Chapter 48-I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing
I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away and dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Well, every moment spent with you
Is a moment I treasure
I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
Lily sat in the Great Hall, not at the ordinary house table, but at a single desk with a thick packet of parchment in front of her. She was listening to Professor Flitwick explain the directions as well as the severe punishments for cheating. She could see Sirius yawning and flexing his fingers in front of her. James was nowhere near her and for that she was sad. His face was always reassuring in times of anxiety.
NEWT's were the absolute reason for nervousness in seventh year. They were the single more important test the students at Hogwarts would ever take. Lily wasn't sure how she felt about this. No one's intelligence and aptitude could be measured by one test. Thoughts rushed into her head, bombarding all the information she had absorbed at breakfast.
What if the person was a horrible test taker? Does that make them stupid? Am I stupid? What if I fail? Will the Auror academy still accept me? Did I just miss the directions completely? What if there was a mistake I wasn't notified of? I just entirely failed this test already. I haven't even started! What am I going to do? Calm, Lily, calm. Breathe. That's good, Lily. In and out, that is all it takes.
She started nervously twisting her hair around her finger and stared lifelessly at the packet in front of her. She was itching to see what sort of intellectual demands it held.
James was watching in amusement from a couple rows behind Lily. He saw her emerald green eyes collect with nervous fear. He heard the distinct words, "You may all start." He looked over at Lily as she viciously tore open her test pamphlet. He looked in front of him. Peter was wiggling in his seat, sweating rather profusely, and biting the end of his pencil. James knew that Peter was bound to fail this test. His friend just wasn't very gifted with taking tests. James slowly opened the exam and glared down at the questions. Effortlessly, he started filling in answers.
Wow, Lily looks really pretty when she's nervous. Look at her quill fly like that. Amazing how fiery one can get when taking NEWT's. Oh, am I already on question ten? How odd. Yes, I do know the incantation for a Bubble Head Charm. Isn't that the charm where your head looks like a goldfish? Padfoot put that charm on Snape back in fourth year. Snape didn't even know what hit him.
James restrained from laughing at the mental image of Snape's greasy head in a fish bowl. His mind continued to wander on Lily and entertaining thoughts as he breezed through his paper.
Remus Lupin was struggling to answer to the best of his ability. He wanted to make sure it was perfect. It was not that he had trouble with the questions themselves, they were rather easy. He just wanted to make sure he gained an O. The first section of the test was on Charms. He had already made it halfway through the section when he saw Sirius shaking his head in imitation of the wand movement to transfigure a desk into a chimpanzee.
He's already on Transfiguration? How does a blazing lunatic like him get all the brains and natural ability? I studied my heart out for this test. Oh well, you know how that Muggle line goes, slow and steady wins the race. Now if I could only get through all these charms perfectly….
Sirius was shaking his head because all his thoughts were getting his brain confused. The transfiguration section of the test had been rather easy, he had managed to finish it in a record time of five minutes and thirty seconds. He knew this because he had been watching the clock. He wondered what section James had been on. The two of them always raced each other on these sort of things.
He couldn't beat my time if the answers were tap dancing in front of his thick brain. Poor Prongs, doesn't know anything about the art of NEWT's. The test examiners don't care much for the written. They only care about how shiny your wand is. Mine is rather shiny, of course. What is this? Is this Muggle Studies? I don't pay attention in Muggle Studies. Do they honestly expect me to complete this section? A toaster? What is the function of a toaster? Completely ludicrous. How could they write such an offensive question? Damn fools. I have a cousin who died at the hands of a toaster. The toaster is the weapon those Muggle law enforcers carry right? They shoot it and then yell, "Toasted!" Must be. This is easy. I am a shoe-in..
An hour and a half later, the tests were being collected. Professor Flitwick was demanding those still working to finish up.
"No, Professor!" Lily pleaded. Her eyes were on the verge of tears. "I think I forgot to include something in my healing potion! There are three essential elements that I didn't describe thoroughly enough."
Sirius looked over at Lily dumbfounded.
"You want more time on the test?" Sirius questioned. "I was going mad sitting there for that hour."
"You finished in a half an hour?" a girl behind him asked.
"Why, yes I did," Sirius replied. "My name is Sirius by the way. Spread it around."
.X.
Later that night, the seventh years were returning from their practical examinations. Sirius and James were smiling like fools, but the others all seemed rather nervous.
"I had no idea where the last constellation was located," Lily sighed, sitting down in the large armchair located in front of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room. Her red hair was tied back and rather unkempt. She had probably been playing with it in a frustrated manner during the exam.
"Sirius?" James questioned her.
"You rang," Sirius said, turning around to face James.
"No, not you. The star Sirius," James explained rolling his eyes.
"There's a star named after Sirius?" Mary, the president of the SBFC gloated. Her cheeks rose to an excited red blush. "That is amazing."
"It wasn't named after him. That star has been around forever," Lily snapped, slightly perturbed at both Mary and the fact that she had forgotten a star that shared the name of one of her best friends. "Sirius, the Dog Star. How could I forget?"
James walked over to the armchair and sat on the edge of it, drawling his long arms around Lily's shoulders.
"It's alright, Lily," he said soothingly. "We don't need for you to have a nervous breakdown. The school year is almost over and I don't fancy a visit with Poppy again."
He shuddered, remembering the deranged school nurse.
"How'd you do on your exams?" Remus inquired, sitting down on the couch near them. He had just strolled in, his ears red from the outdoor air.
"Aced it," Sirius proclaimed cockily. "That examiner was staring at my behind the entire time."
"Lily, don't worry," James assured her. "You had a man for an examiner. You'll be sure to pass."
Lily punched James' arm lightly. They all laughed. Everything was as it should be; almost.
If things were as they should be, Addison, Maimee, Mac, and Arielle would all be there with them. Things were not quite back to normal, but somehow, it seemed as if this was the best the group could do without their friends.
Lily knew that soon, in a weeks time, she would be graduating from Hogwarts-permanently. She would have to wait three excruciating weeks to hear her NEWT's results. Those weeks would be horrible. She planned on having James come to visit, with Sirius of course. She wanted her parents to meet the two people who knew what she had gone through. Actually, there really were three people. Remus Lupin knew exactly how Lily felt. Unfortunately, the full moon would constrict him from visiting.
"Water in the faucet, dearest Lily?" Sirius asked, seeing Lily's slightly stressed out face form into a thick state of sadness.
"No," Lily answered, wiping some tears from her eyes. "I'm just going to miss this place."
"I know," Sirius responded. "Peeves should come live in my flat. Invite Myrtle over on the weekends, bring Poppy around to have a rowdy ol' time. I bet Dumbledore would be up for it. Wow, this is going to be great."
Remus and James looked at their friend very oddly. Lily didn't seem to notice. The sound of all those Hogwarts associated people made her even more sad. Hogwarts was her life. How would the wizarding world treat her once the safe walls of Hogwarts were gone?
"Don't worry so much," James whispered in her ear. "Everything will be ok. We're just going onto the next adventure."
"I guess you're right," she agreed. "I'm just scared."
"Everyone is," James assured her.
"I'm not," Sirius insisted, not catching onto James' attempts to comfort Lily. "Sounds bloody amazing. Simply sup-"
He was cut off my the severe stabbing of James' elbow into his ribs.
"Insanely terrified of how my life will be after Hogwarts," Sirius corrected in a somewhat sincere voice. He shot a look James' way.
"It will all work out in the end," James said. He glanced over at Remus who seemed to be sleeping.
"Moony," James hissed. "I could use some back up here."
Remus didn't wake. Lily laughed, her tears gliding effortlessly down her face.
"Moony!" Sirius shouted. "Prongs is horrible at comforting his own girlfriend. You need to get your sensitive arse up and help!"
"That Sirius Black is right about one thing," Estelle, the leader of the RLFC gushed. "Remus Lupin is sensitive."
"You are completely right," three others girls adoringly agreed. "Sirius also mentioned his arse."
The four of them erupted in a fit of giggles. Young love, so blind.
Remus shook awake and stared groggily at his friends. James and Sirius were looking at him, their eyes expectant.
"Hi," Remus greeted innocently.
"How nice of you to join us Moon-mayhem," Sirius said. "Now, what do you think about what we just said? Ham or bacon?"
"Bacon," Remus replied almost instantly.
Sirius laughed manically at the chance of catching Remus off guard. James just turned and faced Lily, who was smiling.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," she said, kissing him on the nose.
"As long as we're there for each other, it'll all turn out ok," James assured her.
"I hope you're right," she said, her thoughts drifting away from her.