"Let me out of here!" Junipers voice was scratchy and barely there within each yell, she lost count of how many times she'd shouted the same four words in the past three days. The Shrieking Shack never scared Juniper until she was here, until she was locked inside. Her fingers bleed horribly at the amount of scratching she did on the wall, going over the previous scratches that had already been there, "Please!"

It was winter, the snow pouring down outside only making the inside colder. She couldn't understand why she was kept here, why she was punished for reacting the way she had. Her boyfriend was dead, she was the talk of the school, her memories were whipped of the last four months, nothing felt right to her. All Juniper wanted was to be with her friends, to feel safe and content. She hadn't felt that way sense she was found in the woods, always feeling like something was lurking.

Junipers head was constantly throbbing, flashes of memories that were too blurry to see, raced her mind. Juniper cried as she hit the walls harder, her fist bruised from how much she'd done so. She was alone, cold, scared. Juniper wondered of her family, had Ginny written them like she said? Was her aunt and uncle okay? Tonks and Sirius?

"Juniper! Are you in there?" a muffled yell was heard from the outside, a loud banging hitting the walls. Juniper waited till they said another word so she could find the voice, know where they were and who it was, "Juniper!"

"Neville?" Juniper asked in more of a whisper, his voice being the last she'd expect to come.

"Where are you?" he yelled from the other side, hitting the door again. Juniper hurried over to it quickly, nearly triping in the process.

"Neville! Neville, get me out of here, please!" Juniper begged from the other side with a cry, "Neville!"

"Hang on! Just back up!" he spoke from the other side of the door. Juniper hurried back from the door, backing up against the wall. She heard a muffled whisper before the door flew off the shack, making Juniper gasp. Her eyes flickered to the door and found Neville with his wand drawn, looking at the door, "I did it."

"What are you doing here?" Juniper asked with wide eyes his way, almost alarmed by him actually speaking to her.

"We came to rescue you." Neville said with a nod of his head, Ginny and Luna Lovegood, a girl Juniper hadn't spoke to aside from once due to their three year age gap, "All of us."

Ginny rushed into the shack and hugged Juniper quickly, the wild haired girl hugging her back tightly, soaking up the warmth the Weasley girl gave her.

"How sad." Luna said as she looked around the shack, "There is potential for it to be lovely, don't you agree, Neville?"

Neville looked around the shack as well, only feeling a sense of fright, "Sure, Luna."

Neville hurried to wrap the blanket around Juniper, her eyes watching his every move with shocked features, "The prefects bathroom is clear right now, we'll let you warm up then we have to head to hogsmeade."

"Whats at hogsmeade?" Juniper asked, wondering when a good time it would be to ask him why he of all people came to her rescue. Neville and Juniper always stayed apart, she knew he blamed her for what her mother did and she never blamed him for it either, she always understood and gave him his space. Yet here he was, Neville Longbottom, son of Alice and Frank Longbottom who were tortured by Junipers mother, Bellatrix Lestrange.

"It's a long story, come on, we have to sneak in so Umbridge doesn't see you." Ginny said, pulling Juniepr out into the freeze snow that poured down on their heads.

"Ginny." Juniper said from where she was in the prefects bath, the bubbles covering her body. Her eyes looked at her forearm that was wrapped, hanging out of the bath, "What happened?"

"George said you had a infected wound." Ginny said from where she was looking into the large mirrors, picking at her light red eyebrows, "He said Dumbledore would rather us treat it like muggles do."

"That takes much longer to heal, maybe I should check on it." Juniper said as she eyed the wrap, not seeing any form of blood or infection leaking from the sides.

"I wouldn't, it could get worse." Ginny spoke as Juniper nodded her head, knowing she was right, "Is Umbridge planning on keeping you out there all year?"

"She said until I can learn to cooperate, I'm not sure what she means though." Juniper said as she adjusted herself in the water so it hit her back better, "Maybe that I should stop running."

Ginny looked over with hesitant eyes, "Do you really not remember anything?"

Juniper looked her way, bulging eyes blinking as she shook her head, "Not a thing. Sometimes it'll come back to me but it's very blurry. It's like when you are hitting your head over and over again on the wall in hopes of feeling your brain flip, like that."

"Cant say i've tried it." Ginny said with a faint laugh.

"I wouldn't recommend, it looked like I had a goose egg on my forehead after." Juniper nodded her head, whipping away the dried blood on her fingers, not bothering to smile or laugh, "And my brain didn't even flip."

Juniper felt warmer when she got out of the bath, wrapping up in winter attire quickly as her long, spiral curls dried. She got a cup of pumpkin juice for the walk over, staying close to Ginny as she kept her head tucked down to avoid any looks. She saw Blaise on her way out, wanting more then anything to ask why he looked so sad and alone. Juniper knew it had been too risky, if Umbridge or anyone against Juniper found her outside of the shack yet, she'd surely be thrown back in and cursed to stay.

"What day is it?" Juniper asked Ginny as they walked the small pathway to hogsmeade.

"October first." Ginny said, eyes looking her way when Juniper didn't say a word back, "Bet it doesn't feel that way for you."

"No, it doesn't." Juniper spoke as she popped her fingers, looking around the snow as she walked, "Is George going to be here?"

"Yes, we all will be." Ginny said to her, stopping infront of the doors as she looked up at the Lestrange girl, "If it gets too much for you just tell me, we can leave."

Juniper nodded her head, hating feel like she having to be treated as a child, a ticking time bomb. When Ginny opened the doors, all eyes turned to them. Whispers began as they all gapped at Juniper slightly, making their own rumors up right before her own eyes. She tightened her fist, holding herself back from snapping and yelling like she wished she could.

If Cedric was here, he'd encourage her to do so.

"Juniper." George said as he walked over to her quickly, "Where'd you come from? People said Umbridge sent you home."

Juniper hugged him tightly, realizing she hadn't been able to when he found her. Juniper realized she didn't hug anyone when they found her, being yanked to Dumbledore immediately for questioning. George hugged her back, looking to Ginny for some form of answers. Ginny just shook her head, encouraging him not to talk or ask yet. George agreed, hugging Juniper back as she didn't let go for quite some time.

Juniper wondered if people knew she was aware they were talking about her as if she wasn't there, wondered if they just didn't care. She sat between the twins, looking over her shoulder every few moments as the few girls in Ravenclaw looked away quickly when they gossiped about her. Juniper felt Fred tug one of her curls as she looked his way, "Don't pay attention to them, they're just jealous."

"Jealous of a lunatic who went missing for four months and can't remember anything?" Juniper asked him with a look of disbelief, Fred cracked a grin.

"No." he said with a shrug, "Of your lovely hair, you should try our new curl control product."

"Don't try it, your hair could fall out." Ginny said with a shake of her head toward Juniper.

"It would not." George defended the potion as he looked back down to Juniper, "Gets your hair like Lockhart."

Juniper cracked a grin, the first real grin she had sense she remembered. The doors of hogsmeade opened, making Juniper look over and see the trio walking in.

For just a second there, she convinced herself Cedric could be walking through the door.

•

kylie speaks

so i know june
isn't really herself
right now but try
to remember, in her
state it still feels
like cedric died just
a week ago. she'll
slowly start to regain
her witty, chaos filled
remarks but right now
she's still a bit numb
to the world.