Thicker than Water (Marauders Era) PART II

6 January, 1996 - Understanding

Once Lavinia got over the absolute terror of Jasmine figuring out that Sirius was not only in contact with her but was also rather close to her, the whole situation actually turned into something rather relieving. Because Jasmine was right. It meant that Lavinia didn't have to hide him. Not that she was about to integrate these two halves of her life or anything like it, but still. It had felt strange to be torn between two lives and though Lavinia had gotten used to it, the moment Jasmine had pointed out what this meant, it had been like a weight lifted off her shoulders. A breath of fresh air she hadn't even noticed she'd been missing.

Lavinia, in turn, made good on her promise of asking Sirius if he would be willing to meet Jasmine, something he was understandably hesitant about. But Lavinia had assured him that she trusted the girl and, as an extra precaution, they would do it at Lavinia's house because however far Lavinia's trust extended, she also still wanted to keep Jasmine as far away from the Order as she reasonably could. And that included keeping her out of Headquarters. Plus, if she was honest, it was an easy precaution that was worth taking and one that made Sirius feel at least a bit better about the whole thing.

The end result of all of this was a night, just before Jasmine was set to head back to school, on which Lavinia brought Sirius home to a thoroughly overexcited Jasmine. The girl practically launched out of her seat when Lavinia walked through the door, skipping forward and stopping in front of Sirius with an eager expression and her hand stuck expectantly out in front of her. This was, judging by Sirius's expression, not the anticipated reaction and he shook the girl's hand a bit hesitantly, his face caught somewhere between surprise, caution and a curiosity that made Lavinia smile.

Jasmine, for her part, proceeded to study Sirius, her head tipping to the side as she looked up at him, a thoughtful frown on her features for a long moment before she sniffed and turned to Laivnia. "He's as handsome as his photo," she decided with a cheeky little wink before turning back to Sirius and, still smiling and with apparently no idea how confused Sirius was about the whole thing, informed him that he photographed well.

"Except that prison photo," she added, now turning away and walking back into the living room, utterly unconcerned. "That wasn't a good look. But I don't suppose they let you clean up for those do they?"

Sirius didn't answer, simply staring after Jasmine with an utterly bemused expression on his face. After a moment he turned back to Lavinia in silent demand for an explanation. Except Lavinia didn't really have one. So she just shrugged, suppressing her own smile. "I did warn you," she reminded him with a teasing flick of her brows before following Jasmine towards the couch.

And she had warned Sirius, in a manner of speaking, though she didn't think Sirius had really understood what she'd meant when she'd described Jasmine as curious, usually oblivious and utterly inexhaustible. But then again, if he hadn't know before, well... he certainly was about to learn. And rather quickly too.

In the end, the evening turned out well enough by Lavinia's estimation. Jasmine didn't seem capable of stopping the absolute flood of questions that came out of her mouth about everything from how was the food in Azkaban to if he had a favourite Quidditch team to whether or not the Gryffindor Slytherin quidditch rivalry had been as bad in his day as it was now because Lavinia was completely useless in regard to all things sports. This , of course, was completely predictable of Jasmine and not at all what Lavinia had been worried about.

No, what Lavinia had made Lavinia rather nervous was Sirius's response. And indeed, at least at first, the poor man didn't seem to know what on Earth to do with this excitable, curious creature bombarding him with questions. Actually, if Lavinia had to guess, she suspected Sirius initially thought Jasmine was having a go at him. That is, until it became clear that she was hanging on his every word. And she was. Which was probably part of why the conversation lasted so long: because Jasmine got very distracted on several different tangents that came up in the process of Sirius's responses. Including what she thought her own animagus form would be if, in her own words, "she didn't absolutely hate Transfiguration. But no one tell McGonagall I said that. She'll kill me."