A Good Thing is Never Prefect pv Sam S. and Dealla P. Closed

The young girl listened to her friends talk, her mind elsewhere. Easter break was over, the castle was filled with students again. The two weeks she had spent at Hogwarts during the break had been filled with a constant longing to go home, to celebrate Easter with her family. Samantha wanted to hide in her dad's arms as he told her everything was going to be okay and it was a stupid mistake that they had told her to stay away during the break. But no, she was at Hogwarts. Despite loving the school, she missed her family and wanted to be with them.

While the others chatted and laughed at the jokes, the prefect played with her food. When she was busy, she could easily forget about the problems at home but now it consumed her mind. Only when her friends asked her if she was going to finish her food anytime soon, she looked up. The plates of all her friends were already empty. "You guys can go," she told them with a soft smile as she noticed how impatient they were to leave. "I'll be fine, the brunette promised. Maybe she could finish her History of Magic assignment after dinner. Or she could see if Bubba was free so they could do something together. As long as she was busy, she would be fine.

Shortly after her friends had left, clearing up space next to her, the spot was filled by a younger student. The curly hair and brown eyes were slightly familiar to Samantha but it took a moment to realize the girl sitting next to her was a fellow Ravenclaw. The girl that introduced herself as Beatrice had filled Bubba's spot as prefect. It was safe to say that Samantha was still a little salty that her boyfriend wasn't prefect anymore. It had been great to both have that extra power and now it was gone. Of course, Bea wasn't to blame for that.

A small smile appeared on her lips as she listened to the rambling of the younger student. With the mention of her nickname, Samantha tilted her head slightly. Most people played it save at first and used her full name instead of just Sam. Not that she considered it a problem, it was just an interesting thing. A little twinkle appeared in her blue eyes when she realized she could help. She loved knowing more than others and sharing her knowledge, sometimes even unsolicited. After all, who wouldn't want her amazing advice?

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Beatrice," the girl replied formally. "You have come to the perfect place with your questions. I would love to help," Samantha smiled. Wouldn't it be amazing if she became a mentor to the younger girl? She could teach her everything she knew, making sure the Ravenclaw team had another amazing prefect. With her help, Beatrice could become a better prefect than her predecessors had ever been! Both of the two students who had held the position before Beatrice was really close with Samantha. One of them was her boyfriend and the other was a close friend of hers.

Sadly, another thing the two had in common were the lack of respect for the rules. Dee had even lied to Samantha, in order to get to break the rules. At first, the young girl had been heartbroken when she realized this, but when Dee had gotten into a coma, she had realized that their friendship was more important than some stupid lie. With Samantha's guidance, Bea could become a better prefect than those before her! It was perfect. "I have many tips for you, but there is one that is the absolute most important," a serious look on her face. "As a prefect, you are a role model, you need to give the correct example. So never, ever, ever, break the rules. Not even one, okay?" she looked at the younger girl.

Dealla Carolina Prince, former prefect and duelling captain extraordinaire, current newspaper writer, member of the Hogwarts Hexwizard team, voted most likely to roast somebody in last year's Ravenclaw yearbook (although that might have been been a fever dream - did they have even have yearbooks at this school?), and self-proclaimed genius potioneer was capital-letter-B Bored.

It wasn't a state she found herself in often; in her first few years at Hogwarts, she'd simply been too busy, and even when there was time, she usually managed to occupy herself just fine. Often by meddling in other people's business, wanted or not. Dealla, of course, preferred the term helping.

But Hana had - due to her outstanding coaching - improbably made progress, and their lessons had petered out a long time ago. Then, she'd dropped her duties as prefect and captain like a hot potato at the end of summer break, which was admittedly on her, but she could still feel slightly resentful about the loss of meddling-power that had come with the change. Not that it was going to stop her. As they say, when one window closes, you blow a hole in the wall and create your own opportunities.

Hence, when Dee heard the sweet, delicate voice of her dear friend Samantha Salwis drifting over the general Great Hall chatter from a few seats away, there was approximately zero hesitation before she got up, skipped several steps over, and nudged the kid who was sitting next to the girl Sam was talking to. When he turned to look, he got a full dose of bright, sunny smile and unshakeable confidence. "Hey, would you mind scooching over? Yes, I know you're not done eating yet, you can take your food with you, I just need your seat. Believe me, you'll be grateful when I stop the absolutely terrible advice being given here from gaining any traction. I'll even offer you a chocolate frog for your troubles, yeah?" The kid would have to remember to collect the bribe himself, as Dee was absolutely going to forget about it ten seconds after sitting down, but it was enough for him and his neighbours to shuffle over a bit and let her squeeze in.

Leaning forward, Dee blessed Samantha with a wide, shameless grin, the hint of a challenge sparking in her eyes. There was no malice in it, nothing like the exchanges they'd had last summer before Dee's unfortunate excursion into the realm of eternal nightmares. But just because they'd made up didn't mean Dee couldn't enjoy riling Sam up a little, and attempt to sabotage her influence at the same time. She was working for the good of the entire student body, after all. They didn't need another Samantha running around, telling people off for every little detail and reporting them for harmless fun. One was enough. One was the perfect number, really.

So instead of addressing her friend, she turned to the girl sitting between them. "Hi! Beatrice, right? Or Bea? Don't listen to Sam, that is definitely not the most important thing for you to do as a prefect. She's just so ridiculously strait-laced that I am not sure how she manages to breathe half of the time. Rules are important and all," well, at least some of them were, some of the time, "but mostly, a prefect's supposed to look out for their fellow students. Give them advice, help them, try to make sure everyone's doing well, that sort of thing." And well, if that help included breaking a few minor rules - as long as no one came to harm, what was wrong with that?

@Beatrice Langstreth | @Samantha Salwis

Interacting with: @Samantha Salwis @Dealla Prince
Mentioning: @Hunter Argentum

Apparently the other girl had noticed the questioning look in her eyes after the nickname, as she quickly apologized for being informal. "It's okay," Samantha reassured. "Usually people call me Samantha at first. However, I am fine with Sam as well. Sammy is also okay, as long as you don't call me Sam-Minnie," she giggled softly. It was the nickname her sister had given her when she was still a toddler and it had stuck with her for almost 10 years now.

After her words, Beatrice seemed to become a bit nervous. As her eyes narrowed in suspicion, she listened to the question, wondering why the other sounded so nervous. "Of course, you can't break any rules," the brunette said slowly, trying to analyze Beatrice's reaction. Samantha wanted to ask the other more questions to test the other's reaction, but her attention was drawn away when she heard a familiar voice.

Dee! A smile appeared on the young girl's face as she spotted her friend, who was bribing another student to move with a chocolate frog. Her suspicion about Bea was immediately forgotten when Dee turned her attention to them, a big grin on her face. "Hi Dee!" she greeted. Turned out that her friend was actually more interested in Beatrice than her as Dee started talking to her. When the advice was given not to listen to Samantha, the brunette stared at Dealla offended. "Wha- why?" she stammered. Her mouth dropped open when the other continued talking. "DEE!" left her lips, in shock at insults that were sent her way. "The rules are extremely important," she said, not caring that Dee was still talking. If Dee would have been sitting next to her, Samantha would have shoved her elbow into the ribs of the other to get her to stop talking.

As the younger girl was talking, Samantha made a mental note that she could call her Bea. "Don't listen to her," she told Bea. "Because Dee," the brunette glared at the student as she said her name, "isn't the most reliable source for this." The third year turned her attention to Bea again, answering her previous question. "And yes, following the rules is part of being a good role model. A prefect is also supposed to look out for their fellow students, as Dee said, but still isn't allowed to break the rules. Could you imagine the chaos that would be created if other students see us breaking the rules and think they can do it as well?" she tried to convince Bea that she was right.

"Also Dee," Samantha leaned a bit forward, so she was able to see the other better. "What are you doing here? Don't you have more important things to do?" A bad influence on the new prefect wasn't something she could use right now. She was trying to get Bea to be a perfect prefect and Dee came along to ruin her plans. "Like, I don't know. Don't you have homework or something? Maybe go talk with your friends about how your Easter Break was," she tried to get the other away from them. "I am sure I can answer all of Bea's questions and she doesn't need any help from you, right?" she looked at the younger students in the hopes she would agree. She knew Dee probably wasn't going to leave them alone if Sam was the one asking. Maybe the stubborn student would listen if Bea said it.

The obnoxious grin on Dealla's face only widened at Samantha's outraged expression, and she wiggled her fingers, waving the protest away like she was swatting a fly. Or a Billywig, if we're being generous. "Oh psh," she said cheerfully, a glint in her eye that presaged trouble. "I was a prefect for longer than Sam has been, and I stepped down voluntarily or I would still be one. I have lots of useful advice to give. Like how to handle stubborn know-it-alls, and kids who don't listen to what you're telling them." Technically, Bea had inherited Dee's position, passed on by Bubba's shoulders. Which made Bea Dee's... prefect descendant. Grandprefect? Clearly, the girl should be listening to her advice.

"Contrary to what Sam is trying to tell you, there are situations when being a good rolemodel does not mean strictly following the rules." She turned back towards her grandchild-of-sorts, a friendly smile on her face as she worked to undermine any impact that Sam might have. "For example, I think kindness and compassion, being a good person, are more important than technicalities, don't you? Isn't that what you should be showing your fellow students? The impressionable, nice ones, at least." Like she'd been helping Samantha to get the chocolate frogs she loved so much, clearly. And how she wouldn't lift a finger to help out some others, except maybe to wipe away her tears of laughter.

When Sam started another transparent attempt to get her to leave, Dee just made herself more comfortable in response. "Nope," she replied, popping the p sound, and started twisting a strand of her hair around her fingers. "Homework all done like the good little model student I am. And I am talking to my friends, aren't I? Sam, are you trying to get rid of me? That's not very nice."

She winked at Bea, the expression somewhere between mischievous and conspiratorial. "Between us, being a prefect can be a lot of fun. Not if you do it like Sam, probably. Then it's mostly being nitpicky and getting people annoyed at you. Which is also not making people want to follow your example, I might add." She shrugged, thinking back to her time as a prefect. Did she miss it? Honestly, yes, for more than one reason. Dee had been good at being a prefect. Handling that authority had come naturally to her, and while she might have cut some corners here and there, she'd never really overstepped her privileges in any relevant way. Whenever it had been important, she'd shown up. Getting to bend the rules a little more than others did had just been an added bonus. There was a twinge in her chest, something like longing, that made her voice more genuine for her next words, softened the edges of what had, so far, mostly been teasing and trying to needle her friend. "As long as you do the important parts - keep people safe, look out for them," teach them how to better get away with mischief, "there's nothing wrong with making your position work for you in between. Not everything needs to be painted in black and white all the time."

@Samantha Salwis | @Beatrice Langstreth

It was clear that Dee was getting enjoyment out of riling her up. "Stop it," the brunette replied when she saw the shimmer of mischief in Dee's eyes. Despite the words telling the other to stop, it was clear that the girl didn't mind the teasing. Her tone was curious, she wondered what the other was going to say. Dee always had something to say. It was true that the older girl had been prefect longer than her, but Sam could still beat it, the third-year wasn't planning on stepping down any time soon. "Stubborn know-it-alls that don't listen?" she repeated the words, eyebrows slightly lifted and a sly grin on her face. "Are you talking about yourself?"

Memories of spending time with Dee at Hogsmeade during her second year entered her mind as it was claimed it wasn't necessary for role models to always follow the rules. Samantha had loved that day, it had been one of her favorite moments with her friends, but it had been corrupted when she learned Dee had lied to her. Samantha looked away, staring at her board, as her smile ran from her face. It was still a sore point for the young girl. She had forgiven Dee and was trying to move on, but she still wasn't fully healed from it. One thing she definitely didn't want was Dee encouraging Bea to follow in her footsteps. However, she decided not to comment on it, not wanting to start a discussion about it and ruin the good vibes.

When Dee called herself a good little model student, Samantha rolled her eyes. Just like expected, the other didn't leave. "I would never try to get rid of you. Why would you ever think that?" she said sarcastically. "Also sorry," she looked away apologetically, "I forgot you don't have any other friends." A little spark in her eyes as she made the joke. In the end, she decided it was best to accept her fate. There weren't enough words in the world to get Dee to leave. Even if she had considered leaving the two younger girls in peace, Dee wouldn't do it anymore now that she knew it was what Samantha wanted.

She wouldn't admit it, but Samantha had almost forgotten Bea was there. When the younger student spoke up and compared herself with a prized cow, she couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, I was talking to you first. First come, first serve!" she giggled. It had been her who Bea had come to for advice and answers, Dee just stuck her nose in other people's business. "But I would offer you as many chocolate frogs as your heart desires, free dueling practice, and good jokes. Dee might be able to give you the first two but she won't be able to provide you with the last one," she said, glaring at the ex-prefect with a grin on her face.

Just as Samantha decided to take another bite of her food, Dee started talking about her again, this time attacking the way she acted as a prefect. Her fork had just dropped off a piece of potato in her mouth when she overheard the words, so all she could do was glare at the older student. The young girl let the others chat for a bit while she finished her food, but when Bea asked Dee about her nickname, she couldn't help but quickly reply. "She loves being called Dealla, you should only call her that," she told Bea before Dee even had the chance to react. Knowing Dee would probably correct her as soon as possible, she returned to eating her food, very pleased with her stupid joke.

"Yeah?" she replied confused. "They should have been back before curfew!" Rules weren't negotiable. If they would be, chaos would follow. If you would let people be out after curfew for 10 minutes, the next time it would be 20, and before you knew it curfew was a thing of the past. "They should have gone back to their common room on time. I don't see a reason why they couldn't be back on time." She shook her head in disappointment, Bea should have known the answer already. Well, she was still learning, so maybe she should be easier on her.

"Friends with you? Of course!" the brunette said cheerfully. "I would love to be friends with you." Bea seemed like a lovely girl. "I must warn you, Dee can be very stubborn. Just so you know what you are getting yourself into," she smiled. Dee wasn't the only stubborn of the three, Samantha could also be very persistent. Not that she shared that with the younger prefect, Bea would find out soon enough.

If Samantha had expected Dee to actually stop just because she'd told her to, she really didn't know Dee very well. But then, she was reasonably certain that Sam was very well aware of that fact, and she had little (read: no) qualms to just ignore the request. Instead, she grinned when Sam turned her words back on her. They'd both known that comment was intended for Samantha. "And who would you have me listen to?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in return. "You? That feels wrong considering I usually know better."

Bea, on the other hand, made use of the opportunity to promise Dee that she was, in fact, listening, and received a brilliant smile in return, shining bright with mischief. "Oh, no, I wasn't implying that," she assured. "You seem like a smart girl." In truth, Beatrice seemed a little timid so far, but many people needed a few moments to catch their stride when Dealla came whirling into their conversations (and life) like a five foot three tornado. "Smart enough to see when rules are necessary, and when they're more like... guidelines. You know. The spirit of the rule is the important part. That's something Sam here still hasn't figured out." Of course, some people might argue that Dee wasn't necessarily very smart, either, considering she was sitting here with two prefects arguing the advantages of rule-breaking, excuse me, rule-bending, but as usual, Dee was rather confident she'd get away with it. It wasn't like she was doing any actual rule-bending at the moment that Sam could send her to detention for.

Quite the opposite, Dee felt as comfortable in the situation as she ever did, and it was visible in her posture, shoulders relaxed, body turned towards the two girls. Her fingers were trailing absentmindedly over the wooden table, following grooves left there by students of the past, dancing across the surface. "Ouch, I'm hurt," she replied to Sam's assertion that Dee was lacking in the friend department, but her voice conveyed no such thing, the words laced with amusement. "Not to worry, I'm sure Bea will be my friend, won't you?"

Except Bea decided this was the right moment to join the banter, and was now apparently taking bids for her loyalty. Dee could respect that, even if she was obviously the better choice by far. "We can agree on the chocolate frogs," she nodded. "And the duelling practice, although mine is clearly more valuable, because I have a lot more experience actually winning duels." There was no edge to what might sound like a rather pointed attack. Dee's own duelling career had started off rocky; it was only in the past year and a half that she'd found her balance. Still, going undefeated for now five consecutive duels was something that, in her own humble opinion, was worth bragging about. Just a little. "More importantly though, I can offer fun. I'm not sure Sam knows how to have any. She'd probably report you to Professor Iwasaki if she caught you at it, if we're being honest."

A few years ago, the innocent mistake of Bea calling her Dealla might well have changed the tone of the conversation. Dee had never made a secret about her dislike of her full name; the opposite, she was usually very vocal about it, and always introduced herself as Dee (if at all). It had faded a little over the years; now, someone calling her Dealla mostly meant that they recognised her without her having to introduce herself, so she could choose to see it as a compliment. Unless it came from hateful little gremlins like Sam, of course. Hence, the full body shudder she gave was more habit than genuine revulsion, and there was no bite in her voice when she replied. "Yes, please, call me Dee, unless you want me to think you're my grandmother's minion. Also, Sam, kindly shut up, you're undermining your own credibility."

The next things that Bea said made perfect sense, though. Mental pat on the back, she'd known this was a smart one. (She hadn't.) Sam, of course, saw matters differently, but that was hardly a surprise. "Sam would hand out detentions for being 10 to 15 seconds late, let alone minutes, which I think just proves my point," Dee drawled lazily, then stopped short, her face twisting into an expression that was half surprised, half trying not to laugh. Unwittingly - at least she assumed it had been unwittingly - Beatrice had stumbled across one example that she and Dee apparently disagreed on. Well... not fundamentally, maybe. It wasn't that Dee would have let anyone get away with breaking into the greenhouses. Fact was, however, that she had let one very particular person get away with that exact crime, and she'd come out of the encounter with a ball date and a small bouquet of primroses. It didn't seem like the right time to bring that up, though. Perhaps Bea would require a little more work to see things her way.

"Anyway, you don't know why they were late, no matter if it was minutes or seconds," she tacked on, a smile still tugging on her lips. "And that's something Sam just ignores. Maybe they lost track of time while studying. Or maybe they were helping someone who got hurt, or who had more things than they could carry. Maybe they'd gotten hurt themselves. So what, you're gonna teach them that they shouldn't help others if it means they'll be a little late back to the common room?" Dee shrugged, straightening up a little from her slouch. "I don't think that's the message we want to give them, do you?"

Even aside from potentially teaching her to follow in Dee's prefect footsteps, Bea was cute, Dee decided when the new prefect mumbled something barely audible about being friends. A little soft from what it seemed, she'd need more steel to hold her own against people as opinionated as Sam and Dee were. But cute, and maybe she just needed to be peeled out of her shell. "Oh, yeah," Dee confirmed offhandedly. "We've kind of already claimed you as our friend, in case you haven't noticed yet. Not that it will stop Sam from trying to give you detention, but at least you have your prefect badge to protect yourself from her."

@Beatrice Langstreth | @Samantha Salwis

Interacting with: @Samantha Salwis @Dealla Prince
Mentioning: @Monica Evans

The quickfire rate of witty replies was inspiring. Honestly, Bea should have just set up camp and watched these two in action. She hadn't been expecting any of this to occur when she had thought about asking Sam a few questions after dinner. But now that she had both Sam and Dee here, she loved it. Both sides of a coin so to speak. Bea could tell both were knowledgeable, and outright confident with their morals. They knew who they were and how they were supposed to act. Something she'd been before Easter break, but now...She wasn't so sure. She'd become Prefect only two weeks before Easter Break. Not nearly enough time to get truly acquainted with the role.

The Break itself has been heart-wrenching and coming back to school, all she felt was tired. Tired of crying, tired of grieving, but mostly just tired of trying to be happy all the time. She hadn't even told Monica yet about what had happened. It had all been so sudden, like a rug slipped out from under you. These last couple of days all Bea had felt was that she'd been free-falling. At some point she mused, she'd have to find ground. Whether she found it softly or crashing hard into it, only time would tell. The lack of sleep and sobbing into her pillows probably meant she'd crash - both physically and metaphorically. Her usual shine was quite lacking at the moment.

These two were good for the soul though. Bea found herself giggling more than once at their words, laughing outright at the offers given to her. High price for her indeed. She pretended to think over the offers, hand poised over lips in thought. "Hmm, I don't know... You both offer good things." Her eyes widened, slipping from Dee to Sam at the formers comment. "Surely not Sam! We should organise a fun activity of our own! To celebrate this new friendship!" Teasing Sam with a twinkle in her eye, she added, "Without Professor Iwasaki having to know mind you..."

The duelling comment from them both had reminded Bea that she'd finally made it onto the team. No more wait list for her! It had been probably the only highlight of Easter Break, finding out that she'd been added onto the team for the end of the year. She resolved to find some time within the next few days before the matches next week to practice and brush up on her skills. She wanted to be in fit fighting form for her first match.

At both sides of argument, Bea couldn't help but furrow her brow. Surely if students were only a little late, it would be better to give them a warning? If she was so strict about the rules all the time, surely everyone would end up hating her. She couldn't help but privately agree with Dee on this one. Rules were meant to be followed, she could agree with Sam on that one, but surely, there was a time and place for a warning or a detention.

Turning to frown at Sam, she drummed the table with her fingers whilst trying to get her thoughts out, hoping she didn't insult the other girl. "Surely though, if you did that every time, even if someone was late by a few minutes say for curfew, people would begin to...not like you... Wouldn't it be better to be known as fair than harsh?" Perhaps that was why Professor Iwasaki had chosen Bea though. Because she has different views to Sam. They'd balance each other out on the team. Bea could see that becoming the case. She nodded in response to Dee's question. "I want others to know they can help others. With the other schools arriving, it would be bad form for us to not help others."

At both the girls comments about becoming friends, Bea smiled warmly. These two would be her first real friends in her own house. She knew others of course, but they weren't close. Not like Sam and Dee were. She hoped she could have that type of friendship. With a mischevous twinkle in her eye, she responded to both girls. "Don't worry Sam, I'm stubborn too! Just haven't had a chance to show you. But at least I've got a prefect badge." She side eyed Dee and her lack of the shiny prefects pin, "Does that mean Sam's out to get you Dee? Surely not though! I couldn't imagine sweet Sam landing you in detention for anything!"