A/N: So I have a new beta, The sous, along with slucas123, so I hope the chapters will have lesser mistakes than before, but go easy on this chap, as it went through some last minute complications lol. Huge shoutout to Raven097 for the 500th review! I honestly did not expect to reach 500 so soon, so thanks to each and every one of you who have supported the story through reviews, follows and favourites. You all are awesome. I swear I am super busy, and that is the only reason I haven't responded to last chapter's reviews yet, and I will get to that as soon as I can.

17. Graduated

Daphne and Harry decided to inform Astoria about their dating and Astoria couldn't be happier about it. Although Harry wished that she didn't tell Lily about it. She called them up in a group call and congratulated both of them and James followed. Sirius was the most insufferable of the bunch, dropping innuendos in every sentence and smirking like an idiot. Inside the school, they informed Neville, Ginny and Tracey, who in turn slipped in front of Blaise. They were not really trying to hide it, but they didn't want to make a big deal out of it just yet and Harry didn't want his attackers to find a new target.

Daphne had forced Harry to get himself a bracelet with protective charms like her necklace and he realized that even if he could take on most of the students in a duel, the attackers didn't duel at all. They attacked from the shadows, outnumbering their victim like the cowards they were. He got a metal ring instead of a bracelet. It was bluish grey in colour and although he didn't actually say it, Daphne noticed that it was the exact colour of her eyes.

The last match of Harry's career was as anticlimactic as Ginny could hope for. Gryffindor were 120-30 up as the Chasers were firing with all cylinders and Ginny, borrowing James's tactics, piled five flyers in front for a while, and Ravenclaw soon found themselves 50 points behind within five minutes, when Harry caught the snitch that was hovering right in front of him. It was a landslide victory and Ginny's first as captain. The party in the Gryffindor went on past curfew and a few Hufflepuffs crashed with their Gryffindor mates for the night.

Harry and Daphne didn't get many chances for dates as NEWTs were knocking on their doors and Harry had cut down training to thrice a week. He was still looking around for his attackers and gave Neville a bead to keep in his pocket in case he was attacked again, because Harry's instinct said (and Daphne agreed) that the attackers would try Neville one last time before he graduated.

His instinct was proven right as he felt Neville talk through the bead a week before their exam started. Harry sprinted out of the dorm, shouting at Daphne about Neville being attacked and she quickly summoned his map, located Neville and went towards that location herself. She recognized three names surrounding Neville as fifth and sixth year Slytherins. The others were unknown to her. As she spotted Harry, she was surprised to see him travel at an impossible speed before realizing that he was flying as his animagus form. She quickly followed him, keeping an eye out for anyone hiding.

Harry landed a few yards away from the location of the attack and within a second, six figures dropped on the floor, leaving a panting Neville in the middle, who was fighting all six at once and still holding his own.

"You alright, Nev?" Harry asked as he approached. Neville nodded and took off the hoods of one of the attackers. He didn't recognize him. As Harry came closer, he took a look at the face and he didn't recognize the person, but he felt familiar. Together they began to uncover the hoods of all the attackers and Harry recognized four of them as students, but the other two were unknown. A few moments later, Daphne came in, slightly out of breath. She took a look at the scene and was about to ask Neville if he was okay, but a nagging feeling on the back of her mind made her look back at the map. Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second before she shifted slightly and then rapidly fired off a series of curses to the apparent empty air in front of her. To the boys' surprise, a loud thud could be heard as someone fell over and a pair of shoes appeared in the floor. Harry quickly pulled off the invisibility cloak from the figure and recognized him.

"That's Marcus Flint. He graduated a couple of years back from Slytherin." He said and Daphne recognized him too.

"I think some of these lot are outsiders as well." Neville commented, pointing at the previously visible attackers. Harry went to Daphne and gave her a short kiss.

"Thanks for saving us. I didn't even think to check for invisible attackers." He said and Neville thanked her as well.

"I took the map to look for Neville, so it was partially good luck." Daphne admitted. "Although I think Harry would've been safe as he has that ring protecting him. We should really get all our friends one of these."

"The ring and your necklace only protects from medium level curses and physical attacks. But you're right, we should get one for everyone."

"So we hand them over to Dumbledore now?" Neville asked, not very enthusiastic about that. Knowing Dumbledore, he would probably just expel the students from the school and then try to keep them out of Azkaban. The outsiders would be handed over to the Aurors and everyone knew that the Aurors and the Ministry essentially worked for Voldemort.

"No. I have some business with them." Daphne said and Neville grinned.

"You know what, I do too." Neville said, cracking his knuckles.

"Well, who am I to stop you guys from unfinished business? Tell you what, take them to that third floor room fluffy used to live in, I'll call Sirius to see if he wants to play."

"Good idea. Who's fluffy?" Daphne asked as they bound the unconscious bodies and disillusioned them. Neville floated them and started walking.

"Remember how we were asked to stay clear of the corridor in our first year if we didn't want to face a most painful death?"

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Sirius arrived with James once they heard the whole story. They agreed that giving them up to Dumbledore would be wasting a good opportunity. The Protectors would make more use out of these thugs. James was mildly impressed by the bruised state of Daphne and Neville's prisoners, as Harry led the duo to the room in third floor where the party was going on.

"What a fun gang." Sirius commented, kicking Marcus Flint in the balls.

"I know that guy. He is a thug who lives in Hogsmeade." James pointed at the guy who seemed familiar to Harry.

"I've seen him too." Harry realized, now remembering how the man seemed familiar. "I saw Malfoy and his friends talking to this guy in almost every Hogsmeade weekend."

"So they must have been planning this for a while." Neville commented. "Dude, your girlfriend is kinda scary." He added the last part to Harry.

"You realized that now? After all these years of her sending me to the hospital wing?" Harry asked incredulously.

"You have a point." Neville admitted as he flashed a thumbs up to Daphne, who smiled sweetly before stamping on a face.

"Ah! Young love. The most generous gift of youth!" Sirius exclaimed and everyone stared at him. He blushed slightly. "Alright, maybe I quoted Dumbledore, so what?"

"When did he say that again?" James asked as he rounded up the seven culprits.

"He walked in on me and Brie Stones snogging in a cupboard."

"Which year was this?" James asked, not remembering the incident.

"It was an Order meeting. Harry was six months old, I think." Sirius proudly declared and James slapped his forehead as the three teens laughed.

"Alright kids, I gotta take the trash out. I'll let you know if we find anything useful from them." James said, as he transfigured the bodies to a large dog collar that he slipped over Sirius's head. The two men took a shortcut passage that neither Daphne nor Neville knew ever existed.

"Now that it's dealt with, I can revise in peace." Neville declared and the other two had to agree. With that threat dealt with, they had only their NEWTs to look forward to.

The following day, Dumbledore announced that four students were missing from the school, three Slytherins and a Ravenclaw, and he requested the students to come forward if they had any news or information regarding these students. Harry, Daphne and Neville shared a private smile between themselves.

Sadly, being Head Boy and Girl had their downsides as well, as Harry and Daphne found out a few days before the exams started. They had to escort the examiners and help the teachers to set up the security in the exam hall, as well as visiting all the common rooms to see if anyone needed any help. Harry took Gryffindor and Hufflepuff while Daphne took Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Hufflepuffs and Slytherins didn't require much help but most Gryffindors, as usual, left everything for the last minute and the Ravenclaws, albeit knowing everything by heart, panicked a lot. The two heads returned to their dorms way after curfew.

"I don't think I'll get any revisions done tonight." Daphne announced, after staring at the same spot for fifteen minutes without even registering a word. Harry put away his notes too.

"Me too. I'm too tired to get anything done now. I think I'll go to sleep."

Daphne agreed and they went to their respective beds after a goodnight kiss.

Almost half an hour later, Daphne called Harry's mirror.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't sleep."

"Me neither."

The connection went off and a minute later, Daphne walked into his room, with a pillow in her hand. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Can I stay here tonight?" she asked, a bit nervous. "No funny business. I just want to sleep. With you." He smiled at her.

"If you are sure." He replied easily and she hopped on beside him.

"Will you hold me?" she asked in a tired voice. He didn't reply, but put his arm around her and pulled her close. She let out a content sigh as he kissed the top of her head.

"Goodnight, Daph." He whispered.

"G'night Harry." She whispered back, already feeling sleepy.

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Both of them had the best sleep they ever had in each other's arms. As they were both early risers and Harry had paused workouts for the duration of the exams, they had a fair amount of time to do some last minute revisions. They quizzed each other for a while before they were pretty confident, and after a quick breakfast directly from the kitchen, they gave another round to the common rooms, this time switching the houses, to see if anyone needed any help. It was a testament of how desperate OWLs and NEWTs made everyone that a number of Gryffindors, including one Ron Weasley, flocked Daphne and a similar scene could be seen at Slytherin common room, where Harry was surrounded by a hoard of students waiting for some last minute explanation of things they missed or forgot. Astoria, who was also sitting for OWLs, did not need much help as she regularly took help from the two Heads. The Ravenclaws almost got on Harry's nerves and Daphne was pleasantly surprised by how calm Hufflepuffs were. McGonagall and Flitwick had similar ideas when they went to their House's common rooms to offer any last minute advises, and both were pleasantly surprised and proud of the two Head students who were helping out everyone in need, even nervous first years who were scared about their year-end exams.

The exam period wasn't as stressful for Harry and Daphne as they expected. They slept together every night and after a relaxing night's sleep, both had the time to help out others, switching Houses every day, and they were treated like saviours by almost everyone who had an exam to sit for. Ron Weasley even asked Daphne to visit the Burrow with Harry and Neville in the summer and no one knew how to react to that.

Their own exams went great. Harry was fairly confident that he had received full marks in both DADA and Transfiguration, while Daphne was convinced that her potion was as perfect as one could humanly hope to achieve and her charms were not far behind. Hermione claimed that she messed up everything but everyone knew that she would probably be getting straight O's all over the board, so no one paid much heed to her words.

Like a storm, the exams were over, and the NEWT examinees felt a sudden heartache at the thought that their Hogwarts days were over. The last two remaining weeks were enjoyed fully by the seventh years. Harry and Daphne decided that they were done hiding their relationship, and the morning after their last exam, Harry grabbed Daphne by the waist at breakfast, and kissed her on the lips, causing many plates and goblets to drop all around the Great Hall. Due to their immense rise in popularity in the last few weeks, they received a huge applause and lots of catcalls once everyone recovered from the initial shock. People came over from all four tables to congratulate them and even McGonagall was spotted smiling brightly. Dumbledore looked misty eyes as he clapped as enthusiastically as any student.

Daphne talked with Professor Flitwick and they agreed to start her Mastery course from the summer. Unlike OWLs and NEWTs, Mastery did not require you to stay in school or attend classes, so she would be doing it from home, regularly consulting her supervisor, Professor Flitwick in this case, and hence would be visiting Hogwarts regularly until Flitwick decided she was ready to take the exam. The regular time period to complete a Mastery was usually about two years, but Daphne was hoping to complete it earlier, given that a war was going on outside.

Daphne and Harry trained hard after they were done with the exams. Soon, they wouldn't have a chance to utilize the Room of Requirement for their training, so they were making the most out of them. Harry had invited Neville to a duel session between Daphne and him, and he was impressed with both of them. Neville won the duel, but it could easily have gone the other way round. Harry didn't want to show them the way he learned to duel from Master Zhi, so he fought them both with his wand. He won both times, of course, but Daphne landed a few shots on him, which made him curse. He had to endure her gloating because he didn't want to admit that he was a bit distracted by how hot she looked when she was duelling in tight yoga pants.

On their last week, everyone spent their time hanging around with their friends, especially the seventh years. Results came out in the middle of the week and both Harry and Daphne were delighted to see that Astoria came on top of her year. Results in general were better than usual and a lot of students and some teachers credited Harry and Daphne's last minute helps. Of course, the OWLs and NEWTs result would arrive in the summer, so the fifth and seventh years didn't have to worry about the results at the moment.

They had a Hogsmeade weekend which Harry used to go on a date with Daphne. For once, Daphne arranged everything, knowing Hogsmeade better than Harry. She admitted that she liked wandering alone in the village and it was not very hard for her since she didn't have a lot of friends who would ask her to stay with them instead. They went to a little bistro on the far end of the village where Harry never went, and he was delighted to see that the little shop had good food, a quiet and cozy environment, a cordial waiter who was actually the owner's wife, and to top it off, it had a fantastic view of the mountains.

On the last day of Hogwarts, Hufflepuff announced that they were organizing a party open to everyone for the graduating students, and every house poured their resources together to host one of the greatest parties Hogwarts had ever seen. Harry cornered Susan, Hannah and Anthony, his closest friends from the house and they confessed that they wanted to show Gryffindor that they were not the only one who could throw legendary parties. Harry was amused and went to the kitchen to ask the house elves to keep supplying unlimited pizza and they were happy to do so. Professor Flitwick (at Harry and Daphne's request) performed a temporary enlargement charm on the Hufflepuff common room to allow more room for the party. There was food, snacks, music, butterbeer and some smuggled Firewhiskey that Harry and Daphne carefully monitored. The muggleborns and half-bloods introduced muggle party games. Terry Boot of Ravenclaw started to show off his skills in breakdancing and that gave everyone a great idea. The graduates were all encouraged to put in some sort of performance and although most of them just preferred to enjoy the show, some of them really had the crowd going. Hermione Granger surprised the hell out of everyone by rapping to a 2Pac song, and Lavender Brown showed off her pole dancing skill she picked up the summer after her 5th year and that had the crowd going wild. Harry and Daphne refrained from performing, but they danced together a lot, and Daphne even sportingly tried out the Irish jig with Seamus Finnigan at the crowd's encouragement. They all had lots of fun, and even the most uptight students were at least a little tipsy. A little before the extended curfew (Harry and Daphne managed to coax it out of Dumbledore only for the graduates as a last, parting gift to the students) Harry and Daphne escorted every graduate, and some non-graduates who snuck in for a good time, to their respective dorms and made sure no everyone was in bed.

"It's really over." Daphne said quietly, leaning on Harry's arms. They were slowly walking to their dorm, possibly for the last time.

"Yes it is." He replied, taking her hand and kissing it gently.

"I don't think I'm ready for it to be over yet." She confessed sadly, which surprised her. She never had a lot of friends in school, and in the last year, she didn't spend much time with the ones she had. Head duties and living in a separate dorm left both of them out of loop from their friends and housemates. She didn't think she would miss school that much, but now it was over, she was already upset about leaving.

"To be honest, neither am I. I feel like we have so much left to do. I didn't even get to fly one last time around the grounds." He admitted. Daphne patted his back and he rubbed her shoulders in return as they walked in silence for a while.

"Thank you Harry." She suddenly said, squeezing his hand. He raised his eyebrows.

"What for?" he asked as they entered through the portrait hole into their dorm.

"For this whole year. For everything, actually. This was the best school year of my life, and you were responsible for most of it." She admitted as they made their way to her bedroom.

"No need to thank me, Daph. This year was my favourite as well, and you made it my favourite. So thank you too." He sincerely replied. She laughed as they sat down on her bed.

"Look at us being all sentimental and what not. When I first saw you in that Head's compartment, I never would have guessed that things were about to change between us so much." She confided and he laughed in return.

"Tell me about it. I was actually preparing for the worst year of my entire Hogwarts career when I found out you were the Head Girl. I mean, given our history, who would've thought that we could be even civil to each other, let alone being this close?"

"Not me, that's for sure." She agreed heartily, before both of them broke down in another fit of laughter.

"You know, I absolutely love us now, but I'll always miss those crazy fights with you. We were absolutely mental!" he exclaimed, still laughing, and she broke into a fresh fit of giggles.

"Oh Merlin! The number of times we sent each other to the hospital wing…"

"Twenty five." He deadpanned and she stopped short.

"You kept count?" she asked, amused and appalled at the same time. He nodded vigorously.

"We were violent as shit." He commented and she had to agree.

"Yeah, but you ought to add a few more to your tally." She said mischievously.

"What? Why?"

"Remember that time in third year when you your potion exploded on your face and you had warts all over your face and detention with Snape?" she asked in a very innocent voice. Harry's jaws dropped open.

"That was you?" he cried and Daphne nodded, trying to look guilty and making puppy eyes at him. Harry stared at her and then broke into laughter, which made her suspicious.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked, frowning.

"Remember that time in fourth year when Peeves bothered you for a month straight? Guess who bribed him with a boatload of dungbombs to do that." He grinned at her outraged face, which quickly changed to surprise as she lunged at him and tried to punch him in the guts.

Daphne had come a long way from the weak (in a strictly physical manner) girl who had no strength in her arms whatsoever. She had worked out for the better part of the year and had a fair amount of stamina that she was quite proud of. However, for all that, her punches still did not carry enough power to really bother Harry.

"Oh wow, a hit of nostalgia." Harry shouted, taking the beating freely with widespread arms. "This takes me way back to another time when a girl of the same name was embarrassing herself while trying to- oomph!"

He went down like a sack of rock, clutching his family jewels while Daphne was smirking at him victoriously. It was literally below the belt, but a good, old-fashioned nut tap will take down any man, and any self-respecting Slytherin had to take advantage of those hanging weaknesses if necessary.

"Looks like that nostalgia hit you pretty hard, huh?" she queried amusedly while he glared at her, still clutching his balls.

"That was dirty. I'm gonna get you back for that." He threatened. "Once the blinding pain goes away." He added as an afterthought.

"Oh stop being a baby." She complained with an exasperated snort. Now it was his turn to be outraged.

"You don't know what you are talking about! You cannot imagine the pain- oh sweet Merlin!" his expression changed abruptly as he felt a cool hand grab his balls and felt a pair of lips on his own shortly after.

"Does this help?" she asked innocently as her hand massaged the area gently. Harry had to focus hard before he found his speech back.

"A little bit yeah." He replied breathlessly. Then cheekily added. "You should try to kiss it and make it better-yeouch!" he yelped as she gave a playful but firm squeeze with her hand.

"Easy there, big guy. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves, do we?"

"Wouldn't mind too much if we do." He replied breathily, undoing the button of his trousers.

They did not know who finished first, and to be frank, no one gave a damn about that either, because soon they were laid beside each other, exhausted, but satisfied as hell. They simply held each other and closed their eyes contentedly, smiles on both of their faces. It was Harry who broke the silence first.

"If that's how this goes every time, you are free to gently hurt my nuts anytime you want."

Daphne looked at him incredulously and then both of them burst out in laughter, holding on to each other for support.

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The next morning, after their workout and training, they decided to go flying for one last time. They were silent for the whole time, trying to drink in as much as they could of the place that has been their home for the last seven years.

For all these years, they were excited to get out and shape their own paths, but now that the path was so near to them, they wished they had savoured it more. There was an air of sadness in them as they got back to their dorm and packed their trunks.

"I will miss this place." Daphne said to him, picking up stray belongings spread around the dorm.

"Me too. I mean it was nice in the boys' dorm, but this place was brilliant. The private room, not having to wait in line for the toilet, the cosy common room that is never overcrowded: this place was perfect." He said longingly.

"I'll miss sharing a dorm with you." She mumbled.

"Me too." He admitted. "Even before we started to get close, I loved sharing a dorm with you.

"Do you think we should- ah, nevermind." She backtracked on whatever she was trying to say.

"What? We should what?" he asked her but she shook her head in reply.

"Forget it. I just had a stupid thought. That's all." She assured him.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yes, of course I know that. Are you done packing?" she asked, changing the topic. He let the matter drop.

"Pretty much. I wanted to go and check on Gryffindor Common Room. What's your plan?" he asked and she shrugged.

"Might as well visit the dungeons one last time. See you in the Great Hall in two hours?"

"Sounds good."

They put their luggage on the common room of their dorm for the elves to transport to the train and went towards their house.

Harry entered the Gryffindor common room and found a mild chaos. The lions were never famous for preparing beforehand, and as usual, last minute packing set everyone on edge. He found Hermione reading a book (yes, she was that cliché) and sat beside her.

"Hey Mione."

"Harry. All packed?" she asked in a rather thick voice.

"Oh come on, are you gonna cry?" he half joked and she let out a watery laugh.

"Maybe." She replied, only half-joking.

"Don't be a stranger, hey? Send owls. I think we still have the telephone line, so you can call too." He grabbed her shoulder and gave a firm squeeze and she smiled. Harry felt bad for her. Hermione was never a social girl, and Harry knew that he was probably her closest friend in Hogwarts. She had somewhat grown out of the bossy-know-it-all phase, but she still had trouble forming new friendships and getting close to the existing ones. Harry had been her first friend, and since day one, he had been looking out for her. She knew that they would eventually lose contact once they got out of Hogwarts, and had made her peace with that. Doesn't mean it still didn't hurt a little.

"Of course I'll call." She assured him. "Maybe you should come visit me sometime. Bring Daphne as well."

"I'll ask her."

Hermione looked at him for a moment with glassy eyes before she exclaimed, "Oh for Merlin's sake!" and wrapped him in a crushing embrace, her body trembling. Before Harry could hug her back, she let go of him.

"You take care of yourself. Don't be stupid. Oh, excuse me." She ran towards the staircase, presumably to save whatever dignity she still could salvage. Shaking his head at her direction, he made his way towards the seventh year dorm. A lone figure was sitting on the four-poster bed furthest away from the door.

"Hey Nev. What's up?" he asked, but he knew something was wrong. Neville looked hollow and… devoid of any life.

"I broke up things with Ginny." He told in a very small voice. Harry did not let any emotion show on his face.

"Alright. Are you okay?" he asked already knowing the answer. Neville looked at him incredulously.

"Fuck no, I'm not okay." He said loudly. "I'm fucking miserable. She was probably the only good thing, the best thing going on with my life, and I ended that myself." He finished with an unsteady voice.

"Umm, why? What happened?"

"I have to start hunting horcruxes with Professor Dumbledore, and she will still be in school, so there's not much chance of us meeting soon. And then there's the… prophecy. I don't want her to suffer more than she has to because let's face it. There's a very good chance I'm not coming out of this alive."

"C'mon Nev, you're gonna be fine. You're gonna kill that bastard." Harry tried to encourage his friend but Neville was shaking his head.

"Maybe, but I can't take the risk. She is still in school, and if Voldemort thinks he can get at me by hurting her, he won't be hesitant for a moment. Wouldn't you have done the same?"

Harry was at a loss of words. He knew Neville was right. If he was Voldemort's prime target and staying away from Daphne would keep her safe, he would do the same. But that didn't mean seeing his best mate devastated and powerless like this was any easier.

"How did she take it?" he asked quietly. Neville sighed.

"I think she was kind of expecting it. At least that's what she told me. Could you go check up on her?" he pleaded and Harry nodded.

"Do you know where she is?" he asked. Neville shook his head. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"I don't know, mate. I honestly don't know."

Harry stood there for a moment and then clapped Neville's back and then left with a nod.

The map told him Ginny was in the quidditch pitch. He made his way to the stands and saw her flying around. She noticed him and slowly landed next to him. Her eyes were red.

"Hey Gin." He greeted her.

"Heard about it, did you?" she asked nonchalantly, hiding her emotions pretty well. Ginny was always a tough one.

"I did. How are you holding up?" he asked, sitting down. Ginny shrugged.

"As well as I could hope, honestly. I had a feeling that this was coming and wasn't really surprised when he said he wanted to break up."

"You know he still cares about you, don't you?"

"Of course I know that!" she cried out. "That boy is so stupidly noble I want to strangle him and hold him tight at the same time. Does he really think I cannot take care of myself?"

"It's not like that and you know it Gin." Harry gently admonished her. Ginny shook her head.

"But it is! Don't you think I would've been a target to You-Know-Who anyway? I mean it's not a secret that Weasleys are active supporters of Dumbledore. My family is in constant danger either way. Neville is not the only person You-Know-Who wants gone." she ended with a bitter voice.

"No he's not. But he's Voldemort's prime target. I get what you are saying, but can't you see things from his point as well? He just wants you to be safe. Is it really such a bad thing to wish for?"

Ginny was silent for a long time and then her lips trembled. Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close as she finally let the tears fall down her face. He rubbed circles in her back as she cried silently, still adamant on not showing weakness to anyone on the outside.

Harry sat there silently, holding her as she slowly put herself together. She wiped her eyes on her robes and took deep breaths to calm herself. She mouthed 'thanks' to him and he just gave her shoulder another squeeze in return.

"I better go pack." She finally said and he nodded. "You'll write to me, won't you?"

"Of course I'll write. Did you even have to ask?" he acted offended by her words but she just smiled sadly.

"Can't take anything for granted these days."

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Soon enough, it was almost time. Harry had tracked down most of his friends from all houses, said goodbye to all he could find and sometimes making plans with the ones he was particularly close to. He found Daphne and Tracey in a tight embrace in the dungeons and came back later to allow them some privacy.

He visited Hagrid and the half giant greeted him with a ferocious hug that Harry thought cracked a few ribs, but he didn't complain. He would really miss Hagrid, and he hadn't spent a lot of time with him this year. Hagrid understood, of course, but Harry felt guilty anyway. Hagrid was one of the most helpful people he knew, and he could never repay Hagrid's contribution in helping to find a Unicorn that would help Lily to come out of the state she was in. Harry promised to stay in touch, and gatekeeper seemed to be enthusiastic about that idea, but Harry didn't know if he could make good on that promise. Hagrid didn't really run in the same circles as him, or too many normal wizards.

Once he met with Daphne in the rendezvous time, they went together to the teachers' room to say goodbye to the professors. Thankfully for everyone involved, Snape straight up left when he saw the duo, without even sparing them a glance, which was fine by Harry. Daphne thought his head of the house could probably acknowledge her, but she was not going to lose any sleep over it.

Professor Dumbledore, who was coincidentally in the room, greeted them warmly, and made no attempt to stop his potions master from leaving. Perhaps even he was tired of his pettiness. Harry noticed that the headmaster was wearing a pair of black gloves.

"I have not said this as many times as I wanted to, but the next pair of Heads will have extraordinarily large boots to fill." The headmaster started with a smile, his eyes twinkling. "You have been outstanding in every aspect of your duties and excelled in every task assigned to you. Many younger students and your classmates have commented that your sessions during the exam time have helped them greatly, and I am very grateful to both of you for that."

Daphne and Harry blushed a little under all the praises that Dumbledore was heaping upon them.

"Thank you, Professor, we just tried to do our best." Daphne said modestly.

"Well, your best has set the bar quite high, Miss Greengrass." Professor Flitwick praised. "Yours and Mr. Potter's performance was something we often discussed here. Most of us" he glanced at the door when he said that "believed that the next Heads would have trouble keeping up with your standards."

"Indeed." Professor McGonagall added. "I was always confident about both your individual brilliance and abilities. You are both intelligent, strong and responsible leaders on your own. But I have to admit that I had some doubts about how well you could perform together, given your… rather decorated history." She smirked at her own choice of phrase and everyone else chuckled as well. "However, never had I been more glad to have been proven wrong. I sincerely wish you the brightest futures in whichever fields you choose to venture."

"Thanks a lot, Professor. It was an honour for us to serve the school." Harry smiled at his teachers before unpinning the Head Boy badge from his robes and handing them over to the Headmaster. Daphne did the same.

"Thank you both. I hope this is not the last time I am seeing either of you, and I want you to know that my doors are open for you any time. Do not hesitate to consult me for anything you need and I will try my best to help in whatever way I can." Dumbledore finished with a small bow of head and the other professors nodded as well.

They thanked the professors and stepped out of the office. Officially, they were no longer students of Hogwarts. They could even apparate home from Hogsmeade instead of taking the train if they wished, but they wanted to share one last train ride with their friends.

The train ride was bittersweet at best. Harry and Daphne were no longer responsible for patrols, but they gave a final round anyway. Tracey and Blaise, like a number of other graduates chose to apparate away, so Daphne sat with Harry, Neville and Hermione. Ginny didn't join them and they all knew why. Ron came by to say hi and glared at Neville, but he looked so empty that Ron went away without saying much.

They kept the discussion as light as possible. In an unspoken agreement, they avoided the topic of war and Voldemort. They did not want to taint this journey with real life just yet. This last piece of Hogwarts was all that was left of their childhood. This train journey was, Hermione thought, a metaphorical one. Once they got off the station, they were no longer kids. They were adults, responsible for themselves, the kid gloves now off, and life was waiting outside the station. It did not care if they were ready to face him just yet.

Hermione made Harry and Neville promise to stay in touch with her. Daphne joked that she would tag along as well and Hermione replied that if Harry kept his promise, she would be connected to Daphne anyway.

Harry tried not to talk too much about the future as he noticed Neville's pained face. He began to talk about their first train ride and the first Hogwarts experience, a memory that all of them cherished dearly. Daphne surprised everyone by revealing that the hat wanted to put her in Gryffindor, but she begged it to put her in Slytherin instead. To no one's surprise, Hermione admitted that the hat was seriously considering Ravenclaw for her, but respected her wishes in the end. Harry was a potential Slytherin, and Neville was moments away from being a Hufflepuff.

"Imagine if we listened to the hat's first choices." Daphne wondered out loud.

"I would've been expelled from Hogwarts for killing Malfoy." Harry deadpanned and everyone laughed.

"I would not have been friends with many people." Hermione admitted.

"I would be a lot dumber, no offence guys." Daphne said with a smirk and Neville snorted.

"I think I would be the same. Triwizard Tournament would've been interesting though."

"Yes, I wonder what Cedric would have done." Hermione mused.

"I think my legendary rivalry with Harry wouldn't exist." Daphne admitted and Harry chuckled.

"I don't know, you always rubbed me the wrong way." He teased and she threw a chocolate frog at him, which he caught.

"Gran would disown me." Neville grimaced and they had to agree that it was definitely possible.

"My life would be terribly boring." Hermione sadly acknowledged.

"You know, if I had the chance to do this all over again, I wouldn't change a thing." Harry declared.

"Hear, hear." Neville agreed.

"Me too." Hermione joined in.

"And me." Daphne finished.

"What, you don't think you could be friendlier with me?" Harry asked, pretending to be offended.

"I could, but I don't wanna." Daphne replied with a grin, causing Hermione and Neville to chuckle at the couple's antics.

Soon enough, the train ride came to an end. Neville was going back to his depressed state and Harry hoped that his friend could stay strong. A lot of graduates were glassy eyed as they embraced their friends. Harry promised Neville to write soon as he took off with his grandmother without waiting too long. He found Ginny and asked her to come by soon. She gave him a tight hug and a watery smile in return.

Soon enough, Lily and James came towards them, having stood at a distance to allow them to say goodbye to their friends. Harry shrunk Daphne and Astoria's trunks and put them in his pocket along with his own. He held Daphne's hand, who gave his hand a light squeeze and turned around to see the Hogwarts Express one last time. And when he turned away to exit through Platform Nine and Three Quarters, he knew that he was turning his back on his childhood, his second home.

Hogwarts was officially over.

A/N: My original plan was to finish the story here and then continue the rest of the story in a sequel later on, but your reviews have encouraged me to continue. More of that positive energy please!