Crescent Moons ; J.S. Potter

41. train talks.

Daisy loved the Hogwarts Express, but she didn't love that it was leading her to her last first day of school ever. Sitting in a compartment with her five friends, she thought back to her first year, when she had boarded the train terrified because her only friend was her brother. Now, she felt utterly blessed ... and also utterly stressed.

"Daisy!" shouted Marlee, snapping Daisy out of her nostalgic thoughts.

"Hm?"

"You were zoning out," she said. "Bet you were thinking about N.E.W.Ts, right? You need to relax, Daisy, that's not for months and months."

"Exactly," said James, who had not flirted with her at all since she had asked him not to over the summer. "We're seventh years now! That means we're at the top of everyone else!"

"Oh, what's the point if we have to worry about graduating and tests?" groaned Daisy. "I guess seventh years not all bad, though ..."

This was mainly because of all the privileges that Daisy had now that she had not had her past six years at Hogwarts. She had been appointed Head Girl a few weeks ago, meaning that she along with her brother had to lead the other Prefects. When her parents found out, they had gotten Daisy a brand new Quidditch Uniform. Though she would never abuse her Head Girl privileges, she did enjoy the fact that she could decide when she would use the Prefects' bathtub, without having to get her time approved by an older student.

"Right, we just shouldn't worry about N.E.W.Ts until the week of them," declared Benjamin, to which Thomas shot him a look.

"I'll have to drag you to the library to study," sighed Thomas. "Oh, Merlin, that last two weeks before the N.E.W.Ts are going to suck ..."

"I'm telling you not to worry about them for now!" said James.

"Wait," said Gwen, looking at Daisy and Thomas. "Didn't the two of you have to give some lecture to the other Prefects?"

Daisy and Thomas exchanged panicked glances before running out of their compartment and towards the Prefects' carriage.

When they arrived, Thomas panted and Daisy immediately shoved open the door. There were about two dozen Prefects sitting and waiting for them. She gave them a smile, quickly recovering from the sprint.

"Hello, everyone!" she said, entering the compartment after Thomas and shutting the door behind her. "Sorry, we're late. We usually aren't, but everybody makes mistakes!"

The Prefects gave some clearly forced laughs. Daisy grimaced.

"Anyway," said Thomas, clapping his hands, "we're your Head Boy and Head Girl. I'm Thomas Wood and this is my sister—"

"—Daisy Wood," introduced Daisy. "We're just here to give you guys a quick briefing on everything you need to know and then you should all be good to go! OK, first ..."

She thought back to the information that Professor McGonagall had told her in her Head Girl letter to tell the other Prefects.

"A large part of being a Prefect is patrols," said Daisy. "Each night, we need two Prefects to patrol the halls. Thomas and I will form a schedule in the coming days and let you all know."

"You guys are also given the privilege of taking House points," explained Thomas, "but be sure not to abuse that power. You guys may also give punishment in the form of detention, but only for valid reasons. We better not hear any first years complaining that some Prefect gave them detention for breathing too loud or something."

"As for your other responsibilities," continued Daisy, "you guys have to lead the first years to the dorms and answer whatever questions they may have. Basically, a huge part of being a Prefect is taking care of the younger students and being a mentor to them."