A/N: Thanks to all those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. I'm glad that people have been enjoying it. As you may have noticed, this isn't Saturday! "Heart and Soul" will now be published twice a week so you don't have to wait an entire week between updates.
As always, I'd like to thanks Bonnie and Mainsail for beta reading this and thus improving on the original. If you have questions or concerns about what's going on, feel free to include them in a review or a PM — I'll try to answer.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.
Recommendation: This chapter's recommended fic is "Leaving Home" by Pixel and Stephanie Forever. Harry is profoundly unhappy when he discovers just how much Dumbledore has meddled in his life. Rather than continue to play along, he decides to leave for America — and is accompanied by his favorite bushy-haired witch.
Chapter 36 - Not Gonna Get Us
Monday, January 17, 1996, Early Morning.
Padma abruptly sat up straight, certain that she'd seen movement out of the corner of her eye. She stared intently at the shape on the bed. One minute. Two minutes. When no indication of consciousness appeared, she slumped back in the chair she'd been sitting in for the past few hours and resumed her quiet vigil. The newest false alarm had woken her up, for which she was grateful, but being so awake meant that she couldn't avoid thinking about the tragedy which her foolish actions had nearly brought down on her family.
It all seemed so innocuous when I started, she thought. First it was just an apology. Then it was just a study group. Then it was just... strongly discouraged ancient rituals of power. OK, so maybe that wasn't such an innocuous step, but it wasn't dangerous in and of itself. It was fascinating! I should have paid more attention to the stories Jasmine and Hermione told about their years at Hogwarts. Every one of them has the same lesson: it always starts with "ooh" and "aah," but then later there's running and screaming.
Padma shook her head to clear her mind of such thoughts and leaned forward a little so she could focus on her sister, hoping Parvati would awaken again. The healers had struggled for hours to save her. No one knew what curse had hit her — all anyone saw was purple flames — so no counter-curse or potion could be administered. They weren't even sure what exactly it was doing to her until they realized that her internal organs were starting to shut down and wither.
Staring at the incredibly still and fragile form of her twin, Padma kept coming back to her regret over past choices and a growing determination to do better in the future. I should never have gotten involved with Jasmine, she concluded, and as soon as I can, I'm going to distance myself from her group. I'm going to focus on you — on making sure you get better, then on making sure you stay safe.
"I'm sorry, Parvi," she whispered into the darkened room. "This is all my fault, and I'm so, so sorry. I should never have gotten involved in such dangerous—"
"Don't be such a gormless idiot!" a nearby voice said crossly, causing Padma to jump slightly in her seat. When she caught her breath, she saw that Lavender was awake and looking at her as if she were a bug. I did nearly get her best friend killed. Of course she hates me.
"Sorry, Lavender, I didn't mean to wake you," she whispered. "I forgot you were—"
"Don't try to change the subject," Lavender snapped. "What was that shite about things being your fault and wishing you hadn't gotten involved in something?"
Padma took a deep breath. "You're the one who told me what that wizard said, and you heard as well as I did that there were other attacks. If it weren't for me, my family would have been safe last night, not fighting for their lives. If it weren't for my decision to join Jasmine's group, my sister would be sleeping safe in her bed, not... not... here. Not looking like she's... like she's barely alive."
Padma's throat tightened, and she couldn't get out any more words. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked back at her sister, wishing she were lying there instead. She felt Lavender's arm come around her shoulder and pull her close.
"Are all Ravenclaws as mental as you, or are you a special case?" Lavender asked, catching Padma up short.
Sniffing and wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she turned back to the blonde Gryffindor and frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Like I said: gormless idiot. Your sister's always going on about how smart you are, but I don't see it," Lavender answered with a sigh. "What I'm talking about is you thinking that you're responsible for anything that happened last night. If you're responsible for anything at all, it's keeping us alive. You put a shield over you and your mum. You spent a lot of extra time working with me and Parvati, training us above and beyond everyone except those in Jasmine's and Hermione's inner circle. We're alive because of you, ya daft bint, not in spite of you!"
Padma shook her head again. "But they shouldn't have been there in the first place..."
"Sooner or later, they would have been," Lavender retorted. "You remember what Hermione said: unless you run and hide or join up with them, they'll be coming for you eventually. You choosing to take a stand may have made it sooner, but that's not your fault. Taking a stand against evil isn't blameworthy, y'know. And before you start up about how you shouldn't have joined up with Jasmine, do you have any idea how proud your sister is of you?"
Padma blinked away new tears and looked at Lavender with surprise. "Proud?" she whispered. "Of me?"
Lavender nodded. "A little jealous, too, but we won't go there. She's proud that you were the first in your house to try to patch things up with Jasmine and Hermione — long before she and I ever thought to try, and we mucked that up good when we did. She's proud that you joined a study group made up of students from all four houses. She's proud that you're willing to take a stand for what's right rather than lock yourself away in a library like other Ravenclaws — she's said more than once that you're more Gryffindor than most of our housemates! She's proud of how strong, physically and magically, you've become."
Padma sniffed again and looked back at Parvati, feeling as if maybe she hadn't been seeing her before.
"She looks up to you," Lavender said. "She always did, but even more so recently. So do a lot of us witches. Me, too." Padma turned back and saw that the hard look that Lavender had been giving her had been replaced by a much softer and friendlier smile. "Don't say you regret something that makes us all look up to you — something that makes us all wish we could be you."
"Why... why didn't she ever say anything?" Padma whispered as she looked on her sister's still form.
"She didn't want you to get a swelled head, obviously," Lavender said matter-of-factly. "You Ravenclaws already walk around with your heads in the clouds, thinking you know everything. She figured you didn't need something else to feed your ego."
Padma's head whipped around again, mouth gaping open in shock, but then she saw the wry grin on the other witch's face and they both started laughing. It was the first time either of them had done anything more than cry since the previous night's attack, and it was a release they both needed.
When Keshi Patil stepped quietly into her daughter's hospital room, she couldn't help but smile when she saw Padma and Lavender leaning against each other in sleep. Ever since starting Hogwarts, her one daughter had become incredibly close friends with the blonde English witch — close as sisters in fact, while her actual sister had become distant and isolated. Now it seemed that their relationships were shifting significantly.
She had some good guesses as to why, too. Keshi and Rajan had known that Padma's dramatic physical changes weren't just due to having a different growth spurt than her sister, but they had chosen not to press the issue. They had found that people practiced the Old Ways using different rituals here than they did back home in India, but it was still drawing on the same deep magic. Padma had been tight-lipped about events over the past few terms, but Parvati had been freer with information — especially while talking to Lavender when she thought no one was listening.
It all came back to that Potter girl, including (probably) the attack last night. Padma warned us about that English Dark Lord coming back, Keshi thought, but we thought we'd have more time to install stronger defenses around the house. We assumed that we wouldn't be targeted any time soon, if ever. It should have been obvious, though, that if Padma was involved deeply enough to know so much of the truth, then she was likely to become a target.
She spent a few minutes looking at Parvati, trying to hold back renewed tears. Her own healer training back in India meant that she knew exactly how bad her daughter's condition had been and how close they'd come to losing her. Fortunately, it also meant that she knew Parvati was on the mend now — not out of danger, certainly, and she'd be taking a dozen potions a day even after she was released, but she was definitely on the mend. Keshi then walked around the bed and gave the other two witches a light shake. "Time to get up," she said softly.
"Hm? Wha?" Padma mumbled while Lavender stretched.
"You two need to get ready to leave for Hogwarts," Keshi said. "A professor will be here soon to take you there directly so you can shower and rest before your feast tonight."
"But all our stuff was destroyed," Lavender said, suddenly realizing how much she'd lost and how much trouble that was going to cause. "All our clothes, our makeup..."
"Our books!" Padma exclaimed.
"It's all sorted," Keshi said with her first genuine smile since before the attack.
"How?" Padma and Lavender demanded.
"I got a visit from two tired-looking house elves early this morning," she explained. "They said they scoured the rubble of our house for everything that could be salvaged and repaired. They couldn't fix the house, they said, but they were able to get a lot out. They brought your stuff in two rather old-looking trunks. The rest of the household is in several old expanded trunks. They're all in your father's room."
"Papa? How is he?" Padma asked.
"He's still resting, but he'll be fine," Keshi said. "Now let's go get your stuff. The professor is supposed to meet you in the front lobby."
"Where did the elves come from?" Lavender asked.
"I have no idea," Keshi said as they exited Parvati's room. "They called themselves... Doppy and Winny or something like that. They were acting on behalf of their mistresses, but didn't stick around long enough to say who those mistresses were."
Padma frowned, certain that she'd heard those names before, but she couldn't remember where.
Down in the lobby they found Tracey and Hannah already waiting as well. Padma and Lavender pulled the other two into a tight four-way hug and held it for a long moment. It wasn't something any of them had ever done before — none of them were especially touchy-feely or physically demonstrative — but it somehow felt right. When they finally pulled back slightly to look at each other, they were amazed at how much better they felt — even Lavender, who hadn't participated in the magical rituals with the other three.
"We heard what happened," Tracey said to Hannah. "With all the aurors in the hospital, it was hard not to. I'm sorry. If there's anything I can do..."
The tired-looking witch nodded but didn't say anything.
"How are your parents?" Lavender asked.
Hannah shrugged mutely, then forced herself to add, "I'm not sure. They... they tortured Mum and Dad pretty badly, but the healers say they'll recover from that. Eventually. But... but Mum was pregnant, and the baby didn't make it. I heard the healers say that... that the baby experienced the torture curse as badly as Mum did." Hannah started to cry a little then, and the others pulled their hug tight again.
Eventually Tracey said, "I didn't realize they hit your home too, Lavender."
Lavender shook her head. "I was spending the night with Parvati and Padma so I could catch the Hogwarts Express with them. So they were targeting us? I mean... targeting you? Your group?"
Tracey nodded. "It looks that way, yes. Me, Daphne, Susan, Hannah, Padma, Luna... oh, thank Merlin for Luna! She sent us a warning, and we'd have been so much worse off if she hadn't thought to do that!"
"I completely forgot about sending messages with a patronus until the attack was over and our house was in ruins," Padma said ruefully.
"You lost your house, too?" Tracey asked Padma, who nodded.
"It's all rubble now, but a couple of house elves were able to salvage a lot of our stuff," she said.
"Ours was burned down, according to the aurors," Tracey said. "Hannah's, too."
"What about your stuff?" Lavender asked.
"We were both visiting friends and had our trunks with us," Tracey said. "I was at Daphne's, Hannah was at Susan's. So we've got the basics and what we need for the coming term, but... we still lost a lot."
"Make a list," Lavender said firmly. "We'll get you what you need. I'll make sure of it."
"Thanks," Tracey said, and Hannah gave Lavender a light squeeze in response.
"How are your parents doing?" Padma asked Tracey.
"Mum's fine," she answered. "My dad's legs were pretty messed up when they came in, but the healers say he'll get better. Might have trouble walking for a while, though. What about you?"
"My father will probably be released in a day or two," Padma answered. "But Parvati... Parvati isn't doing well. They don't know what curse she was hit with, and the Healers almost lost her several times last night. My mum has healer training and says that Parvati will get better, but... but she looks so frail and weak in her bed. I just don't know."
"I'm surprised that we all made it through so well," Tracey said. "I mean, there were some injuries. Daphne and I were hit a couple of times, but we were able to walk away afterwards. You all look like you're doing well."
"Susan and I took a few spells, but they didn't hurt us too badly," Hannah said with a frown. "I'm... I'm not sure why. The Lestranges made no effort to hide the fact that they were targeting the two of us specifically."
"I've been thinking about that," Padma said, "and I'm pretty sure that I came out so well because I was wearing my protection amulet. Were you two wearing yours?" Tracey and Hannah looked surprised for a moment, then reached into their blouses and pulled out identical wooden amulets. "Yeah, I forgot about it at first, too," Padma continued. "I'm so used to wearing it that I stopped thinking about it. Sorry, Lavender, but it's not something we can talk about. I just wish... I wish you and Parvati had had one as well. Maybe if you had, then Parvi..."
"Hey now," Tracey said soothingly, pulling her close again. "You can't keep thinking like that."
Everyone was quiet for a few moments, until Lavender broke the silence. "Does anyone know what happened with Jasmine and Hermione? Padma sent them a patronus to warn them, but we haven't heard anything about them."
"Oh, I know!" Tracey replied. "Do I ever have a story to tell you! They were so amazing, you wouldn't believe it! I swear, it was like one of those Girl Who Lived storybooks we read as little girls..."
"I'd like to hear that story as well," came a familiar voice. All four witches jumped slightly and turned to see Professor McGonagall standing there. "I'm here to take you four to Hogwarts. Once there, perhaps we can have breakfast, and you can tell us all what you know, Miss Davis?"
Monday, January 17, 1996, Morning.
Jasmine groaned as she felt Hermione shake her. "Five more minutes," she mumbled as she tried to roll to her side, but she immediately realized she couldn't because Hermione was straddling her, pinning her in place. She then felt light kisses being placed on her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, her jaw... and when the kisses reached her lips, Jasmine was awake enough to return them.
"Still want five more minutes?" Hermione asked with a smile once they broke apart.
"With you?" Jasmine asked with a much saucier smile. "I think I'd want quite a bit more than that."
"Prat! We don't have time for that!" Hermione exclaimed as she got off the bed.
"Well, if we're so pressed for time, let's share the shower," Jasmine suggested, trying hard to sound casual. She had an idea, and after the events of the previous night, she could use some affirmation of love in the world.
Hermione frowned as she weighed the various options, then finally said, "OK, fine, but let's hurry."
"Save time, she said," Hermione muttered as she rushed around their now-shared bedroom, trying to pack everything. "Save water, she said."
"What's wrong, luv?" Jasmine asked innocently as she brushed her hair.
"You!" Hermione huffed. "I thought we were supposed to save time by showering together!"
"We did."
"But... but... that took, like, ten times as long as us showering separately!" Hermione protested, now groping around under the bed for something that had rolled away from her.
"I didn't say that it would be shorter than us showering separately," Jasmine replied.
"What?" Hermione asked as her head popped up next to the bed.
"I meant that it would save time as compared to having sex first, then showering separately afterwards," Jasmine explained. Hermione looked outraged, but it subsided when Jasmine added, "Besides, I've been looking forward to trying that ever since that steamy phone call we had over the summer, and who knows when we'll have another chance. Certainly not in the Hogwarts showers."
Hermione's mouth shut with an audible clack as she considered that. "Fine, I'll accept that argument," she finally said grudgingly. "And it was... interesting."
"Interesting?" Jasmine asked with raised eyebrows. "If Sirius hadn't put up silencing charms when he let us move into these two bedrooms, we'd have had half the house barging in to see what was wrong with you."
Hermione blushed. "OK, fine, it was more than just interesting. But it was also inconveniently timed! We'll miss the train!"
"Train?"
"The Hogwarts Express?" Hermione said incredulously.
"Oh, uh..." Jasmine suddenly looked sheepish. "I must have forgotten to mention that Sirius is going to floo us to Hogsmeade directly. Security precaution."
"You... you..." Hermione sputtered before leaping up on the bed and exacting her revenge via tickling.
Once Jasmine had surrendered and promised never to do that again (she had her fingers crossed at the time), she decided to bring up an issue that had been plaguing her since the fight last night.
"Hermione? What was Fleur like in the fight?" Jasmine asked.
"Fleur? Quite good. She protected my back and I watched hers," Hermione replied. "She took out a couple of those attackers."
"You didn't find any of her actions to be especially, uh, brutal or anything, did you?" Jasmine asked, feeling uncomfortable.
Hermione sat down and looked carefully at her girlfriend. "I'm guessing you thought Gabrielle was?"
"Yeah. She took out maybe three or four of the attackers with her sword," Jasmine explained. "It was pretty vicious. I'm not objecting to using lethal force, but what she did was rather messy."
"Messier than using laceration or gouging curses to reduce a body to pieces?" Hermione said pointedly.
Jasmine grimaced. "No, I suppose not. It just... I dunno, seems more brutal when it's a physical weapon than a spell. Does that even make sense, or am I being ridiculous?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, I don't think it's ridiculous. If nothing else, using a sword is... more personal. More direct, especially if you are holding it rather than throwing it like I know they can do."
"Maybe it's another step up in intent, and that's what bothers me," Jasmine mused.
"I can see that," Hermione responded. "It's not something that I think I could put into words, but I do agree that there is something about using a sword that seems like it would require a more brutal mindset than using most spells, even those that do require an intent to harm." They were quiet for a few moments, then Hermione added, "Are you worried about her? She is... pretty intense. Especially where you're concerned."
"No!" Jasmine said quickly. "Well... maybe. I don't know. This is so far outside my experience that I can't say whether I should be worried or not. I mean, they're veela. They've been trained by veela warriors. Maybe... maybe this is normal for them. Just because it seems a bit extreme for us doesn't mean it's wrong."
"I agree," Hermione said. "If nothing else, I don't believe that we'll ever have to worry about being able to trust them. A bit extreme or not, they'll help us and protect us no matter what."
A knock at their door put an end to their conversation, and Hermione ducked behind the bed while Jasmine opened it. When she saw that it was Sirius, she let him in. "You two packed?" he asked. When they said they nearly were, he continued, "Do either of you have room for something else?"
"How big?" Hermione asked.
"About this big," Sirius said as he opened the door and retrieved a medium-sized portrait that he'd left in the hall. In the frame was Elladora Black, smiling. "I gave her the short version of last night's events when I went to bed, and when I woke up this morning she informed me in no uncertain terms that she needed to go to Hogwarts with you."
"You and especially those other girls have just experienced something horrible," Elladora explained. "You need someone to help you through this, and you've already told me that there's no mind healer at Hogwarts. So I'd like to help, if you'll let me."
Both witches smiled broadly, and Hermione said, "We'd love to have you, I'm sure you'll be invaluable. But what about you, Sirius?"
"Oh, I'm keeping the frame that's in my bedroom," Sirius reassured her. "This is the frame from the warded portrait room. If she absolutely needs to talk to the others, I'll carry her portrait there. Or maybe get a third one made. Regardless, this will also help us keep in contact because she's agreed to pass messages back and forth. This way you won't have to wear out those poor house elves for the sake of a short message."
"That's great!" Jasmine said as she started transferring things from her trunk to Hermione's in order to make room for Elladora.
"Once you're finished here, come on down for breakfast," Sirius said. "Then we'll all floo to Hogsmeade and get you behind Hogwarts' protections."
Monday, January 17, 1996, Afternoon.
In the end they floo'd to the Three Broomsticks quite a bit later than they had intended to. Packing hadn't taken long, but after breakfast Hermione insisted on taking time to write to her parents to tell them what had happened. Part of their new understanding with each other was that Hermione wouldn't keep things secret from them, and she wanted to fulfill her promise to keep them informed as quickly as possible.
This got Fleur to write to her family as well, and both letters not only ended up being long, but inspired more than a bit of discussion about the previous night's events. Everyone had returned far too late and too tired to have had a chance to talk about it, so they took the opportunity now.
Thus it wasn't until after lunch that the large group — Jasmine, Hermione, Gabrielle, Fleur, the Weasley kids, Remus, Sirius, and Tonks — were standing in the venerable Hogsmeade tavern, dusting off the soot from their cloaks. This meant they were there when Blaise Zabini and his mother floo'd in as well. "Looks like we all had the same idea," Sirius said as he did the gentlemanly thing and offered to spell away the soot from Alessandra's robes.
"Indeed," she said as she accepted his offer. Once her robes were clean, she wasted no time in taking his arm and saying, "You will escort us up to the castle as well, Signor Black? I feel much safer making the trip with you."
Jasmine had to put her hand to her mouth to cover her snicker, and she watched Blaise roll his eyes as Sirius stammered out a yes. From the look in Tonks' and Remus' eyes, she knew that Sirius was going to be in for a real ribbing once they all got back to headquarters — and the trip to the castle hadn't even started yet.
Once they were out in the sun, Alessandra said to Sirius, "I didn't want to take any chances with mio patatino, even though nothing happened last night. Did any of the threats turn out to be real?"
Everyone else looked at each other and grimaced before Sirius answered, "Yes, quite a few. The Weasleys, the Patils, the Boneses, the Abbotts, the Lovegoods, the Davises, and the Greengrasses." Both Alessandra and Blaise gasped at how many attacks there had been in just one night.
"Was anyone hurt?" Blaise asked, clearly worried about his friends.
"Daphne and Tracey are fine," Jasmine assured him. "They were together at Daphne's, in fact, and when a few attackers broke into the back of the house, the two of them and Daphne's parents took them down quite brutally."
"Tracey's father took a blasting curse to the legs," Hermione said, and even the stoic Blaise winced at that. "They apparently apparated right into the middle of the attack on their house, but fortunately they got away quickly. He'll be alright."
"Lavender was at the Patils and was able to help them," Jasmine continued. "Their house was destroyed, and Parvati was injured pretty badly. It will be a bit before they let her out to come back to school."
"The Abbotts got it the worst," Sirius said. "Charlotte and Nigel were tortured extensively and their home was burned down. Fortunately Hannah was staying over with Susan, and the two of them helped fight off an attack led by the Lestranges until Dumbledore arrived."
"Oh, my," was all Alessandra could say as she gripped Sirius' arm a bit tighter.
"Sounds like that training you're giving us was needed even more than we realized," Blaise observed, then added much more quietly, "But it can't be a coincidence that everyone targeted is part of our group."
"We don't think it was a coincidence, either," Jasmine responded just as quietly. "I guess anyone could have passed along information that we have a study group, but why would that warrant such vicious attacks?"
"Am I imagining things," Alessandra asked with a frown, "or were all of the targets of these attacks the families of witches?"
Sirius gave Jasmine a sidelong glance before answering, "Except for the Weasleys, you're correct. Though Ginny Weasley is a close friend of Jasmine."
Blaise frowned too as he thought about that. "Did anything happen to Neville?" he asked.
"No, and I went to the Longbottoms like Sirius went to your place," Remus replied. "Nothing happened there all night."
"What about you two?" Blaise asked.
Sirius snorted. "They were in a safe and secure location, but instead of simply letting others handle the threats, they rushed right out into danger."
"Veramente?" Alessandra asked.
"We received a patronus from Daphne that their house was surrounded and that they didn't know how long the wards would hold," Jasmine explained. "We couldn't take any chances by waiting for aurors to decide to do something."
"Jasmine, Gabrielle, Fleur, and I all went to help." Hermione said. "Just in time, too, because when we got there we could see that they had breached the wards and were attacking the house directly."
"You four look like you got through unscathed," Blaise commented.
"We took a few hits," Jasmine said cryptically as Hermione absently rubbed her chest where her tunic had protected her from an unknown but nasty looking purple curse. "But nothing too serious."
Alessandra leaned her head forward a little so she could see Jasmine. "This won't put you in legal trouble again, will it, mia cara?"
"Not this time," Tonks answered. "Several aurors were involved in checking out the threats, and one of the houses hit was Madam Bones'. Without Umbridge in the Ministry to manipulate events, she was able to quash several charges of violating the Reasonable Restriction on the Use of Underage Magic before any letters could be sent out. I hear that when Mafalda Hopkirk saw Jasmine's and Hermione's names come up again, she put a hold on everything, then sent a message to Madam Bones asking what to do with the flood of violation notices that had been produced."
"I suppose this investigation will go better than the last one," Blaise said hopefully.
"That would be nice, but unfortunately all of the bodies portkeyed away again," Tonks said in frustration. "Dead or just injured, those at Madam Bones' house went first, then the rest shortly thereafter. No one thought to bring them under strong wards soon enough. Madam Bones is in a right state over that, let me tell you."
"I'm glad that you weren't hurt, piccolina," Alessandra said to Jasmine, though she was looking at Sirius as she stroked his arm. "I'm sure your godfather must worry about you so."
As she continued to coo over how well Sirius was taking to his responsibilities as a godfather despite having endured such awful, awful treatment for so long, Jasmine caught Blaise's attention and fixed him with a hard stare. We need to talk, she mouthed.
Blaise heaved a deep sigh and nodded.
Monday, January 17, 1996, Evening.
The normally boisterous welcoming feast turned somber when an exhausted-looking Headmaster Dumbledore brought up the attacks the night before, assured everyone that the castle would be safe, and asked for a moment of silence for Parvati Patil, who would be in St. Mungo's for another week or two while she recovered. As Jasmine looked around the Great Hall, she caught the eyes of all of their closest friends in turn, and she recognized the haunted expressions on the faces of the other witches. Worst of all were Ginny and Ron, who were still mourning the death of their father shortly after Christmas.
The looks she saw were like the one she'd seen gazing back from the mirror the morning after every battle she'd been in. It had only been Hermione's close presence which had kept her from sinking into self-recrimination and depression, and that sparked an idea which she started turning over in her mind as the feast wore on. When Lavender mentioned how awful Padma looked and how she shouldn't be alone, Jasmine knew she was onto something and decided to act.
After the students had all been dismissed, she moved quickly to tell Lavender to get Padma and Luna, Neville to get Tracey and Daphne, Hermione to get Susan and Hannah, and to bring them all to meet outside the Great Hall instead of going with their houses to their separate dorms. She herself made a point of grabbing Ginny, and no matter how much Hermione prodded, Jasmine refused to explain her plan.
She only had to glance at Gabrielle to see that she probably knew, and that didn't surprise her.
"Well, what's going on?" Susan asked when they were all finally together.
"C'mon," Jasmine said as she headed up the nearest stairs.
"Where are we going?" Tracey asked.
"You'll see," Jasmine called back.
"We're going to miss curfew!" Padma complained.
"No you won't," Jasmine assured them. "Well, not technically. I think," she added softly to herself.
"Why are we here?" Hermione asked once they were standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"You'll see," Jasmine said again. "Tapeworm," she whispered to the portrait, which swung open.
"Are we even allowed in here now?" Daphne asked softly as Jasmine led the group into the Gryffindor common room. "I mean, last time it was a party, and we had a professor with us."
"Don't know," Jasmine replied, "and right now, I don't care." The Gryffindors who were in the common room all watched the group with a great deal of curiosity, but none moved to object. The only person who seemed to be at all put out was Cormac McLaggen, who scowled at them the entire time.
Once inside the dorm, Jasmine sealed the door and turned to face the rest of the girls, all of whom were looking at her expectantly. "We've just been through some traumatic experiences," Jasmine began, "and one thing that I've learned is that it's a bad idea to try to deal with such experiences alone. You need people around you — people who care about you, people who will support you. I don't think any of us should be alone tonight."
Most of them looked a bit puzzled at that, still unsure what Jasmine had in mind. But then Tracey piped up. "So you want to have a massive slumber party?"
"Yep," Jasmine confirmed as the rest exchanged surprised looks.
"Could be fun," Tracey said with a shrug, then added, "Nobody better tell Snape, though..."
Jasmine smiled reassuringly. "No worries. This isn't about fun, however — it's about helping each other get through this. Speaking of which," she said as she opened her trunk and pulled out a portrait, "I'd like to introduce you to a mind healer who has already helped Hermione and me with dealing with trauma. Everyone, this is Elladora Black."
They all greeted the smiling portrait, which Jasmine stuck to a portion of a wall that was farthest away from the beds. "Tonight, or whenever you want, Elladora will be here and available for you to talk to. It helps — trust me."
"Anyway, the thing that gave me this idea," she continued, "is... well, it's a secret." She looked at Gabrielle, who smiled and nodded. "It involves the veela, so it's not my secret, but I think it will help us. So just keep this to yourselves, OK?" Everyone nodded and now looked curious. "There are lots of things outsiders don't know about the veela, but the thing that's relevant to us right now is the fact that they tend to live in large communal groups. As many as three or four dozen to a single house. But they don't just live together — they share beds, showers, everything."
She saw the expected expressions of surprise, so she quickly added, "It's not about sex. Some of those living in these groups are lovers, but many are simply family and friends. Mothers and daughters. Sisters. Cousins. They do this because they derive strength and confidence from the knowledge that they are loved by such a large extended family. It constantly reminds them of how others care about and support them. It's about love, and how that love makes them part of a larger whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts."
Jasmine looked around at the now-thoughtful expressions, noting how happy and proud Hermione looked. "I thought... well, I thought that maybe that's something we could all use. I mean, we aren't veela, obviously, but maybe we could learn a little something from them, at least for one night."
"How...?" Daphne tried to ask, clearly unsure what exactly she wanted to know.
"It'll be tight, but I think that if we push the beds together, we can make it work," Hermione chimed in to say.
"But we don't have our pajamas," Susan complained. "Or any of our stuff."
"Oh, right, that's easy enough to fix," Jasmine responded. "Dobby, Winky!" she called out, and two house elves popped in in front of her. "All of these witches are going to stay here tonight," she said, then she hesitated and looked up at the others, all of whom nodded. "Right, they're going to stay here, but they don't have the stuff they need — pajamas and personal items. Can you two take care of that, please?"
"Yes, Missy Jazzy!" they replied in unison before popping out again.
Several witches snickered at the name they used, but Padma asked, "Dobby? Winky? Did you send those elves to our house?"
"Oh, uh, yeah," Jasmine answered. "When we heard that it hadn't burned like... well, like the others, Hermione and I asked them to salvage what they could."
"Thank you!" Padma cried as she rushed over and pulled first Jasmine and then Hermione into a hug, closely followed by Lavender.
Moments later, trunks started appearing in the dorm; in a corner, a new bed appeared as well, and the witches all got to work moving the furniture around and creating one huge bed for them all. The bathroom had been constructed for use by several witches, but not nearly so many, and thus it took quite a while for them all to get ready for bed. When they were, though, they put Ginny, Hannah, and Padma in the middle, enveloping the three hurting witches with all the love, comfort, and support they could provide.
Each and every one, especially the three in the middle, would swear the next morning that it was the best night's sleep they'd ever had. Only the knowledge that they couldn't do it all the time dimmed their moods at all.
Monday, January 17, 1996, Very Late Night.
Minerva McGonagall carefully opened the door and peeked in, then nearly gasped audibly in surprise to see what appeared to be a single, massive bed in the middle of the dorm filled with witches, all hugging each other close in their sleep. I had expected to find them all here, just... not quite like that, she thought. I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense, but I think I'll leave out some of these details when I report back to Albus.
The Gryffindor guardian portrait had notified the headmaster that several non-Gryffindors had entered the tower but none had left. After some consideration, and mindful of events the night before, Dumbledore chose to let McGonagall investigate and decide how to handle it — something that she knew was bound to infuriate Snape once he found out, since two of his Slytherins were involved.
Looking around the room, she saw a new and unfamiliar portrait hanging on the far wall. The woman put a finger up to her pursed lips to call for quiet and winked at her. McGonagall raised one eyebrow and frowned. Portraits aren't supposed to be in dorms like this — it's a privacy violation. So where did it come from? I'll have to ask the girls tomorrow.