fifteen

•••

         James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius sat outside, studying relentlessly. Ivy walked up to them. None of them looked up from their notes. Ivy was thankful that she had been studying for the past few months.

        "You guys finally studying?" Ivy asked as she sat down next to Sirius, who looked rather stressed out.

         "You were right. We should have started studying a while ago, this is horrible. I'm going to fail," Sirius said nervously as his eyes scanned the page.

         "I'm sure you guys will do fine. What is it you're struggling with?" Ivy asked as she leaned over to see what Sirius was studying.

        "Potions," Sirius and James said in unison. Ivy nodded.

        "Well, Potions is my best class, so I could probably help you. Do you want me to quiz you both?" Ivy asked before Sirius nodded, handing her his notes. "Okay, what color is Draught of Peace?"

"Orange!" James said confidently as Ivy and Sirius looked at each other. They burst out laughing, rolling around on the ground. James looked offended. "What? What is it?"

"The book describes it as turquoise blue," Ivy said between laughs. Sirius was still laughing loudly.

"It's a simple mistake, get on with it!" James said, his cheeks turning pink as they continued to laugh. Remus and Peter began to chuckle as James crossed his arms.

"Okay, next question," Ivy said, wiping tears from her eyes. "Where would you find a Bezoar?"

"In a goats stomach," Sirius answered as James nodded with him. Ivy smiled and moved on to the next question.

"How many known uses of Dragon Blood are there?" Ivy asked as James waved his arms in excitement.

"Twelve!" James exclaimed.

         "Yes. What does adding too much of one ingredient in the Draught of Peace do to the drinker?"

        "I don't know." Sirius said as James shrugged.

       "It puts them into a deep and maybe permanent sleep," Ivy said as they nodded, trying to remember that. "Okay, what color is Strengthening solution?"

"Turquoise!" James and Sirius yelled at the same time.

"Good. And James, I'm proud of you for learning your colors," Ivy said as Sirius began to laugh again, rolling around. James rolled his eyes and hid his smile.

•••

Ivy woke up, her stomach churning with anxiety as she walked to the Great Hall. Today was the first day of O.W.L.'s. Ivy sat down at her table, not wanting to eat.

"I'm gonna fail. I'm literally gonna fail," Chloe said as she sat down next to her, a Charms book in her hand. Ivy shook her head.

"No you won't, you're smart! You're really good at charms," She reassured her, forcing herself to butter a slice of toast. Chloe groaned as she hit herself in the head with the book repeatedly.

Bella and Jessica were both engrossed in their notes, not even bothering to make conversation. Ivy got out her own Charms book and looked over the notes she had taken.

        She was incredibly nervous, mostly for Charms. Not even Divination or History of Magic, which was even surprising to her. Charms had always been a class she despised.

        "Chloe, you got a new boyfriend?" Ivy asked, attempting to make small talk as she flipped the pages of her Charms notes quickly.

        "No. I'm taking a break from boys. It's the first time I've done that in a while!" Chloe exclaimed excitedly as Ivy smiled and continued to revise.

        After several minutes of anticipation, they gathered together to take their first O.W.L. which was Charms. Ivy was happy to get it over with. Professor McGonagall was supervising.

"Alright. I am going to be handing out ink, a quill, and your questions. Do not begin," Professor McGonagall said as the students all got the supplies they needed. Ivy took a shaky breath as she told everyone to start. The questions were fairly easy to Ivy, although when she looked over across the room to Peter, he seemed to be struggling.

After she finished, she looked over her answers several times, very nervous she messed up. Once McGonagall called time, Ivy let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in. McGonagall waved her wand and the pieces of parchment flew into her arms. It was time for lunch. They all talked about the contents of the Charms O.W.L. nervously, wondering if they passed.

After lunch, All the fifth years got up hurriedly to get to their dorms for studying.

The written part of the exam was over, now Ivy needed to prepare for the other half which was not too long from now. She rushed up the stairs and took a sharp turn, waiting for the eagle to ask a riddle. A large group of fifth years were behind her, also waiting.

"What has to be broken for you to use it?"

"An egg."

The door opened up as the eagle told her 'good answer' while all the fifth years rushed to study. She ran up the stairs and got out her Charms book hurriedly, looking over all the spells and incantations.

        Chloe walked in a few minutes later, taking off her shoes as she laid down on her bed.

         "How do you think you did, Ivy?" Chloe asked. Bella was muttering incantations, waving her wand vaguely.

        "I did okay, I don't know if I got an O. Maybe an E, hopefully," She said as she pulled out her wand and did the same as Bella. They spent the rest of their afternoon practicing spells before they had to go to the next portion of the Charms O.W.L.

•••

Once they finished the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. they all walked outside to enjoy the nice weather. Most students were done for the week, except the small portion of students that had to sit the Ancient Runes O.W.L.

        "Did you like question ten, Moony?" Sirius asked as Ivy fell in step beside them.

        "Loved it," Remus said with a smile. "Give five signs that identify the werewolf. Excellent question."

        "Do you think you managed to get all the signs?" James asked, as Sirius snickered beside him.

        "Think I did," Remus said with a worried voice, "One: He's sitting on my chair. Two: He's wearing my clothes. Three: His name's Remus Lupin..."

         They bust out laughing, walking through the sunlit grounds.

"How do you think it went for you, Ivy?" Sirius asked, changing the subject.

She sighed. "I don't know, honestly. I hope I did good."

"I'm sure you did. You've been studying since Christmas," James said, sitting down near the Black Lake. He was releasing and catching a snitch as Peter watched in awe. Remus got out a book and began to read.

"I didn't really know what to put about question ten," Peter admitted as Sirius laughed.

        "You run around with a werewolf once a month!" He exclaimed with a smile as Peter shrugged. Sirius sighed with a pained expression on his face. "I'm bored."

An idea popped into James's head. The two boys looked at each other knowingly.

"Oi! Snivellus!"

They walked to where he was standing alone and casted Expelliarmus on him. His wand flew out of his hand, then James casted impedimenta to knock him down. A group of students began to gather around to watch them. Ivy stayed where she was, sitting on the ground and watching disapprovingly. Remus also looked a bit worried, still looking down at his book. Although, his eyes weren't moving anymore.

Severus began to yell hexes and curses at them, right before James casted scourgify on him.

"Watch your mouth! I think you need to clean it out," James shouted as he gagged on the pink bubbles. A few bystanders laughed.

"This is unsettling," Ivy muttered to Remus with a worried expression on her face. He nodded, looking up for a few seconds before looking right back down at his book.

"Leave him alone!" Lily shouted, whipping out her wand as her red hair billowed behind her in the wind. Ivy watched, subconsciously grabbing Remus's arm out of nervousness. He glanced down at her hand and patted it with his own. She looked over to him and loosened her grip, muttering a 'sorry' as she turned pink.

"Ah, Lilypad, don't make me hex you," James said as he put his wand down, looking at Lily with a small smile. She was glaring daggers at him. This gave Severus enough time to get his wand back and hit James in the face with a cutting spell. Ivy gasped and put her other hand on Remus' arm.

James touched his face gingerly and looked at Severus in anger. He casted a silent Levicorpus, lifting him upside down. Everyone saw his underpants. They laughed as Ivy looked away.

"Stop! Put him down!" Lily exclaimed as James reluctantly placed him on the ground.

"I don't need help from filthy mudbloods like her!" Severus bellowed as Ivy watched in horror. Remus finally tore his eyes away from the page to look at the scene unfolding in front of him. It seemed as if the whole crowd gasped.

"Fine, Snivellus." Lily replied coldly as she walked back to her group of friends.

"Apologize!" James bellowed as he lifted Severus in the air again. "I will de-pants you! I will take off your underwear if you don't apologize!"

Eventually, he gave a reluctant apology that didn't mean anything to him. He stalked off towards the castle. James was still bleeding.

"Oh James, come here," Ivy said, standing up from where she was sitting to examine the cut on his face. She looked at it and sighed. "Let me fix you up. I have a bottle of dittany in my bag."

She got out the medicine as James made a face. "Why do you carry around Dittany?"

"You never know what could happen," She replied smoothly as she reached up to drop it on his face. He bent down as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "This is gonna sting."

James grimaced as she placed the medicine on his cut. It began to heal itself, beginning to look like the wound was a few days old.

"Thanks," He said as he reached up to touch where the blood had once been. They sat back down under the tree and talked, ignoring the feud that had just happened a few minutes ago.

•••