49 Year Five - 47

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Read Authors Thought's at the bottom once done please!

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David hummed to himself in content as he trudged back up towards his home after a nice date with Hermione in Diagon Alley.

Hermione eventually got up the courage to just circumvent Mrs Weasley holding her prisoner in Grimmauld Place, speaking with Remus and Sirius about the matter.

The two agreed to her outing with David with sly grins, and a promise to speak to the Weasley matriarch. Which left Hermione blushing and sputtering, having authority figures such as her former Professor knowing and cracking jokes about her love life was mortifying to her.

Their date went well, exploring Diagon Alley together, even making a foray into the less shady side of Knockturn Alley.

They ended the evening with Ice Cream from Fortescue's, with the wizard producing some of the best Ice Cream in London, there was honestly no point in going elsewhere for their sugary needs.

They were planning on seeing a film, but time got away from them and neither David nor Hermione minded all that much.

David did ask for another outing, but Hermione despondently said another attempt at leaving would be pushing her luck most likely.

That was fine with David, for Hogwarts was starting up soon, and even though the toad was going to be 'teaching', it would prove to be an interesting year, even if he were a spectator to a lot of it.

It would certainly be fascinating for David to do his duties as a prefect, for, with the Map of Hogwarts that he'd copied and created, it would prove to be immensely easy to spot students out of bed when they should be sleeping during his rounds of the Hogwarts Halls.

David, truthfully, enjoyed power and privilege and the perks the position of fifth-year prefect offered him were a little enticing. From the greater access to the Professors and Headmaster, special bathrooms all over the castle and the ability to deduct points and give detentions as he saw fit were, honestly, something to distract himself with from the monotony of his usual Hogwarts daily life.

It was natural for him to feel this way, for while most students at Hogwarts studied with varying levels of intensity, they were also free to explore various hobbies and social interactions.

David on the other hand, from the tender age of eleven, had been preparing for war. Dedicating a lot of his time to studying and practising magic intensely, where a normal child would have had a lot more choice in their free time.

The slight change of pace and a new experience at Hogwarts would certainly be a breath of fresh air for a time, but David was not deluded enough to think this was a truly important task. For him, it was just some fun that he would eventually get over, sadly.

His letter informing him that he was given the role wasn't that much of a surprise, but at the same time, he wasn't overly arrogant as to think he had a 100% chance of gaining the position.

But thinking it over, he thought maybe he was being a little too humble in that regard. He was the top student in Ravenclaw and the entire year, with Hermione a close second due to the fact she performed slightly less stellar in Defence Against the Dark Arts practicals.

But she was a lot better than what she would have been without interference from David. The duelling skills they practised together were an immense help in that area of learning, obviously.

"Master!" Mel called for him from the doorway, having noticed David slowly making his way up towards the Manor.

"Hey Mel," David shouted back, speeding up his pace now that Mel wanted something.

"You should have just gotten Fitz to bring you straight to the door!" Mel said to him, a little chidingly.

"I wanted to take a little stroll through the grounds, Mel. I've been cooped up in the basement for weeks now," David said with a roll of his eyes.

"You just came back from Diagon Alley. Surely that was enough of a stroll? Or did you spend your time getting up to something else?" Mel said in return, hand on her hip.

"A little of this, a little of that. Why so curious, Mel?" David asked as he tugged off his coat and wiped his boots on the mat provided.

She merely returned his eye roll and huffed in response, muttering under her breath.

Seeing David remove his outerwear a second later, Mel took the coat from him and snapped her fingers, cleaning his boots better than any manual labour could have and floated his coat to a hanger.

Seeing only his clothing on the hanger, a tinge of loneliness hit David suddenly.

It was strange, he'd just gotten back from socialising with Hermione, but he truly missed her presence in the comfort of his own home.

Shaking his head, David thanked Mel and strolled into the kitchen, knowing that Mel would have prepared a cup of tea for his arrival.

She always knew, somehow.

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David pinned his new, Ravenclaw blue 'Prefect' badge onto his robes and looked himself over once more, running his hand through his hair and adjusting it ever so slightly.

Seeing everything was in place and that he wasn't about to step into London with some crucial piece of clothing missing, David turned to leave his bedroom and make his way downstairs to be taken to Platform 9 ¾ directly.

Normally he would have just gone 'muggle', wore casual wear and changed on the train, but he couldn't be bothered and decided direct arrival was the smarter choice. Not to mention he would be patrolling the train and a uniform was most likely a must.

"Are you ready, Mel?" David asked as he quickly paced down the stone steps of Cross Manor.

"Just a minute!" Mel shouted back from the kitchen, likely packing some treats for his ride on the Express.

"What have you got in there?" David asked as he watched her pack away some pastries and cookies.

"Pumpkin pasties, your favourite," Mel informed him, completely seriously.

Pausing for a moment, for David hated Pumpkin with unusual intensity, he rolled his eyes and said, "Very funny, Mel. Now, what do I really have to eat on the trip?"

"Ricotta and Spinach pasties. Chocolate Chip cookies and some Pastrami sandwich's to share with your friends," Mel informed him, this time giving him the truth.

David sighed in content, he loved Mel's cookies. She was an excellent savoury cook, but a masterful baker.

It wasn't a slight on her cooking skills, for they were impeccable, she was just that amazing of a baker.

She managed to surprise David's taste buds time and time again, even with the mundane classics like simple Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Snapping her fingers, David's rucksack was a little fuller, having an addition of food as well as some extra clothes, books and other Knick-Knacks he stored in there.

Washing her hands quickly Mel looked over David herself, ensuring his appearance was adequate.

Nodding, she said, "Everything is in order, off we go."

Taking her hand with a smile, David and Mel were off in a pop, landing in wizard end of Platform 9 ¾ instantly.

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"Very well, you have your schedules. Again, fifth-years have first patrols!" the Head Girl explained to the gathered Prefects excitedly.

Her quieter male counterpart just stood beside her silently, a Seventh Year Ravenclaw David had never spoken too.

For Ravenclaw, it was he and Padma who were Prefects. He knew beforehand she was to be his partner, the information being dropped in their casual correspondences throughout the break.

Hufflepuff's new Prefects for this year were Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot. David vaguely remembered Ernie being one of the main believers that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin, convincing many Second Years to this line of thinking.

But he would go onto join the DA this year, so David decided to give the guy a clean slate, he was only twelve when he made the accusation after all.

As for Hannah? Well, apart from her being part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, David knew nothing of her other than the fact she too, was meant to join the DA later in the year.

Over at Slytherin were the two blood supremacists, Draco Malfoy and his plaything, Pansy Parkinson.

Actually, David did know that the two Slytherin's weren't a couple, but from liberal Legillimency use, David saw some memories of the two that proved that they were at least 'involved' to a degree, but not dating.

And finally, Gryffindor was Hermione, who was currently beaming at him with joy and Ron, who was taking this all in and doing his best to be a Prefect.

David knew that would last all of about ten minutes. David really questioned Ron's appointment over the likes of the other Gryffindor boys.

But after thinking about it for a minute, David felt that they would all probably perform the same, or worse, favouring their House and giving as many deductions and detentions to Slytherin as they could manage.

He assumed, with Dumbledore being rightfully wary of the Dark Lords connection to Harry and his hatred for him, maybe Ron would mature a little in the role.

Regardless, Ron being a Prefect didn't matter all that much this year, for Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad would take that role from the rest of the school.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Off you go!" the Head Girl shouted, ushering David and the rest of the Fifth Years out.

Ron and Malfoy were scowling at each other once they made it out of the Prefect compartment, with Pansy looking like she smelt something other than her terrible perfume.

"Just a second, Padma," David said, turning to his fellow Prefect.

"Sure thing," she said, nodding in acceptance.

"Hey!" Hermione said excitedly, almost knocking Ron over to get to David.

"Hey yourself," David replied kissing her chastely on the cheek. Neither of them was much for public displays of affection, so nothing more was involved.

Hermione just smiled brightly and excitedly asked, "This is so exciting! I can't wait to help out all the first-years!"

"Looking forward to giving out detentions myself. So many little rule-breakers on the trains Hermione. I might be able to get a nap in this year if I terrorise them enough," David replied with a grin.

Knowing David was joking and that he wouldn't go out of his way to terrorise first-years, she just shook her head and said, "Boys. Am I right, Padma?"

"I don't know. David's idea seems pretty good. The train rides have been getting progressively louder each year… no way we were that unruly," she said in response, taking David's side in playful banter.

"No. I think we were worse. I clearly remember Malfoy knocking on every compartment, looking for a certain someone and Neville doing the same, looking for his toad," David said with a fond smile, thinking back to his first days at Hogwarts.

In the corner of his eye, David saw Malfoy glared at him as he was leaving with Pansy in tow, to patrol their particular area.

Before she could respond, Ron interrupted as his enemy was now gone, "Oi. We better get moving, 'Mione."

"Right! Sorry David, Padma. But I do need to get a move on. I'll see you later okay?" she added, a little torn between speaking with David and doing her Prefect duties.

"Have fun," David said as he waved goodbye.

Turning to Padma, David asked, "Let's get to it?"

She nodded eagerly, wanting to get this out of the way and hang out with Sue and the rest.

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"Hem, hem. Thank you, Headmaster, for those incredibly warm and kind words of welcome. And might I mention how lovely it is to see all your bright happy faces smiling up at me," she said with the fakest and most plastic smile David had ever had the pleasure of witnessing.

Umbridge looked around at all the faces before her, turning her thick neck left and right as she inspected her potential victims/students for the year.

"I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends," she said, excitement in her voice, but a small use of Legillimency showed David she was quite the sadistic bitch, already thinking of her little tortures and punishments.

"Now… The Ministry of Magic has always considered" she stressed, before continuing, "The education of young witches and wizards of vital importance. Although each Headmaster has brought something new to this historic school…" she added, turning to Dumbledore and giving him that awful smile of hers.

Dumbledore merely smiled in turn, not faltering for even a second as she tried her snide little attempts at edging him on.

David wondered if, at this moment, Dumbledore regretted not taking the position of Minister of Magic, if only to have her locked up in Azkaban.

Pausing mentally for a moment, David made a mental note make sure she either died or ended up rotting in prison once the was over. He was certain he could get away with both.

"Progress for progress sake must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that out to be… prohibited," she finished, this time smiling genuinely and with malice.

Grumbling broke out on the Ravenclaw table along with the slight applause that rang out across the Great Hall.

Dumbledore took over from here and said, with much more charisma, "Thank you, Professor Umbridge, that truly was most illuminating."

"Hmm… I wonder what that was about," Luna said quietly to David.

Turning to her, he asked, "Did you read this year's Defence textbook?"

She shook her head, explaining how she spent most of her summer on a trip with her father and didn't have much time to prepare for this new school year.

"Well… you should do some light reading and you'll understand," David said sadly to his friend.

It was going to be a rough year for many.