▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 ━︎━︎ 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 and Juniper couldn't be more excited. Being in her house with everyone she loves was the best feeling ever. The Weasley family, Hermione, and Harry were all at her house. Remus would be coming by later and Anastasia was in the kitchen fixing dinner for everyone. Juniper sat in her bedroom, everyone else was downstairs enjoying themselves, because despite her excitement to be home in order to spend time with her parents, her nerves were eating her alive. She was worried about Harry and she didn't want to affect anyone else's mood.

Shadow had his head placed in her lap, the rest of his body stretched out towards the foot of the bed. Juniper ran a hand over his fur, giving him a gentle smile. A knock on her bedroom made her turn her head. The door opened, revealing her father. Shadow jumped up off the bed, escaping the room in order to eat. Sirius walked further into the room, gently closing the door behind him.

"What are you doing up here by yourself?" Sirius asked, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. Juniper shrugged, not answering him. "Darling, what's wrong?"

Juniper sent her dad a small smile. "Nothing's wrong."

"Are you sure?" Sirius frowned and Juniper nodded. "Molly has a present waiting for you downstairs. Hermione and Ron keep asking about you." He stood. "Come on."

Juniper softly sighed before taking his outstretched hand and standing up. She made her way downstairs. She could hear everyone talking and laughing with each other and her heart warmed. She entered the kitchen, her father stopping in the entry way and leaning against the dorm frame. Molly smiled brightly when she spotted her. "Juniper, there you are!" She walked over to the tree, reaching under it to grab a present before handing it to her. "There you are, sweetheart."

Juniper gave her a small smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." She took a stand beside Harry who was watching her with a small frown.

"Is everything alright?" Harry whispered, not wanting to attract anyone else's attention.

Juniper nodded. "Yeah."

Arthur Weasley, who was sitting at the head of the table wrapped up in bandages, held up his glass. "A Christmas toast." They turned to look at him. "To Mr. Harry Potter without whom I would not be here." He held his glass a little higher. "Harry."

"Harry," the all toasted.

"Harry," Sirius said last, sending him a quick wink.

Harry, who wasn't liking all the attention, nudged Juniper. He nodded towards her present. "What'd you get?"

Juniper opened the present, revealing a knitted red and gold scarf that had her first initial on it. "A scarf."

"Good. You need one since you insist on freezing to death." Harry joked and Juniper managed a small laugh. "Have you opened any of your other presents yet?"

Juniper shook her head. "I'm waiting for Remus to get here. It always been just me, mom, and Remus. I've never opened my presents without him."

The day passed on, Hermione, Ron and Harry were upstairs and Juniper was sitting in the living room in front of the fire place. They already ate dinner, and it was absolutely delicious. Her mom was the best cook in her opinion. Juniper stared into the fireplace, trying her best to clear her mind.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you." Remus' voice pulled her from her thoughts. She turned her head to look at him and smiled a small smile. Remus walked over to her, taking a seat on the couch beside her. "I thought you would've been more happy to see me."

"I am." Juniper assured, nodding her head. "I am really happy that you're here."

Remus looked at her for a moment before wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into his side. "Alright, what's wrong?"

Juniper hesitated before answering. "I'm just worried about Harry, that's all."

Remus nodded his head. "I see. Harry's going to be alright, Juno."

Juniper sniffled, wiping away a stray tear. "He's only 15. He shouldn't have to be going through all of this."

"I know. It's a cruel world we live in."

Juniper let out a teary laugh. "Yeah, you could say that again."

Remus changed the subject. "Your mother told me you finally made a move on Hermione."

"Actually, she made a move on me."

Remus chuckled. "Oh? Well, I have to admit, I was expecting it to be you."

Juniper smiled. "You and me both."

"So, are you dating?"

Juniper's smile dropped. "No, not exactly. We haven't made anything official. I want to, but I think a part of me is waiting for her to back away and tell me it was all just one big mistake. I don't want someone else to see me as a mistake."

"Juno, no one sees you as a mistake." Remus denied, shaking his head.

Juniper scoffed. "I know you don't believe that. Half of the wizarding world sees me as a mistake. I'm Sirius Black's daughter, I'm an abomination to society despite me being a pureblood."

"Don't believe anything that anyone else says about you, June. You are a smart witch, the brightest in your year. Your mother is a respected witch across society. You are an amazing person and you have friends that would back me up on this."

Juniper nodded. "I know. It's just been hard lately. Since they've blamed dad for these murders, the looks have begun again, people whisper when I walk into the room. Some of them are convinced I helped him."

Remus scoffed. "That's just ridiculous."

"You're telling me."

"Come on. Your mother wants to open presents before your departure tomorrow." Remus stood up, bringing Juniper with him.

Juniper quickly wrapped him into a hug. "Thank you."

Remus hugged her back, placing a kiss on top of her head. "Anytime, Juno."

Sirius, who had been listening to the conversation, finally made his appearance. "Everything alright?"

Juniper pulled away from Remus and looked at her dad, giving him a small smile. "Yeah. Everything's good." She walked out of the room and towards the kitchen where her presents were waiting.

"How do you do that?" Sirius asked as Remus walked up to him. Remus gave him a questioning look. "Get her to open up like that. She doesn't really open up to me."

"I think she doesn't want to scare you away." Remus explained. "She's scared that you're going to just disappear so I think she tries to keep the emotional things out of the way. She just got you back, Sirius. Just give her some time."

Sirius nodded his head and followed his friend into the kitchen. Anastasia smiled at her friend and husband, giving Sirius a quick kiss before walking over to her daughter and handing her the first present. She got more books from Remus, some new clothes from her dad, some jewelry from her mom, and of course Shadow got his new dog toy which he immediately started playing with.

Juniper smiled. "Thank you guys, for everything. I love all of it."

"Of course, sweetheart." Anastasia smiled, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"There's something else under there." Remus noted, nodding his head towards the tree.

Anastasia frowned, turning towards the tree. The present was hidden in the very back and she reached for it. "From Hermione." She handed the present to her daughter.

Juniper furrowed her brows. "Hermione?" She quickly opened the present and a gasp fell from her lips. It was a brand new Wizard's Chess set. She took hold of the card that was placed on the top, quickly reading it to herself.

Happy Christmas, Jay. You've talked and talked about wanting one of these, and although I find it barbaric, I know you love it. Maybe you can teach me to play sometime. Love, Hermione.

Juniper smiled. "She remembered." She looked at her mother who had a bright smile on her face. "Can I take this back with me? Please? I have to teach her how to play."

"Of course you can, sweetheart."

"Yes!" She gave her mom a hug. "Oh! I have to go thank Hermione." She stood up and quickly gave the three adults a kiss on the cheek before running out of the room.

Anastasia chuckled. She shook her head and with the wave of her wand all of the wrapping paper disappeared. "That kid," Anastasia smiled.

"She's your kid." Remus chuckled.

"She's his kid too." Anastasia defended, pointing to Sirius.

Sirius chuckled. "She is, but she acts so much like you."

"I'm sorry, who got the most detentions in school?" Anastasia replied.

"To be fair, that woman is just evil and doesn't like June." Sirius replied. "As far as I know, she's only had one detention prior to this year. You can't blame that on me."

Anastasia rolled her eyes. "If you say so. She acts more and more like you everyday."

Remus nodded, looking at his friend. "She really does."

Sirius shrugged then smirked. "Like father, like daughter."

"Please no, I really don't need another version of you running around." Anastasia groaned. Remus chuckled at that.

Sirius gasped in mock offense. "Hey, you're the one who decided to marry me."

"I was blackmailed. Clearly I wouldn't have made that decision if I was in my right mind." Anastasia retorted, a teasing smile on her lips.

"Come on, Stas. You love me and you know it, just admit it." Sirius smiled back, wrapping her in his arms.

Anastasia sighed dramatically. "I suppose."

"You su-you suppose?!"

Remus couldn't help but laugh at the couples banter. "You two haven't changed since fifth year. I do have to get going."

Anastasia pulled herself from Sirius' arms and gave Remus a hug. "Be safe, Rem."

"You as well, Ana." He pulled away and accepted the hug from Sirius. "Stay out of trouble, Sirius."

"I will do my very best." Sirius smiled and Remus just shook his head before leaving the room. Sirius turned to Anastasia. "You suppose?" Anastasia laughed and he quickly grabbed her making her let out a squeal of surprise.

"I'm sorry!" Anastasia laughed. "I love you, I do! I swear!"

"Thought so." Sirius smiled back before giving her a loving kiss which Anastasia gladly accepted.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 to leave and go back to Hogwarts. Juniper had said goodbye to Remus last night and now she was saying goodbye to her mother and father, exchanging I love you's and tight hugs. When they arrived at Hogwarts, the first thing Juniper did was teach Hermione how to play Wizard's Chess, Juniper obviously won. And then, much to Juniper's pleasure, she discovered that Hagrid was back. Immediately she and Hermione found Ron and told him and now they were running through the courtyard to get to Harry to tell him.

"Harry!" Hermione yelled when she spotted him walking with Cho. Quickly, the three of them ran up to the bespectacled boy. Harry turned to look at them. "Harry. Hagrid's back." Hermione, Juniper, and Ron quickly turned and ran towards Hagrid's Hut, not waiting for Harry, but he eventually caught up with them.

They came to a halting stop in front of the home when they heard Umbridge's voice. "I will say this one last time. I'm ordering you to tell me where you've been." The three of them creeped closer, carefully looking through the window.

"I told you. I've been away for me health." Hagrid explained.

"Your health?" Umbridge asked, peering behind Hagrid and towards the window causing the four of them to quickly drop down out of sight.

"Yeah." Hagrid confirmed. "A bit of fresh air, you know."

"Oh, yes, as gamekeeper fresh air must be difficult to come by." Umbridge gave the click of her tongue. "If I were you I shouldn't get too used to being back. In fact, I mighn't bother unpacking at all." When she started making her way towards the door, they quickly hid behind the hut, having to drag Ron when he was standing there staring. Juniper glared dangerously at the woman as she watched her walk away, and when she was far enough the four of them quickly entered Hagrid's.

"Hagrid!" Juniper smiled. "Welcome back! And please ignore what that horrible woman said to you, I'm praying on her downfall and I'm praying it's one of us that causes it."

Hagrid chuckled. "You haven't changed a bit, Juniper."

Juniper hummed in delight. "Why, thank you, Hagrid."

The group of them all sat down, Hagrid having told him he needed to show them something. "This is top secret, right?" Hagrid asked. "Dumbledore sent me to parley with the giants."

"Giants?" Hermione gasped.

"Shh." Hagrid whispered.

"You found them?" Hermione asked more quietly.

"Well, they're not that hard to find, to be perfectly honest. They're so big, see? I tried to convince them to join the cause. But I wasn't the only one trying to win them over."

"Death Eaters?" Ron asked.

"Yes." Hagrid confirmed with a nod. "Trying to persuade them to join You-Know-Who."

Harry hesitated before asking, "Did they?"

"I gave them Dumbledore's message." Hagrid said. "Suppose some of them remember he was friendly to them. I suppose."

Juniper motioned to Hagrid, who's face looked beaten up and bleeding. "Did they do this to you?"

"Not exactly, no." Hagrid replied. Fang started barking. "Oh, go on, you have it, then you dozy dog." He tossed Fang the piece of meat he was using to cool down his beatings. The sound of the wind blowing outside made them all exchange looks. It sounded almost dark the way the wind was howling. Hagrid stood up and they followed suit, watching as he pulled back a curtain to look out at the forest. "It's changing out there. Just like last time. There's a storm comin', Harry. We'd all best be ready when she does."

Juniper pursed her lips and nodded. "That's not intimidating at all, really." They all turned to look at her and Juniper scoffed. "What? Don't look at me like that. Someone had to say it."

"Does it always have to be you that says it?" Ron asked.

Juniper crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, I don't see anyone else saying what's on their mind. Speaking of, we should head back before Umbitch complains about us being out of bed."

Ron snorted at the name while Harry couldn't help but softly chuckle. Hermione rolled her eyes but an amused smile pulled on lips. Hagrid laughed. "I see someone's made an enemy out of Juniper here."

"Oh, you have no idea." Harry replied. "Bye, Hagrid." The group of them left and made it back to their dorms and the whole time Juniper had a successful smile on her face.