Summary: "For all her exceptional achievements, the people around her tend to forget she is merely 17. As does the Curse-breaker herself."


Unable to wheedle an address from Penny, and forced to wait while she and Rowan complete the thousand and one rituals necessary to girls before they can appear in public, it's noon before Felix finally escapes the Khanna grounds and grudgingly apparates alongside the younger Hufflepuff. Directly into a clump of large, prickly bushes. Grumbling under his breath about the apparition skills of teenagers, Felix attempts to disentangle himself from the clinging branches. A sharp tug at his sleeve yanks him deeper into the foliage.

"Ouch! Haywood, what the-"

"Shhh!" Penny holds a finger to her lips and gives a vicious shush, then peeks cautiously between the leaves.

Fortunately, Felix now has several years experience maintaining awkward positions in unpleasant undergrowth. He crouches as still as possible, peering over Penny's shoulder to determine where they are. He can see a wrought iron grille just in front of their bush and behind it the occasional passing muggle motor car.

Rowan shifts noisily next to him, trying to achieve a more comfortable position and dislodging a rather large, spindly-legged spider from its web in the dense leaves. And Felix is grateful once more for the years he's spent in Peru where he's learned to suppress a particular phobia he'd prefer to keep private. Still, he's unable to prevent his body tensing in alarm as the spider scrambles up Rowan's arm just centimetres away from his face.

"Is this really necessary?" Felix hisses.

Without replying, Penny pokes her wand through the branches, muttering a spell under her breath, and Felix hears the noise of creaking metal.

"C'mon," she whispers, and pushes through the tight greenery. Rowan follows quickly, knocking the spider from its perch, and Felix has to fling himself forward to avoid it, scrambling gracelessly through the newly parted grille and into the road.

The three of them cross the street, packed with expensive-looking parked motors, and stride as casually as possible down a walk in front of a row of stately town-homes. Penny leads the way, pulling leaves and twigs from her hair, until they reach the very end of the street the plaque declares to be Chester Square. Glancing up and down the walk, Penny taps her wand against a jet-black gate. It swings open soundlessly, and Felix pushes to the fore. He sprints up the steps, and raps hard on a door the same gleaming shade of black as the gate. It takes several more successively violent knocks before it finally swings inward.

"Wotcher," says the pink-haired Tonks in mild surprise. She looks from Felix to the girls waiting in his shadow, then makes an exasperated movement with her shoulders like a sort of full-body eye roll. "This a kidnap, then?"


"Where is Juniper?" demands Felix.

In answer, Tonks nudges the door open more fully, then walks away without a word, leaving the three on the doorstep to invite themselves in. Without waiting for Penny or Rowan, Felix follows on Tonks' heels, past a wide staircase and down an elegantly decorated corridor. The Hufflepuff girl is clad in an interesting assortment of mismatched garments Felix can only assume serve as pyjamas, in spite of the hour, and in stark contrast with the understated hallway and the magnificent kitchen it leads into.

A glittering white candelabra illuminates counter-tops of pristine white marble facing an enormous fireplace bordered by a pure white mantle. There's hardly any other colour to be found in the entire room, except Tonks' clothes reflected over and over again in the mirrored cabinets.

"Who was it?" asks the girl seated in a high-backed white chair at the counter. Felix vaguely recognises Tulip Karasu, the renowned Ravenclaw trouble-maker.

"The Juniper Rescue Squad," replies Tonks in amusement, throwing herself into the chair beside Tulip with a force that causes it to wobble dangerously. She pulls a plate toward her and begins tucking in.

Tulip turns to inspect the intruders. Her eyes linger for a long moment on Penny, face inscrutable, before noticing Felix.

"Who's the bloke?"

Tonks answers through a mouthful of bacon. "That's Philip."

"Felix," corrects Felix.

"That," agrees Tonks with a nod. She covers her mouth with a hand as she speaks around her food. "You remember Juniper's old prefect? The one who sent us home from hospital?"

Tulip inspects Felix thoroughly, eyes lingering on him in a way that makes him distinctly self-conscious. Glancing at his reflection in the mirrored cabinet opposite, Felix realises he's covered in all the dirt, sweat, and dragon-grime of the ten hour shift he completed before receiving Khanna's letter. In his rush to check on Juniper, his unkempt state had completely escaped him.

"Chester Davies said you work with dragons now," Tulip mentions thoughtfully. "What are you doing here?"

Felix makes a half-hearted attempt to slick back his hair, but it does little to alter his overall appearance.

"I'm here to see Juniper," he answers, with as much dignity as he can muster, wondering if he can surreptitiously clean himself before she sees him. The reunion he's envisioned with Juniper does not include him smelling of dragon dung.

Tulip makes a tiny noise of disgust and tilts her head to gaze around Felix.

"Penny Haywood, do give it a rest. She's perfectly alright."

Penny emerges from the hallway behind Felix, little spots of colour appearing on her cheeks.

"Then she'll be perfectly alright back at Rowan's. Where she's supposed to be."

"Where's the fun in that?" winks Tulip.

Tonks leans her chair back to see around her friend. "I'm sure she'll be ready to go back soon. She just needs to blow off a bit of steam, you know?" She shoves another slice of bacon into her mouth. "You can't really blame her. All she's done the last six years is work. Solving mysteries, saving the school?"

"Battling bullies," chimes in Tulip, lifting a white tea cup to her lips.

"Yeah, and assassins!"

"Dueling dragons."

"And that thing with the werewolf, whats-his-n- whoops!" Tonks' chair legs overbalance and she topples backwards giving a small yip of surprise.

With an exasperated gasp, Penny rushes across the room to Tonks' aid. Felix notices an odd look flicker over Tulip's small, fine features as she watches Penny takes Tonks' hand and pull her up from the floor. She turns away again and stares unreadably into her teacup.

"Plus, she even cares about her marks now and being prefect and nonsense like that," Tulip concludes, pronouncing the word prefect with utter disdain. "She's been too pent up for years. She deserves some fun."

"So, playing tricks on boys at parties, completely ignoring the International Statute of Secrecy; that's your idea of fun?" asks Penny skeptically as she rights Tonks' chair.

"Not just boys," says Tulip mildly. She locks eyes with a blushing Penny, and there's an undercurrent to their gaze Felix can't identify. It doesn't appear to have anything to do with Juniper, however, and it therefore means nothing to him. He clears his throat loudly and adopts his most imperious tone.

"Would someone kindly tell me where Juniper actually is?"

But the words have hardly left his mouth when he hears dull footfalls in the hallway.

"That's our sleeping beauty now," Tonks says cheerfully.

Felix whirls around, and fortune seems to have a vested interest in his dignity this afternoon as it ensures the door frame is just behind him when he suddenly stumbles backward, preventing him landing in a heap on the floor. There's nothing to be done about his slack-jawed stare, however, as Juniper shuffles past him toward the counter like a zombie, eyes half closed and crusted over in sleep.

If Felix has ever seen Juniper out of her school or Quidditch uniform, then it's only in her own personal dress code of jeans and jumper. He has certainly never seen her in skimpy sleep shorts and enormous overlarge t-shirt that hangs off her otherwise bare shoulder. He knows there are far more important things to be concerned about, such as the heavy bags under Juniper's eyes and the shaking in her fingers as she fumbles with the high backed chair beside Tonks, or the fact that she appears to have lost a stone. But for the moment, the whole of Felix's attention is occupied by the sight of Juniper's naked legs.

Juniper manages to collapse heavily into the chair, then slumps across the counter, head resting on her arms.

"Oi. You've got company," Tonks says enthusiastically, nudging her limp arm. Juniper gives a tired grunt, not looking up.

"See. She sleeps better after a night out," Tulip says in triumph, speaking to Penny once again as though Juniper can't hear them. But Penny is oblivious to anything but Juniper now, her face full of open concern.

The flawless white tea pot on the counter tips itself over smoothly into an unused cup. The little teacup then trots across to Juniper's tangled heap of arms without spilling a drop and stops, waiting as patiently as a well-trained dog. Juniper lifts her head the minimal amount required to sip at the rim of the cup without lifting a hand. For a full minute, the room is silent except the quiet sounds of slurping tea.

Penny, still standing awkwardly behind the line of chairs, casts a meaningful look at Felix, waiting for him to take the lead, but Felix is too preoccupied with the intriguing amount of skin revealed by Juniper's gaping shirt to remember exactly why they're here in the first place. From behind him, Rowan clears her throat.

"Juniper?"

Juniper grunts again without any clear inflection. She tilts her head very slightly in Rowan's direction, but still doesn't open her eyes.

"Um...Felix is here. He came to see you." Rowan tries to infuse excitement into her voice, but her hands clenching and unclenching in front of her give away her nerves.

Slowly, Juniper pushes off from the table and focuses bleary, bloodshot eyes on the doorway. Felix's heart skips a beat, but her gaze crosses him and then Rowan without any reaction, as if his presence were nothing more remarkable than a post owl.

"How are you feeling?" asks Penny anxiously.

Juniper coughs around another swallow of tea before mumbling, "I've massive headache."

"Oh, right!" exclaims Tonks, straightening up and fishing around in a hidden pocket. She produces a small, clear bottle and sets it with a thud next to Juniper's teacup. "Hangover cure's a summer essential. Never be without."

Juniper stares at the corked bottle, and Felix's blood cools enough for him to put thoughts together coherently. He moves to come to Juniper's aid, but Penny beats him to it.

"I've got it," she says eagerly, reaching around Juniper for the bottle.

Juniper jumps from her chair as quickly as if it were on fire. Penny flinches at the sudden movement and the rest of the room stills, all eyes now on Juniper in varying levels of concern.

"It's fine," she mumbles, tucking her hands into her armpits. "Just need a bit of air." She takes a few stumbling steps backward before darting from the room with unexpected speed, given her listless entrance.

Penny turns and looks helplessly at Tonks. Her lips move and it sounds like a question, but Felix can't process the words. Ignoring the low, serious murmurs passing between the girls in the room, Felix hastens past the chairs to follow Juniper out the swinging door.

For a moment, Felix wonders if the door was a port-key and if he hasn't been transported somewhere else, an entirely different continent perhaps. He's not overly familiar with Belgravia, but he feels certain its houses rarely contain sprawling, immaculately manicured Japanese tea gardens. Looking up, however, he can see the same tall buildings that surround the Karasu townhome over the tops of the delicately swaying trees. But there's no ambient city noise, just the trickle of the river, and what sounds like a distant waterfall.

Blinking in the sudden warm sunlight, Felix lifts a hand to shade his eyes, searching for Juniper. He catches sight of her a short distance away, standing motionless on a graceful wooden bridge overlooking the quiet stream. He steps cautiously toward her across stepping stones nestled between precisely arranged flowers.

If it weren't for Penny and Rowan's stories, and her strange behavior in the kitchen, Felix would have believed Juniper miraculously recovered. Her colour has returned to normal, and even her scars have largely faded. Preoccupied with drinking in all her newly revealed skin, Felix is a few steps behind Juniper before he notices something else.

"You cut your hair."

He doesn't mean to say the words aloud. They simply fall from his mouth as he stares stupidly at the back of Juniper's head. Her hair, always long and wavy even when pulled back, now just barely touches her shoulders. Felix isn't sure how he feels about the change.

"Fancied something different," Juniper explains without turning around. "What are you doing here?"

Her voice is eerie, like she's reading from a script she's only just seen. Playing the character of someone pleasant and cheerful, but unable to act the part convincingly. It sets the hairs on the back of Felix's neck on end. He shakes himself mentally and tries to remember all the comforting things he's planned to say while waiting in the Khanna kitchen just an hour ago.

"I...was worried about you. You stopped writing."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. Got busy," Juniper says, stage directions reading casually upbeat. Felix's nerves twang with each forced syllable.

"Rowan wrote me." He takes a step closer. "She's worried about you as well. "

"She needn't be. I'm fine."

Felix's eye-roll is instinctual. "That's ridiculous. You-"

Juniper turns to face Felix. And it isn't her wide, false smile that scares him, it's her eyes. They look like the empty windows of an abandoned house; all light behind them gone. Juniper's eyes have always been fiery, bringing an otherwise average face to life in a compelling way, even at thirteen. Between her newly shorn hair and her strangely blank eyes, Felix might have mistaken her for a completely different person.

"You - you're-" he stutters, but no comment he can make on her appearance sounds like a compliment. "Rowan says you're not yourself lately."

It takes a moment for Felix to interpret her strange chuffing noise as a laugh.

"What, because I wouldn't sit around on her farm the whole summer doing nothing?"

A gentle breeze blows across the trees. It feels good to Felix, the direct sunlight beginning to bear down on him uncomfortably, but Juniper shivers and wraps her arms around herself.

"Look, I just needed a change of pace, alright? Tonks and Tulip spend their summer holidays in the city, going to parties, having fun. I thought I might try that for once. I would've invited Rowan but it's not really her scene."

"You're supposed to be resting. Recovering. Staying safe."

Juniper's snort of laughter contains a higher than usual proportion of bitterness. "I don't see why I'm any safer out in the middle of nowhere than in the city surrounded by people."

"Dumbledore thinks-"

"Dumbledore thought we'd be safe at school and all. Look how that turned out. No offence, but he's not exactly my go-to for safety tips anymore."

Her false cheer begins to dissolve under the heat of obvious anger. It isn't a usual emotion for her, but it is at least genuine, and nearer the reaction Felix has expected. Heartened, he reaches between them to gently grasp her shoulder; the one still covered by thin cloth.

"Juniper..."

Juniper flinches. Felix can feel muscle tensing under his hand. She doesn't pull away, but his grip on her arm feels suddenly awkward rather than comforting, and he's unsure whether or not to let go.

"Juniper," he tries again. "That...that group could still be after you. I know it's difficult to think about right now with everything you've been through but, if they find you-"

"Why would they still be after me? I'm hardly a threat anymore." Bitterness salivates from her words. She holds up her hands in front of her, knocking Felix's loose from her shoulder. "I can hardly hold my wand anymore, let alone cast anything. So, they've got what they wanted. My curse-breaking career is effectively over. And any other career I might have had."

The words themselves seem to throb with pain, causing an ache in Felix he can't fully understand.

"Rowan thinks I'm not myself, because myself is always working: saving everyone and solving everything. But you know, when I was doing that all anyone ever said was for me to stop. And now that I want to listen to them, they're freaking out! I just want to have a bit of fun like regular girls my age do over the summer. Is that too much ask?"

Felix would have to concede this point if it weren't for the fact that her demeanor isn't that of a person enjoying themselves, having a relaxing, stress-free summer. Still, as someone guilty of encouraging Juniper to focus on herself instead of curse-breaking, he has to scramble for a counter-argument.

"What about school?"

Juniper shrugs carelessly. "What's the point?"

"The point? Juniper, you have NEWTs this year. How do you expect to be a healer if-"

"Ugh!" For a moment, Juniper's eyes flash with angry fire. "You and Rowan and Penny! You all want to tiptoe around me and pretend to encourage me about my future, like I don't know that I can't take the NEWTs and I can't be a healer anymore. I'm not an idiot, Felix. It's obvious I won't recover well enough to make anything like the marks I need to get into St Mungo's."

Felix is frozen in the wake of her bitter, scalding fury. It's been a very long time since he's seen Juniper this angry at him, and much like the last time, he has the feeling it has little to do with himself. Still, he can feel defensive anger raise a tired head. He's risked everything to be here for her, to help her, and she ought to appreciate that. Felix swallows around the lump in his throat, trying to keep himself calm.

"Are you still seeing your healers regularly? Healer Early said-"

Juniper cuts him off with an exasperated growl.

"Look, Felix, thank you for your concern but I've got this covered. I'll be just fine. I always am."

Turning briskly, Juniper starts off down the bridge, and Felix panics. He doesn't have the first idea what to say to fix this, to fix her, but he knows he has to say something. There's always been a good, rational reason not to speak, but he's sick of playing it safe. He's come too far to let her walk away again.

"Juniper, stop!" Felix calls after her, and remarkably, she does. Felix closes the distance between them, until he's close enough to count the pale scars across her forehead. Heart pounding, he cups her face in his hands, not caring what he must look like or smell like or whether the right time to do this is in Tulip Karasu's parent's garden.

"Please, just...listen. I understand, this is-"

"How could you possibly understand any of this?" Juniper interrupts, spitting the words into his face. Felix winces, back tracking quickly.

"Okay, you're right. I don't - I don't understand." He strokes her cheek with his thumb, trying to impress his feelings on her through their layers of skin. "But I want to. I want to help."

Felix can feel Juniper's trembling fingers encircle his, and his heart races. But she only tugs lightly, pulling his hands away from her face.

"Then leave me alone."

Her jaw is set, the shutters behind her eyes firmly closed. She drops his hands, and turns her back on him again. This time, Felix lets her go.

The kitchen is empty when Felix steps back through the swinging door. He marches through the glaringly white room, down the hall, and almost makes it to the front door when a voice hails him from behind. He pauses only briefly, entirely indisposed to any further conversation.

"Wait!" cries Tonks' voice. "How'd it go? Did she-" She catches sight of Felix's frozen mask and draws an accurate conclusion. "I guess she's not ready to go back then."

Felix regards her coldly. "No."

Tonks bites her lip, her hair fading to a dirty blonde; the first sign of low-spirits Felix has seen in the brash Hufflepuff.

"So...what do we do now?"

Felix's eyebrow raise is particularly contemptuous, and Tonks' shuffles her feet uncomfortably.

"Look, I'm not saying we were wrong. Juniper definitely needed to get out a bit, but...I don't know if it's really helping anymore."

"What do you mean?" asks Felix in spite of himself.

"I dunno, she's just..." Tonks shrugs expressively, "She gets sort of weird and jumpy when we're out now. I don't really know how to describe it."

Voices can be heard approaching the hall and Tonks looks around, suddenly nervous, as if their conversation were something illicit. She reaches into a pocket hidden somewhere in her strange ensemble and pulls out a scrap of paper. She thrusts it into Felix's unwilling hand.

"That's where we'll be tonight. Come by, you'll see what I mean. She might...be a bit more reasonable later. "

Felix shakes his head briskly. "I have quite enough on my plate at the moment without anymore teenage drama."

Tonks furrows her eyebrows indignantly, hair becoming a fiery red, but Felix overrides her hot retort. "I will write to Professor Snape and let him know that Juniper is once again refusing to follow the Headmaster's explicit instructions for her safety, and it will be up to them to decide her fate."

Without waiting for a reply, Felix yanks the front door open and sweeps from the townhouse, Tonks' proffered parchment still crumpled in his hand.

The first order of business is Diagon Alley, and his letter to Snape; just a few brief lines containing Juniper's current location and her refusal to return to safety. Then, the Leaky Cauldron for a room and a wash. A long, hot bath is enticing, but out of the question, so Felix opts for a quick sluice. No change of clothes gives him an excuse to return to Diagon Alley where he wastes an hour wandering in and out of shops, perusing racks of robes he has no use for in Romania, examining everything minutely, pestering shopkeepers with questions; anything to keep his thoughts and feelings at bay.

Exhaustion creeps over him, but Felix is afraid to sleep. There's a swell of misery waiting at the edges of his mind threatening to overwhelm him if he's still even for a moment. He walks the length of the street and back again twice, before his feet ache too badly to continue. Panic surfaces when he finally re-enters the Leaky Cauldron, unable to think of any further distraction. He's considering the soporific effects of a pint, when he notices the tall, black-robed figure speaking in low tones to Tom at the bar.

"Professor Snape?"

The Hogwarts Potions Master's black eyes meet Felix's and he jerks his head to indicate a door off the side of the pub's main room.

A half-hour later, sequestered in a private parlour, Felix finishes relating a more complete account of the day's events to the Slytherin Head of House, and stares down at his second cup of un-drunk tea that day. Only hours ago Felix would have been mortified to relate to anyone, let alone Snape, the lengths he's gone to ensuring Juniper's well-being, not to mention her subsequent rejection. But his pride has temporarily fled, replaced by weary, stomach churning grief, and he finds he doesn't care what Snape thinks of him just at present.

"You look rather the worse for wear yourself," Snape finally says after several minutes dusty silence, a jerk of his eyebrow serving to indicate Felix's work attire.

It's more than a little galling to have his personal appearance remarked upon by Hogwarts' infamous greasy-haired professor, and Felix has to bite his tongue to prevent a snide remark escaping. The irascibility coursing through him is desperate to unleash itself on someone, but he's not so starved for sense that he considers Snape a reasonable target. Felix contents himself with merely glaring as fiercely as he dares at the professor. It has no visible effect.

"I did come here straight off a ten hour shift. I've not slept in-"

"Then perhaps it would be best if you took some time to rest."

Snape takes a dry, crumbling biscuit from a plate on the table and chews, momentarily distracting Felix. He knows theoretically that Snape must eat, but the sight is still mildly unsettling.

"I can't leave for Romania until Monday," Felix says absently. "That's the next scheduled portkey and entry into the Reserve is strictly regulated. So I've got the weekend to sleep, I guess."

Felix turns to his own plate. His stomach grumbles moodily, and he knows it's been at least a day since he's eaten, but nothing looks particularly appetizing. He opts for a small sip of his now lukewarm tea, and grimaces. What he wouldn't give for a strong, Peruvian coffee...

"I meant, perhaps you ought to rest before speaking to Miss Windsong this evening."

Felix stares at the Professor over his cup, nonplussed.

"Why would I speak to her again? I've just told you the whole story, weren't you-" Snape's eyes flash a warning, stopping Felix's growing frustration in its tracks. "I mean - she' obviously doesn't want me. My help, I mean. She was quite clear on the subject. "

Snape's fingers drum against the arm of the chair. He wets his lips, hesitating in a manner Felix has never seen from the imperturbable Professor.

"Sometimes, in...trying circumstances...people may say things they do not mean. And later regret." Snape breathes in loudly through his nose as if this simple pronouncement cost him a great deal of energy. "I would encourage you to give Miss Windsong another chance."

Felix tries to see through Snape's iron mask to what could possibly make him so uncomfortable.

"Professor, do you think...could this just be a side effect of the curse she was under? That that's what's making her act like this now? Say...say things she doesn't really mean?"

Snape shakes his head. "It seems more plausible that this is the side effect of a life spent in dire circumstance all catching up with Miss Windsong at once. There's a reason she has always been encouraged, not to mention expressly ordered, to focus on more age appropriate concerns. For all her exceptional achievements," Snape pronounces these words with exquisite sarcasm, "The people around her tend to forget she is merely 17. As does Miss Windsong, herself."

Felix isn't quite sure he understands, but he feels foolish admitting it. At a loss for what to say, he takes another sip of cold tea. Cup clenched in his hands, he closes his eyes, wondering hopelessly whether this entire day might not all be a dream. Perhaps the ridiculous alarm clock hasn't rung at all, and he's still lying on the floor of his unpacked room, sleeping through his shift. It's a mark of how god-awful this day as been that missing a day of work seems preferable.

"Why is Miss Windsong so important to you?"

Felix's eyes snap open. He knows the heat rising in his face would give him away even to a less perceptive audience, but he can't stop his frantic search for a plausible cover. "I don't - that is... what do you m-"

"You know perfectly well what I mean," snaps Snape impatiently. "You do not attend the Quidditch matches of every student you knew at school. Or any, as a matter of fact."

Snape leaves the statement hanging in the air between them. And Felix, exhausted and miserable, finds the words tumbling out without thought.

"I love her. I have for years, I think. She's the first real friend I ever had." He drops his head into his hands. "I tried to tell her at that stupid match. And then afterwards, before all this...this whole mess happened. And now...now she doesn't even want me here."

Felix can only imagine the look of abject disgust on Snape's face, as his own is still buried in his fingers. He knows he should feel embarrassed at unburdening himself on the famously unsentimental professor, but, surprisingly, it's relief that overwhelms him. His confession has lifted a weight from his chest he was unaware of. For the first time in months, Felix finds himself breathing easily.

"If that is truly how you feel," Snape's voice sounds oddly tentative. "Then you should not give up on Miss Windsong so quickly."

Felix lifts his head, mouth slightly open. It's as if another person, standing just behind Snape, has spoken.

"You must tell her. In a way she cannot misunderstand. You will regret it if you do not. And I assure you there is nothing worse than to live forever with that regret."

Felix blinks, trying to reconcile this advice with the person offering it. Before he can begin to form a response, however, Snape stands briskly.

"I will inform the Auror Moody of Miss Windsong's whereabouts..." Snape wets his lips again. "Tomorrow. I imagine he will want to escort her back to the Khanna farm immediately, willingly or not. Which gives you the evening."The Potions Master billows from the room, leaving Felix to interpret his words as he will.

Absent-mindedly reaching for a biscuit, Felix decides it's imperative he reconcile with Juniper, if only because he can't think of a single other person who will ever believe his story of receiving romantic advice from Severus Snape.