A/N: I really, really like the title to this chapter. It's just so... fitting.
Recommendation: This chapter's recommended fic is "The Curse That Killed Thousands" by ga1661. Sirius' appearance in the hospital wing when Harry returns after the third task does not go very well, leading to massive and unexpected changes — all thanks to the quick thinking of Hermione Granger. H/Hr.
Chapter 50 - Mama Said Knock You Out
Saturday, March 20, 1995, Early Afternoon.
Jasmine wasn't let out of the hospital wing until Saturday morning, and for once she had actually been glad to spend so much time there. The cumulative effects of the torture, taunting, and molestation had taken a significant toll on her, both psychologically and emotionally, and while she welcomed Hermione's close presence, she had needed time before she was prepared to face anyone else. Luckily Madam Pomfrey had kept everyone else away.
Truth be told, she wasn't sure that Saturday after lunch wasn't too soon to tell people what had happened to her, but she knew that she had to do it at some point and decided to treat it like a sticking plaster: rip it off fast to get it over with. If nothing else, it would at least cross one thing off of Hermione's "Worry about Jasmine" list. I'm not even sure that facing dark wizards in a cemetery at night wouldn't be easier, she lamented. I was certainly less nervous the night before going up against a dragon!
The arrangements had been surprisingly difficult to make. Despite the fact that the vast majority of her torture had taken place outside, Jasmine was feeling decidedly uncomfortable in enclosed spaces. Hermione hypothesized that Jasmine was still struggling with a "fight or flight" response, and since there was no one to fight, she wanted to flee, a prospect which was blocked by the heavy stone walls in the castle. Therefore, she wanted to be outside where she subconsciously knew she had more opportunities to get away from any danger.
Jasmine barely understood half of all that; all she knew was that once she was out of the hospital wing, she only really felt comfortable outside, so Hermione went above and beyond by getting everyone to agree on a time to meet out by the Black Lake. Somehow, she had found a secluded spot where some large boulders would protect them from casual observation. Dobby and Winky promised to provide security against eavesdropping — after not being able to find her when she was kidnapped, they were going out of their way to be protective and helpful. She had had to endure a lot of tears and wailing before they agreed not to follow her around constantly.
Everyone — which included their closest Gryffindor friends, the other champions, and the study group — was going to arrive separately and wait to hear from Jasmine. Once she learned about the size of the group she'd be meeting, Jasmine was set to grab her Firebolt and make a speed run for the channel, perhaps to disappear somewhere in the Alps eventually; but Hermione practically sat on her and explained why all of them needed to hear her story. Hermione knew about how Jasmine had tricked the Minister and so knew that it was important to start getting the word out to select, trusted people. That didn't make Jasmine any happier about the prospect, though.
Hermione, Merlin bless her heart, even went so far as to create an outline and note cards for Jasmine to use while speaking. She hadn't the heart to tell her that there was no way she'd use such things, but by this point Jasmine had realized that Hermione was mostly just making busy work in order to distract herself from thinking about what had happened to her girlfriend. I swear, though, if I even catch a hint of her trying to create charts or diagrams to go along with this, I'm going to put her in a full bodybind!
Jasmine and Hermione were the last to arrive. She wasn't comfortable with any part of this — not with telling others about what had happened to her, not with answering questions about being tortured, and not with speaking in front of a group — but if she was going to do it, then she wanted to keep it as short as possible. That meant not sitting around, fidgeting and being stared at, while waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. For her, at least, the meeting was to start when she arrived and end when she left — those were her unalterable conditions for participating.
Anticipation and worry were thick in the air. Rumors about what had happened had been flying around Hogwarts for the past few days. Everyone knew that Jasmine had gone missing late Tuesday, that there was something wrong with Professor Moody, that the castle had to go into lockdown and be searched, and that Jasmine had turned up again in the early morning hours of Thursday in very bad shape. That left an awful lot unsaid, and enterprising gossips had taken it upon themselves to fill in the blanks.
One story had it that Jasmine had almost killed Moody in a duel and had fled with aurors hot on her heels. Another said that she had been caught trying to cheat in the tournament and had run off in disgrace. The worst, in everyone's opinion, was that Hermione and Viktor had decided to elope and Jasmine left school in order to commit suicide. She was just waiting to see if Rita Skeeter was going to publish it.
All those gathered by the Black Lake knew that they would be the first to hear the truth, and while they didn't know what the truth was yet, they knew it couldn't be good. They had learned enough about Jasmine's past adventures to recognize that this was worse than the others and that merely knowing it meant that they'd be shouldering some of the burden which she, Hermione, and Ron usually bore alone.
"Hi, everybody," she said as she stepped in front of the group — a group which she only just then realized she was starting to call friends and comrades. When did that happen? she wondered. How did that happen?
She ignored the gasps of surprise when people finally saw her, with Gabrielle clearly being the most upset. It looked to Jasmine like it was only Fleur's hand on her sister's shoulder that kept her from running over. Jasmine had deliberately chosen to not get all her cuts and bruises healed too quickly. She wanted to bear them for a while, to show the world what she had lived through. She had survived and she was proud of that, even if she was still having trouble dealing with some of the particulars.
"I'm sure you all know that I don't like to do this sort of thing — to talk about myself and my experiences," she said and received many nods in return. "I don't like being put on a pedestal or called a hero, and I don't like being pitied, two of the most common reactions when people hear about what I've been through. In this case, though, I'm making a big exception and telling you everything — the whole, unvarnished truth — early on."
"Why am I doing this?" she asked. "Two reasons. First, because of how critical this is. It's something you all desperately need to know. Very few in the magical world have any clue about what's going on, but very shortly you will. And you may not thank me for telling you. Second, because I trust all of you. I trust that you won't use this against me. I trust that you will instead use this information positively to help people. I trust that you'll pass this along to others whom you trust so they can prepare for the storm that's coming."
"And make no mistake," she finished, catching the gaze of each of them for a moment, "there is a storm coming, and it will cause a lot of pain and destruction. We can't avoid it — all we can do is be prepared and try to survive it."
Seeing their sober expressions, Jasmine began her tale. The beginning was fragmentary and based in part on what others had told her, a situation that was explained by the Confusing Concoction. Jasmine then moved to events in the graveyard: the taunting, the molestation, the resurrection of Voldemort, the torture, the fight, and finally the flight to Hogwarts. She finished up with being interviewed by Amelia Bones and Cornelius Fudge, explaining how she tricked the Minister into allowing an investigation to go forward despite his wanting to deny everything and sweep it all under the rug.
When she was finished, everyone was in shock. No one knew exactly what to say — they'd all been expecting something bad, but this was way beyond anything they could have imagined. Hannah was the first to speak, saying "Are... are... are you sure that V-V-Vol... that You-Know-Who is back? How do you know that your excuse to the Minister isn't actually the truth?"
Jasmine had expected this to come up and was prepared with an answer. "That's a fair question. First, let me remind you that I've faced him three times before this year. The first was as a toddler, so I guess that doesn't count. The second, though, was when he was trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone to get a new body. So I already knew that he wasn't dead and wanted a body. Second, my scar hurts when he's close — it happened in our first year when he was hiding under Quirrell's turban and it happened in the graveyard. Third, he touched the Dark Mark and called Death Eaters to him, all of whom immediately accepted who he was, bowed down before him, and followed his orders."
After waiting for a few seconds to let all of that sink in, Jasmine said, "I think that's enough to accept that it was indeed Voldemort who climbed out of that cauldron." Everyone shivered and went a bit green when she added, "Or He-Who-Has-No-Balls, as I like to call him now."
"So he's gathering followers again?" Daphne asked. "Preparing to start a new war, or perhaps resume his old one?"
"Absolutely," Jasmine said. "He hasn't mellowed in his old age. If anything, he's angrier than ever because of how much time he had to spend as a wraith. He's angry, he's hateful, and he's violent."
"Last time, there were lots of disappearances before he came out in the open," the normally taciturn Blaise said, "so we should probably expect the same again. Anyone who could be a threat or who might simply stand in his way will be eliminated, one way or another."
"It sounds like we need to educate ourselves on how he operated last time," Cedric said. "If certain tactics worked for him before, I imagine he'll use them again."
"Isn't it curious how that isn't already taught at Hogwarts?" Hermione pointed out. "Why isn't it a required part of History of Magic? Why doesn't our headmaster — who actually fought Voldemort last time — ensure that we learn about the conditions that led up to his rise to power and how he operated? I mean, those sound like obvious and necessary topics for our education."
There were murmurs of agreement as their audience wondered why something so obvious wasn't being taught. "I'm not sure there are any books in the library, though," Jasmine said. "I got a lot of information from back issues of the Daily Prophet. Susan, your aunt might be able to help us there, since she should know quite a bit." Susan agreed to ask her Aunt Amelia for whatever information she could get.
"We're going to have to learn how to defend ourselves," Ginny pointed out. "He's not going to care how young we are, only that we're in his way. Or that we can be used as leverage against our parents."
"Maybe we can organize a club?" Neville suggested. "A group where we learn and practice new spells? Hermione and Jasmine did that for the tournament, and they've gotten loads better. Ginny and I have practiced with them a couple of times, and I already feel more confident." This caused everyone to start talking at once about their DADA classes, the value of different defensive spells, and how much they'd actually be able to learn in an off-hours student club.
"Quiet!" Hermione shouted. Once everyone was settled down, she continued, "We're starting to stray a bit from the original topic. Before we talk about anything like school clubs, does anyone have any questions for Jasmine about what happened?"
"How are you feeling?" Padma asked. "You look... well, you don't look so great, though you sound OK."
Jasmine smiled broadly at the Ravenclaw, happy that at least one person had asked that question. "I'm doing a lot better. My recovery from being under the cruciatus twice has gone a lot faster than Madam Pomfrey expected. I've chosen to not get all the cuts and bruises healed too quickly because I want people to see what happened to me and to know that I survived anyway. That anyone can survive, if they work at it."
Once there were no more questions for Jasmine and everyone started talking about various related issues, Jasmine decided that she'd had enough and left to walk around by herself for a bit. Hermione was going to go with her, but Jasmine encouraged the bushy-haired witch to remain behind and help with the planning and organization. Jasmine knew that it was the sort of thing she lived for.
Jasmine hadn't gotten far from the meeting site before she was accosted by what was probably the very last person she wanted to see just then. Or ever, really.
"Hey, scarhead, I see you've added a few new scars to your collection." The sneering, rasping voice was followed by the dull laughter of Malfoy's two bookends and pug-nosed girlfriend. I don't remember seeing him in the hospital wing, she thought. He must have been released just before I arrived.
As the boy laughed, Jasmine started to see not Draco Malfoy, but Lucius Malfoy, and barely caught herself before she ejected her wand into her hand and started throwing curses. It was a very near thing, because the laughter and voices of the two blonde bigots were so very similar; but Draco's voice hadn't fully recovered yet, and she calmed down enough to remember where she was. Instead of hexing him then, she took a couple of deep breaths before shouldering past him in an effort to avoid rising to his bait.
Malfoy, though, was having none of that. Just as she was past him, he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around so she was facing back the way she came. "Hey, I was talking to you, witch! Don't ignore your betters!" Shocked that he would dare lay hands on her like that, she simply gaped at his audacity. Even then, however, she still hoped to avoid another fight and took a couple of steps back.
"Yeah, I can see how scared you are," Malfoy continued with a haughty look. "I'll bet my father made sure you'd be scared, didn't he?" Jasmine stopped moving when she heard that. His father? she asked herself. What does Draco know?
"I have a pretty good idea of what he was planning to do with you, of course," he boasted. He didn't, actually, but he would never admit to that. Instead, he simply made a few educated guesses based on how well he knew his father and ran with them.
"I'm looking forward to doing the same thing to you that my father did," Malfoy continued, digging his hole even deeper. "That's assuming he didn't ruin you so completely that it's not worth it anymore. Your face is pretty badly beat up, and if the rest of you is that awful, I'm not sure I want any of it. Maybe in the dark, but that's a stretch." Jasmine's vision narrowed until she could see nothing but Draco Malfoy's laughing face, and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears as he continued to taunt her.
"I'll bet you enjoyed it by the end, didn't you, Potty?" Malfoy asked with a leer. "I'll bet your mother was just as much of a slut, even though she never had a chance to be used by the Dark Lord's servants. Lucky you that you've gotten that chance." Malfoy's sycophants were all laughing uproariously by this point, finding his words very entertaining.
"It'll be a glorious day when I finally see you put in your place," he continued in his scratchy voice, "serving your betters while on your hands and knees. Or on your back. It's the only place a witch like you belongs. And as a pureblood wizard I'll put you there, sooner rather than later, and then I'll go after that mudblood bit—"
Malfoy didn't get any farther before Jasmine's last thread of self-control snapped. Her fist lashed out, striking square in the middle of his face and breaking his nose. Unlike when Hermione punched him the previous year, however, Jasmine followed through: when Malfoy tumbled backwards to the ground, Jasmine was right there with him. Kneeling over his chest, she grasped the front of his robes with her left hand and continued to punch him in his face with her right.
Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson were going to help, but what none of them had noticed was that their altercation had attracted the attention of those who had come to listen to Jasmine talk. They had all just stepped out from behind the rocks and were gaping in shock at Malfoy for what he was saying when Jasmine lashed out at him. As soon as the other three twitched, Fleur and Gabrielle surprised everyone by almost flying to Jasmine's aide.
Like Jasmine, they used physical force rather than magical spells: while Fleur kicked Goyle's legs out from under him and twisted his arm behind his back to hold him down, Gabrielle first struck Parkinson violently in the kidney, causing her to drop in pain; then kicked out with one foot to disarm Crabbe, who had actually managed to draw his wand. He had the good sense to put up both hands and step back — he may not have been able to recognize the signs of an enraged veela threatening to transform, but the fury on the blonde witch's face was more than enough incentive to not push his luck any further.
All the while, Jasmine was shouting at Malfoy, punctuating each word with another punch to his face: "You. Will. Not. Threaten. Me. Or. Hermione. Ever. Again!" The blonde Slytherin was so stunned at being physically attacked that he never tried to defend himself, not even to simply raise his hands to cover his face.
Before any of her friends could intervene to prevent her from doing permanent damage, she stopped on her own. Panting from the exertion, she pulled back on his robe to bring his bloody, swollen, crying face closer to hers. "Can you still hear me, ferret?" she asked in a low, menacing voice. When he nodded, she continued, "You just got off lucky. When your father tried to come after me, I burned him. Do you hear me? I burned him to the ground. Your pureblood daddy was screaming in agony from my flames when I last saw him."
Draco's eyes were half swollen shut by this point, but he managed to open them a little wider upon hearing what had happened to his father. He had been wondering why his father hadn't written to him and feared that Jasmine might be telling the truth. "If you touch me again, if you harm me or my friends again, if you even sneer in my direction again, I'll do far worse to you than I did to your cowardly, worthless, rapist father. Do you understand?" When Draco didn't nod fast enough, Jasmine shook him hard and asked again more loudly, "Do. You. Under. Stand?"
Draco finally nodded his head fervently, so Jasmine threw him back to the ground and stood up, glaring down at the sobbing boy. I'm not going to be a victim anymore, she vowed to herself. I'm not going to allow myself to be victimized by the likes of you ever again. No more!
Not feeling a whit of sympathy for Malfoy, she lifted one foot and stomped, hard, right between his legs before stalking off, anger and magic radiating out from her in all directions. You want to praise Voldemort? she thought harshly. Well, now you're just like your idol.
She didn't bother looking back at Draco, who was curled up in a fetal position, keening in pain and wondering if he'd ever father children now.
Jasmine never consciously noticed all of her friends watching in the background, shocked and speechless first by Malfoy's words and then by Jasmine's own violent response. She never noticed Hermione running to catch up after a few moments, much less Fleur and Gabrielle following and taking flanking positions on either side of them. The rest of their friends hadn't even had time to process what had just happened, but the witches at least all recognized the seriousness of the situation: Draco Malfoy had just threatened to rape Jasmine after praising his father's assault on her, and she, in turn, beat him bloody for it.
While Crabbe and Goyle helped Malfoy and Parkinson get back to the castle, everyone else gathered together to talk about what would happen next.
"Snape's going to demand that she be expelled," Daphne said.
"What?" Cedric asked. "She may have gone overboard, but he threatened to rape her — and just a couple of days after his father molested her and threatened her with rape as well! I'm not saying she was entirely in the right, but she was certainly justified in having reacted badly."
"Doesn't matter," Tracey responded, shaking her head, "Snape hates Potter and will use this to attack her. He wanted her expelled after she helped Malfoy by stunning him, remember. He protects Malfoy, letting him get away with anything. I've yet to see the headmaster step in to stop him, either."
"We can't let that happen," Padma insisted. "If prats like Malfoy think that they can get away with threatening witches with rape, it won't be long before they decide that they can get away with acting on their threats."
"On top of that," Neville added, "if Jasmine is expelled, she'll lose the protection of Hogwarts and have her wand snapped. How long do you think she'll last with V-V-Voldemort out there and no means to defend herself?"
"But what can we do?" Hannah asked.
"We don't let them sweep this under the rug, for one thing," Daphne asserted. "Jasmine may not have been entirely in the right, but it will be easy to spin this to ensure that she's the sympathetic victim. Portraying Malfoy as the aggressor won't take any work at all, not with his history of how he treats everyone else and Jasmine in particular."
"And if we start now," Tracey continued, "then by the time the teachers are even thinking about doing something, most of the school will have made up their minds that Jasmine was in the right and shouldn't be punished."
"You really don't think she should be punished at all?" Cedric asked a bit dubiously.
"After everything she's been through, and then facing rape threats?" Padma shot back at him. "He's lucky she didn't do worse!" Cedric winced at the rebuke.
Daphne put her hand on Padma's shoulder to calm her down, then turned to Cedric and said, "Honestly, I think it could go either way. What Padma said is right, but it's also true that she was pretty vicious — after all, Malfoy only used words, he didn't physically harm her. Tracey was stating a negotiating tactic: demand more than you really need so you have something to give up as part of a compromise."
"Ah," Viktor said, seeing her point. "So you vould not complain about some repercussions, but start out trying for none."
"Well, I would if I were doing the negotiating," Daphne said, "but I won't be. I'm talking about creating the conditions to make it easier for her to negotiate. If she has enough of the students on her side, the teachers will find it more difficult to be overly harsh. If the teachers know that most of the witches in the castle see things the same way Jasmine does, and may react in the same way if put in an even vaguely similar situation, they'll be more likely to find some means of making us feel safer rather than punishing us for reacting badly to threats."
"And they certainly won't be able to expel her," Tracey added, "Not unless they want a riot on their hands."
"Oh, yes," Padma said with a smirk. "I can just see Skeeter's headline: Witches Riot After Dumbledore Defends Rape."
"C'mon, girls, Jasmine needs us," Susan announced. "Let's go spread the word among our houses. Neville and Ron, you're honorary witches for the day, so you go with Ginny to inform Gryffindor." The poor boys' blushes threatened to overtake their entire bodies. Blaise glowered at her, daring her to say the same about him.
"But like we were already discussing," Daphne cautioned, "we don't tell everyone about the return of You-Know-Who. We can start telling those we trust soon enough, but for now we'll just stick to the story of dark wizards having kidnapped Jasmine. No one will have any trouble accepting that Lucius Malfoy was one of them — he and his family have long had a reputation for darker magic, even ignoring his connection with You-Know-Who."
"I'll go with Padma and talk to Cho," Cedric said. "That will help speed things up in Ravenclaw." This earned him a very thankful look from the younger witch next to him.
"I vill talk to some of my friends on the ship," Viktor said. "I am sure I can gather some support from Durmstrang if it is needed."
"Oh, that's a great idea," Daphne said quickly. "The professors really won't like the idea of bad international publicity!"
"I think we'll get that from Beauxbatons, too," Tracey added. "Fleur and Gabrielle looked... scary. I don't ever want to get on their bad side."
"Neville," Susan said, "before you join the others in Gryffindor, can you go let Jasmine and Hermione know what we're doing? This won't work if they're in the dark."
Neville gave the Hufflepuff witch a quick nod, then trotted off in the direction that he saw the other four go.
Saturday, March 20, 1995, Late Afternoon.
Jasmine had intended to walk around the Hogwarts grounds, but Hermione steered her girlfriend back into the castle instead. As much as Jasmine might have preferred wide-open spaces, Hermione felt that some close, physical contact might ultimately serve her better. Besides, she knew of a place in the castle with some very good memories.
With the two veela sisters silently accompanying them, they quickly made their way to the seventh floor, where Hermione requested the room the two of them had shared on New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day. The Room of Requirement complied, though with a slight change that Hermione didn't think much about at first: instead of a cozy love seat, the room provided a larger couch.
Hermione sat in the middle of the couch and pulled Jasmine down next to her. For several minutes Hermione just held her, stroking Jasmine's back and whispering into her hair. Suddenly, Hermione felt the couch shift as the weight of two people came down on either side of them, and she felt both herself and Jasmine be embraced by Fleur and Gabrielle.
For some reason that Hermione couldn't identify, she actually felt even better — happier, more comforted, and safer. Jasmine was no different, as she seemed to relax even deeper into Hermione's embrace. Both Gryffindor witches were at that moment more relaxed and content than they had been in a very long time. They didn't know why, but they weren't going to argue against it.
That didn't mean that Hermione didn't have questions, though. "I thought that you wouldn't feel comfortable going beyond holding hands with people like us, Fleur," Hermione said, "and even that was a bit of a stretch, given how little we knew each other."
"Oui," Fleur said. "I said zat close, physical contact requires love and affection because for us it eez an important expression of both." Fleur didn't elaborate further, she simply let those words hang in the air. Hermione wasn't sure what to think about that, but the fact that Gabrielle sounded like she was purring — actually purring — on Jasmine's other side spoke louder than any words ever could.
Not really knowing what to make of the veela cuddling on either side of them and suspecting that there was still a whole lot more to veela than she realized, she decided to focus on what she originally came in her for. Pulling the auburn-haired witch a bit tighter, she said gently, "I'm here for you, Jas. Do you want to talk about it?"
Although she hadn't been crying, Jasmine took a long, shuddering breath before speaking. "It's hard to explain. Originally, I just wanted to get away from him. I didn't say anything. Anything at all. I just pushed past and focused on getting my head cleared. Reliving all of those experiences like that... it wasn't easy, y'know? There were a couple of moments during my story when I felt like I was back in the graveyard again. I had to focus on my breathing to calm down."
Hermione nodded, having already guessed that from watching Jasmine's behavior during the meeting. Gabrielle and Fleur hugged the other two a bit tighter, feeling a little guilty at having been part of the reason for Jasmine reliving her awful experiences.
"Anyway," Jasmine continued, already feeling better from all the contact with the other three, "When he started mouthing off, I got annoyed. When he talked about what his father had done, I got concerned. I mean, what did his father tell him? What did Malfoy know of his father's plans? When he threatened to rape me, all I could think about was his father molesting me and threatening to rape me. But then…."
Jasmine paused for a long moment, prompting Hermione to ask, "Then what?"
"I didn't realize it, but I hadn't remembered everything that happened to me in the graveyard. There was something I had forgotten when I told my story first to Amelia Bones and then later to you guys." All three of the other witches stiffened slightly, fearful of what might be coming.
"Draco started including you in his threats," Jasmine explained. "That caused me to have a flashback to the graveyard when his father also started threatening you. I... I just lost control when Draco said those things. I attacked him, just like I started attacking Voldemort and his thugs when Voldemort threatened what he'd do to you." Gabrielle and Fleur gave each other a meaningful look.
"I saw clearly in my mind what he and his father intended," Jasmine continued, "I saw that they could have the power to do it, too, and that no one in the wizarding world would care enough to stop them. So I had to do it. I stopped his father the other night, and I stopped Draco earlier today. And quite frankly, I don't regret it, either. If the rest of wizarding Britain isn't going to protect us by stopping thugs like them, then I'm going to do it, and to hell with the magical world if they don't like the way I do it."
"Nor should you regret it," Hermione said, surprising herself at her quick defense of Jasmine's violence. "I think I'm starting to understand what you meant about people like Draco only stopping when they are forced to — when someone imposes such a price in terms of pain and humiliation that they give up. I don't like it, but I think I understand it."
Hermione sighed before continuing, "You probably went further than was necessary, but it's hardly surprising given the circumstances. No one in this school has done a single thing to teach him that such behavior is wrong. And now he's threatening to rape other students. How can any other reaction be expected? If our teachers had been doing their jobs the past four years, you'd never have been put in that situation to begin with! If they'd been doing their jobs, we wouldn't have to worry about going to class with students who regularly denigrate us and brag about wanting to attack us!"
Jasmine pulled back a little so she could look into Hermione's eyes, completely ignoring their audience. "You know that I'd never let anything happen to you, right?"
Hermione smiled indulgently and said, "Jasmine, you can't always be hovering around me to protect.…"
"No," Jasmine interrupted, "I'd never let anything happen to you. I swear to you, no amount of distance separating us and no bonds holding me down would ever keep me from you if you were in trouble. Nothing would ever stop me from striking down anyone who would dare hurt you."
Jasmine moved one hand up to cup the side of Hermione's face. "I love you, Hermione Granger, and no person, no magic, no circumstance will ever keep us apart." Jasmine then closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss Hermione as lovingly as she had ever done before.
With the strong emotions that had been rampaging through both witches all day, not to mention the oath that had just been made, it was inevitable that their bond would advance even further, creating pale, glowing magical lights that reached out and tried to blend with one another.
Gabrielle and Fleur never expected to be caught in such a situation again. This time, they both felt a pull on their magics as the glowing lights expanded to encompass them. Jasmine and Hermione also felt a pull, but they were far too engrossed in what they were doing to pay attention to anything else. Once they pulled apart, they realized that they had had an audience for their amorous activity.
"Uh..." Hermione tried to say, "I guess this might be a good time to mention that Jasmine and I are, um, a couple? And that we really, really don't want that getting around?"
"It eez not a problem," Fleur said, not releasing her embrace of the other two. "We already knew and 'aven't said anything."
"You... knew?" Jasmine asked, a bit bug-eyed. "But how?"
"Eet was obvious," Gabrielle said with a dismissive shrug. "We are French."
Not knowing what else to do, everyone hugged each other even tighter, trying to snuggle into the others as deeply as possible. It had been a long, difficult afternoon, and everyone's emotions were more than a little bit raw. Jasmine in particular was hurting, and each of the other three witches saw it as their responsibility to help her recover.
The fact that there were four now instead of simply two was a surprise to the two English witches, but the level of extra comfort and support this new development was mysteriously providing was too important to question.