the lucky one

cast & prologue

- hermione granger -

"don't try to argue with me. you'll lose."

- ronald weasley -

"bloody hell, there's two of them."

- ginevra weasley -

"nice right hook."

- juniper nott mcgonagall -

"can't a woman finish a piece of toast?"

october 18th, 1981

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On October 18th, thirteen days before that fated Halloween night in Godric's Hollow, Voldemort approached the home of Juniper and Matthias McGonagall and their two daughters, Eve and Miranda. Eve was five years old, watching as her father made her stuffed bunny fly over her head, giggling and clapping her hands as she shouted, "More Daddy more!"

Miranda was barely a year old, and Juniper was putting her down in the crib when she felt chill go up her spine, and a dread she hadn't felt in a long time washed over her. He was here.  "Matthias!" she screamed frantically. "Matthias it's him!"

But she was too late, she saw a jet of green light, and her husband and daughter crumpled to the floor. They were gone. Voldemort moved liked a whisper of smoke through the house. Juniper could sense him, she knew he was coming for her. Frantically, she scooped up her baby and grabbed her wand, tears streaming down her face as she attempted to apparate.

    "Ah ah ah" his slimy voice slithered through the room. Juniper froze. "And just where do you think you're going?" he hissed, eyeing her like a snake about to kill. He raised his wand slowly.

    "Please,"  Juniper begged, shielding the infant protectively against her chest. "Tom, don't do this," she implored, eyes round and wet. Her voice was filled with panic, searching for the boy she had known so long ago. Praying there was a shred of humanity left in him. "You don't have to do this. I know you're still in there. Tom—" Voldemort visibly flinched at the name no one had called him in years. He wavered, not meeting her eyes. Juniper pleaded again, "Tom please, this isn't you."

    His eyes flashed, "And how would you know that?" he spat angrily. "I gave you a choice Juniper, and you chose him. You told me you loved me, but you still chose him." Voldemort's gaze flicked to the lifeless frame of her husband on the form, lip curling with sick pleasure.

    Juniper tried to keep her voice steady. She needed to be strong. Strong for her beautiful baby girl. She would sacrifice everything, everything, for her. "I did love you Tom, but not this, not whoever you've become," said Juniper, voice shaking, but firm.

    "TOM IS GONE!" Voldemort roared with rage. "Tom was weak and alone, but now I am the most powerful wizard in the world. People cower before me, but you chose him, and now you must pay the price." He raised his wand again, and Juniper wrapped her arms tightly around little Miranda, bracing herself for the worst. "Avada Kedavra!" The green light encircled mother and daughter in a ball of light, burning brighter and brighter, until it exploded into a shower of golden sparks.

The thing about unforgivable curses is; you have to mean them.

Voldemort had failed. Quickly he fled, vowing to himself he would not stop until all evidence of his former self had been erased, including Juniper and her daughter. Juniper looked around at her destroyed home, sobbing as she rocked Miranda to sleep, she knew that this wasn't over. Miranda and her weren't safe here anymore. Hurriedly, she packed a bag, and made plans to move to America far, far away from the Dark Lord. She lightly kissed her husband on the cheek, and brushed her daughter's hair away from her face. Juniper grabbed Eve's bunny, discarded on the floor, and placed it in Miranda's tiny hands.

    "Goodbye," she whispered, and the pair disappeared into the night.