Valentine's Day at Hogwarts

Part 1

 At the final bell, Sarah was the first person to exit the charms room with a sigh of relief. She strode off at a quick pace, hoping no one would follow her, but the sound of hurried footsteps and panting told her Rowan was not far behind. "Where are you off to in such a hurry, Sarah?"

"The library."

Rowan pushed her glasses up her nose as she matched her pace with Sarah's. "Perfect. Me too. Can't waste any studying time when it comes to the O.W.L.s."

Sarah didn't say anything. Truthfully, she wasn't planning on doing any studying. It had been a stressful week, she wanted peace and quiet, and the library was usually able to offer at least one of those. She had hoped to go alone, but realized that Rowan would naturally want to accompany her. Ah well, she thought. Rowan was usually good at keeping quiet while she studied, even more than usual this year, and if she couldn't keep herself from spouting off a few interesting facts, at least Sarah would learn something. They did have O.W.L.s to take, after all.

Besides, Sarah thought, as the scurried down one of the hundred staircases that led to the library, it felt like it had been weeks since she and Rowan had spent any time together. Recently, she felt like all her time was spent on prefect duty or practicing quidditch. She barely even had time to look for any cursed vaults or clues about Jacob. Between that, her friends, and all her other responsibilities (she was still trying to figure out how to tame an acromantula), she figured there was no way she could study enough to pass her exams.

They found an empty table in a hidden corner of the library and Sarah plopped down and let her eyes flutter closed with a sigh. 

"We should probably go over potions first, since it's our weakest area," said Rowan, eyeing the stacked shelves. "Though we shouldn't neglect Defense Against The Dark Arts now that Rakepick's in charge of the exam. And of course, one can never study too much for History of Magic. What do you think, Sarah?

"I think I'm gonna spend a few minutes studying the backs of my eyelids," she said without moving.

"Ooh, Divination. Excellent idea." And Rowan was off in search of books. Sarah knew she should probably study, because she had prefect duty with Charlie after dinner, but she needed a break. She thought if she could just rest a minute...

"Wotcher, Sarah!" came a hiss from around the corner. Sarah opened her eyes and glanced around the bookshelf to her right.

"Hello, Tonks," said Sarah, with none of her usual warmth, "what are you doing in the library?"

"Studying."

Sarah chuckled. "No, really. Please don't do anything that would require a prefect to punish you, because I already had to stop Tulip from setting a hoard of nifflers loose on the castle, and I'm not in the mood to make two of my friends hate me."

Tonks pretended to look hurt. "Well, nice to see you too, grumpy. I'll have you know I was actually studying a few minutes ago," she said.

"Really?" Sarah asked, looking apologetic.

"No messing about this year, Sarah. We've got O.W.L.s and if I stand any chance of becoming an auror, I've got to have top marks."

"Well done," said Sarah. She was proud Tonks was taking her studies seriously, but it made her slightly ashamed to know that even Tonks had done more studying for the fifth year exams than she had. "Wait, you were studying a few minutes ago? What are you doing now?"

"Attempting to put sneezing charms on Pince's precious books."

"Tonks!"