Chapter 18: The Truth About Jily
A/N I've done it again. I've gone and finished another chapter for you my lovely readers. I originally wanted to finish this over Valentine's Day weekend, but I got roped into watching a really cute, animated movie with my roommates. Better late than never with the Chapter though. I really hope you enjoy this chapter.
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.
The beginning of term started out just like any other term for the Marauders and Lily. Jasmine had gotten over her anger at James and Remus by the next morning, so it really was a normal beginning of the term for them. They were all keeping up with their classes, and the boys plus Jaz had already pulled a prank within the first couple of days. Everything was the same as it had been since Jasmine first came to Hogwarts the previous year, with a bit more snogging and kissing than the previous year. It only changed when Remus and Lily finally had their first set of rounds together, which had been after the first week of classes.
Remus and Lily had gone out of the common room as they usually would, saying goodbye to the other boys and Jasmine. Although, instead of Lily ignoring James's goodbye, Lily responded with her own goodbye before quickly hurrying out of the common room. Remus followed her out soon after. When he found her waiting in the hallway, he saw the remnants of what appeared to be a blush on her face. Remus couldn't be sure it was a blush, but he was pretty sure that it was, especially since he still had his own suspicions about Lily's reasoning for running out on James at the annual Potter Christmas Ball. And this would be his chance to finally get some answers about his suspicions.
Remus waited until they were far away from the common room before she broached the subject. He didn't need James overhearing or anyone else for that matter, especially since that would make it very unlikely for Lily to actually tell him the truth. "So, Lily, how was your Christmas break at the Potters? I hope James didn't give you too much trouble."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Remus. James was actually fun to hang out with. It wasn't as bad as it probably would have been if I had gone home for Christmas. James is nowhere near as bad as Petunia."
Remus tried his best to act confused upon hearing Petunia's name, but apparently acting is not anywhere in his future. His confused act did not fool Lily because she was clearly giving him a look that said I know you know about my sister. So, Remus gave up the act and confessed. "I'd prefer James over your sister any day, Lily."
"Yeah, I would too, Remus," Lily agreed. Then she saw Remus' questioning look and answered the unasked question. "Don't worry. I know that Jasmine is the one who told you guys about Petunia. She told me about it after she found me on the train after you and James pissed her off." Remus opened his mouth to defend himself, but Lily didn't let him. "Oh, Remus, come off it. You could have stopped James, but you didn't. You knew exactly how he was going to wake them up and you didn't stop him."
Remus wasn't about to just "stand" there and let Lily tell him that he could have stopped James when Remus knew there was no way that could have. "No, Lily, I couldn't have stopped him. I argued with him to let me wake them up instead, but as we argued more, our voices got louder. Then I would have just been playing into James's plan anyway for waking them up. Plus, I knew soon after we started arguing that it was pointless. James was going to get his way. You don't know him like I do. You might think you do since you are friends with him now, but I've been his friend for longer. I know how he gets when he puts his mind to something. He is so stubborn it is infuriating sometimes."
Before Remus could continue his monologue, Lily interrupted him. "Woah, woah, woah, Remus. I'm sorry. I guess you're right. I don't exactly know James, but I figured that my cousin did. It didn't even occur to me that she might not know him as well as you might. Plus, she did come to me pretty angry, and Mina doesn't always think rationally when she is upset. So, I'm sorry for assuming, Remus."
Remus nodded his head to show that he accepted the girl's apology. "It's fine Lily. Jaz isn't even angry at us anymore." Remus changed the subject. "While we are talking about your new friendship with James, James told me about what happened at the ball."
"Oh?" Lily asked as she raised one of her eyebrows.
"Yeah, and I noticed something that I have been meaning to run by you." Lily didn't respond this time, but Remus took the silence as an indication that he should continue. "I've had my suspicions about your feelings for James for a while now, and they were only strengthened by how you reacted at the ball. So, I'm going to give you the chance to tell me your side of the story before I go to James with my suspicions." Remus wished he didn't have to resort to the blackmail, but he knew that it would be the only way that Lily would actually tell him the truth about her feelings for James. He knew she would tell him her side of the story since they were friends, but that didn't mean she would confide in him, especially since he was one of James's best mates.
At Remus's threat, Lily's even widened in surprise. "You wouldn't Remus!" Lily was clearly distressed at hearing Remus's threat.
"I won't if you tell me what James's left out of his story." The questioning look that Lily gave him led Remus to elaborate further. "Your feelings, Lily. James only could see that you were mad at him, but there is no way that you were that angry with him and forgave him that soon after."
Lily sighed. She knew there was no way she was getting out of this. She would just have to confess to Remus and make him swear not to tell anyone else. There was no way that Lily was going to let anyone else know how she felt about James Potter, especially James. "Fine. I fancy James. Are you happy now?"
Remus gave her a wide grin in response. "Very. I figured you fancied him, especially after how you reacted to him asking a simple question. So, tell me everything." Then seeing Lily's apprehensive look, Remus added, "Don't worry, Lily, I swear I won't tell James. It will be our secret." Remus had to know when Lily had started to feel this way and why she hadn't acted on her feelings yet. It was the only way that he would be able to figure out how to finally get the two of them together, with a little help from Sirius and Jaz.
Lily gave him a small smile. "I'll tell you, but you have to swear you won't tell not just James, but anyone else. I can't have this getting back to him."
"Okay. I swear I won't tell anyone else, Lily. I won't even tell Jaz, but I really think you should tell her." Well, he could somehow figure out how to do this alone, but Remus really hoped that Lily would take his advice and tell Jasmine. If he could have just one other person to help him with his plan to get James and Lily together, Remus preferred that it would be Jasmine who knew Lily the best out of all of them.
Lily waved off his suggestion before telling Remus about her feelings for James. She told him about how she started to feel different about James that one Hogsmeade weekend when they were spying on Jasmine and Sirius. Then she told Remus about how she felt at the ball. She told him about how she refused to let James know that she reciprocated his feelings to an extent because he needed to earn her love. She wasn't just going to relent and tell him that she now fancied him just because he fancied her back. James had done nothing to earn her feelings for him. He was still the bully that he had always been even if they had eased up a bit on it.
Upon hearing Lily's reasoning for not telling James, Remus started to see all the pieces come together. It made sense that Lily wouldn't tell James because he was still an arrogant toerag, as Lily had called him before, at times even though it had lessened over the past term. Remus had his suspicions that it had something to do with Sirius coming to live at Potter Manor, but he never voiced this to either boy. He was just glad that they had at least started to see the errors of their ways. But Remus had to know why she agreed to be James's friend if she was still not okay with the bullying. "Wait a minute, Lily. I get why you won't tell James, but why even bother trying to be his friend if you still don't like that he is bullying?"
Lily sighed. "Because, Remus, I still fancy him. I want to at least get a chance to get to know him better even if I refuse to be with him. At least as friends, I get the chance to get to know James and he gets a chance to show me whether or not he will change or not. I want to know whether or not he is willing and able to grow up. Being friends with him will give me that opportunity. Plus, he is still one of Mina's best friends and practically a brother to her. I may as well try to at least be friends with him for Mina's sake."
"That is actually really practical and sweet, Lily. But I will say this, don't hurt James or well, you don't want to know what I might do."
Lily gulped but decided that it would be best to change the subject now. So, for the rest of their rounds, Remus and Lily chatted about how their classes were going. And before they knew it, they were done and back at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Upon entering, they each went their separate ways. Each gave the other plenty to think about as they went to bed that night.
Remus kept his promise to Lily and didn't tell anyone else about her feelings for James, but that didn't stop Jasmine from still finding out about her cousin's feelings for the boy that was practically her brother. It was a couple days after Lily's confession when Jasmine happened to by luck wake up before Lily. It was unusual for her to wake up before her cousin because Jaz was not a morning person at all. But it was a good thing that Jasmine actually woke up early by herself that morning.
When Jasmine first woke up, she was a bit confused. She couldn't hear any rustling or her cousin yelling at her to get up. To find out why that was, Jasmine peaked out of the curtains that were over her bed and saw all her roommates' bed curtains were still closed. She was, for once, the first one to wake up. Usually, that was her cousin Lily. By this point, Jasmine knew there was no way that she would be able to go back to sleep, so she started to silently get ready for the day. She went to one of the bathrooms that were in the room taking her robes with her. Then she actually took a shower and got ready for the day. Normally, Jaz never woke up early enough to take a shower in the morning, so this was a new thing for her. It actually helped to wake her up.
Anyway, when Jasmine finally exited the shower all dressed, she saw that her cousin Lily was up and getting ready now. Apparently, Lily didn't hear the door to the bathroom open and close, or at least she didn't bother to look up to see who it possibly could be. She actually seemed to be too distracted by something that Jasmine didn't notice at first. As Jasmine got closer to her cousin, she saw what was distracting her cousin so much. It was the necklace that James had given her for Christmas. Lily was looking at it before she finally put it on. Then she hid in beneath the robes that she was already wearing.
Jasmine didn't want to confront Lily about the necklace right that moment, so Jaz raced back into the bathroom to avoid Lily from seeing her. Jasmine stayed in the bathroom for another minute before finally coming back out. She saw Lily sitting at the desk beside her bed reading a book. It was then that Jasmine decided she was going to scare her cousin. She walked up behind Lily and right next to her ear, Jasmine whispered, "Good morning, Lils."
Lily jumped and dropped the book that she had been reading. Luckily, instead of hitting the floor and making a loud sound, Jasmine managed to catch the book before it hit the floor. Jasmine gave the book back to Lily, who was currently glaring at Jaz. She looked really pissed off at Jasmine, but she couldn't start berating her with the rest of the girls still sleeping. Instead, Lily grabbed her books for the day and stormed out of the room. Jasmine followed Lily out of the room after a minute of silently laughing. Jasmine just barely spotted Lily storming out of the common room when she exited her dorm room.
In the common room, Jasmine was surprised to see James and Remus sitting there staring at the common room door. Jasmine rushed down to them to see what they could tell her about what happened. "Hey, Prongs, Moony."
The boys hadn't seen her coming, so they each were a bit startled by the girl's greeting. Both boys were quick to recover though, but James was the first one to speak. "Hey, Jazzy. You're up early today," James noted. "Any reason?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Jaz rolled her eyes. Then she hit James on the arm. "Grow up. I did not get up early for some clandestine meeting with Sirius. You know him, there is no way he would have even set a meeting this early anyway. He likes his sleep as much as I like mine. I just happened to wake up early." Jaz was annoyed with James, but she still needed to know what had happened before Lily left the common room. "Anyway, did you guys see Lily storm out here by any chance?"
She got a nod from both boys, but James added, "Yeah, she didn't even acknowledge either of us when we told her good morning. She just stormed right out of here. She was definitely pissed off about something. I'm just glad that it's not me that she is pissed off at this time."
Jasmine groaned. "Great. Now I have to deal with Lily being mad at me."
"Wait, what?! She was mad at you? What did you do to get her so mad, Jazzy?"
"All I did was sneak up behind her and scare her a little bit."
"How much is a little bit?" James asked of the girl.
"Um, she jumped and dropped the book she was reading. Luckily, I caught the book before it hit the floor and woke our roommates, but still, it's not like I did something absolutely terrible. I just apologize to her at breakfast. I'll see you guys later." And without even waiting to hear a reply, Jasmine was out the door of the common room with her own books for the day. It wasn't until after Jasmine was out of the common room that she registered that Remus was awfully quiet this morning. She shook that thought off though. She would have more time to think about that later after she apologized to Lily.
Luckily, Lily had cooled down by the time that Jasmine entered the Great Hall prepared to apologize to her cousin even though Jasmine was still confused at why Lily got so mad. Jaz had her suspicions that it might have to do with why Lily was still wearing the necklace James got her and hiding the fact that she was.
Jasmine took the seat next to Lily and started to fill her plate for breakfast. Neither girl spoke, which Jasmine expected. She knew that when her cousin wanted to be, she could be really stubborn. So, this time Jaz would just have to be the bigger person and start off the conversation. "I'm sorry, Lils. I really didn't think you would be that surprised when I snuck up behind you."
Lily turned to glare at Jasmine, but upon seeing the apologetic look on Jaz's face Lily's face softened. "It's alright, Mina. I was just not expecting you to be up already. Usually, I'm the one to wake you up."
"Yeah, I just happened for some godforsaken reason woke up early today. I have no explanation for it." Lily laughed and the girls fell into a comfortable silence as they ate their breakfast.
Jasmine wanted to confront Lily about the necklace right then after they ate, but before she could broach the subject, the boys came strolling into the Great Hall. Jasmine hoped that they wouldn't come over and sit with them for once. She didn't need them interfering with her interrogation of Lily. Luck was not with her, though. The boys, led by Sirius, who had spotted his girlfriend sitting next to Lily, walked right over and took their usual spots when they would sit with her and Lily.
With the Marauders sitting with them, Jasmine knew she wouldn't get the chance to ask Lily about the necklace before their first class. Jasmine would have said something to the guys about leaving, but she had been enjoying her boyfriend's company. So, instead of telling them to leave, Jaz decided she would just have to ask Lily later after their classes.
It was much later when Jasmine finally was able to confront Lily about the necklace. It actually wasn't until after dinner that Jaz finally got Lily alone to confront her about the necklace.
On the way back from the Great Hall after dinner, Jasmine pushed Lily into an empty classroom. Then she proceeded to cast some spells so that no one would be able to interrupt them or hear their conversation. Jasmine had a feeling that this was going to be something that Lily really didn't want any others finding out.
After Jasmine was done casting her spells and charms, she turned back to her cousin who was staring back at her in surprise. It wasn't long before her surprise turned into anger. "What the bloody hell, Mina? Why did you drag me in here and cast all those spells and charms? Are you keeping something from me?"
Jasmine cursed under her breath. "Um, no, Lils, I'm not keeping anything from you, but I'm pretty sure you are keeping something from me."
"What are you talking about, Mina? What could I possibly be keeping from you?"
Jasmine wasn't about to let Lily get out of this. "The necklace!" Lily's confused expression led Jaz to explain herself further. "You know the necklace that you are currently wearing, which is the same one that James gave you for Christmas." The only response Jaz got from Lily was another confused expression, but Jasmine could tell that this one was definitely not as genuine as the first one. Lily knew exactly what Jaz was talking about. Jaz knew she was about to try and deny it, but Jaz wasn't about to let that happen. So, to prevent Lily from being able to deny it, Jasmine walked right up to her cousin and pulled the necklace out from under Lily's robes before the girl in question could stop her. "This necklace, Lily. What are you doing wearing it?"
Lily wasn't sure how she wanted to handle this situation that she was currently stuck in. She could only see two ways out of this: lie to Jasmine about how long she had been wearing the necklace or tell Jasmine about her feelings for one James Potter. Lily was hesitant to tell Jasmine about her feelings for James, not because she thought Jasmine would tell James, but because of Jasmine's relationship with Sirius. Lily didn't want to force Jaz to keep something from Sirius. But just as Lily has thought it better to lie, she caught sight of the friendship bracelet she had made Jasmine for Christmas. It was peeking out of the sleeve of Jasmine's robes. Seeing the friendship bracelet, Lily suddenly felt bad about lying to her cousin. Then Lily remembered Remus' recommendation from the previous day about telling Lily. That reminder combined with the guilt Lily felt about thinking about lying to her cousin crumbled her resolve. Lily relented and told Jasmine everything.
"Well, um, Mina, I kinda, sorta, really fancy James. Plus, it is such a lovely necklace. It makes me feel all special. He hasn't given any other girl jewelry before, so I don't know, it's just special."
Jasmine was gaping at her cousin's words. It was a few minutes before she was able to collect herself so that she could actually form words. Sure, Jasmine had been trying to set James and Lily up, but she had never talked about any boy let alone James Potter like Lily had just talked about the boys who gave her the necklace. And Jasmine hadn't been expecting to see Lily almost swoon like some of their classmates have over James. It was just a surprise seeing Lily like this. "Wow, Lils. I was not expecting that."
"Yeah, well, what can I say, I fancy James Potter."
It was at that confession that Jaz realized that even though Lily fancies James, she hasn't done anything about it. And Jasmine couldn't help but wonder why that was. "That much was obvious Lils, but why haven't you told him how you feel. You clearly know that he feels the same way about you. Nothing is stopping you from going for it."
"Actually, Mina, there is." Lily's voice lost all the lovey-doveyness that had been there before. Now her voice was filled with stubbornness and refusal. "There is no way that I am just going to roll over and pretend that James still isn't an arrogant toerag. Sure, he is less of one and I have taken that into consideration, but until he stops bullying and finally just grows up, then I will think about agreeing to go on a date with him. Until he cleans up his act, I refuse to go on a date with him."
Jasmine didn't think she could be shocked anymore by Lily tonight, but here she was in shock again from Lily. Jaz is so shocked that she isn't even sure how to begin to respond to what Lily just told her. She understands where Lily is coming from, but damn, James had his work cut out for him. And if Jasmine had any hope of ever getting 'Jily' to be a reality, she was going to need some help. Her first thought was Sirius, but that was quickly dashed away when she heard Lily say, "Oh, and Mina, you have to promise me you won't tell any of the boys. I can't have this getting back to James. There is no way that he would ever stop if he found out I reciprocated his feelings." Well, that dashed Jaz's plans of going to Sirius for help, but Jasmine hadn't given up hope yet. And just when she had resigned to figure out a plan to get them together herself, Lily added, "Oh, well except Remus."
"Woah, wait, what? Why can I tell Remus and no one else?"
"Because I already told Remus about my feelings for James the other night when we were on rounds. He confronted me with what I think he had already suspected by blackmailing me into telling him about my feelings for James. At first, I was a bit upset with him for blackmailing me, but I was a bit surprised as well since I didn't exactly think that Remus had that in him. Although looking back on it now, it didn't appear to be his first time blackmailing someone. He is more devious than he looks, Mina."
Jasmine nodded her head in agreement. "He really is, Lils. You should see him when we are coming up with prank ideas. I don't even know where he gets these ideas from, but they are brilliant." Jasmine knew they were starting to get off-topic, so she brought them back to the original topic. "So, you fancy James and only Remus and I know?" Lily nodded her head in confirmation. "Okay, well I promise I won't tell anyone else, Lils. It will be hard to keep this from Sirius, but I think I'll manage. Plus, maybe this will be a good thing. I mean we aren't going to always be able to tell each other everything."
When Jasmine finished her little spiel, Lily pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear her thanks. "Thank you so much, Mina. I really appreciate it." Then Lily pulled back from the embrace. "So, are there any secrets that you might want to tell me now that I've shared my secret with you?"
Jasmine froze. "She couldn't possibly know that I am hiding something from her, could she? I'll just have to play it off that I don't have any idea what she is talking about just to be sure." Jasmine thought before finally answering Lily's question. "Nope. I'm pretty sure I don't have any secrets from you Lils. And if you think I do, I have no idea what it could be."
"Oh, well, I just thought that there was a reason that you are never in your bed on the night on the full moon. Now you already know that I know about Remus being a werewolf, but that doesn't explain why you wouldn't be in the dorm on those nights. It's not like you can help or go with Remus on those nights. You would get seriously injured if you did."
Jasmine just stared at her cousin. She couldn't even fathom anything to possibly say in response to Lily's accusation. It was coming out of nowhere. Jasmine wasn't even aware that Lily even knew that she had been leaving the dorm room on the nights of the full moon. It was something that Jasmine was sure she had been super careful about keeping from Lily.
"Well, Mina? Your silence already tells me that you are keeping a secret from me, which really hurts since I haven't been keeping secrets from you. Well, now I haven't been keeping secrets from you but still."
Jasmine had to think fast, but for the life of her, she couldn't think of any excuse for why she might be going out on the full moon. The shock was still clouding her mind. So, before she could think of any kind of excuse, Jasmine finally answered her cousin. "It's not just my secret. I'm sorry, Lils, but I can't just betray someone else's trust to tell you my secret."
Lily, who had been pissed off at Jasmine for keeping a secret from her, was not letting go of her anger. Jasmine's explanation might not have been the one that Lily had been looking for, but she still understood keeping a secret because someone else was involved. It was similar to the secret she had kept about Sirius's home life, but yet Lily couldn't help but wonder who Jasmine was protecting. "I understand, Mina. I wish you could tell me, but I wouldn't want you breaking the boys' trust in you."
Jasmine gaped at Lily. "Wha- How do you know it is the boys' trust?"
"Well, I didn't entirely know for sure, but judging from your reaction it is their trust you don't want to break. Though, I just hope that you all know what you are doing. I would hate it if you got hurt, Mina."
"Oh, Lils. Don't worry, we know exactly what we are doing," Jasmine reassured her cousin. Then she pulled Lily into another hug. After pulling away from each other, Jasmine said, "Well, we better get going, Lils. Don't want to miss curfew or at least get caught out after curfew." And with that, both girls rushed up to the Gryffindor common room.
Since finding out about Lily's feelings for James, Jasmine had been thinking about how to get them together. She had come up with several ideas so far, but she really needed someone to bounce her ideas off of, and the only person who she could do that with happened to be Remus. The thing was, Jasmine knew she could only talk with Remus when he was alone, which proved to be a difficult task. That boy seemed to always have someone with him. It was rather annoying and frustrating as Jasmine continued to try and get him alone. She finally got him alone when he had told the other boys he was going to the library to go study. Jasmine hadn't actually planned to ambush Remus in the library, but Sirius had told her that he wanted some guy time with James while Remus was off studying in the library. Meanwhile, Peter was nowhere to be found, so Jasmine knew this would be the best chance to get Remus to help her with her plan to get James and Lily together.
Jasmine headed to the library with the excuse to the girls that she also needed to go study. And technically she did, but she figured she would first talk to Remus about Jily then get her studying done. She could kill two birds with two stones.
Jasmine found Remus sitting (thankfully) by himself at a table in a somewhat secluded part of the library. It was the same table that Jasmine preferred to do her studying at something that Jaz couldn't help but smile when she found Remus shared her preference. She walked up to Remus, and to get his attention, put her hand on the book he was reading for his notes. Remus looked up and smiled at the girl when he realized it was Jasmine. "Hey, Jaz. You need something?"
"Well, besides the fact that you totally stole my usual table for studying, I need to talk to you."
Remus raised one eyebrow in response. "Well, last time I checked, this table doesn't have your name written on it." Then a smirk appeared on his face before he continued. "But otherwise, what is it you need to talk to me about? It better not be about Sirius. I already get enough from him about your relationship. I don't think I could possibly take much more of it, especially if you are contributing now."
Jasmine chuckled quietly. "No, it's not about Sirius, but nice to know that he talks about us so much."
"It's starting to get ridiculous. I thought it was bad enough when he was quietly pining over you, but this is so much worse." Remus realized they were talking about exactly what he really didn't want to talk about. "So, if it isn't Sirius you want to talk about, then what is it you wanted to talk about?" By this point, Remus had set his parchment and books off to the side so that they were out of the way.
"I know you know about Lily and her true feelings about James." Remus sighed in relief, which was not the reaction that Jasmine had been expecting to get from her revelation.
"Oh, thank god. I am so glad Lily took my advice and told you."
Now instead of Remus being shocked, Jasmine was. "Wait, what? You told her to tell me?! Why?" But Jasmine didn't even let him answer that. "You know what, never mind. It doesn't matter. She didn't even tell me until I confronted her about the necklace."
"Necklace? What necklace?" Remus asked confused. He didn't know anything about any necklace and what that could possibly do with Lily's feeling for James.
"The necklace that James got her for Christmas," Jasmine explained, but she saw that Remus was still confused. So, Jaz explained further. "James didn't tell you?" Remus shook his head no. "Oh, well, he got her this absolutely beautifully simple yet elegant necklace with an emerald on it. It was absolutely beautiful. And I could tell Lily loved the necklace even if she made a fuss about not wanting to wear it because it was from James. Apparently, she loved it more than I thought because she has been wearing it since we got back from our break. She has it hidden underneath her robes. I just happened to see it on her before she tucked it underneath her robes the other day. It was that same day that I pissed her off and she stormed out of the common room, remember?"
"Oh, wow. Was that why she was so pissed at you that morning?"
"No. Actually, I had decided to scare her, and she got really mad at me. I wasn't sure why she was so mad at me for just scaring her until I confronted her about the necklace later." Jasmine paused debating whether she wanted to tell Remus about Lily's suspicions about their activities on the full moon each month. When Remus motioned for her to continue, she decided that she would just tell him. Maybe he could help her convince the guys that they should tell Lily the truth. "Well, after she told me about her feelings for James, she accused me of keeping secrets from her, which I have been. You know about our activities on the full moon. I have no idea when she figured out that I was sneaking out during the full moons, but she did."
Remus' eyes were as wide as saucers now. "Wait, she knows?!" Remus whisper-screamed they were still in the library after all.
"No, not yet at least. She didn't know what I was doing on the full moon nights, but she suspects it has something to do with you and the guys. All I told her was that it wasn't just my secret, which it isn't, but I think we should really tell her." Remus opened his mouth to disagree, but Jasmine didn't give him the chance. "Wait, here me out. It will be better if she hears it from us. She will eventually figure it out. Lily isn't stupid, and she will eventually put everything together. And I am thinking that it is more than likely going to be sooner rather than later. So, if we tell her first, yes, she will be pissed at us, but not for as long as she would be if she figures it out herself. Plus, if we tell her that it was James's idea to finally tell her, then we can totally use that to get them together finally. So, what do you think, Moony? Will you help me convince the others that we need to tell Lily about our activities on the full moon?"
Remus was conflicted. On one hand, Jaz had a point about it being better to tell Lily sooner rather than later. But on the other hand, he could see Lily trying to stop the others from going out on the full moon, which Remus didn't entirely mind happening, but he knew that James and Sirius would take issue with it. They wanted to do everything they could possibly do to make Remus' transformations a more enjoyable time for him, and they had. Remus knew that Jasmine was right, and they needed to tell Lily. Sighing, Remus agreed. "Fine, Jaz, but it's going to be really hard to convince James and Sirius to tell Lily."
"Oh, but I think it will be easier than you think." At Remus' raised eyebrow, Jaz explained herself. "Well, I clearly already have Sirius's wrapped around my finger, so will it really be that hard to convince him with a few well-placed kisses. And James, well I have a feeling if we tell him that we plan on telling Lily it was his idea to tell her in the first place he will be more on board with the idea, especially after I tell him it might just get Lily to see him in a new light if you know what I mean."
Remus smirked at the girl. "Damn, Jaz. I didn't know you could be so devious. But I think that might just work."
"We'll have to talk to them either later tonight or tomorrow because I didn't just come down here to talk with you, Moony. I have work to do too." With that being said, both of them got to work on what they needed to do.
Jasmine and Remus were luckily able to accomplish their work just before dinner in the Great Hall. They decided before they left, they would meet in the boys' dorm to convince James and Sirius of their plan. They would discuss when they wanted to tell Lily once the rest of the Marauders were on board with the idea.
After dinner, they all headed up to the boys' dorm. As per usual, each boy sat on their own bed, while Jaz sat on Sirius's bed as she usually would. This time though, she and Sirius got a lot closer than they had before they got together. So, there they all were in the room, chilling after dinner, but just as Jasmine was about to bring up her idea about telling Lily about their extracurricular activities on the night of the full moon, James started up a conversation about the pranks that he had been thinking about having them pull this term. It wasn't long before Jasmine forgot about her plan and got into the prank planning conversation.
By the time that Jasmine finally brought up her original idea about Lily, it was pretty late. They ended up talking about pranks for a while before moving on to the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend. And sometime during this Jasmine had moved from cuddling into Sirius to laying her head on his lap where he was combing his fingers through her strawberry blonde hair.
Now, though, they were all sitting in comfortable silence. Jasmine let the silence last several minutes before she finally brought up her original reason for joining the boys in their dorm after dinner. Before speaking though, Jasmine sat up and removed Sirius's hands from her hair. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and gave Remus a quick glance before finally breaking the silence.
"So, boys," Jasmine started from her new spot on Sirius's bed. All the boys turned to look at her, especially Remus and Sirius. Remus was looking at her because he knew what was about to go down, and Sirius was just looking at Jasmine wondering why Jasmine had decided to move from her previous spot. He missed the warmth her head had brought to his lap.
Once Jasmine was sure that all the boys were paying attention, she continued. "So, I was thinking, and I think that we should tell Lily about us being animagi."
No one said anything for a while. Both Sirius and James were staring at Jaz in stunned silence. Remus, on the other hand, was just sitting silently, waiting and watching to see what happened next. While Peter was just waiting to see what James and Sirius would say about the subject. He wasn't about to be the tiebreaker. He would end up going with the majority, or James and Sirius. Peter wasn't about to go against the "leader" of their little group.
It was several minutes before anyone spoke up and broke the stunned silence. Surprisingly, it wasn't James as it usually was. Instead, this time it was Sirius who broke it. "Mare," Sirius began. He was staring at her and Jaz could feel it, but she refused to look at him lest she lose her initial resolve about telling Lily. She knew that if she looked up at her boyfriend, Jaz knew that she would be met with eyes that she didn't know if she could say no to, so she couldn't look at him. But despite her protests, what Sirius said next broke her resolve. "I get how you would want to tell your cousin, but why now? What has changed?"
Anger flooded through Jasmine's veins. She turned toward her boyfriend and stared at him. "What do you mean 'What's changed?' Everything had changed." Jaz started to raise her voice. She stood up from her spot next to Sirius suddenly and started pacing angrily around the room. "Everything has changed Sirius. I've been lying and keeping things from Lily. And now I just can't keep doing it anymore, especially not after what she gave me for Christmas." Jaz was now on the verge of tears and a complete breakdown, and Sirius could see this. So, he stood up and pulled the girl he loved into his arms.
At first, Jaz resisted Sirius's embrace, but Sirius held on. Jasmine needed him and he wasn't about to let her push him away. It wasn't long before Jaz finally gave in to Sirius. Instead of continuing to fight and resist him, Jaz fell apart in her boyfriend's arms. She broke down in his arms and started to cry. Slowly, they both were joined in their hug by James, Remus, and Peter. The other boys couldn't let Sirius do all the comforting. They were all her friends, after all.
So, there they all were: the boys all huddled around one of their best friends, smothering her in a group hug. It was a while before Jasmine calmed down again enough that she could better explain herself. It was at that point that the boys finally released the girl from their group hug.
Once out of the hug, Jasmine dried her tears as best she could and sat back down on Sirius's bed. Sirius sat down next to her and pulled her into a side hug. Jasmine responded by cuddling into Sirius's side, but she still faced the other boys. Meanwhile, the other boys, instead of going to sit back on their own beds, chose to sit on the floor in front of Jasmine. They wanted to be close in case she broke down again, as well as to hear what she had to say about her breakdown.
After a few minutes of enjoying Sirius's warmth and embrace, Jaz found her voice even quieter than it was before and began to explain herself. "I am so sorry guys. I don't know what came over me."
Before Jaz could apologize anymore, both James and Sirius interrupted her at the same time. But it all sounded like gibberish and no one could understand what they were saying. They didn't continue for very long since they realized that no one could understand them.
Once they stopped, Sirius motioned for James to go first. James gave him a nod before speaking up. "Jazzy, there is no reason that you should be apologizing for breaking down. You have the right to fall apart whether it is all the time or only sometimes or even never again. It doesn't matter, not to us at least." Jasmine gave him a watery smile, but this time her eyes were filling with happy tears. James, though, didn't realize this and started to panic. "Jazzy, no, don't cry. What did I say wrong?"
Jaz was quick to squash his panic and worry. "No, Prongs, these are happy tears. I just… besides Lily, I've never had friends that care about me as much as you boys do. I mean I had friends at Beauxbatons, but we never got very close, especially since I tended to keep everyone at a distance because of my mom and what was going on. It means so much to me that you all care this much about little 'ole me."
In response, the boys except Sirius, not wanting to get up from their spots on the floor, all gave her a smile. Each smile gave Jaz a warm feeling inside. Meanwhile, Sirius, still holding Jaz, gave her a squeeze to let her know he was still there and would be there for her no matter what. That squeeze gave Jaz an even better feeling inside. She was loved and she knew it. All of these feelings warmed Jaz so much that she was finally able to explain to them her real reasoning for wanting to tell Lily the truth. "I love you guys so much." Jaz turned to glance at Sirius. "Some differently than others." The boys all let out a chuckle at this. "Anyway, I feel that I should explain my reasoning for wanting to tell Lily about our full moon activities." And so, Jaz did. She explained to them how Lily confronted her about keeping something from her (while successfully not mentioning Lily's feeling for James). Jaz told them how she did her best to keep the truth from her cousin and best girlfriend. That's when Jaz got into her true reasoning behind wanting to tell Lily, the reasoning that not even Remus knew about. "So, I tried my best to keep the truth from her, but I feel like I am breaking my promise to Lily, a promise I made a long time ago."
Jasmine almost got lost in the memory of the bracelet like she had on Christmas when she first saw the replacement friendship bracelet. What stopped her was the squeeze she felt on her arm. Sirius, who was still holding his girlfriend, had squeezed Jaz's arm to reassure her that she wasn't alone anymore. He also could see that Jasmine was starting to get lost in the memory of the promise she had made Lily Evans. So, instead of letting Jaz get lost in the memory, Sirius pulled her back. Jaz, still cuddling slightly with Sirius, looked up at the boy with a grateful look before she continued with her explanation. "I made a promise with Lily before either of us knew we were witches or anything about the magic world and before either of my parents died. Anyway, we were young and super close. So, one day we were hanging out when one of us brought up the idea of friendship bracelets. We both loved the idea, so we decided to make each other friendship bracelets." Jasmine paused to lift up the sleeve of her robes to show the boys her friendship bracelet. "When we gave each other our bracelets, we made a promise to each other that we would never keep secrets from each other. And we never did, even when I moved away to France. Well, actually we didn't keep any secrets while we both had our bracelets as reminders. So, when I lost mine when I was 11 at Beauxbatons, I no longer had that reminder. So, by the time I gave up on trying to find the bracelet, it was Christmas and I finally went home and that was when things with my mother started. And so, I kept a secret from Lily for the first time. It wasn't my original intention, but I figured that there wasn't much Lily could do. I also figured that Lily already had her issues with Petunia, so why should I burden her with my issues. Therefore, I kept the emotional abuse my mother was putting me through from Lily.
"Then my mother died, and Lily was there when I found her, as I've told you guys before. Well, I ended up 'telling' her everything that day about the emotional abuse. It was such a relief to not have any more secrets from Lily. And I didn't have any secrets from her until I met you boys."
At that statement, the boys suddenly felt incredibly guilty. They knew Jaz wasn't trying to make them feel guilty, but it couldn't be helped. They knew they were at least part of the reason for creating a rift between the two girls who used to be so close before the boys and their own secrets entered Jasmine's life. The boys didn't get eh chance to apologize or anything more before Jaz continued with her explanation. "But guys, I didn't entirely mind keeping secrets from Lily if it meant protecting you guys. You four boys are probably the first friends that I've had that aren't related to me, where I can be myself with. Besides Lily, I've never had friends who truly know me because I couldn't really be the real me at Beauxbatons. I was afraid to be me in fear that I would get expelled because of my pranks. Pranks were also highly frowned upon. I didn't want to take any chances, so I was never fully me while I was there. When I came here and met you boys, I finally felt that I could actually be me and that was an amazing feeling. So, please don't feel bad about having me keep secrets from Lily. I really didn't mind."
It was then that Remus realized something, so he interrupted with a question. "Wait a minute." Everyone turned to look at him. "You said you lost your friendship bracelet and I've never noticed you wearing that bracelet before, so how did you get a new one?"
"Oh, I almost forgot. That is what has changed with my attitude for keeping secrets from Lily. This Christmas, Lily gave me this friendship bracelet. It is an exact replicate of the one that I lost all those years ago. And now every time that I see the bracelet, I'm reminded that I'm keeping secrets from Lily, and I hate it. I hate that the bracelet instead of bringing me happiness like it originally had, brings me guilt. So, it is because of this bracelet as well as the fact that Lily knows that I am keeping something from her that has convinced me that we should tell her about us being animagi. Not only would it relieve me of my guilt, but Prongs, if we tell her it was your idea, I'm sure that will put you closer to your goal of finally getting together with Lily." Jasmine smirked at James saying that last part to him directly.
James smirked right back at Jaz. "That is an absolutely brilliant idea Jazzy. I love it. And I completely agree that we should tell Lily the truth, but not just because it will get me in her good books. I trust her not to tell on us."
Jasmine gave James an appreciative smile before turning to the boy who she was still cuddling with. "So, Pads, what do you say? Can we tell Lily?"
Sirius smiled at the girl in his arms. "Of course, Mare, anything for you." The love in his eyes was clear for everyone in the room to see, which is why it didn't surprise any of them that he leaned down and kissed Jasmine. It wasn't a very long or deep kiss since they weren't alone, but it was still a kiss expressing their love for each other even if they weren't ready to say those words out loud just yet.
A/N Well, this chapter turned out way longer than I expected it to be. I think it is probably the longest chapter yet. I just wanted to add that stuff about Jaz and Remus finding out about Lily's feelings for James. Then there was the whole scene when Jaz and Remus go to convince the others about telling Lily the truth about their animagi status and that sort of just spiraled in a way that I originally didn't plan, but I ended up really liking. So, I really hope you all enjoyed this long chapter. I'll try to update when I can, but I can't promise that will be soon. Although, reviews or comments do motivate me to want to update sooner.
Happy March,
Knk6700
