Working with Myrddin isn't as exhausting, frustrating, or generally awful as Rajani had expected.

His schedule is generally easy to work around and Rajani has roped Eugene into being her permanent alibi with her parents whenever she's with the Head Boy. He'd told her she owes him now but she knows he's not really going to hold it over her head - he knows she'd do the same for him without questions, even though his mother is far more reasonable than her parents.

They meet at least once a week, and once she joins him for lunch on a Saturday but they get nothing done and she's forced to sit and listen to Holly Kiddell rambling for nearly an hour which is possibly the least pleasant experience of her life so far.

Myr at least isn't a typical Gryffindor, so conversing with him isn't so bad. They're both still tense around each other, but Rajani is becoming more certain that he'll be a professional during the year, which is all she needs. Not that that stops her from complaining about him to Eugene the day before another of their meetings.

"I do still wish you were my partner in all this, he's utterly clueless about a lot of things - I get the feeling I'll be making a lot of decisions this year." Rajani sighs to Eugene the first week of August. The two still meet every other Friday - the days Myr has work - for study sessions though they've long completed all their summer assignments and now just hang out for the day.

As Queenie had suggested they've invited Clary as well, and though she declined at first she caved on Eugene's insistence. Things had been incredibly awkward for the first few hours of the first day she'd come, but Rajani had quickly grown tired of that state of affairs and said as much in a rather long rant against boys in general.

Rajani can tell that Clary is still a bit upset, but after her speech most of it that hurt and rage is now directed towards Lenox and the situation in general rather than Rajani, and that Rajani can work with.

She's sitting next to Eugene on this particular day, slouched over the table and looking distinctly sleepy while Eugene and Rajani banter, likely only half-listening at best.

"Please, you'd make all the decisions regardless of who the Head Boy was - I might get a few words in only when Queenie came to my defense." Eugene teases. "You're a bit of a control freak sometimes Raj."

"Hey! I'm just getting things done." She protests, but there's no heat in it. For every time Eugene has called her a control freak she's called him spoiled, so they're even. "Clary back me up here." She kicks her friend lightly in the shin and the other girl startles.

"What? Yes, that. What she said." She declares, falsely confident despite her obviously having no idea what she's agreeing to.

"There, Clary's on my side." Rajani says, grinning. "Two against one, you lose Rich Boy."

Eugene whines, but he's laughing as well. "No fair, Clary doesn't count!"

"Excuse me?" Clary is paying attention now, and though she's clearly trying to engage with the teasing atmosphere there's a sharp hurt at the edge of her voice. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Eugene puts up his hands in the universal sign for surrender. "I mean you agreed without even knowing what was going on! That doesn't count as an informed vote!"

Clary relaxes at that and the afternoon continues with unimpeded cheer until Eugene's mother comes in clutching a letter and looking faint.

"Um, dear, you... you have a correspondence from Peru." She says, her voice a bit off. Rajani looks over and frowns.

"Is everything alright?" She asks. "Queenie didn't do something stupid did she?" She can't think of who else in Peru could be contacting Eugene, though it's odd his mother seems to have already read the letter if that's the case. Adela Slughorn never struck her as the nosy sort of parent.

Adela merely holds out the letter wordlessly and something in Rajani's guts twist. That's not a good response. That is probably the worst possible response the woman could have given and Rajani hopes desperately that the places her mind is going are overreactions.

Eugene seems as frozen as she is, so Clary reaches out to take the letter, though she looks as tense as Rajani feels.

"It's from Queenie's parents." She says after a moment, voice subdued and shaking slightly. "She got dragon pox while she was out hiking."

Eugene in a sharp breath. "But... she's okay? Younger people can sometimes pull through, it's only over twenty five or something that it becomes deadly right?"

"Over twelve." Rajani says, voice flat as she relays the knowledge she's always had but never quite known why. "But there have been cases up to twenty that get through alright."

"Queenie wasn't one." Clary breathes, voice shaking but clear. And then she cracks and starts sobbing, dropping the letter and inching away from it like distance will somehow make it's contents less painful. "It took five days to get to a good hospital - you can't Apparate sick people. They said she might have been exposed earlier and that weakened her immune system." Despite her shaking and the tears Clary's voice is almost terrifyingly steady.

Rajani honestly isn't sure what happens after that. She knows something happened because she wakes up the next day in one of the Slughorn's spare rooms, dressed in a clearly borrowed nightgown with her own clean dress folded on a chair beside the desk.

It takes a moment to orient herself, to worry what her parents are going to think, to wonder how she'd stayed over without remembering agreeing to do so.

And then she remembers the letter.

Rajani would be proud to say she doesn't cry over very much. Crying is a weakness and a waste of time and frankly shows a complete lack of control over her own emotions. But that morning, sitting in an unfamiliar bed as early morning sunlight attempts to penetrate the curtains, Rajani cries.

She isn't sure how long she sits there, using the pillows and comforter to muffle herself until her breathing evens out and her eyes refuse to produce any more moisture. Once she's calmed she gets up, takes the clothes laid out, and steps into the room's attached restroom to clean her face and prepare to face the day.

The night before is coming back to her in fits and starts. Clary had been a complete mess, Eugene had gone catatonic. Rajani remembers getting both of them into rooms for the night before Ms. Slughorn had insisted she stay as well, saying she'd already contacted Rajani and Clary's parents to let them know the two girls were staying over and gotten permission.

Overall, from what she can remember Rajani thinks she held together quite admirably. And if the world wasn't falling out from underneath her she'd be quite proud of herself - perhaps she will be, in time. For the moment she robotically moves through her morning routine before heading to the dining area for breakfast.

Clary is already there, spearing listlessly at the eggs and toast on her plate. Eugene is nowhere to be seen though Rajani doubts she'll be seeing him at all before she leaves for home. He'd been in a bad way the night before, so far as she can remember.

"Good morning Rajani, help yourself." Adela says with forced, uncertain cheer, and Rajani graces her with a diplomatic smile, the kind she's learned from watching her parents at parties.

"Thank you." She nods and says nothing more, knowing she won't be pushed and thinking that Clary likely won't be able to handle any conversation at the moment.

As expected Eugene never makes an appearance, and Rajani leaves for home as soon as she's finished eating, bidding a quiet farewell to Clary which is nonverbally returned. At least the other girl is aware of her surroundings.

Rajani takes the Floo, not completely trusting herself to Apparate safely at the moment - heightened emotions can be just as dangerous to proper concentration as a state of intoxication. Twycross had said that numerous times, and while she currently just feels numb it's the sort of numb that she knows means she's feeling far too much and can't process it all.

She steps out of the fireplace and is stunned to be immediately pulled into a hug by the last person she'd expected to ever see in their house.

Mayra Byrnes steps back after a moment and gives Rajani a half-strained, half-knowing grin. "Your sister snuck me in, your parents are out right now. I was thinking you and I go grab some ice cream and fresh air - being inside isn't where you want to be right now."

Rajani blinks, barely registering the comment. "...Sahana contacted you?"

Mayra sighs. "We didn't work out because she's a coward, but when she heard about Queenie... I lost my grandmother a few years ago and it's not the same but it still hurts like the dickens. She thought I'd be better to talk to than any of your folks."

Rajani doesn't have to think about her answer. "Let's go."

She'll have to thank her sister later, when she's emotionally less vulnerable (and also when she actually talks to Sahana - her sister is kept very occupied by being married, she's barely seen her since the wedding).

The day ends up being absolutely wonderful. Mayra takes her to a small Muggle ice cream shop selling something called Gelato, which is somehow ice cream but better, and they walk along the Thames not talking. It's exactly what Rajani needed - a chance to breath and process everything without judgement or expectations before confronting her parents and the sideways attempts at pity she knows they'll be giving.

She doesn't cry again - thank goodness - but she does choke up at several points and repeatedly has to stop and lean against the railing, staring out across the filthy water and taking deep breaths. She still feels a bit disconnected from herself, but by the time she arrives home that evening she's feeling grounded enough to take her new, broken reality head-on.

"Rajani, there you are, I went to the Slughorns and Adela said you'd come home!" Her mother sounds furious, and her father is staring at her disapprovingly. "We've been worried sick, where were you all day?"

Rajani blinks, and then sighs. "Apologies mother, Clary and I walked around London. We needed the air, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. You were out when I returned home and Clary arrived to ask me to go out before you returned." She'll have to owl Clary and ask the other girl to cover for her, but that's something to worry about later.

Her parents buy the excuse and her mother, as expected, showers her with platitudes and assurances that things will get better. Her father merely informs her that the funeral will be in two weeks.

When Rajani manages to escape to her room she sits at her desk to start writing to Clary about the cover story - when she spots her Head Girl meeting outline sitting on the side of her desk.

She'd stood up Myr.

Groaning she decides to write him first. He's decent enough - likely furious right now but hopefully he'll be somewhat understanding of the situation.

She doesn't sleep well that night, waking up far too often and rendering herself exhausted the next morning.

Luckily Myr's reply is very polite and he offers to let her have some space, stating he can talk to some of the prefects he knows to fill in the rest of his needed knowledge. Clary also replies with a short confirmation that she'll back the story.

The funeral ends up being twelve days later. It's closed casket, which Rajani is both grateful for - she's not sure she won't start crying if she sees the lifeless body of someone who was always the most lively of them - and upset by. She hates that all she has left are pictures and memories and some part of her wonders quietly if seeing the body wouldn't bring some sort of closure.

Mostly she's thankful though. It's the first time she's seen Eugene since that horrid day and he looks no more put together now than he had then.

She stands next to him, unsure of what to say, or if she should say anything. Queenie had been her best friend, but she imagines it must be a thousand times worse for Eugene. He had loved her more than Rajani every could.

The service is... well, Rajani honestly couldn't say much about the service as she barely hears it. Her eyes flit from Eugene, to the floor, to Clary and Alasdair who along with their families were also invited.

It seems to go on forever, she knows that much.

Then someone asks her and Eugene if they want to say anything. Rajani glances over at her friend and concludes rather quickly that he won't be able to keep it together if he tries to say anything, so she decides to take the focus off him and agrees.

She doesn't have anything prepared, but she tells herself she doesn't have to say very much.

When she gets onto the podium she finds herself momentarily at a loss for words, a first so far as she can remember. She takes a nervous breath and sees her parents staring at her expectantly. Next to them Keaton is giving her a sympathetic look (Merlin she doesn't like her brother-in-law). Then she locks eyes with her sister, who gives a small smile and a nod.

Rajani thinks about Mayra, which gets her thinking about school, and the words finally come.

"I met Queenie when we were eleven years old and I sat down next to her during the Welcome Feast. I didn't know it then, but sitting there turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life." She smiles faintly, glancing at her classmates and seeing Clary's eyes light up slightly as she remembers that first night, complaining about their names as they anticipated the unknown that was Hogwarts at the time.

Rajani clears . "By Christmas we were already best friends. You all already know that she was smart, she was driven, she was going to make Slytherin the great House we all know it to be. But I think more importantly Queenie always demanded the best, of herself and of all of us. She certainly pushed me to be better. We had a bit of a rivalry fourth year, we both wanted to be named Prefect. But when I got the badge Queenie didn't hold it against me at all. She was the greatest friend I think I'll ever have, and I was lucky to have known her." She breathes out softly. "We all were made better for it. Thank you."

She doesn't cry, not in front of everyone. But that night she sits with Eugene in silence in his room and he can't judge if a few stray tears escape because he's just the same.

Myr doesn't actually follow up with Charlie or Fiona on prefect duties - his own schedule is hectic and he doesn't actually have any way of contacting them since they both live quite far from London and he doesn't have an owl.

He does feel bad for Raj though, so he resolutely doesn't bother her, instead going over the notes from their other meetings diligently and hoping that will be good enough.

He feels like he should feel worse about Raj's friend passing away, but the truth is he didn't really know Queen Shacklebolt as anything other than the Slytherin teacher's pet. She'd seemed nice enough, but without having really known her the death feels distant and he often forgets about it when he's with his sister, Holly, or Amanda - which he usually is.

After the July rush business at the bookstore slows down again, and Mr. Hale agrees to let him finish work a week before school begins so that he can listen to the Quidditch World Cup final. Amanda has continuously tried to make him come listen to the games but he's always been busy. But now, with Scotland in the finals, he feels like he really ought to give it a listen.

"This is the farthest Canada has ever made it, it's a big deal." Amanda tells him excitedly when he arrives at her family's home just outside of the city. He'd taken public transportation rather than Apparating - he hadn't known exactly where the house was located and didn't fancy splinching himself.

Amanda had met him at the bus stop and walked him back to her place, during which she caught him up to speed on every detail of the Cup so far. When they arrive at the quaint brick two-story her father is standing in the doorway eyeing Myr critically.

Myr immediately straightens up nervously, which makes Amanda laugh.

"Daddy don't scare my boyfriend please." She grins. "Myr this is my dad. Daddy, Myr."

Myr holds out his hand stiffly. "Good to meet you Mr. Taylor." He says, sounding robotic even to his own ears.

Amanda's father studies him for a moment longer before laughing, and Myr realizes that Amanda really takes after her dad. He grasps Myr's hand firmly and gives it a single shake. "Good to meet you as well Myr. The girls say great things about you."

Amanda rolls her eyes. "Okay daddy that's enough. It's hot out here I want in."

The house is incredibly homey on the inside, and Melody is already perched by the radio, fiddling with it to get the channel.

"Heya Myr, welcome to the hidey hole." She greets without looking up. Her hair is falling over her face, muffling her words slightly. "Dad this thing is acting up again." She adds.

Mr. Taylor moves to assist his other daughter, and Myr looks around instinctively for the presumed fourth member of the family.

Amanda looks at him, and then gestures to the mantle. "Mom's picture is up there, if you wanted to see." She says, softly. "She died in the first war, one of the attacks on the Ministry."

Myr isn't sure what to say to that. "I lost my dad too." He finally settles on. "Though my mum didn't know he was a wizard so we had no idea where he'd gotten to." It's still an uncomfortable truth, but he figures he won't get used to it until he starts talking about it.

Amanda takes his hand and gives it a quick squeeze. "Come on, I'll give you the grand tour before dinner."

It's a cozy house with touches of both girls scattered throughout it. Myr finds himself relaxing faster than he thought he'd be able to, and the three hours until the game starts fly by comfortably.

"Okay, everyone shush up!" Melody declares excitedly, turning up the radio volume as an announcer begins rattling off the opening speech.

The game is intense. Myr has a bit more respect for Leona now - the announcer on the radio is talking a mile a minute, describing nearly every move on the pitch so clearly that Myr can practically envision it all himself. He barely listens to their announcer during school matches, but he does know she talks a lot during games.

Myr stays at the Taylor's house until eleven thirty at which point he insists he needs to head home but he'll be back in the morning if the game isn't over by then.

In the end the game lasts for five days and Myr doesn't understand why anyone would want to play the sport professionally. Though he has to admit when Canada takes the win it's possibly the most intense moment of his life so far.

The game had served as a great distraction - as had the Taylors themselves - but with the World Cup over there's only two days until school starts and Myr immediately begins worrying about the prefect meeting again. He's been majorly slacking on that front and there's been no word from Raj either so he's becoming less and less certain that she's going to be particularly helpful coaching him through the first meeting.

His worries are very slightly alleviated when her owl appears at his window the night before the first, bearing a short note that Raj obviously doesn't expect a reply to as the barn owl leaves as soon as he's taken the letter from her.

Myr,

Apologies for the lack of communication. Please meet me at the Express at 10 tomorrow to go over final details for the meeting.

Raj

Myr releases a slow breath. Ten in the morning is an hour before the train leaves, but he's not sure it will be enough time for him to really feel ready for any of this.

It really feels like first year all over again - completely overwhelming and honestly a bit terrifying.

Myr swallows down the nerves climbing up his throat and heads down to the kitchen where his sister is going through several files for a work report, Owen curled up by her feet and batting at her pant leg every so often.

"Hey, I need to be at King's Cross by ten tomorrow." He says by way of announcing himself, and Cadi startles, nearly knocking over her files.

"Myr don't- jeez, you move like a mouse." She laughs shakily, gathering the files away from the edge of the table. "Yeah, sure, no problem. You're all packed right?"

"Only Owen left." Myr confirms, looking down at his cat with fond amusement when sleepy gold eyes open at the sound of his name.

Cadi snorts. "Alright. I have to be in the office by nine but I can leave money for a cab.

Myr momentarily thinks to suggest that he just Apparate, but then he remembers he's never done it with Owen and he has no interest in screwing up his first Side-Along Apparition right before what will probably be the most stressful meeting of his life.

So he accepts the offer and in the morning Cadi hands him twenty pounds before heading out the door, leaving Myr with nothing to distract himself from the coming meeting except Owen. His cat does give him about ten minutes of relief as he attempts to avoid the carrier, but then Myr is ready to go and not ready to go at all.

He arrives at King's Cross fifteen minutes early because if he stayed at home he was going to pace a hole into the floor and at least at the station he can move with some sort of purpose.

Of course now he's on the Platform with no actual idea how to find Raj or where they're supposed to be meeting.

Luckily for him something finally goes right when the Head Girl appears seemingly out of nowhere next to him not two minutes after he reaches Platform nine and three quarters.

"Good, you're here. I've isolated a compartment we can use." She says briskly in lieu of a greeting. Myr wordlessly follows her, the silence between them filled only with a single curious mew from Owen as the large cat attempts to smack at Raj's skirt as it swishes with each step.

"Don't get comfortable, the meeting will be in the prefect carriage a few cars down." Raj warns as they step into the car she's cordoned off for them. "And after patrols you can go sit with your friends elsewhere on the train. Most fifth years do that, though the sixth and seventh years usually stay and mingle in the prefect car."

Myr quietly smarts at the implication that he'll be more like a fifth year, but he doesn't respond. Instead he sits across from Raj and accepts the parchment paper she offers him.

"That's the rough outline for the meeting. Tell me if you want to add or change anything, and if you have any last minute questions now is the time. I figure we'll give the prefects a chance to mingle until the journey begins and then we'll join them, give the overview, and pair the fifth years with the older prefects to make sure they get the hang of things." Raj is all business, more so, even, than over the summer, and Myr is honestly a bit taken aback. He'd expected subdued, still mourning, but the woman in front of him is a rock, and he isn't sure if that's somehow worse. Regardless he doesn't know how to react either way so he just looks down at the parchment and reads the outline.

It's a bit detailed for 'rough', but he knows Raj is doing a lot of hand-holding for him so he doesn't make the snarky comment he might have had if Fiona or even Nabila had handed it to him - the only two Gryffindors he can think if who would even make an outline like this one.

"So? Any questions?" Raj prompts impatiently and Myr startles.

"Um, no, nothing pressing." He says, and then hesitates. "Maybe the names of the sixth year prefects? Just so I know them?"

Raj nods sharply. "Hector and Alana from Slytherin, Adrian and Cass from Gryffindor, Taylor and Saundra from Hufflepuff, and Brett and Josephine from Ravenclaw. Josephine doesn't respond to nicknames and will metaphorically claw your face off if you try. I'm thinking we pick out the fifth year who seems most confident and pair him or her with Josephine, that will knock down the arrogance pretty effectively. Most nervous ones ought to be with Shaun Roberts from our year or Saundra from sixth, they're the more calming people, though I can't believe I'm saying that about Saundra."

Myr blinks, having caught exactly none of the information. "...okay?"

Raj sighs impatiently. "I'll handle the pairing, you just stand there and look pretty." She says briskly.

Myr bristles slightly. "I'm the Head Boy, I ought to say something." He protests. "You can do the rules and stuff, fine, but I can talk about-" He stumbles, suddenly unsure of what exactly he can talk about.

Raj narrows her eyes in annoyance. "You can do the opening bit if you want, how we're here if needed and such." She offers after a moment and Myr flushes and agrees.

He's nervous enough as is and honestly Raj is only making it worse. He'd thought she might have been warming up a bit during their handful of summer meetings but obviously he'd been incorrect.

Or her best friend died and she's dealing with that. He reminds himself, immediately feeling guilty for his momentary irritation.

Raj is already packing up the rough schedule when he pulls himself back out of his thoughts, and a glance out the window shows the familiar mass of people crowding the platform, calling final goodbyes and well wishes as the students pile onto the train.

"Let's get going then, everyone should have arrived by now."

Nerves are weighing down Myr's tongue and throat so he doesn't reply, just picks up his trunk and Owen's carrying case and follows the Head Girl down the corridor and into another car.

The first thing he notices is that it's much bigger than the standard cars on the Express. The next is that despite that substantial size increase it's still completely packed.

Fiona waves at him from where she's sitting next to Charlie and a Ravenclaw boy who Myr recognizes enough to know he's in their year but he can't quite grasp a name.

It takes him a moment to realize the chatter has silenced and everyone is staring at him and Raj, who's giving him a look.

He clears his throat. Right, he's doing the opening.

"Hey guys! So I'm Myr, and you probably know Raj but, um, that's her." He gestures to his partner and is relieved when several people laugh. "We're the Head Boy and Girl this year which means if you have any questions then we're always happy to help so don't think you're ever bothering us."

Raj starts to open but Myr still has one more thing to say and he's determined to get it out while the nerves are still temporarily appeased by the relaxed atmosphere. "That also means, though, that if you screw up we're the ones who get to decide your fate, so you probably want to be nice to us."

That gets more laughs, and when he glances over at Raj she's smiling in a distant sort of approval.

She takes over from there, and Myr honestly doesn't catch much of what she says but the group of prefects are listening attentively. He studies faces, trying to match names but no one is in their school robes yet so he can't use Houses to determine who's who.

However he does spy a few familiar faces - the younger Slytherin Beater is eyeing him warily from the corner where all the Slytherin prefects are huddled, students from his own year, and one face he wasn't expecting, which gives him a bit of a shock when he spots it.

When Rajani finishes handing out patrol pairs (he's with another Gryffindor named Adrian) he takes a quick detour to walk over to where Melody Taylor is looking for her partner.

"You didn't think to mention you were made prefect when I was basically living at your house last week?" He asks, and she grins.

"Surprise! Honestly I didn't even think about it, I figured you guys were given names with your letters."

They had been, but as Raj had taken care of patrol pairings for the first day so Myr hadn't actually looked at them.

"Hey, don't mean to break it up but I'd like to get this done quickly." A voice interrupts. The gawky brunet boy sticks out a hand. "Adrian, we're paired. Raj says you need some instructions on how this works?"

Myr flushes slightly but waves to Melody and follows after Adrian.

Being Head Boy is definitely not going to be easy. But he's thinking that maybe he won't completely screw it up.

Franziska ends up in a compartment with Donaghan and Cian in addition to Evie and Fitzwilliam, and she's not completely sure how it happened but the group seems to be getting along surprisingly well.

Cian and Fitzwilliam had started talking music rather early on in the ride and two hours in are still going strong. Evie had tried to engage with them a bit at the start but has since moved on to talking current events with Franziska - namely the ongoing discussions to reunify Germany.

"I sweat my whole family was glued to the screen when Reagan gave his speech, but it's taken forever to actually tear down that wall." Evie laughs. "It must have been chaotic for you this summer, huh Frannie?"

Franziska shrugs. "Kind of? I live pretty far west though, so the stuff going on in Berlin isn't that close to us, and the Ministry Headquarters were moved during the second world war to get away from the Nazi regime so. We haven't really been in Berlin at all as a magical community."

Evie makes a face. "So. Wait. If I'm getting this right all the witches and wizards just did nothing during the Holocaust? No offense, but that's genuinely awful."

Franziska shrugs, grimacing. "I mean, people joined up but the Statute of Secrecy was deemed to be more important to maintain, above all else." She says. "Trust me, I don't like it either, but it's done. And besides, there's no spell on Earth that could stop a bullet, so it's questionable how much of an impact we really would have had - the reveal could have made things even worse." It's a flimsy argument, but it's one she's heard endlessly from their Ministry so it's the first thing she can think of in response to Evie's comment.

Donaghan grimaces. "Still, it feels dirty. But I suppose the Muggle world has a lot of problems accepting anyone who seems even the slightest bit different - I get being a bit scared of coming out."

Franziska thinks of Rosa and Jen (who she still hasn't met, to her frustration) and wonders why she'd never considered it that way before. "That's a good point." She observes quietly. "I mean, a lot of Muggles can't handle other Muggles, who's to say revealing magic wouldn't cause another round of the witch trials?"

Evie leans back in her seat. "Oh man, those were caused by fear of the unknown weren't they?" She suddenly grins. "Hey Frannie, didn't we talk about those on our very first train ride to Hogwarts? You, me, Shaun, and Finn and hey I just realized except me and Shaun we all went to different Houses!"

Franziska blinks. In all honesty she'd almost forgotten about that long ago train ride. She smiles faintly - her eleven year old self would be happy to know that she still talks to at least one of those first three classmates she'd met.

Her eleven year old self might be slightly less pleased with how uncomfortable she is around Shaun these days, but it's unavoidable. And if she thinks about it, she isn't even sure what Finn has been doing - though it's not surprising given how exclusive the Slytherin House is.

"I think we talked about Wendelin the Weird." She recalls aloud, letting her smile turn into a full grin.

"I think we reenacted Wendelin the Weird." Evie laughs. "Oh man, that feels like forever ago. Say, what did you guys do on the first Express ride?" She pokes Fitzwilliam to get his and Cian's attention.

Donaghan answers first. "Cian and I shared a car with some upperclassmen who mostly kept to themselves. Mind, he wasn't feeling particularly social either." He says dryly, giving his friend an amused look.

Cian shrugs. "I didn't even want to come to Hogwarts." He replies flatly.

"I sat with Amelia. And my cousin. And one of the other Slytherin girls, though I don't remember her name." Fitzwilliam offers. "It was really awkward honestly, we didn't talk much. Well, the one Slytherin did but Elspeth and Amelia didn't."

"That sounds awful." Evie declares, and while Franziska agrees she thinks her friend could have been a bit more tactful.

But to her surprise Fitzwilliam actually gives a small laugh. "It kind of was. I only sat with Elspeth because I knew her, but we've never really gotten on. She... was closer to her parents than I was with mine." He says the last part a bit awkwardly, glancing over at Donaghan and Cian.

Franziska remembers when Fitzwilliam had admitted to her and Evie that his parents had been Deatheaters and were currently imprisoned in Azkaban. The two girls had made clear they didn't care, but Franziska knows it's still a sore topic for Fitzwilliam and she's surprised he brought it up at all in front of Donaghan and Cian, considering he doesn't know the two boys.

"Well, you've got other people you know now!" Donaghan beams, and Franziska has never been happier that Jemma's dating him has allowed them to become closer.

A knock on the door dissipates the last of the awkwardness as the Trolley Witch leans into the compartment and asks her usual question.

Evie flashes Franziska a grin. "We'd like three chocolate frogs, a box of Bertie Bott's, some pumpkin pasties, and two cauldron cakes please!" 

Franziska laughs. "I can't believe you remember that, it's been six years."

Evie pays for the sweets and passes them around the compartment. "If anyone gets the Wendelin card I will literally give you anything you want for it." She announces cheerfully, grabbing one of the chocolate frogs for herself.

"That's a bold statement." Donaghan warns with a grin. "Cian might make you listen to him talk music theory for four hours."

Cian glares half-heartedly at his friend, the effect lessened by the pumpkin pasty crumbs he has on his face. 

Fitzwilliam awkwardly points out the crumbs as he accepts a handful of Bertie Botts from Evie. "I never get any good ones of these." He says pitifully after popping a lovely red one into his mouth an immediately making a face.

Franziska tilts her head curious as she accepts her own palmful of beans. "What was it? Red is usually pretty safe I've found."

Donaghan laughs. "You clearly haven't ever had a blood-flavored one before, I'm never touching red again. Not worth it."

"What was yours?" Evie pokes Fitzwilliam curiously as he forces himself to swallow.

"Feathers." He gives a dejected sigh and proceeds to eat another one, smiling ever so faintly when Evie bursts out laughing.

"I think the worst I ever got was motor oil." Evie says decidedly after a moment.

Cian makes a face. "This is why I refuse to touch those things." He wrinkles his nose. Of course, Evie takes that as a challenge and proceeds to start attempting to convince Cian to try at least one.

Donaghan laughs and shakes his head, moving so he's sitting next to Franziska.

"So, moving on from Nazis, how was your summer?" He asks with a grin, and Franziska laughs while Fitzwilliam looks vaguely confused.

Evie does eventually succeed on her quest, though Cian spits out the moss-flavored bean ("oh come on, moss isn't even that bad!" Evie had exclaimed) and the entire compartment sans Cian are still laughing when Jemma makes an appearance, already dressed with her Prefect badge pinned on her right lapel.

"What did I miss?" She asks, but Franziska immediately recognizes the tone. It's the one Jemma pulls out when she's feeling down but doesn't want to bother anybody.

Franziska is about to call her out when Donaghan beats her to it. "What happened at the Prefect meeting? You look miserable."

Jemma sighs, smiling straining to stay in place. "No, the meeting was fine! Rajani and Myr did a great job, really. I'm not upset about Head Girl." She adds pointedly to Donaghan, who closes his mouth and shakes his head. "Really though, just a rough patrol. The new Slytherin prefect - Bella - she's a bit standoffish. It felt like talking to a rock the entire three hours." She grimaces. "Sorry, I'm complaining, it's not a big problem, didn't mean to kill the atmosphere."

The group share a look before Franziska decides to somewhat shift the topic. "Myr as in the Welsh boy from Gryffindor? I didn't think he was a prefect, how is he Head Boy now?" She prompts, only half-curious, but the rest of the compartment seem to have a collective moment of realization before they begin to bombard Jemma with similar questions. Soon enough the blonde has relaxed as well and the whole group is chatting comfortably for the rest of the ride.

The six of them opt to share a carriage together as they disembark. Franziska waves to Hagrid as the Groundskeeper calls for the first years and he cheerfully waves back.

"Oh my gosh they're so little!" Jemma whispers as she watches the first years nervously walking towards the half-giant. "I can't believe that was us once."

Franziska laughs slightly. "And now here we are, seventh years, top of the food chain." She says with a grin.

"Seven years ago I didn't even know magic existed. Weird to think how normal it is now." Donaghan observes, gently nudging one baffled first year in the right direction. He elbows Cian lightly as he takes Jemma's hand. "I bet even you're used to it now."

Cian rolls his eyes. "I'm still appalled by the music selection for wizards. We're fixing that immediately." He says flatly, but Franziska thinks she spies a faint smile in the low light.

"You guys have an amazing setlist." Jemma agrees. "Hey, you should play something for the first years at the end of the week! We're doing a general get-to-know you type party right?"

Franziska is ashamed that she'd actually almost forgotten about the Hufflepuff tradition.

Evie and Fitzwilliam frown. "Um, what?" Fitzwilliam ventures, and the four Hufflepuffs immediately go quiet, teasingly refusing to say anymore on the subject despite Evie practically begging for information.

"Jeez, betrayed by my own best friend." Evie laments dramatically, falling over Franziska's lap once they've chosen a carriage. "Refusing to tell me juicy Hufflepuff secrets, I may have to make Fitz my new best friend now."

Fitzwilliam glances over, pushing Evie's feet off his lap but not commenting otherwise.

"Sorry, House secrets, you know how it goes." Franziska laughs as the other three pile onto the opposite seat and the carriage begins moving on it's own as it always does.

"Well at least we know you're not cavorting with the enemy." Jemma jokes.

They split from Evie and Fitzwilliam when the arrive at the castle and Jemma makes a point of gathering all the seventh year Hufflepuffs that she can to sit on the furthest end of the bench away from where the new first years will be sitting.

"Meeting in the guys dorm tonight, we need to solidify this weekend." She reminds everyone in a low voice as the new first years stream into the Great Hall, eyes wide and curious as they gaze around. Franziska gives one boy what she hopes is an encouraging smile.

Leona grins dangerously. "I am so excited to be a seventh year, we finally get to rule the school." She breaths as the Hat launches into it's song.

"You're just pleased that business will probably pick up since a seventeen year old has more credibility than an eleven year old." Adian points out with mild amusement, and the whole group laughs softly.

"Hey, new customers get one free." Leona protests lightly, but she's grinning as well. "My rates are perfectly fair, no one gets hurt, everyone's happy! I even get Slytherins on occasion." She adds with a glint in her eyes. "Those are always interesting."

"Shush, the sorting has started." Jemma scolds them and they settle down for the next hour as the new students are sent to their Houses. Hufflepuff, as usual, has one of the largest number of new students - eight if Franziska has counted correctly though she wasn't paying that close attention - but overall the class is much smaller than average.

"Well, the fewer kids we need to keep an eye on the better." Kiera says with a shrug once the usual welcome is given and the Feast appears in front of them, continuing the conversation from an hour before easily. "Heck, we've got, what, three extra people?"

"Two, there's eight first years." Jemma corrects and Kiera shrugs.

"Two then, Still that's good isn't it? Remember our first year, there were only six in the graduating class." The farm girl laughs, and Franziska notices that in the course of two sentences she's managed to move from the bench onto Tyler's lap, who'd been sitting next to her. He doesn't complain at all, simply eating around her as though nothing has changed. "I bet they were a bit frantic when they realized how massive our class was going to be." She laughs.

"Still, our plans are rather low-key, we probably won't need everyone present." Jemma says thoughtfully. "But shush, we don't want anyone overhearing. How was everyone's summers?"

Aidan proceeds to point out Jemma's atrocious grammar but the group lets themselves be derailed. Jemma does have a point - they may be down the table from the first years but sound travels oddly in the Great Hall and it's not worth the risk.

They catch up all through the feast, and then Jemma excuses herself to assist the fifth years with leading the first years to the dorm.

"See you all in the boys' room." She reminds them before departing.

They sit at the table a few minutes more before growing bored and heading for the Hufflepuff common room.

Several first years are still lingering in the main room, eyeing everything curiously, and Franziska smothers a nostalgic laugh. She remembers being one of those first years.

The group of them go straight to the boys' rooms and settle on the beds, pairing off however they please. Donaghan of course keeps his bed open for Jemma to sit with him when she arrives, and Franziska finds herself perched next to Leona on Cian's bed, while its proper owner lies on Aidan's bed, taking up most of the space.

Jemma arrives a few minutes later, looking breathless but smiling. "Alright then, the first years are as settled as they're going to be considering it's their first night. Now then," She takes her spot next to Donaghan. "Let's get this party planned!"

Ana sits with her usual group at the Feast - and isn't it odd to think she has one of those now? - and is content to mostly listen to them chatting as she eats.

Amelia does most of the talking - she'd had an internship over the summer with the Pest Advisory Board and she's quite eager to detail every little thing she'd done.

"So are you going to work there after graduation then?" Jerome asks during one of her pauses for breath.

Amelia shakes her head. "Goodness no, it was terribly boring. I'm going to get my Magizoology certification and likely start research out of the country by the time I turn nineteen. Sooner preferably, but it depends on the program I can get into for the certification."

Ana rolls her eyes slightly, but she does understand the sentiment. Even if it's not directly related to her intended job Amelia's internship did involve magical creatures so it will look good on her application form for the certification programs.

Ana isn't worried about her own applications for Curse Breaking - she already knows she's guaranteed a spot in the 1991 class courtesy of her boyfriend.

However she is rather tired of listening to Amelia after nearly an hour of the same thing, so she turns to Shaun. "What about you, any plans for after graduation?"

Shaun smiles. "Actually I want to be a teacher. Always have and that hasn't changed. Professor Flitwick says there likely won't be any openings at Hogwarts for a few years yet, other than Defense Against the Dark Arts which I'm rather hesitant to take, so I'll likely attend secondary education for the next few years and then see where things go from there."

Ana nods. Personally teaching sounds incredibly boring, but she can recognize it's importance so it's good people like Shaun exist to fill the needed roles.

Amelia sighs but accepts that her turn to talk has been ended and she looks to Jerome. "So how about you? Figure out what you're doing?"

Jerome shrugs sheepishly. "Not really? Kind of? I'm probably going to try to be a historian but I'm not sure what I'll do to make money since that's not really an official job." He smiles a bit awkwardly. "Honestly I don't know what I'm going to do after we graduate. Probably stay with my parents for the summer and apply to whatever I'm qualified for."

Ana raises an eyebrow. "Why not do what Shaun is? Getting a higher level degree in History would likely get you snapped up as an assistant for one of the active historians, and from there several schools or even publishing companies are often looking for textbook writers. If you do your own projects while assisting you could probably be a full-time historian by thirty at the latest."

Jerome looks surprised. "Huh. That... actually sounds like fun. I should set up a meeting with Professor Flitwick though, see what that would look like for me considering I'm not the best student." He flushed but he's grinning and Ana can't help smiling back.

"I guess we're all set for after graduation then." Shaun jokes lightly. "No need to do seventh year at all."

Amelia giggles.

The Feast ends and Evie joins her and Amelia in their room. The girls exchange some small talk about their summers before Evie suddenly laughs.

"Hey remember first year? When we-"

"No, no nostalgia." Amelia interrupts immediately, making a face. Ana personally agrees - it's far too early in the year for such sentiment in her opinion.

Evie looks a little taken aback but she purses her lips and doesn't finish the thought. "Alright, well how are things with you and Henry then? Still together?" She offers after a long moment of awkward silence.

Amelia shrugs. "Yes we are. We spent a lot of time together over the summer, though he was rather stressed about school." She looks oddly pleased as she says it. "Which is nice considering he never cared for it much before. I'm glad NEWTs are finally making him put a bit more effort into his schoolwork." She glances over at Ana. "And what about you? I recall you going to Hogsmeade with a man last year - he said he was your Curse Breaker contact?"

Ana hums. "He's also my boyfriend and currently back in Peru, though he'll be home for the Holidays."

Evie perks up. "Hold up, this is all new to me. Details!"

"No details, we aren't gossiping Hufflepuffs." Ana counters flatly, and Evie frowns.

"My best friend is Hufflepuff and she doesn't gossip a whit." She grumbles. "Whatever, 'night guys."

"Goodnight." Ana responds. Amelia merely hums, already changed into her nightclothes and settling into her bed. Ana is quick to follow her example and let sleep overtake her.

They receive their schedules the next morning, though as it's a Sunday they have no classes to occupy themselves with once breakfast is over.

Several of the first years scatter, exploring the castle and generally getting underfoot while Ana attempts to set up in the library to continue her summer NEWT studying. She'd kept her schedule quite well and now hopes to work ahead a bit in preparation for the year - assuming the younger years stop giggling at each other long enough for her to focus.

Five minutes later the irritating background noise is still going strong - and& where is Madame Pince she's usually very good about removing loiterers from the premises - Ana decides to remove the distraction herself.

She closes the textbook she'd been ineffectually trying to read and focuses on the sounds, trying to pinpoint their point of origin. Finally her eyes land on a pair of Hufflepuff girls near one of the windows. She stands, not bothering to bring her things - there's barely anyone in the library so she's not concerned with anyone trying to take any of her things - and walks over to them, not bothering with a friendly expression as she approaches.

"Excuse me," She makes her presence known and eyes the Quidditch magazine the two girls had been cooing over with distaste. Honestly she'll never understand the appeal of muscles like those, they seem far to bulky for her taste. "Unless you're studying schoolwork I'd suggest taking yourselves elsewhere as to not distract those of us here who were hoping to use the library for its intended purpose."

One of the girls, the darker-skinned one, pouts at her in annoyance. "We aren't hurting anyone, and Madame Pince hasn't told us to leave." She points out, smiling appeasingly. "Maybe you could move?"

Ana huffs. "I'm nearly half-way across the library and I can still hear you. Either study something useful or study that somewhere else. There are plenty of empty classrooms where you wouldn't be bothering others."

The girl who had spoken purses her lips, but her friend speaks first. "Sorry, we didn't know how loud we were being! We can go to a classroom like you said, right Farrah?"

The dark girl - Farrah, Ana supposes - continues to pout but it's clear from her body language she's going to acquiesce. "Alright, I guess we could. The first years are getting everywhere though." She complains. Ana may agree, but she still doesn't have any sympathy. It's not like the two are doing anything worthwhile after all, it's just a stupid magazine.

Once the two have left Ana finds it much easier to immerse herself in her studies and she loses herself completely until her stomach loudly informs her that it requires sustenance if she wants it to keep supplying her with study energy.

She sighs and glances out the window. The sun is still up, though it's low on the horizon, so dinner likely won't be for another hour or so. Ana debates the merits of going to the kitchen and getting something light but she knows if she does she'll likely skip dinner in favor of continuing to try and puzzle through Arithmancy. So she resigns herself to being finished for the day and decides to try and find Jerome. He at least will be easy to talk to and hopefully help waste the time until dinner.

She traverses the halls, heading for the Ravenclaw Tower, when she hears movement in the corridor behind her. Spinning rapidly - she will not be the of anyone's pranks - she's surprised to find two identical redheads standing in front of the tapestry she'd just walked past.

"Oh man it works!" One exclaims excitedly, while the other quickly shoves something into the inner pockets of his robes, glances up, and freezes when he meets Ana's eyes.

"Um, hello Miss, funny running into you here-"

"Don't try selling me any lines. I know trouble when I see it and you two seem to reek of it." Ana sighs. She unfortunately does know the two - the Weasley twins, who while not personal acquaintances, have enough of a reputation that Ana has heard plenty about them. "Tell you what, you leave me and the rest of the seventh year Ravenclaws alone so we can study and I won't tell Filch about that tapestry. Deal?"

The second years nod fervently. "Cross our hearts-"

"-Ravenclaw is a no-splash zone." They chorus, and Ana opts to ignore how incredibly freaky they're being and simply nods.

"Good. Then I don't know you, you don't know me. Carry on."

The two scamper off and she sighs. Maybe she'll just stay in the Tower until dinner - no chance of running into irritating younger students that way.

Luckily for her Jerome and Shaun are both in the common room when she arrives and she watches their chess game after putting her bag away, and they walk to dinner together.

Amelia arrives after them, and Ana notices immediately that she's looking slightly puffy and her eyes have the faintest tinge of red.

"Potion gone wrong." Amelia says flatly before anyone can ask, and while it's an obvious lie Ana doesn't push. Amelia's business is her own, and frankly Ana doesn't care.

Jerome is a lot nicer than she is though, and he pats Amelia's hand lightly. "Well, if you don't want to tell us about it you don't have to. We all have had potions go wrong." His tone is warm and makes it clear they all know Amelia's excuse is just that.

Amelia gives a shuttering sigh. "...Thanks." She finally mumbles, looking more towards Shaun than Jerome or Ana but that's not surprising. They'd inevitably paired off somewhat once Jerome and Ana developed their unlikely relationship.

They move on from there, Jerome more than happy to chatter away about helping the Groundskeeper around the castle grounds to fill the space between them. Ana only half listens, more focused on eating and idly going over what she'd studied that day in her mind.

Amelia is still tense and silent after dinner ends and even Evie comments on it when they're getting ready to sleep.

"It's not your business." Amelia snaps, only confirming that the potion explanation was entirely fabricated.

Evie glances at Ana questioningly but Ana merely shrugs in return and the rest of the night is spent in silence. Ana is rather certain that Amelia is still awake when she falls asleep about an hour later.

The next day classes start, though with their schedules still stripped down dramatically as compared to the first five years, Ana's first class - Charms - isn't until eleven, leaving her two hours after breakfast to try and occupy herself.

She ends up unintentionally running into Aidan, which proves fortuitous as he's in the same predicament that she is so they end up finding a quiet nook to catch up.

Though she isn't as close to Aidan as she'd once been Ana does still consider him a good friend, so she's pleased to hear he'd gotten an apprenticeship lined up for after graduation.

"Congratulations, spell creation is a tough field to make money in. Finding a mentor is usually quite difficult."

"Consistently being the second highest-scoring student in the class helped." Aidan says with a smalle grin. He then hesitates before speaking again. "I know this isn't really your realm of expertise or interest, but I was wondering if you're close with Amelia Kingsley?"

Ana frowns at the questions. "We talk." She says after a moment. "I suppose we would be considered friends. Why?" She didn't even know Aidan knew Amelia, nonetheless well enough to ask after her.

Aidan shifts uncertainly. "Oh. Well, is she doing alright?"

Ana's frown deepens. "She was upset yesterday about something, though she wouldn't say what." Ana thinks she might be starting to figure out that particular mystery though. Aidan may not know Amelia directly as far as Ana is aware, but he is a male Hufflepuff - and therefore roommates with one Henry Davies, aka Amelia's boyfriend.

Aidan bites his lip. "Oh. Okay, sorry for-"

"They broke up didn't they?" Ana can't help the interruption. She's always thought Henry and Amelia's relationship was dangerously one-sided so she wouldn't be surprised if her deduction is correct. Though she recalls Amelia intending to maintain the relationship until graduation, which raises new questions. She blinks. "Did Henry break up with her?"

Aidan's expression is answer enough and Ana can't help making a disbelieving chuckle.

"Well, good for him. Not what I expected, certainly, but that relationship was going nowhere."

"That's a bit cold. You said Amelia was upset? Henry is miserable." Aidan counters. "...He's the one who asked us if we could check up on Amelia."

Ana sighs. "She'll be fine, she was planning to break up with him at the end of the year anyway. I say good for him not taking it."

Aidan shakes his head slightly. "Sometimes I really don't understand you. But I'll pass on what you said."

Ana notices that he doesn't explicitly disagree with her.

They walk to Charms together, but Ana ends up taking a seat next to Jerome rather than Aidan, who predictably goes over to where Henry is sitting in the back of the classroom, far away from Amelia at the front.

"So Henry dumped you." Ana says in lieu of a greeting. No reason to not let Amelia know that she knows - not mentioning it would likely result in more of a headache later. "Aidan told me." She adds. "Henry wanted to know how you were doing."

"He dumped me, as you so eloquently put it." Amelia replies flatly, her dull tone and expression not matching her shaking hands which are gripping her quill hard enough that Ana is certain it will snap before the end of the lecture. "So I don't see why he cares."

Ana lets it drop and thankfully Jerome doesn't comment either. Shaun eyes Henry but also remains mute, and the four say nothing more until Professor Flitwick hops up onto his chair and begins the lecture.

It's an interesting start to the year, that much is certain. Ana just hopes it isn't a sign of how the rest will play out.