Daddy Dearest - (No Update, Edit)

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 70 ~ Vacation's Over

By the end of summer, both Mathias and Andreas had improved greatly in their fighting ability. Now they were thinking fighters instead of skilled brawlers. Neither was a match for Tonks or anywhere near it yet, but the improvement was marked.

Kingsley had worked them unmercifully, strengthening their bodies with exercise and workouts. They each had a grueling morning regime they were expected to do every day, and they did so, their lean bodies becoming hard, but not bulky. They returned to Slytherin house and the other students noticed the difference in them. They were closer than ever and outside of classes, if you saw Mathias, you saw Andreas by his side.

Students from Gryffindor quickly discovered that the boys were faster and meaner than ever, quick to hex and escape every ambush with amazing speed, leaving at least three of the offending attackers infirmary-bound every time.

Jasmine Malfoy returned to Slytherin house rather subdued. Her fair skin was much darker, as if it had a crust. She was also much more toned. But what was most noticeable was her laid back attitude. She did not take her role as Alpha female of the witches when she returned, but was retiring and silent for the most part. She also rejoined the DKV, but as an ordinary member and not in the role of secretary. They welcomed her back with open arms. She attended the meetings regularly, though she rarely participated in any discussions and didn't engage in any extra-curricular activities, such as recruitment or targeted harassment of muggle-borns.

Mathias and Andreas noticed the change in her immediately.

"Jasmine, are you all right?" Mathias asked her one day as they walked to breakfast.

Jasmine nodded.

"I'm fine, Mathias," she replied quietly.

Andreas simply studied her with a small smile on his face, but said nothing.

"You seem different," Mathias said.

"I am," Jasmine said, "Everyone changes, Mathias. I had to grow up this summer. You and Andreas seem different too. More mature."

"That's because we are in disciplined training now," Mathias said, "My father thought learning the Martial Arts would help us be better wizards. So we are studying it now."

Jasmine looked interested.

"Both of you? Really?" she asked him.

Mathias and Andreas nodded. Mathias hadn't told Jasmine the truth as to why they were in training, but managed to let her know they were so she wasn't left out of the loop.

"Do you think I could learn with you?" Jasmine asked Mathias.

Uh oh.

Mathias shook his head quickly.

"No, we have a very private, exclusive teacher. There is a two-student limit," Mathias lied. Jasmine looked at him.

"What's his name?" she asked.

"Can't tell you. Private and exclusive, remember?" Mathias said smugly.

Jasmine scowled at him.

"Perhaps we can show her some moves, Mathias," Andreas said, his black eyes resting on the witch. Jasmine brightened.

Now Mathias scowled at Andreas.

"What?" he said incredulously.

"I said we could teach her to fight. She could work out with us every morning," Andreas said. "We can teach her what we know."

Mathias harrumphed.

"No way. She couldn't possibly make it through one of our workouts. It would be a waste of time," he said as if Jasmine wasn't there. Suddenly he was hit hard in the shoulder. Really hard.

"I can do any workout you can do," Jasmine declared to the pale wizard, who smirked at her as he rubbed his shoulder.

"You think so?" he asked her rather silkily, arching an eyebrow at the witch.

"I've toughened up over the summer," she said evenly. "And I need some kind of outlet, Mathias. Something physical. Please give me a chance."

Mathias looked from Jasmine to Andreas. His brother was smiling encouragingly. He looked back at Jasmine, a doubtful look on his pale face.

"If you worked out and trained with us, it would mean we would get to kick your ass, Jasmine. Really kick it," Mathias said, "That's the only way you would learn anything. You'd have bruises and things. I know you don't want that."

"I don't care about bruises…and you will only kick my ass until I learn how to kick yours," she retorted, her ice-blue eyes narrowing.

Andreas smiled broadly at her courage.

Mathias frowned at her.

"You don't care about bruises? Jasmine, you got a pimple on your nose last year that was hardly even noticeable, and you wouldn't leave your room for two days," Mathias said.

"That was the old Jasmine," the witch replied, frowning. "I'm different now. Looks aren't everything."

Mathias gasped and clutched his heart as if her statement gave him an attack.

"Jasmine Malfoy is saying looks don't matter? Next thing you know she'll be saying muggles are people too," the wizard said sarcastically.

Jasmine looked at him coolly as they entered the Great Hall.

"They are," she said simply, but with conviction. "Some are very good people."

Mathias stopped in awe as the witch continued walking into the Great Hall. Andreas stopped too, smiling at the wizard.

"Did you hear that?" Mathias said shocked. Jasmine had always looked down on muggles as if they were another breed of animal all together.

Andreas nodded.

"It seems Jasmine learned a lot over the summer," the wizard said, looking after the witch. "I think we will find out there are many things different about Lady Jasmine Malfoy. We should train her."

Mathias looked at Andreas.

"All right. She can workout with us tomorrow morning. If she can keep up with us for a week, we'll start teaching her some moves," the wizard said.

Hmm. Having the right to kick Jasmine's ass all over Hogwarts rather appealed to Mathias. Tonks had effectively wiped away the "witches are the weaker sex" line. A female could break a wizard's face just as good as another wizard if she knew what she was doing.

Andreas nodded.

"Good. I think it will be a wise move," the wizard replied.

The two wizards entered the Great Hall. Mathias looked for Jasmine and saw her seated with the DKV members. She looked at him evenly as he scowled at her.

"She's joined them again," he hissed at Andreas. "I knew she didn't mean what she said about muggles. She's still a bigot."

Andreas sat down next to him.

"What you see isn't always the way things are, my brother. Most likely her father made her rejoin them. Her body is there…but not her heart, Mathias," Andreas said. "Look at her aura."

Mathias shifted his view and saw that Jasmine's aura was full of deception as she sat with the others. She wasn't with them. Not really.

"She's fooling them," he said, his dark eyes resting on her. "She is no DKV member."

"No," Andreas said, pulling plates toward him. "She's not. She is not a bigot either. Not anymore. Her father saw to that, though he doesn't know it."

Mathias looked at him.

"What are you talking about, Andreas?" the pale wizard asked.

"I saw what happened between her and her father. She did not want to serve Voldemort and to punish her, he sent her to an island to work as a muggle for the summer," the wizard said.

Mathias blinked at Andreas then looked back over at Jasmine, who was quietly eating as the DKV members chattered around her.

"Jasmine? Working? With her hands?" he said under his breath.

Andreas nodded as he bit into a healthy slice of jam-covered toast. He chewed, then swallowed.

"Yes, and harvesting is hard work. She probably is strong enough to get through our workout," the wizard said.

Mathias looked thoughtful. Jasmine hadn't said anything about having to work all summer. That must have been quite an ordeal for her.

It had been.

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Jasmine arrived by port key to the island with nothing more than the clothes on her back. Draco had confiscated her wand and wasted no time sending her off.

"I'm sure you will have a change of heart after a few weeks of hard work," her father told her, a sneer on his face. "Someone will meet you. Just wait where you arrive." He gave her a bit of coconut shell.

Jasmine took the shell and looked at her father dispassionately. She had no words for him.

"Portis," she said.

Draco watched as his daughter disappeared. When she was gone, he sighed. He had to do it…he had to get Jasmine back on the right track. He'd rather have her unhappy than dead. It wasn't easy serving the Dark Lord, but that was the position they were in. Draco remembered balking when it was his turn, and how his father Lucius had literally beaten him into compliance in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor. Then, when he was among the ranks, Draco saw for himself what happened to those who denied the Dark Lord. It was horrible. He didn't want that kind of sticky end for himself or his family and immediately set out to make himself indispensable to the Dark Lord…but the truth was, no one was indispensable.

Draco knew his daughter probably hated him right now, but he had to do what he had to do to protect her, even if that protection was painful.

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Jasmine's first sensation was one of being engulfed in heat and humidity. She was standing on a seashore facing a jungle. Her father said someone would meet her. The witch looked up and down the shore and saw no one. She was dressed in muggle clothing, a t-shirt and jeans. The island was pretty enough, the sky blue, clouds white and birds wheeling in the distance, crying out to the sea.

"Jasmine!" an accented voice cried out from within the bush. The witch felt for her wand, then remembered she didn't have one.

"I'm here!" she called back.

A man with a shirt tied around his head walked out of the jungle. He was a muggle, very brown-skinned, with dark eyes and bad teeth. He was chewing something. A long, sword-like weapon was knotted to his side, and he looked her over, frowning slightly.

He shook his head.

"I ask for another worker and they send me you? Madre de Deus, they should have sent me a child rather than you," he griped as he looked at her fair skin.

"Let me see your hands," he demanded.

Jasmine held out her hands. The man swore.

"You've never worked a day in your life," he said to her accusingly.

Jasmine really hadn't. She didn't respond.

The man looked at her for a moment.

"Well, you're here now, and I need you. You'll just have to toughen up. My name is Juan and I am the overseer here. I give the orders, you do the work. Understand?" he said to her.

Jasmine nodded.

He looked at the witch again with undisguised disgust.

"All right, follow me," he said, walking back into the jungle.

Jasmine did so.

They walked for about twenty minutes and came to a clearing. There were two long buildings, and another smaller building. Fires were going and people walking about, some carrying sacks on their backs, others carrying wood and some others tending fires. They were men and women, almost all of them barefoot and their clothing coarse. The women were all in skirts and the men in pants or cut offs that stopped mid-shin. Everyone seemed to have something on their heads, wrapped shirts, bandanas or floppy hats. Everyone was brown or black skinned and Jasmine heard a language she was unfamiliar with being shouted across the camp. That's where she was, the camp.

Juan started walking toward the smaller building. Jasmine felt curious eyes on her as she followed him. Juan pushed open the screen door and walked inside, letting the door slam back. Jasmine pushed the door open. Inside were several rickety chairs and a counter.

"Sit down," Juan said, walking into the back.

Jasmine sat down and looked around the dirty little room. Dust was everywhere and lizards clung to the wall. They were tiny, brown and bright green in color. Juan reappeared with a bundle.

"Two changes of clothes, underwear, soft shoes, bed sheets and blanket," he said, setting the bag on the counter. Take them and go to the barracks on the right. That's the women's barracks and where you will live while you work here. Ask for Maria," Juan said, eyeing the witch. "She will get you settled in and tell you your duties."

Jasmine rose, walked over to the counter and gathered the bundle together, Juan's dark eyes resting on her, his head shaking slightly. Why would they send a girl like this? She knew nothing of hard work. She would spend the first week crying, he was sure. But crying or not…she would work. Even the children here worked.

Jasmine thanked Juan and exited the office, walking toward the barracks on the right as instructed. It was very long, made of logs and had a door at either end. She entered and saw that it was full of twin-sized bunk beds and women of all ages and sizes. Clothing was strung up everywhere and small children, some naked, ran up and down the center aisle, the women chattering at them as they laughed. A small, brown-skinned woman sat on the first bed, sewing together a torn shirt seam. She looked up at Jasmine with quick black eyes that swept over her. She looked to be about fifty years old, and her skin was weathered. She said something to Jasmine in that strange language.

"Maria," Jasmine said to the woman. "I need to find Maria."

The woman looked at her, then suddenly cried out, "Maria! Maria!" and said something unintelligible.

A heavy-set brown-skinned woman walked up the barracks. She had a polka dot pink bandana tied around her head, wore a skirt and a light tunic. The woman was big breasted, but didn't wear a bra. She stopped in front of Jasmine, put her hands on her hips, looked her over and said something to the woman sitting on the bed. The woman chuckled, shaking her head as she drew the long thread up then stuck the needle back through the fabric. The woman's dark eyes rested on Jasmine.

"What is someone like you doing someplace like this?" she asked Jasmine. "You aren't a worker. You have never worked. Why do they always do this to me?" she complained, turning. "Follow me."

The woman strode up the barracks and Jasmine followed her. She stopped at a bunk bed. There were two chests on either side of the bed. Maria pointed to the chest on the right side of the bed.

"That is where you will keep your things. It doesn't lock but we don't steal here," she said to the witch. Then the woman pointed to the top bunk. "You are young enough to climb, that is your bed."

Jasmine looked at the bed. It was small and lumpy. Sleeping on it was going to be uncomfortable. She hoped she didn't roll out of it. It was a little drop to the hard, earthen floor.

"We have three meals a day. You will eat breakfast here, carry lunch with you and have supper when we return from the fields. Normally the men and women eat together outside for supper. It is the biggest meal of the day. We rise early and come home late. On Sundays we rest and worship. All other days we work…hard. We must get the harvest in before the rains come eight weeks from now. If we do not get it all we only receive half-pay. They try and cheat us every year…so you must work hard. We all depend upon each other here. The money has to last us until the next harvest," Maria said eyeing her.

This young woman looked as if she had never been poor or knew the value of money. She was white and soft. Maria shook her head. She would find it hard here.

"What is your name?" Maria asked the witch.

"Jasmine," Jasmine replied.

"Jasmine, why did you take on this kind of work? You are not a worker," Maria said to her curiously.

"I didn't take it on. My father sent me here to teach me a lesson," Jasmine replied, setting her bundle on the floor and opening it.

"A lesson?" Maria asked, her eyebrow arched.

"Yes. I was disobedient. He felt working the summer would straighten me out," Jasmine said as she pulled out two sets of clothing, two coarse light skirts and two tunic-like shirts. She put them in the chest. Two pairs of large white cotton knickers were removed next.

Maria looked at the girl as she put her things away. So she was sent here for punishment. It was quite a punishment. If her father meant to humble her, she would certainly be humbled. Life was simple here. For Maria and the other women, it was life as usual. For Jasmine, it would probably be hell.

"What is he punishing you for?" Maria asked her, her voice softer now.

Jasmine looked at the muggle woman. She wasn't sure if she should tell her the truth or not. Then she shrugged. Maria studied the blonde witch.

"You will find, Jasmine…that women understand each other and comfort each other. Things are going to be hard for you the first few days. Your body is going to suffer from the heat, the sun and the work. The constant bending will make you ache and the constant picking will make your fingers bleed. You are going to need help and kindness from all of us. Being honest makes it easier to make friends here," she said evenly.

Jasmine looked at the woman.

"I'm here because I do not want to follow an evil leader who my father works for," Jasmine said. "He is cruel and wants to rule our world…and…and…"

Here Jasmine faltered. The only ones who knew she was to be a consort for Voldemort was Draco and Carla, the witch who was brutalized by the Dark Lord. Her eyes filled with tears.

"…when I turn eighteen, I have to go to him."

Maria looked at the witch sympathetically. She knew what that meant. In her culture, young girls were often betrothed to old men who were well off. Sometimes those men were very cruel.

"So he hopes to make you follow this man and marry him," Maria said.

Jasmine shook her head.

"No, not marry…just go to him when he wants me," Jasmine said.

Maria's eyes widened.

"What? You are not to marry him? Why would a father permit such a thing?" Maria gasped.

"Because the Dark Lord is powerful," Jasmine replied, sitting down on the edge of the lower bed, hoping whoever slept there wouldn't mind. "He is the most powerful wizard in our world."

Maria knew about the wizarding world, though she had never been to England. As a supervisory employee of one of the Malfoy's holdings, she was privy to this information. She had to be, because of the way they collected the harvest, by port key.

"You are a witch, then?" Maria asked her.

"Yes, but I can't do magic. I have no wand," Jasmine replied, trying to fight back her tears.

Maria's heart went out to Jasmine. She sat down on the bed beside her.

"It is hard when your family forces you to do what you do not wish to do. All you can to is listen to them until you can find your own way…always look for your own way, Jasmine. For now, make up your bed and get some sleep. It is Sunday, the one day we rest. I will wake you for supper."

Maria patted the witch on her shoulder and rose. She looked down on Jasmine kindly.

"We will help you adjust," the woman promised her, "We are all sisters here. We all know what it is to be controlled by men."

Maria's comment made Jasmine think of Andreas. He called her "little sister." Were all people of color so accepting?

"Thank you," Jasmine said, wiping her eyes as Maria departed.

Jasmine pulled a rather dingy sheet out of the bundle and went about making up her bed. When she was finished, she put the bundle itself in the chest and was about to climb up into the bed when she heard a giggle. She looked and saw a little brown-skinned girl with her hair up in ribbons, wearing nothing but a pair of too-large panties looking at her. She was cute. Jasmine gave her a small smile.

"Hello," she said to the child, who smiled back at her. The little girl said something indecipherable, then pointed to her hair.

Jasmine blinked at her, not understanding. The little girl tapped her head then plucked out a strand of her hair and offered it to Jasmine, pointing at the witch's hair. Then Jasmine understood. She wanted a strand of her hair, probably because it was blonde. Jasmine plucked a strand out of her head, took the black hair from the child and gave her the blonde strand. The little girl let out a cry of delight and ran away with her prize. Jasmine watched her go, and tucked the strand into her jean pocket. Again, she was about to climb into bed when she heard several more giggles.

Jasmine turned to see about ten children of varying ages, all holding out strands of hair to her and smiling brightly.

Oh good gods.

The witch started plucking.

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A/N: Sorry about the wait. Please review.