The first few weeks at Hogwarts flew by. Eloise and the other Seventh Years were quickly loaded up with homework, getting them prepared for their N.E.W.T.s. Eloise honestly thought it was just a way to keep the of-age Witches and Wizards torturously occupied throughout the last year, and it was definitely working. She'd already completed twenty-three essays across Transfiguration, Potions, DADA, Charms, Herbology, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures, as well as multiple practical exams and multiple assigned chapters. Eloise cursed Mary for being so optimistic about this year, getting that false sense of security in her head.

Eloise scowled as she stormed towards the Library, hoping to get at least two of her essays done by tonight. She actually wanted to enjoy her weekend for once! She was thankful she wasn't on the Quidditch Team or a Prefect, she thought she would explode if she had to do anything else on top of her studies. She marched straight to the magical creatures section, wondering why on Earth Professor Hagrid of all people was assigning a 5 foot essay. She knew that he hated assigning essays and hated marking them even more! Once she had gathered as many books on hippogriffs and griffins as she could, she scowled at the size of her stack. She turned on her heels and grumbled under her breath as she headed towards her usual study table. She dropped the books onto the table, making the occupants jump.

"Jeez E- Are you trying to read the entire library by the time you graduate or something?" Hugo demanded, eyeing the rather large stack in horror.

"Never," growled out Eloise, slumping down in her chair, "Do your bloody N.E.W.T.s. Just give up once you've got your O.W.L.s."

"Elle, you're taking seven bloody N.E.W.T.s. Aunty Mimi did seven and Uncle Ron told me she went mad in her Seventh Year." Lily shuddered.

"He also says that she was mad to come back and finish them after the Battle of Hogwarts in the first place. Dad and Uncle Harry didn't finish school, they went straight into the Auror's department." Hugo added in.

"Well, I don't have a crazy wizard trying to kill everybody to get me out of my bloody N.E.W.T.s." Eloise grumbled, dragging her first book towards her. "Where are Lysander and Julie?"

"Lysander finished this essay yesterday, lucky git. I've got no idea where Julie is, but if she wants to come she can. She knows where we are." Hugo shrugged. Eloise nodded absently- Lily and Eloise regularly studied together in the hours between the last lesson and dinner, while Hugo, Lysander and Julie all floated in and out. Sometimes Hugo and Lily's cousin, Lucy, joined in, but she mostly went to her older sister Molly or her housemates if she had any problems. As Eloise had demonstrated, it wasn't like she didn't have work to do and Lily had told her she liked the routine they had. Eloise knew that Lily often got her work done by dinner, only being a Third Year with two electives, and spent her evenings goofing around with her housemates while Eloise sat in the corner, surrounded by more books. She wasn't the only student, with both the Fifth and Seventh Years being loaded up with homework.

The three worked quietly together, occasionally asking for help with phrasing something. Lily and Hugo often wanted to ask Eloise a more in-depth question, but after they took one look at her rather large stack of books and the scattered papers around her, coupled with her desperate scribbling and frantically scanning eyes, they backed off. They could work it out themselves… eventually.

"I know I'm not that much help tonight guys. Half an hour before we have to head down to dinner, give me your essays and I'll have a look at what you've got. Is that okay?" Eloise spoke up as she closed the fifth book of the night, having taken what she needed. She rolled her neck as Lily and Hugo looked up and grinned.

"You're the best, Elle!" They chimed. Lily continued to talk as Hugo turned back to his essay, "I think I'm done for now though. Do you want any help with your reading?" She asked sweetly. Eloise smiled at the girl and shook her head.

"I'm okay Lils, you should go find Julie." Lily wasn't having it, and moved her chair around to sit beside Eloise and started looking through her notes.

"What's the essay on?" Lily asked absently.

"Describe the physical and magical properties of the Hippogriff and Griffin." Eloise recited, pointing towards the title written on one of the papers. Lily skimmed through that page, where Eloise had detailed what to research while listening to Professor Hagrid during lesson.

"I should do this in class. No wonder I flounder around when I get to the library, I'm fried by the time I get here."

"Age and wisdom, my love." Eloise muttered, making Lily roll her eyes and shove the older girl.

"Gimme that book there, Elle." Lily instructed, pulling a spare piece of parchment from Elle's pile and clearing herself a space. Eloise shook her head at the younger girl, who stared back stubbornly.

"Dinner is just over an hour away, by the time I hike up the tower I'll have like twenty minutes before I have to climb all the way back down again. I'd rather just stay here and bring our bags to the Great Hall. You look at my paper, I'll take some notes for you. Agreed?" Although she asked, Lily was already passing her paper to Eloise and reaching over Eloise for the book she'd set her eyes on. Eloise rolled her eyes and skimmed through Lily's essay on Shrinking Solutions.

"Pretty good Lils, you've just forgotten that you have to vigorously shake the wormwood thoroughly before adding it to the cauldron- stirring vigorously won't be enough to fully activate the wormwood. Depending on how activated the wormwood is, you could end up with only some limbs being shrunk, or a mild case of poisoning." Eloise explained, handing the paper back.

"Do you just… remember everything?" Hugo asked in awe, as Lily took back her homework and scribbled Eloise's notes in the margins. Eloise just grinned at his question.

"I had to write an essay last week on the properties of wormwood." Eloise giggled at the look on Hugo's face and turned back to the book she was reading.

Forty five minutes later, Lily and Eloise had skimmed through the remaining three books, writing down everything they could remember. Eloise was skimming through Hugo's homework, humming and making a few notes in the margins. Hugo was great at potions, he just still didn't have the hang of the differences between 'chop, slice, dice and mince' down yet. Hugo liked to rush through, he wasn't the most patient of boys.

Eloise just had to grab some books for her second essay (a considerably shorter three-foot essay on the risks of cross-magical being transfiguration), and the girls and Hugo could head down to dinner. Lily had already gathered up Eloise's books ("Merlin Elle, they're heavy!") and had scurried off to the Magical Creatures section. Hugo was leaning on the back legs of his chair, watching Eloise as she organised her scraps of parchment, chatting away about a boring revision lesson of Puffapods.

"C'mon dude, I've got to quickly get some books and we can go. I wonder what's taking Lily so long?" Eloise and Hugo wandered their way to the shelves, where Eloise quickly picked out another five books and made her way to Madam Spruce. She barely looked at the books Eloise had before signing them off to her. After all, Eloise had always returned her books, and she was here practically every day.

"Where the hell did Lily go?" Hugo looked around for his cousin, sticking his head down aisles as they walked around.

"She's probably waiting outside for us. C'mon, dinner started ten minutes ago and I'm starving." Eloise nudged the ginger, pushing him towards the door. But Lily wasn't waiting outside when they left the library. Hugo and Eloise looked down the corridors, but Lily was nowhere to be seen.

"Guys! Let's go, I'm starving!" Lily suddenly spoke from behind them.

"Where have you been? Why are you so red?" Hugo immediately pounced on his cousin. Lily said nothing, but her eyes darted excitedly over to Eloise, shining in excitement. The three of them walked down to the Great Hall together, Hugo rapidly quizzing his cousin about where she disappeared to ("I just don't understand how you disappeared into thin air Lils! Just tell me!"). Lily had threaded her arms through Eloise's and was practically skipping alongside her. Hugo and Eloise exchanged perplexed glances, but Eloise said nothing as Hugo persisted.

Eloise didn't have to wait long to find out. Just before they walked into the Great Hall, Lily pulled Eloise behind Hugo, brimming with excitement. She glanced to make sure he'd gone into the Great Hall before she burst.

"Stefan Peterson asked me to Hogsmeade!" She exploded, letting out excited giggles as she bounced around on her toes. She threw her arms around Eloise and threw her head back and laughed. Eloise giggled at her giddy friend and let herself be spun around, clutching her stack of books tightly to her chest.

"Alright, alright! Who's this Stefan Peterson?"

"He's a Fourth Year Ravenclaw. He's so handsome and funny and sweet!" Lily gushed. Eloise tried to think of any Fourth Years she knew but admittedly, she didn't know that many.

"What's he like though? How do you know him?"

"I've seen him around at a couple of Mum's work party things- his mum or dad must work in the League or something, I dunno. But we had a dance together over the summer, and we've exchanged a few letters over summer." Lily explained in a rush, "I didn't think much was gonna happen from it, especially since we've barely seen each other since being back at school. This is amazing!" Lily exclaimed.

"You didn't want to tell Hugo about it?"

"If I told him, he would tell James and Albus, who would tell Rose and Scorp and probably Fred and Louis, who would tell-" Eloise interrupted her with a laugh.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You have a crazy, nosy family who would give you hell about it." Lily grinned at her older friend, eyes shining hopefully.

"So you won't tell them?"

"Of course not, Lils." Eloise assured her. She knew how much the Potter/Weasley gang babied Lily, despite the fact that Hugo was actually the baby of the family, and how much it annoyed the teenanger. And after all, it was just a date, what's the worst that could happen?

"When's the first Hogsmeade weekend, anyway?" Lily asked, moving towards the Great Hall, Eloise falling into step beside her.

"Usually it's the last weekend of October. So it'll probably be the day before Halloween." Eloise mused as they made their way down to the Gryffindor table.

"That's only a couple of weeks away!" Lily grinned in excitement, turning her head to scan the Ravenclaw table. Her grin grew wider as she saw something- or rather, someone. Eloise followed her line of sight and noticed a boy with artfully styled hair, complete with a fade and a carefully placed side-part, smiling impishly at Lily.

"Not bad looking, for a Fourth Year, anyway." Eloise muttered, before the girls dissolved into giggles. Lily threw her arm around Eloise and squeezed tightly.

"Thanks." She whispered, before quickly withdrawing from Eloise and running off to presumably tell her dorm mates about Stefan. Eloise took a seat further up the table, piling her books down beside her and jamming her bag down under the table by her feet. She then turned to the salad and started piling up her plate. She looked up to see Rose Weasley eyeing her curiously from across the table. Eloise stared back as she reached over for some chicken.

"I'm Rose Granger-Weasley. We met on the train." She finally introduced herself. Rather than remind her that everybody knew who she was (she was the daughter of bloody Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley after all), Eloise simply smiled at the other girl and held out her hand.

"I'm Eloise Murphy-Jones." Rose's face went from curious to realisation in seconds as she lightly took the other girl's hand.

"Oh, duh! You must be Elle!" Rose exclaimed. Eloise raised her eyebrow as she looked at the younger girl, pulling her hand away from Rose's.

"You're all Lily spoke about over the summer. We thought that you were in her year." Rose told her. Eloise raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"That's kinda sweet." Eloise mused, turning to look at Lily, who was aptly paying attention to something one of her fellow Third Years was saying.

"So I'm guessing that they weren't actually bothering you on the train?" Rose raised a delicate eyebrow.

"I like them." Eloise said simply, reaching over to pour herself some juice.

"Even Hugo?"

"He's not that bad. Wicked talented with Herbology." Rose grinned, looking over at the Hufflepuff table, where Hugo was now sitting with Julie and some of their friends.

"You should see his shed at home. Mum really encourages our hobbies, you know. She had Dad build Hugo a greenhouse when Hugo came home from holidays one year. The kid was ecstatic." Rose said fondly.

"I remember. I think it's sweet that your mum looks after the greenhouse over the school year. He'd be devastated if they died every winter." Eloise grinned, remembering the letter she'd received from Hugo that year, the ink smudged as Hugo had rushed to write it out in his excitement.

"Hey Rose!" Eloise looked up to see Scorpius and Albus rushing towards her, big grins on their faces. The pair were known to join Rose at the Gryffindor table, and vice versa.

"I don't know how Divination is a subject." Scorpius complained.

"It's not that bad, mate." Albus dismissed his mate, wrapping his arm around Rose and giving her a quick hug before pulling away and reaching for the sausages.

"We should have dropped it in Fourth Year. No, Third Year." Scorpius grumbled, glaring at Albus like it was his fault. Eloise was inclined to agree with the Malfoy- Divination was total bollocks.

"Pull an Aunt Mimi." Albus snorted. Rose let out an annoyed groan and slapped her cousin across the shoulder.

"That was one time, Al!" Rose exclaimed, although she was giggling as she said it.

"Maybe we should have just taken the Astrological Reading course instead of the Human Seerseeking." Before the Battle of Hogwarts, there was a time where a Centaur, Firenze, had taught Divination. While the old Divination teacher was reinstated after a year, the Centaur had continued to teach his version of Divination, as he had been exiled from his herd. Although they had welcomed him back after the Battle of Hogwarts, he still continued to teach his ways of star-searching.

"I mean, Human Seerseeking sounded way cooler in Second Year." Albus admitted, taking a bite of his sausage.

"I don't see how taking a lesson from a Centaur is the shitty option, but whatever floats your boat." Rose interjected.

"Then why didn't you take it?" Scorpius exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

"Because I am obviously not a Centaur. What use would it be to me?" Rose said in what was definitely a condescending tone.

"Divination seemed like a good way to be able to pick up birds." Albus shrugged. If he had heard the tone in his cousin's voice, he gave no inclination.

"And lessons with a Centaur isn't?" Scorpius countered, buttering a dinner roll.

"You're both absolute morons." Rose slapped her palm against her forehead and slumped against the table, while the boys roared with laughter at her.

"Hey Eloise!" Eloise turned from the Fifth Years to see Gabby approaching her, changed out of her robes and a smile on her face. She sat down next to Eloise and poured herself some juice.

"I've noticed you've been spending literally all of your time with your nose in a book. Is everything okay? How are you coping with your N.E. ?" Eloise looked at Gabby in surprise. Over the last few weeks, Eloise had withdrawn as her assignments piled up and she assumed that they had all fallen into their friendships groups of the years past.

"Uh yeah, I've just got a fair bit of homework, is all."

"Dude, just a bit? You're always surrounded in parchment whenever I see you. How many NEWTs are you taking again? I've got five and I want to die." Gabby joked.

"I've got seven, but I'm regretting that decision. Immensely." Eloise grumbled, inspecting her forkful of salad dejectedly before taking a bite.

"Merlin, Eloise! That's insane! Why are you doing that to yourself?" Gabby looked both impressed and horrified.

"I dunno what I want to do yet, so I just kept my options open."

"But, seven?"

"What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment." Eloise said dryly. Gabby snorted and nudged Eloise's shoulder.

"Whether you're a glutton or not, wanna take a break tonight? Come chill with me and the others? Promise we won't bite." Eloise pulled on her lip, weighing up her options.

"Honestly, I was going to try smash out my last two essays tonight to have my weekend free for once."

"That's perfect! The girls and I were going to head down to the library on Sunday and do the same thing. We all reckon we've been working our asses off, we deserve a Saturday off. How about you dump these books into the dorm tonight, and you can revisit them on Sunday with us?" Eloise was going to say no, but one look at Gabby's big grin and she couldn't. Gabby was right, she didn't need to have the whole weekend.

"Yeah, alright."

"Perfect! I think we could all do with a break from all this damn N.E.W.T. work."

"No kidding." Eloise snorted. She glanced around the Great Hall, taking in all the gleeful students, happily chatting away, probably relieved it was Friday (especially the younger years). She caught the eye of Dominique and Emma, who saw her looking and made their way towards them.

"Gabby reckons a chill out night. You in Jones, or are you studying?" Emma asked, although not unkindly. She sat down next to Eloise, glancing down at her stack of books between them, "Awh, I'm guessing that's an out then?"

"Actually, I've convinced our lovely Eloise here to put the bloody books away."

"A miracle! " Eloise leaned forward over Emma and Gabby to see the Weasley girl giving her a teasing grin.

"I can't believe it's October already." Emma groaned.

"As soon as we get down to bloody Hogsmeade, I'm gonna need a few of the Weasley's Skiving Snackboxes and a whole goddamn bunch of chocolate." Dominique agreed, poking at the food in front of her grumpily. Then she looked up hopefully, down the table towards Fred, "Surely Uncle George can get me a discount. Or Uncle Ron." Her eyes flew to Rose, who was still bickering with Albus and Scorpius across the table.

"You owl Dad, Dom. It's not like he's your uncle or anything." Rose said, not even turning her head. Eloise and Emma snorted, but Dominique was unfazed.

"But Rosie, you're his little girl! He'd do anything for you." Dominique pleaded, batting her eyelashes.

"Not gonna work Dom, I'm not Liam." Rose dismissed. Beside Eloise, Emma roared in laughter.

"What's the point of being a Weasley if I don't get any family perks?" Dominique jokingly grumbled.

"There there, Dom, it's okay." Gabby said mockingly, reaching out to rub Dominque's shoulder. She rolled her eyes and started to eat her dinner.

"Well, that was dramatic." Eloise said dryly, making Emma turn to her with a grin.

"Dramatic is Dominque's middle name."

"Oh I know. Remember the hairbrush debacle of Third Year?" Eloise laughed.

"Or the time they stopped serving hash browns during breakfast for like, two days?" Gabby added with a laugh.

"Don't forget what happens as soon as it gets chilly, or starts to warm up for that matter." Emma added. The girls began to laugh at Dominque, who dramatically pouted at them. The girls continued to giggle over Dominque's dramatics. The girl in question eventually flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned her back on the girls, although she couldn't quite hide her giggles.

"C'mon Eloise, let's go dump your books in the dorms. Wanna change out of your robes while we're there?" Gabby asked, already climbing her way out of the bench. Eloise nodded, taking one last gulp of her juice and clambering up as well.

"We'll see you guys in a bit?" Eloise offered to the Emma and Dominique.

"Hell yeah!" Emma agreed, beckoning Dominique to quickly eat. The girl had barely eaten anything, too busy playing around with the girls. The girls quickly dissolved into conversation and Gabby tore Eloise away, pulling her out of the Great Hall and towards the tower.

"C'mon!" Gabby giggled, pulling Eloise up the stairs. Gabby pulled the books from Eloise's hands and threw them unceremoniously onto Eloise's bed. Eloise rolled her eyes and gathered the books up, placing them in a neat stack on her nightstand. Her bag followed, being shoved between her bed and nightstand. Gabby, on the other hand, had beelined it straight for Eloise's trunk.

"We need something that says 'cute but not too cute', you know?" Gabby informed her, pulling out Eloise's favourite pair of jeans. Her white sneakers soon followed after, and Gabby was left pawing through Eloise's jumpers.

"You don't have any cute sweaters or anything?" Gabby asked. Eloise sank down on her knees beside Gabby and watched the other girl dig through her clothes. Eventually Gabby tossed a brown sweater at her friend.

"Go get changed, girly. We have a party to get to."

Thanks for reading!