Closed I Heard It's Lonely at the Top

[Celia Vuong]

Celia wasn't sure if she was just growing more jaded, but the new first years were some of the most obnoxious children she'd ever had the misfortune of meeting. She was still pissed that one of them had managed to ruin one of her favorite tops and give her first degree burns. The others weren't much better. Rude, self-righteous, tiresome — did parents no longer teach their kids basic manners? In some ways, the prefect badge made everything worse. Far too many saw it as an invitation to direct their questions and requests for help to her.

Occasionally, though, Celia could make the badge work in her favor. Today, she was using it to shoo away any first years who veered too close to where she was sitting. The lunch rush was mostly over, but there were still a few stragglers, and she didn't want anyone interrupting her while she worked on Quidditch plans. Celia knew she could move somewhere more private, but she liked the Great Hall. It was the only place in the castle with any decent natural light.

A shadow crossed over her notes, and Celia glanced up to see another first year. She sighed a little. "Sorry, but this section is reserved for prefects only," Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Indi, and Celia turned towards the head girl. "Isn't that right, Indi?" Hopefully the older Slytherin had overheard her comment and would back her up on this.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi knew her finally year was going to be hard. On top of the responsibilities she had accounted for at the end of last hear, she now had the head girl badge weighing down her robes. And some days it did feel heavier than others. Today she was focusing on her homework, she was behind on her readings after going on patrol last night and was trying to make up for it before her lesson later that afternoon. She brought her books with her and was getting through the last few paragraphs of her potions reading when she heard her name. She looked up and saw Celia looking at her expectantly. She hadn't been listening, but it only took her a second to take in the scared looking first years to put the context clues together. "Right. Prefects only." she said with a decisive nod before waving off the first years. It wasn't like there was a shortage of free seats and if Indi wanted to focus, it was for the best.

 

[Celia Vuong]

Thankfully, Indi was able to put the pieces together fairly quickly. Celia shot the first years a "told you so" look and was relieved when they finally left, though she was a little miffed that they had believed Indi and not her. After all, she'd been a prefect for longer than Indi (though there was no way for the first years to know that). She clearly needed to work on being more intimidating. Celia swallowed her frustration and offered Indi a small smile. "Thanks. I swear, they get more annoying every year." She rolled her eyes. "You're lucky you only have a year left before you get to leave," Celia said, jealousy creeping into her tone. Oh what she would give to be a seventh year already. It was a shame Hogwarts didn't allow students to skip grades.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi looked up from her book again as Celia thanked her. "No problem." she shrugged and streched her neck. She decided she needed a quick break and grabbed a spare piece of parchment to hold her place. "Happy to use this badge for good." she grinned and watched as the first years tried to find different seats farther down the table. She thought of her own sister and was grateful they were at least in different houses. "They seem smaller too. Like I could sneeze and knock them over." she observed dryly. When Celia mentioned her limited time at school a strange sense of excitement and fear shot through her. She was more than ready to get out of here but it was terrifying too. She still had her NEWTs and plenty of lessons to tackle first. But the end was in sight and she was eager to get there after all this time. "Yeah but at least you don't have to deal with exams this year." she teased. "But it is reassuring knowing it's all almost over."

 

[Celia Vuong]

Celia glanced at Indi's badge, wishing her own carried the same weight. But she would need to wait until next year for even the possibility of that. "If only it was that easy to get rid of them," she said with a smile, imagining a strong gust of wind sweeping all the first years away. The problem with first years was that they hadn't yet learned who to avoid. Celia knew she had a bit of a reputation, but that didn't really help when it came to people unfamiliar with the Hogwarts social scene. "I don't know, I think I'd rather sit through a week of exams than spend another two years stuck here," she said with a shrug. The exams at Hogwarts weren't even that bad thanks to the absolutely ridiculous curriculum the Ministry had designed. "Is there anything you're particularly looking forward to about graduating?" Celia asked curiously. It sounded like Indi was also ready to get out of here, and she found it refreshing to talk to someone who didn't act like Hogwarts was the greatest place in the world.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi chuckled. "I find it hard to believe you have trouble intimidating anyone to get out of your way." she said grinning. "And that's true." she said a bit wistfully when Celia said she'd rather face the exams. If given the option she wasn't sure if anything could tempt her to go back and relive any of her time at Hogwarts. Not that it had been a particularly bad time. But it was the past, something she had already finished and delt with. It was the future that held the most promise for her. This was all a means to an end. But not getting to see her friends everyday would be an inconvenience.

She leaned back slightly as she considered Celia's question. It served a duel purpose of making her seem thoughtful while also stretching her back after been hunched over for so long. "Probably just freedom in general." she said finally. When she got letters from her mother talking about the different conferences she was going to around the world, even more now that Anisha was at school, it filled her with such jealousy she could hardly handle it. The ability to just drop everything and go anywhere in the world. Hogwarts had never really felt all that constricting until she learned to apparate and the whole world was suddenly within her reach. "And no curfew." she added with a dry laugh.

 

[Celia Vuong]

"You'd be surprised," Celia said dryly. She knew she wasn't the most physically intimidating person, and as much as she would have loved to glare at every first year who crossed her path, that wasn't always an option when there were professors lurking everywhere. "They don't know yet they're supposed to avoid me," she said with a slight smirk. Indi seemed rather wistful for someone who was supposedly glad that it was "all almost over." Maybe Hogwarts became more bearable when you had a head student badge pinned to your chest.

Celia nodded in understanding at Indi's answer. It was suffocating being here, shut away from the rest of society. She wanted to be out there, in the real world, doing something that actually mattered instead of wasting her time learning about plants and pretending to give a sh*t about archaic traditions. Celia was a little surprised when Indi brought up curfew. "You know you don't have a curfew anymore now that you're a prefect, right?" she said. "I mean, it's not like there's anywhere interesting to go, but at least you don't have to worry about being caught out after hours. Just say you're doing a patrol or investigating a disturbance or something." It was one of the few perks of being a prefect.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi chuckled. "I'm sure they'll learn." she said. Especially if the know what's good for them. "Eventually." she added knowing their house might be known for its "cunning" but it didn't always equal common sense. "That's true." she said with a tilt of her head when Celia pointed out her lack of curfew as a prefect. She was still getting the hang of this prefect thing and it was annoying to feel like she was constantly trying to catch up. It was a nice perk at least. "But I guess that's the point." she said when the other girl said their was nowhere interesting to go in the castle. Personally she liked walking though the castle and the grounds at night but she agreed there were better places one could spend late night hours. "Once I'm out of here I can go and do anything I want. Without excuses."