Following the events of the same universe where Juliet Potter and Remus Lupin fell in love, the insouciance has faded into misery as all parties prepare for the war, willing to pull any card to win a war from which none will truly come out victoriou...
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September 1979
"Are you sure about this?" Juliet hesitantly asked her boyfriend.
"Do you have a better idea?" He questioned her back.
The both of them, plus the three other Marauders, were standing in the dreadful forest by the entrance of centaurs' territory.
"I do, actually, but I suppose this isn't such a bad start." She groaned.
They barely took a step in said territory that an arrow landed at their feet, causing James to squeal and Juliet to throw her hands out in front of the boys to keep them back.
The arrow was a warning. Juliet knew that. There was no way in any world that a centaur would simply miss a shot.
Quickly, centaurs came rushing in from every way their weapons raised at them, and Juliet wasted not one single moment before transforming into her Animagus form and trotting a bit forward, firmly standing her guard and shielding her family.
The centaurs paused, looking at each other with a bit of confusion. More joined them, and soon, a few stepped forward.
"What is it you want, humans?" A centaur spat.
Juliet transformed back, arms still raised in order not to trigger any of them.
"We only wish to talk with you."
"We do not meddle with your kind. You already know that." Another glared at them, and Juliet recognized him from the last time she, her boyfriend, and her brother were in the forest.
"I do. I came to seek your help." She replied calmly. "You must be aware a war is coming."
"You've come to ask us to do the dirty work for you?" Some of the centaurs started to laugh.
Juliet forgot how highly they thought of themselves, but did her best to keep her cool.
"No, it is our war. But we do need as much help as we can get."
"We can't ever let such a dishonourable demand be even considered! Let's get rid of them!" Bane yelled.
A few centaurs cheered, and Remus stepped in to aid his girlfriend with the convincing.
"Do you think you will be safe? He will ruin us all and claim your territories forcefully enslave you and make you do his dirty work. We may respect your lifestyles and keep away, but he has no care in the world. We are not your enemy here."
The brunette girl proudly stared at her eloquent boyfriend. He was good at negotiating.
"The humans may be right." Firenze spoke up.
"Not with that again, Firenze! Are you really a mule?" Bane glared at him.
"You've just seen what the girl has done. She transformed into a horse. For wizards, a transformation into an animal form is linked to their inner traits. I will trust her heart's intentions."
"So you're saying, because she can gallop around for a minute, she's one of us and we should listen to her!?"
Juliet could hear Sirius trying to stifle a laugh even with her back turned on him and resisted turning to glare at him. But he would definitely get smacked later.
"I'm saying she has a loyal heart, and I would be willing to trust her on that alone." He repeated calmly.
"It isn't our war." Magorian firmly stated.
"It will be." Juliet blurted.
"Pardon?"
"He will come for you too. Do you know what he and his Death Eaters think of your kind? Filthy half-breeds. Just like they call muggle borns from our kind mudbloods. What? You thought it was just us?"
She wasn't even making up a story. She heard Bellatrix Lestrange mutter curses about every single species that wasn't a pureblood wizard. And it made sense. If such hatred existed for their own kind, how hard was it to imagine it was the same for all the rest?
Plus, Juliet knew centaurs hated being called half-breeds as they were a species of their own and it was insulting for their lineage.
It was a smart move. Because evidently, they felt insulted. Disapproving comments, complaints, and curses started to echo in the forest and Juliet glanced back to her brother to make sure he was okay, since he had been so quiet all along. He stared back at her with a confident look and they nodded at each other in understanding.
It was nice that sometimes they didn't need words to know what the other was thinking.
"Silence!" Magorian yelled over them all, frowning.
All the centaurs slowly quieted down and watched their fellow friend advance a bit up to the girl of the group.
"We will not stand insulted by despicable humans. We will fight for our honor, not your kind." He told her.
"An ally is still an ally." She shrugged, putting her hand out for the centaur to shake.
"However, if our herd is miraculously overpowered, we will not stand with you any longer. We are loyal to our kind, and our kind alone. If you must die, accept your fate."
This ticked some sort of malicious ambition in Juliet.
"Everyone keeps hinting at me that I need to accept death. Fine. It doesn't mean that I have to choose it. I'll fight for all of us, and then I'll be going back home to my baby." She announced, shaking the centaur's hand confidently.
