Chapter ninety-six; Professor of the year
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''Good morning, sleeping beauty!'' James said loudly as he jumped on the hospital bed next to Sirius. Sirius groaned and moved out of the way so that James wouldn't end up sitting on him. ''How are you feeling?''
''Tired. Otherwise, fine.'' Sirius grumbled.
Out of the corner of his eyes came three other figures; Peter, Lily and Robyn. He glanced briefly at Robyn and she smiled at him before averting her eyes to the floor. Sirius looked back to the scene in front of him, where Jasmine and Remus were sitting on the opposite side of the room. An open chocolate bar was on the bedside table and the two of them were quietly talking while holding hands. Their sweet smiles weren't hard to miss either.
''What's up with them?'' As Lily spoke, Sirius tore his eyes away from them. She joined the side of the bed where James sat and placed her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder.
''They were like that since I woke up.'' Sirius shrugged.
''Let's go ask what happened.'' Peter stepped away.
''No!'' Both Robyn and Lily whisper shouted to not disrupt the quiet room.
Robyn forcefully grabbed the smaller boy by his arm and kept him in place. ''They are clearly having a moment so we're not going to ruin it.'' She scolded.
''It's too late for that now,'' James said under his breath.
The whole group turned their heads first to him and then to the other side of the room. Remus and Jasmine both looked up as professor Smirnitsky joined their side. Both their postures stiffened at whatever Smirnitsky was saying while waving his arms around and making the large black coat flail around him. They were too far away for the group to hear anyway, but they all stood (or sat) silently and watched what was happening.
''Wait a second.'' Robyn clicked her tongue and stepped from one foot to the other. She then pointed at Sirius. ''I get why you and Jasmine are here. But why is Remus in a hospital bed?''
Sirius uncharacteristically widened his eyes and locked them with James beside him. Peter automatically slowly backed away as if he wanted to escape the conversation.
''Uhm, well...'' Lily broke the silence but she didn't meet Robyn's eye. Then she looked at James pointedly as if he was supposed to say something.
''Why are you looking at me for?'' He asked defensively. ''I'm not going to tell.'' Then he bumped Sirius with his elbow and the raven-haired boy let out a loud 'ow'. James apparently hit him in a sore spot.
Robyn sighed. ''If you think I haven't noticed something weird is going on whenever I hang out with you, you must be stupid. I just thought I'll figure it out by now, but whatever you're hiding, you're good.''
Her lips turned into a frown as she, like multiple times before, felt so excluded from this group. Lily was with James, Jasmine was with Remus, Sirius was James' and Remus' best friend and her ex. She felt even worse than Peter, he did everything for their attention but Robyn was seriously considering abandoning the group altogether and not bothering anymore. Her head turned to the professor and the couple across the room and observed as Jasmine hopped off the bed and followed Smirnitsky as he walked away, understanding that he asked her to talk privately.
''Come on, let's go.'' James got off the bed and stepped in the direction of where Remus was. Everyone followed, Robyn walking behind everyone else. Remus looked up with a content expression as they all circled his bed.
''I don't remember ever seeing you this happy after –'' James' words died out in the end as Lily elbowed him in the side.
''A rough night.'' She filled in and nervously glanced at Robyn.
Remus smiled thankfully at her before he offered her the open bar of chocolate. ''It's the chocolate.''
''So Jass had nothing to do with it?'' Sirius asked teasingly. Remus' cheeks immediately flushed and he looked down at his lap, away from the prying eyes.
As a few of them chuckled, he decided to keep the information to himself. Otherwise, the whole room would erupt into screams because he knew how invested all of them seemed to be in his and Jasmine's private relationship. Always asking questions and always teasing.
At the very end of the room where the exit was and the first hospital beds were placed Jasmine stopped walking as Smirnitsky slowed down. She saw her warm coat on the bed there that they apparently removed before they started tending to her wounds.
''If it accounts for anything I really am sorry about last night and for not listening to yours and Sirius' suggestion for another time. As a professor, I feel entitled to tell you that you still passed the assignment, with flying colours for that matter. Unknowingly you were placed in a real-life situation, no matter how brutal it may sound, and you reacted accordingly.'' The apologetic expression didn't seem to leave Smirnitsky's face at all while he was in the hospital wing.
He already apologised to her and Remus when he came to them, disrupting their conversation. As to why he wanted to speak to her alone, Jasmine was still clueless. If he knew that she could have done better in the Forest he also wouldn't praise her so much.
''And here, before I forget.'' He grabbed for her coat and handed it to her with a small smile. ''I cleaned it because it had a lot of your blood on it.''
Jasmine received the completely clean coat in her hands and immediately checked the pockets if the picture was still there. She smiled as her fingers brushed against the familiar creased part of the picture. As of habit she brought it out and inspected it. Same four smiling faces, same writing, nothing new. The hairs on her neck rose with a weird feeling and Jasmine glanced up from the picture. She caught Smirnitsky looking at it with a curious eyebrow raised.
He smiled to cover up his curiosity. ''Are you alright?'' He asked with the most sincerity.
Jasmine pocketed the picture again and forced a smile onto her face. ''I am.''
''I'll ask you again because this isn't so easy to get over with.'' Smirnitsky's eyes glanced at her bandage. ''It can take a toll physically and mentally, I certainly wouldn't except for a seventeen-year-old to be so easily okay with this.''
Jasmine let a sigh through her nose and looked behind her shoulder at her friends. ''I had time to think about it and my answer would be a lot different if these weren't my friends.'' She looked back at the professor. ''The scar is just collateral damage and it will mean something to me. It won't be like any other that were put there as an act of rage or punishment.''
She cringed inside at the thought of her father and as if that awoke something inside her, every wound inflicted by him on her spiked up for a second.
''Did you know about what they are before tonight?'' The words he spoke sounded very careful.
''Yes, otherwise this would have been a whole another emotional rollercoaster.'' Jasmine chuckled softly.
Smirnitsky didn't give in to the joke. His young face looked ten times older when he was worried. His eyes kept glancing from Jasmine to her group friends on the other side of the room. Jasmine got the feeling that while he started this conversation to appear calm, she's now the one calming him down with reassurance.
''Dumbledore explained it all to me.'' Smirnitsky cleared his voice. ''It explains a lot of things that I saw by teaching you guys this semester. And you can tell your boyfriend that his secret is safe with me. Now you can go back to him, I'm sorry I ruined your moment.''
Smirnitsky didn't know where to put his hands as he appeared almost nervous. It was a new look on him and Jasmine chuckled again softly as it wasn't usual of him. If she dared say he didn't know how to handle this situation as a professor but more as a friend, or a friendly older mentor. Then again this was his first professor's job and he was a lot younger than all of the others.
''Thank you, professor,'' said Jasmine. Then thought back on their conversation and decided to return a compliment. ''As a student myself, I feel entitled to tell you that I very much enjoy your lessons and have learned a lot in Defence so far.''
Finally, Smirnitsky let out a laugh and what looked like a breath of relief. A clear smile, the usual for him, stayed on his face and Jasmine knew she nailed it with the compliment. Without anything else to say she turned on her heels and walked back to the occupied hospital bed. She arrived to a scene where James was animatedly explaining one of the last Quidditch games (which notably they all saw, but he wanted to re-enact it) and was flailing his arms to exaggerate.
Jasmine stepped between Lily and Robyn, hugging both of them around the waist pulling them closer to herself. She received smiles from both sides. Remus stopped paying attention to James' story and smiled at her as well, which she returned.
''What did Smirnitsky want?'' Sirius asked to stop James' ramble.
''Nothing special.'' Jasmine shrugged. ''He was apologising for last night and wanted to see my point of view, made sure I was okay.''
''He won't tell anyone about –?'' Peter started the question and again Lily cleared her throat loudly before he could finish it.
Jasmine felt Robyn stiffen beside her. ''No, he won't. He promised.'' Jasmine reassured. ''Besides, who could he tell it to? He's from another country, I doubt he knows many people outside Hogwarts.''
''The Dark Lord?'' James asked, heightening his voice at the end.
Lily scoffed. ''I can't believe you're still on to that. He is not a Death Eater.''
''But he's wearing a black cloak all the time!'' James argued back.
''Why don't you research what black cloaks mean in Russian traditions and then come back with a better argument?'' Remus looked at James.
''If I may say something from a fashionable point of view,'' said Lily, ''his is black and gold, I doubt Death Eaters look this good.''
Jasmine watched with amusement how their group seemed to be able to talk about a hard topic with such lightness in their voices and jokes. I guess it was better since all of it was hypothetical, it all became too depressing once they thought but what if it's true?
''Lily Evans just called Smirnitsky good looking. Having a crush are we Lily?'' Sirius smirked.
''I do not!'' Lily protested.
Everyone's heads turned to James to watch his reaction and for the first time, he fell quiet. But to a keen eye, it was clear that jealousy was bubbling inside him.
''I'll back up Lily on this one, he isn't that bad,'' said Robyn.
Lily smiled at her thankfully by looking past Jasmine. Then both she and Robyn turned their heads expectantly towards Jasmine. She looked left and right with confusion on her face. ''God no! He's old.'' She never thought about it, but the answer was fast and clear.
''Okay, all jokes aside, Smirnitsky is a good professor and we're lucky to have him,'' Sirius concluded, stopping whatever argument would arise otherwise. Everyone agreed with the murmurs and nodded their heads.
Jasmine felt a nudge on her left side and looked at Robyn who was looking at her with an impassive expression. The light brunette raised one brow in question.
''What are you hiding from me?'' Robyn asked quietly and sudden sadness appeared in her eyes.
She didn't need to say anything else for Jasmine to know exactly what she meant by that. Jasmine sighed as well and looked away from her. She didn't expect Remus to already be looking at her but when she locked eyes with him, he nodded slowly. She guessed he heard the question and decided it was bound for Robyn to know as well.
''Do you want to tell her?'' She asked.
Remus shook his head. ''You have your way with words.'' He smiled cheekily.
Jasmine muttered an 'okay' under her breath before she looked back at Robyn, grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the group a little.
''Now you're scaring me,'' said Robyn with widened eyes.
Once they stopped Jasmine gathered thoughts on how to reveal this big secret. ''It's a long story.''
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