Chapter Text
It was pouring rain when James and Juliette Potter arrived at King's Cross Station. Running from the car, Juliette held up her robes to shield herself, but to no avail. Her long brown hair got drenched as she made her way inside, James and her black cat Artemis trailing behind her. Fleamont rushed in behind them carrying the two owl cages, with Euphemia following close behind.
It wasn't until the Potter family was fully inside that James began to laugh.
"I can't believe we drove a muggle car here!" He yelled, causing several muggles to look at the strange family in the middle of the station with weird trunks and owl cages.
"Shut up James, everyone can hear you!" Juliette said quietly.
"We need to move quickly; I misjudged muggle traffic." Fleamont said, ushering his family towards the wall between platforms nine and ten.
"Ladies first." Juliette grinned, nudging James towards the wall.
"Well since there aren't any ladies here, I suppose I must." James smirked back before running through the wall.
"Did you hear that!" Juliette scoffed.
Fleamont and Euphemia just laughed, each putting a reassuring hand on their daughter's shoulders.
✧✧
James and Juliette hugged their parents goodbye. Fleamont reminded James to stay out of trouble while Euphemia reminded Juliette that it was okay to get into trouble sometimes.
"I got in trouble once!" Juliette said quickly.
"For what? Turning in a paper too early?" James shot back.
Juliette scowled.
"James, quit teasing your sister." Fleamont said, shaking his head.
✧✧
James quickly found Peter, who had been waiting for him, and the two headed off to the train. Juliette was fidgeting with her necklace as Artemis rubbed against her leg, purring softly. This only made her owl begin hooting in her cage.
"Oh Merlin, would you two cut it out?" Juliette crossed her arms and looked sternly at the two small animals.
She looked around frantically but couldn't find any of her friends.
"Juliette!"
Juliette spun around to a flash of platinum blonde hair before being pulled tightly into an embrace.
"Pandora!" Juliette yelled back.
Pandora Malfoy released Juliette from the hug and smiled widely.
"How was your summer?" Pandora asked as the two girls made their way towards the train, dragging their trunks and owl cages behind them with Artemis following close behind.
"It was alright. My brother and his idiot friends were being a bother as usual, but I managed to read the entire charms book over the summer."
"Wow." Pandora grinned, stepping onto the train. "An impressive feat."
"I've got to go to the prefect compartment. Will you take Enola with you?" She asked, holding out her owl cage.
Pandora held out her hand and Juliette handed her the cage.
"Who's my favourite Potter?" Pandora cooed to the owl.
"Hey!" Juliette laughed.
"I'm only joking, you know it's Euphemia." Pandora grinned.
"She's my favourite Potter too. Don't tell James."
Pandora laughed. "Well, I'll meet you at the carriages?"
"I'll meet you before we're even there. You think I want to spend the entire train ride sat next to Evan?"
"No offence taken."
Juliette turned around to see Evan Rosier standing directly behind her with a smirk.
"I'd best be going." Pandora smiled, taking Juliette's owl with her.
"So, looks like we'll be spending more time together this year, since you were made prefect and all."
"How unfortunate for me." Juliette smirked.
Juliette headed into the train compartment, Evan trailing behind her. She put her trunk above her and sat next to the window with Artemis purring in her lap contently. Evan sat across from her. Remus Lupin and Lily Evans walked in right after. Remus took the seat next to Juliette and Lily sat across from him.
Juliette groaned as Remus pulled out a book. "Haven't I seen enough of you already Lupin?"
Artemis moved out of Juliette's lap and rubbed her face against Remus' shoulder.
"Looks like Artemis hasn't." Remus smirked.
"Someone's in a foul mood today." Evan snorted.
"Having to see you tends to do that." She retorted, a sarcastic grin on her lips.
"Oh c'mon Jules, you love me."
"Only my friends call me Jules."
Remus watched from the corner of his eye chuckling to himself as he continued to pet Artemis. Juliette looked back over at the boy with Artemis purring gently in his lap. He'd grown since she'd last saw him a month prior. He was a bit taller, and his hair was beginning to curl lightly around his face. She was about to say something when the remaining prefects rushed into the compartment.
The head boy and girl introduced themselves. A girl from Hufflepuff, Amelia Bones, and a boy from Ravenclaw, Gilderoy Lockhart. They went over the prefect duties, and thankfully Juliette wasn't patrolling that night.
Artemis refused to leave Remus' lap, quickly falling asleep and purring gently. Artemis had always had a strange fondness for Remus. Juliette had always assumed it was because he was a werewolf, something that Remus didn't know that she was aware of.
✧✧
Juliette was glad to finally be out of the prefects compartment as she scanned the rows looking for her friends. She kept awkwardly peering her head into different compartments, until eventually she found her brother.
"Oh, hi Jules." James smiled. "Have you seen Remus?"
"Should be here any moment. Have you seen Pandora?"
"Malfoy? She's a few compartments down, I think. With my brother." Sirius said with a disgusted look.
Juliette frowned. "I know you don't like him, but he's not a bad person."
"Forgive me for not trusting your moral judgment." Sirius retorted.
Juliette rolled her eyes. "Not all Slytherins are evil Sirius."
"Hey c'mon Jules, you know I didn't mean it like that that." Sirius approached Juliette and tried to wrap his arm around her shoulder only to be met with Artemis hissing at him.
"Good kitty." Juliette chuckled.
"Hey! Bad kitty." Sirius pouted.
Remus was standing just behind Artemis with a grin on his face.
"I'll never understand why that bloody cat likes you so much." Sirius sneered.
"She likes anyone who isn't Sirius Black." She smiled.
"I see. So your cat has no taste. How tragic."
Artemis hissed again.
"I'll be taking my cat now. I'll see you lot at Hogwarts." Juliette said, picking up Artemis.
✧✧
The train pulled into the station not too long after Juliette had found her friends. Pandora showed her a new spell she'd been working on, and her dorm mates got her caught up on summer gossip. Mostly pureblood balls and such. Of course, the Potters never liked to attend these sorts of things.
"Anyone know any of the new first years?" Said Dorothea Nott, one of Juliette's dorm mates.
"Every year you ask that and every year we all say no." Said Eleanor MacMillan, Juliette's other dorm mate.
"I don't see you trying to come up with conversations."
Pandora yawned. "Who do you think the new defense against the dark arts professor will be?"
"Now THAT is a question." Eleanor said with a grin.
"Considering that the last professor ended up trying to rob Gringotts, my expectations aren't very high." Juliette said.
"My mum says his trial is coming up soon." Dorothea said.
Just then, the brilliant castle of Hogwarts came into view, leaving all four girls speechless. It looked every bit as enchanting as it did the year before. Floating lanterns guided their way down the path as they tried to catch a glimpse of the first years. They never did. Juliette grinned as their carriage stopped. She was finally home again.