▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐲-𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 ━︎━︎ 𝐒𝐥𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧'𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 with her arms crossed, a small frown decorating her face. Hermione was putting the books she had borrowed back on the proper shelves in the library, Harry and Juniper following her around as she did it. Harry kept glancing at Juniper, Hermione was talking about an assignment that was due, and Juniper wasn't speaking a word. He reached over, grabbing Juniper's hand making her blink and snap back to reality.

"You alright there, June?" Harry softly asked.

Juniper nodded her head. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Sorry, I was lost in thought." She huffed. "You know, I've decided I don't like that Lavender girl that Ron's hanging around."

Hermione placed her final book on one of the shelves, turning to look at Juniper and leaned against one of the desks. "Why's that?"

"She's so. . . obsessive. It's quite scary actually." Juniper explained. "You weren't there, but the other day Ron and I were talking and Lavender hissed at me like a fucking cat. I almost took my wand and sprayed her with water."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise, a smile of disbelief pulling on his lips. Hermione's mouth was open slightly. "Hissed?"

"Just like Crookshanks does." Juniper nodded.

Hermione let out a short laugh. "My God."

"Anyhow, since Ron has declined your invitation to the party Hermione, why don't you take Harry?" Juniper said with a shrug. "I mean, I'll already be there, I can drag Luna with me. Harry can't ask Ginny because of Dean and I would go as your date, but I don't want Harry to show up alone. So, this solves all of our problems."

"Or," Hermione tutted, "you can go with me and be my date like I want you to, and Harry can ask out her." Hermione nodded her head to a girl that was sitting at a desk in the corner of the aisle they were on. "See that girl over there? That's Romilda Vane. Apparently, she's trying to smuggle you a love potion."

Harry's brows rose in surprise. "Really?"

Hermione snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Hey! She's only interested in you because she thinks you're the chosen one."

"But I am the chosen one." Harry replied with a smile. Hermione wacked him in the head with the paper. "Okay, sorry. Um, kidding. I just, um. . . I'll ask someone I like. Someone cool."

Juniper smiled, reading his mind. "She would love to go with you, Harry. It's Luna. I love Luna. She's so weird and unusual and it's so interesting to hear what she has to say."

Hermione rose a brow. "You sound like you're in love with her."

"Well, Luna would be my second choice." Juniper shrugged.

Hermione crossed her arms, lips turning into a frown. "Who's your first?"

"Well, you, of course. Who else?" Juniper gave her a kiss on the cheek, grabbing her hand. "We'll see you at the party, Harry." Harry smiled at the couple before giving a small nod and waving them off.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐀 light pink dress to the party, her hair was curled and was placed in a half up half down look. Juniper smiled at Neville as he walked up to her with a tray of drinks. She quickly snatched one, taking a sip of it before looking around. Hermione had gotten there before her, claiming she didn't want to be late. Juniper didn't want to be the first one there so she promised Hermione she would meet her and yet she couldn't find her girlfriend anywhere. She turned her head towards the entrance, smiling when she saw Harry and Luna walk in.

"Harry! Luna!" Juniper smiled, walking over to them. "Harry, if you see 'Mione, tell her I've been looking for her."

"Will do," Harry nodded before walking away.

"Luna, you look lovely." Juniper smiled.

Luna gave her a soft smile. "Thank you, Juniper. You look nice as well." Luna looked over Juniper's shoulder making Juniper turn her head.

She watched as Hermione quickly darted out from behind the curtains, whipping her head around before spotting Juniper and making a bee line for her. Juniper opened her mouth to speak only to be cut off by Hermione pressing a kiss to her lips. Juniper kissed her back after getting over her initial surprise before pulling away and giving Hermione a small confused smile. "What was that for?"

Hermione flashed her a smile before it fell and her eyes darted around the room. "Because I love you and I need people to know that we're dating, specifically Cormac."

Juniper's shoulders straightened. "What happened?"

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing really. I didn't let anything happen." Juniper rose an expectant brow and Hermione sighed. "Okay, well, nothing happened. But, I was sitting there waiting for you to get here and well Cormac got here first and he kept talking to me and I was trying to be polite so I talked back and we started walking and I watched you come in and I was about to dismiss myself and then suddenly I was underneath the mistletoe with him and I watched helplessly as you looked straight past me and then Harry and Luna walked in and Cormac got distracted and I ran away and now here we are." She took in a deep breath, having recalled the entire story in one go.

Juniper pursed her lips. "He tried to kiss you?"

"No!" Hermione dismissed before she hesitantly said, "Well, yes, but I didn't let it happen! I ran away." Hermione watched the emotion flash in Juniper's eyes and she shook her head. "Please don't do anything reckless."

"Reckless?" Juniper frowned. "I'm not gonna do anything reckless." She glanced around the room for a moment before grabbing Hermione's hand, quickly pulling her under the mistletoe. Juniper pressed her lips to Hermione, kissing her deeply and passionately for a long moment before pulling away. She glanced up, her eyes meeting Cromac's and her eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare, a silent warning that Cormac quickly understood. Juniper looked away from him and smiled at Hermione. "He won't be bothering you anymore, I promise."

Hermione caught her breath from the kiss, her face was flushed as her mind let her relive the past thirty seconds all over again. "I know I don't say this a lot, because quite frankly I think it's a statement you'd never hear me say, but that was very attractive."

Juniper smirked. "I fear you might boost my ego if you keep talking like that." Hermione rolled her eyes.

The two girls stopped their flirting, turning their heads when they heard Draco's voice. They watched as he was dragged into the room by Filch. "Ah! Take your hands off me, you filthy squib!" Draco shouted.

Filch came to a stop in front of Slughorn. "Professor Slughorn, sir. I just discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party."

"Okay, okay! I was gatecrashing. Happy?" Draco rushed out.

Snape walked forwards towards Draco. "I'll escort him out."

Draco's lips curled into a snarl as he bit out, "Certainly, Professor."

Snape walked Draco out and Slughorn hummed. "Huh. Alright, everyone, carry on, carry on."

Juniper shared a look with Hermione before glancing around the room. "Where's Harry?" Juniper asked with a small sigh. "You know what, don't answer that."

Hermione grabbed a drink. "Are you ready to go home?"

Juniper glanced down at her own drink with a small frown. "I think I am. It's just not going to be the same. But, I think I've gotten better, and I do miss my dad and Remus."

Hermione gave her a small smile. "They'll be glad to see you."

"You'll be there, won't you?" Juniper softly asked.

"I think I need to spend it with my parents this year." Hermione gently replied. "But I'll be here when you come back." Juniper frowned but nodded her head in understanding.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 at the Weasley's that year. When Juniper walked through the door after Ron and Harry, her eyes darted around the room. Her shoulders relaxed when she spotted her dad and Remus talking in the kitchen with one another. Immediately she made her way over to them before hesitating for a moment. Their conversation stopped when Sirius turned his head and spotted her. A smile bloomed on his face and Juniper took that as her cue to walk towards them. Immediately Sirius engulfed her in a hug, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Hey, little star." Sirius greeted, holding onto her for another moment before forcing himself to let her go.

Juniper moved to hug Remus and he smiled as he hugged her back. "Hey, Juno."

"I've missed you guys." Juniper softly said, pulling away from her Uncle.

"How've you been?" Remus gently asked.

Juniper shrugged. "Better." She watched as the two of them exchanged a look and Juniper frowned. "What? What is it?" Both of them hesitated. "I know that look, I saw mom give it to Remus all the time. What's happened?"

Sirius sighed before pulling a paper from his pocket, handing it to her. "It came in a few months ago, I didn't have the heart to tell you."

Juniper frowned before unfolding the paper and looking at it. Tears immediately sprang to her eyes. It was the adoption papers for Harry that her mom had sent it. She'd been approved to take him in, and now she couldn't. Juniper folded the paper, putting it into her own pocket. She sniffled, nodding her head. "It's like adding salt to the wound." She said, wiping away her tears. She looked up at her father. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to make the pain worse," Sirius whispered.

Juniper chewed on the inside of her cheek, nodding. She cleared her throat, forcing herself to blink away her tears. "Um. . . Harry needs to―︎ Harry needs to talk to you guys." She turned on her heel and walked away, ignoring the calls from her father.

"Hello, Juniper." Nymphadora greeted as Juniper walked by. Juniper gave her tight smile and kept walking. Nymphadora quickly followed after her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Hey, is everything alright?"

Juniper nodded. "Yeah. Everything's fine."

Nymphadora could see through her lies. "Juniper, you can talk to me."

Unknown rage flashed through her as her eyes narrowed. "You're not my mother."

Nymphadora's eyes widened. "No, no I know that. I'm just saying, if you need an adult that isn't your father or Remus, you can talk to me."

"Just because you're dating my godfather, doesn't make you my godmother. Back off." Juniper pushed Nymphadora's hand off her shoulder and walked away.

Nymphadora watched her leave with a small sigh, turning her head when Remus approached her. Naturally, he heard the entire conversation. "Don't take it to heart," Remus said. "She's going through a lot right now. She'll come around, she always does."

Later that night Juniper walked outside, taking a seat on the steps of the front porch, staring up at the night sky. Christmas wasn't the same without her mom. The excitement and joy she usually found for the holidays was nowhere to be found. She pulled the paper from her pocket, opening it and staring down at it. She barely acknowledged the door opening and Harry coming to take a seat beside her. He said nothing for a moment, letting them bask in the comfort of each other. Finally, he broke it.

He nodded towards the paper. "What's that?"

Juniper handed it to him and he took it, staring down at it and reading the words. "Mom was going to adopt you." Juniper softly said, wringing her wrists. "They sent in the letter of approval, and now she's dead." She turned her head to look at Harry. "She cared so much about you, Harry. She only wanted the best for you. She was―︎" Juniper choked on her words. "She was trying to give you a better life. I was trying to give you a better life. I'm sorry I couldn't do that."

Harry turned to look at her and shook his head. "None of this is your fault, June." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Thank you, for trying. No one's done that for me here lately."

Juniper nodded. "Yeah. Did you talk to them?"

"I did. Remus was a little snappy though."

Juniper sighed. "The full moon's approaching. He doesn't mean to snap." She lifted her head up. "He'll probably leave tonight. I should say my goodbye's." Harry nodded and stood with Juniper following.

They headed for the door but Juniper stopped. She turned to look over her shoulder, eyes searching the tall grass. Harry stepped foot inside only to pause when he realized Juniper wasn't following. He turned to look at her. "June? You alright?"

"Yeah," Juniper mumbled. She turned her head to look back at him and gave a small smile.

The two walked back inside and Harry went up to his room while Juniper went in search for Remus. When she found him she gave him a small smile and hugged him. "I assume you'll be leaving. I love you."

     Remus smiled, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "I love you too, Juno. Write to me?" Juniper nodded before walking to the room that she would share with Ginny. She walked into the room, changing and crawling into bed. She was completely oblivious to the chaos going on outside. Harry was running through the tall grass chasing Bellatrix, Ginny had run after him, and a ring of fire circled the home. Juniper shot up, coughing violently and looking around only to see the home was on fire.

She quickly jumped out of bed, grabbing her wand in the process. She looked out the window, spotting everyone standing outside. She could see her father glancing around wildly trying to find her and then his eyes met hers in the window and he yelled her name before darting forwards into the home with Remus hot on his heels. Juniper ran from the room, using her wand to push away an opening for her through the flames. She ran down the steps, tripping in the process and sending her flying down them. She landed roughly on her arm causing her to cry out in pain.

Juniper let out another cough as she pushed herself up and continued running. Flames licked at her skin as she ran by them, burn marks imprinting on her arms. She pushed through the pain, listening as her father and Remus called out her name. She pushed herself further, ignoring the pain that ran all over her body. When she made it to the bottom floor, Sirius quickly spotted her through the flames and smoke and grabbed her before the three ran out of the house. Harry and Ron quickly ran to her when she made it out.

Juniper let out a cough, waving them off. "I'm fine. I'm fine." Harry close his eyes and sighed in relief while Ron placed a hand on his forehead. They all turned and looked at the house, standing their helplessly as the flames slowly began to consume the home whole.