I think this is my longest chapter so far! Yay!

Sitting down among what seems like an endless sea of desks, I have to scold myself for wasting so much time with Teddy. As a result, I haven't practiced any test material in weeks. Although of course, this wouldn't have happened if McGonagall had just kept the N.E.W.T.s on the same day that they were every single past year. Instead, some students had complained about the fact that they didn't want their last memories of Hogwarts to be of the exams… so they got the dates of N.E.W.T.s moved to February 1st instead of the week before school gets out. And Teddy who still has a month to study, was the one being dramatic about how close the exams were.

I take a deep breath to reassure myself, then glance at Lin, two desks away and in the midst of animated discussion with a brunette whom I do not recognize. She gives me a thumbs up.

The conversations evanesce when McGonagall enters the room. "Please take your seats…" She continues on to explain how these tests will determine our jobs in the wizarding world and how she hopes we took our studying seriously. I zone out for the rest of the pep-talk.

A thick stack of parchment baning down on my desk is what snaps me from my reverie. We're supposed to finish all of this in two hours?! Around me, people have similar reactions. Linnea keeps blinking her eyes as if she thinks she's hallucinating. People stare at their exams as if highly explosive. One Ravenclaw boy starts crying about what a failure he is and has to be consulted by his girlfriend.

"You have two hours and fifteen minutes," McGonagall announces, "Please begin your N.E.W.T.s."

I have no idea how, but for some reason I end up in a skimpy black dress (lent by Gwen) on the common room couch. The other girls are insisting that I go to the after party in the Room of Requirement. For once I can't use studying as an excuse.

"Have any tights to go with this?" I ask Gwen who appears wearing a questionable red thing a fine line away from an undergarment.

"Fishnets."

"Uh… on second though, this is fine. Is that… all you're going to wear?"

"Why? Is it not cute?! Perhaps I should wear my rabbit fur coat to go with it."

"You mean— you're going to wear dead rabbits?"

"So what? My dad hunts them and had a coat tailored for me out of their skins."

"First of all, evil. Second of all, eww."

Gwen just glares at me before putting on another layer of lipstick so red it looks like she's burning her lips off.

"Shall we go to the ball, ladies?" Linnea dramatically steps through the doorway wearing a vintage 50's dress almost the exact shade of pink as her cheeks. "Gigi and Katia said they'd meet us there."

We walk out of the common room and down the hall comparing answers from particularly tricky sections of the N.E.W.T.s and complimenting (sometimes untruthfully) each other's outfits.

About halfway there, a small second or third year Gryffindor boy runs up to me. "Teddy is sorry but he can't attend; he's in the library studying."

I groan. "Urrrrrghhhh. And now I don't have a date so I'm going to shrivel up in a corner and drown my sorrows in pumpkin juice."

The boy looks at me in concern.

"That was sarcasm."

"Oh. Can I… um go now?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the message."

We reach a bare strip of wall, and, knowing what we need to do, we all pace back and forth until a doorway appears.

"This is the end. The apocalypse of drunk teenagers."

"Shut up and just have fun."

"I'm gonna get some hot guys tonight."

The last is said by Gwen. Obviously. I give her the look.

Lin looks at me before yanking the door open.

"Holy. Shit." What seems like all of the seventh years plus about half of the fifth and sixth years and some random young people I've seen working at Hogsmeade are packed onto a dance floor with tiles that light up when you step on them. In the back, there is a bar complete with a counter and stools and a hallway leading back to what I presume are bedrooms. I look to my acquaintances for reassurance only to realize that Gwen has already disappeared into the sea of people.

Linnea asks me if she can "go mix", so I head over to the bar.

"One firewhiskey please," I tell the punk dude operating the bar. He nods in a bored way and fills a glass with the amberish substance. I'm about to hand him some sickles when a girl with a pixie cut and and sheer blue dress seats herself down next to me and bangs some coins onto the table.

"For her drink," she tells the bartender.

I turn to her questioningly. "Are you… um flirting with me? Because… I'm not into girls. Sorry."

She looks at me strangely for a while before replying. "What about me being friendly implies to you that I'm flirting? And anyway, I have a boyfriend."

As if on cue, a burly guy that I recognize as a Gryffindor seventh year walks up to us. "Rede, would you care to do some dancing?"

She waves him away. "Next song."

She turns back to me and for the first time I notice her earrings. Silvery at the first glance and then kind of color-changing. "My name is Redelle by the way," she says, "And that was Deos."

"I'm Marelyn." I realize that the earrings aren't at all squiggles like I originally thought. They're little number "2"s.

"I like your earrings," I state, trying to get around the awkwardness of my last comment.

"Thanks, two is my lucky number. Oh… I gotta go." She gestures to Deos who is walking our way. "Nice to meet you," she calls over her shoulder as she walks toward her boyfriend.

I shake my head as I finish my drink alone. What a strange girl.

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