Anxiety [hp]

- 2.17

[It is the end of year feast; Nearly Headless Nick, now revitalized, floats along the row between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables in the Great Hall.]

Female Student: Welcome back, Sir Nicholas!

Nearly Headless Nick: Thank you.

Another Female Student: Good evening, Sir Nicholas.

Nearly Headless Nick: Good evening.

Male Student: Good to see you, Sir Nicholas.

Nearly Headless Nick: Thank you. [glancing at another pair of students] Hello. [reaching the doors to the Great Hall, he passes Filch, who is just happy to have Mrs. Norris back, and Hermione walks in as he turns toward her] Hermione! Welcome back.

"Yay! You're well again!" Alice cheered.

Hermione: Thanks, Sir Nicholas.

[Nearly Headless Nick floats away as Hermione glances at the Gryffindor table searching the room for Harry and Ron. Finally, she sees them. Smiles. Runs forward and embraces Harry then Jasper. She turns to embrace Ron. They pause, an awkward moment between them and... shake hands instead.]

Sirius wolf whistles, "I could feel the tension from here."

Lily giggles, "It's very adorable how you guys don't see the feelings you have for each other."

"They were daft preteens, Lils." Fred stated.

"Very daft, until either of them got attention from someone else." George smirked.

"Ahh, fourth year and sixth year. What a time... For certain points." Theo reminisced.

Hermione: You solved it! You solved it!

Harry: With loads of help from you.

Ron: Welcome back, Hermione.

Jasper: Glad to have you back, Mione.

[McGonagall taps her goblet. Dumbledore stands.]

Dumbledore: Before we begin our feast, let's give a round of applause to Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey, whose Mandrake Juice has been successfully administered to all those who had been petrified. And a very special thank you, to Ms. Avery Lupin for helping during the process.

[Everyone applauds. The Ravenclaw table cheering louder than most, thanking their fellow housemate.]

"That's my daughter/ daughter in-law/ niece!" Jasmine, James, and Sirius cheered.

Dumbledore: Also, in the wake of recent events, as a school treat, all exams have been cancelled.

[Everyone cheers, save for Hermione.]

Hermione: Oh, no!

Amara: All that damn studying for nothing?!

"Oh my— a Lily and Diane junior?! C'est trop de rats de bibliothèque pour moi." Jasmine huffed.

"And sadly there's a Jasmine junior." Marlene smirked.

"Nope. She's half and half." Remus chimes in.

Ariel: You act like you don't study on a regular basis. [pointing to the girl's book in her hand]

Amara: [looks up from her book, agitated] Your point?

Avery: [snorts, pats her friends' shoulders] Just leave it alone, Ari.

[At the rear of the Hall, the great doors open. It's Hagrid. He enters. Stops. Looks around. The room falls silent. All eyes upon him. He glances around. Nervous. Embarrassed.]

"Yay! you're free, Hagrid!" Peter beamed.

The half-giant let out a sigh of relief, thinking they almost forgot about him.

Hagrid: Sorry I'm late. The owl deliverin' my release papers got all lost 'n confused. Some ruddy bird named Errol.

[Ron exchanges a nervous glance with Dumbledore. Hagrid looks at all of the faces staring at him. He turns to Harry.]

Hagrid: I jus' want to say... that if it wasn't fer' you, Harry... you an' Ron and Jasper... and Hermione... Well, I jus' want to say... Thanks.

Harry: There's no Hogwarts without you, Hagrid.

[Dumbledore gets to his feet and... slowly...
Just then... brings his hands together. The others join him. Soon, everyone is on their feet and the Hall roaring. As the students surround Hagrid, he blinks, wipes at his eyes, and... camera pulls back, through the window, leaving the celebration. We continue to crane back... back... to a edie shot of Hogwarts... glittering gloriously in the night.]

"And that's the end of our second year." Harry sighed.

"Tomorrow is going to be fun." Theo and Blaise chuckled.