Peter woke up in the hospital wing. He shifted around sitting up from the comfortable bed. Morning light was shining through the windows of the large infirmary. He wondered how long he had been asleep. Looking next to him he saw Harry sleeping in the bed next to his. Harry looked absolutely dead to the world around him.
"Ah Mr. Parker. You're awake." Madam Pomfrey said, rushing over to him. She stuck a thermometer in his mouth and started inspecting every inch of him.
"Madam Pomfrey I feel fine." He protested.
"I will be the judge of that Mr. Parker. Whatever you got up to last night left you in a worse state than I've ever seen you in." She said,
"I heal quickly, I promise I'm fine." He said.
Madam Pomfrey seemed to be fiercely looking for a reason to keep him there. Eventually she conceded to letting him go. "Make sure you go speak with Professor McGonagall." She said,
Peter flinched at those words. "She knows?" He asked.
"The whole school knows Mr. Parker." Pomfrey said.
"Great… I'm dead." Peter said, pulling on his robes and making his way to the transfiguration classroom.
On the way there he wondered how he was going to talk his way out of this. He had been warned by McGonagall that he was on thin ice when he was caught after taking Norbert with Harry. He figured that this was probably the end for him. But given what would have happened otherwise with the stone getting stolen, he decided that it was worth it. Even if he loses out in the end. He did the right thing. And that was more important.
When he got to the transfiguration classroom, Ron and Hermione were sitting there as well. McGonagall looked at him. "Take a seat Parker." She said with a neutral expression.
Peter walked over and sat next to Ron looking as sick as he felt. Hermione was looking at the ground gripping her pant legs. "It will be a while yet before Potter awakens." She said,
"I will begin by saying that what you all did was incredibly stupid, reckless, and ill concieved. And you are all incredibly lucky to have made it out alive. If it were up to me you would all be confined to your dorms for the remainder of the year." She said,
None of them answered. Peter held his tongue, he didn't think that he could get away with any smart remarks at this point in time.
"However, Professor Dumbledore has convinced me that your actions, though clearly foolish, were necessary." She said, "Now off with you all." She said,
"Wait… did you call us here just to tell us that we're idiotic children?" He asked.
"I said you are free to leave Parker." She said irritably.
Peter walked out and headed toward the common room. He ran into Gwen on the way there. Last time they had really spoken she had still been angry at him for not telling her the truth about why he had snuck out the night they sent Norbert to Romania. He made every attempt possible not to meet her eyes. He wasn't in the mood to deal with that awkwardness right now.
"Peter?" She asked, looking at him.
He stopped and looked back at her, "Uh… Hey Gwen." He said with a small smile.
He walked over to him, and gave him a hug. "You're an idiot." She said,
"Uh… Yeah. I can't disagree with that point right now." He agreed, returning the hug.
"Come on. You need to get ready. The last Quidditch match is about to start." She said, "Gryffindor VS Ravenclaw."
"Without a seeker. We're gonna get crushed." Peter said, "But I guess after the night I had a little levity wouldn't hurt." He said.
He went with Gwen down to the Quidditch Pitch, Ron and Hermione had once again already gotten there. He and Gwen joined their small group and waited for the match to start. The players lifted off the ground. Peter knew that Ravenclaw had at least the second best team in the school.
Without Harry as Seeker, Peter's prediction had been spot on. It seemed like an equal match at first, the chasers on both sides were skilled enough that for some time the scores seemed pretty even. But, the moment the Ravenclaw seeker Cho Chang saw the Golden Snitch it was all over for Gryffindor. The final score had been 50 to 210 points.
Pretty much everyone had expected this outcome but it didn't stop Ron from being very upset about it for the first few hours. He had to concede that without Harry there, Gryffindor had no chance of actually winning the match. He still complained greatly about it.
The most surprising part of the day was that Ron, for once, didn't rise to Malfoy's teasing and bullying. When Peter questioned him he shrugged and said, "We just stopped the Darkest Wizard of all time from coming back, what was the most important thing he did this year?"
"Good point." Peter said.
The three of them went to see Harry in the hospital wing. Even if he wasn't awake they were allowed to sit with him for a little bit. Every time they came to visit, the pile of sweets at the foot of his bed grew in size. Peter saw Ron opening a chocolate frog.
"Ron!" He scolded.
"What?" Ron asked.
"That's not yours. It's for Harry." Peter said.
Ron looked at Harry and continued to open the chocolate frog. "He wouldn't want it. You know how much Harry dislikes lots of attention." He said.
Peter rolled his eyes. He knew that Ron was probably right, but it also felt more like an excuse. Still Ron had been just as instrumental as any of the rest of them had been in this adventure so he supposed that Ron probably had a claim to some of the sweet gifts given to Harry. He looked at Harry and then stood up.
"Well I'm gonna go. Just sitting here waiting for him to wake up is going to drive me insane." He said.
"Oh Peter, don't worry. Harry's gonna wake up soon." Hermione said softly.
"I know he will, but sitting here isn't doing me any good." He said, walking out.
It took a few days but Harry did eventually wake up. Dumbledore had been the first one to see him. Then Peter and the other two were finally let in by a reluctant Madame Pomfrey.
"He needs his rest." She kept saying as she let them in.
"I'm sure he does ma'am. I'm also sure he's bored to death with no one to talk to." Peter replied.
She pulled back the curtain and let them sit next to Harry who was lying in bed still looking a little pale. "Oh Harry!" Hermione looked as though she wanted to hug him.
Peter was sure that Harry appreciated that she held herself back. He looked as though he would snap in half if she hugged him too hard. "How're you feeling, Foureyes?" He asked, sitting in a chair next to Harry's bed.
"Tired." Harry said honestly, "But other than that good. What's happened since I've been asleep?"
"A bit." Ron said. "He had our match against Ravenclaw. Without a seeker we got trounced but the game was fun. And Slytherin won the house cup. Malfoy won't let us hear the end of it, but at least the feast will still be good."
"Ron can always be cheered up with food." Peter said, with a small laugh. "Everyone's talking about what happened. They all keep telling stories about how you fought Quirrell and Voldemort at the same time. No one really knows what happened so everyone keeps coming up with their own version of the story."
"I didn't really fight them, I just got lucky, I had a mom who loved me a lot." Harry said with a small smile.
The other three looked at eachother not sure what that had to do with anything. "Well unfortunately, you're now more popular than ever." Peter said. "So good look with that, cuz now you're the guy who beat You-Know-Who twice."
"ALRIGHT!" Madame Pomfrey said. "That is quite enough! He needs rest. Off! Off with you three! Go find something else to do besides bothering those who need their bedrest."
The three of them were practically kicked out of the hospital wing and sent off on their way. Peter spent the remainder of the days before the feast with Ron, Hermione, and Gwen. Studying, talking, and playing more wizard chess. At one point they got permission to practice with brooms with Madame Hooch. Peter and Hermione had improved a little but they still struggled the most with the brooms. Gwen had gotten much better since classes started, and Ron had improved quite a bit with his own broom. He was a good flier in his own right, though not quite on the same level as Harry.
The day of the feast came and Harry was finally let out of the hospital wing to participate. Ron had been right, the feast still tasted fantastic. Though Peter had to admit it would have tasted better if the banners hanging on the walls had been red and gold instead of green and silver. He avoided looking at the Slytherin table. While there were plenty of Slytherin's just enjoying their own meals, there were plenty more still who were enjoying themselves lording their seventh victory in a row over the rest of the school. Near the end of the feast and dessert Dumbledore stood up
"Another Year has come and gone. I must say I am very proud of how hard you have all worked this year. But now I believe the house cup needs awarding and the points are as follows. In Fourth Place, Gryffindor with three hundred and twelve points." There were a few scattered applause but that was all.
"In third place, Hufflepuff with three hundred and fifty-two points." The whole hall clapped this time though the applause was simply a show of politeness.
"In third place, Ravenclaw with four hundred and twenty-six points." The Ravenclaws cheered a little louder for themselves. Second place wasn't too bad.
"And finally in first place, with four hundred and seventy-two points, Slytherin." The Slytherin table burst into loud cheers and whistles. Very few students in any of the other houses joined in the cheers, only a few clapped in miserable recognition of Slytherin's victory.
"Yes, Well done Slytherin, well done Slytherin! But before we hand out the cup I have a few last minute points to award in light of recent events." He said.
The Slytherin's cheers died down. Peter looked across the room and saw Malfoy looking even paler than usual.
"The first, to Mr. Ronald Weasley For the greatest game of Wizard Chess in over a century, I award Gryffindor, fifty points." There was a huge wave of cheers from the other houses.
"Secondly to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of grave danger I award fifty points."
Another huge wave of cheers.
"Next to Mr. Peter Parker. For a spectacular show of strength in combat against a mountain troll I award another fifty points." The cheers were steadily getting louder and longer.
Doing the math in his head Peter knew that Gryffindor had just shot to second place. But they were still ten points behind slytherin. However, from the look on Dumbledore's face he wasn't quite done.
"And to Mr. Harry Potter for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house, 60 points." The other houses exploded with cheers. This put Gryffindor at 522 points shooting past Slytherin in the total. Dumbledore waited calmly for the cheers to die down.
"And finally, it takes a great deal of courage to stand up not only to your enemies, but to your friends as well, which is why I award Mr. Neville Longbottom. Ten points." Somehow the cheers from the Gryffindors had gotten even louder, dwarfing the cheers from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Everyone took some level of satisfaction in those ten points. Rubbing salt into Slytherin's proverbial wound. Gryffindor was nout 60 points in the lead at 532.
"And unless my math is mistaken I believe a change of decoration is in order.!" Dumbledore clapped and the banners changed from green to red, the silver snakes morphed into golden lions. "Gryffindor wins the house cup!" He announced.
The hall burst into its loudest cheers yet. Everyone except the slytherins was celebrating this turn of events. Although the Gryffindors had the most reason to cheer, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff found themselves just as elated. A house that wasn't Slytherin had won.
Once celebrations were over they were directed back to the common room. Where another feast immediately took place since Fred and George had snuck down to the kitchens and brought back even more food. And although Percy kept trying to get people to go to bed and end the party early, the party did not end early. It went on late and loud until McGonagall had to come in and tell them to go to bed. Elated as she was to have had her house win the cup she was insistent that the students needed to be ready for the train tomorrow.
The next morning they were all packed and ready. They took the self-driving carriages down to the town where the Hogwarts Express waited to take them home. Peter sat in a compartment with Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Gwen. They ate sweets, told jokes, had deep conversations and then all too soon, the train stopped at Kings Cross. They all went out through the hidden passage.
Peter saw Aunt May waiting for him and he ran over to her and gave her a huge hug. "Man, I missed you!" He said. "Aw I missed you too," May said.
"These are my friends. Gwen Stacy, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter." He said.
"Nice to meet you… all." She said as Harry was approached by a couple of other muggles.
"Come on boy! We need to be back soon! Petunia has a list of chores for you to do, and then we need to lock up all that ruddy school stuff." The man commanded.
"Oh… you're pleasant." Peter said sarcastically,
Before the man could answer he looked at all of them. His friends, it'd be all summer before he saw some of them again. "You all have to come over." Ron said suddenly.
Peter smiled. "Sounds good red. Until Next Year Then."
And that is the final chapter. It's been a long road to finishing this one. And I absolutely plan on starting book two. I'll have to re-listen to it and and rewatch the movie but rest assured it's on its way.