Magic (5sos/l.h. Hogwarts AU)

Chapter 42

~A/N~ So every few months when I'm feeling nostalgic I go and read Part VI and VII again because I genuinely love the plots and the writing there and I'm ANNOYED because you all have to read so much waffle before you get to all the torture - but please stick at it!
Enjoy the chapter!
Leila xx

The third Hogsmeade trip rolled around faster than I had expected, given that my workload had only increased. However, it made me feel better knowing that I had reconciled Luke and Calum after carefully explaining to the boys that the feelings between Calum and I were mutual.

Luke seemed slightly embarrassed after this, quickly apologising to Calum and going red around me, but this soon wore off and he was back to his normal self - if anything about him could be called normal (as I had walked in on him trying to transfigure himself into a chicken one late night, when we should have all been in bed).

Unsure of whether or not to visit Regulus Bell and inspect the Shrieking Shack properly, I turned to Ginny for help. Once again, she would be remaining in the castle to keep Michael company, but was eager to live the experience through me by instructing me on exactly where to go and what to do.

"No, don't," she said immediately. "Wait, actually, do! It'll be fun, and it's been a while since you've broken any rules. No wait, last time we broke rules I almost died in the Chamber of Secrets, we almost got eaten in the Forest, etc. Maybe you shouldn't."

"Very helpful, thanks for the advice Gin."

So, the plan was to just see where my gut feelings led me. When I had descended into the common room, I found Luke and Calum waiting for me there while Ashton argued with Hermione.

"Please come with us?!" he begged, flashing his puppy dog eyes.

"I can't," Hermione said, her eyes almost invisible behind the dark circles underneath, swallowing them up. I sometimes forgot I wasn't the only one with a full timetable. "I've got loads of work to do."

If I was faring badly, it was nothing compared to Hermione who took one more class than me, and I had heard Ancient Runes took a lot of work to be good at (one of the reasons I didn't take it in the first place, for although I enjoyed a challenge it would seem I was far too impatient to endure such a task).

"Take a break!" said Ashton. "Come with us, it'll be fun!"

"I'd have so much to catch up on," Hermione replied with a sigh.

"Forget about work for a bit."

"We both know it's not as easy as that."

"It could be."

"No, it couldn't."

"Come on, 'Mione?" I butted in, pouting my lips slightly.

"I can't. Now quit bugging me." She looked at us all sadly before turning her back and stalking away.

"She'll be fine with Michael and Ginny," Calum said. "Now come on, let's go!"

Racing down the path in a fit of giggles, liberated by my break from working, I once again comtemplated going to see Regulus Bell. On the one hand, it would be an adventure, and he was a nice bloke, but then Ginny was right in that the last time I broke rules only bad things occured as a result.

So instead I decided to stick with my friends as we rushed through Honeydukes, picking out enough sweets to feed a nation which would probably be devoured within minutes of returning to the castle, then hurried to the Three Broomsticks to enjoy the typical Butterbeer.

(~A/N~ Just spent ages googling butterbeer recipes and you need cream soda but I don't know what that is or where to get it
Edit: it was BAD)

And so it was that we returned to Gryffindor Tower that evening, joy in our hearts and sparkles in our eyes, to be greeted by the worst news possible.

"We lost." Although I hadn't been given any context, the tears streaming down Hermione's face and Michael's mouth set in a grim position was enough.

"Buckbeak," Michael added. "We lost the trial. He's going to be executed." A choked sob sounded from next to me, and Calum ran up the stairs to the boys' dormitory within a second, hurt radiating off him.

Luke pulled me into a hug, though for whose benefit I was unsure, and we clung to each other as Ashton dropped into a nearby armchair.

That was it. Despite all our hard work, spending every free second in the library, researching cases of attacks by magical creatures, we had lost. Because in the end, it just wasn't enough. I suppose it just goes to show, sometimes no matter what, you can't win. You can pour your heart and soul into something and it means nothing.

And as our party mourned by the fire, trying to block out the sound of Calum's wailing clearly audible from his dormitory, I thought about how we just didn't do enough.