Well, I'm posting this much earlier than I thought I was going to. Enjoy!
Chapter 76
Jasmine wasn't really allowed to cast magic for at least two weeks after, what the Marauders began to call, the bathroom incident, on Pomfrey's strict orders. She wasn't sure how the Mediwitch knew if she so much as thought about casting a spell, but Pomfrey always gave her disapproving looks in the Hospital Wing. Jasmine figured it would be best not to push the Mediwitch. No matter what time period she was in, Pomfrey was a terrifying force to reckoned with.
Though, with all the homework and assignments she had to catch up on, there wasn't much time for her to dwell on the fact she had couldn't actively use her magic. Magical theory was taking up more of her time than she knew what to do with it.
Even Death had cautioned against Jasmine spellcasting for the time being. The Deity had sheepishly told her that too much of her magic had been taken and she might need to take it easy for a while to recover. Death had mentioned that there was a basilisk fang waiting for her in the Chamber of Secrets. Though, she wouldn't be able to go down there for at least another week, and that was if she was lucky enough to get the Marauders off of her back for a little while.
That seemed highly unlikely, by the way they were hovering around her.
The best thing to have come out of this was the second evening of her time in the hospital wing was when Death explained what had happened after she collapsed. Apparently, Lady Magic hadn't given her as much of a boost as Death had thought and had gotten an earful on the celestial plane. Jasmine wished she had been there to see that. It might have made this entire situation worth it.
This left her writing essays in most classes while her peers practiced spells and wand work. It wasn't like Jasmine couldn't do any of the material once she was back at full strength. She had been leading in most classes in regard to silent casting to the point it was frustrating her friends and classmates.
After potions ended, the fifth day after she had been released from the Hospital Wing, Severus cornered her as she cleaned up her station. The Marauders had all had prior engagements after class, which left Jasmine alone, finally. She loved the boys dearly, but they hovered. Slughorn had left already. He trusted Jasmine and Severus to leave the room in the same shape they found it in, which was a mess after a long period of brewing. He even gave them a wink on his way out…not that she appreciated that very much. Severus looked appropriately scandalized.
"Like I would be foolish enough to even consider what he was insinuating…" he muttered with an eyeroll.
Jasmine raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, "I know that I strike fear into the hearts of wizards and witches alike, but should I be insulted that I'm too terrifying to be considered for courting?"
Severus muttered something under his breath before helping her collect some of the books on her desk. "The Black Family will murder anyone that even thinks about courting you. They have their eyes on you marrying their heir. No pureblood in the country would risk their neck on you."
She sighed, running a frustrated hand through her hair. "That figures. Has your grandfather started looking for a bride for you?"
Severus flushed, turning his head in the other direction. "While it really isn't any of your concern, yes he has. I will be meeting with a few different witches over the next couple months to see if betrothal is an option. There are apparently quite a few pureblood witches that are willing to marry a halfblood as long as they are from a decent family."
Jasmine nearly rolled her eyes. She could have told him that. As long as his grandfather was looking outside of England, there wasn't going to be nearly as much pureblood supremacy talk. Halfbloods are welcomed in most magical communities, so long as they're competent wizards.
Though, by the way Severus was grumbling and crossing his arms, it seemed that the conversation was closed. Talk of marriage tended to do that even to the best of witches of wizards.
"Is there something else you wanted to ask me?"
His dark eyes snapped back to Jasmine. "Teach me how to fight."
An odd request, but Jasmine would try to work with it. "You're going to need to be far more specific than that, Severus. You already know how to duel."
He tapped an impatient foot on the stone floor beneath them.
"Silent spellcasting, Peverell. You're fantastic at it. Teach me."
Severus wasn't awful at silently casting spells. Honestly, he was the best in the class after herself. The Marauders were good, Sirius, in time would more than likely be better than all of them, but that would take years of practice. Severus would easily score an O with his current skill level or if the examiner was stringent an EE. Jasmine brows furrowed as she packed the last of her quills away.
"Why? Your skill is more than adequate compared to the rest of the sixth years."
He pinched the bright of his nose, letting an irritated sigh escape. "A war is coming. I'm not a fool and you are leaving after this year. I learned a lot from your dueling form last year, but it isn't enough. I don't see you fight enough to really get a sense of what a true duelist looks like. When you silently cast spells, I see that fighter come out of you again."
Jasmine blinked, a slight pink tinging her cheeks. It wasn't often she was complimented her fighting skills in such a way. Usually the person at the end of her wand was cursing her skills. "Thank you for the compliment, but the way I was taught wouldn't be conducive or legal for a school setting."
Harriet had been fairly good at silent spell casting. As Harriet she had excelled at wandless magic, not necessarily silent spells. Jasmine was a prodigy at silent spellcasting, and it was something that echoed in the magic of this vessel and through Jasmine's memories. She did not want to mimic the way the Patrons had taught Jasmine. That would require a lot more blood and injuries than she was willing to inflict on a friend.
"You aren't even allowed to use magic. I want you to tutor me or just instruct me on my form."
"Professor Flitwick would be bet-"
"Professor Flitwick is a great duelist in his own right, but he follows all the protocols. I doubt that the duels you had been in before coming to Hogwarts had that many rules. War has no rules, ergo, I go to you for teaching."
Jasmine could see the merit in what he wanted. She knew from Harriet's time that Severus learned a lot of his dueling from other Death Eaters, more specifically, Voldemort himself in the past. He wouldn't have those options this time around and she didn't want her friend to be killed in action because she got lazy. Jasmine bit her lip, "I suppose I could give you some pointers. I won't go easy on you."
He smirked. "I wouldn't want it any other way."
It was later that evening when Jasmine cornered Sirius outside of the common room. It was time to have a long needed conversation. They had come to an understanding over the holidays, but she felt like he was still hiding something from her and with Severus' little admission about the Black Family limiting her marriage chances, they needed to talk. James and Remus had gone in ahead when they saw her silently simmering against the common room entrance and pointed at the Sirius.
They still had a couple hours till curfew, so she wasn't concerned with worrying about being caught after hours. "Can we talk?"
Sirius blinked, grey eyes wide. "Sure?" He replied unsure as she grabbed his arm and dragged him back towards an unused classroom a floor below.
She closed the door behind her and cast a privacy charm around them, just in case someone followed them to either create or overhear gossip.
Sirius was sitting on top of one of the desks, a foot tipping the chair in front of it onto its back legs absently as Jasmine got herself situated in the room.
He was watching her as she approached, her arms crossed.
"Do you know what I found out this afternoon?" She asked with a rather sweet tone to her voice. Jasmine was very tired of people playing with her life. She needed to know if Sirius knew what his family was doing behind the scenes to tip the scales and have her marrying into their family.
Sirius stopped tipping the chair for a moment, keeping it in a half-risen position off the floor with the toe of his shoe. "I doubt it, but you're more than likely going to tell me anyway."
She poked his chest with her pointer finger and the chair clattered to the floor. "Your family is threatening people that are interested in courting me. Here I thought I wasn't getting any suitors because of how hideous I look. No, it turns out that your family has made it politically impossible for anyone in area to even propose a meeting with me. Not that I'm really looking for someone at this point in time, but the option would have been nice."
Sirius groaned into his hands and then tipped his head back. The ceiling was dusty and full of cobwebs, but Jasmine figured that it must hold some answers for Sirius, since he wasn't lowering his gaze back towards her. "I told them to stay out of this, I hope you believe me. Merlin, they never bloody listen," he focused his gaze back on Jasmine. "I can try to talk to them for you. I know that you want freedom from all of this. After all the work that you put into finding me a bride. It's the least that I can do. You aren't obligated to jump through my family's hoops. I'm so sorry they're pushing you to do this. This isn't how this should go."
He was biting his lip and wringing his left wrist with his right hand to the point she was worried he was going to bruise himself. Jasmine took his hand, stopping him.
She released his wrist, pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh. "No, don't apologize for them. You didn't know. I shouldn't have cornered you like this. I'm just so tired of people taking away my choices. I've barely had a chance to live and already so many options have been taken off the table. Even if you talk to your family, it isn't going to do any good. They damage is done. As I said, it isn't like I'm really looking for a spouse at the moment anyway."
She felt Sirius put a hand on her chin, she cracked her good eye open to see him biting his lip a little bit. "Jazz, my family is pushing for a few extra reasons that I haven't really explained…"
And here is the admission she had been more than likely waiting for him to tell her for months. "Why do I get the feeling it has to do with why you took my name off your list originally?"
"Because your startling clear sense of intuition is correct. I was furious when I saw the list of potential brides because I had told them I was going to court someone without their interference when they asked. I had someone in mind and they just pushed on ahead even though I knew she wasn't ready for that kind of relationship or commitment. I wanted to have something that James and Lily are creating. I want to marry someone that I was friends with first."
Dear Merlin, this sounded like a confession that she wasn't sure she was ready to hear. "Sirius-" he held up a hand and she stopped speaking.
"I didn't want my family pushing us together because I was hoping that it would happen organically. Honestly, the Hogwarts rumor mill does nothing but say that we're dating on a regular basis, so much so that my family is constantly sending me letters asking me if something has happened. It's just between all the near-death experiences, fights, inheritance nonsense, you being my best mates cousin and somewhat younger sister and just getting to know you, we've become rather close. I love the friendship that we have, I don't want to ruin this. I don't know if you know this, but I'm not known for being good at the whole…relationship thing."
Jasmine knew that, she was more than aware of it. James and Remus teased him constantly about it.
She could feel her heart beating just a bit faster in her chest. This was something she really didn't want to worry about, hadn't really for quite some time. Relationships were complicated at the best of times and Jasmine had lifetimes worth of baggage attached to her that screamed for why they were a bad idea.
Jasmine hadn't even really thought about starting a relationship until after the war. Sirius confessing to her, well that had only been put on her radar since Christmas. She had never felt that the shell of Sirius Black that Harriet met within a few lifetimes was anything like the young Heir before her. It wasn't the same way she saw echoes of the future in Remus and Severus. Of the men they could or would become due to choices they make in the past.
The Sirius that Harriet had known had never really been present. His mind and soul had been ravaged by dementors and more than likely vengeful family magic. He was barely a shadow of the person he had been, and that Harriet had never even known who that person was. The young man before her was an enigma, a familiar name, but shared nothing else with man that had been her godfather. Jasmine and Sirius had been playing a flirtatious game with each other for nearly two years. Bits of teasing and constant denial only went so far without there being some kind of attraction.
"I was hoping that you would meet someone better suited to the lifestyle your family preferred, you know? What I'm tasked with doing in the future…your family knows what the Peverell line is known for. No matter how powerful my family magic, I doubt it would be worth your time to grow attached to me," she replied with a self-deprecating shrug.
Jasmine knew she had a high risk of dying in the near future. She wasn't so deluded as to think that she would make it out alive in this life. She had a mission from Death and she was going to see if through till the very end, like every life prior to this.
She didn't want to attempt to build a life if it was just going to be taken from her. It was the cruelest form of torture. Death was a possessive creature, not that fond of sharing her with anyone else. Theo and Blaise had fought to stay by her side and Death still held grudges against her two friends, hence why they were currently across the world.
Sirius rolled his eyes held onto Jasmine's hands, they were rather clammy to the touch. "You wear Death like the finest of robes, you are attempting to depose a rising dark lord, and you're trying to tell me that you aren't worthy of The Black Family's attention, never mind my own. We make it our priority to create alliances with only the best witches and wizards in the world. Not to mention that you are one of the most badass fighters I have never seen and one of my best friends. Jazz, you know when I'm in a mood and to come and talk to me, you call me out on my bad behavior without hesitation, did that the first day we met and I've been watching you ever since," his voice was steadier than she thought it would be for a kind of confession like this. Jasmine hadn't thought he felt that way about her. A crush sure, but he had been harboring feelings for her for nearly two years. He didn't know about her past and it wasn't something that she could share with him. She hated lying to him…
"You know I care about you as well. I figured we should both wait, we talked about it at Christmas, but if you're willing to start something I'll meet you halfway. I should have known you were interested when you groped me that first night at Potter Manor," she replied with a small grin of her own. Sirius spluttered, his hands curling around hers as he stammered out a frustrated series of noises.
"Y-you know that isn't what happened! It was an accident! Merlin, you are never going to let me live that down?"
Jasmine, feeling brave in this moment, quickly pecked Sirius' cheek, it was a feather light touch with just enough pressure to constitute a kiss. "I think it's a lovely story to tell people. It really puts our relationship into perspective."
Sirius was near statuesque as one of his hands touched his cheek. "You know that we can't do much more than this without bringing our families into this, yea?"
She shrugged a small smile tugging at her lips. "I figured as much. It wouldn't be proper…especially if someone found out."
Sirius grinned pulling her close, their faces only millimeters apart. "Well, it's a good thing my family is known for keeping secrets." His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her towards the desk. "It isn't like the entire castle thinks we're dating already and has been spreading rumors about us since the moment you entered."
"You are playing a dangerous game, Heir Black," she murmured against his lips, which were a bit chapped from early morning quidditch practices and nervous biting. Her hands and grabbed onto his tie and pulled him impossibly closer. The kiss was charged with nearly two years' worth of unresolved tension behind it, teeth and tongue both very much participating with each hasty breath. It certainly wasn't chaste the way his hands dipped low on her waist or how her hands threaded into his hair and pulled till he gasped.
They did eventually break apart, gasping and flushed. "Well, that was certainly something," Sirius panted, grey eyes alight, cheeks flushed. "Merlin, why hadn't we tried that earlier?"
Jasmine laughed with an honest smile gracing her lips. She was in so much trouble, but she couldn't muster up the emotion to care. She will take this moment of happiness, even if it's fleeting and Death takes her at the end of the journey. At least she tried to enjoy herself, just this once.
"Because we're both too stubborn to admit we might have felt something for each other."
He flopped back on the desk, a hand over his eyes. "Ugh, I hate it when you're right. Bloody feelings."
"You also mentioned something about friendship."
He turned his head towards her, a genuine grin lighting up his face. "Yea, I wanted to court someone I considered a friend." He reached a handout towards her, wiggling his fingers. She chuckled and took it without a second thought.
And there's some romance for you! Next chapter continues the last few weeks at Hogwarts. I know you have all been waiting for this singular moment in the story. Let's see if it lasts.
I can't say that I've written a ton of extra chapters while tax season was going on, but I got one chapter done, so I was able to post this one.
Anyway, I hope you are all doing well. The world is a scary place at the moment and my area is under strict orders to avoid going outside until the 30th, at the earliest. Granted, I work for an accounting firm, which is exempt from that, so I'm still headed into work most days of the week, but contact with the outside world is minimal and it's strange. At least March 2020, the month that never ended, finally gave way to April.
Thank you all so much for the reviews, favorites and follows! You are all great!
See you soon and stay safe,
~Animerocker
