Early spring, 1885 [5th & 4th year] — Hogwarts Grounds
She had never expected so much to have come of an OWL Astronomy project as this. A term-long project in a subject she didn’t see much use for had turned from expected boredom into something quite different. It had been a fun joke at first, the two Effies being partnered, she and Miss Woodcroft in the year below. But then... working on their seasonal sky-mapping in the Astronomy tower once a week in the evenings and meeting up to research in the library during the day every fortnight or so had quietly become Effie’s favourite moments.
They had almost finished the written essay portion of their project – they were just in the fine-tuning phase – and because spring had finally arrived, they had swapped their usual library desk for a grassy spot under a tree in the grounds. It was absurdly picturesque today – the sky a bold shade of blue, the tree in blossom above them, and every so often the breeze shaking a stray bloom loose so it drifted down to decorate the other Effie’s hair. (She had spent probably too much time, in the last few months, thinking about Miss Woodcroft’s soft dark hair. She was – in deep.)
“We’ll be able to finish up the rest of this by next week, probably,” Effie remarked, pinning their pieces of parchment under a library book so nothing blew off in the breeze before they packed away. Neatly ahead of schedule; she would have been pleased, if only she wasn’t desperately going to miss spending all this precious time with her. “I think we make a good team, Woodcroft,” she said offhand, trying her best to be teasing, to be – casual.
They had almost finished the written essay portion of their project – they were just in the fine-tuning phase – and because spring had finally arrived, they had swapped their usual library desk for a grassy spot under a tree in the grounds. It was absurdly picturesque today – the sky a bold shade of blue, the tree in blossom above them, and every so often the breeze shaking a stray bloom loose so it drifted down to decorate the other Effie’s hair. (She had spent probably too much time, in the last few months, thinking about Miss Woodcroft’s soft dark hair. She was – in deep.)
“We’ll be able to finish up the rest of this by next week, probably,” Effie remarked, pinning their pieces of parchment under a library book so nothing blew off in the breeze before they packed away. Neatly ahead of schedule; she would have been pleased, if only she wasn’t desperately going to miss spending all this precious time with her. “I think we make a good team, Woodcroft,” she said offhand, trying her best to be teasing, to be – casual.
