☆ 𝟛: prefect duty

three prefect duty

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'I'M ABSOLUTELY DREADING today,' Sirius sighed. 'I can just picture the amount of homework Slughorn is going to give us already.'

'And Minnie,' Peter added. 'She always loves us practicing our transfigurations outside of lessons.'

'Not you, Minnie,' James chuckled as the friends' half-kneazle pricked her ears up at the mention of her namesake.

'I'm fine with the the spell-practicing,' Sirius sighed. 'It's just the essays and things like that I can't stand. And I honestly feel sick at the thought have having to do so many.'

'Ever the drama queen,' Remus muttered, to which [y/n] giggled.

    'I can't believe you're actually going to carry that through,' [y/n] stated.

    'A promise is a promise, Paws,' Sirius told his sister, waving a spoonful of scrambled eggs in her face, 'and when I have I ever been known to to break a promise?'

'I  –' [y/n] ate the eggs off Sirius' spoon leaving a look of utter devastation on his face. '– could pull up a list of promises you've broken as long as four rolls of parchment and even then, I'd still find things to say off the top of my head.'

Sirius looked up and gave [y/n] a glare that could have sliced the toast she was eating. In return, [y/n] stuck her tongue out childishly. Minnie stared at Sirius blankly from her spot on the table next to [y/n].

    'Morning, my fellow lions,' Lily smiled brightly as she glided over to the group and sat down next to [y/n]. 'Awh, Minnie's here too!'

Minnie moved from her position from next to James on the bench and with a happy purr after Lily scratched behind her ears, the creature was even more happier when Lily sat next to her.

    'Morning,' James beamed. 'What brings you to the dark side of the table?'

    'I have the prefect rounds rota for [y/n] and Remus,' Lily announced.

'Joy,' Remus said, half-sarcastically.

'When are we up to something?' [y/n] asked, taking the timetable and glancing at it.

'Tonight,' Lily said. 'I've put you on the seventh floor so if you just patrol up and down the corridors and try and pick up any lost Ravenclaws or Gryffindors along the way then you're doing good.'

'Sounds like a plan,' Remus agreed.

'So, are we able to give detentions and house points on our rounds or is that just a daytime thing?' [y/n] quizzed.

'You don't tend to give house points on rounds and you should only take them from our own house if their reason for being up after hours is something other than they're lost,' Lily explained.

'Or if you don't like them,' James added.

'Potter,' Lily warned with a stern face before glancing at [y/n] and trying her best to blame her giggle on Minnie doing 'something cute'.

'Anything to look out for or is it just the usual?' asked Remus.

'It's only the first-years that are what you should keep an eye out for. They're usually out and about. Sometimes the higher years are out too. You know. Wandering. All alone and lost. No clue where they're going.'

Lily winked at [y/n]. [y/n]'s hair turned a similar fuchsia colour to what her cheeks were.

'We don't speak about that, Evans,' [y/n] murmured in embarrassment.

'I'm confused,' Peter said.

'Same here,' Sirius said with a suspicious look in his twin's direction.

'Don't they know about your adventures in the broom cupboard?' Lily whispered to [y/n], but unfortunately, James heard.

'Who were you in a broom cupboard with?' he blurted out.

'James,' [y/n] groaned, her hair changing red now.

'Andrew Parsons,' Remus said, before stopping mid-chew, slowly turning his head to look at [y/n] – her hair changing to a ferociously dark red, almost as if it were about to set on fire – and instantly mouthing an apology.

'I can't believe this,' [y/n] muttered, letting her head drop to the table in shame, her hair colour returning to normal. Minnie clambered over Lily's lap and sat on [y/n]'s head.

Sirius was spitting and sputtering as Peter attempted to calm him down and James removed the cat from her spot on top of [y/n] and away from the danger of being hit by Sirius.

'But yes that's – that's all you have to do tonight,' Lily attempted to continue the conversation, watching with concern from the corner of her eye as Peter and Remus pulled Sirius away from marching to the Ravenclaw table.

'That's great,' [y/n] smiled weakly. 'Sirius, would you like a sausage? Does Padfoot want a sausage? There you go.'

Sirius sat down and immediately munched down on the meat on his plate.

'Well, I'll be off,' Lily said, standing up and throwing her rucksack over her shoulder.

'See you later, Evans,' James said.

'Bye, Potter.'

'Where were we?' Remus asked.

"'About to kill Parsons. And talking about me having never broken any promises,' Sirius replied, still a little agitated. 'And I bet you twenty Galleons that I carry out my promise before any of you do.'

    'Mine's over in a month, you dork,' [y/n] reminded him.

    Lily turned on her heel and rejoined the conversation.

    'What's this about promises?' she asked.

'We all decided that because it's our last year, we have to carry out a promise by the end of the year and Padfoot's is to complete every piece of homework he has,' Remus explained. '[y/n]'s has to last a month without detention.'

'That's a good idea,' Lily said, sitting back down in her seat. 'Mind if I join in?'

'Take it away,' Sirius encouraged.

'Right, well,' Lily started, 'I promise to...'

'You promise to what, Evans?' Sirius pushed after a two-second pause that was too long for the agitated teen. 'The whole point is to go through with the promise by the end of the year, not decide what it is you're going to do by then.'

'Shut up, Black,' said Lily. She took a few more moments to think and then after taking a deep breath, she blurted out, 'I promise to let James take me to Hogsmeade.'

Lily sent a look sent in [y/n]'s direction for confirmation that what she was doing was right. [y/n] nodded her head enthusiastically. Sirius spat his pumpkin juice in Peter's face. Peter's mouth hung open, even after having a mouthful of Sirius' half-swallowed beverage. Remus mouthed a string of choice words that started with a polite 'Oh my Godric' and ended with a startled 'Merlin's beard'.

James dropped his spoon as his jaw fell to the floor.

'Wh– real– h– why ... are you sure?' he finally spat out, blushing the same colour as his tie. Lily nodded her head. 'Oh, Evans, you are the most beautiful witch to grace these halls and I can't believe –'

'Don't make me change my mind, Potter,' Lily said with a smirk, looking again at [y/n] as if to ask if she was doing it right.

'OK, right, I'll stop,' James said, a bit more confidently this time. 'Well, it's a date.'

'Great,' Lily beamed, standing up from the bench and brushing her skirt down. 'First Hogsmeade weekend in the Three Broomsticks. See you in Charms.'

    There was a short, stunned moment of silence as Lily rushed out of the Great Hall without turning back.

    It was Sirius who spoke first.

    'You snogged Andrew Parsons?' he exclaimed.

    'No, not exactly –'

    'What else would you have been doing in the broom cupboard?'

    'Don't put the picture in my head,' Peter begged, covering his eyes and putting his head to the table, Minnie meowing in agreement. 'Please.'

    'We were just talking –'

    'Bullshit.'

    'But –'

    'I. Call. Bullshit.'

    'It was fifth year!'

    'So you kept it from us for two years?' Sirius was almost screeching by now.

    'I knew,' Remus cut in with a small raise of his hand.

    'You knew?' Sirius turned on Remus. 'You knew? And you never told us?'

    'I was sworn to secrecy.'

    'Who cares about that?' James interrupted. 'I finally have a date with Evans!'

    'Yes, congratulations, James, we're all incredibly proud of you,' [y/n] smiled in an attempt to change the conversation.

'Well done, mate,' Sirius grinned, ruffling his best friend's hair. 'It's only taken you six years.'

James rolled his eyes as his best friends laughed at the comment before finishing the last of their breakfasts and setting off for their first lesson of their last year at Hogwarts. It was Charms first – [y/n]'s area of expertise – and there was a considerable amount of gossip amongst the N.E.W.T. class surrounding the Marauders' seating arrangements.

'Lily Evans and James Potter are sat together?'

'Are they dating?'

'Lupin managed to split the Black twins up?'

'Sirius and Peter together? There's a recipe for disaster.'

The day didn't drag as much as it used to. As Peter pointed out, it was like being a first-year again when the hours would just fly by after taking in so much information throughout the day. Sirius was almost in tears due to the amount of essays he had been given to do and James did cry when he found out that alongside being Head Boy, the duties of Gryffindor Quidditch Captain had been handed down to him from Stephen Gould, the old Keeper for the house team who had just graduated from Hogwarts and was in training to become an Auror.

    By eight o'clock that evening, it was time for [y/n] and Remus to go on their first prefect rounds of the year.

    'How are you, then, Moony?' [y/n] asked as the pair made their way around the top floor of the castle.

    'Tired, Paws,' Remus replied.

    'Tired? You're not allowed to be tired yet, Remus. We're not even half an hour in to the night.'

    'Full moon was only just under a week ago,' Remus sighed, glancing behind the curtain for any lurking students.

    'Oh,' [y/n] remembered. 'Sorry, I forgot.'

    'No, no, it's all right, honestly,' Remus told her apologetically. 'It's not like I expect you to remember every time there's a full moon. You, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs have done enough for me already as it is.'

    'It's the least we could do,' said [y/n] checking her reflection in a suit of armour. 'Hey, do you think I look good in purple?'

  She watched as her reflection grew purple hair and opened her mouth as her teeth grew fangs.

    'The perfect Hallowe'en look,' Remus chuckled.

    'Thanks, Moony, that hurt me.'

    'No, I – I didn't mean it like that, you know I didn't mean it like that, come on, [y/n], I'm not that horrible, I'd never say anything like that, I'm so sorry.'

    'Remus,' [y/n] giggled at the boy's panic, 'it's fine.'

    'OK, good,' Remus breathed, 'but you are pretty scary.'

    'If you left off the scary you would have stayed in my good-books, Lupin,' [y/n] sighed. 'What a shame.'

    Remus spun around and grinned cheekily at [y/n] before turning his back again.

    'Levicorpus!'

    'Really, Paws?' Remus huffed as his body rose higher and higher in the air. 'This is just bullying. And use of magic in the corridors. Do you know the amount of house points that could be taken off Gryffindor? Hell, you're the Prefect.'

    'Oops,' [y/n] said, 'I forgot.'

    'Please put me down.'

    'Take back what you said.'

    'Paw–'

    'Take it back.'

    'OK, OK, I'm sorry, you're not scary, just pretty.'

    'There we go. Liberacorpus!'

    As Remus, [y/n] gave him the same cheeky grin that he gave her as he stared blankly.

    'You know I hate you, right?'

    'Of course I do, Remus.'

    The pair broke out into laughter as they continued wandering the seventh-floor corridors.

Towards the end of the end of the night, Remus and [y/n] spotted to young students sat in the middle of a set or staircases playing a game of – what looked like from a distance – exploding snap.

'You can speak to them,' Remus said quickly.

'Really, Moony? They're eleven.'

'Please, Paws.'

'Fine,' [y/n] sighed. 'But you better not be doing this because I'm not Lily.'

    'Thank you.'

'So then, people, whatcha doing here at this time of night?' [y/n] asked.

'We're lost,' the blonde girl cried.

'First-year Gryffindors?' [y/n] asked.

'Yeah,' the brunette boy said, picking up the playing cards. 'We went to see Professor McGonagall in her office after the feast and we tried to find our way back but the staircases confused us.'

'We've all been there,' [y/n] chuckled. 'But you're in luck 'cause Remus and I were just about to head back to Gryffindor tower now. Weren't we, Remus?'

'What? Oh, yeah,' Remus replied absent-mindedly.

'Let's head back then,"' [y/n] said, guiding the two Gryffindors around the castle.

'Are you the one who can change their appearance?' the boy asked as the group made their way past the portrait corridor.

'The metamorphmagus!' the girl exclaimed excitedly.

'You mean, the one who can do this,' [y/n] said, before turning round and facing them and morphing her looks.

Her normally [y/h/c] hair turned paler and paler before it turned a shimmery silver and grew past her waist, much like the beard and moustache that had appeared out of nowhere. Her eyes grew old but still had a young sparkle to the crystal blue of them and her stature grew slightly more hunched.

'Her favourite party trick,' Remus smiled, rolling his eyes playfully.

'It sure is,' Dumbledore – [y/n] – [y/n]-as-Dumbledore said.

'That's so cool,' the first-years breathed.

'The perfect touch to pulling off any prank,' [y/n] winked.

'Please stop,' Remus sighed, 'this is getting weird.'

'Never did I think I would ever see Dumbledore in a Gryffindor uniform wearing a skirt,' the boy said in shock.

'I forgot about that,' [y/n] laughed before morphing back into herself. 'Come on then, you two. Back to the common room we go.'

When the four finally reached the portrait hole, Remus gave the password and they stepped through. [y/n] sent the first-years to bed and the remaining prefects threw themselves onto the sofa opposite the fire.

'Not too bad, I don't think,' Remus stated.

'Well, it wasn't for you, I did everything,' [y/n] giggled before sighing deeply.

'And you did a very good job of it,' Remus told her, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a silver wrapped chocolate bar.

'Really, Remus? I'm surprised you're so lanky with the amount of chocolate that you eat!' [y/n] exclaimed.

Remus shrugged. 'Wan' some?'

'Ooh, I'll have a couple of pieces, please,' [y/n] agreed without the slightest of reluctance, sticking out her hand for Remus to pass over the chocolate.

'What do I get in return?' Remus asked, pulling the remainder of the bar to his chest and out of [y/n]'s reach.

'My presence.'

'All right then,' said Remus, breaking off a strip of his chocolate and handing it to [y/n].

'Godric, I love chocolate,' [y/n] proclaimed, lovingly handling the sweet-stuff.

'Not as much as me, though.'

'I beg to differ.'

'What do you mean? I love it so much that it's basically my trademark.'

They burst into a fit of giggles and playfully stole chocolate from each other and hit each other gently.

'We'll see, Lupin, we'll see,' [y/n] smiled.

Their laughter slowly died out into little giggles when they glanced at each other before finally, as they grew more and more tired as the night went on, the two sat in a comfortable silence, eating their chocolate, staring at the flames which were slowly dying out. The comfortable silence settled over [y/n] and Remus, and as the final amber embers disappeared into the ashes, they had already curled up together and fallen asleep.

    An hour or two later, when Sirius quietly made his way down the steps without making a sound to check whether his sister and best friend had returned, the scene hadn't changed. When he poked his head around the wall to look into the common room, he could see the sleeping faces of [y/n] and Remus lit up by the gibbous moon from outside. He walked over to the cupboard in the corner of the room and pulled out the large blanket from there before laying it out on top of the sleeping prefects. He took a last look in the direction of the sleeping pair and smiled, before disappearing back up the stairs and into his dorm room.

sirius knows