Jenni ran as fast as her legs could carry her, she needed to get away and tell someone – anyone - what she saw. She didn't know where to go, though she knew who to go to. Her fathers best friend, and auror colleague, who was practically an uncle to her was the man to go to – Harry Potter.
She didn't bother knocking on the door and instead barged in knowing the family wouldn't be upset. She immediately looks to her right inside the kitchen and sees Ginny Potter making lunch for her three children. Ginny looks up in alarm but collects herself quickly when she realizes whom it is.
"Oh, Jenni. Hi. What are you doing here?" Ginny asks, "I thought you were…" Her voice trailed off once she noticed the young girl's worn and panicked expression.
"Oh… sweetie?" Ginny says gently full of concern while walking over to her, "what is it? What happened?" At this point her children - James, Albus, and Lily - were looking at Jenni curiously.
"I…I need… I need to find Harry. It's urgent… I need him," Jenni finally replies between gasps of air.
Ginny simply looks at her, trying to read the young girl's tired face. What she sees is a beautiful girl with light olive colored skin, soft, caring dark brown eyes, and chestnut brown curly hair giving Ginny a look of extreme determination she had never seen from any child before.
"He's right upstairs. In his study," Ginny says.
"Thank you," Jenni says gratefully. She quickly turns to run upstairs.
"But!" Ginny quickly exclaims. Jenni turns back around impatiently. Ginny says with a smirk, "knock on the door this time as opposed to knocking the door down." Jenni gives her a grin and hurries up the stairs to Harry's door and begins pounding on it with a combination of urgency and impatience.
Harry opens the door with annoyance, "What on ear-." He stops short seeing Jenni looking up at him with worry and a glimmer of tears in her eyes.
"Oh, Jen. I wasn't expecting you. What's…what's the matter?" he asks softly. And, without any spoken reply she wraps her arms around his waist and starts sobbing into his chest. He does his best to soothe her telling her how 'everything is going to be alright' and 'I'm here, I'm here'.
After some time, Jenni finally speaks, "I need help. My... my mum and… my dad… they… they've… they're gone."
Harry looks at her for a long moment. Taking in what she said and understanding full well that they didn't just disappear, but that something much worse has occurred.
He finally replies, "Show me." Jenni nods and Harry wipes away her stray tears with a small smile. She takes his hand and walks down the stairs. By the time they are downstairs the Potter children are finishing up lunch and Ginny stands up seeing the two enter, and walks up to her husband, asking what's going on. He whispers how he'll tell her when they get back and that Jenni has to show him something important. Ginny nods and kisses him on his cheek and gives Jenni a kiss on her forehead, as they're about to leave.
And so, Harry and Jenni walk hand in hand to the meadow. Harry stops in his tracks when he sees what has happened and puts his arm around Jenni's shoulders. He sends a patronus to the ministry aurors about the crime. Within seconds they appear, some go to Harry and talk, while other take photographs of the incident, and a female auror named Milly Danes walks up to Jenni to get her description of what she saw.
Jenni gives as much detail as she possibly could. She first talks about how she and her parents always come to the meadow the day before her birthday to celebrate. Second, how after eating she went a small ways away to pick a small bouquet of flowers to take home like she usually does, and that she was kneeling on the ground choosing flowers when everything happened in a flash. Thirdly, she explained how scared she felt when the mystery figure appeared and how she couldn't hear the spell but figured out what it was as soon as she saw the green light. Then, as soon as he disapperated she ran over to where her parents were, only to find them dead. Next, she described how she got scared, but knew she had to tell someone so she ran to tell Harry. Unintentionally she tells Milly how sad she is to know that her parents wont get to see her face when she receives her Hogwarts letter. Once these words came out Jenni notices Milly's mind click on what she said and observed how her face instantly changed from concerned to pity.
It was then, when she felt irrationally angry and found didn't want a strangers pity, but she wanted her mum. And she wanted her mum to wake her up telling her how it was all a terrible nightmare. Her mum would then give her a big hug filled with comfort and love, but no, she wasn't going to get what she wanted. Even though she was going to be the 'Birthday Girl' who is suppose to get what she wants. With that, Jenni felt a bitterness rise in her chest.
She excused herself from Milly and walked over to Harry and says, "I'm really tired. I want to go. I need to go. It's too hard to stay here with people asking me questions I don't want to answer."
"Of course we can go now," Harry says comfortingly, "and just so you know, you'll be staying with me and Ginny for the time being. Your room will be what is, or used to be, the guest room. We're your guardians, and eventually we'll have to go to your house to pack all your belongings. When you're ready of course."
"Of course," Jenni said to him, her mind wandering off. Her day was becoming too much for to handle, as well as too much change to handle. And Jenni Palmer isn't the biggest fan of change.
