Open I Am Not Your Queen, I'm Your Dictator

[Celia Vuong]

((Open after Marijke posts with Ivelisse. Anyone is welcome to join, but Slytherin first years and prefects are especially encouraged to hop in!))

For all the perks prefectdom came with, there were quite a few downsides. One of them was the annual responsibility of leading first years to the common room. They were grimy, asked too many questions, and tended to get lost. But this year, Celia wouldn't have to take on this task herself. No, thanks to the brand new badge pinned to her robes, she could supervise the other prefects as they led the first years to the dungeons. And Celia knew exactly who she wanted to order around supervise today.

As soon as the welcome feast was over, Celia made a beeline for her least favorite Slytherin. "Ivelisse," she greeted with a smirk. Celia had no doubt her roommate had already figured out who had gotten the head girl badge by now, but if she hadn't, well it was glinting off one of their robes now, and it wasn't Ivelisse's. (Celia had even worn her hair up to make sure the badge was extra visible.) "You're with me." Before the girl had a chance to object, Celia turned to the crowd of students. "Slytherin first years over here! If you're a new Slytherin, come here!" She knew the other Slytherin prefects would be doing the same thing further down the house table.

Once a couple of first years had gathered around her and Ivelisse, Celia greeted them. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I'm Celia, the head girl, captain of the house Quidditch team, and president of the school's Student Defense Association. This," she said gesturing to Ivelisse, "is Ivelisse." She allowed the silence after Ivelisse's name to speak for itself. "In a minute, we're going to lead you down to the Slytherin common room and dorms. Pay attention because if you get lost, you'll have to find your way there yourself." She was absolutely not chasing any lost first years down this year. If anything, she'd send Ivelisse to do that for her. "Now, to understand the school hierarchy, it's professors, head students, prefects, and then everyone else. Ivelisse is a prefect, which means she's available to help first years like yourselves and answer any questions you might have. If you ever run into any issues this year — and I mean any issues at all — Ivelisse would be more than happy to help you. Won't you, Ivelisse?" Celia asked in a sickingly sweet tone.

 

[Ivelisse Burleigh]

After not receiving the badge she had longed for so very much in the mail Ivelisse had seriously considered transferring schools. She wouldn't even have cared which school she might've ended up at as long as it was one that was as far away from Hogwarts as possible. It was an idea that spent many days whirling around in her mind yet had somehow never made it out. Which meant she was right back at the place she had so dreaded returning to for her final year. It was almost as if the universe was laughing at her. Giving her the prefect badge to show she was good and then robbing her from both a quidditch captaincy and the head girl badge as if to say that while she was good, she wasn't good enough. There would always be people that were better. And to really rub it in both of those things she had been longing for had somehow gone to Celia of all people. Had it been anyone else Ivelisse still wouldn't have been a fan, but the fact that it was Celia that took both of those titles made everything just so much worse.

Ive had just gotten up from her seat when the feast was over when she heard her name being called by the one voice she did not want to have to deal with just yet. If she had thought she would have even a single moment of peace this year she had surely been terribly wrong. She fought the urge to roll her eyes at Celia's command and clenched her jaw when the other girl started calling down the first years, yet somehow managed to smile at the kids that gathered around them. She wasn't sure what Celia was planning but her gut was telling her it couldn't be anything good. If it was, she would've called the other prefects to her as well rather than singling her out.

When Celia started addressing the first years Ivelisse could almost feel herself getting physically sick. Never in her life had she thought someone could be so full of themselves as the headgirl was. Obviously, it wasn't enough for her to just mention that title. No, she had to throw all of them in the mix. Yet she probably wouldn't be caught dead admitting that her dad was a criminal. Sure, Ive had heard the rumours. The stories. And yet when she so desperately felt the need to use that against Celia she hadn't. Mostly because the idea that she might just be a slightly better person than the other girl was the one thing she could still hold onto. If the roles were reversed, she was sure Celia would've already used that information to drag her name through the mud.

Ive kept the fake smile plastered on her face when Celia continued speaking, introducing her with as little words as possible. Of course she would. She placed her hands behind her back as Celia spoke about the school hierarchy, making sure they were out of the headgirl's sight as she clenched her fists. Tighter. And tighter. She could feel her nails digging into her skin, almost breaking it as she tried to keep up appearances for the first years and anyone else around. "Of course." She replied with the sweetest smile she could manage. "But you shouldn't forget about yourself, Celia. Honestly, guys, you're probably waaay better off by going to Celia with your problems. I mean I'm just a prefect, she's the head girl. Really, you should think of her as, like.. your big sister here at school. She just loves stepping into that role for younger students, so admireable. Always super keen on answering questions and showing you the way. She's also been top points earner for our house a few times so I'm sure she'd love to help you study as well! Such a great role model, her door's always open for you guys." Ivelisse added, finishing with the best fake enthusiasm she could muster. If Celia wanted to throw in all of her titles and praise herself for being head girl she could do that too.

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity wasn't sure what to think of her house so far. They all seemed pretty much the same in the Great Hall, though the Gryffindor table had seemed a bit louder than all the others. She was a bit tired from the feast and ready to go to bed. Vanity had a pretty nice image in her mind of what a bedroom in a castle might look like, and she hoped the real thing would live up to her expectations. She heard some girl call for Slytherin first years to come to her, sos he did so. The girl was old, probably in her final year. Gwen wondered why she bothered calling them over, at least until she started prattling on about all her titles. She then introduced a different girl, and Vanity looked between them quietly, a slight frown on her face. The first girl who was apparently head girl went on to talk about a 'hierarchy', which made her sound as important as a professor. Vanity briefly considered raising her hand but then thought better of it. "Then what do you do?" She asked bluntly as the girl said they should bother this Ivelisse girl with all their questions, implying it wasn't her task because she was head girl. But then the other girl also said they could talk to Celia and see her as a big sister, and Vanity rapidly started losing interest. "Are either of you going to show us to our dorms?" She then asked loudly.

 

[Celia Vuong]

One of the first years piped up to ask about her responsibilities, and Celia grinned. "Excellent question. I oversee the prefects." It was... certainly one interpretation of the head girl position. Some might argue that she was supposed to be a role model and help any younger students in need, but Celia disagreed. She ran the prefect meetings and was responsible for putting together the patrol list. Obviously that meant she was in charge of the prefects.

Celia just smiled in amusement as Ivelisse tried to use her own tactics against her. Yes, it would be annoying if any first years decided to listen to Ivelisse, but Celia figured it wouldn't take long for them to figure out that they were supposed to avoid her. She knew she intimidated a lot of people, and it wouldn't be hard to scare some first years straight. "Awww, that's so sweet of you to say," she said once Ivelisse was done with her blathering. "Ivelisse's right. You could come to me with your questions," Celia conceded. "But I'll be pretty busy. You'll get help much more quickly if you go straight to Ivelisse since she doesn't have nearly as much going on. That being said, if you ever have an issue with Ivelisse or another prefect, you should come straight to me since I oversee them and can take points. Our conversation can be completely confidential." Celia would rather limit the amount of time she spent around first years, but she certainly wasn't going to mind listening to anyone who wanted to complain about Ivelisse.

The same first year from before spoke up again, and Celia had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. That was another thing about first years (especially Slytherin first years) — they were rude. "We will in a minute," she said with a patient smile. "I just want to make sure no one else will be joining us." Normally, Celia tried to leave the Great Hall as quickly as possible to prevent too many first years from joining her group. But this year, she could just give Ivelisse the task of making sure no one got lost. "In the meantime, make sure you have all your belongings with you," she told the group. "We're heading straight for the dungeons, and we will not be coming back to the Great Hall tonight." Well, she supposed she could always have Ivelisse accompany any first years who needed to get back to the Great Hall to retrieve a forgotten bag or scarf or wand. God, being in charge was great.

 

[Ivelisse Burleigh]

Ivelisse should have known there was no way to beat Celia at her own game. One that she now realized she had been losing at for years now. If the game was being a terrible person she wasn't entirely sure whether it was so bad to be losing at that. Even if she often wished to just wipe the smug look off of Celia's face. If anything, it was difficult to understand how someone who acted that horrible was given so many great opportunities.

She scoffed when Celia continued belittling her after she had finished talking, wondering how it was possible for the headgirl to always stay right on top of that high horse. Even when she knew her life couldn't be all sunshine and butterflies. This time though, Ive decided to keep her mouth shut. Lashing out wasn't going to help, she was sure of that. Especially when she was sure Celia'd be able to turn anything she said right back into an insult. How anyone could have thought it was a good decision to put that girl in charge was way beyond her comprehension. Luckily, one of the first years spoke up when she didn't and even though the girl's words were aimed at her as well Ivelisse tried her best to suppress a laugh. Of course there would be rude kids amongst the new first years. What else was new. Admittedly, it was rather funny to see the kid not caring about Celia's headgirl badge.

this is terrible and i apologize