Insomnia | Fred Weasley |

33. We're talking about Fred, right?

While she was reassured by Cedric that she still had time, the thought was in the back of her mind constantly as to what she could pursue, career-wise, so it meant taking the proper subjects to have options.  She had thought about pursuing being a dragon keeper, just like her mum had been, but the thought didn't appeal to her as much as when she was younger.

A few days before they were to start their exams, Alex sat in the common room, diligently studying with her friends when she looked over to see Harry and Ron looking over Hermione's exam schedule that was to be starting soon.

"Hermione?" Ron asked carefully since Hermione had been very jumpy and on the verge of another mental breakdown (at least, according to Alex.) "Er - are you sure you've copied down these times right?"

"What?" She asked quickly, looking over the exam schedule.  "Yes, of course I have."

"Is there any point asking how you're going to do two exams at once?" Harry asked while Alex looked over the schedule to see that the boys had a point.  Hermione was supposed to be taking two exams at the exact same time.

"No," Hermione snapped.  "Have any of you seen my copy of Numerology and Grammatica?"

"Oh, yeah, I borrowed it for a bit of bedtime reading," Ron whispered, causing Alex to snort while she nudged him hard in the arm.

Turning back to her own textbook, Alex tried to absorb the words that were written but she was having trouble since she could feel someone watching her.  She knew exactly who it was too, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of looking at him.

A rustle at the window brought the friends group's attention from their books to see Hedwig there with a note in her beak.  Harry rushed over and grabbed the letter, immediately ripping it open to see Hagrid's writing.

"It's from Hagrid," he told them.  "Buckbeak's appeal - it's set for the sixth."

"That's the day we finish our exams," Alex added, standing to look at the note over his shoulder.

"And they're coming up here to do it," Harry continued.  "Someone from the Ministry of Magic and -" Harry couldn't even believe what he was reading that Alex continued for him.

"And an executioner?!" She exclaimed, ripping the note from Harry's hands to make sure she was reading it correctly.

That caused Hermione to look up from her search for her textbook.  "They're bringing the executioner to the appeal!  But that sounds as though they've already decided!"

"Yes, it does!" Harry added, somewhat distantly.

"They can't!" Ron exclaimed.  "I've spent ages reading up on stuff for him; they can't ignore it all!"

Alex chucked the letter on the table before bidding her friends a good night to head to bed.  Her mood had turned sour and she was ready to punch something, though she wasn't sure what good that would do her.

Collapsing on her bed, tears began to well up in her eyes and she desperately clung to her pillow.  She felt terrible because she had worked so desperately hard to help Hagrid, but because Lucius Malfoy had so much as breathed in the committee's direction, there wasn't much hope.

She fell asleep, only to be plagued with nightmares of Buckbeak's eventual execution.

☽

Exams had begun and as if the taunt Alex, her first one was Transfiguration.  She had been studying the previous night as much as she could with Cedric who simply deemed her ready.  She had spotted him that morning at breakfast and he offered her a reassuring nod as they left to head for McGonagall's classroom.