bahnannah- Well sure you can beg but I promise nothing. *Evil laugh.* I will tell you that Remus and Hedwig are safe. I think I cried for 30 minutes when Hedwig died in the books. At least in the movies she died trying to protect Harry. Someone is dead in this chapter but something else much more key is lost. Hope you enjoy. :)
BioHazard82- Thank you so much.
n7kairos- Although either would have been good ideas its actually something completely different. Hes not ready to hand her anything that could be used as a weapon. Yet.
AN- Mixed bag in this chapter. A bit of fluff, a dash of deep conversations, a smidge of stragedy with a power play or perhaps even two by our favorite trio, rounded out with a fight and a sprinkle of Leta on top. Oh yeah and got to stick a knife in Juniper and maybe even twist it a bit. Voila! Hope you enjoy.
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CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
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Bucky couldn't help but be concerned about the intent look on Juniper's face and the way she kept a hold on whatever was wrapped in her cloak. She kept one hand on top the other on the bottom. It didn't seem very big maybe about the size of a large shoe box and also not very heavy, but she carried it like any minute it was going to try and escape. Bucky had offered to take it for her, but she had shaken her head looking at him as if he'd lost his mind. One of the young men they'd met briefly earlier, Oliver Wood fell into step on Juniper's other side keeping anyone else from approaching her. He didn't speak to her at first but did give Bucky a grin over her head.
"Hey Juniper, you think we could get this whole war thing over with quickly? Puddlemere United training season is starting soon, and I think if I get in enough training, I may make it off reserves and onto the main team this year." He said bumping her lightly.
Juniper blinked up at him seeming to notice for the first time he was there. She gave him a fond smile. "Glad to see you've still got your priorities in order Ollie. I'll do my best."
"Thanks Juni. Hey maybe after you could come try out for Puddlemere too. I think our Seekers getting ready to retire and you'd make the team no problem. I'd love to play with you again. You're still the best flyer I've ever seen. Only Krum comes close." Oliver said cheerfully.
"Sorry Ollie if I ever go professional the Harpies are my team." Juniper answered. "Didn't they trample Puddlemere in their last game?"
"Traitor." Oliver accused giving her another grin. "The Harpies cheat." He said and peeled off as they reached the Weasley's twin shop as Juniper gave a gasp of outrage.
"Blatant lies." Juniper called after him, but her eyes had cleared a bit and Bucky had to wonder if that hadn't been the other man's objective in the first place. He was starting to get the feeling between Katie and Oliver that Juniper's old Quidditch team understood her much better than she thought.
Juniper pushed through the shop doors. It was open a few shoppers mostly children in the store despite it still being before noon. There were quite a few things that caught Bucky's eye that he wanted to take a closer look at, but he followed Juniper into the back room intending to look closer later.
The twins and Tony where already there seeming to be studying a small disk in George's hand. "...sucks up every bit of light in the room but it will only hold it for five minutes."
"And when it releases the burst of light that results are so strong it blinds everyone in the vicinity." Fred finished.
"We need to find a way to hold longer and to release the light in a more controlled way." George finished.
"Or get through the room faster leaving the disk behind." Juniper told them making a face at them when they looked over at her in surprise. "I mean you're not going to be using it in a room if you don't already know where you're going or have a way to see your way through. That would be insane." She gently sat her cloak wrapped bundle on a worktable.
A huge orange cat that looked more like a mushed faced tiger jumped up beside it and made a terrifying yowling snarling sound at it. "Crookshanks." Juniper yelped in surprise, and scooped the creature into her arms cuddling him. He allowed it with only a sniff of displeasure. "How did he get here?"
Fred shrugged. "He just showed up after the wedding. Didn't seem right to toss him out. He is Hermione's so he is family too."
Hermione who'd entered with the others let out cry at the sight of the Kneazle and immediately hurried over to take him from Juniper. The animal that had been hanging limply in Juniper's arms curled into Hermione's like a baby suddenly purring loudly and butting his big head against her chin.
Bucky was remembering the story that they'd been told that featured the Kneazle as hero. The one where he had protected Sirius Black from Juniper. The one that proved the creature was a excellent judge of things. He looked over glaring at the bundle on the table again.
"Doll, what is that?" He asked.
"A gift." Juniper answered turning and looking at the others her eyes locked with Ron's. He shifted his eyes to the cloak then to Crookshanks.
"Oh, bloody hell. Who brought you this gift Juni? Who is it from?" He knew what it was. The look in Juniper's eyes and the way Crookshanks was glaring at it switching his tail told him that.
"Barty brought it." Juniper muttered eyes shifting downwards.
"WHAT?" Hermione yelled pulling her cat closer.
"Barty Crouch is in the alley?" Charlie asked a threatening growl in his voice as he entered the others trailing behind.
"Well, not by now." Juniper assured him.
"The man who helped torture Neville's parents to insanity..." Hermione started.
"He was a teenager and they forced him to go with them. He had no idea what they were going to do and he was a lookout, so he wasn't even in the house at the time." Juniper objected.
"The man who kept Mad-eye Moody trapped in a trunk for a year so he could impersonate him at Hogwarts..."
"Hey, he didn't kill him. He kept him fed. He was like a prisoner of war. He was better off than Barty or Siri were in Azkaban." Juniper answered.
"The man who illegally entered you into the triwizard tournament and arranged it, so you ended up in that Bloody graveyard."
"Well okay got to give you that one." Juniper admitted.
"And you just go skipping off with him to have a nice little chat and take a gift from him." Hermione finished as if Juniper had never interrupted at all sounding outraged.
"I knew if he was here, it was important. I needed to hear what he had to say." Juniper told her. "And I checked it over for portkeys or curses before I touched it."
"What is this soft spot you have for that psychotic weirdo? Why are you always so reckless? I thought now that things had changed, you'd be a little more cautious." Hermione continued.
"Habit?" Juniper answered. Then glanced over at Ron looking worried. "Has your mom been giving her lessons?"
"Seems like it." Ron answered in the same tone. Then turned his eyes back to the cloak. "Can we table this part of the discussion for a moment and just deal with this?"
"This what? What even is it?" Hermione asked as they all turned their attention to the cloak covered package.
"Scabbers of course." Ron answered even as Juniper pulled the cloak away to reveal a small cage containing what appeared to be a sleeping or more likely unconscious brown rat. He was missing a toe on one front foot and the other foot was missing completely. "What ya reckon?" He asked Juniper pulling his wand glancing over at her. "We kill him together?"
Juniper couldn't hold back a small grin at the question remembering Sirius saying something similar to Remus. "No."
"No? What do you mean no? You've regreated not letting Sirius and Remus kill him for 4 years and now you're going to hesitate again?" Ron responded looking over at her in surprise.
"He hurt both of us but there is someone else who he hurt even more." Juniper said looking over to Remus who had backed up into the corner and had his arms wrapped around himself a soft growl escaping his throat eyes amber. It was much too close to the full moon for Remus to be able to handle this much emotion easily.
Juniper stepped a bit closer carefully but not close enough to set off Moony. In this state he was still Remus enough to know who she was. "Remus, I'm going to call Kreacher. I'm going to have him take Wormtail away for now. There are cells in the Black dungeon that are specially enchanted to hold a animagus. He'll stay there until you decide how you want it to happen. If you want to do it." She glanced over at Ron. "He will die. Its only right that the last true Marauder decide how."
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Kingsley Shacklebolt wasn't quite as annoying as Nick Fury but he definitely had the potential to get there with a little more experience. At least he wasn't in awe of Tony's 17-year-old daughter like his associate Jacob Savage. An auror and grown wizard probably in his early 30s that couldn't stop gawking at Juniper. It was probably for the best that Bucky wasn't sitting in on the meeting.
Juniper was there oh course along with Ron and Hermione, the twins representing the DA, Kingsley, Dora, Savage, and Alice Proudfoot for the Order, Tony and Steve for the Avengers, and Florean because (according to him.) it was his ice cream parlor, and he was nosy.
Most of the talking was done by Kingsley, Fred, Proudfoot, and Savage. Arguing over where the final battle should take place, how to use the SHIELD, Romanian and French reinforcements. The amount of deadly force their soldiers should be encouraged to use, the size of the force that would be left behind at Diagon Alley, and if the attack on Hogsmeade should be a all-out frontal assault or if smaller groups should infiltrate more slowly to more effectively evacuate civilians. The most insulting thing to Tony was that Kingsley thought he could decide how, where, and when Juniper would be in the entire thing. He wanted her in Hogsmeade and kept under wraps until they needed her to fight Tom who they called Voldemort, Bellatrix and Grindelwald. That was what made Tony realize she was right. Many in the wizarding world saw her as nothing more or less than a weapon.
More and more as the talking continued Steve, Florean, Dora, and George where shooting looks at Juniper as if waiting for her to put in her opinion, but she seemed disinclined to do so, seeming more interested in the chocolate peanut butter milkshake Florean had made for her before sitting at the table. Ron much to Tony's surprise was just as silent concentrating on his strawberry sundae, and all of Hermione's focus was on her vanilla yogurt.
All three finished their ice cream at the same time and looked at each other across the table. "Are they finished yet?" Juniper asked.
"I hope so." Ron answered. "I mean it's real cute that they think they have so much control over you that your just going to do what they say, but I'm starting to worry that their grip on reality may be slipping."
"If any of you have any input, we are willing to consider it." Kingsley said.
"See that's the thing. You've made all these plans with Juniper as the lynchpin, but we get the distinct feeling these plans where made before we even got back. You've never even considered that we may have information that will necessitate changes to your plans. Or that Steve who has more practical experience in warfare than anyone here but Florean and knows how HYDRA operates may have some ideas to contribute." Hermione said calmly.
Proudfoot gave Juniper a small smile. "Ms. Potter..."
"Thats Lady Potter BLACK." Juniper answered. "Don't forget exactly what family blood I have in my veins Proudfoot. And don't use that patronizing tone with me. I have been fighting this war since I was eleven years old. Do not think you're going to push me aside now considering how badly your generation has bungled it up and forced me into a leadership position up until now."
Fred reached into his pocket pulled out some gold coins and handed them over to his twin who gave him a smirk. Juniper rolled her eyes she'd long ago given up being annoyed by the twin's habit of placing bets on the most inappropriate things. Tony couldn't have kept the proud smirk off his face if his life had depended on it. Steve and Dora both tried to hide their grins but weren't very successful.
"Then let's hear your plan." Kingsley said with a sigh.
"The final battle will be at Hogwarts not Hogsmeade." Juniper informed them.
"There are children there." Proudfoot objected.
Juniper couldn't decide if she wanted to laugh or cry at that. It had always been interesting to her how the adults around her had always wanted to protect every child, except her.
"Maybe there's a prophecy somewhere we can twist to fit this situation." Hermione muttered under her breathe.
"There are secret passages we intend to use to evacuate the kids and they all come out in Hogsmeade." Juniper told her. "There is something inside Hogwarts we have to have to destroy Tom Riddle."
"Does this have to do with the mission Dumbledore sent you on?" Kingsley asked there was still a deep grief in his eyes when he mentioned Dumbledore. Kingsley was one of those who would never believe a bad word about Dumbledore and still believed that Juniper was 100% on the same page.
"Yes." Juniper answered meeting his dark eyes. She didn't know how much Dumbledore had told him probably nothing but the basics. She did know however like the most die-hard of the Dumbledore loyalist he would do what it took to carry out his wishes.
"We can get a small group inside. They'll know I doubt we'll have more than a hour maybe less before Tom will come. He'll have some kind of alarm set up to let him know when I return. That will give us a window to get the younger kids out. I would prefer a bigger one, but we work with what we have." Juniper said now twirling the straw from her milkshake in the glass.
"Where do the secret passages come out?" Proudfoot asked. Juniper looked up at her and her cool glare made it crystal clear she had no intention of telling her.
"We'll need to have aurors in position to protect them." Proudfoot objected.
"I'm hardly going to send children through without any protection. The youngest will have one of the Avengers with them the others at least one of the older members of the DA." Juniper replied. She wasn't going to mention the particular Avenger that would be the protector was 15.
"We're supposed to trust schoolkids to protect the children?" Proudfoot asked.
"No, you're supposed to trust the Defenders of Hogwarts to continue protecting the children as they have been all year." Juniper replied.
"She has a point." Dora said giving the older woman a grin.
"Once Tom realizes we are at Hogwarts he will pull most of the Deatheaters from Hogsmeade and the ministry that will give SHIELD a chance to come in and take the town. And for Kingsley to lead a group of former aurors and ministry employees to retake the ministry. If they are hit hard and fast enough they won't have a chance to sound a alarm. Then the Hogsmeade group can come in from behind the Deatheaters. That will box the Deatheaters in between SHIELD forces, Hogwarts, the forbidden forest and the cliffs." Juniper said her eyes locked on Kingsley.
"You want to use deadly force. Dumbledore would never agree to that. We need to try to capture the Deatheaters. Give them a chance for redemption." Kingsley objected.
"Like last time?" Juniper asked. "Stick them in Azkaban until another dark lord rises and breaks them out for cannon fodder."
"Juniper." Kingsley said in disapproval.
"How many members of the original order would still be alive if they had been willing to use fatal spells? I'm done handicapping the ones capable and willing to protect the wizarding world. I saw the razing of Diagon alley. Saw Bellatrix trapping people and burning them alive, Parkinson, Avery, MacNair all flinging around curses. This is a new game, a new level if we play by the old rules we will lose." Juniper told him voice firm.
"And if they surrender?" Fred asked.
"Then by all means detain them safely, give them a trial with veritaserum, and let the punishment fit the crime. But I swear right now Kingsley any who were involved in the murder of the Muggleborns in the book and their families will be executed. I am done with the corrupt way the ministry handled everything last time. I will not have another Sirius Black spending years in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit, or a Lucius Malfoy escaping punishment by making huge donations." Juniper answered.
"Yeah, that last part is a conversation for after we win the battle." Hermione told her softly.
"And if I disagree with your new kill them all policy?" Kingsley asked.
"Fred who will the DA follow?"
"You Juniper. To the end you know that."
"Florean who will the people in the alley follow?"
"We stand with Juniper Potter." Florean answered shifting his chair slightly to face Kingsley a bit more. Not aggressively but that could change quickly from that position.
"Dora who will the Order stand with?"
"Dumbledore was very clear in naming you his successor."
"Savage who will the Aurors stand with?"
"More than a few of us have been advocating more aggressive tactics since Amelia's murder. We will stand with you."
"I don't want to do this without you Kingsley. With Madeye gone you are the strongest of the Order left. We need you." Juniper said. "I know you don't side with Tom but you either need to stand with us or get out of our way."
Kingsley gave a deep sigh and rubbed a hand over his face. "I will stand with you Juniper. I will stand at your side as right now divisions would be disastrous, as long as it is clear that fatal curses are only allowed to be used in the battle. You know there will be some who will try to stretch it too execute any Deatheater. Even those that have surrendered."
"Hermione could you write something up to that effect? We can post it make sure all combatants read it before battle." Juniper said. Then glanced over at Steve. "Did you have anything to add?" She asked as Hermione pulled out a spiral notebook and Bic pen that the wizards looked at as if it was the most interesting thing they'd seen in ages.
"No, since most of the engagement with HYDRA will be by SHIELD agents and I know nothing about warfare between witches and wizards I think you covered everything." Steve answered trying to control the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
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"So, you're the one." Bucky had been expecting Charlie Weasley to say something for the last 20 minutes as the two of them stood outside the ice cream parlor waiting for Juniper and the others to come out. No one had asked or told the two men to act as guards to make sure the meeting wasn't interrupted, but they had both seemed to fall into the behavior automatically. For Bucky it was part of his training kicking in. As the Winter Soldier he'd mostly been a assassin but there had been times when he'd been used as a bodyguard as well. For Charlie, he expected it had something to do with being the second oldest of a large family. He had to imagine he'd done more than a bit of babysitting especially as he'd heard how much of a handful the twins where.
"The one what?" Bucky asked glancing at him from the corner of his eye.
Charlie shrugged. "My youngest sister Ginny has dated several guys at Hogwarts. Never anything serious but Juniper was never the dating around kind. Juniper is the kind who has a great love of her life. I thought for a while it would be Cedric. Maybe would have been if he'd lived but he died and now there is you."
"You think I'm her great love?" Bucky asked not able to hold back a small smile.
Charlie snorted. "Back when she was staying in the alley before she started her third year Quality Quidditch supplies had this new broom. A Firebolt an international standard broom. It was the fastest thing on the market at that time. She had a Nimbus 2000 but the Firebolt..." He broke off seeing the expression on Bucky's face and smirked slightly. "You got to be a Quidditch player to get it. It cost a fortune. She could have afforded it easily, but she didn't get it because at the time she still believed that bullshit her relatives shoveled on her about not deserving good things. Well, that and because at the time Ron had a jealous streak a mile wide and her having a broom like that would have made him blow up. She did however go every single day to stare at it through the window. Studied it. Badgered the clerks about the stats and production. She looks at you the same way she looked at that bloody broom." It was the most he'd heard Charlie Weasley say at a time and he had the idea it may be the same for most outside his family.
Bucky couldn't stop his smile from widening. He never thought he'd be pleased about being compared to a broom. "Did she ever get the broom?" he asked.
"Yeah. Sirius Black got her one for Christmas." Charlie answered.
"Her hero." Bucky said not surprised.
"Her hero." Charlie repeated. "Her mirror. He was abused, found a new family with his best friend, lost everything and fought to stay a good man even when everyone around him wanted to label him evil. Even when he had a darkness inside that could have if unleashed destroyed everyone he loved."
"So, if he could go through all of that and stay a good person so can she." Bucky said softly. He'd known how much Juniper had adored Sirius Black and Charlie's words placed another puzzle piece of the man into place in his mind.
Charlie only nodded. "That earring your wearing means you impressed Bill. He is the oldest the Heir of the family. We aren't titled like the Black or Potters, but it does means something. It means you have pretty much been given permission from the family of her protectors to court her. The only one who can overrule it is our father."
"But." Bucky prompted.
Charlie looked at him and that predatory look that made Bucky think he'd been spending too much time with dragons and too little with humans slid back into his eyes. "If you ever betray her or any other in my family or intentionally hurt her, I'll kill you. Bill will never know."
There was no hint of a doubt in his voice that he could and would do as he said. It wasn't a threat just a statement of fact. Bucky believed him and he was a bit surprised to find the terms completely acceptable. If he did betray or hurt Juniper or the Weasleys, the family that had supported loved and protected her when she had nothing else, he would deserve whatever Charlie did to him.
Bucky nodded. "Fair enough." For a moment the two men's eyes met and they had one of those moments of perfect understanding. It was broken when the doors of the ice cream parlor opened, and their group came out.
Bucky quickly studied their expressions. Tony looked pleased and proud. Steve seemed slightly bemused. The twins seemed to be trying not to laugh. The trio seemed just as they had when they'd entered but Bucky noticed Juniper's hands where trembling just slightly as she handed both him and Charlie milkshakes.
"Playing nice boys?" Juniper asked them.
"Of course we understand each other perfectly." Bucky answered.
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Molly and Pepper were sitting in the room they had taken over at the Leaky Cauldron going through a book on wizarding etiquette. Molly advising her on what was still followed and what was tossed as outdated. Remus was by the fire indulging in one of the hobbies he'd passed on to Juniper drawing while sipping tea. The absence of the rat had calmed Moony a bit but not enough to make him want to venture out into the alley on the tour Percy and Penelope Clearwater were giving the Avengers. He would occasionally add to whatever Molly was saying but for the most part his attention was on the drawing pad in front of him.
Molly had taken a few good looks at her so Pepper knew what was coming before the older woman finally spoke changing the subject from the almost medieval rules in the book. "I know one of the others has probably mentioned this, but you do look quite a bit like Lily Potter."
"Yes, Hermione showed me a picture. It gave Juniper quite a shock at first. Did you know her well?" Pepper asked honestly curious. She hadn't asked before as she didn't want to hear from Tony whose feelings where complicated at the moment, Remus the woman's best friend, or even Rhodey who from the look he got on his face at her name she suspected had harbored a crush on the woman.
"Not well. James and Lily where a bit younger than Arthur and Me. We were all in Gryffindor and then later the Order. We were pregnant at the same time. Lily with Juniper and me with Ron. There was also Alice Longbottom, and Elizabeth Bones who were expecting at the time. I'm the only one left now." Molly paused for a moment swallowing hard at the memory of the 3 bright young witches all with small babies who had been stolen from their children. "I was the oldest and the only one who wasn't a first-time mother so I did get quizzed by the other three more than once. Lily was a kind sweet girl, but she always spoke her mind. She was close to my brothers Gideon and Fabian, Alice, and Marlene McKinnon. Remus, was I think her best friend though." She nodded towards the werewolf. "I always thought Juniper took more after James not that she can't be sweet and kind, but she is much more of a fighter than a healer. I suppose she actually takes more after Tony."
"I have noticed a few similarities." Pepper said with a smile.
"She had to be a fighter." Remus said. "If she'd been raised by Lily, or Alice I believe she may be preparing to be a med witch by now. She wasn't raised with any softness or any choice but to be tough."
Molly sighed softly. "Lily was smart too and I think about half the boys at Hogwarts where in love with her. Between that and James being a Quidditch star, war hero, pure blood light icon Juniper has had a lot to live up too."
"Shes always been too hard on herself. Living up to her parent's legacy, being what she thinks a true Gryffindor should be, and pleasing Dumbledore." Remus grumbled. "Should have been nipped in the bud back in first year when the trio when after the stone. Dumbledore should have punished them instead of rewarding them. Or better yet never had the stone in the school in the first place."
"Don't speak ill of the dead Remus." Molly scolded gently.
"There are things about Dumbledore you and Arthur don't know Molly." Remus said but stopped hearing the others coming back in. "I'll talk to you both later."
They all looked up as Juniper, and group who'd gone with her to the meeting entered. As none of them where bleeding Pepper assumed it had gone well.
Juniper crossed over and sat beside Remus in front of the fire looking up at him. "I just stood up to Kingsley Shacklebolt." She told him sounding a bit shocked. Truthfully, she was. Juniper had been just a bit in awe of Kingsley since she'd first met him shortly before 4th year. At the time he'd been what she wanted to be. The youngest of the senior aurors. Personally chosen by both Amelia Bones, and Mad-eyed Moody as the next head of the Aurors. Strong slightly intimidating and very powerful. Dumbledore's man through and through. She'd never dreamed then there would come a time when she would be pulling rank on him. She really did hate doing it too. She didn't want to use her status and the girl who lived as a weapon but she couldn't deny it was a effective one.
"It was amazing." Ron said his tone admiring. "He already had everything planned out, but Hermione and Juniper let him know that things would be done our way. When he objected Juniper just made it real clear to him that his authority right now is pretty much what she says it is."
Remus gave Juniper a gentle smile. "It had to be done Juni."
"I know." Juniper answered and she did. At least he'd been reasonable enough. After Dumbledore she wasn't sure how she would have taken it if another of her childhood heroes had fallen from grace. "Seems like everything here is in place. We just have to organize who is doing what and wait for the SHIELD forces to get into place. Fleur and Viktor will have their people ready when we contact them."
"How are they getting to Hogwarts?" Remus asked.
Juniper grinned. "Remember the ship the Bulgarians used to come for the Triwizard?"
Hermione glanced at the others as Ron nodded. "It's a submarine and a pirate ship at the same time." She said as if the words made perfect sense.
"It's a..." Bruce started then just shook his head. "No. Just no."
Juniper snickered. "Anyway, they are going to come in the same way through the undersea tunnels into the Black Lake. Fleur's group will be with them. They thought of using the flying carriage, but it was too easy a target."
"Is Fleur actually coming?" Hermione asked raising a eyebrow.
"Merlin, I hope not." Juniper said frowning. "It's bad enough Bill is fighting. Both of my goddaughter's parents being in that much danger is just..." She broke off shaking her head. The term 'history repeats itself.' ringing through her thoughts.
The thought was thankfully broken off when there was a knock on the door and Fred opened it grinning at them. "Hey Juniper got a scroll for ya. Some kid brought it by the shop." He tossed it too land on the table between her chair and Remus's knowing her aversion to being handed things.
"Thanks Fred." She said picking it up and unrolling it a soft gasp escaping her as her eyed widened. "It's from Amos Diggory."
"Ohh. What does it say honey?" Molly asked a look of sadness coming over her face. She felt so bad for the man. Losing his wife seven years ago had been tragic but losing Cedric had left the man a broken pitiful shadow of himself. He'd even moved away from Ottery St Catchpole to Diagon Alley unable to bear living in the home he'd once shared with his wife and son. The only time anyone saw him was at Wizenmagot meetings and since the ministry had been overthrown...Molly wasn't sure if he'd left his home at all.
"He wants me to come see him." Juniper said softly. "He says he has some things he needs to tell me and something Cedric wanted me to have. He wants me to come as soon as I can but to not bring anyone with me as he isn't much for company these days." Juniper rolled the scroll back up shoving it in her pocket.
"Juniper you don't have too." Tony said softly even as he knew she wouldn't see it that way. The memory of the man's screams of anguish at the sight of his son's body would never leave him. He knew they were scarred into his daughter's nightmares.
"Cedric died trying to protect me, the least I can do is talk to his father." Juniper answered softly. She didn't harbor any illusions that she could bring Amos Diggory any peace, but if talking to her comforted him even for a short time how could she refuse that?
"Have you spoken to him since?" Pepper asked. She didn't want Juniper to go meet a man who might be angry and hurting looking for a target.
"He came to see me in the hospital wing the day after...after. He said he believed me, and that it wasn't my fault. That Cedric would want me to be strong and when the time came, he would be at my side." Juniper answered.
"Don't worry Pepper. Amos Diggory is a good man." Ron told her softly.
"I could come with you." Bucky said softly.
"Bring my new boyfriend to meet the father of my last boyfriend who was killed protecting me? Even for an American that must seem just a little inappropriate." Juniper said reaching out to put a hand on his cheek lightly. "I'll be fine. Of all the people in the world I have reason to be afraid of Amos Diggory doesn't even make the list. I'll be back before you know it."
"Be careful." Bucky said his voice a grumble. He didn't like this at all, but he wasn't sure how much of that was Bucky Barnes protectiveness and how much was the Winter Soldier possessiveness.
"Thats always the plan." Juniper answered then glared at Hermione's loud "HA.", before kissing him and disappearing out the door.
"Hey." Tony said putting a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go over to her twin's shop they got some wildly insane, inappropriate, and destructive toys to play with."
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Juniper had to pause several times on her way to the address in Amos Diggory's note, as there were still several people who wanted to talk to her. People who wanted to express their support or sympathies on the deaths of Dumbledore, Mad-eye, or in a few cases Sirius. A brief conversation with Emmeline Vance revealed the information that Mundungus Fletcher was prowling around somewhere. Juniper made a mental note to hunt him down. She still owed him for deserting Mad-eye during the battle of the Seven Potters and contributing to his death, as well as stealing from Grimmauld Place after Sirius's death. She was glad for the distraction but soon enough she reached the small home Amos was now living in.
It was a small cottage with a well-kept garden set well back from the main street, for privacy she assumed. It looked as if it had escaped the attack unscathed which was a small mercy as a few people had lost their homes and were living with friends and family or at the Leaky Cauldron until repairs could be made. Another reminder to herself to allow Percy access to her Gringotts vaults so she through him could help those who needed it. She knew how obsessive Percy could be and knew she could trust him with the task. She took a deep breath and wiped her sweaty palms on her robes telling her heart to stop pounding.
Juniper hadn't lied to her dad, or Bucky. Amos Diggory had never been anything but nice to her especially once he realized she and Cedric where dating, but she still couldn't shake the deep guilt and sorrow she felt around the man. After the pensieve session she was starting to consider that maybe maybe there was the slimmest chance Cedric's death wasn't her fault but still...still.
She approached the door and started to raise her hand to knock when she saw the door was just a bit open. A slight frown appeared on her face. It wasn't unusual in Ottery St Catchpole to leave doors open only screens closed to catch a breeze on hot days, but it wasn't that warm today and the door wasn't open wide enough for that anyway.
Maybe Mr. Diggory had left it open just a bit in anticipation of her arrival? "Mr. Diggory?" She called out pushing the door a bit more open.
"In here." A voice called from deeper in the house. Something didn't feel right. She was getting that prickly feeling she got sometimes before something bad happened, but she told herself it was just nerves. Still, she slipped her wand from the holster on her arm into her hand as she followed the sound of the voice not closing the door any further than it had been.
The house seemed clean enough but there was a slightly musty scent in the air. Maybe that was why the door was open? She felt as if she'd smelled it before but wasn't sure where. She pushed the door open to find a small parlor the lamps turned low so she could see well enough to move around but not make out details. Amos Diggory was sitting on the sofa a table in front of him with a tea set on it. He looked ill. He had lost weight, his skin looked almost grey, features slack, eyes dull. It actually had her putting her wand away and start trying to figure out what she could say to get the man to go to Saint Mungos.
"Mr. Diggory are you alright?" Juniper asked gently moving closer.
"Yes. Please sit. Could you pour us some tea?" Amos replied his voice almost monotone.
"Oh course." Juniper said moving to sit in the chair opposite him and leaned closer to pick up his teacup. "Three sugars, one cream?" Juniper asked remembering how he'd taken it at Hogwarts.
Amos looked at the cup as if puzzled. "Black." Juniper tried not to frown. Most people tended to take their tea the same especially if they took it very sweet like Amos had. Perhaps it was a different brand though. "You should use sugar in yours."
"Umm." Juniper said noncommittally. She had no intention of drinking or eating anything in this house with that smell. "Mr. Diggory, Amos you don't look well. Maybe you should let me take you to Saint Mungos." She said pouring and handing him the cup. She was a bit surprised how cold his hands where. Perhaps he had suffered a stroke? It wasn't extremely common among wizards but when under such extreme stress it could still happen.
"Perhaps later." Amos answered. "I have something for you. From Cedric."
"You should keep it whatever it is." Juniper said the feeling of wrongness getting even worse. Amos's eyes didn't hold the sheen of someone under the imperious curse and it was possible he was merely ill, but he seemed so wrong.
"I have something for you. From Cedric." He repeated as if he hadn't heard her nodding at the sideboard over to the side of the room. Juniper stood hesitantly and moved over to the sideboard sliding her wand back into her hand as she did so. There was indeed a box sitting on the sideboard. Juniper reached over opening it cautiously. Her eyes immediately burned with tears. It was a golden bracelet thin strands twisted to form the part that went around the wrist and instead of a gem in the center was a golden spray of lilacs. Juniper was certain they were the same lilacs she'd worn in her hair the night of the Yule ball. She'd looked for them after wanting to preserve them but had thought they were lost.
She remembered Cedric smiling when he saw them. "Do you know what they mean?" He'd asked her. She could remember the burn in her cheeks after she'd shook her head telling him Lavender had chosen them and he'd told her softly. "First love, beginning of love, memory. Lavender is pretty smart huh?"
Juniper's eyes shifted to the wall to the shadow that was approaching her from behind. No wand. If he was planning to attack her, why hadn't he drawn his wand? Then the shadow seemed to shudder and then...split apart. Juniper gasped and turned to see Amos Diggory's body almost crumble to the ground like...like a skin being shed. Juniper remembered where the musty scent was familar from her mind flashing back to the day in the snake house at the zoo when she was ten. The snake was already rising from the skin and growing. "Nagini." She almost whispered in horror fighting down the nausea and fear rising in her at the sight of what was left of Amos.
"It would have been easier if you'd not turned around." Nagini hissed and it suddenly clicked in Juniper's head that they'd been speaking Parseltongue this whole time. "Goodbye second speaker." Nagini lunged her muscular body forward. Juniper dropped and rolled as Nat had taught her not at all eager to repeat the experience of being bitten by a giant snake. Granted Nagini wasn't as big as the Basilisk had been and her venom wasn't as potent, but it was bad enough. She still remembered the way Mr. Weasley's wounds inflicted by Nagini had refused to close up and heal.
Nagini smashed into the sideboard shattering it into pieces the bracelet that she had no doubt was truly from Cedric disappearing in the debris. She rolled to her feet and faced off with Nagini. Her eyes flicked to the remains that where all that was left of Amos Diggory again, she remembered Arthur Weasley's wounds inflicted by this monster, The death of the old Riddle family groundskeeper who she'd had to watch this thing devour in a dream, the way it had slithered in the background at the graveyard. She summoned every ounce of hate and anger in her body and started to wave her wand.
"AVADA..."
"NOOOOO." A spell slammed into Juniper from the side, and she felt herself falling into the wall then to the floor. She heard the crack and waited for, hoped for pain telling her that she'd broken a bone but when it didn't come, she knew it was worse. Much worse. A bone could be repaired.
Then a woman was moving between her and the snake that was preparing to strike again. A much older woman with a very noble bearing despite her age but she didn't get a chance to study her as she was facing the snake. "Nagini this isn't you. You have to fight it. Don't let him control you like this."
Juniper found she couldn't move. Something hurt. Something in her was...was missing. She'd been beaten, had broken bones, been poisoned, cut, burned, tortured, but she'd never felt anything like this. It wasn't the worst pain she'd ever felt but it was if something had been torn away from her. A part of her was gone a link never meant to be broken. Even with Nagini and the strange woman who could very well be a enemy there she still couldn't not look down. Part of her Holly wand was still clutched in her hand the other half hanging loose only the phoenix feather core holding the two pieces together and even that was bent. A soft whimper escaped her throat, but she forced her attention away from the wand back to the strange woman and the snake.
"No no no. Dead dead dead." The snake struck at the woman who didn't move or flinch but at the last moment Nagini jerked back letting out a chilling sound that sounded like a human cry.
"Thats it Nagini. Fight him. Your strong you always have been. Remember Credence? Fight for him. In his memory." The old woman said stepping closer to the snake. "I'm here. We are friends. I will help you."
"Noooo, nooo friends. Only him." The woman took another small step forward. It was obvious she didn't quite understand the snake's hisses, but she seemed to understand more than Juniper who had no idea what was going on. The woman took another step. "Nooo." Nagini hissed and that one last step closer seemed to break whatever enchantment she'd started to weave over the monster and the next sound it made sounded more like a snarl and it twisted away. There was the sound of a portkey, a pop, and the snake was gone.
"Oh Nagini." The woman said with a sad sigh putting her hand to her face for a moment. The she turned to Juniper.
"You...Broke...My...Wand." Juniper snapped out the pain from the broken link starting to recede a bit enough that her breathing was coming easier.
"That was unintentional. I couldn't let you kill her." The woman said. She was probably a little older than Professor McGonagall. Beautiful in that way older woman with great bone structure, beautiful skin, and breeding were. This was a woman who in her prime would have given even Narcissa Malfoy a run for her money. Her hair was still thick and dark curled back into a bun. Her complexion was a soft caramel color and she had beautiful dark brown eyes full of a deep sorrow. Someone who'd seen too much, done too much.
"That THING deserves to die." Juniper snapped angrily. She could have done it. Could have killed the snake horcrux right here. She could feel that the killing curse would have worked. It was much easier to truly want the death of a monster snake than a human. Even one like Bellatrix who was in the end as much of a monster as Nagini. But that was a thought best considered later. "Look what it did to Amos." She looked back over at the pile of skin that had been a man who'd suffered too much and had deserved so much more.
"It's not her fault. There are things you don't understand." The woman said and moved to Juniper kneeling beside her with surprising ease considering her age. "Are you hurt?"
"Oh, course I'm hurt. You broke my wand." Juniper answered sounding exasperated. Then scowled as the woman's eyes twinkled for a moment as if she was trying not to laugh. "What so funny?"
"Oh nothing. Your single-minded focus just reminds me of someone." The woman answered. "Come on. I'll help you back to the Leaky cauldron."
"How did you know where I was staying?" Juniper asked.
"You're the great Juniper Potter. People are always going to know those kinds of things." She took her hand and helped Juniper to her feet.
Juniper's broken wand was still clutched in her other hand and Juniper caressed the wood with obvious care and slid the broken pieces into the wand holster. "Maybe Ollivander can fix it." She whispered mostly to herself.
"Maybe." The woman said although her tone was doubtful.
Juniper turned to her studying her face again. She had the feeling she should know who she was as if the answer to that question was in her brain, but she couldn't quite reach it. "Who are you?"
The woman smiled softly. "They call me Ledda. I've lived by that name longer than any other. It will do." She raised a hand to her face pushing back her hair and something about the pose that matched a photo she'd seen so recently in the book she'd read about Grindelwald and the similarity of the name sparked the memory she'd been reaching for.
"Leta Lestrange." She nearly whispered pulling back her eyes wide. "Your Leta Lestrange."
"I use to be."
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AN- I hope you all enjoyed the debut of Leta. Juniper is not at all happy with her needless to say. Not sure what's going to happen in the Fantastic Beasts universe but here Credence is dead. I'll decide how later if it comes up. I've decided Dumbledore truly thought she was dead as well. The only one who knows of her survival is Ollivander because he identifies people by their wand more than anything else.
AN- Plans for next chapter involve a crash course in what a Maledictus is and why one should never be killed with the killing curse. Trust me it wasn't only Nagini Leta was thinking of when she stopped Juniper. A return to Grimmauld place complete with their new house guests. Yup that's right Draco, Blaise, and Pansy in the house. Junipers going to need a new wand. *sniff* There are some things even Ollivander can't fix. Also looks like Wormtail is going to get to spend one last full moon with Moony. Aww I bet the werewolf will be delighted to see the old friend that betrayed their pack. Love to you all!