"Who's coming to our graduation?" Lily asked. They each got two tickets to their graduation.
"My parents." Remus said.
"Mine too." Peter added.
The other four looked at each other.
"I'm not inviting mine." Sirius stated. "I don't think they even count as parents. Cordelia and Charles Potter were my parents as far as I am concerned."
"I don't know who'd I'd give the tickets to." James shrugged. "I guess there's going to be eight empty seats."
"I was going to give mine to Molly and Arthur." Loralei told them. "At least then some people I love, that also love me come."
"Take my tickets." Sirius told her, squeezing her hand, which he was holding. "Tell them to bring your godsons."
"Mine too." James said. "Tell them to bring two of the other kids."
"Mine too." Lily added. "Tell them to bring Fab and the last kid. Then we can thank him for helping us out with the Guardian thing."
Loralei's eyes filled with tears. "Are you sure?
James nodded. "Yeah, who else are we gonna invite? The Daily Prophet already had tickets."
The graduation was wonderful. There was only thirty-two students graduating that year. The Hogwarts crest hung from the tapestries on the ceiling in the great hall. The tables disappeared, and were replaced with rows of chairs, and there was not an empty seat in the house. The graduating class were all wearing identical purple gowns, resembling muggle ones, even with the same caps.
There was not an empty seat in the house, and Loralei could see where her other family was, bright red hair in a row. While Dumbledore was speaking, Loralei turned her head to look over her shoulder at them. They were a good few rows behind them.
Dumbledore called James and Lily to speak. Loralei was nervous about this, they got out of there seats, and walked up to the podium that replaced the teacher's table.
"Hello, everyone, and welcome to Hogwarts." James said, as Lily unfolded papers.
"For everyone graduating here today, this has been our home for the last seven years." Lily continued. "We have all gotten detention, made a fool of ourselves, failed a quiz or two..."
"Or if you're like me, several." James joked.
Lily smiled. "Anyway. We've all made mistakes here, and it's gotten us prepared for the real world." Lily continued. "I'm not saying you will, or should stop making mistakes. It's because of them we all grew into who we are today."
"Personally, I will make many more. What can I say? It's in my blood." James grinned, looking straight at Sirius, who was sitting in the front row, uncomfortable beside his cousin before, now he was grinning. "This is the perfect time to make mistakes. The odds are that they're perminant are very slim."
"So go travel the world. Go to a muggle university for a few years, and see what it's like to live without magic. Do something that could make you grow even more." She told them.
"And when you look back on your life in a hundred years, smile, because even if you regret something, it made you who you are today." Loralei could swear she saw tears in her brother's eyes.
"And when you think about, Hogwarts, think about the magic you learned and the friends you made." Lily brushed her fingers over her cheek, where a tear had escaped, looking from Loralei, to Remus, to Sirius, to finally, James.
"Class of nineteen seventy-eight..." James looked at Lily.
"We did it." They said together.
Applause erupted from the audience, Sirius and Remus were whistling, and Loralei was trying to get the tears out of her eyes.
Dumbledore came up again, congratulating them on such a good speech. They started calling up names then. Melanie was the first to be called, Sirius was the third to be called up, Lily the seventh, Remus the eighteenth, then Peter the twenty-second with James then Loralei following right after.
A total of thirty-two people graduated. There usually was forty, but many had been taken out of school, most of them muggle borns, but that didn't stop everyone from celebrating, from the Weasley's and Fabian all going to congratulate the graduates. Taking pictures with Loralei's camera of them all. Loralei got pictures with her godsons, and then with all the children being held by her friends. Remus' parents, Lyall and Hope Lupin were there, taking pictures of their son and his friends. Enid and Jane Pettigrew were standing off to the side. They were taking their son back that night, and from the looks Jane Pettigrew was giving the group of smiling faces, she didn't want her son around them.
Peter said his goodbyes to them, and left with his parents, while the others went to Hogsmeade to celebrate, shedding their caps and gowns and sent James and Lily to drop them off while everyone else made their way to Hogsmeade. They had one last night at Hogwarts before leaving in the morning. Only the graduating class could stay.
"How does it feel to be grown up?" Molly asked as they walked ahead of the rest, each of them holding one of the twins.
"It hasn't hit me yet." Loralei told her. "It will when I get my acceptance and rejection letters, but for now I'm fine like this." She smiled.
"You should be, you worked hard to get here, and with how your life has been these last few years...you deserve a bit of celebration."
"I'd like to think so," Loralei sighed. "One last night in the castle, did it feel this surreal to you?"
Molly nodded. "You won't feel it for a while. Probably September."
Loralei shrugged. "Either way, I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight."
"I couldn't either. Honestly, I was up all night remising with my friends." Molly told her. "Cherish these last few hours here. They're worth a lot."
"I'm sure I will. It'll be so weird not to wake up here anymore. Having a room without two other girls in it."
"Really? Only two girls?" Molly asked.
"The other two were taken out of school because of Voldemort." Loralei told her. "They didn't think it was safe here, so they left the country I think."
"Hogwarts has always been safe." Molly said. "I think my kids would be pretty safe there."
"Not everyone feels that way, and hopefully you won't have to ask yourself that question." Loralei shrugged. "This all has to be over in five years, don't you think?"
"I sure hope so." Molly nodded as they came up to the Three Broomsticks, it was pretty full. They were not the only ones who had the idea to come here after graduation. They pushed several tables together to get a place big enough for the group of twelve.
James and Lily joined up with them. They all had drinks, and were laughing and talking, before Fabian called them all to be quiet.
"Okay, so I'm not supposed to do this, but I know something that three of you would like to know." He told them.
"What is it, Fab?" Loralei asked.
"Black, Potter, and Loralei are all accepted into the training program to be aurors." He told them. "You made the final cut last night. You should be getting your letters in a week or so. Training starts in September."
The three who got in looked at him in shock, their mouths hanging open.
"Are you serious?" James asked.
"Actually that's my name." Sirius said. "But thanks, we look nothing alike."
Loralei hugged Fabian. "This is so wicked. We're going to be training together."
"Yes we are, I get you for disguises." He told them.
Loralei looked at Lily and Remus who were sitting across the table from her. "Now all we have to do is wait for you to get your letters back."
"They're the brains of our operation," James said. "Of course they'll get in."
James, Lily, Remus, Sirius and Loralei stumbled through the castle, taking it all in on their final night staying there. They stumbled into the trophy room. Brass surrounded them, stating what great services students had done for the school.
"Ah, how many detentions have we served here, Prongs?" Sirius sighed, looking around.
"At least twenty." James nodded. "Remember when we kept throwing that ball around and we broke the class of that case?" He pointed to the one behind Sirius' back that held silver trophies.
"Oh yeah! You're the one that broke it though, I was innocent." Sirius said.
"Yeah, righ-"
"Hey guys!" Lily interrupted, pointing to a plaque she was looking at. "Our names are on this!"
There was a plank, about a foot and a half, a gold sheet with names engraved on it. All thirty-two of them
Acman, Melanie
Black, Narcissa
Black, Sirius
Blanchard, David
Chang, Alan
Dell, Robert
Evans, Lily
Ezard, Steven
Fallow, Carlisle
Gold, Regina
Greene, Katie
Grey, Tessa
Hill, Veronica
Jayne, Toby
Jones, Colin
Lane, Raven
Longbottom, Frank
Lupin, Remus
Mills, Henry
Nolan, Emma
O'Malley, Jennifer
Pettigrew, Peter
Potter, James
Potter, Loralei
Reynolds, Leah
Simon, Carly
Smith, Jordan
Snape, Severus
Stewart, Alice
Swan, Mary Margaret
Wells, Heather
Zane, Cora
"Damn, my name is the last of ours." Loralei shook her head. "Damn alphabetical order!"
"Don't worry, love," Sirius pulled her closer to him so his could kiss the side of her head as she laughed. "You're still the first in my book."
Loralei laughed. "Thanks, Siri."
"Stop being so sickening for a minute." James rolled his eyes. "We're having a moment here."
"We're all grown up." Lily smiled.
"Ugh, don't remind me." Remus shuddered. "We're all going to be living under the same roof."
"Actually not all of us." Lily told them. "James and I found an apartment in Diagon Alley, we're moving in next month."
"Congratulations." Sirius clapped James on the shoulder. "One step closer to getting the girl."
Lily laughed. "I thought he already got the girl."
"Not until there's a ring on that finger of yours." Sirius told her. "That's when it's official."
Lily elbowed James playfully. "Looks like you have some stuff to do, James. Who knows...you might not have me yet."
Lily shouldn't have said that. James looked at her for a moment before throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her away.
Loralei held her arms out to stop the other two boys from following. "I have a feeling he's going to ask her something. I don't think they'd like us to be watching."
There was a pregnant pause.
"Does this mean we're stuck in here?" Sirius asked.
"No, it just means we can't follow them." She shrugged. "Melanie invited us to a Hufflepuff party, want to go?
Lupin shrugged. "As good as any." He started walking away. "You coming?" He asked when the other two didn't move.
Loralei nodded, stealing one last glance to her engraved name among many. "Yeah, let's go."
It looked like rain outside, dark clouds looming over the castle. Loralei and Lily were packing their last few things. Neither mentioned the gold ring with a single diamond on Lily's left hand, now wasn't the time. It was the time for them to say goodbye to the dormitory they had lived in for the last seven years, and will never be in again.
Maybe in twenty years, there children will be here. Going through the same classes their mothers went through, but for now the adventure for them in this castle was over. It was time for them to go greet the real world.
Lily was the first one to leave; she had a fiancé waiting for her.
Loralei waited a moment, standing in the doorway. Picturing herself seven years ago, round face, about a foot shorter, running to her bed and sitting on it with an eleven year old Lily.
Loralei closed her eyes, stopping tears from coming, as she closed the door behind.
Goodbye Hogwarts, it has been a good seven years.
A/N: So, I got this one out early today! I actually came up with all those names, and boy was it hard! A few of those names will show up again by the way. Just a warning.
Jordan Lynn 7: Thank you! So am I! Im so happy this one's in America! We finally get some magic!
Blue Luver5000: It will be in the next chapter ;) Thanks for the idea!
koryandrs: Thank you :)
C.B. Weasley: Isn't it great? Haha. That acronym is great. I've heard people try to say it, and it's hilarious. Haha. Your reviews make my day! Love you too!
SlythendorGirl: Spoilers sweetie! I can say that I am somewhat of an evil writer depending on my mood. I will also tell you that I fully intend to write a sequel to this story, because what I have in the outline for the ending is great (at least for me). But that's all I can say. Haha. I also love your username!
Please review!
Kat