It was a rainy Friday afternoon as the Gryffindor quidditch team (minus Harry, who spent most of his time with Ron and Hermione) sat on couches around the fire. Alicia, Katie, and Angelina discussed the latest gossip, while Fred and George played some magical card game. Oliver sat off to the side, flipping through his Potions textbook like a madman and muttering under his breath.
"Do you think Oliver's alright?" Katie asked the others quietly.
"He's taking an awful lot of classes, so probably not..." Fred whispered back in a voice that made him sound like a conspiracy theorist.
"Five galleons says he snaps before Halloween." George whispered back.
"George, do you even have five galleons?" Alicia questioned with an eye roll.
"I can hear you all talking, and I don't appreciate it." Wood said from his corner, not even looking up from his book. "I think I'll go to the library. It's quiet there... no Weasleys..." He packed up his books and swiftly left.
The library wasn't particularly full, as it was only the first week of school. However, students were spread out, taking up many tables. Wood scanned the library, and saw an empty table in the back, towards the windows.
At least, he thought it was empty. As he approached, he realized there was actually someone sitting there: Elizabeth Harris, a Ravenclaw prefect in several of his classes.
"Excuse me?" Wood whispered. Elizabeth's head shot up. A bit of ink was smudged on her nose, and her cheek was red from resting it against her palm. "Mind if I sit here?" Elizabeth nodded and returned to her work.
The two worked in a pleasant silence for an hour or so, until Wood looked up and asked,
"Do you understand question four of the Transfiguration homework?" Elizabeth shuffled through a pile of papers, finally pulling one out and placing it between them.
"That was a hard one, mainly because the phrasing is a nightmare. Basically what it's asking is why one would use polyjuice potion over transfiguring themselves."
"Oh... well, polyjuice is guaranteed to wear off... human transfiguration can get stuck..."
"Pretty much. Just make that answer longer and more complex and you're good to go." Wood nodded and they settled back into silence.
Another hour passed, and other students began to pack their books away and leave for dinner.
"Will you be here tomorrow?" Asked Elizabeth as she began to pack her bag. Wood smiled.
"If you don't mind."