Chapter 29

Gail didn't have to attend the Arithmancy exam on Friday, to her relief. This meant that she had three days to review for Transfiguration. She would be able to pass the Care of Magical Creatures exam easily, and her other two exams, Potions and Astronomy, were unimportant. After studying with Lily all week, she found it was a nice change to sit in the library by herself. She had spent a good chunk of the morning reviewing, and was starting to get slightly peaky. As she got up from her chair, Gail accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry," Gail muttered, she briefly noted that the person smelt akin to the cupboard where all of the quidditch brooms were kept. Gail's dark brown eyes shot up. Staring down at her was a mildly intriqued James Potter.

"S'fine," he groaned, taking a few steps back. Gail was a little speechless, she hadn't talked to him in months. Gail had hardly even noticed his existence. She wasn't even sure she'd forgiven him.

"How long were you standing behind me?" Gail asked suspiciously, her dark eyes narrowing to glare at the messy haired teenager.

"Er... well, I was going to tap you on the shoulder," James said slowly, pointing to the animagus notes that had been hidden in her transfiguration textbook, "but you were busy reading."

"You want them back?" Gail asked shortly, holding them out for him to take. James held out both hands for her to stop.

"No, that's fine. You need them," James shifted suddenly, "look, can we go somewhere and talk?"

"No," Gail shot him down. Her lips pursed in a scowl.

"I promise I won't hex you," James said quietly, "I'll even give you my wand..."

"Hand it over then, and we can talk," Gail stuck her hand out expectantly. James fished around in his pockets for a moment before extracting his wand. He carefully placed it in Gail's hands. Gail noted that the wand didn't feel as comfortable at all. His wand was much too flimsy, compared to Gail's wand. She stuck the newly acquired wand into her pocket as she followed James out of the library.

Gail didn't even try to catch up to him. She followed him silently as he walked down one corridor and up another. Eventually, he stopped in front of a room and wrenched the door open before walking into it. Gail followed him in and closed the door behind herself. She faintly recalled being in a similar room when Remus taught her how to fight her boggart.

"So talk," Gail said after a few minutes of silence. James had his back to her, "or is it that you have a spare wand kicking around and you're planning on hexing my brains out?"

"No," James said calmly, "look... I misunderstood Moony the time I used levicorpus on you. He was acting strangely and he wouldn't talk... and when we mentioned your name, he would start acting weirder..."

"So that was my fault, how?" Gail stared blankly at James' back, willing him to turn around.

"It's not," James sighed. He seemed to be denying a lot of things, "we thought you had... a problem with him being a werewolf or something... Really, I've never seen him act like that. I'm sorry I hexed you, I was out of line... I lost my temper and, well, I embarrassed you quite badly."

"And you're apologizing now because...?" Gail waited for a moment. James still hadn't turned around, and it was driving her nuts, "you're only sorry because Lily snapped at you yesterday."

James finally swung around. He was completely red in the face, "No. I'm apologizing because I feel bad about it. After all we've done to you... And then Remus said... and then Lily..."

He grabbed a fistful of hair. James had never looked like he was in so much pain before.

"Slow down," Gail said calmly, "now explain about Remus first."

"He's way too good," James laughed sarcastically. Gail noted how similar it was to Sirius' laugh. James continued quietly, "he's been pestering us to apologize to you for months and I really did want to before school was out."

Gail tapped her foot quietly, "and Lily?"

"She said I was no better than the Slytherins..." James released his hair to make a strange gesture, suggesting that such a thing was way off.

"Lily made you feel guilty, too?" Gail would have laughed if James didn't look like he was in pain because of the memory.

"She said she'd rather date the giant squid," James half-whimpered, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses.

Gail snorted, "that's not news, Potter. She's also said she would rather take the whomping willow to Slughorn's party. Personally, I think the giant squid might be better tempered. So if you look at it like that, then she might be thinking better of you."

"Right," James frowned at her for a moment, "how come you always know what to say? You're way too good at talking your way out of things."

Gail just shrugged, "am I free to go now, Mister Potter? Or are you going to force me to listen to you mooning over Lily?"

"Wait," James held up a hand to stop her, "first of all, am I forgiven or do I need to conjure a mass of flowers? Secondly, I'd like my only wand back, please."

"As much as I'd love to say that I'll never forgive you, I think that would be a waste of my time. I don't have a horrible temper or long-term memory, like Lily. I'm just a little bit confused as to why it took you four months to apologize," Gail stated, pulling out James' wand and handing it to him.

"Er... well, I put it off. Sorry about that," James smiled apologetically, before trying to change the topic, "how far have you read in the notes?"

"Maybe a third of the way through them," Gail opened the book and pointed to the page, "it's been a huge help in studying for the Transfiguration exam."

"That's pretty good," James smiled fondly at the notes, "you're progressing faster than Wormtail. I'm sure that he's still not completely confident turning into an animagus."

"How long did it take you?" Gail asked, keeping her voice low as they exited the room.

"Oh, closer to two years. Sirius was faster; he's naturally good at Transfiguration. It's like he understood all of the notes while he was writing them."

"I see... Well, I'm gonna go," Gail said quietly, pointing down the hallway towards the Great Hall. James nodded his head and walked off in opposite direction. Gail decided to keep their conversation to herself. Lily didn't need to know that James had apologized, yet.


Transfiguration was a piece of cake to Gail, who had been studying and memorizing the animagus notes. She was happy to discover that Dirk had been wrong about the Care of Magical Creatures exam. There was only one part on Tuesday morning, and it was as hands-on as the class was. Gail was easily able to impress her examiner with her knowledge on the different creatures, as well as her capabilities. The man had even given her a few bonus marks for explaining the problem of feeding sick, baby unicorns.

"It's unwise to feed the unicorn unless you know what's wrong with it," Gail had explained to the tester, "if it has an upset stomach, a small amount of apple sauce mixed with milk would do. If it was having trouble digesting the food, then it would need some remedial potions and some pitted cherries."

After the Care of Magical creatures exam, Gail was quite glad that she only had two irrelevant exams left. Lily spent most of the afternoon reviewing for Potions. Gail didn't bother, she wouldn't be taking the course even if she passed the exam with an O. Gail was more worried about Astronomy, which would be held at night. There wasn't really any reason for her nerves, though. She was well practised in drawing star charts. It wasn't overly difficult.

All afternoon, Gail was unable to focus on any one task. Lily had eventually shooed her away, saying that she was a distraction to those that were serious about the last few exams. Gail wandered around the grounds by herself for a while, until it started becoming dark outside. It was finally time for her to head to the Astronomy Tower, where the Astronomy exams was scheduled to be held.

Gail was really early, but it didn't matter to her. She claimed one of the good telescopes while she waited for the other students and examiner to arrive. The temperature started to drop as the stars started appearing. This made Gail quite glad that she had decided to wear her warmer school robes. She was still shaking though, more from the butterflies in her stomach. Gail was jerked around by her stomach when the next person arrived.

Remus gave her a sad smile when he reached the top of the stairs. He moved towards one of the telescopes that were far away from her. It took very little for her stomach to plummet back down to normal.

The examiner arrived right on Remus' tails. He looked quite cheerful to see two students arrive so early for the exam. With a flick of his wand, the instructions landed beside each telescope, along with the parchment they were to use during the exam. Students slowly started showing up and claiming the different telescopes. Eventually, the examiner started speaking.

"Read through the instructions to see what you will be mapping tonight. Do your best. You may begin."

Gail quickly read over the instructions, noticing that quite a few of the constellations were listed, along with some important planets and stars. It wasn't overly difficult to map out the constellations, from her memory and by looking at the sky. She felt she had done well enough by the end of the exam.

"Alright, time's up," the examiner called, "it looks like everyone's finished. Well done. Accio."

The examiner gracefully caught all of the exams and held them under his arm before he spoke again, "you may all leave."

Gail stashed her quill and ink away in her bag before slinging it over her shoulder. She joined the flood of students who were eager to leave the Astronomy tower after their exam. She was about to head down the hall way when she felt a hand grab her shoulder and direct her in the opposite direction. The hand was boney, but not all that thin. There was more power behind in hand than Gail thought.

When Gail had stopped being directed down the deserted hallway, she turned around and found Remus looking down at her. He looked quite tired and pale. The full moon must have been a few days before the start of exams.

"Gail, I'm sorry..." Remus started, his voice more hoarse than normal. Had "Moony" been howling a lot?

"For what?" Gail frowned at him, "I was the one that acted like a prat."

"Well, I can't deny that," Remus said slowly, taking a few steps away from Gail, "but it was my fault that Sirius and James thought it would be fun to hex you. For that, I'm sorry. Also, on behalf of Padfoot, who never apologizes for his bad behaviour-"

"Don't start," Gail snapped at him, "or else you'll be talking until you're blue in the face."

The silence between Gail and Remus lasted so long. It was almost as awkward as the time that Remus had told Gail that he was a werewolf. For whatever reason, Gail couldn't read the emotions in his eyes; they seemed rather foreign to her. She wondered for a moment if he was angry at her for something.

"Sorry," Gail said quietly.

Remus' stare lightened, and he looked a little confused, "for what?"

"I called you heartless. It's not true. You're very kind, Remus," Gail said quietly. She could feel her cheeks heat up, so she dropped her dark gaze to the floor in an attempt to hide her blushing cheeks behind her hair. In an instant, she could feel Remus standing closer to her. She could feel the warmth from his chest on her arm. She didn't have the courage to turn her head to look at him, though.

"Gail," Remus whispered into her ear, taking his time in wrapping his long arms around her. He pulled her close into a hug. Gail was encircled with the smell of dark, bitter chocolate, butterbeer and a hint of an earthy smell. Before she knew what she was doing, Gail had closed her eyes and curled up against Remus.

When she came back to her senses, Gail opened her eyes to see Remus smiling at her fondly. He seemed to be enjoying having her cling to him, even if it embarrassed her a slightly. For the first time in her life, Gail couldn't find any words to explain her actions. She really didn't understand what was going on in her own head.

Remus blowed a current of air into her face, "who's a wimp now?"

"That's mean!" Gail cried, playing along with Remus' gentle teasing. Her stomach finally settled and there seemed to be a warmth in her chest that had been missing for months. She wasn't quite sure what the meaning of it all was, but it felt nice. Strangely, she was more relaxed than she had been in six months.

"Sorry, I'll make it up to you," Remus mumbled. His eyes locked on hers for a moment before he leaned his head in.

Just before Remus' mouth could come into contact with Gail's, there was a loud crash in the hallway. Gail jumped and released Remus. His reaction was quite similar, he released Gail from his arms and jumped backwards.

"Fatty Forester and Loony Lupin! FATTY FORESTER AND LOONY LUPEY!" Peeves cackled wickedly, zooming over their heads menacingly, " Looney loopy Lupin LURVES Fatty Forester!" With that, Peeves sped off down the hall, singing his wicked little song as he went.

"One of these days, I'm going to get him," Remus said darkly, watching the poltergeist fly away before he turned back to Gail. He looked half pleased with himself, for some reason, but he was still quite pink in the cheeks.

"Oh?" Gail asked quietly, catching Remus' gaze. He smiled softly before offering his hand.

"If you would? My hands are rather cold..." Remus remarked.

"Hmm... As long as you don't set Potter and Black on me again," Gail joked before taking Remus' pale hand in her own. The two walked back to the common room. They didn't say a thing to each other, instead they spoke through the warmth of their hands.


The next afternoon, Gail completely failed to focus during her Potions exam. She ended up mixing up the ingredients that were supposed to be used in her draught of peace. Near the end, she accidentally used syrup of moon flower instead of syrup of hellebore. She was sure that hers would turn out the worst, as she had completely forgotten to crush her flightstone into a powder. She was also quite sure that she was supposed to have used moonstone, instead.

At the end of the exam, her potion was a deep shade of blue, but at least it was still a liquid. Next to her, Avery was standing over a cauldron of white paste. A few cauldrons in front of her, she could see that Lily's cauldron was emitting a silvery vapour. Gail turned her eyes down to stare at her pitiful potion that was starting to emit puffs of blue smoke.

"This exam is almost over," the examiner called, "please put a sample of your potion in a flask. We will be coming around to mark you."

Gail quickly pulled out a small flask and filled it with her strange, blue potion. She set the flask down in time to find her examiner walking over to her. The woman looked quite young, in comparison to the other examiners.

"Ah, let's see..." The woman glimpsed into Gail's cauldron, her eyes widening, "oh my, I think I'll need to check your records."

The woman's hand shot out and grabbed the piece of parchment that had been charmed to record everything Gail had done. The woman stared down at the list of what Gail had done, "this is the oddest reaction I've ever seen... It's like you weren't even trying for a Draught of Peace..."

At that moment, Gail could have laughed. She really hadn't cared to make the draught at all. She hadn't been paying attention the day they had learned how to brew it in class, and she most certainly didn't review how to make it.

"Hmm..." The witch probed the potion with her wand, inspecting it, "strange, very strange. You may receive some marks simply for making a unique potion, Forester, but I'm afraid we'll have to test it within a few days to see what properties it has... If it does anything at all."

"Sure," Gail responded shortly, "hopefully it's not toxic."

The witch only smiled and whisked the rest of Gail's potion and cauldron away. The examiner added Gail's flask and records to the collection at the front of the Great Hall before turning to Gail, "you may leave now, dear. Well done."

Gail left as quickly as she could, catching up to Lily at the door.

"How do you think you did?" Lily asked her nervously, "I mean, mine had the right effect and-"

"Lily," Gail cut her friend off, "I invented a new potion, apparently. That's just how bad I did. Anyway, how could Sluggy's favourite get anything less than an O?"

That quieted Lily for a few minutes. When she finally opened her mouth again, she questioned Gail, "how bad was it? Grey steam?"

"How about... Blue clouds," Gail joked, "I screwed up at least two of the major ingredients, and who knows about the order."

"It didn't explode, though," Lily said knowingly, "that's one of the common problems. That would have earned you a T."

"To match my T in History of Magic?" Gail smiled at her friend before reaching her arms above her head in a stretch, "at least our last exam is over. Pity the kids in Ancient Runes... They have an exam tomorrow."

"Mmm... Avalon is freaking out about it," Lily agreed lightly, "but she'll do just fine."

Gail and Lily walked side by side all the way up to the common room. Gail, who was worried that her monstrosity of a potion would poison someone, soon forgot all about it. Sitting in the common room were the four marauders. They had taken over the couches next to the fire. Gail only caught a snippet of their conversation while she was walking by.

"Mine was giving off a dull grey steam," Remus was saying, "I think the temperature was too high when I added the syrup of hellebore."

Sirius snorted, "mine turned red and looked like lava. I'm pretty sure it'd have exploded if I stirred it."

"Good job, Padfoot," James was saying as the two girls made for the stairs to the girl's dormitories, "making something volatile enough to blow up the examiners. Sure, you'll get an O."

"Oh, Evans just snuck by with Gail," Peter squeaked when Lily had already run up the stairs. Gail turned around and offered them a small wave before following her.


Author note:

I made the Astronomy exam a little different than the others, where students are free to arrive early for the telescopes that have been positioned in the best spots.

Gail's potion could possibly be the strongest poison every created by a wizard?

I really enjoyed writing the chapter. It was great. The last chapter of their fifth year. -sniff- Did everyone pass their exams? Oh hoh!

Wait and see!
-Rue


The Comment Gallery
Host: Gail Forester
Special Guest: Sirius Black

Gail: Welcome to the Commentery. The big idiot, Sirius Black, is here today. Hey, idiot.

Sirius: What are you saying, woman?

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-Gail kicks him in the face-

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Sirius: Ouch! Fine. Thanks for the review Apocolips. Your support is appreciated.

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Sirius: Sunni... Ooh, yes. Let me help you beat Snivellus up...

-Sirius chases Snape around with a cheese grater-

Gail: Ahahaha! My Peter impression is a secret, okay? Thanks. You are cool, unless you pay over $300 for a piece of wood that's been made to look like a wand. For that kind of money, I want to see a movie prop of some sort. Daniel... Mmmm...

Sirius: Or one with real unicorn hairs in it.

-Gail smacks Sirius-

Gail: Well, the next review is from Musik Drache. Yes, Rue is a doomy author, and yes, poor me!

Sirius: What's a computer?

Gail: It's muggle technology. I should have Arthur come here, sometime.

Sirius: -deadpan- That would be fun.

Gail: Our last review is from Angel of Apathy.

Sirius: There should have been a chapter on MY worst memory. It would have been way more entertaining than reading about that slimy git, Snivellus.

Gail: Oh, I'm sure. Rue said she always thought that there should have been more chapters showing the marauders... Or maybe a whole book on 'em.

Sirius: Wait... Impressions?

-Sirius glares at Gail-

Gail: Ho-hum, no clue what they're talking about. heheee~

Sirius: . . .

Gail: That's all the time we have today! Go visit Rue's profile for a new poll! See you next chapter!