[1] Exie Attia is one of the Boys ✓ | LILY EVANS

Chapter Seventeen

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[ CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ]
The Hobbledehoy and the Old Man

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The gang were a little hesitant to continue but Exie insisted. Perhaps it was a fluke and time would ease her turbulent mind: they would carry on as normal and she was not to let herself get in the way.

Sadly, it didn't work.

Her determination and stress seemed to be growing together. The more insistent she became, she only seemed to do more wrong. Suddenly the hand movement for the spell, which had come with ease before required all her mental concentration and it was still far from being right. The boys tried to help and she found herself snapping at them again much to her horror. 

But it was more than that, it was like she'd forgotten how to be calm and happy at all which was a crucial component. The apple picking memory had lost it's value, the happiness it had once embodied now replaced by stress and the horrible feeling of failure. After another sleep attack at practice, barely a week after the last one, the boys were forced to do something drastic.

For the time being, Exie Attia was benched.

As predicted, she didn't take it too well, gripping Peter's pillow between her hands so tightly it was a wonder it didn't explode into a flurry of feathers.

"Benched?" Her voice was soft and hoarse, "But... I  can help, please don't leave me out!"

"We won't, I promise!" James quickly replied, "You can sit and watch us every time. Or if that's too hard at the moment, Peter will take note of everything for you."

The boy in question nodded eagerly, "Down to the second, Exie! If James coughs or Remus moves a little to the left, I'll write it down, promise!"

"We're not doing this because we don't want you in the plan or anything and you know that," Sirius added, "We're doing this for your own good. You're clearly in a bit over your head ... for some reason and we just think you need to have a bit of a rest."

"We're done with the Immortelle flowers for the moment anyway and the next stage of the plan has to be done during a new moon. That's a few weeks away so it's not like you'd be missing out on any actual progress," James replied, "It's just animagus stuff and that can be done any time."

"I think a break would be good for you," Remus assurred her softly, "There's no shame in it - "

"I know, I just..." The pillow tumbled to the floor as she stood up abruptly. Her fists were balled up, shoulders tensed up around her chin without her even realising: stress manifested in the weirdest ways, "... it's annoying. Maybe I could help a bit, collect some of the ingredients or something..."

This proposition was met with little enthusiasm, only earning a few concerned glances between the boys as James shrugged, "Maybe. Think for now your best mission would be sorting out whatever's going out in your head."