Because I Love You (D.M)

Chapter 18: Study Session #4

March turned to April which dragged into May that went on endlessly as with an excessive amount of homework and preparation for the upcoming N. E. W. T. S. (Somehow Malfoy had avoided studying with me because of the cabinet and was barely passing Charms. I was too preoccupied with my own grades to worry about him). These exams were absolutely brutal and I had never spent so much time in the library in my life. Everyday after dinner ended, a group of us Hufflepuffs marched to the library to study. The members included Wayne Hopkins, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Susan Bones, Leanne, Ernie, and I. The six of us whiled away the hours behind the towering bookshelves until the library closed. Zach never joined us as he had begun to grow distant. Hannah was obviously not coming back so Ernie and I had to make do with the other four.

Susan was very quiet and reserved. She spent a great deal of her time with us revising her notes and tugging worriedly at her hair. Ernie had asked me on the way back to the Common Room once if it had started falling out. Also along those lines, Wayne and Leanne would study quietly, but still within the group. It was Justin, Ernie, and I that made the most noise oddly enough. Justin was a very opinionated person that reveled in being right 100% of the time. I had often overheard people compare him to that Hermione Granger in Gryffindor because of how bright the two were. Everyday, Ernie or I would make a point about a spell or question and somehow Justin always had to counter it and always be correct. Despite the small and intense conversations over these matters, the six of us got along quite well.

This evening, Susan and Leanne were reviewing McGonagall's latest essay while Wayne frantically scrambled to organize his Divination notes. Meanwhile, Justin was tearing into Ernie about how he had misread the instructions on his Potions essay when in fact he hadn't. I peered over the top of my Astronomy book to watch as Justin squinted at the tiny font in an effort to prove Ernest wrong.

"It clearly states right there in the first line that this essay is to be on the 'Effects of Dangerous Potions On The Human Body'. I don't know where you got 'History of Dangerous Potions', but that's not what our class is writing," Ernie stated monotonously.

Justin was lost for words as he scanned over the directions once more, this time taking care to read each letter carefully. I didn't have the heart to tell Justin that Ernie was right for a change. If I opened my mouth, I ran the risk of 'studying for Astronomy wrong' in Justin's eyes. Ernie finally shook his head and pulled the paper away from Justin's grasp. He pulled out his quill and ink pot and set to work. Justin screwed his face up in concentration and looked down at his own notes as if they held the answer. I returned to skimming my book for constellation names. There didn't seem to be any possible way that I was going to have these all memorized by the time the exam rolled around.

I glanced up at everyone sitting here as I couldn't focus. Susan was running her hands through her thick, red hair and looking pained at the last line Leanne had just written down on the essay. Leanne began scratching out what she had just written and tapped her fingers on the parchment gently. My gaze travelled to Wayne who had finally organized his notes to perfection and was silently mouthing the words to himself. I stole a quick look at Justin again. He had leaned down and was scribbling hard at something in his pile of unkempt notes and Ernie was watching him with an amused expression on his face. I glared back down at the heavy textbook in my lap and sighed.

"Oh, come on, Ernie!" Justin's voice cut through my internal monologue abruptly.

"No!" Ernie protested rather loudly.

I jumped and looked up quickly to see exactly whatever it was he was protesting against.

Ernie was holding his essay above his head and glowering at Justin who was making a grab for it with his pudgy hands. Luck favored Ernie with his height and kept it just out of Justin's grasp. Though I was quite sure why the potions essay had suddenly become the center of a game of keep away in the first place.