This chapter is dedicated to PSay, for sticking with this story and always being a good critic. Thank you, PSay.

NEWTS and Quidditch – and Odd Combination

'Do you realise that these exams effect whether or not we get into University?' cried Olivia for the fifteenth time that day. The grades didn't matter so much to James, as there isn't much use for Charms while on a broomstick, but he knew that he couldn't play Quidditch all his life, and the NEWTs might change what he did after Quidditch.

James sighed and stared sleepily at the huge stack of books in front of him. It was exactly a week until his NEWTs, and three weeks until the Quidditch House Cup, and his life had never felt so full. Sighing, he reached forward and pulled the topmost book All About Astrology towards him. He was surrounded by seventh years and fifth years, all cramming until they could cram no more.

As he tried to remember the positions of Orion, Pegasus, Sagittarius and what felt like countless others, his eyes began to droop. Slowly, his head lolled and his eyes closed. The book fell from his hand and he was asleep.

A few hours later he jerked awake, and winced at the crick in his neck. His watch said it was one minute past midnight. He groaned and stood up, stretching. The Common Room was empty, the fire burned down to glowing embers. He picked up the Astrology book and replaced in on the pile.

'I'll read it in the morning,' he muttered, stumbling upstairs to bed and collapsing, fully clothed, on top of his covers.

OOO

The next day was Tuesday. Lessons started at eight thirty – Transfiguration first, then Charms. Lunch next with a free period after, in which he and some other seventh years revised more. Defence Against the Dark Arts was after the free period, and they were struggling through some difficult spells. At five o'clock it was an hour of Quidditch practice, and Duelling Club from six until supper. After supper he revised more until eleven pm, when he went to bed and fell asleep.

'I'm telling you,' said Max the next morning as they blearily got dressed. 'People are going to collapse with exhaustion soon.'

'Felicity has,' said James, pulling some mismatching socks on. 'She threw her books across the Common Room and started wailing about how she didn't care anymore. I think she spent the night in the Hospital Wing – they gave her a Calming Potion.'

'They should give her daily Calming Potions,' replied Max, and they smirked at each other, trying not to laugh. 'Come on, let's go and cram.'

Every day seemed to pass the same as Tuesday, and they all went far too quickly. All of a sudden it was the evening before the first exam day (Transfiguration) and the tension among the NEWT and OWL students had risen to panic. Max was scribbling on some bits of parchment, trying to test himself, while Alexia was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling and chanting facts under her breath. Olivia was sitting alone in the corner – people had learnt long ago not to disturb her when she was revising, as you would be lucky to come away with a sore nose and bruised ego.

Neville Longbottom appeared at eleven to shoo everyone to bed, telling them that a good night's sleep was the best way to perform well in an exam. With a lot of complaining and grumbling – especially from Olivia – he managed to get everyone to bed. James tried to push his butterflies away as he fell asleep.

Next morning, everyone was testing each other at breakfast on Transfiguration. The written paper was in the morning, and the practical in the afternoon. They all had to wait in the Entrance Hall while the teachers sorted the Great Hall into the single desks for exams. Finally Foxworth appeared and made them line up in alphabetical order. James was fidgeting, trying to remember all the Laws and Regulations of Transfiguration Magic.

The Great Hall was set out with over a hundred school desks and chairs in neat rows. Each desk had a quill, ink bottle (empty) and blank piece of parchment set on top. James quickly found his desk – it was in exactly the same place as it had been for his OWLs.

'Everyone seated? Good, you may start,' said Titus Quinton, the Head Examiner. The questions appeared on the parchment, and the ink bottles were suddenly full of black ink. James picked up his quill, dipped it gently into the bottle, and looked at the first question.

Explain the Four Rules of Crustacean Transfiguration. He stared at it, mind blank, for a panicky second, then the answer came to him, and he smiled, drawing his quill across the page. Easy.

An hour later, he left the room with a crowd of seventh years. The questions had got steadily harder, until he had to work out the problems with Transfiguration of different things that he had hardly heard of. His head was aching and he needed some fresh air, but he thought he had done well.

They practiced their Transfiguration outside before and after lunch, as it was hot and the inside of the castle was stuffy. James thought he was doing okay, but it was slightly depressing practicing next to Olivia, who did everything perfectly and constantly said she was doing rubbish, until the other three firmly told her to shut up and realise she was amazing.

During lunch everyone was transfiguring their plates and cutlery into different things. In the end the teachers told them to stop when Nigel tried to transfigure his cup into a paperweight and accidently turning it into an iguana, which put Felicity and Scarlett into screaming hysterics.

Like with his OWLs, James was called into the exam with Rupert Pemberly, Wilhelmina Pole and Prudence Queen. He was directed to where Titus Quinton stood. Unlike the rest of the examiners, Titus was only in his early forties, with a few grey hairs scattered through the light brown and a well-built body. He shook James's hand before pointing to a boot on the table.

'Transfigure it into a green leather wallet,' he ordered. James did so, except the wallet was a bit misshaped and a bright, fluorescent green. Next he had to turn a vase into an egg cup (the egg cup still had the vase's decoration on it, but James thought it was a nice effect), a hedgehog into a silver-backed hairbrush, an explorer's hat into a map of England (that was the trickiest one – James thought Norfolk was a bit wobbly) and finally Titus pointed to an empty plate.

'A plate of spaghetti bolognaise, please,' he said. James panicked for a moment, before remembering what Foxworth had told him.

'That's impossible – you can't conjure food from thin air, it's one of Gamp's Laws of Elemental Transfiguration,' he replied, smirking. Titus nodded and pointed towards the door.

'That will be all.' James nodded and left the hall. Alexia and Max were already outside, sitting on a windowsill. They waved him over, and James saw that Max was holding a newspaper.

'We missed the post-delivery this morning,' explained Alexia. 'Look at this.' James saw a glittering Dark Mark on the front page. 'There have been twelve more attacks from Dorabella and Trixor. And they're getting closer to Hogwarts.'

'I wonder what will happen if they get here,' said James. 'Anyway, how did your exams go?'

'Fine, except my hairbrush was a bit prickly,' said Max. 'Did you remember about Gamp's food law?'

'Yep,' James quite proud of himself, as remembering random facts wasn't his forte. When Olivia arrived they wandered towards the Common Room to pick up their charms books. As James entered the Entrance Hall a small figure with bright turquoise hair ran up and tackled James's legs.

'James! James! James!' three year old Remy squealed.

'Hey there Rem,' James picked up the little boy. 'Haven't seen you for a while.'

'I been sick,' said Remy. 'But I'm better now!'

'That's cool. Where're Mummy and Daddy?'

'In the flat. They being boring. Me want to play!' James laughed and nodded, before tapping the nearest first year on the shoulder.

'Can you go and tell Professors Lupin and Weasley in their flat that James Potter is looking after their son in the Gryffindor Common Room?'

'For a tip,' replied the first year, grinning. James sighed and burrowed into his pocket, pulling out a couple of Knuts and tossing them at the boy. He winked and ran off.

'James, how are you going to revise for Astrology with your godson in tow?' asked Olivia.

'Relax, Olivia, he can help – right Remy?' Remy nodded, and his hair turned into an orange afro. 'Come on, let's have a look at Astronomy.' It seemed that Teddy and Victoire were busy, because they didn't turn up until supper, much to Remy's delight. He was thoroughly spoilt by a group of fourth year girls who gave him loads of sweets and chocolate, and he enjoyed showing off the fact he was a metamorphmagus to everyone in the vicinity. The Common Room favourite was when he turned his hair into a lion's mane with the Gryffindor colours of red and gold, and his nose into a lion's snout with yellow eyes.

'Come on, Remy, supper time,' said James. The fourth year girls sighed, and James and Max had to half-drag, half-carry Remy away from them. On the way down Remy insisted on sliding down every banister. James decided he was allowed to eat at the Gryffindor table, and he sat between James and Alexia with a plate of food (shrunk slightly). He was just tucking into a tiny piece of chocolate tart when Victoire walked up.

'James, thank you for looking after him,' Victoire smiled and picked up Remy. 'Come on Remy, time for bed.'

'I think I should at least get some house points for looking after the little tyke,' muttered James to Max. When they left the Great Hall someone tapped his shoulder, and he turned to find Laura looking up at him.

'James, can I speak to you?' he hadn't kissed her since that time in Hogsmede and after what had happened to Gary she had pretty much disappeared from his life. And now she had appeared and wanted to talk to him. James shrugged and she walked over to the corner of the Entrance Hall. James couldn't help but notice Alexia watching them with narrowed eyes.

'Yeah what is it?' he asked.

'I was wondering if you wanted to revise with me,' she said. It sounded like a mundane request but James knew it was pretty much one step down from "will you go on a date with me".

'Laura, I'm not sure. I mean, this is a bit of a shock. You've hardly spoken to me for weeks, and now you want to get all close again?'

'I know, I'm sorry. But a really like you, James.' He shook his head.

'I just don't think it's a good idea. You're a fifth year – two years younger than me! We're both in the middle of public exams, I'm about to leave and hopefully go to Quidditch Academy. Also, you've seemed so distant since what happened to Gary.' At the mention of Gary her face hardened and she turned away slightly. 'What? You don't honestly think he didn't deserve what he got.'

'All I know is that Gary was a perfectly nice guy and suddenly he becomes scum of the earth. Miscarriage of justice, if you ask me.'

'Miscarriage of justice? Laura, he helped to torture my best friend's little sister!' cried James.

'He was forced to do it.'

'He wasn't forced to hang out with those Slytherins, was he? Everyone knows Herod and his gang are nasty pieces of work. He was lucky not to be expelled.'

'Oh shut up James! You with your perfect lifestyle, parents are heroes, star Quidditch player. Get out of my face!' screamed Laura.

'Whatever. No way am I revising with you. You need to get your facts straight,' snapped James, turning and walking back to his friends, who had watched the whole conversation.

'You okay?'

'Fine.'

'She's only fifteen, James.'

'I know. Come on, we need to revise.'

OOO

The Astronomy exam was different to the Transfiguration one. The written exam was after lunch, and the practical took place between eleven pm and one am. It was a perfect, clear night, though James suspected magic might have been used to get rid of pesky clouds. He had a few panicky moments when he couldn't remember the number of stars in the Plough or find the North Star, but quickly recovered. He wasn't sure if he had a couple of constellations in the right place, but putting them right would mean redoing the entire chart, and he didn't have time for that.

'I'm going to sleep for hours,' mumbled James as the seventh years headed downstairs. To his surprise there was a thump behind him. To everyone's amusement it was Artie, who had fallen asleep on his feet and slumped over the stairs. James hoisted him over his shoulder – he hardly weighed a thing – and carried him to their dormitory, dropping him on his bed.

His prediction was right, the exams had been tiring and he didn't surface until about ten thirty am. He had a day to rest before his Charms exam, but Olivia and Max had Potions. James thought that he'd woken up because Max was practicing Potions in the dormitory, and the fumes stank.

'What the hell is that?' he gasped.

'A Draught of Painlessness,' said Max. 'It's really complicated.'

'It stinks.'

'I know, but once I add some hydrangea flowers and essence of Diricawl, it'll taste delicious. It's like an anaesthetic. Some idiot has told everyone that to test it we all have to cut ourselves, and loads of people are freaking out. They won't, of course. There's other ways to test it.'

'Cut a first year?' suggested James.

'James shut up, I'm trying to concentrate.' James shrugged and climbed out of bed.

'I'm off to have a leisurely breakfast before doing some Charms,' he said.

'Breakfast as finished, as its Wednesday,' Max told him. 'You'll have to go hungry.'

'Nah, I'll nab something from the kitchens. This house elf, Kreacher, is friendly with my dad. He'll cook me up a bacon sandwich or something.'

'Jammy git,' muttered Max, carefully measuring a rather viscous green liquid.

OOO

Charms was fine. He had to rack his brains a bit for the written – he couldn't remember the names for all the spells and had to describe a couple, but he didn't think he did too badly. A wizened little witch, who looked like a good gust of wind would blow her away, examined him.

He had to do a few tricky things, such as brewing a pot of tea, writing some words in the air – marks added or taken away depending on how neat the handwriting was, conjuring different kinds of small birds, and making a pillow fly around doing tricks. There was a slightly awkward moment when he waved his wand slightly wildly and the pillow hit his examiner in the face, knocking her over.

He accidently bloodied Albus's nose when they practiced Defence Against the Dark Arts together – Albus had his exam on the same day as him, but Albus then floored him with an exceptional Impedimenta spell, throwing him into a tree and winding him (they were practicing outside).

'You're definitely meant to be an Auror,' gasped James, massaging his kidneys.

'Yeah but I'm not meant to hurt my partner in the exam,' replied Albus, healing his nose and cleaning off the blood. 'Come on, let's practice the Patronus, it's bound to come up…'

The written DADA exam was fine, but the practical was somewhat of a surprise. They were not told to go to the Hall, but to wait outside the Room of Requirement, where they were called in one at a time. Rumours flew around about what lay inside the room – trolls, giant scorpions, even Death Eaters, were all said to be inside.

James felt his heart beating as he stepped inside. It was very dark inside, so dark that the light from his wand made little difference – he had to feel his way along the rough walls. He seemed to be in a narrow passageway. He walked a few metres, then a thin wire tripped him up. As he hit the floor he felt more wires slither around him, tightening, weaving into a net.

He clutched his wand and thrashed against the wires but they just tightened more. It was a nightmarish experience, stuck in the dark with these wires tying him up. As he felt his legs get hoisted into the air he remember what spell he needed, pointed his wand in the vague direction of some wire and shouted 'LACERO!' there was some snapping and he felt the binds around one leg loosen. He carried on cutting until he fell free.

Panting, breathless, he moved on through the practical. He came into a slightly larger space, dimly lit by braziers on the walls. There were spiked metal bars across the exit. James looked around for how to get out, and after a few seconds heard a low clicking. A low trap door opened in the side of one wall and a Fire crab crawled out. This one was different to the ones James had seen in text books – it was black and orange, and shot a sort of mixture of fire and liquid out of its rear end, which sizzled and blistered whatever it hit. It also had a large pair of mandibles.

James hopped out of its way as it scuttled towards him. Impedimenta did nothing at all, it just bounced off its hard shell and made it angrier. The Fire crab spun surprisingly fast and shot fiery liquid at James, who managed to dodge most of the blast, but it splattered on his shoe and melted the toe. When its back was turned James stepped forward and kicked it, hard. It didn't hurt it, but its soft underside was vulnerable for a moment. James Stupified it and it fell limp, poison dribbling out from underneath it.

James turned around and saw the metal bars had disappeared from the exit. He brushed himself off and walked on. After a while he came to a big round chamber. To James's shock a Death Eater stood in the middle, with a bright blue line around him.

'So the rumours weren't all rubbish,' he muttered. The Death Eater held up his arms.

'Duel me,' he said in a deep voice. James shrugged and stepped into the circle. As soon as his foot hit the floor, the Death Eater shot a spell at him, which he just dodged. James retaliated, but the Death Eater repelled it easily, raising his wand to cast again.

'PROTEGO!' James shouted and bright orange spell bounced off, making a charred section in the ceiling. James knew that he would not be able to defeat his opponent with wand power alone. He quickly conjured up a small stick and removed the Shield Charm. He lobbed the stick at the Death Eater, who was momentarily distracted.

'STUPIFY!' the spell hit the Death Eater in the chest, but disappeared without doing anything. James stared, shocked. The Death Eater should be on the floor. As he watched, the cloak and mask melted away to reveal Titus Quinton in examiner robes.

Titus placed a finger on his lips to show that he couldn't speak, before walking out through the wall. James stared at the spot where he'd left, before moving on to the next stage. He went into a dark, damp little room, and felt all his happiness drain away as he heard the rasping, rattling voice of a Dementor.

'Shit,' he cried, looking around. It came at him, rotted arm outstretched. He thought of going to the Quidditch Academy and shouted: 'EXPECTO PATRONUM!' a bright white stag burst from it and chased the Dementor down. A door appeared and he stepped through it into a brightly lit room where Titus Quinton and the other examiners sat.

'That is the end of your NEWT examinations,' said Titus. 'You may go.' James felt like jumping and whooping for joy as he left the room. Max and Alexia were waiting for him, and apparently Olivia had just gone in.

'Did you do well?' asked Max.

'Yeah. Didn't expect Titus Quinton as a Death Eater though,' said James.

'Seriously? Did you think they stuck a Death Eater into the exam?' cried Alexia incredulously. James just shrugged.

'I don't know what I thought, my head was pretty wired at the time,' he replied.

'Well, it's all play from now on!' said Max happily. James shook his head.

'Not for me, I have the Inter-House Quidditch Cup Final in a fortnight. I'm going to try to schedule practices for an hour every day,' said James. 'We have to beat Slytherin, and it could affect whether I go to Quidditch Academy,' he said worriedly.

'Well, we're going to be thinking of you while we have fun and you sweat on a broom,' said Max, winking.

OOO

James walked out in front of his Gryffindor Quidditch team. He had managed to get twelve practices, ten of which with all seven members of the team and five subs. He had decided they were a strong team, though some of the sub players left a lot to be desired.

Scorpius Malfoy had become Slytherin Quidditch Captain that year, and was also the Seeker. James gave him dagger eyes. He was a Slytherin, going out with his cousin and was also his opponent. At the moment, there was every reason to dislike him. Also, if Scorpius beat him, he might not go to Quidditch Academy.

Coach Angela Weasley blew her whistle, and James kicked off, followed by his team, who all peeled off in their different directions. Slytherin got the Quaffle first and streaked off towards the goal. James saw Albus hover, concentrating hard, then he shot to the right and blocked the Quaffle, throwing it to his sister, who flew towards the Slytherin goals.

James spun around and started to circle the pitch, searching for the snitch. He was aware that there were people from the Quidditch Academy watching the game, but in the mass of people he had no idea who.

Scorpius was up round the other end of the pitch. Though he was his opponent, James respected the fact Scorpius didn't just tail James the whole time. However, James decided to have some fun and flew towards him as fast as he could. Scorpius turned, eyes wide, obviously thinking James was about to collide with him. James turned at the last moment, spinning away in perfect control, but Scorpius had thrown himself upside down and had to scramble back up, much to Gryffindor's amusement.

James smirked and swooped back around the pitch. In the next fifteen minutes, Gryffindor scored seven times and Slytherin just twice. The game turned dirty, Beater's bats being swung at everything and anything without discrimination. As James flew beneath the game, James saw the Slytherin beaters Chalker and Bole, and the hulking Keeper Flint were closing in on his third chaser, Ellisa Brynn, who was looking around desperately for an exit.

'HEY, BEETLE-BRAINS!' James yelled. The Slytherins turned to look at him and he shot towards them at top speed. They scattered and Ellisa could escape.

'Thank you James!' she called as he flew past her. Soon the game was 120 – 50, the players were green and red blurs in the sky, the Quaffle moving so fast it was hard to keep track of who was in possession.

James slowly circled the game, trying to find the elusive snitch. Suddenly he felt something slam into the back of his broom, and turned to find Bole leering at him, bat raised. Coach was looking the other way, concentrating on where the Quaffle was. James sped up but Bole kept ramming him. When the Beater's bat swung barely a centimetre from his face, he decided to take drastic action.

He managed to catch the attention of Henry Tenacon, who hit a Bludger as hard as he could. The Bludger looked as if it was going straight towards James, he could hear Bole laughing, then he flew straight upwards, just missing the Bludger, which slammed into Bole's stomach with a dull thud.

Bole slumped over his broom, groaning, and James thought he should help him down, so flew towards the ground pulling Bole along next to him. Bole fell off his broom about two foot from the floor and lay on the ground, moaning and clutching his stomach.

Coach Weasley blew her whistle and the two teams dropped to the ground. Flint stepped forward, his face going red with anger.

'Coach, Potter and Tenacon have purposefully injured Bole!' he shouted. 'They should be taken off immediately!'

'You can't stop Beaters from hitting Bludgers, Flint, you moron. It's what they're here to do,' said Albus.

'Don't you call me a moron, Potter, or you'll get a slap,' growled Flint.

'Enough,' snapped Coach Weasley. 'Mr Potter, tell me what happened.'

'I was flying normally, and Bole started ramming me. When he started trying to hit me with his bat, I decided to take action. Tenacon hit the Bludger, which flew towards me, I flew straight up, and the Bludger hit Bole,' said James.

'I see. Well, once Bole has been healed there will be two penalties for Gryffindor, I think,' said Coach Weasley.

'Two?' howled Flint. 'What for?'

'For cheating and for threatening another player,' said Coach Weasley.

'Flint, shut up,' snapped Scorpius. 'This is my team, and you're only making things worse, so be quiet or you're off this team.'

Coach quickly healed Bole, and the players flew into the air again. As James flew around the Slytherin goal posts, he heard a tremendous 'oooooooh' from the crowd. Spinning around, he saw Scorpius swooping down low, after what could only be the snitch. James flew down as fast as he could, the snitch was hovering between them, they were going to collide –

Crunch. They did collide, heads knocking together, and fell in a tangled heap on the ground. James's head was ringing, he was seeing stars, but suddenly he realised his fingers were wrapped around a small, wriggling gold ball. He had it. He had caught the snitch.

'I'VE CAUGHT THE SNITCH!' he yelled. And slowly, like a jet plane starting up, a deafening roar spread across the stands, a mass of red and gold was standing up, jumping around, yelling for joy. The Gryffindor team landed around James, they were hugging him, cheering. Then the school poured onto the pitch, he was hoisted onto two boys' shoulders, the rest of the team was being carried behind him. McGonagall walked up and gave him the Quidditch Cup, which he held high in the air, grinning from ear to ear.

The crowd marched out of the stadium, but not to the Common Room, but down to the lake. James guessed that because it was a beautiful summer's afternoon, they were partying down there.

A chant started up as they reached the lake. 'DUNK THE CHAMPION! DUNK THE CHAMPION!' James only realised what was happening when he was launched from the boys' shoulders into the lake. It wasn't deep and he quickly stood up, soaking and still clutching the cup.

'GRYFFINDOR ARE WINNERS! GRYFFINDOR ARE WINNERS!' the rest of the team was thrown in. A fair few photos were taken of them standing together, dripping wet but grinning. Then crates of Butterbeer and iced drinks appeared along with party food and huge tubs of icecream. James sat with a big group of friends and the Quidditch team, laughing and chatting and occasionally jumping in the lake.

At about six thirty, the light was just starting to dim, but the party was still in full swing. Suddenly the sky darkened completely, and there was a streak of green light across the sky. It morphed into a thousand glittering emerald stars, in the shape of a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. People started screaming, but the voices from the skull drowned them out.

'WE ARE DORABELLA AND TRIXOR. WE ARE THE RIGHTFUL RULERS OF THE WIZARDING WORLD. MUDBLOODS, BLOOD TRAITORS AND THE LIKE HAVE INFECTED THIS PLACE OF MAGICAL HARMONY. WE ARE HERE TO DRIVE OUT THESE ABOMINATIONS AND RESTORE THE WIZARDING WORLD TO PURITY. WE WILL FINISH THE WORK OF VOLDEMORT AND HIS FOLLOWERS, STARTING WITH HOGWARTS. YOU HAVE TWO OPTIONS. SURRENDER PEACEFULLY, AND YOU WILL BE TREATED WITH MERCY. FIGHT, AND WE WILL KILL ALL THAT STAND IN OUR WAY. YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT TO MAKE YOUR DECISION.' As they said these words, light lit up to surrounding mountains. They saw that hundreds and hundreds of wizards and creatures stood on the mountains, surrounding them. There was another streak of green light, and a small first year girl screamed and disappeared.

James looked around frantically for his siblings. 'ALBUS! LILY!' it was chaos around him, people crying, shouting, running around. Then his siblings appeared next to him and he grabbed them, sprinting up to the castle, while the glittering green skull looked down on them.

Please review, don't leave it to the next person. I will be happy with just four or five reviews, and I will dedicate the next chapter to whoever I think is the best reviewer.