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Chapter Thirty Seven- The Hogwarts NEWT Study Guide

"The Hogwarts what?"

"The Hogwarts NEWT study guide."

"What the hell is that!"

"Padfoot, we've been through this."

"I know! But it's… it's…"

"3 and a half inches thick?"

"Yes! Thank you Wormy! So how the hell are we supposed to… Prongs? Prongs, what are you doing? Prongs! Don't read it! It'll kill you! It'll infect your brain! It'll-"

"Oh shush!" Rose snapped. Sirius stopped mid-sentence to gawk at her. Leila laughed.

Remus, Rose, Jess and Peter had finished they're classes and had arrived at the 'guest suite' armed with 8 enormous piles of parchment that had been magicked together and topped with a worn leather cover to form a study guide for getting ready for NEWT's. And, as Peter said, it was 3 and a half inches thick.

James had taken his copy silently and began to flip through it, ignoring Sirius and the others.

Sirius sighed and collapsed on his couch in defeat. Leila grinned and sat next to him, whispering something in his ear. Sirius rolled his eyes good naturedly and put on his sarcastic 'well-if-you-insist…' expression. Remus shot them a wry smile.

"So, these contain everything we've covered, since first year and we have to study it to make sure that we know everything we'll need to know for NEWT's." Lily said, flicking absently through her own copy.

"Yes. Plus some things that might not even be in the test, 'coz they can't just tell us what we have to know to answer the questions." Rose confirmed.

"It's just the basics, of everything from first year up." Remus said.

"But that's what OWL's were supposed to be!" Sirius cried.

"OWL's were just basics for our level that puts years 1-5 into one curriculum to make sure our magical education was good enough to ensure us a 'better future'. NEWT's are general knowledge and 'excellence' questions for more advanced and extra things. Stuff that'll get us professional jobs and things. If we were planning on never getting a job or having a job that requires little qualification then OWL's would give us enough to live well off of." Rose said knowledgably. Sirius considered.

"Ok, I'm beat! But why the huge books?" He said, eyeing a particular study guide with suspicion. Remus groaned and Rose, Leila and Lily sighed.

"Because they want to help us pass our exams, and no, they didn't use them for OWL's. That's because OWL's is more for living, which isn't as complex. Even though it may have seemed that way at the time." Jess explained calmly, not looking up from her charms textbook. Everyone blinked at her, stunned. Peter smiled fondly at her and Jess winked at him.

"Well, can't argue with that." Sirius sighed, "Let's have a look through." He tugged a guide towards him and flicked through to potions; his favourite subject. Leila rolled her eyes.

"Jess, I think you deserve an award." She announced.

"For what?" Jess asked.

"Convincing Sirius that studying pays off." Lily said, answering before Leila could.

"Seconded." Rose mumbled.

X-x-X-x-X

The 8 of them walked down to the Great Hall shortly afterwards to eat dinner and were followed by stares of everyone but certain Slytherins. Though even Regulas glanced at James sympathetically and shot Sirius a glance that he interpreted as pity.

That evening, Rose, Peter, Jess and Remus left to go back to the common room at around 8:30. The remaining four sat around the fire on couches, flicking through their study guides. Every now and then Sirius would make a comment about something he'd read, making Lily and Leila giggle and James smile weakly. Leila and Lily had never really studied with the Marauders before so they found this method cheerful. Sirius, however felt less enthusiastic with the loss of James making jokes himself and laughing at everyone else's.

It was late that evening that Leila announced that she was going to bed. Sullenly, the rest agreed and the three of them disappeared off to their respective rooms, two out of the four, cried themselves to sleep.

X-x-X-x-X

Funerals are never easy, but this one was especially painful. Leila and James led their small group into the cemetery on the morning of the last day of term.

Distant relatives of the Potter's were there. Many came towards the group to offer their condolences to James but James wasn't really listening. Leila would usually smile sadly at them as they left but she wasn't sure whether any of it really counted for anything.

At the end of the service, just like at the Lupin funeral, the 'guests' were allowed a chance to say their goodbyes. Leila and James dropped back so that they could be the last ones.

But when they were by the perfectly carved, marble graves, Leila found that she had no idea what to say. As Remus passed, he looked up slightly and murmured something that sounded like 'Thanks for everything' and Peter paused, closing his eyes as he passed the graves to join Jess, Lily, Rose and Remus off to one side. Sirius crouched by the graves and murmured a few things before doing the same, his face pale and his eyes bright.

Leila knelt slowly and looked at the words on the stone:

Here Lies

Tiberus Harry Potter, 1935-1977

And

Catherine Sophia Potter, 1936-1977

Rest in Peace

She stared at the names for a little while before taking a shuddering breath and whispering, "I- I'll miss you. Say hi to mum and dad." Then she stood and walked into Sirius's waiting arms.

They waited as James knelt by the graves and bent his head, whispering and crying. Obviously, he was having no trouble thinking of what to say.

Once he was done, he didn't get up, he didn't move, he just stayed where he was. Gently, Sirius let go of Leila and made sure she had her balance before moving to James's side. He put one hand on his shoulder and said something too quietly for the others to hear. James nodded and stood up shakily. Sirius gestured for Lily to come and she did, sliding a comforting hand round James's hunched shoulders.

When the time came to leave, they found that Dumbledore was waiting for them; a portkey in his hands.

X-x-X-x-X

The following day…

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the sky was cloudless. The lake was glittering and a light breeze rustled the trees.

The eight Gryffindors sat by the lake with their study guides, Sirius didn't try and lighten the mood this time, it only made himself feel worse. Leila and Lily seemed slightly lost and out of place, sitting a little way apart from the rest of the group. Rose was reading, blocking everything else out and trying to focus her thoughts on her book. It didn't work however, and she found herself wondering how her Easter Holidays would go, staying with Josh and Samantha. Remus was truly focused on his work, puzzling over a particular spell. Jess and Peter were trying to help each other study, but their minds just kept wandering and they found it extremely hard to concentrate.

After what seemed like years, though what really was about 15 minutes, something very unexpected happened.

James laughed.

The sound was loud and genuine, if not a bit choked from his dry throat. He kept laughing, unaware that all of his friends were staring at him.

"Err… Prongs?" Sirius asked with a worried frown, "Are you Ok Mate?" This only caused James to laugh harder, until his face went red and tears formed in his eyes. He fell backwards and laid on his back in the middle of the grounds, unable to control his laughter.

"James, what's wrong?" Lily asked, worriedly. James howled with laughter.

"James?" Leila asked uncertainly. Everyone gathered round, watching James with concerned eyes. But James kept laughing. He clutched his stomach and coughed a few times before taking several deep breaths and relaxing; his eyes closed and a grin on his lips.

His friends stared at him in confusion.

"Prongs. What the hell was that about?" Peter asked. James chuckled and opened his eyes.

"We're studying!" He said in amusement, letting out a weird giggle.

"What?" Remus asked.

"We're studying!" James repeated.

"So?" Jess cried.

"We're the Marauders! It's not even third term! Since when did we actually study?" James laughed again and flashed a grin at Sirius who tilted his head like a confused puppy.

"What are you on about?" He sighed. James laughed.

"I'm so stupid!" He cried, "We usually have fun, play pranks, eat junk food! And we're just sitting here on this perfect day, studying! It's stupid! A week ago I was sick with happiness! And now I'm studying! What's wrong with me?" He turned to Lily this time, a lopsided smile on his face.

"James, you just lost your parents. No one expects you go around playing pranks." Lily said in disbelief.

"But it's stupid! There are people way more worse off than me! And they all do fine! Look at… at… the Prewetts! They're not the richest of families! Fabian barely made it onto the auror team. The head of the auror office doesn't like Gideon. The minister has something against Arthur Weasley who has 3 kids and a wife to support! And to top it all off! They're 'blood traitors' and therefore on the death eaters hit list! Yet they're the happiest bunch of people I've ever met! And I'm STUDYING!" James laughed and sprang up from the grass. He grabbed Lily and spun her around, laughing crazily.

Lily smiled, feeling a familiar dizzy sensation grip her heart. He kissed her and held her close. "It's Easter!" He breathed, "It's Easter and I'm going out with Lily Evans and it's only three hours until I won't see you for two weeks!"

Leila felt a grin creep across her face. Her eyes lit up and she glanced at Sirius. Could James finally be coming round? Could he bring himself to move on?

"Hey Prongs! How about some quidditch?" Rose said suddenly. James let go of Lily and spun round, his eyes clear and happier than they'd looked in days.

"I'll take that as a yes!" Rose laughed. Leila glanced over at Remus who smiled.

Maybe things were going to be Ok after all?

A.N- Notes to Anonymous Reviewers:

To the person who left the reviews 'INCONSISTENCY' and 'ugh'. Thank you very much for the constructive criticism. It is much appreciated and I will definitely take your comments into account when I edit (I'm posting edited chapters next week). Is there an account I can contact on, because I'd love to respond to your reviews more thoroughly.

VP0202! Thanks soo much for your review! It made my day! =D And if you ever do get round to writing those fics I'll look forward to reading them… or maybe even beta-ing if you'd like? =) Toff.x

Urgh! This chapter took me sooo long to write! I couldn't decide on any ideas!

The stuff about NEWT's and OWL's is mostly completely made up by the way. Sorry if it confused you!

Anyway, the next chapter is: The Package

Stay Tuned!

Toff.x