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After agreeing to Harry's game night, he, Sirius and Hermione finally left Platform 9¾ to meet the girl's parents.
Harry seemed to be trying to act normally, but I could tell he was getting more nervous the further away they got.
After all, it would be the first time he met his girlfriend's parents as... well, their daughter's boyfriend.
From the way he occasionally glanced at Sirius, I was almost certain he was seriously considering asking for a few tips.
Not that Sirius was exactly the best person to ask about that.
The longest relationship this dog-man had ever had was with the Dementors in Azkaban... and we all knew that had been an extremely toxic relationship, one that hadn't exactly ended peacefully.
Anyway, I didn't envy Harry's situation one bit.
Still, good luck, my troubled friend.
As soon as the three of them disappeared into the crowd, it was finally my family's turn to leave the platform.
My mom held onto my arm, while Cele held my dad's hand, and together we crossed the barrier back into the Muggle station. From there, we made our way to my dad's car, which was parked nearby.
The journey home was relatively peaceful.
My parents spent most of the way talking about things I wasn't really paying much attention to. I simply sat in the back with Cele, looking out of the window and enjoying the feeling of coming home.
After so many months at Hogwarts, there was something strangely comforting about seeing those roads, houses and places I knew so well again.
It was as if my body simply relaxed on its own.
Hogwarts was amazing, of course... but, at the end of the day, it was still a school.
For months, I had lived surrounded by lessons, exams, training, homework, classmates, problems and all sorts of situations that constantly demanded my attention.
Now, all of that was being left behind... at least for a few weeks.
When we finally arrived home, I practically jumped out of the car.
As soon as I opened the door and stepped inside, I took a deep breath and felt my body relax almost immediately.
"Home sweet home." I murmured, with a small smile.
Ignoring the amused laughter of my parents behind me, I slowly made my way upstairs, heading straight for my room.
When I opened the door, I stood there for a few seconds.
My room was pretty much just as I remembered it.
The bed, the desk, the shelves... even some of the things I'd left lying around before I went away were still exactly where I'd left them.
In fact, it was even a little cleaner and more organised.
That could only mean one thing.
"Linnly..."
The little house-elf had probably taken advantage of my absence to tidy everything up.
Not that I was complaining.
My gaze then fell on the bed.
There, sprawled across the covers, was Nyx, sleeping peacefully as usual.
Since I knew Nyx hated the boring journey on the Hogwarts Express, I had sent her home a day earlier through the Vanishing Cabinet.
At that moment, however, I was barely paying attention to my lazy cat.
My gaze was focused solely on my bed, and I realised of just how much I'd missed it.
I took off my coat and tossed it onto the chair before simply letting myself fall onto the mattress, right beside Nyx.
Surprisingly, she didn't even wake up.
My body immediately sank into that familiar softness.
The feeling was wonderful.
"Finally..." I murmured, closing my eyes.
After months of sleeping in the Hogwarts dormitories, returning to my own room felt like some sort of divine blessing.
For a few seconds, I simply stayed there, enjoying the silence and tranquillity.
Without having to do or think about anything.
Honestly, this was pretty much as close to perfection as I could imagine.
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I lay there lazily for a few more minutes, enjoying the peace. But, knowing that my family was still waiting for me downstairs, I eventually got up.
I then took a quick, refreshing shower, put on something more comfortable and went downstairs.
When I reached the living room, I found my parents sitting on the sofa, with Cele between them, happily scribbling in her drawing book.
Without thinking much about it, I threw myself into the armchair beside them and sank into the cushioned seat.
I couldn't help letting out a satisfied sigh.
'I say it again and again... whoever invented armchairs definitely has a special place reserved for them in heaven.' I thought, smiling slightly.
Once I was settled in, my parents didn't waste any time and started asking me about my last few days at school.
They wanted to know what the days had been like after they left, whether I had rested properly, whether I had spent any time with my friends and even how I had done in my final exams.
They basically asked me about everything, partly out of concern and partly because they wanted to be closer to me.
And that's how we spent our time.
Together, in a familiar and cosy place, just chatting.
Then, almost two hours later, we heard the front door open.
"How good it is to be back!"
Nick's familiar voice came from the hallway.
I immediately looked towards the entrance.
Nick appeared first, dropping the suitcase he was carrying onto the floor. A second later, it disappeared with a small plop, probably being taken to his room by Linnly.
The French wizard took a deep breath and stretched his shoulders, looking like a prisoner who had just discovered freedom.
Penny followed right behind him, with her usual gentle smile, although there was now a hint of tiredness in it.
She took off her coat and, with a simple movement of her hand, sent it floating over to the stand beside the entrance.
As soon as I saw them, a smile appeared on my face.
"You finally made it." I waved at them, before giving Nick a playful look. "You took so long, I was starting to think Nick had somehow managed to get you lost on the way."
Penny let out a small laugh, while Nick rolled his eyes.
"Just so you know, that only happened seven times... and the last one was over a hundred years ago." He defended himself.
I paused at that.
"Wait... this has happened before?" I looked at him strangely.
"And seven times?" My mom was also staring at him with a strange expression. "Seriously?"
Realising that he had let slip something he shouldn't have, Nick looked away and discreetly coughed into his hand.
"Ahem... anyway, we're here now. So it's fine."
"Yeah, yeah... Sure." I rolled my eyes, amused.
It was then that my dad joined the conversation, looking quite curious.
"By the way, why did you take so long to get here?" He asked.
Nick let out a tired sigh.
"We took so long because we had to finish a few things at Hogwarts before we could leave."
"Teacher stuff?" My mom asked.
"Unfortunately." Nick grimaced.
He walked over to the empty sofa and dropped onto it with a grunt.
"We had to fill out reports, review grades, attend one last staff meeting and deal with other things that, apparently, couldn't wait until another day."
He let out another sigh, this time long and dramatically exaggerated.
"You have no idea how exhausting being a teacher can be."
Penny approached as well, sitting down beside Nick, although in a much more elegant manner.
Even so, I couldn't help noticing how her body relaxed as soon as she settled against the sofa, as if she could finally allow herself to rest.
"Nick is right." She said softly. "Being a teacher really is exhausting."
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "If I remember correctly, you've taught before... I thought you'd already used to teaching."
"That was different." Penny shook her head. "First of all, it was decades ago. And when I taught, I only had two to five students at most, and the lessons were only held a few times a month, or even just a few times a year."
"Teaching at Hogwarts required much more time, effort and planning."
"I see." I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. "Teaching a handful of selected students surely can't be as exhausting as teaching hundreds of brats practically every day for an entire year."
"Exactly." Penny nodded. "And that's why I admire and respect Minerva so much."
"Besides dealing with her own duties as a teacher, she still finds time to look after all the students, teachers and staff at Hogwarts..." She paused. "And Albus too."
From her expression and tone of voice, she seemed genuinely impressed.
"Indeed..." Nick solemnly agreed. "That's quite a job."
For some reason, I had the strange feeling that he was specifically talking about the last person.
"But anyway," Nick continued. "Now we don't have to worry about that anymore. And as a reward to myself, I'm going to spend the next three days sleeping."
"That's understandable." I said, with a mischievous smile on my lips. "People your age tend to enjoy sleep quite a lot... it helps combat fatigue."
Nick slowly turned his head towards me, and I could see his eye twitching.
"Are you calling me old?"
"Old, no." I shook my head. "Just... archaic."
The French wizard looked genuinely offended by my response.
Which, obviously, only made me smile even more... much to his annoyance.
However, the very next moment, Penny asked me a question that completely wiped the smile off my face.
"Ethan, dear..." She began softly. "Does that mean I'm 'archaic' too?"
I froze instantly.
'Oh, shit.'
Very slowly, I turned towards Penny.
She was staring at me with a terrifyingly gentle smile.
A shiver ran down my spine.
'Heh. Let's see how you get out of this one.' Nick was delighted by my misfortune.
End.
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