just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

72. the Slug Club

A few painfully hostile and awkward weeks later, Juniper found herself on the Hogwarts Express, sitting in a compartment with 8 other students, and the new potions professor. Blaise sat himself beside her, bickering with Ginny and Harry as the professor tried to acquaint himself with everyone. Juniper was staring out the window of the compartment, thinking to herself, when she felt a nudge against her shoe. Looking up, she saw a seventh year Gryffindor eyeing her up, a slimy smirk across his face.

"Get me out of this." Juniper murmured to Blaise, shuddering as she jolted her legs away, trying to put as much space between herself and the boy as possible.

"Now you, Cormac." The professor caught the boys attention, and he sat up straight. "I happen to know a lot about your Uncle Tiberius."

"Ah yes, we went hunting in Norfolk." Cormac said proudly. "Along with Rufus Scrimgeour, before he became Minister, of course."

"Ah, you know Rufus!" The professor said excitedly, delving into a conversation with Cormac about all the connections he had to the Ministry.
Juniper went back to looking out the window, thinking about Fred, and the time they spent together over the Summer. He took a few days off of working at the shop to stay at the Burrow with her, making sure his family didn't give her any grief because of him. They spent nights baking together, the days laying in his tiny, old bed. He read over her homework for her and she tried to help him think up new products for the shop. They had spent so long in a domestic bliss, she dreaded the day she had to get back on the train and spend months away from him, and it was just as heartbreaking as she had expected, if not worse. Of course, they'd write to each other, and he'd visit Hogsmeade, and she'd-.

"Juniper Jones!" The professor interrupted her stream of thought and longing, deciding to interrogate her next. "The only Veela attending Hogwarts, descendant of Esmerelda Jones. How is your grandmother."

"She's dead." Juniper replied bluntly, watching the old professor's face drop. "Murdered just over a year ago, now."

"I'm sorry to hear." The professor said grimly. "She was quite the witch, eh? Remarkably proficient with potions, notably responsible for how we brew Amortentia today."

"Huh?" Juniper raised her eyebrows, she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Did you not know? Without your grandmother's experimentation, the potion would remain unscented."

"I had no idea." Juniper said, feeling the eyes of everyone in the carriage on her. She thought back to what she inherited, the thousands of galleons she got due to Esme's multiple marriages, that she had never known about. "She kept a lot of secrets."

"Seems like it." The professor added, his tone full of disappointment. "That brings me to Mr. Zabini. I've heard interesting things about your mother."

"She's an interesting woman." Blaise replied, just as bluntly as Juniper had.

"She's had, what, six husbands?"

"Seven." Blaise corrected with an eyeroll, knowing exactly where the professor was going.

"It's a shame they've all passed." The professor egged him on. "A mystery, really. Especially since they left quite a large sum of galleons to your mother."

"Yes, it's a shame." Blaise said. Juniper remembered how Esme spoke of Blaise's mother, praising her priorities when it came to relationships, they must've had more in common than Juniper realised. "Watching my mother experience heartbreak that often."

"Ah... Mr. Longbottom." The professor quickly turned his attention to Neville. And for an extremely uncomfortable ten minutes, the professor explained the group how Neville's parents had been tortured to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange. Neville's face had paled by the end of his interview, shrivelling back into his seat.
Then it was Harry's turn. As expected, the professor fawned over him, mentioning his multiple nicknames, the fate of his parents and the legacy that proceeded him. It wasn't until he suggested that Harry had extraordinary magical talent, that Blaise let out a huff of laughter.