Nightmare (Harry Potter OC Fic)

4. Fifth Year Problems

There was no word that could explain Kei's excitement as she and Tiberius made their way through the Hogwarts Express. Kei had been made Hufflepuff Prefect and was beyond excited for her new position. Though upset Tiberius wouldn't be able to join her, he was as supportive as any true friend would be. Leaving Tiberius in an empty compartment, she made her way to the prefect carriage where they'd learn what duties she was meant to do as prefect.

With a large smile on her face, Kei made her way over to where Cedric Diggory was standing. He's the male prefect, she thought to herself. Looking around the room, Kei noticed she didn't quite recognize the people there.

"Now," the Head girl, Amber Armsty of Gryffindor, said, "your duties as Prefects are to patrol the corridors of the Hogwarts Express, today; patrol hallways to ensure that other students are not breaking curfew, on select days; and, tonight, after the start-of-term feast, you must show the first-year students, of your House, where your common room is."

"And," added the Head Boy, Isaias Peters of Ravenclaw, "as Prefects you have access to the Prefect bathroom on the fifth floor, along with the ability to take points away from other houses and give detentions as punishments. Though, you are not allowed to take points from or issue detentions to other Prefects."

At his moment, Kei looked around at the other prefects: Only the male Slytherin Prefect and female Gryffindor Prefect looked at one another.

"Slytherin and Hufflepuff Prefects report to me—" Amber Armstry said.

"— And Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Prefect report to me," Isaias Peters finished.

"Roll call," said Amber, pulling out a parchment with the Prefects' names on them. "From Hufflepuff: Cedric Diggory—"

"Here," he beamed.

"— and Franklin Higgs—"

"Kei," she blurted out. "Call me Kei."

Amber nodded with a soft smile and moved on to calling the names of the Slytherin Prefects. Isaias took the parchment out of Amber's hands and read off the Prefects' names for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

"Slytherins will take care of carriages one and two; Gryffindors, three and four; Ravenclaw, five and six; Hufflepuffs, seven and eight," Amber instructed.

"You are meant to do it for two hours and then are welcome to either come back to the Prefect carriage or go to your own compartments with your other friends," the Head Boy said.

"Oh," Amber gasped, "before I forget, you are meant to meet back here before getting off the train to get your common room passwords. Prefects make them two times a term, just so you know."

"Any questions?" the Head Girl added after a beat of silence. When no one spoke, she dismissed them for their duties.

Kei frowned at the assignment being that Tiberius was alone in their compartment in Carriage Three. But they took that time to bond with Cedric, whom she has never really talked to before that moment. He was everything and more, absolutely perfect at what he did and Kei hated him for it. Once the two hours were up, Kei said her goodbyes to Cedric and went off to where Tiberius was.

"How was Prefect duty?" he asked.

"Boring," sighed Kei and plopped down next to him. "Cedric Diggory is the other prefect for Hufflepuff. He's nice but. . . too perfect."

Tiberius let out a laugh and tilted his bag of Lays towards them, which Kei happily accepted.

———

The entire school buzzed with information about Sirius Black and the Dementors which had made their new home the grounds of Hogwarts. It was horrible, all of the happiness sucking demons surrounding Hogwarts to keep the students safe from outside danger. Tiberius wasn't much happier than the rest of the students as he thought it was stupid that the Dementors were hanging.

"I bet Alastor knows what's going on," he grumbles as he stuffed a piece of toast in his mouth.

It was a month into the first term and everyone was seated in the Great Hall for breakfast. Tiberius and Kei made it a habit to sit near the doors of the Hall with their backs facing one another so they could talk during meals. Students of other houses weren't allowed to sit at other house tables and this was the only way the pair would be able to hang out outside of lessons.

"I reckon he does, but that doesn't mean you should pester him about Sirius Black," Kei rolled their eyes. "He's busy enough trying to capture Black as it is. No need to worry him about keeping you safe and out of his hair."

"Frankie, I'm telling you—"

"And I'm just telling you!" She cut him off. "You know how your father is. He won't like it. Just try to keep your Herbology marks up and that'll make him happy."

"But he's training me," Tiberius tried to reason though he knew there was no point. Kei was as stubborn as she was smart and, as much as he hated to admit it, he knew she was right.

"Training doesn't automatically make you a certified auror to go around putting your nose in places it doesn't belong." Kei raised her brow at him and turned back to her food, slightly raising her voice, "and just because he started barely training you over the summer, doesn't mean he'll continue to train you for slacking off."

Tiberius said nothing further and Kei knew they got through his thick skull. As chivalrous and valiant as he tried to be, she knew it was in his best interest for Tiberius to not get involved. There was nothing more Kei wanted to do than to see her best friend succeed in being an auror, as he planned, but he was extremely stubborn and not trained in the slightest. One little slip up could severely hinder him.

"Reese's?" Kei sounded and turned to face the Slytherin table. Tiberius merely hummed and slightly turned to her. "Potions, Muggle Studies, and Defence today right?"

He sighed knowing this was their way of trying to apologize after shutting him down so harshly, "yeah, but I have Alchemy after Defence."

Kei nodded, "that's me tomorrow– I have Arithmancy though, I dropped Alchemy."

Tiberius looked up at the grandfather clock behind the Professor's Table and sighed, "we have five minutes 'til Potions. Wanna go now?"

"Yeah, let's go," she quickly said and stuffed a strawberry in her mouth as she grabbed her bag. "Reckon Snape'll be worse this year, with OWLs and all."

"Oh yeah," he breathed, "bloody OWLs."