chapter thirty-two : the parting of ways

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Dumbledore stood up. He stared down at Barty Crouch for a moment with disgust on his face. Then he raised his wand once more and ropes flew out of it, ropes which twisted themselves around Barty Crouch, binding him tightly.

He turned to Professor McGongagall. "Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Harry and Juniper upstairs?"

"Of course," Professor McGonagall said. She looked slightly nauseous, as though she had just watched someone being sick. However, when she drew out her wand and pointed it at Barty Crouch, her hand was quite steady.

"Severus," Dumbledore turned to Snape, "please tell, Madam Pomfrey to come down here. We need to get Alastor Moody into the hospital wing. Then go down into the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to the office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if he needs me."

Snape nodded silently and swept out of the room.

"Harry? Juniper?" Dumbledore said gently.

Harry got up from where he had been sitting and June swung one of his arms around her neck since his leg was still hurting.

"I want you to come up to my office first, Harry, Juniper," Dumbledore said quietly, as they headed up the passageway. "The others are waiting for us there."

June nodded. She felt overwhelmed by all the information she had just gotten from Crouch and her parents. All she wanted to do now, was to go up to her dormitory and take a nap.

They reached the stone gargoyle and Dumbledore gave the password, it sprang aside, and the three of them went up the moving spiral staircase to the oak door. Dumbledore pushed it open.

Everyone — literally almost everyone June knew — stood there. Sirius, Remus, Nymphadora, Andromeda, Ted, Aubrey, Camille, Timothée, Liam, Draco, the twins, Angelina, Alicia, Lee, Molly, Hermione, Ron, Bill and Charlie.

June's eyes softened when her hazel eyes fell on him.

His face was still stained with tears, but he didn't say anything as he strode over to her and engulfed her in a tight hug. He was shaking as June hugged him back, rubbing his back gently.

"I thought I lost you." His voice was nothing more than a whisper.

"You haven't," June assured him, burying her head into his shoulder.

A second pair of arms were thrown around June as Nymphadora decided to join the hug.

"Don't ever scare me like that ever again, Junior," she breathed.

They let go of her and Liam took advantage of this. He leaped forward, hugging her waist tightly. He was still crying.

"Y-you w-were d-dead," he sobbed. "I-I s-saw y-you!"

"Well I'm not anymore," June comforted him. "I'm fine, Liam, and I'm not going anywhere."

Liam let go of her, nodded as if to assure himself that she wouldn't fall dead on the floor any second, and left the office.

Juniper turned her head back to see Draco standing in front of her. His face was emotionless but his eyes were full of them. He eyed her up and down, assuring himself that she was actually alive.

She didn't give him a hug, knowing he didn't like showing affection in front of anyone. But he just had to see if she was all right.

He gave her a nod before passing her and leaving the office.

Andromeda and Ted gave her each a long hug.

"We're happy to see you all right, kid," Ted said, sounding relieved. "You got us worried for a minute."

"What happened?" Remus asked softly, making anyone go silent.

Dumbledore's eyes fell on the twins, Alicia, Angelina, Lee, Hermione, Ron, Camille and Timothée. The nine of them seemed to know that they were being dismissed, stepped forwards, each giving June a hug before making their way out of the office. June could tell they were all pretty shaken.

Fred and George didn't let go of her as fast at the other's did. They simply held her, as if not believing she was actually dead.

"Guys, I'm fine," Juniper said, pulling back and giving them a small smile.

They nodded and left, too.

Aubrey pulled her in for what seemed for June like her twentieth hug in five minutes. Seriously, she hadn't had this many hugs in ever.

"So, what happened?" Remus asked once more, as he was the last one to give both Harry and June a hug.

Dumbledore began to tell the eight of them everything Barty Crouch had said. June was only half listening. She felt so tired — guess that was the downfall of coming back to life — that she thought she could sleep for days.

Charlie sat down next to her and she placed her head onto his shoulder as his arm went around her waist, pulling her closer.

"I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze," Dumbledore said to Harry and June.

"We can leave that 'til morning, can't we, Dumbledore?" Sirius said harshly. He had put a hand on Harry's shoulders. "Let them have a sleep. Let them rest."

Juniper felt a rush of grattitude towards Sirius, but Dumbledore took no notice of Sirius' words. He leant forward towards Harry and June.

"If I thought I could help you," Dumbledore said gently, "by putting you into an enchanted sleep, and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of the two of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened."

"It brought us to a graveyard," Juniped began, placing a comforting hand on Harry's knees. "I don't know where it was, but it wasn't near Hogwarts. We stood up, looked around. And then he came."

"Who?" Dumbledore asked.

Juniper looked at Harry, suddenly she remembered the man who had held the child.

"It was Wormtail who killed me, wasn't it?" she quietly asked Harry. "He was the one who carried the child."

Harry nodded, not able to look her in the eyes.

Juniper sighed before turning back to Dumbledore. "Wormtail walked towards us. He carried a child or something — I didn't get a good look at it. And then Harry just fell on the ground, grasping his scar. So I kneeled next to him, checking if he was all right and then —"

Juniper stopped mid-sentence, before taking a deep breath.

"Then the child ordered Wormtail to kill me."

Charlie's arm around her waist tightened.

"And he did."

Sirius' hands turned into fists. "I swear that once I lay my eyes on that traitor, I'll kill him myself."

Dumbledore closed his eyes for a second before opening them again and averting them to Harry.

Harry continued to tell them what had happened after June had died. She listened intently, wincing once in a while at things she didn't like.

So he was back.

Voldemort was back.

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Juniper sat down onto her bed in the hospital wing, waiting for Madam Pomfrey to bring her a potion for dreamless sleep. Charlie sat down onto the chair next to her bed and was holding her hand.

Juniper leaned forwards and placed her forehead against his, making him look at her.

"Are you okay?" she quietly asked him.

"Im a bit shaken," he admitted. "But I'll be fine."

"You'll need to drink all of this, Juniper," Madam Pomfrey said, handing her a goblet.

June took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. She felt herself becoming drowsy at once. Everything around her became hazy; the lamps around the hospital wing seemed to be winking at her in a friendly way through the screen around her bed; her body felt as though it was sinking deeper into the warmth of the feather mattress. Before she could finish the Potion, before she could say another word, her exhaustion had carried her off to sleep.

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Juniper woke up, so warm, so very sleepy, that she didn't open her eyes, wanting to drop off again. The room was still dimly lit; she was sure if was still night-time, and had a feeling that she couldn't have been asleep very long. Charlie's hand was still in hers, making a warm feeling explode into her chest.

She truly loved him.

Then she heard whispers around her.

"They'll wake them up if they don't shut up!" Molly's voice came.

"What are they shouting about? Nothing else can have happened, can it?" Bill said.

Juniper opened her eyes and saw that Charlie had risen from his chair. He was still holding her hand but his other hand was on his wand that was in his pocket. His blue eyes were fixed on the doors of the hospital wing, as if suddenly, they were getting attacked.

She turned her head to see Harry laying in the bed next to hers. His eyes were open, too.

Sirius and Remus stood between their beds, they, too, were listening to the voices. Nymphadora, Andromeda and Ted were standing on the other side of her bed. June didn't see Aubrey but she knew she was probably with Camille, trying to calm the girl down.

"That's Fudge's voice," Molly whispered. "And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"

Now June could hear them, too; people shouting and running towards the hospital wing. She tightened her grip on Charlie's hand, making him look down at her and giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva —" Cornerlius Fudge was saying loudly.

"You should never have brought it inside the castle!" Professor McGonagall yelled. "When Dumbledore finds out —"

Juniper heard hospital doors burst open, making June sit up.

Fudge came striding up to the ward. Professor McGonagall and Snape were at his heels.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded of Molly.

"He's not here," Molly replied angrily. "This is a hospital wing, Minister, don't you think you'd do better to —"

But the door opened, and Dumbledore came sweeping up the ward.

"What has happened?" Dumbledore said sharply, looking from Fudge to Professor McGonagall. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you — I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch —"

"There is no need to stand guard over him any more, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that!"

Juniper had never seen Professor McGonagall lose control like this. They were angry blotches of color in her cheeks, her hands were balled into first; she was trembling with fury.

"When we told Mr Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," Snape said, in a low voice, "he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a Dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought him up to the office where Barty Crouch —"

"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall stormed. "I told him you would never allow Dementors to set foot inside the castle, but —"

"My dear woman!" Fudge roared, who likewise looked angrier than June had ever seen him. "As Minister for Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possible dangerous —"

But Professor McGonagall's voice drowned Fudge's.

"The moment that — that thing entered the room," she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, "it swooped down on Crouch and — and —"

Juniper felt a chill in her stomach, as Professor McGonagall struggled to find words to describe what had happened. She did not need her to finish her sentence. June knew what the Dementor must have done. It had administered its fatal Kiss to Barty Crouch. It had sucked his soul out through his mouth. He was worse than dead.

"By all accounts, he is no loss!" Fudge blustered. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths!"

"But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. He was staring hard at Fudge, as though seeing him plainly for the first time. "He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."

"Why he killed them? Well, that's no mystery, is it?" Fudge blustered. "He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"

"Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body."

Fudge looked as though someone had just swung a heavy weight into his face. Dazed and blinking, he stared back at Dumbledore as if he couldn't quite believe what he had just heard.

He began to splutter, still giggling at Dumbledore. "You-Know-Who . . . returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore . . ."

"As Minerva and Serverus have doubtless told you," Dumbledore said, "we heard Barty Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort — learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins — went to free him from his father, and used him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort to return."

"See there, Dumbledore," Fudge said, and June was astonished to see a slight smile dawning on his face, "you — you can't seriously believe that. You-Know-Who — back? Come now, come now . . . certainly, Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders — but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore . . ."

"When Harry and Juniper touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, they were transported straight to Voldemort," Dumbledore said steadily. "Harry witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step up to my office."

Dumbledore glanced around at Harry and saw that he was awake, but shook his head, and said, "I am afraid I cannot permit you to question Harry tonight."

Fudge's curious smile lingered.

He too glanced at Harry, then looked back at Dumbledore, and said, "You are — er — prepared to take Harry's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?"

There was a moment's silence.

"Certainly I believe Harry," Dumbledore said. His eyes were blazing now. "I heard Crouch's confession, and I heard Harry and June's account of what happened after they touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."

Fudge still had that strange smile on his face. Once again, he glanced at Harry before answering. "You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a boy who . . . well . . ."

Fudge shot Harry another look, and June suddenly understood, just like Harry.

"You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr Fudge," Harry said quietly.

Fudge reddened slightly, but a defiant and obstinate look came over his face.

"And if I have?" he said, looking at Dumbledore. "If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the boy very quiet? A Parselmouth, eh? And having funny turns all over the place —"

"I assume that you are referring to the pains Harry has been experiencing in his scar?" Dumbledore said coolly.

"You admit that he has been having these pains, then?" Fudge said quickly. "Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly — hallucinations?"

"Listen to me, Cornelius," Dumbledore said, taking a step towards Fudge, and he seemed to radiate that indefinable sense of power. "Harry is as sane as you or I. The scar upon his forehead has not addled his brains. I believe it hurts him when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling particulary murderous."

Fudge had taken half a step back from Dumbledore, but he looked no less stubborn. "You'll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I've never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before."

"Look, I saw Voldemort come back!" Harry shouted. He tried to get out of bed, but Molly forced him back. "I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy —"

Snape made a sudden movement, but as June looked at him, his eyes flew back to Fudge.

"Malfoy was cleared!" Fudge said, visibly affronted. "A very old family — donations to excellent causes —"

"Macnair!" Harry continued.

"Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!"

"Avery — Nott — Crabbe — Goyle —"

"You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" Fudge said angrily. "You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! For heaven's sake, Dumbledore — the boy can talk to snakes and you still think he's trustworthy?"

"You fool!" Professor McGonagall cried. "Juniper Black! Mr Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic.

"I see no evidence to the constrary!" Fudge shouted, now matching her anger, his face purpling . "Black here is still very much alive! It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!"

Charlie tightened his grip on her hand and June placed her hand on his, trying to calm him. He sat down next to her on the bed but his eyes were still fixed on Fudge.

"Voldemort has returned," Dumbledore repeated. "If you accept the fact straight away, Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to sabe the situation. The first and most essetial step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the Dementors —"

"Preposterous!" Fudge shouted again. "Remove the Dementors! I'd be kicked out of office for suggesting it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night because we know the Dementors are standing guard at Azkaban!"

"The rest of us speed less soundly in our beds, Cornelius, knowing they you have put Lord Voldemort's most dangerous supporters in the care of creatures who will join him the instant he asks them!" Dumbledore said. "They will not remain loyal to you, Fudge! Voldemort can offer them much more scope for their powers and their pleasures than you can! With the Dementors behind him, and his old supporters returned to him, you will be hard pressed to stop him regaining the sort of power he had thirteen years ago!"

Fudge was opening and closing his mouth as though no words could express his outrage.

"The second step you must take — and at once," Dumbledore pressed on, "is to send envoys to the giants."

"Envoys to the giants?" Fudge shrieked, finding his tongue again. "What madness is this?"

"Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late," Dumbledore said, "or Voldemort will persuade them, as he did before, that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!"

"You — you cannot be serious!" Fudge gasped, shaking his head, and retreating further from Dumbledore. "If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants — people gay them, Dumbledore — end of my career —"

"You are blinded," Dumbledore said, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You failed to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your Dementor has just destroyed the last remaining memeber of a pure-blood family as old as any — and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now — take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Minster for Magic we have ever know. Fail to act — and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside, and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!"

"Insane," Fudge whispered, still backing away. "Mad . . ."

And then there was silence. Everyone looked at Fudge.

"If your determination to shut you eyes will carry you as this, Cornelius," Dumbledore said, "we have reached a parting of ways. You must act as you see fit. And I — I shall act as I see fit."

Dumbledore's voice carried no hint of a threat; it sounded like a mere statement, but Fudge bristled as though Dumbledore was advancing upon him with a wand.

"Now, see there, Dumbledore," he said, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agree with some of your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decided what to teach your students, without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me —"

"The only one against whom I intend to work," Dumbledore said, "is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."

It seemed Fudge could think of no answer to this. He rocked backwards and forwards on his small feet for a moment, and spun his bowler hat in his hands.

Finally, he said, with a hint of a plea in his voice, "He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't be . . ."

Snape strode forwards, past Dumbledore, pulling up the left sleeve of his robes as he went. He stuck out his forearm, and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled.

"There," Snape said harshly. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was, an hour or so ago, when it burnt black, but you can still see it. Every Death had the sign burnt into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing each other, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has groan clearer all year. Karakaroff's, too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."

Fudge stepped back from Snape, too. He was shaking his head. He did not seem to have taken in a word Snape had said. He stated, apparently repelled, at the ugly mark on Snape's arm, then looked up at Dumbledore and whispered, "I don't know what you and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will ne on touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."

He had almost reached the door when he paused. He turned around, strode back down the dormitory, and stopped at Harry's bed.

"Your winnings," he said shortly, taking a large bag of gold out of his pocket, and dropping it onto Harry's beside table. "One thousand Galleons. You can split it. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but in the circumstance . . ."

He crammed his bowler hat onto his head, and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The moment he had disappeared, Dumbledore turned to look at the group around Harry and June's bed.

"There is work to be done," he said. "Molly . . . am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?"

"Of course you can," Molly said. She was white to the lips, but she looked resolute. "He knows what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness of Muggles that has held him back in the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."

"Then I need to send a message to him," Dumbledore said. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and Arthur is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as short-sighted as Cornelius."

"I'll go to Dad," Bill said, standing up. "I'll go now."

"Excellent," Dumbledore said. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be on direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry —"

"Leave it to me," Bill said. He clapped both Harry and June on the shoulder, ruffled Charlie's hair, kissing his mother on the cheek, pulled on his cloak and strode quickly from the room.

"You can count us in, too," Andromeda spoke up.

"No one messes with our family," Ted added, smiling at June.

"And especially not with my Junior," Nymphadora continued, giving June a wink.

"Very well," Dumbledore said, seeming pleased about it. "You can expect a message soon."

After saying their goodbyes to June, the trio left the hospital wing.

"Minerva," Dumbledore said, turning to Professor McGonagall, "I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also — if she will consent to come — Madame Maxime."

Professor McGonagall nodded, and left without a word.

"Poppy," Dumbledore said to Madam Pomfrey, "would you be very kind, and go down to Professor Moody's office, where I think you will find a house-elf called Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for her, and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby will look after her for us."

"Very — very well," Madam Pomfrey said, looking startled, and she too left.

Dumbledore then turned to Sirius and Remus.

"Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, Remus, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Aiden Rivers, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher — the old crowd. I will contact you after you've done all that."

Sirius and Remus nodded, gave both Harry and June a quick hug before disappearing out of the hospital wing.

"Severus," Dumbeldore said, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready . . . if you are prepared . . ."

"I am," Snape said.

He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely. He glanced at June and the conflict inside of him was obvious to Dumbledore.

"You'll have plenty of time to talk," Dumbledore said gently, but firmly. "Good luck, Severus."

Snape nodded and swept after Sirius and Remus.

Dumbledore looked back at Molly, Harry, Juniper and Charlie. "I must go downstairs," he said finally. "Harry, Juniper — take the rest of your potion. I will see all of you later."

Juniper slumped back against her pillows as Dumbledore disappeared.

Charlie looked back at her. "You should take the rest of the potion," he gently reminded her. "I'll be here when you wake up."

Without replying, June took the Goblet and drank the rest of the potion. The effect was instantaneous. Heavy, irresistible waves of dreamless sleep broke over her, she fell back onto her pillows, and thought of no more.

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Published 17.02.2021

I hope you enjoyed it & tell me what you think of it!

Phew this one was a long one! Next one will definitely be shorter since it'll probably be the last chapter of ACT TWO!

Thanks for reading and loving it and I'll see you in the next chapter!!
Laura

Also Snape is acting weird.