Some Things Never Change

It was a Friday night; and as was tradition, the prefects had gathered in the boys' prefect bathroom.

"So," Tim (a Hufflepuff sixth year) said, "What should we open with tonight?"

"What?" Hermione asked.

Kate (a Ravenclaw seventh year) and Dana, called Carter (a Gryffindor seventh year), exchanged looks.

"Do you mean that you've never been to a prefect 'meeting?' " Carter asked.

*****

"No," Minerva McGonagall said defensively. "I've always had homework. I should be doing some tonight, in fact. But Professor Dumbledore told me to come."

"No wonder you're every teachers' pet," Susan (a Gryffindor seventh year) commented.

"I'm not every teacher's pet," Minerva said.

"I bet you can't even name one teacher who hates you," Charlie (a Hufflepuff sixth year) challenged.

Minerva stammered. "Of course I can. Um -- well -- there's always professor -- "

*****

"-- Snape!" Hermione said triumphantly. "He only likes Slytherins, especially Draco."

"Hey," Draco sneered as he walked in, "It's not my fault no one else knows anything about potions." He looked at Hermione. "What're you doing here, Granger? I thought you had to do Potty and Weasel's homework."

"I *am* a prefect," Hermione reminded him. "And unlike you, Harry and Ron can do their homework for themselves."

Draco sneered at her, but before anything else could break out, Avery (a Slytherin seventh year) stepped in.

"Come on guys, break it up," he said.

Draco went over to his usual spot, lying against some cushions in the corner.

*****

Once Lucius had settled himself in his usual spot, Charlie started again as group moderator.

While he was talking, Susan leaned over and whispered to Minerva, "Every week we bet on a variety of things, for fun. That's all we do in here, just bet, talk, and hang out."

"So, Charlie said, "The first topic is, speaking of the professors, Dumbledore's age."

*****

"How old do you think he really is?" Tim finished.

"But that's stupid," Hermione said. "That's his own business."

"Hermione," Carter said, "It's just for fun."

"Besides," Kate added, "We won't ask him." She held up a book. "We'll just record your guess right here in this log. It contains every recorded bet. If, down the line, someone does find out the answer, then we'll settle the pool."

Tim dumped three sickles into a brown pouch. "Three sickles on 90," he said and passed it to Kate.

"Two sickles on 150," Kate said, passing it to Carter.

"One galleon on 175," Carter said, throwing it easily to Draco.

"One galleon on 200," Draco said coolly, tossing it back to Avery.

"Hmm," Avery mused. "I'll have to go with five sickles on 110." He handed it to Phillip, called Pip (a Hufflepuff fifth year).

"One sickle, two knuts on 500," Pip said, handing it to Cho Chang.

"Two sickles on 225," Cho said, handing the bag to Hermione.

*****

"But I don't want to bet," Minerva protested.

"Too bad, you have to," Kerry (a Ravenclaw seventh year) said.

"All right," Minerva said. She bit her bottom lip in concentration. "Well, taking into account that he is friends with an alchemist, who is over 600 years old . . . and calculating the number of years he's been teaching . . . and I'm pretty sure I could come up with some sort of formula . . . "

*****

"Hermione!" Tim exclaimed.

"Just bet already!" Avery said.

"It's not a serious competition. It's all in fun," Carter said.

"Don't rush me," Hermione said. "I bet . . . um . . . 600 and . . . um . . . 40 . . . wait, make that 635."

"Took long enough," Tim muttered, grabbing back the bag as Kate dutifully recorded Hermione's bet.

*****

"Well, I just wanted to make a good, educated guess," Minerva said defensively.

Susan rolled her eyes. "You don't need to take everything so seriously Min."

"What? There's nothing wrong with being serious," Minerva protested.

"Yeah there is," Alex (a Hufflepuff fifth year) said. "You miss out on all the fun, stupid stuff."

"Spoken like a true Hufflepuff," Lucius sneered.

"What now, Lucius?" Alex asked, turning to him.

"It's just that your sentiment seems to be the perfect motto for the Hufflepuffs. They care too much for 'having fun' and 'being stupid' too bother with real work and real ambition. It's really no wonder that your house hasn't won the House Cup in decades," Lucius drawled.

Alex jumped up to dive on Lucius, but Charlie grabbed the back of his robes.

"Easy kid, easy," Charlie said. "Don't start throwing punches. Not here, anyway."

"Yeah, and why not," Alex sputtered. "He just insulted our house!"

"I heard; I heard," Charlie said. "But you just have to let it go. If we can't all get along, these meetings are ruined."

Susan leaned over to Kerry. "Why is it always the fifth years that fight?" she asked rhetorically.

Minerva leaned over to Susan. "I don't see why you do this," she hissed. "It's a complete waste of time. Besides, we're all from different houses with absolutely nothing in common."

Susan put an arm around Minerva in a big sisterly gesture. "Min," she began.

"Minerva," Minerva corrected.

"Fine, fine. Minerva, you missed the start of term prefects speech, so I'll sum it up for you. We're all prefects here. Supposedly the best and brightest of our respective years and houses; the top competitors for Head Boy and Girl. I don't know about you, but that can get a little tense at times. So, many years ago, a group of prefects got together to talk, laugh, and commiserate. It's every Friday night, and no one has to come if he or she doesn't want to come. But I do hope that you do. It's fun and relaxing. The only thing is that you have to leave the school politics at the door. Every rivalry, every competition, just leave it all out there. Out there we may be competitive, and we may not get along; but in here we need to just relax. And that goes for you too Malfoy," Susan said.

Charlie applauded and whistled. "Great speech, Suz."

Susan stood and bowed. "Thank you, thank you."

David (a Slytherin seventh year) threw a pillow at her. "If she ever gets mom-ish again," he told Hermione. "Just hit her." He ducked as Susan returned the volley. "It's not good for her to take herself too seriously."

Charlie cleared his throat. "Now that that's all cleared up," he said. "Let's get on with business."

"Right," Kerry said, consulting her bet book. "We're missing Minerva's Quidditch Cup/House Cup bets."

"Okay," he said. "So, Minerva, what's your bet for that one?"

"For Gryffindor, of course," Minerva said.

"We know that," David said. "But Charlie needs to know how much you wager. And, just so you know, you don't have to bet for Gryffindor. This bet we really settle at the end of the year."

*****

"Oh, okay," Hermione said. "In that case, I bet, um, a galleon on each." She handed the money to Kate who solemnly recorded it.

"I think that's it for the bets," she said after a minute. "Unless anyone can think of something new, that is."

Everyone shook their heads.

*****

"Okay then," David said. "Let's move onto the next part of our agenda: polls."

"I've got one," Lucius offered. David nodded at him, and Lucius rose slowly, holding an old book. "I saw this in the library -"

"Ooh, Lucius knows what a library is?" Susan teased.

He ignored her. Apparently, Lucius had been to several of these meetings because he seemed to know everyone well. "And I thought that it would be perfect for us." He held it up, showing four pictures, one on each page. "It's the founders," he explained. "And the question is: who would you sleep with, if they came back tonight?"

"Good one," David said approvingly. "What's your response?"

He opened the book slowly for suspense and held it up. "Rowena Ravenclaw."

Alex whistled appreciatively. "Nice," he said.

Lucius handed the book to David who studied the pictures of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff for quite a while. "Well Lucius," he said finally, "I have to agree with your choosing Ravenclaw, but I've always had a weakness for blondes."

"As shown when you dated Susan," Kerry commented.

"So I'll have to choose Helga Hufflepuff," he concluded after glaring at Kerry. He threw the book to her, expecting Kerry to drop it. Instead, she caught it deftly and flipped to Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"Godric Gryffindor," she said calmly. "Definitely. I love the red hair." She passed to book to Susan, who sighed melodramatically.

"Salazar, oh Salazar, why couldn't you be going to school now?" she asked rhetorically. "I do have a weakness for ambitious boys." She passed the book on to Alex.

"Wow," he said. "Hufflepuff was hot!" He passed the book to Charlie.

"Can I pick them both?" he asked. "It so hard to choose just one. But if I had to, I'd go with Rowena Ravenclaw. The sorting hat was right; she is fair."

*****

Hermione sat nervously. She personally thought that Draco's question was an odd one, and she wasn't sure she wanted to give an answer. She felt a little off-balance, in this room where everyone was already friends. She'd never been good at socializing. (After all, it had taken a mountain troll attack for her to become friends with Harry and Ron.)

At the moment, Cho Chang was methodically debating between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Next it would be Hermione's turn.

"Cho!" Tim exclaimed. "You're always so slow. Just pick already."

"You don't want me to make a hasty decision, do you?" she asked.

"Actually, I really don't care at this point," he responded

Cho tsked tsked. "You Hufflepuffs need to learn a little patience."

Cho seemed so much happier in here than she normally was, Hermione thought. Ever since Cedric's death the previous year, she'd always looked more than a little sad. In here though, with her fellow prefects, she seemed more at ease - even able to flirt with and tease Tim. Maybe it had something to do with what Carter was saying, about leaving everything outside.

"All right, I have it," she announced. The other students, who'd pretended to fall asleep while she was deciding, sat up. "I choose Godric Gryffindor. He just looks so big and strong."

"Hopefully big in all places," Carter quipped.

Cho smiled back. "Oh, probably." She handed the book to Hermione. "Your turn, Hermione."

Hermione studied the two portraits. They weren't what she expected. On the left side was a picture of a tall, built man with red hair and green eyes. He kept smiling and winking at her from the page. There was something about him that looked a little familiar, a little -- Weasley-ish. Probably just the red hair. Underneath it read "Godric Gryffindor." On the other page was a picture of a shorter, thinner man with black hair and pale skin. He had the most startling green eyes and a rakish goatee. His smile was more mocking than Gryffindor's.

"I'm not really sure," Hermione said. "I'd need to know more about them to make a decision like that. But, based on faces alone, I'd have to go with Godric Gryffindor."

Kate grinned. "I know what you mean Hermione. We can't even see how big their -- trust funds are."

Carter laughed.

Hermione smiled, feeling a bit calmer about making friends with them. Although, she was a little surprise at their reaction to her comment. All she'd really been talking about was their personalities.

"Well, on that lovely note," Tim said, "I hereby adjourn this prefects meeting. Good bye, and get out of here now. I have to actually use this room for what it was intended."

Hermione stood with the others and left the bathroom. Outside, she saw Ron and Harry waiting for her.

"So, how was it?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure it was boring," Ron asked. "Probably just doing homework or something. I mean, Percy went every week, never missed a meeting."

"Actually, it was fun," Hermione said. "I'll probably go again."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Overachievers."

"Anyway, you missed a lot at Gryffindor tower while you were there," Harry said. "Fred and George were showing off new Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes merchandise."

Hermione started walking off towards the tower. "Tell me all about it, then," she said.

As the trio was walking back to Gryffindor tower, they passed by Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"Ah, another prefects meeting adjourned," Dumbledore said. "Those were good times."

"Yes," Minerva said. She smiled reminiscently. "I made some good friends there."

"By the way, Minerva," Dumbledore asked smiling, "How old did you think I was?"