Disclamer: As much as I wish that it did, unfortunately, the Harry Potter series does not belong to me. The plot is my own, but all of the characters, places etc. that you recognise in this story belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.

A Prefect Match

It's ten to eleven in the morning and I can tell that my seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is not going to get off to a good start. My father has just decided that at least three years too late, ten minutes before my train's due to leave and whilst we're standing on Platform 9 and ¾ in earshot of half the population of Hogwarts, is a good time to give me "the talk."

"Right Scorpius," he says, putting his hands on my shoulders and bending down to be on my eye level, before realising that I am in fact taller than him and craning his neck to look up at me, "Now that you've reached the age of seventeen, you might find yourself becoming attracted to girls , and, well, ahem..." He pauses. Shuffles his feet. Coughs. Looks awkward. I have to refrain from bursting into hysterical laughter. "...wanting to engage in a physical relationship with them. If this is the case, there are some rules that you must always follow. You must firstly make sure that you are in a committed, monogamous relationship with them. Secondly, you must make sure that the girl is comfortable in taking the relationship to the next stage. And thirdly, you must always use protection. Protection, Scorpius, Protection! To avoid unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases! You don't want any sexually transmitted diseases!"

By this point, he's getting kind of breathless and shouty. I knew I shouldn't have put all that firewhiskey in his pumpkin juice at breakfast.

"In fact, it's probably better to wait until you are married before engaging in physical relations with a girl. Your mother and I waited until marriage, which made it all the more fun and exciting." He pauses for breath. "Oh look, the train's about to leave. You'd better get on. Have a good term son; we'll see you at Christmas."

And that is how I start my final year at Hogwarts; boarding the train with a disturbing mental image formed from the words mother, father, sex and exciting. I think I'm gonna be in for a long year...

I've made it halfway down the train to meet my friends in our usual compartment before I realise that I'm supposed to be in a prefect meeting. Shit.

Now, being an intelligent, handsome, impeccably dressed student, you might expect me to be Head Boy. I'm not. My father thinks that this is possibly due to the fact that Professor Longbottom never got over prejudices formed during their school days, but I think that this is unlikely. More likely, Professor Longbottom is aware of my track record and doesn't want to have to face the possible shame of a Head Boy throwing wild drunken parties, smoking illicit substances or getting a random girl pregnant. Not that this would happen. I'm always very careful, but you know... I'm probably not the best candidate for Head Boy. Plus, it would take away all the fun in life!

I sneak into the back if the prefect's carriage, where the new Head Boy and Head Girl, Rose Weasley and Matthew Boot, are currently stood at the front, holding hands. Four years those two have been going out, and they're still as affectionately committed and nauseating as they were at the beginning,

"Listen up everyone!" Rose commands in her usual bossy fashion. "We've got some changes to implement this year in regards to how we do our patrols. Last year's Head Boy and Girl, Joe Higgs and Lucy Weasley, noticed that when prefects were patrolling with a friend, they tended to abuse their powers, bunk off or gang up on rival houses..."

I think at this point, I fell asleep.

"...So that settles it then, older prefects will be paired with a younger prefect from a different house."

Was Rose still going on? I somehow become aware that everyone else in the carriage seems to be moving around and... pairing up?

I raise a questioning eyebrow at a fellow Slytherin, who informs me that we're supposed to be pairing up with someone younger than us who is in a different house. I quickly scan the room, but it appears that almost everyone has already got a partner. Oh dear. I spot a girl in the corner with long, shiny black hair who's wearing an extremely short skirt. She's alone. And she's now batting her eyelashes at me. She'll do. But then I remember that our partner's supposed to be in a different house and that girl, Kelsey I think her name is, is most definitely a Slytherin. Shit.

And now, even more shit, Rose Weasley is coming this way. Curse Merlin's saggy Y-Fronts. I try to escape through the doors of the compartment, but, unfortunately, she sees me. "Malfoy! Haven't you found a partner yet?" I shake my head pathetically and she throws me a pitying look. "Alright then, come this way." she says, dragging me across the compartment towards a gaggle of fifth years. "You'll be patrolling on Fridays if that's okay. And your partner will be..." She pauses to look at all the fifth years. "...Lily."

"Scorpius, meet Lily Potter."

A/N: I apologise for all the grammar mistakes in this piece, it's never been one of my strong points. If there are any mistakes that you find particularly agrivating, please do not hesitate to point them out.

This is going to be my first multi chapter story, and I would love to hear what you think about it. Please leave me a review! Thanks for reading!

Jenny Ellen