Chapter 7: The First of Two Incidents to Come
A/N Enjoy the Drama, my readers. It is sure to be an interesting chapter that I have planned. The next 1-2 chapters will also be highly drama filled. Also, 1 more note, I almost cried while writing this chapter, so be prepared.
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.
Soon enough the Christmas break was over, and Jasmine was heading back with Lily to Hogwarts. On the train ride, Jasmine sat with Lily during the first half of the train ride this time and sat with the Marauders during the second half. When Jasmine saw the Marauders again, she hugged each of them. Then she proceeded to thank them all for the wonderful gifts, especially Sirius. She even told James about how Lily had thrown away the chocolates he sent and then took them out of the trash. He made a good call getting her chocolate.
After talking about Christmas and the presents they got for a bit, the Marauders started to discuss and make plans for the first full moon of January. They were excited to finally be able to help Remus. They hadn't had any opportunities to transform over the holiday break without their parents or Lily in Jasmine's case getting suspicious. So, they were rather excited to break out their animagi forms again.
Their first time out in their animagi forms was a bit rocky. They had some trouble and at one point almost lost Remus, but they were able to keep everything together by the end of the night. They did not manage to get through the night without several scrapes and bruises. Well, some of them were a bit more serious than scrapes and bruises, but it was nothing that the four of them couldn't handle.
Remus was so upset that he had hurt them that he almost stopped Jasmine and the boys from coming during the second full moon of the year. He didn't manage to stop them, though. There wasn't really a way that he could have stopped them really. Jasmine and the boys were going to come even if Remus was worried about them getting hurt. They wanted to be there for their friend.
The second time they went out at the full moon went way better than the first time. This time there were only scrapes and bruises. They were able to keep Remus from going too far away from them. They all stayed together. They were starting to get the hang of it. So, as they continued their nightly activities as animagi, they were able to get fewer bruises and scrapes. There were a few close calls at the beginning of their adventures that Jasmine was pissed off at the boys for even letting it happen, but otherwise, the only people that got hurt were themselves.
Then, the "prank" happened. This event (or incident or whatever you want to call it) would set off a chain reaction for the rest of the Marauders' time at Hogwarts.
It was a couple of weeks before Easter Holidays that it happened. It was the night of the full moon. Jasmine had been getting some stuff ready for another night out in her animagi form in her dorm. Then Lily came in. Before Lily could see what her cousin was doing, Jasmine had managed to hide what she was doing. It was just in time too, otherwise Lily would have found out that she was planning on sneaking out tonight. If she found that out, then there would be no way that Jasmine would be able to escape the dorm room to join the boys.
Lily approached her cousin. "Hey, Mina," Lily starts. She is giving her a puppy dog look; Jasmine knew Lily only did when she wanted something.
"Okay, what do you want, Lily?"
"What makes-" Jasmine gives Lily a hard stare. "Okay, whatever. Could you please get Potter and Black to quiet down? I can hear them all the way in the common room. I don't know what they are yelling about, but I can't concentrate on the book I'm reading if they keep yelling."
Jasmine gave her cousin a curious look. "I wonder what those two could possibly be arguing about. They hardly ever argue and if they do it's usually over quidditch or something stupid," Jasmine thought. Then to Lily, she responded, "Sure, Lils. I'll tell the morons to quiet down." Lily gave her cousin an appreciative smile before Jasmine left the dorm.
Jasmine headed up to the boys' dorm. As she headed that way, she couldn't help but notice that Lily wasn't exaggerating how loud they were. When Jaz reached the door to their dorm, she could clearly hear James say, "You are a moron. I mean I can't believe you would do that Sirius. He could have been killed."
Before James could continue to scold Sirius, Jasmine entered the dorm room. After hearing James say that Sirius almost got someone killed, Jaz got pissed off. She really thought she was getting through to the boys about how their bullying could really hurt someone.
When Jasmine entered the dorm, she saw that Sirius was sitting on his bed. He had been laying down, but he heard the door slam open, so he sat up to see who it was. James, on the other hand, was standing over by Sirius looking at Jaz. He had been standing over Sirius, but he also heard the door slam open. So, now both boys were staring at Jasmine. Both boys stared at her with fear in their eyes. They hadn't meant for her to find out, but obviously, that wasn't going to happen. The boys weren't sure how much she had heard or knew, but the look on Jasmine's face alone was enough to scare them both.
There were several tense moments of silence before James nervously greeted the girl. "Hey, Jazzy. Wh-what can we d-do for you?"
Jasmine glared at him. "Why don't you start by telling me what Sirius did?" James hesitated. "Or I can just–" Jasmine didn't get to finish her threat, as James spoke up.
James wasn't as scared of 'Jazzy' anymore, since now he knew most of her anger was directed at Sirius. James still hesitated. He didn't want Sirius to face Jaz's wrath, but he knew if he didn't tell her now, she would be even angrier later. So, before Jaz could finish her threat, he gave Sirius an apologetic look before interrupting her. "Well, um, you see Jazzy, Sirius here is a moron." As James continued, he got more confident. "He did something really stupid that I would love to tell you about, but I really think Sirius should tell you himself."
Jaz turned her glare on Sirius, who shrunk back a little. Jaz scared him. When the girl wanted to, she could be very scary. So, her glare scared Sirius a bit. He really didn't want to tell her what he did, especially since he knew she would be even angrier at him. But, as she continued to glare at him, he broke. "Fine. I told Snivellus to press the knob on the Whomping Willow tonight."
Jasmine stared at him in horror. "What?!" Then the anger reappeared in Jasmine's voice. "SIRIUS BLACK, you did not. How could you do something so stupid?" Jasmine yelled at the boy. Before he could even respond, Jaz grabbed both boys by the arm and dragged them out of the dorm. She dragged them out of the common room. Then she proceeded to drag them all the way to the same room they had all first used to learn the spells for Jasmine's first prank with them. It was the only place Jaz could think of as far enough away from everything that no one would hear them. She couldn't have anyone overhearing their conversation.
They got to the room and Jaz finally let go of the boys' arms. They fell onto the floor after she released them. The fear in James's eyes had returned. He did not want to be in the middle of this. Nor did he want to be in the way of Jasmine's wrath.
Jasmine cast several spells around the room before she turned to look at the boys. She couldn't have them getting caught after all, especially since it was after curfew. She wanted to curse them out, but she didn't want to get detention because of it. After casting the spells, though, Jaz managed to calm herself down enough to ask, "So, tell me everything that happened, and I mean everything."
So, Sirius launched into the story. "Well, Snivellus had been snooping around about where Moony goes every month. He has been trying to get us expelled for months now. I just couldn't take it anymore. So, earlier today he just happened to see Moony walking toward the Whomping Willow. So, I thought it would be amusing if I told him all he had to do to follow was to prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick. He would be able to follow that way. Snivellus, being who he is, just had to try it." Sirius solemnly looked to James to finish the story.
"Well," James started. "Sirius happened to just casually mention it to me earlier. I think he thought I would have found it amusing as well, but I didn't. So, I ran to the Whomping Willow immediately. I had to stop Snape before he got too far down the tunnel. Anyway, I was luckily able to stop him before he reached the house. Snape did, though, see a bit of Remus as a werewolf, so he knows now." James was staring down at his shoes. He couldn't bear to look at Jasmine to see her reaction.
"James," Jasmine said. There wasn't an ounce of anger in her voice. "You saved his life. It is a good thing what you did." Then she turned to Sirius. The anger was blazing in her eyes. They were no longer mesmerizing but instead rather frightening. "YOU! SIRIUS BLACK. I CAN NOT BELIEVE YOU THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE FUNNY. YOU COULD HAVE KILLED SNAPE. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT YOU ALSO BETRAYED REMUS' TRUST. I JUST CAN'T WITH YOU. I AM DONE. I AM SO ANGRY WITH YOU THAT I CAN'T EVEN WITH YOU RIGHT NOW. I AM JUST SO PISSED OFF."
Sirius stared at her in shock. He didn't think the girl could get as angry as she was. He knew he really screwed up now. "I'm so sorry, Mare. I-"
"Don't call me that," Jaz threatened. Then she stormed out of the room leaving both boys to find their own way back to the tower.
Once they did arrive back at the tower, they saw Jasmine was waiting for them with Peter. By now all the Gryffindors had cleared out of the common room and were in their respective dorms, so it was Jasmine and Peter in the common room. They were sitting by the fire, just staring into it. They didn't look up when the other two boys entered the common room.
Sirius wanted to go join them, but even he knew better than to stoke the fire that was Jasmine. He would just have to letter her cool off. So, Sirius started to head up to the common room but was stopped. "Boys," Jasmine said sternly. "There is one more thing that I have to say to both of you, especially you Sirius." Figuring it better to do as Jasmine said at the moment, both boys joined Peter and Jasmine by the fire. "We will not be going out tonight, especially you Sirius." Then Jasmine dismissed them.
Sirius normally would have protested, but after everything that had happened, he figured it was better not to. Instead, he refused to leave. He figured he should try again one more time to apologize for his actions. He couldn't go to bed with Jaz angry at him. So, after James and Peter headed up to the dorm, Sirius moved into the seat next to Jasmine. "Mare," He started, but then backtracked after getting a glare from Jasmine. "Jaz, um, I am really sorry. I didn't mean for it to-"
Jasmine interrupted him. "No, but that is just it, Black. You did mean it. You purposely told Snape information that could have gotten him killed, and you didn't even seem to care. You only seem to care that I am pissed off at you right now." Jasmine's tone was quiet, and to Sirius, which was scarier than when she was yelling at him. "I just can't right now, Black. You can stay here but I'm going up to my dorm."
After Jasmine left, Sirius stayed in the common room for another hour. She left him with a lot to think about. "She is right," Sirius thought, "I really don't care that Snape almost got killed. I only thought of apologizing after Jaz found out." Then it occurred to Sirius that she didn't even call him by his first name. She had called him "Black." That deeply upset Sirius. She had never called him that before, and Sirius really hated that Jaz had even thought to call him that. "How am I ever going to get her to forgive me?"
After thinking more about what Jaz had said, Sirius still wasn't sure how he was ever going to fix their relationship. This one event had put a huge dent in their friendship, and Sirius wasn't sure if he could actually fix the dent. He hoped he could. He really liked Jasmine, as a friend that is.
After an hour of thinking in the common room, Sirius miserably headed up to his dorm. There he found Peter and James already asleep, which he was thankful for. He didn't need his friends scolding him even more. He already knew he was in for another scolding from Remus in the morning. He didn't think that he could handle another one just yet.
Sirius had a restless night's sleep. Actually, it was more like he kept trying to get to sleep, but he just couldn't seem to get to sleep. He just kept thinking about Jasmine's words the whole night. They kept running through his mind. The way Jasmine's face had looked in the common room was also stuck in his mind. She had just looked so disappointed in him. It was so different from the angry face she had given to him when she was yelling at him. The look was so much worse too. The look on Jasmine's face paired with what she told him in the common room was enough to cause Sirius to regret what he had done. It also made him feel a tad bit guilty. Sirius still felt that Snape deserved it for all the snooping that he did, but Sirius didn't actually want him to be killed. He had only wanted to scare Snape into not snooping anymore. And deep down he knew the real reason he did it was to get back at his parents in some weird, twisted way. Sure, he never liked Snape, but he really started to hate him, even more, when he started hanging out with the same people that he knew his younger brother was associating with. He knew those people were no good. He also knew that they were messing around with the dark arts. They were the same people his parents would have wanted him to associate with, especially if he was in Slytherin.
So, Sirius was feeling a little guilty by the time morning rolled around. He also started to come to some realizations as well. Once he had figured out one of his main reasons for doing what he did, he started regretting the "prank" more and more. He wanted to get back at his parents, but he didn't entirely realize what he was doing when he told Snape about the knot on the tree. It was just, he had just gotten another letter from his parents which pissed him off. Then when he spotted Snape snooping again, he just couldn't take it. It had been too much, and he just snapped.
Sirius wasn't planning on telling any of this to Jasmine, though. He still didn't want that girl's pity. He never wanted pity. Plus, he just assumed she wouldn't understand, not that James truly understood either, but that was different. James is basically his brother, while Jasmine was, well Sirius wasn't really sure what she was other than a friend.
When morning arrived, Sirius was the first to get up. It wasn't like he had really slept, so he figured he might as well. When James and Peter woke up and noticed that Sirius was already ready for the day, they glanced at each other. James motioned for Peter to go ahead and get ready while he would talk to Sirius.
"Hey, Padfoot," James greeted.
"Hey, Prongs." Sirius gave him a tired smile.
"What's up? Why are you already ready?"
"Couldn't sleep much last night."
"Why?" James was concerned.
"I couldn't stop thinking about what Jaz told me last night. Her face, too. She was so disappointed in me Prongs. I'm not even sure what to do to fix our friendship."
James gave his best friend an understanding smile. He knew his best friend liked Jazzy way more than he was willing to admit; he just hadn't realized it yet, so he tried to reassure him instead. "Don't worry, Pads, I'm sure she will forgive you by the end of the day. Just give her some space. You'll see."
So, Sirius did just that. He gave Jasmine some space, or at least he thought he was giving her space. As the day wore on, though, it felt more like Jaz was ignoring Sirius. Like this morning. It was one of the days of the week that the Marauders and Jaz had decided she would eat breakfast and dinner with them. So, when they went to breakfast, Jaz was already sitting with Lily and the girls from her dorm. Sirius understood why she didn't want to sit with them, though. He figured that she was still pissed off with him. Then there was the fact that as she left the Great Hall with Lily, Jasmine said hi to both James and Peter as well as Remus who arrived late as he usually did. Jaz did not say a single word to Sirius though. This continued throughout the day. Sirius even tried to talk to her several times, but she always ignored him. By the time dinner rolled around, Sirius was getting really frustrated. How was he supposed to make up to her if Jaz wouldn't even talk to him? She acted like he wasn't even there.
At dinner, Jasmine once again sat with Lily and the girls, which again, Sirius felt was perfectly reasonable. He got that she was mad, but did she really need to ignore him. It was already driving him mad not talking to Jaz for one day. "Hopefully, James is right, and she will be over this by tomorrow." Sirius thought while staring at her talking with Lily.
To make his day even worse, when the Marauders (minus Jaz) got back to their dorm room, Sirius got a long scolding from Remus. He was really pissed off at Sirius for doing something so stupid. It really pissed him off that he would betray his trust like that. It was after the scolding that Sirius finally broke down and told them what he realized last night. "I'm so sorry Remus. I really didn't think before I did it. I was just so mad."
Remus gave him a curious look. "What? Why were you mad?"
"Well, um, I might have gotten another letter from my parents," Sirius confessed.
"Pads! Why didn't you tell us?" James asked, surprised.
"I was going to, but then I did that whole thing with Snape, and I completely forgot about it until I was thinking last night. I realized it was a strong motivation for my actions yesterday," Sirius told them. "I don't know why I thought that I could get back at my parents through Snape, but I did, in that moment," Sirius lied. He knew exactly why he thought that getting at Snape would be sort of like getting back at his parents, but he wasn't about to tell them that. Luckily, they took the explanation for now. James looked a little suspicious, but they dropped the subject. Remus forgave him, but only if Sirius promised not to do anything like it again. Also, he made Sirius promise that he would tell them about any other letters before he did anything else.
Then they all headed to bed. Sirius was able to get a better night's sleep, thankfully. He just hoped that tomorrow would be better than today.
The next morning wasn't any better. It seemed that James had been completely wrong. Jasmine was still mad at Sirius. Plus, she was still not talking to him. Jaz was just completely ignoring him. He would go up to Jasmine and start talking. She would, in turn, either pretend he wasn't there, or if Lily were next to her, she would ask if she heard anything. Lily would always tell Jasmine that she hadn't heard anything. The most frustrating part was that she would still talk with James and Remus, but not nearly as much as they used to before the "prank." The fact that she was still talking to them really pissed Sirius off. He just wanted Jaz back as a friend, but he wasn't sure how he could get her back if she wouldn't even look at him.
Jasmine kept ignoring Sirius. This went on for an entire week. She would sit with Lily and the girls at all her meals. Sometimes if she caught the boys in the common room, she would chat a bit with James and Remus, while still ignoring Sirius. When this happened, it made Sirius start to feel really lonely. James and Remus were still talking to him of course, but when Jaz was talking to them, it was like Sirius wasn't even there. So, as the week progressed, he started to get more depressed. He couldn't understand how a girl was doing this to him. Despite the rumors around Hogwarts that claimed he was some kind of heartbreaker, he wasn't. So far, he had only snogged a couple girls, but nothing much else. He was no heartbreaker that was for sure. Never had a girl caused him to feel the way that Jasmine made him feel. When Sirius came to this conclusion, he realized that didn't actually see Jasmine as the friend he thought she was. He concluded that James had been right at the beginning of the first term. He did like Jasmine, and not just as a friend. It was an odd realization for him, and there was no way that he was going to tell the guys. They would just tease him. So, Sirius kept this realization to himself, but he did need to do something to get Jasmine to talk to him.
After realizing his true feelings for Jasmine, Sirius became determined to get Jasmine to talk to him. He tried everything from trying to scare her into talking to him to bothering her until she started talking to him. She didn't budge, and it was driving Sirius mad. He even proclaimed to the boys in a very dramatic fashion that he was going mad. He was not actually going mad, but it sure felt like he was.
There was even a point where Sirius even thought about giving Jasmine the birthday gift that he had bought her during the last Hogsmeade trip. It was such an amazing find that Sirius knew Jaz would love it.
Flashback
Sirius and James had managed to slip away from the rest of the group. They had something that they had to do without Jasmine with them. They were looking for a birthday gift for her. They knew that her birthday wasn't until July, but Sirius had insisted that there were only so many Hogsmeade trips left. Also, it was better that they did it now. With O.W.L.s coming up at the end of the term, they were bound to get busier toward the end and forget to get Jaz anything for her birthday.
So, the boys were strolling around Hogsmeade to find the perfect gifts for their friend. James wanted to get his newfound "sister" something special for her 16th birthday. Sirius, on the other hand, wasn't sure why he wanted his gift to be something meaningful and special for Jaz, but he was determined to find one. And find one he did. It was just the perfect gift for the girl. James also found something special for the girl as well, though, his gift wasn't as amazing as Sirius's was. James noticed this too, which is why he suspected even more than he had at the beginning of the last term, that Sirius had romantic feelings for Jasmine. James didn't confront Sirius with his suspicions. He figured he would just let his best friend figure it out on his own.
End of Flashback
When Sirius got out the gift that he had gotten for her, James knew exactly what he was planning on doing. "Pad put that away. You got that for Jazzy for her birthday. Save it for then."
"James, I have to do something, or she will never forgive me."
"Just wait one more day," James insisted. He knew Jasmine was only doing this to teach Sirius a lesson. She was going to start talking to me after a week, and tomorrow the week would be up. "If she still doesn't talk to you tomorrow, then I won't stop you from giving her that gift."
"Fine, Prongs. I'll give it one more day, but no more. I'm barely holding it together anymore."
The next morning, Sirius was slow to get ready, so the other three boys headed to breakfast without him. Sirius got to the Great Hall and was greeted by a surprise. There, sitting next to James was Jasmine. The best part was that she was saving a seat for him next to her. He was so excited to see Jaz sitting with them that he almost ran to the table. Then remembered that would look very odd and draw a lot of unwanted attention to him. Therefore, instead of running, Sirius walked calmly over to where they were all sitting. He greeted them all, greeting Jaz last. "Hey Jaz," Sirius greeted with a big grin plastered on his face.
"Jaz?" Jasmine questioned. "What happened to my nickname, Padfoot?"
Sirius gave her an even bigger grin if that was even possible. He was leery to use the nickname again after she told him not to call her that. He didn't want to mess things up all over again. "Just waiting for the right time to use it again, Mare," Sirius flirted.
After breakfast, things easily fell back to normal between the five friends. They were once again hanging out like they used to before the "prank." None of them mentioned the incident again, especially Sirius. They were even able to complete more of the map together. The only problem was that Lily was a bit upset to see that her cousin had gone back to hanging out with the Marauders. It didn't exactly excite Lily to see that, but she had noticed that Jasmine was a good influence on them. Ever since they had met Jasmine, they weren't bullying other students as much. Well, they weren't bullying them when Jasmine was around, which was an improvement at the least. So, Lily was upset to see her cousin hanging out with the Marauders again, but not as upset as she should have been.
A/N And done. And I think this was actually a pretty emotional chapter. At one point I wanted to cry (I didn't) it was so sad. I really hope I did good with this chapter, especially since I'm not sure how much time I will have to write in the upcoming weeks. I think the next time that I have a little bit of a break is around the last week of October. I'll try to find time to write before then, but I doubt I will have much time.
Also, just to give you something to think about until then, the next chapter is called O.W.L.s and the Second Incident.
Bye for now, Knk6700
