❝CHAPTER FORTY❞
▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲 ━︎━︎ 𝐀 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 ▌
━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 the year was here, and it was time for them to pack their things. Juniper stood in her room, staring in the mirror at the necklace Remus had given her two years ago. Juniper was blaming herself for this, and Hermione knew it. What Hermione also knew was that Juniper wouldn't have been able to stop it even if she tried. Voldemort had been trying to come back for years, and now he finally had. Hermione knew that it was going to take a lot of trial and error, but he would have come back eventually.
Hermione watched the girl with a small frown before appearing behind her. Juniper met her eyes in the mirror. "Are you ready?" Juniper nodded her head and Hermione gently grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers as they walked out.
They made it to the courtyard which was filled with students all saying goodbye to each other. When she had passed by, Fleur had gave her a swift goodbye and a kiss on the cheek before leaving. Krum had spotted Hermione and had made her promise to write. Juniper and Hermione stood to the side, watching as the Beauxbatons left, followed by the Durmstrang. Juniper felt numb. She didn't understand how so many people were smiling and laughing after what had happened.
The reality of the situation was weighing heavily on her shoulders. Her face stayed blank of emotion and Hermione would have to give her hand a small squeeze to remind her to smile once in a while. When all of the students had gone and the courtyard was empty, the two girls found Harry and Ron.
"Do you ever think we'll just have a quiet year at Hogwarts?" Ron asked with a slight chuckle.
"No," the other three answered.
"Oh, well." Ron sighed. "What's life without a few dragons?" Ron, Harry and Juniper started walking only to stop when they realized Hermione wasn't following. They turned to look at her.
"Everything's going to change now, isn't it?" Hermione asked.
Harry walked to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Yes." Hermione nodded and the four of them began walking.
"Promise you'll write this summer." Hermione said. "All of you."
"I won't," Ron truthfully said. "You know I won't."
Juniper shrugged, forcing a small smile on her face. "I'll try."
Hermione looked at Harry. "Harry will, won't you?"
"Yeah. Every week." Harry answered, sharing a look with Ron.
They made it to the end of the walkway, standing in the opening where they could see the Black Lake below. They watched the carriage fly by and the ship sink and Juniper softly sighed. "My mom's going to be so pissed." The three looked at her and they all couldn't help but burst out laughing.
⋆.ೃ࿔*:・⋆.ೃ࿔*:・
━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐏𝐄𝐑, 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘, and Ron all sat on the train. They were almost to the station and all Juniper could think about was her mom and her dog. She was excited to be home. To have a chance to breathe until the new year started where more tragedy would inevitably ensue.
Juniper softly sighed, looking at the other three. "Four years down. Three more to go."
"There it is," Ron chuckled. "I was waiting for it."
Juniper shrugged and smiled. "What can I say? I told you it would be a yearly thing."
Harry looked at her. "Usually you say it when we first get on the train."
"Well, I have to keep you on your toes, don't I?" Juniper joked. She closed her eyes, leaning her head against the seat. Hermione reached over and grabbed her hand. Juniper opened her eyes and turned to look at her, giving her a thankful smile as she squeezed her hand.
"Do you think you'll hear from Sirius at all?" Hermione asked.
"I hope so." Juniper answered. "Seeing as he's still a criminal and all, we can't really send letters all that often. Or, at least, he can't send them to me." She chuckled, shaking her head. "God, my life is a shit storm."
"You and me both." Harry replied.
They pulled into the station and the group of four got off the train. They all said their goodbyes and Juniper looked around before spotting her mom. She ran towards her and Anastasia quickly caught Juniper in her arms, hugging her tightly. "Oh, my sweet girl. Are you alright?"
"Ask me again a month from now." Juniper mumbled into her shirt.
Anastasia pulled away, pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead. "I have a surprise for you."
Juniper furrowed her brows. "A surprise?"
Anastasia held out her hand and Juniper took it, letting her mom apparate her away. When they arrived at their destination, it wasn't where Juniper had expected. In fact, she didn't know where they were. Instead of being in front of her house, she was in front of a set of muggle apartments―︎or, what she assumed was apartments. Suddenly, the building began to expand, a whole knew set of windows appearing in the middle but there was only one door. Juniper pursed her lips. "I'm really confused."
Anastasia chuckled. "I know. Come on, Shadow's waiting for you." She grabbed her daughters hand, walking towards the door and opening it.
Immediately, Shadow came running towards her and Juniper smiled widely as she immediately gave the dog kisses, rubbing his fur. Juniper stood up and walked further into the home. The very large home might she add. "Mom, where are we?"
Anastasia waved her wand, sending Juniper's things to her room. "Walk a little further, and you'll see."
Juniper frowned. "I don't like this. After what happened this year, I think I've developed trust issues." Despite her words, Juniper continued further into the home. She found herself in a living room, and she couldn't help but look around. It all looked so rich, so eerie. Her attention then turned to the person that was standing in the middle of the room, his back facing her. Juniper felt tears pool in her eyes. "Dad?"
Sirius Black turned around and smiled. He looked a lot better than when she had last seen him. He had put on more weight, you could no longer see every bone in his body. His teeth were a beautiful pearly white, his hair was cleaned and neat. He looked like a completely different person. "Hey, little star." Juniper ran to him and jumped in his arms. Sirius caught her, her legs wrapping around his waist as her arms wrapped around his neck. And then she burst into tears.
Sirius held his daughter tightly, gently walking back and forth with her in his arms. Anastasia had been told what had happened at Hogwarts and she had told Sirius. His heart ached for his daughter and he wished he knew how to keep her from this. To keep her hidden from all of the pain, the suffering, and the grief, but he knew he couldn't and he hated it. So he just held her. He held her like he would never see her again. He kept one hand on her to keep her steady and the other hand ran over her hair. "It's going to be okay, little star. It's going to be okay."
"I'm sorry," Juniper sobbed. "I'm sorry."
Sirius shook his head. "For what?"
"For not keeping him safe." Juniper whimpered.
"Oh, sweetheart." He softly whispered. "You're just a kid. You shouldn't have to be going through this. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you from it."
She sniffled. "You're here now. That's what matters." After a moment she softly said, "I'm scared to let go. I don't want you to disappear."
"I'm not going anywhere baby." He promised. "I'm staying right here."
"You promise?"
Sirius nodded his head. "I promise."
Finally, she let go. She sat on the couch with her father, her mother perched on the arm of the couch beside him. Juniper couldn't help but smile at her mother's hand that stayed on her father's shoulder. A small smile was on Anastasia's face. "Juni, I thought maybe we could stay here for the summer."
Juniper's eyes widened. "You mean—you mean with dad?" Anastasia smiled and nodded. A wide smile bloomed on Juniper's face as she nodded eagerly. "Yeah, yeah, I would really like that."
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