Juli would never forget the way Sirius had snatched the letter from her and torn it into shreds.
"You're not responding to that." He declared.
Juli turned around and hugged him. "But I have to, sweetheart. That is the plan." She sighed.
Sirius shook his head and tightened his grip. "I don't care about the plan, Juliette! This is Mulicber! Talking to you about joining you-know-who! I can't let you do that."
If any other guy had said this, Juli would have been infuriated and hexed him but she knew where his worry was coming from. She could feel his body tense against hers and rubbed his hair. "I will be okay, Sirius. I can do this." She said soothingly.
She then pulled away and brought him into a kiss, which he only deepened.
He paused and rested his forehead on hers. "I love you so much."
"And I love you." She whispered back, wanting time to stop forever.
* * * * *
Juli was sat the Slytherin table with Clarisse and Avery. "So Mulciber wrote to me, today." She said. "Have you been talking about me?" She asked, pretending to be flattered.
"Yeah. He said he can't wait to introduce you to the Dark Lord as his girlfriend." Clarisse said haughtily. "You better take care of him. You'll never find another one like him."
Juli never wanted to find another like him. That was her intention. He was already going around telling people they were together but she loathed him. More than words could describe.
"So..." Avery said, smirking. "You both are all set to meet him after your exams."
"Who?" Juli asked, praying that the answer was not Mulciber. "And who both?"
The answer he gave was much worse. "You and Regulus are meeting the Dark Lord. You are finally old enough to join him. You should celebrate."
Bile rose into her stomach and her dream in the barn came back to her. She felt dizzy and like she would throw up.
"That's - that's great. I can't wait." She said, breathing heavily. "I need to go find Regulus. See you later." She got up and ran out the Great Hall.
She didn't know what to do. She was supposed to join the death eaters as a cover but after school. She had time. But not anymore, her exams were in less than a month.
She dashed into the girls' lavatory and emptied her stomach out in the basin. She didn't realize how scared she was of him until this moment. So much so that it made her sick.
She sat down against the wall after wiping her mouth and sobbed. If the Dark Lord was anything like she had dreamt, she wouldn't be able to do it. He was terrifying.
She stood up in an instant when she heard voices outside. She quietly moved towards the door and realized that it was Lily and Sirius.
"...couldn't have possibly said that." Sirius said.
"But he did!" Lily exclaimed. She sounded hurt. "I was right there when James said it back to her."
"Maybe he didn't mean it?"
"Sirius!" Lily scolded. "He said I love you. Why would he not mean it. "
Juli couldn't help but smile when she realized that James and Allsion were in love. James deserved happiness and he finally had someone who loved him and treated him the way he was supposed to.
She peeked Lily leaving and Sirius sighed, walking towards his class. Before he could, Juli pulled him in and locked the door.
"Juliette!" He gasped, flashing a grin. "This is the girls' bathroom. What if someone is here?"
"Really?" She asked. "I didn't know!"
Sirius rolled his eyes and started looking around. "I didn't expect it to be like this." He said, inspecting each and every inch of every wall and every stall.
"What did you expect? Pink walls?" She smirked.
This made Sirius chuckle. "Well, no. But maybe more mirrors and a prettier basin."
"Of course." She scoffed. "Please feel free to look around. We have all day." He always made her feel better. She would tell him about the meeting with Voldemort soon, but it could for a few more minutes.
He didn't respond and continued exploring. "Why do you have so many bins?"
"What so many? There are only 2." She shrugged.
"Yeah, but why? We have only one. This is unfair. Why do you need two?"
"To throw away the tampons?" She said casually, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"What are tampons? Lily had also mentioned them." He said, raising his eyebrows. "Shouldn't we have them, too?"
"Oh, sweetheart," Juli sighed, walking over to him. She stood on her toes and placed her hand around his shoulders. "It's time I teach you about female anatomy."