Jami Evans and the Sorcerer's Stone - Year 1

First Goodbye

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts...

"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. I could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table.

"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.

"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...

"First -- to Mr. Ronald Weasley..."

Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn.

"... for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"

At last there was silence again.

"Second -- to Miss Hermione Granger... for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Hermione buried her face in her arms; Harry strongly suspected she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves -- they were a hundred points up.

"Third -- to Mr. Harry Potter... " said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "... for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy-two points -- exactly the same as Slytherin. They had tied for the house cup.

Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.

"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood up to yell and cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before. Harry, still cheering, nudged Ron in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the Body-Bind Curse put on him.

"And finally, there's no greater magic than love itself whether to family or to friends--I award James Remus Potter-" McGonagall let out a sob at my full name. "--twenty points for being the best friend anyone could have in a time of great need." I knew he was referring to the day Cedric had broken down into tears when he saw me after a nightmare he had of me dying. I had done everything I could to comfort him.

I could see Cedric's blinding smile from the Hufflepuff table and I flashed my iconic peace sign, the four tables laughing softly.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile. I hugged the nearest person next to me--Fred, who was sobbing quite loudly-and he hugged me back. We'd won.

I had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. To our great surprise, both Harry, Ron and I passed with good marks; Hermione, of course, had the best grades of the first years. Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one. we had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out, but he had passed, too. It was a shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life.

And suddenly, our wardrobes were empty, our trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning us not to use magic over the holidays ("I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly); Hagrid was there to take us down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; we were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the countryside became greener and tidier; eating Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off our wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.

I spotted Draco Malfoy at the platform, talking to his parents. He saw me at the same time and dragged his parents over to meet me.

"Mother, Father, this is James. James, this is my mother and father." Draco said, his eyes lit with excitement.

"A pleasure to finally meet you, dear. Draco's been telling us all about you." Narcissa Malfoy smiled at me, a bit forced if you asked me.

"All the bad things I hope." I said and they laughed.

"Mother wants to know if you'll be able to stay over for a week or so in the summer." Draco jumped in.

"I don't know--you're going to have to pry me away from the Dursleys." I said only half joking. Lucius Malfoy laughed--it was warm and friendly to my surprise.

"I don't think your aunt and uncle will be a problem." He said. "I do hope you'll be able to spend time with us.

I smiled. "I'll see what I can do."

I saw Harry waving at me frantically, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia staring at the Malfoys with a weird expression on their faces.

"Ah, those are the Dursleys I'm assuming?" Lucius asked, narrowing his eyes at them.

"Yeah." I frowned. "They mean you no harm."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now, Jamie." Draco hummed, hugging me. I was surprised--Draco had shown no signs of affection towards me before.

"Yeah." I breathed when he let go. "'bye." We smiled at each other before I went to the Dursleys and Harry who was staring at me with shock.

"Wh-what? You and Malfoy?" I shoved him away.

"Piss off, Potter." I chortled, pushing my cart to escape my brother.

That was the first goodbye.