"Good game, way to use my move against me." Lola grins as she offers Charlie a handshake.

All the players have landed back on the pitch, and while Gryffindor may have been the victor of the game the Hufflepuff stands are the ones celebrating more heavily.

Charlie grins back. "I can't believe you didn't see it coming." He teases, and she laughs in turn.

"Fair enough kid." They finally release their handshake and move down the line.

"You were really good up there." One of Hufflepuff's Beaters compliments Myr with a bright smile. She's a slight thing, but he can feel definitely strength in her grip as they shake hands. "Reminded me of Laurel's play style a bit! I look forward to next year's match as well." She punches him playfully on the arm before moving on to shake Charlie's hand.

On Myr's other side, Fiona looks amused. "That was pretty chummy, she didn't say anything to me." She notes.

Myr shrugs. "I remember her from last year, she probably just remembers Laurel's playing. It's a compliment."

"I know, it's just cute." Fiona grins at him teasingly, and Myr finally figures out what she's hinting at and flushes.

"Would you stop? If I don't want to date I don't want to date." He grumbles, and Fiona giggles.

"I'm not pushing! I just think she maybe thinks you're cute is all, nothing else."

There is still a small celebration in the Gryffindor Common Room that evening - they had won the game after all, if not the Cup. Myr is pretty sure he spots some firewhisky being passed around but Charlie and Evera catch him and drag him into a conversation before he can report it to Professor McGonagall.

All in all, it is a nice evening of general cheer, and Myr ultimately decides to enjoy it while he can, even if there is a part of his brain fretting over the obvious rule-breaking happening just where he can't quite see it. After all, now that the Quidditch season is over the only thing they have left to look forward to is exams.

Even with his improved magic over the year the final exams still aren't something Myr is particularly eager for. So he enjoys the warmth of the fireplace - probably the last time it will be lit as it is officially warm enough outside most days to declare it springtime - and conversation with his friends until they're pushing curfew and Bill and the other prefects have to warn everyone to call it quits soon.

Of course, they don't stop talking entirely. Brandon parks himself onto Charlie's bed once all the boys have changed into their sleepwear and Drake takes up residence at the end of Myr's bed and they keep talking well into the night.

The next day is Sunday, and Myr regrets his decision to stay up with the other boys. They all get to sleep in, but he has to drag himself up for a study session with Percy at nine. Which really isn't all that early considering it's the same time that school always starts, but after falling asleep at what was probably close to three in the morning, it feels like the crack of dawn.

He's surprised when he gets to breakfast to find that Bill and Oliver Wood are also sitting with the first year Weasley. Myr takes a seat next to the prefect.

"Morning." He greets blearily, dropping onto the bench a bit harder than he'd intended and wincing slightly. He knew it wouldn't bruise, but sitting on a broom for hours always makes him sore, and his rear end did not appreciate the extra abuse, small as it was.

Percy looks apologetic. "You didn't have to get up Myr, I could have studied myself. Sleep is quite important and Ollie and I could hear you guys still up around midnight." The first year points out, lips twisting into something that Myr would almost call scolding, if not for the fact the expression was on the face of an eleven-year-old.

Myr hums tiredly. "Up now, 's all good. I need to study myself anyway." He adds when he sees Percy about to launch into a lecture about good sleeping habits. He's already heard it given to both Oliver and Charlie - the latter having received it twice. "Exams are coming up in a month after all."

Oliver whines pitifully at that. "I am so not ready for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Or anything." He admits.

"That's why you're studying with us." Percy shifts slightly, and Myr realizes he must have bumped legs with Oliver under the table. "You'll get better if you just buckle down and actually study, instead of trying for two seconds and then getting distracted."

Bill snorts. "Honestly I think everyone is going to have trouble with Defense this year, the teacher was really subpar." He points out.

Myr hums agreement around a mouthful of breakfast. Swallowing, he voices his thoughts on the matter.

"The fourth years have already made a pact to all study together next weekend." He tells them, finally starting to feel some of the residual tiredness starting to inch away as the food properly enters his system. "Or at least the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs have, and Frannie and Jemma are going to ask their Ravenclaw friends to come as well."

Bill laughs. "I miss having big study sessions like that. OWL study groups were crazy, we even had some Slytherins sit in a couple of times."

Myr raises an eyebrow in surprise. He can't recall ever having spoken to a Slytherin outside of class or Quidditch - the House really keeps to itself, not that he can say he paid much attention to that fact. "That's crazy. Though I guess even the snakes worry about OWL grades, they are pretty important."

Bill laughs. "Understatement of the century. If you think exams have been bad so far next year is going to be awful."

"Lovely, always good to have something to look foward to." Percy pipes up dryly, his lips twitch upwards slightly with amusement.

Bill laughs and rewards his brother by messing up his hair, earning a furious whine from the younger Weasley and laughter from Oliver.

"So are you joining me and Percy today Oliver?" Myr decides to finally address the fourth person at the table. Oliver looks about as sleepy as Myr feels, poking tiredly at his food and mostly just watching the conversation between the Weasely brothers, never joining in for longer than a sentence at a time.

The brunette blinks, and then nods. "Yeah, Perce says you've helped him a lot. Plus being in the library is probably a better atmosphere than the dorms to study in."

Myr laughs, thinking of his own roommates and their never ending chatter. "Very true. Well, I hope I can help."

They continue chatting easily, unavoidably ending up on the topic of Quidditch once Oliver properly wakes up enough to join the conversation. The kid seems to have a hard time talking about anything else honestly, though it reminds Myr a bit of Laurel so it's endearing for the most part.

When they move to the library Bill accompanies them, much to Myr's surprise.

"Hey, I don't have exams this year." Bill points out. "So it's not like I have anything better to do than help out my brother and his friends."

It ends up working to Myr's favor that Bill is there. While the first years quiz each other on their subjects, Bill helps Myr with all of his subjects.

"So you're taking Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies as well?" Myr questions as they go over the wizarding understanding of electronics, a topic that Myr did terribly in due to actually knowing how electronics work.

Bill shakes his head. "Nah, I studied these two on my own, but I passed the OWLs so I think I'm qualified to help with them. I'm taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes since it's a lot harder to study those outside of a classroom."

Myr glances at him, raising an eyebrow. "You can take OWLs without being in the class for them?" He can't help but ask. It's a rather odd realization.

Bill shrugs. "Most people don't, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do so I figured better safe than sorry. And once I did figure it out it became more of a challenge to see how many OWLs I could pass."

"He passed all of them." Percy adds in, interrupting his own explanation to Oliver on Transfiguration Theory. "Bill's absolutely brilliant." He beams proudly and Bill laughs and ruffles his hair again.

"Thanks Perce. You're not so shabby yourself."

It's not long after that a few of Myr's friends trickle into the library and join them, eager to get help from Bill and compare notes for the impending exams.

"Aw man, I've got an entire chart written up entirely wrong." Holly groans as she looks over some of Nabila's notes from Divination.

Personally Myr thinks all the charts look ridiculous, but he doesn't comment as Fiona switches from talking about Charms with him to trying to help Holly. He instead turns to Charlie, who's engaged with Drake and Evera in a very heated discussion on the best breed of Dragon.

"I'm pretty sure we haven't covered those in Care of Magical Creatures yet." He points out to them with no small amount of amusement. "Are you three already done studying?"

Charlie grins over at him. "Might have gotten slightly sidetracked. But really, who thinks the Ukrainian Ironbelly is the best dragon?"

"It's the biggest one!" Drake declares.

"And that's all it's got." Evera points out. "The Swedish Shortsnout is obviously the superior breed. It has the hottest flames, so it automatically wins against literally everything else, living or not."

Myr sighs, mostly lost if he's being honest. Cadi would probably have more of an opinion on Dragon Breeds than he does, so he lets the three continue their debate and decides to spend some time going over his notes just with himself. Maybe he can find some solid questions to ask Bill when the older Weasley is done helping the two first years with their Defense essays.

They break for lunch, and about half of them reconvene in the library afterwards to continue studying. Myr is admittedly feeling a bit better when he settles down that night to sleep, though he was so tired by the end of the session that he's rather certain he's not going to remember anything from that part when he wakes up in the morning.

When they arrive at breakfast the next morning it's immediately clear that the entire school is starting to switching into finals mode, as several students are reading textbooks and going through their notes. There's still about a month left before studying will turn into cramming, but it's close enough that the most diligent students are getting head starts.

Myr knows that most of his friends will only be cracking down on the weekends, but he decides to start rereading their Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook as he eats his breakfast.

And as it turns out, his early preparation proves to have been quite a good idea when the month's end rolls past and he's significantly less stressed than most of his friends. Only Nabila seems unconcerned as finals studying kicks into high gear and everyone begins cramming themselves into the library.

As the two least stressed (not that Myr isn't still very worried - he just feels he's a bit more prepared than his peers who hadn't begun their reviewing until now), Myr and Nabila often find themselves studying together in the surprisingly empty Gryffindor common room with the handful of other students who had thought ahead. It's actually pretty nice - it reminds Myr of their first year when he and Nabila had studied together in the library. He forgot how good of a study partner she is.

Currently she's quizzing him on Potions, which is their first exam much to everyone's disappointment. He's doing decently, though he keeps mixing up the instructions for the Calming Draught and the Draught of Peace.

"Ground moonstone goes in later for the Draught of Peace." Nabila reminds him as she scans over his notes. "Otherwise pretty good job. You're more prepared than Fiona is."

Myr raises an eyebrow as he collects their shared study notes and shuffles them in preparation to quiz Nabila on the same material. "Really? She's always been one of the top students in our year though."

"In Gryffindor, and she's always below me." Nabila doesn't even try to pretend she isn't bragging. "Her ranking is more indicative of how little the rest of our House studies rather than how much she does. You'll probably outrank her this year now that your magic thing seems to be fixed."

Myr smiles faintly. He doesn't want to jinx anything or sound arrogant, but he thinks Nabila may actually be correct. Most of his points lost in the past years had been on the practical sections of the exams, and with his new wand those parts are looking far less daunting.

That said, "When we finish here, do you think you could help me practice for the practical parts? I haven't actually really studied for that in the past since I wasn't very good."

Nabila grins lightly. "Of course, I need to practice too after all. Quiz me first, then we can go find an empty classroom to use."

Nabila does much better on the Potions quiz than Myr had, and he makes a mental note to himself to go over the recipies for everything again before bed that night. They then pack up their notes, grab their wands, and head out into the castle to find an empty room.

They end up picking up Holly and Leona Poole from Hufflepuff on their way, and the four of them practice together until it's time for dinner.

Myr ends up jumping between study partners for the practical aspects of the exams, sometimes joining Aidan, Charlie and Brandon out on the Quidditch pitch, sometimes tagging along with Evera, Drake, and Jemma, and even once sitting down with Fitzwilliam and Shaun from Ravenclaw, who he hasn't seen all that much of outside of class since first year.

By the time exams actually start he's feeling pretty confident about his chances at doing well. Or at the very least, better than he had in the past. His mother, Uncle Cyril, and Cadi all send him snacks and well wishes the weekend before finals officially start, and between himself and his roommates all the sweetest treats are gone by the end of the day.

For once, Myr feels like he's not only ready for exams, but that he's actually going to miss Hogwarts over the summer. Just a little bit.

Ana is ready as she ever is when exams hit. That doesn't mean she stops studying though, flipping through her notes while waiting outside the Charms classroom for the exam to start.

"Seeing you study is making me even more stressed." Jerome whines pitifully. He, Shaun, and Amelia are standing with her, though she's the only one with notes out. "If you're not ready then there's no hope for me."

"You did well when we quizzed you yesterday." Amelia comforts him, and Ana nods.

"You'll do fine Jerome. I just like revising. Half of this is for my Animagus training anyway." Ana tells him. Her last lesson with Professor McGonagall had been two weeks prior, at which point the Transfiguration professor had told her to focus on her other subjects. Ana is hoping she'll get some summer homework for it, but she's somewhat pessimistic on that front.

Jerome grins slightly. "Still nervous, but thanks."

Charms goes quite smoothly, save for Evie's wand sparking and everyone near her, including Professor Flitwick, diving for cover. Somehow the brunette manages to not set anything on fire for once, and Ana is pretty sure she gets bonus points for it. Which Ana thinks is ridiculous, but she doesn't say anything.

Ana's own performance is flawless, and even Jerome manages decently well. He's beaming proudly as they exit the classroom three hours later.

"One down, too many to go." Evie declares, attaching herself to their group as they make their way up the hall.

The boys eye her warily, but Amelia and Ana have been making something of an effort to smooth things out with their roommate in the past few months so they are less surprised.

"Good job not burning everything down." Ana offers. Evie looks torn between being insulted or laughing, but she ultimately settles on a slightly tense smile.

"Yeah, I'm getting the hang of knowing when my wand is about to go off." She says after a moment.

Shaun looks over at her curiously. "Your wand? You mean the problem is your wand acting on its own?" He clarifies, and Evie frowns at him.

"Yeah, it's not like I want to burn things or blow them up." She snaps defensively.

Shaun shakes his head. "Well yeah, obviously. You should talk to Willow or Holly Kiddell about that, they're really good with wands. They might be able to help you with yours."

Evie looks surprised that Shaun's advice is actually non-malicious. "Oh, um, yeah. Thanks, I'll do that." She finally remembers to say as the group turns towards the library. "I'll go find them now! Thanks!"

"That was weird." Jerome declares once Evie has left, and Amelia laughs.

"She's been trying more recently. Hasn't destroyed anything in our room since last year, which is a new record for her."

"Even got me a Christmas gift since she thought I hated her." Ana adds.

Jerome pokes her lightly. "You do have that aura. I thought you hated me for a while there too!"

Ana frowns at him. "I don't bother hating things, it's wasted energy I find. Easier to just ignore people than hate them."

Amelia shakes her head slightly. "A good policy, but I find it hard to believe you've never hated anyone."

"I find people annoying." Ana acknowledges. "I certainly found both Evie and Jerome to be annoying at first."

And Alec. She mentally adds.

Jerome laughs. "Annoying is fair. You like me now though, yeah?"

Ana shrugs. "You're tolerable."

Jerome proceeds to make a complete fool of himself as he pretends Ana's words have physically injured him. Both Shaun and Amelia laugh, along with several other people in the corridor, while Ana merely rolls her eyes at the childish display.

"Less tolerable now." She states primly when he's finished, and the other three stare at her in shock. "What?"

"Did you just make a joke?" Jerome asks incredulously. "I don't think I've ever heard you be anything other than one hundred percent serious about everything. Honestly it was sort of freaky."

Ana frowns at him. "I can joke." She defends, but she knows he's right. It had been a bit of a gamble, but she'd attempted some humor with Hannah on their last Hogsmeade visit and the blonde had been delighted, so Ana had thought she'd try with her new friends when she saw an opportunity. Perhaps it hadn't been a good idea.

Amelia quickly speaks up. "That was great, you should joke more." She smiles warmly at Ana. "Dry humor suits you." She adds.

Ana nods, relaxing slightly. "Yes, well, thank you."

She's not sure if it's the joke or the exam stress, but something does shift in their dynamics after that. Even Finnigan, who while not really part of the group still gets dragged into it on occasion, notices the change and comments on it as the group studies in the boy's dorm room two nights later.

"You guys are all being weird." He informs them flatly, barely glancing up from the Defense Against the Arts textbook.

Shaun raises an eyebrow at him while Jerome laughs uncertainly. It's Ana who actually ends up addressing the statement though, after a good thirty seconds of silence.

"In what way?"

Finnigan shrugs. "Dunno. The atmosphere is different. Normally I feel like I'm invading but now it's not like that."

"That could just be you." Ana points out.

Finnigan shrugs again in answer and they all go back to studying again. But Ana finds herself pondering the observation, as it does align with what she's been noticing as well. There had been a faint tension in the group prior to the start of exams, one so subtle she hadn't even been aware it was there until it vanished. Now she's curious as to what had caused it to exist before, and what made it vanish after.

The next day they have Transfiguration first thing in the morning, and Ana of course does flawlessly. She's confident she's gained another O for her report card.

"I wish I had your magical skill." Jerome sighs as they head to lunch. "I definitely only got an A again. I'm probably going to be the one Ravenclaw who manages to flunk the OWL for this class." He jokes lightly.

Shaun pats his shoulder supportively. "We'll all study together next year, don't worry."

"As long as you do your best that's what counts." Amelia adds.

Ana doesn't say anything. She kind of agrees with Jerome - as hard as he tries it's pretty clear he's not great at magic or memorization.

Amelia nudges her, clearly meaning for Ana to add something nice, but Ana just shrugs.

"That's why I like you, you're honest." Jerome grins at her. "It's fine guys, I'll just keep doing my best! And hey, if I don't make it it's one less class to worry about for NEWTs."

Ana can tell he's still a bit nervous despite his cheer, but she doesn't push it. It's something to worry about next year - for now they still have over half of their exams left.

Defense is in the afternoon, and even Ana walks away from the exam feeling less than pleased.

"I really hope this is the worst teacher we get for this class." Amelia sighs. "I feel terrible for the fifth and seventh years who had to deal with her during their OWL and NEWT years."

"I don't care about sixth year, but next year and seventh I do hope we get a better professor." Ana agrees. "Though I can't imagine it gets worse than her."

"Don't jinx it." Jerome laughs.

The next day is Potions and Herbology for Ana, and while she knows she passed both they're always the two classes she has the least confidence with in terms of consistently getting Os. She's rather certain she'll be dropping them both after OWLs, assuming neither is needed for whichever job she chooses to pursue.

She voices as much when their group, plus Evie for some reason, is sitting in the common room, playing a few rounds of Wizard's chess. She's not currently playing, so she'd started talking to Jerome about future plans.

"Do you know what you want to do yet?" Evie asks curiously. "Personally I'm completely stumped. Anything interesting involves flying and, well, I never passed that class." She still sounds sore about it, but at least she's not throwing fits every time her broom ban is brought up.

Ana shrugs, though she admittedly does have more of an idea now than she had when she first arrived at school. "I have a few options I'm sorting through. I intended to narrow it down over the summer, since we won't be meeting with Professor Flitwick about it until the beginning of next year."

"That's smart." Shaun agrees. "Pawn to B6." He adds to his pieces.

Amelia narrows her eyes at the board thoughtfully as she adds her own two cents. "I'm going to be a Magizooligist myself."

"We know." Jerome teases. "I figure I'll see what my grades look like this year and then plan accordingly. Whichever subjects I'm best at should probably be the ones I focus on in terms of jobs, right?"

"Makes sense." Ana agrees. "Do what you're good at."

"Isn't it do what you love?" Amelia points out with some amusement. "Okay no, that's definitely a trap. Knight to E5."

"Not if you're bad at what you love. Do what puts food on the table." Shaun suggests. "Also Bishop to E3, check."

Amelia growls slightly under her breath and turns her full focus back to the game.

"Do what you love after you've secured enough money in the bank to support said love in case it doesn't pay the bills." Jerome concludes with a grin, and Ana smiles slightly as well.

"I think that works." She agrees.

"It's a little wordy, but I can get behind it." Evie agrees cheerfully.

The next day's exams are mostly electives, so Ana ends up separate from her friend group in the morning when she goes to her Ancient Runes final.

Aidan sits next to her as she gets settled. "Feeling ready?"

"Of course. Are you looking forward to being the number two student in our year again?" She responds, only realizing afterwards that her humor might not be as welcomed by the Hufflepuff.

However, Aidan laughs. "Somebody is confident. But to answer your question, yes, I am looking forward to outcompeting everybody except for a single Ravenclaw."

They don't get to speak much after that as Professor Babbling hands out the exams and any talking would naturally be considered cheating. Ana finishes before Aidan does, but she decides to wait for him outside of the classroom, assuming he shouldn't be much longer.

Sure enough he emerges slightly less than eight minutes later, and he looks surprised to see her. "Hey, how did it go?"

"Easy." She replies truthfully. "I'm reading ahead to prepare for OWLs and a lot of that stuff links back to this pretty well."

Aidan nods. "We'll have to study together next year then." He suggests. "Speaking of, did you want to sit with me and my friends? We're going over History of Magic."

Ana hums. "Perhaps for an hour or so, but I'm supposed to meet with some of my friends to go over Arithmancy before this afternoon's exam."

Aidan nods in understanding. "Makes sense. I'm not much for studying for things on the day of the exam, it always stresses me out too much. Otherwise I'd join you."

Ana admittedly hadn't really thought to ask him to join - Aidan and her exchange gifts and she certainly considers him a friend, but their friendship tends to remain in the classroom for the most part, as well as the occasional walk through the halls in between classes. Still, she hums in understanding.

"Makes sense."

She ends up sitting with Aidan and his friends for only a few minutes before deciding that she would get far more accomplished on her own than listening to Charlie Weasley and Brandon Young ask incredibly obvious (and in her opinion incredibly stupid) questions.

So she finds a table with fewer people crowded around it and spreads herself out to reserve space for when Amelia and Shaun arrive.

After about thirty minutes they join her, bringing with them Fitzwilliam who looks less than pleased at the admitted mess Ana has created in her endeavors to keep enough chairs free of people.

She shrugs unapologetically as she gathers her things and gives her friends and Fitzwilliam space to sit down. "Enjoy your morning freedom?" She greets dryly. Ever since the first time she'd done it, being vaguely snarky has become her default state of being. No one has complained yet so she doesn't think she needs to be too worried about it for now.

"We went over some History of Magic with Finnigan and Jerome." Shaun informs her. "Evie had Muggle Studies though, so Jerome is studying with her now."

"That... doesn't sound particularly helpful for either party." Ana observes honestly.

Amelia frowns at her. "Sometimes you can be a little mean." She says quietly, and Ana frowns back.

"Apologies, I didn't realize. I'm just stating the facts as I see them."

Shaun quickly redirects the conversation to Arithmancy, and they manage to stay civil until lunch, at which point Amelia makes it clear she's not speaking to Ana if she can help it.

"Jeez, what happened?" Jerome asks in confusion when he joins them at the Ravenclaw table. "We were doing so well this week."

Ana decides to be honest. "I mere observed that I wasn't sure you and Evie would make for very effective study partners. Amelia took offense."

Jerome snorts. "Not an unfair point. We did end up pretty distracted when Willow came down to the common room and Evie practically attacked her in hopes she'd help with the wand thing." He pats Amelia on the head lightly. "I appreciate your standing up for my honor, but you know Ana doesn't mean anything bad by it. She's just very blunt."

Ana raises an eyebrow. "...Still, I apologize." She finally says. "If nothing else, what I said should have been stated with you in the area. As it was I may as well have been speaking about you behind your back, which is not something friends should do."

Jerome blinks, for once forgetting to smile around his honest surprise. Then he starts beaming. "We're friends?"

Ana frowns at the question. "Of course. Did you think we weren't?" She's actually going to be a bit upset if that isn't the case.

Jerome shakes his head quickly. "Of course we are! I just didn't know if you thought that yet!" He says, still grinning brightly, like he can't help it. "Oh man today is the best! Even if Evie did set the rug on fire."

"Evie did what?"

Exams had been exhausting. Which, of course, isn't exactly surprising, but it still somehow catches Franziska off guard every year when she wakes up the Saturday after their final test feeling utterly drained.

Her roommates clearly agree with her, as all of them are still burrowed under their covers despite the sun streaming in from the high windows indicating that it must be halfway through the morning at least.

"We should wake up." Franziska observes blearily, half into her pillow but loud enough that she's pretty sure that at least Tonks and Jemma in the beds next to hers will hear.

Tonks whines. "Counter argument, we could continue not moving."

"Counter argument accepted." Kiera declares from Tonks' other side, yawning loudly on the last syllable. "Today is a day for not moving. We have earned it. So sayeth me."

"Don't you usually wake up at five in the morning? Why are you so against this?" Franziska points out, though really, she doesn't want to get up either. She just feels like talking.

"That's at home, and not right after the hardest exams of our lives." Kiera declares.

"OWLs and NEWTs are going to be harder." Leona reminds them unhelpfully, and they all groan except for Jemma, who Franziska thinks is actually still asleep and not just being lazy like the rest of them.

"All the more reason to enjoy freedom while we have it." Kiera declares, half-muffled as she snuggles back down into her bed.

"Still, can you believe we're done fourth year? That's over halfway finished with school." Leona observes after a moment of silence. "We're like, almost adults."

"Ain't that a scary thought." Tonks jokes lightly. "I haven't even had a date yet, how could I handle a job?"

"We have to start thinking about that though." Franziska points out. At this point she's pretty much awake, but her bed is warm and really, there's no reason why they need to move. "Professor Sprout is going to be going over class requirements for jobs with us right at the start of next year."

"Urgh, don't remind me, I have no idea what I want to do." Leona groans. "Sarah and Patrick both knew perfectly what their plans were, and Ed was an arse and didn't tell me how he handled it. I know he still has no clues on the job front and he's about to go into seventh year."

Franziska feels a bit bad for her friend, but she herself isn't really worried about the impending meeting with their Head of House. She's known for quite a while that she wants to go into Muggle Relations, and she already knows thanks to her mother which classes she needs OWLs and NEWTs in for those positions.

"You'll figure it out, Professor Sprout is basically the best Head of House so she'll be super understanding." Kiera pokes her head up from her covers only long enough to reply to Leona. "I mean really, if Snape let your brother get away with that imagine how much better Sprout will be."

Franziska giggles at the picture that suddenly leaps into her head of Snape patting students awkwardly on the head. "I bet Snape was awful. Your brother is probably embarrassed to say what happened."

Leona snorts. "You know, you might hbe on to something there. Honestly, who thought making Snape a Head of House was a good idea?"

"Isn't he the only Slytherin on staff? He kind of doesn't have a choice." Tonks points out.

"Coach Crowell was Slytherin. He should have been the Head of House, he was one of those rare snakes that actually was nice to people outside of his House." Leona sighs.

"He would have been terrible though. He only really cared about Quidditch." Franziska points out. "I know you talked to him after first year, but I never did."

"Still better than not caring about anything." Leaon declares, and Franziska has to give her that.

Eventually nature's call and hunger (and Jemma waking up) force the girls to get out of bed and get dressed.

"You know what I most look forward to about the summer? Being able to have breakfast in my pyjamas." Tonks announces. "You can't do that here since meals are all in the Great Hall."

"I have literally never done that." Kiera says in amusement. "Is it that amazing?"

"It is pretty nice." Franziska admits. "Though you might be able to get away with in during the Winter Break? I think I've seen a few kids in their pyjamas at meals since so few people actually stay."

Tonks perks up slightly, and then frowns. "I'm not sure my parents would like me staying over Christmas though. I'm not sure I would like me staying over Christmas."

"It's pretty fun." Leona pipes up. "I stayed last year and it was a party. Probably staying against next year since, you know, OWLs."

"I'm considering it, but I think I'd get to homesick. Plus Wilbur is getting old. I want as much time with him as possible." Kiera frowns. "At least Charlotte will be around for a while yet."

Franziska shudders when Kiera mentions her pet tarantula. "I still don't know how you can stand having that thing in your room."

"She's a she, not a thing, and she is wonderful and fuzzy and loves cuddles." Kiera declares, though she's grinning to show no offense has been taken.

Unsurprisingly the guys are already in the Great Hall when the girls arrive. Henry waves them over eagerly, and everyone shuffles to make room.

"Nice sleep in?" Tyler teases.

"Extremely." Kiera grins back. "Jealous?"

"Absolutely." The blond responds without missing a beat, and the whole table laughs.

"One week left." Donaghan observes quietly. "It really went fast this year, huh?"

"I can't imagine next year." Jemma nods. "With OWLs I'm sure it will be even worse."

"And prefect duties for some people." Leona adds, nudging Jemma lightly.

"It could go to anyone." Jemma defends. "If you all know so well who's getting the badges then which guy gets it?"

"Probably Aidan." Henry decides after a minute. "I'm pretty sure the rest of us would go power mad within five minutes of getting to school if we were given that job."

Tyler snorts. "At least you're aware of it."

"Donaghan would be a good prefect I think." Jemma pipes up. "Frannie too."

Franziska nearly chokes on her orange juice. "No thanks. It's hard enough navigating my personal life without having to navigate everyone else's too."

"How are things going with Brandon by the way? You guys didn't hang out much during exams." Leona asks, though her looks tells Franziska that she probably already knows the answer.

Franziska shrugs. "We were both busy, and he's used to studying with Aidan and Charlie. We're hanging out this afternoon by the lake - you guys can come if you want, we haven't had a proper hang out by the Black Lake since first year."

"Hey that's true!" Kiera perks up. "Oh man, this is going to be great! Did I even bring my swimsuit? Tonks do you have an extra if I forgot?"

Leona looks torn. "It wouldn't be imposing?"

Franziska shakes her head. "He's already invited Charlie and Aidan, and probably most of Gryffindor knowing him. I ask Fitzwilliam too but he said he's busy."

Leona immediately grins. "Well then, I suppose I could grace this party with my presence."

The rest of breakfast is spent making plans, and Franziska finds herself even more excited for the afternoon.

She grabs Brandon shortly before lunch to tell him about the plans.

He looks just as excited as she feels. "That's awesome! Is there anything we should bring? Charlie is coming obviously, and Fiona and Holly said they might stop by. And if Tyler is going Remi will probably come too, and I can drag Myr out - he needs to loosen up, he's been way too tense because of exams." He continues rambling excitedly, eventually deciding that every fourth year Gryffindor is going to be down at the lake whether they like it or not.

Franziska just laughs and lets him talk. After how awkward they've been recently it's nice to hear him getting excited about something without any underlying uncertainty. Eventually they have to separate to go to their respective Houses for lunch, and Franziska can't stop grinning.

"Good to see you so happy." Leona comments when Franziska sits down. "So operation lake party is definitely a go?"

"Yep." Franziska grins. "So we better eat quickly if we want to get everything set up in time - apparently there's going to be a lot of guests."

Henry nods. "I told Amelia about it too. She says she might come by too, so that's at least a couple of Ravenclaws."

Franziska and Leona both smirk. Henry has has an incredibly obvious puppy crush on Amelia for nearly two years now but despite the fact they've sort of become friends he's too scared to actually ask her out, despite his confidence in everything else.

"Hey that will be fun! We don't get to hang out with them very much." Tyler says. "Oh, and uh, I invited Remi too." He shifts a bit, and Franziska gets why. Tyler's cousin isn't exactly the most popular person in their year, rivaling Evie in the amount of chaos he creates. Still, it's an open party, so she smiles at him.

"That's fine, just maybe keep an eye on him?" She suggests, and Tyler nods, clearly relieved at the calm response.

"Of course! Thanks Frannie."

"Okay team, let's finish eating and get this party started!"

Franziska is pretty sure she has a slight stomach ache from how quickly she'd powered through her lunch, but it's completely worth it. The Hufflepuffs had split into two groups, one heading for the greenhouse and the other running to the kitchens. With a bit of magic they'd transfigured a few picnic blankets by the side of the lake and piled on the snacks they'd gotten from the House Elves. They then pitched several puffapods into the water, so the shore of the lake is covered in floating flowers. All in all it's beautiful and Franziska is thrilled that they'd thought of it.

She's sitting beside Brandon, holding his hand loosely and enjoying the sunshine. Charlie, Fiona, Myr, and Leona are playing chicken in the water with interference being run by Kiera and Tonks. Jemma, Drake, and Evera are swimming nearby, splashing each other and anyone else who gets to close. Nabila is talking excitedly with Amelia on one of the blankets while Henry sits beside them listening in eagerly. Donaghan and Cian had brought their instruments are are playing quietly to their small audience of Shaun, Jerome, and Tyler. On the second blanket Evie and Holly are engaged in an animated conversation that involves a lot of waving their wands around. Franziska thinks she ought to be more concerned about it than she actually is.

In fact, the only thing that's setting her slightly on edge is the fact that she can't see where Remi has gotten to. However, she's relaxed enough that she's able to tell herself she'll worry about it when it actually becomes a problem.

"I admit I didn't expect Nabila and Amelia to hit it off so well. They're both so quiet." Brandon observes idly, playing with Franziska's fingers.

"Both love creatures though, right? I saw Nabila and Charlie debating about them at some point, and Amelia is apparently really loud in the Care of Magical Creatures class from what I hear." Franziska responds, just as idle. Really the conversation doesn't matter, she's just glad to be relaxing with her friends.

Of course, the loose thread she'd told herself not to worry about ends up showing up exactly when she's most relaxed.

It starts when Evera shrieks. At first Franziska thinks Drake must have just dunked her again, but then Holly is shouting too.

"What the heck is that?"

"Everyone, meet the giant squid!" Remi yells excitedly from the lake, where sure enough he's riding on top of a giant squid.

Franziska freezes in a panic, looking helplessly at the others. What exactly was one supposed to even do in a situation like this?

"Remi what the heck?" Tyler looks absolutely livid. "What are you doing? That thing could be dangerous?"

"Aw he's fine." Remi yells back, apparently oblivious to his cousin's fury. "Come on, haven't you ever wanted to meet the giant-"

Before he can finish the sentence the squid bucks and he tumbles from atop it into the water, vanishing from view.

"I'm getting a teacher. No one go into the water." Jemma instructs, and the few people still standing in the shallow end quickly jump back onto dry land.

Tyler is still fuming as he paces along the bank. "I'm sorry Frannie, I know I said I'd keep an eye on him."

Franziska shakes her head. "I mean, you shouldn't have to. I doubt anyone is going to be mad at you for his stupid decisions."

"Wasn't his cousin supposed to be watching him?" Evera grumbles to Drake, dripping onto the ground and glowering at the lake.

Franziska sighs and Tyler wilts.

Jemma returns with Professor Flitwick a few minutes later, and Franziska is starting to worry as none of them has seen Remi emerging from the water yet.

They quickly fill the Professor in on the situation, and he blows out a low breath before nodding.

"Right, one of you go get Hagrid. The rest split into two teams and patrol the lake to see if the boy has washed up along the shores. I shall investigate the lake once Hagrid arrives."

"I'll get Hagrid." Franziska volunteers immediately. She hasn't been able to visit the groundskeeper since finals had started and she'd like to see him again before leaving for the summer. Even if it is under less than ideal circumstances.

She races off as soon as Professor Flitwick agrees. Hagrid's hut is on the opposite side of the castle, but Franziska manages to get about halfway before she's forced to slow to a walk, panting heavily and nursing what is going to be a massive cramp in her side given a few minutes.

She continues to stumble determinedly along, sprinting a few times when her mind tricks her into thinking she'll be fine and that the cramp isn't as bad as it actually is.

She does finally reach Hagrid, and he and Fang run on ahead while she takes a much slower pace back to the lakeshore.

When she arrives, Remi is back on the shore, soaking wet and being very firmly dressed down by Professor Flitwick even as he shivers under a heavy towel. Hagrid is waist deep out in the water, seemingly talking to the surface of the lake though Franziska suspects his conversation partner might be the squid.

She wanders over to where Brandon is sitting with Aidan and Charlie, and her boyfriend quickly hurries over when he spots her approaching.

"Hey, sorry that went so sideways." He frowns at Remi despite the Gryffindor boy not looking at them.

Franziska presses her shoulder against his lightly. "It was fun up until the giant squid attack though." She points out. "So I can't really complain."

He smiles over at her, and she smiles back. She really can't complain.

Rajani thinks she rather likes dating Ed. There are plenty of perks that she didn't know came with a boyfriend, and a few extra ones stemming from his role as a prefect. The most prominent of which is getting to sneak around after hours and claim the best makeout spots.

It's at least forty minutes past curfew when the two of them stumble back into the common room, laughing quietly and ignoring the eye rolls they get from a few of the upper years still awake.

"See you tomorrow." Rajani whispers, giving Ed one last, chaste kiss before they split to go to their respective dorms.

Queenie is waiting up for her when she walks in, though Rajani isn't particularly surprised. Her best friend is usually still up when she returns from her late night trysts with Ed.

"Have fun?" Queenie asks dryly.

"I'll bet." Nia laughs. "Older guy like that probably has a lot of useful experience."

Rajani grins slyly. "I have nothing to say on the subject that's any of your business." She replies cheekily, and Elspeth snorts from where she's burrowed under her covers.

Queenie frowns. "It feels like you're just using this guy for makeouts." She says after a moment. "That's not a healthy base for a relationship."

Rajani raises an eyebrow as she begins changing for bed. "It's not a relationship though, not like yours and Eugene. Ed and I already talked about this months ago when we first decided to start using 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' when talking about each other." She pulls on her nightshirt before turning to face her friend. "He's graduating next year, and we've both got major exams we need to focus on. We both agreed that this relationship is just going to be for fun, no strings or expectations attached."

Queenie doesn't look particularly thrilled with the answer, but honestly Rajani doesn't care. Her relationship with Ed is honestly everything she could have hoped for. All the discomfort and uncertainty she's been feeling all year seem to have vanished every since they'd decided to play things by ear and just have fun. It may not be a relationship Queenie would be happy with, but Rajani is beyond thrilled.

That said, she doesn't like going to sleep while her best friend is uncomfortable, so she decides to share a tidbit of information she'd picked up while sneaking around that night.

"So boyfriends aside, I may have gotten a peek at the final scores for the House Cup competition."

All eyes are immediately on her. Although Slytherin had taken an early lead in the competition, Hufflepuff had been steadily overtaking them, and that morning the two Houses had been neck-in-neck. Every Slytherin had spent the day doing everything in their power to gather last-minute points, but the Hufflepuffs had been doing the same, leaving the final result as unclear as ever when dinner time came around.

Rajani grins and basks in the attention and anticipation for a moment before taking pity on her friends. "Guess who's taking home the Cup for the fourth year in a row?"

"Woo! Heck yeah, best House!" Nia whoops and high fives Clary enthusiastically. Queenie grins as well.

"Only natural really." She says airily, and Rajani smirks and shakes her head.

"Those poor badgers." She says cheekily, dropping onto her bed and muffling a yawn. "Well, we can celebrate tomorrow at the feast, but I'm beat. Goodnight all."

She doesn't fall asleep immediately, but within a half hour she's drifted off.

The next morning their dorm is a flurry of excited activity as they all get ready for their final day at Hogwarts.

"Clary, I'm pretty sure this is yours." Elspeth tosses a book onto Clary's bed, and the brunette glances at it.

"Oh hey! I've been looking for that, how did it get into your stuff?" She wonders a she jams it into her trunk around the rest of the things she's already crammed in.

Queenie eyes the disorganized mess. "Honestly Clary, you wouldn't lose so many things if you learned to pack properly."

"It works for me." Clary counters cheerfully. "And I haven't lost anything really; I just misplace stuff for a while. It always makes its way back eventually."

Queenie rolls her eyes and Clary sticks out her tongue in reponse.

Rajani just smiles to herself as she organizes her own trunk. Lakshmi will be caged and put onto her bed during the goodbye feast as she is every year, so after double checking her potions ingredients Rajani is confident she hasn't forgotten anything.

"I can't wait to see the looks on the Hufflepuffs' faces when they see we won again." Nia's grin is wicked. "Snakes can't be beat."

They arrive in the common room just as she speaks, and Lenox glances up at her words from where he and the other guys in their year, plus Ed, are seated on one of the couches.

"It means there's more pressure to keep winning next year though." He points out. "And more animosity from the other Houses."

"The other Houses are jerks with or without alledged reason." Elspeth grumbles. "I don't recall them being very friendly first year either, and Ravenclaw had won the year before."

Rajani hums lightly in agreement. "Ed, you'd know better than us, but Sahana and Mayra seemed to deal with the same stuff we did even without the win streak."

Ed shifts so she can sit next to him and he slides an arm over her shoulders. "Can confirm. Slytherin and the other Houses just don't get along. They're all so quick to assume we must all be mini dark lords in training that they've never really bothered to try and know different."

"They think they're so great, but they're even worse than us." Elspeth growls. "Hufflepuffs and their acting like they're better just because they can't take care of themselves properly, Ravenclaws thinking they're smarter than everyone else, and Gryffindors."

She doesn't need to say anything more on Gryffindor House - they all know exactly how hypocritical and awful the lions can be without needing to spell it out.

"Enough with the negativity, today is a celebration." Eugene declares. 

"And one well earned." Lenox agrees. Clary has settled herself next to him much the same as Rajani has with Ed, and once again the Indian girl is pleased to find that whatever weirdness she'd felt about the two before has seemingly evaporated since she started her own relationship.

"I can't believe the year is over already though, I'm going to miss you all this summer." Clary pouts. "Raj, any chance you'll be hanging out with your sister again?"

"Maybe. Work is tough for her right now and summer is in season for Mayra so it will probably be a lot harder to find time to stay with them this year." Rajani replies. She doesn't mention that her sister's letters have been rather odd of late and she gets the feeling that it's more than work stressing Sahana out and decreasing the likelihood of a summer visit.

"I'm not actually going to be around very much this summer." Queenie adds. "We're celebrating Kingsley's graduation with a trip to South America to visit family. I'm pretty excited, I haven't seen my cousins in years!"

Clary raises an eyebrow. "Sounds like fun. But whatever will Eugene do all by his lonesome?" She teases, and Queenie laughs.

"Actually, Eugene and his mom are coming with us." She explains happily. "Our families arranged the whole thing as a surprise. We're leaving in a week."

"You better get lots of pictures." Clary demands. "Leaving me all alone over break, you're going to owe me!"

"Shouldn't you be getting mad at Lenox? He's the one actually dating you."

"He also isn't stable enough during the summer to set a time." Clary replies to Queenie's counter argument. "We've already agreed to just write each other as often as possible."

Nai pretends to gag. "We get it, you're adorable." She jokes lightly. "Now come on, I want to be the first ones to the Great Hall!"

"You told them?" Ed guesses as the group makes their way through the dungeons towards the main entrance.

Rajani grins lightly. "You have to ask? They're my friends, of course I said something."

Ed shakes his head. "For shame."

She elbows him lightly. "Please, you absolutely would have done the same if you didn't have patrol. All your friends were asleep by the time you got back."

Ed laughs. "Well, I can't disagree. Still, it was fun playing dumb this morning when we all woke up."

When they enter the Great Hall Rajani's friends still get excited - after all they hadn't actually seen the final point tally like Rajani and Ed had, and there's something viscerally pleasing about seeing their hourglass filled just a bit more than all the rest (except for Gryffindor's which is rather drastically below the rest due to a major point loss only a few day prior).

"Four years and counting." Clary declares proudly as she grins at the hourglasses.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, we haven't even started fifth year." Queenie warns, but she's smiling as well. "But it does have a nice ring, doesn't it?"

The group settles about halfway up the table, and Ed gives Rajani a quick peck on the cheek in farewell before moving to greet his friend from his year and sit with them.

"Do you even know any of his friends?" Queenie asks, staring after Ed disapprovingly.

Rajani shrugs. "I've talked to a few of them, yeah. They're nice enough, but pretty frazzled. All Ed's closest friends are taking about a million NEWT levels unlike him. I'm fully planning on stealing some of their workbooks next year before they graduate."

"Still, you guys are dating. You should know his friends - he knows yours."

Rajani rolls her eyes. "Yeah, about as well as I know his. It's just a casual relationship Queen, we don't need to be involved in every aspect of each other's lives all the time."

Queenie is still frowning, but the arrival of her brother cuts off any further complaints she wants to give.

"Hey guys, great job this year!" Kingsley grins enthusiastically, clapping Eugene on the back as he does. Eugene pitches forward slightly, coughing, and Queenie catches him by the arm.

"Thanks Kingsley. Please don't break my fiancé." Queenie smiles up at her brother, who laughs warmly.

"I can't promise anything Queen. So, done fourth year already. You kids ready for OWLs next year?"

"Don't remind me." Clary groans. "I barely passed the normal exams this year, I guarantee I flunk at least half of my OWLs."

"Well look at it this way, that's four classes you don't have to take anymore." Nia teases.

Kingsley leaves them to it shortly after so he can greet the rest of the Slytherins and, presumably, sit with his actual friends. The fourth years are only too happy to maintain conversation amongst themselves until everyone has filed in and Dumbledore stands to give the farewell speech. All of Slytherin goes siilent, eager to hear their victory announced once again.

"Yet another exciting year has come and gone!" Dumbledore exclaims cheerfully, "And all of the Houses performed quite admirably this year! However, there can only be one winner of the House Cup, and this year, once again, Slytherin has pulled ahead by a few points! Congratulations."

The Slytherin table erupts into nearly deafening cheers, and Rajani has no problems dropping decorum and joining in the noisy celebration herself. Around her Clary has jumped out of her seat and is awkwardly leaning over so she can hug Lenox, Nia is shaking Elspeth, and even Alasdair and Cadfael look somewhat pleased from where they're sitting a few feet away from the rest of the fourth years. Rajani can't see her potions partner Finn, but she assumes he's likely as happy about the results as anyone.

The Feast is a cheerful event for Slytherin House, and Rajani feels properly stuffed by the time she stumbles back to the dorms to collect Lakshmi and her trunk for the train ride home.

Ed catches her in the common room, his own trunk and a cage with his toad awkwardly juggled in a single hand.

"Hey, I was thinking we could sit together on the ride back?" He suggests, and Rajani is only too happy to agree.

"Hey, guys, I'm sitting with Ed. See you at the platform, yeah? Don't leave without saying goodbye."

Most of her friends are more than happy to agree with some light teasing, but Queenie does look slightly put out by the announcement. Rajani ignores it - if Queenie is going to be petty about Rajani's boyfriend, that's her problem. Rajani has more important things like kissing to be occupying her time and attention.

The train ride back is honestly one of the best ones Rajani has had. There is, of course, copious amounts of making out, but they also chat about their summer plans and Ed talks a bit about his aspirations for after graduation.

"I'll probably go into the Ministry like Sarah did honestly. Something with Wizengamot - I've become pretty interested in the legal system in the past year." Ed tells her, and she raises an eybrow.

"I honestly would not have called that." She admits.

Ed laughs. "Yeah, that makes sense. My family doesn't even know I'm considering it yet. What about you? You've got that meeting with Snape about the future in the fall, you know what you're looking at?"

Rajani shrugs. "Kind of? I'm thinking of going into the Ministry, though I want to stay very far away from whatever Sahana is doing." She grins, and Ed laughs as well. She'd told him about the insane hours her sister was pulling for work.

Seven hours passes faster than normal, and as she feels the train slowing Rajani starts collecting her things.

"I need to find my friends to say goodbye, I promised I would." She explains, somewhat apologetic to cut things off even just a few minutes early.

Ed waves her off with a grin. "I know how that goes. Have fun, I'll write you this summer, yeah?"

"Not if I write first." She replies, waving as she pushes open the compartment door and hurries down the train, scanning for any sight of her friends. 

The train has reached the station by the time she finally locates their car, but it's worth the effort when Clary drags her into a hug as soon as she open the compartment door.

"Hey! There you are. Get lots of goodbye kisses?" She teases upon releasing Rajani.

"I did indeed. You all have a great summer, and write me as much as possible okay?" Rajani demands.

Everyone agrees easily, and Rajani thinks that despite how much tension she knows is going to be at home, this may not be such a bad summer.