Diggory Is Still A Loser (book 2)

30- Exam Season

Despite Cho's best efforts, Celia was determined to isolate herself from everyone.
She barely spoke to anyone, prefering to keep to herself, and she even stopped sending letters to Benjamin, as she didn't want to make him worry about her.
No one knew how much pain she was in, and she had become used to hiding it from everyone.
She spent most of her time hiding in the owlery where she knew no one would find her.
But one Friday afternoon Harry and Ron came to interupt her solitude.

"Shouldn't you be in an exam right now?" Questioned Celia, when the boys sat down beside her.
"Nope, we've got a day off, since it is the Ancient Runes essay today" answered Harry.
"Hermione doesn't have the day off though" grinned Ron.
"Still, shouldn't you be revising for your next exam?" Asked Celia, who was desperate to send them away, so that she could be by herself once more.
"We've got all weekend for that, since we don't have Potions until Monday. Besides, I wanted to spend some time with you, since I feel like we haven't spoken in ages" admitted Harry.

"Well, I didn't want to get in the way of your revision. And since you've hardly left the Gryffindor tower, I haven't seen much of you" mumbled Celia.
"I'm sorry about that. But since I've got the whole day, I want to spend it with you" informed Harry.
"Really?" Questioned Celia.
"Yep".
"And I'd rather babysit a Blast-Ended Skrewt that do anymore revision right now" sighed Ron.
Celia smiled, "I remember what that was like".
"I still wish that we'd bought Eddie Carmichael's bottle of Baruffio's Brain Elixir though, since he claimed it was the reason he got 9 Outstandings. And I could really do with that right now" admitted Ron.
"Eddie is a moron, I know because he's in my year. I wouldn't trust anything he said. I expect he's just lying about the elixir to earn a bit of cash" replied Celia.

"Hermione confiscated the bottle anyway and threw it down the loo, along with Harold Dingle's powdered dragon claw, which she claims were actually dried Doxy droppings" revealed Harry.
"Gross. But believe me when I say that brain stimulants are not all that great. I didn't take any, and I still managed to pass all of my OWLs. So, I'm sure that you both will do fine" reassured Celia.
"We're not as smart as you though" reminded Ron.
"I know, but that doesn't mean you won't also succeed. I have faith in you both" replied Celia.
"I'm glad that someone does" mumbled Ron.

"How are you doing anyway, Celia? Is Umbridge still picking on you?" Asked Harry.
Celia hid her hand which was red and sore.
"Yeah, but I'm used to it" she admitted.
"You'd think she has enough to deal with at the moment, without needing to pick on you in particular" frowned Harry.
"She knows it was me who kept putting the Quibbler articles up around the school at night, which is why she is so determined to punish me"
"But everyone has been misbehaving since Dumbledore left, so it makes no sense for her just to pick on you"
"She's hated me since we first met, so I can't see that changing... Anyway, how have your exams gone so far?".

Harry and Ron began describing the exams they had already taken, before Hermione joined them several minutes later.
"How did it go?" Questioned Celia.
"Awful, I mis-translated ehwaz. It means partnership not defence. I mixed it up with eihwaz" groaned Hermione.
"Ah well, that's only one mistake" replied Ron.
"Oh shut up! It could be the one mistake that makes the difference between a pass and a fail" Hermione said angrily.
"Hermione calm down, you have never failed a test in your life, so I don't think you will start now" reassured Celia.

"There is always a first time for everything. And what's more, someone's put another Niffler in Umbridge's office, and it's trashed the place. I don't know how they managed to get it through her new door. But I just walked past, and Umbridge was shrieking her head off. By the sound of it, the Niffler tried to take a chunk out of her leg" revealed Hermione.
"Good" replied Harry and Ron in unison.
"Yeah, she deserves it" agreed Celia.
"It is not good. Because Umbridge thinks Hagrid is the one doing it, since he's the Care of Magical Creatures teacher. And we do not want Hagrid chucked out" reminded Hermione.

"But Hagrid's teaching at the moment, so she can't blame him" informed Harry.
"Oh you are so naive sometimes, Harry. You really think Umbridge will wait for proof? If she wants Hagrid out, then nothing will stop her. Besides, you should both be revising for Potions right now, unless you plan on failing the exam and giving up on your ambitions to become aurors" snapped Hermione.
"I did tell them that they should be revising" Celia said quietly.
"And we told her that we are allowed to have one day off" Harry said firmly.
"Well, I am going back to the common room to continue revising, and you both should join me, if you know what's good for you" replied Hermione, before storming out of the owlery.

"Such a lovely sweet tempered girl" mocked Ron.
"Exam season is always the worst time to be around Hermione" sighed Harry.
"She's got a point though. I don't want you screwing up your life, and failing to achieve your goals, because of me" admitted Celia.
"We won't. Besides, if we weren't with you right now, we still wouldn't be revising, since it's our day off" replied Harry.
"Still, this is one of the most important weeks of your life, and I don't want to be a distraction, so I'm going to head back to my common room" announced Celia, as she stood to her feet.
"No you don't have to-" Harry faltered as he caught a glimpse of Celia's red hand.
Celia saw him staring, and quickly placed her hand behind her back.

"Why does you hand look so bad?" Questioned Harry.
"Because I've been writing with the quill" answered Celia.
"It doesn't normally look that bad. And there is more writing on it than usual" replied Harry.
Celia relented and brought her hand around, allowing Harry and Ron to read her new scars.
"She made you write that you support the Ministry?" Gasped Harry.
Celia shrugged and placed her hand into her pocket, "It's fine. I can deal with it".
"This is a whole new level of evil. Why didn't you say anything?" Asked Harry.
"Because you've got enough to be dealing with at the moment, and I didn't want you worrying about me. I want you to focus on your exams" insisted Celia.

"But we need to do something about this" announced Harry.
"There is nothing we can do. We are students, and the other teachers have no power over Umbridge either, so there is no point in telling them. We just have to let it go" admitted Celia.
"Fine. I will let it go for now. But, if she is still doing it when the exams have finished, then I promise I will help you take her down" replied Harry.
Celia forced a fake smile, before wandering off, "I look forward to it".
Deep down she knew that there was nothing either of them could do to stop Umbridge, and she was not going to let Harry get in trouble on her behalf.