First Year,
Homework Exchange

10 March 1973

The weekend had come, and the first sign of spring was blooming. She sat on the ground with the Quidditch ground in the distance, watching the Slytherin team practise. Taking the art book Regulus had gifted her, she began to draw the view in front of her.

She attempted to redraw some of the artwork she had in her original book. It wasn't the same, though it felt like copying rather than her authentic work that she drew in the moment. She smiled when she noticed Barty making his way over to her. He lounged on the ground beside her.

"That's not bad," she smiled at him, "think you could draw me?"

"Okay, look that way," he looked ahead of them, showing her his side profile.

"I think this is better," he turned to face her, she held his chin, turning his head back to where she wanted him, "okay," he said, daydreaming as she continued to draw.

She hummed while she drew her portrait of Barty. He smiled, his eyes flicking to her, but she hadn't looked up at him once. He leaned over her shoulder, his mouth falling open at the realism in her art, he didn't realise how talented she was. She smiled, showing him the basic outline.

"There we have it, Bartemus Crouch Jr."

"That's incredible,"

"It needs a bit more shading and a splash of colour, but it's almost perfect,"

"I need you to autograph it and gift it to me."

"I don't think I'll be selling my work,"

"Oh, I believe you could," he smiled at her, "You could become a famous artist one day,"

"I'd love that, I could finish what my mother set out to do," she smiled at him, "she use paint so much, I remember she once was taken by her muse as she'd say, and my dad and I came home to paint everywhere, it was one of her favourite pieces,"

"What do you miss most about her?"

"Probably, her songs. She used to sing to me whenever I was upset," she smiled to herself, "it seems silly, but I'd always feel better."

"It's not silly," Barty smiled, holding her hand, "I love my mother, I couldn't imagine her not being here."

"I feel bad for my dad, he's alone now, I'm at Hogwarts,"

"I'm sure your dad can handle himself," she smiled at him, "you know, over the summer, would you want to hang out?"

"Yeah, I'd love to see you over the summer,"

19 March 1973

Dahlia lounged in the library, sorting through her notes. She had agreed to cover the notes for Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts while Lauren covered the notes for Potions and Transfiguration. Pandora agreed to cover the Herbology and Astrology. Barty only covered History of Magic, his ability to hardly pay attention and still grasp the knowledge meant he was the best option for the boring class.

They had fallen into these roles gradually; they'd trade their notes whenever they had homework. Making the overall workload ten times easier, leaving them with more time to just hang out than study. If more people did this, no one would be struggling, falling behind or missing deadlines. They work with their own notes first, then exchange.

"Hi," Pandora said, sitting beside her, "have you finished the notes for Charms?"

"Yes," she handed her the notes, "do you have the Herbology notes?"

"Of course I do,"

They exchanged notes, working on their homework. Next, Lauren and Barty joined them, exchanging Potions for History of Magic. Then they each finished they each swapped clockwise. Within two hours, they had completed all their homework.

"Is this technically cheating?" Lauren asked.

"Not if we don't get caught," Barty said, shrugging their shoulders, "it's being resourceful."

"We're thinking out of the box," Dahlia added.

"Yes, look over there," Pandora gestured to an older Gryffindor, "he's struggling to complete all of his homework, in one go."

"She's checking out every book, hoping to find the right information," Lauren said as they looked at a Hufflepuff with over ten Transfiguration books.

"And he's clearly copying right out of the book," Barty said, looking over at a Slytherin boy, "what's the one thing they all have in common?"

"They've left it to the last minute," Dahlia said. he winked at her.

"Look at us, a week's worth of homework finished, in three days at the most," Barty said, bowing to the girls. "I think we should enjoy the rest of our free week, ladies," he gestured for them to walk ahead of him.

"Such a gentleman," Lauren commented, patting his cheek.

Their system of studying meant they could not only slack off in lessons, they weren't covering. But wouldn't have to stress if they didn't understand or missed a lesson. They now had the rest of the week to themselves, only having to take notes in their assigned classes.

"Promise we'll never become backstabbers," Pandora stated. Everyone looked puzzled at her, "I've seen how competitive older Ravenclaws are, they've backstabbed their friends and other students just to get top marks."

"I promise, no backstabbing," Barty laid his hand over his heart, "each other we can backstab others," the girls laughed.

"That's not very nice, Barty," Lauren said, hooking his arm with hers.

"I never claimed to be nice,"

"You're stubborn," Dahlia pointed out, "but you are nice."

"You think we get to pick our partners for Potions next year?" Lauren questioned, "he's a nice boy, but Hector kind of slacks off a little, which means I have to do everything myself."

"I hope we do, Charity doesn't even speak to me unless it's in class, that's Amycus' fault though, she thinks I'm like him."

"She needs to think with her brain for once, if she actually had a conversation with she'd realise you're a very soft Carrow," Barty said, he spotted Regulus seeming a little lost. "You alright, Reg?"

"Yeah, can't find Aimee anywhere, it's like she's disappeared from the face of the planet," Pandora and Lauren chuckled, "it's not funny she vanished."

"Sorry, she can't have gone that far surely," Pandora told him, "might your brother have seen her?"

"It's worth checking."

"I'm going to go with him," Barty said, excusing himself from the girls.

It was understandable; he wouldn't want to spend all his time with the girls. Regulus was one of his friends; aside from them, they could talk about things that interested both of them. She loved the group of friends she had made; she was certain they would accomplish great things together.