Dedicated to anyone who's graduating this year =]

*""*

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh….

There were exactly four and a half minutes left for the NEWT level students to finish writing their final exam of the year, and it was so quiet that every time the giant golden pendulum at the front of the Great Hall swung, the sound of it cutting through the air reverberated like thunder. The only other sounds that could be heard were Proffessor Binn's occasional coughing, the scratching of a few lingering quills, and the distant song of birds enjoying the sunshine.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

Two minutes. Even Lily had stopped reviewing her essay on the history of Irish vampires and was staring desperately at her watch. James, who was sitting a mere two desks right of her, noticed this and smirked: when Lily Evans was no longer paying any attention to her paper, than the exam was officially over. And as this was the final NEWT exam… all of the year's slogging was also over.

One minute. Half a minute. Twenty seconds. Ten seconds.

Unable to resist, James whispered a soft, "Ten."

His immediate neighbors, including Lily, heard him and joined to whisper the next number as the pendulum swung again, "Nine." She caught James's eye and he winked at her with a grin. This time last year Lily would never have dared to speak aloud or even look directly at anyone else during a final, she had been that prim. So, James almost laughed when she winked back at him.

They had whispered loud enough for several others to hear, including the remaining Marauders, who added their voices to, "Eight."

"Seven."

"Six." They were no longer whispering but spoke in a strong unison. Over half of the room had joined into their countdown, and most of the remaining quiet ones were either still frantically scribbling or Slytherins.

"Five." Less than a handful of students did not speak. They were now a loud chorus that even Professor Binns couldn't remain oblivious to.

"Four!" Even louder.

"Three!" Everyone was in it now, Binns included.

"Two!" Still louder, they were practically shouting.

"ONE!"

Deafening. The bell signalling the end of the exam must have rang, and the papers must have made shuffling noises as they collected themselves, but neither of these sounds could be heard over the jubilant, uproarious cheering of the seventh years that literally shook the Great Hall's many windows.

Somehow, amidst the chaos of screaming, jumping and group-hugging teens, Lily managed to locate her two best friends Alice and Geeta. "Let's Go," she mouthed, knowing that attempting to speak would be futile, "Before someone gets hurt..."

Her two friends silently nodded, and then the three of them maneuvered their way towards the hall's massive wooden doors.

*""*

With their NEWT's finally over, you'd think that the only thing the seventh years would want to do would be to lounge about and relax… but if you did hold this opinion, you couldn't be more wrong. For the Gryffindors at least, the real excitement was not over. Rather, it was about to begin…

This was because of an ancient and sacred Gryffindor tradition, which was as old as the school itself and equally magnificent: the NEWT student's exclusive, don't-stop-till-dawn dorm party that would take place that night.

Now, no one really knew what made this dorm party so much bigger and more infamous than normal dorm parties, but there were as many theories as there were secret passages at Hogwarts:

Perhaps it was because of the rather exaggerated stories about it that younger students had heard from their older siblings… or maybe it was all of the loud and strange noises that could be heard coming from the common room during these parties. Or maybe it was because of that incident in third year, when the younger students had gone downstairs the day after the party to find the seventh years completely wasted, nifflers scurrying about and rapidly collecting the numerous shiny bottles that littered the floor, and the statue of the one eyed witch floating aimlessly over everyone's heads and cackling something about butterflies and the meaning of life.

Lily's personal theory was that the party simply couldn't be as amazing as everyone thought it was, and that the only reason why her friends were so excited about it was that they hadn't been allowed before: The seventh years were always very meticulous about not letting anyone underage in. James's theory was that it was going to be the most diddling awesome experience of his young life.

Either way, right after the History of Magic Exam was finished the only thing that was on any of the Gryffindor seventh year's minds was getting ready. Sirius reminded James and Remus of this by practically pouncing on them as soon as he spotted them, "There you two are! Are you all set to do this?" He looked practically giddy in his glee.

In response, Remus raised an eyebrow, "I'm almost afraid to ask, but all set to do what exactly?"

Sirius rolled his eyes as the three of them exited the emptying hall, "For Wormtail to hit puberty, Moony."

"Very funny, Padfoot. " Remus replied tetchily, adjusting the strap of his book bag, "Now what were – "

"What he meant, Moony," James cut in, "Was are you ready for our little fieldtrip?" He coupled his words with a not-so-subtle eyebrow raise, and Remus caught on, "Ah, that."

But Peter, who had finally managed to find them, was still rather confused at this, "Field trip?"

"Yeah fieldtrip. To pick up some vital supplies for tonight." Sirius said, pulling the map out of his bag and thinking that he was making himself quite clear.

Peter blinked at him, "Supplies?... Are we going camping again?"

The other three boys groaned, "No, Peter!" Remus exclaimed, looking somewhat distressed, "Dear Merlin, no. Never again."

Sirius frowned at the werewolf, "Hang on, I thought you had fun on that trip, Moony! I mean, we had our own little corner of the forest all to ourselves, and spending all that time together really helped us to, er…. bond."

James grinned, "Yup, we really learned some valuable lessons about each other that night. Speaking of which, Remus… have you, er, told Geeta about your unhealthy obsession with Celestina Warback yet?"

A darkish-red colour started to rise up the back of Remus's neck, "I was drunk, Prongs. Singing –"

"It was more belting, actually."

"Alright, belting a Celestina Warback song to a tree-"

"In your boxers."

"Gah! Fine! Belting a Celestina Warback song to a tree in my boxers does not make me obsessed with her!"

Sirius snickered, "Actually Remus, your obsession with Celestina was probably the least concerning development in your behaviour that night."

Remus glowered, "Hey, it was a very feminine looking tree… In the right sort of light, it could totally pass for a girl…"

"Okay, Remmy." James said, grinning, "Okay."

"Whatever lets you sleep at night, Moon-pie," Sirius added, patting Remus on the head.

"Gotta say, though, I really don't envy your taste in women, Remmy. Or in music."

Remus frowned, "Careful, Potter: the full moon's coming up. Don't make me have to disembowel you."

And then they all had to laugh at James's subsequent and dramatic fake death scene. Right after he had finished his final bout of gagging though, Sirius got serious, "Alright guys, we've really gotta go now: we promised to pick up Frank from the station as soon as we could."

James, who had been sprawled on the ground, jumped up at this, and Remus nodded, "Right. Excellent. Anything to get the subject off that night."

"I still don't get what you're so hung up on," Sirius remarked as they made their way to the closest entrance to Hogsmeade, "I think that camping was a perfectly fun experience. You know, until those bleeding gargantuan spiders showed up…"

"Fun? Padfoot, you scarred me for life. I mean, Merlin, I was only fifteen! And there were so. Many. Ducks..."

"Get over it Moony – that night was diddle awesome!"

"And tonight's gonna be even better."

*""*

Well. This is awkward. It's been a while you see, and I don't really remember the protocol for these Author's Note things... So, erm, Hi! How you doin'? Fantastic, I'm doing great as well =]

Ahem. So, this is the Threequel and official conclusion to the Hey Diddle Diddle series, but it's not going to be nearly as long as the first two- only a few chapters. And you don't really have to have read the first two to understand it - all you need to know is that Snape did something terrible, that Lily and James are already together, and that Geeta is a girl who's dating Remus.

Anyways, it's going to be funny! And fluffy! So, I hope you enjoy it, and leave a review if you've the time =]