April 27, 1964
I felt the lines in Lily's palms as they covered my eyes. Petunia's hand was in my own, leading me to a certain destination in our house. Today was my third birthday, and there was apparently a surprise waiting for me somewhere. Lily and Petunia refuse to spill the beans. Traitors.
Suddenly Lily's hands removed themselves from my eyes. There was a loud yell of "Happy Birthday" from several people.
They'd brought me to the dining room. Balloons of all colors were all over the place; resting on the floor, flying to the ceiling, with those strings hanging down in my parents faces. The cake sat splat in the middle of the dark wood dining table. It had white frosting with my name sprawled across the middle. There were red, green, and blue balloons that had been painted on there in frosting.
"We remembered how much you seemed to love the balloons at Petunia's birthday party, so we gave you a balloon filled birthday!" my mum said, cheery as usual.
My dad walked in, holding five party hats. They looked like cones that have been splattered with rainbow paint.
"Oh, these are so adorable! When did you even get them?" my mum asked, taking one and strapping it onto her head. It made her look ridiculous, but ridiculous fit her.
"I got it when you had me run out and get the frosting colors for the cake," my dad replied, smiling at my mom. I felt Lily gently sweep past me, going straight for the hats. While my dad was distracted, she snatched the hats. She beamed at me.
"I've got an idea," I said, feeling my mischievous side ignite. I grabbed Lily's hand, and we ran through the front door, and into the nice spring air. I searched around for my targets, scanning our next door neighbors front porch.
"June, please tell me we aren't doing what I think we are," Lily moaned. I just turned and grinned at her.
The neighbor next door on the left was an elderly lady. Not the nice gardener that I usually associate elderly with, but she was rather crabby. From what I've observed from the window, anyway. She had garden gnomes set up all over her front porch, as if to guard her house.
"Come on," I said to Lily, taking off towards our neighbors house. I heard Lily groan, but then I heard her feet pitter-patter along behind me. Time to give these gnomes a birthday make-over.
I held my hand out to Lily, waiting for her to give me the pointed party hats. She looked hesitant for a moment, but then she nodded at me, and gave me the four party hats. I quickly began putting the hats on four of the gnomes. The hats fit perfectly on their cone-shaped heads, and in my opinion, it really brought out the gnomes eyes.
"Hey! What're you two brats doing?!" I heard a loud, raspy voice say. There was a loud clanging from the window to the right. Then there was a gasp, she must've seen the gnomes.
"Let's get out of here, June," Lily said urgently, but I saw that even she was giggling slightly. I nodded, and we took off back to our house.
All that could be heard was the disgruntled sounds of the old woman, and the giggles of two innocent little girls.
July 11, 1966
People hurried along on the busy sidewalks. I thought of how, if I were to reach out my car window I could touch one of them. Not that I'd want to, they were probably dirty.
I guess it's pretty easy to tell that I haven't been to a big city before. Not in my past life, and definitely not in this new one.
We were going to the London, England. For as long as I can remember this has been my ultimate dream. Of course, I always imagined that I'd be going here for a more important reason. See, we were just going to go shopping for some new clothes, and then meet our dad on his lunch break.
I was very thankful for my small, five year old body, because it made traveling much less stressful. Petunia, Lily, and I were all packed in the back of our extremely small blue car, and since I was the youngest, I was stuck in the middle.
To make things even more uncomfortable, Lily and Petunia insisted on having a thumb war, or should I say thumb wars. Technically I was supposed to be the judge. Of what exactly, I wasn't exactly sure. How do you even play dirty in a thumb war?
"Petunia you have to keep you elbows down!" Lily whined, her face taking on a pitiful pout. I sighed, Petunia was bound to cheat, why couldn't Lily just accept this fact and move on? "Juniper, hold her elbow down!" Lily looked at me, with such a begging glint in her eyes.
"Lily's just upset that she doesn't have nearly as much skill as me," Petunia boasted, glowing in pride.
"Guys, I don't want to be the judge! Why can't I just play too?!" I moaned, crossing my arms in a pout. Lily was about to say something, but she was cut off.
"Calm down, girls. We're here now," our mom said from the driver's seat. Sure enough, the car was parked in its own space in front of a large building.
A sense of dread swept through my body. We were going shopping.
It's not as if I have anything against shopping, I'd loved it quite a lot in my past life. (As any teenage girl was expected to love.) But, as of right now, I was merely a five year old. And we all know what five year olds end up wearing. Obnoxious colors everywhere.
The absolute horror.
Not surprisingly at all, it was our mother who had the most enthusiasm. She was skittering all over the girls' section like a hyperactive child on caffeine. Petunia was looking at the racks of clothes half-heartedly, her eyes glassing over slightly. Lily was trying o keep up with our mom, catching the articles of clothing my mom threw towards her.
And me? Well, I was out.
Maybe I could find a magazine, and see how Robin Williams was fairing over in America. Or some other old celebrity that I practically shunned in my past life.
Instead, I found the next best thing. A bathroom. A place where middle aged women would usually be found gossiping and primping up their already fluffy hair. Which could be seen as the most horrific things in some people's opinion. But for me, the view was considerably better from inside there.
It took all of the energy in my five year old body to push open that thick wooden door. So much that I was panting very slightly once I was inside. So much that I focused only on the wall of sinks.
I poked the faucets, feeling the smooth metal beneath my fingertips. I took a big hearty breath, and blew it onto the mirror. My plan is officially over. Boredom has already managed to conquer my soul.
There was a miniature click that sounded against the tiled walls. My head jerked towards the welcome intruder, and the sight made my head swim.
In the doorway, with a look of shock spread across their face, stood a little boy. One with light brown hair and enchanting green eyes.
"Why are you in the girls bathroom?" I asked, feeling the words shake the tension in the air. The boy's face began darkening into a tomato color, before his eyes flickered to the area behind me. His face morphed into a small smile, and he met my eyes with a kind confidence that shocked my soul.
"Maybe you should look around," he suggested, holding his arm out in the gesture. I swiveled my head, thinking that there was just no way that…
Oh my God.
I gasped, gaping at the white… urinals. (Clue: If you see urinals, you have entered the wrong bathroom.) Blood rushed to my cheeks, and I began to chew lightly on my tongue. I stared at the space just above the kid's head, well, glaring would be a more suitable word.
On an impulse, I jerked my body to the left, and swung my forehead down onto the sink just like a child would swing the hammer down on the whack-a-moles. A pain exploded in my head, a pain that took the embarrassment away. I just… I felt so stupid.
"Ah, no, please don't slam your head. It just brings you pain, and pain is no good," the childlike voice said in a rush. I felt a hand set itself on the back of my head, and the warmth seeped through the sheet of my hair and into my head.
"I guess I should've looked around and seen the Urinals," I muttered, lifting my head from the sink, and rubbing my hand against my forehead soothingly. He laughed, that sweet laugh only an innocent child could pull off.
"Maybe your best bet would be to look at the symbol on the door. Imagine coming in to see someone doing… some business… at a urinal." I shuddered at the mere thought. "What's your name?"
"Juniper."
"Pleasure to urinal talk with you, I'm Remus Lupin."
December 25, 1967
Little snippets of light swam through the little crack in the curtain. It danced across my eye-lids, shining down to my soul.
On any other day, I might've snatched a pillow from Lily, so that I could cover my eyes. So that I could block the light out and get back to my slumber. But today wasn't just any day, you see.
It was Christmas.
I sat up ramrod straight, feeling the tingling sensation of excitement spread throughout my limbs. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lily. She was still all snuggled up in her mountain of blankets, a drip of drool proceeding from the corner of her mouth.
A devious smirk morphed onto my face.
"Lily!" I yelled, jumping through the air, onto her bed. I landed with a creak from the bed springs. Lilt squeaked, throwing her blankets everywhere and sitting up. Her hands assumed the self defense position, and her eyes darted around. When she saw me, her eyes flamed.
"Juniper," Lily said evilly, glaring at me.
"Lily, it's Christmas! We've got to go get Tuney and mom and dad!" I said hurriedly, trying to prevent a death. Specifically mine.
She immediately beamed, and we took off.
Petunia was sitting on her bed, awake, when we stumbled into her room. She brightened when we came in. The three of us shared ecstatic smiles that brightened the whole bedroom.
The Three Musketeers: Christmas Edition.
We streamed into our parents room, jumping up onto the bed.
"It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" we chanted, jumping up and down. Then, I saw it. Through the crack in the curtain, I saw it. Big, fluffy, snowflakes flooded from the sky.
"Lily, it's snowing," I murmured in a dreamy voice. Green met blue, and we had a silent agreement right there. We clumsily (well I was, Lily was quite elegant) left the warmth of our parents bed, and sprinted through the hallway to the closet. I put my pink snow boots on and and grabbed my green winter coat. Lilly had the opposite, green boots and a pink coat. Our mother thought that it'd be cute to match us.
We glanced at each other, having our second silent agreement of the day. It was a race.
I took off towards the door that would lead me out into my own little white paradise. Really, Lily never really stood a chance, as I was way more determined than her. I had more of a reason to.
As I thought, I reached the handle seconds before Lily, and threw it open. For those few seconds, my world halted in its existence. It was just me and my beautiful white paradise of serenity. The flaky crystals fluttered from pristine clouds, each unique in its own way.
A body flinging into mine brought me from my haven, and back to Earth. Lily bumped me aside, going out under the snowflakes. She held her arms out, and spun around, taking in all that she could. She had a victorious glint in her green orbs when she looked at me.
"I beat you," she sounded out each syllable. But, it wasn't in a mocking way, not really. It was just as any child would, letting the world know their victory.
I stepped out of the house, bringing the door to a close behind me. I glanced evilly at Lily, and took the plunge.
We did just what kids are expected to do when it's snowing steadily on Christmas day. There was an intense snowball fight that ended in a full out war zone, with snowballs flying through the air of neutral territory. Snow angels covered the area of the lawn, some more distorted than others. Of course, there was one more thing. One tall, towering snowman that had a crooked grin of pebbles.
When Lily, and I were all done, we collapsed down on the ground next to each other, heaving slightly from the physically strain the snowman caused. The snow from the sky had ceased but it didn't take the magic with it.
If only I had noticed the dark shadow peering out the front window.
August 13, 1968
Petunia was a lot of things. Devious, structured, stubborn, and loud. The volumes she could reach when she wanted to were appalling. And really, she was loud enough without even meaning to be.
"I don't want to do this anymore," Petunia's voice trilled, on the edge of squeaking. I cringed, hearing every single word all too clearly. I looked across the room at Lily, to see that she was creasing her brow in a cringe too. Despite having a set of walls between the siren and us, we could hear everything perfectly. Couldn't really expect anything more from this house. It's strong, but let's face it, nothing ever stands a chance against the great Petunia.
"I'm not a child anymore, I'm eleven. I deserve the chance to go out into the world. To make friends," Petunia bellowed, seeing to shake the walls. I took a deep breath, and it came out a shaking, shriveling mess.
We all know what Petunia wants. She wants to go to actual school, instead of staying here to be home-schooled by our mom. She wanted to leave us.
"There's a three year gap between Lily and I, and a four year one between Juniper and me. I want real friends that are as mature as me," Petunia snapped. Everything felt cold and bitter.
Or maybe it was just me.
I knew that Petunia was going to win this fight. She always does, and it's not like a parent to not want their child to go to school, actual school. It just makes my heart ache excruciatingly.
School was something that tore my brother and I apart before. Suddenly he's too cool to hang out with his sister, and besides, he has other more important people to hang around.
A lump sat deep in my throat. Ponds sat at the bottom of each of my eye-lids. This is the first step of separation. Not to mention the letter Lily would get in just three years. They're all going to leave me behind.
Tears began streaming down my cheeks, and I snuffled. Lily looked over, and widened her eyes in shock when she saw what state I was entering. She dropped her book immediately, causing a soft thunk against the floor.
When her warm arms welcomed me, I completely lost any control that I had previously. I wrapped my arms around her, hugging slightly. I began full on sobbing into her small, childlike shoulder.
Before I knew it, I felt dampness slowly creep onto my shoulders, soaking through the cloth of my shirt. Our sniffles melted into one.
Maybe she felt that things were changing, too. Maybe she knew that we've come to the edge of happy, blissful days. But… if it's truly the end, what could we ever move on to?
There's that! I'm excited for the upcoming chapters, some pretty major characters are going to be introduced.
Till next time. Leave a review, they inspire me.
