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The next morning, the whole school was buzzing with rumors about Professor Rainhill's accident. As promised, James and his roommates had not told anyone what had happened in Dumbledore's office, but people began to speculate when the word leaked out that Madam Pomfrey had sent Rainhill to St. Mungo's Hospital during the night. According to the matron, he had supposedly slipped into a deep slumber and did not appear likely to wake anytime soon; in fact, many believed he would never fully recover.

"At his age, he's gone for good," Frank told Dill and Frederick on their way out of Hogwarts through the front gate, where Filch was checking off the exiting queue of students using a list stretching to his feet. "If Madam Pomfrey couldn't cure him, it must be serious."

"I don't reckon he minds his predicament much," Dill replied. "It'll be like a dream come true; just think, a lifetime of endless sleep!"

Behind him, James exchanged knowing glances with his roommates as they passed Filch and continued on the road up to the place where the Hogwarts Express would be waiting for them. As a few seventh-year students ran ahead of them, laughing and kicking up the dirt like ecstatic first-years, Sirius waved and called out to his cousin.

"Hey, how did your N.E.W.T.s go?" Sirius asked, and Andromeda tossed her wavy, dark hair out over her shoulder as she turned around with a beam.

"Oh, I won't get the results back until later this summer," she told him, but she continued to smile brightly. "I think I did pretty well though, excepting maybe Astronomy."

"So what are you planning to do?" Remus inquired curiously.

"I have no idea!" she replied happily. "I think I'll play around with a few ideas before settling down on anything. How did you do on your exams?" she asked, addressing Sirius.

"Oh, fine enough," he answered unconcernedly, shrugging.

Smiling knowingly, James glanced at the others; traveling back to the night before, he recalled when they had returned to their dormitory to find notices on their four-posters revealing their exam scores. Although Sirius did not seem concerned about his grades, he had scored impressive scores in nearly every subject, his best grades being in Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Nearly mirroring Sirius, James had earned high marks in everything except Potions, which he had barely managed to pass after his questionable performance during the exam. However, his Transfiguration score more than made up for his Potions one, and he had even received a short note from Professor McGonagall praising him for his excellent work. Remus had earned high scores in all of his exams, reflecting on his hours of diligent studying, but Peter had failed to procure even a remotely noteworthy mark in any of his subjects; James suspected the only thing keeping him from failing altogether was the automatic pass they had all received in Herbology due to the early termination of their exam.

Sighing nostalgically, Andromeda placed her hands on her hips and gazed back at the Hogwarts castle. "It feels almost wrong, leaving Hogwarts. Enjoy your time here while you can; you'll be saying goodbye to the school before you know it." Turning back to Sirius, she smiled and extended her arms. "Can I get a hug? This will be the last time we'll see each other before the summer." Grunting, Sirius grudgingly allowed her to embrace him before pushing her away again. "See you later, cousin!" she announced, jogging off to join her friends.

As she headed off, James and the others continued the rest of the way to the Hogwarts Express talking amongst themselves and laughing about the surprising outcome of the House Cup, which had ended in a near tie between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. The latter had pulled ahead by under 50 points, causing a considerable amount of tension between the two Houses on the last evening of term. On the whole, James felt a great deal less disappointed than he had at first at the probability of not winning the Cup, and he had decided to revel in Slytherin's loss with the rest of his House.

When they reached the platform holding the scarlet-painted Hogwarts Express, James and his friends waved at the bulky form of Hagrid, who stood commandingly over the milling students as a temporary chaperone. Waving back briefly, the oversized man flashed a quick smile before catching himself and turning back to his duties, herding a group of first-year Ravenclaws into a nearby car. Tilting his head, James waited until they had drawn a little nearer before calling out to him.

"Hi, Hagrid!" he greeted, and the gamekeeper gave him a quick, friendly glance before looking away again. "What are you doing?" James asked, glancing around the platform.

"Just getting' everyone settled into the train safely," Hagrid answered distractedly. "Sorry I can't stop an' talk to yeh properly, but I 'ave ter make sure everyone gets inside."

"Why, didn't Filch already count everyone?" James inquired.

"I suppose that 'e did," he replied, and he flushed beneath his beard. "To tell yeh the truth, I just want ter take better care with my duties before reburbishin' the grounds over the summer. Professor Dumbledore 'ad a talk with me yesterday, and apparently 'e 'ad a bit o' trouble with his office the other day—'e 'ad ter ask me ter be a bit more careful with his passwords."

Waving him goodbye, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter trotted into the crowd of students and climbed aboard the methodically puffing train. After having lugged Hardwin's cage safely inside, James helped the others up before walking down the length of the train's interior. Searching for an empty compartment, he and his friends were passed by a group of older Slytherins, but they stopped when Lucius Malfoy stalled long enough to turn and address them.

"I heard Professor Rainhill's permanently out of commission," he told the four, a twisted smile curving his lips. "I guess we'll never find out what happened to him."

"If you try any more tricks next year, you'll be out of commission, too," James snarled, undaunted by his confident grin. "You got lucky this time, but you won't get away so easily again."

"And what makes you say that?" Malfoy drawled, still smiling infuriatingly.

"You can't do anything while Professor Dumbledore's around," Sirius responded, crossing his arms. "He's going to keep an eye on you from now on, and so are we."

"But that's just the thing," Malfoy drawled unconcernedly, turning around with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I know you are."

Shuddering as he stalked away, Peter commented, "He reminds me of a snake."

"We'll have to watch him next year," Remus agreed, nodding. Surprised, James turned to look at him.

"Really?" he asked. "Aren't you going to complain about how we should be minding our own business?"

"Well, we can't get any more engaged than we were yesterday," Remus defended himself, but Sirius nudged him in the ribs.

"You want to spy on him?" he prodded jokingly.

"I mean, he's obviously not trustworthy—"

"Are you telling us to break school rules?" Sirius added.

"As long as we're just keeping an eye on him, we're not disobeying any rules—"

"Hey, mates, I think he's feeling mischievous!" Sirius announced to the others.

"Oh, forget it!" Remus finally exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air and walking to an empty compartment.

On the journey back home, the four passed the time by playing several rounds of Exploding Snap and sharing bags full of pumpkin pasties and Chocolate Frogs, which they bought from the trolley witch when she passed by the door. Together they recounted the events of the past year and joked about their plans for their return, and James and Sirius promised to both trap Peeves in an enchanted bottle and install a lift traveling directly up to their dormitory from the bottom of Gryffindor Tower. Only with much persuading from Remus did they agree to forgo their idea to string Mrs. Norris up by her tail at the top of the Astronomy Tower, seeing as Filch seemed to possess an uncanny connection to his pet and would probably sniff out the perpetrators before they had even finished the job. Despite the changing colors of the sky outside, the trip back to King's Cross Station somehow seemed much shorter than the journey to Hogwarts at the start of the school year, and soon enough the Hogwarts Express had left the towering mountains behind in favor of a sparsely-populated countryside.

Saddened by the inevitable separation from his friends, James slowly lowered his suitcase from the overhead rack as the train chugged to a halt at its final destination. Grabbing Hardwin's cage while the Screech owl hooted disdainfully, he trooped out with his roommates onto the smoky platform and glanced around. To their right, Frank emerged from the train and waved at them as he set off into the crowd.

"See you next year!"

"Take care!" the others responded, waving as he disappeared. For a moment afterwards, the air around them seemed to thicken with unsaid goodbyes as they quieted and stared at the stream of departing students.

"Well, this is it, I suppose," Sirius eventually broke the silence, and they all nodded solemnly.

"It'll be September before we know it," Remus added, voicing the others' thoughts.

"Oh, there's my mum!" Peter exclaimed suddenly, pointing to a frantically waving, heavyset woman with a flower-print scarf. Gripping his suitcase, he waved back and paused just before hurrying off. "See you guys later!"

As he rushed off, James turned to Sirius and Remus and crossed his arms. "We have to meet up during the summer; I won't be able to wait until the school year starts again! You won't forget to write, will you?"

"Of course we'll write," Remus agreed, but he broke off suddenly as he glanced to the side and spotted an attractive couple with smiling faces. "Write back!" he told his friends before skipping towards the pair and hugging them in greeting.

Sighing as he watched, James considered introducing himself to Remus' parents but decided against it when the beaming woman began conversing excitedly with her son. Glancing around, he saw Dill jump off the train and run into the waiting arms of a welcoming couple standing at the front of the crowd. To the right, Hillary darted off into the throng of eagerly waiting parents while Alice stood talking with Lily for a moment longer. As he continued to look in their direction, James suddenly noticed a pair of dark eyes studying the girls from a short distance away, and he pulled his wand out before Snape could react.

"Hey, Snivellus!" he called out, making the tweedy boy start in surprise. Taking a step closer, James twirled his wand in his hand while Sirius stood by his side and crossed his arms. "We know what you made for Malfoy over the school year, and you'd better watch your step. If you have a hand in another illegal experiment, we'll find you out."

Eyeing him with distaste, Snape sneered, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Taking yet another step, James responded, "Don't tell me you never even gave a thought to why Malfoy needed a potion as powerful as the Draught of Living Death. Even you're not that clueless." Briefly, something resembling fear flashed in Snape's eyes, and he took a step back.

"We'll be watching you," Sirius threatened. "One wrong move and we'll have you lying in the hospital wing before you can get Professor Slughorn to pat you on the back." Glancing around for an escape route, Snape fingered his robes' pockets for his wand as James and Sirius advanced.

"What are you doing?" a voice suddenly cried out, and Lily stepped forward from where she and Alice had been standing a moment before, her hands on her hips. Immediately placing his wand back in his pocket, James grinned at her.

"We were just talking about the weather," he lied, putting his palm out. "It's going to rain, don't you think?"

"If you bother Severus one more time, I'm going to tell the professors," Lily threatened.

Unimpressed, Sirius leaned on one foot and replied, "You know, I think Snivellus Greasy can fight his own battles."

Glaring angrily, Snape retorted, "Whenever you think you can do the same, I'd like to see one of you without the other to back you up."

"Sev!" Lily exclaimed, and he turned away with a final glower. Throwing a vicious look over her shoulder, she did the same and vanished into the crowd after him.

Now alone with Sirius, James turned back to face him, but his friend had let out a sigh as he stared further down the platform; following his gaze, James spotted a crisp-featured, sharply-dressed couple with Sirius' same dark hair staring impatiently at the Hogwarts Express, the woman's hand resting on a small boy's shoulder in front of her.

"I have to go," Sirius mumbled, picking up his suitcase. As he started to walk away, James grabbed his shoulder.

"Remember to get permission to visit," he told him. "I won't take no for an answer."

Looking back at him, Sirius allowed a smile to brighten his face. "Will do," he answered. "Merlin, I'll even use the Imperius Curse on them if I have to."

Breaking into a grin, James let go of his shoulder so he could turn away and walk after his family. Staring after him, he let his thoughts envelop him until a familiar voice jolted him out of his reflections.

"James?"

Turning around, James jerked Hardwin's cage off of the ground a little too suddenly for the owl's liking before dropping it again after a few short steps and launching into his mother's arms. Grasping her happily before letting go and greeting his father, he did not speak until he had let go of them again.

"I've missed you so much!" his mother exclaimed, hugging him once more and kissing the top of his head. Satisfied, James sniffed the familiar, welcoming scent of her gray hair. "The house was too quiet without you," she told him.

"So how was your first year?" his father asked interrogatively, his arms folded jauntily over his chest.

"Brilliant!" James answered excitedly. "There's so much I need to tell you!"

"Did you already say goodbye to your friends?" his mother inquired.

Grinning to himself, James looked back at the Hogwarts Express puffing in the bright afternoon sun. "Yeah. There's going to be a lot of people visiting us during the summer."

Thank you and congratulations for making it to the end of this book! If you want to continue following the story of James and his friends, please check out James Potter and the Lost School!