June came along with a wave of terror coursing through the country.

From the copies of the Daily Prophet Maeve received everyday, they were able to keep up with the latest news on Lord Voldemort, and the more they read them, the more convinced they got of the inevitability of a war. Voldemort seemed to have gained more followers, for the news of his attacks began to come from all over Great Britain, rather than from just the heart of England. He had, with several of his followers, recently attacked a muggle concert. The death count of course, was sky high, and the Ministry workers and Aurors had had a hard time obliviating muggles and neutralising the chaos that had ensued.

Action amongst the Slytherins seemed oddly subdued, raising suspicions that perhaps they were up to something. Regardless, they never did anything that broke the rules, and though a lot of students thought that their communication with the outside world should be regulated, it really wasn't possible to do so without breaking a hundred school regulations.

Despite the terror outside and despite the creepy hushed atmosphere inside the castle, the exams duly arrived, forcing the students to take their minds off Voldemort and focus on scoring good results. Dorcas remained inside the dormitories making last minute revisions, and also mentally preparing herself for stepping out of her hiding place after such a long time. The night before her NEWTs, when she looked at herself in the mirror, she could swear that her skin has gone paler from the lack of sun.

After finishing off her dinner that Maeve had brought into the dormitories for her, Dorcas stood by her bed with hands on her hips. The room looked like a couple of four year olds have been given access to everything they could get their hands on, and without adult supervision. She smiled softly as she recalled the first day she had set her eyes on this dormitory.

It had looked bigger than it seemed now, she remembered. The four-poster beds were large, and less welcoming than the ones she had at home. A study table stood beside each bed, and each had a drawer, the key to which they had found on their respective beds. There were two large cupboards for keeping their clothes. Their trunks were stashed under the beds and there were two dressing tables in the room, bare and empty for them to use.

When she had gone to bed in this dormitory for the first time, she had felt lonely, homesick and she was scared about whether she would be able to make friends.

Now the room was anything but large and empty. The trunks lay randomly all over the place, their lids open and the clothes strewn over the floors, the beds, the chairs. Their tables were filled with books and parchment, there were ink stains everywhere. On the wall over their beds were numerous posters, some of which were yellowed with age. The dressing table had their drawers open and overflowing with various items, and on the tabletop were several makeup items, spilled nail polish, broken lipstick. Copies of the Daily Prophet were all over the place, courtesy of Maeve.

"What are you smiling about, weirdo?"

It was Maeve who had asked the question. She was lying on her stomach, reading a story book she has been reading for about six months now. Her hair had come loose and fell in front of her, hiding her face.

Dorcas shook her head, still smiling. "Nothing."

If it were about a year ago, Dorcas knew they'd get emotional about leaving Hogwarts, and possibly sit together eating chips and talking about the seven years they have spent here. But a lot of things have changed since then. Even though Silver hung out with them sometimes, she had new friends, and Maeve has become a bit distant from them lately. Dorcas has closed herself off from people, and even though she didn't like to admit it, she sometimes liked being on her own, away from her friends, just alone with her thoughts. She hasn't seen Juliet after the time they had spent in the Ravenclaw common room.

"Let's clean up this mess," said Dorcas suddenly. Maeve looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"Dork, we have Transfiguration tomorrow," she said pleadingly. "We need to sleep."

"We never go to sleep this early anyway," she insisted. "Come on, let's put all the books away, fold the clothes, make this room exactly as it was when we first came here."

"You do it," Maeve said stubbornly and went back to her book.

Dorcas didn't push her. She tied her hair up into a bun and got to work, deciding to focus on the books first.

It was harder than she had imagined. She could have easily done the task with magic, but their books were scattered so much that she had to sort them first into four piles based on who they belonged to. It took her over half an hour to dig her own books out from different places and pile them up neatly on her bed, and by the time she was done she had absolutely no motivation to go on. She flopped down on her bed and randomly picked a book up from the pile, flipping through it aimlessly.

Maybe Maeve felt bad for her, for she abandoned her story book and announced, "I'll help you."

Together, and with a bit of help of magic, they were able to sort out the rest of the books into three different piles within ten minutes. They considered cleaning up the clothes too, but in the end they decided to wait for Heidi and Silver to arrive. Dorcas pulled out her trunk and gently stashed her books in one corner. She had all the important notes she needed to study for the exams scrawled in a roll of parchment.

She wouldn't be needing these books anymore.

She shut the trunk and pushed it back under her bed. Then she sat down with a huff, twiddling her fingers. Maeve sat in front of her, pressing her hand.

"Something on your mind?"

She shook her head.

"You can tell me."

"It's nothing," she said with an abashed smile. "I was just thinking. This is our home. And we're leaving. We don't know what awaits us afterwards." She paused for a moment before adding, "And then there's this war."

"Mm. Feels strange, doesn't it?"

Dorcas didn't say anything and continued to stare at her hands.

"I really do wish you would change your mind," said Maeve, "about singing at the graduation. You would have sung really well."

Dorcas chuckled. "It's a choir, Maeve. No one would hear my voice separately."

"Even so. You've been working so hard to improve yourself. This could have –"

"Leave it, Maeve," she interrupted. "I'm not singing."

Maeve pressed her lips. Then she leaned forward and gave her a hug. "Well, your life, your choice. Good luck with your job at the radio, though."

Dorcas didn't respond.

She reached a hand under her pillow and pulled out the letter that had come this morning. It was from her mother, and she has read it about a hundred times already. As much as she would miss Hogwarts, she couldn't wait to see her mother again. Especially after the incident about Cillian revealing her secret to the whole castle, she had been feeling particularly lonely, and wanted nothing more than to leap into her mother's arms and let her hold her like a child.

That thought was what let her gather all the courage she had to walk out of the Gryffindor tower and come face to face with the real world.

Dorcas opened the envelope again and extracted the letter. It was written in white paper with black pen. She remembered she had once given her mother a roll of parchment and quill for her birthday and taught her how to use it. She had written a few lines and ended up breaking the quill, then she had hugged Dorcas and said, "Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry you have to use these stupid things at school."

Dearest Dorcas, the letter read.

Can't believe you're going to graduate so soon. You even have a job now! It feels surreal.

Things are going well with Noel. I've decided I'm going to tell him about magic and Hogwarts. I'm planning to take him with me when I go to pick you up at King's Cross for the last time. I'm sure he'll be thrilled.

Good luck with your exams and don't study too hard. Eat well. I've sent cookies for you and your friends. Hope they'll help you keep your minds off of exams.

Write to me soon. Love you.

Mum.

Dorcas folded the letter and placed it back on its envelope. She had received a box of cookies along with the letter. They have been eating them since morning and there were still quite a few cookies left. She took one from the box and nibbled on it absently.

Heidi returned to the dorms soon, and Silver came back just before curfew. The four girls then together cleaned up the entire dormitory, stowing away clothes, sketchpads, newspapers, a deck of wizard cards, chocolate wrappers, empty boxes, old posters and badges, Chocolate Frog cards. Within an hour or so, the dormitory was exactly like it had been when they had first come here.

That night Dorcas smiled to herself when she tucked herself into the bed in which the three girls sometimes used to be able to sleep together during their first and second years, but which now fit her perfectly. She was still homesick, but she wasn't lonely, and she was filled with a bittersweet mixture of emotions as she slowly drifted off into sleep.