About forty seventh-years stood at the front of the Great Hall, facing Dumbledore and the Heads of the Houses. The parents and siblings of the soon-to-be-graduates sat behind them. The rest of the school was lounging in their common rooms or out on the grounds. They were enjoying the end of the term and the end of the school year.
“Seventh years,” started Dumbledore, looking along the row of wizards and witches. “You are about to graduate and leave Hogwarts forever. At least, most of you will leave forever. Many of you will send your students here, to experience the same things you did. Even some of you will return as teachers. But, that is not why we are here. We are here to say goodbye. You will soon embark on the journeys of the rest of your lives. Be careful; the times are dark, but not for naught have you received the best education possible. Of course,” he started, with a twinkle in his eyes, “Others will debate that matter.”
Appreciative chuckles broke out.
Dumbledore became serious again. “After you walk these hallways for the last time, I must ask you to be wary of what is around you. Be wary of the things you do, and who you become acquainted with. And yes, hold on to those closest to you. Keep your friends and families close. Rely on them. We will all need friends by our sides in the coming times. Dark times, but they will be right one day. And while you have friends near you, I trust this darkness will not seem so very dark.”
He glanced around once more, smiling at them all gently over the top of his half-moon spectacles. He paused for a moment when he came to the Marauders and their closest friends. They all beamed back at him. His gaze moved on. The Slytherins, when he came to them, stared back without smiles.
“With the completion of your schooling come new responsibilities. You will face new challenges, new obstacles. Take what you already know and add to it that which you will learn. I’m afraid these responsibilities must be learned on your own; they are different for each of you. It was long ago when I myself just came of age.” He stood straighter and spoke stronger, despite the brief shadow that flitted across his aged face. “Remember that your choices make you who you are more so than your actions. Make right choices, and if you make the wrong ones, learn from your past to make your future.” With that, Dumbledore nodded to the forty-or-so students; they applauded and cheered loudly. Dumbledore turned to his four colleagues and gestured them forward.
McGonagall, all the way on the left, spoke first. “Gryffindors, as trying and frustrating as it has been-” she glared at four young men in the first row; they bowed amid laughter from their classmates- “I would not change a thing. It has been an honor to guide you, and I hope that you will make your house proud through your courage.” She paused. “And, try not to show too much courage. Moral fiber sometimes comes across as thickness.” Her Gryffindors laughed loudly and applauded as she stepped back. She bestowed upon them a genuine smile; a rare smile.
Professor Sprout spoke next to her students. “I thank you, for yet another good year. Continue to bring your loyalty to the world; it is something that will be important in the days to come. Stand close to your friends, and reach out to those around you. Let them know that through diligence and loyalty we can continue to move forward.” She bowed to them, holding her hat on her frizzy brown hair. Her students cheered and applauded.
Flitwick, standing on the seat of his chair, smiled at his collection of students. In his small voice, he said, “May your knowledge guide you and your wisdom help you. Forsake not your studies, and remain ever vigilant in your search for who you are. Remember, always, that your wand movements are incredibly important! And, carpe diem.” His students laughed at his Latin phrase and applauded again.
Slughorn, in a vibrant orange vest (and deep purple trousers) stepped up, a jovial smile on his plump face. “Dearest Slytherins, I repeat the sentiments of my colleagues, and wish you the best in your life. Remember that you are cunning; you can achieve great things with such talents as you have. I look forward to hearing from you all as you go out and do the great things of which you are capable.” The Slytherins applauded politely, to which Slughorn beamed proudly and bowed.
Dumbledore stepped forward again, and waved his wand. In front of each teacher appeared a stack of scrolls. One by one, the Heads gave them out to their students. As this task neared its completion, the mutterings of happiness grew louder. When it was complete, everyone raised their voices as one and cheered.
The graduates turned and bowed to the parents and siblings. As one body, they threw their hats into the air and shouted loudly. The Slytherins were a bit more reserved in their cheering; the Gryffindors were the loudest.
Dumbledore lifted his hands and the cheering died down slower than usual.
“If you will indulge me for a moment, I have one more thing to say.” He paused, and perused the crowd. “Nitwit… oddment… blubber, and tweak.”
The students laughed and clapped.
Then, they turned to their parents and brothers and sisters.
Tomorrow would be their last full day and then they would board the Hogwarts Express the following day after lunch and travel home. The Great Hall emptied slowly; students walked with their parents around the school, or went back up to their dorms to change for another day outside.
Frank, Alice, Josey, Antoine, and Peter said a brief goodbye to the other Marauders, Nikeia and Lily outside the Great Hall. They were leaving to take their families on tour of the school. The other five decided to go outside, along with the minority of the seventh year class that did not have family to take around. Lily wanted to go and clean out her dorm room (“Why leave it for tomorrow? We’ll be rushed!”), but James stared her down and dragged her outside.
They sat quietly beside the lake. Only when Samuel and Monica came out from the castle after spending time with other friends, and found them all, did anyone speak.
“Congratulations!” the two children cried. The seventh years smiled gratefully at them. Sam pulled his camera out from his pocket and requested that everyone get a bit closer together. With grumbles (that were really only half-hearted) the five adults moved closer, and smiled. Sam caught the picture just as the other five members of their usual group came out of the school.
“What’s this?” shouted Antoine. “You take a picture of them without me? Maybe you won’t make such a good Quidditch player.”
“Remember, Antoine, that Gryffindor Quidditch players all have big heads filled with fluff and wrackspurts. They don’t think before they act,” quipped Josey, moving away from her boyfriend and sitting down next to Lily. James, Antoine and Sam were all looking at her with wide, shocked eyes.
“Unless they’re thinking about acting something out on the pitch,” threw in Lily.
James pushed himself away from her side, a look of disgust on his handsome features. She laughed.
“You’ll get over it”that’s another trait of Quidditch players.”
“Actually, Lils, I wouldn’t say that was true. They can hold grudges for a long time,” said Nikeia.
It so happened that at that moment Severus Snape walked past them, many meters away. James growled softly in his throat. Lily elbowed him softly.
“You’re right about those grudges,” she said to Nikeia. Nikeia nodded, then turned to Sam.
“Come on! You and Monica can get into the picture”leave the camera there by a Levitation Charm. Hurry up!”
Sam rolled his eyes, Levitated the camera, and activated the timer. Quickly, the other six people ran into the photo, all jumbling next to each other to get inside the frame of their last group photo.
The next day was spent cleaning out their dorms that had housed them for seven years.
Lily and James enjoyed watching and reminiscing as their friends tidied up the large dormitories. Lily had made James clean his dorm before walking over to Gryffindor Tower.
The girls’ dorm was mostly cleaned by lunchtime. After lunch, the Marauders, Frank and Antoine were watched over by the four girls as they completed their task; the four women did not trust them to do a thorough job.
Indeed, Peter’s idea (and Sirius’s as well) of cleaning was to Summon everything that was his to him. That only resulted with him toppling over from the amount of things that flew from under bed”inside nightstand drawers”from the bathroom, and other various places. The girls had a right laugh over that.
James, who had tried this in his own room, did not warn Sirius and Peter of what would happen, not wanting to deprive himself of a good laugh.
By dinner, the boy’s dorm was cleaned well enough. They joined the rest of the school for the last meal of the year in the Great Hall. The meal, of course, was excellent, even by house elf standards.
At the end, Dumbledore stood and announced that the winner of the House Cup was Gryffindor, thanks in part to their win at the final Quidditch match. The decorations around the room changed to a scarlet and gold, and the Gryffindors cheered. Dumbledore then drew attention to the black strips of fabric that hung beside the Gryffindor crest at the front of the hall, as memorials to those who had lost family during the school year. The school was silent; they all knew someone to whom this sad event had happened, or had lost family themselves. James wrapped an arm around Lily’s waist and squeezed gently. She put her hand atop his, and held it firmly.
With a brief “goodnight” from Dumbledore, the Great Hall emptied.
The ten Gryffindors whose bonds of friendship had only grown stronger over the year found comfort in sitting by the cheery fire in the Head’s common room. They talked, and laughed, and ate the last bit of contraband Honeyduke’s sweets. When Sirius unwrapped a piece of caramel, Josey ran off to find Monica and Sam; Sirius challenged James to another Shutter-Upper Contest. It took Sirius nearly ten minutes to get his mouth unstuck in the first round; Monica said that Honeyduke’s changed their Triple Sticky Caramel formula. Sirius mumbled that he thought she had found a better charm.
Lily stood looking around at her old dorm room. Her bed was second from the far wall, between Nikeia’s and Josey’s.
Crossed arms slipped over the back of her shoulders. Another cheek pressed itself against hers.
Lily was used to this move from Nikeia, so she just smiled and leaned back into her friend.
“You haven’t done that for a while,” Lily said.
“Well, James usually has his arm around you, so I can never get a hug in edgewise!” laughed Nikeia. Lily had to admit that it was true. “What are you doing up here?”
“Just looking… Part of me wished that as Head Girl I didn’t have a separate dormitory. I missed staying up late with you three. I know I came back a few times, but it doesn’t seem enough, now.”
“Staying up late?” cried Nikeia, right in Lily’s ear. The redhead winced. “You make it sound like we did it all the time! You always made us go to sleep early!”
“I did not!”
Nikeia turned Lily slightly to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
“All right: on weeknights I made you all go to sleep early,” Lily conceded.
“And on weekends.”
“I did not!”
“Lily… don’t try to lie. You did.”
Lily faced forward again, still leaning against Nikeia, who was also leaning forward against Lily. “Fine,” Lily huffed.
“Thank you. Sirius doesn’t give up arguments so easily.”
“I never would’ve guessed,” drawled Lily.
Nikeia squeezed her.
“Come on. We should head down to the Great Hall. We’ve got brunch, and then we’re off.”
Lily sighed. Nikeia repeated her mournful sound.
“’And then we’re off.’ What final-sounding words.”
“Well, they are.”
“You think you’ll ever be back?” asked Lily, looking over her shoulder into her friend’s face. They were so close that Lily almost wasn’t able to focus.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?”
“You know something?” Lily said. “That sounds great.”
They smiled again. Nikeia stepped out from behind Lily and put her arm around the other woman’s waist. Lily wrapped her arm around Nikeia’s shoulders and they looked around the room once more.
“I’ll miss it.”
“Yeah. I will too.”
Together, they turned and started down the dorm steps.
At the simple brunch, Dumbledore announced that their luggage was being taken down to the train as they ate, and that the train would leave precisely at eleven. Then, he gave the final goodbye.
“Students, it has been another splendid year, and one that none of us will forget, I’m sure. Though for an old man like me forgetting is rather easy.”
Everyone laughed, even though they had had suspicions about just how “poor” Dumbledore’s memory was.
“Gather your last articles from your dorms, and then make your way down to the carriages. Farewell.” Dumbledore sat back down in his chair, and smiled benignly as the Great Hall emptied.
He hoped they would all be well.
The scarlet train was in the station when the students arrived in the carriages that James knew to pulled by thestrals. Not that he could see them; the Gamekeeper Hagrid had told him about the invisible creatures.
Their train ride was not eventful, nor any different from any other return trip. The seventh years did, however, look back at Hogwarts from their compartment until they could no longer see the castle.
“Well,” said James, “That’s it. The last time.”
Everyone nodded.
Sirius broke the silence that descended on them. “So… who’s up for a game of Exploding Snap?” He began digging through his bag for the deck of cards.
A game was started, and lasted quite a while. The Trolley Lady came around and a large selection of treats was bought by their compartment, in an effort to remember their last purchase from the Trolley.
Sam came in, when they were not far from London, to hand out thick packets. When opened, everyone saw that they were full with pictures from the year that could be added to the albums he and Monica gave out at Christmas. Sam was nearly suffocated by hugs from all the girls. (A suspicious little Smirk suggested that he really did enjoy the attention.) The men just rolled their eyes at their girls’ displays, and thanked Sam over their heads. The rest of the ride was spent perusing the photos, and laughing.
And then the train pulled into the station with screeching brakes and jets of steam. Everyone shared last glances, grabbed their luggage and bags, and stepped off the train.
On the platform, Josey was greeted by her mother and her brother Timmy, and Frank and Alice by their parents, who exchanged knowing smiles when they saw their children walking toward them, hand in hand. Frank and Alice hugged everyone quickly, making more promises to see each other soon.
Antoine stepped away from Josey to greet his father, an older version of their handsome, tanned classmate. He was quickly introduced to Josephine, and smiled the same smile that Frank and Alice’s parents had.
Sam and Monica greeted their own parents, and after final hugs from the seventh years, they were led away, laughing, ready to enjoy their summers.
When Josephine had a moment, she came back to Lily and Nikeia (whose father stood behind her) and took their hands in hers.
“This is where it all started… This platform. Do you remember?” Josey posed.
The other two girls chuckled, and nodded. They had appeared on the platform at the same time”twenty minutes early”and in their hustle and bustle to get a good compartment, they ran into each other. Quite literally. They had felt an instant affinity (as well as the beginnings of a few bruises), and found a compartment together.
“Of course we remember, silly!” said Lily, squeezing Josey’s side affectionately. Nikeia nodded, then reached out and hugged Josey. Lily moved forward, and joined in the hug. “We’ll see each other soon. I promise,” said Lily, wiping a tear from her eye.
“Nik,” said another man from behind Nikeia. She turned around and fell into Sirius’s arms. Lily noticed that her father’s eyebrows shot upward for a moment before he smiled.
“JO!” shouted Timmy, ever the impatient one. Josey turned around to shout back to her little brother.
“What?”
“Let’s go! I’ve got a football match to get to! You’re taking too long.”
Josey rolled her eyes, and bestowed upon Lily a look of eternal suffering.
“Oh, brother.”
Lily laughed. “I’ll see you soon. I promise!”
“I know. It’s just… Goodbye, you know?”
“Yeah, I do.” Lily looked over at Timmy, who was dancing on the spot, anxious. “You better go before your little brother attacks you.”
Josey muttered something about her attacking him, but she squeezed Lily once more. Then, she walked with Antoine and their two small families off the platform.
As Lily stood watching her go, arms wrapped themselves around Lily’s waist, and she smiled up at her dear boyfriend. James gave her a squeeze, and then moved away with Sirius to say goodbye (but not farewell) to Remus and Peter.
From behind Nikeia’s father, Lily saw Lauryn Ross, the sixth year who had warned her about Laila Albright. She called out to her, and the other girl turned around. She caught Lily’s eye and waved. Isaac Hoffman, who had Lauryn’s other hand in his own, turned to see to whom she was waving, then waved shyly himself. Lily walked up to her, and accepted the graduation congratulations. She then thanked Lauryn again for her help in the That Laila Girl affair.
When James came up to collect Lily, he smiled at Lauryn, also thanking her for her help. Lauryn blushed; after all, it wasn’t every day you had a Marauder smile at you.
As Lily and James walked back to the Marauders and Nikeia, they said goodbye to a great many students. Lily had a word to say to each Gryffindor prefect she saw, and a special thank you to the girl, Abbi, who created a simple, but lovely, banner that had hung in the Gryffindor common the past few days.
When they finally rejoined their small group, Lily reached out to hug Peter, whose parents were waiting (rather impatiently) for him. He scuttled off, walking backwards and waving to them all.
Lily turned to Remus. She embraced him warmly, and kissed his cheek. He gently pressed his thumb against her cheek and smiled warmly, thanking her silently for the seven years of homework help and kindness, and the three years of being prefects together.
He chuckled wryly, saying, “You better get back to James or he’ll get jealous.”
Lily laughed at him, but left her arm in his as she turned them back towards the other three.
And then, it was just the five of them, standing on the almost empty Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters of the Hogwarts Express.
“Well,” sighed Lily, looking at her other four friends.
“Well,” repeated James, giving it a note of finality. “Let’s go. Life awaits!” he finished, with a flourish of his hand. Nikeia and Lily laughed, and laughed harder when Sirius mimicked James’s pomp and circumstance. James and Sirius began to walk off arm-in-arm, marching like two soldiers, when they realized Remus hadn’t joined them. They immediately turned and pulled him into their marching line. He just sighed and went along with it, as he had happily and gratefully done the past seven years.
Nikeia and Lily looked at each other, sharing Josey’s look of eternal suffering. Their looks broke, and they started laughing again.
“What a handful,” sighed Nikeia.
“Yeah, but we love them,” replied Lily, a fond tone in her voice. She paused. “Haven’t we said that before?”
Nikeia paused, and thought as well. “You know… I think we have.”
“It’s probably not going to be the last time, is it?” asked Lily.
“No… probably not. Hopefully not.”
They laughed again, before levitating all five pieces of luggage, and skipping, arm-in-arm, back toward the Muggle world.
Toward life.