Orphic » Sirius Black

Chapter 32 - The Servant's Downfall

Juniper entered the Great Hall with her eyes barely open, and shuddering from the cold. She had put on around three layers of clothes, but the coldness still bothered her. She considered not going down to breakfast and staying in the dorm beside the heater, but Ophelia had dragged her down, stating she needed to eat if she wanted to fully be on her senses.

She was barely waking up and opening her eyes when she noticed everyone in the Ravenclaw table was looking at her, concerned.

At first, she thought she had her robes backwards, but when she checked, it was alright. She started to hear muffled conversations, and her heart sped up.

She looked at Ophelia, who had noticed the looks and undertone comments, too.

"What is it?" Juniper asked, trying to be as discreet as possible.

"Dunno," she mumbled back, looking at the third years beside them.

As soon as they noticed Ophelia's glance, they folded their paper and hid it under the table.

Juniper felt her piece of toast go back up her throat and her arms drop. She started looking around, and realised most of the tables had a copy of the Daily Prophet. From the other end of the table, she spotted Judson getting up and running towards her.

"Here, come with me," he said as soothingly as possible, pulling her by the arm. Juniper's heart raced as she desperately followed Judson out of the Great Hall.

"What is it?" Juniper asked once they were a couple of feet away from the entrance, and sat on a bench. She was slowly sinking in her place, and the wall beside her back trembled.

Judson took out the paper and handed it to Juniper.

"There's been a massive attack yesterday," he stated, pointing at the main article in the front page as Juniper read, "Some Death Eaters killed a whole Muggle street in Portree. They've been caught. And... Juniper—"

"My dad," she muttered, looking firmly at the moving picture, where the Dark Mark was visible above a house. Five men knelt with their hands tied behind their backs, and among them, she recognized Marcius.

"Oh," gasped Judson, "I didn't know... I just, well, everyone thought it was family, because of the surname. But didn't figure—"

"Yeah, I know," she said, with her eyes still locked on Marcius, who seemed as if he could see her through the paper. He was laughing.

Coldness pulled Juniper down her spine, and as if it was set on fire, she dropped the paper. Her body trembled at the thought of her father coming for her. Judson held her, trying to calm her down.

"I didn't know," continued Judson, "it was just speculation. I don't reckon all of them know for sure," he said pointing at the Great Hall.

"But it's true," said Juniper, clutching her jaw and barely holding herself. "My dad's a Death Eater." It felt odd saying it out loud.

"That's why you've never mentioned him?"

Juniper denied with her head. "I just found out. Over the summer—actually, no. Just suspected it. I've been researching, though. Everything points to him being after me."

"What? And he wants you to kill people too?"

"He's after me, Jud," she confessed, nodding her head, incredulous. "He's been killing people, looking for me. He—"

Juniper groaned, not knowing how to continue. Her breath got caught in her throat and her legs shook almost uncontrollably.

"Alright, listen, calm down," said Judson firmly. "We have to get in and maybe just pretend you don't know anything."