Prefect Duties
When
April returned from the bathroom, she had complications to get back
to her compartment since the students were flooding out of the
Hogwarts Express.
Finally reaching the compartment she pushed the
door open.
"Did you get lost, or something?", Ginny
asked and handed her the cloak with the blue and bronze Ravenclaw
emblem on it. April shook her head and slipped the cloak over her
shoulders, glad that she had something that would cover the prefect
badge. She hadn't told her friends, only her siblings knew, but Ernie
and Natasha didn't care too much. And Lenora, Lenora had other things
to worry about. 'Like her precious boyfriend', April thought bitterly
and followed Ginny out of the empty compartment in silence.
"Luna
said she would arrange us a carriage, but I'm not too sure about
that.", Ginny pointed out once they had left the Hogwarts
Express and were walking over to the carriages where students were
fighting to get in one that was empty.
April stayed silent and
looked around for the blonde mop of her friend.
"You know,
she hasn't got much assertiveness. I bet we'll have to walk the whole
way up to Hogwarts.", the freckled girl chuckled and cocked her
head to the side when April didn't reply to her.
"Oh, come
on, April. Talk to me, I don't bite.", she flashed a perfect
smile at her.
"I knew that.", April murmured and tore her gaze at Ginny. She had met the girl in her second year at Hogwarts when she was studying in the library with Luna. Ginny had just sat down at the table with them and asked if they would mind her sitting with them. Back then April had envied her for her forwardness and sometimes she still would do now.
"I'm just not a talkative person...", she said lamely, causing Ginny to shoot her a yeah-right-look but she didn't press the subject any further. The Weasley girl knew that April would open up to her if she didn't push her. So she let the conversation slip and continued to search the crowd for a familiar face.
Once
they had gotten to the castle, they had to share a carriage with some
third year Hufflepuffs, Ginny bed her goodbye as they walked into the
great hall. "See you after the feast.", Ginny had waved at
her and had walked over to the Gryffindor table.
April was
standing in the middle of the hall, looking how the red head took a
seat next to her brother. With her gaze still at the Gryffindor table
she began to walk to the other side of the hall. However she hadn't
made more than five steps when she was rudely brushed aside.
"Watch
where you're going, MacMillan.", the cold voice of Draco Malfoy
spat as he passed her with his goons Vincent Crabbe and Gregory
Goyle. Both boys were nearly one head taller then the cocky git and
they tend to follow him wherever he was going.
Crabbe whispered a
small 'sorry' when he walked past her and April nodded her head
slightly. The monkey had a crush on her elder sister Natasha and
wouldn't hurt April for he feared that her sister wouldn't ever talk
to him if he did.
'Sometimes it's good to have a beautiful sister,
who's in Slytherin', April grinned and got over to the Ravenclaw
table, plopping down next to Su Li with whom she shared a dorm along
with Lisa.
"Hi
April!", Su exclaimed and smiled at her when she sat down next
to the girl.
"Hi Su.", April replied with not so much
enthusiasm.
"So did you hear what they're saying about the
new prefect?", Su whispered after a few minutes, tucking her
black her gracefully behind her pierced ear.
"Sorry?",
April choked while trying to not show her discomfort.
"Michael
Corner said that the other prefect didn't appear at the meeting on
the train. Now everyone is musing who the girl is. So far we're in
the dark. Do you have a clue who the girl could be? I really want to
know!", Su rambled on and let her gaze travel over the table.
Thankfully she never noticed April's cheeks going from chalk white to
a crimson red.
"Have you ever considered that she's maybe
just shy? What if she doesn't want the attention?", April
suggested.
"Oh yeah, right. The only person who would do
something this absurd is...", there Su stopped to tear her gaze
at April. It seemed that she was looking directly into April's soul,
making her feel fairly uncomfortable.
"Stop
looking at me like this, Su. You scare me...", April tried to
escape her scrutinizing glance but to no avail.
Su's eyes lit up
and she chuckled at April's fearsome face. "Why have I been so
blind? It's you, isn't it?"
Seeing no use in denying it any
longer, April nodded her head with a sigh.
After
Dumbledore's speech April helped herself to some potatoes and
sausages. She was really hungry and duck in, when Lisa across from
the table raised her voice.
"How can you eat so much and
still have a figure like that?", she whined and pointed with her
fork at April.
"Excuse me?", April said after she had
chewed and swallowed the piece of sausage in her mouth.
"You
heard me. You're thin as a stick!", Lisa sighed and looked down
at her nearly empty plate. Only a few green peas and a carrot were
lieing on it.
April looked flustered at her friend. 'Did she just
call me thin?', she thought and shook her head. She wasn't really
glad about her figure and sometimes thought she was fat when Natasha
had said something like that to her.
"And
don't deny it, April!", Lisa said while nibbling on her carrot.
"You ARE thin, right Padma?", she glanced at Padma Patil
sitting next to her.
"Right! Wish I had a body like that,
maybe Michael would finally notice me.", the dark haired girl
sighed and continued to pick at a pea on her plate.
"How
could he not? Every time you talk to him you practically drool all
over your shirt.", Su chuckled.
"Oh, shut it!"
After
the girls had finished their dinner, they chatted for a while about
the summer holidays. Until...
"First years! First years!
Please come with me!", Michael Corner yelled over the upcoming
noise in the Great Hall.
"Get up!", Su nudged April who
reluctantly got up to follow Michael and the first years out of the
Hall.
April
jogged up to the prefect, "Michael, wait!"
He glanced
over to her, when April fell in step with him. "I don't think
you're a first year, April. Is there anything you want?", his
voice was calm and a smile was tucking at the corner of his
mouth.
"Well, yeah. Uhm, about the prefect meeting on the
train...", she trailed off now scratching the back of her
head.
"What's about it?"
"Urgh, I'm sorry I
didn't show up.", April muttered in a rush, avoiding the glare
Michael was giving her.
"You
mean, you're the other prefect? Man, I never thought they would pick
you.", Michael said while ascending the staircase that led to
the Ravenclaw tower.
"Thanks...", April's cheeks were
reddening in embarrassment as she noticed the sarcasm dripping from
her words.
Michael stopped and turned to look at the blushing
girl, "No, I didn't mean it like that. It's just, your kind of
shy, aren't you? And, not to offend you or something, but I don't
think you can handle a whole bunch of first years. Let alone giving
detentions and taking away house points if needed.", though his
words may seem a little harsh, April knew that he was completely
right.
"I know that.", she whispered and began to walk
up the stairs again, a lot of first years hot on her heels along with
a slightly confused Michael Corner.
