Brilliance is Corruptable

Chapter Seven

"To Briar York
Ravenclaw Tower
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Halloween has proved to be difficult yet again- you know, less 'unsightly' parts of the Wizarding World crawling around undisguised- luckily the Muggles just wrote it off as early Trick 'or' Treat-ers.
I've taken some time off during winter break, so I'll be able to spend Christmas with you.
I look forward to your immediate reply.

Sincerely,

Rurik "the Ruthless" York"

Briar tucked the letter away, ecstatic to finally spend the holidays with her father. - She rarely saw her father, who was almost always away. His job at the Ministry as an Auror kept him preoccupied, and well away from his only child. Since she came to Hogwarts she'd always had to spend the Holidays alone at the school.
Before Briar could begin a return reply- as her father demanded, an owl fluttered up to the window, pecking insistently on the glass.
Inquisitively, Briar pushed open the glass, extracting a tiny note from the owl's leg.

"Briar York, report to the Great Hall for Prefect duty."

She sighed tossing the note in the trash and pulling her robes over her jeans and jumper. With her wand tucked away, she hurried down to the Great Hall.
Her route to the Great Hall was stalled by a cluster of students lining up and pushing into Entrance Hall.

Ah. The Hogsmeade trip…

"Staying here Potter?" a nastily toned voice called out, "Scared of passing the Dementors?"
Briar furrowed her brows crossly, striding towards the blonde twat. She pushed aside the attendees, and slid in between the two boys.
"Five points from Slytherin, Malfoy." She snarled, "Tolerance, regardless of rivalry, is something you need to learn."

He shot her a nasty glare, storming away haughtily. Briar turned her gaze to the other, eyes directed almost immediately to the little lightning bolt scar.
"Thanks." He muttered, almost embarrassed. She smiled sweetly, "Not a problem, Potter. I'll see you at the feast."
She whisked away, hurrying to the Great Hall in fear of being late and displeasing her superiors.

It seemed ages until the Halloween feast was finished; Briar all but dragged herself up to the Ravenclaw tower, collapsing into her bed almost immediately. She had forgotten to write a letter back to her father- Briar sighed, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eye with the heel of the palm.
-I'll stay up a little longer.

~*~

"UP! EVERYONE UP!"

Briar's head jerked up in confusion- she had fallen asleep sitting at her desk- the quill in her hand had dripped ink all over her letter. She groaned at the prospect of rewriting everything.
"EVERYONE TO THE GREAT HALL- PREFECTS, FALL BACK AND MAKE SURE NO ONE IS LEFT BEHIND."

She wasn't sure who was yelling- but reluctantly, she woke her roommates- who seemed to sleep through everything- and hurriedly shoved them into the crowd of confused Ravenclaws.
Briar climbed back up to the girls' dormitory, peaking at the beds and in the washroom to ensure that everyone was down in the Great Hall.
She quickly spared a quick glance out the window- a streak of movement caught her eye, she looked more carefully. It was a large shaggy dog, away from the school.
She didn't get caught up in it too quickly, seeing as she too had to hurry back down the Great Hall.

Percy directed her to survey the students nearest the doors. She took it in stride, hushing those who whispered. She did this until early the next morning, where she could barely stand on her own two feet.

Thankfully, Percy saw her drowsiness, and order her to sleep. She crawled into a free sleeping bag- unfortunately close to a very awake Weasley.

"Briar," It was George, his sleeping twin lay to the left of him.
She mumbled a noise, quirking a brow at him.