forty

•••

"Stop acting like you know the answer when you're just cheating!" Ivy said as she whacked Sirius in the head with the large textbook.

Sirius laughed as he defended himself. "I'm sorry! I just can't remember that question. It's the only one I've been cheating on."

"Well, you shouldn't be cheating on any of them," Ivy said pointedly as she opened the Potions book back up. The first N.E.W.T. was tomorrow.

They continued to ask questions to each other, groaning every time one of them got one wrong. Ivy did most of the groaning.

"No! That potion is most definitely not orange! You sound like James," Ivy said with a smile, causing Sirius to laugh.

"I think we've studied enough. You know your stuff, you haven't gotten any wrong," Sirius said. Ivy sighed.

"I hope I've studied enough. If not, I don't know what I'll do with myself," Ivy said with a sigh, twirling her hair around her finger.

        "You have. I know you have. You're the smartest person I know," Sirius said comfortingly, causing Ivy to smile at him, a rare moment of genuine emotion between them. They both liked to use humor more than actual feelings.

        "Thanks, Sirius," Ivy said, closing her book and putting it in her bag. "I think we've studied enough. I mean, we've done all we can, right?"

        "Yes. We've been here for almost three hours," Sirius said, standing up. Ivy stood up with him as they both began to walk to their wing of the tower since it was getting late.

        Sirius stood next to the Ravenclaw Common Room, saying goodbye.

        "See you bright and early tomorrow!" Ivy said after answering the riddle, waving goodbye as the door closed behind her.

        Sirius walked back alone, deep in thought. It was unusual for him to be this pensive, but tonight seemed like a good time for his thinking.

        To him, and several others, Ivy was always the smartest person in the room. It didn't matter who was in it, she would always find a way to excel. So why was she so worried?

        Sirius thought he knew the answer, but didn't understand. She was always doubting her skills and her knowledge, more than a normal person— and why? She was beyond capable of getting all O's on any exam.

        Maybe because to Ivy, her whole self worth revolved around her achievements and her ability to do things right, which is where people think she's an overachiever. And she is, honestly.

          But to Sirius, James, Peter, and especially Remus, they didn't care about her grades. They liked her for her personality and her jokes. Ivy's parents have always been strict, but Ivy was harder on herself than anyone else.

•••

"Happy Birthday Ivy!" Chloe said as Ivy woke up. Oh yeah. Ivy must have been so caught up in her studies that she completely forgot about her Birthday.

"Thanks, Chloe," Ivy said as she stretched, sitting up. Her two other roommates wished her a Happy Birthday, sitting their presents beside her bed. Chloe got her more makeup, something Ivy had been complaining about recently. Bella got her clothes and Jessica got her new books.

"Thanks," Ivy said with a smile as she got up and began to prepare for the day. Today was the first day of N.E.W.T.'s

"Happy Birthday!" Sirius shouted, picking her up and hugging her. She wrapped her arms around him, surprised.

"How long have you four been here?" Ivy asked as she looked over his shoulder to a smiling James, Remus, and Peter.

"A while. We didn't know how early you'd wake up, so we played it safe," James said with a shrug as they held out their presents for her to open.

They were all pretty normal presents. Books, nail polish, candy. Remus got her a polaroid camera. But it was charmed for the pictures to move.

Ivy said thank you as she walked back to her dorm to place them next to her bed. They all began to walk together to breakfast.

"You're a legal Witch now!" James said with a grin, looking over to Ivy. "You can do apparition now and everything!"

She shrugged. "I guess. I haven't really mastered it, though."

James scoffed.

        "I'm gonna vomit! I'm so nervous!" Jessica said as they walked into the Great Hall. Out of Ivy's friends, Jessica cared about her grades a good deal too, which didn't match Chloe or Bella. The four Gryffindor boys said goodbye and walked to their table.

        "You'll be fine!" Chloe said reassuringly as they sat down, chatting with each other. Ivy pulled out her godforsaken Charms book, glaring at it as she read over the same paragraph she has been for the past day. She wanted to make sure it was engraved in her brain.

        Chloe and Bella didn't seem like typical Ravenclaws at all, but they have sharp minds when it matters. Chloe was an incredibly creative person, and Bella had the originality to make up for the whole intelligence thing.

After breakfast, they had a free period before their first N.E.W.T. They went back to their dorm, studying as much as they could before the Transfiguration exam. Ivy wasn't particularly confident in this subject, but she felt a little better about that than Charms.

        They sat down, filling in answers. There were only a few that gave her trouble, but she still managed to fill them out in a decent amount of time.

       After the few hours were up, they collected their scrolls of paper and walked outside. Ivy would have had the rest of the day free, but she had to take an Alchemy exam at two o'clock.

        "How do you think you did?" Remus asked, falling in step next to her. She shrugged.

        "I don't know. Good enough, I hope," She said, causing Remus to give her a small pat on the shoulder.

        "I'm sure you did great," He said with a nod. Ivy smiled at him.

        "I'd love to stay, but I've got to go study for the Alchemy exam," Ivy said with a small sigh, waving her hand goodbye as she walked away and to her dorm.

The Alchemy exam went smoothly, for the most part. Ivy had always been good at that class, and the exam was just proving that. After a long day of exams, Ivy met with Remus to discuss the Transfiguration exam.

"I don't think it was that bad," Remus said with a small shrug. Ivy flipped through her Charms book nonchalantly, laying down on her stomach outside near the Black Lake. She sighed as a cool breeze passed over her skin, ruffling her hair.

"It wasn't, honestly. I just hope that I did good enough to scrape an O."

"You shouldn't be so focused on getting an O. You've been studying hard, you should be proud either way," Remus said gently, trying his best not to upset her.

"That's not how it works," Ivy said, folding her arms in front of her and laying her head down, using them as a pillow. She had the familiar Gryffindor sweater on. "I don't care how hard I've been studying. I don't care if on the verge of death. I need to get good scores or it will have all been for nothing. It doesn't matter how hard I've studied, only the scores do.

"I would have studied for two minutes if it meant I could pass them. But I'm not one of those people with natural intelligence. It might seem like it, but it's not."

Remus laid down on his back next to her, watching the sunset. "You need to stop being so set on your grades."

It was a short sentence, but that's all he had to say.

"Maybe so," Ivy said simply, lifting her head from where it was buried in her arms and tilting it to look at Remus. He looked back at her, a small smile playing on his lips. Sighing, she flipped herself so she was now laying on her back, the same as Remus. He threw an arm around her waist, now resting his head in the crook of her neck.

"You know, it's not all that bad," Remus said. Ivy could feel the warmth of his teasing smile. "You're cute when you're all worried."

She flushed. Remus didn't have to look up to know his line worked. He snickered as she scoffed.

"Oh shut up! That wasn't even a smooth line! It was stupid!" Ivy exclaimed as his laughter increased. She gave a small groan once he was done, threading her fingers through his soft hair. "People can see us. We probably look like lovesick fools."

"I don't care," Remus said, smiling as she played with his hair.

Ivy sighed. They stayed there as long as they could, enjoying each other's presence.

•••