Chapter 1
Beatrice Duke sat on the train to Hogwarts with her head leaning against the window, listening to her friends. It was raining lightly outside and she’d always loved the sound of rain, so much in fact that she found herself spacing out and ignoring her friends completely. She thought of listening to the light and gentle sound tonight while she slept in her four poster bed at school, underneath the luxurious sheets that she had missed desperately over the summer.
Her cousin, Hero Duke, snapped her out of this. “Beatrice, aren’t you listening?”
She turned her head, “Hmmm? Uh, yeah. Go on,”
Hero shook her head at her and giggled. Beatrice was positive that Hero was without a doubt the loveliest person who had ever existed. Not only did she have the face of an angel and long golden hair that framed her face and gave the illusion that she was glowing, but she was an angel on the inside too. She never had a bad word to say about anything, not even people who were completely vile. She made even Beatrice, who had something negative to say about everyone, see the world as a better place.
“We were just discussing whether or not Ursula should ask out Marlene McKinnon,” Hero explained.
Ursula was blushing so much that she’d turned completely into a bright shade of red. Meg Winter, the last member of their quartet, elbowed her in the ribs.
“Marlene’s pretty nice,” said Meg. “And she’s hot,”
Ursula pushed her glasses up her nose. “She’s . . . I don’t know . . . I mean, I don’t even know if she likes girls,”
“Are you kidding? She totally does,” Beatrice rolled her eyes.
“What proof do you have of this? Have you asked her yourself?” Ursula asked.
Meg groaned loudly. “Oh, who cares? We can find out when we get to school. But if she is, you have to go out with her. We’re in out seventh year and you haven’t had a relationship yet! It’s a bit sad,”
“Neither have Beatrice or Hero!” Ursula insisted.
“Well, Hero’s saving herself for Claudio and Beatrice hates everyone,” Meg explained like it was obvious.
Claudio was a quiet boy in Beatrice’s year that Hero had been mooning over since she’d first come to Hogwarts. Beatrice had heard many stories about the two of them staying up talking late at night in the Hufflepuff common room.
“I’m not saving myself for him,” Hero blushed.
“It’s fascinating to me how people are being killed left and right and all you three care about is who you’re going to be snogging this year,”
All three girls looked at Beatrice for a moment with sadness knowing how right she was. It seemed like every day that the Daily Prophet was reporting on a new death. Three of her parents’ couple friends had been killed just over the summer. Meg was the one who spoke first, though. “It’s not like we don’t care. But it’s not a very happy to think about is it? Now love? That’s a beautiful thing. That’s what will get us through this thing,”
Hero smiled. “Well said, Meg,”
“Which is exactly why you should get started with Claudio already,” she explained and Hero’s smile turned into an awkward grimace. “He’s a good looking guy! And he plays Quidditch! It’s not like other girls won’t notice him!”
Beatrice thought that was a load of bullshit, frankly. Claudio was just as taken Hero as she was with him. The two of them had spent the summer corresponding via owl – Hero had read nearly every letter aloud to her cousin. Beatrice had spent the past summer living with Hero’s family. She considered it to be practically the best decision she’d ever made – mostly because of her love for Hero, but also because it gave her a break from her sister, Petunia. As if being called a mudblood at school wasn’t enough, she had to deal with Petunia calling her a freak and much more rude names at home as well. So when her parents had said she could stay with Hero, she jumped at the chance. Hero was a muggleborn like herself. It had been quite a shock to the Duke family to have two witches in the family, even more shocking to have them separated by only one year.
“Claudio . . . we’re just friends!” Hero insisted.
“Right,” said Ursula. “And I’m straight,”
“Well then what about you, Beatrice?” asked Meg, ignoring Hero.
Beatrice made a face. “What about me? You know how I feel about relationships,”
“All I want to know is whether or not you’re finally going to give it a go with Ben this year,”
Benedick Hobbes was one of Beatrice’s fellow Gryffindors. He was perhaps the worst person she’d ever come in contact with – he was loud, rude, arrogant. Condescending without realizing it. But for some reason, her friends thought he was fit and that Beatrice should go out with him. Because Ben liked her. That was the worst part.
“I would literally rather Bat-Bogey Hex myself than go anywhere near Benedick,”
“Alright, then how about Pedro?” asked Meg.
“No. I don’t care about boys! They’re lame and annoying. I have better things to focus on – you know, like being head girl this year,” she said with a large smile, waiting for the congratulations from her friends.
Meg and Ursula clapped and Hero pulled her to her, giving her a side hug. “I’m so proud of you, Bea!” said Hero. “There’s no better choice! No offense, girls,”
“Yeah, it’s a big responsibility. Are you sure you can do it?” asked Ursula.
Beatrice nodded. “I was a prefect for two years, I know how to handle Hogwarts. And besides, it’s not that much different than being a prefect. It’s just a title,”
“The best title you could get! You’re in charge of everyone in school! It’s like Dumbledore, then the Heads of Houses, then the teachers and then you! Do you know who Head Boy is yet?” said Meg.
Beatrice shook her head. “Probably Balthazar,”
“Oh, I’d love that! He really deserves it, he works so hard!” Ursula practically squealed.
Meg shrugged. “He’s gotten far too many detentions,”
“Only because of the dick and Pedro. Flitwick’s got to know that’s not his fault,” Beatrice insisted. “Whoever it is, I just hope it isn’t John,”
All three girls groaned in agreement.
John Donaldson was an ex friend of Beatrice’s and Hero’s. They’d had a falling out a year prior, which Beatrice didn’t like to talk about. Although she’d never admit it to her friends, he was perhaps the one person that she hated more than Benedick. She’d done a good job of avoiding him and she couldn’t wait to continue doing the same thing this year. And avoiding Benedick too.
Meanwhile, near the back of the train, Benedick Hobbes was showing off his new remembrall to his own friends, while they played a game of exploding snap.
“You’re always forgetting something. That thing’s always going to be red,” said Ben’s best friend, Pedro Donaldson.
“That’s not true! I remembered to pack my things, didn’t I?”
“No, you didn’t. Your mother packed them for you,”
Pedro had been Ben’s best friend since their first train ride to Hogwarts six years ago. They’d bonded instantly and they’d been practically inseparable ever since. Pedro was probably the most popular boy in school – good looking, charming and with a thirst for adventure, sometimes Ben didn’t know how he’d get along without him. Pedro’d also been living with for the past year, much to Ben’s happiness, as he’d been thrown out of the house by his own family.
Ben looked over at Claudio, and thought about how his friend might benefit from the remembrall more than he. “Claudio,” he looked up. “Why don’t you have it?”
Claudio eyed him suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”
“Catch? Why has there always got to be a catch? I just figured you might benefit from it more than I will,” And it was true. Claudio wasn’t the quiet, bookish type like Balthazar or the rebellious, cool type like Pedro. He was just Claudio and he always seemed to be trying extra hard to fit in, which didn’t go unnoticed by Ben. He wanted Claudio to feel accepted in their group.
He tossed the remembrall to Claudio, who smiled and pocketed it.
“So what did you two do this summer?” Balthazar asked, looking up from his cards.
“Ben’s parents took on this awesome trip to Godric’s Hollow. Honestly for a history lesson, it was actually really cool. They say that that’s where the Deathly Hallows originated!” Pedro said, excitedly.
“Thanks for the invite, Ben,” Balthazar said, but Ben knew that he was joking.
“What did you even do? It couldn’t have been all that interesting,” said Claudio.
“It really wasn’t,” Ben shook his head. “I have no idea why you liked it so much,”
Pedro smirked. “Because my family would’ve hated it,”
Ben laughed then, knowing the truth in the answer. “Especially John,”
“Tell us again about how you jinxed him again, Ben!” said Claudio, sitting up a little straighter.
“You were there,” Ben shook his head. As much fun as teasing John had been for the past six years, he’d found that it had gotten a bit boring over the summer. It wasn’t like John was someone he disliked – he was just a terrible person. There really wasn’t anything much to be said about a person like that – the best thing to do was to just let them be terrible. It was like it had hit him for the first time – he’d never once considered the immaturity of his pranks on John before. But then there were the times that Ben considered what he’d said to Beatrice and Hero Duke and those times made him really want to hex John badly.
“Wouldn’t a year without any illegal jinxing be fun? You know, for a change,” Balthazar suggested.
Ben, Pedro and Claudio all laughed out loud at that, to which Balthazar rolled his eyes. “It’s our last year at school. We should just calm down a bit is all I’m saying. There’s too much going on in the world right now to continue with silly pranks,”
“Did you hear about Colletta Maris’s parents?” asked Pedro. “Death Eaters just snuck in one night and killed them. Colletta was at a friend’s house – came back the next morning and all that was left of her house was a pile of dirt,”
Claudio shook his head. “That’s awful,”
“And yet, the school let’s Death Eaters walk around the halls like it’s no big deal,” Ben said angrily.
Pedro made a face, a bit sad about the reality of the path his brother had chosen. Balthazar gave Ben a look to cut it out, but he continued. “I mean, seriously! Robbie, Cora, all of them. Any time anything dark happens McGonagall wonders who did it? How can she not know? I swear I saw Cora show a Slytherin girl the Dark Mark last year!”
“I wouldn’t put it past her,” said Claudio.
“I’m sorry, Pedro,” said Balthazar, looking at him through hooded eyes. Pedro smiled at him.
“It’s alright, man. Can’t help who you’re related to, can you?”
Ben wrapped an arm around Pedro’s shoulder. “Besides! You and I are like proper brothers now! The whole lot of us – we’re sort of like brothers right?”
Balthazar looked horrified at the idea of being brothers with Pedro, but Claudio grinned brightly and clapped his hands in agreement.
“And as brothers, I think we need to change the subject to something a bit lighter,” said Pedro, pushing Ben off of him. “Like . . . Claudio. Hero. Explain,”
Claudio blushed. “Explain what? There’s nothing happening,”
“You’re full of it,” said Ben. “It’s disgusting the way you fawn all over her. ‘Oh Hero, you’re so funny.’ ‘Oh Hero, you’re so short.’ ‘Oh Hero, you’re so beautiful. ‘Oh Hero, you’re so –“
At that point, Claudio had kicked him in the shins. “Do I really say ‘Oh, Hero’ that much?”
“That’s not the point! The point is that relationships are a waste of time. Either just fuck whoever like Pedro does or admire from afar. Relationships ruin everything,”
“How would you know?” asked Balthazar. “You’ve never been in one.”
“Exactly. Because I’m smart. People are dying! There’s no time for love!”
“Love – it will not betray you, enslave or dismay you, it will set you free,” Balthazar explained, like he’d just said the most insightful thing. Pedro smiled at him shyly, but this went unnoticed him by everyone else.
“Then love your friends! Love your family! Love Quidditch! That’ll set you free. Not some girl,”
“Hero isn’t just some girl,” Claudio insisted. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re too immature.”
Pedro smirked, “Don’t mind Ben. He’s just mad because Beatrice won’t go out with him,”
Ben turned bright red at the mention of Beatrice Duke.
“I told you I’m over her. It was just a lapse of judgment,”
“Mmm hmm. A lapse of judgment that lasted five years?” Claudio leaned back, clearly pleased with himself.
Beatrice was Ben’s fellow Gryffindor. She was infuriating and perhaps the only person – aside from John, of course – who didn’t think he was amazing. And she just didn’t like him for no reason! (There was a reason, actually. Many reasons, but Ben would never admit that). But still, Ben thought Beatrice was the most amazing girl in the world. If he ever did want to be in a relationship, which he never would, it would be her. Hypothetically, of course because relationships suck and Beatrice hated his guts.
“Well – you know I liked her at one point but . . . just forget it. I’m over her. I’ve grown up, I’ve matured,”
“Is that why you doodled her initials on your Charms exam last year?” said Pedro and Balthazar and Claudio both laughed. Ben punched him in the arm.
“You said that was our secret!”
“That was before you started telling Claudio not to go after Hero! If he likes Hero, he should ask her out, simple as that,”
“Thank you,” said Claudio, exasperated.
“Do you think Beatrice will go out with you now that you’re Head Boy?” asked Balthazar.
It had been the biggest shock of Ben’s life when he’d gotten the letter that he’d been elected Head Boy. He hadn’t been a prefect and he’d gotten more detentions – along with Pedro – than anyone in the school’s thousand-year history. He knew that his teachers liked him, but was being liked by them enough to get that type of honor? Ben had never seen his mother cry so hard when he showed her the letter.
“I still say that was a joke,” said Pedro.
“Yeah, Ben, how did you manage to pull that off?” asked Claudio.
Ben shrugged. “If I had the answer, I would tell you,”
“Did you sleep with Dumbledore or something?” Pedro teased and Ben laughed and pushed him again.
He didn’t want to admit it to his friends, but he was actually beyond honored that they’d made him head boy. Nobody ever had any faith in him and to be given such a responsibility was something that Ben didn’t think he needed, but he did. Maybe he was getting to a point where people didn’t see him as a prankster and a troublemaker – people genuinely respected him. Important people. He also couldn’t wait to see the look on Beatrice’s face when she saw his head boy badge.
The Sorting Hat ceremony was as boring as it nearly always was. Beatrice clapped along with the rest of Gryffindor house whenever a new student joined them, but she always hated the times where she couldn’t go off and sit with her friends. She was the only one of them in Gryffindor. She looked over to the other three houses, where each one of her friends sat, by themselves as well. Hero caught her eye and winked and Beatrice smiled.
Also perhaps the worst thing about these times was the fact that she always somehow ended up near Benedick and Pedro. She’d been doing here best to ignore them since she’d arrived and only seen them from the corner of her eye. Thankfully, neither of them had said anything to her yet.
They were however, talking to each other. Pedro and Ben were in deep conversation currently about who they’d rather shag – Professor Sprout or Professor Birkins. Ben had noticed how close Beatrice was to him but was choosing to ignore her no matter how badly he wanted to look over at her and see how beautiful she looked under the candlelight. But no – he was over her, so he continued on trying to convince Pedro that Sprout would be much more fun in the sack then Birkins.
But then, mid debate, he just happened to glance over at the Slytherin table to see Beatrice’s friend Meg leaning against Robbie. He interrupted Pedro and motioned over to the two of them. They kissed and rubbed their noses together and Pedro and Ben both made faces.
“Since when are they together?” asked Pedro.
“No idea,” said Ben, in disbelief.
“Do you think Beatrice and Hero know?” asked Pedro, whispering their names.
“Well if they didn’t, they do now,” Ben was completely horrified. Although he didn’t know Beatrice’s gaggle of girlfriends, he’d always liked Meg. She was funny and always had witty comebacks to give to the professors, but never did he think her to be the type to be involved with the Dark Arts. Especially when two of her best friends were muggle borns! Anyone in Ben’s position would’ve assumed the worst of Meg. No one gets involved with one of You-Know-Who’s most devoted followers without agreeing with them. But Ben’s biggest mistake was saying this out loud and far too loud apparently, because it was then that Beatrice said loudly from behind him:
“You keep her name out of your mouth. You don’t know anything, dick face,”
He heard Pedro sigh audibly, readying himself for the impending argument.
Ben turned around and puffed out his chest, “Hello to you too, Beatrice. Enjoy your summer holiday?”
Beatrice’s already unpleasant expression became far more unpleasant. “Don’t say anything about Meg. You don’t know anything about her,”
“It wasn’t necessarily about Meg, more about the git she’s over there snogging,”
“Benedick,” Beatrice interrupted.
Ben kicked his feet back. “We’ve known each other for a long time, right? So we clearly need to get this whole name thing sorted. It’s three letters so it’s not too complicated. It’s B for bumble bee, E for echidna and N for nurse. Ben.”
“You don’t need to patronize me every time you talk,” Beatrice crossed her arms over her chest. “As I was saying, Benedick, don’t talk about my friends and we won’t have a problem,”
“We always seem to have a problem though, don’t we?”
“We wouldn’t if you learned how not to be a complete dick,” Beatrice looked like she was going to turn away and then slowly she noticed the badge on his robes. “What is that?”
“My robes,” he said, trying and failing to be cute.
“No, that badge. That Head Boy badge. Where did you get that?”
“It’s mine,”
Beatrice barked out a fake laugh. “No, I’m serious, who did you nick that from?”
“I am serious,” said Ben.
“Trust me, Beatrice, he’s serious. I don’t understand it either,” said Pedro.
It was then that Ben noticed the Head Girl badge on Beatrice’s robe and he moved closer on the bench to her. “Well, well, well. Head Girl and Head Boy?”
“No,” said Beatrice, shaking her head in disgust. “There’s got to be a mistake. You weren’t even a prefect last year!”
“Apparently, McGonagall and Dumbledore don’t seem to think that matters much. Just face it Beatrice – the two of us are going to be spending loads of time together this year,”
Beatrice didn’t even bother responding to that. She simply turned away, still clearly annoyed and trying to figure out how this could’ve happened.
Ben turned back to Pedro and whispered, “She wants me,”
To which Pedro simply said, “Okay,” in a way that could’ve been interpreted as genuine or sarcastic. Ben interpreted it as the former.