Orphic » Sirius Black

Chapter 21 - A Wave Of Alterations

Juniper couldn't sleep anymore. Her mind was racing, and an anxious feeling invaded her constantly. She kept thinking about the memories Cassia had sent her, and why. There was a lot going on in each of those, and Juniper didn't know how to filter the valuable information from in between all the chaos.

She spent the days outside, sitting in the back garden, below the shadow of the apple tree. She tried to collect every little thing from the memories Cassia had let her see, and she would write it down in the old notebook Remus had given her. The pages were filled with charts and scribbles and strikethrough text that if someone were to read, they wouldn't understand a thing.

As Juniper attempted to write down the exact conversation her mother and father had shared in the hallway of their old home, she flinched at the thought of Mars calling her Cassie. Juniper never quite understood why her mum tended to get defensive every time she teased her with the nickname, but now it was clear. She would never call her that again.

Her father seemed to be the main character of the sequence. The way his face had shone in some kind of victory once Juniper got out of the fountain and how he had talked about Jasper with disgust right after made her sick. Was he really only looking for recognition?

Juniper had known that some people from the Callister side of the family longed to be included into the sacred pure family list, as they had been rejected due to being related to an Scottish king back in the 13th Century, who was presumably a Muggle. Nevertheless, he had no right to treat his own son like that. In Juniper's eyes, Jasper had been the greatest wizard she had ever known, at such a young age. The fact that she had shown signs of magic earlier than him didn't mean anything at all.

She wasn't aware of Mars's treatment of Cassia or Jasper until she had seen those memories—maybe she was, but didn't remember at all, given that she had barely been six years old. Years had given her the time to forget about him and ignore the damage he had done to her mother and brother.

Jasper seemed to know and remember everything about their father. He had tried to cover for her when Mars was about to take her with him the day they left the Callister Manor, even though Cassia hadn't let him go that day. Years later, he ended up going with him anyway, which ultimately, had led to his own death.

Her heart shrunk every time she remembered her brother's words and the way in which he talked to Cassia. Juniper didn't remember him being so cruel, and would never have thought that he would agree with the purist ideals.

Cassia's words and abysmal concern also worried her. She had tried to stop Jasper. She had talked to him, but apparently it was too late. Jasper had turned sides before leaving.

Juniper knew Cassia had taken her Auror training quite late, but not secretly, without Mars knowing. And the fact that she suspected him for being a Death Eater made matters even worse.

It is pretty obvious, she thought to herself one day. It's my father who's after me. But Cassia was never obvious nor explicit with her messages. There had to be something else in there. Something she hadn't seen, but was clearly there. Otherwise, it would be a useless memory.

Juniper buried her face in her hands and screamed, hoping that somehow, letting her voice free would allow some of her stress to leave her body as well.

But the only thing that it caused was for the garden faucet to explode. The hose started dancing around her, boosted by the pressure of the water, soaking her completely. Before she could even process what had happened, Remus and Hope appeared at the door, and Remus ran to turn the faucet off.

"I'm fine," she said, not letting anyone get near her. But no one was really convinced of her words.

Another week passed, and Juniper still couldn't figure out anything else from the memories—but there was no way she would just forget about them. She wished that Lyall hadn't vanished the memories so quickly after she had stepped aside from the Pensieve. A second look at them was all she needed: another chance to witness her past life without the surprise and shock from the first time.