Happy Friday!

Chapter 104

Julien didn't have a lot of time to talk to her. He had a portkey back to France he had to catch, but he had offered his thanks and promised to be contact with her shortly in regards the French government stepping in to assist with the Voldemort issue. It was nice to finally have some kind of outside help that wasn't from a close friend.

The small victories were the ones that were going to help with win against Tom.

The funeral was scheduled a few days later.

Molly and the kids had been cremated. It was a Prewitt Family tradition and Jasmine felt that it was better to have the ashes at her brother's house then bury the bodies where a Dark Lord could get their grubby little hands on their bones. The funeral was a private affair in a small funeral parlor inside the Ministry. A public funeral would be too dangerous. As it was, Jasmine had checked the guest list nearly five times to make sure that she knew everyone who was attending. There were about forty-five people on the approved list.

Jasmine didn't personally approve of everyone on the list. Marlene was invited, as well as Brightbark and Peter. She had grumbled about their attendance, but they had been friends with Molly and Arthur, so she couldn't remove them without seeming petty.

There were rows of cushioned wooden benches facing a small podium. The guests were milling about the room, talking in hushed tones as they waited for the eulogy. Death was hovering around the room, drifting from person to person. While Death had a strange affinity for parks, funerals were really where the Deity felt truly at home.

Because, really, funerals were for the living and Death thrived off of the lives of those celebrating the dead.

Jasmine, Sirius and their gaggle of children were seated at the front. Sirius was getting odd looks from most of the Weasley Family that were in attendance, but he didn't seem to care. The boys comfort came first and the twins had taken to him like a house on fire.

Dumbledore was giving the eulogy, since Arthur was still struggling to stay conscious for more than a few minutes a day. There had been improvement though. The healers were hopeful and that had brought a bit of joy the household. But, he was in no condition to attend and speak about his wife and children. So, the task fell to Albus.

"Molly Weasley was one of the greatest witches I've ever known. She was fierce, bright and always knew what you needed before you yourself knew it. I remember one time she had knitted me the finest pair of socks I've ever worn…but I digress, everyone here knew of her passion and love for her family. We should all try to be a bit more like Molly in that regard."

Jasmine tuned him out to focus on the boys. They were all sniffling. She had brought a lot of tissues for today. It was starting to sink in with the twins that their mother was truly gone. Jasmine was waiting for the tantrums that were going to come from that trauma.

Sirius promised to keep the twins plastered to his sides at all times while she kept an eye on the older two.

Charlie barely let Jasmine out of his sight, so he was easy to keep an eye on. Theo had mentioned that Charlie had imprinted on her like a duck…though she had a feeling this would be something she would need to bring up with his mind healer when their sessions started in a few days. The kid was currently clinging to Jasmine's left arm like it was going to disappear, his grip was almost painful.

Bill on the other hand wanted to be treated more like an adult, since he was almost a teenager. He was seated on her right with his head down. He kept rubbing at his eyes when he thought that she wasn't looking at him.

Jasmine charmed his pockets to keep supplying him with tissues.

"Now, why don't we all spend some time speaking together about Molly and her children, like she would have wanted."

She knew that was the cue for everyone to come and swarm the kids, so Jasmine braced herself for the onslaught of extended Weasley family members. She hadn't heard from too many of them in regard to taking the boys from her. Honestly, they seemed to avoid the boys, but that could be because they really didn't leave Jasmine's side.

A few aunts and uncles gave condolences and Arthur's mother gave each boy a hug before she went to mingle with other family members, but they weren't sticking around. And none of them were speaking to Jasmine or Sirius.

Jasmine was still a social pariah among the light witches and wizards. Grey magic was still very scary for them. Because, really, who's side was she on? The light or the dark? She couldn't have neutral magic, that just seemed so farfetched. Even if it was true.

Sirius' reputation as a dark wizard probably wasn't helping, but the twins loved him, so she wasn't going to have him leave.

There were plenty of Order members coming up to talk to them. Moody, Amelia and Bella were in the crowd, as well as Remus. The poor guy still looked tired from the moon the previous week. Though, Jasmine had promised to find time to have a few drinks with him. He wanted to hear all the details about her fight with Greyback and the laws that the Wizengamot were trying to pass. She would want his opinion on referendums for those bills when they reconvened.

James, Lily, Alice and Frank were all in hiding and, therefore, were not allowed to attend. Jasmine threatened bodily harm if they even attempted to show up. Even with heightened security, there were traitors in the Order. She had eyes on Peter, she just needed to figure out who else had the motive to betray them.

Charlie was bouncing from foot to foot as people shook his hand or gave him a hug. He kept stealing glances at Jasmine or Sirius, his brown eyes were wide. The twins enjoyed the hugs, but were quickly growing very bored with the entire thing. Bill was doing his best to speak with his parents' friends, but he was only eleven and he didn't know most of them.

At the moment, Brightbark was speaking with him and Bill seemed less than pleased. His mouth was pressed into a thin line and his fists were clenched. "Just let me know if you need anything at all. We can have you relocated quickly."

That didn't sound like condolences. They were far enough away that Jasmine couldn't hear everything that was being said, but she didn't want Bill feeling any worse than he already did. So, Jasmine straightened her shoulders and went to face her old professor, but before she could move more than three steps Charlie grabbed her hand and followed her headfirst into this potential argument. "Is there something I can help you with Adair?"

Brightbark's sneered at the use of his first name. "I was speaking to young William, Peverell. He needs to know all of his options regarding his home situation. There are plenty of families willing to take him and his brothers in."

She raised a single eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. "Bill and his brothers already have a home. I don't see why you would be telling him anything different."

Some of the tension in Bill's shoulders eased as she said this and he slowly shifted to stand just behind her left elbow. Charlie was glaring daggers from her right.

"If you think you can raise four children, with light magic, on your own, you're more insane than I thought you were. You're not fit to be a parent. You aren't even married."

Jasmine rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "If you're quite done talking out of your bum-" that garnered a laugh from both boys, "You would know that I've already been approved as their guardian. Magic deemed it so. You can try to fight the claim, but you will find that until Arthur is healthy again, they will be living with me."

"Well, I see that at least half of the boys are spending time with Sirius? How will that work when he's married to someone else?"

It would be too easy to reveal her status as a married woman, but she didn't want that to be the reason that Brightbark left her alone and dropped the subject. "I have a fairly vast support network to help me take care of the boys. Sirius marrying someone else won't stop him from spending time with the boys. He sees Harry all the time and last I checked he isn't in an illicit relationship with Lily and James. He can see the boys when he wants. Also, at no point will they ever feel neglected. My job lets me work from home and create my own hours. I also have plenty of vacation time saved up. I'm not concerned about losing my job or causing the children any harm. Now, I would appreciate it if you left my ward alone. Bill has enough to deal with right now. This is a day of mourning. Drop it."

Jasmine made a shooing motion with her hands, but naturally, Brightbark didn't want to back down. He squared his shoulders and puffed up his chest in indignation. "You shouldn't be near children. You are dangerous. You've been scarred by dark magic. It leaves a stain on your soul."

And this was where Jasmine hated the interchangeable use of the terms dark and black magic. They were two completely different things, but some witches and wizards considered them to be one and the same. White and Black magic required human sacrifice. White magic required willing sacrifice, black magic required unwilling sacrifices. This was why the Peverell family fought both dark lords and light lords in the past. Light lords in the past have convinced people to willingly sacrifice themselves for their version of the greater good. Tying to further their agenda through death, whether willing or otherwise, was still wrong and an abomination to magic.

"Black and White magic leaves stains on the soul. Dark and light magic do not. At no point have I partaken in any rituals that require any kind of willing or unwilling sacrifice. I feel that this needs to be explained to you every time we run into each other," Jasmine replied as both Bill and Charlie glared at Brightbark from her sides.

"Adair, is Peverell giving you trouble? You do know that he is allowed to speak to Bill. You aren't his overly controlling master." As if her day couldn't get more stressful Marlene decided to jump into the conversation. Her robes were designer and showed off just enough skin not to be inappropriate, but just enough to accentuate her body. Narcissa would probably have complimented her if she were here…then again Narcissa would have also mentioned her lesser social status and horrific manners as well. Jasmine missed her friend.

The boys did not need this kind of stress. Honestly, Marlene and Brightbark should know better than to act like this around the kids.

Jasmine put a hand on both Bill and Charlie's shoulder. "Boys, why don't you go and talk with your uncles while I finish speaking with your guests."

Marlene waved a perfectly manicured hand at the three of them. Jasmine noticed that the nails on her ring finger had some kind of design on them. She couldn't quite put her finger on where she had seen it though.

Jasmine moved the boys closer to her as both Brightbark and Marlene moved a bit closer. They were sharks tasting some blood in the water. "No, they should stay and listen to what we have to say about you. They need to know what they're really living with," Marlene looked down at the boys. She began to reach for Charlie. "You're living with a monster. She's beast in human skin."

"Marlene!"

Her hand stopped for a moment at Jasmine's sharp tone.

"What? You don't like hearing the truth? You've killed people in the past with little remorse. Hell, you're probably had their mother and brothers-"

There was a very familiar wand pointed to Marlene's temple in an instant. It seemed that Sirius had left the twins with Gideon and Fabian and had made his way over to her. Though, Jasmine had her wand drawn as well, but carefully slid it back into its holster. "I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you, McKinnon. I have had it with your speculations about Jazz's character over the years. She hasn't done anything to you, ever. Leave the petty school grudges at Hogwarts, where they belong."

Marlene rolled her eyes, her fingers were drumming on her arm. Jasmine's good eye narrowed to her red fingernails and focused on her ring finger. There was a symbol there. It wasn't a rune that Jasmine recognized, but she committed it to memory. She would need to draw it later.

"Sirius, you need to stop trying to win her over. We all know that your family has been attempting to woo her for years. Just drop her. She's too damaged and now is saddled with kids."

Merlin, was Marlene making another attempt at Sirius? "We're dropping the marriage talk, Marlene. This is a funeral, probably one of the most inappropriate places you could possibly be having this kind of conversations."

It seemed that Sirius was thinking the same thing.

"She's not talking about marriage you daft fool, she is talking about the wellbeing of the Weasley boys. You can't trust someone like her to watch four children. What happens when she finally snaps, hm?" If her hands weren't around both boys she would have punched Brightbark. It honestly still sounded like a good idea, but she wasn't going to let the boys out of her reach with potential threats around.

Sirius never lowered his wand from Marlene, but he looked directly at Brightbark. "And, who should take the Weasley boys in? Is there some kind of plan you have in place for them? Do you have any decent connections to make sure that they are well taken care of and safe? Are there families willing to take four young boys in at once? Or, pay for Arthur's hospital bills? Jazz can do all of that. She has never had any kind of psychotic break. Jazz is one of the strongest people I know."

What a sweet talker…

Marlene looked a bit green around the mouth.

It wasn't her color.

"Why do you stick up for her, Sirius! Honestly, it was cute in school, but now it just looks desperate."

"You're lecturing me on appearing desperate. Look at the pot calling the kettle Marlene. You've been relentlessly chasing after Sirius for years. Leave him be. If he wants to defend me, he is more than welcome to. It's sweet," Jasmine replied and motioned for Sirius to lower his wand. They did not need to make a scene.

Her husband glared, but moved his wand so it was at his sides instead of pointed directly at Marlene's head.

"It's sweet? It's ridiculous! You two aren't even engaged!" Well, Marlene was right about that. They hadn't been engaged for years.

"You're right, we aren't engaged, but we've been friends for years. You don't need have a marriage contract to be kind to someone," Sirius reminded her, but she just stalked off, which was fine with Jasmine, that was one less crazy person to deal with.

Brightbark's fists were clenched at his sides as he watched Marlene leave. "There are at least a handful of light families that have the capabilities to accommodate the boys. They shouldn't be stifled by a witch that studies dark magic."

And they were back to this nonsense.

She was getting tired of explaining to people that wards weren't dark magic. "I study warding. It is a neutral magic by nature. Bill is already my legal apprentice. He would have been working with me regardless of where he ended up. He is in a legally binding contract to complete his education with me."

"I like warding and it isn't dark magic! Mr. Brightbark and I want to live with Lady Peverell. Please stop trying to remove me from her home. I'm the head of the Weasley Family until my father recovers. This decision is final."

Brightbark looked like he swallowed a lemon…Jasmine wished she had a camera. It wasn't often he was struck silent.

She felt herself almost getting a bit teary eyed over the comment. She didn't expect Bill to feel that strongly. Jasmine knew that Bill looked up to her. Molly had mentioned it more than once when they spoke about Bill's studies. It was heartwarming for her to see that he also wanted to live with her and Sirius.

"I'm staying with Lady Jazz!" Charlie nearly shouted with a stomp of his foot for added emphasis. She ruffled Charlie's hair and Brightbark scowled, but didn't respond.

"You heard the boys. They would prefer to stay with me for the time being. I would suggest that you listen to them. Now, if you would excuse us, we have to speak to a few more guests before taking our leave."

They were forced to mingle for another hour before Jasmine corralled the boys towards her office so they could all floo home. Sirius, Euphemia and Bella were with them. The group was going to be discussing battle strategies after putting the boys to bed.

Naturally, it seemed that fate wasn't on her side. Tom Riddle was leaning against the door to her office. Both Bella and Euphemia tensed. They were well aware of his true identity. No one had hard evidence, but they all knew who he was behind closed doors.

Jasmine unlocked her office door and ushered her family past him. Euphemia and Bella pulled the boys into her side room as quickly as possible. Sirius stayed close, arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Tom. Jasmine stayed in the doorway, once again blocking entrance to her office from him. "Tom, is there something that you need?"

And Tom is back to gloat or perhaps cause some more trouble for Jasmine? Hm, who knows, well I do, but you need to wait to find out. =)

I have so much work to do, but I've nearly finished writing this story. I'm finishing up chapter 110 and then I have the epilogues to write and then I'm done. So, potentially, I will be updating weekly starting in May.

Thank you all so much for the reviews, favorites and follows.

I plan on updating May 14.

See you soon,
Animerocker