Happy Friday!

Chapter 94

Jasmine spent the rest of the morning researching runes as Sirius rifled through his own pile of paperwork from DMLE. There was no point in going back to sleep, the sun was rising and she had to get to Hogwarts sooner rather than later. Jasmine had gone straight into research mode after Dumbledore left and Sirius didn't like to leave her alone when she was that hyper focused. This way he got some of his own work done and kept an eye on Jasmine to make sure she ate.

They were in the third floor study. The room overlooked the Peverell gardens, which after a few years of careful monitoring, a lot of care and a bit of advice from Alice, had gone from a graveyard of withered vines to a lush and thriving plant filled environment. There were muggle and magical plants alike growing in various shades, shapes and sizes throughout the garden. It was a calming sight. It gave a good contrast, having the entire right side of the study full of windows, while the other walls were covered in dark bookshelves. The natural light made working easier.

Jasmine and Sirius had separate oak desks to spread their work out on and have their own personal spaces.

Jasmine felt that they were lucky that they had the same taste in furniture. Lily and James had fought tooth and nail when decorating their cottage in Godric's Hallow. And, while the Peverell Estate was Jasmine's, Sirius did live here full time and she wanted him to feel like he was at home…

Well, she actually wanted it to feel like he could create a home here. Grimmauld was never going to be home for him. Even after his mother was removed from the premises. There were too many bad memories for him to really feel safe there. Not to mention that Cassiopeia was there all the time and Sirius was terrified of her.

The house elves had been steadily supplying them with tea all morning and then slowly adding food to the tables around them.

"Are you going to go into the office today?" Sirius asked over his stack of paperwork. He had a quill behind one ear and another in his hand.

Jasmine pulled her eyes away from the mess of formulas Dumbledore had essentially left her to deal with. She looked towards the garden and noticed the sun had drastically changed positions. "I don't think so. I'll be headed straight to Hogwarts. I don't have that long till the school year starts and I don't want anyone attending if the building is going to fall down."

"Any idea on how late you will be out then? You and I both know that I have another meeting with the Order tonight."

She nodded, he had mentioned it a few times this week in passing. "Speaking of Order members. I will be stopping by the Weasley residence this evening. I have a few papers for Arthur to sign and some books for Bill."

"You do know that the Order meeting is going to be held at their home, right? I've told you that they are the current members hosting the meetings while Albus finds a more permanent headquarters?"

Jasmine grinned and Sirius let out an undignified snort as he fondly rolled his eyes. "Who do you take me for? Of course, I know. What better way to let everyone in the Order know that not only am I fixing the wards at Hogwarts and that I've taken on an apprentice from one of their most trusted light families."

"You know, everyone always said that Prongs and I were the bad influences, but you and Mooney got into plenty of trouble without our input. You two were the planners that got away with everything," he accused, as red ink dripped from quill and onto the parchment, "On the topic of our favorite werewolf, Dumbledore is still fuming that Remus refused to spy on the English werewolves for him and instead has been teaching in Japan during the summer months." Remus had created a life of his own in Japan with the Fujiwara clan. He still came to meetings and would go on counter raids when he was in Britain, but he wasn't an active spy. Jasmine was more than happy to see their friend living his best life away from all of the violence.

Jasmine nodded, Remus was a great teacher and he didn't have to hide that he was a werewolf in Japan. "Well, someone has to keep the Order on their toes. You know what they say, it's always the quiet ones you need to watch out for."

"Go on and get to Hogwarts. Otherwise, you'll be here all day looking at formulas."

Jasmine let out a small laugh at that. She stood up and stretched her back, and gave Sirius a brief peck on the cheek before getting ready to head out.

She got to Hogwarts with little fanfare. She apparated in front of the gates. McGonagall greeted her and Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen. Honestly, that was probably for the best. There would be less chance of an argument breaking out. Jasmine knew that she was going to be appalled seeing the wards physically in front of her. The rushed patch jobs that had been done to them over the last few decades had looked horrific on the blueprints.

When she got to the ward room her suspicions had been correct. The warding room felt distinctly off as she entered the circular room beneath the school proper. Salazar was more than likely the one who designed it. It's a shame that it was collapsing in on itself. It felt like the runes lining the room were fighting the ambient magic of the school.

"I suppose telling you that you should have come to me earlier won't be of much help?" Jasmine asked, as she pulled out her tools from inside her inner robe pockets.

It would take all day just to unravel half of what was done to this room. That didn't even count Hogsmeade's warding stones, which had already been damaged in the attack years ago. "I had thought Albus had gotten this taken care of. I didn't realize that he had attempted to fix it on his own."

Dumbledore had trust issues. He had to have been desperate to come to Gringotts for warding assistance.

Jasmine waved her hand, "I don't doubt that you thought the wards had been fixed. Please leave the room. If you need to watch me, do it from outside the main chamber. I need the space clear of other magic users."

So, she got to work. She pulled out three large opals that fit in the palm of her hand. They were a lovely shade of white, with hues of other colors that seemed to dance across the stones as the light from the torches hit them. The stones themselves were going to serve as magical conductors as Jasmine removed various layers of incorrect spells and formulas.

She placed them in a triangle in the center of the room. Jasmine sat in the center of it. She pulled out a piece of chalk from her robes and carefully drew runes in lines to connect one stone to the next. As she did this the opals began to glow and the magic of the room was brought to the surface. Jasmine could feel Hogwarts' ambient magic pulsating throughout the air as if it was physically pushing her down. One opal turned a light pink, trapping a layer of charms that had been causing a major disconnect in the warding structure.

Jasmine held strong against the magical onslaught and continued to draw the next line. This time the ground shook and the chamber groaned. The torches winked out, the only thing granting Jasmine any light were the stones. The second one turned from white to a brilliant purple, which had a faulty transfiguration lodged inside of it.

She wasted no time in finishing the triangle. The magic in the air was beginning to lighten as the wards stopped contradicting themselves and the magic of the castle to begin to heal itself. In the last stone, Jasmine trapped a volatile curse. She wouldn't be surprised if Tom planted that one years ago. The stone turned a violent shade of black. Jasmine vanished the spell lines and pocketed the opals.

The stones could be reused later in battle. If shattered at the right moment they could cause a lot of damage to enemy combatants. Not many people expected minerals to be thrown at them during battle…and they certainly wouldn't think they'd explode on impact.

Jasmine stood up and examined the room. There was definitely less volatile magic in the air, but the wards were still weak and she still needed to work on major repairs. Now that most of the unnecessary spells were removed she could see the clearer picture to the issues surrounding the warding.

"That was an astounding piece of magic, Lady Peverell," McGonagall complimented from the entrance of the chamber. Jasmine had forgotten she had stayed. It wasn't often she had an audience to watch her work.

"That was really only removing some of the bad layers. The warding issues are becoming clearer now. It should be another few hours before I can say that this place won't come crashing down around us and then another few weeks before they're fixed."

McGonagall nodded and allowed Jasmine to get back to work, which she did, uninterrupted for hours. It wasn't until the Professor knocked on the entrance to the chamber with food did Jasmine realize that she was starving.

It was halfway through her meal when McGonagall cleared her throat to gain her attention. "Are you really going to use your life debt to sponsor the eldest Weasley child? It just doesn't seem like something you would do. You never seemed like the type to take a child under your wing."

A moment passed, Jasmine couldn't quite decide if she was offended or not. She might not be the most maternal person in the world, but she didn't hate children. "Talent like his only comes once every few generations. I wasn't going to waste that chance. It doesn't hurt that Sirius has always spoken highly of the Weasley Family. I have no doubt that Bill will make a strong light wizard as he gets older."

"And that isn't going to be a problem for you?"

Jasmine cocked her head to the left, her mouth turned down. "Why would it be a problem? I might be neutral in my magical alignment, but that doesn't sour my opinion on other people and where they stand. It is how they use their magic that matters to me. The kid isn't really old enough to have caused any serious damage to the world. Does it bother you that a grey magic witch is going to be teaching a Weasley?"

McGonagall shook her head. "No, quite the opposite. I'm rather excited that you are going to be teaching him. If he is as talented as you say he is than he is going to be given opportunities that he could have only ever dreamed of before. While I do think Arthur and Molly are lovely parents, they tend to lack foresight when it comes to spellcasting. Light magic is great, but sometimes you do need to take a different approach to win a fight."

"Well, that is something we can both agree on. Speaking of magic, I need to get back to work. A major part of the wards are going to need to be patched up by the end of the day. I will be back tomorrow and more than likely the day after to start the major rewarding of the school. I will more than likely be bringing Bill along with me for later appointments. The wards don't seem to be that dangerous and once I secure the school, the town's wards will be much easier to handle."

It took most of the afternoon, but Jasmine had made some major headway in the Hogwarts warding. She didn't think that the school was going to fall in on itself anymore, so she felt comfortable leaving. The sun was just starting to set, so at least she knew that she hadn't worked past eight.

Sirius would kill her if she skipped dinner again. Hell, the house elves would probably get to her first if she missed another meal. She had been trying to get rid of the habit she had developed due to an overwhelming amount of work being thrown at her regularly, but it was slow going.

McGonagall had left about twenty minutes before Jasmine had started to wind down on spell casting. She had mentioned something about a meeting she needed to go to. She made it sound like a staff meeting, but Jasmine knew better. She was no doubt going to the Order meeting Sirius had told her about earlier that day. Jasmine grinned as she collected her materials. She had to stop by the Weasley household to get Bill's contract signed.

She hoped that crashing the meeting wouldn't be too frowned upon, since she wasn't supposed to know that the Order existed. Or, she at least wasn't supposed to know where they were holding their meetings.

Jasmine made sure to seal the warding chamber on her way out of the building. The stone walls reverberated with renewed power and Hogwarts' magic hummed to an almost audible degree. It was going to take a lot of time to fix the damages done to the wards, but at least she removed most of the truly detrimental warding within the school. There was no doubt a mess waiting for her in the village, but she would take this one step at a time.

It always amazed Jasmine how wards can do so much while being so small. With a slight skip to her step she made her way out of the main gates and as soon as her feet left the grounds she apparated away with a flick of her wrist.

The Burrow looked no different now than it did in the future…well it was missing a few singed marks from the twins' numerous experiments. It was truly a timeless structure, one that had been pivotal in most of her lives. While Harriet hadn't always been friends with all of the Weasleys she cared for them. They were her first true family. She would never forget the feeling of being home for the first time in her life.

Molly and Arthur had treated her like one of their own even though they really didn't have the room for her. The twins had always been kind and doting towards her. Ginny had been the little sister she had always wanted. Ron was a hit or miss, but he had always had a courageous soul.

Having the option to sponsor Bill and make their lives a little easier seemed like she only just started to repay them for what they've done for her. But, she knew it was going to be a challenge. Molly and Arthur were staunch Light supporters. Jasmine's grey alignment would more than likely have them twitchy. She had seen that when she had been speaking with Arthur. Bill mentioned that his mother had opinions about Jasmine...which wasn't all that surprising.

It was more than likely going to be a long drawn-out conversation about the life debt and whether or not they would be willing to pay it with their son's education. It wasn't like Jasmine was going to force him out of Hogwarts. She just wanted him to have the best options as he grew up. Jasmine hadn't realized how innately talented Bill had been with runes and warding. He would be wasted sending all his time working his way up within the tomb raiders. If he worked for her, she would have him on the best wards in the world within a few years of passing his exams.

He could reach his potential much easier that way.

Jasmine raised her hand to knock on the front door, but it opened on its own. Arthur Weasley answered the door, he was rubbing his temples and his blue eyes went wide when he realized that she wasn't an Order member. Jasmine was more than likely one of the last people he would want at his house this evening, but that was what they got for not warding their house properly. Anyone could walk up and disturb their little resistance party.

"Am I coming at a bad time?" Jasmine asked, the apprenticeship paperwork held tight in her hands. Gringotts official seal was full on display. She had sent them a message earlier in the day saying that she would be coming over for the paperwork to be signed.

Arthur's eyes widened in alarm. "Oh, you're here for the contract signing?"

She nodded, "Yes. I'll need to come in and talk over the finer points of the contract with both you and your wife. Bill will also need to be present at the signing since it pertains to his magic."

The sound of mild laugher and Sirius' whining tones drifted from inside the house. This brought a small smile to her face. Some things would never change. It didn't matter where she went Sirius would always be the same. Arthur bit his lip and rubbed his forehead.

"Arthur, dear, who is at the door. Why are you leaving them in the entry way? The meeting is about to start!"

Arthur's eyes widened in absolute horror as she could hear Molly approaching. She nudged past her husband, who was dumbfounded and completely unsure of what to do. It was obvious that Jasmine had heard way too much. Molly was much younger and very pregnant as she pulled Jasmine into the house. "You must be a new member, come in, dear."

"Molly-"

"Not now, love, we have another guest. She must not have eaten yet. You're so thin, dear." The older woman guided her towards the sitting room

"Molly!"

Jasmine didn't even try to stop her. Molly was never one to do things halfway, but she really should have listened her to Arthur. As soon as she entered the kitchen she came face to face with most of the younger Order members. Arthur was trailing behind them still quietly pleading with his wife to wait a moment. The older members were more than likely in the sitting room just off the kitchen.

For the first time in more than five years she was face to face with Marlene. Jasmine hadn't seen the woman since her sixth year…well technically she saw her in passing during their graduation, but neither girl made any move to speak to each other. Lily and Alice were both present, little Harry and Neville were perched on their parent's hip. Though James was the one holding Harry as the toddler stole his glasses right off his face and waved them around. Little Neville was sound asleep leaving a small puddle of drool on his mother's shoulder. Remus was present, his hair had grown out over the years and he had it up in a horse tail, his scars on his face were gently starting to fade. He was animatedly speaking with Sirius, who was twirling his wand between his fingers, and Frank, who had a drink some kind in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" Marlene snarled as all eyes turned towards Jasmine.

Jasmine rolled her eyes, as Molly for the first time since ushering Jasmine into her house, realized that she more than likely wasn't invited to this meeting. "Well, I have a contract that the Weasley's were going to look over and sign. I have legal reasons to be here, is there a specific reason that all of you are here? I had no idea that the Weasley's knew all of you personally or that you would all come here on a workday to share drinks?"

The group exchanged slightly panicked looks. The Marauders and Lily were aware that Jasmine knew about the Order, but not who all the members were. Only Sirius was aware just how much she knew about their activities since he was the one that shared it all with her.

"Dear, what's your name?"

"I'm Jasmine Peverell. I offered to fully sponsor your son throughout his schooling so he could learn warding under me," she explained as she held up the contract she had been holding since she arrived.

Molly's cheeks reddened, slowly reaching the same color as her hair. "Ah, I see that I might have mistaken you for someone else-"

She was interrupted by three other members entering the already cramped kitchen. Alastor Moody, Brightbark and a very young Kingsley Shacklebolt. "Is this a new member?" Kingsley asked as Brightbark's eyes narrowed. Moody recognized her right away, though he didn't look upset by her presence.

Moody looked giddy.

This was going to be a long evening.

I hope that you enjoyed! Next chapter will have drama and we get to see more of the Order, the Weasley's, everyone's favorite character - Marlene, and baby Harry!

The end game is so close. I can see the end of this story on the horizon! I've been writing this for over three years. It is going to be at least another 6 ish months before I finish writing it with the current pace I'm at, but I have the rest of this story outlined and ready to write.

Thank you for favoriting, following and reviewing this story!

The next update will be either 24th or the 26th. A solid Christmas present for everyone, and if you don't celebrate Christmas, then it will be a regular update for you. Also, Happy Hanukkah to all that celebrate it!

See you soon,
~Animerocker