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+------- Thread: serendipitous ~ June (/showthread.php?tid=1156)
serendipitous ~ June - Maevie Golding - 07-13-2026
Wednesday, 2 May 1923
11:29pm
~ the kitchen corridor ~
11:29pm
~ the kitchen corridor ~
───────────────────── ⋆⋅ ✺ ⋅⋆ ─────────────────────
Her sleep potions had stopped working.
It had been hours of tossing and turning, of almost nodding off only to be startled awake again, the gleam of cruel eyes boring down on her or the feeling of ice-cold guilt rushing into her veins, and at last Maevie had given up. Again. They had slowly crept back in, her night terrors but the nurses in the Hospital Wing refused to increase her doses any longer. She was at a limit they said, and had she tried to do some breathwork before bed?
Maevie had tried. Still did. But to no avail.
If she were a better potioneer she might have tried to brew her own supply, something more potent, perhaps a recipe found in one of those really old looking, dusty books of the Restricted Section. Anything to make the persistent movie in her head stop for long enough to be able to get a full night’s rest.
But she was too scared to mess it up. The nurses had warned her.
Instead of tinkering in businesses she didn’t understand, Maevie resorted to a trusty comfort in exchange — a trip to the kitchen. No matter how late, it seemed at least a handful of elves was always awake, preparing one thing or another, cleaning dishes, organizing pantries. But never busy enough to not help. In a way, those little creatures had become some of her best friends, an escape when things got too heavy and dark. They were the only ones whose impression of her was untainted by what had happened in the past.
A different world.
As she rounded the last corner though, she suddenly froze, body seizing up at the sight of another person already standing before the portrait that doubled as the kitchen’s entrance. For a second she was on the verge of turning and running, back to her common room as fast as she could, but the girl down the hallway definitely was no professor. In fact, it looked more as though she might be another curfew breaker in search of a snack.
Releasing a breath of relief, Maevie hurried to the stranger’s side. “You scared me half to death,” she said by way of greeting, keeping her voice low but her eyes full of humour. “Thought I got myself into another detention for a second. You getting a midnight snack too? I’m Maevie, by the way.”
RE: serendipitous ~ June - June Hargrove - 07-13-2026
By all accounts, the Gryffindor Common room was incredibly cozy. With warm fireplaces, and well-worn but plush sofas and recliners, the constant chatter of students gossiping and playing exploding snap or Gobstones, the vibes should have been enough to put June to sleep, let alone relax. But it didn't. No matter what she tried, the second year Lion couldn't fully de-stress, and the fact that end of term finals were coming up made it ten times worse.
And never mind about her dormitory. She would lie awake at night, tossing and turning.
This lack of sleep was impeding her ability to eat as well. This particular day, she could barely force down a piece of toast during breakfast, and then during dinner, a crunchy apple was all she could stomach.
Her stomach growled loudly. Looking about her dormitory, she found herself the only one awake. With an irritated huff, she got up and threw a fuzzy night robe on over her pj's. June made sure to pocket her wand, donned her casual shoes, and crept out of the now quiet Common Room and into the cold, dark castle passageways.
June was on a mission. Earlier, during dinner period, she overheard some older Gryffindors chatter and found out something incredible. She discovered...
The Kitchens.
Supposedly, they were hidden behind a painting, that depicted a bowl of pears and other fruits.
While she hadn't been able to hear exactly how to get into the Kitchens, the girl figured that she'd find out one way or another. The castle was colder than she expected, despite the fact that it was almost summertime.
Despite taking her time, trying to be quiet, June came upon the aforementioned portrait sooner rather than later.
It stood before her, menacingly.
June looked around, a little inpatient, but seeing no obvious door handles or levers or even buttons to press.
It was just her luck, that suddenly, another girl ran to her side and scared the ever-living daylights out of her.
June nearly shrieked, startled, barely holding her composure.
"Uh yes! Midnight snack!" She forced out, looking at the other girl. Given that she was in more casual wear, she couldn't identify what House she could be in.
"I take it you have been in here before? The name is June." The Gryffindor gestured to the sleeping pears in the portrait. She held onto the mention of another detention to ask about later, though the chance of her forgetting was very high.
RE: serendipitous ~ June - Maevie Golding - 07-16-2026
June — as the girl would introduce herself as — appeared to have left her body there for a second, scared just as much as Maevie had been a moment before. Maevie startled another time but found herself giggling soon after.
Stalking the hallways at night often came with these moments of near heart-attacks, when suddenly out of nowhere another student appeared and both had to quickly regain their bearings, moving on as fast and quietly as possible lest a professor sniffed out the commotion.
Sneaking out after curfew always brought this subtle air of trepidation with it but Maevie had always rather liked it. And sometimes it rewarded her with a fun encounter like now. She might not know her, but June looked friendly enough and that was all it took. Hanging out with the elves was fun, but hanging out with another girl her age was more fun and she couldn't have asked for a better twist of events.
"I take it you have been in here before?”
Maevie nodded. “Oh, like a hundred times! It’s not far from my common room, so it’s a quick trip and the elves always have leftovers.” Speaking of — Maevie tilted her head, regarding June with open curiosity. “You’re not a Hufflepuff, are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you around.”
Reaching out, Maevie tickled one of the pears in the portrait like she'd done so many times before. It giggled, which made her giggle in return, and then turned into the door handle that would grant them access to all the good stuff.
“Is this your first time?”, Maevie asked as she pulled on the handle, opening the portrait door and gesturing for June to go ahead first. Once inside, Maevie carefully closed the door and joined June again, bouncing in place. The kitchen stretched ahead and around like a second Great Hall, four tables and lined by ovens and stoves and pantries amass.
A near-by house-elf scurried over. “Two young sneaks here for a snack?”, it squeaked with a wide smile, large ears wiggling, fingers twiddling excitedly.
“Yes!”, Maevie exclaimed immediately, turning to look at June. “I think I’m having pudding, and you?”
RE: serendipitous ~ June - June Hargrove - 07-16-2026
“You’re not a Hufflepuff, are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you around.” June shook her head, but quickly realized with how dark the corridor was, that Maevie probably couldn't see it.
"No, I'm a second year Gryffindor. I was gone for most of the... year." The Gryffindor replied, but her voice eventually faded out. Jaw dropped, she watched as Maevie tickled the bowl of pears in the portrait before them, and as they giggled, the door swung open.
Soft light poured into the corridor, and Maevie gestured for the gobsmacked girl to enter first.
"I could have never imagined the kitchens were like this." June gasped, incredulous.
The kitchens mimicked the Great Hall, with all four house tables sprawled out. There were stoves and pantries that lined the walls, shelves stocked with many jars of different spices, and so. Many. House elves.
At her old home, in Ruardean Woodside, her family had one House elf. She was a fierce little creature named Frisky, with a cropped ear and shrill voice. Over the years, her parents had tried many times to procure a second elf to assist her, but she would never hear of it. "Miss Frisky loves this family too much!", She would proclaim.
With those dark thoughts, June felt her elation deflate. What had happened to Frisky after the Ministry raided their estate?
June was broken out of her spiral by the approach of a nearby House Elf.
It spoke eagerly, and the second year found herself a little relieved that it's voice differed drastically to Frisky. She thought about what type of snack she really wanted... Something she had been craving for weeks now...
She turned to Maevie, and after hearing the Hufflepuff exclaim pudding, she responded.
"Maybe an apple crumble? It's an American treat, but it's super tasty!"
RE: serendipitous ~ June - Maevie Golding - 07-20-2026
Seeing the awe on June’s face made Maevie’s own beam brighter. She remembered the first time someone had taken her in here and her reaction hadn’t been too far off from the other girl’s. Magic really was crazy like that, and the castle held so many wonders and secrets she doubted she’d be able to uncover them all before her graduation.
"I could have never imagined the kitchens were like this."
Maevie grinned excitedly, clapping her hands in rapid succession. “It’s amazing, isn’t it! I never thought it’d be this huge, but it sort of makes sense, doesn’t it?” It was one of those things that was obvious in hindsight. Of course the elves needed this much space to feed all the students at this school, and of course placing the food on tables perfectly aligned with the ones above in the Great Hall was how it simply appeared there.
Totally logical, but nothing she could have ever dreamed of coming up with herself. But it was better that way, anyway. Gave her more opportunity to be surprised and fascinated.
After June requested her apple crumble, and the house-elf scurried off to fetch their treats, Maevie steered for the table that would be the Gryffindors’ up above. Grabbing a chair from nearby, she motioned for June to do the same, sitting a moment later.
“Why have you been gone most of the year?” she asked once June was seated, leaning her head into her propped-up hands. “Were you homeschooled?”
She had heard of that before. The really rich families sometimes did it, and then sometimes they changed their mind and sent their children to Hogwarts anyway. Maybe June belonged to one of those families.
“Or are you from America?”
RE: serendipitous ~ June - June Hargrove - 07-23-2026
June grinned widely at Maevie's enthusiasm. The clapping didn't bother her, and it didn't bother the scurrying House Elves either. The Hufflepuff wasn't kidding when she had previously claimed to have been here 'hundreds' of times.
June allowed herself to be steered towards the farthest table. As she approached, the thought occurred to her: These tables are identical replicas of the House tables. The girl untied her fuzzy pink robe, and placed it on the back of the chair that Maevie had offered her.
As she sat down, all the previous adrenaline left her body. The moment that Maevie sat herself down, June listened intently on her questioning.
“Why have you been gone most of the year?” “Were you homeschooled?”
June looked around the room, a bit nervous at the questioning. She could tell the other girl wasn't malicious, her questions came from a place of pure curiosity. After settling her gaze on the table, she absentmindedly picked at a hangnail on her thumb.
A few seconds of silence passed, before June spoke up.
"I'm not American. My older brother LOVES America though, and my family has gone to visit him while he had traveled there." She pointedly ignored the first few questions, answering out of order. She paused again, trying to collect her thoughts.
"I guess I will be straight to the point: I was gone most of year because my parents had been under investigation by the Ministry. They, um,.. my parents had been caught by the Aurors for... Illegally poaching magical creatures into Britain, from the Continent and from North America." The girl was quite proud for how little she had stuttered.
"The investigating team requested that my sister and I remain at my Aunty's home until the Trials were complete. We studied from a few tutors, but our Aunty essentially forced us to return to school. She said that it would be better to try and get back to 'normal'". The girl had been resting her gaze on the table for most of her response, but towards the end found the courage to look at Maevie. At the 'normal' bit, she held her hands up and performed the common Muggle bunny ears gesture.
"You're actually.. the first person to have asked me about it. Since I got back, I mean." June confessed. Towards the end of the investigation, the Trials had been publicized dramatically, taking the front covers of many wizarding newsletters. Many students (and professors) seemed to have known about it before June had even returned to classes.
RE: serendipitous ~ June - Maevie Golding - 07-27-2026
A bit of silence stretched, a little too long to be casual, and Maevie wondered if she might have asked something wrong. Her questions had sprouted from a place of innocent curiosity and the eagerness to get to know this new girl she didn’t know. But as June looked around the kitchen as though fearing someone might overhear, then dropping her gaze to the table, it felt as though some of the light had faded from the conversation.
Maevie was about to say something, to ease away the tension and move back to the fun, but then June spoke up after all.
"I'm not American. My older brother LOVES America though, and my family has gone to visit him while he had traveled there."
Her face brightened again, entirely content with moving on from the other questions. The last thing she ever wanted to do was make someone uncomfortable, and talking about America sounded rather nifty too.
Maevie straightened a little. “Really? I’ve never been to America; my mum and I sometimes go all the way to London for my brother, but I haven’t been any further from home than that. Well. Except Hogwarts.”
She paused for a beat, contemplating. Did that count as travelling? She decided it did.
Before she had the chance to ramble on, June stopped her in her tracks. Her eyes rounded into saucers the longer the girl went on, mouth hanging slightly agape by the time she finished her story.
There were a few seconds of silence once again, this time, as Maevie stared at June across the table in stunned shock. Not because she felt appalled. But because she couldn’t fathom the fact that someone’s parents would do something like that. Poaching magical creatures? That didn’t sound like something a mum and dad did, but shady criminals roaming dark streets and alleys, hiding in the shadows. She couldn’t imagine her mum doing anything criminal at all, let alone get sent away to prison.
The gentle clinking of working elves filled the quiet, and at last, Maevie shook herself out of her stupor. “Wow,” she said, feeling both gently awed and stuck in disbelief, “that’s wicked. I’m sorry that happened to you; I bet that was pretty hard.”
Their helpful house-elf came hurrying over then, levitating a plate and a bowl, interrupting them for a moment. “For the young sneaks!” it squeaked and happily scuttled off again once they’d said their thanks.
Thoughtfully, Maevie shovelled a spoonful of pudding into her mouth. “It’s strange, isn’t it? All these people doing bad things?” Her gaze had drifted away but now found its way back to June. It was her turn to hesitate, but after a breath she opened up anyway.
“When I was in first year, two other girls and I were kidnapped by a professor. Turned out he was bad. Real bad.”
She, too, had been told to go back to normal, but normal had never returned. Not yet anyway. With a shrug, she pulled a smile back to her face. “We can both be unnormal together, if you like,” Maevie said, legs swinging under the table. “A lot of people still stare at me; I'm almost used to it now.”
RE: serendipitous ~ June - June Hargrove - 08-04-2026
June gratefully accepted the offered treat from mid-air, and couldn't help herself to scenting the pie. It was perfectly warm and crispy, sweet and sticky from the apple filling. The young girl nodded a polite thank you to the kind House Elf, but still kept here gaze away from it's cheerful expression.
"Adults suck." June plainly responded, and started digging into her treat messily. Given how little she ate that day, and how delicious the pie was, the girl couldn't resist the appreciative groan that slipped out of her throat.
She had to slow her eating to a more polite pace, upon hearing the hesitant response from Maevie.
She was one of the kids kidnapped and tortured several years ago? The shock was evident on June's face, and she pushed her half-eaten food to the side.
Suddenly, the girl felt incredibly guilty for how eager she had been to try and pester people about that situation last year. Somehow, seeing just a little girl like her being a victim changed the severity of it. It was more real.
It was slightly to appease her own guilt, but June reached out to comfort Maevie, clasping her shoulder gently.
"We can be unnormal together, if you like." The other girl smiled. It seemed a little bittersweet to June. She could understand the sentiment.
"People stare at me too. They seem to think that they know everything about me, that I'm somehow as mean as my parents are. I know that they will stop bothering me, and I'm sure they will stop staring at you! Or maybe we will give them a different reason to stare. Maybe something cooler." June tried to grin, and then returned back to her treat.
She had a feeling that her and the Hufflepuff would be sticking together, hopefully.