Chapter 26: Going Home

On the second week of June, the exam results came out as usual. Rose decided to look at hers with Bunny, Galaxy and Serena, and they met outside the lake, sitting under the same tree under which Snape had once been flipped upside down in front of Lily Evans. Rose was the first to arrive at their meeting place, nervous about finding out what her grades were. What if she had failed something or, even if she had passed everything, wasn't as good as her mother? Would her parents be disappointed in her? She heard someone approaching and looked up. Galaxy, Bunny and Serena were there, and Scorpius was with them too.

"I brought him along because I thought we could cheer him up. He just found out he's still not allowed to go home for the holidays," Galaxy announced.

"I don't WANT to go back to that evil Manor! I'm glad I get to stay with the Potters!" Scorpius snapped defiantly, but Rose could still see that there were tears in his eyes.

"What kind of parent wouldn't let his own son come home for the summer?! I'm glad my parents aren't wizards, if they're that cruel to their own children," Serena declared.

"Please don't think all wizards are like my evil father. The Potters are wonderful people to let someone like me stay with them," Scorpius pleaded.

"Let's open our grades now! I know I was one of the best in the Flying test!" Galaxy bragged. She was the first to open the envelope and she squealed excitedly. "I knew it! I got a perfect in flying!"

"And in Defense Against the Dark Arts, too," Bunny added, as Galaxy showed her grades to everyone. Unfortunately, those were the only two classes Galaxy had scored high in; she was barely able to pass most of the others. Bunny was the next to open her envelope. She had passed Charms with flying colors, and most of her grades were at least a little better than Galaxy's, although she had failed at Potions and barely passed her Herbology exam. Serena and Scorpius looked at their grades next. Serena had scored the highest in Astronomy, which she had paid extra attention to ever since she became a werewolf, and History of Magic was her worst subject. Scorpius's best classes were Defense Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic. Not surprisingly, he had completely failed at Flying, since he had never been able to stay on a broomstick for more than a few seconds without either falling off or it throwing him into the air. Rose was the only one in the group left, and she nervously open her envelope. She began to cry when she saw the results.

"How could I have failed Charms?! That was always one of my mother's best subjects!" Rose wailed.

"You didn't fail it, see, you passed. It's better than I did, at least," Galaxy pointed out cheerfully.

"You don't understand, I failed because I'm sure Mum and Dad will be disappointed in me. I'm sure they expect me to have better grades than even Mum did since I'm a Ravenclaw," Rose sniffled.

"Did they actually say that to you? That you're expected to get better grades than your Mum? Because if they didn't, maybe they'll just be proud of the things you are good at. And I saw you in Flying class, you were one of the best there, too. I'm sure you could join the Ravenclaw Quidditch team when they get an opening," Galaxy reassured her, "Just like I know I'm going to try out for the Gryffindor team next year. They're going to need at least one new Chaser since this is Elmer Duff's last year."

"Thank you, Galaxy," Rose said. She did like the idea of joining the Quidditch team someday. She did like flying, and she had done fairly well when she had played informal games with her cousins.

"Hey, it's someone's kitty! Does it want to play with your Pygmy Puff?" Galaxy giggled, noticing a black kitten was running up to them. Rose did have Candy with her, the pink Puff was sitting on her lap.

"That's Daisy's kitten," Rose realized. Sure enough, Daisy ran up next, obviously chasing the kitten. She was able to catch Steven when he stopped to creep up on Rose's Pygmy Puff.

"Hi, Daisy! Do you want to sit with us? We were just looking at the grades we got on the tests," Galaxy offered cheerfully. Daisy stared coldly at Rose, ignoring Galaxy.

"Watch your Pygmy Puff, Weasley. I've seen animals in this place that could eat it," she stated sternly.

"Is that a threat? Are you threatening to have your cat attack her pet?!" Serena growled.

"No. Just a general warning. That pink puff thing looks weak," Daisy replied coolly, and she walked off, carrying her kitten.

"She better not tell that cat to attack your Pygmy Puff. If she does, I'll send my attack Pom on it. Even Jessica could take on that kitten," Serena snarled.

"It really wasn't a threat, Serena, I think she was trying to help. I know some of the other animals people own here could easily eat Candy, especially the owls. And her kitten has tried to pounce on Candy before," Rose said, defending Daisy's cold lecture. True, Daisy was cold and unfriendly, but Rose didn't think she was evil or would purposely turn her kitten into an attack cat.

It wasn't long until the end of the Hogwarts school year, and that evening, the students all gathered in the Great Hall, most of them curious to find out who had won the House Cup. This year, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were both strong contenders, especially since Hufflepuff had won the Quidditch Cup, a rare occurence. The rubies in the Gryffindor hourglass were depressingly low, and more than a few people shot glares at David Longbottom, who had been the reason many of those points had been lost.

"Maybe someone did something in secret and Gryffindor will get a bunch of points at the last minute," James whispered to Galaxy and Scorpius, "You never know. Dad and his friends did that in their first year."

"Everyone, as you know, the Hogwarts Express will take you back to your homes soon. It's been an interesting first year for me, since I just became Headmistress last September. And I know everyone is waiting to hear the results of the House Cup competition." Samantha Rain paused in her speech, and then took out a piece of parchment. "In fourth place is Gryffindor, with only 315 points. Third place goes to Slytherin, with 424 points. It was quite a tough call between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, who were quite competitive in Quidditch this year. Hufflepuff has 497 points and they have won the Quidditch Cup. However..."

"This is where she's going to give me those extra points. I saved her toad from a fiery death a few weeks ago," James whispered confidently.

"While you were in her office for pranking Professor Quigley," muttered his cousin Dominique.

"Ravenclaw has won the House Cup, with a total of 499 points!" Samantha Rain finally cheered as blue and bronze banners were unfurled, decorating the Great Hall. She presented the House Cup to Professor Sprite, who blushed as she took it.

"But I rescued your toad!" James protested loudly, although he was barely heard over the cheers of both the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs, who had been very close contenders.

"Forget it, James, you'll have to do a lot better than that if you want to live up to Uncle Harry," Dominique commented, rolling her eyes at him.

The next day, the Hogwarts Express brought all the students back to London, where they would all go their separate ways for the summer. Harry and Ginny were waiting with Lily, and so were Ron, Hermione, and Hugo. Rose nervously looked at her parents; she hadn't heard from them since she sent a letter home with her exam results. Were they disappointed in her?

"We're so proud of you, Rose. You not only scored high on the exams, but you also helped your house win this year's Cup," Hermione greeted her with a hug.

"I was surprised when you were sorted into Ravenclaw, but now I'm sure that's the best place for you," Ron agreed. Rose looked at her parents in disbelief.

"Really? Even though I didn't score as high as you did on the exams, Mum?" she wondered.

"That just shows you're related to your father too," Hermione teased, poking Ron gently. However, Ron seemed to ignore her, as he was watching where Scorpius had joined with the Potters.

"I should apologize to the little Malfoy. I was wrong about him being a bad kid, Harry obviously trusts him to be a good friend for James," he noted thoughtfully, "No matter what he looks like, he's not at all his father."

"Come on, Scorp!" James said as he pulled the blond boy into the muggle car next to him, "Let's get into Dad's stuff again this summer. I promise you won't have to look into the Pensieve this time. I remember hearing Uncle George saying something once about a special map he gave Dad, maybe we can find it." And though they had left Hogwarts behind for the summer, they had not left behind their adventures.