The Pawn turned Queen

by Cyan93

What does one do when they realize they're a pawn? Harry is going to take any good opportunity to escape the playing board. It just so happens that the way he does it, ends the game! Harry is a human hybrid! His two separate DNA strings only viable because of magic, shunting it into a human Animagus form. When he finds out, he escapes his fate.

3. Chapters 30-45

The Pawn Turned Queen, part 3, ch 31-45

31. The-Boy-Who-Left

The next day, Xenophilius Lovegood showed up and the quartet started planning in earnest. Xeno did not seem to have any trouble being near Sirius Black, calling him Stubby Boardman consistently may or may not have had something to do with that. Truth be told, Jasmine didn't really like him after what she'd been told by Luna but that didn't mean that she would not, at the very least, try to like him. He was Luna's dad after all.

At noon, the paper was delivered by a post-owl. The headlines seemingly scream off the page. BOY-WHO-CHEATED TURNED SQUIB was one, another was HARRY POTTER SAYS HE GLADLY LEAVES BRITAIN. None of them were surprised that nowhere in the paper it was mentioned that Harry hadn't entered himself. In fact, the contents were purely aimed towards discrediting Harry and all his achievements.

Luna asked her father to write an interview with Harry in the Quibbler, which he easily agreed to. It would tell nothing but the truth and would come out the next weekend, as the Quibbler was published only bi-weekly. The interview was done quickly and focused mostly on the tournament and Harry's plea to everybody to do something to get him out of it because he didn't enter himself. Other than that, it would tell readers all about Harry's choice to leave behind magic because he didn't like magical Britain.

Jasmine had soon introduced Dobby to Kreacher, who had begun to teach him some of the finer points of serving a pure-blood house, not that Dobby listened much, but they got along. They'd cleaned the entire house, putting every dark item, cursed item (including books) and torture device in a single room. This did not go without fuss however, as Kreacher was very reluctant to part with some items. Luckily the painting of Walburga was able to mitigate their discussion with the elf, it turned out one locket was Regulus' gift to Kreacher and so they let him keep it.

They went to Gringotts together, all four of them, in order to destroy or purge the cursed items they had stored in one room and buy property in France. Besides, Harry owed Bonetooth a memory; a promise Jasmine intended to keep.

Not having to wait in a line, and with Sirius as padfoot, Jasmine approached a teller. "Hi, my name is Harrison Jasmine Potter, with me are Sirius Black and the Lovegoods. We'd like to see Bonetooth and Gnarlmaw as this concerns both House Potter and House Black business, they should be expecting us."

The teller looked at the four and nodded, "I'd test your identities, but I suspect that's better done elsewhere, follow me." The teller left his desk and led them to an empty office. "If lord Black would turn back into a human and if lord Potter could show me the scar? That should prove sufficient as proof of identity."

Jasmine trusted the goblins, so she moved to oblige, changing in a fraction of a second. When he stood once again as Harry Potter, he promptly passed out, scaring everyone around him that was not goblin. The teller just calmly took a look at the anxious lord Black and an unconscious lord Potter with his bloody scar before calling for a healer.

32. Foreign Memories

The first thing Harry became aware of was a goblin healer examining him and a conspicuous lack of chatter. They were otherwise alone. Blinking his eyes open to adjust to the light, the healer stopped what he was doing. "I'm fine." Harry told the healer, as was his usual response to waking up in this manner.

"You are not fine, Lord Potter. Though I've healed your face. No more famous scar for you. In fact, most of your normal scars have all but faded, which is kind of surprising. I think you no longer have need for that ritual we talked about last time. If they continue to fade like that, I'd be surprised if you had any scars left in a few months."

"That's great!" Harry breathed. "But how am I not fine then?"

"You've been out for an hour and your brain was working overtime just a second ago," the goblin healer he now recognized as Clawvice told him, "It still is actually," Harry told him.

"I seem to have acquired a few memories, though they're not mine. I'm still sorting them."

This stunned the goblin, who then grinned. "Voldemort's, Lord Potter?" He asked.

"Yes, how'd you know Clawvice?"

"Didn't I tell you that the soul-piece would have to pass through your body in order to get to the afterlife?" Clawvice told him smugly, "I remember telling you that it might leave you with something. Though I hadn't expected something this advantageous. The memories must have been left in your male body, that's why you passed out when you changed back."

"Advantageous, ugh, can you explain that to me?" Harry asked, he was not at all happy to be able to see some of the memories of Tom Marvolo Riddle; they could be quite gruesome after all. It wasn't only killing or torture either, there was surprisingly little of that, though Harry supposed even a Dark Lord couldn't keep that up indefinitely. No, it was the regular stuff, the filling, that disturbed him the most. That was the bulk of the memories and he had no desire at all to see how the dark lord had lived his life.

"Do you know how much of a tactical advantage this gives you? Before you answer, why is the dark lord still alive?"

The seemingly innocuous question instantly caused Harry's mind to supply the answer by dredging up memories of Voldemort's Horcruxes, as he called the soul-containers, their locations and the murders needed to make them, one of them looked familiar but he couldn't figure out why for the life of him.

"Aaaahh!" Harry screamed, "I get it now." He wasn't quite ready for such an onslaught.

"It's amazing you're even conscious, Lord Potter. A lesser Occlumens would not have been able to integrate a whole life inside an hour. Though the time spent as a female must have helped, giving your male half time to integrate the memories. Yes, that sounds right." Clawvice told him, he seemed truly impressed.

"I don't think I integrated it all, just partly for now. Besides, it's not exactly the first time for me." Harry admitted. "Previously, I'd managed to block away all memories of ever being female, still don't know if that was natural or not. Integrating that took weeks."

"That explains it then. Your mind knows what to do and did it instinctively, I wouldn't be surprised if you integrated all of it before the week is out. Whether it was natural or not, you are an Occlumens lord Potter." The goblin told him with a grin. "I suggest we let your friends know you're alright. They are quite worried for you," He told Harry quite uncharacteristically for a goblin. Then he added, "silly humans," setting the world to rights again.

The other three humans were quite surprised to hear what had happened, and equally happy that he was alright. Soon it was again time for business.

The second that Sirius started talking to the goblins about the cursed objects at number 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry gasped loudly, startling everyone as the image of the silver engraved locket flashed through his mind. "It's one of them, a piece of Him." He told them, "the thing Kreacher wanted." Sirius immediately called Kreacher and made him tell the story.

This news got Sirius crying, but afterwards, he told Kreacher he would help fulfil Regulus' last wish, making relations between elf and master much better. The goblins were ecstatic with the chance to destroy one of the abominations.

Everybody was watching when dragon fire immolated the locket, causing it to melt and eject a black smoke that screamed its eerie death-cry. "Was that how it sounded in the great hall as well?" Harry asked Luna. "Yes, Harry. That scared the living Heebie-jeebies out of me and everybody else that was there, let me tell you." Harry laughed, "I didn't really think about it since I heard it once before in Slytherin's Chamber already."

As they got back to the office, Harry started with a question that had been bothering him since he saw the locket burning. He'd thought about his new memories, particularly those pertaining to the Horcruxes.

"Bonetooth, did you say you had orders to destroy soul-containers?" Harry asked the goblin.
"Yes, Gringotts has a standing directive to destroy all such abominations." He answered, looking shrewdly at Harry. "As such, you can imagine we are very curious about your memories, if you want to share them." Harry didn't need to think about that longer than a second. "I've already told you that I would not take the responsibility to deal with Voldemort, but that I'd help if I could. I will tell you all about them later. First let's deal with our more pressing business."

"That would be appreciated, Lord Potter."

First came the negotiation for a property in France. Whereas first Sirius had planned on selling Grimmauld Place, the goblins convinced him to keep it. It wasn't like he was hurting for money anyway. Sirius bought a fairly large patch of ground with a house next to a huge farmhouse, which the goblin builders would turn into another comfortable home. It would be done in 2 weeks' time, which they would spend at Grimmauld. None of them felt it was a bad thing; Luna and Harry saw it as vacation time whereas Xeno and Sirius saw it as the perfect amount of time to round up their business.

Second came Harry's turn to give the goblins information about the remaining Horcruxes. He told them that a Cup with an engraved badger went to Bellatrix, though he did not know what she had done with it. Then he told them about a ring in a shack that belonged to the Gaunts, though he couldn't tell where that was. Finally, he told them about the Diadem in the Room of Requirement, which could be opened asking for 'the room where it is hidden'.

Bonetooth and Gnarlmaw thanked him and told him they'd keep him updated. Then Bonetooth reminded him of his promise. "Well, you said you wanted the memory, how does that work?" Harry asked him, laughing. "I have a viewing pensieve. This can show a memory. You put your wand to your head, think very hard about what you want to show and then pull it out of your head." Bonetooth explained.

Harry thought about it and turned to Luna. "Luna, I think it would be better from your perspective, do you mind?"

Luna thought about it and said impishly. "I believe you are right Harry. I didn't once take my eyes off you so we shouldn't miss anything." Causing Harry to blush and the rest to laugh.

She took the memory out of her head and put it in the viewing pensieve. Then Bonetooth pushed a rune on the side and it started projecting the memory.

Everyone watched spellbound as Harry masterfully played the crowd, the press and Dumbledore. They collectively gasped as they saw and heard the screaming soul-piece exit Harry, who was surrounded in a silver glow. They cheered as Dumbledore declared him a squib and saw him leave.

"That was quite the show, lord Potter. Though I can't help but wonder, what did Dumbledore whisper when he leaned over you. Did you hear that?" Bonetooth asked him. They all seemed interested.

"Yeah, he talked about how I had ruined it all, and that at least losing my magic seems to have fulfilled the prophecy. He specifically said, 'you can live now, my boy.' Also, that losing my magic seems to have destroyed it, proving that he knew of the prophecy as well as the soul-piece." Harry told them. "Though we already knew he knew the prophecy because of the letter from my parents, it still hurts knowing for certain he played me as a piece on his board." He finished sadly.

Luna moved to hug him. "Yes well, you aren't anymore. In a way he was right Harry. At least you can live your life now." She squeezed him. "Do you know what that silvery glow was?"

Harry thought back and recalled the love he felt. He blushed. "I think that it was Myrtle, I felt incredibly loved. She must have given me something more than she had said to me."

"Myrtle?! The ghost at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked. "How can a ghost give you something?"

This of course led to an incredibly uncomfortable discussion. Sex with a ghost can lead to no less. Sirius debated out loud whether to congratulate him for losing his virginity at 14, right next to his girlfriend. "Does it count or not?" he asked himself more than once. It was very awkward for Harry - Luna didn't care - and Sirius seemed to derive a special kind of pleasure from that. Xeno just took it in stride like the goblins.

"Love is a powerful magic, and its effects can be incredibly varied." Xeno started, making the awkward moment pass. Harry was thankful for that. "I'd hazard a guess that you saving her afterlife, coupled with her giving you her virginity in an act of love, created some kind of barrier against some magic. I wouldn't test it though."

Harry and Sirius just stared at the man. They hadn't seen this side of him yet. Hadn't even suspected it either.

"He is right." Gnarlmaw stated. "In any case, it is no cause for worry as it can only be helpful. That is the nature of such magic." Next to him, Bonetooth nodded his agreement.

They all fell silent. There was really nothing more to say about that. "Let's go home." Luna said. Harry morphed into Jasmine. "Let's, love."

"We'll keep you informed." Bonetooth responded. "May your coffers overflow and your foes' corpses wither."

"Thank you for everything Bonetooth, and you Gnarlmaw. May your gold forever flow and your enemies die painful deaths." Jasmine said, bowing to them.

Both goblins looked at each other and nodded. They bowed back and walked away. Goblins never bowed to humans, but these had earned their respect.

Padfoot, Jasmine, Luna and Xeno left the bank and side-apparated to number 12.

33. Future Thoughts

Luna and Jasmine became intimately familiar with each other and the days passed quickly. Learning exactly what buttons to push on each other they devised a system that made studying school a requirement for their more physical learning.

Looking ahead, they started learning the French language. It wouldn't do, to not speak French whilst living there. To speed things up, they decided to only use that language in the afternoons. This led to a lot of laughter and a great learning curve.

While Luna was a natural with languages, Jasmine had more troubles understanding the syntax and grammar. Learning by root memorization however was the opposite. Jasmine, by now an accomplished Occlumens, memorized rapidly, where Luna had more trouble. This served to help them help each other, complementing their learning.

Jasmine was almost done integrating Riddle's memories. Innocent things like classroom learning or skills etc. she stored in her own memory storage, making access easy. The memories in which Tom Riddle's personality shone through more, she stored in a special Riddle bin, that she made inaccessible unless she was specifically looking for something in that Riddle bin. That way, she wasn't bombarded with Riddle's idiosyncrasies, where they could influence her behavior.

Those memories wouldn't alter her personality simply like that, no, that would take much more. But it did become likelier the more she thought like him, so storing the memories like this should prevent that possibility. When voicing her worries to her girlfriend, Luna told her in no uncertain way that she would prevent that. No Wrackspurts would plague her under Luna's watch. Mentioning one of her metaphors made Jasmine think of Luna's incredible intuitiveness. That took the edge off her worries immediately, the follow-up kisses taking care of the rest.

The Quibblers special issue came out that weekend, spreading Harry's side of the story. It did not seem to sell any better or worse than was normal for the paper, though Xenophilius did say it had only been a day. Sometimes it took a little longer for an issue to catch on, making reruns a possibility for later.

Sirius had taken care of his business already, whatever it was, now only Xeno had some stuff to do. Xeno was planning to move his business to France, saying he could print the Quibbler from wherever. That took some doing, but Dobby and Kreacher were helping him.

The Goblins had taken a look through the room with the cursed objects and had stripped everything of magic, making the items safe once more. Sirius, with nothing better to do, had begun sorting through the stuff and afterwards the library. Everything dark and immoral had gone into storage in a vault and the rest would come with them to France, that was quite a task and he wasn't done by a long shot.

Both the responsible adults had not said a word against the girls about their sleeping arrangements or their snogging sessions. Sirius even told them he was proud and gave them potions as encouragement. Though he did tell them to be safe when they went at it as boy and girl, making them blush.

Luna promptly told him they would wait with that until after they got their NEWTs, getting an acknowledging nod in return. "Besides, we can still do a lot between Jasmine and me." She said suggestively. Sirius had responded by saying, "Right, I consider that to be enough responsibility for the year. Just have fun and use silencing charms!" They immediately took him up on his advice. "Sometimes you have to listen to your elders." Jasmine told Luna with a grin. Luna agreed, cast a silencing spell and immediately attacked Jasmine with a lecherous grin. Sirius hastily left the room.

When they were alone on their bed. Jasmine asked Luna in between kisses. "Do you really want kids with me?" Luna rolled on top of Jasmine, looked her in the eyes and kissed her nose. "Of course I do, silly. Though I do not look forward to carrying all those babies, just one or two should do I think, or do you want more?"

Jasmine thought about it, really thought about it. "I've always wanted a large family, one that is the exact opposite of what I experienced with my relatives. Lots of love and lots of babies." Seeing Luna almost cave, she hastily added. "But Luna, I am a girl too, I can have our baby's too you know."

Luna did not understand. "Jasmine, you know where babies come from right? A man injects his seed into a woman. I know you can turn into a man, but I cannot."

"Ah, but the muggles have found a way around that you see. We take one of your eggs, fertilise it with my seed, and put it in my oven, so to speak. It's the newest technique in muggle-land." Jasmine told her girlfriend.

"They can do that?" Luna asked wide-eyed. "Yes, they can. We can alternate, if you want. That way, we get double the babies and you only have to bear half."

"Wow, you'd really do that?" Luna asked her. "Of course Love, I'd bear them all if you asked. I just really want children." Jasmine stated emphatically. "Half sounds like a good compromise." Luna said, "we're a team after all." That afternoon neither left their bedroom and the silencing charms were put to good use.

Finally, Xeno was done. He'd packed up the Quibbler, which sounded stranger than normal for Xeno, the two non-Lovegood's thought. "Still, Magic." Jasmine had told Sirius, who could only nod to that wisdom. With all of them done, they could now leave on a moment's notice.

The next morning the goblins sent them two letters, one telling them the house in France was done and the other saying that the Basilisk was rendered, and that they had finalized their offer. The Goblins had rendered the beast for 5% of the final value. Now they wanted to buy the stuff for yet to be discussed prices. Jasmine was planning to let them buy it regardless of the price, she didn't think she'd do any better by selling it on the open market herself. And selling it to the goblins for them to sell would be instantaneous instead of gradual, she very much liked to get rid of the thing sooner rather than later.

They went right after breakfast, Harry as Jasmine and Sirius as Padfoot. This proved to be a boon because the teller recognized them and directed them to go through immediately, cutting ahead of the rather sizable lines who could not recognize them.

Bonetooth greeted them with a grin, "Ah my most interesting humans, follow me to my office please. No, no need to change, I believe you are who you are."

When they were all seated, Bonetooth laughed. "Lady Potter, you greatly underestimated the size of the Basilisk you slain. Our team was greatly surprised when that thing was port-keyed into the rendering room, it was quite funny as one goblin fell over in fright. He still gets ribbed about that by his colleagues."

Still grinning, he took a parchment and slid it over the desk toward the four curious humans. Sirius took it and read aloud, "The beast, 65 feet long and 6 feet wide at the base, was fully intact except for the eyes. The skin was 1200 square feet, all of it unblemished…" He trailed off but read on.

With wide eyes he looked at the bottom line. "The goblins offer you 2 million galleons for the lot, as well as a free statue made of the bone structure." Or an alternate settlement for 1.8 million galleons and half of the skin."

Everybody was floored by the numbers except for Jasmine herself. She looked to Bonetooth. "Bonetooth, are you authorized to negotiate with me? I have a new suggestion." She said with a smile.

Bonetooth nodded. "Indeed I am, let's hear it then." He was clearly curious to hear what she had to say.

"Well, I'd like to say this. As thanks to the goblins for assisting me and my family, let's make it 1.5 million, half the skin and that bone statue hung up in the entrance hall of this Gringotts building with a plaque naming me as its slayer. Maybe that will jar their collective stick up the arse enough to get them to stop thinking like sheep." Jasmine said with a smirk. "Also, I'd like to give all the victims 10 thousand galleons in compensation to be paid from my share."

Bonetooth laughed and nodded. "All goblins like a good profit so we thank you for the most generous deal. I shall adjust the price on the contract so we can finalize the agreement." He said, already writing a new contract. "Besides, I think this will provide our tellers with weeks of fun. Shall we say that we put it up for 10 years? To be put up when our attack on Dumbledore starts, that will definitely help us generate some goodwill by the public. After those 10 years, you get the statue back so you can put it up yourself." Seeing Jasmine's nod and grin he continued.

"Now, I'm happy to tell you the work in France has been done to our great satisfaction. Here are some pictures to look at now and here is the portkey to take you there when you are ready."

The pictures showed the house and the barn in the same place as they were before. Now however, the barn was made of stone and the whole place looked more taken care of. Additional pictures showed the inside, which was clearly magically enlarged. The whole setup had that homey feel they were looking for.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that we love it." Sirius told the goblin, who was just finishing the contract.

"I'm glad to hear it. Jasmine, if you'd look over the new contract, it is done." She read it over and signed it immediately, it said exactly what they had agreed upon and nothing more.

"Now, one last thing. I promised to keep you up to date regarding the soul-containers. Our operative in Hogwarts was approached and he managed to find the item amongst a hoard of junk. He actually found five diadems in the lot."

"We took the soul out of it and destroyed it. Our director of Gringotts heard of your intelligence in this matter and wanted to express our thanks for aiding us in our mission. That's why he wants you to have the item in question. It just wouldn't do to destroy this in dragon fire after all." The goblin picked up a package on his desk and gave it to Jasmine.

"Though as far as we can tell, it does not grant you immediate knowledge. Maybe it only works for humans. The rest of the items are unfound as of now, we will let you know when we find out more, perhaps it will jog your memory some more."

Jasmine and Luna looked at the package in her hands and thanked Bonetooth and the director. "I will let you know if it works I guess." Jasmine told him. "I must admit I'm rather curious myself." Luna added. The two adult humans had clearly forgotten what it was that was inside the package, they'd find out soon enough.

"As am I." Bonetooth admitted. "Alright humans, time is money. May your pastures grow and parasites die by the thousands?" Gaining him curious looks.

Luna got the joke first. "Because we own a farm now, HA, Ha, ha!"
The rest of the group groaned at the lame joke.

"That was quite lame you know. I can do that too. May your balances check out and your thieves be caught." Sirius shot back, earning him some more groans and a surprise laugh from Xeno. "That was actually worse. I wouldn't believe it possible had I not heard it for myself" Jasmine said, shaking her head.

"Right, I was just trying out your human humour." Bonetooth explained himself. "Now scram."

"Bye Bonetooth, can we use the portkey from here?"

They left with his permission, landing next to the barn from the picture. "Kreacher, Dobby!" Two twin pops and two salutes and they were off. Kreacher had warmed up to Dobby and vice versa after the Locket got destroyed. They would pop across the Channel with stuff from England to their new home in France, two trips each per day, as it was exhausting for the elves. Now they'd have to do with only the essentials, which was not a hardship at all. Soon all went to explore their new home, picking out their rooms.

34. New Home

Jasmine and Luna had decided to take the house, which was actually only a third as big as the barn was. They wanted to enjoy some privacy, having grown attached to that during their years attending Hogwarts. Xeno and Sirius had nothing against that, both knowing of their relationship and trusting their kids.

The Barn, as they called the former barn, would house the library, the Quibbler and generally everything requiring more space than was available in the house. As soon as Sirius got his trial in France and got the official okay from the French government to live and work there, they would hook The Barn and The Petit House up to the French floo network. They figured nobody in France would use those names specifically and they were right.

They had no need for official permission as non-criminal magicals were free to move between countries with as little as a notice to the two ministries, mostly out of courtesy. But it was still a good idea to get it, especially considering Sirius' status in England. To that end, they immediately sent Hedwig off with a letter for Jean-Claude Delacour, Fleur's dad and the French Minister for Magic. Fleur had already sent ahead a letter explaining the situation.

Sirius didn't need to work, not for money at least, so he jumped at the chance to teach Luna and Jasmine stuff. Though he did tell them he would rather work when he was cleared by the French ministry. For now, he was their tutor in all courses except for Runes and Arithmancy, including French. As a pureblood, he was raised to know more than one language, and he'd chosen French, so he was quite good with it. Not to mention that he needed to get fluent again if he wanted to work in France.

35. Justice

Jasmine had given Luna the Diadem to wear and she loved it. It didn't seem to be doing anything more than sitting on her head, but Luna thought it looked nice, which was enough.

Luna had started to ask both Dobby and Kreacher about their wants and dreams. Kreacher had for many years only wanted to destroy the locket for his dead master, and now that he had done so, he just enjoyed serving again. Though he did admit wanting to do some gardening which both girls thought was a splendid idea.

"Do what you want Kreacher, if you need money you can grab some from the Potter vault, there is more than plenty in there. You could even farm if you want to, this is a farm after all, I'm sure you could raise some crops." Kreacher thanked his Mistresses and bowed before popping away.

"And you Dobby?" Jasmine had asked. "You deserve everything you want and more. Can we do something for you?" Dobby wrung his hands and told them of Winky, who was dying in the Hogwarts kitchens because she wanted only to serve a family. "Well then, go get her tiger!" Luna laughed.

Dobby soon came back with an inebriated girl elf, who promised to sober up and serve the family of the Mistresses. Dobby was beaming and thanked them by hugging their legs. "This is a happy day Dobby; we've gained another friend in Winky. If you want something else, just ask alright?" Jasmine told him. "Dobby will. You are the bestest Mistresses in the world."

It took a week for them to be invited to the French ministry. They had gotten a portkey from Bonetooth for this very purpose, because you cannot apparate without having been at your destination at least once. It was beautiful, they had port-keyed into the main entrance hall of the ministry building, which was an open hall, with lots of glass-in-lead windows and sculptures and such.

Once inside the beautiful building they immediately attracted attention from 3 Aurors who asked the group to follow them. They were led to a rather large office with a panel of four witches and two wizards. "Bonjour, we'd like to give you a small hearing to prove your innocence Mister Black, and afterwards we have a few more questions. Do you agree with this?"

"Sure," Sirius told them, the rest all nodded. One of the three Aurors grabbed a vial from a box in front of the panel and brought it out. "Do you consent to the use of Veritaserum? We will ask only questions pertaining to your incarceration and alleged crimes." One of the men on the panel said.

"Jup, fill me up." Sirius flippantly told them. He drank the serum and got a glassy look in his eyes.

"Alright, can you tell me your name please?"
"Sirius Orion Black, also known as Padfoot." Sirius intoned.

"Did you have a trial or not?"
"No I did not, I was stunned and woke up in Azkaban."

"Are you a Death Eater or not?"
"No I am not. I'd rather kill myself." That answer got some whispers. As strong an answer as that under a potion powerful as Veritaserum indicated that he felt really strongly about this.
"Did you or did you not kill Peter Pettigrew?"
"I did not, he is still alive."
"Did you or did you not kill 12 muggles?"
"I did not, Peter did that."
"Did you or did you not sell out the Potters as their Secret Keeper?"
"I did not, Peter did and was."
"All right, administer the antidote."

When Sirius was once again himself, he shook his head like a dog does when he gets out of the water. "So, did I pass?" He asked the panel cheekily.

"Yes, you did mister Black. I think it's safe to bring the Minister in now." An Auror took up that signal and went to fetch him, presumably. "Do you all mind if we ask some further questions when the minister joins us? It's not really necessary but we'd still like some things answered." Hearing no disagreement, he nodded. It took another minute before Minister Delacour entered, introduced himself and got seated, sending a wink to Harry.

"We are all very curious, why did you leave England?"
This caused three of them to look to Harry, who'd changed back to male just for this occasion.

"Right, I figured this question would come out beforehand. There's a lot of stuff I'd like to tell you but there's also one thing I don't want everyone to know. And to tell my story, this would go a lot faster if I can show you that. So, I need to know if you can and will keep that a secret. It's not harmful or criminal or anything you'd disagree with, that I can assure you. If you cannot or will not, then I will just skirt around that issue and leave it out."

It took some discussion, but they all agreed to keep the one thing secret.

Trusting them because of this, Harry changed into Jasmine, eliciting gasps from his audience. Then he told them why he was what he was, why nobody knew and why she does not want anyone to know. "I'm sure you understand why I want this kept quiet; it gives me privacy at least." Jasmine told them. "Next thing you need to know is that Tom Marvolo Riddle, AKA Voldemort, is not dead and that Albus Dumbledore was using me to fight him, use that information however you want."

This of course was not accepted without some proof, which led to Jasmine telling Harry's entire life story up until now. "So, to recap, he has two more Horcruxes at the least and is trying to come back. His plans involve the Triwizard Tournament and Dumbledore is an idiot."

The Panel took a while to absorb what they had heard.

"You say someone is trying to find these Horcruxes. Can you tell us who?" Jean Delacour asked Jasmine. "It might be prudent to lend them some assistance."

"That will require some assurances with regards to secrecy. You see, this group does not want their part known in fear of retribution by Voldemort. I guess I can ask if they would be amenable to receive some help from you, but it would likely involve a contract of sorts."

"We can see how that would be a problem. We'll see what we can do if they want to meet with us then. Now I feel the need to communicate the results of this hearing to magical Britain's minister. Sirius Black's innocence and Voldemort's eventual resurrection, that will be a nice talk."

"Don't hold your breath minister Delacour, Fudge is a weak man that will do anything and everything to deny what you have to tell him. He might even attack you in the media for it."

"He wouldn't dare." A woman on the panel stated.

"Wanna bet on it madam?" Jasmine laughed cynically. Hearing that laugh and remembering what this young man, girl, had told her, she decided against betting.

36. Kids will be Kids

"I think that went rather well." Sirius concluded once they were back at the Barn. "Definitely, I think it was good of them to make your hearing and its results public. Now you'll be able to find work in this country at least." Xeno told him, "I will definitely print it in the Quibbler's next edition to see how Britain will react to that."

Harry - who was Jasmine again, like she was most of the time in private - had gone to the Petit House with Luna again as soon as they got back. 'Probably kissing or something.' Both men thought privately. They were rather glad they didn't have to witness that all the time, which was the main reason they hadn't argued against them living apart from them. Of course they ate together and more still, so it wasn't like they were totally independent.

"Our kids did rather well I think, they are really growing up and I'm not talking physically."

"They are, aren't they." Xeno admitted to himself. "I must admit I haven't been that much of a parent to my Luna lately. Ever since Selene died, I've just been drifting in the current, letting everything pass me by. The kids and what they are doing for themselves and for others, it really shook me up, know what I mean? It's like we're in the past already, and it's their time now."

"Sounds rather like you're foisting your responsibilities over to two kids if you ask me. No, let me finish," Sirius told the man as he was about to disagree. "I freely admit that they are taking care of us, I would still be hiding somewhere if not for those girls. I think your Luna needs you far more than you seem to think, same for Harry/Jasmine of course. I mean, they grew up to be tough, that's for sure. But they might crave being kids deep down still." Sirius' tone grew sad as he seriously stated. "I have to believe that they do, because if they don't even crave that anymore, we've failed horribly as parents."

"Now what, how do we fix this Sirius?" A slightly mollified Xeno asked.

"You know how they took the last two weeks at Grimmauld Place. They treated it like a vacation even as they studied, and I've never seen them happier. That was because everything was being taken care of. The goblins were fixing the house and the Horcruxes and we were taking care of the rest, meaning they were left to be 'just kids.'"

Sirius patted Xeno's shoulder. "I think we just need to let them be kids from now on. No pushing them outside of matters of schooling. Teaching them stuff, let them pick dinner or outings and stuff. Just treat them like kids."

"That's surprisingly insightful of you Sirius." Xeno admitted his surprise.

"Not really, sure I act like a kid most of the time myself. Doesn't that make me uniquely qualified to think like one? My home life sucked great hairy balls back when, so I know how not to parent. When the Potters took me in, I got to see the exact opposite. Real life good parenting, that taught me a lot. They were always more my parents than my biological parents were to me."

Xeno was beginning to see Sirius as a friend, albeit an odd one. Him baring his soul, even if only a little, made him feel he could open up a little himself too. "I did not have such a good example, my parents were really something else. So, I guess I'll take you up on your advice. We can do this together I feel. If not, you're right and we suck great hairy balls too."

Sirius was beginning to see Xeno as a friend, albeit an odd one. Today really made inroads towards a solid understanding between the two men, though Xeno still called him Stubby sometimes.

They continued their conversation over a bottle of wine, sure it was only 2 AM but who cared, they were Men Sirius felt, and Men drank whilst showing emotions. Besides, what else was there to do?

Xenophilius drank his wine in a contemplative mood, Sirius had given him a lot to think about. The man was far wiser than he portrayed himself. One more side of Stubby Boardman was discovered. He wondered when he was going to trust Xeno with that secret. Surely being a secret band member was not that sensitive information, besides he knew Xeno knew.

Meanwhile, Luna and Jasmine were trading kisses leisurely, there was no hard work planned for the rest of the day. Sirius could finally start finding them tutors and Minister Delacour had promised to help. After the hearing the man had asked if he could come over sometime, he was curious to hear more of the Triwizard Tournament start and would help set them up with tutors.

Also, he said that he was pretty sure that Fleur would like to stay friendly with Luna and Harry, or Jasmine as she was most of the time now, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to get to know them. As he worded it, he might be the minister for magic but he's always a father first.

Luna had decided that she was ready for more physical stuff, beyond kissing, and had asked Jasmine what she thought of that. "Well, I've had intercourse before, albeit with a ghost and as a boy, it seems silly to hold back now don't you think?" Jasmine had answered. "Since we're doing it as two girls, there are really no downsides. Though I don't think we should rush into it. Let's just do what feels good in the moment alright?" Luna had been very pleased with that answer, as she was showing her now.

Jasmine still thought a lot like Harry did, which was quite natural when she thought about it. When she weighed pro's and con's, she looked at the practical part more than the emotional part. They couldn't get pregnant until they chose to use Harry instead of Jasmine, which they wouldn't for a while anyway.

The (god)fathers were aware and they approved, sort of, so there was no backlash from that quarter. It served as a very effective motivation for studying and it had an enormously positive effect on their relationship, which included their emotional stability.

Downsides were trickier, she couldn't think of a single one. Sure, Jasmine was sure some adults would argue about a loss of childhood, growing up too fast, or some such nonsense. But for Luna and her that was too little too late she felt.

Kissing was safe, though there had been a lot of petting involved they hadn't progressed beyond that for now. At the moment though, they were escalating. Luna kissed from her breasts down to her navel and was now circling her most intimate of places, making Jasmine pant from pleasure.

Luna had been trying to get Jasmine to let go of her need to do everything silently, something that carried over from the Dursleys. She wouldn't get punished or shouted at for making a noise now, especially with silencing charms. Knowing you can make noise and feeling it is altogether different though, but Jasmine resolutely made an effort. This was Luna, they were alone, and she felt safe and loved here.

The small noises Jasmine made seemed to spur Luna on and when she finally felt Luna brush her clitoris a louder cry escaped her. This delighted Luna, who started to purr. The additional vibrations quickly took Jasmine over the edge making her scream. Hearing her own sounds still made her cringe a little but seeing Luna's smile quickly made her forget all unpleasantness. It was time to return the favour.

Jasmine grabbed Luna and tossed her off her - making her squeal - so that Luna was lying on her back. Jasmine backed up so that she was in front of Luna's drenched vagina. Deciding that Luna was already excited enough, she immediately inserted a finger and started making a 'come hither' motion. This was received well enough on its own but thinking of her amazing orgasm just a minute ago, she wanted to reciprocate. Jasmine lowered her mouth to Luna's swollen nub and started to suck and lick it simultaneously.

Luna did not feel the need to be silent and rather vocally voiced her approval. "Oh god yes! Don't stop!" Jasmine appreciated the feedback and continued on, adding another finger and thoroughly enjoying their intimacy and the taste. It also made her proud to be able to do this to her girlfriend, who was literally shaking from her orgasm. "Ohh, Jasmine!" Jasmine continued in spite of Luna bucking her hips, slowing down only when Luna finally got down from her high.

"Goodness, that was amazing." Luna panted. "How did you know how to do that though? That thing with your fingers I mean."

"Muggles if you must know, I researched girl parts after I learned I could become one. They've really made having sex into a science. I was stroking your G-spot, which is essentially a part of your clitoris which goes on inside your vagina's walls." Jasmine smirked at her girlfriend. "You seem to like it well enough."

"Do you think magicals have done that before, study sex?" Luna was clearly thinking about the possibilities. "I don't know, I guess we could ask around. But if not, shall we make it our contribution to the world? I would be proud to have worked on that." Jasmine laughed and Luna soon joined in.

"That's not a bad idea," Luna contemplated. "We are also uniquely qualified to test things out, with you being both sexes. Besides, Mommy always told me I should do something I loved; this would certainly qualify."

Jasmine rolled over to face her. "Do you love doing me or do you love me?" Luna smiled. "Of course I love you silly, but I also love doing you." Jasmine kissed her passionately for that. "I love you too."

37. Plans Unfolding

Jean-Claude Delacour was coming over today, he'd said so by letter. This made Luna and Jasmine think about Fleur's latest letter, and that they had yet to write a reply.

They sat in their living room holding hands, talking in French, which was no longer so halting. Making themselves practice for several hours a day really paid off.

"Fleur must be quite powerful to get a great dragon like that to sleep. Do you think I could have even competed against someone like her? The officials and Dumbledore seemed to think so." Jasmine voiced her uncertainty.

"Of course, you could have. You know you're at your best when in a tight spot. But I'm fairly certain the officials did not have that in mind when making their decision." Her voice darkened. "Dumbledore is a different kettle of fish entirely, who knows what he wanted. Maybe he wanted for you to die by Voldemort's hand in a bid for resurrection, maybe he wanted to toughen you up, there's just no way to know."

"That's true, I guess. I'm just really happy we're here now, together. If we were still at Hogwarts, my life would have been much less pleasant, that much is certain."

Jasmine got to writing their letter, inviting her to come whenever she wanted. Luna directed her to add stuff like what they were doing during weekdays, which to Jasmine was still fairly new. Harry had always written concise letters for specific reasons, even with Hermione. Only when writing Luna during the summer did Harry start seeing it as something other than a chore.

When they were done, they were both happy with it and found Hedwig ready to go.

After having lunch with Sirius and Xeno, Jean-Claude floo'ed in, he was the first to arrive in that way as the floo had only been hooked up yesterday.

"Bonjour," he said when he found all four of them looking at him. "Am I early?"

"Nope, right on time. Welcome to the Barn." Sirius said, holding out his hand.

"Why call it a barn? This doesn't look like one." Jean asked whilst shaking the hand.

"Hah, let's take you outside. See if you get it then." He did and congratulated the group on their home. "You're even growing crops I see, are you aspiring farmers?"

"No, one of our elves wanted to grow things, so we let him do what he wanted. Then we got another elf and it sort of snowballed. Now all three work the grounds when they're not doing anything else. I guess they like the work." Jasmine explained.

"All you can eat!" Luna told him.

"So," Jean said, addressing Jasmine. "Have you heard who put your name in the Goblet already?" She shook her head.

"It was probably Alastor Moody's imposter, who turned out to be a poly-juiced dead man called Bartemius Crouch junior, drained of all his magic. Yes, his son. Which is why his assistant now takes care of his duties." He added, seeing the question on their faces. "They found the real Moody inside a trunk in his office, still alive luckily."

"Why did this not appear in the Prophet? We still get that paper, even here." Jasmine asked Jean, making Xeno snort incredulously.

"Yes, Xeno is right. They are keeping the news quiet for now. A cover story will grace the Prophet's pages soon instead. They couldn't have such a blunder getting out after all. Such a shame he didn't get discovered during the task itself, that way it couldn't get hushed up." Jean mused.

"What happened, and why do you know this then?" Luna wondered aloud.

"Well, he was found right after the first task, lying dead in the champion's starting tent. The Polyjuice potion apparently doesn't react well when you don't have your magic anymore. Olympe, that's the headmistress for Beauxbatons, was with the other school heads when they found him, which is how I know. She was really pissed that the others wanted to keep it quiet. Fudge reacted exactly as you said he would at the hearing, which does not fill me with hope in the battle against Voldemort."

"Now, I've lost all trust in the organizers of the tournament, that's why I am here actually, apart from recommending some tutors." He looked at them all. "Fleur has not yet recovered her clue from the fake egg she retrieved from her dragon. She's pretty sure she can figure out what it means herself, but I'd like a second opinion. Please don't think of this as cheating as I will only ask when Fleur says she's figured it out herself, she's a very proud woman and otherwise she will never accept my reasoning. Would you mind helping me by giving a second opinion? You know the players better than we do and I've only got Fleur's safety to care about."

"Don't worry, we'll help, won't we Jasmine?" Luna reassured Jean. Jasmine nodded seriously. "You had me with 'Fleur', of course we will help our friend. Besides, you are right not to trust the Tournament and everything and everyone that's related."

"Yeah, you're welcome here anytime. We'll help however we can." Sirius agreed, Xeno nodded along with him.

Jean was visibly grateful. "Thank you for that. Now, here's the contact information for some tutors I can recommend. They are very good, but they do expect you to speak French. I don't know if you've been practicing already, but I recommend taking on a tutor for that too. At least for a while. I've circled her name on the paper."

"Thank you. I've been trying to teach them, but I know I'm not a professional." Sirius told the man. "This means I can go find a full-time job now."

"Ah, that reminds me, didn't you say you used to be an Auror Sirius? My Auror department can always use some new talent. A bit of additional training and you'd be able to join."

"Really, I'd like that, always liked being an Auror." He hesitated, turning to the kids. "Girls, do you think I should do it?"

Both looked at each other and smiled. "About time you made yourself useful." Luna told him cheekily. "Maybe you can even find yourself a girl." Jasmine challenged him, her arm around Luna. "Or is this dog too old to learn new tricks?"

"I'll get you for that later," he promised. "Yes, I think I will try being an Auror again Jean-Claude, it'll keep me off the street whilst cleaning the streets. Win, win." Then he turned to the girls and said with as much pompousness as possible. "I'll have you know, I'm confident that my manly charms will soon leave girls swooning in my wake."

Everybody laughed at that.

"I'll be seeing you later then." JC said before apparating away.

"And I'll be arranging you those tutors, I guess. After that, I'll apply for the job. No sense putting it off any longer." Sirius said, before popping away too.

"Can you girls entertain yourselves? I've a conspiracy to write about." Xeno asked them. The girls nodded and walked toward their home. "See you at dinner then."

"Have the goblins started their attack at Dumbledore yet?" Luna asked Jasmine.

"They should be sending letters out right about now, I guess. When the first results get in, they will notify us. There's a lot happening all at once, he's bound to feel the pressure at least."

"Those goblins really impress me, timing this just as he has simultaneous commitments for the ICW summit, the Wizengamot, the school and the Tournament. They know he doesn't like to delegate much." Luna said.

"Yeah, what do you think his reaction will be?" Jasmine asked her.
"He's going to want to do it all himself, and because of that, he will screw up one thing at least, maybe more."

"Hopefully more. It was also a stroke of genius to publish his misdeeds via that Skeeter woman. I can't wait to see the Prophet tomorrow."

"Yes, that will be fun."

Healer Smythe had also come through brilliantly. She'd asked to get the full story, which he'd sent her after his first meeting with the goblins. After this, she had once again offered to help. In reply, Jasmine had sent her a letter asking her to deliver Harry's health report to the goblins, which the goblins had immediately forwarded to Rita Skeeter with the information about Harry's so called magical guardian. Rita Skeeter was asked for only one thing in return, to put Dumbledore in as bad a light as possible, given the facts. She had agreed gladly.

38. Dumbledore Exposed

All four of them were seated around the dinner table eating breakfast when the post-owl bearing the Prophet entered through their window. Xeno quickly paid the owl and relieved it of its burden, unrolling it on the table. The headline was pure poetry to the four.

Dumbledore a criminal? by Rita Skeeter.
Anonymous sources sent this reporter some very incriminating evidence, painting the illustrious leader of the light in a very dark light. Should these accusations prove true, it may well be that Harry Potter left for other reasons. Today's entire issue is devoted to these questions. Dear readers, you can only decide for yourself, let us know what you think.

Read all about his guardianship of the Boy-Who-Lived on page 2, about charges of theft on page 3, about his use of illegal magical bindings on page 5 and Harry's Horrid Homelife on page 7-9.

"Ha, let him deal with that!" Sirius laughed out loud. Xeno looked pained. "I never thought I'd say this, but Skeeter did good work."

"Are you really ok with everyone knowing about your childhood?" Luna asked Jasmine. "Yeah, I left that country for a reason you know. I don't think I'll be going back there anyway, at least not as Harry, and not willingly."

Luna hugged her in support, everybody thinking about that statement. Then she started tickling Jasmine. "You can stay Jasmine all you want, that is, until we want children. Then you're going to have to embrace your manhood," Luna laughed. "Or rather, I will!"

"Aah, don't say that stuff with me here. Spare us old men!" Sirius cried. Xeno was rather unmoved and Jasmine just blushed.

Jasmine cleared her throat. "To change the subject. The theft is being charged by Gringotts and I'll get that money back with penalties. If, and I mean if, there is to be a trial in the Wizengamot for Albus' crimes. I am assured that I can testify without being present at the trial, which is the only way I would testify truth be told. No way will I get involved personally anymore."

"Even if that would be the only way to ensure conviction?" Xeno asked.

"Yes. I'm done with Britain and all that it entails. Setting up this attack on Dumbledore is more about shaking the sheep awake than personal revenge. So long as nothing in my past can touch me, I've decided I'm fine with leaving it behind as is. Since I don't have magic in their minds, there's no reason for me to be dragged back. No reason to dredge it up endlessly. Besides, can a squib like I am supposed to be, even accuse someone like Albus Dumbledore and expect to make it to court?"

"I don't even know what I think about that, but I will support your decision." Sirius told his goddaughter. Jasmine hugged him in gratitude. Luna was quick to join in, dragging her father with her, making it a group hug.

-.-.-

Dumbledore was entirely too busy! He was juggling more responsibilities than he'd ever had, and he wasn't doing it well. Now he had to choose, and he didn't like his choices.

There was a three-day summit for the ICW starting today, which was mandatory, right after which he had a session in the Wizengamot, which was also mandatory. He couldn't really ditch either as they required only a few days a year and he'd rescheduled a little bit too much already lately. After which, there would be the Yule ball at Hogwarts, where he was also expected to be present. This should not be a problem as none of it coincided, but this wasn't all, not by a long shot.

Now the Wizengamot had summoned him, for a hearing regarding the accusations made by Harry Potter, which was to take place during the ICW meeting. He suspected that this was done by minister Fudge, making him choose which office he found more important. The minister had always thought that Dumbledore had too many offices for one man.

The goblins had summoned him for a hearing as well, which was to take place anytime within the next two days. He had already gone by to reschedule, to which the goblins had responded by giving him two extra days with those creepy smiles of theirs, lending even more credence to his theory that this was entirely deliberate.

There was far too much to do in the coming days, and he was going to do a lot of fast-talking and cashing in on favours to survive this with all his positions intact. It had not yet crossed his mind that doing so would be impossible, but he would learn.

He once more looked at the Prophet's front page.

"Damn that boy and those goblins! Don't they understand it was all for the Greater Good?"

39. Gloating

"When will the Prophet report about me?" Sirius asked Jasmine. "Tomorrow of course, when Dumbledore gets chewed out at the ICW, who already got the information through the goblins and through Jean-Claude. My parents' Will shall also be published then."

The image of Dumbledore being chewed out made Sirius laugh. "That's masterfully done my girl. I still want to make you a Marauder. You've got an Animagus form and you're pranking thousands."

"As I keep telling you, I'm not going to be a marauder so long as Luna can't join too. Besides, I don't need you to give me a marauder name, my name is Jasmine, as you should know by now. I was already named by two marauders."

"Yeah, yeah, alright. But I can't help her become what she wants, that's not how it works. You know that." Sirius said. "Well, you're just going to have to hope she'll turn into a Crumple Horned Snorkack on her own then. Don't worry, if anyone can do it, it's her. It might take a while though, according to Luna, Snorkacks are rarely seen by children, so maybe when we're a little older."

Jasmine so loved torturing her godfather. She was already training with Luna anyway, just not in the way he was suspecting. Sirius just didn't know Luna's metaphors. After all, 'a Crumple Horned Snorkack' was a happily pregnant woman. Something Selene Lovegood wanted to become but couldn't anymore, not after Luna.

One day Jasmine hoped to become one as well, but she wouldn't tell Sirius that, yet. That's a prank for another day, 'I don't think Sirius can handle me being the surrogate mother to my own baby.'

40. Dumbledore's Downfall

Dumbledore was livid. He'd planned on making it through the ICW summit by expediting the proceedings, something he was perfectly suited to do as the Supreme Mugwump. The moment he saw the agenda he'd known that he was not going to succeed. Not only was he going to fail, but he would also probably lose his position as well. First thing on the agenda was none other than Sirius Black.

It was a massive clusterfuck. Britain was going to have to change its stance on Sirius and do some serious grovelling, or it would face penalties and later lose its membership status. 'Why had that damn Cornelius not said anything of this to him?' Not only had Fudge ignored the French ministry's rulings, but he had also later pushed all the blame for the Tournament fuckups to Sirius, calling him the successor to You-Know-Who.

At the time Sirius' innocence became known to him, Dumbledore had protested with Fudge trying to set the Dementor's on him because he knew otherwise, but he'd changed his mind. Thinking that it would blow over eventually, he had given up on persuading the eminently stubborn Cornelius otherwise. After all, with all his positions and responsibilities, he had more important business to care about, Sirius could wait. If only he had known then, what he knew now.

Not only did they know about Sirius being given a trial in France and being pronounced innocent, but the other members of the ICW somehow also knew that Dumbledore was one of three people responsible for chucking Sirius into Azkaban without the benefit of a trial. This is what cost him his position as Supreme Mugwump, who was supposed to uphold the law to the fullest, something he could no longer say.

Not that he ever cared that much for the law, the greater good was above such things.

His disregarding of the Potter Will was fortunately not proven illegal, yet. There would still be a hearing to determine that outcome. Otherwise, this day would have been even worse.

Because of the unexpected and very lengthy ambush at the ICW, he had missed his hearing at the ministry. Hopefully the note he'd sent explaining his absence had smoothed some of the ruffled feathers.

Now he was entering the Wizengamot Chambers, five minutes past when it started. The entire assembly looked at him, and not at all like usual. There was no respect or even fear present for him. Most looked positively disgusted with his presence and others looked gleeful.

"Finally decided to grace us with your presence, Chief Warlock?" Undersecretary Dolores Unbridged asked him in her overly sweet and incredibly fake way. Many of the assembled snickered at that, too many by far, 'what have I missed?'

"Yes, you'll excuse me for the delay as it was important business." Dumbledore tried.

"More important than the time of the assembled Wizengamot Brian?" Augusta Longbottom asked him rhetorically. She knew good and well he didn't like her using that name. "Get to your seat and start the meeting already, you've wasted enough of our time as it is don't you think?"

He hastily claimed his seat and started the meeting. "Anything new on the agenda or can we commence with the listed issues?" He asked, which was apparently another mistake. "Sure there is, haven't you read the papers? All the periodicals named it, even the Quibbler." Madam Bones put him down harshly.

"I'm talking of course, about Sirius Black, the Lord of an Ancient and Noble family you imprisoned without trial for twelve years and has now been acquitted in France. I'm also talking about Harry Potter, who is accusing you for everything under the sun just short of murder. The boy whose parents' Will you had sealed and guardianship you claimed right after in order to let him rot with abusive muggles." She cut in just when he was about to ask what she was talking about.

That was bad news, 'I'd hoped for some time to prepare.' Albus thought bitterly. 'And how did this get out anyway?' Albus was hastily preparing a plan to deal with this fallout, just shy of panicking by now.

But nothing could have prepared him for the onslaught he was about to receive.

When it was all said and done, he was no longer part of the Wizengamot. Members of the board of Hogwarts led by a gloating Lucius Malfoy had also given him notice to another special hearing the day after the Yule ball. This was regarding his suitability for the last position he could claim, Headmaster of Hogwarts. Dame Longbottom had even sided with Lucius, something he couldn't have even conceived of prior to today.

The position of Headmaster was the last position he had, and also the most important to him, one he couldn't lose that. 'I'd better go and prepare for that. Right after Minerva gets done chewing me out for leaving her to organize the Yule festivities,' Albus thought, completely forgetting about the goblins in the process.

41. I love it when a plan comes together

"Well? Tell us already!" Luna demanded.

"Because he has failed to present evidence against his crimes, even given an extension of two days, I've apparently gotten Dumbledore's entire vault, complete with heirlooms, as he did not have enough to pay me back with the penalties incurred. They are still making an inventory." Jasmine told them with a small smile, handing the letter over to Luna.

"They actually did it!" Sirius exclaimed. "Crafty little buggers aren't they." He clearly admired them for this prank.

Xeno looked deeply unhappy. "I suppose Rita Skeeter also did good work." It was clearly hard for him to admire a woman he hated with all his guts, but there was no denying her skill with the pen. Using nothing but cold hard facts for a change, she had successfully turned around the perception of a living idol for the whole of magical Britain.

"The Quibbler contributed too, Xeno, thank you for that." Jasmine tried to console the man, but he was still sad.

"Bonetooth also said that half the plan was yours Jasmine. He specifically gives you half the credit, that's some Slytherin thinking, you should be proud of yourself." Luna said, looking up from the letter.

"Well, the hat did want me there." Jasmine admitted.

"What!" Sirius again, "an undercover Slytherin? That's pure sneakiness and a massive prank on the school. You pranked not only the headmaster, but also the entirety of Britain. That's something the Marauders couldn't even manage." He was actually tearing up.

"I think you broke him Jasmine." Xeno said, looking at Sirius' glassy eyes.

"I do my best." She said smilingly.

Alright, no more dilly-dallying, our first tutor is coming in ten Jasmine. Sirius! Go study for your exams, otherwise you won't get dinner. Daddy, you do your thing! Luna ordered with a laugh. "Up and at 'em!"

Xeno had finally gotten a response about his Harry Potter articles and was reprinting old editions as well as new ones all the time now. This seemed to make him happy and also gave Luna and Jasmine the chance to use the photographs they had made of the whole Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets.

Those would prove to be a nice complement to the Basilisk bone statue that now hung in the Gringotts entry hall. That edition was the one that sold the best and detailed all Harry's adventures at Hogwarts.

They even got a note from Gringotts saying that the tellers of Gringotts owed them their thanks. There had been a lot of laughter amongst those workers as of late. The humans' screams and looks had made them treat the goblins better too and after the article in the Quibbler, business had improved. People found all kinds of reasons to visit their vaults.

42. The Babysitter Mission

Two days later Jean-Claude floo-called with a question. He'd actually been visiting quite often, finding a friend in Sirius more than in Xeno, so this wasn't out of the ordinary.

"Hi Sirius, could you by any chance help me out here? My wife is going away for a week and I have to work quite unexpectedly. My younger daughter is too young to go to school yet so I have to find a babysitter for the rest of the holidays. Now I know you are working during the day as well but Xeno is here, sort of. As are the girls and nobody knows where you live, so it's quite safe I believe." JC said in a hurry.

"Wow, that was quite the story you told me, I think I heard a question somewhere in there too." Sirius quipped. JC did not laugh. "Right, just let me ask the girls as they will have to entertain her. Xeno might keep her fed but I don't think he's suited for taking care of young kids. Don't let him hear that I said that though. He's a good guy and I don't want to offend him." "Expecto Patronum." Sirius waved his wand. "Can you please come to the Barn for a sec, JC has a question."

"What the hell was that?" JC asked. "Messenger Patronus, they'll be here soon."

"No, I meant JC! If you have to shorten my beautiful name, call me Jean." JC said. "Sure." Sirius smirked, already knowing what was coming next.

The girls entered and walked towards the fire. "Hi JC, shoot." Luna told the man. Luna had shortened it because she thought Jean-Claude was too long. Jean growled. "Call me Jean please." Making the girls giggle and Sirius laugh. "Sure Jean. Now can you tell us what's wrong?"

"My youngest, Gabrielle, needs a sitter for the coming week. Would you mind taking her in for the week? I'm asking you because you will have to spend a lot of time with her, she's quite the little monster you see."

"A monster? You want us to babysit a monster?" Luna asked incredulously. "Well, he said little monster, there's a difference, don't forget that." Jasmine added. "You're right of course. Is it a cute little monster Jean?" Luna asked him.

Having no idea how to respond, he looked to Sirius, who shrugged in answer. "Yes, I guess. she's a very cute girl, she's ten years old."

"Luna, I've heard you say before that you wanted a monster if it was a cute little monster, do you still stand by that statement? He said she's cute and little." Jasmine said, her face still fully serious. "Of course, I never change my mind for no reasons." Luna answered, equally serious.

Jasmine nodded, turned around and stated. "Jean, we'll take her off your hands, to love her and cherish her like she was our very own cute little monster. Isn't that right Luna." Luna nodded solemnly. "This I swear."

"All right then." Jean said, clearly nonplussed. "I shall bring her tomorrow morning at 9 am if that's ok."

Luna hooted her joy whilst Jasmine was pumping her fist in the air repeatedly, then they slowly backed away until they were out the door. Where they heard them running from the Barn laughing.

"What was that Sirius?" Jean asked with a laugh of his own.

"That, my friend, was beautiful." Sirius said seriously. "I've never seen those two act more like kids than just now. After what they went through, I didn't know they still had it in them, to be honest. What we saw just now fills me with hope."

"That's amazingly deep from you. You know, you are a much better parent than you think. Probably," he amended.

"Did you also notice that Jasmine giggled?" Sirius asked Jean, who thought about it. "Well, she is a girl you know. I'm sure she doesn't giggle as Harry." "I know, I know. It's just, I feel like that kid has been given a second chance, and then took it with both hands." Sirius explained. "I feel like we can learn from that."

"Alright, get out of my way, I'm coming through. You need a drink badly my friend. Don't you worry, we'll drown your sappiness with manliness in no time, I happen to have the perfect bottle for that. Give me a minute. When I come over, I want to hear all about that lovely woman you've met at the ministry."

The next morning devolved into chaos even before Gabrielle arrived. Before she stepped through, Jean had floo-called to let them know she was almost ready. "Also, I haven't told her who she'd be meeting except for friends of Fleur. Decide for yourself who you present yourself as or even if you want her to know your secret." The widening of Jasmine's eyes told the story.

"What do I do?" She asked the room at large, already panicking. Sirius and Xeno could not help her make that decision and Luna wasn't there yet.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked calmly when she was told the reason for her panicking.

"Didn't you hear. Do I tell her my secret or not? I have like five minutes to decide."

"Calm down will you. Who are you planning to be today? Looking at you, I'd say Jasmine. Just introduce yourself as Jasmine then." Luna told her as if it was that easy.

And indeed, it was. Luna's calm response and the logic of her response finally reached Jasmine, calming her down.

"You're right. If I want to change to Harry later, I'll decide then. There's no need to rush a decision." Jasmine sighed. "Thanks Luna. You are my rock."

Luna hugged Jasmine from behind, pressing her burgeoning breasts into her back, making Jasmine notice she wasn't wearing a bra. "I hope that's not all I am to you?" She murmured only for Jasmine's ears.

"No you are not, love."

With a whoosh of green flames, a blond missile shot out of the floo, quickly followed by her father.

"Hi! I'm Gabrielle, who are you?" The excited young girl asked of the room's occupants.

Jean hugged his daughter from behind and raised his arm, pointing at Sirius first. "That smiling guy is Sirius Black, the Auror friend I told you about. That colourful guy is Xenophilius Lovegood, he writes a newspaper and loves kimonos. And these girls are your sitters this week. Girls would you please introduce yourselves?"

Luna raised her hand, "I'll go first. I'm Luna, Xeno's my dad. Excuse our French please, we're still learning."

"Hi Gabrielle, I'm Jasmine and I'm Sirius' goddaughter. You're probably going to see us kissing sometimes because Luna's my girlfriend. I hope we can be friends."

"Me too!" Gabrielle squealed.

Jean turned around and faced his daughter. "Alright, I have to go to work now sweet pea, will you be fine with Luna and Jasmine?"

The girl nodded gravely, "see you tonight daddy."

"Bye then and thank you again for taking her."

Then he was gone.

"Well, I'm off to work, don't do stupid stuff." Sirius told them with a smirk.

Xeno took one long look at the girls and left as well.

"So, what do you want to do?" Luna asked, signalling the start of a fun and exhausting week.

Luna and Jasmine had decided to study less to have fun with Gabrielle more. Talking French with the girl was also a form of studying and it was a holiday anyway.

-.-

"Thank you again for taking care of her. She tells me it was great fun and that she wants to come back often." Appoline Delacour told the girls.

"It was our pleasure ma'am, we've become fast friends with Gabbi, just like we did with Fleur." Which was entirely true. Both Jasmine and Luna felt like they had a little sister in Gabbi.

"And she can come over whenever. We're being tutored at home so we're here all the time. We liked having her over, so if you ever need a sitter again?" Luna offered.

"I'll keep it in mind." Appoline accepted gratefully. "Perhaps some weekends, then I can take my busy husband out once in a while."

Her acceptance visibly brightened Gabbi's day, who though aching for her home, didn't want to leave her new friends. They'd learned that as a Veela and the Minister's daughter, she didn't go out much or had a lot of friends.

"Bye then. See you." The two Veela said.

Luna and Jasmine waved as they stepped through the floo. "Wow, that was quite the week. Ready to get back to studying?" Luna asked.

"Yeah," Jasmine laughed, "that actually sounds relaxing right about now."

"I know what you mean, she's quite something, now let's hope that Fleur reads our letter and talks to her father soon."

Jasmine had decided to tell Gabbi she was Harry Potter as well, because she didn't want to make Fleur have to lie to her sister. Also, Gabbi had promised that she would protect her secret, after demanding that she changed of course. Gabbi had hugged her in both forms and decided that she liked Jasmine better for hugs, but that she wouldn't mind hugging with Harry once in a while. Jasmine had loved her simple view and hugged her extra after.

43. Getting a Clue

As it turned out, Fleur would not talk to Jean for two more weeks, only telling her dad the clue when her family visited her the day before the second task.

Still having a bad feeling about the tournament and remembering that he could get a second opinion. Jean left his family in the Beauxbatons carriage to floo over to the Barn.

The girls got a messenger Patronus call from Sirius asking them to come at midnight, waking them up. They arrived to see Sirius and Jean just finishing their second bottle of firewhisky. Xeno was passed out on the nearby couch.

"Did you wake us up during a weekday just to offer us Firewhisky?" Luna asked sarcastically, she didn't appreciate the wakeup-call.

"Is it that late already?" Sirius asked. "Didn't know that. Sorry." He finished sheepishly, before letting his head hit the table and snoring. He was done for the day.

"Sorry girls," Jean apologized. "He called you because I'm in need of your insight, Fleur gave me the clue. Will you listen?"

"Well, we're awake now…" Jasmine muttered. It irritated her mightily that he'd decided to ask them that at night.

"Right, it's a message in Mermish that goes like this." He coughed, clearly having partaken of the drink too.

"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour – the prospect's black
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

Jasmine grimaced, immediately jumping to the worst conclusion. "You really think so?" Luna asked, instantly cottoning on. "I don't like to think so but that's why they would. Bunch of stupid adults. You think Ludo Batman would do otherwise?" Jasmine said wryly. "No, I guess you're right. Sort of lucky she doesn't have many good friends there; this could go bad in a hurry." They finished their private conversation.

"What are you talking about?" Jean asked nonplussed.

"That she is lucky there's nobody there that is really important to her as they're likely to get kidnapped and put on the bottom of the lake." Jasmine explained, irritated that the adults couldn't figure this out themselves. 'What, did they think they would take a personal item, in a lake? Where's the sensation in that?'

She didn't notice his face turning white until he spoke. "I have to go!"

"Wait, catch!" Luna had tossed him a sobering potion. "Go in with a clear head." She had seen his face drain.

"You don't suppose they took Gabbi right?" Luna asked Jasmine. "They had better not." Jasmine growled, "but there's nothing we can do about that, we have other responsibilities".

"Now let's put these idiots to bed." "Right, I'll grab two more hangover potions." They did so efficiently. It wasn't like they hadn't done this before after all.

The problem with having sobering and hangover potions available was that people had less reason to be responsible. The girls loved their father figures, truly they did. But that didn't mean they liked having to clean up after them.

Usually, Dobby or Kreacher helped the men to bed so this was an exception, but they knew this was not an isolated occurrence. No, it was time for an intervention, which Luna suggested. They both had to stop wallowing about the past. So, they wrote notes to leave next to the hangover potions.

Maybe it would help, maybe it wouldn't. Both weary girls went to their shared bed thinking that at least they had each other now. Hugging each other in their sleep, both girls sported a small smile.

They didn't know what a profound effect those notes would have.

"You know, I don't think we're getting a lot done today. There's just no way I can focus on studying with worry for Gabbi in the back of my mind."

"I agree, the only way I'm getting through this material is because Tom already studied it. How about we take this day off? At least from the theoretical parts. We could do some duelling instead."

"You have a deal. Outside?" Luna asked. "Right, prepare that cute butt for a good ass-whoopin'." Jasmine smacked Luna's bottom, prompting her to run and Jasmine to follow.

She would always follow that butt, it was a worthy pursuit.

When Jean floo'ed into the Barn, he immediately started for the Petit House. Despite himself, seeing the magical firefight outside caused him to stop and stare; those kids were fighting at a level he did not expect. Jasmine seemed to be teaching Luna something mid-fight. But that was for later, he had more important business at the moment.

Luna saw him coming and seemed to recognize that this wasn't a social call. She signalled Jasmine to halt the fight. Jean walked up to the girls who now stood next to each other and dropped to his knees.

"The House of Delacour owes you girls a life debt, your advice saved the life of Gabrielle."

"So they were that stupid eh? Thought so," Jasmine started, looking at Jean curiously. "What's this life debt business Luna?"

"It's a magical custom where families honour their saviours with favour and possibly other help. You've actually acquired at least one, possible more. Ginny for certain, did the Weasley's never acknowledge that?"

"Nope, why is Jean still on his knees? Are we required to respond in a certain way?"

"Don't really know to be honest. Dad never told me about that part."

"Well Jean? Can you stand up and tell us what's going on please, you're starting to freak me out here?"

Jean finally stood and explained. "You girls have to formally accept the life-debt and then state how you would like to be repaid. This could be anything from her life, financial support or even political support. If you do not acknowledge the debt, you're stating that Gabrielle isn't worth anything."

"Pretty sure both of us just wanted to help." Jasmine started, getting a nod from Luna. "But we'll acknowledge the debt for now. Can we state the payment later?"

"Yes, of course."

Luckily, Luna knew how that worked, signalling Jasmine to follow her lead.

"I, Luna Estelle Lovegood formally acknowledge the life debt owed by the Delacour family."
"I, Harrison Jasmine Potter formally acknowledge the life debt owed by the Delacour family."

"Guess we're not getting back to duelling anytime soon. Care for a cup of tea Jean? Then you can tell us what happened."

Jean accepted and they got Winky to serve them tea in the Barn.

"So, because she's Veela the spell to keep her in stasis wouldn't have held under the water?" Jasmine tried to wrap her mind around that. "I wouldn't have known that either you know." Seeing the look Luna gave her, she reiterated. "I'm not protesting Dumbledore's guilt Luna. I'm just saying that I wouldn't have known that either, but the parents would. It was stupid, not to mention criminal to just abduct a 10-year-old without notifying the parents.

That seemed to appease Luna some. "I don't know what it says about Britain's law enforcement that Dumbledore is still not in Azkaban. Where's the justice in that?" She said, clearly disgusted that nothing more came from this. Disgraced as he was, the man was still untouchable. Jean was working on it though.

"At least they fired him as headmaster of Hogwarts. He's only to be involved with the Tournament until its end. Nobody wanted to take over from him anyway."

"So, Fleur got zero points. I guess she wasn't much pleased about that?" Jasmine asked.

This got the first smile out of Jean. "Actually, she laughed bitterly about it in front of the judges before flipping them the bird. She was definitely not amused. All of the Beauxbatons students are following Fleur's example of boycotting the Tournament and Hogwarts. Everybody that meets Gabbi likes her, and she met a lot in that carriage."

"We know. That girl is impossible to dislike." Luna told him. "You should bring her over more."

"It's good that you feel that way because Gabbi keeps bothering me about it. She wants to study magic with you. After I told her that it was your advice that allowed me to save her, she wouldn't take no for an answer anymore."

Jasmine laughed, picturing that scene in her head. "Get her a wand and we'll show her a few things. It will prepare her some for school at the very least, and we have plenty of time."

"We do, or at least, Jasmine does. Assimilating Tom Riddle's memories combined with Occlumency has her learning ridiculously fast, she already knows how to do most things before trying." Luna praised her girlfriend.

"Luna's also learning really fast, she's going to get her OWL's at the same time as I am, which is at the end of this school year." Jasmine told him.

"All right, I believe you. I saw you duel when I came out here remember. Some of my Aurors would be hard pressed to beat the two of you I'm sure. I will bring her over soon then. And please think about the debt, maybe talk to Sirius and Xeno about it."

"Will do, don't worry about it Jean. See you later then."

Jean's worry had indeed been erased, these girls were honourable and kind. They would not be cruel with the repayment of the life-debt.

"Oh wait, Jean!" Jasmine shouted, running towards him, Luna following at a leisurely pace. "Have you started her on Occlumency yet?"

"Who Gabbi? No. Should I?" Jean was not a very good Occlumens, and he had not started learning until when he was an adult.

"Of course, it will help her with, well, everything really. Would you mind if I taught her?"

Jean didn't see a problem with that, he trusted Jasmine. "If she agrees, you can. Do you know legilimency then?"

"Tom does. I'm sure I'll pick it up fast. Don't worry, I'll treat Gabbi with care."

"Somehow I don't doubt you'll be good at it. You have my permission then. I'm going back, thank you girls."

44. The Memory Game

Jasmine's progress with studying had accelerated greatly since incorporating Tom's memories in her own mind. Thinking about teaching Gabbi in an efficient way had made her think of her own learning curve. This presented some interesting findings.

Not only had Occlumency given her a boost in memorization, she also became faster and more efficient in her studies. Integrating those memories had given her an additional boost. Now Jasmine thought she had found a way to pass these advantages on to others, funnily enough also from the mind of Lord Voldemort.

Jasmine had separated Tom Riddle's memories from those of Lord Voldemort based on whether she wanted to learn from them and how dark they were. Tom's memories had relatively much more learnable material than Voldemort's, but that didn't mean that she couldn't learn from both.

"You know Luna, what if I told you that you could have Tom's memories as well. Would you like that? It would help you study more quickly."

"How?" Luna asked, perplexed if not a little surprised. This was way off topic considering they had been talking of food for the past few minutes.

"Well, I didn't want to ask until I was sure you were fully occluded, but I think I could give you them with Legilimency. Then you'd just have to integrate them yourself using Occlumency." Jasmine said. "I've already sorted them, so you'll only get the useful stuff, leaving the disturbing stuff out."

"Won't it take weeks to integrate them? Just like your first go took so long?"

"Sure but look at what it will gain you. Besides, mine was unordered, basically a memory bomb that went off. This on the other hand is structured, I'm handing it over to you gently." Jasmine argued. "Tom knew how to implant memories to unwilling recipients, I'm pretty sure it is easier when the recipient is willing. You only need to sort the stuff into your own memory."

"That sounds reasonable and the memories haven't changed you at all." Luna decided. "Can we try with a few first? We do the rest if it works."

"Right. Shall we do that now? I could give you what our Runes tutor wanted to cover today. That way you'll immediately see if it works like you expect. You should be able to assemble that in the hour we have before she comes."

One determined nod from Luna and they got started quickly. Jasmine fell into Luna's eyes.

At the end of that Runes lesson Luna was sold. She had really impressed their tutor which made Jasmine grin, she knew the feeling. A few minutes of integrating memories that at first spanned hours but was a lot shorter in the condensed version, was ever so good a deal when it could cut back on learning time.

The only thing it couldn't do was make the pathways in the brain that come from training. So Luna knew what to do, just not how to do it per se. The adage of 'practice makes perfect' still applied, it just made studying way easier if you trusted the person supplying the memories.

There was a lot to be said of Tom Riddle, but not that he was a bad student. As Jasmine had told Luna before, he was a really smart guy. When in his core classes, he had a great focus. A focus that was only on absorbing the material, with little unrelated thoughts. What little thoughts or episodes of unrelated thought there were, Jasmine had already filtered out.

Luna got those filtered memories from Jasmine, only useful thoughts on useful subjects. Now Tom Riddle's knowledge combined with his training in the mind-arts was going to help his enemies, it was kind of poetic really. Jasmine was already thinking of how this could help Luna and maybe more people, like Gabbi. It was really only possible with a lot of trust.

This method of learning was much faster than actual classroom learning. The idea of using pensieves to aid in study was stupid in comparison. It took way less time and, depending on the material that was uploaded, was guaranteed to be effective. Kind of like a Vulcan mind-meld if either girl had ever read star trek.

The requirements were simple if hard to put into practice. You need first to be an Occlumens. Then you need to integrate memories from someone else into your own mind. This could be done in small steps to get used to the process. The memories couldn't be any memories either, you didn't want Ron Weasley's memories for instance.

You need Occlumency filtered memories, of a person with great understanding of a subject, presented in a structured way, by a skilled Legillimens. This was definitely going to be a family magic type of thing if Jasmine had anything to do with it. From Jasmine's experience, mind-magics seemed to be the ultimate life-hack.

To make the memories more palatable, for anyone, it was even possible to substitute the thought voice of Tom with her own voice. Even if Tom's voice wasn't that bad to listen to.

She'd try it in the next memory-dump to Luna. If it worked and she liked it, she'd think about doing it for all of them.

'The goblin pensieve required a memory strand from the head to be put into the pensieve. Couldn't that be used to transfer memories from person to person? That would not require actual real-time viewing and would work the same as a Legilimency memory dump. If possible, I could perhaps fit a lot of memories on certain subjects into vials. For the next generation too. If I can copy that memory as well that would mean it could be mass produced.' Jasmine was dreaming bigger and bigger.

'This could revolutionize learning! So far I have not encountered a memory cap either, and I've got at least eighty years of it in my noggin'. The possibilities seem literally endless, this will be the project of my life.' Excitement coursed through her body and mind at the thought of doing this project and the previous one she had thought of with Luna. 'After all, with all this learning, we need a way to relax. What better way than studying sex magic.'

45. Life Debts

"So that's the story. What should we ask of the Delacours, dad and Sirius?" Luna asked the men when they were both done with work.

"Could be anything really, I assume I don't have to tell you that you should be careful with what you decide to ask, this could make or break relations between our families."

"Couldn't we just ask for the right to call her our little sister?" Jasmine asked. "We already think of her that way anyway." Luna nodded.

"It's nice and vague and has no immediate repercussions. I like it." Xeno said."

"Only when he takes it in the spirit it is meant." Sirius said. "You asking this could be taken in a myriad of ways. Like Jasmine asking to adopt Gabbi as her sister in the Potter family, or Luna asking for Gabbi to marry Jasmine as a sister wife. He might even take it as you starting a coven and wanting Gabbi to be in it. Those are all perfectly plausible in the wizarding world and reasonable requests for a life-debt."

Everybody just stared at him open-mouthed.

"This is harder than I thought." Luna just grumbled, for all three of them. Jasmine in particular was looking almost dejected.

"You could also just leave the life-debt hanging for the rest of your lives. This actually happens quite a lot amongst friends you know. Especially during wartime," Sirius laughed.

"You idiot, couldn't you have started with that?!" Jasmine shouted, moving to throttle her godfather, who was prepared.

"So we just do nothing?" Luna asked Sirius, who by now was hiding behind furniture in order not to get caught by Jasmine.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying." Sirius confirmed laughing, proud of his practical joke.

A flying tackle finally got Jasmine her revenge. Luna quickly joined in when she started to tickle Sirius to submission. It greatly relieved stress.