▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐲-𝐎𝐧𝐞 ━︎━︎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐇𝐔𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐃 her father, Remus, and Nymphadora before leaving to meet Hermione. Turning seventeen over the summer meant that she could now use magic outside of Hogwarts. She walked down the muggle street where Hermione lived, tucking her hands in her pockets in attempt to keep them warm. The fall breeze was creeping closer and closer and this year it seemed to be getting colder quicker. After walking, Juniper came to a stop in front of Hermione's house. She'd been given the address before they departed the train station and now here she stood, patiently waiting.

The door opened and Juniper turned her head, watching as Hermione hesitated before closing the door. She turned to look at Juniper, a small bag in her hand. She descended the stairs and Juniper wrapped her arms around her, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. She pulled away, wiping away Hermione's tears before grabbing her free hand and squeezing it, interlacing their fingers before they began their trek down the road.

     "How are you, my love?" Juniper softly asked.

     Hermione nodded her head. "I'm. . . I'm okay. They're safe, that's all that matters to me."

     "We're supposed to meet with the others at the Weasley's, we'll see Harry tonight night." Juniper explained, reciting the words Remus told her. They got farther away from the muggle town, coming to a stop and looking at each other. Hermione nodded her head. Juniper gently placed her hand on Hermione's cheek. "It's going to be alright."

     "Yeah," Hermione agreed. She gave Juniper the best smile she could muster. "Ready?" Juniper nodded. Hermione squeezed her hand tighter and then they were gone. They appeared in front of the Weasley home, Ron was the first to run out. He made his way towards him and Juniper subtly nodded her head towards Hermione. Ron understood. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug and Hermione hugged him back. When he pulled away he gave Juniper a hug as well.

     "How are you two?" Ron asked.

     Juniper gave a small sigh. "Honestly, worried. I'm trying to go into this with positive thoughts, but they're hard to find." Ron nodded his head in understanding, tucking his hands into his front pockets.

     "Everyone's here." Ron told them, turning around and walking back towards the house. The two girls followed him inside, everyone's heads turning.

     "Now that everyone's here, let's talk." Moody started. He explained the plan, what was going to happen, how fast it was going to happen. The entire time Juniper couldn't help but notice that everyone was there except for Molly and Ginny. They must've been moved once again. When Moody finished explaining, the rest of the time all they could do was wait. Juniper and Hermione kept to themselves in a corner, softly speaking to each other. And then it was time.

They all left and Hagrid stood with Juniper, Hermione, and Ron as they stood in front of Harry's front door. When the door was opened and Harry revealed himself, Ron went in first and gave him a smile and a hug. Hermione went in next, giving him a hug as well. And then Juniper followed in after her, pulling Harry into a tight hug and holding onto him for a moment. There were so many unsaid words in that hug, words that only the two of them would understands. Juniper pulled away and gave him a smile.

     "Hello, Harry!" Hagrid greeted with a wide smile. "You're looking fit."

     Moody limped his way through the front door. "Yeah, he's absolutely gorgeous. What say we get undercover before someone murders him." One by one, they all filed in the home, walking into the empty living area.

     Harry looked at Kingsley in surprise. "Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the prime minister."

     "You are more important." Kingsley pointed at him with a small smile.

     "Hello, Harry." Harry turned, coming face to face with Bill Weasley. "Bill Weasley."

      "Oh, pleasure to meet you." Harry said, shaking his hand.

     "He was never always this handsome." Fred said, entering the room.

     "Dead ugly." George agreed, following after his brother.

     "True enough." Bill sighed. He motioned to the scars on his face. "Owe it all to to a werewolf, name of Greyback." Juniper tensed at the name. "Hope to repay the favor one day."

     "Well, you're still beautiful to me, William." Fleur said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Juniper slowly turned her head to look at Hermione who was already looking at her. Hermione raised their interconnected hands, giving Junipers hand a quick kiss.

     Remus entered the room with Nymphadora at his side. "Remember Fleur, Bill takes his steaks on the raw side now."

     "My husband, the joker." Nymphadora commented while Juniper smiled. Her smile widened when her father entered, sending Harry a quick wink before making his way over to her, taking a stand behind her and Hermione and placing a kiss on the top of her head. "By the way, wait till you hear the news. Remus and I―︎"

     She was quickly cut off by Moody barging into the room. Juniper frowned, wanting to know immediately. "We'll have time for a cozy catch-up later. We've got to get the hell out of here, and soon." He stood at the front of the room, Harry was standing in the center with everyone else surrounding him. "Potter, you're underage, which means you've still got the trace on you."

     "What's the trace?" Harry asked.

     "Why, if you sneeze, the ministry will know who wipes your nose." Moody answered. "The point is we have to use those means of transport the trace can't detect―︎brooms, thestrals, and the likes. We go in pairs. That way, if anyone's out there waiting for us―︎and I reckon there will be―︎ they won't know which Harry Potter is the real one."

     Harry's eyebrows rose. "The real one?" Juniper let go of Hermione's hand, watching as she carefully started to creep closer to Harry.

     Moody pulled out a flask. "I believe you're familiar with this particular brew."

     Immediately, Harry shook his head. "No. Absolutely not."

     "I told you he'd take it well," Juniper commented.

     "Uh, no. If you think I'm gonna let everyone risk their lives for me, I-I―︎"

     Ron scoffed. "Never done that before, have we?"

     Harry quickly looked at him. "No! No. This is different. I mean, taking that, becoming me―︎no!"

     "Well, none of us really fancy it, mate." Fred claimed.

     Beside him, George nodded. "Yeah. Imagine if something went wrong and we ended up a scrawny, specky git forever."

     "Everyone here is of age, Potter." Moody told him. "They've all agreed to take the risks."

     Mundungus, who was hiding in the back of the room, cleared his throat and stepped forwards. "Technically, I've been coerced. Mundungus Fletcher, Mr. Potter. Always been a huge admirer.

     "Nip it, Mundungus!" Moody snapped. "Alright, Granger, as discussed."

     Quickly, Hermione stepped forwards, ripping a strand of hair from Harry's head earning a loud complaint from him before she handed the hair to Moody who put it in the potion and swirled it around. "For those of you who haven't taken polyjuice potion before, fair warning―︎it taste like goblin piss."

     Fred took the flask from him, looking at Moody. "Have a lot of experiences with that, do you, Mad-Eye?" Moody sent him a look. "Just trying to defuse the tension." One by one they all took it except for the adult aurors, and everyone transformed into a version of Harry. When they had all transformed, Fred and George looked at each other and said in unison, "Wow! We're identical!"

     "Not yet, you're not." Moody claimed. A bag of clothes was placed on the floor and they all dressed in the exact same close, the exact same pair of Harry's glasses. "Right then, we'll be pairing off. Each Potter will have a protector. Mundungus, stick tight to me. I want to keep an eye on you. Blacks, you two cannot go together."

     "Well, that's bullshit." Juniper scoffed.

     "Well, now we know which one's Juniper." Remus joked. Sirius managed a small laugh at that.

     "As for Harry. . ." Immediately they all answered and Moody sighed. "The real Harry. Where the devil are you, anyway?"

     Harry raised his hand. "Here."

     "You'll ride with Hagrid."

     Harry turned to look at Hagrid as he said, "I brought you here sixteen years ago when you were no bigger than a bowtruckle. Seems only right that I should be the one to take you away now."

     "Yes, it's all very touching. Let's go!" Moody ordered. They all made it outside. "Head for the burrows. We'll rendezvous there. On the count of three!" Juniper held her wand, looking at Nymphadora who was supposed to be her protector. The woman gave her a small nod. "One. Two. Three!" And then they were off.

Juniper stayed close to Nymphadora, riding through the clouds. It was going smooth, until it wasn't. Death Eaters quickly appeared and Juniper spotted them first, quickly using her wand and sending a spell towards him, knocking him away.

     "Duck!" Nymphadora yelled and Juniper quickly listened, letting the woman cast a spell to send the Death Eater away. The clouds were swarming from them, other people were getting attacked but Nymphadora stayed close to her side, the two of them fighting to wits end. A Death Eater flew by Juniper, hitting her roughly. Her grip on the broom faltered and she slipped. She felt herself began to fall from the broom and before she could plummet to her death, she grabbed the broom with one hand, using the other hand to blast away any death eaters that came near her or Nymphadora.

     She stayed like that for what felt like forever, using one arm to hold onto her broom and using the other to fight off Death Eaters. Her fingers started to slip, but she couldn't use her other hand to pull her up because every time she tried, another Death Eater was headed her way. Trying to protect herself and Nymphadora was a hard thing to do in this position. She let out a cry of pain as spell hit her, she could feel the blood began to drip down her side. "Shit!" Juniper cursed. She turned her head. "Dora!"

     Nymphadora turned her head, quickly pulling out her wand and sending away a death eater. She moved closer to Juniper. "Hold on, I've got you!" She reached out for her and Juniper tried to grab her hand, missing.

     "Go!" Juniper yelled. "Go!"

     "No!" Nymphadora shouted. "I'm not leaving you here." She took a deep breath. "Let go."

     Juniper's eyes widened. "What?!"

     "Let go! Trust me." Nymphadora yelled back. Juniper looked at her for a moment and Nymphadora gives her a small nod. Juniper took a deep breath before she let go. For a minute, she was free falling. The next minute Nymhpadora was grabbing onto her, holding her and quickly flying to their destination. When they landed on the ground, Nymphadora wrapped Juniper's arm around her shoulders, helping her towards the home.

     Ron, Sirius, Harry, Hermione, Remus, and Kingsley were all standing outside of the home, turning their attention to the two of them. Immediately Hermione ran forwards, wrapping her arms around Juniper who looked like herself once again. She pulled away. "You're hurt."

     "I'm fine." Juniper breathed, waving her off as Ron walked over to her.

      "That's one kid of yours." Nymphadora said, looking at Sirius as he and Remus grew closer. "She saved my life, that one." She hugged Remus who tightly hugged her back.

     "Yeah, and she sent me into a free fall." Juniper joked, playfully rolling her eyes.

     "Well, June's fine." Ron commented. "I would've been more worried if she hadn't said a joke." Harry ran forwards, pulling Juniper, Hermione, and Ron all into a tight group hug. Immediately they hugged back.

     Suddenly, Arthur and Fred appeared. "We the last back?" Arthur asked, looking around. "Where's George?" When they were told George had been attacked, the Weasley's all quickly went inside.

     Sirius walked up to Juniper and Hermione. He let out a breath of relief as he gently pulled Juniper into his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Alright, kid, let's get you patched up." They made it to the house, where Fred was leaning over George who was laying on the couch, the side of his head bleeding.

     "How you feeling, Georgie?" Fred gently asked.

     "Saint-like." George weakly answered.

     "Come again?"

     "Saint-like." George repeated. "I'm holy." He then pointed to his ear. "I'm holey, Fred. Get it?"

     Fred shook his head, smiling. "The whole wide world of ear-related humor, and you go for 'I'm holy'. That's pathetic."

     "Reckon I'm still better looking than you." George smiled.

     That's when Bill stepped forwards. "Mad-Eye's dead. Mundungus took one look at Voldemort and. . . disapparated."

They all departed, going to their rooms except for Juniper and Hermione. Juniper was sitting in the kitchen, her shirt raised as Nymphadora stitched her up. Hermione kept a supportive hand on her shoulder, frowning each time she winced. When Nymphadora finished, she put a protective wrap over the stitches.

     "Good as new." Nymphadora softly said, giving her a small smile. She turned her head to look at Sirius and Remus before looking at Hermione. "You need to tell your girlfriend that she's not expendable."

     Hermione frowned, looking at Juniper. "What'd you do?"

     "I was trying to save your life." Juniper said, not acknowledging Hermione.

     "I was supposed to be protecting you, Juniper." Nymphadora sighed.

     "Dora, I was literally hanging off of my broom. You had much better chances at surviving than I did. Plus, it's not just you anymore." Juniper looked at Remus. "Why didn't you tell me she was pregnant?" She didn't give him a chance to answer as she looked back at Nymphadora. "I wasn't going to let you die, you are living for two people now. Compared to a baby, I'm as expendable as you can get. Your life is way more important than mine right now. And I kept them off your back, even while fighting for my own life. Because to me, family is the most important thing. You're married to my godfather, therefore you're my family. I would rather die than watch someone else I care for be taken from me, I did it once, I'm not doing it again. So, get over it."

     Hermione sighed. "I wish there was something I could say, but I can't really fault her for any of this."

     "You are both safe, that's what matters." Remus interrupted. "Doesn't matter how you did it, it just matters that you're here and out of harms way. Sorry, sweetheart, but I have to thank Juno for this one. You kept each other safe. That's all I care about."

     "I second that," Sirius nodded. "Now, you two off to bed."

Juniper stood, accepting the kiss on the top of her head from her father and a quick hug from Remus before Hermione grabbed her hand and led them up to the room they would be sleeping in. They got into their separate beds and while Hermione fell asleep, Juniper stayed awake.