Hell Hath No Fury (Dean)

[Zoe Stratford]

Zoe was, as usual, buried under a mound of books. Even in the Ravenclaw common room, where frantic studying was commonplace, Zoe's obsessive dedication was legendary. It was very rare to see her come up for air at all.

But there was an edge to her studying this day. She turned the pages of her books furiously, dug her quill into the parchment a little too deeply, and more than once, she had become frustrated and shoved all of her books onto the floor.

Everyone knew to steer clear of her when she was like this. But what they didn't know was why she was so tense. The talk from the night before with Jackie still had her seething. But most of all, she was hurting. She was starting to realize now what a great thing she'd had when she was with Dean, and it hurt to see how little she mattered to him now.

She was struggling over her Arithmancy homework, or rather, the work she was doing that had nothing to do with her assignment. She kept running her numbers, and Dean's and Jackie's, and she didn't like the results. So, for the third time that afternoon, she let out a cry of frustration and shoved everything off of the table.

[Dean Fisher]

Dean was attempting to finish up a bit of book work that he needed to do, but he wasn't being successful because his roommates were insisting on talking loud. He had half a mind to go sit in the library, but the common room was a lot closer and frankly, Dean was feeling lazy.

He was going to meet up with Jackie later as usual, but first he needed to finish up his work. He tucked the book under his arm and walked down the boy's stairs and noticed Zoe working. She always had her head in some kind of book studying. Dean didn't want to disturb her, but then she let out a cry of frustration and everything went off the table. She got like this sometimes, Dean was used to it. Taking a few steps closer to her, Dean bent down and started to pick up the papers. "Just take a deep breath Zoe, that's all you have to do," he said calmly, not bothering to read what was on her papers.

[Zoe Stratford]

Zoe looked up at him, her eyes still blazing. "Dean," she said. "I'm surprised you even remember I exist. Now that you and your precious Jackie are finally an item, why would you want to deal with the shrew from your past?" She began frantically gathering up her books and papers, clutching them to her chest. "Just go away, Dean. I can clean up my own mess."

She turned her eyes away, so he wouldn't see the hurt in them.

[Dean Fisher]

His eyebrows rose as Zoe started to basically fuss at him. She always was like this if she was in this mood. It was one of the reasons Dean couldn't stand it anymore, but Zoe didn't seem to understand.

"Zoe, don't be like that," Dean said. "And I'm just trying to be nice. You don't have to go and bite my head off for trying to help you." He handed her the papers that he picked up and sighed. Maybe he should have just been on about his way and not stopped. "If you want it to be that way, all you have to do is just tell me." Dean started to stand up getting ready to go off on his own.

[Zoe Stratford]

Zoe was on the verge of one of her breakdowns. She usually could hold them back, but she'd been studying for so long that she was losing her sometimes fragile grip on reality. "Dean...." she choked out, sinking down to the floor as he started to leave. "Please... I'm sorry. I just... I..." Then she burst into tears.

[Dean Fisher]

Dean sighed as Zoe began to cry. She used to do this too and he stopped from walking out to look back down at her. "Zoe, just don't cry, please," he said bending down. "It's alright, just stop crying." He was bend down in front of her. Dean noticed the box of tissue on the table and he grabbed it and held it out for her if she wanted one.

[Zoe Stratford]

Zoe took the tissue from him and wiped at her face, leaving dark streaks of makeup on her face. "I can't take it anymore, Dean," she sobbed. "I've been studying for 12 hours straight and I still can't get everything right.... I can't fail, but I'm so tired..."

[Dean Fisher]

"You need a break or a nap," he replied. "It's not healthy studing for 12 hours straight, you know that. Just take a break. You're not going to fail. I know that the last thing you read before you go to sleep is something that will stick with you." Dean didn't know of anyone else's study habits that were as bad as Zoe's. "Plus, you're already smart. The more you study, the more that it might not stick. Trust me. Take at least a two hour break. Sleep or something and then come back to your studying. Just don't studying for that many hours straight."

[Zoe Stratford]

Zoe ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "You don't understand... I'm not finished. It's not enough to be smart... I have to be brilliant, Dean." She drew a shaky breath and looked at him sadly. "It's all I have. Ever since I lost you, school is all there is to live for. If I'm not perfect... I'm nothing..."

[Dean Fisher]

"You are brillant Zoe," Dean said running his hand through his own shaggy hair. "Don't just live for school. I mean, you could have plenty of other things to live for. Just relax. Even when we were together, you studied all the time. Look, Zoe, just relax and live for tomorrow not just for school. You get so caught up that you don't see what is around you. Take a step back and rest Zoe. Look at what is around you and breathe."

[Zoe Stratford]

Zoe looked up at him and listened to the soothing sound of his voice. He was right, of course. She knew it. She needed to take a break, and to relax a little. All the studying was making her crazy... or crazier than usual, anyway. She took a few deep, cleansing breaths, then looked around. "I'm hungry," she said in a pitiful voice. Her snacks had run out hours ago, and she hadn't eaten a proper meal in over 24 hours. "Will you take me to the kitchens?"

[Dean Fisher]

Dean wasn't exactly planning on going anywhere with Zoe, but he couldn't be rude. After all they were somewhat friends, weren't they? He wanted to make sure that she didn't bite anyone else's head off, so Dean nodded. "Yeah. I'll walk with you to the kitchens." He wasn't too crazy about going with her, but he was going to anyhow. "Come on Zoe." Dean stood up and waited for her to do the same.

[Zoe Stratford]

Zoe smiled gratefully. She really was in no condition to be walking down to the kitchens alone. She was weak and shaky and still on the verge of tears. She needed food, and she needed sleep. She stood up and her legs wobbled dangerously beneath her. When was the last time she'd walked around the room? She couldn't even remember. Her brain was so fried, it was lucky she even remembered her name.

Looking up at Dean, she managed a shaky smile. "You're a good person, Dean. You always were too good for me."

[Dean Fisher]

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and started to walk slowly beside Zoe so it would be easy for her to keep up. Dean gave her a soft smile and walked with her out of the common room, still going slowly. "I try to be," he replied with his soft smile. He felt slightly awkward but he wasn't going to let that keep him from being nice.

"So, Zoe, what was making you study that long? I mean, you've always studied but I don't remember you ever studying that long and you already know that you're extremely smart. Even you know that that's not healthy."

[Zoe Stratford]

Zoe wanted to touch him. She remembered all too well how warm and safe she had felt when she was in his arms. It was true, she had always been obsessive about her studies, even when she was dating him. But there had been times when she could pull herself out of it and just relax with him. Now she had no one to pull her back from the edge, and as a result, she sometimes slipped into terrible study habits, forgetting to eat and sleep on a regular basis.

"I kind of... freaked out when I didn't get an invitation to join the Slug Club," Zoe admitted. "Can you believe it? Regina Curry was invited and not me! I'm much smarter than she is. How could Professor Slughorn overlook me?"

[Dean Fisher]

"I wasn't invited either," replied Dean. "And don't worry about not being invited. I think that Slughorn was just inviting the huge old families and the champions. I wouldn't take it offensively." He gave a shrug. He didn't care about being in the Slug Club. "You shouldn't have let that get you doing what you were. If you lighten up a little bit, things would be better for you. Just take a break from studying for the rest of the night. Sit back and relax on the couch in front of the fire or something."

[Zoe Stratford]

"Take a break?" Zoe repeated desperately. "But if I let up, just a little bit, I could fail! I have to do better... I have to be perfect. You know that. I can't just be lying around doing nothing! That's lazy."

Zoe's mind was always working, or trying to. Sometimes, when she worked too hard, her logic and social skills went out the window, pushed out of her brain by all the memorized facts and everything else she had crammed in there. But there was hardly ever a time when she was able to shut herself down and relax.

[Dean Fisher]

"Yes, take a break," said Dean calmly. "See, you always seem to spaz out or something when you think you're forgetting something. If you just stop, take a deep breath, and relax for a moment, you will see that you are better than what you think you are. You always wonder why you can't always remember things. It is because you think you have to study all the time, but you don't. You think and work too much and that in itself causes you to not remember things."

Dean was being factual and logical about the situation. Zoe always seemed to freak out when she couldn't remember something. It drove him crazy.

"You should try it and I promise you, it's not going to be as bad as you think. You can start right now. Just take a deep breath and slowly let it out."

[Zoe Stratford]

Zoe didn't really think she could sit still that long. She always had to be doing something, and when she was alone, she really had nothing to distract her from that need. "I... I can try," she said. She was near tears again. "But I'm not good at relaxing when there's work to be done. I never was."

She did as he said and took a deep breath and tried to let it out slowly. But she was impatient and let it out too fast. "I'm a mess, Dean," she said tearfully. She had to be the first person ever to get strung out on too much homework.

[Dean Fisher]

"Zoe, don't cry," Dean said. "Please don't. We'll just have to work on it. You'll get it soon enough. See, right now you're taking a break from working. Taking a break is not that bad, now is it? You'll be able to do it if you practice and build up patience. You can't always have something work at a drop of a hat."

He sighed. Zoe was a piece of work. "You're only a mess because you make yourself be that way. There's no reason why on earth you should study 12 hours a day. Studying something for too long makes you forget it. Besides, if you study something for thirty minutes, then go to bed, I promise it will stay with you because you remember what you read and study better if you do it right before you go to sleep."