Chapter Text
Clarke sighed for what must have been the tenth time that morning as yet another crowd of people in business suits, clutching briefcases and takeaway coffee cups, came between her and her destination. She swore under her breath at the man who stopped abruptly in front of her to answer his phone and proceeded to talk about some inane lunch meeting scheduled for that afternoon. Glancing up at the digital display above her, Clarke noted that it was 08:54. They had exactly six minutes to make it to Platform 9 ¾ before the train departed without them.
Looking behind her frantically, Clarke’s eyes found the source of her frustration situated a few feet back. The brunette struggled through the same oblivious crowd with a disgruntled expression painted across her features. Behind her she dragged a trolley holding large trunk with a battered cage housing her beloved owl, Artemis, balanced precariously on top.
“Hurry up!” Clarke hissed at the dark haired girl, “I swear to God, Raven, if you make us miss the train and land us in detention before we even get to Hogwarts I will personally feed you to the giant squid.”
“Calm down, Griffin. There’s no way we’re missing that train. Just give me a minute, this thing has a mind of its own,” her best friend replied, gesturing at the trolley and running a hand through her dishevelled hair. Mornings had never really been Raven’s thing and the blonde’s uppity attitude along with her own lack of coffee wasn’t exactly helping matters.
Exhaling, Clarke rolled her eyes and wondered which genius had thought it had been a good idea to make a bunch of students catch a train from King’s Cross during rush hour on a Monday morning. Did the staff at Hogwarts have no idea about muggle working hours? Had they not realised by now that trying to travel anywhere in central London at such a time was akin to hell on earth? Obviously not, she thought with another roll of her eyes and made a mental note to mention it to Headmaster Jaha later. She was pulled harshly from her thoughts by a cacophony of noise from behind her.
Clarke swivelled on her heel to see Raven’s trunk now lying on the floor along with the girl herself, her face growing increasingly red. Clarke couldn’t tell if it was due to anger or embarrassment. Artemis’s cage rolled across the station floor whilst the bird inside screeched wildly, disgruntled at the unfortunate turn of events. The commuters closest to them had paused and were now openly staring with confusion, mouths agape at the scene unfolding before them.
‘Great, just what we need’ Clarke thought to herself as she made a move to retrieve the cage, a fresh dent having appeared in its already worn facade.
Artemis had stopped screeching as was now ruffling her feathers indignantly as she eyed the blonde with suspicion. Clarke scowled back, not having forgotten the incident the previous morning when the owl had delivered their post, knocking a jug of orange juice over Clarke in the process.
Raven had since picked herself up and was struggling with her upturned trunk as Clarke made her way over.
“Nice going Reyes, way to be inconspicuous.” Clarke snipped as she helped her friend gather up her possessions.
She regretted her harsh words seconds later as Raven bent down to readjust her brace. Clarke knew her friend was sensitive about her leg since the accident that had occurred years previously. The accident that had changed their lives forever. Clarke didn’t have time to think about that right now. She wouldn’t allow herself to.
“Hey, it wasn’t my fault!” Raven protested, interrupting Clarke's thoughts yet again. “That wanker, Murphy, shoved me and ran off. Wait until I catch up with him later...there’s a bat bogey hex with his name written all over it.”
Clarke looked up to see the back of John Murphy’s greasy head disappearing into the crowd before them. There had always been bad blood between Clarke and Murphy. This was first and foremost due to their house rivalry which was only fuelled by their positions on the Gryffindor and Slytherin quidditch teams. Then there was the fact that Murphy just seemed to have the unwavering ability to cause trouble wherever he went. The guy was just a dick, Clarke decided.
“Worry about Murphy later,” Clarke reasons.
"Right now we need to get to the platform. We’ve got five minutes so we’ll have to run. I’ll keep hold of this pest,” she said as she held up the cage still gripped in her hand.
Several hectic minutes and many muttered curses later, Clarke was pushing her trolley through the wall between platforms nine and ten, grateful to see that their transport hadn’t yet departed. Taking in the welcome sight of the Hogwarts Express, a wave of relief washed over her. She felt the familiar presence of Raven at her side seconds later and shared a knowing smile with the girl as they made their way down the platform.
“Told you we’d make it, Princess. I don’t know why you were so stressed out” Raven smirked as the train rumbled to life and plumes of smoke rose from the blastpipe .
Clarke was about to chastise her for using the nickname she absolutely loathed (She would never forgive Finn Collins for that one) but was distracted by a determined tapping on one of the carriage windows to her left. She looked up to see the familiar faces of both Blake siblings pressed into the window pane. Octavia had crossed her eyes whilst Bellamy had pushed his nose against the glass so it was upturned. Both were grinning manically. Clarke arched an eyebrow in response and both Blakes fell back from the window into a fit of laughter.
“Move your ass, Griffin,” Raven playfully nudged her friend towards the carriage door. “We haven’t got all day.”
Clarke boarded the train and her mood lifted along with her smile at the prospect of being reunited with her closest friends. She slid the carriage door open and was almost knocked off her feet as Octavia launched herself forwards, arms enveloping Clarke in a warm hug.
“About time you guys got here” Octavia pulled back and flashed Clarke a smile that reached her eyes. “We didn’t think you were going to make it.”
Clarke laughs, “We almost didn’t. This one here slept through her alarm and we almost missed our taxi to the station. I literally had to pull her out of her bed.”
Raven slid her way around Clarke and stumbled into the warmth of the carriage.
“Yeah, well you know how I love my beauty sleep Griffin, not that I need it,” she winked as she pulled Octavia into a hug.
Clarke rolled her eyes yet again and smiled at the girl’s cockiness. Raven had lived with Clarke and her mother since the summer just before the girls started at Hogwarts. Raven’s own home life was troubled. They had lived on the same street as each other since they were five and Raven’s mother had been an alcoholic and a drug addict. She was absent for most of her daughter’s childhood, often leaving Raven alone whilst she went about getting her latest fix. Physically, when she was present, she was always too out of it to really pay any attention to her daughter. After the accident Raven’s mother hadn’t even shown up at the hospital. When the muggle authorities had come to take Raven into care, Abby insisted that Raven would come and live with them. That’s the way it’s been ever since. Raven had become more like a sister to Clarke than one of her friends.
“Gracious as always, Raven,” Bellamy steps forward and hugs the two girls in turn. As Octavia’s older brother he’d always been protective of her and since the three girls had become fast friends in their first year, he’d kept a watchful eye over all of them, trying to keep up with their antics.
Now he was entering into his seventh and final year at Hogwarts and would be taking over the position of captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team. He’d sent Clarke and Raven a letter over the summer telling them of his achievement and they’d both beamed with pride. Clarke had gotten some good news from Hogwarts over their summer holiday too but had opted to keep it quiet until she saw her friends in person.
“Nice to see you’ve not lost your sense of humour, captain,” Clarke smiled. “We missed you guys over the summer, how was your vacation? Any interesting developments we should know about? ”
The four of them took their seats in the carriage and fell into a comfortable conversation about each of their summers. Usually they would all meet up at Clarke’s house and the Blakes would stay for several weeks but this year they’d gone backpacking together through Europe in an effort to be more cultured. Though from the way Octavia described their travels, the trip had been the exact opposite; filled with late night bars in Berlin (‘you only have to be 16 to drink there!’ Octavia had delightedly told Clarke) and sampling some of the more frowned upon baked goods in Amsterdam’s cafes.
“Anyway, how come Abby didn’t drop you both off at the station?” Octavia asked throwing the girls a puzzled look.
Clarke’s smile faltered a little at the question. “She was called into St Mungo’s late last night. Apparently there was some sort of emergency and they needed her.” She’s been getting busier and busier lately, Clarke pondered, but then what can you expect from their Head Healer. Since the accident Abby had thrown herself into her work. Clarke suspected it was her way of coping but couldn’t stop the familiar twinge of sadness she felt when she thought of her mother.
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Monty Green and Jasper Jordan. Jasper was a Gryffindor like Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia. Monty was more of the quiet genius type and had been sorted into Ravenclaw along with one Raven Reyes. Together the boys were like a modern day version of the Weasley twins and had gotten each other into more than a few hilarious situations during their past four years at Hogwarts. They’d all become friends after meeting in Charms class in first year. Admittedly their friendship didn’t get off to the smoothest of starts after Raven had accidentally set fire to Jasper’s quill. The girl was unbelievably intelligent but had a habit of causing mishaps. Once the flames were extinguished they’d all seen the funny side and by the time Jasper’s eyebrows had grown back their little group was inseparable.
“Well, looks like the old crew is back together again,” Jasper beamed as he embraced each of them in turn. “So, who’s ready for fifth year then? I personally cannot wait...you know... minus the whole O.W.Ls thing of course.”
There was a collective groan from everyone besides Bellamy. Their exams were a long way off yet but the thought loomed over them like a spectre.
“Way to kill the mood, Jasper,” Monty quipped. He took a seat next to Clarke and pulled out a deck of cards, “Anyone for a game of exploding snap?”
A couple of hours into the journey and after many rounds of the game (Octavia and Raven had become extremely competitive and each had scorch marks across their hands) the stress of the morning was long forgotten. The trolley witch had passed by, her cart laden with Honeydukes treats, and they had all generously emptied their pockets. The candy wrappers now littered the small table in their compartment and Clarke relaxed into her seat feeling content. She finally felt like she was returning home. To her, Hogwarts had always been a safe haven and the place she’d felt most comfortable since her father had passed away. There she was always surrounded by the people who loved her most.
After another hour, Clarke stood up and reached for the luggage rack above them. Opening her trunk she rooted around for a specific item that she’d tucked away in a pair of socks.
Raven glanced at Clarke and raised an eyebrow in question, “What are you doing Griffin? We’ve still got at least another two hours until we have to change into our robes.”
Clarke was equal parts nervous and excited as she turned around to face the group. Her hand was sweaty as she tightly clasped the shiny metal badge she’d received in the post two weeks previously. Wordlessly she opened her hand to the group to reveal a small red badge with the word ‘Prefect’ emblazoned across it in gold lettering.
“Oh my God, way to go Clarke!” Octavia was the first to speak and jumped up to pull the girl into a crushing hug. “You kept that one quiet, how long have you known?”
Clarke felt the warmth creeping into her cheeks as all eyes in the cabin were now fixed intently on her.
“About two weeks. I wanted to keep it quiet and surprise you guys.”
She looked to Raven, fearing her friend might be hurt by her lack of admission. Instead of the look of hurt she half expected she saw in its place a shit-eating grin plastered across the shorter girl’s face.
“You know what this means don’t you, Griffin?” Raven asked. “It means not only are you a nerd, but its official, you’re a school appointed nerd. Congratulations by the way.” She waggled her eyebrows and then yelped in faux pain as Clarke reached out and swatted her arm playfully.
There were several whoops of appreciation from Jasper and Monty before Bellamy stood to congratulate her.
“Clarke, that’s awesome news,” Bellamy grinned as he clapped a hand on her shoulder, “I hope your newly allocated responsibilities aren’t going to distract you from our quidditch training. It’d be a pain in the arse to replace the best seeker we’ve had in years.”
She grinned widely at his mock concern, “Never. You guys would fall apart without my superior flying skills.”
She was referring to the time Gryffindor had won the quidditch cup last year after a particularly tense final match against Hufflepuff. Octavia was their best Chaser and had been injured by a bludger to the arm. Things had been looking rough for Gryffindor but Clarke had caught the snitch when Hufflepuff were 100 points up.
“Though speaking of new responsibilities, I do have to go and meet with the other Prefects before we reach Hogwarts. Lincoln sent me an owl yesterday saying to meet him at 2pm in the cabin at the front of the train.”
At the mention of Lincoln, Octavia’s eyes snapped up and a dreamy half smile crossed her face. She’d had a crush on him for the past two years but had never worked up the nerve to speak to him. Lincoln was a Hufflepuff in Bellamy’s year and had just been appointed Head Boy. He was also Hufflepuff’s Keeper and captain of their quidditch team so to say there was a little rivalry between the two men was understating it.
The expression on Octavia’s face didn’t go unnoticed by either Raven or Bellamy who both frowned slightly. Clarke threw Raven a sympathetic look which the other girl ignored. She’d long suspected that Raven’s feelings towards Octavia had blurred lines of strictly friendship. They’d never discussed it of course. Raven was usually totally open about her sexuality and had dated boys and girls. But she would not talk about her feelings for Octavia, even with Clarke.
“You’d better get going then Clarke, you don’t want to be late,” Monty offered.
Clarke reached back into her trunk and pulled out her robes, sliding them over her head and adjusting her blonde hair over her shoulders. She fixed the Prefect badge to her lapel and smiled widely at her friends. Saying her goodbyes, she told her friends she’d see them again after the meeting and fill them in on what had happened. There was bound to be some sort of drama, there always was when Clarke was involved.
“Hey Clarke,” Jasper called as she slid the cabin door open, “I don’t suppose you know who any of the other prefects are yet do you?”
“No, Lincoln didn’t mention anyone else is his letter. Why, do you?” Clarke frowned slightly wondering how Jasper could have known before her. She knew gossip travelled fast at the school but even for Hogwarts that would have been impressive.
He gave her a knowing smile and said “I’ve heard a few rumours but I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” He then turned back to Monty and resumed the game of exploding snap they’d been in the middle of, leaving Clarke to exit the cabin deep in thought.
Clarke glanced at the watch that had once belonged to her Father as she made her way through the train’s main corridor. It was 14:03 so she was a few minutes late but then again, that was her style. Headmaster Jaha would have known that before he appointed her as a Prefect so she wasn’t going to disappoint him by changing her ways now.
Walking past a cabin full of Slytherins, she locked eyes with Murphy and made sure to give him a middle-fingered salute by retribution for his fuckery at the station that morning. Although as a Gryffindor she was predisposed to dislike Slytherins, Clarke thought most of them were generally pleasant enough despite reputation. There were of course she thought, a few notable exceptions, Murphy being just one of them. She continued stalking down the train, picking up the pace as she made her way to the front carriage. Pausing just before she reached the compartment, she let go of the breath she didn’t realise she had been holding and slid the door open.
“How nice of you to join us, Miss Griffin.”
Clarke looked towards the source of the voice and was taken aback to be met with the steely gaze of Anya Woods. This was unexpected.
She had known Anya was a Prefect but the girl was a loose-cannon of sorts with her infamous temper. Clarke was astounded to see a Head Girl badge pinned to the front of her robes. They had met previously on the quiddich pitch with Anya being the Slytherin Keeper but aside from that Clarke had kept her distance. The older girl’s reputation preceded her.
“S-sorry I’m late,” Clarke stammered, faltering under her intense stare, “I lost tra-”
“I don’t need to hear your excuses Griffin” Anya cut her off sharply. “Take a seat next to Miller so we can begin. We’ve got a lot to get through and a limited time to do it in. Less now thanks to you.”
Clarke felt her cheeks burning as she quietly slid into her seat next to fellow Gryffindor, Nathan Miller. He wasn’t one of her closest friends but she felt comforted when he offered her a sympathetic smile.
As Anya proceeded to tell the group what was expected of them over the course of the school year, Clarke’s attention waned. Anya seemed to be taking her duty rather seriously and she reiterated each point she made by tapping aggressively on the chalkboard behind her. There was a list of bullet points as long as Clarke’s arm. ‘God, this is tedious’ she thought as she scanned the dimly-lit room to find out who else had been granted the honour of Prefect status.
Making up the rest of the Prefects were Wells Jaha (no surprises there, Clarke thought smugly) and Maya Vie for Hufflepuff. Then there was Harper Campbell and Kyle Wick sat in the blue colours of Ravenclaw. She didn’t know either of them that well, however Raven was close with Wick, or ‘Wick the dick’ as she had heard Raven called him numerous times. Clarke knew it was in jest as Raven often referred to Wick as her ‘bro.’ They shared the same weird fascination with Muggle technology.
Her gaze then drifted across to the far end of the cabin, only to be greeted by the sneer of Cage Wallace. Clarke’s expression darkened. Cage was yet another member of the Slytherin quidditch team and played Beater alongside Murphy. Not that he was particularly good, Clarke noted. He was too aggressive and his aim was sloppy. His father happened to be the editor of the Daily Prophet and the title carried a lot of influence. No, there was no way that guy made it into the team on talent alone Clarke thought as a smirk played at the corners of her mouth.
“Is there something funny about what I’m saying, Griffin? Or would you rather stand up here and inform the rest of us about what has you so amused?” Anya folded her arms and scowled.
Clarke said nothing and she felt her cheeks redden yet again as she felt all eyes landing on her. This was becoming a bad habit of hers. She dropped her gaze and out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Lincoln stifle a laugh but couldn’t be sure.
Satisfied that she had sufficiently embarrassed Clarke, Anya went back to lecturing them on how they shoud lead the first years to the boats where they would cross the lake.
Realising only six other prefects were accounted for, Clarke raised her head again whilst Anya’s back was turned to look for number seven. Her eyes were once again drawn to the far end of the cabin, where a girl with dark brown hair drawn into intricate braids sat pressed into the corner. Her back was ramrod straight and she was staring out of the window, seemingly uninterested in the lecture taking place around her. The girl had her face turned away but Clarke couldn’t stop the sinking feeling in her stomach as she put two and two together.
“No way,” Clarke whispered to herself. The universe simply could not be this cruel. It had to be some sort of sick joke. What had she done to deserve this?
As if hearing her frantic thoughts, the other girl looked up and locked her gaze onto Clarke’s with a quiet intensity. Forest green eyes pierced sky-blue ones and Clarke felt as though her stomach had dropped through the floor. If the braided hair and starch posture hadn’t given it away before now, those eyes were all the confirmation Clarke needed.
Lexa Woods.
Fuck.
Clarke had no control over what happened next. Her jaw went slack and a brief look of surprise played across her features as she gawked openly at the brunette. Clarke noticed that Lexa's face had lost most of its youthful roundness since the last time she saw her. She was all angular cheekbones and defined jawline. It suited her, Clarke thought before catching herself, reminded of the fact that she hated Lexa Woods. And with good reason.
Lexa’s expression didn’t change at all, her eyes cold and emotionless as she appeared to stare straight through Clarke. Another second passed before Lexa diverted her gaze back out of the window.
Clarke swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and forced herself to at least look like she was paying attention. If she’d thought Anya being selected for Head Girl was a bad start to the school term then this was surely ten times worse.
Lexa Woods was trouble, and Clarke knew it.