Delilah's POV
The next morning there was a lot of commotion in the house. From what Delilah heard as she dressed at top speed, she gathered that Fred and George had bewitched their trunks to fly downstairs to save the bother of carrying them, with the result that they had hurtled straight into Ginny and knocked her down two flights of stairs into the hall; Mrs. Black and Mrs. Weasley were both screaming at the top of their voices.
"— COULD HAVE DONE HER A SERIOUS INJURY, YOU IDIOTS —"
"— FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS —"
Hermione left the room to return Hedwig, who had come back sometime the night before.
Delilah hurried downstairs.
"Ginny, you alright?" she asked.
"Yep, Mum patched me up."
"WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE!" Mrs. Weasley bellowed upstairs.
Hermione was there so quickly that for a moment Delilah thought she had apparated.
"You two, go grab the rest of the luggage and put it in the hallway. Alastor is going to deal with it," Mrs. Weasley ordered.
"When you're done, it should be time to go. Harry, Tonks and I are leaving now," Mrs. Weasley said.
Hermione and Delilah both nodded before hurrying up the stairs, passing Harry on the way.
"Bye, see you at the station," said Delilah.
Harry looked confused, but Delilah hurried upstairs; Mrs. Weasley would explain.
By the time Delilah and Hermione had finished grabbing the rest of the trunks, owl cages, and Crookshanks's cage, Harry, Tonks, and Mrs. Weasley had left.
Moody came in a minute later.
"I'll take the trunks," he growled. At least, that's what Delilah thought he said. Mrs. Black made it difficult to hear what anyone was saying.
""MUDBLOODS! SCUM! CREATURES OF DIRT!" Mrs. Black repeatedly screeched.
"WILL SOMEONE SHUT THAT BLASTED PAINTING!" Moody yelled.
"I will," Remus offered, appearing from nowhere. "Mind helping me Arther?"
Mr. Weasley — where had he come from — nodded and they both went to shut Mrs. Black up.
A few moments later there was a deafening silence, and Delilah heard Midnight hissing from her shoulders.
"When are we leaving?"
"Soon, we're just waiting for the others to come down."
"Tell them to hurry up, I want to see Draco again."
Delilah smiled.
"Hey Delilah, what do you think about adding—" Fred started to say, but George cut him off, and not with the rest of the sentence as usual.
"Sh, can't you see she's talking to her pet?" George stated, hushing him.
"Who is he calling your pet?" Midnight muttered, narrowing her already slit-like eyes.
Delilah hid her smile.
"They are quite oblivious sometimes."
"Where's Ron?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Right here," Ron said from the back by Hermione.
"That's everyone," Mr. Weasley said, "Shall we get moving?"
"Where's Sturgis?" Moody growled. "We need the full guard. I'll grab the luggage, you lot wait for him."
And with that he left.
They waited a minute.
"If we don't go now they'll miss the train," Remus pointed out.
Mr. Weasley nodded.
"Let's go."
Remus tagged down two taxis and they all went in.
The drivers didn't say anything, but it was obvious that they were confused. The one that was driving Remus, Delilah, Fred, and George kept glancing back at Midnight, who luckily was asleep for once, or she'd be messing with the driver even more.
Finally they arrived at Kings Cross. Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Mr. Weasley went through first, and a moment later, Fred, George, and Delilah went through with Remus.
"No trouble?" growled Moody.
"Nothing," said Remus.
"I'll still be reporting Sturgis to Dumbledore," said Moody. "That's the second time he's not turned up in a week. Getting as unreliable as Mundungus."
"Well, look after yourselves," said Remus, shaking hands all round. When he reached Delilah he pulled her into a quick hug. "Be safe, I may not be able to write as much."
Then he went to Harry and gave him a clap on the shoulder. "You too, Harry. Be careful."
"Yeah, keep your head down and your eyes peeled," said Moody, shaking Harry's hand too. "And don't forget, all of you — careful what you put in writing. If in doubt, don't put it in a letter at all."
Delilah avoided eye contact.
"It's been great meeting all of you," said Tonks, hugging Hermione, Ginny, and Delilah. "We'll see you soon, I expect."
A warning whistle sounded; the students still on the platform started hurrying onto the train.
"Quick, quick," said Mrs. Weasley distractedly, hugging them at random and missing Delilah. "Write.... Be good.... If you've forgotten anything we'll send it on.... Onto the train, now, hurry...."
Delilah doubted most of them would write or be good. Ginny might write. Hermione might try to be good, but she'd get wrapped into whatever went wrong with Harry this year.
The black dog — Sirius — placed its front paws on Harry's shoulders, but Mrs. Weasley shoved Harry away toward the train door hissing, "For heaven's sake act more like a dog, Sirius!"
Delilah said goodbye to everyone and headed to the Prefect carriage. Hopefully Draco was a Prefect too.
She started walking down the compartments, trying to find a place to put her stuff when someone tapped her shoulder. Delilah flinched and turned around, almost ready to grab her wand.
When she saw who it was, she relaxed and genuinely smiled.
"Malfoy."
Draco grinned.
"Potter."
They stood staring at each other. Draco hadn't grown taller, but he did look more... mature. As if he had seen things he hadn't wanted to. Delilah slipped her hand into his.
"Shall we find a compartment?" she suggested.
"I've already claimed one, it's just back here."
Delilah nodded, she had expected as much.
Draco led her through the craziness, still holding her hand. He helped her set her stuff away.
Delilah stood awkwardly. He wasn't wearing a Prefect badge, had he not been made one? Gandalf, if it was Blaise.... Draco also looked tense. Did he know she was a Prefect and that he wasn't?
"Um... I need to head to the Prefect's carriage...," Delilah awkwardly said. Draco relaxed.
"Me too. We should probably change into our robes first though...."
Delilah nodded.
"Yeah, probably, I'll go to the changing stall. Be right back."
Delilah grabbed her robes and quickly left. She changed at top speed and returned. Draco was waiting outside.
"Let's go."
They hurried to the compartment and weren't even the last ones there, though they definitely weren't the first.
"Great, more fifth years. You guys have the first shift," the head boy said, smirking as if it was a kind of punishment.
Delilah shrugged.
"Ok. What does that entail?"
"Just make sure nobody is doing anything dangerous and help people. Do threeish rounds and come back here, then we'll send out the fifth year Hufflepuff Prefects," the head girl answered.
"Ok, let's get started," Delilah suggested.
Delilah grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him out. Hermione and Ron were right outside, about to enter. Delilah nodded to them before starting the rounds with Draco. She quickly let go, ignoring her desire to keep holding it.
"You ok?" Draco asked.
Delilah hesitantly nodded.
"Yeah...? Why wouldn't I be?"
Draco blushed.
"Just over halfway through the summer my letters stopped going through...."
Oh. That was... surprisingly sweet.
"I'm fine, let's get these rounds done. We'll talk after."
Torture, that's what it was.
No, even worse. It was like they were in tartarus. The deepest, darkest pit there.
Delilah winced. She had spent too much time with Harry.
The students weren't even that bad, just rowdy. It was mainly Fred and George.
"Come on guys, put the tarantula away," Delilah insisted. "I get you want to see if Skiving Snackboxes work on them, but you should do that in a compartment, not where the tarantula can escape."
Fred and George shrugged, and moved to their compartment. The crowd surrounding them dissipated.
Finally they finished. They headed back to the Prefect carriage.
"So... why didn't my letters go through?"
"Gandalf probably intercepted them."
Draco groaned.
"You're still calling Dumbledore Gandalf? Why would he stop my letters? Who even is Gandalf?"
Delilah laughed.
"It's a Muggle thing. He's an all-powerful wizard in a book series."
Draco nodded, then paused.
"Don't deflect the question, did you leave the Dursleys?"
Delilah hesitated, then nodded.
"I was with the Weasleys. There were protections that probably confused Ulysses."
They opened the compartment. The Hufflepuff fifth year Prefects rose from their seats. Delilah stood awkwardly. It was Hannah Abbott and Alexander Black, Lyra's boyfriend. He and Delilah had an... interesting history.
Since their second year they hadn't exchanged anything past pleasantries. He had accused her of petrifying a bunch of students (she would only petrify a few) and while she had forgiven him, they weren't exactly... friends.
They awkwardly half-waved at each other before he and Abbott were out the door.
"Here's the Slytherin password," an older Slytherin said, handing them a paper.
The current password was ambition and the next one would be python.
"You two can leave," the head boy said dismissively after they handed back the paper.
Draco and Delilah headed back to their compartment. Pansy and Blaise were snogging, and Daphne was talking to Crabbe and Goyle, which seemed to be going well. They were excitedly talking about Astronomy.
They slipped in and sat by the door. He was warm. Delilah resisted the unreasonable urge to scoot even closer to him, holding his hand instead.
Midnight moved to Draco's shoulders. She seemed to be trying to push him closer to Delilah. Apparently she was stronger than Delilah gave her credit for because Draco fell into her lap.
He hurried up, blushing as bad as Delilah.
"Midnight, we're already dating," Delilah insisted.
"So? You're only holding hands! Kiss already!"
Delilah's blush reddened.
"What's she saying?" Draco asked.
"You don't want to know."
"Kiss! Kiss! Ki-"
Delilah force fed Midnight a mouse. She wasn't sure which was squirming more.
She looked over at Draco, who was trying not to laugh. He failed miserably.
"Ugh, get a room," Pansy complained.
"You get a room," Midnight responded. Dang it, she had already finished the mouse.
Delilah death glared at Pansy.
The hypocrite didn't say anything else. Apparently she did have some self-preservation skills afterall.
Draco grinned.
"What was Midnight saying? I'm curious now."
Delilah studied the floor.
"Tell him," Midnight insisted.
"Do you want me to feed you another mouse?"
"Yes."
Delilah groaned, what was she going to do with Midnight?
"Why did you get me such a sassy snake?" complained Delilah.
"A sassy snake for a sassy girl," Draco answered, grinning proudly.
She rolled her eyes, smiling.
Midnight hissed in Delilah's ear.
"Tell him or I'll write him a note!"
Delilah turned, an eyebrow raised.
"How could you write? You don't have hands."
If Midnight could smirk, Delilah was positive she would have.
"There are other ways."
Delilah sighed, slumping in her seat. Midnight suddenly lashed out, pushing Delilah onto Draco's shoulder.
Delilah was about to apologize and quickly got up, blushing terribly. Oddly enough, Draco was too.
Midnight groaned. Delilah didn't know how, but she did. Maybe she actually had found a way to write... she had been bored over the summer....
"How was your summer?" Draco asked.
"Surprisingly decent. Once we were with the Weasleys it was easier to avoid Harry."
He laughed, his eyes lighting up. Delilah smiled, relaxing for the first time since school had ended.
Delilah closed her eyes, enjoying the moment when Daphne announced, "Let's play a game," with a wicked gleam in her eyes. Oh no.
"What game?" Delilah hesitantly asked.
"Truth or dare." The glint grew even brighter. Crap.
Delilah internally debated whether or not to sit up. No, she was too comfortable.
Crabbe and Goyle nodded as if truth or dare was the best game in the world.
Blaise and Pansy finally pulled apart, exiting their bubble.
"That sounds like fun," Pansy agreed. Blaise nodded.
Delilah glanced at Draco, he shrugged.
"Why not?"
A few minutes later they had forsaken the seats and were crowded on the floor.
"Blaise, you start, truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"I dare you to not touch Pansy for the rest of the train ride. If you touch her, you'll have to clean all the Slytherin boy bathrooms with your current toothbrush and then use it that night."
Delilah grinned. That was an evil one. Daphne was good at this.
"Truth or dare, Vincent?"
"Dare."
"I dare you to help Blaise clean the bathrooms later. You won't have to use your toothbrush after."
"What? I haven't touched her yet!" Blaise complained.
"Oh, but you will. Your turn, Draco."
"Um... truth."
"Do you have a crush on Delilah?"
Draco blushed, but didn't answer.
"If you don't answer you'll have to help clean the bathroom...," Daphne threatened.
He mumbled something inaudible.
"What was that?"
"Second year," he answered, studying the floor.
Delilah smiled. Had he really liked her for that long?
Daphne smirked.
"Ok Greg, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Why don't you talk often?"
He shrugged.
"I just don't usually have much to say."
Daphne smiled kindly. Wow, that was a first.
"Everyone has something to say," she responded. "Pansy? Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
Daphne grinned.
"I was hoping you were going to say that, what is something you are glad your mum doesn't know about or wish she didn't know?"
"Well, Blaise and I-"
Delilah cut her off.
"Ok I think that's enough detail."
Daphne smiled evilly.
"Then you can go next, truth or dare."
She paused, thinking. Daphne had given some nasty dares, but also some nasty truths... which to choose....
"You first," Delilah replied, smirking.
Daphne shrugged.
"Ok, truth."
"How many boys have you kissed and how many have you dated?"
"That's two questions!" Daphne complained.
"Then how many have you kissed?"
She paused, taking a moment to count.
"3 — wait no, 4 — boys. Now, truth or dare?"
"Dare."
She immediately regretted her words when Daphne's smile turned even more mischievous.
"I dare you to snog Draco for the rest of the train ride."
Blaise started to protest, but Daphne glared at him so hard that Hades himself would have been equally impressed and terrified.
Delilah smiled. Weren't dares supposed to be unpleasant?
"Ok, Draco, let's move up to the seats. We may as well be comfortable."
He grinned.
And then her lips met his.
She melted into him, relaxing as his warm arms pulled her closer.
Too soon they had to break apart to breathe, but they didn't stay separated for long. As soon as they had enough air, they collapsed back into each other.
"Ugh, that's enough already. We can't concentrate with you two snogging like that," Pansy complained.
Delilah showed the hypocrite a rather unfriendly finger.
Should she have? No. Did she regret it? No.
She continued snogging Draco, enjoying the warmth of his arms.
"Ugh bye, we're going to Blaise's friends compartment."
Blaise must have touched Pansy, because Daphne triumphantly declared, "Ha! You have to clean the bathroom now!"
Delilah half-heard his groan. She was too busy to pay much attention, nor did she really care. Daphne, Crabbe, and Goyle were already ignoring them, going back to their pre-truth or dare conversation.
A while later, the train started slowing.
"Wow, are we there already?" Delilah murmured into Draco's shoulder, enjoying his minty scent.
Draco nodded.
"Yeah, let's go. Daphne, Crabbe, and Goyle already have."
Delilah smiled.
"We probably should."
They left the train. Oddly enough, Hagrid wasn't there, ready to greet the first years. Instead, it was Professor Grubly-Plank.
Delilah followed Draco into a carriage. They even got one alone. No one seemed to want to be stuck with two Slytherin Prefects, which they were perfectly fine with.
"We'll have to take the first years to the Common Room, won't we?" Delilah remembered as the carriage started moving.
"Ugh, you're right. Hopefully there aren't too many."
She smiled. Of course he would hope that.
"Just watch, almost all of them are going to be Slytherin."
"They better not be."
The carriage pulled up to the school. They got out, and hand-in-hand, entered Hogwarts.