So this is my first fanfic and after taking a very long time away from the story I realized that I was progressing the story at a pace that would take me forever to finish so I will be rewriting the chapters to move the story along at a quicker pace. I am not a professional writer by any means and so if I have grammatical errors please let me know through a PM. I am also not British so I will try my best to incorporate as much British slang and words as possible, but no promises. As my story is slightly AU I will not be keeping with all the details of the series' plot though I do not plan on changing any of the canon couples. Any constructive criticism or positive reviews are greatly appreciated and while I would ideally like to not see any flames if you so feel that they are necessary I can not stop you from posting them.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Simple as Breathing Chapter 1: When it all began
Minerva McGonagall remembered the first time she ever met the Bellows. Their daughter, Juliet, not even a day old had been written down in the Hogwarts roster destined to begin classes once she turned eleven. For families in Minerva's world that would not come to a surprise. However, Juliet was a muggleborn witch, and with the downfall of Voldemort both the Ministry and Hogwarts decided it would be best to inform the parents of muggleborn witches or wizards of the life that lay ahead for their child as soon as possible. For many parents this became the day of their child's birth. Little did she know then, just how important Juliet would turn out to be.
January 1st, 1999
Minerva stood outside the maternity ward at Mount Vernon's Hospital with a stuffed bear in hand and asked at the nurse's station for the Bellows' room number, claiming to be a great-aunt come to see the newest family addition.
She got to the room and knocked on the door only to hear a muffled "come in". She walked in and addressed the new parents, "hello, my name is Minerva McGonagall and I need to speak with you both, it's about Juliet." sensing their discomfort at the potential news they were about to receive she continued, "I can assure you that it's nothing bad and that she is in perfect health I spoke to the nurse on the way in."
"Hello Minerva, I'm Paul and this is Rosalina, what is it you need to tell us about our daughter that the nurse could not?" The man gave her a curious yet cold face indicating that he was not one to be joked around with, especially at this time.
"I'm here to tell you that Juliet is special, in a way that can not easily be imagined. Your daughter Juliet is a witch." Minerva scanned their faces, worried that the muggles would react negatively to the particularly shocking news, but all she saw was acceptance.
Rosalina spoke up, "our neighbor's son is a wizard. They found out shortly after he was born as well, he's a few years older than Juliet and we watch him sometimes when his parents go out-of-town on business. They told us so that we could be on the lookout for early signs of his magic."
Minerva nodded. "Yes, young witches and wizards often show signs of magic when they are upset or stressed, it is something you will need to watch for as Juliet grows up. I will keep in touch and either myself or another one of the Professors from Hogwarts, the wizarding school Juliet can eventually attend will visit each year on her birthday to see how she is doing and to educate you on what the wizarding world is like to make you and Juliet's transition easier."
Eleven Years Later
Ginny Potter cursed her rotten luck that this was the year Professor Sybil Trelawney was set to make the rounds to the muggleborn families to check in on the children, something always seemed to go wrong when she was involved. After having Lily it made sense for her to sign up in order to help calm the parents by talking about her personal experiences at Hogwarts and of raising small children in the wizarding world. Thankfully today was easy, the only house to go to today was the Bellows. Their daughter Juliet was eleven today and only another eight months before she started at Hogwarts so they were accustomed to the visits. With Sybil by her side Ginny rang the doorbell, smiling as she heard the excited yell from the other side of the door. Rosalina opened the door and welcomed Ginny and Sybil inside, "Juliet has been waiting all day for you to get here. She couldn't sit still, and I had to keep grabbing everything she kept levitating in her excitement."
Ginny laughed, "well hopefully she will calm down now that we're here, right Jules?" She looked over at the young girl who just giggled and nodded. Ginny turned back to Rosalina, "my youngest was the same way the day before she started at Hogwarts, except she kept levitating the cat, who did not appreciate it in the slightest."
"Well now that Juliet is settled why don't we have a seat in the living room. Paul is in there waiting for us." Rosalina smiled at Ginny "Professor Trelawney, Ginny would either of you like something to drink, I just put a kettle on"
"I'll take a cup please, Sybil would you like one as well?" Ginny looked over at the aging professor who looked quite glazed over.
When Professor Trelawney chose to open her mouth, it wasn't a request for a beverage, or even her typical voice. Ginny looked back at Rosalina and Juliet worriedly not quite sure what the prophecy would be.
"The one with the power to make death into life is near
As the planets aligned in the time of the goat
A child was born to save them all
Send her back to the power times three
She must fight to remember and to balance the loss"
Ginny did not notice until he spoke that Paul had joined them in the entryway. "What in the bloody hell was that?"
Trelawney spoke normally once again. "What was what?"
Ginny knew that she was going to need to show McGonagall what happened in the pensive later, prophecies were not something to be messed with. "Paul, Rosalina what you two just heard was a prophecy, about what I can't be certain but it seems to be about your daughter."
Rosalina hesitated as she spoke "I had a feeling, I read about them after the time you explained the Hogwarts curriculum to us, but how do we know that she was talking about Juliet? It talked about sending her back, back where?"
Ginny sighed "I don't know. I really don't know."
Later that day
"Minerva, I don't know what this means but it has to be Juliet. It happened while we were at her house today." Ginny's groan of frustration caught the attention of both the Headmistress, and several of the paintings on the wall.
"Ginny if I might put in a word I think I may be able to help." Professor Dumbledore smiled down from his painting on the wall.
Ginny sighed "Anything that can help Albus would be greatly appreciated."
"You seem so fixated on the where she is going back to. Have you ever thought that it might actually be a when?" He inquired of the younger witch.
"No! Albus that's a genius idea! That makes so much more sense now, but how many years would it be? All the prophecy says is the power times three... could it be twenty-one? After all seven has long been recognized as a powerful number in our world... that has to be it, nothing else makes sense" Ginny starts rereading the prophecy but then stops. "But how are we supposed to get her back that far? And how are we supposed to make sure she needs to fight to remember?"
Snape drawls down towards Minerva and Ginny. "I think this is where I may be of assistance." and he draws out the plans to make sure that Juliet can be when and where she needs to be.
Thanks so much for reading!
