Jemma didn't even realize that she'd been working on schoolwork all night long until a beam of sunlight from the window behind her hit her parchment and a few Ravenclaw students began to exit the dormitories into the common room.

"I thought you said you were almost finished." Fitz suddenly appeared behind her. The lack of sleep made her jumpy and she almost slipped off the chair. He was referring to the conversation they'd held late last night before he finally went up to bed.

"I thought I was almost finished, but I remembered that I had Arithmancy homework I'd been neglecting." Jemma informed him, quickly shuffling all her supplies into one pile and dumping it into her bag. She'd given up on her perfect organization system days ago. Fitz placed a hand over Jemma's and was alarmed to feel how shaky it was.

"This isn't healthy." He said sternly, crossing his arms over his chest and watching Jemma try to make her appearance socially acceptable. She didn't have time to take a shower or even put her hair into its usual perky ponytail, and she didn't bother brushing it, instead barely combing her fingers through it a few times. She smoothed wrinkles out of her robes and slipped her bag onto her shoulder.

"We're going to be late to breakfast if we don't hurry." She told him, changing the subject. Most of their house had already filtered through the common room and was on their way to the Great Hall.

Jemma wasn't stupid, she was the opposite. She knew exactly what she was doing to herself, but even with the time turner, there just wasn't enough time to get everything done. The more she used the device to travel back in time, the more hours she spent awake in a day. She could feel her eyes constantly drooping, but she didn't have time to sleep. She had to help Skye and Bobbi, and she had to finish her schoolwork. In a week, the first task would be over and she'd have a little time to relax before she started preparing her friends for the next one.

"Will you please just go to bed? I'll bring you some food and you can eat it on the way to your first class." Fitz begged. He'd tried everything, but he couldn't get his stubborn best friend to listen to him. He would go to Skye, but he no longer knew if she had any influence on her decision making at all anymore.

"Oh, Fitz." Jemma rolled her eyes and pushed past him. She appreciated that he was worried about her, but it was just one more thing on the very long list of things she didn't have time for. She was slowly drowning and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. At this point, she was even considering dropping out of Muggle Studies next semester. It wasn't a very important class, and it would give her a few more free periods and a little less homework.

Skye was flipping through the pages of the black book Trip had snagged for her several weeks back. She had already picked out several spells she thought would be helpful and they had been practicing them in the room of requirement. There were a few more she had marked that she wanted to get a handle on before the Trial in a week, but it didn't look like there would be enough time to learn all of them.

Trip was next to her, both having already finished breakfast. Skye looked up from her book when he nudged her side. He nodded to the entrance of the dining hall and Skye followed his gaze, her eyes landed on Jemma. She looked terrible. Surely she had to know what she was doing to herself.

"Lil'mama's not looking so good there, Skye. You two still haven't gotten back into the groove have you?" Trip asked, putting his hands in his lap and looking rather disappointedly at Skye.

"What? I told her not to help me, and she keeps doing it. She won't rest," Skye shook her head, "I've tried to talk to her but she keeps brushing me off. That's on her…" It was a lie, and perhaps a harsh one, but with the task coming up Skye couldn't focus on everything. She needed to live so that she could fix things with Jemma. She didn't think fixing things with Jemma, only to die in five days, would make it much better than things were now.

"She won't listen to me, so I can't do anything. I don't have a say anymore," She looked back down to her book, waving her hand in the air in spell motions as she tried to memorize the instructions for it. "I can't make her sleep," the Slytherin mumbled, to which Trip nodded, putting his hands back on the table while he watched Jemma and Fitz walk over to a table to eat during the last few remaining minutes.

Suddenly, he nudged Skye again and she shot him an annoyed look before she saw his face.

"What?"

"You can make her sleep," He stated, taking his finger and putting it down on the book. "She needs the rest. You'll be doing her a service."

"What? No, Jemma would be even more mad at me than she is now," Skye retorted, taking the book away so that Trip couldn't touch it anymore.

"It's just one little spell. You've been practicing it anyway. There are no side effects, other than a restful awakening eight hours later. Thank you for that, I might add," Trip grinned, sitting back, putting his arms behind his head as he watched the wheels in Skye's head turn.

"Damnit, I hate you sometimes. She'll be so mad," Skye shook her head and looked over to the table where Fitz and Jemma were now sitting. Fitz could help. He was in all of Jemma's classes anyway...or, most of them. He could turn in Jemma's homework for her and take notes! Skye could deliver what Fitz couldn't to her other classes. She didn't mind skipping her own since she would probably be dead in a week anyway.

"Fine," Skye tore a piece of paper from a notebook in her bag and began to scribble on it, then folded it into a tiny airplane. She took out her wand and after a swish and a flick, the little plane was zooming over the heads of other students and landed lightly on top of Fitz's breakfast. He could see how Jemma was too, and Skye knew that he would want to help.
Fitz,

I need your help to get Jemma to get some rest. Get her to meet with me in the library attic and I'll explain after. You probably need to escort her there. I doubt she'll go on her own. Please, help.

-Skye

Fitz nodded discreetly and stuffed the note into his pocket before Jemma could see it. Even now, her eyes were glued to the pages of the book in front of her. It was a relief to know that Skye was planning something to help Jemma, but there was only one problem. He didn't even know the library had an attic, so he was going to have to come up with some way to get Jemma there without it being a surprise.

Just as a plan began formulating in his head, he had the misfortune to spot Bobbi heading their way. Getting Jemma to go to the attic was one thing, but how was he supposed to also convince Bobbi to leave them alone when she and Jemma shared their first class together today? When the tall blonde approached, she didn't even register on Jemma's radar until she was greeted.

"Are you alright? You look a little sick." Bobbi pointed out, as if Jemma hadn't already known herself. She was starting to get annoyed by all the worrying, it was only causing her more trouble.

"I'm just fine." Jemma grumbled, not looking away from her book. She was taking a test on this lesson today and she hadn't finished it. Bobbi gave Fitz a worried, questioning glance, to which he responded with a slight shrug.

"We can cancel our study date tonight…" Bobbi offered. She knew as well as anyone that Jemma had been helping Skye more than she was taking care of herself, and even though it made her jealous, she'd cancel some of her time with Jemma in a heartbeat if the tiny girl would just get some sleep. She worried that Jemma would just take the free time and turn it around to Skye, though.

"No, absolutely not. I found some excellent spells the other afternoon." Jemma said. She was like a robot, she didn't even attempt to make eye contact with anyone while she spoke. Bobbi would have protested, but the brunette getting up from her seat caught most of her attention. She caught the look she exchanged with Fitz, and she just knew they were planning something. That something obviously had something to do with Jemma, because the both of them glanced at her afterwards.

"Jemma, can I speak with you for a moment?" Fitz asked. Bobbi narrowed her eyes and quickly made a decision. Fitz looked up at Bobbi expectantly and she folded her arms over her chest.

"Hey, I can take a hint." She said with a small smile. She walked away as if she was giving the two friends some space, but really, she followed Skye out into the hall and towards the library. If Skye and Fitz hadn't been acting so suspicious, she would have just assumed Skye was going to read spells again when she went to the library, but she kept looking over her shoulder as she neared the back, where the books on the shelves were covered in dust from neglect. She had to know what was up, especially if it had to do with Jemma.

"Skye!" She called out, finally deciding to catch up with her. She cut the stalker crap and stepped out into the open where the other girl could see her. "I know you and Fitz are planning something and I want to know what it is." She demanded.

Skye visibly jumped before turning around quickly. She already had her wand in her hand, having been about to open up the secret door that led to the library attic. Jemma had hidden it very well and charmed it to only recognize the two of them. The fact that Bobbi had obviously followed her here startled her and infuriated her at the same time. She had no business being on the verge of discovering their secret place.

"What we do is none of your business," Skye retorted. Her hand twitched, holding her wand tight.

"It is when it has to do with Jemma. Despite what you'd like to think, we're actually friends." She growled, eyeing Skye's wand and deciding if she wanted to retrieve her own. Skye had attacked her last time, after all. She probably wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

"Jemma is none of your business either," Skye snapped. Her actions were faster than her better judgement and her hand was up so fast, wand gripped just so, "Somnus!" A bright flash of light burst from the tip of her wand and then there was a thud as Bobbi hit the floor. She hit pretty hard too, there may or may not be a bruise later.

Skye grimaced for a moment before she tucked her wand away and looked around the library. No one was in the back. No one was ever in the back.

"Shit...shit, shit, shit…" Skye rolled her eyes. How stupid was she?! If this hadn't been Trip's big idea to get Jemma to get some rest then she wouldn't have just accidentally tested the spell on Bobbi. It had apparently worked though, the girl was fast asleep and wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon. The Slytherin girl sighed and grabbed a hold of the blonde's arms and slowly dragged her to a back corner, propping her up in a chair and gently took a book from the shelf and placed it over her face.

"Not as skinny as you look…" Skye breathed a sigh of relief and then quickly rushed back to open the door, now that her accidental fiasco had been taken care of. She was going to wait in the attic for Jemma. They already had some blankets and a cozy couch in there, so it would be comfortable for her to sleep on. They had done it more than once.

"What is it, Fitz?" Jemma asked, still never letting her eyes wander from the book. She casually turned a page and ignored her friend's annoyed expression. Fitz was starting to have second thoughts. He was going to have to tell some pretty big whoppers to get Jemma to go meet Skye, but he figured the benefits would be greater than the losses.

"Skye told me she needs to meet you in the attic. It's urgent." He knew it was enough to bait Jemma into finally putting down the book, and she did. Fitz swallowed a lump in his throat and quickly blurted out the line he'd just thought of.

"She found something about the first task and she really needs your help to figure out how to survive it." He told her. Jemma's eyes widened and Fitz could already feel the guilt creeping in, but he'd come this far. He couldn't say "just kidding!" and let her go back to reading.

She snapped her book shut and shoved it into her bag. The note said Fitz should come with her, but it didn't look like she'd be needing an escort to get there. It's not like he'd know where to go anywhere.

"Thank you Fitz, I've got to go." She said in a rush, pushing strands of hair out of her face and tucking them behind her ears in her panic to get to Skye. What had Skye found out? Did she know what the first task was? A sudden rush of excitement took over as she practically ran to the library. They still had a few more days, if they worked hard enough, they could come up with a whole solution.

Once Jemma finally reached the back of the library, she fumbled with her wand for a few moments before she finally got the door to appear for her, and she climbed up the extended ladder a little awkwardly because her bag weighed her down so much on one side.

Skye realized they hadn't been in the attic since Jemma had yelled at her the day she was chosen by the goblet of fire. It made her anxious, standing there waiting, but soon she heard the familiar click of the door and Jemma coming up the ladder. She toyed with her wand before she shoved it up her sleeve just as the girl's head came up through the trapdoor. The brunette breathed a sigh of relief to see her there. Fitz had succeeded, now it was all up to her. She was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room but she couldn't help the smile that crept over her face when she saw Jemma.

Skye could see just how tired she really was, now that she could see her up close and not from afar over breakfast tables and past other students. She really, really needed to rest. Jemma would probably be angry when she woke up, but Skye had a plan. She just had to follow through with it.

"Hey, Jems…" she used her nickname this time, which she hadn't since the name drawing day. Skye hoped it would smooth over the events which were about to happen.

"This is excellent, Skye! What did you find out? If we plan it right you could definitely get through this first task." Jemma rambled, finally excited again for the first time in weeks.

Whatever Fitz had told her sure had the girl worked up. It was nice to see her excited after so long, Skye just hated that whatever it was, it was a lie. She played along though, she had to.

"Oh yeah, yeah," Skye smiled and nodded for Jemma to come closer, "I'll show you what I've got worked out for it. I think it needs the Simmons touch but it might just work," She pulled out her wand from her sleeve and held it gently.

Jemma smiled and nodded enthusiastically, dropping her bag without hesitation and taking the few steps necessary to close the distance between them. If Skye had something big on the first task, maybe everything would start to look up again. She'd have an advantage over everyone else and a smaller chance of dying, which was of course the better of the two pieces of good news.

"Alright, you have to guess what it is," Skye smiled, weakly though, and held the wand up, pointing it to the floor, "Now pay attention or you'll miss it." She held her breath and when she saw Jemma had her full attention on the wand, she swished her wrist and Jemma's eyes would take in the bright flash of light that Bobbi's had just minutes before.
"Somnus," Skye was almost not prepared, but she dropped her wand and reached out, catching Jemma's dead weight in her arms, almost making her fall down herself. She held her firmly, and carried her as best she could over to the couch and laid her down gently.

"Add this to the long list of things I'm sorry for, Jems…" Skye sighed and gave the girl a kiss on the forehead before she pulled the blankets up over her. She would sleep for a good eight hours. It would be a restful sleep, as Trip had confirmed, being her first test subject. Jemma needed it.

Skye quickly rummaged around and found a piece of parchment and a quill and began to scribble a note down for her so that Jemma wouldn't worry when she woke up. She stacked it on top of her bag, which she placed by the foot of the couch. It explained that she and Fitz would deliver her homework to all of her classes and he was taking notes that she could have to study when she got up. Skye took all of Jemma's homework from her bag to turn in for her while she rested. Jemma really needed the rest, and though Skye felt bad about tricking her, she refused to feel bad about the reason.

She picked up her own bag then and slung it over her shoulder before she went through the trapdoor and down the ladder. She came back out into the library and sealed the door back.

"Fitz?" He was supposed to have escorted Jemma here, but after calling for him several times, the man did not show.

"Damnit," Skye would have to find him, if he wasn't already in class...or she would have to run around like a mad woman to deliver all of Jemma's homework. Somehow, something always seemed to backfire this year. First the goblet then her fight with Bobbi and now this. Trouble always came in threes. Maybe it meant that her bad karma had passed and the task would work out just fine.