▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ━︎━︎ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐦! ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐃 Juniper, the world was turning to complete and utter shit and the Minister of Magic was doing absolutely nothing to help solve the problem. He refused to believe that Voldemort was back, taking it upon himself to blame her father for the murders. Umbridge herself was a pain in Juniper's side, and it was all driving her absolutely insane.

     The newest release of the Daily Prophet was in her hands and although she hated the Daily Prophet, she couldn't help herself when she read the news. "We have confirmed that ten high-security prisoners in the early hours of yesterday evening did escape. And of course, the muggle prime minister has been alerted to the danger. We strongly suspect that the breakout was engineered by a man with personal experience in escaping from Azkaban notorious mass murderer Sirius Black cousin of escapee, Bellatrix Lestrange." Juniper read the words aloud to herself, sitting in her dorm with her legs crossed, feet tucked underneath her.

     Hermione looked at Juniper, watching as she silently re-read the words over and over again to herself until Hermione finally ripped the paper from her hand, crumbling it up and setting it on fire. Juniper sat there in silence, looking at her hands that were now placed in her lap. Hermione watched her with a deep frown as Juniper looked up to meet her eyes. They swelled with tears and Hermione's heart broke. "Jay. . ." She softly whispered, making careful steps towards her until she was standing in front of the bed.

     "I can't." Juniper choked out, shaking her head. She took a deep breath, trying to stop her tears from falling. "I can't do this, Hermione." She quickly wiped away a tear that had fallen, forcing a small smile. "I can't do the looks anymore."

     "You need to eat, Jay." Hermione softly said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed as she turned her body to face her. "We'll be right there with you the whole time. No one will say anything."

     Juniper chuckled. "No offense, Hermione, but you three aren't exactly the scariest bunch."

     "I know, you own the title." Hermione joked, earning a breathy laugh from Juniper. Hermione gave her a small smile. "You're not in this alone. You never have been. Nothing will change that." She reached over and grabbed Juniper's hand, giving it a small squeeze. "Come on." Hermione stood, watching as Juniper reluctantly followed suit.

The duo walked down the stairs where Harry and Ron were waiting, both of them sending Juniper a small smile but she just ignored them and walked out the door. The three exchanged looks before quickly following after her. They made their way to the Great Hall and Juniper had to keep herself from stopping dead in her tracks when almost every single student was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet.

     Hermione shook her head. "Dumbledore warned Fudge this could happen. He's gonna get us all killed because he can't face the truth."

     As they walked past Seamus, he quickly stood. "Harry," he called. The group stopped, turning to look at him. "I, uh, wanted to apologize. Now even me mum says the Prophet's version of things don't add up. So, what I'm really trying to say is that I believe you."

     "Congrats," Juniper spat before turning on her heel and continuing past other students.

     Harry closed his eyes and sighed before looking at Seamus. "Thank you, Seamus. And uh, sorry about June." Seamus nodded before sitting back down. Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly followed after Juniper, sitting beside her at the table.

     Juniper was already stabbing her fork into pieces of food when they got to her. Harry and Hermione sat on either side of her while Ron sat beside Harry. "I'm not having an argument with anyone about this."

     "We know," Harry answered.

     They ate their food before leaving to meet up for another meeting in the Room of Requirements. Today Harry was going to teach them how to do a Patronus. "Make it a powerful memory, the happiest you can remember." Harry said. "Allow it to fill you up. A full bodied Patronus is the most difficult to produce. But shield forms can also be as equally useful against a variety of opponents. Just remember, your Patronus can only protect you for as long as you stay focused."

     Juniper held her wand in her hand, staring at it as everyone else produced a Patronus. Hermione had an otter, Ron had a dog which knocked Neville over, Luna had produced a rabbit while Ginny had produced a horse. Juniper was trying to think of her happiest memory. There were the ones she had with her friends, the moments she'd shared with her mother and Remus, even her kiss with Hermione came to mind. The memory that won her over, that made her body blossom with nothing but pure joy, was the moment she realized her family was finally a family. She held up her wand and after a moment called out, "Expecto Patronum!"

Blue whisps exploded from her wand, swirling around for a moment as it formed a shape. All of the students came to a stand still as a giant dragon formed, letting out a loud roar as it flew around the room. Juniper's eyes widened as a surprised laugh escaped her lips. Other people recast their Patronus' after multiple kids mumbled how cool her Patronus was. Juniper watched the dragon as a wide smile plastered itself on her lips. She would have to ask Remus what the Patronus meant. Her smiled faded when the chandelier above them began to shake. Slowly, her Patronus died out as she turned her head towards the wall where the doors would be.

The lights flickered in the room as the room shook again. The wall that had been covered in mirrors began cracking until it shattered, sending the glass to the floor and leaving the bare wall behind it. Harry and Nigel, who were standing at the front and closest to the wall, carefully crept forwards. Nigel walked up to the small hole that had been placed in the wall and looked through it. Suddenly, Harry was grabbing Nigel and quickly pulling him away just as the wall exploded. Juniper, without thinking, quickly pulled out her wand, casting a shield over the entire group to keep any rubble from hitting them. When the rubble stopped flying and the dust cleared, she slowly lowered her wand.

     On the other side of the wall stood Umbridge, along with a few of the other Slytherin's. Draco appeared from the side, and with him he pulled Cho Chang into view. Umbridge stared at them for a moment before saying, "Get them!" Harry was quickly dragged away while Umbridge snatched the note on one of the mirrors that had "Dumbledore's Army" written across the top of it.

Juniper had half a mind to curse the woman but Hermione had quickly grabbed her arm as if reading her mind, stopping her from doing anything stupid. They were going to have detention for the rest of the year most likely. Juniper, Hermione and Ron waited for Harry and when he found them, he told them everything. Umbridge had dragged the Minister here, and confronted Dumbledore who took claim for their organization before his phoenix swept in and whisked him away before they could drag him to Azkaban.

Now, they were walking down the hall, coming to a stop when they found Filch on his tall ladder, barreling another rule into the wall. When Juniper read it, she could've passed out right then and there. Umbridge was replacing Dumbledore as Headmaster, and if Juniper wanted to stay at Hogwarts, she was going to have to actually respect the woman.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃, 𝐀 new rule was placed on the wall every day. All of the paintings had been taken down and Juniper could've cried at the bare walls. All of the students that had joined them in their training were now sitting in a room with Umbridge, all of them at a single desk and writing words on parchment with an enchanted quill that etched words into their skin. If you asked Juniper, she was bored of the method. She barely bat an eye at the pain as the words scratched across her skin. She glanced up and her eyes clashed with Umbridge's. The older woman sent her a smirk, her way of silently telling Juniper that she had won. Well, fuck that. Juniper smiled brightly at her and smirked in satisfaction when the woman's smirk turned into a scowl.

When their detention was over, they all walked out. Lo and behold, there stood Cho outside of the room waiting for Harry to get out. Juniper couldn't help herself as she sent Cho a nasty glare, betrayal dancing in her eyes. Ron, Hermione, Juniper, and Harry all walked out onto the bridge.

     "You did everything you could." Ron said, looking at Harry. "No one could win against that old hag."

     "Even Dumbledore didn't see this coming." Hermione tried. "Harry, if it's anyone's fault, it's ours."

     "Yeah, we talked you into it." Ron agreed. Hermione and Ron turned to look at Juniper.

     Juniper frowned. "What? I had no part in this. That's on you two."

     "For the love of Merlin." Hermione muttered, closing her eyes and sighing. Harry, even though his back was turned to them, couldn't help the way his lips turned upwards slightly at Juniper's comment. The smile fell as soon as it appeared.

     "Yeah, but I agreed." Harry said, turning to look at them. "I tried so hard to help and all it's done is make things worse." He turned his back towards them again. "Anyway, that doesn't matter anymore. Because I don't want to play anymore. All it does is make you care to much and the more you care, the more you have to lose. So, maybe it's just better to. . ."

     "To what?" Juniper softly asked, heart aching at his words.

     Harry turned to look at her. "To go it alone."

     Juniper opened her mouth to protest only to stop when they all heard someone hiss for their attention. They turned their heads to see Hagrid hiding at the end of the bridge, behind the wall of one of the castles. Harry frowned. "Hagrid." Without hesitating, the group followed him.

     When they started making into the Forbidden Forest, Juniper shook her head. "Everytime we enter this place, something bad happens. You know, I'm still scarred from first year seeing that thing eat a unicorn. I don't want to witness that again."

     "That scarred you and the dead body you found didn't?" Ron asked incredulously.

     Juniper shrugged. "The unicorn was more important. Also, I was eleven! By the time I found that dead body, I was used to the trauma, it doesn't phase me anymore."

     Ron blinked. "You're so weird." Hermione smirked in amusement as Juniper flashed Ron a smile before she reached forwards and snatched Hermione's hand, swinging them back and forth. "Any idea where he's taking us?"

     Harry shook his head before looking at Hagrid who was leading them. "Hagrid, why can't you just tell us?"

     Hagrid said nothing, coming to a stop when the sound of hooves could be heard running at a fast pace. They turned their heads, watching as a group of centaurs went running by. "I've never seen the centaurs so riled." Hagrid said in shock. "And they're dangerous at the best of times." He let out a sigh. "The Ministry restricts their territory much more, they're gonna have a full uprising on their hands."

     Hermione took a step forwards. "Hagrid, what's going on?"

     "I'm sorry to be so mysterious, you four. I-I wouldn't be bothering you at all with it but with Dumbledore gone. . . I'll likely be getting the sack any day now. And I just couldn't leave without telling someone about him."

     Suddenly, footsteps began approaching them and Juniper slowly looked up. "Holy shit," she breathed. In front of them stood a giant―︎ literally. He had to be at least 12 feet tall, if not even taller. His back was turned towards them, dirt and blood was scattered across his arms. his clothes were torn and tattered and Juniper could not pull her eyes away from him.

     "Grawpy," Hagrid called. "Down here, you great buffoon."

     The giant turned, his attention being caught by a butterfly flying past his face. He reached just above their hands, snapping his hands closed, essentially killing the poor insect. "Oh! Grawpy." Hagrid sighed. "I brought you some company."

     The giant turned to them and a big smile stretched across his face before he ran forwards, headed straight for them. Just before he reached them he was pulled to a stop. Juniper lowered her eyes only to find a rope wrapped around his waist. "I couldn't just leave him be because. . . because he's my brother," Hagrid explained.

     "Blimey," Ron whispered.

     "Well, half brother, really." Hagrid corrected. "He's completely harmless, just like I said. Little high-spirited, is all."

     The giant looked down at them before reaching his hand forwards and grabbing onto Hermione, causing her to let out a loud scream. "Hey!" Juniper yelled. "Put her down!"

     "Grawpy, that is not polite!" Hagrid sternly yelled.

     "Hagrid, do something!" Juniper snapped. "I don't want to curse your brother, but I will if I have to."

     "We talked about this." Hagrid continued, looking up at his half brother. "You do not grab, do you? That's your new friend, Hermione."

     Juniper hadn't even realized Ron had turned around, but suddenly he went running forwards with a giant stick in his hands. Juniper gave him an unimpressed look as he hit the giant who simply kicked him away. Ron landed on the ground beside of her and Juniper looked down at him. "That was the most pathetic attempt I've ever seen."

     "Grawp!" Hermione sternly snapped, pointing her finger at him. "Put me down. Now." The giant listened, slowly lowering Hermione to the ground. Juniper quickly grabbed onto her and pulled her into her side.

     "Are you alright?" Juniper softly asked.

     Hermione glanced at her. "I'm fine. Just needs a firm hand, is all."

     "I think you've got an admirer." Harry commented.

     "He grabs you again, it's game over. Just so everyone's clear." Juniper told them all, her eyes not leaving the giant. Grawp turned his back to them, picking up a bike handle and turning back to them. He rung the bell attached to the handle before leaning down and holding it out to Hermione. Slowly, Hermione reached out and took it from him. Hermione glanced at the three of them before ringing the bell back. Grawp smiled.

     "He gets his own food and all," Hagrid said. "It's company he'll be needin' when I'm gone." Grawp plopped himself on the ground, playing with the bell of another bike handle. "You will look after him, won't you? I'm the only family he's got."

     Harry nodded and Juniper said, "Yeah, we'll look after him."