Drops of Juniper (Discontinued, Rewrite On My Profile)

Chapter 3: The Thing in the Forest

The weather began to turn from chilly to downright cold, and as fall turned to winter, I was thankful that Dumbledore had offered us to stay for the Christmas break; the thought of  being out in the cold for another winter on the run seemed dreadful.

I had managed not to have any more points taken from Hufflepuff and somehow avoided another detention with Snape. He seemed preoccupied with that Potter kid and his friends. I missed Sapphire and Serenity terribly as we had spent much of our lives together. We had only communicated a handful of times since our arrival. Kara and I still had to be careful, someone could be intercepting owls which would make it very easy to find me. Only one owl every two weeks and fake names was the rule Albus set for us.

Most nights we found ourselves enjoying the company of Professor Lupin, he was far kinder than I originally anticipated.

One evening in particular however, Kara and I were sitting with Lupin drinking tea and I couldn't help myself but try to learn more about the mysterious potions master. Even though he was a complete asshole.

"Professor, may I ask you a question?" I asked Lupin staring into my teacup.

"Of course Juniper" Lupin answered sweetly.

"Can you tell me about Snape and why he dislikes you so much?"

Kara stopped staring into the fire to look at me questioningly. She held an expression that made me think she was trying to solve a complex maths equation.

Lupin on the other hand laughed in response. "Oh, where do we begin on that topic" he said staring up to the ceiling.

"Snape and I never really got along, he prefers solitude, we're very different people, Juniper" he said sadly "Snape was more of an outcast during our school years." Lupin was fidgeting with the threads of his armchair.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you curious?" Lupin asked softly, cocking his head to one side.

I shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I'm just curious as to why he's such a jerk"

Lupin gave a lighthearted laugh in response  "He's a jerk to almost everyone, the world wasn't kind to him"

I stared blankly at Lupin, my curiosity growing. Wondering to myself what events made him such a cold and hateful person. Kara stayed silent and kept staring at me, as if she was reading my mind.

One night, after we had hung out with Lupin for a bit and returned to our dormitories, I found that sleep was troublesome; I decided to go for a walk and a smoke. I crept out of my common room and left the castle quietly without being seen. I lit up and started walking the grounds, my subconscious guiding me to the Forbidden Forest. I reached its edge and threw my smoke to the side; I looked around quickly before walking into the forest alone.

I ventured further and further into the isolation of the trees taking in all the odd plants and its landscape; it was beautiful. The canopy of trees blocked out any light from the moon. I thought about my past, my friends, and the one who took it all away. Forcing me to go into hiding, a powerful man who reminded me of a You Know Who that I had heard the other students talk about. A man who was out for blood, all because I didn't want to be his wife. I replayed that memory in my head.

"We could be great together," the male voice said. "With you, nothing will stop me; I will be undefeatable," I shuddered at the memory and decided it was best I get some sleep; when my mind was running wild this way, I would rather not let it spiral and make me remember things I tried so desperately to forget.

As I started making my way back to the castle, rustling in the fauna made me stop; I looked around and didn't see anything so I  continued onwards. Before I knew what had happened, I was jumped by a giant creature with yellow eyes; I couldn't tell what it was due to the darkness of the forest, but it was big and monstrous; it lunged at my chest, I felt it's sharp claws rip through my shirt; I fell backwards, hitting my head and knocking the wind out of me, I gasped and tried to suck in a breath of air, but it was difficult and painful. I quickly got up, struggled, and started running towards the castle.

My shirt was sticking to me, and it felt like someone had poured room-temperature water on me. I looked down, and there were three slashes across my chest, from my collarbone to my upper breast. Blood was staining my white shirt red. I continued to run, using my hand to apply pressure to the wound; the last thing I wanted was to see Madame Pomfrey, but who else could mend an injury this bad. I thought about Snape, he was closer, and if he couldn't repair it, surely he'd take me to the hospital wing. Both weren't good options as they led to many questions about me going out past curfew, let alone going into the Forbidden Forest by myself at night. Still, I'd take the closest option rather than pass out from blood loss on one of the ever-changing staircases. Blood had begun seeping through my fingers, and I used what was left of my energy to increase speed.

Once I had reached the dungeons, I was getting dizzy and lightheaded; I tried to push it away and stay conscious as the potions classroom was only a few meters away. I reached the door and fell into it, causing quite a ruckus; what had felt like forever but was only a few seconds, the door finally opened.

"Professor", I mumbled; I reached out to him and almost fell, but he had caught me; he held me up and guided me to his office. Placing me gently into a chair, he went off towards his shelves.

"Why didn't you go to the hospital wing, Bane? What happened?" There were too many questions.

"I went for a walk, something came" was the all I could manage; he came back with a small bottle and tilted my head rather aggressively, pouring the contents down my throat. As the thick liquid slipped down my esophagus, Snape came more into focus. He had a look of grogginess, anger, and a hint of worry in his face. It fully registered then that he wasn't in his usual clothing; instead, he wore a long grey nightshirt.

Shit, I had woken him up; I tried to tell him that I was sorry for this, but I only managed a slur of words that I couldn't make sense of, and everything faded to black.