It was the night before classes started up again for the term, and Juniper had spread herself out on a leather couch in the Slytherin Common room, staring blankly at the green fireplace, listening to the faint sound of water dripping from the roof. She hadn't moved in about 36 hours, and her eyes had stopped flicking over to the doors to see who was entering. She occasionally thought of the subjects she should be studying, but her motivation was no where to be found, just as it had been a few months ago. Her desire for human interaction had disappeared, and the want to rot on the couch for the rest of her time at Hogwarts had taken its place.
As she contemplated rolling over to face the backside of the couch, Draco Malfoy had walked in, taking a seat in the leather arm chair behind her.
"Welcome back, how were your holidays?" He said politely, looking across at her. She didn't acknowledge his presence or existence, and continued to stare straight. "Mine were just amazing, thank you."
They sat in another few minutes of silence, before there was a subtle bang from the other side of the common room door.
"Oh, Weasley's standing at the door, begging people to let him in so he can talk to you." Draco said blandly, watching Juniper remain expressionless. "It's really pathetic to witness."
"Hm." Juniper grunted in response, finally turning around to stare at the scratched leather of the couch.
"What happened between you two? It seemed like things were going so well." Draco said, getting no response again. "That's a shame."
Things were silent between them again, as the banging on the door became louder and faster. Juniper heard Draco get up from his chair, assuming he was over the sound and lack of response from Juniper, and heading to his Dorm. She closed her eyes, prepared to go to sleep, when the common room filled with Fred's shouting. He barged over to her, screaming at her back, as she refused to turn over.
"JUNIPER! WHAT THE HELL? YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE! JUNIPER? LOOK AT ME! WE THOUGHT YOU HAD BEEN TAKEN BY DEATHEATERS-"
"Woah, don't use that word in here, take it outside if you're going to talk about that." Draco interrupted, him voice a lot calmer than Fred's.
"Juniper. Please." Fred's voice had lowered to a whisper, crouching beside her. "Please can we talk? Tell me what happened." His voice broke slightly, causing tears to prick the sides of Juniper's eyes. She took a few deep breaths to prepare herself, knowing she couldn't escape having to explain herself this time. She broke into a stream of tears as Fred spoke again, his voice completely broken. "Please."
She sat up, noticing the audience that had crowded around them, watching and waiting for her next move. Keeping her eyes down so no one would see her crying, she began heading for the door, feeling Fred's presence behind her, towering over her like a wall. They had another crowd around them outside of the common room, all staring at them like it was a live TV show, and they just had to know what was coming next.
Fred followed along as Juniper marched through the hallways, looking for somewhere with even just a little bit of privacy. After a few minutes, Juniper wouldn't stop walking, her breathing struggled to keep up with her, between her crying and need to move away as fast as she could.
"Juniper, where are we going?" Fred said, puffed out. He stopped, watching her continue on. "No one's here anymore, is it me you're trying to get rid of?" He shouted after her, the pleading in his voice causing her to stop.
"No, no it's not you." She said quietly, turning around slowly, her eyes still trained on the ground in front of her feet as she walked back to him. "It has nothing to do with you."
"Then what is it? I keep trying to help and all you do is leave me in the dark." He pleaded back to her. "What else am I meant to think? When all you do is brush me off."
"I... I can't talk about it with you." She searched for any excuse. She knew he'd choose his family over her any day, that's how loyal he was, and she wasn't ready for him to make that decision yet.
"Why not? What could it possibly be about, that I'd draw the line?" He asked, stepping closer to close the space between them. He could see how heavy she was breathing, the nerves of what she was about to say written all over her body. He wished she would look up so he could see her face. "You know there isn't anything I want more than this. I'd put you before anythi-."
"It's your family." She interrupted, finally looking up to him, her eyes full of tears, her face red.
"What?" He couldn't comprehend, stammering through it. "W-what does that mean? How-How could my family... what do you mean?"
"Everyone at that house hates me Fred, none of them trust me, they think I'm a Deatheater, they think I'll be gone by Summer, they hate me, Fred." Juniper continued to cry through her words, finally understanding it herself.
"They don't hate you." He began, looking for excuses.
"But they don't like me." Juniper confirmed. "And they don't try to, either."
"Yes they... My dad adores you, Juniper."
"And he's the only one. Your mother loathes me, even before she met me, she hated me. Ron can't stand the thought of me, George hates that I spend time with you."
"That's all... it's different." Fred tried his best to explain, but Juniper was letting it out.
"Ginny only puts up with me because I have to share a room with her, Harry couldn't give a shit less about me." Juniper was shouting at this point, listing off everyone she could think of. "Hermione gave everyone a Christmas present, except for me! She gave the stupid house elf a present! She thinks of a house elf before me! I gave everyone something, even Moody and your mother, and they made me drink Veritaserum!"
"Juniper."
"Your mother would rather break the law and use Veritaserum on me, than trust me. She tried to use Legilimency on me, Fred. And the things she says about me..." Juniper said, lowering her voice back down. "If that happened to you, you wouldn't stay in that house either."
"Legilimency? She wouldn't do that to you, Juniper." Fred defended Molly, looking confused.
"I was shocked too when Sirius told me, but I'm not that surprised anymore." Juniper said, her sadness had turned into anger. "So what now? Is this where you draw the line? I want to be with you, Fred, you're the only good thing in my life. But I cannot put up with your family and their hatred towards my existence."
"Juniper... why couldn't we talk about this at the house? Why'd you have to leave without saying anything?" Fred held his head in his hands. "You know I don't trust a thing Sirius says, how can I believe him over my mother?"
"What about me? Can you believe me?" Juniper asked, feeling a stab in her chest
"Everything you've said has come from him! The legilimency, the talking behind your back, questioning if you'll be around by Summer-"
"She told me that straight to my face. She said 'We'll see if you're still around in a few years, then you might get a Christmas Sweater'." Juniper said, her bottom lip trembling.
"I don't believe it." Fred shrugged sadly.
"You don't believe me?" Juniper had to take a step back, the air leaving her lungs. "Why else would everyone in the house, except for me, get one? You're the only person in that house that likes me Fred! I only got Christmas presents from you!"
"So you left because of Christmas presents?" Fred scoffed, causing Juniper to see red.
"You think this is about Christmas presents?! Fred!" She shouted, her hands flying to her face, hot tears of frustration flowing down her cheeks.
"Okay, no. Nope." Fred quickly backed down, watching Juniper's reaction. "That was stupid, I-"
"Fred, you were there for the Veritaserum! You've heard the things she's said about me!"
"Juniper... it's my mother." Fred said, his voice low. "If you had talked to me at the house, I'd be able to ask her. I could confront her and get a straight answer, but now that we're here-"
"Go and ask your brothers then! Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and anyone you can find, ask them what they think of me." Juniper gritted her teeth. "Go and tell them we broke up, and see what they say about me. Go listen to them rip me apart, and then you might believe me."
"So you're breaking up with me?" Fred asked quietly as Juniper began walking back to the Slytherin common room, stopping her beside him. "You want to break up because of what Sirius said? What would he know?"
"I don't know, Fred." Juniper sighed deeply.
"What do you mean you 'don't know'?" He asked, turning towards her. "You're making me choose between you or my family, that's impossible."
"I'm not, I'm asking you to believe me." Juniper said, turning to look up at him, both of their eyes red and full of tears. "But, I know if I had the choice between bringing my family back, or keeping you... I'd choose you every time. And it'd be nice to at least think you'd do the same."
"June-"
"Just..." Juniper took a deep breath, her eyes turning back to the floor. "We should take a break. Until you can decide who to believe."
"What do you expect me to do, Juniper?" Fred called after her as she began making her way back to the Slytherin common room. "Juniper!"
When Juniper got back to the common room, Draco was the only person left inside. He looked up from his textbook as the door shut behind her, his face dropping.
"You look like shit." He said bluntly.
"I know." Juniper broke into another sob.
"What happened?"
"I don't know." Juniper continued to sob hysterically, curling into a ball on the floor.
"Oh. I guess I'm sorry that happened. Or I'm happy for you?" He asked, just observing her from afar.
"Thanks." She sniffed in response, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "Draco?"
"Yeah?" Draco's eyes stayed down on his book.
"I wish your dad had killed me. I'd be okay with it, can we have it arranged again?" Juniper asked sadly.
"Woah, let's not bring that up, especially in a public space." Draco said, placing his book on the table in front of him. "And I think, you should go to bed. Hopefully you wake up with a clearer mind tomorrow, ready for your classes."
"I hope I don't wake up tomorrow." Juniper muttered, Draco pulling her up and guiding her to her dormitory. He let her rest herself against him for support.
"I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast." He said, standing at the door, watching her slump her way over to her bed, collapsing onto it. "Did you hear me?"
"Yes! Now go away so I can cry in peace." Juniper waved her hand at him, shooing him off.
⚘
Fred had stayed in the corridor for quite some time after Juniper had walked off, trying to process what happened, and what he was meant to do now. He very slowly walked back to the Gryffindor common room in shock, unsure what to tell everyone when he entered, knowing they'd all be asking questions.
But he still didn't know the answer to any of them, and had even more questions himself. All he knew was that if he told them what Juniper had said about his mother, Ron and George would rip her to shreds, just as Juniper had said they would.
He supposed that their loyalty, the thing they were so proud of, and praised for, was the thing holding them back, and stopping them from being... good people? And that he was guilty of the same.
"He's back!" Lee shouted across the common room as Fred stepped into the warm light, still deep in thought. "So... reunion sex?"
"Ew, Lee! That's so gross." Ginny and Ron groaned in unison, turning their noses up.
"I heard the word sex." George announced, stumbling off the stairs leading to the girl's dormitory. He slid into a chair beside Ron, giving Fred a two-finger salute.
Fred picked up on his confidence, his twin senses telling him that something had just happened in the girls dormitory, but he shook it off, he had a lot more to worry about than who his brother was sleeping with.
"How did it go?" Hermione asked, a lot more civil than the rest of the group. Fred took a second to respond, thinking about what Juniper had predicted, and what Fred expected to happen.
"We broke up." He said, lifting his head to watch for the their reactions. All of their jaws dropped, the words still sinking in. Ginny began whispering to Hermione, trying to hide it from Fred. Lee was still staring at Fred in shock, and George and Ron high-fived under the table they were sitting at.
"That's a shame, I quite liked Juniper." Harry mumbled, before turning back to his textbook.
"Why? What did she say?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ginny. "Did she say why she left the house? Is she okay? Oh gosh, I didn't even try to find her when we got here. I should-." Hermione grabbed her coat and stood up, trying to rush out the door. Fred stopped her as she went to pass him.
"She said everyone at the house hates her." Fred said calmly, his eyes trained on Ron and George. "Especially mum."
"Of course she'd talk crap on mum." Ron rolled his eyes. "She used to do Malfoy, what'd you expect?"
"That just proves mum's point about her kind, too self absorbed, vain, egotistical-." George began listing off things Molly had complained about to the kids.
"I don't hate her! She knows that, right?" Hermione cut George off, staring up at Fred. Her face turned to horror at his lack of response. "Oh god. Did I do something?"
"Who received a Christmas gift from Juniper this year?" Fred asked. All the hands, except for Lee's, slowly raised. Fred looked to him, fished a small set of headphones out of his pocket, resized it with his wand, and chucked them to Lee.
"What is- WOAH I CAN'T HEAR A THING!" Lee shouted as soon as he put them over his ears, removing them so he could continue to be lectured by Fred.
"They're from Juniper, merry Christmas." Fred said sternly. Lee raised his hand with everyone else in the room. "All of you received a genuine, personal gift from Juniper."
"I got a peacock feather book mark." Hermione said quietly.
"I got lavender soap and a stress ball." Harry added, a little bit offended.
"Yeah, and I got a giant spoon with a bow on it." Ron scoffed. "Wasn't exactly my favourite thing to receive."
"And who gave Juniper something in return?" Fred asked, everyone's hands dropping down slowly. "Wow, look at that."
"Oh god. I feel so bad." Hermione's eyes went red. "I should've made her something! I made Kreacher something. I have to tell her."
"I don't want any of you to talk to her for a while." Fred stopped her from leaving again. He quieted his voice to talk to only Hermione. "I'm going to give her time to think and calm down."
"Okay." Hermione's voice was strained, fighting herself to stay in the common room.
"Well... I say good riddance." Ron said loudly. "If she's this angry about Christmas gifts, I reckon you've dodged a bullet."
"Just think... now we can put more time into... you know." George suggested, his eyes narrowed in on Fred's. "No more distractions, and nothing but pranking, and meaningless hookups, for our last few months at Hogwarts."
"Right." Fred nodded, disappointed that Juniper was right about his brothers, and that she was more than likely right about Molly, too.