Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Sadly I am not related to J.K. Rowling, so I get nothing but enjoyment for writing this story.

"Talk"

'Thought'

"Phoenix telepathy"

~ quotes from the book ~

~~ letters or notes ~~

A/N: I cannot thank all of you enough that sent me positive reviews on my last chapter. There will be a lot more open affection between Harry and Luna now but not enough that they run off alone or drive the others away. I couldn't wait to get this out for you all, except for life and my muse being stubborn. I hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful day.

To those that noticed Chapter 1 seemed incomplete, you are right, half the chapter was lost at some point. So as to not mess up the chapter order, that issue will be resolved when I rewrite this after completion. Thank you all for your understanding.

In the coming days, their friends were happy for them. Harry and Luna spent their time closer to each other, randomly grabbing the other's hand or leaning on each other. They set aside time each day just to cuddle and kiss, though they kept snogging to a minimum for the comfort of their friends. Ron was disgruntled seeing Harry and Luna act lovey-dovey, but was happy it at least wasn't his sister being kissed and cuddled with. Ron did however begin taking more of a notice of Hermione, though didn't notice it himself, let alone hope to understand his feelings and act on them.

The rest of February sped along, with Harry, Luna, Neville, and Ron reviewing the spells they had learned that year from the school books while Hermione finished the year's course with the extra classes. It took her near the end of the month for her to finish, much to her irritation, due to her friends forcing her to take breaks when they noticed her becoming too stressed while she studied. At one point she was so bad, the other four all hit her with a Cheering Charm at the same time, not realizing the others were doing the same, resulting in her being unable to focus for hours. She then ranted at them all for several more hours after the charms had worn off.

Once Hermione had nothing more she could learn from the course books for their year, she insisted they all take mock exams of what they learned. Much to everyone else's annoyance and Hermione's amusement, the Room provided the exams after she mentioned them. It was to Hermione's amazement and slight annoyance that they all got perfect scores, including Luna, who had taken both second- and third-year's tests. Luna just smiled at Hermione's reaction to her exam results.

After seeing Hermione's reaction, Luna decided to be nice and request the books needed for next year's courses. Hermione squealed and hugged Luna before opening the first book. Hermione would ignore them for the rest of the night, silently muttering what she was reading. Her friends just chuckled and smiled at her, aware of her habits, and got back to their hobbies and personal studies.

On March 1st, they celebrated Ron's birthday. During the day, Ron received a box of sweets from his parents, the twins gave him a box of Honeydukes chocolate and prank products from Zonko's, and Percy gave Ron 14 Galleons for his fourteenth birthday. That evening, Harry gave Ron an enchanted Quaffle so he could practice for his desired position, Luna gave Ron a magical painting of himself painted as a flyer for the Chudley Cannons, Hermione gave him a statistics book for the Chudley Cannons, and Neville gave Ron an orange and red plant that gave off a relaxing scent.

And, Dobby had brought up a massive cake. It was marble flavored, colored in Chudley Cannon colors with a tub of ice-cream for each of them from Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour. Ron thanked each of them and hugged Dobby when he brought the cake, causing Dobby to blush brilliantly before popping away. Much to Hermione's chagrin, they spent that night as one long birthday party for Ron, barely sparing the time to do their assignments for the day. Ron's new Quaffle got a good workout, with the Snitch hiding behind a reading Hermione while the others played.

The days moved on after that, till Professor McGonagall's least favorite day for the past five years. April 1st; Fred, and George Weasley's birthday. Each year they somehow managed to get ahold of a large supply of prank products and chose this day to let loose their stored-up mischief. The worst part for Professor McGonagall, was that she couldn't reprimand them more than usual because when she tried that the first two years, two Howlers showed up in the Great Hall the next morning; one berating the boys for their mischief and one berating her for 'trying ruin their special day!' With the second one being much more colorful. This year, though, was going to take the cake so far.

Fred and George, after Luna's reveal of their identities, had approached their idols for ideas for this year's celebrations, leading to a soft smile from Professor Lupin and Sirius meeting them in Hogsmeade one weekend shortly before their birthday. Zonko's had a very good day, and every teacher, except Lupin, felt a chill go down their spines. On the first of April of that year, Hogwarts saw the activation on Zonko's entire stock of pranks go off in one day. The only ones safe were Professor Lupin and Harry's group. It was part of the deal for the help and the look Luna gave them that day before they started made them rethink the day for a minute.

They had detention with Professor Lupin for a month, with Professor McGonagall scowling at them every day for the rest of the year. They didn't mind, though; along with getting their assignments done, they were allowed to study one of Remus's old journal's after getting one assignment done each night.

After coming back to the school from training all day, *cough* hiding from the twins' *cough*, Oliver Wood berated them for getting so much detention and pushed the rest of the Quidditch team harder than ever, practicing every day an hour before classes and two hours after, with the twins detentions after dinner. This was his last chance at the Quidditch Cup and he was desperate for the win. They only had two weeks, and Oliver pushed them to their limits.

The day before the match, Oliver had them all going through drills on the ground before reluctantly allowing them to leave early. Alicia was voted by the others to make Oliver see reason and she argued they needed to be fresh for the game, not fatigued with their heads stuffed with plans.

And so it was that the Gryffindor Lions decimated the other team and won the game 230 to 20, winning the game and that year's Quidditch Cup. Oliver broke down in tears when it was announced and hugged his team before hugging the cup so tightly he almost broke it.

With the Quidditch Cup claimed, the whole school buckled down to studies and raced towards the end of year exams. Hermione nearly panicked and tried to force the group into revisions along with their assignments but they all pulled out their mock exams and forced the graded tests before Hermione and threatened to all Cheering Charm her again before she backed off contritely and began to study harder. "Good thing she only must focus on assignments. If she had any more stress to add to that she might burn out," Harry said, with the rest nodding. Luna gave a knowing smile and nod.

FG

Early June came, and with them the end of year exams. Monday morning was the Transfiguration exam, where the third-years had to transfigure several materials and finished with turning teapots into tortoises. Harry and his friends all passed with no trouble, before returning to their commons to wait for the next exam that afternoon, Charms. The Charms exam for third-year went over several older charms, ending with the Cheering Charm. Harry, Neville, and Ron all had no trouble with the charm, having needed to use it on Hermione a dozen times each on a very stressed Hermione. Professor Flitwick had to thaw out his test room several times as Harry and his friends were very skillful with the Glacius charm.

On Tuesday, the first exam was Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid had them all take care of flobberworms, while randomly asking the students questions on the creatures they had gone over the year. He made a sure to ask Pansy Parkinson about Hippogriffs, much to her embarrassment; her father had indeed heard about the incident in their first class, while he had sent a strongly worded letter to Hagrid about starting the students off on a class XXX magical creature Pansy had received a loud and visual lesson on Hippogriffs when she returned for Yule that winter. She didn't miss a single question about Hippogriffs.

Tuesday afternoon saw the third-year students taking their Potion exams. Professor Snape had smirked when he informed the students they would be brewing Confusing Concoction. While most of their year had trouble, except for the Slytherins, Harry and his friends had no trouble brewing the potion perfectly. Professor Snape sneered at the four and their potions before making a note and telling them to leave. That night, the third-years had their Astronomy exam, needing to correctly fill out a star chart that was half filled. It was one of the few things the Room couldn't help them with. Fortunately, they had Harry's gift for them to help them study, the Astronomy globes. They again passed with ease.

Wednesday brought History of Magic for their morning exam. It was the hardest exam for most, who only listened to half of Binn's lectures before falling asleep and never read ahead. Fortunately for Harry and his friends, they all had strong Occlumency and had read the book twice over before moving on to the next year's, since the course hadn't changed since Binn's had died. A quarter of the test was on the witch burnings and their prominent witches and wizards that were caught. Several times in the case of Wendelin the Weird.

Wednesday afternoon found the third-year students in the Greenhouses for their Herbology exam. The students had to repot several plants and harvest magical seeds. Neville shone during this exam while the others had no trouble.

Thursday morning, it was time for the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam. Professor Lupin had set up an obstacle course of dark creatures which included wading across a deep paddling pool containing a Grindylow, a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squishing your way across a patch of marsh ignoring the misleading directions of a Hinkypunk, then climbing into an old trunk and battling a Boggart. One look at the course terrified the whole class.

Harry and his friends managed to finish with ease, but Professor Lupin wisely made Harry go last. Harry easily passed the Grindylow, Red Caps, Hinkypunk, but when he entered the trunk, the exam lost one of its creatures. The Boggart made the mistake of turning into a dead Luna Lovegood. Harry didn't give this one the chance he'd given the last; he set it ablaze with Phoenix Fire. Harry climbed out of the trunk, glared at Professor Lupin, and crossed the finish line before returning to the castle. Realizing what had happened, his friends rushed after him, leaving a stunned and fearful Professor Lupin as he watched the trunk with the Boggart burn.

By the time Harry's friends caught up to him, he was on the seventh floor. They were about to call out to him when he quick-step opened the Room, entered, and shut the door before the door disappeared. They tried to get into the room, but the door wouldn't appear for them. Just as they were getting worried, Luna walked up behind them with a thunderous look on her neutral face. They got out of her way as she was about to push right through them before she quick-stepped in front of the wall and put her hand on it as she reached it. The shape of the same door Harry had just entered glowed on the wall before opening inward. Luna rushed in, and as the rest of his friends tried to join them, the door slammed shut and disappeared.

The others frowned, but after trying what Luna had done with no results, they made their way to lunch. There were still three more exams between the group and they needed to replenish their stamina after Professor Lupin's exam. Reluctantly, they left the seventh-floor hallway, hoping Luna could help their friend and what she would do in response to Professor Lupin's Boggart test.

fg

Luna entered the Room to find it in their usual configuration, but everything was in tatters. Harry was in the middle of the Room trying to meditate, but his emotions would not settle, causing his magic to lash out at everything around him. Luna sighed and walked up to him, the magic swirling around Harry allowing her to pass. When she finally reached him she knelt next to him and put an arm around him.

Luna's arm around him startled Harry, couldn't his friends realize he needed a moment to calm down?! When Harry opened his eyes to glare at whoever was distracting him from trying to calm down, only to see Luna's kind and understanding eyes, Harry burst into tears and hugged her tight. Luna just hugged him back and ran her fingers through his messy hair.

Twenty minutes later, after Harry had cried himself out and gotten control of his emotions, he remembered having sealed the door after entering. "Luna, how did you get in here? I remember sealing the room," Harry asked. Luna sighed slightly and looked up before answering.

"I can't tell you that Harry, not yet. When you can see the ceiling of this room, you will have your answer." Luna looked back at Harry, smiled, and said, "Sorry."

Harry just sighed and nodded, knowing he wouldn't get any answers from Luna she wasn't willing to give. She said he would have his answers, just not yet. Luna cleaned them both up and led Harry towards the door, they still had time for lunch. She hoped there would be some pudding.

Harry, seeing the look in Luna's eye, chuckled, and said, "You know, Luna, if you wanted pudding when there isn't any, you could just ask Dobby."

Luna gave him a thoughtful look before smirking and giving his arm a light smack. "If I did that, I'd have pudding every day and get fat. Sadly, I must decline that very tempting offer." They both chuckled before Luna took hold of his left arm and led them down to the Great Hall.

fg

Half an hour later, Harry and Luna walked into the Great Hall, their postures much more relaxed. They quickly joined their friends at the Gryffindor table and loaded up their plates for lunch. Their friends wanted to ask about what had happened, but a look from Luna and the expression in Harry's eyes told them to leave it for now. As everyone ate, Luna still held Harry's hand as she had been since they entered.

That afternoon, the exams for Divination and Muggle Studies were taken, with Ancient Runes and Arithmancy exams to close out the week and end of year exams for third- and fourth-year students. While Neville and Ron still had Divination, Luna and the rest had a free period, so went up to the Room to hang out, leaving the time magic off so that their friends could join once they were done. Luna wrote a letter to her father and had Dobby deliver it when they got there. By the time Neville and Ron joined them, Dobby had popped back with a nod of his head to her.

They spent the afternoon studying their notes for those who still had two more exams to go. The group studied till dinner before cracking down for one more night of intense studying. Friday morning came and with-it, Ancient Runes. The Ancient Runes exam was the equivalent of an alphabet test and an essay about rune clusters. Professor Babbling was beaming at Harry as he left her class to allow Hermione in.

After lunch came Arithmancy, which turned out to be a large math test and an essay on the make -p of first year charms. Professor Vector gave Harry a soft smile as he turned in his exams and looked through them. The test was too large to grade with a skim, but she saw no wrong answers and even some thoughtful answers on his essays. She gave him a quiet "good job" before placing his exam on her desk. Harry had been the first of his group to finish, and she suggesting he run along. Hermione, though clearly not as relaxed as Harry had been, turned in her essay ten minutes later and hurried after Harry with a kind nod from Professor Vector.

Hermione was stressing about how she had done; she was sure that she had failed all her exams. All her friends just sighed and shook their heads. After Hermione had gone on for over a minute, they pulled their wands and motioned them at her warningly. She flinched and blushed before apologizing. She took a deep breath, let it out, and forced a smile on her face. She really didn't want to get hit with four Cheering Charms at once again. Her friends all gave her a knowing look but smirked and continued walking.

FG

Over the next week, while those students not taking their O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s waited for their exams to be graded, Harry and his friends spent their time either on the grounds or in the Room during the night. Their time in the room was reduced to only half the speed the outside world was moving at so they could enjoy their hobbies and get the long hours of sleep they had all become accustomed to. What teenager wouldn't love to sleep for twelve hours straight if they could get away with it?

The week passed quickly, and soon the morning of the Leaving Feast had arrived. That morning, the heads of house walked the tables and delivered the results of 70 percent of the student's exams; those that took their O.W.L.s or Graduation exams would receive their results from the Ministry a week after they got home. Those graduating would receive portkeys with their results for the Graduation Ceremony.

Harry and his friends all went up to the Room before opening their results. As everyone but Hermione had expected, they all got Outstanding for everything but Potions; Snape would never give any student outside his house higher than a disgruntled Exceeds Expectations. They could all tell he didn't want to even give them that by the force of the ink on their exam parchment. Hermione received an Exceeds Expectations on her Defense exam, due to her trouble with her Boggart, while Harry got an Outstanding along with a written apology for the Boggart.

After they had all finished reading and sharing their exam results and Hermione had calmed down, they all went down by the lake to enjoy the final day of school. During lunch, they all saw that Professor Lupin was absent and decided to visit him after their meal. When they found him, he was in the process of packing his office.

"Professor Lupin, where are you going?" Harry asked. They hadn't been very close over the year, with Harry not trusting how close Professor Lupin was with Dumbledore and the fact that he was a family friend, but never came to check on him at the Dursleys'. Harry had let Professor Lupin make the decision to approach and he hadn't broached the subject once. Harry was disappointed, but didn't say anything. Sirius had plans to approach him during the summer and find out what was going on.

"The curse on the position must be real, I'm being forced to leave the post. The Hogwarts Board of Directors found out about my test and decided that it was too dark after the experience with the Dementors early this year. You all did wonderfully, and I hope your next Defense teacher is better than I was. At least I'm leaving in one piece with my mind intact! Maybe one day I can come teach again," Professor Lupin said, with a soft smile.

None of the students were very happy about that, though Luna was indifferent. She was the one that sent each of the board members a copy of The Quibbler and left the rest to them. She didn't want to hurt or ruin him, she just wanted to punish him. Of course, he was right about the curse: until the twice-damn prophecy from the thrice-damned charlatan Trelawney came to pass Tom Riddle's curse would continue to plague the position. Even though the curse should have been lifted already, given he had possessed the Defense teacher two years back, semantics with magic was the road to madness.

They all wished him well before leaving his office, Luna discretely leaving a copy of the latest Quibbler. When they were gone, Professor Lupin found the magazine, with the article that cost him his job on the front page. He sighed before packing it away, he wouldn't hold it against the girl, not after her last warning at the start of the year. In the back of his mind, he was glad his cub, James' buck, had such loyal friends around him.

The rest of the day passed quickly before it was time for the Leaving Feast and the announcement of the winner of the House Cup. Between the classes, Quidditch wins, and Harry's group all doing so well in Potions that Professor Snape couldn't take points from them, Gryffindor won the House Cup. Slytherin came in second, Hufflepuff came in third, and due to the punishment from the end of the previous year Ravenclaw came in fourth, still in the negative. The first year Ravenclaws glared at the older years, having found out why they started so far in the negative.

After the feast, all the students went back to their dorms to pack. That night, they all slept in their dorms for the first time since late September; Dean and Shamus never even noticed they hadn't been there with them the entire year. Neither Hermione or Luna had any trouble either, though that might be because Luna's roommate didn't care, blaming her for the loss of all those points.

The next day they would be on their way home for the summer break, and Luna knew it would be an interesting summer.

Thank you all for reading this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed. If my understanding of either elective is off the mark please let me know and I'll mark that for correction when I do my rewrite of this story after its complete, which hopefully the second half won't take as long as the first.

That's right, were half way there my readers; of course, we all know what comes next year so if you thought this year was boring with the time skips, the next year will be filled with action. I just hope my muse doesn't say, "You've got ideas for other stories, work on them." I've got the tasks thought out, I just need to get there.

For those who missed my chapter trivia, here is a new one that should be easy: How many times did Wendelin the Weird let herself be burnt at the stake using various disguises?

Until next time, thank you.