chapter two : trials

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"As I've mentioned before, trials will take three days," Kendra Blake told June and the others the next morning. "You will get tested in Concealment and Disguise, Stealth and Tracking, Battle Instinct, Best-Laid Plans, Duelling in the Dark, Field Training, History of the Dark Arts and The Auror Advantage."

June scribbled it all down on a piece of parchment before looking up again.

"These next three days you will eat, sleep and train together," Kendra continued, her piercing blue eyes eying them closely. "Proudfoot here will take you to your shared room. Get settled and meet me back here for the first trial in ten."

June took her bag and trailed after the others as they followed a middle aged man who presumably was Proudfood.

"Right, lads," he said, opening a door and turning on the light, revealing a small room filled with bunk beds. "Here's where some of us crash after a long day and we're too tired to head home." He grinned. "It's also a good hiding place to hide from your wife!" He threw his head back and roared in laughter.

June, Alaska and Cedric exchanged a glance.

Proudfoot glanced at his watch. "Another eight minutes," he said. "Better get ready, lads!"

June and Alaska moved to a bunk bed in the back and the former threw her bag on the upper bed as the latter took the lower bed. Cedric took the bunk bed next to theirs.

"Do you know what will happen?" Cedric asked Alaska. "You know, with your mum being Kendra Blake and all."

Alaska looked grimly. "She didn't tell me anything so I don't know."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," June said, straightening her robes. "We better head back. I don't want to be late for whatever the first trial will be."

By the time they returned, the room was filled with tables and chairs. Onto each table was ink and a quill. Kendra stood at the front, holding bundles of parchment.

"Have a seat," was all she said, nodding at the desks.

June moved towards the nearest desk and sat onto the chair. Her hazel eyes darted upwards to Kendra, who started handing out the bundles of parchment.

"Your first trial will be a theoretical test," Kendra said, dropping a bundle in front of June. "It will consist mainly about giving spells and their functions. It will be the easiest trial of them all."

She returned back to the front and flipped an hourglass upside down. "You have exactly one hour. Good luck."

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"Okay, that wasn't too bad, right?" Cedric said, though it sounded a bit uncertain.

"It went good," June said, nodding in agreement.

"It's just a start though," Alaska warned them. "Things will get more difficult from here on."

"It was to be expected," Cedric said, nodding.

"Let's just hope we can make it through everything," June sighed.

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Three days later, June exited the Ministry of Magic feeling stiff, exhausted and extremely hungry. Not a good combination if she wanted to be a good companion and Nymphadora — who accompanied her back home — seemed to know that.

For three long days, June and the others were tested, trained and quizzed. They had to endure endless hours of drills — both mentally and physically. Once, one of the Aurors had woken them up in the middle of the night with such an urgency and loudness that Cedric had fallen out of his bed. When they had quickly pulled on their robes and stood outside, the Aurors merely told them that it had been just a test to see how quickly they would react. June had been pissed about that but knew she couldn't say anything. If she complained, she would most certainly not get chosen.

Upon arriving back at Grimmauld Place Twelve, Juniper didn't bother acknowledging Timothée and Fleur, who were both sitting in the kitchen, but passed them straight to head to her bed.

She was so tired she was sure she could sleep for a whole day.

Half a second before June's head hit her pillow, she was already fast asleep.

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By the time Juniper woke up again, she was surprised to see that she had, in fact, slept the entire day. She turned her head and saw that someone had placed a blanket over here and had pulled off her boots.

Blinking, she sat up, rubbing into her eyes in the process. Then she stood up, throwing the blanket off of her, and strode towards the hallway, taking her wand in the process. It was something the Aurors had drilled into them; always take your wand with you, you never know what you might face.

"Look who we've got here," Timothée said, grinning. "If it isn't Sleeping Beauty."

Juniper walked straight past him to get herself some hot chocolate. "You'd be too if you were me." She sat down opposite of him. "So, what did I miss?"

"Not much," Timothée said, shrugging. "There haven't been any Order meetings or missions. Everyone's been anxious to know how your trials were, though, so be prepared to get a lot of questions."

"Noted," June said. "Where's Charlie?"

"Your other half is currently in Romania," Timothée said, grinning. "He was called back due to a problem with one of the dragons. Since you were away, he didn't mind going."

June hummed. "When will he get back?"

"Soon probably," Timothée said, shrugging. "If he hears you're back, he'll drop everything and come here."

June beamed.

The front door opened and moments later, both Sirius and Aiden entered the kitchen. Both of them carried bags from Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes.

"June!" Sirius said, beaming as he put the bags on a chair before going over to her and engulfing her a in a tight hug. "It's good to see you again, kiddo. How did it go?"

"Okay, I suppose," June said, scratching her neck. "I hope I'll pass."

"I'm sure you will," Sirius said, patting her shoulder in reassurance. "You're a brilliant witch and the they would be fools not to pick you as a trainee."

"Thanks, Paddy," June said, giving him a thankful smile. Her eyes darted back towards the bags. "How was Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes?" she asked.

"Oh June, it was magnificent!" Sirius said, falling down onto the chair next to her as Aiden sat down next to Timothée. "James and I never thought of something like that . . . I wish we did. It would have been perfect for us!"

"I'm sure Fred and George will gladly take some tips from a Marauder," June said, giving him a small nudge. "You could make an own line of stuff and they can sell it in their store! You can even call it the Marauder's line and ask Remus if he wants to join!"

"You know, kiddo," Sirius began, his eyes shining brightly, "that's actually not a bad idea . . . not a bad idea at all . . ."

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Published 18.09.2021

I hope you enjoyed it & tell me what you think of it!

Sorry for the lack of updates and the fact that this is a short chapter. From now on, chapters will probably vary in length but I will always try to make them as long as possible!

Oh — and I've recently started writing my own fantasy book so if you want, you can check that out! :) I hope you like it! I update every Monday!