"I'm telling you, you have to be able to produce an Unforgivable Curse for the Defense OWL." Asha insisted. "Andrew Jacobi said he had to use the Cruciatus Curse on a grasshopper last year."

"Andrew Jacobi also insists that he's in talks with the Ministry to be the youngest judge on the Wizengamot when he graduates Hogwarts and that he dated Melissa Greene secretly but she just won't admit it. He lies," Hallie reminded her.

She suppressed a sigh. It was only a month into their fifth year but already it felt like every conversation revolved around their OWLs and Hallie was desperate for a break from talking about school.

Luckily that break usually arrived in the form of Ben.

"You will never believe who just got completely trashed in the common room and threw up all over Jordan Price," he announced gleefully as he entered their dorm. "Emilia O'Connell!"

"Good. Well, not for Emilia." Hallie grabbed a tangerine and some chocolates from the pile of snacks he threw on her bed. Ben sat down at the foot of her bed next to Asha while Hallie lounged against her pillows.

"It's a Tuesday night. What was she doing?" Asha was appalled. "And what do you have against Jordan Price?"

"He keeps interrupting me as I'm in the middle of answering questions in class so he can answer it himself! He did that three times last week alone and only McGonagall called him out on him." Hallie gave an annoyed sniff for emphasis. "The throw up is deserved. Poor Emilia though, she's so sweet."

Ben shrugged. "Emilia was stressed out about our Charms exam next week since Flitwick said it was supposed to be our first one actually graded based on OWL standards. Since Potter and his gang were throwing a mid-week celebration in their common room, she decided to indulge in some, ahem, stress relief?"

And back to OWLS.

Ravenclaw could be a stressful environment at any time, given that it housed a bunch of Type A perfectionists who were all determined to outdo each other while also simultaneously having their House as a whole outdo the rest of the school. The in-fighting was never very conducive towards reaching the second goal for total House points, though they managed to keep the highest grades out of all the Houses.

OWLs were a whole new level of anxiety however.

In Ravenclaw, OWL year wasn't just 'stressful' like it was for other students. Over the years, it had become less about determining one's future career path than it was proving one's worthiness as a Ravenclaw. The older students used it as an excuse to essentially haze the fifth years throughout the year and it was an unspoken rule that all Ravenclaws must post their OWL results in the common room the next year. Obviously this was not sanctioned by the administration, but the older students had carried this tradition for years now and showed no signs of letting up. It was no wonder that around half of all the fifth year students who had mental breakdowns were Ravencalws.

Taking your NEWTs was comparatively relaxing. If you failed any NEWTs, no one would have to know about it because you were out of Hogwarts. Post-Hogwarts life also meant you wouldn't have to face the same level of shame and ostracization from your House. There were still two years at Hogwarts left after OWL year though, and that could come with tragic consequences.

"Should we be studying for Charms now too?" said Asha, now worried. "I wasn't going to start until Thursday since the material seemed ok but if Emilia is worried then…"

Ben and Hallie exchanged a look and both tossed a blueberry at her. Asha was the most anxiety ridden out of the three of them, and for the past four years, Ben and Hallie had done their best to keep her grounded. OWL year was going to be a whole new challenge.

"I wasn't going to start until Sunday so you're already ahead of me," Ben assured her.

There were several types of Ravenclaws. Ben was the Ravenclaw who rarely studied but managed to get by on his natural intelligence. Though he had a few scrapes with low grades throughout the years, he nonetheless always pulled it together in the end with some minimal effort.

Asha was the more classic Ravenclaw who overall performed well without major standouts or weaknesses, but also had to work hard to maintain her grades, in contrast to Ben.

Hallie herself was a Specialist. While she did generally well in all of her classes, she was one of the most talented in their year in Charms and Ancient Runes and focused most of her time on those two subjects.

"Emilia is just freaking out over nothing. Some seventh year probably scared her on purpose," Hallie said dismissively. "But we can work on Charms together later if you want, Asha."

Asha threw her a grateful look and grabbed a handful of blueberries to munch on.

"That'd be great, thanks. I wonder what Emilia was doing at the Gryffindor party though," she added thoughtfully. "I didn't know she had many Gryffindor friends."

"I guess she wanted to get some sort of illegal potion for improving mental acuity from some Gryffindor," Ben supplied around a mouthful of pretzels.

"Her too? I knew they were becoming more popular but I thought Emilia knew better." Hallie frowned. "Also chew with your mouth closed, you troglodyte."

Ben shoved more pretzels in his mouth in response.

"Did they say anything about them in your special meeting?" he said, nearly unintelligible now with all the food he was eating. Ben wiggled his eyebrows and Asha laughed at Hallie's groan.

"Stop calling it that. And, yes, actually," Hallie admitted. Being named a prefect this year was kind of a pain honestly but at least the inside information it came with was useful. "Jenny and Rob said anyone caught selling them was to be reported immediately. A few people have ended up in the hospital wing, but one had to go to St. Mungo's last week and I think that really freaked the administration out."

"Are they really that bad though?" Asha looked doubtful. "Maybe this was just a bad batch."

"There's never been any proof they actually work," Hallie reminded her. "So the best case scenario is that it does nothing. Worst case, you're poisoned."

"Speaking of prefect duties, isn't it time you go on your weekly walk with—"

"Ugh, no, I forgot." Hallie groaned. "How bad do you think it would be if I skipped this one?"

"Garrett would probably report you missing if you were five minutes late."

"Fuck. Don't spill any chocolate on my sheets again like you did last time," Hallie warned as she got up.

"We won't!" came the dutiful chorus from the other two, who then broke into giggles as she left. Not the most encouraging sign for coming back to a fresh bedspread.

Surprisingly, this was probably the best round of prefect patrols Hallie had been on all year.

For one, she'd finally managed to convince her uptight partner that they should do the rounds separately to maximize coverage. No longer would she have to put up with mindless small talk for an hour every Wednesday.

For another, this was also the easiest patrol she'd had. The only other times Hallie had seen the halls so empty was during exam season. The first three corridors were completely empty save for a ghost or two floating about.

As she rounded the corner to the fourth corridor, Hallie was daydreaming about the rest of the Chocolate Frog stash she had waiting back in her dorm. It therefore wasn't too surprising that she didn't see the person in the middle of the hall immediately.

Sirius Black, sixth year Gryffindor heartbreaker and, in Filch's eyes, tied for Public Enemy Number One with James Potter, was frozen in the middle of the hall.

Hallie couldn't quite figure out what he was doing. Was he under an Immobulus Charm or did he just think she couldn't see him as long as he didn't move?

"Um, you know I can see you, right?"

She silently cast a Shield Charm before approaching. Some students could try to hex the prefects so they wouldn't get caught, which was why they were supposed to patrol in pairs in the first place.

Sirius Black wasn't known to be aggressive, except to Slytherins maybe, but he was a talented wizard and it couldn't hurt to be prepared. Though given that he was a popular sixth year and she a largely overlooked fifth year, his danger came more in the form of social clout. More specifically, his ability to ruin hers. Her official administrative-given authority as a prefect wouldn't matter much to Sirius, whose superiority over her was bestowed upon him by the Hogwarts student body who mostly worshipped him.

Sirius immediately stuffed something in his pocket—a piece of parchment, perhaps?—and gave her a charming grin.

"Excuse me, are you a prefect?" he asked innocently as though he couldn't see the prefect badge that shone annoyingly bright on her robes.

(Hallie had campaigned against actually wearing the badges—all it would do was cause the troublemakers to make more fun of them. She was outvoted after a rousing speech by Lily Evans about revitalizing the prefect program to its previous glory and the badges giving prefects the respect they should get from other students.

A month after they got back to school, the Marauders had charmed each badge to read creative insults tailored to the prefect wearing it. Naturally, Remus Lupin had gotten off easiest of all with his badge poking fun at his lanky height, which most girls saw as an asset anyway. It had taken four days to remove the charms but by then the damage was done.

Hallie never actually said 'I told you so' to Lily but she felt her point was made well enough once she saw Lily's despondent face on Day Two of the fiasco. Sadly, it was too late to have a second vote and they were stuck with the original decision.)

She may not have ever interacted with Sirius Black before but his reputation preceded him. "Innocent" was not a word anyone would use to describe him.

"Why?" She decided to humor him. It had been a boring night so far and anything involving Sirius Black was a guaranteed wild ride.

"Well, I got lost on my way back from the hospital wing, you see. So I was hoping I would find a prefect to help me find my way back to Gryffindor Tower."

"You're a sixth year."

"You've heard of me," he said, looking pleased. She ignored him and crossed her arms.

"And you still don't know your way from the hospital wing to your room?"

"I had a head injury." His expression was solemn except for his sparkling eyes, which she was sure were laughing at her.

"Really," she said flatly.

"Promise." He grinned and his voice got a bit huskier. "So, would you mind helping me out?"

He moved forward, standing an inch away from her and she blinked in surprise. He tucked a piece of her brown hair behind her ear, gazing at her with his dark, expressive eyes. She couldn't help but blush. Sirius Black was gorgeous and hey, she was only human.

But she managed to take a step back and gave him an unimpressed look. He wasn't going to charm her like he did everyone else. Even if it almost worked on her.

He regarded her with a satisfied smile but also looked a bit impressed, dare she say.

"Yes, I am a prefect. And you're out after curfew."

"Come on, you won't make any exceptions? Not even for someone who just accidentally got a bit lost?"

"That's for first years," she informed him, enjoying watching him flounder. "Everyone else gets a detention."

"Well, that's—I was—I mean—"

"Tell you what," she interrupted him with an amused look. "Promise me that you weren't doing anything to actively harm another student and I'll let this one slide."

"I, um—what?" He stuttered, clearly not expecting her answer. She leaned against the wall while she waited for him to respond. Frankly, the paperwork that came with punishing infractions wasn't worth it, especially for something as simple as breaking curfew. And Sirius Black wasn't likely to go and harass another student right now.

Well, Hallie amended mentally, he wasn't likely to harass another student who didn't deserve it in his eyes. Sirius had very strong notions of right and wrong, which was displayed in front of the Great Hall last year when he was disowned in a Howler from his mother and in frequent arguments with his younger brother.

"What a refreshing take from a prefect," said Sirius finally. He raised a hand solemnly. "I swear on my honor as a Hogwarts student, a Gryffindor, more importantly, a Marauder—"

"I get the point."

He grinned at her. "I have not harmed another student nor pulled any pranks, shenanigans, or any general mischief."

Hallie was surprised he revealed that much to her and she smiled.

"Right then. You're free to go. This time. I can't promise I'll let go easy on you again."

He gave her a mock salute as he passed her.

A half hour later, she was finally done. All that was left to do was rendezvous with her partner to review their respective patrols. In theory, this should have been the easy part, but those who said that didn't have Garrett as a partner.

"Caught a couple together behind the 4th floor tapestry. It's crazy what some people get up to after hours." Garrett shook his head in confusion.

"Yep. Super crazy they'd sneak out to hook up. Dunno who would do that." Her sarcasm flew over his head.

"I know! I just don't understand why some people can't just follow the rules," he said earnestly.

Honestly. And they said Ravenclaws were uptight.

Garrett Blake was a nice guy and that was about it. He was just nice. And so bland. Naturally he made the perfect prefect.

He even looked generic with his perfectly combed golden blonde hair and blue eyes. Nice to look at, but again, nothing that stood out. As far as being a partner for patrols went, Garrett was the type of prefect who not only voted for wearing the badge during patrols, but personally wore it 24/7. Because "the job didn't end with patrols. It was their duty to uphold the values of Hogwarts at all times."

It went without saying that Garrett was one of the more unlikeable prefects. Hallie was an unfortunate casualty of the hostility towards him as a result of being his partner.

"Anything interesting in your rounds?"

"No," Hallie lied. "Nothing at all."