Sunrise at Midnight

“Woah, woah, woah. Wait a second. You’re meaning to tell me that Harry literally burned Quirrell to death, Voldemort’s spirit attacked him, and Dumbledore broke the Philosopher’s Stone, so Nicolas Flamel died,” Rayne asked, bewildered at the entire story I had just told her as we walked to the Great Hall.

I nodded.

“Damn, I miss everything!”

I chuckled and swatted her arm. “Rayne! It’s not something to joke about! It was dangerous. And for some reason I have a feeling Harry is just gonna keep seeking trouble these next years.”

“Typical Potter,” she joked, picking something out of her nails.

I rolled my eyes at her tease and walked through the double doors into the Great Hall. Today was the End of Term feast, and tomorrow we would be heading back to Kings Cross, away from the castle for an entire summer. I wasn’t sure I was ready to leave the castle yet, but I was also excited to see what next year would bring.

“So, Nanny potter,” Rayne teased, causing me to laugh. The nicknames wouldn’t stop with her ever since they started. “Do tell me, where do you plan to stay this summer? Because my house is always open.”

I sighed. “I have the slightest idea. I might leave to the Burrow, maybe I’ll go with Harry if I can, wherever he’s staying, or I could always just go with you.”

“Oh, the Burrow, right. I forgot you like to spend your summer shagging the twins.”

I gasped and swatted her arm. She began to crack up laughing as we took a seat next to Dean Thomas, the boy who had told me where Harry was, and another random first year.

I greeted them and began to fill the plate in front of me with food when I heard a loud “Cling!” noise sound through the room.

I looked up, knowing immediately that it was Dumbledore grabbing our attention.

“Tonight is the End of Term feast, as you all know. I would like to thank all the students here in Hogwarts for another great year. Next year we hope will be even better than this year.”

Me and Rayne clapped and cheered along with the other students who were rousing with excitement.

“Now, I do believe that the House Cup needs awarding, yes?”

I groaned, already knowing who the winners this year would be. Like every year, the Slytherins had the most point - and we all had Professor Snape to thank for that reason.

The Slytherin table began to snicker and high-five each other as they looked at all of us in victory.

“But before we do, I believe there are some points to be awarded.”

Everyone’s head had now hopefully snapped up to Dumbledore. Dumbledore looked at the Gryffindor table, glancing at me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione with a smile.

“To Ronald Weasley in Gryffindor for playing the best wizard chess game in Hogwarts history and sacrificing himself to keep his friends going, I award Gryffindor with fifty points.”

The Gryffindor table clapped, giving Ron congratulatory pats on the back. I smiled at him and he smiled back.

“To Hermione Granger, for immense intelligence when friends were in danger, I award Gryffindor another fifty points!”

The Slytherin table began to exchange glances as we cheered for Hermione. Even other houses were clapping for the people being awarded points.

“To Harry Potter, for outstanding courage, and bravery, sixty points.”

The Gryffindor table was now cheering loudly. We were still tied with Slytherin, but I don’t think it mattered to us all.

“To Rosalie Potter, for courage, and selflessness. For the wish to help and save others, I award Gryffindor with thirty points!”

By this minute all three tables were cheering wildly, for Slytherin had finally been beaten in the House Cup. I was congratulated by several Gryffindors sitting around me.

“And finally, to Neville Longbottom. It takes much bravery to confront your enemies, but to confront your friends is the hardest. With that, I award Gryffindor ten points!”

I turned to Neville and mouthed congratulations. He looked astonished as to what had just happened, but I could tell he was proud of himself.

“I believe that a change of decoration in this Hall is necessary,” Dumbledore’s voice boomed.

With a clap of his hands, the dull, green banners of Slytherin were replaced by bright, flame red banners with the Gryffindor crest on them.

“And with that said, Gryffindor wins the House Cup this year!”

I stood up jumping and clapping with the other Gryffindor students, cheering loudly. I turned to the Slytherin table who were glaring and sneering at us. I stuck my tongue out at them and proceeded to hugging a very happy Rayne and a few other house members. I leaned over to the side to high-five Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville who were beaming.

And surprisingly, the other Houses had stood up as well. Except for Slytherin, the other two houses were jumping excitedly, hugging us and congratulating us and cheering. Hats were thrown up into the air.

Me and Rayne grinned and ran out of the Hall with the other students who were cheering happily. We lost the crowd and ran to an empty corridor, like we always did every end of term. We slumped down on the wall and let out large sighs.

“Another year gone, and here we are,” Rayne mumbled, smiling.

“I can’t believe for once we finally beat those blasted snakes,” I said in a rather cheerful tone.

She laughed and fist-pumped the air. “God, if you would have told me last year that we would win the House Cup this year, that you would find your brother, and that all of this would happen, I would have thought you were barking mad.”

I nodded. “Me too. But things change, stuff happens, right?”

She nodded and laughed. “I remember in our first year when we were in this very corridor, talking in the end of term.”

I couldn’t help but giggle at the remembrance. “Yeah, I also remember you throwing Bertie Botts at my face to annoy me as I talked about how funny the twins were, and how you should get to know them.”

“And I thought you were joking. But now I’m practically glued to those two blokes,” Rayne pointed out.

“Glued by the hip. All you guys do is prank! Hell, you pranked me this year with Peeves!”

“Well you were too busy with your brother,” she said, sticking out her tongue.

“Well, I did prank that snooty Slytherin first year, what’s her name? Pansy Parkinson?”

She gasped, putting a hand on her chest. “You pranked that pug without me? Gees, I see how it is.”

We chuckled and sat there in silence for a moment. This was always the best part of the day for me, getting to talk with Rayne about the year, recalling all the fun and memorable moments we shared. Talking about things we couldn’t believe had happened.

“How do you think it’s going to be,” I asked. “Three years from now? When we’re in our sixth year, preparing for our careers, Harry in his fourth year. How do you think it’ll be?”

Rayne sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know. Anything could happen. By that time, we could be in love. We could be alone. We could be working our way to becoming Ministry workers. Or we could be working our way to working at a simple shop in Diagon Alley.”

I nodded. “True, but I always think of that. I always jump to this. And what about when we’re out of Hogwarts? And Harry’s in his sixth year? Alone, here? I know this sounds so crazy, because I know he can take care of himself, but after what happened with the Stone, and Voldemort and Quirrell, I get the feeling this isn’t over yet.”

She let out another long sigh. “I actually have to agree with you. I feel like deep down it’s not over yet. But I’m pretty sure he can take care of himself, Nanny Potter,” she teased.

I flipped her off and she laughed at my gesture. I laughed with her and we stayed like that, laughing for a while, trying to forget the future, the past, the present. Just giggling like idiots in our own little world where no danger currently existed.