𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄
chapter twenty-nine; Drunken NEWT Exams
" We have five drinks to finish— collectively— let's see how well we do on NEWTs when we're sloshed off Butterbeer. "

  IT WAS THE first day of the horrible trek that would be NEWTs. James had made sure Salem ate breakfast, despite her nerves that took up all the space in her stomach, and gave her a good luck kiss before they departed to their respective desks.

  And, afterward, when Salem had tugged her hair nervously out of her half up-do and Remus had bitten his nails down to nubs, James took his friends out to The Three Broomsticks.

  "A celebratory drink!"

  "Some of us have another test in a few hours," Remus mumbled as James raised his butterbeer high, but this did nothing to discourage the Potter boy.

  "But, we've all completed the first one, Moony!"

  "I didn't think we'd be so busy on a NEWTs day," Roman announced, setting down two more butterbeers in front of Peter and Sirius, "How'd you all do?"

  "Passed, no doubt," Sirius quickly answered, grinning as he sipped his frothy drink.

  "Sal?"

  "What?" Salem questioned, snapping her eyes up to her father.

  "You're workin' yourself to the bone, aren't you?"

  "No."

  "She is!" James spoke up, lazily resting an arm on the back of the booth behind Salem, "She's in the common room with books when I go to sleep, and I swear she's not moved when I wake up!"

  "Give yourself a break, Sal," Roman frowned, "You won't help yourself if you're knocking out during your test."

  "I just want to pass."

  "And you will, because you're brilliant."

  "Yeah, yeah," Salem waved off, pulling her butterbeer closer to herself, "Can you lot focus on Remus? His fingers are going to start bleeding if he doesn't stop biting at them."

  Sirius sighed and grabbed Remus's hand that was currently pressed against his chin, making the Lupin boy jump slightly, but he allowed Sirius to keep hold of it as if giving the action no thought.

  "Well, good luck to all of you," Roman sighed, "I remember my NEWT exams—"

  "Back in your day, eh?"

  Roman lightly hit Salem with the towel resting over his shoulder before departing, leaving his daughter with the very smile he'd only wished to pull out of her.

  "I can't do it, I need to study before I take my Potions exam," Remus blurted, haphazardly climbing out of the booth, over Sirius without a care in the world.

  "Moony— Moony!" Sirius called, standing with a sigh, "Bloody lunatic."

  Nevertheless, Sirius took off after his fair-haired friend.

  "I should go study too," Peter spoke, "Transfiguration tomorrow. . ."

  "Transfiguration will be easy, for all of us," James winked, "See ya later, Wormy."

  Peter left with a smile, ducking out of the pub, allowing James to focus solely on Salem Gerard.

  "Hey, where'd all the weird nicknames come from?"

  "What?"

  "Wormy, Moony. . . I never really noticed it before, or I guess I never gave it a second thought."

  James stared at her. What the hell was he supposed to say— that Remus was a werewolf and himself, Sirius, and Peter had become animagi a few years back to be with him on full moons?

  To be fair, secrets had been the blooming point of their relationship, but James didn't want lies to define it. Then again, he couldn't exactly come out and tell a girl that his best mate was a werewolf— that wouldn't go over well in Remus's mind.

  "Maybe I'll tell you once we graduate," James grinned.

  "Oh?" Salem questioned, propping her chin up, "Got a secret, do you?"

  "You had yours, I have mine. . ."

  "Not fair."

  "Seems. . . pretty fair to me, actually."

  Salem rolled her eyes as James laughed, looking down at her cup of butterbeer briefly.

  "Do you actually want me to come and meet your parents this summer?"

  James's laughter faded into a soft smile, ducking his head so he was level with Salem. He brought up a careful hand, tucking the loose locks of fire behind her pierced ear, to reveal porcelain skin, now tinged pink with a soft blush.

  "Of course I do," His voice was like sunlight through honey, mellow in all the right places, and bright enough to draw Salem's eye to his, "I need you to meet them, really. I'd. . . regret it. If they never got to meet the girl of my dreams before time ran out."

  It was Salem's turn for a sad smile to grow, but James saw this and decided to share with Salem the thoughts that swam in his head every night.

  "I'm not. . . angry," He said carefully, "I love my mum and dad. And, Merlin, if they could live forever, I'd ask them to. But I figure. . . there's no point in being sad while they're still around, y'know? Like. . . why waste what precious time we have left, dwelling on a thing that can't be stopped?"

  "You're very smart when you try to be," Salem informed, bringing a hand to James's cheek. 

  He just smiled his troublesome smile and leaned into her palm, melting at the very idea of Salem Gerard.

  "Now," The redhead sighed, "We have five drinks to finish— collectively— let's see how well we do on NEWTs when we're sloshed off Butterbeer."

  "Oh, Salem Gerard, this. . . this is why I like you."

  Turns out five half-drunken cups of Butterbeer had minimal effect on teenagers who already waste spare time downing Firewhiskey. Nevertheless, McGonagall did seem to notice two of her students giggling louder than usual on their way to a Care For Magical Creatures NEWT, and lectured them before handing over two small vials that seemed to sober them back to their regular selves quickly.

  Salem thanked the woman, and James just gave her a wink before they were on their way.

  And once the test was done and Salem found a bit of confidence in herself, she skipped out on cramming that night, choosing instead to lay with James on the common room couch and soak up the warmth of what being a Gryffindor meant before she would never return to the castle.

  "Potter?"

  "Darling?"

  "Can I ask you a silly question?"

  "Oh, those are my favorite."

  "Will we still be together? After we graduate. . . after we're not Gryffindors worrying about things that, in hindsight, will seem so. . . small?"

  James readjusted so that he was looking at Salem, his hair flopping as he leaned forward just slightly. The boy took her hand that had previously been resting on her stomach, and squeezed it just once.

  "Well, first off, we'll always be Gryffindors, Sal. Graduating won't change that. And. . . yes. We'll be together. Remember what I said?"

  "No broken hearts?"

  "Yes. And. . . to only have a few months with you, well, Sal, that would break my heart. I don't plan on leaving anything behind when I leave Hogwarts— not being a Gryffindor, not my friendships I made at age eleven, not that lucky shoelace tied around the Quidditch goal—"

  "Wait—"

  "And certainly not you."

  Salem met James's eyes, and maybe it was the light from the dying fire, or the faint sound of crickets creeping past the stains of glass, or NEWTs really had driven Salem Gerard loony— but it all seemed so simple now. 

  No choosing between her mother's world or her father's, no worrying about what may come of a half-blood in the times they lived in, not a single fret about losing anyone else she'd come to hold dear.

  "You and me, Potter?"

  "For as long as we can see, Darling."

( AUTHOR'S NOTE. )
as you can probably tell,
we are coming to a close
on this story. I'll probably
do max 5 more chapters,
though it'll likely be less.
I love Sal and James, and
as much as I want to do
a sequel, I'm not sure if 
I will. I don't write AU's
and I couldn't emotionally
handle killing off my favorite
ship, so, just a fair warning
for everyone who is as
attached to baby Sal as I am;
we'll be saying goodbye soon.