You can thank the girls who inspired Lanie and Rossalene for this one.
Staring down at the final question of my History of Magic exam, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. I was so close to being done, and I was ready to finish up this nearly-disastrous school year and move on.
"Five minutes left," called the examiner, the same woman who had tested me for my Defense Against the Dark Arts practical- and, realizing I had been looking at the question and not taking in a word of it, read the blocky script.
In your opinion, was the attack that began the giant wars of 1878-1884 necessary or could it have been stopped? Give your reasons for this and a possible counterclaim.
I've got this, I thought.
I had just finished writing about how the Minsk mountain tribe of giants could have compromised with the tribe of the Madona range, handing over Minsk territorial rights to the mountain ranges there instead of going to war to defend their land, when the greying blonde witch called: "Time's up! Quills down, and no talking."
I twisted in my chair to catch Brooklyn's eye. We grinned in relief. Our O.W.L.s were over, and we wouldn't have to worry about them until July.
Before we were dismissed, however, Headmaster Fourier took the witch's place. He smiled at us and congratulated us on making it through our O.W.L.s, then said, "And you have each planned celebrations in the commons, yes?"
We all murmured yes and nodded.
He clapped. "Well, congratulations. Enjoy your festivities."
The party in the common room was wildly entertaining. Someone put on music by the Weird Sisters, an oldies band, and cleared part of the commons of chairs to create a dance floor. The thumping beat echoed through the alcoves as I danced with Lanie, Shawnee, and Lynne; ate a little bit of everything vegetarian from the feast that the house-elves brought up; drank butterbeer and nibbled on Honeydukes chocolate; and chatted with my friends. The party went on until nearly midnight, when Professor Brocklehurst burst in and ordered us all to bed immediately.
The end-of-the-school-year dance was Thursday, and I spent the morning playing Quidditch with my friends. The match was boys vs. girls: Nick, Nate, Will, Eli, Conor, Jay, and Marshall (who was decent for apparently rarely having played before) in the respective positions of Seeker, Keeper, Beaters, and Chasers versus Lanie, Kayla, me, Lyndsay, Helen, Brooklyn, and Lynne in the same order. Shawnee, Millie, Melody, Faye, Pedro, and a bunch of our other friends watched from the stands, cheering for whichever team they chose. After we straggled off the field (girls narrowly winning after a miracle few saves by Kayla), we went up to the dormitories to get ready.
I wore my (relatively) new dress robes, and Lynne did my makeup, but for that dance I left my frizzy brown hair down. Because of this, I didn't look faelike. I looked like me. (Albeit, a prettier me than normal. But me nonetheless.)
The banners in the Great Hall had been turned light lilac. The candles emitted soft golden auras, sending the whole Hall into a sparkling golden light. But otherwise it looked rather like the setup of the Christmas Ball, with the many tables and chairs and the shining dance floor.
We flooded in, choosing tables at which to sit. The tables could seat eight instead of four, so I sat with Brooklyn, Rossalene, Leja, Lanie, Shawnee, and Lyndsay. The seat on my left remained empty.
"Hello," Headmaster Fourier said grandly, sweeping his arms out. "Welcome to the End-of-Year Ball."
Cheers whistled through the entire Hall.
"I expect you're hungry," Headmaster Fourier went on. "As this dance came on with very little notice, the house-elves of the kitchens have created a feast, but not a personalized one. Our deepest apologies, but… enjoy!"
Food appeared on the tables, and I tucked in to a large dish of vegetarian shepherd's pie. Dessert brought chocolate cake and treacle tarts, and together we cleared the table of these- myself, Brooklyn, Lanie and Leja finishing off most of the former while the rest ate mostly the latter. When everyone was full and the food was gone, Nick appeared at my side, slipping into the empty seat beside me as the musicians- the same group of seventh-years who had played at the last ball- struck up a jaunty tune and couples moved onto the dance floor. Among them I spotted Lynne and Johnny, Matt and Cher, Tommy and Juliet, Austin and Kit, and Brooklyn and Kian (who had grown closer over the past few weeks).
"Go!" hissed Rossalene, nudging me pointedly between my shoulder blades.
I blushed. Nick smiled and held out his hand wordlessly. I took it, smiled back, and led him onto the dance floor, where we joined the dancing pairs in the bouncy two-step.
One song passed. Two. Three. I lost myself in the music and in Nick's arms, but at the same time I was aware of Nick's friends and my own watching us approvingly, even as they danced as well. Nick too must have felt the weight of so many eyes upon us, because he suggested, "D'you fancy a walk?"
It was a cool, clear night, but after five minutes of walking calmly around the gardens talking and holding hands, Professor Zeller came to find us and told us that we had to come back in.
"You're welcome to walk around the school," she said with an apologetic smile. "It's just that there are rumors of acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest, and they're supposed to come out at night." Her blue eyes twinkled merrily, and she added, "We've made it through this year so far with no casualties. I wouldn't want two lovebird students to get eaten walking around at night." Patting her flyaway grey braid to make sure it didn't come loose thanks to the night breeze, she went back inside and we followed her.
She went back to the Hall, but we didn't; wandering around and continuing our hushed conversation- speaking of friends, exams, family, and our summer plans- we stumbled upon an empty classroom from which odd sucking noises were emanating. Exchanging glances, we pushed open the door and stepped in.
"Oh." I turned away. The noises were coming from Tommy and Juliet- apparently, the room wasn't empty after all- who were snogging in the center of the room. They were so wrapped up in kissing each other that they didn't even notice us enter.
"If we can't stop them," Nick said, and I turned to look at him, "which I'm not about to try, I guess we'd better join them." Then he placed his hands on the sides of my face, drew me close, and- before I could even react- kissed me.
Fireworks sparked in my brain, my senses exploding with giddiness, and I threw my arms around Nick's neck- not caring about sense or other people seeing me- and kissed him back.
One of Nick's hands worked its way into my hair, clutching the back of my head through the curls, and the other dropped to the small of my back, pulling me closer to him. I relished being near him, kissing him, his lips on mine, sensations I'd never thought I'd feel-
And then he broke away, probably needing air. We stared at each other for a moment, blocking out Tommy and Juliet, my green eyes boring into his turquoise ones and vice versa, before I smiled and kissed him again.
*unnaturally girlish squeal*