build me up buttercup [s.black]

[8] Theories

Alice and Lily had, after weeks of trying, persuaded Aisling to come outside on a warm Saturday afternoon to do revision on the lawn by the lake. In Aisling's opinion, the idea of studying outside was just a bit stupid. There were no desks or flat surfaces to lean on, the wind could quite easily pick up and blow all of her notes away, and if she forgot a book she would have to traipse all the way back up into Gryffindor tower to get it.

"But Ash it's so lovely under the beech tree in the summer. Everyone goes out there to study!" Alice had pleaded with her one evening at dinner.

Aisling held an Arithmancy textbook in one hand, feverishly reading and re-reading lines and cross referencing them with her notes, while picking listlessly at a chicken pie with her fork in the other hand.

"Exactly." Aisling had replied, not even looking up from her notes. "Everyone's out there, which means the common room and library are nice and quiet."

"She's got a point Alice." Lily had interjected here, "the common room is definitely a lot more peaceful when certain people are out enjoying the sunshine."

She emphasised the words 'certain people' and jerked her head towards James and Sirius, who were sitting a few feet away. Sirius had stolen James's glasses and was wearing them while loudly proclaiming, 'Merlin's bloomers Prongs! You really are as blind as a bat!'

Aisling rolled her eyes and went back to her notes, pushing her almost full plate away from her. She had absolutely no time for Sirius and his friends these days, and she didn't seem to be alone in feeling this way either. Although certainly not unpopular, the fifth years seemed to be growing more and more tiresome of James and Sirius's behaviour in recent weeks. Aisling suspected that it was not only because they disturbed the common room with their constant bids for attention, but also because they appeared to be the only ones not panicking about exams. Even Remus and Peter were spending more time away from the pair in the common room in an attempt to revise. But this didn't stop them all from sitting around the same table, late into the night and having exciting looking conversations in hushed tones.

Aisling had frequently wondered what could possibly be so interesting that it was more important than the ever looming exam season, which was now permanently at the forefront of her mind. It had gotten to the point now where she lay awake until the early hours of the morning; her body exhausted but her brain buzzing with facts about the giant wars, cheering charms or translations of particularly tricky runes.

Right on cue, Alice continued her persistent nagging.

"And don't think we haven't noticed you're not sleeping either Ash. You've got such dark circles under your eyes, you look like we did in first year when Peeves smeared permanent ink on the eyepieces of all our telescopes."

"Oh I remember that, I could have strangled him." Lily muttered darkly. "We couldn't find a way to get it off for weeks, and we had to have school photos done with black marks all around our eyes!"

The badgering from her friends had continued until she caved and now Aisling found herself laying on her stomach outside on the grass; swatting away flies with her quill and trying desperately to stay in the shadow of the large beech tree in an attempt not to burn. She thought longingly of the comfortable armchairs in the Gryffindor common room and the cool breeze which blew in through the open windows.

She was halfway through a particularly nasty essay about goblin riots when she heard Lily shout.

"Hey Sev! Over here!"

Aisling looked up to see the lanky figure of Severus Snape walking twitchily over to them. She thought to herself that he looked nervous about something, but then again he always did. She didn't much like Snape. It wasn't that he had ever done anything to her personally, but she had heard things. He often hung around with a rough crowd of Slytherins and they were all rumoured to be heavily into The Dark Arts. That thing with Mary MacDonald had been particularly nasty, it had taken hours for Madam Pomfrey to get her back out of the wall she was trapped in. And, while Snape didn't seem to have been directly involved, that didn't stop him giggling spitefully whenever Stanley Mulciber recounted the story.