Chapter Six
Annatalia's Place was, not so surprisingly, quiet tonight. Ever since those strange commotions started happening a year ago, the usual nightly customers had dwindled significantly.
People had been going missing or been found dead with no cause for why or how they'd died. Even one of Annatalia's best workers and her entire family had disappeared without a trace.
"Miss Anna, can you break up a Fifty for me?"
"Give it here," Miss Anna sighed, and took the fifty pound bill to her small office space on the side of the cash register.
Chione was a brand new worker, and the girl had yet to learn how to finesse smaller change from thoughtless customers. She was a sweetie-pie though, and Anna's loyal customers loved the happy and vivacious teenager.
Counting out the singles, Anna kept one ear on the happenings by the register, so when she heard the word 'Jasmine', she was back on the frontline in a flash before the girl had a chance to call for her; absently handing the money to Chione, she took stock of the young man asking for Jasmine's whereabouts.
Handsome, well-dressed and obviously monied; she didn't recognise him, so he definitely wasn't a frequent customer... if he'd ever been to the diner before.
"I don't make it a habit of giving out private information about my employees, young man, even those who don't work here no more."
"It's really important that I find her."
"Can't help you... sorry."
"I understand. Thanks anyway."
Once the young man left, she signalled Chione to wipe down the tables while the place was empty. Feeling sluggish, she poured herself some coffee and went back to her office.
From the open doorway, she could see that Chione was back behind the counter, giving it a thorough sanitizing.
"Here you go, try to make it last. You gotta ask these people for smaller change every now and then, or they'd start makin' it a habit of bringin' a fifty pound bill for a fifty pence doughnut."
Chione frowned at the stack of notes, confused.
"You already changed it for me remember? When you were talking to that guy."
"What guy?"
~~~(*)~~~(*)~~~
"I don't want that little bastard anywhere near our daughter, Ororo."
Logan and his family were at their isolated home in the mountains for the summer holidays. They chose it specifically for Ororo to tutor Jazzy and their adopted son in basic magick.
"Logan, please. The young man just wants the opportunity to apologise, and Jasmine says she'll hear him out."
"Jasmine is seventeen, she doesn't get a say. Besides, she's always with that other wizard, do we really need another one hangin' around our little girl?"
"Our daughter has been through a traumatic experience, love and like it or not, it's changed her... aged her. Jazzy is doing a lot better since she joined Xavier's school; it's time we learn how to let her make her own decisions."
Logan grumbled and slouched into the sofa, "But did she have to shave her hair off, or get piercings and tattoos? My little princess is turnin' into a bald pin cushion."
"So she pierced her nose and got a cool tattoo of her new codename, it's not that bad. Plus, she's not bald, it's called a TWA, a teeny weeny afro. She's still your gorgeous little princess, Logan."
Logan sighed and pulled his wife onto his lap. "I know she is... babe, it's just hard seeing all these extra stuff she's doing to her body, in order to heal her mind. She doesn't talk to me anymore, not like she used to, and when we do get to spend some time together, it's awkward and rushed. Like she hates bein' around me."
Ororo brushed her fingers through his hair and rained soft kisses on his face.
"She'll come around, my love. Jazzy loves you and..." Ororo lifted his favourite coffee cup, "you're the 'bestest daddy in the whole wide world' to her and always will be. Give her time, baby."
Logan crushed his wife to him, still amazed at how much she loved him, and reminded of how much he loved her and their family.
"I'll try not to kill the boy when he gets here," he grumbled into the curve of her neck.
"I guess that's all I can ask."
Ororo shrieked with laughter when he munched playfully on her neck.
~~~(*)~~~(*)~~~
"There better be diamonds in those roses, punk. Is that what you think my daughter's worth, bub? The price of stripped plants that are gonna be dead in a few days?"
"U-um... well... s-sir-"
"Logan?" A voice sounded from inside the house, and Harry sighed in relief when the blades retracted into the man's knuckles, and he disappeared inside.
"Nothing, Ororo! It's just that boy, come to see Jazzy."
Harry tapped frantically away at the dew drops on each rose and was shoving them at the woman who came to the door.
"A-actually, these are for you Mrs Howlett, I just wanted to thank you for letting me through your Wards and giving me the chance to talk with your daughter."
"Oh, thank you, Mr Potter. These are lovely; come in," Ororo signalled for Harry to follow her, "Jasmine's in the back with her little brother."
Harry followed Mrs Howlett through their living room. He gulped when she paused to place the diamond-studded roses in a vase on the counter next to her husband, who was calmly sharpening the blades protruding from his knuckles and glaring at him.
"Stop that," she kissed the cheek of her husband - who didn't break his menacing glare - and took Harry's arm, leading him out a side door, "don't pay him any mind Mr Potter, those blades never need sharpening."
Harry blanched, but nodded with an uneasy smile. A child's laughter caught his attention then, easing his apprehension. Mrs Howlett had taken him to a clearing in their backyard; he gazed around, awed at the tall trees circling the entire house, reminding him a bit of his time spent with Hermione in the Forest of Dean.
"Look Jazzy, look! I catched a dragonfly. Let's go make a potion."
"You caught a dragonfly, S-"
"Shea! Jasmine!" Mrs Howlett called out to the voices in the trees somewhere ahead. The voices quieted instantly, then Harry heard their approach before he spotted two forms coming out of the trees.
"Mum, can Jazzy and I make a potion?"
"Niceties first, Shea. Mr Harry Potter, this is my son Shea; Shea, this is Mr Harry Potter."
"It's nice to meet you, Shea and you can call me Harry."
Shea didn't say anything as he stared blankly back at him, before turning back to Mrs Howlett.
"So I have to wait?"
"You sure do, honey, and since Jazzy is busy right now, how about you help me start making dinner?"
Harry's eyes were constantly drawn to the girl, but she had yet to look up at him, as she watched her little brother with a small tilt of her lips. A part of him wanted her to look at him, and smile encouragingly the way she did at the diner; he wanted her to acknowledge him. He wanted to go back to that night when they'd planned a date for after her shift was over.
I don't deserve her acknowledgement, he thought to himself, as a list of his sins against her scrolled through his mind.
Though it had been unintentional, he had led Voldemort and his Death Eaters straight to her, and the second he'd returned to the wizarding world, he'd forgotten that she'd even existed. With a sad sigh, he released any preconceived notions of courting her, and again turned his attention to her little brother, now glaring up at him.
The little frown was so familiar, that he felt a wave of regret for the one and only soul unable to Return, like the others.
"I don't like you, Mr Potter."
"Shea! That's rude..." Mrs Howlett was cut off by Harry's laughter.
The frown, the instant dislike and his name spat like a curse were so like Him, Harry couldn't help but feel like the world was as it should be once more.
"Are you laughing at me?" Little arms folded and Harry bent double at the stitch in his side. "Cuz my daddy says that if anyone laughs at me I'm supposed to tell him."
"I... I'm sorry, I swear I'm not laughing at you," Harry said kneeling in front of the boy, holding in a laughter and a sob he hoped the ladies hadn't noticed, "it's just that you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago."
Curiosity flooded the widened eyes, "Who?" Shea asked.
Harry smiled wistfully at the familiar dark eyes.
"The bravest man I ever knew."
~~~(*)~~~(*)~~~
"When I begged your mum to see you, to apologise, I know now that I was being as selfish and as foolish as I've always acted. I want to beg for your forgiveness and I want to apologise for as long as it takes; yet, I know it's not enough. What you did for us, all of us, at Hogwarts...Merlin! I'm never going to be able to make up for what I've done, am I?"
Jasmine had taken Harry to the gazebo further into the trees, and now she sat silently, as he slowly paced in front of her and tried to... apologise?... explain? Surprisingly, it seemed as if even he didn't know, and inexplicably, her annoyance, her anger and even her indifference dissolved to nothing.
"I'm sorry, Jasmine. I'm so sorry; for my stupidity in coming to you when I knew I was a target, and that anyone close to me would be in the most danger. I'm sorry for... I can't even explain what happened... but I'm sorry for forgetting about you. When I saw Dumbledore, I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye, but I thought he would bring me back and we could go on that date; then... I forgot about you... completely, and when I saw you in that clearing, surrounded by all those Death Eaters..." Harry brushed back his hair in frustration as he stopped in front of her, "I'm not saying this right..."
"Harry..." when he looked at her, Jasmine patted the seat next to her and he sat with his elbows on his knees and his head bowed, "what I went through... that experience... I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but it made me stronger mentally, and especially physically and magickally.
"I will admit that I'd been so disappointed when you didn't come back, and I felt like a fool, but I believe things happen for a reason, and though I don't believe you did anything to me on purpose and there's no need for you to apologise... I forgive you, Harry. My big brother once told me that sometimes - if we want to go forward in life and fulfil our destiny - we have no choice because there's only one path available to us; but there are those, rare and valuable occasions when we do have a choice with multiple roads open before us. I believe it was a good thing that we didn't meet up that night."
"You're probably right. I might not have been able to learn all I did that night, and even worse, Death Eaters might have ambushed us... I was being really careless that summer."
"Of course I'm right and frankly, I think we'll make better friends anyway," Jasmine grinned at Harry's relieved smile, "besides, I've been seeing someone, whose support has been so invaluable, I don't even know what I would have done without him, and as gorgeous as you are, I'm sure you have girls just aching to know The Chosen One."
Harry brushed the back of his neck, still embarrassed by that moniker. "Yeah, it's hard to figure out who's genuine and who's not."
"Well, what are brand new, tentative friends for? Let's start at the beginning; tell me all about that tosser, Harry Potter."
~~~(*)~~~(*)~~~
Harry walked beside Jasmine as she took him to the apparation point. They'd spent a couple of hours just talking and getting to know each other, and he felt lighter than he'd been in a long while.
The knowledge that they could be friends was reassuring to him; they'd both clearly needed closure from their brief, yet life-changing, encounter.
"I'm glad you came, Harry, and thank you for telling me about the auction on Professor Snape's books. I'm sure he has rare collections even mum hasn't read."
"I'll write you when I learn more from the Goblins... see if I can get them to hold the books for you."
At the apparation point, they both stood silently, the moment... bitter-sweet.
"I hope there's a reality out there where I wasn't such an idiot," Harry said, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.
"Oh, I think there is... and Professor Snape loves you like a son there too."
With a lighthearted chuckle at Harry's face, as he tried to wrap his mind around the possibility, Jasmine touched his arm lightly.
"Keep in touch, Harry."
"I will, Jasmine." With a nod to her, he disapparated.
She turned and began the two-minute trek back to the front gate when the sound of apparation had her spinning around.
The sight of her boyfriend's smiling features made her heart soar and she ran into his arms.
"Draco..."