A/N: Here we are at the end at last. This is the last chapter, and more of an epilogue than anything. Thank you so much to everyone who has read, followed and/or favourited this story, and especially everyone who's reviewed. Some of you have stayed faithful even through my ridiculously long hiatuses when it was touch and go whether this would ever get finished or not. Thank you so much - you guys are the reason I always came back and continued.

Would you believe I started this story more than four years ago? It's come a long way since then, and so has my writing and my detailed Next Gen headcanons. When I started this, I had no idea of writing more than one Next Gen story, and now I have a whole collection, which are all part of the same timeline and follow the same characters and events. You're probably thinking there are certain storylines that didn't get very satisfactory resolutions in this - well don't worry, because there's going to be a sequel. Two sequels, in fact, but the second one hasn't been started yet (at the time of writing this).

But if you want to keep following the characters in this story, please go and have a look at These Mortals.

Anyway, enjoy this final chapter!

Chapter 29 - Team Work

The warm April had melted the snow even from the tops of most of the mountains, and there was no rain or gale the day of the final Quidditch match of the year, only a grey sky and a brisk breeze. Most of the students at Hogwarts had moved on from the shocking events of the spring term, and were simply enjoying the exams being over. For everyone except the few directly affected, the actions and exposition of the League seemed far away.

Scorpius had found himself, to his own surprise, somewhat more popular within his own house than he had been before. Apparently, most people in Slytherin were fairly disgusted with the League, particularly with the framing of Astoria Malfoy, for Slytherins were supposed to look after their own, whatever disputes they might have among themselves. It was now the Nott children who found themselves isolated, along with others whose parents had been active League members, for Pureblood society as a whole was keen to distance themselves from what was now known as a group of criminals. Both Theo and Pansy Nott were behind bars, and Searle, Ariadne and Weylin were living with their grandparents, facts that had been whispered round the school with some excitement. Even Dannicus was looked on with some suspicion, since his parents had also been members, but since Scorpius quietly went on being friends with him, it was decided by the Hogwarts gossips that the Urquharts must, in fact, be as innocent as they were claiming. The Malfoys' status as the victims of the plot meant that, for a while, there were people inclined to treat Scorpius as some sort of wronged hero. Even Xanthe Derrick had been almost polite to him on several occasions. However, he ignored them all, and so eventually people left him alone, much to his relief.

On the whole, the summer term had been a quiet one. Those taking important exams had been swamped with work, while those who were not kept their heads down for the most part. Hogwarts had had a subdued air for the past weeks.

That day, however, the normal Quidditch fever had swept the school, perhaps even more so than usual. What with earlier postponed matches, and then the events just before Easter, the final Quidditch match was taking place later than it generally did, after, instead of before, the exams. It was going to be the final big event of the year, and the Quidditch cup was still very much to play for. All four teams that year had been excellent. So far, though, the only team to have won two matches was Slytherin, having beaten both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff thanks to the brilliance of its Chaser team. Ravenclaw, having played all three of their matches and lost two, were out of the running. But Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, who were to play that day, had each won one match and lost one, so whoever won today would have equal victories with Slytherin. The final awarding of the cup would come down to scored points, which were currently close, but with Slytherin significantly in the lead. Whichever of Gryffindor or Hufflepuff won today needed to score high.

James Potter was not down at the Quidditch pitch with everyone else.

He'd done very well, all term, at pretending that the only things on his mind were NEWTs. He'd held very serious strategy meetings with Sapphie, in which he had put his own feelings aside completely, because the game was what mattered. But now, on the day, he found he couldn't face it, and had lingered in his dormitory until he was sure everyone else would have gone, then made his way down to the empty common room. He knew he was bottling it, but he could not watch Gryffindor play without him. He sat down in an armchair, and watched the low embers of the fire, trying (and failing) not to think about it.

He didn't look round as the door opened behind him, only as a familiar voice said, "What the hell are you doing?"

James skewed round in his seat and stared at his brother.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for you. Why aren't you down there?" Albus advanced into the room and leant on the back of the sofa James was sitting in.

James looked at his brother in silence for a few moments. He and Albus hadn't had a proper conversation for quite a long time. After the last Quidditch match, when James had almost been expelled, Albus had broken his silence for long enough to tell his brother he thought he was in the right. Since the incident in Kilmary, Albus had seemed to be acting more or less as usual with him. At home, over Easter, they had talked casually in passing, as they normally did, but always among a group of other people. It had been enough to stop their parents noticing anything, but James had been aware that there was still a distance between them. He also knew it was entirely his own fault, but there didn't seem much he could do about it. He had already apologised to Al, with complete sincerity, and as there didn't seem to be any way he could actually make it up to his brother, all he could do was give it time.

"James. You should be there," Albus said quietly.

"Why?" James shrugged. "Not like I can do anything for them." And he didn't feel like torturing himself by watching them play, but admitting that would be admitting weakness. Albus knew him well enough to know how he'd be feeling anyway, without him saying it out loud.

"You're the team captain. You are," Albus asserted, as James opened his mouth to point out that this wasn't true any more. "The whole team sees you as the captain, and so does the rest of Gryffindor. No matter who wears the badge. You built this team up. You can't just hide in here. I'm serious."

James looked away from his brother. Albus hadn't given much sign of caring about Quidditch in recent years. And yet he seemed to care about this.

"I just don't want to…" he began.

"I know you don't," Albus interrupted. "But you still should. You should be in the changing rooms with them right now. Lily and Rufus came looking for you, because they were expecting you to be there."

"They did?" James took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Maybe they were all right. Maybe he should at least be watching. Maybe he owed it to them, no matter how he felt himself.

"Come on, Jamie. Stop hiding."

"I'm not hiding!" James protested at once, though he knew that that was exactly what he was doing.

Something that was almost a smile flickered across Albus's face.

"Okay. So prove it. Go and talk to your team."

The team were already in their Quidditch robes by the time he came into the changing room. Outside was the excited noise of the crowd. Inside, nobody was smiling. They were all gathered around Sapphie, who was sitting on a bench, their faces very serious. All heads turned as the door opened.

"Jamie!" Lily exclaimed, her face lighting up. "You came!"

It was as if his entry had broken some sort of tension. Suddenly, everyone was looking a lot happier.

"Course I came." James shrugged, as if there had never been any doubt of it. "I couldn't exactly let you go out there without saying good luck."

"Well, go on then." Sapphie had moved from her place, leaving the spot on the bench vacant. They were all looking at him expectantly.

"Go on what? Wish you luck?"

"Well, you know. It's sort of traditional for the captain to give a team talk before a match," she said, with a tinge of sarcasm, and gestured to the bench. "So, go on."

James looked steadily at her.

"You're the captain. You're wearing the badge."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" Sapphie reached up and unpinned the red and gold badge that read 'QC' from her robes. "It's only a piece of metal. Here, catch."

She threw it at him. Reacting without even thinking, he caught it, and stared down at it.

"Now you've got it, just like you ought to. So get talking, Potter."

Slowly, James stepped into the middle of the group, though he didn't sit down. He hadn't planned anything to say, of course. He'd only intended to say good luck. Hurriedly, he recalled the sort of vaguely inspirational comments he'd made before previous matches.

"You know," he said, looking round at them, and a thought forming in his mind. "I think this might just be the best team Gryffindor's ever had. Because a team's more than just a bunch of good players – it's about the bigger picture. It's about the team as one thing working perfectly. And that's how this team works – like one living creature, with all the parts working in sync. And not just any creature," he went on, warming to his theme and grinning at them all. "This team's a fucking dragon. Sorry, First Years present, pretend I didn't swear. But you've got your Chasers breathing fire at the front, you've got a Keeper as good as any talons for grabbing things, and you've got your Beaters on each side, as strong as a pair of wings at protecting everyone. And you know," he smiled suddenly at Iseult, who was clutching her broom nervously, "this dragon must be a Hungarian Horntail, because it's got one hell of a sting in its tail."

There was a general laugh, and he saw Lily squeeze Iseult's shoulder. James looked round at them all again.

"So, just make sure you get out there and roast them, okay?" he finished.

"Nice talk," Sapphie remarked quietly to him, as the team mounted their brooms.

"Yeah, well. You'd better have this back now." He held out the Quidditch Captain badge to her.

Sapphie swung one leg over her broom.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not the captain. You are."

And with that, she was gone, leaving him standing with the badge in his hand as she flew out into the June sunshine, to a roar from the crowd, with the rest of the team behind her.

The End