𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅𝐺𝑅𝐸𝐸𝑁 𝑀𝐼𝑆𝑇 || 𝐷.𝑀.

thirty three

The second they apparated into Hogsmeade a bunch of alarms began to sound and commotion began to arise instantly. They saw a handful of wizards exit buildings and run into the middle of Hogsmeade, prompting them to run quickly to nearby tables covered in sheets.
"Potter!" They heard various screams of Harry's name roaming around Hogsmeade and various wizards ripping up sheets off tables and they could've sworn they were going to be dead right there, except the alarm they heard when they first apparated in sounded again and prompted the wizards who ripped up sheets from tables to run toward it.
    "Potter, in here!" A voice from the shadows hissed at the four of them. "Now, you lot! Before they come back!" The mans voice sounded familiar to Juniper as they walked quickly through the open door into a random person's home. "Do you know how insane it is for you to be here? Are you mad?" The man practically shouted. Hermione's curiosity and wisdom got the best of her and she suddenly recognized the man.
    "You're Aberforth aren't you?" Hermione asked, the mans head turned to her quickly. "Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus's brother." Hermione knew too much knowledge in that head, but the man nodded his head slowly.
    "I am, yes." He confirmed, making them all sigh of relief. "What are you doing back here?" He asked them.
    "We have to get into the castle tonight." Harry said sternly. "Dumbledore sent us to finish a task, we belief the last one is in the castle." Harry told him.
    "And what's this task my brother sent you on?" Aberforth asked.
    "Horcruxes, sir. We've been hunting horcruxes." Harry told him honestly, but Aberforth looked less than pleased.
    "Did my brother regularly send you on these dangerous tasks?" Aberforth seemed quite adamant on making it known he wasn't Dumbledore's biggest fan.
    "We just really need to get into the castle, sir. Can you get us in there?" Juniper said quickly, she was frantic to get in there, hoping Draco was there regardless of him asking her to stay at the cottage. Aberforth gave her a blank but stern stare for a moment as he shook his head.
    "Did my brother often leave the fate of our world in the hands of seventeen year olds?" He asked us, he wasn't impressed with the dynamic set up. Harry drew a deep breath in and rolled his eyes.
    "I don't care if Dumbledore trusts seventeen year olds more than other adults. I don't care that you've given up either, we have to get into the castle, so can you help us or not?" Harry was rash and to the point, but also rude which made both Juniper and Hermione hit his arms. Aberforth walked off after nodding to a portrait of a young woman who walked off as well. She returned moments later with two people in tow and then the portrait opened, revealing Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas.
    "Oh, it's bloody good to see you both." Ron breathed out as they reunited in a hug. Juniper felt a little out of place as she was the only Slytherin in the room and barely knew the two other boys.
    "Come on you lot, castles this way." Neville said as he led them through a tunnel Juniper had never seen.
    "What happened to the other secret passageways?" She asked, slightly scared for his response.
    "They've been sealed off, there's only a couple that remain and this is one of the only ways in or out without being detected." Neville told her with a sad look in his eyes. Juniper nodded, knowing secret passageways she used to investigate were now gone and it made her sad.
"I'm not surprised. Snape's not going to let students wandering in and out freely." Ron piped up from being Juniper. The conversation was broken as they walked the narrow tunnel leading to the castle. As soon as she entered back into the castle, Juniper felt like a ghost. She watched Harry explain to students what they were seeking and gain clues for it, Luna Lovegood, of course, did give him the best advice.
"It's small, old for sure, and very well hidden. I suspect it has something to do with Ravenclaw house?" Harry said. All Juniper heard was Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem and then the arguing of Harry not listening to where it was commenced, but Juniper knew immediately where to search for lost artifacts simply because Draco Malfoy showed her exactly where to look.
"No one alive today has seen Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, Luna. It's lost." Cho Chang spoke up, but Juniper rolled her eyes and began to walk away.
"Juniper, where are you going?" Hermione asked.
"A place to look for the diadem. Go destroy the horcrux." She said as she left and went to walk up the familiar corridor stairs slowly. Hermione and Ron rushed down to the Chamber of Secrets to use the venom from the huge serpent in the dungeons while Juniper finally made her way to the corridor where the room would appear to her. She paced three times, each time thinking about the diadem and when her eyes opened, the Room of Requirement's doors were appearing to her.
She opened the door slowly and saw the familiar room full of chair piles and artifacts, she could feel her entire body wanting to break down at the memories that were held in this room among the lost artifacts. She walked in and began looking along tables, unsure of what the diadem would look like, but searched anyway.
When she got to a table with a pair of heels on top she finally broke a bit, letting some of the tears in her eyes fall onto her cheeks as she remembered the night of the ball she danced with Draco at. All she could think about is how did her life end up like this? She held the shoes in her hands and remembered the moving photograph that sat on their fireplace mantle in their cottage, the one that was once on Draco's desk.

* FLASHBACK *

"First decoration?" Draco's voice came up behind her, causing her to turn around to see him holding a picture frame. He reached beyond Juniper and placed the moving photograph of them at the ball on the fireplace mantle, giving her a soft smile.
"I think this place is definitely it." Juniper nodded as she looked around at the dusty room, it needed work, but she was already in love with this cottage. She felt Draco's hand grab her own, pulled her into him so they could dance to nonexistent music, making a laugh erupt from Juniper.
"Welcome home then, Ms. Hartley." Draco laughed with her as she spun under his arm.
"Welcome home, Mr. Malfoy." She said as she was pulled back into him, continuing to sway to music that wasn't there, but it was so peaceful for the both of them.

* END FLASHBACK *

She set the heels back down slowly and went back to searching tables until she saw a box that caught her mind. It was the box Draco found the key for their cottage in. Every instinct she had told her to go and open that little box and so she walked over to it slowly, grabbing the navy blue velvet material in her hands so she could open it. Sure enough in the box sat a diadem with a raven on it, signaling she found Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem.
Her silence in the room was interrupted when she heard the Room of Requirement doors opened and revealed someone she least expected.
"I thought I told you to stay at that cottage?" Draco's voice filled the air around her.
"When have I ever listened to you?" She asked him, they both stood there staring at each other in nearly complete silence.