Chapter thirty-five; What does the C stand for?
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The first time Jasmine was alone with Remus again was during prefect patrol. By some sheer luck they got appointed the same hall and since it was after dinner no-one would be there and they could talk all they wanted. From the start, they were rather quiet and the atmosphere was kind of awkward. It was like their first-ever prefect patrol together as both had to deeply search their minds of what to say. But after a little time, they fell into their usual laughs and jokes feeling like nothing has changed at all. The time of their patrol flew by extremely fast but neither of them was quite ready to head off to sleep.
Jasmine's sleep schedule was more ruined than ever. At the evenings she couldn't sleep no matter what and in the morning when she wanted to, she had to get up for classes. But if it meant that she would stay up late to have more time with Remus she was more than glad to do it. They steered their path to the kitchens, this being the space they felt most comfortable in and it was lesser of a chance to get caught. Even though it was easy to come up with an excuse as to why they were there at a late hour.
''I heard James and Lily have a date tomorrow,'' Remus said, sitting on one of the counters.
Jasmine was opposite him leaning back on her hands. She always had to do something while she was in the kitchens, she could never just sit there. To prove the point a cookie batter was rising in a bowl right next to Jasmine, waiting to be baked. She smiled, remembering that tomorrow was Hogsmeade day and that it is already a week from the day Lily asked James out.
''I still only half believe that she actually asked him. How did he take it?'' She asked with curiousness laced into her words.
Remus first let out a few chuckles, remembering the moment they found out. ''He came into the dorm, broom in his hand and he had this sort of dazed look on his face. We asked what's wrong but he didn't reply. Then he dropped the broom and fell down on his bed still kind of motionless until Padfoot was finally able to get it out of him. Even when he answered 'I'm going on a date with Lily' it was like his soul was not in his body. She completely shocked him.''
Jasmine laughed at the little story imagining how it actually went. Remus shook his head laughing too.
''How come a sudden change in the heart with Lily? I was quite surprised too.'' Remus continued wanting to know just why Lily decided to go on a date with him.
Besides the fact that Lily through a game at the party admitted she doesn't find James annoying, she still gave this upfront feeling that she hated him.
Jasmine leaned up more straight. ''She believes that if she goes through this one date, he'll stop annoying her and asking her out every single waking moment. But I don't know, the closer we got to tomorrow the more anxious she was about it.'' She shrugged, thinking Lily felt a good kind of anxious. The feeling when you're expecting something good to happen.
''James is a wreck. Today all four of us had to be in the dorm before dinner so he could show us all the different outfits he chose for the date.'' Remus said, trying hard to contain chuckles in him.
Jasmine's jaw dropped in surprised disbelief. While Lily was not like that, she barely wanted to talk about, Jasmine never thought James would be this much overreacting. A laugh left her lips as she pushed off the counter. She grabbed the bowl with the cookie batter and moved it to the counter Remus was sitting on. He watched her intently as she started shaping the biscuits and placing them on the tray. She looked content and relaxed doing her favourite thing and it was always a plus to have some company.
''Who eats of all of this?'' Remus asked genuinely curious. Jasmine did bake a lot and all of it disappeared and didn't seem to go into the trash.
Jasmine smiled up at him before looking back at her work with warmed up cheeks. ''Lily or Robyn, or if it's enough left I send it home to my mum, she always appreciates it. But actually, lately, you have been consuming a lot of it, it's weird you haven't got fat already.'' She snickered and looked at him through her eyelashes.
Remus looked down at himself and shrugged with a smile. When he looked back at her she was already back to her work and looking away. Her words rang in his head and he couldn't help but ask. ''You send your baking to your mum? Didn't you say your dad doesn't allow you to do anything with baking or anything at all?'' He frowned.
Jasmine stopped with her actions and froze completely at the mentioning of her dad. A shuddered feeling crept up her spine, not wanting her mind to go back to the bad memories. Before she could let Remus dwell on her reaction to much, she went back to shaping the cookies. She put on a fake façade, a small smile as she answered his question.
''Yeah that's true but my mum is not like that. She's nice and doesn't think I'm a disappointment, she encourages me to do a lot of stuff, to make as many friends as I can. The only thing I don't get is why she isn't able to have more authority in our house, it's all my dad you know. Honestly, I don't know why she hasn't filed a divorce already, but I feel like she's scared. My father has more power over the both of us than we probably know.'' She talked continuously barely taking a breath.
After she stopped she bit her lips nervously and cursed herself inside for talking without thinking. She looked at Remus with a worried glance. ''I'm sorry,'' She said in defeat, ''for ranting like that.''
Remus was smiling down at her. ''It's okay, don't worry.'' He was thankful she was speaking of her personal life to him.
Every time she said something he felt like it was a good thing knowing her better. Knowing what was going on behind that constant smile of hers, the truth of it. He looked away, his thoughts turning to himself. While she was always being honest with him, he wasn't with her. He was content Jasmine wasn't the one to pry for information, she proved that a long time ago. There were multiple moments when Remus thought he should just say what he was, just straightforward. But then he started thinking of the consequences of telling her. He didn't want to ruin what they have with one simple secret.
Jasmine noticed he became rather quiet and decided to change the subject. ''Lily's birthday is coming up. I was thinking of baking her a cake but I don't know what flavour yet.'' She mentioned that knowing Remus and Lily were friends.
Remus suddenly jumped off the counter. ''That reminds me, I got her a special present and I wanted you to sign it.''
Jasmine watched him with a curious expression. He accioed a card into his hands and a quill.
''This is a birthday card and I'll charm it to play her favourite muggle song, I already gave it to all her friends to sign.'' He explained with an excited expression.
Jasmine smiled and grabbed the now empty bowl and carried to the sink. When she washed her hands Remus gave her the card and the quill to sign. Inside was a moving picture of Lily, taken at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall and she was laughing. On the other side of the card, each of her friends wrote her a small message and signed under it. Jasmine fiddled with the quill a little thinking of what she should write before she scribbled it down in her neat handwriting. When Remus received back the card he couldn't help himself to look what she added, but something else caught his attention.
''Jasmine C. Pearson? What does the C stand for?'' He quirked up a curious brow as he inquired.
Jasmine glanced at the card and only then it came to her that she signed it with her usual signature, adding her middle name. The action was completely unconsciously made. She looked up to Remus who was standing very near her and he still wore that questioning look.
''I'm not telling, Remus John Lupin.'' She smiled mischievously and continued washing the dirty dishes.
Remus gasped, shock on his face, but somehow a smile came back as well. ''How do you know my middle name?''
Jasmine didn't look at him, she just smiled even brighter very much enjoying the situation.
''It was Lily, wasn't it? She told you.'' Remus continued and Jasmine let out a few chuckles while shaking her head. ''You know that's not fair. If I go to Lily she's never going to tell me your middle name.'' He complained loudly and took a step closer to Jasmine.
Jasmine laughed again knowing the full truth of what he just said, Lily would never tell something that isn't for her to tell.
''Now you have no choice, you have to tell me.'' Remus determined.
''Why?'' Jasmine asked with confusion, but her voice held some humour in it.
''Remember our little agreement at the beginning. If one tells a thing the other shares theirs. You know my middle name, now I want to know what the C is for.''
Jasmine found the situation funny and she had nothing against teasing him a little. She shook her head and looked at him while barely keeping the laughter in. He urged a little more and added a whiny 'come on, please', but Jasmine wouldn't have it. It was not that she was embarrassed by it, she liked her middle name since her mum chose it for her. She just wanted to joke a little. After a bit more whining and Remus getting closer to Jasmine by the second, she decided to stop this.
''Okay, fine it's Cynthia.'' She groaned and let it out. A playful smile stayed on her face as Remus stopped whining.
''Wait, really?'' He asked with hopeful eyes that she finally told him.
''No,'' Jasmine said and started laughing like she never did before.
Remus had to process everything for a couple of moments until he finally got that she was joking. He rolled her eyes and wanted her to pay for laughing so much at his reaction. So he reached into the sink and splashed some soapy water onto Jasmine. She let out a gasp and looked down at her wet shirt. She narrowed her eyes at Remus who was now laughing beside her before she did the same. He yelped and it was her turn to laugh.
''You're going to pay for that.'' Remus threatened and grabbed more bubbles putting them all over Jasmine as she screamed in between her giggles.
She opened the tap spraying the water all over, unfortunately, the both of them. The bubble fight continued for a short time as Jasmine nearly slipped twice and almost crashed down and Remus was laughing uncontrollably.
''Okay, stop! Stop!'' Jasmine put her hands in front of her face to prevent being splashed with even more water.
She anticipated the hit but it never came so she slowly removed her hands from her face with a smile. Remus was in very close proximity of her, holding one of her forearms as he wanted to move her arms to make her an easy target. Their breathing was ragged from the laughter and the fight, and both were smiling stupidly at one another. Jasmine reverted back to the start of the fight and her bright smile reduced to a closed one.
''It's Clara.'' She said simply, looking into his eyes. ''My name is Jasmine Clara Pearson.''
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