Hehe... Let you use our imagination for the end of the last chapter, so it's up to you whether you think they did anything or not ;) I am fangirling so much as I'm writing this because it's so cute. I hope you agree :) Loving your reviews, so thank you :D
Chapter 38 - John
"You are brilliant!" John exclaimed as Clara ran out of their final exam, which was History of Magic.
"I've done it! I finished them all without a mental breakdown," Clara laughed, before hugging John and burying her shoulder in his neck.
He sighed in relief as he held her. They spun around a couple of times before he let her go.
"Damn, if only McGonagall were here. I wanted to thank her too," Clara said sadly.
"Yeah, it's a real shame. It must've been a serious accident if she had to be taken to St. Mungo's. I'll write a letter to my mum and ask her. She'd know since she works there," John said.
It was odd, because all they had been told was that "there was an accident." It felt like their 'Headmistress' was hiding something from them. But John wasn't going to dwell on it, because John was getting to that age where he knew investigating would get him nowhere. And besides, it wasn't his place to investigate anyway.
"So, Hogsmede this weekend. You got any plans for where you want to go? It's our last time there before October," John said, putting his arm around her shoulders as they started walking to the common room.
"Oh, I don't know. Do you want to do anything in particular?" Clara asked him.
"Not really. I'll ask Saxon if he's up to anything. Maybe Katie will come with him so you don't have to put up with our "man talk."" His voice deepened on the last two words.
"Yeah, alright. Because your "man talk" is so hardcore that it makes me shiver every time," Clara laughed sarcastically.
"I know. Neville could join us too. You know, we should just do an end of OWL celebration at the Three Broomsticks. Like, everyone in year comes and we just have one big gathering since exams are over," John said, thinking out loud.
"That sounds like a really cool idea actually. It's a bit short notice, though. Since it's... Tomorrow," Clara said after a pause of realisation.
"Ah, yeah. Didn't think of that," John sighed, stroking his chin which had become fairly stubbley without him noticing. "Oh, damn. I have stubble. Where the he'll did that come from?"
"Let me see," Clara said, before stepping up on her tiptoes and grabbing his face gently. She then rubbed his cheek a little. "Wow. So you really are a man?"
"Hey, you're not funny. Means I'm going to have to shave. What an effort," John huffed.
"Only for this summer, you dumbo. You'll be able to use magic after that since you turn seventeen in October," Clara said, lightly giving his cheek as slap before placing a kiss on his lips.
They started walking again, but they were only down the corridor from the common room now.
"Last summer without magic. I kinda liked the way we spent our Summers together in more of a muggle way. Having magic is a bit like stripping us of our innocence."
"Oh, I think we've long been stripped of our innocence. I think as soon as we started Hogwarts we were. Look at everything that's happened over the last few years. It's not like it's been all candy and flowers," Clara said.
John nodded. "I guess so, now you say that."
They entered the common room to find a new, hand-written note on the notice board. It said:
Party in the Ravenclaw Common Room 7.30pm to mark the end of exams!
Well done everyone! We all survived!
The two of them laughed after reading it. John looked at his watch, which read 5:30pm.
"Well, we've got a couple of hours to kill. I suggestwe go swim in the lake because the weather's great and we're in good moods," John said happily.
"Sounds good to me," Clara grinned, before they got changed and went back down towards the lake.
It was hard for John to wake up the next morning, since he's slept so little. So much had happened the night before and he couldn't wrap his head around it all. There were images of Terry Boot giving him a piggy back and a third year jumping off a tall bookshelf. It was all a bit of a blur, really. Someone had obviously sneaked in some fire whiskey as usual.
It was Saturday, which meant Hogsmede was that day. That gave him a reason to get up at a reasonable time, if you could call 11am reasonable.
He got dressed into some comfortable clothes, before jogging down to the common room. Clara was waiting for him there, fully awake and looking too worried for his liking.
"What's the matter?" he asked in a panic, before he ran over to her and grabbed her shoulders.
"If it's me you're worried about, calm down. I'm fine. You haven't heard about what happened though, have you?"
"What? What happened?" He asked, letting her go with a sigh of relief.
"Neville and a few others are in the hospital wing with some pretty nasty injuries. But Umbridge is gone and Dumbledore's back," Clara explained.
"Wait, so how did Nev end up in the hospital wing?" John asked in confusion.
"I don't know. They're not allowing any visitors. No one really knows what happened, to be honest."
"Oh, okay. Thank Merlin that toad is gone. She was doing my head in," John said. And we was sure he wasn't the only one.
"Yeah, I agree. Good morning, by the way," Clara smile, placing a hand on his cheek.
"Good morning, beautiful," John said, before kissing her gently.
As they were about to leave the Great Hall for breakfast, though, a notice appeared on the board next to the exit. They stopped, and read what it said.
Hogsmede trip cancelled.
"What? But we had plans!" John exclaimed.
"It's obviously got something to do with what happened last night. It's okay, we can just hang outside with Saxon and Katie instead," Clara suggested.
A few hours passed in which John, Clara, Saxon and Katie sat by the lake with a few butterbeers Saxon had stored since their last Hogsmede trip, talking about what they were going to do over the summer.
"I have no clue. We should do something all together. Like, you know, one of those cool camping trips where all the teens get together and have a great time without the adults, you know?"
"That sounds awesome! That's a really good idea," John said.
"Yeah, and I'm of age now, so your parents won't be able to complain," Saxon said.
"Means you're doing all the wood collecting and stuff since you'll be able to use your wand," John said with a laugh. "I'll sit back and relax."
He leaned back, glancing over at Clara, who looked like she was enjoying her conversation with Katie. She looked so innocent, so normal. As if nothing bad had scarred her in the past months. He appreciated the sight so much.
"We take things for granted so much, don't we?" Saxon said watching them too.
"Yeah. I thought I was going to lose her all those months ago. Look at her now," John said.
The evening came, and they hadn't moved much all day. There were lots of people sitting outside still, and there was a nice atmosphere in the warm, summer air.
That was, until Lavender Brown came running with a Daily Prophet in her flailing arms.
"Have you all heard! You know who is back for real!" She shouted.
People turned and stood up. Others stayed put and stared at her as if she were crazy.
John walked over to her and said "Why would you say that?"
Lavender thrust the newspaper into his face, and he knew it was not going to be a joke anymore.
"HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAME RETURNS"