The Last Peverell

Chapter 45

Enjoy!

Chapter 45

As it was, the trial was set for a few days before the summer holiday. The court kept sending Jasmine notices with different date and times, they were changing on a near daily basis. It was horrifically frustrating to think that she had a few extra days to prepare herself and solidify her case, and then get a letter in the mail telling her to be at the Headmaster's office by nine to be taken to the Ministry for nine-thirty. It seemed that the court had finally picked a day and it was today.

Bloody brilliant.

She knew it was all a game from the Avery's new lawyer. The prick was testing the waters to try and shake Jasmine up. It was a dirty and underhanded tactic, but it was something that would usually worry a fifteen-year-old girl into a panic. Luckily, Jasmine had more than enough experience with Ministry trials during her other nine lives to not let it get to her.

Still, it was enough to make her grit her teeth and viciously rip into a piece of toast that morning. "Did it get changed again?" James asked from over a cup of tea, glasses fogging up from the steam and sliding halfway down his nose.

He was the picture of pureblood grace.

"Even worse, I'll be leaving in a few minutes, I'm expected at court at nine-thirty," she snarled, tearing a pastry in half before tossing it back on her plate, her appetite gone for the morning.

"Can they do that? Just change the date to this morning when you thought it was going to be next week?" Lily questioned, her hand resting lightly on Jasmine's forearm as she tried to get her friend to stop destroying all the food in front of her.

Sirius shrugged, his lips curled back in disgust. "They can. It's uncommon, but the lawyer that's been put in charge of the case has been a right pain in the arse. My dad said that they're just trying to get the guy to agree to a date, so they can finish the trial. The verdict has already been decided for the most part. This is all grandstanding at the point. I think that the lawyer was hoping Jasmine would back down or change her mind after playing games with the trial date for the past month."

"Do we have any idea who this lawyer is?" Remus added into the mix of questions, his bedhead falling into his face as he cocked his head to the side, a frown adorning his face.

Jasmine let out a sigh, tugging at her braid. "No, he hasn't given his name yet. All of his notices and contacts have gone through the Avery Household. They're being very secretive about him. Andromeda thinks that he's famous pureblood lawyer from another country and it wouldn't go over well in front of the Wizengamot."

"Please," James snorted, "With the way that he is acting there is no way that the case is going to fall in Avery's favor. No one is happy with the way he has been handling the situation. There's no need to call in new witnesses or bring Jazz forward to question her character. Her memories have been shown, his have been shown, Lily, Alice and Frank all volunteered to show their memories. It's a black and white case, but this attorney thinks that bringing her forward and more than likely bring up her past as a duelist will somehow change the entire case."

"Sounds like you'd rather fight dark wizards than go to court," Remus joked, an uneasy smile playing on his lips.

James, Jasmine and Sirius let out a wistful sigh. They were going to spend most of their adult lives dealing with court nonsense. Being heir to an Ancient and Noble House tended to come with more than a few responsibilities that no one wanted to deal with. Fighting some of these purebloods in a dueling ring would be more than preferable. "Yes, well, sometimes I find casting spells easier than speaking with a large council of wizards waiting to judge me on my past," Jasmine replied, dusting her robes off, she was going to need to leave in a moment.