Harry wasn't usually the nervous type, but something about test-taking brought out the sweatiest version of him. It was the dead of winter, and sweat was pouring down his back as he mulled over the first question on the midterm. Each question after that was even more nerve-filled, until finally he reached the end of the test. Harry was immediately relieved, until he looked around and saw that everyone else was still hard at work. Had he over-simplified a question or two?
He hadn't been sure about any of his answers, and he became even less sure as he set his paper down on his teacher's desk. She looked up to acknowledge him, pressing her seemingly harsh green eyes against his, before nodding for him to go and sit back down.
From his seat, he watched her grade his paper with a poker face in place. Ten minutes passed and no one else had brought up their test yet, and Harry started to sweat even more. He had known the answers to the questions, but he had completely blanked while taking the test. He knew, as his professor looked up, and beckoned for him to approach her desk, that he had utterly failed the midterm.
She turned his paper around once he stood in front of her, and at the top in red was a bit fat 'D.'
She circled it twice right in front of him.
"This is me being generous," she stressed, bringing her glasses down from her nose to look into his eyes.
"Harry, you've answered these questions before perfectly during class discussions. What went wrong here?"
Her voice was low so that only he could hear, being considerate of his feelings and the test-takers' concentration.
"I just--"
He knew what he wanted to say, what the truth was, but he also didn't want to sound stupid. Sighing and feeling his face burn, Harry said: "I just don't do well on tests, and it's the midterm so I--I just put too much pressure on myself I guess. Worked against myself."
His professor nodded with understanding, Harry's manner of test-taking wasn't new to her, but he had never failed so drastically. His slip-ups had been simple little flubs, clearly he knew the right way of figuring it all out.
"I'll tell you what," she said, "I can't have one of my best students failing their midterm like this, so we'll schedule a solo retake. It'll be during my office hours tomorrow, but I'll send out a notice and we'll have the space to ourselves so that you can concentrate. Okay?"
Her solution was exactly why Harry loved her class so much, she was always trying to accommodate her students; she would extend due dates, accept late assignments still, and now this. Harry smiled with relief, "Yes...thanks so much, Professor. I'll be there."
"Great," she smiled back broadly, "I'll see you tomorrow then, enjoy your night and study if you have to."
He nodded, feeling a little lighter on his feet as he grabbed his backpack to leave for the day. Tomorrow, he wouldn't fail again, he couldn't fail again.
______
Harry had put too much pressure on himself overnight, so when he got to his professor's office, his stomach was in knots. If he failed again when his professor had so clearly gone out of her way to help him, not only would he be disappointing her, but he would be at risk of flunking her class.
He knocked on the cherrywood door to her office and she called out softly: "Come on in."
He had never been to her office before, but he took note of the two blue armchairs she had placed in front of a tall table, and the stock art on her walls. There was no hint of a life outside of college, besides a picture frame that was facing away from him. Harry decided to sit down instead of examining her decor anyway, as it wasn't helping with the anxiety he already felt.
"Harry, good to see you today," his professor breathed out, "I just wanted to say, before you start, that I want you to feel as comfortable as you possibly can and I'm here to help you with that. You're a brilliant student, you're always on time, you never miss a class, and I really don't think that grade was representative of your capability. It's still a timed test so you'll only have two hours to complete it, but just do your best."
"Thank you, professor," Harry said, feeling grateful although his nerves were already flared up.
His professor could tell that he was nervous again, but she told herself that she wouldn't resort to drastic measures to make sure that he passed just yet. So, while Harry tested, she busied herself by grading the rest of the tests from the day before.
Harry was an hour in when anxiety started to get the best of him again. The questions were beginning to swim in front of his eyes, and he jostled his leg up and down uncontrollably. His professor looked up, hearing his leg bouncing on the floor, and she could see the sweat that covered his forehead. The poor boy was completely overwhelmed by material that he already knew, and she couldn't for the life of her let him fail again.
"Harry..." she said softly, lightly scolding him, "Put your pencil down."
He listened, blushing as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He couldn't help it, there was just so much tension trapped inside of his body.
"What's wrong?" She questioned him with an open tone, gently urging him to confide in her.
"I'm sorry," Harry groaned ashamedly and buried his face in his hands, "I just can't--focus--I don't know why."
"That's alright," she soothed, already seeing that he was mentally berating himself, and that he was.
Harry just couldn't understand why he was such an idiot under pressure, it was like being under a spell of sweat, nerves, and overthinking--he was just stuck in a loop of shooting himself in the foot.
"Harry--" his professor had been calling him for a few seconds now, and seeing that he was deep inside of his thoughts, she had stood up to come around to his side of the table.
"Harry--" she pressed again, and he looked up at her with something like torture in his eyes. His professor had known how she could help him the moment that she told him to come to her office for the retake. She told herself that she wasn't being leery by having the thought of helping in...that...way, and that scientifically speaking: an orgasm would bring a calm clarity to him.
He wasn't even hard yet, but she knew that she could easily arouse him. It was against ethics, an offense that could lose her, her job, but she would take the chance and hope for the best.
She turned away from him to lock the door to her office, and feeling his eyes burn into her back, she persisted with her plan.
Harry didn't know why his professor had gotten up, or locked the door, but there was something different that charged the air--something that felt inappropriate, but maybe he was just overthinking again.