Chapter seventy-four; Going home
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''Goddamn it, Sirius! Stay still!'' Jasmine scolded and her hand was a second away from hitting him.
Sirius stopped fidgeting with his leg as though he would be nervous. ''Sorry.'' He apologised sheepishly and concentrated on Jasmine sitting opposite the coffee table in the living room. She looked away from him and down to his hands to continue painting his nails in black nail polish.
The group was back at the Potter's house after visiting Robyn. During the day each of them kept to themselves, doing their own things and just today Sirius had a brilliant idea of wanting to have his nails painted. Thankfully Lily came prepared for it, having a full bag of nail polish with her, but Jasmine was the one doing it. The thumping of feet sounded from the wooden stairs when Remus came down, fully dressed and prepared to leave the house.
''You're all packed?'' Lily asked voice laced with confusion as she lowered the book she was reading to her lap. She straightened her posture as she was previously reclining on the comfortable armchair.
''Yes.'' Remus dropped his bag by the entrance of the living room.
Jasmine just finished painting Sirius' last nail when she picked her head up and looked at Remus. She sensed the tiredness of his voice and it all became clear when she took a good look at him. His shoulders sagged and his hair was messy. Big bags appeared under his eyes and he looked as though he hadn't slept at all during the night. All of those signs pointed at only one thing. The full moon was tonight.
''Why are you going home for the full moon?'' asked Lily.
Remus sighed slightly as if the mention of the moon was a very painful word to hear. ''There's a lot of woods near my house, easier to hide and less likely of attack on anyone.''
''Don't worry, we'll be there tonight.'' Sirius fanned his hands to dry the polish.
Lily nodded slowly but the concern didn't fully disappear. Jasmine's eyes never left Remus and for a minute there she forgot that they already revealed their relationship and that she can approach him any time she wants.
''There's really no need for that.'' Remus feigned quietly.
''Nonsense.'' James appeared from the kitchen and put his arm over Remus' shoulder. ''Of course, we'll help. We always do.''
A small smile tugged at Remus' lips even though it was still evident that he hated to put his friends through his misery. Jasmine observed how after James moved away from Remus, her boyfriend's hands started to shake in anxiousness. She slowly stood up and circled the couch to get to him.
"Hey," she said softly and took one of Remus' shaking hands in her own.
She gently tugged him in a direction that would take them away from the rest of the group so they had a bit of privacy. Once they were out of earshot, Jasmine held on tighter on Remus' hand.
"How are you feeling?" She asked facing him.
Remus raised his eyes from the floor and gazed at her green ones. 'I'm okay' was on the tip of his tongue to answer but in a moment of hesitation, he changed his mind. He knew that if he said that, Jasmine wouldn't believe him, so what was the point of lying then.
"Not so good. But pretty much the same like every day before the full moon." He replied gravely and hung his head again in sadness.
Jasmine frowned for a moment not liking how he was. She released his hand only to bring both her arms around his torso for a warm embrace. She leaned her head on his chest and hugged him tighter, waiting for his arms to circle around her too. Remus was almost hesitant, as though he was afraid of being comforted. Or not afraid but more ashamed that someone was doing it. Jasmine was sure that he was mostly bravely going through his day before the full moon not letting anyone know the dark thoughts or the horrible tense feelings inside of him. He didn't allow himself to be comforted, he didn't want to receive pity from anybody. But Jasmine wasn't pitying him, she never did and she always wanted to help. Realising that, Remus wrapped his arms around Jasmine's back hugging her closer.
"Is there anything I can do to make it better?" Jasmine murmured into his shirt.
Remus let out a short sigh through his nose. He leaned his head on hers, savouring every moment spent with her in his arms. "No. This is already perfect." He said, with it meaning the hug.
Jasmine smiled and didn't intend on letting him go until he wanted to be let go. Closing her eyes for a few moments she tried to remember the feel of his arms around her since she had no way of knowing when she'll get it again. "I don't want you to go." She whispered.
Remus stiffened for a second before he leaned back to look at her. The tinge of sadness he saw in her eyes made him sad too. "I have to."
Jasmine looked at the floor and nodded. "I know, I just wish we could spend more time together."
Remus softly ran his hands up and down her back, nodding once and agreeing with her. Then the idea from a few days ago struck him and before he could doubt himself or chicken out he started speaking. "If you want, maybe you could come to my house soon. Meet my parents if that would be okay with you?" His eyes flickered all over the place afraid of her reaction.
Jasmine couldn't mask her surprise. "Really?" Her voice was quiet, laced with a beat of fear. Remus nodded confirming that. A small smile tugged at her lips. "I would love that."
Remus' eyebrows jumped up on his forehead, not expecting her to agree so soon. But at this point, the two of them were just searching for any possible opportunity to spend time together. Remus wanted to invite her to his house from the moment that they said goodbye on the last day of school, but now he might as well introduce her to his parents.
Seeing how her agreement made him happy, Jasmine leaned up and captured his lips for a kiss but she reluctantly leaned back after a few seconds. Remus moved his hand to cup her cheek before he brought her closer for another, longer kiss. He could never tire of the feeling of Jasmine's soft lips on his, of her fingers that tangled themselves in his hair, of her body pressed up against his own. If he was asked he would say this was heaven on earth for him.
A loud crash sounded from the living room and even if neither of them wanted to, they broke apart, the blissful moment gone. Distant loud voices of argument came from that space as well and Jasmine and Remus merely looked at each other confused. No one came barging in on them but then again they still ruined their moment. Jasmine sighed softly as she untangled herself from Remus and then offered him a hand to go back to the rest of the group.
Once they arrived to the living room they couldn't believe their eyes. Lily and Sirius were standing opposite the coffee table in a fighting stance and glaring at each other, James was in the middle standing on the coffee table with his hands stretched out to both of them and Peter was picking up a broken vase that was on the floor carpet.
''I don't even want to know what happened, this scene right here is funny enough,'' Remus whispered to Jasmine. She stifled her chuckles and Remus tried to die down his laughter as well.
When the two wanted to interfere, breaking the tense moments in the room, the quiet was rather disrupted by three loud taps at the window. All heads turned to the glass and out on the window sill sat a small brown owl with a letter in its beak. Since this was James' house, he was the one to retrieve the letter but by the look on his face when he jumped down the coffee table, he didn't seem to recognise the owl. Sirius and Lily dropped their stance, seemingly forgetting what the previous situation was all about as they waited for James to get the letter.
''Jasmine, this is for you,'' said James, waving the letter in the air. Jasmine furrowed her eyebrows but accepted the letter nonetheless. Who could be sending her a letter? All the people she was usually conversing with through letters were in this room with her. She tore the envelope apart and skimmed her eyes over the written words.
''Is everything okay?'' Remus asked slowly as he watched how Jasmine's features transformed from calm to panic.
''It's my mum,'' Jasmine whispered and lowered the letter, her features staying the same.
''What happened?'' asked Lily coming closer with worry on her features.
Jasmine frowned. ''Nothing weird in this letter. But the sole fact that I got a letter from her is strange. She never writes to me. Something must be wrong, I have to go back home.'' She stressed. The letter in her hands became crumpled at the way she was holding it so tightly.
''Are you sure?'' asked Remus, taking the letter from her hands to avoid further destruction. ''You hate it at home.''
Jasmine sighed, her shoulders sagging with it. She didn't like it at all. Only the thought of going back home and being in the same room with her father sent chills up her spine, and not the good ones. She hoped that for the rest of the summer she could hide out, go to Lily's or spend more time with Remus. She forgot that all this time she was neglecting her mum. She didn't think twice when she fled home and apparated away, not remembering that her mother was still in there and she would be the first source for dad to release his anger.
Speaking the words that she needs to go home were hard because she knew that this might have been her last weeks of freedom. Stricter rules would apply and her father would be even harsher and more evil but it was a thing she had to do for her mum. If her father thought for even a second to lay his hands on her mum because of what Jasmine did, she already had a plan on how to kill him.
''Hey,'' said Remus softly and brought Jasmine out of her excessive mad thinking. ''Do you want me to go with you?''
Jasmine hasn't even thought about that option and it surprised her. Though after a moment of thought she shook her head. Her body turned to Remus, taking a hold of one of his hands. ''I don't think that's a good idea. If my dad is home when we arrive, I have no idea what he could do. Bringing a stranger into a house and all.''
Remus tried not to look hurt, but to Jasmine's keen eye it was very visible. None of her friends has ever been to Jasmine's house and she didn't want her boyfriend to be the first one to experience her dad's wraith.
''I can go with you. In case your dad is at home, you can't face him alone.'' Sirius turned to Jasmine with sincerity in his eyes.
''Why would that be any different than Remus going?'' asked James with one of his eyebrows quirked up.
''I'm a Black, even if I don't agree with my family, my reputation still stands. There's no way my parents could afford the shame to announce that they had disowned me, so among purebloods and supremacists like Jasmine's father, I am still Orion and Walburga's eldest son. Pureblood families are like a cult, he won't do anything to me because he knows my parents and knows what they can do to him.'' Sirius explained.
Jasmine slowly nodded. ''He's right about purebloods.'' She still wasn't sure if it was a good idea but when she put two options side by side, going home with Sirius, someone that she trusted and that could make her calm down in seconds sounded better than going home alone and fearing to step over the threshold of her house.
''So? Are you in?'' Sirius asked, stepping closer to Jasmine. She let out a deep breath before nodding.
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