Chapter 21 - Final chapter

Santana woke up in the hospital wing for the second time, this time with her head aching so badly she could hardly open her eyes. She groaned quietly, raising her hand to cover her forehead, like if she pushed hard enough she could stop the pounding. She wasn't sure, but she was actually pretty sure that one of the Gryffindor beaters had hit a bludger at her. Slimy gits. She was going to get them back for that, and if she had a scar, they were in real trouble. Dropping her hand, she let out a long sigh and tried to open her eyes. She squinted, giving her eyes time to adjust to the light and took in the room. 

She was quite alone. Even Mrs Pomfrey who could usually be seen milling about, preparing one thing or another was absent from the room. Santana sat up, slowly so as not to aggravate her head, and propped herself against the pillows. What would her mother say if she saw her in a hospital bed once again? She chuckled at the thought, then her eyes widened, she gasped and her laugh turned into a cough as she choked. Her father had been watching. He had seen her get hit and fall to the ground. Why wasn't he by her side? 

Her head protested each cough she let out, punishing her with sharp stabs of pain on each temple. She needed to stop coughing. Her hand drifted back to her forehead, thumb and fingers pressing into each temple as she turned to the table by her bed side in search for water. 

She paused. 

A large trophy, at least four feet tall, stood magnificently on the table. Its shiny silver coat reflected the sun rays streaming in from the window behind Santana's bed, giving off the effect that it was glowing. 

Santana's mouth hung open as she reached out for it. It was lighter than it looked, but still heavy enough for her to need two hands to lift it into her lap. She couldn't help admiring it, simple as it was. Plain silver, with three handles, one on each side and one in front, and a snitch standing proudly at the top. She ran her finger over the curve of the wings, in a daze. 

So Slytherin had won. Travis had caught the snitch. She'd scored before he caught the snitch. They'd won.

"Ah you're awake." Madam Pomfrey came bustling into the room carrying a large tray in one hand and a pile of cloths in the other. She dropped the cloths on the first bed she passed, and walked purposefully to towards Santana. "How do you feel dear?"

"Head hurts." Santana mumbled, looking back at the cup. 

"I hear it was quite the match." Madam Pomfrey said, and Santana could hear her amusement. "Your teammates say it all came down to you."

Santana looked up sharply. "They were here?"

"Who do you think brought that cup?"

"Well where are they?"

"I sent them off. You need rest, and they were making quite a racket."

"Oh." Santana's nodded solemnly. 

"They'll be back. Now enough of this for now." She picked the trophy off Santana's lap and all but slammed it onto the table. 

"Hey careful with that!" Santana said, flinging her hand out to steady the wobbling. 

"Come now." Madam Pomfrey scoffed. She dropped the tray onto Santana's lap and lifted the lid off. "Eat up, you need a full belly for your medicine. Then you can leave."

Santana obeyed immediately. She wanted to get out of here and find Quinn. She needed to know what had happened. 

  *****************

She ran into Brittany as she left the hospital wing. Literally ran into her. The cup was so big it blocked her view, and she had been running, wanting to get to the Slytherin common room as quickly as possible. Brittany nearly fell, but steadied herself against the wall. Santana was more worried about the quidditch cup, which she'd nearly dropped. When she was sure it was fine, she lowered it to the floor beside her and looked at Brittany. 

"Are you okay?"

"Santana!" Brittany said, flinging her arms around her neck and squeezing. "You scared me."

"People get hurt in quidditch all the time."

"But it was so scary seeing you fall like that. You looked dead."

"Oh please." Santana chuckled, pulling out of the hug. "It's just a bludger."

"To the head!"

"Hey listen," she gripped Britany's arm, "what happened?"

"You got hit by the bludger and Madam Hooch went mad cause the snitch had just been caught, so the game was over, but that was a foul. Everyone was-"

"Yeah but…how did he catch the snitch? Was it close?"

Brittany screwed up her mouth, looking up in thought.

"I didn't see actually. I was watching you."

"Okay." Santana bent to pick up the trophy again, but was stopped by Brittany. She frowned at her. "Britt I have to go find-"

"You scared me." Brittany said again, looking into Santana's eyes. "And I couldn't come in to see you cause practically the whole of Slytherin was in there…I just…you're sure you're okay?"

Santana realised with a jolt that Brittany was genuinely worried about her. Like Quinn or Leon would be. Suddenly she felt really bad for scaring Brittany like that, even though it wasn't her fault she got hit by a bludger. 

"Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be letting me out if I wasn't would she?" 

Though she nodded, Brittany still looked uneasy. 

"Britt…"

Brittany held out her hand, pinkie pointed at Santana. "Promise?"

Santana frowned at it, unsure what she was supposed to do. "Yeah I promis-"

"No." Brittany shook her head. "Give me your pinkie."

Confused, Santana stuck out her pinkie and held it up. Brittany wrapped her own pinkie around Santana's, smiling softly. 

"Pinkie promise."

"How's that different from a normal promise?"

"You can't break it. It's like the most serious promise you can ever make."

Santana nodded, tightening her pinkie round Brittany's. 

"Pinkie promise then. I'm okay."

"Okay." Brittany stepped back and dropped her hand. 

"Great. Come on." Santana picked up the trophy and broke into a jog. "I need to find Quinn or Sebastian or someone to tell me what exactly happened."

  ****************

Brittany told her everyone had gone to their common rooms, which meant they had to part ways. Santana actually wished Britany could just come with her, but she knew there was no way any Slytherin would let her past the entrance. She hated waving goodbye to Brittany at the bottom of the stairs, but Brittany kept insisting that it was fine. They agreed to meet up before dinner, which put a smile on Brittany's face and made Santana feel a little better, but her walk down the corridor still felt a little heavy. Brittany had been waiting to see her all day, and Santana had given her less than five minutes of attention.

The chaos that she walked into in the Slytherin common room scrubbed her guilt from her mind though. Someone called out, 'hey it's Santana' and then all hell broke loose. Everyone was cheering and clapping and patting her on the back. Before she knew it she was lifted onto someone's shoulder and paraded around the common room as people chanted 'Lopez for the win.'

She spotted Leon and Willow dancing enthusiastically in the corner to the tune of the chant, Quinn and Sebastian clapping along beside them. A large grin spread her lips. 

"Alright, alright." She called. "Put me down."

With both feet back on the floor. Santana fought her way through the crowd to her friends. Leon came to her, snatching the cup and hugging her so tight he lifted her in the air. 

"Enough with the lifting me up." She giggled. 

"You made me proud little sis." He said, tousling her hair. "Dad too."

"You saw him?"

"Yeah. He came to check on you in the hospital wing, but had to go."

Santana nodded, feeling disappointed. 

"You actually did it, you crazy witch." Sebastian laughed, thumping Santana on the back so hard she stumbled forward. "I never doubted you."

"So tell me what happened." Santana said eagerly. 

"It was bloody wicked." Quinn said, pushing Sebastian out of the way. "Gryffindor seeker saw the snitch first, but Travis was quick. Caught up with him easily."

"They were neck and neck." Leon said. "Trying to push each other, kick each other's brooms, anything to get ahead."

"Then you took off." Willow said smiling. "At first no one really knew what you were doing."

"But then you knocked the quaffle out of Becket's hands-"

"He was so stunned he didn't even move for ten solid seconds."

"Thick troll." Leon laughed shaking his head.

"And then you threw the quaffle, and got hit by the bludger and Travis caught the snitch, all at the same time!" Sebastian exclaimed. 

"What do you mean at the same time?" Santana asked, frowning.

"Madam Hooch had to consult with the other professors whether you'd scored before the snitch was caught, that's how close it was."

"Snape and McGonagall weren't allowed to vote." Willow said. "But they all agreed to give it to you because of the foul bludger."

"You should have heard Walsh screaming about Swanson zoning out like the git he is while you scored." Quinn laughed. "She was red in the face."

"I would be too if my keeper had drifted so far from the post." Leon said. "How thick can you get?"

"Good on you for seeing the opportunity Santana." Willow said, nudging her shoulder. "Even Slytherin players were just watching the seekers."

"What made you actually? Travis said you told him to get the snitch." Sebastian asked. 

"I knew it was only a matter of time before Gryffindor seeker got it. I figured better to win the match.-"

"No what made you go for one more goal?"

Santana debated answering honestly, but decided she ought to give credit where it was due.

"Brittany."

"Brittany?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah. She's the one that pointed out how open the posts were."

"Hmm" Sebastian grunted, looking thoughtful.

"Who's Brittany?" Leon asked. 

"Gryffindor first year." Santana told him. 

"Oh." He scowled. "The one you went into the forest to-"

"Leon." Willow said quietly, her hand running soothingly up his arm, across his shoulder and resting on his chest. She leaned into his ear. "You said you were going to let that go." Leon let out a breath and nodded. "Thank you." She kissed his cheek. 

Santana looked away quickly, clenching her jaw. 

"Anyway, we're celebrating tonight." Sebastian said. "With a party after dinner."

"A party?" Santana asked. 

"Yeah. Everyone's agreed to pitch in with snacks they got from their Hogsmeade trips, there's even pumpkin juice!" he said excitedly. 

"Wow." Santana's eyebrows rose. 

"All in your honour. Well, the whole team's honour."

"But really it's yours." Quinn whispered. 

Santana grinned. "Brilliant."

  *******************

"What's a Gytrash?" Santana asked, underlying a sentence in her notes. She looked up at Brittany, who several seconds later hadn't answered the question. 

"I don't know." Brittany cried, dropping her head onto the table. 

"Oh come on." Santana pulled Brittany's head up gently by her ponytail. Brittany pouted at her. "You're good with animals."

"That's an animal?" Brittany asked with eyed eyes. 

Santana chuckled. 

"Yes….well…..we're studying defense against the dark arts so it's a…" she cocked her head, waiting. 

"Dark creature."

"Exactly." Santana let go of her ponytail, but Brittany simply let her head fall back down. "Brittany." She giggled. 

"Santana I'm going to fail. I've never even heard of a guitar ash before in my life."

Santana licked her lips, holding back her laugh. 

"Gytrash" she corrected. "And of course you have. Professor Lupin taught it to us before Easter."

"What is it then?" Brittany lifted her head, pouting. 

"A dog-like-spirit-"

"Oh the dog ghost!" Brittany sat up straighter. "I remember. It's all white with black eyes and a forked tail."

Santana blinked at her, having to look down at her book to confirm the description. "Yeah." She said, slightly stunned. 

"It lives in the forests in Great Britain, and likes the shadows."

"So what's the defense?" Santana asked, quickly getting over her shock.

"The wand-light thing…" Brittany smiled impishly. 

"Britt." Santana said sternly.

"I can't remember all these names and spells Santana." 

"How do you remember the names of all the animals that come into your parents' shop?" 

Brittany's parents owned and operated the animal menagerie in Diagon Alley. Much like Santana had grown up in St Mungo's, Brittany had grown up with animals. 

"That's different." Brittany said quietly, looking down at her book. "It took me all my life to learn those animals."

"Just because you've known something all your life doesn't mean it took you that long to learn it. It didn't take me twelve years to learn Quidditch. You have a system for remembering them."

"What do you mean?" Brittany asked, her eyebrow quirked. 

"Like with this Gytrash, you remembered it after I said dog. Which means when professor Lupin was explaining, that's what your brain latched onto. Something familiar. Once you remembered that, you remembered everything else."

"How does that help me when it comes to spells?"

Santana took out a bare piece of parchment from her bag and stretched it out on the table. She began writing down all the spells she could remember off the top of her head that they would need to know for either Charms, Transfiguration and Defencs against the dark arts. Brittany watched her in silence, not even asking what she was doing. 

Finally, when she couldn't think of any more, she put down her quill and turned the parchment so Brittany could see. 

"We just have to find a way to connect these words with what the spell does so you remember it."

Brittany frowned, looking up from the paper.

"But the exam is tomorrow."

Santana hated how defeated she sounded. 

"That's plenty of time. Besides not all of these spells are for defense against the dark arts."

Brittany bit her lip anxiously, reading through the list again. To get her attention, Santana gently gripped her hand.

"If you don't think you can do it, you won't." 

Taking a deep breath, Brittany nodded. 

"You're right. Let's at least try. It can't hurt right?" 

"Right." Santana smiled. "The first one's easy. Mucus ad Nauseam." 

"How is that easy?"

"It's the curse of the bogies." Brittany continued to stare at her blankly, so Santana continued her explanation. "It a curse that gives the person a really bad cold and an extremely runny nose."

"Okay." Brittany said slowly. "Bogies like….boogers."

"Exactly like boogers. And the incantations is Mucus, ad, nauseam." She said it slowly, to make sure Brittany caught on. 

"Mucus." Brittany repeated, grinning. "To give people a runny nose. That is easy."

"Great." Santana put a check on the paper next to the spell. "We'll come back to that in a bit to see if you remember. Next is the red sparks. Incantation, Vermillious."

  ********************

Exam week flew by. Santana spent every spare moment helping Brittany revise. Some things they did in a group, like Herbology, which no one understood, but for the most part she and Brittany kept to themselves. Santana didn't want Brittany getting embarrassed, which she often did when around their other friends. She knew that Brittany would be less likely to admit to not understanding something if Quinn and Sebastian were there, especially when Quinn kept calling Sam stupid the one time they'd joined them for potions revision. Once Santana had figured out the trick to getting Brittany to understand and remember spells and incantations, their time spent studying passed with much less frustration on Brittany's part. 

On the last day of exams, the entire student body seemed as tired as Santana felt. It was like her brain had melted, or been replaced by a solid stone. The idea of opening a book had her wanting to jump off the astronomy tower. With all the studying she'd done with Brittany, and then the additional time Quinn made her put in after dinner in their common room, Santana never wanted to see a book again. 

That morning she completely refused to participate in the last minute revision being done by Quinn, Sebastian and the other Slytherin first years. She was confident enough in charms to know that the information she had was enough to pass, and that was okay with her. She didn't need a perfect score. 

The great hall was quieter than it usually was, many students either lazily eating their breakfast, crouched over a book or slumped on the table. Santana was close to that last group. It was taking everything in her to just keep her eyes open. 

"You know what you should do?" Quinn asked, lowering the goblet she'd been levitating over the table. 

"Mh" Santana grunted. 

"You should invent a 'wake you up' potion."

Santana turned to her, frowning. 

"A what?"

"A wake you up potion."

"What's that?" Sugar asked, looking glad for a reason to look up from her book. 

"Let's think…" Quinn pretended to tap her chin. "Could it be…a potion that wakes you up?" She rolled her eyes. 

"There are potions that can do that?" 

"No you dim-witted idiot! I just said she should invent it didn't I?" 

Santana giggled. "Ignore her." She told a hurt looking Sugar. "She's stressed."

Pouting, Sugar turned back to her book. 

"I wouldn't be this tired if they didn't keep us up till midnight last night." Santana said to Quinn. 

"It's not like they just wanted to have a chat. We had to have our astronomy exam."

"I said this when we had our first midnight class and I'll say it again now. Why does it have to midnight?"

"It's like how the sun is highest at noon." Sebastian said, without looking up from his textbook. "Midnight is just like…peak night time or something."

Santana frowned at him. 

"Peak night time?" 

"Hey." Sam slid into the seat next to Santana, gently bumping her shoulder. "So today's the last day of exams-"

"Is it really?" Quinn asked sarcastically.

"Ignore her, she's grumpy." Santana chuckled. "So what?"

"So we have to celebrate."

"Okay? That'll be kind of hard with us all in separate houses and all."

"No." He leaned in close to her and lowered his voice. "You don't have to be in the same house to get into the kitchens."

Santana's eyes widened. Sam nodded excitedly, lowering his voice even more. 

"Mike said he'll take us. Tonight, at midnight."

"Midnight again?" Santana groaned, her head lolling back. 

Sam laughed, pushing her head back up. "Come on Santana. It'll be an adventure."

"Don't you think we've had enough adventure?" Quinn asked. 

"Never." Sam grinned. "Come on." He said again, poking Santana's ribs. She jerked, jumping away from him with a finger pointed warningly at his face. "I dare you." 

Santana narrowed her eyes. She knew she ought to refuse. She'd been in enough trouble this year already, and the smart thing would be to end the year on a good note. But going into the kitchens wasn't dangerous. She wasn't taking any risks, in fact she wasn't even sure they weren't allowed in the kitchens. The only rule she was breaking was being out of bed after hours, and what were they going to do, give her detention?

"Fine." She said, nodding. 

"Great." Sam jumped up. "We'll plan where to meet up after Charms."

Santana turned back to find Quinn slowly shaking her head. 

"What?"

Quinn picked her wand and raised it. "Nothing. At least it's not the bloody dungeons." 

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Sebastian hissed, picking his wand as well. 

  **************

Santana was glad she didn't study during breakfast. Charms was easier than she'd been expecting, and if she'd wasted her time studying she would be extremely annoyed. As it were, she was practically floating down the corridor towards the courtyard. 

Freedom felt good. 

They found Mike, Mercedes, Sam and Brittany already sitting under their usual tree

"I have to tell you guys, I am not looking forward to six more years of exams like that." Sebastian said as he sat down. Santana dropped her bag, lowering herself until she was lying flat on her back, head resting in Brittany's lap. Brittany smiled down at her. 

"Hi." She said quietly. 

"Hi."

"No kidding." Mike said. "Don't they know we're only first years?"

"Fifth and seventh year will be way worse." Quinn said. 

"Why?" Mercedes asked. 

"OWLS and NEWTS of course." Sam said. 

"Wh…What?"

"Come off it." Sebastian said, closing his eyes. 

"OWLS and NEW-"

"That doesn't mean anything to her." Britany cut Sam off. "She's muggle-born remember?"

"Oh…" Sam blushed. "Sorry."

"OWLs are ordinary…" Brittany paused, trying to remember.

"Wizarding level" Santana suppled. Brittany smiled at her. 

"Yeah thanks. "Ordinary wizarding level. Exams we have to take in our fifth year."

"And you have to get specific grades in order to carry on with whatever subjects you need for the career you're going into after Hogwarts." Quinn took over the explanation. 

"Woah." Mercedes breathed. "That's just like….four years from now."

Everyone nodded. 

"And NEWTs are the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test, which you take in your seventh year." Brittany said. 

Mercedes snorted. "Nastily Exhausting-"

"Can we stop talking about this?" Santana asked. "We literally just finished exams. Why are we still talking about them?"

"Good point." Sam moved onto his knees. "Let's talk about tonight."

"Yeah. I think it would be best if you guys just came down to the basement and meet us outside our common room." Mike said. 

"We don't know where your common is." Sam said. 

"Besides, don't you think it'll be really suspicious for three Slytherins and two Gryffindors to just be hanging outside the Hufflepuff common room at midnight?" Quinn asked. 

"Yeah…" Mike bit his lip.

"We could meet outside the great hall?" Brittany suggested.

Santana and Quinn immediately shook their heads. 

"We'll be caught way too quickly." Santana explained. "We do not want to be hanging out in the open like that."

"A classroom?" Mercedes suggested. "You guys could wait in there without getting caught, and Mike and I could come get you when the coast is clear on our end."

"Yeah that works." Quinn said. Santana nodded. 

"There's the antechamber, just off the stairs to the dungeons." Sebastian said. 

"That's good. It's not as obvious as one of the classes." 

"Not to mention super close for you three." Sam said. "You know Brittany and I are going to have to come all the way from the third floor!"

"Yeah well that's true wherever we meet. You have to come down to the ground floor either way." Mike said rationally. 

"Sucks for you," Santana said, "but it's not our fault you have a terrible common room."

"Our common room is really nice actually." Brittany said thoughtfully. "It's always warm, and the armchairs are super comfortable."

Santana refrained from voicing her thoughts on having to climb three flights of stairs every time she wanted to go to her room. 

"Anyway…." Quinn said, frowning at Brittany. "What time should we meet exactly?"

"We said midnight right?" Sam asked. 

"What if something happens…" Brittany asked. "Like we get caught up or something. We'll be going to bed at like 2 am."

"Eleven thirty?" Santana threw out. 

"How is that better than midnight?" Quinn laughed. 

"Eleven then." Santana rolled her eyes. 

"Eleven." Mercedes agreed. Everyone nodded. 

  ***************

They'd sorely under-estimated how excited everyone was that exams were over. At eleven the common room was still packed, mostly with fifth years who were playing a game of exploding snap where the loser had to eat a handful of Bertie Botts every flavour beans and a few third and fourth years who were watching. 

Quinn and Sebastian were pretending to play a game of wizard's chess so that it looked like they had a reason to be there, but Santana was quickly realising that waiting for everyone to go to bed wasn't going to work. 

"We can't sneak out." Sebastian said, glancing over his shoulder at the group by the fireplace, among whom was Leon. "They'll see us in a heartbeat."

Unfortunately, Sebastian was right. To get out they were going to have to go up the short marble stairs; an action that would be quickly noticed by if not the entire group, Leon for sure. 

"We need a distraction." Quinn said, moving a pawn forward. "Something to cause a bit of commotion so no one will see us slip out."

"Fellow Slytherins. Since this is our first night of freedom after the gruelling week of-"

"Get lost Rachel!" Santana snapped, not even looking up at her. She could tell Rachel was offended by the quiet huff she let out. 

"Santana you don't always have to be so rude to me you know?"

"Oh I'm sorry." Santana looked up, clasping her hands together. "Please get lost."

Quinn chuckled. 

"I must say that I thought you'd changed. After your friendship with that freak in Gryffindor, Brittany-"

Santana jumped up, her wand whipping out and poking into the side of Rachel's throat. 

"Listen troll, if anyone's a freak it's you. I was pretty sure the ministry said half-breeds weren't allowed to have wands, so I don't even know how you managed to get into Hogwarts, but you don't hear me saying anything about that do you?" She took a threatening step forward, pressing the tip of her wand harder into Rachel's neck. Rachel whimpered pathetically. "If I ever hear you calling Brittany a freak again, I'll make sure you resemble your relatives so closely Dumbledore will make you trade your wand in for a club. Understand?"

Rachel nodded frantically. 

"Okay Santana." Quinn gripped her shoulder and pulled her away from Rachel. Santana let her wand drop. "Rachel didn't mean any harm did you Rachel?" Rachel shook her head. "See. You know what I was thinking?" She took Rachel's hand and led her further into the common room, towards the fireplace.

Santana sat back down. 

"What was that?" Sebastian asked. 

"Doesn't Rachel get on your nerves?"

"Sure." He nodded. "She's the most annoying person at this school that's a fact."

Santana chuckled, nodding. 

"You didn't lose it cause she's annoying. You lost it cause she mentioned Brittany."

"Brittany's our friend." Santana said, holding Sebastian's gaze. "I'm not okay with people calling her names."

"Hey I hear you." Sebastian shrugged. "But are you sure that's it?"

Santana was quickly getting irritated. "What do you mean?" 

"Brittany's a pretty girl-"

"Hurry up! Hurry up!" Quinn came running, crouching low. Seconds later, Rachel's voice filled the common room as she let out a long high note. Santana whipped around to see Rachel standing in front of the fireplace, arms raised dramatically as she held the note. 

"Are you deaf?" Quinn grabbed Santana's hand and pulled her out of the chair. "Come on, before we're seen." She took off, still bent over, and ran up the stairs. Santana glanced one more time at Rachel, who was inching away from a fourth year that was approaching her, then crouched low and followed Quinn. 

"Your idea was to make her sing?" Sebastian asked as they caught up with Quinn in the corridor. 

"It worked didn't it?" 

"What do we do though?" Santana asked as they stopped at the bottom of the stairs that would take them to the main floor. "It's nearly midnight. Do you think they already left for the kitchens?"

Quinn looked up at the stairs, pinching her bottom lip. 

"It makes sense that they would." She said thoughtfully. "But I don't think we should go trying to find it on our own."

"Let's just check." Sebastian said. "Brittany and Sam might have been caught up too."

Santana nodded. "If they're not there, we can just go back to the common room."

So they quietly made their way up the stairs, pausing before the top to make sure Filch wasn't close. Santana glanced one more time at Quinn, and when she nodded encouragingly, stepped out into the main floor. The castle was dark and quiet. Santana could just make out the outline of the large doors leading to the great hall, but that was all she could see. 

"Should we light our wands?" Sebastian asked. 

"Better not." Quinn whispered. "Otherwise we could be seen from miles away."

Santana nodded, though she knew no one could see her. 

"We know where we're going and it's not far." She said. "Let's just go slowly to make sure we don't bump into a suit of armor or something."

She felt something brush against her hand, seconds before fingers laced with hers.

"Ready?" Quinn asked. 

"Yeah." She and Sebastian replied. They inched along the hallway, squinting against the darkness. They kept close to the wall, Sebastian who was at the front, leading them carefully to the antechamber.

After a few minutes, Sebastian stopped them. 

"I need light, just for a second."

"But what if-"

"I just want to make sure we're at the right door. Don't want to walk right into Filch's office do we?"

Relenting, Quinn let go of Santana's hand and pulled out her wand. 

"Lumos." She whispered. The tip of her wand lit up. 

"There." Sebastian pointed across the hall from them. "That's where we're going."

There was a loud screech from the floor above them that made them all jump. Mrs. Norris. Santana turned to Quinn with wide eyes.

"Put that off!" She hissed. Quinn quickly shut off her light. The three of them scrambled to the door Sebastian had pointed out, just as loud footsteps echoed from somewhere behind them. 

"Keep 'em there my sweet. I'm coming."

They didn't dare open the door, knowing it would draw attention to them. Instead they pressed themselves against the wall, hardly daring to breath. The torches at the bottom of the stairs lit up as Filch ran right passed them, but he didn't so much as cast them a sideways glance. He sprinted up the stairs climbing them two at a time. 

Santana didn't allow herself to relax. She kept still, heart pounding in her chest, and listened out for Filch. 

"Do you think it's Sam and Brittany?" Quinn asked. 

That was exactly what Santana was afraid of. 

"What do we do?" Sebastian asked. "Should we go help them?"

"It doesn't sound like Filch has got them yet." Quinn moved off the wall, peering up the stairs. "Maybe we could cause a distraction…lure him away…."

Santana nodded, but didn't move. She would feel horrible if Brittany and Sam got caught by Filch and she hadn't at least tried to save them. But filch was not the only problem. Causing a commotion loud enough for Filch to hear from wherever he was, would more than likely wake up some professors as well. How would they make it back to their dorm with Filch, McGonagall, and who knows who else prowling around. 

Suddenly, the door to their left opened. Santana's stomach plummeted. They'd been caught. A professor had somehow known they were out there and now it was too late to run. The torch went out just as whoever it was emerged from the room. Santana took her chance. Hopefully she hadn't been seen yet. Under the cover of darkness she could make it to the stairs. She turned, only managing a few steps before the person spoke. 

"Is he gone?" 

Santana stopped, turning back to the open door. 

"I think so." Someone whispered back. "I can't hear anything."

"Brittany?" Santana took out her wand, lighting it. Brittany squinted against the light, lifting her hand to block her eyes, but smiled. 

"Santana." She sighed relieved, a smile crossing her face. "We thought Filch had caught you guys." 

"Let's go in before he comes back." Quinn ushered everyone back into the room and shut the door quietly. 

"We thought it was you." Sebastian said. "Blimey, my heart's going." He pressed his hand to his chest. 

"Yeah that was close." Santana said. She walked to Brittany's side. "How long have you guys been in here."

"A while." Sam said. "Mercedes and Mike haven't shown up."

"What took you guys so long?" Brittany asked. 

"Our common room was packed." Santana told her.

  "Wasn't yours?" Quinn asked. 

Sam shrugged. "No one cares about us."

There was a noise outside the door, and then the handle turned. This time Santana reacted faster. She put off her light and ducked, sprinting to the wall. She pressed her back against it just as the door opened, blocking her from view of whoever had walked in. That was when she noticed Brittany breathing heavily beside her, her hand gripped tightly in Santana's. She frowned down at their joined hands, wondering how she could have grabbed Brittany's hand without even realising it. 

"Santana come out." Quinn said, laughing. "It's Mercedes and Mike."

Santana pushed the door closed and walked out from behind it, letting go of Brittany's hand. 

"Those are chaser reflexes those are." Sebastian chuckled. 

"Follow us." Mike said. "Filch is about."

"Yeah we know." Santana muttered, as Mike and Mercedes led them back out into the dark hallway.

  ***************************

They went through a door in the entrance hall and took the stairs downwards. They emerged in a broad stone basement corridor, brightly lit and decorated with dozens of food-themed paintings. Just looking at them made Santana's stomach growl. Finally, Mike stopped at a painting of a bowl of fruit. 

"Is there a password?" Quinn asked. 

"Nope." 

Grinning, Mike reached up and tickled the pear in the painting. To Santana's astonishment, the pear giggled. Her mouth fell open as Brittany giggled out an 'oh cute', then the handle turned into a large green door handle, revealing the entrance to the Hogwarts kitchens. Mike pulled the door open and Mercedes climbed through. One by one they followed, Mike coming in last and shutting the door. 

The first thing Santana noticed was the giant fire place on the other end of the gigantic room, with the fire inside still lit despite the hour. Then she realised that there were five tables in the middle of the room, positioned exactly like the ones in the great hall above them.

"Wow." Brittany breathed. 

"Welcome to the Hogwarts kitchens masters." A house elf appeared suddenly in front of them. He bowed deeply as others emerged him, from where Santana wasn't sure. "Please sit. Sit." He indicated the table closest to them. 

The seven kids took seats easily. 

"I've never seen a house elf before." Brittany said giddily, bouncing in her seat. "They're so cute." Santana smiled at her. 

"How about a snack?" Mike asked one of the dozens of house elves surrounding them. They all jumped at being addressed, bowed and hurried off. 

"It's huge." Sam said, staring up at the ceiling. 

"I don't know what I was expecting, but not this." Quinn shook her head. 

Brittany was touching one of the house elf's ears. 

"It's so bendy." She whispered to Santana. "Feel it."

"I'm good." Santana chuckled. 

In no time, several house elves returned with trays piled with pastries, bowls of ice cream and custard, cakes, cookies and glasses of milk and juice. 

"Now this, is a celebration." Sebastian said, kneeling on the bench and picking a slice of cake. He held it up, grinning. "To surviving our first year."

Laughing, they all picked a dessert and held it up. 

"Hear, hear." 

  *********************

The last week of school went too fast for Santana's liking. With no classes, no exams and no quidditch, she'd thought the days would feel long. Yet before she knew it, she was packing to go home. Her heart ached at the thought. Spending every day with her friends, wasting time and goofing off had given her a feeling she had never had before. There were moments where they'd all be laughing, and she'd catch Brittany's eye, or Quinn's, or Sam's, and she knew they were thinking the same thing she was. The moment was perfect. She didn't really want to go home, definitely not for two whole months. She hadn't left yet and she was already missing Hogwarts. 

"Please tell me you're almost done?" Quinn asked her as she walked into the room. "If you try pack anything tomorrow you're going to be left by the train."

"Relax." Santana said, closing her trunk. "I'll only have to throw my pyjamas in, in the morning."

"Good." Quinn took her hand. "Then let's go find Sebastian and head out to the lake."

"Oh is it time?" Santana let Quinn lead her out of their room. 

"Hey where are you two going?" Rachel called after them. "I wanted to have one last roommates meeting before we went our separate ways."

"No thanks." Santana shouted over her shoulder. 

"But how are we going to know how to keep in touch?" Rachel asked, following them into the common room. "We need to exchange details or Lauren's tele-"

"No thanks." Quinn said this time. "We'll just talk when we get back to Hogwarts."

Sebastian was waiting for them on one of the armchairs. He stood up as they approached. 

"Took you long enough." He teased. 

"Blame Santana." Quinn said. 

"Let's just go."

There were students all about the castle when they left the common room, some sitting idly, just wasting time before the end-of-term feast, others rushing around with arms full of books. 

"It's like a mad house." Quinn said, frowning as someone bumped into them in their rush to get to the stairs. 

"Come on." Santana made her way out of the castle, down the hill and across the grass towards the lake. Everyone else was already there.

"Oh good you made it." Sam ran up to them, grabbing Santana's hand and dragging her back to the edge of the lake. "It's already happening."

The surface of the water was rippling. As Santana watched, the small ripples got steadily bigger, and then a thing, slimy, blood-red tentacle breached the surface. 

Santana had to fight back the urge to run. She noticed Quinn take a step backwards. Slowly, the tentacle raised higher, then it was joined by another, and another, then there were five waving fluidly through the air and flicking them with water. 

When a giant head emerged, it was several feet before the squid's eyes could be seen, smaller than Santana expected, but still large, and pure black. She couldn't help it, she retreated back from the lake several steps. Quinn, Mercedes and Sebastian followed her lead. Mike and Sam stayed where they were, eyes wide and mouths hanging open. But Brittany walked forward. 

Santana held her breath as Brittany stepped into the water, reaching out for the tentacle hanging just above the ground next to her. 

"Britt…." She breathed. Brittany turned to her, smiled, then took a final step and touched the tentacle. 

They waited for some kind of reaction. Waited for the giant squid to slap Brittany, or wrap around her and fling her into the air. But it did nothing. In fact it didn't seem to care that Brittany was gently stroking it. 

Emboldened, Sam and Mike walked closer as well, touching a different tentacle that Santana realised the giant squid had actually brought nearer for them. 

"Unbelievable." Quinn said, shaking her head. 

"You can say that again." Sebastian chuckled, approaching the giant squid as well. 

"So it's actually not dangerous?" Santana asked in disbelief. "Something as giant as this?"

"Just like Hagrid." Brittany said, turning to look at Santana. "Come on."

Santana shook her head. "Dangerous or not, I don't need to touch it." She sat on the grass and crossed her legs, content to just watch. Quinn sat down beside her. 

"You too Quinn?" Sam asked. 

"Yeah, it looks slimy." She grimaced. Mercedes nodded, sitting next to Quinn. 

"It must feel like an octopus….yuck" she stuck out her tongue. "Glad it doesn't want to kill you all thought."

  ******************

It was half an hour before the boys and Brittany left the giant squid to bask in the sun and joined Santana, Quinn and Mercedes on the grass. They took of their shoes and socks so they could dry. 

"That was fun." Mike said with a broad smile.

"The best way to end the school year." Sebastian agreed. 

"I'm excited for the feast." Santana said. "Leon told me it's almost like the Halloween feast."

"No way!" Mike exclaimed. "Do you think they'll have all that dessert too?"

"Probably not as much candy, but yeah."

"Oh, now I'm hungry." Sam groaned. 

"Have you guys finished packing?" Quinn asked. 

As the others talked, Santana noticed Brittany was silent. Her shoulders were hunched, her head bowed, and she didn't say a single thing. She scooted closer to her, bending to try see her face. 

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly, so the others couldn't hear. 

Brittany didn't answer, she simply shook her head. Santana ducked her head even lower, finally catching Brittany's eye, and placed her hand on her thing. 

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to go home." Brittany said quietly. The sadness in her voice made Santana's heart squeeze. She shifted even closer. 

"Don't you miss your sister?"

"Sure…but at home…"

"What?"

"I'll be alone."

It was barely a whisper, but Santana caught it. She looked up, noticing Mike, Mercedes and Quinn looking at her. 

"Come on." She stood up, then gripped Brittany's arm and pulled her up. "We'll be right back." She told everyone, leading Brittany back up to the castle. 

They walked in silence until they came to the whomping willow. Santana stopped them with a hand on Brittany's shoulder, and turned her to face her. 

"What do you mean you'll be alone?" 

Brittany let out a sad sigh, her fingers fidgeting in front of her. 

"I don't really have anyone to talk to at home. My parents go to work and my sister…she has friends. I used to spend my summers with my grandad, and last year he was at St. Mungos, so I spent a lot of time there, but now…"

Santana remembered that the first time she saw Brittany was at St. Mungos, dancing with an old man in the long term care ward. 

"I love it here" Brittany choked. "It's my favourite place on earth. And I have friends here….when I go home…." A tear rolled down her cheek. 

"Oh Britt." Santana pulled her into a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around Brittany. "Please don't cry, I hate it when you cry."

Brittany sniffled, her arms circling Santana's waist. 

"I hate being alone Santana, I'm going to miss you so much."

"But you don't have to miss me." Santana said, pulling back to look at Brittany. "You can come visit all the time."

Brittany wiped her tears, lip pouting adorably. 

"I can come visit?"

"Are you kidding? Of course! I'll give you my address. You can come over every single day if you want."

Brittany's eyes brightened. 

"Really?"

"Yes. And Quinn will be there, and we can go to diagon alley for shopping and ice cream, or to Sam's or Mike's or Sebastian's. He has a television. It's a-"

"I know." Brittany giggled. "Every day? Are you sure?"

Santana licked her lips, looking down at the ground. "I'll tell you a secret, if you promise not to tell anyone." Brittany nodded seriously. "I hate being alone too."

"Really?"

Santana nodded. 

"So…will you come?"

"Yeah!" Brittany said excitedly. 

"We can even have sleepovers if your parents agree."

Brittany froze, eyes wide and staring at Santana. 

"What?" Santana asked. "Do you not want to sleep-"

Brittany launched herself at Santana, wrapping her arms around her neck. 

"You're the best friend I've ever had Santana." She said quietly. 

Santana smiled, hugging Brittany back. 

After a moment, Brittany let her go, wiping away the last of her tears. 

"Thank you." She said sincerely. Santana shook her head. 

"You won't ever be alone as long as we're friends."

"And we're going to be friends forever right?" Brittany asked shyly. 

Santana nodded. 

"Promise?"

Grinning, Santana held out her pinkie. "Promise." She said, as Brittany wrapped her pinkie around it. 

They walked back with their pinkies still linked. Santana still didn't really want to go home, but she realised that they still had Hogwarts for the next six years, and if it was anything like this past year, it was bound to be one hell of an adventure. 

~ END ~