Chapter Text
Mary Tucker sat in the ravenclaw common room, fidgeting with some sort of stress reliever. She squeezed it, and the ball would poke through the mesh squares. What even was its purpose anyways?
It was after hours, though that didn’t stop Mary from sneaking a few friends over.
“Mary! I almost couldn’t get in because stupid Mrs Norris was sneaking around again.” Nymphadora crawled through the hole, hidden behind a painting. She was a mess, the blue of her hair clashing against the yellow of her pyjamas. Crawling behind her was Charlie Weasley, a Gryffindor prefect.
“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” Charlie spoke, his words sounding genuine.
“Oh come on, don’t be such a loser!” Mary’s southern twang made her stand out from the rest of her friends, but she didn’t mind. She was on the exchange programme from Ilvermony, who knows how that happened, and landed in Hogwarts. “We’ll be revising for the NEWT exams anyways, and Lord knows there are better things I’d rather be doin’ in my nights.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Nymphadora added.
Charlie let out a fit of laughter. “Ain’t?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“Since when do you say "ain’t?"” He continued laughing to himself
“I’ll have you know it’s very much used nowadays. I’ve been catching up on muggle entertainment.” Nymphadora’s hair began to turn orange, a sign of her embarrassment.
“Well I think you’ve been spending too much time with this one,” Charlie gestured towards Mary
“It’s not my fault I’m so influential on y’all,” Mary joked, and they continued with their studies.
The next day had a double period of Transfiguration, which was surprisingly Mary’s best subject. Back at Ilvermorny, she would transfigure her siblings’ toys just to joke with them.
“Now a reminder,” Professor McGonagall continued, “your NEWT exams are right around the corner, and so I am offering any support that may be needed. We also have a few American exchange senior students visiting from Ilvermorny, and I am sure they would be delighted to help you lot out.”
Nymphadora nudged Mary at hearing “American exchange students” but she did not recognise them. They were both young adults, it seemed. One looked quite big for his age, his short hair brushed out at all angles. It was clear there was a morning quidditch practice he attended. The other a girl, quite tall with black hair. She seemed perfectly put together. If Hogwarts had a cheerleading team, she would’ve definitely been on it. Mary hated her already, and could tell her best friend was thinking the same, judging by the look on her face.
“I’d like a bite of him,” Nymphadora giggled.
“Oh my gosh! You’re terrible,” the two joked.
A few periods had passed, and the trio were eating their lunches. They were joined by a few other mutual friends, though they were having their own conversations.
“So, what do you say we get some tutors for transfiguration?”
Mary scoffed. “You are not still thinkin’ about him, right?”
“Come on, Mare! You don’t get boys like that in this country, see for yourself,” Nymphadora said, waving her hands frantically at her sides, gesturing to the students around her.
“If we’re bein’ honest, I didn’t think you were so keen on these grades.”
“I mean, yeah, probably. But we’re in year 6 right now, and our grades matter! And maybe I would like to succeed in transfiguration,” she smirked. “I also do have hopes and dreams. Dunno what goes on inside of your head.”
“Hey! Obviously I wasn’t thinking that far ahead, but don’t go making it sound like I’ll be gone with nothin’!”
“I want to study dragons,” Charlie added. “I’ll be needing all E’s for that though,” and he got back to his miniature table game of gobstones with Penny Haywood.