It's finally SPRING BREAK! Wohoo! That means that maybe another chapter or two will go up. We'll see.

Thanks to those of you who have been reviewing! But I'd like to mention one thing; if you don't like my story, I don't mind you telling me that, BUT I want constructive critism. Why don't you like it, etc etc. I've gotten an ocasional "it's not very good" or "i don't really like it" ... ok. But why! I can't make my writing better if you don't tell me how to improve it.

But as usual, hope you enjoy, and R&R!

Chapter 12: Snails and O.W.L.s

Minerva had been starting all of her 5th year classes with the same speech about O.W.L.s.

"You cannot pass an O.W.L. without serious application, practice, and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an O.W.L. in Transfiguration as long they put in the work."

A little noise of despair came from Neville Longbottom. Really, the boy had no self confidence.

"Yes, you too, Longbottom. There's nothing wrong with your work except lack of confidence. And I'm sure several of your classmates would be more than happy to help you," she said, catching Celia's eye.

"So today, we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until N.E.W.T. level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your O.W.L."

And with that, she started passing out snails for her class to start Vanishing. She was quite certain the Hermione, and maybe Celia, would be the only ones to complete the task. And without fail, a couple minutes later, Hermione announced that she had Vanished her snail, and Minerva awarded 10 points to Gryffindor. Soon after that, Celia gave a small cry of victory. But when Minerva came over to her table, she pointed to the small tail of the snail that was still on the table.

Well, she almost got it.

"What! Oh, that's so not fair," grumbled Celia as she quickly Vanished the still moving tail.

Minerva gave a small hint of a smile and gave Celia another snail.

"Try one more time Miss Hamelton. I think you'll get it this time."

As she expected, Celia had no trouble Vanishing the entire snail this time.

"Now, if you would be so kind as to try to help Mr. Longbottom with his snail," said Minerva, as she made to move to another table.

Maybe she can help his self confidence… that's all he needs really.

"Hey Neville!" said Celia as she walked over to where Neville was desperately trying to Vanish his snail. Neville groaned.

"I can't do this."

"Oh come on! You gotta have some confidence in yourself, because the more you say that you can't, the more true it will become. So for once, I want you to say, 'I can do this!'. Ok? Now, tell me that you can Vanish this stupid little snail."

Neville muttered something incoherent.

"What was that? Didn't quite that."

"I can do this," Neville almost whispered.

"I can't hear you!" sang Celia.

"I can do this," said Neville a little louder.

"What can you do, Neville?" asked Celia sing-songingly.

"I can Vanish this stupid little snail!" said Neville.

"Really? Insecure Neville can Vanish a snail? I wanna see it."

Neville turned to his snail and with a determined look in his face, waved his wand and said the incantation. Half of his snail disappeared.

"Good job Neville! See? You've almost got it!" said Celia, "Now Vanish the other half of that poor snail."

Minerva looked over to where Neville was working to see that he had Vanished half of his snail, and as she watched, he successfully Vanished the other half.

"Very good, Mr. Longbottom. Now, let's see if you can Vanish the entire snail at the same time," she said, bringing Neville another snail.

Neville looked a little more nervous now.

"Come on Neville. It's a stupid little snail. You can't let a snail scare you," said Celia jokingly. She leaned towards him. "Forget about McGonagall. You can do this. You just gotta believe it," she whispered into his ear. Neville nodded and smiled at her, and then turned to the presented snail.

This time, he was able to Vanish the entire snail.

"Excellent work, Mr. Longbottom. Ten more points for Gryffindor," said Minerva before she turned to help someone else.

Celia certainly can work magic, in more ways than one.

Neville looked at Celia confused.

"She didn't award you points when you Vanished your snail," he said.

"I know," said Celia simply and just left it at that.

The bell rang for lunch.

"Come on, let's get some lunch. I'm starving," said Celia as she got her bag. When they got to the Great Hall, Celia sat next to Hermione, while Neville sat across from them.

"Where are Harry and Ron?"

"How would I know?" said Hermione stiffly.

Celia laughed.

"Aw, come on Hermione, you're not still mad because Ron insulted your elf hats are you?"

"I never said that."

Celia looked at Neville and rolled her eyes.

"Hermione knitted some hats for the house elves and Ron told her that they looked like wooly bladders."

Neville stifled a laugh. Hermione glared at the two.

"Lighten up Hermione," said Celia, giving Hermione a playful nudge.

"I would if people would stop making fun of elf rights," snapped Hermione, standing up.

Celia looked at her shocked.

"Hermione, I wasn't making fun of your hats. I thought they were cute. Maybe a little weird with the trash on them, but I was certainly not making fun of S.P.E.W."

But Hermione wasn't listening. She left the Gryffindor table, and left the Great Hall. Celia looked at Neville.

"Did I sound like I was making fun of her little elf thing?"

Neville shook his head before returning to his food.

After finishing her food, Celia went to the library, where she found Ron and Harry.

"Looks like you two aren't the only people Hermione's pissed at," she said glumly, sitting next to Harry.

"Whaddya mean?" asked Ron.

"Apparently I was making fun of S.P.E.W."

"Well, were you?" asked Harry.

"I most certainly was not! The only thing I said was telling Neville why she's pissed at ya'll."

The trio sat silent for a minute.

"When Hermione's mad at someone, how long is it usually for?"

"Aw, she'll probably forgive you by the time we get to Care of Magical Creatures," said Ron, flipping through a book.

"Good. Because she's my only female friend here so far."

It was then that Celia recognized the book that Ron was looking through.

"Hey! You took my suggestion!"

"What? Oh yea! This is great Celia, thanks," said Ron, grinning broadly.

That's when the bell rang.

The three headed out to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and were soon joined by the rest of their class. As Ron had predicted, Hermione apologized to Celia. After an uneventful Care of Magical Creatures Class with bowtruckles, the Gryffindors headed to the greenhouses. As they were arriving, Ginny came out of one of them and passed by them.

"Hi," she said brightly.

"Hello Ginny," replied Celia. But Ginny just gave her a hard look.

"What is up with this? Have I done something wrong? Every time I see that girl, I try to be nice to her, but she just glares at me. Would someone like to explain that to me, please?" said Celia, watching Ginny make her way to the castle. The trio shrugged as they walked into the greenhouse. As was expected, Professor Sprout began the lesson by discussing the O.W.L.s. ("Really? Our O.W.L.s are this year? How come I hadn't figured that out yet?" muttered Celia sarcastically.) An hour and a half later, the Gryffindors left the greenhouse, armed with yet another essay for homework, and headed for dinner. The group has just reached the Great Hall when there was a yell of, "Oy, Potter!" Ron, Hermione, and Celia left Harry and went to sit down, but even from where they were sitting, they could hear fragments of the argument taking place between Harry and the girl.

"You know what?" asked Harry when he came to sit down with Hermione, Ron and Celia, "I think we'd better check with Puddlemere Unites whether Oliver Wood's been killed during a training session, because she seems to be channeling his spirit."

Celia shook her head confused.

"Who was that, and what was that all about?"

"Angelina Johnson, Gryffindor Quidditch Captain," replied Harry, "And we've got Keeper tryouts on Friday. But of course, I'll be in detention."

"So I'm assuming she was a little upset about that…" said Celia.

"Yea, just a little."

"What d'you reckon are the odds of Umbridge letting you off on Friday?" asked Ron.

"Less than zero," mumbled Harry.

"Are you doing tryouts, Celia?" asked Ron.

"Me? Are you kidding? Like I said, I can barely throw and catch balls with my feet planted firmly on the ground, much less up in the air," said Celia, shaking her head.

Harry glanced at his watch and groaned.

"I better go, or Umbridge'll probably try to give me another week's worth of detentions for being late," he said, getting up and gathering his belongings.

"Have fun," said Celia.

"Yea, right," said Harry as he walked out of the Great Hall.

I realize two things:

One, that when Minerva thinks "She can work magic, and in more ways than one", I just KNOW some perverted person is going to take that in some perverted way. (And then you ask how I know this, and I tell you; I have some perverted friends, so I have learned to think as a pervert.)

Another thing, I know the ending is kinda awkward... but... yea, I don't really have a good explanation for that. That's just how it ended for me.

Thanks!