~ May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung.

May you stay, may you stay forever young. ~

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First day of OWLs year was bound to be full of lectures and sermons from all teachers alike. In the wizarding education, OWLs were a very major and important examination which had to passed with good marks in order to have chances of a bright career. And considering the importance of the exam, every teacher had made a note of letting their students know how necessary it was and how hard they had to study in order to pass the upcoming exams.

By afternoon as two or three classes had commenced, most students were in panic due to the OWLs already. Poor Sally Whitburg had fainted twice in Transfiguration and was sent to the infirmary along with a few others so that Madam Pomfrey could give them a Calming Drought.

The only students who seemed unaffected by all the crises were the Marauders. A group of four pranksters and troublemakers, the Marauders reigned Hogwarts through their invincible pranks, continuous jokes and constant sources of entertainment. The four of them had a knack for rule breaking and mischief making which had resulted in their extreme popularity at Hogwarts.

James was sitting in his usual spot next to his partner in crime, Sirius Black. Right behind them were Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Remus seemed to be the only one who was intending to take studies seriously, but as judging from the other three it seemed as if they were only counting on their luck to get them through.

The Astronomy class was nearly full as both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had the lesson together. Soon after the Professor entered. She was a tall witch with an air of strictness about her, dressed in olive robes and wearing a pointed hat spangled with astrological signs.James handed a pair of ear muffs to Sirius who grinned while accepting them and carefully put them in his ears.

Professor Sinistra's eyes swept the classroom as if gauging what to say to her students looking expectantly at her. Most of them were scared of what was going to come out of her mouth, most were expecting it anyways, then there was Remus sitting with his notebook ready to take any important notes, Peter sucking on his sugar quill and both James and Sirius laughing at an inside joke.

No wonder these four spelled trouble, she thought while shaking her head slightly and cleared her throat to gain their attention. "I may not have the intentions of boring you with another lecture, considering you have received a tonne already regarding your Ordinary Wizarding Levels. Since I have nearly the same stuff to say, I won't be repeating. However, I still assure you that OWLs in Astronomy are going to be as tough as the other subjects and you must have grasped the concepts clearly in order for you to progress in this subject."

She looked at James who was sitting alert in his chair as if he had clearly heard every single word she spoke, it was something he always did in her class. He pretended as if he was paying the utmost attention. Yet the Professor was fully aware that wasn't the case.

"Mr Lupin, would you kindly take out the earmuffs from both your friends' ears?" 

Remus obliged standing up and took the earmuffs out from both James and Sirius's ears, he himself looked exasperated but it seemed not to have caused any effect at the other two.

"So as I was saying, there's a possible chance that most of you would be spared the trouble for attending this class next year," she continued breezily as if nothing had happened at all, "but you shouldn't get your hopes that high because you still have this year to bear with me. And I'm absolutely certain that you will be having much more homework than before."

"Ah homework," Sirius muttered under his breath, "for one thing exams are perfectly fine, but homework is a different case altogether!"

"That reminds me, Mr Black, that you hadn't submitted your final assignments last year as well. If you keep up your tradition, I'll have to overrule your exams entirely," she gave a curt reply at which Sirius nodded and sat back a bit silent than earlier.

She instructed her students to take out their books and started the lesson from Jupiter's moon making them mark it as a very important section which would definitely turn up in their exams. 

Halfway through the lesson as she was explaining how Europa was covered in ice, James felt his head drooping and his eyelids getting heavier from sleep. Whenever he was in a class that didn't interest him, such as Astronomy or Arithmancy, his brain would start transmitting the sleep signals causing him to either doze off or end up snoring in class.

The rest of the lecture passed with James struggling to keep himself awake yet failing constantly to do so while Remus and Peter were the only ones among the Marauders who were taking notes along with the rest of the class. 

Sirius on the other hand never found any fascination in discussing about the moons and planets, he had already heard a lot from his Uncles Cygnus and Alphard. In the Black household, Astronomy was considered a family trait and knowledge of constellations, stars and planets had been fed in the brains of their young ones from a very early age.

Contrarily though, James hardly even remembered the names of the major constellations. And even if he did remember some, those were usually the names of some of Sirius's infamous family members.

As the lesson ended he gratefully got up to leave but was stopped by Professor Sinistra's voice. "Mr Potter, you may stay here. Same applies for you, Miss Latvia. The rest of you may leave."

Slightly awake by the surprise of staying after class, James turned to look at the other person who the Professor had asked to stay behind as well. At first, he thought it was due to a detention but knew better that if that was the case Sirius would have been with him too.

Besides, the Latvia girl didn't seem like a student who would be given a detention. He could tell that easily by her Ravenclaw robes, neatly aligned books and an expression of clear surprise in her blue eyes that showed she had not been expecting that at all.

"I have asked you both to stay behind for a reason but that is clearly not a detention. Potter, your mother wrote to me yesterday asking about your poor progress in Astronomy."

James controlled an urge to roll his eyes. Of course, he should have known. His mother and Aurora Sinistra had been class fellows, there was a considerable chance that she would have taken upon herself to inquire about her son's progress.

Though he didn't feel that comfortable of his poor progress being talked about in front of the blue eyed shortie who was simply tapping her foot on the floor, wondering how on earth all this had anything to do with her.

"But Professor, I'm doing much better than before. I'm sure I will pass the exams this year," he replied defiantly.

Sinistra hid a smile that was threatening to break on her face, "passing the exam would require you to study too which frankly speaking I haven't seen you ever doing. Your mother gave me a brilliant idea as she wrote in her letter, it is probable that you find Astronomy difficult as taught by me and are not so proficient in the concepts either. So instead of me going over all the course for you again, I have decided to assign you a tutor."

At the word tutor, Felicity's head snapped up and her eyes opened wide either from surprise or fear, "Professor, is it necessary for me to stay..."

"Of course. You will be tutoring James Potter."

To James it seemed as if the decision had hit her like a bolt of everlasting doom. She was simply standing staring at the Professor in shock, not being able to comprehend how to give an appropriate response.

"But Professor, I don't think I'm capable enough," she finally spoke.

"Nonsense, Miss Latvia. You have been one of my very best students so far and I would rather have you tutor him than any other student. I recommend you both to check your time tables and study in the library twice a week for your convenience. If there is any problem, feel free to come to me."

"But Professor...!"

"I will be giving you extra marks for your cooperation in this year's exams. Just make sure that Mr Potter here grasps all the concepts clearly by the start of your OWLs. I know you will be able to do your task very well, think of it as an assignment. And best of luck."

With that last order, Professor Sinistra left the classroom leaving James and a rather pissed off Felicity Latvia together.

"Bloody Hell," she slammed her foot in the nearby desk out of frustration. 

"So... Do you want to consult our time tables now for fixing the lesson time or later?" James asked.

She was shaking her head in disappointment, "no thank you. I have to find a way to somehow make Professor Sinistra abandon her idea of having me as a tutor."

James couldn't get why she had been so against the whole tutoring idea. Any other girl would have gladly accepted the opportunity and he himself had been hoping for the Professor to select Lily Evans as his tutor.

Yet there he was in the Astronomy classroom with a Ravenclaw student he had probably never seen before, who was very intent to not tutor him at all. "I don't think that will be possible. You will have to do what she just said."

"Yeah exactly and then ruin all my chances of scoring well on OWLs," she mumbled in a low voice but he heard anyway.

"And what was that supposed to mean?"

She looked up at him somewhat indignant, "can't you see? This whole proposition is not in my favor at all! I will have to tutor you which probably isn't going to do any good to me except gaining a few house points or extra marks. It will be a complete waste of time and considering your progress in Astronomy, I might as well fail with all the stress of teaching you. Or more probably I will definitely go insane from having to deal with your outrageousness."

James had not been quite accustomed to being talked down like that. And it did seem weird seeing her not so pleasant reaction to him, "Latvia, I would appreciate if you refrain from attacking my self esteem."

She frowned evidently, "and I would appreciate if you ask your mother to send another letter to Professor Sinistra, assuring her to either change the tutor or simply not assign anyone to you at all."

"I may try but it won't get us anywhere," he remarked truthfully while she was furiously piling her parchment quills back in her satchel.

As she was leaving, she turned to face him, "this may be the worst thing I ever have to do... But you can come to the library for the first lesson at eight tomorrow. And remember I'm only doing this because Professor Sinistra asked me to. If you prove to be any sort of nuisance for me..."

He waved off her warnings, "I get it. I'll be there at eight. And I already know that if I be a nuisance to you, you will gladly inform Professor Sinistra of my behavior and land me in a detention or better still, be able to wriggle out of the task you have been assigned."

She only huffed in reply before leaving the class as soon as possible. James too picked up his stuff and walked out of the classroom meeting up with his friends at the fourth floor. 

There was no knowing what was in store for him in the first tutoring lesson the next day. Astronomy had been bad enough for him already and if he was going to be tutored by a hothead like the Ravenclaw he just met, then he was certain it was only going to get a lot worse.

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