So...this was it. Whatever 'it' was.

He had heard numerous times from his parents how emotional and difficult it had been leaving Hogwarts, how it had become a home and a family, and as a first year crossing those boats across the Black Lake he too had been optimistic that this would be what his seven years accumulated to as well. But it hadn't and he could not WAIT to get out of here. Not because of all the danger he had experience at Hogwarts, from inferi to this term's time slip, but simply because he had out grown this place. He was ready for this chapter to finish so he could start on the next and finally be away from the monotony that was Hogwarts academia. No one's fault, as his ego would finally acknowledge, and simply a matter of the required courses here not aligning with his own ambitions.

And now, well, now he was finally free to indulge in his interests. He honestly could not wait to head off to university in Kyoto and study Asian Alchemy under some of the most prestigious alchemists from the region.

Despite his certainty there were some...reservations. Hogwarts may not have impacted him the same way his parents romanticized their experience, but there were people who had. One brunette in particular who he took a moment to look for over at the Ravenclaw table once he had settled in to the Slytherin one. He really just wanted to skip this formality and find somewhere to be with her, but he also ... remarkably ... found that he felt like he owed it to himself to not do that.

Probably Nina's fault.

His last time sitting here under the enchanted ceiling. As a student, at least. He nearly cracked a nostalgic sort of smile as he looked up at it and caught the glimpse of a shooting star streak across it. Nearly. It was there if you knew what you were looking for.

Would Claudine be lying if she said she was happy for the term to end? No. No, she wouldn't be. Between the whole dramatics that occurred at Hogwarts this year {which was certainly more dramatic than the two previous years in her opinion}and her and Bernie's fight, the girl was exhausted. Yes, this went for both mentally and physically. All she was looking forward to was a nice, peaceful summer. There weren't any plans beyond sketching and visiting DA. Being introverted meant that she was selective with whom she chose to spend time with and for this reason, it wasn't often that she would agree to a sleepover or pool party. Unless of course, said activity was being held at the Blaze Mansion then she would spend a bit of time with the family before hiding. Social activities were too draining.

Claudine took a seat at the Slytherin table, careful to sit away from Eiji the Forever Brooding. If there was one seventh year she would be happy to see the back of, it was him. Making sure to keep her gaze averted from the Gryffindor table, it instead turned to the staff table where Schmoe and Williamson were among the seated.

Was it just her or did Williamson look grumpier than usual? Claudine had become quite used to the man's moods by now and was presently sitting there wondering if she had inadvertently done something wrong with the creatures that afternoon. Something bad enough to make the man even more grumpy.

The year was finally over. Curtis was glad to be able to leave this horrid school again. He couldn't remember much of what happened this year and perhaps that's for the best. Didn't he get in trouble at least once? Probably. But who cares. So here he was at the table, he had to say goodbye to certain folks forever which was the only damper. But that can wait.

"Hey Claudine," Curtis said as he plopped himself next to her at the table. He couldn't venture off just yet so for now he was here with his attention only on those nearby.

First half of the term = O+. Aboli had enjoyed it thoroughly, and much more than homeschool. The loneliness was gone - well, the surface level loneliness at least. But now was not the time to delve into it; it was the feast, and with everything back to normal, it was a cause for celebration! She could send letters again! Ziggy had sent pictures of Liam first thing she could, and Aboli could tell her smallest brother had grown so much. The sixteen year old thought she might actually cry when she finally saw them at King's Cross tomorrow.

Anywaaaay!

She plopped down next to Curtis, waved at Claudine, and glowered at Eiji. Wasn't he leaving? Good. He AND stupid Missa were leaving, and Aboli couldn't say she was sad about it.

Holly had no idea how it was the end of term already and she was going home tomorrow - but she knew she couldn't wait to see Cam at King's Cross tomorrow afternoon.

As soon as they could send post, she had messaged him to let him know she was safe, telling him at the end of the letter that he would be at the station to "pick her up" even if she didn't need him to do that anymore. There was nooooo way she wasn't going to hug him until she couldn't breath. Liam too, mind. The Slytherin had been terrified for a bit in the middle there, that she wouldn't get to hug either of them, or her parents, agan.

Now, she wanted to hug them all, have an irn bru, eat some ice cream and go for a swim in the Clyde. It sounded like the best afternoon to the almost-Seventh year. Merlin.

Seventh year next year and she still had no idea what she wanted to do after she graduated other than something to do with Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Though, at least she had that going for her.

Lifting her goblet, Holly took a drink as she surveyed the hall and pondered what it would be like to be one of the older students - and which of the staff members (if any) wouldn't be returning.

Nina felt heavy. To think that four and a half years ago, Hogwarts was the last place she wanted to be. Now, the thought of leaving it behind was one that filled her with absolute dread. It wasn't really the castle she would miss or the people (she knew the ones she loved would still be part of her life), it was the comfort. Hogwarts was comfortable.

She paused just in front of the entrance way before making her way into the Great Hall. It was funny how this term involved traveling through time when time felt like the one thing they didn't have enough of. And though she did not particularly enjoy the feasts, she did appreciate the time spent with Eiji at their isolated end of the table (with the little bit of common sense their schoolmates had, at least they knew to leave the two of them to themselves). When she saw him from afar, a smile easily made its way onto her face. He came.

He would thank her for it some day.

She didn't bother greeting any of the other Slytherin's present at the table (hopefully by this point they knew it wasn't anything personal... she just didn't like any of them). Nina looked around sadly as she slipped onto the bench next to her friend. "Can you believe it?" Nina could, but she didn't want to. There was also... something else she didn't want to believe, though it had been easy not to up until this point. He hadn't told her and she hadn't asked. Pretending was easy when two people had a shared understanding of avoiding the topic. There wasn't a point in avoiding any longer though, she knew that. So after some hesitation, she looked up at him. People had a lot of opinions of Eiji Rasting, but none of those mattered. He was one of the best people Hogwarts had given her and it hurt her knowing that their time together would be limited from this point forward. But the deep sadness she felt in this regard was opposed by both pride and understanding. "How long does it take a letter to reach Japan?"

She wasn't looking for an answer to the question so much as she was waiting for confirmation of an assumption.

Judging by the snippets of conversation Nem had been listening into here and there, practically everyone was just sooo glad to be going home tomorrow. Bunch of kids couldn't handle a little mortal peril, which clearly wasn't even that mortal, given everyone had come out of it unscathed. Of all the things to cry about.

Things had turned out unexpectedly well for Nemesis Upstead, but they'd kept their success closely under wraps for the past few weeks. But now it was the last day, the End of Term Feast, and Nem strode confidently into the Great Hall, headed straight for old Emo Rasting (now with added Cast-emo), and silently slid into the seat directly across from them. Nem had suddenly shot up a few inches in the very recent past, and could definitely tell the difference even when sitting down amongst other students.

Paying no attention to the seventh years right away, Nem glanced towards the Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff tables, up at the Staff Table - there was Walter White (had he remembered the baby knarl yet?), the Human Noodle, and Eris - then scanned the rest of the Slytherins present, before looking right at the double act across the table and unceremoniously butting into their whatevering.

"Signed the book yet?" Nem's voice seemed to have suddenly dropped a full octave in the past few weeks, with the cracking and squeaking now strangely absent (keeping mostly silent until today hadn't been difficult in the slightest). Any difference in the face was less obvious for the moment, which would work to their advantage until they got home. "I'm sure you'll have loads of wisdom to put in there, smart boy like you," they said to Rasting, real friendly like. Nem then looked towards Castillo, mouth opening as though to extend the compliment... before apparently deciding to opt instead for a nice smile.

He was mostly oblivious to the arrival of his younger housemates, not that it really would have mattered as there seemed a mutual agreement to moderate to severe disdain and therefore no need for any form of pleasantries. He imagined that his sister was having a very different sort of feast over at the Hufflepuff table, though he had no desire to peek over and see. Instead he was perfectly content to observing the enchanted sky and counting constellations and specific stars that were beneficial to certain processes when his thoughts were interrupted by one of the few people who could interrupt him without any real risk of salty backlash: Nina.

He figured that her first question was a rhetorical one, so he did not bother addressing that. Instead he answered her second without much hesitation. Their unspoken contract had to be broken at some point and the feast before the headmaster's speech seemed as good a time as any. "A few days. Then the owl needs a day or so to recover before taking with a return letter, though that recovery time is optimum since one would require a bit of time to write the reply." His gaze finally lowered and sifted to her warm chocolate eyes, eyes he had become entirely too familiar with and it was taking every fiber of him not to begin feeling a bit choked up about their inevitable absence. The inevitable lack of companionship that had become part of the backbones of his life.

Dammit, Nina. Your emotional wiles were rubbing off on him and confusing some of his salt for sugar.

"I'll be in Kyoto. You can come visit whenever you'd like." Without the "puppy", preferably but whatever.

Despite the topic, this felt like one of the most normal moments of term. Sitting at the Slytherin table in a self imposed isolation with the only person who could tolerate him and had wiggled her way into his inner circle. Into his heart. But then it was invaded by none other than that particularly irritating younger she-snake. It was uncanny how often he had found himself agreeing with her in classes and yet...they clearly could not stand each other. Which made him wonder why all she was doing was speaking to him. Oh wait...no...no he understood why. Maybe. Nina hated being ignored and unacknowledged. Nemesis was quite literally killing two fwoopers with one stone and doing so in the same breath.

"No," he replied as graciously as possible. "Not yet." Though the third year's arrival was an indication enough that now was a mighty fine time to go do just that. "...been drinking growth potions ever since magic returned, have you?" The sudden spurt in height was obvious and he could tell that he would no longer be looking DOWN whenever speaking to Nemesis but much closer to eye level were they to both be standing. Another big 'no thank you'. He wouldn't comment on the peculiarity of the voice, not yet. But if it was an indication of catching a cold...then that was another 'no thank you'.

In fact...

"Maybe I ought to go sign that Memory Book now. Just...get it over with."

Isla never thought she'd be do happy to see the final feast of the year come, yet, she most definitely was. It wasn't that she wanted to leave Hogwarts or the people here, but there'd been a point in the term where she thought she'd never ever make it out again. She thought she'd never see her family again. As sad as she was to say goodbye to school for the summer, she was super excited to see the outside world again!

"Happy graduation, Eiji," she said, although knowing him, there was something he was still sad about. She never could quite figure out that boy. Then there was Claudine, whose name she finally remembered. She gave the girl a little smile in greeting, even though Claudine never seemed happy to see Isla. Whatever that was about. She gave a little wave toward everyone else, too, and then she took a seat kind of in the midst of things.

Oh, look! Curtis! She hadn't had a good talk with him since...the start of term feast? Weird. She remembered when she hid Maleficent in her robes and enlisted Curtis' help in hiding her for the remainder of the term. That hadn't exactly worked out for her, though, and Maleficent was soon heading home to stay home. Anyway...she was hungry, and the train ride was a little too long for comfort, so it was surely time time to eat now. Hmm?

Interesting. Jillian feels something about this but she can't quite understand it. She's relieved that the year is finally over and that she can get home to plan for her summer. On the other hand, she's graduating which is weird. She should be emotional about this right? Like the ones she heard from her aunt's stories from before but so far she feels............. just okay? Is that weird? Is she weird?

Truth be told she has finished packing up a few days ago already. Every part of her bedroom is spotless clean. She didn't leave anything behind, not even her Slytherin scarf- one that she always does every year. Before leaving the room she made one quick glance at it and it made her heart quiver. Jillian is going to miss this place the most. Taking a few deep breaths she then shook her head and walked toward the great hall.

End of the term feast. Much awaited.

Soaking up the entire thing, a small smile formed her lips when she entered the hall. This will be her last time walking around here. Her last time dining on the Slytherin table. Her last time in this uniform. Huh. So that's what they meant when they said 'emotional'. Plus she needs to write in the memory book as well. Maybe in a bit... She smiled when she passed by Nina who was sitting next to Eiji but then... he uhhhh, left. The seventh year Slytherin approached Aboli who was sitting next to Curtisand Claudine. She smiled at the two Slytherins as well.

Sitting right next to Aboli she propped her elbows on the table "Hey, you excited for summer vacation" she asked. Who wasn't really? They were at Hogwarts for an entire term. She is betting everyone in this room right now is excited for summer vacation.

Nina watched her friend silently as he answered her question. She was unfortunately all too aware that these were the moments she would miss the most. The small, everyday things. The conversations you couldn’t prepare for no matter had long you had to think them over in your head first. Time spent with her favorite people. Eiji Rasting. She knew one day she would feel grateful for having something that made it so hard to leave, but for now she allowed herself to feel sad. Because if there is one thing that stayed consistent as opposed to contradictory throughout her time at this school, it was just how much she felt all the damn time.

And then he said the words, the ones that confirmed what she had pretended not to know this entire year. The ones that made her stomach drop a little. Even though it didn’t feel quite as horrible as she had anticipated it would, it still did not feel great. She gave him a sad sort of smile. ”I will.” And she would bring Calyx with her because she still had not given up on the potential of friendship in that regard. ”And I expect that you will visit me each time you find yourself in London.” Because that is where she would be (officially). Hers was not an offer in the same way his was. It was a demand.

She wished she could latch on to this forever, uninterrupted. All the time in the world. But just like many of the heartfelt moments Hogwarts had to offer, all was cut short with the arrival of an intolerable nuisance. This one came in the form of one Nemesis Upstead. Whatever Nemesis had to say, Nina did not want to hear it!!!

………………………………………….

Until he decided to undermine her by ignoring her entirely??? Had she given herself a proper moment to think it over, she would have come to the likely conclusion that Nemsis did this entirely on purpose just to upset her. As it was, she reacted without allowing herself the moment to think and upset her it did! She fixed them with a glare, before turning to Eiji. ”I’ll go up with you.”

Blake was rather excited for the end of the term - he felt like this term had lasted forever even though it hadn't really. But he was happy to be where he was at. Ready to take on 4th year and maybe ... just maybe there would be a normal year at Hogwarts!

Austin smiled. It was the end of the year already? It seemed to fly by. Austin quitly found his seat away from everyone, he knew the benches would fill up fast but he wanted to be alone, at least for a minute. He gave a small wave to his classmates. He never did get used to talking but he did get better at it, just some days were better then others.

Usually, Claudine liked to be left alone but this was an exception to the people she liked. One such person was Curtis. “Hi, Curtis. Feeling as hungry as I am?’’ she asked as an icebreaker. Yes, she was indeed hungry. It was just one of those phases. Oh, Aboli was joining them. Claudine liked her too. “Hi, Aboli. You look extra chipper tonight.’’ Spotting the Slytherin that was Ms. Perfect Isla, she nodded in return to the smile. The third year wondered if Isla and Bernadette were as good friends still as she thought they were.

Jillian was probably the only seventh year of this batch that she would miss. Claudine always thought that the girl was a capable prefect. “Good look for the future, Jillian.” Oh, look. It was big baby Blake. He was pointedly ignored.

"Right, right. Follower, not a leader. I get you," Nem said to Rasting, with a small nod. They did not expand on the idea, and instead just leaned forward on the table, arms folded as they drummed their fingers on the wood and grinned. "See what I mean? Those powers of observation, just..." Nem did an unmistakable 'chef kiss' sort of gesture. "... unparalleled."

And you know what. It just wouldn't have been right if Nem had not elicited at least one more glare from Castillo before the term officially ended, but that was not an eventuality they had really believed would come to pass. It was almost too easy. She just got another pleasant smile, to reflect her own sunny disposition.

Go get it over with, huh? "That's the spirit," Nemesis drew their gaze from the two older Slytherins and went back to scanning the table again, content expression in place. "You kids have fun." No doubt they wouldn't be returning to those seats once they were all finished with the Anthology of Sentimentalism. So sad.

Nem would just have to learn to live with that, they supposed.

The greeting from Isla took him by surprise, not just in that she was speaking to him but also that she had failed to offer the same congratulatory message to Nina. How the tables had turned, that was two people in a row now that had ignored Nina. How did she like them apples? It was QUITE reminiscent of all the times her little flock of male attention would swoop in and ignore his presence - not that having the attention of either Isla or Nemesis was anything in particular to brag about. "Something like that," he mused a bit while pushing his form into a more parallel position with his spoon before looking at the second year more properly. "...but thank you."

There. He had been...nice. Nicer. Happy was just not a feeling he felt in the moment unless one squinted and interpreted relief that way.

His hazel-green eyes briefly fell on Jillian for a moment as she arrived at the table, though she was soon situating herself near that snot of a fifth year and the seventh year quickly turned his gaze back on Nina. Nina who should know better than to bring someone else along for a visit because if she came...he wanted to see her. He would be missing HER and any other person there would be an unwanted interruption and intruder to a reunion. Chances of a friendship would, frankly, plummet out of pure spite. "Naturally,"he nodded gently with a sly sort of smirk curling the corners of his lips. "Maybe I'll even let you paint my nails again."

He had to work hard not to roll his eyes at Nemesis. Perhaps he had been a bit too harsh in thinking Aboli as the little snot. THIS one was the real snot and that pseudo cute little kiss just now elicited an involuntary click of his tongue in irritation.

"Come on," he groaned as he pushed himself up off the bench and nearly grabbed Nina's hand for emphasis. "Let's get this signing over with..." And his eyes flicked towards the third year. "...before she gives me a real reason to be irritated."

Was he irritated right now? Absolutely. But it was a low simmer and like a pesky mosquito buzzing around his ear.

Nodding his head towards the podium first, Eiji turned away from the Slytherin table and began walking over. He had no idea what he was going to write but he definitely wasn't going to 'have fun' doing it.

Jillian had arrived; Aboli thought the Slytherin prefect was the BEST prefect on campus, UNLIKE MISSA, but she smiled at the seventh year broadly. "Actually...I'm like....super excited. I missed my family a lot, and my baby brother has grown SO much while I couldn't get pictures of him. He looks like an entirely different kid..." she sighed a little, but tried not to feel too wistful because she would be HOME. TOMORROW. "What are your big graduation plans, then? Are you sad...happy...or both? About leaving here. Probably forever. To like..never return." Aboli tried to look as innocent as possible. But she really wanted to gauge how Jillian responded to the question.

Extra chipper? Her? Aboli Solomon Song? WELL DUH. The fifth year turned to smile at Claudine. "Hey. Yeah of course I am! Summer break! A little refresher before whatever happens next term." Which hopefully wouldn't involve almost disappearing entirely from Earth. "How are you NOT extra chipper?" she broooooowed the slightly younger snake.

Claudine could see why Aboli was bouncier than usual. The prospect of a Hogwarts-free few months was very enticing and one that she too was looking forward to. The third year shrugged. “Well, I am but I guess I’m not as open as you are when it comes to showing how I feel.’’ Claudine shrugged, smiling slightly. “I don’t mean that you being more open is a bad thing.’’ Everyone had their own personalities, after all. “Sticking around at home for the summer or are you visiting places?’’

The Slytherin hadn’t seen Heath enter the Great Hall, nor did she see him as he took his seat at the Ravenclaw table. In fact, it was only until she glanced over there again, he was already seated and seemed to be greeting his fellows. Not sure if she was going to catch his eye, Claudine divided her attention between the Ravenclaw table and Headmaster Trent giving his speech. She did note that the man seemed to be more motivational than usual tonight but was not surprised given all that had taken place recently.

"Whatever may come, we and Hogwarts, will continue to endure."

In this girl’s opinion, it seemed Trent was anticipating hardships for Hogwarts in the future. With a sigh, she reached for food to put on her plate. Couldn't Hogwarts be peaceful next term?

Nina was not bitter about being ignored.

Not bitter when Nemesis did it. Not bitter when the little girl (Isla) did it. Not bitter at all whatsoever. Nina was NOT BITTER. She was, however, frowning (though of course this had nothing to do with being ignored because that did not bother her at all). Not at all!! She did briefly return Jillian’s smile though because at least SOMEONE had manners. And to all those who would point out that Nina had also ignored everyone and that she was being hypocritical, Nina Castillo would say that she doesn’t care! She was NOT upset about being ignored! But if she WERE to care, she would point out that Eiji had ignored everyone else too and that if she were to be ignored, he should be receiving the same treatment! But again, she did not care.

The only thing she cared about was her current conversation with Eiji because she would not let an unfortunate third year ruin her heartfelt moment. ”I look forward to it.” Maybe things would be alright after all. She was starting to feel a little more at ease now, even though she had hoped her suspicions had been false. Long distance wasn’t the end. She had managed it with Navid for all this time and she’d manage it with Eiji too.

She rose from the bench, gave Nemesis one more pointed look, and nodded at Eiji. Writing in the memory book was something Nina had thought about for weeks. Though she knew what she wanted to write, she was still a touch intimidated by the prospect that her words would remain untouched in the book forever. They had to be right because they were permanent. So... she had planned to make her way over to the podium later in the night. Unfortunately, their present company was souring her mood so she followed Eiji without any hesitation.

Not until the emo twins had stood and walked away from the table did Nemesis flick their eyes towards the pair's retreating backs. Once again, they ignored Castillo and zeroed in on Rasting, but not for her benefit this time.

Face impassive but eyes glinting, Nem followed their progress across the hall, turning that little parting shot over in their mind. But it could wait; by tomorrow, Rasting might even be let in on the secret that his appraisal of their character was woefully underinformed. Maybe. Maybe not. Once Tweedledum and Tweedle-dumber had reached the book, Nem turned their attention instead to the staff dais, where they watched the interactions from afar with an expression of abject boredom now plastered across their features.

Until, at least, there was the speech. Blah blah blah, yadda yadda, et cetera et cetera. Once that was over, Nem arched their back and stretched out both their arms - upwards and sideways - before sliding off the bench and away from the table, heading over instead to join the Ravenclaws for the remainder of the feast.

Holly was distracted, her mind was too busy recounting the different firms, universities, lecturers and specialists she had written letters to since their magic had been righted, and letters could make it away from the Castle grounds. Would any of them grant her an apprenticeship over the Summer? She'd done the one with the Ministry a few years back, and although she had had a pretty decent time there she didn't think it would do much to help her specialise in Arithmancy or Ancient Runes. Preferably both, if she could find a way to manage it.

Resting her chin in her hand, her finger drew patterns on her fork handle for a few minutes before she even realised that Professor Trent was talking to them. Whoops. Sitting up straighter, she listened to the end of but realised she'd likely missed anything important as he'd have said that first. Ah well.

...... Wait.

She blinked and looked around the table, a slightly confused look on her face. The Seventh years were grauating... that... that meant that she would be a Seventh year after Summer. She knew it of course, had been studying hard for her NEWTs as she could (especially now her memory was better again) and she [i]knew[/] this was her last summer before she graduated but yet it hadn't all fallen into place and clicked.

She let out a soft 'oh' and looked around again, silently letting that little nugget of knowledge seep into her brain properly. Sometimes, she told herself, you can ignore the most obvious facts.

"Starved. It should be illegal to wait this long for a meal." Curtis said. "Summer plans?" Well, well, not too long after he sat down he found the company just surrounding him. All girls. Well, of course, I am good looking. Curtis couldn't help smirking at this, though it could easily pass as him being happy around friends. "Hey Abs," He said to Aboli, who he thinks is hot stuff aside from being a bit enthusiastic. Could they exchange owls later for the summer? Yeah? It was nice to Isla after their first dilemma, he was saved some trouble when her pet didn't need to be kept a secret for long. He did return the smile from Jillian, why were the hot older girls leaving? He sighed, if you didn't know his thoughts, you'd assume he was just bored, especially during the ending speech.

Sixth year, here we go. Curtis wondered if he'd be homeschooled again after all this. He had missed his Papa from the lack of contact and could see himself under lockdown again over it. Maybe if my O.W.L results are good enough I can have fun. Aside from that, he looked towards the Ravenclaw table. Chloe was going away forever, maybe it isn't too late to say goodbye to her.. oh and Ewan too, he guessed.