Raylynx's POV
Dumbledore asked me to stay after the others had left.
"The Ministry of Magic transferred your parents' will from Muggle form into magical form the other day," Dumbledore said and handed me a thick envelope. "All the property and goods have been transferred over to you and are recognized under your name in the Wizarding World as well."
"Thank you," I said, tucking the envelope away in my robes.
"And another matter…"
He then produced from underneath his desk the TriWizard Cup and the prize money.
My stomach turned at seeing these things and I felt an unjustified anger and hatred bubbling up inside me.
"Normally, there would be a ceremony," Dumbledore said. "But given the circumstances…"
"I don't want them, Professor," I said bluntly.
Dumbledore hesitated and then set them both down on his desk.
"What is it that you want, Raylynx?" he asked me seriously.
"I want… I want to speak with the Sorting Hat."
Dumbledore's eyebrows rose in surprise, but it was without further comment that he rose from his desk and retrieved the Sorting Hat from a tall bookcase.
He handed it to me and I slipped it onto my head.
I called out mentally. Sorting Hat?
Ah, Raylynx Kingsley. Bee in your bonnet?
No, I came to tell you something. You chose wrongly. Regulus Black is not a Slytherin. Audrey Zena is not a Slytherin. Severus Snape is not a Slytherin. And most of all- I am not a Gryffindor. Do you hear that? I am not a Gryffindor.
There was no response. I waited impatiently, but the Sorting Hat was silent. Then- a loud clank! For a moment I saw stars circling my vision and then. The Hat flew off my head. I made to grab it, but when I did- my hand not only wrapped around the Hat, but something inside it… With my other hand, I reached and pulled out-
A sword.
A gleaming silver sword.
Dumbledore looked upon in great surprise, but he said immediately, "Check the hilt, Raylynx."
I did and in doing so, saw etched into the hilt: Godric Gryffindor.
Remus' POV
It was the very last day before graduation and my transformation for the month had occurred two days before.
It was quite sunny, with not a speck of cloud in the sky.
We were spending the day besides the Black Lake; lounging and playing games. James and I were lying down in the grass. I closed my eyes and felt the sun press itself against my freshly bandaged wounds and for a moment, I felt the most serene I had had for a long time…
Sirius and Marlene were playing chess against Dorcas and Alice, with Peter egging them on.
Lily and Raylynx were somewhere in the branches, talking softly.
Bits of Lily and Raylynx's conversation drifted down from above.
I knew I could only hear them because of my wolf senses.
"How much are you going to tell your siblings, Ray?"
"I don't know. As much as I can without hurting them, I suppose. What about you, Lily?"
Lily… The name brought me warmth like the sun, except while the sun began with my skin and worked its way into my veins, the warmth I associated with Lily came from inside and spread throughout me until I felt comforted.
Remus, stop, I scolded myself. You can't keep on thinking this way. It's not allowed.
But she's so lovely.
Yes, but so what?
So, I like her.
Yes, but even if you weren't a werewolf, you would never be as good as James. And then, there is the small fact that you, in fact, are a werewolf. Don't you forget that. You could kill her without a second thought. No, she's far safer and happier with James. Plus when we leave Hogwarts I could never be financially stable, given my condition. James is far more capable than me and besides… he's happy, too.
"Moony?"
James' voice startled me, but I kept my eyes shut tightly.
"Yes?" I said as calmly as possible.
"I'm not actually sure how to bring this up but, Moony, you know you're the best at Defense Against the Dark Arts, don't you?"
"Prongs, that's rubbish. I'm really not the best at anything."
Prongs waved one hand in the air, brushing aside my comment. "The reason why I'm bringing this up is because I was thinking Dumbledore might need at least a few of us… to be full-time Order members."
"Prongs, I can't. I want to, but I can't. I have to find a job, somehow, because financially-"
"I know, Moony. That's what I'm trying to say. I've got you covered, financia-"
"Prongs, please don't insult me," I said, feeling the heat rush to my face. Whether it was from humiliation or anger, I wasn't sure. "I know my chances of getting a job are slim, but-"
"This isn't because of your- your vicious pet rabbit, Moony!" James sat up and faced me, her face as stern and serious as I'd ever seen it. "This is because we're in a war! It's not just you I'm asking. I'm asking Sirius and Peter, too. And quite frankly, I wouldn't be offering it to you, either, but I know you're planning on making a life all on your own, without asking your parents for help. I'm your friend, Moony. How could you think I doubted you? But if we're going to get through these upcoming years together, we're going to have to be honest with each other, and I'm telling you- I'm here for you."
I stared at him, speechless, my mouth hanging open slightly.
"I mean, really, what's the point of wealth if I can't spend it when I have to?" James said, suddenly slightly self-conscious.
A moment passed.
"Moon, I-Er- I didn't mean to get quite so… That is, I didn't mean to offend-"
"Prongs," I cut him off, "Prongs."
He looked at me warily.
"Thank you."
I knew that I wouldn't take him up on his offer unless I absolutely had to, but for now it was enough to see his trademark goofy grin break through.
Just then, Dorcas sprang up and said loudly, "No, this can't be all we do. We can't just be like every other graduating year and spend the day lounging by the Black Lake."
"We're not like every other graduating year," Sirius retorted. "Every other graduating year and actually, probably every seventh year right now, are partying it up."
"Don't care much for getting piss-drunk, but there is a game I want to play," Dorcas replied, smirking. That smirk was a dangerous smirk.
"Everybody, on your feet!" Dorcas suddenly cried. "You too, James, Remus! No lounging about. We're going to play Lily's game!"
"Who's game?" James said, peering up at Dorcas.
"Your girlfriend's, you dimwit. Now, up! Everybody, to the edge of the lake!"
"All right," Dorcas announced and kicking off her shoes after Lily had explained the rules. "Nobody go easy. We're all in it to win it."
"No need to state the obvious," Sirius replied, grinning. "Shall I start?"
"Please do."
Without any hesitation, Sirius turned straight to James and said, "Hey, Prongs, why don't you tell Lily about that time when you thought it'd be funny to prank McGonagall by transforming her-?"
Splash. James was gone.
Everybody laughed and Sirius looked quite proud of himself. I couldn't help but smile myself. Sirius had far too much with which to blackmail any of us boys.
Speaking of, it was my turn now.
As soon as I saw Sirius turn to me with a raised eyebrow, I knew what he was going to ask me about. He was going to ask me where I'd been last night. Of course, the answer was that I'd finally been cornered by Gemma from Ravenclaw. My wounds were still awful and I wasn't able to escape her clutches quickly enough. She'd pressed herself onto me and attempted to kiss me. I had been mortified and barely escaping her, I'd burst into our dormitory and blabbed about it to a highly amused Padfoot, a flabbergasted Wormtail, and a half-asleep, sleepily-smiling Prongs. I'd regretted telling them about it ever since.
Raylynx's POV
With James having gone overboard, Sirius turned to Remus confidently.
"Moony, tell the others where you were last night."
I started, suddenly afraid that Sirius was going to make Remus confess that he was a werewolf who spent his nights in the Shrieking Shack once a month.
Peter, whom I was standing next to, turned to look at me, and I saw Sirius look over at me in confusion, but Remus simply dived off into the water with ease. With a smile, James swam over to him, and I heard him say, "You didn't want to tell everybody about how Gemma was in love with you?"
I let out a silent sigh of relief. Of course Sirius would never do that to Remus. What was I thinking?
"Go drinking with me, Evans," Sirius dared Lily, arching an eyebrow at her and smirking. "We won't stop til' dawn."
"Not with my girlfriend, you're not!" James yelled indignantly from the water.
Lily fidgeted, scowled, and fidgeted again before jumping into the Lake.
"Lily, your game is too easy," Sirius called out to her before turning to Dorcas, who faced him with a raised eyebrow and a challenging smirk.
"Don't be so confident, Dorcas," Sirius smirked. "I know just how to get you into the water."
"Try me."
"Tell me how to make the Potion you used on me in second year. The one that made me kind-of fat."
"Why?" Dorcas asked curiously.
"Just want to slip it into Dumbledore's drink before we graduate," Sirius shrugged.
"It's a mixture of…" Dorcas hesitated and then she said sternly, "You're not really going to do it, will you?"
Sirius pretended to be offended. "Darling, you think I'm lying? Don't you know me at all?"
Dorcas rolled her eyes and sighed before majestically cannonballing into the water and drenching Sirius anyways.
Sirius sputtered and shouted at her, to great applause. James laughed and high-fived Dorcas.
Sirius pushed his long hair out of his eyes and rolled up the sleeves of his soaked white shirt.
I hurriedly looked away as he turned to Marlene, who I knew, was making no effort to keep but looking at Sirius' see-through state.
"You told me you haven't decided on a middle name for your baby brother yet. I think it should be Sirius."
"That's disgusting," Marlene retorted.
"Then jump," Sirius nodded at the water.
Marlene rolled her eyes and said, "You're making this impossible," before falling into the water.
Sirius shrugged. "That's the point of this game, isn't it?"
He turned to Alice. He hesitated, "Er… Baker. Hm. I don't…" His eyes trailed off to those waiting in the water. James was trying to wrap his arms around Lily, but instead, he was causing them both to sink. Lily squealed and squirmed, trying to get out of his grasp, but it could not be plainer that she was enjoying herself and thoroughly in love with James Potter.
"Call James the biggest, slimiest, foulest git you've ever known," Sirius challenged Alice.
"James is the biggest..." Alice began, laughing, but then she turned towards the water. A smile played on her lips. I knew she was seeing what I was seeing- that James was making Lily incandescently and utterly happy. With a brief sigh of resignation, Alice shook her head and gracefully jumped into the water.
"Man, you guys are too easy," Sirius quipped and turned to the two remaining: Peter and myself. Between the two of us, there was not much hope of defeating Sirius.
"Wormtail, do a handstand."
Peter flushed in embarrassment, tried, and found himself on his hands for about half a second before he promptly failed and in trying too hard to stay upright, flipped himself over and with a mighty splash, fell into the Lake.
He'd gone in totally face-down and Remus immediately swam over to make sure the sputtering Peter wasn't seriously injured.
He wasn't. Instead, as he surfaced, Peter sputtered indignantly, "I did it! I did it for a little bit!"
"Worm, that wasn't a handstand. That was a handfall," Sirius corrected him, but Peter shook his head, spraying Remus was water from his hair.
"No, I did it! You didn't specify a time frame!"
"You telling me you could have held it for any longer?" Sirius laughed, but Peter was adamant.
"Okay, okay," Sirius conceded. "Have it your way, Wormtail. You won that round. I was getting dead bored anyways."
And with a huge running leap, Sirius splashed into the Lake, creating a tidal wave that slammed onto the wood pier we were standing on.
Peter had to be helped back onto the pier by Sirius and Remus before he turned to me, the last person left.
Peter thought hard for a second and then said, "I've got it. I know how to win this game. I just have to make it impossible. I can just tell you to tell me what someone else is thinking. You'd never guess... Or I could make this into a paradox, can't I?"
"All right, tell Moony one thing you know about him that he doesn't know you know," Peter beamed and then paused. "Wait, that's not exactly what I…"
"Worm," James shook his head in amusement. "It's the other way around. You were supposed to ask her what he knows that she doesn't."
Peter's face fell, but I felt a wave of panic crash over me nonetheless.
Tell him something he doesn't know I know?
You're a…
Helplessly, my eyes were drawn over to Remus, who was keeping afloat in the water.
His eyes were wide as he, too, looked at me helplessly.
Werewolf.
His mouth fell open slightly. Everybody was waiting for my answer.
"Lupin, you…"
I tried to wrack my brains for any other answer, but every interaction I had had with him: his nearly ripping me into shreds in the Forbidden Forest twice now, his saving my life because I had sent him an image of the Shrieking Shack with Legilimency, his re-copying my homework because the Whomping Willow had torn it to shreds… But then, there had been that one time, the closest I'd ever been to him… when he had carried me back up to Gryffindor Tower after Sirius and I had been cornered and cursed by the Slytherins. I'd fallen asleep from exhaustion while he was carrying me and I vaguely remembered the warmth of his arms and his scent… The scent itself was like a memory… a dream… perhaps it had never been really, but I associated it with Lupin.
"You…you smell like Earl grey tea and… books and the brisk morning air… and well, chocolate." I smiled half-heartedly at my mention of chocolate.
There was an astonished silence at this, most of all from Lupin.
For no reason whatsoever, I suddenly felt incredibly vulnerable and embarrassed.
"Well," Sirius' voice said cuttingly, breaking through the strange reverie that had descended upon us, "jump, Pete."
Peter did.
I leaned down to help pull Alice and Dorcas out, but I felt unnerved when Dorcas gave me a questioning look.
"What?" I asked her, almost defensively.
Dorcas didn't respond, simply turned around to help Peter get back out.
Remus had gotten out and flopped over in the grass again, lying down to let the sun dry him. With his light blue shirt wet, I could see slightly make out the lines of scars and bandages across his torso. The water must be stinging right now.
Lily and James stayed in the water for a bit longer, shouting and laughing, but when Lily screamed and swore she felt something touch her leg, they clambered onto the banks again.
Remus' POV
As soon as I climbed out of the water, I fell over into the grass. I felt tired, not just from the cold water seeping into my clothes, but from the anxiety attack I'd just experienced.
I had been so sure, for a moment that lasted longer than eternity, that Raylynx was going to say to me, "Werewolf." For a moment, I was sure that all the blood had left my body; that's how nervous I was.
But of course, that didn't happen. Of course, she didn't know. Lily would never betray my secret and that was only way Raylynx could find out.
I saw Sirius' eyebrows rise at her strange comments, but I couldn't care less what she said. I had only been waiting for the dooming word. As long as that wasn't the word, it didn't matter what she said.
"We were thinking of heading up for dinner. Care to join us?"
"I think I'm going to stay here a bit longer," I replied. I need time to pull myself together. "The sun feels rather nice."
"Well… all right," I could hear Lily's hesitancy. She sensed that I was off. But to my great relief, she decided not to push it, and left with James.
I could hear Sirius and Marlene playfully teasing Peter as they, too, headed up. Alice put in a comment in Peter's behalf, which Dorcas immediately slapped down with her sharp wit.
And then- silence.
Except, with a rustling sound, a warm bundle of cloth fell down on top of me.
"It's going to get cold once the sun goes down," a voice said.
I blearily peered up at Raylynx, who was looking down at me with an unreadable expression.
She began to move away, but I suddenly started.
I had a hundred questions to ask her. The amount of things I had never said to Raylynx was at its breaking point.
"Wait!" I called, hastily sitting up, and then I winced as the pain shot through my torso.
Raylynx was immediately at my side, crouching down to try to help me.
"Lupin!"
"I'm all right, I'm all right," I said feebly, propping myself up on my elbow.
"Lay down," Raylynx said gently, and when I shook my head, she responded, "Well, I'm going to."
True to her word, she flopped down besides me, sitting in the grass and squinting up at the sun-filled sky.
"Oh, wait," she said suddenly, and pulled her cloak off of me. She rummaged in one of its pockets.
"Here," she said, pulling out a bar of Honeydukes chocolate. With a small smile, she offered it to me.
I blinked. "I was the one who promised to give you chocolate."
"Think of it as a thank you," Raylynx said, pressing it into my hand.
"For what?" What could you possibly have to thank me for? I've done nothing. I've nothing to give to people. It's all spent on maintaining my own self, constantly ripped open by the wolf inside me.
"It was you, wasn't it? You knew to come to the Shrieking Shack..." Raylynx said.
"I had a sort-of vision," I said hesitantly. Though I have no idea how or why it got there. And the image was a specific image of me after my transformation. My heart thumped. Does she know?
"You saved my life," Raylynx said sincerely.
"So... so you're giving me a bar of chocolate?" I struggled with words, still trying to make sense of all this.
"Don't complain. It's more than a fair trade-off," Raylynx replied, and when I stared at her, she laughed.
I didn't understand what exactly was going on in Raylynx's head, but I found myself smiling slightly at her laugh. I carefully opened the chocolate wrapping before breaking off a large chunk. I handed it to her and we ate it together, staring out at the sun shimmering on the rippling surface of the lake.
Then, suddenly a playful tentacle popped out of the surface of the water. Strangely, it gave us something like a wave before it disappeared.
"What was that all about?" I wondered, breaking off another piece of chocolate.
"I imagine he's saying good-bye," Raylynx said softly. "After all, we're graduating tomorrow and then... then we leave Hogwarts."
My heart clenched. "We leave Hogwarts," I repeated quietly.
"I'm scared," Raylynx admitted, her hands clenched on her cloak. "I know it's silly. Everyone leaves Hogwarts. But with everything going on, it feels different. I don't trust the world we'll be going into."
Before I could stop myself, I answered her, "Yeah. Me too."
She looked over at me.
She let out a breath and then smiled sadly at me.
"But we'll be all right," she said quietly.
It sounded more like a wish, but at least it was a hope we could hold in our hands for now.
Raylynx's POV
"Abbott, Thomas."
"Arcadius, Amelia."
"Avery, Hunter."
"Baker, Alice."
"Black, Sirius."
"Blue, Ivy."
"Bones, George."
"Carrow, Alecto."
"Carrow, Amycus."
"Chang, Sam."
"Cross, Athena."
"Darcy, William."
"Diggory, Amos."
"Evans, Lily."
"Faith, Amanda."
"Finnigan, Zayne."
"Jordan, Jesse."
"Kingsley, Raylynx."
"Lupin, Remus."
"Meadowes, Dorcas."
"McKinnon, Marlene."
"Nott, Theodore."
"O'Leary, Jacob."
"Pettigrew, Peter."
"Potter, James."
"Rookwood, Augustus."
"Rosier, Evans."
"Salinger, Jay."
"Snape, Severus." "
"Smith, Riley."
"Taylor, Callie."
"Travers, Adam."
"Yaxley, Daniel."
"Zena, Aubrey."
And so we graduated, like every other class at Hogwarts. But now each of us understood a little better, the legacies our generation would leave. Still, no one could comprehend the degree of intensity with which the future would unfold. Least of all me.
I gripped the diploma tightly. Professor McGonagall held out her other hand. I ignored it and hugged her instead. She swatted at me to get going. It was the perfect way to graduate.
What new choices lay before me now? I suppose each of us graduating today has a new chance, a chance to choose for ourselves who we really are. In the midst of this upcoming war, the most confusing battle of light and dark will be the one inside of us. In the end, only one wins out and that… that is who we really are.
I looked up at the clear blue sky and as I did, the melody of Regulus' music box played across my mind.
Good luck, Regulus. When we next meet, I hope the light in you has properly and fully won by then.
And then I stepped forth to receive my diploma and leave Hogwarts, never to return again as a student or as a child with a whole family.
