Turning Tables

Chapter 36 - Endings

(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)

The minute hand ticked onto the twelve, and the bushy-haired examiner straightened up at the front of the room as he checked his wristwatch before speaking.

'Quills down everyone.'

The slight feeling of tension in the room dissipated, to be replaced by a more relaxed air, and the sound of quill scratching across parchment ceased, swiftly supplanted by the noise of more than a hundred students gathering their belongings. The examiner gave a quick twist of his wand and the examination papers flew from the desks to the front of the room where they sealed themselves into a leather briefcase.

'Thank you, you may go.' The small man gave a brief smile to the room in general as it began to empty. The noise level rose as students began to hustle their way out of the room, singly or in groups, some talking loudly, others deathly quiet.

'And we're done!' Sirius whooped as they left the Great Hall. He did an odd dance around Remus, waving his hands in his face until Remus punched him in the arm. Sirius, never one to be put off by anyone else's lack of enthusiasm, continued his dance as he made his way to the main staircase well ahead of the rest of them, garnering odd looks from a number of the younger students, who nonetheless accepted his odd behaviour unquestioningly.

Lily watched him with amusement as she followed along behind him in the midst of a group of their friends. 'He's irrepressible isn't he?'

Remus laughed. 'He's just glad to be done with schoolwork. You just wait; it'll hit him later that he actually has to leave Hogwarts now, and then he'll drink too much and start crying.'

Lily looked up at James for confirmation. He grinned down at her. 'Moony's right. He's all chirpy now because he doesn't have to do schoolwork anymore. Once he actually thinks about it and realises that we're really done with Hogwarts, he'll probably have a bit of a breakdown.'

Lily shook her head. 'I'll never get used to you lot. You're so weird.'

'We prefer to think of ourselves as "interesting"'. Peter piped up from behind her. 'Prongs, party in the common room?'

James looked down at Lily, eyes pleading and she huffed a sigh. 'You don't have to give me the kicked puppy look. It's not like I'm a total spoilsport.'

'Is that Lily-speak for "okay"?' he asked hopefully.

Lily looked up at him, her expression lightly amused. 'Anyone would think I was the only voice of authority around here. Yes James, we can have a party in the common room. Usual rules still apply.'

'What rules?' Alice turned her head to look over her shoulder at Lily, but it was James who answered with a grin.

'Lily's rules: Remus keeps track of the alcohol; no-one under the age of fifteen gets any; third years and younger have to go to bed at twelve.'

Alice raised her eyebrows questioningly at Lily, who shrugged.

'What? I was never going to be able to stop them from having parties, so I settled for damage limitation. We compromised.'