Juno loved learning. Though, she found conventional learning less appealing, resenting the institutionalisation that came with being in a classroom, she loved to consume and absorb new information, especially in a more practical sense. To teachers she was a bright and engaged student, eccentric and unorthodox in her thinking, but undeniably intelligent. She of course excelled in Care of Magical Creatures, before Draco, she'd considered Hagrid to be the closest thing to a friend she had - she still went for tea with him at least once every two weeks. Sprout, Flitwick, McGonnagall, Slughorn and Sinistra only ever had good things to say about her - but, as with many of his students who weren't in Slytherin, Professor Snape overlooked her potential and picked fault in everything he could. He didn't know how to handle a student like Juno, and he had the same problem with her sister. She didn't perceive criticism and scolding like other students, she didn't fear him, and she was never off-put by his attempted intimidation.
As Christmas drew nearer tensions in the castle seemed to be increasing, students and teachers alike could sense the change in the wizarding world, each wary of the looming darkness. As the power of the Dark Lord progressed, Snape became less and less tolerant, and much more agitated, and, the way he would usually deal with Juno's whimsicality turned from a little snide to rather aggressive, and malicious almost. Potions was much more enjoyable with Slughorn as teacher, but that meant DADA was now detestable - Snape made what once was a fun and exciting lesson dismal and macabre.
Thus, that Friday, the class was more than disappointed to learn that Slughorn was off sick and that Snape would be taking over the lesson. The class had been silenced as Snape glided into the room, theatric as ever, with his long robe sweeping the floor behind him, slamming the windows closed with a flick of his wand.
"Considering your potions Professor is too incompetent to turn up today, I will be taking your lesson. I expect the curriculum I taught will be vastly different and much more advanced than that of Slughorn. Clearly," he sneered, looking over at Ron and Harry, who were glaring in his direction, clearly agitated by Slughorn's absence, "Slughorn will allow just about anyone in this classroom, but I wouldn't have even dreamed of letting you step foot in here unless you achieved an O in your O.W.L.S. Turn to page 42 of your textbooks, today we will be making essence of insanity. Begin-"
While most people worked with a partner, Juno always worked alone. As with most things in life, the way she brewed potions was not by the book, sometimes ending in a perfectly made potion, other times creating a small disaster on her desk. She always knew how to make the potion, but, like her mother, she often experimented with ingredients and order.
Gathering her ingredients and apparatus, she lit up her cauldron and quickly skimmed the instructions in her textbook. It was more complex than previous potions they had made that year, but still, she was confident in her abilities, and, upon reading the instructions, decided it would be more efficient to add the Alihosty before the Billywig sting, and to mash the Lovage instead of cutting it. She also decided to alter the rotation and number of stirs as she saw fit, wanting to ensure the ingredients marinaded and fermented enough, to create a more potent and effective mixture.
All was going well until she added the Lovage. By mashing it, she had separated the water from the plant, thus causing waves of thick, purple smoke to bellow out from her cauldron.
"Do not breathe in this smoke, everyone cast bubble head charms," Snape ordered, his voice stern, and frightening to most, covering his mouth with his sleeve. All the students complied. He opened the windows to let out the smoke, and raised his wand to cease the flow.
"Wait-" Juno said, halting him from cleaning the mess.
"Wait? Wait?! Miss Lovegood, you realise breathing in the amount of smoke your potion is creating would leave this entire class confused for days-"
The smoke became less and less, until it stopped altogether, and emitted only a light, harmless, purple steam. She peered over her cauldron, pleased with the consistency and colour of the potion. Though she had breathed in a lot of the smoke, it hadn't seemed to faze her, she was rather immune to the ingredients of insanity.
"See, Professor, the water from the Lovage has evaporated, so the potion is less diluted. It's much stronger this way," she gave it a stir anti-clockwise, "it'll make you more insane,"
The entire class watched closely at Snape and Juno's interaction, knowing she was the only person who would talk back to Snape in such a way, completely unaware of the hatred his eyes conveyed. Slowly, they each did the counter-jinx for the bubble-head spell, just waiting for Snape to explode. It didn't take long.
"What, Miss Lovegood," he snarled, "makes you think you know better than the textbook?"
"I don't think-"
"It was a rhetorical question. Are you so utterly inept that you can't follow basic instructions?"
"No, I-"
"Rhetorical question!" He barked, raising his voice. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Draco flinch, his hand curling around the vial he was holding. "Just because you are so unsound of mind as to be immune to the effects of the ingredients of an insanity potion does not mean the rest of us are." Draco's grip on the vial was becoming tighter and tighter, blood rushed to his face as he tried to conceal the anger he felt at the way Snape was speaking to Juno. "You are insufferable to teach, you always have been, knowing I have to come into a classroom and face you every day is truly harrowing. I'd put you in detention if it didn't mean I'd have to spend another hour of my day with you. If it was up to me, I'd have you out of Hogwarts in a heartbeat on the mere grounds that you and your family are so deranged." She frowned at this, and Draco caught it - she never normally reacted to his harsh words, knowing this had affected her only fuelled his anger. She was the sweetest, kindest, most lovely girl, surely if he could realise that, Snape could see it too. "Carry on the way you are and I'm sure you'll end up just like your mother - wouldn't that be a pity..."
Draco snapped. Clenching his jaw and balling up his fist, he shattered the vial he held in his hand, averting the classes attention. The contents of the jar spilled everywhere, blood seeping from the cuts that formed from the pieces of glass that wedged into his hand. He breathed heavily through his nose, doing anything he could to mask the anger.
"Problem, Malfoy?" Snape hummed, turning to face the boy. He caught Juno's eye, only for a fleeting second, and she gave him the most subtle shake of the head. She thought only he would notice, but Blaise had been watching their interactions closely. Blaise had wondered if he'd just imagined their little communication in class those weeks ago, he'd watched them carefully over the days, but he hadn't seen them interact once, not until today. Draco took a deep breath and smirked.
"No Professor, dropped my knotgrass," He shrugged. Snape looked him quizzically, before turning harshly to the front of the classroom, assuming his position by Slughorn's desk.
"Clean it up, Malfoy. Everyone else, continue, you still have fifteen minutes,"
As the class returned to their cauldrons, Juno sat, inspecting her hands. She didn't like the way Snape had spoken about her family, especially her mum. Having finished her potion, she was allowed to sit and stew about what he'd said, and the more she considered it, the more angry she became. Her mother was a brilliant witch, she'd died in the name of magic, attempting to improve magical practices. She wasn't crazy, none of the Lovegood's were - maybe a little unusual, but certainly not out of their minds, not completely, not incompetently like Snape had suggested. As she thought, she felt a shoulder brush hers, and a piece of parchment fell into her lap. She caught a glimpse of platinum hair walking in the opposite direction. Smiling, she unravelled the paper;
Smiling gently to herself, she quickly caught Draco's eye. He smirked back at her, and she mouthed a shy 'thank-you'. He nodded curtly at her, turning away before anyone would notice. Again, however, Blaise had watched the entire interaction. He was certain now that something was going on between Draco and Juno. They were the unlikeliest of pairs, the likes of Juno Lovegood was supposed to disgust Draco - so what in Merlin's name was going on with them? He thought it very strange, and plotted quietly, thinking of a way to confirm what was going on. Draco would never tell him, in fact, he'd probably kill him if he thought Blaise was sticking his nose in his business. He knew of Draco's situation, he knew he was in line to be the youngest death-eater recruited, and though Draco tried to portray a frosty and cruel persona, deep down, he knew Draco wasn't that. He knew he was quite the opposite. Despite Draco insisting that none of the boys were his friends, despite his constant need to be the impersonal, detached leader, Blaise knew him, he knew he had a kind heart, and plenty of love to give - he just hadn't been brought up in an environment where that was easy to show. He wondered if finally he'd allowed one person to see who he truly was. Had he befriended Juno Lovegood of all people? He wanted Draco to be happy, but he knew ultimately their relationship would only end up in hurt - someone like Juno was not a personality you'd find amongst the inner circles of the Dark Lord. Blaise needed to know, he needed to know the extent of the relationship, he needed to warn Juno, not just for her sake, but for Draco's.
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That afternoon, despite the frosty temperatures, Juno bundled up in a thick cloak, hat, scarf and gloves and made her way down to the lake. She clutched a flask of tea, creating a little den with a fire to shelter them from the weather. Winter was in full swing, the afternoons were dark, the sun setting earlier and earlier, and the temperatures dropping cooler and cooler. That didn't stop their weekly meetings, Draco was getting the hang of keeping warm. He met her down there, hurrying into the den, sitting close to her to share body heat. She pulled a knitted blanket from her bag, draping it over the two of them as they smoked.
"You need to be careful," She hummed, resting her head on his shoulder. "You reacted, today in class-"
"I know, I couldn't help it, the things he was saying-"
"Were not out of the ordinary, he speaks to everyone like that,"
"You'd think if I can tolerate you, he'd be able to," Draco sighed.
"Tolerate me?" She giggled
"Just about," he smiled
"Anyone would think you care," she smirked.
"I do," he shrugged. She smiled softly to herself. "I still don't understand how you've done it, Juno. I've never been like this with anyone, so open, and carefree and myself- then you came along and just thawed me out. Blaise, Pansy, Theo - everyone, they've tried for years to get close to me and get to know me and I shut them out. Everything is different with you, all it took was one meeting and I'm a new person-"
"Everyone needs their person, Draco. Everyone else has something to gain from you, I don't. You have nothing to lose when it comes to me, you can be who you want to be. Who is going to believe Juno Lovegood if she runs to the castle and tells them Draco Malfoy smashed a vial in potions because he cares?"
"If it means anything, I feel like I have a lot to lose when it comes to you. I value your friendship more than most other things, I'd happily lose Blaise, and Pansy, and all them, hell I'd rather lose my father - things would be a lot easier if I lost everything but you-"
"That does mean something," she smiled, squeezing his hand.
"You're like my little getaway," He chuckled.
"You could be happy outside these Friday afternoons, you know? You don't have to pretend, you could be yourself- you could make friends with the Slytherins, like real friends-"
"No," he shook his head, "I couldn't. You wouldn't- you wouldn't get it, alright?"
"Explain it to me?"
"I can't," he sighed, "I don't want to taint this," he motioned between them. "I just want to separate this from that,"
She knew this wasn't sustainable, and she wondered how long their friendship would last under such circumstances. But she could tell he didn't want to elaborate, so she let it go, giving his hand another gentle squeeze and nodding her head, "Okay,"
AN: CREDIT FOR THE IMAGE USED ABOVE:
https://www.deviantart.com/kieshar/art/Snape-outline-badge-art-58609545