"So what did you actually get up to?"
Esme groaned, stepping back from embracing Regulus but her arms remained hung around his shoulders, "You're like a parrot."
They had been in each other's company for the first time since the last day of school and Regulus had already asked her the same question four times. They hadn't even boarded the Hogwart's Express or loaded their trunks yet.
"Alright, fine, keep your secrets." He shrugged it off, leaning in to press a brief kiss to her cheek before their arms completely fell away from each other.
Esme winked, "I was going to." before turning on her heels and leading the way down Platform 9 3⁄4, pulling her trunk behind her.
Upon arriving at King's Cross Station, the two teenagers had promptly ushered their parents to return home, hoping to have their own reunion away from the watchful gaze of the families and without the mockery of their friends.
Regulus could tell, he knew for a fact, that Esme was up to something. She was acting as though she knew more than anyone else, as if she had been clued in on something and everyone else had been left out of the loop.
Esme was cocky at the best of times, but this new smugness was nagging away at the boy as he wanted to know what was going on.
"There's Levi and Dirk!" Esme called out with a brief wave, leaving Regulus to hurry to keep up right behind her so they weren't separated in the bustling crowd.
"Well look who it is!" Levi exclaimed with a broad grin, dramatically throwing his arms up in the air as the group reunited. He continued, proudly, "I hear congratulations are in order!"
Regulus asked, "What?"
"What?" Esme whipped around to suddenly face him, "Nothing." She turned back to Levi and hit him in the arm, "Shut up."
Dirk chuckled sharply, folding his arms as he learnt back against his trunk to watch the scene unfold.
"What?" Regulus asked again.
"Nothing." Esme repeated, pointing at Levi as she warned, "Don't you dare."
Levi laughed, "Have you not told him? What was your plan? Clearly he was going to find out this evening."
"How do you even know?" She questioned suspiciously.
"Oh," He nodded, "Dirk told me, of course. Why-why don't you want people to know? It's like... Most people's goal."
Regulus was becoming exasperated, "Will someone please explain what is going on?"
Esme started, "No-"
"Esmerelda is Head Girl."
The whole group turned to Dirk, who had made the mistake of letting his thoughts slip out of his mouth.
"Cresswell, you're a first class idiot." Esme grumbled, "How exactly did someone with your incompetence become Head Boy?"
Dirk shook his head, wearing a smile as he replied, "Thank you, most kind."
Regulus, though things had mostly been explained, was still utterly perplexed. "Are you guys serious? Am I having some sort of nightmare?"
"Yes, the worst has come to fruition. I'm, somehow, Head Girl and Dirk is Head Boy." Esme massaged her temples as she began to feel a headache growing.
"Worst?" Levi frowned, "What exactly is bad about that?"
She groaned again, "Well I can't exactly get away with coasting through school anymore, can I?"
Regulus ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath before saying, "I suppose now is also a good time to tell you guys that I'm the new Slytherin Quidditch Captain."
"A-are you joking?" An enormous grin spread across Esme's face, "I thought you didn't want to be Captain?"
He sighed somewhat hesitantly, "I er... I thought about what you said to me last year and... The Slytherins are annoying and deserve to be taken down a peg or two so... I might as well be the one to do that."
"Plus, you'll finally get credit for all of the matches you win." She laughed.
"That too."
Levi, by this point, was practically shaking with vibration as he exclaimed, "Can't believe Piper is missing out on this. We need to have a train party!"
Dirk sighed heavily, seeing the hopes of being able to get in a few hours of quiet reading on the train fading away. Though he was hopeful Regulus' good news had distracted Esme from having a go at him.
"Do you ever think we're the weirdest group of people?" He asked, again causing everyone's attention to shift over to him.
Almost in sync, each of them tilted their heads to the side in confusion.
Dirk took this as a signal to continue, "I mean, we're all completely different. Mostly from different houses. A muggleborn, a halfblood, and..." He lowered his voice, "Technically two Death Eaters. Also, we have a really perverse way of communicating with each other."
Esme blinked, "You talk a load of nonsense, Cresswell. What does it matter if we're a weird mix of people?" She slung her arm around the boy's shoulders as they began to make their way towards the train to board it, "Besides, it must be a good kind of weird if we're Head Boy and Girl, eh?"
As the group made their way towards the back of the train to load their luggage, and then back down the platform to board and find a compartment, Esme thought that perhaps she had been initially hasty.
Over the summer she had become concerned that she was relying too heavily on the people around her and this would prove to be a weak point. Perhaps that had been misguided.
Perhaps Esme wasn't scared of losing her independence after all... Perhaps she was fearful of putting her friends in danger, because she had grown to care infinitely for them.
As they boarded the train, Dirk was talking excitedly about all of the departments he'd explored whilst working in the Ministry of Magic - taking great pride in the fact that he was given a tour of the Department of Mysteries. It brought a smile to Esme's face. Behind them, Regulus and Levi were having a heated discussion about quidditch, with the latter growing red in the face as his favourite team (The Wigtown Wanderers) had apparently had a horrendous run of matches over the summer.
"Oh... No..." Levi realised as they made their way towards the front of the train, "Does this mean I'm going to be left alone for the train journey? I'm not a Prefect or Head Boy." He complained.
Esme offered, "Come in then. I don't care."
Dirk was not particularly pleased by this.
"Can I actually? Is that allowed?" Levi asked.
She laughed, "What's the point in being Head Girl if I can't do what I want?"
"That's absolutely not the point of being Head Girl." Dirk ran a hand through his hair, already feeling the stress get to him. "But... I suppose there's no rule against you joining us. We're only delegating jobs to the Prefects."
"Oh, yeah!" Esme clapped her hands together gleefully and, as they reached the door to enter the first carriage full of Prefects, she spun around to face the group, "You can watch as I make Regulus keep guard of the second-floor girls' lavatory."
"What?" Regulus' face fell.
"Ha! You're right!" Levi laughed loudly and patted the boy's shoulder in commiseration, "This is going to be fun!"
Regulus argued, "You can't make me do that! People will think I'm a creep! And, not to mention, I don't want to put up with Moaning Myrtle."
"Dumbledore is such a wise man." Esme mused, pushing open the door to enter the carriage, "He really picked the right girl for the job."
"You won't let her do that, will you?" Regulus hissed into Dirk's ear.
Levi was growing more eager at the idea of being friends with the Head Boy and Girl as he suggested, "You can also help us get out of trouble if we're caught pranking the Slytherins. I haven't embarrassed Selwyn in so long!"
"You know, Rogers," Esme smirked, "You might actually have a few good brain cells knocking about in there." She flicked him in the head.
"You've got to be joking me!" A tall, red-headed Ravenclaw girl stood up, her arms tightly folded across her chest as she wore a harsh scowl. "There's no way Dumbledore made you Head Girl!"
"Andrea, perhaps now isn't a good ti-" Dirk was abruptly interrupted from diffusing the situation by Esme.
She sharply replied, "Why? Do you have a problem?"
"Of course I do!" The girl, Andrea, retorted. Esme recognised her alright; they were in the same year. Andrea Goodman was one of the most popular people in the school, and renowned for being rather stuck-up. Needless to say, the two girls had never gotten along.
"Guess you'll have to take that up with your superior. Oh... Wait, that's me." Esme spat.
"You-you! I-" Andrea stammered furiously. She had spent all summer waiting for the letter to say she had made Head Girl - the position she had been working years to earn.
Esme began to grin, "Can I take away house points? I think I can."
"I'm in your house!" Andrea complained as it began to dawn on her that this year was not going to go at all how she had planned it to.
"You're right, I care too much about Ravenclaw to do that. Wait... No I don't." Esme scoffed.
"Maybe try not to pick a fight with all the Prefects just yet. Hey?" Regulus placed a hand on the girl's arm as he mumbled into her ear.
She let out a sigh, knowing the boy was correct. "Alright, fine." She gave in, and Regulus gently squeezed her arm before moving past her to sit beside the other Prefects.
Not everybody had arrived yet, and a small murmur of chatter grew as people shared what they'd gotten up to over the holidays with each other.
"I've just had a thought." Esme said to Dirk, as the two of them stood beside each other and in front of the group of students and chairs.
The boy could already feel his shoulders tensing up as he replied, "Not another one. That's never a good sign."
"I can use the Prefect bathroom now, can't I?" She flashed her lopsided smirk.
"Merlin..." Dirk massaged his temples. Not only was he in charge of the smooth running of the Prefects and the general good behaviour of the student body, he was also going to have to make sure Esme didn't cause any chaos in her new position of power.