She was sweaty, damp and exultant. The sun shone in the window, blinding her momentarily, and she blinked, before regaining her focus. This was what she loved best. She knelt and breathed deeply, enjoying this part of it as much as the finish. She took another deep breath and whispered words of love, inspiration and passion. This was what she lived for. Flushed and nearly finished, she spared a second to push her hair over her shoulder before continuing. She let out a small moan and bit her lip, trying to stay silent, but it was difficult. This was going much better than she ever thought it would. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her partner's puzzled frown and shook her head. She didn't want him asking any needless questions that would distract her and ruin the moment. Red, blue, fuchsia, a million colors filled her vision all at once, and she beamed, so full of joy it was obvious if anyone else could have seen her face in that moment.
Her partner didn't seem to notice, so caught was he in his own part of this. His robes were askew, his tie loosened, and he was nearly as sweaty as Cassandra. Neither seemed to care, they just kept on, as if the situation had a mind of its own, needed to reach its finish to the exclusion of all else. As if spurred on at the near finish of what they were doing, Cassandra moved faster, all the while snatches of past experiences like this came back to her as she strove to completion. They were running out of time. Smoke and incense, precise movements, softly whispered incantations, all learned through trial and error, all the things that she had experienced with this very occupation were on the edges of her memory, and with great reluctance shut them out. She concentrated on the moment, knowing the satisfaction that would result for them both. She laughed, much to the confusion of her partner, some random Hufflepuff she grabbed at the last moment.
Then suddenly all was silent. A breeze wafted past them, and they tried to straighten themselves up, feeling a little foolish at being so intensely involved in what they were doing they took no notice of anything, even the time. As they began to rearrange themselves and make themselves more orderly, ties straightened, shirts tucked in, robes re-buttoned, they heard a familiar voice, calling for a halt to all activity. Cassandra grinned sheepishly, and began to clean up the area, packing her personal items, and heard her Hufflepuff companion doing the same. They ignored the whispers of their classmates, and waited for the results. They didn't have long to wait, however. On the board the results began to appear, and both of theirs had an Outstanding next to them. She smiled this time in relief, and hoped Potions class would be this rewarding all year.