September First
"Brielle, you okay?"
Crap, she thought. I must've zoned out again. God, this meeting is boring.
Brielle was over the moon when her Hogwarts letter came with the silver Prefect's pin. Though she wouldn't admit it to anyone, she'd coveted the Prefect position since she had arrived at Hogwarts. She's wanted (and frankly expected) to be made prefect ever since she figured out what prefect meant. But 45 minutes into her very first prefect duty, she was already contemplating trading her badge with the chocolate her friends had surely already gotten from the trolley. And they hadn't even gotten to Hogwarts yet. They were still on the train. How on earth was Percy Weasley still coming up with things to say.
She could learn a thing or two from Percy Weasley. Last time she had to give a toast at a state dinner, she couldn't think of anything to say past "extraordinary leader." But he was still going on for almost an hour. It would've been impressive if it weren't so boring.
Kenneth was still looking at her curiously.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," Brielle managed to stammer out. "Just tired."
Kenneth raised an eyebrow. "Bored, more like."
If it weren't for the way the corners of his mouth twitched upwards slightly, Brielle would've thought he was making some remark about her dedication as a prefect. That was the thing about Kenneth. Most people didn't know what his deal was. Rather introverted, most people thought he was mean due to his tendencies to say whatever was on his mind. He wasn't the best at sarcasm, so most people thought he insulted them when he made a joke. Brielle could always tell though. She certainly had time to practice, what with 5 years of friendship under her belt.
Brielle chuckled lightly. "You got me. I'm usually enjoying a cauldron cake with Ari, Angie, and Alicia by now. We always share a compartment."
Kenneth's eyebrow raised a fraction higher as his mouth curved into a wry smile. "Ah, the famous cauldron cake quartet," he said in a voice that was seemingly an attempt to mimic Professor Dumbledore.
Brielle made a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a choke. "That's terrible," she managed to get out, her shoulders shaking.
"But you laughed."
"I did," she agreed. Something occurred to her.
"Kenneth? Where do you normally sit on the Hogwarts Express?"
Kenneth shrugged casually. "Usually find an empty compartment towards the back. Prefer the quiet, you know? Besides, who would I sit with?"
Brielle knew what he meant. There were three other Gryffindor boys in their year; Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and Lee Jordan. And if you weren't into Quidditch or randomly dumping slime on unsuspecting victims, friendship with that trio could be a bit difficult.
"You could always join us," Brielle suggested suddenly, shaking the image of the looks Angie and Alicia would give her when she returned. "I mean, there's still room. And maybe a visibly full compartment would deter some unwanted interruptions."
Year after year, the Weasley twins stopped by their compartment to annoy the four girls.
Kenneth raised his eyebrows, pondering her suggestion. Finally, he shrugged.
"For Godric's sake, why not," he replied.
Suddenly, everyone in the compartment stood and began packing up and leaving.
"Is the meeting over?" she asked Kenneth, looking around.
"I think so," he replied, standing up and grabbing his satchel. "I guess we're supposed to begin making our rounds."
"Hey guys!"
Brielle whipped her head around to see Cedric approaching from his seat on the other side of the compartment with a grin. "Some meeting, huh? I thought I'd never see the end of it."
"Hey Cedric!" Brielle stood and gestured for Cedric to join them. Kenneth stood awkwardly to her side, fidgeting, and Brielle realized she didn't know if Cedric and Kenneth ever properly met.
"Oh, Kenneth, have you met Cedric?"
"Can't say I have," the sandy-haired boy replied. "Kenneth Towler, Gryffindor prefect."
Kenneth stuck out his hand, which Cedric took and shook heartily.
"Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff prefect. And Quidditch captain, I just got the notice,"
"Oh, congrats Ced!" Brielle barely had any Quidditch knowledge, but she wasn't athletically illiterate enough to not know captain was a big deal. When Ben got Tourney captain, it was the subject of family dinner for 3 nights in a row.
“Thanks, I'm honestly pretty excited." Cedric paused, a strange look in his eyes as he turned toward her. "Hey, Brielle, I know you aren't really into Quidditch, but the Hufflepuff's playing the first game of the season, and I was hoping you could come. You know, first game as Captain, kind of a big deal. It would mean a lot if my closest friends were there."
Brielle paused. On one hand, she tended to avoid Quidditch games, the yelling and crowdedness reminding her a little too much of all the worst parts about Auradon royalty. And she could always count on the library to be practically empty during game time, and for Madam Pince to be in a better mood because of it. But one look at Cedric and his hopeful expression made it hard for Brielle to say no.
"Sure," she said. Cedric grinned.
"Great! Oh, and if we win, there's always a wild after-party down at the Hufflepuff common room. One of the seventh years can usually get us some firewhiskey, and everyone Hufflepuff knows how to get the best food from the kitchens. I think the house-elves favor us, honestly. You should check it out, I'll show you how to get into the common room." As if suddenly remembering he was there, Cedric turned to Kenneth. "You too, mate."
"No thanks, I'm not really a party person," Kenneth responded.
"Suit yourself," Cedric said with a shrug.
Brielle heard footsteps approaching and turned towards the source of the sound. Rosalie Borealis, the other fifth-year Hufflepuff prefect, was hastily trying to jot down one last note as she approached the trio.
Rosalie was a pretty girl. She had raven-black hair that she meticulously straightened and tamed every day, so that not a single strand was out of place as it over her shoulders and down her back. She was tall, too, with long legs that would've had every modeling agent in Auradon giving her their number if they happened to come across her in the Mall of Auradon or somewhere. She was what Natalie would've called "City of Auradon pretty", as opposed to Brielle who was apparently "Camelot Heights pretty, or Auradon Prep pretty."
"So, how did you guys find your first prefect meeting?” Rosalie asked with a wave as she joined the three prefects.
“Exhilarating” Brielle replied with mock enthusiasm and an eye roll. “I can’t believe we’ve been missing out on this for five years.”
Before anyone could respond, the train came to a sudden stop as the lights went out. “What’s going on? We can’t be there yet,” Brielle said, trying to sound prefect-ly and leaderly rather than confused and concerned.
“Let’s get to a compartment,” Kenneth said diplomatically, though unease leaked through his words as well.
Cedric felt around for a compartment door handle nearest to the trio, then slid it open as Kenneth rushed in and promptly tripped over someone’s outstretched legs. “Sorry,” he said breathlessly as the other three entered behind him.
“Do you know what’s going on?” Brielle asked whoever was in the compartment, hoping it was an older student or someone with authority.
“No,” said a distinctly non-authoritative voice she unfortunately recognized as belonging to one Fred Weasley. “D’you?”
“Not in the slightest,” Kenneth replied as he scrambled to his feet. Brielle fished her wand out of her robe pocket.
“Lumos,” she said with much more confidence than she felt. The light revealed three faces, Fred’s, George Weasley’s, and Lee Jordan’s. Just her luck.
Fred scooted to the side, making room for one more. “You can sit here, Brielle, if you want.”
“Oh, it’s okay, I’ll stand,” she said, trying (and failing) to keep the suspicious tone from her voice. She had spent enough time in the same house and year as Fred Weasley to know if he was offering up something that eagerly, it was surely an unwanted prank. And that was the last thing she needed right now.
Another person shoved their way into the compartment, pushing through the already crowded space to take the seat Fred had offered. Brielle moved her wand towards the person to reveal that it was a Slytherin boy, a third year, by the looks of it. Normally, this one had a look of smug superiority along his pale face, but his only expression now was fear.
“L-look out,” he stammered. “It’s- It’s the-”
The entire compartment went cold. The five faces she was illuminating suddenly became masks of pure fear. Brielle turned, frightened to find out what was behind her, and-
Standing in the doorway was a cloaked figure that must have been at least 12 feet tall. It didn’t have a face- or if it did, she couldn’t see it behind its cloak.
The temperature in the compartment plummeted as the figure moved into the compartment. A hand, decaying and skeletal, reached out from its cloak. Her insides seemed to freeze like the icy, rotting hand of the cloaked figure had a firm grip on her heart.
The last things Brielle heard before she passed out were Rosalie screaming and Kenneth shouting her name. And then she was plummeting down, down, down, into cold, unforgiving darkness.