Hey all! Here's another chapter - my longest one yet. It's a bit of a filler really so probably not the best chapter I've written, but it contains a lot of information. I've been really busy with funeral arrangements, unfortunately my grandma passed away earlier this month. I've also applied to begin nursing at University. I have interviews to prepare for over the next couple of months. Eeek!
Chapter 36 - Natural Progression.
With only two weeks left before the fifth years began their OWL examinations, their schedules changed. Students were no longer set homework by their teachers. Instead lessons were devoted to revision. The teachers all but crammed all the information they suspected would be examined, down the students' throats. Most of the students took this gruelling schedule hard. Jess however, was in her element. People, who didn't know her well, always assumed that she was the shy quiet one of Lily's group of friends. Their opinions took a severe battering when Jess, blew her fuse if anyone tried to disrupt the tight revision schedule she had planned around lessons and meal times.
Lily and the girls endearingly nicknamed Jess the banshee when she shrieked at Joel Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff. He'd been thoughtless enough to ask Lily a question one afternoon, which had no relation whatsoever to their school work. Everyone in a quarter mile radius was left with ringing ears after that episode. So not to risk a scolding from the Ravenclaw, the girls obeyed her every word. Even Margarita who had a glare that had younger students quaking in their boots- a complete contrast to her true personality, stepped in line. She'd become particularly fond of the muggle-born over the past few months. Delia and Maggie's love lives were also affected by their friend's behaviour. Merlin forbids either could spend even a minute of that allotted time talking to their boyfriends! Jess made it quite clear that Al and Hugo could only discuss work during those hours. Even the boys admitted to being a little afraid of her.
Hugo made an effort and tried to revise with them so he could spend time with Delia. However, Jess' sergeant major attitude had him fleeing to where climates were less tense. He spent most of his revision time down by the lake with Brian and Chester. It was also lucky that Al had his NEWTs to study for and therefore needed to spend a lot of his time in study sessions with his fellow seventh year Gryffindors. If this hadn't been the case, Maggie and Jess may have got into a full blown fight.
Lily had to admire Jess' new found fire. It became clear to her that Jess was perfect for her cousin Louis if they decided to become more than friends. All her part Veela cousins had strong willful personalities at times. It was good that Jess was going to be able to stand her ground when needed and keep him on his toes.
A bonus of the strict regime was that it meant Lily's brain was full of OWL work, with no room left for anything else. She welcomed Jess' dictatorship since it was preferable to pining over a certain Slytherin. The Slytherin in question was spending most of his time hidden in his common room according to Duanne and Margarita. Not that Lily had asked either of them for the news; they'd just saw fit to volunteer the information. After that, Lily made it clear that she didn't want to talk abut Scorpius and he wasn't brought up again.
The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs received their exam time tables during the Herbology lesson one afternoon. "Your exams will be spread over two weeks." Professor Longbottom informed his class of fifth years. "Theory papers will be sat during the mornings, whilst practicals will be in the afternoon. For all those taking Ancient Runes, Arithmacy, History of Magic and Muggle Studies; these subjects do not require a practical exam."
He paused to check that he had the attention of everyone in his class. "Now I must inform you, all anti-cheating measures will be applied. Anyone trying to use items such as Auto-Answer Quills, Detectable Cribbing Cuffs, Remembralls and Self-Correcting ink, will not only automatically fail that subject, but risk failing all of them. It is not worth the risk." He warned them sternly.
"Sir, when do we get our results?" Jedediah Smith asked, almost falling off the bench while raising his hand.
"Your results will be sent by owl during the third week in July." Replied Professor Longbottom without pause.
Several students made a sigh of relief whilst Lily's hand went up with a question of her own. "Why do we have to wait so long? We've always had our results handed to us before the end of the school year." She asked curiously.
"They will be marked and remarked externally Miss Potter. Think yourself lucky. NEWT students will have to wait until the end of August for their results." He said with a small smile.
Lily slumped forward on the table. A four week wait after their last exam certainly did sound better than a nine to ten week wait.
History of Magic was the first exam scheduled for Monday morning whilst Ancient Runes was scheduled for the afternoon. Since Lily had done as much History of Magic revision as she could take, she spent all of Sunday translating texts in preparation for her second exam. Jess, Brian, Chester and the twins were taking the subject as well.
They started revising together but the boys had given up on them by lunchtime. Ancient Runes was not one of their best subjects and since the girls found the translations to be relatively easy, it was making the boys nervous rather than helping them. They ended up joining a group of Hufflepuffs who were studying for the same exam instead.
Both Hugo and Delia sat together going through their Care of Magical Creatures notes for Tuesday's exam since neither of them took up Ancient Runes during their third year.
The meal that evening was a quiet affair. The fifth and seventh year students sat eating in silence. They sent piercing glares at anyone who dared to break that silence. Lily sat with a textbook in one hand as she ate while Maggie read the same textbook over Lily's shoulder.
The rest of the evening was just as quiet with everyone trying to cram in some last minute revision. When nine o'clock came, Lily had had enough. She was as prepared for tomorrow's exams, as much as she ever would be, so she went to bed. She was pleasantly surprised in the morning, to find that she'd slept soundly through the night without waking up once.
Breakfast was just as strained as their dinner had been. All students taking their OWL or NEWT examination in History of Magic looked a little green. Delia sat with her head on the table and her fingers in her ears, reciting as many important dates and legislations as she could remember. Maggie sat staring stoic at her porridge but didn't touch it. Jess and Margarita went over their notes together while Lily sat there staring at the wall behind the Slytherin table.
Malfoy wasn't there for breakfast, she'd checked. Rose was absent from the Gryffindor table as well that morning. No doubt they were both hidden away somewhere in the castle revising for their Ancient Runes NEWT in the afternoon.
At least Albus was looking calm since his first exam wasn't until Wednesday. Amelia was also less stressed than others since she still had a days worth of revision to do before her NEWTs began. Lily thought they were lucky not having exams every day. They had more time before each exam, to refresh themselves with what was on it. The only day she had off was next Friday since she didn't do Divination. That wasn't much help since she'd have finished all of her OWLs by then.
At the end of breakfast, all the fifth years and a handful of seventh year students waited in the Entrance Hall whilst the other students headed to their lessons. At half nine they re-entered the Great Hall to find that the House table were gone. They had been replaced with smaller tables for one, set out in rows. The NEWT students were directed to fill the row on the furthest right while the fifth years filled the other rows, sitting in alphabetical order.
The Staff table was now full with spare pieces of parchment and ink pots. In the centre of the table sat an overly large hourglass. Professor Davies stood by it along with two external examiners Professor Gurdyroot and Professor Lighthowler. Once everyone was in their seats, Professor Davies gave them the order to begin and turned the hourglass so that the sand began to pour.
Lily turned her attention to her paper and began reading the short list of essay questions. The first question asked to briefly review the changing relationship between Goblins and Wizards since the year eighteen hundred up until the year two thousand. That was simple enough for Lily. Thanks to the quiz Jess had given her a few days ago; Lily knew exactly how to answer it. Lily scribbled away only glancing up to check that her friends were also frantically writing away.
The second question asked about the legislation of House elves rights and what opposition was met during their creation. Grinning broadly, Lily wrote about her Aunt Hermione's involvement in the whole affair and how she'd come across stumbling blocks from both wizards and House elves. That question at least, she'd probably gained full marks in. She struggled with the question involving the rebellions of Trolls and Giants but the final question on Werewolves went well.
"That went dreadfully. I failed for sure." Delia complained once it was all over. "I forgot all the important dates I thought I had memorised and had a complete mental blank on that question about Vampires."
Lily and Maggie exchanged a quick awkward glance at Delia's remark. Neither of them had the heart to worry Delia by letting her know that the legislations in question four referred to Werewolves and not Vampires."
"At least it's over now. No more History of Magic or listening to Professor Binns drone on." Maggie replied, patting Delia on the back.
After lunch with the rest of the school, Delia went to study outside in the sunshine with Hugo. Meanwhile the others sat their Ancient Runes examination. Lily spent the first five minutes sneaking side glances at Scorpius before she stopped herself and berated her own stupidity. With a sigh, she clasped the lily pendant she still wore around her neck and lowered her eyes to the text she was supposed to be translating.
"That was nowhere near as exhausting as I thought it would be. It was quite enjoyable actually." Rose declared when she joined Lily, Jess and the twins once the papers had been collected and they'd been dismissed. The girls agreed to the extent that the paper was not as difficult as they had been expecting but they didn't share Rose's enjoyment.
As they reviewed the text Jess suddenly realised that she had mistranslated one of the passages and began hitting herself on the forehead with a piece of parchment until Lily stopped her. There was no point worrying about it now since it was too late to change it. Brian and Chester didn't look too happy with their performance either but they were already discussing their next exams.
Jess and Chester had the whole of the next day off while Lily, Delia, Hugo, Brian and both the twins had their Care of Magical Creatures theory exam in the morning and practical in the afternoon. During the breaks they spent their time talking to Amelia and Duanne since they had their NEWT in the subject. Thankfully there was no Malfoy to distract Lily on that day.
The theory paper was pretty simple in the end and the practical was easy enough. Lily managed to successfully encourage a brown coloured Hippogrith to bow to her. It also allowed her to groom it without any problems; she fed and cleaned out a Fire Crab while avoiding personal injury; correctly handled a unicorn and identified the diet, that when offered to a Knarl, wouldn't make it go bezerk.
Hugo finished his practical without any problems but both Maggie and Margarita struggled with the Hippogrith while Delia messed up the task with the Knarl. It went beserk when it saw her offering of some blue coloured beetles as an attempt to poison it. Brian lost a few marks on the unicorn task when it refused to go anywhere near him and received third degree burns when he dealt with the Fire Crab. He was not at all happy when he stormed off to the Hospital Wing to have his burns sorted out.
Lily gave Hagrid two thumbs up after her practical. If she wasn't mistaken, she had just secured an 'Outstanding' in Care of Magical Creatures.
Herbology was Wednesday's exam. Albus and Amelia were the only seventh year students Lily knew well, who were taking their NEWT while she carried out her OWL. Herbology was one of Delia's strongest subjects and was as confident as Lily that afternoon. However, it was the twin's weakest subject; they didn't see the point in learning about plants since neither of them liked getting their hands dirty very much. Nevertheless, they still felt as if they had done enough to pass the subject with at least an 'Acceptable' grade.
Once again, Brian and Chester left the greenhouse that afternoon covered in bites and certain that they'd failed that subject. They really hoped things would start looking up for them soon. Hugo tried not to act so smug since his friends were in such a sour mood, but he was pretty sure he'd aced that exam.
Lily had Thursday morning off with the twins as Delia and Jess had Muggle Studies. The three girls sat in the sun outside, going over their Arithmacy charts for the afternoon exam. Hugo joined them since his friends were also taking the morning exam. Arithmacy was renowned for being one of the more difficult OWLS. Consequently, they had done the most revision preparation for it. Due to this, the four of them were in high spirits during dinner.
"That was no where near as difficult as I expected" Margarita sighed with relief and Maggie agreed. So did Lily and Hugo, it was only Chester who didn't since his energy had been spent on his Muggle Studies exam which he was certain, he'd received and 'Outstanding' in at least.
Rose was bragging that her NEWT Arithmacy paper went well and she would be surprised if she got anything lower than an 'Outstanding' for it. This was happen a good thing since she planned to work at the Ministry of Magic. She needed top marks to enter Ministry, even with family members running some of the Departments.
Friday's Astronomy paper went really well and Lily was certain that she'd got all of Uranus' moons named correctly but she was a little sketchy about Jupiter's. The paper went well for all and the Gryffindor fifth years were on a high that afternoon. It also helped that the weekend was almost upon them marking a half way point in their examinations.
The afternoon was purposely left blank since they'd have to wait until the night for their practical paper. Lily chose to get some rest so that she would be nice and refreshed when it was dark, while Maggie sat on her bed going over Defence Against the Dark Arts for Monday. Maggie disliked Astronomy as much as Herbology and felt her time was better spent on a more worthwhile subject.
Lily woke up in time for dinner and then went through star charts before the practical exam at eleven. The weather conditions were perfect. A stretch of cloudless sky meant that plotting star charts was pretty simple. Lily was certain that she'd managed to name about ninety percent of the stars correctly but she kept checking over them just in case.
Maggie and Margarita seemed to be fighting off sleep as they peered through their telescopes and at one point they had to be nudged by their neighbour.
The moderators on duty that night, Professor Carne and Lawson were the youngest of all the outside moderators whom had come to test the OWL and NEWT students; they were also very beautiful. The boys were having a hard time concentrating on the sky with them walking around. A fact which Delia didn't fail to pick up on. Needless to say, she was not in a good mood with Hugo. She was scowling as she scribbled down names of the stars on her chart.
When Professor Carne announced that they had run out of time, many of the male students appeared to blink stupidly having realised that they had only partially filled in their charts.
"I don't want to hear your excuses." Delia huffed as she descended the spiral staircase, Hugo chasing after her.
"I'm sorry Del I really am. You know I love you." He pleaded earnestly.
Delia suddenly stopped and Hugo had to act fast so that he didn't knock into her. Margarita wasn't as lucky in her sleepy state. She knocked into Hugo so Brian had to catch her so that she didn't trip down the stairs. Hugo stumbled a little but was otherwise fine.
Lily watched as Delia spun around to face Hugo looking as if she'd been hit on the back of the head with a telescope. "W-what d-did you s-say?" She stammered in an awed tone.
Hugo seemed stunned by his own words and the implications but he didn't take them back. "I love you Del" He repeated sincerely.
Delia let out a high pitch squeal and flung her arms carelessly around his neck. "I love you too." She squealed and planted a passionate kiss on his lips.
With a lot of grumbling the OWL and NEWT students had to squeeze around the couple since they showed no signs of moving. They only did so, when Professor Lawson commanded them to go back to their own common rooms; putting enough emphasis on the word own, that it had the couple blushing beet red.
Lily took Saturday morning off from revision by telling Jess that she was feeling a bit off and needed to go to the Hospital Wing for a check up. Lily only had four subjects left and was stressing about them. However, she was too exhausted to revise all weekend and her head really was hurting. Lily spent the morning in a quiet place but returned to her friends in the afternoon which was dedicated to Potions.
Since she had no problems with the subject, she spent all afternoon practically teaching Delia, Brian and Chester the basics so that they would at least pass the exam. It was a hard thing to do since they had all convinced themselves that a 'Troll' in the subject was the only grade they were likely to achieve.
Once Lily had scolded them for their attitude and joked that if didn't want to spend another year with Professor Greengrass teaching them as they repeated their Potions OWL, they would buck up their ideas and listen to her. They were more than happy to motivate themselves to learn after that.
By the end of Sunday, Lily had managed to chunk down the last two years of potions into pieces that they could understand. All they needed to do was keep it in their heads long enough for Thursday's exam.
Monday's Defence Against the Dark Arts examination paper went well on Monday, despite the fact that Lily was once again distracted by Scorpius being in the room. Thankfully with Albus also doing his NEWT paper in the hall, Lily found enough self discipline to stop herself from staring at the Slytherin.
After lunch, the fifth years were split up into smaller groups for their practical. Lily kept her head and managed to perform all the counter-jinxes and defensive spells to her satisfaction. Lily left the room certain that she had done her parents proud with that performance. When she reviewed the subject with her friends later, they were all certain that they had secured descent grades for their Defence Against the Dark Arts. Albus was hyper when he returned to the common room and it lasted all afternoon. He too felt that his NEWT in the subject had gone well.
Their Charms exam was surprisingly difficult on Tuesday; Lily had no idea what grade she should expect after that. Thankfully the practical went better in the afternoon. Lily had fun making an entire dinner set cartwheel around the room.
"I have no idea how it happened but I accidentally transformed my examiners hat into a toad. She wasn't impressed by my blunder but at least I managed to recover by turning it back. Other than that, it went well I think." Delia explained during dinner.
The girls had a few laughs at that as they went over some last minute Transfiguration revision at the dinning table. That was another subject Delia was dreading. "As long as you're not asked to transfigure snails you'll be fine" Maggie smirked recalling the day by the lake at the beginning of their first term that year. The comment brought about another round of laughter for those who had been there on the day.
Something happened shortly after that which wiped the smile off Lily's face. Posie Montague of Slytherin was all of a sudden straddling Scorpius and attempting to jam her tongue down his throat. He held her back but didn't exactly shove her off his lap. Feeling the colour drain from her face, Lily fled the room before the tears began. The majority of her friends were left puzzled over her swift disappearance. It was Maggie who spent the rest of the evening comforting Lily and coaxing her into a state where she'd be able to face doing her exam in the morning.
Lily wasn't herself the next day which everyone noticed. It was hard not to. Putting it down to exam stress they all offered words of encouragement that she only had two subjects left. She was vaguely aware of what she was writing in her Transfiguration theory test, especially when she kept sensing Scorpius' gaze burning into her. In a moment of distraction, Lily looked up and their gaze locked. He seemed conflicted. Almost as if he was pleading for forgiveness but then not. Lily quickly lowered her gaze back to her paper.
She really needed to get over her feelings for the Slytherin fast, especially if he was going to start seeing Posie. No doubt his grandfather would approve of the match. She was a pureblood after all, Lily thought bitterly at the end of the day.
Potions was Lily's last exam. In fact only Hugo and Delia from her group had an exam in Divination on Friday. Potions should have been Lily's easiest exam. She'd practically been tutored by the portrait of Professor Snape once he realised that she had a natural flare for the subject like her name sake. Unfortunately her spaced-outness continued for her potions exam. She couldn't recall what she'd written for her theory test but she really hoped it made sense. Luckily her Potions practical went well as she added the ingredients on instinct.
From the sound of it, Jess, Hugo and the twins breezed through the subject while Delia, Chester and Brian made a passable attempt at the shrinking potion thanks to Lily's tutorage.
The atmosphere was a lot lighter in the common room that evening. The majority of students had finished their exams with only a few taking Divination. The younger students had already begun receiving their results of their internal examinations before the school year came to an end on Tuesday.
Lily was also in a brighter mood come Friday. Not because her exams were over, but because Scorpius was giving Posie the cold shoulder. Lily berated herself for being such a lost cause and struggled not to ask either Duanne or Margarita what had gone on between them. Since she had made clear that the subject of Scorpius was a no-go area, they didn't offer the information to her either.
The Gryffindors had a party in their common room that evening to celebrate the end of term and end of exams. Several students from other Houses were also invited. The celebrations went on well into the night, right up until the point where Professor Longbottom walked in wearing a set of plaid pyjamas. The celebrations were forced to stop after that and students were escorted back to their own common room. Reluctantly, Lily went to bed but the party picked up again on Sunday, that time in the Hufflepuff common room.
Tuesday came around quickly. All Lily's belongings were packed in her trunk and Padfoot dozed in his cat carrier. She was standing waiting for a carriage to take her to the station at Hogsmeade when she heard her name being shouted over the crowd.
Lily turned to see Rose running her way with Albus several strides ahead. "Victoire's gone into labour!" Rose explained breathlessly before she ran off looking for her brother.
Excited but also a little anxious, Lily turned to Albus who paused by her side catching his breath. "Where is she?"
"She's still in the Hospital Wing. Teddy and Madam Bones are with her. Victoire's and our parents are on theire way, Uncle Nev has sent for them. They're going to stay the night here so they won't be able to meet us at the station." He explained massaging his ribs.
"I'm not going home, I'm staying here." Lily interrupted quickly, wanting to run off to the Hospital Wing there and then.
"I was just going to ask you that. Rose is going to stay as well she's just gone to ask Hugo what he wants to. Anyways, they need us inside Teddy isn't handling this too well since Victoire's in quite a bit of discomfort. She's letting him know just how ticked off she is at him for getting her pregnant." Albus explained quickly and Lily began picking up her luggage to drag it inside with her.
Albus shook his head. "Hagrid is going to look after our cases and the animals for us so we better say goodbye to everyone quickly." He finished turning his attention to Maggie as he kissed her goodbye and made hurried arrangements to meet up soon. Lily hugged her friends' goodbye and ran back to the castle with her brother. She heard Rose and Hugo following them.
They heard Victoire's complaints well before the arrived at the Hospital Wing. There was no wonder Teddy wasn't coping well with the tongue lashing he was receiving. The Hospital Wing itself had been rearranged. Curtains had been drawn around the bed at the end of the room ready for when Victoire needed it. The other beds had been stored elsewhere and armchairs had been moved there from the staffroom for the couple's families to sit and wait in. Madam Bones was setting out potions and medical equipment trying to ignore the couple's 'private conversation.'
Victoire was pacing the floor and let out a stream of curses when a nasty contraction started. The sound had Teddy stumbling backwards looking helpless. "I'm never touching her again." He muttered blankly.
Lily glanced at Albus and Hugo. "Try and occupy Teddy. You might want to take him down to the kitchens to get some food and drink brought up here. You might as well warn the House elves that we may be here a while when you're down there." She suggested and grabbing Rose's hand went to brave the storm.
"Vic, why don't we sit down for a bit?" Lily said, coaching her eldest cousin to a seat. She had no idea what she was supposed to do in this situation. She'd been there through anyone's labour before. Upon seeing her cousinsbefore her and the others dragging Teddy out of the room, Victoire took a deep breath. She mentioned to both Lily and Rose that there was no point complaining about how much she was suffering if her Husband wasn't in the room to hear her. The cheek of him suggesting he wouldn't touch her after this! Once this was all over, she was going to prove to her husband just how ridiculous he was for suggesting such a thing. However the comment did make her feel satisfied that he had an idea of what she was going through. It was his own fault really, demanding she stay in the Hospital Wing with little to do but think about her discomfort and what she was about to go through.
After her rant, she sat herself down with difficulty. "Where are ma mere and Domi?" Victoire asked.
Lily looked to Rose to answer. "They're all on their way. Neville's gone to meet them at the gate." She told her soothingly.
Victoire began complaining that it was taking them too long and she needed them there now. Lily lent close to Rose and whispered "We need to distract her until they arrive." Rose nodded her agreement.
Rose grabbed hold of Victoire's hands and demanded her attention. She was even brave enough not to wince when their eldest cousin berated her for 'manhandling' her. "Victoire? You mentioned to me yesterday that you are planning to open a healing centre in Hogsmeade so that you can work from home. Tell us what arrangements you need to get sorted." Rose began.
"What's the point in going over that now, this is hardly the time." Victoire snapped.
Following Rose's lead, Lily took hold of one of Victoire's hands from Rose. "Please tell us Vic. We really want to know. We might be able to help you." Lily insisted.
After a deep breath and another contraction, Victoire began to tell them her plans. Once she began she didn't stop talking and the younger cousins were happy to notice that the distraction was working. Victoire's reactions to the contractions became less severe as she occupied her mind.
Returning to the Hospital Wing, the boys came with refreshments. Teddy was relieved to see that his wife was doing better and hadn't murdered anyone in his absence. Hugo and Al concentrated on seeing that the atmosphere remained that way. They couldn't describe their relief when Fleur's parents arrived with Harry and Ginny. They could take over now.
Having been through the situation many times before, the women joined Victoire whilst the men stayed with Teddy. Bill even remarked that Victoire was a lot calmer than Fleur had been during her labour. Apparently it had a lot to do with the Veela blood running through there veins; their bodies didn't respond properly to the pain relief potions. Lily was immediately glad that she had been born last of all the cousins and that Fleur had decided not to have anymore children. She was grateful that she hadn't been around when the woman who was twenty five percent Veela, gave birth. That would have been a nightmare.
It wasn't long before the grandparents entered the Hospital Wing and Dominique arrived with Louis and James to offer their support. The rest of the Weasley clan were making arrangements to arrive in the morning. They didn't want to overwhelm the expectant parents.
It was around four in the morning when Victoire was ready to give birth. Fleur, Ginny, Teddy and Dominique were behind the soundproof curtains with Victoire and Madam Bones. The rest were waiting nearby. Lily sat between her brothers; her head resting drowsily on James' shoulder as he played exploding snap with Louis and Hugo; one hand clasping Albus' as he played one-handed chess against Rose.
Lily's grandmother had tired herself out fussing over the lot of them earlier; she now sat dosing in one of the armchairs. Her grandfather sat in the armchair next to her pretending to sleep. They all knew he wasn't really sleeping due to the absence of his snores. Uncle Bill and her father sat reading although Lily noticed that they were really just staring at their books; their eyes weren't moving across the page. They were flicking towards the closed curtains instead. Teddy's grandmother, 'Dromeda' was pacing the room, her eyes not moving from the curtain where her grandson and his wife were hidden. They were all just waiting for the curtains to part so they would know that it was all over.
Moments later there was a great scrambling of chairs as a dazed looking Teddy walked out carrying a small bundle in his arms. Everyone had immediately stopped what they were doing and came to meet the first of the next generation of the family.
"A girl. I have a daughter." Teddy told them, in shock that he was actually a father. "Meet: Aimee Flora Lupin." Little Aimee was just about the cutest baby they'd all seen. With tufts of silver blonde hair and baby blue eyes, she resembled her mother. They were all crowding around, trying to get a better look at her.
"Victoire's doing fine, she's just resting." He added to Bill who tore himself away from his first grandchild to see how his eldest daughter had weathered.
Once they managed to sleep a little, the rest of the Weasley clan arrived at Hogwarts to see the new addition to their family tree. They couldn't believe how quiet the newborn was but apparently Teddy had been the same. Lily suspected that Aimee would end up being the type of newborn everyone wished for as a first child; not likely to kick up a fuss over nothing. She only cried when she needed changing or was hungry. The rest of the time she gurgled or dozed in the arms of her many older relatives. Lily didn't want to give Aimee back when it was her turn to hold her baby cousin. To think she was going to be god mother to this angel!
Since Aimee and Victoire were healthy, they were able to leave late that afternoon. The entire family congregated in the Lupin's home in Hogsmeade, taking it in turns to visit the nursery. Soon after her birth, it became clear that Aimee had inherited her father's talents as a metamorphmangus. Aimee awed everyone by imitating the colouring of the person holding her. For weeks, neither Teddy nor Victoire left their daughters side for more than a few minutes, despite the fact they had everyone fighting over babysitting duties. It would be August before the new parents were able to tear themselves away from their daughter long enough to need a babysitter.
Lily had to return to Grimauld's place despite the fact that she could have quite happily camped out in her goddaughter's nursery. She had things to do! She busied herself creating new items of clothing for her fashion label. She would not have that much time to work on them over the next two years while she studied for her NEWTs. Luckily she was a fast worker when she was doing something she really loved. She soon had new designs to post to Lucy and a book full of others which she would continue to tweak at any free moment once back at school.
Jess stayed with the Potters over the month of July. Her parents were filming overseas and since she'd be receiving her OWL results, she chose not to spend it with her Aunt and Uncle. They were still having trouble getting the head around the fact that their niece was a witch.
The week the OWL results were due, Maggie and Margarita were also stopping over; Neville had brought Delia over for the day and as a result Hugo had dragged his parents over for a visit. He couldn't convince his Mum to let him go alone since she wanted to be nearby if he got his results. He did refuse point blank to her hovering outside with him.
Reluctantly, with a little persuasion from Harry and Ron, Hermione joined the rest of the grown-ups. They were congregating in the lounge while the students sat nervously around the patio table while trying to distract themselves from the fact that they could be in receipt of their results today.
"Bloody Hell that's them!" Hugo yelled, leaping off his chair and pointing to several dots in the sky. They all stood up and tried to spot them.
"Are there six of them? I can only see five."
"There's the sixth one there Jess." Margarita assured her, pointing to a dot which was slightly apart from the other five. All six students began to panic.
"Should we tell our parents?" Delia asked, looking back to the house.
Lily shook her head. "I'm not opening my letter in front of that lot! I'm nervous enough."
"I'm going to be sick" Delia complained all of a sudden and sat down holding her head between her knees.
Hugo went to comfort her and rubbed her back gently. "You're going to be ok." He assured her, his eyes never leaving the advancing owls.
"That's ok for you to say" She complained sending a withering to the approaching owls before looking back at her friends. "I'm not as smart as you lot and you don't have the added pressure of having a Professor for a Dad."
Neither Hugo nor Lily reminded Delia who their parents were and how much pressure that put on them.
"I'm sure your Dad is going to be proud of you come what may." Jess assured her logically. "You did your best and that's all that matters."
"I'll remind him of that when I come out with ten 'Dreadfuls' " She bit out sarcastically.
Maggie snapped at her friends continuing negativity that was so out of character. "Cordelia Longbottom" She began using Delia's formal name. "We did not spend all that time revising for you to come out with ten 'Dreadfuls'. It is not going to happen, I won't allow it!" Maggie's fierce tone finally got Delia to snap out of it and chuckle; a calmness which was short lived.
Six owls swooped down and landed on the patio table in front of them in a neat line. All six lifted their right legs. The six nervous students stepped forwards to untie the letter addressed to them. Lily's hands were clammy causing her to fumble with the knots. Hugo and Jess' hands were trembling and Delia was having a few problems trying to detach her letter from the owl on the far right. Only Maggie and Margarita kept their composure.
Nobody around the patio table spoke. Finally, Lily held her envelope and after slitting it open, quickly unfolded the parchment.
ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS
Pass grades: Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
Fail grades: Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)
LILY LUNA POTTER HAS ACHIEVED
Ancient Runes: O
Arithmacy: O
Astronomy: O
Care of Magical Creatures: O
Charms: O
Defence Against the Dark Arts: O
Herbology: O
History of Magic: E
Potions: O
Transfiguration: O
Lily read her parchment through multiple times barely believing what she saw. How was it possible that she had received an 'O' in every subject except History of Magic? It was unbelievable. She finally looked up to find everyone else looked relieved while she probably looked stunned.
Delia had even gone as far as jumping up and down in celebration. Maggie and Margarita were laughing having received identical results, five 'Outstanding', four 'Exceeds Expectations' and an 'Acceptable', all in the same subjects. Jess caught Lily's eye and was grinning broadly. "An 'E' in both Ancient Runes and Herbology but an 'O' in everything else. How about you?"
"O's in everything except for an E in History of Magic according to this but I still think it may be mistaken." Lily replied in disbelief.
A devilish grin spread over Jess' face. "You can't call me Swat now!"
Their parents came outside upon hearing the noise. "I only failed History of Magic" Delia beamed, waving her result parchment up in the air. A's in Charms, Potions and Transfiguration, four E's and an Outstanding both in Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts." She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her father as he told her how proud he was.
Hugo began telling his parent's that he'd passed all his subjects having gained an A in Astronomy, E's in History of Magic, Potions and Divination and an O in everything else. Ron and Hermione both choked on his Divination score, Hermione having dropped the subject and Ron having failed it. Still at a loss for what to say to her parents, Lily shoved the parchment in her mother's hand only to receive hearty hugs from them both once they had read her grades. They found out later that both Brian and Chester had done a lot better than expected having passed eight exams each.
Slowly her results sunk in, along with the realisation that she could choose any subject she wanted to continue at NEWT level! That certainly was a relief. No more getting up in the middle of the night for Astronomy or having to resist sleep during History of Magic ever again! She'd probably give up Charms and either Arithmacy or Ancient Runes. She didn't want to give them both up so she really hoped Hogwarts would let her take six NEWTs like they had let her cousin Rose and Scorpius. Lily instantly began shaking her head. She couldn't believe she was thinking about him again.
Lily spent the rest of the holiday with her family and friends. She also kept herself busy with babysitting duty for the Scamander twins and her cherub of a goddaughter Aimee. Lily continued to find it difficult not to wonder how Scorpius was doing. She also wondered if he thought of her. She had no idea how he'd done in his NEWTs and hadn't seen him since the holidays began. However, surrounding herself by people helped her to bury thoughts of him in the back of her mind.
When August came, so did lots of reasons to celebrate. First Lily's cousin Roxanne got engaged to her longstanding boyfriend Armand Belby; Grandson of the inventor of the wolfsbane potion.
Secondly, Dominique surprised the family by returning from her holiday in Spain a married woman. The couple had made a spur of the moment decision to get married when they visited a stunning chapel set in a picturesque scene; on a cliff top overlooking the sea. Her new husband Henry Jenkinson was already like a member of the family since he was Teddy's best friend and had been the best man at his and Victoire's wedding the previous winter. Since none of the family had been there at the wedding, a family celebration of the joining was held at the Burrow.
Finally, good news also arrived at the end of the month. Rose and Albus graduated Hogwarts with top marks and had been accepted on the internship programmes at the Ministry of Magic. Rose joining the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures whilst Albus began his training to become an Auror.
Duanne wrote to say thanks for all the Potions help Lily had given him since he had ended up with and Exceeds Expectations. He also wished her luck for her remaining time at Hogwarts and mentioned his plans to go into Property Development since he had no desire to join the Zabini family business. The two would keep in touch by owl post over the next couple of years but they didn't meet up much since he was always too busy working.
Amelia Wood also achieved descent results but the highlight of her summer was being signed up by the Holyhead Harpies as their new star Chaser. When it came out that she was dating James Potter; WestGate Winged Horses renowned Keeper, the gossip columns couldn't get enough of their relationship. It was about that time when a certain journalist Rita Skeeter became interest in the lives of the Potter children. None of them were safe from appearing in her gossip column.
Returning to Hogwarts was a strange affair without Albus, Rose and everyone else they had known in that year. Maggie and Margarita's youngest brother Dorian started Hogwarts. He surprised his family by not being sorted into Slytherin or Gryffindor like his sisters, but Ravenclaw. Although he enjoyed spending time with his sisters, he found their conversations too grown up for him so he spent the majority of his time making friends in his own year.
Teddy still taught at Hogwarts but was only there from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon on week days. The remainder of his time was spent at his house in Hogsmeade with his wife and daughter. Delia's dad also managed to spend his weekends outside school since Hannah had two young children to take care of now that baby Terry had arrived, as well as a pub to run.
During their first day back, the sixth years met up with their Head of House's to choose their NEWT subjects. Lily managed to convince Professor Longbottom to let her take six subjects at NEWT level, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions and Transfiguration. She had to promise to drop one of them if the pressure became too much for her to handle. She still had the added responsibility of being Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.
Being Quidditch Captain, Lily was required to find two new chasers to replace Kenna and Amelia and a Keeper to take over Albus' spot. After a gruelling day of tryouts where only a handful of students showed any promise, the positions of Chaser were filled by forth years Sydney and Sofia Thomas who turned out to have a bizarre psychic link giving the team an edge. Alistair Craig with his quick reflexes became the youngest player in the Gryffindor first team. If the second year advanced the way Lily expected him to do over the years, Lily could see him being an International Quidditch star, being fought over by the best teams.
Lily slipped into her new routine quickly. She shared each of her subjects with at least one of her friends and Brian and Chester became a permanent part of the group now that Hugo and Delia were inseparable. However their group was never limited to the eight of them. Students of all ages and Houses came and went as they wished.
Lily's commitments proved tiresome but she was reluctant to give any of them up. Instead she found a solution by enlisting Hugo and Chester's help. They were thrilled to be given the opportunity to have a go at leading some of the training sessions. Lily also made the conscious decision to drop her Captaincy once the school year was over. She suspected that either Chester or Michaela Jordan would be offered the position so she let Michaela run the odd session as well.
When October came, Lily decided to have a go at dating again. Her brothers were no longer at Hogwarts to fight off any of her prospective suitors and Hugo wasn't going to intervene as he was too busy with his own love life to be bothered by anyone else's. Lily's first relationship that year was with Chester Thomas since he had broken up with his girlfriend Coleen Creevey over the summer. For the two to date, it seemed to be a natural progression of their friendship. Not surprisingly, their relationship didn't score her any points with her roommate Coleen. Lily took it in her stride and happily ignored the uncomfortable atmosphere whenever the two girls were in the same room.
As natural as it had been for them to develop into something more than friends, it was also natural for them to slip back into being just friends. So after only a fortnight, their romance ceased to be.
Lily's next relationship was a little more successful to begin with and the first to catch the attention of the menace; Rita Skeeter. Aiden Griggs was a seventh year Ravenclaw and the current Head Boy. He was also rather handsome with his red wine hair and eyes the colour of new leaves. He handled the attention from the press well at first but after a month he started to crave it more and more. Lily got fed up with him when he started to care more about what was in the papers about their relationship, than their actual relationship.
Maggie was buzzing when the Christmas Holidays arrived. She was able to see Albus for the first time in months. They were attempting a long distance relationship which was something new for Maggie since she loved receiving lots of attention from her boyfriends. Needless to say, Maggie basically moved in with the Potters that holiday since Albus was still living there while trying to save up the money for his own flat.
Christmas day saw Isaiah Wood proposing to Lily's cousin Lucy; A sixth month old Aimee enjoyed her first Christmas at the Burrow and Lily took great pleasure in lavishing her with toys. The infant had also grown out of the habit of imitating the appearance of the person holding her, which made her mother really happy. Victoire wasn't fond of the grey hair Aimee used to have when either of her Great-Grandmothers held her. Instead Aimee wore her hair a light bubblegum pink.
Despite the comment Teddy had made about not touching his wife again, Victoire announced that she was expecting her second child. It also came out that Dominique was pregnant with her and Henry's first child and their due dates weren't far apart. It seemed that baby Aimee was acting as a catalyst. After everyone discovering what a gem she was, they were all eager to start families of their own.
When school started up again, Lily started dating Joel Finch-Fletchley; a well spoken Hufflepuff in the year above. He was pretty much perfection, always making romantic gestures and lavishing her with attention. It was because of that, Lily decided to end the relationship. He was way too good for her considering her heart wasn't in it.
In February, Lily came of age. She attended the annual Valentine's Day Ball with her present boyfriend Kallin Nott. The Slytherin in her year was as intelligent as she was and shared her interest in Quidditch. Lily enjoyed being with him because they had a lot in common. He was the one to end their relationship when Rita Skeeter began writing stories about them in her gossip column. He loathed the attention so it wasn't fair on him if they stayed together.
Lily was grateful when a family member drew the attention of the tabloids away from her. Molly's engagement to Christopher Fudge was big news, much more so than when Lucy got engaged to Isaiah due to his fame on the Quidditch pitch. Christopher Fudge was a high flyer within the Ministry and was predicted to be the Minister of Magic one day. After the news, Lily and the rest of her family began receiving even more invites to Ministry held events. Now that she was of age, she chose to attend them whenever she had the time spare.
The rest of the term passed quickly and Gryffindor were all set to win the Quidditch cup once more. They were also second in the running for the House cup. Lily had spent the last week of term dating Peter Cox from the year above. She agreed to go out with him before getting to know him which turned out to be a huge mistake. By the time term ended, she made it quite clear that they weren't going to be seeing each other during the holidays or ever again if she had anything to do with it. He was a complete arse and even her friends hated him.
During the Easter Holidays, Lily had her first romantic fling with a muggle. Taylor Lauren lived just down the street and was about her brother James' age. Her brothers had never liked him but she dated him anyway, finally learning not to stop their opinions interfering with who she dated. She would date him until the time she chose differently! Although they had known each other since childhood, he had no idea she was a witch. He was a laugh to be with but he was very rigid in his beliefs. It soon came apparent that he would accept her for being a witch. Since that was something she wouldn't change even if she could, she allowed that relationship to fizzle out without a fight.
Her brothers didn't like her dating habits. However they couldn't argue when Lily pointed out that because her relationships were so brief, they ended before they got serious. Since they were both in serious relationships it was a bit hypercritical for them to be happy with that. But they no longer minded that she flitted between relationships as long as she didn't get serious with any of them.
Before Lily returned to Hogwarts for the final term of the school year, James was ecstatic to tell his family that he'd been chosen to represent England in the Quidditch World Cup next year. Isaiah Wood and Louis were also on the squad. Even Amelia was picked as a reserve.
Over the year, Lily and her classmates began learning to Appirate once they came of age. Surprisingly the one to get the hang of the procedure instantly was Delia. She was a natural at it. Jess also passed first time but she had to work at it. Margarita and Maggie passed their test second time around, Maggie having accidentally landing on some unsuspecting muggle and Margarita splinching herself. She left part of her hair behind. Instead of having it magically put back, Margarita decided to have her hair styled in a pixie cut. There would be no mistaking which twin was which from then on. Lily was dreadful at Appirating and hated everything about it. After her third failed attempt she decided that the mode of transport definitely wasn't for her. She just kept her broom near to hand instead.
When the school year came to an end, Lily told her team mates that she would be standing down as Quidditch Captain but that didn't mean she wouldn't be staying on the team if the new captain Croston also announced his retirement while Professor Davies would become the new Headmaster and Professor Thomas the Deputy Headmistress. That being the case, the students expected big changes to occur over the next year.
A week before Aimee turned one; baby 'Remy William Lupin' joined the family. Just over a fortnight later, Luc Jenkinson was born. The newest editions were fawned over just as much as Aimee.
In the middle of the summer holidays, Molly and Christopher had their Wedding. It was not held at the Burrow but in one of the large function rooms at the Ministry. Percy was as proud as punch when he walked his eldest daughter down the aisle.
Lily was also rendered dumbstruck that summer when she received a letter from Hogwarts informing her that she was Head Girl. It was not exactly what she wanted but it made her grandparents proud so she didn't openly complain. To add insult to injury, when she started her final year at Hogwarts, she found out that Jedediah Smith was the Head Boy. A fact her friends had a wail of a time teasing her about.
They also found it amusing that she had given up being Quidditch Captain so that she didn't have the added responsibility as she concentrated on her NEWTs, only to find that and even bigger responsibility had been dumped on her. Concerning Quidditch, Michaela Jordan became Quidditch Captain as predicted. Michaela was more than happy to have Lily remain as seeker. Despite everything else Lily had to juggle, she accepted Michaela's request.
With the new Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress came an exciting opportunity for all sixth and seventh years. They were able to sign themselves out during the weekends so that they could do what ever they wished between five pm on Friday and nine Sunday evening. Even Lily was able to have the odd weekend off despite her Head girl Duties.
From the very first day of term, Jedediah Smith caused her no end of trouble. It was well known's that Lily's namesake had fallen in love and married the Head Boy when she was Head Girl. Smith was trying to convince Lily that she should do the same and he was pompous enough to believe it was working.
Instead, Lily made a point by dating Tobias Jasper. Jaz was blonde, blue-eyed and ridiculously pretty for a boy. She was still convinced he was a closet gay but she enjoyed his company too much for her to confront him about it. He was easy to talk to and like her, always looked great so it didn't matter if the Press caught them unawares. It also helped that he adored her but never pressured her about where their relationship was heading.
Lily started inviting him to all the functions she attended during the weekends and holidays. Jaz also got on well with her brothers whom also attended the parties Lily was invited to. Albus always escorted Maggie to the events whilst James and Amelia went together. Louis and Jess often attended together although their relationship was still on the friendship level. Hugo and Delia sometimes came but usually they spent their weekends away from Hogwarts visiting places in Europe and Asia. Margarita would also go along to the Ministry events. She had a tendency to go with Brian, just as friends.
With all the events Lily and Jaz attended together, they received a lot of attention from the Press which Lily had now gotten used to. The key was to ignore the photographers and never buy a magazine or newspaper again. The couple soon became quite the fashion icons to the average teenage witch and wizard.
All sorts or rumours went around after they attended her cousin Roxanne's wedding together and Fred's engagement party a month later. He even attended Isaiah and Lucy's high profile wedding over Easter.
It was during the Easter holiday that the girls got together to spend time without the boys being around. They thought about it and decided that they would get a tattoo done to mark their friendship. Margarita had designed it; beautiful, delicate strings of colour representing each of the houses of Hogwarts, were intricately entwined.
They stopped at the muggle tattooist they'd paused at two years before. The same girl sat at the front desk and welcomed them in. Although she worked at a tattoo parlour, she didn't appear to have any herself which was not good advertisement really. The actual tattoo artists were another thing entirely; they were covered in beautiful pieces of art and some not so beautiful.
The girls chose to have their tattoos done in different places. The twins wanted it done on opposite shoulder blades while Jess picked the upside of her right foot. Delia on the centre of her back and Lily chose to have it done on the fleshy part of her tummy, just above her right hip bone. Since there were five tattooists, they were able to have them done together.
Lily sat perched on the edge of a chair leaning back awkwardly while the template was being applied to her skin. Delia lay flat on a kind of bed while Jess sat on another with her foot and the right height for her tattooist. Maggie and Margarita were the only ones who were able to sit comfortably on a chair.
"I never knew it was going to hurt this much. Why did I ever let you talk me into doing this?" Lily complained after only a few seconds and heard her tattooist grumble at her. That wasn't good customer skills, she thought.
"Stop whining Lily, at least you're not having it done on your foot." Jess laughed. She was taking the whole experience with good humour since she had wanted a tattoo for years. "So what if it hurts, it'll be worth it in the end."
Remembering where she was, Lily didn't clarify her words by telling Jess that she was talking about her convincing them all to go to a muggle tattooist. It would have hurt a lot less if they had access to the potions they used to block pain. "Well I have a low tolerance for pain. You know that."
"Talking about pain, you guys are starting to give me a headache." Maggie smirked and Lily had to smile.
When the tattoo was more than half way to completion, Lily saw Margarita watching Delia. "Is Delia really asleep?" She asked. Lily agreed that it did look as if Delia was asleep. She seemed so peaceful and unaware of the needles injecting ink into her skin.
Jess shook her head. "Nah she's doing her crazy meditation thing she picked up on her travels." She explained looking doubtfully at Delia.
"It's not crazy if it distracts her from the pain, why didn't she teach me how to do it?" Lily asked grumpily. She continued to try and get Delia's attention to ask for tips but got no response. Delia had blocked them all out.
Lily was happy when she was told that her tattoo was finished. There was no way she'd put herself through that again. Despite the pain, she was happy with the finished results and she would wear her tattoo with pride.
Back at school, they knuckled down studying for their NEWTs, it was even worse than it had been for their OWLs but they managed to get through it. Once it was all over, Lily was relieved that she could now get on with what she wanted to do while she had her exams to fall back on if her career in fashion design didn't work out. She now just had an agonising wait to find out her results.
On the last day of term Jaz also confessed what Lily had suspected all along. Although he wasn't ready for the news to get out, he had at least admitted to himself that he was gay. So to detract the attention of the Press from him, Lily purposefully allowed herself to be caught on camera leaving nightclubs with musician Walter Phoenix she knew through Amelia. As expected the rumours started flying again. After a few days of the Press trying to find out Jaz's views on the break up, he was left alone. Unfortunately this meant that Lily could spend much time with Jaz from then on.
The England Quidditch team had reached the semi finals, the best they'd done in a long time. They were to play against Russia while Germany played against Argentina. About a month before the Quidditch World Cup final held in France, Lily and a few of her friends and family were invited to a Ball hosted by the Ministry's Department of Games and Sports. Her brothers took Amelia and Maggie as there dates. Jess was there with Louis and Lucy with her husband Isaiah Wood. Lily's cousin Louis introduced her to his friend and French Quidditch star, Alain Moreau. Their mutual attraction was evident from their first meeting and Alain made an effort to see Lily as much as possible. It was inevitable really that the Skeeter woman wrote a story about Lily's developed taste in famous wizards. Lily didn't pay any attention to her, she was just happy enjoying herself with trips to Paris.
I hope you enjoyed the update and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Scorpius will be back very soon. Promise Xx