Vacation at Last

"Finally... I'm free!"

"We did it, James! We survived!"

After all our exams were over, I saw James and Sirius walking along, leaning on each other for support. They looked as though they had just spent a day and a night hauling bricks at a construction site, rather than sitting several exams.

"I need to relax properly," James said weakly. "I've been studying too hard lately. If I cram too much knowledge into my brain, something will go wrong with it!"

"You only studied for the past few days, didn't you?" Sirius yawned. "You were even trying to find that Deathday Party hall the night before the exams."

"That's more important than exams!" James waved his fist and looked at Sirius in anguish. "How can you call yourself a hero if you don't put adventure first?"

"What century does he live in?" I looked at Lily.

"I don't know, but it's definitely not ours." Lily answered without hesitation.

"Never mind! I'm going out every night for the next few days!" James declared in the crowded corridor. "I can't let this wonderful time go to waste!"

"Sometimes I really envy how well you lot learn..." Mary's eyes filled with tears. Then she draped herself over Marlene, who had just come out of a classroom nearby, and pretended to cry. "Boo-hoo, surrounded by a bunch of geniuses, you're the only one who can give me a little comfort, Marlene."

"Why does the way you said that annoy me so much...?" Marlene thumped her on the head, and I hurried to smooth things over.

"When God closes a door, he always opens a window. Look at James—he's missing the sensitive part of his personality."

"I think I'm better off without it." James finally straightened up. "What's better than the courage to forge ahead?"

"Yesterday you said the best thing in the world was..." I was about to carry on when James shouted.

"Don't do that thing where you follow up what I say this time!"

Whatever the case, the end of exams was always a happy occasion. Before the results even came out, students all over Hogwarts grew restless, and Filch could barely keep up despite working overtime at night.

I didn't have much feeling about my exam results anymore. I'd been thrilled when I first got straight Os, but after seeing them so often, I had grown used to them. This time, though, when I saw that I'd actually gotten an A in Flying Class, I leaped out of my seat in shock.

"Unbelievable!" I waved my report card in front of Lily. "I actually got an A in Flying Class!"

"Really?!" Lily was shocked too. Stuffing bread into her mouth, she leaned over to look at my report card. "I was just telling Mary and the others yesterday that if you really couldn't pass Flying Class, we'd go plead with the professor for you!"

"Madam Hooch is the greatest person in the world!" Moved, I put my report card away. "That's wonderful! I'll never have to see a broom again!"

"You're that happy just because you passed Flying Class?" Sirius always liked to rain on my parade when I was happy. He couldn't even be bothered to collect his own report card; Narcissa had put it away for him. "That's all you aspire to."

"Huh?" As soon as Sirius finished speaking, I held up my report card. "How did you know I got Os in everything except Flying Class?"

Sirius: "...Nobody asked you."

"Tsk, you go out at night twice as often as we do, don't you? How do you still get so many Os?" James shook his head, then slapped Sirius. "Looks like we haven't been going out at night enough! Sirius, starting next year, we're going out every night!"

"Every night? Are you going to sleep at all?" Sirius was shocked. "I don't want everyone attending our funeral on this day next year."

"I'll miss you," Mary said.

"Don't talk as if we're already dead!"

At the end-of-term feast, the Great Hall was livelier than usual. Many students sneaked over to sit with friends from other houses. Most of the professors turned a blind eye, allowing them one last celebration at the end of the school year.

"Sirius, have you thought about where you want to go over the holidays?"

After eating and drinking his fill, James had already started making holiday plans. I hoped he could still remember we had homework.

"Not yet." Sirius shook his head. He glanced at Narcissa at the Slytherin table, a look of disgust on his face. "But I'm definitely not going home."

"In that case, come stay at my place!" James threw an arm around Sirius, and the two of them laughed happily. I honestly had no idea what they were laughing about, but their laughter was infectious. I felt like laughing too.

"What about you?"

Just as I was preparing to do battle with the chicken wings in front of me for another three hundred rounds, James changed his tone and suddenly asked me.

"Me?" I hadn't expected him to invite me. Maybe he wanted me to bring Lily along?

"Sorry, I have some things to do over the holidays. I might not have a chance to come." I shook my head.

"All right." James shrugged, then leaned against Sirius again. "That way, we can have some time alone together."

"I often think those two are a little weird," Marlene murmured to me.

"That's how straight guys are," I whispered back. "If there were really something going on, they'd be too busy trying to avoid suspicion."

"You know so much." Marlene gave me an admiring look. I had the feeling I'd been given credit for something completely inexplicable.

After that, James and Sirius began discussing what they would do over the holidays. To my surprise, he didn't invite anyone else.

It was understandable that he hadn't invited Remus. Leaving aside the fact that they weren't that close yet and Remus usually didn't join their nighttime outings, Remus took time off every full moon. Even if James had asked, Remus would certainly have refused.

But why hadn't James invited Lily? Had he finally gained a little self-awareness?

The child had grown up. I felt a little gratified.

The feast ended in a warm and cheerful atmosphere. As for which house had won that year? There was no need to think about it. It definitely couldn't have been Gryffinboys.

I hopped aboard the train home. As I was planning whether to go to Knockturn Alley for my things first or withdraw some money from the bank and exchange it at Gringotts, the system prompt arrived right on schedule.

[The holidays are about to begin. Who would you like to spend this pleasant holiday with?]

[1. Martin]

[2. Sirius]

[3. Lily]

[4. James]

[5. Remus]

[6. Regulus]

[7. Snape]

How was this prompt any different from writing "pleasant summer holidays" on our summer homework...?

Come to think of it, there were so many candidates this time. And who was Martin? I'd never seen that name in the original story. Had I really come to the world of Martin's Morning?

I had plenty of time to make snide remarks, but after pausing for a moment, I felt as though something was missing. Then I looked over the options again.

There was no [Forget it, go to sleep]!!

So did I have to choose someone to spend the holidays with? Why was this happening?! You couldn't force me to choose!

I raged helplessly, and then the system started a countdown.

"Fine, fine, fine, fine, you win!" I chose Lily. "Petunia said she wanted to see me again last time anyway, so I can visit them while I'm at it."

Fortunately, after I made my choice, it didn't require me to stick with Lily the way it had when we were revising. I breathed a long sigh of relief, then tentatively asked Lily.

"Can I come over to your house?"

[Snape's affection -5]

Before Lily could answer, Snape had already stopped reading. He silently condemned me with a look, and I glared back. It's not as though I wanted to!

"Of course!" Lily was delighted. "Petunia was asking just yesterday whether you could come over during the holidays."

"Then can I come see you in a few days?" I patted my luggage. "I still have to go home first."

Lily probably thought I was going back to tell my family. She even reminded me to be careful on my way and said I could bring my parents along. For a moment, I didn't know how to answer, so I brushed it off by saying, "It wouldn't feel like a happy holiday at all with parents around."

With one problem settled, I lay back down, relieved.

I didn't know how long I'd slept when, half asleep and half awake, I suddenly thought of something and sat bolt upright.

"Snape, if you ever want to run away from home but don't know where to go, you can go to the Leaky Cauldron. I know the owner there pretty well." I tore a sheet of paper from my notebook and wrote down a room number. "There's a room there that's kept vacant. You can stay there whenever you go."

Snape slowly put down his book. The expression on his face was as though he'd seen James studying Dark Magic.

"...Are you sure you're talking to me?" he asked.

"Who else would I be talking to? Who else in this compartment is called Snape?" Realizing something, I slapped the note down in front of him, making him flinch. "You aren't plotting something involving Lily, are you?"

"Cough, cough! Don't talk nonsense!" Snape's face instantly turned bright red, and he sprang to his feet. Trying too hard to appear innocent, he looked over at Lily, but she had already fallen asleep-before the holidays, she'd asked me to take her out at night for several days, and she really was a little worn out. Only then did he look away and cough twice. "I only asked because what you said was too strange!"

"Coward."

I was sure Snape had heard me, but he didn't reply. Unexpectedly, his affection didn't drop either.

"Anyway, this is a backup address." I forced the note into his hand. "I won't go there, and the owner and I will communicate by owl, so you don't have to worry about running into me."

"I don't need it." He pushed it back. For a moment, I felt like an elder trying to press a red envelope into a relative's child's hands at Spring Festival as I went back and forth with him.

"Oh, come on. With that oppressive family environment of yours, isn't it normal to want to get away for a little while? Rather than staying at home feeling frustrated all the time, it's better to go out for a short while." I nearly broke his arm. "Take it. At worst, you can pay for it yourself."

He paused, and his grip weakened.

"Why?" he asked. "You shouldn't like me."

"It's more than that. Sometimes I really hate you," I said honestly. Snape and I were incompatible in every way, and always had been. He was as stubborn as a mule. Every time, I'd rack my brains only to watch him walk the same path again, and it made me so angry I wanted to twist his head off.

"You're Lily's friend, and Lily cares about you." I kept putting the note in his hand. "I do hate you, but I don't want Lily to worry."

"You really do like to meddle." He sneered, his expression turning even gloomier. But this time, he didn't throw the note back.

"I think I know why Lily likes you so much."

After putting the note away, he and I stared at each other in silence for a long while before he said that.

"Because I've always been a likable person." I lifted my chin at him. "Completely different from you."

Snape: "..."

[Snape's affection -1]

He rolled his eyes at me and reopened his book.

[Author's note]

"Hogwarts: A Love Story, 1971" is dedicated to creating the perfect gaming experience. As a romance game, we know that affection is an essential element, so even if you don't purchase the big bundle, at the end of each school year, everyone will still be listed in the options in order of their current affection, from highest to lowest.

★Tip★

If you want to enter a particular route but find that your affection is too low, you mustn't miss the holiday event. You can complete the entire event regardless of affection level;

The content of the holiday event will change depending on whom you choose and will not be limited to one person.

★Side quest reminder★

[Successfully passed the final exams. Obtained Resurrection Coin ×1]

Resurrection Coin: Using it can bring you back to life, but it won't change the fact that you died.