19 – Exams

HG

The start of the exams was tomorrow, making everyone a little bit on edge. The sun was shining brightly but there wasn't a sound in the air; No laughing, joking or playing games, even the twins stayed quiet. The library was packed with students, every table filled and stuffed with books and parchments. The common room too was silent, only the sound of pages being turned or a quill scratching on parchment filled the room. But that's not where you could find Hermione, no. Not even in her dormitory, which was empty. You could find her outside, studying, enjoying the sun. She sat underneath a big oak tree, overlooking the black lake, next to her Katie, Alicia and Angelina. They were all sitting on a large picnic blanket, their books spread around them as they studied. Bottles of water and pumpkin juice lay in the shadow, under the tree, next to boxes of candy. Hermione was nibbling on a sugar quill, going over the material for her herbology exam tomorrow, when three shadows fell on her. She turned away from her book and looked up, her sugar quill still in her mouth.

"Mind if we join?" George grinned.

"You know we are studying, don't you?" Hermione asked surprised as she cocked an eyebrow.

"We know." Fred said as he flopped himself down in front of her. George sitting on his right and Lee shuffled himself between Alicia and Angelina, who both scoffed. "You all will witness a very rare phenomenon."

"Something you will see maybe two or three times in your life."

"The infamous Weasley twins on a study bender." The twins said, finishing each other sentences; grinning. The girls all rolled their eyes as they turned back to their books.

"Alright... If you promise to stay quiet and really study, you can get a candy." She waved her hand over the boxes, the twins eyes getting comically wide. "But only if you're quiet." She said sternly at the boys, particularly to the twins as Lee was already busy in his potions book. The twins nodded exaggerated in silence as they took out their books from their bag and dived in. Hermione smiled before she looked back down to her own book. After an hour of complete silence, she grabbed some acid pops and tossed it to the three boys. The three of them jumped up a little as the pops landed on their books before the three of them looked up grinning.

"Thanks!" They said in unison. They tore off the plastic and popped them in their mouths and returned back to their books. Hermione grinned at the boys before tossing the girls some acid pops too, all nibbling on their candy as they continue to study, scribbling down notes, going over their previous essays as the sun started to descent.

Then the twins simultaneously slammed their books shut when the sun disappeared behind the castle, making all the others jump up in surprise.

"I think we've studied enough." George said stuffing his books in his bag.

"Yes, I think it's time for dinner." Fred said already standing up, rubbing his stomach. Hermione frowned as she looked at her watch and then up the sky.

"I didn't notice it was getting so late." Hermione said looking up at the boys, who were already towering over her.

"We better get to the great hall, before dinner is over." Katia said as she started to pack her bags, the other girls followed her actions.

HG

After dinner the boys convinced the girls to take a break and play one of Angelina's muggle games. Hermione held back, still holding her schoolbooks as the others walked to the table near the fire. When the twins noticed her missing, when they neared the sofa, they turned and walked over.

"Come on, little Granger." He coaxed.

"I don't know. I still have a lot of work to do." She said eyeing the books in her arms.

"Just one game, pleeeaaaaase." George said pouting. "We studied with you-"

"All afternoon! You must know how hard that was for us."

"Just one game." George said putting his index finger in the air in front of him.

"Okay, just one." Hermione sighed in defeat but couldn't help a small smile as the twins jumped up in glee. She followed the twins to the fire and George quickly dived in Angelina's stack of games, looking at the boxes and tossing them aside.

"Oi Weasley, careful! What are you looking for anyway?" George mumbled something as he kept looking at the boxes. "What was that?"

"I've got it!" He grinned triumphant, holding out risk. He heard Hermione groan from the other side of the table.

"You've planned this." Hermione said, leaning her head on her hands.

"You don't have proof." George snickered as he placed the board on the table.

"This is going to take ages!" Hermione said, as Angelina helped George set up.

"You said one game, little Granger. Didn't say which one." Fred grinned as he grabbed the cards from the box.

"Give me the cards, Rusty!" Hermione said, holding out her hand. "You don't know what to do."

"Fine." Fred pouted, handing them over. 'So, you're playing?"

"Yes, and I'll destroy you both." Hermione grinned devilishly, before she looked over at George. "Can I have the green ones?"

George grabbed the little pawns and handed them over as Angelina re-read the rules. Angelina looked up and counted the heads around the table. "We need to team up, or at least two of us."

"Why don't I play alone, then the rest of you can team up." Hermione suggested as she organized her army.

"You're that confidant?" The twins asked, pairing up, grabbing the yellow soldiers. Hermione just grinned at them as she shuffled the mission cards. Katie paired up with Lee and Alicia with Angelina. Hermione and Angelina explained the game as everyone took a mission card and counted their army. Everyone had their army neatly assembled in front of them, except for the twins; their horses, soldiers and canons were piled up in a big heap.

After an hour the twins were defeated on their last territory in Australia, chucking their paws at each other, blaming one another for their loss.

"You said an island was safe, that they couldn't get to us!"

"I told you we should've attacked Lee and Katie in Asia!" They argued, grabbing each other's sleeve.

"Boys!" The girls called out, making the bicker stop. The twins looked up, dropping their hands to their side, before they tossed their defeated army back in the box.

"I told you, I would defeat you." Hermione grinned as she rolled the dice. The twins simultaneously stuck out their tongue to her. The twins stood up and sat down next to her, each on one side. "What are you doing?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Help you."

"Help me? You two just lost in a spectacular way."

"We are quite spectacular, yes." George grinned.

"Why don't you two just watch and I'll show you how to really play." Hermione said, Angelina laughed and winked before she looked over at the board.

"But that's boring." Fred whined.

"Then go do something else, maybe study?"

"Done enough studying today for the next two years."

"A bit dramatic don't you think?" She said before turning to the others. "Katie, Lee? It's your turn."

The two of them looked up surprised, not quite following how the game works, they glanced at their mission card again before the passed and added an army man or two. The time ticked by, and Katie and Lee's army was getting smaller by the minute. Angelina gave their army one last blow and they were out too. Katie and Lee just shrugged as they leaned back and watched the others continue to play. The twins kept whispering ideas and instructions in her ear as the game continued.

"Can you two please shut up!" Hermione glared at the boys next to her. Hermione looked back to Angelina and saw that Alicia fell asleep as Angelina took charge of their army. "Should we wake her?"

Angelina looked down next to her, to her sleeping best friend. "No, let's finish this and we can go upstairs together."

"Alright." Hermione grabbed a pillow from the sofa behind her and put it against her back for more support. Katie and Lee were in a deep conversation together, hunched over their schoolbooks on a small table nearby. The twins made themselves more comfortable, leaning their heads on the sofa, stifling a yawn. "Better get started, before everyone else falls asleep." She snickered looking at the twins.

It was a real stand-off between Angelina and Hermione both not willing to let the other one win. It was an hour and a half later when there was finally a victor. The victor jumped up in glee, making the sleeping girl next to her stir.

"Congrats Ange, you made this really interesting." Hermione smiled up at the second year.

"Thanks, Hermione. We better wake everyone up." Angelina said, looking around at all their friends fast asleep in the common room.

Hermione wanted to stand up but was pinned down by the twins. Fred's head had dropped to her shoulder about twenty minutes ago, fast asleep. While George made himself real comfortable as he had placed his head on her lap, snoring slightly.

"Need any help?" A voice said from behind her. She craned her neck and saw a familiar mop of red hair. "This is the second time one of my brothers is asleep, next to you. In this case two."

"If you don't mind?" Hermione smiled up at him. Charlie grinned as he walked past the sofa. "Angelina and I were in a battle of a lifetime. And the others got a bit... tired."

"I see that." Charlie laughed as he looked at the sleeping Gryffindors and the boardgame. Angelina was waking up Alicia from her deep sleep, her eyes slowly opened in confusion. "Fred..."

"Not my canons." Fred grumbled in his sleep. Hermione snickered before she turned to George.

"Georgie? Wake up."

"No, Hermione, no study." George said turning his head. Hermione rolled her eyes while Charlie looked down amused.

"Then it's the hard way." She sighed as she pinched the twins on their arms. "George! Fred! Wake up!"

Fred's head popped up and looked tiredly around the room, rubbing his eyes. "Huh?"

"You fell asleep, mate." Charlie said nudging his head to Hermione. Fred looked over and saw George on her lap wide-eyed. Fred had to hold back a laugh, seeing his twin in a panic.

"I'm sorry, Hermione." George said, quickly standing up. "I didn't mean to."

"You just fell asleep, don't worry about it." Hermione smiled as Charlie pulled her up. "Thanks, Charlie."

George was still standing there nervously as Katie and Lee came up with small eyes. Hermione stepped a bit closer and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Hey George. It's okay, really."

"I never fell asleep on someone besides Fred." He said, rubbing his neck.

"I see it as a compliment then." Hermione smiled up at him, chuckling at his confused expression. "That means you trust me."

"Oh... But of course, I trust you." He said more excitingly, trying to get past the awkwardness. "You're our little Granger."

"Oi, that my nickname for her." Fred called from behind her.

"Shut it, Rusty." Hermione and George said in unison, looking at the other twin. They looked surprised at each other before they burst out laughing.

HG

Hermione and Katie stepped out of their Herbology exam the next day a light flourish in their step as they made their way to the great hall. Seeing the familiar mop of red hair, they walked up closer.

"It looks like it went well?" Alicia asked as she saw them walk in.

"Yes, brilliant actually." Hermione grinned as she sat down next to Lee, Katie next to Alicia.

"How about you guys?" Katie asked looking at the second years. "Didn't you have potions today?"

"Yeah, so you know it was brutal. But I think we did fairly well." George said, Fred nodding in agreement, his mouth full of eggs and bacon.

"I'm glad we had potions first." Lee said, putting his goblet down on the table. "That's the hardest one for me, so I'm glad that that's out of the way."

"Yeah, same for me. Next we have charms, you?"

"History of Magic." Katie groaned, dropping her head in her arms. Alicia chuckled as she patted her back.

"Want to go over it before we leave?" Hermione asked, looking concerned for her best friend.

"No, please, no!" Katie almost yelled. The others all laughed at Katie's outburst, Fred almost chocking on his lunch.

The next week went by slow as the days went long, as everyone studied until late at night. Hermione found her way back to the library and studied in silence across from Cedric. Who recently had a panic attack as he thought he messed up his Transfiguration exam. As Hermione walked him over to the hospital wing for a calming draught, she transfigured a piece of parchment in a paper bag for him to breath in. When they arrived at the hospital wing, they went over the questions he had earlier, to ease his mind as Madam Pomfrey prepared the potion.

"Do you feel better now?" Hermione asked as they walked out of the hospital wing.

"Yes. It's been a while since I had a panic attack."

"You had them before?" Hermione glanced sideways at him.

"When I was younger, I had them frequently after I saw my uncle get in an accident. But they stopped, or at least I thought they did. The last time I had one was over three years ago."

Hermione frowned as she looked at him. "Let's make a deal, next year we'll study together and make each other take a break before we crash, alright?"

"It's a deal." Cedric grinned. "Only one exam to go this year."

"And no more studying, you know enough." Hermione laughed as they walked through the corridors.

2 more chapters to go!