Chapter 21 – Exams

It was the day before the exams and everyone finally gave up on trying to carry Harry and Ginny everywhere. He was shocked that it took seven weeks for them to finally stop celebrating the Quidditch Cup match. Ever since Harry won the Quidditch cup Fred and George have been giving them breakfast in bed though as Harry sat eating a sausage, he couldn't help but to think that the twins weren't going to stop anytime soon. When they were done eating, they spent the last day before the hardest exams of the year talking about what would probably be on their tests and doing some last-minute studying.

The next morning Harry woke up and got changed into his school robes. He pulled out a set of robes for Ginny and woke her up. When she was changed, they walked down to the common room to find that one of the tables had food on it. Upon closer inspection there was a note on the table:

"Reserved for:

Harry & Ginny"

It said. Harry rolled his eyes and Ginny laughed. They ate until it was time to go to their first exams, Harry kissing Ginny when they had to go their separate ways. He got in line for his first exam: transfiguration, Ron and Hermione were already there at the back of the line. While they waited, they theorized on what they were about to do. Harry was first of them, he had to transform a tea pot into a tortoise. He thought he did very good, its shell had a bunch of red gems in it. He was let out a side door and told not to talk to anyone about his test until it was all over. Harry headed for the common room which he was surprised to find that Ginny was already back.

They walked into the common room together and talked about their test. When Ron and Hermione had come in, they got in on the conversation. Hermione's tortoise had only one gem on it, which was a surprise that Harry's was better then hers. Ron's tortoise looked barely like one; it still had the tea pot design and color.

When it was time to go to the next exam Harry gave Ginny a kiss, then they set off for the next exam. The Charms Exam was next, they were the first in line. Harry walked into the classroom where Professor Flitwick was waiting. "Harry, you will be doing the Cheering Charm on me." He instructed.

After he was done with the test Harry left the Class through the side door and so he could not talk to anyone about the test. Harry walked to the common room so that he could wait for Ginny. Harry waited, Ron and Hermione came in shortly. It was several hours before Ginny came back to the common room.

They spent the rest of the day in the common room toasting anything they could get on the end of a toasting fork. Ginny took Harry by the hand and walked him up to their dorm room which was empty, she got undressed and crawled into the bed. Harry got into his PJ's and got into bed with her. They cuddled in the bed until they fell asleep.

In the morning Harry got up and got dressed and was about to head down to Hagrid's hut for the Care of Magical Creatures Exam when Ginny woke up and said, "Where do you think you are going without giving me a kiss goodbye?"

Harry walked over to the bed and gave Ginny a kiss. "Well, you were sleeping so lovely and I didn't want to wake you, so I was going to just head down to my Care of Magical Creatures exam." He said with a small smile.

"Well, I have to get to mine soon." Ginny replied, getting up and revealing that she was still naked, Harry blushed and glanced away politely until she put on her robes. Harry gave Ginny one more kiss then headed down to Hagrid's. Harry met up with Ron and Hermione in the common room. They walked to Hagrid's together, when they got there Hagrid passed out flobberworms to everyone and said all they needed to pass was to keep them alive until the end of one hour. Harry, Ron, and Hermione put theirs on the ground and just sat, talking, when out of nowhere there was a lot of screaming, it was Crabbe and Goyle who had just sat on their worms.

The whole class laughed at them, the easiest test of the year and they just failed it. After the Exam Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed back of to the castle. They were surprised to find Ginny waiting outside. "You won't believe what happened during our exam; Crabbe and Goyle sat on their flobberworms that they were supposed to keep alive until the end of an hour." Ron said so excited that Crabb and Goyle would be failing that class.

Everyone laughed as they walked back to the common room before remembering that they had to head to their next exam which was Potions with Professor Snape in one of the dungeons.

When they had got to the dungeon, they were almost late. Professor Snape had a smile on his face because they were almost late. They where making a Confusing Concoction and when they were done Professor Snape was scowling because Harry did very well. Professor Snape could not find anything wrong with his potion. Harry, Ron, and Hermione left to the common room meeting Ginny on the way. Harry and Ginny held hands as they walked because the last Exam of the day was Astronomy which they would not me be taking until midnight.

Harry and Ginny went for a walk wile Ron and Hermione went back to the common room. Harry and Ginny sat down under a tree watching the wind play with the water.

When it was time to go to the Astronomy exam Ginny walked with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. When they had gotten to the oak front door Harry gave Ginny his invisibility cloak, so she could get back up to the common room unseen. They were given a chart that had blanks and they used their telescopes to fill them in. When they were finished, they rolled up their charts and turned them in and headed back up to the common room. Ginny was asleep on the couch in the common room when they came in.

Harry picked her up and carried her up to their bed. When they were both in bed Harry kissed her and fall asleep.

The next day Harry and Ginny got up and got changed before anyone else was awake. They went down to the common room and spent the time waiting for Ron and Hermione come down cuddling in their normal chair witch someone had written on, it read "This spot is reserved for the greatest seeker and his lucky charm.".

Ron and Hermione came down and they all went to their exams. Harry, Ron and Hermione headed for the main hall which was deferent, instead of the normal four long house tables there was a bunch of desks. They took their seats and Professor McGonagall handed out new quills to everyone which had an anti-cheating spell on them.

Professor McGonagall passed out their exams and a blank piece of parchment for their answers. They had one hour to finish their History of Magic Exam. When time was over Harry handed in his answers feeling stressed out, while he studied hard History of Magic has always been his worst subject. He couldn't help but to worry that he confused dates and names. Harry didn't have much time to worry about that though as his next exam was Herbology

Unfortunately, Harry and Ginny didn't get a chance to meet before Harry had to head out across the grounds towards the greenhouses. For their Herbology exams they had to demonstrate their ability to identify magical plants from regular ones, they also had to demonstrate how to properly tend to a variety of magical plants, and finally, how to properly and safely harvest the useful parts of the plants. When Harry was walking out with the rest of the class after their exam, he saw that Nevil had a huge smile on his face, he had been praised several times during the exam.

Back in the common room Harry saw that half the students were studying or practicing, including Ginny who was buried in a book. Harry silently walked over to Ginny and read over her shoulder, she was studying Defense Against the Dark Arts. "What's wrong, are you nervous about tomorrow?" Harry asked.

Ginny jumped and whirled to face Harry. "Oh, jeeze Harry, you scared me." Ginny exclaimed and then sighed. "Yeah, I'm just scared that I'm going to forget something." She said, rubbing her eyes.

"Don't worry about it, you've been doing great. I know you got this." Harry said confidently, pulling up a chair next to her. "Here, show me what you're not getting, and I'll help you." He offered. They spent their time until dinner studying. This time they snuck away downstairs before Fred and George could bring them up food.

"I see you finally joined us." Hermione sniffed when Harry and Ginny sat across from her.

"You try saying to no to Fred and George." Ginny said, defensively.

"It's been weeks!" Hermione snapped and then took a deep breath. "But it's fine, you're here now and that's good enough." She said, putting on a calm smile and grabbing some corn. They all ate together. Herminie gave Fred and George a nasty glare when they passed, they seemed not to notice.

After dinner they all went upstairs and hung out for a while, collectively deciding that they needed a break from cramming. Harry watched as Ron and Hermione played several rounds of wizard's chess. Hermione eventually got so frustrated she walked away. Harry played Ron while Ginny went to talk with Hermione.

They all went up to bed at the same time even though it was still a bit early.

They woke up in the morning to find Ron looking out the window. "Ron, what are you doing?" Ginny asked, making sure she was in PJs before she got up.

Harry got up and got Ginny some robes because she was not in PJs. "I'm watching Professor Lupin set up an obstacle course outside." Ron said still looking out hoping he would be able to figure out what all he would have to do.

"I doubt you'll be able to get much information from all the way over here." Ginny said, irritably. She used the time that Ron was distracted to quickly pull on her robes.

"Yeah, you're right." Ron sighed and then said "Welp, I'm going down there to check it out up closer." He tried to leave quickly but Harry caught him by the arm.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Just think about what will happen if you get caught. He'll probably make you do the course then and there." Harry said, hoping to reason with Ron.

"Then let me borrow your invisibility cloak, won't get caught then." Ron argued.

Harry gawked at him. "Just. No." He sighed after a minute. "Look, we'll be doing the test soon. Just try and relax." Harry said, letting go of Ron's arm.

"Whatever." Ron said with a roll of his eyes. "Come on, let's go get some breakfast." And with that he walked away. Harry felt as if he did something wrong and couldn't help but to feel guilty as he and Ginny followed Ron.

Before they walked into the great hall Harry pulled Ron aside and said. "Look I'm sorry that I said no to you using my invisibility cloak, but I don't need you caught with it. If you do, it might get taken and I might not get it back." Ron sighed and agreed then they both walked into the great hall and eat some breakfast.

They went outside and found Professor Lupin standing under a banner that said "start". When they were all gathered Professor Lupin called out, "I have set up a sort of obstacle course for your tests this year. As you pass through this course you will find several dark creatures that we have studied throughout the year."

Everyone looked nervous, they never had a practical exam quite like this one, everyone except for Harry, who had a small smile on his face. His best subject was Defense Against the Dark Arts. One by one the students were called until it was finally Harry's turn. The first obstacle was a deep paddling pool that he had to wade through, it had a Grindylow in it. Next up Harry had to cross a series of potholes, each one had a red cap in it, he repelled them with the hex Lupin had taught him. The next obstacle was a marsh that contained a Hinkypunk, it whispered misleading directions to him trying to get him lost. Harry ignored it, pressing on forward.

Finally, Harry came across an old trunk that shook violently. Harry knew instantly what the final task was, he was going to face a Boggart. He climbed into the old trunk and instantly the bogart changed into a dementor. With ease Harry cast his Patronus and dispelled the Boggart. He climbed back out and sat on some stands that had been set up at the end of the course for students who wanted to stick around and watch the others take the exam.

Harry watched as student after student went through. When it was Ron's turn, he was doing ok only getting thrown off by the Hinkypunk. Then it was Hermione's turn she was doing great until it came to the Boggart. No more than two minutes after she went into the trunk, she came running out screaming and saying, "It can't be true!"

When Harry had caught up with Hermione, she was siting under a tree crying. "What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"My Bogart was Professor McGonagall showing me school test score for this year and she was saying how I had failed everything." Hermione said through her sobs. "No matter how many times I cast the charm it only changed into a new test that I had failed."

Harry put an arm around her and pulled her into him to comfort her. "Look, it's ok, you and I both know that you would not fail anything. You just missed one part of this test and you did brilliant on the rest." Harry said, helping her stand up and walk back to the school.

"But what if the Bogart was worth a lot more points than the other obstacles?" Hermione asked as they walked. She wringed her hands nervously.

"That's ridiculous." Harry laughed. "What kind of test puts so much weight on one task?" Hermione didn't answer. "Besides, do you really think Professor Lupin would do that? I mean I could see Snape doing that, but not Lupin." Harry opened the door, his arm still around Hermione comfortingly.

"I suppose so, Professor Lupin is a very fair teacher." Hermione said with a nod. She finally started calming down, putting her hands naturally to her sides. Harry, seeing how she was calmer, took his arm off her shoulders. They walked up to the common room and Harry nervously studied for his next test, he still struggled with arithmancy and ancient runes.

After their exams were done, they went and laid on the grass like all the other students. There was not much for them to do now except get ready for summer and that was fine with them. The next 8 days they were either in the common room hanging out of they were out on the castle's lawn. It felt like no time had passed before it was the night before they left for the Hogwarts express.

TBC…

I hope you liked this chapter. If you have any suggestions pm me and if I use it then I'll give you credit. If you don't want credit, that's fine just let me know. (GD) Please let me know if you would like me to take this into 4th year. (GD)