Chapter
-10-

Every Easter and Study Schedules

Easter was the generally the same as all of her other Easters since she was seven. Eating chocolate the whole day and eating dinner early, then going out into a forest to transform while everyone else enjoyed what Kasia assumed to be a happy evening with delicious food and lots of chocolate.

Thinking of everyone enjoying themselves eating the feast in the Great Hall, and her stuck in the Forbidden Forest made Kasia snarl and take a swipe at a nearby tree, tearing off several layers of bark. Lately she had been more optimistic, but she sure didn't feel like looking on the bright side of things that night, so she ran to the edge of the forest to look up at the castle, where she could see the lights on, flickering merrily. She could almost hear the sound of hundreds of people talking happily. And she was stuck out in the Forbidden Forest avoiding centaurs and ripping bark off of trees. Much like every other Easter, except for those fuzzy memories of Muggle Easter egg hunts in the backyard of her old life.

oOo

It was midday before Kasia woke up the next day in her dormitory. Then, after registering that there were Easter eggs lying on the bedside table, she realised that it was the Easter holidays. Not that she expected them to be too much fun. The teachers had sure guaranteed that, giving them amounts of homework that made Kasia think that she was in O.W.L. year. Although, by the looks of Leslie Carmichael yesterday, the usually upbeat and proud Gryffindor Chaser, the fifth-years had gotten at least three times as much as they had. Probably far more. Leslie looked like she was going to have a mental breakdown any minute.

Kasia stumbled tiredly down the stairs, clutching her Easter eggs and wishing that a boy would step on the stairs so she could just slide down. Her friends were waiting for her by the fire.

"Was the feast fun, then?" Kasia said huffily. Fred grinned and opened his mouth, but Demi kicked him in the shins painfully.

"It was alright, I guess," Demi shrugged.

"Not nearly as good as the start of term feast," James added, nodding sincerely.

"It would've been a lot more fun with you there," Fred said earnestly. Kasia rolled her eyes.

"Right," she muttered. Even Fred himself could've picked up that the three of them were lying, and that was saying a lot. She did appreciate it, though, even if the feast obviously was fantastic.

"I'm so glad it's the holidays," Fred sighed, putting his feet up on the desk in front of them.

"It'd be loads better if we didn't have all this homework," James groaned, gesturing all of their homework they'd left there the day before.

"And if it was more than a week," Fred added.

"How much do we have?" Demi asked exasperatedly, "There's the History of Magic essay on recent goblin riots, the Transfiguration essay –"

"On switching spells," Kasia said, nodding, "and we've got to practise that as well. For Potions there's the properties of a Reviving Potion and its ingredients. Defence Against the Dark Arts..."

"Essay on elemental spells," James cut in, "Astronomy, we have to learn star names and constellations, and list Jupiter's moons..."

"Herbology is an essay on at least five different dangerous plants and their uses and dangers," Fred added, looking overwhelmed.

"And Charms is just practise, thank Merlin," Kasia finished. "How about we start on the more boring homework, so then by the end of the holidays, we'll be enjoying it?"

"Sounds good to me," James nodded, "so we start with History of Magic, obviously. I swear all we've talked about is goblin riots."

They spent the rest of that day trying to finish the History of Magic essay, but they couldn't find many books on goblin riots recently in the library. But as Fred pointed out, "As long as we've done the homework."

The next three days consisted of finishing the dullest of their homework, including finishing the History of Magic essay, Astronomy and Transfiguration. On Wednesday they took a break and spent the day outside by the lake, where it was an unusually sunny day, although there were dark clouds looming over Hogsmead. The lake itself was too cold to put their feet in, but at least being in the breeze was relaxing, as long as the sun warmed them up. They talked and laughed about the people at Hogsmead, because there was a trip there that day. It didn't look very cheerful.

Fred's father sent in some of the classic Skiving Snackboxes, which they scattered over the Slytherin's table in the Great Hall. They made sure to put normal lollies on the other tables so it didn't look suspicious. Dinner was bound to be interesting.

When the older students came back from Hogsmead, most of them were completely drenched. Filch glared at them furiously as they walked in, splashing water and mud all in the entrance hall, until Professor Flitwick dried them magically before they stepped inside.

Just before dinner, the menacing looking clouds that had soaked most of the student body reached the castle, and the Great Hall's ceiling was storming and raining, not that the rain touched them.

Most of the Slytherins weren't stupid enough to touch the Skiving Snackboxes; they were rather popular among the student body. The ones that were stupid enough (Derrick obviously included) had blood noses, huge growing tongues, fainting, vomiting and losing their hair. Most of the Great Hall was nearly crying with mirth as the sick Slytherins rushed off to the Hospital Wing, covering their noses and carrying their fainted friends.

"Are you sure that Kasia's Jelly-Brain jinx has worn off, yet, Derrick?" James yelled loudly to a bald Derrick. Derrick tried to glare, but his dignity was somewhat addled by the fact that he had no hair.

Professor Longbottom seemed to have deduced that the source of the Skiving Snackboxes was from the Gryffindors, and told them all that if he finds out who did it, he would give them detention and take a substantial amount of points away from their house. He said this with a twinkle in his eye, and before he turned back to the staff table, he winked at them, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

After dinner Teddy was going over the plays in Quidditch with his team: the match against Hufflepuff was the next day. He reminded them frequently to put a waterproof charm on their gloves and bats to stop them from slipping, and muttered to himself about terrible conditions. Demi eventually went upstairs to her dormitory; she was now reading Percy Jackson as well, much to the surprise of her friends. Then Teddy looked wildly around the room in the middle of talking to his team, his hair black.

"DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE APOLLO IS?" Teddy shouted. He looked incredibly stressed out, and his eyes were flashing different colours drastically.

"I think I saw him sneaking out of the common room," a third year girl called Alexandra Hooper said.

"WHAT!" Teddy yelled, and Alex flinched. Leslie scowled.

"Don't scare her, Teddy," she reprimanded, and turned to Alex. "Do you know why?"

"I wasn't scared!" Alex scoffed, "He said something about his girlfriend."

Teddy's face and hair went a bright red, and Alex looked fascinated.

"How do you do that? Human Transfiguration's supposed to be really difficult..."

"He's a Metamorphmagus," Leslie answered, waving her hand, "Teddy, stop it. You look like a demon."

Teddy slowly calmed down, his hair going from red to purple, and finally fading to its usual turquoise blue. He would not be happy with Apollo in the morning.

oOo

Thursday began with Teddy sporting bright orange hair and yellow streaks and yelling at a red-faced Apollo. Demi sent Kasia a confused glance and they walked quickly up to them. James and Fred were obviously still asleep.

"What's going on?" Demi asked loudly, above Apollo's loud retort. Teddy turned to her, looking furious.

"Apollo, here," Teddy seethed, throwing a glare at a defiant looking Apollo. "−decided that instead of getting a decent night's sleep before our match with Hufflepuff, or being there for going over plays, he'd leave the common room without telling anyone where he was going, to meet up with his stupid little girlfriend!"

"She's not stupid!" Apollo shouted, "She's a right sight better than Lauren! At least Poppy has the intelligence above a monkey!"

"Of course she does, she's a bloody Ravenclaw!" Teddy raged, ignoring the insult, "And she's trying to sabotage the team!"

"So of course she's not dating me because she actually fancies me!" Apollo fumed, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Kasia remembered vividly the last time he'd had that expression, and suppressed a shudder. Apollo's temper was not something you wanted to play with, even if he was three years younger than Teddy.

"Of course not!" Teddy said exasperatedly, "She's as cunning as a Slytherin; I've seen her, she just wants to – PROTEGO!"

Apollo had fired an orange hex at Teddy, who had blocked it just in time. He raised his wand again.

"Expelliarmus!"

It was Leslie Carmichael, the Gryffindor chaser. She looked exasperated and cross.

"So typical!" She rolled her eyes irritably, catching Apollo's wand. "Boys fighting about a girl. Teddy making false accusations. Apollo overreacting and blowing up. Everyone in the common room watching."

Teddy and Apollo looked deeply surprised, and the people in the common room busied themselves with something, still listening avidly.

"You're both ridiculous," Leslie was saying in a stern voice, "Apollo, use you common sense and don't go out the night before a Quidditch match, especially without telling anyone. You'd better get changed into your robes. Go on!" She added icily, when he didn't move.

Apollo, still with a look of resentment on his face, walked quickly up to his dormitory. Leslie turned to the orange-haired boy.

"Teddy, you've got to trust your teammates. Apollo wouldn't do anything to ruin Gryffindor's chances, so lay off him! And you, of all people, should know not to mess with his temper."

"He should've told me!" Teddy insisted indignantly, "Why didn't he tell me at least?"

"Can't imagine why," Leslie said sarcastically, "maybe because he knew you'd go and be all obsessed-Quidditch-captain. And he had a point about Lauren."

Teddy's hair turned pink and he scowled. "Stop giving me crap about the girls I dated."

"Only if you date Victoire," Leslie said unblinkingly, without missing a beat. Teddy's hair bypassed pink and was then a flaming red, his cheeks almost matching its colour. Victoire herself, who was by the fire, obviously listening, blushed furiously as well.

Kasia grinned. Of course Teddy and Victoire were going to end up together; it was only a matter of time.

The game began shortly after, and the match itself was very short. Hufflepuff was on 30 points and Gryffindor on 60 when Brittany Towler actually caught the Snitch.

Apparently, it had been years since she had last won Gryffindor a match. Teddy was thrilled, back at the common room.

"We actually have a chance!" He shouted happily, throwing his arm carelessly over Brittany Towler's shoulder. Brittany turned to him and gave him an awkwardly long hug, and Victoire looked irritable. Teddy pushed Brittany away and took his arm quickly off her shoulder, glanced at Victoire and looked embarrassed.

"Hey, 'Pollo, sorry about snapping earlier," Teddy said to Apollo, who was talking enthusiastically to Peter and John Harrison. Apollo shrugged it off.

Kasia decided that people were too obsessed with Quidditch. Gryffindor was celebrating like it was their first win in a hundred years.

On Monday, it was James' birthday and the last day of the holidays. They'd managed to finish all their homework on the weekend so they could spend the day − at James' request – scouting the school for hidden passageways.

"You've really just got to find the Marauder's Map, mate," Fred groaned when it was time for dinner and James was still avid on finding at least one secret passageway.

"I hate to say it, but I agree," Demi yawned. "Can we go have dinner?"

"Please?" Kasia added, her stomach grumbling.

"I want to find the Kitchens, at least," James said distractedly. "Someone said they were near the Hufflepuff's common room, but...no-one has any idea where they are. Something about a pear..."

They heard a meow and whirled around. It was Mrs Norris.

"C'mon, let's just go to dinner," Kasia said firmly, as Mrs Norris trotted out of sight, sure to bring Filch following in an unbelievably short amount of time.

James nodded, much to Demi and Kasia's relief.

Classes the first week back were as difficult as last term, since the exams were in two months, and the teachers were really cracking down. Kasia was glad she had a class she was a natural at – Charms – because it just gave her one less class to worry about. Demi probably felt the same about Herbology, and Fred and James with Transfiguration.

Fred and James had either given up the Animagus thing, or they weren't telling Kasia of their progress. She suspected the latter, especially as they usually went up to bed quite early.

Potions on Friday was interesting. Kasia didn't know what she was doing wrong; her Forgetfulness Potion didn't look anything like it should. After stirring it exactly five times anti clockwise, it was supposed to be a thin, slightly transparent white with blue smoke. Kasia's was such a thick consistency it was difficult to stir, and it was a blood red colour with an ugly kind of purple smoke.

"What colour smoke is that, Kasia?" Fred laughed, and Kasia grimaced and turned to a bored-looking James, who was sitting in front of a perfect white Forgetfulness Potion.

"James!" Kasia whined, and gestured to her potion, "How is my potion red? I did everything right!"

"It'd have to be in the ingredients," James mused, looking at her potion and waving away the purple smoke. Kasia had been so careful, though!

"Did you only add two Lethe River water drops?"

"Yes."

"Did you add two Valerian Sprigs?"

"Yes."

"Four Mistletoe berries?"

"Yes."

"Hmm..." James' eyebrows knit together.

"How're you going?"

It was Trey. His potion was already finished.

"It's red, Trey!" Kasia pouted, "What's wrong with it?"

"Hey, I'm going to figure it out!" James insisted, and Trey scanned Kasia's workplace, and picked up the Mistletoe Berries.

"These aren't Mistletoe Berries," Trey said, pointing at them. "They're Baneberries."

"What? But...Baneberries are red...and white..." Kasia groaned, realising. She took the Baneberries from Trey, and looked at them closer.

"Can you see the difference in the leaves?" Trey said, pointing to the leaves, "You just picked up a bunch of them that didn't have any red berries in it, so the white ones look kind of like Mistletoe berries."

"And that's why it went red," Kasia sighed, "because even if the Baneberry juice in the white berries is white, it goes red when heated up. Damn! Thanks, Trey."

"I was just about to –" James began, looking indignant, but he was interrupted.

"Well done, Mr Higgs! Ten points to Slytherin!" Professor Slughorn beamed as he came over. "Miss Days, it looks to me as if this potion is perfect aside from that little mishap.

"Make sure you all check the leaves if the berries look similar! We use three different types of berries in Potion making, and Baneberries have two sorts, red and white, so they could be mistaken for the white Mistletoe berries, or the red Boom Berries. You've got to be sure you have the right ingredient! A similar case is the Goosegrass and Snakeweed. Both are different from Knotgrass in that –"

Kasia listened carefully. Her potion had been perfect besides the berries! And that was a mistake anyone could have made! Maybe she was finally getting better at Potions?

"And he said my potion was perfect besides the berries!" Kasia told Fred, James and Demi again as they walked to Defence Against the Dark Arts. "Trey knew straight away, though! Let me tell you, it was so much easier when we were paired up. The –"

"I was just thinking it was the berries when he interrupted!" James said, looking angry.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" Kasia asked James, surprised.

"I'm just saying, there are people besides Slytherins that could help you with Potions!"

"Come off it, James!" Kasia snorted, "Slytherins aren't all bad! You're being old-fashioned."

"Kasia, have you forgotten Derrick? He just proves that Slytherins are idiots!"

"There are idiots in every house!"

"Yeah and it just so happens Slytherin has a bucket load of them!"

Kasia growled. "What's with you? You're acting like me on a full moon."

Demi and Fred burst out laughing, and James rounded on them.

"You agree with me, don't you?" James asked, his eyes narrowing. "Slytherins are jerks?"

"Most of them," Fred said easily.

"But Higgs seems alright," Demi said in the same tone. "Get off his back, James."

James looked furious that his friends disagreed with him about Slytherins.

"Come on, James," Kasia said, "so he helps me with Potions, so what?"

James grumbled something under his breath that sounded like "He's a slimeball."

"Sorry?" Fred asked politely.

"Nothing," James said with clenched teeth.

oOo

After the holidays, March passed far too quickly for Kasia's liking. They'd been so busy with their homework that it sped right by, which, according to Fred, was downright shameful. Kasia had to say she agreed.

"Time flies when you're having fun," Demi muttered resentfully at the beginning of April, just after the full moon, mid-sentence in her Astronomy essay.

"Yes...fun," Kasia rolled her eyes slightly, still scribbling away on her own essay for Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"Hufflepuff's playing Slytherin on the 2nd of May," James said wistfully, "still a month away..."

"And exams start on the 15th," Fred added, shuddering.

"Full moon's on the 4th, thank Merlin it's not during exams," Kasia pointed out.

"And the last match with Ravenclaw and Gryffindor's on the 23rd," Demi said distractedly, scratching out a sentence on her essay and frowning.

And on the 31st of May, Kasia added in her head, is Anelia's 11th birthday, wherever she is.

April wasted away just as March did, much to their dismay. The weather was beautiful for a week, and it really felt like spring, until it changed suddenly to rain, then back to sunshine a week later. Several fifth years had break downs at the amount of homework, exams and assignments they had. Leslie Carmichael stayed determined. If anything, she seemed to be working harder than usual, at Quidditch and school. She was a prefect as well, which gave her even less time than everyone else for homework.

oOo

Finally came the Hufflepuff versus Slytherin Quidditch match that even Kasia was looking forward to as a break from the monotonous pattern of school and homework. It was a warm, slightly breezy day, and the sun occasionally hid behind the clouds. "Perfect Quidditch conditions," Fred had remarked at breakfast.

It was, however a very slow game. Slytherin was at 200 points, Hufflepuff at 20. There had been no sight of the Snitch, and it was beginning to get as monotonous as schoolwork. Kasia was almost wishing they hadn't even come when Justin King, a laid-back Hufflepuff that the Captain had apparently chosen as a last resort, swiped the air several times, and, with a look of glee on his face, held up the glistening Golden Snitch, much to the huge surprise of his teammates and the rest of the school.

Teddy groaned. "Slytherin still won. Now they're over eight hundred points! Why the hell did he catch the Snitch?

"We'll have to get to 170 points in our match against Ravenclaw, and then if we catch the Snitch...then after the 150 points from that and the victory points we could just beat them...over 170 points, that's going to be another long game...Against Ravenclaw, too, that's going to be a pain. They've got far too many tactics. If we just got Grace Lee out of the way...but then we still have to score 17 goals!"

Teddy continued analysing the match all the way back to the common room.

"It doesn't matter if Ravenclaw's ahead of us in points, it's Slytherin's score we've got to match. We'll have to figure out a way to break up their complicated plays. That usually puts them off; they rely too much on tactics..."

"Ted!" John Harrison, one of Gryffindor's Beaters in sixth year with Teddy, said loudly. But Teddy ignored him and continued to talk.

"Ravenclaw will want to get 120 points or over, to beat Slytherin, so their Seeker won't be trying to catch the Snitch until then. If we just get ahead of them in points, we need to get to 170 before they get to 120 because if it comes down to the Seekers, they've got the upper hand. Grace Lee almost always catches the Snitch when it comes down to Seekers..."

"TED!" John yelled, and Teddy stopped and looked at him, startled.

"Do you realise how much homework we've got?" John said to him, rolling his eyes. "I never thought I'd say this, but worry about Quidditch later, we've got to get that Arithmancy essay done!"

"What's Arithmancy?" Kasia asked her friends. Fred shrugged.

"Something to do with numbers," he said carelessly, "looks really complex."

"You won't catch me doing that in third year," Demi scoffed, and bent over a calender.

"Maybe we should think of this year first," Kasia said.

"Yeah, we should probably do the Potions essay tonight," Fred agreed.

"Why?" Kasia asked, eyebrows furrowing. Fred rolled his eyes.

"Well you're the best at Potions theory," Fred said obviously, "and it's the full moon the night after next."

"Really? I had no idea."

"Anyway," Fred ignored the sarcasm, "none of us actually listen in Potions, so we might need your help."

"Yet James manages to get every potion perfect without listening," Kasia muttered. James was really taking his talent in Potions for granted.

"Hey!" James said indignantly. Kasia looked at him and waved madly.

"Hello to you too, James."

Fred and Demi laughed, and a tawny owl flew into the common room and dropped letters beside Fred and James, then flew over to Victoire and Teddy.

"It's from Aunt Hermione," Fred said confusedly, opening his first.

James turned his letter over.

"Exam timetables!" he said in disgust. "And..."

"Study schedules!" Fred said with a horrified look on his face. The piece of parchment in his hand yelled 'Prevent the dread and get ahead!' and Fred dropped it, looking revolted.

"Bloody hell, she's given them to you two as well!"

"Ah, there's a letter from Uncle Ron, too," James said in a satisfied tone. "Sorry about the study schedules and exam timetables. Me and Harry had to suffer through them as well, so I'm sure you'll all be fine. And the trick with exam timetables: you just wrap it up with some dirty socks. It yells something about cleaning your clothes for a few minutes then it shuts up. Anyway, I've got to go; Hermione's asking me what's taking so long. So long!"

"Uncle Ron's awesome," Fred chuckled, and his study schedule yelled at him again.

Sorry for the ending, I had no idea how to end it...Anyway, I'd like to think this makes up for last chapter, it's 4000 words, and I only published the last chapter a few days ago! You guys should be grateful! Remember to review! (SERIOUSLY)

The next chapter will be the last chapter of the four of them in their first year! Who else is pumped for their second year? Let me know what you would see in the second year! I can't make any guarantees, of course. Happy reviewing then!