They spent their study time over the rest of the week alternating between preparing for their exams and discussing what had happened.

Theo had said that the cover up was necessary. If news spread that the Dark Lord had been at Hogwarts people would either think Professor Dumbledore was lying or that Hogwarts wasn't safe. He had some theories about what Professor Dumbledore was going to do with the Philosopher's Stone - including using it for himself and keeping it in his pocket - but none of them really had any idea what would happen to it.

Hermione was concerned that the protections guarding the Philosopher's Stone could kill and they were being kept in a school, and pointed out that Rachel could have died when she first encountered Fluffy. They all agreed that Professor Quirrell hadn't been a great teacher, and that it was disturbing that he had been working with You-Know-Who all this time, but it was still unfortunate that he had died.

Neville was uneasy that the You-Know-Who had entered Hogwarts to begin with and that the wards hadn't been enough to keep him out. He had pointed out that there wasn't really anything to stop You-Know-Who from coming back and they definitely didn't want him around even if he was non-corporeal.

Millie had said she was just glad the whole situation was done with and that Professor Snape had managed to stop You-Know-Who from taking the Stone. She didn't see why You-Know-Who would come back because he had failed at getting the Stone, and he was probably off somewhere else with another plan. They all hoped that plan would fail as well.

The week passed by quickly and then suddenly it was Monday morning again and their exams started.

They were given new quills, enchanted with Anti-Cheating spells, and as they took the exams the teachers walked among their desks looking over all of them with sharp eyes.

In Defense class, Professor Dumbledore oversaw their exams. They gave short answers to questions about imps, vampires, and how to cure werewolf bites, wrote an essay comparing and contrasting the different creatures the Ministry classified as spirits, and identified how and when to use a Knockback Jinx.

Professor Snape had them brew a Forgetfulness potion. Fortunately this was the most recent potion their study group had reviewed. Rachel was careful to crush the mistletoe berries into a medium-fine powder - as too fine of a powder would cause the potion to boil over - and then stirred five times anti-clockwise. Even though Neville was shaking with nerves he managed to get through the exam without any mishaps, even though his potion was more red than orange.

For their Charms exam they answered questions about the theory and etymology of the Unlocking and Locking charms, Levitation charms, the Wand-lighting charm, and the Fire-Making spell. After they completed their written exams, Professor Flitwick called them in one by one and asked them to make a pineapple dance across his desk. When Rachel went in, he had her write down the incantations - wingardium leviosa followed by tarantallegra - and then perform the wand motions. Rachel knew that she couldn't receive a passing grade in the class without being able to perform the spells, but Professor Flitwick had merely told her that she did well and dismissed her.

In Transfiguration they wrote short essays about the Flintifors and Avifors spells and then were asked to turn a mouse into a snuff box. As with Charms, Rachel wrote down the spell and performed the wand movement, and accepted that she wouldn't pass the class.

In Herbology they replanted some Puffapods and collected the beans without causing them to bloom before writing answers to a series of short questions about the care and uses of various plants that they'd studied that year.

At midnight on Wednesday they went to the Astronomy Tower and carefully labeled the major constellations that were currently in the night sky.

Their final exam was in History of Magic. They spent an hour writing about the Gargoyle Strike of 1911, the Soap Blizzard of 1378, and Emeric the Evil - who had terrorized Britain in the Middle Ages and uncomfortably reminded Rachel of the Dark Lord.

After they had lunch following their final exam, they went back to their study room and compared notes.

"I mixed up Emeric the Evil with Uric the Oddball," Neville said with a heavy sigh.

"An easy mistake to make," Hermione said. "They both lived at the same time and we covered them on the same day in class."

"I think I did well, overall," Millie said. "The exams weren't as difficult as I was expecting.

Rachel privately agreed. If anything, they had overprepared.

"Me too," Theo said with a nod. "I wouldn't be surprised if our group took most of the top spots in our class."

"I think so too," Hermione said.

"I don't think I'll be near the top of the class, but I think I did okay. Professor McGonagall said my snuff box was very nice, and Professor Flitwick didn't ask us to do incendio," Neville said. "I'm sure I passed everything, at least."

"That's great," Hermione said, smiling at him. "How about you, Rachel?"

'I think my essays and short answers were fine, but I can't pass Charms or Transfiguration without being able to do the spells,' Rachel wrote out.

"I still don't think that's fair," Theo said. "You proved that you know the spells. It's not your fault you can't do them yet."

Rachel took back the parchment and added to the end of it. 'Professor Snape says I can retake the practical tests once I can speak.'

"Well, that's good," Hermione said, sounding uncertain.

Rachel nodded. She hadn't told any of them yet that she'd spoken to Professor Snape. So far she hadn't been able to manage to speak again, even when she was alone.

Millie leaned back in her chair. "Just think, no more crazy study schedule."

"We can go back to researching whatever we want," Hermione said happily.

Theo and Neville started laughing and after a moment Millie and Hermione joined them.

"Well, we can!" Hermione said, smiling.

Rachel smiled too. She was glad they were all her friends.

'I'm glad exams are finished,' Rachel wrote. It was Saturday morning and she was sitting cross-legged on the floor of Torey's office while they put together a jigsaw puzzle.

"Were they as difficult as you expected?" Torey asked, fitting together two side pieces of the puzzle.

Rachel picked up the pen - and was surprised at how it now felt strange to use a ball-point pen instead of a quill - and started writing. 'No. I knew basically all of the material and we reviewed a lot that wasn't included. I don't like that I won't pass Charms and Transfiguration, but there isn't anything I can do about it.'

"Professor Snape said you can retake the practical part of those exams when you're ready," Torey reminded her.

'I don't think I'm ever going to be ready,' Rachel wrote, her hand shaking slightly.

"I'd bet at the start of this year you would have thought you wouldn't ever be able to hold a conversation by writing either," Torey said, her voice carefully neutral.

That was true. But it wasn't the same. 'I talked to Professor Snape, because it was an emergency and I couldn't find a quill. It hurt. A lot.' Rachel passed the piece of paper to Torey and focused on fitting together some of the blue pieces that made up the sky.

"You're not used to using your vocal cords. It's going to feel strange, even painful at first. Here, do you mind if I do a quick diagnostic charm?" Torey asked.

Rachel shook her head.

Torey got her wand from her desk drawer and pointed it at Rachel. "The scarring on your throat is completely healed. The pain was likely caused by irritation in your throat. That's one of the reasons we're going to start with whispering before we try talking."

Rachel sighed and shook her head again. 'I was barely whispering to him. And I did try again, by myself, and I couldn't make it happen.'

Torey sat back down and read Rachel's note. "Be patient with yourself. It's important to show yourself kindness. Until last week you hadn't spoken for almost four years. It's going to be difficult and it's not going to happen right away. I think it is amazing that you did manage to speak to Professor Snape, even if it was only once."

Rachel didn't respond. It was frustrating and embarrassing. Everyone else could talk.

"We haven't ever discussed when you first stopped talking," Torey said. "Do you remember when that happened?"

Rachel nodded and put her hand to her throat. She didn't like thinking about that summer.

"Do you want to write about what happened?" Torey asked, her tone gentle.

Rachel shook her head.

"From your medical records, I know that what happened must have been very painful," Torey said. "It's okay if you're not ready to go into it. I think it's possible that one of the reasons it was painful for you to talk to Professor Snape, and why it's so hard to talk now, is that what happened in the past was very painful. Our minds make connections. Your mind remembers that pain and expects it to happen again."

Rachel dropped the puzzle piece she'd been fidgeting with and began to write. 'What if I'm never able to talk?'

"I don't think that's likely. Most people who stop talking do start talking again," Torey said. "That you've done it once is a very good sign that you'll be able to do it again."

'It was an emergency. I had to do something or Professor Quirrell would have gotten the Philosopher's Stone and then the Dark Lord would have returned.' Rachel half stabbed the piece of paper as she put the period on her sentence.

"And you did the right thing. You went and got help from Professor Snape. I'm really glad you did that instead of trying to handle the situation on your own," Torey said. "I don't think your speaking is going to just be limited to emergencies. We've talked about the first steps. Are you still mouthing words to yourself when you're alone?"

Rachel nodded. She practiced every night after they turned out the lights in the dorm, feeling like an idiot the entire time.

"That's good. After a while it's going to feel natural. Another thing I want you to try when you're on your own is making sounds. Try sounding out the alphabet, move your mouth as if you were going to say the letter and let air come through your lips," Torey explained.

She was going to have to wait until the end of term for that, because she definitely wasn't doing that while other people were in the dorm room. Fortunately summer was only a week away.

'I want to do magic. I can feel it in my wand, waiting for me. When we practice spells, I can tell that it knows what I want it to do,' Rachel wrote, feeling where she'd placed her wand in her pocket.

"That's good," Torey said, reading Rachel's note. "Focus on that desire. Try mouthing the incantations to the spells you've learned. For now, don't worry about getting into conversations with people, or even speaking in the same room as someone else. Practice closing your eyes and imagining yourself saying the spell and the magic working."

Rachel nodded. After spending a year around magic and watching her classmates perform spells, she badly wanted to be able to do it.

"You're going to get there, Rachel. It's going to take time and hard work, but I am certain that you're going to be able to speak and that you're going to be able to do magic," Torey said, meeting Rachel's eyes.

Rachel held Torey's gaze for a long moment and tried to feel some of the confidence that Torey had. She wanted it, but she was still scared. But then again, she'd been afraid of a lot of things in her life, and she'd gotten through them. Maybe she could get through this too.

Severus sat down at his place at the staff table for the end-of-year feast. Part of him couldn't believe that the year had gone by so quickly. Part of him couldn't believe that he had four more years left with the Weasley twins.

It was a little strange to know that his responsibilities didn't end when the students got on the train this year. He had made tentative plans to return to Spinner's End with Rachel after he finished putting together grades and sorted out his classroom for the end of the year. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with her for the entire summer. It was a little different than having dinner with her once a week, but he wasn't as worried as he had expected to be. They would figure something out.

"Severus," Minerva said as she sat down next to him.

Severus allowed himself to smile. After all this was the seventh year running the Great Hall was decked out in green and silver and his House had won the Quidditch Cup to boot. "Minerva," he said, knowing how much it would bother her.

"You two are worse than the students," Pomona said from two seats over.

"They are, aren't they," Filius said.

"We're simply not averse to showing a little House pride," Minerva said stiffly.

"Indeed," Severus said, looking over at where his House was happily gathered. He paused for a moment and looked for Rachel. He spotted her among the first years, sitting with Millicent and Theodore as usual.

"What are your plans for the summer, Severus?" Minerva asked.

"After we finish at Hogwarts, I'll take Rachel with me back to my home," Severus said.

Minerva raised an eyebrow and waited.

Severus got the feeling he was missing something, but he did not know what she expected from him.

"Children need to have things to do during the summer, or they'll get bored and you'll have trouble on your hands," Pomona said, clearly having listened in on their conversation.

"At least get her a tutors exemption so she can practice spells over the summer, if she's able," Minerva said.

Severus nodded. That was a very wise idea indeed. If Rachel was going to be retaking her practical exams before the start of the next school year she needed to be able to practice magic. He was hoping that being away from the stress of school would help Rachel start to talk.

"And make arrangements with the parents of her friends. It's good for her to spend time with them," Pomona added.

"Perhaps take her shopping at Flourish and Blotts, and a muggle bookshop as well. Rachel and her friends seem like they're bookworms. I used to pass my summers as a student with my nose deep in a book," Filius suggested.

"Thank you," Severus said. All of those were good ideas, though Severus wasn't sure about how he felt about seeing his students outside of the school year. He had the feeling that Torey would think it was wise for Rachel to spend time with her friends, and he would make the necessary arrangements.

"You'll do fine, Severus," Minerva said. "You've done well with her this year. She seems much happier and calmer than she did when she first arrived."

"She does," Severus agreed. He had seen the changes as well.

Albus arrived and the school settled down as he stepped up to the podium.

"Here we go," Minerva said quietly.

Severus couldn't - and didn't want to - stop the smile that spread across his face. He did enjoy the House rivalry he had with Minerva. It didn't hurt that his House kept winning.

"Another year gone by," Albus said. "Hopefully you have all spent the time in learning and in friendship. I imagine your heads are fuller now than they were when you started in September, and you have all summer to get them ready to learn again. Now, we have the House Cup to award."

Severus leaned back in his chair as Albus read off the point totals. Poor Minerva in last place. Such humiliation.

"And the House Cup goes to Slytherin, with four hundred and seventy-two points!" Albus announced, clapping his hands.

The Slytherin table broke out in cheers. The seventh years were particularly pleased as their House had won the House Cup the entire time they'd been at Hogwarts.

Minerva offered Severus his hand and he shook it. "Next year," she said.

Severus just raised an eyebrow. When would she learn that cunning and ambition would almost always win out over bold and brash bravery?

"And now, the feast," Albus said, waving his wand. Food appeared on all of the tables and the atmosphere in the room was pleasantly cheerful.

For the evening, Severus allowed himself to put aside the fact that it had been necessary to kill Quirrell and that the Dark Lord was waiting and biding his time.

For this one evening, Severus could relax and enjoy a few hours with his colleagues.

Rachel had unpacked her wardrobe along with everyone else, but had brought her trunk to Professor Snape's office rather than bringing it down to the Entrance Hall with everyone else. They would be staying a few more days at Hogwarts.

Professor Snape had let her know she could take the train back to London with her friends and he would come pick her up and then they would apparate back to Hogwarts. Rachel had taken him up on that offer since it meant she got to spend a few more hours with her friends before they were separated for the summer.

"I found him in the bathroom by the toilets," Neville said, holding on tightly to Trever as he hurried up to where they'd been waiting for him.

Apparently it was traditional that first years took the boats back across the lake rather than riding in the carriages with the rest of the students. Rachel would have rather taken the carriages, though she still wasn't so sure about the horse-like monsters that pulled them.

They called "hello" to Hagrid as they disembarked and he waved heartily to them.

Before long they were settled into a compartment on the train and chatting about what they planned to do over the summer.

"My parents will want to go on holiday for at least part of the time," Hermione said. "We went to Denmark last year and Germany the year before."

"I've never left Britain," Neville said. "I wouldn't mind traveling one day."

"I can't wait until I'm old enough to apparate. I'd much rather apparate than take a plane," Hermione said.

Rachel had never been on a plane, but she thought she might prefer it to apparating.

"You'd have to make several stops and you can't apparate really long distances," Theo said. "It's better to get a portkey."

"When we were young, my mom took me and my sister on a day trip to France by portkey," Millie said. "It was fun, but I think it would be more fun now that I know more. To me it was just a day out, I didn't really even notice we were in France."

"I'd like to go to France. I bet there is a lot of magical history there," Hermione said. "All of this will certainly change how I approach traveling."

"I'm going to ask my Gran if I can have space in the greenhouse," Neville said. "And some plants, of course."

'You have a greenhouse?' Rachel wrote, shoving the parchment in his direction.

"Well, I live at Longbottom Manor with my Gran. I'll inherit it someday, as my great aunt and uncle never had children and my dad was an only child," Neville explained.

"Most of the pure-blood manors have extensive grounds and things like greenhouses. The Malfoy Manor has a small Quidditch pitch," Theo said.

"I knew Draco was rich, I didn't know he was that rich," Hermione said.

"Filthy rich," Millie said. "His great great grandfather had some very lucrative deals with the goblins."

Rachel shook her head. She couldn't imagine living in a manor or having her own Quidditch pitch. It was ridiculous.

"What are you doing this summer, Millie?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing in particular. My parents will be glad to see me and I'm sure my sister will want to spend time with me. She's seven now, so hopefully she'll be a little bit easier to handle than when she was little," Millie said. "What about you, Theo?"

"Nothing of note. I'll probably spend most of my time reading and avoiding my father. I may not live in a manor, but my family has quite an extensive library," Theo said.

"I'm going to get my parents to take me to Flourish and Blotts first thing. I'm so used to being able to get almost any book I want from the Hogwarts library," Hermione said.

"What about you, Rachel? Do you have any summer plans with Professor Snape?" Millie asked.

Rachel shrugged and began to write. 'I think we're going to go stay in his house when he finishes with the work he has to do at Hogwarts. I'm not sure what we'll be doing.' She really had no idea what her summer was going to look like.

"You'll have to let us know what it's like to live with a professor," Hermione said.

"I bet he'll assign you homework if you get in trouble," Millie said with a giggle.

Rachel had no idea what Professor Snape would do if she caused trouble. She had no intention of causing any trouble whatsoever, but that hadn't worked out well at the Dursleys.

"I'm sure it will be fine," Theo said, nodding at Rachel. "Professor Snape seems decent."

"And terrifying," Neville said. "At least in class."

"And you made it through your exam just fine, even though you were terrified," Hermione said, smiling at Neville.

Neville nodded. "I think I even passed."

The conversation devolved back into how they thought they did in each of their classes and before long they had arrived at King's Cross Station.

"I'm going to say goodbye now," Theo said as he got his trunk down from the rack. "I'll talk to you all on the train on September 1st."

"Goodbye," Millie said, patting him on the arm.

Hermione and Neville also said goodbye and Rachel gave him a small wave.

"Poor Theo," Hermione said after he had gone. "At least he won't be as alone as he thinks he will be."

"How?" Millie asked.

"You'll see, soon enough," Hermione said. "Alright, I think it's clear enough we can get through now."

They grabbed their trunks, though Rachel only had her bag, and made their way off the train.

"My parents will be waiting for me on the muggle side. I'll talk to you all soon," Hermione said, giving each of them a hug before she left.

"And there's my Gran," Neville said. "Bye."

Rachel and Millie waved goodbye to Neville and he left to go stand by a severe looking woman.

"And there are my parents," Millie said. "I hope you have a good summer, Rachel. Can I hug you?"

Rachel nodded and accepted a hug from Millie. Hugging still felt strange, but she was getting a little more used to it.

She spotted Professor Snape, waiting for her by the edge of the platform, and waved goodbye to Millie.

"All of your friends got off safely?" he asked when she met up with him.

Rachel nodded.

"Would you like to go get lunch before we return to Hogwarts?" he asked.

Rachel nodded again.

"A waffle house?" he suggested.

Rachel smiled and nodded once more.

This seemed like a good start to the summer.

Thank you to everyone who has read, commented, subscribed, or bookmarked! I really appreciate all your support and feedback.

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