Jake made a mental note to always leave for the train ahead of schedule. If he waited on the Weasley's every year, he'd risk being late every morning for the train to Hogwarts.
He offered to Apparate everyone, but they declined. What Jake didn't know, but was told by Lupin, was that that many Witches and/or Wizards Apparating from or to one place could cause serious concerns.
"Then we'd better go, now," Jake said, heading down to the front door of the house. He had gotten ready and dressed an hour ago.
He had let Chloe go an hour ago to get a head start on the travel to Hogwarts, she hated being crammed into her cage for extended periods of time, unless it was her choice, so he never forced her into it.
Hermione ran down the stairs with Crookshanks in her arms, which he clearly did not appreciate, and she stopped in front of him, "How do you manage to get ready so quickly?" She asked, exasperated.
"All of my stuff is kept in my pouch, I never have to reorganize anything in it," he said and pet Crookshanks across his head, earning a purr of content.
"We can't leave until Sturgis Podmore's here," Alastor said, coming up to Jake.
"Let me be his stand-in, and let's go when everyone is ready," Jake said, eyeing Moody.
Moody's large, electric blue eye swiveled towards him, "You really want to be his stand-in?"
"Yeah, we'll be late if we wait on him," Jake responded.
"Alright, POTTER, MOVE YOUR ARSE!" Moody barked and Harry came down with his shirt half on and his glasses sideways.
"What?" Harry was at the base floor, his trunk dropping to the floor and flying open.
Jake's eye glowed red and everything of Harry's flew into the trunk and it shut with a loud click, not opening back up.
"Jake here is going to be our final one," Moody said.
"Final one for what?"
"Your Guard for the trip to King's Cross," Moody said as though it were obvious.
"Do you expect Voldemort to be hiding in a Trash Bin?" Harry scoffed.
"He's supposed to be lying low, no I'm talking about his Death Eaters," Moody's voice growled, "they can blend in better than he can."
Before Harry could say anything, a large black dog appeared beside him. Everyone else appeared within the next minute or two and they all made their way out of the house. The weak September sun greeted them as they stepped into its bathing light.
Arthur hadn't been able to secure them cars this time from the Ministry, so they had no choice but to walk all the way to the Station. It was only Twenty minutes away, but it still was a drag to almost everyone, especially Molly, who kept complaining about how Muggles were able to travel without magic. Jake, naturally, was unaffected by the walk.
The only eventful thing that did happen was Sirius scaring a few cats. When they finally arrived at the station, they had to linger around platforms nine and ten until it was safe enough to cross the barrier. One by one they walked through to be greeted by many, many people, and the bright red train that always had them in awe.
"Nice dog, Harry!" A tall boy with dreadlocks called over.
"Thanks, Lee!" Harry said, grinning widely as Sirius wagged his tail frantically.
Moody had walked through a moment later with all their luggage, minus Jake's. "All okay," he muttered to Molly and Tonks, "Don't think we were followed..." A porter's cap was pulled over his mismatched eye to hide the fact it was different, larger, and moving independently of the other eye.
Arthur came through with Ron and Ginny seconds later. They almost had the luggage cart unloaded when Lupin came through with Fred and George.
"No trouble?" Moody growled.
"Nothing," Lupin said.
"I'll still be reporting Sturgis to Dumbledore," Moody said, "That's the second time he's not turned up in a week. Jake here covered his post. He's getting to be as unreliable as Mundungus."
"That's saying something," Jake said.
"Well, look after yourselves," Lupin said, shaking hands all around. He paused on Harry last and clapped him on the shoulder, "You too, Harry. Be careful."
"Yeah, keep your head down and your eyes peeled," Moody said, shaking Harry's hand as well, "and don't forget, all of you - careful what you put into writing. If in doubt, don't put it in a letter at all."
"It's been great meeting all of you," Tonks said as she hugged Hermione and Ginny, "We'll see you soon, I expect."
"Jake," Lupin said as he walked up to him, "I trust you'll continue to look after Harry?"
"Won't stop now," Jake nodded and looked Lupin in the eye.
"Good, good," Lupin smiled as the warning whistle sounded from the train.
"Quick, quick," Molly said distractedly, hugging them at random, "Write... be good... if you've forgotten anything we'll send it on... onto the train, now, hurry..."
Just before Harry boarded the train, Sirius placed his front paws on Harry's shoulders and began licking his face. They all boarded and were waving to them all, Sirius bounding down the platform as the train picked up speed. After a few seconds, they were all out of sight.
"I'm glad he got to get out of that house," Hermione said, smiling, "two months he'd been stuck inside it."
"Well," Fred got their attention by clapping his hands, "can't stand around chatting all day, we've got business to discuss with Lee. See you later," and he and George disappeared down the corridor to the right.
The train was still gathering more speed, causing houses outside to become blurs. They swayed a bit as they stood, "Shall we go find a compartment?" Harry asked.
"You, Ron, and Ginny go, Hermione and I have to go to the Prefect's Carriage first," Jake said.
"It shan't take long, Harry, don't worry," Hermione said quickly.
"Oh," Harry said, "Right. Fine."
"We won't be there the whole journey. Depending on the Slytherin Prefects, I may not be able to stand being in the same compartment with them for long at all," Jake said, smirking.
"We'll find you three, don't worry," Hermione said as she and Jake walked to the Prefect Carriage. Jake was pulling Hermione's stuff while she held Crookshanks, "Who do you think the Slytherin Prefects are?"
"If Pendragon isn't the Male Prefect, I'll be honestly surprised," Jake said.
"Ivan deserves it more than anyone else... all of the girls are either mean or brutish..." Hermione said, recalling her encounters with Pansy and Millicent.
"Knowing Snape... he chose Malfoy and Parkinson..." Jake snarled his nose.
When they arrived at the Prefect Carriage, they walked in and saw the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Prefects already there. Jake saw Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw and Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff, "And we are still waiting on Slytherin's Prefects," said the Head Girl. Jake didn't recognize her.
Jake settled into the seat beside Hermione, missing the sideways look he was receiving from Padma.
When the Slytherin Prefects finally arrived, Jake almost vomited; Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson walked in, flashing their Green and Silver Prefect Badges, "Now that everyone's here, we can begin," the Head Boy said. Jake realized he had to have seen this as a vision of sorts, his guess was too accurate for it to be a random guess.
"Congratulations, all of you, for being selected as Prefects. You clearly demonstrate the qualities of your House better than anyone else in your Fifth Year, and with it comes special privileges, as well as heightened expectations. You all will be able to take away points from any rule-breakers, and give out detentions if the punishment is suited enough for it. Prefects may also block another Prefect's decision if they are the same Year as you, unless the reason for taking off points or giving a detention is valid. You may also make use of the Prefect's Bathroom on the Fifth Floor, it's the Fifth Door to the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered ," the Head Girl said.
"You will be tasked with Leading the First Years this year to their Common Rooms, and twice a week you will patrol the corridors. In previous years it was more often, but given that this is your O.W.L. Year, it was reduced to twice a week. The two days do not matter, don't want anyone getting an understanding of a possible schedule," the Head Boy said.
"Remember that Prefects cannot take points off other Prefects or give another Prefect Detention, that would defeat the purpose of the position. We can give one of you Detention, and any Professor can still give you Detention, so mind yourselves, you are Prefects, and you have been trusted with Authority you've not had in previous years," the Head Girl looked around at them.
"Any questions?" The Head Boy asked.
"Jus-" Jake was about to ask, but Hermione had elbowed him painfully in the ribs. It wouldn't have hurt at all had he not still had internal damage.
"Yes?" The Head Girl looked at him.
"Yeah, I have one," Jake pressed on. He loved Hermione, but he wasn't going to let her stop him from asking, "Why are they Prefects?" He pointed right at Malfoy and Parkinson.
"What's the matter, Jake? Upset you can't give me detention?" Malfoy taunted.
"No, I just didn't realize being a whiny bitch was a Slytherin Quality," Jake glared at him.
"Enough, both of you," the Head Boy said, "You're Prefects, act like it."
"Just don't ask me to shake his hand, I don't know where it's been..." Jake said.
The Head Boy and Head Girl quickly moved past that and went over a few other things before telling them they were free to return back to their compartments.
On the way to finding Harry, Ron, and Ginny, Hermione wasn't happy, "Why did you have to do that?"
"It was a legitimate question, Hermione. I know you were also wondering why Malfoy got it over Pendragon," Jake said.
"That's not the point, bringing it up to the Head Boy and Head Girl wasn't professional. That's more of a question for the Headmaster or Snape," Hermione said to him.
"Neither of which will tell me anything," Jake scoffed, "Snape would sooner do ballet and Dumbledore just doesn't seem up to telling any of us anything at the moment."
"Then I guess you're out of luck," Hermione shrugged and power walked ahead of him. She glanced in each compartment, looking for any sign of her friends, when she passed Cho, who looked slightly upset. "What do you think is up with her?"
Jake looked at Cho just before she disappeared into a compartment, "Well, think about last year."
"Oh... right..." Hermione said sadly. Cedric Diggory was why Cho looked upset.
They walked quietly, looking in each compartment until they found them, along with Neville and another familiar girl, "About time, oh - hey, Luna," Jake said with a wave.
"Hello, Jake, Hermione, congrats on becoming Prefects," Luna smiled at them, holding a copy of the Quibbler , seemingly upside down.
Crookshanks jumped up onto Hermione's lap just as the Trolley came by. Jake bought them all things for lunch and a few snacks, making sure to get some Pumpkin Pasties for Hermione.
"Thanks," she said to Jake, "So there are two from each House, as expected-"
"Please tell me the boy Prefect for Slytherin isn't who I think it is?" Harry asked, cutting her off.
"Malfoy," Jake sighed.
"And Parkinson !" Hermione said the female Slytherin Prefect's name with venom in her voice, "How that cow got to be Prefect when she's thicker than a concussed Troll is beyond me!"
"Who's Hufflepuff?" Ginny asked.
"Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott," Jake said.
"And Ravenclaw is Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil," Hermione said.
"You went to the Yule Ball with Padma, didn't you, Ron?" Luna asked him.
"I did, why?"
"She didn't appreciate it very much, you not asking her to dance. She said the best dance she had the whole night was with Jake," Luna said.
"She said that?" Jake asked her.
"Oh, yes, she said Parvati was upset about not getting to dance with you," Luna smiled at him.
The look on Hermione's face was missed by everyone, 'Two more...'
"Jake asked me to the Ball, and I would have said yes if he had asked me near the beginning of December, but he didn't. I'd already made to go home for the holidays, so I didn't get to enjoy the Ball, but Ginny told me it was wonderful," Luna said, smiling, before bringing the Quibbler magazine back up.
"We're supposed to patrol the corridors every so often," Jake said to Harry, Ron, and Neville, "and we can give non-Prefects punishment for misbehaving, you know, taking points off or giving detention."
"We can also block a Fifth Year Prefect's decision if we feel it's unjustified," Hermione said with a satisfactory smirk, knowing that she can block Malfoy's and Parkinson's decision if she thinks it's an abuse of power.
"Anything good in there?" Ron asked Luna idly.
"Of course n-" Hermione was about to say, but she found that her mouth had been covered by Jake's hand incredibly quickly. The rest of what she said was mumbled unintelligibly into his hand as she looked at him.
"I'm sure there are plenty of interesting things written by your father, Luna," Jake smiled at her.
Hermione's eyes widened as he removed his hand from her mouth. Luna was about to say something, but the compartment door opened, and much to everyone's annoyance, it was Draco Malfoy and his cronies, "What?" Harry asked aggressively, before Malfoy could even open his mouth.
"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention," Malfoy said in a drawl.
"No you won't," Jake said casually, "I'll just block it for being an unjust punishment. Or did you forget to pay attention in our Prefect briefing?"
Malfoy ignored him and looked at Harry, "Unlike you, Potter, I've been made Prefect, because I can be trusted-"
"Get out!" Hermione yelled, standing up.
Malfoy was about to speak, but one look in Jake's direction made him close his mouth and walk away, sneer present on his face.
It was a while of the rain pattering against the window as they bounded north towards Hogwarts when Hermione said, "We'd better change into our robes." The boys left so the girls could change, then they left the compartment so the boys could change. When they came back in, both Hermione and Jake pinned their Prefect Badges to their robes.
It was marvelous timing as the train soon came to a slow, screeching halt. There was the rustle of people in other compartments making sure their luggage and pets were all set and squared away to be taken to their dorm rooms while they were enjoying the Start-of-Term Feast.
Jake and Hermione, along with all the Prefects and Head Boy and Head Girl, had to supervise the departure of the train, making sure everyone got off safely. They ended up being the last ones off the train and they had to hurry to catch up to their friends, though Hermione would have been lying if she hadn't wanted to try and get a private coach to themselves. She had a desire to snog him for hours that she hadn't had a chance to satiate, and she wasn't sure when she'd get the chance.
They eventually found their friends and walked up to them, "Where d'you reckon-" Harry started to ask.
"-Hagrid is? Remember, he said Dumbledore had something for him to do," Jake said quietly, "it's probably just taking longer than Dumbledore predicted." Jake was about to follow, when he looked over and saw Malfoy yelling at a Third Year Hufflepuff, "Excuse me a moment." Jake walked over in his direction, "MALFOY!" The sheer authority in his voice, combined with Malfoy's fear of an angry Jake after what happened at the end of last year, caused him to run, stumbling as he did, and only Pansy helped him up, as Crabbe and Goyle broke off into surprisingly fast speeds for their size. He stopped in front of the Third Year Hufflepuff girl, "You okay?" He asked in a much calmer, more gentle voice.
When he didn't get a response, he looked at her, and she was staring up at him with red cheeks, "Th-Thank you... I-I don't know why he was yelling at me..."
"Don't mention it, he's just an asshole," Jake said and the whistle for the coaches to move sounded, "dammit!"
"I'm sorry," she said, thinking she messed up.
"No, no it's not you..."
"You can join me and my friends in our carriage if you want?" She offered to him in a quick paced voice.
"I'm gonna have to," he said and quickly walked with her to the Thestral drawn Coach.
When he got in, all of the other occupants were girls. He felt slightly uncomfortable, "Hello," one of the girls said to him. The Carriage began being pulled by the Thestral seconds later.
"Hi," he said, and the girls giggled, 'great...'
"Ava, you didn't say a Prefect would be joining us, and Jake Jake no less," a girl said to the Hufflepuff he met outside.
"Well, Malfoy, you know, that Slytherin that is always causing trouble, he was bothering me and insulting me, and he took twenty points off of Hufflepuff," Ava said.
"No, no he didn't," he said. If it worked how he though, the points should go back to Hufflepuff, "What was he saying?" Jake asked her.
She looked afraid to say, "W-Well... h-he was... he was saying..."
"He called her that foul word for Muggleborns, I heard him," one of the unnamed girls said.
"Sara!" Ava said, looking alarmed. She looked at Jake, remembering what he threatened Malfoy with last school year. The look in Jake's eye right then frightened her a bit.
"He said that ?" Jake looked at Ava. "You said you didn't know why he was yelling at you."
"..." Ava said nothing, but that was all he needed.
"Jake," Sara got his attention, "I-I just want to say... you're amazing! When I found out you were related to Merlin, I had a question I always wanted to ask you."
Jake looked at her for a second, noticing the Ravenclaw themed robes, "What would that be?"
"Does your eye really glow red when performing magic?" Sara asked.
"Only when performing wandless magic," he said and held his finger up, " Lumos ," he said and his eye glowed red just as his fingertip lit up.
All three girls in the Carriage were in awe, "That's so cool," the third girl said.
"I know their names, but what's your name?" He asked her. She was wearing Hufflepuff themed robes.
"I'm Naomi, it's nice to meet you," she said.
"You all are Third Year?" He asked and they all nodded, "What Elective classes are you taking?"
"I've decided to take Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures," Ava said.
"I'm taking Divination and Care of Magical Creatures," Naomi said.
"I settled for Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies. I'm not a fan of Magical Creatures, honestly," Sara said.
"At least none of you decided to take them all," He said, smirking slightly.
"All of them? Did you take all of them?" Naomi asked.
"Hermione and I both did, yes, and we regretted it by the end of the year. We dropped Divination and Muggle Studies in April that school year. Burbage just doesn't know what she's talking about, and I've thought about Divination again after Firenze took over. Trelawney was the Professor back when I took it. Harry and Ron both say it's gotten better since Firenze took over," Jake said to them.
"But, how did you get to all of your classes? Some of them overlap..." Sara trailed off.
"We managed," was all he said. He couldn't tell them about the Time Turner as none of them were taking all of the classes themselves.
"Jake?" Ava said his name.
"Hmm?"
"A-Are you... are you able to see the thing's pulling the Carriages?"
"Ava, there is nothing-" Naomi was about to say.
"You mean the Thestrals?" He asked.
"That's what they're called?" She asked.
"Yeah, you can only see them if... i-if..." he didn't know if he should tell them or not.
"If what?" Ava pressed on.
"If you've seen death," he said, trying not to sound grim about it.
"Oh... I saw my grandmother... she died in her hospital bed when I was six..." Ava said sadly.
"I'm sorry..." he said.
"C-Can I ask how, er... how you can see them?" Naomi asked.
"I saw my adoptive father die..." he said darkly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry..." Sara said.
"Don't be, I killed him..." he said, breaking the tension, "he killed my adoptive mother, and he almost killed me... so please, don't feel sorry for his pathetic death."
All three girls now looked afraid; they weren't afraid he'd hurt them, but they were afraid of making him angry.
The Carriage came to a slow, jerking stop, "Well... end of the line," Jake said and vacated the Coach. When he stepped out, followed by the three girls, the atmosphere around the School felt different; it felt almost smothering. "It was nice, meeting you three," he smiled and turned from them. He walked forward, intent on finding Hermione.