An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Sixty-Nine

A/N: This one's for @Bby-Kol! Wattpad's not letting me tag you for some reason, but I'm always happy to see your comments on every new update, and I seriously appreciate it! Seeing your username in my notifs always makes me smile :)

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Waking up for Astronomy was one of the hardest thing I'd ever done. Poor Lee deserved a medal for actually getting me up and moving, despite the fight I'd put up. Still, somehow, we'd managed to both walk into class on time, joining the small group from all four houses who'd kept up this class after O.W.L.s.

I moved to stand between Lee and David as our professor finished setting up for class, slouching and moving like a zombie in a bad horror movie. When I glanced over at David, I found him looking like he'd been cast as an extra with me.

"You look as shitty as I feel," I said to him in lieu of a hello. He blinked and turned to me slowly.

"Hi, Alexa. Yes. I am... a little tired."

I snorted. "Now I know why my friends always looked so concerned when I got like this. Are you doing okay? Other than abject exhaustion, I guess?"

He let out a long sigh, rolling his shoulders and straightening up a little as he did.

"Yeah, I am. It's just... St. Mungo's is requiring me to jump through quite a lot of hoops, and with N.E.W.T.s coming up, it's been a lot to handle all at once. But I'm sure I'll be fine."

I nodded. "I can relate. I know I've been MIA lately, but I'll be back in the library for work and moral support this week, if that makes you feel better."

The corner of his mouth quirked up the tiniest bit.

"It does. Thank you."

We shared exhausted smiles, then turned our attention forward again as Professor Sinistra began class. Thanks to Lee, David and I both managed to make it through class without crumpling to a heap on the floor or forgetting to turn in our assignments at the end of the night. When the three of us finally trekked out of class, I broke my usual practice to get David a sling portal back to his room, then did the same for me and Lee. The last step I took before falling into bed was the last step my body could've possibly managed.

I slept in the next morning, completely forgoing everything from my morning run to breakfast in the Great Hall. Instead, I showed up in Potions on Wednesday morning literal minutes before Snape started class, with a coffee and a granola bar in-hand. If he wanted to call me on it, I was tired enough to just drink it all in one go while looking him dead in the eye. Thankfully, though, it didn't come to that.

As the rest of the week went on, I slowly recovered from my exhaustion, and the reality of that last test started sinking in a little more. For all intents and purposes, I was done with high school. That was huge.

And I wanted to do something about it.

On Thursday, I sent a few messages to friends in the muggle world. By the end of the day, we had a tentative plan in place for a true celebration to send senior year off right. I told my Hogwarts friends, then had Angelina and Alicia guard the door to the girls' dorms while I opened a sling portal to see the twins.

"Alexa!" they cried in unison, rushing forward to give me a hug as soon as they noticed me. I laughed, tears I hadn't been expecting suddenly threatening to fall. The three of us held each other tight, and I didn't let go until I got my expression better under control.

"We need to get you guys phones," I said, trying to discreetly wipe at the corner of my eye. "This is a really impractical way to deliver a message."

They grinned before Fred spoke.