En Memoriam

Kate silently walked into the packed hall. Her throat was clogged up and she felt awful. She wanted to be here for this ceremony nervertheless. Listening as Professor King said a little she waited and watched as a few people went up. Feeling a tug to go and a tug to stay she bit her lip. Njord hadn't especially been close to her but she had spoken to him when she had been lost at first. He also worked in her dad's shop and she had spoken to him loads there. Feeling very emotional she continued to stay seated and listened to others happy memories.
Wiping a tear from her eye she waited and let them continue. Crying harder now she closed her warm hand around Pat's and waited. Pulling out a tissue she continued to cry and waited for the speeches to end. Not being able to cope any more she stood up and walked out weeping heavily. "Sorry Njord. I can't cope." She muttered upwards. "Rest your soul. You were a great prefect. Perfect nearly. I'll miss you." With these final words she ran out and reached the North tower. Sinking onto her knees she cried and cried for the loss.
 
Isabella did not know the boy at all but that did not stop her from paying her respects. It seemed as if this particular boy had been well liked by everyone that knew him and even by those who were merely his acquaintences. People of that calibar were hard to come by and the world always seemed a quieter and emptier place without them in it. As if a piece of light had dimmed somewhere in the solar system. Sitting down at the Gryffindor table she listened intently to the speech Professor King gave before others got up to speak. The only one of these she knew was Andromeda, a fellow Gryffindor.

She liked how the houses mingled nowadays, how they all felt this lose as they would all share in someones joy as well. She glanced at the professor who she knew now to be Njord Aesirs mother. Not knowing her personally didn't matter, this woman had lost her son. Was there another need to feel deeply for her? Of course not. Isabellas heart went out to her, it was at times like this that she wished she believed in a god of some kind to make sense of the world about them but maybe believing like that especially at the death of someone so young, gave a person more reason for doubting. A person could slowly go insane letting those ideals run amok within themselves.

Bells just hoped the ferry man didn't take too long taking the boy to the other side of the underworld and hoped someone had remembered to put some coins on his eyelids at least for payment. Silly the superstitions that persisted when tragedy occured. She continued to listen quietly as the speeches continued.
 
Bruin sat quietly as the Great Hall slowly filled with people, a few taking the opportunity to address the assembly and the remainder offering each other support in their own sincere ways. This was the true nature of the school that he had come to know and love over the past six years, a place where people attempted to bring out the best in each other. It was not a place where self-centred little twerps amused themselves with vandalism and the frustrations and embarrassment of others.

Bruin knew that the time had come for he and Estrella to speak, to try and make some sense of what had happened, and perhaps even offer something that would ensure that the true spirit of the school was preserved. He stepped to the front of the room, turned to face the student body, and cleared his throat. This would not be easy to deliver, but he knew that despite not being a part of the play that this was his role in the bigger picture.

"There really aren't any words to express what we are all feeling right now, but I think it is important for us to remember what started this whole chain of events. A group of us decided that we didn't like what was happening around the school and that we needed to take action. What we learned though is that all actions have consequences, and those consequences are usually outside of our expectations and ability to control." Bruin paused and took a deep breath, hoping that Estrella could continue his train of thought.
 
Estrella nodded to Bruin as he made his way to the front of the room, knowing that it was time for both of them to speak. Her expression was solemn as her eyes trailed the student body, at least, the portion that had showed up for the service. It was quite kind of all of them to show up. Holding her head high, she listened as Bruin started off the speech. She was quite glad he had, considering as she was never great with public speaking. As she stood forward, remembering with a pang having been up here twice already, she opened her mouth to speak.

She couldn't manage to get much past her lips, however. The Ravenclaw's response was simple. Bruin had done a rather good job with his part, and she figured that she would keep things short and sweet.

"When an individual or a small group pull pranks, they know the consequences and what they're getting into." She paused for a moment, before uttering the next bit. "Usually, they seem to be harmless, and seem to be an easy way for people to get a few chuckles. But what happens when a simple prank goes too far?" Estrella snapped her mouth shut then, letting her words hang over the audience.
 
"A student might die...that be too far?"

The voice came loud and clear from the back of the room, just inside the doors. Njord, strode into the Great Hall and walked up the aisle to the front of the room, stopping momentarily at Kailey's side to brush the back of his hand on her cheek and smile down at her.

Getting to the front of the large room, crowded with students he hugged his mother and turned to the group.

"I think that would definitely be too far..." he said with a solemn look on his face, hoping the lesson had finally been learned.
 
Bruin attempted to conceal the thin smile that was creeping onto his face as Njord made his return from the "dead". There were only a handful of people who had known about this ultimate prank within a play about a prank going wrong. Professors King, Heimdall, and Rambolt had been amazingly supportive when Estrella, Cyndi and Bruin had initially approached them with the idea and finding Njord to play the starring role and securing some particularly loud, but essentially harmless firecrackers to pack in Njord's bag had been very fortunate.

The remaining Prefects, including Njord's girlfriend, had been kept in the dark along with the rest of the school and Bruin suspected that their would be some fallout from this in the coming days, but he hoped that the return of Njord would soften the potential hostility. In the big picture, their important message had been delivered afterall and no one could deny that this was one Prefect Players Production that would be remembered for a long, long time.
 
Kat managed a weak smile when Rhyspa joined her and Kailey. There they sat, hand in hand, the three amigos. They were always there for each other through thick and thin and this time would be no different. Tears streamed from her eyes when Bruin and Estrella got up and spoke their piece. They were right. Things had gone way too far and now a good friend and student had been killed.

Then came a voice from the back of the Great Hall. Kat's mouth gaped open and she was rendered speechless until she saw Njord walk forward and stroke Kailey's cheek and then continue on to the front of the hall. "What the...but he...I saw...we thought...did they...oh sweet jeebus what in the bloody name of Merlin is going on here?" Kat stuttered stupidly as she kept a tight arm around Kailey, not sure exactly what her friends response to this all would be.
 
A sly grin worked it's way onto Estrella's expression as Njord answered her question. Initially Bruin was going to pick up the next line, but everything had played out well in the end. Hopefully the message would come across crystal clear. Sure, there was probably going to be some angry retaliation over the whole deal, but those individuals who found it difficult to cope would just have to get over their issues. She stood back, watching in revelry as the mourners, or rather, the audience, reacted to the Hufflepuff Prefect's return from the dead.
 
As Bruin walked up to the front of the room with Estrella, Cyndi sat up straighter to listen to what he had to say. He began by speaking about the reason for starting the play and Estrella continued it. Suddenly from the back of the room, Njord's voice could be heard. Cyndi smiled as she turned to watch him stroll to the front. His entrance had been perfectly timed.

Cyndi watched as he joined his mother in the front of the room, happy that they were together. It had been sad to listen to her speech even though she knew what was going on. Cyndi looked around the room, hoping that once the buzz of the reveal had died down that the students would still get the message that the pranks were definitely getting out of hand.
 
Andromeda's mouth hung open as she turned in her seat at the sound of a voice from the back of the great hall. She thought she was dreaming, thought she was imaging it all but she wasn't. Looking about at everyone elses reactions she knew this was supposed to drill home a point to all those pranksters but what it had also done was upset everyone, those who had truly believed he was dead.

Andromeda was incensed beyond words, it was one thing to stress a point but it was quite another to mess with peoples feelings. Kailiey and so many others had genuinely grieved, she herself had been grieving too for him. She was dumbfounded and actually angry by this turn of events. She was thrilled that Njord was alive, absolutely over the moon but it was a nasty trick to play on everyone. A horrible trick. She stood up and left the Great Hall, feeling like a complete fool. Shaking her head she left and walked out to the gardens needing some fresh air. It would have been nice to have been in the loop but as she was no longer a prefect, she had to cry for the loss of a friend who hadn't needed her tears after all. Just wait till she got her hands on him!
 
Alex continued to listen, figuring this guy was really something, from what people where saying. He thought about what Bruin and Estrella where sayign when someone spoke out. He looked round to find the source, seeing Njord. He frowned, confused as he saw him walking. Shoot, Was it someone else who died then?Alex quickly thought, trying to figure it out before seeing it was part of the whole play in the first place. Alex grinned and started laughing at the prank that had been played on everyone. He smiled and rolled his eyes at the whole situation. 'Good one'he told himself quietly, still slightly amazed at the great prank they had pulled.
 
Hoshi's mouth was one of the many that hung open. "NO F@CKEN WAY!" She cried before she could stop herself while slamming her hands on the table. All the pain she had been though at the hands of the students that thought she had something to do with it was all because of a stupid Prefect lesson? Oh she would stop the pranks alright. For this year. Hoshi was already planing horrors for next year. They wanted to see too far. She would show them too far. Not this year though. She had business to attend to with all her offenders. No one messes with Hoshi Koshiba.

Hoshi looked among the crowed for Sam and Knight seeing if they where as outraged as she was. They had taken as much as she had for this. The next moment she didn't care. Hoshi stormed out of the Great Hall to vent some anger. People would pay for what they put her though. Not the Prefects she knew that they where just trying to 'teach' them a lesson. Those that imedetly pointed a finger at her. Revenge ran though her mind as she made her way to the forbidden forest to calm herself down. If she didn't she would do something stupid right then an there.
 
Sam's eyebrows were raised, his jaw hung loosely and his light blue eyes were widened in shock. What?! Sam thought in disbeleif, It was all a big prank? Sam and Scorpius had only suffered a little compared to Hoshi and he didn't want to know what was running through her head. She had gotten it bad. Then he heard her shout and he scrunched his eyes at her reaction.

Sam looked around to see her storming out of the hall. Sam got up quietly and slipped out the side. He followed her quickly, not knowing where she was going but could tell she was absoulotly fuming, why wouldn't she be? Sam was taking her side on this.
 
Kailey was listening to Bruin and Estrellas speech, tears still rolling down her cheeks as she thought she heard an all too familiar voice coming from the back of the hall and she quickly turned around and saw the man she never thought she would see again. Njord Aesir, perfectly fine... Not dead as everyone believed. Kailey had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming and when she saw she wasn't a sense of euphoria washed over her and her eyes lit up with happiness and love for the boy who was walking up to the front of the great hall, pausing to brush his hand against her cheek and smile at her. She smiled back andonce he had started up to the podium she felt her cheek, only half believeing she was awake.

But if she was awake this brought her to another thing. He had let her believe he was dead! Even though she was happy and relieved to the brim that he was alive and okay she couldn't help but feel anger bubbling in there too. The last few days of her life had been complete and utter hell with her grieveing. But she looked up at him again and decided that even though the trick had been cruel it had been wth good intentions, and if it wasn't a deam she was too happy to get too angry with him. and If it was, she didn't ever want to wake up.
 
Zazuka was tring to get the word perfictly in her head as if this would send Njord safely to the other side. A unison of gasps came up and Zazuka's head snapped up. Apperently he didn't need to go to the other side. Was this why she didn't feel as upset as she knew she would be. Why she didn't cry right along with Kailey. Zazuka looked at Kailey to see her reaction. She could see the confusion in her face. The cry reached her ears along with a sence of buring anger.

The good and the bad where all collecting inside her and making her dizzy. She mannaged a weak smile at Kailey and Professor Harmell then stumbled out of the room. Too many emotions where coming out too strongly at one time. Zazuka couldn't handel it. She leaned up against the wall outside the Great Hall just breathing and praying this time to keep consiose though all this. Zazuka gluped then closed her eyes hoping that the dizzy feeling went away.
 
Autumn quirked her brow at hearing a male's voice from the back of the room. Wasn't that...omg it was!

"Njord...." she breathed then looked to Kailey,"Kailey it's Njord..." she said, in an excitedly hushed whisper. She couldn't help but beam as the golden haired Hufflepuff made his way into the hall. She looked back to her friend and saw him brush her cheek on his way to the front of the room.

"Bravo, prefects. The pranksters have been pwned at their own game." she murmered, squeezing Thomas's hand beneath the table. That would teach them a lesson for sure. She saw Hoshi purse her lips and coudln't help but grin at that. Everyone had suspected her and her crew all along. And now the look on her face was simply...priceless.

Not knowing whether to clap or cry for joy of her friend's love's 'return from the dead', she simply sat, and waited for an explaination.
 
Arisa stood up to see the 'dead boy' she was p1ssed. She glared daggers at Njord, "I can't believe this bull sh1t!" She growled. What was there problem!? They made her think she had killed someone for crying out loud!? WHAT HAD SHE DONE TO HER HAIR!?
 
Bruin stood and watched the reactions to Njord's appearance. He had anticipated the relief that some showed and appreciated that many people were justifiably upset by having their emotions toyed with in such a manner. However, desperate times had called for desperate measures and if a few people had their noses bent out of joint by this whole thing, well then, so be it. Life was full of surprises and if they couldn't handle this particular one then they probably had some growing up to do before they were ready for the real world anyways.

Bruin watched as Andy and that Slytherin girl, Hoshi or Yoshi or whatever, stormed out. He knew to expect a knock on his dorm door from Andy at some point, but for now he would simply let her go and vent. Bruin turned his attention to Kailey, glad to see that she seemed to be more relieved than angry and figured that everything would work out sooner or later. For now, Bruin wanted a little bit of time to himself. He thanked the professors quietly as he passed them and walked out of the Great Hall with his chin up, looking forward to better times and more prepared than ever to deal with any younger students who felt the need to challenge the natural pecking order at the school. If any of them wanted a detailed explanation of why he, Estrella, Njord and Cyndi had chosen to do what they did, then they would simply have to come and find him. Bruin wouldn't be backing down from anyone.
 
Vivienne slipped into the Great Hall halfway through the ceremony. As she quickly sat down in the nearest seat, her eyes becaome glued to the stage, quickly filling with tears as his friends spoke about him. The death was just so tragic..

As the doors burst open, Vivienne slowly turned to see who the loud latecomer was. Recognising him immediately from her many nightmares, she jumped a foot in the air, a hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. Her visions were real.. he was alive, and here to get revenge. Or maybe she was dreaming, maybe this was simply another horrible dream. But as she noticed everyone else in the room's reactions, Vivienne quickly realised that the smug-looking boy was not just a figment of her imagination.

As he walked to the stage, a triumphant look on his face, her shock was quickly replaced by anger. A deep, uncomprehensible anger. Arisa hadn't been in on this. There was no way she would have agreed to it. Had they not thought of the pain they would cause her?! Just picturing watching her friend so broken brought tears to Vivienne's eyes and hatred to her heart. There was no way that all that had been fake.

Could they have not told Arisa what was going on?? Saved her all the heartache? How did Njord know that Arisa would light off fireworks, and that one would come straight for him? None of this made sense, but all of it was hurtful. How she wanted to run up there and wipe the smile off his face. What if Arisa, in her sadness, had ran away? Committed suicide even! There were definitely people in the world that would do that, and how would they know that Arisa was not one of them? As Vivienne glared at the stage, she cursed the thoughtless people that were in on the plan, hoping they would one day learn what grief felt like.

Shaking her head, she tried to push away the thoughts of the wasted time spent thinking about this. Vivienne had shed so many tears and cared so much for a boy that wasn't even real. Trying to regain her sanity, she took a deep breath. This was all so out of character for Vivienne, and she didn't like it one bit. This whole fiasco had undoubtedly affected her permanently, and the culprits hadn't even stopped to think. As the anger in her heart began to subside, she stared silently down at her hands, less vengeful, but still disappointed in the thoughtless, heartless people that were behind it all.
 
Arisa was seething with anger. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU MADE ME THINK I WAS A BLOODY MURDERER!" She screamed. She saw Viv was just as angry as her, she wlked over, "come on Viv lets go" she said holding out her hand to her friend.
 
Brian was furious with the lot of them as he watched the other students leave. They had done a horrible and sick thing to the entire student body, Brian didn't know Njord and at that moment he never wanted to know him. If Brian had his way he would kill the blimey ba$t@rd himself, such a horrible trick! Brian didn't care about whatever damn moral the professors and the prefects were trying to teach the first years. Brian had done nothing wrong and yet like so many others had to suffer for the crime they didn't commit. "If I'm gonna be punished then I'm going to do the crime" Brian muttered bitterly under his breath. He was a person who believed in justice and had thought that Njord needed his. Instead Njord and his own House Prefect had been laughing at the lot of them behind close doors, Brian was furious and would make them pay for what they did.

He got up and left the Great Hall unable to stand the Hypocracy anymore. They had pretended to be sad and had let everyone else feel horrible over what had been thought as a tragic accident casued by a prank gone wrong when they themselves were pulling a prank on everyone! The nerve of it all, Brian was sure he wasn't the only one that felt unimaginable rage over what the people they had looked up to for guidance had done. Brian would never forgive them for the twisted and depraved thing they had done especially in light of everything Brian had just gone through, poor Arisa had thought she'd killed Njord and had to hide with a terrible guilt in the days that had come after the play. Brian went back to his commonroom very angry at the lot of them and vowing that he would make them pay with interest.
 
Isabella had been silently inhaling and exhaling so as not to shed any tears over someone she didn't know, but the emotions in the room were just too strong for her. She could believe she had even gone up to the podium to say something in an attempt to console those who were grieving more than she was. She allowed one single tear to fall as she saw the Head Boy and Girl walk up to the podium. They began speaking of their intentions for the play, to teach the pranksters a lesson and threw a glare at the annoying girl Hoshi who made Slytherins look bad, but quickly refocused her big brown eyes on the two speakers.

Suddenly, she heard a voice answer Estrella's question from the back of the room. She wheeled her head around to see Njord, the Hufflepuff Prefect that was supposed to be dead! What?! She did a double take as her mouth fell open in shock. Sure his face had haunted her in her dreams for the passed couple of days, but were her nightmares getting so bad that she was envisioning him in broad daylight as well? No, the shocked looks on everyone else's faces told her she wasn't dreaming, but she pinched herself just to make sure.

She scowled as she tried making sense of everything. So Njord wasn't dead after all, it really was part of the play after all! Wait, even the rockets from the audience? Isabella scowled once more, her emotions had been unfairly messed with. She had actually began having nightmares again and she had been so affected by his "death" that she actually went up to the podium to give a few words of condolences for those who were most definitely more torn up than she because they actually knew him. What were they playing at taking it that far? She rolled her eyes, because she knew they had a good point.

Isabella was angry, but mostly she was angry at the pranksters, it was all their fault the entire student body had to suffer like that. If they hadn't of been so damn foolish and obnoxious with their pranks, they would've never had to resort to faking a students death just so they got their message. With her mind still on the pranksters, she heard and saw that annoying Hufflepuff girl that had been sitting behind her at the play, stand up and yell at the Head Boy and Girl. She thought she was a murderer? So she was the one who had set off the rockets. "So it was you!" Isabella hissed loudly at her with a death glare. She was going to start yelling obscenities at the girl, mostly 'How could you be so stupid as to think you could pull a prank at a play about pulling pranks and get away with it?!' but she didn't want to look bad in front of her superiors so she bit her tongue, though that didn't stop her from shooting daggers at her and the other girl Vivienne whom she didn't like either.
 
Vivienne had been too involved in her own anger to realise that anyone else had witnessed what she'd just seen. Her head shot up as she heard a familiar voice, it was her best friend, screaming. As Arisa came over and spoke to Vivienne, she began to stand up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Gladly." Vivienne said quietly, taking Arisa's hand and leading her to the door. Placing her hand on the heavy door, Vivienne heard a voice, directed towards Arisa. Spinning to face them, she realised that it was the girl that seemed to hate her, the one she couldn't remember the name of.

Vivienne was taken aback by the girl's words. Was she really that stupid? Did she not realise what had just happened?! "Wow, you are seriously lacking a brain! Were you aware?" Vivienne replied, a stern expression on her usually kind face. Deep down she felt bad for being rude to the girl, but she really had deserved it. Who did she think she was? She had no right to be so judgemental to Arisa, no one did. Unless they had been through the pain she and her friends had for the past week, then they had no idea what it was like to be in Arisa's shoes. Grabbing her hand, Vivienne pushed the door open and swiftly walked through.
 
Steph had been listening to the speeches, crying softly into her lap. Even though she hadnt known Njord, she knew the pain the others were feeling.

She heard a voice, not recognising it was Njords, say something from the back of the room, she heard mutters, and a first year shout. She looked up, and saw Njord, walking toward the front of the hall. He was perfectly fine, and definatly alive. 'Wha..' She turned to Hollie, who had sat next to her. Steph looked around the hall, wondering what the hell was going on.

When she saw the prefects grinning, and no look of shock on their faces, Steph frowned, still confused.

 
Hollie was momentarily stunned as she watched the 'dead' student make his way to the front of the Great Hall. Alive. Not dead. In fact, perfectly fine.
"What the heck?" she muttered, as she stared around the hall. Steph seemed confused too... as did most students. Her own expression of shock appeared to be a common one right now. She turned back to the front, staring open mouthed at the prefects, who were all grinning.
And then it hit her.
It was a prank. A joke.
But something wasn't right. Because jokes were supposed to be funny. And the last thing Hollie felt like doing right now was laughing.

All these people - Njord's friends, family, girlfriend... all these people that loved him had been grieving for him, genuinely sad and heartbroken - upset. Even people who didn't know Njord, like Hollie herself, had come to pay their respects to somebody they believed dead. It was wrong. It was sick.

Woah woah woah woah woah.... Hollie thought, trying to process what had happened. This is all wrong. They've been playing with people - emotions and stuff! People have genuinely been heartbroken by what has happened, and it's all a joke! Sure, you can make jokes over objects, and even people, but not death. Because it's not funny! Death isn't a 'joking' matter! Now when someone really dies, who's gonna believe it? Who knows, maybe Prof. Barker's kidnap was some sick joke too.
The thoughts continued to circulate. Hollie felt sick to the stomach. This was wrong. Crazy wrong. She turned her head in disgust. She noticed many people were leaving, either in protest or out of hurt. She felt like doing the same too.
She hesitated though, waiting to see if any of her close friends were about to leave, such as Steph.
 
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