Chapter 19: Chapter 19Summary:Time for a friendly somewhat threatening chat...
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 19
Two weeks had passed and so had their first quidditch game against Slytherin. Suffice to say, they won with ease. The Slytherin seeker had been utter rubbish, no doubt hoping that all the hype that the Marauders had pushed about Jasmine was false. They had been sadly mistaken. Jasmine had out flown the over grown buffoon with ease and with the rune under her eye, she was able to dodge the oncoming bludgers without a problem. It almost seemed like she had eyes on the back of her head…or so the commentators had mentioned, more than once.
Not like they could prove anything. Most people just thought that the mark under her eye was an oddly shaped birthmark.
Gryffindor was still bragging about the win.
Over a week later.
Jasmine and Lily tended to complain about it behind closed doors or Jasmine did quietly to herself between planning sessions. She had so much to before the world attempted to end itself again. She still had to destroy the diadem in the Room of Requirement and potentially slay a basilisk in the basement. Jasmine was hoping that she could talk the creature out of its insanity, but there was a lot of risk going down there alone and reasoning with a giant mass murdering snake.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the Common Room's sudden spike in volume thanks to two of the seventh-year chasers going over the game again as they walked through the portrait hole.
"You'd think they'd come up with something better to talk about by now," Jasmine grumbled, her hair in disarray after another seventh year had ruffled her hair in "thanks" for giving them the upper hand for the Quidditch Cup as he passed her. It had become a game amongst the gustier boys in the dorm to attempt to touch her. Even if it was just ruffling her hair a bit.
Ugh.
Jasmine stood up, collecting her school books, and extra notes on some of the families she needed to send letters to and formal alliances that she needed to get updates on and neatly packed them into her shoulder bag.
She had just about made it to freedom before her name was called.
Jasmine bit back a groan.
"Jazz! Jaa-zzz!" Sirius' obnoxious voice whined from near the fire. That was Sirius' needy voice and Jasmine really didn't want to have to deal with clingy Sirius Black. He could be really annoying when he acted like this.
Jasmine stopped and turned, seeing her friend sitting up-side-down on one of the armchairs, his shaggy hair brushing the floor. James and Remus were nowhere in sight. Jasmine knew that Remus was at a prefect meeting and James was more than likely in serving some kind of detention. The Professors rarely gave Sirius and James detentions on the same day, just to avoid them doing something stupid together.
His eyes seemed a little glazed and she wondered how long he had been in that position. If he passed out, she didn't want to be the person that she was going to have to drag him to Madam Pomfrey. Sirius grinned when he noticed she was staring at him and beckoned her over with a flirtatious bending of his pointer finger.
She let out a long-suffering sigh, catching the attention of most of the common room by now. There were already rumors floating around the castle that they were dating. They did nothing to contradict it. It was a fun game to play and she really hadn't had a lot of time in any life to play around. Jasmine could admit that to outsiders it looked like they were dating, courting or whatever it is purebloods did with one another.
But, they couldn't be farther from the truth. Sirius was a touchy-feely person and showed his affection through man handling people. Jasmine was someone that he cared about, just like James and Remus and he treated her no different than any of his other best mates. So, more often than not, he had his arms slung over her shoulder, put his head close to hers when he was talking about a prank or even just dozing off against her leg or side when she was studying with Remus and they would literally bore him to sleep.
Nothing romantic had happened between the two of them. Jasmine hadn't really been thinking too far ahead into her life to even contemplate planning for a family. She'd have to eventually, but right now, she was still a kid, and as much as she enjoyed playing politics, she didn't want a husband until she had a steady foothold into the ministry…she didn't want any potential suitors attempting to take her title and Wizengamot seats. Those were hers and would remain so until they pried it from her cold dead hands.
But, then there were moments like this, when Sirius would be flirty and stupid and Jasmine would have to decide whether or not to engage him in whatever weird conversation he was about to start.
Today, with everyone watching them and with Sirius' grey eyes a bit dimmer than usual, she decided to that she'd play along. She needed to talk with him anyway. Jasmine had promised Regulus to discuss meeting with their father and getting Sirius back into the family or at least having him acknowledge that he's the rightful heir to the Black family. Even if that means staying away from the house and his mother to do so.
"Yes, Sirius?" Jasmine eventually answered as she made her way over to the chair next to him, depositing her bag right next to his face.
His nose crinkled as he swung himself upright fast enough to make him dizzy. The bastard didn't even waver. "When was the last time you cleaned that bag? It smells like Peter after he's skipped washing for a few days."
"I'll make sure to clean my bag and save your delicate nose the misfortune of smelling it again," Jasmine quipped back and Sirius grinned, some of the light returning to his face as well as the blood going back to all his proper organs and out of his head. "Did you need me for something?"
He shook his head and dramatically flung himself to lay across not only his chair, but her own as well. Jasmine's face heated up and her fists clenched. This was taking things a little bit too far.
The people in the common room began to clear out, not wanting to watch what was about to happen. Everyone knew that Jasmine had a temper, and after Brightbark had so lovingly gabbed about where she'd come from, people had been walking on eggshells around her.
Rumor had it that she murdered over two dozen death eaters, and her captors before the Aurors had to come in and restrain her.
Idiots.
It had only been six Death Eaters and four patrons…and it had been self-defense.
"You have ten seconds to get off my lap before I remove your favorite body part, Heir Black," Jasmine purred dangerously as she dragged a perfectly filed nail down his face, ending at the base of his throat.
The dog animagus shot back up rather quickly one hand covering his hair and the other his family jewels. Someone was unsure of himself today.
"You're in an awfully threatening mood this evening," Sirius grumbled, arms crossed, bottom lip pursed in a pout, the epidemy of an affronted heir.
"Yes, well, I was doing something before you called me over and then cleared the common room out. If you just wanted to have some fun, that's fine, but I really need to get going," she told him, attempting to push herself up and off of the chair. Sirius put a hand on her arm to stop her.
Sirius waved his wand a few times, putting up multiple silencing and monitoring charms. "Jazz…I heard from a friend that you spoke to my brother a few weeks ago. I just wanted to make sure that what they were saying wasn't true."
"And what did your friend think they heard?" Jasmine asked with a raised eyebrow. Honestly, if this was even remotely close to the conversation that she had with Regulus she'd be surprised.
"That you're going to be working with him and my father to force me back home," he replied, grey eye burning. Jasmine couldn't help, but feel like punching the student that had spied on her. That wasn't what Regulus had asked of her, it was twisted version of it. She was going to need to tread carefully with this conversation, otherwise she could lose Sirius as a friend. She needed allies and not enemies.
"Well, your friend lied to you. While I did speak to your brother, it wasn't some plot to bring you back home. Your father has apparently been trying to contact you through a letter since the summer. Regulus claims that you never replied to them-"
Sirius' eye twitched, giving her the confirmation that she needed to know that he had indeed burned all the letters. "From what I understand, and from what your brother told me, your father had no idea what your mother was doing while he wasn't watching and is sorry for what happened to you while he was away on business. He hasn't disowned you and still wants you to be his rightful heir."
"And you believed that bullshite?" Sirius hissed, his grip on her arm painful. He was going to bruise her if he wasn't careful.
"Your brother seemed sincere. He sought me out and asked for help. He was going through a neutral house to attempt to rebuild his house. It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened. Do you really think that I would agree to help if they were going to make you go back to your mother? After everything that I've told you and James about my life before I came to England, did you really think that I would want you to reenter an abusive home?" Jasmine replied, tugging her arm out of his loosening grip.
Did he really think so little of her?
His hands went limp and he turned away from her for a moment and wiped at his face with his left sleeve.
"Look, Jazz, you don't know my family. They're a bunch of pricks that think that they can ask anything of anybody. I have a feeling that my father is just using you to try and get to me," he warned, his hand resting on hers.
Jasmine didn't take the gesture as comfort. "Sirius, that's exactly what he's doing, but it doesn't need to be for nefarious purposes. You have a family member that is actively trying to apologize to you. Or, at least, it seems like he's trying to say he's sorry. I'd do anything to tell my father that I care about him one more time," Jasmine explained, hoping that she was reaching Sirius in some way. He was stubborn, but she knew if Sirius became the Heir the Black family needs then he can help her reshape history.
Sirius eyes shut, and his lips pressed tightly together as he came up with his answer. "You don't know my family, so stay out of my business."
Jasmine's fists clenched. "Your family reached out to me. What was I supposed to do?" She snapped, ready for the fight that was about to ensue.
Sirius' eyes shot open a snarl on his lips. "You were supposed to walk away and ignore them. My family is dark Jasmine. As dark as they come and you were trying to make a deal with them about me? Some friend you are going behind my back! Peter was right to tell me about your little meeting!"
Jasmine slapped him, loud enough that a crack echoed around them in their silent bubble. Sirius looked shocked and Jasmine was shaking. Peter…how dare he try and ruin her friendship with Sirius.
She thought that Sirius knew her better than that, but he knew Peter longer. It would be easy to convince him that Jasmine was plotting against him. Sirius had always been the paranoid sort.
"You bloody prat! Will you listen to a word that I'm saying before you write me off as a traitor! Your brother came to me asking for help! I didn't even know who he was until he introduced himself! Don't you go, getting on your high horse and accuse me of trying to manipulate you! Your brother is worried about you! The house of Black can't continue down the path without an heir and despite everything, you're the fucking heir to your house! So, I'm sorry if I spoke to your brother without knowing it wasn't allowed, but last time I checked, you didn't own me! Stop acting like an arrogant prat!" She shouted, her breath coming out in pants and her eyes watering slightly around the edges.
She needed to leave, before she actually started to cry. She might have just ruined her friendship with Sirius. Jasmine grabbed her bag and rushed out of the common room, Sirius calling after her.
Notes:Hope you enjoyed! Found a small pocket of time to post.
Thanks for the comments and kudos. You guys are great.
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 20: Chapter 20Summary:We have some bonding between characters. =)
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 20
Jasmine wasn't proud of it, but she ran. It was easy to avoid Peeves and Filch. All of the ghosts gave her a wide berth and she ended up in small alcove on the other side of the school. It was a lovely space with wide windows facing the forest. She was covered by thick velvet curtains, so no one could see her.
Not too many people knew about it, no matter the life she lived. She had found this spot as Harriet a few lives ago and always came here when she needed a good cry.
As Harriet she had needed to come here often. The title of Master of Death was a lonely one. She had no one to share her burden with and saving the world alone was so difficult. Occasionally, she would share her story with close friends, but she had lifetimes of practice with her friends from the nineties, she didn't know anyone here. She only had a faint idea of who she could really trust and who she couldn't. She was too old to be homesick, but here she was crying her eyes out over friends she would never have with her again.
She was going to need to contact Regulus and tell him that Sirius wasn't going to be speaking to his family any time soon. She had failed. The entire future could be ruined. More importantly, a relationship that she had grown to care for may have been fractured beyond repair.
Jasmine had physically hit Sirius. She could still feel the slight sting from it on the tips of her fingers. What kind of monster was she turning into? Had she really ruined the timeline and the future in the span of ten minutes? What if she began splitting the Marauders up? What if the people she knew in the future were never even born because of her meddling? She felt herself heave up another quiet string of sobs.
"Jasmine? Is that you? Are you crying?" A quiet voice asked from the hallway. It was laced with genuine concern. Remus was here, of course he was. James was probably consoling Sirius and Remus had been sent to find her.
She sniffled and rubbed at her eyes. "Remus? What are you doing here?"
"I'm on patrol, but I heard someone crying," he replied as he entered the alcove and took in the pitiful sight before him. Jasmine knew she wasn't a graceful crier, no one really was, except a few pureblood witches she'd known in past lives. She'd never mastered that. Her face was red and her eyes were puffy. There had to be tear tracks down her cheeks. Thank Merlin her nose wasn't running uncontrollably, or this would be mortifying.
"I'll be fine," she said, attempting to give him a wobbly smile, but it quivered enough that she just pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face from him.
"Hey, none of that," Remus chided, sitting next to her and disentangling her limbs so that she was more less sitting side by side next to him, his arm around her shoulders. A tentative hug. It felt nice. "So, who am I hexing?"
Jasmine choked, "What?"
She felt him tighten his grip around her shoulder and chuckle a little bit. "Who I am hexing for hurting you?" He asked again.
Jasmine sighed, letting out a shuddering breath. Remus waited for her to collect herself. He just rubbed her right arm encouragingly. "Sirius and I got into a fight. We both said some things that we shouldn't have, and I might have ruined everything. I haven't had many friends over the years and I cherish all of the relationships that I make. I just tend to ruin everything I touch," she replied eventually, feeling her traitorous eyes beginning to water again.
She felt Remus tense up the mention of his friend. There was a long pause in conversation as the werewolf chose his words carefully. "Padfoot is a hard person to get along with. He's passionate, loyal and stupidly brave, but he's stubborn to a fault and obnoxious. I'm surprised that you hadn't fought with him yet. Prongs is probably tearing into him for upsetting you if he found out."
"Are you going to hex Sirius for me?" Jasmine eventually asked, a small grin crawling its way up her scarred face.
A small breathy laugh escaped Remus. "I just might. He wouldn't expect it since he thinks I'm on patrol. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if James gets to him first."
At the reminder of him being on patrol, Jasmine pulls away from him for a moment. "Shouldn't you be patrolling the halls? I don't want you to get in trouble on my account," she also didn't need the Headmaster or any other professor thinking that she was causing the prefects to not do their jobs correctly.
Remus rolled his nearly glowing amber eyes, "Hogwarts isn't going to fall apart without me watching the most abandoned wing in the school for one night."
"What if the ghosts are throwing a party down the hall or something…"
"Then someone else will stumble upon the mess tomorrow. Right now, you're the priority," he told her putting some space between them as he rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a fully wrapped chocolate bar. He held it out to her with a full smile on his face and Jasmine remembered Sirius telling her in multiple past lives how special you had to be to get a bar of chocolate from Remus' personal stash that he kept on him.
Jasmine took the wrapped treat, slowly pulling away the metallic gold wrapper. While she might not be the biggest fan of sweets, she knew that this was going to make her feel better. She snapped off a square and put it in her mouth, savoring the taste. She broke off another and offered it to Remus, who looked shocked at the gesture.
"You don't want all of it?"
"I like sharing," she offered as a reply and he took it without question.
They sat in silence for a few moments, just nibbling on the chocolate. Jasmine was looking out the window, enjoying the quiet night, the crescent-moon bathing the lake in its dim silvery glow. She wondered if the giant squid liked the natural night light or not.
"Do you want to tell me what you were fighting over?"
Jasmine paused. Remus was going to find out either way. It would more than likely be better if he heard it from her, than from Sirius. "Sirius' brother, Regulus, spoke to me a few days ago, asking for a favor. Sirius didn't like that I was associating with his family outside of speaking to him. Peter told him an outlandish and distorted version of what was said between us and Sirius believes Peter over me. So, we ended up screaming at each other," she explained, her eyes never leaving Remus' as she told him what Peter did.
So, silence returned. She could see a scar peeking out from under his collar as he tugged on his shirt collar absentmindedly. Jasmine wondered which transformation had caused that one.
"Peter had no right to do that. I want to hope that he was just looking out for Sirius, but he might have been trying to get him angry at you. He doesn't like you very much, Jazz," Remus admitted rather sheepishly.
Yes, she'd figured that out all on her own.
She gave him a dry, humorless, look, "I had known that he had been wary of me, but I never realized that he didn't want me to be friends with you. It makes me feel like it is my fault for your friendship breaking up," she admitted and while she had been excited the Peter had taken himself out of the picture, Jasmine still felt that she was responsible for some of her friends' unhappiness. If she didn't exist in this world, they would have never broken up and been blissfully unaware of Peter's impending betrayal. Jasmine honestly wasn't sure when Peter started to turn to the Death Eaters. It might not have even been during their Hogwarts careers.
Remus shook his head, sandy locks swishing around his tired eyes.
"No, Peter stopped being our friend the moment he treated me and Sirius like rubbish because of Brightbark's stupid light, dark and grey experiment."
Not to mention all the hurtful shite he said in the dorms later that evening, but Remus didn't bring that up, so Jasmine wasn't even going to attempt to poke it with a stick. Jasmine wouldn't be surprised if Remus believed some of the nonsense that Peter had spouted about him being a monster, but that was an argument for another day.
"You know, you're rather good at this whole talking business. Have you ever thought about becoming a mind healer?" Jasmine asked, changing the subject a bit. She didn't quite feel like discussing herself anymore. All the fighting with Sirius could wait until she was back in the dorms. She'd rather see what Remus was thinking about his future profession.
He was fidgeting something awful. He probably didn't want to think about his future outside of Hogwarts. It was murky, and he knew his chances of getting hired anywhere were slim to none. "I don't know, that sounds like it could be interesting. I haven't really thought about the future. What about you?"
A boldfaced lie. Remus had his head crammed up the future so far, he never saw what was right in front of him.
"Well, I was thinking about going into ward crafting for Gringotts. Ancient Runes is my best class and I find wards rather interesting, especially with this war heating up, people are going to want their houses well protected. My mother and her family were well known ward crafters. It would make me feel closer to her," she replied with a shrug. She could feel herself calming down a bit, but the headache from the crying remained.
Merlin, she hated crying.
Jasmine rubbed her temples, hoping to alleviate some of the pain. She was going to need a headache reliver…probably…maybe.
"You don't talk about your family very often. Is it alright to ask about them?" He asked as a nervous hand went through his hair, a mannerism he probably picked up from James.
Jasmine let out a small laugh. "It's not an insult to ask about my family. I lived with my mother, father and aunt. My mother and aunt were from the Brunner family main branch in Austria. My mother worked with a private warding company under her father, my aunt worked a local muggle bank, and my father was always working on his future publications, I used to love watching my mother work potential wards in her notebook in the kitchen at night."
"Your aunt worked at a muggle bank?"
Remus wasn't stupid. As soon as the words left his mouth he had figured out at least three different reasons her aunt might be working in a muggle industry. "As you could probably guess, my aunt was a squib. Brilliant with money and arithmetic, but no magic to speak of. After my parents died, she raised me for a while. My aunt was an amazing cook and was one of the kindest people I've ever met. She saved my mother from being bit by a werewolf when they were teenagers, my mother never forgot and let her live with us," Jasmine explained, and she heard Remus' sharp intake of breath. Jasmine continued with her story when he made no move to say anything.
"Though, she wasn't able to protect me when the patrons found me. They killed her quickly and then stole me away in the middle of the night. They had attacked when they knew she'd be weakest, right before a full moon."
"You lived with a werewolf and weren't afraid of them?"
"Why would I be afraid of her? We kept her in a warded room when she changed, but every other day of the year she was perfectly fine," Jasmine replied smoothly, her accent rather thick as she spoke about her dead family. Austria was a lot more lenient about creature laws that the UK. Most countries were. It hurt to see Remus so shocked that someone could care about a werewolf outside of his circle of friends.
Remus' ear twitched slightly at the sound of her voice. "It's not normal in the UK for people to take in werewolves. I'm not sure what laws there are in Austria about it, but if your disease is public knowledge, no one is going to hire you, ever. You aren't even considered human."
He waited for her response, something akin to hope gleamed in his haunted amber eyes. "Well, that's absolute rubbish. My aunt worked in the muggle word because she wanted to. My aunt was human in all ways that mattered. Who cares if she got a little fuzzy and nippy during a full moon. As long as she was contained it didn't matter."
Her headache was raging behind her eyes. They were going to need to finish this conversation up soon.
He let out a sigh and a heartbreaking smile graced his lips. Jasmine supposed that this wasn't the response that he was expecting, but it was the one that he deserved. "Is there a reason that you're asking me about my idea of werewolf rights, Remus?" Jasmine pushed, a knowing tone in her voice and her friend paled. Jasmine put a hand on his arm and for the first time he didn't flinch.
"How long have you known?"
Jasmine felt like vomiting, the pain was getting so intense. She hadn't had a migraine like this in ages. She just needed to get through this conversation.
"Since the second full moon excuse James had given me during the summer. I recognized the symptoms and the timely absences. I never said anything because this seemed like a big secret and it was yours to tell, not mine to discover."
The room began to spin a bit and suddenly she was on the floor, her breathing ragged, Remus was standing over her. Everything felt cold, she couldn't hear anything, her ears were ringing. Stars clouded her vision.
Jasmine felt his hands on her shoulders before blackness took her.
Notes:Thanks for reading. Hopefully I will have more soon!
School is keeping me busy though.
Chapter 21: Chapter 21Summary:We have some new characters join the story!
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 21
Jasmine woke to the sound of crashing waves and the quiet humming of a Three Sisters song that wasn't supposed to come out for another decade and a half. She could feel the sand in her hair, peppering her fingers and smell the salty air from the sea that was lapping around her bare feet.
Her eyes fluttered open, the first thing that Jasmine realized was that both of them were working. Something was amiss. She reached for her face and found the scars that she'd grown used to feeling every morning were not there. The last thing that she remembered was a splitting headache before everything became fuzzy.
Had she fainted?
Merlin, Remus must be panicking something awful.
The humming stopped. "So, you're finally awake. Took you long enough, Harri." Harri? She looked down at herself and she certainly looked like Harri, long limbed, skinny and nearly as pale as the deity that she was master of. It took her a moment to recognize the voice and her head whipped around to see Theodore Nott. Her Theo, not his father who sneered at her in the halls as she lived as Harri. He had the same kind eyes that she remembered, the same perpetual pout that always seemed to grace his slightly chapped lips. He still had the scar above his right eyebrow from the flying accident he'd had as a child. He was wearing muggle clothing from the twenty-first century and honestly, she felt like crying.
She threw her arms around him, feeling the cotton of his shirt in her hands, he patted her back in a well-practiced manner. Theo had been one of the few that Death had allowed to retain their memories after every jump back into the past. The arse of a Deity had realized that it was hard to save the world alone and after Theo had realized she wasn't crazy, and indeed the Master of Death, he had a stern talking to Death. She wasn't entirely sure of the deal that the two struck with the each other to have Theo, who had no Peverell blood, to have his soul retain its memories after Harri's third life. Though, Death had been wary of the Slytherin after that confrontation, even six lives later.
"How are you here?" she breathed pulling away and waiting for Death's face to take his place, as some kind of cruel trick. She ran her hands up his cheeks. He caught her wandering hands in his.
"Well, I don't take kindly to being cheated out of a deal. Death has a lot of explaining to do with rewriting the timeline the way he has without having me, Blaise, Hermione, and Luna here with you. He wasn't supposed to leave you alone to defend yourself, it was part of our agreement. Putting you into a damaged body at the mercy of Dumbledore and Death Eaters does not constitute safe," Theo grumbled, his expression cold as he looked into the distant waves and Harri felt a cold breeze pass over them.
Death was coming.
"So, which one of you called me here?"
He grinned, all teeth and very predatory.
She'd missed him. Being homesick was very difficult when you could never go back home again.
"Death did, but I insisted that I got to talk with you first, it's the least that he owed me," he replied with a causal ease that made her once again, want to ask what the exact details of his deal were. Theo never got into specifics about it. He was very Slytherin about the entire thing and Death was just as tight lipped and the deity usually complained about anything and everything that bothered him…for hours.
It was odd being here with him again, knowing that, for the most part, this meeting was more like a dream than anything else. Even if Theo's soul was here, wherever here was, he couldn't follow her.
"I met your father," she told him, trying to fill him in with as much as she information as she could before she had to go back.
Theo huffed, "Was he an arse? Honestly, I don't think he has it in him to be any other way."
Harri rolled her eyes. Theo had shared that his father had gone insane under Voldemort's cruciatus cruses as a young man and was an abusive bastard most of the time. "The Theodore Nott Senior that I met was very wary of me. He was not as much of an arse as he turns out to be," she replied with a shrug. She hadn't had that many interactions with him.
"I hope that you can keep him away from Tom Riddle then. Keep him and my mother far away from the Dark Lord…"
Theo was conceived due to the insanity that his father had been tortured into. Theo was asking her to make sure that he was never born. His mother's only happiness in her tortured life living in the Nott household before her death and had been Theo. "You know what you're asking me right?"
He let out a long sigh, running his hands through his short brown hair. "My soul will forever exist here, within this realm that Death created to help better serve you. I want the child that my parents have to be loved, even if that means that they don't have a son that they name Theodore Nott Jr."
She gave a solemn nod, her voice as hoarse whisper as she replied, "alright, if that's what you want."
"Anything else bothering you before tall, dark and pasty shows up?"
There had been one thing that had been bothering her…
"Where's Blaise?"
The Italian had managed to weasel his way into the pact that Theo created in Harri's fifth life.
"Waiting in line. I made sure that I was the first person you were going to see. I know that Death isn't your favorite person to wake up to."
That was putting it mildly.
Theo snorted and ruffled her hair. "We heard you crying, well…felt it more like it. On this side of the veil things are different, time moves differently. You called for us and Death pulled you in," he told her calmly as another breeze rushed through the area and Death in all his pale glory appeared.
And here they were having a nice chat.
"Is there a reason that you are forcing me to have seizures on the cold castle floor right now?" Harri asked, her voice oozing false sweetness.
Even though she couldn't see it, Harri was nearly positive that he rolled his eyes. "You had fallen into despair. I thought that I should do something for the woman that is supposed to be my Master. I figured your…Theo…could help brighten your mood."
Ah, yes, my Theo. Death hates Theo with a burning passion. Whatever deal that he'd made with Death always frazzled the deity something awful.
Theo clicked his tongue. "Careful what you say, Death. Our deal has quite a bit of non-disclosure to it that you can't speak about."
A huff left Death's mouth, enough to move the hood that surrounded their face, just a little bit to reveal a grimace on their face. "Yes, I wanted to make sure that you weren't going to fall into despair. Nothing has been lost yet. The timelines haven't collapsed and the future is beginning to change in a positive direction."
Harri nodded, biting her lip. It didn't matter if the timeline changed. She just wanted to stay friends with people that she had gotten to know. Being the cold duelist from Austria made making friends difficult and Sirius was someone that she wanted to continue having a close bond with.
"Is there a reason that you brought Theo here, besides the fact that he insisted that he come?"
"Is it so hard to believe that I just wanted you to talk to an old friend?" Death asked, voice void of any emotion, but Harri couldn't help but snort at the idea of the deity actually doing something kind for her.
"Your Theo reminded me that you were never supposed to face any of your lives alone after he struck that deal with me. I'm just wanted to let you know that I'm attempting to figure out how to fix that. Lady magic hasn't been happy with me nearly breaking a binding deal with one of her favorite magically inclined humans."
It was good to know that someone was on her side when it came to supernatural dealings. Fate was a bitch to her and only dealt with Luna on good terms, which wasn't fair. Time hated her since she couldn't die and kept going back and forth through the timelines with her memories intact. Death was just always a bastard, but Magic was someone that always made her feel free, so it was nice to know that she was twisting Death's metaphorical arm for her.
"Is that all you needed to tell me?" She asked before she felt herself beginning to sink into the sand. Harri didn't fight it, this sensation was becoming common for her. Theo held onto her hand until it was swallowed whole into the darkness below.
Death had an odd way of ending all their discussions.
Harri figured that he just had a hard time saying goodbye.
~*~
Jasmine felt herself returning to consciousness slowly. She twitched one finger at a time, checking their reaction time. Each hand seemed to be threaded with someone else's and she cracked a tired and bleary eye open. Her rune sense had yet to reactivate, so her magic must have been drained. She saw all three of the Marauders there, curled up around her bed, sprawled out in chairs next to her cot.
The infirmary was just as she remembered it, white and sterile. It made her skin crawl, she'd need to leave sooner rather than later. She couldn't hear the healer anywhere, so, it still must have been early. The Marauders must have snuck in when no one was watching using the map and cloak. It warmed her heart to see them go out of their way to make sure that she was alright.
Sirius and James were the ones holding her hands. Remus was near the foot of the bed, an arm flung over her left leg. Jasmine squeezed both of her hands and shook them slightly to attempt to wake up the weights that were keeping her tired body down on the bed.
James was the first to stir, his perpetual bedhead worse than normal. He must have been running his hands through his hair all night. "Jazz?" he whispered, his voice hoarse and still half asleep. Jasmine still quite groggy herself, squeezed his hands a bit tighter. Her cousin shot up, jarring Remus, who blinked a few times before realizing what was going on and shoved Sirius hard enough to send him face first on to the floor to wake him up.
Sirius swore before he sprung up, curly hair standing up at odd angles, his finger pointed at Remus, but then the werewolf pointed towards the bed and the Black Heir stopped. All three boys just stood there, staring at her. Jasmine wondered which one of them would move first. It honestly seemed like she would need to be the one to get the ball rolling when Sirius launched himself at her. He landed on top of her, a mess of robes and drama that only Sirius could pull off, if only by the skin of mangy hide.
"Jazz, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have been such a bloody bastard yesterday. You could have died last night, and you thought that I hated you. Moony said that he found you crying in an abandoned corridor! Merlin, I'm the one that chased you away," he rubbed his eyes towards the end, as tears threatened to spill. Sirius was honestly shedding tears over this. Did he think that her collapsing was his fault? As much as she'd love to blame someone for Death coming to harass her, it was her own damn fault for touching the deathly hallows in the first place.
Well…it was her ancestors fault too.
She patted his head, tired and shaky hands running through his messy locks. She didn't quite feel like talking yet. Jasmine had a feeling that Pomfrey put her on some kind of potion to keep her calm and sedated. She was going to need to talk to the nurse about that in the future. Jasmine really didn't like feeling this vulnerable after one of her episodes.
It took a few minutes for Sirius to get his self-hating sobbing out of his system, and all over her bed sheets, before he removed himself from the cot.
"How bad was it?" she croaked and all three of them lunged for the small pitcher of water next to her bed. Remus got to it first, nearly knocking over a small get-well card that seemed to have all of her roommates' names on it.
How friendly.
"It wasn't too bad, comparatively to your other episodes. No seizures this time, but you did hit your head on the way down, so Madam Pomfrey gave you a really strong pain reliever that she claimed could make you a bit woozy for a few hours. You gave us a scare. Nearly cause Moony to have a heart attack," James explained and Remus blushed, not quite meeting her eyes. They never got to finish their werewolf talk, what a pity.
They'd need to pick up on that on a later date.
"I should be thanking you, Remus. I could have been hurt really badly if I had been by myself."
"It was nothing."
Sirius scoffed, "Hardly. You brought her in on your back. You looked like the hero out of one of those muggle comic books that Evans pretends she doesn't have stashed in her backpack to read when lectures get too boring."
Jasmine turned her attention back to Remus, who was as a red the Gryffindor banners. "Carried me on your back? That's certainly something, Remus."
Remus shuffled a bit and looked about ready to pass out himself, just from the sheer embarrassment. James clapped him on the back before he steered him out of the room, leaving Sirius behind.
The two sat in silence for a moment, just staring the other down. Sirius' original apology had been hollow and rather unofficial. Heirs needed to settle their quarrels more officially than that. Even if both of them were somewhat in the wrong, one of them was going to need to initiate the conversation. It had been kind of James to give them the space to do so. They were very much two prideful heirs, both in the wrong, both needing to apologize and neither quite willing to start.
Eventually, Sirius broke under her gaze. "Look, Jazz, James and I spoke last night. I know that I was out of line. I haven't really told you about my family and how much it hurt to know that you spoke to my brother. I just don't want them using you to further themselves. The House of Black only serves itself to better its coffers. Lashing out at you wasn't the right thing to do though, so I apologize, Heir Peverell," he mumbled, his head bowed just a little bit, just enough for it to be a formal apology.
"I accept your apology, Heir Black. I hadn't meant to go behind your back. I thought that I was helping. I would do anything to see my family again and I let that cloud my judgment. I'm sorry. If your family-"
He cut her off by raising a hand. "No, you were right about that. I'm the heir to my family's name, even if I didn't want to admit it to myself. If my family is willing to contact neutral houses to get me to speak to them, I should at least know what they want. I just don't want you in the middle of it. So, if my brother comes to you again, run it by me first. I don't want you alone with him in case my mother has cursed him or something along those lines," he replied, unusually serious about the whole situation. She saw his eyes wander to the potions on her bedside table and the get-well cards.
Jasmine smiled warily, happy that Sirius was finally being somewhat responsible. Even if it only took her nearly dying to do it. She'd happily have it happen again.
"You do know that it wasn't your fault that I collapsed right?" She tipped his chin up with her pointer finger, feeling far older than she looked. She knew what blaming yourself for something you had no control over could do.
He shrugged. "It feels like it is. I doubt that it was a coincidence that the day that we have a horrible fight, you have your first fit in a long time."
Jasmine sighed. "Sirius, it isn't your fault. I had head a headache earlier in the day. It was going to happen. I just didn't realize the signs. There was nothing you could have done to stop it from happening," she responded just quietly enough from him to hear.
He shook his head. "I made you cry. James, Remus and I are you friends. I shouldn't have shouted at you. It has to be hard coming here and starting your life over. You've been nothing, but kind to me, even if I've been a prat to you. You couldn't have known about the issues that I have with my family."
This meant more to her than any other apology would have. She put a hand on his and squeezed, her smile watery. "Thank you, for that, Sirius. It hasn't been easy for me to readjust. I feel like everything changed so fast. You, James and Remus have been good to me. I was so worried that I ruined everything in the span of a few minutes," she told him, opening up for the first time since she'd met him. He told her something about himself, so, she'd be fair about it and give a little.
Sirius gaped for a moment. Trying to figure out something to say in response. It always seemed to surprise any of the Marauders when she would share something about herself with them. "You didn't ruin anything!" He assured her, gripping her finger tightly in his. "Friends fight sometimes, and we work it out."
"I just hope that it isn't in such a grad fashion next time. Not sure you can top this one," she teased and he rolled his eyes, but there was a blush creeping up his neck.
Though, it was gone in an instant and the smooth prat was back. "Moony told us what you said to him before you fainted," Sirius said, changing the subject in the most obvious way he could. Jasmine would let him. Riling Sirius up tended to have explosive results.
"What about it?" Jasmine asked, she could feel herself getting tired. These spells that Death puts her under wiped her magic out.
"You knew about him his furry little problem and didn't care. You had an aunt with the same problem and didn't mind."
Jasmine hummed an affirmative, waiting for her friend to get to the point.
"You've never shared anything personal with me or James about your family and we spent the majority of the summer with you. What made Moony so special in that moment?"
Sirius was looking anywhere but at Jasmine. Was he jealous of the attention that she had been giving to Remus?
She rolled her eyes, but didn't let her amusement show in her voice, knowing that it wouldn't go over well with Sirius. "Remus needed to know that he had a future. He needed to know that there were people out there, just like him that made careers for themselves are were loved by their families and friends," she explained, picking at the cotton bedsheet with her fingers.
"You're a good friend. You really made him happy, even if you scared him to death a few seconds later," he told her, running a hand through her messy bangs on her blind side.
"Do you want to know something about my past, Sirius?"
Petting her head was making her tired, but she wanted to finish this conversation. It was too important to ruin with sleeping.
Sirius let out a dramatic sigh. "Well, since you brought it up…I'll make it easy for you. Did you have any friends growing up?"
And this was where Jasmine had to make a choice. Did she talk about the friends she had made over her past nine lives or of the ones that her host body had known for years in the dueling ring? Maybe a combination of both would be better suited. "My best friends were two boys my age, Theo and Blaise. Both were fantastic at dueling and at first everyone thought that we would be enemies. We were too alike, all from broken homes, all of us had seen people we cared for murdered, but at the end of the day, we knew that we would be able to fight our way out of any situation that came our way. We cheat death to make sure that we'd all come out of the fights okay. Theo got a few scares along the way. We all did. His patron was a sadistic bastard who enjoyed torturing without ever laying a hand on him. Blaise was a toy to his patron's whims and I was a tool to be used and nothing more from mine…"
She could feel her magic swirling around the room and the room swam for a moment. Jasmine really shouldn't be using any magic. Sirius seemed to be thinking the same thing and grabbed her hand in what she thought was an attempt at a soothing manner, but he just looked rather constipated instead. Which, Jasmine supposed, was better than nothing since she started to laugh.
"I shouldn't have asked…" he apologized, looking more than a bit worried. Merlin, she must look awful.
She waved off his concern. "No, I need to talk about my friends and my past. You, James, Remus, even Lily, you all deserve to know something about me other than where I was rescued. Theo and Blaise have always been a part of my life. It's just sad that I had to see them go."
"Hey, don't talk like that. You'll see them again, Jazz."
Yes, she would, one day, she just hoped that it wasn't too soon. Her body couldn't handle another one of Death's episodes too soon.
Jasmine relax a bit in his hold, her eyes starting to flutter shut. She was still tired, despite everything. Sirius' concerned face filled her vision one last time before she dozed off. Everything was alright.
Notes:I hope you enjoyed!
Leave your comments and kudos below!