Jupiter | Harry James Potter

xvii ; the exams

"I just... I wanted to get back at him for what he said to you." He paused. "I pantsed him and threw a snowball at his face under my cloak."

"It was really funny." Hermione added quietly.

"Until his cloak fell off." Ron softly snickered.

"Your cloak fell off?" I gasped, my voice accidentally almost reaching into the punishment zone. Harry nodded solemnly.

"He saw me and ran to tell Professor McGonagall, so I knew I had to ditch it so he had no proof." Harry sighed.

"Well, I appreciate you coming to my aide." I laughed softly. "Maybe I could convince Lupin to give your map back."

"It's no use. Even if I did have it, I can't get Snape away from that statue. Trust me, I tried." Harry muttered.

"He even got Peeves to explode the girls' toilets next to it, and Snape still didn't move." Ron whispered proudly.

"You actually convinced Peeves to do something?" I murmured surprisedly, my mouth falling open slightly. I felt the familiar surge in my stomach begin to spread across my whole body at the thought of what Harry did for me, even when I wanted nothing to do with him.

"As much as I love that you two are getting along again, I could really use help finding my book." Hermione hissed.

-

The Care of Magical Creatures exam took place the following day after Charms and Transfiguration. Hagrid placed a large tub of Flobberworms right in front of his hut, and our only goal was to keep them alive till the end of the hour.

It seemed easy enough, considering Flobberworms only lived if you left them alone, so it gave us plenty of time to talk to Hagrid.

"Beaky's gettin' a bit depressed." Hagrid sighed as he bent over to see Harry's flourishing Flobberworm. "Bin' cooped up too long. I reckon he knows whas' comin' day after tomorrow."

Potions was next, and it was one of the only exams that I had actually felt prepared for. The confusion concoction was easier than expected, but Snape didn't seem too excited at my success.

Following Potions, on Tuesday was Astronomy, which wouldn't have been an issue if it wasn't on the tallest tower at midnight. Then it was History of Magic, and I tried to scrape every bit of information from Florean Fortescue about witch-hunts that I could remeber, then on Wednesday was Herbology, which felt like murder under the boiling sun of June.

Then came the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam on Thursday morning. Professor Lupin had prepared the most interesting yet magnificent exam I had ever seen. An obstacle course.

There was a deep pool full of Grindylow, potholes full of Red Caps, a trickster Hinkypunk, all of which I cleared with ease. I hurried to the last task, but my feet froze under me as I saw the old trunk laying in the center of the field, with Professor Lupin standing next to it.

"Hey, Professor Moony." I said, trying to mask my fear as well as possible. A small smile formed on his scarred face, but he stayed silent.

"There's a boggart in there, isn't there?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly.

"I'm afraid there is." He sighed, nodding. I felt my façade break as I stared at the rickety trunk, which was shaking slightly.

"Did you know him?" I asked Professor Lupin. I could feel tears building up in my eyes. "My father?"

He hesitated before answering. "I never knew the Lestrange's personally."

"Professor..." I muttered. My lip was trembling as he watched me with pity and took a deep breath.