Closed Danger: Overhead Hazard PV June Selwyn

May was June's favorite month. She had a slight aversion to June, as it is the reason for her horribly unoriginal name. But May, May was the season of spring, of life, where flowers bloomed, and the outdoors were too beautiful to ignore. June had found refuge from the rhythm of Hogwarts in the sprawling grounds. There was one tree in particular, just north of the quidditch pitch, that she ran off to quite often. Just a few metres up the easily climbable tree was a branch that looked as if it was made to read in. The contour of the wood, the angle where the branch met the trunk, the width, everything made it the perfect place for June to get away. Today, however, June was not seeking refuge from the school she was supposed to call home. No, today was a good day. June had gotten a package at breakfast that morning from her father.

She tucked the small, rectangular parcel (that was definitely a book) under her arm, and climbed up to her branch. She undid the string, unwrapping the parchment to find a book with a beautifully gilded cover. The title was covered by a note that read:
'Junie,
Found this at Flourish and Blotts, thought you would enjoy it. Send us an owl when you can!
Dad x'

June smiled, her father always picked out interesting books for her. She took the note in her hand to use as a bookmark, taking in the adorned cover. 'Summer Is the Best Time for Hexing', by Aynwen Virtue, an author June hadn't heard of before. She opened the book, the spine stiff from its brand-new binding, and began to read.

June wasn't sure how long she had been reading, for she was thoroughly immersed by the story of a young Irish witch trying to escape from a haunted island. She didn't notice when a group of third-years exchanged homework answers nearby, she didn't notice when a young first-year couple shared their first kiss where they thought no one would see them, and she definitely didn't notice the boy currently sitting under her branch.

May, unfortunately, was also the season of pollen. June felt it coming. The tickle in her nose mixed with the sun hitting her eyes at just the right angle were an unstoppable force. This sneeze was about to be the biggest, most violently intense sneeze June may ever have in her life. And there was nothing she could do to stop it. She closed her eyes, and prepared for the inevitable.

"A-chOO!"

As the sneeze left her body, June realized she had let go of her book. She leaned down to watch it fall, and then she saw someone sitting right below her. And then she saw her book squarely hit the top of their head. June began climbing down the tree, panic in her voice and her eyes.

"I'msorry I'msorry I'msorry! Oh Merlin, I am so sorry. Are you alright?"

A breeze began to blow and one of the books began to waiver and Simon glanced over to his side and helped to fix it. He gave his rat an apologetic look before making sure it was stable enough to resist another such wind-blow because no one wanted a book falling on them!

He went back to his reading, gently flipping through the thin pages when he got to the end of one, maybe making a note at one section, highlighting another, making a note in another notebook about a particular passage that he thought aligned with a current situation. It was a nice relaxing afternoon

.Then he heard a sneeze from above and he glanced up just in time to see the book falling toward him. It smacked him right on the forehead before he was able to catch it and save the rat below from any farm. "Oh, damn," he said as it hit.

He blinked as he watched a girl descend down from the branches and began apologizing. "It's okay, it's okay," he said, matching her multiple statements but coming short by a couple and he smiled slowly. Sure, it hurt some and maybe it was even bleeding a little depending how the book hit, but it was nothing that wouldn't heal quickly and it wasn't like the girl meant to hurt him.

"I'm okay. Really," he said as he brushed his other hand over his forehead and nope, it didn't even break the skin. No blood. Simon smiled. "You always try to bludgeon people with books?"

Of course. Of course the one time someone was sitting under her, she dropped a book. A heavy book. On their forehead. June jumped down from the final branch, landing with a thud. She looked up at the boy, relieved to see a soft smile on his face. "Okay... I'm glad you're alright," her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "No, I'd have to say this is the first time I've bludgeoned anyone with anything. And hopefully the last," she whispered the last part under her breath. She looked at her book in the boy's hands. "Maybe it's a sign that you're meant to read it?"June chuckled nervously.

She looked around, noticing several books on the ground. "I suppose I'm not the only one who likes to come here to read." June smiled, "I love this tree. It's a nice and shady spot, and it's far enough away from everything that I can finally feel," she took a deep breath, "comfortable." Perhaps it was because June had never lived with anyone other than her two parents that she found life at Hogwarts a bit isolating. Perhaps it was because, deep down, June was worried she wasn't likable. Or perhaps June was being a big crybaby and needed to suck it up. Probably that last one. Besides, June had made the decision to not to simply mope through her time here. She was conquering her time at Hogwarts, she reminded herself. But people who conquered their life probably didn't drop books on people's heads.

She shook her head slightly, trying to clear her head before she turned back to the boy. "I'm Selwyn, by the way. June Selwyn. Sorry again for.. that."

"Nice to meet you, June Selwyn," he repeated the name in hopes that it would help him commit it to memory. "I'm Simon. Simon Kincaid." Simon handed the book out towards her so he could return it. "I agree. It's a nice place when one wants some fresh air," he agreed and glanced down to his rat. He himself, being a dhampir and all, could happily spend nearly every day indoors but his small gray rat was the opposite. June was right though, this was a nice shady spot to be if one must venture outdoors. He gave the rat a sort of a playful glare and the rat paused for a moment, looking up to him, before going on his merry way.

"I was out here reading too," he said as he motioned down to his Bible. On Sundays, since Hogwarts didn't hold any kind of church service at all, Simon often took to some Bible reading for his own personal reverence. It had become a great way to wind down the week prior and to start fresh with a new one.

"Setting possible divine intervention aside, mind telling me what that book is about and we'll see if it sparks my interest. I do enjoy a good book." Reading had been one of his main hobbies for many years. It was always nice to meet others who shared the same love, as some thought books were a waste of time.

June took the book back from the boy, face still a bit flustered. "Thank you. Nice to met you too, Kincaid." The harsh consonants snapped off of her tongue in a satisfying way. She took a moment to regain her composure, not wanting to give off the wrong impression to this upperclassman.

Her gaze followed Simon's hand as he motioned towards his book on the ground. 'Bible'... It was a simple leather-bound book with no attributed author. "Divine... Intervention? Are you into divination and such?" June let out a hum to herself in thought. "Is it interesting? I've started thinking about what classes I want to take in third year, but I'm still not quite sure of anything yet."

She turned her book over in her hands, trying to come up with a good synopsis. "Well, let's see... I've only just started it this afternoon-" An observant eye would notice a bookmark sticking out just under halfway through the book - "but it's about this witch from Ireland who's been trapped on this island off the coast of Africa. I'm not so sure how she's ended up there yet, but it's implied that she's being punished for something... It's quite mysterious, but I'm enjoying it. Hopefully the pace picks up a bit for the rest of the book." June shrugged, tucking the book under her arm. "You can borrow it when I'm finished, if you'd like."

"I might like that," he said, but knew that most often times these days he read books of factual nature from the school Library. Ever since realizing that magic was real upon his first year, he wanted to learn everything and anything he could on the subject.

"You said you liked the grounds particularly because it's away from everything. Is everything alright? Anything I might help with?" he said as he glanced back toward the castle. Did she mean the people inside? The drama that came with those people? The craziness of the professors and coursework? She obviously seemed bright enough to pick up on the classes just fine and usually someone that enjoyed reading also excelled in their schoolwork so he was a little curious what she meant. He didn't mean to pry for the sake of being nosy though, but rather because if it was something the could help her with - then he wanted to do so.

The little gray rat squeaked at him, trying to get his attention. Sure, it seemed to like just hanging around with Simon well enough but it had been doing that for a time now. It was ready to be set down. "...One moment," he muttered to the girl as he set down his bag and began to take out far too many books than should fit inside - one of the joys of the enchanted satchel - and then created a sort of playpen/fencing area with them. "If you want your tree back, it's entirely yours, I just need to get him down before he goes mental. He's getting particularly grumpy in his old age with me. Even threatened to bite me the other day."