Chapter 4—The One with Prefect Badges
The end of the summer drew nearer and, as Maya was preparing to start her 5th year at Hogwarts, the letters would name the new Hogwarts prefects. Each house had 2 new prefects who were 5th year students. When Maya's letter came, she was not expecting the Prefect Badge, but it fluttered to the floor.
"Mum," Maya said, "my book list came today. And this was with it." She handed the prefect badge to her mother, who was very proud. Her father, who understood prefects, was also proud of Maya. She went to send an owl to Charlie. It returned with the news that he had also been named Prefect. Their mothers were going to take them both shopping the next day and they agreed to meet for ice cream to celebrate.
When they met up, Charlie was carrying a new set of books on dragons. Molly and Arthur had insisted on getting him a present and he wanted the dragon books. Maya was given a new necklace from her Dad and her Mum bought her a new dress. "You'll have a Christmas party and the dress is smart," her mother explained.
Two weeks later, Maya and Charlie met up on the train to school. They went to the Prefects carriage to get their assignments and the new password to Gryffindor tower. It was their responsibility to make sure the first years knew what the password was and to lead them to the tower. During the train ride, and throughout the year, they would be expected to lead patrols throughout the train and school. They also had access to the Prefect's bathroom. "Bill said the tub's the size of a swimming pool," Charlie explained. "Fancy a swim later?"
"Yeah, alright," Maya answered. "I've got my suit with me and we'll just finish our rounds together."
When the train arrived at Hogsmeade station, Hagrid led the first years to the boats while the other students climbed into the horseless carriages that would pull them to the school. After the feast, Charlie and Maya stood and called the new first year Gryffindors to follow them. "Watch out for the staircases," Maya offered. "Sometimes they like to move on you. Now, the password is 'Filibuster.' Don't forget it."
Charlie found a particularly scared looking first year girl and knelt down to talk to her. "What's your name?"
"Melanie Walters," she squeaked.
"Well, Melanie, my name is Charlie. Would you like to follow me to Gryffindor tower?" he offered. She nodded and followed him through the castle. He showed her his favorite places along the way, making Maya's heart melt.
Later, when they were patrolling the corridors, Maya said, "That was really decent of you."
"What?" Charlie asked.
"What you did for that little girl, Melanie," Maya explained. "That was very sweet."
"Don't say that out loud," Charlie teased. "I've got a reputation to protect." Maya gave him a look. "She reminded me of Ginny a little. It was the older brother thing."
"Well, it was really nice," Maya said.
They went to the Prefects' bathroom and took a swim in the tub, racing each other. Maya won, but Charlie insisted it was because he let her win. After their swim, they returned to Gryffindor tower and went to bed.
By the time the Christmas party arrived, neither Charlie nor Maya had dates. Maya had also decided that she had a crush on Charlie. She assumed that he didn't fancy her, but she was wrong. "We could go together," Charlie offered. "I mean, if you'd like to, that is."
"Are you inviting me to the Prefects' Christmas party?" Maya asked.
"Yeah, alright," Charlie joked. "Would you like to be my date at the Prefects' Christmas party?"
"Love to," Maya answered. "I've got a new dress and everything. I'd hate to waste it by not wearing it." Charlie smiled and laughed at her before continuing his paper on bowtruckles for Care of Magical Creatures.
The next Saturday, Charlie waited nervously for Maya at the bottom of the stairs to the girls' dormitories. "Have you seen Maya, Ivy?" Charlie asked. Ivy ran upstairs and came back, smirking.
"She says she'll be right down," Ivy said. "When are you going to tell her you fancy her?"
"Not anytime soon," Charlie answered. "And you aren't either, or I'll take points."
"Fair enough," Ivy said. She was sure that Maya fancied Charlie too, but wasn't going to force her to tell him either.
Charlie gasped when Maya walked slowly down the stairs. The dress was an A-line black dress that stopped just above the knee. She had matched it with silver earrings, her necklace and black ballet flats. "You look amazing," Charlie said.
"Are you teasing me Charlie?" Maya asked.
"Of course not, love," Charlie answered. "You really do look beautiful. Now, let's go before Bill eats all of the food."
"Later, Ivy," Maya said, waving as she and Charlie climbed out the portrait hole. Ivy waved at the pair and resolved to make them figure out that they fancied each other before the end of the year.
When Charlie and Maya arrived at the party, Charlie never let her out of his sight for long. He went to fetch them drinks while she chatted with Tonks, who was a Hufflepuff prefect, and another girl that Charlie did not know. When he returned, he led Maya to their table and then, invited her to dance. "I didn't know you could dance," Maya commented as Charlie led her around the floor.
"I don't exactly shout it from the mountain tops," Charlie teased. "Mum taught me. I had to endure an entire summer of ribbing from Fred and George. Bill knows how to dance." He pointed at his brother who was dancing with his girlfriend, a Hufflepuff girl called Amelia Beckett.
The party ended at midnight and Charlie and Maya were left wandering the halls. "If we get caught, we'll tell Filch we're doing rounds," Charlie suggested. Maya agreed. Mrs. Norris had started to follow them, so Charlie pulled them into a secret passageway.
"Do our rounds include secret passageways?" Maya asked, noticing how closely she and Charlie were standing. Her breath was ragged.
"Of course," Charlie said, softly, moving in closer. "We have to make sure that no first years are lost in them."
Maya nodded, but found she couldn't speak. Her heart was beating so fast that she was sure Charlie could hear it. He was about to lean in closer when Mr. Filch opened the door and caught them. He immediately backed away from her. "I've caught you now," said Filch.
"Caught us doing what exactly?" Charlie demanded. "We're prefects and we haven't broken any rules." Filch seemed to be thinking over what Charlie had said and stomped away furiously, realizing that Charlie was right. "We should get back," Charlie finally said, disappointed. Maya nodded and let Charlie guide her back through the passage to Gryffindor tower.
When they got back, he kissed her forehead, and said, "Good night, love. I had a great time tonight."
"Me too," Maya replied, kissing his cheek. Both slowly made their way up to the dormitories, contemplating what had just happened in the passageway.
When Valentine's Day (and Maya's birthday) approached, another Hogsmeade weekend was scheduled. Charlie had intended to ask Maya to go with him, but his friend, Ian Griffith beat him to it. "Griffith," Charlie said, pulling him aside after a class. "Be nice to Maya."
"Mate, we're just friends," Ian said. "I didn't know you liked her or I wouldn't have asked. Meet up with us at the Three Broomsticks at 3:00."
"I didn't say I liked her," Charlie said, defensively.
"Didn't have to, Charlie," Ian replied. "It's written all over your face. She likes you, too. And you could invite her friend, Jenna. She's wicked hot."
Charlie smirked and agreed to do it. He invited Jenna to Hogsmeade with him, which prompted a similar conversation between Jenna and Maya. On the day of the trip, Ian met Maya in the common room, where Charlie met Jenna. They all walked to the village together, but separated for a while once they reached town. At 3:00, Ian suggested a butterbeer and Maya agreed, following him to the Three Broomsticks. Jenna and Charlie were there already, sitting alone at a table that had 2 empty spots. Maya sat directly across from Charlie and Ian sat directly across from Jenna. By the time they left, it was apparent to Charlie and Maya that Ian and Jenna were going to ditch them.
"Come on," Charlie said, offering Maya a hand. Maya took Charlie's hand and stood. Ian and Jenna were so involved with each other that they didn't notice Charlie and Maya leaving.
Back on campus, Maya got a mischievous glint in her eye. "What is that about?" Charlie asked, frightened.
"Nothing," Maya smirked. Then, she picked up a bunch of snow and dumped it on Charlie's head. Charlie shrieked from the cold and made a snowball which he promptly threw at Maya, hitting her squarely on the back of the head.
Their snow fight lasted for fifteen minutes before they fell to the ground wrestling each other, in fits of laughter. They only stopped when they noticed that Charlie was on top of Maya, and their lips were, again, very close. Charlie thought, "I could just kiss her." Maya was thinking, "Just kiss me!" Charlie was about to do it when they heard Professor McGonagall telling them to get back to the castle. Instead of kissing her, Charlie simply backed off, pulled her up and muttered, "Sorry."
"Yeah," Maya said, disappointed. When they got back to the common room, Maya went to find Ivy, telling Charlie she needed to change out of her wet clothes before she caught a cold. Ivy was in the dormitories. "We need to talk," Maya said, entering the room.
After confirming that they were alone, Maya sat on her bed with Ivy and sighed. "I don't get it. Every time we're about to kiss, someone comes along and breaks us up."
"What's going on? I thought you went with Ian to Hogsmeade," Ivy said.
"I did, but he and Jenna are now snogging somewhere," Maya replied. "So, Charlie walked me back and we sort of had a snow fight. Then, we were wrestling and he nearly kissed me, but Professor McGonagall interrupted us."
"That bitch!" Ivy exclaimed. Maya gave her a reproachful look and she said, "Sorry. So, where were his hands?"
"One was holding him up," Maya answered. "The other was pulling stray hairs out of my face. If he doesn't snog me soon, I'm going to burst."
"We'll figure something out," Ivy promised.
It took months and Gryffindor winning the Quidditch cup for Ivy to figure something out. After the game, Ivy planned a party. She snuck out to Hogsmeade to get firewhiskey and butterbeers and enlisted the assistance of every other Gryffindor that knew Charlie and Maya to get them to play a game.
At the party, Ivy insisted that they play a game of truth or dare. After a few rounds, neither Maya nor Charlie had been called upon. Ivy glanced at Bill, who nodded slightly, and said, "Charlie! Truth or dare?"
"Dare," Charlie answered. He never took truth.
"I dare you, to spin 3 times, take a shot, and snog whoever you see first," Ivy said, again, nodding at Bill. Charlie shrugged his shoulders and stood up. Bill spun him 3 times; he took a shot and looked up at…Bridgette. He swallowed hard, and then she leapt into his arms and snogged him.
They broke apart after what seemed like forever, though Bill insisted it was less than a minute. "Not bad, mate," Bill said, clapping Charlie on the back. Charlie was looking for Maya; he saw her retreating through the portrait hole.
"Bill," he said, "I've got to go, mate."
"I know you do," Bill answered, letting Charlie go to follow Maya.
He found her crying in an empty classroom. "Maya, it was a game," he said softly.
"It's fine, Charlie," she sniffed. "You don't owe me any explanations."
"But I do," he said. "I didn't want to kiss her. There was only 1 person at that party that I wanted to kiss."
"I don't really want to hear it, Charlie," Maya said. "Just don't lecture me when I snog someone else." Then, she got up and stalked away. Charlie sat dumbfounded for a few moments then left to return to the common room. Bill told him that Maya had come back and gone straight to the girls' dormitories. The party was over. Charlie trudged sadly up to bed.