Right, another chapter. I wanted to upload yesterday, but I had a major exam that I had to study for. Sorry the chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but this is a busy week and it's the best I can do right now.

Enjoy


There he was, coming for her in the darkness. A small window of light opened in the infinite black, and she crawled for it on her hands and knees, desperate.

But alas, the light wasn't meant for her. The darkness was merely giving way for a greater evil.

Him.

His contrasting silhouette showed him in all his glory, showed the leather strip in his hand. She could smell the alcohol running off him in waves, and the realization hit her hard. He was angry. He was drunk. He was not going to show her mercy. Not tonight.

She braced herself for what she knew was coming, taking in as deep a breath as her bruised ribs would allow.

And then he was shaking her. At first, she was trapped in her past, and could not leave, but then his voice reminded her, and she opened her eyes, unseeing, green eyes meeting troubled brown.

The first emotion that cascaded over her was fear. No one had ever been this close to her; no one had ever lay a hand on her without the malicious intent of causing her pain. Despite her aching injuries, she fled, clumsily scooting away from him on the couch, pressing herself into the corner, feeling the cool glass of the window.

Then the reality of the situation set in, and she remembered. Remembered the train, Hogwarts. She was safe.

Calming down, she reached to touch the gold necklace around her neck, the only thing left from her mother. Instantly, she felt better, as if an invisibly warm someone was there, hugging her, whispering words of reassurance.

After what seemed like hours, which in reality was only a few seconds, Jasmine had the courage to open her eyes, which she had unintentionally screwed shut, and met Ron's concerned gaze.

"Jasmine," he asked. "Are you okay?"

She felt like bolting, eyeing the door of the compartment warily. But then, she immediately felt ashamed of herself. Ron was her very first friend, the very first person ever to walk up to her, kindly, of their own accord. Dudley had chased away anyone else. He was the first person to show her kindness. And she owed him.

Putting on a mask to hide her unease, she smiled. "Yeah, Ron, I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

"What happened?"

"Nightmare."

"Judging by the way you were talking in your sleep, it sounds horrible."

Jasmine looked out the window to avoid meeting his eyes. "I'd rather not talk about it."

After a few moments of silence, Ron spoke, "You should get dressed. We're almost there, I just asked Percy."

Jasmine had noticed that Ron had already changed into his robes, so she picked her own from her trunk, setting out of the compartment and into the bathroom, trying as hard as she could to keep herself from shaking.

Once she got into the lavatory, she lost all sense of collection as shudders swept through her body, leaving her gasping for air. The very idea of her uncle, coming back for her in this safe haven terrified her.

Suddenly, her stomach rumbled and bile rose into her throat. Quickly, she twisted and vomited into the exposed toilet seat next to her, upchucking all of the delicious sweets she'd eaten with Ron. She knew she shouldn't have eaten too much, knowing that her body would not be able to handle it after being so empty for so long. She slowly straightened up, ignoring the wave of dizziness that washed over her.

She splashed her face with cold water, gently rubbing at it, and removing the viscous white liquid that easily ran, revealing much. She took off her oversized shirt and pants that had once belonged to Dudley and stood in her underclothes, inspecting her body for any re-opened wounds under the makeshift bandages. Some one knocked on the door, startling her. "I-I'll be out in a minute!" She called back.

Turning back to her reflection, and pulled on her plain black robes, watching them fall to her feet, seemingly satisfied. They covered her whole body from neck, to feet. Only her toes and wrists were visible, along with her face and neck, of course. She pulled on boots, and tied back her long, sweeping hair back in a ponytail. Bending over, she picked up a small jar from the pockets of her pants, another impatient knock causing her to make haste.

Jasmine glanced at the mirror, unscrewing the jar carefully. Leaning forward, she applied the white cream inside with expert fingers, cleverly erasing all traces of the abrasions scattering her face. About two minutes later, all were gone.

Jasmine promptly exited the bathroom just as a sneering boy with blond hair raised his hand to knock again. "Took you long enough!" he spat at her before roughly pushed past her and into the bathroom. She gasped as he bumped into one of the more painful bruises on her shoulder. He glared at her with annoyance, gray eyes blazing, and then he slammed the door loudly.

Jasmine trudged back to her compartment, placing her clothes back into her trunk. Ron was at the window, staring. "We're slowing down!" Jasmine joined him, and realized that, instead of the messy blur, she could identify trees and animals. The train was really slowing down.

A voice echoed throughout the train. "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.

Immediately, Jasmine's stomach churned, this time with anxiety and excitement; and Ron's face had paled considerably. They put all of the remaining candy into their pockets, and joined the crowd in the corridor.

Jasmine' first glimpse of Hogwarts gave her a jolt of pure panic. It was so big! It seemed so easy to get lost in a place that big.

But when she actually got inside and was waiting with Ron in the crowd of first years, she felt something that she could only relate to courage surge up into her when that boy came up to her, the same one that had scorned her on the train.

He stepped up, to where she was standing at the head of the line.

"So it's true then? You're Jasmine Potter?" He asked, taking his hair out of his eyes by a flip of the head.

"Yes, that's me," Jasmine replied, eyeing the boys on either side of him warily. They were bulky and grimacing menacingly, but Jasmine held her ground, looking at all three of them with distaste. The boy with blonde hair noticed, because he pointed to them with a motion of the head. "This is Crabbe, that's Goyle. And I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Ron coughed, and Draco glared at him. "Think my name's funny? I know who you are! Red hair, freckles, patched up robes…you're a Weasely. My father told me all about you." He sniffed. "Potter, you'll soon find that some wizard families are better than others. You don't want friends of the wrong sort. I can help you there."

Jasmine looked at his hand, then back at him. "I think that I can tell for myself," she raised an eyebrow. Draco's face reddened slightly. "I'd be careful if I were you. If you're not careful, you might go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them either. Hang out with riff raff like the Weasleys and Hagrid and it will rub off on you." He turned to go, but Jasmine put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

All she could see was red. No one insults my friends.

"Say that again, Malfoy, and it might be the last thing you ever do."

"Oooh, the girl is going to fight me, is she?" He turned his head to look over his shoulder, which Jasmine had in a hold. "Let go of me, Potter, or I swear, I will-"

"We're ready for you now," Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, making both Jasmine and Malfoy jump away from each other.

"Thanks for protecting me, Jasmine." Ron whispered in her ear as they filed into the great hall.


This chapter was more of a filler than an actual, plotline milestone, but one of those should be there in the next chapter. I have EXAMS until Monday, so the next update should be either then or Tuesday. Sorry for the wait, But I'll update as soon as I can.

This was posted on June 2 2011. (Just an issue I have)

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