▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 ━︎━︎ 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐋 sitting there watching Seamus attempt to turn water to rum. Hermione and Juniper stared at the boy, wondering if somehow he was actually going to manage this. When the magic blew up in his face―︎literally―︎the two jumped in surprise. Juniper shook her head, her lip curling upwards in slight amusement. Everyone started laughing at the boy whilst Hermione waved a hand in front of her face to get rid of the smell. She had pure disgust written on her face and Juniper rolled her eyes at the girls attitude.

     "Come on, 'Mione. It was funny," Juniper said.

     Hermione turned to her with raised eyebrows. "Did you just call me a nickname?"

     Juniper sat up a little straighter. "No." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You're hearing things, Granger." Juniper turned back to her book. She hadn't called Hermione a nickname. . . had she? Shaking it off, she looked up when the sound of the owls could be heard.

     "Ah, the mail's here," Ron smiled. Juniper smiled widely at him, excitement flooding her veins.  

Juniper looked up, smiling brightly when she saw their family owl flying in. It was a beautiful black owl that looked almost blue in certain lighting. It had the most gorgeous golden eyes she'd ever seen. If you asked Juniper, she had the most beautiful owl out of everyone else's. She watched as Astra, the name of her owl, swopped down, dropping a letter off. She held out her arm, watching as the owl landed on her arm, looking at her with those gorgeous golden eyes. Juniper smiled, kissing the owl before sending it back on its way.

     "Blimey, Juniper. Is that your owl?" Ron asked from across the table.

     "Well, I'd hope so seeing as she gave it a kiss and all," Hermione said in a 'duh' tone of voice. Ron narrowed his eyes at the girl.

     "Yes, it is." Juniper nodded proudly. "Isn't she the most beautiful owl you've ever seen?" They all nodded and Juniper smiled happily.

     "What'd you get?" Hermione asked, whilst Harry and Ron went into their own conversation.

     "A letter, from my mother." Juniper smiled excitedly, opening the letter.

     Dear Juni,
How've you been, sweetheart? I hear school's going well, which is exciting to hear. I know you're worried about me, but I promise I'm doing well. Your godfather has been keeping me company if it makes you feel better. I'm not completely alone. I miss you my sweet girl. Home isn't the same without you. Also, congratulations on getting into Gryffindor! Not that I wouldn't be proud of you no matter what house you'd gotten into, but Gryffindor just holds a special place in my heart.
                            Is Harry Potter really there with you? Listen, I know part of you blames him for what happened to your father, but it isn't his fault, he was just a boy. You should give him a shoulder to lean on if he ever needs it. After all, you are god siblings. Of course, he doesn't know that. It might not be safe for him to know, Dumbledore did advise me not to intervene. Anyways, I'm going to go now, lots of work to be done. Write me when you have the chance! I love you, Juni. I'm so proud of you.
              Love,
                                              Your Mother

Juniper glanced at the part that mentioned Harry again, reading it over and over before carefully glancing up at the boy who was too focused on Neville's remembrall and the newspaper in his hands to notice. Juniper glanced over to Neville, watching as the remembrall in his hand turned red on the inside meaning he'd forgotten something. She watched the boy sigh, completely clueless on what exactly it was he'd forgotten. Turning her attention back to the letter her mother had written her, she folded it back up before stuffing it in the pocket of her robe.

     "Hey, Ron, somebody broke into Gringotts." The sound of Harry's voice made her focus her attention on him. "Listen. 'Believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown Gringotts goblins while acknowledging the breach insists nothing was taken. The vault in question, number 713 had in fact been emptied earlier the same day.'" Harry paused, a frown on his face. "That's odd. That's the vault Hagrid and I went to." Ron and Harry both glanced at the two girls, all of them wondering the same thing.

     A sigh fell from Juniper's lips. "We'll go back to this subject at hand later. Right now, we all have a flying class to get to, and I don't think you two want to be late to another class today." Juniper stood up and the others followed her.

     They made it outside and everyone lined up with a broom on their side, lying on the ground. Juniper hated the fact that they had all of their classes with Slytherin, but there was nothing she could do about it, so instead she just suffered the glares they all gave her. Madam Hooch walked in between the two rows of students. "Good afternoon, class."

     "Good afternoon, Madam Hooch," they all replied.

     The older woman came to a stop at the end of the line, her golden eyes looking at all of them. If Juniper was being honest, her eyes sort of freaked her out. "Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone, step up to the left side of their broomstick. Come on now, hurry up." All of the students did what they were told. "Stick your right hand over the broom and say 'up'."

     "Up!" Juniper yelled, smiling in delight when the broom came flying into her hand on the first try. She looked over at Harry, both of them having achieved it on the first try. Juniper then looked over to Hermione who was still trying to get hers to fly up into her hand. She smirked at the girl, watching with amusement as frustration flooded her face. Both Harry and Juniper let out soft laughs when Ron's came flying up, hitting him in the face.

     The young redhead smiled at the two, "Shut up, Harry, Juniper."

     "Now, once you've got hold of your broom I want you to mount it." They all did so. "And grip it tight. You don't wanna be sliding off the end. When I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off the ground hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle. Three, two. . ." She blew the whistle and immediately Neville started hovering in the air, scared and confused. "Mr. Longbottom."

Before they knew it, Neville went flying. Screams fell from the boys mouth as he lost control of his broom, swinging roughly from left to right in the middle of the air. He went forwards, spinning in complete circles before the end of his broom landed into the wall of the castle, sending him bouncing off from the castle before slamming back into the wall over and over again before his broom shot downwards, flying towards the group of students and Madam Hooch, all of which quickly jumped out of the way. He went through the tunnel that lead to the court, before flying upwards and over the small castle tower. His robe got caught on the pointing edge of the statue sitting on top of the tower.

They all ran towards the boy, looking up at him as he dangled there for a moment. His robe began ripping, sliding further down the pole the statue was holding. His robe then ripped enough to send him plummeting towards the ground, only for another part of his robe to get caught on a light. His robe then completely slipped off his shoulders and he fell roughly to the ground. Madam Hooch quickly pushed through the students.

     The teacher kneeled down beside of him, lifting him gently only for Neville to let out cries of pain. "Oh, dear, it's a broken wrist. Poor boy, come on now, up you get." She pulled him up from the ground, standing up with him. "Everyone's to keep their feet firmly on the ground while I take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing. Understand? If I see a single broom in the air the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say quidditch." With that she walked away with Neville under her arm.

     "That kid just can't catch a break, can he?" Juniper mumbled, glancing towards Ron who shook his head.

     "Did you see his face?" Malfoy asked his fellow Slytherins, a smirk on his face. In his hands he held Neville's remembrall. "Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze he'd have remembered to have fallen on his fat ass."

     Harry stepped forwards. "Give it here, Malfoy."

     Draco turned and looked at him. "No, I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find." Draco then stood on his broom and started flying up in the air. He flew past Harry as he said, "How about on the roof?" Draco turned to look at Harry from way up in the air. "What's the matter, Potter? Bit beyond your reach?"

     Hermione stood in Harry's way when he started to get on his broom. "Harry, no way. You heard what Madam Hooch said. Besides, you don't even know how to fly." Harry said nothing as he got on his broom and took off. "What an idiot."

Juniper stood there and shook her head as she watched Draco and Harry interact before Draco through the remembrall and Harry went flying after it. Although she respected Harry for trying to get Neville's present back, part of her felt like it wasn't worth it to get in trouble. Harry managed to get the thing before it went flying through a window, flying back down to the ground with the students cheering him on. Even Juniper couldn't help but smile and clap for the boy.

     As they all circled around him, cheering Harry on, Professor McGonagall began to approach. "Harry Potter!" She yelled his name and everyone went quiet. Harry turned to look at her. "Follow me."

     Juniper narrowed her eyes at Draco and his little gang as they laughed. "What's your problem, Malfoy?"

     Malfoy snapped his head towards her, disgust quickly covering his face. "How dare you talk to me."

      "I have the right to talk to anyone I want," Juniper seethed, crossing her arms over her chest.

     Draco walked closer to her, their noses practically touching. His voice became lowered as he looked at the girl. "I know what your father did. You don't deserve to step foot in this place, you're probably just as dangerous as he is."

     Immediately anger flared in her stomach. "My father didn't do anything."

     Draco laughed. "Really? Is that why he's behind bars located in Azkaban, a prison where only the murderers and insane people go."

     Juniper clenched her jaw, trying her best not to let her feeling get hurt. "He didn't murder anyone."

     "You're just like him. Insane." Draco laughed. "A murderer's daughter, what a title that is."

      "Shut it, Malfoy!" Juniper snarled, feeling her wand in her pocket. "Or I'll make you."

     Draco laughed. "Hah! I'd like to see you try."

     Without hesitation, Juniper grabbed her wand, pulled it out, and pointed it towards him. Fear took over Draco as he took a step back. He could see the anger in her eyes. "What did I say. Just like your father. Crazy that one is."

     "Juniper, don't!" Hermione stepped forward, grabbing her arm and pulling it down. "He isn't worth it."

     Juniper glared at Draco as he laughed. "Shove off, Hermione!" Juniper snapped, ripping her arm from the girls grasp and storming away from her. Hermione and Ron exchanged a look and all Ron could do was shrug his shoulders.

Juniper made her way into the girls bathroom, checking to make sure it was empty before softly crying. She knew she shouldn't cry, she was expecting this. The harsh words that everyone had to say about her father. The more people said it, the more she was beginning to doubt herself. She felt guilty for ever doubting him. Looking at herself in the mirror, she scoffed in disgust at herself. She wiped away her tears, shaking her head. She was pathetic. She was stronger than this. Taking a deep breath, the girl made sure she looked like she hadn't been crying before stepping foot out of the bathroom.

     She made her way towards the Gryffindor common room, sitting on one of the couches by the fire, and pulling out a book. She looked up when she heard Ron's out-of-breath voice. "What do they think they're doing? Keeping a thing like that in a school."

     Juniper furrowed her eyebrows, standing up and closing her book. She walked over to Harry, Hermione, and Ron, all of which looked a little spooked. "What happened?"

     "I'll explain later," Hermione said, waving a hand at her before turning back to Ron as they made their way up the stairs towards the rooms. "You don't use your eyes, do you? Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

     "I wasn't looking at his feet!" Ron exclaimed. "I was a bit preoccupied with its heads."

     "Heads? Plural?" Juniper questioned.

     "Or maybe you didn't notice. There were three!" Ron continued, ignoring the girl.

     "It was standing on a trap door which means it wasn't there by accident." Hermione explained. The two girls came to a stop by the door that led to the girls rooms. "It's guarding something."

     Harry turned to look at her. "Guarding something?"

     "That's right." Hermione nodded. "Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse, expelled." Hermione turned on her heel, pushing open the door and leaving it open for Juniper.

     Juniper looked at Harry, giving him a small smile. "Hey, uh, I heard the ghosts talking. Congratulations on getting seeker."

     Harry smiled. "Thanks."

     Juniper gave the two a small wave. "Goodnight, boys."

     "Goodnight," they replied in unison.

     Juniper walked through the door, closing it behind her. She made her way to hers and Hermione's room, closing the door and finding Hermione already changed into her sleep clothes. Juniper changed her clothes as well before sitting on the bed and looking at Hermione with a questioning look. "Now, what about a thing with three heads?"

     Hermione rolled her eyes. "We accidentally went into the third floor section that was out of bounds. Filch's cat was there so we ran, found a locked door, I used a spell to get us in there and it was locked for a good reason. Inside there was a gigantic dog and it had three heads. It almost killed us."

     Juniper sighed. "I leave you three alone for ten minutes and you almost get yourselves murdered."

      "Where did you go, by the way?" Hermione asked, crossing her legs as she looked at the girl.

     "The bathroom." Juniper answered. It wasn't a lie.

     "Oh." Hermione mumbled.

     "Yeah. . . well, goodnight."

     "I know you think I didn't notice." Hermione said as they both got under the covers. "But I could see the tear stains. If you are upset, and you need someone to talk to. . ." Juniper didn't say anything, and instead pretended she was asleep. Hermione stared at her knowingly before softly sighing and turning the lights off.