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End of Term


Detentions were the worst. The first year Gryffindors sat at desks in McGonagall’s classroom, their textbooks spread out before them, not allowed to talk or pass notes. James spent a good deal of time staring off out the window or across the desks at the curtain of ginger hair that fell from Lily’s head as she bent over her parchment, taking notes from her books. They certainly had no lack of reason to study, either, quite honestly.

The end of the term was coming up, which meant exams in every class, and the boys had spent the greater part of the last month studying spells that would’ve been suited for dueling in the forest, not what was actually being assigned in their classrooms. Consequently, Peter had become a nervous wreck, reciting bits of information from books no matter what time of day it was, or where they were in the castle. Even in the middle of the night, he frequently was woken up by Remus, telling him to shut it, for he’d been reciting potion ingredients in his sleep.

Moody continued teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes for the rest of the term, and the Slytherins continued to complain about it in the Great Hall. Lucius Malfoy still sneered at Bilius Weasley, who sneered right back, and the Ravenclaw Quidditch team managed to win their final game against Slytherin, causing them to reclaim the lead in the running for the House Cup, which made everyone on campus quite happy - especially Gwen, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain. She had indeed been picked up by one of the teams, she told Remus so during one last Slug Club in early June, celebrating the end of exams.

The Great Hall was decorated in bronze and blue for the end of year feast, and three of the house tables cheered when it was announced officially that Ravenclaw had won - all but Slytherin were quite pleased with the results.

Nothing more was said to any of the Gryffindors about the night in the forest with the Dark Lord, though Lily continued to implore Sirius to go to Dumbledore every opportunity she had. She wasn’t exactly friends with the boys, but they were all on better speaking terms than they had been earlier in the year, when Lily had refused to talk to them at all. She even gave Peter some much needed help with one of the exam revisions.

On the very last day at Hogwarts, the sun was shining on the grounds and warming the grass and the boys went out onto the lawns to enjoy themselves in the sunlight. They stood at the edge of the lake, under the tree, where they’d had their rainy day picnic earlier in the year. James was skipping rocks across the surface of the water, while Peter sleepily daydreamed about his mother’s hold made pork pie, which he’d be eating in less than a day. Of the boys, James and Peter were looking forward to summer most while both Remus and Sirius were dreading the break.

Remus said, “It’s awful lonely back home, I haven’t got any friends there. I’m going to miss you lot.”

“Me, too, mate,” said Sirius. “Even our house elf detests me back home.”

Remus frowned, “My mum and dad are afraid of me when the moon’s coming ‘round,” he sighed and dragged a stick through some loose sand before him, drawing a pattern. He forced an apologetic smile. “Being alone’s just a part of this whole werewolf gig, though. I’m quite used to it, I suppose.” He sighed.

“You could write me if you want,” suggested Sirius.

Remus smiled ruefully, “I would, but werewolves lack the posable thumbs.”

“So write me when you aren’t a wolf, then,” Remus chuckled.

Next day, Bilius Weasley knocked on their door early in the morning to remind them it was leaving day and they all had to leave their bags behind to be brought down to Hogsmeade Station for the train back to London. James nudged Sirius and pulled him aside a little after breakfast. “I have something to show you,” he said. Once they were alone, pulled over in an empty classroom while Remus and Peter moved along on the moving staircases. James opened his book bag and withdrew the hand mirror he’d found on the ground in the Forbidden Forest and showed it to Sirius.

“What’s this?” He asked, confused. Sirius stared at it a moment, then realization dawned on his face.

“Voldemort left it that night in the clearing,” explained James.

Sirius turned it over, inspecting it.

“I was thinking,” said James, “You’ve still got the one we got from Malfoy, don’t you?” Sirius nodded. “And I’ve got this one… Well, it’s a way for us to see each other over the summer, isn’t it? So you won’t be completely alone.”

Sirius looked up. “Do you think it’s smart, using these, when it’s You-Know-Who that’s made them?”

James shrugged, “Why not?”

“Dunno, because he uses Dark Magic.”

“Dark Magic is only dark because of it’s intentions,” James argued, “We wouldn’t be using it for darkness, but to bring some light into your life during a dark time. I pose that we’d be making good out of something bad.”

Sirius smiled, “That’s an excellent point.” He handed James back the mirror. “In that case, I shall hang mine in my room the instant I get home.”

“And I’ll keep mine on me,” James replied, “So I’m never far off in case you need me.”

Sirius clapped James into a brotherly hug and patted his back. “I’m goin’ to miss you this summer,” he said, “I’ve never had a real best mate before, but you’re certainly it, Potter.”

“You’re mine, too, Black,” James replied, patting Sirius back.

Next day they shared a carriage to Hogsmeade with Bilius, Derek, Alice, and Lily. As the carriage bumbled along, they broke off into two separate conversations - the boys going on about next year’s Quidditch team as Alice told Lily how she could go about signing up for a subscription to Teen Witch. The ride seemed very short. On the platform, they lost sight of one another, the four boys carefully sticking together until they’d claimed themselves a compartment and James had shoved Bubo up on the luggage rack.

Remus stared out the window, through the fog, at the spires and turrets of Hogwarts, only just visible over the distance and gloomy weather. He felt less like he was going home and more as though he were leaving it - it was an odd feeling. He looked ‘round at the other three. Peter was already complaining about when the witch with the snack trolley would come as James teased him for always being hungry. Sirius was laughing so hard the edges of his eyes were crinkling and Remus smiled at his little family of friends for a moment, admiring them before joining in.

Alice and Lily visited their compartment during the long journey to Hogwarts, just to say hello, and Lily told them she’d see them all next term. James felt his heart climb up into his throat at the thought of not seeing Lily for the whole summer. He liked looking at her. But he pushed the thought out of his mind pretty quickly, distracted by Sirius’s reminder that next term, they’d be trying out for Quidditch together and the excitement took over his worries about Lily’s departure.

As the train neared London, Lily found Severus in a compartment filled with Slytherins, where he was staring up at Lucius Malfoy with a look of interest and she didn’t dare interrupt the conversation they were all having. Part of her didn’t want to know what Lucius was saying, afraid of what he had to say which interested Severus so much. Lily felt sick thinking of Severus - her Sev - talking to someone as vile as Lucius Malfoy… She decided she’d have to talk to him about that during the summer, one of the days when they would meet up in their secret place by the pond, like they had for all that time before Hogwarts. She didn’t imagine it would be any different this year, despite Severus’s warnings that he wouldn’t be home much over the summer.

The Hogwarts Express pulled into King’s Cross in the late afternoon. Peter spotted his mum through the window and squealed with delight because she was holding a plate of cookies. On the Platform, he hurriedly said goodbye and abandoned the other three in a rush to collect his sweets. Remus, James, and Sirius faced one another and gave each other a quick 3-way hug, their arms over each other’s shoulders. “See you next term,” Remus said.

“See you,” answered James. “Same compartment on September 1st, yeah?”

“Alright,” Remus nodded. “Write me, both of you.”

“Everyday,” promised Sirius.

“I’m terrible at letters,” said James, “But I’ll do my best.”

Remus smiled, “Have a nice summer. Don’t get into any trouble.”

James grinned, “Trouble? Us?”

Sirius added, “Never.”

Remus rolled his eyes, “Bloody hell, you’ll be expelled before you even get back to school…” he muttered as he walked away toward his waiting parents across the platform.

James turned to Sirius, “Don’t forget the mirror. We’ll talk every night. About nine-thirty. Okay?”

Sirius nodded, “Nine-thirty. Got it.”

James smiled warmly, “Stay safe, mate.”

“You, too,” answered Sirius. He glanced over and saw his father standing tall at the far side of the platform, looking quite sour. He took a deep breath, “Only a couple months before we’ll be back at the castle, though, that’s a break.”

James nodded, “It’s not so long, really.”

“Bye,” Sirius said with a wave and he started off across Platform 9¾ to where his father waited.

James searched the crowd for his parents and finally spotted Charlus and Dora, running over, carrying Bubo’s cage, quite pleased to see them. He rushed into his mother’s outstretched arms for a greeting hug. “Was that one of your friends?” Asked Dora as she let go and held James out to inspect him.

“Yeah,” James said, “That was Sirius Black.”

“Sirius Black?” Asked Charlus, looking surprised, “How on earth did you make friends with him?”

“He’s my dorm mate in Gryffindor,” replied James.

“Sirius Black is in Gryffindor?” Charlus sounded shocked. Dora looked quite surprised, too. They exchanged glances, and Dora looked over where Sirius and his father were leaving the platform. “Odd.”

James nodded, “He’s not a thing like his family.”

“You know about them, do you?” Charlus asked.

James nodded, “Oh yes. I know an awful lot about them,” he added, seeing Lucius Malfoy walk past with Narcissa Black under his arm. James turned back to his parents, “We’ve learned an awful lot this term, after all. Me and all my friends.”

“I see,” Charlus murmured. “Well, let’s go home and you can tell us all about your friends.”

“Alright,” said James. But he knew he wouldn’t tell them about everything - some things were better left at Hogwarts, where they belonged.