𝐌𝐀𝐃 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 → 𝒸. 𝓌𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓁𝑒𝓎

⤷ 09| CURSED

"I'm sure their abilities are . . . capable, but I wish to teach you myself," Severus said.

Juniper placed her cup on the small table in front of her and eyed him silently. Something in his voice made her worry.

"What's wrong, Sev? Why do you want me to do extra lessons?"

Severus didn't reply. Instead, he stared into his tea. June continued to look at him, frowning, but when it became clear he wouldn't say anything else about the matter, she averted her eyes.

A knock came from the door and June waved her wand. The door opened and in came Charlie. He seemed surprised and kind of embarrassed to see Severus. Like he was caught in some act.

Severus, on the other hand, merely raised an eyebrow, his black eyes sweeping over Charlie before darting back to June. He put his tea back on the table. "I should go. We should start next week, Juniper."

Juniper mentally added that to her agenda, wondering how on earth she would be able to manage it all. "All right."

Without giving Charlie another glance, Severus strode out of the room, closing the door behind him.

A silence filled the room.

"Well, that was awkward," Charlie eventually said, before moving to June and giving her a kiss.

"It's only as awkward as you make it," June said, giving him a smile. "How was your day?"

Charlie fell down in the armchair Severus had sat on only minutes ago and sighed. "I've got a lot of papers to grade."

"Well then don't let me distract you," June said, putting hers and Severus' cup in the sink. "I'm exhausted so I'm going to get some sleep."

"All right," Charlie said, standing back up to give her a hug. "Sleep well, love."

June smiled and hugged him back. "You, too, darling."

Charlie pulled back, grinning. "I could get used to that."

June fell onto the bed. "Me too."

☆ ☆ ☆

October came rolling in and June found herself strolling next to Timothée to the Three Broomsticks. All of the trainees had gotten the day off. While both Cedric and Alaska were off to see their families, June had asked Timothée to come over. It had been too long since they had last seen each other.

"So how are things back at home?" Juniper asked him as they sat down at a table in the back, two Butterbeers set on the table.

"Nothing special," Timothée said, sipping from his Butterbeer. "I heard that the conductor of the Knight Bus has been arrested on suspicion of Death Eater activity. What's his name again . . .?"

"Stan Shunpike?" June said, frowning as she recalled meeting the guy a couple of years ago. "Wouldn't have thought it. How possible is it that he was under the Imperius Curse?"

"Didn't look like it," Timothée said, placing his Butterbeer back on the table. "The article said that he was arrested after he was overheard talking about the Death Eaters' secret plans in a pub. If he was under the Imperius Curse, he'd hardly stand around gossiping about their plans, would he?" Timothée frowned. "What surprises me is that you didn't know this. You're an Auror-in-training. Don't they tell you what's going?"

June sighed. "I wish. My days are so filled with patrolling, training and studying for exams that I have hardly the time to eat, let alone to read the newspaper. Besides, I'm sure they keep us busy so we don't think about what's going on out there." She gazed out of the window.