I guess I‘m a little stressed
It was a Tuesday morning and Evie and Frieda were walking to their first class. Herbology. That was not too bad. Usually Hufflepuffs were said to be especially good at it. But Frieda was not that interested in it.
Even though she really liked gardening, the magical part was not for her. There was way too much you had to be wary of. Muggle gardening was more her thing.
When the two girls trotted down the hallway, it was already filled with other students. They were a bit late, so it was especially stressful as everybody was rushing to their classes.
"Did you do the assignment yet?," Frieda asked. "What assignment?," Evie panicked. "The one for Astronomy. About Jupiter." The brown haired girl thought about it before asking "As I know my bestest friend Frieda Anthemis, she is probably able to help me."
At first, Frieda was not going to cave in. In the long run it was better if Evie did her assignments on her own, considering that the O.W.L.s were coming up and she was already barely passing. But she could not look into her friend’s eyes without feeling bad.
"Okay, but this is the last time. Just come to our common room tonight and I‘ll help you. But no copying. And when we study for the O.W.L.s you need to do some work on your own." "Sure thing. Thanks Frieda."
Right before the duo was going to make a turn to get to their destination, Frieda saw George pacing up and down the hallway. He was reciting something to himself but stumbled upon his own words. She could sense his nervousness from across the room.
"Evie? Could you tell Miss Sprout that I‘m coming a bit later. I...have something to do." "What? Are you sure that I shouldn’t wait for you. We can be late together if you have to go to the restrooms or something." "No, it’s okay. Don’t wait for me. Just take notes!"
And with that, Frieda turned around and went right up to the red head. She did not know what went through her mind when she was doing it. Usually she would have just gone to class when she was already late. But this time it was different as she had the urge to help the boy who seemed to really need it.
Frieda walked up behind him and tapped him lightly on his shoulder. He jumped at her touch. "I‘m so sorry. I didn’t want to scare you." "No, you didn’t. Hi Frieda." "Hey. Are you okay? I noticed that you seemed a bit...distracted." George looked down to his feet.
"Yeah, I guess I‘m a little stressed. Moody is making me do a presentation about the Shield Charm cause Fred and I made... doesn’t matter." Frieda hesitated for a few seconds until she offered "Do you maybe want some tea? It always helps me when I‘m stressed."
George looked at her in amusement. "That’s very nice of you. But I‘m not sure how exactly a tea could help me with this situation." "Trust me. You prepared, right?" He nodded. "So it’s not that you don’t know what you’re talking about."
"No, but as soon as I try to form sentences only nonsense is coming out." "So you’re scared. And this tea will calm you down. Trust me. Here, take the whole thing," Frieda said, handing him her thermos. Still confused, George took it. "Thanks. I guess." "Good luck," she said already facing the other direction.
Just in time, Frieda reached the classroom and sat down next to Evie. "What did you do? I saw you walking up to Weasley. Are you friends now?," she questioned her. Frieda was a bit taken aback. She never really thought about the fact that Evie might not like when she helped her worst enemies.
"No, I just had to ask him if he could give my brother his quill. He forgot it when we studied together and they are in the same class," she lied. Evie however, did not buy it. "Why didn’t you give it Ollie then? Isn’t he in the same class as well?" Frieda shrugged. "I forgot." With that, the class started and their conversation ended.
It was almost the end of the school day. Frieda was in her DADA class looking mindlessly out of the window. Usually she would drink her tea throughout the day so by now she was a mess. She caught herself drifting off during most of her classes.
"Miss Anthemis. I see, you’re not paying attention. Can you perhaps answer my question?," Professor Moody catapulted her back to the real world. "I...sorry, what was it?" "Maybe instead of staring out of the window, you should listen to what I‘m saying. My question was, what do you have to absolutely keep in mind when casting a counter-curse?"
Frieda knew the answer. But something was stopping her from saying it. It was the fear of it being wrong. She felt the panic rising in her, her face turned a deep shade of pink, she was shaking and a stifling feeling spread in her stomach.
"Nothing?," Moody dug a little deeper. But there was no use. Frieda gave up and shook her head. "Stop daydreaming then. Miss Nadir?" Evie looked at Frieda in disbelief as she answered the question "You have to maintain eye contact, sir." "Correct. Ten points to Ravenclaw."
"What’s going on? We both know too well that you know the answer to that." But Frieda did not even hear her as she was already stuck in her own head again.
After classes Frieda was in desperate need for some rest. But she got interrupted by the twins blocking her way to the Hufflepuff common room. "Okay, I think we uncovered your secret," Fred said excitedly. Frieda really was not in the mood for their little games.
"What secret?" "Why you’re always so calm. It’s the tea. So how did you do it?" "I really don’t know what you mean. It’s just tea." "Yeah, right. But what did you do to it that it has this kind of effect?"
When Frieda finally got what Fred was on about, she decided to mess with them a little. "Oh, that. It was super easy, you know. But it wouldn’t be a secret anymore if I told you." "Come on. We were looking everywhere for a charm or a potion. It can’t be Draught of Peace. It’s got the wrong colour. So for heaven’s sake, what is it?"
"Again, I can’t tell you. I can’t possibly risk that you tell it to everybody. Sorry guys." Fred furrowed his eyebrows. "You can’t be serious, woman. Sooner or later we’re gonna find out. Right George?"
George however did not pay attention. The only attention he was paying was to the blonde Hufflepuff in front of him. To his luck, she did not notice how he was staring at her. Fred gave him a little kick to the leg, waking him up from his trance.
"What?... Yeah, you’re right. We’re gonna find out." "That sounds very convincing," Frieda said with a grin. For some reason she was already feeling way better in the presence of the two. "Maybe hang out with us tomorrow? We heard that you’re excellent at Transfiguration and we could use some help with that," George said hastily.
"You know that I‘m a year younger than you, right?" "Doesn’t matter. Someone who can make a potion like that, can teach even us a thing or two," Fred said. Behind his back he was giving his brother a reassuring nudge.
"Okay then. Just tell me when and where and I‘m there." What was going on with her? Normally she would never think of saying yes to something as ridiculous as this. Especially since it was the Weasley twins. But she could not resist the urge to find out more about them.
"Great! Oh, before I forget. Here’s your...thing back. It really helped me. Thanks again," George said handing Frieda her thermos back.