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

An Abbreviated History of James and Juniper

2021

When Ella was born, her initial cries were soft and gentle. James only discovered this years later when Juni was born. Her cries were not soft and gentle. He remembered thinking she might shatter the windows. He remembered thinking his eardrums might rupture.

She had been so red faced and angry looking, her tiny little fists balled up tight. He knew all babies did that, clenched their fists for months at a time until they discovered they could let go, actually use their hands, but there was something about the way Juni did it that was different. She'd grip his finger and nearly cut off his circulation. She'd been so strong.

Elise loved this about her right away. James would attempt to change her diaper and she would screw up her face and wail so loudly he worries she might actually injure herself. "You tell him, Juniper," Elise would say pleasantly. "You use that big voice of yours."

It was all in such stark contrast to when Ella had been tiny, firstly because of Elise's attitude about everything and secondly because Ella – while she had obviously cried and fussed and done all the things babies do – had really been very pleasant as a baby. Juni was nearly always raging.

In fact, all of Juni's emotions seemed stronger than Ella's. Where Ella would sit quietly and watch things happen around him, sometimes smiling in a vague sort of way or giggling in that gurgly baby way, Juni started belly laughing at just three months old. When she was happy, she was thrilled. When she was tired, she was exhausted. When she wanted something... damn it, she had better have gotten it twenty minutes ago or so help you.

But despite how volatile she was, positively everyone loved her, and not just people they knew, but strangers when they took her out places, too.

"Look at those big blue eyes," they would say. "Look at that big smile." People were constantly commenting on her, always drawn to her. Even when she had a meltdown in public, people nearby would smile and comment something about her strong lungs.

Sometimes, all it took was a wave from someone passing by, and Juni would turn off the tears and start bouncing up and down in James arms again.

That was another thing that was very different between their two girls – Juni was wiggly. She was never still. Her little feet kicked around all night long while she slept and she would wake up all contorted into odd shapes. They didn't have a hope of keeping her on her back as suggested once she learned to roll over. She was practically somersaulting all over her crib.

When she was awake, she was everywhere. In things and under things and climbing up on top of things, grabbing this and throwing that, breaking things, taking things right out of Ella's hands.

It was absolutely exhausting. James was up and down and chasing after her nonstop. He hadn't realized how easy he'd had it when he could sit Ella on his lap and read her seventeen books in a row and she wouldn't budge an inch. Ella loved to sit and look at the pictures. She would do it even on her own. When Elise put the radio on or played the piano, Ella would stop and just listen, even when she'd been Juni's age. If they went out on the beach, Ella could sit and stare at the waves for hours.

If they took Juni out on the beach, she'd have sand in every crevice – including a mouthful – before they'd even set her down. It was alarming how much sand would come pouring out of her swimsuit when they gave her a bath. "It's a wonder there's any sand left on the beach," James said one night, looking at the sand now coating the entire surface of the bathtub.

The only time Juni slowed down at all was when Elise would hold her before she went to bed. THey had learned early on that James could not be responsible for putting her down except in dire circumstances, because Juni would not relax in his arms. She would tug his ears and climb all over him, sticking her feet into his ribs, elbowing him in the jaw. It didn't matter how much he rocked and shushed and patted her back. If James was in charge, it was not time for sleep.