A/N: If you don't like to read the boring parts...just skip on down seven or eight paragraphs... Enjoy!
I would like to thank my Beta for this chapter and the next: Niffler80...or Mandy! Thanks!
The fifth and seventh years ate lunch with the rest of the school (the four house tables reappeared over the lunch hour) and then trooped off into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where we were to wait until called for their practical examination. As small groups of students were called forward in alphabetical order, those left behind muttered incantations and practiced wand movements.
After Hermione, Harry and Neville went in I was left outside to wait for my turn, we all agreed to meet in the Gryffindor Common Room after our examinations. Professor McGonagall walked out of the Great Hall with her roll of parchment to call off the rest of the names that were left outside, which included me and several others. After two hours of waiting, we walked in to do our exams.
That night there was no time for sleep as the four of us quickly ate dinner and dashed toward the Head common room to study for tomorrow’s Charms exams. That exam didn’t go as well as I’d hoped it would, but I could honestly say that I did well enough to get a good, but not excellent score. Though the practical exam went quite well, because I’ve done everything correctly and without hesitation, trying to stay focused like how Hermione was last night.
On Wednesday we had Potions, which the written exam wasn’t that bad because I remembered practically everything that Hermione had made me study. I’m lucky that I got to remember her questions from her Herbology, because it helped in my practical exam when we had to concoct three out of five potions in three hours with ingredients that weren’t labeled, which was the tricky part. And I’m happy that I had that potion session with Claire because she really helped in knowing how the ingredients should look and what time to put each ingredient in when the color, smell, or thickness of the potion changes. After lunch that day, the four of us went to Hagrid’s hut to do our Care of Magical Creatures examinations, which had become second nature to us, since we’d seen practically everything there is in the Forbidden Forest personally.
Thursday Harry and I had the morning off, while Hermione and Neville went to take their Herbology Exam. We sat in the Room of Requirement sending jinxes and hexes at each other. Luckily, this time we remembered to have certain potions to help us out of various spells. Also, we read many different Defense Against the Dark Arts books and books about Auror training for our Auror Training written examination, in order to qualify to take the classes at the Ministry. After lunch, we had our Arithmancy exams in the Great Hall. That exam was harder than I expected. I felt clueless on some questions, but made up for that by answering the questions I knew completely. Even though Arithmancy isn’t my favorite subject, and I’ll never understand why the tangent has to be perpendicular to the acute line of a triangle, and why there is 360 degrees in a circle.
Friday, I woke up paranoid and feared for the worst, even though Harry and I had been studying very hard for this exam. Our Auror Qualification exam was more feared than our practical exam for Defense Against the Dark Arts. As usual, during the past week, students sat silently mumbling and muttering to themselves as they searched through notes, flash cards, and books, trying to absorb as much information as possible. I ate, feeling like I wanted to throw up, because my nervousness and anxiety about today started to kick in. But after some reassurance from Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Krystel, I felt better about myself and was ready to start my examination. Like always, I had to wait outside of the Great Hall for my name to be called. I swear one day I’m going to change my last name to a “L” name, so I’m in the middle and I don’t have to wait as long. Professor Harrington stepped out of the Great Hall doors calling in the rest of the students to take the examination, as I walked in. My instructor wasn’t that bad. He made me send jinxes and hexes at a dummy, which I did quite well. I made a Patronus in the shape of a bear, which stood a few feet taller than me and charged around the Hall, then evaporated into light, misty particles. After a few more spells, I was free to go and wait for lunch to finish, since Harry and I had to take our Qualification exam. We sat in the Great Hall while taking a bite every time we flipped a page of the book, which we had taken from the Room of Requirement.
Once the lunch hour finished, Professor Harrington lead those who were taking the Auror exam to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, since not many of us were taking the exam. As Harry and I took a seat next to each other, I noticed Professor Harrington had an hourglass like the one in the Great Hall for his test. He told us to begin, flipped the enormous hourglass over, and the sand began trickling down the middle. I turned my test over and began to read the question softly to myself, catching every detail. The first page consisted of definitions and names of certain spells to use in different situations. The second page involved numbering situations step-by-step into a process to assist a situation. The third page showed pictures of certain items that needed to be labeled and their purpose given. This went on for about two whole hours, and my hand fell asleep numerous times from writing too much. But when Professor Harrington finally told us to put our quills down, I had finished re-checking my exam. He whipped out his wand and made all the test papers fly to his table into a neat pile, and dismissed us.
“Ron, can you believe it’s finally over?” Harry said placing a hand on Ron’s shoulder, walking behind him.
“Heck, yeah,” he said, shaking his right hand vigorously. “My hand fell asleep three times while I was writing, but I think I did well. How about you?”
Harry shrugged his shoulders, “I guess I did alright. Because those books that we were reading really helped a lot. If wasn’t for that one book…huh, what was it?” he said scratching his ruffled hair.
“Oh, the ‘Auror Training for Dummies’,” Ron teased.
“No, the ‘So You Want to Be an Auror?’ book,” Harry said in a spokesman sort of voice.
They both started to laugh, as they made their way toward the Great Hall for dinner.
“So how did your exams go?” Ginny asked, grabbing a roll from the basket in front of her.
“I think it went well, at least for me…I think,” said Harry taking a seat next to Ginny and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“That’s all?” she said with a pout, as Harry leaned in closer to Ginny and started to kiss her passionately while their friends watched.
“Mate,” yelled Ron to Harry, “I’m trying to eat here,” as he stared down at his plate. Hermione gave Ron a pat on his back.
“Ron, grow up, please,” said Ginny, glaring at Ron and breaking away from their kiss. Harry pulled her chin back toward him and continued kissing her.
“So, Honey, how was your Medical examination? Wasn’t it the test to get into St. Hugh’s, to see where you’re going to be placed and what classes to take?” he said, taking a sip of his drink.
“Yes, it was,” she said wiping her mouth with her napkin, “it was very hard and complex, because you had to answer each question with the precise answer and given situation or example. So it really got me thinking…” She placed her napkin on the table.
“Wow, that must have been rough,” Harry said, rubbing her back. He looked at Neville, “How about you Neville? How was your Botanist exam?”
Neville swallowed the food in his mouth, “It was fairly easy. The exam only consisted of three pages of plant names, which we had to identify by its name of origin, describe what it looks like, and name its uses for human and animal welfare.”
“Sorry I asked,” said Ron, feeling a bit intimidated by Neville’s response, “I can tell you’re really going to do well at that school you’re going to.”
“Thanks,” he said and continued to eat. So did Ron.
After a few minutes passed, Professor McGonagall interrupted their conversation. “May I have a word with Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, please?”
“Sure, Professor,” said Hermione turning around to look at Professor McGonagall who placed her arms in front of her, as Ron turned to look at her also.
“I was informed to tell you both to go to the Head Master’s office after you have finished eating your dinner,” she said, looking at Ron and Hermione.
“What for, Professor?” questioned Ron, feeling confused, thinking that he might be in trouble.
“That is not for me to discuss at the moment, Mr. Weasley, but I will see to it that you both meet Professor Dumbledore before you head to your common room,” she said. She gave them a curious look, dropping her face to stare at them.
“Yes, Professor, we’ll go and see him,” said Hermione, not wanting to start an argument.
“Thank you and congratulations for completing your N.E.W.T.s. I hope you did well,” she said, receiving nods from both of them. She gave a small bow in return and walked away from the table and out the Great Hall.
Ron and Hermione gave awkward glances at each other. “I wonder what that was all about,” he said picking up his drink and taking a sip.
“Well, I don’t want to sit here wondering,” she said, standing up from the table. “Are you coming?”
“Sure,” he said, and downed the rest of his drink. He placed the goblet back on the table, and stood up.
“Where are you two headed?” Krystel asked, with a confused look on her face.
“To see Professor Dumbledore,” said Hermione standing up looking at them, “I don’t know why, though, so we’re going to find out.”
“Busted!” teased Harry.
“Nah, I think its worse,” jumped in Neville, “maybe they got caught making out too much, while they were supposed to be patrolling the hallways.”
“Well, whatever it is, it’s better than sitting here listening to you two,” spat Ron, with a smirk on his face.
“So are you two still coming to the common room afterwards?” Ginny asked, placing her fork down.
“Sure, no problem. We’ll be there,” replied Hermione, as she walked away with Ron at her side.
Both walked out of the Great Hall and toward the gargoyle statue. Ron said, “lemon drops,” and the statue sprang to life, revealing a staircase. They walked up to Professor Dumbledore’s office.
Ron knocked on the door. The door opened to expose the Head Master’s office, which had many portraits of the past Head Masters and Mistresses of Hogwarts. There was also a spiral staircase that led to another area of his office, and Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix.
“Come in, please,” said Professor Dumbledore, walking down the spiral staircase. “Have a seat.” Ron and Hermione walked up to the two chairs placed for them, and took a seat, feeling discombobulated by their situation.
“Professor Dumbledore,” started Hermione briefly, “what is it that you wanted to discuss with us, sir?” She looked at the cheerful, old, white-bearded man.
“Well, Miss Granger, nothing can get past you,” as he sat on his Head Master’s armchair, leaning forward a bit, “I wanted to inform you that Sunday will be your graduation ceremony.”
“Okay, sir,” said Ron, feeling phased at Professor Dumbledore for telling them this when they already knew. “Is that all?”
“No, Mr. Weasley. I also wanted to inform you that you will both be speaking at this ceremony. It has been a tradition, ever since the school was founded, for the Head Boy and Girl to address the audience in a speech,” he said, leaning back on his armchair and placing his hands on his robes.
“You want us to make a speech for the ceremony, Professor?” Hermione questioned, enthusiastically.
“Yes, Miss Granger. Is that a problem for you, Mr. Weasley?” he said, looking at Ron, who seemed to have turned pale and sick.
Ron shook his head, and stuttered, “No…there’s not a…problem, Professor,” he said, looking down at the floor.
“Well, with that taken care of, I’ll see you two on Sunday at the ceremony,” said Professor Dumbledore, as Hermione and Ron stood up from their seat and made their way toward the door.
They walked out of the big, oak door, and Ron paused before they reached the staircase. “Er…Hermione, I need to go and ask Dumbledore a question,” he said, trying not to sound like he was hiding anything from her.
“Do you want me to wait for you?” she asked, looking at him.
“No, it’s alright,” he said, then bent down to give her a soft kiss, “I’ll meet you in the Gryffindor common room in a few minutes.”
“Okay, don’t take too long,” she said, giving him another light kiss. She turned and walked down the staircase.
Ron walked to the oak door and opened it, finding Professor Dumbledore feeding Fawkes.
“I knew something was on your mind, Mr. Weasley,” said Professor Dumbledore, not looking at Ron, but continuing to feed Fawkes.
“Yes. Well, sir. May I ask a favor of you?” he said shakily, thinking about the reaction he might receive.
“Yes, Mr. Weasley, what might this favor be?” Professor Dumbledore said, turning to face Ron, and walking to his armchair to take a seat.
“Well, I was sort of wondering if you could write to my parents about meeting me in your office an hour or so before the ceremony? Also, if you could do the same with Hermione’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, so that they could also be in attendance for this meeting held by you?” he requested, taking a sigh of relief and standing there staring at Dumbledore, who brushed his fingers through his beard.
“Should I be worried about why you would want these particular people here at that time?” he questioned, gazing at a nervous Ron.
“No, you shouldn’t be worried. I will tell you all my reason for this meeting on that day, but I will also write a letter to them, so as not worry them about anything that they would have in mind.” He sounded reassuring.
“Very well, I will write to your and Miss Granger’s parents of this meeting,” he said straightening up in his seat. “If there is nothing else, I hope you have a good night.”
“No, I think that’s all sir, thank you,” he said with a smile, and walked out of the office door. Ron ran down the staircase and to the Gryffindor common room post-haste.
A/N: Can you tell its almost over...the graduation ceremony is on Sunday...oh no!! Well see you all at the end! SUFFER till I return!!