Love, Potions and Legacies: Fifth Year (UPDATED)

Chapter 9: The Herbology Exam

By late Friday afternoon, I'm absorbed in exam revision ahead of next weeks' exams. Every spare minute I had (even walking to class) I was reading notes or talking about exam questions. I was even doing past papers in my room late at night.

After school, instead of heading out into Hogsmeade with everyone else, I'm sat on my bed, going through my notes for the sleeping draught potion. I loved reading Toms' beautiful calligraphy notes. It felt so strangely personal to have his notes, to read his writing like this. He explained things so succinctly that even a first year could understand some of these more complicated potions and their histories, their pros and cons.

I move my past papers around on my bed, trying to find the one that had a similar question to the one I just answered, when I suddenly spot a pattern. The black inked circled letters at the top were all A's and E's. I grin, feeling completely relief at all the passing grades in front of me. I was for sure going to pass this first Potions exam. Well, the written part anyway. My practical skills really needed work.

I look back down at the papers when a sobering thought stops me feeling so happy. I only had one week until the exam, so only another week to try and get as much practical potion-making practice in as possible. Thursday night next week would be with Tom and I'm sure I'll learn a lot then. He was always so calm and a really good teacher. I scribble down some times in my diary when I could do some practical potion practice throughout the week around my exams and seeing all this future preparation made me feel calmer. Made me feel like I was being responsible and preparing myself well for the exam.

As I remember the last time Tom and I had been alone in the Potions classroom, I can't help but smile, remembering what it felt like to watch him calmly work. I smile as I make a list of things I need to study for for next week when a sudden thought has my head snap up. Tom would probably stop tutoring me soon. I stare across at my syllabus on my wall and realise that even after these exams, there might not be much more he can teach me before the mocks in January for the Summer exams. Suddenly, a cold upsetting thought comes to mind.

Our tutoring sessions would probably end by Christmas at the latest, so I probably only had a few more weeks of spending any time with Tom. He'd already taught me essay structuring and I was getting better at it, so really the only thing we could work on more was actual potion making. I grin as I realise I may have found the way to keep our tutoring sessions going. Maybe I could delay him stopping my tutoring if he saw just how desperately I needed more help making potions rather than writing about them.

I could play dumb if I had to. I could pretend to get confused about the history, get dates wrong, that sort of thing. Put ingredients in in the wrong order but as long as it wasn't a dangerous 'mistake'. I don't want our tutoring sessions to end. I'd play dumb just to drag them out. But not too much, I could tell already just how much Tom hated people that didn't put the work in or try or were just plain stupid. I'd have to work on my acting skills a little. Make it seem like I really wanted to learn rather than just really wanted him to stand over me, explaining things and pointing things out in my book to me, talking in that stern, velvet tone he reserved for teaching.

As I mark the paper I had just finished, my thoughts drift back to Tom. How he'd dedicated so much time to tutoring me already. An idea snaps my neck up. I could make him like me more with a gift. A thank you present for tutoring me. I shuffle my stuff around on my bed, trying to find my phone and I pull up Mattheo's texts. I freeze for a moment, wondering how I could phrase this in a way that would make him not start an argument.

Me: Hey, bit of a weird question but is there anything from Honeydukes that Tom might like? I want to get him something as a thank you for tutoring me before the exams.