As good as it was to be back in some respects, in others, it was a bit of a curse, at least in Marnie's eyes as she complained to both Eleanor and Cedric when it came to the amount of coursework they had already been given. It was true, the fifth year was already proving to be quite the step up from all the previous years, but the professors explained that with their O.W.L.s taking place at the end of the term, they needed to be as prepared as possible. Even Eleanor found herself a bit overwhelmed with what was being asked of them right away, but she remained quiet about it, Marnie was vocal enough for the both of them.

"Only a couple of days into the term and we're already slammed with homework," Marnie huffed as they walked along together, " this is absolute nonsense."

"I swear, you should have been in Gryffindor," Cedric teased her, " you never like doing any work, you'd fit in perfectly with them."

"Be nice," Eleanor scolded the two as they started laughing at their jab at the Gryffindor house, " besides, I don't think we're off to that bad of a start. Professor Binns class has been a bit of a struggle, I'll admit, but Charms is proving to be fun and Professor Lupin, he's fantastic!"

Eleanor wasn't just speaking highly of Professor Lupin to be polite, she was actually finding herself looking forward to Defence Against the Dark Arts that year. With the previous years being close to terrible, she had been dreading the new professor after Lockhart had suffered a terrible fate of permanent memory loss and wouldn't be returning to teach again. She would say that she didn't like his teaching methods, mainly because he didn't teach, he bragged. However, she didn't think he deserved such a thing to happen to him as his life was practically ruined and as a result, he was to live out the rest of his days in the care of St Mungo's for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Their first class with Professor Lupin proved to be actually quite relaxing, as he came across as laid back and very kind to his students. Since they had been lacking in their previous year, he decided that he would start off with a quick review of dark creatures and such in order to get them back on track of where they were supposed to be. His voice was soothing, in the sense that Eleanor could pay attention, but at the same time she didn't find herself scrambling to write down every bit of information because he spoke so quickly like some of the other professors.

He was also funny too, having a little fun with telling a few jokes but also welcoming students to open up a bit more as Defence Against the Dark Arts was definitely meant to be a hands-on experience.

"Well, that's easy for you to say," Marnie called over to her, " but you didn't have spells backfiring on you during Charms today, did you?"

"That's because you weren't paying attention," Cedric reminded her, bringing Marnie to stick her tongue out at him in a childish manner.

"I was too!" she insisted, however, the two gave her a look, clearly not believing a word of it. "Well, I...shut up."

The three found themselves in the library and already, they could feel the stare of Madam Pince, the librarian burning holes in the back of their heads. They were quite known for being loud when they engaged in conversation and she was already looking at them with every means of kicking them out if they decided to start early. All three of them looked over their shoulders at the same time and flashed their own smiles before turning back around to hide their laughter.

They chose a table in the back before pulling out their respective work to get started, leaving little to really be thrilled about. They already had a Transfiguration assignment that dealt with vanishing spells, and some reading for Herbology that covered self-fertilising shrubs that they would be starting with next class. She didn't have a problem with either one of them, but she already knew where her struggle was going to be that year.

Potions.

Already Potions Class was off to a bad start, as it did almost every year when in the presence of Professor Snape. He seemed to be in an especially foul mood at the start of the term as he had zero mercy on any student that didn't provide the correct answer when asked the first time. Marnie was convinced that over the course of the summer that something had crawled up the man's arse and died. Eleanor didn't care what his problem was, but she wished that he didn't take it out on the students because it just made learning in class that much harder.

As Cedric looked over the Transfiguration essay they had been assigned, he grimaced before peering over at Eleanor. "I really hope this isn't a sign that Professor McGonagall is going to this rough on us all year."

"It's their job to be this tough on us," Marnie interjected, " my sister told me fifth year is supposed to be the hardest. The O.W.L.s determine what we can take for N.E.W.T. levels and then it's supposed to be all about what we're supposed to do with our lives. So, prepare yourselves for the suffering because it's coming, whether we like it or not."

"I think you two are being a bit dramatic," Eleanor said, trying to be encouraging for her friends as she could sense their nerves, " it's not going to be that bad because we have each other. We'll help each other if needed and we'll be just fine."

"Oh yes, Mother," Marnie mocked her in a sickeningly sweet voice. Eleanor folded her arms and gave her a look.

"Well, if you're going to be like that, I'm not going to sit next to you the next time we have class."

"Fine by me."

One would think that over the course of time that Marnie would learn that when Eleanor made threats, it wasn't smart to take them lightly because she hardly joked in that manner. She was definitely given a reminder as she entered Transfiguration the next morning and found that her seat had been taken by Cedric, leaving her to be booted to the seat in front of them. Her mouth dropped open and she looked positively offended that it hadn't been a joke.

"I thought you were joking!" Marnie whined as she stood in front of their table, a pleading look that was begging Cedric to move. But he leaned back in his chair, folding his arms and making himself comfortable in his place.

"Well, now you know I wasn't," Eleanor smiled at her, " maybe next time you'll remember."

Marnie bit the inside of her cheek before glancing back at Cedric. "Cedric, come on, switch with me!"

"Actually, no, I don't think I will," he said stretching out, "I'm actually rather comfortable right here. It's awfully cosy sitting next to Eleanor, I might make this my new permanent spot."

To rub it in, Cedric scooted his chair over closer to Eleanor and placed his head to rest on her shoulder, while she rested her head on top of his, the two of them smiling directly at Marnie. She wore a scowl on her face, full of pure frustration as she didn't like to be isolated.

"You two are a bunch of bastards," she growled before turning around in her seat and placing her head on the table. Cedric and Eleanor started to laugh before Cedric leaned into Eleanor's shoulder again.

"You think I should switch with her?" he whispered.

"Nah," Eleanor shook her head, " let her suffer for this class. We'll switch up during the next one. She needs to learn a lesson."

Heidi seemed rather confused when she arrived at the classroom and found that Cedric and Marnie had switched places as she normally sat next to Cedric. She settled down beside Marnie, giving the girl an odd look as Marnie was still angrily muttering under her breath at the "unfairness" of the situation. Turning around in her seat, Heidi looked directly at Cedric for an answer.

"What's wrong with Saxon?"

"Too much," Cedric answered, finally earning a reaction out of Marnie as she lifted her head up and glared at him.

"I heard that, Diggory!"

As Heidi was suddenly caught in the middle of a bickering match between the two, Eleanor allowed her eyes to wander around the room as the remaining Hufflepuff and Gryffindor students filed in as Professor McGonagall was preparing to close the door over as class was about to begin. Without really paying attention, her eyes settled on the Weasley twins as Fred and George were, of course, sitting together at one of the tables diagonal from where she sat.

She made eye contact with one of them that had peered over at one point and immediately, she looked away pretending to be interested with a small scratch in the wood of her table. Pretending that she had been listening the entire time, she found that Marnie and Cedric were no longer arguing, but that Cedric and Marnie were discussing upcoming Quidditch practices.

"How could you two be discussing Quidditch already?" she questioned. "The season doesn't start until November. You've practically got two months until the first match possibly close to three if Gryffindor and Slytherin play the first match."

"It's never too early to start discussing Quidditch," Heidi told her, " never too early."

"Heidi's right," Cedric nodded, " if we stand a chance at winning the cup this year, we're going to have to give it everything we've got. Which means any practices that we can get in before the others is an advantage that we need to take."

Before Eleanor could reply, Professor McGonagall closed the door loud enough that it silenced the classroom as all the students gave her their attention. Eleanor faced forward, only to catch eyes with whichever Weasley twin again, catching a grin in the midst of it all. She swallowed nervously, pretending that she didn't see it as she focused on Professor McGonagall requesting that they take their essays out about the vanishing spells.

It was incredibly hard to focus because she felt like she was being watched throughout the class, the feeling of eyes on her, but she didn't dare look up as she hated making eye contact by accident. It happened far too often for her liking and always left her feeling embarrassed because she was always caught.

Throughout the lesson and lecture, Eleanor didn't take her eyes off of Professor McGonagall to make sure that she didn't look elsewhere, of course, by the end of it all, she was sure that she had left Professor McGonagall feeling uncomfortable with the aggressive eye contact. By the end of it all, Eleanor wanted to go find a hole and just sit there for the rest of the day. Thankfully, she had a break between the classes as she followed Marnie to the Great Hall to get something to eat.

She wasn't feeling particularly hungry, but she did find sanctuary at the Hufflepuff table as she sat down and pulled out her knitting. With each stitch, she was practically scolding herself internally as she couldn't believe she allowed herself to get so flustered, by the Weasley twins of all people. She had never really associated herself with them before, only having limited interaction throughout the years.

They hadn't really gotten off to a good start when they were younger, just before school started one of them had practically stabbed her in the eye with his wand at Ollivander's shop. More than likely, they were just trying to get a rise out of her during class and they had certainly succeeded.

"What are you working on now?" Marnie asked her as she put together a sandwich. "More socks?"

"No, I'm working on a scarf right now," she said, " it's a lot easier."

"Oh, that reminds me, I was going to ask you to knit me a scarf for Christmas. I lost the one Mum brought me last year, she about had a fit when she found out."

"You don't have to wait until Christmas, Marnie, " Eleanor told her holding up the half-finished yellow and black threaded scarf, " you can have this one when I'm done with it."

"Perfect!" Marnie exclaimed. "They'll go well with the socks you made for me last year."

"Well, at the rate I've been going with this one, I should probably have it finished tonight or tomorrow, and I guarantee you won't lose it."

"You're the best, Ellie," Marnie said, "speaking of which, best friend of mine, such a beautiful sweet thing that you are...um, you're going to sit next to me in Herbology, right?"

Eleanor figured there was a catch to all the compliments as it brought her to laugh to herself before she placed her knitting down in her lap.

"That depends, are you going to be nice to me?"

"Yes!" Marnie cried out. "Please! Don't make me sit next to Heidi anymore! I swear, if she makes one more idiotic Quidditch pun, I'm going to bury her in potting soil, Ellie. I will commit murder, please, save me from doing that!"

"Marnie!"

With the promise to sit next to Marnie in Herbology so that she didn't commit murder so early in the term, Eleanor was walking through the corridor beside her friend, rummaging through her bag as they made their way to the greenhouse. She was attempting to see if she had actually brought her Herbology book with her when she heard a shriek, followed by the sounds of laughter and swearing. Immediately peering up, she could see a Ravenclaw girl in the distance, her arms covering her head as she ran around in place before darting off.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" Eleanor asked, only to have her question answered by the sight of Fred and George high-fiving each other at the opposite end of the corridor. "Well, they're certainly off to a strong start this year, aren't they? I heard they got Filch this morning."

"I heard from Leanne that they've got a plan this year," Marnie said, " to prank everyone in the castle."

"Everyone?" she swallowed nervously. "Why everyone?"

"How should I know?" Marnie shrugged. "The entire castle is all out of sorts. With these two pranking everyone and these effin' dementors-"

The two had headed outside just as she brought up the dementors, only to see the creatures floating above them in the distance. They shivered in place, suddenly feeling quite cold despite the multiple layers that they were both wearing at the time.

"They're so creepy," Marnie whispered as if they would hear them and take insult to her words.

"AND THEY'RE GOING TO GET YOU!"

Cedric jumped out at them from behind causing both girls to jump and squeak in place. Eleanor started laughing in relief that it was only him, while Marnie was full set on retaliation as she unleashed a series of smacks onto his arm.

"Alright, I'm sorry!" Cedric yelped as Marnie didn't let up with her punishment.

"You're not sorry yet, Diggory!"

Eleanor was left behind as Cedric took off to save himself but with Marnie chasing behind him, not willing to let him get away so easily. She smiled, used to it by then as she made her way down the small hill towards the greenhouse. It seemed her friends had called it a truce finally when they reached the classroom, probably that or Professor Sprout had told them to call it quits before entering.

The Herbology Professor and Head of the Hufflepuff House greeted each student that passed through the entrance, Eleanor included.

"Hello, Miss Ross, how was your summer?"

"It was alright," Eleanor said, wishing she had more to add on, "not much to it except taking my mum to Diagon Alley for another adventure. Although I did take her to the tea shop you suggested, the Rosa Lee one? She actually really liked it in there."

Professor Sprout smiled, a sense of sympathy washing over her as she was well aware of Eleanor's situation at home as Professor McGonagall had more than likely filled her in from the very beginning.

"I told you she would," she said, " they sell some of the world's finest teas there."

"Yes, they sell plenty of calming ones too, I made sure to get plenty of those."

The two of them shared in a laugh before Eleanor carried on, making her way inside and taking the available seat between Cedric and Marnie respectfully. Cedric was rubbing his arm, more than likely in the spot where he had been hit numerous times, while Marnie sat with a triumphant grin.

And as Professor Sprout welcomed the last of the students entering, she closed the door over before clapping her hands together.

"I hope you all followed through with your assigned reading," she called out, " and with that, I ask, who's ready to get started with the self-fertilising shrubs?"

Glancing over in Marnie's direction, Eleanor could see the flat expression that was clearly visible as Marnie took to clapping her hands slowly.

"Oh boy, I can hardly wait."