Although in the opinion of the Death Eaters the war was not yet over, but according to Dumbledore all the students and graduates who were involved were no longer part of it. And even though that caused uproar with the Death Eaters, most of the injured had no objection. Tally, Laini, Sirius, Remus, James and Lily were all up and about sooner than Madame Pomfrey had estimated and they were all headed down to the Great Hall for lunch.
"I guess this means the war is over..." Sirius said thoughtfully, then as an afterthought, he added, "At least, I'm sure most hope it is."
"Don't you?" Tally asked, looking over at his unconcerned look.
"Yeah... but the suspense was great." Sirius smiled. James then turned towards the others.
"Bet no one imagined we'd be staying at Hogwarts after we graduated." He said, laughing.
"Well, no, but we can't leave until Dumbledore's insured our safety." Lily noted, smiling at James' laughing face.
"Well at least we get to experience the feasts once more." Remus said, smiling gratefully. He still looked a little pale from the injury and the fact he had become a werewolf in the same night.
"Yeah... I'm gonna miss those after we have to leave again." Laini said. Remus laughed and wrapped his arm around Laini's robed shoulders. They were all wearing their school uniforms again just for the feeling.
"Hey, what table are we gonna sit at, we aren't assigned places anymore... although we never followed that rule." Sirius said, causing Tally and James to smile. He was referring to when Tally would sit alone at the Slytherin table and James and Sirius would sneak her to the Gryffindor table without anyone knowing; of course, Dumbledore knew anyway.
"Maybe, because they have students that no longer attend Hogwarts the setting will be different." Lily said thoughtfully.
"And you think you know everything?" James said jokingly, earning himself and slap in the arm from Lily.
"Actually, I do-"But Lily didn't get a chance to explain why she knew everything because there was a loud scream and the yell of a curse on the floor above them. All six of them looked up to see someone tumble over the railing and fall to the floor where they all stood.
"Severus!" Laini screamed, pushing through the crowd that was thronging around the fallen body. "Bloody hell, move... oww... get out of my wa-aaahhh!!" Laini screamed in mid-sentence and dropped to her knees next to Severus.
"Laini... what are you playing at?" Sirius asked as he pushed the crowd away to let him and the others through.
"He's hurt... someone just attacked him."
"So?" Tally asked. "He tried to kill us in the Shrieking Shack."
"He what?! I'll kill him!" Sirius moved to curse Severus but Lily and James held him back.
"He didn't kill them though, Sirius, and you know Laini still respects him." James said, grunting as he and Lily struggled to keep their hold.
"I'm going to find Madame Pomfrey, Remus please keep watch and don't let Sirius hurt Severus more than he is now... he could die, someone used a Crucio curse..." Laini said quickly and faded as she disappeared from the area.
"How does she know what curse it was?" Sirius asked, dropping his attempt to get at Severus.
"Well, isn't it obvious?" Lily asked, releasing Sirius' hold.
"No, it's not obvious, Evans... that's why I'm asking." Sirius growled. They all seemed rather tense other than Remus and Tally.
"You can all go to lunch, I'll stay and keep watch for Laini, missing lunch isn't that bad." Remus said, smiling up at the others, but you could tell he was upset that he was in charge of watching Snape, especially since he loathed Snape.
"I'll stay too, I mean... even if he tried to kill us, I know he wouldn't have and I want to be sure he's okay." Tally said, looking up at Sirius, Lily and James. The three looked at each other, Sirius gave Tally a hug and they all left.