▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 ━︎━︎ 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 in the hospital wing bored out of her mind. Her leg was wrapped, even though Madam Pomfrey had given her a potion that would heal her, it was taking an extremely long time to heal. The cut on her hand was already gone and she was forced to stay in the hospital ward over night. When it was time for breakfast, Juniper didn't care what Madam Pomfrey said, she was going to go eat. She made her way to the dinning hall, limping as she did so and clenching her jaw as pain shot through her leg every time she put even the smallest amount of pressure on it.

When she spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione, she limped over to them and offered them a smile as she sat down. "Good morning, everyone."

"How's the leg?" Ron asked.

"Well, if you noticed me limping, you would know that it's not doing too good." Juniper answered but there was joking smile on her lips. "I must say, those beds in the hospital ward are so extremely uncomfortable. I actually left without telling her. I was not missing out on a meal." The group chuckled at her.

"Take a bit of toast, mate. Go on." Ron urged Harry, trying to get the boy to eat.

"Ron's right, Harry. You're gonna need your strength today." Hermione nodded, nudging the boy slightly.

"Today's your first Quidditch match is it not?" Juniper asked, stuffing a piece of toast in her mouth. She was starving. Harry nodded. Juniper swallowed her food before saying, "Harry you really do need to eat then. Sports will take the life out of you if you don't have the proper strength." Juniper stopped talking when she saw Professor Snape approach. Immediately her eyes went down to her food as she quietly ate it.

"I'm not hungry." Harry told them.

"Good luck today, Potter." Professor Snape's voice made the other three turn to look at him. "Then again, now that you've proven yourself against a troll a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you. Even if it is against Slytherin." He glanced at the group before he started walking away, but when Juniper looked up, she noticed him limping.

Juniper cocked her head slightly. "Is he. . . is he limping?"

"That explains the blood," said Harry.

Juniper rose her eyebrows. "Blood? What blood?"

Harry's voice grew softer as he looked between the two girls. "Listen, last night, I'm guessing Snape let the troll in as a diversion so he could try and get past that three headed dog, but he got himself bitten, that's why he's limping."

Hermione frowned. "But why would anyone want to go near that dog?"

"The day I was at Gringotts, Hagrid took something out of one of the vaults. Said it was Hogwarts business, very secret."

"So you're saying. . ."

Harry quickly finished Hermione's sentence. "That's what the dog's guarding. That's what Snape wants." The sound of an owl could be heard, causing the group to turn their heads. Hedwig, Harry's owl, came flying in with a giant package, swooping by Harry and letting it drop down into his hands. Harry caught it, carefully placing it on the table.

"Bit early for mail, isn't it?" Hermione questioned.

"But I. . . I never get mail." Harry looked at the package, confused.

Excited, Ron said, "Let's open it!"

Quickly, the group started taking off the wrapping, revealing a broom. But it wasn't just any broom. Juniper's eyes widened in shock. Harry looked at it. "It's a broomstick."

"That's not just a broomstick, Harry." Ron said, just as amazed as Juniper was.

"It's a Nimbus 2000." Juniper smiled widely as she looked at the broomstick. "It's one of the fastest brooms there is."

"But who. . .?" Harry turned his head, finding Hedwig sitting perched by McGonagall. The Professor gave Harry a subtle smile and Harry couldn't help but smile back.

As breakfast came to an end, Ron, Hermione, and Juniper all left to get good seats for the Quidditch game. Hermione was letting Juniper lean on her slightly, her limp still very prominent. Every time the girl put pressure on that leg, a curse word would be muttered under her breath. Hermione looked at the girl with sympathy. Part of her felt bad. Juniper came looking for her. It was her fault that Juniper had gotten hurt in the first place. But if she was being honest, Juniper's words were the reason she was in the bathroom in the first place.

"When is it supposed to be fully healed?" Hermione asked as they sat down.

"Madam Pomfrey said it should be fully healed by tonight. If I'm lucky, in a few hours."

"Well, that's a relief." Ron told her and she nodded in agreement.

"Here they come!" Hermione cheered. Immediately cheers erupted everywhere as the Gryffindor team flew out, followed by the Slytherins.

"Hello, welcome to Hogwarts first Quidditch game of the season!" Lee Jordan, a Gryffindor, announced loudly. "Today's game, Slytherin versus Gryffindor."

The players took their positions, Madam Hooch opened the chest that held the bludgers, golden snitch, and then she threw up the quaffle and the game began. Everyone went flying. Every time Gryffindor scored, they all cheered loudly. A gasp fell from Juniper's lips when one of the Slytherins hit a bludger towards Oliver Wood, hitting him and causing him to fall to the ground. It wasn't too long before the Slytherin's quickly started to win and another of the Gryffindor players was sent to the ground. Juniper's eyes focused on Harry, watching with excitement when he spotted the golden snitch and immediately went after it before suddenly his broom started acting funny.

"What's going on with Harry's broomstick?" Hagrid asked from beside of them.

"It's Snape!" Hermione hissed, looking at Ron and Juniper. "He's jinxing the broom."

Juniper sighed. "Why am I not surprised."

"Jinxing the broom?" Ron exclaimed, scared that Harry was going to fall. "What do we do?"

"Leave it to me."

"Wait, I'll come with you." Juniper moved to stand up but Hermione stopped her.

"Juniper, you can't walk correctly. We don't have time for you to limp your way there." Without saying anything else, Hermione turned on her heel and ran.

Juniper sat there with her arms crossed, worry filling her stomach as she watched Harry. He was spinning, jerking around, before suddenly he lost his grip and went of the side of his broom, only one hand holding the broom to keep him from plummeting to the ground. Juniper stood up, ignoring the pain in her leg as she watched Harry with anticipation.

"Come on, Harry." Juniper whispered, watching as he managed to grab the broom with both hands but still continued to dangle from it.

"Come on, Hermione!" Ron begged.

Suddenly Harry's broom stopped acting up and Harry was quick to swing himself back onto his broom. Juniper and Ron both cheered loudly, both smiled widely at each other before focusing on Harry once more. Both of the seekers from each team were now chasing the golden snitch, hitting each other back and forth trying to knock the other away. The Slytherin seeker succeeds in pushing Harry away, but Harry is quick to swoop back around, catching back up with the other boy. They starting flying towards the ground, growing closer and closer. The Slytherin boy pulls his broom up whilst Harry gets as close to the ground as possible before pulling up and standing on his broom. Harry reaches forwards, forcing himself to balance on the moving broom. Moving slightly more, Harry sends himself flying from the broom, landing on the ground causing the crowd to gasp.

When it looked like Harry was going to be sick, Juniper exchanged a look with Ron whilst Hagrid said, "Looks like he's going to be sick."

Something comes flying from Harry's mouth, landing in his hands. He opens his hands and quickly Lee announces, "He's got the snitch! Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the snitch."

Madam Hooch blows her whistle before saying loudly, "Gryffindor wins!" The Gryffindors all burst into cheers and a proud smile overcomes Juniper's face.

After the match was over with, Juniper, Harry, Hermione, and Ron all met with Hagrid and walked with him to his hut. Hagrid shook his head at something Harry had asked. "Nonsense! Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?"

"Who knows, why would he try to get past that three headed dog on Halloween?" Harry asked.

Hagrid snapped his head towards Harry. "Who told you about Fluffy?"

"Fluffy?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"That thing has a name?" Hermione asked with surprise.

"You know, I'm feeling really left out, maybe I should take a trip to the third wing real quick just so that I can know what the hell dog you lot are talking about." Juniper pointed back towards the castle and Hermione rolled her eyes, pulling her hand down.

"Well, of course, he's got a name, he's mine." Hagrid said nonchalantly. "I bought him off an Irish feller I met down at a pub last year then I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the―︎" Hagrid cut himself off.

"Yes?" Harry asked.

Hagrid looked away from them. "Shouldn't have said that. No more questions. Don't ask anymore questions. That's top-secret that is."

Harry frowned. "But Hagrid, whatever Fluffy's guarding, Snape's trying to steal it."

Hagrid came to a stop, turning to look at the group. "Codswallop. Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher."

"Hogwarts teacher or not, I know a spell when I see one." Hermione argued and Juniper nodded her head in agreement. "I've read all about them."

"As have I," Juniper said. "There is no mistake, Hagrid. Snape was saying a spell of some kind. It's no coincidence Harry's broom starts acting up at the exact same time. Plus, Snape wasn't even blinking when he was looking at Harry, and in order to cause a curse you have to keep eye contact."

Harry nodded, "Exactly."

"Now, you listen to me, all four of ya. You're meddlin in things that ought not to be meddled in. It's dangerous. What the dog is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel."

"Nicholas Flamel?" Harry asked.

Hagrid's eyes widened in realization. "I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that. I shouldn't have said that." Hagrid began walking away.

"Nicholas Flamel," Harry mumbled. "Uh, who's Nicholas Flamel?"

"I don't know," Hermione shook her head.

Juniper frowned. "I've heard that name before, I don't know why, but if I've heard it it must've been in a book somewhere. Your best bet is the library." Juniper sighed as she watched Hagrid walk into his hut.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐍𝐎𝐖 started to fall and the letters from her mother and even Remus started to pile up, Juniper knew that Christmas break was right around the corner. She read each letter with more excitement than the last, her heart aching to hug her mother and Remus once more. She hadn't even had the chance to see Remus before she took off, now she had that chance. She used her wand to pack her things, bouncing around and dancing to the music that she had playing. There was nothing like Christmas time to get Juniper in a good mood.

Hermione watched the happy girl with a smile on her face, laughing at how silly she looked but enjoying this side of Juniper nonetheless. Juniper was always stressed about school work, her shoulders tense with the mounds of work they got from all their classes. Juniper was smart, Hermione knew that being top in her class was all that she wanted, and as the months flew by, Hermione couldn't help but feel like she should put her pride aside and let Juniper take the trophy. Yes, Hermione wanted to be smart, she was the brightest witch of her age, but so was Juniper and if Hermione was being completely honest, she was tired of being competitive with the girl. Somehow part of her knew that Juniper wasn't going to like the fact that she was giving up, so instead of saying anything, she stayed silent and watched with amazement as Juniper excelled.

"I wish you were this happy all the time," Hermione joked, chuckling.

Juniper spun towards her, beaming as she jumped on Hermione's bed, making the girl laugh even harder. "You and me both, but Christmas is so special. All the people I love in one room. Just me, my mom, and Uncle Remus. I couldn't ask for anything more."

Hermione frowned slightly at the small list of people. "What? No cousins?"

Juniper shrugged her shoulders. "My mother and Remus are the only two that seem to acknowledge my existence." Juniper frowned slightly. "My last name. . . comes with a lot of baggage. I mean my whole existence does." Juniper chuckled.

Hermione frowned deeper at this. "What do you. . . what do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, Hermione." Juniper's voice was a whisper, a slight fear creeping into her voice. "I know you know."

Hermione did know, but she didn't want to bring it up. Hermione knew that she could be judgmental, but something in her gut told her that this was a topic to never speak about. "Even so, that doesn't change my opinion about you as a person. I don't think it's fair to judge others just based off of something their own kin did."

Juniper frowned. "He didn't do it."

Quickly, Hermione decided to change the subject. "It's Christmas time. We're going home to see our families. I'm sure your mum is going to be waiting at the station for you."

Juniper turned happy again and she smiled. "You're right. We should say bye to Harry and Ron before we leave." Hermione nodded in agreement.

They carried their trunks behind them as they searched for Harry and Ron before finally finding them in the dining hall playing wizards chess. The two girls walked up to them, just in time to watch Ron's queen murder Harry's knight. Juniper smiled as the queen moved forwards, stood up in her chair, and used the chair to kill the knight, taking its place.

Hermione frowned. "That's totally barbaric!"

"That's wizards chess." Ron smiled.

"Merlin, if I weren't leaving, I'd play you in a game right now." Juniper smiled. Juniper looked at Hermione. "I love wizards chess. I wish I owned my own set."

"I see you've both packed," Ron commented.

"I see you haven't," Hermione shot back.

"Change of plans, my parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother Charlie. He's studying dragons there."

"Good. You can help Harry then." Juniper smiled, nudging Harry. "He's going to go look in the library for information on Nicholas Flamel."

"We've looked a hundred times!" Ron scoffed.

Juniper smirked. "Not in the restricted section."

"Happy Christmas," Hermione told the two, waiting for Juniper to stand up before she walked away. She repeated what Hermione said before quickly following Hermione, excitement dancing in her bones. She couldn't wait to go home.