Recap: They talk to Dumbledore about the Order, they win the House Cup
Chapter 50: Goodbye, Hogwarts
I sat on the edge of my bed, and looked around. The room was completely empty. I knew if I'd forgotten anything, I could easily summon it. But instead, I'd checked every corner for the purpose of wanting to remember everything, or as much as I could. I was going to miss this place. I walked out my room and went to James' room. He wasn't done yet.
"You're done already?" He asked with an exasperated sigh and messed up his hair even more as he tried to search from something.
"Yes, James," I laughed. "You're a wizard, remember? You can fold these magically. You can get everything in your trunk magically? You can summon things magically." I reminded him, waving my own wand around. His toothbrush flew out of the bathroom and fell neatly onto his trunk. He stopped.
"Oh yeah." He picked up his wand and started waving it around and muttering spells. I walked over to his desk and sat on it, running my hand across it. It wasn't nearly as worn out as the one in my room, but I suppose the girls always worked harder in school. "I'm done." He said, turning around. He walked towards me and put his hands around my waist. "You're sitting on my desk, and I'm still taller than you." He laughed.
"Your desk is short." I argued. He grinned and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He started trailing kisses down from my jaw to my neck and I whimpered in pleasure. I felt him smirk, so I retaliated by wrapping my legs around his torso. It affected him as intended, because he stopped smirking. I giggled a little and he looked at me, trying not to smile, but the corners of his mouth kept turning upward.
"Honestly, what is wrong with you two? Just sleep together already!" Sirius said from the door way. I rolled my eyes and jumped down from the desk. I took out my wand.
"Locomotor Mortis." I said before he could do anything. "Accio Sirius' wand." I added, before he could take it out and undo it himself. He gaped at me. I smiled back sweetly. "Come Sirius, it's time for lunch!"
"I can't move." He said, gesturing his legs.
"Of course you can, silly!" I laughed. "You'll just fall flat on your face!" James laughed and put an arm around my waist.
"Honestly, we should have made you a Marauder." He said.
"No, this is your influence. You've changed me." I said dramatically, looking between Sirius and James. I levitated Sirius into the air and I walked him down the stairs, with him floating next to me. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"You know, this isn't working, because I happen to find this fun." Sirius huffed.
"Do you?" I said, smiling evilly.
"She's in complete control of you, I wouldn't push it." James laughed. We left the portrait hole and I "accidentally" hit Sirius against the sides of the hole. Sirius let out a string of curses and started rubbing his head. Remus was outside the portrait, and he tilted his head when he saw Sirius.
"Oh, er…. Hello." Remus said distractedly, watching Sirius.
"Come on, lunch?" I said, leading the way.
"You're being mean." Sirius said.
"You're a prat." I countered. He stuck his tongue out at me. We got stares from students as we passed, but some looked more concerned than anything.
"Do I want to know?" Marlene asked, coming to us, and watching Sirius with a wary eye.
"I told her that she and James should hurry it up and sleep together." Sirius said smugly. I scowled at him.
"I'll talk to you later." I muttered to Marlene, and kept walking, with Sirius still hovering two feet off the ground.
"You're Head Girl, you're not supposed to be doing this!" Sirius reminded me.
"Shut it, it's our last day. They're not going to strip me of my badge." I scoffed. He frowned at me.
"Put me down?" He tried again, going for a politer approach. I shook my head. We reached the Great Hall, and some of the students started laughing when they saw Sirius. I ignored them and kept walking. I sat down at the table and kept Sirius levitated next to me. The rest of the Marauders joined us with an amused smile across all of their faces.
"This is mean." He crossed his arms. "I can't even eat any of this, and here it is, mocking me." He said, almost spitting. I pushed him closer to the food, which only caused him to scowl at me. I smiled sweetly back at him.
"Miss Evans…why are you…?" McGonagall said from behind me, looking as confused as Remus was.
"SAVE ME!" Sirius bellowed, and McGonagall flinched.
"Stop being so dramatic." I laughed, setting him down on the ground. I put my wand away, where I still had Sirius'. He tried to move forward to sit, but he fell flat on his face. McGonagall chuckled.
"May I, Miss Evans?" She asked. I nodded. She waved her wand and Sirius' legs were unlocked.
"Thank you!" He shouted again, and crawled from his position on the ground towards McGonagall and clutched her legs.
"Mr. Black! Please get off me." She said sternly. Sirius jumped up and brushed himself off.
"YES SIR!" He saluted her and sat down at the table. When she was out of earshot, he said, "That's not what she was telling me last night." He winked. I hit him over the head before getting some pie.
"Such a glorious afternoon, isn't it?" Marlene asked, spinning around with her arms out wide. We all decided to go for a walk.
"I could think of ways it could be better." I grumbled, remembering that I'd have to leave the castle today.
"Oh, lighten up." Remus said, nudging my side. I sighed.
"Sorry. It's emotional." I shrugged.
"It's okay, those three will probably be crying their eyes out on the way back." Sirius chuckled.
"No we won't!" Remus protested.
"Anyway, rumors are flying, you know." Marlene said, giving me a smug grin.
"About what?" I asked fearfully. Nothing good could come out of rumors.
"The usual stuff, like who's going where, who's not coming back next year, that stuff. But I heard a group of sixth year Gryffindors talking about some rumor seventh year Ravenclaws were talking about." Marlene said mysteriously. By the look on her face, I could tell it was a pretty stupid rumor, something only idiots would actually believe. "They've decided that there's a Sirius-Lily-James love triangle." She said finally, holding in her laughter. I rolled my eyes.
"Is there, now?" I asked sarcastically. "Well, do enlighten me. Tell me about my love life."
"They're saying that Sirius secretly fell in love with Lily while James was already in love with you, but Sirius, being the, I believe they used "noble", man he is, he let James have you. And then that's apparently why he stopped dating, because the pain of your silent rejection was too much for him." She put her hands over her heart. "And now, apparently, Sirius has finally told you about his undying love for you, and you're secretly going out with him, too." Marlene finished, grinning.
"Oh, that's definitely plausible. Hey, Sirius, want to go elope to France tomorrow?" I asked, turning to him.
"Anything for you my love!" Sirius said, getting to his knees on the ground and putting his hands over his heart. James kicked him in the side of the leg.
"My question is, why would they describe him as noble?" James snickered. "We all know he's everything but." Sirius stood up and whacked him over the head.
"I am noble!" He huffed, causing laughter from all of us.
"But honestly, the things people come up with these days." Alex rolled his eyes.
"They just need some drama, really. Nothing interesting's happened in months." Remus shrugged.
"They need to find new people to spin stories about." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
"To them, you're the only interesting ones. I mean, your story's practically a soap opera. You've got the guy who falls in love with the girl, but girl hates guy, girl finally realizes that she loves guy, and they live happily ever after." Marlene pointed out.
"So where do I fit into this?" Sirius asked, grinning.
"Now, you're the complication that they want. The guy who's obviously in love with his best mate's girlfriend." Marlene laughed. "The dark, looming, troublemaker with the tender heart."
"That spells soap opera." Remus agreed.
"Don't people have other things to worry about? Like, I don't know, their own lives? I mean, instead of babbling about other people's love lives, they need to get one themselves! It's crazy." I complained.
"Calm down, we're out of here in a few hours." Sirius laughed. I frowned.
"Thanks for reminding me." I said dryly, and crinkled my nose.
"Way to go." I heard Peter mutter to Sirius. And I heard a thump, which could only mean that Sirius retaliated by hitting Peter.
"Yeah, but what I'm trying to say is, that there are going to be some things here you're not going to miss. Like this whole gossiping business. We all know there are more important things to talk about in the world than this, so you won't have to deal with that anymore." Sirius pointed out.
"He's saying something intelligent!" Remus gasped. I laughed a little, and realized I couldn't be happier that I'd be leaving Hogwarts with my closest friends. I was glad my circle of friends expanded from its previous, almost non-existent state. Of course, this was all because of James Potter. He turned my life upside down and backwards two years ago, and since then, life has gotten so much better.
"Come on!" I said, dragging James down to the dungeons. We were visiting Slughorn, but naturally, he didn't want to. I just wanted to give Slughorn my present, and then we'd be out of there.
"Why do you bother giving him a present, anyway?" He grumbled.
"Because he's my favorite teacher." I told him for the millionth time. "Now hurry up. We told them we'd be back in the Kitchens soon."
"Alright." He said, quickening his pace, and overtaking me. He held the door to Slughorn's classroom open. It looked a lot emptier and cleaner than I'd ever seen it.
"Professor?" I called out, quietly stepping in. In a matter of seconds, Slughorn was out of his office and started walking down his steps.
"Lily! So nice of you to come!" He boomed, his voice filling the empty room.
"This is for you, professor." I said, smiling at him, holding out the crystallized pineapple, and the expensive wine I'd gotten from Rosemerta earlier.
"Why, thank you!" He said, happily. "Still don't want to teach? So I can go into happy retirement?" He asked hopefully. I shook my head and grinned.
"Sorry professor." I shrugged apologetically.
"Well, I'll miss you, dear. I haven't seen such fine potion-making in years! Of course, very few have the natural talent." Slughorn told me, putting the crystallized pineapple and the wine on his desk.
"Thank you professor." I said politely. "I'll see you at the feast." I added, and left with one last wave.
"He looked like he was going to cry." James muttered, rolling his eyes.
"You're just annoyed that he didn't acknowledge you." I teased, grinning.
"I am not!" He said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest. I chuckled.
"Whatever you say…" I muttered, playfully shoving him. He backed me up against a wall and opened his mouth to say something. Suddenly, I heard whispering voices from the classroom next to me. I wiggled out of James' grip, and casted Protego around both of us, and put a finger to my lips. I pressed my ear against the door.
"…the Dark Lord." The first voice, too quiet for me to identify, said. "You're going to be killed."
"I don't know." The second voiced said, also barely above a whisper and one of them started knocking the desks around.
"People would kill for a chance like this!" The first voice argued, only slightly louder than previously. My eyes widened. My conjecture from yesterday was right. I put down the shield charm, dragged James away, and walked as fast as I could back to the Kitchens.
"What'd you hear?" James asked.
"I was right. Yesterday. I was right." I said, almost out of breath. We got to the Kitchens quickly, and I opened it. I scrambled inside, and Remus, Peter, Sirius, Alex, and Marlene were laughing, and Misty was nearby.
"What happened? You look like you just ran here." Marlene said, her smile quickly wiped from her face. I quickly recounted the story.
"Yesterday. I was right. I can't believe it. He's actually recruiting Hogwarts graduates. He's actually getting eighteen-year-olds to run around and kill and torture people." I said, starting to pace.
"And from what you said, it seems as though they are too scared to say no." Remus said, frowning.
"Of course they are. People who anger the Death Eaters or Voldemort himself aren't going to stay alive." James shrugged.
"They're too young to be doing those types of things, though, it's insanity. It's like he's trying to take over as many people as he can. You know, the Slytherins mostly go into the Ministry when they leave here. They get high government positions. Do you think Voldemort's maybe trying to take over the Ministry through the graduating Slytherins?" I asked, suddenly stopping.
"Maybe…but how far can he get? We still have Dumbledore." Sirius pointed out.
"That's true. I suppose as long as Dumbledore's around, we're all safe." I shrugged.
"Yes, we're all safe, even though we'll be risking our lives every day with the Order." Peter said sarcastically, grinning. We let ourselves laughed to relieve the tension. I sat down next to James.
"Misty, do you have any firewhiskey here?" Sirius asked her. She let out a small laugh and opened a cupboard. She took out a large bottle, and set it on the table in front of us with a large clunk. She gave us a few glasses. Sirius poured some out to all of us, and raised his glass. "To the Order."
"To the Order." We said in unison, and drank it all. I let the liquid burn the sides of my throat.
"Lily, do you want to go near the lake?" James asked, getting up.
"Sure." I replied, shrugging. We quickly got up and left the Kitchen. He put an arm around my waist as we walked. He didn't say anything; he was just looking straight ahead towards the lake. There were so many seventh years running around the castle, probably trying to round up lost belongings. I really hoped that the Order would bring us back here some day. Perhaps we'd be lucky enough to have to patrol in the castle or outside of it.
"We should be quick; it's almost time for dinner." He said, quickening his pace in front of me as we stepped outside. I followed him, wondering why he seemed to be in such a hurry. He couldn't be that excited for the feast. We reached the tree, and he turned to face me.
He watched from the distance, in the shadows, close enough to hear them and see them, but not close enough that they'd notice. The black-haired boy got down on one knee and took hold of the girl's hand. The pale boy watching gasped softly and his eyes widened.
"Lily, I've loved you for the last seven years of my life, and the last two with you have been amazing. You've helped me through so much, and I can't imagine my life without you. A day without you is like a day wasted. You've always been the constant throughout my Hogwarts years, but now, as we go into the real world, I want you to be a constant there, too. I want you to officially become a permanent part of my life. Will you marry me?" The black-haired boy brought out a large ring. The pale boy watched and gasped quietly. He held his breath as he waited for her answer.
"Yes!" She screamed loudly, her voice piercing his heart. His fists turned into balls and his throat went dry. The pale boy felt his heart break right in front of his eyes. As the black-haired boy spun the red haired girl around, and put the wretched ring on her finger, the pale boy watched on with envy. A salty tear dripped down his over-sized nose and into his gaping mouth. He glanced at the letter he had gotten a while ago, the reason he was out here in the first place. It was a request to join, a chance many of his friends would kill for. He took a look at the sickeningly happy couple and his stomach turned. Another tear ran down his cheek. He scribbled down 3 letters on the piece of parchment, and sent it off, anger and hate boiling inside of him.
A/N: Yep. Last chapter. Still hasn't hit me yet.
I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed, especially those of you who reviewed every single chapter, and you know who you are!
Thank you to every last person who's read this, favorited, alerted, everything.
This story would not have made it 50 chapters, over a year, without all of you.
I've also changed the story's rating back to T, because many of you have said that it shouldn't be M.
Love,
SAM :)