From the Cutting Room Floor: Deleted Scenes from Jasmine & Hermione's Story
A/N: Bonnie could be quite ruthless in cutting out extraneous and allegedly unnecessary material. Why, sometimes she eliminated entire scenes! Can you believe it? Fortunately, I was able to save a few of these precious gems before they were lost completely. Enjoy!
Obviously, if you haven't read the three stories in that trilogy, none of this will make any sense.
B/N: Pacing, dear — it's all about the pacing. ::cracks whip::
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.
Friday, January 22, 1995, Late Morning. (The Power of Love, Chapter 27)
"Jasmine, can I use Hedwig?" Hermione asked as they walked to Charms class. Jasmine froze on hearing this question. As far as I know, Jasmine thought, Hedwig still isn't back yet from delivering the letter I sent to the Grangers early Wednesday. She should be back today, but I don't have any good excuses for her absence. So what do I do now?
"Do you need to send a letter to your parents?" Jasmine asked, stalling for time while she tried to come up with something to say.
"No, Padfoot," Hermione answered.
"What?" Jasmine's head whipped around to look at her friend. "Is something wrong?"
"No, no. Nothing like that," Hermione responded. "It just occurred to me that he could look in his library for spells that might help us protect, track, or monitor the hostages. We didn't get a chance to talk to him about that last weekend and we hadn't met with the other champions yet anyway. But I don't know if he's managed to get into his family house yet, and we'll need Padfoot to deal with this as soon as possible so the champions can make plans."
"Ah," Jasmine said, suddenly understanding. "That's a great idea." Thinking quickly, she realized she had the perfect excuse for excluding Hedwig. "I don't think you should use Hedwig. I'm not sure Padfoot should be receiving such a recognizable owl too often."
"Oh!" Hermione said in surprise. "I hadn't thought of that. Maybe you're right. OK, we'll use a school owl this time, but I'll add a note asking him what he thinks about that. He might know more."
Internally, Jasmine sighed in relief. That was close. Again, she thought.
In Charms class that day they learned about the Banishing Charm, Depulso, a spell that basically did the opposite of the Summoning Charm which they had learned two weeks previously. Both Hermione and Jasmine had to be more careful with banishing than they did with summoning because the risk of their increased power leading to someone else getting hurt was much greater; fortunately, they'd both not only had time to learn to be careful, but they'd also had time to practice wandless banishing and summoning.
Neither had yet reached the point where they could do either spell consistently without a wand, but they were improving and they now understood the banishing spell well enough to cast it carefully — carefully enough to not put too much power behind it, at least, even if they couldn't control how much power they used. Their goal was to eventually create a game of it like volleyball, except using banishing or summoning charms to push or pull a ball or pillow back and forth across the bed. First, though, they needed to get more consistent in their skills.
"Very good, Miss Potter and Miss Granger," Professor Flitwick said as he watched them banish pillows back and forth between them. "Five points each to Gryffindor for getting the spell first." Flitwick had been keeping a close eye on them throughout the lesson and wasn't surprised to see them get it first. Under other circumstances he wouldn't have given them points, since he knew they had gotten a headstart on learning the spell, but that might have been noticed and caused questions to be raised. He didn't want to develop a reputation like that of Professor Snape, who seemed to be incapable of awarding any points to Gryffindor, no matter what the circumstances.
The two Gryffindor witches smiled knowingly at their professor. They'd always liked his enthusiasm both for teaching generally and for the subject of Charms in particular. They had especially enjoyed having the chance to work with him more closely during their practice session the previous weekend. When they looked back at each other, they nodded, simultaneously agreeing that they would probably reveal their secrets to the diminutive Charms professor — though only after an oath, of course.
Sunday, August 15, 1995, Morning. (Heart and Soul, Chapter 12)
For nearly two weeks, Jasmine and Hermione had managed to avoid getting roped into helping clean the house, but with the apparent end of their legal problems, Mrs. Weasley decided that it was time that the two witches started helping out. She never expected them to put up resistance against cleaning in favor of more studying. The Weasley children wisely stayed out of it — the twins tried to be interested in the Daily Prophet while Ron and Ginny read their latest letters from Luna and Neville.
"It's not that we object to helping out around the house," Jasmine argued, "especially since it's my godfather's house. But Hermione and I are targeted by Voldemort at the very least," Mrs. Weasley and several others shivered at the use of that name, "and possibly by people at the Ministry. We can't afford to spend all day cleaning. We have too many things we need to learn and practice. Our lives may depend on it."
Molly Weasley did not like being talked back to or defied, not in any way, shape, or form. She was, however, also very much a mother at heart — a bit too much so, some would argue, given the extent to which she tried to mother everyone, whether they wanted it or not. In this case, however, that mothering instinct was to Jasmine's and Hermione's advantage because she quickly agreed that studying would be best for them.
Jasmine's and Hermione's smiles became frowns for the Weasley children when Mrs. Weasley turned to them to suggest that they study with the other two. The twins were able to beg off by arguing that they were in a different year and it would be too hard to work out something that applied to them all, given how little time there was. Ginny was agreeable if the other two witches were willing to have her, despite the difference in years, while Ron was left with trying to argue that he'd rather clean. No one found that to be believable until he pointed out that his mother would be left alone with the task and he didn't want to leave her in a lurch like that.
Later he would admit to the witches that somehow the house was getting much cleaner much faster than he would have expected. This meant there wasn't a great deal to do, so much of his "cleaning" time was spent relaxing, goofing off, and reading Quidditch magazines on the sly. Jasmine, Hermione, and Ginny found that to be much, much more believable.
The addition of Ginny for a few hours a day changed the study schedule a bit because Jasmine and Hermione weren't quite ready to reveal even the existence of the prophecy to her, much less what it said. They frankly weren't ready to tell anyone at all and weren't sure how they'd even start, though they knew they'd have to say something eventually.
Monday, August 16, 1995. Morning. (Heart and Soul, Chapter 12)
Dolores Umbridge was in as foul of a mood as she'd ever been, and she made a point of taking it out on everyone she saw. She'd told Cornelius the previous week that the situation wasn't too bad, but she wasn't nearly as optimistic as she'd presented herself. All of the plans she'd made for the Minister and herself were falling apart, and it was all because of those two horrible little witches, Potter and Granger. First Potter got involved with Dumbledore's efforts to overthrow the Ministry, then she teamed up with the mudblood to make the Minister look like a fool during their trial.
The dementors hadn't succeeded because somehow Potter had driven them off and fooled everyone into thinking that she had killed them, something everyone knew was impossible. The trial hadn't worked because that treasonous witch Bones had managed to use loopholes and technicalities to win her case... and because the Ministry had lost, they couldn't even use the evidence of dark spells against those brats. Not any time soon, at least. The effort to get a foothold in Hogwarts was only partially working because Dumbledore had somehow found a Defense professor at the last minute — and Umbridge was sure that was Potter's fault somehow.
Even worse, Amelia Bones now had an excuse to take a closer look at the Minister's office. I didn't expect interfering with their messages to come back on me like that, she lamented, but there's no avoiding it now. At least they won't find anything that could incriminate me or Cornelius. It does, however, mean that I will have to avoid starting anything new... probably until after I get to Hogwarts, too.
The only thing that was working was the propaganda campaign in the Daily Prophet. Every day they published articles and editorials which attacked both Dumbledore and Potter, and each day public support for the two of them dwindled even more. It was working so well, in fact, that Umbridge was starting to think to the future and how similar tactics might be used for other causes. I might be able to expand my efforts to get rid of werewolves, veela, mudbloods, and other undesirables, she thought. I'd have done this sort of thing much sooner if I'd realized how easy it is to control public opinion.
That, however, was something she needed to save for the future. First she needed to take down Dumbledore and Potter. And her little mudblood, Granger, too.
Monday, August 23, 1995. Late Night. (Heart and Soul, Chapter 12)
It was extremely late when Fleur Delacour returned to Grimmauld Place. She enjoyed spending time with the Grangers, but travelling by muggle means was extremely tiring — especially since she had been travelling for most of the past two days. Despite how exhausted she was, though, it would be a bit yet before she could sleep. She had to talk to a couple of witches about something she'd discovered while in France.
After finding the room that had been occupied by the Grangers to be empty, she checked the room across the hall and saw that Hermione had moved in with Jasmine and Ginny. Fleur hesitated, not sure if she should include Ginny on this conversation, but she decided that it wouldn't hurt since it wouldn't cover any of the secrets that they were still keeping from most others. After casting strong privacy spells on the door, she slowly raised the lights to start waking up the younger witches.
"Whu?" Ginny mumbled as she blinked hard and looked around, wondering what was going on. Slowly the other two joined her in waking up and none of them looked especially happy, but it was Hermione who reacted first upon seeing who had woken them.
"Fleur?!" the brunette witch called out. "What's wrong? What happened? Are my parents alright?"
The veela winced, not having anticipated this misunderstanding. "Everything is fine, Hermione," she said while raising her hand to forestall any further outbursts. "I am sorry for worrying you, but everything went fine."
"Then what's the deal?" Jasmine asked as she yawned. "Why are you waking us so late at..." she picked up her watch and saw the time. "Or maybe I should say so early?"
"While getting your family settled," Fleur explained, "I was given something zat I had family searching for." She pulled out an old book from her bag and continued, "Zis is a French copy of ze Triwizard Tournament rules from ze last time it was held."
Jasmine took the book from her, but quickly realized that she couldn't read any of it, so handed it to Hermione. "I read it on ze train back to London and marked ze page I zink you should read," Fleur said. Hermione flipped to the relevant page and as she read, everyone could see her getting more and more angry.
"What is it?" Ginny asked.
"That... that..." Hermione sputtered. "That bastard!"
"What's in there?" Jasmine asked as she moved over to Hermione's bed, not even noticing her language.
"We should have known something like this would be in here," Hermione fumed while Fleur nodded in agreement. "If a headmaster feels for any reason that the Goblet of Fire has picked an inappropriate champion from their school," Hermione explained, "they have the authority to withdraw that champion and hold a new drawing within the first hour after a name is chosen."
"So you didn't have to compete at all, did you?" Ginny whispered in horror as Jasmine flopped back on the bed.
"Possibly not," Fleur said. "Dumbledore could have pulled her from ze tournament if he had wanted to, but only if ze Goblet would have recognized Jasmine as ze champion for Hogwarts."
"Good point," Hermione said. "Cedric was chosen as the Hogwarts champion. Jasmine was... simply chosen. If it didn't recognize Dumbledore as her headmaster, then he couldn't have done anything."
"But he didn't tell me that, did he?" Jasmine said, "As far as we know, he didn't even try! If he could have gotten me out, then he's as responsible for me having to compete as the person who put my name in the Goblet in the first place."
Hermione reached out to grab and squeeze Jasmine's hand while Fleur spoke again. "I am sorry zat I woke you all, but I zought you would want to learn about zis as soon as possible. I also wanted to make sure you learned zis when no one else was around."
"Thanks, we appreciate it," Hermione responded.
"Yeah," Ginny agreed with a yawn. "But we should get back to sleep, if we can."
Fleur gave Jasmine and Hermione a comforting hug before heading to her own room. As Ginny guessed, though, it took a while for all three of the younger witches to fall asleep again.
Tuesday, August 24, 1995. Afternoon. (Heart and Soul, Chapter 12)
"Bien," Fleur said. "You cannot practice spellcasting here — even if you weren't underage, there isn't anywhere good for zat. Still, you can work on theory, reviewing fourth year and reading ahead for fifth. Somewhere here I had a book about defense zat I zought you should read."
Fleur started looking around, but Hermione saw it first on the other table and reached out her hand, automatically summoning it and handing it over the Fleur who simply stared and looked at her. "Oh, bloody hell"! Hermione said, realizing that she'd done underage magic, the very thing they'd just been on trial for.
"Language!" Jasmine said, both upset at her girlfriend and amused at what it took for her to break down and use language like that.
"Oh, stuff it," Hermione said, giving Jasmine a poke with her elbow. All three witches stilled for several minutes, waiting to see if any Ministry owls appeared. When none did, they started to discuss what might be going on. Jasmine mentioned what happened to Vernon when he tried to grab her, which seemed more like accidental magic than wandless magic, but while she hadn't gotten a letter for that, she had in the past gotten letters for the hover charm which Dobby performed and for accidentally blowing up his aunt. They couldn't decide what the Ministry was able to track or how and concluded that both Jasmine and Hermione had simply gotten lucky — probably because what Jasmine did was so low-powered that it didn't register and Hermione's wandless magic had been performed behind a Fidelius charm.
Saturday, June 3, 1996, Early Morning. (Heart and Soul, Chapter 51)
"Sweet Morgana!" Hermione cried out as she abruptly sat up straight in bed, yanking all of the other witches out of sleep. "We only have two days until OWLs! We have so much studying to do!
Half a dozen pillows were simultaneously thrown at Hermione's head while several hands pulled Hermione back down. "Too early to get up," mumbled Jasmine as she pulled Hermione close. "And too comfy," Gabrielle mumbled from the other side of Jasmine. "And too warm," Fleur said from behind Hermione.
"All those in favor of sleeping in a bit longer?" Jasmine asked.
"Aye!" called out ten sleepy voices.
"Opposed?" Jasmine asked.
"Nay!" Hermione said indignantly.
"The ayes have it," Jasmine said with a smile.
"Fine," Hermione huffed. "How long?"
"Just a while," Jasmine said as she yawned.
"Just to doze a bit," Fleur said, also yawning as she wrapped an arm around Hermione.
"There's no rush," Gabrielle said as she yawned as well and put her own arm around Jasmine.
"That's... that's..." Hermione said, obviously struggling. After several seconds, and several vocal yawns from the other witches all around her, she finally gave up and yawned as well. "That's not fair," she said petulantly, finally relaxing and closing her eyes.
Saturday, June 3, 1996, Noon. (Heart and Soul, Chapter 51)
"I can't believe we slept all morning!" Hermione muttered as she dished up her lunch while also trying to read the special edition of the Daily Prophet about events at the Ministry and Hogwarts. The entire coven was eating together, even though they knew that the rest of the school was desperate for details about what had happened at the Ministry. None of them wanted to leave the company of the others, though, not after sharing such a stressful series of life-and-death events. Even Fleur was eating with them instead of sitting at the head table.
"You've been studying like mad for the past couple of months," Jasmine pointed out to Hermione as she started in on her own lunch. "You know the material front to back."
"At this point you shouldn't be thinking about anything but potential extra credit," Padma said.
"Extra credit?" Hermione asked in a panic-tinged voice. "Extra credit? No one told me about extra credit!"
"It's not commonly known because it's not always offered," Daphne explained. "It's up to the examiner during the practical portion. If they see you doing especially well, they'll sometimes ask if you can perform a much higher level spell for extra credit."
"Kids from wizarding families hear stories about it, which is probably why we know," Susan added.
"Just... don't do the hornets if you're offered the chance for extra credit during your Transfiguration exam," Hannah said. "Those things are scary."
"Not to mention the fact that you'd probably lose points if the examiners thought you were trying to kill them," Padma added with a smirk.
"Right," Hermione said as she nodded jerkily. "No hornets. Extra credit. Don't kill the examiners."
"Is she going to be like this all through exams?" Tracey asked with a worried expression on her face.
"Probably," Neville said with a sigh, then continued in a near-whisper and with a repressed smile, "I'm sure Jasmine will find some way to calm her down and distract her later, though."
Three different witches who were in the middle of swallowing — including Jasmine — all choked on their food while Ginny kicked him under the table.
Friday, June 16, 1996, Evening. (Heart and Soul, Chapter 51)
"I can't believe OWLs are finally over," Tracey said in relief before knocking back another butterbeer.
"I can't believe we have an entire summer without having any assignments or studying that we have to do!" Hannah added.
"What do you mean no studying?" Hermione asked. "We only have two years to prepare for NEWTs!"
Several small pillows were thrown in her direction, but only half-heartedly. The entire coven plus their closest friends had gathered in the Room of Requirement to celebrate the end of exams and most were sure that Hermione was joking that time. Well, pretty sure.
"Were you feeling alright during the History of Magic exam today?" Daphne asked Jasmine. "You looked like you were going to collapse or something near the end."
"It was the last OWL exam," Susan pointed out. "Maybe she was just burnt out?"
"No, I was too bored to stay awake," Jasmine answered. "I used to think it was simply Binns that was boring, but I found I was boring myself to sleep just from writing the answers to the essay questions."
Hermione gasped in indignation and threw a couple of her pillows in Jasmine's direction, eliciting laughter from the others.
"But seriously, what are we going to do this summer?" Padma asked. "I mean, You-Know-Who is dead, and so are most of his followers, but we all know that we aren't done yet."
"Hey, we deserve a bit of time to relax!" Ginny retorted. "And some of us do still have OWLs to look forward to."
"Alright, alright!" Jasmine said loudly, getting the others to quiet down. "We do deserve and need some time to unwind. But we also can't afford to waste the opportunities we have right now."
"Jasmine's right," Daphne said. "There will be a lot of changes happening in the Ministry and Wizengamot. We aren't old enough to have much direct influence, but by now everyone in magical Britain knows what we did, so for the time being people who do have power and influence will probably listen to us." She turned to Jasmine and added somewhat apologetically, "I'm afraid a lot of it will be on you, in part because of your family names and in part because of your fame — old and new."
"I know, I know," Jasmine said with a sigh. "I don't like it, but I can't afford to act like it doesn't matter. The rest of you talk to your parents or other family members to see what they can do. Write letters, maybe. I'll have to work with my godfather to see what sort of influence I have."
"So, a summer of politicking?" Tracey asked.
"We need to keep up with our fighting skills," Susan insisted. "I doubt that we've seen the end of having to defend ourselves."
"There is also the Celtic holiday of Lughnasadh on August 1," Fleur said. "We couldn't celebrate any rituals on that holiday last summer, but we can do so this summer."
"Oh, I'd like that," Hannah responded. "And we're still doing Midsummer's Eve, right?"
"Of course," Fleur answered. "We are going to hold the ritual at Callanish on the Isle of Lewis.
"Uh, will it be possible for us to participate?" Neville asked, gesturing to himself, Ron, and Blaise. "I mean, you said it would be a bad idea for us to join you for Beltane, but you also said that Midsummer's Eve would be OK."
Jasmine and Hermione looked at each other, then at Fleur who shrugged uncertainly.
"In principle, I don't have a problem with that," Jasmine said. "I mean, sure, it will probably feel a little odd since I've gotten used to doing rituals with other witches, but you three are good friends."
"The main problem is zat zey are veela rituals, so zere is no specific role for wizards," Fleur explained. "Normally wizards are not allowed in ze circle at all, but I zink I can get permission for you to be present."
"So they'd be in the circle like Dumbledore was — more observers than participants?" Hermione asked.
Fleur nodded, then continued, "On top of zat, we veela tend to let our allure run more freely during ze rituals. Dumbledore was not affected, probably because he was such a powerful wizard, but zree young wizards..." She trailed off, not needing to explain the obvious difficulties that everyone would likely encounter.
"There is another option," Blaise said. "There's more than one stone circle on the Isle of Lewis. My mother's group could probably be persuaded to hold their Midsummer's Eve ritual near yours. I'm certain that Neville, Ron, and I would be welcome to join them as participants in a ritual where there are roles for wizards, not just witches."
Hermione expression showed a great deal of interest in that idea. "Someday I hope to do a ritual with your mother's group — and hopefully a much expanded group, too — but being able to have simultaneous rituals so close sounds like a good first step. I'm sure there aren't too many places where that could be easily done."
Blaise nodded. "I think that three or four could be held there, all fairly close." He then turned to the other two boys and asked, "What do you think?"
Neville and Ron looked at each other with uncertain expressions on their faces. "I... I like the idea of being a full participant rather than just an observer," Ron said, "but to be perfectly honest, I'm still a little unsure about these rituals generally. In some ways, simply being able to watch the first time is appealing."
"The three of us have been practicing Occlumency diligently. Would that help?" Neville asked Fleur.
Fleur tapped her chin in thought for a few moments, then answered, "Perhaps. We would have to restrict ze number of veela zere — no matter how good your Occlumency, at your age you would be easily overwhelmed if too many of us are present. At ze same time, ze more you focus on your Occlumency, ze less open you will be to the magic of ze ritual. Zis is a big part of why we have never tried to make room for wizards in our rituals."
"If it's possible for us to be there, I think I'd like my first ritual to be with all of you," Neville finally said, "even if I'm not doing much more than standing around." Ron nodded vigorously in agreement, at which point both Ginny and Luna got up to hug them.
"Even if you don't have full ritual roles," Gabrielle added, "I zink you'll be able to do more zan just stand around. Fleur and I will send a letter to our mother in ze morning."
"Talk to your mother anyway, Blaise," Jasmine said. "I'd like you to be with us alongside Ron and Neville, if it can be arranged, but whether you're with us or your mother, I think it would be good if her group is at a nearby circle."
Blaise smiled. "I agree. You said she wants you to talk to them anyway, and maybe this would be a good opportunity, even if it's just to introduce yourself."
Wednesday, June 21, 1996, Evening, 8:00 PM. (Heart and Soul, Chapter 51)
The sun was still bright despite the late hour, so Jasmine could easily see the small group of adult witches and wizards as she and the coven approached the meeting point, halfway between Callanish and Cnoc Fillibhir Bheag. Because they were only separated by a little more than a kilometer, the distance was short enough to easily walk but far enough that Auror Tonks wouldn't see any of the members of Alessandra Zabini's group. Even though she suspected that Tonks could probably be trusted, it didn't seem like a good idea to bring an auror to their first encounter.
As they drew close, Jasmine saw someone she never expected to see. "Sirius!" she called out, watching him smile. "I had no idea you'd be here!"
"It occurred to me that your godfather might find it easier to understand what you are doing if he had a chance to participate in at least one ritual himself," Alessandra said. "After all, there's no substitute for personal experience."
"After listening to you two talk about how wonderful your rituals were," Sirius added, "I didn't hesitate to say yes when she asked me. Yes, I know, this won't be quite like what you do, but I figured it would be close."
"Let me introduce you to the others," Alessandra continued. "This isn't our entire group, naturally. These are just the members who have been most active in pushing back against the slander that's been spread about you and who wanted most to meet you. First we have Reginald and Mary Cattermole. Reg works in the Ministry." The younger witches all nodded to the middle-aged couple she gestured to. "You should remember Griselda Marchbanks from your recent OWL exams."
"Oh!" Hermione blurted out. "I didn't... I mean, you look..."
"I know dear," Griselda responded. "I learned a long, long time ago that it's better to dress in a stiff and formal manner when dealing with students. Here, though, I can be more relaxed."
"Over here," Alessandra continued, gesturing to a younger couple, "are Michael and Frances Worthington. He's an enchanter and she works as a curse breaker for Gringotts. You all know Xenophilius Lovegood, of course. Luna contacted him and sent him to me."
"It's been a long time since I've had a chance to participate in a group ritual," Xenophilius said. "I had no idea this group existed and I was so happy when Luna told me about it."
"Over here is someone else you should know," Alessandra continued, "Maia Rosmerta, owner of the Three Broomsticks." The younger witches all gaped a little bit, shocked that the bar owner could look even more busty and appealing than she normally did. Apparently, she toned down her appearance quite a bit while at work.
"Here we have Roger and Alice Bell," Alessandra said. "They own a cafe in Diagon Alley and their niece is in Gryffindor."
"Oh, Katie?" Jasmine asked, and the older couple nodded.
"Finally, this is Warren Macmillan," Alessandra said, gesturing to a much older man. "His grand-nephew is attending Hogwarts and he's a healer at St. Mungo's."
"Ernie Macmillan?" Susan asked. "He's a friend of ours."
"I'm pleased to meet you all," Jasmine replied before proceeding to introduce the people she'd brought with her: members of the coven, Fleur, Gabrielle, and Adrienne. They'd had to leave Neville, Blaise, and Ron behind, mostly because they were recovering from taking strong lust dampening potions which Apolline had brought. It was something used by wizards who occasionally had to work with or around many veela for any length of time and worked by enhancing feelings of indifference to a degree directly proportional to a wizard's feelings of lust and desire.
Unfortunately, it hadn't been created with wizards going through puberty and surrounded by beautiful witches in mind. Neville, Ron, and Blaise would have been befuddled by lust without the allure, and the lust dampening potion hit them pretty hard, rendering them almost completely indifferent to everything going on around them. When they'd left, Apolline had assured them that she'd be able to get them up and functional again soon.
Once the introductions were over, Jasmine said, "I know we need to have a more substantive meeting with more of your group so I can try to convince people that I... well, that we are serious about bringing at least some of the old ways back. I expect that to be rather difficult — after all, what can a witch who's only just passed her OWLs do? I'd like to think, though, that our actions speak louder than our words, and those actions include holding ritual celebrations all over Britain over the past year. If you visit Castlerigg, the Merry Maidens, and of course Stonehenge, you'll see what our rituals have achieved. If that doesn't reassure people of our intentions, I'm not sure what will."
The adults all nodded in understanding, then Adrienne stepped forward to speak. "Jasmine introduced me as Adrienne Durand, but what she did not tell you is that I am a member of the veela Theledrion, our people's ruling council. For reasons that I cannot disclose at this time, Jasmine and her friends have the support of the veela, and in a show of good faith, I would like to join you in your own ritual tonight."
Alessandra smiled broadly at hearing that, and immediately agreed to let her join them, but Hermione was a bit less certain. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Fleur mentioned how veela... I mean, with the allure?"
Adrienne smiled slightly and said, "It will be fine. I won't be able to relax as much as I normally would in order to hold in my allure, and I probably won't benefit as much from as I would if I were in the circle with you, but it is still worth doing."
Wednesday, June 21, 1996, Evening, 9:30 PM. (Heart and Soul, Chapter 51)
By the time they all got back to Callanish, the three wizards were starting to walk around and had fortunately all changed into their thin yellow shifts, giving the witches a chance to change as well some distance away and behind a conjured screen.
"I can't believe it's been a whole year since we first did this," Tracey said to Daphne. "At the time it seemed like an adventure. Now... now it's like a normal part of our lives."
"So normal that you've stopped groping yourself every time your bust size increases," Susan teased. "Or has that finally stopped?"
"No, it hasn't," Tracey said, looking down at herself through the thin yellow material. "None of the changes have, not yet." She looked around at the others, focusing more closely on certain aspects of everyone's physiques, then continued, "It doesn't look like it's stopped for any of us."
"I think it's going past merely pushing us to our natural end result in less time," Hermione observed. "I think we'll all end up with bodies that are taller, stronger, and faster than we would have developed normally."
"I'm sure not going to complain," Ginny chimed in. "Maybe soon I won't be the scrawniest in my family."
Soon they were all together inside the stone circle, and contrary to the fears of some the three wizards weren't ogling the witches in their revealing attire. Even without the lust potions, they probably would have been too busy trying to cover themselves without being obvious about it to focus on what they could see of the witches.
Like the previous year, they were all wearing garlands of clover, red and white hawthorn, St. John's Wort, azaleas, and wild roses on their heads — even the boys, though Ron had gotten a sour expression on his face when he received his and said to Neville in a whisper that carried pretty far, "Aren't these awfully girly?"
Luna had responded with a disappointed look which, surprisingly, caused Ron to go red with embarrassment before muttering, "Sorry," to which Luna responded with a smile and quick peck on his cheek.
"Wow," Ginny said softly. "Not even mum gets him to pull his foot out of his mouth that quickly."
"Luna obviously offers him positive reinforcement," Gabrielle pointed out, "which seems to work much better zan ze negative reinforcement of yelling."
After being anointed with consecrated honey and given mugs of mead made from fermented honey from the same hive, they all stood around the central bonfire talking to and getting to know the small number of veela who had travelled to northern Scotland for the ritual. Ron, Blaise, and Neville spent most of their time with Juliette, the veela who had led the previous year's ritual and who was now explaining to them the setup of the altar and the statues of the goddesses Hestia and Áine on either side of it.