June 10
The end of the year exams were cancelled; Wen looked ready to cry. The rest of us praised Dumbledore and threw celebrations in secret for a week. After all the excitement, things had settled down once more. I spent the remainder of the year trying to make sense of it all. I sometimes thought about talking to Harry about what I knew and what I had done. Till this day, however, I have never told a soul. Prieste and I started spending lots of time together. When the end of the year came, we promised to write one another. Wen was going to spend a few weeks with my family and I; she already had so many adventures planned before we even left for the Summer.
June 19
On my last day I said farewell to my classmates and teachers. On the train ride home, boxed in a compartment with my closest friends, I fell asleep. I dreamed of darkness. I saw shadow figures and heard howling wolves. I dreamed of spinning clocks and prison cells. When Prieste shook me awake, I felt cold and frightened. "You okay?"
I nodded, the feelings of dizzy terror beginning to drift away. "I'm fine." I stood up and walked with Wen and Prieste onto the platform. I hugged Wen goodbye and then Prieste and I stood for a minute in silent. "Home." He yawned. I looked up at him. He leaned in, planting a kiss on my lips. His parents had arrived to take him home. We said our goodbyes and I watched him leave. The clock chimed. I picked up my bag and Gwen's cage and walked out of the station to find a Taxi cab. I slid in the black vehicle and directed the driver to my address. When I arrived inside the cold, dark house, I pulled out a photo of myself that had been taken this Christmas out in the Clock tower courtyard. "67 more days, I whispered to myself. "67 more days till I'm home again."