(08 : THESE HOT DAYS IS THE . . .
MAD BLOOD STIRRING)

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     "PROTEGO!" SCREAMED JAMES, YANKING JULIET under the table in the process.

     Shards of glass bounced off the protection spell whilst a group of Ravenclaws near the window suffered the brunt of the explosion. The group of four were badly cut up and Juliet blanched at the sight — she was never fond of blood. Knowing this, she subconsciously squeezed Potter's hand under the table and desperately tried to quiet her frantic mind. Despite the explosion being over, echoes of screams and pleas could be heard from outside.

     Something was wrong.

     "We need to go," she breathed. "Find shelter or — or something. There's no way we'll be able to make it to the carriages without being seen."

    Even in his state of shock, James was prepared and kept a tight hold of his wand. "Without being seen by who? What's going on?"

    "I'm not sure." The girl avoided his gaze, only for her suspicions to be confirmed as she looked towards where the windows were. Outside, people were running from men in familiar masks. "I think it's an attack from him, or at least his followers. Those masks — it's their thing now."

    "Oh how lovely — Old Voldy decided uniform was the one thing they were missing. You know, as opposed to a moral compass or the like," grumbled James.

    "Next time he's round mine for tea, I'll bring that up, yeah?" Juliet stiffened at the realisation meeting Voldemort might be her reality soon. "Now, come on! We're sitting ducks here." She attempted to pull him with her to flee, but he fought against her hold and she ultimately released him when a loud bang startled her.

     The Gryffindor was aghast at the suggestion they leave. "We can't hide," he insisted. "Someone needs to get a message to Dumbledore an—and we're sixth years. It's us who need to fight because Godric knows how well a third year will cope with the tickling charm! We can't leave these kids to — to? Merlin, what are they going to do? Torture them? It's not like their blood status is written on their foreheads."

     "We're children, not soldiers," she hissed. "You really want to know what they'll do? They'll kill them. Fear makes people weak, James. How many fifteen year olds do you think will crack when it's the difference between their death or a mud—muggleborn's?" Pressing her hands to her temples, she continued, "This is what I meant before. It's almost like you want to die. Flitwick will already have sent word, he was the Hogsmeade chaperone today."

     Shaking his head, James stepped back from her. "You're okay if someone dies in the time it takes Dumbledore to get here? To think, I almost thought you were different. You're every bit as self-serving as the other Slytherins."

    Unconcerned, she blinked back. "And you're every bit as stupid as the other Gryffindors. But I already knew that and still spoke to you."

     "I can't do this right now. People need our — my — help," he said. "Expecto patronum! Boys, I need you back in Hogsmeade. We're under attack. Use the Honeydukes passageway."

     As a blue stag galloped into the distance with James' message, Juliet was left in awe. Their curriculum didn't even cover casting a patronus, so she couldn't imagine being able to achieve such a feat at sixteen. However, that was not what she was focused on as she narrowed her eyes, asking, "What Honeydukes passageway?"

     Distracted, James replied, "It goes from the cellar to the one-eyed witch statue at Hogwarts. It's the safest route." Then, he headed into battle, wand raised and smoke covering his retreating figure.

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     "Crucio!"

     "Expulso!"

     "Confringo!"

     Once the outside of The Three Broomsticks quieted, Juliet tiptoed through the village and found a hiding spot behind a shop that had been blasted to the point that she didn't even recognise it. From her crouched position, she could hear a lot of curses being shot. She knew it was safer for her to be in an open space as opposed to being stuck inside, which might have resulted in her being cornered. No matter who she was, the attack was too messy for her to risk anything. The attack was clearly disorganised as Death Eaters were pulling random students and questioning them, wands at their throats. They didn't seem to have any goal other than blood.

    Like any sane person, she was scared. Terrified even. But, she knew she had no real reason to be as a pureblooded Slytherin — not that most of people behind the masks would know that, or think to check before hexing her. Especially when so few Slytherins were in Hogsmeade today as they'd anticipated such an attack. Like James had assumed, it was the younger years who were struggling most. Whilst Dumbledore was yet to arrive, most of her professors were expertly fighting. Yet, they were severely outnumbered and weren't aiming to kill — not when they all knew it was likely a student or two were hiding behind the masks.

     All the redhead could do was watch from her hiding place as an exhausted McGonagall exclaimed, "Diffindo!"

     The Death Eater hissed in pain as the charm cut a neat line down the sleeve of his left arm. Although his arm was pale and unmarked, a shallow cut — no more than a scratch — was formed due to the tired teacher's spell. Taking advantage of the distraction, McGonagall proceeded to non-verbally disarm the man. He promptly retrieved his wand and fled.

     Impressed as she was, Juliet knew she wasn't nearly talented enough for such a takedown. The severing charm could be deadly if poorly cast. At the end of the day, she was no Gryffindor like Professor McGonagall or James Potter — she was a proud Slytherin. From where she was, she could also see how James dodged hexes and taunted the attackers. She both loathed and loved everything he stood for. Her biggest rebellion was reading muggle literature, not challenging blood supremacy whilst still in school.

     "Ahhhh!"

     Shooting up, Juliet noticed someone had found her. It was a student she didn't recognise — maybe a third or fourth year. "Shi—shoot. Be quiet."

     Wide-eyed, the girl looked up at her. "Are you going to hurt me?"

     "What? Why would I hurt you?"

     "You're a Slytherin. I—I've seen you around before," she confessed, wiping away tears from her cheeks.

     Slightly offended, Juliet scowled. "Would I be hiding if I was on their side?" she pointed out. "And you may have seen me, but I definitely haven't seen you. What house are you in?"

     "Hufflepuff," she answered quickly. "You do know they wouldn't hurt you, right? You're a Slytherin. I'm not saying that means you're bad, but you're off limits at least. I bet half of those people are your housemates."

     "Blunt little thing, aren't you?" Juliet decided she liked the strange, sad Hufflepuff. "Anyway, it's not like they know I'm in Slytherin because we're not in our robes. Plus, I'd rather not be caught in the crossfire, thank you very much."

      The Hufflepuff hummed. "Shouldn't you at least be helping then? All the teachers are too busy fighting to help students get to safety. Maybe if you take Sprout's place —"

     "No."

     "But —"

     Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I said no. I'm sixteen. I'm not even a legal adult yet. I have no responsibilities to fight for a school that doesn't want to fight for me." Not that the little girl would comprehend what Juliet meant by that. In secret, she held a lot of bitterness towards how Dumbledore passively watched as she was made into a pawn for Voldemort. He must have known what her meeting with her dad was about all those weeks ago. Even if he didn't, she had no obligation to anybody in the battle.

     "You would say that!" whined the girl. "You have nothing to worry about. Tell me how being the best in my class at multicorfors will be any good out there. I can't help, you can — I bet you know loads of cool stuff."

     "I'm not that brave." In shame, Juliet hung her head before something bright glimmered in her eyes. Slytherins were cunning for a reason — maybe she could help. Just not in the way everyone was hoping. "But, you can be. I—I know you're like thirteen —"

     Huffing, the younger student corrected, "Fourteen next month."

     "Whatever," said Juliet. "My point is, I have an idea. It's a little mad, but there's a secret passageway back to the school. If we can get everyone to Honeydukes . . ." she trailed off, hoping she would be able to find the passageway that James had mentioned only casually.

     "You can get everyone back to the castle. There's enough wards around Hogwarts that as long as no Death Eaters catch on, it'll be fine," the girl concluded. "Brilliant, except Honeydukes is ages away and there's no way we'll make it without being spotted."

     Biting down on her bottom lip, Juliet wondered if she should make this young girl shoulder such a responsibility. Although, it was only dangerous if someone caught on and if that happened, she knew a certain group of Gryffindors would gladly cause a distraction if she explained her plan to them. "Multicorfors, actually," she said. "If we can get enough students to pass for Slytherins, we'll pass right under the Death Eaters noses. Nobody will even question it if they're with me. All you need to do is transfigure people's scarves or headbands to green and silver if they're wearing them."

     The Hufflepuff mulled this over. "What if it doesn't work?"

     "If it doesn't work," she pulled out the Black family ring from her pocket, "I want you to show this to the Death Eater. They'll know not to hurt you then."

     "Just me? What about everyone else? And what if they don't recognise you? I thought you didn't want to risk it."

     Juliet sighed, "Oh, I'll make sure they recognise me."

  
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A.N: Another chapter? Shocker, I know. I was really excited to get to the Hogsmeade attack, which will be concluded next chapter. I know it's not fun when one event drags out like this, but it felt like a good place to end it. And I'll defend Juliet to the end of the earth. There's a reason she wasn't Gryffindor, but that doesn't mean she can't fight the good fight in other ways, or grow still — we're only on chapter eight!