A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make

A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make. I have finished. Yes, that's right, this story has come to an end. These next few chapters will wrap it up. I knew it had to end sometimes, and I was actually quite relieved to finish, as I felt it was getting rather mundane. So I've finished, and I've started the sequel, but I probably won't post it for a while. So if you want to read it, I'd suggest you tell me so, cuz right now I have no good reason to put it up, plus I'm deathly ill right now and am in danger of collapsing on my keyboard. Give me your opinion! Well, that's all. I have no one to add to the reviewer's honor roll. Thanks to all the regulars. That's about it. Enjoy! -Nymphean

Chapter 12: And the winner is…

Laelyn took her time recovering, and by the end of the first week, she was walking around the school, regaining her strength. Bill decided not to go back to Egypt, deciding that it was much more important for him to spend time with his wife and son.

Once the baby grew accustomed to his new environment, he seemed to flourish, much to the relief of his parents. They named him Gawaine Madoc Weasley. The child had bright, perceptive eyes and a peaceful demeanor, and everyone who saw him fell instantly in love with him.

The teachers had taken turns covering Laelyn's classes, and all the students naturally assumed that she would continue teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts once she felt better. So it came as a big surprise to everyone when Laelyn announced that she would not be teaching the course for the remainder of the year. She wanted to devote her full attention to her son. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione were crestfallen when they heard the news.

"Who will teach us now?" Ginny asked dejectedly. Ron shook his head angrily.

"I bet it's going to be someone stupid," He said. The four shuddered as they remembered previous Defense Against the Dark arts teachers. Laelyn, who was sitting in a nearby chair rocking the baby, put on hand up to silence them.

"I'm sorry, you guys, but this is really important to me. And don't worry, you only have to put up with this new teacher for three months or so."

Dumbledore had taken the news better than the students. He understood the situation, and told Laelyn that it was perfectly all right for her to take as much time as she needed, and that she would be welcome back at any time. But he did have one problem; replacing her.

"You've done a marvelous job, Laelyn," he said. "We were very fortunate to have you. I don't know who I'll find to replace you."

Laelyn nodded. "I understand that I've put you in quite an awkward position. But I do have someone in mind. I think you'll find that life here will be made much easier if you decide to hire this person…"

*****

"SNAPE?!?" Yelled Harry. "You have to be kidding! What in the world could have possessed you to suggest SNAPE?"

Ron was beet red with anger. "Have you gone MAD?"

Laelyn chuckled softly. "I know you're not too happy about it, but think of this for a second; you hate Snape because he's bitter, right? And why is he bitter? Because he wants the Dark Arts position. So I'm giving it to him in hopes that he'll be a much happier Professor Snape once he has it. So you see, it all works out."

"In theory…" said Hermione. "But I'm not so sure about in practice."

Laelyn smiled and rolled her eyes. "Please guys, just give him a chance. I know you don't like him, I don't really like him much either, but I KNOW there's some good in him, and I think if we can just try to bring it out, we'll see a side of Professor Snape that we've never seen before."

Ginny looked thoroughly unimpressed. "You'd better be right about this…"

*****

The students of Hogwarts had never seen Professor Snape look so happy. His usual sneer had just about disappeared, and the students had even caught him smiling once or twice. One Gryffindor second year even claimed that she had seen him whistling in the hallway. This was a very big relief and a very frightening change all at the same time.

Harry was amazed at the change in Professor Snape. The teacher, who had once been his arch-nemesis, now treated him with a sort of indifference that in any other person would have seemed rude but was entirely welcome in Professor Snape. Harry had even started getting good marks in Snape's courses. And best of all, Snape had cut back on the amount of homework he gave out.

Harry was pondering the sudden remarkable transformation one afternoon while walking back from Potions class when he heard someone behind him call out his name. He spun around to see Draco Malfoy coming up behind him. Harry rolled his eyes.

"What is it, Malfoy?" He said irritably. Draco crossed his arms over his chest.

"There's no need to be snotty, Potter," He replied. "I was just going to return your notebook… you dropped it outside the classroom." He held out the notebook.

Harry raised an eyebrow and snatched the notebook from Draco's hands. "Thanks," He said slowly. To his surprise, Draco smiled.

"No problem. Actually, I think this is probably the perfect opportunity to do something I've been meaning to do for a long time. Do you have a minute?"

Harry looked up and down the empty hallway. "Yeah, I guess," he said, instinctively putting a hand on his wand. "So what is it?"

"I wanted… to apologize."

Harry's eyes went wide. "You WHAT?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Well don't look so shocked, Potter. I'm not a monster, you know. I realized how badly I've treated you and Weasley and Granger. So I wanted to apologize."

Harry eyed him suspiciously. "Is this some sort of joke? Because I think it's pretty damned hilarious."

Draco shook his head defiantly. "Maybe you're above admitting when you've done something wrong, Potter, but I'm not. I want to have a clear conscience. So whether you accept it or not, I'm apologizing for all the stupid things I've done to you and your friends. I was hoping we could… start again."

Harry searched the other boy's face for some hint of sarcasm or mischief, but he could find none. For once in the six years Harry had known him, Draco seemed totally sincere. Well, what the hell. If he can forgive and forget, so can I. "All right, apology accepted." Harry stuck out his hand, and Draco shook it, grinning.

"From now on, let's agree to get along, all right?" Harry smiled back at him.

"Okay."

"Hey, I'd really like to apologize to your friends too. Do you know where they are?"

Harry shook his head, amazed. "Yeah. I'll take you to them."

One week later…

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione walked through the doors to the Three Broomsticks. They were all in exceptionally good spirits this weekend, and the Hogsmeade trip had made them even happier. They sat down at a table and ordered four butter beers. Hermione and Ginny compared their purchases while Ron and Harry discussed the Quidditch finals. It was the first week of April, and the finals were just weeks away. They were sipping their butter beers and laughing at a joke Ron had just told when Draco came over to their table.

"Hey guys. Mind if I sit down?"

Ron and Harry shoved over to make room for an extra chair. Over the past week, Draco had been hanging out with them a lot, and they had all forgotten their former grudges against each other. At first, the four Gryffindors had had trouble trusting Draco, but it became evident rather quickly that he meant well, and they decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust him. Not only that, but they had discovered that Draco was actually not such a bad person once you got to know him.

Draco sipped his drink and leaned back against the chair. "We destroyed Ravenclaw last night in practice. Your Gryffindors had better be ready. Slytherin's poised to win the cup this year." He grinned daringly. And crossed his arms.

"We're ready," Harry replied.

"We're MORE than ready," added Ron. Draco just laughed.

"We'll see."

Hermione shook her head. "You boys and your Quidditch," She said with mock exasperation. "Is that all you can talk about?"

Ron waved his hand at her impatiently. "Nobody asked your opinion," he said. Hermione smacked him. Then she kissed him. Draco made a face.

"They're a very strange pair," He said.

*****

The next Thursday night marked an important event; the practice game between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Harry stood in the change room, pacing back and forth in front of his team.

"All right, we have to win this game tonight. I know the cup's not a stake, but there's something even bigger on the line; our pride. We have to beat Slytherin. There's no way around it. If we lose this game, we'll never live it down. You all know the plan. We're ready, I know we are. So let's get out there and beat them into the ground, Gryffindor!"

This last sentence was met with cheers from the other eleven players on the team. All prepped and ready to go, the team rushed onto the field. They shook hands with the Slytherins, and the game began.

Harry spent the first little while dodging the bludgers and yelling out instructions and encouraging words to the rest of his team. Ron was putting the Quaffles through the hoops as quickly as he could, winning tons of points for Gryffindor. About half an hour into the game, Harry saw a streak of gold whiz by the head of one of Slytherin's chasers, and he took off after it, Draco trailing close behind. Harry chased the snitch around the Quidditch pitch, coming millimeters away from it and then losing it after dodging a bludger. He straightened himself on his broom and looked around for the snitch, realizing with bitter disappointment that he had lost it.

"Where'd it go?" yelled a frustrated Draco. Harry shrugged and soared up higher over the pitch to get a better look. Draco followed. They both spotted the snitch at the same time, hovering in the far corner of the pitch, inches off the ground. The two boys sped towards the snitch at top speed, knowing that there was a huge possibility that they would collide, but not really caring. Harry instinctively closed his eyes as the ground rushed towards him, and reached out blindly for the snitch.

He opened his eyes seconds later to find that he had one of the golden snitch's wings clasped firmly in his hand. He also noted with dismay that the other wing was clasped firmly in Draco's fist. They looked at each other, wide-eyed.

"Let go," Said Harry.

"You let go!" Draco cried, sounding rather dismayed.

"Never!" Harry pulled on the wing, and Draco did the same, but neither on of them would budge. The snitch writhed as of in pain. The two boys looked at each other. Harry shrugged, and they held up the snitch between them. The announcer was going crazy.

"This has never happened before! The two seekers seem to have grabbed the snitch at the same time! And the points on the scoreboard are even! Witches and Wizards, we have a tie!!!"