After the Exams
The exam weeks had been nothing short of chaotic—late nights, restless sleep, ink-stained fingers, and brains pushed far past comfort. But when the last parchment was handed in, relief washed over all of them at once.
Now, with nothing but time before they had to return home, they did exactly what Hogwarts students did best: exist freely again.
The six of them spent their days wandering the castle without purpose—lounging by the Black Lake, sharing treacle tarts in the kitchens, hanging out at the common room and relive the most ridiculous moments of exam week.
Rowan tried teaching everyone a ridiculous mnemonic he swore helped him in Herbology.
Maribel dragged them to the library voluntarily to show off obscure history facts no one asked for.
Tobias and Elowen played exploding snap until it nearly exploded them.
Meanwhile, the Lee siblings—Lyra and Vela—often met up with Tonks, the three of them occupying their usual hangout spot. Tonks entertained them with exaggerated stories from that happen to her that year, shifting her hair colours with every dramatic retelling until Lyra was laughing so hard she nearly fell off from the window.
As for Leo— despite love to hang out with his friend he did enjoy alone time.
He was perfectly content sitting in the corner of the Hufflepuff common room, sunlight filtering through the windows as he painted in silence. His violin rested against his shoulder, soft music filling the room between brushstrokes. It was peaceful..
The Results
A week later, the results finally arrived.
Pinned neatly to the notice board, the parchment drew a crowd almost instantly.
Leo scanned it once.
Then twice.
Then froze.
Leo got the highest marks in:
Charms — Outstanding, Transfiguration — Outstanding, Astronomy — Outstanding
Cedric, standing beside him, read his own results calmly.
Cedric got the highest marks in:
Herbology — Outstanding, Potions — Outstanding, Defence Against the Dark Arts — Outstanding
Rowan nearly shouted when he saw his name.
"TIED FIRST place in Herbology MARKS? I— I beat almost everyone?!"
Maribel clasped her hands together in pure delight when she saw:
History of Magic — Highest Score
Elowen and Tobias exchanged relieved looks.
"Average," Tobias said.
"But not a fail," Elowen replied, grinning.
Then everyone looked at the ranking.
First-Year Rankings
1st Place (Tied): Leo & Cedric
Leo stared at Cedric for a second—then smirked.
"Damn," he said dramatically. "My rival is exactly as smart as me all got outstanding."
Cedric blinked, then laughed softly.
"Well… I suppose I'll take that as a compliment."
The other four groaned in unison.
"Oh no," Rowan muttered. "There's two of them now."
Leo, naturally, took this as permission to become unbearable.
For the rest of the day, he subtly altered his appearance—glasses that didn't exist before, hair neatly parted, posture exaggeratedly scholarly. He dropped random facts into conversations no one asked for.
"Did you know the theoretical limit of non-verbal transfiguration—"
"No," Tobias snapped. "And we don't care."
Cedric, meanwhile, remained painfully humble.
"It was a group effort," he insisted. "We all helped each other."
Maribel crossed her arms.
"If I were in his shoes, I'd never shut up about it."
Elowen nodded. "At least he's normal."
They all looked back at Leo, who was dramatically adjusting his imaginary glasses.
"…I want to kick him," Rowan said flatly.
Despite everything—the stress, the rivalry, the chaos—they were happy genuinely happy that their friend get an amazing score and beat the rest of the houses.
They had survived their first year.
And they did it together.