I Hope You Had The Time Of Your Life

I Hope You Had The Time Of Your Life

Angelina Johnson looked in the mirror to examine herself. She still had the same dark hair, same dark skin, same brown eyes, and the same frown on her face. Ever since it hit her when the N.E.W.T.'s were done that she would be leaving Hogwarts behind she had been the most depressed than she had ever remembered herself being.

Her scarlet and gold graduation robes glimmered in the moonbeams that filtered through her dorm window. She turned around, as she looked at her image in the full-length mirror. There was plenty of red in them, but she wanted... no... she needed more.

It wasn't the fact that she was leaving Hogwarts for nearly forever that got her upset. But the thing that did was that she would be leaving the best thing that may have ever happened to her. It just so happened that even before term ended, it had left. The scent of their memories lingered in the halls, the aroma of the reminiscence of yesterday still fragranced the Quidditch Pitch and Angelina didn't want to stop smelling it. She wished she could bottle it up and take it wherever life happened to carry her.

It seemed that seven years at Hogwarts wasn't enough for her. She wanted to stay, though as much as she wanted to she knew she couldn't. There was also a reason Angelina wanted to leave, the reason that the one she shared warm fuzzy memories with was no longer there to wait for her. She hadn't exactly lost it completely. It was just that life was happening so fast and every second; minute, hour, and day of her childhood were fading away before her eyes. The one she had shared her childhood and school memories with was gone and so was the place they shared them in. Angelina was to grow up, and she couldn't even do anything about it.

[Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go

So make the best of this test and don't ask why

It's not a question but a lesson learned in time]

Angelina sighed and took a last look at her own appearance in the mirror. No matter how much she tried to remember the happy moments, the frown still remained in its spot, where her smile used to dwell. She figured it ran away somehow.

She glanced quickly at her watch that lay on wrist to find it was almost time to go. The Graduation Feast was to begin at any second. Angelina quickly rummaged through her bedside table, pulled out a photo, and dashed out the door. Angelina darted down the stairs, three at a time and exited the Gryffindor common room through the portrait.

"The feast should be starting dear! What in world were you doing?" the Fat Lady scolded. "You should be there already!"

"I know, I know!" Angelina panted. She ran down through Gryffindor tower and out from behind the tapestry near a rusting knight. Just a couple more floors and she'd be right there in the Great Hall.

After passing by a few school ghosts and pelting stink bombs Peeves was throwing at her whilst chanting "Johnson's late, Johnson's late, how could she ever arrive at the feast in this state?" she finally reached the ground floor.

The entrance hall was furnished as it always had been but when she looked off to the left into the Hall, there were streamers with all of the colours of the four Hogwarts houses, about five each.

Everyone in the Hall was wandering around as the four house tables had been cleared and left room in the centre to walk. The lights were dimmed and in each of the four corners of the room, lights were shining the house colours.

Angelina stepped in the room to be greeted with balloons, which fell at her arrival. It would have been nice, if it didn't remind her of reckless pranks.

She could remember the first time she ever met him. It was the third day of classes in her first year...

Angelina had been walking down the corridors from her first Potions class. She had just reached the entrance hall when splat. A water balloon filled with pumpkin juice fell on her head splashing onto the floor around her. She looked up expecting to see Peeves laughing at her, but instead saw two redheaded boys running down the stairs and into the Hall in front of her.

Angelina hated whoever they were at first. She walked in to dinner, humiliated. The whole time during dinner she sat with her head down, trying not to make eye contact with everyone that was staring at her. Then one of the two boys whom had played their prank came up behind her.

"Erm, excuse me?" asked one of them. At the time, Angelina couldn't tell them apart.

"Yes?" she said scathingly.

"I'm, er, sorry about the whole balloon thing... you know with the pumpkin juice and it kind of went whoosh on your head," he described, complete with hand motions.

Angelina couldn't help but laugh.

"I guess it's aright," she said.

"Can I, er, sit down?" he asked her, as there was an empty seat where he was standing.

"Sure, why not?" Angelina said. She couldn't help but give in to the boy who seemed to be pretty cute. "So where's your other half?"

"Oh, he's annoying Percy over there. He's our older brother. He's such a prick,"

"Can anyone tell you two apart?" Angelina asked eyeing him and his twin curiously.

"Not exactly, but of course we can. You see, both George and I have blue eyes, but you see my left eye? It's a bit green, don't you think?" the boy said pointing to his eye.

"Yeah I guess,"

"Oh, by the way, I'm Fred Weasley. Remember, I'm the one with the greenish eye."

"Angelina Johnson," she introduced while giggling.

Back in the present, Angelina sighed and looked around the room.

"Hey! So you finally decided to show up," greeted Katie Bell whom had come running over to Angelina as the balloons fell with Alicia Spinnet at her side.

"Yeah, well, it's our graduation isn't it? Only happens once in a lifetime," said Angelina forcing her two friends a smile. There was an awkward silence between them for a few moments.

"So, er, you look great in your robes!" said Alicia trying to make conversation. "I told you you'd look fantastic,"

"Too bad I don't feel fantastic," Angelina muttered. The two didn't hear her and began to drag her over to the big bowl of pumpkin juice. Katie took a cup, ladled some juice in it and handed it to Angelina.

"Here, take this," she said. Angelina put her hand up to reject it.

"No, that's all right, I don't-"

"No, Angie, take it. You've barely drank or ate anything since... well, just take it." Katie forced the cup into Angelina's hands and the three began walking around the Hall.

"So, what do you plan to do after the summer?" Alicia asked.

"Oh I don't know, probably try out for a Quidditch team or something," said Katie.

"You can't 'try out'," drawled Alicia playfully, "they have to come to you."

"Oh," said an embarrassed Katie.

Angelina couldn't help but think of her first Quidditch practice ever...

It was drizzling and there was a decent amount of mud puddles over the stretch of green grass that was known as the Quidditch Pitch. She was walking along with Oliver Wood whom had been explaining to her the schedule of the school games, when both her and Oliver both fell face flat into the nearest mud puddle. Angelina looked up to find none other than Fred and George running over to her.

"How did I know it was you?" Angelina said, playfully glaring at Fred who had just run up to her.

"How could you not?"

Angelina laughed. Fred held out his hand, wet with rain, to pull her up.

"C'mon, Angie, we better get back to the common room. We have a game tomorrow y-"

His sentence was drowned out by his surprise of falling. Angelina had taken his hand and pulled him down into the mud with her. Fred laughed, and pretended to die.

"You've got me, ugh," and Fred laid his head down in the mud with his tongue hanging out.

"Give it up, Fred," Angelina jested.

"Oh, am I heaven?" Fred asked.

"That's a stupid question, why do you ask?"

"Because that girl is so beautiful... oh wait, no it's just you." he said teased. Angelina laughed. She could have avowed that they were about to kiss but they were interrupted.

"Will you two quit it already? You're going to ruin your robes for the match tomorrow!" complained Wood. Fred got up, helped Angelina to her feet, and the two began to walk back up to the castle together...

"I think I might be a journalist," said Alicia distantly. Angelina snapped out of the past.

"Wait, come again?" Katie asked, stopping in her tracks.

"A- journalist. Do you need me to spell it out for you?"

"No, it's just that journalists don't exactly have a good reputation that's all,"

"Ehem," Angelina interrupted. Katie and Alicia stopped quarrelling and turned to Angelina.

"Sorry," they said in unison.

"So, what do you want to be?" Katie questioned.

"Well, I've always wanted to work in the Ministry. Like in the Department of Mysteries or something. You never know what they really do, do you? There is only one way to find out. And I thought it would be quite interesting,"

"No," said Katie sternly. Angelina and Alicia turned to her suspiciously. "What? Because then you can't tell us what you really do!"

Alicia laughed but Angelina didn't. She was turning the photo in her pocket over and over in her hand. Her friends noticed this, but knew they shouldn't say anything.

There was a sound from the far end of the Hall. Dumbledore was beckoning silence.

"I would like you all to gather for a picture over there," said Dumbledore, waving his hand in the general direction of a cameraman, "and when you're done, the feast shall begin."

He clasped his hands together as the graduating students gathered together for the picture. The Slytherins were up front, strutting their deep green and silver robes, the Hufflepuffs grouped behind them, looking like a bunch of humble bumblebees with their black and yellow robes. The Gryffindors in their gold and scarlet assembled behind them and prepared to smile as the bronze and blue Ravenclaws pulled together in the back.

The students were fussing over this and that as the rest got in their positions. Angelina pulled out the photo while she waited for the rest to stop complaining about how they looked and the cameraman (which happened to be a very impatient Snape) whined about the way the students were assembled. Angelina stared at the gleeful picture of herself and a certain redheaded boy called Fred Weasley. The two waved up at her merrily. Angelina wanted to wave back hoping that she would get caught up in the memory but knew it wouldn't happen.

[So take the photographs and still frames in your mind

Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time

Tattoos and memories and dead skin on trial

For what it's worth, it was worth all the while]

Katie nudged Angelina hard in the ribs. Angelina jumped and slid the picture behind her back.

"You can't hide that from me," Katie said, " and I know you've been looking at it a lot lately. It's not like Fred's gone forever."

"He just doesn't seem to talk to me anymore, doesn't end owls to me like he used to," Angelina sighed.

"You know he's busy with that shop of his that him and George are doing so well with. The boy's got a lot on his hands," came Alicia whom had obviously eavesdropping on what Angelina and Katie were saying before.

"It just seems like he doesn't have time for me anymore, that's all," Angelina sulked.

"Well, whatever happens, it's for the best." Katie declared. "No matter what happens, you know we'll be here for you,"

[It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right

I hope you had the time of your life]

"That's right," Alicia added, "no matter where life takes us."

"Otherwise," Katie continued, "things that happen and the obstacles that face us are supposed to happen because that's what was meant to be. So you can't mess with destiny,"

Up front, the Slytherin's were still trying to look their best while the Hufflepuffs behind them were complaining. Angelina was still eyeing her picture that was constantly waving back at her. She sneaked the photograph back in her pocket again and looked out one of the tall windows of the Hall onto the starless night.

Angelina could make out the Forbidden Forest in distance and part of the lake was also in view. There was a ginger haired cat prowling around near Hagrid's cabin and there were... fireworks?

Apparently, Angelina was the only person that noticed there were firecrackers zooming in and out of view through the large windows. The lights were peculiar, not the regular Filibuster's, yet Angelina had seen these once before. But no, it couldn't be. Could it?

In the midst of the firecrackers, Angelina could make out a figure, gliding along in the air atop a speedy broomstick. For a moment she could have sworn there was another figure near the windows, holding something up. Angelina squinted to see if what she though she saw, what she hoped she saw, was really there.

Then, for a splint second, Angelina's heart skipped a beat, maybe even a few. There through the window was a redheaded boy, with the same amount of freckles she had once counted, and if she was correct (well she couldn't be mistaken) was Fred Weasley. He was holding up a sign, which read:

"I'm Sorry Angelina, I love you."

By now the rest of the seventh years had turned to look out of the window.

"So much for the 'meant to be' speech, huh?" joked Alicia.

"Well, I was still right in a way, wasn't I?" Katie laughed.

Angelina, still looking at her Frederick Weasley, and could have sworn he said something and if she would have heard him it would have sounded like,

"I hope you had the time of your life."

The students had finally settled down, despite the fact that few were still eyeing Fred and George through the windows. Snape was finally about to take the picture. Click.

The photo came out immediately. Snape retrieved it but snarled at it in disappointment. Everyone was looking at the camera, smiling. But there was a large blur across the picture, scarlet and gold, no doubt, running out towards the doors of Hall. The blurs footsteps could be heard running outside and into the arms of a long missed Weasley.