Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter world, I just own a few stray characters.
"C'mon, get up. We're going to be late for the meeting!" Anthee Thomas, one of Aiden's fellow Gryffindor sixth-years, was tugging on his shoulder. Aiden rolled his eyes at her and reluctantly got up from his seat on the train from where he had been playing wizarding chess with his best friend Dexter Filkins. He had been excited to be named a Prefect in fifth year, and was certainly happy that his parents had been so proud, but a year later he was feeling as if it was just some sort of unwanted obligation. The two squeezed into the hallway and made their way to the compartment all the way at the front of the train, where the Prefects always met.
"Who do you think the new fifth year Prefects are?" Anthee asked, twirling her curly brown hair around a figure and straightening her glasses. "Is your cousin Ben one?"
Aiden grinned. "Nah, he got caught in trouble too many times. I think I'll have to teach him how to be more careful when he's- Watch out!" A large black cat had bounded out of an open compartment and Anthee tripped over it. She lay sprawled on the floor and Aiden was about to offer his hand when-
"Would you mind not blocking the hallway? Some people need to get through." Aiden turned and found himself staring down at Gabrielle Malfoy, who was glaring at him. Aiden was at least half a head taller than the Slytherin girl. Gabrielle directed her gray eyees at Anthee, who was picking herself up. "Don't tell me you don't even know how to walk," she continued coldly. "I realize Hogwarts accepts all sorts of students, but I would have thought walking would have been some sort of prerequisite." The burly dark-haired boy next to her laughed cruelly; Otis Dolohov, the other sixth-year Slytherin prefect.
"And I would've thought not being an ass to be a prerequisite," Aiden shot back, his green eyes darkening angrily. Gabrielle's eyes narrowed so slightly he wouldn't have noticed had he not been glaring straight at them.
"A pathetic comeback fit for a first year, Potter," she drawled. "Although seeing as that's where your intelligence level lies, I don't know why I'm surprised." And with a flick of her long blonde hair, she pushed past him before he could retort and Otis clumsily stumbled after her.
After he made sure Anthee was alright, the two followed the retreating figures of the Slytherins toward the front of the train again.
"Ooh, I really don't like her," Anthee was muttering. "I'd probably curse her if it wasn't against the rules. Actually, I would still curse her even though it is against the rules... if only she wasn't so bloody well good at Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"What are you talking about?" Aiden asked, surprised. "You get top marks in everything, including DADA... don't you?"
Anthee rolled her eyes. "Well, technically, I suppose," she mumbled.
"What do you mean, technically?" Now Aiden was almost concerned. Anthee was the most studious person he'd ever known; she spent most of her life hidden in books. "Merlin's beard, Anthee- you got ten 'Outstanding' O.W.L.'s! I bet no one else comes close!"
"I study for my grades," Anthee hissed irritably. "Haven't you ever noticed Gabrielle in class? She's a natural at everything! If she studied half as much as I did, there'd be no doubt who would be at the top of the class. Look, I don't want to talk about it." Aiden had just opened his mouth, and he promptly shut it, though his facial expression was clearly one of disagreement. Naturally good at magic or not, Gabrielle Malfoy was a Slytherin, and no Slytherin could compare to a Gryffindor. With a pang he remembered his dad's words from Diagon Alley. ...don't look at them as Slytherins, look at them as people.
Aiden shook his head with a grimace. Gabrielle Malfoy could not be counted as a person.
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It was a week into the school year, and Gabrielle was sitting at the Slytherin table eating breakfast. She gave the bacon and sausages and disgusted look and piled fruit and pancakes onto her plate instead. It wasn't that she was a vegetarian, it was just that she tended to avoid certain meats. She wasn't sure why, she just didn't like the taste of the oil and grease that the Hogwarts breakfast meats were always smothered in. Her father was the same way. Anyway, it was because of her avoidance of those foods that she had a flawless porcelin complexion.
Harper Mulciber was sitting across from her, talking animatedly about the latest gossip on the Notts. Gabrielle was only half paying attention. Harper's father was a friend of her father's and sometimes Harper could incredibly amusing, but other times she was simply boring. This was one of those times.
"...and so Priscilla apparently found shrinking skulls in the manor attic, can you believe it? He actually thought he could hide-"
"Gabrielle." Gabrielle looked up from her food to the figure at her right, grateful for an interruption. Otis Dolohov handed her a rolled up piece of parchment. "Your schedule for Prefect patrolling," he grunted. "Our first patrol's tonight."
Gabrielle thanked Otis with a smile. Otis wasn't exactly the most intellectually stimulating person to converse with, but they always managed to have a decent time patrolling the halls together. She unrolled the parchment and frowned slightly. "What do you mean, tonight?" she asked. "It isn't for another week."
Otis looked over her shoulder at the parchment and frowned as well. "Maybe there's a mistake," he said slowly. "I think my schedule's different than yours."
Gabrielle knew there was no mistake. Eloise Bauld, a Ravenclaw girl who was the new Head Girl, was one of the most organized and punctual people Gabrielle had ever met. She was always on top of every single miniscule detail to the point where it was sickening. If Gabrielle's schedule was differen't from Otis's, it meant that Eloise and the Head Boy, Jacob Baker, had decided to switch up the patrolling partners. Gabrielle sighed, this was just what she needed. She would probably get paired up with some snivelling Hufflepuff. Or worse yet, a Gryffindor. She could just imagine patrolling with Anthee Thomas. The stupid bookworm liked to delude herself into thinking she was the cleverest witch in the school, and Gabrielle couldn't stand being around people who bragged about their grades.
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"Jordan Fletchley of Ravenclaw," Anthee said as she sat down next to Aiden several days later.
"Wha?" Aiden's mouth was half full of the turkey sandwiches that were for lunch.
"My patrolling partner. He's Jordan Flethchley of Ravenclaw," Anthee repeated, helping herself to pumpkin juice. "I had patrolling duty yesterday, remember? And you wouldn't believe who Fran Lebowitz- you know, the other sixth year Ravenclaw Prefect- got paired up with. Otis Dolohov!"
Aiden choked on his food and had to cough for several minutes with Anthee patting him on the back before he stopped. When he finally did, his voice was incredulous. "That's insane!" he exclaimed. "They can't just start pairing up Slytherins with Ravenclaws! Do you think I should have a word with Jacob?"
"Don't bother," Anthee replied. "Fran already tried, Jordan told me about it. Jacob and Eloise are apparently tired of the tension between the Prefects."
Aiden groaned, but he couldn't disagree with the Head Boy and Girl. The Prefects meeting on the train had basically consisted of Jacob and Eloise talking awkwardly as the Prefects all glared at each other. "D'you know who I'm paired with?" he asked hopefully.
"I think you might be with Natasha Dutton of Hufflepuff, I'm pretty sure she said she had patrolling duties tonight."
Aiden sighed in relief. Natasha, though a bit dim, was a nice enough girl.
At five to nine, Aiden pulled on his sneakers, grabbed his wand, and stepped out of the portrait of the Fat Lady. Since there were no classes, he didn't have to wear his school robes, and wore comfortable muggle jeans and a tee-shirt instead. He walked briskly to the Prefects Office where all Prefects went before patrolling to get Hallway Passes for the night. Aiden personally thought Hallway Passes were stupid, but Professor McGonagall had insisted on them after becoming tired of having to overrule all the detentions Filch would give to the Prefects. "Cantankerous," Aiden said cheerfully to a statue of a large frog with bulging eyes, which hopped to the side and allowed Aiden through the door that it stood guard in front of.
"You're not Natasha," Aiden blurt out before he could stop myself. He once again found himself being glared at by cold gray eyes. Gabrielle Malfoy was standing in front of him with her arms crossed, and Aiden noticed she held their Hallway Pass in her hand. She wasn't wearing black school robes, but she was still wearing robes and a cloak, not to mention a look of disgust on her face.
"Why on earth would I want to be Natasha Dutton." She sneered. "And you're late."
Aiden looked at his watch and made a face at Gabrielle. "By a minute, Malfoy. Let's just get this over with."
As they walked through the halls, both walking on opposite sides of the hallway as to be as far apart as they could, Aiden wondered what Eloise and Jacob could possibly be thinking. Gryffindors and Slytherins never got along! He looked out of the sides of his eye at Gabrielle. Her long white-blonde hair was trailing behind her and she had a cloak wrapped tightly around her. Aiden frowned in confusion. It was still September, and it wasn't particularly cold out.
"Why are you wearing a cloak?" he said before he could stop himself. Gabrielle glowered at him and didn't speak for several minutes.
Aiden thought she wasn't going to answer when she abruptly said, "It's cold in the dungeons. You wouldn't last one night down there in those clothes you're wearing."
She turned to look at Aiden. "If you even call what you're wearing clothes," she said with a bark of laughter.
Aiden looked down at his clothes and looked at Gabrielle, surprised. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "These are normal Muggle clothes." Gabrielle raised an eyebrow and Aiden suddenly sneered. "I'm sorry, I forgot I was speaking to a Malfoy," he snarled. "Of course precious Purebloods can't wear anything of Muggles. Excuse me, your Higheness, Princess of Slytherin."
Gabrielle stopped in the tracks and turned toward Aiden, glowering. "Never," she hissed, "call me that again. Ever."
Aiden was used to behavior like this from Slytherins and smirked instead. "Don't like being called the Slytherin Princess? What's the matter, you-" But he suddenly broke off. Gabrielle was pointing her wand straight at his throat and there was a murderous look in her eyes. Suddenly, Aiden was reminded of what Anthee had said on the train about Gabrielle's magic skills.
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She could see the fear in his eyes, and had she not been so angry she would have smiled at it. She never knew Gryffindors to have fear, least of all the great Aiden Potter.
Great? She laughed, and could see Potter's eyes growing worried. The imbecile probably thought she was crazy. Then she noticed her wand, pointed at the insufferable prat's throat, and immediately dropped her arm. What the hell had she been thinking? She arranged her face into a mask void of expression. She had almost lost control there. Malfoys never lost control. She turned and started walking down the hall again. After a moment, she heard Potter running to catch up.
"What the hell was that!" he exclaimed, pushing her shoulder so that she lost her balance for a split second.
Gabrielle's gray eyes were suddenly lit with fury and she shoved him back with all her might. She might've been small, but she wasn't a weak girl. Aiden fell to the floor, where he lay glowering at her.
"Weren't you ever taught not to push girls?" she sneered.
"I don't see a girl anywhere," Potter spat furiously from the ground. "What the hell did you threaten me with a wand for!"
"You should've shut up when I told you to," Gabrielle hissed. "You're lucky I was taught self-restraint, Potter."
"Yeah, like the self-restraint you just showed by shoving me to the ground?" he replied darkly, picking himself and brushing the dust from his jeans.
Gabrielle ignored him and kept walking, silently reprimanding herself. She had cool detachment to all the other people who annoyed her, it was only Potter that brought out the worst in her.
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Aiden Potter checked his watch for the twenty-sixth time that night. They still had half an hour of patrolling left, and they hadn't talked at all since he had gotten up off the ground. They had been followed by the annoying poltergeist Peeves for over twenty minutes and had later on caught two Hufflepuffs out of bed, but the rest of the time their patrolling had been spent in icy silence. Finally, Aiden couldn't take it anymore.
"Let's just stop now," he said gruffly. "No one else is going to be out here." Gabrielle hadn't replied, but the two parted ways at the next intersection of corridors.