The Dreamers
Chapter Four
A hush fell over the Great Hall as the old Headmaster walked swiftly down the center aisle, with two tables on either side of him, followed by two girls, one very small and the other who looked as if she belonged. The sisters, one with curly dark hair, and the other with thick black hair, looked at one another with their matching green eyes and the little one reached up to grab her sister's hand.
That was when the whispers started. Jasmine only caught bits and pieces of the many conversations, but she knew that most of them were about her and Delia. She heard 'Harry Potter's daughters' and 'what are they doing here?' and 'I heard she' this, and 'I heard she' that. Most of what was being said was far from the truth. Some people had the crazy idea that Delia was there because she wasn't really Jasmine's sister, but her daughter, and that was why Jasmine hadn't come to Hogwarts until now. Honestly, if any of them could do math they'd know it wasn't even possible. Jasmine was fourteen, and Delia was six. That would have made her be eight when she became a mother! Heat rose up to Jasmine's cheeks at even the thought of this.
She looked around for someone she knew. To her right seemed to be the Ravenclaw and then Gryffindor tables. Jasmine's eyes sought out Sean first. He was sitting at the end of the table with a group of boys, his blue eyes on her, and when he saw she was looking he held up a hand in greetings. Jasmine didn't know anyone else from that table, or the Ravenclaw table, so she looked to her left where the Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables were. She scanned the Hufflepuff table for Allison, and when she found her the blonde haired girl gave her a big wave and a smile, and Jasmine returned the gesture. Something then caught Jasmine's eye that made her wonder if she was going crazy. A flash of white blonde hair and pale skin against black and green robes. Did Draco Malfoy just nod at her?
Professor Dumbledore's voice brought Jasmine back from her frown of thought as he calmed down the students, "All right, all right, that's enough. Yes, these are Harry Potter's daughters, and yes, they are coming to Hogwarts this year. I must ask you to refrain from spreading silly rumors about Jasmine and Delia, for Jasmine is not secretly Delia's mother, they are sisters." The Headmaster shook his head humorously. "You may all get to know the Potter girls later, when they have been sorted, but now, let the Sorting of the first years begin."
Jasmine and Delia followed Dumbledore past the table set up for the Professor's and into a small room to the right. Inside the room were a fireplace and a long leather couch headed by two matching chairs on either side. The walls were lined with bookcases, and above the fireplace was a huge portrait of a bunch of children sitting together on the front steps of a much smaller Hogwarts school. Jasmine wondered if it was a picture of the first children to attend Hogwarts.
"Please make yourselves comfortable. The Sorting shouldn't take much longer than ten or fifteen minutes." Professor Dumbledore waved to the chairs and the couch and took a seat in one himself. Jasmine sat down on the couch and Delia sat beside her. Dumbledore snapped his fingers and a tray appeared containing a tea kettle, three tea cups and two jars with sugar in one and honey in another. "Would you like some tea?"
"Yes please," Delia said politely, and when Dumbledore handed her a tea cup with tea and honey she smiled and added, "Thank you."
Jasmine kindly declined the offer. Her stomach was feeling a little queasy. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so nervous. When she was handed a cup of tea anyways, Jasmine looked up at the Headmaster, confused. "But I…"
"I know, Miss Potter, but I think you should drink this." Dumbledore interrupted. "Tea soothes the stomach. You shouldn't be worried, everything will be just fine."
"Thank you, Professor." Jasmine accepted the tea and took a sip. She immediately felt calmer than before.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Dumbledore stood up to greet Professor McGonagall who had with her the Sorting Hat. "Thank you, I'm sure this will only take a moment and then we will be out to begin the feast."
"I'll try and keep the students from eating the tables for a little while longer, Dumbledore." McGonagall joked and then left the room, shutting the door behind her.
"Ah, here we are." Dumbledore picked up the Sorting Hat and placed it gently on Jasmine's head. "Don't be afraid, my dear, he doesn't bite."
"…Hard…" That hat added with a laugh inside of Jasmine's head. "Oh, this is Harry Potter's daughter, yes, she is. Well then, a bit of your mother in there, too, I see. They were both great Gryffindors. What do you think of yourself, girl?"
Jasmine shrugged outwardly, but in her mind she said, "Well, I'm not sure. I suppose being in Gryffindor House runs in my family, but where do you think I should be placed?"
Jasmine didn't mind either way, as long as she was not a Slytherin.
"Ah, I see, you don't want to be a Slytherin." The Hat picked up on her thoughts. "Well why not? What's wrong with Slytherin?"
"I'm not sure. There's just always been a grudge held between my father and Malfoy and I guess I don't want to end up in a house that would cause my family any grief about the past." Jasmine thought. "You understand, right? It's not that I personally have anything against Slytherins – yet – but the past is a hard thing to forget about."
"Yes, I do understand. You are a very smart girl. That shows your potential to be a very great witch when you are older. Perhaps Ravenclaw would be a good house for you?"
Jasmine wrinkled her nose, "Now, this may just be a rumor, but I've heard that Ravenclaw are just like Slytherin, they may be a little smarter, but when it comes to danger they'll save themselves before another."
"So are you saying you wouldn't do the same?" The Hat wondered.
"I would never do that!" Jasmine exclaimed to the Hat and then continued, "Saving another is much more important that saving yourself. That is such an incredibly coward-like thing to do. Delia's safety comes before mine, always."
"I see," the Hat pondered. "Well, you are a smart and kindhearted girl, both very good qualities, but you are also brave and selfless, and will be very important someday soon, so I suppose you will do very well in Gryffindor." Out loud the Sorting Hat proclaimed, "Gryffindor!"
The Hat was taken off Jasmine's head and she smiled at Dumbledore, saying, "I guess I'm more like my parents then I thought."
Dumbledore let out a laugh and nodded in agreement, "Yes, I suppose it is everyone's worst nightmare come true when they finally realize how much alike to their parents they truly are."
Jasmine smiled at the Headmaster once more and then dropped her gaze down to Delia who was frowning thoughtfully at the floor. "What is it, Delia?"
Delia looked up to her sister, the frown still on her face, "What does selfless mean?"
Jasmine didn't reply as something tugged at the back of her mind. Where did she hear that word before? Why was it so odd that Delia was asking about this word now? Then it hit her, the Sorting Hat had used that word about herself only a moment ago. Jasmine's mouth dropped open and she looked accusingly at the little girl.
Dumbledore was answering Delia's question for Jasmine, "Selfless is the opposite of being selfish. Being selfless means that one would put others safety before their own. Do you understand now, Delia?"
She nodded, "Yes, I think I do. Thank you." Her green eyes found Jasmine's again and when she saw the look her older sister was giving her a guilty one passed over her own.
"How?" Jasmine asked.
"I don't know," Delia said. "Really, I don't. I just, I wanted to know what you were saying and then I heard. I didn't do it on purpose."
"Did you know that could happen?" Jasmine demanded.
Delia shook her head, "No! I swear I've never done it before. Honest. That was the first time. I didn't know I could hear your thoughts."
Jasmine was puzzled by Dumbledore's unconcern at these words. She put a hand on her hip and asked, "Did you know? All this time…that that could happen?"
Dumbledore set down his tea cup and gave the girls a mysterious smile. "I did not know that the two of you could listen in on each other's mind conversations, but I did suspect. Not too often do you cross two people who have the same dreams all the time. Sure, it happens, but it is not normally with two people who know each other. It can be that someone across the world shares the same dream as someone else, but they would never know would they? Sharing dreams is one of the closest bonds you can place on a person. It connects the two in a way that I cannot even imagine. There are bonding spells that could do the same. They make you hear the others thoughts and communicate in the mind, and even feel what the other person is feeling. It was quite useful during the war years back, but I would not use that bonding spell unless the circumstances were very important, and I mean, very important. Because there is a downside to this spell, and that is, once it is cast, you cannot ever take it back. That one person is stuck with the other for the rest of both of their lives, and it is very hard to live without each other. That is why the spell is illegal to place upon another without being approved by the Ministry."
Dumbledore paused to take a cookie off a tray floating beside him, that he conjured up some time during which Jasmine was consulting her House with the Sorting Hat, and to take a bite. He made a face and commented, "Ginger snaps. Not my favorite cookie." Then he continued with his earlier conversation. "Ah yes, you see, you two are different, though. Your bond is real, it is true, it is not a spell, and therefore, we are not sure what you two are capable of doing when together."
"Wait, what do you mean 'capable of doing when together'?" Jasmine wondered.
"Well, your magic will be doubled once Delia learns as well, and that is why we need to keep her here. If she all of a sudden started doing magic, people might get a little suspicious, and that is why I must ask you not to tell anyone else that you two share dreams." Dumbledore sent a look in Jasmine's direction, "I know you already told the Weasley boy, but was there anyone else?"
Delia scowled, "Yes. She told that evil Malfoy boy."
"No I didn't." Jasmine denied.
"You did so." Delia insisted.
Jasmine thought back. "Delia, you were only talking about your dream, we didn't tell him that we have the same dreams." She asked Dumbledore, "Does that matter? If he heard about a dream she was having, but he doesn't know that we share them?"
Dumbledore thought on this for a minute, stroking his long white beard as he thought, "Well, Malfoy is a very smart boy, he just might figure something out, so I suggest you try and be nice to him, and I'll call those two in here later for a small talk. Does that sound okay?"
Jasmine nodded but Delia whined, "Does that prat really have to know?"
"Delia!" Jasmine scolded. "Don't talk like that. Headmaster, it's fine. Really, it is."
"All right girls, are you feeling hungry now?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Yes!" Delia said, a smile on her face, and the talk about Malfoy forgotten already. Then, the little girl's eyes drifted longingly to the Sorting Hat.
"Would you like to try it on?" Dumbledore asked, knowing that was exactly was she wanted.
Delia couldn't speak; she just nodded her head up and down. Dumbledore placed the Hat on her head and she squeezed her eyes shut, having a conversation just like Jasmine had. She opened her eyes again when the Sorting Hat called out that if she were to be sorted today she would be in Hufflepuff House. Dumbledore went on to explain that most younger children would get sorted into Hufflepuff because of their state of mind. They do not think like older children do. So in a few years, when it actually comes time for Delia to be sorted, she may end up in a different House because she will have grown, and then again, she may still get Hufflepuff.
"Come now, let us not keep them waiting any longer, I'm sure they are all famished by now." Dumbledore stood and walked to the door, Delia and Jasmine following.
The Great Hall erupted into cheers when they saw Dumbledore emerging from the small room as this would mean they could finally eat. Dumbledore held up a hand to silence them and said, "Yes, yes, I know. You're all hungry. Then I'll make this quick. Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts. I hope you will all try and make this a good one. At the end of the week, Friday night at supper, some of the professors and I will be announcing a new program, so if you are interested in finding out what it is, remain here for a few minutes after you eat. Now, speaking of food, let us feast!"
Dumbledore clapped his hands and the tables were immediately filled with food. The Headmaster turned to sit in his seat and then remember about Jasmine and Delia. He turned back to the students. A few groaned but most just paused with piling their plates high with food. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. One more thing, I'm sorry. We have a new student, Jasmine Potter is a fourth year student and she will be in Gryffindor House." The Gryffindors cheered and the other tables clapped for Jasmine as she and Delia made their way to the Gryffindor table.
Jasmine wasn't sure whether or not to sit with Sean, but he waved her over and told her he saved a seat for her because he knew she'd be a Gryffindor. She smiled at sat down beside him, but was pushed over by Delia, who wanted to sit next to Sean as well. Jasmine didn't mind being pushed over, she was used to it. Delia did it all the time.
The minute Jasmine sat down, though, she was hit by a wave of questions from all of the students at Gryffindor table, and a few from Ravenclaw as well. She didn't know what to make of all this attention. Delia seemed to like it and she told people her name and age and who their parents were and that Jasmine really was her sister. She didn't answer the questions that asked what she was doing at Hogwarts, though. Delia was very good at keeping a secret.
"Jasmine," she was tapped on the shoulder by the person she was sitting next to, "I'm Bram Zabini." Jasmine found herself looking at a boy with curly brown hair and blue eyes. He was smiling at her and she wondered if this could really be the son of Blaise Zabini, one of Draco Malfoy senior's best friends from school.
Jasmine decided she might as well not judge anyone by whom their parents are since the daughter of Pansy Parkinson seemed nice and so did this boy. Jasmine smiled and said, "Well it's nice to meet you, Bram."
"Look, Jassy!" Delia whispered urgently in Jasmine's ear.
"What?" Jasmine turned to face her sister.
"That evil boy is staring at you. I don't like him, Jasmine. I don't want him to know about our dreams." Delia looked upset again, like she was when they were in Dumbledore's little room.
Jasmine glanced over to the Slytherin table and caught Malfoy looking at her, but he averted his eyes when he saw she caught him. Jasmine said, "I don't want him to know anymore than you do, but it isn't up to us. If Dumbledore thinks that is for the best then there is nothing we can do about it. Now just enjoy your dinner, okay? Don't worry about what Malfoy is doing."
"Hey, Jasmine," Sean called her, "I want you to meet some of my friends." He pointed first to the boy sitting beside him with shaggy dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, "This is Jake Sinn, he's been my best friend for a real long time. This is his sister, Emma. She's a third year." He pointed past Jake to a girl who looked just like her brother, who was sitting next to a girl with ginger colored hair and cat-like yellow-brown eyes. "That's her friend Cassia Moon." Sean whispered, "She's a little weird." He pointed across from Cassia to an older boy with purple spiked hair and honey brown eyes, "Across the table is Matt Wood. He's real cool, into that whole Anarchy thing. Then next to him are Quince and Zeke Fallon." They were twins with sandy brown hair and dark blue eyes. "Those last three aren't important." Sean said with a straight face and then started laughing. "I'm just kidding. That's Billy, Adam and Jaden." All three of them had orange hair and blue eyes, the same as Sean's. He added, "They're my cousins. Jaden is in our year, but Adam is a fifth year and Billy is a sixth."
Jasmine smiled and waved to all of them as Sean pointed them out. Jasmine was good at first impressions and figuring out people at first glance. She could tell that Jake was like Sean and he seemed like a cool guy. His sister, Emma, looked fascinated at meeting a famous wizard's daughters and she would want to get to know Jasmine better. Cassia couldn't care less about Jasmine, and she could tell they wouldn't get along very well. Matt looked like someone straight off LSC Punk, but he also looked like the type whose looks would deceive and he was actually really smart. Quince and Zeke were jokesters, Jasmine could just tell. Billy was incredibly smart and would end up working in the Ministry. He just had one of those faces. While Adam looked like he just wanted to have a good time. Jaden seemed to be the only one at the table other than Sean who could be one of Jasmine's really good friends. She hoped that would happen and she was right.
"We're not important?" Jaden feigned being hurt by Sean's comment.
"Yeah," Adam said, sounding like he was about to make a joke, but not one Sean would find very funny, "At least we're true Weasleys, and our last name isn't really – "
"Don't say it, Adam." Sean warned, a scary undertone in his voice.
Adam looked surprised, but Jaden was the one to speak, "You haven't told her yet?"
Sean shook his head, "I only met her a few days ago. I'm not just gonna say everything there is to know about me." He leaned across the table to try and whisper, but Jasmine still heard, "It isn't exactly something I want everyone to know, okay? So don't say anything."
Adam nodded, "Sorry, I didn't know."
"Well I don't think you should keep it from her for very long, otherwise she'll think you're trying to hide something else as well." Jaden told him, exaggeration on the word 'else' but for what reason, Jasmine didn't know.
Sean waved a hand at Jaden, his way of saying he's heard enough, and gave Jasmine a weak smile. She knew what it meant though. It meant 'Please don't think I'm trying to hide something from you, I'm just not ready to say what it is myself.' It meant he was scared of what she would think of him after she found out. Now she was getting really anxious to know what it was he was keeping from her, but she didn't want to ask because it was an invasion of privacy.
What to say after all that? "Well, thanks for introducing me to your friends. It was really nice." The words were out of Jasmine's mouth before she even thought about them.
Sean looked lost for a moment, but then he said, "Oh, yeah, sure, no problem. They all wanted to meet you, anyways."
"Jassy, I don't feel good." Delia said from in between Jasmine and Sean.
Jasmine looked down at her little sister's messy face and empty plate. She let out a laugh and then put a hand to her mouth. "Sorry hon, but you've got food all over your face." Jasmine picked up her napkin and wiped off as much of the food from Delia's face as she could and said, "There, that's a little better. Now, why don't you feel good? Did you eat too much?"
Delia nodded, holding her stomach. "I couldn't eat another bite if someone forced me to, it would just come right back out."
Jasmine smiled at this, "Well, I can't say that I feel the same, but I do know what that is like."
"Can we go to sleep yet?" Delia did look extremely tired, even after all of that sleeping on the train. There were bags under her droopy red eyes and she looked about to fall asleep right there on the bench.
Jasmine swung her leg over the bench so she had one on either side and pulled Delia into her chest to rest while she asked Sean, "Um, can we go to our rooms yet, or no? Delia is really tired."
"I'll lead you to your room, girls." Dumbledore appeared at Jasmine's side, smiling, a few crumbs on his white beard. Jasmine stood up, pulling Delia with her, and waited for the Headmaster to finish what he was saying to Sean, "I'd like to see you and Mr. Malfoy in my office after you are finished eating."
Sean dropped the roll he was about to take a bite of and said, "What? What did I do?"
Dumbledore chuckled, "No, don't worry Sean, you haven't done anything wrong yet, but I need to speak with the two of you. So please be waiting when I return."
"Wait, but I can't get him to come with me. He won't listen." Sean protested. He was feeling like anything that had to do with him and Malfoy being in the same room must be bad.
"Would you rather me announce that he is needed in my office to the whole school?" Dumbledore asked impatiently. Jasmine thought maybe he needed to tell her something and he wanted to get on with it, since it didn't seem like him to get impatient so easily.
"No Professor, I'll get him." Sean replied apologetically.
"Maybe I should, you know, since all of this is kind of my fault?" Jasmine spoke up.
Sean tipped his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. He looked about to speak, but Dumbledore got to it before him, "No, that won't be necessary. You should get your sister to bed now. Besides, I have a few things to tell you."
Jasmine nodded, not understanding, "Okay, let's go. I'll see you later, Sean."
"Yeah, later," Sean said with a puzzled expression on his face.
Jasmine picked up a tired Delia so she could rest her head on her shoulder. The little girl wrapped her arms around her older sister's neck and breathed in the scent of her shampoo and perfume and thought of home, falling asleep almost immediately. Jasmine shifted Delia's weight so she could walk easier and followed Dumbledore out the doors of the Great Hall and up a flight of stairs. She wouldn't have remembered where they were going if someone asked her, but she followed all the same.
When they reached the Gryffindor common room, which was empty, Dumbledore showed her through it and up another flight of stairs, these ones spiraled. Once up these they were led down another hallway, this one lined with doors, but the Headmaster didn't stop in front of any of these. At the end of the hall, Dumbledore knocked four times on the bare wall, and then stepped back. A door appeared and Jasmine gasped.
Dumbledore turned back to face her, a smile in his old blue eyes, "I thought you two might want some space."
He pulled open the door and revealed another set of stairs. Jasmine could have groaned, but she knew Dumbledore had gone through a lot of trouble to set this up for her and Delia. She followed him up this last set of stairs, shutting the door behind them. At the top of the stairs there was another door.
"This one has a password." Dumbledore informed her. "You have to remember to tell Delia or she won't be able to get in by herself if she needs to." Jasmine nodded and Dumbledore told her, "The password is dreamers. I thought it would be easy for you two to remember."
"Thank you." Jasmine smiled. She watched in awe as the Headmaster opened the door to the most beautiful room Jasmine had ever seen in her life. "Oh my…" She trailed off.
The room before her was huge. It had soft yellow carpeting, and the same color painted on the walls, but there was a citrus green border on the top of the walls that matched the curtains pulled shut over the windows on the far wall. One wall was nearly overtaken with bookcases filled to the brim with books of all colors and sizes. Across from that wall was a marble fireplace and in front of it was a very comfy looking pine green colored couch. In the center of the room was a very long table with a few green and yellow plaid chairs on either side. On the other side of the room was a sight that would have made Delia shout with glee had she not been asleep on her sister's shoulder. There were toys strewn everywhere, but in a very organized manner. One corner had a pile of teddy bears, and next to it were dolls, very pretty ones, too. There was a magnificent enchanted dollhouse that was a copy of Hogwarts. There were little people and everything.
"Wow, and I thought Delia would have nothing to do all day." Jasmine shook her head, smiling widely.
She opened the door leading into the bedroom and her breath was taken away from her once again. It was absolutely perfect. The bed took up most of the room and had a fluffy black top blanket, a lavender middle blanket, and dark purple sheets. The dozen or so pillows were alternately black, lavender and dark purple. The rug in this room was dark purple, while the walls were lavender, and the curtains dark purple, but it was the ceiling that kept Jasmine staring. It was enchanted as that of the Great Hall, and right now was black and sprinkled with stars. The girls' two trunks were against the wall opposite the bed.
The last room was the bathroom. It had light blue tiled floor and dark blue walls. The Jacuzzi bathtub was a crystal blue color and the sink was the same. The toilet and shower were both white, but the toilet seat and floor of the shower were dark blue.
Jasmine went back into the bedroom and gently laid Delia down on the bed before returning to the big room in which they had first entered. She said to the Headmaster, "This is gorgeous. You didn't have to do all this for us."
"I didn't," Dumbledore said. "I simply told the room who was going to be staying here and said the charm. It was the room who chose for it to be this way. I'm in just as much awe as you are."
Jasmine grinned, "This is great. Thank you so much, even if you didn't decorate the room personally, everything is perfect."
"Yes, I'd have to agree with you there." Dumbledore nodded. "Well, I best get back to my office so I can have a talk with those boys before they knock each other out."
"What are you going to say to them?" Jasmine wondered.
"Well, I just have to let them know about your dreams and how important they could be, and that they need to keep it a secret." Dumbledore began. "I'm sorry I can't explain everything to you now, but you'll see that there are two journals on the table beside your bed. The red one is for you and the pink one is for Delia. You must write down all of your dreams right when you wake up. At the end of the week I will read them. I know this seems like an invasion of your privacy, but it is very important that you do so."
Jasmine nodded her head, "I know. I'll make sure Delia writes hers down and I'll write mine. Is there anything more you can say?"
"Well, just this one thing, and I'm not sure you're going to like it." The Headmaster warned. "By telling Sean and Draco, it is pulling them into the story. It was planned. I'm sorry if this is not making much sense right now, but it will all work out in the end. You will understand soon. Mister Malfoy and Mister Weasley play a part in this just as much as you and Delia do; you just have to trust them."
Jasmine made a face, "Trust a Malfoy? I'm sorry Professor, but I can't see that happening."
Dumbledore smiled mysteriously, "You will see. Only time will tell how this will all work out."
"Do you know how this ends?" Jasmine asked one last thing. "I mean, do you always know. Did you know Delia and I would come to Hogwarts before we were born? Or is this just some spontaneous action you are making in hopes that it will all come out right?"
"Well, I can't say that I knew everything all along, but I also can't say that this is a spontaneous action." The old man said. "Some things were meant to happen. Some things were planned before even I was born. So no, I do not know how this ends, but I do know that it is far too important for any of you to think of this as a game."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. I know this isn't a game." Jasmine felt stupid.
"Ah, don't be silly, my girl. I didn't mean you. I meant anyone." Dumbledore assured her. "Now, I can sense some trouble down by my office, so I'm going to leave you now."
Jasmine smiled, "Okay. Goodnight, Professor."
"Goodnight, Miss Potter." Dumbledore said and then walked out the door.
Jasmine went back into the bedroom to find Delia curled up under the blankets with her little white kitten in a little ball next to her. Jasmine smiled at the sight and tucked Delia in. She turned and found a cage with her owl, Wally, sleeping inside. He woke up and hooted at her, which reminded her of her promise to her mother to write her a letter tonight.
"Wally! Thank you!" Jasmine exclaimed, already searching for a piece of paper. She ripped one out of her red journal and began a letter to her parents:
Dear Mum,
Delia and I are both fine. We have a beautiful room all to ourselves. I was sorted into Gryffindor, and Sean introduced me to a few of his friends. They all seem very nice. So far, everything is going pretty well. Nothing much has happened except Dumbledore explained that we have to write down all of our dreams into these notebooks he got us, and then show them to him at the end of every week. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot. We're not supposed to tell anyone our dreams, Dumbledore thinks it will be safer this way, but before he told us I had told Sean about the dream Delia and I had. Malfoy heard some of it too and now Dumbledore is having a talk with them to tell them not to say anything about our dreams. He says I have to learn to trust them. With Sean that's fine, I trust him already, but Malfoy? That's going to be a little bit harder. Well, I'm really tired, so I'm just going to send this along with Wally and go to sleep. Make sure you give him some treats! Delia is sleeping now, but I'll remind her to write you a letter tomorrow. Tell Dad I say hi!
Love you both,
Jasmine Potter
P.S. Have I ever seen anyone die? I know it's a weird question, but I want to know. I saw those horse things that pull the carriages, but Delia didn't, and Sean told me you only see them if you've seen somebody die.
Jasmine re-read the letter and then took Wally out of his cage. She carefully tied the letter around his foot and then carried him to one of the windows in her and Delia's bedroom. She pulled aside the curtain and tried to open it, but it seemed stuck and she couldn't get it open. She tried one last time, but the window just would not budge.
With a sigh, Jasmine headed down the stairs to the hall of the girls dormitories and then down the next flight of stairs that winded down to the Gryffindor common room. The common room was full of commotion now. She saw a few people she recognized from dinner, but she didn't have the nerve to say anything to any of them right now. She hurried through and out the portrait of the Fat Lady. She knew how to get to the Owlery, Dumbledore had shown her that. She walked there as fast as she could and gave Wally a few treats before sending him off with a whisper, "Bring this to Mum, Wally." She watched the snowy owl disappear into the night sky before she turned to go back to Gryffindor Tower.
When she reached the Fat Lady she groaned. She didn't know the password. Dumbledore told her the password to get into her own room, but not into Gryffindor Tower. Jasmine told the Fat Lady, "I'm sorry, I don't know what the password is."
"Well I'm sorry too, but you can't go inside unless you know the password." The Fat Lady said back haughtily.
"Little glass elephant," said a voice from behind Jasmine.
She whirled around to see Sean standing behind her. He looked tired and a little peeved. She blushed, "I'm sorry about you having to see Dumbledore with Malfoy."
He shook his head, "Oh no, don't be sorry. It's not your fault. He's the git, not you. I just can't stand him."
"Malfoy?" Jasmine asked.
"Yeah." Sean said. "He hates me, I hate him, it's kind of a mutual hate thing, and talking isn't exactly an option for us, so going over there was like the start of a war. You can bet he's going to pull something tomorrow. Just for me interfering with his cool Slytherin act. But hey, he didn't hit me this time, so, I guess it's an improvement."
"In or out, kids, I won't stand open like this all night." The Fat Lady reminded them of their entering the common room.
The two stepped inside and then Jasmine said, "He hit you before? Why?"
"He doesn't want me near him. It's not like I wanted to be there anymore than he did, but he got us even more time together." Sean expanded after Jasmine's confused look, "We were partners for a Charms project last year and we started fighting and then we got detention and had to clean the classroom together, so that gave me a lovely four hours to be with Malfoy instead of two."
"Ooh, ouch." Jasmine commented. "That must not have been very much fun."
"No not at all." Sean agreed, laughing a little. "Look, said he forgot to tell you, but all four of us have to stay for that meeting of that new program on Friday. You remember? The one he was talking about during dinner tonight?"
Jasmine thought back and then nodded, "Oh, yeah, I remember now. Why do we have to go?"
"I don't know. He wouldn't say, but he told me and Malfoy to be there, and then remember that he forgot to tell you." Sean shrugged. "He's really getting on in years. He's forgetting a lot more things than usual."
"Do you think they'll make him retire any time soon?" Jasmine wondered.
"Nah, they can't make that old guy do anything he doesn't want to. He'll be Headmaster until he croaks, that's just what he wants." Sean told her. "Dumbledore is, after all, the most powerful wizard. Well, beside your father and a few others."
Jasmine smiled, "Wow, my dad is one of the most powerful wizards in the world. You know, I never really think about it that way. He doesn't exactly like to talk about the war, and defeating Voldemort and all that, so I don't think about him as the famous Harry Potter, who saved the wizarding world, but I think of him as my dad, who still jokes around like he's sixteen years old, but I can see in his eyes how old he really is."
Sean got a far away look on his face, but he blinked and it was gone, "Yeah, a lot of people are like that now that the war is over. It's like, all of their lives they were waiting and training for that one thing to happen, and now that it's over they don't know what to do with themselves."
Jasmine agreed, "That's exactly what my mum told me.
He nodded. "Well, I'm gonna hit the hay, so I'll see you at breakfast?"
"Yeah, sure, see you at breakfast." Jasmine said and then turned to go back up to her own bedroom.
Once in her bed she found that she couldn't fall asleep. She tossed and turned and listened to Delia's soft breathing, and then finally sleep overtook her.