Caught In the Headlights
ACHOO! Oh Merlin no, Draco thought, wiping his hand under his runny, red nose. AH-AH-ACHOO! Great. Another cold.
It wasn't the time to be sneezing, not in the middle of mock OWLs. Yes, okay, they weren't real, but one slip up and one could be disqualified from the REAL OWLs. And without OWLs, you can't do your NEWTs, and without NEWTs... well... you're screwed, let's just put it that way.
Right, Draco thought, trying to suppress yet another incoming sneeze. Focus, Draco, focus. "Question six: Explain the aftermath of-" ACHOO! "- the Aging Potion and how this could affect one's appearance throughout the rest of their life." Not a hard question really, but with a migraine and a constant sneeze, Draco found it hard to concentrate.
He looked up, and saw Professor Snape's eyes piercing into the back of Longbottom's head. He was distracted. Draco was free to look around at everyone else to see where they were at. He turned around to see Blaise's head resting on the desk. Draco shook his head. 'Blaise,' he whispered. 'Blaise. Wake up.' Blaise suddenly jolted up from the desk. His eyes were sunken and red and his lips as dry as a summer day's concrete ground.
'Whatdya say?' Blaise asked, leaning in.
'Nothing,' Draco replied. 'Just concentrate.'
'I am!'
'You were sleeping, you idiot! If you don't do well, old Dumbledore will be pointing his finger at me, telling me I distracted you.'
'Whatever. And there's me thinking you woke me up because you cared for me. Wouldn't that've been nice, eh?' Blaise said, a hint of mocking and laughter in his otherwise angry voice.
'Shut up,' Draco spat and turned back around. ACHOO! Back come the sneezes.
Draco put his head down to try and write out a sentence about Aging Potions, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't form an answer. So, to pass the time, he looked up. It would really matter if he missed this one question. It was only a three mark question, and with it being the final question, Draco felt that he didn't really need to do it. He scanned the Great Hall. It was unrecognisable, now the long tables were gone and individual exam tables were in their place. Draco saw people's hands frantically writing and heads low down. Scratching on parchment irritated him, but unfortunately he'd have to get used to it, what with all the mocks coming up so soon.
One person stood out to him as he glanced round. Granger. She was done. Pfft, obviously, Draco thought, glaring at her, although she couldn't actually see him. Swotty little bitch. She was probably done half an hour ago. However, Hermione felt some cold eyes stab her back, so she quietly turned around to find Draco looking at her. She gave him a, 'what do you want?' look. Draco quietly scoffed and rolled his eyes. Hermione raised her eyebrows and turned back around. I don't have time for Draco or any of his antics today, Hermione thought. Too bad he's in every single of one exams for the next two weeks.