After the difficulty of winter break, scheduling patrols seems extremely simple once school has started again.

Rajani says as much to Myr after their hour long scheduling meeting finishes after fifteen minutes and they're both staring at the patrol list unsure of what to do.

He laughs slightly. "You can say that again. It's a good thing though, isn't it? More time to study."

Rajani makes a pained noise in the back of , leaning back in her seat. "Don't remind me. My parents are going to be furious when my grades aren't as good as my older sister's were." After a moment of silence she glances over at the Head Boy, who's giving her an odd look. "What?"

"I've never heard you make that noise before." He replies, a smile starting to tug at the corner of his lips. "It's weird coming from you."

Rajani rolls her eyes. "I'm tired, so sue me. We have the exact same schedule, you know full well how much harder classes have gotten since break ended."

Myr grimaces. "Don't remind me, I'm putting off that History project another week. Only Leona doesn't have a partner right now and I'm not sure I want to work with her if I can find a way to avoid it. That's just asking for all my secrets to be exposed."

Rajani laughs, then blinks and suddenly understands why Myr had been eyeing her moments before. It's weird hearing him talk about things other than Quidditch or prefect duties.

But it's also nice, in the way her friendship with Donaghan used to be before the prank war showed his true colors. She loves her Housemates, but sometimes they can be stifling.

"See? It's weird." Myr grins at her.

Rajani laughs, a bit startled. "Yes, well. I don't suppose you would want to do the project with me?" She isn't quite sure what pushes her to say it, but she doesn't quite regret that she does. "I used to partner with Queenie but that obviously isn't an option anymore."

It still hurts to say, but not as much, and she thinks she might be proud of herself for it.

Myr flinches. "Oh, yeah. That makes sense." He hesitates, somehow more uncomfortable talking about Queenie than Raj is. "I guess we could do that, yeah. If you don't mind."

"I don't particularly want to team up with Leona either." She says dryly. "I used to date her brother, so she knows far more about me than I'm comfortable with."

Myr raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment on the new information. "I'm fine doing anything but the Goblin rebellions." He says instead, and Rajani can't help laughing.

"Trust me, I'm sick of them too. What about the institution of the Statute of Secrecy? We barely touched on that in first year but I bet we could find plenty of material about why it was implemented and how it spread across the entirety of the wizarding world."

Myr looks thoughtful. "And if we have time perhaps we can address modern consequences. If you don't mind, it's a bit personal for me." He adds hurriedly.

Rajani hums. "No, it's a good idea. The point of learning history is to understand how it can influence the present. The Statute was implemented in 1689, times have changed in three hundred years."

Myr grins slightly. "My sentiments exactly."

They end up spending the rest of the planning meeting talking about the project. It isn't due until the end of the year, but it's a five minute oral presentation supplementing a thirty page written assignment and both of them agree that starting sooner is far preferable to starting later.

They likely would have continued longer but an explosion from the hallway outside followed by angry shouting gets both of them out of their seats.

Rajani glances at Myr to find him looking rather resigned. "I've got this, I think I know who that was."

Rajani shrugs and nods. "I'll lock up here and post the new patrol schedule then. Good luck." She adds and he sighs.

"Thanks. See you in class tomorrow." He gives a slight wave before heading into the hallway. She hears him calling something about 'twins' before the door closes and the noises are too muffled to make out individual words.

She shakes her head and packs up her bag. Partners with a Gryffindor. Nia would be scandalized if she found out.

Rajani decides to head to the library rather than the common room once the patrols are posted and the room is locked up. No harm in getting some more research done while the day is young after all, and considering how intense classes have gotten she imagines most of her friends will be there anyway.

Sure enough Cadfael and Alasdair are perched at one of the smaller tables surrounded by parchment, and Rajani shoves some aside to make room for herself.

"Afternoon boys." She greets lightly, dropping her back onto the seat to claim it. "Mind if I join you?"

"Knock yourself out." Alasdair mumbles distractedly, sketching several lines and circles onto the parchment in front of him. Rajani recognizes the symbols from pages she used to see Mayra working on back when her sister and the former Slytherin Quidditch captain had been living together.

"New plays for the Ravenclaw game?" She guesses, and Alasdair only hums in reply, brushing the feather of his quill over his forehead, clearly deep in thought.

"Has been all day. Personally I'm working on Defense - we're going to be casting patronuses on Tuesday I hear and I'm hoping to not be the worst one." Cadfael supplies. "Care to join me?"

Rajani shakes her head regretfully. "I've got to get some research done for History. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow I've got potions in the afternoon." He frowns and Rajani nods in understanding.

"Got it. Well, I'm sure we'll find some time." She says with a slight smile before heading into the bookshelves to collect anything she can find on the Statute of Secrecy.

It's a quiet afternoon with the boys, and while they aren't her closest friends in the House she's actually glad for it as it means they don't talk much and she can focus on her studying. She gets quite a bit accomplished as a result, and is for once pleased with her progress when they pack up and head for dinner in the Great Hall.

"Worked out those plays?" She asks Alasdair casually as the three of them make the short trek.

He hums. "Mostly. I need to talk with Higgs though, he's utterly infuriating. Not nearly as much as Lenox but they're cut from the same cloth for sure. Must be a Seeker thing." He grumbles, and Rajani can't help but chuckle.

"You're a great Captain Alas, if anyone can figure out how to work through this it's you. After all," She adds, "You're the Slytherin Captain who handed Gryffindor the biggest defeat they've suffered in a century."

That does cheer up the half-Asian boy slightly. "Yeah, you're right."

Cadfael shoots her a smile behind his friend's back and Rajani merely shrugs in reply. She'd only been stating the truth after all, and Alasdair deserves to remember his successes instead of focusing too much on the perceived failures, especially when doing so in her experience tends to cause future failure.

She chooses to sit between Clary and a younger girl when they arrive at the Great Hall, and the other girl immediately grabs Rajani's arm and looks at her hopefully.

"Raj you've got to help me study tomorrow morning. I don't understand anything in Transfiguration and we've got that first thing on Tuesday but I've got Potions tomorrow afternoon and I don't have any time to practice for the practical McGonagall threatened to give us this week."

Rajani can't help grinning at her friend's pathetic expression. "Sure Clary, I need to practice as well." She agrees easily. "Perhaps we could go over some Defense as well."

They end up spending the dinner talking about the next spells they're learning and what they expect will be on the NEWTs. 

"I have no idea how you two plan on surviving seven NEWTs." Nia declares, waving her knife at Cadfael and Finn, who has decided to sit with them for the meal (though Rajani doubts they'll be on his rotation for another few weeks after this - he's notorious for never hanging around the same people more than a few days at a time). "I'm only taking four and I'm already ready to write off Care of Magical Creatures as an A at best."

"That's because you barely pay attention in that class." Elspeth mutters, more to her food than anything but the table hears her just the same.

Nia sticks her tongue out and elbows the other girl lightly. "Perhaps, but if I want to get into the Oxford Amateur Dueling Tournament in August I've got to do well in my classes that actually involve spellcasting." She points out.

"You're lucky that lined up so nicely, that tournament only hosts Amateurs every five years." Lenox comments idly.

"Precisely why I have to do well on my NEWTs. I'll likely be the youngest competitor there and I'd hate to let people think they can push me around simply because I haven't been out of school as long." Nia sniffs.

"Still, it's all rather stressful isn't it? After last year with no exams, going back into OWL panic is giving me whiplash." Finn jokes cheerfully, his expression not matching his sentiments at all.

"Yeah, you look really stressed." Elspeth snarks under her breath, and Finn eyes her curiously. Rajani internally sighs.

Looks like Finn will be hanging around a bit longer than she'd anticipated.

The rest of the night is mainly spent studying in the common room, though they do take a short break for a few rounds of Exploding Snap, with Lenox naturally winning every game he plays.

Rajani sleeps soundly that night, and wakes up the next morning to find Clary looming over her, already dressed and hopping from foot to foot in impatience.

"Oh good, you're up, hurry and get dressed I want to finish breakfast and start practicing as soon as possible." She declares once she's spotted Rajani glaring at her sleepily.

It takes her a moment, but Rajani does reluctantly roll out of bed and start up her morning routine. Clary is nothing if not persistent so there's no chance of getting a few more minutes of rest.

No one else is awake yet, though Elspeth is starting to stir. Rajani moves as quietly as she can manage, but as she and Clary head out most of the rest of the dorm is rousing themselves.

"Breakfast might not even be served yet Clar." Rajani reminds her friend. "What's the rush?"

"We'll just have the House Elves give us something to eat. I'm serious, I'm going to fail Transfiguration if we don't spend all morning on it Raj." Clary declares briskly.

No Defense practice then. Rajani thinks, resigned to Clary having full control over the practice session.

Rajani would be irritated if she didn't also need to practice for Transfiguration.

The House Elves give them toast and eggs and wish them luck with their studies and Clary whisks Rajani to one of the empty cells littering the entirety of the Hogwarts dungeons.

As it turns out Clary hadn't been exaggerating when she'd said she was going to fail. Rajani ends up coaching her more than she actually practices herself.

"How did you fall this far behind?" She can't help asking about two hours into the session. "You had all of break to review."

"Potions is a goddamned nightmare." Clary replies flatly. "I spent all of break reviewing for that, and reading ahead because Merlin knows Snape doesn't give us any slack."

Rajani smirks faintly, quietly glad she'd dropped the class as soon as possible. Although Snape is definitely nicer to his own House he's still not the best teacher, so doing well in his classes requires a lot of independent study.

The two girls keep working right up to lunch, at which point Rajani has to forcibly remove herself, citing her History class and the fact their measly toast and eggs certainly isn't enough energy to get them through the afternoon classes.

Clary is clearly still nervous about Transfiguration, but follows Rajani to the Great Hall nonetheless. She spends the meal muttering incantations under her breath while the rest of the group socialize.

After lunch Rajani excuses herself to class, and catches up with Myr in the hallway.

"Hey, I need to borrow you." She says bluntly, ignoring the looks she gets from his friends ranging from confused to scandalized.

Myr blinks in surprise, and then nods. "Sure thing. See you guys later." He adds to the group, who all wave farewell.

"What's up? You don't usually talk to me if there are other Gryffindors in sight." Myr points out as they walk towards the History of Magic classroom together.

Rajani shrugs. "They'll assume it's prefect related. Besides, they need to get over themselves and their irrational hatred of us."

"Could say the same of you." Myr points out, then holds up his hands in surrender at her glare. "It's true. But not the point - what did you want to talk about?"

"Our project. I've done some preliminary research and there's a lot here. Do you have time to work on it after class? I want to get an outline for the paper finished and we could divide up sections so we don't have to study all of it ourselves."

Myr hums agreeably. "Sounds like a plan. I dropped Potions so I'm free right after class, but if you're still taking it...?"

Rajani shakes her head firmly. "Not a chance. I did decently but it was far more stress than was worth dealing with for two more years, particularly as I don't need it for my job."

"What do you want to do?" Myr asks curiously, and then quickly backtracks. "If you want to say, obviously, I don't-"

"International Magical Cooperation." Rajani cuts him off with a smirk. "I intend to be appointed to the International Confederation of Wizards by the time I'm thirty, and foreign policy has nothing to do with mixing up plants and hoping they don't explode."

Myr blinks, and then grins slightly. "Sounds like you've got it all planned out." He comments, and she can't tell if that's a compliment or an insult.

She doesn't have a chance to decide whether or not to be annoyed as they arrive at History then and immediately head to tables on opposite sides of the room. No need to start gossip, especially when Leona is in their class.

Still, it's likely inevitable that this odd new congeniality will get back to her Slytherin friends. At least she can just blame prefect duties - even if she has to admit to herself that it's definitely becoming more than that.

As winter melts into spring, Franziska finds herself torn between intense test stress and a growing sense of melancholy.

With exams about two months away everyone is buckling down on their studies, but people are also speaking a lot more about job applications and early admission to higher institutes and it's reminding Franziska that once she gets on the Hogwarts express, she may never see some of her friends again.

She doesn't voice this openly, but makes sure to find time to just hang out with all of her friends as much as possible, wanting to savor her final few months at Hogwarts and have great memories to look back on and share with her children.

She thinks she knows why her mother wanted her to come to Hogwarts.

She has Tuesdays off entirely, and by March she's established a solid routine with the rest of the Hufflepuffs, as well as a few other seventh years who she didn't expect but she's not going to complain. She sets up in the library right after breakfast, and over the course of the day most of her friends stop by to chat and study for their NEWTs.

The second week of March has a lot more talking than studying as the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff Quidditch match approaches.

"I know the reasons for moving it are sound but it's so weird to not have this be the last match of the year." Tyler groans to the group as they cluster around one of the large tables by the window. "I keep thinking that this is the last match, and then my brain starts freaking out about how close NEWTs must be then. And then I remember our last match is now against Slytherin and that's the one happening the week before NEWTs."

Kiera nudges him lightly. "You'll get used to it. And hey, the Slytherin captain is in our year right? Considering how their team has been playing that might be to your advantage for him to be strung out." Then she makes a face. "Counter argument to myself actually, Slytherins seem to get way nastier when strung out, if that's possible."

Franziska tilts her head curiously, though it's Donaghan who provides an explanation even as Jemma lightly slaps Kiera's shoulder in admonishment.

"In Defense class we've been working on casting Patronuses for a couple weeks now. Cadfael from Slytherin has been... competitive." He says delicately.

Kiera snorts. "He said you had to be cheating when you made the first incorporeal patronus in class since, and I quote, 'a mudblood doesn't have the magical predilection for such complicated spellwork.'"

Franziska makes a face, and Donaghan flushes, looking to his feet and clearly not knowing how to reply.

Jemma leans a bit closer to her boyfriend. "He's stressed, like we all are. Unfortunately he happens to have been taught some things that are... less pleasant for us. He probably just doesn't know better."

"And none of the Slytherins in class tried to correct him, not even the Head Girl. If that isn't telling I don't know what is." Kiera points out in return.

Donaghan surprised Franziska when his head snaps up and he looks almost angry. "The Professor reacted faster than any of us did, no one technically tried to correct him. I didn't even say anything back."

Kiera shrugs. "Still, she's supposed to be a role model."

Jemma nervously clears . "Speaking of Defense, Kiera do you remember the difference between Dementors and Lethifolds? I always forget."

Kiera gives her a look saying she knows exactly what the prefect is doing, but she relents and moves back to the review material.

Franziska ends up mainly working with Tyler on their Herbology assignment, and they even manage to almost finish it before he and most of the others have to head to Transfiguration, leaving Kiera and Franziska to chat for a few minutes before they're joined by the next round of study partners.

Charlie and Brandon arrive, along with a new face that honestly surprises Franziska. She didn't think Remi Longbottom would be particularly interested in their study-and-chill routine considering how antithetical that sort of activity seems to his entire state of being.

"He promises to be good." Charlie says with a grin when he sees the hesitant glances directed in his companion's direction.

"I have to pass my NEWTs too you know." Remi grumbles, dropping into the seat next to Kiera, who side-eyes him and pulls her notes closer to herself.

Surprisingly he does keep his head down and his nose to the grindstone for the next hour, diligently comparing notes and adding additional items into the tiny margins his honestly awful handwriting has left him to work with.

Brandon cracks down with what is obviously a potions assignment, while Charlie and Kiera team up on a Care of Magical Creatures project. Franziska ends up pulling out her notes from Muggle Studies so she can go over all the new material from the past few weeks. Professor Quirrell had taken a year-long sabbatical to study abroad and the new professor has a very different approach to the class and a lot of things Quirrell had taught are no longer what's considered "correct" in the classroom.

Despite that Franziska actually really likes the new professor - Charity Burbage is bright, energetic, and open to discussion with both Franziska and the Welsh Muggleborn boy in their class - really she ought to know his name but it's so difficult to pronounce, particularly considering her German pronunciation and "Welsh boy" works perfectly well - about their actual experiences with Muggles. So overall Franziska probably likes her better as a professor.

Unfortunately she doesn't follow the test material the way Professor Quirrell always had, so Franziska is doing a lot of studying up on her own to make sure she's familiar with the "correct" answers for her NEWT.

The next major shift is after lunch - namely because Evie and Fitzwilliam are her study partners for an hour before they have to go to their Defense class.

Not much studying really happens during that hour, but Franziska doesn't mind all that much.

This week the topic is - of course - the upcoming Quidditch match.

"We absolutely are going to sit in the Hufflepuff section with you Frannie, I'm gonna paint my face and everything! Tonks says she'll help." Evie enthuses as quietly as she can manage to avoid the wrath of Madame Pince. "I tried convincing Fitz to join me but he said no." She adds, pouting at the brunet who doesn't look regretful in the slightest.

"That stuff can give you rashes, and you're going to look ridiculous." He replies, tapping his quill lightly on the page of notes that he hasn't bothered to look at since pulling them out when they first sat down.

"I'm going to look like a fan! And also super cute, I think yellow and black match my hair." Evie declares, a bit loudly so both her friends hush her quickly and Fitzwilliam nervously glances to where Madame Pince's desk is.

Thankfully the librarian either didn't hear them or, more likely, chose to give them a chance to control themselves before interfering.

"Still, I think Gryffindor will probably win." Franziska admits quietly. "Cedric is an amazing Seeker but it's only his first year as a Starter, and let's be honest none of the current Seekers is as good as Charlie." She smiles ruefully. "Plus we're their first game since that loss to Slytherin - they're going to be out for blood."

"Good point." Fitzwilliam agrees. "Still, it's fun just to watch. I can't say I really care at this point."

Evie punches him lightly. "Excuse you, Hufflepuff needs to win. Slytherin has gotten the House Cup every single stinking year we've gone here but if Hufflepuff can take the Quidditch Cup they might beat them this year! They're neck-in-neck for House points right now."

Franziska makes a face. "Evie makes a good point. I'd hate for the snakes to win again."

"Their egos are big enough." Fitzwilliam mutters in distasteful agreement. "Alright, I guess I do care. We can pray for a miracle I suppose."

"You would think we'd have found a potion to create miracles by this point. Magic has been around forever, right?" Evie observes curiously.

"We sort of have. Felix Felicis, the luck potion. Nearly impossible to make though." Fitzwilliam tells her. "I think they're actually learning how to make it now in Potions."

"They are, Donaghan told us about it yesterday." Franziska confirms. "It's considered questionable magic though, since it fails so often."

They end up discussing the potion for the rest of the hour, and Evie and Fitzwilliam are very nearly late to Defense thanks to it.

The rest of the week continues similarly, and finally the weekend and the big game arrive.

The entire Hufflepuff table is abuzz with energy, with the Quidditch team seated at the center of it. Kiera has managed to grab a seat next to Tyler, but the rest of the seventh years are forced to sit further down the table.

"You'd think seniority would get us closer." Henry grumbles.

Leona pats him on the head. "Have I taught you nothing? You can still get plenty of information on the team even from back here."

"And I don't need to hear this." Aidan groans. "Honestly, who let this happen?"

Cian snorts. "When has Leona ever needed anyone to let her anything?" He points out dryly, then ducks in irritation when said brunette swipes at him playfully across the table.

"He's right though." She says cheerfully. "Did I mention I've been talking to Rita Skeeter about a possible secretarial position with her after graduation? It's a temp position, but it's paid, would look great on my resumé, and Skeeter is a massive name in the industry."

"As a fraud and a liar." Jemma points out, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

Leona grins. "And yet she's still able to dig up facts other reporters spend years struggling to find. I bet you she could find dirt on Headmaster Dumbledore if she wanted. People may not like her, but she's still powerful. I just want to learn her tactics - I'd only ever manipulate information for a very good reason." She declares briskly.

Evie and Fitzwilliam meet Franziska as breakfast lets out, though they quickly lose Evie to Tonks when the Metamorphagus turns her hair yellow and black and Evie immediately latches onto her with a thousand questions.

"Well, I guess it's just us for the moment." Franziska laughs. "I admit, I didn't actually think Evie would paint her face. Did she sit at the Ravenclaw table like that?"

Fitzwilliam sighs, but he's smiling faintly. "Yep. It's Evie, I don't think 'shame' or 'embarrassment' are in her vocabulary."

Franziska laughs. "Well, 'shame' might be. There's just always a 'no' in front of it."

That gets Fitzwilliam to chuckle as well. "True. I admit though, I'm a bit envious. I spent years scared of everything. How much did I miss?"

"Well, you missed setting everyting on fire, so you've got that." Franziska offers with an uncertain smile. She isn't sure if making a joke is a great response to the somber thought, but Fitzwilliam does give a short laugh.

"There is that." He hums. "Still... I see her and think maybe setting stuff on fire could be worth it."

Franziska shakes her head. "I think somewhere between you two is the ideal spot. Though honestly you've both gotten a lot better since first year."

"So have you, by the way." Fitzwilliam says, quietly. "I can't really explain it but... you seem more confident with yourself I guess?"

Franziska looks at him curiously. She honestly doesn't feel like she's changed all that much but she supposes she might not notice, being on the inside of the process.

Evie rejoins them when they reach the stands, squishing herself in between them and slinging her arms over their shoulders, pulling them in.

"This is gonna be great!" She says enthusiastically.

Fitzwilliam smirks at her. "You used to pout at games since you can't play."

Evie releases Franziska so she can repeatedly poke Fitzwilliam. "Don't remind me about that! Let me enjoy the game!" She whines, and he laughs.

Franziska can only shake her head at them. They really have grown.

They cheer as the teams walk onto the pitch at Leona's announcement, and wait impatiently for Madame Hooch to start the game. The instant the Quaffle is in the air the Chasers take off, seeming to teleport for how fast they go for the catch.

Both teams are clearly out for blood, and it's possibly one of the most intense games Franziska has seen in her seven years at the school.

"How is it that this game has more animosity flowing off of it than the Gryffindor-Slytherin one did?" Aidan voices Franziska's thoughts with amusement.

"Gryffindor has their pride riding on this. Hufflepuff has the House Cup." Jemma supplies thoughtfully. "Perhaps striving for a personal goal rather than fueling off hate actually makes players more alert and effective?"

"You say it like that's a question." Donaghan notes, wrapping his arms more firmly around her waist. "Spite is a strong motivator, but personal glory is often even stronger."

Regardless of the reason, both teams struggle to get a lead - both Keepers are blurs by the goal posts, the Beaters (and Franziska notes that Fiona seems to have left the team - both Gryffindor Beaters are now male, and identical) are pinballing the Bludgers so consistently that the poor things barely get to do any moving on their own, and the Chasers are weaving fast enough that Franziska is getting sick just watching them.

The game is still tied at 80-80 two hours in, and everyone is starting to get tired. The plays have been amazing, but it's a beautiful day and Franziska is certain that she's not the only one itching to go spend some time outside enjoying the weather rather than stuck on a bench waiting for a near-scoreless game to finish.

Then Leona starts shouting, and Franziska looks around the field excitedly. She spots the new Hufflepuff Seeker streaking across the field, clearly having spotted the snitch.

Charlie Weasley is on the opposite side of the field, but the moment he sees the other boy moving he's off, coaxing speeds out of his broom that it looks too old to really handle.

Charlie manages to close the gap significantly, but for a moment it looks like he'll be too slow.

Then Charlie Weasley pulls a move that has Franziska both respecting him immensely and hating his guts.

He swings his legs up onto his broom, takes a short run, and launches himself off the back of Diggory's broom in order to grab the snitch out from in front of him.

Drake Jarvis catches Charlie before he can fall too far, while Evera gets his broom, and Gryffindor stands go nuts as their Seeker parades the snitch in front of them.

"Wasn't that-" Fitzwilliam starts, and Franziska chokes out a disbelieving laugh.

"The exact move Lola used to win the match back in first year, yep." She confirms. It may be apt, but still.

He'd totally stolen a badger move.

As predicted Amelia makes a massive deal out of the engagment, but honestly Ana almost doesn't mind the attention.

It's rather amusing to watch the other Ravenclaw girls (and several of her classmates as well, who notice the ring) simmer jealously over the gorgeous band adorning her left ring finger.

"I still can't believe you're already committing. Didn't you just start dating?" Amelia points out one lunch in March when Amelia receives a letter from her mother presenting her with multiple possible color schemes for the wedding.

Ana hums. "We've know each other for years, been friends since I was fifteen or so, and been in a serious relationship for over a year now. We have similar interests and will be working in the same field as partners. Perhaps other people would require more than that, but I love him and he's my best friend. I don't see why I should make myself miserable searching for a different partner when it's clear we're quite compatible." She replies easily. "Besides, our patronuses match. That's considered a good sign for couples."

"That's true." Jerome pipes up. "My grandmum was a fortune teller and she says compatible patronuses indicate compatible people. Something about the core of a person or something like that."

"No offense, but fortune telling isn't exactly known for being accurate." Amelia responds skeptically.

Ana tilts her head in acknowledgement. "But they are known for being quite intimate with magic - at least the good ones. And besides, it's been widely theorized that a patronus's form is based on the sort of person you are so it does make logical sense that two people with similar patronuses might get along better."

"Still." Amelia mumbles, not quite to the group but loud enough that they could comment if they so desired. "It all feels rather rushed."

For Ana it feels rather the opposite. Yes her mother is already eagerly making plans, but after quite a few letters back and forth on the subject she and Alec have set the wedding for November third of 1992, which to Ana feels like an irritatingly distant date. 

Alec is making it up to her by making their honeymoon in Bulgaria, and she must admit she's quite excited by the idea of returning to her home country after a decade in England. As much as she's come to, surprisingly, enjoy Hogwarts she does miss her place of birth quite a bit.

Lunch ends soon after that and Ana heads to Arithmancy with Shaun for her only class of the day. She's slowly becoming rather appreciative of her sparse class schedule for the year - with NEWTs just under two months away it's a rare moment that isn't spent studying. And those rare moments are usually class periods.

Professor Vector at least had been clever about how she organized her seventh year schedule, giving them a lot of new material in the first half of the year and saving the things that relied heavily on previously known formulas for the second. As such their classes often integrate a sort of review into the lessons themselves.

Ana opts to sit with Aidan when they arrive at the classroom, leaving Shaun to take a seat behind them.

"Did you finish the essay on the basis of the emotional component of accidental magic yet? I'm only part way through but I wanted to compare now if you're able." Aidan asks as soon as Ana sits down. It isn't an uncommon occurence these days - between his nine classes and NEWT studies Aidan seems to have very thoroughly strung himself out.

Of course, Ana is studying for ten NEWTs herself - although she only has eight classes she has to attend, so she does technically have slightly more free time than he does.

Still, she suspects he's not organizing himself as well as he could be, considering she manages to get sleep whereas he rather obviously isn't.

"I'm about halfway through." Shaun offers behind them. "And I wouldn't mind going over some of those concepts again if you wanted to study together after class?"

"I've got Care of Magical Creatures after this." Aidan shakes his head distractedly.

"I'll go over it with you Shaun, I could use a refresher anyway." Ana decides. She's already finished her essay of course, had done so over the weekend, but it is a very complex topic and one she's certain will be covered on their NEWTs.

Aidan looks disappointed. "Alright then, maybe I'll ask someone else in the class." He says.

"Fitz hasn't worked on it yet, if I recall correctly." Shaun offers. "He's usually in the library with his friends when he's not in class - you could ask him when you get out of your next class."

That perks Aidan up. "Oh yeah, he sits with Frannie. That could work, thanks."

Professor Vector arrives then and wastes no time diving into the lesson. As usual they do a quick review of the concept the new material is based on and then the rest of the hour is spent practicing the new formulas on preprepared worksheets.

Ana overall is feeling relatively comfortable with Arithmancy, but she keeps her promise after class to work with Shaun on the essay, though after about twenty minutes she leaves him to it in order to finish up a potions assignment due the upcoming Monday.

That night she pulls out her mother's letter from lunch again in order to actually go through the proposed color schemes - she hadn't gotten a chance to do so due to Amelia's comments on the subject at the time.

Most of the propositions mix blue and green to represent their Houses, which Ana quickly discards. Aqua is a hideous wedding color as far as she's concerned.

However, the silver and bronze suggestion holds some merit. Still House-based, which she feels is a bit silly since as far as she cares Houses stop mattering after graduation, but there's a regality to the scheme that she does like.

Plus she can picture two wolf statues made of silver and bronze curled together as the centerpiece and she's very quickly becoming attached to the idea.

She pulls out two parchments - one to respond to her mother on and one to send to Alec with their ideas for the wedding. She'd technically just owled him a few days prior with a general update and a response to his own letter, but they've stopped relying on direct communication and now often send several letters simply discussing their daily lives with no expectation of a direct response.

After quickly writing out both letters Ana checks the time and decides she's got enough of it before curfew to go up to the owlery to send them.

Inti - who Alec has told her is now her owl as much as his considering their engagement - is half-asleep in his roost but he rouses rather quickly when Ana approaches him with the letter for her parents.

"Thank you as always." She says, knowing a bird as clever as Inti can tell when he's properly appreciated and will have work ethic reflective of said appreciation.

The tawny owl fluffs up his feathers before hopping to the edge of the roost. He tilts his head to Ana once before launching off the tower and heading towards London on what is likely a familiar route to him at this point.

Ana then sends one of the smaller owls to request an international flyer to send Alec's letter. She settles just outside the Tower to wait - it may still be a bit chilly, especially this late in the evening, but the inside of the room is filthy and she refuses to sit on the inner floor.

She pulls out her Care of Magical Creatures NEWT workbook from her bag to pass the time with while she waits for her request to be processed. If she's honest, this particular exam is the one she's prepared for the least, and she's determined to fit more time for it into her schedule in the coming months.

Perhaps she could ask Aidan to study with her - he'd likely appreciate the company, and if she brings Jerome as well she'll be unable to slide into studying a different topic following a tangent, which Aidan is likely to let her do due to his own ever active mind often leaping to the same conclusions that she makes.

The international flyer arrives a little after a hour has passed, and Ana quickly gives him Alec's letter and the required payment before hurrying back to the dorm, hoping the riddle isn't too difficult as she doesn't have time to ponder it if she wants to make it in before curfew.

Of course the doorknocker decides to give her an answerless question about the nature of the soul and she gets increasingly irritated as her offered philosophical responses, proposed throughout history by a variety of notable thinkers, are shot down.

The door swings open partway through her seventh attempt and she finds herself face-to-face with Amelia.

Her roommate holds open the door and Ana thanks her, a bit embarrassed that it was Amelia of every who had caught her struggling with the door.

"Just heading out for patrol. I suppose it's lucky I'm on duty tonight." Amelia says, slightly airily.

Ana misses when the girl was too shy to show off her ego.

Evie is already settled into her bed and poring over a Transfiguration textbook when Ana enters the dorm. The brunette immediately leaps up, nearly faceplanting when her foot catches in her blankets. "Ana! Ana thank goodness you're amazing at Transfiguration right? Fitz and Frannie both dropped it so I have no one to help me study and I'm going to die."

"You aren't going to die." Ana sighs. She also somewhat misses that brief period when Evie didn't talk to her. Although the other girl has gotten much more tolerable as she's aged. "But fine, we can study tomorrow morning. I'll move my Ancient Runes revision to the afternoon."

Evie beams. "Thanks Ana! I owe you one!"

"You somehow never set me or anything I care about on fire in our first few years here, and you've left Dracula alone as well. We'll call it even." Ana replies, yawing as she does. The last thing she needs is Evie trying to help with anything. She may claim to have control but Ana is always going to be suspicious.

Evie snorts in response. "Fair enough. 'Night Ana."

"Goodnight."

The next morning Evie follows behind Ana as if stuck to her side with a charm. Ana half-expects to get odd looks from her friends when Evie sits down next to her, but they all greet their yearmate easily. Even Amelia offers a small smile.

Fitzwilliam ends up taking a seat next to Evie when he comes down, and Jerome drags Finnigan into the seat next to him.

It takes Ana a few minutes into breakfast to realize that it's the first time that all the Ravenclaws in their year have actually sat together during a mealtime. At least, the first time since the very first night after their Sorting nearly seven years before, and that meal had been spent mostly in awed silence. This meal proves very different from that one though.

"Hey Finnigan, you're on the Quidditch team right? You should totally give me flying lessons, or convince Madame Hooch too, she likes the Quidditch players right?" Evie naturally is the first one to speak, as she had all that time ago, but this time she actually gets a response.

"I don't really know Madame Hooch." Finnigan mumbles, shifting in his seat and pursing his lips in discomfort.

"You can get your flyer's license after graduation Evie." Fitzwilliam sighs, and Ana can tell that this isn't a new conversation for them. "We need to focus on NEWTs."

Evie pouts but drops the subject. Shaun picks up the slack.

"How is the team doing then Finnigan?" He asks politely. "Ready for your last game against Gryffindor?"

Finnigan shrugs but for once he doesn't look reluctant to answer. "Captain has basically given up on the Cup, which is fair. We're rather solidly in last place. Mostly we're working on getting the younger years working together."

"Finnigan is practically co-Captain at this point." Jerome interjects, beaming with pride. Although he and Finnigan haven't formally confirmed anything to Ana, she's rather certain by now that they are in fact dating, and she fully expects them to tell her by graduation at the latest, assuming they don't break up in the interim.

"I'm just the oldest on the team." Finnigan says, flushing slightly. "The younger kids just kept asking things so I answered as well as I could is all."

"Do you think you're going to try and stick with Quidditch after school? I don't think I've ever heard you mention your post-graduation plans." Shaun continues his gentle pushing, though Ana knows that it's Jerome nudging him ever so slightly that keeps Finnigan awkwardly engaging with the rest of them.

Finnigan shrugs. "I actually have been taking private alchemy lessons with the Headmaster for two years and i really enjoy it. He says he can get me an apprenticeship with Nicholas and Perenelle Flammel after graduation."

Ana blinks. "You're getting private Alchemy lessons?" She asks, doing her best not to let her jealousy seep into her tone. "I thought there weren't enough people interested to justify having the elective for our year?"

Finnigan shifts awkwardly. "Yes, well, I had already discussed the idea with the Headmaster in fifth year." He half-explains.

Ana presses her lips together but keeps quiet. Still, it's infuriation to know she could have been learning some alchemy for the past two years - surely such archaic magic would be useful to know as a Curse-Breaker.

Perhaps, if Finnigan and Jerome's relationship lasts, she could ask him for assistance in teaching her at least the basics of the trade. They have been speaking more after all, it shouldn't be uncomfortable.

They end up remaining as a group after breakfast, as Evie is still following Ana closely and Jerome drags Finnigan along with them to the library.

It's honestly a bit odd at first to study at a table witih so many people occupying it, but when after three hours no one has left Ana has found that she's reluctantly become accustomed to the crowd.

Still, she's determined to ask Madame Pince to be allowed to sit in the Restricted Section tomorrow, so she can study in peace. She can only take so much socialization after all.

Half-way through April Myr finds himself reflecting back on a comment his mother had made to him when he was still eleven and uncertain about school. Namely, he finds himself contemplating on her statement that perhaps the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry could be detrimental.

After weeks of working with Raj on the History project, and months before working as Head Boy and Girl, Myr has found that he'd consider the girl a friend. Perhaps not a close one, but he enjoys her sharp tongue and how she manages to come up with ideas he never would have considered for their project. And he can't help but wonder if he's written off others he might have become friends with over the years as well.

The thought weighs heavily on his mind some nights, though thankfully his days are so overwhelmed with assignment and NEWT panic that it rarely bothers him then.

"You're off in your own head again Myr." Raj waves her quill under his nose, lips pulled back in irritation. "Are you already done with the modern comparison section?"

Myr blinks at her for a moment before clearing his throat. "Sorry, um, basically? It mostly boils down to the fact that any Muggle with a gun could best a wizard these days. Opening up society to allow for free exchange of information would likely be helpful for both wizards and Muggles - think about how many Muggle lives were lost with no explanation during the First Wizarding War. Wouldn't it be better if those families could get proper closure? Or if we found ways to combine magic and technology to give everyone access to better protection from all possible threats?"

"You sound like a lawyer." Raj laughs slightly. "But good points. Make sure to include what the heck a gun is though, I kind of doubt Professor Binns will have any idea. Heck, I only know because of that tangent that one German girl went off on in Muggle Studies last year during the war section."

"Which is unfortunate really." Myr comments idly as he jots down a few sentences in his notes. "Wizards are just as likely to come across them as Muggles."

"Come across what?" A chipper voice chimes in and Myr nearly jumps, having not heard Oliver Wood bounce up to him.

Percy Weasley is, as usual, only a few steps behind his friend, looking extremely embarrassed about the interruption. "Apologies Myrddin, I tried to tell him to not bother you-" He explains, flustered and sharp-toned.

Myr grins at the two fourth years. "It's fine Percy, don't worry about it. And to answer your question Oliver, a gun. I was observing to Raj here that we should note how any random fool with a gun can still best a wizard. It's part of our project on the Statute of Secrecy."

Myr glances over at Raj to find her studying the two boys curiously, which wasn't the expression he was expecting. Though he supposes it's better than the slight annoyance he thought he would find on her features.

"Ooh, yeah, that's true." Oliver agrees. "If Protego can't stop a fist it certainly wouldn't stop a bullet."

Percy looks hopelessly lost at this point, his neck and ears still flushed red from the earlier embarassment and his brow furrowed in confusion. "I'm sorry, but what exactly is a gun? I-I've heard of it of course but it was never quite clear to me how it worked." He adds hurriedly, any blush that might have faded returning in full force.

Raj quirks a grin and gestures at Myr semi-dramatically. "Go on then, Muggleborn. Consider this a test - if you can explain it to a Pureblood you can probably explain it to Binns."

Myr raises an eyebrow at her casual playfulness - normally, on the rare occasion they study together in the library like this, they try to remain as professional as possible. Still, she isn't wrong, so he turns back to Percy and tries to think of how best to describe weapons of war to a fourteen year old who grew up learning about deadly spells rather than bullets.

"Okay, I guess the simplest way to explain guns... you at least know what steel is, right?" Myr checks.

Percy looks affronted. "Of course, it's been utilized in alchemy for ages."

"He could probably give a full, text-book level definition if you wanted." Oliver chimes in helpfully, elbowing his friend playfully and once again renewing the blush that had started to fade.

Myr chuckles. "Alright, just checking - I don't know much about Alchemy so... yeah. Anyway a gun is a steel object with... basically a hole? It looks like this," He demonstrates with his hand, forming a gun-like shape with his thumb and forefinger, "And there would be an opening where my pointer finger is. At the end, that is. There's a trigger that you would pull and a bullet - a steel ball basically, though they're shaped differently these days - comes flying out of the end of the gun at super fast speeds, so it can cut straight through human flesh and bone."

Percy is wide-eyed by the end of Myr's stumbling description. "I think I got all that? A fast enough levitation spell or deflection spell might be able to counter it though. How fast is fast enough for a physical object to cut through bone like that?"

"Um, really freaking fast?" Oliver suggests.

Raj actually snorts. "Work on the explanation Myr. You two, get back to studying. And I hope I don't hear anything about after curfew dueling this year." She gives a slightly wicked grin that has Oliver laughing out loud and Percy - once again - blushing profusely.

"I'm guessing something like that happened last year?" Myr asks once the two boys have left.

"Something like that. Flint is still scared of me so that's nice." Raj replies airily. "Seriously though, fix the explanation, we can't do that hand thing you did to demonstrate. It would look highly unprofessional."

Myr chuckles. "Yes ma'am." He manages to resist adding a salute to go along with the words, but by Raj's poorly disguised smirk he thinks she might have actually appreciated the gesture.

At the end of the session - Myr still hasn't quite worked out how to explain guns to an ancient wizard ghost but he's getting there - Myr remembers that he had something he wanted to talk to Raj about before the end of the day that wasn't their History project.

"Hey, so Easter break is coming up and I was actually hoping to go home for the week. If you're okay with that of course. We have most of the prefects staying and I figured we could pre-plan patrol routes for the week the day before it starts."

Raj eyes him in the critical way she has that makes him feel like she can see straight through his skin to the swirling mess beneath it. After a painfully long beat that was likely shorter than it felt, she tilts her head.

"Sure. I can have Adrian cover for you if absolutely necessary, or any of the other seventh years." She says decisively. "Absolute worst case I can always send Lakshmi so we can talk."

Myr is surprised at the easy agreement - she'd been quite firm when mentioning he should stay over Christmas during their summer meetings the year before and he'd thought that Easter would be just the same.

Still, he's not exactly going to complain about getting to see his mother, if not Cadi considering her work schedule.

And, he mentally admits to himself, I need to face that mom and Uncle Cyril are serious eventually. Two years is a long enough avoidance period.

It's another week until break and Myr makes sure to work double-time on his prefect duties to make up for his impending week-long departure. He also manages to hash out a rough draft of an explanation for what a gun is that Raj actually approves of, which makes him prouder than he thinks it should.

Amanda whines at him a bit over leaving but with his NEWTs and her OWLs coming up far too quickly for either of them to be comfortable with there aren't really any hard feelings - they're barely seeing each other anyway around all the studying.

Myr does feel a bit bad about that considering it's barely been over a month since he promised himself he'd do better, but Amanda is just as likely now to cancel plans as he is so he figures it's even.

He of course owls his mother that he's coming, but he's still surprised when Cadi waves him over on Platform 9 3/4 when they pull into the station.

"Uncle Cyril set up my place with a Floo connection." She explains cheerfully as she puts Owen's carrying case in the back seat. "So you can just use that to go home instead of dealing with that dreary three hour train ride. Also you're having dinner with Rhys and I sometime this week, it's insulting that you two haven't properly met yet."

Oh right. The other new boyfriend he's not happy about. Well, better to get it all done at once he supposes.

"Do you visit mom and Uncle Cyril a lot then?" He asks as they pull out of the parking lot into London's rush hour traffic. "Since you have a Floo now?"

"Nah, Muggles can't use it. Rhys says there are some minor physiological differences between wizards and Muggles, small, but enough that we can't use most of your magic. Floo powder is one of those things, which definitely drags since I'd love to see more of mum. Uncle Cyril tends to pop by randomly during the week though, so that's usually nice."

They talk about Cadi's work and Myr's classes for most of the ride home when his sister perks up. "Say, how's Head Boy stuff going? Still doing okay with that girl?"

"Oh, you mean Raj?" Myr grins slightly. "Yeah, she's cool. We're doing our final History assignment together - I actually think you'd really enjoy the topic."

Cadi does enjoy the topic - in fact, Myr regrets that he gets carsick as he'd like to write down some of the things she points out as they discuss the Statute and its limitations.

"Rhys will probably be able to say even more than I can, considering he works in the Minister's office. Nothing big of course, but he's privy to the gossip. We'll have to pick this up when you come for dinner."

Myr grins, glad to have something to look forward to this break, even if it is accompanied with a promise of having to meet Rhys. "Sounds good. So Uncle Cyril's shop, right? Unless he put the Floo at home as well."

Cadi laughs. "If they get married he probably will, but for now it's just the shop." She nudges Myr lightly when she sees his expression. "Lighten up, okay? I was a little weirded out too, at the start, but mom is really happy. Isn't that good enough?"

Myr knows logically that it is. Emotionally he's still pretty muddled.

"I probably just need to be around it." He says decisively. "Thanks for the pickup Cadi. Just owl whatever evening you're free."

"Will do." She grins and he grabs a handful of Floo powder and steps into the green flames, trunk in one hand and Owen in the other.

No one is the back office when he arrives, but he can hear customers out front so he decides to settle in the desk chair and wait for them to leave before making his presence known. It could be difficult to explain his sudden appearance after all. Hopefully his entrance hadn't made too much noise.

He ends up pulling out one of his textbooks to keep himself occupied, and to brush up on the basics of Transfiguration since he's definitely been falling behind in that class.

About twenty minutes later he hears the bell chime to signal the customers have left, and after doing a quick spell to check if they're actually gone, he emerges from the office.

"Myrddin! I didn't hear you Floo in!" Uncle Cyril looks quite pleased to see him and Myr smiles back. For all his misgivings he still loves his Uncle Cyril.

"Good to see you. I didn't want to come out until the customers had left." He explains. "Is mom not on shift today?"

"She left after lunch to prepare dinner and check that your room is clean." His uncle laughs. "I'm just about ready to close up, so if you'll just give me a minute we'll be going."

Myr doesn't really mind waiting. He hasn't been in the shop in a while and he enjoys perusing the shelves, remembering a simpler time before a letter was dropped onto his head and his entire world was tipped onto its side.

But he's reoriented since then, he reminds himself. It's not all good of course, but is it ever? It's certainly not all bad. He thinks about flying, and Amanda, and his friends back at school - even Raj.

Maybe these new relationships are just... another thing to orient around. He sighs softly, tapping idly at a few objects on the shelves. Of course it's just more orientation, but he wishes for once that things might stay the same, just for a little while. Constant change is exhausting.

They walk to Myr's childhood home and are greeted with the smell of Aster's home cooking. Myr hugs his mother in greeting before quickly releasing Owen into the house and lugging his trunk up the stairs. He lets himself take a bit longer than he really needs to unpacking, and then he finally takes a deep, steadying breath and heads back to the main room. He just hopes his mom and Uncle Cyril aren't kissing - he doesn't think he can deal with that just yet.

To his relief they aren't even near each other - Aster is still cooking and Uncle Cyril is crouched on the floor by the table, waving a string around to entertain Owen. Myr winces slightly as his cat manages to fling himself head-first into the table leg during a failed lunge.

"All unpacked." He announces his presence. "It smells really good."

"Oh I hope so, I'm trying something new tonight. Rhys lent me the recipe."

Myr tilts his head curiously at the information, taking a seat at the table and rubbing Owen's head lightly. "You know him then?"

Conversation is weirdly... normal, from there. Myr doesn't know how he feels about that, but he thinks it's probably a positive. They don't talk about the new angle of the relationship, and Myr wonders if it's really new at all, or if it had just been called something different for a long time.

He's happy though. They still feel the same. They still feel like family.