minnow // sirius black

twenty-six

After I spent six hours in a classroom with Dumbledore reading his own stuff in the corner, I was released to go to dinner.

"That was awful," I admitted to Remus. He sat across from me, while Sirius sat directly to my right. He was still giving me a low-speaking treatment, but I didn't need to talk to him. "Absolutely awful."

"You think you failed?"

"No, I'm certain I passed, but it was so boring!" I complained. "Imagine sitting in a dark and dreary classroom with a silent Dumbledore sitting in the corner for six hours."

"Oof," Remus shook his head, raising his eyebrows as he looked at me sympathetically, "Sounds awful."

"Condescending mutt," I grumbled as I started stuffing my face with food.

"What's tomorrow?"

"The written tests for Charms, Transfiguration and DADA," I said as soon as I swallowed the bite of chicken. "Then, Friday, is the practical for them."

"You'll pass the practical with flying colors."

"I'm more worried about the written test for Transfiguration," I admitted. "How do they expect me to explain the way that I transfer the magic from my body to my wand? Why is that even a question? I can see it now - 'I transfer the magic from my body to my wand by thinking about it, and then doing it.'"

Remus and Sirius laughed, and I could barely hear James snorting as Lily snickered. They sat down the table just a bit, with two of Lily's 6th year friends. There were three people sitting between James and Remus, and then Lily was beside him. They were in clear view of us, and could obviously hear us.

"How dare they try to sneakily appreciate my humor!"

They snickered again, and I huffed, tossing a torn off piece of croissant at Lily. She made eye contact, her mouth wide open.

She grumbled that I was a 'foul little pixie', before she turned back to James and pretended I didn't exist.

"Wow, I guess I don't exist anymore."

"Unless you're making a joke," Remus agreed, snickering.

The written test for the main three magic classes went as slowly as possible, and when I got to that pesky question, I thought about how it felt when Lily was transfiguring her pillow into a larger pillow while I was in the shower. I thought about how it felt when James made his goblet into a bouquet of lilies for her after breakfast.

I wrote how that felt to me.

I didn't get out of the written tests until after dinner, so Dumbledore said he'd send a tray up to my dorm, and I went to read through the charms textbook again to prepare for the practical.

I was surprised to see James and Lily laying in her bed, her head on his chest as they stared at the ceiling that Lily likely charmed to mimic the way the sky looked - the same way the Great Hall was done.

They both looked at me, smiled and then went back to their activity.

I took a seat on my own bed, closing the curtain and applying a silencing charm. I wrote a very short letter to Remus.

Holy crap. Lily and James looked at me and SMILED!

Also they're stargazing in her bed???

I signed it with a tiny fish drawing, before charming it to go to him. I watched as the little butterfly paper fluttered to the door and squeezed through the small gap under it. I took a deep breath and sighed deeply as I set my textbooks out in front of me and started practicing.

Lily and James still wouldn't talk to me, even when we were on the train. We all sat in a compartment together, Peter included, but nobody but Remus would talk to me. Sirius wouldn't look at me, or talk to me, but he had his arm around my shoulders anyway. For a while, it was rather peaceful, but then Lily and James started talking to one another, purposely avoiding addressing me even when Lily said she was certain I passed. When James agreed that his sister couldn't fail an exam even if she tried, I groaned.

"This is absolutely ridiculous!" I conjured a small flock of tiny birds and sent them after the two as I stormed out of the compartment.

I found a small, empty, compartment and sat against the window, huffing and grumbling about how my friends were assholes.

I sat alone, braiding my hair and unbraiding it for the rest of the train ride.

Lily, James and Sirius must have decided that talking to me was going to be my Christmas gift from them, but I was so fed up with it that even when they were trying to get my attention, I'd ignore them.

Sirius was the only one who found it hilarious, while it frustrated Lily and made James feel awful. I appreciated that Sirius saw the humor, but I was annoyed that Lily was frustrated. How did she think I felt?

I had insane news to tell her, and she wouldn't detach herself from James long enough for me to even think of telling her. I was beyond happy that they'd finally started dating, but from the moment they stopped ignoring me, they were inseparable.

I wanted to tell her first because it was exciting, but she had been ignoring me, and now I was too mad at her to bother.

The night before the new year, while we sat in the living room eating finger food and waiting for the ball to drop, I decided that it was a good time to announce my news.

"I aced my exams," I said as nonchalantly as I could as I reached for a mini hot-dog wrapped in croissant. The small conversation that James was having with Dad ceased, and before I could blink again, someone had their arms tightly wrapped around me.

It was, as expected, Lily. I wrapped my arms around her as she started laughing.

"How much is 'aced' it?" James pouted. "How hard do I have to try to top your score?"

"Ha!" I scoffed. "Good luck topping perfect scores across half the board."

"Perfect scores?!" Now Lily was pouting.

"I missed perfect by a few points in Herbology, Care for Magical Creatures and History of Magic, but I aced the written for the other three, as well as getting the highest marks I could in the practical tests."

"When was the last time that happened?"

"Dad's year," I told James, smirking. "It wasn't Dad though."

"It was one of the Ravenclaw girls, she got the highest marks possible across the entire board, including the electives."

The ice was broken, and while they were buzzing about my score, I watched the clock closely. As soon as it hit midnight, I turned and kissed Sirius, who smiled against my lips and kissed me.

"Happy New Year!" I exclaimed when I pulled away, laughing hysterically when Lily and James realized it was now 12:01. They kissed, as did Mum and Dad, regardless.

I was officially a graduate of Hogwarts, and when June came along, I would ride the boats away from Hogwarts with the people who meant the most to me.