The common room had begun to empty as the prospect of dinner lured the Ravenclaws away from their half transfigured tree frogs and smoking pink potions, and down into the Great Hall. Vaila however was still curled up in her armchair, now halfway through a chapter she'd managed to miss altogether about the dangers of performing switching spells on animals. She was so engrossed in the book that she didn't hear Matt come in. He walked slowly over towards her chair, and spoke softly, so as not to startle her.

"Vaila," he called. She looked up at him over her book.

"Oh, hi," she answered.

"Still reading?"

"Yeah, just found a load of stuff I didn't even know was in here, so I've got to catch up on that now."

Matt shook his head at Vaila. "You're panicking too much about these exams Vi," he said soothingly, his camp voice back in place. "How about taking a break and spending time in the company of your favourite Casanova?"

Vaila gave Matt a half pleading, half exasperated look. "I've really got to read this Matt, I'll never get through Transfiguration if I don't know it."

Matt dropped his head and his camp voice. "Look Vaila, you're far more intelligent than you give yourself credit for, and if you carry on panic-studying like this, you're going to burn yourself out. Just take half an hour and come down to dinner…"

Vaila cut him off. "Matt just drop it, ok? Maybe you goofed around throughout your OWLs but I'm not going to."

Matt stood up and took a step backwards. "What are you implying Vaila?"

"Nothing," she said sounding frustrated. "It's just that, well, you've got your NEWTs coming up, and you seem more concerned with spending time on your music than preparing."

"At least I'm actually doing something other than working myself into a stupor Vaila," snapped Matt, feeling his temper rising. Vaila got to her feet and slammed her book down on the chair.

"I know exactly what I'm doing," she snapped back. "I'm working hard so I can do my best in these exams, and I'm not going to let anything distract me."

"Not even me?" Matt's face had gone from tense and angry to shocked and pale. "Getting through these exams means more to you than I do?"

"Matt, it's not a case of what means more, this just has to take priority at the moment," Vaila snapped. "You know, like your music sometimes has to take priority over me."

"I never put my music before you!" Matt cried, the colour flooding back to his cheeks.

"Which is why you couldn't take me Christmas shopping in Hogsmeade?"

"We were playing at the Christmas ball Vaila, I had to practice!"

"And when I collapsed in Herbology – it took you three hours to notice I wasn't around!"

"I had no idea what'd happened, no one told me!" There was a quaver in his voice now.

"Face it Matt, there's other things in this world that have to come before our relationship, and if you can't understand that… well…"

Without finishing her sentence, Vaila stormed across the common room heading towards the stairs, furiously blinking back tears. Matt caught her by the arm as she went.

"What are you saying Vi?" he asked, his voice very quiet and subdued.

Vaila wrenched her arm out of his grip. "Maybe we're not Hogwarts' most perfect couple after all," she said quietly, and, turning her back on him, she walked off up the girls' staircase without a backward glance.

Matt sank into a nearby chair, his face pale, trying to work out where it had all gone wrong.