Study Buddy (Arianne/Diana)

[Cassandra Lynn Murphy]

It was another evening that would be filled with studying. Cassandra had a test the following morning that she felt under prepared for. Why did she felt under prepared? Every night she worked on her magic and did homework well in advanced. However she just never felt good enough so that is probably why she felt unprepared for this test. Her blood status made her feel like she was never good enough. And that feeling was always rubbed in when she was sitting in the common room and listening to her peers talk about how they ate halfbloods. By having the best grades she could pretend like magic came natural to her and that her blood was pure.

The other night she had this awful dream that she was in the common room and everyone was looking at her. They were laughing and talking about her as she walked by. Then she passed a mirror and saw the words 'HALF BLOOD' written on her forehead in bright red. Even though she tried to rub the word off it wasnt working and she was becoming frantic. Then she woke up and realized it was just a nightmare. That night she had tried to sleep and get a full night sleep but after that scare she could not force herself to sleep. So after two hours she was sitting in the common room reading and starting to study for the test. It was going to be a tough test and she just wanted to be as prepared as possible.

Tonight she was going to meet with Arianne, a Ravenclaw also in her fifth year. They had the test together tomorrow and had studied together before. She would not say that they were like best friends but they were way more than people one said hi to in passing. Once in a while they would share a giggle while studying. So right now she was sitting in the back of the library at one of those tables. Arianne would have known where to go to meet Cassandra. Cassandra had her hair pulled back and a few books open in front of her while taking notes on what she was reading.

[Arianne Caroline Lane]

Arianne took another sip from the tiny vial of light green fluid, then tucked the bottle into a pre-determined place for it in the black bag she carried with her. She was on to her fifth gulp in five hours, which was the maximum permissible limit for anyone to take the potion, but she already wanted and felt like she needed some more. On the other hand, she was not the kind of person who broke pre-prescribed guidelines. The potion to enhance alertness was not the safest of all potions, the book had said, "hyper sensitivity, rashes, mood swings, inability to sleep, and addiction" could be possible side effects, but she was already very sensitive and had mood swings, and the inability to sleep was a good thing.

She'd been awake now for nearly 27 hours. She had woken up the previous day, fresh and happy, and taken a nap in the afternoon too. But after that she had homework, and patrolling duties, and extra studying to do (and the nights were the best time for doing such things, because it was quiet) and she had pulled an all-nighter. And then she'd had classes all day, and then a plan to study for the test on potions next day with Cassandra, who was the one who'd actually make her like potions. She was looking forward to it, but she certainly didn't think she'd be able to do it without the potions effects - she'd probably fall asleep on her feet without it. So she was taking it, despite the voice in her head that said she might be making a mistake.

She walked into the library and straight to the place where Cassandra was sitting, without even stopping to say hi to the librarian like she usually did. If she was perfectly honest, she was starting to feel quite nervous about this test. Potions had always been her strongest point, but nowadays it felt like it was her weakest subject. Perhaps Cassandra, who she often studied with, would be able to help. She walked over to the girl, who had already started studying, and smiled a sweet Arianne smile - polite without being effusive. "Cassandra," she said, slipping into the seat in front of her and then opening her own books - first aligning them in the perfect order she needed them to be in in order to study, and then opening one of them. She looked back at her companion. "So, how do you suggest we start?"

[Cassandra Lynn Murphy]

Potions was her strong subject since she was a Slytherin and her father was potions store owner. In a way it ran in her blood. Before he opened the store her father worked odd muggle jobs but when he returned to the wizarding world he worked as a potion maker for some private company before opening his shop. Cassandra remembered him being so happy that day. But she remembered her first year at Hogwarts and potions class was her best subject. She did great in all of her other subjects but she enjoyed her potions sucess. Cassandra was smart like a Ravenclaw and she figured that if she had been placed there then her and Arianne would be like best friends.

Now they were just study buddies and Cassandra was alright with that. After all she was nice enough and she stayed up just as late as Cassandra to work on schoolwork. She knew about the green liquid drink that Arianne was taking. It had an awful taste but kept the user awake for hours. More commonly used around the end of terms when everyone was studying for finals or OWLS or NEWTS. She took it once in a while like when she was having alot of difficulties staying awake. Lately she was having difficulties staying awake since there was alot on her mind and her body just felt run down.

When she heard her name Cassandra looked up and smiled. "Good evening Arianne." She said and watched the girl pull out as many text books as possible and organize them. A system would get them through the most stuff in the most efficent manner possible. "Well I made a list of all of the potions we've done since the start of the year and all of thier ingredents." She said and handed the list over to Arianne. "obviously we should start with the basic potions and thier purposes first and then move on to more complicated stuff."