apples and scented candles • h.potter ✓

• forty •

Corben was given a week off just before his final exams were to begin. Harry had been anxiously waiting for the week to arrive but when it did, it did not have the outcome he had expected. He had planned to take Corben on a date, had even bought new movies to take his mind off his exams. When Corben arrived home from the Ministry, however, he instantly dove into more books and buried himself in work.

He should have expected it.

Nevertheless, Harry kept an encouraging smile and did his best to keep Corben from overworking himself. There weren't a lot of similarities between Corben and Hermione, but when it came to studying, they could be fierce competitors. Neither Harry nor Ron had spent any time more than was necessary at Hogwarts to pass their exams. He had doubts over whether he would have worked as hard as Corben was if he had sat for his Auror exams.

Although he was a tad bit disappointed at missing the date with Corben, he decided to be patient. All of this would be over in just three weeks. Then Corben would be free and they could have as many dates and as many movie nights as they wished.

... if Corben didn't spend the time worrying about his results.

Harry shook away the thought. No, there was no point in thinking about things that were yet to come. Corben was in their bedroom, studying as usual and Harry sat in the living room, bored out of his wits. He'd been trying to find ways to pass his time - he had even finished the whole book Hermione had given him on his birthday. But there were only so many books he could read and only so many meals he could cook before they started to get on his nerves.

He went into the spare room.

There was a solitary sofa in the corner. He stretched out on the sofa and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper from his pocket. The letter he had written to McGonagall.

Harry was quite confident when he had written the letter. He had thought he would tell Corben about his decision to become a teacher after sending the letter. But when it was time to post it, he couldn't. He had stood in the owl office with a small, brown owl on his arm but with no courage to tie the letter to its waiting foot. He had returned with the now crumpled letter in his pocket, heavily disappointed in himself.

He read over the letter for the umpteenth time. His enthusiasm seeped out of each word on the page but he no longer felt it. Something held him back, something he couldn't pinpoint.

He pushed the letter back in his pocket. Sighing, he pressed his hands over his face, as though wishing to squeeze the uncertainty and stress out of his head.

He sat up on the sofa and looked around. They only ever used the bedroom and the living room. Corben's study table was next to the bed, as well as his bookshelf. This room was barely used.

Perhaps it was his yearning to help Corben and make his life easier, perhaps it was just his boredom - but a lightbulb sparked to life in Harry's brain and he shot to his feet. He hunted through his pocket for his wand, but it wasn't there. He hardly used his wand nowadays and after ten minutes of searching, he found it wedged between some books on Corben's table. Corben didn't show any sign that he'd noticed Harry fussing around him, so engrossed was he in his book. Harry placed a kiss on top of his head and quietly backed out of the room.

With a few spells he had learned from Corben, Harry got rid of the dust in the spare room, then washed the floor with soapy water that poured out of the tip of his wand. Within half an hour, the room was spotless and the sofa looked much happier to be there.

He reentered the bedroom and stared at Corben's shelf for a minute.

"What are you doing?"

Harry jumped. This was perhaps the second or third sentence Corben had uttered all day. He was stifling a yawn with that back of his hand and looked at Harry through sleepy eyes. The book in front of him was closed.