𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 ━︎━︎ 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 the forest. Juniper ran a stressed hand through her hair. She wasn't expecting Luna to have been taken, nor was she expecting Luna's father to sell them out. A part of her understood where he was coming from. He'd already witnessed the death of his wife, Luna was his last family left alive, and he would do anything to get her back. Juniper would be lying to herself if she said she wouldn't doing the exact same thing. Did that make it right? No.

     "That treacherous little bleeder." Ron snarled. "Is there no one we can trust?"

     "They kidnapped her because he supported me." Harry told him. "He was just desperate."

     "You can't tell me that if you were in his position, you wouldn't do the same." Juniper added.

     Ron looked at her before saying, "I'll do the enchantments." Ron started to walk down the hill only to freeze when they came face to face with at least six snatchers.

     "Hello, beautiful." Scabior said, leaning against a tree.

Scabior wasn't the one Juniper was focused on. Instead, her eyes spotted Fenrir Greyback and at the same time fear and anger surged through her. She didn't have time to think about that as they all began running. Immediately spells started being thrown at them as the snatchers chased after them. Juniper pushed herself to run faster, her lungs were burning, her legs were aching, and her heart was racing. Was this really how she was going to die? Absolute not. Juniper blindly threw a spell behind her, hoping it hit one of them.

Juniper threw a spell at the snatcher closest to Hermione, getting him off her back. At the same time, Ron had been captured and she couldn't do anything to stop it so she kept running. Harry had to be safe. That was the only thing she could think about. If they got Harry, they would kill him immediately. Juniper came to a stop when she realized she was surrounded, Hermione was next to join her side. They shared a look before quickly turning and looking at Harry as he approached.

     Hermione was the one to cast the spell. Harry fell to the ground as his face began to deform, making him almost unrecognizable. They quickly ran to him and Juniper snatched his glasses, tucking them in her pocket. Harry started to sit up. "The hallows exist." Harry said. "But he's only after one of them―︎the last one. He knows where it is. He's gonna have it by the end of the night. You-know-who's found the Elder Wand."

     One of the snatchers grabbed Hermione before Juniper was grabbed herself. "Let go of her!" Juniper snarled, struggling in the snatchers grasp. She was immediately hit in the stomach causing her to double over.

     "Leave her alone!" Hermione cried.

     "Your girlfriend will get much worse than that if she doesn't learn to behave herself." Scabior warned. He approached Harry. "What happened to you, ugly?" The snatcher holding Harry looked at him. "No, not you." Scabior looked back at Harry. "What's your name?"

     "Dudley. Vernon Dudley." Harry lied.

     "Check it." Scabior walked towards Hermione. "And you, my lovely? What do they call you?"

     "Penelope Clearwater. Half-Blood." Hermione answered.

     When Juniper saw him grow closer to her, rage simmered in her body. "Get the fuck away from her!"

     Scabior pulled back, looking at Juniper. He walked over to her. Immediately, a wand was pointed at her neck. Juniper settled her glare on him. "And you?"

     Juniper spat in his face. "Fuck you." Immediately, she earned a slap across the face. Juniper rolled her jaw, turning her head back to look at him.

     "There's no Vernon Dudley on here." The snatcher called. He then addressed Harry. "You hear that, ugly? The lists says you're lying." Scabior stared at Juniper for a moment before turning and walking over to Harry. "How come you don't want us to know who you are?"

     "The list's wrong. I told you who I am." Harry argued.

     Scabior stared at Harry for a long moment before saying, "Change of plan. We're not taking this lot to the Ministry."

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝐎𝐅 them were brought to a large manor. Bellatrix was waiting at the gate and Juniper had to force herself to keep her cool. Scabior lifted Harry's hair and Bellatrix whispered, "Get Draco."

     They were brought into the manor, Bellatrix held a wand to Harry's neck as Draco stood in front of him. Juniper was clenching her jaw, trying her best to keep herself from killing everyone in the room. "Well?" Bellatrix asked.

     "I can't be sure." Draco answered.

     Lucius walked up to his son. "Draco, look closely, son." He grabbed the back of Draco's neck, forcing himself to calm down. "If we are the ones to hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything would be forgiven. A-all would be as it was, understand?"

     "Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy." Scabior spoke.

     "You dare to talk to me like that in my own house?!" Lucius shouted.

     "Lucius!" Narcissa hissed, walking up to her husband. She pulled him away from Draco.

     "Don't be shy, sweetie. Come over." Bellatrix coerced. Draco listened, kneeling down in front of Harry. "Now, if this isn't who we think it is, Draco, and we call him, he'll kill us all. We need to be absolutely sure."

     "What's wrong with his face?" Draco asked.

     "Yes, what is wrong with his face?" Bellatrix repeated.

     "He came to us like that." Scabior answered. "Something he picked up in the forest, I reckon."

     "Or ran into a stinging jinx," Bellatrix suggested. She pointed her wand at Hermione. "Was it you, dearie?" She walked towards Hermione. "Give me her wand. We'll see what her last spell was." Bellatrix started laughing. "Ah. Got you." Bellatrix let out a gasp, pausing as she spotted the Sword of Gryffindor in one of the snatchers grasp. "What is that? Where'd you get that from?"

     "It was in her bag when we searched her," He answered. "Reckon it's mine now."

     Immediately, Bellatrix killed him and took the sword, killing two more snatchers. Only two remained. "Go! Get out!" Quickly, they left. "Cissy, put the boys and that one in the cellar!" She grabbed onto Juniper and Ron. "I want to have a little conversation with this one! Girl to girl!"

     They were thrown in the Cellar by Peter Pettigrew who closed the cell the door, locking it. Juniper shot up. Let out an angered cry as she pulled on the cell door. "What are we going to do? We can't leave Hermione alone with her!"

     "Juniper?"

     Juniper quickly spun around at the familiar voice. Ron and Harry copied her action. "Harry? Ron?" Ron put his hand in his pocket, pulling out the deluminator and lighting the cellar up, revealing Luna.

     "Luna?" Harry asked.

     "I'm so glad you're okay." Juniper said, walking up to her and pulling her into a tight hug. Juniper pulled away when the sound of Hermione's screams echoed down the stairwell and into the cellar. "Screw this. I'm finding a way out of here."

     "June, you can't." Harry warned. "Not without exposing yourself."

     Juniper sent him a helpless look. She didn't know what to do. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes, listening to Hermione's screams. "I'm not losing anyone else to that woman!"

     "You won't." Harry assured, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You won't."

     "We have to do something." Juniper begged.

     "No, there's no way out of here." Ollivander spoke up, having also been in the cellar. "We've tried everything! It's enchanted."

     Harry kneeled down, pulling up his pants leg and pulling out a piece of a mirror. Luna noticed him bleeding. "You're bleeding, Harry. That's a curious thing to keep in your sock." Hermione's screams continued and Juniper had to close her eyes tightly and place her hands over her ears. She couldn't stand this.

     Harry looked in the mirror and whispered, "Help us."

They waited for a few moments and when Peter came back down the stairs, Ron quickly rid the room of the light. Juniper clenched her jaw and walked up to the door, wrapping her hands around the metal bars. "Let her go!" She snarled.

Peter pointed his wand at her. "Get back." Juniper glared at him but did as he said, taking two steps back as entered the room. Peter turned his wand to the goblin that was in there with them. "You. Goblin. Come with me." The goblin listened and Peter kept his wand trained on Juniper until he walked out and closed the door behind him. Ron returned the light once Peter walked up the stairs, and Juniper looked up when she heard Hermione still screaming.

The sound of someone apparating into the room made them all turn. It was a small house elf, who quickly turned his head and smiled. "Ah!"

"Dobby?" Harry questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"Dobby has come to rescue Harry Potter of course." Dobby answered. "Dobby will always be there for Harry Potter."

"Are you saying you can apparate in and out of this room?" Harry asked. "Could you take us with you?"

"Of course, sir." Dobby said, as if it were obvious. "I'm an elf."

Harry turned his head to look at Ron and Juniper. Ron answered, "Works for me."

Juniper nodded. "Anything to get to Hermione."

Harry looked back at Dobby. "Right. Dobby, I want you to take Luna and Mr. Ollivander."

"Shell cottage on the outskirts of Tinworth." Ron added. Harry gave him a confused look. "Trust me."

Luna looked down at Dobby. "Whenever you're ready, sir."

Dobby was taken aback. "Sir?" He looked at Harry. "I like her very much." Dobby walked over, grabbing both of their hands. "Meet me at the top of the stairs in ten seconds." Then, he was gone.

The sound of footsteps made the three of them quickly hide. Harry and Ron was on one side of the door, Juniper was on the other side. Peter unlocked the door, stepping inside before suddenly he was hit with a spell from behind and fell over. The three of them exited the cellar, looking at the top of the stairs where Dobby was standing, holding Peter's wand. "Who get's his wand?"

They crept up the stairs, listening as Bellatrix questioned the goblin. "Who got into my vault? Who stole it? Who stole it?! Well?"

"When I was last in your vault, the sword was there."

Juniper blocked out the conversation, her gaze focusing on Hermione who was lying on the floor. Juniper's heart shattered in her chest, tears brimming her eyes. She had to be okay. Juniper wouldn't be able to live with herself if she wasn't. Juniper pulled her attention to Bellatrix as she walked over to Hermione. Blind rage took over her as Juniper shot up and yelled out, "Expelliarmus!" Bellatrix's wand went flying from her hand and Harry caught it.

Lucius moved and Harry quickly shouted, "Stupefy!" Suddenly, they were in an all out battle. Juniper, Harry, and Ron, against Draco and Narcissa.

"Stop!" Bellatrix yelled. They paused, spotting Bellatrix holding onto Hermione, a wand placed against Hermione's throat. "Drop your wands. I said, drop them!" They listened. "Pick them up, Draco." Draco hesitantly went forwards and grabbed the two wands. "Well, well, well, Look what we have here. It's Harry Potter. He's all bright and shiny and new again, just in time for the Dark Lord. Call him. Call him!"

Lucius stepped forwards, pulling up his sleeve to reveal the dark mark. Before he could do anything, the chandelier dangling just above Hermione and Bellatrix started shifting slightly before the chandelier fell. Bellatrix let go of Hermione and Hermione shot forwards. Juniper immediately grabbed onto her, Harry snatched Draco's wand, and the four of them huddled in the middle of the room, Dobby standing with them along with the goblin Bellatrix had been interrogating.

"Stupid elf!" Bellatrix hissed. "You could've killed me!"

"Dobby never meant to kill. Dobby only meant to maim. . . or seriously injure." Narcissa went to use her wand and with the snap of his fingers, Dobby sent it flying from her hands and into his own.

"How dare you take a witches wand?!" Bellatrix cried out angrily. "How dare you defy your masters?!"

"Dobby has no master." Dobby sternly said. "Dobby is a free elf. And Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends." They all grabbed Dobby's hand and as they started to apparate, Bellatrix threw her knife.

They landed on the sands of a beach. Juniper immediately stood and ran over to Hermione who was laying on the ground. She pushed Hermione's hair from her face, tears shinning in her eyes. She spotted the carving on Hermione's and her heart broke even more. The word "mudblood" was carved into her arm.

"I'm so sorry." Juniper softly said, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I'm so sorry. I should've done more. I'm so sorry." She pressed her forehead to Hermione's head, pulling her into her arms.

Harry ran up to them as Ron joined them. "Hermione, you're alright. We're safe. We're all safe." Harry kneeled beside of them, hugging them both. Ron kneeled beside them as well.

"Harry Potter. . ." Dobby's weak voice made them all turn their heads. That's when Juniper spotted it. The knife that was lodged in his stomach. harry stood and quickly made his way over to Dobby. Dobby fell in his arms. Harry begged for Hermione to have something in her bag, but Hermione just gave him a pained look. They watched as Harry and Dobby exchanged a few words before Dobby let his last breath leave his lungs, dying peacefully in Harry's arms.

Luna walked over to Harry, gently closing Dobby's eyes. Juniper watched the whole thing before looking at Ron, meeting his eyes. Ron and Juniper were never the closest, but they'd always been friends and they always understood each other. In this moment, Ron understood. Gently, he held onto Hermione as Juniper stood up. She walked away from all of them, walking far out until she'd reached the ocean. She stood there, staring out ahead of her. And then, she cried.

She allowed all of the grief, the anger, and the sadness from the past seven years drain from her body as she sobbed, tear after tear falling down her face. Behind her, they found a place to bury Dobby. Juniper couldn't do this anymore. She was so tired. She was so emotionally and physically drained. How many more people were going to get hurt, or killed? How many more people would she let die and be tortured under her watch? What kind of person allowed that to happen?

When they finished burying Dobby, Hermione stood there and looked at Juniper from on top of the hill she, Ron, and Harry were standing. Harry and Ron joined her side. "She thinks it's her fault." Hermione whispered. "All of it."

"But it's not," Ron said.

Hermione nodded. "I know that. You know that. We all know that. But not her."

"Why blame herself?"

"Because, sharing the weight is what she does. Because it's Juniper. She cares so much. How do I get her to believe me when I say it isn't her fault?" Hermione turned her head to look at Harry.

Harry shook his head. "I don't think you can."

Ron asked, "What do we do?"

"What we've been doing." Hermione answered. "Be there for her, even if she thinks she doesn't deserve it." Hermione walked down the hill, carefully approaching her girlfriend. She took a stand beside Juniper and for a moment they stood in silence.

"I'm sorry," Juniper whispered.

Hermione looked at her before reaching over and grabbing her hand, interlacing their fingers. "It's not your fault." Juniper turned to look at her, eyes glossed over with fresh tears. Hermione turned her body to face Juniper, reaching out and grabbing her other hand. Juniper turned as well, shame and guilt dancing in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop her." Juniper said, voice cracking. "You didn't deserve that."

"It's over now." Hermione assured.

Juniper shook her head. "No. It's not over. Not until she's dead. She hurt someone else that I love. And once again I was helpless." Juniper clenched her jaw for a moment before releasing it. "I can't do this anymore, Hermione."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "I know."

"So, what do I do?"

"You keep fighting. We keep fighting. And we end this. All of this." Hermione placed a hand on her cheek. "You aren't in this alone." Juniper squeezed her hands in response. Hermione pressed a soft kiss to her lips before pulling away. "I love you, we're in this together."

Juniper nodded. "I love you too."

Hermione nodded her head towards the others. "Come on." Juniper watched her for a moment before letting Hermione lead her away. Revenge would come to Bellatrix Lestrange, and Juniper Black would kill her. Even if it was the last thing she did.