WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE.
"EVANESCO!"
The last fanged frisbee vanished into thin air. Dani checked for any more signs of movement before lowering her wand wearily. Two months had passed since the final vault, and she'd been in the prefects' bathroom for the past couple of hours, rescuing fifth-years from the aforementioned flying contraptions, and she STILL hadn't done the NEWT homework the professors were cramming in before the holidays. And it was getting pretty late.
"I f*cking hate you, Peeves," Dani muttered under her breath as she left the prefects' bathroom, only to immediately get noticed.
"There you are, Miss Jackson." Dumbledore's long, white beard poked out from behind the gargoyle. "I just was wondering why you'd bailed on my announcement."
"I was de-pranking the prefects' bathroom, professor," Dani replied.
Dumbledore laughed softly as he approached Dani. "Ah, the lot of you prefects. Not paying any notice to their duties until it's time for me to choose next year's head boy and girl. I honestly don't know who and who not to trust anymore. So I thought I'd have you all convince me."
"How?"
"I just told all head boy and girl hopefuls to write me an essay on why they deserve the title. There's no word count-I need to judge who wants it and who doesn't. And because I'm addressing you directly, Miss Jackson, I hope the promises you make are ones you can keep."
Dani simply gaped at her headmaster. She became a prefect by studying hard(er than usual), disciplining her schoolmates, and helping out first-years, now she was being told to write an ESSAY? Where in the world was she supposed to start?!
"A question to ask yourself: who are you doing this for?"
Dani was left stunned as Dumbledore swept back to his office. At first, she thought she was just going after the badge, just like all her classmates were-and then she remembered her best friend.
Where was Rowan when Dani needed her most?
Knowing she wouldn't be able to think straight while the Weasley twins demolished the common room, Dani ran down to the lower floor.
Twinkling stars reflected off the fountain as Dani ran outside. The fresh air failed to clear her mind. Rowan would've been the female Gryffindor prefect if Dumbledore and McGonagall hadn't felt the need to give Dani some discipline. Now she didn't even have a shot at head girl. She would've nailed the essay...
"Need some help?" A familiar voice came from beside Dani.
Dani nearly jumped as she saw Rowan Khanna's smiling face. "WHA- Are-are you a-"
"Back in the day you thought Nearly Headless Nick taking his head off was the coolest thing ever, look at you now," teased Rowan. "I'm always here for you, Dani. I'm just not at Hogwarts anymore."
"Wait... This can't be real!"
"Hey, calm down. Remember what I said at the train station?"
"About... stopping and thinking?"
Rowan nodded, and Dani groaned. "I don't have time for that, when I'm not doing homework I'm saving the school-"
"I know a lot has happened this year, but it's almost over," said Rowan. "To move forward, you must first look back."
Dani got even more confused. "What's THAT supposed to mean?"
"Dani, you've cracked five cursed vaults. You're capable of figuring that out... And a lot more. And remember... I'll always be with you."
"No... Wait!" Dani exclaimed as Rowan faded away.
Sighing, Dani got up and went back inside, trying to replace her conversation with Rowan in her mind with information about sopophorus plants and garrotting gas... She shook her head as images of Rakepick with her outstretched wand flashed across her memory. It was going to be a long night.