Hello and thank you for checking out my fic! This is not the first story I've written, and I've been a big fan of the HP series since I was little. However, this is my story for the HP fandom, so I'd really appreciate any feedback, opinions, or comments you have. I've had the idea for this story and character for awhile and I'm eager to share it with you all! The input I receive from readers will help me make it even better, so please leave a review and share what you think!


Chapter 1: The Lady of the Lake

Cokeworth, England, was a distinctly non-magical place. A post industrial town with uniform brick houses, a recently shut down mill, and a muggy river, it had a mundane sense of normalcy about it. That is perhaps why Jack and Rose Evans had settled down to raise their growing family there. They felt the streets safe and wholesome enough to let their three little girls run free to play without any worry that something horrible or unusual would happen to them.

On one hazy summer afternoon, the three Evans sisters were running down one of those streets to the local park, or perhaps more accurately, 11 year old Petunia and 9 year old Lily were dragging their sister Juniper there.

"It's too hot to go outside," Juniper mumbled, her mess of brown curls bouncing as she shook her head.

"But you HAVE to come Juney!" Lily insisted to her twin, her lip curling down into an adorable pout as she tugged her sister along by the elbow. "It's so pretty today!"

"Oh just leave her alone if she's going to be such a spoilsport!" Petunia shot over her shoulder as she led the way, as any proper older sister would.

"But Tuney, we're sisters! We can't go without Juney!" Lily said resolutely, still tugging her fraternal twin along.

Petunia let out an exaggerated sigh and whipped around to face the twins, hands on her hips. She glared at the them with icy blue eyes. Juniper thought she looked far too severe for her eleven years, with her thin lips twisted into a scowl and blonde hair pulled up into a tight bun.

"You two are being ridiculous!" She turned her gaze on Juniper, her scowl growing deeper when she spotted the thick blue book clutched in the little girl's arms. "Would it really kill you to get a few hours of fresh air, Juniper? You've been cooped up all day with that dusty old book."

Juniper casted her green eyes towards the ground as she cradled the novel to her chest like a baby. "It's a good story," she said. "And I was just getting to the exciting part."

Lily frowned as she relinquished her sister's arm, studying her with matching bright green eyes. "Do you really not want to play with us, Juney?"

Juniper glanced between her sisters, Petunia's face pinched in indignance and Lily's pleading. She sighed. "A few hours in the park wouldn't be so bad I guess. It's nice to read outside sometimes."

Lily let out a whoop of excitement before breaking into a sprint. "Last one there is a rotten egg!" Her laughter sounded like bells and her bright red hair streamed behind her like a flame as she ran ahead.

Petunia rolled her eyes. "Come on, Juney," she said, placing a motherly hand on her little sister's shoulder. The two followed behind at a much slower pace.

"What story are you reading that's so amazing anyway?" She queried.

Juniper shifted the book in her arms in order to show the older girl the front cover. "The Lady of the Lake," she grinned, reading aloud the title printed in ornate golden font across the leather cover. "It's about Nimue, how she discovered she had powers and became a great sorceress, and made Excalibur for King Arthur. She then went to his court and helped him from the shadows become the greatest king Britain ever knew."

Petunia's mouth turned up into a rare smile. She ran a hand through her Juniper's untamed curls, making the little girl blanche. "Tuney!"

"You do make your book sound more appealing than playing in this heat," Petunia chuckled. "But you need to pull your head out of the clouds Juney." She stepped back. "That story is a lovely dream to have, but unlike the Lady of the Lake, you aren't some mystical spell caster. You need to get your nose out of your books and talk to people more."

Juniper frowned at her sister, a little embarrassed. She knew Petunia was right, but she'd always found it much more pleasant to spend her time with characters rather than real people. They were more exciting, and not as difficult to talk to. She always had Lily to do the talking for her anyway. She was the charming, sociable one of the pair them. Juniper just wasn't good at that sort of thing. She never knew the right thing to say like Lily did.

She clutched her book tighter to her chest as she and Petunia walked the rest of the way in silence. Lily had already gotten to the swings in the play area of the park and was soaring through the air when they arrived. "Come on, you rotten eggs!" She called with a smile as she pumped her legs. "Bet you can't go higher than me!"

Petunia, always the competitive type, rushed over to the swing set to take Lily up on her challenge. Juniper, on the other hand, just smiled and shook her head, waving at her sister before wandering off to find a good place to read. She ended up settling down on a wooden bench under the shade of a massive birch tree not too far off. She tuned out the creaking of the swings and her sisters' voices as they exchanged playful taunts, intent on getting back to Nimue, whom had last been deciding which spells she needed to use to make Excalibur.

Swept up in the narrative, she didn't pay much mind to her surroundings until Petunia let out an almighty shriek. "Lily, don't!"

Juniper glanced up with wide eyes just as Lily launched herself from her swing at the highest point in its arc. Petunia cried out in fright, probably worried her reckless baby sister would crumple on the ground, broken. Juniper didn't scream though, because she knew in her gut that Lily had the situation under control. Twins just had a strange connection like that. She could sense Lily's confidence as she sailed through the air, flipping gracefully like an acrobat against the blue sky before she landed on her feet so lightly, it almost seemed unnatural.

"Lily Jane Evans!" Petunia screeched as she dragged her feet on the ground to stop her swing. "You could have broken your neck! What would I have told mum if that had happened?" Lily simply laughed, grinning wide at Petunia.

Juniper jumped when she heard a twig snapping. She glanced at the brush directly behind her, narrowing her eyes at the green foliage, but it simply shuddered in a passing hot summer breeze.

"Juney!" Lily called. Juniper turned forward to see her twin jogging up to the bench, flushed and smiling. "Did you see my flip?" She asked, excitement alight in her green eyes.

"I did," Juniper giggled. "I heard Tuney squealing too. How did you not break you neck Lily?" she asked, tilting her head. Because Lily had quite literally flown through the air. It just seemed a bit off.

"I dunno," Lily shrugged, glancing at the ground. She reached down to pluck a handful wild flowers growing nearby the bench. She looked at Juniper with a small smile. "I just imagined doing the flip I guess, then I was able to do it." She handed a few flowers to Juniper. "Here Juney, let's make flower crowns for me, you, and Tuney. If there's enough, maybe we'll even make mum one."

Juniper sighed, her curiosity not quite sated, but did it really matter? She played with the stems of the flowers and studied them for a moment before she got to work. The bundle contained a mixture of large pink dog roses and tiny, delicate nightshade flowers. She recognized them from one of her mother's botany books.

Nimue had used nightshade for one of her healing potions earlier in her story. Juniper plucked a pale nightshade blossom from its stalk and held it in the palm of her hand. She imagined she was a sorceress like Nimue, able to bend the flowers to her will, mutter a few incantations, and then make a sick child well again. Juniper wanted to do that. Grandma and Grandpa had practiced medicine too, and they had pulled people back from the brink of death almost everyday when they worked. What they did, what Nimue did, it almost seemed like a wondrous magic to her, to posses the power to will life back into a person. But Petunia was right, nothing about Juniper or her world was magical.

The tiny flower in her palm closed up, as if it sensed her defeat. Her eyes widened, and with her surprise, the flower opened back up. She blinked, wondering if she'd imagined it, but sure enough, the petals opened and closed of their own accord several more times.

"Juney!" Lily gasped, letting her half weaved flower crown fall into her lap. "How are you doing that!?"

"I just imagined it," Juniper mumbled, repeating her sister's own reasoning, still quite unsure herself how the flower was moving.

"I wanna try!" Lily said excitedly, plucking a pink rose from her crown and holding it in her palm like her twin. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the flower. The rose seemed to shiver under her willful gaze for a moment, then it snapped shut like an oyster.

"Tuney!" Lily screeched, making Juniper flinch. "Come look!"

Petunia ran over to her sisters, out of breath. "What in the world is it?" She asked, concern shining in her eyes.

"Look what we can do!" Lily exclaimed, offering up her open palm to Petunia and motioning at Juniper.

The older girl squinted at her sisters' hands and then squeaked when she saw their moving flowers. Her eyes bulging from her head, she opened her mouth several times before she stuttered, "How-how are you doing that!? It's unnatural."

The bush that Juniper had heard a noise from earlier rustled in response. All three girls stared in surprise as a boy stumbled out of its branches. Tripping over his baggy pants, he batted leaves out of his hair with his too long sleeves as he tried to regain his footing.

"Who are you?!" Petunia asked sharply.

The boy ignored her, instead focusing his dark eyes on the twins. He glanced over Juniper then settled his gaze on Lily, some odd sort of admiration shining there. "That's easy," he panted. A piece of his stringy black hair fell over his face as he grinned at them. "You're witches."

"What a horrible thing to say!" Lily gasped, standing immediately. Both Petunia and Lily glared at him, hands on their hips.

The boy flinched under Lily's ire, his cheeks flushing as he fumbled with his words. "I didn't mean it as an insult. It's -it's good. It just means you have -"

"You've been watching us from the bushes this whole time, haven't you?!" Petunia interrupted. When the boy's eyes widened and his cheeks flushed more, she gasped. "You little freak!" She turned to her little sisters. "Lily, Juniper, we're going home now! " she commanded in her bossy-big-sister voice. She turned up her nose and marched away, expecting the twins to follow her like little ducklings follow their mother.

Lily did just that, casting a glowering green glare at the boy before she immitated her older sister. "Yeah, let's go Juney!" She declared in her bossy-twin-sister voice as she charged off.

"No wait!" The boy implored, reaching out a hand and staring desperately after Lily as she slipped further from his reach.

Yet Juniper just stayed in place on the bench, her book still in her lap, and the enchanted blossom still moving in her hand. She studied the strange boy with a raised brow. "What do we have?" She asked quietly.

The boy blinked as he turned towards her, surprised, as if he hadn't noticed that she was still there. "Wha?"

"You said we were witches," Juniper mumbled, tilting her head. "That we have something. What do you mean?"

The boy looked down at her blossom, still moving, before he met her gaze again. "Isn't it obvious?" He asked, tucking a strand of greasy hair behind his ear. "You have magic."


I know there was no Hogwarts or marauders this chaprer, but I promise that they are coming, along with a lot of other great characters and ideas I have planned, if you'll just hang with me! Please leave a review to let me what you think and might want to see. Your reviews will only help the story and writing get better. Thanks for reading!