Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story including (most) of the things written.
Author: This chapter has a little prologue written before the chapter number. You need to read it before you can understand the rest of the chapter. Here it is:
Lily walked into the great hall. Seventh years sat there, pale and rigid. Some of them attempted to eat their breakfasts, others just stared into space. This could only mean one thing.
She shook her head as if not wanting to accept it. A cool chill came from nowhere, causing the girl to shiver. Suddenly, she felt helpless. "It can't be that," she whispered, "it just can't be."
"Lily," someone said from behind her. She quickly turned around. James, Sirius, Remus, Ness, Belle, Alice, and Frank stood there; they all looked so grim. Belle had been the one speaking. "It's here. It's come."
This was the dreaded day that Seventh years never wanted to arrive. The day they called The beginning of the end. The first day…
…of the N.E.W.T.s.
Chapter 33
"Okay," Lily said after calming down a bit. "Let's go… um… eat breakfast."
They sat down with the rest of the tired students.
"Um," Ness tried to start a conversation, "Where's… Peter?"
"We don't know," Sirius replied, trying to hide his amusement.
"When we woke up, he was gone," Remus added.
=+=
Meanwhile, in the middle of the dark forest:
"Where am I?" asked a tired, cold, and naked Peter Pettigrew. He looked around, "Somebody? Anybody?"
Suddenly, the bushes behind him rustled. Turning around, he saw a note that read: It took the better part of our lives to build that map!
The bushes rustled a second time, and growling erupted from it.
"Oh shit," Peter murmured.
=+=
"If he doesn't get back on time," James said, "he'll have to take the N.E.W.T.s during summer break."
The 1st-4th years ate quietly, trying not to disturb the upper years during their misery. 6th years attempted to calm the 5th years, but when they failed, they just ate in silence. Suddenly, the owls flew in, dropping packages to several students. Every 7th year got one thin letter. Each note contained pretty much the same thing:
Try your best on the N.E.W.T.s. Don't be scared. We just know you're going to pass them!
Even though the parents meant well, these letters were like bricks of pressure placed on each student's shoulders.
Murmurs of, "They expect us to pass," came through the Great Hall for 2 minutes. It went silent again for what felt like eternity. 3 silent minutes passed where the 7th years re-read the letters over and over again. As if on cue, they all pulled out their notes and books for some last minute studying.
Dumbledore stood up in front of the whole student body. "Please allow me to talk with the 7th years." Most of the students walked out, giving looks to the staying students that could only mean, 'good luck.'
"Albus, please do not do this," Madame Pomfrey said sternly. "The pressure on them may cause the lot of 'em to collapse!"
"Poppy," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling, "I promise this'll be the last year I do this."
"But-"
Professor Flitwick elbowed her and each of the teachers became silent.
"What do you think he wants?" Lily asked James. His reply was a mere shrug.
"As you know, today marks day 1 of N.E.W.T.s." He said with a small smirk. "I will not lie; these tests will honestly control the rest of your life."
The frightened look on the students faces as they gazed up at him forced Dumbledore to try not to laugh. He cleared his throat to control himself.
"I will give you 30 seconds to study. These 30 seconds started 2 minutes ago. Evidently, you owe me 1 ½ minutes of your time. I will take them out of your tests." He could feel the students stop breathing.
"This has gone too far," Madame Pomfrey whispered furiously at him.
"Ah, but if you looked at the posters…what did you read?" Dumbledore asked.
A student from the Ravenclaw table rose a shaky hand. Dumbledore nodded, and the student said, "N.E.W.T.s begin today."
Dumbledore smiled, "Ah, but all you really read was N.E.W.T.s begin. You never finished reading the poster because you assumed it started today." The students were confused. "All you read was N.E.W.T.s begin, and as fear struck you, each of you ran off before you could finish."
"The hell?" Sirius asked.
"You never read the last few words," Dumbledore said. "What the posters and flyers said was--"
=+=
"What are they so worried about?" A second year Slytherin asked. "They're all morons!"
"Yeah!" Her friend replied, "They're so worried today. No test can start on Saturday!"
=+=
"So," James spoke up, "What you're really saying, is we have today and tomorrow to study?"
Dumbledore nodded. They all ran for the doors, their notes clutched tightly in their hands.
=+=
"How long do you think it's going to take for Wormtail to find his way out?" Sirius asked. Due to the fact the common room was filled with buzzing Seventh years, no one could hear their conversation.
"No clue," James said. "Do you think we should make him suffer more?"
Remus sat back in his seat. "Of course! What are friends for?" He pulled out a spare sheet of parchment and began to write.
=+=
Lucius Malfoy sat in the Slytherin Common room. "Which one's Pettigrew?" he asked while staring at a piece of parchment he found in front of the entrance.
"He's the smaller of the Marauders," one of his thugs called from the opposite side of the room.
"I see," He squinted angrily at the parchment as he re-read the note:
Dear Lucius (Or shall I call you Luscious?),
I'm not sure whether this is the perfect time to say this, or not, but I LOVE YOU! Whenever I see you from across the room, I can't help but want to run over there and squeeze your ass. I control my womanly urges, of course…but just barely…
Please reply as truthfully as you can, after all- heh heh-
It's mating season.
Sincerely,
Peter Pettigrew
Balling the note, he tossed it into the fire and stormed off to find Peter.
=+=
"Calm down," Lily murmured to Belle. They were staying in Lily's room in the head tower. They could hear a burst of laughter coming from James's room.
"I wonder what those morons are doing now," Ness sighed. She picked up a pillow and threw it at the wall softly.
=+=
The guys laughed as they thought of the look on Peter's face when Lucius came after him. Suddenly, they heard a loud THUD from the wall where the girls were staying.
"Sounded like a pillow hitting the wall," Sirius said.
"But who on that side could throw a pillow so hard?" Remus asked, slightly puzzled.
=+=
"Ah, this is my favorite time of the year," Professor Dumbledore said, pouring a glass of firewhisky for each of the teachers. "The school is quiet, the teachers are drunk," he took a sip from his own glass, "and the last day of school, is just in the blink of an eye."
"Albus," Professor Flitwick said, placing his glass back down, "you said that the last day of school is just in the blink of an eye on September the second."
"Your point is?" Dumbledore asked, arching an eyebrow.
"In your eyes," Flitwick continued, "everything goes by in the blink of an eye."
"Dear, Flitwick," the twinkle of laughter in his eyes calmed down. He sounded almost sad when he finally said, "No matter how long a moment may last, when you look back on your life, it seems as if life goes by in the blink of an eye."
The teachers sat silently for a moment before Dumbledore broke the silence. "We've lived our lives the way we have, surrounded by friends and family. Let's hope it ends that way."
They all cheered.
=+=
On Monday morning, the Gryffindor seventh years got up bright and early. Head Boy and Head Girl walked in and gave them a speech about how Gryffindors stood for bravery. The Ravenclaw prefects gave a speech about how they stood for intelligence. Slytherin Prefects gave a speech about how they were going to beat the muggle-borns. Finally, the Hufflepuffs gave a speech saying they weren't the leftovers, and their test scores would prove it.
Each of the seventh years walked into the Great Hall, ready for their tests. They all took a breath and sat down, not saying a word to anyone.
As soon as they all finished their breakfasts, Dumbledore stood up before the student body. "Good luck," was all he could say.
The fifth years stayed in the Great Hall, ready to take their first test. Seventh years were being led out of the room.
"When you walk in, you will all choose a desk similar to where you sat in the great hall," Professor Flitwick said loudly. The students nodded before walking into a large, circular room. The walls looked as if they were made out of marble. Desks were placed in the middle of the room. Packets of questions, clean pieces of parchment, and a couple of quills were placed on each desk.
"First test, Charms." Professor Flitwick said. "Answer the questions. You may write directly on the packet. I will call each of you into that room," he pointed at the side room, "and ask you for a few spells to perform. When you are done, you will walk back to your seat silently, and continue on your packet. No speaking while the test is in progress. The room I will be in can hear everything going on outside, whether it's a sneeze or a shift of your position. Please choose a seat, and when I say go, the test will begin."
Every student took a seat near their friends. They took a deep breath to get ready for their final test as Hogwarts students.
"Ready?" Flitwick asked. "Go. First I will need Alcantar, Lydia."
=+=
"That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," James said after the last test. "I guess the late night studying really paid off."
"What?" Sirius asked, horrified. "My James wouldn't do late night studying!"
James just shrugged, "Late night studying, late night snogging. What's the difference?" He raised an eyebrow at his friends.
Sirius grinned and gave James a high five.
=+=
"Well," Lily said, "The last test is done. School's going to be over in 2 weeks."
Ness nodded sadly, "It gives you a hollow feeling at the pit of your stomach, doesn't it?"
"By the way," Belle interrupted, "Where's that scrapbook you were making?"
"It's downstairs," Lily said. "Do you want to go check it out?" The two nodded and she led them out.
=+=
"Let's go downstairs," James said after throwing his socks in the corner of his room and putting on a pair of slippers.
The three walked downstairs to find the girls getting ready to open a large red and gold book.
"What's that?" Remus asked. "It looks like a scrapbook you've been making within the past year." They looked at him. "I hear a lot of things," was all he said.
"Can we see?" Sirius asked.
"Okay," Lily replied, "Why not?"
They all crowded around the book and began to flip through the pages. There were different pictures of the library, pictures of the party that they had when Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup, group pictures of all of them, pictures of James beating Sirius in Wizards Chest, Remus beating James, and Sirius beating Remus, pictures of all the different holidays, and a picture that the girls took at the same spot, the same poses, but in all 4 different seasons.
On the last page were 7 pictures: a picture of Ness, Belle, Remus, and Sirius laughing as James cursed Lily's hair so it turned neon (this took place in 1st year), a picture of the group in second year as they struggled through their final exams, a third year picture of Ness, Belle, Sirius, Remus, and Peter laughing as Lily kicked James in the crotch, a fourth year picture of them all celebrating after a victory over Hufflepuff in Quidditch, a fifth year picture of Ness, Belle and Alice by the lake while Peter and Remus were sitting next to the tree, cooling off after a test, as Lily stood up for Snape while James and Sirius tried to reason with her (this picture was taken by one of the second years. Lily bought it off of her). There was a sixth year picture of a food fight on the second week back. Finally, the last picture was recently taken of the group just sitting in the shade of their favorite tree. Sirius swung upside down from one of the branches, Remus sat on the other side while holding one of his books, Ness sat on the middle of the tree trying to shake Sirius off of the branch, Belle was sitting on a different branch staring down at Lily and James who lay peacefully in the middle of the shade.
"Nice scrapbook," Remus said after a while. "It's almost heartwarming."
"Yeah," Lily said, thankful of the compliment.
"Let's go out for some fresh air?" James suggested. They all agreed and headed out.
=+=
"Well, the N.E.W.T.s are over," Dumbledore said, "And it's almost time to say goodbye to this class. So far, they've been the most entertaining. I think this class will be the hardest to let go of!"
"Well," Sprout said, "Anymore comments about death? You've been having a lot lately!"
They all laughed slightly.
"I have this one," Dumbledore said, "When a person dies, give hope that they're still alive. Although you may not have those to be with any longer, you still have the memories."
As he said that, Madame Pomfrey poured each of the teachers some butterbeer. They all raised their mugs over their head and replied, "Cheers!"
=End of Chapter=
Ti: I love It's raining men! I sung it on a band trip. I'm pretty sure I pissed off the driver though. OH WELL! TO BAD FOR HIM!
Stargirlr: Thanks for the review! The plan was pretty lame, actually. Sorry about that.
ladyiris27: Glad to hear you understand! Thanks for the review!
lilbird: No problem. Near the beginning (and up to now), my writing style's been confusing for some people. Do you remember that one chapter where at the end, James asked Lily to be his girlfriend (it was a cliffhanger, and most people hated me for it)? Well, the chapter after that, at the beginning, James walked down in the morning and it said that he saw his new girlfriend sitting on the couch (a/k/a Lily). Sorry for the confusion. Here's hoping you can remember that chapter
Swishy Willow Wand: Thanks for the review! This story's coming to the end.
vamperfly: Actually, I don't know why Mel came it. I just decided to write her in. Oh well! I hope you liked this chapter.
Sallymander: I liked the last chapter too! Here's hoping you liked this chapter~ Cheers!
Danni is Divine, James is Mine: The flashbacks were just there. I wrote that chapter out of boredom, and someone read it and told me to keep it in! Oh well!
firewalker32: Thanks for the review!
LJstagflower4e/JCtigerwolf4e: Yay! Sorry about the whole confusion! I'm glad you got to understand it after my summary! I hope you liked this chapter!
sandLe: GEE! I WONDER WHAT THE SECRET MESSAGE WAS! HMMM!!!
Andreablack: Ah, I would like to get Sirius and Ness to go out with each other, and I was honestly debating it when the story started, but I decided not to. Now that I know that some reviewers would like them to go out, I would let them go out, but it's a bit too late! It's the N.E.W.T.s, so the end of the year's coming! I'm going to start a new story though. The characters will pretty much be the same, but I might re-name most of them. Could you do me a favor and help me think of a new name for Ness (or would u prefer her to have the same name)? Either way that character will go out with Sirius for a while, I promise.
spotten kitten: Who doesn't love seven up? *chugs down 2-liter bottle you handed and gets the hiccups* o-hic-ops~ -hic- Tha-hic-nks for the –hic- review! -hic- Hope you-hic- liked this –hic- chapter –hic- *holds breath, turns blue, then passes out*
Optical Illusions: Thanks for the review! I hope you liked this chapter *even though it didn't have much about sausages*
Windowseat Wonderer: Nice review! Who isn't tired? I'm so tired, I'm pretty sure I'm going to forget to finish my homework. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not… oh well, I'd better finish it now just incase it's a bad thing!
MPPSexxySiriusJamesRemus: Thanks for the review! Here's hoping you liked this chapter too! CHEERS!
iris: It's good to know someone's not going to flame me. I'm not very fond of flames. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter!
Gryffindors-Light: Ooh! I can go for some candy right now! After all, CANDY IS DANDY! Thanks for the review~
Angel Street: Ooh! Nice review! Short but sweet! Just like a chocolate bunny. mMm! Chocolate~ Thanks for the review!
Captain Oblivious: Sure you can have James's pants, just as long as you sell them, and I get 0% of the profit… wait a minnit… 0%? That doesn't sound right… Oh well! I'm too lazy to figure out what it's really supposed to be~ Hope you liked this chapter!