A/N: It's been pointed out that the conversation with McGonagall is similar to the one early in muggledad's story "The End and the Beginning." Since that's one of my favorite stories and he's one of my favorite writers, it's entirely possible that I was influenced unconsciously. It was not a deliberate imitation, but I'll use this opportunity to make that the recommended story for this chapter.
Chapter 04 - I Get By with a Little Help From My Friends
Thursday, December 10, 1994, Late Evening.
Racing up to the portrait guarding the Gryffindor common room, Hermione gave the password, and the two witches stepped quietly into the room, looking everywhere in the hope that Neville Longbottom was there and that they wouldn't have to go hunting for him elsewhere. Luck was with them because they saw him at a corner table working on something, but then they noticed a problem: he was with Ginny Weasley.
"What do we do, Hermione?" Jasmine asked. "We can't say that we need to do something for the tournament because Ginny wants to help, but I don't want to tell her the truth." Hermione thought hard for a minute, then had an idea. "I'll distract Ginny with some excuse, getting her away from Neville; after we're gone, you take him to the room we work in."
"That's a good idea, Hermione, but it'll be a great idea with one small change."
"What?" she asked, a little annoyed.
"We switch places: I'll distract Ginny while you fetch Neville."
"How is that an improvement?" Hermione demanded.
"Like you said this morning, you can't lie well, so you won't do as well creating a diversion. Here, take the Marauder's Map so you can be certain that the corridor is clear when you get Neville to our room. Wish me luck..."
"Wait," Hermione said, reaching out to put her hand on Jasmine's arm, "How are you going to distract Ginny?"
"I dunno," Jasmine shrugged.
"You don't know?" Hermione practically hissed. "How can you march over there without knowing what you're going to do?" She didn't believe for a second that this was any kind of improvement on her idea — what if Ginny refused to be distracted? What if someone else came and sat down? What if Neville got suspicious? What was Plan B?!
"It's simple, Hermione. I always think best on my feet. Well, except when I'm on a broom." Jasmine then gave Hermione her lopsided grin. "Trust me."
Usually that grin merely caused Hermione to roll her eyes in exasperation because it meant that Jasmine was about to do something dangerous or stupid — especially when coupled with "Trust me." Now, for some strange reason, it made her weak in the knees, and she almost forgot what she was supposed to do. It wasn't until she noticed Ginny walking away with Jasmine that Hermione got her bearings again.
Taking the long way around the common room so Ginny wouldn't notice her, she rushed over to Neville and spoke in fast, low tones. "Neville, come quick! Jasmine and I have something really, really important to talk to you about but we can't do it here — and we want to get it done tonight before curfew. Please? You're the only one we trust with this."
Neville was confused at first and reluctant to wander off — he still had a bunch of work to get done before he could go to bed. After Hermione's declaration of trust, though, he didn't hesitate to start packing up his parchment. He was far more accustomed to being looked down upon as a near-squib by most people, and even the recent weeks of occasionally joining Hermione to help Jasmine prepare for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament hadn't gone far to change that. But faith like this couldn't be ignored. "Sure, I'll come," he said as he packed, "but what about Jasmine — she just walked off with Ginny."
"Don't worry about that, Jasmine is distracting Ginny so we can talk to you alone. You'll understand later, I promise." Now Neville was even more confused, but he didn't stop packing and quietly followed Hermione out of the common room.
When Ginny returned a few minutes later, she was surprised to find that Neville and all his things were gone. She looked around the common room but couldn't see any trace of him. She had been hoping that he might ask her to the Yule Ball, but that wouldn't happen if they didn't spend enough time together so that he could start seeing her as possible dating material. With a disappointed sigh, she sat down again to get back to work on her Astronomy essay.
After checking the map and seeing that the halls around them were empty, Hermione walked quickly down the seventh floor corridor and into the abandoned classroom the three of them had used to train for the tournament. As Hermione tried to close the door, though, it seemed to smack into something invisible. "Wha—?!"
Suddenly, Jasmine's disembodied head was floating in the doorway. "Ow! Careful there..."
"Sorry, Jas, I forgot that you aren't visible on the map when you're wearing that cloak."
Once the three Gryffindors were seated, Neville turned to Jasmine to say, "So what's going on?"
While Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment and started writing, Jasmine explained the situation. "There's something we need your help with, but it's a huge secret. Aside from the two of us, only one other person in the world knows, and she's taken a magical oath to protect the secret. I'm sorry, but we're going to need an oath from you, too. We wouldn't ask if it weren't incredibly important."
Neville swallowed hard. "An... an oath? I ne-need to swear on my magic or my life?"
Hermione handed him the parchment she was writing on. "No, Neville, this is a simpler oath that amounts to making a strong magical promise. Breaking the promise will cause discomfort or maybe pain, depending on how sincere you are when you make your promise, but you won't die or lose your magic. Our secret is important, but we aren't that cruel."
Neville read the oath on the parchment and calmed down considerably. He hadn't realized that you could make a magical oath like this and wondered where the girls had learned about it. "You're sure that an oath like this is magically valid? I've never seen one like it."
"Yes, Neville," Jasmine responded. "We've seen it done and have an absolutely reliable source for how safe it is. You'll need to wait a moment after taking the oath, however, so we can magically accept it. That will add our intentions to the oath and reinforce your own intention to be sincere in your promise."
Standing up, Neville squared his shoulders and pulled out his wand — even with the oath, he wasn't used to people trusting him this much and he wasn't going to let them down. Jasmine reflected on how much Neville had changed since their first year. Where's the timid little firstie who was always stuttering? she wondered, but then reconsidered. That same little firstie also challenged his only three friends to keep them from leaving the common room after curfew — even going so far as threatening to fight them. Maybe it's not so much that Neville has changed, but that he's starting to see and use what was always inside him. With a little support, he could become a formidable wizard indeed...
In a few minutes, the oath was complete and Neville was back in his chair, ready to learn what this important secret was. At least, he thought he was ready.
"There's no way to ease you into this, Neville, so I'm going to be blunt," Jasmine began. "I need to warn you up front, though, that you may not like us much when I'm done. If you don't want to be associated with us anymore, we'll understand, but we'll expect you to keep our secrets anyway. OK?"
Neville was curious, to say the least. He couldn't imagine Hermione and Jasmine doing anything that would cause him to want to turn his back on them. He wanted to tell them that, but before he could find his voice, Jasmine was already talking again, explaining the momentous events of the day: the panic attack, the kiss, the meeting with McGonagall — all of it. She ended with McGonagall's revelations about how badly magical society treats couples like them.
Neville was gobsmacked. He just sat there and gaped at them, looking a bit like a fish, if truth be told. Of all the things he might have imagined them telling him, this wouldn't have been anywhere on the list. Fortunately the two witches were patient with him, knowing that they had just laid on him a lot of heavy news that he'd need to think about.
After a long moment, and still unsure about what to say, Neville decided to start with something easy. "So, you're girlfriend and... uh, girlfriend?"
"Yes," said Jasmine. "No," said Hermione in unison.
They looked at each other for a second, then back to Neville.
"No...?" said Jasmine. "Yes...?" said Hermione, again simultaneously.
They turned back to each other. "What?" they both chorused.
That broke the tension in the room, and Neville started laughing. He had become used to the two of them acting in a manner that seemed almost choreographed — he'd never before seen two people so in sync with one another. Now, they were in sync even when at cross-purposes.
Hermione huffed, not sure herself which of the two she was most annoyed at. "Honestly, Jasmine, you may have confessed your feelings for me, and we may have kissed, but you haven't actually asked me to be your girlfriend — and since you started all of this, it should be up to you to do the asking. I think it's rather presumptuous of you to simply assume that we're 'together' somehow."
Thoroughly chastened, Jasmine's eyes started darting back and forth as she tried to figure out how to proceed. Hermione simply crossed her arms and sat back in a prim manner, obviously waiting for something. Unfortunately, Jasmine had absolutely no experience with such matters. Since the Dursleys had denied her any opportunity to watch TV or movies while growing up, she never developed any sort of mental model of what dating should be like, much less how to ask someone to be her girlfriend.
Finally, she latched on to a half-remembered reference that seemed vaguely appropriate. She wasn't sure if she had heard Petunia mention it while gossipping on the phone or if perhaps she heard it on the telly while listening through the tiny grate on the door of her cupboard. Not having any better ideas, she got down on one knee in front of the brightest witch of the age, and said, "Hermione, my love, would you do me the very great honor of marrying me?"
Hermione's eyes bugged out as she slapped her hand over her mouth, not trusting what she might inadvertently say to that question. Neville thought he might hurt himself trying not to burst out laughing. He was pretty sure that this might turn into a sweet moment at some point, and didn't want to ruin it for them.
Jasmine suddenly recognized her error and quickly amended, "No! No, I mean, would you be my girlfriend?" Hermione finally snorted in amusement and answered, "Yes — to the second question, at least. You'll need to wait a while before asking me the first again."
Neville finally got himself under control, though for the life of him he couldn't wipe the grin off his face. "OK, so I guess you two finally have that sorted. You're officially girlfriend and girlfriend now. What's next?"
Noticing the smile on his face, Hermione asked, "You're not bothered by this, Neville? We were told that this is looked down upon in magical society, at least when revealed openly rather than kept secret. People are shunned, they lose friends and family, they can't get jobs. Granted, we are trying to keep it secret, at least for now, but I'd have expected you to be a bit bothered by it."
Neville became more serious when he answered, "Well, it does seem more than a bit odd to me, and I don't know exactly how comfortable I'll be with it. You're right that such couples aren't treated well, especially among purebloods, and probably in large part because you can't produce an heir without a man. But don't forget that I've been watching you two together for over three years now, even if we haven't been close until this year. You may not have been an actual couple before today, but you have definitely been a team, and you've had a connection unlike any I've ever seen with anyone else, including dating couples. So the idea of you two adding dating to your activities... well, you've certainly done odder things while here at Hogwarts. I guess dating seems like one of your more normal and natural adventures."
Jasmine merely stared out at nothing upon hearing that. "Huh," she said, "he's got a point. What's more unnatural: two witches dating, or a dark lord growing out of the back of someone's head? What's more bizarre: two witches kissing, or a student fighting a millennium-old basilisk, alone, underneath a school?"
"I'll confess to being uneasy with all of them," Neville said, "but if given a choice, I'd rather stumble across witches kissing in the school corridors than stumble across a basilisk. Or a possessed professor. If nothing else, I think I can at least get used to the first. I'll need a bit of time, though."
For her part, Hermione almost seemed disappointed that revealing the secret went so well. She probably had a long list of arguments and counter-arguments ready to go, and now she's annoyed that they'll go to waste, Jasmine thought with a private smile.
"So, has Professor McGonagall offered to help you?" Neville asked.
"Yes," Jasmine answered. "I was reluctant to go to her because of how she's treated me in the past, but she created the oath and willingly took it. She also seemed to start seeing how her actions in the past have been wrong."
"I was surprised," Hermione added. "My faith in her dropped when Jasmine and I discussed everything, but I'm feeling more optimistic now."
Neville nodded and said, "I've not been too happy with her either, but it sounds like maybe she'll be changing. I'd like that a lot. So what now?"
"Well," Hermione continued, "the 'what now' is the Yule Ball, which we need to deal with. Like we said, Jasmine is required to have a date so she can open the ball with a dance. Obviously there aren't any boys she wants to go on a date with, and she can't have me as her date. So we need someone to go with her: someone she's comfortable with, someone she trusts, someone who is willing to go as a friend rather than as a boyfriend, and perhaps someone who is aware of our secret. Do you know anyone like that, Neville?"
He started to think hard and ran through a list of possible candidates before the truth hit him, and he noticed both witches' lips were twitching. "Oh? Oh! You'd like me to...?"
"Yes, Neville." Jasmine responded. "I know it's an imposition, because it means you wouldn't be able to have a real date with a girl you fancy and who fancies you back. Since I can't go with exactly such a girl myself, I understand how disappointing that is. But there isn't another boy in Hogwarts that I'd rather go with. There's no other boy here that I trust more than you."
"And there's certainly no other boy in Hogwarts that I'd trust more with my new girlfriend," Hermione added with a grin.
Jasmine grinned back at her before asking, "So, would you go to the Yule Ball with me?"
As before, Neville didn't hesitate. Rising from his chair, he straightened up to his full height and said, "I think that's my line, actually." He then bowed at the waist before Jasmine and stated, "My dear Miss Potter, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the Yule Ball this year?"
Smiling, Jasmine stood herself and curtsied before responding, "Dear Mr. Longbottom, I'm flattered that you asked, and I'd be honored to accompany you to the ball."
Everyone laughed and sat back down, but they turned serious again when Hermione continued. "Thank you, Neville, this means a lot to both of us. And thank you for treating this like a real date. Of course, people should know that you two are only going as friends, but we don't want anyone to suspect that there are any other motives at work. So the more seriously the date is treated, the better."
"You can count on me," Neville said. "My gran made certain that I was taught all the proper customs and practices for this kind of event, so I know what to do. All the traditionalists will look at the two of us, Jasmine, and see exactly what they expect to see. They shouldn't have any cause to give your relationship with Hermione a second thought."
Jasmine's eyes widened. "Hey, Neville, maybe Hermione and I should learn some of those customs and practices, too. Oh! And dancing! We so need to learn how to dance! As a champion I have to help open the ball, remember, so everyone will be focused on you and me dancing. We need to do at least a halfway decent job in order to not become the laughingstock of the tournament."
That sobered everyone up quickly as they pondered how to proceed. "I've learned how to dance formal dances, but it's been a while since I've had to do any of it," Neville admitted.
"I've had a few dance lessons," Hermione added, "but I didn't continue them for long, and it's been a few years." Jasmine, of course, didn't know the first thing about dancing and remained silent.
"Let's do it this way," Hermione suggested, taking charge in her customary manner. "Neville, you and I will practice dancing together until we can get reasonably comfortable with it. We both know a bit, so working together we should be able to make progress in a relatively short period of time. We won't be able to teach Jasmine very well unless we know what we're doing, so we won't start working with her until you and I are both better. Fortunately the man leads, so the female partner has a bit less to do." Everyone agreed to that as well as lessons from Neville on social traditions and etiquette in magical society, in particular those relating to balls and formal events.
Nothing more could be done that night, however, because they were already running late and needed to get back to their common room before curfew. None of them slept well that night, each dealing in different ways with a myriad of new ideas and difficult problems that they'd be facing — and there were only fifteen days until the Yule Ball!
Friday, December 11, 1994, Morning.
Getting through History of Magic was tough on the best of days, which was why most people used the class as nap time; but trying to get through it first thing in the morning after having had little sleep the night before was absolute murder. And murder was exactly what Jasmine Potter had on her mind when she looked to her left at Hermione Granger.
Sure, she fancied the bushy-haired witch, but it was her fault that Jasmine hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and it was also her fault that she couldn't use this time to nap. All the way back in first year, after they had become friends, Hermione had poked and prodded her new friend to get her to stay awake through Professor Binns' insomnia-curing lectures. Jasmine must have felt something even then for the other girl, because anyone else she'd have simply told off. Instead, she tried to be the sort of witch that Hermione respected, and as a result, she committed herself to staying awake right alongside Hermione.
It was a decision she frequently regretted, but never more so than this morning. Even Hermione looked half-asleep, so why was Jasmine trying so hard too...
*POKE!*
"Wha? Huh?" Jasmine half-shouted as she shot awake in her seat, not entirely aware of where she was or what happened.
"Jasmine," Hermione hissed from next to her, "I can't believe you fell asleep during class! You haven't done that since first year. What's the matter with you? Don't you have any respect for our professor?"
Jasmine was about ready to cry at that point, but then class abruptly ended, and the other students started to come awake and gather up their things to leave. It occurred to Jasmine that she seemed to have lost quite a bit of time. Why didn't Hermione wake me up right away? wondered Jasmine. What would cause her to miss the fact that I was snoring and drooling? Unless...
Glaring at her auburn-haired girlfriend as she gathered her books, Hermione was trying hard to look innocent. Too innocent, Jasmine decided — Hermione really was a terrible liar. "You dozed off too, didn't you?" Jasmine accused.
Hermione sniffed. "I don't know what you're talking about," she insisted cooly. "I need to do a little research in the library, are you coming?" Without waiting for an answer, she walked out of the classroom with her head up high. Her gait, however, wasn't nearly as confident as it usually was.
Jasmine knew she was right. She'd simply have to wait until the right time to use this information...
Yawning again, Jasmine once more lamented not having gotten enough sleep the night before. It was going to be a long day, and if she fell asleep in the library in front of Hermione, getting a poke in the side would be the least of her worries. Libraries were practically holy sites for the bossy little witch, and woe betide any infidel who desecrated them with drool.
As it happened, Jasmine wasn't given a chance to drool all over any books in the library, because Hermione didn't intend for them to be working separately on various assignments. Instead, her plan was to sit Jasmine down and have a discussion about the green-eyed witch's temper. Luckily, they were able to get Hermione's customary — and isolated — table where they weren't likely to be overheard.
"Jasmine," Hermione started, "I know you probably don't want to talk about this, but it's becoming an issue. I've seen you angry quite a few times over the past three years, but your reaction to Malfoy's insults yesterday was much worse than I'm used to. I don't know if it's because of... well, you know, what's happened, or if it's something else. But we need to get a handle on it before it gets you into serious trouble."
Hermione was right, she didn't want to talk about this. She didn't like talking about her feelings, any of her feelings. At least, that was her typical attitude. Yesterday, though, she'd managed to open up to Hermione about some feelings that she had tried hard to keep buried. Maybe I'm changing? she wondered. Maybe Hermione is changing me? I suppose I should at least try. If I can tell Hermione that I fancy her, I suppose I can manage this much.
Sighing, Jasmine answered. "You're right, I did feel a lot angrier yesterday than I usually do when the ferret insults one of us. I honestly can't tell you why, though. One second I was fine, the next I was annoyed, and then right after that it felt like this red mist descended over everything. I'm pretty sure that if you hadn't stopped me, I'd have marched over there firing hexes and curses — and I mean some of the nastier ones you and I have been learning, too."
Nodding at this confession, Hermione continued, "That's what I thought. And it took a bit for you to get calmed down again, too. I suspect that once you get that angry, it will be difficult for you to stop yourself. This means we need to find a way to insert some sanity into your thinking before your emotions get that far. Sounds like we only have a window of a second or two." The last was said with a slight smile, but both witches knew that it wasn't a laughing matter.
"What do you suggest?" Jasmine asked.
"Well," Hermione said as she started to slip into "professor mode," "Violence is obviously never the solution..."
"Hold on," Jasmine interjected, holding up one hand. "That I don't agree with. I'll agree that it's a risky solution. I'll agree that it's a solution that comes with heavy costs and can create new problems. I will not, however, agree that it is never the solution. Quite the contrary, in fact: sometimes it is the only solution because sometimes people refuse to stop what they are doing unless you get violent about it."
Frowning, Hermione objected, "Since when?" As usual, Hermione didn't take it well when people disagreed with her about something she considered obvious — it had proven to be a stubborn character flaw to overcome.
Leaning in, Jasmine said in a stage whisper, "Psst, Hermione — it's me, Jasmine." At Hermione's rolled eyes, she continued more normally, "Seriously, have you looked at my life lately? When all these awful things are coming after me, am I just supposed to ask them nicely to stop? In the last few years alone, I've been attacked by a troll, a three-headed dog, a pack of giant spiders, a basilisk, dementors, a dragon, a psychotic tree..."
Hermione interrupted, "Well, that was self-defense, wasn't it? Of course you have to defend yourself against monsters and magical creatures. But humans — you shouldn't use violence against humans."
"...a Death Eater, a possessed teacher trying to kill me," Jasmine continued, undeterred, "an insane professor trying to obliviate me, a professor turned werewolf, Voldemort — twice." She paused, considering. "Well, maybe he only counts as one and a half — have to think about that..."
"Students!" Hermione interjected a little desperately. "You shouldn't use violence against other students!"
Jasmine cocked an eyebrow. "This, from the girl who decked Malfoy at the end of last year? Which I still say was absolutely brilliant, by the way." Hermione had the grace to look embarrassed.
Sighing, Jasmine relented. "I'm sorry, Hermione — my life is a dangerous place."
Hermione slumped in her seat at that response. Clearly this issue wasn't as straightforward as she had always been taught. "OK, I'll grant that violence is sometimes necessary. But you have to try to set that sort of solution aside and work on other options when you can. There are times when you need to avoid violence, especially in a school."
"Right," Jasmine nodded sagely. "Explore non-violent options first. Then embrace the violence."
Narrowing her eyes, Hermione said in an exasperated tone, "That's not quite how I would put it, but I suppose that's the best I'll get out of you right now. So what sorts of responses can you use instead of hexes and curses?"
Jasmine tapped her chin in mock-concentration for a moment, then she brightened and announced cheerfully, "I know — insults!"
"What? You want to lower yourself to Malfoy's level, tossing childish insults across the hall? Aside from making you no better than him, you know that Professor Snape will use that as an excuse to take points and issue detentions. What's more, no one will sympathize with you very much."
Jasmine's smile didn't diminish as she explained, "Ah, but I don't mean just any old insults, Hermione. I mean better insults!"
"I'm afraid I don't follow," Hermione responded with a mix of confusion and annoyance on her face.
"I'll insult them in ways that don't sound like insults! I'll imply things that are nasty, but not make any overt accusations. If I do it right, I can't be punished because I haven't said anything bad."
That made Hermione stop and look thoughtful for a long moment. "Alright, you've got a point. Words are better than violent spells. If your words aren't overtly insulting, you won't look bad and you won't get punished. If Malfoy and his ilk interpret your words the way you intend, though, it will be a successful retaliation."
Jasmine beamed at the praise, but Hermione wasn't quite done. "I honestly think that it would be better to simply turn and walk away — to not give them the satisfaction of even responding. However, even I'm not naive enough to think that that will always work. With Malfoy, not reacting may encourage him to find worse things to say in order to get the reaction he wants. Your idea might do the same, too. But it's worth trying. If nothing else, thinking up something clever to say may distract you from becoming a green-eyed rage monster."
Jasmine wasn't sure if she was still being praised or not, but decided to take it positively. She then proceeded to ignore her homework in favor of coming up with a selection of subtle zingers to use against bigots like Malfoy. Thinking on one's feet was all very well, she reflected, but some insults were worth the extra effort.