▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐲-𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 ━︎━︎ 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝐎𝐅 four were all sitting at the Gryffindor table eating, all of them except for Juniper. Juniper was staring across the room, having a glare off with Lavender. The girl was at the other end of the room, glaring at her friends which Juniper quickly caught onto and started glaring back. Ron, who had glanced over his shoulder to look at her quickly turned back with a small frown on his face. Suddenly snowflakes started falling on top of them.

"Stop it, Ron." Hermione softly said. "You're making it snow."

Ron put his wand down and looked at Hermione. "Tell me how I broke up with Lavender again."

Hermione glanced to Juniper who was not looking at her and was still glaring at Lavender. She sighed and looked at Ron. "Well, she came to visit you at the hospital. And you talked. I don't believe it was a particularly long conversation."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm bloody thrilled to be shot of hers. She seems to be a bit put out." Ron said. The other three turned to look at Lavender.

"Yes, she does, doesn't she?" Hermione mumbled before looking at Ron. "You say you don't remember anything from that night? Anything at all?"

Ron sighed. "There is something. But it can't be. I was completely boggled, wasn't I?" He turned his attention towards Juniper before glancing between Hermione and Harry. "Is June alright?"

Hermione softly chuckled. "She and Lavender got into it that night. Jay threatened her in front of the Professors. Now, she's caught Lavender looking over at us and I think she's refused to back off and glare back."

Ron smiled in amusement. "Sounds like June."

"I ought to go over there and ask what her problem is." Juniper muttered, not tearing her gaze from the blonde. In response, Hermione placed a gentle hand on her arm.

As a group of girls walked by them, Hermione quickly whispered Harry's name. "Harry. That's Katie. Katie Bell." Immediately Harry stood and made his way towards her. After talking to her, he turned and quickly walked out of the room and followed after Draco who had watched his interaction with Katie and quickly fled. "Jay," Hermione sighed.

"Hm?"

"I think she understands." Hermione said.

"Ron, I just want you to know, I never liked that girl and I hope you didn't like her all that much either." Ron rose his brows before snapping his head towards Lavender when a surprised scream fell from her lips. Her food had quickly exploded into her face, covering her in the stuff. She shot up and ran from the room crying and Juniper smirked in satisfaction. She finally looked at her two friends. "Now, where did Harry go?"

"I don't quite know, actually." Hermione answered with a frown.

"Maybe we should wait for him in the common room," Juniper suggested. The other two nodded and when they were finished eating they went to the common room, Ginny joining them. They were surprised to find Harry already sitting on the couch, the potions book sitting on the table with a far away look on his face. Juniper frowned, taking a seat beside him. "Hey, are you alright?"

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny took a seat as Harry shook his head. "Draco cursed Katie." Harry almost whispered. "He and I. . . we got into a fight and I discovered what Sectumsempra is." He looked up, meeting Juniper's eyes. "He was bleeding everywhere. Snape started healing him when I left."

Juniper placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, glancing at the others. Ginny stood up, taking a seat on the other side of him. "You have to get rid of it. Today." Harry nodded his head.

"Go," Juniper softly said. "We'll be here when you get back."

Ginny stood first and held out her hand for Harry. Hesitantly he took it and the two of them left. Juniper leaned against the back of the couch and Hermione stood up and took a seat beside Juniper. Juniper softly sighed, leaning her head on Hermione's shoulder. "I have a bad feeling, Hermione."

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I just. . . all of this, it's going to get a lot worse before it ever gets better."

Hermione glanced at Ron, sharing a nervous look with him before looking back at Juniper. "Well, hopefully you're wrong for once."

Juniper nodded. "Yeah, hopefully." But she knew she wasn't.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 common room, Juniper, Hermione, and Ron were watching Harry carefully. Ron had accidentally given Harry the idea of using the Liquid Luck that he'd been given towards the beginning of the year, and now here they were, watching as he uncorked the potion and downed it in one go.

After a moment of silence, Hermione asked, "Well? How do you feel?"

Harry looked at her, a smile on his face. "Excellent. Really excellent." He stood and the three of them followed suit.

"Remember, Slughorn usually eats early, takes a walk, and then returns to his office." Hermione reminded.

"Right." Harry smiled. "I'm going down to Hagrid's."

Juniper watched in confused amusement as he started walking away. "What?"

They quickly followed after him with Hermione saying, "No, Harry, you've got to go and speak to Slughorn." Harry stopped, turning to look at her. "We have a plan."

"I know, but I've got a really good feeling about Hagrid's. I feel it the place to be tonight. Do you know what I mean?"

Hermione looked at him in disbelief as the three said in unison, "No."

"Well, trust me, I know what I'm doing." Harry said. "Or Felix does." He turned and walked away, passing by two boys walking into the common room and greeting them with a loud and excited, "Hi!"

Juniper placed a hand over her mouth, an amused laugh leaving her lips. "You guys realize this is most likely not going to go as planned, right?" She turned her head to look at them, watching as Hermione just looked at her while Ron hung his head. "Anyways, come with me to the owlery, 'Mione. I need to see if I have any mail." Hermione nodded and Juniper reached over and grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers before they began to make their way to the owlery.

When they got there, Juniper spotted Astra patiently waiting with a letter in her mouth. Juniper gave the owl a soft smile, walking over to her and trading the letter for a treat. She left with Hermione in tow, the two girls making it back to their dorm. Juniper took a seat and opened the letter. After what happened on Christmas, Juniper had written a letter to Remus in apology for her actions and for almost dying in a house fire, and now he finally responded.

Dear Juno,
I received your letter a little late, it seems the ministry is intercepting more and more letters by the day. First of all, don't apologize about the fire. You couldn't have known and I'm sure you were exhausted and were just trying to get some sleep. I'm glad that you're alright and that Pomfrey was able to heal your arm. As for the conversation with Dora, she wanted me to tell you that she understood that emotions were high and she doesn't want you to think you have to apologize for how you've acted. She hopes that next time you see each other, it can be on much better terms.
As for how I'm doing, despite what's going on in the world, I'm quite happy. I'm sorry about what happened over Christmas, about the letter, about the fire, all of it. I know you just wanted a break sweetheart, and we were really hoping to give you kids that break, but it seems someone had other plans. I love you so much, sweetheart. Please stay safe up there. I will see you soon, I promise.

With all of my love,
Your Godfather

Juniper softly sighed as she read the letter, a small frown pulling on her lips. Hermione, who was sitting on the bed beside her reading a book, glanced up and looked at Juniper. She sat up, closing her book and placing a hand on her shoulder. "What is it?"

Juniper shook her head, looking at Hermione with a small smile. "Nothing." Hermione shot her a look and Juniper softly chuckled. "Really, it's nothing. He said that Tonks wasn't upset with me and that he was sorry about what happened over the break."

"See, I told you." Hermione said, nudging her side and giving her a smile. "You had nothing to worry about." She pressed a kiss to Juniper's cheek. "You should write him back."

Juniper shook her head. "The Ministry keeps intercepting my letters, I don't think I can risk writing him anymore. Godric knows that one day they're going to show up to his home and my dad is going to happen to be paying a visit and that's not something I want on my conscious. I'll see him soon, he knows I love him. I don't need to write a letter back to prove that."

Hermione nodded and Juniper looked out the window, noticing it was now dark out. A small smile pulled on her lips as an idea popped in her head. "Hermione? Do you want to come to the astronomy tower with me?"

Hermione smiled, nodding. "I'd love to."

They snuck up to the astronomy tower and Juniper leaned against the railing, staring up at the stars. Hermione joined her side, placing her hand over Juniper's. "It really is beautiful up here at night."

Juniper smiled. "It is."

"I can see why you love it up here so much." Hermione softly said, looking out at the view. "It's quiet, the view is beautiful, not to mention the stars can be seen the best up here." She turned her head to look at Juniper in realization. "The stars. . . they reminded you of your father, didn't they?"

"Yeah," Juniper whispered. "Now, I look up at them and I see my mother. I see her looking down at me, watching over me. I can still feel her here with me. This place. . . it's always given me a sense of comfort."

Hermione glanced down at the railing. "Why did you always come up here alone?"

Juniper thought about it for a moment, her eyes staring at the stars as if she were having a conversation with them. "Because at the beginning, I only had myself." She turned her head to look at Hermione. "That first year, when the looks were the worst, and the whispers haunted the halls, I felt all alone. Everywhere I went, I felt the judgement and the curses thrown my way." Her eyes moved back to the stars, a small smile on her face. "But when I came up here, it was silent. There was no one here that could judge me, that could hurt me. I felt. . . I felt safe. In a world of chaos, and judgement, and cruelty. . . when I came up here, all of that faded away. Up here, it was just me and the stars. The one thing that could never judge me for who I was."

Hermione's heart seemed to break a little at her words. She had never known that Juniper had felt like this, but she supposed Juniper didn't want anyone to know. In that moment she realized Juniper was a lot better at covering up her true feelings than she originally thought. Hermione looked at Juniper. Really looked at her. And as she looked at her she could see that eleven year old girl, wiping away her tears and whispering to the stars secrets she'd never tell. All she had wanted was to belong, to fit in and not be judged by her last name.

All over again Hermione was eleven and was looking at Juniper with different eyes. All she saw was a girl that had been beaten and bruised by the cards the world had handed to her, yet she stood tall with her chin raised and a blazing defiance in her eyes. Because the world had not broke Juniper Black. No matter how many knives that had been stabbed in her back, no matter how many times her arms and legs got weighed down with weights as heavy as the entire school, Juniper Black was not deterred. Juniper Black was not once torn apart until she could no longer stand, until all she could do was fall to her knees and beg for mercy. No, Juniper Black was still standing with her chin held high, sturdy shoulders, and fiery determination in her eyes that yelled out "you will not break me". And she stuck true to those words.

In that moment, Hermione realized that Juniper was one of the strongest people she'd ever met. Hermione hesitated for a moment before asking, "And with me here? Does that change things?"

Juniper let out a laugh, one that was filled with so many emotions it made Hermione's head spin. "No, no Hermione it doesn't. In fact, with you here, it feels like nothing in the world could ever touch me again. You make this place a solid, protected fortress. You make it complete." She turned her head to look at Hermione, tears shining in her eyes. "You make me feel completed. And I love you, so much. I love you so much that it almost hurts. Because my heart feels so full, and whenever I'm around you, and we get little moments like this, it makes me feel like all of this pain that I've experienced was worth it if it meant I could be lucky enough to end up with a girl like you."

Hermione turned her body to face her, causing Juniper to do the same. She placed her hands on either side of Juniper's face, searching her eyes as a small smile pulled on her face. "I love you too, so much. You're not alone in any of this, Jay. I'm with you, by your side, always. Never ever forget that." Juniper gave her a small smile, closing her eyes as she leaned into her touch. Hermione pressed a kiss to her lips and Juniper accepted it. When they pulled away, Juniper placed her forehead against Hermione's. Softly Hermione said, "For the record, I never judged you for being who you are."