A/N: Thanks to all those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. I'm glad that people have been enjoying it. And a special thanks to Bonnie and Mainsail for beta reading this and thus improving on the original.
I always encourage readers to ask questions in reviews and say that I'll try to answer them, but that assumes that readers are logged in so I can contact them privately — I don't like to answer reviews here in the chapters. That said, a recent guest review raised concerns about dates, and I thought other readers might want to understand my reasoning.
As I wrote at the start of the first chapter, dates here are an extension of the dates used by Rowling in Goblet of Fire, so they won't match the dates she used in Order of the Phoenix. Since none of her dates matched real calendar dates, there may be some conflict there as well. I've done what I can to fit events from the fifth and sixth books into the dating sequence of the fourth.
Rituals are taking place on the dates that they actually were held or most likely would have been held in Scotland or Scandinavia during 1995 and 1996. I may have reached mistaken conclusions from my research, but I didn't pull the dates out of nowhere.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.
Recommendation: This chapter's recommended fic is "The Lily Potter Foundation" by theflyinfoote. After the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry takes a look at his life and isn't happy with what he sees. He realizes that he doesn't want to do the things everyone else simply expects him to do — like become an auror — but he's not sure what he's going to do instead.
Chapter 32 - The Truth About Love
Tuesday, December 28, 1995, Afternoon.
"Is this something I should seal the room for?" Sirius asked as he closed the sitting room door, wondering what could be so important that Jasmine and Hermione felt the need to tell them now of all times. The mood at Grimmauld Place was melancholy in the extreme since they had received word the day before about the death of Arthur Weasley. They were all feeling the loss because everyone who knew the man liked him — none of them could ever remember him being spiteful or violent, and even under the most trying of circumstances, he tended to be good-natured. The grief of his family could only be guessed at.
"No, it's not necessary," Hermione assured him.
"Are you certain?" Sirius asked with a frown, noting in passing that the portraits were all absent. "It must be pretty important for you to want me to stay here rather than go with Moony." Truth be told, he was happy to have an excuse to not accompany his friend to see what help the Weasleys might need. As much as he wanted to assist them, he really didn't like being around Molly Weasley even on the best of days — not after she kept trying to take over his house during the past summer.
"Everyone else who's still here, uh... well, they already know." Hermione said a bit sheepishly.
"You told the others these secrets before telling us?" Lindsey asked, sounding a little indignant.
"Not technically," Hermione said quickly as she sat on a couch next to Jasmine. "Some of it they figured out on their own. And some, well, some of it was originally their secrets which they shared with us."
"Remus doesn't know, and we're not sure yet about telling him," Jasmine clarified. "It's the veela who know."
"Oh. Right, then," Lindsey said, looking a little puzzled. Sirius frowned at that. When they were originally asked into the sitting room, the two Grangers had exchanged a look that suggested they knew what this was about, but now they seemed less confident.
"I know that this might not seem like the best time to do something like this," Hermione began, "but we always intended to have this discussion over the holidays at some point. The news yesterday, though... well, it reminded us how fragile life can be, and that we shouldn't wait too long to share important things with our loved ones."
"Just so you know," Jasmine added, "we haven't told you any of this before because it's so personal and we've been working it out ourselves. We haven't been happy about keeping it from you and wanted to tell you sooner, but we didn't feel ready before." The girls looked at each other and seemed to be steeling themselves, then they each grasped the other's hand.
"Mum, Dad, Sirius," Hermione said, "Jasmine and I are together. As in, a romantic couple." The Grangers showed no immediate reaction, but Sirius' eyes bulged.
"We're dating," Jasmine went on. "But it's also more than that because this is a serious relationship." For once, Sirius was rendered too speechless to make a bad pun about his name.
"Serious enough to intend for this to be a permanent relationship, in fact," Hermione continued. "We've even exchanged promise rings." Both witches held out their left hands, willing their rings to become visible. Jasmine didn't even have to scrunch up her face in concentration anymore.
Sirius stood up, mouth open wide in surprise, and stumbled forward to kneel before the two witches so he could examine the rings. "These... these are Potter family rings, aren't they?" he asked hoarsely, having trouble believing what he was clearly seeing.
"Yes, I guess so," Jasmine said as Emma also got up to come look more closely at the rings. "Dobby got them out of the family heirloom vault. One started out as a ring for wizards, but the goblins reforged it to make it a matching witch's ring."
"Do you recognize them?" Hermione asked.
Sirius shook his head as he returned to his seat. "I've never seen these rings specifically, but I could tell that they were old family pledge rings of some sort. You wouldn't be able to wear such rings without being part of the family in question, so that means Potter family rings. I'm not sure even Jasmine would be able to wear Black family rings right now."
Sirius stared down at his lap in shock, feeling like he'd been hit with a bludgeoning hex. I knew they were close, he thought, but Merlin... not that close! Not like that! What went wrong? He immediately began to review all of their interactions to try to see what he could have missed... and quickly came to the conclusion that he had missed quite a lot — that there had been lots of signs, at least starting the previous term, and that he had ignored every single one of them.
After a few moments, he realized that the room had gone silent and glanced up to see what was happening. Lindsey was gazing at his daughter with a look of... was it disappointment? Hermione had clearly seen it and had a white-knuckled grip on Jasmine's hand.
"Mum? ...Dad?" she said tremulously.
It was Emma who broke the silence.
"Oh, we're fine with it — we've known for months," she said brightly. Turning to her husband, she slapped at his knee and crowed, "As for you, though... pay up!"
Sighing, Lindsey started digging into his trouser pocket. "Ten quid, was it?"
Hermione gaped. Jasmine just looked confused.
"You know it was," Emma replied, accepting the cash with obvious relish. "Our girl wasn't made a Gryffindor for nothing, you know."
Hermione finally found her voice. "You made a bet on whether I was GAY?!" she screeched.
Sirius couldn't help it — he started laughing so hard that he nearly fell off his chair.
"No, dear," her mother said calmly, eyeing Sirius disapprovingly for a moment before turning back to her daughter. "We made a bet on when you'd get up the nerve to tell us you were gay. There's a difference. I figured you'd announce it sometime over Christmas break, but your father here thought you'd wait at least until summer."
Hermione was reduced to incoherent spluttering by this point, so Jasmine jumped in to ask, "So, um... how'd you find out?"
"I saw you two kissing that night we were attacked by the Death Eaters," Emma said simply. "Seemed pretty obvious at that point."
"You've known since then?" Sirius asked as he tried to catch his breath and thought back to the Grangers' behavior when they first visited. He could tell that Jasmine was doing the same; Hermione was apparently still beyond rational thought. "Ah — I thought you seemed... surprisingly calm."
Emma shrugged, then amended, "Oh, don't get me wrong — it took more than a little soul-searching on our part to come to terms with it. And I wouldn't try to claim that the idea never troubles us in the least anymore, but we've at least come to recognize that it's our problem that we need to get over, not something that they need to change about themselves. It's helped that we've always been fairly progressive in our politics, but it's still different when it's your own daughter."
Lindsey nodded in agreement. "And of course, the Church is no help. When it turns out your little girl can do magic, commandments like 'suffer not a witch to live' start to take on a whole new meaning," he said, an edge of steel creeping into his voice. "And its position on same-sex relationships compounds the problem."
"That, too," Emma conceded, "though in hindsight, we've been drifting away from the Church ever since we first found out Hermione was a witch." She turned back to her daughter. "In the end, it simply came down to this: we knew we were still going to love you no matter who you yourself chose to love… just like we were going to love you regardless of whether you were a witch or not."
Jasmine noticed that this statement finally seemed to mollify her girlfriend and was relieved to see her start resuming her normal coloring.
"And then," Lindsey went on, "we became the minority straight couple surrounded by veela — bit of an eye-opener, that. And that's after having almost been murdered in our beds and having to flee the country because some magical bigots think we're subhuman. Frankly, after all that, nothing can shock us anymore."
"Amen to that!" Emma added fervently. "Discovering we have a lesbian daughter is probably the most normal thing to happen to us in the last six months."
"What about you?" Jasmine asked her godfather. "Do you think you'll be able to accept us? We both know how couples like us have been treated in wizarding Britain — that's one reason why we've hardly told anyone."
"We've only told four others, in fact," Hermione put in. "In each case, it was because we absolutely had to — and even then, we got magical oaths first."
"Magical oaths? How bad is the prejudice?" Emma asked with a frown. "Gays and lesbians certainly don't have it easy in muggle society, but it sounds a lot worse among magicals."
"I have no idea what muggles do," Sirius replied, looking troubled, "but wizards and witches completely ostracize such people. They're kicked out of families, denied jobs, not allowed to even purchase things in stores if they are recognized... it's pretty bad. They aren't criminals, but they'd almost be treated better if they were."
"Oh, honey..." Emma put a hand to her mouth in horror. "And you thought...? Oh, sweetie, come here..." she said as she held out her arms to her daughter. Hermione readily accepted the invitation, and Lindsey put an arm around her as well. "You do know that we would never, ever reject you over something like this, right?" Emma asked. "Or for any reason! Even when I was first trying to come to terms with it, it never would have even occurred to me!"
Hermione made some muffled noises against her mother's shoulder which seemed to be affirmation. "Thanks, Mum," she finally whispered, wiping at her nose a bit as she sat back down.
"That's not to say that we aren't still working through our feelings," Lindsey admitted.
"True," Emma said. "For example, it hit me at one point that this probably meant not having grandchildren—"
"Oh, wow, I hadn't even thought of that!" Sirius exclaimed, leaning back and putting a hand to his forehead. "I guess that's the end of the Potter line." And the end of the Black line, too, if she accepts my offer of adoption, he added silently. Unless I get busy and have kids of my own.
"In vitro fertilization might be an option," Emma continued, "but I don't know if any of the places doing it will accept lesbian couples."
"Invi-what?" Sirius asked, surprised that muggle women could get pregnant without men. Where was the fun in that?
"It's a muggle—" Lindsey started, but he was interrupted by Jasmine holding up her hands.
"No, no, that's not necessary," she said. "We don't need muggle medical treatments. It's possible for witches to get pregnant from each other. And they'd be the children of both of us, not just one of us."
Sirius was intrigued. "Really? I've never heard of anything like that."
Emma was ecstatic. "Really? Grandbabies?"
Lindsey was upset. "Really? You can get my little girl pregnant? My silver lining in all this was that I thought she couldn't get knocked up accidentally. Now I learn that I have to worry about what you two are getting up to after all?"
"Dad!" Hermione cried while Sirius started chuckling again.
"No! I mean, well, yes. Er, uh..." Jasmine spluttered, digging herself even deeper and causing Sirius to laugh all the harder.
"Dad!" Hermione said again, clearly getting angrier at the look he was giving Jasmine. "It requires a very special, very difficult-to-brew potion. No one will be accidentally 'knocked up,' as you put it — our children will have to be carefully planned. Yes, Mum, there will be grandchildren. No, Dad, it's none of your business what the two of us are getting up to." Her eyes narrowed at his reluctance to back down, so she crossed her arms defiantly and continued, "In fact, since you all know about us now, I don't think there's any point in keeping up the pretence. Sirius, would you mind if we moved into the same room?"
It was Lindsey's turn to splutter while both Emma and Jasmine went bright red; Sirius was too far gone in laughter to give an answer. Hermione simply glared at her father, daring him to contradict her.
"So," Emma said slowly, apparently looking for a way to change the subject. "I guess you two really are serious about your relationship? Not many people your age talk about having children. Well, not unless there's been, you know, an accident."
"Yes, we are," Hermione said, not dropping her expression of defiance. "I know that we may seem young, but we have good reasons."
"Oh, they're serious, alright," Sirius cut in. "Those rings prove it."
"They do?" Emma and Hermione asked at the same time.
"Like I said, they're Potter family pledge rings," Sirius explained. "They're used for betrothals, engagements, and even weddings occasionally. I'm guessing that you haven't done any of that, which makes it a little strange that you can wear them — using them as mere promise rings wouldn't typically qualify. But I can tell you that Hermione wouldn't be able to wear one at all if the family magic hadn't accepted you two as a couple of some sort."
"Really?" Jasmine asked as she looked down at her ring — and appeared to be trying to avoid Lindsey's gaze. "We had no idea."
Hermione was looking off in the distance. "Actually... that does explain something that I'd been wondering about. We saw a glow when we exchanged the rings. I thought that it was Magic simply accepting the promises we were making to each other, but maybe it was the family magic accepting us as a couple."
Sirius nodded. "Yes, you'd see a glow in an official betrothal, engagement, or marriage, too."
"But you didn't know about this," Lindsey said, sounding as though he was still trying to keep his annoyance in check. "So what was the reason you had for insisting that you're definitely serious? You're pretty young, after all, and it's extremely rare for couples as young as you to stay together."
Emma poked him with her elbow while Hermione scowled at her father again, then she looked at Jasmine and grabbed her girlfriend's hand. They both nodded, turned back to the others, and spoke in a clearly rehearsed manner: "Jasmine Dorea Potter and Hermione Jean Granger have a soul bond."
Emma and Lindsey simply looked back in confusion, but Sirius surged to his feet. "Merlin's bollocks!" he swore.
"Sirius?" Jasmine said worriedly.
"You... you're not pranking us, are you?" Sirius asked. "You're for real? An honest-to-Merlin soul bond?"
"We wouldn't make a joke about something like that," Hermione insisted.
"I... I think we should bring my mother into this," Sirius said after a moment. "This is pretty big news and... and I think it would help."
"That horrid woman who always screams at everyone?" Emma asked in disbelief.
Sirius waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry, it's all an act so Dumbledore doesn't know that I have the portraits watching him."
"She needs to be able to keep this a secret," Jasmine insisted. "We can't afford for others to learn about our relationship."
"Not a problem," Sirius said distractedly as he left the room. In a minute he was back with Walburga's alternate frame and set it in a chair.
Walburga, for her part, while not exactly screaming, was definitely expressing her displeasure with her son's erratic behavior as he carried her in. "Sirius? Sirius, I insist that you tell me this instant what's so important that I need to be here... in front of... our guests." She ground to a halt as she realized who else was in the room. Glaring at her son, she flicked her gaze briefly towards the Grangers and silently demanded an explanation. Fortunately she refrained from launching into one of her shrieking tirades, apparently concluding that the need for such a display must be over in their case, and that she was about to find out why. Sirius himself was still too overwhelmed to answer, so he gestured for the girls to retell their story.
Walburga's face didn't betray nearly as much surprise as Sirius expected when she learned of their relationship; the soul bond, on the other hand, was another matter entirely.
"A soul bond?" she whispered as she moved forward in her portrait to look at the couple more closely. "Could it really be? I never even considered... but yes, that makes even more sense..."
"What is this soul bond thing?" Lindsey asked, clearly getting impatient. "You all act like it's something special."
"Oh, it is," Walburga answered. "You have no idea how special."
"Few people do," Sirius added. "Little is known about them, at least when it comes to the details, but what it comes down to is that the souls and magic of such a couple become inextricably linked. They are permanently tied together in a way that's deeper and more profound than any words can express."
"Why is so little known about them if they are so significant?" Emma asked.
"Such bonds are created by Magic and thus are also protected by Magic," Walburga explained. "Couples involved in a developing bond can't even find out about it themselves until they are ready to handle the knowledge, lest they or someone else do something to interfere with it."
"The knowledge is hidden, like the location of this house," Sirius continued. "You remember that you had to read the address on a slip of paper before you could even see the building?" Emma and Lindsey nodded. "A soul bond works under the same principle — none of us can learn about one unless and until the couple involved tells us. And they can't do that until they find out themselves."
"You said that you have a soul bond — that means that your bond has been finalized and isn't simply developing, correct?" Walburga asked.
Jasmine nodded in response, but Hermione's eyes narrowed a tiny amount as she looked at the portrait.
"Does anyone know why such bonds are... created by magic, you say?" Lindsey asked. "I'm guessing that they are rare?"
"Oh, indeed," Walburga confirmed. "This is very old, very deep magic, and while our family has always prided itself on keeping alive such knowledge to the best of our ability, no one fully understands it. However, it is believed that Magic imparts to a couple the ability to forge such a bond when they have some important destiny to fulfill — a destiny that requires such a bond to complete."
Sirius suddenly sat up straighter and looked hard at the two young witches.
"...And that's the other thing we wanted to talk to you about," Hermione said.
"Yeah," Jasmine added. "Us being a couple is the little secret, relatively speaking."
"What else could there possibly be?" Lindsey asked, now starting to sound more than a bit worried.
"Well, there are two prophecies about us—" Jasmine began.
"Wait, two?" Sirius interrupted.
"Three, technically," Hermione corrected, "but the third refers to one of the others, so it isn't too important."
"We don't know all of one prophecy," Jasmine explained to the Grangers, "but the gist is that I'm the person — and the only person, apparently — with the power to defeat Voldemort." Emma sucked in her breath; Lindsey tightened his grip on her hand.
"Prophecies are real?" he asked weakly. "Are you sure?"
"I'm afraid so," Sirius said. "There are frauds who claim to be prophets, but real prophecies can be told from the fakes, and Dumbledore was the person who heard this one. Unfortunately Voldemort also learned of the beginning, and that's why he's always targeted Jasmine: he wants to get rid of her before she figures out how to get rid of him."
"Which means that I don't have any choice but to fight him," Jasmine concluded.
"And that means that I'm going to have to fight as well," Hermione said quietly.
Neither of the Grangers looked the least bit happy about that, but before they could respond, Sirius jumped in to say, "But what do you mean that there are two prophecies? I've talked to Albus about the first one, but he never mentioned a second one to me."
"That's because he doesn't know about the second one," Jasmine replied. "What's more, you can't tell him or anyone else about it. This is a secret and will have to remain such for quite a while." When the others nodded, Hermione told them about the thousand-year-old veela prophecy, which had them all gaping by the time she was done.
"So basically, you two have been made responsible for... what? Reforming the magical world? Revolutionizing wizarding society?" Lindsey asked. "How can anyone ask two teen girls to take on such a task?"
"Magic doesn't ask," Walburga said absently, clearly still trying to come to grips with all the revelations. "Magic just is, and when it reaches out to us, witches and wizards are expected to heed its call."
"Doesn't sound fair," Emma grumbled.
"We can hardly ignore that which gives us our power and separates us from everyone else," Walburga said a bit haughtily. "However, Magic only reaches out to the most worthy — those who are most able to shoulder the responsibilities it places on us." She looked at the girls and said, "I think I now understand why the political power of the Black family interested you. You're planning ahead, which I congratulate you on."
"Actually, we're doing a lot more than planning," Jasmine replied, then proceeded to explain what she and Hermione had been doing with S.P.E.W., the DA, and finally the magical rituals that had been transforming Britain's landscape right under everyone's noses — including the mysterious gifts that had appeared after the last celebration.
"Oh, my," Walburga exclaimed as she sat heavily. "I don't think I've ever been happier to have had a chair included in this portrait. I've long believed that you would go on to do great things, my dear, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that you might set your sights so high. I don't think anyone in the Black family has ever been ambitious enough to pursue goals like yours."
"These bracelets are exquisite," Emma commented as she looked at Hermione's.
"Indeed they are," Walburga agreed. "I have no idea what they are made of, but with that ancient symbol of Hekate on them, I'm sure they are concealing a great deal of power."
"I... I don't know what to say," Sirius whispered. "It's all just... so big. Too big."
"I don't even understand most of it," Lindsey complained. "But from what I do understand, I have to agree with Sirius."
"Well, you could start with how you feel about... well, this," Jasmine said softly to her godfather as she raised up the hand that was clasped with Hermione's. "You never did say."
"Oh, kitten, I'm so sorry," Sirius responded, going over to give her a hug. "It's just... you've laid an awful lot on us this afternoon. It's honestly difficult for me to figure out how I feel about any of it. Exhilarated. Scared. Impressed. Confused. Worried. Proud. Terrified. All that and more."
He pulled back from the hug a little so he could meet her eyes. "As to your relationship with Hermione, well, I've always thought that she was the perfect best friend for you, so I certainly can't object to her personally. The witch part, though... that's going to take a bit of getting used to. I wasn't exactly brought up to be accepting of such relationships, and while I questioned and rejected a lot of what I was taught growing up, I didn't do that with everything... and I guess this was in that latter group."
"You're welcome to talk to us, if you want," Lindsey said to him. "More than anyone, we know what it's like, and we've had a bit of time to get used to it."
"If it helps, Sirius," Walburga said, "just keep in mind that their soul bond means that Magic doesn't merely accept their relationship, but actively wills it. That goes well beyond even the fact that the Potter family magic accepts them as a couple, which is already significant. However much our social traditions condemn such relationships, those traditions mean nothing in the face of Magic itself. And I know that one of the teachings which you never rejected was to respect Magic."
Sirius nodded. "Yes, that's true enough. Even so, it's awfully strange hearing you, of all people, offer any sort of defense for Jasmine and Hermione. No offense, Mother, but you're one of the first people I'd expect to scream in outrage about their relationship being unnatural."
Walburga smiled thinly. "Perhaps... and when I was alive, I surely would have; but I've had more time to get used to it than you."
"What?" Sirius exclaimed.
"You knew?" Jasmine and Hermione asked together.
"I strongly suspected," Walburga answered. "The amount of time you spend together, the way you two interact, and a myriad of other little things suggested to me that you were more than mere friends. Remember that I'm stuck in a portrait frame all day, everyday. It gives me a lot of time to think."
"Wow — I'm impressed," Sirius said, and looked it. "I've interacted with them a lot more than you have, and I never suspected for a second."
"Not seeing them may have helped," Walburga said. "I couldn't be deceived into only seeing what I expected. There's also the fact that... well, this isn't the first time such a witch has existed in the House of Black."
"Really?" Sirius asked, fascinated. "Do tell!"
"No, I'm not going to betray any confidences," Walburga replied, shaking her head. "Let's just say that while such relationships have never been approved of, they have been quietly tolerated so long as they were kept secret and didn't threaten the future of the family." She turned to face the young couple and continued, "Not that I'm going to argue for such conditions to be forced on you two."
"We know we need to be discreet and keep this private," Jasmine assured her.
"Actually, I was going to say that you should consider telling more people."
"You've got to be kidding!" Sirius protested.
"Seriously?" Hermione asked. "You know how people like us are treated. Even Jasmine would barely be able to survive, but as a muggleborn I'd have to leave the magical community."
"I'm not talking about taking out an advert in the Daily Prophet," Walburga said with some asperity. "I'm talking about your friends. Your coven. The witches and wizards — but the witches in particular — who are working with you in your rituals and in your project to change society."
"Why them?" Jasmine asked. "Not that I'm disagreeing — we've talked about telling them. But I'm curious about your perspective. And why do you call them a coven?"
Walburga seemed to sit a bit straighter, clearly pleased that Jasmine cared about her opinion. "For one thing, they won't remain close friends if you keep something like this from them. First you will grow distant as this secret pulls you in different directions. Then, if and when you finally tell them, they will be upset that you didn't trust them sooner. Secrecy for a while can be forgiven, but not for too long. The other reason is that the magical and political power of your group will suffer when there are significant secrets or lies infecting it."
"She's right," Sirius said. "Your friends are helping you work towards the fulfillment of this prophecy, yet they don't even know it. You aren't deceiving them since they happen to be working for similar goals anyway and for their own reasons, but it's still dishonest to keep it from them for too long. On the other hand, knowing the truth will help them commit even more fully to the project. The more closely united you all are, the more your magics will align, and that will help translate your will and intent into reality." Realizing what he'd said, Sirius thought ruefully, I've been spending way too much time with my mother's portrait...
"That's what a coven is, ultimately," Walburga concluded. "It's a group of wizards and/or witches who are so closely aligned in purpose that their magics act more like that of a single person rather than separate individuals. It's a whole that is far, far more than the sum of its parts."
"So, the amount of power that we've been seeing during these rituals..." said Hermione.
"...might actually increase once we tell the others the truth so they can consciously align themselves with us?" Jasmine finished.
Walburga simply nodded, but Sirius shivered at the thought. "On the one hand I'd be interested in seeing something like that," he said. "On the other, I'm scared to death of what it must already be like."
"I think that sums up my reaction to nearly everything we've been told here," Lindsey said, shaking his head. He turned to his wife. "Although, you know... this prophecy does explain something I've been wondering about. I mean, the veela are fantastic, but I've never understood why they were willing to go so far out of their way to help us — we're merely a couple of British muggles as far as they're concerned. Or so I figured." A thought obviously struck him then. "So does this mean we're like Mary and Joseph or something?"
Emma gave him a wry look. "Somehow I doubt it. If nothing else, I rather think we'd be disqualified by the whole 'virgin birth' thing — as you might have occasion to recall."
"Ah. Right."
"Look, it's almost dinner time," she pointed out. "Why don't we all take a break and get something to eat. This has been quite the emotional roller coaster for me, and I'm sure it hasn't been easy for anyone else."
"Sorry about laying so much on you like that," Hermione said, "but there wasn't any easy way to break it up. It's not like we could tell you one secret now, then say that we'll tell you an even bigger secret in a couple of days."
"Dinner sounds like a great idea," Sirius nodded. "And getting it in before Remus comes back would give us more time to talk."
"As long as it's just us," Jasmine agreed, "you can ask Apolline and the others any questions you have about soul bonds, the prophecy, the rituals, or anything else."
"They won't mind?" Emma asked as they all started getting up.
"Not at all," Hermione said. "In fact, Apolline suggested it. They understand that it's a lot to take in, especially all at once, and they want to help."
"Well?" Phineas asked once Sirius had returned Walburga's portrait and left. "What was so urgent that he had to haul you out of here with no explanation and keep you for so long?"
"I can't tell you," Walburga replied. "I'm sorry, but I gave my word."
Phineas was surprised but not offended. "Can you at least tell me if it relates to your belief that Miss Potter will become a Dark Lady?"
"Dark Lady?" Walburga repeated. "Dark Lady? My dear Phineas, you think too small. That's far too trivial of a title for where our Jasmine Dorea is going."
Thursday, December 30, 1995. Afternoon.
Jasmine squinted against the bright sun and longed for sunglasses to put over her eyeglasses. Why is it so bright and sunny? she wondered. I thought it was supposed to be rainy and dreary on days like this. Having bright sun and fluffy clouds seems... wrong somehow.
She inched a bit closer to Hermione, wishing that she could hold her hand or put her arm around her, and watched as Ministry officials she didn't know stood there with fake faces and recited platitudes they didn't believe about a man who had tried to be a surrogate father to her. She hadn't spent much time with him, but she was now wishing desperately that she had.
All the Weasleys looked hollow-eyed and even a bit shocked, as if it still hadn't quite hit them that one of the foundations of their family was gone. As sad as Jasmine felt, though, it was tempered by a deep gratitude that she'd had at least had some time with Mr. Weasley. It wasn't as much time as she'd had with her own father, technically, but she didn't remember her father at all, so the time with Mr. Weasley meant all the more to her.
She wanted to tell others this — to tell them to remember the good times and appreciate what they had, because it was so much better than not having it at all. She wasn't sure how to put all of that into words, though, and she doubted that such thoughts would be well-received right now anyway.
It was then that Jasmine thought she discovered a truth: that when you found someone you loved and who loved you back, it was important to appreciate and hold on to them while you could, because you couldn't know for sure how long they'd be around.
Slowly, Jasmine reached out and grasped Hermione's hand. She felt her girlfriend stiffen at the unexpected contact, but Jasmine simply squeezed. No one can see, she thought, but it doesn't matter. We need this. At times like this, we need to not just remember and honor those who have passed, but to hold on tight to those who are still with us.
Hermione seemed to relax after a moment and leaned into Jasmine a bit more.
Because everyone was focused on the casket and grieving family, no one paid any attention to the two witches standing so close together.
Friday, December 31, 1995. Evening.
"What's the matter, Sirius?" Hermione asked when she and Jasmine found him standing alone in the drawing room, staring silently at the large tapestry which depicted his family tree. "Everyone else is gathering to start celebrating New Year's."
"Just thinking, is all," he answered, sounding more than a bit down.
"About what?" Jasmine prompted him.
"About family," he said. As the silence dragged on, the girls decided he wasn't going to continue, but then he surprised them by saying, "For decades I've hated my family. Blood bigots, the lot of them. Or most of them, at least. Now, though, they are being incredibly helpful — so helpful, in fact, that I wouldn't be surprised if their assistance becomes critical for Jasmine's success down the road."
"So, you're feeling conflicted," Hermione said.
"A bit," Sirius agreed, "but that's not all. I've been thinking of what I can do to reform the family's reputation. To make the family name something that I can be proud of. Or, at least, something your children can be proud of." Jasmine and Hermione traded a look but didn't say anything.
"I thought about starting with the family motto," he went on, "since that's easy enough to change, but then it occurred to me that I don't want to do anything that would make it harder for the family portraits to want to help. They can be ordered to help and even compelled, but coerced assistance is never as good as willing cooperation, and some of the portraits here seem rather willful."
"Willful?" Hermione asked, having become curious in recent days about how magical portraits were supposed to work.
"Well, my mother's portrait, mostly," Sirius responded. "She's a lot more dynamic and assertive than the other portraits."
"Interesting," Hermione murmured as she stared off into space for a moment, then she turned back to Sirius. "What is the family motto now?"
"Toujours pur," he said, "Always pure."
Hermione pursed her lips in thought. "What about a simple change: Toujours pur... of something?"
"Intent?" Jasmine suggested. "Heart?"
Hermione shook her head. "The first doesn't sound good in French, and the second... well, it's a bit sappy, to be honest. Somehow I don't see many of the old portraits going for that."
Sirius looked on in amusement as the two girls so casually discussed reworking the foundational principle of a centuries-old magical house.
"Will?" Jasmine suggested next. "Spirit?"
"Spirit!" Hermione said. "That's perfect: Toujours pur de l'esprit — always pure of spirit. The word 'spirit' is a synonym for will, character, attitude, mind, intellect, and even (distantly) intention. It's also commonly used in mottos and popular sayings."
Sirius turned and looked at her with a curious expression, so she continued, "All of those in your family who are decent should find the change relatively inoffensive, especially since there are several good meanings that they can take from it. Those members who aren't so decent may not be happy with changing something so old and traditional, but they hopefully won't regard it as a direct snub against them. And again, they may find a meaning that they can at least tolerate."
"So it shouldn't be enough for them to become less willing to help," Sirius concluded. "That's a good idea, Hermione. Inspired, even." He pulled her into a sideways hug as he gazed contentedly at the tapestry. "No wonder my goddaughter is in love with you."
Both Jasmine and Hermione smiled shyly.
"Since we're talking about family," Jasmine said hesitantly, "I... I'd like to go through with the adoption. If it's still OK with you, that is?"
Sirius beamed and put his other arm around her. "Of course it's still OK with me. The offer is open for as long as you want it to be, kitten. I'll contact the goblins in a few days and get the parchment work started."
"Why them?" Hermione asked. "Why not the Ministry?"
"The goblins need to be informed about this sort of change because it will affect things like who has access to certain vaults," Sirius explained. "As a courtesy to good customers, they also have relevant Ministry forms on hand as well. They'll take care of their own forms and work with the family lawyers to deal with the Ministry forms. They don't do this for everyone, just the bigger clients."
"How long do you think it will take?" Jasmine asked.
Sirius looked at her quizzically for a second, then said, "You know, I never gave any thought to how the two of you switch back and forth so seamlessly in a conversation. But now that I know what's going on, it's quite remarkable." Both witches started to squirm. "No need to feel embarrassed! It's a sign of how close you two are. I'll bet you've been doing it for a while without even realizing it. Anyway, they could probably get it done right quick if I paid to have it rushed, but there's no need — you'll be at school for the next several months, after all. I think we'll probably have it wrapped up shortly after the summer hols start."
"Thanks, Sirius," Jasmine said. "I... I really appreciate it. I know I took a lot of time to think about it, but that wasn't because I didn't want to—"
"It's OK," he interrupted. "I didn't expect you to leap at it right away. It's a big step, and it was right for you to think about it. Have you made any decisions about your name?"
Jasmine nodded. "Potter-Black sounds better to my ears."
"That's fine," Sirius said. "You shouldn't worry about just using Potter casually, if you'd prefer. I doubt that your parents would be bothered if you didn't, but I won't be bothered if you do. You'll only have to use the hyphenated form in official contexts — signing contracts and that sort of thing. It will also appear that way in official records, like at Hogwarts and the Ministry."
"I'll think about it," Jasmine said as she hugged her godfather, soon to be adoptive father, even tighter. She felt Hermione do the same on the other side of him and for the first time that she could ever remember, she felt like she was becoming part of a real family that loved her.