James is Headboy. Camilla is Headgirl. James can't wait to get used to the full experience of the private Head's quarters.
Regulus is made prefect and captain of the Slytherin team simultaneously. Remus is prefect again and wonders who had to be admitted to St Mongol's for making Prongs of all people Headboy. Catherine is Ravenclaw Prefect, Selena is Slytherin Prefect.
This is their last year, so they prank everybody to the limit. There's also N.E.W.Ts to worry over.
Each of them is dating somebody now. James and Camilla, Sirius and Selena, Frank and Alice, Remus and a girl named Dorcas Medows, Catherine is with Theodore and of course, there is Lucius and Narcissa.
They still run around and make jokes, sitting beside the Blake Lake. Camilla still accidentally stomps on Sirius's foot with her very pointed heels and the two of them (plus occasionally Regulus) still tease James by speaking in French sometimes. They still get into trouble and they will never stop pranking.
Hogwarts is home. And they are going to miss it terribly in a few months. They cherish every experience.
James and Camilla make out in a dark corner of the library, and by heaven's grace are not caught by Madame Pince. They celebrate birthdays grandly with large cakes and turn Hogwarts castle into a legitimate magical haunted house during Halloween with the assistance of ghosts, portraits, house elves and secretly Albus Dumbledore, Flitwick and Mcgonagall.
James is apprenticing under Mistress Mcgonagall in Transfiguration while simultaneously preparing for his N.E.W.Ts. He isn't used to multi-tasking as she is, so Camilla randomly takes him on long walks whoever she thinks that he is working himself up.
The tradition continues during Yule, with mistletoes hanging in a line from just outside the Ravenclaw Common Room to the Gryffindor one. The entrance to the Slytherin Common Room is also lined with mistletoes and a widely smirking Sirius could be seen in front on the door as he stood patiently waiting for his girlfriend, Selena Greengrass.
Gryffindor wins against Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw loses against Slytherin by ten points- a defeat which will haunt them forever. James wears Camilla's jersey and blue body paint and carries her on his shoulders all the way to the Ravenclaw Common Room after her last match ever at Hogwarts. Camilla wears his jersey and -quite literally- jumps into his arms, pulling him in for a kiss when he wins the Quidditch Cup again. If Professor Mcgonagall noticed all their drunken states the next day, then she simply smiled secretly and didn't say anything.
The N.E.W.Ts are exhausting and hard. The effects of having to study for it are twice as disastrous as when they were trying to study for their O.W.L.s. Notes are being traded and teachers are always being interrogated for last minute doubts.
It's scary.
It's scary that they are no longer children. They now have responsibilities and other people's expectations burdening them.
When they asked them what they wanted to be when they were five, there were replies like "I want to be a Quidditch player!" and "I want to be a princess." They were asked the same question once again when they were ten. Their replies were, "I want to be a curse-breaker!" and "I want to be a healer". Now at seventeen, they ask again: What do you want to be when you grow up. But this time, they are looking for a definitive answer. A real answer. And that's scary because none of them have defined their futures perfectly at the moment. Now is the time to make mistakes, learn from your experiences and grow from your actions.
But people expect a proper answer.
"What do you want to be when you grow older?"
"I want to be an auror." James says with his eyes lit up with determination and a hidden awed look. He has an outlook on the world- he wants to help people and put away bad guys. His father is his idol.
"I want to be an auror." Sirius says firmly. He was born into a family who publicly supported dark lords and violence. He's seen the dark artefacts in his house and he's seen the members of his family become purged with madness as they practise the dark arts. He doesn't want to be anything like them. It would be a twisted kind of ironic if he puts the ones they support in jail.
"I want to be an auror." Frank and Alice say in union, smiling at each other as they did. They both look too soft for this kind of job, but they were in Gryffindors for a reason. It's naive to think that they can save everybody and make the world a better place, so instead the two of them will focus on helping one person and hopefully making a difference in their lives.
"I want to be a socialite." Catherine smiles. Her fellow Ravenclaws would be horrified at her declaration, but she didn't care. They hadn't seen the way her mother had moved with grace and the lavish, beautiful parties she threw. They hadn't seen the smiles on people faces at the charities her mother helped organise. They didn't know how it felt. "And maybe also become a Potions mistress." She adds after a moment.
"I want to be a History Mistress." Selena declares stiffly. She loves history. She loves reading how the past keeps repeating. She likes that you can learn lessons from the past. She hates Binns for ruining the subject, though. Maybe she'll replace him as a history teacher by the time her own children will come to Hogwarts?
"I will be the Minister of Magic." Camilla states casually. She sounds very sure about that fact. Her great-grandparents and grandfather and great-great-great grandfather and his father before him and his father before him and his- well, you get the idea- have all been the Ministers. It's practically one of those unspoken family traditions and besides, it'll be one being one of the only female Ministers of France ever.
"I don't know." Remus frowns, and he really doesn't. He doubts that people would hire him with his condition. "but I'll survive." He says confidently.
Their journey in Hogwarts ends with a bazaar speech by Headmaster Dumbledore. The Marauders play one last prank, projecting images and memories of every student in their year onto the walls of the Great Hall, making some of them tear up. Sirius and James sandwich an awkward but smiling Professor Mcgonagall into a hug. Camilla is hugging Dumbledore. Everybody hugs everybody as the Headmaster announces the last results of the year. Gryffindor has won the Quidditch Cup and Ravenclaw has won the House Cup.
The train back to the platform is bitter-sweet, with all of them reminiscing their memories and experiences. It's a new phase of their life from now on, but at least they don't have to go about it alone. They have each-other.
And yes, Lady Lavensque won the bet she had made with Lady Potter. Regulus chose to stay with them in France.
YOU ARE READING
The Lion and The Raven ~ James Potter AU
Fanfiction"I fell in love the way I fall asleep. Slowly, then all at once."-- John Green He was dynamic. She was dramatic. He was cheeky. She was sassy. He was reckless. She was passionate. They were by no means perfect. But they were perfect together. ~*~*~*...
