Eleanor turned over in her bed, pulling her calendar onto the bed. "THREE WEEKS" was written in bold ink on today's date and Eleanor took a second to mentally calculate the number of hours she had left. Yawning, she stretched and pulling back her hangings to find her slippers.

"Oh!" Eleanor stifled a gasp as her roommate's face came into view out of the darkness. "Marnie, um, good morning?"

Marnie gave her a look and then leaned forward, making Eleanor almost topple off her bed. If Marnie was staring her down before breakfast, that only meant one thing: a bad morning for Miss Sheldon.

"What are you doing today?" Marnie exclaimed loudly, probably waking the rest of the dormitory.

Eleanor blinked. "Studying for O.W.L.S.," she responded, biting back an "of course."

Her roommate suddenly smiled and Eleanor was taken back by the way it looked genuine; she even had dimples and her eyes lit up. "Great, I'll meet you in the library."

It took a few moments for Eleanor to regain her composure after Marnie had disappeared from the dormitory. When she finally blinked and hastily moved to stand up, she realized Suzanne was watching with raised eyebrows.

"Do you think she's tricking you into something?"

Eleanor shrugged even though she could see the scenario pan out in her mind. "I haven't done anything to upset her recently," she tried to convince herself, "she can't be still angry about the library incident. Maybe she just wants to talk?"

"Oh, right, talk. Because Marnie loves gossiping," Suzanne exclaimed with a laugh as she left to get dressed.

Sitting back down on her bed, Eleanor sighed, looking back over at her calendar. She didn't have time to listen to Marnie rant about something trivial when O.W.L.S. were only three weeks away. She didn't have time for anything but studying, but she couldn't ignore Marnie. That would only end in disaster.

And yet, wasting valuable time was also potentially disastrous.

Pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind, Eleanor pushed herself off of the bed and, trying to be as quiet as possible, got dressed and ready. Her other roommates were still sleeping which made everything more suspicious. Marnie was notorious for sleeping in and being the last to leave the dormitory.

Something was wrong.

Liam wasn't in the common room when she finished, which meant that it was still early. When did Marnie want to meet her? Was she supposed to go down to breakfast? Was she supposed to go to the library first? She didn't want to keep Marnie waiting if she was already there, but Liam probably wasn't awake and she couldn't leave without telling him where she went.

Eleanor took a moment to look around the common room and then, making up her mind, strode over to the door leading to the boys' dormitories. It took a moment to find the door labeled '5th years' and, after taking in a deep breath, she knocked softly.

She expected to hear some conversation or scrambling inside, but it was quiet. Instead, Eleanor heard a "who is it?" after a couple seconds.

For being a boys' dormitory, it certainly didn't seem chaotic.

"Eleanor Bennett," she replied, knowing that her name would imply who she wanted to see.

There was a pause. Eleanor kept waiting for whoever was at the door to start shouting for Liam, but instead, the door opened and someone who was clearly not Liam moved out into the hall.

Eleanor barely recognized him; he had to be Liam's roommate, but that was all she knew except for what she could tell by looking at him. He had slightly curly dark brown hair that fell below his ears, almost hiding his almond-shaped brown eyes. And, judging by his lack of a shirt, he liked to leave his dormitory half clothed.

"Oh," he exclaimed, his hand propping the door open. "Sorry, I forgot to grab my shirt. I was just getting dressed when you knocked." He smiled, holding out his free hand. "Joseph Carrington."

Eleanor hesitated, and then reached out to take his hand. "Ele-"

"I know. You sort of introduced yourself a couple seconds ago." He grinned at her, and then looked back in the room. "Liam's just getting dressed, he'll be a minute."

Eleanor wished she could move to see inside the room herself, but Joseph was doing a great job of blocking the door with his body. He didn't even seem fazed he was standing in front of her without a shirt and kept smiling at her.

"You know, we have all of these classes together and I don't think we've ever spoken before," he said, leaning against the door and letting it shut behind him.

"Well, I'm usually not one to go around meeting new people," Eleanor replied.

Joseph crossed his arms, looking at her so intensely that it made Eleanor feel a bit self conscious. Tilting his head to the side, he then exclaimed, "Eleanor Bennett. What an interesting name."

"I'm named after Elinor from Sense and Sensibility." When Joseph only blinked, she added, "It's a book by Jane Austen, a muggle author. I don't expect you've heard of it-"

"Sounds familiar," he cut her off. "I might have one of her novels in my library at home."

Eleanor raised her eyebrows. "You have a library in your house?"

He just shrugged. "Who doesn't?"

"Joseph!" A shout came from behind the door, complete with the sound of someone hitting it.

After a quick look back, Joseph looked at Eleanor, the corners of his mouth upturned in an amused expression. "Your boyfriend calls."

"He's not," Eleanor was quick to say, and then added, "-my boyfriend. We're best friends."

Joseph's expression curled into a smile. "Well, I guess I'll see you around then."

As soon as he backed away from the door, Liam came rushing out, giving Joseph a look before turning back to Eleanor. "Hi."

Eleanor watched as Joseph disappeared back in the dormitory.

"You...came to see me?" she heard Liam saying.

Turning her attention back to the boy in front of her, Eleanor nodded. "Marnie wants to meet me in the library and I'm going to skip breakfast-"

Liam looked at her like she was insane. She should have expected it. "You're going to meet with Marnie?"

"Yes," Eleanor said strongly, challenging him to say otherwise, "And I'm not going to be at breakfast and thought you should know."

He was staring at her and for once, Eleanor couldn't tell what he was thinking. His mouth was set in a hard line, but she didn't know if he wasangry with her. He looked as though he was trying to mask his confusion.

"Okay," he finally said, and Eleanor saw the concern flash across his face. "Just don't let her do anything to you."

Instead of reminding him of what had happened last time with Marnie, Eleanor just gave him a smile. "I doubt she wants to do anything to me. To my knowledge, we're not even fighting."

She could tell by the look on his face that he didn't quite believe her. "I'll be back in an hour," she told him, "If I'm not back, well, bring a search team." She wanted her joke to make him smile, but Liam only gave her an exasperated look. "You're not in a good mood in the morning, are you?"

He sighed, running a hand through his uncombed hair. "Just tired." He looked behind him briefly, and then gave Eleanor a weak smile. "I'll see you later then?"

It must have the stress of the impending exams that was making everybody act strange. Checking the time, Eleanor realized fifteen minutes had passed and if Marnie was already there, she was probably livid.

Going through the library doors, Eleanor found Marnie sitting on one of the tables, legs dangling off of the edge as she looked down on the floor, just out of view of Madam Pince. As soon as Eleanor began making her way over, Marnie looked up.

"Ah, Eleanor," Marnie exclaimed, not even bothering to move off of the table. Instead, she just leaned forward, kicking the chair next to her so it faced Eleanor. "Take a seat."

Eleanor knew she should have hesitated before taking the seat, but she was too interested in what Marnie wanted to wait another second. "What do you want?" Eleanor narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her.

Leaning forward again, Marnie rested her chin on her hands, a slight smirk appearing on her face. "You're very suspicious."

"Should I be?"

Marnie laughed. "I'm just seeking you out for help."

Eleanor didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. The number of things Marnie could need help with was extensive and frightening. Not to mention she was asking Eleanor Bennett for help, the girl she loved to torment. "You need my help?"

The other girl shrugged, looking away from Eleanor. "You're the smartest in our year, aren't you?" Without even waiting for a response, Marnie continued, "I need help with studying for O.W.L.S. I'm terrible at sitting down and concentrating on memorizing subjects and I know that's what you excel at. I know we're not exactly friends, but I just need a study partner, that's it."

"You want me to help you with exams when I have to worry about my own grades?"

Marnie snorted. "Oh, come on, Eleanor. Stop being so selfish. I need help, you can learn while helping me, it's a win-win. I don't know why you're whining."

Eleanor paused, and then said, "You just want someone to study with?"

Marnie shrugged, twirling a quill between her fingers. "That's it."

Grabbing Marnie's arm, Eleanor pulled her down into the seat next to her. "Fine, but if you want help, we're going to start right now." Eleanor pulled forward the nearest book, ignoring the look on Marnie's face. She couldn't protest now.

-x-

"And then in 1612, there was a goblin rebellion that took place in the vicinity of Hogsmeade and the Inn was used as – are you even listening?"

Eleanor let out a sigh of frustration as Marnie gazed off at the far wall of the library, her quill against her cheek. She didn't seem to hear Eleanor's question and instead asked, "You want to know something?"

Eleanor scoffed, not even bothering to answer. She knew exactly what Marnie was doing: not taking studying seriously and forgetting to pay attention to the material again. Eleanor knew she shouldn't have believed that Marnie actually needed help. It was probably a trick to get her to waste time before her exams and-

"I wish I had a friend like Liam."

Raising her eyebrows, Eleanor turned to the musing girl. "Why?"

Marnie shrugged, not taking her eyes off of the opposite wall. "Everyone wants a friend like Liam, you know. Not just me. I mean, I can get to you through him. You know how much loyalty and trust that takes? He's completely devoted to you – sickening at times, but I'd kill for it."

"Yeah, he's-"

"I can't believe you're not going out with him."

"You know, Olivia said the same thing and-"

Marnie sighed loudly. "He's good looking and he cares for you and he's a good kisser, you probably didn't know that, but he is and you really don't expect anything?"

"No, I don't." Eleanor was beginning to get used to this reasoning. Evidently, everyone thought the same thing even when it was completely false. "Anyway, they used the Inn as the headquarters for the rebellion-"

"Ugh!" Marnie growled, pushing back her chair and standing up slightly. "I need to stand up and walk and breathe. Five minute break." Without even waiting for Eleanor's okay, Marnie disappeared behind a bookshelf.

Rubbing her temples, Eleanor tried to ignore the massive headache that was threatening to erupt. She could feel the pulse beneath her skin and she knew it was only a matter of time before she was going to lose her patience. It was almost lunch and she didn't even get to have breakfast, her stomach was rumbling and she just couldn't concentrate anymore and something was touching her leg-

Her leg swung forward, colliding with something big under the table. "Ow!"

Scrambling out of her seat, Eleanor dropped to the floor to see Liam clutching his side and glaring at her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"You weren't supposed to kick me!" Liam protested, "Those shoes of yours are deadly."

"What are you doing under the table?" Eleanor repeated, glancing up quickly to see if Marnie was coming back.

"I didn't know where you were!" Liam responded. "You said to call the search party after an hour and it's been three. I thought Marnie killed you and was hiding the body."

"Why are you under the table?"

"I was being sneaky. Trying not to let Marnie see me and attack me too."

Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Well, as you can see, I'm alive and well."

"Well?" He chuckled at that. "You're frustrated and starving. Here, I brought you some toast from breakfast." He held out the food in his other hand. "Only two slices though. Joseph was being a monster this morning, eating everything, it was just disgusting."

With a laugh, Eleanor took the food from him. "Thanks."

Liam smiled. "You're welcome."

Eleanor looked behind him, noticing the feet quickly approaching the table. "Marnie's coming," she whispered, almost laughing when she saw the look of horror pass across Liam's face.

"Got to go," he said quickly, "enjoy breakfast," he added before crawling back out the opposite way.

How he managed to crawl away without being seen by Marnie had to be a miracle.


I know I'm a bit late, but I was actually busy for once in my life. But it's still a quicker update than usual. Yay!

Thanks so much for reading! I'm loving reading your reviews and everything!