Year 7: Meant to Be
Chapter 70: June 2018
In the aftermath of that final fight between Victoire and her roommates, they actually did become friends. In those final days before their N.E.W.T.s, the five could be found studying together in the common room until the wee hours of the morning.
The day of Victoire's first N.E.W.T. came quicker than she'd expected. She was one of the first, as the Monday of the first week of exams was slotted for herbology.
Victoire was familiar with the process of how these exams worked at Hogwarts, having written her O.W.L.s two years ago. After breakfast, while the rest of her friends headed to the library to study for their own exams, Victoire remained behind with the other members of her herbology class, as well as all the fifth years, who were writing their charms O.W.L. today.
They filed into the Entrance Hall to wait for the examiners to get the Great Hall set up, and then they were ushered back inside and directed to their seats. As usual, the morning session was the written portion of the exam, and the afternoon session would be the practical.
Victoire met her sister Dominique's eye from across the room as she sat down at her designated desk and sent her a reassuring smile. Dominique was writing her O.W.L.s this year, and though they weren't nearly as challenging as the N.E.W.T.s Victoire was about to write, she remembered the nerves and the stress she'd felt as a fifth year and recognized that for Dominique this would all be a little overwhelming, as it was her first Ministry examination.
The days in between exams were like torture. A part of Victoire wished that she could have just gotten her three exams done one after the other on the first three days of exams, so that she could just get it all over with. Unfortunately, her exams were spread throughout the examination period, with her herbology exam on the first Monday, her care of magical creatures exam the following Thursday, and her potions exam the Wednesday of the next week. Of course, it was much better to have her exams spread out, so that she could appropriately ration her studying, but Victoire envied Kara, who had sat all three of her N.E.W.T.s in the first week and spent the weekend and the second week relaxing while her friends studied frantically.
But then, finally, Victoire finished her final examination. Ladling a sample of each of her potions into a vial, she brought the vials up to the examiners for evaluation and then exited the Great Hall. Cleanup would be performed by the examiners after everyone was finished their exams.
Stepping out into the Entrance Hall, Victoire felt strange. It was a different feeling than she usually got when she finished her exams at the end of the year. Sure, there was still the same sense of freedom and relief that she'd made it through and that it was over, but there was also an accompanying sadness. Victoire had officially sat her last exam ever. She would never sit another exam at Hogwarts, never attend another class, never spend another night studying with her friends. It was over.
Victoire moved towards the great double doors that led out into the Entrance Courtyard and pushed her way through them. There were other students milling around the courtyard, but Victoire didn't pay them any attention. Standing at the top of the stairs, Victoire just breathed the fresh air and closed her eyes, trying to reign in her emotions.
This was it. She was free. She was done. For seven long years she'd slaved away at this school, learning how to brew potions and grow magical plants and cast spells. For seven long years, she'd worked towards this very moment, and now here she was, and she didn't know what to do with herself. It was a scary prospect. In a week's time, she would leave the castle and never return. The dorm that she'd called home for seven years would no longer be hers. Come September, a new batch of students would be taking up residence. Some little first year girl would be claiming her bed as her own.
Though Victoire was sad to let go of the life she'd built for herself here, she was also excited. After she left Hogwarts, she'd be going home to Shell Cottage for a week or so to get her things organized, and then she would be moving out. She'd heard back from the greenhouses she'd applied to and had been extremely pleased when she found that she'd been accepted into two of them.
One of her acceptances had been at the Dublin Centre. Victoire had felt extremely proud of herself when she'd received that letter. It was one of the most prestigious herbology programs in the world, and she'd been accepted. Conditionally of course, as long as she got her N.E.W.T., but Victoire was confident she had passed.
She'd also been accepted at a smaller and lesser known research facility in London. It also primarily focused on herbology-related research but had significantly less staff and a much smaller budget than the Dublin Centre. It wasn't as prestigious, and if she went to work there, she probably wouldn't be making too many appearances in the academic herbology journals, but it would mean that she would be closer to Teddy.
She hadn't officially made up her mind yet. She had until the end of next week to accept or reject the offers she'd received. It was a tough decision. Two years ago, the answer would have been obvious: stay where Teddy was. There would have been no question in her mind. But things were different now, and Victoire didn't know what to do. Teddy was extremely important to her, and after all their time apart, it would be nice to finally be together again. On the other hand, her career had become really important to Victoire over the past year and a half. It would be hard to give that up.
She had a tough decision to make, and not much time to make it in.
VvVvVvVvVvV
That final week passed in a blur of emotions. For the rest of the school, it was a week to spend in freedom. There were no classes to attend, and no parents breathing down their necks. It was a chance to relax with friends before going home for the summer.
For the seventh years, it was so much more. It was their last chance to say a proper goodbye to everything and everyone that they would be leaving behind. It was their last chance to do the things they'd spent seven years doing. Victoire was painfully aware that these were some of the last meals she would ever eat in the Great Hall, some of the last patrols she would ever perform, and some of the last rounds of truth or dare that she, Kara, and Brianna would ever play.
And then, all too soon, it was the end of the month, and the Hogwarts Express was sitting in Hogsmeade, waiting to take the school home for the summer.
Victoire and her friends went down to breakfast that morning with the rest of the school. As they ate, Victoire was very aware of the fact that this was her last Hogwarts castle breakfast.
As the rest of the school slowly started filing out of the Great Hall and making their way down to the train station, Victoire and her friends, along with the rest of the seventh years, remained in their seats. When the last group of straggling third years finally left the Hall, the doors to the Great Hall closed with a sense of finality, and Headmaster Slinkhard rose from his chair to address the seventh years.
All their Heads of House were up at the staff table with him. The rest of the teachers were of course, seeing to the rest of the school, making sure everyone got on the train in an orderly fashion. They would be returning to the castle shortly.
"Seventh years," Headmaster Slinkhard began. "This is the last day I'll be able to call you that. I want to congratulate you all for getting to this point. Each and every one of you should be proud of the accomplishments you've achieved over these past seven years."
Victoire felt herself getting emotional and quickly swiped at her right eye before Brianna could make fun of her for crying.
"As you are all aware, tonight will be your graduation ceremony. You all know what's going to happen, so I won't bore you by going over the details again. Graduation is a big step. So I want you all to take these next few hours to say your goodbyes, to prepare yourself for this last part of your journey here, and to ready yourself for the future."
The Headmaster sat down, and next to him, Victoire could have sworn a few of the Heads were tearing up.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" Kara asked as the seventh years began to mill about.
"What is there left to do?" Victoire wondered. They were all packed up and ready to go. Their trunks had already been placed in the trophy room for the time being, for their parents to retrieve after the ceremony had ended. Families and other loved ones would be arriving throughout the day. Victoire didn't expect her family until much later, as they first had to pick up Dominique and Louis from King's Cross and bring them back here.
"Let's just take a walk," Brianna suggested. "I feel like one last walk."
So, the three girls went for a walk. They wandered through all the familiar halls and corridors of the castle, halls and corridors they'd walked thousands of times before. Victoire said goodbye to the greenhouses, Kara said goodbye to the charms classroom, and Brianna said goodbye to a series of abandoned classrooms that Kara and Victoire elected not to ask any questions about.
They did a final tour of Gryffindor Tower, saying goodbye to their dorm and the common room. Victoire wandered up to the boys' dormitories and peeked into Teddy's old dorm, remembering the night they'd spent together here back in her fifth year.
They went down to the lake and took a final walk around the grounds. They ran into several of their classmates along the way and exchanged memories with them. Victoire reminisced with Ellie Sawbridge about their vey first day. Victoire and Ellie had shared one of the boats that had brought them to Hogwarts at the beginning of their first year.
Later in the afternoon, the three girls split up, each claiming to need a little bit of time alone. Victoire wandered up to the prefect's lounge, where she remembered all the ups and downs of being a prefect, and later of being Head Girl. She would have to hand in her Head Girl's badge at the graduation ceremony tonight, passing it along for the next Hogwarts Head Girl to wear.
Though it wasn't Victoire's place to select the next Hogwarts Head Girl, she'd been working with the prefects all year, and she suspected she knew who was destined for the job. Devin Pullman would make an excellent Head Girl for Hogwarts and Ravenclaw house would be proud.
"Hey."
An oh-so familiar voice startled Victoire from her recollections and a huge smile broke out across her face.
"Teddy," she said excitedly, throwing herself into his arms. "You're here early."
"I couldn't wait for your family any longer," Teddy insisted. "I had to have some time with just you."
"I'm glad," Victoire smiled, reaching up her chin for a kiss. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too," Teddy agreed, leading Victoire across the room so that they could take a seat on the prefect's couch. "How are you feeling?"
"Strange," Victoire admitted. "I can't believe this is my last day here."
"It's a surreal experience," Teddy nodded. "I remember from when I graduated. But isn't it also really exciting? Moving on, taking the first steps towards your future?"
"It is exciting," Victoire agreed. "But it's also scary."
"Have you given any more thought to what you're going to do?" Teddy wondered. Victoire knew Teddy was anxious to know what she'd decided about where she was going to work. The decision affected him too in a way. "The deadlines for accepting were today, weren't they?"
Victoire nodded. The truth was that she had made her decision, and she'd owled it in the previous evening. She hadn't told Teddy yet though, having wanted to save it until she could do it in person.
"I actually have decided," she admitted. "I decided yesterday."
"And?" Teddy asked. Victoire could sense that he was trying not to be too pushy, but she also knew he was dying to know. He'd been so considerate through the whole process, never making Victoire feel like he was forcing her one way or another, though Victoire knew which of the two jobs he selfishly wanted her to take.
Victoire broke out into a grin. "I'm going to work at the London Centre," she declared.
The look of pure and unrestrained joy on Teddy's face was reason enough to have made the decision that she did. Elatedly, Teddy kissed Victoire long and hard. Victoire sunk into the kiss, knowing that she'd made the right decision.
In the end, the decision hadn't been about choosing between love and career. It wasn't about choosing which of the two she could live without. If she'd gone to Dublin, she knew she would still have Teddy, albeit in a long-distance fashion. And in choosing to stay in London, Victoire could still have a bright and prosperous future as a herbologist. The decision had been about figuring out what she wanted the most. And what she wanted more than anything was to have a family some day. And that wasn't something she wanted to be doing long-distance.
VvVvVvVvVvV
It was almost time. From her vantage point, crouching so that she was peering through the slats of the railing on the Grand Staircase, Victoire watched as parents, family, and friends of her and her fellow seventh years filed into the Great Hall for the graduation ceremony.
Victoire had already changed into her graduation robes. Her wizard's hat sat proudly atop her head, and for once, her robes were purely black. There were no more house distinctions in the colors of the trim, no more house crests on the outside of their robes. No longer were the seventh years defined by the house they'd been sorted into back in first year.
That wasn't to say that Victoire wasn't a Gryffindor any longer. She would always be a Gryffindor. But gone were the days when being a Gryffindor was her defining feature. Gone were the days when she and her peers were separated based on their core characteristics. Today, they were all the same. Today, they were equals. Today, they entered the real world.
The graduates filed into the Great Hall one at a time, in alphabetical order. As always, Victoire was almost at the back of the line. She didn't mind.
When her turn came, Victoire stepped into the Great Hall for the last time. The room had been completely transformed. The four long house tables were gone, and instead, rows and rows of chairs had taken their place. Seated in these chairs were the loved ones of all the graduating seventh years. Victoire spotted her parents, her brother and sister, and Teddy, right up at the front, eyes shining, and clapping as she made her way to the front of the room.
At the top of the stairs that led to what was usually the staff table, Headmaster Slinkhard and Professor Longbottom awaited her. Professor Slinkhard handed Victoire her diploma and Victoire in turn handed over her Head Girl's badge. She wouldn't be needing it anymore.
Professor Longbottom shook her hand proudly. She could see tears in his eyes, and she found she had to choke back some of her own. It had been a long road since first year. She remembered being eleven and running to fetch Professor Longbottom in the middle of the night when Raina's shrivelfig had grown monstrously large and taken over their dorm. She remembered arguing with Professor Longbottom during their fifth-year career advice meeting, claiming she didn't need a career. And more recently, she remembered all the help that he'd provided her with in getting her life back on track, figuring out what she wanted to do, and helping her to achieve it. Victoire new she truly wouldn't have been where she was today without his help.
Victoire moved to join the rest of her class, where they stood to the right. Headmaster Slinkhard made his speech, and then each of the Heads of House made speeches of their own, congratulating the seventh years and wishing them all the best of luck in the future. The Joe Sanders stood to give his speech. Victoire and Joe had agreed amongst themselves that Joe would give the speech on behalf of both the Head Boy and Girl.
When the speeches were over, the graduates were led back through the Great Hall, through the Entrance Hall, into the Entrance Courtyard, and then down to the boats. They'd sailed to Hogwarts in these boats at the beginning of their first year, and they would leave on them tonight.
The sun was just starting to set. The sky was lit up with orange and purple hues. In an orderly fashion, the seventh years began to climb into the boats, two per boat this time. They were significantly older and thus heavier than they'd been in first year after all.
Victoire ended up sharing her boat with Lia Weston. Victoire climbed in first, and Lia followed closely behind her. When all the graduates were in their boats, Headmaster Slinkhard waved his wand and they all began to slowly move away from the shore.
Twisting around in her boat, Victoire looked back at the school where she'd learned everything she knew. She thought of the memories, the friends, the fights, and the fun that she'd had in that building. She looked to the Entrance Courtyard and could see her family waving after her as she sailed away.
Tears prickled in the corners of her eyes, and Victoire allowed a tear to fall onto each cheek. It was okay to be sad about everything she was leaving behind. She twisted back around and looked to the horizon. In that moment, she felt her sadness dry up, and instead a sense of excitement and adventure filled her.
This was it. One chapter of her life was over, but another one was just beginning. And Victoire was so excited to get started on her new life and to explore all the endless possibilities that were in store for her. She knew whatever was coming was going to be good. And she looked forward to it.
She was ready.
