.


Chapter Eighteen: Forgiveness

Juniper sighed as she headed to the greenhouses, which is where Professor Longbottom said he would be at breakfast. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her pants, her breath creating puffs of smoke, which indicated just how cold it had become. Then again, it was Scotland. Even during the summer, it only got up to twenty degrees celsius or sixty-eight degrees fahrenheit. She mentally shook her head, forcing herself to stop thinking about the weather. The only reason she thought about it, however, was because it made her forget how she had acted towards James a few days ago. Her friends words had rang in her head when she had finally talked to them in the common room that night.

"I get that you're upset with him. He definitely shouldn't have hid that from you, but you did kind of overreact. Just because he kept the map from you doesn't mean that he doesn't consider you to be a friend. Hell, I didn't know about the map either," Kaylynn had said.

"I know I'm new here and I really don't have much of a say, but from what I know, James and you have been friends for a long time. It seems a little trivial to let something like this ruin your friendship. The fact that James went after you and tried to explain should show that he cares. He could have just been a git about it and brushed you off." This came from Eileen.

Juniper had been so emotionally drained after her fight with James that she had no argument. Part of her knew that she had overreacted immensely to something that really was small. Yet, another part of her wanted to remain angry with him as she felt it wasn't fair. She also knew that she was being very childish about it and had thrown a bit of a temper tantrum. She forced the thoughts out of her head as she reached Greenhouse Three.

"Good, you're just in time," Professor Longbottom said as he finished laying out a few tools. "I want you to pull the weeds and water these Venomous Tentacula." He stepped back to reveal a row of pots, which held seedlings or the squirming plants. "You don't have to worry about being poisoned by their thorns as they are only seedlings, but it still hurts like the dickens if you get stung, so watch out. After that, I want all of the gardening tools rearranged by hand, no magic. I'll be in my office if you need me."

Juniper nodded, having no argument. She deserved her punishment and would serve her detention with a humble attitude. Once Professor Longbottom had left, she donned her dragonhide gloves, pushed her hair from her face, and set to work. The Venomous Tentacula didn't like being manhandled too much and showed it by occasionally slapping at her arm. Even though she was wearing a jumper, she could still feel their burning sting and winced each time she was struck. She made a mental note to get some healing paste from Madame Pomfrey when she was done. Because she was so immersed in her work, she was unaware that someone else had come in and was standing a few feet behind her in the doorway.

"Hey." Juniper stopped working for a brief moment as she recognized James' voice, but then returned to her task at hand as if she hadn't been interrupted.

"Hi," she said as she tossed some weeds onto the ground. For a moment, there was nothing, but silence between the two of them. Juniper had wanted to turn around and snap at him for she was still, very much, seething, but she stopped herself.

"I don't suppose you'd want to take a small break and talk to me for a few minutes, would you?"

Juniper sighed and set her tools down, wiping the sweat off her forehead and leaving a nice streak of dirt in its place. "Sure," she said and moved a few potted plants from one of the benches in the greenhouse so that they could sit down.

"Listen," he said after a few moments of silence. "I realize that I should have told you about the map a long time ago like I told my other friends. I'm sorry."

"Why didn't you?" Juniper asked, tugging the sleeves of her jumper over her hands.

"Well, I think it's because when I first started to watch you through it, I might have felt ashamed without realizing it. I didn't want you to think that I was stalking you."

"I'm not sure if you can call that stalking," Juniper said quietly. "It's not like you were sneaking into my bedroom at night and watching me sleep."

James gave a dry laugh. "I'd like to think that I'm not that creepy."

Juniper's lips twitched slightly. "I was mad because I felt left out. I mean, we tell each other everything and it made me feel like, because you didn't tell me about the map, that I wasn't your best friend."

James nodded understandingly. "I'm also sorry for acting like an insensitive clod. That's something I need to work on."

"I won't lie, you were kind of a prat to me yesterday, but I also deserved it."

"No, you didn't. Honestly, I'm more surprised you didn't do more than knock me on my arse. I'm sorry you got in trouble, by the way."

Juniper shrugged. "It's not the first time I've been in detention." She stood up. "I should probably get back to work before Professor Longbottom finds me slacking off and really revokes my Hogsmeade priveleges.

James stood up as well. "So, you're not mad at me anymore?" he asked in a hopeful voice.

Juniper looked up at him. She realized that, no matter how mad he might make her, and no matter how many fights they had, she would never stop caring about him. "No, I'm not mad at you, anymore," she said smiling genuinely for the first time in days and was happily surprised when he enveloped her in a warm hug.

"I am kind of ashamed of myself, though," she said as she got back to work.

"Why's that?" James asked as he grabbed an extra pair of dragonhide gloves in order to start helping her.

"I wasn't really acting like a true Hufflepuff. We're not supposed to get angry like that."

James threw his head back and laughed. "Honestly, June, regardless of what House you're in, you still have emotions like everyone else and that means some of those emotions will be negative. I'm sure old Helga Hufflepuff would understand. No one is perfect, it's just not possible."

"I guess, I just feel horrible. I mean, I usually try not to let myself get provoked like that."

James shrugged. "I pretty much deserved it and I definitely felt the force behind that spell." He grinned impishly causing her to blush.

The worked in silence for the next hour and a half, only exchanging a few words, but Juniper felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders as she was no longer angry with him. Once they had finished with everything, they walked back up to the castle.

"Do you want to hang out with me in Hogsmeade?" he asked.

Juniper found herself blushing, but smiled at his direct question. She loved how he didn't beat around the bush. "Sure." She couldn't help, but accept his request and walked back to her common room, feeling a lot happier than before.


"So, ready for your first date with James?" Kaylynn asked playfully as she brushed a piece of lint off of Juniper's jumper.

"I-It's not a date," Juniper protested, her face a ripe tomato red. "We're just going to The Three Broomsticks and then to some of the shops." Why did her friend keep insisting on it being a date?

"You should have, at least, let me put some make-up on you." Kaylynn dug into her purse and pulled out a tube of lipgloss. "Just a little bit? You're not going to burst into flames or anything."

Juniper looked down at the light pink tube with disdain and took a step back. "I'll wear make-up at my funeral," she said before looking towards Eileen. "I still don't understand why you rejected Seth. He's a really nice guy."

"I'd rather get to know someone first before I decide to hang out with them alone," Eileen said with a shrug as she straightened the fringes on her periwinkle scarf.

"That's kind of hard when you don't really talk to many other people," Kaylynn pointed out.

Juniper suddenly jumped as a set of fingers tickled her left side. She turned around and saw James.

"You know I don't like being tickled," she said, pretending to scold him as she playfully hit him on the arm.

He smirked. "I know, that's why I do it. I see you're wearing that scarf I gave you."

Juniper lightly touched the soft woolen material that was wrapped around her neck. "Er...yes."

They came into Hogsmeade and James and Juniper began to head to The Three Broomsticks. As they were walking away, Juniper heard Kaylynn calling after them.

"Let us know how your date goes?" She grinned teasingly. Juniper glared at her with a look that said 'Remind me to kill you, later.'

The pub was invitingly warm when they stepped inside. Juniper removed her scarf as she didn't need it at the moment and James found them a table. There were other students that they already knew. The two of them waved at Jaenelle and Liam, who were there together.

"I didn't know the two of them were going out," Juniper said as she sat down at the table.

"I'm not even sure it's official. I think Liam's just trying to butter her up so that she'll go to the ball with him."

"I'm pretty sure Jaenelle will go. She likes to dress up." Juniper began pulling a few Galleons from her coin purse, but James pushed her hand away.

"What kind of friend would I be if I made you pay for your own?" he asked winking at her before standing up. "So, butterbeer, right?" he asked. "Or do you want something a bit stronger? I'm sure I can bribe one of the seventh years to buy us some firewhiskey."

"James! You know we're both way too young!" Juniper admonished.

James chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Can't blame me for asking. All right, forget the firewhiskey, two butterbeers coming right up." He walked to the front of the pub where Madame Rosemerta was taking orders. Juniper made herself as comfortable as possible as she traced the grooves in the wooden table. All around her there were couples, most of them were just talking and laughing, but a few were snogging, which made her feel awkward. Although they didn't seem to have a care in the world. Maybe she was just a borderline prude.

You were the one thinking about James practically ravaging you in the library the other day, a voice reminded her.

I was not! What I was thinking about definitely didn't include ravaging of any kind.

Before she could continue with her inner argument, James had returned with two large mugs of butterbeer. He slid one over to her, then sat down with his. "You look nice today, by the way."

Juniper plucked at her red jumper and raised an eyebrow. "Thanks," she said accepting the compliment. "But I look the same as I always do."

"I like the way you always look."

Juniper wished she had a lot more composure as she blushed for, probably, the umpteenth time that day. Why couldn't she be calm, cool, and collected like Kaylynn or her sister? "I just wish that Kaylynn wasn't always trying to force make-up on me."

James shifted in his chair. "I may not know much about the stuff girls wear, but I do know that you don't need it. Besides, it's better to be natural than to look like that Joker guy in those Batman shows and comics."

Juniper frowned, puzzled. "Who?"

James waved his hand. "Nevermind, it's a Muggle thing. My father was raised by them, so he usually tries to make sure that I'm pretty up to date with their world." He then murmured something that Juniper couldn't hear.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I said that means I may also partake in the delights of a few Muggle super-hero comics as well," he said, his face slightly red.

Juniper struggled to stifle a laugh, which only made James scowl at her. "They're very riveting, you know!"

"No, no! I'm not laughing at you. I actually think it's kind of nice. I don't know much about comics, wizard or muggle, but I wouldn't mind reading a few."

James' scowl turned into a grin. "Really, now?" Juniper nodded. "I'll let you borrow a few. I think you'll like them."

Juniper had never really been one for reading, unless it was something centered around Quidditch, but she had checked out a book about Helga Hufflepuff from the library, which she hadn't even touched yet. Maybe she would enjoy a comic or two. "Er...great, you can bring a few to me later." She took another sip of her butterbeer, savoring the taste. She heard familiar laughter a few tables down and saw Avery sitting with her three female friends, plus a few male companions. That set her to wondering if any of them were the ones who had been persuaded to bewitch the Bludger.

"You all right, June?" James asked, following her gaze and grimacing in disgust. "How anyone can be attracted to a girl as horrible as Avery is beyond me."

Juniper relaxed slightly. At least she knew that James wasn't smitten by Avery, no matter how attractive she was. She briefly wondered if she should tell him about what she had overhead in the Owlery, but she was afraid that if she did, James might create a huge scene. Juniper and Avery's eyes met and the blue-eyed Ravenclaw gave her a look that seemed to wish a lot of pain and torture. The Hufflepuff turned away after a few moments.

"She's not even worth our time," James said before his eyebrows furrowed once again. "Are you sure you're all right? She didn't try and hurt you again, did she?"

Juniper shook her head frantically. "No, of course not! Stop worrying so much!"

James narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it and shrugged. "Right." He drained the rest of his butterbeer, then left to get a refill for the two of them, leaving Juniper to wince inwardly.

Why couldn't she tell him of what she had heard that day? He had been so patient by not pestering her and here she was skirting around the truth. She bit down on her bottom lip, realizing that her keeping this from him was like the map argument all over again. She was basically doing the same thing. She made a mental note to tell him that evening after they returned from Hogsmeade, despite the fact that she was dreading it.