▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐲-𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞 ━︎━︎ 𝐈 𝐖𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 had been tainted with blood. The death of Dumbledore had taken place here and Juniper no longer felt safe. She felt cold, and she could feel the bitterness, and the lingering death that came along with the Death Eaters. Her one sanctuary, torn apart to shreds, tainted with the strive for power and the upper hand. Now, sitting in the astronomy tower, with her friends all here, Juniper felt nothing but sadness. The sun was shining brightly on them, the view still as beautiful as ever.

     Hermione and Harry were standing by the railing, looking out at the grounds below. "Do you think he would've done it?" Hermione asked. "Draco?" It was true, it was Draco that was supposed to kill Dumbledore instead of Snape. However, Snape had stepped in and did it for him. Juniper didn't like Snape, nor did she like Draco, but a part of her couldn't help but be a little thankful that Snape hadn't forced Draco go through the trauma of killing his own Professor, of killing someone in general.

     Harry shook his head. "No. No, he was lowering his wand. In the end, it was Snape. It was always Snape. And I did nothing." Juniper stood up and walked over to him, standing on his other side. Harry glanced towards her and she gave him a small smile, leaning her head on his shoulder. Harry lifted the necklace he had taken off Dumbledore, giving it to Hermione. "It's fake. Open it."

     Hermione did as he asked, opening it to reveal a small folded up letter inside. She unfolded it and began reading it out loud. "'To the Dark Lord. I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more. R-A-B.'" Hermione looked at Harry. "R-A-B?"

     "I don't know," Harry answered. "But whoever they are, they have the real Horcrux. Which means it was all a waste. All of it." Harry looked at Ron who offered him a small smile, causing Hermione and Juniper to glance at him as well.

     Hermione looked back at Harry. "Ron's okay with it, you know. You and Ginny. But if I were you, when he's around I'd keep the snogging to a minimum."

     Harry let out a small chuckle before his face grew serious and they all looked out at the view. "I'm not coming back, Hermione, June. I've got to finish whatever Dumbledore started. And. . . I don't know where that will lead me, but I'll let you two and Ron know where I am when I can."

     "I've always admired your courage, Harry." Hermione admitted. "But sometimes you can be really thick." Harry looked at her. "You don't really think you're going to be able to find all those Horcruxes by yourself, do you? You need us, Harry."

     Juniper nodded. "She's right."

     Harry glanced between the two of them before saying, "Just do me a favor. When I'm around, keep the snogging to a minimum, please." He looked at Hermione. "She is my sister."

     Juniper let out an amused laugh while Hermione scoffed. "Well, I'm mad at her right now, so I'm sure it'll be a while before that happens."

     Juniper rolled her eyes. "You love me and you know it, Granger. You can't stay mad at me for long. I was only doing what I thought was right."

     "Yes, because your plan for revenge was what was right in that moment." Hermione sighed out.

     "We'll talk about this later." Juniper promised.

     "Yes, please." Harry breathed. "I would like to not be in the cross fire." Juniper narrowed her eyes playfully and Harry sent her a small smile before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I never realized how beautiful this place was." The sound of a bird cawing made them look up, watching as Dumbledore's phoenix flew by. The watched as he flew around the building, walking to the other side of the tower and watching him fly into the sunset.

     "I always did love this place." Juniper said, a sad smile pulling on her lips. "When we first got up here, I thought my safe place had been tainted. But I realize, with the three of you here, it's only grown more beautiful, and more safe." A sigh left her lips. "I'm going to miss Hogwarts."

     Harry nodded his head. "Me too."

     "After all of this is over, maybe we can come back." Juniper said, a small amount of hope dancing in her eyes.

     Harry looked at her and gave her a small smile. Even though he doubted they would, he had to say it for her sake. "We will."

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 dorm, both girls had just finished packing up their belongings. Juniper hugged her necklace close to her skin, sitting on the bed as she glanced in the room she wouldn't see for a long while. "We don't know what we're going to face out there," Juniper said. Hermione turned to look at her. "I'd like to start the adventure off with you not being mad at me."

     "Well, I have a right to be mad at you." Hermione said, turning away from her as she put the last of her clothes in her trunk.

     "I didn't do anything wrong, Hermione."

     "No, you were just reckless." Hermione said, shutting her trunk and snapping the locks on it.

     Juniper sighed. "Hermione."

     "Don't 'Hermione' me." Hermione snapped, turning to look at her. "This plan for revenge that you're so keen on accomplishing is going to get you killed, Juniper. Thank Godric they were already gone by the time you got there. Merlin knows what you would've done."

     "I would have killed her, like I said I was going to do." Juniper bluntly stated.

     "And you see nothing wrong with that?" Hermione asked.

     Juniper thought about it for a minute before shaking her head. "No, not really." She shrugged her shoulders. "Can you really blame me, Hermione? The woman killed my mother."

     Hermione sighed. "No, I can't blame you for that. But revenge is not healthy, Juniper. Especially not the way you're dealing with it. It's starting to consume you, and that's not okay. I understand that you want to get her back for what happened with you mother, I get that, I really do. But June, you running out like that, headfirst into danger, that scared me. You are ready to die for this, and I'm sorry but I won't lose you. Not like that. Not because of her."

     Hermione clenched her jaw. "You're being reckless, Juniper. You are so ready to die for this one cause, and I don't think you understand how much the thought of you even being in pain hurts the people closest to you. Don't you remember how I reacted when you had accidentally been clawed by Remus? Do you understand the panic I felt, not knowing what was going to happen to you? I need you, Juniper. Harry and Ron need you. Sirius needs you. You should not be so keen and ready to jump headfirst into death without thinking about the consequences first."

     "Hermione―︎"

     Hermione cut her off. "I cannot lose you, okay? Don't. . . don't make me lose you when I just got you."

     Juniper frowned, pushing herself up off the bed a walking over to her. Unshed scared tears were in Hermione's eyes, and Juniper's heart broke at the sight. Juniper reached for her and Hermione pulled away, shaking her head. She refused to meet Juniper's eyes. "Hermione," Juniper softly said. She frowned when Hermione didn't reply. "Baby, look at me." Carefully she reached up, turning Hermione's head to look at her. Juniper looked deep into her eyes, refusing to break eye contact. "You won't lose me, darling. I won't let that happen."

     Hermione let out a shaky breath. "If you keep going down this path, it will."

     "I won't let that happen." Juniper said, determination in her voice. "I promise." She wiped away Hermione's tears. "I swear to you, nothing in this world could ever take me from you. Not even death." She gave Hermione a small smile, moving the hair from her lovers face. "I'm sorry for scaring you. From now on, revenge is on the back burner, and you are my top priority. You should have always been the top priority. Please, forgive me."

     Hermione stared at her for a moment before closing her eyes. "I know you want her dead, and I'd be a horrible person to not let you have that, but I just don't want it to consume you and change who you are."

     Juniper nodded her head in understanding. "I won't let that happen." She pressed a kiss to Hermione's forehead before placing her forehead against Hermione's. "I'm sorry. I love you."

     Hermione closed her eyes, a small weight falling from her shoulders. She met Juniper's eyes and gave her a small smile. "I love you too." The couple exchanged a kiss before Juniper gave her a small smile, wrapping her arms around Hermione's waist and peppering her with quick, short little kisses all over her face. Hermione started to laugh, a wide smile pulling on Juniper's lips as she held onto her like nothing in the world could come between them.

     "We should go before we miss the train." Hermione warned, the smile never leaving her face.

     Juniper sighed in defeat, letting go of her. "Alright, fine." Hermione playfully rolled her eyes before grabbing her hand and interlacing their fingers, walking out of their dorm and headed towards the train that would take them all home. The four of them met up in one of the compartments.

     "So, we all have to make sure our families are safe before we do this thing." Juniper said, keeping her voice low. "No one can know where we are." She met Ron's eyes, a silent conversation flowing between them. They were the only two that had wizarding families, which meant they were going to have to lie and keep a lot of this a secret. "We have to make sure our families are safe. I'm going to talk to my dad over the summer, he's going to have to leave the house and find somewhere else to say. I can't risk one of the Death Eaters remembering where the Black manor used to be. Maybe he can stay with Remus."

     Harry nodded his head in agreement. "Well, I might not like them, but I'm not cruel enough to keep them there. I'll have to convince the Dursley's to leave, even if it means exposing the truth. They won't care where I am anyways." Juniper frowned at the comment.

     "Mum'll worry," Ron said. "But I think she'll understand. They've already destroyed my home, what else can they take? They're already in hiding."

     Juniper turned to Hermione and watched as tears formed in her eyes. Juniper's heart shattered as she watched the pain cover Hermione's face. "I'll have to make my parents forget me." A soft sob escaped her lips and Juniper quickly pulled her into her side, hugging her tightly. "I know it's for their safety, but it still hurts."

     "I know." Juniper softly whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I'll be there, if you want. I'll wait outside for you." Hermione nodded her head and Juniper hugged her a little tighter.