Aside from quidditch and Hermione's matchmaking, the action for the sixth years during the last term consisted of apparition lessons, and a subsequent test. The weekly lessons started the first week back, and during the last week of term the sixth years were taken down to Hogsmeade to take their actual tests.
As they waited for their turn to take the test, Hermione and Harry sat with the Slytherins as they discussed the tests and what would happen. There was an air of nervousness around the group as they prepared to take their apparition test.
"Just think, from now on there's no more having to ask permission to go somewhere," Blaise said. "You can just pop off whenever you feel like it."
"I'm not sure I'll be doing much apparating," Daphne said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "I hate the dizzy feeling that comes with apparition. It's bad enough with side along apparition, but it's even worse on your own."
"I find the dizziness is worse when someone else is in charge," Theo remarked.
"I just think apparition in general is unappealing," Daphne said with a shrug. "I'd rather floo."
"Or fly," Harry added.
"Not everything comes back to flying, Harry," Hermione snorted with a roll of her eyes.
"I don't know, flying is in important part of life," Harry said seriously.
"Please, flying is a hobby, nothing more," Hermione retorted.
"It's a career if you're a quidditch player," Harry shot back.
"Tell me you've got more ambition than becoming a quidditch player," Hermione said, scowling at her nephew.
"I don't know, being a quidditch player sounds good to me," Harry replied with a sly grin. He actually had no intention of becoming a quidditch player, but he knew the idea would wind Hermione up.
Sure enough, Hermione rose to the bait spectacularly and she began to lecture Harry on his future and how he was made for something more than playing quidditch for the rest of his life. Instead of putting Hermione straight, Harry let her rant until her name was called and it was time for her to go and take her apparition test.
"You do know she won't drop this, don't you?" Draco asked Harry with a chuckle as his girlfriend stomped off to take her test. "She'll lecture you until she's convinced she's persuaded you to drop your idea of playing quidditch."
"I know," Harry replied with a mischievous grin. "I'm just curious how long it'll take her to realise I'm not serious."
"You're not?" Theo frowned. "I also thought you were serious."
"Nah," Harry replied. "Don't get me wrong, I love flying and I love quidditch, but only as a bit of fun. Besides, I'm sure Grandpa will have some plans for mine and Hermione's future. Knowing him, he's probably going to pit us against each other to see who wants to rule the world."
"I can tell you now that Hermione isn't interested in ruling the world, she has plans of her own," Draco supplied.
"What plans?" Harry asked.
"You'd have to ask her yourself," Draco remarked, just as Hermione came sauntering back over to the group with a wide grin on her face.
"I take it you passed?" Harry asked.
"With flying colours," Hermione replied with a grin as she sat back down next to Draco. "As I'm sure everyone else will do as well," She added, spotting the nervous look on Theo's face.
"Let's hope you're right," Theo mumbled.
As it turned out, Hermione was right and the entire group passed. Aside from Daphne, who had a small incident with leaving her eyebrows behind, no-one had any problems passing their test. Even Daphne's little blemish wasn't a big enough mistake to stop her from passing her test. Although she immediately declared that she would be apparating as little as possible in the future.
With all their tests done and dusted, the group headed back up to Hogwarts to enjoy the final few days of the year. All too soon they would be going home for the summer, and when they returned in September, they would be entering their final year at Hogwarts.
C.O.T.D.
The end of the year rolled around in a flash, and Hermione was pleased to be heading home for the holidays. Even though she'd mainly recovered from her transplant, there were still times when she got tired easier than before and she was looking forward to having a few months relaxation. At least during the summer holidays, she would have Harry and Draco around all the time, unlike the weeks she'd been stuck at home while her boyfriend and nephew had been in school.
On the journey home, Hermione curled up in the corner of the compartment with Crookshanks and a book, while the rest of the group found ways to pass the time. Hermione was pleased to notice Padma dropped by the compartment a couple of times, and she and Theo seemed to be getting along nicely.
"So, you're still with Padma then?" Hermione asked, after one visit where the pretty Ravenclaw witch had promised to try and meet Theo in the holidays.
"We're taking it slowly," Theo answered with a smile.
"How's slow is slowly?" Blaise questioned, arching a suggestive eyebrow at his friend.
"We've had one official date, Blaise," Theo replied. He would have made some remark about Blaise's own relationship, but Luna was sitting right next to Blaise, and he didn't want to embarrass the younger witch.
"There's nothing wrong with taking things slowly," Daphne said.
"I take it that means you're not getting any, Harry?" Blaise cackled.
"A bit like you," Luna remarked quickly, glaring playfully at her boyfriend.
"Ouch," Theo laughed. "Nice to see who's in charge in your relationship, Blaise."
"I'm not in charge, we just haven't reached that serious stage in our relationship yet," Luna corrected.
"Not everything is about sex, Theo," Daphne said, backing Luna up.
"Hey, I didn't start this, Blaise did," Theo protested. "I have no interest in anyone's sex life."
"From the sounds of things, the only people in this compartment with a sex life are Hermione and Draco," Blaise chuckled.
"And no-one wants to hear about that," Harry quickly injected, shooting his aunt and best friend a warning glance before they shared anything.
"Don't worry Harry, I have no intention of talking about my sex life, no matter how great it is," Hermione replied with a mischievous grin.
With a shudder of revulsion, Harry quickly changed the subject to what the group were going to be getting up to over the summer holidays. By the time the train pulled into King's Cross Station, the group didn't really know what their plans for the summer were, but they were all in agreement that they should try and meet up a few times.
On the platform, Narcissa and Beth were waiting to whisk the trio off home. Before they parted ways, dinner at the manor was mentioned, so all three of the trio headed home knowing they would see each other in only a few hours.
Sure enough a couple of hours later, everyone gathered at the manor. Voldemort, Beth and Hermione arrived shortly before Severus, Rosmerta and Harry. As usual, dinner was a spectacular affair with the Malfoy house elves having prepared a top class meal.
"So what was teaching like?" Voldemort asked Lucius.
"Different," Lucius replied. "I wasn't too sure at first, but as the year wore on, I really got into it. There's some seriously talented students at that school."
"Yeah, and three of them are sitting at this table," Draco replied with a grin.
"I suppose you three aren't bad," Lucius said, smirking at his son. "But I've seen better."
"I doubt it," Draco snorted.
"Lucius is right, there's some serious magic at Hogwarts," Beth added. "And of course there's some students who can barely hold a wand. Sometimes the difference in ability is staggering."
"I noticed that," Lucius said. "Some kids just don't seem in tune with their magic."
"Maybe what they need is teaching from a younger age," Hermione suggested.
"You could be onto something there," Severus said to his sister. "It would make our lives easier if the children had a better grasp of magic when they first arrived at Hogwarts. Sometimes I feel like the first years waste so much time just learning the basics of magic."
"Tell me about it," Beth said with a sigh. "I feel like I taught the first years nothing at all."
"You'll just have to make up for it next year, Beth," Narcissa said with a chuckle.
"Actually, I won't be returning to Hogwarts next year," Beth admitted, sharing a secretive smile with her husband.
"Why not?" Hermione asked with a frown. She was under the impression that both her mother and Lucius would be teaching at Hogwarts until she, Harry and Draco graduated.
"Go on," Voldemort urged his wife when she gave him a questioning look.
"I won't be returning, because I'm pregnant," Beth announced.
Rosmerta and Narcissa immediately offered their congratulations, as did Lucius. As for Harry, Hermione and Severus, their shock was evident for everyone to see. Severus was the first to recover from the shock and he congratulated his father and step-mother.
"I can't believe I'm going to be a big brother again," He chuckled.
"And I'm getting a new aunt or uncle," Harry added. "I have to admit, I didn't see this one coming."
"Nor did we," Voldemort chuckled.
"So this wasn't planned?" Rosmerta asked.
"No, it was not," Beth replied. "I thought having children was something I'd long since left behind. But we're very pleased with the news."
"And we're hoping everyone will be as happy as we are," Voldemort said, staring pointedly at his daughter. Hermione had yet to react and she was sitting looking as though someone had stunned her.
"Hermione," Draco hissed, elbowing his girlfriend into action.
"Sorry," Hermione said, looking up at her parents. "It's just a shock."
"Tell me about it," Beth replied with a smile. "So what do you think? Are you ready to be a big sister?"
"I guess so," Hermione replied, smiling slightly at the idea of getting a baby brother or sister. "As long as you guys are happy."
"We are," Beth answered, smiling at her daughter as she took hold of her husband's hand. "It might be a bit of a surprise, but we think it's a good one."
"I think it's amazing," Rosmerta said with a wistful smile.
"I think this baby might not be the only one in the near future," Lucius remarked, giving Severus and Rosmerta a knowing look.
"Who can tell?" Severus replied with a shrug. "A baby would be nice."
"It would," Rosmerta agreed. "But first we need to get married."
"Have you set a date yet?" Draco asked. He knew Severus and Rosmerta had been sorting the wedding while Severus had been off work, but he hadn't heard anything about a date for the wedding.
"We have," Rosmerta replied. "We're getting married at the beginning of August."
"And I need a best man," Severus said, looking to his son. "Fancy doing the honours, Harry?"
"I'd love to," Harry beamed.
"I think we need to celebrate," Lucius declared, summoning a house elf and asking for a bottle of champagne.
Five minutes later, everyone was toasting the future. Not only did they have a wedding to look forward to, but there would soon be another baby in their lives. Things were looking good for the dark side, at least from inside the manor.
C.O.T.D.
While celebrations were rife inside Malfoy Manor, a shadowy figure was watching the house from a nearby hill. Standing alone on a hilltop, was Remus Lupin. Since escaping from Grimmauld Place, he'd been living under the radar as he plotted his revenge against the dark. Not only had he been injured during the attack, but he'd lost Tonks and Sirius had been placed back in Azkaban. He knew he could have turned to the Weasleys, but they'd had their own problems. He was better off on his own.
As he stood watching Malfoy Manor, the lights from the house glowing in the dark, Remus became aware of the moon appearing overhead. Normally, he hid himself away on a full moon, but not anymore. He'd fought the wolf within him for long enough, it was time to embrace his inner animal and cause some damage. It was time he showed the dark just who they were messing with.
As the thoughts of vengeance ran around in his head, Remus felt the transformation take place. Within seconds the wizard he normally was had disappeared, and in its place stood a skinny wolf. Raising his head to the moon, Remus let out a bloodcurdling howl which rumbled through the valley he was standing in. Hoping the noise had travelled down to the manor and they were worried about what could be in store for them, Remus loped away. His revenge was imminent, and while he wouldn't be striking tonight, there was a full moon every month and before long he would pounce and the dark would regret the day they ever took on Remus Lupin and the Order of the Phoenix.
The End.
A/N – I hope everyone enjoyed year 6 of COTD. There will be a short gap of a few weeks before I start posting year 7, as I'm still working on the end of it. As I'm sure most of you noticed there wasn't a collection piece this week, and they might be a bit more intermittent as I try and write a few more. While COTD is my priority at the moment, I am still trying to write other things, which is why things are progressing a bit slower than I would like. But the end is definitely in sight for this epic tale. Thanks for reading, and thank you for all your reviews.