AN: So, we've reached the big ten. Butterbeers for all! Wow, I'd like to take this moment to thank each and every one of you, even you lazy creatures who 'forget' to review. You've all kept me going and inspired and I can't believe that most of you have stuck with me throught the last year. So, thank you. Happy reading – Ciara

Chapter 10

A Year In The Nunnery

September

A shaft of light slid through the tall window at the back of the library; a million and one dust particles glittering like the ocean under stars. Narcissa shook out her long blonde curls, turning the page of her book absentmindedly. She couldn't concentrate and was sick of re-reading the same passage on Saturn for the tenth time.

She'd been back at school for a week, but nothing really felt the same. Sure, Luce wasn't there which was a huge difference, but she'd survived for the better half of six years without him – no, something that Sirius had said back at Grimmauld Place just as few days ago was still bugging her. It had changed her whole perception of not only herself, but also of the student body as a whole. Narcissa was a confident girl, and had never really thought about what people said or thought about her; she'd just gone about her business and done whatever she'd felt like. But now she felt her resolve crumbling around her, and it bothered her more than she cared to admit. Sitting up straighter in her chair, she broke the silence of the library, "Maddy, tell me quite honestly. Am I a slut? Do you think I'm a slut?"

Madison slowly looked up from her Witch Weekly magazine, hidden between the pages of Hogwarts: A History, and raised a questioning eyebrow. "What?"

Narcissa huffed, mortified that she's have to elaborate, "Me. Do you think I'm a slut?"

Maddy held her gaze, "You've been in a committed relationship for over half a year now...I don't understand where you're coming from right now."

"Sirius, after only being at the school for a few hours, informed me and my entire family that I'm Hogwarts's school slut. Why is everyone saying that about me?"

"Well...I wouldn't say everyone..." Maddy awkwardly pulled at the sleeve of her jumper.

"MADISON! Why the fuck did you not tell me that people are calling me the school slut? You're right in the middle of the rumour mill connections, you must've heard! What kind of friend are you?"

"Well...Cissy...why are you so surprised? You are kind of a slut..."

"What! No! Absolutely not! You said yourself: I've been in a committed relationship for ages!"

"Just because you're with Luce now doesn't mean that the others have forgotten about your other boyfriends. Merlin, Narcissa, you've practically screwed every guy at the school over the age of fourteen!"

"Fifteen." Narcissa cut in, but Madison continued without stopping.

"And Narcissa, holy mother of Merlin, the places that you've done it! Hallways, classrooms, on desks, under desks, showers, Quidditch stands, dressing rooms, alcoves, broom closets, the kitchens for Salazar's sake! Oh, and let's not forget your escapades in the Black Lake! Jeez, Cissy, and you wonder why people call you a slut? You can't even keep yourself hidden – you wake entire the school with your screams!"

"That's – that's such a bitchy thing to say!" Narcissa huffed indignantly, completely offended and horrendously mortified. She snapped her book closed, tossed her bag over her shoulder and stormed out of the library, cheeks flaring red and eyes stinging.

Dinner that night was a lonely affair. Narcissa moodily looked down the table at Madison laughing at someone's joke, while she had to make do with her peas. She stabbed at one of them with her fork, but it just ended up shooting off her plate. Stupid pea. Stupid Madison.

"What's got your knickers in a twist, my ever-dearest cousin?" Regulus asked, sliding into the seat next to her.

Narcissa scowled, "It's none of your bloody business – go away."

Regulus shrugged, getting up again, "Fair enough, be a bitch. But not to me please." He said, leaving her alone once again.

Madison's laughter carried down the table and made Narcissa scowl some more. She ripped off a chunk of bread rather violently and stomped out of the Great Hall. She'd rather eat in her room, anyway. Without Madison's stupid laughter putting her off her bloody peas...

Two weeks had passed since their fight in the library, and neither Madison nor Narcissa had made any attempt to reconcile. The hostility in their shared room could have been cut with a blunt knife.

It was the last day of September when Professor Slughorn came wobbling into the Slytherin common room with a notice. He'd barely stuck it on the bulletin board with a twinkle in his eye, that the entirety of Slytherin House rushed up to read it with excitement. Notices always meant something pretty amazing was coming up.

Narcissa shoved her way through to the front and read: "We are happy to announce Hogwarts's first ever Halloween Ball is to be held on October 31st of this year in the Great Hall, starting at 8p.m. sharp. So get your costumes in check before the month is out and join the 'Scary Sisters' for a night of spooks! (Note: No attendants under fourth year!) Headmaster A. P. W. B. Dumbledore."

While the younger students all groaned in disappointment, Narcissa practically squealed in delight. And right next to her, her squeal was mirrored by none other than Maddy herself. The two girls looked at each other, the same expression of glee written on their faces. They burst out in a fit of laughing and giggles at the oddness of the situation, before falling ceremoniously into each other's arms. For, after all, they were best friends for life and nothing could keep them apart for too long.

October

Slowly the canopy of the Forbidden Forest had turned from the lush, late September green to more of a brown colour, matching the darkening days of coming Winter. There was a general quiver of anticipation around the school, instead of the usual October lull. As the days passed, the leaves awoke with a fiery delight and in no time at all, students were throwing themselves into the huge piles of red, orange and brown foliage carefully raked together by the young, but decidedly grouchy caretaker, Mr. Filch.

The night of the Halloween Ball was moving nearer and nearer, and Maddy and Narcissa; having sorted out their costumes centuries ago; spent their evenings trying to convince the Heads of Houses to let them bring Lucius and Finn - to no avail. The answer was always the same: "We're sorry girls, but this is an event for students and faculty only. No exceptions, I'm afraid. We just couldn't have half of Wizarding Britain swamping the school to try and get in. It's just not possible."

Alas, there was nothing to be done, and when the big night finally arrived Maddy and Narcissa found themselves dateless but excited nonetheless.

"It's such a shame that our guys can't be here tonight." Maddy smirked, shoving her boobs higher under her chin to give herself more cleavage. Not that it was needed.

"Mhmmm...what do you reckon they'd have dressed up as if they were here?" Narcissa asked, turning awkwardly in front of the long mirror to see how her hair looked from the back.

Maddy, who was still re-arranging her bosom laughed, "I wouldn't have let Finn choose! I'd have picked it out for him...I think he'd look good as a sailor, no? And Luce should have totally gone as a vampire, he's definitely got the right height for it..."

"...Finn is taller than Lucius." Narcissa pointed out.

"Yeah, but Finn's broader, more buff, you know? Luce is more toned and slim – like a vampire." Maddy said, hoisting her boobs up some more.

"Maddy!" Narcissa burst out.

"What? I know I haven't actually seen a real vampire, but have you ever heard of a buff one? I haven't – they're all pasty and –"

But she was cut off mid sentence by Narcissa, "Will you ever stop manhandling your boos! Merlin, you're in a relationship! You don't want Nott to start dry-humping you in a corner, do you?"

"I don't think it counts as manhandling if you're doing it yourself..."

"Madison! You are unbelievable!" Narcissa laughed.

As the sun slowly set over the Black Lake, turning its waters to liquid gold, the two girls made their grand entrance into the Great Hall. In the blink of an eye, Regulus was standing next to them (dressed as a Knight of Camelot) holding two goblets of punch. He handed one to Maddy, grinning coyly. "You wouldn't by any chance consider forgetting about your athletic, under-wear model boyfriend and have a go at dating your best-friend's dashing cousin?" he winked, his eyes straying about thirty centimetres below hers.

"Eyes up here, Romeo." Madison smirked. Regulus looked outraged. Why on earth would she display such a pleasant picture and then ask him to look away. Such a waste...

"You into older women, now, are you, Reg?" Narcissa laughed, snatching the other goblet of punch from his grasp.

"Ugh. Whatever..." Regulus pouted, shrugging. "Was worth a try though."

"And a good one it was," Maddy smiled, "If a bit on the cheesy side. You might want to work on that."

"Fair enough..." Regulus said, giving a little knightly bow, "I shall be off, beautiful maiden and hideous cave troll," – he grinned at Narcissa – "I hope you enjoy the further festivities! Cheerio!"

"You're in the wrong era, mate, to be saying 'cheerio'!" Narcissa hollered after his retreating figure, but he either didn't hear her or ignored her, because he was already talking to a pretty fifth year dressed as a butterfly. Manwhore, indeed! Narcissa thought.

Regulus, it turned out, was certainly not the last to approach Maddy that evening, suggesting to do unprintable things to her if they managed to sneak into an old broom closet. Narcissa, on the other hand, was left watching on the sidelines, laughing to herself at all the boy's eager expressions turning to utter disappointment. Regulus and Andromeda (Bunny Rabbit) had occasionally stopped by to keep her company and join the observation-fest. She was so glad that her costume wasn't anywhere near as slutty as Madison's Devil outfit, which consisted mainly of a few shreds of black latex and a leather whip. She had purposefully tried to stay away from anything to risqué, in a final attempt to salvage her name from the tag 'school-slut'. Narcissa might as well have worn a nun's habit, judging by the amount of her flesh on display. She had shrouded herself in a floor-length, long-sleeved, high-necked Victorian Nighty with a pair of glittering swan-feather wings stuck to the back.

She was the Angel to Madison's Devil.

November

Early the next morning, the students awoke to the sight of their beloved Quidditch pitch covered in fresh, sticky snow. Perfect for snowball fights, making snow-angels and building charismatic snowmen that they could charm into hopping around. So it was more than a bit of a shame, when Narcissa and Maddy found that they simply had too much homework and studying to do to enjoy all the white loveliness outside. On more than one occasion, Regulus had smuggled a snowball or two past Filch and had shoved them down their backs while they were studying in the library. Madison had barely escaped a detention for screaming so loudly; thankfully Dumbledore was a forgiving old bloke.

Before they knew it, the last week of November was knocking on their door and the two girls parted with glee from their textbooks to do some late-minute Christmas shopping. (They'd never know the true meaning of late-minute Christmas shopping unless they ever cut it as tightly as Lucius had nearly a year previously. But I digress.)

It was snowing lightly in Hogsmeade; thick, fluffy snowflakes slowly drifting down from the grey sky. Madison and Narcissa dodged a group of third year boys rolling around in the snow, laughing like Cornish Pixies. Slughorn could be seen ushering poor little Professor Flitwick into the Three Broomsticks, merrily chuckling about Butterbeer and Madam Rosmerta's scrumptious Yorkshire Pud.

"Next weekend will be mine and Luce's one year anniversary." Narcissa said, rubbing her mitted hands together. It felt so odd to her now, walking through the snowy village of Hogsmeade, thinking that so much had happened in the past year, and that it had all started out with a snowball fight two hundred metres from where she was standing now.

Madison just hummed in reply. Neither her, not Finn ever really acknowledged their anniversary. They didn't really see the point in wasting time counting, days, weeks or years if at any moment the relationship could end like snow on a clear spring day. They were just content with the time they were given, no matter how long or short it may be.

The two girls, all bundled up in jumpers, earmuffs and scarves, spent the day trolling around the shops and boutiques of Hogsmeade. One of the many shopkeepers they encountered that day, a twiggy old fellow by the name of Onyx, had given Narcissa the strangest of looks when he'd caught sight of her beautiful blue-diamond necklace. He seemed a dodgy sort of man, his shop all tucked away in the back alley, so Narcissa was awash with relief when she finally managed to peel Madison away from all the pretty, glittering jewels on display. She was rather afraid that that man would want to buy her stunning birthday present that she'd gotten from Lucius, and what he would do to her if she refused...Madison thought she was being ridiculous.

Nevertheless the girls decided to go ice-skating on the Black Lake which had frozen solid over night, to get their minds off boys and jewels. It turned out that neither of them were accomplished skaters, as they spent more time sliding around on their bottoms than anything else. But they were having too much fun to be humiliated by the fact that first year Hufflepuffs where skating rings around them, and a large group of Gryffindors had gathered at the side to laugh at their expense. When the point came where neither Madison nor Narcissa could feel their fingers and toes (and bottoms) anymore, they trekked back inside and collapsed on the squashy leather couches in the Slytherin common room. A spotty little kid that Narcissa thought was in second year, came up to her and coughed lightly for her attention. "Eh, Miss Black? I've, um, got your mail here for you..." he squeaked, practically thrusting a parcel and two letters in her face before running off again.

Maddy giggled, "Kids these days...they'll do everything for you - even get your mail!"

Narcissa smiled slightly, looking at her mail, "Yeah, well...with all this studying I really don't have time to traipse around chasing after my letters and all. These days nobody sends stuff in time for breakfast anymore. Letter from mother." She waved an envelope at Maddy.

"What does it say?"

Narcissa ripped open the envelope and scanned the short message. "Ugh. She's asking if I'm coming home for Christmas, in a way that means I have to."

"Listen, you're of age now; you don't have to go if you don't want to! Stay here this year, I'm staying. After all it is our last chance to have the Hogwarts Christmas experience!"

"I think you're right." Narcissa agreed, opening the other letter which she knew to be from Lucius...

Dearest Narcissa,

It has now been a year since fate brought us together, and I cannot say with mere words of men how much I love and miss you. But I shall attempt to convey my feelings to you with the assistance of my humble quill and mind.

I miss your sparkling, clear eyes that are like pools in which the fish of beauty swim.

I miss your supple, plump lips which are like sweet summer cherries – ripe and glistening.

I miss your laugh that puts the silver bells of grace to shame.

I miss your cheeks, that are like the inside of a new rose – clear, soft, pure and yet warm and full of life.

In short, for my vocabulary is simply inadequate to describe the beauty that is you, I miss you, my lovely.

If you were to count all the snowflakes that fall from the skies and all the stars that watch over us, then you would know just a fraction of how much I love you.

Merry Christmas, my heart,

Forever yours, Lucius M.

P.S. I regret to tell you, with the deepest sorrow in my heart, that we shall remain parted for your Christmas holidays as I'm simply kept too busy here to come by for a visit. Forgive me, dearest Narcissa.

Narcissa smiled down at the letter. Merlin, who knew that Lucius could become such a romantic? Though it was a shame that she wouldn't be seeing him for Christmas...

Narcissa had eventually gotten around to ripping open her parcel (which was also from Luce) which had contained her Christmas and Anniversary presents. She'd decided to wait to open the Christmas ones, but figured that a week didn't matter so she opened her Anniversary ones. He'd gotten her three different types of perfume, a cashmere jumper and enough Chocolate Frogs and Cloudwhisp to feed a third world country. Oh, he knew her too well.

The rest of the evening was spent sprawled in front of the fireplace, warming their frozen toes and gorging on the sweets.

This is why Narcissa loved Winter.

December

Despite the somewhat eerie emptiness of the halls, Narcissa found it to be the warmest atmosphere she'd ever experienced within the walls of Hogwarts. In an attempt to evade her family for as long as possible, and so, the unavoidable arguments about the usual issues and the Sirius-being-a-Gryffindor-thing, she'd decided to remain at Hogwarts over Christmas for the first time ever. Regulus, Andy and Sirius had done the same, but not entirely without difficulty and many a flaming howler sent from home.

On Christmas morning, Andromeda, Regulus, Maddy and Narcissa had gathered as the only remaining Slytherins in the common room and exchanged gifts and what was left of the food that Regulus had smuggled in from the kitchens the night before. They'd tried to coax little Sirius into the common room with them, but he wasn't having any of it. He'd told them he'd rather spend Christmas morning with his friends in Gryffindor than with them. Regulus, Narcissa knew, was more upset by this than he was letting on. Him and Sirius had definitely grown apart in the last months; so much so that they barely even looked at each other when passing in the hallways. It was a sad thing to witness, because despite the niggling and teasing, the two brothers had once been incredibly close. But apparently House rivalry was just as destructive.

Nevertheless, Narcissa was hell-bent on nothing ruining her final Christmas as a Hogwarts student.

The group of Slytherins had eventually made it down to breakfast, which had possibly been the oddest thing Narcissa had ever experienced. Ever. She wasn't sure if she should feel amused or mentally scarred at the sight of Dumbledore swaying on the table with streamers in his beard and a paper hat on his head, singing outrageous versions of muggle and wizarding Christmas songs alike. It was cause for the occasional giggle though.

Sirius had pretty much avoided them for the entire day; choosing, instead, to have a massive snowball fight with his roommates beside the Black Lake. Andromeda, who had wanted to join in and was rejected, spent the afternoon trailing Narcissa and Madison bitching viciously about Gryffindors.

And yet, despite the hostility sizzling in her family, Narcissa had one of the best Christmases she'd ever had. There was plenty of warmth, food and laughter to go around to melt even McGonagall's steely exterior; who ended the day dancing some old fashioned Christmas waltz with Slughorn to Flitwick's musical ministrations.

January

Maddy slammed her head down on the table and groaned loud enough to cause several heads to turn their way. The holidays were over and the teachers had decided to become particularly mean about homework. They piled it on non-stop, disregarding the fact that the other teachers were doing so too. Merlin forbid they should set less, because their subject was obviously the most important. Obviously.

"I hate Arithmancy!" she wailed, gaining her a sharp shush from Madam Pince, the stuffy librarian. "Arithmancy is evil! EVIL!"

Narcissa snorted, "Are you kidding me? I'd swap Arithmancy for Transfiguration any day! The amount McGonagall's giving us has got to be illegal!" she complained, awkwardly trying to measure out five and three quarters feet of parchment for an essay due in first thing tomorrow morning.

"I wonder what mother would say if I just dropped out of school now...do you think she'd still let me have my inheritance?" Madison mused, looking out the window at the grey slush lying in unattractive clumps on the fresh grass.

"I think your mother would personally hang you from the attic beams and whack you with the knobbly stick if you quit school." Narcissa answered matter-of-factly, using a quick slicing charm to cut her parchment.

The rest of January was spent in much the same way; the only pleasant distraction from the endless studying for their N.E.W.T.s being the occasional letter from their boyfriends.

February

February meant Valentine's day. But what use was it when you practically lived in a nunnery? That was Maddy's opinion, anyway. If you're basically alone on Valentine's day, it really has no other meaning than to put you in a depressed and grumpy mood.

All around them, red roses and chocolates fluttered; none of which were meant for Madison or Narcissa. Hogwarts on the 14th of February was as torturous for them, as it was for a recovering alcoholic in a brewery. It was a snog-fest in which they weren't allowed to participate. Being at Hogwarts without their boyfriends in general (but especially on Valentine's day) was like living in a nunnery. No hit guys they were allowed to go near, no making out in abandoned classrooms, no sex in broom closets, nothing. Dead turkey.

No, the girls did not have fun in February. Not at all.

March

March was a little better than February. The school emptied for the holidays, but Narcissa and Maddy stayed back again. As per usual, the teachers gave them an unholy amount of homework to complete over Easter. This was not unexpected, but still did not bode well.

"Having fun?" Regulus smirked, plopping down next to them on the dewy grass.

Maddy shot him a glare, shifting on the picnic blanked she was sharing with Narcissa, "You'd better wipe that smug grin off your face, Regulus Arcturus Black; next year, this will be you."

"I shall never open a textbook in my life!" he said, lying down on the grass, staring up at the somewhat cloudy sky. "Ahhh..I just love holidays!" he sighed loudly. "No responsibility."
"You don't have any anyway." Narcissa cut in, looking up from her Charms notes.

"No worries..." he continued.

"You don't have them either."

"...No homework." He smiled slightly.

"You never do yours."

"Very true, but holidays just gives me another excuse not to. It works even better than Quidditch practise."

"You're lucky that you don't have McGonagall teaching you, she'd have you sorted out in a jiffy!" Maddy laughed, running her fingers through her tangled hair.

As Narcissa's chuckles subsided, a first year Hufflepuff came jogging up, panting like Slughorn after a flight of stairs. He stood spluttering in front of Madison, trying to catch his breath. Regulus raised a dark eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes?" Maddy asked finally.

"Uh, eh, letter...for you...Miss Parkinson" the boy gasped, holding out a slightly crumpled envelope.

Now it was Narcissa's turn to raise her eyebrows, "Copying my mail delivery service, I see..."

"Well it's a good idea!" Maddy laughed, ripping open the envelope.

"Wait!" Regulus practically shouted, rolling onto his stomach. "You can get the little ones to get your mail?" he asked wide eyed. "How the hell did I never come up with that...Merlin, that would save me so much time that I could spend on the Pitch."

"Forget it, Romeo," Narcissa smiled smugly, "they'll only do it for seventh years. And anyway, you're not imposing enough to make such demands."

"And you are?" Regulus scoffed.

Narcissa and Regulus nearly jumped out of their skins as Maddy gave a high pitched shriek.

"Merlin, woman, control your vocal chords!" Regulus said, sitting up.

"You will not believe this." Madison addressed Narcissa, "My brother's wife just gave birth...I had no idea she was even pregnant!"

"That's school for you: affairs back at home just pass over you." Regulus said, but his words were nearly drowned out by Narcissa's loud squeal of delight.

"Maddy! You're an auntie!"

"I Know! It's a little girl...Pansy! Her name's Pansy!"

"Awww! That's such an adorable name!" Narcissa quivered with excitement.

"Merlin..." Regulus said slowly, "Pansy? Really? Poor kid..."

That comment resulted in him being bombarded with multiple heavy textbooks and a string of unprintable curses from the two excited girls.

April

The ceiling of the Great Hall was swirling with angry grey clouds and the occasional burst of light mimicking a flash of lightning outside. April in Scotland was a wet experience to say the least.

The huge doors swung open just in time for a rip of thunder, and Regulus Black came stumbling in looking more like a drowned rat than anything else. Narcissa looked down the Slytherin table in confusion; she knew that Regulus had a rather large group of fan girls, but basically all females in her house were currently drooling over her sopping cousin. Even Madison, she discovered to her utter horror. "Maddy, for Merlin's sake!" she gave her best friend a sharp nudge in the rips to wake her from her crazy trance.

"Sorry." She muttered, looking down at her porridge.

"Morning, ladies." Regulus grinned, sliding into the opposite seat.

Narcissa scowled, "Don't you have friends? You know, people who you can sit with at breakfast..."

"Pfft. Friends are totally overrated, my dearest cousin." He said, casually taking a green apple and biting into it slowly. He smirked.

"Will you stop that!" Narcissa gave him a good kick in the leg under the table.

"Stop what?" he asked innocently, flicking his wet hair out of his eyes.

"Giving your little fan club a wet and fruity show!"

A sly grin slid over his features as he let his smouldering gaze shift down the table, wet strands falling into his dark eyes.

"Manwhore..." Narcissa muttered under her breath.

"That's not appropriate language for the birthday girl." He teased.

"Shut up and go back outside to practice. It would do us all a world of good."

"Gladly, my dear." He smiled pleasantly, getting up and grabbing his broom.

Taking a slow, sensual bite out of his apple to make sure that all eyes were on him, he bellowed across the hall, "It's Narcissa Black's eighteenth birthday today guys! She really wants you all to sing her a nice birthday song!"

As people started to come towards her to wish her a happy birthday, Regulus turned on his heel with a last wink for his cousin.

"Bastard!" she shouted after his retreating figure.

"I think I like him a lot better when he's wet..." Madison said quietly.

"Shut up.."

May

May had passed in a whirl of parchment, quills and sticky black ink. Before any of the seventh years knew it, the last week came crashing down upon them like a smothering wave of panic and serious last-minute cramming. It was early in the morning, while everyone was still munching groggily at their toast with honey and jam, when the Heads of Houses decided to hand out the exam timetable to their N.E.W.T students. Madison let out the loudest groan ever as she scanned the piece of wrinkly parchment.

"In the name of fucking Salazar! Have you seen this Cissy?" she practically screamed, jabbing her spoon at her timetable, "Our Transfiguration Practical is in an hour! An HOUR!"

Narcissa nearly spat out her toast, she was coughing so much, her eyes wide. "What! But I still need to cram! I have no idea how to transfigure an iguana into a walking picture frame!"

"Do you think I know how to do any of the stuff we'll have to do? I'm so screwed!"

"Me too!" Narcissa whimpered, gathering up her stuff and dashing from the hall; not unlike many of her classmates were doing.

What felt like only minutes later, Narcissa was standing in front of her examiner, waving her wand helplessly around. The plump ministry official raised his eyebrows as Narcissa gave the lazy iguana lying before her on the table, a futile poke with her wand. Nothing happened and the iguana stayed an iguana.

This was not Narcissa's day at all...

June

The classic British clouds had decided to take a day off and had let the sun have full reign over the Hogwarts grounds. Maddy and Narcissa lay on the warm grass staring up at the periwinkle sky, enjoying their last few hours as students without a care in the world.

"It's odd..." Narcissa breathed.

"What's odd?"

"Well...this time tomorrow Hogwarts won't be our home anymore. It'll just be a school we once went to; just a bunch of distant memories that'll be covered with dust over time."

There was a long pause; then: "Hogwarts will always be our home. It's our family. It's our identity. It's our friend and companion. Hogwarts...Hogwarts is our childhood. It's everything. It's the foundation of our life..."

"Wow, Maddy, I think that's the deepest and most meaningful thing I've ever hear you say."

And it was the most deep and meaningful thing Narcissa would ever hear her friend say, until the end of their days.

The next morning flew by and before they knew it, Maddy and Narcissa were successful graduates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And who was there to embrace them when they walked off stage with their official papers tightly clutched in their hands? - Luce and Finn, of course. Nothing could be better.

AN: Maddy's speech about Hogwarts had me blubbering like Neville during Potions :') Yes, dearies, as Jo said: "Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home." ...How right she is. As always.

Anyhoo, I hope you liked this extra long chapter in celebration on reaching the tenth chapter mark! It is not yet the end of the story guys, so stay tuned for the next chappy (which will most definitely not be as long as this one, I assure you!) In the words of Reggy: Cheerio!