Chapter 1: Resolutions and Hasty Departures

Juniper Potter, saviour of the wizarding world, the girl who lived, Lady of the Most Noble and Ancient Houses of Potter and Black, and various other titles was yet again sitting in the Potter Vault, looking through her parent's belongings. Her silk cloak, the same emerald as her eyes, pooled around her as she sat on the floor, shifting through the items carefully and handling them as if they were gems.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something that caught her attention. It was a photo. Picking it up she observed the two teenage figures that smiled up at her - well one did anyway. The other was wearing a characteristic scowl and seemed to be glaring at the photographer with black eyes that greatly resembled dark, bottomless pits. Those were the eyes of Severus Snape. Juniper and Snape had never had too close a relationship. In fact Snape could always be found sneering at her, and she could always be found retorting to his comment with her mother's sharp tongue, which often led to detention.

However, the night he died, Severus had given her his memories. His last words were 'You have your mother's eyes'. Juniper had heard this many times before, but from her old nemesis it meant more. He hadn't just been describing her appearance; it was an explanation and an apology. By the end of those memories two things were apparent; firstly, Severus Snape was the bravest man she knew and secondly, she was little more than a pawn to Dumbledore.

But that was about to change. Juniper swore to herself in that moment that she would never be used again, nor would she do what she was expected from her. She would rise from the ashes that the war reduced her to. Just like a phoenix.

"Disciplinary hearing of the eleventh of September, into offences committed by Antonin Dolohov including 43 counts of murder...

June blocked out the deep baritone of Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had become Minister after the war. This was the 14th trial in which she had stood as a witness and there were still dozens of Death Eaters awaiting their sentences. The war. It had ripped away everything she held dear – her parents, her friends and... her fiancé.

June glanced around wildly and her blood ran cold: the Death Eaters had penetrated Hogwarts. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Fred and Percy duelling a masked man each. She ran forwards to help, seemingly oblivious to the jets of light flying around her, creating a beautifully catastrophic picture of colour. Percy sent another hex to his opponent, who's hood fell back, revealing a very familiar face. "Hello Minister!" Percy shouted, hitting the 'Minister' with a hex "Did I mention I'm resigning?"
"You're joking Perce!" Fred yelled, after finally defeating his opponent with three stunners shot in quick succession. Thicknesse had fallen to the ground by now and June raced towards the two gingers, less than 5 metres away. Fred looked at Percy with glee.
"You are actuallyarejoking ... I don't think I have heard you joke since you were-"
The air exploded. They had been grouped together, June, Fred and Percy, the two Death Eaters at their feet, and Ron and Hermione just about to reach them: in that fragment of a moment, when danger seemed temporarily at bay, the world was torn apart. June felt herself flying through the air and all she could do was hang on as tightly as she could to that thin stick of wood that was her one and only weapon, and shield her head in his arms: she heard the screams and yells of her companions without a hope of knowing what had happened to them-
and then the world resolved itself into pain and semi-darkness: She was half buried in the wreckage of a corridor that had been subjected to a terrible attack. Cold air told her that the side of the castle had been blown away, and hot stickiness on her cheek told her that he was bleeding copiously. Then she heard a terrible cry that pulled at her insides, that expressed agony of a kind neither flame nor curse could cause, and she stood up, swaying, more frightened than she had been that day, more frightened, perhaps, than she had been in her life...
And Hermione was struggling to her feet in the wreckage, and three redheaded men were grouped on the ground where the wall had blasted apart. June grabbed Hermione's hand as they staggered and stumbled over stone and wood.

"No no no!" someone was shouting. "No! Fred! No!" And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.

June let out a scream. Her heart seemed to fail and fell to the floor with heart wrenching sobs, clutching his broken body. "No! You can't do this to me! We were going to get married remember? Please! I love you! I love you, I love you so much..." In that moment, she knew it would have to end, and she would be the one to end it.

June took a deep breath and managed to compose herself in time to hear: "... the Wizengamot finds Antonin Dolohov guilty of all charges. He is sentenced to life in Azkaban."

A few days later, June was walking into Gringotts, with Draco Malfoy walking alongside her. Now if anybody had told her 7 years ago that Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince and her deadly nemesis, would one day become one of her closest and most trusted friends, she would have laughed in their faces and recommended a trip to St Mungo's. But now they knew each other better than they knew themselves. They were complete opposites, one fair and one dark, one a Slytherin the other a Gryffindor, but inside they were both the same. Forced to take part in a war they wanted no part in.

"Are you sure you want to go ahead with this?" Draco asked almost cautiously, the way one might a frightened animal.

"Of course. This could change everything! If this works, the war won't even happen" June replied heatedly, running a hand through her obsidian, waist length locks. Her eyes flashed dangerously and Draco knew he was on thin ice.

"I just want you to be safe June. You've done so much for me and I vowed that I would do everything I could for you in return."

June sighed. When it had come to the trial of the Malfoy's, she had stood as witness and made sure they only got off with a warning – except Lucius. He had been sentenced to life in Azkaban for he hadn't helped the Light to win the war as Draco and Narcissa. It was the least she could do to repay them for what they had done, not only for her, but for the whole of Wizarding England.

"I will be safe Draco. I'll be fine, and you have nothing to repay me for. What I did for your family was common courtesy. Besides we're family."

Draco scowled, somehow managing to still look indeniably pristine.

Narcissa's father, Cygnus Black lll, was the nephew of June's grandmother, Dorea Potter (nee Black), making Narcissa her cousin, and Draco her nephew, a fact that she enjoyed reminding him of, no matter how distant.

"I'm still older than you, so you don't really have any authority over me" Draco retorted huffily, pushing his chest out and looking a disturbingly like the peacocks that strutted round the grounds of Malfoy Manor.

"If you say so!"

The next day everything was in place and it was the morning of June's 18th birthday. The Ministry seemed to have taken it upon themselves to host a ball for this event and had invited all of the ministry workers and prominent 'Light' families, the Weasleys included. A few years ago June would have been thrilled at this, having had a close friendship with them. It was them who had first introduced the concept of a family to her. No matter the lack of money, their home was always exactly that. A home. Not just another empty house, kept clean only for the sake of what the neighbours would think. This 'friendship' quickly deteriorated however, when June heard Ron and Ginny discussing with their mother about how they were worried that she was going 'dark'. After all, why else would she help the Malfoys? They were obviously plotting together. After an extremely loud confrontation that could contest with Mrs Blacks screaming due to the level of noise, June had halted all contact with the Weasleys; the only Weasleys she still had contact with were Fred, Bill and Charlie. They were some of her only friends left. She would have wanted to stay in contact with Arthur, her first father figure, but she knew he cared too much for Molly to ever go against her.

After taking a break from the Weasleys, she finally realised how bigoted they really were. Anything they didn't like or approve of was immediately classified as dark. She could harm somebody just as easily by levitating a heavy object (as proved by the troll in first year) as she could by firing a killing curse at them. It was all about intent. Magic was this pure beautiful force, entity that filled her up and caressed her with its power. It was capable of anything, it could make people do terrible things against their will, it could reduce a once strong man into a mere husk of its former self, and it could kill with two words. Two terrible words. Avada Kedavra.

June stretched in her bed, almost catlike in her movements, and allowed herself a small smile. Today it was all going to change. Jumping off her bed she jumped into the shower.

As the warm water washed over her and relaxed her muscles, she let out a sigh. But a frown quickly worked it's way onto her face. What is this was a mistake? What if she couldn't change anything? What if she only made things worse? What if she ruined everything? She seemed to have a knack for that, after all she was nothing...

"GIRL! Where's my coffee?!" a man yelled at what seemed to be a 6 year old girl wearing rags.

"I-I'm s-sorry Uncle V-v-vernon" the girl whispered, her delicate features marred by fear.

"You better be you little freak! We take you in out of the kindness of our hearts and this is how you repay us?! You need to start earning your keep girl! Mark your words you'll turn out jut like your good for nothing parents. You are nothing. Do you understand?"

"Yes Uncle Vernon it won't happen again" The girl said, nodding her head frantically.

The girl, who was named June, quickly fetched her uncle the coffee and ran into her cupboard. The darkness comforted her, for it had always been her companion, the only thing she could trust wouldn't go away. She quickly went over to her mattress and sat down, before lifting loose a floorboard and lifting out a book, which had been given to her by the kind librarian Mrs Peters. It was about a girl who lived in a dark and dreary orphanage, who grew up all alone, bullied, with no friends. But one day, her parents finally came back to her and she was whisked away to a mansion surrounded by happiness and laughter.

The young June smiled and hugged the book closer to her chest. One day her parents would come and take her away from her cruel relatives. But they never did.

June flinched at the memory before taking a deep breath. She had proved that she wasn't nothing. She was something. She was somebody. And she was a somebody who would take on any challenge the world had to offer.

After getting out of the shower, June rummaged through her wardrobe hurriedly and put on a forest green dress that complemented her almond eyes perfectly. The dress, like most of her new 'Ministry Approved' wardrobe, was custom made to the finest standard. It was made of lace with cap sleeves and went down to the knee. Over that she threw on a black cloak which was embellished with intricate silver patterns that were almost rune-like in shape. Since the war was over, the Ministry had decided she was the national mascot, meaning she had to have a wardrobe that was befitting of Magical Britain's standards. With what she had seen of Magical Britain, June thought she could easily get away with a sack. With another look at her watch, June shouted out a choice curse word that was extremely unladylike and ran out of the room, loose jet black waves flying behind her.

"Dobby!"

With a crack, Dobby appeared wearing a bright yellow sock on one foot and a lime green one on the other. To go along with that, he was also sporting a magenta hat with two holes for his ears.

"You is calling for Dobby Juniper Potter?"

Yes Dobby could you bring me my trunk please?"

"Of course miss! I is doing it in a jiffy!"

Shaking her head at the elf's antics, June was startled when the elf appeared a few seconds later with a familiar trunk in tow.

"Thank you Dobby; that will be all"

With a deep bow, Dobby disappeared with another resounding crack.

June walked to her trunk and looked with a wave of nostalgia upon the L.R.E engraved on the top, and smaller in the corner James' flower. The trunk had originally
been her mother's but she had found it in the Potter vault and immediately discarded her old trunk in favour of this one. She had always wished for something of her mother's. She had her father's cloak but not a single thing belonging to her mother. But now she did. June slid her wand out of its holster, which was strapped to her right forearm, and shrank the trunk, before depositing it in her cloak pocket.

Then, with shaking hands she took a time turner out of her pocket. But this was no ordinary time turner. For this time turner, instead of going back hours, went back years. Five years for every turn. June had found it in the Black vault and decided it was the answer to everything, with it, her life would be in her own hands. Not the wrinkled hands of some old man who though he knew best. Her own. Now she was going to finally write her own destiny. Taking a deep breath, she attempted to calm my nerves. 'I have to do this. I will do this.' With that new mantra chanting in my head, I turned the time turner back 11 times. 55 years backwards. To 1945. To the time of Tom Riddle, before he became a monster, when he was just a lost soul trying to find his way in a cruel world.

All of a sudden June felt herself spinning around and being pulled backward. All she could see were blurs of red, gold, silver and green. As suddenly as the sensation began, it stopped. Before she knew it June was falling. Luckily for her she landed on something soft and... strangely warm. "As attractive as I may be, would you mind getting off me miss?" a deep voice interrupted June's musings concerning what strange object she was currently sprawled across. In that moment everything came into perspective. Oh. No wonder it was warm. June's last thought was 'oh shit' before the world faded into darkness. When her eyelids fell closed there was a pair of charcoal green eyes etched into her mind.