Deafening applause rang throughout the Great Hall as a copper-haired young man shook hands with Headmistress McGonagall and accepted his certificate of graduation.
Heather blinked rapidly to stem a few stray tears, hands smarting from the force with which she was clapping. She watched closely as her brother shook hands with his other professors, smile widening for the brief moment when Severus was surprised with a hug.
She paid attention to the rest of the ceremony, clapping – though not as vigorously – for the other students. Well, she supposed they weren't quite students anymore.
The ceremony ended with Hermione's valedictorian speech, which was a lot shorter than she had expected.
She hung back for a while as Rian celebrated with his yearmates, taking pictures, high-fiving, roughhousing good-naturedly. She chatted with Sirius and Remus as they waited, hearing them reminisce about their own graduation. When Rian finally pulled away from his friends to come say hi, Heather pulled him into a tight hug which expanded as Remus and Sirius joined in.
"We're so proud of you, pup!" Sirius all but shouted, all smiles.
Remus was quieter, but no less enthusiastic. "Congratulations, Hadrian. You did very well."
Rian laughed, sinking into the group hug. "Thanks, you guys! I can't believe I'm finally graduating!"
"It seems like just yesterday you were boarding the Express for the first time, doesn't it?" Heather said knowingly.
"Yeah," Hadrian sighed, a tad nostalgically. "But it also feels like forever."
"I guess having a crazy snakeman messing with you would do that," Heather teased.
Hadrian rolled his eyes, just as Sirius interjected, "C'mon guys, who cares about that old has-been? It's your graduation, Hadrian. You should be letting loose, have fun, get drunk!"
Remus shoved Sirius in warning, hissing at him about good role models and appropriate behaviour. Hadrian smiled slyly and shrugged his shoulders when Remus turned to him. Heather snorted, staying out of it.
It was an open secret to the professors how the graduants always had an afterparty. So long as things didn't go too out of hand, they would turn a blind eye.
Eventually, Sirius and Remus had to leave when the family members who had attended the ceremony were politely ushered out of the school. Heather spent a little more time taking last-minute pictures with her students and giving them well wishes before she, like the other staff members, gradually vacated the hall.
She was humming contentedly as she made her way back to the dungeons, knowing Severus would already be there. She had noticed him slipping away as soon as the ceremony ended, having never been one for such events.
Though the walkways were dark, formless shadows lurking at every corner, Heather took each step with ease. She was familiar with the winding paths, the cold stone walls, the gentle swirls of magic perfusing the air. She had spent most of the past nine years at Hogwarts, her brother, seven. He would be leaving the castle soon, and so would she.
Minerva had managed to find a retired auror to be the Defence Professor, and Severus was more than happy to finally resign.
Hogwarts wasn't her home – there had been too much danger within its walls for her to feel entirely safe to call it that – but she had met some of the most important people in her life here. Her best friends, her lover. The memories she'd made here were irreplaceable. She wasn't quite sad to leave – perhaps sentimental was a better term.
She came to a stop in front of a familiar door, feeling the wards come down for her without resistance as she pushed it open. She had practically moved into Severus' rooms in the past few months, for all that her official quarters were still the adjacent apprentice rooms.
The sitting room was empty was she stepped inside. She flicked a hand towards the fireplace, putting on a crackling fire. Summer it might be, but nights in the Scottish highlands were still cold, especially in the dungeons.
Heather wasn't surprised to find Severus seated in the study, meticulously penning down some last minute paperwork.
"You can leave that for tomorrow," Heather pointed out, amused. "Minerva isn't going to drive us out of here once the clock strikes midnight. In fact, I think she'd much rather we stayed, anyway."
Severus made a disparaging grunt. "That is exactly the reason why we should not tarry. Any later and I would not put it past the old cat to find a reason to have us stay."
Stifling a smile, Heather made her way to her own desk. "Like you would let her. Anyway, it's just the first and second years' teaching plans left, right? I'll take the firsties, and we'll be done in no time."
Severus hummed neutrally. "The letters came in from Gringotts today. Everything's been finalised."
Oh? Heather looked over at her partner, trying to gauge his current state of mind. "That's excellent. I suppose we'll be able to begin setting things up at the shop then?"
A pause, silence marred only by the scratching of a sharp quill. "And moving."
"Of course," Heather agreed, "Perhaps we should prioritise that first." Pointedly, she added, "I'm looking forward to our new home, aren't you?"
Severus nodded tersely. "If you're-"
"Yes," Heather cut in, "I'm sure. We've practically been living together anyway, Severus." She held back the urge to roll her eyes. Her lover had gotten better at accepting that she was happy with him – more than – but he still had some moments of doubt. She could only be patient. Eventually, he would get over this insecurity.
While browsing through the available shopfronts on Diagon, Heather had sneakily slipped in a few portfolios for nice homes in secluded and secure locations. Severus had obviously picked up on her hint, but it had taken a few days for him to make any mention of it. It was only when Heather was sending off an owl to Gringotts with the shop that they had chosen that Severus had passed her a folder containing information of a spacious cottage in an Unplottable location. She had smiled when she saw it, because it had been one of her top choices too.
They had eventually sat down to talk about it. With actual words. And when Heather had finally convinced Severus of her certainty in the endeavour, she was quick to settle things with the goblins.
Whatever Severus believed, Heather was all too ready to move into the next stage of life with him. Setting up their apothecary and moving in together was only the start of that. The only thing that might have slowed her down was the possibility that Severus wasn't so keen on the whole idea, but after he had firmly disabused her of the notion, she ran full speed ahead with the plans.
Hadrian hadn't been ecstatic about her moving out of the Nest, but once he'd realised that he would have the house to himself, he had warmed to the idea. Heather figured Cedric would be visiting a whole lot more. She didn't think on it further.
Everyone else had taken the news with aplomb, only asking for the change in address so they could owl (she'd get back to them on that after setting up the wards).
Sirius, of course, was the exception. His reactions to anything concerning Severus and her were varied, but always explosive. As usual, she didn't let his protests affect her decision, though she had, once again, tried to get him to accept a few hard facts. Yes, she and Severus were moving in together, setting up a shop together, pretty much doing a lot of things together. No, it wasn't a platonic mentor-apprentice relationship – she had received her Mastery a month or two ago, anyway. Yes, she was rather thoroughly in love with the man, and he with her.
It had ended with mixed results.
Remus had been happy for her, at least.
It took an hour more to finish up the lesson plans and for them to give the contracts a final read-through. It was impeccable, as to be expected of Gringotts.
Heather leaned sleepily against Severus' warm chest on the couch where they had been reading through the papers. A hand carded through her hair, eliciting a quiet, pleased sigh.
"This is great, isn't it?" she murmured lowly, "Within the week, we'll have all our things moved to our new home and after that, we can work on the shop." She blinked slowly when she felt a brush of lips against her hair. She reached out to twine Severus' free hand with hers. She was only half-conscious as she slurred her next words, "It is great. It's perfect. I'll love making a home with you, I just know it." She yawned, eyes falling shut. "I love you."
Warmth wrapped around her as she fell deeper into slumber. Just before she everything went dark, she heard the same words whispered back.