The sequel to this fic is finally up and running! Check the fic lists for Part 2 and thank you for reading and all your reviews!

Cosima woke up suddenly, feeling strangely out of oxygen and feeling a bush of curly, blonde hair all over her face, some of it in her mouth, a consequence of sleeping with her mouth open, nearly choking her.

What the-?

"Delphine-" She breathed out, causing the girl next to her to snap her head up.

Cosima was not fully aware as to where they were yet, as she had just woken up from a dream of sleeping in her four poster bed back at Hogwarts, having the ex-Beauxbatons student by her side. Delphine wasthere, of course, but the grumbling from the other side of the room reminded her that she was not in her Ravenclaw dormitory, and the heat that raised in the room brought back the knowledge that it was, in fact, still summer.

"Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé?" The blonde mumbled, still half-asleep. Her head raised slowly. "Oh. I am sorry." She said, pulling her hair back, her bright eyes so close to Cosima's face making her forget all about the dream and focusing on that beauty mark on tip of her nose.

"Nothing, your hair… it was kind of choking me." Cosima let out a small giggle, and Delphine joined a second after.

"Would you two bloody settle down, I'm trying to get some shut eye here, yeah?" Cosima could hear her sister's muffled voice, since Sarah buried herself under the pillows, one of which she threw on the guest bed where Cosima and Delphine were sleeping.

"What is happening?" Helena chimed in sleepily a second after.

"Nothing guys, just go back to sl-" Cosima started, but the door busted wide open, followed by a squeal that made them all sit up suddenly, and Sarah was already pointing her wand at the door.

"They're here, they're here they'refinally here, let'sgo get up!"

"Bloody hell Alison if you do that one more t-"

"Sarah I have no patience for your grumpiness this morning they are here!"

"What are you going on about?"

"O.W.L.s, Sarah! The results! They have arrived! All of them!"

That was the only wake-up call that Cosima needed. By the time Alison finished her sentence, she had already put on her glasses and climbing out of bed, a grin spread widely on her face. Delphine was equally as eager, and Helena rolled out of bed, looking for her socks right under it.

Sarah, however, was still sitting motionlessly, before falling back to the pillows.

"I don't want to see them. I probably bloody flunked them all."

"Oh come on, Sarah, you know that's not true. We all studied really hard and-"

"Thank you for the input, Alison, which I really didn't need-"

"Ravenclaws coming through!" Cosima ran past Alison, dragging Delphine by her hand, and they were stumping down the stairs, murmuring together excitedly.

"Has Beth got her share of heart attack yet?" Sarah asked, stretching, her head turned to Alison who was leaned in the door frame, all but fidgeting impatiently in her spot. Sarah knew that she wanted to wait for all of them to open the letters together, hence waiting for her, and that is why the Gryffindor dragged out getting out of bed as much as possible, knowing that it would annoy the hell out of her sister.

"I am hungry." Helena stated. "I will be downstairs, eating, and waiting for you sestra, yes?"

But before Sarah replied, Alison cut in.

"No, I thought that she was-"

But a loud, sudden snore from the other corner of the room made them both jump up slightly. On the second guest bed, where Alison climbed from in the crack of dawn, too anxious to sleep, there was a heap of covers and pillows, and underneath there was a Hufflepuff sleeping, face buried in pillows, not moved by anything that had happened in the past couple of minutes. Sarah nodded to Helena who passed by Alison and descended the stairs much more quietly than Cosima and Delphine previously had.

"I wish I could sleep as soundly like that." Alison shook her head, but a soft smile was etched on her lips. Even though the two of them spent the whole summer together back in Toronto, she still felt the warmth spreading from her insides to the tips of her fingers and toes.

Sarah snapped her out of her little daydream though, hitting the sleeping Hufflepuff with a pillow, using all of her strength, which resulted in Beth leaping out of her bed, rather disoriented and clutching onto the pillow the Gryffindor had just hit her with.

"What the hell, man?! That was so not cool." Her eyes were squinting, trying to adjust to the bright light that was coming through the window of Sarah's room, announcing one more beautiful summer day.

"Your girlfrienddid the same thing to us, blame her." Sarah barked with a smirk, getting in her shorts and shoving Alison out of the way before the latter could protest. "I'll see you two down there, yeah?"

"Sarah Manning, don't you dare read your results before-"

But she was hushed with Sarah's hand which waved dismissively before she disappeared through the door, leaving Alison huffing in slight frustration.

Beth was still rubbing the back of her head, trying to comb her hair with her fingers, but not really succeeding in it. Even though it looked compelling for the Slytherin to just tackle Beth on the bed now that the room was empty, since they barely got any time alone in the full house of Siobhan Sadler, she decided against it, as her impatience for results grew every second.

"Beth, please, let's go." She dragged her to the door and Beth was still too sleepy to object. Alison took her hand, leaving a slight peck on her cheek that still had marks from sleeping on one side for too long, and lead her downstairs.

The spacious living room in which the sisters spent most of their winters and summers in, with an addition to Beth and Delphine now, was covered in owl feathers that nobody bothered to swipe just yet. Sarah's foster mother was cooking tea for all of them, and Felix was standing beside her on his tiptoes, a wide grin spread across his face. The fifth years were not the only ones who had gotten letters that morning – his Hogwarts invitation letter together with the lists of books and other supplies was tightly clutched in his hand as if he was afraid that it might disappear if he put it down for one second.

"Gather around, everyone!" Alison quipped as soon as she stepped into the room, grabbing her letter from the mantelpiece. Cosima was already staring at her own, as if she was expecting it to speak to her..

"So, what, we all do it at once, yeah? I think Cos and Alison might burst if we wait for another minute."

Everyone laughed but Alison, who shot Sarah a reproachful look, feeling her insides turning with nervousness. Beth was sitting on the armrest of the armchair she was settled in, and rubbed her shoulder. Wanting to be a Quidditch player after Hogwarts, she did not bother too much with grades, even though the hype from the other girls brushed off of her a little too.

"Okay", Cosima said, her facial expression uncertain, torn between laughing and crying. "In three, two, one. Go!"

The next couple of moments were only consisted of the sound of ripping paper. Felix rushed over to where Sarah was sitting, leaning over her shoulder to see the results. There was two minutes of silence, disturbed only by Mrs. S who had moved from making tea to breakfast, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, waiting for the imminent eruption of reactions, which followed almost immediately.

"Yes! Three Acceptables, five Exceeding Expectations and two Outstandings, yeah baby!"

Everyone looked at Beth who was grinning from ear to ear, flapping her parchment around the place, and Mrs S shouted a congratulations. Helena was the second one announcing her own results, with five acceptables, four Exceeding Expectations and an Outstanding in Care of Magical Creatures.

Both Cosima and Delphine got all Outstandings from all ten of their exams, and were beaming at each other, and locked lips for couple of moments as a silent congratulations.

Sarah was bouncing in her own seat at two Acceptables, two Poors from Divination and History of Magic that she did not really care about, five EEs and one Outstanding, from Defense Against the Dark Arts. This way she could pursue her Auror career, which made her almost suffocate Felix with a tight hug.

Only Alison was sitting motionless, her lips pursed together.

"Oi, Slytherin, what's up?"

She snapped her head up, gritting her teeth but not speaking. Beth snatched the parchment from her hand and ran over to Mrs. S and out of her reach before Alison could grab it back. They all stared at Beth who started laughing.

"Beth, don't-" She spoke, getting up.

"Wha'? Did she flunk or something?" Sarah propped herself onto her knees, her head sticking out from behind the armchair.

Beth shook her head, holding her sides.

"I swear to Merlin Ali, if one Exceeding Expectation is making you want to cry…"

"I do not understand." Delphine murmured to Cosima, but the Ravenclaw already knew what was up. Alison hated being the second best.

"I'll bet you five Galleons that she got all O's except for Astronomy." Cosima mused, holding back a laugh.

"No bets, "Beth replied, finally regaining her own breath. "Because you're right, Cosima."

All of them glanced at Alison, who was standing in the middle of the room, shifting from one leg to another and fighting back frustrated tears. "I studied that goddamn subject the longest, and she gave me Exceeding Expectations?!"She snapped, but before she could add anything else, a wave of laughter echoed throughout the room.

"It's okay, chicken." Mrs S said, putting a hand on her shoulder as she passed by, trying hard not to join the howling coming from her foster daughter. "It doesn't affect your N.E.W.T.s or anything. Hell, I have had three EEs in my own time, and look at me."

"Really?" Alison asked with a pout, looking up at the woman, who returned the gaze with a soft smile.

"Yes. And the rest of you, stop laughing or no dessert tonight."

That silenced them all, though Sarah was still wiping her tears away and stifled back another set of giggles as Mrs. S passed by and smacked her upside the head.

"Besides," Beth chimed in, wrapping arms around Alison from behind and kissing the back of her neck. "You're my smartest half, anyway."

At those words, Alison's expression softened and she laughed too, giving a passing high five to Cosima and sitting down. Over the next half an hour, they all sat closer to each other, exchanging their results papers and commenting on the possible N.E.W.T.s they were going to take. The worst had passed, and the weight that has been sitting on their chest for two month finally lifted. Felix was sitting in Helena's lap, still clutching his own admission letter, and showing her the list, at which Helena started talking about all the different animals he would be able to choose from to buy.

"I will get a black cat," he mused, starting to imagine his first day at Hogwarts, surrounded with all of them, and learning all of the cool spells.

Beth was reclining between Alison's legs, sitting on the floor, and yawned, feeling like she could sleep for another century and a half. "So, what now?" She asked, looking up at Alison, who leaned down to kiss her forehead.

The smell of bacon and eggs filled the house.

"Now, we eat." Helena said, prompting the laughter by all of them as they all stood up, heading for the table.