Jasmine went downstairs to investigate the source of her father's distress. He usually only sounded like that when he was dealt with Harry.
Suddenly she rushed down the stairs, what if...but to her disappointment it wasn't Harry standing in the hallway, in fact nobody was. She followed the voices into the sitting room and froze when she spotted the stranger sitting on the sofa.
Dark eyes bore into hers and she averted her gaze as his narrowed into a glare.
"Come in and sit down," her mother ordered. She sat down on the only available seat at the other end of the sofa.
"What, what is it?" Jasmine paled suddenly, "is it Harry? Is he ok?"
The grim expressions weren't reassuring.
"I have nothing to do with Potter," sneered Snape and Jasmine felt her heart rate return to normal before it went up a notch again. If it wasn't anything to do with Harry then why was Snape in her sitting room. There was no doubt in her mind that the man sitting on her sofa was Severus Snape.
"I'm here to deliver this, seeing as there were some complications last year!"
Snape held out a thick envelope that bore the Hogwarts crest on its back. He shook it impatiently when Jasmine failed to move. If anyone noticed her trembling hand when she reached out to take it, nobody mentioned it.
She didn't look up as she opened it. She could not bear to see the look on her mother's face or the disdain that would surely be in her father's eyes. The room was silent as she unfurled the parchment.
Snape watched the Dursleys as Jasmine read her letter, her brow furrowed in concentration. Her parents were both looking anywhere but at her or at him. The harsh words spoken before Jasmine had entered the room hung in the air. After realising who he was and that this wasn't in connection to their nephew, Vernon and Petunia had tried to throw him out and told him in no uncertain terms that their daughter would not be attending Hogwarts or become a witch. It had only taken a few sentences on Snape's behalf and an explanation of an Obscurial before they had grudgingly ushered him into the house and called their daughter downstairs.
Snape sighed loudly, he just wanted to get today over with and not be involved in any family drama. It was moments like these that made him glad that it was only him.
"I will be taking you to pick up your school supplies today," he said into the silence and her head shot up, her eyes darting over to her parents who were still studiously ignoring her.
She cleared her throat and he glared into space knowing exactly why she had hesitated.
"Miss Dursley, I can assure you that I am not any more thrilled about this than you are. However, Professor Dumbledore has assigned me to get your supplies thus that is what we will do now. No dawdling."
Jasmine nodded mutely and with one last pleading look to her parents left the room to get ready. Her mind was swirling with one thought after the other all of them fighting for dominance.
"We will not be paying for this nonsense," Vernon ground out between his teeth as he watched his daughter leave the room. With every step she was one step further out of his reach.
"There will be no need, there is a fund for less fortunate students," Snape said, his face pulled into an expression of distaste.
Vernon bristled at the term but didn't say another word, he was only partially aware of Petunia who was leaning into him, trying to hide her soundless tears. This was even worse that when Lily had left her to go to that horrid place.
"It's a lie, you're trying to steal my child," she had whispered near hysterically when Snape had first announced the news.
He had assured her coldly that indeed it was the truth. She had fruitlessly argued that Jasmine had never shown any signs of magic, not like Harry. Snape had shrugged and responded that some children of Muggles didn't show signs of magic. It wasn't highly unusual or a sign of lesser magic.
From that moment on Petunia's eyes had glazed over and Snape had the feeling that nothing else had gotten through to her until she heard him opening the door.
He was already out on the front step, Jasmine frozen in the doorway when Petunia suddenly lunged into the hallway. Snape didn't miss Jasmine's hopeful expression which gave way to disappointment when all Petunia did was breathe heavily into the silence.
"Mum?" Jasmine's voice came out so shaky she hardly recognised it herself.
Petunia's eyes focused, then hardened and she turned back into the sitting room without another glance.
Snape heard Jasmine's breath catch.
"Come on," he ordered brusquely and with brisk steps walked down the path to the local park from where they could apparate to Diagon Alley.
He hadn't been happy at the prospect of having to side-along-apparate with Jasmine but the alternative was to make the long journey to London the Muggle way. He decided that this moment of discomfort was better than extending the torture.
He didn't look back to see if Jasmine was still following him.
Jasmine was still trailing after Snape, in a daze. She was almost glad that he was completely ignoring her so that she could get herself under control. The last thing she wanted to do was burst into tears under his stern eyes and with every deep breath she took she was fighting back the urge a little more. So she focused on her breathing, trying to push everything else out, calling the words of her dance teacher to mind, to focus on one thing and let everything else fall away. By the time she had followed Snape into the park and behind some tall bushes, the lump in her throat had shrunk and the tears weren't threatening to spill immediately.
"We're going to apparate to Diagon Alley now," Snape said and held out his arm, "I suggest you hold on and don't let go until we land unless you want to leave a part of you behind." He said the last bit with a nasty smile and Jasmine grabbed onto his sleeve. Before she could ask what it meant to apparate, the world lurched under her feet.
She wasn't in any way prepared for the shock of being transported to another place by magic. It felt like all the oxygen in her body was sucked out and she was being squeezed through a tight tube. Despite all warnings she found her grip loosening but a strong warm hand gripped hers and made sure it stayed in place.
They landed with a thump and Jasmine sprawled on the ground dry heaving. Her day had definitely not turned out the way she had imagined.
Snape did feel a brief moment of pity as he watched since his first experience with apparition had also not been the most pleasant.
"I told you to hold on," he scolded but his tone lacked its usual bite not that Jasmine noticed. She looked at him incredulous and with a fire ignited in her eyes.
"Some warning would have been nice," she snapped and he wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose. Up until then he had hoped that she wasn't quite as awful as her cousin.
"Watch your tone," he hissed and raised his eyebrow pointedly.
She huffed and got up off the ground brushing her clothes off. Now that her stomach had settled into a semblance of normal she was able to take in her surroundings. So far it wasn't as impressive as Harry had described.
"Follow me." It was only when he turned and his robe swished around with him that Jasmine noticed he was in wizard's garb. She could see why Harry hated him now, he was a heartless git.
However, she did follow him because she didn't really have any other choice. For a brief moment she hoped that maybe she'd see Harry but then tampered it down. The odds were slim and the more she thought about it she realised that she didn't want to see her cousin just then as she didn't want to hear what he would have to say about her family.
As they rounded the corner Jasmine froze forgetting all her worries for a moment. It was truly a sight to behold.
She was only propelled into motion again once Snape beckoned her impatiently and she followed him once more, eagerly trying to see everything going on around her which was nigh on impossible.
They stopped outside a shop called "Madam Malkin's" and Jasmine knew from Harry's letters that this was where she would get her robes.