Chapter 25: NEWTs



James, Sirius and Lily spent the rest of the Easter Holidays enjoying their freedom before the exams started. They spent a few hours each morning revising hard for the NEWTs, which were due to begin the week after they returned to Hogwarts. But the remainder of each day was spent in jovial companionship with each other. Lily got much better at flying on a broomstick, although she was not cut out for Quidditch, as James and Sirius continually pointed out to her during their frequent visits to the field at the back of the grounds in James’ home, which had been turned into a makeshift Quidditch pitch.



Lily also found herself more at home with James’ parents as each day progressed. His mother was exceptionally kind to her, and greeted her each morning with a hug, as she did James and Sirius. James’ efforts to avoid his mother’s embraces were futile, but Sirius loved the maternal attention he got from his foster mother. Mr Potter was equally as kind, and spent the weekends when he was off work playing Quidditch with them and helping them with their revision.



In the evenings, they would eat out in the secluded garden behind the house, which looked onto the grounds and the river, behind which was the Quidditch pitch. Lily and the boys would help Mr Potter collect wood for a fire, which he then lit with his wand so that a comforting heat was emitted during the ever-warming spring nights. Then Mrs Potter would bring out all sorts of wonderful dishes to eat and they ate and laughed in contentment.



All too soon, it was time to Apparate back to London for the Hogwarts Express. James’ parents went with them to see them off and spread the weight of their cases, and wished them all good luck for their exams. Lily was invited back for the summer holidays, and given a big hug by both Mr and Mrs Potter.



They boarded the Hogwarts Express and waved goodbye until the train was whipped out of sight to take them back to Hogwarts. Lily would have rather stayed at the Potters’ than face the upcoming exams. The night the students returned was a hectic one for all concerned with OWLs and NEWTs. The OWLs were beginning the next morning, and the Seventh Years had a week to prepare for their exams. James, Lily and Sirius met up with the other Gryffindors after dinner, and they all went to the library to work harder than they ever had before, until Madame Pince threw them out at ten o’clock. This didn’t hinder most of them, who returned to the Common Room to take up camp there for the night. The last thing Lily remembered was listening to James reciting the correct ingredients for The Draught of Death, and the next thing she knew she was being shaken awake by Yves.



“Lily! Wake up, it’s time for History of Magic.”



“What?” she replied sleepily, rubbing her eyes and sitting up from the desk she had fallen asleep on. “Is it morning?”



“Yes. Here, I got you some toast from breakfast. We didn’t want to wake you.”



“Thanks,” Lily said, taking the toast from Yves and nibbling it as she hurried to get her things together for History of Magic. “How come no one woke me last night?”



“You and James were the only ones left when I went to bed, and James said he didn’t want to disturb your sleep.”



“I wish he would have, I’ve got an awful crick in my neck now.”



They walked together to History of Magic, all the way testing each other on various aspects of the subject that were likely to come up in their exam the next week.



“It’s ok,” Yves said, when Lily forgot the names of the goblins that had fought for equality in the War of 1045. “We’ve got a week to learn all that stuff. That’s loads of time.”



But the time went far too fast for any of their liking, and sooner than was comfortable, the NEWTs were upon the Seventh Years. Monday morning was History of Magic and Divination, and the afternoon consisted of Arimancy, which only Sarah and Frank took from the Gryffindors, and Care of Magical Creatures.



“Not too bad, you know,” Sirius said, once the first day was over. “I mean, I mucked up History of Magic, but then when has anyone excelled at that pile of rubbish?”



“I quite like History of Magic,” Ellie said. “You just say that because you always fail at it.”



“Hey!” Sirius protested. “You’re supposed to be nice to me now that we’re going out!”



“What do you mean ‘now that we’re going out’? I’ve always been nice to you, you just never noticed it before.”



“Did too!”



“Not from what I could see.”



“Well,” Sirius said, putting his arm around her shoulder. “How about starting now?”



“Don’t worry, you’ll get your dues.”



‘When you two have quite finished,” James cut in, “I’m off to start revising for Potions, if anyone wants to help me.”



“You’re a bit keen,” Sirius said. “We only just finished today’s lot!”



“I already told you, I need to get good grades if I’ve got any chance of becoming an Auror.”



“Well I need a break,” Sirius said. “Care to join me, Ellie?”



“Where are you going? And don’t say Quidditch!”



“Would I?” Sirius replied, with a falsely innocent expression on his face. “Ok, ok, how about a stroll in the sunshine?”



“Sounds great. See you, James.”



“Bye,” James replied, before heading up to the Common room to start on his Potions revision.



***



A few hours later, Lily lay slouched across the floor with a book open on her lap and her eyes closed. Her head was resting against James’ knees, and her auburn hair lay sprawled over his legs. James sat on one of the armchairs, ticking off the ingredients in a Love Potion on his fingers.



“Lily?” he questioned.



“Mmm?” came the response from a half-dozing Lily.



“Is it five and a half millilitres of powdered unicorn horn or seven and a half?”



“For what?”



“Love Potion.”



“Oh… uh, I think it’s seven and a half. It’s five and a half millilitres of crushed lizard’s bone.”



“Oh yeah. I always get those two mixed up.” He pulled his parchment onto his lap and scribbled down some new notes.



Lily picked up the book that was lying across her. “I can’t even remember where I was when I put this down. I’ll probably have to start reading all over again.”



“Remus!” James said suddenly.



“What?”



“Remus!” he repeated, moving Lily’s head so that he could stand up. Remus was standing in the entrance to the Common room, looking pale and weak, but definitely improved. “You’re back!”



“Looks like it,” Remus said, walking forwards to meet James, who clapped him heartily on the back. “I just arrived on the Knight Bus. I’m knackered.”



“I bet you are,” Lily said, rising to meet him. “Why don’t you get some sleep?”



“Nah, I’ve spent too much time in bed these last few weeks. Besides, if I’m to catch up on NEWTs I’d better get revising.”



“Revising?” James repeated, shocked. “You aren’t really going to take the exams are you? You’ve been in hospital for weeks!”



“I know. But I don’t want what happened to me to get in the way of my future. I’ve spoken to Dumbledore, and he’s fixed it so that I can catch up on History of Magic and Divination during the rest of this week. I think I can do it so long as I work really hard.”



“You’ll put yourself back in hospital, mate,” James warned.



“I’ll be all right. Just make sure you clue me in on some important revision items. I’m going to need lots of help.”



“Sure,” Lily said. “You can borrow my notes if you like.”



“Thanks Lily.”



“No problem. So they let you out! Are you fixed?”



“Pretty much. The Healers found this antidote to the blisters, although my skin is still quite raw. And I have full brain activity again, which is really good.”



“Again?” came the voice of Sirius from behind them, as he came through the portrait hole with Ellie at his side. “I’m not so sure you ever had full brain activity, Moony.”



“Sirius!” Remus exclaimed. “Good to see you.”



“And you. I did wonder when you’d be back. This is a cause for celebration. What do you say, a night out in Hogsmeade, anyone?”



“No!” they all shouted, as Sirius laughed.



***



Remus worked harder than he had ever done before. He was still weak from the effects of the Death Eaters curse, but he refused to relent until the week was up. The Gryffindors hailed him as a hero and were all extremely glad to see him back in one piece. The Seventh Years, whilst still keeping up with their own tough revision plan, did all they could to get Remus up to speed with everything he had missed. Lily shared all her notes with him, and the other Marauders stayed up all hours of the night with him, testing each other on the upcoming exams.



The week went slowly, and the Seventh Years collapsed into bed late every night to fall into an exhausted sleep. But eventually, Friday came, bringing with it the last of the exams. Defence Against the Dark Arts came first. The practical exam had taken place on Wednesday afternoon, and the Marauders had felt sneakily confident about that, due to their victory over the Death Eaters. But the written paper on Friday morning was a different matter.



The questions were difficult, and as James sat staring at the paper, his brain went blank as he read the question ’Describe the three stages of the wand action taken during the blocking of the ‘Fragmenti’ Curse’. His mind raced. ”What’s the Fragmenti Curse?” he thought frantically. He looked around to where Sirius was sitting, scribbling away. He looked like he knew what he was doing, but then Sirius always looked like he knew what he was doing. James looked over to Lily, sitting near the front. She was twirling her quill between her fingers absently as she thought. Her hair was tied back casually to be kept out of her eyes. As James watched her, she reached her hand back to rub the back of her neck from the aches of being bent over a desk for too long. ”Stop it!” James commanded himself. “Stop looking at Lily and concentrate on the Fragmenti curse!”



The rest of the exam wasn’t so bad, and once he had started concentrating again, James was able to apply himself and answer questions sufficiently. However, the end of the exam came too fast for James, forcing him to rush some of the questions that he would rather have had more time to elaborate on.



“How was that?” Lily asked, as the Seventh Years filed out of the Great Hall. “I had to guess a few answers, but I think that mainly it wasn’t too bad. If things go well, I could just scrape an O for that.”



“An O!” James said, shaking his head. “I’ll be lucky to get an A.”



“I’m sure you were fine. Things always seem bad when you first come out of an exam. Don’t worry.” She put her arm around his waist. “Besides, there’s only one left now. How’re you feeling about Transfiguration?”



“Better than I thought I would. The written paper wasn’t so bad yesterday, and I always find the practical exam easier. I just want the NEWTs to be over.”



“I don’t,” Lily said as they began climbing the stairs in the Entrance Hall.



“You don’t? You want to the torture to continue?”



“Well not the exams, necessarily, but NEWTs finishing signals the end of Hogwarts for us. I don’t want to leave. This is my home.”



“I hadn’t really thought about leaving here. When I think of next year, I’ve thought more about what I want to be doing than what I’ll be leaving behind.”



“Including me.”



“What? I’m not leaving you behind, Lils,” James replied, incredulous.



“You say that now, but our futures look set to move in completely different directions.”



“Oh no you don’t. You haven’t been talking to Professor Palmer have you? You know how much I hate that Divination rubbish.”



“No, I haven’t. I wasn’t talking about telling the future. I just meant that with you so set on becoming an Auror, and me … well I don’t even know what I’ll be doing next year.”



“We’ll find a way, Lils, I promise. I’m not leaving you behind.”



Lily smiled. “Well let’s hope so. I don’t even want to think about not having you in my life, James Potter.”



“By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be so bored of me you’ll pack my suitcases for me!”



“Never,” she replied. “Never ever.”