Ch. 5 Charms and Hogsmeade
September and most of October flew by peacefully. After they day Harry had walked in on them kissing Remus didn't send Jessi so much as a second glance. Their relationship was strictly student to teacher and nothing more. They rarely spoke even when they were in his office grading papers. At first it bothered Her but eventually Jessi pushed it to the back of her mind and resumed life as normal, or as normal as normal gets anyway.
It was nearing the end of October and Jessi was sitting alone in the Library. She was working so intently on her Defense essay she didn't notice her charms partner Andrew Scottsdale, a Ravenclaw boy with brown hair and blue eyes, sit down at the table across from her. She glanced up at him when he cleared his throat. "Oh…Hi Andrew, what's up?"
"Not much but we were supposed to meet earlier remember?" he asked quietly
"Oh Andrew I'm so sorry I got caught up in this essay and totally forgot" She exclaimed apologetically " if you aren't busy we could practice now"
"Now is fine I have about an hour before Quidditch starts" he answered
"Great…lets go find an empty classroom" she said as she gathered her things shoving them in her bag. They scampered out of the Library talking about Quidditch. They headed down the corridor searching for an empty classroom. They passed Professor McGonagall who smiled and told them she thought that the classrooms one hall over were empty. When they got to the said corridor Jessi realized that they were in the Defense Hall, she shrugged her shoulders and lead Andrew into the 7th year classroom because it wouldn't be used today.
"So what are we working on today Andrew?" she asked, setting her stuff down in a chair.
"Bubble-Head Charm and the Color Change Charm" he answered smirking slowly.
"I hate the Bubble-Head Charm…that double swish movement is so hard"
"Here watch...I'll so you" he demonstrated the movement, swishing his wand to the right then up and to the left quickly. "See…now you try"
She swished her wand from side to side saying the incantation groaning when nothing happened. They worked for about a half an hour without Jessi ever successfully completing the Bubble-Head Charm. The moved on to the Color Changing Charm and after Jessi showed Andrew the looping point wand motion he successfully change his school bag from black to green and back. She practically glared at him when he said they needed to finish the work on the Bubble Head Charm.
"It's hopeless Andrew...I'll never get it right" Jessi said sadly.
"You are not hopeless" he said kindly, "Come here…I'll help you". He motioned her over and stood behind her. He placed his left hand lightly on her hip and held her wrist in his right, guiding her through the motion. "Like this…..now…say the incantation"
She followed his directions and smiled in delight when a bubble appeared around her head.
"Andrew...this is wow…..thank you so much I've never gotten that charm before" she ended the charm and smiled at him over her shoulder. She was about to say something else when he kissed her. When the kiss ended she looked up and opened her mouth to speak but saw Remus standing in the doorway. "Professor Lupin…"
"Mr. Scottsdale…Miss Carmichael, I would greatly appreciate it if you would refrain from using my classrooms for snogging" he said harshly. He walked past them to his desk. "You can go now, Mr. Scottsdale". he saw Jessi pick up her bag and begin to leave the room with Andrew. "Miss Carmichael…I don't believe I dismissed you" he was trying to keep his voice normal but knew that his tone sounded harsh and clipped.
Jessi stopped and threw him a glance over her shoulder to judge if he was serious or not. When she saw that he was she quickly bade Andrew good-bye telling him she'd talk to him later. She turned around and slowly crossed the room to stand in front of the desk. "Yes Professor" she said with a sarcastic sweetness.
"I'll need your help grading papers tonight" he said coolly.
"Well I can't make it tonight I have a study session….but since you've just sent my Charms partner away I'm free now"
"Fine, now is just fine" he said tersely, he handed her a large stack of first year essays without looking up at her. He knew she was mad at him, but chose to ignore it as he'd been doing since mid-September.
Jessi sat grading the first year essays marking off for every minor error, when she looked back over the paper she'd just finished she groaned. I'm turning into Snape marking things off like this I mean really. She re-read the essays she had already read giving back points before continuing on, an hour and a half later she stretched and looked at her watch. "Bloody hell" she muttered under her breath.
"Miss Carmichael please refrain form swearing" laying another paper aside.
"Oh right I forgot…..you hear everything...well hear this…I'm leaving I'm late for my study session" she stood hurriedly grabbing her bag.
"Miss Carmichael it would serve you well to remember that I'm your professor" he looked up at her over the top of his glasses.
"Right…you're my professor…here but what about when you're snogging me in dark hallways in the middle of the night" she looked at him expectantly before heading for the door. "I'm late now...thanks"
"Late for a study session riiight….you can say you're going to have a snog" he said bitterly.
"Oh so are you my Professor when you're jealous because someone besides you kissed me?…You haven't said more than two words to me since the day Harry walked in on us….."she trailed off glaring crossly at him.
"That's childish, I don't speak to you so you go around snogging random boys in my classroom" his eyes were flashing in anger and he was visibly trying to reign in his temper.
"You were right...I'm your student…and that means I can snog whoever I bloody well want to…and you should remember that Professor" she turned on her heel and headed out the door of the classroom letting it slam loudly behind her before she let out a heavy sigh.
Remus watched the door slam from behind his desk. Once the resounding THUD had dissipated and he knew she had gone he cursed softly and began to pace. She is messing with my emotions and I don't like it ,he thought to himself as he brought his pacing to a stop by an open window. He resented the fact that when she smiled at him the world was right and he hated that seeing her kissing someone else made him seethe with anger. "This isn't good…she's my student…I have to respect that boundary" he said to himself before returning to his desk to try and get some work done.
Jessi walked quickly down the hallway towards the library, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were going to kill her for being late for this potions research. She entered the library silently and stalked over to their table sitting down, sighing moodily. "What?" she asked them all tersely when she saw the questioning looks on their faces.
"Are you Ok, Jess" Hermione spoke first.
"Yeah you seem more angry…well at least more so than is usual lately" Ron said.
"Ron….it's called tact" Hermione said irritated
"Jess…what's got you so riled?" Harry asked calmly
"Nothing" Jessi snapped at all of them "Sorry guys…I'm fine…let's just get this project done" she said looking at the apologetically them.
"Sure …let's get started...I hate this place" Ron said referring to the Library
"Oh stuff it Ron" Hermione said impatiently, she then turned to Jessi and Harry completely ignoring Ron "We were assigned Veritaserum…"
"Veritaserum…but everyone knows all about that that's pointless even for Snape" Ron said cutting her off.
"Ron…" Harry said laughing
"We're not reporting on it…we're making it" Jessi said laughing taking over for Harry because he was laughing to hard.
"We're making it?" Ron said utterly confused.
"Yes Ron…We are making it" Hermione said slowly as if she was talking to a small child "Jessi, why don't you and Harry go get the books we need" she said much more pleasantly.
"Um…sure thing Mione" Harry said standing up quickly "Come on Jess….this way"
Jessi followed behind Harry quietly. When the reached the Restricted section Harry grabbed her wrist and made a sharp turn and dragged her toward the back of the Library. He stopped when the reached a window.
"You had a fight with Lupin didn't you?" He inquired in a hoarse whisper.
"I don't know what you're talking about Harry" She answered him off handedly "oh by the way…why are Hermione and Ron at each other's throats?"
"When are they not fighting, and you know exactly what I'm talking about" He said looking down at her with his eyebrow raised.
"Fine...yes I had a fight with Lupin…No I won't tell you about…and I know that they are always fighting I want to know why" she said crossing her arms.
"Ok you don't have to tell me…..and I honestly don't know they've been like this since dinner…speaking of which…"he trailed off the question of where were you obvious.
"I know I wasn't there…first I was studying with Andrew, then I was grading some of Lupin's essays then I was here…and we should get those books before those two kill each other"
"Yeah we should" Harry said somewhat dejectedly
"Harry…what's wrong?" She asked him softly.
"Do you think Mione likes Ron?" He asked sounding scared of the answer.
"Well of course she like him Harry, but she loves you…trust me if I have to hear about how great you are at um….worldly pursuits one more time I'm gonna lose it" she snickered softly at the look of shock he gave her.
"Ok now about those books…..you get them" He said turning her the direction she needed to go.
"Oh no you don't you're coming too" she laughed as they headed to get the books. They gathered the books and returned to Hermione and Ron. They all began to work quickly and quietly, once they gathered the information they needed, they set a place and time to meet to begin brewing. When all of the decisions were made Harry and Hermione went off to do rounds, Ron headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room, and Jessi stayed in the Library to work on her Ancient Runes project.
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The next morning Hermione Granger woke up slowly, squinting at the mid-morning sunlight pouring through the windows of her room. She stretched slowly and headed into her bathroom. Once she was showered and dressed she walked out into the area she shared with Harry, she saw his broom gone and remembered that he had Quidditch practice that morning so she went up to the Gryffindor Common Room to see who was around. When she got there she saw only Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas who were playing Wizards chess. "Morning Guys" She said cheerily " Lavender and Parvati didn't happen to mention if Jessi was still asleep did they?" She noticed Dean and Neville exchange a quick look before Neville finally spoke.
"Yeah...they did…the said she never came in last night" he said regretfully
"What…oh dear thanks guys I have to find her" she said dashing back out of the Common room. She decided to check with Professor Lupin first thinking maybe Jessi had actually just left the room early for one of those all day paper grading sessions they had when they were behind. When she reached the office she knocked quickly and entered when he answered. "Oh…she's not here" she said dismally.
"Who isn't here Hermione?" Remus asked looking at her quizzically.
"Jessi….Parvati and Lavender told Neville and Dean she never came in last night and I'm a bit worried"
"What?" he asked, realizing after he spoke that his tone was more worried and angry than it would have been if it was someone else, he took a deep breath "Were they sure…and where else have you looked?"
"I came here first…I thought maybe you two were having one of your all day paper grading sessions…and I don't know if Parvati and Lavender were sure I didn't talk to them"
"Alright well this is a rather large castle…you check the Astronomy Tower and The Great Hall, and I'll look in the Library and the dungeons, meet me in the Entrance Hall in an hour" he watch Hermione nod and they headed out of his office. He ran quick to the dungeons, looking into all of the rooms, the only people he saw were a few Slytherin first years. He then went quickly to the library which at that point in the day was open to 7th year students and faculty only. He entered quietly trying to avoid angering Madame Pince. He glanced around not seeing her in the front so he proceeded to the back of the library, when he noticed her sleeping on top of a very large tome of what looked to be pages and pages of ancient runes. He coughed loud enough for her to hear but not loud enough to alert Madame Pince.
Jessi opened her eyes and cringed at the brightness of the afternoon sunshine that was coming through the back windows, she lifted her head groaning at the stiffness in her neck. She jumped slightly when she saw Remus. "Morning Professor….can I help you?" she asked slightly sarcastically.
"You can start by telling me why you're sleeping in the Library?" he said raising an eyebrow.
"Thank you for waking me, but I don't have to explain anything except my schoolwork…and possible bad conduct but that's beside the point" she said quickly.
"And you don't define sleeping in the Library overnight as bad conduct?" he asked her, sitting down across from her.
"No" she slammed the library book shut and started putting her things into her bag as she glared at him.
"Well I see that we are of a difference of opinion"
"Well then let's agree to disagree shall we?" she got up and started to leave. She had just walked past him when she felt him take hold of her wrist.
"I don't believe you were dismissed, Miss Carmichael" he said lowly.
"That's just plain weak, Professor…..we're having an argument and you start to lose so you pull rank and actually use that status……bloody weak" she said coldly.
"Detention Miss Carmichael…tonight…for arguing and for talking back …7'o'clock...my office" he said angrily.
"Fine…would you mind letting go of me now" she said glancing from his eyes to where his hand was on her wrist.
He dropped her wrist and glared down at her his usually warm blue eyes turning icy with anger. "Hermione will be waiting for you in the Entrance Hall…and remember you still have Detention" he said coldly, dropping her wrist and storming out of the Library.
Jessi sat back down and stared out the window at the lack students roaming over the grounds, when she realized it was Saturday and a Hogsmeade weekend. She quickly gathered the rest of her things and scurried down the corridor to the Entrance Hall. When she saw Hermione standing there pacing worriedly she couldn't help but smile softly. "Mione…..?"
"Oh Jessi thank Merlin Professor Lupin found you…he did find you right?" Hermione said sounding very very relived.
"Yes he found me" Jessi answered "So are we going to Hogsmeade today or not?"
"We are as soon as Harry and Ron get done with Quidditch"
"Right then…I slept in the Library so I'm going to go take a shower and change….I'll be at your room in an hour?" she half stated half questioned.
"An hour sounds great you can tell me about snogging Andrew Scottsdale while we wait for the guys"
"W-W-What?…..how did you know about that?" Jessi asked looking shocked.
"Oh his friend Ty ,who happens to be my partner in Arithmancy, told me when I was in the Great Hall looking for you." Hermione stated plainly "You know Ty…..that dark haired Ravenclaw"
"Tyrone Marshall told you I snogged Andrew" she said rolling her eyes "wow…the exaggerations that things like that go through"
"So you didn't snog him then"
"He kissed me…. once" Jessi said her voice tinged with irritation " that doesn't constitute snogging and it wasn't even that good of a kiss"
"Oh really…and who was the last good snog you had?" Hermione said as they began to walk down the hall.
"Professor…oh wait nevermind that was a dream I had" she said quickly covering the fact that the last person she actually had snogged was indeed Professor Lupin.
"You're still hung up on him aren't you?" Hermione asked incredulously
"No…..I'm not hung up on him…I just haven't found anyone else" she sighed as the reached the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Alright then….we'll start the search today then …..Your Mission should you chose to accept it" Hermione said giggling.
Jessi rolled her eyes and entered the Common Room. She walked straight to the stairs and up to her Dormitory. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Lavender and Parvati weren't there. She went over to her trunk and got her stuff for her shower, before kicking off her shoes and padding over to the bathroom. She turned the faucet on all the way hot and let the steam fill the room before she shed her robes and uniform and stepped into the shower. 45 minutes later a very wrinkly but much cleaner and happier Jessi emerged from the bathroom wrapped up in a large white towel.
"Well if it isn't Mrs. Andrew Scottsdale" Parvati said sarcastically.
"What are you talking about?" Jessi questioned as she moved to the end of her bed and began looking through her trunk.
"You and Andrew are a couple now are you not?" Lavender asked lightly not looking away from her mirror.
"No Andrew and I are not a couple" Jessi said through clenched teeth as she climbed onto her bed and shut the curtains to get dressed.
"So you make a habit of snogging boys for no apparent reason?…why didn't we know about this before?" Parvati said, Jessi couldn't see her but she had a feeling the the dark haired girl was putting on yet another coat of bubble-gum pink Lipstick.
"I did not snog him either…..he kissed me once…that's certainly not snogging" She opened the curtains on her bed and hopped off the end sitting down in front of her Mirror "Why do you two care anyway?" she asked them both, running her fingers through her wet hair before performing a drying charm.
"We just don't want to see you get hurt Jess" Lavender said sweetly
"Uh huh…which on of you is about to break up with your current flavor of the week?" she looked between them as she slipped her trainers on.
"Ouch that hurts Jessi" Parvati said sarcastically as she opened a bottle of magical body glitter.
"Oh hush both of you, look if your all that interested in Andrew I don't really care…there is nothing between us, never has been never will be." Jessi turned back to her mirror and surveyed her reflection. She decided to skip the major make-up and just dabbed on a clear gloss before throwing robes on over her muggle clothes and heading out the door.
She reached the Head's chambers about five minutes early and let herself in when Hermione didn't answer the door. She glanced around the sitting room which was just a small version of the Gryffindor Common Room and smiled as she sat down in front of the fire, and picked up a Charms book which she assumed was Hermione's, she flipped through it absentmindedly glancing at the diagrams. She barely glanced up when Harry and Ron entered the room.
"How'd you get in here Jess?" Harry asked amusedly.
"Mione gave me the password last week" She standing to stretch "Where is she by the way"
"I'm right here" Hermione said coming out of her room "Is everyone ready to go?"
"Yes" Ron said depressively.
"We have to go sometime Ron, it might as well be now, with friends" Jessi said as she laid her arm across Ron's shoulders.
"Yeah….she's right" Harry said softly
"We should go then" Hermione stated slowly, but instead of moving to the door she moved to Harry's side and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Mione's right" Ron said, he guided Jessi towards the door "Come on you two" he called over his shoulder.
They all headed down the stairs toward the Entrance Hall, not talking just walking quietly. Jessi noticed that Ron's eyebrows were drawn together and he was frowning deeply. "Ron….Are you ok?"
"Yeah Jess...I'll be ok….what about you, you haven't really been you lately" Ron inquired softly.
"I know…I'm sorry"
"You don't have to apologize" he led her out the front doors and into a carriage.
Harry and Hermione quickly joined them and the carriage took off towards Hogsmeade. They road silently towards the village each lost in their own thoughts. When they reached the village the sight that greeted them was shocking. In the center of the small village stood a large white marble fountain shooting sparkling clear water skywards. The sound of the water falling into the pool surrounding the fountain could be heard throughout the whole village. The four
approached the fountain together stopping when they reached the edge of the pool. They stood silently letting the roar of the water engulf them lost in the thoughts of those they had lost.
"For Sirius, Hagrid and My Parents" Harry said speaking first dropping four white flowers they'd transfigured the previous weekend into the pool.
"For Seamus and For Colin" Hermione spoke next dropping her flowers into the pool as well.
"For My brothers, Zachariah and Alexander" Jessi whispered dropping her flowers.
"For Bill, For Percy, and For George" Ron spoke last, his voice barely above a whisper. After he dropped his flowers into the pool he stared into the water.
Jessi glanced up at Ron and saw a tears forming in his eyes. She embraced him in a sisterly fashion gently rubbing his shoulders as her cried. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Harry and Hermione clinging to each other and she felt herself beginning to cry as well. The four of them stood there beside the fountain crying softly and comforting each other. Awhile later when they had all gotten their emotions in check they walked through the village. Slowly up the hill past the Shrieking Shack, through a grassy field to a grass meadow. They stopped in the center of the field all of their eyes set on a large pile of rocks sitting at the base of a rock ledge on the far side of the field. This was a place few had returned to since the final battle, the place Harry had finally brought down the greatest Dark Wizard in the history of the wizarding world, the Place were Voldemort fell. The four friends looked at the pile of rocks that had crushed Voldemort after a complicated spell had stripped him of all magical ability.
Jessi looked at the faces of her three closest friends, she knew that their thoughts and memories were following the same path as her own. She remembered the day Harry had come to them saying that Dumbledore had found a spell to strip Voldemort of his powers, She remembered the long nights in the Library researching all possible outcomes and the extra practice sessions that all the 6th and 7th years had to go to in preparation for the Final battle. She saw the glint in Harry's eye and she knew he was remembering the previous Halloween when it had started. The feast when Voldemort and his Deatheaters had burst in and the next morning when the older students along with teachers and Aurors had forced the out of the school into the rain. Jessi didn't remember how they had ended up in this field above Hogsmeade that day, but she remembered just like everyone who was there the eerie silence that had filled the air after that pile of rocks had crushed Voldemort.
"Maybe we should head back towards the village" Hermione suggested a while later as the four of them sat in the grass each lost in their own memories.
"Yeah let's go to the Three Broomsticks and get warm" Ron said offering his hand to Jessi as Harry offered his to Hermione.
They made their way back into town and to the Three Broomsticks each of them smiling weakly at Madame Rosmerta. They found a circular booth in a far corner and Hermione and Jessi sat while Ron and Harry went to get butterbeers. They quickly returned with the drinks and sat down. They all sat sipping their drinks not talking.
"This is it, today ends it" Harry said softly.
"What do you mean Harry, it ended nearly a year ago" Hermione said, looking at him quizzically. Jessi and Ron nodded in agreement with Hermione.
"No it didn't, Voldemort might have fallen but it didn't end. But today it ends….we've said our goodbyes and dealt with the past" he paused and looked at each of them before continuing "We won't ever forget those we've lost, they'll be with us for ever but today is the day we put the past behind us, we live each day to the fullest, We will always have each other….Friends through the best and the worst" He finished
"And we've certainly been through a lot of worst lately" Ron stated dryly
"Yeah we have….what do you say we try to enjoy the rest of today?" Harry said smiling.
"Sounds good to me" Jessi said finally speaking up. "I request a stop at Honeyduke's I need a box of Sugar Quills."
"Honeyduke's it is…" Harry said before he got cut off by Ron.
"Zonko's too" He said sounding somewhat more cheerful. They all quickly finished their drinks and exited the bar talking and generally enjoying themselves as they walked through the streets of the familiar village.