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...
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January 1978
There's a natural human response to shocking situations that consists of simply freezing. Most of us who lack rapid reflexes just stand still until our brains stop racing and are able to produce rational thoughts.
Anyways, Juliet was frozen. Normally the process barely takes a few seconds but Juliet stood there for a good four minutes before she looked down at the locket and put it around her neck.
Regulus had left her alone. She didn't know where he went, if he had the intention to come back at all. She didn't know if she wanted him to come back.
If he did, she would have to say something and she didn't want to. She didn't know what she could have to say anyways.
Regulus didn't come back that night.
Juliet was terribly paranoid, though, had she been in the right state of mind, she would have blamed the Horcrux, rightfully so. But she wasn't, instead she was holding onto her wand so tightly it would have broke if it was a tiny twig. And her explosive potions were hanging in her pocket, her hand reaching for them every time she heard a sound that wasn't coming from birds.
From the very second her parents died, Juliet thought she would have been alright, doing it all on her own and alone, but now that she was actually alone she was scared. She still had no idea what she had been doing and she kept re-reading her mother's diary as if a hint would suddenly appear in it.
She would've shown it to Regulus or Pandora, gotten their perspective. But she hadn't even shown James, so why would she.
The trust she had in everything and everyone she ever knew had nearly entirely disappeared and she was terrified. She didn't know who was on her side and who would sell her to spare their own life.
She had to kill Voldemort.
But she seemed to have forgotten that her mother had told her that she'd need help before she passed.
~
The day Regulus left, he had apparated near the Potter's Mansion. He did not know why it was that place that crossed his mind, but he knew he couldn't go home, and his brother would most probably be there.
A fight blew up. Regulus told Sirius he had been recruited, and was to that day, the youngest Death Eater. He told him what happened to Kreacher and what opened his eyes.
He didn't know how to tell him about Juliet, the cave and the Horcrux. Not that he managed to anyways, Sirius was angry, and disappointed and he kept screaming at his little brother, to the point where Lily stepped in, told the oldest brother to go calm down for a bit, and acting a lot more inviting towards Regulus.
Which truly surprised him, he had been so hateful towards Muggles and Muggleborns because he had believed them to be a danger to him and everyone he loved, and there she was, one of them, approaching him with such kindness he felt ashamed.
"We can't trust him." Sirius told the rest of the Marauders while Lily was showing Regulus a guest room where he could spend the night.
"You don't trust anyone anymore, Padfoot." Peter sighed.
"So!? We're not really in a situation where we can just trust anyone!"
"That's not anyone, that's your brother."
"That's not my brother, that's a Death Eater, an enemy."
"Shut it, he could hear you!" Lily who had entered the kitchen, closed the door, putting a silencing charm on it.
"I don't care if he does! Have you seen that thing on his arm!? One call with his wand and we're all dead!"
"He can do that?" Peter seemed scared all of a sudden.
"But he won't." James spoke up, getting up from leaning against the counter. "If he wanted to have us killed, he would have come with them to begin with, they're not the type to waste time."
"Okay, then maybe he's spying?" Peter suggested, now seeming to be on Sirius' side.
"I can't believe you two. Sirius is the only one he has left. He came to you because he's your little brother and he needs your help."
"This is such bullshit, if he needed my help, he would have come to me years ago, I don't trust him and he needs to leave."
"No." James said.
"No?"
"No." He shook his head. "It's not you he would have turned to if he needed help. It's Juliet. And Pandora Lestrange. And Amos Diggory. Not you."
Sirius laughed bitterly, deciding to stay quiet, and sat down by Remus' side.
The werewolf who had been staring at his empty alcoholic drink while smoking his cigarette the entire time couldn't help but feel the strings of his heart being pulled when his lover's name got mentioned.
He had been unrecognizable ever since she left. Drowning his sorrows in alcohol was how he would spend most of his days. His facial hair had grown, not significantly because Lily wouldn't allow it. And he looked like he hadn't slept in years.
But no one dared tell him anything, especially when he would sadly look down at that one letter Juliet left him.
"What if he knows something?" Lily said softly, getting confused looks from the three that were taking part in the conversation. "You said it, he would have turned to his friends. What if he knows that something happened and he turned to his last resort, which is Sirius?"
"You mean.. What if something happened to Juliet?" James followed her logic, his face falling.
Remus' head snapped towards them, his eyes wide with terror as he was now fully listening to the conversation. "Don't say that." He warned with a groggy voice.
"I'm sure she's fine." Lily reassured them quickly. "But he still might know something."
Sirius groaned. "Then what the fuck do we do, spy the possible spy?"
* * *
I'm in a bus and I might have terrible senses but im sensing incoming jegulus comments
