A/N: AARON POV
*
The year was nearly over, and Aaron was nostalgic about his first year in school. They were sitting in defence against the dark arts, and their results were being handed round.
'Thanks,' he said, as Professor Granger handed him his exam paper, and a spare piece that evaluated his practical.
'Well done,' she said kindly. 'You beat my personal best when I was at Hogwarts, and that took me years to attain.' She lowered her voice. 'You're a very gifted boy, Aaron Bulstrode. Don't let that gift go to waste,' Aaron saw her glance across the classroom but he didn't quite follow her gaze. She moved onto Winter, who was sitting next to Aaron.
He looked at his paper and saw that he had gained a hundred and fifty-two percent in the written exam, and a hundred and fifty-six percent in the practical.
He scanned through the comments section on him (sort of like an end of year report), and phrases jumped out of the page. [I]"Talented, has particular talent in charms from what I see… if he continues on this vein I can see he is destined for good things…[/I]
'You know,' he said to Faith, 'Professor Granger never was my favourite teacher, but she's suddenly starting to grow on me,' he smiled.
'You said that about Professor Clearwater after she gave you a hundred and seventy-five percent in that exam!' Faith replied, while looking at what she had been given, a slightly disgruntled look on her face.
'You okay?' Winter asked.
'Sort of,' she said. 'I can't believe this! I got ninety-eight percent! I would at least have been happy with ninety-nine…' she trailed off.
'Faith, if you have got one percent you would have said that you were happy with two!' it was true, Faith set terribly high targets for herself. Winter and Aaron gave each other a, "typical," look, smiling.
*
'And so,' Dumbledore began, 'we reach the penultimate day of yet another successful year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Though few may argue there were a few hitches, we keep the opinion that these are the things that make our school what it is. This year only, we have made several new targets for exam marks. We have some very talented new quidditch players, and we still hold onto the memories of the older ones. To those of you who are leaving this year, I wish you all the luck in the world in whatever you choose to do. You came here as naïve youngsters,' laughter went round the hall, as seventh years ridiculed the idea of being naïve.
'Yes, yes. Hush, hush,' Dumbledore said, waving his hand to them all. 'You came here as, well, perhaps not so naïve youngsters, but now you leave as fully-fledged witches and wizards. Some of you may have had a bumpier ride than others… but if you sit there tonight, then you know you have made it.' he smiled at them, and the students applauded.
'And to my first years…' he said affectionately, opening his arms, a slight smile on his face. 'Well I'm glad you all came. I'm glad to get a better bunch of students then I've had in years!'
A chorus of, "oi!" and, "what about us?" went around the hall from the other years. Dumbledore grinned broadly.
'All right, so perhaps I was exaggerating. But this year certainly has been eventful. Each and every single one of you should be proud of yourselves, as I am certainly proud of my students.'
A great applause went up, and one or two teachers seemed to be snivelling slightly, and bringing out the hankies. Aaron saw Hagrid sitting at the staff table with a handkerchief that looked more like a tablecloth, unashamedly wiping his eyes at Dumbledore's speech. Aaron guessed that all the teachers had seventh year students that they would miss.
'And now,' said Dumbledore, getting a piece of paper from his pocket, 'I bring us around to the house cup for this year. This last year we have seen a ferocious battle of house points – not that I believe it should be competition at all,' he gave them a sly wink. 'And this is how, at the end of the year, the points stand. Hufflepuff – five hundred points exactly!'
Everyone on the Hufflepuff cheered. None of them had expected to win the cup, but five hundred points was an awful lot.
'Five hundred and ninety-two points goes to Gryffindor house!' not a lot of people clapped on the Slytherin table for this, in fact no one really. But Aaron turned around and clapped anyway – he wasn't going to give the people who agreed with this stupid divide the satisfaction of seeing him dismiss his friends.
'Five hundred and ninety-[I]three[/I] points to Ravenclaw house!' Dumbledore said, incredulity in his voice. A great big "ooooooooooooohh!" went up from several tables, at the closeness of the points.
'But,' Dumbledore continued, still looking slightly amused. 'The winners of this years house cup, is Slytherin house, with a massive six hundred and thirty-eight points!'
Aaron punched one arm in the air and whooped, many Slytherins stood up on the benches they were sitting on, and they all made a great noise. Aaron couldn't hear himself, let alone anyone else!
The hall suddenly turned into a vision of green and silver, and even Professor Snape couldn't keep the smile from his face. The end of term feast went without a hitch, and Aaron went to bed that night feeling very, very full, and wishing he had resisted the last Viennese whirl Winter had offered him.
But as he drifted off to a (slightly restless) sleep, he was thinking. He wanted to stay here, at Hogwarts, all time, but he knew he couldn't. For one, he wouldn't be allowed, and for two, he was slightly curious has to how Millicent was. He had made up his mind about some things, the main one being that Millicent would soon know about the letter he had found.
*
It was the next morning that Aaron found out that knowing you are going to do something, and actually doing it, are two completely different things. As they drifted off on the lake away from Hogwarts castle, Aaron accidentally let his oar fall into the lake while preoccupied with other thoughts.
He also found, to his great surprise, that he couldn't speak for some reason or the other. Perhaps something was blocking his throat. Yes, that was it. The weather was swelteringly hot, and Aaron had a strange desire to jump in the lake, but he resisted, and boarded the train with the rest of the first years.
'Let's sit here,' Faith said, as she and Winter found an empty carriage, and sat themselves down on the seats. 'Well, aren't you going to sit down?' she asked Aaron, who was still looking out of the window onto the platform.
'Not yet…' he said distractedly, as the guard blew his whistle and the Hogwarts express emitted a large cloud of steam, that temporarily engulfed Aaron's head, and resulted in his having a coughing fir. But still he did not get into the carriage.
When the steam dissipated and the Hogwarts express was so far down the platform it was hard to see the end, Aaron managed to see what he had been waiting for. A figure stood at the end of Hogsmeade station platform one, waving into the distance. Aaron waved back and smiled, glad to see that Harry Potter hadn't been able to leave without saying goodbye.
BOOM! The pack of exploding snap detonated in Aaron's face – the third pack that journey. He put another piece of Droobles bestest best blowing gum version two point four into his mouth and blew another rainbow up the roof of the carriage.
'You know, it's not a fashionable thing to have no eyebrows,' Faith said, grinning.
'Are we nearly there yet?' a pasty-faced Winter asked, bringing her head back from where she had been hanging it out of the carriage window. She did not like long journeys.
Faith glanced her watch. 'We should be there any minute now,' she said. 'That's good, because it's getting dark.' She was right, the sky outside, which had been so blue earlier that day, was slowly getting darker.
Suddenly there was a knock on the carriage door. 'Come in!' Aaron called.
The door opened and Jenny stepped into the carriage.
'Hi!' Aaron said warmly. Faith and Winter both said "hi," too, though not quite as warmly.
'Hi,' she said, twiddling her thumbs. 'I just came… I… I wanted to say… er…' she eyed Winter and Faith nervously, as though they were about to do something like shout at her. Aaron knew they would do no such thing, but Jenny [I]was[/I] painfully shy. 'I wanted to say goodbye, and I hope you have a good summer, and that I'm going to miss you because you're my friend. I'll try and send you an owl, because I don't think you have one.' She paused for a second, as though thinking over her next sentence. 'I also wanted to say,' and this time she was talking to Winter and Faith, 'that even though I don't know if you like me or not, I think you two are all right, and I came to say goodbye to you, too.'
Aaron grinned, as he saw Winter and Faith struggling to come up with some kind of mature reply, and laughed slightly as they both stammered their "G-goodbye's". he hugged Jenny before the train stopped, and they all got off, onto platform nine and three quarters.
Aaron saw Faith's mum first. He could tell it was Faith's mum because she was almost identical to her daughter Aaron saw exactly where Faith got her looks from.
'Mum,' Faith said, 'these are my friends, Aaron and Winter.' Aaron shook Mrs Gettherd's hand politely, before noticing Millicent in the distance. She was looking grumpy.
'I – I'd better go,' he said nervously, before hastily departing. He took his trunk over to where Millicent was standing. When they were face to face, they did not touch. They did not hug, as siblings reunited should to. She did not even place her hand around his shoulders. She just said a very polite, very formal, "hello."
Before they left, Aaron glanced over his shoulder at the crowds. There was Faith, with her dark-haired mother. Winter was standing by her parents, both of which were very tall and skinny. Jenny was hovering by the edge of a crowd – her father was obviously in the midst of it, signing autographs.
'I will return,' he mouthed to her, through the crowd. 'I'll be back, and I'll be waiting.'
*
The year was nearly over, and Aaron was nostalgic about his first year in school. They were sitting in defence against the dark arts, and their results were being handed round.
'Thanks,' he said, as Professor Granger handed him his exam paper, and a spare piece that evaluated his practical.
'Well done,' she said kindly. 'You beat my personal best when I was at Hogwarts, and that took me years to attain.' She lowered her voice. 'You're a very gifted boy, Aaron Bulstrode. Don't let that gift go to waste,' Aaron saw her glance across the classroom but he didn't quite follow her gaze. She moved onto Winter, who was sitting next to Aaron.
He looked at his paper and saw that he had gained a hundred and fifty-two percent in the written exam, and a hundred and fifty-six percent in the practical.
He scanned through the comments section on him (sort of like an end of year report), and phrases jumped out of the page. [I]"Talented, has particular talent in charms from what I see… if he continues on this vein I can see he is destined for good things…[/I]
'You know,' he said to Faith, 'Professor Granger never was my favourite teacher, but she's suddenly starting to grow on me,' he smiled.
'You said that about Professor Clearwater after she gave you a hundred and seventy-five percent in that exam!' Faith replied, while looking at what she had been given, a slightly disgruntled look on her face.
'You okay?' Winter asked.
'Sort of,' she said. 'I can't believe this! I got ninety-eight percent! I would at least have been happy with ninety-nine…' she trailed off.
'Faith, if you have got one percent you would have said that you were happy with two!' it was true, Faith set terribly high targets for herself. Winter and Aaron gave each other a, "typical," look, smiling.
*
'And so,' Dumbledore began, 'we reach the penultimate day of yet another successful year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Though few may argue there were a few hitches, we keep the opinion that these are the things that make our school what it is. This year only, we have made several new targets for exam marks. We have some very talented new quidditch players, and we still hold onto the memories of the older ones. To those of you who are leaving this year, I wish you all the luck in the world in whatever you choose to do. You came here as naïve youngsters,' laughter went round the hall, as seventh years ridiculed the idea of being naïve.
'Yes, yes. Hush, hush,' Dumbledore said, waving his hand to them all. 'You came here as, well, perhaps not so naïve youngsters, but now you leave as fully-fledged witches and wizards. Some of you may have had a bumpier ride than others… but if you sit there tonight, then you know you have made it.' he smiled at them, and the students applauded.
'And to my first years…' he said affectionately, opening his arms, a slight smile on his face. 'Well I'm glad you all came. I'm glad to get a better bunch of students then I've had in years!'
A chorus of, "oi!" and, "what about us?" went around the hall from the other years. Dumbledore grinned broadly.
'All right, so perhaps I was exaggerating. But this year certainly has been eventful. Each and every single one of you should be proud of yourselves, as I am certainly proud of my students.'
A great applause went up, and one or two teachers seemed to be snivelling slightly, and bringing out the hankies. Aaron saw Hagrid sitting at the staff table with a handkerchief that looked more like a tablecloth, unashamedly wiping his eyes at Dumbledore's speech. Aaron guessed that all the teachers had seventh year students that they would miss.
'And now,' said Dumbledore, getting a piece of paper from his pocket, 'I bring us around to the house cup for this year. This last year we have seen a ferocious battle of house points – not that I believe it should be competition at all,' he gave them a sly wink. 'And this is how, at the end of the year, the points stand. Hufflepuff – five hundred points exactly!'
Everyone on the Hufflepuff cheered. None of them had expected to win the cup, but five hundred points was an awful lot.
'Five hundred and ninety-two points goes to Gryffindor house!' not a lot of people clapped on the Slytherin table for this, in fact no one really. But Aaron turned around and clapped anyway – he wasn't going to give the people who agreed with this stupid divide the satisfaction of seeing him dismiss his friends.
'Five hundred and ninety-[I]three[/I] points to Ravenclaw house!' Dumbledore said, incredulity in his voice. A great big "ooooooooooooohh!" went up from several tables, at the closeness of the points.
'But,' Dumbledore continued, still looking slightly amused. 'The winners of this years house cup, is Slytherin house, with a massive six hundred and thirty-eight points!'
Aaron punched one arm in the air and whooped, many Slytherins stood up on the benches they were sitting on, and they all made a great noise. Aaron couldn't hear himself, let alone anyone else!
The hall suddenly turned into a vision of green and silver, and even Professor Snape couldn't keep the smile from his face. The end of term feast went without a hitch, and Aaron went to bed that night feeling very, very full, and wishing he had resisted the last Viennese whirl Winter had offered him.
But as he drifted off to a (slightly restless) sleep, he was thinking. He wanted to stay here, at Hogwarts, all time, but he knew he couldn't. For one, he wouldn't be allowed, and for two, he was slightly curious has to how Millicent was. He had made up his mind about some things, the main one being that Millicent would soon know about the letter he had found.
*
It was the next morning that Aaron found out that knowing you are going to do something, and actually doing it, are two completely different things. As they drifted off on the lake away from Hogwarts castle, Aaron accidentally let his oar fall into the lake while preoccupied with other thoughts.
He also found, to his great surprise, that he couldn't speak for some reason or the other. Perhaps something was blocking his throat. Yes, that was it. The weather was swelteringly hot, and Aaron had a strange desire to jump in the lake, but he resisted, and boarded the train with the rest of the first years.
'Let's sit here,' Faith said, as she and Winter found an empty carriage, and sat themselves down on the seats. 'Well, aren't you going to sit down?' she asked Aaron, who was still looking out of the window onto the platform.
'Not yet…' he said distractedly, as the guard blew his whistle and the Hogwarts express emitted a large cloud of steam, that temporarily engulfed Aaron's head, and resulted in his having a coughing fir. But still he did not get into the carriage.
When the steam dissipated and the Hogwarts express was so far down the platform it was hard to see the end, Aaron managed to see what he had been waiting for. A figure stood at the end of Hogsmeade station platform one, waving into the distance. Aaron waved back and smiled, glad to see that Harry Potter hadn't been able to leave without saying goodbye.
BOOM! The pack of exploding snap detonated in Aaron's face – the third pack that journey. He put another piece of Droobles bestest best blowing gum version two point four into his mouth and blew another rainbow up the roof of the carriage.
'You know, it's not a fashionable thing to have no eyebrows,' Faith said, grinning.
'Are we nearly there yet?' a pasty-faced Winter asked, bringing her head back from where she had been hanging it out of the carriage window. She did not like long journeys.
Faith glanced her watch. 'We should be there any minute now,' she said. 'That's good, because it's getting dark.' She was right, the sky outside, which had been so blue earlier that day, was slowly getting darker.
Suddenly there was a knock on the carriage door. 'Come in!' Aaron called.
The door opened and Jenny stepped into the carriage.
'Hi!' Aaron said warmly. Faith and Winter both said "hi," too, though not quite as warmly.
'Hi,' she said, twiddling her thumbs. 'I just came… I… I wanted to say… er…' she eyed Winter and Faith nervously, as though they were about to do something like shout at her. Aaron knew they would do no such thing, but Jenny [I]was[/I] painfully shy. 'I wanted to say goodbye, and I hope you have a good summer, and that I'm going to miss you because you're my friend. I'll try and send you an owl, because I don't think you have one.' She paused for a second, as though thinking over her next sentence. 'I also wanted to say,' and this time she was talking to Winter and Faith, 'that even though I don't know if you like me or not, I think you two are all right, and I came to say goodbye to you, too.'
Aaron grinned, as he saw Winter and Faith struggling to come up with some kind of mature reply, and laughed slightly as they both stammered their "G-goodbye's". he hugged Jenny before the train stopped, and they all got off, onto platform nine and three quarters.
Aaron saw Faith's mum first. He could tell it was Faith's mum because she was almost identical to her daughter Aaron saw exactly where Faith got her looks from.
'Mum,' Faith said, 'these are my friends, Aaron and Winter.' Aaron shook Mrs Gettherd's hand politely, before noticing Millicent in the distance. She was looking grumpy.
'I – I'd better go,' he said nervously, before hastily departing. He took his trunk over to where Millicent was standing. When they were face to face, they did not touch. They did not hug, as siblings reunited should to. She did not even place her hand around his shoulders. She just said a very polite, very formal, "hello."
Before they left, Aaron glanced over his shoulder at the crowds. There was Faith, with her dark-haired mother. Winter was standing by her parents, both of which were very tall and skinny. Jenny was hovering by the edge of a crowd – her father was obviously in the midst of it, signing autographs.
'I will return,' he mouthed to her, through the crowd. 'I'll be back, and I'll be waiting.'