Raylynx's POV
The morning after we returned to my house in London, Jasper and I stayed near each other, but we didn't speak very much, as both of us lost were in our own thoughts and memories.
The full moon came around only a few days later, and Jasper left me to return to his flat. He didn't come back until a few days later, at which point I was beyond worried. When he came back, I found myself scolding him.
"Mr. Jasper Riley," I said, irritated. I crossed my arms and glared at him.
"Ms. Raylynx Kingsley," he said, and gave a deep bow.
I scowled. "I know you don't want me to come over, but could you at least send a Patronus to let me know you're all right?"
"Says the girl who chases dragons by herself," he replied cheekily. But then he reached out and touched my cheek with the back of his finger, and said sincerely, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, darling. It's just that I got caught up. See, a very important letter came for me and my uncle." He held up an envelope that bore the Ministry of Magic seal on it.
My eyes widened. "Jasper, is that-?"
"Yes!" he said happily. "We've been approved!"
I gasped with excitement. Jasper and his uncle had managed to successfully register a new magical creature, which rarely ever happened anymore.
"The letter says that there will be a celebratory dinner, and that our award will be presented by none other than Newt Scamander himself," he said, awed. "I've always dreamed of meeting him."
"Congratulations!" I said, beaming at him. "Jasper, that's incredible. All of your hard work has paid off."
Still staring down at the letter, Jasper drew me in for an embrace with one arm and kissed me on the forehead. "You'll be my date, of course?" he said, and the way he said it made it something between a statement and a question.
"Only if we go as friends," I teased, reminding him of when we first tried to date.
Jasper pouted ever so slightly before he broke into a laugh. He put the letter on the counter down and murmured, "Friends who do this," and then he brought me closer to him and pressed his warm lips to my neck.
There was a soft knock in the doorway. "Are you ready to leave?" Jasper asked.
I finished putting in my earrings and stood up.
"Yes," I said.
My eyes fell on Jasper, who looked sharp and very beautiful in his suit. I normally wouldn't attribute the word "beautiful" to masculine beauty, just because that's traditionally not how the word "beautiful" is used, but Jasper was very beautiful. He wasn't like Sirius, who's frame filled every shirt he wore, and who just looked casually good in everything. In fact, Jasper in a loose shirt and pajama bottoms looked sort-of young and small, which was very adorable. But he looked very clean-cut in a suit. I think it was because of the way he styled his hair and the way he held himself, which looked a bit out-of-place and overly polished in casual dress, but fit quite well with formal wear.
I had opted to wear a long silk dress, which had a top half that was slightly cut out on the sides and was held back by tied ribbon at the back. It was sleeveless, and had a small diamond cutaway in the back.
"Lovely, as always," Jasper said. He stepped aside and swept his hand out and said, "After you, Miss."
I laughed lightly as I stepped out in front of him.
"You always laugh when I speak like that," he murmured, as he followed me.
"Because it's you at your best," I replied, half-teasing and half-serious.
Jasper smirked, and then he held out his arm to me. "Well then, shall we, Miss?"
I took his arm and we Disapparated together to the Ministry of Magic.
The celebratory dinner was a larger event than we thought, to the point where I realized that "dinner" was just a subtle word for "full-blown event". Nearly all of the Ministry families that were higher-ups or worked with magical beasts were there. I saw Barty Crouch among the crowd, and gave him a wide berth.
Jasper was immediately distracted by the many people congratulating him, and we ran into his uncle in the crowd. With the two of them together like that, the crowd around them was quite rabid. Jasper shot me an apologetic look as I kept getting pushed back and slowly was pushed away from him. I smiled and subtly waved at him as the growing crowd demanded his attention, taking him away from me.
A moment later, I found myself wishing that I had followed the crowd, because I started to hear whispers.
"Oh, Merlin's beard, isn't she that Kingsley girl? The one who got locked up for going on that poster tirade?"
"Yes, she's that mad witch who keeps going on about how Sirius Black is innocent."
"Well, why is he with her? Isn't she mentally unwell?"
"I heard he's a werewolf, so maybe that's why."
An announcement sounded out just then: "If everyone could please move to their assigned tables, we shall start the awards ceremony shortly."
I smiled when I saw that Jasper was sitting beside none other than his idol, Newt Scamander. They were talking together enthusiastically. I took my seat at a different table. I didn't recognize the others at my assigned table, as they all worked in the Magical Beasts department, but they ignored me and talked amongst themselves. The times they glanced at me did not convey any outstanding friendliness. I tried to keep my head held up high, but I had never been very good at pretending. Although, this is nothing compared to what I experienced during the TriWizard Tournament, I thought rather wryly.
I watched as Newt presented Jasper and his uncle, Godfrey, with the certification and award, and I clapped along with everyone else and sat and watched the presentation on the newly discovered creature.
Afterwards, Jasper slowly made his way through the crowd, gracefully accepting people's warm congratulations left and right until he finally reached me, standing towards the back.
"Congratulations," I said, a bit shyly. I could see people around us sort-of rustling and shifting, turning their heads to look at us. The news must have spread throughout the night that Jasper had brought a date, though why anyone cared was beyond my understanding.
"Thank you, darling," he said, beaming at me. "And I've just received even better news: I may be able to get my old job back. The Ministry's pleased with my work, and they want to associate themselves with my research again. And perhaps, if I can successfully reinstate myself as a trustworthy agent, I could clear Gregory's name as well."
"Jasper, that's wonderful!"
"It is, except- well, if I go undercover again, it means that there will be periods of time when we'll have to be apart, when I can't see you very much."
"We'll figure it out," I promised.
He stepped towards me, closing the space between us, but I subtly shifted back.
Unfortunately, it was not subtle enough. Jasper asked me, "What is it?"
"It's just that… You know, everyone thinks you're crazy, for being with me," I informed him.
Jasper half-smiled and shook his head exasperatedly. "Let them think whatever they want. I couldn't care less, darling," he said, and stepped closer to me, and this time, he slid his arm around my waist. I could feel his hand pressing against my back. His fingers slipped slightly over the small cutout on the back of my dress, and I felt his warm fingertips gently graze over my bare skin. Jasper pulled me closer to him and bending down to kiss my cheek, he murmured into my ear, "I wish they would all go away, so I could have you to myself."
I drew back from him and gently smoothed out his tie, which had gotten a bit twisted as he embraced me. "You do have me all to yourself," I reminded him.
His gaze suddenly turned from playful to serious. He bent his head down slightly to catch my lips in a kiss that was deeper than usual. His arms encircled my waist and he pulled me tight against him.
"Jasper," I said, laughing a little breathlessly, as I pulled back from him. I put my hand on his face and murmured, "There are people here, and you're the guest of honor."
"Well, the guest of honor would like to escape this restrained event, and take you somewhere else."
"But it's your night," I replied. "This is a huge, once-in-a-lifetime honor, Jasper. You should celebrate, and enjoy it to the fullest."
Jasper sighed, but he nodded. "All right, I'll make the rounds. Stay here, and wait for me, please."
He went and true to his word, shook hands and met with everyone who wanted to be acknowledged by him. He was so composed. Just watching him interact with people, and seeing how graciously he greeted them, and how easily he fell into conversation with them, was quite awe-inspiring for someone like me, who, while not shy, struggled to get past that first barrier of awkwardness in getting to actually know the person. But only because I knew Jasper could I see the tiniest hint of impatience as he shook people's hands and chatted with them.
In the silence, the swell of hushed but not actually quiet murmuring rose up around me again.
"So, has she finally given up on Sirius Black?"
"No, I hear she still writes for him these days. Although Xenophilius is the only one who'll take a chance on her writing anymore."
"Well, nothing in the Quibbler's worth reading. I don't know what she's on about. It's a shame she's a professor at Hogwarts."
"I know. I wouldn't let my kids learn from her."
"All right." Jasper appeared from the crowd. "I've done the best I can, I think. My wrist has aged about thirty years from shaking so many hands."
"What about your uncle?" I asked.
"He says he'll stay behind a bit. I think he can't wait for me to go home and have the spotlight to himself," Jasper said, and laughed good-naturedly. He held out his hand to me. "Let's go home."
I took it and we walked out of the Ministry together.
As we walked up to the front door of my house, Jasper said, "I never imagined I'd get to finally thank my uncle by helping him to accomplish his lifelong dream of discovering a new creature, and I never thought I'd meet Newt Scamander and have him praise my work, and I never thought I'd have somebody by my side to celebrate it."
I turned around and softly kissed his cheek.
I felt him turn his head slightly, and I leaned back against his shoulder to kiss his lips.
I felt his hands slide down my shoulders and my hips onto my thighs.
"Wait, Jasper," I said, pulling away. "I have to open the door."
He let me reach inside my cloak for my wand for a moment, but when I fumbled a little, he sighed, and then he pressed into me from behind, pushing me against the door to kiss my neck again.
"Wait," I said again, laughing. I pulled out my wand and managed to unlock the front door.
We spilled over into the hallway, and he pinned me to the wall and kissed me.
Through kisses, I breathed out, "Jasper- excuse me- the door's- still open."
Still keeping me pinned to the wall, he reached out with one hand and shoved the door shut impatiently.
"Thank you," I murmured, and leaned in to kiss him back.
But suddenly, he drew away and said, confused, "Did you just say 'excuse me, the door's still open'?"
I paused, thinking back. "I guess I did," I replied.
"You said 'excuse me', even though we're close enough that I have you pinned to a wall like this?"
I flushed. "Don't say it that way. Besides, I blurt things out when I'm nervous. You know that."
"Well, you don't get to tease me about the way I speak anymore," Jasper said, smirking.
Then, he picked me up suddenly and carried me to the bed in the master bedroom, which is where we slept if he happened to be over. He gently placed me down onto the bed, but then kissed me hard enough that I sank back into the pillows slightly. His hands slid up my legs, pushing up my dress, and my hands pulled at his tie and when he was close enough, gripped at his hair. The night slowly became a blur of sensations and emotions.
I remember wanting to feel the heat of his body against me, bare, and I remember his hands sliding up my exposed back before tracing the curves of my body and then gripping my waist tightly. I remember that at some point I was gripping and holding onto his shoulders. I remember his lips pressed against my neck, and his breath hot against my skin as he breathed out hard and ragged, and my lips parted, panting and letting out soft noises as he took me, but other than these flashes of tension and pleasure here and there, it was difficult to remember exactly what happened.
I felt something soft press against my cheek. I mumbled something and turned over in bed.
"Come again?" someone asked.
"I don't like sun… I won't get…up…"
"You won't what?"
I heard a soft, fondly exasperated laugh beside me.
"Jasper?" I murmured.
"Yes?"
Eyes still closed, I blindly reached my hand out to him. He took it, intertwining our fingers together. He kissed the back of my hand and said, "How are you feeling?"
I thought about this. Then, I replied truthfully, "Hungry."
I felt his lips curve into an amused smile against my hand.
"I'll make us some breakfast," he said, and I felt him shift as he left the bed.
I dozed off for about ten more minutes before I turned over in bed and opened my eyes. I paused as I realized what was coming into focus in my vision. There was a familiar gold ring on a chain... and it was on the nightstand. It hit me. He took if off. I lay there for a moment, blinking, but I didn't feel comfortable staring at Jasper's necklace any longer, so I finally got myself out of bed and washed up.
I was headed towards the kitchen when I heard the doorbell ring. I stopped, and then headed towards the front door instead. I peered through the peephole and saw a bowler hat. I frowned. It looked like a Ministry worker, but I wasn't sure who. I opened the door, and then immediately screamed as three Ministry wizards shot spells directly at me. Ropes appeared, tying my hands and feet, and a thick white strip of cloth covered my mouth, silencing me. I writhed on the ground, but one of the men leapt forward and grabbed me. I tried to kick at him with both of my feet, but another man pinned me down and together, they hoisted me up.
Just then, Jasper appeared in the hallway. "Raylynx!" he shouted. "What are you-?"
"In the name of the Ministry of Magic, stand down!" the man in the bowler hat, who I now recognized as Barty Crouch, yelled at Jasper. Then, he turned to the men who were holding me still. "Take her away immediately!"
Ignoring Crouch's order, Jasper raced forward, but Barty raised his wand. In the meantime, the man holding my feet dropped me, and the other man holding me up Disapparated, taking me with him.
I was thrown into a Ministry cell. They didn't take off the ropes or the cloth. I had to lay still, staring at the cold grey wall of the cell. I tried to nonverbally magic my way out of the ropes, but I didn't have my wand, and besides, the Ministry cells had magical spells that prevented its prisoners from exercising such magic.
Only a few minutes later, however, Barty Crouch, Dolores Umbridge, Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Amelia Bones filed into my cell. Kingsley gently sat me up. Behind him, Umbridge waved her wand and the cloth over my mouth disappeared.
"How dare you-?" I began, but Umbridge shrieked, "Silence!"
"Did you help Sirius Black? Did you?" Barty shouted at me.
I frowned, bewildered. "Help Sirius Black?" I repeated, not understanding what Crouch was saying.
"You helped Sirius Black to escape Azkaban last night, didn't you?" Umbridge hissed at me.
My jaw dropped. I was stunned into complete silence. Sirius… escaped Azkaban?
My eyes immediately went to Moody, who gave a subtle and disgruntled nod. My heart stopped. Sirius escaped Azkaban. He's out in the world again.
Suddenly, a sharp slap across my face jarringly brought me back to reality.
"Answer the question!" Umbridge demanded shrilly. "Bartemius saw you at the Ministry last night, at the dinner. You used your chance to slip away and set up the escape then, didn't you?"
I glared up at her, unwilling to give her anything.
Her upper lip curled at my defiant gaze and she said, "Crouch, the Veritaserum."
Barty swiftly stepped forward. I saw Moody's eye flicker to me, and Kingsley shifted, uncomfortable with the illegal use of unregulated Veritaserum.
"Madame Undersecretary," Amelia protested, aghast, "the use of Veritaserum in the case is completely-"
"This is a matter of national security!" Umbridge snapped. "Would you care to be responsible for another Muggle massacre, Bones? For that is what we'll have if Sirius Black is not captured immediately."
Amelia fell silent, and Barty and Umbridge approached me with a tiny glass bottle of clear liquid. I shut my mouth, but Barty force-fed it to me. The first time he poured some of the liquid into my mouth, I spat it out into Umbridge's face, which earned me another hard slap. Amelia's eyes glittered with a hard look as she watched Umbridge hit me.
The next time, Barty closed his hand over my mouth and pushed my chin up, forcing me to swallow. The effect was instantaneous. Immediately, I felt the Potion produce a strange fog over the part of my brain that was capable of deceit and disguise, and it activated the part of my brain that spoke what I believed to be the truth. Resist it, I told myself, but the voice was weak. I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to clear my mind, but the feeling only got stronger.
"Now," Umbridge said, "answer the question. Did you help Sirius Black to escape Azkaban?"
"No," I replied through gritted teeth.
Umbridge paused, startled. She had been so sure that I had been involved.
"Well, did you at least know that Sirius Black would be escaping from Azkaban last night?" she pressed.
"No."
"When was the first time you heard about his escape?" Barty asked, crossing his arms.
"Just now. From you," I muttered. My head jerked to the side erratically as I struggled to keep my mind clear, but I was failing.
"Were you in touch with Sirius Black before his arrest twelve years ago?" Barty questioned.
I bit down on my tongue so hard I tasted blood.
"Barty," Mad-Eye suddenly barked out, "that kind-of question is too vague, man. You won't get anything useful." I knew that Mad-Eye was trying to prevent any hint of the Order of the Phoenix from coming out in front of Crouch and Umbridge. Barty shot Mad-Eye a disgruntled look, but he fell silent.
"I will ask you for the last time," Umbridge said, her hands curled up in fists. "Did you or did you not somehow aid or assist Sirius Black in his escape of Azkaban?"
Keep you mouth shut. Keep it-
"I did not!" The words burst out of me, and I breathed hard, the edges of my lips tinted crimson with blood.
"There," Amelia said stoutly, stepping forward and putting herself between me and the others. "That should be enough for you, Madame Undersecretary."
"I must report to Fudge at once," Crouch muttered, and he left the room.
Umbridge glared at Amelia for a long moment, but then, she too, left. As she did, she turned to Mad-Eye and said, "I expect that you will clean up this absurd mess shortly, Moody."
Moody gave her a nod and putting his hand on Kingsley's shoulder, the both of them walked out, so as not to look partial to me and therefore suspicious.
Amelia knelt down and pulled out her wand. Within a few seconds, the ropes tying me up had disappeared.
"Raylynx," she said gently, "are you all right? That must have been quite a shock for you."
I grabbed the front of her robes. Amelia started, and her hands covered mine, but she made no move to push me away.
"Is it true?" I said desperately. "Did Sirius Black truly escape from Azkaban?"
Amelia nodded.
"How?" I asked.
She shook her head. "No one knows. That's why the Ministry's in such a frenzy."
Amelia looked down at me, and my expression, wild and desperate, led her to ask, "Raylynx, you were friends with Sirius at Hogwarts, weren't you? You knew him well, didn't you?"
The Veritaserum still running through my mind pushed me to answer far more truthfully than I would ever have allowed myself to answer.
"Yes," I confessed, "I loved him."
Jasper was running through the halls of the Ministry, trying to find my cell, when suddenly an announcement blared out in the hallways: "All Aurors, please report to duty immediately. Hunt down the escaped fugitive. Stay on guard at all times. Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban."
Jasper stopped in his tracks. Usually, whenever he made a sudden movement like this, his necklace would jangle ever so slightly as the golden ring clinked against the chain. But today, there was only silence as the announcing voice broadcasted the message: "Aurors, detain the fugitive immediately. Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban."
