Ernie groaned as his quill snapped. This essay was due tomorrow! Professor Sinistra would definitely not be lenient. In fact, she had already announced that this would be an important grade. He rooted around in his bag but couldn't find any spare quills. Paling, he looked more desperately. After a few more minutes of searching, he gave up with a sigh.
Resigning himself to have to borrow one from someone else, he looked up only to realize that he was doomed. This close to curfew on a Sunday evening, who would still be in the library? Taking a deep breath, he stood and walked to Madam Pince's desk.
"Excuse me, Madam Pince?"
She put her finger on her book to mark her spot and then looked up at him. "Yes?"
"Do you have a quill that I may borrow?"
"Of course! In fact, I have an entire quill-making factory under my desk!"
"Really?"
"No. Go bother someone else." With that, she pushed her glasses up on her nose and returned to her book while making a shooing motion with her free hand.
Ernie looked around for a few more moments but there was only one other student in the library. He groaned as he realized just who that one person was. Deciding that it would be worth asking the other boy in order to not fail his Astronomy essay, he walked over to the other table.
"Hey, Boot."
"What do you want?"
"Look, I don't know why you don't like me, but –"
"You don't know? How could you not know? You flaunt it practically every chance you get!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I just need to borrow a quill. But honestly, what did I ever do to you?"
"I can not believe that you just asked that. How could you not know?"
Ernie sighed. "I just don't."
"C'mon. You know that I like Hannah and you just rub it in my face that she is your girlfriend."
Ernie started to laugh. "You're kidding, right? Me and Hannah?"
Terry's face turned red. "You mean you're not…?"
"Dear Merlin, no."
"Oh… I… Um… I didn't –"
"Don't worry about it. let's just put it past us." With that he stuck his hand out. "Hi. I'm Ernie Macmillan."
The other boy smiled. "I'm Terry Boot. It's nice to meet you, Ernie."
"And you, likewise, Terry."
The two just smiled at each other for a few seconds before Ernie cleared his throat. "So… can I borrow a quill?"
"On one condition… can you set me up on a date with Hannah?"