Begin Again (George Weasley/Draco Malfoy)

Twenty-Three.

What saddened me the most was that Fred and George had left school right before their birthday on April 1st, and I couldn’t spend George’s 18th birthday with him, just like now he can’t spend my 16th with me. When my birthday got nearer at the end of April it seemed like it got here in no time after the twins left. It had already been almost an entire month after the twins dropped out when I received letters from a bunch of family members
   
The letters had obviously been opened, Umbridge didn’t care if everyone knew she was opening their mail for inspection. There were four of them, one from my mum, one from my Gran, and one from my dad all wishing me a happy birthday. A big smile took over my face as I read the front of the envelope of the last one to see if I recognized the handwriting. I had seen it before, and I am pretty sure it was George’s handwriting.
   
I flipped the already opened envelope even more and I took the letter out to read it. It was a very short, but very sweet, little note from my boyfriend.

 
Adelaide,
          Happy 16th birthday my love! I am so sad that I cannot be there on your birthday, because I know I said that I was going to spoil you with presents, but know that you will be on my mind all day! Also, since I cannot be there in person to tell you this, I just wanted to wish you good luck on your O.W.L. exams, because I know they are coming up for you. I know you’re going to ace them all. Nothing but O’s for my girl, I know it! I can’t wait for you to tell me all about them the next time we meet, whenever that will be. I love you and I miss you more and more each day. I would write to you much more if the mail wasn’t being monitored at Hogwarts, (not that I have anything incriminating to share with you, but just a matter of an invasion of privacy in general) but know I am thinking of you every second of every day.
Love, your boyfriend
George Weasley
P.s.
          Fred told me to tell you that he also says hi.

The blood rushes to my face. He was so sweet! I ran upstairs after breakfast to write to them all and thank them for their kind words. George’s however, I took a little bit more time because I knew out of all of the letters I needed to write, this one had to be the most inconspicuous one because Umbridge was probably going to open this one first because she hates George right now. 
   
I smile to myself as I fold the parchment into the envelope and then I write the address onto it in my best, hardest to read calligraphy so Filch would have a hard time reading who it’s to.
   
I didn’t seal the envelopes, because I knew they were going to be opened before they were allowed to be sent out because of these stupid rules. Filch was waiting for me when I arrived at the owlery to give my letters to Puddles to send off. He read each one of them intently. He started with the one to my mum and then to my Gran because he must have figured that those were the safe ones to read first. He sealed both of them right away.
   
When he saw George’s name on the last envelope an evil smile crept up on his face. “Ah yes, the headmistress was very disappointed in your taste in men, Miss Fawley. She said she thinks you’re actually a fine young woman.”
   
“Did she?” I ask but I don’t really want an answer. I just thought that was funny. I went off on her, nearly bit her head off, during my meeting and she told Filch she thinks I am a fine young woman.
   
“She did, indeed,” says Filch nodding, “She said she admires your fiery spirit. It’s rare for a Hufflepuff.”
   
“Well,” I say, “My father was a Gryffindor.”
   
“That he was,” says Filch, nodding again. I forget that he was here when my dad was here. It’s odd to think about that sometimes. He took my letters no issue, after he had read them and all. I sealed them and then sent my owl to send them off.
   
The truth was, I was getting kind of sad at school without George. I mean don’t get me wrong, I knew I had friends, and I knew my friends loved to have me around, but George was the only thing making this year worthwhile for me. He was here when I needed a break from the stress of school, and he always made me laugh. With the O.W.L.’s coming up, I was so stressed out. I could use a good laugh from George right now. Of course there were the D.A. meetings as well. It’s what made me think I could be a Professor, until Umbridge inserted her opinion about it.
   
Fred and George had sure left their legacy at Hogwarts, that was for sure. Umbridge couldn’t figure out how to get rid of their swamp. Eventually it was just blocked off, and Filch had to assist other students around it so they could get to class. Other trouble makers would set off stink bombs and someone even sent a Niffler into her office, and it destroyed her office looking for shiny things, and tried to gnaw her stubby little fingers off to get to her rings. Even Peeves was taking Fred’s last words to heart, he was terrorizing Umbridge. He would cackle loudly and blow loud raspberries after she spoke to him. He didn’t care what she said, he wasn’t going to stop. Us students loved it.
   
May came and went in another blur of a month. I was too busy studying for my O.W.L.’s next month to even notice the days turning into weeks around me. The last weekend of May, however, Jude had convinced me to watch the Gryffindor VS Ravenclaw Quidditch game with her because it was the last game of the year. I decided I needed a break from studying to go watch the game. I do love Quidditch after all.
   
When we got to the game, we found our other Hufflepuff friends and we sat with them, they were by Harry, Hermione, who were there to cheer on their house and Ginny and Ron. Watching Angelina play the last game of the season made me wonder if she missed Fred as much as I miss George. I doubt she did, because the only thing that matters to her is Quidditch, and passing her N.E.W.T.’s this month. Harry and Hermione were pulled away by Hagrid during the game and when they returned they didn’t look happy at all.
   
Then it was time for the thing that I was waiting all year for, the O.W.L. exams.
   
The Ordinary Wizarding Levels, or O.W.L. for short, is an exam is a standardized subject-specific test taken during Hogwarts student’s fifth year, administered by the Wizarding Examinations Authority. The score made by a student on a particular O.W.L. determines whether or not he or she will be allowed to continue taking that subject in subsequent school years, and whether they might be successful in obtaining a particular job.
   
There are one of three scores you can get, O for Outstanding, E for Exceeds Expectations, and A for Acceptable. If I don’t get an O in potions, Professor Snape won’t accept me into his class for N.E.W.T. level learning, and that means I can forget about being an Auror. So that is the one test I am for sure doing my best to get an O in, but I think that I will be okay. I’ve never gotten a bad mark in my class despite his history with my father. My father was usually the nicer one to Snape, it was the others who bullied Snape so bad.
   
The tests were spread out over two school weeks like so: