After the War

Chapter 43

It was finally that time of year. NEWTs began for the seventh year Hogwarts students and OWLs would begin for the fifth years in the coming weeks, making breakfast at the Great Hall a somewhat subdued affair. Younger students were continuously being reprimanded by the older students, Prefect or not, for talking too loudly or disrupting the atmosphere. For once, the sound of pages turning and mumbled phrases was louder than the typical laughing conversations, turning the Great Hall into something much more resembling the library than a dining room.

Hermione kept missing her mouth with her fork as she stared intently at an open textbook levitating in front of her face, her mouth moving along with the sentences wordlessly. Ginny barely ate a bite as she stared at a stack of notes. No matter what she would or would not admit to Hermione, she did care about her results and could not bear the embarrassment of failing. Luna was reading Ginny's notes upside down while picking apart a muffin and Hailey was sitting with her hands purposefully folded in front of her, trying to maintain a sense of calm. Cass sat idly, too nervous to look at a textbook any longer and instead glanced between each of the girls surrounding her.

"I'm glad Charms is first," she said abruptly, forcing a smile. "Hopefully it'll boost my confidence a little bit."

"Speak for yourself," Ginny growled, her eyes never leaving the page.

"I'm disappointed that Care of Magical Creatures is not until next week myself," Luna said, entertaining Cass's attempt for a conversation. "That should be great fun."

"Real fun," Ginny parroted sarcastically.

"No need to poke fun, Ginny. You aren't even in that class," Luna replied.

"Sorry. We're just a bit on edge if you haven't noticed," said Ginny.

Luna set her muffin down purposefully. "I have noticed, actually. And it's making me quite worried. You're far too stressed. Rest is key before a large exam. It won't do to tire yourself out and overwhelm yourself with information right before you have to sit for the exam."

Ginny grimaced and forcefully tore her eyes away from the pages. "A quick break wouldn't hurt," she admitted and she quickly saw the sense to what Luna was proposing. Her eyes watered and she still saw stains of ink clouding her vision.

Luna smiled and Cass brightened at the thought of something to distract her. "Would you like to hear what I saw, just the other day?" asked the former.

"Sure," Ginny answered, always eager to humor Luna.

Luna jumped right in. "I was walking down the Transfiguration corridor when I heard a loud buzzing sound coming from one door which I thought was odd because classes were over and besides, the door didn't even lead to a classroom. I thought it must be a large nargle infestation trying to steal something."

Ginny smirked, but said nothing and even Hermione's eyes stopped scanning the page in front of her.

"Sadly, I forgot my butterbeer cap necklace and I was completely defenseless against them, but I was too curious not to go and see what it was they were after. So, I peeked my head in the door and instead, I found two sixth year students standing in a broom cupboard, so close together that they couldn't even move!"

Ginny snorted loudly and Hermione worked to hide a smirk.

"What did you say?" Ginny prompted eagerly.

"Well, I asked them what they were doing. They didn't really answer at first because they were quite surprised to see me. It was Maria Glossop from my House and some Hufflepuff boy that I didn't recognize. But anyways, when they didn't respond, I asked if they were kissing--"