𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙣 - 𝙝.𝙥. ⚯͛

𝐱𝐯𝐢 - 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝖽𝗂𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗆𝗈𝗇𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

╰┈➤ HARRY'S POV

The world sped up again and the thunderous cheers of the crowd once again filled Harry's ears. His face flushed scarlet at the realization of what he had been about to do. He had been about to kiss Elsie in front of the large crowd of students and professors on the Quidditch pitch.

He stared wide-eyed at the girl as Fred and George spun him around a bit forcefully; once again Harry was lifted atop of Fred's shoulders so that the crowd could continue cheering for him and Oliver Wood. Still riding the high of having won the Quidditch Cup and almost kissing Elsie, Harry had no recollection of how he ended up making his way back to the common room that evening.

∞ ϟ 9¾ ♔ ⚯͛ △⃒⃘ ➵ ♆

Harry's euphoria at winning the Quidditch Cup lasted over the next several weeks. Even the weather seemed to be celebrating; as June arrived, the days grew longer and hotter, the anticipation of summer lingering in the air. All anybody felt like doing was flopping lazily on the grass with their friends and sticking their feet in the lake, but they couldn't— they had to study for exams— and soon it seemed as if the sultry summer weather was mocking them.

It was the weekend before final exams. Harry and his friends had spent most of their time in the common room studying with the other third-year Gryffindors. Fortunately, Elsie had convinced Harry and Ron to start studying last month, so they weren't as stressed as the others. Hermione on the other hand was in a frenzy because of all the classes she was taking. Harry had no idea how she was managing it all. There were deep purple circles under her eyes and she was constantly chewing on her nails or the tip of her quill.

"She hasn't been getting much sleep," Elsie whispered to Harry. The four of them were sitting at a table in the corner of the common room doing some last-minute studying. "She's up at ungodly hours of the night hunched over her textbooks. I'm worried about her."

"That's just Hermione being Hermione," said Harry. "I'd be more worried if she wasn't doing that."

Elsie laughed.

"Er— Hermione," said Ron, peering at the exam schedule Hermione had written up for herself. "Are you sure you wrote down the correct times?"

"Of course I'm sure," Hermione snapped, not looking up from her book.

Harry and Elsie looked at the paper Ron was scrutinizing. On Monday, Hermione had two exams scheduled for 9 o'clock am and two for 1 o'clock pm.

"But how can you take two tests at once?" said Ron.

"Just don't worry about it," said Hermione shortly.

Harry had the vague feeling that Hermione was hiding something from them, but he didn't know what. Elsie just shrugged; apparently, she didn't know what was up with Hermione either.