After Remembering week, full classes had started again and the students had reluctantly returned to their lessons. It seemed somehow surreal to see the halls filled with teenagers and professors again instead of people from all walks of life. The halls almost seemed empty now. Fauna felt sad that the Remembering events were over, but also relieved to try to go back to sense of normalcy.

She stared down at the books in front of her and sighed. Her sound of frustration was not out of place in the library today, as many other students were slaving over parchment with a steady rhythm of scratching quills and popping joints. For the past few weeks she’d neglected her studies to prepare for the art club, choir rehearsals, and play rehearsals, and now she was paying for it. A Herbology text sat on her left, reminding her of the plant classifications she needed to memorize, and the Care of Magical Creatures book sat on her right, staring at her- literally. The large Cyclops eye on the front of the book blinked at Fauna, eyeball swiveling whenever she dipped her quill into ink or turned a page. It was disconcerting, really. Fauna gave it one last glance and then turned the book over so the nice, plain, completely unadorned back of the book was visible.

Luckily for Fauna, she didn’t have as much studying as other students who took Arithmancy or Ancient Runes, for example, but the practical exams still worried her. She hated presentations of any sort, especially when she felt unprepared. Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology wouldn’t be so awful, and even Divination she might be able to pass, but she knew Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts would be brutal. She just hadn’t given herself enough time to practice the spells properly. Plus, there were still those essays she needed to write.

Fauna poked her head up and scanned the seats. From her spot she didn’t see Waker, and she was reluctant to bother her friend at this late point in the semester. For a moment she thought of something Ollie had mentioned about kids buying essays, but then she shook her head of the possibility. Even if she got away with it she’d feel extremely guilty, and it would eat away at her until she confessed to the professors in one big breakdown.

But Fauna was already on the verge of a breakdown in the library and it was not going to be pretty. She put her head in her hands for a few moments, trying to calm down. Public scenes were not her thing. She could be nervous and awkward all she wanted, but there was no way she was going to cry in front of anyone. So she sighed again, loudly, and started packing up her materials. The silence was beginning to drive her crazy. She’d gotten very little accomplished since sitting down an hour ago.

Her hands shook from stress as she put her things back in her bag. Just when she thought she might make it out of there with some semblance of calm, she turned over the Magical Creatures book and saw the eye glaring at her balefully.

Fauna dropped the book on the desk, letting it slam.

“Oh, stop looking at me like that!” She hissed at it, exasperation and a note of hysteria coloring her voice. People looked up at her, but most returned to their books. One person, however, cleared her throat from behind the stacks and Fauna’s eyes widened in indignation.

Frowning, she peered in the general direction of the culprit. Who dared to clear her throat at her? She was clearly not in the best state of mind and took serious offense at this.

"...What do you mean you don't have all the money?" Devlin's hiss slithered through the walls of books viciously, barely audible to anyone but the 5th year he was clenching by the shirt, his face a couple inches from Dev's. "... The deal was that I got you the answer keys, you got me a sickle per answer... and now you are trying to back out of that deal?"

"Look man, I had no idea that people would back out... Everyone thinks that because of the attacks there aren't gonna be any tests in the end..." The boy whispered back plaintively. Devlin sneered, gritting his teeth as he pushed the boy back against the shelves hard enough for a few volumes to slide off and tumble to the floor. "Tch... Idiots. The school has suffered far worse then an idiot Gryffindor going loopy and killing a few people... You wouldn't have thought that Voldemort was here only ten years ago the way people act..." He muttered, more to himself then the rather relieved guy in front of him. Glancing at him, Devlin realized the idiot thought he was out of hot water.

"Whoa whoa whoa... no one said you were getting off with that excuse..." Devlin caught him by the shirt and pinned him against the wall of books. Pulling out the furled sheets of papers, he tapped him mockingly against the guys chest "... You are still going to pay me. I will even give you a discount... 10 galleons for the batch. No more no less..." His fencer paled slightly as he did the math in his head and realized that Devlin was actually asking for several more galleons then the original price. As he opened his mouth to complain, Devlin pressed the papers against it and smirked "... Now now... You know you are in a bind here. Everyone knows that you were the one selling them the answers... If you don't pay me, the teachers will too. There are... how many witnesses that can attest to you selling them?"

The Hufflepuff fell silent, his pale eyes averting from Devlin's smiling face as he nodded slowly to show he understood. Devlin chuckled and released him, ruffling his hair as though he were an older uncle "There we go... Besides, once everyone figures out that there is going to be a test, you will be able to charge twice as much and get all your money back. It's a win-win situation.... I just want to take my winnings now instead of later...." As he shoved the papers into his comrades hands and started to walk away, Devlin added over his shoulder "You have 3 days."

Walking towards the front of the library, Devlin was surprised to see a handful of students there. No one thought there would be a test my ass... He thought spitefully as he glanced around at many of his own housemates as they prepared slavishly for the end of the year test. There were a few other houses present, most of them being assisted by those in his house, but his eyes glanced over most of them before fixating upon one in particular. Fauna Blake was trying to pack up her books with that ever familiar expression of dismay and frustration. When she tossed the large COMC book down with a growl, Devlin started to chuckle. His chuckle was stifled however, and sounded more like him clearing his throat, which seemed to call more attention to him since her head suddenly snapped up and glared in his direction. He grinned from behind the books, thinking that she looked pretty cute when she was mad.

Deciding that he couldn't just let her stand there, glaring at a bookshelf like an idiot for all to see, Devlin formed a plan to mess with her a little. Ruffling up his hair and undoing his collar, he pulled a book from the shelf, ignoring the title, and quickly retreated to a chair by the wall. Sitting down in a relaxed position, he called out softly to her, with a hint of lazily amusement in his tone "... Be a little more quiet... some of us are trying to sleep here..."

"... Be a little more quiet... some of us are trying to sleep here..."

Oh, that was it. The last straw. She shoved her books in her bag and stormed away from the table, hesitating before she reached the library doors. That voice had sounded awfully familiar. Curiosity mixed with irritation, leading her to wander by the book stacks and peek around the corner. There was Devlin, his hair mussed and a smirk on his face. A book sat unopened on his lap. Fauna shook her head and pursed her lips a bit, curious enough to move closer and see what he was reading- or, more likely, using as a pillow.

“Some of us are trying to… to not fail exams,” she said huffily, even though the statement didn’t make much sense and she had no real reason to be annoyed at him.

Fauna glanced at the book and raised her eyebrows. The title almost made her smile, but not quite: Gobbledegook, the Language of Love. A Brief History of Obscure Goblin Courtship Practices.

She turned her attention back to Devlin. “You’re probably keeping up with everything just fine, aren’t you,” she commented in a tight tone, though she was trying to sound like it didn’t matter that much to her. Ravenclaws. She’d never understand them. People like Devlin could skip class, ignore assignments, and still pass exams with flying colors. Normally she only had the energy to worry about herself, but today it was hard not to feel jealous while she struggled to remember a whole semester’s worth of information.

Fauna leaned against the stacks and glanced at the title of Devlin’s book again. Her mouth twitched up slightly, struck by a funny thought of what the author would say if he knew how his research was being used. Fauna wondered if anyone had even looked at that book before. Judging by the amount of dust on the edges, this may be the first time it had been pulled from the shelves.

It didn't take long for her to appear with an expression of fury on her face that, for some reason, tickled Devlin pink. As she stomped towards him, Devlin opened one eye lazily and smirked at her, absolutely pleased with himself. She huffed and fumed at him about something, but Devlin was too interested in staring at her brilliant blue eyes. They were large and pretty, rather they would be if she would wear a little mascara, and he was too busy staring into him to catch what she was saying until she stopped. Coming back to earth, his smirk widened as she glared at him.

“You’re probably keeping up with everything just fine, aren’t you,”

"Yep. No complaints here. That test is in the bag..." He said, standing up and stretching lazily just to infuriate her further. Scratching his head, he followed her rather bemused gaze to his book. When his eyes lit upon the title, he moaned inwardly. Of all subjects to pick up, it had to be about Goblin love. Now he looked like a complete freak. Or did he? Maybe he could turn it around.

Running his fingers along the spines of the books, Devlin walked towards her with a slow but deliberate gait, a smooth smile on his lips. Holding up the book he said "Goblins are interesting creatures... Not all that different from us when it comes to love..." Stopping in front of her, he blocked her in so that his arms were on either side of her and the bookshelf was to her back. Leaning in, he closed the space between them by a few inches as he slid the book into the shelf above her head, murmuring "... They love beautiful things just like humans do.. Though theirs are gold and ours..." He slid his hand from the book and touched her cheek slightly before adding "... are a bit warmer...."

His hand paused on her cheek, as though he were going to lean in and kiss her. Letting this electrified silence fall between them for a moment, Devlin suddenly pulled back. Smirking with satisfaction he patted her cheek "... So... What subject are you having trouble in?"

Fauna rolled her eyes when Devlin stood up and stretched, mentioning that the test was going to be easy for him. She sighed and pretended to study the spines of the books on the shelves, avoiding his gaze so he didn’t know how annoyed she was. She shot him a quick glance with narrowed eyes as he came closer towards her with that insufferable smile. He could be amused all he wanted but she had work to do, or at the very least, moping to do. Fauna raised her eyebrows at him and watched him with slight wariness. Hadn’t he made his point? What was he still doing here?

He showed her the book, almost proudly, and she bit her lip to keep from smiling. Ravenclaws often studied the most obscure topics, but she hadn’t realized before that he was more of a typical Ravenclaw than he cared to admit.

Then he said some line about Goblins not being too different from them when it came to love and she wrinkled her nose. Fauna didn’t have anything against goblins, but really? She was about to say so when he moved ever closer, deliberately she thought, and hovered over her as he put the book back on the shelf. Fauna had the distinct feeling that he hadn’t even looked to see where he was putting back the book, as he had his eyes on her the whole time. She froze, not sure exactly what was going on and not sure that she minded it either. She was starting to feel nervous, though it wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

“Um… what are you…?” What are you doing? Fauna thought, still irritated with him and stressed about exams, and yet for some reason she didn’t want him to move away.

He said something else about goblins, how they have a love of beauty…

“Though theirs are gold and ours…” he paused, touching her cheek lightly. “…are a bit warmer.”

Her eyes widened. Oh Merlin’s magpies, he was flirting with her. She opened her mouth a few times, meaning to say something, but all these conflicting thoughts ran through her head so no words actually came out. Fauna thought he had a new girlfriend, that Jordyn girl, but because it was Devlin she shouldn’t be surprised about his flirting. She just hadn’t expected him to flirt with her. His hand lingered and she wondered if he was going to kiss her right in the middle of the stacks- it almost made her giggle. Still, they were in the library, which made her suddenly think of Waker, and then Ollie. She felt guilty instantly. What if he actually kissed her?

And would that really be so bad?

Fauna looked up at him. He seemed to be waiting. Waiting for her to make up her mind, probably. Maybe he was more respectful than she thought. Almost giddy and panicky at the same time, Fauna leaned in ever so slightly…

But then he pulled back without warning, patted her cheek, and let his hand drop. What. A. Tease. He was smirking again! Fauna scowled, even more irritated at him now, shocked that he had flirted with her, and surprised at herself that she had almost kissed him. Fauna tilted her head and gave him an exasperated, questioning look.

“What subject…?” She tried to think of what they’d been talking about- right, exams. “Oh, everything,” she mumbled, turning away from him suddenly and hoping her cheeks weren’t bright red. Fauna walked over by the chair, looking out the window instead of at him. She suddenly felt stupid for thinking he might have an interest in her. He flirted with every girl he thought was decent looking, so it didn’t mean he thought she was anything special. She shook her head slightly. It was silly to jump to conclusions, to get her hopes up just because most boys didn’t pay much attention to her. Get over yourself, Fauna, she thought.

She turned away from the window and sat on the edge of the arm rest, feeling awkward just as she did so. She finally looked at him again. “Basically, I spent the past few weeks focusing on Remembering Day events, the past month preparing for it, and now my classes are… not looking good. I don’t want to bother-“ she almost said Waker, and then thought better of it. “I don’t want to bother my friends because they’re busy too, it wouldn’t be fair.” Fauna paused, picking at the fabric of the chair.

“The practical exams won’t be so bad…” she murmured, staring off into space. “It’s the reading everything and writing essays that I’m worried about. Charms, Defense, …even Divination has a writing part to the exam.”

Fauna’s mood sobered quickly and she looked at him and shrugged. She was no longer irritated at him, but she didn’t expect anything from him either.

“I guess you’ll want to be getting back to your, uh, nap,” Fauna smiled weakly and rose, expecting him to claim the comfy chair and tell her he’d see her later.

There was one thing Devlin was sure of: She wanted to kiss him, almost as much as he had wanted to kiss her. That flushed, uncertain expression, paired with the way she tilted her head back and lifted her chin... It was all signs of a girl wanting to be kissed. It was so cute he almost did it just to make her happy, but the angry expression that she cast on him as he pulled away was even cuter. It made him chuckle inwardly. His plan, it seemed, was going beautifully.

After she drifted back to earth and realized what he was asking, she handed him a few excuses about Remembering Day and not wanting to bother her friends. She then begin to stare off into space and started muttering. He caught a few words here and there, mainly "Practical", "Reading", "Writing" and "Divination". She seemed to lose the wind from her sails pretty quickly at this point and he could tell she did not understand his offer. She probably thought he was teasing her.

“I guess you’ll want to be getting back to your, uh, nap,”

He blinked, dramatically and slowly, and chuckled "Well I suppose beauty sleep is beneficial... even if I hardly need it..." He grinned and faked a yawn, stretching his arms above his head. While doing so, he read quickly over the titles of the books until he found one about Centaur Astrological divination. Sliding it out, he pulled it down and lightly smacked her on the top of the head with it "... But then I wouldn't get to enjoy torturing Hufflepuffs resident airhead... Which I enjoy so much more..."

His smirk curled at the corners playfully as he held up the book "What do you say we meet up this evening to study the stars?... I am sure the Divination exam will cover it..."

Fauna had to admit Devlin was cute, but she shook her head at him when he stretched lazily and turned to study the spines of the books once more. She wasn’t sure if she should stick around or not and actually considered slipping away, until he suddenly found what he was looking for and plucked it off the shelf. Leaning forward to peer at the title, she felt a light bop on her head.

“What?” she said, startled.

"... But then I wouldn't get to enjoy torturing Hufflepuff’s resident airhead... Which I enjoy so much more..."

Fauna resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. “I am not an airhead!” She paused to let that sink in. “At least… not every week.  Lola sometimes wins that title… or Adelia.”

She smiled slightly at her own joke. It wasn’t often that she tried to be funny, especially because she couldn’t string two words together without second guessing herself. Around some people, though, she felt a little more relaxed. She didn’t know what she felt around Devlin, at least not yet, but his words seemed harmless enough this time around that it seemed silly to get offended.

Just when she thought she was getting used to him, he casually offered to study with her tonight. Fauna stared at him warily, trying to decipher that familiar smirk. Was he making fun of her?

“Uh… really?” She frowned at him. “You would do that?”

Devlin had never offered to help her before, all those times she’d panicked in the library or worse, in class. Fauna had always gotten the impression that other people’s problems just didn’t concern him. And yet, she remembered that time he’d helped the first year with her essay just because she’d needed it. Maybe he felt like he knew Fauna a little better since that day when she’d tried to confront him about Waker, and gradually, she felt like she was seeing a side of him that not many people saw. Perhaps she should give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Well… I guess, I mean…” Fauna shrugged, smiling a bit, until she thought of something that made her face flush again.

“You do know, Devlin…” she started, running a hand through her hair. “I have to… actually… study, tonight.” Oh bloody hell, she said it. She’d actually implied that he’d offer to meet her, Hufflepuff’s resident airhead, for any reason other than to study. The only reason she even jumped to that conclusion was because of the way the way he’d acted around her today. He was so going to laugh at her now.

“Anyway, well, I just… just so you know,” she swallowed any other crazy things that threatened to come out of her mouth and turned her head slightly to look at the other books in the section. Fauna just pretended to skim the titles as the heat radiated off her face.

“Uh… really? You would do that?”

"Your surprise at my generosity is frankly a bit hurtful dear Fauna..." He said in a mock-pained tone, his hand flying to his chest as though her words pierced his heart. "You will find that I am a very generous and nice person... Especially when someone earned my trust..." He threw that last bit in there to remind her of the time he spent crying on her shoulder about Waker. Hopefully she felt a little obligated to let him help her.

“Well… I guess, I mean…You do know, Devlin…I have to… actually… study, tonight.”

Devlin nearly lost his composure when she said this, partially because her flushing face was so cute and partially because he was surprised she even suspected him. Now what to say, what to say. If he said something purely platonic like 'Oh no, don't worry, I would never think of you like that', then she would assume that he didn't find her attractive. Aside from condradicting with his earlier actions, this would also hurt his overall plan. But if he went for something overly flirtatious, like 'Oh we will study all right... study the anatomy of the teenage body... Hi-oh', then she would likely smack him and refuse to go anywhere with him ever again. Also unwanted and harmful to his plan. He needed a middle ground.

“Anyway, well, I just… just so you know,”

"Don't worry... I know..." He said finally, settling on a happy medium between a platonic and a flirtatious reply "... I promise I won't do anything else to you..." He paused before winking and adding playfully "...Yet."

Before she could get flustered again and start to change her mind, Devlin grinned and bopped her on the head with the book again "Its a study date then..." He said, adding a touch more emphasis on date before he turned to leave. With a wink and a glance over his shoulder, Devlin added "... Meet me by the kitchens at 10... Wear something dark... and comfortable..."

With this, he turned a corner and disappeared from her view. Before he could help himself, a triumphant grin spread across his face from ear to ear. His plans were going perfectly. He had barely put forth any effort and she was already eating out of the palm of his hand. With his chest swelled at the idea, Devlin left the Library in high spirits and started towards the staircases so he could go and plan his next move in the comfort of his bedroom. Hopefully Dagan would be there to keep watch.