McKinnon

| CHAPTER TWENTY THREE |

      The week of exams was no easy feat for Sarai. Tuesday afternoon, she had taken her Potions' exam. Despite her love for the subject, she too, had difficulty trying to thicken her Confusing Concoction. It was especially difficult when Professor Snape was standing watch with a sneer of pleasure plainly plastered on his face as he watched her and her other housemates struggle with their own potions.
      Then came Astronomy at midnight, up on the tallest tower; History of Magic on Wednesday morning, in which Sarai scribbled everything Remus had ever told her about medieval witch-hunts. Wednesday afternoon meant Herbology, in the greenhouses under a baking-hot sun; then back to the common room once more, with sunburnt necks, thinking longingly of this time next day, when it would all be over.
        Her second to last exam was undoubtedly her favorite however, on Thursday morning. Her Defense Against the Dark Arts exam. While she admittedly, was not naturally talented in the class, Sarai definitely had a leg up from all of those evenings holed up in Remus's office as he helped her with her homework. She had sat in the classroom, with confidence that she'd nail the class (Or else she'd hear an earful from Remus about it). She lazily was fiddling with her Himitsu-baku as she waited on Remus to enter the classroom. Much to her pleasant surprise, Remus had elected to compile an exam outside the usual standard.
      "I recommend you all to gather your things," Remus said with a warm smile on his face, as he greeted the class. "Today's exam shall take place elsewhere."
      A small round of murmurs erupted from the class as everyone exchanged looks with one another. Dean and Seamus were shooting Sarai questioning looks, but she merely shrugged.
     "Your guess is as good as mine," She said as she gathered her things. She then paused, as she watched Dean stuff his textbooks back into his bag. She dropped her school-bag back into her seat. "I'll just leave my stuff here for now. I'll probably swing by after the exam to spend some quality time with Uncle Rem, anyway."
    "Suit yourself." Seamus said adjusting the strap on his shoulder, from the weight of his own textbooks. "I wonder what he's got planned."
      Remus had led the class outside of the castle to an area near the Black Lake. Sarai smiled as she let the warm rays of the sun blanket around her like a warm hug. Remus had compiled an obstacle course, where they had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a gryndilow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a hinkypunk, and then lastly climb into a trunk to face a boggart.
     Sarai hated to admit it, but the hinkypunk had definitely left her lost for a few moments, causing her to sink waist-high into the quagmire.
    "Ew" she grimaced, thoroughly disliking the feeling of mud seeping into her clothes. Remus covered his mouth with his face to hide his smile but it was no use. Sarai had caught him. She shot him a dirty look before sticking out her tongue at him. She then turned back to the sinkhole she was stuck in to find a way out. She glanced around quickly at her surroundings and pointed her wand to a nearby tree.
"Incarcerous."
      At once, a sturdy rope flew from her wand and wrapped securely around the large branch resting  in the air near her. She grasped her hands around the rope and heaved herself out of the mud.
"Excellent use of magic, Sarai." Remus commended while marking something in his notes.
   Still bitter with getting slimy wet mud all over her robes, she stuck her tongue out once more at him before returning her attention to the through the marsh.
      Once she had finished with her exam, bitterly acknowledging the points docked for the hinkypunk, she trudged her way up to the castle with Dean and Seamus.
     "Gross," Sarai whined to the pair, "It's going to take forever to get all of this off of me!"
      Seamus chortling, as they walked up the steps of the castle clapped a hand on Sarai's shoulder. "Think of it this way, Sar." He said amusedly, "Atleast, now, no one would ever accuse your Uncle of favoritism when it comes to grading your exam."
      Dean let out a snicker, before quickly being silenced by a death-glare from Sarai. "It might be best you shower before your last exam."
      Sarai let out a irritable huff. "I'm going, I'm going." She said waving her friends off. "I'll see you lot at Dinner. I promised Michael we'd do lunch at the Astronomy tower."
     "Oy," Seamus said with a mischievous glint in his eye, "Don't forget to tell him you like rolling around in the mud."
    Shooting one last dirty look at Seamus and flipping him an vulgar gesture, the trio parted ways. Sarai made her way up the stairs of the castle silently cursing Remus all the way to the common room and into the showers.
   It had taken Sarai forever to scrub all the mud off of her. It had barely left her with enough time to get ready for her date with Michael. She had sprinted through the castle to meet him up in the astronomy tower.
   "S—sorry!" She gasped catching her breath from her run around the castle, "Had—had to shower."
   Michael looked up in alarm at the sound of Sarai's frantic voice. "You alright?" He asked concerned. 
   Sarai grumbled something as she plopped down next to Michael. "Yeah, stupid Defense exam." 
   At this, a smile formed Michael's featured as he tried to hide his laughter away. "Yeah, Dean mentioned something about it. Did you really sink into the quagmire?" 
   Sarai scowled, before breaking out into a laugh, "Yeah," She said, biting into a egg-salad croissant. "It was that stupid hinkypunk." She admitted. 
   Her eyes gave a quick scan over Michael. His hair had grown a few inches since their first date, and was now pulled back in a short hair-tie. His tie was loosely hanging around his neck as she could distinctly see his shirt slightly sticking to his chest from the sweat. 
   "Here, I brought you something." He said interrupting her observation. He turned to his side and placed his school bag in his lap. 
  "Oh no!" Sarai groaned slapping her forehead with her palm. 
  Michael stopped in his tracks, and looked at her curiously, "What?" 
   "I forgot my things in Uncle Remus' classroom." She said throwing her hands up exasperatedly. "I don't have any of my things for my Arithmancy exam today." 
   Michael raised his eyebrows at her, "What d'you go leaving your things in there for?" He asked. 
   "I was planning on spending some time with him after the exam," Sarai explained in a more defeated tone, "But, I had to shower off all the mud on me from the maze." 
    Michael chuckled, before proceeding to pull out a bouquet of flowers from his bag. 
  "Here, these are for you." 
  Sarai blushed, and the smile returned to her face, as she took the small bouquet of pink and blue hydrangeas. 
   "They're lovely, Michael. Thank you." She said smelling the bouquet. 
"And," He said pointedly, while pulling out a roll of parchment, "You can use these until you get your things back from Professor Lupin." He pushed over a small pile consisting of the parchment paper, a quill and ink bottle. 
   "You're a saint, you know that?" 
"I do my best." Michael said with a nonchalant shrug. "Plus, we can't let Professor Lupin keep you locked up all summer, when I have plans on seeing you nearly every weekend." He joked. 
   Sarai's smile grew even wider as she raised an eyebrow, "Every weekend, huh?" 
  Michael grinned at her cheekily, "Ofcourse," He said before cupping her cheek with his hand, "I can't stand not seeing that pretty face of yours all summer." 
  Sarai giggled softly, as she felt the heat rise to her cheeks. "I'll make sure to tell him." 
"Good."
"Good."