(02 : WHOSE DEATHS . . .
ARE YET UNAVENGED)

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HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR the Gryffindor red blanket that was draped over her small frame and the lingering tear stains on her cheeks, Juliet might've thought she dreamed Sirius' return. Her mind was still hazy as she pushed up from the couch — which she could only assume her friend had carried her to at some point — and padded towards the kitchen, bleary-eyed and messy-haired. In the distance, she could hear the sound of empty cupboard doors slamming shut and the obnoxious humming of the muggle rock song 'Back in Black.'

     Pausing at the entrance, Juliet failed to stifle her laughter as convicted criminal and highly wanted fugitive, Sirius Black, danced around the kitchen. "Careful you don't break a hip there, Black. We're not nearly as young as we used to be."

     "Speak for yourself," remarked the man, his roguish grin not faltering despite being caught in such a humiliating position. "There's no food, by the way. I was going to attempt breakfast, but I didn't think venturing out was worth the risk."

"Probably smart," she muttered as she snatched two glasses from a nearby shelf and used a quick 'aguamenti' to fill them with water. "If you're staying here, I'll make sure to keep the pantry stocked from now on. You shouldn't be going out at all. And I mean it, Sirius. Do not be seen until we have found a way to clear your name." Juliet rubbed her temples, struggling to think clearly. "I'd offer to let you stay with me, but there's too many people who come in and out of the manor these days. Not to mention the Ministry has already interrogated Reg on your whereabouts. No doubt they'll be suspicious of me too."

The tension in the room was nearly suffocating. "You don't have to worry your pretty little head about that, I wasn't planning to stick around much longer." His teasing words sounded oddly quiet for someone so loud. There was a beat of silence and then his unusually small voice cracked as asked, "You still see him then? My brother? And he's, uh, alright?"

     "Kind of hard to escape him," she mentioned lightly. "After — after that night, we founded Mantua. It's a home for children like us, runaway purebloods and anyone else who might be in need of an escape. He seems happy enough there. A little lonely maybe. Our friendship is a long and complicated one, he'll always have me, but sometimes I don't know if I'm enough. Most of his friends from Hogwarts aren't exactly the type of company he strives to keep these days."

      "Romeo and Juliet." Sirius' mouth quirked upwards in recognition. "Romeo is exiled to Mantua. Clever. Does my brother know the meaning behind the name?"

     Regarding the man with a newfound caution, she challenged, "And since when were you familiar with muggle literature? The only time I ever saw you pick up a book was to throw it at someone."

     "First of all, Moony was fine." He snorted at the memory. "But are you kidding? Prongs subjected the entire dorm to a one man reenactment back in our sixth year. Trust me when I tell you the play and the visual of him in a wig has been burned into my memory ever since."

     "I did it for him," she confessed softly. "I didn't want my grief to be . . . something bad. I didn't want to resent what I remembered of James. And for a while, I did — resent him, that is. He hurt me, but I probably hurt him too. But what I've found since is that whilst the hurt heals in time, all the good he did remains unchanged, stubborn as a stag. Maybe I will be able to explain that to Reg one day, but I don't know if he will ever truly understand because he will never know James like we did."

     Much like his name, Regulus Black was celestial. He was a star — a constant presence in her life, even before she first noticed he was there, and a small light amidst the darkness he was born into. Darkness was something he had been surrounded by his entire life and it was for that reason he could never fully comprehend what it was like for someone's entire world to one day be plunged into it without any warning. But when James Potter died, it was like the sun itself had been snuffed out.

"He doesn't need to know," said Sirius. "I can't thank you enough for what you've done for him. He'd be dead without you and I know you're more than enough for him, but what you shared with James was special. Look what you've done since. Instead of falling apart, you've — you've built a haven. Just like his home used to be for us. All whilst I've been scratching tallies on the wall of a prison cell, feeling utterly useless."

After hearing about all that he'd missed, Sirius' composed demeanour unravelled, leaving the threads of his already fragile sanity to fray. Unlike Juliet, his friend's death had left him with only bitterness. Questions of why it wasn't him and ridicules of the last minute switch in Secret Keeper plagued him still. He didn't exactly have the luxury of being productive when all of his happy thoughts were often being snatched by dementors.

     Turning away from her, he clenched his jaw. "And what if my grief is bad, Juliet? I spent twelve years in Azkaban, waiting and watching, watching and waiting. It's enough to drive someone mad. I should've been here the entire time. With my brother and my godson. Lily should've —"

     "Lily is at St Mungo's," Juliet interrupted, wincing at the abrupt reminder that Sirius really had no clue how tumultuous life had been after the supposedly mighty Dark Lord fell. "Some Death Eaters cornered her before she was able to give the testimony that would have essentially cleared your name and incriminated Pettigrew. Ever since then, she's been in a magically induced coma. It's meant to stop her from going insane. That happened to the Longbottoms. Their attack was a few weeks after Lily's, but help arrived too late and they now can barely recognise their own son."

Hunching over the sink, the news made Sirius feel rather sick. "And my godson? Where did Harry —"

"To Petunia's," she quickly answered, once again grappling with the immense guilt she felt for allowing Harry to live with such a terrible family for so long. "Dumbledore organised everything. He said it was safest for Harry to hide amongst muggles. I found him though, offered him one of the rooms at Mantua. Of course Dumbledore doesn't know about the new arrangement yet."

Sirius gripped the sides of the sink until his knuckles turned white, breathing heavily through his nostrils. He didn't know how to respond — not when he had found Lily crying more than once because of her cruel older sister.

     "Your brother was acquitted, claimed he was imperiused and Lucius Malfoy did the same," the redhead informed him without being prompted, abridging the events of the past twelve years into two minutes. "All previous charges against me were formally dismissed because of Voldemort's influence within the Ministry. Lucius was not happy about that, he tried to have them reinstated when it was revealed I faked my death." A victorious smile formed on her face as she remembered how mad the man had been when his lies about being under the Imperius Curse enabled her name to be cleared. "We told Remus the truth about you too. Both of us petitioned for at least a fair trial, but it didn't matter to Crouch if you were guilty or not. The public had lost faith in their authority and they were too desperate to consolidate the little power they had left. I'm sorry. We really did try."

"Meanwhile, that rat ran free," Sirius begrudged.

Juliet frowned. "I thought about finding Pettigrew, to force him to confess, but there was no trace of him. Magical or otherwise."

"That's because he has been hiding out as a pet all these years," Sirius revealed, reluctantly meeting her inquisitive gaze. "His photo was in the Prophet, the Weasley family had won some sort of competition and I'd recognise that traitorous rat anywhere." There was a faraway look in his eyes as his tone took a malicious turn, leaving Juliet startled by how suddenly he switched personalities. The same man who had been dancing to muggle rock now looked every bit like the killer he was accused of being. "Those beady eyes — they — they were taunting me. Smug. So smug. It was then I knew I had to escape. To protect Harry. To avenge James."

     She raised an eyebrow. "And how will you do that?"

     "By making that coward pay for his crimes." He straightened. "I know where is and I want to see him dead."

     Her expression was one of schooled neutrality. "Killing him won't bring James back."

     "And since when was Juliet Fawley a pacifist?" His scoff seemed to bounce off the walls. "He doesn't deserve my mercy — it's not like he showed any to James. James who hexed every kid that looked at him funny.
James who invited him into his home every Christmas and Easter. James who tutored him every night before our O.W.L.s when everyone else had ruled him out as a lost cause. James who bought out Honeydukes' supply of Cauldron Cakes when he came of age. James who trusted him like a bloody brother didn't get any mercy, so I don't need or want your judgement!"

     "Don't put words in my mouth, Sirius Black," she snapped. "Of course I want him dead, but you should know better than anyone that James wouldn't have. Merlin, don't you remember what happened in Birmingham? Killing Arin was accidental, but it also meant the difference between him living or dying and he still couldn't justify it!"

The iciness of her truths didn't shake his composure. "That's your choice then? You won't help me?"

"You're a bloody fool. Of course I'm going to help you — you were arrested the last time you pursued Pettigrew alone and I'm not nearly stupid enough to get us caught." Juliet tilted her head. "But if we're doing this, we need to be honest with ourselves. We wouldn't be doing it for James, we would be doing it for you. And that's okay too. He screwed you over as well. You're allowed to want vengeance. Just don't let it blind you."

     In comparison to Juliet, Sirius was feeling too much like Peter Pan — she had matured more than he initially realised. "You know," he began in an offhanded effort to ease his discomfort, "I'd always thought if I was going to kill someone, it would be you."

     "And I'd always said you would end up in Azkaban," she replied sweetly. "I win."

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     On her return to Mantua, Juliet was greeted by the most peculiar sense of melancholy washing over her. Although she liked to pretend otherwise, the unfortunate fates of Lily and James were a phantom pain for her. A part of her felt responsible — had she been the catalyst for their downfall or had it been inevitable? Were the events of Halloween 1981 simply the result of the butterfly effect, caused by her bumping into James on the Hogwarts Express as a First Year?

     Before her thoughts could ravage her mind further, she found herself rapping her knuckles against a certain teenager's bedroom door. "Hey Harry?" she called. "I'm going to visit your mum at St Mungo's. Would you like to come?"

     Seconds later, Harry burst from his room with one trainer on and a blue toothbrush hanging from his mouth. "Yeah," he breathed out, running a hand through his dishevelled hair in a move awfully reminiscent of James Potter. "Sounds good."

     Juliet offered him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, which he gratefully returned. It was at that exact moment an influx of light suddenly poured out from his room, reflecting against the silver of her bracelet and causing the sun charm hanging from her wrist to sparkle a little brighter.

     All of a sudden, her smile became genuine.

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A.N: I planned out a bunch of this book at like 2am, so another update is here! Harry and Juliet bonding is to come. I'm trying not to drag PoA too much, so I think it'll be wrapped by about CH10. I'm most excited for HBP and the Deathly Hallows though. Ooh, and the end of Goblet. Anyway! Sirius and Juliet are gonna kill a guy. Casual friend stuff. I had to actually cut out a really cute moment where they danced because the song I wanted came out ONE DAY after Sirius was arrested in 1981. Talk about irony.

Question, is there a character in Harry Potter that you think deserved a WORSE fate? We can talk all day about the characters who deserved better, but who got off too easy?