Obliviate {Book 1--EDITING}

21. Trelawney's prediction^

The euphoric pride over winning the cup lasted over a week. Even the weather perked up as June approached, the days hot and muggy—afternoons were spent by the lake drinking lemonade and iced pumpkin juice, all worries forgotten.

Draco and I often laid down together by the lake, talking and laughing. Things were back to normal with the both of us. Draco acted as if I hadn't technically kissed him twice—on the head and cheek—but we started talking a bit more suggestively, which was exciting.

But we couldn't do this often. Exams were nearly upon us, and instead of lazing around outside we were forced to be locked up inside staring dreamily outside at the sun, wishing the exams could end.

I was starting to stress about the exams. At heart I was a procrastinator, who hoped there would be a way I could both paint every night and still pass my exams. Cole was panicking even more than I was—his friend Sam (who was apparently smarter than Hermione) usually helped him revise, and she wasn't here now.

But as much as I hated these exams, I had to suck it up. I wasn't going to be able to work in the muggle world without G.C.S.E's or A-Levels; so I would need to do well in these exams.

Even Fred and George had been spotted working; they were about to take their O.W.L.s (basically Wizard GCSE's). Hermione tried coaching them to work harder; but she was going round in circles.

We had given up asking Hermione how she was managing to attend several classes at once, but I couldn't restrain myself when I saw the exam schedule she had drawn up for herself. The first column read:

Monday

9 o'clock, Arithmancy

9 o'clock, Transfiguration

Lunch

1 o'clock, Charms

1 o'clock, Ancient Runes

"Hermione?" Cole said cautiously, because she was liable to explode when interrupted these days. "Er -- are you sure you've copied down these times right?"

"What?" snapped Hermione, picking up the exam schedule and examining it. "Yes, of course I have."

"Is there any point asking how you're going to sit for two exams at once?" I sighed, starting to revise for potions. While I was fairly average at it, I kept stressing so much I'd wake up in the night remembering points I hadn't looked over.

"No," said Hermione shortly. "Have any of you seen my copy of Numerology and Gramatica?"

"Oh, yeah, I borrowed it for a bit of bedtime reading," said Ron, but very quietly. Hermione started shifting heaps of parchment.

The six of us luckily had plenty of opportunity to speak to Hagrid.

"Beaky's gettin' a bit depressed," Hagrid told us. "Bin cooped up too long. But still...we'll know day after tomorrow -- one way or the other --"

We had our Potions exam that afternoon, which was a disaster. Trying as hard as I could, my potion wouldn't thicken and I was tempted to almost throw my cauldron at Snape for smirking as I struggled.

But all I could think of as I sat in the hall writing essays and answered questioned was of how it would soon be over—and then I could finally relax and dream about the summer.

Our second to last exam, on Thursday morning, was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Lupin made the most interesting exam ever.

We had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a Grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish through a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a Hinkypunk, then climb into an old wardrobe and battle with a new Boggart.