Clover Hawkings and the Triwizard Tournament

4. Puzzles & Promises

"No,no-that goes there!"

"Nu-hun, it's pointing the other way!"

"You guysssss, I can't find any more head pieces!"

"Find them? At least you have pieces put together-I can't match anything! 

"Artemis, this is clearly her shadow, not the sleeve!" 

"No, it's not! It has a bit of her skin, see?"

"That's her ankle!" 

"Is not."

"The eyes don't connect!" 

"I swear there are like literally no matching ones of the diadem!"

"This is so stupid," Scarlet moaned, flopping back onto the couch. "The puzzle hates us!"

 "It hates you," Alura corrected, snapping yet another piece of the Rowena Ravenclaw puzzle into place. "I'm doing great. Expect there are no head pieces left." 

"And the eyes don't fit together," Scarlet reminded her. 

"That too." 

"Clover- Clover? Are you looking?" Artemis waved her hands in front of my face. "Look!" and she slipped Ravenclaw's shadow onto her sleeve. 

"Fine," I grumbled. "You were right."

"Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure," Artemis said proudly, brushing her long dark hair back.  

"Uh, yeah, don't you think that we should do our homework? Catch up on that wit some of us are lacking?" Alura asked with a smirk. 

"NOPE," Scarlet and Artemis said at the same time. 

I shrugged. "It's the weekend...."

And indeed it was. The sun was casting a golden light on the lake outside,  the grass damp from Friday's rain and sparkling where the light caught it, the day sunny and warm and...lazy. Happy shouts echoed from outside where people were lounging in the warmth. And us oddballs were lounging in the Common Room, because, you know, there are people outside. 

But more importantly, there were people inside. Not, like, amazing ones, but good, better than the other people here. Although I suppose hanging at with me takes a certain amount of many good qualities, such as patience. It's nice, sometimes, to talk to people, even if the effort is exhausting. But I'm glad that they, at least, are not messed up and still have the kindness to let someone like me tag along for a bit.  

Unfortunately, I still had a tiny bit of homework. Several essays for Transfiguration and  Herbology and Potions and Charms...okay, fine, I have homework. 

I sighed. "I guess." I bent down out began to rummage through my bag for my ink-

-a pale hand was thrust into my way. "Oh no," Alura laughed, like I just said something funny. She still scares me. "You can't study on an empty stomach- everyone knows that."  

"Uhhhh...." I stared. The one time I want to do homework, and someone gets in the way! 

Artemis pouted and it's the most adorable thing ever. "I wanna come too!" 

"We can finish the puzzle and then start on homework," Scarlet pointed out, at the same time Alura said, "Suck it up."

"Besides, they won the piggy back race." 

"Besides, you know we can't be suspicious," Alura smiled, tying her long dirty blonde hair in a bun. "Come on, Clover- we need a nickname for you, by the way- let's go."