Chasing Dreams (A Harry Potter Marauder fanfiction)

OWL Exams

The hall is silent, apart from the flutter of parchment, like a bird's wing beat occasionally filling the hall. Potions has always been my favourite subject, so I flip through the paper, scribbling answers, notes, drawing diagrams. Finally, after what seems a surprisingly long time for an easy exam, I open the last page. Rolling my eyes, I smile. "Of course." I think to myself. "Of course they'd put this draught." Leaning forward, I sketch out the diagram and write out the answer, a long paragraph on colour and ingredients. With a huge, exaggerated sigh of relief, I put my quill back on the parchment and lean back in my chair, happy enough with how I did.
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"I am so sick of these exams!" I whine to Lily as we walk to the Great Hall for our Defence Against the Dark Arts examination. She sighs, her head buried in a book, studying. "Honestly Skye, they're not that bad! And besides, you always do exceptionally well at this subject!" She says with an exasperated glance towards me. "Well.. Yeah, but it doesn't mean I like the exam!" "That's true.." She reasons, stopping outside the doors. They open soon enough and we file in, taking our seats. My heart beat increases as the paper lands itself on my desk, and I take a deep breath. I pick up my quill, my ink, and start. The paper is, the same as the potions one, easy enough to flick through and answer. Ancient runes and herbology were the harder ones for me, I had always been bad at them. The days had flown by, and each day brought at least one exam, if not more, and studying. The only upside was that the days were always sunny now, as if the weather was more sure of itself. The last week of OWL's had included, for me at least, studying by the Black Lake with Remus, Sirius, James and Peter, or studying at dinner with Lily as I scoffed anything and everything put in front of me. "Stress-eating," my mother calls it. She smiles when she says it, and hands me anther sweet. My Mum had always been the one I got on with in my family, she was kind, smart, easy to talk to, and she loved each and every one of her six children. The rest of my family and I don't get on- they seemed to.. Go off me a little bit, shall we say, the day I got my Hogwarts letter. Mum and my older brother were the only two who still properly cared about me. From the rest of my family- my Dad, my twin older brothers, my older sister and my younger brother and sister- there was nothing but insults and a loud, loud silence. Now though, I push all thoughts of my family from my mind and stand up, stretching my legs as the exam ends. I spot James and Sirius walking side by side with Remus, Peter behind them, trying to squeeze in as they walk out into the sunshine. I smile to myself and head up to the common room to my transfiguration book, to study with Remus, who I had agreed to meet at the tree by the Black Lake.