Forge the future

Tuesday, four in the afternoon, Arithmancy exam. Ten statements to be scored out of ten, two hours to solve them. Sev finished them in an hour and a quarter, took another quarter of an hour to review, and then dictated everything to Heather projecting and corrected Cecile's and Remus's papers bonded to them. All for Outstanding, note that they needed for Medimagic.

Wednesday, last day off, locked in the Library all day, preparing Defense theory with Fiona and Heather, and Potions and Charms with the third years.

Thursday, ten in the morning, practical Defense exam. In the end, the proposal to summon the students in groups at different time intervals had not gone ahead, because according to the court, the students who had already taken the exam could reveal information about it to those who had not done it yet and who were not concentrated, so the latter would have an advantage over the first. So the situation of Monday of the previous week in Charms was repeated. Just over half an hour wait for Lily, just under two hours for Sev.

The exam consisted of a duel against an Auror which was kept at a low level, somewhat lower than appropriate for fifth year. The student started with a grade of four and the duel lasted a maximum of five minutes. Every time they reached the Auror, a point was added, and every time they was reached by him, it was deducted.

Each spell used to score points had to be different, otherwise it didn't count. To protect themselves, Protegos or dodging could be used. If the corresponding counterspell was not known for any of the spells with which the Auror was hit, the point, instead of being added, was deducted.

The duel ended when the student reached a score of eight for the highest or zero for the lowest, or five minutes after it began. Both Lily and Sev added their four points in a row with non-verbal spells, without being hit once and without needing to use Protegos. Sev, in fact, hit the Auror with the first four spells he cast, his examination lasting just thirty seconds. The court was amazed and congratulated him, also informing him that he was awarded an Honorable Mention. Unbeatable for my Chair, Sev thought.

Next, the Patronus was performed, which added the two missing points up to ten, so it was essential to be able to conjure it to take Defense, since otherwise it was impossible to achieve the Outstanding. Lily conjured the lioness, Sev the hawk, which he kept flying for a long minute across the wide space of the Hall, whereupon the court gasped for the second time.

The five members of the group came down from the stand and said goodbye to him with firm handshakes, as did the Auror he had fought against. In case there was any doubt about my change of sides, this rumor is also going to spread throughout the WizardingWorld.I have cleared my name and secured my future in a minute and a half.The distilled essence of five years of sweat and tears.

He waited for Anthony after the exam, and when they got home the entire Sly family was waiting for them. He told them how it had gone and they celebrated with butterbeers that had already been bought and stored in view of the planned Rave house party that was being organized after the exams. They told everyone who passed by the house and came to say hello and they also congratulated him.

This afternoon the whole school will know, indeed the rumor is going to spread throughout the Wizarding World. And something else, this prevents me from becoming a double agent, because it would not be credible at all, Voldemort would never accept me into his ranks. Albus, I have once again won you by the hand.

Four in the afternoon, Defense theory exam. Once again unbearable heat in the Great Hall, but this time, everyone who knew it used the heating spell as a refrigerator. Two hours to answer five topics to be developed, among them… werewolves. What a joke between those who were bonded and in the secret of Remus, Lily and Cecile did not let him do the exam in peace. Luckily, he only needed Exceeds Expectations for Medimagic.

Sev, despite being the one who most mastered the subject, refrained from bonding and worrying about others in that exam, and dedicated himself to reviewing and correcting it over and over again so as not to fail in a single comma.

It must be the best exam I have ever taken, so as not to detract from what I have achieved in the morning and not only achieve the Outstanding, but it is the best theoretical Defense exam that the court corrects, not just this year, but the best that they remember ever having in their hands.

After handing in the exam, he continued reviewing the parchment with the statements, remembering in detail what he had answered, and he left the Great Hall and the castle distracted, to relax for a while in front of the Lake, as there was a light breeze. There were many students who had thought the same as him and the meadow between the castle and the Lake was full of people. This would have been the ideal time for my revenge against the Marauders, Sev thought.

In fact, at a glance, he noticed that the four of them were under the beech tree, Remus engrossed in a book, James playing with a Snitch, Sirius talking to him and the rat listening to their conversation, so he went to sit in the shade of some bushes not far from them while he continued reviewing.

At one point he heard a muffled scream. "Hey! Look who's there! It's Snape, let's go get him!"

Sev looked up. The damn rat, the only one who keeps calling me Snape at school.He has stood up with his wand in his hand.The others continue with their backs to me, let's see what cut they give him.

"Peter!" Sirius replied, authoritatively and contemptuously. "Don't act like a clown! Do you want the entire Slytherin House to lynch you?"

Very good dissimulation, yes sir, Sev thought.

"But now he is alone, they don't have to know," Peter replied.

"You seem stupid, Wormtail," James responded, also contemptuously. "This is full of people and everyone is on his side, you already saw what happened the day they kicked out the malefics."

Very good, James is learning too. And if Pettigrew says anything else, I'll take matters into my own hands. In the end I am going to take that revenge.

Remus turned, looked for him, and nodded. He read my thoughts.

"Come on! That was a long time ago," Peter continued. "Are you turning into chickens?"

No more. Sev jumped up, pulled out his wand, disarmed Pettigrew, and snatched his wand out of the air. James and Sirius turned as well, and both nodded. He threw a Petrificus at him, approached them calmly, levitated the rat to the center of the meadow, unpetrified him and immediately threw the Levicorpus at him, raising him very high. Already a crowd of students surrounded them and laughed, he pulled down his trousers and boxers and returned to the beech tree, returning Pettigrew's wand to the Marauders. I don't want this as a trophy, it makes me sick.

He sat down again in the shade of the bushes to continue calmly reviewing his exam.

Soon after, Lily bonded with him. "You took your revenge, my love…" with great joy.

"Where are you?" He looked for her with his eyes.

"On the shore of the Lake, with the girls, cooling our feet."

"I already see you."

She looked at him too.

"What I wouldn't give to run to where you are and kiss you," he said.

"Me too…"

"Escape with Cecile to the clearing. I'll wait for you there."

"Okay."

Sev got up and walked calmly towards the Forest, reached the clearing and waited for Lily. She arrived ten minutes later. He warded. They hugged and kissed passionately.

"And Cecile?" he asked her.

"She has stood outside, Disillusioned."

"When we leave I will thank her."

"You don't need to thank her for anything, Sev, she does it with great pleasure. And remember that she's already finished, she doesn't have an exam tomorrow."

"How was your exam?"

"A lot of fun with Remus."

"Sure…"

"I don't think he'll make it past EE, we haven't left him alone," she said.

"Oh…"

"And you?"

"Perfect, I haven't missed a single comma," he responded.

"And this morning? You didn't tell me anything at lunch."

He told her.

"Wooow… Sev. Now you're famous in a good way, they're not going to leave you alone when you walk around Diagon."

"Yes, I have already thought about it. That was not what I intended, but to deserve the Dueling Chair."

"And you really deserve it, now it will be certain that they will grant it to you."

"Yes, but we won't be able to start it next year," he said. "The old man has been inquiring at the Ministry about the procedures that Sirius must carry out and he can't make the donation until he is of age."

"Ugh, what a shame… It doesn't matter, it will be next year, when you will still be in seventh grade. And that new Patronus?"

"For the flying classes."

"And for Hippolyta," she deduced.

"Yes, for Hippolyta."

"Weren't you thinking of telling me?"

"I had my doubts, Lily. At the moment I don't want to give you details, it's that special relationship that I told you about one day and I want to keep it to myself. I have lost the rest of my Patronuses."

"Oh, what a shame… But it seems very good to me, Sev, just like I don't give you details about Sirius. Tell me just one thing, so I can stay calm. Does she love you too?"

"Yes, she loves me."

"Wow… since third year. She is much less silly than me."

"Yes, in that sense, yes," he agreed.

They separated laughing.

"You look precious and I haven't looked at you," he apologized.

"You are also very handsome, Sev. It's incredible, you're getting tan, I've never seen such a good color before."

"Oh… It must be because I have been to the Forest pond twice, and on Saturday all afternoon on the Quidditch pitch."

"Of course… You have never taken me to the Forest pond."

"Yes, it's true, I'm very sorry.Would you like to go now?" he proposed.

"Would we have enough time?"

"No, we wouldn't have it, it's already past half past six and I have to be home at a quarter past seven."

"Sure… Then we'll leave it for another time so we can be calm and enjoy it," Lily suggested.

"We will go without fail in September. After the exams it will be impossible, I have too many commitments. Let's sit."

They sat down on the grass.

"Have you realized that in a week we will be in Cokeworth?" she asked him.

"Of course, it was the first thing I thought about this morning when I woke up."

"Do you want to do it?"

"Of course," he responded. "You haven't told me anything about your family for a long time.How have they reacted to what my Mum told them?"

"They haven't told me anything by letter, Sev. Just let them know what time I'm going to get home via Floo so everyone can be there to receive me, my parents will ask for permission at work if necessary."

"Oh… they must still be digesting it."

"I don't think it's that, but that they didn't want me to be distracted by that problem during the exams. They are not going to try to make me give up coming back to Hogwarts, they have already assumed everything, your Mum did very well. Have you written to them?"

"No, Lily, it embarrass me a lot."

"Ugh, Sev… look how silly you are, huh? Embarrasment for what, when you should be proud of everything you are achieving? Write to them as soon as you have time telling them that you have been awarded the scholarship at St. Mungo's, all the initiatives that are going to be launched at the school and in the Army thanks to you, how well your exams have gone and especially this morning one, and tell them about the Dueling Chair, so that they also know how crucial your role is. They are going to be very proud of you, especially my Dad. You are, at barely sixteen years old, the equivalent of a great Muggle political and military leader who knows how to be at the forefront in difficult times, leading the fight against the serious danger represented by a madman with too much power, like Hitler was in their time. My father must be hallucinating with you by now, just from what your Mum told them. They are not going to put you in any trouble, they are going to support you a lot and give you good advice."

"Okay, I will do it, maybe tonight."

"No, not tonight, wait until you finish the exams tomorrow. This way the letter will arrive on Saturday, with time to them to read it together and enjoy it, you will give them great joy."

"I Summoned a lot of jewels," he said.

"Oh really? Very good. This way Mum already has something to entertain herself during the month of July. She now has a lot less work at home because Petunia helps her a lot."

"Oh…"

"And they have also hired your Mum," she told him. "She goes once a week to iron, which is what is the hardest thing for my mother."

"Wow… how good. Mum loves to iron."

"Yes, they have already told me. Do you also know how to iron?"

"No, she never taught me that, because since she loves it, she always did it," Sev told her, "I folded the clothes that she was ironing."

"I don't know either, we have to learn this summer."

"Well yes, one more plan for the summer."

"My parents have already planned where we are going on holidays," said Lily.

"Oh really?" excited.

"Yeah. Surprise."

"Tell me, come on…" he asked, pleadingly. "I want to have that illusion."

"Okay… when you get like that you are irresistible. To Cornwall."

"Wow… great. A cape to the west, like that of the 'Way of the Stars'."

"Of course, I suggested it when Lauren told me about it," she said. "Besides, there are many magical beaches there."

"And are we going to go by car? It is very far."

"They were thinking about it, because your Mum is also coming."

"What are you saying?" he was amazed.

"What you are hearing, Sev. They want you to be separated as little as possible throughout the summer, which is why we will also only go eight days, from Sunday to Sunday, because your Mum can't ask for a longer leave."

"Better, because I don't want to neglect work at St. Mungo's or Hippolyta for so long either."

"Of course, also for that reason. Well, what I was telling you, they thought about whether to all Apparate, because your Mum was there when she was young, and also, even if you haven't been to a place, in Diagon you can buy guides with which you can Apparate in certain locations."

"Oh… I didn't know that," he said.

"Your Mum was inquiring at the post where you send the owls."

"Ugh… so she has returned to Diagon," Sev was worried.

"Yeah. But don't worry, she was there for a short time and she went Apparating, she didn't even pass by the Cauldron."

"Great, very well done. And what did they decide in the end?"

"If we went Apparating it was going to be very difficult for us to carry our luggage and we wouldn't have a vehicle to get around," Lily responded.

"Okay, I understand about the luggage, but still, if the six of us go, we won't fit in your car, neither to go there nor to move around there."

"I'll tell you what they have planned, you'll see how smart my parents are. The two of them will go with our car and luggage to take turns driving, because it will take them almost the entire day to get there. They will go on Saturday and on the way they'll stop at Stonhenge, which they were looking forward to going."

"Sure…"

"The three of us, Petunia, you and I, will Apparate with your Mum directly in Cornwall, in one of those locations that I told you about, on Saturday at the last minute, so that your Mum has time to work on Saturday, my parents to arrive and rent a second car, and we don't have to suffer the beating of the trip," she continued.

"Sure…"

"Instead of going to a hotel, so that it is cheaper for all of us and you can contribute your part, and not only for that, but also to have more privacy, as if we were in our own home, they are going to rent a large apartment, with three or four bedrooms, better four if they can find it. If it's three, one for them, one for us and one for your Mum and Petunia, or if you prefer not to sleep with me, you'll sleep with your Mum, and Petunia and I together. And if it's four, one for you alone and we'll split it up. Do you think it's okay?"

"Of course that's fine with me, honey," he said, sad. "And of course I want to sleep with you."

"Well, from here to then you don't know. Better if they find the one with four bedrooms, so you can be alone whenever you want."

"No need, Lily, it's only a week."

"I already know. But we all understand that you need your privacy. You're a boy, and we're three girls, and there's plenty of time between now and August to find that apartment. If they couldn't find it, we would go to an inn, not a hotel, something more intimate and familiar and much cheaper."

"Brilliant."

"But the apartment is better, because then we can live together, cook and eat in our own way," she continued. "We are going to be five people who know how to cook and do everything around the house, we will share the work.We will also have a lot of time to enjoy."

"Great."

"And that will be the base of operations. Every day or every other day, whatever we feel like, we will go on excursions to different places, instead of staying still in one place going to the same beach every day."

"Sure…"

"This way we will know many magical places.And if someone catches us too far away, we will spend a night in an inn," Lily added.

"Wow… your parents have everything thought of…"

"Of course, my parents' hobby, planning excursions and holidays, they have been thinking about it since Easter. They no longer have the apartment rented because they waited to consult the place with me and the dates with your Mum. As soon as she has the permit and know what week she can be away, they will rent it, perhaps they have already done so. They were going to try to make it at the beginning of August, the first or second week, so that later we would still have time to be in Cokeworth and for you to go to St. Mungo's before returning to school."

"Great, in the middle of summer," Sev agreed.

"Of course, and also so that the days are still long and because they are eager to go out. If it were up to them, they would leave on August 1st."

"Ugh… then I feel bad because they are waiting for Mum."

"Don't worry about them, they are going to spend the whole month going on excursions, even spending nights there, just the two of them, now that we are older and we can take care of ourselves," she reassured him. "They have been waiting for two years to have holidays together and nineteen to spend them alone.If it weren't for the fact that they also want to be with us, with you and me, they would have gone alone this year."

"Sure…"

"But don't worry, they will make their honeymoon getaways."

"It's incredible, your parents are still very much in love after so many years," he commented.

"Of course, that's why I believe in love forever, like ours. Well, I haven't finished telling you. The return. The following Sunday night or early Monday, we will return Apparating with your Mum, my parents will return the rental car and on Monday they'll return, stopping in Bath on the way, which they also wanted to go. Have you seen how they take advantage of every opportunity?"

"Your parents are very smart, practical and efficient," he was admired.

"Of course, they are snakes, like you."

"And how do they manage to have so much money to be able to go on excursions so often and have enough money to make their getaways in the summer? Your house costs a lot to run and your sister is at university, and they go back and forth to London every day, petrol is expensive. And they also have enough money to buy a lot of records and they have had the expense of building a fireplace in your house."

"Honey, I'll explain it to you," Lily began. "Income chapter.Dad has a very good salary, he has a very responsible position in the factory where he works.Mum also works, as a public official, with a good salary even though she only works part-time.For the basics we would practically have enough with my mother's."

"Oh…"

"Expenses chapter. My father has travel and food allowances."

"What are allowances?" Sev asked.

"An addition to his salary they give him for those expenses."

"Yeah."

"I follow.The car we have is small, it consumes very little," she continued.

"True."

"They bought our house with a mortgage, but they had already paid for it before I entered Hogwarts."

"Sure."

"I barely give them any expenses throughout the year, I already told you that," Lily explained. "My sister gives them more, because she has whims and spends a lot, but university is very cheap, it's public, it wasn't free because Dad has a very high salary, but it was still very cheap.The only expensive thing is the books, like ours at school."

"Yeah."

"In fact, they offered her at the time to go to a more prestigious private university, Oxford or Cambridge, which Valerie and Remus told us the other day that they want to go to. In fact, both are closer to home than London."

"Oh…"

"But she didn't want to because her friends from her high school were going to London, and so she could make more friends in London and be able to go out there," she continued.

"Oh, what a fool…"

"Surely they wouldn't have admitted her either, huh? To enter these universities it is not enough to have a lot of money, you also have to be a very good student and have a good resume. In fact, the best ones get scholarships and it's also free."

"Sure."

"More about my sister," said Lily. "What she really wants is to live in London, in a student apartment with friends, which my parents could also pay for.But they did not allow it even though they can afford it because she would be very uncontrolled, she would dedicate herself to going out every day and would not study anything."

"Sure."

"She was offered to live in a residence, like her friends from Cokeworth who live in London, but there she would be even more controlled than at home, because they have a return time even on weekends."

"Sure."

"And not only that, she wouldn't have a room to herself," she added.

"Yeah."

"And so, what she does when she goes out to London on the weekend is stay the night in the student apartment of other friends that she has met this year at university. An intermediate solution."

"Of course, it's the best.This way, at least, the rest of the week she is controlled," Sev opined.

"That is. If she becomes more responsible, eventually they will let her live with them. Let's see what grades she gets this year, that is another reason why we are only going on holidays for a week and hopefully at the beginning of August, because if she fails any subject she has the make-up exams at the beginning of September and will have to study as well in summer."

"What are make-up exams?"

"A second chance to pass," Lily responded.

"Oh… at Hogwarts we don't have that."

"No, but they let us pass the grade even if we fail a subject. Not at Muggle university. If you fail a subject you can enroll in the others the following year but not in that one, you have to repeat it."

"And you have mixed subjects from both years?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"And how do you clarify with the schedules?"

"A barbaric mess.They can coincide at the same time," she responded.

"Oh…"

"That is why it is better to get the grades clean. In any case, at the Muggle university it is not mandatory to attend theoretical subjects, only practical ones, and my sister's degree, being in literature, barely has practical subjects. In fact, this year she hasn't had any."

"What a bargain…"

"Indeed.Although next year she has to repeat a subject she will no longer need to attend class, because she already has the notes that she has taken this year and the books to study," Lily explained.

"Sure."

"I'll continue with the expenses chapter."

"Keep going," Sev encouraged her.

"My parents don't have vices, they don't smoke or drink except on special occasions, and they don't go out at night either. Their hobbies, except for Dad's music, are very cheap. Go on excursions and eat out there sometimes, and always without indulging in great luxuries, in common places, inns like the one we ate when we went to Camber Sands and Dover."

"Sure."

"They always buy clothes on sales, unless they give us something on our birthday or at Christmas, and you've seen how cheap clothes are in discount stores," she continued.

"True."

"They could afford to have a person who did the housework. In fact, they considered hiring your Mum for more hours, but they didn't because she no longer had time."

"They proposed it to help her," he deduced.

"Sure. Mum has plenty of time to do everything, that's why she only works part-time, otherwise she would work all day, and even more so now that my sister helps her. Maybe she will consider it, she has the option."

"And what did she do before you went to school?"

"Mum didn't work.We lived off my Dad's salary," answered Lily.

"Paying the mortgage?"

"Of course, I already told you that he has a very good salary and they are very savers."

And trying to have another child, Sev thought.

"I'm finishing with the expenses," she continued. "The only big expense they have allowed themselves in recent years was renovating the bathrooms and kitchen at home.The car was not very expensive and it is already old too, they bought it for cash the year after they finished paying for the house."

"What does cash mean?"

"All at once, without borrowing money from the bank, it is cheaper like this. The one they had before lasted almost fifteen years, Dad already had it before he got married."

"Oh…"

"You already have the idea, right?" asked Lily. "Even though they can afford to spend a lot more, they save on everything they can, while still enjoying the things they like, simple things that don't cost too much money."

"Sure."

"Therefore, they have a lot of savings, in case something bad, irremediable, happens, such as their death or a serious illness, so that we are not left helpless until we can take care of ourselves, because we have no other family to turn to."

"Of course, because they suffered it in their childhood and already grew up with that mentality," he deduced.

"That is. That's why, even though they haven't talked to me about it yet, I know that they will be eternally grateful that you got me the best job I could dream of, right after finishing my studies. I'm going to have my life figured out from the age of eighteen, the age at which my sister started university."

"I think you would have done it on your own, Lily."

"Not if I hadn't fallen in love with you, Sev, because the idea of being a Potions teacher at Hogwarts arose from wanting to live in the castle with you one day, as we dreamed of when we were little, because you wanted to be a Defense teacher."

"Oh…"

"And not even if you had competed with me, Sev. It was you who knew how to prepare potions using Arithmancy and you have taught me that too. Don't take your credit away."

"But they would never have given me that position. If it weren't for you, maybe I wouldn't even have dedicated myself to that profession, I would have become a Death Eater, Lily."

"I think you wouln't."

"Don't think I wouldn't. I would have done it with complete certainty."

"Well, don't think about it anymore," she said. "We have both done a lot of good for each other."