Disclaimer: I only own Hex, Maeve, Peter, Peggy and Tiny. Hogwarts and everyone else mentioned in this fic belong to JK Rowling.

Part Three — Chris "Hex" Holmstrom

The Feel-Good Movie Ending

With schoolwork over after the O.W.L.s, Madam Pomfrey had imprisoned the three Hufflepuffs in the hospital wing. By the time the end-of-term banquet rolled around, they were all eager to finally have some real food after a steady diet of chicken soup and lukewarm porridge.

That night, the Great Hall was festooned with decorations of scarlet and gold, Gryffindor colors, because that house was to be awarded their fourth straight House Cup. (A/N: Not fifth, because there was no Inter-House competition during the Tri-Wizard Tournament.) Nevertheless, everyone had good appetites and did justice to the feast provided by the school kitchens.

When everyone had eaten his fill, Professor Dumbledore tapped his glass. The entire hall fell silent as he rose to his feet. "This has certainly been an eventful year," he said, beaming. "We have made new friends and learned valuable lessons…and the time is upon us once again to say 'til we meet again' — some of us only for the next few months, and the others perhaps for a bit longer." At that, many of the seventh years wiped away sentimental tears.

"And now," Dumbledore continued, "the House Cup. In fourth place, we have Ravenclaw with 312 points; in third place, Hufflepuff with 340 points; second is Slytherin, with 400 points; and in first we have Gryffindor with 490 points." He smiled as the Gryffindor table erupted in cheers and applause. "Before we continue with the ceremony, I would like to award a few more points.

"I am proud to announce that all the fifth and seventh year students passed their qualifying examinations, some with flying colors, others with…respectable marks." The teachers chuckled at the collective sigh of relief that greeted this announcement. "So I award fifty points to Hermione Granger for garnering the most O.W.L.s of her year; and likewise, fifty points to Margaret Abbott in recognition of her outstanding N.E.W.T.s."

Hermione and Peggy both flushed with pleasure as the Great Hall rang with applause. Dumbledore smiled and applauded as well. "Congratulations, ladies. A job well done." He then turned back to the rest of the Great Hall. "I would also like," he continued, "to award fifty points to Peter Brandegoris, for bravely putting aside his fear and going to the aid of his friends at great personal risk."

Peter turned red as Susan kissed him noisily on the cheek. The Hufflepuffs looked at each other in wonder. Peter's points had put them ahead of Slytherin! Who would have thought that Hufflepuff House would ever place second in the race for the House Cup?

But the headmaster wasn't done. "Furthermore, to Maeve Moondaughter, for remaining true to herself and to the ideals of Hufflepuff House despite great danger and unspeakable odds, I award fifty points."

Maeve gasped, colored prettily, and smiled as Hannah and Susan threw their arms around her, shrieking ecstatically. The rest of the Hufflepuffs zeroed in on the third member of the trio. Peter got fifty points, and then Maeve did, and that only left…

Dumbledore paused dramatically, then nodded, as if to himself. "Finally, in recognition of his valiant efforts to give his friends courage to believe in themselves and make great things happen, and for having the courage to fight — be it against stereotype, circumstance, or even evil itself, I award sixty points to Mr. Christopher Holmstrom."

There was a dead silence as everyone in the Great Hall wondered who had won the House Cup. They'd never heard that name before. At the Hufflepuff table, everyone had frozen. The person who had won sixty points was not a Gryffindor. Who on earth was Christopher…Holmstrom?

Everyone looked wildly at the boy sitting behind the glazed ham. He was just the same — blond hair, blue eyes, a cocky grin and the oddest thing in his eyebrow. "That's me," Chris said in the strange accent a full term at Hogwarts had yet to erase.

Still, no one said anything, until…

"We've won the House Cup!" Peggy cried, her voice breaking.

The Hufflepuffs looked at each other, not daring to believe it. Finally, Justin, Ernie and Timothy jumped up, yelling wildly, and the Hufflepuff table went mad, stamping, shouting, slapping each other's backs. A dazed Professor Sprout was presented with the glittering trophy and fainted dead away. Chris tried to kiss Maeve, who dissolved into giggles. The Fat Friar whooped and did a few loop-the-loops amid the Great Hall's decorations that were changing from scarlet and gold to yellow and black.

Everyone else applauded good-naturedly as Hufflepuff House, after having waited in the wings for centuries, finally took the spotlight.

The next day, it was time to leave Hogwarts for the summer. That morning, students said good-bye and promised to write as they sat on their bulging school trunks to close them. Teachers went round the dormitories, handing out last-minute assignments and reminders not to use magic over the holidays. For her Hufflepuffs, Professor Sprout had a House Cup full of golden, sweet-smelling peaches. "I am so proud of all of you, my dears," she told them. "I still can't believe it!"

"Believe it, Professor Sprout," Justin said. The grin hadn't left his face since Dumbledore's announcement the night before.

"And it's all thanks to Hex—I mean, Chris," Ernie said.

"Of course not," Chris said modestly. "Remember what Dumbledore said about believing in yourself and making great things happen."

He took his peach, knapsack and school trunk down to the practice field, where he was going to take the Portkey to Maggie's. "It's too bad you can't take the train with us," Susan said. She, Maeve and Peter had come along to see Chris off.

"Yeah, well, I have to put in a day's work to make up for the times I missed," Chris said. "And anyway, I can catch the Knight Bus from anywhere."

"Will you have a place to stay in Brooklyn?" Peter asked.

"Yeah. I'll be staying with my boss for the summer." Tiny had sent another owl shortly before the quidditch final against Gryffindor to say that Social Services was going to let the boy stay with him.

"Will you be all right there?" Maeve asked.

"Yeah. Tiny's cool." Chris grinned. "He'll get a kick out of my Special Services to the School Award. How about you? Will you be OK with the Malfoys?"

"I'm sure I will."

"If they try anything, go straight to Maggie's like I told you." He kissed her cheek, then shook hands with Susan and Peter. "I'll try to write you guys."

"Same here," Peter said. "Take care."

"See you." Chris grinned one last time, grabbed hold of the Portkey, and disappeared.

THE END…

Concluding Remarks: I hope you guys didn't mind Hufflepuff beating Gryffindor for the House Cup. Like I said many chapters ago, when I first read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, I sincerely thought Harry was going to bring the "lot of duffers" to glory; but since he got Sorted into Gryffindor, I figured it was up to Hex to do it. And I hope he did his job well.

Well, here it is, the end of the story **wipes away a sentimental tear** I had a lot of fun writing this fic, and I hope you had as much fun reading it. Thanks to Tarawyn, Ina, liquidhigh, Dragonessa Smith, ColdCoffeeEyes25, Kiara5542, shmals, zoomphy, Chad-Pendragon, Tasia 202, Indigo Ziona, Rosmerta and Mal-adjusted for the oh-so-wonderful reviews. Thanks also to anyone else who silently followed this story to the end — I hope you enjoyed it, even if you didn't leave a review ;-)

At this point, I suppose I should put in a profound farewell message that will echo in the hearts of my readers for years, but I'm really no good with goodbyes. So…see you around :D ~ Ara Kane