Eternal Patience

Death by Studying

Barnaby's anxiety only increased the next day, as every professor began every lesson with a speech on the importance of the OWL exams. He wasn't the only one who looked nervous. Several of his fellow Slytherins appeared more apprehensive with each lesson and Barnaby was amazed to see Tonks looking more serious than he'd ever seen her when McGonagall lectured to them in Transfiguration.

It definitely hadn't been his best first day of term. He'd had double Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts with Sarah, but he hadn't had a chance to talk to her. Their first lesson with Rakepick as professor had been an experience. She really knew her stuff, but he was sure she wouldn't be able to teach him enough to make up for four years of Defense lessons to pass the exam.

It was a small relief when lessons ended for the day. As they exited the Charms classroom, Merula tugged Ismelda out of the classroom and led her off at a brisk pace, shooting him a look as she did that said quite plainly  he was not welcome to join them. He stood there for a moment, wondering what he should do. He preferred it when others made decisions for him. That was one of the benefits of being friends with Merula.

He wanted to find Sarah, but he supposed she was up in the Gryffindor common room, relaxing after her lessons. He could head to the Care of Magical Creatures Paddock. Visiting the creatures there always made him feel better. But he supposed he should try to study. There was no chance it would help, but he figured it was better to try and fail then to not try at all. So, with a great deal of effort, he made his feet take him to the library.

Stepping into the library on his own was like a merman stepping onto dry land. Usually, he came to the library with friends and spent the time either chatting with and distracting them or getting in a nice nap. He eyed the mountainous bookshelves with apprehension, imagining each one was a large, ugly troll ready to club him.

He strode over and pulled out a thick volume with a handsome green cover, then quickly shoved it back into place when he couldn't even read the title. His eyes stung, as they always did when he was reminded how thick he was. He was ready to escape the library and never return, but he forced himself to keep trying. Selecting random texts off random shelves until he had a small pile in his arms, he found a small table in a secluded corner away from prying eyes. He sat down, opened the book at the top of the pile, and began to read.

He'd read two sentences before his brain felt completely fried. He had to read them again to remember what they said. Something about goblin rebellions. Binns was always going on about Goblin rebellions in class, and they were way more boring then they sounded. Still, if he'd heard about them in class, he probably needed to study them. So, he read on.

"Barnaby. Barnaby," said a soft voice as he was shaken gently on the shoulders. His head shot up from the book. It turned out it made a far better pillow than reading material. He looked around dazed at the person who'd woken him. It was Sarah.

"Oh, hi," he said, cheering up at the sight of a friendly face. "I'm studying!"

She smiled. "I can see that. I don't think I've ever actually seen you study before, Barnaby. What were you, uh, reading?"

"Something about troll rebellions? I don't know, it just goes in one ear and out the other with me. Or in this case, I suppose it's in one eye and out the other."

She sniggered. "You've just got to keep at it. Rowan always says repetition is the key to success, or something like that. She's already got me in here preparing for OWLs, like she's not going to get 'Outstanding' on all of them already."