Pride and Prejudice | James Potter

Chapter Thirty Three

Graduation 

Elizabeth adjusted her robe and smiled at her reflection. She was graduating from Hogwarts in mere hours, and it felt freeing. She had spent her whole childhood at Hogwarts, dreaming of what was to come, and now that it was almost close enough to touch, she felt accomplished. 

There was, of course, the additional motivation of her deal with Edmond. Though she still felt that Edmond had overreacted about the whole situation, and had yet to forgive him, she had come to the realization that she too had been dramatic. She and Edmond hadn't made up, but they had both realized their errors and felt bad.

She sighed, staring at her reflection. She and Edmond didn't usually argue, they had always gotten along fairly well, but in the last year, they had fallen apart a bit. 

"Aren't you sad, Elizabeth? I'm really sad about leaving." Bertha said, putting her cap on. Elizabeth shook her head. 

"I'm honestly really content with it. I'm grateful for everything I've gotten out of school, and for the opportunities that've come out of it, but it's not really sad to leave. I'm excited to start my life."

"Oh. I'm mainly just sad, to be honest. I don't really feel like I have a home outside of Hogwarts." 

"Well, this is your chance to make a home, isn't it?" Elizabeth asked. Bertha considered the question. 

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks, Elizabeth." 

"Anytime. I'll see you at graduation, yeah?" 

"Yeah." 

"Alright. See you later, then."

Elizabeth hurried down the stairs and out of her common room before heading to the Great Hall to grab a quick breakfast. As she rushed through the halls, she bumped into a tall person and fell to the floor. 

"Elizabeth! I'm sorry." Edmond said, helping her up. Elizabeth shook her head. 

"Don't worry about it."

"Listen, Elizabeth. I overreacted, and I'm sorry. I got too protective. I should have realized that you can make your own decisions. We are the same age, after all." He offered her a small smile. 

"No, I'm sorry. I overreacted too. You're allowed to ask me not to do things, even if I don't see an issue." 

"So, are we good?" Edmond asked. Elizabeth smiled. 

"Sure. But if you ever call me a slut again, we won't be." 

"Understood." 

~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth sat in her chair next to Edmond and looked around at her fellow seventh years. She made eye contact with James and felt a smile come to her face. He winked at her, causing her to roll her eyes. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming today. We are here to celebrate the graduation of these wonderful students. They have worked for seven years to complete their education, and I'm so proud of all of them for committing." Professor McGonagall said, smiling down at the sea of students.

"Now, we'll have a couple of words from Professor Dumbledore, then our Head Boy and Girl have each prepared a speech to share with you all. Professor." She said, stepping away and allowing Dumbledore to come forward. 

Elizabeth felt herself lose focus as Dumbledore spoke, and instead looked towards James. He looked nervous to be going up next, and kept bouncing his leg. Elizabeth smiled as he ran his hand through his hair and looked around at the group of students. When they made eye contact, she smiled and gave him a thumbs up, mouthing 'You're going to do great!'. He smiled back at her and turned to look at Dumbledore again. 

"So congratulations, and good luck to all of you. And now, it is my greatest pleasure to welcome Mr. James Potter to the stage. Mr. Potter." He said, stepping back. James stood up and walked up the steps, and Elizabeth smiled up at him. 

"Hi. So I was asked to talk about the things we've achieved throughout our schooling experience. At first, I thought that was a stupid topic. But after I thought on it for a bit, I decided that it's fantastic to celebrate what we've done and learned these past few years. And I'm not talking about the educational stuff, I'm talking about the lessons we've learned outside of the classroom. Lessons about friendship, love, and unity. The times we learned about caring for others, and helping our friends. Let's leave school remembering not only what we learned about magic, but also what we learned about ourselves. 

"I'm so grateful to have met all of the people that I did during my time at Hogwarts. They've shaped my life in a way that I never expected. Thank you to everyone that made a difference in my life. You mean the world to me. Now, I don't want to take up too much time, because I know Lily has prepared something much better than I could have, but I just want to remind you all to take advantage of what you're given. You never know when you might lose it. And I can tell you from experience, that losing something you love just makes you realize how much you cared for them." He said, looking down at Elizabeth and smiling. "So thank you, to all of the teachers that put up with me for seven years, and I'll see you all on the flip side."

He got down from the podium and walked back to his chair, sending a glance Elizabeth's way before sitting down to listen to Lily. 

Lily's remarks were short and inspiring. She brought a new perspective to graduation, and Elizabeth could tell that she had put a lot of time and thought into the preperation of her words. 

When the ceremony was finished, Elizabeth went around and hugged her family members that had come and said goodbye to her friends. When she made it to the Marauders, Sirius pulled her into a hug. 

"Regulus is staying with me this summer." He whispered into her ear. Elizabeth pulled away quickly and looked at his face. 

"You're kidding." 

Sirius shook his head, unable to keep the smile off his face. 

"I'm moving into an apartment near Diagon Alley, and Regulus is going to move in with me." 

"That's fantastic!" Elizabeth exclaimed, hugging him again.

"Thank you for reminding me not to give up on him." Sirius said.  

"Anytime." Elizabeth responded with a smile. 

"Alright, let some of the rest of us see her." James said. Sirius rolled his eyes and let go of Elizabeth. 

"Your boyfriend's calling." 

Elizabeth stuck her tongue out and turned to Remus and Peter, hugging them each. 

"Thanks for letting me crash the Marauders for a semester." She said. Remus smirked. 

"As far as I can tell, it'll be more than a semester." 

"Oh, hush." Elizabeth said  waving him off. She turned to face James, who held his arms out. She reached out quickly and fell against him, enjoying their close proximity. She breathed in deeply, smelling the familiar cologne that had started their relationship. 

When they pulled apart, Elizabeth looked up at his face, just inches from her own, and smiled. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss, ignoring Sirius's wolf-whistle. James reacted immediately, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist. They broke apart when Elizabeth heard her mother calling. She looked over to where her family was standing, then turned back to James and smiled sadly. 

"I'll see you later, James."