Chapter 8: Prefect Meeting
Ever since History of Magic the other day, and the whole patronus... thing... I've felt off-kilter (well, more than usual) when I'm around Potter. Thank goodness we haven't had a tutoring session since, just classes, and right now, after our argument, we're doing our best to stay out of each other's way. Just like Potter had promised, I think wryly.
And, admittedly, it's not too hard. We've made it through our first full week of school, which is always a bit chaotic even without Potter drama. We overlap in most of our classes, but Potter sticks with his mates and I stick to mine.
But now it's Sunday evening and we can't avoid each other anymore. We have to act like the adults we (almost) are and lead the prefect meeting, preferably as unified Heads.
Except that it's seven pm and I can't find Potter. I assumed he would be in the common room, but he's not. None of the Marauders are. I'd also assumed we'd head to the prefect meeting room together with Remus since Potter's never been there before, and we could coordinate what we wanted to accomplish at this meeting.
I shouldn't worry. I'm sure Remus will get Potter to the meeting alright. I just don't like that all four of them are missing. That means they're probably together, which means they're probably up to something mischievous, which means they might lose track of time, which means Potter might miss the meeting altogether. Not that I couldn't run it on my own, but I think... I think I want him there? Even if just for moral support. He'd been a surprising amount of help at our first meeting on the train.
In the end, I set out on my own. A few students are milling about in the halls; curfew is still a while off. I do have to double-back to avoid Peeves the poltergeist on one of the stairways; he's hidden himself in the suit of armor at the top of the stairs and is attempting to trip anyone who wanders by.
The prefect room faces the lake and has several large windows to show it off. It's also furnished with a couple of couches along with a large desk and a few chairs around it. There's even a fireplace on one of the walls. It's where all prefect meetings are held and makes an excellent study space when the common room is too loud. Since it's out of the way of regular foot traffic and only students with prefect and Head badges can get in, it's usually empty. I've finished many homework assignments in here.
"Oh thank Merlin," I say, when I find Potter and Remus already inside. "Where have you been? I was looking all over for you!"
They are both sitting on one of the couches, turned towards each other in a way that indicates they must have been talking before I walked in, but they've fallen quiet.
"Hi, Lily," Remus says as I walk over to the desk and take a seat. Potter, though, says absolutely nothing, just stares out the window.
Uncomfortable, I start to rummage through my school bag to get out the rounds schedule I'd drawn up in preparation for the meeting. But I can't find it.
"Oh no," I hiss.
"What's up?" asks Remus.
"I had the rounds schedule ready so that we could do sign-ups, but I think I left it in my dormitory. Ahh..." I look at my watch. It's already almost 7:20. It'll take me almost ten minutes just to get back up there. Curse this insanely large castle and my air-headed brain!
I'm just thinking I'll have to sprint up there anyway when the door opens again. In walks Frank Longbottom, sixth year Gryffindor prefect, and behind him, staying in the doorway, is Alice.
"Hey Lily! You forgot this!" She waves a piece of parchment out at me.
"My schedule!" I hurry across the room to take it from her and give her a huge hug. "Alice, you are an absolute life saver!"
"I know," she says sweetly. Before she leaves, she peeks back into the room to wave. "Bye Frank! Thanks for walking with me and showing me where the prefect room is!"
"You're welcome," Frank says, blushing a dark red and talking to his feet, but he returns her wave. He's still smiling self-consciously after she's gone. Interesting.
But focus, Lily. Ten minutes till meeting.
"Umm, Potter?" I say. "Can you come over here? I wanted to discuss some things before the meeting starts."
"Sure," he says, still without looking at me. He heaves himself off the couch and drops into a chair at the other end of the table. "Let's get this over with."
Oh dear. I hope he's not going to be like this when everyone else is here. Remus and Frank are one thing, but I don't need all the other prefects knowing we're squabbling. I slide the schedule over to him so he can look at it.
He picks it up and studies it. Then his eyes flick up to meet mine for the first time. "You did this?" he asks.
"Well, yes," I say, a little flustered from the unexpected eye contact. "I thought we could make copies and post them in here and in all the common rooms. Then everyone could sign up for shifts that work best for them. And we could charm them so whenever someone signs up on one paper, it shows up on all the others.
He looks back down at the schedule. "That's... actually a really good idea."
"Thanks." A pause. "Only... could you duplicate them? I was afraid I'd set it on fire or something if I tried."
He bites his lip, like he doesn't want to smile. "Sure." He waves his wand over the parchment and taps it four times. Each tap produces a copy. He passes them back to me wordlessly.
I charm them the way I'd told Potter I would. They glow faintly blue for a moment, then fade back to normal. Then I look back at Potter. He's gone back to not looking at me, staring out across the room at Remus and Frank chatting quietly on the same couch he'd been sitting on. I clear my throat.
"So, I thought we'd talk about rounds, obviously, and go over the expectations for their duties. Belby from Hufflepuff has already told me some of the Slytherin prefects are docking points from them for silly things like tying their ties the wrong way." He'd told me that right before snidely adding, "Though I'm not sure if you or Potter can manage to find time to solve that, with the bickering you have to do." Freaking Eagans the fourth year, flapping his jaw just like I knew he would. I don't tell Potter that part. "But shouldn't be too long a meeting. Really, main priority are these sign-ups. I think -"
"We should thank them for managing the first years that first night back," Potter interrupts me. He twirls his wand between his fingers, still not looking at me. "They did a good job." He pauses. "No thanks to us."
I wrinkle my nose, but he's right. "No thanks to us," I agree. I echo his words to me from earlier. "That's a really good idea."
He shrugs. "Just grateful they were doing their jobs." I hear the unspoken undercurrent of dissatisfaction: they had been doing their jobs. We hadn't. But I don't feel offended, because he's right. And besides, I think... I think he's more upset at himself. Huh.
I let myself look at Potter, really look at him, in a way that I never do. I generally try to avoid him, but now...
He's gazing out again away from me, but his eyes are unfocused, not really looking at anything, lost in thought. He's got his chin propped in his hand, elbow resting on the table, his other hand still fiddling with his wand. Predictably, his dark hair sticks up wildly at the crown of his head; Potter's got a terrible habit of ruffling it. Usually, this irritates me, but looking at it reminds me of tutoring the other night, him running his hand through his hair in agitation as I failed over and over to transfigure my textbook. And yet... he persisted trying to help me, even though I was absolutely incompetent and, well, not the most pleasant witch to work with. I'd even been semi-successful by the end of the night thanks to him. I feel a totally uncharacteristic rush of affection.
Quickly I shake my head and drop my eyes back to the sign-up sheets on the table in front of me, not sure what's gotten into me.
"So, is that all?" James asks, apparently oblivious to my intrusive staring.
"Yeah," I mumble, still not trusting myself to look at him. To be fair, I don't think he's looking at me, either. What an odd pair of Heads we make, him talking to the air next to us, me addressing the table.
Neither of us says anything else as the rest of the prefects slowly fill the room. I keep a mental tally as they trickle in, grateful for something to do so that I don't get stuck puzzling over Potter some more. I don't think I can handle any more positive emotions toward him. It's too confusing.
When the final Ravenclaw prefect ambles in at 7:36, it's time to start.
"Welcome, everyone," I start. Then I look at Potter. I started the last meeting, the one on the train; am I being overbearing by leading this one too? But he has moved to stand next to me, and his body language could not be more different than it's been all evening. He looks totally comfortable to be next to me, and he's even smiling encouragingly at me, like we haven't been avoiding each other for the better part of the last week. I smile back, if only in surprise, then turn back to everyone else to continue. However, I'm surprised to find many of them scowling at me – us? - instead.
"Um," I say, a little thrown off. "I hope you had a good first week back. I know this first week can be a little crazy -"
Someone mutters something that sounds suspiciously like, "Just like our Heads," and a few others snort. I pause again, not quite sure what to do or who to lecture. I clear my throat and plow on, like nothing had been said.
"Erm, we wanted to remind you about the guidelines for giving and taking House points from fellow students. It's been brought to our attention that some of our prefects need a refresher on the appropriate way to handle this -"
"Seems a bit rich, you getting to lecture us about the correct way to behave, doesn't it?" This is said much too loudly to ignore this time. Emmeline and Frank and several other students glare at the culprit – Tyrannus Nott, sixth year Slytherin – but many others nod in agreement, including all the Slytherins, and Belby from Hufflepuff.
"Now wait a minute," I begin hotly, but Potter cuts across me, stepping closer and putting a warning hand on my arm.
"Say what you've got to say, Nott," he challenges.
"Well, it's no secret you two rowed after the Welcome Feast, isn't it?" Nott says. "You're lucky we all stepped up and got the first years out before they had to witness that. Some Head students you are," he says, shaking his head. "We can't even count on you to get your duties right the very first night back."
My cheeks burn with shame. It's one thing to hear Potter admit our failure earlier, but to be lectured in front of everyone like this, to know, for a fact, others definitely also thought we weren't cut out for this job... well. It is nearly unbearable. I open my mouth, desperate to say something – anything – to defend myself, to justify even a little bit why I'll be a great Head Girl, even if I can't quite figure out Dumbledore's reasoning myself, but again, Potter beats me to it.
"You're right," he says quietly, and I have to keep my jaw from dropping in shock. Potter sounds almost... humble. "Evans and I talked about it and we're both very embarrassed how we handled ourselves last Friday. You all were phenomenal getting right on your duties as prefects. All our younger students were well taken care of and that was all thanks to you." James finally looks at me, and I nod in agreement, letting my defensiveness melt away.
"I'm sorry we weren't there to support you all. Could you forgive us if we said I'm still getting the hang of this Head business?" Potter asks.
"And we will try to keep our… er… disagreements more private from now on," I add.
All around the room the prefects titter with laughter and most are nodding, the aggression falling out of their stances. Only a couple still look mutinous. Potter addresses them.
"Belby, Nott," he says, and the pair look at him warily. "Call us out again if we continue to fail, yeah?"
Nott raises his eyebrows but Belby nods seriously.
"Thanks," Potter says sincerely. "Now, about our rounds schedule..."
I let Potter take over the rest of the meeting, only chiming in to keep things moving along and make sure that the rounds sign-ups make it to the seventh year prefects of each House to hang up in their common rooms. He has such an easy way with everyone that by the time we circle back around to the reminder about House points, even Nott doesn't have a negative thing to interject. Belby even laughs when Potter makes a quip about all bets being off after Quidditch season starts next week.
I watch him in wonder. This meeting was heading for disaster. With my temper, that's definitely where it would have ended up. I hadn't even really thought about the Feast and how I'd dropped the ball that night. And meanwhile, James – prankster, irresponsible, arrogant James Potter – had the wherewithal to realize our mistake, apologize, and diffuse the antagonistic situation.
It's been quite the last few days with Potter. Everything I'm learning about him lately paints him in a whole new light than the one I've always thought of him in. Could it be that maybe I have been wrong about him this whole time?
I'm so wrapped up in my reverie that I miss when Potter closes the meeting. People smile and wave to me as they leave. Emmeline comes up. "Ready to go?" she asks.
"Umm, I wanted to..." I look around for Potter. I want to tell him he did a good job. I feel like I owe him at least that much. Probably more. However, when I see him, he's already headed for the door, leaving without so much as a parting glance to me.
"Never mind," I say. "Let's go."