THE LOST AND THE FOUND // remus lupin

20. JULIET AND SILENT AGREEMENTS

"I'm not." He mimicked.

Juliet broke into a tired smile. For a second it felt like they were fourteen again and spared from all the troubles of the world.

"Can I ask you something?" He spoke up this time.

She hummed in approval.

"Bellatrix must have seen mum's diary. You had it with you this entire time. Why didn't she take it?"

"Who said she saw it?" Juliet smirked as James suddenly turned around, eyebrows furrowed but interested.

"She didn't? How did you hide it?"

"You remember how Sirius would secretly drink during Transfiguration classes to annoy McGonagall before our Quidditch matches?"

"Yeah, he called it his pre-winner-party special." James chuckled.

Juliet raised her hand, and her brother immediately saw the ring on her index finger and his eyes widened.

"No way. You had it this whole time?"

She nodded.

The ring functioned like a locket. It was smaller in size, of course, but the gem could be opened, and depending on the charm used on it, it could carry many things.

Juliet demonstrated that as she opened it, taking a miniature book out of it, both twins watching as it magically grew in her hand, until it was back at it original size.

"Smart." He commented. "Why didn't you hide the locket in there?"

"I didn't know who was coming for me." She opened the diary, her fingers grazing over her mother's handwriting. "If it was the bitch himself, he would have been able to tell I had it on me, no matter how many spells I used to hide it, and he would have torn me apart just to get it back. If I didn't make it, I had to make sure he didn't have his hands on the Horcrux."

James nodded, understanding the thoughts behind the actions. He had been angry with his sister ever since he had her back, but for some reason, the anger had disappeared now that she was laying with him, both of them just staring at the diary.

It felt normal. He knew they still would have to talk about it all, he knew he would have to make sure she would never pull anything similar again and that they would deal with anything in their way together from now on.

But he wanted to enjoy what they had at that moment.

"I'm glad you're alive." He told her.

"I know." She wasn't going to say me too. "I'm glad to be back."

"What happens now?"

"I don't know, we have to figure out what we can do with the Horcrux."

"What happens now?"

"I don't know, we have to figure out what we can do with the Horcrux until we know how to destroy it. And we need to start looking for the two others."

"Where can we even start? I mean, seriously-" He paused, snickering slightly. "Where else would a Dark Wizard try to hide a Horcrux? Malfoy Manor, Gaunt Shack, Lestrange vault, the Crystal Cave, what could possibly be next?"

He hadn't noticed that while he was rambling and deep in thoughts, his sister laying next to him was slowly drifting to sleep.

"You know what, maybe we should just attack all of the Death Eaters' homes. Well the main ones actually. Like the important ones? Avery, Wilkes, maybe one of them is hiding the fifth Horcrux." He then hesitated. "But attacking them wouldn't really show that we're better than them, would it? I mean we are better than them. But we would be as bad as them if we did what they do."

James sighed, thinking about all of his friends who had been attacked thus far. "It'd be a sweet revenge but mum and dad would be rolling in their graves if they saw us giving into that type of desire."

He closed his eyes for a slight moment, remembering his parents. Attempting to piece a mental image of their familiar features, attempting to recall what their voices sounded like. Memories flashed into his head and suddenly his eyes shot wide open.

"Hey, Juliet. Remember when I told you that all mum told me that all the answers we need were at Hogwarts? Well, what if-"

He turned his head to glance at her, falling silent immediately as he realized she was asleep, and peaceful for once.

"It's okay. You're safe. I'll protect you." He whispered. "It's just you and me."

* * *

in case you don't follow me and haven't seen the note on my board, I've been having a lot to deal with, so the updates might slightly be slower

thank you for understanding, being patient and supportive

UPDATE: I'm encountering issues with this story, if it's lagging please try to ignore it and enjoy, sorry for deleting and reposting