Chapter Seven: Troublemakers and Challenges

The Gryffindor common room was one of the coziest places Jessamine had ever seen. She wanted nothing more than to curl up on the armchair in front of the fireplace. Although as soon as they were shown the common room, the prefects were pushing them off to their new bedrooms. Jessamine gave a quick goodnight to the to-be Marauders, then followed her sister and friends upstairs.

In her new dormitory, Jessamine saw a room quite similar to that she had seen in the films. The other girls had already claimed the other beds, leaving Jessamine with the bed closest to the door.

Not wasting anymore time, Jessamine picked out pyjamas, as well as her toothbrush and toothpaste from her suitcase and made a beeline straight for the bathroom. After getting changed, she headed straight for bed, barely making it under the blanket before she fell asleep.


"-Jessie! Wake up, come on!"

A hand shook her shoulder. Jessamine slapped the hand away. The hand returned and shook her more roughly. Having no response from Jessamine, the hand left. In the background, Jessamine could hear some ruffling and hushed whispers. Then everything went quiet. Too quiet.

Whooosh!

Jessamine's blanket was ripped straight off the bed. Jessamine had no time to register what had just happened when she was assulted by four soft but forceful objects hitting her all over her body. Jessamine opened her eyes, curling into a ball to protect herself. Her roomates had decided to awaken her by attacking her with pillows.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Jessamine wailed, "You are horrible roomates! How dare you betray me like this?"

Her new friends giggled.

"You were righ', Lily, your sister is way too dramatic." Mary commented.

Jessamine placed a hand over her heart "Dramatic, me? Well I never! If this is how you're going to treat such a beloved and treasured roommate, then begone!"

Jessamine shot out the hand over her heart, waving her friends away in a shooing motion. She slid off the bed and mockingly stormed to the bathroom. Just as she was about to enter, a pillow hit the doorway, barely missing the back of Jessamines head. Jessamine turned to see her traitor twin sister smirking at her. Picking up the pillow, Jessamine flung the pillow at her twin. It hurtled through the air so quickly that Lily had no time to move away. The pillow smacked into Lily's face, making her stumble back. Jessamine scrambled into the bathroom, not wanting to deal with Lily's wrath so early in the morning.

Ten minutes later, Jessamine was dressed and heading down to the Great Hall. The room was full of grumpy, tired teenagers. The five friends slid into the seats next to the to-be Marauders, who surprisingly were already up and eating breakfast.

"Good morning!" Lily greeted cheerfully. As Jessamine was surrounded by eleven year olds, they were just as engergetic as Lily was. Jessamine, however, was not. With eyes half closed she contently munched on a slice of toast. She listened in silence as her friends excitedly spoke of the exploring they were planning to do that day. Jessamine found that today there were no lessons. Those would begin tomorrow. Jessamine wondered how the school year would pass by, considering Harry Potter wouldn't be there causing trouble everywhere he went. Things were going to be normal. Well, as normal as a magic school could be.

A lot of training was in store for Jessamine. If she was going to bring down the Dark Lord, she would need to spend every opportunity getting smarter, stronger. Especially since it was something she would be doing alone. There was no way in Hell Jessamine would let any of her newfound friends go with her. Most of all Lily. If Jessamine could help it, her twin sister wouldn't be getting three feet near Voldemort.

Jessamines thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the owls. First year muggleborns and some halfbloods gasped at the sight of the owls. Letters and parcels were dropped at every table, eager students reached out to grab their mail. The room changed the seconds a brown feathered owl dropped a red envelope in front of Sirius Black, who happened to be sat directly across from Jessamine. Whispers broke out amongst the Great Hall, what alarmed Jessamine most was the word 'Howler'. Jessamine stared at her new friend across from her, who had gone as pale as a ghost. James and Peter were sat either side of him, quietly giving him words of encouragement.

With a slightly trembling hand that was barely noticable, Sirius gingerly picked up the envelope and opened it. The second it opened, the howler sprung to life, hovering in the air in front of Sirius.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK," The voice of Walburga Black screeched. Jessamine already felt her ears aching, "YOU ARE AN UTTER DISGRACE TO THE ANCIENT AND NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK. YOU ARE A FAILURE TO THE FAMILY, A JOKE. WHAT KIND OF BLACK IS SORTED INTO GRYFFINDOR, YOU TERRIBLE BOY? YOUR FATHER AND I ARE ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS.-"

Seeing everyone watching, some laughing, some looking at Sirius in pity, made Jessamine snap. Without hesitating, she brought out her wand, pointing it at Sirius "Muffliato."

Instead of hearing Walburga's shouts, everyone could now only hear a strange buzzing noise. Jessamine recieved a few glares from those who found entertainment from the howler. Others looked confused. The only people who were able to hear the howler now were Jessamine and Sirius.

"-THE OTHER PUREBLOOD FAMILIES WILL MOCK US FOR YEARS BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. YOU ARE ALMOST AS BAD AS THAT FILTHY MUDBLOOD LOVING COUSIN OF YOURS. YOU WILL GO TO THE HEADMASTER IMMEDIATELY AND ASK TO BE RESORTED TO YOUR RIGHTFUL PLACE IN SLYTHERIN, YOUR FATHER AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR A GRYFFINDOR SON. YOUR BROTHER IS DISAPPOINTED IN YOU. IS THIS THE KIND OF ROLE MODEL YOU WANT TO BE? DO YOU WANT TO RUIN HIS LIFE? THINK OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN HE GOES TO HOGWARTS NEXT YEAR. HIS REPUTATION WILL BE RUINED BEFORE HE EVEN ARRIVES THERE. FIX THIS!"

At last, Walburga had decided to give it a rest. Jessamine felt that Walburga's screeching could give Molly a good run for her money (Not that Molly had that much money to begin with). The letter burst into flames, its ashes ruining what had once been Sirius' breakfast. Sirius was frozen, staring at the place where the howler had once been. He was looking right through Jessamine, something she didn't like seeing

"Sirius?"

He was snapped out of his trance, his grey eyes meeting Jessamine. Sirius took a few deep breaths, "Great. I haven't even been here for an entire day and I've already been humiliated in front of the school. How did she find out so quickly? I bet it was Narcissa, for fu-"

"It could have been worse, I suppose.." Jessamine quietly commented, unsure of what else to say.

"Could have been worse? Could have been- Evans, the entire school just watched my mother give me the bollocking of my life. How could it have been worse?!"

Jessamine shifted uncomfortably under Sirius' wrathful gaze, "I, ah, I cast a charm. Over you- us. Anyone who tries to listen into our conversation will only hear a buzzing noise. Look," Jessamine looked at James, who was already looking at Sirius and easily caught his attention,"James, you're a bloody prat. You're a complete tosser and no one likes you."

"What? I can't hear you! There's this weird noise and I can't hear anything you're saying." James replied, oblivious to what Jessamine had just said. This caused Sirius to crack a small smile. It was small, but it was there, which releived Jessamine.

".. That's.. That's actually amazing. What spell is that? I've never heard of anything like it." Sirius asked.

Jessamine shrugged nonchalantly, "Just one I found in one of my books."

In her haste to protect Sirius from total humiliation, Jessamine had forgotten one very important thing. The spell hadn't been created yet. In fact, the spells creator was sat a few tables away from her, and she doubted that Severus Snape knew enough about magic to created his own spells, he hadn't even been to his first lesson in Hogwarts yet. Jessamine silently prayed that no one payed too much attention to the spell and didn't ask questions.

"Um, I hope you don't mind too much that I heard the entire howler. Since I was the one to cast the spell, I don't really know if I could've blocked myself out of the conversation. When you're ready, I can cancel the spell."

"Oh, right. Uh, I guess you can cancel it now, I suppose. It's not like I really need it anymore." Sirius told her.

Jessamine awkwardly fumbled for her wand, noddind vigorously, "Yes, sure, okay. Just, if you need to talk, I'm here, alright?"

And with that, Jessamine lifted the spell. The pair returned to their breakfast, deflecting any questions that came their way about howlers and Walburga Black.

Once Jessamine had finished breakfast, she went exploring in the castle alone. Lily had gone to meet up with Severus and had invited Jessamine along, but she refused. At one point she found herself at the Library. Finding a secluded place to sit, Jessamine picked up a book of charms and began to read. Jessamine was so immersed in her book she barely noticed the hours pass by, or that she missed dinner. With heavy eyelids, she was lulled to sleep by the peaceful atmosphere. She didn't wake until two hours later, where she was greeted by a pair of twins. Their ginger hair instantly had Jessamine thinking of the Weasley twins, but they hadn't even been born yet. Jessamine knew there was only one other ginger haired twins she knew of.

Jessamine grinned lazily, "Well, well. If it isn't my fellow troublemakers."

The twins smirked. The one on the left spoke up, "It's not a good idea to fall asleep here, you know. Anything could happen to you."

"You didn't do anything to me, did you?" Jessamine asked skeptically, narrowing her eyes at the twins.

"To a fellow troublemaker?" The second twin asked, "Of course not!"

Jessamine nodded, "Wise decision."

"So, Evans, why don't you tell us about some of your days of troublemaking?"

"Hmm.. I don't see why not. Well then, there was this one time in school where I.."


Later that evening, Jessamine could be seen arm in arm with Gideon and Fabian entering the Great Hall.


(The Next Day..)

Finally, Jessamine mentally sighed with relief, I finally get to start my first lesson at Hogwarts Jessamine almost dropped her quill in shock.

"Dear God, I sounded like some overzealous Ravenclaw." She muttered to herself.

"Did you say something, Jessie?" Lily asked from besides her. Before Jessamine could reply, Lily grabbed her arm, "Oh, look, it's Sev! Sev, over here!"

Seconds later, Severus was setting himself down onto the stool to Lily's left. He nodded to the twins, "Good morning, Lily, Jessamine."

Jessamine tiredly waved at her friend. The three friends had quiet conversation for a few minutes, their words almost drowned out by the rest of the class' loud chattering. All talk died down when the classroom door burst open. Jessamine half-expected an older Severus Snape to storm in, giving a speech about no wands and no fooling around, but instead came in Professor Horace Slughorn, looking just like he had in the Harry Potter films.

The Professor strolled up to the front of the class, a friendly smile on his face. Once he was standing in front of his students, he opened his arms in a welcoming gesture, "Good morning, class and welcome to Hogwarts. I hope you're all settling in just fine, yes? I am Professor Slughorn, and I shall be teaching you potions. Now then, I think that we shall jump right into todays lesson. Who can tell me what aconite is?"

Three hands simultaniously shot into the air. Lily's, Jessamine's and Severus'. Naturally, Professor chose Severus.

Severus straightened up, "Aconite is a plant with magical properties. It used to be widespread, but now the plant can only be found in wild places. Although the flowers are useful in potion-making, its leaves are toxic."

"Five points for Slytherin! Thank you Severus," Slughorn beamed, "And can anyone tell me what other names this plant goes by?"

Jessamines hand shot into the air quicker than lightning, she began to answer when the Professor montioned towards her, "Aconite also goes by the names of monkshood and wolfsbane."

Slughorn nodded in approval, "Very good, five points to Gryffindor, Miss..?"

"Evans. Jessamine Evans."

"Lovely name. Now then, next question. Who can tell me what dittany is?"


By the end of the lesson, Severus, Lily and Jessamine had been dubbed as the class know-it-alls. Very few questions in class had been unanswered by students with those three in the class. Jessamine noticed how Remus looked like he knew the answer to some of the questions too, but he never once raised his hand. He just sat quietly next to Sirius and James, who both seemed more content shoving each other around and not paying much attention to the lesson itself.

Jessamine was currently trailing behind Lily and her new roommates, who were trying to navigate their way through the school with a map they were given along with their timetables earlier that morning. One moment, Jessamine was walking alone, the next, she had the to-be Marauders flanking her sides. James casually threw his arm over Jessamines shoulder, "Wow, you and your sister are really smart, Lily."

Ah yes, Jessamine thought bitterly, And here begins the inevitable 'which twin am I talking to?'

Jessamine rolled her eyes, "You know, with how little attention you were giving the lesson, I didn't think you'd actually notice anything. And by the way, I'm Jessamine. That's Lily, right in front of me."

James, looking slightly put out from not being able to tell the twins apart, let his arm fall from her shoulder.

"Hey Remus, you seemed to know some of the answers to Slughorns questions, how come you didn't answer? You could've helped us win Gryffindor some points." Jessamine asked, leaning forwards to get a glance at Remus.

The boy in question blushed, ducking his head down, "I-I don't know. I guess- I guess I just didn't want to answer w-wrong and embarrass myself."

Jessamine moved around James and lightly punched Remus in the arm, "Remus, honey. It's perfectly okay to make mistakes. Hell, I'll bet even I will give the wrong answers too. Oh! Tell you what, let's make it a challenge!"

"Challenge?" The four boys asked in union. Jessamine held back a smirk.

"Yeah. Whoever answers the most questions correctly by the end of the year gets to.. Hmm. They get to make the losers do a dare! And the losers have to go through with it." Jessamine smiled.

Sirius wrinkled his nose in distaste, "That sounds boring! What kind of challenge is that?"

"One you're too afraid to take part in, since you know you'll lose to either me or Remus."

"That's it. You're on! And when I win, you're all going to be my house elves for an entire week." Siruis exclaimed.

Jessamine grinned, "Great! James, Peter, you're both in on this too."

"W-what?!" Peter squeaked, not expecting to be brought into it.

James punched the air, "Yes! You four are going down."

"Fine, fine. I-if you four are doing it, t-then so shall I." Remus sighed, running a hand through his hair. Jessamine almost scoffed. It was too easy getting these boys into doing what she wanted.

Once the group reached the classroom, Jessamine split from the boys, intending to follow after the girls, but Sirius grabbed her hand, pulling her along with the boys, "Nuh-uh. You're coming with us. I have a challenge to win after all."

Jessamine rolled her eyes, letting Sirius guide her to the back of the classroom. As soon as she was in her seat, Jessamine brought out her things and set them neatly on the table, "I don't know why you're making such a fuss. First thing, you're so not going to win. Second, this is History of Magic. Our teacher is a ghost who is going to spend the next hour droning on about some topic. We're not going to get much chance to answer any questions."

And they didn't. The moment the lesson began, Professor Binns did not hesitate to start lecturing the class on the Gargoyle Strike of 1911. Unlike her sister in the front row, Jessamine did not attempt to take any notes on the lesson. She planned on teaching herself what she needed to know. Even the Ravenclaws struggled paying attention to Binns voice. Instead, Jessamine introduced the four boys to Hangman, which Peter particularly liked and was good at.

"Muggles have such weird games." James mused.

Jessamine hummed in acknowledgement, "I know plenty of others. I'll show you guys a new one next lesson. It'll become a tradition of sorts. Spend History of Magic lessons playing games."

Soon enough, it was 12 o'clock and the five children gathered their things, leaving the old classroom in favour of the Great Hall.


So I'm off college ill today, and I thought hey, why not update my story and neglect the coursework that I know I will probably fall behind with at some point? I'm such a good student. Although I would be a fantastic student if I ever went to Hogwarts. Not even Madam Pince would be able to drag me out of their school library.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything regarding the Harry Potter series, which belongs to the lovely J.K Rowling. I only own Jessamine and any characters I create in the future.

Have a nice day!

~ SparkleMuffinz