It was fair to say that the first conversation that Stevie had with the Weasley twins didn't exactly go how she thought it would. She's pretty sure that Fred hates her and her cat - not that she could blame him.
Fortunately, she didn't have time to dwell on the fact because this year, it was the big one. It was OWL year and the teachers, they seemed intent on scaring the shit out of them all.
Not only were they going to have exams to go through, there was also mandatory careers advice with their head of house to think about and honestly, she thinks that scares her more than the exams do.
The last thing she wanted to do was think about being an adult.
"How?" Kaye whimpers as she scribbles on a piece of parchment. She'd come to sit with Ribh and Stevie at the Ravenclaw table that lunchtime but so far, she hadn't touched any of the food that was on offer, "How are we only in the second week of term and I'm behind on homework already?"
"It's OWL year," Ribh says from across the table, "What did you expect?"
Every now and then, Stevie wonders how they manage to get on. Ribh was all study, study, study and Kaye...Kaye likes to spend her evenings napping in the Gryffindor common room.
"McGonagall's going to kill me," she cries, "She already gave me a two-day extension!"
"Serves you right," Ribh scoffs, taking a bite out of her sandwich as a mighty bang comes from outside in the Entrance Hall. "Merlin," she breathes, turning in her seat, "What the hell was that?"
Stevie resists the urge to roll her eyes - for someone who gets top marks in all classes, her friend can be rather silly.
There were two possible culprits; one was Peeves the Poltergeist who was always wreaking havoc on the school and its students. The second was the Weasley twins and she knew who she was putting her money on.
Confirming her suspicions, the Weasley twins come almost running into the hall, glancing over their shoulders when they hear Filch the caretaker's furious yells coming from down the corridor.
What happens next however, Stevie really didn't expect. As if the eyes of the hall weren't on them, the pair casually (but quickly), make their way to the Ravenclaw table, to where there was a space big enough for the two of them, across from the girls.
"Afternoon, ladies," one of them grin and Ribh looks anything but impressed as they all down onto the bench.
"Why is it always you two causing trouble?"
"Trouble? Us?" the other one spoke, look of mock hurt gracing his features.
"Never." they say at the same time.
Stevie stays silent, watching them curiously as the caretaker storms into the hall, his small beady eyes gazing over the Gryffindor table to find those who were responsible.
The twins duck their heads as the man moves his search to the other house tables and Stevie casts her own eyes up to the teacher's table, surprisingly finding it empty.
Filch is almost at the end of the Hufflepuff table now and she knows that it wasn't going to be hard for him to spot them at their table.
Their hair wasn't exactly subtle.
Knowing that there isn't much time, Stevie reaches under to grab her bag, snatching Ribh's hat from atop of hers before she's digging through her bag to find her own.
"What are you doing?" Ribh asks slowly, not entirely sure that she's going to like the answer that she gets.
"Here," Stevie slides the garments across the table, "Put those on."
They raise their eyebrows but do as she suggests, tugging them on and pulling them down as far as they can go before they duck down.
The three girls can barely stop themselves from glancing towards the caretaker but they manage and once's he's finished searching the Ravenclaw table, he turns and leaves the hall.
He probably knew that the twins would rather be caught than sit at the Slytherin table.
"Is he gone?"
Kaye nods.
"So you can give us our hats back and bugger off," Ribh says.
"Charming," the boy on the right scoffs (if she had to guess, Stevie would say it's Fred). They don't move, they turn their attention to her, "Cheers for that."
"S'alright," she shrugs, catching her hat when he throws it to her.
He looks as if he's about to say something else but before he can, their names are being called from the doorway by their friend, Lee Jordan.
Stevie feels Kaye perk up, sitting up straighter in her seat to try and get a glimpse of her fellow Gryffindor - she's always going on about how she finds him rather handsome.
"Looks like your sidekick needs you elsewhere." Ribh sneers and Stevie elbows her.
Honestly, she needed to get over it.
~~|~~
Ravenclaw shared most of their classes with Gryffindor except for Potions and Care of Magical Creatures, which they shared with Hufflepuff.
It was now the last period in the day and it was time for Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Stevie will admit, after the last two disastrous years (in the appointment of teachers anyway), when she saw the required textbook in her letter during the summer, she didn't have high hopes but it seemed that Dumbledore had actually hired someone who knew what they were doing.
Professor R.J Lupin was a tall, thin man - so thin that sometimes he looked rather ill and though he was young, his brown hair, if seen in the right light, could be seen to be greying in parts.
He had actually first shown his knowledge of the Dark Arts on the Hogwarts Express after the train had got going again, he had walked up and down the train, checking that everyone was alright and offering chocolate to those who had been more affected than others.
She was the first one into the classroom, being that she had left History of Magic early so she could run to the bathroom before her last class, not that Professor Binns noticed.
Professor Lupin was writing on the board when she walked in but he looks over his shoulder to greet her warmly as he does with every student, "Miss Nicholson, hello."
"Afternoon, Professor," she smiles, moving through the empty desks to one somewhere in the middle.
For another few minutes, it's only the two of them and so Stevie sits silently, looking at the board when he steps back to see that he's drawn some sort of diagram. It looks like a wand movement and she gets excited when she realises that they must be learning something new.
Students start to trickle in, two of them being the twins and Stevie looks from the parchment she's doodling on when one of them fall into the empty seat beside her.
"Uhh..." she doesn't quite know what to say as he pulls out his own learning materials, "What are you doing...?"
"Fred," he informs her, "And what does it look like? I'm getting ready to learn."
"Ribh isn't going to be happy."
Indeed, her friend was not happy when she entered the classroom to see the redhead sat in her usual seat, even less so when his brother pats the empty seat beside him which at the desk in front.
"Wands at the top of your desk for now," Lupin says loudly as the last few stragglers make their way in, "We'll be using them shortly."
He waits until the room quietens down before he starts explaining what it was they'd be learning today and Stevie can feel Fred watching her as she scribbles Tongue-Tying Curse at the top of her page.
Try as she might, she can't ignore it and when Lupin started walking around the class after telling them to practice their wand movements, Stevie puts her quill down and turns to her new deskmate, "What?"
"Lunch," he says quietly, "What you did earlier at lunch, that was pretty cool. Thanks."
"You said that already," Stevie chuckles, picking up her wand to practice, "But again, you're welcome."
Fred continues to watch her for a couple more minutes before he picks up his own wand, "You know, you're alright, Nicholson."
And he's almost certain he sees her smile grow.