▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 ━︎━︎ 𝐈'𝐦 𝐆𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐇𝐢𝐦 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐀 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐒 passed and now snow was on the ground, letting Juniper know that the next trip to Hogsmeade was right around the corner, and this time she was going. They hadn't heard from Sirius Black in a while so her mother had finally agreed to let her go this time. Juniper was excited to say the least, holding Hermione's hand as she swung them back and forth, a happy tune falling from her lips. Once again, Harry couldn't go, and although Juniper was sad for him, she'd promised him she'd bring him tons of treats and things back.

After Ron, Hermione, and Juniper had went into a couple of shops, Hermione wanted to show them the Shrieking Shack, more specifically she wanted to show Juniper cause she knew the girl would actually find an interest in it. Ron was there for the walk. They came to a stop right at the fence, the Shrieking Shack lying there in the distance. It took everything in Juniper not to jump across the fence and run to the building. It just seemed so ominous, so intriguing, and she wanted to see it from the inside.

"It's supposed to be the most haunted building in Britain," Hermione informed her. Juniper hummed in acknowledgement, her hands stuffed into her jacket because despite the gloves her hands were freezing. "Did I mention that?" Hermione asked and Juniper smiled at her.

"Twice," Juniper smiled wider.

Hermione looked at her and a small chuckle left her lips. "Do you want to move a bit closer?"

Juniper's eyes seemed to light up at the suggestion. "Do I!"

"You guys go on." Ron stammered, uneasy. "I'm fine here."

"Well, well, look who's here." Draco's voice made the group turn around and Juniper rolled her eyes. His eyes landed on Ron and Hermione. "You two shopping for a new dream home? Bit grand for you, isn't it Weasel-Bee? Don't your family sleep in, uh, one room?"

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." Ron said but he was looking down at the ground as he said it.

"Ooh, not very friendly. Boys, I think it's time we teach Weasel-Bee how to respect his superiors."

Hermione let out a humorless chuckle. "Hope you don't mean yourself."

"How dare you talk to me?" Draco hissed. "You filthy little―︎" Before he could finish his sentence, Juniper's wand was at his throat.

"Go on," Juniper dared. "You were saying?"

"You really do want to follow in your father's footsteps, don't you, Black." He spat her name like it was a disease.

"If it means I can take you off this earth, I'll gladly take the title." She growled. Draco looked at her with narrowed eyes, but she could see the fear in them. He opened his mouth but Juniper beat him to it. "Do you want to test me right now?" Hermione reached forwards and pulled Juniper back before she could actually cause harm.

As soon as she was out of his aim, Harry, who was hidden underneath his invisible cloak, threw a snowball at Draco. Draco looked around, confused. "Who's there?" Malfoy snapped. Another snowball was thrown and suddenly Crabbe, Goyle, and Draco were all being attacked by them. Crabbe's pants had been pulled down and the other boy got his beanie pulled over his eyes. Harry kicked Crabbe down and Draco look around in panic backing up and tripping over Crabbe's body. Harry grabbed him by the ankles and began dragging him towards the Shrieking Shack. When Harry let go Draco began scrambling up from the ground and running up the snowy hill―︎not without tripping―︎and leaving his friends for dead.

Juniper, Ron, and Hermione were all in a laughing fit before suddenly Harry messed with the strings of their hats. Hermione smiled and rolled her eyes. "Harry!" Harry removed the cloak, a laugh escaping his lips.

"Bloody hell, Harry." Ron said with a deep breath. "That was not funny."

"It was a little funny." Juniper said, pinching her fingers together.

"I really thought you were going to do it this time," Harry admitted, looking at Juniper.

"If I hadn't pulled her away, she would've." Hermione told him.

"I don't play when it comes to the people I care about." Juniper told them, pushing the hair from her face. "Now, the real question is, how are you here?"

The group began walking and Harry explained to them how George and Fred had gifted him the Marauders Map which was a map that showed where everyone was all the time and what they were doing. Ron was offended. "Those Weasels! Never told me about any Marauder's Map."

"But Harry isn't going to keep it." Hermione told them, looking at Harry. "He's going to turn it over to Professor McGonagall. Aren't you?"

"Like hell he is!" Juniper scoffed. "That thing is brilliant. Might have to borrow it sometime."

"Juniper!" Hermione scolded.

Juniper shrugged. "What?"

"Sure he is," Ron agreed before looking at Hermione with a straight face. "Along with his invisibility cloak."

They came to a stop as Hermione spotted someone. She had a smirk on her face. "Oh, look who it is. Madam Rosmerta. Ron fancies her."

"That's not true!" Ron defended.

They stopped and listened to the conversation between Cornelius, Rosmerta, and McGonagall. They were all talking about Sirius Black with Rosmerta trying to figure out why Sirius would want to come to her pub in Hogsmeade. She was angry that Cornelius was driving her customers off by sending dementors into her pub every other night. And when he answered her question of why and whispered Harry's name, she had said it loud enough for almost everyone to hear. The group, minus Harry, looked at each other. They frowned when they saw Harry's footsteps in the snow, letting them know he'd covered himself with the cloak once again.

Harry ignored Hermione's calls as he entered the pub. the three exchanged looks before deciding that they would wait outside for him. A few minutes later the pub door opened and Harry's footsteps came running out. He knocked over a group of carolers and the group quickly raced after them. When they found where his footsteps lead, all they could hear was Harry's sobs from under the cloak. Carefully, Hermione walked forwards, kneeling down in front of him and pulling the cloak off.

"Harry, what happened?" Hermione carefully asked.

"He was their friend. . . and he betrayed them." Harry calmly said before his voice grew louder and angrier. "He was their friend!"

Juniper shook her head, the immediate instinct to defend her father taking over. "My father was loyal. He would never betray his friends."

Harry stood up and looked at Juniper. He was angry, and he knew he shouldn't have taken it out on her, but he did. "Well he did, June!"

"He didn't!" She argued. "He's innocent. I know my father. I am his daughter after all. Harry, please believe me. He didn't do it."

"You've never even met him, Juniper!" Harry snapped. "Your father is the reason my parents are dead!"

Tears filled her eyes and she clenched her jaw. "My father is innocent!" She yelled right back at him. "I know he is. My mother always says to trust my gut, my gut tells me that it wasn't him."

"Well your gut is wrong." Harry snapped back. "I hope he finds me. 'Cause when he does, I'm going to be ready. When he does, I'm going to kill him."

"You touch my father―︎" He cut Juniper off.

"Your father is a murderer. And the way you're acting, the excuses you make for him, you might as well have done it yourself." He didn't mean to say it. He didn't even mean it. He was just so angry. The words slapped Juniper across the face and she stood there in shock. She had never looked so hurt before, and he did that. He calmed down almost immediately. "Juniper, I didn't mean―︎"

"Screw you, Harry." Juniper whispered before turning on her heel and walking away.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 spring and Juniper's anger had yet to leave her body. She was talking to Hermione, keeping at her side, sharing jokes with the girl and on the occasion casually grabbing her hand as they walked, wondering if Hermione would say anything to her. She never did. She never dropped Juniper's hand, in fact when she felt uncomfortable, Hermione had grown accustomed to grabbing Juniper's hand for comfort. They had quickly become each others safe place. Juniper was talking to Ron as well, sharing her notes whenever he wasn't paying close enough attention in class. She, however, was still not talking to Harry. His words had stung, they'd hurt her much more than she wanted them to.

Harry Potter was desperate to get Juniper Black to talk to him. Yes, he'd meant everything he said regarding Sirius Black, but the words he'd spat at Juniper was a horror that would never escape his mind. He'd just left his lesson with Professor Lupin, having successfully cast the Patronus charm. Remus had asked about her, asked how she was doing, Harry didn't know how to answer him because truthfully he didn't know. He didn't like it when she was mad at him. Juniper could be a scary individual, but she was absolutely terrifying when she was angry. Harry wanted to fix it, he needed to. Juniper had quickly become an important part of his life, and whilst he still walked around with Ron and Hermione, the fourth person of their group missing and not walking with him made it feel completely and utterly incomplete.

     He met up with Ron and Hermione, a hope that Juniper would be at Hermione's side entering his chest, when she wasn't there an immediate frown fell on his face. Ron and Hermione noticed. "I tried," Hermione started. "I really did."

     Harry waved her off. "It's alright, Hermione. She's angry. She has a right to be. It just. . . it doesn't feel right without her here."

     Hermione nodded in agreement, even Ron couldn't help but agreeing. Juniper completed them, and they all knew it. "I told her we were going to see Hagrid. It's not an opportunity I think she'd pass up. Maybe. . . maybe she'll be there." Harry nodded and they all started walking. Immediately Ron and Hermione started arguing about Ron's missing rat and Ron blaming it on Hermione's cat. Harry, however, walked behind them, lost in thought. If Juniper was there, he was going to talk to her.

Hermione led the group to where Hagrid was, standing in the black lake up to his knees, skipping stones to pass the time. He was upset, that they could tell. Harry sat up straighter when he saw Juniper sitting there on one of the bigger rocks, her knees pulled to her chest with her arms holding her legs and her chin sitting on top of her knees. She watched Hagrid with a small frown on his face. Juniper glanced towards the three, offering Hermione and Ron a small smile and looking away from Harry. He sighed in defeat.

     "How did it go, Hagrid?" Hermione spoke first. "The hearing?"

     Hagrid picked another large stone, twisting it in his hands. "Well, first off, the committee members took turns talking about why we were there." Hagrid threw the stone and it skipped a few times before falling into the water. He grabbed another. "And then I got up and did my piece, said how Buckbeak was a good Hippogriff, always cleaned his feathers." He let out a sigh. "And then, Lucius Malfoy got up. Well, you can imagine. He said Buckbeak was a deadly and dangerous creature who would kill you as soon as look at you." He skipped another stone.

     "And then?" Juniper questioned with a deep frown.

     "And then he asked for the worst, did ol' Lucius."

     Immediately Ron thought that he was getting fired. He sat up straighter as he said, "They're not sacking you."

     "No, I'm not sacked." Hagrid denied. He tossed another stone before he sniffled, beginning to cry. "Buckbeak's been sentenced to death." He slammed another stone into the water and stood there crying. Juniper stood up from the stone, a heart broken frown on her face.

Collectively, the group decided that they would leave Hagrid be, processing what it was that Hagrid had just told them. Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, Hermione subtly nodding towards Juniper who was trailing behind them. Harry gave Hermione an 'are you sure?' look and Hermione nodded her head. Harry stopped, letting the two keep walking before stepping into line with Juniper. She said nothing, keeping her eyes focused on the ground.

     "Juniper, can we talk?" Harry asked. Juniper said nothing, but she didn't push him away nor did she walk away from him. He took that as a sign to continue. "What I said. . . it wasn't fair to you. I was just angry. It just came out. I never meant it. Truly, I didn't."

     "I'm not trying to make excuses for him," Juniper said.

     Harry nodded. "I know."

     "I just. . . I don't want to believe it. We don't have all of the pieces. It doesn't feel right to call him a murderer. I know I sound crazy, Harry. I know that. I just can't help but feel like we're missing something. Something big." Juniper sighed, shaking her head. "I don't want to defend him anymore. I've been doing it since I could learn to talk. It's just an instinct now more than anything."

     "He's your family." Harry shrugged. "I know you, you'd do anything to protect those you love."

     Juniper managed a small smile at that before she frowned. "But. . . I don't even know him. How can I protect him when I don't know him?"

     "Because you're a good person, June." He stopped and so did she. She turned to look at him. "You've always been. You see the good in everything and everyone―︎except for Malfoy of course." Juniper chuckled at that, nodding her head in agreement. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I really am sorry for what I said."

     Juniper bit the inside of her cheek, nodding her head as she finally decided to let it go. They were better together than alone. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were all that she had. She wasn't going to lose him over this. "I forgive you, Harry."

     "You do?"

     Juniper smiled at him. "I do."

     "Oh, thank Merlin." Harry let out a relieved sigh. "You being mad at me was torture." Juniper chuckled before Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked towards Ron and Hermione, the situation finally resolved and their group fully back together.