AN: The cursive parts are taken directly from PS, page 329.
End of Term
The exams arrived more quickly than anyone had thought. I had done everything I could think of to prepare properly but I was still very nervous. My own nervousness was nothing compared to Dora's though. Her entire career depended on the marks she'd achieve in her NEWT examinations. I hoped for the best even though I had to admit that I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of Dora becoming an Auror. It was an extremely dangerous job and I wasn't sure if I liked what they were doing. I knew now that my parents deserved to be in prison but it would have been possible to use a prison system that was less cruel than Azkaban guarded by the Dementors. I also remembered the fight where my parents had been caught and I had been injured. It had probably been an accident but I still didn't like the idea of Aurors.
The weather was extremely hot as well. Mandy and Lisa predicted that it would surely be cold and rainy again when the holidays finally started. I didn't know about that but now we had to sit our exams in very hot classrooms. There were practical and theoretical exams for every subject, well almost. In History of Magic and Defence Against the Dark Arts there were no practical exams even though it would have made sense in DADA.
For Charms, we had to make a Pineapple tapdance across his desk. Not really the most useful charm we had ever learned but it worked and that was the most important thing. At least as far as I was concerned. The tap dance was a bit too wild because of my nervousness but I didn't think Professor Flitwick minded that too much. He looked quite happy when I left so I hoped I had done alright. He was our Head of House after all.
For Transfiguration, turning a mouse into a snuff box was the thing we were set. I had bad memories of this particular lesson and got very nervous when I started my work. In the end, the snuff box still had fur but at least, the mouse hadn't suffered any pain. I hoped I'd get enough points to pass even though I wasn't sure. Maybe the theoretical part would help me; I had spent lots of time revising for it because I had hoped it might help me get better with the practical work as well.
For Potions, we had to make the Forgetfulness Potion. It was supposed to make the drinker forgetful. I couldn't think of any situation where this could be useful but I was still rather glad that we were assigned this potion. It had been the only one where Neville had been able to sense the magic involved properly. My nervousness was completely gone while I worked on my potion. Preparing the ingredients properly and adding the right amount at the right time required so much concentration that I didn't have time to feel worried. In the end, my potion looked exactly the way it was supposed to be. Potions was the first subject where I was completely certain that I had done well.
I walked out of this exam feeling like bouncing up and down but I kept myself from doing that for the others' sake. Mandy, Padma and Lisa all feared that they might have failed this exam. I didn't feel too sorry for them though. They all had transfigured very pretty snuff boxes without any trace of fur.
Our Herbology exam was about re-potting daisies, not exactly the most difficult thing I had ever done. Draco Malfoy still managed to drop his plant because he had put his hand into the dragon dung fertilizer though. He was lucky though. It survived the fall. I was certain that he would lose points for this though.
The last exam was History of Magic. This wasn't difficult at all because Binns only asked random facts which we had learned by heart. The exam wasn't any more interesting than his class but we were sure that we had all passed. Afterwards, everyone was jubilant because we had finished the exams and could finally enjoy the nice weather. Only Harry Potter looked rather sickly. Maybe he had caught Dragon Pox as well. I was completely healthy again though and my magic seemed to have returned to normal as well. Now we had to wait a week until we got our results and then the holidays would be there. Holidays with the Tonks family. I was really looking forward to this. This time, I wouldn't be ill again I was sure.
The following days were free of lessons or any other obligations. It was still quite warm and sunny so we could spend lots of time outside. No one dared to approach the shady forest though. Dangerous animals were supposed to live there and no Ravenclaw was interested in finding out if this was true. We preferred theoretical research in such cases. Still, I felt quite happy again. The traces of my illness had vanished and I felt as fit as I had before. Most of the marks on my skin were gone as well and I knew I would be immune to Dragon Pox from now on.
Dora let me fly on her broomstick a few times now that she didn't have to practice for Quidditch anymore. It was much more fun than the shaky school brooms and I was looking forward to more flying during the holidays. Maybe there would be a chance for me to get a broom of my own as well. It didn't have to be an expensive one but it was quite possible that they sold second hand brooms as well. My mother probably wouldn't have minded, she had been playing for Slytherin herself after all.
My thoughts of leaving the wizarding world were almost completely forgotten and Mandy too didn't seem to want this anymore. "I do think we belong here now," she said as we were sitting together by the edge of the lake. "Most people don't seem to mind that I'm Muggle-born either. And those who do don't matter that much. Hardly anyone likes the Slytherins and how they win in their unfair way."
"Well, maybe next year, someone else will win," I said. "Maybe us. I'll do my best."
Neville's Potions exam obviously hadn't gone as well as I had hoped. We came across each other behind the Greenhouses where I had walked with Dora's broom after a bit of flying.
"I don't know, I was just too nervous," he said when I asked him about it. "I forgot everything in the practical exam."
I suppressed a sigh. "You were able to make this potion when we practiced," I said. "That means you are able to do it. It's just your nervousness. Maybe it will get better with time."
"I hope so. At least, I think I did okay in the theoretical exam," Neville said.
"Good. That's something. The rest will come in time," I told him. I hoped this was true. The lack of success I had had with my efforts was frustrating but I knew he was trying hard. I just needed to be patient.
"We'll keep this up of course," I told him.
He needed to stop being scared of Snape but I couldn't help him much with that. I had never really feared this teacher but that was probably because I didn't have the bad experiences Neville had. I was used to the idea of teachers being people who were relatively trustworthy and had to live up to certain standards. In the wizarding world, his didn't seem to be a sure thing.
Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger ended up in the Hospital Wing severely weakened and Professor Quirrell didn't turn up at mealtime anymore afterwards. No one really knew what had been going on but everyone was talking about it. Madam Pomfrey didn't allow people to go into the Hospital Wing and question Potter which was very sensible in my opinion. If you were ill, you didn't want countless people asking silly questions, I knew this very well.
If the rumours were true, Quirrell had been in league with Voldemort himself and they had attempted to steal a Philosopher's Stone that was hidden in Hogwarts in the forbidden corridor where we had heard the growling noise on our way to Astronomy class. Potter and his friends had gone after them and there had been some sort of fight where Quirrell had died. Mandy and I wanted to believe that these rumours were extremely exaggerated. I knew that it wasn't completely impossible though. Snape had warned me of Voldemort and his supporters. According to him, they weren't gone completely and I was inclined to believe him. Maybe he had even known what was going on with Quirrell. I didn't understand why the teachers hadn't taken care of it themselves in this case though. Boy-Who-Lived or not, children our age weren't supposed to fight for their life. In the Muggle world, this would have been a huge scandal.
I really hoped it wasn't normal here. I didn't feel up to fighting. Defence Against the Dark Arts had been a complete joke. I had learned nothing in this class, well except for the idea that vampires were scared of garlic which I had heard before. Aunt Andromeda didn't have a chance to teach me anything either because I had been ill all holiday. In the summer holidays we weren't supposed to do magic or so I had heard. This meant we wouldn't be able to practice either.
"Next year, we really should try to learn how to defend ourselves better," I said to Mandy. "If the stuff they're saying is true..."
"Yes, you're right. Maybe we'll get a better defence teacher then," Mandy hoped. "Quirrell's obviously gone now and it can't really get worse, can it?"
"Well, I wouldn't be sure about that," I said. "It seems to be really hard to find people for this job. Dora says people believe it is cursed so that everyone can only stay for one year."
"This kind of thing is possible?" Mandy asked.
"I'm not sure. Aunt Andromeda seems to believe it though. That's why she doesn't want to apply herself. She could have done so now that her daughter has finished school but she doesn't want to risk it. She's a Slytherin after all, Dora says."
"Harry is really brave though, isn't he," Mandy asked. "He went to stop You-Know-Who himself even though he didn't have more training than we did. He knew he might die and he still did it."
"Yes. Maybe he thought he could win against him again after he has done it before," I said. I didn't know how Harry Potter had been able to do this. Maybe he had received some special training the rest of us didn't have. Or he really did have some special power. We still didn't really know what was possible with magic.
"I'm not sad about getting away from all of this for a while now," Mandy said. I noticed that this sounded completely different from what she had said two days ago. "A bit of rest and being safe without dangerous things lurking in every corner."
The free days passed surprisingly quickly and soon, the day of the end-of-year-feast had come. The Great Hall was completely decorated in Slytherin colours and a huge banner with the Slytherin serpent was hanging behind the High Table. Snape looked quite satisfied as he sat there.
Most people from other houses weren't very happy about Slytherin's victory and the smug behaviour of the Slytherins didn't make it any better. I had to admit that I did like the colours green and silver and I thought that snakes were rather fascinating animals. At the rare occasions when we went to the zoo with the school or the orphanage, I had spent lots of time watching them. Blue and bronze in the Great Hall would have been even better though and I liked birds of prey much more than snakes. We had visited a falconry once as well and the falcons had really fascinated me. No matter what else, I couldn't complain about my family's heraldic animal. Maybe next year, Ravenclaw would make it.
"Look, Harry Potter's here," Padma whispered to us and looked over at the Gryffindor people. A few others were craning their necks as well to catch a glimpse of the most famous student of the school. I fought my curiosity back. Staring at someone like this was rather rude and he probably felt quite uncomfortable with it.
A few moments later, Professor Dumbledore got up to make his speech. He announced the awarding of the House Cup and read out how many points we had received. Ravenclaw wasn't that far behind Slytherin. The Slytherins broke into applause and cheering when Dumbledore announced their points.
The Headmaster praised the Slytherins rather half-heartedly before announcing that "recent events" had to be taken into account. "He'll give Potter and the others extra-points," Lisa predicted before Dumbledore actually started to do just that.
The Gryffindors broke into wild applause when Ron Weasley was awarded fifty points and it grew even louder when Hermione Granger got the same amount and Harry Potter sixty points. People at our table and at the Hufflepuff table started cheering loudly as well. Slytherin really seemed to be hated. If they all acted like Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson, it wasn't very surprising. The whole thing was really exciting.
"Gryffindor and Slytherin have the same amount of points now!" Mandy had to shout to make me hear this over the noise around us even though we were sitting next to each other.
Dumbledore raised his hand. He obviously wanted to say something else. It took a while until people had fallen silent again. Everyone looked at him curiously. Would there be two House Cup winners this year? Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad idea. Gryffindors and Slytherins seemed to really hate each other. Quite possible that the teachers thought they should learn to share.
"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal or bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom."
The noise coming from the Gryffindor table now was almost deafening. I started to clap wildly as well a wide smile on my face. Neville had won the crucial points for his house's victory. Maybe that would finally give him some self-confidence. He probably didn't notice me though with all his fellow Gryffindors trying to hug him.
Dumbledore changed the decoration form Slytherin green and silver to Gryffindor red and gold with a wave of his hand. The serpent was replaced by a lion now. I never understood other people's fascination with these animals but this didn't really matter at the moment. Neville had at least won one final victory and Slytherin unfairness hadn't been successful after all.
The food was as good and luxurious as it had been at the beginning of the year. It had really passed though quickly, I thought. I remembered very well how I had arrived here, knowing nothing about my family and the magical world. Now I knew where I came from and who my parents were even though I would have preferred if it had been different. At least, I also knew that Neville's behaviour towards me hadn't had anything to do with some mistake I had made and we were getting along really well now. I hadn't won any great battles and I didn't do anything brave but I had made it through the school year quite well.
Now I could enjoy the delicious food. The Tonks weren't exactly poor but they couldn't afford this kind of thing.
"I'm not sure what I'm going to tell the others," Mandy said. "They'll probably have so many questions and I can't really tell them anything."
I couldn't really answer this. I had written letters for Andy and Aurora where I told them a few things that sounded safe. I was going to tell Andy that my parents were in prison as well for a crime I didn't want to talk about. This was true even among wizards. I thought he should know that he wasn't the only one suffering this fate though.
When we walked back to our common room after the feast, I saw two girls with snake crests on their robes walking downwards holding hands and crying. I had seen them with Pansy Parkinson but I had never heard them insult others themselves. Both of them were relatively good in Herbology as well.
"It was pretty unfair how Professor Dumbledore did this," I said when we were out of earshot. "He could have awarded the points for Gryffindor earlier so they would have known before the celebration starts. Making them feel as if they had won and taking it away from them was quite mean."
It had been nice for Neville and the Gryffindors but the Slytherins weren't all mean and arrogant people either. Aunt Andromeda had been one of them after all and she was anything but.
"Well, Slytherin has won seven times in a row before," Morag McDougal said. She had an older sister who was in Hogwarts as well. "It was time that someone else finally made it."
The others agreed with that. I still thought that Dumbledore could have handled it differently. "I think it's pretty rough that the Slytherins have to live underground in the dungeons," I said. "No one really likes to live there, do they?"
"The Slytherins do I think," Lisa said. "Their taste is different. "Roger's sister Tracy isn't too happy about it though. She was one of those we just saw by the way. The one with the brown pigtails."
"She's the sister of Roger Davies?" I asked surprised.
"Yes, it's really odd, isn't it? No one understands why she's in Slytherin. She's even a half-blood. At least, they seem to leave her alone."
On the last day, we received our exam results. My nervousness returned but there wasn't really any need. I had passed Transfiguration though only just and I had done fairly well everywhere else. Charms, Herbology and Astronomy were rather good and Professor Snape very quietly informed me that I had been top of the year in Potions. I forced myself to keep my expression neutral as Snape told me so and he gave me an appreciative nod.
Poor Dora had to wait longer for her results though. The NEWTs underwent a rather complicated marking process and she would receive her results per owl during the summer holidays.
"At least, a few free weeks before I have to start to prepare for Auror training," she said. "I'm going to travel around Europe with some friends. Your cousin Roger will come as well."
Oh, so you won't be there at all," I said. I was a bit disappointed by this but it probably wasn't surprising that she wanted to put her free time to a good purpose and see something new.
The train ride home passed without any problems. The Hogwarts Express didn't seem to suffer from the same warmth-induced problems that often caused delays in Muggle trains. Padma and her family were going to visit India during the holidays because their parents wanted them to learn about the magical history of their country of origin. Padma was quite curious about that while Parvati would have preferred some rest over learning about magical history in the holidays.
Lisa and her family wanted to go to Cornwall without any magical goals. She would have preferred to travel abroad as well though. I had never been to another country before but I wasn't sure if I would have wanted to go this year. The magical world still felt like a foreign country to me and there was so much I had to learn about our own magical history before I wanted to face the next new thing.
It was strange how unused I had become to trousers and shirts after so much time spend wearing only robes. In the past, I had never worn anything else, well except for the occasional skirt or dress. At the Tonks', I would be allowed to wear robes most of the time though because we didn't have to interact with Muggles too much.
When we arrived at Platform 9 ¾ lots of parents and relatives were waiting for the students to come home. Mandy was going to be fetched by Ms Leakey who would wait for her on the Muggle platform. It was really nice of her to come here, I thought. Maybe she was curious as well. I didn't know how much she had been told. We hugged each other goodbye and promised to write many letters. The Tonks used the Muggle postal service as well, unlike many other magical families or so Andromeda had told me. Mandy would come to visit us for the last two weeks of the holidays. Then she slipped through the barrier which was now guarded by an elderly man who made sure that there weren't too many people arriving on the Muggle side at the same time.
I went looking for Aunt Andromeda and found her fairly quickly. Tall and proud-looking as she was, she tended to stand out. Dora's pink hair was hard to miss as well.
"Ted didn't get the day off work," she told me. "That's why he couldn't come. Muggles don't take the Hogwarts schedule into account of course."
"Well, we'll see Dad in the evening," Dora said.
We left the platform and blended in with the crowd of Muggles on their way to the trains on the normal platforms.
"Your grandmother sends her regards as well," Andromeda told me. "She wants you to come for a visit during the summer as well. You probably won't get around meeting your extended family then."
"The other Lestranges aren't that bad," Dora said. "Roger's really okay."
"I just hope they don't want Vivien to marry one of her cousins as family tradition demands," Aunt Andromeda said.
I hoped she was simply joking.
The idea of marriage made me rather uncomfortable and I didn't want to look at Andromeda at this moment. While looking around, I caught a quick glimpse of Neville with his grandmother who didn't succeed in dressing like a Muggle very convincingly. Neville quickly waved into our direction when his grandmother was busy looking elsewhere. Andromeda however noticed. "So the relationship between you and Neville Longbottom has improved? How so?"
"Well, we've talked to each other at the hospital and he's actually really nice," I told her. "I tried to help him with Potions but it hasn't helped that much so far. He's always too nervous when Snape's around."
Andromeda coughed. "You're not supposed to mention your subjects here," she whispered to me. "Anyway, I'm glad that you're making an effort there."
We left the station and got into the Tonks' car. In there, she asked me about my exams which I could tell her about without feeling ashamed.
Dora shook her head, grinning. "Top of the year in Potions. Are you really sure we're related?"
"You got an Outstanding there as well, didn't you? Well anyway, it's probably coming from her father's side. The Blacks tended to be more interested in fighting than in Potions."
"She didn't have a chance to show her talent there," Dora said. "Quirrell made sure of that. Did you know he was in league with You-Know-Who?"
The rest of the journey to the Tonks' home was spent discussing the events surrounding the Philosopher's Stone. I kept relatively silent because I didn't know too much about it. I shared the hope that we would get a better DADA-teacher next year though.