"Nice game, Malfoy."
Y/N POV
It had been a few days since the incident, and Harry Potter was still in the hospital being taken care by Madam Pomfrey. The boy had been badly hurt, but he had successfully found out who had been trying to steal the stone. It was none other than stuttering Professor Quirrel, who had seemed completely innocent up until then. The good news was that Professor Snape was not the culprit, much to their surprise. Y/n was right.
That morning, Hermione, Ron, and I were conversing with one another as we walked through the large hallway heading to breakfast. However, we stopped when reaching the staircase, looking up to see Harry leaning over the railing and happily wave down at us.
"Harry!" I exclaimed, beaming up at the boy. "You're alright!"
"Yes, I just got released this morning," the boy replied. "Are you guys alright?"
I sighed, shaking my head, "Yes, now that you're all better. We really missed you, Harry."
"I missed you too." He replied, descending the staircase and walking over to us.
"By the way, I knew it wasn't Snape," I began, scolding him slightly. "You should start listening to me more often."
"Maybe I will." He said and laughed.
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Taking a seat down in the Great Hall, I looked up at the atmosphere. It was heavily decorated with green banners, the symbol of a snake proudly resembling the Slytherin house.
Yes, Slytherin won the House Cup, which meant I was never going to hear the end of it from Draco Malfoy.
Seated at the front of the room, Professor McGonagall lifted up her fork and lightly tapped it the side of her glass, signaling silence as Professor Dumbledore took a stance at the podium. The entire Great Hall fell to a silence, the students pausing their conversations as their eyes shifted upwards.
"Another year gone..." Dumbledore began, looking out at the four tables. "Now, as I understand it, the house cup needs awarding, and the points stand thus."
I sighed, hanging my head low as Dumbledore spoke the words, "In fourth place, Gryffindor with 312 points."
The entire Gryffindor table portrayed sad expressions on their faces, looking around at each other in shame. It was extremely unlike Gryffindor to be placed last, so the students weren't exactly thrilled at their performance this year. As my eyes shift over to the Slytherin table, I noticed Draco Malfoy and his friends pointing over to us while quietly laughing.
Rolling my eyes, I turned back to the front of the room and listened to Dumbledore deliver out the rest of the points, "In third place, Hufflepuff, with 352 points. In second place, Ravenclaw, with 426 points. And, finally, in first place, with 472 points, the Slytherin House."
I slowly clap, watching as the Slytherins roar in laughter and cheer.
"Yes, yes, well done Slytherin, well done." Dumbledore congratulates them. "However, recent events must be taken into account."
Draco Malfoy pauses, turning to Dumbledore in confusion.
"And I have a few last minute points to award," Dumbledore finishes, causing me to send a look of confusion to my friends sitting around me.
Turning to the Gryffindor table, Dumbledore begins to speak, "I would like to deliver some last minute points to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool intellect when others were in great peril, 50 points."
"Good job Mione!" I said and smiled.
"Second, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best played game of chess that Hogwarts has seen these many years...50 points."
"Third, to Mr. Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house 50 points."
"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. In that case, I would like to award 10 points to Mister Neville Longbottom."
From across the table, Neville sheepishly looked around, smiling brightly as his fellow Gryffindors congratulated him.
"We're tied with Slytherin!" Hermione says to me.
"And lastly, I would like to award Miss y/n Clearwater 50 points, for helping her friends, when nobody else would." He said and I smiled brightly.
Immense cheering erupts throughout the Great Hall, and I sit silently in shock. Not only had we just surpassed Slytherin, but Dumbledore had awarded me points for helping my friends.
I look at Draco Malfoy, who had completely downfallen in shock. As anger resonated on his face, the realization had set in, and I beamed with delight. Gryffindor had just won the House Cup.
"Assuming that my calculations are correct, I believe that a change of direction is in order." Dumbledore says.
With a single clap, the green Slytherin banners began to change, swiftly transforming into the colors of Gryffindor, red and yellow.
"Gryffindor wins the House Cup!" Dumbledore beamed.
The entire Gryffindor table erupted in victory, cheering and hugging the students around them. Turning to face my friends, I smiled with delight and pulled them into a tight hug. It was a moment that I would never forget.
"Yeah!" Ron yells and jumps with Harry, who looks back and grins very widely. "We won!"
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Standing at the platform beside the train station, the students were walking around, beginning to board the Hogwarts Express. Standing just before the door, I noticed a streak of platinum blonde hair boarding the train a few doors down.
Smiling, I race over to the figure and tap him on his shoulder, "Nice game, Malfoy."
Rolling his eyes, the boy turns to me and replies, "Just wait till next year. Gryffindor is going down."
I couldn't help but laugh, "Oh, we'll just have to see about that."
Instead of shooting another nasty remark, Draco Malfoy laughed along with me.
"I'll see you next year, Clearwater."
"Until next year, Draco," I finished, waving goodbye to the boy before walking back over to Hermione, who was now standing by the Gryffindor compartments.
"Come on now, hurry up." Hagrid's voice boomed over the students, leading them to the train doors. "The train is leaving soon, go on."
"You heard Hagrid, the train is leaving soon," said Hermione, just as I returned to the group.
"Wait one moment," I say before walking over to Hagrid, Harry following just behind me.
"Thought you were leaving without saying good-bye, didja?" Hagrid says.
"Goodbye Hagrid. I'll miss you." I said and smiled.
"I'll miss you too, y/n." He said with tears in his eyes.
Waving one last goodbye, I walked back over to Hermione and watched as Harry said goodbye to Hagrid. Once he walks back, we get on the train.
"Feels strange to be going home, doesn't it?" Hermione asks.
"I'm not going home. Not really." Harry said.
The train whistles, signal king it's departure. The four of us entered the train and moved to the nearest empty compartment, immediately opening the window. As the train started to leave, we wave out the window to Hagrid, who waves back happily.
Taking a seat, I turn to my friends and ask, "Promise you'll write to me?"
"I'll try my best!" Harry says.
Letting out a small laugh, I turn to Hermione and Ron and ask the same.
"I promise I'll write." Hermione says.
"Good," I replied with a smile. "I'll really miss you guys."
"Don't worry, we'll all be back at Hogwarts soon," said Ron.
Sighing, I turned to face the window and watched as the countryside passed. I couldn't help but think about how the year went by so fast. Although, many, many things had happened this year. Scary things, happy things, but mostly moments I'll remember forever. I had met my best friends, and I quickly learned how much friendship mattered even at such a young age. I couldn't wait to see what the next seven years had in store for us.
End of First Year.