The Life of Juniper Potter

Chapter 4

A trip on the Hogwarts Express

A/N- It took a little longer to update than I had intended, but I finally finished this chapter. I also took some of this time to refine some of my earlier chapters. If you see mistakes in any of my chapters, or have issues with my writing style, bring these points to my attention. I may or may not take your advice, but I'll always go back and fix POV mistakes, spelling mistakes, grammar problems, and other things that would make this story better for future readers. Also, anyone willing to beta this story, please, PM me. It'd be nice to have a second opinion before posting things.

If you left an anonymous review, see below.

omn-Some of that rehashed story is necessary for the retelling. The subtle differences in the scenes are very important to take note of, especially during the leaky cauldron scene. I do cut some less then important stuff out and most of what's left is important in some way. The cabin scene is just a really good place to come in at. It also helps me work on characterization and setting the scene. It's something that I need to work on as a writer.

Disclaimer-I in no way own Harry Potter, it belongs to she-who-must-not-be-named.

Dumbledore wasn't having the best of days.

Hagrid and Minerva were coming by soon to see what he had found out, but he honestly found nothing to show a truly abusive home. He had sent Arabella Figg to look after Juniper throughout the years and all she had noticed was that the girl was a bit small for her age. When they arrived back earlier that month, he though additional supervision might be prudent. He had sent her an invisibility cloak, one that would last through the month. He had charmed it himself and it would fool the muggles and Juniper.

She hadn't really reported back of anything overly concerning. The general feel in the house was apathy. Juniper got three meals, even if she was the one that cooked. Hagrid had told him that the food her Aunt Petunia made tasted like the charred dragon hide gloves. Dumbledore himself frequently made things like that at Juniper's age; Aberforth couldn't cook to save his life.

Juniper spent most of her time in her room reading the books she got at Flourish and Blotts, Petunia was trying to coax their son to come out of his room, something about a pig's tail, and Vernon just seemed to go to work and came back it seemed. It was almost a little disconcerting how quiet it was.

The gargoyle that guarded his room slowly began to shift and Hagrid began to make his way up the spiral staircase. Minerva followed in behind him shortly thereafter, leaving very little room for movement.

"Ah, Hagrid, Minerva, would you care for a lemon drop? It's a new muggle candy that I found and I must admit that they are quite good." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled brightly as he asked; sweets always made everything a little better.

"No thank you, Albus." Minerva shook her head no, as did Hagrid.

"Has Arabella found anything worth mentioning?" Hagrid asked. Dumbledore nodded his head no.

"Alas, I feel we are looking for something that isn't there. The Dursleys are apathetic to Juniper, but it doesn't seem to go beyond that. I agree that that really isn't that grand for her growth, but it's better than living in fear of death eater attacks." Dumbledore looked solemn at this. He was hoping that Juniper would have a happy normal life for as long as possible.

"Perhaps a compromise then, if Juniper were to remain with her aunt and uncle three weeks out of the year, then the blood protections would continue to protect her from harm at the hands of you-know-who and his followers. We would have her be raised in a home that would have people that care about her. That should placate everyone for the most part, wouldn't you say Hagrid?" Minerva wasn't overly happy about this, but it was better than nothing. She hated the Dursleys. Both Hagrid and Dumbledore nodded in a positive response.

"If nothing else, Arabella could watch her. You said that Juniper seemed terrified when she got her wand, Minerva?" Dumbledore inquired with a slightly brighter twinkle.

"Yes, Albus." Minerva replied briefly. "She had run out of the store as fast as she could. Hermione was the one that managed to drag her back so that we could assure her everything was alright. Do you have a solution for this Albus?"

"I think I know of a way to reassure her that her wand isn't evil." Dumbledore smiled as he looked up to Fawkes. "Now both of you get ready for today's proceedings; we need to make sure the first years feel welcomed."

Scene-Shift

Juniper was sitting on a bench by the platform. Her aunt and uncle had just dropped her off. She arrived at the platforms between nine and ten. She had tried everything that she could think short of running at the walls and looking like an idiot when she crashed. The person that helped tell people where to go looked at her weird when she asked. He thought that she was having a go at him when she asked about platform nine and three quarters.

And she couldn't really blame him. What brilliant mind thought to put the route to Hogwarts in a muggle train station?

Her mind was swirling. Did this mean she wouldn't get to see Hermione again? That she'd have to go back to the Dursleys?

No…

There had to be some way to get onto that platform. There just had to! She could wait and someone would come to get onto the train, she could watch them, see how they did it.

"Honestly…" was the shrill sound that echoed over the crowd. "…packed with muggles! Does everyone remember the platform?" She sounded close.

Juniper looked up to see a rather large, red haired family. Each member wearing robes reminiscent of her own. There were four boys with carts filled to the brim with stuff for Hogwarts. The two girls were without; one looking like their mother and the other she assumed was too young. Juniper knew what the answer would be before the young red-haired girl replied.

"Nine and three-quarters!" the little girl cried out eagerly. Juniper looked up, happy to have found someone. "Are you sure I can't go this year mom? It'll be so lonely at the house this year."

"At least you two will have each other," Said one of two boys that looked exactly alike.

"And dad, assuming." said the other one.

"He doesn't blow himself up in the garage." The two seemed to alternate speech with one another. It was giving Juniper a headache.

"Could we hurry this up, I need to get to the prefect car early for the meeting." This came from the boy that looked the oldest. His was the only cart with an owl. The pair of twins took this moment to speak up.

"Good god, Percy. You made prefect."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Hold up dear brother, I think he may have told us once,"

"twice," The two twins paused for a brief moment and both looked thoughtful before they both uniformly said the same thing.

"All summer."

"You two, stop pestering your brother." Their mother chided. "Percy, you're the oldest, you go first."

The boy simply nodded before running at the barrier. He disappeared through the brick wall. Juniper's eyes bugged. So you did need to run straight at the wall. How? She put her hand on the barrier. It was just as solid as any other brick. She had to speak up and ask the strangers how they did it. She did her hair up to hide her scar before she moved in to speak.

"Umm… e-excuse me," The mother and the rest of the children looked over to see her. She shrunk back a little at the attention. She was getting a bit better with it. She managed to keep her ground and speak. "I noticed th-that you w-were t-talking about H-Hogwarts and I was w-wondering…"

"How to get onto the platform?" finished the mother of the group. "Don't worry dear, it's Ron's first year as well. I'm Molly Weasley, that's Fred and George, and the little girl standing by Ron is Ginny."

"J-Juniper." was what she managed get out. The smaller boy just raised his hand to say hi. The twins just looked flabbergasted.

"Dear lord," was the reply of the first twin.

"It's a long lost Weasley."

Their mother just rolled her eyes. "It's really quite simple. All, you have to do is run straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Fred, George, care to demonstrate."

"Bye Ginny."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"The hell you are…!" Before Mrs. Weasley could say anything else, the two had disappeared beyond the barrier. "Oh well then… after you dear. It's best to start at a run if you're nervous."

Juniper nodded before sprinting at the barrier. Mrs. Weasley noticed a brief blur and then there was nothing where Juniper once stood.

Scene-Shift

Hermione had just got out of the car and got all of her things together. They had about half an hour left until her train left. Her trunk was filled to the brim with all of her clothes and robes and she had gotten a cart from the front desk for her school supplies.

While doing this, Hermione's thoughts wandered to the idea that this all seemed a little conspicuous to the muggles that were gazing on. She had the sense of forethought to pack her stuff into smaller bags, but she was almost positive that people from magical families would have had some things out that would look odd. Cauldrons, owls, not to mention what they would be wearing would make them look weird to any muggle bystanders.

She had read that muggles weren't supposed to find out about magic, but they didn't exactly do that great of a job in hiding certain things. She guessed that it wasn't really something you noticed until you were let in on the secret.

She began to get nervous when she got closer to the platform. The 'running right at a brick wall' thing seemed bizarre, it was another thing that seemed odd. Wouldn't people notice someone running at a wall and disappearing? She had read about the express in Hogwarts a History, but she didn't read anything about the barrier. Did it have charms on it?

They had finally arrived at the barrier between platforms nine and ten and were promptly greeted by a set of three people with red hair. She deflated a bit when she realized that neither one of them were Juniper. She'd probably have to find her once she got on the platform.

"Now Hermione, I want you to write home every week, you here. You can borrow Juniper's owl if she'll let you. Tell her not to be so shy with us either. It's perfectly alright for her to send letters to us to." Her mother looked like she was close to going into a nervous breakdown. This was the first time that she had been away from home for so long.

"I'll be sure to let her know, I'm going to miss you to mom. You don't have to worry; I have every intention of writing to you as often as I can." She gave both of parents a hug before she turned toward the barrier. She noticed that the boy had gone through and it was just the two girls with red hair. The little girl spoke up before she made to run towards the wall.

"Excuse me, but would this Juniper be a little shorter then me, with red hair similar to me and my mum's?"

Hermione nodded blankly at the question in stunned silence. "Have you seen her?"

The little girl nodded. "She needed help getting through the barrier, she seemed really, really shy. Two of my brothers claimed her as a long lost Weasley when they saw her hair was the same color as ours. She seemed to relax a little after that. She went in a few seconds before Ron did."

"Thank you." Hermione had a really big smile on her face. This might be easier then she thought. She ran straight at the barrier, her nervousness forgotten, only to run into some one on the other side.

Scene Shift

Juniper watched in stunned silence as Hermione ran through the barrier and straight into Ron. Once the shock of seeing Hermione wore off, Juniper had to fight to keep from joining them on the ground in laughter. The twins didn't seem to share her restraint.

"Trust our brother"

"to not have the brains"

"to get out from in front of the wall"

"before opening his mouth to talk."

Juniper took this moment to go to Hermione to help her up. "Y-you really n-need t-to be more c-careful, Hermione."

Hermione looked up and smiled before grabbing her hand. "I was just in a bit of a hurry. The girl with red hair told me that you hadn't gone in that long ago. I wanted to catch up." Juniper smiled before turning to gaze at Ron and his brothers just standing over him.

"Little brother, writhing in agony over here." was the pained response that came from Ron's mouth. She thought it sounded a little fake, but Hermione thought that she had done something horrible. The twins spoke before she could move from her spot beside Juniper.

"Oh, don't be such a crybaby."

"You've suffered worse from our pranks,"

"Unintentionally, of course."

"than you have with that little tap."

"Which would you like to be remembered as,"

"The wizard that was taken out by an eleven year old girl,"

"Or the wizard that was taken out by a shopping cart." finished Fred, or George; She wasn't entirely sure which was which. Ron perked up a bit and slowly got to his feet he was rubbing his arm a little.

"I'm really, really sorry about running into you." Hermione bowed her head a bit.

"It's alright." was Ron's reply as he slowly got up off the ground.

"Ickle Ronniekins shouldn't have been standing in front of the barrier."

"You tend to get run over as the next person comes through." Juniper was starting to get a headache again; too many people were trying to carry on the same conversation.

"I'm guessing you know her." Ron inquired. Juniper nodded but Hermione spoke before she had the chance to.

"We met in Diagon Alley and shopped for school supplies together. She was with a really big guy by the name of Hagrid and my parents and I were with Professor McGonagall. We met at the book store and our magical guardians thought it would make things easier if we did our shopping together." Hermione surmised.

"W-what she s-said." Juniper confirmed.

"I can wager a guess to say we have"

"A pair of muggle-born firsties." Both of the twins looked entirely too happy with this.

"Being a muggle-born isn't a bad thing, of course."

"But some people might not see it that way."

"We wish to offer you a since of protection."

"The first ponce you meet that decides"

"to make something of the fact that your muggle born"

"Give him one of these to show them the error of his or her ways." The twins pulled out a small bag of candies. Hermione looked appalled.

"I refuse to take part in something like that. I refuse to break school rules before we even get into Hogwarts. Honestly, Juniper isn't even muggle-born, she was just muggle raised." Juniper wanted Hermione to stop talking; she didn't want these people to know this stuff yet. She wanted to be normal for as long as humanly possible.

"H-Hermione, I'm n-nor r-really th-that comfortable t-talking about th-that." The statement seemed to work. Hermione looked down a bit before apologizing.

"I just get into these things where I go into lecture mode. I forget about everyone and everything else around me. I'm just glad you stopped me before I said something stupid." Hermione replied mournfully. "It's how I seemed to lose any friends I got when I was at school. I want you promise me that you'll try your best to stop me when I do something like that."

"You wound us greatly" came the quick, mock reply of one of the twins.

"Implying that we would do something as break school rules before going to school,"

"Implies that we have to wait"

"Until we get to Hogwarts"

"To cause trouble." The twins were laughing a bit at the end.

"Don't apologize, the idiots need scolding." The twins feigned hurt at their brothers supposed betrayal. Ron ignored them. "They test their products on me, there to terrified of what Ginny would do to them in retaliation. I can tell you exactly what these guys do because they had to experiment on someone else. The only thing it'll do is give them a head of Weasley red hair." Hermione just turned away from the candy and went to make her way towards the train.

"We need to hurry up, the train will leave without us." said Hermione. Juniper hurried to catch up, but not before taking a few of the candies and stashing them in her pocket. Just in case someone said something mean to Hermione. She didn't notice that her bangs got brushed back and her scar was made visible to the rest of the world. She ran off, leaving the Weasleys in stunned silence. She did hear the last words that came from Ron's mouth though.

"Was that Juniper Potter?" When she heard that, she caught up with Hermione and urged her to hurry behind her.

Scene-Shift

Finding an empty compartment was actually way easier then she thought it would be. She thought the train would be packed this close to departure. It was about three from the back. She didn't really mind if they shared with others, but Juniper wanted it to be a little more secluded.

"So, any reason you wanted to get as far away from the Weasleys as possible all of a sudden. They seemed nice, though I don't really like pranksters." She had bad experiences with pranks.

"I th-think th-they saw my s-scar. I wanted t-to leave before th-they st-started asking me the mandatory questions th-that people will eventually a-ask." Juniper looked down as she said this, away from Hermione's face. "I also g-grabbed th-the little bag of c-candies, I-I was c-curious about someth-thing."

Hermione frowned. "What would you possibly want with those things? You aren't going to use them on anyone, are you?" Juniper shook her head no.

"I w-wanted t-to see what th-they t-tasted like. I n-never ate a l-lot of sweets at h-home. Its n-not like it'll d-do anyth-thing t-to me. I already have r-red hair." Juniper fished one of the candies out and promptly devoured it. "I d-didn't really have th-that big of a b-breakfast. Th-They're actually quite g-good."

"Just don't use them on people unless they know what they are. I don't want to get into any trouble before we even get to Hogwarts." Juniper nodded in response. "You do know that you're going to have to deal with people asking questions eventually, right?" Hermione asked. Juniper nodded sadly.

"Th-That doesn't mean I c-can't put it off for as l-long as p-possible." Juniper replied.

The two of them felt the weight shift in the car they were in. The scenery in the window began to shift until it changed completely; they had left the station and were on their way to Hogwarts.

"So what did you do over the month? I spent most of mine reading the different books we got. I thought Hogwarts a History was the most interesting. I also hung out with my parents a lot."

"I d-did th-the same. Th-There wasn't t-too much t-to do. So I r-read th-through a l-lot of the books we g-got. I l-liked Hogwarts a History." Hermione looked happy.

"There were so many things that I want to see when we get there. I read that the staircases move around and some of the doors were a bit tricky. Each house has a ghost to. To think that ghosts actually exist is exciting in and of itself. So, any idea which house you might end up in?" Hermione asked. Juniper looked down before replying.

"I h-honestly have n-no idea. I d-doubt if I'll end up in G-Gryffindor, b-but any of th-the other th-three sounded like they c-could work for me. What ab-bout you?" Juniper asked.

"I'd be willing to bet money that I'd end up in Ravenclaw. The aspects of that house seem to fit, for all the good it did me. I still have absolutely no idea how we're sorted." Hermione groaned.

"Maybe it'll b-be someth-thing simple. It c-could b-be like p-pulling names out-of a m-magical hat of someth-thing." Hermione nodded in response.

"It can't be anything to difficult; some people are experiencing magic for the first time in their lives. Though I think it would be more dignified then pulling names out of a hat."

The door slowly slid open to reveal a large individual frantically looking around the compartment for something. He turned to us before asking "Have either of you seen a toad? He seems to have run off, again."

Hermione and Juniper both shook their heads no. The boy sighed, which caused Hermione to speak up. "Would you like us to help look for him? Three people can find it quicker than one. Would you be willing to help Juniper?"

"I th-think I c-could check th-the b-back few c-cars. There won't b-be th-that many p-people in th-them." Juniper replied. "How many c-cars have you ch-checked?" The boy smiled real big.

"I've checked the middle cars, four of them, that leaves the three in front and the ones left to the end. I could take the ones up front and you two could check the ones in the back." The boy said. "Oh, my name's Neville."

"I'm Hermione."

"J-Juniper."

"Pleased to meet the both of you and thank you so much for helping me." The boy went back up through the door he came through, leaving Juniper and Hermione alone in the car by themselves again. They got up and began searching for the toad that had escaped the larger boy's grasp.

Scene-Shift

Ron boarded the second to last car on the train. It was weird, meeting a celebrity and not even realizing it.

She didn't seem like it. She was extremely shy, even tempered; she wasn't anything like the she was in the books. She hid her scar… It didn't make since! If he had that kind of fame he'd be the first to wear it proudly, not hide it behind his red hair. Why was she so shy? She should be used to people looking at her. It'd come with being the girl-who-lived. She flat out ran as fast as she could the second we found out who she was.

He was so busy thinking that he didn't hear the door to his car open, nor did he notice the girl he ran into earlier come up and tap him on the shoulder until she was right there. He jumped about a foot in the air.

"Excuse me, have you seen a toad, a boy farther up front has lost his." Hermione said. Ron just shook his head. He then noticed Juniper standing a little further back, behind Hermione.

"Hey, why did you run away so quickly before, and why didn't you tell us who you were?" he was a bit annoyed that he was being given the run around. Juniper seemed to shrink back a bit.

"I t-told you who I w-was, I t-told you th-that my name was J-Juniper." Ron frowned at this.

"But you didn't actually tell us that you were the Juniper Potter. You're a legend. You shouldn't hide that." Ron's voice rose as he continued. Juniper cowered back a little, but was able to keep her resolve.

"Hermione's here, I'm not going to run away." She muttered softly. Ron couldn't hear it, but Hermione could, just barely.

"W-would you have t-treated me th-the same?" Juniper said.

"What?" He blinked. He wasn't expecting that as a reply. Juniper just pressed on.

"W-would you have t-treated me th-the same? You w-were all so n-nice t-to me. It was j-just you helping out a l-little g-girl th-that was lost at th-th st-station. Hermione was n-nice to me before she kn-knew who I was and w-was n-nice afterwards. I d-don't want people to be f-friends with J-Juniper P-Potter, I want p-people to be friends with me, J-Juniper. If you kn-knew all you w-would want t-to do would be t-to ask questions about a n-night th-that happened when I w-was a b-baby, you w-wouldn't have c-cared about m-me." Juniper voice raised and cracked as she said this. Ron was looking to the ground not meeting either of their eyes.

"I w-want p-people t-to know me for someth-thing other th-then my p-parent's deaths." was the last sentence she choked out. She reached for one of Fred and Georges candies, thinking that the sweet would help.

"I think we should continue our search into the next car." Hermione said uncomfortably after several minutes of silence. Juniper just nodded.

The last thing Ron saw was the back of Juniper's red hair as she closed the door behind her.

Juniper looked through the car a bit more vigorously then she would have before. Ron got under her skin. He was so nice before, but now he was acting like a jealous prat.

Fred and George didn't change like that to, did they? They were fun, they seemed like the people to develop devil horns from angel halos, but they were nice.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked. She apparently noticed the excessively violent way I was looking through the overhead compartment. Juniper took a breath and tried to push the thoughts of the Weasleys as far from her mind as possible.

"J-Just a little f-frustrated, it's n-nothing." she said. Hermione just nodded in understanding.

"Ron was a bit of a prat, wasn't he? I think he actually feels bad about it now, though. We could give him another chance when you calm down. I think if the toad is in fact in this compartment then you may or may not have scarred him for the rest of his life with all of that shifting. He'd be hopping as fast as he could to get away and we would've seen him." Juniper put her hand behind her head and laughed sheepishly. She followed Hermione through the door back to Ron.

The first thing they saw was a boy with blonde hair walking over to them, leaving a very annoyed and angry looking Ron with two really large individuals.

"I've heard that Juniper Potter was on this train, judging by the lightning shaped scar I'm guessing you're her. I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy." Draco's nose was hung in an air of self importance as he said this. Juniper thought for sure that he spent more time in the bathroom then her Aunt Petunia before her and Uncle Vernon's anniversary. His robes were sleek silk, very expensive looking.

"I heard that you and the Weasel had a bit of a tiff. I'm not really surprised. You should learn to keep better company than him. Who's your other friend?" Draco asked with a smug look on his face. Juniper thought he seemed to be a bit too friendly, considering they just met.

"Hermione Granger." Hermione said with confidence and a look of disgust on her face. Apparently she didn't like him that much either.

Draco just looked thoughtful before replying. "Hmm, I don't remember their being a Granger line of wizards in the world."

"I'm muggle-born." Hermione said proudly, which causes Draco to get this really disgusted look on his face.

"You really, really need help picking your friends, Potter. I can help you there. Honestly paling around with a filthy mud-blood like her…" He never got to finish. Juniper's wand was thrust up faster than anyone there could see.

"STU-STUPENDO" Juniper said loudly. The spell left her wand faster then she thought. She honestly didn't expect a spell to come out. She had never actually practiced the spells at home. She just read about it in her Defense Book at home. She was just too angry to care. She never got this angry before. She just hoped the spell worked.

And it did. It worked really well.

Draco was hurled back. The spell was a really low level spell that imitated a bunch being hurled through the air, but it looked more like a giant wall was thrown at Draco, and it took its toll to. She was barely standing on her own two feet.

Draco's two goons rushed to Draco to make sure that he was alright. The entire front of his face looked a little flatter, but he was conscious, barely.

"You're oing to rebret dat." He sounded muffled, like he was talking with someone putting their hand over his nose.

"I would leave"

"If I were you." replied a pair of familiar voices. She looked farther back and saw that the Weasley twins both had their wands out and pointed at Draco and his friends. Ron looked like he was ready to maul Draco. Hermione was just standing off to the side in stunned silence.

"Course if I were you

"I'd want to hang myself"

"So we can't really be"

"The best judges." Juniper was getting a headache again. She would eventually get used to that. Just not now, and it wasn't helping how exhausted she felt.

Draco just turned his not flat and broken nose in the air and limped off with his two goons traveling close behind. Hermione seemed to shake herself out of her stupor and slapped me on the shoulder.

"Why would you do something like that?" Hermione said with a frown. "He wasn't worth it." Juniper just frowned back in response.

"D-Do you know what the t-term he used means?" Hermione stared at her weirdly. Juniper continued. "I g-got a d-dictionary before I b-bumped into you at th-the bookstore. It's th-the foulest th-thing you c-can c-call someone with m-muggle parents. It's an insult t-to b-both you and y-your p-parents. I c-couldn't let him say th-that t-to you." Hermione's face softened a bit.

"I am grateful that you stood up for me. It's just… I really wasn't expecting that from you." Hermione said thoughtfully

"What d-do you mean 'someone l-like me,' huh?" she looked indignant as she said this. Hermione just smiled.

"You! You're the quietest, shyest person I've ever met, and you just seemed to randomly shout out a spell from our defense book. It's kind of a shock." Hermione started to laugh a bit when Juniper started muttering to herself incoherently.

"It looks like the ickle firsties"

"Need a bit more protection than we thought."

"Getting into fights before you even get to Hogwarts,"

"You do the both of us proud." Juniper put her hand behind her head and laughed uncomfortably again. She was starting to get used to the back and forth that Fred and George had. Hermione just shook her head.

"I think we're getting close to the school, we should probably change into our school robes." Hermione stated calmly. The three red heads nodded in response and let them through. They locked the door behind them as they left.

A/N-How was that for a chapter? Was it worth the wait? As always be sure to leave your reviews. Next chapter is the first at Hogwarts.