Millie tried to work diligently, with caution in every step to get it right. The young witch tried not to think of the shorter time she had to complete her work, when the current class of sixth years was done she had to move on as well. The gloves made it difficult, but as she set down the second fruit, peeled and oozing juice into its collection jar, she took a moment to allow herself a satisfying grin at the outcome.

Halfway now, there were only a couple more to do. She pinched the next fruit off its vine, then glanced down at it with a wary, hazel eye. It squished easily in her palm, its delicate skin threatening to break and squirt its juice all over her if she pressed too hard. Millie might have set it aside as too ripe in class, here she needed all the points she could get. With a dragging sound from the back of her throat, she positioned it over its collection jar and got to work.

Carefully, very carefully, Millie managed to peel about half the shrivelfig before her fingers felt numb inside her gloves. One of the peels broke as it came away, leaving most of it still stuck on the fruit. She hated shrivelfigs, she decided, hated them and their awful skins and their dangerous juices.

The young witch shook off one of her gloves, using her fingernails to pull the rest of the peel from the fruit. It didn't come away cleanly, spattering her hand and the cuff of her robes with the juice. Millie stared at them, hazel eyes haunted by the sight, trying desperately hard not to cry. She so wanted to cry!

Instead, Millie swallowed and put the peeled fruit in its jar. Discarding the other glove bitterly, she grabbed the final fruit with her bare hands, hating it even more now. She only had a few grains of the hourglass left, so it was time to work quickly. Dabbing at the corner of an eye with her wrist, the young witch got to work again, even if it ruined her robe's sleeves.

---