Ron Weasley had probably never woken up with a greater sense of purpose in his life. As it was he was up before dawn with a lamp on and his (carefully written) notes in front of him, muttering as he tried to engrain every single fragment of information into his head. Merlin, he had even read ahead in their textbooks and done some extra research! Molly would have been proud of him.
"Ron, you've got another four hours to do that," Harry muttered, hiding his head under his pillow.
"I know," said Ron, "but I told you. We've got to nail this. If Snape wins …"
"Alright, I get it," said Harry, sitting up in bed. "And since you've woken me up I may as well study as well."
"What the heck are y'doing?" grumbled Seamus Finnigan, as Harry's lumos charm lit up the room further.
"Studying," said Ron. "Shush."
oo0oo
It was quite a scene really. It wasn't every day that you strode into the Great Hall and found half of Hogwarts (including the Weasley twins) studying Potions as though their lives depended on it. For once it was almost entirely silent, and the professors were very conscious of how loud their talk sounded in the silence.
"Well even if Eowyn gets whipped by Severus, at least she can go on knowing that she finally made the Weasleys study seriously," Poppy remarked to Auriga in a whisper.
"She will win," said Auriga stoically.
"I'm not sure," Charity murmured. "I saw Severus's classes studying pretty hard as well."
"Damn the man!" hissed Auriga vehemently.
"Well judging by what I've heard his teaching method's changed," whispered Septima. "It's more interesting."
"I don't care!" snapped Auriga. "Eowyn's got to win."
"Well shut up and don't pressure her. She's coming in now," said Charity.
Eowyn came in late, as usual, dressed in a dark golden robe with a red overcoat. The colour was much more aggressive than her usual blue, green and brown tones. But Auriga doubted it was a conscious effort. Eowyn Gondolin rarely co-ordinated her clothes for anything. She couldn't help but think, as her friend marched down the centre of the hall with head held high and hair already falling out of its confines, the golden streaks glinting like little specks of fire in the sunlight, that she looked like a real Gryffindor.
A sigh to her left, drew her attention to Lockhart, who was leaning his face upon one hand and staring dreamily at Eowyn. Instantly Auriga's thoughtful glance transformed into a scowl. Lockhart was handsome, Auriga would admit. A lot more handsome than her current boyfriend in fact. But he was also a narcissistic, self-centred idiot. And now he was eyeing one of her best friends up.
I'll have to have a word with him.
And with Severus.
She craned her neck around to catch sight of Severus. He was, after all, the man whose spite had gotten Eowyn into the Lockhart problem in the first place. Septima had told her so much as she was recovering from her (still present) hangover.
Severus too was looking thoughtful, but he wasn't looking at Eowyn. Rather he was glaring at his plate, playing with his food. He was afraid of losing. Good. Because he was going down.
"Come on Eowyn, sit with me."
Now you're pushing your luck, Lockhart!
In the silence of the hall his proclamation rang out like a shrieking gong. Everyone instantly turned in their seats to view the spectacle.
Eowyn had come to halt a little way away from her usual seat for today, between Poppy and Auriga. But Lockhart had taken her chair by use of a levitating charm and used it to move it between himself and Auriga.
Eowyn's voice was like brittle ice as she said, "I would rather sit in my usual place, Lockhart."
"But surely not." That smile was starting to fray Auriga's nerves. "If you can sit with me why not?"
"You want me to list the reasons, Lockhart?"
Minerva broke in before any of them could speak. "Lockhart, put her seat back where it was and leave it there this second."
Lockhart turned to face her, a wounded expression on his face. "I hardly think, after what transpired between us last night –"
"Bloody hell no!" exclaimed Auriga, jumping to her feet.
"You shut your effing mouth, Lockhart!" exclaimed Septima, pointing her wand at him.
"Don't you dare!" snarled Charity, teeth bared like a cat's as she spoke.
"What on earth does he mean, Eowyn?" asked Minerva.
Curse him, Lockhart had drawn the attention of the whole room. They were all looking at her as though she was wearing nothing but her underwear. Though some of the senior boys looked like that around her at a regular basis so maybe that meant nothing. Lockhart was smiling, a dashing, daredevil smile that made Auriga want to slap him. And Eowyn, curse her, was actually blushing. Would the girl never learn? Blushing sent out a message to the world. The message that you were guilty. The only problem was that Eowyn tended to do it a lot, whether guilty or otherwise.
"Well –"
"What it means," said Professor Snape, rising to his feet, his voice a silky drawl, "what it means is that Lockhart was acting like the drunken idiot that he is and Professor Gondolin happened to be in the vicinity. You know what drunk men are like, Albus." But he was looking at Eowyn as he spoke.
"I certainly do," said Dumbledore, turning to fix Lockhart with a stern glare.
"I don't think that Eowyn will be sitting next to you, Lockhart," said Minerva, moving the seat back to its original spot. Her eyes looked as though they were about to burst into flame and shoot lava at him.
Auriga was still staring at Severus. He had lied for her friend. He had lied to cover up something that had been his fault. Maybe he did have a heart after all.
oo0oo
"I officially hate Lockhart ten times more," Ron muttered, as they collapsed into their seats in Potions.
"Why ever should you –" began Hermione.
"Because now he's a git who kissed our teacher and he disturbed my revision," snapped Ron. "How could he! She doesn't give a fig for him. And on top of that, he makes it sound as though they did a lot more! Like she wanted to! I'm surprised she didn't hex him on the spot!"
"Actually I think that would be Professor Sinistra's job," said Professor Gondolin's laughing voice.
She was standing in the doorway, legs crossed with arms folded and a smile on her face. "S-sorry, Professor," said Ron, aware that you weren't supposed to gossip about your teachers' lives.
"Nothing to apologise for, Mr Weasley. But just so you know, Lockhart never got the chance to kiss me. And if he had, yes I would have hexed him." She was still smiling.
"But Snape said –"
"Snape lied. Because saying that he only tried to would not match up with Lockhart's cockiness. And there's also an inside joke in there too." She was chuckling slightly now, as she made her way over to the desk.
"What's that?" Seamus asked, unable to keep his curiosity in check.
"You must swear secrecy. If you break it I will know and take fifty points from Gryffindor for each breach, Mr Finnigan, understood?"
"Yes, Professor," said all the class in unison.
"Very well. Professor Snape was the one who was drunk."
Silence.
Finally. "Did he kiss you?" a Ravenclaw girl ventured.
Professor Gondolin smiled and for a heart-stopping second they thought she was going to say yes. "No, Miss Bendit. He might have liked to but he didn't. As he said, you know what drunk men are like. Now, on to the test. Mr Weasley, I expect one hundred percent from you."
Well you've set the bar, Ron, you'll have to jump over it ... :)