Chapter Thirty Five
May 1st- 2006
Danica sat out by the lake, basking in the sunshine. It was still chilly, early in the morning and the grass was still covered in dew.
She breathed in the smell of the grass and water and felt completely at peace.
She was giving thanks, thanks for everything that had happened in the last year, although she couldn't help her mind from wondering to the upcoming exams every once in a while.
Danica was going to be an aunt again, Cho and Harry had announced they were going to have another baby and she'd even spotted an announcement in the paper yesterday morning. Cho had said in her letters that she was sure it was another girl and Danica was inclined to agree.
Pansy and William welcomed a new, bouncing baby boy to their family at the beginning of the year. Alistair had been born on the 21st January, after nearly three days in labour. Pansy had taken a while to recover but was now doing fine.
Hermione and Viktor had also recently welcomed a new family member. Her name was Grace and she was two years old, both of her parents had been killed in a house fire, but she was settling in well with Hermione, Viktor and Constance.
Nikka and Sirius had been talking about adding another child to their family. Dora was nearly six now and had been nagging them about having a little brother or sister. She would take her dolls out and sigh loudly, declaring that she would make such a good big sister.
Dora had been most unimpressed when Danica had been round and unable to stop herself from sniggering every time Dora had let out an exaggerated sigh.
However, Nikka and Sirius had confided in her that they were seriously thinking about adding to their family.
And on top of all that, just the other day Draco and Luna had written to her, telling her that Luna was also pregnant, although they were keeping it quiet for another couple of months.
"What you thinking about?" Beatrice said, flopping herself down on the damp grass beside Danica and handing her a chocolate chip cookie.
Danica smiled, picking the chocolate chips off the top and popping them into her mouth, letting the chocolate melt over her tongue.
"I was just thinking about everything I have to be happy about." Danica told her.
"Including your fabulous mock exam results I hope?" Beatrice grinned, "Miss top of the class."
Danica blushed, "They're not the real results, that's what I have to keep telling myself. Although, I can't say I was disappointed with them."
"So, what have you been thankful for this fine May day?" Beatrice asked.
"My new little niece or nephew on the way, several other friends have babies on the way." Danica told her, "Me and Daniel are all lovey dovey all the time…"
"Aww your life is so perfect." Beatrice said, nudging her with her shoulder.
"You ok?" Danica asked, "You seem a little… I'm not sure."
Beatrice sighed and shrugged, flopping back on the grass, "I just saw Adam kissing Christy Abbot."
"Nooooo." Danica said sympathetically, "What a rat!"
"Tell me about it." Beatrice growled, propping herself up on her elbows so she could see Danica's face, "I mean, literally last night he was saying how he missed me, and how he wanted to get back together… and then this morning I walk round the corner by the Gryffindor tower and Christy and him are smushed together. He looked so awkward when he saw me, didn't stop though."
Danica pulled her into a hug, "You're better off without him sweetie. Tell you what, girls night in the dorm? I'll grab some snacks and butter beer from the kitchens and we can bitch the world away."
"You're just going to moan about school work." Beatrice laughed, "Don't get me wrong, I'm totally in. You're so funny on a sugar high and worrying about your fairy course."
"You can be mean sometimes you know." Danica laughed, sticking her tongue out at her friend.
Beatrice shrugged, flicking her hair back effortlessly, "I know. Come on, we're going to be late for class if we're not careful."
Danica nodded and pulled herself up from the grass. She waved her wand in an elegant swirl, drying the back of her skirt and robes instantly.
They wondered into the castle, the thick stone walls leaving them slightly chilled as they walked in out of the sunshine.
"Miss Snape, may I have a quick moment?" Professor Sprout asked, spotting Danica and calling her over.
Danica nodded, waving goodbye to Beatrice and giving her a quick hug as she wondered off to her own first class in the Divination tower.
"I was just on my way to Potions Professor." Danica said, "Is anything wrong?"
Professor Sprout shook her head, smiling gently, "Not at all. And I'll write you a note for Professor Slughorn so he knows why you're late. I just wanted to give you this, it arrived this morning."
Professor Sprout handed her a small letter. It was made from heavy parchment that was indented and shimmered slightly in the light.
Danica flicked open the wax seal and pulled out an equally thick sheet of parchment.
' Dear Miss Danica Snape, Care of Head of Hufflepuff house, Professor Sprout.
We here at the Cloud Fairy research department of the Ministry of Magic would like to congratulate you on your fabulous school work so far, as well as your extraordinary application form.
We are delighted to inform you that you have been selected for the short list of applicants.
As you are aware, we are an extremely selective department, taking only one or two apprentices a year. You are however, in with a chance. And you should be very proud of this fact.
We have enclosed a list of the N.E. you will be required to complete in order to progress to the next level of our application process. You are also required to write a two thousand word essay on why you wish to join the department.
We await your essay and exam results with baited breath and wish you the very best of luck.
Warm regards,
Lucinda Wormwood-Knott
Head of cloud fairy research department.'
Danica looked over the words several times before they sunk in, "I… I've passed into the next level of applicants."
She pulled out the much smaller piece of parchment, although it was still made from the same high quality, thick parchment, and looked over the list of N.E.W.T expectations.
"I have to get all outstandings." Danica muttered to herself.
"Surely you knew that Miss Snape." Professor Sprout said softly.
Danica forced a smile and nodded, "Yes, I did but… it's just different seeing it written here… I know I'm not making a lot of sense."
Professor Sprout put a comforting hand on Danica's shoulder, "Would you like your next lesson off? You could go and lie down for a little while, or talk to Professor Snape? Or go and take that huge lizard of yours for a walk?"
Danica felt herself welling up, she knew full well how lucky she was to have a head of house as supportive as Professor Sprout was, and somehow she always knew exactly what to say to make any of her students feel better.
"No thank you Professor. I'll be fine. And I can't say how excited I am to have even gotten this far. Thank you for giving this to me."
"You're going to be amazing Miss Snape, and I have no doubts that you will fly through your exams and be the first werewolf to enter the cloud fairy program." Professor Sprout flicked her wand and a note explaining why Danica was late formed in the air, "Here you are, now run along to class."
Danica thanked her again, taking the note and walking down to Potions.
"Miss Snape, you have arrived." Professor Slughorn said cheerfully.
Danica smiled back and handed him the note, "I'm sorry I'm late Professor."
"No worries my dear." Professor Slughorn said, barely looking at the note before putting it on his desk, "I have no doubt you have already read the chapter on plant fertilisation."
Danica nodded, blushing slightly and took her seat. She had, of course, already read the chapter in question and it didn't take more than ten minutes for her to catch up with the lesson.
Daniel slid into the seat beside Danica come dinner time, reaching over to her and giving her hand a squeeze, "What's on your mind sweetie?"
Danica smiled, "I've passed through to the next stage of application towards the cloud fairy program I want to go into."
"Danica, that's amazing!" Daniel grinned, giving her a tight hug, "Well done!"
"Thanks." Danica grinned back, "I… I feel… weird. If I'm being honest."
"You're just worried about the exams." Daniel told her knowingly.
Danica nodded, pushing the mash potato around her plate, "I know. Just wish they were over and done with."
"We should be thinking about after school anyway, get your mind off the upcoming terror." Daniel laughed.
Danica rolled her eyes, "Well I know that I want to work in the Ministry, what about you Mr clever clogs?"
"I have been accepted to the magical veterinary degree." Daniel grinned, "I start at Dundee university in September."
"What!" Danica shrieked, earning her several disapproving looks from the teachers' table, "That's amazing! Way better than my news! Oh my god! I'm so happy for you!"
Daniel caught her as she launched towards him in a hug, laughing and taking the chance to give her a quick kiss.
"I thought you'd be pleased." Daniel laughed.
"Are you going to stay in Dundee?" Danica asked, quickly shuffling over to her seat again before she was told off.
Daniel shrugged, "Well… I wanted to talk to you about that. My parents have said they're happy for me to stay with them but I am looking forward to moving out, getting some independence, and the university has magical student accommodations. But… I was also thinking that we could find somewhere to live together. If you wanted…"
Danica blinked for a moment, "Are you asking me to live with you?" she smiled.
"Yes, I am." Daniel nodded, "Only if you want to, I wont be horribly offended if you say no, or that you're not ready."
"I'm not sure you're ready for all my crap." Danica laughed, "Where would we live? If you need to be in Dundee and I need to be in London."
"We can apparate to both so anywhere, somewhere in the middle maybe?" Daniel suggested, "I have a study group to get to but have a think about it ok?"
Daniel quickly finished his glass of pumpkin juice and stood up, grabbing his school bag, kissing Danica on the top of her head as he went.
Danica twisted round in her seat and grabbed his hand as he walked past, "I don't need to think about it. I would love to live with you."
"I'll start looking for some place ideas then." Daniel grinned.
Danica felt like she was floating on a cloud as she finished her dinner and went up to her room. She pulled her letter writing papers out from her trunk and flopped on her bed.
Iggy, her iguana, was basking on the small patch of sunshine hitting her bed. She reached over and gave the lizard a head scratch. Iggy lifted her scaly head into the warmth and comfort from Danica's hand.
"I'll give you a bath later, how's that?" Danica smiled, "I need to write to mum and dad. We need to tell them all about our day. Fancy coming with me to live with Daniel? Yeah, he's a good person isn't he? Yes he is."
Iggy snuggled against Danica as she sprawled on the bed and started writing to her parents. She wasn't going to tell them over a letter than she was planning on moving in with a boy when she left school. They would be understanding and supportive, they always were, but it was still a conversation that was best had in person.
The news about Daniel getting into Dundee university and her getting through yet another layer of the seemingly never ending application process was going in the letter.
She let her mind drift back to being on that plane, seeing those clouds and being sure that there was a whole world up there right from that moment. She'd been right, the cloud fairies weren't well known but she was in with a seriously good chance of getting to work with them, and she wasn't about to give up now just because the exams were kinda scary.