A/N: Rewritten, same plot.
Disclaimer: I only own Jasmine.
The morning had started out better than the afternoon, which was dreary and grey. A drizzle of rain was falling, lightly tapping the roofs and treetops of the town below; a town lucky to have the temperature remain at fifty degrees.
A lone figure cloaked in black walked briskly through the town of Godric's Hollow, knowing its way, and its destination. No witch or wizard could apparate in that town, an old wizard with a long white beard had seen to that. But there was a message to deliver, and it was an important one at that. The information failed to reach them before anyone else, even Dumbledore, it might be too late.
The cloaked person walked up to a house that seemed to appear from nowhere, and knocked rapidly on the door.
"Lily? Lily, are you home? It's me. Hurry, open the door. I don't think I've been followed." As the speaker heard the sound of locks being unlock and protective charms being removed behind the door, the witch threw back her hood to reveal a beautiful young woman, she was around twenty-two with grey eyes and long hair blacker than her cloak, and hoped that, unlike her last unannounced visit to this house, she would be greeted with a security question rather than a hex.
The door was flung open and the woman was greeted with a wand pointed between her eyes by another young woman, this one with amber hair and brilliant green eyes. The woman's emerald eyes held fear, but she did not utter a hex.
"What do four wizards call you, and what do you call them and why?"
Hastily, the witch replied, "Whitetip, more commonly Tips, illegal animagus, form of a black fox, for the fox's white tipped tail. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. The animals they transform into, Moony not by choice."
"Oh, Jasmine," Lily Potter sighed with relief. Jasmine Black came inside, allowing Lily to shut and lock the door. "What's wrong? Come on, in the kitchen, I was just feeding Harry."
The two silently walked into the kitchen. It was tidy, clean stove, countertops, and table - except for the place around a baby's highchair - and six chairs and a chair were sitting around the table, one pushed back farther than the rest. In that chair, Lily sat down and resumed feeding her infant son, trying to act as if nothing was wrong as Jasmine remained standing. In all truth, however, nothing was right. A madman calling himself Lord Voldemort had quickly risen to power, and was gaining more everyday. He had eleven years worth of dark creatures, dark followers, and death to support him, and he had marked Lily, her husband James, and their son Harry as his next victims. So they went into hiding, hardly ever leaving the house and knowing they were safe as long as their Secret Keeper was loyal.
"It's Peter." Jasmine's words, the message she had needed to deliver, was horrible. Peter Pettigrew had been her friend, and James's since they were eleven, and he was betraying them all. That information snapped Lily out of her thoughts, she had even stopped giving Harry his late lunch.
"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes widening in fear.
"The spy, the one who's betraying us, it's Peter Pettigrew."
"No. No, it can't be him!" Lily began crying as she picked up Harry and held him protectively. Panicking.
"What?" The news was bad, but not as bad as it could have been. Pettigrew, Wormtail, wasn't the Secret Keeper for the Potters'. It could have been worse, much worse, but Lily was acting as though Voldemort himself had just arrived.
"We just made him our Secret Keeper." Lily began crying once more as she held Harry closer. "Oh, God, he's going to kill my baby! Please, please, I can't leave without James, Merlin knows what he'll think happened! Oh, why did Albus have to see him today? Why?"
Jasmine felt fear rising within her; she had never been this truly afraid during this war before. But her worst fear had come true, her best friend, as good as her sister, another friend, as close as a brother, her godson; they were in more danger now than before. The murderer could find them. "Lily, Lily listen to me!" She grabbed her friend's shoulders. "I'm going to find Pettigrew, before anything happens. I promise." Her heart ached. She many memories from this house, this room. "I promise." She turned and left. Jasmine wanted to stay and comfort Lily, wait with her for James, know they all got away safely, but there was no time to lose. She had to get to Peter before he went to Voldemort, before she went to Dumbledore.
Jasmine's cloak flared out behind her as she ran. She had forgotten about the Knight Bus, she had forgotten about apparating as she reached the edge of Godric's Hollow, but not about running, and so she ran as, fast as she possibly could. She must have been a strange sight for muggles looking out their windows: A girl in a three-fourths sleeve shirt, jeans, clogs, and a cloak running as though from Death when there was nothing. But she didn't think about that. Her only thoughts were about getting to Pettigrew in time, and why Sirius had to convince James to choose Wormtail as Secret Keeper. That was the only way they would have switched, and she knew Sirius always worried that Voldemort would come after him, not because he feared for his own life, but if the Potters' whereabouts were forced from him, to Sirius, that was a fate worse than death. But why did he pick Pettigrew? Although she already knew the answer: Because Pettigrew was stupid, witless, and useless. She would have never thought of him that way before he betrayed them, but it was true none the less. He was the perfect decoy, almost.
As her side cramped up, Jasmine increased her pace. She knew where Peter was hiding, and she still had a long way to go.
Night had fallen for only half an hour when Jasmine reached the town she had been trying to get to.
"Jasy!" Jasmine stopped to catch her breath, leaning on her knees, as she heard a familiar voice call out her name over the growing sound of a motorcycle from somewhere ahead of her. Sirius. He must have figured it out, that had to be why he was here.
Sure enough, in about four seconds, Sirius Black and his flying motorbike landed in front of Jasmine. Sirius quickly helped her on and took off for the Potters'.
"We gotta get to James. He's gone." Jasmine knew what he meant and almost cried, even though she still could barely breath. When she didn't answer, "Jasy?" He wanted to know if she was going to be okay, not from running, but from the knowledge that their friends could be dead.
Jasmine gave a weak chuckle at hearing the name Sirius had called her more times than her Marauder name, even at school. Then again, she let only him call her that, it was a cousin thing; and so, of course, though she despised it, Sirius called her that nearly every chance he now, now more out of habit than anything else.
"I'm alright." In an inaudible voice Jasmine added, "For now."
hr
As Godric's Hollow came into view, the motorcycle started to descend. There was no Dark Mark over the house, but that gave Jasmine little reassurance as Voldemort may have just been finishing the job.
Hastily parking in the front lawn, Sirius landed halfway in the flowerbeds he was usually so careful to avoid. He and Jasmine lunged off the bike and headed for the house, praying everyone was alright. Jasmine's heart stopped at the sight of the front door. It was open. After a quick glance around, she saw how little of the house actually remained standing. Bringing a hand to her mouth, she ran inside with Sirius behind her, neither caring if it fell on them. Shortly after crossing the threshold, she screamed. Sirius stopped in his tracks. James was lying on the floor. He was dead.
There was no more feeling behind the stare of his open eyes. Determination was written on his face. His wand lay next to him. He had died fighting to save to ones he loved.
"LILY! HARRY!" Jasmine yelled as she half ran down the hall with tears streaming down her face, knowing and dreading what she would find.
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Sirius fell to his knees next to James. Tears were forming. "I'm sorry," Sirius chocked out. "It was all my fault." He reached out and closed his best friend's eyes, knowing they would never open again.
Sirius wiped the tears from his own eyes and got up to follow his cousin. He found her searching rooms on the second floor, screaming for Lily and waiting in vain for an answer.
Jasmine and Sirius reached the last door in the hallway at the same time. They went inside to face the cold, empty feeling of death they knew was waiting for them in the baby's room. The first thing they saw was Lily. She was dead, just like her husband.
The tears that came rushing to Jasmine's eyes blinded her as she sank to the floor. She no longer wanted to find Harry, not after James and Lily. She wouldn't be able to handle it, no matter how many bodies she had seen, even of infants, all dead by Lord Voldemort's wand; they weren't her friends, her family. She would have stayed all night, crying on the floor if not for someone, Sirius, pulling her up to her feet, holding her tight and close. She could feel him crying too.
Jasmine raised a hand that wiped away half her tears when she saw a bundle of blankets move around in the crib. "Wait," she whispered, not daring to believe. She broke apart from Sirius and walked over to the blankets. Neither knew what she had really seen, but both knew what she thought she saw. As she inched closer, both she and Sirius held their breaths, unsure whether the next tears would be for joy or more pain. Jasmine reached the bundle. Bending over, she gently picked it up. Laughter and tears came at the same time as the witch cradled the bundle.
"He's alive." She could barely get the words out she was so happy, so relieved. Sirius almost began to cry as well as he flew across the room in two quick steps. They hugged, kissed, and coddled Harry like he was all they had left, which he nearly about was. But that didn't matter, Harry was alive. They knew they needed to raise him, but they didn't think of that. They knew life would never be the same again, not for Harry and not for them, but they didn't think of that either. Never again would Harry be sung to sleep by his mother's soft voice, or have his father to read to him in the middle of the night. Never again would Sirius and Jasmine carry out some random prank with James just to be scolded by Lily, or be able to sit down with them and have a late night laugh with a cup of coffee. The voices of Lily and James Potter would never be heard again, expect in memory, but they didn't think of that.
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Suddenly, the noise of someone moving around downstairs was heard.
Jasmine turned to Sirius, handing Harry to him. "Guard him. If whoever it is gets past me, you have to stop them."
Sirius nodded in agreement as he knew Jasmine was more than capable of taking care of herself, and that arguing with her in the state of mind she was bound to be in with Lily and James gone could prove to be suicidal.
Jasmine reached behind her and pulled out, not a wand, but a knife. She had had the knife for as long as she liked to remember and preferred it and her hand to hand fighting skills to her wand in most fights when she could. She found it more satisfying than using a wand because of her parent's belief that only pureblood wizards and witches should have that honor and should always be able to use it. But also known was that if whoever was downstairs was a rat who'd come to check up on the place, Jasmine would go in for a kill, and the Ministry of Magic would be able to trace Avada Kedavara back to her easily, but they wouldn't be able to trace the knife because it was not magic-based. It was a knife like Muggles used, and most at the Ministry knew nothing about tracing those, and those who did weren't always held in the highest regard. They knew that if she killed him with magic the ministry would lock her up, even if she somehow proved it to be self defense, because those with positions of power did not like her fast rise to authority and power within the Ministry. The only reason Sirius didn't try to stop her from possibly killing whoever was downstairs was because he wanted to see the bloody traitor who murdered his best friends dead just as much as Jasmine did. And was very much.
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After about five minutes, Sirius still hadn't heard any new commotion, but he wasn't too worried about Jasmine because he knew she could take somebody out so quickly and silently that her victim wouldn't even know he was dead. He had seen her do it before, during their missions for Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix.
Then he heard someone start up the stairs and head for the door. He knew one thing: It wasn't Jasmine. Not even if she tried would she be able to make that much noise as she walked, at least without magic. He held Harry in a protective position – to the side and slightly behind him – to shield him from and spells that might come his way and he held his wand at the ready.
The door swung open and Sirius put his arm down in relief. There was no mistaking the identity of who had been heard downstairs.
"Hagrid." Only then did it register in Sirius's mind that he might have just lost his cousin too. The realization must have shown on his face because Hagrid swiftly walked over to him and placed a large hand on his shoulder.
Sirius looked up into Hagrid's beetle black eyes, shining with tears. "At least little Harry made it."
Sirius sat down and began cradling Harry once more. He was muttering, "My fault…Didn't mean to…All my fault."
"It wasn' yer fault, Sirius. It was all You-Know-Who's doin'. Don' blame yerself." Hagrid pulled out a large handkerchief and blew his noise loudly.
But Sirius only sat in silence, tears forming once more. James only switched to Peter because he, Sirius, had suggested it. It was his fault.
"Sirius, could I…could I have him?" Hagrid looked at Harry and held out his arms to hold him. Sirius nodded slowly and placed Harry in Hagrid's arms, just as Jasmine had placed Harry in his, and burried his face in his hands. Hagrid then turned around and starting walking out the door.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Sirius had leapt to his feet and was following Hagrid down the hall having heard him start to leave.
"I'm takin' him ter go an' live with his aunt an' uncle. Dumbledore's orders," the gargantuan man said sadly.
"No, Hagrid! I'm his godfather, I'll look after him." Sirius was now truly worried he would lose someone else. He knew Hagrid would never go against Dumbledore's orders. Sirius was cussing in his mind. Why hadn't he just held onto Harry?
"Look, it's not like I wouldn' if I could, but Dumbledore said he's off ter live with the Muggles, an' that's where I'm takin' him. I already had this talk with yer cousin and she went off ter see Dumbledore. There's no more I'm sayin' 'bout it." His words were hard, but his eyes looked pained.
"No!" Sirius looked determinedly at Harry. But if Jasmine was talking to Dumbledore, then there was nothing left to do but wait. He didn't know where Lily's relatives lived. "Take my motorcycle, I won't need it anymore."
Hagrid turned around. "Are yeh sure, Sirius?"
"Yeah, it'll be faster and safer anyways." Sirius walked around Hagrid to leave before him. He didn't want to watch them go. Turning around, he whispered, "Good-bye, Harry. I love you."
Once next to the road, he sat down on the curb and heard Hagrid come out and get on the motorbike. In truth, Sirius didn't really know why he gave his motorcycle to Hagrid except that it reminded him of happier times, times he'd never know again, of things he didn't want to remember. He knew that if Dumbledore's mind was made up Jasmine couldn't change it, and all Sirius wanted to do, was give up. Sirius watched as Hagrid and Harry faded into the night, trying to look away.
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Jasmine had taken out her knife and silently crept downstairs of the ruins of the Potter house. She knew how to sneak, spy, attack, and defend, but first, she wanted to see who it was. Bending down, she hid herself in the shadows, waiting for any sign of movement.
Then she saw the silhouette of whomever it was by the doorframe that led into the hall. And there was no mistaking that silhouette. It was Hagrid.
Jasmine stood up and put the knife back in her belt. "Hagrid," she called out to him, "what are you doing here?"
Hagrid looked around and saw Jasmine. "Oh, hullo, Jasmine." He seemed to be very shaken. "What am I doin' here? I'm here ter get Harry an' take him ter live with his aunt an' uncle."
"What?"
"Dumbledore's orders."
"No! Hagrid, no! You can't take him to live with those…those…people! You'll be condemning him!" She was dreaming! She had to be dreaming! This couldn't happen! It wasn't real!
"Well I'm sorry, Jas, but that's Dumbledore's sayin', not mine."
"Well I'll be seeing Dumbledore. Be sure to tell Sirius, he's upstairs." Jasmine turned on her heel and walked out the door, half convinced she'd wake up at any moment, which never came.
Hagrid headed upstairs to find Sirius and Harry, to carry out Dumbledore's orders.
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Jasmine was out the front door and walking down the street. She was angry. Angry at Voldemort, angry at Pettigrew, angry at Dumbledore, and even at Hagrid for listening to Dumbledore. She had just lost two of her best friends and she wasn't going to lose anyone else, especially not her godson. 'What am I doing?' she thought to herself. 'Dumbledore will be gone by the time I get there.' And she apparated to Privet Drive. Where Lily had last said her sister lived.
When she got there, she saw that none of the lampposts were lit. That meant Dumbledore was still there for sure. She spotted him and hurried over. He was talking with Professor McGonagall, something that didn't surprise Jasmine at all.
When Dumbledore saw her, he said, "Jasmine, I'll admit I'm actually surprised to see you here. I…"
Jasmine cut him off. "I want Harry."
Dumbledore looked taken aback. He had expected her to arrive and make such demands, only not on Privet Drive and not so soon after the Potters' death. Because at this time, the only way she could know Harry was on his way was if she had been to Godric's Hollow recently.
"Now, Jasmine," Professor McGonagall tried to create what she hoped would be a civilized conversation that would make Jasmine see reason, "I know you are upset…"
But Jasmine wouldn't take anything from McGonagall either. She may have at Hogwarts, but she was no longer at school and this wasn't about her, Sirius, and James hexing Severus Snape so that every time he opened his mouth to speak, his nose would begin to run to which they would respond by calling him 'Snivellus' as he ran for some form of paper towel. They weren't debating about detention times interfering with Quidditch matches. "Upset? OF COURSE I'M UPSET! MY BEST FRIENDS ARE DEAD AND YOU ARE SENDING THEIR SON OFF TO LIVE WITH THE SCUM OF THE WORLD WHEN IT'S MY RESPOSIBILITY TO RAISE HIM! MINE AND SIRIUS'S!"
"Miss Black," Dumbledore tried again, "I know this matter has affected you greatly, but I was going to talk to you about…"
"LIKE HELL YOU WERE!" Tears formed in her eyes once again, and she felt it useless to try and stop the flow. She never remembered feeling like this before, so much betrayal, it was too much.
"…about complications that I cannot allow to be eluded from my attention. This is the safest place for Harry to stay. And in an effort to see that Harry's family does not feel threatened by his presence, you are not to have any contact with them; or with Harry for that matter, at least not while he is living in the Muggle world." His words didn't seem too thought out, they sounded almost like an excuse for something in disguise.
"What?! I'm his godmother! He needs me!"
"Jasmine, I do not want this to be made more difficult than it already is, but they can offer a protection for him that you could never…"
"I KNOW WHAT KIND OF PROTECTION YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, AND JUST SO YOU KNOW IF VOLDEMORT WERE TO COME TO THEIR DOOR, HELL, JUST COME TO THIS STREET, THEY WOULD GLADLY GIVE HARRY TO HIM! HIS PARENTS DIED - DIED - TO SAVE HIM AND I WOULD GLADLY DO THE SAME! THEY NEVER WOULD! IF IT WAS THE MOST LILY AND JAMES COULD DO, IT'S THE MOST ANYONE CAN DO! AND IF I WEREN'T IN THE COMPANY OF MY PROFESSORS I'D TELL YOU EXACTLY WHAT HARRY'S 'FAMILY' ARE: A LIST OF WORDS ABOUT HALF A MILE LONG, MOST OF WHICH YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THE MEANING OF!" Jasmine was now crying like she never had in her life, her shortness of breath from yelling not mattering. She had already shed more tears in these few hours than the rest of her years combined. Her life was crashing down at this moment, and she felt powerless to stop it. Dumbledore would never give in; but what Jasmine didn't realize was that in all that had just happened, she had never told Dumbledore that Pettigrew was the spy.
"Miss Black, I am truly…" But Jasmine didn't stay for another word. She quickly apparated back to Godric's Hollow, not realizing that she had forgotten to say the one thing she needed to. "…sorry."
McGonagall looked at Dumbledore. "Now really, Albus, the poor girl heartbroken. Why not let her see the baby? You know what he means to her."
"Yes, I do, but did you not hear her say 'mine and Sirius's'?"
"I did, but I don't see what that has to do with anything. Sirius cares for the child too."
"On the contrary, Professor. You see, Sirius Black was the one who betrayed Lily and James."
For the first time in her life, Minerva McGonagall was speechless. But it wasn't long before the silence was absorbed by the dull roar of a motorcycle sounding in the distance.
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After she apparated, Jasmine found herself back at the outskirts of Godric's Hollow. She began walking towards the Potters' house, all the way wiping her tears. As she neared the place this nightmare began, she noticed Sirius sitting on the curb. Sitting down next to him, neither said a word.
For a while they sat in silence, then Jasmine stood, realizing her blunder. "C'mon, Sirius, we gotta get outta here. No one else knows about Pettigrew."
Sirius nodded in realization of what she said and stood as well, but he didn't take in the seriousness of what she said, not really. The Ministry would come looking for him, but Azkaban was the last place on his mine. He couldn't stay put and he couldn't go home.
"Is your place safe?" he asked his cousin, beginning to come back to his senses.
"It should be," she replied, "at least for tonight."
They both walked to the edge of Godric's Hollow and apparated to Jasmine's apartment. They spent the rest of the night in mourning, their friends were gone, their godson was gone, Sirius was sure to be wanted by that time. With everything that had happened, all so suddenly, they didn't even think of the other person who knew they were illegal animagus, besides Dumbledore, they had forgotten to tell Moony.
A/N: How is the story going so far?