With neither Fred nor Eleanor willing to admit their feelings for one another to each other, the two continued to act like they were only friends. Although everyone around them could clearly see that it was not the case, because even when they didn't think they were flirting with one another, they were flirting. However, as exams continued, they didn't have much time to spend together as they did before much to their shared disappointment.
After Defence Against the Dark Arts, Eleanor was able to breeze through Charms, Transfiguration, and Herbology. But the morning of her Potions exam, she felt her confidence dwindle and the roles were reversed for the girls as Marnie struggled to get Eleanor out of bed. Hiding under her duvet, Eleanor kept a firm grip with Marnie tugging the end of it.
"Ellie, you have been studying with the twins for weeks, almost non-stop. You better get the highest blood mark on this exam, or I'll drop-kick Snape's arse myself. You did well on all your other exams, you'll be just fine! Now, quit being a drama queen, get your arse out of this bed, and go get dressed."
It was quiet for a moment as Marnie released her hold and Eleanor finally poked her head out.
"Come on, Ellie," Marnie's voice softened, "if we keep waiting around, we'll miss breakfast. But if you're not in the Common Room in fifteen minutes, maybe I'll get Fred and George to come get you. Or maybe just Fred."
With a wink, Marnie left the room quickly before Eleanor could retaliate. Of course, Eleanor gave herself away because, at the mere mention of his name, she blushed. But it wasn't the time to start questioning her feelings because she had an exam to take. Pushing herself out of bed, she grabbed her uniform, one of her jumpers, and her robes before heading to the showers, all the while telling herself over and over that she was going to do well.
When she was finished with her shower and dressed, she joined Marnie in the Common Room and the two of them made their way to the Great Hall where they joined Cedric. She managed to make herself a small plate but as she looked across the way in the direction of the Gryffindor table, she hoped to see the twins, only to not see them at all. There was a slight twinge of disappointment and she hoped that they would show up before the time of their exams.
They didn't.
And it was time for the students to make their way to take the written portion of the exam. Eleanor walked towards the exam hall, following Cedric and Marnie but as she glanced up she could see Fred and George waiting outside of the entranceway. Immediately, her eyes lit up and as Marnie threw a knowing look in the twins' direction, she pushed Cedric inside before he could say anything, giving Eleanor alone with Fred and George.
"Today is the big day, Ellie," George greeted her, "how are you feeling?"
"Nervous, if I'm being completely honest," she said, "but I might as well get it over with."
"That's the spirit, love," Fred said, placing his hand on her shoulder, "you'll be just fine."
There was little that could be said, especially with George standing there, so Eleanor merely nodded her head before she decided to head inside and find herself a seat. She decided on a desk by a window and sat down, before glancing around the hall.
Marnie looked beyond bored, earlier at breakfast, she claimed she was just ready to take the damn exam because she knew she wasn't going to do well. Cedric was reciting things under his breath to make sure he remembered them, and the twins were laughing about something until Professor Snape silenced them with only a look.
As soon as all the students were accounted for, the written portion was given, and Eleanor quickly looked it over to see that they were to write about the Polyjuice Potion.
Polyjuice Potion, she thought to herself, I know this one.
Although if she thought about the day that she had gone over the Polyjuice Potion, she remembered that she hadn't been fully paying attention to what George had been telling her because Fred was too busy, mirroring everything George was saying in a mocking manner behind him. Eleanor had to keep biting down on her tongue to keep from laughing, but she certainly wasn't laughing at that moment.
Fluxweed, Knotgrass, Lacewing Flies, and....and....
"Oh no," she muttered under her breath as she closed her eyes for a moment trying to think. She couldn't remember the last ingredient needed for the first part of the potion. "Come on, Ellie, fluxweed picked on a full moon, the two bundles of knotgrass, but there is something that comes before the Lacewing flies, but what is it?"
Forcing her eyes open, Eleanor looked out the window, hoping that something would come to mind. But rather than drawing inspiration from her surroundings, Eleanor found herself leaning closer towards the glass as she spotted the large black dog again. She would have written it off as it being another stray dog, but it was hard to ignore one little detail.
The dog was wearing her scarf.
She could have fallen out of her seat at the image of the dog, casually wearing her scarf around its neck as it walked the grounds. However, as quickly as she had spotted him, the dog vanished into the nearby brush.
"Focus, Eleanor, focus." Pulling at the sleeve of her jumper, Eleanor glanced down to see that a thread of yarn had come loose from a stitch, leaving her to grab at it. But as soon as she did so, the missing ingredient came to mind.
Leeches!
She squealed happily in her seat until she looked up and saw Professor Snape looming over her desk. She quickly mouthed an apology before lowering her eyes back down to her work and continuing.
Eleanor was the last student to finish and she made sure to use up the entire allotted time as she went back over everything she had written down. When it came to the practical aspect, Professor Snape even looked ready to send her on her way as she had carefully looked over and measured every single ingredient before putting it into her cauldron. But when she was finally finished, she walked out into the corridor to find that Fred and George had waited on her.
Running over, she pulled George into a hug first, mainly because he had been the one to help her actually study the most. But then she wrapped her arms around Fred and continued to hold onto him for a few extra moments.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"Well, I'm not a hundred percent sure, Fred, but I think Ellie is happy with us," George chuckled.
"Of course, I am," Eleanor smiled as she finally released Fred from the hug, "I actually knew what I was doing in there. I'll admit, I was a little nervous in the beginning and I thought I was going to forget everything. But I didn't!"
"I'm glad we were of service to you, love," Fred said softly, "I told you, you were going to do well, you just needed to relax."
"I am forever in debt to you two, I don't even care if I don't get an O in the class."
"Forever in debt, you say?" Fred nodded his head as he rubbed his chin. "That's what we like to hear."
Eleanor froze for a second and peered up at him. "'Wait a second, I didn't mean it like that. I take it back!"
"Too late!" George called out. "You already said it!"
"I didn't mean forever!"
While Eleanor tried to talk her way out of her debt situation, Fred and George guided her over to sit down in a window seat. She sat down in between them but as soon as she did, she noticed that the twins were watching her as if waiting for her reaction. They exchanged confused looks with one another before sat down and almost immediately, George jumped up with a yelp.
"Damn," she heard Fred mutter as George danced around in the corridor as if something was attacking him.
"What's going on?!"
Fred let out a heavy sigh as he folded his arms. "It's called Pinching Dust. You're supposed to sprinkle a bit where someone is going to sit and suddenly, they are attacked by invisible pinches. Well, it obviously works, just not on you!"
She hit him on the arm. "After everything, we've been through and you're still trying to prank me! You made me a partner! I should be off-limits!"
"No one is off limits!"
"Oh really?"
Eleanor looked over on the seat and saw what appeared to be the powder they were talking about and using her fingers, grabbed a little bit and holding her hand up in a threatening manner.
"Ellie, don't you dare."
"But Fred, don't twins do everything together?"
Fred didn't have time to run as Eleanor sprinkled the dust over his robes and the pinching effect started immediately as he, too, cried out and tried to brush off the dust. It was quite the scene for the students that came down to walk down the corridor, watching as the twins were hopping all over the place as Eleanor settled back down to sit and watched in amusement.
With History of Magic and Astronomy exams still remaining, the term was coming to an end soon enough. Despite sending another letter to her mother regarding the need for them to talk when she got home, Eleanor hadn't heard from Margaret after that. Perhaps it was for the better, but Eleanor couldn't help but wonder what her mother was going to tell her, what she needed to be honest about.
Rather than waiting until the last minute to pack up her belongings, Eleanor started placing things way in her trunk that she knew she wasn't going to use. Most of it appeared to be her knitwear that she knew she wasn't going to wear, making Eleanor see just how many garments she had come to make that year alone.
"I think I might have a bit of problem here."
Picking up one of the caps she had finished early in the term, Eleanor smiled as she looked it over. It was a canary yellow and black, with a swirled pattern, one of her best pieces of work. She placed it on her head, only to have her vision become flooded with the memory of Marnie's hair being turned blue, back when she had been a victim of the twins' prank. Eleanor quickly removed it and blinked several times as she looked over the cap in her hands. Wondering if it had just been a coincidence, she did it again and watched the same memory.
"That's certainly new."
Looking back in the direction of her trunk, Eleanor scanned over the knitted garments and seconds later, she was pulling out all of the pieces to test out a theory.