Written for Gamma Orionis' Original Character Boot Camp using the prompt 'fight'

Written for fan-freak121's Next Gen OC Challenge

Nothing's Perfect

"Happy New Year!" everybody shouted in unison as they watched the clock turn to midnight.

Down in the Muggle village, fireworks sounded, sparking the start of the New Year. George Weasley let off some of his own, more extravagant, fireworks, which zoomed around the yard of the Burrow, much to everybody's delight.

Jasmine felt a pair of arms around her, and for a moment, she thought they were James'. What the hell was he doing? Hadn't being in the shed together, while he was still dating Georgia, bad enough? Was he really going to publically announce that he was cheating on his girlfriend?

"What are you do –" She stopped abruptly when she realised it was her mother. The smile on her face faltered.

"I just wanted to say Happy New Year," she said. "Who did you think I was?"

Jasmine went red. "Nobody," she mumbled. "Happy New Year, Mum." She allowed her mother to give her a kiss, and then hugged her dad. From the corner of her eye, she saw James hug both of his siblings, and then his cousins.

She tried to ignore it.

George's fireworks lasted fifteen minutes, and the moment that they stopped, everybody began to head back inside, yawning.

Why was it that up until midnight, everyone was wide awake, but the moment the clock turned, they wanted to go to bed?

It happened every year, no matter who she was with.

"Grab your stuff, Jas," he father said. "We'll be heading back soon."

Jasmine nodded, relieved to finally be getting out of the place. If this had been last year, she probably would have been glad to get out of the place because she was sick of James Potter's pig-headedness, and Rose Weasley's cruel looks from across the room. This time, however, she just wanted to leave in the hope it would stop her from feeling so guilty.

He was Georgia's boyfriend. Her best friend's boyfriend, and she had just slept with him.

She was a horrible person. A terrible person. She didn't deserve a friend like Georgia.

And James didn't deserve Georgia either. Jasmine had always known she was too good for him.

Her bag was in the living room. She pushed the door open, only to find the one person she didn't want to see yawning on one of the couches.

Upon seeing her, he sat up, smiling.

"Hey!" he said.

Jasmine tried her best to ignore him. No, she was not going to fall for it. She didn't care that the way he looked at her made her heart skip a beat, or just his presence sent tingles up her arms.

He was Georgia's boyfriend.

"Listen, about what happened before," James began.

"There's nothing to talk about!" Jasmine snapped, glaring at him. "We had sex, when we shouldn't have. Have you… have you even gone that far with Georgia before? Actually, don't answer that, I don't want to know."

James stared at her, bewildered. Then, "No, I barely kissed her," he said softly.

"Well, you're a pathetic boyfriend," Jasmine accused. "You have no idea how excited she is, and how much she likes you. Merlin only knows what she sees in you."

James stepped closer to her; their bodies were practically touching. "I am a pathetic boyfriend," he said. "You said so yourself – she's too good for me. I couldn't kiss her, Jas. I couldn't kiss her, because I was always thinking of you when I did." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. His hands entwined around her back, and he pulled her even closer to him. "It's been you for a very long time," he confessed.

For every second the kiss lingered, she grew more and more disgusted with herself. They should not have been doing this, but… her body told her otherwise. Her heart beat faster as his hands became entangles in her hair –

"What are you doing?"

James pulled away so fast, and Jasmine tried her best to straighten her clothes, as if nothing had happened.

"A-Al," James stuttered. "What are you doing in here?"

"I came to go to bed," Al responded, "But it looks like you and Jasmine beat me to it." He glared between the two of them.

"Al, we weren't doing anything," James said. "I was just… she was just… helping."

"Helping with what?" Albus said furiously. "To locate your tongue down her throat? Mate, this is low, even for you."

"I-I should go," Jasmine said. "I'll see you la – bye." She left the room so fast that she didn't even see Harry Potter standing right outside the door.

"You're in a hurry to get out of here," her father observed.

"Can we go?" she begged. "Please?"

Both of her parents looked at her curiously, and her mother said, "You've been acting a bit strange these last few hours. Is everything okay, Jas?"

"Everything's fine," Jasmine lied. "Can we go?"

"That's very rude, Jasmine," her mother then scolded.

Jasmine didn't care about that. She just wanted to get as far away from James Potter as she possibly could. In another week, she'd have to go back to school, where she'd have to see Georgia again, and… she didn't even want to think about those consequences.

They used the Floo Network to get home, and Jasmine didn't even offer the chance for the others to go first. She picked up a handful of Floo Powder and shouted the name of her home in Ireland.

Not waiting for the others, she marched up the stairs and into her bedroom, slamming the door shut.

It was there that she cried. She couldn't stop crying. All the guilt that had been building up inside her over the past hours came flooding out in tears.

She knew what people said about her at school.

Now, she realised, they were right.

She was nothing but a boyfriend-stealing slut.

OOO

"Jasmine, are you sure everything's okay? You've been awfully quiet this past week, and I'm starting to worry."

Jasmine looked up from her bowl of cereal and peered into her mother's concerned face.

"Nothing," she mumbled, feeling the tears start to sting her eyes as they had many times over the past week.

"Jasmine," her mother pressed. "Please tell me."

A tear trickled down Jasmine's cheek, and she returned her gaze back to her breakfast. "It… it was at the New Year's party with the Weasleys," she began, realising she couldn't keep anything from her mum. Sometimes, they were just too similar.

"Yes, I assumed something must have happened there," her mum said. "That was when your mood began to change."

"I… we… the little ones were playing hide and seek and once we were caught, we were taken to this shed thing and had to wait there. Well, I was one of the first ones there and… James was there too." She cringed at the name. The thought of him made her sick.

"And?" her mum prompted. "Did he do anything to you, Jas? Because if he did –"

Jasmine shook her head. "No, it wasn't what he did," she said. "It was what we did."

Silence filled the kitchen after that, and it was in that moment, Jasmine was thankful it was just her mother there with her. She couldn't bear the thought of having her brothers, or her father hear this too. Quenton and Lucian would give her hell for it, and her father… well, he probably wouldn't have been pleased.

"You mean, you –?"

Jasmine nodded.

"Well, you're old enough to make your own decisions," her mother said. "I trust that you and James were sensible?"

"Mum, you don't understand," Jasmine replied, her voice cracking from the memory. "James is dating Georgia. My best friend!"

There was more silence, and then, "Oh."

"I can't go back to Hogwarts! I can't face her again, Mum. What I did… Georgia still thinks she's got this wonderful boyfriend who was missing her for two weeks, when all he was doing was… was…." She couldn't finish the sentence. "She'll be devastated. She'll hate me."

"Probably." Her mum's tone was painfully blunt, and all of a sudden Jasmine couldn't eat anymore. She pushed her bowl away.

"I can't go back today," she said. "I can't face either of them."

"Jasmine, sweetheart, you'll have to. Not only do you need to go back to school, but you also need to face the consequences of your actions. You can't run from what you did. Yes, Georgia will be hurt, but at the end of the day it will be better for her to know the truth. Does James… does he care about Georgia?"

Jasmine nodded. "Yes, he does. He just doesn't… he doesn't feel that way about her. He never did. He's a pig. I always told Georgia she was too good for him, and now I've been proved right."

"If you think that way about him, then why did you do what you did with him?"

"Because he's also really sweet, and charming, and…." And he was a really good kisser, but she didn't want to share that fact with her mother.

Her mum's hand covered her own, and she gave her a smile. "So, James wants to be with you and not Georgia?" she questioned.

Jasmine nodded, swallowing the bile in her throat.

"And do you want to be with him? Because, darling, I've been in Georgia's position before. I've been with somebody who has loved another and it hurts. She'll be very hurt when she finds out."

Jasmine allowed a few tears to roll down her cheeks. "I can't be with him," she said. "Even if I wanted to, for Georgia's sake, I can't be."

Her mum nodded, smiling at her. "I think that is a very wise choice," she said.

OOO

For once, Georgia didn't meet her on the platform. In fact, Georgia was nowhere to be seen. Jasmine gave a quick glance around, but she couldn't see her friend anywhere.

Considering what had happened, that wasn't a good sign. Surely James hadn't told her. Surely….

Feeling sick with worry, Jasmine said a quick goodbye to her parents and boarded the train gravely. She pushed her way through all the students, ignoring the crude calls that emanated every once in a while.

"Hey, Finnigan!" one fifth year boy shouted. "How many blokes did you shag over Christmas?"

"How many girls?" his friend added, and the two roared with laughter.

Jasmine continued on. She wasn't really sure how the rumours that she had slept with almost every boy in the school came to be, considering she'd only been with two now. Just because she had dated a lot, didn't mean she had done much with the majority of them. Most of them hadn't been worth her even snogging.

And even the one guy she had gone further with – Kyle Bradley – well, it had been a less than pleasant experience. He was more of a pig than James. At least James had treated her nicely.

She made it to the third carriage when none other than Albus Potter stopped her. "Your friend Georgia," he said, getting straight to the point without greeting, "She's in there, crying. My brother just broke up with her." By the look on Albus' face, it seemed he had not forgiven either of them for what he had found on New Year's.

Jasmine nodded, and entered the compartment that Albus had pointed to. She'd expected to find Georgia alone, but to her surprise, Rose Weasley was in there too, her arm around Georgia.

She wasn't sure exactly what it was about Rose, but she'd always liked Georgia, and never Jasmine. Apparently Rose had the same misconception about her as the majority of the school did.

However, now was not the time for playing favourites. Jasmine sat on the other side of her best friend and wrapped her arms around her.

"It's okay, Georgie," she said.

Georgia just cried, and Rose and Jasmine shared a look over her. It seemed that Albus had not shared the information with his cousin, because she wasn't glaring at Jasmine like she had expected

Jasmine's suspicions were confirmed when Rose spoke, "I can talk to him if you'd like," she said. "Make him see sense. He really liked you, I know he did."

"M-maybe something happened?" Georgia said. "Maybe something changed?"

Jasmine felt a pang of guilt knot her stomach. She swallowed the invisible lump in her throat. She needed to tell her.

"No, nothing happened," Rose said. "Not that I know of, at least."

James and Rose were very close – Jasmine knew that – so if she didn't even know, then Jasmine thought it was safe to say that no one else knew either. If James hadn't told Rose, he would have told no one.

"You know what, I am going to talk to him!" Rose exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "I'll tell him what an idiot he's being." She disappeared, leaving Jasmine alone with Georgia.

Now would be the perfect time to tell her, she thought. But Georgia was upset as it was.

"He… he just broke up with me," Georgia sobbed the moment Rose was gone. "He walked up to me on the platform and told me it was over, then walked away again. I tried to ask why, but he didn't say anything. I don't understand." She pulled away from Jasmine's arms and wiped her tears. "There must be something wrong with me," she declared.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Georgie," Jasmine replied quickly. "He's just a jerk, that's all."

"Maybe he found someone better," Georgia continued, seeming not to hear what Jasmine had said.

At those words, Jasmine looked away.

"I said I didn't want to… I didn't want to go any further than kissing him," she explained. "Maybe that was why. Maybe he found somebody else who wanted to."

Jasmine shook her head furiously. "No, that's not it!" she insisted. "He may be a jerk, but he wouldn't do that. He's not like that." Well, maybe he was. After all, that was exactly what she had done with him that night in the shed.

Her stomach ached. Merlin, what on Earth had she done?

Georgia leaned back in the seat, whimpering still. "I really liked him," she said. "And I really thought he liked me too."

"You deserve so much better," Jasmine said. "He's a pig, who sleeps around when you're not with him."

Georgia looked at her, fresh tears forming. "What?" she asked. "Do you know something I don't?"

Jasmine sucked in a deep breath. She had to tell Georgia. It was the only thing she could do. Whether she told her now or not, their friendship was over.

"I know he had another girl over Christmas," she said. "Just once, though. It was a mistake… at least from her perspective anyway."

"H-how do you know this?" Georgia questioned. "Was it someone here? Did she tell you?"

Jasmine fought back her own tears. "I know, Georgie… I know, because that girl was me."

Georgia didn't say anything for a long time, and Jasmine could see her mind ticking over as she processed this new information. She didn't dare interrupt. Georgia wasn't one to yell, at least. She would just cry.

"You?" she said after a while, the pain clear in her tone.

"I'm so sorry, Georgie," Jasmine said. "It… I didn't plan it, I swear. We were at the Weasleys for New Year and –"

"At the Weasleys!" Jasmine cried. "With all the people around?" Tears rolled down her cheeks, and Jasmine tried to comfort her, but Georgia shook her off. "You and my boyfriend… no, my ex-boyfriend… while I was…." She buried her face in her hands. "Oh, God."

"Georgia, I swear, I never set out to do it. We were in a shed together… playing with the little ones… and he… he told me… he told me he liked me."

Georgia's sobs grew louder.

"He's a jerk," Jasmine pressed on. "You're too good for him."

"But you're not!" Georgia snapped. It was the angriest Jasmine had ever seen her. "Was that your plan all along? To go behind my back and… and do your usual thing with someone else's boyfriend?"

"No, Georgie, it wasn't like that. We're both horrible people. And it was only that one time, I swear. Nothing happened other than that."

"You still slept with him!" Georgia cried. "I knew it! I knew he wasn't okay with that!"

"He was!" Jasmine assured her. "He just…."

"He just didn't like me," Georgia finished. "As the boys never do."

"That's not true!" Jasmine pressed. "It's not. You're beautiful, Georgia."

"So, how come they always go for you instead, then?"

Jasmine had no answer for that. Truthfully, she had always been quite envious of Georgia's looks. But Georgia was shy, and quiet, and didn't realise what an amazing person she really was. Boys their age liked girls who flirted back (which, Jasmine realised, was ridiculous).

"So, does that mean you're together now, then?" Georgia continued.

"No," Jasmine answered quickly. "We're not."

Georgia nodded. "I see. You just get them to sleep with you, make them break up with their girlfriends, and be done with them. I stuck by you every time someone called you a name, implied that you had done things you hadn't. I believed you when you said you weren't interested in James. But, now I realise it was all just one big lie."

Jasmine didn't know what else to say to her. As expected, Georgia wasn't ready to listen to any lame excuse she could think of. No, she had hurt her best friend, and now she would have to deal with that.

"I'd like you to leave," she said.

"Georgia…."

"No! Just leave!" Georgia snapped. "You've done enough damage already, the least you can do is let me enjoy the rest of the journey in peace and quiet. It's bad enough I have to share a room with you."

Jasmine didn't move. "I want to be here with you, Georgie," she said; almost pleaded.

"Get out! I hate you, Jas. I hate you right now… so much. We could have been happy, me and James, but of course, you couldn't stand the fact that someone else had something that you didn't."

Jasmine ignored the tears streaming down her face and stood up. There was no point in fighting her. Everything Georgia had said was true. "I'll-I'll see you at Hogwarts," she said, and then left, attempting to find another compartment.

In her search, she ran into Rose, who was giving her the coldest stare she'd ever received from the Weasley girl. Obviously, James or Albus had filled her in.

"Just when I was starting to warm to you," she said, "You go and sleep with my cousin, behind my friend's back. Your friend's back, too!" she added.

Jasmine didn't say anything; she just nodded, accepting her fate. She was going to be shunned even more than she already was now.

"And to have the nerve to do it at my grandparents' place too… slut!"

Jasmine had heard that word too many times to let it affect her anymore. Rose stormed away, no doubt to join Georgia, and the only compartment welcoming to her (without the sleezey seventh years inviting her in) was James'. He was with a bunch of his own friends, some she knew, others she didn't.

Mostly, they ignored her.

"You told her, I assume?" James questioned, whispering.

Her tears were enough of an answer.

"We're awful people, James," she said. "Truly awful people."

"Maybe we deserve each other," James hinted. Didn't he even feel the slightest bit guilty over what had happened? Why did she have to find someone like that so goddam attractive?

She glared at him. "Don't start," she warned.

The others in the compartment had the decency to at least pretend they weren't listening to the conversation, which made her feel a touch better.

"Jas, it's you I want to be with. It's been you for ages now. I only agreed to go out with Georgia because… well… because you asked."

Jasmine refused to look at him.

"I think you're the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on."

"How many have you told that to?" she snapped.

"I mean it."

"How many have you told that to?"

"Jas, I truly mean it. You're gorgeous, and kind, and caring, and… I don't believe any of that nonsense that goes around the school about you. I never have. You have more respect for yourself than to sleep with Henry Goyle. That idiot can't tell the difference between his right toe and his left."

"James, I think considering the circumstances, even if I wanted to be with you, we shouldn't. We've hurt Georgia enough as it is. Rubbing it in her face isn't going to make her forgive us any quicker."

James nodded. "Fair enough," he said. "But, does that mean… does that mean I can hope?"

Jasmine had never heard such sincerity in his voice before, and it made her look to him. "You're serious, aren't you?" she said. "You don't see me as just some other girl you can shag?"

"I never have, Jas," James answered. "You were always different." He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. "Whenever you're ready," he said. "I'll be waiting."

This story takes place only a few hours after my fic "Steal a Kiss". I suppose it's not necessary you read that beforehand, but if you'd like to, it'd make me happy. There's more details about Jasmine's family in that one.

Jasmine is definitely my favourite of my OCs, and I adore her with James, truly. I do like Georgia too, though, so I've been considering a fic about her one day.

Anyway, what did you think? Do you like Jasmine or hate her? Please let me know! Thanks for reading.