Exams began the second week of June. Stress mounting, their professors had them reviewing and practicing difficult tasks to challenge them, and Hermione found herself aggravated by the stress and exhaustion it caused. For the first time, she felt like there was something more important than exams she should be saving her energy for, and it was hard to not betray this new thought, not when everybody knew her as the girl determined to be on top.

Even when she was studying for exams, though, after exams was never far from her thoughts. She'd taken to carrying around Riddle's diary in her pocket and pouring her magic into it whenever she remembered – sometimes once a class period, sometimes a few times an hour. The more magic Riddle had when the time came, the more helpful he'd manage to be.

Hermione tried to keep it out of her thoughts, though. There was no use stressing over it now – not when she had exams to ace.

Herbology review was trying to re-pot a Spiked Tentacula, a task that took the entire class to do. They only ended up succeeded by Hermione levitating Vincent Crabbe overtop of the thing and dropping him, his mass effectively tackling it to the ground, where Goyle promptly leapt onto it as well, pinning down its shoots while the rest of the class dealt with its roots. Both boys came away with many spines in their skin and robes but zero instances severe injury or puncture wounds, though Theo, Hannah, and Daphne had both gotten spiked fairly bad. Professor Sprout had been horrified, wringing her hands and exclaiming how if they'd tried that with the Venomous Tentacula, both Slytherin boys would be dead. Everyone left class exhausted and dirty but triumphant, and there was a scramble to get to the common rooms to shower before heading up to lunch and double potions with the Gryffindors.

Potions was absent two members, with Theo and Daphne still being patched up at the Hospital Wing, so Hermione found herself paired with Blaise. As Snape went over the instructions on the board, deducting points from Ron Weasley for not having his Potions station set up yet, Hermione retrieved three cauldrons from the back, making Blaise's eyes go wide.

"You do realize we only need one, right?" he whispered. "Are you intending on messing up twice?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and shot him a look, and she waited until they were told to begin to explain her thoughts to Blaise.

"This is exam review, right?" she said. "So whatever he's got us working on today is tangentially related to what we'll do on the exam."

"Sure," Blaise said. "So… you want to practice it three times?"

"He's having us practice with a basic Invigoration Draught," Hermione said quietly. "The main thing with this potion is shredding the lovage and using sneezewort. Chances are for the exam, then, we're going to have to brew a Confusing Concoction or a Befuddlement Draught, and I want to review and make sure I know how."

Blaise whistled lowly.

"No wonder you're first in Potions, as with everything else," he said. "I wouldn't have put that together, but I bet you're right."

Hermione grinned at him.

"Go get some scurvy grass too?" she asked him. "I bet we can brew all three if we're systematic about it."

Blaise grinned right back. "Aye aye, captain."

Later in the class, as their three cauldrons were bubbling away, one red, one bright green, and one a noxious looking rust color, Blaise was adding the infusion of wormwood and peppermint to the Invigoration Draught while Hermione was preparing the Alihosty leaves. He looked over at her as she chopped, and finally she paused to look back at him.

"What?" she hissed. "We need these finely chopped."

"No, I know," Blaise said. "I was just watching you. You're doing a good job."

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Thanks," she said, sardonically. Blaise ignored her.

"You did a good job with shredding the lovage, too," he remarked, stirring the cauldron clockwise. "Very quick. Very efficient, very finely shredded."

"How remarkable, for me to have learned the skills we've been working on all year," Hermione said, sarcasm dripping from her tone, and Blaise glanced over at her.

"Very finely shredded," he repeated, almost as if to himself. "And you haven't yet winced once."

Hermione froze. Slowly, she looked down at her workbench.

There was a pile of lovage, finely shredded, and the Alihosty leaves were finely chopped as well. The xander roots for the Confusing Concoction were also finely diced, and Hermione found her brain scrambling backwards, trying to remember what she'd done.

She'd shredded the lovage as she always had, quarters and then just fine knife cuts. It was just… finer than she usually managed (not that her usual was in any way inadequate!) and she'd been done faster. The Alihosty leaves were chopped, much like how she'd chop cilantro, but the roots…

Hermione bit her lip, holding up a handful of the diced roots.

When dicing roots, Hermione generally found herself coining them first, and then chopping the coins again on the x and z axis. It was easier to coin a root than to batonnet or julienne one, and the end result was generally the same. It resulted in tiny 'corner' pieces, but that was fine.

These dices were all even, with outer scraps on the side. Hermione's eyes flew to Blaise's.

"Did I brunoise these?" Hermione whispered.

"Did you not notice?" Blaise reflected back, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"I—I haven't been able to do that since…" she trailed off, biting her lip.

"Since your injury," Blaise said gently. He nodded down at the workbench. "Go ahead. Try it again."

"We don't need another xander root—"

"Hermione." Blaise gave her a pointed look, and sheepishly, Hermione picked up her knife.

Though she'd been coining and then cutting roots for a year, she'd cut ingredients the 'proper' way for two years, before. Carefully, she sliced the outer edges of the root off, then cut it into three-inch lengths. She took a deep breath, prepared her knife, and began to julienne the roots.

Her hands knew the way instinctively, finding themselves finely slicing the root into uniform planks, one hand working the knife while the other carefully held the root near the edge. Just as she finished, she instinctively turned them 90 degrees and diced them again, resulting in perfect cubes, 1/8" by 1/8" by 1/8".

Nothing happened. Her hands didn't ache, her fingers didn't cramp, her palms didn't burn.

It was fine.

Incredulous, Hermione picked up a curved knife and another root.

"Go ahead and add the lovage to the Invigoration Draught and stir twice," she said, not looking. "The Confusing Concoction needs stirred in another seven minutes."

"What are you doing?" Blaise said, looking over at her.

"I'm carving a statue out of this root."

There was a pause.

"Why are you carving a statue in the middle of Potions class?" Blaise asked delicately.

A grin flashed on Hermione's face, gone in an instant. "To see if I can."

As Blaise finished three potions simultaneously, Hermione helping and dishing out instructions, keeping them all straight, she painstakingly carved a small wizard out of the xander root, sculpting robes, hair, and even the silhouette of a face. The tiny sculpting with the tiny knife required incredible precision and dexterity, and Hermione found herself squinting as she carved, part of her wondering if she needed glasses.

"—Miss Granger?"

Hermione's eyes flew up to meet Snape's. He was looming over their workstation, face thunderous, and Hermione smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that please, sir?" she said quickly.

"I asked," he hissed, "why you have decided to maul and destroy three xander roots, none of which are needed for this particular potion?"

"Oh," said Hermione. "Um. Well, the first was for the Confusion Concoction. The second was to repeat the knife cuts I did on the first, to see if I could, and the third…"

She trailed off, clutching the mauled root in her hand.

"And the third, you mutilated into a statue of me?" Snape sounded disgusted. "I don't know if this is a poor attempt at flattery or an insult."

Hermione felt her eyes widen, before she closed them, clenching them tightly shut.

He could tell it was him.

Even though her hands were in no pain, and nothing hurt, tears escaped her eyes, trailing silent tracks down her cheeks.

"Miss Granger?" There was a sudden note of alarm to Snape's voice, and it hushed. "Miss Granger, I'm not going to take points, it's just this is an egregious waste of materials—"

Blaise cut him off, whispering something to Snape that Hermione couldn't quite make out, and then there was a silence. Her eyes were still shut as she cried silently, tears leaking out, and she said nothing.

"Are you well, Miss Granger?" Snape's voice was gentle.

"Yes, sir." Hermione's voice came out choked up. "Never better."

"Excellent." Snape's voice resumed its usual volume and cadence. "Ten points to Slytherin for thinking ahead and reviewing similar potions. Practicing a Confusing Concoction alongside an Invigoration Draught is an excellent review. Though some of you will never need a Confusing Concoction, I daresay, the way you bumble about my classroom…"

"It worked?" Blaise asked, nudging Hermione. She opened her eyes, blinking rapidly, and he gave her a small smile. "It worked?" he prompted again, voice quiet, nodding to her hands. "The Elixir?"

Hermione nodded, tears leaking out again, and a smile lit up Blaise's face. He turned to look for Snape, and when it was clear he wasn't looking, Blaise pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly.

"I'm so glad, Hermione," he told her, holding her head and rocking her slightly. "I'm so, so happy for you."

"Me too." Hermione smiled tremulously, even through the tears. "Me, too."