Chapter Sixteen: The Last Exam
Australe Leo Black ~ Friday, June 25th, 1976 ~ Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmead, Scotland
Our last OWL was to be taken today. That meant that the year would be finished incredibly soon which I was happy about. The end of the school year also meant that summer had arrived. I couldn't wait for summer vacation to start. It was going to be me and Lily traveling all around London and going to the Brighton pier for the day. We would travel around England and shop for cute little things at one of a kind boutiques. It would be wonderful.
This exam started at one in the afternoon and we only had two hours to do the written test. One thing that was good about the time frame was that we would have the rest of the day to hang out by the lake, sit under our Beech tree and soak up some sun.
"Good luck!" I told my friends when we got into the exam. They had us all around the room, separated by last name. Remus sat pretty close, just a few rows away and James was in the row to the left of me, four seats up. Sirius sat right behind me and Lily, a few seats over. Professor Flitwick was the teacher 'on duty' for this particular test and when he set the timer, we settled in for the two hours.
"Five more minutes!" Professor Flitwick squeaked after over an hour and a half. He walked up and down the isles, past James, who was yawning and rumpling his hair. James glanced at Flitwick then turned to look at Sirius, who evidently was looking at James and gave him a thumbs-up. I glanced around, finished my exam and saw one of the Ravenclaw girls looking at Sirius hopefully. I snorted, I didn't know why everyone thought he was attractive. He was such a twit sometimes. I sat back on my chair's legs, balancing with my feet on the table. I had finished the exam but I wasn't allowed to leave yet. I had to wait out the whole two hours.
"Feet off the desk please, Miss Black." Flitwick said as he passed my table. I took them off just long enough for him to take notice then put them back on, again balancing on the back legs of my chair. I turned to my right to see Remus scratching his chin with his quill.
"Quills down please!" Flitwick spoke, " That means you too Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchments. Accio!" Flitwick raised his wand and a hundred or so papers flew straight at him; the force knocked him right over. I giggled while a few students up at the front went to help him up.
"Thank you, thank you. Very well, everybody, you are free to go." He panted and I stood up, stuffing my exam questions into my purse to never look at again, before slinging my bag over my shoulder and joining the throng of people walking towards the doors. I was joined by James, Sirius, Remus and Peter as I walk towards the entrance leading outside.
"Did you like question ten, Moony?" Sirius asked Remus, trying to act serious but kept failing by putting a grin on his face.
"Loved it." Remus said briskly and shook his head. "Give five signs that identify the werewolf. Excellent question."
"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" James asked in mocked concern. I laughed.
"Think I did." Remus said in a serious tone. We were now just outside, where the sunlight poured onto our faces, warming my body instantly. "One: he's sitting in my chair. Two: he's wearing my clothes. Three: his name is Remus Lupin."
"Four: he's a very smart person." I continued for him, "I'm just missing the fifth." I said cheekily. Three of the boys laughed and Remus pinched my cheek. Wormtail seemed to be the only one who was actually taking this conversation seriously.
"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes, and the tufted tail. But I couldn't think of what else." Peter said anxiously.
"How thick are you, Wormtail?" James said impatiently, "You run around with a werewolf once a month—"
"Keep your voice down." Remus implored.
"Please." I said quietly looking around to see if anyone had heard anything. Luckily, the weather was captivating enough that no one was paying attention to anyone else. We were now heading towards our large Beech tree that we always sat under in the warm weather.
"Well, I thought it was a piece of cake. I'll be surprised it I don't get an 'Outstanding' on it at least." Sirius said settling on the grass.
"Me too." James agreed and pulled out one of the golden snitches that the school owned from his pocket.
"Where did you get that?" I asked.
"Nicked it." He said casually and I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, well, I'm going to hang out with the girls. And, James, put it back." I told them, kissing Remus on the cheek before I walked down to the water where the girls were soaking up some sun. I said 'hello' and took off my shoes.
"I can't wait for this year to end. I was so relieved when Defence was finished, I don't think I could do another OWL." Mary yawned and crossed her feet.
"Yeah, I agree. This year was super stressful. Also, I think I have gotten more detentions than I ever have!" I exclaim. I couldn't even count the number of detentions I had gotten, or remember why.
"Ausie, you've had more than any of us, ever." Marlene said and we all laughed.
"Can we go onto the dock and dangle our feet in the water? It's getting pretty hot out here." Mackenzie asked and we all nodded in agreement.
"Sure, let's go." Lily said and we all gathered our stuff from the grass. We almost got to the dock but a crowd of people caught our attention by blocking our way there.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." I groaned as we saw who it was. Lily had already dropped her stuff and torn off to stop the boys who were bullying Severus Snape, a good friend. It was the Marauders of course. I could catch what they were saying before I got there.
"—Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?" Sirius said coolly and I smacked my hand on my forehead. I was still running over, in my bare feet if I might add, when I heard Severus talk. He was saying a stream of swear words, hexes and jinxes. Only, none of them worked because his wand laid some ten feet away.
"Wash your mouth." James said coldheartedly, "Scourgify." All of a sudden Snape's mouth filled with frothing bubbles of soap. He was choking and turning a little purple. That's when Lily and I got there.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" We said, simultaneously with furious tones. Lily rounded on James while I took up the rest of them.
"Sirius! What the actual bloody hell?! HE'S CHOKING! He could DIE! What were thinking?!" I yelled. I could see that he was taken back by my furiousness but I was down right raving, and wouldn't stop till I had gotten my point across.
"I—I—I." He stuttered.
"You weren't thinking, obviously!" I chastised. I could also pick up snippets of Lily's argument.
"—LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted at James then I rounded back to my own yelling match between who I thought was my family, who I knew sometimes pranked Severus, but I didn't think they bullied him like this. Maybe I didn't know them as well as I thought.
"And you! You haven't done anything! Remus, all you do is watch, you're a fucking prefect! It's your job to never let something like this happen! And you, Peter, I don't even have three words for you. You follow them around and don't ever think for yourself! I thought you had grown some confidence these past years, but it's like you don't have a brain for yourself. You're pathetic! " I screamed. By now James had agreed to let Snape down so I rounded on him to say something.
"There you go Evans." James said and released the curse, "You were lucky Evans was here, Snivellus—"
"I don't need help from filthy little mudbloods like her." Snape spat and I whipped around so fast that I probably got whiplash. But I didn't care.
"Excuse me? What did you say? I didn't really catch that." I asked venomously. I swear I was going to punch him. After all Lily did to help him, and this is what he repaid her with.
"I said, I didn't need help from a mudblood." He said with a shrug.
"That's it. I've—We've taken a lot of crap for you and this is how you treat her?" I had always put up and hung out with Snape for Lily. They had been friends for years before I had even met them, but I wouldn't have thought he would have done something like this. He was going to pay for what pain he caused Lily. I went to lunge at him, to punch him, to make him pay for what he said, but I never really got there. Remus had crushed me to his chest, blocking me from getting to Snape.
"Fine, I won't bother helping you in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus." Lily said coolly. I could sense that she was extremely hurt.
"Apologize to Evans!" James roared. He had raised his wand at Snape again.
" I don't want you to make him apologize, you're just as bad as he is." Lily shouted, tears were threatening to spill from her eyes and all I could do was watch.
"What?" James yelped, " I'd NEVER— never— call you a you-know-what!"
"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just gotten off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid snitch, walking down the corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can—I'm surprised your broomstick gets off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK!" Lily shouted in his face and turned on her heel. She ran away towards the castle.
"Evans! Hey, EVANS!" James hollered after her but she didn't look back.
"What's with her?" James said trying to sound cool but I knew he was a bit hurt by her words.
"Let me go, please." I said quietly to Remus as Sirius said some stupid remark to James, trying to make him feel better probably. Remus loosened his arm on me and I removed myself from his grip. I didn't look at anyone as I passed.
"Aus?" Remus called softly but I just shook my head.
"No, just...no." I left without another word to find Lily. I looked just about everywhere for her before remembering where she would have gone.
"Lily? Are you in here?" I called out. I was in the library, this was the only place I hadn't looked yet and I was really hoping she was in here. Madam Pince, the librarian was constantly trying to quiet me but I needed to find her. After the tenth reminder, I whipped around. I really wasn't in the mood for other people to annoy me.
"Well, do you know where she is then?" I asked, harshly. It was a bit rude to be honest but right now I needed to find Lily. Without a word, the librarian pointed to a corner of the library that held some cushy chairs.
"Thanks." I said and walked over to the corner. In one of the chairs was Lily, crying.
"Hey." I said quietly and she looked up from her crouched position.
"Hey."
"Are you okay?" I ask sitting in one of the chairs beside her.
"Yes, no, I don't know." She said and looked down. I gave her a reassuring smile.
"That's okay. Do you want to get some food? I'm starving." I asked and she smiles slightly.
"Sure, I don't want to go to the Great Hall though. If I do, James will be there and everyone else who saw." She said and uncrossed her legs.
"That's fine. We can go to the kitchens. I know some House Elves who always want to cook for me." I winked and she laughed, small but it was a good sign.
"Of course you do." She accused me and I smiled. "Alright, lets go."
"Perfect. But first we have to go back to the common room. We both don't have shoes." I pointed out and she looked down at her bare feet.
"That would be quite wise." Lily giggled and I grabbed her arm before pulling her towards the North Tower and our common room. When we got to the Portrait Hole, Lily said the password and we slipped in without drawing attention to ourselves. We then raced up to our room and I slipped on some converse.
"Ready?" Lily asked as she tied up the laces of her own pair of converse. I nodded and we left the dorm. I knew that the boys were watching us but we ignored them. When we reached the painting, the entrance to the kitchen, I tickled the pear and it giggled. Then the pear turned into a door handle and I pulled it open.
Inside, about one hundred house elves were very busy setting everything onto the five long tables, ready to send up to the Great Hall for dinner. It was already seven and that was dinner time here at Hogwarts. We waited for a couple minutes until they sent up the food before asked politely for Twinkie. Twinkie was the first elf I had met here at Hogwarts and she was by far my favourite.
"Excuse me. Do you know where Twinkie is?" I politely asked a house elf that was near us. He jumped at my voice but gave me a smile before running off to find Twinkie.
"Hello, Miss Black! And you have brought a friend!" Twinkie squeaked and clapped her hands.
"Hello! Yes, this is Lily Evans. She's my best friend." I said and she bowed to Lily.
"Well, hello to you too Miss Evans! Can I gets you anything?" She asked us happily.
"Yes please. We just came for dinner because we wanted some privacy." I said to her and she nodded.
"What can I get you two?" She asked sweetly and looked up.
"Anything. Nothing to hard to make. Just surprise us." I said and she nodded. Then she ran off and barked some orders to other house elves and they all got to work, cooking us up a storm. When they were done, Twinkie led us to one of the tables at the end and sat us down. Then four house elves carried our meal towards us. It looked delicious and was roast beef with mashed potatoes, gravy and veggies.
"Thank you so much!" I said.
"Yes, thank you, it looks delicious!" Lily exclaimed and we dug in. The food was as good as it looked, it actually tasted even better.
We stayed for a long time, the house elves were always helpful, giving us second entrees and dessert. we even got in between palette cleansers. Lily and I talked about everything but nothing in particular. We laughed until all hours of the night.
Australe Leo Black ~ Monday, June 29th, 1976 ~ Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmead, Scotland
In the following three days I didn't talk to any of the Marauders, not even my boyfriend, Remus. I stayed by Lily's side the whole day and I didn't leave it. It wasn't until the last period of the day, of the whole year, did I get angry and lose my temper.
"I'll be your partner, since Snape is always yours." I told Lily as we sat down at a desk in front of Professor Slughorn. Slughorn talked for a while then set us to work on the drought of peace. It was our last class of the year and he just wanted us to do something fun I guess. I honestly don't understand why we still had an extra day of classes after our OWLs. But Lily and I worked through the period without anything bad happening and it was only when we had to bring up our potion to be checked, that something did.
Lily was bringing our potion up when out of no where, Snape pushed his cauldron off his desk and it spilled all over her. It was totally on purpose too. That shocked me but not as much as what came out of his mouth after.
"Watch where you're going, Mudblood." He snapped. Lily stood there, frozen in place, while I went up to him.
"Are you joking, mate? Didn't you make a mickey of yourself already yesterday? What is going through your head?!" I confronted him. He shrugged so I slapped the look off of his face. I might have been a little rash but he deserved it and it felt good. But I definitely did not deserve what he did to me after.
"You bitch!" He cussed and grabbed his wand. Before I could react, he mumbled an incantation and a glint of silver cut passed me. It cut my cheek in the process. I pressed my hand to my face and pulled back. It was covered in blood. This was when Professor Slughorn decided to interfere.
"Mr Snape! Detention for two weeks and you and I will have a little chat with the headmaster! Now! Let's go! Class dismissed!" He yelled and we call gathered our things and left. Lily and I went straight to the dorms to get my face cleaned up.
"I can't believe he would do such a thing! Severus wasn't like this at all." She exclaimed and I tried to get the blood to stop flowing.
"Yeah, well, you know where people like him are going to end up." I said as I dabbed a cloth onto my cheek.
"What? In Hell?" Lily asked as she hopped onto the counter beside me.
"No, with Voldemort. But that too. Anyone who walked with the dark side will end up there." I say. Voldemort was this big, bad wizard who was terrorizing Muggles and well, I guess muggleborns too and every other person who disagreed with him. He wanted the wizarding race to become pure, it sounded like something that my family would agree with and I wouldn't be surprised if they were part of his little gaggle of followers.
"Well, that's not nice." She said and I barked out a laugh.
"Yeah, well he isn't either. Ugh, I can't get this to stop bleeding. Do you have a spell up your sleeve that will help?" I asked her hopefully.
"Yeah, give me a second. I'm going to go stuff a book up my sleeve and come back."
"Really?"
"No, Ausie. I'm going to go look up the spell in the book I picked up during the summer."
"Okay, hurry though, this is starting to get annoying." I said.
"Yeah, anything for you, your highness." She said sarcastically and hopped off the counter. Seconds later she came back with a large book and was flipping through it. She stopped on a page that was in the middle and pulled out her wand.
"I hope this doesn't hurt." I said cautiously and she rolled her eyes.
"Would you like help?" She asked pointedly and I sighed, nodding.
"Okay, it says that all you have to do it point your wand like this," She pointed her wand and continued, "Then say, Exivit Sanguis." She said and as she self taught herself, she cleaned up all the blood from my cut. It seemed to heal the wound a bit too. It would scab over in the next few days and then I would be fine.
"Thanks, Lily!" I said and hugged her. I then pulled on her hand and we left to got get dinner. The boys cornered us though just as we were leaving for the Portrait Hole.
"Are you okay?" Remus demanded as we stopped in front of them.
"Yeah, perfectly fine." I said and tried to push passed them.
"Are you sure?" Sirius asked.
"Yes."
"But are you sure, sure?" James butted in.
"For Merlin's sake! It's just a cut! I'm fine!" And after that I took Lily's hand and we left for the Great Hall.