The question didn't leave my mind – not even for a second – over the course of the next several weeks. As much as I preached focusing on studying, I couldn't keep my mind on my school work. The question haunted my thoughts like an angry poltergeist. Even as I stepped into the testing room for my first N.E.W.T. – the written Charms exam – my thoughts were on Professor Lupin. I was so distracted I didn't even see Professor Flitwick when he approached me, and I jumped a little when he spoke to me.

"Violet," he said, clearing his throat as he placed my exam on my desk.

"Yes, Professor?" I said, holding my hand over my heart in an attempt to steady it.

"Show them what you're really made of," he said, holding out his pudgy hand. "And good luck."

I accepted the handshake gratefully, "Thank you, sir."

"Teacher's pet," Margret said darkly – due to alphabetical seating, she was sitting in the desk in front of me – as Flitwick moved on down the row.

Ignore her, I told myself, taking a few deep breaths. Focus on Charms… Charms…

Professor Flitwick cleared his throat, "Alright, all the tests have been distributed. You have until 10:20 to complete the written portion of your Charms exam. You may now begin."

Simultaneously, everyone in the room turned over their test packet and dipped their quill into their vile of black ink. I had been using purple ink for so long, writing in the standard ebony felt a little awkward, but that was the least of my worries.

I wonder what professors even do during the summer, I wondered while I scribbled my answers. Even when I wrote slowly, my handwriting was still hardly readable. Maybe I could invite him to stay with me? After I graduate, we won't have to hide our relationship anymore. We can go out like a normal couple.

I honestly don't remember much about the two weeks of hell… erm, I mean testing. All of my memories are a foggy blur of tests, walking to my next test, sleeping, and eating just enough to sustain myself.

The only time I saw Remus during the first week of N.E.W.T.s was during testing for his subject. The only times I wasn't testing, he was teaching, and in the evenings, all I wanted to do was sleep. At last, Saturday arrived, and with half of my tests out of the way, I felt little to no guilt about slipping off to Professor Lupin's office.

"Have you been working on your graduation speech?" he asked me while we drank our tea. I had made him promise that he wouldn't mention the exams during our little date; just hearing the word N.E.W.T. made me lose my appetite.

"A little," I sighed. "I'm not really sure what I want to say. I want it to be… I donno, special, ya know? Graduation is something people remember for the rest of their lives."

"I honestly don't remember much about my graduation," Remus shrugged. "At your age, this castle seems like the center of the universe, but one of the first things you'll learn after you graduate is that Hogwarts – while you will remember it fondly – is just a small stepping stone in your life's journey."

"That's… really depressing," I said, shoving a tiny cookie into my mouth.

"You really think so?" he said curiously. "I thought it was very uplifting when I was your age; knowing that there was more to the world than this."

"I guess when you put it that way…" I trailed off. "Do you mind if I put some of that mush in my speech?"

He laughed, "Go ahead. Have you given any more thought to what you want to do after the speech is over?"

I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I thought, but I answered with, "Not really; I haven't had a lot of time to think about it."

"Well, take your time," Remus said, placing an affectionate hand on my shoulder. "It's like Miss Tate was saying, this is an important decision for you. And… You know I'm here if you need to talk about it, or anything, for that matter."

I nodded, "I know. Thank you."

Just ask him, my inner voice screamed at me. Just ask him to come spend the summer with you!

I gulped, "R-remus?"

"What?" he asked thoughtfully.

I couldn't go through with it, partly because a new possibility crossed my mind. I swallowed my original question, and instead posed a new one. One without any weight to it. "D-do you think I could recite my History reports to you one more time?"

"Sure, of course," he said, leaning back in his chair.

My heart pounded as I rose to my feet and walked to the front of the room, What if he doesn't want to continue our relationship after the school year ends?

The weekend went by way too fast, and when Monday finally rolled around, my fellow seventh years seemed even more stressed out. I, however, was looking forward to my first N.E.W.T.-day where I didn't have to take a test. Jeff, Aria, and Ashley all left early for their Herbology test, and I stayed behind to discuss my situation with Goober.

"I can't believe I never thought of that possibility before," I said, looking into his good eye – which happened to be his only eye. "I guess it just never crossed my mind. Remus has always been so good to me; he tells me he loves me all the time. But I suppose it's probable… you know, that he only wanted to… fool around… And then once the year ended…"

I shook my head violently, my eyes flooding with tears, "No! He does love me… Doesn't he?" I looked at my stuffed dog, desperate for an answer. When – after several moments – I realized that Goober didn't have anything to say, I growled, throwing him off of the bed, "You stupid dog! Can't you say something constructive for a change?!"

I stared at the pathetic lump of cloth on the floor, and it only took me a few moments before I was scooping Goober up in my arms, holding him tightly. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! You know how I can be sometimes…"

For once, his silence was actually a comfort.

"After the N.E.W.T.s," I told myself. "I can deal with everything once these damn tests are over. If I can just get through these exams, figuring out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life will seem like a piece of cake."

Knowing that the N.E.W.T.s were the only thing standing between me and making important life decisions somehow made them go by faster; I wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse. Before I knew it, it was Wednesday afternoon, and we all stood in line outside of Professor Lupin's classroom, waiting to take the Defense Against the Dark Arts performance exam. I found that I liked the performance portions the best; they were given in alphabetical order, and once you finished, you were free to leave. Being a Carroll, this meant I usually didn't have to stay much longer than an half an hour. Ashley – who, being a Zimmer, was at the end of the line – was not so pleased about this.

I twirled my wand between my fingers impatiently. My stomach was doing flips that would have won gold in the Olympic games. It had been roaring with hunger for hours, and the whole group would stare at me when it let out a particularly loud cry. But I knew from experience that if I ate before an exam – of any kind – I would get sick. My friends had forced some toast down my throat before that morning's Transfiguration performance exam; I think the scorers were impressed at how quickly I could transform a desk lamp into a barf bucket.

At long last, Margret Cambell stepped out of the testing room. We glared at each other, and I swear I saw ice sickles dancing through the air as I stepped out of the line and into the exam room. My stomach gave another lurch as I closed the door behind me.

I found myself inside a small, nearly empty room. Against the wall opposite of me, three people sat in identical wooden chairs, scribbling down notes on their clip boards. The first was a short, pudgy woman with thinning gray hair, the second was a tall, lanky man who couldn't have been much older than twenty-five, and the third was Professor Lupin.

I love the way he looks when he concentrates… I thought, watching him while I waited. Somehow, his presence calmed me – the opposite of its usual affect – and for once, my hands weren't shaking.

"Alright, Miss… Carroll," the woman said, with a thick accent I couldn't recognize. "Are you ready to begin?"

I felt a rush of confidence – such a nice feeling – and I nodded, "Yes, ma'am," I said, flashing Remus a brief smile. "I'm ready."

She cleared her throat, "Miss Carroll, would you please demonstrate for us the Patronus charm?"

This is too good to be true, I thought. I can do that. Piece of cake.

Again, I nodded. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I thought about Remus. I thought about him dancing with me in his office, making me tea, kissing my lips, slowly peeling off my clothes…

I shook my head rapidly, blushing as I snapped back to reality. Best not get too happy, I thought, holding out my wand as I said, "Expecto Patronum." A jet of silver light shot out from the tip of my wand, taking the familiar shape of a penguin. It glided around the room – for a bird that can't fly, it was very graceful – and zigzagged between Professor Lupin and the other two judges a few times before it disappeared.

"Excellent," the woman said, scribbling something down on her clipboard.

"Violet is one of my best students," Lupin said proudly. He smiled at me; not the usual smile a teacher gives a student, but the warm, kind smile he normally saved for when we were alone.

"Aww, I'm not all that," I said coyly, turning away to hide my blush from the other judges.

Seeing him smile made up my mind. As soon as the N.E.W.T.s were finished, I was going to ask Professor Lupin to come stay with me for the summer.

The last two days of testing were a piece of cake. On Thursday, I had a free day, and I spent the evening with Remus, putting the last touches on my oral History reports. I was grinning and giggling the entire time, but despite all his probing, I refused to reveal the cause of my happiness. In my heart, it was as if he had already said yes.

The extra reviewing turned out to be a good idea; I was asked to recite my report on common misconceptions about muggles, the one I was the least prepared for. However, I only slipped up twice, and my throat didn't close up, and I didn't throw up.

A huge weight lifted off of my shoulders as I walked out of the exam room. I felt so light, I thought I was floating down the halls on my way to the common room.

"If I have three cups of sugar," the statue said to me. "And you take one away, how many cups of sugar do you have?"

Thank goodness it's an easy one, I thought. My brain is totally fried. "Two," I said.

"I'm sorry, but that is incorrect," the statue said.

"It is not!" I snarled. "Three minus one is two!"

"But that isn't the answer to the riddle," Luna said, causing me to jump with fright. So much for giving my nervous stomach a break. "If the statue has three cups of sugar, and you take away one, then you have one cup of sugar."

"That is correct," the statue said, allowing the door to open for us.

"I'm a N.E.W.T.-level student, and I just got outsmarted by a twelve year old…" I said in disbelief as I followed Luna inside. Once I settled into my bed, I did something I hadn't been able to do for months: I read. Cracking open that book – the anthology Lutie had given me for Christmas – was like Nirvana. By the time my friends returned that afternoon – their arms full of Butterbeer and sweets – I had already finished the first half of the huge volume.

"Where did you get all this?" I asked, reluctantly putting my book down.

"From the Slytherin party," Jeff said as he proudly dumped his armful of candy onto my bed.

"Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are having a joint party," Aria explained as she opened a Butterbeer for each of us. "Only about half of them are there right now, though; the Arithmancy test doesn't end until later. We stopped by there to see Eddie."

No one told me about a party, I thought, trying to hide my disappointment as I crawled out from under the covers. Aria offered me a Butterbeer, and I accepted it gratefully.

"But Loony-Luna told us you were here," Jeff said, using the new pet name he had invented for his assistant. "So we decided to take our spoils and share them with our darling daughter."

I smiled, "Thanks guys. But if you'd rather be at the big party-"

"Screw the big party," Ashley said, her mouth full of candy. She swallowed, "We wanted to spend time with our little girl."

Jeff nodded, "We figured, now that tests are over, you'll be wanting to spend the next free-week with your darling Professor Lu-Lu."

I blushed, feeling a little sad, "D-don't talk like I'm blowing you guys off…"

"It's alright," Aria said, sitting down next to me. "We know that it's time for you to leave the nest."

"I just didn't think this day would come so fast!" Ashley sobbed.

"There there," Jeff cooed, rubbing her shoulder affectionately. "We can still pop in every day, just to check in on her." He looked up at me, his expression serious. "Vi-Vi, you know… We're not going to be around forever…"

I rolled my eyes, "Jeff, we're the same age. There's always a chance that I'll die first."

Aria gasped, pulling me into one of her half-drunken hugs, "Don't talk like that!"

"Yeah," Ashley sniffled. "Burying a child is every parent's nightmare."

"Can we move on to a less depressing subject?" I requested. "After two weeks of N.E.W.T.s, I'm already bordering on suicidal."

"Okay… Like… What are you and Professor Lu-Lu going to do now?" Ashley asked.

"Please tell us," Aria begged. "We've all been dying to know! We just didn't want to bother you while you were studying."

"And when she says 'we', she means Ashley and I wanted to, but Ari wouldn't let us," Jeff moped, crossing his arms.

I gulped, "Actually, I was planning on-"

"Planning on what?!" Ashley demanded, grabbing onto the collar of my shirt desperately. "What?! Out with it!"

"Don't interrupt me!" I yelled, pushing her away. "I was going to ask him if he wanted to come stay with me this summer!"

The three of them gasped in unison, and then shared a long, wordless glance. I hated it when they did stuff like that; I was starting to believe they were mind-readers.

"W-what?" I asked, my cheeks growing warm as the moment of silence continued.

"Awwwww!" they squealed – again in creepy-unison – as they all tackled me at once. My head collided roughly with my headboard.

"That's so cute!" Jeff said, ruffling my hair.

Ashley nodded, "The cutestestest!"

"I'd expect nothing less from our little Vi-Vi," Aria said proudly. "You know, I think I'm going to write a romance novel about all the stuff that's happened to her this year…"

I groaned, "Please don't…"

"That would be so kinky," Jeff giggled.

"I might actually read a book like that…" Ashley said dreamily.

I sighed, the ends of my mouth turning up, forming a tiny smirk, "You know, maybe I won't ask him…"

"You will too ask him!" Aria scolded. "You will ask him right now!"

"Now?" I blinked. "But-"

"You heard your other mother," Jeff said sternly, placing his hands on his hips to show that he meant business. "Now, go ask Professor Lu-Lu if he'll join you for a summer of pleasure!"

I blushed furiously, "But-"

"No, she can't go now!" Ashley said, and for a moment, I was thankful. However, my relief soon vanished when she continued, "We have to fix her hair first!"

I rubbed my temple, "Fine, I'll go ask him now… Jeez…"

*

Author's Notes

Hey there, remember me? I just wanted to say thanks, once again, to all the awesome people who reviewed. Over a hundred now! And Lovrofthearts, thank you especially, for reviewing older chapters. That made my day.

I'm sure you're all wondering – and until just a few weeks ago, so was I – if this story will continue on once the school year ends. Well, my friends… Yes, it will. I have decided to continue on into the rest of the series. I just have too much fun writing this. You can thank Negativa, for first putting that idea into my head.

At any rate, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you'll come back next time!

Peace, love, and all that good crap,
Komaki.