Rule 2: Partying, no matter the occasion, the style, or the size of said party, must always be completed with vigor and intense merry-making. Bring the party to the party.

Adenum: Drunkingg is awsum and should beee at evry partyy.

Addendum to the Addendum: Drinking is the devil's existence and should be banned from every party hereafter.

Addendum to the Addendum to the Addendum: Drinking is awesome.

Lyla's Point of View

"Whoever said that the final term before graduating was supposed to be easy was a complete arsehole and a liar. I hope they swallow a blast-ended skrewt, choke on it, spit it up, swallow it again, and then it burns them up from the inside," Alexa threatened, throwing her quill down and smoothing down the strands of hair that were sticking out in every direction from her now falling bun. It was as if all of Alexa's stress and tension were concentrated in her hair follicles.

I set down the book that I had been flipping through to find a particular section on the Oculus Potion. Alexa and I had been working on our joint final essay for Slughorn, but I could see that my dear sister was at her wit's end. "Alex, you need to take a deep breath," I instructed her. "And maybe a brush."

Alexa did not appreciate my attempt to lighten the mood, as evidenced by the intense glare she sent my way. "I'm being serious, Lyla," she stressed. "In what world does it make sense to have us preparing for our final exams that will determine if we can graduate and interview with various potential employers that hold our professional futures in their hands? On top of all that, we have to worry about the Order, which is one of the most intense unofficial extracurriculars that ever existed."

Without a word, I rose from my place across the table from Alexa, and moved to the seat beside her. All the while, Alexa watched me with wild questioning eyes, seemingly on the brink of losing it. Pulling Alexa into my arms, and doing my best to quiet her almost immediate protests, I held her in silence for a few moments. Even though I, too, was feeling the stress of everything going on and the pressure of my future looming, I was also trying to savor all these final moments that we would never have again.

"Do you feel better?" I asked gently, releasing her from my hold.

Just shy of recoiling back into her seat, Alexa looked back at me, annoyed. "Those two minutes could have been put to better use, in my opinion, but I appreciate what you're trying to do," she begrudgingly conceded. "I don't understand how you're so calm. You're usually the one who is on my case to be more prepared and stress-eating Cauldron Cakes."

She wasn't wrong, and Remus could certainly attest to my late-night snacking habits of late; I certainly hadn't left my Cauldron Cake days behind me. "Believe me, I'm feeling the pressure, just as much as you are, but we're in this together. I even drew up a schedule for us, so we can make sure we get all our studying in, complete our potions, prep for the interviews, and deal with the Order stuff. I've even budgeted some time for loosely structured fun."

I pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment from my robes and unfurled it in a flourish. Alexa's eyes widened and then she ran her hands over her face, pulling the skin below her eyes downward, making her look very attractive. "How in Merlin's name did you have time to make this master schedule with everything else that's going on?! I barely had time to brush my hair this morning," Alexa lamented. My eyebrow went up at the mention of her hair. "Please, no comments," she quickly added.

"Look, I split up the potion's work so that leaves us with a little bit more time to prepare for the interviews," I explained, pointing out various sections of the schedule. "We've got this. You've got this. You just have to remain calm and take one thing at a time."

Alexa nodded her head, demonstrating at least some belief in what I was saying. She turned to face me a bit more full on. "This really means a lot to me," she whispered in confession, her eyes cast downward at her twisting hands in her lap. I smiled slightly and nodded my head, encouraging her to continue. "I know I haven't been an exemplary student, but this internship could be huge for me. I'm terrified to fail when the stakes are this massive."

I placed a gentle hand on my sister's shoulder and gave her a soft squeeze. "I'm terrified too," I confided in solidarity. "We're headed into the real world, where we'll either sink or swim. No matter what, though, we'll always have each other."

She let out a quiet laugh and shook her head from the seriousness that had built up around us. "I don't think I could have survived caring this much for all seven years at this bloody school. I honestly don't know how you did it." I rolled my eyes and returned to my side of the table.

"To be fair, I did have a small mental breakdown earlier this year, so I don't know if I would recommend it," I joked. I had finally entered the acceptance stage of grief, and could even make light of the situation, even though it would always stay with me. I refocused back to the books and papers scattered around us and set my hands on the table. "Now, let's finish up here because I have scheduled some interview prep in an hour, and we're meant to be meeting up with everyone."

I handed Alexa an ancient dusty book that was nearly falling apart and pointed to a section on the Wiggenweld potion. Her quill once again took up residence in her hand and she began to take notes from the book. I could see the weight of expectations weighing on Alexa, more apparent now than ever before, but I also saw clearly what she couldn't always see.

Alexa had an air of confidence about her, a lot of which Sirius brought out in her, but I had seen the self-doubt that she kept shut behind closed doors, and she had seen mine. As I looked at my sister, I didn't see the doubt, I didn't see the worry. I knew Alexa was destined for amazing things. We were all on this precipice of our world being completely turned upside down, and not just with leaving Hogwarts; there were unspeakable dangers that were bubbling up, and all I knew was that I didn't want to take that leap into the unknown with anyone else.

She looked up from her writing and caught me staring at her during my moment of introspection. It took me a moment to break from my reverie and was met by her skeptical look. "I'm all for this take-every-moment-as-it-comes version of Lyla, but I'm going to need you to take this particular moment to work on our joint essay so we can pass this class." I raised my hands in surrender and returned to my book as directed.

An hour later, as promised, we all gathered in mine and Remus' rooms to help one another prep for our upcoming interviews. McGonagall had arranged for various future employers in a number of fields to come to Hogwarts to meet with the seventh year students. While she continued to stress that these were not necessarily formal interviews for specific jobs, our conversations had the potential to have a significant bearing on our future hopes and dreams. McGonagall really had a special way of building you up and stripping you down to pure terror all in a matter of words and looks.

We all sat around in various spots in the common room and it was quickly made self-evident that there were varying degrees of preparation that had taken place before this point. Lily sat close to me, a set of cards stacked in her hands that she was flipping through furiously. Beside her, James and Sirius were locked in what seemed to be a very intense game of exploding snap.

Lily shifted toward me and handed me half of her cards. "Okay, I'm ready," she informed me. "I took the liberty of writing up some potential questions they could ask." Of course she did. While I had always been at the top of the class with Lily, I even had to admit that she never ceased to outdo me.

I quickly flipped through the cards to get a feel for the questions and then looked up at Lily in surprise. "I thought you were interested in working for the Ministry?" I posed for clarification. "Since when did you become interested in working for a private apothecary?"

Lily shrugged her shoulders, but didn't let my questions shake her resolve. "While I believe there is a lot that can be accomplished with working for the Ministry as a potioneer, I think there is an incredible opportunity to make pre-prepared potions available to the larger wizarding world. There are so many people who do not have the means for all the necessary equipment to make many potions in their own home; but if they had wider access to the finished products that could be really revolutionary for a lot of people. Besides, I believe there is a lot of freedom outside of the Ministry to experiment and develop new cutting-edge potions, the likes of which we haven't seen. Innovation is truly where my passion lies."

There was a silence that came over the room as Lily gave her impassioned reply, which no doubt she had practiced, but delivered naturally. In a moment, her whole body and demeanor relaxed. "How was that?" she asked, excitedly. "I think that was my best delivery yet." I let a laugh slip out and gave her a thumbs up.

"Clearly, Lily isn't the one who needs the help," Alexa piped up, shifting the focus. "Lily, you could literally have your pick of jobs after school. I, on the other hand, believe I only have very limited options, so I need to nail this."

Remus shook his head at her self-deprecation. "All right then, Alex," he responded. "What are you planning to say to the curse-breaker from the Ministry?" He motioned for her to take the floor, and Alexa met it with intense trepidation.

Her lips moved slightly as she attempted and failed to form the words that her brain was dictating. She suddenly let out a frustrated groan and sunk low in her chair, moving a pillow to cover her face. "Remus, if I knew what I was going to say I wouldn't be sitting here with you lot, completely freaking out."

The muffled words pulled Sirius away from his game with James briefly. "Now, stop with that whinging," he scolded. "Just speak from the heart, and say why you want to be a curse-breaker." Alexa shot a glare at him from behind her pillow and remained silent. "Don't think, just speak. Go."

You could tell that she was getting frustrated by his rushing, until finally she firmly pressed the pillow into her lap. "Quit pestering me, Sirius," she bit back. "It's easy for people like you, James and Lyla. You all have been so sure of what you want to do with your life and your talents for years now. You have had this singular focus to become an auror since I've known you. I don't have that.

"All I've ever known is that I want to do a job that means something, like really means something. I want to affect the lives of others in a positive way, and hopefully make this ever-darkening world a little lighter and a better place for witches and wizards to live. Until recently, I didn't really know what that meant, but when McGonagall gave me that pamphlet for the curse-breaking internship, some things just clicked. There are increasingly more people who are illegally cursing items and using them as weapons to hurt innocent people, and I think those people need to be held accountable. I want to find a better way to get to those objects sooner before they can hurt people and return them to their ordinary glory. The world is scary enough as it is, and this is just one small way to make it a little less scary."

Alexa was slightly out of breath when she finished speaking, and there was almost a light that was being emitted from her face. I smiled widely and nodded my head. Sirius, looked back at her unbothered. "There, just say that," he replied nonchalantly. He threw her a quick wink and then returned to his game with James. Almost a little stunned, Alexa shifted in her seat and really took a moment to think about what she had just said. She, too, let a smile spread across her face, pleased with this new discovery she had.

"So it's settled then," James stated, matter-of-factly. "Padfoot, Wormtail, and I are destined to be badass aurors. Dear Lyla shall use that sweet angel touch of hers to heal the world. Alexa's going to be out there, busting every curse she tirelessly hunts down. Moony, to my great disappointment, refuses to keep the band together in auror training and instead is hoping for a life of archiving for the Ministry. And my darling Lily, is going to work her way up to world-renowned potioneer in, no doubt, record time. That just leaves, old Blair Bear." We all shifted our focus to Blair, who had stayed relatively quiet from her spot on the couch, hugging a pillow to her chest. "So, what's it going to be, B?"

"Wait, let me guess," Sirius quickly jumped in. "I could see you as a hard hitting reporter for the Prophet. Investigative journalism, uncovering the deep dark underbelly of society. You've always been very good at finding out everyone's secrets."

It was at that moment that I realized Blair, much like Alexa, hadn't really discussed much in the ways of future plans. But, unlike Alexa, who had been vocal about her unknown future, Blair hadn't mentioned a single thing. "I don't know, I always thought you would make an incredible judge on the Wizengamot or a legislator for them. Merlin knows you can win the hell out of an argument."

"Actually, I've already accepted a position with the Ministry in their Magical Beasts division as a magizoologist," she casually threw out there. "Contingent on passing my N.E.W.T.S. of course." Literally every single one of our jaws fell open in shock. How had we not known about this?!

"Blair!" I exclaimed, in both excitement and indictment. "Why didn't you mention anything before? That's such huge news."

She shrugged, not bothered at all. "Nothing's a done deal yet," she reiterated, downplaying the whole situation. "I've always loved animals and magical creatures and Professor Kettleburn always gave me top marks in Care of Magical Creatures. When I met with McGonagall she said that Kettleburn, and I quote, "Highly recommended you for the opening at the Ministry during a brief moment of lucidity before landing himself back in the Hospital Wing."

James looked at her skeptically for a moment. "Don't get me wrong, I couldn't be more chuffed for you," James started, carefully, "But in all the years I've known you, I can't remember a single time that you showed interest in magical beasts or their care. Where have you been hiding this part of you?"

She gave him an intense side eye in response. "I'm a woman of varied interests, James. Just because I don't live and breathe, and talk incessantly about my passions doesn't mean I don't have them." James threw his hands up in retreat.

"I think what he meant to say was that we are all very happy for you," Lily said, both coming to James' rescue and Blair's. Lily's statement was echoed by our similar congratulatory exclamations.

Sirius and James finally finished their game and turned their complete focus to the real task at hand. "Okay, so let's just throw around some other possible questions they may ask," James suggested. "Like, what is your greatest weakness? For me, I would say that I can sometimes become too singularly focused on my goals."

"You care too much?" I clarified. "That's your greatest weakness?" Lily snickered and then gave him a loving pat on his leg. "How about you, Sirius? You care too much, like James over there?"

Sirius shook his head in disagreement. "First thing that comes to my mind, and probably all of yours, is my looks. While also my greatest strength, being this devilishly handsome can be distracting for some. I anticipate being able to use that to my advantage for the most part, but it wouldn't be the first time that it's gotten me in trouble."

Alexa scowled at her boyfriend disapprovingly. "Trust me, it's not your looks that are getting you into trouble. It's that mouth of yours that causes the majority of your problems." They both stuck their tongues out at each other teasingly. Sirius leaned over the arm of the chair Alexa was occupying and moved to kiss her cheek. She put up a show of protest, but it was just that.

She wrapped her arms around Sirius's neck and he leaned back against her chair in her embrace. "Well, my dear friends, our futures hang in the balance," Alexa said, ominously. "Picture it now, five years have passed, we have all gracefully entered into our early twenties. I've amazingly, only gotten better looking and more wise." We all smiled and laughed at Alexa's antics that were all thinly veiled in some semblance of true hope from my dear sister. "What does our reality look like in five years then?"

The question hung in the room with such weight. The truth was, we all had so many hopes and dreams for our lives outside of Hogwarts, but the reality was, there was so much unknown in our world right now. Admittedly, when I joined the Order, I didn't fully appreciate the gravity of the situation. I knew there were evil forces at work, and they were all starting to encroach; but I didn't realize just how close they were to crashing down on us.

With Uncle Scott's disappearance, and subsequent return, and the sobering realization that some of our own classmates were already fighting for the other side as we were called to fight for our own; I felt a bit out of my depth. It was in these fleeting moments of normalcy that I clung to as the rest of the world seemed to be growing more and more out of our control. Tomorrow, everything we knew and had faith in could crumble, but for today, we were just normal kids, dreaming about the future.

"I can see it now," James began with a flourish of his hands. "I'm one of the top aurors at the Ministry. Personally recognized by the Minister himself for my valiant efforts in keeping the wizarding world safe from nefarious forces near and far." Lily rolled her eyes at how highly James thought of himself. "I get to work with my best mates," he nods to Sirius and Peter, "And I get to come home to the love of a good woman." At this, Lily's eye roll was quickly replaced by a rush of red to her cheeks. While James didn't mention her by name, we all knew that James saw a future for the two of them.

James realized the implication and gravity of what he had just said, and a flicker of panic came to his eyes. Sirius quickly came to his best friend's rescue. "Too right you are, James. We'll be at the top of our game," he agreed, continuing this journey into the future. "We'll be fighting bad guys, and girls; I am a feminist, afterall, and will bring them to justice." He threw me a nod and a wink. "And as far as the love of a good woman? Well, that all depends on how long this one here will have me."

He gave Alexa a playful nudge, but I could see in his eyes that he wholeheartedly believed what he said. Alexa laughed nervously, quick to get in on the joke before anyone could sense her uneasiness. I knew Alexa loved Sirius, and she had said that she had no reservations about moving in with him after school, but she had always been one to shy away from overt declarations of affection, to which even Sirius was not immune.

Alexa quickly stood up from her spot, no doubt more subtly in her mind than in practice. "Well, would you look at the time," she looked down at her left wrist that was noticeably void of a watch. "Wouldn't want to be late. Doesn't really send the right message. Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable. Isn't that what you always say, Lyla?"

I gave her a quizzical look as I pushed myself off Remus. "While I don't disagree, I don't think I've ever said that," I responded, reaching for my bag. "But, Alexa's right, we should get a move on. Everyone put on a good face and their best foot forward. With any luck, we'll all be gainfully employed after leaving these hallowed halls."

"Ah, always the optimist," Remus chided. We all gathered our belongings and our hopes and dreams and headed down to the Great Hall where McGonagall stood, looking slightly frazzled, directing students in various directions. "Good luck, all," Remus said, as we all headed into the breach.

"Mrs. Lupin, I believe you will be meeting with one of the healers from St. Mungo's today," I nodded my head in confirmation, my belly slowly coming alive with tiny fluttering butterflies. "I've put in a good word, but I'm certain you have nothing to worry about." She gave me a smile and then nodded over to a kind looking woman in lime-colored robes.

I followed the healer into the empty classroom and she immediately put me at ease with her warm demeanor. "Well, hello my dear, you must be Lyla" she started, extending her hand out to me. "My name is Miriam Strout, lovely to meet you."

Over the next hour, I spoke with Miriam about her work at St. Mungo's and how she knew she wanted to be a healer. Our stories and passions seemed to overlap quite a bit. She was honestly one of the kindest people I had ever met. It would almost appear to be saccharine, but her sincerity came through with every word. She explained to me that she was a healer in the long-term care ward, caring for people who had either suffered permanent damage from magical ailments or spells or those who needed prolonged treatment.

It honestly sounded exactly like what I wanted. To be able to connect with people and care for those in their most vulnerable moments felt like my purpose and passion. Just before leaving, Healer Strout gave me information to come and tour her ward with her and to sit down with the healer-in-charge. With the glowing recommendations from McGonagall and Slughorn, she expressed that she had no reservations about my abilities and would personally recommend me for a spot in the upcoming class of trainees.

I was light as air as I entered back into the corridor after meeting with Healer Strout. While I had always excelled in school and received top marks, I had very little experience outside the Hogwarts bubble and wasn't quite as assured of myself outside the walls of this castle. This had helped to put my mind at ease, however, and for that, I was grateful.

Glancing quickly at my watch, I realized that it was almost time for me to attend to mine and Alexa's potions for our final exam. I pulled my bag further up my shoulder and hurried down the corridor, descending into the depths of the castle below.

There was only one other student in the dungeon when I arrived in the classroom. I grabbed my textbook and tossed my bag at the foot of the workbench. Flipping through the various pages that I had marked, I let the book fall open on the oculus potion. The piece of parchment that Alexa and I had enchanted to show the changes and notes that the other had made on our own copy was littered with scribbles and alterations.

I scanned down the list and saw a notation where Alexa had added the ground unicorn horn. According to the textbook, the potion should now be a turquoise color. My finger saved my place in the text as I quickly gazed at the contents of our cauldron and was pleasantly met by a beautiful blue-green liquid. Well done, Alex. "Right then," I murmured to myself, redirecting back to the book. "Add the crystalized water until the potion turns indigo and then stir until orange. Easy enough."

The storeroom was almost eerily silent as I searched for the crystalized water. Having organized and catalogued for Slughorn more times than I could count, I was able to locate the bottle rather quickly, but noticed that Slughorn had made some adjustments to my most recent system. Just before exiting the storeroom, there was a tugging at the back of my mind that gave me pause. Unable to fight my deepest organizational impulses, I turned back to the shelves and rearranged a few of the areas that were out of place.

Feeling that sense of calm that only organizing could give me, I headed back to my cauldrons to add the next ingredient. To my surprise, Remus was sitting on one of the stools and was working on an essay. "Well, hello there," I greeted him with a smile and a kiss. "What brings you down here?"

"I knew you had a bit of work to do down here, so I thought I'd keep you company and could get some work done as well," he explained. I gave his hand a squeeze to thank him for his thoughtfulness and then set back to work on my oculus potion.

Adding the crystalized water little by little, watching for the color change, I glanced over to Remus who was working quietly on his own. "How did your interview go?" I asked him. I had noticed that Remus had been relatively quiet earlier when we had all gathered in our rooms, and I could tell that something had been on his mind.

He looked up from his essay and shrugged his shoulders. "It went well. The Archivist seemed pretty confident that they would offer me a position after I graduate," he relayed. "Apparently they don't have hoards of people clamoring to hide away in the archives at the Ministry." He gave a good-natured laugh, but I detected a hint of sadness.

"That's great, I'm glad it went well," I congratulated, adding a bit more from the vial to the cauldron, the contents starting to fade into a darker blue/purple. "It sounds like James, Sirius, and Peter are really going to miss you as they go off for auror training." I absolutely thought I was being more subtle than I was, and I was one hundred percent fishing, but that's just what wives did.

Remus' eyes met mine, his look clearly trying to figure out what I was getting at. "It will just be different," he conceded. "We're so used to doing everything together, but we were bound to head off in different directions at some point, and we'll all adjust just fine."

"Did you ever think about joining the auror program with them?" I questioned, pushing a bit further. "You're always in the top of the class in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and it always just seemed like something you'd be well-suited for."

"Lyla, just leave it," he cautioned. "I would be happy working in the archives. It's honest work and I enjoy the history of it. And it will allow me to be at home more with you, and that's really all I want."

The potion finally slipped into a deep indigo and I immediately started stirring the contents. After a moment, I charmed the stirrer to continue moving in the clockwise rotation. I moved away from the cauldron and leaned forward on my forearms across from Remus. "I just mean that you could do anything you want, Remus. If you truly want to work in the archives, that's great. But if there's a part of you that wants to be an auror, it's not too late for you to apply."

Remus' hand stilled and he let out a sigh. He once again looked up to meet my eyes. "It's not that I haven't thought about it," he admitted. "But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that here, my furry little problem was generously accommodated and Dumbledore has helped me hide it. Once I leave here, Dumbledore can't help me guard that secret and I don't think people are going to be so understanding. I know you know what I am, and I can't thank Merlin enough that you've been able to accept me and love me despite that other piece of me. But you don't understand the fear that me and my family have had to live with outside of Hogwarts.

"The fear that someone will discover what I am. When people are afraid, they don't always act rationally. They can be discriminatory, violent even. I would hate it if I brought any of that into what is now our life together. I just think that if I were to become an auror, that would be putting a target on my back. I don't want to live like that, and I won't let that piece of me affect you more than it already has."

I swallowed the hard lump in my throat and took Remus' hand in mine, gently stroking his skin with my thumb. His words broke my heart, but I knew there was nothing I could say that could ease his pain. "There is nothing anyone could say or do that would make me love you any less," I assured him immediately. "You have a bright future ahead of you, and I will support you in whatever you choose. Just know that we can get through anything together, so don't worry about me or anyone else, and you just choose what's going to make you happy. I just want you to be happy, okay?"

He squeezed my hand and then brought it up to his lips, pressing them sweetly against my skin. We both slipped back into our work without another word and continued to work in silence.

"Wait, so Muggles really believe that the diricawl went extinct?" Sirius questioned as he flipped through our Care of Magical Creatures notes. "How have they not figured out it's magic? Birds don't just up and vanish one day. No offense to them, but that's a bit thick."

I let out a laugh, unable to really disagree. "They just reasoned it away by thinking their own actions led to the dodo's demise," I recited from memory. "Which, clearly didn't make a huge impact on how they treat nature, but the Ministry was hopeful that it would so they've kept their existence a secret ever since."

Sirius shook his head. "Cheeky, little things just popping in and out of existence as they please." He finished flipping through a few pages and then tossed them onto the nearby table in mine and Remus' dorm. He leaned back against the arm of the couch and stretched his legs out, encroaching onto my lap. "We've been at this for hours, Lyls, I need a break. Can we talk about something else for a while?"

"I think we can spare a twenty minute break," I conceded. "I want to review that last section on knarls one last time before we head in for the exam though, so we can't laze about for too long." He saluted me and then continued to stare at me expectantly. I met his stare with confusion and he made a small motion for me to speak. "I'm sorry, was there something specific that you were hoping to talk about?"

He quickly shrugged his shoulders and looked away very casually. "No, not at all," he said. "Just opening the floor to anything on your mind. If there's anything new going on in your life, or the lives of our friends. Alexa has been pretty busy with studying for the exams lately. Is she doing okay, has she said anything to you lately?"

My eyes narrowed toward the dark-haired boy before me, blatantly fishing for information. Sirius was smooth-talking in most areas of life, but when it came to him and Alexa, subtle he was not. "She certainly is taking this round of exams very seriously, but she's taking it all in stride. Only the occasional freak out," I responded, being intentionally obtuse.

"Right, right," he rattled off. "Last chance for good impressions before heading out into the real world. Before we know it exams will be a thing of the past and we will head off to new places with all sorts of new people. I'm sure your parents are very concerned about where their darling daughters will end up."

I tried to fight the smile that was creeping onto my face, but I could tell that I was failing miserably. "I have a sneaking suspicion that my parents aren't the only ones who are wondering about that," dropping the trail of proverbial breadcrumbs.

Breadcrumbs which Sirius immediately tried to dodge. "I suppose James has mentioned something or another about it. That boy is awfully inquisitive and nosy." I pursed my lips and raised my eyebrow at him. "Okay, fine, I'm the one who really wants to know, but you can't tell Alexa I brought it up."

I made a cross over my heart in solemn promise. "I'm assuming this has to do with you suggesting that you and Alexa live together after school and her complete oblivion in the moment." It was more of a statement than a question.

"She laughed when I brought it up," he sighed, slumping further into the couch. "I know we have had our ups and downs, Merlin knows I'm more than to blame for a lot of the lows, but we've been so good for a while now. I really do love her, Lyla, I want you to know that." I gave his knee a squeeze and a nod, letting him know that I had no doubts. "I'm not suggesting that we have to spend the rest of our lives together, but I thought we were in a place where living together wasn't outlandish, certainly not warranting laughter."

Alexa could be maddening at times, and she has a knack for causing problems for herself without even realizing it. Clearly she hadn't broached the subject with him since his initial proposition, and the poor kid had just been dwelling in the silent darkness about it all. "I think you're reading too much into it," I counseled. "She reacted the way she did because she was caught off guard. You know Alexa sometimes just speaks and reacts in the moment without really thinking. She just needed a little more time to process it. I can't say for sure, but I think if you bring it up again, and ask her properly, you won't be disappointed by her answer."

A small glimmer of hope came to Sirius's eyes and his naturally dark gaze seemed to brighten for a moment. "You think so?" he asked, seeking validation. "I don't want her to feel pressured and get totally freaked out. I wouldn't put it past that sister of yours to change her name and skip town to avoid commitment or awkward conversations."

He honestly wasn't wrong. Sirius himself had been pretty commitment-phobic, historically, but somehow, Alexa had broken him out of that mold. He had done the same for her, but I knew for Alexa that everything in her being wanted her to take the leap with Sirius, and that absolutely terrified her. "Trust me, I don't think you have anything to worry about," I tried to assure him. "Now, let's go crush this exam so we can start studying for the next one."

I sat up and grabbed for our notes again. "Don't you ever just take a moment to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment before moving on to the next conquest?" he questioned, incredulously.

"Don't you worry, Sirius, there will come a time for celebratory frivolity, but now is not that time," I told him seriously.

"You are way more intense than Moony. And Evans better watch her back with this level of dedication and drive." He took the notes out of my hands and grabbed for our bags. "Come on, I'll quiz you while we walk. I heard that the motion can help your brain commit information to memory."

I gasped slightly and reached out to stop him momentarily. "Someone read my study tips that I made for everyone. I've never been more proud." Sirius rolled his eyes and kept walking, firing questions at me as we headed to our first of our last exams at Hogwarts.

Two and a half hours later, Sirius and I emerged from the classroom and we both felt lighter. Not to be too boastful, but we had made light work of that exam. Blair had finished her Muggle Studies exam and we all convened for our Transfiguration exam. Alexa slid into the chair next to me and took out her 'lucky' quill. "So, what are the chances that McGonagall takes pity on us and just cancels the exam?" Alexa voiced, attempting to speak her dream into existence.

"I think there is a greater chance of Lily leaving Prongs to run off with Snape," Sirius's answer met with a scowl from Lily and a punch in the arm from James. Lily quickly and quietly reassured James as Sirius chuckled and Alexa groaned.

"Do you think it's possible to study so much to the point that you forget everything?" Blair then pondered. "If so, I think I'm there. It just makes no sense. They know we are in our last term and have all but checked out entirely. You'd think they'd make our final exams just a formality."

As the finer points of the wizarding education system were debated, McGonagall entered into the classroom wearing her signature emerald robes and had almost a gleeful look on her face. Well, as gleeful as McGonagall could be. "Good afternoon," she began, as a hush fell over the room. "I wish you all the best of luck as you take this, your final Transfiguration exam. Congratulations to you all on another successful year, and I look forward to seeing what you all accomplish after you leave us at Hogwarts. You may begin."

With a flick of her wand, scrolls of parchment deployed from her desk at the front of the classroom with a flourish and landed on our desks before us. Alexa looked at me and gave me a solemn nod, then both of us turned our focus to the exam before us.

Alexa was the last one of us to emerge from the classroom after the exam. We had all waited outside the room for everyone to finish. She looked stunned and had a vacant, yet panicked, look on her face. We all waited for her to speak, but she just stared off in the distance, dazed. "Alexa?" I said, attempting to make contact. I touched her arm and she shifted her gaze to me. "Hey, no matter the outcome, it's going to be okay. You've just gotta shake this one off and put it behind you."

She shook her head at my words. "McGonagall pulled me aside after I turned in my exam," she spoke slowly. "She looked over my exam. She told me I passed."

I think we all collectively gasped and then broke into celebratory congratulations. Sirius rushed to Alexa and hoisted her up in his arms. "My girl is a genius!" he exclaimed as Alexa finally began to show the joy and relief she was feeling. This had been the exam that Alexa had been fearing the most, and she had crushed it. I was so glad that Alexa got the confidence boost she needed to get through the rest of exams.

The rest of the week honestly went by in a blur. We were all pretty diligent about our studies, carving out some down time to stay sane, and various smaller things that all the inductees to the Order had to do. We were constantly running and we were all desperately looking forward to it all being done, something I'm sure we would regret as we took our final steps out of Hogwarts.

Alexa, Blair, and James had closed the book on Herbology. Remus and I had turned in our final essays for Ancient Runes, which had damn near killed me. We had finally made it to Thursday night and we were all leaving our Astronomy exam, heading for the Room of Requirements.

"I just feel like the biggest takeaway from that class as a whole was that Mercury being in retrograde has single-handedly caused most of my problems in life," Blair shared her realization as we all settled into the ever-changing room that the magic of the castle created for us. "In many ways, it was completely out of my hands and was just up to the stars and the planets."

Alexa nodded in agreement as Lily shook her head. "You both know that the planet's movement and alignment doesn't actually alter the choices we make or the world around us, right?" Lily questioned, playing the devil's advocate.

"Lily, must you always be so rational and a spoilsport?" Blair countered. "If I can chaulk some of my misguided choices up to the cosmos, let a girl have that." Lily threw up her hands in surrender as she unceremoniously plopped down on one of the nearby couches the room had conjured for us.

I dug deep in my bag and pulled out the schedule that I had made for everyone and a noticeable groan escaped from Alexa. "Lyls, I love you, but every time you pull that damn thing out, it just means more work for me," she whinged.

"Look, we have two final exams left and we still have to get through the Order induction," I made my case. "My schedule has served us well thus far, and we are in the home stretch; now is not the time to slack off."

Remus sat down next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist and leaning in to look over my shoulder at the parchment in my lap. He scanned down the paper with his finger quickly and found what he was looking for. "Right, Order business it is tonight, ladies and gents," he announced. "McGonagall said that we all had to be able to produce a patronus in order to complete our induction. That's apparently how they are planning to communicate with one another, harder to track."

"Do you really think they wouldn't let us in after all we've been through if we can't produce a patronus?" Blair questioned.

James shrugged his shoulders. "I for one am not willing to find out," he offered as a non-answer. "Why they don't teach us this in school, I'll never know."

"Maybe if they could keep a damn professor for more than a year in Defense, we would actually learn something useful, but such is life, Prongsy," Sirius criticized. "All right, let's split up girls and boys, and practice."

We splintered off to opposite sides of the room, previously finding it easier for us to all concentrate if we weren't all together. Lily folded her arms across her body and tapped her wand on her chin. "I know none of us have been able to produce our patronus yet, but from what I've read the memory work before is important. It's all about finding the happiest memory you can think of. You have to really let the joy consume you otherwise it's not going to work. Who wants to give it a go?"

We all looked to one another, no one quite ready to take the leap. "Why is it, that the moment I need to think of the happiest moment in my life, I come up empty and it's like I've never experienced joy before?" Alexa expressed her frustration. "Obviously I have happy memories, but nothing seems happy enough."

"I think we just have to go for it," I encouraged. "It's going to be trial and error. We won't know until we try." Regretting speaking up; Lily, Blair, and Alexa were all looking to me now to take my own lead. I nodded my head begrudgingly as I took my wand out of my robe and began to mentally file through my memories.

There were a ton of possibilities and I had already tried several childhood memories with little success, figuring that pure adolescent joy was the best place to start. I had decided to try some more recent memories this time around and began to think about my time with Remus and our journey together. We had had a lot of heartache and tragedy, but our time together had also been filled with such love and happiness.

I cleared my throat and lifted my wand as I began to picture mine and Remus's wedding day. I closed my eyes and pictured the day that Remus and I got married. I could remember vividly the moment the doors opened into the church and I saw Remus at the front of the church, absolutely beaming and looking so very handsome in his suit. I saw us exchanging our vows surrounded by all of our loved ones and could really feel the joy and happiness and peace that I had felt that day. As I held those images in my mind, I spoke the incantation with conviction. "Expecto patronum."

I waited a few seconds, which seemed like minutes, and opened one of my eyelids to find absolutely nothing conjured before me. I let out a sigh of frustration, and felt a little guilty that one of the happiest days and moments of my life wasn't joyous enough to bring forth my patronus. Alexa gave me a half smile and my arm a squeeze.

"It's okay, Lyls, you'll get it," Blair offered encouragingly. We each went around, taking turns casting the spell, trying to think of our most beloved memory. Time after time, we'd conjure the memory in our mind, speak the words, and nothing would happen. I was really starting to hate those words. The only solace was that the boys didn't seem to be making much progress either.

Alexa had gotten so frustrated she had taken residence on the floor. "Ugh, this is useless," she lamented as she wallowed. "I mean, most practiced witches and wizards can't master this sort of magic, and they're expecting a bunch of barely legal students to just be able to figure this shit out on our own?!"

She made a compelling point. "They carefully chose all of us, and they obviously chose us because they believed we could handle this. We just have to keep at it. Sure, time is running out, but we still have a couple of days to get it sorted." Blair looked back at her skeptically. "Come now, Alexa, up you get. Have another go."

As she groaned and lifted her body off the floor, you would have thought her limbs were as heavy as lead. Begrudgingly, she raised her wand and closed her eyes in thought. I could see her eyes moving from behind her eyelids and she kept murmuring to herself.

A small smile graced her lips and she shifted on her feet as she began to move her wand in a circular motion. "Expecto patronum," Alexa said. Nothing happened. She said it again with more conviction.

Almost suddenly, a brilliant white light glowed from the tip of Alexa's wand. We all gasped and exchanged excited glances, but as quickly as it had started, the light faded. "Holy shit," Blair breathed out.

Alexa's eyes were wide in surprise. "You all saw that, right?" she questioned. "That wasn't just my mind showing me what I want to see, was it?"

I let out a laugh and pulled Alexa into a hug. "Alexa, you did it!" I exclaimed, as she shared in my excitement. "Well, the closest any of us have gotten, at any rate." Alexa let out a slow breath, still in shock at what she had done. "How'd you do it? What did you think of?"

She shook her head in disbelief. "It was like pure light and joy running through me," she explained. "I just kept thinking about the summer when Sirius and I were sneaking around to see each other behind everyone's backs. We were so new and carefree. I was so happy, and that was the first time I was falling in love with someone, it was like magic."

I gave her a squeeze before I released her. We were all buzzing from Alexa's progress, and it renewed our hope in being able to accomplish our goal. The boys, clearly having seen what Alexa had accomplished rushed over. Sirius pulled her into his arms and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I feel like this should get me out of my Defense final, don't you think?" Alexa suggested. We all broke into a fit of laughter as Alexa continued her rationalization.

Our final exam finally came around. The only thing standing between us and entering the wizarding world at large was Slughorn. We had all spent the last two days and nights writing our essays and sweating over our cauldrons as we finished up our three potions.

Slughorn was at the front of the classroom and was dressed in his finest robes. There was nothing Slughorn loved more than a little showmanship and gravitas. He clapped his hands together and was beaming. "Well, my dear pupils," he began. "The day has finally come. The last seven years of potions mastery coming to a close, but first the ultimate inquest."

He was clearly more excited about what was about to take place more than any person in the classroom. "Now, I will be coming around to each of the pairs and you will administer your potion to one of yourselves and then you will follow it with the anti-potion." At these instructions, murmurs broke out through the room. Alexa and I exchanged a nervous look. Lily's hand shot into the air. "Excuse me, Professor, you want us to take our own potions? What if we didn't make them correctly?"

"Hardly something you should worry about, Ms. Evans," Slughorn replied with a chuckle. "However, I sense your meaning. Never fear, I've already done some preliminary testing on your potions, and have deemed them safe to consume. Now, we must discover if they will carry out their intended purpose. Let's begin!"

Alexa and I sat impatiently for our turn. We kept a close watch over our cauldrons as they bubbled over the low flames. "So, how do you want to do this?" I asked Alexa.

"Well, I was thinking since you were the oldest, you should probably be the one to take the potions," she suggested. I gave her a questioning look for more explanation. "It's just, I'm younger and have so much more of my life to live. You've lived a full life, if things go south you'll be at peace with your life thus far."

"That's real nice," I told her, rolling my eyes. "Fine, I'll do it, besides it's totally safe. You heard Slughorn."

Alexa shrugged her shoulders, not totally convinced by Slughorn's words. A moment later, Slughorn was at our table and gave me a kind smile. "Two of my favorite siblings," he greeted us. "Lyla, let me just say, it has truly been an honor and a privilege to have you as a student. Do keep in touch after you leave these hallowed halls, and should you ever need anything from your dear old professor, don't hesitate to ask my dear girl." I gave him a nod and thanked him. He looked to Alexa and she grinned back at him, awaiting her speech. "Well, let's get to it."

I stifled the laugh that bubbled up at Alexa's jilted demeanor. She threw me a look as she ladled out a small portion of the dreamless sleep potion. I took the vial from her, the violet color shimmering in the glass. As I held it up to my mouth, I could smell the faintest scent of lavender. I looked to Slughorn and then to Alexa, who crossed her fingers as I tilted the vial to empty the contents into my mouth.

A moment later, total darkness.

"Lyla?" I heard a voice breaking through the darkness. "Lyla, did it work?" I slowly started to flutter my eyes open. Standing above me were Alexa and Slughorn. Slughorn was laughing jovially and clapping his hands and Alexa looked incredibly pleased with herself.

"Well done, you two, well done!" Slughorn bellowed as Alexa helped me up off the floor. "Near perfection!" He continued his applause as he continued on to the next pair and I attempted to find my bearings.

My mind still felt a little foggy as I tried to blink the haziness away. Alexa leaned in and squeezed my shoulders. "Fucking hell!" she whispered excitedly. "We did it, Lyls. How are you feeling?"

A small yawn escaped as I went to respond. "I'm still a little sleepy, to be honest," I confessed. "I think you gave me a little too much."

Alexa shook her head. "You're fine," she playfully dismissed me. "I mean, how do you feel now that we're officially done with school forever? We really did it. I really wasn't sure this day would come."

I gave her a smile and put my arm around her shoulders. "I never had any doubts," I told her. "I'm so proud of you, Alex. Proud of us. Now, let the celebrations begin." A mischievous glint came to her eye. James and Sirius came over a moment later. Those boys could sniff out a party even before one was being planned.

Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter stood on a table, cups in their hands and the raucous party carried on around us. "Listen up, everyone!" Sirius bellowed over the din of the crowd. It took a moment for the directive to spread throughout the room and the music quieted down. When the noise had sufficiently dimmed, Sirius continued.

"On behalf of my fellow Marauders and myself," he began, motioning to his best friends next to him. "I want to welcome all of you to our final party here at Hogwarts." There was an uproar of cheers and applause. Alexa and I touched our cups together as we held each other close, our arms linked together. "For seven years, we Marauders have thrown a number of legendary parties, but none more legendary than tonight's. We will all be graduating and leaving for parts unknown soon, but this place will always connect us. Yes, even you, Slytherins. We've spent hours studying, some more than others. We've gained friends and lovers along the way." Remus threw me a wink and an alcohol-induced giggle escaped me. "Let's celebrate all that we've accomplished and drink to all that's yet to come. So, raise your glasses."

Everyone around the room followed Sirius' direction. "Tonight, may your cup runneth over. May you confess all those secrets you've been dying to tell. May we make as many questionable choices while we still can. And may we party until the sun comes up. To us!"

We all cheered and took a sip from our cups. The Marauders all exchanged handshakes and were clapped on the back by several of the partygoers as they came down from their perch. They finally made their way over to where Alexa, Lily, Blair and I were sitting and Remus sat on the floor in front of me and rested his arm across my legs. He leaned his head back slightly to look up at me. I stroked his cheek as he stared back at me, his eyes already a little glossy from the alcohol. I shifted forward and kissed him deeply.

"Quite the rousing speech you gave up there," Alexa piped up, breaking Remus and I apart. "And what questionable choices did you have in mind exactly?"

Sirius tapped his chin in thought. "Well, for starters, I thought you could start by spending the night with me." Alexa rolled her eyes and swatted at him. "This is the end of an era, lads," he continued. "Not to boast, but we are leaving this place as legends. I can only hope that some young precocious lads will pick up the mantle in our absence."

"It really doesn't seem real," Blair mused. "Just like that, seven years have passed and we're heading out to the real world. I remember the first day of first year like it was yesterday. Was it just me or was everyone else absolutely shitting themselves?"

We all broke out in a fit of laughter. "I remember McGonagall greeting us in the entrance hall with that stern look of hers," Remus added. "To be fair, she scared me then, and she scares the living shit out of me still when she gets that look." Sirius and James raised their glasses in agreement.

"I know we all didn't get off to the best start," Alexa chimed in, "But I am so glad that we all found each other. None of this would have been the same without every single one of you. For good and for bad." I leaned over and gave Alexa a squeeze. "I know my first impressions ended up being pretty wrong, but I have never been more happy to be proven wrong in my life."

Knowing full well he was going to wind her up, Sirius poked at her. "So, what were your first impressions of me then? Devilishly handsome, witty beyond measure?" Alexa narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. "Well, I thought you were absolutely beautiful and I could tell by the look in your eye that you were going to be a thorn in my side every single day, which has proven to be immeasurably true. I just hadn't realized how much I would have enjoyed it."

Alexa rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You knew all that when we were eleven?" Sirius nodded his head firmly. "Well, you sure didn't act like it. You drove me absolutely mad in first year."

Blair took a sip from her cup and interjected. "That's textbook, Alexa. You see, the mind of a young boy is so immature that the only way they can fathom showing their affection for another is by annoying and borderline terrorizing their crush. So childish."

"Look, we all made naive choices in our younger years," Sirius admitted. "Take Lily and Remus, for example, aligning themselves with Bree and Andy Ablo. What a colossal mistake that ended up being."

Lily and Remus shot daggers toward Sirius. I stroked the back on Remus's neck to ease him a bit. He relaxed back against my legs and rubbed my knee. "Now, we all knew that Sirius and Alexa fancied the pants off each other. But the surprise of the century, and the biggest reversal of first impressions has to go to our dear Lilykins when it comes to old James here," I lobbied. James made a shocked face at my words and then quickly nodded his head in agreement.

"I still have my days where I really second guess my choices, but I have to admit that he really did win me over," she admitted with a roll of her eyes. "As cringey as this is, I feel like I've found my person and the best friends I'll ever have. Cheers to giving me another chance."

Blair stood up from her spot and extended a hand to both me and Alexa. We took them and she pulled us up with her and over to where Lily was sitting in an armchair. Lily looked up at her, perplexed, and Blair threw herself into the chair with Lily, bringing us along for the pile on. We all held each other close and shared a laugh. "Lily, you've always been A class girl. If there's anything I've learned over the years, it's once we're friends, we'll always be in each other's lives. There's no getting rid of us."

Lily genuinely looked like she had tears in her eyes and that she was on the verge of crying. She tightened her hold on Blair and leaned her head on her shoulder. It was actually really lovely to see the two of them finally putting everything they had been through aside to embrace the friendship that we all shared.

James was grinning like a cheshire cat. He had been wanting this for so long, and as our time at Hogwarts was coming to an end, he finally got it. And Blair was right. We had all formed friendships with one another that could never be broken. No matter how much time or space passed between us, we would always love one another.

Sirius cleared his throat, and sat forward in his chair. "While we're all in the sharing mood and getting things off our chests, I would be remiss if I didn't say this." We all looked back at Sirius, who seemed to be rather, well, serious. "Alexa, when I asked you this before, I'm afraid that you didn't realize how genuine I was being. The thought of us leaving here and not getting to see you every single day is just shit. We're about to be heading into an unknown future with a lot of unknown dangers. If you're not by my side, if you're not there when I wake up and when I go to sleep, I don't think I like that future. So what do you say Parker?"

Alexa gasped slightly as a cry escaped her. She was absolutely beaming. Her eyes were brimming with tears and her cheeks were red, a mix of emotions all over her face. She looked at me, a bit shocked by Sirius's proclamation. I gave her hand a squeeze of encouragement and a small nod. After a few moments of silence, we all waited for her response with baited breath. "Captain Awesome will absolutely not be sleeping in bed with us," she replied with a cheeky smile.

Sirius let out a sigh of relief. He rubbed his hands over his face as he let out a chuckle. "The first of many compromises," he said, coming over and leaning down to kiss Alexa. In the middle of their kiss, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him off balance and he fell onto the rest of us, now making this a five-person chair. We all struggled to move under the weight of one another, but it was like a big hug and none of us could be bothered.

"Well, come on you lot, jump on in here," I instructed, motioning for James, Remus and Peter to join the impossibly crowded chair. "You too, Peter, there's no getting out of this." Peter, realizing that I noticed his hesitation, blushed furiously and reluctantly followed James and Remus.

Sitting there, literally being crushed by the love of my very best friends in the whole world, I knew this was the end of such a beautiful story. As we all prepared to close this book, there was so much excitement for the story that was yet to come, and I couldn't have been happier to be writing it with them.

So! I know this seems very sudden, and it is, but my co-creator and I have decided that this chapter, and the following chapter, will be the last of the Marauder's Guide. Whereas before we had planned on continuing the guide into the later years of the lives of our characters, we have decided to dedicate that to a separate story entirely. The Marauder's Guide to us has been completed once the Marauders have left the school, as they no longer need it to follow them out into the world. We WILL be writing another story that will span from the time they leave the hallowed halls of Hogwarts, into their lives as adults during the rise and subsequent fall of Voldemort. We hope everyone has loved this story as much as we have, and we look forward to having you read our next story. Now, onto the final chapter of the Marauder's Guide in three...two...one...