Monsoon Wings

That night, Juno returned to the common room, feet weary and arms numb. She was tired, tired of all the yelling and argument. Her legs felt like they were steels. It hurt a lot dragging them across the ground. She realized she hadn’t taken a shower since morning. Normally she bathes at evenings also, especially in the hot dry summer. But she didn’t that day. That mad boy had kept her in the Slytherin common room until eleven, accompanying him doing his homework. She was to stand behind him like a guardian while he sat down and blissfully yak with his friends.

It was not merely about that. He wanted her to stand and wait faithfully and exactly in front of the boys’ bathroom while he took his shower, holding his towel. You know, like that kind of people you see in olden kingdoms, guarding the dear King while he is taking a bath.

Then, he demanded her go into his dorms and makes his bed fluffy for him. Only when he was contented in bed and blanketed that he allowed her to get back to where she belonged. It was more or less eleven o’clock by then. Not to mention the extensive laborious time-consuming walk from the dungeons up to the Gryffindor tower.

My poor feet, she thought.

She was exhausted, and it was only the first day. How would she survive a year?

She reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, said the password, and without any shilly-shallying walked inside and sat on the nearest chair. Ah, how excellent it is to sit down finally. She freed her sneakers and massaged her pitiable feet.

As she leaned on the back of the chair, giving her throbbing back a relaxation, the portrait flung open and a very disheveled and grumpy-looking Jayden came in, hair tussled and tie askew, smelling like vomit.

‘Juno?’ he said softly, jumping a bit. He was surprised, all right. He had expected the common room to be empty. But no. Juno was sitting nearest to the entrance, shoes and socks off, pressing her toes.

‘Jayden,’ Juno said wearily. ‘Thank God. Where were you?’

‘Detention,’ Jayden growled furiously. ‘You know what that greasy bashi-bazouk wanted me to do? To clean the jars in which he suspends smelly slimy funny-looking creatures. You know, the jars lining up on the shelves down there. Manually. And you know what? Each jar he wanted me to clean at least four times. Then I had to retrieve the disgusting contents back inside. I tell you, I won’t be able to get the stench off me for weeks.’

Juno smiled grimly. ‘At least only a night for you.’

‘What do you mean? Where have you been? And are you all right?’ Jayden sat down beside her and gently removed her strands of hair from her face. He hated it. He hated it very much when Juno slumps and looks grim.

‘Nothing.’

‘And tell me that nothing,’ Jayden said. Well, almost like a tender order.

Juno sighed. What’s the use keeping matters off him? Everyone will now, anyway. ‘It’s that hybrid mindless monkey-ape. You know what, he wants me beside him every second, doing silly things for him. He demanded me to cut his steak, pour his juice and cut a slice of pudding for him. He wanted me to tie his shoelaces. And he asked me to wait in front of the toilet every time he does his job. I’m telling you, I’d be a matter of days before he’ll raise the order of me being inside the toilet with him, serving him.’

‘What?!’ Jayden was incredulous. ‘You’ve got to report it to someone!’

‘No,’ Juno said. ‘I don’t want to bring matters. Besides, being a baby won’t help me anymore. I made the Unbreakable Vow.’

Jayden slumped on his chair, kicking the air angrily. ‘Why did you make it anyway?’

Juno yawned. ‘Jayden, I have a face. I must keep it up. If I didn’t agree to make the Vow, then that shit would surely walk over my face.’

‘And isn’t he walking over you now?’ Jayden snapped.

Juno went silent. She didn’t have anymore strengths to argue. She only wanted to cleanse herself and go straight to bed.

‘I’m sorry, Juno,’ Jayden admitted, seeing the look of hurt and tiredness on her face. ‘It’s just—it’s throwing me over the edge, seeing you like this.’

Juno smiled, tired. She yawned and said her good bye. She gathered all her strengths left and walked to the spiral staircase to the girls dorms. She was thinking how she would survive tomorrow before Jayden called her.

‘Juno, if he gives you a hard time, tell me. I’ll protect you.’

She beamed and ascended the stairs.

*

The next day was better. The Gryffindors only had two continuous Defence against the Dark Arts periods with the Slytherins. Not to mention Juno’s great thanks to Mad-Eye Moody, their new DFDA teacher. True, he was so strict and the type you wouldn’t and couldn’t cross without getting a ruthless penalty. He taught the class about the Unforgivable Curses that day, and the class was so still that Draco didn’t have the nerve to order Juno to do this and that.

Hermione, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be very pleased with this new professor. She was tut-tutting and rattling about it after the period.

‘…perform them in a classroom, I mean, did you see the look on Neville’s face?’ she was stating hysterically.

Juno only had to entertain the monkey during lunch and dinner and the rest of the evening and night. Surprisingly, she was allowed to leave at ten and so she did.

When she returned to the common room, Harry and the others were the only souls still up, sitting as usual near the cozy fireplace, which obviously wasn’t lit up in the middle of summer. They just fancied sitting there. Hermione was checking Ron’s History of Magic short note about ‘The goblins’ rebel on giants in 1387 was considered futile—explain.’ Olivia was chatting about Viktor Krum with Harry.

‘The year is wrong, Ronald,’ Hermione said smartly, scratching. ‘You wrote here that the giants reached the Pollwert Mountains on 29th August. Well, they only reached the Pollwert suburbs on that day. The officially admitted date of them actually reaching the mountain was on 30th of August.’

Ron snorted. ‘Oh, hey, Juno!’

‘Hey,’ Juno replied, sitting on the remaining seat left of the round table. ‘What is that? To be submitted tomorrow? I haven’t done it.’ Of course you have not, she thought sarcastically inside, not when you spend your evening guarding and serving that shit.

‘You can copy mine, if you want,’ Harry offered kindly, sliding his parchment across the table to Juno. Hermione sniffed.

‘Thanks. I guess I’ll just read it through and write my own,’ Juno said, taking Harry’s parchment.

‘Are you all right? Is that blonde foul fool giving you a hard time?’ Harry asked, eyeing Juno suspiciously.

‘Yes, he is,’ Jayden piped in. ‘Telling her to do every single thing, keeping her with him until eleven, waiting for him in front of the bathroom. And you know what? Tying his shoelaces. And letting her walk alone back to the Gryffindor Tower. That Draco Malfoy is mad. What if you get caught roaming the castle beyond curfew time, Juno?’

‘What?’ Hermione chimed, looking bewildered. ‘Why didn’t you tell us, Juno?’

‘That prat,’ Ron pounded angrily. ‘Let me kill him!’ He was about to stand up before Harry pulled him back down.

‘I’m just saying because you all need to know,’ Juno explained, ‘that fussy little cockroach had written rules of my enslavement. There are eight rules and I was asked to memorize them all.’

This time Harry and Olivia went fuming.

‘Oh, that reminds me,’ Hermione slapped her own forehead. ‘This evening the three of us went down to Hagrid’s . And he said he had something to give to you, Juno. Well, not actually he. I mean, someone gave it to him and told him to give it to you,’ she explained, handing her a small sealed envelope.

There was no address or anything written. The envelope was blank, the sheet white as ivory. Juno ripped it open and opened the paper inside and read it. It was a small poem, written in a very loopy handwriting, like a toddler’s.

She didn’t go ballistic at the content. She was quite cool, to be honest. She just asked, ‘Did Hagrid tell you who gave it to him?’

‘No. What was it?’

‘Just a joke, I presume,’ Juno replied casually, shrugging.

‘What does it say?’ Hermione asked.

Juno handed Hermione the letter, who read it out loud.

Well, Juno was indeed being cool, because the others practically jumped up off their seats when they heard the letter.

“Tears slumber,
Revenge seeks to be made.
Before October
Emily will be dead.”