A/N: No, this is not a Ron bashing story, even though things don't start out well for him. He'll need time to grow up and mature.
Recommendation: This chapter's recommended story is "White Knight, Grey Queen," by Jeconais. There aren't many Harry/Pansy fics, but this is an interesting story with a good example of the pairing. "Fan Fic Authors-Net" (no spaces, replace the dash with a dot).
Chapter 05 - Social Lessons Begin
Friday, December 11, 1994, Lunch.
As Jasmine and Hermione were walking into the Great Hall for lunch, once again a familiar and detested voice rang out loud and clear from the Slytherin table, "Hey, scarhead, have you managed to buy yourself a date for the Yule Ball yet? If you need a loan, I'm sure someone can help." Of course there isn't any response coming from the teachers, Jasmine thought. In fact, Snape almost looks happy about Malfoy's dig.
As with the last time Malfoy decided to toss out insults at lunch, Jasmine could almost feel her blood begin to boil. She was filled with desire to lash out and start breaking bones, but she remembered the conversation she'd just had with Hermione about controlling her anger. Well, from Hermione's perspective it was about controlling her anger; from Jasmine's perspective, it was about coming up with ways to strike back against her antagonists without getting into trouble. Toh-may-toh, toh-mah-toh.
This didn't mean not resorting to bone-breaking curses, it only meant not starting out with bone-breaking curses. In public. In full view of multiple members of the Hogwarts staff. That was what Gryffindors do, but the Sorting Hat had originally wanted to place her in Slytherin. So, fine, she'd open with Slytherin tactics. She couldn't deny that it infuriated her when she was on the receiving end of insults. Time to see how Malfoy likes a taste of his own medicine...
"As a matter of fact, Mr. Malfoy, I do have a date for the ball," Jasmine answered sweetly. "A delightful gentleman asked me only last night, not many hours after the ball was first announced. I'm looking forward to attending this event with such a handsome and cultured escort." Turning her attention to the Slytherin girl sitting next to Draco, she added, "Don't worry, Miss Parkinson, I'm optimistic that someone may yet invite you. Perhaps even a gentlemen of at least a little refinement and culture." She gave Draco a measuring glance before twisting the knife: "But it's probably best not to get your hopes up too high. Beggars can't be choosers, after all."
With Hermione trying to hold in her sniggers by her side, Jasmine continued on to the Gryffindor table with regal dignity. Neville took a seat across from the two witches and exclaimed, "Merlin, where did that come from? I think Malfoy and Parkinson are still speechless."
"Sounds like a first to me, I can't remember that ever happening," said Hermione as she dished food onto her plate. "Maybe he's making plans to write to his father to complain." She then stole a quick glance up at the head table. "Professor Snape looks fit to be tied — I guess he can't think of any way to spin that into an excuse to dock us points."
"I'm surprised he didn't try anyway," Jasmine muttered. Despite having chosen to use words instead of spells, it was clear that she wasn't any less angry. "Snape is a petty, snivelling bully who is far too interested in protecting Draco when he's also being a petty, snivelling bully. Two peas in a pod. Draco is on a direct path to grow up to be just like either his father or Snape. Or both. Unless something or someone snaps him back — hard — and forces him to understand that might doesn't make right, a lot of people are going to end up suffering because of him."
"That's a bit extreme, don't you think...?" Hermione tried to protest.
Jasmine glared at her over the rims of her glasses. "Hermione, the only way he doesn't become a criminal like his father or a bully like Snape is if he changes. Except he likes who he is and what he's doing — he currently has no incentive to be different because he thinks he can get whatever he wants by behaving this way. It's how his father and Snape have taught him. That leaves negative reinforcement. Punishment. Pain."
Hermione and Neville both looked a bit ill at hearing this, but neither quite knew what to say. "Hey, I'm not particularly chuffed at the idea either," Jasmine continued, "but it's been obvious to me since first year. Maybe because it's basically how the Dursleys tried to raise me — all stick, no carrot. I just haven't said it out loud because... well... I'm not sure why I've never mentioned it. You might have noticed that he avoided you for a while after you decked him, Hermione. Direct evidence that pain and humiliation can work with him."
"You two wanted to start lessons tonight, right?" Neville asked in an attempt to change the subject. After receiving nods in response, he continued "I was thinking of bringing Ginny Weasley into this, if that's OK with you. You wouldn't have to tell her your secret, but including her in our lessons would be easier than trying to sneak around her. She'll wonder what's happening if we keep going off alone — remember, she offered to help you, Jasmine. Also, a fourth person would make dancing lessons more productive in the long run."
"Sounds good to me," Jasmine said. "But if we include Ginny, we may have to include Ron. I know they don't always get along, but I can imagine her feeling bad about being asked without him. We were, after all, his friends before we became her friends. Since we won't be revealing any secrets, I guess that's not a big deal, but are the two of you OK with that?" Both Neville and Hermione agreed, albeit reluctantly.
Ginny picked that minute to enter the Great Hall for lunch, and the trio of fourth years waved her over to join them. "How were classes, Gin?" Hermione asked.
"Good," she said cheerfully as she sat next to Neville. "Got delayed because we had so much to clean up in the greenhouse after the Herbology lesson."
The other two girls pointedly stared at Neville at this juncture; at first he looked confused, but then comprehension started to dawn on him. Apparently, since he was going to be the primary teacher for their evening lessons, he also had to be the one to invite someone new — especially since it was his idea for Ginny to join in the first place. Maybe being responsible isn't all it's cracked up to be, he lamented.
"Say, Gin..." Neville began. When he didn't say anything else right away, she turned to look at him quizzically. Clearing his throat, he tried again, "I'm going to help Hermione and Jasmine learn dancing during some of the coming evenings before the Yule Ball. Well, mostly Jasmine since Hermione knows some dancing already, but both she and I need some practice too. Would you be interested? A fourth person would help."
Ginny's eyes lit up with excitement. "Wow, would I! I've been worried about that — my mum showed me some dancing once, but I'm not sure how well I'll remember any of it. I'd feel so much better going to the ball if I could dance. Well, that's assuming I go. I won't be able to if no one asks me..." She looked hopefully at Neville and even tried to flutter her eyelashes a bit, but the effect was utterly lost on the oblivious boy, who had turned back to his meal, mission accomplished. Jasmine and Hermione looked at each other in concern — this was a potential problem they needed to nip in the bud.
Over Neville's shoulder, Ginny saw her brother Ron enter the Great Hall; thus distracted from trying to catch Neville's attention, she waved Ron over to join them. "Oh," she said suddenly, "what about Ron? Were you going to invite him? I'm sure he can use the help." She appeared a little conflicted when she asked, but she looked sincere.
"Sure, if he wants," Jasmine replied while trying to look positive. Even with the current state of their friendship, she probably wouldn't mind doing this with him, but she was now also protecting a vital secret that seemed to put her on edge when certain people got too close — including Ron.
For his part, Ron seemed pleasantly surprised to be invited to join the group for lunch. The strained relationships hadn't allowed for much casual socializing, while interactions in class tended to be a bit stiff and formal. Greeting everyone as he sat next to his sister, Ron proceeded to use both hands to dish two and three helpings of everything on to his plate.
Glad that Ron was on the other side of Ginny, Neville didn't hesitate to take the initiative this time. "Say, Ron, the four of us plan on learning and practicing some dancing in the evenings before the Yule Ball. Are you interested in joining us?"
Ron's grimace indicated that the idea of dancing didn't appeal much. "I dunno. Is this going to take up a lot of time?"
"Oh, I almost forgot," said Hermione, "Neville will also be explaining about traditional customs and practices of magical society."
"Yeah," Neville added, "customs for formal events, how people should be addressed, the relationships between old families, formal etiquette... table manners." The stress on that last item was lost on no one except its intended target, who had apparently lost interest much earlier in the description.
"Sorry, mate, I'm going to pass on that," Ron said through a mouthful of food. "Sounds right boring."
This response surprised no one, though only Ginny seemed to show any regret at it. She bounced back quickly, expressing some excitement at the opportunity to learn some of the things which are taught to the children in wealthier families. How much of that was genuine interest in the subject and how much was a product of her interest in the teacher was a question neither of the other two witches could answer.
Hermione didn't spend much time thinking about that, though. She was still preoccupied with Jasmine's statements about Malfoy. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were a bit over the top and that it was somehow inappropriate to so seriously contemplate violence as a means for disciplining a student. She still tended to regard her punching of Malfoy last year as an aberration — and the fact that she enjoyed it was so unlike her! That wasn't how she had been raised at all. Her parents taught her to go to teachers and the police when she had a problem, not to take the rules or the law into her own hands — especially so violently.
At the same time, though, she couldn't deny that he had apparently not been disciplined by lesser means before now, nor did it look like those in authority had any intention of starting soon. Malfoy wasn't a toddler anymore. He wasn't even really a child — not while possessing and learning to wield a wand, which could be a deadly weapon. She'd have to give more thought to what Jasmine had said, both at lunch and earlier in the library.
Friday, December 11, 1994, Afternoon.
Jasmine groaned in resignation as she and her friends made their way down to the castle dungeons. "Maybe publicly embarrassing Malfoy and annoying Snape right before a double potions lesson — and in a way that denied them the opportunity to avenge their wounded pride — wasn't the smartest thing to do."
"You think so, Jas?" Hermione asked, smiling thinly. She wasn't looking forward to this class any more than her friend was — because the two of them always partnered together, any targeting of Jasmine would inevitably affect her as well.
"I'm sorry, Hermione," Jasmine said ruefully in response to her friend's unspoken concerns. "This wouldn't be so bad if the professor was a competent teacher who was able to act more mature than we managed back when we were ickle firsties."
"Like that's ever going to happen," added Neville. He'd always been as much of a target as Jasmine, even if no one could ever explain why. Hermione simply held her tongue; despite having to acknowledge that neither Jasmine nor Neville were treated well in Potions, it was difficult for her to openly and directly criticize a professor like that.
"Don't worry about it, Jas," Hermione said. "It's not your fault. I think that the position of professor should be respected, but his attacks on you, Neville, and anyone you partner with shows that maybe he hasn't earned that respect."
Rounding the corner, they saw the Slytherin students already standing outside the potions lab. Malfoy seemed to have been waiting for their arrival because he almost immediately stepped out from the group and started in on Jasmine. "So, Potter, you claim to already have a date to the Yule Ball, and one that you didn't have to pay for? I'm shocked. I was certain that gold would have to change hands at the very least, but Pansy bet me that gold wouldn't be enough, and that you'd have to spread your legs before anyone would lower themselves to be your date."
While most of the Slytherin students snickered at this, Hermione grabbed Neville's arm and held him back. She had felt him tense and realized that he must suddenly be feeling rather protective of their mutual friend. What is it about boys and dating that makes them get all macho, Hermione wondered, even when it's just a date between friends?!
"Has that been your own personal experience, Miss Parkinson?" Jasmine asked with fake sympathy. "I wouldn't know myself, so I must bow to your superior wisdom on such matters. Perhaps that answers so many people's questions about how and why you and Mr. Malfoy became a couple. Speaking of whom..."
Jasmine turned to the blonde bigot, leaving the pug-nosed Parkinson gaping in outrage. "You're correct, Mr. Malfoy, I do have a date. I'm sorry that you waited too long to ask me yourself, but I must confess that I likely would not have accepted your invitation even if it had come early enough. I appreciate the thought, of course, but I couldn't possibly be seen in public being escorted by one such as yourself. I do have standards to maintain, after all."
Right then, the potions lab door opened, and Jasmine was able to move deftly into the dark, dank room, her fellow Gryffindors following close behind while the stunned Slytherins remained in the corridor, trying to figure out what had just happened. For the entire lesson, Malfoy and Parkinson were fuming so much that they were distracted and made a number of mistakes in their brewing. Professor Snape, of course, gave them full marks anyway.
Yet upon arriving at the table where Jasmine and Hermione worked, all he could do was sneer. "What do you call this, Potter? Do you actually consider this to be brewing? You're wasting my time and yours with this pathetic work. Just because you managed to worm your way into the tournament doesn't mean you're going to get any special favors from me in this class." He then slapped Jasmine with an Acceptable for creating a potion that was barely one shade away from the correct color.
While walking back to the Gryffindor dorm to drop off their books before dinner, Jasmine whispered to Neville, "Let's meet in the training room a half hour after dinner ends, but tell Ginny to arrive a half hour after that — Hermione and I need to talk to you about a couple of things before she gets involved. We should have done it earlier, but I didn't think of it."
"Sure," Neville said as he nodded. "I'll make sure she knows."
Friday, December 11, 1994, Late Evening.
When Neville entered the trio's training classroom, he noticed that Jasmine and Hermione were already there, sitting close together. Then he noticed that their robes were rumpled and their hair was a bit of a mess. Neville Longbottom may not have been the most observant of boys, but he wasn't an idiot, either.
Neither was he quite prepared for this particular distraction, however, and he stumbled into a chair and almost fell. That snapped him out of it, so he simply used the chair to sit in and said, "So, what did you want to talk about?"
The girls looked at each other and snorted in simultaneous amusement at Neville's attempted recovery. "Well," Jasmine began, "we have a couple of issues to cover. First, what do we tell others about you and me going to the ball together? I don't mind people knowing — it's not like I'm embarrassed or anything — but I suspect that people knowing will lead to a lot of gossip and negative attention, especially for you. So I recommend that we keep it quiet."
Hermione nodded in agreement while Neville looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I hadn't given that a lot of thought. I haven't said anything myself, but only because I thought you hadn't — I was going to follow your lead and let you announce it when and how you wanted. Now that you've explained it, though, I guess you're right. Besides, maybe it will be fun to watch people trying to guess. I wonder if anyone will figure it out?"
"Great, next issue is Ginny," Hermione stated. "I don't think you noticed, but she seemed interested in learning how to dance with us — not simply the learning part, but also in who she'd be learning from."
"Huh?" Neville asked in confusion.
Hermione sighed and opted for bluntness. "Neville, I'm pretty sure she's interested in you, at least a little bit. I think she was angling for you to invite her to the ball. I'm not absolutely certain, I'll admit, but I think I'm right about this. We can wait to see how she acts tonight if you want to be more certain, but one way or another we need to deal with this. She can't go to the ball without a date and she can't be waiting on you to ask her."
"Uh..." Neville seemed to lose the power of speech and his face blossomed red upon learning that a girl might sincerely want to go out on a date with him.
"I'm so sorry, Neville," Jasmine told him. "I expected that someone would want to go to the ball with you, and not simply as friends. It's early enough — if you want to change your mind so you can take Ginny..." Hermione immediately reached over and grabbed her girlfriend's arm, recognizing and trying to stave off Jasmine's usual assumption that she had to take the blame for anything and everything that went wrong around her.
Jasmine's apology brought Neville back to his senses. "No!" he said forcefully. "Absolutely not! I asked and you accepted — I want to go with you, even if it is only as friends. I'm treating this as a real date, not a fake date, because you're my friends and I know that doing this will help both of you. I haven't been able to help you much before with your problems, but this is something I can do, so I'm going to do it right." The normally shy and retiring Neville Longbottom looked every bit the pureblood scion now, with straightened back and power behind his eyes.
Both witches got a bit misty eyed at this declaration from their friend. Without another word, they jumped up and wrapped him in a joint embrace. This brought the shy Neville back out as his blush returned and his stammering resumed. After they returned to their seats, Jasmine said, "There's no easy solution, but I think that we'll have to tell Ginny about us going to the ball as a couple. We'll also have to make it clear to her that we're keeping it a secret. In fact, we should probably make a blanket statement about how things discussed here may be private and can't be revealed to outsiders. Since Ron won't be joining us, I think I feel a little more comfortable telling her some of what we're working on. But not our big secret. We're not prepared for Ginny learning that."
Neville nodded in understanding. "You do that; I'll let her know about us going to the ball."
After a few minutes of casual conversation about the day's classes, Ginny entered the room. When she looked around, she could see that it had been used recently for activities other than regular class work. Most desks and chairs had been moved against the far walls, some even being piled on top of each other.
While Jasmine checked the Marauders Map to ensure that no one was skulking around in any nearby corridors or rooms, Hermione explained the importance of keeping secrets.
"Originally it may have only been about the tournament, but there have been other... developments since then. I can't go into details right now, but if you're going to spend time here training and helping us train, you're going to hear things and maybe help with things that we can't let others know about. This room has become a sort of sanctuary for us, a place where we can talk honestly and openly about personal matters. We don't want to have to censor ourselves when you're around. Are you prepared to keep our secrets? Are you willing to keep quiet about things you learn here, even if that means hiding them from your family or professors?"
Ginerva Weasley was taken aback at what she was hearing. She had expected to spend some time picking up dance moves, learning a bit about etiquette, and hopefully getting a chance to make an impression on a boy she hoped would ask her to the ball. Apparently, expressing a desire to help Jasmine Potter train and accepting an invitation to learn some things herself required far more commitment than she had realized.
Then again, maybe I should have realized it, she thought. When was anything simple or casual with Jasmine Potter? This was the girl who had been shunned for a year by the whole school, then rescued her from a 30 meter, millennium-old basilisk under the castle. This was the girl who used a patronus charm to drive off a hundred dementors while they were in a feeding frenzy. This was the girl who was somehow entered against her will into a deadly tournament and proceeded to outfly a Hungarian Horntail, one of the nastiest dragons on the planet.
Yeah, come to think of it, I should have known that there'd be far more than casual dancing and training on the menu. In fact, whatever these "secrets" might be, they were probably only the beginning — it wasn't even the middle of December yet, and the worst didn't usually happen to Jasmine until June. Things were liable to get interesting over the coming months. Can I handle "interesting"? she wondered.
Making her decision, she affirmed, "You can count on me, Hermione," and stood a little straighter. "I promised I'd help Jasmine, and if that means keeping secrets or helping with something outside the tournament, I'm your girl." There was scarcely a choice to make here: even if she didn't owe Jasmine Potter a witch's debt, she could see how much of a burden the green-eyed witch was forced to shoulder year after year. There was no chance that she'd turn away and force her to shoulder it alone, not if there was some way she could help. "I'll even give you a magical oath, if you want."
Hermione smiled warmly. "Thank you. I hadn't decided if I should ask or not, but since you're offering, we happen to have a good oath that you can give. Neville's already made the same oath, in fact, so you won't have to feel singled out."
After giving her oath, which Ginny was happy to see would not cause her to risk losing her magic or her life, the four Gryffindors proceeded to learn about dancing. Ginny and Jasmine had to sit out initially while Neville and Hermione worked with each other to refresh their memories of their own dancing instruction. For each dance, Ginny and Jasmine would start out watching and listening while Neville and Hermione practiced together.
"After that," Neville explained, "Jasmine and I will mostly practice together. There will be some switching of partners, of course, but Jasmine and I will spend most of our time together because we'll be attending the ball as a couple. That means we'll need to get used to dancing with each other."
Ginny couldn't hide the disappointed look on her face, and Jasmine tried to distract her a little by leaning over to say that this was one of their secrets. "We don't want to produce a lot of negative attention, especially for Neville," she explained, "so the two of us plan to simply refuse to answer when asked who our dates will be."
Perhaps it was because they were working together, but both Neville and Hermione seemed to remember their dancing lessons fairly easily, and before the end they were barely stepping on each other's feet. This gave some hope to the other two, who were far less experienced.
Neville's etiquette lesson turned out to be rather less boring than Jasmine had feared. She had realized that she might need to know about this sort of thing, based on what little information she had received from Professor McGonagall, but that didn't mean she was looking forward to actually learning it. Hermione, of course, was anxious to learn almost anything, especially if it was useful.
Neville started out with how to formally introduce, greet, and address people in magical high society, so they all had fun bowing, curtsying, and using made-up titles to simulate encounters they might have. Surprising the girls with his decisive attitude, Neville instructed them that at future lessons they'd have to demonstrate their knowledge of these customs by properly greeting and addressing each other, just as they would at a real formal ball.
Before leaving, they all agreed to meet back at the room after breakfast the next morning to work on the puzzle of Jasmine's screeching golden egg. There was plenty of time since the second task wasn't until late February, but Hermione in particular didn't want to leave it for too long. No one knew how long exactly it would take to prepare for the task once they had the clue, so it would be better to ensure that Jasmine would have the maximum amount of time possible.
Saturday, December 12, 1994, Morning.
Weekend breakfasts were much more sparsely attended than during the week, so the Gryffindor quartet was able to get into the Great Hall, eat, and get back out again without many people paying attention to them. On the way to their training room, Jasmine tried to carefully bring up a topic with Ginny that the others agreed needed to be broached, though none had been certain how to do it without causing further difficulties.
"So, Gin," Jasmine started, trying to sound casual but unsure whether she was successful or not, "Have you thought about who you might go to the ball with?" It was hard to miss the slight hitch in Ginny's step at that question, but to her credit she didn't give any further outward reaction. "Learning dancing and etiquette won't be as useful to you if we can't get you a proper partner to escort you."
Jasmine's deliberate use of the word "we" in that statement did not go unnoticed, and it had the desired effect on the younger witch. "Are you saying that you'd be willing to help me?" Ginny asked. The others noticed that she seemed surprised that help of this sort would be offered.
"Of course," Jasmine insisted. "We know that you won't be able to go to the ball unless you're with someone from fourth year or above, and getting a date from one of the higher years that you don't know well will be difficult."
"Is there anyone in our year that you've had your eye on?" Hermione asked. "Maybe someone that one of the three of us knows well enough to talk to for you?"
Ginny's previously quiet and reserved demeanor quickly disappeared and was replaced by a bubbly enthusiasm. It appeared as if she might have given up hope at getting a date to the ball, but now that hope was being renewed. "I don't know many boys in your year very well, but in Gryffindor, at least, Dean Thomas seems like he's pretty nice. Seamus, I'm sorry to say, is a bit creepy at times, and there's no way I'm going with my own brother."
Neville laughed at that. "Yeah, Seamus can be a bit of a perv. He's OK, but if I had a sister I don't think I'd want her dating him. And Ron...well, unless he changes his attitude, I don't think he'll be getting a date at all. But Dean is nice. I'll try to bring you up in conversation when I talk to him next and see what he says."
"Oh, thanks Neville!" Ginny said as they approached the door to their training room. While Jasmine checked the map, Hermione turned to the boy and asked, "What did you mean about Ron's attitude?"
Grimacing, Neville tried to explain. "As far as I can tell, he hasn't made any efforts whatsoever to attract or impress any girls. Despite that, whenever the subject of the ball comes up — especially when it's just us guys in the dorm — he insists that he doesn't want to go with any ugly birds and hopes that all the good ones aren't taken too quickly. It's like he expects a pretty girl to fall into his arms simply because... well, I don't know why. Because of who he is?"
"Honestly! That... that... ohhh! He makes me so mad sometimes!" The others all laughed — Hermione hadn't had a really good Ron Rant in a while, and Jasmine thought that maybe she might have missed them a little. That was one thing Jasmine had yet to figure out about Hermione. Ron wasn't a complete idiot, and while some of the things he said could be attributed to "speaking before thinking" disease, not all of them could. Even the thickest boy should eventually learn to stop giving voice to certain opinions, even if he didn't learn to stop having them at all.
This meant that Ron was probably doing it deliberately, at least some of the time. This also meant that either Hermione hadn't figured out that he wasn't so dense... or perhaps she had, but she was trying to enjoy debating anyway, despite how often she ended up frustrated, in tears, or both. Most days, Jasmine was inclined to go with the former: while she herself had a more isolated upbringing than Hermione, the other witch had arrived at Hogwarts more socially stunted. She was loads better now than in first year, when she was constantly trying to act like a prefect and always trying to show off to the professors, but she still had a ways to go.
Hoping to distract Hermione before she got going, Neville reached the door and ushered her in with an elaborate flourish, adding, "After you, m'lady."
Hermione giggled in spite of herself, responding with a bob and a demure "Why, thank you, kind sir!" before they all filed into the classroom to wrestle with the problem of the golden egg.