The victory for the Quidditch Cup was short lived.
The sun was shining brightly, dousing the school grounds in warmth and golden light. Amisty wanted nothing more than to go outside and talk with her friends, but exams had come and they were bombarded with work.
Even Fred and George were dragged into the work load. They were, after all, about to start their O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizard Levels) and Percy was going to start his N.E.W.T.s (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test).
Percy, in particular, was very high strung. He wanted to get into the Ministry of Magic, and in order for that dream to come true he needed top marks.
He was increasingly snappier as June edged closer. Anyone who disrupted the quiet evening in the common room was guaranteed to severe punishments.
Hermione, however, beat him by far on the stress meter. She, when interrupted, tended to break into a rant about how important the exams were and Amisty had suffered through at least eight of them already. She had managed to catch a glance at Hermione's exam schedule, though.
Monday
9 o'clock, Arithmancy
9 o'clock, Transfiguration
Lunch
1 o'clock, Charms
1 o'clock, Ancient Runes
Amisty nudged Ron, pointing over at the schedule, "Is that even possible?" She asked.
"Don't think so," He muttered back, before continuing on louder and cautiously.
"Hermione? Er -- are you sure you've copied down these times right?"
What? Yes, of course, I have," She snapped, snatching up the exam schedule and looking it over.
"Is there any point asking how you're going to sit for two exams at once?" Harry asked, just as cautiously.
"No. Have either of you seen my copy of Numerology and Grammatica?" She asked, shuffling her papers around as she searched.
"Oh, yeah, I borrowed it for a bit of bedtime reading," Ron muttered sarcastically.
Hedwig flew in through the window, a note in her beak.
"It's from Hagrid," Harry explained, tearing the note open and scanning the messy handwriting. "Buckbeak's appeal -- it's set for the sixth."
"That's the day we finish our exams," Hermione commented, looking under the table now for her book.
"And they're coming up here to do it. Someone from the Ministry of Magic and -- " He held the letter up closer to his face, " -- and an executioner."
Hermione shot up, almost hitting her head on the table, "They're bringing the executioner to the appeal! But that sounds as though they've already decided!"
"Yeah, it does," Harry agreed solemnly, putting the note down.
"This isn't fair!" Amisty argued, slamming her hands down on the table with a loud smack.
Her bracelet was glowing faintly.
"They can't! I've spent ages reading up on stuff for him; they can't just ignore it all!" Ron added, furious.
-=+=-
As exam week edged closer and closer toward them, Amisty was struggling to keep her composure.
With Hagrid's appeal, Malfoy's snide comments and even more arrogant letters (that she replied to only for the purpose of making sure her owl wasn't harmed), and the ever-building stress of failing it was a miracle she hadn't killed someone.
It was a miracle she hadn't killed Malfoy halfway through Care of Magical Creatures.
"You need to make up with him, you're miserable," Hermione snapped one day after Amisty let out yet another sigh.
"I'm not miserable!" She protested, trying and failing to sound like she was telling the truth.
Hermione was right. Her feud with Draco was starting to take its toll on her emotions. She was antsy and upset and snappish.
"You are. Face it, Am, you fancy him. I don't know how, I don't know why, but you do," She held up a hand as Amisty opened her mouth to argue. "And even if you don't fancy him, you do like him. Whether that be a friend or something more is for you to find out."
In their Transfiguration exam, she managed to turn her teapot into something that resembled something that looked like a tortoise, though there was still a trace of the teapot pattern on the shell.
Hermione's biggest worry was the fact that her tortoise looked more like a turtle.
"Mine still had a spout for a tail, what a nightmare..."
"Were the tortoises supposed to breathe steam?"
"It still had a willow-patterned shell, d'you think that'll count against me?"
After lunch, they headed right upstairs again to Charms for their exam. They did have to do Cheering Charms, Hermione was right.
Amisty and Hermione both ended up grinning widely and giggling occasionally once they had finished. Then was dinner, and they started studying for Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, and Astronomy.
Hagrid's exam was simple, and he didn't seem entirely focused or even interested in it. He gave them a massive tub of flobberworms and told them in order to pass all they had to do was keep theirs alive by the end of the hour. The worms were best left alone if they wanted to survive.
"Beaky's gettin' a bit depressed. Bin cooped up too long. But still... we'll know day after tomorrow -- one day or the other -- " Hagrid whispered sadly as he poked Harry's flobberworm.
And then came Potions. Amisty, even with her immense amounts of effort, couldn't perfect the potion in time, and knowing Snape, that meant she hadn't scored too well.
Astronomy was easy for Amisty, though she struggled to keep from tearing through her star chart once she reached the Draco constellation.
History of Magic was boring but doable, and she scribbled down as much information as she could remember.
Herbology was a bit of a pain, with all of them getting sunburnt and aching backs by the end of the exam in the greenhouses.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was eventful. They had an obstacle course of sorts outside on the grounds, where they had to wade across a pool with a grindylow (Amisty lost some points on that, getting a little overwhelmed), cross a few potholes filled with Red Caps, make their way through a patch of marshland with a hinkypunk trying to misguide them, and then battle a boggart inside an old trunk.
She had no hesitation this time, not even faltering when she cast the spell and stepped out of the trunk with a grin. Harry got full marks, Ron only messed up at the hinkypunk, and Hermione was perfect until she ran out of the trunk screaming.
"Hermione! What's the matter?" Professor Lupin asked, startled at her terrified expression.
"P-P-Professor McGonagall. Sh-she said I'd failed everything!" She stammered, staring at the trunk in sheer horror.
Amisty immediately set to comforting her, biting back her laughter of the obscurity of the boggart. Once Hermione had calmed down, they headed back up to the castle. What they saw wasn't what they had expected.
Cornelius Fudge was standing and staring out at the grounds, jumping once he spotted them.
"Hello there, Harry! Just had an exam, I expect? Nearly finished?" He asked brightly.
"Yes," Harry nodded. Amisty, Hermione, and Ron traded uncomfortable glances and stepped back.
"Lovely day. Pity... pity..." He sighed sadly, looking over the lake. "I'm here on an unpleasant mission, Harry. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness to the execution of a mad hippogriff. As I needed to visit Hogwarts to check on the Black situation, I was asked to step in."
"Does that mean the appeal's already happened?" Ron asked suddenly, taking a step forward.
"No, no, its scheduled for this afternoon," Fudge replied, looking at Ron in confusion.
"Then you might not have to witness an execution at all! The hippogriff might get off!" Ron argued.
Before Fudge could reply, two wizards stepped out of the castle. One was very old, his eyes dark and hair silvery, and the other was very tall and prim with a neat black mustache.
Dear, dear, I'm getting too old for this... Two o'clock, isn't it, Fudge?" The older wizard asked, his voice quavering slightly.
'Ah, so they're the representatives of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures," Amisty thought to herself.
She scowled slightly, as the dark haired man was running his fingers down the edge of a sharp axe. Ron was about to open his mouth again when Hermione jabbed him with her elbow and dragged them all off to the Great Hall.
"Why'd you stop me? Did you see them? They've even got the axe ready! This isn't justice!" Ron spat.
"Ron, your dad works for the Ministry, you can't go saying things like that to his boss!" Hermione argued. "As long as Hagrid keeps his head this time, and argues his case properly, they can't possibly execute Buckbeak..."
Amisty couldn't focus at all during lunch, as there was a very persistent nipping at her ankles.
"I'll be right back," She muttered to Harry, who was beside her and marched out of the Great Hall after aiming a swift kick at the stupid little dragon figurine whose life goal was to maim her leg.
With a fierce glare at the Slytherin table, she turned the corner and leaned against the wall, waiting. When Malfoy rounded the corner almost immediately he grabbed her wrists before she even made the move to attack him.
"You, you... you -- " She stumbled over her words, too furious to complete a sentence with everything she wanted to say swirling around in her mind.
She wanted to shout at him. To yell and punch and just understand why he acted that way.
But she also wanted this entire thing to be over with.
"I what, Amisty, I what?" He hissed lowly, glaring at her so coldly she barely stopped herself from flinching.
"L-let's start from the beginning, then, shall we?" She forced out, focusing her mind on the past events, her voice slowly growing in strength as she went on. "First, your father get's an innocent creature killed and you're gloating about it.
"Second, speaking of Buckbeak, you sit there and laugh at Hagrid when he's clearly distraught over something that wouldn't have ever happened if it wasn't for your stupidity.
"Third, ordering your stupid minions to go and tail Harry wherever he went to try and sabotage him before the Quidditch match.
"Fourth, cursing my Christmas present to you so that it attacks my owl just to get a reply from me. Echo hasn't spent any time with me for the past three weeks because of you, only stopping by to deliver and send my letters that I don't want to send.
"Oh, and fifth. You blatantly and purposefully cheated on that match not only to win but to spite me because you're so used to getting what you want that you can't deal with someone being upset with you."
By the time she finished, her bracelet was glowing so brightly she could definitely blind someone with it.
Malfoy had just opened his mouth to reply when she held up her hand, "I'm not finished. With all your letters, the exams, and the fact that I'm trying to reconcile with my father all at the same time, it's a wonder I haven't gone and asked to go home," She growled.
"Not to mention one moment you're one of the best people for me to be with and the next it takes all of my self-control not to curse you into the next corridor. You counter my comments, you know how to make me laugh, you push my limits. But then you taunt me, tease my friends, do everything you can to just annoy me. You say you care when in reality all you care about is yourself and your reputation."
"I do not -- " He started, furious with what she was saying.
"What's Draco Malfoy without his purebloodedness, right? What's Draco Malfoy without his father? What's Draco Malfoy without the Death Eater reputation behind him?" She snapped, tearing her hands away and clenching them at her sides as she fought down her rage.
If it was at him or her heart, she couldn't tell.
"Did you hear nothing on the train?" He hissed, towering over her as he stepped closer. "If I didn't pretend, we'd both be outcasted from our own friends."
"Hermione knows. She knows I write you, she knows we're friends," She pointed out sharply.
"And when Potter and Weasley find out that you're friendly with a Slytherin they despise?" He asked.
"I -- well -- they -- " She struggled to find a positive answer.
There really wasn't one. Would they be okay with her relationship with him?
"Exactly," Malfoy replied shortly, crossing his arms.
She attempted to storm past him, only for his hands to drag her back in front and close to him.
"Don't run away from me."
"I don't want to speak to you any longer," She hissed frigidly, a lie, glaring up at him and trying to ignore their close proximity.
Maybe Hermione was right.
"Listen, Amisty, I'm sorry. Alright?" He sighed, not looking directly at her. "I've been a git, and an idiot, and even though I'm right I know it must seem awful from your point of view but I can't change how things are."
She let out a defeated sort of sigh and looked at her feet, "So this is how it's going to be, then?"
"How what's going to be?" He asked snarkily, still annoyed.
"This," She gestured between them. "We're just going to keep pretending we hate each other?"
"We have to, Amisty, we have to," He nodded, more gentle now at the sight of her disappointment.
"Listen, Draco, I like you. A lot," She couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze as she continued. "I don't know how, I don't when it even happened because you are an egotistical prat who needs a bit of a kick into the real world -- "
He cut her off when he pulled her into a tight, secure hug, his mouth right by her ear and stirring against her cheek.
She felt her face grow warm.
"I like you, too, even if you are a stubborn, short-tempered, closed-minded wolf girl," He smirked.
She laughed softly, hugging him back and failing to ignore the warm feeling in her chest.
He pulled away, "You should leave first. I'll follow in a minute, they can't know..."
Her face fell, but she quickly fixed it with a forced sort of smile. No matter what, even with this up in the air, nothing would change.
Nothing could change.
Not trusting herself to speak properly, she forced her feet to move her toward the entrance to the Great Hall, stopping just outside and giving him the first warm smile she'd ever given him since that first day in the robes shop. Back when he was an egotistical, spoiled -- wait, nothing had changed. What had changed, however, was the fact that he had returned the smile.
It took an immense amount of effort for her to tear her gaze away and walk back into the Great Hall. Hermione was smirking. Amisty just grinned.