Oop its time for the DATE im -

also, Fav'd: Thank you for liking the setting and all! I hope I have convinced you more for June and Sirius :D


The Farthest Shore by Ursula K Le Guin

The door crashed open. "I found the shoes," said Sarah, panting heavily.

"Excellent," said Marlene, grabbing the shoes. "Mary, get the girl a glass of water, will you?"

Mary crossed the dormitory and handed Sarah a glass of water. She looked a little pink in the face when she did so. Sarah was impassive as she accepted the water, taking a long drink from it.

"What's she doing?" Sarah asked the others. Marlene was busy arranging the clothes, and Mary was rummaging through her things to get her makeup box out.

"Giving Lily a hard time," said Marlene. "You didn't have trouble with the boys, did you?"

"Not even a little. I think Sirius might be more nervous than her."

"That's impossible," groaned Mary. "She's just nerves."

"We wanted to take her to the Prefect's bathroom, you know. But she looked like she might have a meltdown," said Marlene, examining her nails. "Alright, troops, time to survey the damage."

Marlene frog marched them into the bathroom, where June was sitting on a chair as Lily deftly combed her hair. "There," she was saying. "It's dry, isn't it? I didn't burn half of it off by drying it with my wand, did I?"

June might have wanted to nod, but she spotted Sarah. She gave her a miserable smile.

"Cheer up, Williams," said Sarah. "You can do this. This is the easy part."

"Now, put on your clothes," said Marlene, tossing the clothes at June. "Mind, try getting a better attitude while you're inside."

June clutched the clothes, swiftly pecked Marlene on the cheek and took to one of the shower stalls.

Marlene shook her head like a wet dog. "You know, if it wasn't Black, I'd have asked her out."

"I'll drink to that," said Sarah.

"So, where are you headed today, Sarah?" asked Lily.

"I'm sure she has plans," said Mary nervously.

"Oh, I dunno," responded Sarah. "I might go to the book store and get something new. What about you lot?"

"Why don't you come with us?" asked Lily, folding a towel. "We're going to get some lunch at Three Broomsticks. Potter and everyone will be there, I think, but I suppose we have to put up with something."

Sarah guffawed. "Yeah, alright," she said. "Thanks Evans."

June emerged from the bathroom. Nothing she was wearing was her own, but Mary had dismissed that with a handwave when she generously donated one of her black dresses for the cause. It was checkered with white, so Lily had handed her a short sleeved shirt to wear underneath (it had a sort of… suspenders like style and buttons down the back – which made June conscious).

"No time to waste, sweetheart," said Marlene, ushering her into a chair in front of the mirror. "Now, should we do hair up or down?"

"Down," said Lily tersely. "I found out through James that it's what he likes."

"Black is so typical," said Marlene. "Are you sure you want to go out with him?"

June chewed her lip. Slowly, she nodded.

"Suit yourself. I only hope he doesn't take you to Madame Puddifoot's," said Marlene. "Okay, Mary, do her make up. I promise we won't do much. And here – white sneakers, no heels."

June looked at Marlene gratefully. Her hair was a little past her shoulders by now, and Lily had generously clipped the split ends.

"What about if we style her bangs away from her eyes?" asked Lily.

"No, they're too short. It would look odd," said Sarah. "Just do her make up, I think. Rest of it is as good as it gets."

"Very inspiring," said June, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She felt a bit like a doll, with how much she was being fussed over.

Sarah winked at her.

"Alright – I think this is done," said Mary. "Only a light layer of makeup, as instructed. And you look lovely, June."

"Thanks," said June. "You sure?"

All of them nodded.

"You really think this is a good idea?"

All of them nodded again. "Come on, Williams," said Marlene. "You're doing this for me. I've never seen Black this nervous."

June took a breath and got out of the chair. She smoothed her skirt. "Good?"

"Perfect," said Lily.

"Also – Pettigrew told me on my way up that Black's been driving them a little mad over whether he should wear his hair up or down. Please just compliment him," Sarah added smoothly, throwing a cloak in her sling bag.

"Do you guys I think I should wear my robes?"

"No," said Mary firmly. "Wear your jacket because there's a nip in the air. Now go."

June was shaking. Sarah handed her backpack to her. She put it on before she remembered that she had to put her jacket on first. So she took it off and put her jacket on instead.

"Oh my god," murmured Marlene. "You look lovely, Williams, come on. You can do this."

She swallowed. She looked altogether very nice – with her blue denim jacket (Marlene's) and the black dress (Mary's). She put her bag on (Lily's), and forced her shoes on (Sarah's). They watched her as she slowly walked out of the dormitory, peeking through the door to see her reach downstairs. From the stairwell, they saw Sirius come to greet her. "His hair doesn't look bad," whispered Mary.

Lily giggled. Marlene rolled her eyes. Everyone was feeling tittery. Sirius kissed June swiftly and Sarah nearly toppled off in surprise.

This time around, despite the temptation, she couldn't bring herself to hold his hand. She had a strong suspicion he found it cheesy – she had never ever seen him holding hands with his other girlfriends. He wasn't much better – they'd walked to the Entrance Hall without so much as a word. Brief pleasantries had been exchanged ("You look pretty." "Thank you. So do you." This was followed by June turning such a fetching shade of scarlet, Sirius couldn't help but burst into laughter.), but they remained mostly quiet.

Then Sirius said something unexpected: "How did you know who the murderer was in The Murder of the Orient Express?"

June blinked. "What?"

"I mean it – I read your notes. You knew."

She surveyed him sceptically. "How do you know that wasn't a result of a reread?"

"No, I could tell," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I read your notes again and again – I could tell which thoughts happened first."

She bit the inside of her cheek. "You're worrying me, Sirius," she said with a smile.

"Come on – how did you know?" he seemed genuinely interested.

She stopped herself from laughing. "Well, I'd been reading so many of them that sometime around the last three fourths, it became clear that everything she had been writing had been too much of a coincidence. I just… put the pieces together. It's a matter of observation, you know? And inference, I suppose."

"You're saying it's a matter of practice?" he frowned. "Then why the hell did you spend all that time sending all the other books? Why not just books with murder?"

"Sirius!" she laughed.

"Saboteur," he murmured. "I should have been figuring out how murders get figured out, and here I was reading about Emma Bovary."

"You said you liked that one!" she immediately defended.

"You inferred," he said with a very questionable smirk. "I never said anything of the sort."

"Did you not like Madame Bovary?" asked June, stopping dead in her tracks. "You'd better tell me now, because then we're going to have –"

"Oh relax," he said. "Of course I liked it."

She regarded him with some suspicion before continuing to walk.

"And anyway," he murmured. "Like I would tell you now."

That prompted another small fight where he had to assure her he liked Madame Bovary. She didn't fully believe him – but she didn't have much of a choice. They talked about all the books she had sent him on the way. He was very curious about how curated her letters had been – and she confessed she had agonised over them when she first started. She recommended a bunch of murder mysteries and promised to give him her copies of the books whenever she could. By the time they reached Hogsmeade, they had discussed all the books they'd read in detail – all of the things they had left out of their letters, all the other books they could think of.

The village looked picturesque – cobbled and pretty and welcoming spring. Easter was on its way, which meant that everything also had a bit of freshness to it.

"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her with him. She followed him, and he didn't let go, even when they reached Jobber and Knoll.

They spent time pouring over books. June took him through the shelves and straight to the most beautiful copy of Pride and Prejudice. "And look at all the illustrations!" she said. "I love them. I'd never buy it – I'm too attached to my Nan's, of course."

"Thank god for Sarah Williams," said Sirius. "Not to be confused with the ghoul you call a friend."

June laughed. "My Mum's mother. Sarah O'Connell."

"You're Irish, on top of everything else," he sighed. "Were you close?"

"Yes," she said. "I used to visit her a lot during my summers. She was nice to me – and I don't think she believed witchcraft was the devil's work. That was my father's family."

"Love a bit of fanaticism, don't you?"

She smiled. "In any case – you know, there's a most wonderful edition of Ghosts somewhere in this store. I didn't ever send you Ibsen because I have a strong feeling you'd find it pretentious. I thought Miller was a better bet. Besides, there's something about Miller, isn't there?"

He had that look in his eye again. This time, he didn't disguise it with his half quirked smile. She felt conscious, so she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.

They went to Scrivenshaft's next. June confessed she mostly used pens – not in class, for fear of judgement – but usually, she just used pens and pencils. "They're so convenient!" she said, and shoved a bouquet of pens in his face. He batted these away valorously, and June giggled when he made it more dramatic than it needed to be.

After that Sirius held her hand again. June's heart swooped when he did it – as thoughtlessly and naturally as she had never dreamed it would be. "Lunch," he said. "And not at the Broomsticks."

They crossed the street quickly, taking a sharp turn towards the end of the street after Hogshead. He helped her down a slightly sharp rock, and she was momentarily glad she hadn't opted for heels of any sort. They rounded the corner, and a building came into view.

"The Shrieking Shack?" she asked. "Are you going to murder me?"

He didn't respond, which she found suspicious – but she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He dragged her again. They went to the side of the fence, and onwards, until they reached a small grove of trees. Sirius settled on the grass.

June looked at him sceptically, but he raised his eyebrows. She chose to sit next to him, and as soon as she did, he slipped his fingers into hers again.

She blushed. Her heart was already thumping too loud.

"Why here?"

"It's not typical," he offered. "And honestly, I couldn't think of anywhere else where we wouldn't be interrupted. Much as I'd rather take you for lunch at the Broomsticks, I'm sure the other idiots are going to be there."

She nodded. She took a moment to make a decision, and then leaned against his shoulder.

"How much courage did that take?" he asked, and she could feel his smirk.

"More than it's worth, clearly," she said, immediately lifting her head off of him.

"Oh, come on," he said, wrapping his arm around her gently.

They stared at the far away building. "It is bizarre sometimes that you're the reader," he confessed. "And here I was thinking you would never read Olive."

She laughed. "I actually love that one."

"I know," he said. "I read your notes."

"Feels weird that you know it's me," she said. "Those are… I never expected anyone to be reading my books or my notes."

"Why did you leave them?" he asked. "I've been wondering for a while. You didn't even like me!"

She examined her fingernails. "Honestly? I overheard Lily saying she couldn't place the handwriting and some part of me couldn't take it. That was what it was. It's not her fault, of course – I've been good at being invisible. And if anything, Lily has been the only one nice enough to try very consistently to be my friend. I was just making it very hard for people. And then I decided to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known."

He laughed. "The mortifying ordeal of being known, is it?"

She smiled. "You didn't give me much of a choice, Sirius. You even became friends with me in real life!"

"That was for convenience," he said. "You were a solid sounding board."

"I'm glad to know I have uses."

She decided to watch the trees again. Sirius' fingers brushed across her waist, and her heart trilled. It wasn't even a novelty anymore when it did that. She was around him. Her heart was nowhere near normal.

The anticipation was somewhat killing her, too, so she turned to him. "It's gonna take a bit of courage, okay?"

"What -?"

She was the one to press her lips to his. It was awkward at first – she didn't know where her nose was supposed to go. His fingers raked her hair and she only ever touched the line of his jaw.

She fell back in the grass, and he immediately apologised and tried to help her up. But she dragged him with her, and kissed him again. "Oh – that was very rude of me," she said, in the middle of another kiss. "I mean – I ought to have asked you –"

"June, you're my favourite person in the world right now, but I need you to stop talking."

They lost time that way – with her coming up for air maybe two times total. She had little to no experience in kissing, so everything he did was new. Everything was something she filed away as a detail that she would be able to obsess over later, like a book she wanted to read and reread. He never strayed too far, for fear of making her uncomfortable – but she loved whatever he did regardless.

Somewhere in the middle of laughter and words breathed out between them, Sirius remembered with a jolt that he was supposed to give her food. From his backpack emerged a packed picnic. Although she was disappointed, she had to admit she had been getting hungry.

They spent more time eating sandwiches and pumpkin pasties. Sirius wiped the corner of her mouth mid-sentence and she forgot what she was saying promptly. They talked about Quidditch, about their classes, about going home, about whatever she was reading.

The sun set gently on them. Between kissing and talking, the leaves of the trees were turning gold. She looked up to see the flutter of the wind, and she sighed.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said. "I – um – I had something to give you."

She pulled out two books from her backpack. "It's the Keats you gave me. And… your Christmas present."

It was a copy of The Farthest Shore by Ursula K Le Guin. "But these pages are blank!" he exclaimed. "You didn't write anything in them!"

"I thought – I thought you could write first," she said with a smile. "And this time, I'd read it second. Fair's fair, right?"

He was staring at her, with that look on his face that she was quickly beginning to characterise as The One That Makes Her Heart Go Erratic. He kissed her again, fiercely.

"So-" she said between breaths. "Did you like it -?"

"Again, Williams, I'm going to need you to be quiet."


HOPE THAT WAS SATISFYING LADIES AND GENTS AND EVERYONE ELSE. DO REVIEW!

Oh also i guess this is very different from the original in terms of the date mostly because I don't think I did a DATE date in that one. This one I played by the ear. I think from this point forward I'll deviate a lot from the original, because threads have to be wrapped up and all.