Harry and Draco nearly sobbed in relief when the morning of their first O.W.L. finally arrived. Ever since the Heads of House had announced the exam schedule and gone over the strict regulations surrounding them the week after the Quidditch final, Hermione had been an absolute wreck - she'd barely finished copying the dates and times of her exams when she began drawing up detailed study schedules, and every other sentence out of her mouth had something to do with academics. The boys had tried everything - Harry had taken her flying, Draco had planned a nice dinner in the Room of Requirement with some help from Dobby, they'd thrown Draco an early birthday party during the most recent D.A. meeting...nothing worked. Of course, Hermione had always been enthusiastic about learning and had studied hard for end-of-year exams in the past, but that was nothing compared to her current behavior - she revised during meals, she muttered spells and potion ingredients under her breath in the corridors, and she disappeared behind piles of books and stacks of notes the instant classes finished for the day. Even Ginny, Hermione's best girlfriend, couldn't make her feel better - in fact, she made things worse, as Hermione snapped that Ginny was only a fourth year and therefore couldn't possibly understand the pressure before wailing that she was going to fail everything and might as well just leave Hogwarts now. That had been just last night - Harry had forced a Calming Draught down his best friend's throat before ordering her upstairs to bed. Thankfully, Hermione hadn't protested - she'd gotten so little sleep lately that she was absolutely exhausted. Now, they were milling about the entrance hall with their classmates and the seventh years, who were preparing to sit their N.E.W.T.s, and waiting for the examiners to call them in for their first written paper - Charms.

Finally, the doors to the Great Hall opened, and the students filed inside and took their assigned seats. Charms was a good subject to have first, Harry thought - arguably the fundamental basis for many other branches of magic, generally lighthearted in nature, and fairly straightforward, it would give them all a much-needed confidence boost. And indeed, when the examiner flipped over the hourglass and bade them all begin, Harry couldn't help but smile as the first question brought back fond memories of a lesson involving Wizard Baruffio, 'swish and flick', and feathers...

The examiners collected their papers just before lunchtime, and the students sighed in relief as they temporarily vacated the Great Hall to allow for its resetting for the noon meal. Sure, Harry mused as they waited, they still had to take the practical exam that afternoon, but having that first paper out of the way felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Not wanting to jinx himself, he didn't say so aloud, but he even felt like he'd done reasonably well, and he felt far more confident than he had at breakfast as he helped himself to a turkey sandwich and chatted with Neville and Eloise.

After lunch, the fifth and seventh years remained behind once more while the rest of the school headed off to lessons and the Great Hall was once again reset. This time, however, they did not all return to the hall at once, but rather waited in a side chamber while small groups of students were called in for their practical exams. They took the students alphabetically by last name, which put Draco in the first group – Harry managed a quick 'good luck' before his brother left with Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, and Terry Boot. It wasn't too long before Hermione's name was called, and then all that was left for Harry to do was wait. Students didn't return to the side chamber after they'd been tested, and so the room slowly emptied as they progressed into the latter half of the alphabet. Finally, Harry heard his name being called, and he followed the Patil twins and Sally-Anne Perks into the Great Hall.

After his practical, Harry finally found Hermione, Draco, and several of their friends sat under a tree by the lake, all of them studying intently for Transfiguration.

"How'd it go?" Hermione asked as Harry sat down to join them. Draco was deeply immersed in his notes about Switching Spells, but he looked up and acknowledged Harry with a nod.

"Not bad," Harry said, pulling out his own notes. "Mixed up the Color-Change and Growth Charms, but other than that, I think I did alright. What are we working on?"

"Vanishing," Hermione replied. "I'd be very shocked if it wasn't on the practical."

As was often the case, Hermione was right, and they did indeed have to Vanish things as part of their Transfiguration practical the following afternoon – in this case, vertebrate animals, which were some of the most difficult things to Vanish due to their own complexity. Draco was a bit concerned that he'd needed two tries to fully Vanish his animal – the first time, its tail had been left behind – but he cheered up a bit when he recalled that his mistake had been far from the worst, poor Hannah's inexplicable flock of flamingos immediately coming to mind.

They finished Wednesday's Herbology exam sweaty and covered in fertilizer but otherwise no worse for the wear – Neville, of course, was beaming happily as he ate dinner that night, and Harry was glad to see his easily flustered friend so confident. It was Thursday's Defense Against the Dark Arts practical, however, where they really got a chance to shine – Professor Lupin, who had been monitoring the progress made by the D.A., had provided the examiners with a list of students capable of performing a Patronus Charm, and they were all given the opportunity to do so for a bonus point. Harry performed every jinx and counter jinx flawlessly, and he couldn't stop himself from grinning at the sight of his Patronus running playful circles around his delighted examiner. Harry then had Friday off while Hermione and Draco sat their Ancient Runes exam, and even Hermione allowed herself a break that night before diving back into studying for the rest of the weekend.

The second week began with the dreaded Potions exam on Monday – it was difficult, but they all found it a little easier without Snape hovering over their cauldrons. They sat their Care of Magical Creatures exam on Tuesday – aside from Ron sustaining a rather bad burn from his fire crab, it went alright – and Wednesday was a loaded day with the written portion of Astronomy in the morning, both Divination and Arithmancy in the afternoon, and the Astronomy practical that night.

"What happens if somebody takes both Divination and Arithmancy?" Harry wondered as they sorted through large piles of History of Magic notes.

"Dunno," Draco replied with a shrug. "Maybe they figure that nobody does, considering the two subjects are basically polar opposites? Or maybe they scheduled the exams the way they did because nobody's taking both of those subjects?"

"Who knows," Hermione said a bit impatiently. "But I do know that we have History of Magic tomorrow – quiz me on the International Confederation of Wizards, will you?"

It was a good thing their History of Magic exam was in the afternoon, because they were all extremely tired after their Astronomy practical – a clear night meant they could see more and work without trouble, but it also meant staying awake into the small hours of the morning finishing their star charts. Harry found himself yawning far more than usual as the examiners passed out their History of Magic papers, and he caught more than a few of his classmates doing the same. They struggled to concentrate as they desperately tried not to get names and dates confused, and when the examiner called time and collected their work, they merely sighed and said they'd done their best. For better or for worse, O.W.L.s were finally over, and they had a rare obligation-free week to enjoy before heading home for the summer holidays.

"Freedom!" Harry cried as he flopped down on the grass under a tree by the lake. Ginny, who'd caught up with them after her Transfiguration class, burst into laughter at Harry's gleeful expression.

"That bad, huh?" she joked. "You'd think you'd been in Azkaban for the last two weeks – or maybe made to suffer two straight weeks of Umbridge."

"I'm not actually sure which of those is worse," Draco said as he took a seat with Hermione. "Azkaban's got the Dementors, but Umbridge…"

"…needs no explanation," Harry finished. "But she's gone now, and exams are over, so we don't have to think about either." He withdrew his wand from his pocket and said, "Expecto Patronum", and the silvery mongoose burst forth to frolic around the reclining quartet. The others followed suit, and the wolf, Kneazle, and horse joined the mongoose, the four Patronuses keeping them company as they enjoyed the warm June sunshine.

"So it sounds like you three are in for some traveling this summer," Ginny remarked as she closed her eyes and turned her face towards the light. "Any idea where you're going first?"

"That will probably depend on the dates on the plane tickets," Hermione replied, leaning back on Draco while he in turn rested against the tree. "I think we'd all like to go to Godric's Hollow if we can."

"True, but we might not be able to, depending on what the Order's plans are," Harry pointed out. "I'd be shocked if we were allowed to make that trip without some sort of guard – Godric's Hollow is a pretty important village, and Voldemort might expect us to go there at some point."

"Why would he?" Draco asked, looking up from where he was toying with Hermione's fingers. "An old Wizarding historian can't possibly interest him that much."

"Maybe, maybe not, but Godric's Hollow is also where my parents lived before he came after them," Harry reminded him. "That was a huge setback for him. My dad's also buried there, and he might be expecting me to visit the grave at some point. I think I'd like to, if I can – I hardly knew him, but he was still my dad."

"And I think you should," Ginny agreed. "I know I'd want to, if it was me. And speaking of family connections – Draco, don't you need to go to Malfoy Manor this summer?"

"I do," Draco said with a nod. "I was supposed to go at Christmas, to reset the wards, but…well, you know what happened then." He gripped Hermione's hand a little tighter, and they all looked grim for a moment as they recalled the horrible attack.

"I do need to go to the Manor," Draco continued. "I need to reset the wards, and I think I might want to have a look around as well – the place is mine, after all. I also want to go to Gringotts and look into the family vaults – might be nice to know what I actually own."

"A lot," Ginny said with a snort. "Unless I'm sorely mistaken, you could buy all of England and still have plenty left over."

"Play nice, you two," Harry scolded, and Hermione laughed at the chastised looks on the other two's faces. "Let's just enjoy the week of nothing and worry about summer when summer comes."

The rest of the week passed in a blur of sunshine and last minute fun. They played several games of free-for-all Quidditch, and the D.A. threw a huge party during their final meeting of the year. Fred and George, who were officially done with their Hogwarts education, set off a few last fireworks they'd been saving just for the occasion the night before the Hogwarts Express was to leave – the students were delighted to see each of the house mascots take shape over the lake, and the lion, eagle, badger and snake prowled the grounds long into the night.

The next morning was a scramble to get belongings packed and everyone to the carriages on time, and before they knew it, the Hogwarts Express was on its way to London. Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Draco settled themselves in for the long ride home, eager to begin the holidays.

"I wonder what Padfoot's surprise is," Harry said aloud, referring to the charmed parchment message he'd received from his godfather earlier that morning. Sirius had something to share with them and sounded quite excited to do so.

"Knowing Padfoot, it could be anything," Draco replied as he dropped an owl treat into Berenice's cage. The beautiful tawny hooted in thanks and snapped up the treat, and Draco resumed scratching Crookshanks, who was sprawled across both his and Hermione's laps, behind the ears, the large cat purring contentedly.

"I can't believe Fred and George are done," Ginny said. "Just Ron and me now."

"What are they going to do now that they've finished school?" Hermione asked. "Do they have plans?"

"They're going to open a joke shop," Ginny said. "Already have the premises and everything – although where they got the money, I have no idea…"

"I gave it to them," Harry interrupted.

"Wait, what?"

"I gave it to them," Harry repeated. "Last summer – remember when they slipped me that Canary Cream? I thought it was brilliant, and I talked to them about it afterwards – that's when they told me about their dream of opening a shop, and I gave them my Triwizard winnings. I didn't need it, it should've gone to Cedric anyway, and Merlin knows an extra laugh can't hurt right now."

"Harry, you shouldn't have!" Ginny said in awe. "That was what, a thousand Galleons?"

"I just told you, Gin, it doesn't matter how much it was – they can repay me by making the Wizarding world laugh," Harry said firmly. He dropped a quick kiss on her head and added, "Now, stop worrying about your brothers and let's play some chess, yeah?" Ginny readily agreed, and the two were soon immersed in a battle of knights, rooks, and pawns.

The Hogwarts Express reached Kings Cross before they knew it, and the quartet said goodbye to as many friends as they could as they hauled their luggage off the train. Harry, Hermione, and Draco left Ginny with the rest of the Weasley family, wishing them a happy summer as they did so, and soon found Sirius waiting at the far end of the platform. He was alone.

"Hey, Padfoot," Harry said as he embraced his godfather. "So what's the surprise?"

"No beating around the bush with you, is there?" Sirius joked. "Well, if you must know…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, which he flipped open so they could all see the shiny driver's license nestled inside.

"You learned how to drive?" Draco asked in astonishment. "When did that happen?"

"Your mum's been teaching me all year," Sirius said proudly. "I've been practicing for ages – wanted to be able to bring you three home as my first long solo excursion. What do you think?"

"As long as you don't drive like you fly," Harry said with a grin.

"Cheeky little brat," Sirius said, ruffling Harry's hair. "Maybe I'll just leave you here."

"That doesn't really work when he could just Side-Along with someone else," Draco pointed out. Sirius threw up his hands and gave an exaggerated sigh.

"Teenagers," he huffed, making them all laugh, but he grinned broadly as he led them out of the station.

Save for Sirius having a bit too much fun pushing the speed limit, the last leg of their journey was uneventful, and they soon found themselves cruising through Surrey towards home. As they neared their street, however, they found it blocked with police cars and traffic cones. Sirius pulled up next to the curb, and they all jumped out.

"What's going-" Sirius started to ask, but he cut his question short when he realized just what he was actually seeing. Harry gasped, Draco jerked to a stop with a horrified expression on his face, and Hermione sank to the ground, an inhuman moan choked by sobs escaping from her lips. There was an ambulance nearby, and people were shouting and moving about, but that wasn't the focus of their attention. How they hadn't noticed it before, they had no idea, as it lit up the sky like a beacon:

The Dark Mark was hovering over the Grangers' house.

Thus concludes part 5 - the story continues in part 6, 'The Enemy's Ignorance'.

A/N: 5 parts down, 2 to go...if you've stuck with me this far, thank you. The first chapter of part 6, which is called 'The Enemy's Ignorance', is going up now - let me know what you think of this last chapter, & I hope you'll join me for the next installment.

JKR owns all things Potter, I just play - please R&R, & I'll see you in part 6! :)