Disclaimer: As much as it pains me to say it, I don't own Potter property.
3
Lily gently laid her silver prefect patch on top of her new robes and closed her trunk. She could not believe the summer was already over. It seemed just yesterday she had gotten off the train, crowded into Aunt Hermione's station wagon, and came home for the annual Weasley reunion. And now, she was getting ready to go back on the train, back to Hogwarts, back to the comfort of the Slytherin common room.
"Lily, you ready yet?" Al asked, poking his head in her room.
"Yeah."
"Make sure you have your badge is in your pocket; you'll be put to work as soon as you get to the platform."
"Ok." Lily flipped open her trunk and took out her badge and slid it in her pocket. Al, already a prefect, knew what he was talking about.
"Let's go, then. Mum's going to have a cow if we're much later."
He disappeared. Lily gripped the handle of her trunk with two hands and brought it to the edge of the stairs and carefully lowered it, one stair at a time, until she was at the bottom.
"Need help, Slytherin?" Teddy asked, picking up her trunk. "Can't let a pretty lady carry her luggage all on her own."
"Are you coming to King's Cross with us?" Lily asked, following after Teddy.
"No; I can't. Not this year." He threw Lily's trunk into the back of her dad's car. "But make sure you steal a pastry from the kitchens for me." He turned around and hugged her.
"Alright, Ted," Lily said, fighting back laughter. Jim had made the same request of her.
"And don't let the other prefects scare you," he said, pulling away from her.
"Of course not," Lily said. "I've lived with a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw, and I highly doubt any house will dare intimidate a Slytherin. At least not with Alexander Zabini covering my back."
"He's your fellow prefect?"
"Yep."
"You're going to be an intimidating team, I'll tell you that. I'd hate to be a little first year Gryffindor with the pair of you staring at me." He played with his turquoise hair, shaking his head.
"Oh, man, I can't wait to see a little Gryffindor pee his pants," Lily said and chuckled.
"You're so mean, Slytherin," Teddy muttered, messing up her hair. Lily batted him away.
"Lily, get in the car," her dad said, sliding into the driver's seat.
Her mum and Al emerged from the house, between the two of them managing to carry Al's oversized trunk to the car.
"What do you have in here?" their mum said.
"Books," Al replied, dropping the trunk in the car.
"Get in; we're running late," their dad said, starting up the car.
Lily buckled her seatbelt, the leather seats sticking to the back of her thighs, and watched as the Burrow disappeared behind the first bend.
3
Lily pushed aside the door to the Slytherin prefect compartment and stared at the four other prefects staring at her.
"Lily Potter?" one of them said, looking her over.
"Yes," she replied.
"I'm Headboy for Slytherin this year," he said, standing up. "My name's Harley Abel and the Headgirl is Ophelia Zabini."
Alexander's older sister smiled, her teeth particularly white against her dark skin. Harley ran his hands briefly through his thick brown hair.
"Senior prefects this year are Sylvester Goyle and Sam Hill."
Lily glanced at the two seventh years. Sam was rather average looking – nothing spectacular. She always wore her hair pulled back and always looked rather austere. She had a reputation for putting little Gryffindor first years in their places real fast. Sly was rather large, his hands and feet still a bit awkward. He appeared a whole lot more oblivious than he was. And his observations often showed up when it was time to count house points.
"Prefects are Scorpius Malfoy and Tempest Prewett. Is Scorpius even here yet?"
"Nope," Tempest said, tossing back her fiery red hair. "He's late."
Her tone was droll and monotonous to listen to for long periods of time, but no one would question her ability. Lily had never actually met the lesser of the two Malfoy twins. Everyone knew Aeolus; he was the one who rallied the Slytherins around the quidditch pitch. Scorpius was a bit more introverted than his dark-haired brother. It had been rumored that the pair were as opposite as day to night. With this impression, it was odd that Scorpius was late.
"I think he's tracking down the younger Zabini," Sam said. Sly nodded his head.
"I told him to report straight here, but he wouldn't listen to me," Ophelia sighed, examining her nails.
"Well, our junior prefects are Lily Potter and the missing Zabini," Harley finished, crossing his arms. "I hate it when my prefects are late."
"This is the first time it's happened, you know," Ophelia said.
"And it's going to be the last."
"I think you should run through protocol, now," Ophelia said.
"We need to wait for your brother."
"No we don't. He'll manage without."
"I can't. Wolfe would get pissed at me"
"You might want to sit down for awhile, Potter," Tempest said. "We could be here for awhile."
"Oh, come on, Red," someone said from the doorway. "I'm not that inefficient."
Lily looked up. A tall young man, probably taller than Al, leaned against the doorframe. His blonde – almost white -- hair was unkempt and fell over his eyes, which were shielded by a pair of thin wire glasses. His frame was large – wide through the shoulder and well muscled throughout. Even from her obscured position, she could see his clear grey eyes dancing with intelligence and amusement. She could only assume this was Scorpius.
"Sit down; we've been waiting for you. Do you have Zabini?" Abel asked, crossing his arms.
"Yes I do; he should be somewhere behind me, although he might have gotten eaten by a first year – I don't know."
Scorpius stepped into the compartment and sat next to Lily. She could smell his cologne – a scent that had many depths to it. Just inhaling it made her head spin with pleasure. She glanced over at him and immediately was captivated by his strong jaw line.
Where had he been hiding?
"My, my, my," Sam muttered. "It seems scrawny Scorpius has grown up over the summer."
"Indeed," Scorpius said, crossing his arms. "It seems I know everyone here but one. You, miss, what is your name?" He turned to Lily, his eyes prying into her soul.
"Lily Potter."
"Fifth year?"
"Yes."
"Zabini!" Harley snapped. "Get your sorry Slytherin ass in here!"
Alexander slunk into the room, his newly lanky frame making him stick out like a sore thumb. He collapsed in a chair like a pile of sticks and waited to be instructed.
"Well, now that we have that out of the way," Harley said, glaring at Alex. "I need to inform you of protocol. First, you cannot take points from other prefects. The night shifts are as follows: Monday Alexander and Lily, Tuesday Scorpius and Tempest, Wednesday Sam and Lily, Thursday Tempest and Sly, Friday Scorpius and Alexander, Saturday Sam and Tempest, and Sunday Sly and Scorpius. Your goal here is to peg Gryffindors with as much house violations as possible, as well as the other houses. Sometimes, we'll organize events and we'll need to create a route through which we can traffic our students. You will be compliant to these needs."
Lily nodded. She understood what he was talking about full well. Every year, they had an annual first year-seventh year party where they all trekked to the kitchens and basically had a big bash. It was both an establishment of seventh year supremacy and an introduction to Slytherin. As a first year, you were sworn to secrecy and to compliance to these traditions.
"Memorize the list of forbidden items and confiscate what you can. Alexander and Lily; this is how I want the pair of you to go down. Lily, go easier, basically tip off Alexander and he'll peg 'em. Both of you are responsible for the first and second years. Scorpius and Tempest, the third, fourth, and fifth years. Hill and Goyle, the sixth and seventh years. You have the liberty to plan events, and are responsible to settle conflicts and make them feel as at home as possible.
"Put on your badges and make sure everyone is where they ought to be; got it?" Harley said. They all nodded and pulled their silver badges out of their pockets and pinned them to their shirts. Lily felt a surge of excitement as she began patrolling the train.