McGonagall stood at the front of the classroom. The last of her students dropped into their seats.
"Now that all of our students have decided to grace us with their presence," she cast a look at James Potter and Sirius Black, "I will begin."
"The N.E.W.T. timetable has been put together. I suggest you use this timetable to set your own study and revision timetables."
Her students sat up a little straighter, eager to complain or perhaps rejoice over the order in which they were to take their N.E.W.T. exams.
"I shall hand them out to you at the end of class."
The students sighed, and slowly took out their quills and pieces of parchment as McGongall began to write on the board.
The Gryffindor girls - Lily Evans, Alice Prewett, Mary MacDonald and Marlene McKinnon - made their way up the stairs after lunch, chatting about exams and their final weeks at Hogwarts, their male counterparts trailing slowly behind them.
"I can't believe they put Charms last," groaned Lily Evans. "I've got three days between my second-last and last exam!"
"Don't be such a downer," Alice Prewett grinned at her. "That means I've got three days to study for Charms alone!"
Sirius Black turned to the girls. "Yeah, 'cause Merlin knows how Alice got into the NEWT class for Charms."
Lily smiled. "Yeah, maybe it was because of, oh, I don't know, my excellent tutoring skills?"
Alice stuck her tongue out at Lily, and gave her a light shove.
"Hey!" Lily hit her friend back, and raced up the stairs, back to Gryffindor Tower, before Alice could catch her and take her revenge.
"We did it!" Lily tackled Marlene in a bear hug. Alice ran and joined them, and the three girls stood together, hugging and squealing and jumping up and down with excitement. They were not alone; all around them, students were celebrating in their own little cliques and crowds of friends.
The next few days passed in a blur of ceremony, and last-minute meeting with the Heads of House, until they reached their last night at Hogwarts.
The Gryffindor seventh-years and school leavers sat in a circle on the floor of the common room. They had kicked the younger years out, exercising their senior right for those last few hours before they became alumni and graduates of Hogwarts.
Sirius rubbed his hands together. "Right, James, where did we put that bottle of Firewhiskey?"
James pulled out the bottle. "Should we be civilised and pour it out, or pass around the bottle?" he grinned.
Marlene wrinkled her nose. "Some of us would appreciate being somewhat hygienic with this." She waved her wand, and several goblets appeared.
"I'm just surprised that you two managed to keep that bottle sealed all term." Mary MacDonald arched an eyebrow.
"We did discover that it is somewhat easier to study while sober," Sirius admitted, half-serious, half-joking.
Several of the assembled group of friends rolled their eyes. "What did I tell you?" muttered Remus.
"Besides," James added with a wink, "Refilling Charms and Sealing Spells work a treat."
Mary and Marlene mimed gagging into the laps, while James began to pass amounts of Firewhiskey around.
"Remember when Lily kissed James at the end of sixth year?" Peter asked.
"I thought I was hallucinating," giggled Marlene.
"The day we all discovered good Lily Evans wasn't as good as we might have thought," Sirius said, earning himself a smack from both James and Lily.
"Look, they even think alike," Mary teased.
"James spent enough time stalking Lily for that to happen."
Someone unearthed a case of Butterbeer, and they slowed down a little, talking and laughing, reminiscing and dreaming of simpler times.
"So, future plans?"
"Ooh, getting deep there, Prewett," Sirius waggled his eyebrows.
"Just because you want to sit and laze around for the rest of your days," she shot back.
"Well, why don't you start then, Miss I-know-exactly-where-I'm-headed?"
"Fine," Alice smiled, somewhat smugly. "Become an Auror, of course. You?" She pointed back at Sirius.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure. Work with curses, for Gringotts, maybe?" He inclined his head at Marlene.
"Journalism?" Marlene said it softly, hesitantly.
"God, you lot are as bad as my parents," Mary quipped. "I want to join a Qudditch team. I don't particularly care which one, as long as it's not the Cannons. Falmouth would be my first pick though."
Several people snorted.
"Of course it would, MacDonald," James said, nodding at McDonald.
She glared at him for a second. "Well, what about you, star Chaser?"
He hesitated for a minute. "Become an Auror, I guess. If I could get the Defense job in a few years, I'd like that."
Lily's head snapped up. "Really?"
Marlene and Alice giggled, while the rest of the group murmured a soft, "Ooooohhh."
"Yeah. Got a problem with that?" James asked lightly.
Lily shrugged. "Not especially. I just didn't think you'd like to teach."
"He'd be pretty good at it though," Peter said softly.
Remus, thinking of how James had helped Peter, and to a lesser degree, Sirius, become Animagi, nodded in agreement.
Lily toyed with her Butterbeer cap, thinking if James had ever dropped any hints about it, any warning signs.
James woke up early the next morning. Somehow, they'd managed not to finish off the entire bottle of Firewhiskey. Or at least, they'd managed to avoid becoming too hungover.
Lily was still asleep, lying on his chest.
"Lils," he whispered. "Wake up."
He poked his girlfriend gently. She stirred.
"What do you want, James?" she whispered back, frustrated.
"Come for a walk with me?" he offered.
"Fine," she grumbled, taking his outstretched hand.
The two trudged around the Hogwarts grounds, walking in the crisp morning air.
"God, it's the last time we'll ever do this," Lily said, slightly in awe.
"As students," James grinned.
"Yeah, about that," Lily turned her head to face James. "Were you serious about wanting to be a teacher?"
"Yeah, I was. Again, does it bother you?"
"Not exactly," Lily responded slowly. "I just, well, I've always wanted to have kids, and well, Hogwarts isn't the greatest place for that."
James took a deep breath. "Has anyone ever told you that you over think everything?"
Lily grinned, a little bashfully and a little self-deprecatingly. "Maybe."
James chuckled, and kissed her.
She looked up into James' eyes. "So we're good?"
"You tell me."
"Yeah, we are."
Lily laughed. "Something else about last night - when we were talking about us getting together. Someone said that you stalked me?"
"God, I'm going to kill Sirius."
"I suppose he didn't mean the way you followed me around school, constantly asking me out?"
James flushed a deep red. "N-No," he stuttered. "I-I used to find pictures of you. Kept them-"
"That's all I wanted to hear," Lily laughed.
James continued, "And then, summer after out sixth year, when we began to write to each other, you just seemed more real."
Lily nodded slowly, as if just beginning to understand something. "So that's why you seemed more real to me, the start of our seventh year."
James looked at Lily in confusion. "Huh?"
"You were so much less arrogant," she explained. "Made it so much easier to be around you."
"'Cause being around me is such a chore, eh?"
"Don't push it Potter," she replied cheekily.
A/N: Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition (Beater 1, Bellybats)
Prompts used: 6. Warning sign and 8. "I loved you / like a man loves a woman he never touches, only / writes to, keeps little photographs of."An Almost Made-Up Poem, Charles Bukowski