Ironic Love

Chapter XXVI: NEWTs

~Blaise POV~

The next few weeks at Hogwarts go fairly quickly. My time is taken up with lessons, revision, quidditch and more revision. Hermione forces us all to study together for at least two hours each day and so far I haven't managed to find a way to get out of it.

All too soon, it's the Sunday night before our exam week. The four of us are revising in the common room. Hermione is scribbling notes furiously on a length of parchment, Draco is reading a leather-bound book and absentmindedly mumbling the words under his breath, Ginny is practicing a flying charm on a stack of books and I'm supposed to be writing an essay but I'm struggling to concentrate.

After staring at my blank parchment for what feels like hours, Hermione clears her throat and Draco shuts his book with a snap. We all look up at Hermione questioningly and she glances at the clock on the wall. My eyes flicker briefly over to it aswell and I see that it's already past midnight.

"We should try and get some decent sleep," She reasons. "In our own beds." Hermione eyes me and Ginny as she says this and I refrain from rolling my eyes, wishing to skip the all too familiar lecture. I can't wait for the week to be over so that we can all relax again.

I gather up my things and then kiss Ginny goodnight before we part to go up our separate staircases. Draco does the same to Hermione and follows me up, putting his book in his room. He then proceeds to brush his teeth and I do the same. We stand side by side, staring intently into the mirror, deep in thought.

Once I'm finished, I put my toothbrush back and start thinking aloud.

"Isn't it crazy that we have less than a month left here?" I ask. Draco's eyes widen and he nods his head in agreement.

"Yeah, I never want to leave." He says.

This makes me realise the full extent of the situation. I have no idea what I want to do when I leave Hogwarts. Ginny wants to play Quidditch professionally but I don't think I would be good enough to do that. Draco wants to travel the world but he has access to his family's riches so there isn't anything stopping him. Hermione wants to join the Ministry and bring about some changes. She even intends to become Minister For Magic and I admire her ambition but Ministry work has never appealed to me. I guess I'll have to wait for my exam results.

Shaking away my train of thought, I get into my pyjamas and climb into bed. After taking a few minutes to adjust to sleeping without Ginny next to me, I eventually drift off.

The next morning, I awake to sunlight streaming through the curtains, which have been opened. I squint through the brightness and see Draco and Ginny both peering over me.

"Wake up, breakfast is in fifteen minutes." Draco instructs, shaking his head as he exits the room.

Ginny smirks down at me.

"Sleep well without me?" She ponders.

"Not really." I groan, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. I get out of bed and give Ginny a quick forehead kiss before she leaves to gather up her revision notes from the common room.

Ten minutes later the four of us are walking down to the Great Hall. Hermione's nose is deep in a book and she's snappier than she's ever been before. Even Draco is too scared to engage with her in conversation.

Once breakfast is over, McGonagall instructs the seventh years to stay seated whilst everyone else files off to their lessons.

"As you all should know, your first test is Transfiguration. The written part of the examination is this morning and the practical part is this afternoon. Please line up outside the room in alphabetical order."