୨୧━━━♞ # ! CH. ONE THE RAGE ( ꜰɪꜰᴛʜ ʏᴇᴀʀ ) — September
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JUNO STILL REMEMBERED THE FIRST MATCH SHE SAW HER FATHER FIGHT IN.
She wasn't supposed to be there. Her mother said she was too young to be parading around violence like that, but her mother had fallen asleep earlier than usual that day from nursing Achilles. Deep snores and soft breaths echoed from the two of them, and Juno smiled.
It was like the opportunity to slip out was being dangled in her face. She just couldn't pass it up.
The arena (a dingy space used for clubbing most other days) was bustling with a rowdy crowd that night.
Maybe it was the surplus of sloshing beers occupying nearly every hand she saw (no wonder no one questioned her presence) or the rocketing energy of the last round that had filled every crevice with tension.
Juno slotted herself between a drunk couple (matching hickeys flowered on their necks) and a calmly sat man wearing a suit unbefitting for the scene. He raised an eyebrow at her, but she didn't care. She'd made it just in time.
Bright shining lights beat down on Warren Song and his pudgy opponent. Blue gloves donned his fists (pairing funnily with his golden briefs), and if Juno peered closely enough she could see the marker ink she'd used to fill in the cracking leather for him.
If she squinted, it just looked like they were doing a funny dance together. Bloodied faces were masquerade masks, and their sweating sheen turned into the light bouncing off their sequined suits. The brazen crowd faded into thunderous classical music, and Juno watched her father fight like it was art.
She wondered now as she sat across Professor Dumbledore in his office (an annual tradition for her First Day back it seemed) if that was when it first began.
The Rage.
"You broke Mr. Nott's nose on the Hogwarts Express," Professor Dumbledore said evenly at his desk. It wasn't a question, but he awaited her answer. Is that correct? What happened, he seemed to ask with his eyes.
He knew it was, she was sure. Draco Malfoy had gone straight to Snape as soon as they had arrived, and the hook-nosed man had no sooner dragged her to the Headmaster's office (with no dinner) to wait.
Despite having been on the receiving end for far more times than she could count, Professor Dumbledore's piercing gaze still intimidated her.
Juno cleared her throat, awkwardly. "Yes."
When he made no move to talk again, she continued. "I mean I did punch him, but I didn't mean to. Honestly, sir, I was aiming for Malfoy—" Incriminate yourself further, why don't you. She cringed internally at her confession, "Theodore just happened to be in the way... But it wasn't my fault! Malfoy put his hands on me, too. Called me names, and before I knew it..." She paused, demure. "Everything just went—red."
