If I May Be So Bold (A Harry Potter Universe Fanfiction)

46.

March 2035

JAMES

Juni arrived home midday on Saturday and James could tell right away something was up. All that weekend, she pretended to be normal, but there was just something slightly off about her mood.

He brought it up to Elise at least three times, but she just kept telling him that Juni was thirteen and moody. James knew that already.

He was the one who had to try to teach her.

By Monday though, it became pretty clear there was something bigger going on. She wasn't acting like herself at all. Couldn't even bring herself to be annoyed with him. James tried to suggest they go grab lunch somewhere, even said they could stop by a few of her favorite shops in Diagon Alley if she wanted, but she just shrugged.

He offered to let her invite a friend over and she shook her head and said, "That sounds awful."

This was when James knew it was serious, whatever it was.

"Well, that's the first time I've heard you say that," said James.

"My friends suck," Juni said, but he couldn't get her to say any more on the subject.

She closeted herself in her room for most of the day.

When Elise finally arrived home later that day, James was on the subject at once.

"You've got to talk to her," James said. "She won't talk to me, but I'm telling you. This is not just normal teen stuff. She's upset. Something's happened."

"Hello to you, too," said Elise.

"Right, sorry," said James, and he kissed her, but just as quickly ushered her towards the stairs.

"Give me a second, will you?" said Elise huffily. She skirted past him into the bedroom and came out a minute later in more comfortable clothing.

"Go put your shoes on," she said, and then she walked up the stairs, stopping at the top and calling, "Juni, come on out. We're taking a walk together."

He heard Juni make some sort of protest, muffled by the door, but Elise just said, "It's not negotiable. I only get you for a week."

And somehow this was enough. Juni came out after a minute and trudged down the stairs with a look on her face that James found frankly terrifying. Of his three girls, Juni scared him the most. She was the most difficult for him to understand.

You'd have thought that the third time round would be the easiest, but maybe it worked out the opposite way. Maybe the powers above assumed you'd been through it before, you could handle a challenge, and so they sprung a kid like Juni on you just when you were getting comfortable with the whole parenting thing.

Watching her put her coat on, still glowering at everyone and everything, James thought back to just a few weeks prior when he'd been so proud of himself for having such an open conversation with Ella about Logan. He'd felt like he'd reached the top level of all parenting, like he was among the very best. But all Juni had to do was give him an ounce of sass and it all came crumbling down around him.

He was a fraud, he realized. If it weren't for Elise and Raigan, none of these kids would be functional human beings at all.

He followed the two of them outside. Elise held his hand as they walked, and at first she just talked to Juni about things that had nothing to do with her attitude or school or her friends or anything James had expected her to bring up. She told her about several things going on at work, told her about Aunt Juliet's latest drama, asked her if Piper had sent any more pictures of little Josephine (Juni shared Piper's affinity for cats — they loved her at first sight), and told her Piper planned to bring Josie over while Juni was home so they could have a proper meeting.