the gifted || marauders era

forty one

"Oh wow, who knew he could present a speech like that." James gaped, staring at his best friend with wide eyes.

"You shouldn't be surprised." Lyra rolled her eyes, lightly smacking his arm.

"I know, even after years, I still can't get used to that."

"Potter, James."

"Go on, love, tell the crowd how much you love me." She joked, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

"Oh, I will." James grinned, striding up to the stage before sending his best mates a wink.

"Good evening, my fellow students, teachers, and parents. You've all been graced by the presence of the Head Boy, me, James Potter. I would like to start this speech by saying, this won't be the last you see of the Marauders. The past seven years of my life has been the best. Not only that I've learnt so much from the Professors, by the way, thank you all for that. And not only that I've made a new legacy, found three best friends who I'll die for, I've also found the love of my life. Hogwarts taught me a lot. It taught me how to be a friend, a student, a brother, and a lover. Especially the past two years, I've realized that I've done a lot of things wrong. And I really do apologize, especially to those me and Sirius bullied. We were childish and stupid. But we've been brought to a new light, and we've grown up. I've changed over the years, and I'm sure all of you changed too. Before two years ago, I was still immature and selfish. I didn't think of the consequences to my actions, and I acted rationally. So I sincerely apologize to those I've hurt. I would also like to apologize to the Professors for tiring them out with every single prank we've pulled. We know we're a handful, but please know that it's nothing personal, and that we were just having fun. And Evans, I'm really sorry for annoying you for four years straight, I was completely out of my mind." He grinned, causing the red-head to roll her eyes playfully.

"You might ask what changed me, and to be quite honest, the answer is a bit confusing. Each one of you might know the things that has happened too often behind these walls. And I realized that my actions could affect those who were already stressed out by these Dark times. The other answer was Lyra. By now, you all must know who she is with how often her name was mentioned during our speech. But she really did change our lives, including mine. I didn't know exactly when I had fallen in love with her, but I'll tell you that when I saw her that day, her gentle tone, her caring nature, everything about her.. I fell for her. She helped me see the things I did wrong, the things my actions could have led to and how it affected others. She helped me be the person I am today. I'm proud to call her the love of my life. She's the most gentle soul you'll ever meet, but she won't hesitate to throw a hex if you wronged her. She's a strong woman, and we owe everything to her." James stared at his girlfriend with so much love in his eyes, while Lyra had her hand in her mouth, stopping herself from sobbing happily.

"Ly, I'm proud of you. Everyone here is, and I know that they are too."

They, referring to everyone in her past lives, this nearly made her break down.

"To Sirius, I really don't have anything to say because you already have too big of an ego, and I'm not going to feed you with that. Let me humble you a little bit, we all know you cry to Elvis Presley, and you're scared of ducks." James snorted, while everyone else erupted into waves of laughter.

"You can't blame me! I'm soft!" Sirius called out loudly, his cheeks slightly pink from embarrassment.

"Sure you are.. To Peter, I still can't believe you beat my pranking record.. To Remus, I really don't have anything to say either because you're Lyra's perfect angel, and if I say a single bad thing about you, she'd hex me. To Minnie, I'm going to miss you the most. But cheers to everyone here, congratulations!"