The chill of the November air softly blowing from the balcony door drew Remus from his dreams. It caught him off guard, and he sat bolt upright in the bed, blinking into the waning moonlight to find his bed was empty; neither his wife nor her cat were next to them as they had been when he'd fallen asleep.
He moved from the bed and padded over the the balcony, taking in the sight of Jasmine, stooped over a notebook. Monty was standing dutifully at her side, perched on the railing and chirping as he looked up to the stars.
"What on earth are you two doing?" He ask gently, as to not scare either of them, lest either Monty fall nor be knocked from his ledge.
"Consulting the stars on a dream." Jasmine answered seriously, not turning around from her writing.
"Oh?" Remus pressed, coming on out to the balcony. "And what do they have to allow, the stars?"
"Do not mock me." Jasmine snapped, whipping her head around to meet her husband's eyes.
"You're right. I apologize." Remus sighed, bowing his head slightly. "Please tell me what's going on?"
Jasmine turned back to the sky, her left hand moving up to stroke Monty between the ears as he, too, gazed upward.
"I have to go see Petunia." She said finally.
"What?" Remus sputtered. "Why?"
"Because I just do. Because she's my sister, and because I think, or rather, Harry thinks, that Vernon told her I died. I think, maybe, if we can reconnect, we can start to mend our family." Jasmine said, moving the hair that the wind had whipped in her face away.
"Is that safe?" Remus ask. "I mean, there were wards put on that house."
"That's what the fox is for, remember?" Jasmine reminded him. Remus had to give her that, her animagus was how she'd kept tabs on Harry since before they'd gotten together, and she'd easily slipped past the wards undetected as herself in her fox form.
"I suppose so." Remus nodded again.
"Well, good. Because I was going in the morning either way." Jasmine said, snapping her astronomy notebook shut and moving past him, Monty hot on her heels.
"Did I do something to upset you?" Remus ask, shutting the balcony door behind him as he followed her back into the bedroom.
"I know you don't believe in astronomy, nor divination." Jasmine sighed, "But you don't have to be so condescending about it. I honestly don't understand- Not believing Sybil is one thing, but seeing that I have gotten several accurate reads over the years we've been together, I cannot understand why you keep that attitude."
"I-" Remus started to defend himself, then he closed his mouth. He moved over to his side of the bed and sat down. "I'm sorry." He apologized again. "I hope everything goes well tomorrow. I'd offer to go with you, but I have a feeling-"
"I need to do this alone, yeah." Jasmine nodded, running her hands over her face. "I'm going to wait until Vernon leaves for work and then go and see her."
"Alright." Remus nodded. "Then try to get back to sleep so you are at your best, then." He suggested. Jasmine nodded, and crawled into the bed, keeping to her side, still a bit upset. Monty, on queue as always, jumped up and curled up between them, the ever vigilant century. Remus shook his head but also lay back into the pillows, kicking himself for making Jasmine upset when she had so many heavy things on her mind.
The morning wind brought and even colder bite, and even saw a few snow flurries flying as Jasmine stepped out of her cab a block and a half from her sister's home. She knew this area well, and ducked down behind a church that had a shed which she could transform herself into a fox and then trot her way through the yards of the housing development until she came to Number 4 Privet Drive.
As Jasmine ducked into Petunia's rosebushes, Vernon came out the door, noisily jangling his keys as he fumbled with them along with his briefcase and lunch pail. He was grumbling to himself about the winter creeping in on autumn too soon, and he slid into his car in a graceless fashion that saw the entire automobile shift slightly on its axles due to his weight. Jasmine crept further back against the fence, pressing her body low as to avoid being seen as he backed the car down the driveway and pulled off to head to work.
Jasmine felt as if her heart was in her throat, beating a million miles an hour. It was the only sound her ears could detect. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing, taking a long few moments to compose herself. She wanted to test the wards. See if she could approach her sister as herself, rather than try to get her to follow a random fox out into the back garden. She had a plan for both, however, just in case.
If Harry meeting her had, in fact, broken the wards, she should be able to step out of these bushes as herself. If not, she'd have to run up as a fox, scratch at the door, and hope Petunia wouldn't throw something at her.
Cautiously, Jasmine transformed herself, still on the edge of the garden. She inched a foot out of the bushes, and found that there was no longer a magical barrier barring her from the property. She took another step out of the bushes, stopped to straighten out her clothes, then she moved on down the pathway to the front door. She stood before it for a moment, hand raised to rap on the door, but she couldn't make herself do it for a moment.
The wind whipped harder, blowing some of her loose hair into her face, and she shivered, finally deciding to knock.
Three sharp knocks.
Nothing.
Jasmine waited a moment, then knocked again.
This time, she heard Petunia's voice calling from what sounded like upstairs. 'Coming!' She could hear her sister call.
Jasmine stepped back, wrapping her arm around herself in both a nervous fashion and to fight off the cold wind. Her heart was racing.
For a split second, Jasmine thought about running. Just disapperating from the spot, leaving Petunia confused as to who had been knocking at her door; She wouldn't get the chance to, however, because just as Jasmine's resolve faltered, the door swung open.
For the first time since their sister's funeral, Jasmine and Petunia were face to face.
Petunia must have been still enjoying her morning coffee, because upon seeing Jasmine, the mug in her hand smashed to the floor, but she'd not bothered to react to the break or the splatter of hot liquid on her legs. Petunia didn't move or blink at all, Jasmine wasn't even sure she was breathing until the force of Petunia slamming into her, knocking the wind from her own lungs, brought her back to earth. Her sister, who she'd missed all these years, who she'd thought hated her all this time- was hugging her tightly.
"I can't believe this." Petunia said in a small voice. Jasmine remained stiff against her embrace, not sure whether she should hug her back or not.
"Hello Tunie", Jasmine said finally, pulling away to face her sister once again. She took a moment to look at how much the elder woman had changed, the frown lines and age in her face. "Can we talk?"
"Of course. Come in, please..." Petunia ushered her inside and shut the door behind them. Jasmine took her wand from her hair and repaired the smashed mug, cleaning the spilled coffee in the process. She did not miss the slightly sour look on her sister's face as she did this, but she simply handed the cup to Petunia without a word.
"I just can't believe you're here..." Petunia breathed again. "You're- Vernon said they told him you'd died. I thought you were gone. I mourned you gone."
"You didn't come to the hospital." Jasmine replied sadly. "If you'd came to claim my body, you'd seen he had lied to you. I was nearly dead, but not quite. Ended up pulling through."
Petunia led her into the sitting room, and had sat down in an armchair, just looking at her younger sister. Jasmine stood by awkwardly, ignoring Petunia when she gestured for her to sit.
"I know this won't be enough of an excuse, but I just didn't think I had it in me to bury my other little sister. Vernon told me that the hospital authorities had said if I didn't come that you'd be turned over to friends." She explained. Jasmine did her best to keep her facial expression neutral.
"I'm not here about any of that, Petunia." Jasmine replied calmly. "I'm here about Harry."
The light and excitement that had come upon Petunia when she saw her little sister again faded just as quickly at the mention of their nephew.
"Harry?" Petunia repeated. "What about Harry?"
"What you must not know," Jasmine began, clearing her throat, "Is that while I was 'dead' all these years, I was still petitioning the Ministry of Magic to give me Harry. I know as well as you he'd be better off with me. Of course, I never could've guessed just how poorly you would treat our sister's only son."
"What do you know of what we've done for Harry?" Petunia stood now, angry.
"I met him, Petunia. My husband works at Hogwarts. I know just how much you've done alright." Jasmine narrowed her eyes. "He is all that is left of her, and you kept him in a closet for a DECADE." Her voice raised.
"I-" Petunia opened her mouth, but then knew better and stepped back. "Vernon makes the rules."
"We were not raised to answer to any man." Jasmine snorted. "Even I remember that, and I hardly had any time with our parents."
"Well, obviously you're not here to see me because you missed your sister, so let's cut to the point, hmm?" Petunia sneered now. Jasmine wanted to be hurt, but she'd knew better than to hope her sister would truly be happy to see her, which is why she'd not bothered to let her guard down.
"Give him to me." Jasmine waved her hand, and custody papers appeared in her hand. "Ministry can butt out, let us just handle this between you and me."
"Why?" Petunia pressed.
"Why wouldn't you?" Jasmine bit back. "State payments for fostering? Keep them. I don't care."
"Fine I-" Petunia stopped. "I need to ask Vernon."
"This offer is only good right now. Otherwise, I will take other legal action. I'm sure Vernon would love to pay out some legal fees." Jasmine said, holding the forms out.
"Fine." Petunia snatched the papers from Jasmine's outstretched hand. She scribbled her name down on each line marked for her with an 'x' then thrust them back over to her. "Get out, and don't bother trying to bring him back."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Jasmine smiled. "I'll leave you to your bliss here, sister. Good to see you again." Jasmine smiled even wider and disapperated straight out of Petunia's sitting room.