"Finally!" Rachel said as they came out of the exam room. "That was mass homicide!"

Katelyn grinned. "And I thought I-SATs were hard!"

All the Brits (and one Irishman) looked at her funny. "'I sats'?" Ron asked.

Katelyn nodded. "Illinois Standard Achievement Tests. They're crap," she added, wrinkling her nose.

Rachel gave a crooked grin. "But, hey, look on the bright side! At least we don't have to know things like when the War of 1812 was."

Hannah laughed, then got an odd look on her face and began humming. Rachel and Katelyn's faces lit up, and they all began singing. "Always look on the bright side of life! La la, la la, la la la la, la, la! Always look on the light side of life! La, la, la—"

"Well, whatever," Seamus said, interrupting the girls' Monty Python sing-along, "I'm just glad school's over with." His mouth twisted, and everyone knew he dearly wanted to add an Irish interjection.

"And that's the truth," Rachel said with a grin. She reached over his shoulder and pulled the sign off his back. "I want you to know, Finnigan, that just because school's over doesn't mean this is over." She handed him the parchment and watched his face turn red.

"I love school," Hannah sighed as she and Katelyn watched Seamus chase Rachel and Dean out onto the grounds.

------------------------------------

The next week passed in a glorious haze of warm, lazy afternoons and cool, delightful evenings, all filled, of course, with plenty of laughter (and the occasional death-defying adventure from Harry and Ron and Hermione to spice up an otherwise dull day.).

That is, until exam results came in.

"My parents will kill me," Katelyn moaned that night at supper. "As or Ps on nearly everything."

"I got mostly As and Es," said Hannah, looking at her list. "The occasional O…"

"Same here," Rachel and Tanya chimed.

Sarah, who had come to join them at the Gryffindor table for the year-end feast, looked dejectedly at the Slytherin decorations. "I don't really care about school anymore."

"Why ever not?"

"It's summer, dorks! They're keeping us here until the best part is over. Plus, Slytherin's won the House Cup."

Hannah shrugged. "The year's been well-spent."

"Hear, hear," Rachel said, looking around at all her friends: Hannah, Sarah, Katelyn, Tanya, Seamus, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dean, and Haley.

Seamus was about to reply when Dumbledore stood. "Another year gone! And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully our heads are all a little fuller than they were…you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts…

"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup needs awarding, and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Gryffindor with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff with three hundred and fifty-two points; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

Sarah got up glumly and returned to her table; the Gryffindors sat glumly with their chins in their hands as Slytherin cheered mightily.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin. However, recent events must be taken into account."

Elbows slipped off tables and heads lifted as Dumbledore awarded some 'last minute points'. Finally—

"We're tied with Slytherin!"

"…I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

There was never such a celebration like there was that night.

--------------------------

With a screech, the Hogwarts Express rolled into Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, and people began tumbling out. Tanya, Hannah, Rachel, Haley, Sarah, and Katelyn huddled close together, because it had been agreed upon that Rachel's father would escort them home to the U.S.A.

"Well, the school year's over," Hermione said as she, Ron, Harry, Seamus, and Dean came over to stand by them.

Rachel sniffed, trying to disguise her tears by looking for her dad. "Ah, there he is." She waved at him, and then turned to her friends. "Adios, amigos." She threw her arms around them, even catching Dean, Seamus, Harry, and Ron in the process. "Promise me you'll come back next year."

Seamus raised an eyebrow as Rachel retrieved a tissue and blew her nose. "We have to come back to Hogwarts, Hekman."

"Oh. Well, don't die or anything, you hear?"

"We'll try not to," Harry replied. "Bye!"

"Bye!" everyone called back as he left with his unpleasant-looking aunt and uncle.

"Poor Harry," Hannah sighed as she got in the back of the car with Tanya, Rachel, Katelyn, Haley, and Sarah.

"Yeah," Tanya added. "It's too bad that Harry has to live with the worst Muggles ever!"

"How do you know they're really that bad?" Sarah asked.

"We've heard stories," Katelyn said dryly.

Sarah gave her a suspicious look, then jumped as Haley suddenly wailed, "I already miss my Oliver!"

"And I miss Pickles, even though she isn't technically allowed to be called Pickles anymore because technically she isn't part of the Funny Farm anymore!" Rachel buried her face in her hands.

"Hey, where is Shelby?" Katelyn asked, panicking. "We haven't really seen her all last semester."

"You don't think we left her at King's Cross?" Haley asked.

"No, she went to the airport with the Malfoys. Mr. and Mrs. Root are going to have a fit."

"I despise Malfoy so much!" Hannah cried passionately. "He stole our Shelby!"

"We all hate him," Rachel assured her, and everyone nodded.

"Who's this Malfoy boy?" Mr. Hekman asked curiously.

Everyone exchanged glances.

"It's a long story, Dad!"

The End

A/N: Hi, this is Sushi here! I just wanted to say thanks for sticking around to the end of this story. We all really appreciate it! So be sure to read The Funny Farm and the Chamber of Secrets, coming to December 7, 2006. See our profile for more details.