Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Harry Potter. I'll tell you when I do, though! Juli and her aunt belong to me though. And I realize Wizard's fashion magazines would most likely have robes and such... but those are boring to talk about so I just made it muggle clothing. Sorry!
It was a regular lunch. Nothing too special about it.
Except for the fact that as soon as they walked into the Great Hall Harry, Ron and Hermione all sat down next to her. Juli had been reading and hadn't noticed until Harry asked if her book was any good. Jumping in surprise, she sloshed her soup down her front and stared in shock at the people sitting around her. Ginny chose that exact moment in time to sit down next to her, dropping a dozen magazines on the table. Hermione looked up from her own book.
"What are those?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Aren't those Mum's fashion magazines?" asked Ron, as Juli wiped the broth off her robes.
"You were serious!" cried Juli in disbelief, reaching out for one of the magazines. "I thought you were just making some random comment."
"Growing around Fred and George do you think I'm capable of random?" asked Ginny, putting her hands on her hips and cocking her head to the side. "You seriously need to wear something other than your uniform for once, though!"
"But I like my uniform…" muttered Juli, picking at her soup without eating any of it. She then sighed and grabbed her stuff. "I'm going to Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"See ya," said Ron, taking a bite of his chicken.
As Juli was shaking her head sadly and walking into the Entrance Hall she heard somebody run to catch up with her. Expecting it to be Draco Malfoy or somebody like him she just kept walking. It wasn't until she heard the person call out her name did she stop and turn around. Sure enough it had been Harry that had called out her name. She felt her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink and quickly looked away. When Harry caught up he smiled and started walking like he hadn't had to yell at her to wait up. So they walked to class together. It was quite awkward and Juli kept on getting this nagging feeling that she should say something… but didn't know what to say. Fortunately Harry did.
"You're aunt seems like a good person," said Harry, glancing at her. "I think she'll be an excellent Dark Arts teacher."
"Let's hope she only teaches how to defend ourselves though," said Juli in a small voice that apparently Harry still caught. He gave a small laugh.
"Well, Imposter Moody did teach us the Unforgivable Curses," Harry pointed out.
"Yes, well, that was under the reasoning that we were old enough to cope with it and that we needed to know what they were so we could deal with them," said Juli. "He taught us how to break the Imperius Curse."
"What I don't get is, why?" said Harry thoughtfully. "If he knew I would be facing Voldemort—" Juli gave a small squeak in surprise. "Not you too!"
"What? That I don't exactly like You-Know-Who's name?" said Juli, blushing furiously. "I don't hear it all that often except for when Dumbledore says it."
"I guess you live in a regular Wizarding family, don't you?" said Harry, almost sadly. "So I can't expect more out of you than anybody else."
"You say his name though…" muttered Juli, looking down at the ground. She suddenly felt like a little girl in her first year at Hogwarts.
"Because I never understood why you didn't say his name," shrugged Harry. "I grew up with Muggles never knowing about the Wizarding World."
Before Juli could even think of reply, Harry had opened up the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. He allowed her to go in first and she was quite surprised to see a couple other students there all ready. And by the looks of it… they would be taking Defense Against the Dark Arts with none other than the Slytherins. Juli groaned and followed Harry to the back of the classroom since Malfoy and his gang had already taken the front seats. When she looked around and didn't see her aunt she grew worried.
"Does Potter have a little girlfriend?" taunted Malfoy, turning around in his seat. Juli just rolled her eyes. "What would the mudblood think?"
"I'm sure Hermione won't mind since she never had a crush on Harry in the first place," said Juli coolly. "And furthermore, Harry and I only just met."
"Oooh! Then you two must think you're soul mates!" shrieked Pansy Parkinson and gaining an uproarious laugh from the Slytherins.
"You must have gotten really rusty if that's all you could come up with," said Harry, pulling out his supplies. "Besides, I don't really have time for dating."
At that moment Ron and Hermione entered the classroom. Ron stopped in the middle of the doorway and stared at Draco, his mouth hanging open. Then his eyes flickered from Malfoy to Harry and back again to Malfoy. Finally Hermione got annoyed and poked him in the back. In a half daze Ron walked to a seat next to Harry and sat down. Hermione took a seat next to Juli.
"So it's not longer the Harry Potter Trio," said Malfoy in disappointment. "And I was going to make T-shirts!"
"Hats sell better," said Juli, grabbing her own stuff as well. At this Harry, Ron and Hermione started laughing. Juli smiled weakly and felt her face go a little red. Nobody had ever laughed at what she had said before as if it was a joke. In fact, she couldn't recall ever making a good joke.
Just then Professor Langdon walked into the classroom and her gaze swept over the laughing trio in the back and the Slytherin's stony faces. The rest of the Gryffindors filed in behind her. She then set down her stuff on the desk and waited patiently at the front of the classroom. Soon is was only Ron who was laughing and Harry had to poke him to shut him up. Juli let out a small giggle at Ron's sheepish face.
"From what I've heard only a select few learned enough Defense Against the Dark Arts last year," said Professor Langdon, her gaze mostly on Harry, "and they did it against school rules."
Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat and Juli shook her head. Knowing her aunt she would come up with something that would surprise Harry so much that he would forget why he was uncomfortable. But for the moment Professor Langdon looking at a few Gryffindors disapprovingly. Neville looked like he wanted to sink into the floor and disappear. But then her gaze landed on a couple of students who seemed unsure of what was going on.
"I want to know," said Professor Langdon, in the same disapproving voice, "why you didn't all take advantage of it?"
Hermione's hand shot into the air. Juli's aunt nodded.
"If everybody had joined that there would have been no place in Hogwarts where we could have taught them," started Hermione. "Besides, some people wouldn't want to join because of who was there. We would have spent most of our time stopping fights within the studies than actually learning something. And when Professor Umbridge caught us, couldn't she not just shut down Hogwarts?"
"She could have shut it down the first time around…" said Professor Langdon, with a small smile. "But then that would have taken away her chance for some power. Anyways, parents would have complained."
"Oh…" said Hermione.
"But I like your thinking," said Professor Langdon. "Ten points to Gryffindor. And Miss Granger… I do hope you put that sort of thinking to an excellent career in the future."
Hermione blushed.
"Ginny, do you really think I'm going to wear a mini skirt?" cried Juliana, looking at the picture in the magazine. "There's nothing mini about me!"
"Sure there is! It just doesn't happen to be your hips, legs or breasts," said Ginny with a small giggle at the blush that crept over Juli's entire face. "But you definitely have small hands and feet."
"My mum calls them fairy feet," muttered Juli, stretching out on Ginny's bed in the Girl's Dormitory.
"Look, there's a Hogsmeade trip in one month. We should come up with some ideas of clothing to buy," said Ginny turning the pages past the frilly pink clothing. "In the mean time you can wear some of my clothes."
"Like I'll fit in any of them!" said Juli in annoyance. "Why can't I just wear my school uniform?"
"Because it makes you look like a nerd," said Ginny distractedly, turning some more pages. Then she stopped. "How about that?"
She stopped and pointed at a lovely red outfit. The shirt was a casual t-shirt that hug past the waist on one side into a sort of lacy triangle. The collar was a black trim that hung in a small V-neck style which simply showed the collar bones. The skirt looked much like that of the school uniform though it was a dark blue with a red waistband. Juli found it beautiful… but not something she could ever wear.
"It would be freezing during the winter," she said as an excuse, sitting up with her back toward Ginny.
"So we get you a sweater that looks like that one you're wearing now," said Ginny, marking the page and moving on to another one. "Besides, we have to get you more than one outfit."
"Whatever…" muttered Juli, walking out of the room. "People like Harry don't care what I'm wearing…"
And as soon as she said it she blushed and rushed to her room.