"What are you lot discussing then?" Fabian Prewett asked jovially, patting Andrew Potter on the back as he took his place at the Gryffindor table, "Surely they aren't still complaining about the extra Quidditch practices? I for one love them, anything to preserve and improve these fine biceps of mine" Fabian exclaimed jokingly.

Andrew turned to his wide-awake friend, smiling softly, his eyes still half closed with lack of sleep. "Trying to impress a certain Miss Patricia Figg then are we? I heard she prefers tall, dark and handsome fellows Fab, I guess that leaves you out cold aye?" Andrew teased ruffling his friend's bright red hair.

"I'll have you know that my incredibly unique hair has many girls panting, if Miss Figg isn't interested then I'm sure another girl would love to stand by my side" he declared, winking roguishly at a pretty blonde at the Ravenclaw table who blushed profusely in response.

"That's treason that is, consorting with the enemy like that…have you no loyalty Fab, we play them next week, it's probably all part of their strategy to lure and poison one of our beaters" accused Potter, lifting himself higher in his seat in an attempt to look more imposingly at his friend who was a good 4 inches taller than him.

Fabian's face sobered immediately, "Aye Aye captain, one must not consort with the enemy, I shall stick to Gryfs and Huffles until after the match, as per your orders sir" he said with fake seriousness, saluting mockingly as though to confirm his allegiance. His attention then turned to his other two bickering friends, "What are they arguing about then?" he asked mildly. It was not strange to see the two in question arguing. Alastor Moody and Sarah Valentino had very different views on the world, and both being highly opinionated felt it necessary to impose their views on the other in the attempt to convert them. Moody more so than Valentino, but she had no trouble holding her own against anyone in an argument.

"It's not an argument, merely a debate, Al here is trying to convince me that human nature is what effects people's decisions, I'm merely asserting that nurture plays an equally important role" Sarah informed, her eyes sparkling, the way they often did when debating with Moody.

"Are the Nature vs Nuture debate again….a favourite of yours isn't it Moody?" Fabian asked good naturedly hoping to get a rise from the fiery shorter boy.

"I'll have you know that all I'm saying is that Grindelward must have been born bad, you cant blame the fact that he was an orphan with a terrible childhood on what he's doing, it's not an excuse" fired Moody, his eyes ablaze with moral validation.

"So you're saying that he's inherently evil then? Can someone be inherently evil or inherently good, aren't we all shades of both?" quipped Sarah

"I'm not saying he's inherently evil, just that he is evil, I suppose you think he can be converted then?" Moody exclaimed distastefully.

"My aim is not to convert anyone Al, and I'm not saying the evil bastard's actions can be at all justified, I'm just saying that one must understand the root of the problem if they hope to overcome it" Sarah replied patiently, she knew how to approach the fiery tempered Alastor Moody and was far too calm to lose her composure, she was also acutely aware of how her composure served the purpose of annoying Moody even further.

"I say we just blast him to smithereens, that should overcome the problem" declared Moody, his eyes blazing with what could only be described as happiness at the prospect of blasting Grindelward to smithereens.

Sarah smiled ruefully, she was far too used to Alastor's stubbornness to be too bothered by it. "Let's just agree to disagree then shall we, after all it is not my aim to convert you and you have no hope of converting me" she stated simply, her attention returning to her breakfast while Moody let out an unsatisfied sigh at not being able to get his more convincing points across.

"I think it's marvellous that you've come to that conclusion since we're running quite late as it is" Fabian languidly added

"Who's running late? It's Sunday" huffed Moody, still in quite a bad mood at not having the victory he so very desired.

"Why, Sarah and I of course"

"And what, pray tell are we late for?" the raven-haired girl inquired, her right eyebrow arching delicately.

"The prefects meeting of course" the red head replied lazily.

"Bugger, Daisy's going to have our heads. You know how our esteemed head girl gets when something disrupts her carefully determined schedule" Sarah said rising from the table.

"Oh, what's the rush, after all if we're already late a few more minutes can't hurt" Fabian said distractedly, winking at another blonde, a Hufflepuff this time, much to the delight of Andrew.

"Oh come on Casanova, I don't think I could stand any more of her whining" Sarah said laughing, pulling Fabian up from the bench and proceeding to drag him out the door.

Tom Riddle was already a very patient boy and as he was the least bit interested in the exciting news Daisy Clearwater had been hinting at for the last 20 minutes, his patience was able to reach an astounding new level. He was currently sitting casually in an armchair in the prefects' common room observing his other, less than patient colleagues.

"What a disgrace, being this late to a meeting, honestly those two have no sense of responsibility, typical Gryffindor I say," barked Tanya Hardle, the Ravenclaw 6th year prefect her eyes narrowing angrily. Rather an unattractive trait for a lady Tom thought amusedly, while giving the girl in question a languid smile making her whole face turn red. Like a large, angry tomato he thought to himself.

"I'll have you know Gryffindors are perfectly responsible, they were probably delayed by something exceptionally important," snarled the Gryffindor 6th year prefect Grace Carlton, her partner Gideon just smiled lazily, "they'll be here"

The rivalry between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had been escalating as the match drew closer. As far as Tom was concerned, his bet was on a Gryffindor win, not that he was particularly fond of the lion house, most certainly not but simply because the odds were in their favour. Gryffindors were all the same in is opinion, rough, untamed, loud and little time bombs just waiting to explode, some more than others he noticed wryly observing the difference between Grace and Gideon. The Gryffindor team was also blatantly the best of the house Quidditch teams, simply because the whole nature of the game was based on brutality and supposed determination, something that the Gryffindors had in bucketfuls, along with self righteousness and a misplaced sense of morality he thought amusedly. Ravenclaws on the other hand were bookworms, unpassionate robots that believed that merely knowing the best strategy would ensure them victory, things don't always go to plan Tom though dryly as he observed Ravenclaw's 'golden' girl biting her cheek while staring hard at the wall clock, or perhaps it should be Ravenclaw's bronze girl he though cynically.

Just then the door burst open causing everyone in the room turned to the new occupants.

"Sorry you lot we were both unavoidably detained," exclaimed a smiling Sarah Valentino, "well what are we waiting for? Let's just go and…. organise something then shall we" she added plopping herself ungracefully down on a chair by Gideon Prewett.

Daisy Clearwater was evidently not amused judging from the throbbing vein threatening to burst from her forehead, another unattractive trait for a lady Tom thought sardonically, making himself more comfortable in preparation for the show that would undoubtedly come about.

"Did our silly little prefect meeting interrupt your busy schedules? Do you have more important things to do with your busy little lives?" Daisy asked scornfully.

Sarah however didn't seem to be rising to the bait. She smiled lazily, "Of course not Dais, we were just having breakfast, you know that I for one find being in your company right on the top of my list of priorities. I absolutely adore prefect meetings, a week just isn't complete without at least four, and we all know how you ensure that we are always complete." She replied heavily.

"You were late because you were having breakfast? That was why you were unavoidably detained?" Clearwater screeched angrily, her red face a sharp contrast to her stingy blonde hair. Another angry tomato Tom though leisurely suppressing a yawn that was threatening to come out.

"Well, breakfast is the most important meal of the day" Sarah said simply, her face blank of emotion, completely the opposite of Grace who was giggling madly.

"Shut up Grace, all you Gryffindors are alike! Sarah you and Gideon don't deserve those prefect badges, you're worthless and irresponsible and downright childish" seethed Daisy.

Sarah's eyes clouded over with a vacant expression, but a carefully trained eye could see the fury building up inside them. "Really? Well perhaps you could do us the honour of picking a more responsible, worthy fifth year prefect. We all trust your judgement unquestionably, after all with all the judgements you make you're bound to be an expert at it by now. Who exactly would you suggest?" she asked coldly.

Tom had to admit she was slightly threatening when she was angry, nothing so obvious as a red tomato face, just a slight change her demeanour and the entire temperature of the room would drop 10 degrees. Interesting development and an excellent question, everyone in the room knew that Fabian and Sarah were probably the most responsible and approachable Gryffindors, they were far calmer and less likely to explode into a fire-breathing monster. Tom almost laughed out loud when he pictured Daisy Clearwater having this very conversation with Alastor Moody. Absolute jarhead.

Fabian Prewett who had remained silent since he had come in, jumped in, probably trying to diffuse the situation, now why would he want to do that? Tom though wryly, we were all having so much fun.

"Let's just get on with this shall we, what exactly is this meeting for?" Fabian inquired evenly.

"Probably another ball we have to organise" Sarah responded dispassionately

Daisy ignored her and announced with barely hidden excitement, although much less excited than she would have been had her confrontation with Sarah not taken place. "We're having a Valentines Day Ball, the colour scheme is pink, so let's start organising people" she stated excitedly before proceeding to delegate the duties. Tom noticed Sarah leaning over and whispering something into Fabian Prewett's ear; the redhead guffawed in response, earning a brilliant smile from the blue-eyed girl and a reproachful glare from Clearwater.

Tom felt a strange, foreign feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watched the pair interact carelesslyHis ever observant eyes noticing the scowl on Tanya Hardle's face as she too watched the pair.

This should be interesting………