I'm baaaaaaack! If I ever even contemplate going camping again, kick me.
Seriously, kick me. I haven't been that sick in years. *shudder*. However,
I'm back, and I'm writing at full speed again. Sadly, in three days, I'm
going back to school and won't have as much time to write as I've had
earlier. But fear not! I will not abandon you! *Does Knight-in-Shining-
Armour imitation*
******'
Charms class, one of the last before the N.E.W.T's, and Hermione was sitting in the front row. Bill had left with a promise to get his mother to St Mungo's if she didn't calm down, and she had gone back to her studying, although not as furiously as before. Still, she had to study, since these exams were determining the rest of her life, at least career-wise.
She was just scribbling down some important notes that Professor Flitwick had given them, when said professor let out an excited squeak at fell down his stack of books in the front of the classroom. She looked up, confused, and was just about to go and help him up when he stood up again.
She watched in horror as he unrolled what looked like a terrifyingly familiar newspaper, an Italian one, and levitated it in front of the whole class. It was the same newspaper she and Bill had ended up in when they broke the Borealis Curse. And now her Hogwarts professor was showing it to her classmates. She couldn't help but blush furiously, making Lavender, who was sitting next to her, lean over and ask is she was alright. She brushed the girl off with a nod, and concentrated on her notes.
"Look everyone! Ms Granger is in the paper!" Flitwick exclaimed, making Hermione want to sink through the floor.
A murmur went through the class, and all of them glanced at her, but she kept her gaze locked at the blackboard behind Flitwick's desk.
"Did you really break a Borealis Curse, Ms Granger?" Flitwick asked.
She nodded mutely, desperately wanting everything to go away, and leave her alone.
"How delightful! The Borealis Curse is one of the hardest curses to break in the world!" Flitwick continued.
"Well, it's Hermione Granger, isn't it? She helped kill the Dark Lord. Why should a teensy weensy curse be any different?" Someone called out from the back of the classroom.
Everyone turned around to see Blaise Zabini sitting there with his feet on the desk and his quill lying forgotten on the floor, grinning like a madman. More than a few of them were shocked, since Blaise was a Slytherin, and his comment had sounded decidedly like a compliment, and since none of them knew all too much about the friendship between him and Hermione, it was rather confusing.
"Recovered from your sugar rush, have you?" Hermione asked him, "And for your information, I had help; from Bill, to be exact."
"Sugar rush? I don't know what you're talking about?" He asked innocently.
"Oh, you don't do you? So you just go skipping down the corridors, saying ´Wheee!´ at the top of your lungs as an everyday habit, do you?" She grinned slightly.
It was fun to confuse her classmates, and by the look of their faces, they were beyond confused by now.
"Why, not at all; I plead temporal insanity." Blaise winked, and then seemed to notice the rest of the class for the first time, "Well? What're you looking at? I mean, I know I'm handsome, but this is ridiculous."
"Everyone, run for cover; Blaise's head will explode any second now." Hermione warned in a mock-monotone voice.
"I resent that; I'm not the one who made the papers." He shot back, apparently enjoying himself.
"Whatever. We've got a lesson to attend to, so if you would kindly remove your over-inflated ego from the classroom, we'd appreciate it very much." She said, and turned back to her notes.
Blaise did the same, and class was supposed to resume, but when it didn't, Hermione looked up to see the class staring at the two of them. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Elvis has left the building. There's nothing to see here. Go back to your work. Do I have to spell it out for you?" She asked.
The class resumed, but many curious looks were thrown her way the rest of the day. She ignored them, but Blaise didn't, explaining the incident to everyone within hearing range, without really explaining very much. Sometimes, she mused, it was good to have a Slytherin around.
*******'
The tension in the room was so thick you could, had it crossed your mind to try, cut it with a knife. Students were standing around the room in small groups, mentally going over all theirs notes, nearly chewing their nails to nothing while doing so.
If the nervous breakdowns before the O.W.L's had been bad, this was worse tenfold. Hannah Abbott had already been sent to the hospital wing twice, as had Lisa Turpin. And to everyone's surprise, so had Draco Malfoy. Of course, that could have been because of the potion Blaise slipped into his goblet during dinner, but nobody was really complaining.
Hell, seeing Draco Malfoy jump around his seat, screeching about large pink spiders crawling all over him was worth having to stand his grumpiness afterwards. Blaise was, after revealing that it was he who was responsible for it, the hero of the hour, at least to the Gryffindors.
Now, said hero of the hour was sitting in one of the few chairs in the room, whistling to himself, as if he didn't have a life-deciding, nerve- wracking test coming up. He was looking out the window, idly swinging his foot, which was resting on the armrest of the chair, back and forth. He was annoyingly, appallingly calm.
Hermione, who was attempting to sit next to him, glared at him from time to time, glares which he returned with a cheerful wink. ´Attempting´ was the key word; she got up every few minutes and walked back and forth on the floor, only to sit down again, and then do it all over.
"How can you be so calm?" She demanded after the fifth round of walking and sitting down again.
"Serenity is a dominant trait in the Zabini bloodline." He answered with a wink. "And besides, even if I do fail my test, I've got enough to fall back on. What do you think of a career in professional study breaking?" He asked, referring to his and Hermione's best friend's attempts to break her studying habits.
"What do you think of a career in street sweeping? You better start thinking about it, since that is what you'll be doing if you fail." Hermione shot back.
"You faith in me is astounding." He grinned, and looked over at where Draco Malfoy was standing, glaring at everyone who came close. "But I fear that the day when I am sweeping the streets is yet far off. I merely studied in advance and was born with a rather extensive memory. Now, what shall we do about Draco? He needs to be shaken up before the test."
"Nah. He got it bad enough with the pink spiders." Hermione shrugged. "But, I'm not saying no to an end-of-year prank at graduation."
"Alright. I'll start planning." Blaise grinned.
Professor Flitwick came in and started calling names, and neither of them had time to talk anymore. In fact, all students fell silent, staring nervously at the doors to the Great Hall. This was it, and neither of them wanted to fail. Except maybe Blaise, but since he could only be termed criminally insane, he was excused for the time being.
******'
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Blaise staggered out of the Entrance Hall, arms slung over each other's shoulders. Blaise was grinning like a madman, Ron and Harry were nearly weeping with relief, and Hermione wasn't much better.
The three Gryffindors had decided, at Hermione's begging to wait for Blaise. Seeing as his last name began with a ´Z´, he was one of the last students out of the hall. He came walking out with a cocky grin on his face and his hands in his pockets, once again whistling a song which Hermione recognized as ´Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous´, by Good Charlotte. It was obvious that he had done well.
Now they were off to the Three Broomsticks for a celebration round of Butterbeer. Harry and Ron had both passed their tests, albeit barely, except Harry's DADA test, and they were as happy as they could be. Hermione, who had passed with flying colours, was ecstatic. Blaise, who hadn't said anything about how he did, was his usual, impossibly cheerful self.
Harry, Hermione and Ron collapsed in their chairs as Blaise ordered Butterbeer for the four of them. Over the last few weeks, a strange friendship had formed between the four of them. Never had they thought they would make friends with a Slytherin, but they found themselves actually enjoying it.
Blaise was nothing like the archetype for a Slytherin; he easy going, cheerful and always ready for a joke or a prank. He never called anyone Mudblood, he never insulted anyone except for the purpose of joking with them, and he had actually played a prank on the uncrowned king of Slytherin himself, Draco Malfoy. This made him a good friend by default.
Blaise set the four bottles down on the table, before plopping down in the chair next to Harry. Hermione was sitting across from him with Ron next to her, and there was an empty chair next to Harry, and one next to Blaise. No one was there to take the vacant chairs, but neither of them cared.
"Here's to us." Blaise said, raising his glass.
"Here's to us." The others chorused and drank.
"Can I join in?" A voice asked.
They turned around to see Lavender standing there, leaning against one of the tables. Ginny, who had a hopeful look on her face, was right behind. Blaise grinned and nodded. Lavender smiled back and sat down next to him, and Ginny took the only available chair left; the one next Harry. Harry didn't look at all displeased about the situation, and neither did Ron. Ron had, after all, been trying to get the two of them together since Fifth year.
"I knew it was a good idea to get sloshed on Butterbeer." Blaise said.
"Um," Lavender broke in, "You can't get sloshed on Butterbeer."
"I know, but we can have fun trying!" Blaise shot back, winking.
"Alright then!" Lavender said, and grabbed his glass, drinking.
"Hey!" He exclaimed, but she only giggled.
Hermione and the others watched as he and Lavender started a contest, which they baptized Get-Sloshed-On-Butterbeer-Or-Die-Trying All-comers. It was rather fun to watch them, as Blaise seemed to be the only person in the universe who could actually get high on Butterbeer. He didn't get drunk, as such, but he got more and more hyper by the glass, and was soon only inches away from giggling like a schoolgirl.
The other four spent the evening talking about everything under the sun, occasionally joined by Blaise and Lavender, as they took a momentary break in their contest. When darkness fell, and it was time to go back to Hogwarts, all of them could say they had had a very good day, despite the exams.
"It's been one hell of a year." As Blaise put it.
The others could do nothing but agree. The night drew to a close, and they headed back to Hogwarts, Blaise and Lavender hanging onto each other and giggling uncontrollably. Hermione grinned to herself.
"He'll be hearing this at the Leaving Feast." She mumbled to herself.
******'
The Leaving Feast came, and Hermione was standing in front of everyone, ready to do her speech. All students were gazing up at her, looking bored, but a small fraction of them were smiling at her. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Lavender, and over at the Slytherin table, Blaise. She grinned slightly. A few more hours, and she would be out of Hogwarts and meeting Bill again.
She cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, and began her speech.
"My stay here at Hogwarts has been the best years of my life. I can honestly say that I haven't had this much fun since I was born. And the night after the N.E.W.T's, I can tell you, was blazingly hilarious." She started.
"If anyone had told me before that that I would be seeing Blaise Zabini giggle like a schoolgirl, I would have sent them to St Mungo's in a straightjacket. Now I know better. He can, and does, giggle on occasion, at least after a large dose of Butterbeer. However, we're not here to discuss Blaise's shortcomings. We're here to discuss leaving Hogwarts." She grinned at Blaise's stupefied expression.
She began a long and complicated speech about her years at Hogwarts, leaving everyone staring at her, and Blaise looking like he didn't know whether to laugh, cry or bash her head in.
She finished off her speech ten minutes later, upon seeing even her most faithful listeners begin to droop.
"And that, as they say, is that. Good luck in life, and goodbye." She said, and stepped down from the newly-erected dais.
Everyone stared at her as she walked down to her seat. It was the number one most insane graduation speech ever. She had talked about her adventures with Ron and Harry, making references to a ´Snuffles´, and how he should rest in peace, and various other things which her fellow students had no idea about, with the exception of Harry, Ron and Ginny.
As she reached her seat, they made space for her, and smiled slightly. Her mention of Snuffles had brought tears to their eyes, causing the Gryffindors to wonder a bit, but no one had dared to ask. She sat down, smiling back at them, and listened to Dumbledore's speech.
******'
The Leaving Feast was over, and with it the Graduation Day. Students, teachers and parents were gathered outside the Great Hall, and it seemed all of them were talking at the same time. A murmur of conversation lay over the large hall, as Hermione made her way towards Blaise, who had been shooting glares at her since her speech. As soon as she was within hearing- range, Blaise started growling.
"What the hell was that stunt you pulled?" He hissed, practically spitting the words out.
"What stunt?" She asked innocently, noticing his parents in the background.
"You told the whole school I giggle like a little girl! You've got them thinking I'm gay! Some Ravenclaw came up to me a few minutes ago and asked if I had a boyfriend!" He was almost too enraged to form coherent sentences.
"That'd be Terry, right? Too bad, he already dates Oliver Wood." She shrugged, making Blaise gape like a fish. "But I was only telling the truth, Blaise; you are the only person in the universe who gets high in Butterbeer."
"Not true! Lavender wasn't exactly sober either!" He protested.
"Oh, it's Lavender now, is it?" She asked, smirking at his blushing face.
Blaise just sputtered something, which not even Hermione with all her knowledge of languages could make out, but it sounded like French. And it sounded rather foul as well, and just as he was about to launch into a lengthy tirade about her in English, a voice broke in, also speaking in French, saying something that made Blaise blush and shut his mouth.
Hermione, recognizing the voice and spun around on her heels, fierce joy on her face. Behind her, with his backpack slung over his shoulder and dust still in his clothes, was Bill Weasley. The fang still dangled from one ear, and the ponytail was still there, but he seemed a bit worn out. Without hesitation, she threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed back. He smelled of dust and old leather, but she didn't care; even with the visit he'd made a few weeks ago, it had been far too long since she'd seen him.
After a while, someone cleared their throat behind them, forcing them to break off their snogging session. Standing there was Harry, Ron, Lavender, Ginny and Blaise, grinning madly, and even Blaise's parents, who were standing in the background, seemed faintly amused.
Somewhere off to the side, Draco Malfoy turned into a large, yellow canary right under his mother's nose. The group ignored him, except for Blaise, who sent him a proud look, and grinned evilly. The end-of-year prank had been successful.
"Hello love." Bill grinned at her, a grin which she returned readily.
"Hello. Came directly from work?" She asked.
"Mhm, they had me excavating old graves in Wales. Thankfully, I'm on a break now, for at least three months. Seems like we'll be to get married after all." He winked at her and kissed her again.
"Did you ever doubt it?" She shot back, after they broke the kiss.
"Nope. If you didn't come to the wedding, I'd hunt you down." He smiled cheerfully before dragging her towards the doors, closely followed by the little group of friends.
*****'
The fire crackled in the background, casting just enough light to see by over the room. Despite the still bare, white walls, and the faint smell of dust in the air, Bill's flat was now inhabitable. He had managed to get furniture, such as the couch in front of the fireplace, and it seemed more like a home and less like a mausoleum.
The young couple curled up on the couch, however, took no notice of their surroundings. They were half-lying, wrapped in each others arms. Not only were they half-asleep, but they seemed very content as well.
Hermione snuggled closer to Bill, and smiled happily. She could honestly say that this had been one of the best days in her whole life, even with the leaving of Hogwarts. Since this feeling had been the cause of a long snogging session, Bill wasn't about to disagree either.
******'
Ending Notes; yes, I know it was an abrupt end to the chapter, but it is past midnight here and I'm supposed to be sleeping, and besides, I couldn't find any better way to finish the chapter. Thank you all for your encouraging reviews; they've been a great fun to read. Hopefully, I'll receive a few more *winks*. Well, I'll be going off to bed now. Or..That fanfic looks rather interesting...
******'
Charms class, one of the last before the N.E.W.T's, and Hermione was sitting in the front row. Bill had left with a promise to get his mother to St Mungo's if she didn't calm down, and she had gone back to her studying, although not as furiously as before. Still, she had to study, since these exams were determining the rest of her life, at least career-wise.
She was just scribbling down some important notes that Professor Flitwick had given them, when said professor let out an excited squeak at fell down his stack of books in the front of the classroom. She looked up, confused, and was just about to go and help him up when he stood up again.
She watched in horror as he unrolled what looked like a terrifyingly familiar newspaper, an Italian one, and levitated it in front of the whole class. It was the same newspaper she and Bill had ended up in when they broke the Borealis Curse. And now her Hogwarts professor was showing it to her classmates. She couldn't help but blush furiously, making Lavender, who was sitting next to her, lean over and ask is she was alright. She brushed the girl off with a nod, and concentrated on her notes.
"Look everyone! Ms Granger is in the paper!" Flitwick exclaimed, making Hermione want to sink through the floor.
A murmur went through the class, and all of them glanced at her, but she kept her gaze locked at the blackboard behind Flitwick's desk.
"Did you really break a Borealis Curse, Ms Granger?" Flitwick asked.
She nodded mutely, desperately wanting everything to go away, and leave her alone.
"How delightful! The Borealis Curse is one of the hardest curses to break in the world!" Flitwick continued.
"Well, it's Hermione Granger, isn't it? She helped kill the Dark Lord. Why should a teensy weensy curse be any different?" Someone called out from the back of the classroom.
Everyone turned around to see Blaise Zabini sitting there with his feet on the desk and his quill lying forgotten on the floor, grinning like a madman. More than a few of them were shocked, since Blaise was a Slytherin, and his comment had sounded decidedly like a compliment, and since none of them knew all too much about the friendship between him and Hermione, it was rather confusing.
"Recovered from your sugar rush, have you?" Hermione asked him, "And for your information, I had help; from Bill, to be exact."
"Sugar rush? I don't know what you're talking about?" He asked innocently.
"Oh, you don't do you? So you just go skipping down the corridors, saying ´Wheee!´ at the top of your lungs as an everyday habit, do you?" She grinned slightly.
It was fun to confuse her classmates, and by the look of their faces, they were beyond confused by now.
"Why, not at all; I plead temporal insanity." Blaise winked, and then seemed to notice the rest of the class for the first time, "Well? What're you looking at? I mean, I know I'm handsome, but this is ridiculous."
"Everyone, run for cover; Blaise's head will explode any second now." Hermione warned in a mock-monotone voice.
"I resent that; I'm not the one who made the papers." He shot back, apparently enjoying himself.
"Whatever. We've got a lesson to attend to, so if you would kindly remove your over-inflated ego from the classroom, we'd appreciate it very much." She said, and turned back to her notes.
Blaise did the same, and class was supposed to resume, but when it didn't, Hermione looked up to see the class staring at the two of them. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Elvis has left the building. There's nothing to see here. Go back to your work. Do I have to spell it out for you?" She asked.
The class resumed, but many curious looks were thrown her way the rest of the day. She ignored them, but Blaise didn't, explaining the incident to everyone within hearing range, without really explaining very much. Sometimes, she mused, it was good to have a Slytherin around.
*******'
The tension in the room was so thick you could, had it crossed your mind to try, cut it with a knife. Students were standing around the room in small groups, mentally going over all theirs notes, nearly chewing their nails to nothing while doing so.
If the nervous breakdowns before the O.W.L's had been bad, this was worse tenfold. Hannah Abbott had already been sent to the hospital wing twice, as had Lisa Turpin. And to everyone's surprise, so had Draco Malfoy. Of course, that could have been because of the potion Blaise slipped into his goblet during dinner, but nobody was really complaining.
Hell, seeing Draco Malfoy jump around his seat, screeching about large pink spiders crawling all over him was worth having to stand his grumpiness afterwards. Blaise was, after revealing that it was he who was responsible for it, the hero of the hour, at least to the Gryffindors.
Now, said hero of the hour was sitting in one of the few chairs in the room, whistling to himself, as if he didn't have a life-deciding, nerve- wracking test coming up. He was looking out the window, idly swinging his foot, which was resting on the armrest of the chair, back and forth. He was annoyingly, appallingly calm.
Hermione, who was attempting to sit next to him, glared at him from time to time, glares which he returned with a cheerful wink. ´Attempting´ was the key word; she got up every few minutes and walked back and forth on the floor, only to sit down again, and then do it all over.
"How can you be so calm?" She demanded after the fifth round of walking and sitting down again.
"Serenity is a dominant trait in the Zabini bloodline." He answered with a wink. "And besides, even if I do fail my test, I've got enough to fall back on. What do you think of a career in professional study breaking?" He asked, referring to his and Hermione's best friend's attempts to break her studying habits.
"What do you think of a career in street sweeping? You better start thinking about it, since that is what you'll be doing if you fail." Hermione shot back.
"You faith in me is astounding." He grinned, and looked over at where Draco Malfoy was standing, glaring at everyone who came close. "But I fear that the day when I am sweeping the streets is yet far off. I merely studied in advance and was born with a rather extensive memory. Now, what shall we do about Draco? He needs to be shaken up before the test."
"Nah. He got it bad enough with the pink spiders." Hermione shrugged. "But, I'm not saying no to an end-of-year prank at graduation."
"Alright. I'll start planning." Blaise grinned.
Professor Flitwick came in and started calling names, and neither of them had time to talk anymore. In fact, all students fell silent, staring nervously at the doors to the Great Hall. This was it, and neither of them wanted to fail. Except maybe Blaise, but since he could only be termed criminally insane, he was excused for the time being.
******'
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Blaise staggered out of the Entrance Hall, arms slung over each other's shoulders. Blaise was grinning like a madman, Ron and Harry were nearly weeping with relief, and Hermione wasn't much better.
The three Gryffindors had decided, at Hermione's begging to wait for Blaise. Seeing as his last name began with a ´Z´, he was one of the last students out of the hall. He came walking out with a cocky grin on his face and his hands in his pockets, once again whistling a song which Hermione recognized as ´Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous´, by Good Charlotte. It was obvious that he had done well.
Now they were off to the Three Broomsticks for a celebration round of Butterbeer. Harry and Ron had both passed their tests, albeit barely, except Harry's DADA test, and they were as happy as they could be. Hermione, who had passed with flying colours, was ecstatic. Blaise, who hadn't said anything about how he did, was his usual, impossibly cheerful self.
Harry, Hermione and Ron collapsed in their chairs as Blaise ordered Butterbeer for the four of them. Over the last few weeks, a strange friendship had formed between the four of them. Never had they thought they would make friends with a Slytherin, but they found themselves actually enjoying it.
Blaise was nothing like the archetype for a Slytherin; he easy going, cheerful and always ready for a joke or a prank. He never called anyone Mudblood, he never insulted anyone except for the purpose of joking with them, and he had actually played a prank on the uncrowned king of Slytherin himself, Draco Malfoy. This made him a good friend by default.
Blaise set the four bottles down on the table, before plopping down in the chair next to Harry. Hermione was sitting across from him with Ron next to her, and there was an empty chair next to Harry, and one next to Blaise. No one was there to take the vacant chairs, but neither of them cared.
"Here's to us." Blaise said, raising his glass.
"Here's to us." The others chorused and drank.
"Can I join in?" A voice asked.
They turned around to see Lavender standing there, leaning against one of the tables. Ginny, who had a hopeful look on her face, was right behind. Blaise grinned and nodded. Lavender smiled back and sat down next to him, and Ginny took the only available chair left; the one next Harry. Harry didn't look at all displeased about the situation, and neither did Ron. Ron had, after all, been trying to get the two of them together since Fifth year.
"I knew it was a good idea to get sloshed on Butterbeer." Blaise said.
"Um," Lavender broke in, "You can't get sloshed on Butterbeer."
"I know, but we can have fun trying!" Blaise shot back, winking.
"Alright then!" Lavender said, and grabbed his glass, drinking.
"Hey!" He exclaimed, but she only giggled.
Hermione and the others watched as he and Lavender started a contest, which they baptized Get-Sloshed-On-Butterbeer-Or-Die-Trying All-comers. It was rather fun to watch them, as Blaise seemed to be the only person in the universe who could actually get high on Butterbeer. He didn't get drunk, as such, but he got more and more hyper by the glass, and was soon only inches away from giggling like a schoolgirl.
The other four spent the evening talking about everything under the sun, occasionally joined by Blaise and Lavender, as they took a momentary break in their contest. When darkness fell, and it was time to go back to Hogwarts, all of them could say they had had a very good day, despite the exams.
"It's been one hell of a year." As Blaise put it.
The others could do nothing but agree. The night drew to a close, and they headed back to Hogwarts, Blaise and Lavender hanging onto each other and giggling uncontrollably. Hermione grinned to herself.
"He'll be hearing this at the Leaving Feast." She mumbled to herself.
******'
The Leaving Feast came, and Hermione was standing in front of everyone, ready to do her speech. All students were gazing up at her, looking bored, but a small fraction of them were smiling at her. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Lavender, and over at the Slytherin table, Blaise. She grinned slightly. A few more hours, and she would be out of Hogwarts and meeting Bill again.
She cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, and began her speech.
"My stay here at Hogwarts has been the best years of my life. I can honestly say that I haven't had this much fun since I was born. And the night after the N.E.W.T's, I can tell you, was blazingly hilarious." She started.
"If anyone had told me before that that I would be seeing Blaise Zabini giggle like a schoolgirl, I would have sent them to St Mungo's in a straightjacket. Now I know better. He can, and does, giggle on occasion, at least after a large dose of Butterbeer. However, we're not here to discuss Blaise's shortcomings. We're here to discuss leaving Hogwarts." She grinned at Blaise's stupefied expression.
She began a long and complicated speech about her years at Hogwarts, leaving everyone staring at her, and Blaise looking like he didn't know whether to laugh, cry or bash her head in.
She finished off her speech ten minutes later, upon seeing even her most faithful listeners begin to droop.
"And that, as they say, is that. Good luck in life, and goodbye." She said, and stepped down from the newly-erected dais.
Everyone stared at her as she walked down to her seat. It was the number one most insane graduation speech ever. She had talked about her adventures with Ron and Harry, making references to a ´Snuffles´, and how he should rest in peace, and various other things which her fellow students had no idea about, with the exception of Harry, Ron and Ginny.
As she reached her seat, they made space for her, and smiled slightly. Her mention of Snuffles had brought tears to their eyes, causing the Gryffindors to wonder a bit, but no one had dared to ask. She sat down, smiling back at them, and listened to Dumbledore's speech.
******'
The Leaving Feast was over, and with it the Graduation Day. Students, teachers and parents were gathered outside the Great Hall, and it seemed all of them were talking at the same time. A murmur of conversation lay over the large hall, as Hermione made her way towards Blaise, who had been shooting glares at her since her speech. As soon as she was within hearing- range, Blaise started growling.
"What the hell was that stunt you pulled?" He hissed, practically spitting the words out.
"What stunt?" She asked innocently, noticing his parents in the background.
"You told the whole school I giggle like a little girl! You've got them thinking I'm gay! Some Ravenclaw came up to me a few minutes ago and asked if I had a boyfriend!" He was almost too enraged to form coherent sentences.
"That'd be Terry, right? Too bad, he already dates Oliver Wood." She shrugged, making Blaise gape like a fish. "But I was only telling the truth, Blaise; you are the only person in the universe who gets high in Butterbeer."
"Not true! Lavender wasn't exactly sober either!" He protested.
"Oh, it's Lavender now, is it?" She asked, smirking at his blushing face.
Blaise just sputtered something, which not even Hermione with all her knowledge of languages could make out, but it sounded like French. And it sounded rather foul as well, and just as he was about to launch into a lengthy tirade about her in English, a voice broke in, also speaking in French, saying something that made Blaise blush and shut his mouth.
Hermione, recognizing the voice and spun around on her heels, fierce joy on her face. Behind her, with his backpack slung over his shoulder and dust still in his clothes, was Bill Weasley. The fang still dangled from one ear, and the ponytail was still there, but he seemed a bit worn out. Without hesitation, she threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed back. He smelled of dust and old leather, but she didn't care; even with the visit he'd made a few weeks ago, it had been far too long since she'd seen him.
After a while, someone cleared their throat behind them, forcing them to break off their snogging session. Standing there was Harry, Ron, Lavender, Ginny and Blaise, grinning madly, and even Blaise's parents, who were standing in the background, seemed faintly amused.
Somewhere off to the side, Draco Malfoy turned into a large, yellow canary right under his mother's nose. The group ignored him, except for Blaise, who sent him a proud look, and grinned evilly. The end-of-year prank had been successful.
"Hello love." Bill grinned at her, a grin which she returned readily.
"Hello. Came directly from work?" She asked.
"Mhm, they had me excavating old graves in Wales. Thankfully, I'm on a break now, for at least three months. Seems like we'll be to get married after all." He winked at her and kissed her again.
"Did you ever doubt it?" She shot back, after they broke the kiss.
"Nope. If you didn't come to the wedding, I'd hunt you down." He smiled cheerfully before dragging her towards the doors, closely followed by the little group of friends.
*****'
The fire crackled in the background, casting just enough light to see by over the room. Despite the still bare, white walls, and the faint smell of dust in the air, Bill's flat was now inhabitable. He had managed to get furniture, such as the couch in front of the fireplace, and it seemed more like a home and less like a mausoleum.
The young couple curled up on the couch, however, took no notice of their surroundings. They were half-lying, wrapped in each others arms. Not only were they half-asleep, but they seemed very content as well.
Hermione snuggled closer to Bill, and smiled happily. She could honestly say that this had been one of the best days in her whole life, even with the leaving of Hogwarts. Since this feeling had been the cause of a long snogging session, Bill wasn't about to disagree either.
******'
Ending Notes; yes, I know it was an abrupt end to the chapter, but it is past midnight here and I'm supposed to be sleeping, and besides, I couldn't find any better way to finish the chapter. Thank you all for your encouraging reviews; they've been a great fun to read. Hopefully, I'll receive a few more *winks*. Well, I'll be going off to bed now. Or..That fanfic looks rather interesting...