Tonks sat underneath the tree, doing her homework, smiling and laughing and spending one of many of the best days of her life at Hogwarts. Her best friend, Cynthia Moon, pinned and un-pinned her prefect badge. "Do you think it looks better like this? Or maybe like this?"

"For Merlin's sake, Cyn! Is it a ruddy law that you lot have to be so annoying?"

"You're just mad because I got made prefect and you didn't."

"Not really," Tonks said, smirking and trying to do her Arithmancy homework at the same time. "The last thing I'd want is to be given responsibility. It sounds absolutely maddening."

"It's really not so bad," Cynthia said, pinning the pin to the left side of her cloak. "You get to ride in a nice compartment on the train and you get to patrol the halls at night and take points away from everyone you see, even nasty Slytherins and haughty Gryffindors."

"But surely, being a prefect, you're fair and balanced." Tonks promptly shut her book. "I can't concentrate. It's too pretty. Look at everyone playing tag. I can't believe term's already started. I had too much fun this summer."

"You still won't tell me what happened. You must have met a boy."

"I didn't meet a boy," Tonks said, trying to hide her blush. She hastily changed the subject. "So, what's patrolling like? How many points do you get to take away?"

Cynthia's eyes widened. "As many as we want. Dumbledore said that it was completely up to our discretion, but that these things have a way of evening out, and I daresay he was right. I took ten from Zaloth Falcon for snogging his girlfriend, and then when the Gryffindor Head Boy caught me in the kitchens, he took ten away from me! What he was doing in the kitchens in the first place is, of course, one of life's great unanswerable questions."

"So that's all this prefect business is, innit? An extension of the inter-House rivalries?"

"It really is. Uzoamaka Loke from Ravenclaw takes it very seriously, but everyone else is just having fun. So far, though, aside from prefect duty, fifth year isn't all it's cracked up to be. Tell me you've done your Transfiguration essay already."

"Why?"

"So I can copy it."

Tonks tsked. "I can't believe it. The bloody prefect is copying off me."

"This O.W.L. business is going to drive me mad!" Cynthia pulled at her blonde ringlets. "I mean, it's one thing for the Professors to stress how important it is this early in term, but to already be breathing down our backs about it? Absurd. Besides, forgive me for turning to the girl who can Transfigure herself in her sleep for answers."

"Transfiguring yourself is quite different from Transfiguring other things."

"But is it, really? Didn't McGonagall say on our first day that Metas were more predisposed to Transfiguration and Animagi spells and things like that?"

"Yes, she said that," Tonks said, blushing again because she hated talking about this, "but she also said that Transfiguration is a discipline, and if you knew me at all, you'd know I'm anything but bloody disciplined. I'm better with things that have an instant gratification. Potions, for instance."

"But some Potions take months, or even years ..."

"Yeah, well I'm not talking about those ones, am I? That Fireproofing Potion, though, you have to admit, Snape's face when he handed back my essay and gave me full marks ..."

"I thought that was him just reacting to how sour the place smelled after Ammaryllis Stormdark burnt hers."

"Yeah, well, either way. Transfiguration and History of Magic and Charms are going to kill me. Fortunately, I'm strong in Defense and Potions and Care of Magical Creatures, so that's bound to even out, right? I mean, when it comes to O.W.L. time?"

"The only reason you're shit at Charms is because you want an excuse for everyone in the dorm to clean up after you. And your bloody cat."

"Rubbish, and you know it. I truly am just shit at Charms."

"You tutor me in Transfiguration – you're good at it, shut it – and I'll tutor you at Charms. Deal?"

"Deal. But, we'll have to schedule around my prank planning, because now that you're a prefect, you'll have to be excluded from it."

"That's fine by me; I always hated getting roped into all that immature business, anyway."

"Immature? Since when are Dungbombs immature?"

"Since we went to Hogsmeade in third year and everybody bought some. Get some new material, Tonks."

Tonks opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a shriek. Tonks and Cynthia turned to see what the fuss was about, and they saw a flock of young boys running away from the lake.

"Oi! What's going on?" Cynthia asked as a few of them ran by. A chubby kid, who was flushed, paused. He stared at Cynthia's prefect badge warily.

"Oh, Merlin's balls; just tell us!" Tonks demanded.

"Two boys were wading in and got pulled in by the squid," the boy said in a rush. He gave the badge another look, and then ran after his friends.

"Bloody hell!" Cynthia exclaimed.

"We have to do something!" Tonks didn't really have a plan of action, and she looked to Cynthia for support. But Cynthia was staring off into space, hand covering mouth, clearly distressed.

Cynthia Moon was the kind of person who was very book-smart, but not the least bit practical. Cynthia Moon was one of the few people who didn't tease Tonks, and Tonks was always grateful to her. Cynthia Moon was the kind of person who got married and had a litter of kids, and while you tried to keep things going like you did when you went to school together and you always swore that you would never be torn apart, somehow you ended up torn, anyway, and it makes you sad when you think about it late at night because just because your paths went different ways, does that really mean you can't be friends anymore?

If Tonks had known that there would be a time in just a few short years when she wouldn't even know where Cynthia lived, she might have been nicer to her.

But maybe not.

"Stop fucking hyperventilating, and let's go get some help!" Tonks snapped her fingers in front of Cynthia's face. "Come on, you quakebottom!"

"All right, yeah," Cynthia said, wringing her hands, and frowning at her shoes. "Yeah."

Tonks stood, hoisted Cynthia to her feet, and dragged her along the grounds. "You're such an idiot."

"Am not." Cynthia sniffed and wiped at her eyes.

Tonks stuck her tongue out at her.

"Where are we going?"

"To see Professor Kettleburn, he'll know what to do."

"We're not running straight to Dumbledore?"

"No. I mean, he'd obviously know what to do, yeah? But this, this seems rather trivial a matter to get him involved in."

"Tonks ... two boys are in the lake."

"Your point?"

Tonks hoped to catch Kettleburn outside, perhaps teaching or setting up for another lesson. But it was Saturday, the first Saturday after term had started, and that was a far-fetched wish, and by the time Tonks had walked toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest and back, there was no sign of the Professor.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, two boys are going to drown, and I'm going to go down in the history books as the worst prefect in the history of Hogwarts!" Cynthia cried.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "And some people call you self-involved ..." But the joke felt forced; Tonks knew that time was running out. She felt pressured and she couldn't really think straight. She should've suggested that they split up, that one of them go and try and help the boys while the other one ran to get a professor.

But the castle seemed so far off, and Tonks didn't trust the other little kids to get a professor, or at least to get a professor that could get to the lake in time.

"Hagrid!" Cynthia shouted, disrupting Tonks from her thoughts.

"Do you think we could get to his cabin?" Tonks asked, but as she turned to where Cynthia was staring, she saw that her question was pointless. There, lumbering towards them, boarhound by his side, was the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid.

Tonks didn't know Hagrid very well, and she found him a bit intimidating, but thanks to the matter at hand, she got over her trepidation. "Hagrid!" she screamed, running at him. Cynthia had the exact same idea, and Tonks would later reflect that they probably looked crazy, arms waving, shouting.

"Calm down, yeh two," Hagrid said. "Wha'sa matter?"

"First-years – "

"Squid –"

"In the lake!"

"Oh, boy," Hagrid muttered. "Well, come on then. We'll be needin' ter get 'em out."

Tonks would never forget the way Hagrid oh-so-calmly took charge of the situation, of the way he seemed to know what to do and not even break a sweat. The way he walked to the edge of the lake and whistled, and through the water came a couple of pink tentacles wrapped around a couple of small boys.

The first-years, for their part, seemed to be fine, and mostly amused.

"I told you we shouldn't've stood so close," the smaller one with sandy hair said.

"You have to admit, it was brilliant, though," the other one said.

"What were you two thinkin' doin' that close to the lake? And you, Maggie, you know better'n to be attackin' lil' first-years," Hagrid chastised the boys and squid in turn. The boys hung their heads. The squid's tentacles disappeared beneath the black surface.

"Maggie?" Tonks said, shocked. She was feeling silly now that all the adrenaline was pumping through her veins – especially the one on her forehead. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. And I know all about ridiculous names."

"Well, I couldn'a named it Mark, could I? It's a girl squid," Hagrid explained.

"Are you two all right?" Cynthia asked, getting on one knee in front of the boys, examining them closely.

"We're fine," the sandy-haired boy said.

"The squid was surprisingly gentle," said the other.