Unofficial Portkey Archive

Two: At the Brink

The chatter in the Ravenclaw common room livened my spirits some. I was quite glad of that - I didn't need to see anyone sobbing or getting emotional, or I suspected I would be, too. I stood near the stairs, taking in the familiar scent of pine mixed with musty parchment that permeated the room.

Gleaming moonlight sifted through the tall rectangular windows that surrounded our oval common room. It was so bright that no one had bothered to light the glass lamps or crystal chandelier. The common room was constructed almost entirely of windows, with only thin slabs of stone between the ridges to assure you that you were in fact inside a building instead of standing on a tree top, overlooking the vast Hogwarts grounds. Having your common room in the Astronomy tower has its perks. I caught a glimpse of the crescent moon hidden behind the dark foliage of the Forbidden Forest.

"Riona!" a girl with long, mousy-brown pigtails came running over to me. She came to a sudden stop and clapped her hands, her round eyeglasses catching a glint of the moonlight. "We were wondering when you'd come down. Aren't you excited? Everyone's talking about the concert for later tonight, we even have bets about who's going with who - and of course we have bets on who will win the House Cup, I mean it's got to be Ravenclaw - we all made some pretty accurate calculations and they showed that we have a higher percentage of points than all the other houses except for Gryffindor, but there's always a marginal difference -"

My hands jerked to grab her shoulders, and she stopped in mid-sentence. "Marlene," I began with utmost impatience, and then took a deep breath, "I am excited about graduation. And I don't know who's going to play at the concert. I don't want to make bets, either on the band or who's going to win the Cup. Frankly, I don't care. Ravenclaw never wins because we focus too much on academics and not as much on - well, anything else. Okay?"

Marlene McKinnon frowned, but then broke into a smile. "Are you sure you don't want to cast a bet? If not for the House Cup, then maybe about who's going with who -"

"To where?"

"The concert, silly!" Marlene giggled, blushing. "I asked Sirius Black to go with me, but he said he was temporarily deaf and if I could ask him some other time. The poor thing, I asked him if he wanted me to take him to Madam Pomphrey's, but he said it's incurable. Is there really an incurable deafness?"

I pulled on a straight face. "Yes, of course."

"Well, maybe when I see him tonight I can ask him for a dance. I'll lead, since he won't be able to hear the music," said Marlene, clapping her hands again. "So who are you going with, Riona?"

"Er," I began, feeling that this was going to cause more trouble than it's worth, "No one, really."

Marlene gave such a loud gasp that it caught the attention of half the room. "No one? Oh, dear - did no one ask you?"

I scowled and crossed my arms indignantly. "I don't need to go with anyone, you know. This is the 70s, Marlene. Witches don't need wizards to be valued. Besides, are you going with anyone?"

"Gil Bates. He's a dear, but we're really only friends," Marlene replied, lowering her voice into a conspiratorial tone so that I had to bend closer. "Gil wants something more, but my heart still belongs to Sirius Black, the one and only wizard who is the noblest, the handsomest, the smartest -"

Luckily Darren Peeters, a prefect, approached us before I could gag my breakfast and lunch over the floor. "Here are you honor cords," he said briskly, handing Marlene and I two white velvet ropes from the pile he held in his arms. "You two are graduating with academic honors. Congratulations," he yawned, then walked toward more seventh years.

"Oooh, lovely," Marlene squealed, taking hers and looping it around her neck. "I was wondering when we'd get these! I have three others - one for Charms club, another for the Herbology club, and the other for the Alliance of Politically-Minded Wizarding Youth for the Defense of Magical Creatures' Rights…"

"APMWYDMCR, I remember," I said. I fingered the honor cord and lifted my braid to put it around my neck, pulling the fringe at the end of the white rope. "I don't really know what these are for except for showing off -"

At that moment a shrill voice rang beside my ear, and I jumped in fright.

"CONGRATULATIONS, CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE WON ACADEMIC HONORS! WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT!"

"WHAT IS THAT?" I shouted, looking around while the rest of the Ravenclaws stared at us.

"THE WHOLE SCHOOL IS PROUD OF YOU! YOU ARE LA CRÈME DE LA CRÈME, THE ELITE, THE BEST, TRIUMPHANT, MAGNIFICENT -"

"Oooh, the honor cord talks!" Marlene said in delight, pointing at the cord.

I noticed that the fringe at the end of the rope was slightly quivering, and I could only figure that I had set off some type of enchantment while I played with it. Great. I yanked the fringe with a vengeance, and the blaring acclamations instantly ceased.

"Yes, okay, show's over people," I snapped, waving off everyone's gawks and smirks.

"Listen up!" Darren yelled. He was standing near the common room's entrance. He had to shout twice before he got everyone's attention diverted from playing with their own honor cords. For a few minutes, the common room was filled with cheers and jolly congratulations, and Darren had to jump up and down several times while shouting. At last, we all looked at him expectantly.

Panting from his efforts, Darren took a deep breath. "Everyone, get ready - the graduation ceremony is about to begin."

----

"No, you look better."

"Nah, mate, you do."

"I insist, Prongs, you look better than I do."

"No, no, my dear Padfoot, you look much better."

"You both look like prats," Remus interrupted in amusement. Peter chuckled, straightening his crooked robes' collar, while James and Sirius grinned. They were standing, along with the rest of the school dressed in their graduation robes, in front of the Grand Staircase. Several students were talking with the portraits of past teachers and renowned contributors of the school, while others were in small groups - hugging, laughing, and talking. James, Sirius, Lily, and Peter were grouped to the left of the staircase.

"But as prats, we look quite dashing," said James, patting down the silk black robes and ruby-red tie that hung loosely on his athletic frame.

"You got that right," Lily remarked, shooting him an appreciative look and giving him a soft kiss on the mouth.

"Hey, hey, hey," Sirius protested, his own red tie cast distractedly over his shoulder. But Lily and James continued to kiss as he exclaimed, "You know the rule, Prongs: no snogging in front of your friends unless they're snogging someone, too."

"You're just angry because Patricia Fisher broke your date tonight," James retorted, pulling Lily into his arms so that her head settled underneath his chin.

"I broke up with her."

"But I was there when she broke up with you in the Gryffindor common room," Peter reminded Sirius, who broke into a scowl. "She said you're too flighty for her - and that you flirt too much."

"Who knew?" Remus remarked, exchanging grins with James and Lily.

"Well, what are we waiting for, anyway?" Sirius muttered, eyeing the crowd of chattering students with impatience. "When is this bloody ceremony going to get started?"

"When Dumbledore gets here," Alice replied, joining them. The lit crystal chandeliers shone against Alice's blonde hair, which was dressed lavishly in whisps of curls. She was proudly holding Frank Longbottom's hand, who looked quite uncomfortable in his stiff-necked black robes.

Frank scratched his neck and tried to pull at his collar. "It's awfully warm in here, don't you think?"

"Are you still drunk from last night?" asked Sirius, smiling knowingly.

Flushing amidst Alice's curious gaze, Frank shook his head. "No…just warm, that's all."

"Oh, Lily, you styled you hair - it looks perfectly lovely," Alice squealed, patting Lily on the shoulder.

Lily quirked an eyebrow and glanced at her straightened hair - she had conjured a charm to iron it as her cousin Gwen had showed her a few weeks ago. "Uh, Alice, I didn't curl my hair like you asked me to."

Alice waved a dismissive hand. "But that kind of style becomes you! It's so…so…"

"Flat?" James supplied, groaning as Lily gave him a swift punch in the stomach. "And gorgeous, of course," he added hastily.

"So where's Riona?" Alice asked, looking around at the room that was already packed with the graduating colors from all four Houses. As each House arrived, they carried their banner featuring the House mascot and colors - and Ravenclaw's bronze eagle, flying across a velvet cloth of blue, already stood over the crowd of black robes along with the other three House banners.

"I don't know," Lily replied as the boys started debating whether they should run around in the buff as the ceremony's grand finale. "She said she'd be here as soon as Ravenclaw arrived, but I haven't seen her anywhere."

----

"I cannot believe I got lost on my last day at Hogwarts," I muttered, sighing and peering into the dim, abandoned hallway once more. My voice echoed back at me, signaling that the tunnel-like corridor would go on farther than I had already walked. I held up my lit wand, which only brightened a few paces in front of me, and tried to look for an exit nearby. But there was nothing, and I slowly began to panic.

While the rest of Ravenclaw House has sensibly gone down the Grand Staircase to meet everyone else, I had wanted to take a last glimpse of the school grounds from the Astronomy Tower before I joined them. But as I left the Tower - distracted, I suppose - I obviously took a wrong turn and ended up in this forsaken hallway.

Lily and Alice now cannot say that I'm not nostalgic, I thought, taking a few hesitant steps to what felt like a draft - and possibly a window. My fingers found nothing, however, as they reached along the grimy wall - and then, for some reason, my hand began to shake.

It seemed like it moved on its own, had its own mind - that it was a trigger, for my whole body began to tremble even though I felt no pain or fear. That was when a piercing ache started at the back of my neck. For a moment I faintly wondered if something had bit me, but somehow I knew that this pain was internal, caused by something inside of me -

The darkness of the corridor deepened into a black without depth. I was blinded - my stomach turned inside out, thick bile rising in my throat - my body shaking uncontrollably, the pain in my neck now spreading to my head so that all I could do was scream - and scream - and scream - letting out all the pain that was pounding inside of me -

I saw Lily. I saw her shout. She was dressed in her graduation robes, and streaks of unnatural green light were flying across the ink black sky -

The crescent moon stood silently in the black sky while the hooded wizards stalked over the dead bodies and entered Hogwarts -

Then the blackness engulfed me, and I fell to the stone ground seeing nothing.

----

"Where is she?" asked Lily in concern. "I can't believe she would miss her graduation."

"She won't," Alice reassured her, even though she didn't sound so confident. Playing with the tip of her golden Hufflepuff tie, she sat up straight in her chair to look across the crowd of students again.

The crowd was immense - in an open space in the middle of the school grounds, facing the castle, students were filed into a large semi-circle over the trimly cut grass, sitting in plush velvet seats. Their families sat on the outer circle, chattering loudly and flashing pictures that made the students rub their eyes. The teachers were sitting on a raised platform in front, talking amongst themselves, while the House ghosts floated over the ground to the right of the stage. Besides the soft gleam of the moon, Professor Flitwick had enchanted dozens of candles to circle the crowd, flames burning in the warm summer night air. An air of expectancy and excitement had settled over everyone - except Alice and Lily, who were quite worried.

"She's probably on her way, don't worry," Remus said, leaning over James to talk to Lily and Alice. "Riona's always late for everything."

"True," Lily admitted, but she still sat tensely in her seat, her eyes alert for any sign of her friend.

"I can't believe that Dumbledore's not here yet," Sirius, who was seated at Remus's left, griped. "You'd think that as our Headmaster he'd be here immediately."

"Well, he did tell us - at a Head and prefect meeting, I mean - that he might be a little late," James said, remembering.

"Maybe Dumbledore is getting something special for the graduation ceremony," Peter suggested. "He did that for last year's ceremony, remember?"

"Yes," Sirius said, grinning. "Those everlasting fireworks didn't die throughout the whole night…"

A scuffle to Alice's left alerted her to Frank coming back from greeting his parents. "Right angry they are," he said cheerfully, smiling at Alice as he took his seat beside her.

"Why?" she asked, frowning.

"Because I didn't get as many honor cords as they hoped," Frank answered. He ran a hand through his neatly trimmed brown hair and shrugged. "I only got three."

"At least you got honors," Alice comforted him, placing her head on his shoulder. "I didn't get any, and Mum's actually happy - she says ladies shouldn't show off their intelligence."

"But you don't need to show off because you already are very smart," Frank murmured against her hair.

A few seats over, Lily's patience was starting to wear thin. "You're not going in the buff after the ceremony, James," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I don't have anything to be embarrassed about," James said, winking.

"Besides, we need to finish our legacy at Hogwarts," Sirius added, shaking back his shaggy black hair. "The school will be lonely without us."

"I, for one, think going in the buff is too easy," said Remus, shaking his head. "I'm surprised at you, Prongs - I thought you were the master of pranks."

"Now wait a minute," James protested, with Lily laughing beside him, "Going in the buff is only half of the plan -"

"Shhh!" Peter suddenly whispered. He nodded up at the teacher's platform, his watery blue eyes wide in anticipation. "Dumbledore's just arrived."

A tall silver-haired wizard had walked up the platform and was now facing the crowd, which erupted into loud cheers and clapping. Under his dark violet wizard's hat covering his white hair, Albus Dumbledore gave them all a welcoming smile, although his eyes were clouded. Clearing his throat, he aimed his wand at the base of his neck and muttered something. "Good evening to all of you!" he declared, his deep voice magically amplified. "And what a beautiful evening it is!"

He then stretched his wand to the sky, and the twinkling stars glided over the night sky to form one glistening word: Congratulations to the Hogwarts's commencement class of 1978! The crowd broke into gasps of surprise and delight, which were only heightened as Dumbledore's wand hovered over the four corners of the grounds and caused jets of white streamers to shoot from the ground and coil into sparkling branch-like ornaments that surrounded the semi-circle. While the candles' brightened in their light, the Headmaster nodded to Professor McGonagall, who brought out a leather box filled with rolled parchments tied together in thin black bows.

Dumbledore beamed in pleasure and nodded at the applause. "Let the ceremony begin!"

And as Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat to begin his farewell speech, no one noticed the group of black hoods that slithered towards them from the shadows of the Forbidden Forest.

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What did you tihnk? *grins* This chapter is part one of two, so don't worry - the cliffhanger will be answered soon!

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