. Going out into the cold was foolish when you were feeling so ill. You could have collapsed and then what would have happened?"
Jasmine made her way out of the hospital wing to let Madam Pomfrey fuss over Remus for a few hours while she went and found the last two errant Marauders.
She was stalking through the third-floor corridor when someone shouted her name. "Peverell, wait!"
Jasmine recognized the voice and stopped, it was Pandora Shrewson. The sixth year was quickly making her way over her. She had no idea what Pandora could want with her. The dueling club wasn't set to meet again until mid-April. "Can I help you?" Jasmine asked, her head cocked to the side, confused. They had a decent friendship, but it was nothing to write home about. They dueled on occasion and Pandora had never made an effort to talk to her outside of the club until now.
Her blonde hair was tied back in a long braid that was slung over her shoulder, reaching her ribs, her grey eyes were blown wide. The older girl honestly looked a bit dazed. "Yes, well, I think that I can help you, Harriet-Jasmine Potter-Peverell. Do you know of a girl named Luna?"
Notes:You all can thank the thunderstorm keeping me up for this chapter.
I figured while the light show goes on outside I can get some posting done.
Leave your comments and kudos below!
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 35: Chapter 35Summary:Pandora!
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 35
Jasmine felt her heart ache at the mention of Luna, who could never venture on with her to this life. Theo and Blaise's deal with Death didn't extend to their other friends. Luna was also tied together with Lady Fate. Death would never strike any kind of deal with her. Fate tended to be rather territorial with her charges.
Luna had been a constant fixture in the timeline Harriet was originally a part of. Now, it seemed she was taking part in influencing things spiritually. "What do you know about Luna? And who told you my name?" Jasmine croaked, her eyes watering slightly.
What was Fate doing? She wasn't supposed to meddle. It always made things worse during her past lives.
Pandora smiled an airy smile that was all too familiar to Jasmine. Pandora's blonde hair was tied up and her wand was tucked behind her ear. It was obvious where Luna had gotten her looks from. "I had the oddest dream of a young girl that looked an awful lot like me…She told me that I needed to help you save the world and that you're from the future. She claimed that Lady Fate had a hand in this."
That bloody figured.
Lady Fate had always been a temperamental bitch towards her, but she needed Jasmine to help save the magical world just as much as Death did. She just had a very odd way of giving her help. Sometimes Jasmine swore that Fate favored Voldemort, just to keep things interesting.
While Jasmine was never one to refuse help. She wasn't entirely sure what Pandora could offer her. She seemed far too sane for Fate to have chosen her to assist her. "How would you help?" Jasmine asked, eyebrow raised questioningly. She was leaning against one of the many tapestries lining the wall. The hallway was nicely devoid of paintings that could spy on them, but Jasmine quietly cast a silencing charm around them, just in case.
"Luna said that you'd need a seer to back up your claims of future knowledge. If you're going to save the magical world, you're going to need all the help you can get without raising any kind of suspicions about your true origins."
Like anyone would have believed Jasmine anyway…
"Do you have claim to seer blood?"
Jasmine knew that Luna had, but she had always assumed it had come from her father, he had always been off his rocker with his head in clouds, but from the look on Pandora's face, Jasmine had been wrong.
Pandora's dreamy look vanished and her smile turned a bit predatory. This was the witch that had won her matches in the tournament. "Oh, I can do you one better than a seer. My family has blood ties to ancient Oracles and Prophetesses. Lady Fate has been looking over my family the same way Death has been guiding yours for generations. It seems that they want us to work together to solve this problem."
That was highly unlikely. Death probably had no idea that Fate was getting her hands dirty. Death would never let her live it down.
Jasmine felt her mouth go dry. No wonder Luna's predictions nearly always came true in some form or another. A seer made prophecies that would sometimes come true, but most were self-fulfilling and could be broken under the right circumstances. Oracles and Prophetesses were different. Their predictions would come true unless something was done differently to stop the outcome, and even then...the universe usually kept trying to make their predictions come to pass, a true prediction of Fate.
Their abilities were also something that they could learn to control, usually though familial teachers or trusted instructors. Pandora more than likely died before Luna's budding abilities began to show.
"I doubt that you would offer your gift for free." It would be stupid, and Pandora was a Ravenclaw, she knew better. Telling the public about her family's abilities could get her killed, or at the least, targeted, if she wasn't careful. There had to be a catch, some kind of price for her to out her family like this.
Pandora suddenly looked away, like the floor had become extraordinarily interesting, and she began to fidget with her pointer fingers. "There is one thing I'd like help with…" she mumbled and looked to the side for a moment. "CouldyouhelpmetalktoXenophilius!"
Jasmine blinked. She had no idea what Pandora just said. "Could you repeat that last part for me, slowly?"
The sixth year took a deep breath, her cheeks slowly turning red. "I need your help talking to Xenophilius. He's a seventh year that I have been trying to talk to for the better part of a year and he just doesn't seem to realize I, or anyone else, exists! He's always got his head in a book of some kind and he's trying start his own publishing company. I think it could be really great and I'd love to help him, but…"
"How can I help you? It sounds like you've tried-"
"Well…I said that I've tried to talk with him. He's never given me a response before and you're from the future, Luna looked a lot like me and Xenophilius..."
So, she hadn't actually spoken to him. The Ravenclaw was far more confident than this…Pandora was casting people into a wall not two weeks ago at the tournament. Then again, Hermione had similar problems talking to boys in a few of her past lives. Her friend was the smartest witch of her age, but couldn't hold a conversation with Theo or Blaise until fifth year unless Harriet helped her along.
Jasmine sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I could try and get his attention for you. I actually need to pitch a book idea and I think that I could help jump start his publishing agency. You're more than welcome to sit in with me for that. Maybe pull his attention away from me and make a move yourself?"
Pandora's eyes lit up and she clapped. "Perfect. Just tell me when we'll speak to him. I have a good feeling about him, Harriet-Jasmine. I really want this to work out," she explained before giving her a brief hug and skipping off in the other direction.
For a moment, it felt like she was back with Luna, who had done similar things in Harriet's past lives. It was nice to see that some of her mother had lived on in her, even if none of them had been aware of it.
That was, until Pandora grasped her head and nearly fell to her knees. Jasmine ran over to her, hovering next to her a hand outstretched in case she needed help standing. "Are you alright? Do I need to get you to Madam Pomfrey?"
She shook her head, before her voice hollowed out, almost sounding inhuman. "The hands of Fate are turning from your favor. Your friends' souls are in danger. You better move fast Master of Death…"
This was a prophesy…no a warning.
Jasmine took off down the nearest corridor toward the entrance to the castle. The only friends that could have been in danger were at Hogsmeade. James and Sirius never came back until it was right before curfew. She wasn't sure what was going on, but if it was enough for Fate to speak through one of her own, then Jasmine wasn't taking any chances. She wasn't going to lose them again.
As soon as she stepped outside, she felt what was wrong. Everything was too quiet and too cold, even for February. Jasmine swore she felt the ghost of a hand trail down her spine. There was a dull roar in her ears as dark memories bashed against her mental barriers.
Dementors.
A small herd of them, at least.
They were Death's accidental abominations… before he created the Hollows. They were supposed to make Death's job easier during the Black Plague… It just proved why Death should never be allowed to create living things, just lead them to the afterlife.
Jasmine just hoped that she wasn't too late to save people from the monsters that had been set loose on the unsuspecting village. Dementors usually needed a target, they weren't very conscious of their actions. Who had Voldemort wanted soulless this early in the war? Or was he just testing to see how the beasts worked. She didn't recall reading about an attack like this for another two or three years in her past lives.
She bit her lip, another change to the timeline. One that she wasn't sure was a good thing. Voldemort was getting more aggressive earlier, she was going to need to accelerate her plans to make sure that he wasn't going to create more Horcruxes or start a crusade against Hogwarts.
Jasmine took off in a sprint towards Hogsmeade, wand at the ready, her Deathly aura just below the surface. These Dementors needed a reminder of just who their master truly was, and it certainly wasn't a Dark Lord with daddy issues.
As she approached the village she could see the swooping figures of the dementors, toying with their victims. Children and adults littered the ground, whether they were soulless husks or not, wasn't something Jasmine could tell at a passing glace. They were all breathing, but there were some fates worse than death. She didn't see James or Sirius, then again, there were quite a few doors that were being held shut as the dementors scraped their rotting claws against the wood.
She did hear a familiar voice shouting "Expecto patronum!" weakly. It sounded like they had been yelling it for quite some time by the hoarseness of their voice. Jasmine turned her head towards the wall of the Three Broomsticks and saw Bellatrix Black standing protectively over two bodies with a nearly transparent white shield in front of her. For a dark witch, she was doing an impressive job keeping her shield up.
It seemed that Jasmine came right on time, because Bellatrix's legs gave out, but she refused to let her shield drop. The four dementors began their decent, the shield doing little to nothing to stop them. The two bodies behind her had Hogwarts uniforms on and Jasmine was done playing nice.
She let her powers flare out, drawing the attention of every dementor in the area. She tugged on their magic that had been crafted by Death itself. "What have you done?" she echoed through that bond, but the creatures only began to circle her, their rotting flesh swaying in the frigid breeze. They refused to listen to Death or answer his call, truly they were following Voldemort. Their sick little dance gave Jasmine the opportunity she needed to cast her patronus.
"Expecto Patronum!" She shouted as her corporeal patronus shot out of her wand. It took the form of a Threstral, its skeletal form banishing the dementors from the area in one long arch. It took a moment before the dread in the area lifted.
Jasmine quickly made her way over to Bellatrix to check on her, their families were allied with each other after all. "Are you alright?" She asked, putting her hand on the older woman's shoulder, she hadn't moved and Jasmine was worried that she had passed out. The Gryffindor squatted in front of the woman, who was laying protectively over the two students under her.
"You stopped them all," she croaked out in a hoarse whisper.
Jasmine bit her lip, but soothingly answered, "They're all gone. You're going to be alright."
Her mound of curly hair turned, Bellatrix's violet eyes bore into her. "You saved me. You risked your life for me."
Jasmine would have done it for anyone, but she wasn't going to say that. Instead, she gave the shaken woman a small smile. She heard a few doors open as people started to figure out what was going on outside. Bellatrix pulled herself away from the bodies and Jasmine gasped when she saw James and Sirius slumped against the wall. James protectively shielding Sirius. Bellatrix had saved the two of them…well she had more than likely done it to protect Sirius, he was the heir after all.
"Were they…"
The mere thought of either of them being kissed left a pit in her stomach.
Bellatrix shook her head. "No, but it was close. We almost lost our heir today. They were being Gryffindors and getting all the children inside. This Dark Lord made an enemy of a powerful house today."
The cracks of multiple appartations could be heard throughout the area. Both women stopped and waited to hear who had arrived. It could be Death Eaters. Though, in a moment the voices of men and women shouting for healers could be heard. It seems that the Aurors had finally showed up. Naturally, Jasmine had already cleaned up the mess, but she'd let them take the credit as the people of the village came to congratulate them on a job well done. It seemed that no one had seen Jasmine cast the spell that saved them all.
Bellatrix was shaking as she sat herself up.
Jasmine fished a chocolate bar out of her robes and handed it to Bellatrix. While Jasmine wasn't the biggest fan of sweets, she kept chocolate for occasions like these. James swore she kept them for her "time of the month" but she had been attacked by dementors too many times, in too many lives, not to carry chocolate bars around on a regular basis.
Bellatrix took a large bit of the chocolate and quite a bit of color returned to her cheeks. Jasmine was still crouched down in front of the two boys, patting their faces, hoping for some kind of reaction. James mumbled something about "five more minutes" and Sirius groaned and told her to "go away". So, they were fine, just completely drained from a dementor attack, which meant she was going to need to take them back to the castle on her own.
"Would you mind helping me bring these two selfless prats back to Hogwarts before the infirmary fills up?" She asked Bellatrix as she cast a feather light charm on the two of them and slung James' arm over her shoulder. Merlin her cousin was tall. She'd love to use a levitation charm, but patronus charms always take a lot out of her and she didn't have the energy to levitate both boys back to the school on her own.
She sure as hell wasn't going to wait for the Aurors to do their jobs. If they had taken that long to react to an emergency in Hogsmeade then someone was already on the inside working with Voldemort and Jasmine wasn't going to take any chances on a kiddnapping.
Euphemia was going to have an aneurism when she found out that James had almost died today. While she was the head of Magical Law Enforcement, she tended to lead a small very close unit of elite Aurors. There were at least six different divisions and she didn't oversee all of them at once. She was more than likely going to be doing some house cleaning after today, but that would at least help take care of some more Death Eaters in the ministry.
Bellatrix grabbed Sirius and up the two went, carrying their damsels in distress up to the infirmary, while the Ministry was more than likely going to try to cover up the attack. Bellatrix was certainly stronger than Jasmine had originally thought. She carried Sirius without complaint all the way up to the castle, despite the fact that she was obviously exhausted from the dementor attack. She just wondered what would cause Bellatrix to lose her mind within the next year or so to make her join Voldemort. She honestly seemed like a bad ass witch who didn't want to bow to anyone.
Notes:I'm going to try and post as often as I can till school starts back up again in July.
Hopefully, that means regular updates this month.
After that it will be back to whenever I have time.
Leave your comments and kudos below.
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 36: Chapter 36Summary:Post dementor attack...
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 36
To say that Madam Pomfrey was horrified that Jasmine showed up, pale as death, with Bellatrix Black carrying two more unconscious students on their backs, was putting it mildly. Honestly, Jasmine had never seen the Matron move so fast, in any of her lives. She panicked when Jasmine told her that they had all been exposed to dementors and might need to sit down. The nurse immediately took James and Sirius from them and put each of them in their own beds. Bellatrix slowly sat on the bed as the nurse bustled about the room. Each time the older witch made a move to get up Madam Pomfrey would send a glare her way that had her sitting down without a second thought. The Matron wasn't going to be letting anyone out of her line of sight anytime soon. Not that Jasmine minded, she wasn't feeling all that great herself, she felt chilled to the bone, her ears were stilling ringing as unpleasant thoughts kept coming to the forefront of her mind.
Bellatrix flopped on the bed in the most unladylike of fashions and just stared blankly at the ceiling, not really focusing on anything. The young woman was fingering a pendant around her throat. She didn't seem to be in a talking mood, Jasmine could understand that. Dementors tended to make people a bit introspective, since they made them relive their worst nightmares, and all. Jasmine was somewhat used to them, after nine previous lives of having them wreak havoc on her psyche.
She could hear the dying screams of her friends from her many lives in the back of her mind. Jasmine pulled the pillow from her bed and forced it over her face.
It didn't take more than five minutes for Euphemia to arrive in the infirmary flanked by two senior aurors. One of them was Amelia Bones, the other, was a young man that she didn't recognize, poor bloke probably dies in a raid sometime soon. She was closely followed by Orion Black, who was shouting at her, arms gesturing wildly left and right, for someone, who Jasmine had always assumed was composed in any and all situations, he seemed rather distraught.
Jasmine sat up, removing the pillow from her face, at least this was real screaming. Her guardian made her way into the room, each step she took was echoed by her dragonhide boots. Euphemia had bags under her eyes and her cheeks were a bit hollow, she looked tired and drawn out. She needed to eat more…Jasmine didn't want her to stop taking care of herself and get sick. It would lead to an early death for both her and Monty if that happened. Euphemia's eyes scanned the room and when they landed on James, unconscious on the bed, Jasmine could tell that she was holding back tears, if the glassy expression of her eyes was any indication. She took her son's hand in her own as soon as she got close enough.
Amelia moved to the far left of Bellatrix's bed and quietly began asking her questions. The woman had a piece of parchment and a floating quill for notes as she took Bellatrix's statement.
"How could you let this happen, Auror Potter?" Orion demanded as he made his way over to his son and niece. Amelia stepped away from Bellatrix, who had an eyebrow raised at Orion's outburst, but he had nearly lost his heir today, so Jasmine supposed that he had reason to be angry. Not that she enjoyed seeing someone try and intimidate her guardian. It wasn't Euphemia's fault that Hogsmeade got attacked.
That was more than likely Voldemort's fault.
Euphemia straightened herself up, not allowing herself to be cowed by Orion's temper. Jasmine recognized the way that she jutted her chin out, it was how James looked when he was about to take a nonmoving stance on something.
"How could I let this happen? The control of magical creatures isn't my department! Take your anger out on the Diggory family if you have quarrels about the dementors escaping. My people were on the seen within five minutes of the attack happening!"
He scoffed, Jasmine resisted the urge to join him. Her aurors were more than likely out there five minutes after they were told about the attack. Jasmine would bet gold that someone was blocking the destress messages from Hogsmeade. "Hardly. The damage done out there indicates that the dementors had been there for a half an hour, at least."
"I'd say they were there for about twenty," Bellatrix interjected, stopping the argument cold. She shrugged, pulling at a strand of curly hair absentmindedly. "I was there for the entire thing. The wards around Hogsmeade need to be updated, or something like this could easily happen again. It's a good thing Peverell was around, otherwise you'd be missing youe heirs today."
All eyes turned to Jasmine, who pinked slightly under their stares. Why did Bellatrix have to turn the conversation to her? "Jasmine, what did you do?" Euphemia asked, her other hand covering Jasmine's scared one.
"I cast a patronus and sent them away. It wasn't anything special," she mumbled, not really enjoying the extra attention. Jasmine wasn't sure how she felt about parental attention like this, it made her feel queasy…well, that could also be the dementor exposure.
Bellatrix snorted and waved a hand in the air. Her mouth was set in a fine line, her cheeks pale. "Don't be modest. The blasted thing was huge, what form did it take? I'd never seen anything like it before."
"You wouldn't have seen it before, it's a threstral, you can only see them if you've seen death." Her patronus had been one ever since she became the Master of Death. She quite liked it, though. It fit her title rather well.
Bellatrix whistled and wiggled her fingers at Jasmine. "Ickle Jazz-i-kins has power in spades."
Orion cleared his throat, cutting his niece off before her more eccentric behavior started up. "Are you claiming that you can produce a corporeal patronus that can take a magical form? At your age?"
He sounded skeptical.
Rude.
Well, Jasmine couldn't have that. She pulled out her wand and with a flick of her wrist and a quiet, "expecto patronum" her bright white threstral sauntered out of her wand. It was docile, not sensing any danger in the area, kept its head down and nosed a few people. The patronus wandered about the room for a few moments before dissolving into mist.
Orion was left speechless, it was a good look on him.
Or, at least, Jasmine thought so.
Making a Black stop talking was a feat that should be recorded. It's a shame that Sirius wasn't conscious to see it.
"You have got to teach us how to do that," James croaked as he forced himself to sit up on shaking arms. Euphemia placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him back down on the bed. James groped for his glasses. His hand wasn't even on the right bedside table.
"You almost lost your soul today, James Potter. So, help me, you will stay in that bed or you're going to wish they had finished the job!" She snapped, those tears threatening to fall again. James was her miracle child after all, her only chance to be a mother. She grabbed his glasses from the table next to them and gently put them on his face.
James' nose scrunched up at the sudden clarity that invaded his vision.
"Mum!"
Bellatrix cleared her throat. "Madam Potter, your son and my cousin were just trying to save the kids in the area. These two were getting the younger kids inside the buildings while anyone who could help fend off the dementors stayed outside to help. Your son was a true Gryffindor today."
She managed to make the word Gryffindor sounds like something foul, even if it was masked with praise. How Slytherin.
Euphemia groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "James, why can't you just leave things to the adults?"
"They were all hiding inside," he replied with his arms crossed, his jaw clenched. "We tried to go to them first, but there wasn't much time and I didn't want any kids kissed by one of those rotting beasts."
An apt description of dementors if Jasmine ever head one.
"Do you have any idea how the dementors entered Hogsmeade? I thought that there were wards in place to stop something like that from happening?" Jasmine asked, pulling the conversation away from heroics and off to something a bit more problematic, if only just.
Her guardian let out a sigh, she ran a pale hand through her salt and pepper hair. "No, we don't. Those wards have a very specific location in the village, only someone with intimate knowledge of the area and access to dark magic could dismantle them."
Great… "So, the rising Dark Lord then? I heard that he is a master at the mind arts. At least, that's what the more reliable papers are saying about him," Orion muttered, running a soothing hand through his sons tangled mass of hair. He didn't even stir. Sirius didn't seem like he would be waking up any time soon. With all the torture that his mother put him through this summer, the dementors more than likely feasted on his trauma. He'd need to see a mind healer after this. Jasmine needed to see her mind healer after this.
"Do you think that he used the imperius curse or did it himself?" Bellatrix asked, sitting up in her bed, suddenly interested at the mention of good old Tom.
Jasmine barely resisted the urge to snort. Voldemort? Do something on his own? Merlin only knew how long it had been since he had done a damn thing without someone else doing all the dirty work for him. Even killing her parents in her past lives had required him to use Peter. He could have just researched more about the fidelius charm. There were ways using Lithuanian ward crafting that could destroy the charm in minutes.
All you had to do was kill the secret keeper, and honestly, that would have saved everyone so much trouble if Voldemort had just murdered Peter out right.
Madam Pomfrey came bustling back into the room, hot chocolate for everyone floating around her. The mugs had mermaids swimming about on the cup.
"Do you think that a student did it? One of the many that are trying to win favor with this rising Dark Lord?" Jasmine inquired, as she grasped the cup of hot chocolate that was floating in front of her. The first sip might have been scalding, but it made her feel so much better. She always forgot how much dementor attacks take out of her mentally every damn time she runs into them for the first time in a new life.
"I'd hate to think that any student would want to kill the Black Heir for some Dark Lord's agenda," Bellatrix grumbled and Orion's head swiveled to her.
"Are you insinuating that someone sent dementors after my son?" He snarled, a protective hand was placed on Sirius' limp forearm.
James ran a hand through his hair, grimacing when he caught a knot with his fingers. He managed to knock his glasses askew. Euphemia brought a hand up to fix them, but James beat her to it. "Now, that you mention it, the attack was coordinated in an odd way. Padfoot did seem to be the focus. The dementors were swooping about, looking from student to student until we came out, but why target him? He isn't a criminal and he doesn't have anything to do with the war?"
If only that were true. "He has everything to do with the war. Killing an heir to powerful family is a great way to push the balance of power from one hand to another. The pureblood community knows about my decision to keep Sirius as my heir and banish my harpy of a wife. Not everyone was happy with me and felt that the Blacks were straying from true pureblood ideals having a Gryffindor take over the family. They're worried that we are going to side with Dumbledore in this war…with the light side," Orion sneered as a door swung open to reveal Dumbledore and Brightbark. Speaking of the light side. The two were quickly making their way into the infirmary.
The headmaster frowned when he saw Orion sitting next to his son's bed. "Lord Black, I didn't expect to see you here."
Now, if that wasn't a great insult to start off this conversation with, Jasmine wasn't sure what else he could have lead with. It was right up there with: How's your wife?
"And why wouldn't I want to check on my son, who had just suffered from extreme dementor exposure?" Orion snapped, a protective hand over Sirius' shoulder.
Dumbledore gave him a winning smile that Jasmine wanted to slap off his face. He was going to say something incredibly stupid, she just knew it. "From what I understand you aren't on the best of terms."
Merlin, Dumbledore was gusty. He had no right to call Orion out on any of this in public. If Dumbledore had said this a few months ago, he would be right, but Sirius was working things out with his father.
Orion looked like he was going to light Dumbledore on fire. His grey eyes were burning, the back of his neck was turning a bit red, and his wand was clenched tightly in his fist. "Sirius and I have settled our quarrels with one another. He has been welcomed home with open arms and is going to be the heir the Black family needs."
He isn't necessarily what anyone wanted, but that's another matter entirely.
"Your line of questioning is inappropriate Albus, why are you here?" Euphemia asked, her voice strained, but it held authority that the situation needed.
"I've come to question Ms. Peverell on her whereabouts this afternoon. We're questioning students to try and figure out who had tampered with the warding around Hogsmeade and quite a few students said that you went missing right before the attack."
Bloody hell.
He was trying to get her sent to Azkaban.
Why would she even want to set dementors loose on Hogsmeade? She barely understood Voldemort's strategy for targeting the village. Sure, it would scare people and show that he wasn't afraid to kill children, but everyone already knew that. With an act this large and obvious, he was going to be declared a terrorist of the state sooner rather than later. And, while killing Sirius was a great way to really get the war going, it wasn't going to really tip the scales in his favor.
"Is there a reason that you're questioning where I was? I thought that this attack was done by the new rising Dark Lord?"
Dumbledore's damn eyes were twinkling. "My dear girl, it seems that a student tampered with the warding stones and your talent with ancient runes is no secret amongst the staff. We figured that we'd start our investigation from the most likely candidate."
Jasmine bit her lip. She was the most likely candidate? The girl that had been here for a couple of months. Who did Dumbledore think she was? Jasmine had a feeling that she remined him of Gellert...they came from the same country, but that didn't give him a right to treat her like a criminal.
She had never been near the warding stones to know too much about them. After nine lives they'd never been something she needed to care about. Jasmine bit her lip, she didn't have anything to say to them. "Albus, this is a DMLE matter, not one of your witch hunts," Euphemia interjected, her eyes alight, rage seething out of her every pore.
"Ah, but the ministry has asked me to look into the students that we worry might have been fooled into helping."
Jasmine fought the urge to scoff. She wasn't someone who could just be tricked into helping Voldemort. He couldn't even use the imperius curse on her.
"This was the first time I've ever been to Hogsmeade, so I wouldn't even know where these warding stones you're talking about are located. I was with Sirius, James and Remus for most of the morning. I separated from them to buy some stationery and then went back to the castle. I brought Remus to the infirmary since he was sick and then I ran into my friend, Pandora, she had a question about the dueling club. Then I made my way back out to Hogsmeade because Remus wanted his friends with him since he wasn't feeling all that great. Then to my great surprise, the town is covered in dementors," she snapped, her fingers digging into the mattress. Jasmine was not in the mood to be questioned by anyone. She had saved the entire village, damnit.
"Yes, well, how did you and Ms. Black not get kissed? If I recall correctly, dementors are drawn to damaged human beings. They must have seen a feast in you," Brightbark remarked, not hiding his sneer.
Euphemia made a move to stand up, but Jasmine motioned for her to stay sitting. She was tired of other people fighting her battles for her.
"I used my patronus to banish them."
Brightbark smirked, his yellowing teeth peaking out from under his lip. "And how did you conjure a patronus, Ms. Peverell? No dark witch or wizard can produce magic that pure…"
Was he honestly this bigoted? Even Dumbledore looked confused by his statement. "Thaddeus, you're speaking out of line. That theory has been disproven on multiple occasions and you know it."
Jasmine pulled her wand out for the second time that evening with a long-suffering sigh. Both Dumbledore and Brightbark tensed up as if she was going to attack them. She rolled her eyes and conjured her patronus with practiced ease.
Her threstral was out and about again, this time with a larger audience. Its hollow glowing eyes narrowed at Brightbark, who was openly gaping at it. "As you can see, I can cast a patronus with ease, Professor. When I saw what was happening in Hogsmeade, I cast my patronus and sent the dementors on their way. I didn't want them kissing anyone. No parent needed to get a letter saying their child had their soul sucked out of their body."
Orion stood up and made his way over the headmaster, his arms crossed, back squared. He was ready for a confrontation. "Though, it seemed that the attack was focused on my son and heir. Albus, you and I need to chat privately about security here. This new Dark Lord has made an enemy of the Black Family and I will not stand for any of his supporters attempting to murder my child."
Well, that took care of which side the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black would be fighting in the war. Somewhat…Jasmine doubted that they would side with Dumbledore. They would never be as passive as the Headmaster preferred his little Order to be, so the Blacks would more than likely be neutral.
It felt great when Voldemort ended up making her life easier.
Notes:I hope you enjoyed!
Leave your comments and kudos below!
~SugarPhantom