Monsoon Wings

For almost ten minutes they were frozen with shock. They just remained where they were, wide-eyed and not moving at all, afraid any movement might trigger another explosion. Draco and Juno, who were closest to the All-Burner, got dark patches smeared across their front bodies, worst of all, their faces. They were so black that their eyes seemed to glow, and their hairs had gone frizzy because of the explosion. There was even a hole on the part of the roof of the tent above the All-Burner. The others were quite all right.

‘GRRRRRRR,’ Juno gritted her teeth furiously, and they looked like tiny lamp posts in the dark night. The sweater she was wearing—the one Jayden had hand-knitted (at least according to her)—had been burnt into a thin torn black cloth filled with holes, shamelessly exposing her bra inside. Juno Emily looked exactly like an unwanted beggar thrown into fire.

If Juno was in a nightmare-ish condition because she was nearest to Draco, then Draco himself was in a gruesome condition because he was holding the All-Burner. His pale skin had been covered black with ashes; his sleek hair was standing like stiff wires, and smoke was rising up from the tips. His tie was woe-be-gone; his blazer had been burnt into a crisp—they were almost gone. The shirt below the blazer was also gone. What remained of him was his darkened chest.

‘YOU FLATTENING BEAST!!’ Juno roared, then slapped him across the face as hard as she could. ‘LOOK AT ME! MY SWEATER! THIS IS THE ONE JAYDEN GAVE ME! ONLY YESTERDAY! OH IT’S ONLY ONE DAY OLD, AND BECAUSE YOU, A FOOL, MORONIC BOY ACTED LIKE A DESPICABLE KNOW-IT-ALL AND BURNT IT!’

‘ME?’ Draco neared her and spoke so rudely that spit flew out of his mouth, one side of his face red in the shape of a palm. ‘You never said it’s a burner, you licentious, fiddly lunatic!’

Yes. He was pissed that she slapped him.

‘I TOLD YOU TO GIVE IT BACK!’

‘So you are implying that it was my entire fault?!’

‘YOU FOUL, UGLY, BRAINLESS MONKEY!!’

‘YOU ARE THE MONKEY!!’

‘I WANT COMPENSATION! OR ELSE I SWEAR I’LL WHOOP YOUR ASS UNTIL THEY FALL OFF!! DO YOU LISTEN? I WANT COMPENSATION!!’

Soon they were yelling and spitting at each other like possessed animals, while the others just stood, gaping.

They must had yelled for what felt like hours before there were screams from outside, and Mr Weasley rushed in hurriedly, red-faced and sweating. Lucky he didn’t realize the hole in the roof.

‘Quickly get back home,’ he said, panting. ‘Get your things! The Death Eaters are coming th—‘ he stopped and gaped at Draco and Juno, who had quitted the shouting match. Draco was continuously trying to flatten his hair while Juno was being held by Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and George at once to prevent her from jumping atop Draco and shitting upon him.

Obviously Mr Weasley considered getting away was more important, because he stopped gaping like a fool and had started packing things up. The screams from the outside had gotten the others into their nerves, too.

‘Fred and George, Ginny is your responsibility. Now don’t gape here, move! Move! And make sure you’re in a group!’ Mr Weasley ordered them.

Juno needed to be dragged outside. Just before they all left the tent flustered, Draco grabbed Juno’s arm. Despite the burns, his palm felt inviting.

‘Tomorrow morning nine o’clock, Diagon Alley. Make sure you come,’ he said.

Juno could not open her mouth to argue back, because Harry was pulling her arm.

Outside was an ocean of people. Juno wasn’t actually thinking where she was going. It was impossible to look anywhere except flailing arms of people and their backs. Now and then people were screaming things like, ‘The Death Eaters are here! The Death Eaters!’

Juno lost Harry. An idiot behind her knocked her over and she almost fell onto the ground, had Jayden not got hold of her arm just in time. Juno fought her way over, holding onto Jayden. They reached the top of the hill again, where the crowd was much lesser.

‘Harry! Where’s Harry?!’ Mr Weasley searched frantically, looking down the hill, at the ocean of humans.

‘We got separated,’ Juno said.

‘Then I’ll just Apparate you home. After that I’ll come back and find Harry. Hold onto me!’ Mr Weasley said. Hermione and Ron refused, so finally only Fred, George, Ginny, Olivia, Juno, and Jayden reached the Burrow, where Mrs Weasley was waiting impatiently at the front porch.

*

That night, Juno, Jayden, and Olivia spent their nights in the Burrow. Everyone was frantic about Harry, and because there was a Dark Mark hovering on the sky during that World Cup. Luckily Harry was found perfectly okay, though he did have a little misunderstanding with Barty Crouch.

Ron and Harry slept in one room. Hermione was with Ginny, Olivia with Juno, and Jayden with Fred and George (they had an extra bed).

The Weasleys were talking about the Death Eaters that night after dinner in the living room.

‘…with that trouble going on,’ Mr Weasley was saying.

‘You sure you saw someone there, Harry?’ Ron asked, biting off a piece of cupcake.

‘Positive. He looked like a young man. He made the Dark Mark. But I couldn’t see his face, it was not clear—‘ Harry said, rubbing his scar. This doing earned a worried look from Hermione.

‘Are you all right, Harry? Your scar?’

‘I’m fine, okay?’ Harry replied, trying to smile.

‘Oh, come on, cheer up. There will be a legendary event in Hogwarts this year,’ Mrs Weasley came in from the kitchen, carrying a plateful of baked brownies with chocolate icing tops (Ron immediately rubbed his hands and licked his lips).

‘What event, Mum?’ asked Fred eagerly.

‘Now, now, Molly, just let them discover themselves,’ Mr Weasley said, winking.

Then the Weasley children shot out with different possibilities as to what the legendary event could be. Amongst the excited chattering, Juno slipped away and ascended the wooden stairs. She arrived at the fifth floor, then turned left and then left again. There was a vase of lily near the north window and she turned right at the turning near it. Finally, she opened the door and entered the room she and Olivia shared together.

Juno quietly closed the door. The iron handle felt rough on her skin. Then she walked across the room, towards her bed. She opened her blanket and retrieved the worn and burnt sweater. She hugged it close to her chest. There was still the scent of burning in the sweater.

She sighed. The wool was totally worn. There was no way to repair the damage now.

What had Malfoy said? She thought. ‘Tomorrow morning nine o’clock, Diagon Alley,’ she repeated what Draco had spoken. Should she come? Or perhaps, it was another joke? Perhaps this time he will be there with a tank of gasoline.

The door creaked open and she hid the sweater below the bed sheets.

‘Hey,’ it was Jayden, with a khaki pants and green tee. He was carrying two heavy envelopes in his hand.

‘Hey,’ Juno replied, trying to sound cheerful. But it was impossible. The disappointment and sadness clearly showed in her voice.

Jayden walked awkwardly and sat near her.

‘I’m sorry about the sweater,’ Juno said. ‘Sorry I didn’t take good care of it.’

‘It’s okay,’ Jayden said, smiling. ‘At least you wore it once.’

‘Had I not worn it once, and had I not met that ruddy monkey-brain, the sweater’ll still be safe and sound,’ Juno argued. She then saw the look of contentment in Jayden’s brown eyes. Would she tell him she’ll be meeting Draco tomorrow noon? No. Jayden will never agree her coming. But she, she needed to come. She wanted to show what would happen to monkeys for going through Juno Emily’s life.

And burning her sweater.

Damn that monkey.

‘Um, I’m going to Diagon Alley tomorrow,’ Juno said, trying to force aside the thoughts of Draco Malfoy. ‘Would you care to come?’

‘The Weasleys were just saying that they will be going tomorrow, too. Because, just a second after you ascended the stairs, owls from Hogwarts came. Dumbledore already knew we’re here,’ Jayden said, shoving her one envelope he had in hand.

‘Thanks,’ Juno said, opening the envelope which was addressed Miss Juno Emily, the Burrow, The Fifth Floor, The North Bedroom to reveal two papers. One, as usual, was telling her to catch the Hogwarts Express from platform 9 ¾ on the 1st of September, with the ticket attached. The other contained the books she would need for her fourth year.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

(Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore)

FOURTH YEARS WILL NEED:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Four by Miranda Goshawk

Basic Arithmancy: Book Two by Sachin Sachdeva

A Guide to Charms, Grade Four by Hilliani Grawn

History of Magic, Grade Four by Bathilda Bagshot

Divination Theories by Justin Juckline

The Study of Intermediate Potions by Sean Hypfagh

Magical Plants and Their Uses by Newt Scamandler

A Protection from the Dark Arts by Quintin Tremble

Surprisingly, there was an addition below that. Juno crinkled her brows as she read the added note painted in green ink.

Quidditch matches will be removed this year.

Juno flipped the paper and looked at Jayden, who was busy reading his. She hoped this year would be a nice year for her.

Oh, well.