lost
I tapped my foot anxiously, staring blankly down at the parchment paper. My eyes began to glaze over and the words blurred together. Ugh, I hate History of Magic. Of course it had to be my last exam. I look up at the clock for the thousandth time, ticking down the minutes until this is over. I've given up trying to answer the questions, I know I've failed. I also didn't study, like, at all. Whatever. Who the fuck needed to know about this stuff? Not me.
Dad and Mum didn't care about grades that much anyways, as long as we pulled high marks in what Dad calls the "important things" DADA, Potions, and Transfiguration, (Auntie would legitimately kill us if we slacked off in that class).
I sighed, plopping my head down on my desk as I doodled absentmindedly on the edges of the exam. I glanced over at Teddy beside me, and chuckled quietly when I saw he was asleep and drooling all over the desk. Damn, I wished I had a camera right about now.
Of course Leo, Rory, and Jade were already finished. Show offs. James and Charlie had similarly given up answering and were now playing a discreet game of cloak, stone, wand with each other.
Finally, the bells chimed, thank merlin because I didn't know how much longer I could've sat there. I practically sprung out of my seat and handed my exam in. I looked back, and realized Teddy still hadn't woke up.
"Teddy," I nudged him gently. "Teddy! Wake up, sleepyhead. Exam's over."
Teddy woke with a start, a bewildered, drowsy expression on his face, "Huh?"
I laughed, "Lupin, you have to turn in your exam."
"Oh." He rubbed his jaw sleepily and I noticed the deep, dark circles beneath his eyes.
I frowned, "Why are you so tired?"
"Couldn't sleep." I saw his face shut down and knew immediately not to pry any further.
He handed in his paper, which was actually completely finished. Figures, he could put absolutely no effort into something and still be the best. We walked out of the classroom together, meeting James in the corridor. My brother slung an arm around each of our necks, hooting joyfully for all the world to hear.
"Hallelujah! We're freeeee!!!!"
I rolled my eyes, shoving my brother off, "You do realize we have another three days of classes before break is official?" This was one my biggest pet peeves about Hogwarts, after exams were over, we had three more days of classes before we could leave. It didn't make any sense, especially because no one cared about lessons when holiday was so soon.
"Official, schmoffical." James waved his hand, "Exams are over, and it's really only two days because of Operation Snow Day tomorrow." He winked, "And one of those days is the dance so that doesn't really count, and the last day is just for packing and goodbyes, so really it's zero days." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Rory and Jade came up behind us, Rory busy shaking her head, "You wouldn't survive a day in a Muggle math class."
"Good thing I'm a wizard then, Wood." James grinned widely.
I suppressed a smile, Rory and James would actually be pretty cute together. That is, if she ever gave him a chance. I'd never tell her that though, she'd probably rip my head off. I turned to my left, "Teddy do- " I paused, looking around. He'd vanished. I could've sworn he was right next to me a second ago. Oh well, he was probably off snogging Madison somewhere.
The rest of the group settled down in the common room. Jade volunteered to go get snacks from the kitchen. I sat down as well, searching through my bag for my glasses. was blind as a bat without them, and contacts gave me a headache. I palmed my forehead, remembering that I took them off during the exam. Crap. Now I'd have to go back and get them. I rose from my position on the floor, "I'll be back in a sec. Left my fucking glasses in the classroom."
I climbed out the portrait hole and wandered down the dimly lit halls. The sun set so early in the day now, I could already see the round moon appearing up above. As soon as I reached the classroom I spotted my glasses, I silently cheered. Mum would murder me if I lost another pair. I slipped them on and began my journey back to the dorm room, when I saw a familiar head of brown hair. Oh no. I turned as quickly as I could, hoping she didn't see me. It was too late.
"Juniper!"
Shit.
"Juniper! Over here!"
I wheeled around slowly, tossing Madison a forced smile. Ever since the first time she'd mentioned her concerns about Teddy, Madison had taken it as an open invitation to ask me for advice whenever. And I do mean whenever. She was constantly stopping me in the halls, and to be honest it was getting very tiring. I was trying to be helpful, I really was, but it got on my nerves just a tad.
"What's up, Maddie?" I grimaced, the amount of times I'd said those words in the past few days was astronomical.
"I know, I know you don't believe me," Maddie was a little more frenzied than usual. She paced rapidly, "I know you think I'm like all the other girls who blame the lack of commitment on something else, but something's wrong Juniper. I just know it, Teddy isn't okay."
"Why don't you talk to him about it, instead of me?" I massaged the sides of my head wearily.
"I've tried that!" She wailed, wringing her hands, "He won't, he doesn't talk about real things with me."
"Weren't you just with him?" I asked, "Couldn't you have tried again?"
Madison furrowed her brow, "I haven't seen him all day. See! You have to admit he's acting strangely. I told you he was disappearing at odd times!"
What? Well-- then-- where had he gone...he didn't usually go somewhere without- NO! I would not get sucked into this Maddie madness. It was just her projecting her worries about the relationship onto something else.
"Maddie, I know you're worried, but if there was something big going on he would have told you." I've told her this at least a hundred times.
"Would he?" Madison murmured dejectedly, not meeting my eyes, "I'm not so sure."
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing. It's just sometimes..." she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. "Never mind. Thank you Juniper. For putting up with me." She smiled. A genuine smile. "I'm glad that we're friends. I was so intimidated by you when-"
My eyes widened. She was intimidated by me? Her? Madison Torres, Head Girl, sweetheart of Hufflepuff, was intimidated by...me? That can't be right.
"Intimidated?" I repeated incredulously, "Why ever would you- "
"Are you joking Juniper? Why wouldn't I be intimidated by you? Practically every girl in school is, that or they hate you. Usually both."
"But why?"
"You're his best friend. He talks about you constantly. The two of you are always together. And have you seen the way he looks at you?" Madison sighed wistfully. "He talks to you, you're unimaginably close." She looked away, biting her lip, "I saw the two of you at dance practice the other day you know." Her voice sounded strange. Almost...jealous?
I gasped, "That- that wasn't anything- surely you didn't think..."
"I know you're just friends, and it probably didn't mean anything..."
I sighed with relief, feeling a slight pang in my chest when she said just friends.
"But still, I've never seen him smile the way he does when he's around you. He's always happiest when you're with him. It's hard not to feel insecure, even if your relationship is truly platonic." Madison chewed on her cheek nervously, while I was in utter shock.
All this time, while I had been jealous of Madison, Madison had been jealous of me?! I almost burst out laughing from the sheer ridiculousness of it all. I had to admit, my heart fluttered a little when she said he was happiest around me. And I absolutely didn't believe that he looked at me in any special way, I would've noticed that.
"Junie?" I turned around to find Jade approaching, arms laden with baskets of food. Looks like the house elves had gone a bit overboard.
"That's my cue." I waved to Madison, and was caught off guard when she wrapped her arms around me in a bone crushing hug.
I patted her on the back gingerly, carefully extricating myself from the embrace and jogging to catch up with Jade.
"Was that Madison?" Jade queried, handing me a basket.
"Yeah, it's same Teddy bullshit again." I mumbled, taking a bite out of one of the breads.
"I don't know Junie..." Jade shrugged, "What if she's right?"
I groaned, "Don't tell me you believe her now!"
"I do extra time in the greenhouse with her. I've never seen her so upset."
"Trust me, I know she's upset," I replied sarcastically through a heaping mouthful of food.
"But she's not the type to be that worked up over nothing. I'm just saying it's worth looking into." Jade offered, "What's the worst that could happen?"
"I guess you're right," I acknowledged as we arrived back at the common room. "However I'm going to have to find him first..."