A/N: sorry for the gap between updates, but it seems I have lost a few fans…how sad. Of course, all of you mean so much to me, that I am definitely keeping this open. So, thanks for the reviews everyone, and now we shall move on.
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters or Hogwarts School or themes such as that, those are all the amazing JK Rowling's works.
"Wonder how it'll was tonight," thought Lily aloud. Tanya was still wide-awake, but Claire, because of her condition and her increasing fatigue, had fallen asleep about an hour ago. The clock in the common room read three in the morning, and Lily was worried. Usually they were back by now.
"They'll be okay, Lils," said Tanya softly, trying more to convince herself than Lily. Lily leaned against Tanya and closed her eyes, in thought, not sleep. She heard a loud noise, and her pillow move itself from under her face and then her head hit the couch cushion and then Claire's feet.
"Where's Remus?" came the anxious voice of Tanya. Lily opened her eyes. The boys were unscathed, and fine, but very tired looking.
"Hospital by now, probably," said James, sitting down next to Lily, who was dozing in and out of sleep. She felt James slide underneath her and him running his fingers through her hair. Heaven had returned and the natural order had been restored. She opened her eyes full now, and looked up at him. His adorable smile lit up the room, and he was perfectly unhurt for once.
"This one's all tuckered out," joked Sirius as he lifted Claire into his arms, supporting her against his chest. He sat down and laid her down so that she was leaning against his chest. Her eyelids flew open and she stared up at her angel and then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him once. "Good to see you too," laughed Sirius.
"So, how's Remus?" asked Tanya from the corner, the only one who didn't have something to celebrate.
"He's perfectly fine. We let him out of the Shack tonight…he wanted to roam so we let him hunt a bit, following and running along side him so he couldn't make a bolt for it," explained Sirius, his arm draped around Claire's shoulders.
"So, he'll be out by tomorrow?" asked Tanya hopefully.
"Definitely," assured James, speaking for the first time since Lily had actually become aware of what was around her.
"I'm so tired," Claire moaned after a few seconds.
"Come on, hun, let's get you to bed," sighed Sirius. He helped her up and told her to wrap her arms around his neck from behind. She did, and he became a dog and bolted up the stairs.
"Night," she whispered, opening the door to her room.
"Night," sighed Sirius, leaning in and kissing her softly for a split second, and then running down the stairs as a dog again. Claire stumbled awkwardly into her room and threw herself onto the bed. It was almost time, and she could feel it coming. She didn't have much time left, and it had to count.
Lily woke up the morning of the graduation ball full of life and energy. Claire stirred slightly in the bed next to hers, and Lily looked at her thoughtfully. Claire had become much paler, her hair had lost most of its shine, and she was always shivering except when Sirius was holding her. One thing that could never change, was the brightness of those eyes. She was still beautiful, but probably mere mortal in that standard than the goddess people used to see her as.
Tanya was the next to wake up. Her skin had become its beautiful and vibrant dark again due to her spending a lot of hours working on her swimming down at the lake. Her hair had become curlier somehow, and she was thinner and her body more toned.
Claire woke up then, she yawned and stretched and rolled off the edge, hitting the floor. Lily and Tanya both moved, Lily to go get the guys in case she had to be carried to the hospital, and Tanya towards the bed to help her up if need be. Claire spoke up before they could go anywhere though.
"I'm okay, guys," she said, sounding strained. Tanya held out her hand and helped her up. Claire shook her long blonde locks out, making them fall in their perfect and straight elegance to her waist. Lily shook her head. "What?" asked Claire with surprise.
"You're just so perfect," Lily sighed. Tanya nodded in agreement.
"Whatever. You guys are so pretty too. We're all the same. So, todaye we get the entire day to say goodbye to everyone, teachers, underclassmen, our friends. So, I was thinking…" she trailed off.
"Great Hall…pictures? Reminiscing?" Lily asked, reading her mind.
"Of course," she smirked.
"Sounds good to me. After we say bye to all the teachers and the little kids, we hit the Great Hall and then we sit there with the guys until around…four, and then we can get ready for the ball!" said Tanya excitedly.
"It's absurd…I love it!" joked Lily.
"Come on, let's go find the guys," said Claire, running out of the room in her nightgown. It was showy, even though her bruises had faded by now, but went to about three inches above her knees in the front, spaghetti strapped, light blue, and was very cute. She banged loudly on the boys' dormitory door and a bleary-eyed Sirius opened the door.
"Bloody hell! Claire cover yourself up before Prongs and Moony see you," he said, throwing his blanket at her. She caught it and rolled her eyes, throwing it back to him.
"Listen, after we give our goodbyes to the teachers, we want hit the Great Hall and share a few memories. You guys game?" she asked. She heard a loud snore rumble from the room and saw an eye roll from Sirius.
"Yeah, we'll meet you at breakfast. Wear something cute for me okay…I would ask you to wear that, but I'm afraid the other guys will carry you away form me," he joked. She smiled and put her hands behind her back before standing on her tiptoes and kissing him quickly and darting back to the girls' dorm.
"I love that man," she sighed when they got back in. Lily saw a tear roll down her cheek, but didn't want to bring it up because Claire had become very emotional lately. She coughed once, very loudly, and slid onto the floor, shivering.
"Claire!" Lily yelled, running to her friend's side. Claire waved a hand at her.
"I'm fine, Lily," she choked out between her chattering teeth.
"No you aren't. What's wrong?" asked Lily.
"I feel terrible," she chattered. Lily hugged her friend as she bent down next to her and rubbed her bare arms with her hands, trying to warm her up. After Tanya had joined in trying to make Claire feel better, twenty minutes later, Claire felt better.
"You gonna be okay?" asked Lily doubtfully.
"Don't tell Sirius, guys, please. He can't take it. Don't tell him," she said softly, standing up.
"We won't, we promise," whispered Tanya.
"It's soon," she said under her breath. Lily and Tanya were barely sure they had heard her. After they had changed, Claire in a jean skirt and baby-tee with Weird Sisters printed across the bust, Lily in a pair of fabric, black shorts and white baby-tee with some muggle brand name across the chest: Aero. Tanya was, as usual, wearing something spicy. She had on a tan tube top that matched her skin well, and a pair of black hip huggers. They went down to breakfast to find the boys in their usual spots. They rant o meet them, hugging them and sitting down. They ate in silence, thinking though what was happening that day. As they sat, Lily wondered why they never saw Peter anymore.
Dumbledore stood up and raised his glass, winking at Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Tanya, and Claire. He was so great sometimes, well, all the time actually.
"Today is a very happy and a very sad occasion," he said thoughtfully, his smile betraying the first emotion he mentioned. He always wore that sweet and genial smile. "Our seventh-year students are leaving us today, while the rest of us are still here for another three weeks. Today we will give our goodbyes to them as they travel around the school, saying goodbye to everyone and anyone. We will miss them dearly, and hope to see them in the near future. We wish them the best of luck and hope that their professions are promising. To the graduating class." He raised his goblet and everyone else in the room did as well, repeating his last statement before tapping their drinks together. The seventh years stayed in the great hall after everyone left, discussing what they were doing that day.
"Where to first?" asked Lily thoughtfully.
"McGonagall of course," said Sirius. "She's our head of house. She was great, we have to say bye to her first and foremost."
"Good idea, Padfoot," said Remus.
"Well, let's go," said Claire excitedly, pulling Sirius to his feet.
"Alright, alright, calm down," Sirius groaned, trying to fit one more bite in his mouth when Claire yanked him from his seat. He wrapped his arm around her waist and followed the other two couples who were holding hands. They journeyed together up to McGonagall's room where she was teaching a group of second years how to turn animals into yoyos. She stopped her lecture and gave the six of them a disapproving look. The second years looked frightened of the older students, and Sirius gave a heart laugh as he pulled out his wand and tapped the first kid's rat and it turned into a yoyo immediately. The little boy looked at Sirius in awe.
"These two boys here," said McGonagall, pointing to James and Sirius. "Were the best Transfiguration students I ever had. I couldn't have asked for better students. Too bad your younger brother never was very good with transfiguration."
"Well, you know I never really did follow family trends," shrugged Sirius.
"Very true," said McGonagall with a bitter laugh. No one liked the Blacks, but everyone liked Sirius. "So, would you two boys mind giving a demonstration to my class. I'm sure they would enjoy it." Sirius and James looked at each other smugly.
"Sure," said James with a shrug.
"Wonderful. How about…oh, human transfiguration is the most challenging thing you mastered. How about a nice little demonstration of that?" suggested McGonagall. Lily restrained a laugh at her obliviousness to the fact that they were far more advanced in Transfiguration than she probably was at their age.
"Why not," shrugged Sirius.
"Alright, kids," began James. Lily snorted and Claire was laughing by now. Tanya was doing well actually, hiding her smile with great effort. "I will be turning Padfoot here, into…what should I turn him into?" All the kids started screaming at him different animals and objects. James decided that one of the kids, who suggested a frog, was pretty cool and James cast the spell, soon, Sirius was sitting on the ground croaking and green and covered in warts. He was a frog.
"James Potter, change my boyfriend back into a human right now," shrieked Claire.
"Oh, sorry, Claire," said James, waving his wand again and Sirius returning to Sirius again.
"Bloody hell, mate, couldn't it have been a dog or something, I like dogs," suggested Sirius. Claire and Lily burst into laughter at the inside joke and Tanya snorted once. Remus, on the other hand, looked disapproving at the hint to what they were, after all, the last thing he wanted was his friends thrown into Azkaban. McGonagall cleared her throat at the use of language in her class, something she never liked much. "Sorry, Professor," she said with that innocent smirk. McGonagall rolled her eyes and looked to James.
"Alright, Padfoot, your turn to turn me into something gruesome," said James with a bitter laugh. "Let's see if you can."
"Oh, be afraid, Prongs, very afraid," said Sirius his trademark mischievous grin. All the students leaned forward eagerly and watched with interest. Sirius pulled out his wand and murmured something when James turned into a worm on the ground. A few girls squealed in disgust across the room, but Sirius, Claire, Tanya, and even Lily and Remus were laughing like crazy. Then, Lily realized that her boyfriend was, in fact, a worm, and started to get mad as Sirius wasted time before changing him back.
"Sirius Black!" Lily shrieked. "I cannot date a worm!" Sirius looked at her burning with rage and her dagger-like green eyes and then muttered the counter spell that turned James back to normal.
"Padfoot! A worm! Are you bloody serious?" asked James with disgust.
"Ha! You are the one who challenged me," joked Sirius. James rolled up his sleeves and Sirius followed suit. The class looked on in delight, McGonagall looked on in disapproval, but pride. James said a spell and Sirius was on the ground as a cockroach. Claire threw a book at him and James changed him back. Sirius then turned James into a butterfly, which he joked about it being girly and laughing hysterically until Lily yelled at him again. This went on for a bout ten more minutes, the boys changing each other into gruesome and girly things before McGonagall stepped in and told them she had to get back to teaching. They bade her farewell and moved onto another teacher.
They ended up in Slughorn's class next. Lily was the only gifted potion brewer amongst them, and Slughorn forced her into making a very complicated batch of Veritaserum, which he fed to all the students so he could find out which one had put trip spells across the floor. James and Sirius looked in pride as the boy who got caught said he wasn't sorry and had never gotten caught before. James and Sirius shook his hand and congratulated him after the class had ended.
Remus insisted they visit Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who forced he and Tanya, his best Defense students, into a duel filled with gushy and cute dialogue that you would hear in Mr. And Mrs. Smith probably.
After that, they journeyed to the grounds where they met their Care of Magical Creatures teacher who asked them to go and catch the unicorns that had escaped the paddock. Which, they did. Lily even managed to get a golden foal that the girls in the current class ogled over.
They neglected to go to History of Magic and Divination for obvious reasons. When they finished visiting, they made their way to the Great Hall with boxes of photos from their previous years. They dropped their boxes onto the table and opened them up. Sirius, James, Claire, Remus, and Tanya had mostly moving pictures, Lily only had a few of those, and so most of hers were stills, but that didn't matter much. As they sat down, a wave of emotion filled Lily as she realized she might never see this place after tonight. It was a sad feeling that coursed through them all, and as they sat down to go through the pictures, it made them even more choked up.
A/N: So, that was that chapter, next chapter is all memories, some extracted from the prequel, so you might recognize some of them. It should be a pretty funny chapter next time. I'm sure you are realizing that there are very few chapters left in this story. Don't worry, though, there will be a sequel!
Oh, and the dresses are on my site if you would please look at them! (The graduation Ball Gowns)