CHECK YES JULIET ▷ JAMES POTTER [1]

𝟑𝟕. 𝐌𝐔𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘

(37 : TO MURDER . . .
MURDER OUR SOLEMNITY)

✧࿐ ཾ✧

     THE RETURN TO POTTER MANOR was accompanied by an uncomfortable silence. Nobody knew what to say to Juliet. The redhead wore a blank expression the entire time and was more interested in her transfigured hair fading back to its original colour as opposed to the fact she had killed a man. Both Remus and Peter had decided to cut their stay at the manor short — no doubt wanting to hug their own parents extra tight — so that left only James and Sirius to deal with the fallout of the attack.

     Rain began to lightly fall as the three of them walked up the drive. Before they could reach the front porch, James stopped, turned sharply to his friend and told him, "I need to talk to Juliet alone. You walk on ahead."

     Sirius almost recoiled at the boy's stern tone. He looked at Juliet, who remained impassive, then reluctantly went to explain everything to Euphemia and Fleamont — well, maybe not everything.

     "What do you want to talk about? The weather? What about my —"

     "I want to talk about the fact you murdered someone," interrupted James, sharper than she had ever known him to be. "As if that it wasn't bad enough, Sirius pulled me aside and said it was your dad. You're — you're not even the least bit upset and I'm struggling to process how you're so calm right now because I'm freaking out."

     Juliet stiffened. "It's not like I had much of a choice."

"But you did, Juliet!" James cried, throwing his arms out. "I'm done with your excuses and thinking you don't have a choice in your life. You keep blaming people — your parents, Dumbledore, even fucking Voldemort — for everything you don't like about your life and yourself. Your surname, your blood status, your house — none of that defines who you are, your actions do." He unintentionally started to raise his voice with each word, frustrated. "And your actions tonight have proved every single stereotype you made me believe you resented right."

Overcome with a red hot rage, she scoffed. "Don't paint it as if I've murdered someone in cold blood. He was going to kill you, I reacted."

The Gryffindor didn't falter. "You're the cold blooded snake though, right?" challenged James, recalling their talk in Hogsmeade. "I think that you've become so obsessed with convincing everyone that's who you are, it's exactly who you've become. I offered you help so many times, Dumbledore offered you help. Now look what's happened because of your dumb pride. It's not a slur in the hallway or a nasty hex with a counter spell, this is something you can't take back."