It all started with him having no regard for the property of others.
Most people borrow things with some amount of respect, she thought to herself. They ask politely if they can take a book from their classmate, or they give an excuse for why their quills are missing. Not Sirius Black – he operated with all the confidence of popularity that June did not possess. He did not think twice before stealing – stealing! her copy of Pride and Prejudice. Years later, no matter how many times he told her that really it was the fault of the doxy, she would waspishly point to the fact that he was the one who had brought the doxy in the Gryffindor common room.
It was only the beginning of the sixth year when the doxy was introduced to the Gryffindor common room. Potter and Black and the rest of the more boisterous Gryffindors were attempting to have fun at the expense of the creature, and if she hadn't been a little less shy she might even have intervened on its behalf. She was shy, and she had no particular love for doxies – creatures that were prone to bite her when she wandered a little too deep into the Forbidden Forest. June Williams had surrounded herself with books then, piles of various different subjects. She didn't particularly feel like going up to the dormitories, not while she would have to carry so much of her stuff with her. She was poring over an essay for Herbology, making detailed little notes in the margin of her book. It was a bad habit, she knew – but she paid for the books herself, and she had no friends to borrow any of her books from her.
June Williams is not much to look at. She was of slight build, practically tiny by some standards. Puberty hadn't done her many favours – she hadn't much of a body, with small feet and small hands. She's a little thing, and a cute one, if she ever chose to remove the hair from her face. As such, her bangs ensure that her eyes disappear, and with her eyes, everything about June Williams manages to disappear.
She wasn't very good at being visible anyway, as she told herself. She was no good at performing, nothing about being around people came easy to her. She could count the social interactions she liked on one hand. When she had come to Hogwarts, she had been keenly aware of what a frightening lot the Gryffindors were. Hufflepuff would be better suited to her, but she didn't feel particularly loyal or very intrinsically human either. She had been placed in Gryffindor, and over five years, she had learned how to live without jumping at every sound her people made.
She scribbled again in the margin of her book, chewing on her pen. Nothing, not even Hogwarts had managed to convince her to stop using pens. She still kept a full box of pencils, pens, a rubber, and a sharpner. It helped during classes in which she wanted to doodle, which was how she had managed Professor Binns' classes without sleeping. She was always paying attention, even if she wasn't very visible.
She shut her eyes as she heard an explosion of laughter from the other side of the common room. Sirius Black had lost track of the doxy, and James Potter was attempting to capture it. June rolled her eyes to herself, but on they continued.
"You're in so much trouble, James Potter!" said Mary Macdonald crossly.
James attempted to reach for the doxy again, to no avail. It wriggled out from his fingers.
June frowned at her book and tapped her pen to her nose. She looked up without thinking about her surroundings, piling her books up into one large stack. Briefly, she made a note of the doxy and slipped to her dormitory, carrying the stack with her.
"Sirius, it's getting away!" yelled James Potter.
Sirius Black, ran ahead of the doxy, grabbing his Transfiguration text book. He held it like a weapon, and turned to search for the doxy ––
"FUCK."
Black's face was not covered in bite marks, but one was bad enough where doxies were concerned. He dropped his book on the table that had been occupied by June.
He raised his arms and batted the creature away, which had already made its point. It tried to fly away, but Black was thinking quickly –
WHACK.
The doxy splattered on the window, blue blood leaking from its small body.
"Cool!"
This was said by James Potter. The rest of the crowd that hung on everything the little club of boys did followed him eagerly as they poked the arms and legs of the murdered doxy.
The book in question may have been damaged too, but Sirius Black was too busy with the body of the recently murdered to take any notice. He stowed the book into his bag without looking at it at all.
June returned after all the drama was over, and squeaked to find the rowdy crowd had migrated so close to her table. She quickly stacked the rest of her books, stuffed her notes and sheets in her bag, and hightailed to the dormitory. It was getting reasonably late, and she preferred a little bit of quiet over any of this.
The table, now empty of all books, looked suspicious. Until Lily Evans decided to settle down, poring over her own, very different Potions essay.
And that's how it all started. Perhaps it was the doxy, perhaps it was Sirius Black's disregard for rules and the possessions of others – but certainly, some of the blame could be attributed to June's penchant for spreading all her books out everywhere.
