I
June

'I once knew a girl named June
and one July she waved goodbye.
I remember finding her
curled up on an old box-spring.
She said, "I'm gonna make mistakes.
I just hope. I just hope you notice."'

Her name had been Amber.

Fresh out of Hogwarts and living the life of a Puddlemere United rookie, Oliver had stumbled across her outside of a restaurant in Hogsmeade one night, her beautiful face wet with tears. Being someone who could never ignore a person in need, especially a girl, he'd stopped and offered her a handkerchief, which she'd taken with a wry smile.

It turned out her boyfriend, who had taken her out to dinner for their one-year anniversary, had, after they'd finished their meal, dumped her and left, telling her that he was in love with someone else. He'd even left her with the cheque, a cheque she couldn't afford to pay.

Outraged, Oliver had walked back into the restaurant and paid for the cheque himself, effectively breaking the bank for the month. Overwhelmed with gratitude, she'd cried herself to sleep on his shoulder in the Three Broomsticks and he'd been left with no option but to apparate home with the exhausted woman, laying her on his lounge to sleep off her pain.

That had been the start of their beautiful one-month relationship.

Amber, not only beautiful on the outside with her fair complexion and blonde ringlets; she was also an extremely nice girl… generous, intelligent and quick-witted; she could keep him interested without being overly wild or out-there. She was more than happy to get herself a job to help him pay the rent on his small flat, was an instant hit with his parents, and could drink any bloke on his quidditch under the table, something he was immensely impressed by, the only other girl he knew able to do that being Katie Bell, his best-friend and fellow chaser.

In fact, Amber had even impressed Katie; the toughest critic any girl interested in the handsome Scotsman had to get past. The two had become quite chummy in the month in a bit that Oliver and Amber had been together.

Only one thing had annoyed Oliver about Amber, and that was her continual complaints about the amount of time he spent on the quidditch pitch. A rookie player's schedule was actually fuller than a starting player's one; not only because of extra practices in which they were expected to hone their amateur skills, but also because they were given the many small publicity tasks, such as charity work.

Oliver hadn't thought she'd had a real problem with it though, had just thought it was a minor thing that she'd eventually get over. But alas, one night he'd come home to discover all her things missing, Amber herself nowhere to be seen, the only trace of her left being a note that she'd left for him to find on the kitchen bench.

It had been short and concise, and the words had burned themselves into his brain, her neat, flowing handwriting searing itself into his corneas forever.

Dear Oliver,
I love you, some part of me always will, but you have to realise that it would have taken more than your smiles, kisses and hugs to keep me. I needed your time as well Oliver… not all of it, but some of it would have been nice.

I'll always remember that June night, it was the sweetest thing anyone has done for me. Thank you.

Love,
Amber.

And so Oliver had learnt vital love lesson number one:
time is of essence.

A/N: lyrics used in all three chapters are the three verses of "June, Summer, Rose" by Umbrellas.

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dedicated to
Lady Catriona-Arre.
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