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"Arghhh…!" Olruggio groaned out loud before dramatically throwing himself over the scattered spells on his desk.
After the third test, somehow their lessons seemed filled with twice as much learning material; with the same amount of time to complete it in. Olruggio had hoped that his exclamation of frustration would have been met with a similar one from Qifrey in solidarity. However, not even a grunt of acknowledgement was throw his way.
With an equally dramatic sigh, he pulled himself away from his desk and leaned backwards, trying to get Qifrey's attention. Who was sat on his dorm room floor, halfheartedly drawing nonsensical shapes on a page.
"'Ay! I said, arghhh," he repeated, waving his hand in front of Qifrey's face.
"I know, I heard you," he huffed as he batted Olruggio's hand away.
Qifrey seemed more sulky than usual—or perhaps distracted? Either way, Olruggio slid off his chair to plop himself beside his grumpy best friend. He watched for a few minutes as more random shapes and lines were doodled over one another, in no way depicting any specific seals.
"What's wrong, eh?" Olruggio said, trying to sound not as anxious as he was.
"I just have a headache… a weird one".
"Huh? A weird one?"
"Mmh… It started about a clock mark ago. My vision went all fuzzy and there was strange squiggly lines on the edges too, but every time I looked, they'd disappear," Qifrey said quietly as he laid down the pen. He hugged his knees up to his chin and mumbled into them. "Was a bit scary… and now my head hurts".
The other witches in the Great Hall had gossiped about Qifrey's left eye getting tired many times. So, with what Qifrey was explaining, it made Olruggio feel a little sick with worry. He had always head headaches, but this appeared different. Especially in the way Qifrey was squinting in the glow of the lamps.
"Is the light not helpin'?"
Qifrey just shook his head and hid his face.
Olruggio walked over to two of the three lamps in his room and broke the seals, sinking both boys into a room of barely-there light. He didn't want to push Qifrey any further, but he wanted to keep an eye on him nonetheless. So, he pulled his workbook down on to the floor and began silently practicing the same spells that had been wearing him down all week.
It was difficult though, the room was so dark that he was sure his spells were mimicking the wibbly-wobbly shapes on Qifrey's papers. He tried his best, but he already knew he would have to redraw everything the next day. It just wasn't worth making Qifrey feel bad about it, not if he was dealing with this weird new headache.
Eventually, both boys were called to bed. He had hoped that Qifrey fell asleep straight away, at least so he wouldn't have to be in pain. Olruggio, on the other hand, lay awake most of the night trying to think of a way to help Qifrey if he woke up the next day still feeling rotten. Plus, he didn't quite fancy another day of wasted study if they had to work in the dark again.
The next day, his friend didn't show. He wasn't scoffing down his porridge at breakfast like a starved sparrel as usual, and he hadn't appeared at Olruggio's door with heaps of tomes in his arms. So, Olruggio eventually had to seek out Beldaruit. He had hoped that Qifrey hadn't run off somewhere without him again. Although, it would have been nice to go on a sneaky adventure together again, it had felt like months that they'd been knee deep in their studies beneath that ocean Qifrey hated so much.
"Have you seen Qifrey?!" Olruggio said quickly, jumping in front of Beldaruit in the hallway.
"Oh! I'm terribly sorry, your dear, sweet friend is not feeling his best today. I have allowed him a day free of studies to sleep off what is ailing him. The nausea got the better of him in the night, poor thing," Beldaruit sighed apologetically.
That wasn't good. They had some deadlines to meet in a few days time. Although, Beldaruit would likely make an exception for them, it was bound to make Qifrey feel prickly. He never liked feeling that other people felt sorry for him, even Olruggio. Not that he had much of a choice in that respect.
"Right, right. I see. Okay, thank you very much. I think I know what to do," Olruggio rambled out, suddenly feeling a giddy buzz of inspiration that was already leading his feet to scamper off.
"You need not worry yourself–!" Beldaruit called out behind him.
"Can't help it! Bye!" Olruggio yelled back, without turning around. "Don't let him be sick again either! Carapace, bacon, egg sarnies served tomorrow!"
Olruggio sprinted back to his room, his pen practically writing out his ideas before it even hit the page. What he was planning would mean scrapping all his drafts from the previous week, but that didn't matter, this was going to help Qifrey. It felt good. It felt right. That was going to be his job, after all when they were grownups.
"Better start practicin' keepin' an eye on him now," he chuckled to himself, already wearing a self-satisfied smile.
For the rest of the day, skipping both lunch and supper, Olruggio went through reams of paper to the point that his wrist ached. Glowing seal after glowing seal and a second ink pot, he was certain he'd cracked it. The final task was slipping out whilst the others had their noses buried in their evening meals. It was easy nowadays, him and Qifrey knew all the easiest escape routes. So, without being detected, he made a quick stop off at the shoreline and meticulously picked out the flattest, smoothest pebbles he could find. Eight would probably be enough. Then, he slinked back in and began his finishing touches on the stones. The funny thing was, he had worked into the night to the extent he had been drawing in the dark for a good number of clock marks without even realising.
It didn't matter, though. The warmth of his work was more than enough to illuminate his triumph.
So, as he had done many nights before, he appeared outside Qifrey's bedroom. With practiced stealth, he opened the door just enough to slip inside and padded over to the bed.
"Qifrey? 'Ay, Qifrey," he whispered, giving the grumbling lump beneath the blankets a light jostle.
"Go away," a weak voice mumbled.
"No can do, I'm afraid," Olruggio insisted as he climbed on to the bottom of the bed, flapped the quilt over his head and crawled under until he was huddled beside the grumbling lump.
He stayed quiet for as long as he could, but the buzzing adrenaline in his system made that silence last all but a few minutes. The smug little smirk on his face was then gently lit up in the softest, orange glow that a spell had ever created. It illuminated Qifrey's face too, his eye squinting in the dim light. But, with a few slow blinks he managed to stare at the small heap of pebbles nestled in Olruggio's hands.
"They're for you," Olruggio beamed, trying to keep the excitement in his voice at a low enough volume not to make Qifrey wince.
"Stones?"
"Not just stones, but studystones. They're a gift for when your eye hurts like yesterday!"
Whilst still beneath the shroud of blankets, Olruggio knelt up and pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket. He did his best to smooth it out on the mattress and placed a studystone on each corner of the page. The glow made the paper hum with a remarkably low, soft light; whilst not disturbing the darkness around them.
Qifrey groaned quietly as he knelt up too, tilting his head to the side as he stared down at the offering.
"Y'see. I thought about y'headache and how y'said all the lamps made your eye feel funny," Olruggio explained, wiggling his fingers at the corner of his eye to mimic the squiggly lines Qifrey had mentioned. "But, ya' wanna' still do the librarians trial as soon as ya' can. So, these stones are gonna' help with that. Ya' can still study in the dark an' see the page at the same time. Pretty good if ya' ask me–"
"Shhhh…" Qifrey hissed, holding the side of his head before letting out a soft laugh. He glanced back down at the illuminated page, touching it with gentle fingertips and a slight smile. "Your magic is so kind… much kinder than your very loud, very annoying words".
Even though his back-handed comment made Olruggio scowl with a barely restrained urge to give Qifrey a shove. Inside, it made him feel just as warm as the light that emanated from the magic between them.
"Ya' welcome... Gods, this is the last thing I do for ya' in a good while," he huffed with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.
He didn't really mean it, though. In fact, he was already planning how to make Qifrey's studystones even better... and perhaps also figuring out a way to make up for his lost study time.
The only thing that snapped him out of his musings was the sound of blankets shuffling and Qifrey's hand reaching out to him.
"Do you want to stay for a sleepover?" Qifrey whispered through a yawn.
Although, it was less of a question and more of a sleepy demand. He truly had no option, not with the way his hand was being guided beneath the pillows as his best friend nuzzled his face against them.
That was thanks enough for him.