Harry Potter One-Shots

Another Cup of Coffee (Bill Weasley)

WORD COUNT: 996

I stifled a yawn, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall of the common room. It read half past one in the morning, and... was the seconds hand ticking backwards?! No, that was just my overtired imagination playing tricks on me. I had thought exam season during O.W.L.s was tough, but this year... this was a whole different story. I was practically surrounded by a halo of Charms books, papers, and practice objects, and looming on the table next to me was a stack of material I needed to review for History of Magic, Muggle Studies, and Potions. On one of the plush couches next to me, Bill let out a loud snore. He had fallen asleep about twenty minutes ago, and I had watched as his head drooped and began to bob up and down over his Transfiguration book until he eventually fell right into it and began to snore. N.E.W.T. studying had been our only time we spent together recently, because we were taking different classes and he was so tied up with his duties as Head Boy and me with Flitwick's choir rehearsals and the International Magical Rights club. After exams and graduation, Bill had promised we could spend the summer together at his family home, which I had done before, but this year it would be different. This year, he would introduce me to his family as his girlfriend, and even the thought of it made my heart flutter nervously. My mind began to drift off, thinking about spending the summer together with nothing on our minds except our N.E.W.T. results and finding real jobs... so, actually, quite a bit, but that wouldn't stop us from having fun.

You can think about that after you finish practicing this Charm, I chided myself mentally. I picked up my wand and began to review the complicated spellwork required to liquify a solid object. I allowed myself another glance at the clock and saw that only about a minute had passed since my last time check. Something about exams seemed to make time slow down immeasurably, except when you were sitting the actual test, and then it sped up significantly.

As another yawn overtook my tired body, I realized I would need more than sheer willpower to get through this night of studying. I pushed myself up from the table and headed over to a small cabinet in the corner, where there were some mugs, teabags, and coffee grounds. The good thing about magic is that we didn't need water because we could conjure up our own. I grabbed my favorite mug, one shaped like a Gryffindor lion, and prepared a coffee filter with some coffee grounds in it.

"Aguamenti," I murmured, watching a jet of steaming hot water flow from the tip of my wand. Soon, the intoxicating smell of fresh coffee permeated the room, and I watched as the dark liquid dripped slowly from the filter to the mug.

"Y/N?" yawned a sleepy Bill from the couch behind me. "What are you doing?"

"I'm making coffee you knob. I still have a lot of studying to do," I chuckled, disposing of the filter in the trash and turning to walk back down to our table. Bill ruffled his long red hair sleepily and blinked his eyes a few times, which I could tell were still gummed with sleep.

"What time is it?" he asked, groping around for his wand.

"Nearly two," I answered, gesturing to the clock as I sat back down in my chair to resume my Charms revision. Bill sighed and stood up, walking over to where I was sitting. He leaned down over the back of my chair and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, lingering for just a second before pulling away. I turned to him, smiling.

"Well, I'm done dozing off. Another cup of coffee, then," he stated resolutely. I rolled my eyes at my goofy boyfriend and turned back to my books. After a few minutes, Bill joined me at the table with his mug of coffee and spread his Transfiguration out on the other side of the space, sinking back into his study mode. For the next few hours we sat stationary at our table, focused on our books, alternating taking quick glances up at the other when we thought they weren't looking.

At half past four, the common room was beginning to grow light as the sun started peeking over the horizon. As summer neared, the days were growing longer, which was good until I realized that I had unintentionally pulled an all-nighter. Fortunately, my first class wasn't until ten this morning, so I would have a couple hours to sleep. I snapped my Potions book shut, startling Bill across from me, who was writing the finishing touches on his History of Magic essay. I grimaced apologetically as a small blot of ink appeared on his paper.

"I'm done studying," I declared, shoving my books into my bag. "I need to sleep before classes." I was announcing my plans in hopes that Bill would take the hint and join me, which he sometimes did as I only had one other seventh-year girl in my dormitory and she spent most of her nights in her Slytherin boyfriend's room anyways. Bill smiled tiredly at me.

"I suppose that's my cue to be done as well, isn't it?" he joked, rolling up his parchment. We gathered our things and headed up the stairs to the dormitory. I quickly changed out of the clothes I had been wearing into one of Bill's old t-shirts and a pair of loose-fitting shorts, and hopped into my four-poster bed. Bill quickly joined me and we lay side to side, my head on his firm chest listening to his breathing slow as we both drifted off into an exhausted sleep with dreams full of poison antidotes and complicated runes.

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A/N: Can you tell I'm a barista? Jk, I really thought this was such a cute idea bc Bill was Head Boy and we also don't know that much about him, and it's honestly a vibe. Maybe it's the Ravenclaw in me but I feel like a studying all-nighter and then cuddle sesh would be SUCH a cute date idea... don't worry I hate my own idea too.