Lemon Grass and Sleep

COMING TO A STRESSFUL CLOSE

Glinda's hand clutched the back of my sweater as I walked ahead of her to the second floor bathroom. Fred and George had managed to apparate us into Hogwarts again, but with the quickness, they'd accidentally gotten us a bit down the hall.

"Not on purpose, of course," George nervously explained, "Never."

"Oh, really?" Glinda replied haughtily, "Could've fooled me."

"I'm married, I'll have you know," Fred retorted, "My husband wouldn't like these accusations."

"Your husband is the only reason I haven't beaten you two upside the head."

I sheepishly continued to be a shield even while in the bathroom, Glinda planting me firmly between her and the twins as she got changed quickly behind me. The twins, of course, stayed turned around the entire time. Only turning when Glinda approved of it. What gentlemen.

"Now what?" She asked, her hair the messiest I'd ever seen it. No headband or gentle curls, it was completely ruined by the wind and apparating across the grounds.

"Well, we've got to get out of here, pronto," George ran a hand through his hair. "We'll be at the shop finishing things up, you two need to go be seen somewhere very far from the Great Hall."

"We can apparate you into your common rooms," Fred snapped his fingers, glancing between the two of us to gauge our reactions.

"Absolutely not," Glinda shook her head, "If either of you are seen with us, it throws the whole thing away."

"Right, right," he shrunk, tapping his finger against his leg. "You two will come visit this weekend? Let us know how everything went down, hm?"

"Of course," I quickly responded, clearing my throat as I recognized my own voice.

"We could even come tomorrow," Glinda offered, shifting her sweater around as she's put it on backwards.

"No, too risky," George shook his head, "You two should act like you have nothing to do with us, even if the inquisitorial squad doesn't really buy it."

"There's also exams coming up," Fred mentioned, "You two will probably be too busy studying to make the trip to Diagon Alley too often."

With that, we said some quick goodbyes, realizing we'd already been absent too long to be normal, and Fred and George apparated away, leaving nothing but their clothes we'd used as disguises. As soon as they blipped out of sight, I realized I hadn't gotten so much as a hug to tide me over.

"You know, never mention this to them ever," Glinda mumbled beside me, "I'm gonna miss the twins being here."

"Yeah," I whispered, "Me too."

We both split immediately after walking out of the bathroom, twin's clothes tucked in my satchel to avoid the suspicion of Glinda having boy's clothes on her. The plan for the rest of the day was to hide in our common rooms and avoid any inquisitorial squad member at all, if we could help it.

This is going to be the most stressful week of my life, that's what I kept thinking. Thank Merlin it wasn't a Tuesday, and all I had to do was get through Thursday and Friday after this.

"I'm going to cry," I mumbled, nosediving into my book and relishing in the feeling of the soft pages underneath my cheek.

"At this point, I won't judge," Glinda grumbled, pinching her nose and grimacing against what seemed like a headache.

"I don't remember exams ever being this hard," I breath out, sitting up and leaning back in my chair, desperate to get my back to crack.

"They never were," she cursed under her breath, "N.E.W.T.s, I hate them."

"Alright, Ms. Auror."

"Okay, Mr.-" Glinda screwed up her face in confusion for a moment. "What did you want to do again?"

"Well," I pursed my lips, "I've...um, I've gotten sort of an internship with Pomfrey."

"Pomfrey, as in, Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yes."

"In the infirmary?"

"Yes."

"Using healing magic?"

"...Yes, that's typically what an infirmary is for."

"Oh, Tom, that's wonderful. You want to go into healing? As, like, a career?"

"Well, it's the only thing that feels interesting, right now."

"Yeah, I guess I never realized how boring the wizarding world can be," Glinda puffed out, deflating in her chair.

"I hardly think being an Auror would be boring," I scoffed, "Do you?"

"Well," she shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, I guess it's one of the more interesting choices."

"I think it's marvelous," I mumbled, going back to my book.

I could barely concentrate on studying for exams, Fred was still on my mind near constantly. In fact, I suspect it'd only gotten worse since he'd left. He'd already sent me an owl telling me that their first day opened was a booming success, with students rife with deviant eyes coming in to buy tricks and baubles to mess with Umbridge themselves.

'We've started a little uprising,' his letter had read. 'Is it weird to feel like a proud dad? Because I do.'

Make up exams for O.W.L.s had already begun being administered, what with Fred and George disrupting the normal schedule quite a bit. Umbridge was absolutely fuming with her little plans being ruined and shoved into disarray--leaving an entirely new one having to be made from scrap. The fifth years seemed overjoyed at the extra time to study, though, so I don't feel too bad about it.

'There was an attack, while the fifth years were taking their astronomy O.W.L.' I had written back hastily, my writing bordering on illegible as I scribbled it in between admitting students with skiving snackbox symptoms to the infirmary. 'Hagrid's been run out by Umbridge--we've no idea where he's gone.'

'Harry and them went to the Department of Ministries, something about Harry having visions of Voldemort. I have no idea what any of it means, and Glinda's having a hard time being able to talk to Hermione.'

Fred seemed more worried about this news than the other times I'd written, imploring me and Glinda to make a trip to Diagon Alley sometime soon. He outright pleaded with me to take time for myself at least, to wind down with some tea or something--anything to put my mind at ease.

'I miss you,' his curly handwriting read, and I stuffed the piece of parchment under my pillow bashfully. 'I hope that's okay to say.'

It would be nice to take a weekend off, I'd nearly burnt myself out with the amount of studying and reviewing I'd been doing--I'd be shocked if I hadn't overdosed on wit-sharpener at some point as well.

"You look like shit," Glinda observed, tactfully as always, as I approached the One-Eyed Witch tunnel to Hogsmeade, where we'd meet Fred and George to apparate to their shop.

"Good morning, Glinda," I deadpanned, following her pace down the hall.

"Clearly you've run low on battery," she sighed.

"Battery? I asked dumbly, "I've gotten plenty of sleep, I assure you."

"Love battery," she smugly corrected, "You need some huggy-wuggy time with your little boy toy."

"Ugh," I grunted in disapproval, "You are just such a delight to be around, aren't you?"

"Don't flatter me," she giggled.