Hey guys! Not as delayed as I thought it would be! Here it is, Chapter 14. This one is the lead-up to the climax, and is the third last chapter in this little series. We're getting close, and the last two should be out very very soon!

Chapter 14 – Ceremonies and Examinations

Hogwarts remained alive with excitement even into the first day of May with the news of Slytherin's triumphant defeat over Gryffindor. The Slytherin team and any Slytherin practically rubbed it in everyone's face. Even Archie, who usually didn't get involved in such matters, was re-telling the match at any chance he got.

"And then Barnaby Deacon went into a feint and-," Archie began for the umpteenth time as they sat in the Room. His arms were flailing in a dramatic fashion and Lily knew this recount would take several years.

"Arch, please, shut up. We know you're excited but dear god please shut up," Hugo commented without looking up from his Charms notes. Archie swallowed and fell silent.

"We've got that thing tomorrow," Eileen said idly, twirling her pen in her fingers.

"Not just any thing," Lily replied, "it's the anniversary of the end of the Second Wizarding War."

"Shame it's a weekend this year – Rose says when it falls on weekdays they get the whole day off!" Hugo announced as he finished off his Herbology notes.

Lily had quietly hoped for a day off during the week, but alas it did not happen, however next year would be awesome she thought to herself as she continued to stare begrudgingly at her notes, feeling as though she was minutes away from slamming her face into the desk.

"I never feel as though I have any fun," Lily grumbled as she scrunched a piece of parchment into a ball and lobbed it across the room.

"And it's only going to get more difficult," Archie replied, rubbing his eyes.

"Ergh I'm going to bed," Lily slammed her books shut and shoved them roughly into her bag, "I'll see you guys tomorrow for the ceremony."

"Sounds good!" Eileen saluted as Lily stood and left the Room. Luckily for her the room was just a short walk from the Common Room and before she turned the corner to stand in front of the Fat Lady she heard voices, so she froze in position and listened with all her might.

"Zabini, if you have any worries feel free to talk to me," a voice said, in which Lily immediately recognised as Professor Longbottom's.

"I'm fine, Professor, really," Zabini replied dismissively, "just my personal life is a bit crazy at the moment."

"Take care of yourself," Professor Longbottom said and footsteps echoed sounding further and further away. Lily knew she was not out of bounds so she revealed herself and stopped dead when she realised she had wrongly assumed it would be Professor Longbottom. Instead it was a surly looking Zabini.

"Potter! What are you doing?"

"Going back to my common room sir," she replied innocently.

"Hmrph," he grunted and stormed off down the corridor Lily had just come up. What was that about she thought to herself, and then shrugged it off as she climbed through the Portrait Hole into the Common Room.

The commotion in the room was deafening and Lily looked to see what the source of it was. Unsurprisingly James was involved. Lily almost shouted in laugher. Someone, presumably Fred, had transfigured James' left arm into a pigeon's wing. And not a huge wing that would've matched James' proportions – an actual anatomically correct pigeons wing. Lily felt blood as she bit down on her lip to stop herself screaming with laughter as she crept through the crowd to get to the Girl's Dormitory.

"When I find out who did this!" James cried, his wing flapping hilariously. The door closed and the staircase fell silent as Lily climbed to her Dormitory. She threw her bag on the floor, stripped off her shoes and fell onto the bed fully clothed.

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"Lily, we need to go," Lily awoke sharply to someone shaking her gently, and realised it was her roommates. She pulled herself out of bed and realised she was still in her robes. She changed into fresh robes. The sky outside was a hazy grey, nevertheless Lily pulled on her shoes and marched out of the dormitory.

Hugo sat waiting for her in the Common Room, and together the two of them set off with a large group of Gryffindor students to the Great Hall. Lily spotted James' fiery red hair and noticed that his arm had gone back to its original shape and size.

Everyone was acting solemn, which Lily found comforting and proved that even young people still respected the sacrifices that had been made in the Second Wizarding War. People sat at their correct tables today, so Lily and Hugo found a seat sitting across from Holly Sherwood and Gertrude Smith from the Quidditch team.

"Hey Lily!" Holly smiled.

"Hey guys," Lily replied, "what happens today?"

"Well, we go down for the long ceremony and then that's about it really – have the rest of the day off. It's better on a weekday though," Gertrude shrugged.

"Any of your family pass in battle?" Holly asked.

"Yes – our uncle did," Hugo replied, "you?"

"Not in the Battle, but we lost my grandfather in the War," Holly explained, "I never met him."

"Lost my Aunty," Gertrude added, "she passed in the battle. It's shocking what this Voldemort character thought he could do."

They resumed eating in silence until Professor Sprout rose to her feet, "follow your heads of house everyone!" Lily and Hugo waited for Professor Longbottom to lead the Gryffindors from the hall. They walked onto the grounds. The day was unusually cold, and Lily shivered, wrapping her cloak tighter around herself.

"Where are we going?" someone asked.

"The White Tomb," Hugo replied. It was the answer they knew without having to be told. According to her dad, Lily knew Albus Dumbledore was encased in the White Tomb. He was part of the reason her father had succeeded at all, so this made perfect sense to hold it here.

As they approached hundreds of chairs had been set out, and into four quadrants. Professor Longbottom led them to the back right hand side, "back right this year," he called out, "seventh years at the front please and so forth!" Lily and Hugo shrugged and found seats at the very back, but due to their small frames they could barely see anything. From what Lily could make out she could spot several relatives on stage not limited to Uncle Percy, Uncle George and Uncle Ron. Next to Uncle Ron was Aunt Hermione, along with Professor McGonagall. Several other important looking people sat on stage also, wearing official looking robes.

"No sign of your parents," Hugo said as he scanned the platform.

"Dad's probably busy," Lily replied, slightly sad at the fact she would not see the familiar glasses or her mother's glossy red hair.

"True," Hugo said as Professor McGonagall, looking particularly elderly with salt and pepper hair and many withered lines on her face stood and walked up to the podium. The crowd of students immediately fell silent. Some of the older students would've had Professor McGonagall as their headmistress, the rumour being she retired when James Potter II and Fred Weasley II entered the school.

"Good morning students. To those who do not know me, I am Professor McGonagall. I was headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1998 until 2015. From the 2nd of May, 1998 we live in relative peace. But this peace was paid for by hundreds of lives on this day, as it was this day that the great battle of the Seconding Wizarding War was fought. This brutal war lasted for three years, and claimed thousands of lives – both magical and muggles alike – and it is important to come together to celebrate the legacy left to us because of this. Lord Voldemort wanted to divide us, to segregate us, to punish those around us, but Harry Potter fought for freedom, and it is because of him that we stand here today. Thank you."

A round of applause followed her words as she resumed her seat, after her Professor Longbottom took to the podium, smiling at the students around him, "of course you can't give Harry all the credit, especially when he's not here!" a few laughs, mainly from older students, "but Harry was not the only person who helped destroy Lord Voldemort. Destroying Voldemort and his Death Eaters was a team effort, and thus his defeat shows how important teamwork and friendship are."

This went on and on, with basically everyone having their own version of the same speech. Not that she hated her Uncle Percy, but his speech was the most boring of them all. He droned on about the importance of a strong government. Lily noticed that he failed to mention that the Ministry had been taken over by Voldemort in his reign but alas, Lily expected this. As much as Lily respected the Wizarding Wars, even this was drawling on. The sun had emerged from the clouds now, shining down on everyone – and Lily was sweating in her black cloak in direct sunlight. A list of victims from the War was read out after all of the speeches, and this took ages due to the amount of lives lost. Eventually Professor McGonagall and Aunt Hermione laid flowers in front of the Tomb. Lily's eyeballs were sweating out of their sockets and she could feel her skin going as red as a lobster as McGonagall took to the stand again.

"Please remember students, in all the recent chaos lately, we are still united," she declared, "you are dismissed!"

"Thank goodness that's over, I think I sweated a Black Lake," Lily stood up and shook her cloak, trying to use the air to cool herself off.

"Come on, let's see if we can say hi," Hugo said excitedly. The two of them made their way over to the podium while other students were leaving. Hugo pushed through and into his parents who were leaving the podium.

"Mum, Dad, hey-," Hugo began.

"I'm sorry son, we have to head back to work," Uncle Ron said, while ruffling his son's hair in an apologetic way, "we'll see you soon okay?"

"Okay," Hugo grumbled as Aunt Hermione kissed him on the cheek, much to his disgust.

"I love you Hugo," she said to him, "hiya Lily,"

"Hey Aunty Hermione," Lily smiled at them, and they waved as they walked toward the entrance of the school.

"Well, that wasn't exciting as I thought it would be," Lily sighed as she looked at the White Tomb.

"It's better when Dad is here," a voice said and Lily turned to see James smiling at her.

"James! Have your arm back I see?" Hugo smirked.

"Hmmmm," James grumbled, glaring at Fred who was obviously trying to hold back laughter, "anyways have a good day!"

Now that the ceremony in remembrance for the Second Wizarding War was over, many of the students now remembered they had exams to focus on. For the Fifth and Seventh years, this meant their OWLS and NEWTS respectively, while for other students like Lily, it meant her normal exams were fast approaching. Eileen, Hugo, Archie and herself found themselves more than ever studying wherever they could, whether that was in the library or in the Room – trying to cram and remember as much as they could.

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All too soon it was late May and the exams were upon them, "ergh I don't remember anything about Switching Spells!" Hugo cried throwing down his pen indignantly and crossing his arms. It was breakfast time the day before their first exam and they were sitting at the Hufflepuff table.

Lily studied her exam timetable, she felt quietly confident for Transfiguration, she had the whole textbook memorised from her detentions. Transfiguration today, Potions tomorrow, then Astronomy on Wednesday, Herbology on Thursday, Defence on Friday, Charms the following Monday, History of Magic was the last exam.

"Do you reckon tap-dancing pineapples will be in the exam?" Eileen asked, not looking up from A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.

"And I'm sitting here trying to remember the difference between curses, hexes and charms," Archie shook his head.

Lily looked up, grateful for the hundreds of owls to distract them for a couple of minutes and raised an eyebrow when Bandit dropped a letter in front of her and soared off. Lily was bemused; she could not remember using Bandit to send a letter to anyone. She ripped the envelope open and saw her father's handwriting.

Dear Lily,

Sorry we couldn't make it to the ceremony. Duty calls, and the Ministry is very busy at the moment with all this hogwash about the New Death Eaters. Good luck on your exams!

Love,
Mum and Dad.

She smiled and tucked the letter into her books knowing she couldn't bring them into the exam with her. She dreaded the horror of Zabini summoning the letter out of her robes and saying she was cheating in some way, shape or form.

The bell signalled, and aside from a squeak from Eileen the four of them gathered their belongings and made their way toward the classroom in silence. They entered the room and sat down, Lily sweating as Zabini passed, putting an examination paper on her desk and eyeing her ink and quill before moving to the next person. As Lily suspected they had special anti-cheating quills.

Lily turned her paper over, smiling at the questions and began to write. The practical exam in the afternoon was easier than the theory Lily found, despite herself. She was able to transfigure the needle into the matchstick, and transfigure a mouse into a snuff box and smiling with her handiwork she left the classroom with a massive grin on her face.

The potions exam was an okay affair, the unnatural chill in the potions dungeon heightened Lily's nerves, and she felt her hair stand on edge, but other than that she felt she had done alright. While she almost melted her cauldron making her forgetfulness potion, she managed to save it at the last minute and it looked decent. Archie however had a rotten egg smell emerging from his, and Lily winced.

Astronomy was easy enough, the written exam took place at night also but all it contained was 'list the planets of the solar system in order'. The practical component of this exam required you to find the planets and list their co-ordinates. While Lily didn't manage to locate Mercury, she found everything else.

"Dammit what's the last planet?" Hugo asked as they walked back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Neptune," Lily commented.

"Damn," Hugo scratched his head, "I think I wrote Ares or something. Completely off. Astronomy is not my strong point I'll tell you."

Herbology had gone quite well, and while she almost got strangled by a neighbouring venomous tentacula, Lily identified the plants and was able to do all the required tasks. Eileen had easily done the best in this subject; she was quite good at Herbology. She had beat everyone and was waiting in the corner while everyone else finished.

Defence was the one Lily was most nervous for, as she still struggled with the course-work. While she thought she had done okay theory wise, by the time the practical exam rolled around Lily was sweating buckets. She entered the classroom.

"Alright Lily, can you demonstrate red sparks?"

While she still had issues with the spells, she had at least managed it to some extent. Harry's technique about 'coming from within' had worked. She walked from the classroom with a cautious grin.

The weekend came and went, with everyone practically burying their faces in their books and then Monday rolled around. Charms was another course Lily struggled with. However she had found the examinations relatively easy. She answered every question on the theory, and then able to cast every charm, even Wingardium Leviosa which had given her so much trouble.

Lucky last was History of Magic, and to be honest Lily didn't really care. This exam was only theory based so Lily found herself making up names and dates, only feeling okay with the modern history section on the Wizarding Wars that Binns had covered briefly. She tapped her foot impatiently, and as the bell signalled she raced out of the exam hall with Hugo, Eileen and Archie and fled into the grounds, flopping on the ground.

"I think I stuffed up the dates," Eileen rung her hands in frustration, "The self-stirring cauldron creation date – I put 1899 but I know that's wrong!"

"Well I completely stuffed the Astronomy exam," Hugo added, "seriously, Ares, what was I thinking?"

Hugo and Eileen continued to stress about what they stuffed up, but Lily and Archie could barely care less. They looked at each other and sniggered.

"Relaxation!" Archie cried to pull them out of it, stretching out on the grass near the lake.

"No," Lily replied, "now the work begins."

"What work?" Hugo asked.

"We need to find out what my dad is up to," Archie said, understanding immediately, "let's get to it."

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"James," Lily said. Her brother was sitting quietly in the common room, going over notes. He looked up at Lily's call.

"Yes?" he asked, looking up from his notes. Lily smirked when she saw that he had written in the margins stuff like 'this is stupid' and 'professor binns is a bin' and also 'wasting my time circa 2020'.

"I need to borrow it," Lily stated, "the time has come."

Without saying a word, James reached into his pocket and pulled the Map out, "'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' opens it, and 'mischief managed' wipes it. You hold a great responsibility now," James replied as he handed it over.

"Thank you," Lily said and James nodded once, returning to his notes. She met up with Hugo in the corner and held out the Map.

"We're going to use this to find out what he's up to?" Hugo asked incredulously.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Lily said smugly and at once lines began to appear on the map as if it had been stained with ink, slowly but surely these lines formed the castle, and then names appeared moving around the Map.

"There's us," Lily pointed at the Gryffindor Tower and at the two names that read 'Lily Potter' and 'Hugo Weasley'.

"Whoa," Hugo replied, his eyes widening, "this was your dads?"

"Apparently my granddad and his friends, including Teddy's dad, made this," Lily replied, "amazing hey?"

"Yeah," Hugo nodded, thoroughly impressed, "I can't wait to show Archie and Eileen."

"We start tomorrow," Lily said, wiping the Map and placing it in her robes. She stared out of the darkened window, able to make out the light in Hagrid's cabin in the distance. Possibly in a few weeks Theodore Nott was going to be walking across those grounds to steal the wand. The time to put their plan into action was now.

iamthebest, my response to your review may be gone for now, but it'll be going back up at the end.