Following the events of the same universe where Juliet Potter and Remus Lupin fell in love, the insouciance has faded into misery as all parties prepare for the war, willing to pull any card to win a war from which none will truly come out victoriou...
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
August 1978
Juliet was lost in deep thoughts when Sirius and James were recounting their little adventure in South Asia.
They had apparently started off in East Asia, Japan, to be more precise. There, they managed to find the Japanese Wizarding School, Mahoutokoro, and they were told by the Headmastress of the school that whatever Edgar Bones was looking for before them, he was told to go to Nepal.
And, so they went on their way for Nepal through China, but they were attacked in the middle of their journey, in the town of Chengu. They decided to send in their letter then because they knew it would have taken time for it to make it all the way to their allies, and they didn't know if the Death Eaters would still be after them after they had defeated them.
They found Wizards a few towns away, some equivalent of Aurors, who had heard of the attacks and were sent to make sure it was not a political matter whatsoever. When they found the group and all was explained, they offered their help and provided the group with brooms so they could fly all the way to Nepal.
But once they made it there, they were disappointed, to say the least, to find out that Edgar Bones did not find what he was seeking there.
"Okay, so what the hell? Did he randomly choose random locations on a globe and decided that he would find anyone that knows anything about Parseltongue there?" Daphne asked the boys.
"I don't know how he came to the conclusion that he must look where we looked. The journal didn't say it." James shrugged.
"We're hoping to buy ourselves some time to put the chances on our side by going after the Horcruxes." Juliet started, pausing a bit before she continued. "If the Death Eaters knew there was nothing to be found there, why would they attack us?"
The entire room fell silent, pondering.
"It is weird." Regulus nodded.
"Is there something else we don't know? Should we keep looking in Asia?" Andromeda asked.
"No, we can't cluelessly just wander and hope to fall on a hint. We had clear instructions. Look for it, if you can't find it, get back home." Juliet shook her head.
"Edgar Bones looked so hard for a Parselmouth. We know that that's gotta be the key to everything. I just wish he was more clear about where he started and where he finished his journey so that maybe we wouldn't need to search the entire world for a clue." Sirius complained.
"The journal was a mess, wasn't it? It's like he picked a random page every time he wrote in it. Maybe it was on purpose. The writing seemed rushed, too. Maybe he was being chased." Regulus frowned.
"Well, considering he was murdered, that would explain a whole lot." Sirius rolled his eyes.
Juliet still couldn't help but think about the attack over and over again. They came out of it unharmed and victorious because there were more of them than Death Eaters. But why would Voldemort bother to send people after them when he knew he had killed the only Parselmouth the group knew of?
What was he after? What did he think they knew?
"Good news is, he's going to be off our backs when he realizes we don't know what the hell else he's after." Juliet concluded.
"Bad news is, we don't know what the hell he's after."
Regulus' comment made James and Sirius snort, and Molly chose that slightly light moment to suggest they dine.
* * *
Because the boys were tired, Juliet let that one slide and helped Molly with Ted to get all of the dishes back to the kitchen.
It was a pleasant silence of the three of them just putting the leftovers aside in smaller containers and piling the dirty dishes over each other.
"Hey." James greeted as he stood next to Juliet, just watching.
"Hi."
"How have you been?" There was a certain worry in his voice that had Juliet raising an eyebrow at him.
"Shouldn't I ask you that? You're the one who got attacked." She handed the last container to Molly.
"Well..." James trailed, glancing at the ginger woman, who seemed to get the hint.
She put the last container in the fridge and pulled Ted with her, out of the kitchen, letting the magic take care of washing the dishes.
"Well?"
"Have you been sleeping okay?"
Oh.
"I'm fine, James." She reassured.
James knew the night terrors were terribly frequent. He knew his sister had trouble sleeping when either he or her boyfriend weren't around. But still, her eyebags were not as deep as they used to be.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, actually. A lot happened when you were gone, but... I think I still found a certain peace within myself."
She knew there were scars she'd never get rid off once all of this would be over, but she would be alright.
"Okay. You know I'm here, right?"
"Jesus. You just got back, and you're already back with that protective older brother bullshit of yours." Juliet grimaced.
"A-ha! So you do admit I'm older."
"We're twins, James, it doesn't count."
"It so does, I was born first."
"You'll be the first of the week to be punched too if you keep going." She challenged, raising an eyebrow.
He chuckled lightly. "I've missed you."
"Ew. Get your act together, dude." She pulled a disgusted grimace.
"Come on. You've missed me too."
"Nope."
"Say it. You know it, I know it."
"Not a chance."
He smirked at his sister. "You know you love me."
"Do I know that?" She raised an eyebrow at him teasingly. "Yes. Yes, I do." She started to walk out of the kitchen.
"What was that?" He called after her.
"I am not repeating myself." She called back.
"Come on!" He whined, both of them with grins on their faces.
