Megan Potter - A Saga of the Heart - Book 6 - Dark Temptation-

Chapter 7 - OWL results

There was a stunned silence as she watched them take in the news. Ron and Harry just gaped, open mouthed. They seemed unsure wether to look worried or not. Cedric already knew this, but didn't like it any more than he had the first time, his lips thinning as his muscles tensed. Then Hermione hurtled over and threw her arms around Megan, who gently squeezed her back.

"Hey, it's okay. Come on, it'll be fine." Megan said.

Hermione sniffled and pulled back, her eyes wide and bright.

"But... oh, Megan, aren't you scared?"

Megan thought a moment.

"Not so much, now. When I first heard it, it did scare me." she admitted. "But I think that was partly because of the situation we were in. I was already scared. Now that I've had time to think about it a bit... I don't know, in a weird way, it makes sense. I mean, he's not going to stop until I die, is he? So, it's...like I knew it from the start, that it'd be one or the other in the end."

Cedric's hand tightened slightly. She put her free hand over it, rubbing it soothingly.

"When we heard he was collecting you himself, we thought he'd be telling you about the prophecy, or something." Ron said. "And he did, sort of, right? I mean, he wouldn't give you lessons if he didn't think you had a chance!"

"That's true. I imagine he'll be teaching you complex anti-jinxes and defence spells," Hermione said. "And evasive magic, and..."

Megan was no longer listening. She glanced out the window. The sky should have been bright blue, the sun shining. But ever since her return to Privet Drive, the sky had been a dull grey.

"... Well, at least you'll know one lesson you'll be having. Wonder when they'll send us our results?" Hermione concluded.

"Dumbledore said sometime today." Megan said.

"And you're only saying this now?!"

"You didn't give her a chance to tell you before!" Cedric said in an amused tone.

Harry jumped up.

"I'll go ask Mrs Weasley if any owls have come in!"

A few seconds later, they followed.

"And you're sure none came this morning?" Harry was asking.

"No, dear. I'd have noticed, but it's only nine, there's plenty of time."

Just then, Hermione gasped.

"There! Look!"

Four owls came soaring towards them. Hermione clasped Megan's arm tightly. Mrs Weasley opened the window to let them in. Cedric then helped her untie the envelopes and held them out to their recipients. Hermione finally let go of Megan's arm and took hers with trembling hands.

"Oh, relax, Hermione, you'll have done better than any of us." Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Well... here goes."

Hermione didn't seem appeased. Megan turned to her own, wishing Hermione wouldn't look so anxious, it was making her nervous. Cedric looking over her shoulder, she tore open the envelope and pulled out the piece of parchment inside.

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

Passing Grades:                            Failing Grades:

O for Outstanding                       P for Poor

E for Exceeds Expectations     D for Dreadful

A for Acceptable                          T for Troll

MEGAN JENNIFER POTTER HAS ACHIEVED:

Astronomy:        A

Care of Magical Creatures              E

Charms                E

Defence Against the Dark Arts       O

Divination          P

Herbology        E

History of Magic      A

Potions         E

Transfiguration      E

Megan was pretty happy with her results. She had passed Care of Magical Creatures like she'd promised herself, and had indeed achieved a magnificent O in Defence Against the Dark Arts. She had failed Divination, but that wasn't too unexpected. In fact, she was relieved to not have to sit through another prediction of her untimely death. She was slightly more surprised at passing in Astronomy, given the hectic exam that had been, as well as History of Magic, when she'd been in Voldemort's mind. Or he'd been in hers, which wasn't much better, in her opinion. She shuddered at the memory.

"Ten Os and one E, I told you!" Ron was saying to Hermione, looking at her letter. "And you call that "not bad"! Honestly! Swap, everyone."

Harry and Ron had both got seven OWLs, though neither had an O. Still, they seemed reasonably pleased with themselves.

"Knew you'd be the top in Defence Against the Dark Arts," Hermione told Megan.

"Well done, all of you!" Mrs Weasley smiled.

"You got eight OWLs out of nine subjects, Megan, that's fantastic!" Cedric said.

"Yeah, thanks," she smiled sadly. "But there goes my Auror career... I needed O in Potions to get in with Snape. I got E, he'll never let me in. Although it is Snape we're talking about, so I'd almost expect him to find a way to not take me even with an O."

It was odd, she thought. It had been a disguised Death Eater who'd first told her she'd make a good Auror but the idea had grown on her. And it seemed more and more like the right career path now that she'd heard the prophecy. After all, what better way to live up to the prophecy than by joining those who were trained to fight Voldemort?