Tee decided not to follow Ariadne's advice. She really had given it the consideration that she'd sworn to herself she would, but regardless, the answer had still been pretty obvious from the start. She just wasn't interested in Sam like that. That brief moment had passed long ago.
If she started things up with him again, then it would just confuse everybody around them. It wouldn't be fair to Sam and it wouldn't be what she wanted. Tee was grateful for Ariadne's attempts to help, but she knew that she was just going to have to rely on schoolwork as an appropriate distraction from her otherwise muddled thoughts.
For the most part, she was just going to carry on as normal, like she'd already been trying to do. And hope that her head would sort itself out if she busied herself enough. She was lucky, because preparation for OWLs was now in full force in all of their classes. Not to mention their upcoming match against Hufflepuff was also closing in.
Tee had so many other things to think about that she really didn't have the chance to worry about the issues regarding her love life. And with the first opportunity she had for some free time in a while, she was much more interested in just kicking back and relaxing with her friends.
The four of them had sat down by the lake again that afternoon, sheltered by the large willow tree that they'd sat underneath before. The air was quite fresh, but the ground was dry and it was certainly starting to look towards a warmer spring.
"Exams haven't even started yet and I already can't wait for them to be over," Tee commented, leaning back on her elbows and absent-mindedly scanning their surroundings.
"Forget exams. I'm more interested in our final Quidditch match," Fred added, who was reclining against the tree's trunk.
"Not interested in schoolwork. There's a surprise," Rose teased.
"Well, at least I'm consistent with it."
Tee was barely even listening to what they were saying. If she had been, then she most likely would have beaten Rose to making that particular jibe. As it was, she'd noticed Sam and Jensen chilling with a couple of their friends further up the bank. Seeing Sam just brought her crashing back to reality, reminding her of Ariadne's letter and the decisions that she'd made over Valentine's Day.
She was only vaguely aware of Rose saying something to George when her friend suddenly exclaimed, "What on earth are you doing?" Tee glanced back round, but Rose wasn't looking at her.
"What are you on about?" asked Fred innocently.
"Why did you just mess your hair up like that? It looks ridiculous."
"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything," Fred replied.
"You did! I just watched you do it," Rose insisted.
Wondering what the hell her friend was talking about, Tee turned towards her other side. Fred had swept his hair back into one ungainly wave, giving him quite an extreme windswept look. He seemed to be purposely not looking at any of them. Tee bit back a laugh as she sat up.
"Rose is right. You look like an idiot," she giggled, leaning over and playfully swatting his hair back into place. "Probably better if you don't go with that look long-term."
"If it pleases you, then I won't," said Fred teasingly, giving her quite a winning smile in return.
Tee felt her heart perform that oh so familiar flip, but she just rolled her eyes theatrically at him. She'd gotten pretty good at hiding what she was really thinking lately. She casually turned her head away and saw Rose giving her a rather odd look. "What?" she asked, quite startled.
"Oh... It's nothing," said Rose, glancing at Fred. There was still a slight confused frown creasing her forehead.
Tee chose to listen to her friend's words rather than her expression and thought nothing more of it. She didn't need anything else to worry about right now. She leant back onto her elbows again. "So exactly how important are our OWLs?"
Fred snorted. "Depends on what you wanna do."
"We get to drop subjects next year, right?" asked Tee.
"Right. If there's any particular ones you wanna keep on next year, then you're kinda gonna need good OWL grades in them," George explained. "Most of the teachers won't keep you in their class unless you get at least acceptable grades."
"So does that mean I can basically flunk my Potions exam?" Tee suggested.
"As long as you're sure you won't want Potions later on," replied George, sounding amused. He looked over at Rose, expecting her to advise her friend to think about her decision a little more first, but she didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation at all. She was staring off out towards the lake. "Hey, earth to Rose..."
Rose snapped back to attention upon hearing her name. "Oh, sorry, what was that?"
"You alright? You looked a little preoccupied there," said George.
"I'm fine," said Rose. She quickly glanced at Tee and then back again before adding, "I think I'm gonna go back to the common room for a bit though." She gave George a very pointed look.
"Err, do you want me to go with you?" asked George, hoping he'd interpreted the look she was giving him correctly.
Rose smiled at him. He'd clearly gotten it right. "Yeah, okay."
"Come on then," said George, getting to his feet and then offering Rose a hand up. He was still a bit bewildered. "We'll catch you guys later."
"Err, alright. See ya," said Fred, mildly bemused.
Tee sat up again once they'd left. "That was weird. What was all that about?"
"Not a clue," Fred shrugged. "They got like that before, remember? Wonder what they're hiding this time."
"Well, George actually looked like he was as clueless as us," Tee pointed out. "And it's not like Rose to hide things."
"I dunno what to tell you then," said Fred, making himself more comfy against the tree. "I'm sure we'll find out eventually."
He didn't seem particularly worried and Tee wished that she could say the same, but in truth, she felt quite uneasy. Rose seemed to have been giving her odd looks quite a bit over the last week. Tee was worried that the wheels to the dynamic of their friendship group were starting to turn. She didn't want anything to change. She was happy with the way things were.
Well... Happy enough. But she really doubted that her friend would be able to magically fix the current troubles with her love life.
After a while, Fred sat up. "I'm getting kinda hungry. Think I might go up to the kitchens and see if the house elves can spot me some food. Wanna come?"
Tee shook her head and slowly got to her feet. "I think I'm gonna go back to the common room too."
"I think that's the first time I've ever heard you say no to food," Fred joked as he followed suit. "But that's cool. I'll go get food and you can check on Rose."
Tee was surprised. "How did you know that's what I was thinking about?"
"Because I know you, Kittykat," said Fred, annoyingly ruffling her hair. "And because I'm amazing, of course."
