Disclaimer: I haven't asked J.K. Rowling for ownership yet. She'll say no, but I plan to, when we next meet up for lunch.
Chapter 28: Journey's End
Previously: 'Now's our chance!' hissed Caroline, and they scrambled up onto the stage. The two microphones there multiplied into eight, and they all took one. Lily programmed the set, and walked to the front, between her three best friends. Caroline was already jiving to the opening bars, and, after Lily exchanged a grin with Suzie and Sarah, they joined in, remarkably synchronised.
'Ooh, you can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life…' sang the girls, and they began their last ever performance at Hogwarts.
The girls all woke up at a surprisingly early, or at least not too late, hour the next morning. Caroline, who was already packed, as she had been living out of her trunk for the best part of the year, went straight down to the common room to search for a lost quill, while Lily and Suzie frantically tried to pack their things until Sarah, wandering in from the bathroom teary-eyed that it was her last ever Hogwarts shower, flicked her wand and told their things to "pack away!". Sheepishly, the other two thanked her, and Sarah went downstairs to find her own quill, Lily started checking her trunk, and Suzie went to do her braids, sniffling.
'This is the last time I'll ever use this mirror!' she squeaked, grabbing a tissue from the box next to her.
'Caroline,' said Lily, as her friend re-entered the room, carrying several quills, an empty ink bottle, and a scarf. 'You've still got a pair of my… my…' She caught sight of the inscription (Evans and Davies, best friends 1969) she and Sarah had carved on her headboard in first year and burst into tears.
'Your what?' Caroline asked, dropping her things on her bed, coming over to Lily and giving her a hug.
'My knickers,' sobbed Lily into Caroline's shoulder.
'Oh yeah,' replied Caroline. 'Give me a mo, Lily, and I'll get them.'
Lily sniffled as Caroline extricated herself from her arms, and started digging in her trunk. Lily looked at Suzie, who was tying the ribbon on her left braid, and then came over to her and engulfed her in a hug. After a while, they broke apart, as Caroline handed Lily her underwear over Suzie's shoulder. Lily cast what looked like a bubble around her window box and, after testing the strength of it with her fist, placed in her trunk, along with the underwear. She closed it, sighed, and sat down on it.
'So that's it then,' she announced, as Sarah entered the room. 'Never again shall we sleep in those beds.'
'Don't remind me,' groaned Sarah. She was the most upset of the four about leaving Hogwarts. Suzie was normally the most sensitive, as she burst into tears about the smallest incidents, but when it came to big things, she was reasonably calm, and so Sarah, the next most sensitive of the four, took the gold there. Sarah strode to her trunk, placed her quill in it and sat down on her bed.
'Come on, guys,' said Caroline quietly. 'We should go to breakfast.'
As she made to leave the dorm, she realised that her friends were not coming with her. She turned to see what they were doing (Lily was still sitting on her trunk, Suzie was sitting at the dressing table, blowing her nose, and Sarah was lying on her bed, hugging her pillow), just as Sarah burst into tears. The other three rushed over to her, and tried to comfort her.
'Breakfast,' Sarah sobbed, 'our last ever meal at Hogwarts.'
'Don't cry about it, Sarah,' said Caroline consolingly. 'We'll have lots of fun out in the big wide world, won't we guys?'
She looked at Suzie and Lily, who started.
'Uh… yeah. Yeah, Sarah, it'll be fun!' said Lily, vaguely convincingly.
'And we can always come and visit Hogwarts. It won't be the same, but then again, it doesn't need to be. We can have fun not at Hogwarts,' said Suzie, patting Sarah on the back.
Sarah looked up, puffy-eyed. 'You really think that, Suzie?'
'Of course,' said Suzie, nodding fervently.
Lily, supported Sarah as she stood up, and took her arm as they walked down to the common room to meet the boys, as Sarah giggled weakly to Caroline's continuous chatter to her: 'Now let's go and meet your new boyfriend, Sarah… I won't even complain about your bacon, promise… You should try getting hyper with me on the train; it's fun…'
When they reached the Great Hall for breakfast, the boys were there, and greeted their respective girlfriends in a very affectionate manner. Lily noticed that the professors seemed to have averted their eyes, rather than take points, as they would have done any other day. Caroline didn't complain about Sarah's sausage, bacon and egg, even though she did shoot the platter a few disgusted glances before settling down to an eat-it-as-you-make-it fruit salad.
'James, is that Blobby?' asked Sirius unexpectedly.
Caroline snorted into her strawberries. 'Blobby? What in the name of all that is holy is Blobby?'
'Many things are blobby, Caroline,' replied Sarah primly, having regained her sense of humour slightly, even if her eyes were still red, and her bottom lip seemed on the constant verge of a wobble.
'Quite right, Sarah,' said James, 'but this particular Blobby is my family owl. I'm quite glad he came today, actually – just on time!'
'Why?' asked Lily curiously, for she had noticed that James had been looking at the post owls rather often recently.
'Well, you see, if he hadn't come today, then… I wouldn't be here,' said James, taking his parcel, and turning back to his cereal. 'Never mind that. These cornflakes have gone all soggy, and I'd better go and make sure Blobby gets into his cage on time. Don't want to leave him here!'
'Sure, James,' said Lily, looking at him suspiciously.
'Ah, don't get cross at him, Lily,' said Sirius, as James left the hall, Blobby bouncing on his arm, 'isn't a boy allowed to look after his owl?'
'I suppose, it just seemed rather weird to me -' At everyone's look, Lily stopped. 'Oh, never mind. Pass the orange juice?'
If anyone had been listening to the seventh-year's compartment on the Hogwarts Express, they would have heard some very strange noises. Firstly, they would have heard the sound of someone nearly falling out of a window as the girls waved frantically at Hogwarts, followed by Lily's snappy voice remarking that this was why safety regulations were imposed, which led to about five minutes' laughter. They would have heard Caroline asking anyone if they wanted to play chocolate poker, everyone declining, and then Caroline's voice getting rather irritated as it seemed that Suzie, Remus, James, and Peter started their own game. This was only before the chocolate trolley came round.
'No, Caroline!' came Lily's exasperated voice from the inside of the compartment. 'You cannot buy chocolate! We, or at least I, would rather like you to be sane for the remainder of this journey, or at least coherent, if sane is a rather tall order.'
Caroline pouted. 'But what's the point of a tradition if you don't honour it? I won't have another chance to ride the Hogwarts Express after today - don't squeak like that, Sarah - unless I become a professor, which isn't going to happen any time soon.'
Lily bit her lip. There would be no other chance, Caroline was right, but it would be rather nice to have a train journey without the risk of your nose turning into a lizard when Caroline's chocolate eating got out of control, as had happened to Suzie in fourth year.
'Fine, Caroline. You will have exactly five minutes controlled hyperness, and then I will Stun you, and wake you up again. Then you'll have no more chocolate for the journey. Deal?'
Caroline shook Lily's hand vigorously and then left the compartment to purchase the chocolate, only to bump into Severus Snape.
'Snape,' she said, inclining her head, politely, but not coldly.
'Hawling,' he said, in the same manner. He made to leave, but Caroline grabbed his arm.
'It's the last day ever, Severus. Aren't you even going to say goodbye?'
She didn't say it plaintively, but in an amused tone.
'Alright,' he said, a flicker of amusement crossing his own features. 'Goodbye… Caroline. I hope you enjoy life out in the big wide world.'
Caroline grinned broadly. 'You too,' she said, dropping the politeness. 'And remember what I said to you in fourth year. You're not a bad person, Severus. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to buy chocolate. I intend to get thoroughly hyper.' She winked at him, and went over to the trolley, where she bought as much as she could physically carry.
When she returned to the compartment, Suzie, Peter, James and Remus were still playing chocolate poker, and Sarah and Lily were talking, or rather, Lily was comforting Sarah, who was upset again. However, Sirius, who had previously been watching the chocolate poker game, was staring at Caroline stonily.
'What did you speak to Sniv…' He looked warily at Caroline's wand, which had just been whipped out of her pocket, 'I mean, Snape for?'
'He was there. I was saying goodbye,' said Caroline calmly, taking the wrappings off a chocolate frog.
'But did you have to? I mean… it was third year when... when you went out. Fourth year tops.'
'He's an old friend. Old as in past, not as in he's a grandfather, or as in he's been my friend since we were still in nappies.'
Sirius pursed his lips.
'Don't do that, Sirius, you look like your mum.'
'Hooray,' said Sirius, crossing his arms and turning away from her.
'Chocolate frog, Sirius?' asked Caroline cheerfully to her boyfriend's back, holding one out. No one spoke for a few seconds, until he relented, and took it. She leaned forward to whisper in his ear as he turned back towards her.
'Look, Sirius. It's over. As you said, it was over in fourth year. You're my boyfriend, and I love you.' A hush fell over the compartment, and it seemed that Caroline had not whispered it quite as quietly as she had hoped.
'Oh, stop staring,' said Sirius, who now looked quite cheerful. He kissed Caroline on the lips and the noise level returned to normal.
About fifteen minutes later, after she had consumed all her chocolate, Caroline became hyper. As Lily had promised, she had a carefully timed five minutes. She started dancing around the compartment, and managed to turn the seats into jelly until Lily remembered the counter-spell. She also managed to turn Peter's deck of cards into pens, much to the poker players' annoyance, as well as somehow managing to open her trunk in such a way that all the contents fell onto Remus' head. At this, the five-minutes ran out, much to everyone's relief, as Caroline had already caused enough chaos. Lily Stunned her, and she fell to the ground, unconscious. Once she was awake again, she was thrilled about the results of her hyperness.
'You have my knickers on your head, Remus,' she said, before grinning as Remus screamed and tried to feel for them. 'Only kidding. They missed you, although it would have been funnier if they hadn't.'
Remus sighed in relief, and then glared at her. 'You took several years off my life with that comment, I swear.'
'Ah well. Maybe it's good to have a slightly shorter life, and not live through years of arthritis and nursing home food,' commented Caroline. 'Anyway, since your cards are gone, chocolate poker, anyone?' She held up her own deck of cards.
A chorus of "No, thanks" answered her, and Lily pointed out, 'You can't eat chocolate for the rest of the journey anyway, that was the deal, so what's the point?'
'I'm not going to eat it now, only win it,' replied Caroline, 'and I like playing. It's fun.'
'We're all chocolated out anyway,' said James. 'Suzie was the big winner this time.'
He nodded to Suzie, who was standing on her seat, putting vast amounts of chocolate, the amount generally won by Caroline, in her trunk.
'So, another round, anyone?' she said, grinning brightly at them.
The journey continued passing in relative enjoyment until James, who had been fidgeting, suddenly snapped.
'Get out!' he yelled. The general activities stopped and everyone stared at him.
'Prongs?' asked Sirius enquiringly.
'Get out! All of you! Just… get out!'
The other seven all glanced at each other, and started to leave, when suddenly he said, 'Not you, Lily. Please stay here.'
Lily shared a last glance with Sarah, and then sat back down gingerly, and waited until everyone else had left. James was visibly shaking, and he was fiddling with something in his pocket.
'Lily,' he said, stammering, 'would you please close the blinds? The blinds on the door.'
Lily nodded uncertainly, and went to the door, and drew the blinds, ignoring the inquisitive faces of her friends. She sat back down, and there was silence for a while, except for the rattling of the train underneath them. Then, suddenly, James stood up, and turned his back to Lily, and started talking.
'Lily, I've liked you for a long time. I always thought you were kind, funny and interesting to be around. It probably sounds cheesy, but, ever since the first time I met you, I've felt there was a connection between us.' He sighed, and turned back around to face her. 'And then, in third year, you went out with Peter, and I realised I liked you. And then last year, you went out with Sirius, and I wouldn't talk to him. Remember your first date? I was the one who told Sirius what to do on it, to make it such a mess. I'm sorry.' Lily was confused; why on earth was he telling her this? She had known that it had been him, Sarah had told her, but he didn't know that. Why was he confessing?
James took a deep breath and sank onto one knee. He took a small, velvet-covered box out of his pocket, and said,
'Lily, I love you, I love you so much. Will you marry me?'
He opened the box, revealing a thin gold ring, with one diamond, with two small emeralds either side. Lily stared at James, and then at the ring, her mouth slightly open. After a while, she whispered hoarsely, 'Yes. Yes. Yes!'
He smiled, took the ring out of its box, and slid it onto her finger. It fit perfectly, and she realised that she was probably the only one who didn't know. She'd wondered why Sarah hadn't been waking her up quite so early lately, and why she seemed to be fiddling with a tape measure rather more often than was necessary. She smiled back at him, and then threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.
After they broke apart, she whispered, 'Can I let the others in?'
He smiled, seeming dazed. 'Oh, of course.'
Lily went to the door, pulled up the blinds, slid it open and beckoned the others in, using her left hand to display her ring.
Her friends gaped. She knew that they had known, but she supposed that actually seeing the ring was an experience in itself.
'Come in,' she said to their unasked questions, 'and I'll tell you everything.'
After what seemed like only a few minutes, the eight ex-Gryffindors were getting off the train, their Hogwarts robes in their trunks, never to be worn again. Remus had his arm around Sarah, who was crying again, while Peter, Suzie, Caroline and Sirius were dealing with the trolleys. James and Lily were walking together, holding hands.
'Geez, Lily, what are your parents going to say?' said Caroline, grinning, as they approached the barrier. 'Do they even know you have a boyfriend?'
'Well, you have a point, but I think I've told them,' said Lily. 'Now come on, before the crowds hit. I think the younger years have nearly managed to get their trunks off the train now. James, let's go first.'
They smiled at each other, and stepped through the barrier, still holding hands. After a minute, Caroline and Sirius, bearing trolleys, stepped through to join them.
'Are you going to act this sappy all the time, now that you're engaged?' asked Sirius.
'Well, for a while,' said James. 'Like we did when we first started going out.'
'Which was what, six months ago?' said Remus, who, with Sarah, had come through as well.
'Shush, you,' said Lily, and kissed James.
'Hey,' said Peter, joining them. 'We all through?'
'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight… yep!' said Suzie cheerfully.
'Oh, wow, you can count to eight now!' squealed Sarah, grinning. Suzie shoved her lightly, and the eight walked off towards the crowd of parents, ready to face their future and all it would bring.
The End
Hepsa and I wrote the bit in the dorm together, I wrote the bit with Blobby and the bit with Snape and Caroline, Hepsa wrote most of the bit about Caroline's hyperness, I wrote the engagement scene, and we both wrote the last scene. We also Beta-ed each other's bits, and Lamia Gamma-ed everything. We also discussed a lot of it beforehand.
This is the very last chapter EVER of JIG. Weep with us. My parents don't quite seem to appreciate the seriousness of the situation, but there you are, that's parents for you.
To understand the Snape and Caroline bit, read Those Were The Days (after the song), which will be posted soon. It's a collection of little bits of fic that didn't make sense in the fic as it stands, but we wrote, and had to be posted, or simply ideas that needed to be written, and had no point written, but not posted. Also see Exploding Potions, which will not be posted until the Snape/Caroline in TWTD is posted. (Lamia would like me to say that Exploding Potions is also the name of the Snape/Caroline ship. WE have also made up names for the other ships, sad as it may be).
Review topic: the end of fics/sequels of same.
Larka :)