A/N: It was very amusing to read all your suggestions about who was 'surprising' Mary like that. Some of you were right, others weren't. Oh well, you'll find out soon enough. I'd like to dedicate this update to all my faithful reviewers. You guys rock!

Chapter Thirty-Eight:

Mary didn't even have to look around to know who had just clapped his hands over her eyes and pulled her behind the statue of Cliodna the Beautiful. She would recognize his voice everywhere in an instant. "Sirius!" she called as she turned around and found herself staring at her boyfriend's grinning face. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd come back down and give you a good luck kiss before you go take that NEWT."

He slipped his hands around her waist and leaned in to kiss her, but she backed away and shot a nervous glance over her shoulder to see if people were aware that the two of them were standing here before she looked back and hissed: "Sirius, you're not supposed to be here. What if you get caught?"

"Pfft, no one is going to catch me."

"But… If a teacher sees you here with me, you'll be suspended. And then you won't be able to get into the Auror program and that's what you've wanted for years and-"

He chuckled and reached for her hand. "Mare relax, no one but Moony and Wormtail know that I'm here. And it's not like I walked into this corridor."

Mary narrowed her eyes. "How did you get here?"

"Hang on, I'll show you." Sirius reached in his robes and pulled out his wand. He tapped Cliodna's shoulder twice and whispered "Dissendium." The statue seemed to come alive as Cliodna was slowly lifting her marble robes to reveal a secret passage. Mary stared at the passage way, too dumbfounded to speak for a moment, which made Sirius laugh. "I suppose it used to be every man's dream to get under Cliodna's robes while she was alive and now finally, we can."

Mary smacked him on the shoulder with her parchment scroll, but couldn't help but laugh. "That is just cool, there is no other word for it."

"Yeah, but that is not why I came back. There is something you should know about the exam."

Mary's mind snapped back to reality at once. She realized that she was only minutes away from that dreadful Potions NEWT and her nerves, which she had temporarily forgotten about, returned with full force and started to nibble on the inside of her belly. "What about it?" she asked nervously.

To her utter surprise, Sirius started to smile. "It's the Draught of Living Death."

"You mean…"

"Yes! We practised that potion over a dozen times, remember?"

Mary stared at him for a moment, still having trouble to believe that the potion that she was about to brew was one of the very few drafts she could actually make without causing too much trouble. "That… That is just…"

"Sheer dumb luck?"

"Yes… Yes, I suppose it is," Mary replied as she thoughtfully bit on her thumb nail.

"No, of course not!" Sirius hissed and he grabbed her by the arms. "This means you're gonna sail through, because you can brew this Potion without making it explode and setting the entire school on fire."

Mary gazed into his eyes and desperately tried to remember if she had told him about her nightmare. "How did you…?"

But Sirius silenced her by gently cupping her face with his hands and saying softly: "You'll do great, I just know it. Now how about that kiss…"

At that moment the wooden doors opened once more and Mary and Sirius heard the tiny witch's voice resounding through the corridor: "We are now ready for the final students. Would Mary Woods, Samir Wouyeri, Alison Zabini and Svetlana Zhuriva be so kind to follow me?"

Mary gave Sirius a quick kiss before pushing him back and hissing: "I love you. Now go, quickly!"

"Love you too. Good luck…" Sirius winked and gave her the thumbs up before climbing under Cliodna's robes as he tapped the statue once and slowly disappeared from view.

Mary hurried back to the other end of the hallway where the witch was waiting for her, eyeing Mary and the scroll of parchment she was holding suspiciously. "What are those?"

"They're just notes, madam," she replied, feeling relieved when she realized that Sirius hadn't been caught.

"Hand them over and you can go inside."

After Mary had passed her notes over to the witch, she walked through the doors and found herself looking around a small hall with a high ceiling, although unlike the one in the Great Hall, this ceiling was not enchanted. There was only one table left near the front. Mary dropped her bag next to it before she looked around the room for the second time. She was pleased to notice that Professor Sprout was supervising this exam.

Mary quickly skimmed the ingredients on the table in front of her and - noticing that asphodel, wormwood, valerian roots and sopophorous beans were among them - heaved a relieved sigh. For some ridiculous reason she had been fearing that the Professors were going to order her to brew a completely different potion, but it seemed she would be making the Draught of Living Death after all, just like everybody else.

"You will start the exam at my signal," Professor Sprout's amiable voice resounded calmly through the hall. "You have exactly one hour, so take your time. The potion that you are supposed to brew is the Draught of Living Death. Further instructions can be found on the black board behind me." Sprout smiled. "I am confident that each and every one of you will perform up to their own standards. Good luck. You may begin!"

Mary, Alison and the others quickly sorted the ingredients and started to weigh them on their scales. Having prepared this potion so many times before, Mary didn't even have to check the instructions on the board. She knew them by heart, but read them anyway. She had learned from her mistakes of the past. When she was checking how many sopophorous beans she needed to cut and the amount of juice she was supposed to add to her potion and noticed Sprout's readable handwriting, she couldn't help but snort loudly, which she hastily stifled into a cough when one of the Ministry wizards gave her an odd look. She had come such a long way since that morning in Slughorn's dungeon. Mary smiled at the memory of Sirius fixing her Amortentia while she carefully added the right amount sopophorous juice to her potion, which turned to a perfect blackcurrant colour at once. "Perhaps I'm not such a poor brewer after all," she grinned to herself before starting to stir her potion in the counter-clockwise direction.

At the end of the exam, Mary carefully filled her flask with a portion of her Draught of Living Death which - despite a few miniscule black flakes swirling around near the bottom - looked clear as water. She wrote down her name and house on the tag. After she'd put her bag over her shoulder, Mary walked to Professor Sprout and put the flask down on the desk.

"Thank you, Miss Woods. Did it go well?" the Professor asked kindly as she put Mary's flask in a box with the bottles of the other students.

"It could have been a lot worse, Professor," Mary replied merrily when she had looked at the other flasks and noticed that some of the drafts didn't look clear as water, but turbidly beige or even a blackish brown.

A cheerful Mary - feeling like a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders - and Alison walked back to the Great Hall together to have some lunch. Alison told her that she had made better Draught of living Death-potions in her life, but didn't entirely screw it up either. She also said that she didn't care that much about the NEWTS anyway, since she hadn't decided what she wanted to do after Hogwarts just yet.

"See you later, Alison," Mary said when they were entering the Great Hall. She quickly made her way over to their end of the table and adapted a mockingly depressed look before she sat down between James and Sirius.

Lily, who was sitting across them, shot her an excited look and started rattling: "Mare, you won't believe how relieved I was when I found out it was the Draught of living Death. I mean, that one's peanuts, even for you. So how did it go?" Her smile faded when she saw the expression on Mary's face. "What happened?"

Mary sighed and shrugged morosely. "It turned yellow," she said miserably after another long pause.

"Yellow??!!" Remus said, looking bemused. "But how-?"

"I don't know, okay!" Mary pouted while she was desperately trying to avoid Sirius or Lily's gaze, because she knew they would be on to her in a nanosecond and looked at James instead, who shot her a piercing look. Mary realized too late that he probably knew her better than she thought as well.

"So… You managed to turn your Draught of living Death in a "Curse of the Canary"-antedote, then?" he inquired, looking deadpan.

Mary felt her mouth twitch. "Well, it was more of a "Kill the neighbors loud and annoying Canary"-poison," she said with clenched teeth so that she wouldn't burst out laughing, which she did anyway when Remus, Lily and James snorted and Sirius's face suddenly dangled right in front of her as he leaned over to her across the table. "Why, you little…" he muttered darkly and pulled her into a hug. "We were really worried about you here," he mumbled in her hair.

Mary smiled and gave him a kiss before starting to butter her toast. "You really shouldn't have. My potion turned out alright. It's not an Outstanding, but an E is definitely a possibility."

"Good to hear it," Lily beamed.

"Where are Brice and Peter?" Mary asked as she took a goblet of pumpkin juice from Sirius.

"Getting ready for their Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies NEWT."

"Should we light a candle for them?" Mary grinned before sipping her juice happily.

"Nah," James said, sniggering. "I'm sure they'll pass them. Brice is excellent at Runes and Muggle Studies… Well, you couldn't possibly fail that subject, now could you?"

"I suppose not," Remus laughed. "Anyway, if we're all done having lunch, I suggest we hit the library again."

"What's on the schedule for tomorrow?" James asked as he got up and stretched lazily.

"James…" Lily said, shooting him an incredulous look. "It's Charms and if you didn't know that until now, you have a real problem."

He laughed and put his arms around her waist. "Of course I knew Lil, I was only joking. How well do you know me by now?"

Lily muttered something unintelligible that came down to her not being surprised if James really wouldn't have known, but Mary was the only one who heard it since she was standing next to her. She grinned at her friend, hooked her arm through Lily's and they walked off to the library together, leaving "their" men behind in the Hall.

From that moment on, things seemed to fly by really fast. The next morning they had to perform at their Charms NEWT, practical Defense against the Dark Arts followed that afternoon, Herbology was scheduled for the day after that and before they realized, their exam period had finally come to an end. All they had to do now was wait for their results. The seventh year students were the only ones left at Hogwarts; younger students had already gone home. Contrary to the results of the OWL's which would be delivered in August, the NEWT results would be ready on Friday in the second week of June, which was today.

They were hanging out in their favourite spot on the grounds under the large oak tree near the lake. Remus, Brice and James were playing a game of Exploding Snap near the water, Peter and Lily were discussing why Muggles use batteries and Sirius was snoozing on the ground with his head on Mary's stomach, who sat against the tree and was writing a letter with directions to Hogwarts to her parents so that they would be able to attend the graduation.

"Are you sure that letter is even necessary?" Sirius asked drowsily without even opening his eyes.

"Oh believe me, I'm sure," Mary laughed. "I need to clarify very clearly on which platform they are supposed to run into the pillar. My dad never got that whole 9 ¾ story."

Sirius opened one eye and squinted because the bright rays of light shining into it. "If you say so," he smiled while intertwining his fingers with hers.

"You're not nervous at all?" she suddenly asked him incredulously.

"Nope."

"You're confident that you achieved only O's?"

Sirius shrugged. "Or E's, who cares? I haven't failed anything, that's for sure. And that's good enough, isn't it?"

"A's won't be good enough to get you into the Auror Program."

"You didn't hear me talk about A's, now did you?"

Mary smiled and shook her head. "Sirius Black, one day your arrogance is going to backfire at you," she said as she fondled his hair.

"Look!" Peter suddenly called while pointing at the sky, where a small group of tawnies was flying in their general direction.

They jumped up and stared at the owls that seemed to be carrying large square envelops. They had seen those only once before when they got their OWL results. This could only mean one thing: those letters carried the important results which would determine their future for good.

The tawnies landed on the ground in front of them and each owl lifted their right leg to their addressee so that they could untie the envelopes. Mary's hands were shaking when she was untying her envelope. She walked away a from the others, slit the envelope open as quickly as possible and unfolded the letter, took a few deep breaths and then finally dared to glance at her results:

NASTILY EXHAUSTING WIZARDING TESTS

Pass Grades:
Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)

Fail Grades:
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)

MARY ADRIENNE WOODS HAS ACHIEVED:

Charms: E
Defense Against the Dark Arts: O
Herbology: E
Potions: E
Transfiguration: O

Mary read the piece of parchment over and again, but the information didn't change. Two O's and three E's… "I made it," she whispered to herself. "I made it!" She continued to stare down at those five surreal-looking grades while trying to process the fact that she actually managed to get an E in Potions. Right when Mary started to feel a bit dizzy from continuously staring at her results, she felt Sirius's arms around her waist. "How did you do?" he whispered softly in her ear.

Mary still didn't know what to say and just held up the parchment instead. Sirius roared happily and lifted her off her feet. She laughed, wrapped her legs around his waist and let him carry her as he jogged a few rounds around the tree. After he had finally put her down and kissed her passionately, she asked: "So how did you do?"

Sirius showed her his results. Mary read the parchment and noticed that he had achieved exactly the same grades as she did, except that he had also got an O on Potions. "Oh wow sweetie, that's awesome, well done," she said happily before kissing him again.

After they broke apart, Sirius and Mary compared their results with the others. James had achieved the exact same grades as Sirius, whereas Lily's results – like Mary's - came down to two O's (Charms and Potions) and three E's. Brice had also done very well with a list of E's and one O (Ancient Runes) and Remus's list consisted of three O's (Charms, Defense and Transfiguration) and two E's (Herbology and Potions). And Peter's grades were all A's, except – a big surprise to all of them – the E he got on Defense.

The fact that they had all passed their NEWTS and would be graduating from Hogwarts together called for a serious celebration. They spent the night with the other seventh year students, Hagrid and some teachers, including Dumbledore, Zabini and Slughorn at the Three Broomsticks. Slughorn bought Mary a few butterbeers because she had managed to get an E in Potions and although he made it very clear that he thought this result must have been sheer dumb luck, Mary couldn't care less. In fact, deep down she was actually agreeing with the Potions master.

The graduation took place only a few days later. It was a surreal experience to see so many adults, including Muggles, at Hogwarts together. Mary and Lily had arranged that their parents – since they didn't really know how to get to the school- traveled along (by the Express) with James's parents. This worked out fine and now they were all here.

Jenna was enjoying every minute at Hogwarts (and hanging out with Sirius). Mary took her on a little tour, along with Brice (who was an only child) and Lily (her big sister Petunia had refused to come). She liked the Gryffindor common room and dormitories, but simply adored the Great Hall. She couldn't stop staring at the enchanted ceiling which currently showed a crystal blue and cloudless sky. "Wait until you're watching the ceiling during a thunderstorm," Mary told Jenna cheerfully.

Jenna gasped. "You can see that too?"

"Well, not now of course," Mary said. "But I'm sure you'll see it in Autumn when you go to Hogwarts as a student."

The official graduation took place on the grounds. Hagrid had placed about a hundred chairs in front of a tall stage with a large wooden table on it and an aisle in between. When everyone – students, teachers and guests - had sat down, Dumbledore held a short and amusing speech in which he highlighted the finest moments of a few students (including this year's New Year's Eve party) before the presenting of the diploma's finally took place.

McGonagall was calling off names and while Mary was watching them walk forward one by one and receive their diploma's, she thought about what this graduation meant. The end of seven amazing years in which she had learnt so much about this world; a world that seemed so odd and new in the beginning, but by now felt like home more than anything. She glanced sideways at Sirius, who was holding her hand. He was closely following the ceremony, so she squeezed his hand. When he looked at her, Mary non-verbally tried to bring across what she was feeling and he seemed to understand what she meant, because he gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed back.

When his name was being called by McGonagall, Sirius winked at her and walked to the stage, where Dumbledore congratulated him and handed him that little but o so desirable scroll of parchment. Mary simply glowed with pride when she watched Dumbledore giving Sirius the official Hogwarts graduation hat. Contrary to the hat they had been wearing all those years, this one had a golden tuft instead of a black one.

After Mary had watched Lily, Remus, Brice, Peter and James and many other students receive their diploma's, it was her turn. She ascended the stairs and found herself standing in front of a smiling Dumbledore. "Congratulations Mary. You've done a marvellous job and I wish you all the best. The Healing Program should be honored to have a student like you among their midst soon," he said kindly, his blue eyes twinkling proudly, before handing her the graduation parchment.

"Thank you, sir," Mary replied, smiling back as she took the diploma and shook his hand. After he had passed her the graduation hat, she walked over to McGonagall to shake her hand as well and then jumped off the stage.

Afterwards there was a big afterparty that lasted until late in the evening. Loud cheerful music surrounded over the grounds and many house-elves were serving the most delicious snacks. Jenna (and many other Muggles or future Muggle-born students) were staring at them in awe.

At the end of the night when the guests were getting ready to leave and students were starting to say goodbye to each other and the teachers, Mary and the others walked to their favourite spot one last time. "So this is it, then," James sighed after he had wrapped his arms around Lily and stared over the lake. "The end of an era…"

"You're saying that like all the fun is over for good," Sirius sniggered, holding Mary close to him and playing with a lock of her long hair.

Remus, holding hands with Brice, snorted. "Padfoot, we are supposed to be adults. Behaving like one once a while might do you some good."

"But things are going to change, no matter what," Peter said wisely. "The world is different and we will be different there, too."

"Not necessarily, Pete," Lily said.

"Since when are you supporting Marauder-actions?" James asked, looking stunned.

She laughed. "I'm just saying that you can have fun without having to act mischievous all the time."

James huffed. "That doesn't sound like fun, it sounds dull."

"I think Lil means that the fact that we're leaving Hogwarts doesn't necessarily mean that we're also losing the school spirit," Mary said thoughtfully.

"Exactly. Thanks Mare!" Lily grinned.

"I think I agree," Remus nodded.

"But…" James said, still looking unconvinced. "No more pranking? Ever?"

"You could always start pranking dark wizards instead," Brice suggested dryly and they all laughed.

"But man, am I gonna miss this place," Sirius sighed.

"Think about it, Sirius," Brice said. "You're taking the best part of Hogwarts – means us – with you. Mary is right. Hogwarts will always be part of us as long as we stick together."

"OK, now that is just downright cheesy," Sirius sniggered. "But also kind of true, I suppose," he added thoughtfully as an afterthought.

James nodded. "I think we should make it official," he said. "Let's all make an oath that, no matter how hard it'll get out there, we'll always stay true to each other."

He picked up a tiny pebble and cast it into the lake before saying: "No matter what?"

The others also bent down and picked up pebbles. "No matter what!" they chanted as one before they all threw their pebbles into the lake at the same time. They hugged each other, forming a big group hug as they silently watched the stones causing many little waves in the water at first before the surface of the lake turned smooth again; their recently made pact already invisible, but not forgotten.

End of Update

A/N: Soooooooo… This is the end of Part One, the part where Sirius and Mary fall in and out of love and in again. Next up is what happens in the first war against Voldemort. It's the reason why I wanted to create the story and I've been told that it's a very exciting tale, so…. Chapters spiked with a lot more drama, action, humor and romance are coming your way, so stay tuned! –Mara.