CHECK YES JULIET ▷ JAMES POTTER [1]

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄. 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, 𝐌𝐔𝐌

SIRIUS' APARTMENT, NOVEMBER 1981

IT TOOK JULIET THREE TRIES before she successfully tore open the letter that had resided at the bottom of her drawer for over a year now. Juliet was sat cross-legged on her bed, clutching a faded Appleby Arrows t-shirt against her chest with an unopened bottle of vodka from Sirius' muggle stash at her side. A part of her thought better of mourning through alcohol, as tempted as she was, so she instead forced her bleary eyes to focus on what Euphemia Potter had written on her deathbed.

Dear Juliet,

As I sit writing this, I am in St Mungo's and I do not know if we will ever meet again as my days are sadly numbered. Knowing this, I find myself with no shortage of wisdom that I wish to impart on you. Yet, there is a part of me wonders who I would have been without my mistakes, wonders if my failures and shortcomings have only brought me closer to this moment — this gratifying, serendipitous moment where I am wholly at peace with death because I am able to pass on some advice to a girl who my son once swore he would hate forever.

To tell you the truth, I have never been one for endings — beginnings are much more fun and I have been finding myself thinking of our beginning lately. Something you may not know is the first time I ever heard the name 'Juliet Fawley' wasn't when you showed up on our doorstep in 1976, it was when James returned home from Christmas his first year. When I had asked him how Hogwarts was over dinner, he dropped his fork with a dramatic flourish and vowed he would marry Lily Evans and hate Juliet Fawley until the day that he died. I laugh at this still, all too aware of how quick one's life can change.

And what a wonderful change you were.

From our first meeting, I have always known you would do great things, and so has he. Back then, I recall you being an uncertain girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Now, I know you to be a bright woman taking control of her own destiny. Merlin, I am beyond proud of you and how far you have come. Life can be tough sometimes, but what I have found is you are far tougher. There are many things we can't control in life, yet your unfailing choice to persevere when times are hard is what makes you who you are. Never forget that, my sweet girl.

You have brought out the best in my son and perhaps you don't give yourself enough credit for that. I do hope you will stand by his side and continue to challenge him because, as I am sure you have come to know, his heart is usually in the right place. It has been an honour to watch you both fall in love because love is the one true immortal thing in this world. I can only hope you, too, find solace in the fact that whilst death is inevitable, love is eternal.

I know loss lies ahead in these coming years, but that does not mean you have to be lost. It is rather easy to be lost in our grief, so all I can tell you is: feel it, Juliet. Feel the pain and the sorrow and the grief and let it drive you to be a better version of yourself. You are forged from your triumphs, not your tragedies.

Love,
Mum.

     By the end of the letter, she was overwrought with emotion. Especially when a polaroid slipped from between the creases of the parchment, charmed to reveal itself once she had finished reading. It was a picture she had been unaware of and would likely have protested at the time, but she was incredibly grateful for its existence because it was the only photo the couple had together. After so often being prodded and primped for pureblood portraits, she never cared much for anything of the sort. However, the polaroid was a particularly lovely shot — the moving image had been snapped that first Christmas at Potter Manor and showed James spinning Juliet under his arms, unknowingly staring at her lips whilst she laughed.

     Juliet didn't know how long she stared at the picture for, but she soon found herself smiling instead of crying because that was who she wanted to remember. Yes, James had sacrificed himself for her, but he was also stupidly thoughtful, overconfident to a fault and a regular sender of rambling letters with sexual innuendos. He was so much more than his forced legacy and she wanted everyone to know that.

     In the midst of grief, something special was born that day as Juliet Fawley swore nobody's war efforts would ever be forgotten and history would never repeat itself. Not if she could help it.