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Chapter Eight: I Don't Need Help

The rain started to slowly let up about an hour after classes ended. Seven Gryffindors strode out onto the Quidditch field, led by team captain, James Potter. Today was the day of their first Quidditch practice of the year, as well as Quidditch tryouts. Since one of their Beaters had graduated last year, they needed a replacement. There were already a few eager Gryffindors out on the field, including Lily, and James' cousin, Hugo. Both were in the same year, and both desperately wanted to be on the team.

"All right, everyone, we're just going to run some basic formations, see how well you all do with our other Beater!" he said, indicating his brother, Albus." He called in the first Gryffindor, a rather burly fifth year who definitely had the right build for a Beater. However, once he was up in the air, it was clear that flying wasn't his forte and he ended up flying into one of the goal posts on the left side of the field, forcing him to be sent to the Infirmary to contend with a broken nose.

The next two candidates were skilled flyers, but had a definite problem with teamwork from what James could see. One of them got into a heated argument with James, resulting in him being kicked off of the field, and the other one attempted to hit a Bludger at Lucy Marlon, one of the Chasers. Fortunately, his aim was off, so she didn't get hurt. However, despite a few bad seeds in the bunch, some had a lot of potential. The next four that tried out were very talented, including Lily and Hugo. However, it seemed like Hugo had a stronger swinging arm than Lily. In the end, it was a tough decision, but James ended up choosing his cousin.

"This is bullshit!" Nick Ravini, a hopeful Gryffindor fifth year shouted, tossing his broom onto the ground. "You're only just picking him because he's family!"

James glared coldly at him. "That has nothing to do with it. He had the stronger arm and the better swing out of anyone here. He earned it fair and square."

"Great job, cuz!" Lily exclaimed pulling Hugo into a hug. "You definitely deserve it."

"You did well too, Lil," James said praising his younger sister. "If you want, we can put you in as a reserve Beater."

"Oh, sure! Put your little sister on the reserve team! These tryouts were clearly fixed. What did she do? Sleep with the entire team?" Nick demanded.

James strode over angrily, drawing his wand, but Lily beat him to it. "Flipendo!" she shouted. Nick was blasted back very forcefully. The impact he made on the ground knocked the wind out of him. She approached, her wand still pointed at him. "Don't get on my bad side," she growled threateningly.

Nick opened his mouth to retort, but Lily muttered, "Langlock," glueing his tongue to the roof of his mouth and preventing him from speaking. He made a few retching noises as he stood and stumbled off the Quidditch Field.

"Well, there go ten points from Gryffindor," Hugo muttered, his arms folded across his chest.

"He deserved it," Lily insisted. "What kind of person would insist that I'd sleep with people jut to get my way? Especially when two of those people are my brothers. It's sickening."

"Still, Lily, you should watch your temper," Albus warned. "It's going to get you into big trouble."

She shrugged. "He provoked me and I wasn't about to stand there and take it." She turned to her eldest brother. "By the way, I'd definitely love to be the reserve Beater."

James grinned, happy that his sister had agreed. If there were three Beaters on a Quidditch team, instead of just two, he was sure he would have chosen her as one of the main players, and not just back-up. "Great, it's not mandatory, but you're welcome to stay and switch out with Hugo every few minutes to get some practice in."

"I'd love to, but I promised Laura I'd help her with her Arithmancy paper." She waved good-bye to the team and gave her cousin a congratulatory high-five before leaving the Quidditch Pitch. Once she was gone, James got started with the real work.

The practice went very smoothly. The Gryffindors now had a full team again and everyone worked well with each other. "Right!" James exclaimed once practice was over. "Good job, everyone! Keep that up and we'll cream Ravenclaw next Friday!"

There was a great deal of chatter as everyone headed to the showers to wash up before dinner.


Juniper remained in the Room of Requirement for a few hours. It was made to look like a small livingroom/library. Juniper was curled up on the loveseat with a book open on her lap. The pain in her side had lingered for a long time, but now it was finally letting up, slowly. She dreaded looking and seeing if there was a bruise. When she finally checked her watch, she noticed that there was ten minutes until dinner. The Hufflepuff stood, wincing slightly as pain shot through her side, but it wasn't unbearable. She was sure that she'd be able to move around just fine without alerting anyone as to what had happened.

She peered out of the door, making sure no one was coming and quietly slipped out, before walking as briskly as she could down the long corridor while simultaneously practicing not to show pain.

"Where have you been?" Kaylynn asked as Juniper sat down and began to pile food onto her plate. "I've looked everywhere for you."

"I was in the Room of Requirement because I wanted a very quiet place to hang out," Juniper said non-chalantly.

"That's what the library is for," Kaylynn pointed out handing her best friend a pitcher of pumpkin juice. She then got a good look at Juniper. "Are you all right? You look a little pale."

"I must be coming down with a cold. I'll visit Madame Pomfrey after dinner for some Pepper-Up Potion." Juniper could have sworn she felt a pair of eyes on her and glanced to the right, down the table and saw Eileen staring at her. Juniper looked at her, silently begging her not to say anything about her suspicions. The new girl turned away to focus, once again, on her potatoes.

Kaylynn lifted an eyebrow at her friend before taking another helping of seasoned string beans. "I kind of get the feeling you're avoiding telling me something."

"Don't be silly." Juniper forced a cheerful smile, but Kaylynn didn't seem convinced. Still, she didn't pry, allowing the smaller Hufflepuff to eat her food in silence.


Later that evening, after dinner, Juniper stood in the lavatory that connected to the Hufflepuff girls' dorm in front of the mirror. The door was closed and there was no one with her. She decided it was time to assess the damage and began to unbutton her blouse before slipping it off. Standing there in her bra, she gasped at what she saw. A nasty bruise ran all the way up her side along with the markings from the Relashio curses and Stinging Hexes. When she barely touched them, she bit down on her lower lip to keep from crying out. This caused the pain to come back in full force. Tears of anger streamed down her cheeks, yet she still didn't want to go to Madame Pomfrey and have to explain what happened. She refused to let anyone know that she couldn't defend herself.

The doorknob rattled and Juniper scrambled to put her top back on, but the injury hindered her, and before she could slip her arms through even one of the sleeves, the door opened and Kaylynn came in, carrying some of her toiletries. She froze and everything clattered to the floor when she saw Juniper.

"What happened?" she cried, pointing at Juniper's side.

"It's nothing," Juniper insisted impatiently. "I just fell down some stairs, that's all."

"You'd have several bruises if you fell down some stairs. You were attacked, weren't you?" the blonde demanded.

"What? Of course not. Can you please just drop it? It's not that big of a deal."

"Yes, it is! Look at the condition you're in! You can barely stand! It was Avery that did this, wasn't it?"

Juniper shifted her eyes away. "No," she said, but what she knew was in an unconvincing manner.

Kaylynn sighed. "Look, I'm going to take you to Madame Pomfrey. I won't tell her what happened, but you need to get that looked at."

"I just need to sleep it off."

"You're going!" Kaylynn was determined to bring her friend to the Infirmary and Juniper knew that when her friend got like this, it was impossible to say no. Juniper slipped on her blouse once again and buttoned it. Seeing the tears in Juniper's eyes, Kaylynn's expression softened and she pulled the stressed and injured girl into a hug.

"I'm sorry, but you can't ignore your troubles. They always manage to catch up with you." She let go so that she could look at Juniper. "If you could learn to stand up for yourself, this wouldn't happen as much. Avery only walks all over you because you let her."

"No, I don't," Juniper pressed, but was slowly losing confidence.

"Yes, you do!" Kaylynn sighed. "Look, I'm not going to sit here arguing with you. Let's get you to the Infirmary."

Juniper finally relented and allowed Kaylynn to take her to Madame Pomfrey. When the nurse saw the bruise, she was shocked to say the least. "How long have you had this?" she asked.

"Ever since about three this afternoon," Juniper admitted. Kaylynn looked at her in shock, but Juniper gave her a look, insisting that she not say anything.

"What happened to cause such an injury?" the nurse asked, examining Juniper's side, her wand creating an X-Ray. "You seem to have a small hairline fracture."

"I ended up slipping and falling," Juniper said. Madame Pomfrey stared at her for a moment, her brown eyes narrowed. Juniper grew uncomfortable under her gaze. Finally, the nurse left for a moment to go into the back room to grab the Bruise Removal paste.

"I swear, when I see Avery tomorrow, I'm going to make her pay," Kaylynn muttered angrily, clenching her fists.

"It's not worth it," Juniper said. "You'd just get into trouble."

"I don't care," Kaylynn snapped as Madame Pomfrey returned with a small tub and applied the paste to Juniper's side.

"At least it's not as bad as it could be," Madame Pomfrey mumbled, loud enough for the two girls to hear. "That should do it." She twisted the top back onto the paste. "Now then, try to be a little more careful and don't get into anymore fights." The nurse was definitely no fool. She knew when someone had gotten into a scuffle and when someone merely fell.

Once Madame Pomfrey was gone, Juniper stood up buttoned her blouse. All she wanted to do now was go to bed. Kaylynn didn't say anything to her until they were out of the Infirmary.

"What are you going to do if you run into Avery again?" she asked.

"Who says I'm going to run into her?" The paste had already started to work its magic and she could feel the intense pain fading. Maybe she'd send an owl to her parents and ask for some Bruise Removal paste to keep with her belongings.

"Really, June? I know this is a big school, but you can't expect not to run into her. Hell, we have three classes with her."

"I know that, but..." Juniper's voice trailed off.

"But nothing, you have to learn to stand up for yourself." Kaylynn's voice rose slightly. Juniper cringed. Why couldn't her best friend see that it wasn't that easy? Avery may have been the same age as her, but she was ten times faster, stronger, and more powerful.

Kaylynn shook her head. "I love you, but sometimes you can be so infuriating. If you don't find a way to fight back, people like Avery will spend the rest of their lives walking all over you."

Juniper said nothing, she hated admitting that Kaylynn was right, but Avery had a strong hatred for her. Even if she did manage to successfully fight back, it wouldn't stop the Ravenclaw from coming after her again. Could it be that she was afraid of Avery, of what she could do?

The two of them soon made it back to the Hufflepuff common room. As it was pretty late, the two of them wasted no time in heading to the girls' dorms, changing into their pajamas, and settling down for the night. Although, Juniper remained awake for a little while after getting into bed. The only sounds were those of her fellow dormmates lightly snoring and occasionally the bed rustle of someone turning over. What would James think if he knew she'd been brutalized in the girls' lavatory? She made a mental note never to tell him. But this brought her thoughts to the fact that Avery had flirted with him the other day, and she felt an overwhelming sense of anger and jealousy. She didn't want to believe that James would ever consider dating someone as horrible as her, but Avery was beautiful, even if she did have an ugly personality. A lot of guys would kill to have her, despite what kind of person she was. Turning over, she went to sleep with her fears still fresh in her mind.