Glory |A. Potter|

Thirty-Nine

Life quickly returned to normal in Hogwarts. The students had no choice but to keep going to classes and keep studying as the exams were getting nearer, with only a couple of weeks left before they were to start. Those who piled in the library in an effort to get prepared for the end of the year were more than ever. In the end, Jane stopped going to the library all together – it had come to the point where her dormitory or the Slytherin common room was more quiet.

Her friends saw her a bit more than they did the first few days after her injury, and it seemed like spending the break away from all of them had been a good decision on her part. She had almost returned to normal. Her friends, now they realised she didn't seem all that bothered, were more at ease around her. She had given them the impression there was no need to worry.

The last Hogsmeade trip came and passed in the end of April, and just as things were starting to quiet down somewhat, it was the second of May. The day all those years ago, there was a battle at Hogwarts and the Dark Lord was defeated. It was supposed to be yet another day for the students of Hogwarts. That changed, though, the moment the usual company of four entered the Great Hall to see Harry Potter sitting in between Headmistress McGonagall and Professor Longbottom.

"Oh no," Albus whined at once as he caught sight of his father and instantly, he took a seat at the Slytherin table as far away from the High Table as he could. With a small chuckle, Scorpius sat down beside him while Jane took the seat opposite him. Ramona softly asked a few students to move to the side so she could join her friends and a while later, she was sitting beside Jane. "Why did they bring him here?"

"Father says they had been meaning to do it for a while now," Scorpius muttered, "he heard from my godfather. I don't know how he heard but it seems like they finally did it."

"I don't need a lecture," Albus kept whining. If he hadn't known his father was looking, he would have banged his head against the table.

"You can always act like you listen to him," Jane suggested as she reached for a toast in front of her. "Anyway, eat up. The lecture probably won't start until breakfast is over."

It ended up she was right. They finished their breakfast, and a while before classes were about to start, their Headmistress stood up and addressed the Hall, her usually stern features today stretched into a small, evidently proud, smile.

"Today marks twenty-five years from the battle of Hogwarts and the fall of Voldemort. That day, on the second of May, a few brave people stood up against the tyranny of the Dark Lord and not without casualties, defeated him, so all of us could live free."

"All hail the Chosen One," Albus muttered under his breath.

Scorpius sent him an unimpressed look, "I thought you would pretend to not hear her."

Albus didn't let out another comment as McGonagall spoke up once more. "It is with a great pleasure I announce that today, Harry Potter has come to speak to us about that day."

Harry Potter stood up as the Professors broke out into applause. The students followed, Albus perhaps the most reluctant of all to clap for his father.

"Couldn't they have asked anyone else?" he asked, his voice not heard due to the applause. "He was away anyway, Professor Longbottom had it a lot worse, he should be the one to talk."

"Professor Longbottom is a private man," Ramona pointed out, "he wouldn't have stepped up in front of the whole school."

Albus agreed, and he showed her with a nod. Gradually, they stopped clapping as Harry Potter moved to the podium. Jane spared one last look at Albus—he noticed, rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner just for her—and then turned away with a small smile as Harry Potter started talking.