Chapter 37: Promises

June, Seventh Year

Sitting in a giant office with three old men, even when one of them looked as if he was about to fall asleep any minute, was a lot more intimidating than I had anticipated. I recognised two of them from various Ministry events I'd been dragged along to in the past, but I'd never seen the bald man in the middle who was asking all the questions.

"Can you describe a situation in which you have led a team?" he asked, staring straight at me.

I did my best to smile and remind myself that I was Santana Lopez; I could do anything they threw at me. And I could definitely answer this question.

"I've been the Slytherin quidditch captain for three years - deciding on tactics, picking who's on the team. We've won the cup for the past two years."

"Not this year?"

I tried to hide my wince at the memory of the thrashing we'd received from Ravenclaw earlier in the week, shortly after the last NEWTs had finished.

"One of our beaters left Hogwarts, and I had trouble finding a good enough replacement at short notice. We still placed second, though."

The man nodded once, but gave no sign in his expression of whether that was a decent answer or not. He glanced briefly at his notes, jotting something down, and I wished I could see what he'd written. I kept my hands clasped tightly in my lap, forcing myself not to fidget. I reminded myself that however uncomfortable this was, at least abuela hadn't interfered this time. She'd made the point to write me another angry letter - fortunately not a howler - saying that as long as I continued to bring shame to the family name, I should expect no more assistance from her in my dream of becoming a hit witch. I didn't think she realised that was what I'd wanted all along.

"Joining the forces of hit witches and hit wizards requires a large contribution of time and effort. As you may already know, you will be in placed in London for at least the first and last months of your training, however you will also need to be prepared for a fair amount of travel. What is your attitude to this?"

I tried to hide my surprise, my thoughts immediately going to Brittany. "So I'd be away from London for ten months? But I'd be able to visit, right?"

"On a few occasions. But as a hit witch you must be prepared to travel at short notice, and you may well be placed away from London and even outside the country - at Azkaban, for example, or at our European posts. Training is designed to help you adjust to this lifestyle. Will this be a problem?" he asked, one thick eyebrow rising. For a moment I was distracted, wondering how he could have so much hair on his eyebrows and yet none on the top of his head. Then I brought myself back to the moment at hand.

"No, of course not," I said quickly. What else was I meant to say? Sorry, but I can't leave my girlfriend for ten months. I dug my nails into the palm of one hand, trying to hold in my concern at that prospect. What would she say? And what if I got placed abroad? I couldn't leave her behind, but I couldn't force her to move with me.

"Well, I think that about wraps it up. Do you have any questions for us?"

I did. I'd thought of some, earlier, knowing you were meant to show interest or whatever it was in interviews. I struggled to remember, but all I could think of was having to leave Brittany for so long.

"Uh… what exactly happens in the training?"

The man in the middle nudged the one on his left, whose eyes flicked open.

"Training."

"Oh! Yes, training," the sleepy man said, sitting up straight. "It starts in August. Well, we can't tell you everything. But at first you'll learn basic skills in duelling, stealth, investigation etc. Then you'll team up with the new auror recruits for a little while, to travel to several of our posts around the country. You'll trail current hit witches and wizards, and then at the end of the year you'll return to London for some final tests and a Head Office placement."

"Okay, thanks." They weren't joking about a lot of travelling. I couldn't think of the rest of my questions, though. "That's all. Oh, no. When will I hear back?"

"We'll owl you at some point next week," the bald man in the middle replied, already rising from his seat and holding out his hand to shake. "It was good to meet you, Miss Lopez."

"You too," I said with a brief smile. I made sure to shake the others' hands as well before turning to leave. I walked away from the room and quickly found the lift. For once it was empty, and I was glad. I slumped against the side, breathing heavily. It was over, now. It was over, and I could go back to Brittany and forget all about it until next week.

1 week later

"Santana! Santana, have you seen Lord Tubbington?"

The familiar voice burst out as the door to our dorm slammed open, making Rachel jump. I hurried over to Brittany who was standing in the doorway, swivelling her head.

"No, why? You can't find him?" I asked, seeing how panicked she looked straight away.

"No!" she wailed, dropping to her knees and turning her head to look under all the beds on the left, then the right. "He's disappeared! I went to shut him in the bathroom so I could find him easily later, but he wasn't sleeping where he normally does! I've looked everywhere - he's not in Hufflepuff! So I thought he might have come here, b-but…"

I leaned over and pulled her back to her feet, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Britt. We'll go look for him now, okay?"

She glanced behind me, and obviously saw the mess that was scattered all over my bed and surrounding floor.

"But-"

"Don't worry about packing, I'll just charm it all in if I need to. Come on, let's go find him," I said, taking her hand and pulling her back towards the door. That was all the encouragement she needed, then she was surging ahead and I was the one following. I paused in the common room, tugging at her hand to check where Lord Tubbington normally lay by the fire, but he wasn't there. It wasn't that surprising, to be honest. Normally he was only in Slytherin when Brittany was staying the night, although I still had no idea how he got in to start with.

"Do you have anything to tempt him with? Food?" I asked. Brittany shook her head, so when we exited the common room I led us down the corridor that led to the elf kitchens. He might even be there already, but if not we could at least get some of his favourite snacks to try and lure him out of wherever he was hiding.

"I don't think he wants to leave Hogwarts. He was meowing all last night when I was packing. He kept climbing inside my suitcase and getting in the way," Brittany said as we walked. "It's like he knows we're not coming back, he's never been like this before when we've left for the year. He wants to stay."

"Well he doesn't really have a choice in the matter, does he? He'll like it just fine in London once we're there," I assured her, reaching out a hand to tickle the pear in the portrait in front of us. I tried not to think too much on the matter of London as I said it. I felt guilty. I hadn't told Brittany yet about having to travel away from her. I still didn't know what to do about the job. On the one hand, it would be an adventure, and my parents would be happy - I might even get a congratulations from abuela. I knew I'd be good at it – it was perfect for me. I'd be good at it, and I'd enjoy it. But then I'd think about it again, and I couldn't imagine ten whole months away from Brittany - especially when I knew she'd be worrying about me the whole time. The thought of being stationed abroad once I was trained was even worse. There was no way I was going to ask her to leave her job at the Ministry to join me. That position was perfect for her, and I would never take that away from her.

"Lord Tubbington?" Brittany called as we stepped further into the elf kitchens, sighing when he didn't emerge. She peered around instead for the few house elves who knew us by name. "Rosey? Adie?"

Adie popped up from behind a table and hurried over, grinning up at us cheerfully with a large spun resting against his shoulder like a sword.

"Yes, Misses?"

"Have you seen my cat, Lord Tubbington?"

Adie's eyes widened and he shook his head vehemently. "Animals are not allowed with the food! Adie is not a bad house elf, Adie would not let a cat stay here!"

Brittany's face fell, and I quickly stepped in. "Could we get some biscuits? The chocolate ones? Oh, and a cake too. Ginger."

"Yes miss, straight away miss!" Adie exclaimed, spinning on one foot and rushing off towards some cupboards to our left.

"But Lord Tubbington doesn't like ginger cake, remember?" Brittany said.

"I remember. But you like it. And if he's got onto the roof again, we're going to need all the energy we can find to get him down without being mauled."

"Lord Tubbington wouldn't maul anyone!" Brittany objected. "He's a lovely cat, he was just scared last time!"

"I know, Britt," I said, taking the two small cakes that Adie had returned with and handing one to her. I thanked him, tucking the container of biscuits under my arm, and we turned back towards the exit. "Where next? The Great Hall? He might be scrounging food there. Or the owlery."

"No, he doesn't like either of those places. He's very sensitive, he doesn't like a lot of noise. And he got pecked on the nose the last time he went to the owlery."

"The library then?"

"I guess we can try there," Brittany agreed, looking thoroughly miserable. "What happens if we don't find him? I can't leave him behind. He'll get so lonely!"

"Brittany, I said before. We'll find him. I promise," I said, turning so I was walking backwards down the corridor, but I could look her in the eye. "We'll stay after the train and just floo home, if we have to. We're not going to leave him behind."

She nodded, nibbling at a corner of the cake as her eyes darted around, never stopping her search. As soon as we arrived at the library, I could tell he wouldn't be in there. It only ever got this full at the end of the year, with people returning books they'd found under beds or buried in suitcases, and trying to talk their way out of being fined. It was the only time that the silence rule was unenforced. We looked around anyway, me shaking the box of biscuits and both of us calling his name, but he was nowhere to be found. Next we tried the owlery anyway, but that was just as manic with everyone collecting their owls. I was glad I'd fetched Pato yesterday afternoon. Then empty classrooms, and the Astronomy Tower, and the Hospital Wing (although Madam Pillsbury made it clear that cats were even less likely to be found in her rooms than they were in the kitchens).

It was becoming harder and harder to think of places we hadn't checked, and I had to admit I was getting a bit worried too. Yes, we could floo home if need be, but that would be a pain, and I didn't want to miss our last journey on the Hogwarts Express.

When I realised what corridor we were on, I tugged on Brittany's hand and made her pace with me, back and forth three times. I didn't think of our usual room, as much as I wanted to - instead I thought of Lord Tubbington, and finding him, and making Brittany stop worrying. The Room of Requirement had never failed us yet – maybe it could just show us what room he was in. When the door appeared we walked through together, but I stopped when I saw what was there, Brittany bumping into me from behind.

It was our usual room. Even though I hadn't thought of it. And curled up asleep right in the middle of our bed was Lord Tubbington.

"Lord T!" Brittany cried out, rushing forward to scoop him up. He responded with a yowl, squirming to get free, but Brittany refused to let him go, kissing him again and again on the top of his head. "You had me so worried! You can't do that, okay? You can't hide! I know you don't want to leave, I don't either, but we have to."

"You don't want to leave?" I repeated quietly, closing the door behind us. Brittany had sat down, Lord Tubbington finally placid in her hold, and I slid onto the bed behind her. I eyed him for a moment, and he glared back, letting me know he would never explain the secret of how he had got into our room. "You're not excited about your job?" I asked, returning to a matter that was more important than Brittany's stupid hiding cat.

"Oh, no, of course I am," she replied. "But... it's still sad, leaving. We've had seven whole years here. And there's been so many great things happen - sad things, too. But it was our time. We made it through it all, and it's going to be strange. We'll move in together in London, and we'll have a bathroom just to ourselves. No one will be able to walk in if I forget to lock the door," she added with a grin.

I smiled back, resting my hands on her shoulders and just letting her talk.

"But it won't be the same as the Prefects' Bathroom. And this - all of this," she said, sweeping her hand around our room. "We could make a room exactly the same in our flat. But it still wouldn't feel right. We won't have to hide from Professor Sylvester when we sneak into it at night. We won't have to walk next to the tapestry to summon it. And I'll miss that walk. It sounds silly."

I shook my head, moving my hands to hug her from behind.

"It's not silly," I assured her quietly.

She sighed. "It's just… whenever I do that walk, I just think of everything we've done in this room. I like that. And I'll miss pulling you along because I don't want to let go of your hand. It's just... it's all the little things. Nothing's going to be the same as this again. We've got so many happy memories in here," she murmured, looking around again.

I reached down for her hands, not caring about disturbing Lord Tubbington. He meowed once in protest.

"We'll make new memories, though. We'll get to make new special places. I don't care about the rooms here - well, okay, I really wish you could access the Room of Requirement from anywhere," I admitted. "And I'm definitely going to miss the size of the prefects' bath. But it's you. You're the one that makes everything special, Britt. It's you - us. Us, together, that's what's special."

Brittany sniffed, nodding as she leaned back into me. I released her hands to wrap my arms firmly around her, holding her close.

"What could be our new special place, then?" she asked quietly. "It could be, like... a garden. I think I'd like a garden."

"We probably won't get an actual garden in London," I reminded her, the guilt rising up again inside me.

"I know. So... maybe a balcony. We can have flowers there. In pots. Then we can take our special place wherever we go, and we won't have to worry about leaving it behind."

I sighed, my eyes on the ceiling, and she turned her head straight away to look at me.

"What is it? It doesn't have to be a garden, it can be something else."

"That's not it," I said, feeling the guilt claw its way up my throat. "It's… it's this job. I don't even know if I've got it yet." She waited patiently for me to speak, her gaze never wavering from my face. "I won't be in London."

"What?"

She jerked out of my arms to spin around and look at me properly, eyes wide. Lord Tubbington screeched his disapproval loudly when he fell off her lap, jumping back onto the bed and pawing at her sleeve. She ignored him for once, instead just continuing to stare at me.

"But… but what about us living together? Where are you going to be? For how long?"

"Ten months," I whispered, hating the expression of anguish on her face but unable to look away. "I don't know where I'll be. I'll be moving about."

"But how will I know you're okay? What if you get hurt, who's going to look after you?" Brittany asked, and I could see her old anxieties about me being a hit witch rising up again. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"B-because…" I struggled to find a way to explain it. "Because I don't know if I've got the job yet, and I didn't want to worry you. I don't even know if I want this job if I have to leave you."

"But you were so sure about it…"

I shrugged, uncomfortable under her gaze. It felt like she could see right into me - and she probably could.

"I don't want to leave you for ten months. I don't want to risk us, just for a job. I only looked at the Ministry because of my parents, and abuela. I might not even be in London once I'm done with training," I admitted, feeling a tear fall down my face. Every doubt I'd had about this was rising up. I quickly wiped the tear away. "What then? You have your job there. I'll have my job wherever. And we won't get to see each other, and we'll talk less and less, and-" I had to pause to rub a hand at my face again to get rid of the tears. "And then you'll meet someone, someone who's better than me, and everything we've had here will be for nothing…"

"Santana." Her hands cupped my face gently, forcing me to look at her again. I blinked quickly several times, trying to stop any more tears from falling. I hadn't meant to cry. I'd wanted to explain everything to her calmly, and now she was just comforting me. I was being a terrible girlfriend. "Listen to me, Santana."

I nodded, biting my lip and focusing on her.

"Look… I don't want you to do this job. I don't. I'm scared you'll get hurt, and I hate the thought of not seeing you for ten months. But if you decide to do it, I'm going to help all I can, okay? I can't promise we'll come out okay at the end. I don't know the future. Probably even Professor Fernsby couldn't tell us that. But this is my promise, okay? I promise that I will never let you go without fighting to keep you. I love you, Santana. I love you more than anything else, and I never ever want to lose you. So if you get this job, and you take it, and you leave for ten months. We'll manage. We'll owl. I'll visit you and you'll visit me. We'll make the most of every minute we have together."

"But what if I'm sent abroad after training? What then?" I whispered.

"We'll work it out. There are muggles all over the world, remember. If I have to move to be with you, I will."

"No, no, you can't do that-" I objected, but she cut me off.

"I'll do what I have to, to keep us together. Maybe I won't have to. Maybe we'll find some other way. But you and me, we can work it out. I just… I just need you to promise me something."

I nodded straight away. I knew better than to respond "anything" before she'd even told me. I would promise anything, but she'd insist that I heard it first before agreeing.

"Promise me, that if you do this, you're doing it for yourself, because you want to. Not for your parents. Not for your grandmother. This has to be for you, okay?"

I was hit with more uncertainty, but how could I refuse such a simple request? I couldn't refuse Brittany anything.

"I promise."

I woke with Santana curled up next to me and Lord Tubbington purring in my ear. We were both still dressed in our uniforms, and I remembered falling asleep in her arms last night as she sang to me. I smiled at the memory, which was interrupted by a lick to my cheek.

"Tubbs," I mumbled, reaching up to brush him away, but he took it as an invitation to climb onto my shoulder and then plop himself down right between me and Santana, forcing us apart as he stretched, still purring loudly. Santana stirred and I shuffled up the bed a little so I could lean around Lord Tubbington and kiss her forehead. He meowed and head-butted my chin, then without warning jumped over Santana as well and off the bed, padding across the room. He turned as I watched his movements, sitting down right next to the door. He was completely still for all of five seconds, and then he started to meow.

Santana huffed sleepily as I climbed out of bed to open the door for him, but halfway across the room I froze when I realised what day it was. I felt suddenly numb as I murmured to him.

"I… sorry, Lord Tubbington. I can't let you go hide again, we have to leave soon."

Behind me I heard the rustle of sheets as Santana sat up suddenly.

"We have to leave…" she echoed.

I turned back to her, crawling back onto the bed and up to pull her into a hug.

"I don't want to," I whispered into her hair.

"Me neither."

"I wish we could stay here forever. You and me, in this room. And Lord Tubbington."

"Really? Lord Tubbington?" Santana replied with a raised eyebrow.

I jabbed her in the ribs, trying to smile rather than cry at the thought of leaving this place.

"You love him really."

"Fine, fine. The cat can stay," she acceded.

We were silent for several minutes, just lying in each others' arms and ignoring Lord Tubbington's plaintive mewls. All I could think of was the fact that we'd never see this room again. Or if we did, it wouldn't be for a very long time. So many places we wouldn't see again. People, too. I wouldn't be able to just hunt in the library if I wanted to find Quinn. I wouldn't be able to talk quidditch with Mike in the Great Hall.

The thought of not having Santana was the worst, though. We'd always had each other. Even when we weren't talking for a little while in fifth year, I still saw her all the time. Even if she wasn't happy, she was safe. But if she went ahead with becoming a hit witch, I'd be terrified every day, and I wouldn't even get to see her. I couldn't hold her back, though. I couldn't hold her back because of my fears, when she'd worked so hard to overcome her own.

"We have to go. You haven't even finished packing," I reminded her.

She groaned quietly, but slowly sat up, and I rose with her. I slid off the side of the bed, turning to pull the cover straight, then realised I didn't need to since we wouldn't be coming back. I ducked instead to hunt out my shoes from under the bed, finding my tie there as well and looping it once around my neck so I wouldn't lose it again. Lord Tubbington was getting louder now, even resorting to scratching the door, and I reached down to pick him up, hugging him tight. He purred in my hold, rubbing his head against my shoulder, and I wished I could feel his satisfaction as I stood with Santana at the door, looking over our room. It was so much harder than I'd expected.

"It's us, remember. It's us that makes things special, not this place," Santana said quietly.

"Us," I whispered. I turned my head to take in everything I possibly could about our room. I remembered every change, right back to when it had just been a replica of Tony's bedroom, the first night we'd spent in here. Then I turned, opened the door, and stepped out before I could delay any more. I heard it click shut behind me, and when I turned around there was just Santana, standing in front of a stone wall.

I wanted to hold her hand, or have some sort of contact, except I couldn't let go of Lord Tubbington. But we'd only taken a few steps when Santana's arm made its way around my waist, holding us close as we descended through Hogwarts.

We stopped off in my dorm first. I'd already packed everything and it had been whisked away, leaving only Lord Tubbington's basket on top of the mattress. He struggled as we pushed him inside, yowling loudly, asking why he had to go in this tiny space.

"Sorry, Tubbs," I whispered through the wire front. He meowed once, sounding as sad as I'd ever heard him. "I know, I'm sorry. But it's time for us to go."

Next was the Slytherin dorm. Every other bed was tidily packed away, with the exception of Santana's, which still had a suitcase open at the end and everything else scattered around her corner of the room.

"Pack!" she said firmly, sending everything straight into her suitcase so that it piled high. I had to put down Lord Tubbington's basket to help sit on it to close it, but finally that was done too, and left for the house elves to move.

"I guess breakfast is all that's left," Santana said, forcing a smile as we walked through the Slytherin common room. There were still a few other stragglers running about, trying to find lost items, but almost everyone would be in the Great Hall by now for our last meal at Hogwarts. It felt so weird, thinking that - but it was 'last' everything, today.

I paused at the entrance to the Great Hall, turning to look at Santana.

"Where should we sit?"

It seemed like the most important thing - where should we sit for our very last meal? We'd never get the chance to choose this again.

"We'd be eating at Slytherin anyway today. Let's stick with tradition?" she suggested.

I nodded in agreement, unable to make a decision for myself, and we walked to the green table. It was a bit more difficult than normal to find a place to sit together, since no one was sleeping in or missing breakfast to do last-minute homework. The train left at eleven on the dot, and the house elves made sure that everyone was up when they should be so no one was left behind.

"Santana, you've got a letter!" Puck shouted as we settled in a few seats down from him. He lifted it up and threw it in our direction, and only my hand darting out stopped it from landing in someone's cereal.

"Watch it, Puck!"

"What? You should've been here in time for the owls!" he called back. Santana said something in response, but I didn't hear what, because I was too busy examining the envelope with its Ministry of Magic seal.

"Santana, look."

She turned back to me and the teasing smile fell off her face at the sight of the envelope.

"Today? They had to send it today?" she muttered under her breath as she reached out for it. She ripped open the envelope quickly, holding out the folded letter in front of us so I could see as while. Then she flipped it open.

Dear Miss Lopez,

Congratulations on being accepted to the training programme for Hit Wizards and Witches, beginning on the 1st August…

I stopped reading, and just searched her face for a reaction instead. She looked happy. Sort of. But she also looked uncertain. She noticed me watching her as she folded up the letter, and gave me a weak smile.

"I need to think, Brittany. I'll tell you as soon as I've decided."

It made me glad, that she wasn't jumping straight into it. She was taking her promise seriously, and I had to trust her to make the right decision.

"Last call for Hogsmeade to London King's Cross!"

The voice of the train conductor echoed along the platform as he marched down it, ushering the remaining students quickly onboard. Our compartment was very squashed - none of us had wanted to break off into a separate compartment, so I was between Santana and Quinn, with Kurt on Quinn's other side next to the door. Opposite were Puck, Mike, Tina and Rachel. The two girls were deep in conversation about some muggle music club they were a part of, while Mike was explaining his quidditch placement with the Ballycastle Bats to Puck. Quinn and Kurt were discussing St. Mungo's.

Santana and I were the only ones being quiet. I turned to her and found her staring down at the envelope that was already slightly crumpled, her head resting on the glass of the window. I didn't want to interrupt her thinking so I tuned into Tina and Rachel's conversation instead. Unfortunately, they hadn't heard of much of my dad's music. I didn't understand why – just because it was old, didn't mean it wasn't good.

The conversation moved on. We all talked about jobs, and NEWTs, and where we'd be living next year. Every time I looked at my watch it felt like it should only have been five minutes, but half an hour had gone by. Time was passing too quickly.

Then we started remembering. Santana put her letter away and joined in too. Quidditch games. Feasts in the Great Hall. Parties - so many parties. We talked, and talked, and I wished this train journey could go on forever.

The conversation didn't fade until the evening as first Tina, then everyone else, dozed off. I rested my head on Santana's shoulder, closing my eyes to try and take a nap as well, but she spoke after only a few seconds.

"Brittany?"

"Mm?"

"Let's take a walk? I want some fresh air."

I heard the seriousness in her tone, and knew this wasn't just about fresh air. She'd made a decision, and she wanted to talk where no one would overhear us. Heaviness settled into my stomach but I lifted my head from her shoulder to nod. I let her lead me out of the compartment by the hand and we walked down the narrow corridor of the train together. When we reached the end of the carriage she moved towards the door, sticking her head out of the open window and breathing in slowly. I wanted to cuddle up behind her, but I couldn't. I felt too tense. I had to know.

"Santana, please tell me."

She sighed, turning away from the window to face me instead, reaching out for my other hand as well. I could see she was nervous, but she never looked away from my face.

"I've… I've been thinking. A lot," she started quietly. "And I'm going to take the job."

My heart plummeted, but I nodded, trying desperately not to look too sad. She'd done what I'd asked her to. I guess I was just hoping she'd decide she was doing it for the wrong reasons.

"I want it. I'd want to do this, even if it wasn't at the Ministry, even if I had to go against my parents to do it. And I hate the thought of leaving you for so long, but… we'll get through it, right? Like you said?" she asked, biting her lip as she stared up at me.

I looked at her for a moment, then pulled my hands away from hers.

"I've changed my mind."

"What?"

She looked terrified, and I quickly realised I'd phrased that badly.

"Oh, no, not that. I meant, about my promise. How I said I couldn't promise we'd be alright. But I don't care if I can't tell the future." I lifted my right hand, holding out only my little finger. I could hear the whistle of the train, and I knew we were close to King's Cross. "Santana, I promise we're going to be okay. I don't care what happens. The only important thing is you. That's all I'm sure about. So I promise, we're going to make it. Do you promise too?"

I could see tears in her eyes again, but she was smiling. The train was slowing down. Noise was starting to come from the nearby compartments as people woke up, getting ready to leave. In five minutes we'd be off this train, and Hogwarts would be over. But we had so much more to come, and I was determined to do it all with Santana.

Her hand rose, her little finger linking with mine and squeezing lightly as she beamed up at me.

"I promise."

It's gonna be a bumpy ride

But it sure beats standing still

I don't want to end this with a massive AN, so I'm going to try and keep this quite short. You can find a longer message to everyone who's read this story on my tumblr (laurasfantasia. tumblr. com), but in short, thank you so much for reading to the end.

I have no plans to write a sequel. I will be writing other short HP!Brittana pieces, and I have another long Brittana fic planned that I should start posting mid-September. I also have a LOT of headcanon for what happens to Brittana and other characters in the future, so if you want to know any of that, send me an ask on tumblr or review with an account I can PM.

Lyrics are of course from the theme song for this story, Bumpy Ride by The Hoosiers. If you haven't listened to it already, go do so now.

Okay, I'm going to end this now. THANK YOU EVERYONE.