A/N: First off I would like to say THANK YOU to my wonderful, lovely reviewers. Every time I see there's another review it makes me so happy. Even when it's a critique (which I did get a few of.) I like those because they tell me what I can improve on. So once again, to each and every one of you who reviewed, thank you!
Celestia sat at the Ravenclaw table, watching the grey clouds swirl by overhead. It seemed to be overcast often in these past few weeks. It reflected the mood of everyone. Just the day before it had been reported in the Daily Prophet that two members of the Magical Law Enforcement branch of the Ministry had been attacked and killed. Everyone needed something to cheer them up, but so far nothing had been helping. Not to mention three students had been checked out and taken home. And it was only three weeks into the semester. All of last year and the summer it had seemed like things were settling down. And then, just as people were relaxing a little, it picked back up again. Still, Celestia couldn't see why students would be checked out. Hogwarts was clearly the safest place for any student. They had centuries old enchantments guarding them. They had an entire staff of trained and able wizards. They had Dumbledore.
She turned back to her breakfast, digging into her eggs and bacon. They were safe at Hogwarts. As long as she remembered that she'd be fine. And she really couldn't afford to focus on anything else at the moment. The teachers had not slacked off one iota since the beginning of school. If anything, the work loads had increased. Everyone was feeling the strain, even the Ravenclaws. Why, she had had to spend all of Saturday on an essay for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and she had been working on it since it was assigned! Still, she supposed it was better that they get used to it now so by the end of the year they'd be able to keep up with everything they got.
She headed to Transfiguration, eager to find out what they'd be learning. She found a spot, laid her bag by her desk, and pulled out her book and wand. Emily hurried in and took the seat beside her.
"Did you notice?" she asked, her cheeks flushed with excitement. "Next Saturday's the first Hogsmeade weekend!" Celestia pondered that for a moment. For the first time since her third year, this statement wasn't greeted with bursting enthusiasm.
"I guess we can go... as long as we're caught up on our work." she said. Emily scowled.
"You're such a such a spoilsport! I'm going no matter what, so there!" The blonde stuck her tongue out at her friend, bright blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "I could use a break." Celestia sighed. For a Ravenclaw, Emily didn't work very hard. Nevertheless, she felt a strong temptation to shirk work and just go as well. She'd have to think about it. Right now, Professor McGonagall demanded her attention as she began discussing the transference of Vanishing more complex creatures. They were supposed to work their way to slightly more advanced mammals soon; nearly all of them had mastered mice.
They moved on to Care of Magical Creatures, and Emily switched topics to the Death Eater attacks. "What d'you think, Celest? You think they'll get bigger? I mean, for a while it looked really bad, but then it was so quiet recently, but now it's picking back up..."
"Emily," Celestia cut through the chatter, knowing her friend would say the same thing with different words for five minutes if she didn't stop her. "I don't know what's going to happen. But I think we won't have to worry about it too much, at least until we have to leave the castle. After all, doesn't everyone say that You-Know-Who is afraid of Dumbledore?" Emily slowly nodded.
"That's true. But what about during break? What about our families on the outside? What about-"
"I don't know." Celestia repeated. A cool, stiff breeze picked her long dark hair up off her neck for a moment. Her head filled with thoughts of what could happen to her family while she was frolicking off in the castle. They could be captured, they could be tortured, they could be ki- No. It wouldn't come to that. They were pureblood, she reminded herself, and had never actively fought Him. They would be safe. They would be safe. Fortunately they arrived at the class then.
They were learning about bowtruckles today, little stick men that liked to live in wand wood trees. They split into groups of three. Sabrina tried to choose one for them, and shrieked as one tangled itself in her long blonde hair. Emily came over and helped her detangle it, then carried it over to their workstation. They had such a time trying to control their particularly rowdy one that they didn't talk about much else.
Next they headed on over to lunch, and Emily picked up the subject of Hogsmeade again.
"Oh, I can't wait to get into Honeydukes, I hear they've made a special hot chocolate that's so thick it's like a pure melted chocolate bar. And of course they have those Ember Elites, they're great, keep you warm for hours! Although they're a little cakey for my tastes. Or we can go to the Three Broom Sticks, their butterbeer does a good job of warming you up as well..." Celestia allowed her to prattle on this time. It was better than her going on about Death Eaters. After having their fill of a thick chicken stew, they headed off to Charms.
They were going over Silencing Charms, so Emily's chatter was quite covered by all the noise made by the animals they were supposed to be quieting. At least, until some people actually started getting it right. Flitwick came over.
"There seems to be quite a bit of chatter over here," Celestia looked pointedly at her friend. "Well, let's see if you can do it, Miss Griffiths." Emily bit her lip, then turned to her crow.
"Silencio!" she cried, jabbing her wand at it. The crow looked at her reproachfully, then cawed. It did, however, sound quieter. A little as though it were getting a hoarse throat. Flitwick then asked Celestia to do it. On the first try her bird cawed as loudly as ever, but she got it on the second try. Emily was assigned practice of the charm.
They walked down to Potions, Emily grumbling about Flitwick and his tendency to actually force students to try. As they entered the room, Slughorn was already there, beaming. They found a table together and chatted as the room filled. As always, Celestia glanced over at the Slytherins. There he was. He was laughing at a story one of his friends was telling, with that heart-melting smile on his face. Really, it made him at least twice as attractive. She looked back at Emily and started talking again just as Slughorn called for quiet.
"Now, class. I have noticed that several of you are struggling with the work this year. I understand, as we have stepped up the difficulty level a bit. However, I can't have you slacking off just when you need to make good grades." He wagged a finger at them, a sparkle in his eye. "So today I am going to be pairing students together, one who is struggling with one who is doing well. Hopefully the better students will be able to coach those who aren't up to par. If you get along with your partner and need extra help, I would suggest making the alliance permanent."
Celestia gave a grin to Emily; it was unlikely they'd be paired together, they were both good at Potions. Slughorn reached their table.
"Miss Griffiths, I think you'd help Mr. Bailey," he said, pointing at another Ravenclaw boy. "And as for you, Miss Ravesca," he said, turning to her. She swore she saw a mischievous glint in his eye. "I think that you would do well with Mr. Black over there." She looked at him with wide eyes and he winked at her with a large grin. She looked down suddenly nervous, and gathered her things. She wasn't quite sure how to feel about the fact that now there was no doubt that Slughorn knew exactly what he was doing. She walked over to Regulus, swallowing hard.
"We're to be partners." she said, dumping her stuff on his table.
"Oh good, you can save me again!" he said jokingly, flicking his dark hair to the side. She smiled back at him.
"Only if you don't read the directions. Again." she teased. He rolled his eyes. This close she could see his long, dark eyelashes. Why do boys always get to have long eyelashes when it's girls that want them? she wondered. The instructions appeared on the board and they set to work. Celestia kept a close eye on Regulus. She also made sure he was doing the right steps.
"No, no." she said, quickly grabbing his wrist before he could drop the leaves into his cauldron. She tingled a little at the contact, but focused on the problem at hand. "Not belladonna. You need sage. You put belladonna in, it could turn deadly." He looked at the plant in his hand, surprised.
"Which one is sage, then?" She pointed it out to him, and he nodded and continued on in his work. A little while later she stopped him again.
"You're stirring much to quickly. It needs to be slow and smooth, like this." She showed him, gently swirling her potion. He copied her movements, sweeping the liquid to and fro. "And it's good to scrape the sides sometimes, just to make sure it's not congealing there."
"You really are good at this," he commented, still gently stirring his potion.
"Well, it's a bit like cooking, and I used to do that with my mum a lot. Only if you mess up here it doesn't only taste bad; it could blow up a little bit."
He laughed. "Or turn bright red and hard as a rock."
Now it was her turn to laugh. "Or that." By the end of the lesson both of their potions were just the right shade of lavender. They corked samples and brought them up to the desk. As they walked back to get there things, Regulus turned to her.
"So..." He looked slightly awkward, as though he wasn't sure how to say what he wanted to say. She felt her heartbeat quicken a little. "As you can tell, I'm pretty bad at Potions." She smiled a bit. "And, well, you're pretty good at it." She felt a small blush creep up, but remained mostly calm. "So, I was wondering, d'you think you could tutor me a bit? Just once a week or so." She stopped, shocked. Be with him once a week? Have time to really talk and get to know him? Be... alone together? Before she had finished thinking, she found herself nodding rapidly.
"Yes! Er, yeah, that sounds like it'd be fine. How about Thursdays at 6, in the library?" He nodded with a smile.
"It's a date." She tried not to squeak at those words, but she did feel her blush deepen. She quickly turned to hide her face, gathering her stuff. She walked out of the classroom, smiling to herself. They had a date!
A/N: I hope you liked it! I tried to add more descriptions, since people commented about that. And I agree, after looking back over them. Anyways, like I said, I hope you liked it! And please review.