Dumbledore ultimately decided that it was safe for students to return to Hogwarts. Letters were sent home to parents, however, explaining what had happened on the train and giving them the option of sending their kids back home. Many did.
"Was it really him?" Angela asked Del the following morning. "Did he really try to get on the train?"
Del glanced around for a moment before nodding, "It was."
"What was he there for?" Cynthia inquired.
"My guess is new recruits."
"But the majority of the people on the train were underage," she pointed out. "What good would that do him?"
"From my understanding, he's starting them young so that they grow up to be the followers he desires," Del explained, glancing over at where Regulus sat briefly. "Guess it's just easier that way."
"How do you know that?" Axel asked.
She raised an eyebrow at the boy, "Common sense." She placed her fork down and folded her hands in front of her, "Why do you ask? Want to find out a way for you to join him?"
He narrowed his eyes, "You're just upset that I have a better chance than you, Delphinus."
"Don't call me that," she reminded him, picking up her fork and resuming her meal.
"And now you're upset because you know I'm right."
"Yeah," Del scoffed. "You caught me."
"She won't even look at me," Sirius announced with a huff. It had been a year since the last time he talked to his sister but she was so stubborn that nothing had changed. "She's never going to talk to me again."
"Don't you think you're being dramatic?" Peter asked and Sirius shot him a look.
"It's been a whole year," he pointed out, "What if she's miserable?"
"She seemed fine to me," James shrugged.
Sirius's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "You've talked to her?"
James seemed to recall that he hadn't talked to Sirius about running into Del. He had been so distracted with his parents' letter asking if he thought he and Sirius were safe at Hogwarts that he forgot. "It wasn't a very pleasant conversation."
"Why did you talk to her?"
"She's the Slytherin Head Girl," James explained and Sirius grew even more confused.
"She is?" he gaped. "How did she manage that?"
"How did James manage Head Boy?" Peter countered.
"Talk to her for me," Sirius requested and James huffed. "You guys are meeting before classes, aren't you? Try and get her to talk to me."
James raised an eyebrow, "What good would that do? She doesn't like me."
"At least she'll talk to you," he countered. "Tell her that I want to talk to her."
"It's been over a year," James reminded the boy. "If she hasn't talked to you yet, she probably won't ever." Sirius frowned and James quickly added, "I'll talk to her though. See if she's up for it."
Sirius grinned, "Great."
"I have to get going," Del informed her friends as she placed her fork down. "There's a meeting for the Head's of each house so we can discuss the upcoming week. It was supposed to be last night but things got complicated."
"We'll see you in Potions, then?" Angela inquired.
"Yeah," she agreed before standing up. "Potions."
She made her way through the corridors quickly. She didn't want to hear it from Snape if she was late.
"Delphinus!" someone shouted from behind her and she scowled at hearing her full name. She turned around and the scowl deepened upon seeing who had called her.
"Leave me alone, Potter," she warned as she turned around and walked away from him.
"We're going to the same place," he pointed out. "Why not walk together?"
"Because I don't like you."
"Right," he nodded, "But we can change that."
"I don't want to change that."
"Okay, fine," he replied as they entered the Head Boys and Girls meeting room, "I'll cut straight to the point then." He turned around so that he was standing in front of her, "I think you should talk to Sirius."
"And I think you're a nimrod," she responded, "What's your point?"
"Why are you so mad at him?" James inquired. "I get that he ran away but from my understanding, you knew it was happening."
"What's it to you?" Del replied.
"He's upset," he explained. "He misses you."
"And?"
"He's hurting, I don't like seeing him hurting."
"Why?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Because he's like a brother to you?" James' jaw set at this and she continued, "Been there, done that. He's not very good at it." She glanced behind him for a moment, "Oh, look, Lily's arrived. Go bother her."
"He just wants to talk," James pointed out.
"I'll pass." Rather than waiting for the boy to walk away, Del made her way over to the table and sat next to Snape who appeared bored.
"You look like you're having a grand old time," Del announced as she looked over at the boy. He looked up as though just now noticing her arrival.
"Just waiting on the Headmaster to arrive so we can get this meeting over with and I can leave."
"And here I was thinking you would treasure anytime in the same room as Evans," Del mused and he sent a glare her way. "Hopefully it'll be a short one."
A moment later, the door opened revealing the Headmaster. The table was set up so that the heads of each house were with their counterpart. It didn't matter who sat in which chair just that it went boy, girl, boy, girl. It took Del a moment to realize who would be sitting next to her if she stayed where she was.
"Switch seats with me," Del requested in a hushed tone and Snape turned to her in confusion. "Just do it."
"Why would I do that?" he inquired.
"Because if you switch seats with me, you'll be next to Lily because those are the Gryffindor seats," she nodded in the direction of the chairs that were decorated with the Gryffindor house colors.
Snape raised an eyebrow, "Why are you avoiding Potter?"
"Does it matter?" she inquired. "Just switch seats with me before it's too late."
"No."
"No?"
"I'd much rather watch you suffer than sit next to Lily, if I'm honest."
"You-" she began but cut herself short as the other Head Boy's and Girl's took a seat. She sunk down in her seat and dropped her voice so that only Snape could hear, "I'm going to kill you."
"It'll have been worth it."
She placed her head in her hands for a moment before sitting up. She kept her eyes trained ahead of her where Dumbeldore sat and did her best not to look anywhere to her left.
"Let's get down to business then, shall we?" Dumbledore suggested.
Before he could actually get started, however, a cup was knocked off the table, drenching Del's lap. It fell to the floor with a crash, sending shards of glass everywhere. She gasped as the cold liquid soaked through her clothes. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed and James looked up at her in slight alarm.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, "I wasn't paying attention."
"Oh, you-" she was about to call him a string of unkind things but decided against it. She bit the inside of her cheek before waving her wand, drying off her skirt.
James knelt down on the floor to gather the glass and Del joined him. "Be happy that the Headmaster is here because otherwise you'd be dead." She waved her wand over the glass shards and they started to move across the floor and form a neat pile in between the two.
"Talk to him," he tried again as he watched the glass shards stack themselves on top of each other.
"That's what this is about?" she hissed, looking up at the boy. "I already told you no and if I were in my right mind, these glass shards would find their way into your skin."
His eyes widened slightly, "Then why aren't they?"
"It can be arranged."
"Is everything okay down there?" Dumbledore spoke up and Del shook her head slightly.
"Everything's fine," she replied, loud enough so that he could hear, "Just a bit of a mess is all." Del waved her wand again and the glass vanished. She dropped her voice to a hushed tone, "Leave me alone."
She stood up and retook her seat, "All cleaned up now." James stood up as well in a slightly more disheveled state and took his seat as well, glancing over at the girl for a moment.
"Good," the Headmaster nodded, "Then we can get started."
"I'm sure you all know what happened on the train yesterday?" he asked and everyone at the table nodded. "Hogwarts has upped its security but we need to be sure everyone is safe." He folded his hands in front of himself, "Now it doesn't matter which two of you it is but we ask that you do an extra patrol every night and that you be in pairs when you do so. No one should be wandering the castle alone. If you see anything that could be considered alarming, find a teacher immediately."
The rest of the meeting went by as expected. Make sure those in your house are following the rules. Do your job. Etc.
The teachers seemed to be trigger happy with the homework on the first day back. Del stayed behind during dinner to finish at least one of her assignments to avoid falling behind in classes.
As soon as she had finished her parchment for Potions, she decided to head to dinner late, bringing her Transfiguration textbook with her to review.
She sat down at the practically empty Slytherin table and placed some food on her plate. She opened her textbook and started to eat when she could sense someone sitting down across from her. They cleared their throat and she looked up.
"What are you doing here?" Del asked with a huff. "Don't you have better things to do?"
"I just came to talk," James explained simply.
Del rolled her eyes as she resumed the passage she was on. "I'm starting to think you have a thing for girls who want nothing to do with you."
James narrowed his eyes on the girl, "Must you always be so cold?"
"What do you want from me, Potter?" she asked, clearly irritated, "I'd rather no one saw me talking to you."
"Scared I'll ruin your reputation?" he inquired, a faint smirk making its way onto his face.
She looked up at the boy in amusement, "Yeah, you don't have that much power, kid."
"You're only four months older than me," he pointed out, "Hardly constitutes me as a kid."
"More like five," she corrected as she looked back at her book. "And you still act like a child." He huffed at this and she smirked a little, "What is it they say? If you walk like a kid and talk like a kid, then you're-"
"I get it," he cut the girl off. "Back to what I'm really doing here."
"Great, he admits that he wants something from me," she announced. "What would that be, exactly?"
"For you to talk to your brother," he informed her and she rolled her eyes.
"Is he using you as his personal owl or something?" she inquired. "The message has been received and there is no response." She looked back up at him, "If I pay you, will you leave me alone?"
"I'll leave you alone if you talk to him."
"Are you aware of what the definition of insanity is?" she inquired as she placed her bookmark back in her textbook. "It's doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
"Talk to him."
She closed her book and stood up, gathering her things. "Looks like we're both out of luck then." Del started to walk but James only followed after her.
"Talk to him," he requested.
"No."
"Why not?"
She rolled her eyes, "Because I said so."
"It won't kill you," he pointed out.
She glanced over at the boy who appeared to be trying to keep pace with her, "You'd be surprised."
"What does that even mean?"
"Why are you still talking to me?"
"Because you're not talking to your brother."
"Merlin, do you want me to hex you into oblivion?"
"I'd be open to the idea if you'd talk to him."
Del whirled around on him, stopping him in his tracks, "I should report you for stalking me."
"Nobody would believe you," he countered, mirroring her actions and crossing his arms over his chest.
"And why's that?" she inquired.
"Because everyone knows I can't stand Slytherin's," he replied simply.
She raised an eyebrow, "I'm your best friend's sister."
"This is true," he nodded in agreement, "But you haven't talked to him in a year. Everyone thinks you hate each other. Well, at least that you hate him."
"I don't hate him."
"Then why don't you talk to him?"
Del rolled her eyes and turned around, making her way to the Slytherin common room. "Leave me alone, Potter."
"I will when you talk to your brother." She scoffed at this but didn't reply. "Come on, Delphinus," he placed an emphasis on her full name, "Talk to him." She continued walking without a word. "Oh, really? The silent treatment." He scoffed, "Who's the child now?"
She raised an eyebrow as she glanced back at him. She rolled her eyes as she approached the Slytherin common room entrance.
James' nose wrinkled slightly as he looked around. His eyes landed on the entrance, "I've never been this close before."
"That's because most Slytherin's kill any Gryffindor's who try to get this close," she informed the boy and his eyes widened slightly. "I give you five seconds before someone comes and finishes you off."
"You're lying."
She shrugged, "Maybe I am. But there's a reason Gryffindor's hate coming near here."
He glanced behind himself warily, "Talk to him."
"You're relentless, Potter," she shook her head in disbelief. "I'd kill you myself if I wasn't too lazy to hide the body."
"You wouldn't-" he began but stopped when the door to the dungeon door swung open, revealing a girl who looked a lot like Del only shorter.
"Carina," Del greeted and for once she was happy to see her cousin. "Take care of Potter for me, would you?" she requested as she stepped toward the common room, "Just throw him into the lake when you're done."
"Perfect, I've been itching for another kill," Carina replied with a mischievous smile. She turned to look over at the boy who appeared slightly alarmed and she looked him up and down. "He'll do, I suppose."
James looked between Carina and Del for a moment before shaking his head, "I'm gonna go." And then the boy took off in the direction they had come from and Del laughed along with Carina.
"Thank you for that," Del told her cousin, "I owe you one."
"I'll hold you to that," she smiled in response before Del entered the common room, hoping for peace and quiet.
"Del!" someone shouted and she cringed when she realized it was Axel. "There you are." The boy hopped up off the couch, sending Cynthia onto the floor. Angela stifled a laugh as he made his way over to Del. "Rumor has it you were hanging with Potter today."
Del grew slightly alarmed at this but masked any reaction she was tempted to make. She raised an eyebrow at the boy in front of her. "I was not hanging with him," she pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest, "He wouldn't leave me alone. There's a difference."
"That's not what we heard," he replied.
"Enlighten me, then," she requested.
"Hey, don't hex the messenger," he suggested, putting his hands up in faux surrender. "We overheard that he had dinner with you today and that's why you weren't there when everyone else was."
Del rolled her eyes at this, "I wasn't at dinner with everyone because I was doing homework. I went to eat with the intention of studying and he sat down at the table and wouldn't leave. And now we're here and I'm hungry and pissed off."
"Hmm," he replied, seemingly happy with her reply.
"Don't you have better things to do then worry about what I'm doing with my time?" she inquired as she made her way to the stairs that led to the girl's rooms. "Like, I don't know, maybe helping your girlfriend off the floor?"
He glanced over at the couch that he had been sitting at and saw that Cynthia was indeed on the floor, an irritated expression on her face. He walked over and helped her onto the couch, "How did you end up there?"
Cynthia slapped him on the arm, "You knocked me off, you bloody idiot!"
"No, I didn't."
"You did, actually," Angela pointed and Del took this as her opportunity to slip away from the three.