Everyone needs a study buddy

Olivia could hardly believe her eyes when she saw the little message from Mikey. But she was still incredibly happy, she had immediately accepted and now she was on her way. She headed towards the study room. Her bag was full of homework and books. Of course she would have preferred to study outdoors but this time it was worth being indoors.

When she arrived she immediately saw Mikey in the back corner. But instead of walking straight forward, Olivia stood and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She observed him, a habit she had. She saw how he held the quill before he finally held it to the side and tilted his head in his hand. She saw how he muttered something to himself and then smiled a little.

Then Olivia walked over and stood behind Mikey. “Hi Mikey,” she said a little shrilly and blushed. He flinched a little. She sat down and to hide her blush she bent down to pick up her books and parchment. Then she looked up and smiled at Mikey. “Nice to see you again,” she said. “Under slightly more legal circumstances,” she added in a whisper with a little laugh. She thought of their first meeting.

Then Olivia straightened up and opened the tin bottle. “So, what homework do we need to tackle today?” she asked, smiling again.

Mikey twitched automatically as Olivia's voice unexpectedly floated up over his shoulder, though the smile that followed betrayed him he hadn't actually minded being startled. "Dang, Olivia," he chuckled low in his throat, "you nearly made me write my entire essay sideways." He aimed a finger at the parchment as evidence, where his handwriting was scribbled at an unusual slant along the last line.

"Great to see you," he said with a smile that grew wider at the reminder of their previous escapade. "No rule-breaking this time. Unless you count the Professor's essay length limits as criminal, in which case I believe we're already convicted felons."

He pushed his books out of the way to give her room, moving the leaning tower of books at his feet farther under the table so that she wouldn't stumble over them. "Homework assignment for today? Potions," he muttered, scowling. "The essay has to be on fluxweed, and I swear it's got less character than the parchment it's on." He slapped the quill against the edge with melodramatic despair before looking back up into her eyes.

You're better at keeping them on track, I would think. Perhaps you can keep me from burning this down, he joked loosely, although the grin did have some real hope behind it. Then he said, "What's in your stack? I hope to God that it isn't more Potions."

Olivia couldn't help but smile almost the entire time. There was something about Mikey that made her smile and feel safe. She listened as he spoke, resting her chin on one hand.

She grimaced when he told her about the essay on fluxweed. She tried to think of something she remembered but it was a blank in her mind. She blushed a little when he met her eyes again. Why was she acting so strange?

She smiled at the compliment if she was better at keeping him on topic. Then she turned the question back to her. "I have a little more than Potions," Olivia said and sighed deeply. "Having a hard time focusing lately," she admitted then, dipping her quill in the ink.

Olivia started to scribble down the title and then reached for her book but accidentally bumped into Mikey's hand. "Sorry," she said hastily and pulled her own hand back. But then accidentally hit the pile of books that fell to the ground. “Sorry,” she muttered a second time and dove down to pick them up but hit her head. She groaned and clutched her head. Olivia blushed hard and silently scolded herself. Why was she acting so strange?

Mikey​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ jolted up from his chair when Olivia hit her head, the scraping of his chair legs loud enough to get him a dirty look from a seventh year across the room. “hey, careful!” he whispered, and in an instant, he was leaning down beside her.

Books lay strewn everywhere as if they were frightened birds. Mikey reached out to help collect them, he did that by brushing the dust off the books and by moving a few of them nearer to her hand. “Don’t, no, no, don’t say sorry. It was my fault that you got hurt,” he said quickly, although it very much wasn’t. “I’m quite sure that tower was only made of hope and bad decisions.”

Seeing her still rubbing her head, he softened his smile and handed her one of the books. “You alright? Let me see.” Without thinking, he gently moved her hand aside and tilted his head to check the spot she bumped. There was no bump, just the pink skin and an even pinker Olivia. Becoming aware of what he was doing, he stopped, cleared his throat, and retracted his hand a little too quickly. “Uh, yeah. You seem to be in one piece. Probably.”

Mikey returned to his chair, still watching her out of the corner of his eye as he began to put together the saved books in a less… disastrous manner. “Look if this helps,” he said with a little chuckle, “I’ve only gone out like that with my own broomstick. I hit the handle coming up too fast. So honestly? Compared to that, you’re doing great.”

He dipped his quill into the ink bottle dramatically as a knight would when taking up a sword. “We are head injury survivors, so we can conquer homework together no problem. And if your focus’s gone, we’ll find it. I’m willing to give you three of my spare brain cells.” He looked at her once more. “Seriously though… you’re okay, ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌right?”

If Olivia was already pink as a late evening sky, she was now red as a tomato. When Mikey rushed to help her, she wanted to tell him that it wasn't necessary, but the throbbing pain made her keep quiet. When he carefully moved his hand to check where she had hit her, she went completely still and, if possible, became even redder in the face. When he then cleared his throat and quickly withdrew his hand, Olivia looked away.

Olivia picked up the last books and sat down in her chair, Mikey had done the same. He said something rude and chuckled a little. But Olivia didn't listen. She just looked down at her parchment and tried not to think about the dull pain in her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him dip the quill in the ink. She heard him say something about homework, focus, and brain cells. She forced her brain to focus and heard him ask if she was okay.

Olivia sighed: "Yes." although the pain still throbbed in the back of her head. She tried to write her essay but felt Mikey's gaze on her the whole time. Finally she looked up at him. "The pain in my head doesn't help, I've been through much worse..." she said and her voice trailed off at the end. She thought of the full moon. She quickly pushed that thought away and instead forced out a smiling Mikey.

"Shall we get started then?" she asked, staring down at her parchment again. Her face wasn't as red anymore but she still wondered what was wrong with her and why she was acting so strangely. She wondered if Mikey wondered the same thing. She hoped not.

Mikey​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ was in the middle of getting organized to work by stacking the books from the mess pile when Olivia finally replied. Her "yes" was quick and more believable in tone than in fact. He didn't insist, however. Just a little smile as he put down a book he had taken from the mess between them to the pile. "Alright," he said, "if you are sure. You are not going to faint on me, are you? Because I am not the one to carry you to the Hospital Wing. My biceps are just for show." He said jokingly

Picking up his quill again and twirling it between his fingers, his smile widened. "However, I think you have definitely earned hazard pay. He looked to her to see if she was actually writing or just staring into space and saw that she was still a little bit upset. Not much, but it was enough for him to speak in a softer tone. "Honestly, if your head is still sore, we can take it slow. We've got time before this is due."

While he was checking his paper, he leaned back a little and balanced his chair on two legs for a moment and then said after a break, "I don’t even remember what fluxweed is used for. I have written the same sentence five times, and it is still not correct. At this point, I think I’m just hoping for the professor to take pity on me."

Using the back of his hand, he pushed one of her quills toward her. "Alright, study buddy. Let’s do this before I start writing about completely unrelated plants. If you feel dizzy at any time, just give me a dramatic wave or something. I’ll get water. Or chocolate. Or both." Under the light of the candle, his last glance toward her was warm and bright. ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌"Deal?"

“Deal,” Olivia replied, opening the book to the page about fluxweed. Then she took a deep breath and began to mumble through the description. “Aha, here it is,” she pointed to the page.

“Fluxweed is a magical plant and a member of the mustard family. It is an important ingredient in Polyjuice potion. Blah blah blah. When it’s being used in Polyjuice potion it is really important that the fluxweed is picked at the full moon in order for the potion to have full effect,” she read aloud to herself and Mikey. Then she quickly wrote it down.

“That’s a good start, isn’t it?” she asked, looking up from her parchment. “Then you can add in things like what happens to a Polyjuice potion if you don’t pick fluxweed at the full moon and stuff like that.”

She leaned back in her chair and put down her quill. Then she cracked her knuckles and stretched her fingers. “It seems like my focus is back but I’d like to have some chocolate if you have any,” she grinned cutely at him.

Then her gaze disappeared out the window and settled on the growing full moon. “Imagine a month goes by so quickly,” she muttered to herself and then she zoomed out completely. Stuck in thoughts that refused to take shape.

Mikey straightened up as Olivia read the page infront of her, leaning slightly closer so that he could read the words over her shoulder. The smell of ink and old paper rose up, familiar and slightly comforting. "See?" he said softly, "I knew asking you to meet me would be the smartest thing I'd done all week." He gently tapped the text message with the end of his quill, making sure that he did not smudge the scribbled notes on her message. "I mean, if I'd been left to my own devices, I'd probably have convinced myself that fluxweed was used for something ridiculous like adding flavor to stew or something."

He went back to his own piece of parchment and began transcribing the text message, making a point of keeping his writing steady so that it did not slant off the edge of the paper as it did when he was frustrated with his work. "Picked at the full moon," he repeated softly, his quill scratching across the paper as he wrote the words out. "That actually sounds like the kind of thing the Professor would circle three times." He sighed slightly, looking tired. "Perhaps there’s hope for this essay yet."

When Olivia mentioned chocolate, however, Mikey’s face immediately brightened with excitement. He placed his quill on the desk in front of him and rummaged through his bag, pushing his scarf and his Charms textbook out of the way before his fingers closed around the chocolate bar. "I knew I packed some," he whispered to himself as he pulled it out of his bag. It was slightly bent and covered in gold foil, looking as though it had been through at least two Quidditch practices and one encounter with a water bottle. "Not exactly in the best shape," Mikey admitted, placing it delicately in the space between them. "But chocolate is chocolate." He broke off a piece of the chocolate bar and pushed it across the desk towards Olivia.

Olivia did not continue, however, as her eyes were still focused on the window. The moon was rising higher and higher in the night sky. The study hall seemed to be shrinking, and the distant chatter of other students in the background did not seem to matter. Mikey glanced at Olivia out of the corner of his eye. He noticed the tension in her shoulders and the distant look in her eyes.

He gently nudged her parchment with the edge of his book. It was hard enough to get her attention, yet soft enough not to scare her. “Hey,” he said, his voice softer this time. “You still with me, Olivia? Or did the moon get your full attention?” A hint of teasing was in his voice this time. Mikey leaned his chin on the edge of his hand and gave her a small, steady smile. “I mean it, you know. I’d be completely lost without you at this point. Potions makes enough sense to you that it almost makes sense to me too.” He glanced at the essay, which still needed finishing between the two of them. “So don’t disappear on me, okay? I need my study partner to keep me honest, and maybe to keep me from making this essay a tragedy about misunderstood plants.”

Olivia had to fight with herself to get out of her head. She only vaguely understood what Mikey had said and felt her cheeks warm. She slowly ate the chocolate while letting it all sink in. “Yeah, right,” she murmured and with an effort she regained at least some of her focus.

“Sorry, it’s just that…” it hit Olivia that Mikey didn’t know about her, how should I put it, other side. He was one of her closest friends and yet didn’t know about it. So Olivia didn’t continue the sentence and instead picked up her quill to continue writing on her essay.

She avoided Mikey’s gaze and silence stretched between them. This silence wasn’t a good silence, Olivia could tell. She tried to focus on her essay but the silence rang in her ears. It couldn’t be ignored.

But how could she tell him about… that. She couldn’t do it here, in the middle of a bunch of other students. She also had no idea how Mikey would take it. They had been friends for a while now, but what if she told him and he just left her? Olivia wouldn't stand for it.

Now the silence was so loud and tense that Olivia thought it would explode. She dared to look at Mikey for the first time in minutes. Oh my God, this was starting to get really bad.