just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

33. muggle trash or treasure

It took a while for Juniper to haul her trunk across the hall into the girls room, and it took even longer for her to find a place to put it.
But once she had cleared off the bed at the very back of the room, managed to shove her trunk under, and placed her bag on the nightstand, she laid facing the roof for the rest of the day. Hermione and Ginny didn't even notice she was there until she groaned.

"How long have you been in here?" Hermione jumped, rushing over to her. She forced Juniper into a hug, ignoring the way Juniper tried to squirm away.

"Several hours. This place is really boring." Juniper complained, freeing herself from Hermione's grip. She looked to Ginny. "I know you."

"I told you I'd see you at home." Ginny grinned, looking almost identical to Fred. "And that my mum hates Veela."

"Well she probably hates us even more now." Juniper shrugged. "Although I don't understand why Sirius Black, an infamous murderer, is more welcome in this house than I am."

"Because it's his house." Ginny said, poorly holding back her laugh. Juniper's body went stiff.

"Are we going to be accomplices now or something? Should I burn off my fingerprints so they can't match me to any around the house?"

"No, it's okay you don't need to worry." Hermione laughed, parting Juniper's knee. "He didn't kill anyone, he was framed."

"What?" Juniper gasped, not sure if she could trust it. "How do you know? Are you sure it's not just a cover up so he can kill us all?"

"Sirius is Harry's godfather. It was a big thing during our third year." Hermione clarified. "I promise he's not going to kill us."

"Well, not us. Maybe you." Ginny said, a small smile on her face. "You were considered a Deatheater for a bit, and I don't think he takes kindly to those."

"I wasn't a Deatheater. I just did what I needed to do to protect myself and my grandmother." Juniper defended herself for the thousandth time that day. "I don't even know what they actually do other than support You-Know-Who."

"I'm sure." Ginny said, not letting on whether it was sincere or sarcasm. "Well, I don't think you're allowed down for dinner, but I'm sure Fred will bring you some anyway."

"See you after dinner, okay?" Hermione smiled genuinely, layers and layers of compassion and empathy behind her eyes.
As soon as she heard the door click shut, Juniper laid back down, covering her face with the pillow on the bed and screaming into it. She had so much frustration, anger and pain built up from the past few years, and even more from the past 24 hours.
She could hear the conversation downstairs very faintly, her name being thrown around, and then followed by brief silences. She struggled to figure out exactly what they were saying, but she knew they were debating whether or not she should stay. Despite her future being in their hands, she allowed the voices to lull her to sleep.

⚘

When Juniper woke up completely disoriented. The room was pitch black and the house was silent, and she hadn't heard Hermione and Ginny when they came in for bed.
She managed to find the switch to the lamp on the nightstand and turned it on, dimly lighting her corner of the room. It took a second for her eyes to readjust, and saw the plate of food that Fred had snuck in for her while she was asleep.
Her stomach growled, it had been a while since she had eaten and she had her appetite back. She would've demolished the plate of roast pork and vegetables, if it wasn't stone cold from sitting there for so long. She bit into a piece  of carrot, and then shuddered at the texture and temperature of it. She debated in her head for a minute. While she was borderline starving, and so incredibly bored, it would be a death wish to venture outside of the bedroom she was in.
But it was the middle of the night and she couldn't hear any sign of life in the house. And if she had to wait in bed for another few hours, just so Fred could sneak her some breakfast, she might as well just off herself then and there out of sheer boredom and hunger.