Chapter Nineteen

Early June, Nineteen-Seventy-Eight

"You don't think they'll fail me, will you?" Davie said nervously as she and Sirius walked out of their Charms Practical NEWT -- she was well-prepared for the test as anyone, but because she was so nervous at the prospect of possibly not doing well in what she had always thought to be her worst subject, she took longer than the rest of their friends to finish. Sirius had indicated to James with a nod that he would wait for her, and that the rest of them ought to go on ahead.

"I completely forgot to mention Ulric of Borne's Theory of Levitation - I studied it for at least twenty minutes last night and I didn't even remember," Davie said, groaning as she slapped her forehead lightly with the heel of her hand. "You don't think they'll dock points for it, do you?"

"Davie --"

"They wouldn't, I'm sure, I spent at least six inches talking about the incident with Hebbler Haffernan and the --"

Davie's rant was cut off by Sirius grabbing her playfully by the robes and planting a sound kiss on her lips, right in the middle of the crowded hallway, simply to shut her up. She pulled back and cleared her throat, laughing shiftily as she noticed a fair number of eyes on them now; she swatted Sirius playfully on the shoulder before looping his arm through his as they made their way to the Entrance Hall.

People had by now grown accustomed to Sirius Black and Davie Maddux -- people no longer accused her of putting a love potion in his pumpkin juice every night, in any case. After multiple trips to the infirmary, the attacks on Hogsmeade, the girls had to grudgingly admit that perhaps Sirius Black was in love with this girl. It did not, however, stop them from occasionally rolling their eyes in envy at the fact that the couple looked quite stereotypical indeed, the way they were constantly strolling around the grounds together, holding hands around the lake.

It had been slightly strange for Davie and Sirius for a short while after Romnic Digby's disappearance - he had never turned up again, and for nearly a month after, Davie had been terribly sad. Sometimes, she was too sullen to eat, or leave the common room on Hogsmeade weekends, asking to be left alone.

Sirius did get somewhat envious on occasion, but he was compelled to at least be somewhat understanding of the fact that Davie was simply mourning the loss of a friend. By now, however, as long as the topic never came up in any concrete terms, she seemed to be getting along fine.

Sirius pulled his wand from his pocket and conjured up a blanket, laying it out and tugging Davie to sit and lean back against him. It was clear that the summer holidays were drawing near, as the sun was high in the cloudless sky, and since there was no wind, it was terribly warm and balmy out. Sirius had loosened the tie of his uniform, and Davie had tied her hair somewhat messily into ponytail, hanging loosely to the side. The air smelled of freshly cut grass, and from somewhere in the distance, some sort of cake that Hagrid was baking off in his hut. It was so calm. So deceptively calm.

"Sirius," Davie said, staring up at the sky and resting her head back against his shoulder. "Don't you think it's sort of sad?"

"Sad?" Sirius chuckled, wrapping his arms around Davie and resting his chin on her shoulder so that his face was next to hers. "What, the weather? If you think the sun is depressing, I think you've been hanging around Slytherins too long --"

"Not the weather!" Davie groaned, elbowing Sirius gently. "I mean -- this time next year, we won't be here anymore. We'll be -- we don't know where we'll be."

"No more school, no more detentions, no more of Slughorn's essays," Sirius said, leaning his back with a mirthful laugh. "We'll be free! It's divine, isn't it?"

"But we have it so good here," Davie said, her voice melancholy and a bit softer than usual. Sirius chuckled dismissively, which caused Davie to prop herself up on her own arms and turn her head to face him. "I'm just going to miss this -- the way we all have always sat around in the grass, doing nothing, I mean."

"The grass?" Sirius laughed, as though Davie's train of thought were something impossible to follow. "Well, I'm sure Dumbledore will let you come back and sit on the grass anytime you like -- we're going to be seeing more of him and everyone else anyway, remember?" Sirius was, of course, referring to the Order. They hadn't yet been called to another meeting, but the Daily Prophet had been peppered with various stories about Death Eater attacks throughout the country. The attacks were spreading with equal frequency between magical and wizarding towns. The way things seemed to be turning out -- word of mouth was even that Sirius' younger brother, Regulus, had joined up with them -- the Order of the Phoenix would have their work cut out for them. Davie, however, was not to be distracted from the issue at hand.

"Oh, come on," Sirius said, shaking her gently -- though he'd never say it in so many words, it worried him a bit when Davie got this way, all sad and thoughtful as though every day, she expected something else to go wrong. He couldn't blame her, with the way things had been for her and losing her parents, but he wondered if there was a point where a line ought to have been drawn. "It's not as if we're all going to get split up and become wrinkly old bats, living alone. Alone, with fifty cats."

"You never know," Davie said with a weak laugh, though it wasn't completely a joke.

"No cats. Cats and dogs don't mix, and," Sirius began, tugging Davie back slightly so that she was leaning against him again, "this dog will not stand for it."

"Well," Davie said distantly, only half-laughing in response. "Strange things happen when people grow up. I think growing up is -- I think it's a little bit like dying. It means not being able to be the same person anymore."

"Don't be such a downer, Davie," Sirius said, reaching around and touching her face gently. "Growing up isn't like dying -- what if we live to be a hundred? We're nowhere near dying! We take care of all the Order business and get on --"

"Trying to get away from us, are you?" came James voice in the distance. Sirius and Davie looked up to see the others hurrying over, arms laden with snacks and bottles of butterbeer and pumpkin juice, with Peter jogging along in the rear as usual.

"Good thing you set up a big blanket, we've brought the whole clan," Remus grinned as they all settled down together on the blanket -- in the heat, the boys had all loosened their ties, and Lily and Davie had shed their outer robes altogether in favor of their uniforms underneath. Lily, it turned out, had brought along a camera that James had purchased for her during their last Hogsmeade trip, brandishing it at the group. Davie gave a yip of delight.

"Oh, put the camera on that rock over there, we need a photo!" Davie said excitedly. "All these years and we've never gotten a photo of all of us together. None where Sirius isn't putting a pair of horns behind James' head."

Peter quickly obliged, setting the camera onto a nearby rock and rushing back over as they all tried to arrange themselves into a decently posed photo.

"Sirius, put the Mallowpuff down, the photo --"

The camera flashed with Davie still chiding Sirius, who in turn had a mouth full of jelly-filled marshmallows, reaching for a bottle of pumpkin juice. Lily raised her wand to set the camera again while Davie gave Sirius a hard pinch on the arm, and when it flashed, she flashed him a grin.

"That's better," she laughed mirthfully. "Now we need one of Lily and James --"

James swooped Lily into a tight hug, placing an exaggerated kiss on her cheek for the camera.

"Davie! Sirius! It's your turn!"

Sirius, feeling compelled to get one up on James, swept Davie off of her feet and dipped her -- this, however, resulted in Davie screaming and clinging onto him for dear life.

"We don't have any of just the boys --"

Davie wriggled her way out of Sirius' arms and shoved him towards the other boys for a photo while Lily held the camera; James had to grab a laughing but still somewhat bashful Remus Lupin in order to get him into the photo.

"Come on, now, Moony," James guffawed. "The Marauders are a package deal -- all for one and one for all, eh?"

"No more photos!" Sirius laughed, placing his hand over the lens of Lily's camera, right after she had snapped a photo of the four boys. "Or else."

"Or else what?" Davie asked with an impish smirk. She should have known that she'd done something quite dangerous indeed when Sirius mirrored the expression, then winked at James - Davie, it would turn out, had just challenged the boys to do their worst. Immediately, the two boys rushed over to their girlfriends, sweeping them up and jumping without hesitation into the Great Lake.

"Sirius, lemme out!" Davie cried shrilly, laughing and splashing violently. "If you don't put me back on dry land, I swear, you'll have tree branches growing out of your nostrils -- where's my wand?!"

"The merpeople -- and the squid!" Lily said shrilly, pushing some of her sopping wet auburn hair out of her face. "We're not supposed to --"

"Oh, come on, we were just cooling off, Lils," James chuckled; he and Sirius picked the girls back up and brought them back up to the picnic blanket to an amused-looking Remus and Peter. Davie scrambled onto the blanket, rummaging around for her wand in order to dry herself, when she looked up and saw Professor Dumbledore striding over. Straightening up even though she was still sopping wet, she faced their Headmaster, unsure of whether or not they would be in trouble for jumping into the lake.

"You may relax, Miss Maddux," the old man chuckled, reaching out and patting her shoulder. "I simply came to deliver good news. Here we are," he said brightly, pulling a piece of parchment from the pocket of his robes and holding it out to Davie, who grabbed her robes from the ground and wiped her wet hands anxiously before accepting the proffered letter.

"Dear Miss Maddux," she read aloud hesitantly -- even the mere salutation sent a slight prickle over her skin. "The Ministry for Magic of the Republic of Bulgaria has maintained correspondence with the Headmaster of your institution of attendance, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Pending the results of your NEWT exams which will be sent to our offices via Owl Post, we are pleased to extend an invitation to our Auror Training Program which will take place over the summer and early autumn of 1978. Completion of said program will be sufficient qualification to work as an Auror in your location of choice."

"Congratulations, my dear girl," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling pleasantly - Davie, however, felt less excited and more anxious upon receiving the letter than she had expected. "You and, I believe, Miss Dorsey have received letters from the Ministry in Bulgaria extending an invitation. It will be of great help to -- certain affairs with which you may be interested," he said with an approving nod, and it was true. Trained Aurors in the Ministry would be of great use to the Order. "You all must be proud of your friend," Dumbledore said with a knowing grin, looking up at the others, who were all unsurprisingly staring at Sirius, awaiting a reaction.

Davie finally breathed easily when he wrapped his arms around her from behind, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Terribly proud," he said, holding her tightly. Davie gave his hand a squeeze, beaming brightly upon finally hearing his approval. "Terribly proud."

***

A/N's

Sorry to keep you all waiting, just for a chapter full of fluff - I'm just working up to getting into the gang's post-school lives, and I really want to get it just right! Hopefully you guys won't be too upset with me just for placing a few more days than usual in between updates.

Thanks to Azulish, to lovestooreadALOT, to Silver Huntress2, to Friar Freaking Lawrence, and to ashes-of-lily for subscribing to the story!

The next chapter will be our last chapter at Hogwarts, but nowhere close to being the last chapter of the story. As you all know, the plot thickens from here for the poor dears. Stay tuned! Cheers!