xxiv. diagon alley
- silks of heaven, chapter twenty four -
DIAGON ALLEY WAS PACKED with Hogwarts students and their parents. Jasmine stayed close to James, not wanting to lose him or her parents in the crowd.
"Hey, in here," James said, walking past Flourish and Blotts.
Jasmine followed him into the shop. The owner squeezed through the crowded shop and made it to the siblings. Euphemia and Fleamont waited outside for them.
"Potters, am I right?" the owner asked. Jasmine nodded. "Seventh years?"
"Yeah, we've got our list," James said, quite rudely. "May we come through?"
"Of course, of course," the owner said. "Go through. You don't need help at all?" James shook his head. "That's great, I can go help the Blacks over there."
He walked away and Jasmine's eyes followed him. She saw Regulus standing next to his mother, carrying his books in his hand, a pained look on his face. Her eyes shifted to his brother, who was standing next to his father. He had bruises over his eyes and a scar on his lip. Jasmine quickly realised why and nudged James.
"Sirius," she muttered. James' face lit up and he looked in the same direction as her, but his face dropped again when he noticed the injuries on Sirius' face.
Sirius spotted them and sneaked away from his parents. Regulus also looked up and saw Jasmine, but he looked back down in shame, his face growing red.
"Ah! James and Jasmine Potter! How was your summer, Jas?" Sirius said, smiling widely.
"Your face, Padfoot. You didn't have all those injuries the last time I sneaked over," James said. "What did they do to you this time ..?"
"Leave it, James," Sirius said with a cold, cruel tone. "Get your books and let's go find Marls and Lils ... buy some drinks. What do you say, hm?"
"I'm being serious," James said.
"No, I'm Sirius," Sirius joked. "You know what they're like. There's nothing you can do, Prongs."
"Sirius, what did —"
"Shut up, James, please." Sirius clenched his jaw. "Look, I don't want to fight. Let's pick up your books and leave. The sooner, the better. Fucking Reg is all eyes on us."
Jasmine looked back at Regulus, he was staring at them. More specifically, right at her. She made eye contact with him for a few long moments, staring right at him. He managed a smile, even though she could tell he was faking it. She smiled back and looked at James and Sirius again.
"Come on then," James grinned.
They picked up their books and left the store. Euphemia an Fleamont were still waiting outside and both were so happy to see Sirius.
The parents said hello's and goodbye's to them before leaving them to go on their own.
Jasmine hated to admit it, but she felt left out when she was with only Sirius and James. When she saw Lily and Marlene in Madam Malkin's Robes.
"Save me," Jasmine said, surprising Marlene and Lily. "I've been stuck with those two jack-asses for nearly half an hour."
"Jasmine!" Marlene said, hugging the brunette. "How was your summer?"
"Good," Jasmine responded. "James has done my head in. I wish you could've come round."
"I'm sorry," Marlene said. "Live too far away."
"Come on, let's go Florean Fortescue's and get away from Sirius and James," Lily suggested.
***
The whole day at Diagon Alley passed and not once did the three girls bump into that specific raven-haired boy. Not until the very last ten minutes.
"We're going down this way," Lily told Jasmine. "You going down or up to meet Effie?"
"Up," Jasmine groaned. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school."
She hugged Marlene and Lily, then started to walk up the other way. On her way, she passed Barty Crouch Jr, who gave her a smirk while walking by. She grinned at him, pleased with herself, since Regulus' friends started to like her.
She kept walking and waited for her parents outside of Ollivanders, exactly where they told her to wait.
Her heart sank when she saw Regulus walking past, and it sank deeper when she noticed him slowing down and walking back to her, even deeper when she realises she still loves him and longs for him back. But she didn't want to give in that easily.
"You're not still mad at me, are you?" he asked, sneaking a smile.
She couldn't help but smile back at him and mentally cursed herself for it.
"No," she said. "I'm not mad."
"Why were you avoiding me at Flourish and Blotts, then?" Regulus lifted his eyebrows. Jasmine bit her cheeks from the inside of her mouth and locked eye contact with him.
"I don't know. I guess it hurts to see you while we're not together," she said. "I'm — I think I see my parents, Regulus."
He turned around and looked for her parents, of course he didn't see them, because Jasmine lied about that.
"I don't see them," he said.
"Wrong people, I guess," she lied. "Look, I'm going down to Florean Fortescue's. You can tag along, we can catch up ..."
He nodded and flashed a huge smile.
As they walked down, Jasmine tried to start conversation, but she was awfully honest without meaning it.
"How was the meeting?" she blurted out. "I'm sorry, oh, God, that was so insensitive."
"It's okay," he responded. "It was awful, of course. But I ... I have a plan to, y'know ... er, go against — never mind. Saying it out loud just made me realise how stupid it actually is."
"Go against him? Regulus, don't you dare do anything that stupid," Jasmine said sharply. "Okay?"
"Yeah, no, yeah. It was a stupid idea, I won't," he said.
"Promise me," she said.
"I promise."
They made it to Florean and after they finished their ice cream, stood in the alley close to Flourish and Blotts.
"Look, I'm sorry for ignoring you all summer," Jasmine finally said. "I was just hurt."
"I wouldn't ever do something like that on purpose," he said, "I was just scared of committing. Scared of hurting you ..."
She laughed quietly, "Well, you already did that."
They both laughed together, and when the laughter died down, awkward silence replaced it. Regulus turned his head and stared at her. She looked back at him and their eyes connected.
He smiled at her. She smiled back. For a few moments, everything was okay. Everything between them was back to normal and they were both okay.
Then, it changed.
He leaned over and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She froze. Her senses came back to her and she kissed him back, mapping his back with her hands as she did so.
He brought his hands down to her thighs and slipped them under her skirt.
She pushed him off her and stared at him. He felt awful, like he did something wrong. But, she smiled.
"I've missed you," she beamed.
She got closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. They kissed again.
The kiss deepened and each of them had their hands tangled in the other's hair. Their breathing was perfectly aligned; their bodies pressed against each other; their lips connected.
"Jasmine!" someone called. She knew that voice, it belonged to her mother. "Are you down here?"
"Shit," Jasmine whispered. "I'll see you at school. Shit, shit. Bye."
She ran up the alley and left Regulus standing in the shadows with only his thoughts.
Her mother didn't notice him as they walked away from the alley. Jasmine was relieved by this and sighed deeply as they walked down Diagon Alley. James and Fleamont were walking ahead of them, talking away. James turned around and waved at Jasmine, flashing a smile. She just smiled and nodded.
Her head was spinning with thoughts about him. Regulus. Were they a thing again? Was it just a kiss? Did she already regret it? She had so many questions. But many of them, she didn't actually want the answer to. At the same time, she did. She wanted him to like her back.
James walked beside her and Euphemia walked ahead, now talking to Fleamont again.
"You look a mess," James snorted. "What, did you shag someone?"
Jasmine nudged him in the side, earning a groan from him and a glare from Euphemia.
"No." Jasmine didn't want to say anymore to him, he'd figure something out.
"You probably did. Who's the lucky guy? I saw Crouch checking you out earlier," he suggested, his eyebrows raised.
"Ew, anyone but him," scoffed Jasmine. "I didn't shag anyone. Snogged, yeah. Didn't have enough time to take it that far."
She started cackling at herself, impressed by her own joke. James joined in.
"Who?" he said once he'd stopped laughing.
"That is none of your business," she said. "Doesn't matter, anyway, don't think anything's going to change."
"Regulus?" he asked. When Jasmine didn't respond, he face palmed himself. "Seriously, Jas, you can't go back to him! Not after what he did."
"Mind your business. For once?" Jasmine snapped. "I know what's good for me."
"Then you'd stay away from him," James said.
"Oh, piss off. You know fuck-all about love. Have you liked anyone other than Lily? Or is she the only person you've been obsessing over since first year?"
"She's straight forward with love. She'll tell me she loves me and stays. Doesn't walk away after that."
Jasmine wanted nothing more than to slap him at that moment. She tried to stay calm, as they were still walking behind their parents in Diagon Alley.
"James, you're a fucking asshole who's way too obsessed with himself. Get over yourself. I can live my life the way I want to."
"Sorry that I don't want to see my little sister get hurt. Sorry that I'm just fucking protecting you."
"You're twelve minutes older than me! Please," she laughed. "I can live without your protection."
He just stared at her, slowing down, and shook his head.
"Fine."
"Fine."
***
author's note:
sorry for the slow updates :{
i'm trying lol. anyways how is
everyone? dms always open.
<3