Chapter 46: Chapter 46Summary:Trial time!
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 46
It wasn't the first time that Jasmine had been interrogated by Tom Riddle, far from it, but it was the first time that it was being done legally…and she wasn't being tortured nearly out of her mind. She somewhat missed that, it was what made their time together so special. She also had complete free reign to attack him when he was kidnapping and torturing her. She didn't have that luxury here. Sadly, Jasmine had to play the polite school girl.
It was a part she was quickly getting tired of in this life.
Though, this version of Voldemort was completely different to the one that she was used to dealing with. This Tom Riddle was poised, powerful and not nearly as insane as the one that she had encountered in the future countless times over her last nine lives. He had a bit more of a human soul in him, not much, that her magic could sense, but it was there, and he was clinging to his humanity by his fingertips. The last two splits of his soul must have really done him in something awful, seeing as this Tom Riddle was still charismatic, but nothing, save using the imperious on the entire court, would keep Avery from a lifetime in prison. It didn't quite matter what Tom said or did, all the evidence pointed to Avery's guilt.
So, the real question was, why was Tom here? What was his motivation for this impromptu meeting? From what Jasmine knew as Harriet, Tom had never aspired to become a lawyer. The man only wanted subjects to lord over. It would have taken months to put this little plan into motion. All for what? To see her? Jasmine knew that he had wanted to meet her, he'd been trying to get her to join him all year, but that couldn't be the only reason for his presence here.
He wasn't desperate enough for that, or dumb enough.
A wave of familiar magic washed over her, making her fingers tingle with nearly unrestrained power. Jasmine could feel Death's power pulsating at the monstrosity before her. The Deity wanted him dead, wanted his shredded soul. She could feel the taint in Tom's fractured soul, the dark magic almost had a stench to it. Death wanted what was his... Yet, right now, she could do nothing for the Deity she was master of, the Horcruxes were scattered and Jasmine didn't have the power to find them on her own.
Not yet.
She only knew where three of the five horcruxes currently were…Blaise and Theo were working on fixing that, but as of now, she had to wait. She'd show her hand when the time was right, for now, she had to play the indignant heir.
It didn't take long to have Dumbledore call her up to the stand. The headmaster looked clammy and Jasmine could understand the sentiment. The Minister was overseeing the hearing, apparently, the Avery family had dragged this on long enough to have him called into the session. He seemed like a severe man, with salt and pepper hair and a constant scowl. Though, it wasn't directed at her, which was a welcome change of pace.
Jasmine kept her head up, she had nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to fear, except the Dark Lord in front of her. She missed crazy Voldemort. Tom Riddle had always been a shadow of who the Dark Lord had once been. And, really, she had defeated him nine times already.
She took a deep breath and locked her mind up tight, knowing she had at least two master Occlumens here, so maybe she should be a little wary of thinking too loudly.
Despite knowing that she wasn't here to be tried, she still felt like a criminal. Walking up to the witness stand was enough to give her flashbacks of her past lives. Though, this time, the seat she was on had no chains, she was in her professional dress robes, and she was prepared with an ironclad defense, or at least she hoped so, because the smirk Tom had on his face, worried her. "Mr. Riddle, please begin your cross examination," Dumbledore said wearily. For once it seemed that he was on Jasmine's side. Maybe now he'd believe her when she said she didn't want to side with this wanker.
Tom pushed himself off the table he'd been leaning against, absently looking at a piece of paper in his hand that had notes written on it. Jasmine recognized the hand writing from his diary. She felt a little nauseous. "Now, Ms. Peverell, it has come to my attention that you are one of the survivors of the tragic dueling ring rescue, is that right?" He asked, voice oozing that Riddle charm.
She felt like dry heaving.
Her audience of Purebloods seemed to be eating out of the palm of his unnaturally pale hands. Especially the dark witches, disgusting. The Headmaster looked rather waxy as Riddle spoke, maybe he was finally putting it together that Jasmine wanted nothing to do with either of them and now she was before a man that had tried to kill her not a few months prior.
Not that she was supposed to be aware of that, but that was neither here nor there.
Jasmine cleared her throat politely before beginning, trying to look the part of a humble witch. "Yes, I am, but I don't see what that has to do with the case at hand," Jasmine replied with a small affirmative nod, just like she'd practiced with Andromeda. There was no point in lying, she wasn't on trial. Not to mention that everyone here knew where she had come from, quite a few had tried to fight for custody over her. Not that Euphemia let that go anywhere. While her story had been private from the public, the court here was privy to most of the details of her unique circumstances.
Riddle ran his fingers along the stand in front of her, blocking her view of Euphemia and Andromeda. A clever tactic that would have more than likely worked on a younger and less experienced witch. His glamoured blue eyes met hers. "You see, it has everything to do with this case. You've lived a life where ever choice you made was life or death. Your dueled against Mr. Avery, who had no hope of besting you," he went on with a wave of his hand, all eyes followed him as he paced the room.
And while that statement was true, that wasn't what happened and the witches and wizards here knew that.
Jasmine cocked her head to the side, frowning. She drummed her fingers on her leg, recounting everything she could about the attack. "Mr. Avery brought five other seventh year students with him to try and harm me. He nearly killed one of them himself. My victory over him was chance. I had been practicing for a dueling tournament for hours when they cornered me. I was exhausted. The eye witnesses that came to my aid cast him and Lestrange away from me. I don't understand your line of questioning, Mr. Riddle."
That only seemed to egg the Dark Lord on, his grin becoming wider, more predatory. Maybe he wasn't quite as in control as Jasmine had originally thought. While not completely crazy, he was probably teetering on the edge of insanity. "Well, from what I've gleaned from my client is that the staff at Hogwarts considers you dangerous to the students around you, that you aren't emotionally stable for civilian life. My client was trying to protect himself, and the school, from a Gryffindor on a rampage."
And here was his argument…she was dangerous.
She crinkled her nose, why use a Hogwarts House analogy. She had only been in the UK for a few months. It was hardly enough time to turn her into a fully-fledged Gryffindor.
Merlin, he sounded like Dumbledore, how ironic, the two people that hate her most in the world right now, sitting on opposite sides of the political map…and they both want her away from the school. Jasmine supposed that meant that she was doing something horrifically right. The grey side to magic had nearly been wiped out during her other lives, only brought back by herself after the war. Keeping it alive and thriving in the past was already stirring up both sides of the political spectrum into acting.
Fate must be having a field day with all of the changes that Jasmine was making just by existing here.
She bit her lip, making sure to keep a grip on her temper before continuing. "You know, you and the Headmaster sound awfully alike when you talk about my mental state. It's as if it's up for some kind of debate. I've been cleared by multiple mind healers. I'm mentally capable of going to school. I have peers in every house and I'm excelling in all of my classes. There is no reason to think that I am not well adjusted. Your client attacked me, there is no disputing that," Jasmine reaffirmed, watching as Tom's face morphed from confident into furious at being compared to Dumbledore.
She hoped the insult grated on him for days.
"How did you defend yourself during the duel?"
Jasmine shrugged and bit her lip to seem a little less sure of herself. She could see Tom beginning to circle her again, waiting for a crack in her armor to appear. "I used defensive charms and ducked around suits of armor. There wasn't much I could do against so many people. They did a good job of taking each other out, it's obvious whoever was teaching them dark magic had no idea what they were doing," she sniped, Riddle's magic snapped dangerously close to the surface, it's murky black tendrils snaking around the room.
Most wouldn't notice it, but Jasmine had become too attuned to Tom over her last nine lives. Not to know when he was beginning to lose his temper could cost you greatly in a battle against him. It was too bad that he couldn't do anything with it, not without outing himself as the Dark Lord. She'd love to fight him right now. It would certainly liven things up having a full brawl in a courtroom.
"And, how do you know about dark magic?" He purred, knuckles gripping the table in front of him. The wood splintered slightly under his grip.
Temper. Temper.
"As you have already pointed out, I spent years in an illegal dueling ring. There was plenty of dark magic. It's rather obvious when someone is untrained when using it, someone can get severely injured, or even killed," she answered, throwing his words back into his face. She wasn't going to let him win.
That seemed like the wrong thing to say since a lot of people flinched, mostly light wizards.
Cowards.
It wasn't as if Dark Magic was something to be terrified of, only in the wrong hands did it spiral out of control and kill people. Underaged witches and wizards needed to discipline themselves when it came to the dark arts. They were seductive by nature, especially to those inclined towards it. The students who attacked her were powerful budding dark wizards and witches, but their control was horrific. Those children hadn't been taught control, the witches and wizards of this past generation seemed to be afraid of the mere concept of dark magic, avoiding it at all costs. It wasn't like the magic would just take over your body and possess you…it's something that is avoidable if you catch the child before they dive too deep and can't get back out of the darkness.
Her gaze locked with Dumbledore's, he honestly looked a bit concerned. How touching, it only took a dark lord interrogating her to make Jasmine seem human to him.
"Miss Peverell, your exposure to dark magic is what disfigured your face?"
She wasn't going to lose her temper in front of everyone…
"Objection!" Andromeda shouted towards Dumbledore, "is this even relevant to the case or is Mr. Riddle just trying to mock my client?"
He gave his most charming smile to the eldest Black sister. "Oh, I promise, it is completely relevant."
No one was buying what he was selling, not this time, Jasmine was still a Pureblood Heir, there were some lines you didn't cross in a public sphere. Dumbledore seemed especially tired of his trial. "I grow weary of these games, Mr. Riddle. Move this along or we will pass judgment on Mr. Avery now."
Riddle stalked towards the stands once more, standing in front of Jasmine. His gaze had a fevered edge to them. "But you see, this is the heart of the matter. How did Ms. Peverell survive with only minor scars from a battle that killed every other witch and wizard in the room. Only someone with intimate knowledge of the dark arts could manage to survive something like that. Therefore, this young witch was a threat to the children within Hogwarts. My client was only doing what he deemed right."
A quite mummer filled the room. It seemed that Tom had finally said the right thing, because now it seemed that Avery had been doing everyone a favor by attempting to murder her.
A loud cough from the back dragged everyone's attention away from Tom and Jasmine. "Vigilantism is frowned upon, Mr. Riddle," Augusta Longbottom commented from one of the seats near the top left. Her scowl was audible by her tone of voice. "The girl's academic record shows zero detentions and no student has gone to a professor to complain about bad behavior. Unlike your client, who spends more time scrubbing cauldrons and getting letters sent home about his poor demeanor than he does revising his homework."
The quiet muttering began again, this time less hostile towards Jasmine, which was a nice change of pace. Tom looked rather furious. Jasmine was going to need to send Augusta Longbottom some kind of gift, maybe a fruit basket or some powerful restorative potions. She seemed like a practical sort of woman. "Mr. Riddle, if you don't have anything actually pertaining to the case to ask, I think that your line of questioning is over. We have been in agreement about the verdict of this case for nearly a week. Your vain attempts to turn the blame from Mr. Avery to Ms. Peverell weren't successful. It seemed to me that you're more interested in digging through her tragic past than anything else," Dumbledore told the dark lord with that blasted twinkle in his eyes.
It was obvious that Tom was beginning to struggle. He'd need to regroup and attack again or risk losing his ground here. Not that Jasmine minded. She enjoyed watching him squirm.
Tom flashed another charming smile. He swaggered up towards the stand. "I was only here to attempt to lessen the sentence against my client." He looked at Jasmine, attempting to meet her eyes, she didn't back down. Jasmine felt something push against her mental barrier. The prick was trying to read her mind… He met an impenetrable wall behind her gaze. "Airing Ms. Peverell's past sins, was just an unfortunate side effect."
She sat up straighter and looked a bit past Riddle's shoulder.
This case was going nowhere.
The questions ended up being repeated over and over again. Tom kept trying to get her to change her story, in even the slightest of ways. It was obvious to Jasmine that he was fishing for answers on how she survived his attack on the dueling ring. He wanted to meet her and more than likely want to find out the best way to kill her.
How cute.
He probably expected her to lose her temper by now. It took a lot to phase Jasmine at this point in her life. She was well into her first century, she rarely lived past eighteen or nineteen, but still, nine lives, that was a lot of time.
It took another hour for Dumbledore to call a stop to the questioning. They had already reached a verdict and required no further discussion on the matter.
Barty Crouch Senior came up to deliver the sentence to Avery, who looked properly terrified. She hoped they gave him something that ruined his miserable life. Tom was watching the exchange was a disinterest only someone playing these pureblood games for years could have mastered. The amount of sheer indifference was amazing. Jasmine could give him that, he had a good poker face.
"Seeing as this was your first offense, the court has decided to permanently expel you from Hogwarts. You will not receive a diploma, nor will you be allowed within one hundred kilometers of the school at any given time over the next twenty years. You are to be sentenced to house arrest, if this is broken, you will be thrown into Azkaban prison with no chance of parole. You and your family will also be paying back Ms. Peverell every penny you owe to The House of Peverell, she will dictate how and when that amount will be called upon."
Magic spun through the air, creating the binding contract. Jasmine could see quite a few Heads of different families squirming at the mention of their debts. Jasmine was sitting on a few letters, it wouldn't be that way for much longer. She was done playing nice. If Tom Riddle was going to go on the attack, so was she.
And, it seemed the Dark Lord was going attack where she least expected it, so she was going to begin to o the same. She just hoped that the wizarding world was going to be ready for her.
Notes:I hope you enjoyed!
Leave your comments and kudos below.
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 47: Chapter 47Summary:And the summer holidays begin...
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 47
Jasmine's summer holiday began with relative ease after the trial ended. Tom could only do so much in front of a large crowd of people. He had left with a satisfied smirk on his face, so she wasn't entirely sure what had excited him so much when he'd lost a rather important ally. Then again, he'd gotten his wish to meet with her. Jasmine figured she had another year or so of him trying to recruit her before he outright tried to murder her.
Dumbledore had wished her a good holiday after the trial. It was oddly cordial of him. Maybe he was finally changing his tune towards her? Jasmine hoped he'd at the minimum tolerate her. She didn't have time for his nonsense.
Jasmine had spent the first week of break sleeping, writing letters to Gringotts and spending time outside with James. Her cousin had spoken to his parents to see a mind healer once the term ended for the year, which was honestly one of the most mature things Jasmine had ever seen James do and she was really proud of him for admitting that he needed help.
Which was what lead her to watching him practice some new quidditch maneuvers while she laid on the ground and watched. Jasmine hadn't really wanted to be in the air today, sometimes she needed a break from attempting death defying stunts. She'd leave that to James for the moment.
There was so much that she needed to get done this summer and so little time to do it. She promised that she was visit Lily sometime during the summer. They had a trip to muggle London to muddle through. Apparently, Marlene and Alice had also agreed to go, and Jasmine wasn't sure how that was going to pan out, seeing as how Jasmine still wasn't on speaking terms with Marlene.
There was little point in her worrying over something she couldn't control at this point. Marlene was upset that Sirius didn't want to date her and that Jasmine was apparently getting more attention from him than she was. Jasmine wasn't going to push Sirius away to make her roommate happy, it wouldn't be fair to herself, or the Black Heir. They just had too much fun together.
It was also going to be a long summer filled with meetings with various houses that owed her family hundreds of thousands of galleons.
She hoped that Wizarding Britain was ready for her. Voldemort had decided to go directly to her, to see her face for himself, since it seemed no one else could do the job themselves. Jasmine had no doubt surprised him, she knew that she came across rather frail and small. She was a notoriously good duelist, one that Tom would literally kill to have on his side during the war.
She did wonder what lies of grandeur he was going to come up with to try and turn her to his side.
At least Avery wasn't going to be a problem for a while. He wasn't going to graduate Hogwarts, which that was great for the students. This way, his overall reputation was ruined and more than likely most of his job options. Though, he'll join Voldemort earlier…she supposed that she'll just have to wait and see.
Not to mention that Voldemort was more than likely plotting some kind of revenge against her. Jasmine knew that he didn't take losing very well. She frowned as she thought of his manic plotting. He'd no doubt be craftier when he was still mostly in his right mind. It was be interesting to see what plans he was going to come up with that Jasmine was going to stop before they even got off the ground.
A bespectacled face obscured her vision, hanging up-side-down from his broom, a grin on his slightly tanned face. "What has you looking so pensive? Still thinking about the letter that the Avery family sent you? Mum is still laughing about it."
She snorted, ah yes, that letter. It had come near the tail end of breakfast that morning. The eagle owl had landed by the window, coming through the wards, meaning the letters meant no harm. The bird had landed in front of Jasmine, leg out. The Avery family seal was on the back, the wax had their coat of arms. Jasmine nearly tossed it, dread crept over her as she debated opening it, she really didn't want to know what they wanted now. There was no way they'd come up with money they owed her that quickly, so it had to be a ploy to get out of paying her, somehow.
They were no doubt going to beg her to call off the debt they owed by grandstanding, something Jasmine detested. And, when she opened the letter, and slowly read over their plea she nearly shrieked in revulsion. She dropped her head to the table, groaning into her arms. "Jazz?" James' voice sounded from her right. Monty had gotten out of his seat and plucked the letter from her hands to figure out what had her so upset.
It took a moment, but eventually, Monty started to chuckle.
Traitor.
"It seems that our Jasmine has gotten her first marriage contract," he commented, and Jasmine could tell that Euphemia was silently laughing from across the table.
Jasmine sat herself up, eyes narrowed, spluttering. "That isn't a marriage contract, that is a sex slave contract. Their pimping their son out to me. He's supposed to help create heirs for me in return for the money they owe!" She shouted indigently, her left eye twitching.
She could feel a migraine coming on.
They'd gone do far as say they'd sell their son to her family, as some kind of indentured sex slave. Monty had handed the letter back to her. Honestly, did they really think that she would accept that kind of offer. "You aren't going to take it right?" James asked, looking a bit green around the edges, he pushed his breakfast away.
Jasmine lit the piece of paper on fire with a small burst of accidental, mostly on purpose, magic. "There's your answer," she snapped, resting her head on the table and groaning. This was too much too fast. If the Avery family is using marriage as a way out their contracts, then other families were going to try the same thing.
Breakfast ended shortly after that and Jasmine made her way to the quidditch pitch to think. Naturally, James wouldn't leave her alone, so he flew around her, which ended up with James hanging over her. She couldn't quite tell him what she was truly thinking about moments before. Voldemort wasn't the best of topics, nevertheless a reason to smile. Time to improvise. "I was thinking about the trip to London that I'll be taking with Lily in two weeks," she replied from below him. It was nearly the end of July already, Lily wanted her friends to tag along on her family's yearly trip into the city.
James pouted. "I still don't see why Sirius and I can't tag along."
"Because you'll ruin the trip by fighting with Lily the entire time. You might be able to duel in the same room together, but going on a day trip might be a bit much for her," Jasmine commented dryly sitting up when she felt a drop of rain hit her forehead.
Summer rains, you can never predict them…hopefully it will help cut the heat a little bit. It wasn't supposed to break until well after her trip into the city, but Jasmine could hope that she wouldn't be sweaty and dealing with Marlene. The girl hadn't stopped attempting to spread rumors about her. They varied in success. Most of the ones concerning Sirius, and surprisingly, Remus stuck.
Apparently, the three of them were having some kind of illicit threesome during the summer holidays, according to Pandora, who had heard that from Alice, who had gotten the information from Marlene. Pandora thought that it was hilarious and muttered something about stars and fate and love. Nothing that Jasmine was really interested in. Though, she had gotten a letter through to the Lovegood family about setting up some kind of meeting after school started in the fall.
It gave Jasmine plenty of time to gather her resources to start the next phase of her plan. She needed to get the idea that muggleborns stole magic from purebloods. Her host's original father had spent his life researching how muggleborns came to exist and had come to the conclusion that they are from exiled squib lines.
Which, during Harriet's time hadn't been officially proven, but was seen in many circles as true. If Jasmine could publish her father's findings with enough support to back it up, she could change the way that the wizarding world looked at squibs and muggleborns. It would halt quite a bit of the extreme Pureblood movements.
Naturally, many would be against it, some might even try and kill her for this, but Jasmine knew that in the long run it would be worth it, but first she needed the funds, and they were finally starting to come in.
"James, you don't know the first thing about going into the muggle world. At least I lived in it for quite a few years back in Austria. You wouldn't even know what to wear. I can only imagine what you and Sirius would do together unsupervised."
They're probably end up breaking the statute of secrecy in record time without a care in the world or get lost somewhere in the city. Those two probably wouldn't even notice they had broken off from the group until it was too late. She held back a sigh, sheltered purebloods always had a hard time with the concept of the muggle world, even if it fascinated them. Sirius and James had a bit of an idea of what it was like from Remus, and the from the pure fac that Sirius learned as much as he could about muggles to piss his mother off.
"Sirius and I would do fine in the muggle world. We'd bring Remus with us."
"Uh huh," Jasmine replied, unimpressed as he dismounted his broom and joined her on the quickly dampening grass. The midafternoon breeze turned into a small gale as a crack of thunder sounded in the distance. She turned her head towards the noise, dark clouds were rapidly approaching. Though, her cousin made no indication that he was going to move anytime soon.
"Do you think dad has been looking a bit pale lately? My mind healer says that I worry too much, but dad is prone to getting sick after the last war and mum is so busy with work that she barely has time to look after herself, nevertheless him…"
James had been obsessing over this recently. From what Jasmine remember Sirius and Remus telling her about her grandparents…they hadn't been able to tell her too much. But, she remembered them telling her that her grandfather had passed away from illness. She couldn't remember what had happened to Euphemia, though she knew that neither of James' parents were supposed to be around for much longer, they would pass away between now and the end of his seventh year.
"Have you asked Monty if he's feeling alright?" He seemed fine this morning, maybe a bit pale, but he'd been spending a lot of time in his potion's lab on his newest experiment. Spending times in a closed laboratory tended to do that to people.
James shook his head, "I want to, but he'll deny it and then work himself into ground. He's done it before. If he's sick, I need to get his healer right away. He isn't as young as he used to be. I remember a few years ago when he almost died from a cold I managed to bring home from Hogwarts. Mum actually had to go over what would happen to me if dad passed away. I was terrified," he admitted as the heavens opened up and rain drenched them. Jasmine let out a sigh and stood up. She'd rather not get struck by lightning.
She held out a pale hand as the rain came down in sheets around them. "Then let's go and talk to him. I don't want Monty getting sick any more than you do."
James grasped her hand and she pulled him off the ground with ease. He was a bit heavier than she remembered. Her cousin had grown over the past few weeks. He was slowly leaving the awkward teenage phase and entering into early, slightly less, awkward adulthood.
Jasmine and James made their way through the empty manor. The two passed through nearly a dozen rooms before they managed to reach Monty's potions lab. The smell of smoke and various animal bits permeated the air. There were quite a few different vials lining the walls in front of the door, with a few framed articles from the Prophet and various other news outlets talking about his products.
It was obvious that Monty took a lot of pride in his work. Jasmine had always wondered why James hadn't taken over his business after his father passed away. It seemed like most purebloods raised their heirs to take over after them, especially if their business was as successful as Monty's was at the moment.
Though, James wasn't interested in inventing potions for beauty supply stores. He was more invested in pranking people with his friends. Honestly, he should really talk to his father about monetizing some of his prank ideas. Some of the things that the Marauders came up with were genius.
James stopped them in front of the door. There was a small mat on the floor that said welcome and a magical knocker that sounded like a doorbell when it hit the oak door. She'd used it once and one of Monty's potions had exploded.
Instead, Jasmine gently knocked on the door, hoping that she wasn't disturbing him. The two of them waited a few seconds and when no one answered James attempted to open the door and was stopped short when the handle wouldn't budge.
"Dad? Open the door! We know you're in there! The door only locks one way!" James shouted, bending down to peek through the key hole and nearly fell to the floor as he scrambled up quickly to kick at the door. "Dad!"
Jasmine put a hand on her cousin's shoulder to stop his hopeless bashing on the magically sealed door. "What did you see?" She asked, pulling out her a warding crystal and focusing on the door with her rune vision, attempting to figure out what kind of spells were imbedded into the wood. It didn't seem to be overly complex, she knew a rune that would pop the lock open with little difficulty.
"He's slumped over on his desk, his breathing seemed labored and he isn't answering the door," James replied, kicking the door again.
It didn't budge.
"Well, panicking isn't going to solve anything and neither is all your kicking. Move out of the way," she said, grabbing his leg mid-kick and lowering it with a little more force than necessary. He stumbled out of her way. As much as she loved her cousin, she wasn't a fan of dealing with him when he wasn't thinking. He turned into a true Gryffindor when that happened. Act brashly and think later.
"What are you going to do? We can't use magic outside of Hogwarts," he reminded her, biting his lip as she brought the carving stone up towards the lock.
Jasmine let out a rather dry chuckle. "They track wands for the most part and ancient runes hasn't been considered active magic in nearly a hundred years. If anything, you can get away with using as much power from runes as you want, and the Ministry would do nothing about it," she muttered in reply as she concentrated on shaping the tail-end of the rune. "Now, I just to cross this line here…and-" the lock clicked, and James barreled through the door with more force than necessary.
Though, James had every right to worried. Monty was slumped over his desk. James was shaking, and Jasmine took a cursory sniff in the room to see if there were cauldrons on the hob that could be emitting fumes, but found none. She silently cast a spell to check for poisons with a wave of her hand, there was nothing that she could find. Could he just be sick? He had seemed fine this morning. Maybe James hadn't been nearly as paranoid as she'd expected.
Merlin, in the original timeline, had he found his father dead at his desk?
Sirius and Remus had said that James had been quiet during his sixth year. If he had dealt with his father's sudden passing that would make sense, but finding him dead, that was enough to change anyone.
She checked Monty's pulse, her pale fingers finding the carotid artery in his neck with ease. She found it beating steadily, if not a bit fast. He was burning up, his temperature felt like it was in a dangerous place, her hand coming away hot from his skin.
She spun James around, who was helplessly holding his father's hand, and shook him hard. "James Charles Potter, get yourself together. I don't know who his primary healer is. Go to the floo and call them. We need to work fast, James."
Her cousin nodded and sprinted out of the room. Jasmine moved Monty off the seat and onto the floor, muttering cooling charms, wiping some sweat soaked hair from his face. "I'm not going to let you die," she promised, Monty's soul was still strong, holding onto life with a firm grip. Death was nowhere to be seen, there was still hope.
Notes:Grad school is kicking my butt.
I have to write a the first draft of my thesis.
Wish me luck!
Leave your comments and kudos below!
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 48: Chapter 48Summary:What happened to Monty?
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 48
The healers had arrived within minutes of James' floo call. This obviously wasn't the first time that Monty had collapsed at home. The Healers knew their way around the manor with little to no guidance from James. Jasmine was going to have to make sure she got the name of every person on their staff. Couldn't be too careful with Death Eaters in most of the major industries in Wizarding Britain.
The Healers came in a group of five, each holding different bags, vials and equipment. Their robes were a pristine white with the Saint Mungo's crest sewn into the material over their hearts. The group moved quickly, relocating Monty to the Potter family's personal hospital room for occasions such as this. All it took was a quick levitation charm, something that Jasmine could have done on her own, but she wasn't allowed to cast outside of school…she had already been tiptoeing around that when she used the rune to unlock the door.
Technically, she was within her rights to use ancient runes where ever and whenever she wanted, but there could be cases made against that practice until she was of age. She doubted that James or Euphemia would sell her out to the ministry, but she couldn't be too careful with the healers that were present.
It was Jasmine's first time seeing the Potter family medical ward, and she hoped that it would be a long time before she saw it in active use again.
The room was entirely different from the hospital wing that Jasmine was used to at Hogwarts. Honestly, she probably should have a bed reserved there. Merlin only knew how often she ended up in one of Madam Pomfrey's beds.
Though, it seemed that this hospital wing had a unique atmosphere to it. Usually, all things related to hospitals were white from top to bottom, just to remind everyone that they were sterile, but this room was full of warm wood tones with a cozy fireplace situated at the far end near the bed, but not too close to it. The bed itself was a twin size, easy for healers to place different bits and bobs around it. There were large arm chairs and a sofa situated on the left end of the room for people to rest and wait in, which was where the healers had placed James and Jasmine. Neither of them knew quite what to do with themselves.
This wasn't the first time that Monty had gotten sick quickly, but it hadn't happened in nearly a decade, so this was no doubt a rather cruel shock to the man's system. Not to mention that it was a shock to James, who hadn't seen his father in this condition in a very long time. From what James had told her, he couldn't even clearly remember his father being sick last time. He had been six years old and his mother had kept him away so he wouldn't get sick either.
James was holding Jasmine's hand as the men and women got to work on his father. The usually confident Marauder was biting his quivering lower lip. He was holding it together, if only just by a thread. Jasmine was tethering him as the healers coaxed another potion down Monty's throat. "What did the Ministry say about your mum?" Euphemia had yet to arrive, which wasn't like her at all. James' hand tightened in hers.
His eyes fluttered shut and his jaw tightened. "They told me she wasn't taking personal calls due to an important meeting. I tried to explain the situation to undersecretary Fudge, but he cancelled the call and then blocked the floo. This is more important than a meeting. If something happens and she isn't here with dad…mum would die," he croaked, pulling his glasses off and rubbing has face. His eyes looked a bit glassy and Jasmine felt her blood boil. Euphemia had a right to be here. Jasmine would bet that Fudge never even told her that something happened at home. Euphemia more than likely didn't even know what was going on here.
They watched as a young man carefully tipped a fourth potion down Monty's throat. It was odd seeing his usually animated face so pale and unresponsive, even someone with a weak immune system like Monty. They were joking this morning, he had been fine. It was strange…this fever had come on so quickly. Monty was careful about taking preventative potions and from what James had said, he usually called his healer the moment he felt ill. There was no point in taking a risk with his health when it was in such a fragile state. Jasmine suddenly felt a little bit dizzy herself, what if this illness hadn't been caused naturally.
This sickness was appearing at a perfect time to ruin quite a few preventative measures against Voldemort. Not to mention that Jasmine had beaten Tom in court, which meant that he was going to take revenge in some petty form or another. Killing one of her guardians and then ruining another one's career was just an added bonus.
Euphemia was planning on making a special task force to deal with the newest terrorist threat in the rising Dark Lord calling himself Voldemort. She was one of the key components in keeping dear Tom in check. If her attention was taken elsewhere, or if she were to retire before her project got completed, that would be playing right into Voldemort's hands. Which was no doubt, what happened in her original timeline, since the plans for the newest anti-terrorist task force was never implemented in Harriet's timeline. It was something that she found out had been put on the backburner for twenty odd years when she ended up graduating Hogwarts and going into the Auror force in her second and third lives. It was appalling to realize that there had been so many plans to stop Voldemort in the DMLE, but none of them got implemented when Euphemia quit, and Fudge took over as Minister.
Things were going to be different this time around, Jasmine wasn't going to fail this family. The Potters needed her.
Hell, the entire damn world needed her.
So, the real question was, how did Tom manage to get Monty ill. There were only so many methods to forcing someone to contract certain magical illnesses.
Potions were the main way of transmitting them, but it was extremely tricky in the actual execution.
It wasn't unheard of in the magical community to kill someone using a contaminated immunization potion. The question is, how did this little virus get into the house. There were sanitization runes along all the entrances and exits in the house to kill germs. Nothing should have been able to get past that and no one had come in or out of the house in the past few days that would harbor something like that. They would have tripped the wards on the doorframes or along the fireplaces.
Light flashed out of the corner of her good eye and Jasmine jumped. James' hand tightened in hers for a moment. It took a few seconds, but thunder crashed against the window across from them, rain whipping against the glass.
It had been so peaceful this morning.
She ran her finger along the windowsill and her breath caught in her throat feeling the smooth, unblemished surface of the wood underneath her finger tips.
The virus, it didn't come in through the door...the blasted thing had come in through the window, more than likely it was in the letter she burned from the Avery family this morning. Jasmine resisted the urge to curse her stupidity at burning the blasted thing. There went any evidence she had to pin the entire family for attempted murder of the entire Potter family, not to mention the Peverell line.
Blast it all.
Both she and James had been in and out of the back door and Euphemia had gone through the fireplace, so all contaminates from the potion would have been charmed right off of them due to the wards. Monty was the only one of them not to leave the house today.
It was another ten minutes until the commotion on the other side of the room calmed down enough for the lead healer to come and speak to them.
The healer in charge introduced herself as Healer Peters. She had a tightly tied bun of white blonde hair pinned up at the crown of her head, her honey colored eyes read vital scan after vital scan she performed on Monty's nearly catatonic form. "The good news is that you managed to find him right when the fever was setting in. It seems to us that this is just a powerful strain of a wizard's flu, but we're treating it as if it were something as serious as Dragon Pox. James, is your mother going to be present anytime soon? I do have some things do discuss with her," Healer Peters explained, her voice soft and soothing, which seemed to be a requirement with all Healers that Jasmine had worked with in the past.
James opened and closed his mouth before shaking his head. Healer Peter's frowned. "Well, I suppose you'll need to answer a few questions to the best of your ability for me until she gets here…"
Jasmine was going to curse Fudge to hell and back when she got a hold of him, if her Guardian didn't go after of him first. "I'll go and see if I can get a hold of her, James," Jasmine told them, letting her cousin's hand go. He gave her a slightly betrayed look as she exited the room, the healer sitting next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder as she began to speak to him.
She still didn't feel Death's presence in the room. Monty still had an excellent chance of making a recovery. He was a fighter to boot. He hadn't let his weakened immune system stop him from inventing and causing general mayhem around the house. He was still a horridly successful businessman and a proud father of a very bright young man.
It took her no time to make her way to the fireplace. Euphemia's floo was still blocked to all incoming calls, so Jasmine decided she was going to call the next best person. She gave the name for Amelia's office, hopefully the young Auror was still in her office.
"Amelia, are you there? There's been an emergency at the Potter Manor." Jasmine called out, waiting a moment and hoping that she wasn't interrupting anything.
"Yes, is that you, Jasmine?" She replied, her head appearing in the floo as Jasmine leaned over.
She nodded, "Yes, it's me. Why can't we get in contact with Euphemia?"
The older woman let out a tired sigh. "She had a meeting with Crouch and the Minister today regarding some confidential information. Why? Is something wrong?" She asked, her voice concerned.
"Yes, James called earlier, but Undersecretary Fudge blocked the floo from our home to Euphemia's office. Monty is really ill. James and I found him unconscious in his office. We have a team of healers with him right now, but they're asking for Euphemia. James and I don't know enough about medicine to make any kind-"
Amelia snarled, "Fudge is going to be on the receiving end of my wand in a few minutes. Jasmine, I'm going to fetch Euphemia. Keep James out of trouble for a few minutes longer. There is no doubt in my mind that she'd rather be with Monty right now."
Jasmine wished that she could be the fly on the wall when Amelia cursed the ever-loving shit out of Fudge. She'd been wanting to do that for so many lives.
There was only so much she could do at once and taking care of her family was far more important than Fudge…maybe she could convince Amelia to share the memory with her.
~*~
It wasn't even five minutes later when Euphemia came bursting through the floo. James was in the medical wing with his father while Jasmine sat near the fireplace. It was at times like these when she wished she could be in two places at once…or that Sirius wasn't on vacation with his family in Athens. At least if Sirius was around, he could cuddle with James in her stead. The two were always on top of each other when the other was upset. It was honestly rather adorable.
Euphemia's usually well-kept hair was in disarray and…was that a scorch mark on her robes? She looked harried to say the least.
"Are you alright?" Jasmine asked, hopping up pulling her Guardian towards the medical wing.
Her sharp hazel eyes, so much like her sons, narrowed. "Oh, I'm far better than the Undersecretary. I hope that they can reverse the damage to the office. Denying my son access to floo, trying to stop me from coming home, even after the Minister and I had finished talking. The nerve. He is never going to be getting another job in the Ministry if I have any say about it."
If the situation wasn't so dire, Jasmine would be jumping for joy. She just hoped that Euphemia made good on her promise of keeping Fudge as far away from the Ministry as possible. It would stop quite a few future disasters from happening if that fool could be kept away from power.
"Was the Minister upset that you left?" Jasmine asked, hoping that her guardian wasn't about to lose her job because she had gotten on the Minister's nerves. From what little she knew of current Minister, he was rather strict.
Euphemia shook her head a fond smile, gracing her lips, despite the situation. "Harold, Monty and I went to Hogwarts together. He understood and was more than a little displeased with his undersecretary's actions. He and Monty were roommates, Harold convinced my dear Monty to ask my father about courting me officially. The Minster is secretly a match maker, he got most of our year together with their future partners."
Jasmine bit her lip. She had never known that Minister Minchum had helped get her grandparents together. Had she been named after him? James and Lily originally thought they were having a boy and they had planned on naming her Harry, which might have been short for Harold…
Jasmine wondered if James had spent a lot of time with Harold growing up. It was odd hearing Euphemia speak highly of a Minister. Honestly, it was odd to think of anyone talking positively about the Minter in general. Fudge had been a joke of a figure head. Lucius ran the Ministry from behind the scenes for years. Though, from what Jasmine remembered from her life as Harri, Minister Minchum hadn't been able to stop Voldemort in the slightest, but maybe with Euphemia's continued help he'd be able to succeed. Jasmine knew that he had tried to stop Voldemort, and that was enough for Jasmine to trust him a bit more than she had trusted the future administrations.
"Lady Euphemia!" The voice of Healer Peters shouted from down the hall, drawing her attention away from Jasmine and back towards Monty. Lady Potter rushed towards the Hospital Wing, her singed robes trailing behind her. Jasmine followed at a much more sedate pace. She figured that the Potter family would need a moment to themselves. She loved them all dearly, but she was only a distant relative and this was James' father and Euphemia's husband.
As she approached the door, she could hear them talking in hushed voices, James had more a rasp, his nose stuffed from crying. He was going to have an awful headache later. Jasmine leaned against the wall outside, eavesdropping a bit, if she was being honest. She hadn't felt like this much of an outsider in a while. "How did you even get into your father's study? It isn't that I'm complaining, but if you're going to get in trouble with the Ministry, I'd like to know."
Jasmine bit her lip, she didn't do anything illegal and she certainly didn't want James getting blamed for this. She knocked lightly on the door, causing both Potter's to turn, identical hazel pairs of hazel eyes staring at her. "I might have opened the door with a rather powerful rune. They aren't illegal to use outside of school…so there shouldn't be any kind of issues with the Ministry. I'm sorry if I've cause you any unnecessary worry," Jasmine replied, keeping her gaze locked on her feet. She had been causing so many issues for this family since she arrived. If she brought the Ministry down on their heads over something as trivial as unlocking a door to save Monty's life.
A slender hand wrapped around her wrist, and Jasmine was pulled into a tight embrace. "You silly girl, I'm not upset. If it wasn't for your quick thinking, Monty might be dead. Now, come sit down. When he wakes up, he's going to want his entire family right here to greet him," Euphemia said, tweaking Jasmine's nose teasingly.
Jasmine felt her eyes welling up. She had never really had a mother figure like Euphemia in her life. She'd had Marianna Zabini and Molly Weasley, but they knew she wasn't their daughter. She was like family to them, they reminded her that she was like a daughter to them, but she was never a daughter to them. Here, she was family, no questions asked. It was an amazing feeling. She just hoped that Euphemia felt the same way when Jasmine worked up the courage to explain that the letter that had been sent to her from the Avery family might have been tainted with some kind of virus.
She wiped a stray tear that threatened to fall from her face before clenching her fists. They sat in silence for a few moments, watching Monty's chest rise and fall as the Healers cleared out of the room, leaving a small calling card in case something were to happen when they weren't around to monitor. When they were all gone Jasmine cleared her throat. "I think I might know how Monty got ill so quickly," she whispered catching the attention of everyone in the room, save Monty
Notes:Writing a thesis sucks. Why did I do this to myself?
I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Hopefully I have time to post another chapter soon.
Leave your comments and kudos below!
~SugarPhantom