Juniper awoke slowly and painfully. She felt like crap. Her whole body hurt, her throat was sore, and her face felt sticky in the worst way possible. At least her drapes were closed. She didn't normally remember to do that. Wait- she hardly remembered anything. She knew she was hungover. Yup definitely hungover. She was in her room. But how had she gotten there?

"Oh good you're up." Teddy, shirtless and carrying a cup of coffee, walked into the room. Juniper zeroed in on her discarded dress and bra on the floor in front of her bed. She began to panic. What had happened last night?!

Frantically, she patted her body to make sure she was still wearing underwear. Phew. She was. "Thank god." She murmured, running a hand through her matted mess of curls.

"Thank god what?" Teddy furrowed his brow, handing her the coffee and throwing on a t-shirt.

Juniper winced, her head really hurt. "Nothing." She whispered hoarsely.

"Sorry." Teddy patted her knee, lowering his voice, "I told you to lay off the booze."

Juniper look at him sourly through half lidded eyes, flipping him off with both hands.

"Nice to see you haven't lost your spunk." Teddy shook his head, smirking.

A loud pounding on the door caused a piercing throb to shoot through Juniper's brain as she covered her ears, "What the bloody hell is that?!"

Teddy's face darkened, "Your boyfriend."

"Xavier?" Juniper was utterly bewildered, rubbing sleep out of her eyes and a few flakes of crusted mascara. Gross. "Why doesn't he just come in, instead of banging on the door like a god damn lunatic?"

"He can't." Teddy said smugly.

"What?" Juniper clutched her head in confusion. "Teddy....what did you do?!"

"I put a charm on the door." Teddy explained haughtily

"You WHAT?!" Juniper shouted, groaning.

"He was a dick." Teddy shrugged, then calmly sipped his cup of tea.

And then the events of last night came tumbling back to her. Bits and pieces clicking together in her mind. Finding out Xavier lied to her, getting drunk. Really drunk. Teddy refusing to kiss her. Teddy holding her hair up and rubbing her back. Xavier and Teddy arguing. Throwing up. A lot of throwing up. Xavier's hurt and jealous face, asking her, "Juniper?" And pretty much nothing else after that.

Fuck.

"How long has he been there?" Juniper asked Teddy, having herself out of bed.

"I dunno."

"Teddy!" She cried, exasperated.

"What?"

"He was already upset why would you-"

"He was an arsehole." Teddy stated, "He didn't deserve to come in."

Juniper softened, remembering the fierce way Teddy had protected her last night. "Did you stay here the whole night?"

Teddy relaxed, smiling, "Of course. Someone had to make sure you didn't throw up while you were sleeping."

"Did I?" Juniper questioned, her stomach turning at the memory.

"Why do you think I had to change my shirt?" Teddy grinned teasingly, mouth quirked with mischief.

Juniper grimaced, suppressing a laugh, "Sorry."

"It's ok." Teddy said, lightly nudging her.

"You know you didn't have to-" Juniper started.

"Potter." Teddy cut her off sternly, "Just let me take care of you." He chuckled to himself, rolling his eyes, "Stubborn girl."

Juniper felt something swell in her heart, warm and inviting. Following an impulse, she reached out and wrapped her arms around Teddy, hugging him tightly. He seemed surprised at first, but hugged her back.

Juniper sighed, feeling comfortable for the first time this morning. She hadn't realized it had been so long since she hugged Teddy. They used to hug all the time. Xavier would not like it, but Juniper found herself not particularly caring what Xavier would think. Teddy was her best friend, and Xavier was out of line.

Xavier.

Oh shit Xavier.

"You have to go." Juniper told Teddy, pulling him upright.

"Junie..."

"You have to go, Teddy." She pushed him towards the door, "Undo the charm."

Teddy frowned, reluctantly undoing the charm. She swung open the door to find a very irritated Xavier planted on the ground below. Immediately, he jumped to his feet, eyes flashing with anger, "You-"

"No." Juniper commanded, silencing him with a harsh look. "Teddy's leaving, and you can come in."

"But Junie-" Teddy protested, staring Xavier down with the wrath of a thousand suns.

"Teddy is leaving." Juniper repeated, gripping Teddy's arm. She whispered, "I'll be fine Lupin. Please?"

"Fine." Teddy clenched his jaw, pulling Juniper into a hug and making sure Xavier saw. "Don't you dare hurt her." He growled menacingly, right in Xavier's face.

Juniper massaged her temples tiredly, grabbing Xavier's hand and dragging him inside the dorm before he got physical with Teddy.

"He locked me out of the fucking room!" Xavier roared, as soon as she'd shut the door. Juniper cast a Muffliato charm. This was as angry as she's ever seen Xavier. They've had fights, but this- this was bad.

"I know." Juniper tried to remain calm.

"Juniper how is that okay?!" Xavier paced the room in fury, not looking her in the eye. " Was coming to make up and I see- that! I knew you going to the party was a bad idea."

Juniper smarted, "You want to talk about the party Xavier?" She scoffed cruelly, "Really? Sure let's talk about the party. About how you lied to me." Juniper was no longer trying to keep her temper in check. Sh was going to have it out with him. He had lied to her.

Xavier gulped, silent for a moment. "Can you blame me? Look how you ended up after going. They're a bad influence!"

Juniper would not tolerate anymore insults towards the people in her life that mattered the most. Did she attack Xavier's friends? No. "They are my family!"

"You're not even related to Teddy!" He pointed out, mouth curling in disgust when he said Teddy's name.

Juniper nearly shrieked from frustration, "Really? Really Xavier? So this is all just about Teddy then? Your stupid little pissing contest?" Juniper was at hre tipping point. That fucking controlling jealousy. He just couldn't see that her and Teddy were just best friends. "It always comes back to Teddy."

"You know what it does always come back to Teddy." Xavier yelled, incensed, "He was holding your hair back for you Juniper! I saw everything! And I heard from Lola that the two of you were snogging at that party!"

Juniper couldn't believe he was arguing about this. She was not the one at fault. He had lied and left her alone. And of course he'd believe Lola over her, "It was a stupid game Xavier!" She yelled back, stomping her foot, "And it didn't even happen because I was too busy throwing up."

"Well thats kind of your own fault Juniper." Xavier replied snobbishly, a judgmental air overtaking his voice, "You were drunk. What did you expect to happen? And Teddy came to your rescue? Is that it?" He spat, flecks of saliva flying from his mouth.

"You know what?" She shouted, "He did come to my rescue Xavier! He did! I was drunk at a party and he made sure I was safe. Not you. Him." Each word was the raw and painful truth. And Juniper knew it stung.

Xavier snarled. Juniper had hit him where it hurt the worst. He fired back with hate in his heart, "You shouldn't have gotten drunk in the first place Junie! I told you not to go to that-"

Juniper completely lost it, screaming in anguish, "I ONLY GOT DRUNK BECAUSE I WAS MAD AT YOU! I WAS ALONE AND MISERABLE. MY OWN BOYFRIEND WOULDN'T EVEN GO. YOU CHOSE NOT TO COME-" A lump began to form in her throat, and she could do nothing to dislodge it.

Xavier dismissed her, "I'm a seventh year Junie. I've got real life ahead of me. I've got NEWTS to think about, and I knew your gaggle of boys was going to be there and you were going to shut me out again! I don't have time-"

Juniper took a deep breath, attempting to settle her swirling emotions, "The fact of the matter is you weren't there, Xavier. You weren't there for me."

"And he was?" Xavier sneered, raising a scathing eyebrow.

"Yeah. He was."

Xavier threw his hands up in defeat, letting out a low hiss of air, "You choose him again and again, and expect me not to-"

"Choose him?!" There it was again. The jealousy. Juniper was so so done with the jealousy. "What the fuck do you mean? You're my boyfriend. Not him. I chose you, I've already chosen you. What more do you want?"

"I want you to stop seeing him." Xavier said flatly.

Juniper almost gasped. Her heart stopped beating. Stop seeing Teddy- she couldn't- it would be like it wa snow but a thousand times worse. If she stopped seeing Teddy, she'd stop seeing all of them. She'd lose her best friends. She couldn't even imagine a world without Teddy. She didn't want to either. Xavier had to understand- he couldn't be serious

He looked so serious.

"You can't ask me to-" Juniper started to protest, begging him to understand. The lump in her throat tripled in size.

Xavier turned away from her, shaking his head, "Why?" He asked, voice eerily still, "Because you'll choose him?"

"I- it's not that simple-"

"Yes it is." Xavier said, making unwavering eye contact. "Me or him, Juniper?"

Juniper bit her lip, hard. She tried to explain herself, make him see. If only he could see. "It's not just him Xavier, it's all of them, I can't-"

Xavier closed his eyes, nodding, mouth pressed into a thin line, "I think I got my answer."

"I-" Juniper's voice broke as she reached out for Xavier. He seemed miles away. Her head spun. Was this really happening?

"Goodbye Juniper."

so...yeah....
ranting ———————————>

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sorry this was short, and kind of dialogue heavy :(
hope you liked it :)))

-coco