Recommendation: This chapter's recommended fic is "After Sunrise" by Hlpur. Sadly never finished, this was one of the first H/Hr fics I ever read and favorited. Harry and Hermione return from Australia with a couple of surprises which some of their friends find to be wonderful; others, not so much. Not deep, but entertaining. I will forever lament the fact that it was apparently abandoned.


Chapter 09 - Yule Preparations

Sunday, December 20, 1994, Morning.

It was a relieved Minerva McGonagall who welcomed Jasmine and Hermione into her office that morning. The tension between the two of them earlier in the week had been palpable, and for a while she had feared the worst; but now it seemed that whatever was wrong had been worked out. Even so, she thought to herself, it would be a good idea to check and make sure that similar problems don't happen again in the future.

Guiding them away from her desk and towards a set of chairs arranged around a small table, she said, "Why don't we sit over here. This is where I entertain more personal visitors. Although I don't expect us to avoid academic topics and school, I see that our conversations will be more personal than professional. It could be a problem if anyone else comes by and sees because they'll wonder why I'm treating you this way, but the chances of that are small. Most know better than to come here on a Sunday — in fact, that's why I asked you to start coming on this day of the week."

The chairs here, plush and decorated with Gryffindor colors, were far more comfortable than the straight-backed wooden chairs set out for visitors at her desk, and the two younger witches were glad for the accommodation. On the table sat a tea service and a delicate lace covering protecting the table top.

After tea was served, Minerva began with an inquiry about the recent state of their relationship. "I have to ask you about how things are between the two of you on a personal level. I could see that you were at odds with each other earlier this week, despite your denials, but now it looks like matters have improved?"

Both girls looked a bit ashamed at being reminded of their fight — they had only just made up the night before, so the memories of anger and pain were still fresh. Hermione spoke up first. "It was mostly just misunderstandings. We both made mistakes, but it was my fault more than hers. I was invited to the ball by Viktor Krum early in the week, and I was so flattered that I just... lost my head a bit, I guess. Unfortunately, it gave the impression that I fancied Viktor, which understandably made Jasmine upset."

"Hermione has pointed out to me that I need to find better ways to deal with feelings like jealousy," Jasmine continued. "I can't keep it all bottled up then let it explode when the pressure gets to be too much. That was my mistake. Luckily for me, Hermione was willing to look past that and come to me when I was angry so we could start working it out."

"I'm glad to hear that," Minerva said. "It's not just important for the two of you to resolve your differences after an argument (and you will have arguments — all couples do), but also to identify the causes and think of ways to avoid having the same sort of argument again later. Learn from your mistakes and you'll become a far stronger couple in the long run. The close friendship that already exists between the two of you should make that easier."

The two witches glowed at this praise from their professor. Jasmine in particular was unaccustomed to being complemented by someone in authority for doing well.

"Now, speaking of your relationship," Minerva continued, "have either of you had time to start reading the book I gave you? I'm interested in whether you have any comments to share, questions about the content, or even personal insights that the book has generated."

Hermione looked slightly embarrassed at this point and answered after a moment, "I'm sorry, but no. I've skimmed through some of it, but I thought that it might make more sense for me to first read the standard, traditional wizarding positions on matters like love and marriage, then read your book so I can at the same time learn how they differ. Finding the material in the library has been tough, but I've already read through the books on marriage that I found most interesting."

McGonagall pursed her lips and looked to be deep in thought for a long moment before saying, "To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure which approach would be best. Normally I'd recommend reading the Pureheart book first because having her perspective already in mind would make the narrow-mindedness and bigotry of the traditional wizarding positions much easier to recognize. But I'm not sure that that would be the case with you, Miss Granger — you seem quite adept at recognizing some of the flaws in magical society."

Hermione smiled and was quite pleased again at the praise.

"However," Minerva continued, "At least some of that — and possibly most — is due to the fact that you're an outsider. You don't share all the assumptions and prejudices which people raised in magical society take for granted. But what about your own assumptions and prejudices which you bring with you from your muggle upbringing?"

Hermione frowned, suddenly not sure that she was being praised anymore and uncertain how she should answer the question. "I'm sorry?"

"Well, Miss Granger," Minerva said as she sipped her tea, "Every society has its faults, and every person has assumptions and prejudices which they learn from their family, their community, and society as a whole. Most people typically aren't even aware that they have them — they're simply taken for granted. This is true for both magicals and muggles. It's true about me, and it's true about you."

Comprehension dawned on Hermione's face. She had been so busy picking apart the prejudices she found surrounding her in magical society that she'd never stopped to think about what sorts of prejudices she might be carrying herself.

"If I'm not mistaken, there is still prejudice against same-sex relationships among muggles, correct?" Minerva asked. When both young witches nodded in agreement, she continued, "This means that you two carry at least some prejudicial assumptions about them, despite your recent revelations about yourselves. Then there are any number of assumptions you may carry regarding love in general, marriage, other types of relationships, and of course sex."

The young witches both squirmed at the mention of sex, not having expected to ever broach that topic with the much older woman. Minerva decided to ignore their reactions — for now. She knew that they would have to get over their attitudes towards sex and sexuality, especially with that book now in their hands.

"If you start your research with books written from a traditional perspective, you'll catch many prejudices because you don't share them, but you may miss others because they happen to be shared with the muggles and you unconsciously hold them as well. Pureheart skewers most of the common prejudices among magicals, and I expect she also challenges a great many currently held by muggles, too. If you read her book first you may be able to approach the others with a more critical eye."

The room grew silent as everyone took the time to consider Minerva's words. These were new ideas to the fourth-year Gryffindor girls, even Hermione, and it took a bit for them to process everything.

"I'm not saying that starting in the library is necessarily a bad idea," Minerva finally stated. "I'm just saying that it isn't necessarily the best, either. You'll need to think about which is best for you."

Switching topics, the professor asked, "Now, what are you two planning for the Yule Ball?"

Jasmine spoke up this time, explaining how the students had arranged matters. "Well, I'm still going with Neville, and Hermione is going with Viktor Krum. We intend to try to spend a little time with each other alone that night, but we know we won't get much, if any. Ginny has been joining Neville, Hermione, and me for dancing practice nearly every night. Today Hermione and I intend to get dresses in Hogsmeade..."

"Wait," interrupted Minerva, "why don't you have dresses? They were on the list of items for this year."

"I did get one," answered Jasmine, "but Hermione didn't because she didn't expect to want to go to whatever was happening. Well, neither did I, but Mrs. Weasley forced me to get it after the Quidditch World Cup. Anyway, Hermione is going to get a dress, and I thought I'd get something new if we can find one that compliments hers. We can't go together, but we can dress as if we were, and it shouldn't arouse much suspicion since everyone knows we're close friends."

Minerva smiled at their plan. "That sounds quite nice. I'm glad to hear that you're trying to do something to give yourselves the feeling of going together, even if you can't do so officially. But if you intend to do much dress shopping in Hogsmeade, you should probably get going now — you'll need as much time as you can get. Let me offer a tip, though. Most students probably go to Gladrags because it's the best known clothing shop, and it's right on High Street. A bit further down, however, is a side street off to the right, and it will take you to some different stores usually frequented by townsfolk. There you'll find Gossypamer & Organza's, a store that specializes in dresses, robes, and other upscale clothing for witches. They will be a little more expensive, but I think you'll like what you'll find. And they shouldn't be as busy, even today, so you might get some personal service."

The two young Gryffindors looked happy to learn about this, but before they could go to make use of this advice, their professor had something else to say. "I realize that this might seem to be coming a bit late, but I needed time to process it all and reflect on my past behavior." Looking from one to the other, she continued, regret clearly etched on her face. "When you first came to me, you came with a list of serious grievances about my past actions. At first I was defensive and denied that you had legitimate complaints. Then, after you forced me to confront the gravity of a couple of those incidents, I reluctantly conceded that I had been in the wrong in those cases and may have been wrong in others."

Jasmine's and Hermione's eyes had grown wide listening to this. They hadn't given a lot of thought to that first meeting because so much had been happening, but clearly the older woman had.

Minerva put down her teacup and folded her hands in her lap, looking uncomfortable saying all of this. "Last week, you provided a detailed list of questionable actions by Professor Dumbledore, many of which involved me as well. After spending the past couple of weeks thinking about it, I must to my great shame admit that I have indeed wronged you both, and you especially, Miss Potter. Although not every incident could have been handled differently, all could have at least been handled better, with greater care taken to minimize the harm to you."

Making an obvious point of looking them both in the eyes, she continued, "It's not easy for me to admit, but I am sorry for the extent to which I've failed you, both by my actions and my inaction. I promise you that I will try to do better by both of you, just as someone in my position should. However," she warned them, "I won't always be able to do as much as I'd like because of oaths to follow the headmaster's instructions."

Both young witches were greatly moved. "We understand, Professor," Hermione assured her quietly. Jasmine nodded and said formally, "We accept your apology." Then her face softened with a shy smile as she added, "Thank you."


Sunday, December 20, 1994, Late Morning.

Walking along the snow-lined path to Hogsmeade, Hermione's eyes widened briefly and she said, "Oh, Jasmine, before we go to that store, we need to go to the Owl Post Office so I can change money. I wrote to my parents and asked them to send me some cash so I could buy a dress."

With a knowing grin, Jasmine responded, "I'll bet that was fun. How much did you grovel in your letter, and how many times did your parents repeat 'I told you so'?"

"Mmmm, crow — tasty!" Hermione said sourly, smacking her lips. Then she sighed. "Still, it could have been worse. I think it helped that I used you for sympathy points."

"Me?"

"Sure. I didn't tell them that it was a ball or that I had a date — I didn't want to have to grovel about that, too. I simply told them that it was a formal affair, and I needed to go because of you, since you're a champion. I already told them how you were being forced to compete, of course, and I think I benefited from their sympathy for you."

"Oh?" Jasmine asked dryly. "How very Slytherin of you, Miss Granger."

"Now, now — you don't have to get nasty. So, Owl Post Office first?"

"No need," Jasmine responded. "I've still got plenty of galleons from when I visited Gringotts before the World Cup."

"Jasmine," Hermione said with a little heat in her voice, "I can pay for my own dress."

"I know, Hermione, but it's easier this way. You have to pay a fee to exchange money, right? Why do that when I already have galleons? We can go exchange your muggle money later if I don't have enough, but if I do, why not simply give me the equivalent in British pounds?"

"Oh, sure! That makes sense."

"And you'll find that my exchange fee is far more pleasant than the Post's."

"Oh?" asked Hermione suspiciously. "What are your fees, exactly?"

"Just one kiss per galleon," Jasmine answered impishly.

"I don't know," Hermione hedged, though with a gleam in her eye. "Sounds a bit steep to me..."

"Well, be careful, or I'll have to tack on a few service charges, too," Jasmine replied with a grin.

"And what might these service charges be?" Hermione asked archly. When she didn't hear a response, she looked over at her girlfriend to see her wiggling her fingers in a tickling motion. "Oh, no!" Hermione said anxiously as she backed away down the path. "No... don't you dare... Jasmine Dorea Potter, don't you dare try to tickle... eeeek!" As Jasmine launched herself forward, Hermione turned and ran towards Hogsmeade, yelling and laughing the whole way. They didn't stop until they reached the side street described to them by Professor McGonagall, where they leaned up against a wall to catch their breaths.

"So," Jasmine asked, still panting, "I assume I don't need to impose any service charges?"

"No," Hermione answered with a wide but tired smile, "I'll happily pay the exchange fee, if that's okay with you."


Professor McGonagall's recommendation of Gossypamer & Organza's was spot-on. It was by far much nicer than Gladrags, with a better selection of upscale women's clothing — even if it wasn't the sort that most students would have occasion to wear often. While Hermione was browsing some dresses, however, Jasmine discovered an unexpected surprise: wizarding lingerie.

Since Hermione was otherwise occupied, Jasmine got a crash course in magical undergarments from a helpful wardrobe witch, and she discovered that there were some big differences from the muggle versions. For one thing, magical undergarments didn't rely on straps and other physical elements to the same degree as their muggle counterparts. This meant that the magical versions could be smaller and lighter, and thus a lot more comfortable — and that was before temperature and sizing charms were added. They could also be lacier and more revealing without sacrificing comfort, support, or anything else a witch might desire.

That was all it took for Jasmine to fall in love with magical clothing.

"Hermione, get over here!" she called excitedly.

"Can it wait? I was about to try this on."

Jasmine rushed over and grabbed Hermione by the shoulders. "Two words," she said as she stared into her girlfriend's face. "Magic. Bras."

Hermione's eyes went wide at the implications, and she put up no further resistance as the green-eyed witch seized her arm and dragged her over to the lingerie display. Between the two of them, Gossypamer & Organza's did enough business on girls' undergarments alone to close for the day, but the Gryffindor teens weren't done — they still had to find a dress or dresses.

Unfortunately, that part of their plan didn't go as well. They were unable to find two dresses that would have complemented each other in the way that the girls had been hoping for. They could have gotten matching dresses, but even they had enough social sense to recognize how bad of an idea that was. This left them looking for a dress which looked good on Hermione and didn't clash (too badly at least) with what Jasmine already had.

In the end, Hermione decided on a beautiful periwinkle blue dress that had a satin bodice, cascading ruffles of increasingly dark chiffon for the skirt that went all the way to her ankles, light butterfly sleeves, and a contrasting tie at the waist. They were originally going to go with a simpler red dress that came to mid-calf, but she fell in love with the more elaborate blue one and purchased it on the spot.

They were confident that it would mesh well enough with Jasmine's, an elegant, floor-length dress with a medium blue V-neck halter, midnight blue bodice, and a skirt with alternating waves of medium and light blue ruffled satin.

Since they could only find one dress, they decided to splurge a little more and purchase some other clothing. It was more upscale and expensive than what they were used to, either in muggle or in magical shops, but they were having such a good time that they couldn't resist the temptation. Between the two of them, they added several blouses, skirts, robes, and shoes to the pile of undergarments already waiting for them at the till.


Walking back to High Street to hopefully meet up with friends for a late snack at the Three Broomsticks, the pair passed by a flower store they hadn't noticed before, Magical Blooms. Pulling on Hermione's hand, Jasmine led them both inside. "What do we need in here, Jas?" she asked.

"Well," Jasmine answered, "if we can't have dresses that coordinate well, perhaps we can find matching flowers to go on the dresses?"

"Jasmine! That's a fantastic idea!"

Browsing around the flower shop, the two Gryffindors discovered some amazing oriental lilies. Before the approached, the lilies had the standard pinkish hues, but when the girls got up next to them, they started shifting colors to match what the girls were wearing.

"Excuse me," Hermione called out to the man behind the counter. "Can you tell us about these lilies?"

"Greetings!" the man said as he came up to the girls. "My name is Rosenzweig, owner of Magical Blooms. We just received our first-ever shipment of these magical lilies. They were first bred by a couple living in California, and apparently it was an accident. The wizard was the clumsy sort and spilled an unidentified potion into his wife's flowerbed, thus producing what you see here. The magical lily looks like a standard oriental lily at first, but starts shifting to match the colors you are wearing."

"That's amazing," enthused Jasmine. "How long does the effect last?"

"Oh, these lilies will last for another week yet at least. The potion they were treated with evidently increases their longevity in addition to giving them the color-changing property."

"Jasmine, we can use these to create wrist corsages," said Hermione. "They'll be similar, but not exactly the same, and they'll go with both of our dresses perfectly!"

"What's a wrist corsage?" asked Mr. Rosenzweig.

"In the muggle world," explained Hermione, "it's common for women to wear small flower designs with their fancy dresses. A standard corsage is pinned to the dress; a wrist corsage fits around the wrist like a bracelet. They are usually made up of multiple flowers and some ribbon. I was thinking of putting one of these magical lilies in the center and surrounding it with some small white rose buds."

"That sounds marvelous!' said Mr. Rosenzweig. "I've never heard of such a thing myself, but I'd love to help you. If you'll allow me to design these for you, I'll throw in the white roses for free. Can you come by to pick them up later?"

"Yes, certainly," said Jasmine. "Thank you so much!"

"You're quite welcome, young ladies," Rosenzweig said as he ushered them out of his store. "Just tell everyone where you got them. They might be good for business!"


Unable to find their friends, Jasmine and Hermione decided to simply sit together in the Three Broomsticks with a couple of warm butterbeers. Slowly, Jasmine tried to bring up a subject she had long wondered about, but hadn't ever been able to figure out how to ask about. Earlier, though, Hermione had given her an opening. A bit of time had passed, but this was the best chance she'd seen in ages, and she couldn't waste it.

"Ummm... Hermione? Can I ask you about something?"

"Sure, Jas," she answered, wondering about the auburn-haired witch's abrupt change in demeanor.

"Earlier, you mentioned that your parents sent you the money you asked for, and that they didn't give you a hard time about it, right?"

"Yes...?"

"Well, that reminded me of something that's had me curious but I haven't known how to ask about. You never say much of anything about your family — none of your family, parents or anyone else. I've worried that maybe you've had problems at home, like I do, but you don't have any of the issues that I do, and on the few occasions you do mention your parents, they seem OK. Is there anything you'd like to talk about? I don't mean to pry, but I've been a little concerned."

Hermione sagged deeper and deeper into her seat as Jasmine spoke. This was not something she been looking forward to talking about. And on a day that had been going so well, too! Oh, well, I guess it had to happen some time. Might as well get it over with...

"No, Jasmine, I don't have problems at home — not like you do, certainly. My parents are nice. They're great people — they're successful, ambitious, own their own business, involved in the community, go to church..." Hermione sighed deeply before continuing, "But all of that makes them busy. Too busy for me, most of the time."

Jasmine reached under the table, where no one would see, to take Hermione's hand as it was resting on her knee.

"When I was fairly young, I must have started to resent how much time they were spending away from me and tried to find a way to get their attention. There were always lots of books around the house, and my parents like to read, so I think I chose to focus on that — especially non-fiction books, because they would have seemed the most 'adult' of anything I could find."

Taking a drink of warm butterbeer, Hermione paused for a few moments before resuming. "That backfired, I guess. They saw me reading mature, adult books. I have an fantastic memory, so I remembered what I read and thus gave the impression of being smart. I was an only child, so I acted like the two main people in my life: my parents. In the end, I think all of that caused my parents to regard me as a small adult rather than a child, and so they began giving me more of the freedoms and privileges of an adult rather than the time and guidance needed by a child.

"At first, I was thrilled. What kid doesn't want to have some of the respect and freedom that adults take for granted? I could come and go to the library almost whenever I wanted, for example. Since I truly loved to learn and read, that was fantastic. But the downside of this new arrangement soon became clear. I no longer had a babysitter waiting at home for me, and my parents felt free to stay away from home even longer. We no longer took trips that kids would enjoy, like to the zoo. In the end, my attempts to get more attention from my parents actually cost me much of what little I'd been getting.

"Even worse, encouraging me to act more like an adult only made it harder for me to learn how to be with kids my own age, and you know how that's turned out. It's only been recently that I've been able to look back on my behavior and recognize the mistakes I made. I wasn't an adult and didn't handle myself well. I've had the worst of both worlds: in some ways I'm more mature than my peers and I can't relate to them; in other ways I'm still behind them, and we only end up annoying each other."

Hermione wiped a couple of stray tears from her eyes before taking another sip of butterbeer. "Don't get me wrong, my parents are nice people. Everyone I've met seems to think so, at any rate. They certainly aren't hypocrites who put on a good face for the outside world, but who are mean and nasty in private — at home, they are just as nice and polite as when in public. They just... they don't understand me. Maybe they don't understand kids, and any child of theirs would have been in the same position. Sometimes, though... sometimes I wonder how much of it is me."

Hermione was having more trouble holding back her tears, now, but she pushed on anyway. "Whatever the reasons, we've been distant for years, and that distance has only been growing since I learned I was a witch. That's partly my fault because I haven't tried to bridge the gap. Nothing I did worked before I discovered magic, and now magic has given me a refuge where I can hide from that particular problem. I love my parents, I really do, but... well, I don't know if that's enough. I don't know if there's enough of a relationship left to salvage. Or if there is, how we'd go about doing it."

Jasmine suddenly wished she had asked this in a more private setting. If there weren't so many people around, she'd wrap the brunette witch in a hug and provide whatever comfort she could. Here in public, though, holding her hand under the table was the best she could do — and it wasn't nearly enough to help the now-sobbing girl.

It might not be enough for now, but Jasmine would plan. Oh, yes, she would plan. I'll say this much for the Durselys, Jasmine mused. For all that their treatment of me was awful, there were never any mixed messages. The Dursleys hate me, I hate the Dursleys. Simple.

Hermione's situation was far more confusing. If I had my parents, I'd be happy to take them any way I could get them — she shouldn't feel like she has to give up on hers because they are having trouble understanding her. They obviously love and support her, and that should be enough to build on. Now, I need to figure out how to get the reconciliation process started...


Sunday, December 20, 1994, Evening.

Dancing lessons went far better that Sunday evening than they had during the previous evenings. Everyone was in a good mood, especially Ginny. True to his word, Neville had dropped a few hints with Dean Thomas. It had taken a bit, but the other boy had finally figured out that Ginny Weasley was available and might be interested, so he had taken her shopping in Hogsmeade earlier that day and asked her to the Yule Ball while they were eating lunch in the Three Broomsticks. Ginny then immediately went to Gladrags, where she was able to find an inexpensive but nice dress.

With everyone in such a good mood, they felt lighter on their feet and found it easier to dance smoothly. Neville's culture and tradition lesson covered honor duels, a somewhat unpleasant subject but one which could have significant implications for one's family. Jasmine remembered the duel which Draco Malfoy had challenged her to back in first year — a duel which he had skipped out on. She was surprised to learn that if the wording had made it an official duel, things could have gone badly for the Malfoy heir.

As they were leaving, Neville moved next to Jasmine and said quietly, "I'm so glad that you two made up and aren't fighting any more. It was hard on the rest of us because we didn't know what to do. Especially me, since I knew that the fight was more serious than others realized."

"We're sorry, Neville. We both made mistakes, but we've promised each other to find ways to not make those same mistakes again."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll find all new ones, eh?"

"Prat," Jasmine said as she punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"So, do you plan on getting her an extra make-up gift for Christmas, or is your main gift good enough to cover it all?"

"Uh... gift?"

"Yeah, Jasmine, gift. You know, Christmas?"

"Christmas?" she said in a small voice.

"Christmas. Yule. Same day as the ball we're practicing for?"

"Yule? Gift?"

Neville shook his head. "Oh, Jasmine. When I said you'd find all new mistakes to make, I didn't mean you should start right now."

"Urk!" Jasmine's brain had by this point simply hung out a "Vacancy" sign and pretended not to be home anymore. She was in soooo much trouble...


A/N: That last exchange was inspired by a similar exchange in another fanfic. Can anyone guess which one? Hint: the exchange is between Hermione and her mother.