Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen II
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June blinked, groggy and startled. Her mouth tasted funny, as it always did when she hadn't brushed her teeth before sleeping.
"Rise and shine, lovebirds," said Marlene with a snicker. She stowed away what seemed to be a camera. "What a wonderful moment preserved, don't you think?"
"McKinnon, it's seven in the morning," said Sirius, rubbing his eyes. He blinked owlishly, staring at Marlene.
June made the effort to rise up a little from the sofa as well. She was nestled up against Sirius, because they hadn't really found anywhere else to sleep. The common room had emptied somewhere around one, and June was surprised – but they'd actually studied for a chunk of their time together. After that, they'd mostly chatted about things, fallen asleep around two, and now –
"And June'd best brush her teeth and get ready for breakfast," said Marlene. "Mary's taken one of the showers, and I already caught Lily holed up in your bathrooms. I thought I might as well get the homeless one going."
June rubbed her eyes with the base of her palm. "I'm coming," she said, yawning. "Don't kiss me," she told Sirius. "I have morning breath."
Of course this was a fucking challenge, because of course he did. June shook her head.
"Disgusting," commented Marlene.
"You don't get to say anything after staying up all night talking to the girl you have been in love with for two years," said June, getting up from the sofa.
"Blimey," said Sirius, still sleep-dazed and on the sofa. "You've been in love, McKinnon? Christ."
"You're picking up June's habits," Marlene said, crossing her arms.
June scoffed openly, turning away from them. "Wherever he gets the idea to use the Lord's name in vain, it's not from me."
She was sure Sirius was grinning as she left, but she had more important things to think of. When she reached upstairs, she found Mary towelling her hair, glowing like the princess of England had been the one to grace her with love and affection. June rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help smiling.
Mary was humming while June brushed her teeth, singing while June tried to use her facewash. June was almost waiting to see what she would do while she put on a clean uniform, but Mary was gone by then. June slung her bag and headed downstairs.
The Great Hall was packed when she made it. Sarah was sitting at the Gryffindor table of her own accord, flipping through her newspaper. June saw Dawn Forester throw Sarah a dirty look, and it occurred to her that she was probably jealous Sarah had become friends with the most popular boys and girls in the school. This made her inordinately happy, and she practically skipped to the seat Sirius had saved for her.
"Toast," said Sirius, piling it on her plate.
"Hand over the butter," said June, and Mary slid the plate to her. Mary was sitting next to Marlene, but absolutely no one was commenting on that. The chatter of everyone in the Great Hall was loud, but she caught the chink of forks and knives.
"Where's Lily?" asked Remus, suddenly. Peter looked up.
"Right here," said Lily, half out of breath and practically running to the table. She'd clearly been saved a seat by James, and she hopped into the bench. She turned to James and grinned in a dazzling sort of way.
"Thanks for letting me use your bathroom," she told him, and he was smiling back, because between them everything was smiles of suppressed meaning right now.
And then to everyone's surprise, she pecked him on the cheek.
Several eyes swivelled to where they were sitting. Nonplussed, Sarah turned the page of her newspaper. "Try not to get late for Arthimancy, Evans," she commented mildly.
June was about to roll her eyes, but Marlene interrupted everyone with a loud, booming, "HAH!"
Lily jumped. June dropped her toast.
"Marlene," whined June, lamenting the loss of her toast.
"Take another," teased Sirius, dropping another toast on her plate.
"I'm counting it, Evans!" Marlene crowed. "Breakfast snog! Before the year was out!"
"Oh, shut up," said Lily, red. "He was a far cry better than you lot. He got me shampoo, which is more than I can say for you."
"Sure," murmured Peter, and for the first time in her life, she was inclined to agree with him.
"Still counting it!" said Marlene, triumphant. "Only you left, Macdonald."
"Oh, really?" asked Mary. She pressed a kiss on Marlene's lips, narrowly elbowing June on her way.
June dropped her toast again.
"There," Mary said, dabbing a napkin to her lips. "We're all done."
June glared at her them. "If you would all stop this bare faced targeting of my toast," she said in a low voice.
Sirius, half grinning, handed her yet another toast.
"You've got egg on your face, McKinnon," added Sarah, from behind her newspaper.
Marlene, looking like the world had finally begun to look prettier, wiped a big of scrambled egg away from the corner of her lip.
"Why," said Peter, stabbing a sausage with a fork. "Is everyone kissing more girls than I am?"
Mary and Marlene never told them what they had talked about, not really. The day went by without anyone commenting on finding them together more, and Sarah rolling her eyes when they found excuses to sneak some touches during potions. June kept her thoughts to herself.
That night, they actually spent some time talking – and not once did they discuss Mary or Marlene. June and Lily pretended not to notice the fact that Mary was cuddled up close to Marlene.
They'd piled up their pillows and circled in on the dormitory window. Lily was talking animatedly about her evening with James, and Marlene interrupted:
"Hold on!" she said. "You didn't even bother jumping him?"
Lily blushed. "No, not really."
"For crying out loud, Lily," muttered June. "I practically handed you the opportunity."
"I know," Lily sighed, falling back in the pillows. "I don't know what came over me. We were having a really good evening – mostly talking, and I felt like kissing him, I really did, but then something came over me – and I couldn't do it."
"For the record, I am throwing my towel where you two are concerned. Only someone like Dumbledore can help you. Maybe McGonagall," said Mary, adjusting her blanket to cover her feet.
"McGonagall can help a lot more than she lets on," said June absently.
"Oh really?" asked Marlene, her eyes narrowing towards June.
June blushed. "You promise you won't tell anyone this?" she asked.
"Cross my heart," said Lily, overcome with curiosity.
"Do you remember the day I had holed myself up in the North Tower?" asked June, huddling her legs closer to her.
"Vividly," Marlene replied. "I thought Black was going to have an aneurysm."
"Well… Professor McGonagall. She… erm – she found me in her classroom –"
"Okay…" said Mary slowly.
June nodded. "Well – she found me in her classroom, and I might have… might have unloaded all of my problems on her in a fit of stress."
There was a silence in the circle. "Um?" offered Lily half-heartedly.
"I just… exploded. About how I didn't want to be talking to any boys who kissed me and made off into the night."
Marlene grinned. "And then?"
"And then she told me to go to her office, and… covered for me when Sirius came looking for me."
The shock was palatable. "McGonagall?" asked Lily in disbelief. Mary's eyes were the size of coins.
"She also wrote her a note," added June. "A really good one. Got me out of all the classes."
"Motherfucker," said Marlene with feeling.
"Marlene!" said Lily, toppling a stack of pillows in her shock.
"Agrippa," squeaked Mary.
"Motherfucker," continued Marlene, paying no attention to Lily. "Motherfucker! Take notes, MacDonald! That's how a real Scotswoman behaves!"
"Now that's unnecessary," said Mary mildly, but she wasn't offended.
"Oh, be quiet. McGonagall has just proven herself to be the only true feminist in a world of fake ones, and you have only this to say?" demanded Marlene.
"You won't tell anyone, would you?" asked June, anxious.
"Wouldn't dream of it," said Marlene, looking like Christmas had come early.
They fell into silence, contemplating this new development. June was worried she'd given her ally away, but she seriously doubted any of them would use the information she had passed on.
"Oh, fuck the exams," said Mary suddenly, exuberant. "June, let me use the last of my blue nail polish on you."
The last of their review classes passed without incident. Sirius caught June's nails and said, "Aha!" under his breath when he saw the nail polish. June hadn't the slightest idea as to what he meant, but she didn't bother probing it.
Their first exam was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Funnily enough, this was Remus' speciality, with Sirius and James making a close second to him. They practiced and revised the different hexes and curses that they had to memorise. June wasn't particularly good at a lot of them but she worked very hard to make them passable. Her work was better in the theoretical portions of the exams – praxis had never been her strong suit. And then there was only so far Defensive Magical Theory could take you.
Marlene and Mary sneaked away during some of their revisions, but no one really reprimanded them for it. It was sixth year. It really didn't matter as much as their NEWTs did.
The Defence paper went as well as anyone had been expecting. June had a fully panic over the fact that her she'd messed up one of the hexes, but Remus told her that it wasn't a very important one to begin with. Mary completely messed up her Shield Charm, and was unapologetic about it. "Never had much of a fancy for Defence," she said airily. "I want to be a healer."
The next paper was Transfiguration, which had everyone apart from Sirius and James worried. McGonagall was not known for going easy in her exams, and June had had too much time ignoring A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration in favour of other, more important romantic interludes. Sirius laughed at her many times as she worried over her turtles and tortoises.
Everyone who didn't have Astronomy got a break after that, while Marlene sat with Mary, memorising star charts of all kinds. June was trying to practice cheering charms for the Charms paper after the Astronomy exam, while Peter memorised wand movements. When yet another cheering charm went awry and caused a fit of laughter in James, Sirius had to calm him down.
"We need a break," ordered Remus, once James had regained control. "Even you, McKinnon."
They'd been at it in the common room. Sarah was settled near the fireplace, and no one really commented on Sarah being there anymore, which June was grateful for. Despite the fact that Sarah spent a lot of time with the Gryffindors, it was clear that she was June's friend.
"I second this," Sarah groaned, slamming her copy of Standard Book of Spells shut.
"I don't think James having a breakdown has anything to do with me needing a break," said June sadly. "Charms are not my strong suit."
Sirius nudged her with his foot. He was sitting right behind her, while she was on the carpet. "What's your strong suit, Williams?"
Marlene kept her star chart away and sighed. "Reading, isn't it?"
"Everyone knows that," scoffed Sarah. "You do anything else special we know nothing about?"
She pretended to think about it, even though the answer was clear to her. Everyone seemed to be waiting for her to respond – which was also surprising. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked.
"You're going to have to elaborate, Williams," said Sirius, ruffling her hair.
June straightened her hair primly. "I'm good at chess!" she exclaimed, as if it was the most apparent thing in the world. And yet, she had never seen a group of people look more stunned.
"What?" demanded Remus flatly.
"I am!" she said. "I'm really good! Ask Dorcas!"
"Fuck, is that why you're friends with her?" asked Marlene.
"June's friends with Dorcas Meadows?" asked Remus, surprised.
June nodded earnestly. "We play once in a while."
"Define once in a while," said Sirius.
"Like a few times every month," said June. "And a lot during the holidays. We haven't been as much this year, since she's got NEWTs to give. You really don't know this?"
"I have never seen you playing chess," Lily informed her.
"Well, I do. And I'm good," sniffed June.
"Blimey," said James, falling back on his armchair. "We should play. I'm pretty good too."
"I would be very impressed if you were as good as James," said Sirius.
"If she can go against Meadows, she must be reasonably good," Remus pointed out.
"Yeah, even giving Meadows a run for her money is good enough in my book," added Peter.
"But I don't often lose," frowned June. "I might be wrong, of course, but Dorcas loses a lot to me…"
"You… beat Meadows?" asked James weakly.
"At least five times this Christmas," June nodded.
"I'm not playing with you," he declared.
"No!" she said, leaping up, almost anguished. "Let's! It'll be fun!"
"Williams really is a goddamn mystery," said Sirius. "Imagine going that long with a whole secret identity based on reading, and then having another one based on chess."
Everyone started laughing.
"Well – she's usually good in the beginning," said June, unclear why she was defending herself but committed to the cause. "And she's very sharp. But she falls for some older moves – which is always funny. We've become very good with each other, though. I really want to play with someone else, to be honest. I know how to beat Dorcas almost too well."
"Famous words," muttered James.
"I don't know whether to respect you or be terrified," Mary told her. "You are an enigma, June Williams."
"Thanks?" said June, feeling sheepish.
"Oi – James, let's do a coffee run?" asked Sirius out of nowhere. June smiled at him gratefully.
"Right – good idea," blinked James.
The rest of the night passed between revisions and arguments.
Charms went surprisingly well, for all the worry over cheering charms. Lily was brilliant, as always, and June didn't doubt she'd be coming first there. The theory was smooth for June, but the practical part of the exams had her very nervous. Everyone else made it through without too many mishaps.
Sarah was only too happy to steal June away for some time after that, and they had hot chocolate in the kitchens during the afternoon.
The next exam was another big one: Herbology. Mary aced it, of course, and everyone else was a little worried over how much or how little they had stressed out their mandrakes, and how badly they might have cut them. The venomous tentacula tried to sabotage Marlene's puffapod on more than one occasion, but aside from that, everything went smoothly.
After that June and Lily cobbled together for Ancient Runes while everyone was on break. The major exam right after that was Potions, and June was less nervous about that than all of the other exams they had given. She wasn't good with wandwork, but Potions required little of that. She could easily spend her energies on Ancient Runes instead of practicing potions during breaks.
Having Lily as a study partner was amazingly useful. Lily's memory was brilliant, and that was really what Runes was about. June had some old pneumonic techniques for runes, which she shared, and between them, June was confident they had scraped an "Exceeds Expectations" each.
The last common exam was Potions, which everyone had a varying degree of proficiency in. Lily was brilliant, of course, as she was in most things, and Sirius and James never worried over anything. She spent a lot of time practicing with Remus, funnily enough, and Mary.
She had a break before the Care of Magical Creatures exams again while Sirius gave the Muggle Studies paper with James and Mary. She really wasn't fussed about Care of Magical Creatures, professor Kettleburn rarely gave anything he hadn't already covered in class. She spent the day studying with Sarah and Marlene, and since the day was pretty, they worked for their Care of Magical Creatures class outside in the sun, near the lake. Marlene swore that Professor Kettleburn gave her a good grade only because he'd seen them studying there.
No one in their year had bothered taking History of Magic for a NEWT, so there was no exam scheduled for it. Finally, the only real exam left was Arthimancy, and that was only for Sarah, Lily, James, and Mary. June was officially done with all her papers.
She took a walk with Sirius that day. They held hands, which felt cheesy – but the sun was setting on the towers, and everything had that vaguely familiar feeling about it – like the world was leaning in to listen to their conversation. It felt like the right time to be holding hands.
They found themselves on the bridge between the forest and the castle courtyard again. June watched the sun, spreading like marmalade across the sky, and sighed.
"Oi, Williams," he said, suddenly. "Here."
He handed her The Farthest Shore by Ursula K Le Guin. "Your turn to write."
She grinned. "Do you want one in return?"
"How about Pride and Prejudice?" he asked, turning to the sunset. "I've heard it's a love story."
That is. the last chapter. It's weird because I've had this written for practically a year and I didn't bother updating because of various mental health reasons, excuses, and feeling like this story wasn't that important anyway. I want to thank the anonymous message I got on tumblr for urging me to publish. I will do a longer list of goodbyes and thank yous in the epilogue, but for now I wanted to pose a question to anybody reading:
would any of you be interested in reading some sequels? Not very detailed or long ones, really - short, brief ones that explore the post marauder's lives of these characters a little. I have about two planned, and one completed. They were planned long ago - that's why I listed this fic originally as a series. Let me know in the comments, and I will see you in a week 3
