Happily Ever...

Chapter Twenty

Harry's POV

The evening before our last day at Hogwarts was both sad and exciting. Draco and I packed all of our belongings and set them aside so we could bring them to the train tomorrow. We made our way down to dinner and when we arrived at the Great Hall, we saw something shocking. There were no house tables, every table was filled with a colorful mix of people from every house. McGonagall was beaming with happiness, this is what she has worked for the entire year. Draco and I spotted our friends and sat next to them. I looked around and concluded that we were sitting at the old Ravenclaw table, even though there were only a handful of Ravenclaws. Luna sat with us and Ginny followed, Pansy and Blaise were arguing about who did better on the NEWTs. In reality they had both done the same. I got all Os and Es and Draco got almost all Os. Except in Transfiguration, he got an E, probably because I had thrown his transfiguration book off the side of the bed and proceeded to thoroughly distract him. Hermione of course got all Os and Ron got Mostly Es and one O. McGonagall stood up and walked to the podium to make a speech.

"Today, we commend all of those who will be departing from Hogwarts to go and live their lives as adults. I hope each of you will remember the lessons you were taught at this school and I hope you carry with you the friends you have made. All of you have gone through trying times and many have seen those fall around you. Today we not only celebrate the departure of our seventh and eighth year students, but also we will remember those who should be sitting here with us." She said.

McGonagall then read out all the names of students who were killed in the war, names appeared in the ceiling as McGonagall read them out. I saw Fred's name and Lavender's. I also spotted Colin's name. Many people cried at the mention of their friends' or their siblings' names. But when she finished, every student in the hall stood up and raised their wands. The teachers also stood and raised their wands, I spotted several of them crying. I felt tears of my own run down my face and I felt Draco's gentle hand wipe them away. When everyone sat down again McGonagall waved her hands and our final feast began. Ron began to pile food onto his plate but decided to eat slowly once Hermione shot him a look.

It might have been because it was the last meal I would eat at Hogwarts, but that night's dinner tasted even better than every other feast I'd had. Even after everyone finished their food, we stayed in the hall watching the names float around the ceiling and talking about our future plans. Ron and Hermione wanted to live in a house in the country, just like Ron had. Pansy and Blaise made a pact that if they didn't fall in love with someone, they would just marry each other. Blaise, had gotten a contract to manage a quidditch team his father had purchased before he went to Azkaban. Luna and Ginny were going to travel the world together while Ginny played Quidditch for the Holyhead Harpies. We all congratulated her on being accepted to the team. Draco and I headed back to our dorm, hand in hand. We took the long way and walked through all the hallway, reliving memories. We had several conversations with the portraits on the walls and even stopped to say hello to Moaning Myrtle. By the time we reached our room, we were both exhausted. We fell asleep in our bed, cuddled close to each other.

***

The next morning, Draco woke me up by whispering softly in my ear, which I ignored. He then resorted to smacking me with a pillow. That certainly jolted me awake. I sat straight up and my eyes flew open.

"Hey what was that for?" I asked, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

"You were asleep." Draco said, shrugging.

"Ya exactly. I was sleeping." I said.

"Well now you're not sleeping." Draco joked. He threw a stack of clothes at me. I examined the clothes and gave him a questioning look. "I grabbed them out of your trunk before they took it to load it into the train. Which by the way leaves soon so hurry up."