𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐀𝐑━︎━︎H. Granger ︎✓︎

❝︎CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT❞︎

▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ━︎━︎ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐦! ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐃 Juniper, the world was turning to complete and utter shit and the Minister of Magic was doing absolutely nothing to help solve the problem. He refused to believe that Voldemort was back, taking it upon himself to blame her father for the murders. Umbridge herself was a pain in Juniper's side, and it was all driving her absolutely insane.

     The newest release of the Daily Prophet was in her hands and although she hated the Daily Prophet, she couldn't help herself when she read the news. "We have confirmed that ten high-security prisoners in the early hours of yesterday evening did escape. And of course, the muggle prime minister has been alerted to the danger. We strongly suspect that the breakout was engineered by a man with personal experience in escaping from Azkaban notorious mass murderer Sirius Black cousin of escapee, Bellatrix Lestrange." Juniper read the words aloud to herself, sitting in her dorm with her legs crossed, feet tucked underneath her.

     Hermione looked at Juniper, watching as she silently re-read the words over and over again to herself until Hermione finally ripped the paper from her hand, crumbling it up and setting it on fire. Juniper sat there in silence, looking at her hands that were now placed in her lap. Hermione watched her with a deep frown as Juniper looked up to meet her eyes. They swelled with tears and Hermione's heart broke. "Jay. . ." She softly whispered, making careful steps towards her until she was standing in front of the bed.

     "I can't." Juniper choked out, shaking her head. She took a deep breath, trying to stop her tears from falling. "I can't do this, Hermione." She quickly wiped away a tear that had fallen, forcing a small smile. "I can't do the looks anymore."

     "You need to eat, Jay." Hermione softly said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed as she turned her body to face her. "We'll be right there with you the whole time. No one will say anything."

     Juniper chuckled. "No offense, Hermione, but you three aren't exactly the scariest bunch."

     "I know, you own the title." Hermione joked, earning a breathy laugh from Juniper. Hermione gave her a small smile. "You're not in this alone. You never have been. Nothing will change that." She reached over and grabbed Juniper's hand, giving it a small squeeze. "Come on." Hermione stood, watching as Juniper reluctantly followed suit.

The duo walked down the stairs where Harry and Ron were waiting, both of them sending Juniper a small smile but she just ignored them and walked out the door. The three exchanged looks before quickly following after her. They made their way to the Great Hall and Juniper had to keep herself from stopping dead in her tracks when almost every single student was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet.

     Hermione shook her head. "Dumbledore warned Fudge this could happen. He's gonna get us all killed because he can't face the truth."

     As they walked past Seamus, he quickly stood. "Harry," he called. The group stopped, turning to look at him. "I, uh, wanted to apologize. Now even me mum says the Prophet's version of things don't add up. So, what I'm really trying to say is that I believe you."