ghost stories - h. potter

Thirty-Six

The month of May disappeared quickly. With the days that passed, it seemed as though the news of Harry and Belle had settled down, though the two of them seemed just as happy with each other as they had been not long before they got together. He still thanked her every day, showing his appreciation for her in both words and small touches, whether it be simple brushes against each other in class or hidden smiles as they passed each other in the corridors.

Pansy came to know of Belle's gift not long after June begun and exams were underway. She hadn't yet found the chance to tell Ron, but knew that she' would end up speaking to him and the rest of his family to give them the chance to speak to Fred again.

Once the exams had started up, Belle found herself stressing harder and sleeping less than she ever had before. She was usually seen in the Ravenclaw tower, tucked up on the window seat with her nose buried in a book or down in the Great Hall with a stack of them in her hands. The library had become her second home at that point and Madam Pince had become very used to waking her and Hermione up, smacking them over the heads with her feather dusters as she screamed at them to stop drooling on the library books. She only messed up very few times when it came to her classes but performed admirably in each of them, especially Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid had positively beamed at her once she had finished showing him how to take care of an injured Niffler, treat a dragon with a bad head-cold and bandage up broken Bowtruckle limbs. She'd even managed to hug Buckbeak after bowing down to him, giving her extra points in his eyes.

Her last exam, having been her weakest subject, Trasnfiguration, was the very last exam she had on the second-to-last Friday of the school term. It still didn't feel very real to her as she walked out of the examination room, tucking her wand into her pocket.

"How did it go?" Hermione asked, biting down on her nails with worry and Belle kindly pulled her hand away, patting it gently.

"Don't stress," she said.

"You're going to do fine, okay?"

"Easy?" Ron asked and Belle gave a shrug.

"Some easy parts, some hard parts. Just go over everything you studied, you'll be fine."

"But I've already forgotten what I've studied!" Ron exclaimed frantically. Belle only gave him a pat on the shoulder and a warm smile.

"You'll do fine."

They all wished Hermione luck as her name was called.

"Are you doing anything later on?" Harry asked, causing Belle to turn towards him. She shook her head after a moment.

"Why do you ask?"

"The seventh-years have been given permission to go down to Hogsmeade one last time as a sort-of goodbye thing, so we can spend one last proper day together before we leave. We're all going down and Hermione wanted to know if you, Luna and Pansy wanted to join us," Harry finished, subconsciously reaching out and tucking a stray curl that was falling in her eyes. She paused for a moment, pressing her lips together as she smiled before she nodded.

"I'll make to pass on the message," she replied.

She wished both of the boys good-luck before she hurried off to dump her bag in the Ravenclaw tower and change into a more casual outfit so she wouldn't be wandering around Hogsmeade in her uniform.

"Belle!" Someone called out just as she passed the Great Hall. The girl stopped and turned, only to see Ginny hurrying up to her.

"Hey," she greeted, slightly breathlessly and Belle smiled brightly at her.

"Hey! Just finished your exams?" Belle asked and Ginny nodded.

"You?"

"Just finished Transfiguration," she replied.