Slow, hesitant steps inched their way towards Mr. Kennedy's door. Garreth Kenway's tall, slender frame approached the door and stopped, an arm raised as if to knock.

A pause.

The arm dropped, and the seventh-year shuffled uncomfortably in place, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Nervously, he ran a visibly shaking hand through his charcoal hair and let out a sigh.

"Come on, Garreth." the boy mumbled to himself, quietly enough that you wouldn't have heard him if you stood right next to him. "It's really not that big a deal." he tried to reassure himself, with mixed results. His hands weren't shaking anymore, but he was clearly not looking forward to telling Mr. Kennedy that he'd managed to pull off something that up until now, he'd believed to be impossible: He'd lost a book from the library!

Mustering all his courage, he raised that arm to the door again, and let his knuckles lightly tap the dark wood door.