The Enemy of my Enemy

The New Lessons

"It's contraband," said Daphne, taking a fanged frisbee from a pouting first year. She tapped it with her wand as it snarled, and then fell still. "I'll give this to Professor McGonagall. You're in her house, so she'll see fit on if you need a punishment, personally, I believe in second chances, so maybe you'll get off lightly. Run along."

The first year took off up the marble staircase as Daphne led the others across the Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall. The quartet made their way to their seats and while three out of four of them sat down, Daphne headed up to the teacher's table and handed the frisbee to McGonagall.

"What did she say?" Blaise asked, loading his plate with eggs and bacon. He added a small squirt of red and brown sauce to the side and reached for the sausages.

"Asked for the students name and said that she would manage it," said Daphne. "I suggested a non-punishment, but at the end of the day, I'm not a Head of House."

"You'll he shoo in for Head Girl at this rate," said Theo, cutting into his sausages. "But, I think Granger may have something to say about that."

Daphne shrugged and poured herself some milk. "Granger can take the Head Girl spot for all I care," she said. "I like my role as Prefect, but I don't want that kind of responsibility. Plus, I don't think I could manage sitting in the Prefects Compartment every year for the whole train ride."

"Especially if you end up with an annoying partner for Head Boy," said Blaise.

"Has there ever been a year where the Head Boy and Girl have been from the same house?" Teddie asked.

"In my second year," said Marlene, sitting down. "There were two Hufflepuffs in the positions. They got caught doing some unsavoury things in the Prefects bathroom, and from that point onwards, Dumbledore always split the positions between two different houses."

"Has a Gryffindor and a Slytherin ever been appointed together?"

"Percy Weasley and Sierra Waterstone were the first," said Marlene. "I don't know what they got up too in their spare times but given their engaged now."

"Percy was too much of a control freak to do anything unsavoury," said Judy. "Plus, Sierra took her position seriously. She was a popular girl without the badge, with it, she just radiated power."

"But she didn't let it go to her head," said Susan, joining them. She offered Teddie a small smile. "Hi."

Teddie beamed. "Hey, I thought you were being forced to move schools?" she asked.

"I was, supposedly," said Susan. "But, after the news this summer, I told Mum and Dad that I wanted to stay. I also told them that they could go on believing you were a nutcase, if they wanted too, but you were my friend, and I was going to talk to you whether they liked it or not."

"How did that work out for you?"

"Well, they haven't disowned me," said Susan.

"I'm guessing that's a good thing."

Susan nodded. "How have you been, Ted?" she asked. "Marlene and Judy kept me up-to-date on you last year, but I want to start fresh now."

Teddie shrugged. "As good as can be, I suppose," she said. "Everyone knows the truth about me. Some fear me, others don't want anything to do with me, and the rest, well, they didn't care much about me before and they definitely don't care about me now."

"That doesn't answer my question," said Susan. "How are you holding up?"

Teddie took a deep breath and turned back to her breakfast. "There are no words to describe how I'm feeling," she said. "I'm just going about my day, trying to be a normal teenager. It's all I can do, really, right?"