I'm so close to 100 reviews and this is only chapter nine Thank you so much to everybody who has reviewed/favoured/alerted or even just read this story
~R~}
Darkness had fallen and the rain had still not relented pounding insistently on the rooftop, she wasn't use to being alone or even living in such conditions, but it was better then going back. In her twenty years on this planet, she had never felt as safe as she felt at that moment, sitting on a chair, just staring out the window
She'd never imagined that she would end up in a muggle area, let alone live there for two years but she couldn't go back, she couldn't even imagine what her father would do, she had humiliated not only her family but the Flint family as well and as much as she disliked him, Marcus didn't deserve to be stood up like that, all by himself, waiting for her at the end of the altar
Her family didn't know where she was, she was no longer there daughter, they had disowned her and her Hogwarts education was useless if nobody was even willing to give her an interview. Who would want to hire such an embarrassment anyway, but she was still happy
She had never wanted to marry Marcus in the first place, but an arranged marriage was perfectly normal among pureblood families, she had been betrothed to Marcus when she was fifteen, according to her mother, two years was an apt amount of time to get to know your future husband, but as the two years flew by she realised that she couldn't stand Marcus, he was like her father and she hated her father, but she was still determined to go through with it.
Life with Marcus wouldn't be so bad, his family had plenty of money and she would be taken care of, she would be expected to stay home and raise whatever children they had, although she dreamed of working, she'd always wanted to be a journalist for the Daily Prophet, but that was just a dream, she would become Mrs Marcus Flint and nothing more.
It was in her seventh year that everything changed, she fell in love with the muggle born Terrence Higgs, he was the Slytherin seeker and his family didn't have a lot money, she didn't care that he was a muggle born but her family would.
Terrence and her dated throughout their seventh year, Marcus was mad but she didn't care, she had truly fallen in love and she wanted the whole world to know, she made plans in her head, Terry and her would move in together after they left Hogwarts, she'd work for the Daily Prophet and he would rise through the ranks at the ministry, he'd always wanted to work in the department for magical games and sports, they'd travel the world and he would take her away from her crazy family, her cruel father and her absentee mother.
It was when she came home for Christmas break that her father told her the date of her wedding was set and all her dreams came crashing down.
She'd told them she wouldn't go through with it, that she was already in love, but they just didn't care, the family's honour was at stake and when her father realised that she wasn't planning to go through with it, he'd threatened her, well not her...but Terry, he would make sure that nobody would ever hire him and as a muggle born Terry just didn't stand a chance against the Greengrass money or power
So she broke up with him after Christmas break and she never told him why, he just assumed it was because of her engagement to Marcus, he tried to convince her to elope with him, that they would run and never return and as tempting as the offer was she knew her family would never leave her alone and so she ignored Terry for the rest of the year and then on her wedding day, she ditched Marcus and just ran and since that the day she's had zero contact with the wizarding world, she didn't know how Terry was doing or how her sister Astoria was, she was seventeen now and would soon marry Draco Malfoy
Daphne Greengrass sat looking out of her window if her family found her they would never leave her alone, they'd make her suffer for ruining the family name and she didn't have the money or the power to make them leave her in peace so she was content with just surviving
R~}
"Who?" asked Roman gobsmacked, he'd known Juliet had been adopted but no idea that she knew who her birth parents were
"Rufus Scrimgeour" she repeated, they had retreated back into the kitchen and where sitting across from each at the breakfast table, "he's head of the auror department at the ministry for magic" she said seriously
"Which ministry" Roman asked, still in shock
"This one" Juliet snapped angrily
Roman held his hand up in a placating manner, once she had calmed down, she continued
"Father...he...I don't know what to say" she blurted out
"How about the truth" Roman said agitated, running his fingers through his hair
Juliet took a deep breath to calm herself, "do not interrupt me" she snapped making Roman feel like a little boy
"two years ago, I decided to find out what happened to my birth parents" she said
"When I asked father, he said he didn't know who they where, that he had just found me, I had no reason to suspect he was lying, so I left it at that...a week later I was going through the attic, trying to decided if there where things I wanted to take to the new apartment" she said with a sad smile
"I found this box from years back, it must have been put up there and just forgotten about, it had all these pictures of father when he first stared working at the ministry, pictures with grandfather and some co-workers, in one of the pictures there was this woman and I swear she looked just like me, an exact clone and I just knew Roman, I knew that she was my mother" she said her voice full of hurt
"I couldn't understand why he would lie" she said angrily, "I didn't know if I should confront him or just forget about it...it only took me days to decide that I would find my mother, I couldn't trust father anymore and I just wanted the full story, so I snuck into his office and looked through his files from eighteen years ago, just when I was about to give up, I found her file" she said bitterly "and after that I confronted father with it and he told me everything, he even showed me his memories" she said quietly
Roman was about to interrupt but a glare from Juliet shut him right up
"Her name was Marie Lupten, she was fathers' partner when he first started working at the ministry" she said quietly; when it became obvious that she wouldn't continue talking, Roman spoke up
"What happened to her?" he asked gravelly
Juliet suddenly looked at him as if she had forgotten he was there
"Father and her where put on this case with some British ministry workers" she said, "to come to a sort of alliance, that would help both countries fight against he-who-must-not-be-named and whilst she was there, she met this young auror" she said with a sad smile, "Rufus Scrimgeour was his name, father said it was love at first sight" she said tears pooling in her eyes, Roman got off his seat and hugged his sister, when she was well enough to talk they sat back down
"They got married very quickly after they met" she beamed, "but there where some complications" she said quietly, "she found out that father was...he...he was a..a-"
"What Juliet?" asked Roman worried
Juliet looked into his eyes and held his hand tightly, "Father made some mistakes in his past, he wasn't perfect and he's made up for his crimes over the years"
She was starting to really scare him
"Father was a good man Roman but" determination shined brightly in her eyes, "Father was a death eater"
It felt like he had just been punched, all the air left his lungs and his mind came up blank
"Huh?" was the only thing that passed his lips
"He was lonely" Juliet defended
"So he became a murderer" Roman yelled jumping up and stepping away from Juliet
"He just wanted to belong somewhere and he never killed anyone, he never even received the dark mark, he just passed on information to you-know-who" Juliet continued, "Sit down and do not interrupt me again" she ordered him and like a school boy, Roman sat back down trying to come to terms with what he had learnt
"As I was saying" Juliet said, "Marie found out that father was passing on information and she told Rufus but they couldn't prove it, but they had something else on him, something that would ruin the family name" she said seriously "they where sure that it would make him leave the country"
"Father was having an affair with a married woman" Juliet said, "She was a pureblood witch who was married to a powerful man, not as powerful as father but he was important, the family are an old one in British society"
"Who was the woman?" Roman asked intrigued
"Susan Greengrass" she replied
"Greengrass?" Roman repeated, "There's a girl at Hogwarts in her seventh year, Astoria Greengrass, any relation?"
"That would be her youngest daughter" Juliet replied, "Astoria has a half sister who was disowned by the family"
"Half sister?" Roman asked that was rare for pureblood families
"Yes, Daphne and Astoria share a mother but not a father" she said coyly, "Daphne's father is the one who her mother cheated with twenty one years ago"
Suddenly Roman realised where Juliet was going
"Our father?" he breathed out, "that doesn't make any sense, father would never abandon his own child, I mean he raised the two us and we weren't even his" he argued
"He didn't have much of a choice" Juliet said so quietly that Roman had to lean in to hear, "Marie and Rufus knew about the affair and they knew that the child Susan Greengrass was carrying was his and not her husbands, they threatened to tell him the truth" she said
"but that's exactly what father wanted, he loved Susan, he wanted to marry her and raise his daughter, but Susan would not leave her husband, so he hoped that once the husband found out that the child wasn't his he would throw Susan out of the house and leave her no other choice but to come running back to father" Juliet said
"So Marie told the husband?" Roman asked
"Yes" Juliet said, "but the husband didn't react the way father wanted, he was a pureblood and such humiliation would be unthinkable and he threatened father but unlike Marie and Rufus, the husband had death eater friends who could easily get proof that father was a death eater, he would be locked up and any chance of seeing his child would be lost" she said mournfully
"So what did he do?" Roman asked
"He had no choice but to leave" Juliet said, "on the night he was suppose to leave, he went back to his office for some paperwork he had forgotten and Marie was there, she was heavily pregnant with me and he blamed her for everything, he was convinced that he could persuade Susan to join him but it was too late, he had lost the woman he had loved and his child" she said
"He was just yelling at her when she went into labour" she said mournfully, "he didn't know what to do so he used the floo network to call for help from St Mungo's but they didn't arrive in time and she passed away bringing me into this world, her last request was to name me Juliet" she sadly "after Rufus' mother"
"Father left before help could arrive taking me with him" she said, "I was declared dead along with Marie"
"Why didn't he give you to Rufus?" Roman asked
"He blamed Rufus for taking away his daughter; he thought it was poetic justice that he takes away Rufus' daughter"
"That's sick" Roman said appalled "why aren't you mad?" he asked confused
"I was" she said seriously
"Is that why you killed him?" Roman asked eyes wide
"Roman" she said shocked "be serious, you know that was an accident"
He looked at her and shook his head
"Sorry" he said "but this is all too much"
"I know" she said "It took me a while to wrap my head around it as well"
"What I'm I suppose to do?" he asked begging her with his eyes to help him
She sighed
"Our situations are different Roman; with me Rufus has no idea that I'm his daughter so I can easily walk away from him without anybody's feelings being hurt. Rufus thinks I'm dead, he's mourned for me already it would just be cruel to enter back into his life but the Potters have never given up hope for your return and now the choice is yours, do you want to get to know them?" she asked
"I don't know" he said rubbing his hand over his face
"When do you go back to Hogwarts?" she asked
"In five days" he said sourly
"Good" she said "that gives you five days to decide your next step, hiding won't do you any good"
"I wasn't hiding" he grumbled
"Oh please" she said rolling her eyes and pointedly looking at the stack of unopened letters next to him
"I wasn't" he repeated, he wanted to change the subject and his eyes landed on the newspaper that Hector his agent had sent him, "is Viktor quitting the Vultures" he asked
Juliet looked at him surprised
"How do you know?" she asked
"So he is" Roman said aghast, "why?" Viktor like himself had played for the Vratsa Vultures since they where little kids to leave was insanity
Juliet said two words
"Hugo Vladinski"
"The new manager" Roman said surprised
"Viktor can't stand him, they argue about everything. Hugo's trying to give his son Reginald a career boost, the whole team has become about him and he's not exactly the best player in the league" Juliet said angrily, "Reginald's filling your spot and once you come back he's back to sitting on the bench, so Hugo's determined to show the world that his son is better then you"
"What?" he said shocked, he'd read as much from the newspaper but he'd didn't believe all of it
"I'm the best player of my generation" he said
"Don't be so arrogant" Juliet reprimanded
"I'm being serious" he smirked
"Anyway" she said getting up "Hugo has a three year contract as a manager and Viktor's not sticking around for that long, he's signing with the Haskovo Hawks this summer"
"So he's leaving me?" Roman said shocked
"Oh grow up, Roman" Juliet chuckled, "he's just switching sides, I'm exhausted so I'm going to bed" she said walking out of the room
Roman huffed and put his head in his laps, he didn't know what to think anymore but he might as well open Hector's letter
Hector Claymore had become his manager when he was thirteen and he'd was more like an uncle then an agent
Hector's letter was short and to the point
'Meet me tomorrow at the London eye at noon'
R~}
So at noon the next day Roman stood near the London eye looking for Hector
"Roman" yelled a voice and he turned around to see Hector a few feet away
Hector Claymore was in his early thirties with dark brown hair and grey eyes
"Hector" Roman smiled as he shook his hand "It's been a long time"
"Nearly six months" said Hector as they started walking; Hector led him to a small cafe near the London eye
"So why the impromptu meeting" Roman asked as he sat down across from Hector
"The quidditch world is changing my boy" Hector said seriously
"What?" Roman asked
"Before we start talking business Roman I want you to know that I have your best interest at heart" Hector said seriously
"Okay" Roman said confused
"You have to leave the Vultures" he said seriously
"What, no" Roman said angry, "why would I leave my childhood club"
"Because it's changing" Hector said
"Right now you're seen as the best in the world but you're position at the top is in danger" Hector said
"From who?" Roman asked
"Reginald Vladinski" said Hector
Roman Laughed
"Please tell me your joking" Roman chuckled, "Reginald is nowhere near as good as I am"
"No he's not" Hector agreed "but his father is more then a match for you, Hugo Vladinski is determined to give Reginald your spot on the team, he's made it his life's mission to make his son the best player in the world"
"But Reginald doesn't have the talent" Roman said seriously
"Who needs talent when a few goals and some over exposure will make sure everybody knows his name"
"Over exposure?" said Roman "nobody outside of Bulgaria knows his name and my uniform is the most sold internationally" he argued
"You know that cover for Quidditch Crescent your going to do next month?" he asked
"Yeah" Roman replied
"They pulled out" Hector said
"Why? They've been trying to get me to do that cover for a year now" Roman said shocked
"I did some digging and it seems that Hugo Vladinski had a little talk with them, he convinced them that you where too expensive for someone so young and that since you weren't playing club quidditch your popularity has gone down, it's all a big lie, but it worked. Your replacement just so happens to be Reginald Vladinski" Hector said sourly
"So what do we do?" Roman asked
"Oh I've got big plans for you Roman trust me; I'm going to make you a legend before you're even twenty one"
"I thought I already was a legend" Roman said
"No now your great but to be a legend you have to stay at the top and to do that you have to trust me"
"Alright" said Roman "what's you plan"
"I've got an old friend, two in fact, one is a very rich business man and the other is an agent"
"So?" Roman said
"So, imagine a bottom of the league team, a team so terrible that only the most loyal fans would support it, a team that hasn't won a single game in more then a hundred years. Then imagine you playing for such a team"
"You're insane" Roman said
"No I'm a genius" Hector said, "This business man friend is going to buy the team and fire every last player and he has enough money for your salary, he has enough money to bring in players from all over the world and I've already got your new team mate, this agent friend of mine has this kid on his list, well he' twenty now but that still quite young, one of the best keepers in the world but he's stuck on the bench at Puddlemere United. Trust me when I say he'll jump at the chance to play with you"
"How's any of this suppose to help me?" Roman asked
"Can't you see the headlines, you leading a dead last team to glory; you'll be hailed a legend"
"Who's this goalkeeper that's so amazing?" He asked
"Oliver wood" Hector said proudly
"Never heard of him" Roman snapped "and this so called team?"
"Chudley cannons" Hector grimaced
Roman looked at him shocked, "them I've definitely heard of, there a joke"
"That's the point" Hector said "if you could turn the Chudley cannons into a winning team then you automatically become a legend
"For Merlin's sake's Hector their motto is 'Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best' you can't expect me to play for them, its career suicide"
"If you want it all you have to risk it all" Hector said seriously,
"It would mean moving to England" Roman said gravelly
"What's wrong with England" Hector said acting offended, "It's a beautiful country, anyone would be lucky to live here"
"Yeah but my family lives in Bulgaria" he said earnestly
"Look son" Hector said, "you don't have to make any decisions now, you have another whole year on your contract with the Vultures and besides, your family will be okay, your sister's getting married and your grandfather can always visit, no need to make a decision now lad"
"Fine" Roman said glumly. Thoughts of living in England filling his mind