As the Second Wizarding War ended, many students decided to go back to Hogwarts to finish their studies. Anne-Leigh Conway was one of them.
While she attempts to come to terms with what's happened, she gets entangled in an effort set forth by Headmi...
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a/n 1/4-24, Happy birthday to my favourite twins!
Chapter 6: Room 703
The next morning went as expected. It was packed with classes, and homework started to slowly but surely stack up. Only two days in, yet seventh year students were being faced with the reality that the year would be difficult to say the least. Many had caught on quickly, and spent every minute they could spare between classes with their nose in a textbook, while others took the laid-back route and said there was plenty of time to remember what they needed for the N.E.W.Ts.
Leigh belonged to the first group, and so far things were going well. It was nice seeing the teachers again; Professor Horace Slughorn was back as potions master, and Professor Filius Flitwick's chipper and encouraging demeanour during charms class helped diffuse some of the stress students already faced. This didn't go unappreciated, especially by Neville, who had a tendency to get stressed quite easily when it came to his studies.
The whole day was spent going up and down the stairs, and students' legs were undoubtedly sore after a few hours. To make matters worse, Leigh had her first Advanced Arithmancy Studies class on the first floor today. While regular Arithmancy classes were held on the seventh floor, the Advanced classes were held on the first floor, for reasons unbeknownst to her. The location was particularly frustrating given that she had to walk from the first to the seventh floor for her meeting with the twins.
And so, after her last class, which she truly did adore every second of, she bid Hermione and her other classmates goodbye before starting the journey up to the seventh floor. For being a magic school, it surely was strange that there were no other, more magical, solutions to travel 7 floors.
After 5 floors, Leigh was exhausted, and she felt relief wash over her as she saw a perfectly good reason to stop for a quick breather: Neville walking past.
"Hi Leigh," he said softly as he took the last few steps down towards her. His eyes furrowed together as he looked at her. "Are you alright?"
Leigh had never felt so unfit in her life.
"I'm alright just all these stairs and–", she started, but stopped shortly as she felt her cheeks start to burn in embarrassment. "–I'm fine." She spoke curtly, and while Neville looked like he wasn't fully convinced, he nodded at her reply.
In an effort to keep attention away from her red cheeks, she attempted to change the topic, speaking between her own strained breaths. "Where are you off to?"
Her attempt seemed to do the trick, and Neville looked down at the book in his hand with a small smile. "Herbology greenhouse. Spoke with Professor Sprout and she agreed to spend some time going over opportunities for me. Maybe even an internship this year!" Neville spoke excitedly.
"That's amazing Neville." Leigh grinned at his excitement. Out of everyone, he was someone who deserved the world.
"Yeah, it's great," he mumbled softly while scratching the back of his neck, eyes skimming over the herbology textbook in his grasp. He looked back at her, and his eyebrows furrowed yet another time. "Where are you off to? I thought the last classes of the day had ended by now?"
