Today was the last day we would ever be in the castle as Hogwarts students. Today, we'll be leaving as Hogwarts alumni. The thought was amazing to me. After seven long years here, we finally made it through. All the homework assignments, exams, countless nights of studying, quidditch matches, and so on, we made it through all of them.

I check myself in the mirror again. My gown laid gracefully against my body, free of any wrinkles. My makeup was on point and my hair was perfectly straight, not a strand out of place. I dawned my cords around my neck. Somehow, I managed to beat out Hallie Dunn as top student of our year. While I was proud of that moment, I was nervous about my speech I'd have to give.

My speech was well planned out and plenty rehearsed. There wasn't a single flaw in it…yet. Saying my speech in front of Dom or James was one thing. Saying it in front of all of our friends and family was a totally different thing. The pressure to not mess it up was like ten times more. It didn't help that public speaking wasn't one of my favorite things to do. It also didn't help that my parents wrote me a few days before saying they were actually going to show up to one of my life changing events.

"Belle! Come on, we need to go!"

I sighed and gave myself another once over in the mirror. Here we go. This was it. This was the last time I'll ever be in my dorm again. This will be the last time I walk down the staircase to the common room. This will be the last time I ever leave Gryffindor Tower.

"Belle! Come on!"

I tore my gaze away from the mirror and walked over to the door. Dom stood in the hallway with her arms crossed, an impatient look on her face.

"Finally!" She sighed, leading the way down the stairs. "It's almost like you're trying to make us late for our own graduation."

"Oh, just reminiscing on all the memories." I said with a laugh.

"So panicking over your speech?"

"Basically." I said.

"You'll be fine Belle." Dom said as we entered the common room. "You literally are the brightest witch of our year. After everything you've been through this year, I doubt a little speech is going to be able to bring you down."

She was right. I didn't get much time to dwell on the thought though as Professor Longbottom called for our attention to head down to the Great Hall. The time has finally come.

"I'd like to call up the top student of the class of 2022, Miss Isabelle Stein."

McGonagall stepped away from the podium. The crowd politely clapped as I made my way up. I spotted Harry, Ginny, and Lily up near the front. Ginny was beaming with pride, as if I was her own child. I quickly scanned the crowd for my own parents. I didn't see them near the front, which was a disappointment, but I did my best not to let it show on my face.

"Good afternoon." I said, grabbing my speech out of my gown pocket.

I smoothed the parchment out and kept it on the podium. I looked back out into the crowd before I began to read.

"I am so thankful for this opportunity I was given to speak to you all. Seven years ago, everyone before me helped their eleven-year-old pack his or her trunk before shipping us off to Hogwarts. You, our parents, were the ones who started our amazing seven-year journey."

I paused, looking around the crowd again. I looked down at my speech again, scanning through it. I picked the paper up and crumbled it into a ball.

"I had a super cheesy speech planned out. I'm just going to be honest though. We all had our ups and downs while here. I especially hit an all time low this year. I lost a good friend of mine this year. Which almost caused me to lose my boyfriend. I lost my unborn child. I almost died. Yet, here I am giving you this speech. Everyone sitting in front of you, we all went through our own challenges through out our years here. We are so thankful for all the opportunities Hogwarts have given us. We can't wait to move forward into the next chapter of our lives. Here's to the class of 2022!"

The crowd applauded me and I went back to my seat with a large smile on my face. I looked down my row at James. He flashed me a big smile and gave me a thumbs up. I turned my attention back up front to McGonagall. She was making her way through the list of students. I watched as they went up one by one, shaking hands with McGonagall before going and receiving their diploma from Professor Longbottom.

"James Sirius Potter."

I pulled myself out of my daze and watched proudly as my boyfriend walked up to collect his diploma. As he made his way back to his seat, I flashed him a dazzling smile.

"Isabelle Marie Stein."

This was it. I rose from my seat and made my way back up to the front of the stage. McGonagall grasped my hand firmly.

"I'm very proud of you Isabelle." She said.

"Thank you, Professor."

She gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder before sending me on my way to get my diploma. I thank Professor Longbottom and happily made my way back to my seat.

"We did it!" I squealed as I jumped into James's arms after the ceremony ended.

"Yeah!" James laughed. "Yeah, we did."

He spun me around before placing my feet back on the ground and pulling me in for a long, deep kiss.

"Honestly, get a room you two."

We pulled apart, looking over at the voice. It was none other than Lily walking over with her parents.

"Hi Lils." I said.

"Congrats, Isa." She said, pulling me in for a hug.

"Oi! I'm your brother and you're congratulating her first?" James cried out.

"She's better than you." Lily taunted, sticking her tongue out at her brother.

Harry and Ginny gave me their congratulations before turning their attention to their son. I turned away from them, scanning the room for my parents once again. I was starting to think that they blew off my graduation to go vacation on some tiny tropical island.

"Isabelle!"

I spun around and let a smile break out on my face.

"Mama! Papa!"

My parents came over and pulled me into tight bear hugs.

"You did amazing sweetie." Mama said. "We are so proud of you mon chéri"

"Thank you, Mama." I said.

"Cora! David!" Ginny called out. "How nice to see you two again."

"You as well Ginny." My father said.

"We're planning on heading back to the Manor to have a celebratory dinner for the James and Belle. You two must join." She said.

"Oh, we wouldn't want to intrude." Mama said.

My face fell a little. Of course, they would find some excuse to just take off as soon as graduation was over. Typical.

"Isabelle." My mother said, noticing my look. "Sweetie, don't take this the wrong way."

"Wrong way?" I snapped. "How could I possibly take it the wrong way? It just looks like my parents yet again don't want to be with me and are shoving their parental duties off on the Potters."

"Isabelle, that's not true. We've just haven't been there much for you. We don't want to intrude on this life you've been leading."

"Well maybe I wanted you there" I said coolly. "But you're right. You haven't been there much so why begin now."

I turned my attention away from my parents and back to James.

"Come on." I muttered. "I just want to head to the Manor to get ready for the night."

"Belle."

I glanced over my shoulder, ignoring James, and watching as my parents walked out of the Great Hall. I felt rejected. I was hoping they would go against me and stay. This is what they do best though. Who knew when I was going to see them again.

"Belle."

"Please James, I'm just ready to leave." I said.

"Alright." James said, turning to his parents.

"Of course, we can leave now." Ginny said. "We'll see the rest of the family later anyways."

"Thank you." I whispered to James as he took my hand and lead me out of the Great Hall.

I took one last look of my surrounds at we left the castle, taking it all in for the last time.

Good bye Hogwarts, it's been real.

AN- Mon chéri means my darling in French. Can you believe we're almost at the end of Accidents Happen ? All we have left is the epilouge. This story has been one heck of a roller coaster and I'm so glad I went on this journey with you guys.

You know the drill, leave any comments or suggestions in a review.

XOXO