* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART THREE
The Eighth Year
Chapter 58: Life is Moving On
After the busy events of memorial weekend, the eighth years were glad for a few days of peace and quiet.
Daphne and Harry were still on a high because of their engagement, and the spirit had spread to their friends too. However, their peace and quiet did not last long because the final draft of the last written assignment was due; their potions project.
"I'm not freaking out," Hermione tried to assure Draco and Harry as they sat at the eighth year table eating breakfast.
Draco raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend, "Have you seen how frizzy your hair is today?"
Hermione shot her boyfriend a glare, "Draco, the size of my hair does not equate to how stressed I am!"
"Yes, it does," Draco and Harry echoed. Hermione rolled her eyes and threw a sausage in their general direction.
"Hermione, you have the best project out of all of us. Slughorn even said you would get an O," Sadie said reassuringly, "Stop worrying about it."
Hermione sighed and put her project back in her bag; it was about the 20th time she had read through it since the night before.
Truthfully everyone else was as worried about the project as Hermione was, but they just weren't letting on. Hermione continued to freak out throughout the day as potions wasn't until after lunch. By the time the group ended up together again in the dungeon, Draco looked ready to tear his hair out, making Daphne and Harry share an amused smirk.
The projects were collected, and Hermione looked like she might burst into tears when Slughorn managed to pry it from her hands. Harry couldn't help but chuckle and think to himself that some things never changed.
Hermione seemed calmer at dinner, but all the same, Draco stealthily made his way over to Harry and Daphne so he wouldn't have to sit next to her at the table, "I thought she'd gotten more laid back lately," Draco grumbled as he sat down.
Harry laughed and said under his breath, "You think that was bad? Wait till you see how bad she is next month with the exams."
"Seriously?" Draco asked. He looked pretty scared at the thought.
Daphne smirked at him and said, "Hey, that's what you get for falling in love with a know-it-all."
Harry shot his fiancé an amused grin and said, "You were freaking out like crazy this morning, Daph, don't tease Mione."
"Oh, whatever," Daphne said with a roll of her eyes.
Draco chuckled and changed the subject, "So, who are you supporting on Saturday?"
"Hufflepuff, obviously," Harry replied with a smirk.
"Well, you'll be on the losing side then," Daphne said. She was just as smug as Draco, which meant that they had something up their sleeve for the upcoming match.
"We'll see," Harry said, although he was aware that if Slytherin did well in this match, it would mean that they would be in with a chance to win the Quidditch cup. After all, it was the second last match of the season.
"You saw us destroy Ravenclaw back in January," Draco smirked at the Gryffindor, but Harry only rolled his eyes.
"And you saw us take out Hufflepuff in March," Harry said. They both had the same slightly manic competitive glint in their eyes.
As it stood at the moment, Slytherin was in the lead in the points table with 430 points. Second was Gryffindor on 340 after beating Hufflepuff 300-80 in March. Hufflepuff was third with 300 points, and last were Ravenclaw with a mere 70 points. They had been having a terrible season.
"We're going to win," Draco said confidently.
"And we're going to win against Ravenclaw at the end of the month," Harry said. He smirked at Draco and Daphne, "So, in the end, it comes down to the team who wins with the best score."
"Which will be us," Daphne said with a grin.
"Oh hush about Quidditch, you lot," Sadie said with a slight smile, "It's obvious Slytherin will get the cup."
The others chuckled and left the matter there, for now at least.
It was Friday night, and Harry was meeting Ron in Hogsmeade.
"Hey," Ron smiled as he slipped into the booth where Harry was waiting for him in the Three Broomsticks.
"Hey," Harry said brightly, "How are you?"
"Ah, I'm alright," Ron shrugged, "Busy with the shop, you know."
"How is Katie?" Harry asked. Maybe he was prodding a little, but he was doing it gently.
"She's fine," Ron said with a forced smile, "Although this whole relationship thing isn't working out. It's looking more like co-parenting."
"That's not so bad," Harry said honestly, "It's basically what Andromeda and I have done with Teddy."
"It's not the way you imagine your first kid being born either, though," Ron said with a hint of bitterness, "But you were the one who said you had something to tell me, so what's up?"
"Well, I have news actually," Harry said with a slight smile, "And I wanted you to know before the grapevine got a hold of it."
"Just for the love of Godric, don't tell me Daphne is pregnant," Ron joked, "I can't handle any more shock pregnancies."
Harry laughed out loud, "No, she's not pregnant. She is wearing a pretty big sparkly ring on a certain significant finger, though."
Ron's eyes widened at first, and then he grinned, "Are you serious, mate? Wow, bloody hell...congratulations!"
Harry grinned back, "Yeah, I really asked her."
Ron got up and hugged Harry, "Wow, that's amazing. Congrats, seriously!"
Harry couldn't stop himself from beaming proudly as he and Ron sat back down. The redhead asked eagerly, "When did you ask her?"
"On Sunday after the memorial fireworks," Harry admitted, "It just put everything into perspective, so I asked her. I was going to do it at prom or graduation, but the timing just felt right."
"Yeah, well, it lightens the mood a lot on that day," Ron said with a smile, "Wow, I mean between this and Fleur. You heard, right?"
"She had the baby on the 2nd of May, yeah," Harry said with a nod, "Charlie told me."
"It's a girl," Ron said with a smile, "The tiniest little blonde-haired thing. They named her Victoire, which means victory in French."
This only made Harry grin even more widely, "Wow, that's fantastic! I sent them a card, I was going to floo, but Molly said to leave it a few days for them to settle in with the new baby."
Ron nodded, "Yeah, floo in a day or two. They got your card. It's sitting up on the mantelpiece with the rest."
"Merlin," Harry said with a soft smile, "Everyone is getting engaged or having babies. McGonagall wasn't kidding when she said wars led to baby booms."
Ron laughed, "Nah, I guess she was right on that front. It's not necessarily a bad thing, though. It feels like all of these new experiences are washing away all of the bad. I mean, did you hear about the new legislation Kingsley wants to bring about before his tenure ends in 2000?"
"I heard about the reforms he wanted to do with the DMLE," Harry said with a nod, "And Lupin's Law, to try and give werewolves the same rights as people who are half-Veela or the likes."
"They still have to register with the Ministry," Ron nodded, "But it would give them a better chance in life."
"He called it a brave new world when he was elected," Harry said with a smile, "And I'm really starting to see that now."
"Me too, mate," Ron said as he patted Harry on the back again, "And I really mean it when I say congrats on the engagement."
Saturday morning was tense, for the Hufflepuff team at least. The Slytherins seemed completely calm and at ease, as usual. The table was split, as it always was before a Quidditch game, and when Harry and Hermione entered the great hall together, they immediately sat down on the Hufflepuff side.
Neville and Lilly were both on the Hufflepuff side too, and they shared an amused smile at this.
Neville grinned at Harry and Hermione and said, "Glad to see your fiancé and boyfriend haven't affected your loyalties."
"Nah, never," Harry said, "Kick their arses, Suse!"
Susan chuckled from a little farther along the table, "We'll try, but we've got nothing on them."
"The tactic with Slytherin is not to get scared by how good the team is," Harry said quietly. He leaned in closer so that the rest of the team could hear him. Zacharias, Ernie, Justin, Hannah and Megan all leaned in closer too.
"It's true, they do have a fantastic team, but they have some key weaknesses, and if you can exploit them, then you'll be laughing," Harry continued. This was sort of cheating, but he was sure they wouldn't get caught, and Slytherin would probably win regardless.
"What are their weaknesses, Harry?" Justin, the captain, asked eagerly.
"Draco gets distracted by everything when he's on a chase to get the snitch, hit a bludger at him or near him, and it will be enough for him to lose the snitch," Harry whispered. The Hufflepuffs eagerly took in everything he said.
"As for their keeper, well, let's face it, he's probably the weakest player on the team," Neville added in a whisper, "If you throw the quaffle towards the edge of the left or right goal, you'll have a better chance of scoring, he only really saves goals that are headed for the middle hoop."
"The beaters are good, no doubt about it. Theo and Blaise make a good team, so avoid the bludgers. That's the best advice we can give you there," Ginny said.
"Daphne and Sadie are both fantastic chasers, they are fast, and they can shoot goals that are practically impossible to save, but Sadie has a tendency to always shoot for the left hoop, so watch out for that," Neville said.
"And Daphne, as good as she is, has a pretty big weakness too," Harry said, he felt like he was betraying his girlfriend slightly, but it was Quidditch. He was much more competitive than usual, with this being Gryffindor's last chance to win the cup, "She's kind of an attention seeker, so she hogs the quaffle. She likes to be the one to score, and she isn't that great with passing, so if you can pre-empt that, then you have an advantage."
"What about Gabrielle?" Ernie asked. The French girl had taken over the chaser position from Tracey after her death.
Harry snorted, and Neville laughed out loud, "Don't worry about her. Have you seen her play in practice?"
The Hufflepuffs shook their heads, and Harry said, "I saw her once, she can't catch the quaffle, and when she does, she drops it. I'm pretty sure they took her on because no one else wanted the position after what happened to Tracey."
"Oh," Ernie said, and for a moment, the table was quiet. Bringing up Tracey or Dean always led to a reaction like that.
"But remember what I said, and you'll be in with a good shout to beat them," Harry said, although he didn't believe it himself.
The Hufflepuffs thanked Harry and then left to get ready with the Slytherins close at their heels.
"Is that cheating?" Harry asked the others once the team were gone.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, "Not officially."
"There isn't anything in the rules about helping other teams out," Neville said with a sly grin, "So how could it possibly be cheating Hermione?"
"Yeah, Hermione, would we ever cheat?" Harry asked as he grinned at his friend.
"Us brave, truthful, honest, courageous Gryffindor's," Ginny added with a smirk, "Would we cheat?"
"You guys are incorrigible," Hermione said fondly, which only made the others laugh.
"Hufflepuff has to win this, or we're going to have a hard time doing well enough in our game against Ravenclaw to overtake Slytherin in the points table," Harry said.
"I know, but Harry, you've seen how badly the Ravenclaws are playing. They haven't won a match," Neville muttered under his breath.
"Excuse me," Lilly said with a raised eyebrow, "We could be the underdogs."
"You'd have to win by about 400 points to be in with a chance of winning, Lil," Harry laughed, "But you could up your game for the final match of the season."
"Maybe that's been our game plan all along," Lilly winked.
"We'll be prepared," Ginny joked.
Hermione just laughed, "Come on; let's get to the stands."
Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Lilly all made their way out to the pitch together. The sun was shining, the ground was free of frost and snow, it hadn't been raining, and there were no clouds in the sky. The conditions were perfect for Quidditch which probably only gave the Slytherins a better chance.
"See you guys later," Hermione said when they reached the pitch. She hurried up to the teachers stand to commentate on the match.
"Try not to favour Slytherin too much this time!" Neville teased as Hermione rushed up the stairs.
Lilly laughed and said, "I do hope Hufflepuff win."
"Yeah, I think we all do...apart from the Slytherins," Ginny said as they made their way up to the Gryffindor stands. Lilly had decided to join them there.
"I think it's going to be a close game," Harry said, "Hufflepuff might do this."
"Don't jinx it," Neville said as they watched the teams get ready on the pitch.
"Welcome, everyone!" Hermione's voice echoed throughout the pitch, "To the second last Quidditch game of the 1998-1999 season!"
Everybody cheered, and Hermione continued, "Slytherin leads in the points table with 430 points, and Hufflepuff is currently in third place with 300 points. To maintain their lead against Gryffindor, Slytherin needs to win this game."
Draco walked over to Justin on the pitch, and they exchanged a few words and shook hands.
"Luna has a new idea to get the crowd warmed up, so she's going to play a song, and she wants everyone who knows it to sing along," Hermione said. She sounded slightly uneasy about this idea.
Harry and Neville shared an amused glance. The song started to play, and there was a ripple of laughter throughout the stands.
"We will, we will rock you! We will, we will rock you!"
Harry was quite surprised by the number of people in the crowd who clapped or sang along to the song. He had to admit that it made him laugh, although he didn't know the song that well because the Dursleys had never given him money to buy anything.
"Alright, now it's time to get the game started!" Hermione said through her chuckles, "The captains have shaken hands, the snitch has been released, and Madam Hooch is about to put the quaffle into play...the quaffle is seized immediately by Daphne! She's making her way across the pitch; she's going to try and score! And she shoots…she scores! 10-0 to Slytherin already!"
"I'm a scene, I'm a drama queen, I'm the best damn thing that your eyes have ever seen."
Harry found himself laughing at Luna's song choice; he was fairly sure that it was aimed at Daphne…
"And Slytherin is back in possession of the quaffle, it's Sadie, no it's Daphne, and it's Sadie again, Daphne and she shoots...but no! Smith has saved it!"
Harry didn't like Zacharias Smith, but he smirked, it was no easy feat saving a shot from Daphne, but he'd done as Harry said. He had assumed Daphne wouldn't pass the quaffle and judged the angle she'd score at.
"Hufflepuff in possession now, Hannah, now Megan, no Hannah again, Megan, Hannah and yes! Hannah scores, 10-10!"
"Nothing's ever outta reach, so dream dream dream!"
"Yes!" Harry cheered because he was rooting for Hufflepuff.
"And now Slytherin are in possession. Daphne has the quaffle – she passes to Sadie – who passes back to Daphne – she's going to shoot – no! She passes to Sadie, and Sadie scores! 20-10!"
There were groans from the Gryffindors but cheers from the Slytherins in the crowd. The game continued like that for the next 30 minutes. Slytherin just kept scoring and scoring and scoring. It had been 45 minutes since the game had started, and the score was 110-10 to Slytherin. The Hufflepuffs seemed to have given up completely.
"Come on," Harry muttered to Neville, "Let's piss off the Slytherins. It might distract them."
"What are you thinking?" Neville asked with a slightly evil grin.
Harry whispered something in Neville's ear, and both boys grinned as they started to sing.
"Malfoy cannot play Quidditch and not wince!" Harry and Neville sang loudly; they didn't even need a charm to make their voices sound louder.
"He can't even catch the snitch!"
"That's why all us Gryffindor's sing, Malfoy is our Prince!"
On the pitch, Draco glared at the Gryffindor stand as more and more people started to sing. The snitch was fairly close to his head, but he was too irritated to notice.
"Malfoy has the movement of a rolling pin!"
Hermione looked unsure whether she should laugh and join in or glare at her friends and tell them off, so she kept her mouth shut.
"He won't catch a thing!"
The singing was getting louder, but on the pitch, Slytherin scored again, taking their score up to 120-10. While the keeper was trying to calm Draco down, he missed a goal from Hufflepuff, taking the score to 120-20.
"Malfoy will make sure Hufflepuff win! Malfoy is our Prince!"
While Draco was distracted by the song, Justin had spotted the snitch hovering above the Slytherin goalposts. In one quick movement, he soared across the pitch, reached out and clasped his fingers around the snitch. The stands exploded with cheers, all but the Slytherin stands, of course, where all that could be heard were boos.
Justin cheered loudly and held the snitch up proudly.
"YES! GO, JUSTIN!" Harry and Neville whooped as the Hufflepuff flew to the ground, where he was jumped on by the rest of his team, who hugged him and patted him on the back and cheered.
"The final score is 170-120 to Hufflepuff!" Hermione cheered from the teachers stands, "Which puts Slytherin at 550 in the points table and rockets Hufflepuff to 470! This means, of course, that to get ahead of Hufflepuff, Gryffindor must score over 50 points in the final match of the season. To overtake Slytherin and win the house cup, Gryffindor will need over 220 points!"
With that, the commentary ended, and Hermione left the box. Harry and Neville shared a glance and decided that they would risk going onto the pitch to congratulate the Hufflepuffs.
"Well done, Hannah!" Harry said politely as he smiled at the girl.
"Nice catch Justin," Neville said as he patted his friend on the back, "You're a good seeker."
Justin grinned, "Thanks, mate! It was thanks to the tips you guys gave us, Harry!"
"And the song," Susan said with a grin as she dropped her bat on the ground to hug Harry, "You and Neville were brilliant!"
"We'll call it our revenge for what they did to Ron," Harry said with a chuckle.
"Tips? What tips?" An angry voice asked from behind.
Harry spun around to be faced by Draco and Theo. He looked around for his partner in crime, "Uhh, Neville?"
"What?" Neville asked as he appeared beside Harry once more.
"What tips?" Draco asked again.
"Oh yeah, we gave the Hufflepuffs some Quidditch tips," Neville said with a smirk, "Is that a crime?"
"You're supposed to be our friends!" Draco said with a glare.
"Get over it, Draco," Harry said with a slight frown, "We have friends in other houses that we've known for longer, you know."
"Whatever Potter," Draco said bitterly, "Slytherins are meant to stick together."
"Well, we aren't Slytherins Draco," Harry said.
Neville nodded and added, "As much as you want us to be Slytherins, we're still Gryffindor's."
"Still losers, you mean?" Theo asked. Draco laughed nastily at this, then he and Theo turned and stalked off of the pitch.
"Could they get any more immature if they tried?" Daphne asked in astonishment as she watched the boys leave.
"Oh probably," Sadie said as she shook her head in disbelief, "Can you believe they are letting those two into Auror training?"
"Well done on the win," Daphne said to the Hufflepuffs, and Sadie echoed this. The girls were far more gracious than the boys when it came to losing.
"What happened?" Hermione asked. She was slightly out of breath when she arrived on the pitch.
"Draco and Theo walked off in the huff because we gave Hufflepuff tips. They took it as some huge personal insult," Harry said. He was still surprised by what had happened.
"Yeah, well, they are Slytherins, no offence, guys," Susan said. She added the last part for the benefit of Daphne and Sadie.
"None taken," Sadie said with a chuckle.
"Come on, let's get back to the common room. I think a party is in order," Hannah said with a grin. She and Susan had tentatively made up over the past few weeks, but it was still shaky.
Susan smiled, "I'll meet you in the common room, but I'll go get the butterbeer first."
"And meet Percy along the way in Hogsmeade?" Daphne teased.
Susan just winked and hurried towards the castle.
It was 2 am, and the party was in full swing. No one had seen Draco or Theo since the argument on the Quidditch pitch.
"I'm going to go and look for Draco," Harry said finally. He'd had one too many butterbeers, and he was feeling bad about what had happened between him and the Slytherin, who had quickly become one of his best friends.
"Where are you going to look?" Daphne asked.
Harry shrugged, "I dunno. I'll check the dorm first, I guess."
"Just use the Marauders Map," Hermione said, as ever she was the voice of reason.
"Oh," Harry said thoughtfully, "I hadn't even thought of that, good idea Mione."
Harry then made his way up the stairs, and he only staggered a tiny bit. The dorm was empty, so he raked in his trunk for the Marauders Map. When he eventually found it, he mumbled, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," and the map came to life.
Harry scanned the map floor by floor, but he couldn't see Draco or Theo anywhere. He was wondering if Draco was even in the castle as he glanced through the lowest floors, but then he saw it. A dot labelled "Draco Black," presided in the lower dungeons.
Harry frowned. Why would he be down there? It took him a minute, but then Harry realised that Draco wasn't just in the dungeons. He was in Severus Snape's office, which still contained a large amount of his belongings.
Harry stuffed the map into his pocket and hurried down the stairs, through the common room and down the grand staircase. Why did Draco have to be so far away from the eighth year common room? Harry thought to himself as he reached the entrance hall and made his way down two more sets of stairs to get into the corridor leading to the office where Draco was hiding out.
Harry approached the door quietly. When he didn't hear any sound coming from inside, he pushed the door open slightly and walked in.
Draco looked up. He was sitting with his feet up on the desk, reading a potions book, "How did you find me?"
"I have a map that shows every room and person at Hogwarts," Harry said casually as he leant against the wall. Draco knew this, of course. He had seen the map; in fact, he had even borrowed it.
"Whatever," Draco said. He sounded as bitter as he had earlier.
"Where's Theo?" Harry asked curiously.
"I don't know, his dorm, I think," Draco replied. He was purposefully keeping his answers very short.
"I know you're pissed off Draco, but you have to understand that Hermione, Neville and me, we had lives before we became friends with you guys, and we aren't just going to drop that," Harry explained, "Susan, Justin and Ernie are our good friends, so we supported Hufflepuff."
"Supporting is one thing. Giving tips is another," Draco said grumpily.
"The truth is that you're just pissed off that you lost, and you're taking it out on me," Harry said as he narrowed his eyes at his friend.
"I am not," Draco said very defensively.
"Was Salazar Slytherin Scottish?" Harry asked curiously.
Draco frowned deeply, "Why?"
"Well, Godric Gryffindor was Welsh," Harry said, "And recent studies have suggested Helga Hufflepuff was Irish," he added.
"So?"
"So, if Rowena Ravenclaw was English, then it would make sense for Salazar Slytherin to be Scottish, a founder from each part of Great Britain," Harry finished.
"Some studies suggest he might have lived on an estate near the site of Hogwarts," Draco said, "But it's more likely that Ravenclaw was Scottish and Slytherin was English."
"Well, I think he must have been Scottish because the Scots are famously defensive, and it's a trait they share with Slytherins," Harry said as he sat down on a chair in front of Snape's old desk.
"I'm not defensive!" Draco said defensively.
Harry raised an eyebrow at his friend, who huffed.
"Look, Draco. We're adults. We've been through a war, and we survived it, we're the lucky ones, but you don't act like it all the time," Harry said honestly, "Soon, you are going to be responsible for keeping the rest of the wizarding world safe, and you've got to act like that. You can't throw a fit every time something doesn't go your way."
"I know," Draco said with a sigh, "But you don't get it. It's hard for Slytherins to make friends, real friends and well…Potter, you are a real friend."
Harry smiled at how awkward Draco was in trying to say how he felt.
"And well...I'd quite like to stay friends with you, so my temper got the better of me, I guess," Draco said as he looked everywhere but at Harry.
"Was that an apology?" Harry asked in amusement.
"Suppose so," Draco mumbled.
Harry chuckled, "You and Ron are more similar than you know," he said through his laughter. Draco only glared at him for this comment.
"Come on. We're having a party in the common room. Free booze and all," Harry said in an attempt to get Draco to come back with him.
"Alright then," Draco said. He put the book down and pushed himself to his feet, and left the room with Harry.
"Nice song earlier."
"It served you right, after what you all did to Ron."
"So you guys are best friends again, are you?" Draco asked. He had wondered about it since the scene at the memorial service earlier in the month.
"He's always been one of my best friends, and I've been missing him lately. He asked me to be the godfather of his baby," Harry said thoughtfully.
"What did you say?" Draco asked.
"I said yes," Harry said, "But I hope he doesn't expect me to make him the best man at my wedding in return or anything. Not that Daph and me will be getting married anytime soon, mind you, we agreed on a long engagement."
Draco merely hmm-ed at this.
Harry smiled at the Slytherin, "I have lots of friends, Draco, but I'm still going to spend all of my time kicking your arse and getting drunk with you at Auror training. Don't get all insecure about it."
At this, there was a stifled chuckle that made both Draco and Harry stop in their tracks and spin around.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Harry shouted as he pointed his wand in the vague direction of the noise.
Harry couldn't help but snigger as the invisibility cloak flew off Daphne and Hermione and landed on the floor behind them.
"Aw, look at the loved up couple," Daphne teased.
Hermione chuckled, "All back together again."
Harry and Draco both rolled their eyes and put an arm around their girlfriends.
"Women...why do we put up with them, Harry?" Draco asked his friend jokingly as they all walked back towards the common room together.
Harry chuckled and replied, "Merlin only knows."
The morning after Draco and Harry made up, Theo and Neville had a make-up hug in the middle of the great hall, in a very James Potter and Sirius Black fashion. Then just like that, things went back to normal.
The few days after the match and the argument passed without anything of interest happening, the friends were just busy preparing for their exams the following month.
This was how Harry came to find Draco asleep in the common room one night wearing Sadie's glasses. He snorted as he woke his friend up with a nudge, "Since when do you wear glasses?"
"I…uh, don't," Draco said evasively.
Harry smirked at him, "Kind of looks like you were just wearing Sadie's. Do you need glasses?"
"No," Draco scoffed, "My eyes just got tired after five hours of studying; sue me."
Daphne sniggered from the doorway, "Give it up, Draco. You've needed glasses for years; you just won't admit it because you don't want to be like Harry."
"I don't need glasses; my eyes were just tired!" Draco huffed, then he stalked up to his dorm room.
Harry and Daphne shared an amused look and didn't bring up the incident again.
Come Wednesday, Slughorn made an announcement ten minutes before the end of the lesson.
"I have finished marking all of your projects," he said as he picked up a pile of scrolls from his desk.
Hermione gasped and nearly fell out of her seat as Slughorn made his way around the class. He dropped a scroll on the desk of each student as he did so.
"You all did very well, and I hope you achieved the grade you hoped for," Slughorn continued, "This will be your last potions class. For the rest of the term, you should use your free period when you would have had this class to study for your other exams."
Slughorn dropped the last scroll on the desk and said with a smile, "Class dismissed."
Everybody grabbed their bags and hurried out into the corridor. Draco dragged the others down the corridor into a large hall which Harry and Hermione recognised as the hall where Nearly Headless Nicks Deathday party had been held.
Once they were out of sight of the rest of the class, everybody opened their scrolls to determine how they had done in their project. Many of them were nervous because they had to get a specific grade. Harry, Draco, Neville and Theo all needed at least an E to get into Auror training, and even then, they still had to go through the selection process at the end of July.
Lilly needed her O for her elite healing programme, Sadie needed an O for her Alchemy course, Daphne only needed an E in Potions, but Harry expected she would ace the class anyway. Like Daphne, Hermione only needed an E, but her letter had stated that an O was preferable and Harry had faith in her.
There was silence, apart from the rustling of paper, as everyone scrambled to find their results.
"YES!" Lilly exclaimed as she jumped up, "I got an O!"
Neville grinned at her, "I knew you would, Lil! I got an E!"
Lilly returned his grin and hugged him. She had to jump as high as she could because he was so bloody tall, "I just need to pass my physical tomorrow and make sure I do well in Defence!"
"You are bloody brilliant," Neville said as he leant down and kissed her.
"Oh, for the love of Salazar! I got an O too!" Daphne grinned.
"Yes! So did I!" Sadie said with a huge grin as she jumped into Theo's arms
Theo laughed, "I got an E," he said with a grin. He had achieved his passing grade too
"I got an O," Hermione said weakly as if she couldn't believe it.
Draco rolled his eyes, "Of course you did. You're brilliant."
Susan smiled and said, "Well, I got an E, so I'm happy enough!"
Everybody had shared their grade apart from Harry and Draco now.
"What did you get, Harry?" Daphne asked her boyfriend.
Harry looked up from the paper with a smile, "I got an E too," he admitted.
"Well done, Harry!" Hermione said in surprise. She knew how bad at potions he had been when he first started at Hogwarts.
"That's great," Daphne agreed happily as she hugged her boyfriend.
"What about you, Draco?" Hermione asked the Slytherin, who looked up with a smile.
"Oh, I got an O," Draco said a little smugly.
"We all passed!" Sadie said happily.
"I reckon this calls for a party!" Daphne said with a grin.
"But it's a Wednesday night!" Hermione exclaimed in horror.
"So?" Theo asked.
Lilly snorted, "Well, I have my physical test tomorrow, so I, for one, will be going to bed," she joked.
Draco chuckled, "Well, you have an excuse, Lilly. You, however, do not, Hermione. Come on, a couple of dances and then you can go back to revision."
"Oh fine," Hermione gave in, as usual. She smiled at the others, and they all left the dungeons to celebrate in the common room.
* ~ TBC ~ *
Songs Used:
Queen – We Will Rock You
Avril Lavigne – The Best Damn Thing
Miley Cyrus – Dream