Chapter 2: Meeting the Marauders
A/N Finally got around to starting the second chapter. Hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters or anything Harry Potter related. I do own the OC Jasmine and the plot of this story.
September 1st finally arrived, and the two girls couldn't be more excited about it. Jasmine was so excited to be going to school with her cousin who was practically her sister. They even looked similar at first glance. They both had red hair and greenish eyes. Their face structures were also similar. Therefore, many times when they were out together, people would mistake them for twin sisters.
Although, when you look closer at the two girls, you can see the differences. Jasmine's red hair wasn't as dark as Lily's. It was actually a bit lighter in color. While Lily was a true redhead, Jasmine's hair was more of a darker strawberry blonde color. Her hair color was like a mixture of both her parents' hair colors, her mother being a redhead and her father being blonde. Her eyes were the same way. Although they looked to be green at first glance, they were actually a pale blue-green color. People often told her that her eyes were mesmerizing, especially the boys at Beauxbatons Academy. She always blushed at that compliment, which always made her feel better about herself and what she looked like. It was partially because of the compliments and her friends that kept her from believing her mother's words.
The girls soon arrived at Kings Cross Station where they said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Evans at the car. They had to get to work, so they couldn't go with the girls to the actual train. They did help load their stuff onto some trolleys though. When the girls' stuff was all out of the car and onto the trolleys, they said goodbye again. Jasmine's aunt and uncle wished her a good term with the promise that they would see them for Christmas, which Jasmine was happy about. She was actually going to be going home for Christmas. She usually stayed at school because of her mother's drinking habits.
After saying their final goodbyes, Lily led the way to the platform the train was on. Jasmine was a bit confused as to how they were going to get to the platform. It was obviously going to be hidden from the Muggles, but she didn't understand how. She found out once they arrived at the area between Platforms 9 and 10. Lily was about to start running toward the platform but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over and saw a confused Jasmine staring at her.
"Oh, sorry," Lily apologized to her cousin. She gave her a sheepish smile before continuing. "I forgot to tell you how to get onto the platform. All you have to do is run at this barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Don't worry, you won't run into the wall." Then Lily took off running with her trolley into said barrier. When she made contact, instead of crashing, she disappeared. Jasmine laughed in surprise as she took a sprint toward the barrier. She, like Lily, disappeared and ended up on platform 9 ¾. The sight of the train was amazing. It looked so cool. She was staring at everything in awe, but that was interrupted when she felt someone grip her arm and start pulling her toward the train. Jasmine looked to see that it was Lily.
"Come on, Mina. You can admire the train later. We have to get our stuff on before it leaves without us." Lily continued to pull her cousin toward the train. Once they got to one of the many entrances, they tried to put their trunks on the train. They had started with Lily's, but it was proving to be more difficult than they thought it would be.
"Jeez, Lils, what did you put in this trunk?" Jasmine questioned her cousin as they continued to struggle to get it onto the train.
"Just what I usually put in the trunk," Lily responded innocently. "I don't remember it being this heavy last term. Although, I usually have my dad to help me get it onto the train."
Jasmine facepalmed. "Great. How are we supposed to get this trunk onto the train before it leaves?!" Jasmine mumbled to herself.
As they tried yet again to get Lily's trunk onto the train, it suddenly felt a lot lighter. At first, Jasmine thought it was just her imagination, but then she looked up and saw a boy with messy black hair and glasses pulling the trunk onto the train as we pushed it onto the train. Soon her trunk was on the train. Jasmine gave the boy an appreciative smile which fell as soon as she saw the look on Lily's face. She was glaring at this boy that had just helped them.
"Go away, Potter. We don't need your help." Lily continued to glare at him.
"Well, it sure looks like you need my help, Evans," the boy, Potter, said to Lily. He gave her a goofy smile.
"Well, we don't. We can do this ourselves." Jasmine could tell that Lily did not like this boy for whatever reason, but Jasmine wasn't about to let the only boy that had offered to help them just walk away. They really could not handle this by themselves, especially since Jasmine knew her trunk would be much heavier than Lily's.
Just as the boy was about to walk away, Jasmine spoke up. "Hey, um, wait. Actually, could you please help us?" Jasmine gave him a smile to sell it.
Lily glared at Jasmine, but before she could berate her, the boy spoke up. "Um, sure. I can help you." He was glancing nervously at Lily. He didn't seem to want to make her angry, which Jasmine could tell was a losing battle.
"Thanks," Jasmine smiled at him again. "We could really use the help, but you might want to get another person. My trunk is going to be heavier than hers." Jasmine explained pointing to Lily at the end. With that, the boy disappeared likely to go get one of his friends. He was gone long enough for Lily to tell Jasmine off for accepting his help, though.
"What are you doing?" Lily asked Jaz angrily. "We don't need his help."
"Lils, we do need his help. We could barely get your trunk onto the train without him. Mine is about twice as heavy as yours. There is no way we can lift this trunk all by ourselves without using magic." Lily huffed angrily in response, but she knew Jasmine was right. "Who was that anyway? And why do you hate him so much?"
"That was James Potter, and he is nothing but a bully." Before Lily could say anymore, the boy, James, was back again. This time he was accompanied by another boy with long, wavy black hair. He looked like the bad boy type. He didn't look too bad. He was actually pretty handsome in Jasmine's opinion.
"Whoa!" The new boy exclaimed. He looked at me and Lily a few times before turning back to James. "You were right, Prongs, there's two of them now. What are we going to do?" He let out a laugh, much to James's dismay.
Jasmine started to laugh with him, especially after she saw the look on James's face. He was clearly embarrassed by what his friend had said. Several seconds later, Jasmine realized the other boy wasn't laughing anymore. Instead, he was staring at her curiously, like she was a puzzle to him or something. "What? Is something wrong?" Jasmine asked him as a blush started to appear on her cheeks. Then she noticed that James was also staring at her, but he was more in awe of her than anything. This only increased the redness of the blush on her cheeks
Lily just rolled her eyes and didn't let the other boy answer Jasmine's questions. "Black, Potter! Stop staring at her and help get her trunk on the train before it leaves without us." Then Lily glanced at the clock on the wall before turning to Jasmine. "Mina, I gotta get going. I'm sorry I can't ride the train with you, but I have a prefect's meeting I have to get to right now. Don't let these two morons corrupt you. Please just go find Alice and sit with her. I might be able to join you guys later on." Jasmine nodded in response to Lily before they hugged goodbye. Then Lily was gone with a swish of red hair.
Before she could completely disappear though, the long-haired boy yelled to her down the corridor. "Make sure to say hi to Remus for us Evans." Lily didn't even acknowledge him. Then he turned back to Jasmine. "So, where is this heavy trunk of yours?" He asked, giving Jasmine what she could tell was supposed to be a lady-killing smirk.
Jasmine didn't respond but instead pointed to where her trunk was sitting. Both boys jumped down off the train and walked over to the trunk. Apparently, they didn't believe Jasmine completely when she told them it would be pretty heavy because at first, they struggled to pick it up. It ended up taking several tries before they finally were able to get the trunk onto the train and place it up on the racks securely. They did the same with Lily's, which didn't take nearly as much effort.
Jasmine thanked them for their help and was about to leave when the boy with the long black hair spoke to me. "Geez, Evans. What did you put in that trunk to make it so heavy?"
"It's Dupont."
"What?"
"My last name isn't Evans. It's Dupont."
"Wait! What?!" Both James and his friend cried out.
Their reactions were too much for Jasmine to take. She burst out laughing. Once she was able to compose herself again, she looked back to the two boys who were staring at her again but this time with curious glances on their faces.
"Okay, well if you're not Lily's sister, then who are you? How do you even know Lily?" James asked of Jasmine.
Jasmine didn't really know these boys but she kind of liked them. She didn't care that Lily seemed to have a problem with them. She wanted to get to know them better. Forget Alice, Jasmine thought she would have a much better time sitting with these two boys. "Um, is there somewhere we can go sit? I'd rather not stand in the corridor all day."
The boys laughed before James said, "Yeah, neither do I. Come on, you can hang out with us for the train ride. Our compartment is right up here." James pointed his arm down the corridor before heading in the direction he had been pointing. "So, Dupont, in case Lily didn't mention my name already, I'm James Potter, prankster extraordinaire, and Lily's future boyfriend."
At that last part, Jasmine gave a small chuckle before saying, "Yeah, right." Then she rolled her eyes. Her reaction then caused the other boy to laugh and James to blush. Jasmine looked over at the other boy just as they reached their compartment. Inside was a mousy-looking boy. He seemed very shy. As soon as he saw James and his friend though, he told them that he had someplace to go and scurried away, leaving both boys rolling their eyes at his actions.
In the compartment, James and the other boy sat on one side with Jasmine alone on the other side. Both boys were staring at her as if expecting something from her. She knew they were expecting her to tell them her full name, but she wasn't going to do that until she knew the other boy's name. She waited expectantly, but soon realized that these boys were really stubborn, so she spoke up. "So," Jasmine started looking at the boy. "What's your name?"
"Oh, shit, sorry. I totally forgot to introduce myself. Sirius Black at your service." He stood up and gave a little bow, which caused Jasmine to giggle. "And you are?"
"Jasmine. Jasmine Dupont." By this point, the train was moving and on its way to Hogwarts.
"Well Jasmine, would you care to tell us how you know our dear Lily?" Sirius asked, clearly trying to be funny.
"Since when is she both of your dear Lily?" Jasmine joked. "I thought she was only James's dear Lily." At that Sirius started laughing and a blush once again appeared on James's face.
"Oh, man. I am liking you more and more, Jasmine Dupont."
"Why thank you, Sirius Black. I'm glad someone appreciates my humor. My old friends at Beauxbatons Academy didn't really get my humor. Plus, it was a pretty strict school, so jokes didn't always go over well there."
"Wait a minute," James says. Both of them turn to look at him. "Beauxbatons Academy? Why were you there?"
"I'll tell you in a minute. First, I still need to answer Sirius's question." Sirius smiled at Jasmine. "Well, I've known Lily for years. We've been best friends and practically sisters since we were born." Jasmine noticed that the boys were still confused. "I'm her cousin, you idiots. Hasn't she ever mentioned me?"
"I don't know. We're not entirely friends with Lily. It's more like she hates our guts, but James is completely in love with her," Sirius told Jasmine.
James was about to protest, but Jasmine spoke up first. "Oh, wow. Really? What'd you guys do to her? Lily doesn't tend to hate a lot of people."
"Actually, we didn't do anything to her. She's just mad that we pranked her friend, Snivellus." Sirius told her.
"Really Snivellus? Did you come up with that one on your own?" Jaz asked sarcastically.
"Oh, the pain." Sirius gasped dramatically causing Jasmine and James to start laughing again.
After composing themselves, they continued to talk about Snape. Jasmine had told them that she had only just met him over the summer, and she got an unnerving vibe off of him. It wasn't that she didn't like him but more that she didn't trust him, especially with Lily.
It was the fact that she had only just met Snape that reminded James of his earlier question that never got answered. "Jasmine," James said. "You never answered my earlier question about you going to Beauxbatons Academy? Why the sudden change?" At that, the boys noticed Jasmine tense up a little bit. James, fearing that he said the wrong thing again and ruined this new friendship, tried to backtrack by telling Jasmine that she didn't have to answer the question if she didn't want to.
"No," Jasmine told James to stop him from continuing. "You asked the question earlier and I said I would come back to it. It's just I'm not coming here because of the best circumstances." The boys, especially Sirius, now had worried looks on their faces. "Well, I started at Beauxbatons Academy because I promised my dad that I would go there. It is his alma mater."
Interrupting, James said, "So you're a half-blood? I would have thought you were Muggle-born like Lily."
"Nope, but I kind of grew up like a Muggle-born. I knew nothing of Magic until my 11th birthday. That's when dad told me and my mother that he was a wizard. Shocked us both, but it also excited me. So, me being the daddy's girl that I was, I agreed to go to his alma mater. We lived in France anyway, so it made even more sense to go to Beauxbatons Academy."
Sirius this time interrupted. "France? What are you doing here now, then?"
"I'm getting there if you let me finish." Sirius gave her a sheepish look in response as to say sorry. "The reason I am coming to Hogwarts now is that I recently moved in with Lily's parents, my aunt and uncle." Jasmine paused knowing the questions were going to come. She had already planned for this. She was only going to tell them part of the story. She did just meet these boys, and Jasmine didn't really think she was ever going to tell anyone about her mother besides Lily.
"Wait, what?" Sirius asked. "Why did you move in with Lily?"
"Well, I'm an orphan. They said they could take me in, so here we are today." Sirius looked at Jasmine. She could see the sympathy in his eyes, which meant a lot to Jasmine. It showed he at least cared for her.
"I'm so sorry. That's terrible," James apologized. "I can't imagine how hard it must be for you right now." Sirius, on the other hand, said nothing. He didn't know what to say, so he just kept giving Jasmine sympathetic looks with some apologetic looks mixed in.
Jasmine looked at them both. "It's fine. I miss them, though." She got more apologetic looks before she changed the topic. "Enough of this sad stuff. I liked it better when we were laughing."
Both boys agreed with that statement wholeheartedly and changed the topic. They ended up talking about Beauxbatons Academy. The boys were interested to know what it was like. They had previously heard about some of the other schools, but they didn't know that much about them. Jasmine told them all about the school. Jasmine told them about Beauxbatons Academy, and how her favorite things were horseback riding and music/choir. She also talked about what the school looked like. She just talked and talked, and they let her. James and Sirius were liking this girl more and more as the train ride continued.
They continued to talk and laugh for the rest of the train ride. The three were laughing hard at a joke Jasmine had just made when Lily found them all together. Jasmine, hearing the compartment door open, was the first to look up. Seeing that it was Lily, she quickly composed herself. She saw that Lily looked worried, but Jasmine wasn't entirely sure why until Lily spoke up. By the time Lily started speaking, Sirius and James had managed to compose themselves and saw that Lily was standing in the compartment door. James quickly shut up at the sight of his love and was about to speak, but Lily beat him to it. "Mina, what are you doing?" Lily asked, the anger clear in her tone. "I told you to go sit with Alice, and instead, you sit with these toerags."
"Lils, I'm making friends. No offense to Alice or any of your other friends, Lils, but I'm having fun with them. They laugh at my jokes, and they are even pranksters. You know I love a good practical joke, Lils." Those last two statements surprised the boys. They were not expecting that from someone related to Lily.
Lily sighed in exasperation. "I knew I shouldn't have left you with them!" Lily cried out in disgust. "Mina, listen, you don't want to be friends with these two. They are nothing but immature bullies. They do nothing but torment other students. Mina, they are not good friends to have."
Lily's words pissed Jasmine off. "Well, neither is Severus, Lils!" Jasmine raised her voice a little. 'Who does she think she is to be able to decide who I can be friends with?' Jasmine thought to herself.
Jasmine's words then pissed Lily off, but before she could retaliate, the boys stepped in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sirius said. "Girls let's cool down here. There is no reason to get all worked up." They then managed to diffuse the situation. Both James and Sirius had been on the end of Lily's wrath before, and they didn't want to see their new friend on the other end of that.
Now that both girls had calmed down, Lily grabbed Jasmine's arm in an attempt to drag her away from the boys she thought would only corrupt her cousin. She was not going to let the girl who was her best friend and pretty much her sister be turned into the bully she knew these boys already were. Lily tried to pull her away from 2 of the Marauders, but Jasmine wouldn't budge. "Come on Mina, let's go sit with my friends now. You can meet all of them."
"No, Lils. I'm not going with you. I need to make my own friends and I have. I don't care if you don't like them, Lily, I do. So, let me spend the rest of the train ride with them please." Jasmine put on the face that she knew Lily could never say no to.
"Fine, Mina, but you are sitting with me at dinner, and we are riding in the carriages to the castle together." Lily gave Sirius and James a hard stare as if to say you better not mess with her or else you are both dead. Then she left with a swish of her red hair being the last thing that any of them saw.
They sat in silence for a few seconds before Sirius broke it by breaking out into laughter. It was contagious, so the other two ended up laughing with Sirius. It took several minutes before any of them were finally able to stop laughing. Then they just sat in silence for a few minutes.
James was the one to break the silence this time. "Mina?" Then he let out a chuckle. Soon Sirius started to chuckle along with him, but they were quickly shut up when they looked over at Jasmine. She was glaring daggers at them and had her wand out pointing it at the both of them.
"Don't you dare ever call me that again! Only Lily is allowed to call me that, got it?!" Jasmine threatened them both. The boys both gulped. Then they vigorously nodded their heads in understanding. Once Jasmine was sure they understood, she calmed down and put her wand away.
The tension and silence continued in the compartment for a while after that. Jasmine was feeling slightly guilty for scaring the boys, but that was Lily's special nickname for her. She refused to let anyone ruin the special nickname her cousin gave her. The tension was finally cut when the compartment doors opened again. In stepped another boy who Jasmine didn't recognize. She assumed it was the boy that they told Lily to say hi to earlier, which means that he was also a prefect like Lily. Him entering was just what they needed to alleviate the tension that was created after Jasmine threatened them.
At first, when the boy entered, he didn't notice Jasmine. "James? Sirius? What's wrong? Why do you look so scared?" The only response he got was a bunch of laughing. The boys were not laughing at the events that took place only moments ago. It wasn't that they were laughing at the thought of Jasmine actually hurting them, but more toward the fact that they were scared of her. They were supposed to be Gryffindors for crying out loud.
The boy continued to look at them curiously until one of them was able to point to Jasmine who was sitting behind him in the compartment. He turned around and jumped a bit when he spotted Jasmine. He was not expecting to see a girl behind him, maybe Peter, but not a random girl that he had never seen before.
After getting over his initial shock, the boy introduced himself. "Hello, I'm Remus Lupin." He held out his hand for the girl to shake.
"Jasmine Dupont," Jasmine told him as she shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Remus."
"Nice to meet you as well, Jasmine." By this time, the other two boys had stopped laughing. Now that they were quiet. Remus was able to ask them what the heck was going on. So, after taking a seat next to Jasmine, he asked Sirius and James questions.
While they filled him in on what had happened while he was gone, Jasmine excused herself to go change into her robes. She figured they were getting closer to the castle, so she should probably change. Luckily, it didn't take her long to find the bathroom and change. On her way back to the compartment that the boys were in, Jasmine was pulled into a random compartment. She immediately took out her wand, ready to attack whoever pulled her into another compartment. Jasmine lowered her wand when she saw that it was only Lily. Then when Jasmine realized what Lily did, she gave her a hard stare and walked right out of the compartment before Lily could stop her. Jasmine was still pissed off at her from earlier, but that stunt just angered her more. She understood that Lily was only trying to protect her in her own Lily way, but she needs to understand that Jasmine wanted to make her own mistakes. She wanted to learn for herself whether James and Sirius were as bad as Lily kept telling her they were. So far, Jasmine has seen nothing to support that conclusion.
After leaving Lily, Jasmine headed straight for the boys' compartment. When she opened the door, she saw that James and Sirius were now also in their robes. Remus was already in his robes when he entered the compartment earlier. The boys were still conversing when Jasmine walked in. They didn't notice her though. They seemed to be planning something, but Jasmine couldn't hear what they were talking about. They were talking quieter as if they didn't want anyone to overhear, which frustrated Jasmine, but she knew it was none of her business. She did just meet them. They didn't need to tell her any of their secrets.
Jasmine made her presence known when she asked, "Hey guys. What are you talking about? Are you planning a prank? Because if you are, I want in." The three boys jumped at her voice.
"Jeez, Dupont. You almost gave us all a heart attack!" Sirius exclaimed. Jasmine rolled her eyes in response and took her seat next to Remus.
"Welcome back Jazzy!" James said.
"Jazzy? When did you come up with that one?" Jasmine giggled at the new nickname that James had given her.
"Jasmine is too much to say, so I decided that you needed a nickname, especially after hearing that Lily already has one for you." James gave her a goofy smile before asking, "Do you like it?"
"Well, no one has actually called me Jazzy before, so I guess it's okay. I kind of like it." Jasmine gave him a smile, before turning to Remus and Sirius. "If you guys want, you can call me Jaz for short. It will be easier and that's what some of my friends at Beauxbatons Academy would call me. I don't mind." Both boys nodded, agreeing that they would call her Jaz.
Soon the conversation shifted to pranking, seeing that Jasmine was the first to mention it. Remus was surprised to find out that Jaz also liked to pull the occasional prank or practical joke. They discussed the previous pranks they had pulled. The Marauders tell Jasmine all about their many pranks that they had pulled so far at Hogwarts. They even agreed to let Jasmine help pull their next prank.
They continued to talk and laugh for the rest of the train ride. Jasmine really liked the boys. She even met Peter shortly before the train pulled into the station. He had been off doing something that he wouldn't tell them, but Sirius whispered that he was trying to woo this girl that he made friends with last year. She had no romantic interest in Peter, though. Jasmine was happy with her new friends, even if she was a little bit wary of Peter still. Just as the train pulled into the station, Jasmine just knew that this was the start of what she felt would be an amazing adventure at Hogwarts.
A/N Yes, the second chapter is complete. I'm really liking where this fic is going. Just to let you guys know, I'm going to try and update as much as I can before I start class on Monday, but I can't promise anything. I also have several parts of this story outlined/mapped out. I know where I want this story to go. Let's just hope I end up taking it the way I want it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to favorite and review. I would like to know if this fic is as good as I think it is.
Peace out, Knk6700
