My Brother Severus

by Abhimanyu Skywalker

AU. Snape renounces Voldemort and his Death Eater friends and apologizes to Lily. The Marauders apologize and become his friends, including him amongst themselves and Snape sees Lily as his sister. When Voldemort hears of a certain prophecy, will Snape be able to prevent the family from being torn apart? Will Harry still be orphaned? Pairings: Jily, Snape/Marlene, Sirius/Amelia.

13. NEWTs

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER.

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Seventh year students were caught up in the season of exam fever. It was almost the end of May which meant that their NEWTs would be starting in a few days. Lily and James had not gone on any more dates after Lily's parents' deaths. After she had finally gotten over them, she had decided to concentrate on her studies and avoid dates with James until their NEWTs were over. However, they still studied together with Severus, Remus, Sirius, Peter and Marlene. As for Severus, he had not had any thoughts on romance, and would rather not think of such things until the end of NEWTs. Nobody thought of pranks. Even Avery and Mulciber did not bully anyone, mostly due to exam fever. Finally, the time came and their NEWTs began.

Their first was Transfiguration. Overall, the theory exam seemed to be decently challenging. Some of the questions were easy as the group had discussed them a lot. However, some questions proved to be tougher. Out of the whole group, Lily and James turned out to be the most confident. The practical exam however, was quite fun, although a bit harder. Peter, in a fit of nervousness accidently transfigured a table into a pack of rats, which went running all over the Great Hall causing many students to scream. Only James and Sirius laughed.

After Transfiguration was Potions. For Severus and Lily, although not so easy, it was overall a piece of cake. James and the others managed it, thanks to the group study sessions with Lily and Severus.

The other exams were easy for some, hard for others. However, no one among the Marauders and their study group ever broke down. In fact, they actually enjoyed most of the exams.

Finally, Defense against the Dark Arts was the last one of all. For almost everyone this was simply a piece of cake. Severus' knowledge of the dark arts actually came in useful (he had shared some knowledge for comparison). Finally, after casting Patronus charm, each one left the Great Hall to celebrate the end of their NEWTs.

They were all jumping in joy. There was one whole week before the end of the year feast for them to relax at Hogwarts, after which, they would have to decide their paths.