Epiphany |Scorpius Malfoy|

Chapter Sixty-Three

"I hate my life!"

Isabelle glanced up at Cassidy at her outburst, an eyebrow rising calmly. "You've been saying that for the past week."

"Because it's the truth," she groaned as she leaned against her side and hit her head on her shoulder. "NEWTs are awful. I feel stupid."

"You just didn't study for the majority of the year, it's not like you need these grades," she reasoned as she smiled down at her fondly. "Come on, it's the last one."

"Yeah, the Charms practical exam," she shuddered as she shook her head, "do you think they'll make us conjure a Patronus? That could give both of us extra points."

"I don't think they would be too thrilled with seeing a spider appearing in the middle of the room."

"It's still a Patronus," she pointed out as she looked at her from beneath her eyelashes. "Why are you so calm? I thought you would be stressed."

"It's our last examination and things went very well in all of my other NEWTs, I think it's going to be alright today as well."

"Scorpius would be proud of you," she grinned before her smile fell, "not that I'm not proud of you-"

"I know, I know," she assured her with a smile of her own, "I'm proud of myself too. I thought I would have been more anxious."

"See? I told you NEWTs was nothing you should worry about-"

"Demont, Isabelle," Isabelle glanced up to see a woman looking around at the group of students waiting for their turn, "please head in for the practical part of your Charms examination."

"You are going to be great," Cassidy squeezed her arm once. Isabelle sent her a reassuring smile paired with a nod, grabbed her wand and followed after the woman to the examination classroom.

About ten minutes later she got outside once again and the woman left to call out the next to be examined. Walking over to Cassidy, she offered her a wide smile of relief.

"How was it?" she instantly asked as she stopped in front of her.

"Fine. My nonverbal spells were alright and the only problem I encountered was with turning the vinegar into wine spell. I always had a problem with that, remember?"

"Yeah, I do," she nodded quickly, "but you are pleased?"

"Quite a bit," she admitted with a reserved smile, "they asked whether I could perform the Patronus charm. Professor Flitwick had mentioned I had mastered it. I think that got me a few points."

"The old bat did a good job on mentioning it, now I'll get a few extra points too!" Cassidy grinned and Isabelle couldn't help but let out an amused short laugh at the nickname.

"Don't worry about it. It's going to be fine."

"I'll take your word for it. Where are you going to be?"

"Scorpius told me he was going to be under a tree near the Black Lake enjoying the warm weather so I'm going to join him," she called out as she started walking away. "I'll see you during dinner, I suppose?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be third-wheeling."

Isabelle simply rolled her eyes as she walked away. "Good luck, Cassidy."

"Thank you!"

Isabelle turned around and left the room, her wand in hand. As soon as she was away from that place, a wide smile formed on her lips and she started walking quicker. Finally, school was over, her NEWTs had gone the way she wanted them to and there was nothing she worried about. She wouldn't worry for the next two months, when the results would come out. But for now, she was free to enjoy her independence.