Jasmine walked out of the Yule Ball, quite sad. There wasn't anything wrong with the ball per see, the problem had been that so many of the boys had just wanted to court her just because she was the heir to both the Potter and Black families.
Sirius had warned her about it before but it still sucked. The other girl friends that she had being jealous because of the attention she had got from the boys didn't really help either. She had just wanted to have a happy Yule Ball but she wasn't even allowed that.
So, on the excuse of being tired, she left early. But she didn't head to her dorm room in Gryffindor immediately, instead taking a detour to clear her head a little bit. It was while she was walking outside the castle that she came across something or someone would be a better thing to say.
It was a boy, she knew him. William Burns, "The most mysterious Ravenclaw". He had more than earned that name in her opinion, the guy looked like a doll. He was tall for their group year but the more interesting things about him was that he had white hair and his eyes were grey that had a plus sign in them instead of normal irises.
Jasmine has been grouped up with him once and she had honestly done better than she would have ever thought because William's was such a good teacher on his own.
Music suddenly started and looking closely, she could see William playing the guitar whilst sitting on a bench in the snow. Watching him play, Jasmine couldn't say she had heard of that melody before, it was unique but still good.
Then she heard him singing,
It had felt like the song was calling out to her in a way that she couldn't explain, she hadn't even noticed when she had walked up to him was just standing there. Though sadly the magical moment got interrupted by her stepping on a branch and startling William.
He looked at her after having stood up in shock while she herself was frozen in her place, it took a few moments before the boy relaxed and sighed to himself. She wasn't sure what was going on but it made her relax too, almost like the danger was gone.
"You shouldn't startle people like that, Ms. Potter," He chided while floating a small bag up towards him, "That could have gone quite wrong."
Jasmine dumbly nodded at him, she understood that she did something wrong, but there was something that had her frowning, "I'm sorry for startling you but I thought we were past last names when we last worked together." Calling her Ms. Potter didn't really feel good to her, it felt like those boys that had tried to court her.
He gave her a small smile that didn't really reach his eyes "I try not to be too familiar with people because sometimes they will try to use that to take advantage me, so it has become a little bit of a habit." He packed his guitar in the small bag and Jasmine had to remind herself that magic existed because sometimes people do things that still had her scratching her head.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading inside. It's starting to get a little cold and warming charms aren't going to be enough, besides the Ball will be finished enough and I'd rather not be in my dorm room whilst people come in." That reminded Jasmine of why she was here.
William began walking and Jasmine was already talking, "Do you mind if I come with you?" Realizing what she had asked had her blushing a little, "I-I mean, I don't want to be in my dorm room while the girls are coming back and hope to be somewhere else in the meantime." She quickly explained herself while not saying the true reason why she didn't want to be in her dorm room.
He nodded his head while obviously thinking about her request, "I don't really mind but hopefully you have a change of clothes because you won't really be that comfortable while we wait." Looking down at herself, she saw her simple red dress that she had worn to the Yule Ball and couldn't help but frown, even with wizarding charms for comfort it wasn't really something that she could sit in somewhere for an hour or two.
"Er, can we sneak into the Gryffindor dorms without being noticed?" She didn't have her vanishing cloak on her, not needing it for the Yule Ball. William shook his head in denial and she sighed, she would need to just suck it up then.
"Here, catch." She caught a jacket that William sent her way, it was a black one with blue stripes, looking up towards him with a questioning gaze had him chuckle a little. "It's getting colder and you need something to keep people from recognizing you." Ah, that was so nice of him, she had been feeling cold since she had stayed to listen to him.
She quickly wore the jacket but it was still big on her, the arms of the jacket needing to be put up a little. "Thank you." She nodded her head in gratefulness.
He nodded his head, "Now, let's get going," He began walking towards the castle and she quickly followed him, they walked in comfortable silence until they reached the castle and Jasmine remembered that she didn't know where they would be going to.
They were walking side by side so it wasn't hard to talk to him, "William, I forgot to ask you this but where are we going exactly?" She felt a little sheepish for forgetting about asking that.
He gave her a glance, "I didn't think you'd ask," The sarcastic comment she got wasn't appreciated so she hit him on the shoulder weakly. He just laughed a little, "We're going to the kitchens, I'm sure the house-elf's would be happy to help you get another outfit from your dorm."
Her eyes lit up in recognition, though another question came before she could be thankful for him thinking about her getting a new outfit, "You know where the kitchens are?" That has been a sore spot for a lot of students as sometimes they got hungry late into the night. Herself included.
"Yeah, it's not that big of a secret, the Hufflepuff's know it and you can ask any professor and they'd point it out to you." At that last bit, Jasmine felt a bit stupid. How come no one have ever asked a professor before?
The Hufflepuff's knowing where the kitchens are made a bit of sense as they were the only house that didn't complain about not having snacks. "Why haven't they told anyone! Weren't the Puff's supposed to be kind and all that?" Jasmine huffed in anger! The heck, why would you be in Hufflepuff and not help other people?
He laughed harder at that before ruffling her hair a bit, "Why haven't you just asked any puffs to help you? Or just become friends with them?" Jasmine for her part froze, she hadn't ever had anyone that ruffled her hair before, even Sirius hadn't done it.
William seemed to notice her freezing as he stopped walking. "Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruffle your hair." He took his hand away and Jasmine tried as good as she could her disappointment at the warm feeling leaving her.
She just nodded her head quickly, "It's okay, you don't have to mind me." You can continue, is what she wanted to say but didn't. Instead, she walked quickly forward, hoping that the kitchens were nearby.
They had made it to the kitchens finally, though it had been pretty awkward for her anyway. She wasn't sure that William had even noticed the awkward atmosphere that she was extruding.
Though when they stopped by the painting directly under the Great Hall and William and tickled the pear, she had to wonder how many more of those hidden rooms there were in the castle.
They got into the kitchen and Jasmine for the first time saw how food just suddenly appeared on the tables in the Great Hall, there were tables identical that were swapped, or so had William told her.
Getting swarmed by the House-Elf's there wasn't really something that she wished on anybody, especially when they were eager to serve. In the end, they got a House-Elf names Neely to get her some comfortable pyjamas and a place to change without being seen.
When she got back to William after changing, she saw that he was sitting on a chair with some snacks on the table, there was another chair presumably for her. She took a seat and sat there in silence for a little bit.
Hey, William?" She called out, "Can I ask the name of the song that you played outside?" He paused at that before sighing, "If you don't want to, that's okay!" She quickly said.
"No, no, it's not that. It's just that you won't find this song anywhere else because it's kind of an original song that I made." Huh, she didn't know that he made songs. Well, Jasmine didn't know a lot of things about William in general. The only thing she did know was that he was a great teacher and helped a lot when they paired up in class and that he was the top person in school when it came to grades.
Hermione sometimes complained that she couldn't catch up to William no matter how much she studied.
Well, she wanted to hear more about him and he'd hopefully sing another song because he had a beautiful voice… "Why are you staring at my face?" She snapped her head forwards while hoping she could just bury herself right now. Ugh, how can she delete memories?
She heard him chuckle which made her pout, this is the second time he had embarrassed her today!
"If you want to hear another song, I'd be happy to oblige you know?" He slowly took out his guitar again and she could see how the House-Elf's suddenly perked up. He's been singing to them? How lucky.
Soon enough, William began singing again. This time, the song was quite upbeat and had a very nice melody. Jasmine especially liked the lyrics, they were so nice and she felt as if she could try everything and make it work.
He finished the song before starting another and then another. William was going to all genres, from the happy to the sad ones. His voice was truly a beautiful as he sang.
She didn't know how much time they spent in the kitchen but by the time William was done singing, she was visibly tired and wanted to sleep.
Jasmine was glad about one thing in this whole encounter though, William had made her forget about the thing that had made her sad. Instead, he had made her just enjoy her time with him.
By the time William had brought her to the front of Gryffindor's dorm, she was almost ready to black out. "Can you continue on your own from here or do you want to me to get you inside?"
His question had her pause for a second before she blushed a little, "No, I'll be fine on my own. It's not far from here and I can get inside quickly." He nodded his head before giving her a smile.
"Well then, I hope you have a good night." He turned to the side, intending on going down the stairs but she reached him before that and took hold of his hand. Before he could question anything Jasmine quickly moved forwards and kissed him on his cheek.
"Good night!" She ran towards her dorm rooms. She hadn't said it out loud but she was truly grateful for William.
While they had walked back to Gryffindor dorm, she had ranted a little about what had happened at the Yule Ball and how she had felt so alone and depressed that no one was willing to see her for who she was. That even some friends were jealous of all the attention she was getting, even when she was against the whole thing.
He had listened to everything and had given her some advice on it but the thing that stuck with her the most was something that he had offered, a quote to remember when you were in a bad situation.
"Good times become good memories, but bad times become good lessons."