Serendipity (S. Black)

FIFTY-THREE

"I will."

She returned back to her place, this time taking more care while walking. The rest of her classmates stood in anticipation as Dumbledore gave a final speech, ending it by shooting massive amounts of colorful confetti out of his wand.

And just like that, the Hogwarts class of 1978 was free.

She hugged the closest person to her, which was Peter, and they both screamed with their newly-graduated friends, gloried in their new lives, and anticipated the future with eager expectations.

Afterward, Eva walked over to the Quidditch pitch. She stood at the edge, right underneath the three goal hoops, and stared up with a solemn expression. Next year, they'd be someone else's to guard.

"Weird, isn't it?" James appeared next to her. "It's not ours anymore. We ruled here."

A lump formed in her throat. "Yeah."

How many hours had they spent there? Eva remembered long practices where Mitchell pushed them all to do their best, races with James, and the day when the Prewett twins taught her how to fly.

"It was good, though," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Really good."

"Mhm."

"Cheer up, Blondie. Frowns don't look good on you." James winked. "Besides, you'll be back in a few years, won't you? Teaching future generations about the magic of the Beatles?"

She laughed. "Something like that. Let's hope."

"I think you'd be good at it, for what it's worth."

His words lifted her spirits immensely. "Thanks, James. I appreciate that."

"Just so you know, I told Sirius that if he ever hurt you, he'd be worse than dead."

Eva laughed and he joined in. "I'm not sure that's necessary. I mean, we've been dating for a year and a half now."

"Nonsense. He's marrying my sister."

Those words meant so much to Eva. She had no blood relatives anymore. Her mother never saw her graduate, never even knew she was engaged. She never even met Sirius. The reminder that she still had a family once she left Hogwarts was exactly what she needed.

*

The last night of the school year came at last, but also too quickly. Seventh-year students in all Houses were tasked with packing for a final time, which was a more bittersweet event than they anticipated. The only sound in Eva's dormitory was the drone of an ABBA album. All three girls remained relatively silent as they undecorated what had been their home away from home for seven years.

Marlene began to methodically roll up her posters, Stevie Nicks and Princess Leia and Olivia Newton-John. She thought about the future, wondering if she would ever be as earth-shattering as any of her heroines. That was certainly the goal of her job at The Daily Prophet. If no one else planned on speaking out, she would instead.

Lily sat on her bed, flipping through the recent pages of her photo album. Sirius and Eva wouldn't let her take any engagement shots of them, but she still snuck a few pictures when they weren't looking. On a whim, she dug through her trunk and found another album dated 1971, their first year at Hogwarts. She stifled a laugh behind her hand as she looked at them all. Eva always styled her hair in bangs and braids, Peter exclusively wore striped shirts, and Sirius was the tallest one at the time. She found another picture, probably taken by Eva, of an eleven-year-old James Potter chasing her around the Great Hall with a sprig of mistletoe. How far they'd all come.