▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 ━︎━︎ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐠𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐀𝐃 come back to the room that night, Hermione had watched her with worry in her eyes. She watched in silence as Juniper got ready for a bed, having already gotten ready herself. She had been reading when Juniper walked in and Hermione had never put a book down so fast in her entire life. Usually she'd finish the chapter she was reading, but when Juniper walked in Hermione didn't even bother finishing the sentence she was in the middle of. She sat her book on her nightstand, watching as Juniper silently crawled into her bed. Juniper sat there for a moment, staring down at her blanket whilst holding her locket tightly in her hands.

     Hermione hesitantly broke the silence. "Juniper?" Juniper didn't acknowledge her. "Jay? Are you alright?" Hermione removed herself from her bed, making her way over to Juniper's and taking a seat right beside of her. Immediately Juniper leaned into Hermione and Hermione wrapped her arms around the girls shoulders, placing her chin on top of her head as she started to gently play with Juniper's hair. "Do you want to talk about it?" Hermione whispered. She could see Juniper hesitate. "You don't have to."

     Juniper allowed Hermione's comfort to sink in, closing her eyes as she moved closer to her warmth. She said six words that made Hermione's heart completely shatter in her chest. "I hate being a murderer's daughter."

     Hermione closed her eyes at the girls words. "Oh, Juniper." She whispered and immediately pulled her closer when Juniper began sobbing. Hermione held her, not daring to let go of her. Juniper held onto her like Hermione was her lifeline. And in that moment she was. She was crumbling to pieces, and she didn't think she had the strength to pick herself back up.

     When Juniper cried all the tears she had, her throat was dry and her eyes burned. "I don't think I have the strength to do this alone. I don't have it in me to pick up the pieces."

     "Then I'll pick them up for you," Hermione moved so that she was meeting Juniper's eyes. "You are not alone. I don't care how broken you think you are or how much of a burden you think your problems will be. You, Juniper Illysa Black, are not broken and you are not a burden. Not to me. Not to Harry. Not to Ron. Not to anyone. Do you understand?"

     Juniper looked at her and mustered the best smile she could. "When did I get to have such an amazing friend as you?" The word friend didn't sound right as it left her lips. A desire in her bloomed, one that involved Juniper pulling Hermione to her and pressing her lips against hers. But she couldn't do that. She fought the wanting and instead nuzzled herself into Hermione's arms.

Hermione watched her with a gentle smile, before a frown started to pull on her own lips. They were just friends, and somehow, that didn't sit right with her.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 on the run, Remus had contacted Anastasia and they both collectively agreed that it was safer for Juniper to stay at Hogwarts instead of going to Hogsmeade. Juniper, although sad she couldn't go, decided she wouldn't mind spending the day with Remus anyways. She sat in his office, helping him tidy the place up a bit and even taking the time to write to her mother. When Remus had left to go talk with Harry who had also been forced to stay behind, she had waved him off and told him she would be fine.

After she finished writing the letter, she left Remus's office to send the letter to her mother. She hummed to herself as she strolled through the halls of Hogwarts. She decided she would try and explore the place a lot more than she originally had, she even decided to go down to the kitchens and get the elves to fix her some sweets. She thanked the elves generously before leaving and continuing her stroll. Her eyes caught something moving in the hall and a frown appeared on her face.

Carefully Juniper followed the shadow and as she grew closer, she realized it was a dog. It was a beautiful black dog. The dog spotted her and turned to growl. Juniper held out a hand, slowly lowering herself to the ground. She dug in her pocket, pulling out the remaining sweets and offering it to the dog. Carefully, the dog crept forwards.

     "I'm not going to hurt you," Juniper whispered, holding out her hand. "Do you have a name?" She asked. The dog looked at her. "My name's Juniper Black. The outcast of Hogwarts." She smiled when the dog grew closer to her. He gently pressed his muzzle into her outstretched hand and Juniper scratched the dog's head, rubbing his fur. "How did you get in here, buddy?" At this question, the dog suddenly became alert. As if he were remembering something. Juniper watched the dog with a small frown, watching as it hesitated to walk away from her, almost as if he didn't want to leave her.

Finally, the dog turned tail and ran away from her. Juniper stood up, watching the dog go. She pursed her lips in confusion before turning and making her way back towards Remus's office. She hummed to herself, singing along to the music that had been playing. She didn't realize how much time had passed until Remus came bolting into the office, a relieved sigh leaving his lips.

     Juniper furrowed her eyebrows. "Remus? Is everything alright?" Juniper stood up, making her way over to him. She was surprised when Remus pulled her into a hug. Juniper didn't hesitate to hug him back, pulling away and looking up at him. "Remus? What's going on?"

     Remus kept his hands on both of her shoulders. "When they said they hadn't seen you . . . I didn't know what to think."

     "Remus, you're scaring me."

     "I'm sorry, I don't mean to scare you." Remus apologized, taking a step back.

     "Just tell me what's happened. Is it Harry? Is he alright?"

     "Harry's fine," Remus assured.

     "Then what is it?"

     ". . . your class came back from Hogsmeade. They all, including Harry, were heading up to the Gryffindor common room and instead the Fat Lady was missing. When they found her sobbing in fear she told them what happened." Remus paused, afraid to finish his sentence. "She said it was him. Sirius Black had broke into the castle, scratching her painting in an attempt to get into the Gryffindor common room."

     Juniper's eyes widened. "What?"

     "They're making the students sleep in the Great Hall tonight. But if you wish, I can request you stay here with me."

     "Yes, please." Juniper nodded her head. She sat down on his desk. "How did he get in?"

     Remus shook his head. "I don't know. Listen, I'll be out tonight, so you can just take my bed if you want."

     Juniper frowned. "Where are you going?"

     Remus looked at her and he hated the lie that fell from his lips. "To figure out how Sirius got in."

     Juniper nodded her head. "Alright."

     Remus placed a kiss on her forehead. "Get some rest, Juno." He gave her a small smile before walking out and leaving her to stand there alone.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆, Juniper went to her Defense Against the Dark Arts class, frowning when she saw Snape enter instead of Remus. He stormed in, closing all the blinds, pulling down a screen before turning to look at the students. "Turn to page 394." He began walking towards the back of the class.

     "Excuse me, sir." Harry stopped him when he passed. "Where's Professor Lupin?"

     "That's not really your concern, is it, Potter?" Snape kept walking. "Suffice it to say that your professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the present time. Turn to page 394." He stood behind a podium at the back of the class where a projector sat. He turned on the projector before looking at Ron who was flipping to the page one page at a time, quickly using his wand to send him to the right page.

     Ron frowned as he looked at the subject. "Werewolves?"

     "But, sir, we've just begun learning about Red Caps and hinkypunks." Juniper jumped when Hermione's voice came from beside of her. The seat had been empty not two seconds ago. Juniper turned to look at Ron and Harry who had the same look of confusion as she did. "We're not meant to start nocturnal beasts for weeks."

     "Quiet." Snape hushed her.

     "When did she come in?" Ron whispered. He looked at Juniper. "Did you see her come in?" Juniper shook her head no.

     "Now," Snape continued, "which one of you can tell me the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf?" Hermione raised her hand but Snape ignored it. "No one? How disappointing."

     "Please, sir." Hermione answered anyways. "An Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf has no choice. With each full moon, when he transforms, he no longer remembers who he is. He'd kill his best friend if he crossed his path. Furthermore, the werewolf only responds to the call of its own kind."

     Draco let out a howl and Snape looked at him unimpressed. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy." He turned back to Hermione. "That is the second time you have spoken out of term, Miss Granger. Are you incapable of restraining yourself or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"

     "He's got a point, you know." Ron mumbled and Juniper sent a deadly glare towards him that made him shut up immediately.

     "Five points from Gryffindor." Snape said and Juniper looked at Hermione who had a deep frown on her face. Juniper reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a small reassuring squeeze. Hermione looked at her and offered her a small smile to which Juniper returned. Her eyes moved to Draco who had folded a paper into a bird, blowing it from his hands and sending it to Harry's desk. Juniper rolled her eyes and looked at Snape as he continued. "As an antidote to your ignorance, and on my desk by Monday morning, two rolls of parchment on the werewolf with particular emphasis on recognizing it."

     Harry interrupted him. "Sir, it's Quidditch tomorrow."

     Snape moved so that his hands were placed against Harry's desk. "Then I suggest you take extra care, Mr. Potter. Loss of limb will not excuse you. Page 394." Snape walked away from Harry's desk and Juniper slumped back in her chair as she listened to him drone on about Werewolves.

When the next Quidditch game happened, Juniper wasn't too happy to be standing in the rain. She knew how this game would end, the same as it almost always did―︎with Harry catching the snitch. However, this game was different, and this time the Dementors interfered and all of a sudden Harry was plummeting from his broom, Juniper went to her room mumbling curses about how she hated being soaking wet. She loved the rain―︎when it wasn't pouring down on her. As soon as she was changed, she made her way down to the hospital wing, just in time to watch Harry wake up. A relieved sigh fell from her lips as she took a stand beside of his bed.

     "How are you feeling?" Hermione asked with worry.

     "Oh, brilliant." Harry replied.

     "You gave us a right good scare there, mate." George Weasley told him, moving to stand closer to him, handing the boy his glasses.

     "What happened?" Harry asked, glancing at all of his fellow Gryffindors.

     "Well. . . you fell off your broom."

     "Really?" Harry asked sarcastically, looking at Ron. "I meant the match. Who won?"

     Juniper shrugged as if it were obvious. "Hufflepuff, of course."

     "June!" Hermione hissed, looking at her with wide eyes before looking at Harry. "Um. . . no one blames you, Harry. The dementors aren't supposed to come inside the grounds. Dumbledore was furious. As soon as he save you, he sent them straight off."

     "There's, uh, something else you should know too, Harry." Ron hesitantly motioned towards the bundle in his hands. "Um, when you fell, your broom, it-it sort of blew into the Whomping Willow and. . . well, it's uh. . ." He held up a piece of the completely destroyed broomstick.

     "I think you can let the broomstick rest." Juniper hummed. "Cause she is not coming back from that."

     Harry looked at Juniper and although he was upset about his broomstick, Juniper's comments never failed to make him smile. "Such the optimist, June."

     Juniper smiled at him. "I know."