Disclaimer – The original Harry Potter characters and the world of Harry Potter are not of my own invention and I do not claim ownership of them. KC
Aubrey lifted her head from her Charms revision to look across the library. But she forced her eyes back down to look at her page, scolding herself for being so distracted. Her N.E.W.T examinations were in two weeks and she, like many of the Seventh Years, was doing last minute revision.
But Aubrey couldn't for the life of her concentrate on anything else but than what was occurring on the furthest table across the room. Henry, who had been made Head Boy this year, was sitting with Leanne Doxley, the Head Girl from Ravenclaw house, writing their final Student Report for the year before they did their examinations and graduated. Well, Henry at least was writing the report; Leanne on the other hand was twirling her long blond hair through her fingers and flirty shamelessly with him while he worked. Every now and then Henry would smile at something Leanne said and she would giggle in response. It was making Aubrey feel sick.
Professor McGonagall had asked the other professors to choose the Head Boy and Girl this year from the collection of house prefects from the previous school year. To the Headmistress's delight, Henry was chosen as the Head Boy and Aubrey admired the Headmistress on her selection method as it removed the chance for her to be biased. Leanne Doxley was also a very good student and leader and Aubrey could understand why she was chosen as Head Girl. But Aubrey didn't like her at all; mainly because she flirted with Henry any chance she got.
Aubrey frowned as she watched Leanne flatten Henry's hair lovingly. But Henry continued to work on his parchment, either unaware or purposefully ignoring Leanne's hints. 'Why can't she just leave him alone' Aubrey thought angrily. She didn't know why it was affecting her so much now, I mean, she had watched Leanne flirt with him pretty much all year. But she suddenly felt very protective over him. Of course she wanted her best friend to be happy but she didn't think Leanne was the right person for him.
'Then who is the right person?' a small voice in her head asked her. An answer came to mind but she shook it away; thinking it absurd. But it reappeared again and she looked over at him. They had been best friends for almost seven years, not including their rough patch between their fifth and sixth years at Hogwarts; could she really think of him as anything other than her best friend?
She had to admit, he had grown into a very tall and handsome young man and he really did have the best soul. He had even broken his ties to his family of Death Eaters over the last summer holidays and had told Aubrey that he would be happy never to speak to them again. Even the students at Hogwarts now treated him with respect and many of the younger students admired him as their Head Boy. The fact that he was in Slytherin house pretty much didn't affect anyone anymore in how they perceived him and Aubrey was extremely proud of him for his persistence over the years. Never once had he lost sight of Professor McGonagall's goal and he was blazing towards a glorious end to his life at Hogwarts.
She smiled when she saw his face crease into a look of concentration, a look that she now had to admit looked very attractive on him. 'But what was she doing?' she asked herself, shaking her head. Was she really forming a crush on her best friend? Or was it more than that?
Suddenly, as if he could sense she was staring at him, Henry met Aubrey's eyes from across the room. He smiled at her before he lowered his eyes back to his report.
'Yep' she realised; she would never be able to look at him the same again.
The Seventh Years were deadly quiet in the Great Hall. It had been two weeks since they had all finished their examinations and today, their last full day at Hogwarts, would be the day that their letters holding their N.E.W.T. results would arrive by owl.
Aubrey looked around at her classmates. None of them had touched their breakfasts and all wore nervous, pale looks on their faces. Aubrey too was feeling very nervous. She felt she had done well in her examinations but it was the results on that small piece of parchment that would determine what she did next year. The waiting was killing her.
Then all at once a great parliament of owls swooped into the Great Hall and each owl deposited an envelope into one of the Seventh Years' laps. Aubrey opened hers immediately, not wanting to delay at all, and sighed with relief. She had passed her N.E.W.T. levels for Charms, Muggle Studies and Transfiguration and had only just missed out in Potions. Three out of four wasn't bad and she very pleased with the result. She looked up at Nell with a big smile and found that she was beaming back at her. Nell had passed Charms and Potions but had completely flunked Divination.
"I don't mind though," said Nell, "It's a bit of a nonsense subject anyway."
Aubrey heard excited chattering coming from the Slytherin table and looked over to see a large group of the younger Slytherin students crowded around Henry. She stuck three fingers in the air to signal to him that she had passed three subjects and he returned the signal by sticking up five fingers. Five subjects! That means he had achieved a N.E.W.T. pass for all of his subjects. She beamed at him in congratulation.
She turned back around to find Roman, who had been made Quidditch captain after Mitch had graduated last year, sitting next to Nell and they were showing each other their results. Nell and Benjamin Roman had become very good friends over the last year but Aubrey suspected there was more going on that they hadn't shared with each other.
The three of them chatted excitedly while they walked back to the Gryffindor common room. However their main topic of conversation was about the Graduation Party for all Seventh Years that would occur in the Room for Requirement that night. They planned to meet in the common room after dinner so that they could go down together and then Nell and Aubrey headed up to their dormitory to pack their belongings for the last time.
The last day of the year was always left as a free day for the students so that they could pack up their dormitories and just have a relaxing day before the feast at night. But for the Seventh Years, today was the last day they would spend with their friends at Hogwarts and Aubrey felt sad that it was all ending so quickly.
As she was packing her possessions into her trunk, Aubrey came across a photograph of herself and Henry that had been taken at the start of the year. She sat down on her bed and smiled sweetly at it.
"You really like him, don't you?" said Nell coming over to stand next to Aubrey.
"Of course! He's my best friend," Aubrey replied, not taking her eyes off the photograph.
"No, in the other way. You have feelings for him, I can tell," said Nell gently.
"It's feels so different than what I experienced with Mitch," Aubrey pondered out loud. "When I was with Mitch, my heart would flutter. But with Henry… it's like my heart aches for him. I think somewhere deep inside I've always known I loved him more than a friend."
"You should tell him," Nell said softly.
"But how?" sighed Aubrey, "What if he only wants to be friends?"
"He may or he may not," Nell replied, sitting next to her. "But he may meet someone else once he leaves Hogwarts and wouldn't you then regret not telling him now?"
The party in the Room for Requirement after the feast was bustling with people and Aubrey, Roman and Nell eagerly joined the crowd.
All the Seventh Year's had dressed themselves up in their nicest dress robes for the occasion and both the young men and women looked stunning. Nell had brought out her favourite green mini dress for the party while Aubrey was wearing a backless, deep ruby red dress with her hair cascading down her back.
Roman volunteered to get them drinks and returned with three glasses of firewhiskey. Aubrey began to decline her glass when Roman offered it to her but catching a glimpse of Leanne giggling in front of Henry, she grabbed the glass and took a big gulp. It burned down her throat, like the name suggested, but it felt good to settle her nerves.
"Fancy Henry Wilks passing all five of his N.E.W.T. subjects," said Roman, catching her looking over at him. "He's got a big future ahead of him!"
She nodded in agreement and Roman asked her what she planned to do now that she had passed three of her subjects.
"I think I'd like to work for the Ministry in the Muggle-born Preparation Department," she said. "I think it would be a very rewarding job, helping new students find their way in the wizarding world and all that. The MPD official who helped me completely changed my life, for the better that is, and I would love to do the same for other young witches and wizards."
Nell shared that she wanted to go into the production business, creating new products for the Zonko's and Weasley's shops, and Roman said that he was interested in working at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
Aubrey tried to listen intently to her friends but her attention kept wandering over to where Henry was standing with a group of Ravenclaws, including Leanne Doxley.
When their glasses were empty, Aubrey volunteered to get the next lot of drinks and went over to the bar. However when she returned, Nell and Roman were nowhere to be seen. She wandered around the room, still carrying the drinks with her, and finally found them in the back corner of the room engaged in a passionate snog. She slipped away as quietly as she could and smiled to herself. 'It is about time' she thought, feeling happy that her friends had found each other. She caught herself looking over at Henry again and decided to take a leaf out of Nell's book. 'It was now or never' she thought.
She walked over to the group he was standing with and offered the drinks she was still carrying to Leanne and her friends. Then she turned to Henry.
"Can I speak to you outside?" she asked, out of earshot of Leanne and the other Ravenclaws.
"Of course," he replied and followed her out the door.
Once they were out in the abandoned corridor she turned around to face him. He looked incredibly charming in his black dress robes and sliver tie, which made his eyes look particularly bright. She took a deep breath, attempting to steady herself, but the words tumbled out of her mouth.
"I need to tell you that I am so happy we are friends and I can't imagine Hogwarts without you, because that would be really sad and I don't want to be sad tonight because it is our last night. But anyway I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though we are friends I have discovered that I really like you, not just as a friend but as… and I don't know if you feel the same way but I've often questioned your motives for kissing me in the owlery that time but –"
He suddenly prevented her from rambling any further by capturing her lips with his. The kiss startled her and she hardly registered that it was actually occurring before he pulled back.
He smiled sweetly at her, "I do. I do feel the same way."
Her heart flew as she leapt into his arms, pressing her lips to his. He returned the kiss instantly and this time she explored him; how he felt, how he tasted, how they became one. Granting his tongue entry into her mouth their kiss grew more passionate. He pushed her back into the stone wall, pressing his body up against hers. She stood on her toes so she could wrap her arms around his neck and played with the hair at the nape of his neck. He moaned softly into her mouth and he placed his hands on the small of her back, pulling her closer to him still. The touch of his hands on her bare skin sent shivers up her spine and she nibbled his lower lip in return.
She had kissed before but never had she experienced a kiss this sensual. Henry's kiss far outweighed any of Mitch's... Henry? Henry! She was snogging her best friend! This realisation brought her mind back to the present and she eased herself away from him gently. Looking up into his eyes she found that they were full of lust and she blushed, smiling awkwardly.
"You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that," he sighed happily.
"Oh?" she encouraged him.
"Ever since I saw you snogging that jerk Conwell back in the fourth year. As your best friend I knew I shouldn't have minded that you started dating but seeing you with other guys made me realise… well, that I did mind."
She smiled. "Just the way I started to mind when I saw Leanne flirting with you."
"Leanne Doxley?" he asked, surprised. "I didn't even realise."
"You're so short sighted sometimes, Wilks," she teased, pushing his shoulder playfully which allowed her to leave the confinement that his body had made for her against the wall.
He grabbed her hand before she could move further away from him and brushed a loose strand of her hair away from her eyes.
"Do you want to head back to the party now?" he asked softly.
"Yes" she said smiling and entwined her hand in his, never wanting to let go.
The graduation ceremony commenced the next morning and the excitement of becoming graduates was enough to distract many from their acing heads. The entire school had gathered in the Great Hall and watched as the Seventh Years made their way to the front of the hall, the same way they had done their first day at Hogwarts for their sorting ceremony. Professor McGonagall watched proudly from behind the Great Hall podium as the Seventh Years gathered in front of her. She quietened them with a few taps of her wand and begun her congratulation speech.
Aubrey looked around at her classmates while she listened to the Headmistress talk about their accomplishments whilst at Hogwarts. Aubrey couldn't help but think about how they had all grown so much, not just in height, but in maturity too. They were all their own people now and she felt glad that she could have been witness to the journeys that they had all taken to make it to where they stood today. Her eyes finally rested on Henry, standing near the front of the Slytherin group and he winked cheekily at her. She could feel Nell's hand wrapped tightly in hers as she had grasped it to keep her friend from bouncing throughout the ceremony. Aubrey's heart swelled as she thought of her two best friends and thanked her lucky stars that they had found each other.
Aubrey could feel the anticipation building in the air as, one by one, each student was called to receive their Hogwarts Graduation Certificate. Nell bounded to the front when her name was called and her smile stretched from ear to ear as she accepted her certificate. Aubrey wasn't too far behind her friend and accepted her certificate from the Headmistress with a strong handshake and a warm smile. Turning around to make her way back into the group of Seventh Years, she was able to get a quick glance at the hundreds of students sitting in the Great Hall, watching in admiration. She had once been in their place, watching the older students leave, and now that she was the one standing on the precipice of her future beyond Hogwarts, she couldn't help but feel a little sad.
Henry was the last student to be called up, due to having Wilks as a surname, but Professor McGonagall also had a surprise in store.
"Now our last student," she spoke loudly, "has dedicated many hours of his time at Hogwarts towards his studies and towards his school. He was a prefect in his sixth year, head boy in his seventh and maintained the highest grades amongst all in his year level in all his subjects since his second year. He will leave Hogwarts with five 'Outstanding' N.E.W.T scores for his five subjects and I think I can safely say that we will see great things from him in the future. Hogwarts has been very lucky to have him as a student and," she raised her voice just slightly, "from a Slytherin no less. I encourage all students to look to his example as a finer student and gentlemen you will not find. I thereby call upon our valedictorian, Henry Wilks!"
The Great Hall erupted in applause and students from all houses rose from their seats to cheer. Henry made his way to the front looking surprised at the huge applause he was receiving yet very proud. He took Professor McGonagall's hand and shook it firmly. The Headmistress was beaming and Aubrey saw her mouth form the words 'Thank-you' as she handed him his certificate. Nell whistled through her fingers loudly and Aubrey joined her as they clapped and cheered as loud as they possibly could.
No sooner than Henry had joined the group again, receiving many hearty slaps on the back from his fellow students, the seventh years threw their pointed hats above their heads, signalling the end of the graduation ceremony and their time at Hogwarts.
THE FINAL CHAPTER (LEAVING HOGWARTS) IS NOW AVAILABLE
As a first-time FanFiction writer, I would love a review or feedback from you on my writing. Just like Aubrey I am very excited to be setting out on a new journey and I can't wait to share more of my ideas with you.
KC