It has been days since the last time he’d seen Josie, and even if he was aware of her upcoming OWLs, Ethan could not help but feel worried towards her. She’s a Ravenclaw, and he was sure that she’d took upon herself to read and revise for countless hours, to the point of missing her breakfast/lunch/tea, and dinner, to get the grade that she wanted. The Slytherin had been through the preparations himself, and he knew what it was like. Unwanted thoughts of failing, and repeating his fifth year made him feel restless and stressed to the point of things not making sense to him anymore.

That morning, the seventeen year old was able to catch one of the house elves to make a carry out breakfast for him. It wasn’t for him, though, but for Josie. Ethan had searched the Broomstick Closet, the Library, and the numerous halls to see if he could see a glimpse of the fifth year Ravenclaw. He’d asked students too along the way, but no, no sign of her. Just like any determined Slytherin, Ethan braved the steps towards the towers and eyed the Bronze Knocker. He knew it was the threshold that will lead him to the Ravenclaw common room, but obviously, he was not allowed to enter it. He had the option to take the riddle too, but he was modest enough to admit that his brain’s too weak for a Ravenclaw riddle.

Looking around, he took a few steps down and approached a portrait. “I need a favour, Sir. Could you please ask Ms. Josie Edayson to come out of her room? I’ll wait for her near the statue of Lachlan. Tell her it’s Ethan.” With a polite nod and grin, the Slytherin watched the friendly portrait dude cross the different frames that eventually lead him inside the Ravenclaw common room. And as soon as the portrait dude disappeared, Ethan retreated back to where Lachlan stood and waited for Josie to arrive.

If she would have known that preparing for her OWLs would have been so time-consuming, she would have planned her time more accordingly. It's not that she was having difficulty with her studies, she was a Ravenclaw after all, so she was used to studying for class & her assignments. But this, this was very intense studying that she never thought would be so, vigorous. She was actually studying so much, that she was seeming to be losing track of time, as well as days without even realizing it. Perhaps it was just the fear of failing or maybe she just wanted to try her very best & say that all of this studying was worth it? To perhaps, make it up to her father, so that he might be proud?

This morning though, the fifth year was surprised by one of the house elves when he had brought to her...breakfast? Merlin's beard, was it really morning already? Once again the time had gotten away from her & she was in shock. These OWLs were clearly taking up her time this term & it was actually making the young girl a bit upset when came to think about it. Forgetting about the house elf still holding her breakfast, she quickly came back into reality though & apologized immediately. Before the kind elf left her dorm, she of course thanked him for bringing her such a delicious-looking meal & also for thinking of her to do go out of his way to do such a kind gesture. She would come to find out however, that it wasn't the house elf who'd thought of this, it was in fact someone else. Josette wasn't entirely positive who it was, but she was rather sure she'd had a pretty good idea & she was going to make it her business to find that person once she was finished consuming this meal. Plus, it could also be a rather good excuse for her to take a small break from her studies for the moment.

After filling her appetite with that delicious breakfast, she put her books away before making her way out of her dorm & through the common room. When she was nearly by the door she was stopped by a voice. Josette whipped her head around to see it was a man inside one of the portraits, but wait he wasn't in his normal frame. A bit puzzled, she looked at him & couldn't help but ask what he was doing roaming so curiously. She would come to find out that he had been sent by some tall bonde young man by the name of Ethan, asking her to meet him by the statue of Lachlan. At the very mention of that name, she felt her heart skip a beat & she automatically repeated his name, "E-Ethan?" The man nodded & she watched as he was seen moving portrait to portrait until he was out of sight. Without another word, the fifth year made a bee line for the door until she was out of the common room.

Moving very quickly, she soon arrived at the statue of Lachlan and.....there he was.

The brunette fussed with her hair a bit making sure it was alright before she would clear her throat to speak. Slowly approaching him, she spoke his name, "H-Hello...E-Ethan.." She could already feel her heart quickening at the anticipation of him turning around & smiling at her. Not only that, but she knew that her face was getting warm as well. Goodness, does this sort of thing always happen?

His plan worked! See, he didn’t need to ask a tiny Ravenclaw human person to summon Josie out of their common room. It was passé really, and Ethan didn’t want to be that kind of Slytherin who’d bully a younger student just to get the job done. There are other effective ways to meet his goals, and he was exceptionally pleased with himself. Psh. How shallow of him, really.

It did take a while for Josie to come out, but he was ready to skip classes if he needed to. Ethan was really worried about her, and that she might be slowly killing herself with so much studying. He is a perfectionist, and he wanted the best for himself when it comes to his academics, so that shouldn’t set him that far from his Ravenclaw counterparts. He totally understands their lot, and he knows the implications of over-doing things.

Ethan quickly turned around and saw the most beautiful girl in the whole school. The Slytherin beamed at her, and immediately approached Josie to give her a comforting hug. The blonde teen knows however that Josie CAN take the pressure of school, but he’s also sure that Josie needed his hug. Why? He has claimed that he gives the best hugs, and that Josie will agree. Right???

The Slytherin released the Ravenclaw from his arms, and grinned at her. “Hi.” Yep, he didn’t need anything from her. He just wanted to see her and ask, “How have you been?”

How long had it been since she had seen the Slytherin? A few days? Weeks? Had it been months? However long it have been, it was definitely wrong of her to forget to visit her friends, particularly Ethan, especially Ethan. He was someone she had been thinking about a lot recently for reasons she couldn't quite think of, but she knew that she definitely missed seeing him.

The moment he turned to look at her, her heart was still racing & her face felt warmer than it had before. She watched as he approached her, wrapping his big arms around her & she instantly wrapped her own arms around his frame. Unintentionally thinking he smelled very nice until his very comforting hug had ended.

She adjusted herself a bit before answering his question. "I-I've been...alright.." Josie shrugged her shoulders a little. "I-I've been studying for t-the OWLs..N-Now I understand why y-you were so stressed o-out last term.." She had an immediate flashback to when she had seen a very frantic Ethan in the midst of studying for his OWLs, although the result of that was him falling on his back, but still regardless, she understood how he felt. "H-How have you been, E-Ethan?"

“I know you’ll be fine...I mean, you always study and all, but...yeah. I just want to make sure that you really are doing okay.” What? It was just right to check up on your friends right? Well, he didn’t check up on Simon when they were preparing for their exam because he knew that his best bud would do well on his own. Probably, there was another reason why Ethan found himself hugging the girl he constantly misses. Probably, he was just using a certain excuse just to see her.

But...should there be a reason?

“I’m doing okay. Well, I’m now regretting that I considered taking all 12 subjects again after my own OWLs. I’ve got a plethora of homework to do.” Ethan shrugged and pulled Josie’s hand, as he walked towards the side of the statue and sat on the floor. “I hope you don’t hate me for interrupting your revision time.” The Slytherin grinned at the girl and gave the spot beside him a pat. She should sit down with him and take a breather. Taking a break was what Ethan forgot when he was preparing for the exams. Paranoia got the best of him to be honest, and he didn’t want Josie to experience the same thing. “Do you need any help? I still got my revision papers with me. If you want, I can lend it to you.” The Slytherin stole a glance, and he can’t help but scream internally. Josie is just too distracting. He did notice her lips, and Ethan had to breathe in and out slowly to calm himself down.

In search for more posters, Maggie came across a statue. Which wasn't hard of course. This was Sparta Hogwarts. There were TONS of statues everywhere. Who'd have thought there were so many important witches and wizards that they needed to put a stone version of them inside a school. Not this third year. Definitely not.

So having no respect for whoever this person was before they turned him into stone, Maggie walked up to him and simply stuck one of her posters on the statue's nose.

Pebbles' face definitely suited Lachlan better than his own.

A poster still hangs from the nose of Lachlan the Lanky two days after it was hung by a concerned Slytherin. In that time, it has become almost impossible to read. It seems that some ambitious student has decided to give Lachlan a real beard, draping down almost all the way to the ground. Upon closer inspection, however, you realize this was not the work of a witch or wizard, but of a spider.

Lachlan the Lanky has turned into one giant cobweb.

The brunette listened to his words & it did make her feel at ease, almost immediately. Either it must have been his mere presence being beside her or it possibly it could have been his very comforting words. She thought it was very nice of him to be so kind to check on her, but just so she could try to put his mind at ease she repeated what she had said before to confirm that, "I-I'm okay..Promise.." Josette nodded before giving him a small bashful smile.

Before she knew it, he was soon telling how he had been & she couldn't help but open her eyes a bit shocked when she had found out that he was taking all 12 of his subjects again after his OWLs. She had to ask now concerned, "A-Are you sure you're alright Ethan?" Before she would get an answer from him, he took her hand leading her towards the side of the statue where they would been sitting beside the statue on the ground. The Ravenclaw couldn't believe he would think she'd hate him though for asking to see her while she was studying. She bit her lip as her eyes traveled away from his face before she would softly say, "...I-I don't think I could h-hate you Ethan.." It was true, he was a very kind person & he was someone she truly enjoyed having around for company. Yes, there were a lot of moments that he did make her feel very strange, but at the same time he was someone who understood her & never seemed to pass any kind of cruel or harsh judgement against her.

Her eyes would meet with his again though when he'd asked if she needed any help with her studying & was offering to lend her his revision papers. A smile soon formed on her lips before she nodded a bit quickly, "O-Oh..I u-um...I wouldn't mind s-some help..I-I mean if-if you weren't too busy...Y-You know that T-Transfiguration i-isn't one of my strongest s-subjects...A-And Arithmancy.." When she had looked down at her hands for a brief moment she noticed in the corner of her eyes that he had still been looking at her when she looked away. She tensed up a bit, nervously beginning to fuss with her hair before brushing it away from her face. As she was doing that she noticed that he was beginning to breathe in & out very slowly. Was he feeling ill? Was he tired? A bit of concerned look on her face again, she looked at the older boy asking, "E-Ethan, are y-you alright?" She placed her hand on his and the other on his forehead to check his head to see if he was ill.

Just as she was doing that, she noticed that there was something very strange going on with the statue. There something draping down from Lachlan's face. Were those....cobwebs?