Andromeda had spent the last half hour with Patch going over reasons again to refrain from jinxing Ted during the meeting. The past few weeks had been tense between the Head Boy and Girl, to say the least, and Andy had never been known for her patience; he was getting on her nerves a little more every day. She'd managed to remain civil, if frostily so, when they were in public, but this meeting was giving her a bad feeling.
Her disdain for Ted was irrational, and she knew it. He was well liked by professors and students, intelligent, talented, very good at his job - but none of that had managed to override the fact that he irritated her. Whether he'd said anything overtly or not, she felt constantly judged, constantly compared to Bella. This was not exclusive to Ted; in a family so well known as hers, it happened almost automatically - everyone made assumptions, everyone had ideas about the Blacks, everyone certainly had an opinion about Bellatrix one way or another, and Andy was well schooled in ignoring it for the most part. From her counterpart, however, it rankled. It was more offensive, somehow, more apt to throw her into a temper, if she caught the slightest hint of it from Ted. This feeling of being boxed in with the rest of the Blacks had opened a floodgate of minor things about Ted that annoyed her, things she'd not have even noticed about anyone else, until just his name was enough to set her teeth on edge.
It was, in short, going to be a tiresome meeting so far as Andy was concerned, but it had to go well. Things were increasingly desperate outside the school; the war was going badly and everyone knew it. She was under no illusions that a solid, united front of prefects inside Hogwarts would make the student body any less terrified, but if they could help at all, it was their responsibility to do so. They couldn't do that, she knew, with divided leadership, and so she had determined to do her best to be professional today.
With that in mind, she'd shown up characteristically early and was greeting prefects at the door, doing her best to look calmer than she felt.
Lily ran the last half of the way to the meeting, convinced she would be the last one there and not looking forward to interupting if it had already begun. She slowed down as she reached the door, caught her breath and walked in, immeasurably glad that not everyone seemed to be there yet, not even the Head Boy.
"Hi Andy," she greeted the Head Girl as she walked in. "Sorry I'm a little late, am I late? I think I'm late. Anyway, I was in the library, didn't realise the time, sorry."
She was rambling and she knew it, but she was still a little out of breath and the conversation (not an argument, she noted to herself) with James had thrown her a little.
"You aren't late," Andy said, raising an eyebrow at Lily's scattered explanation, smiling a little. (Genuinely, even - Andy liked Lily, she had a way of making people feel at ease, of making them laugh, that was hard not to like.) "Breathe. Sit. It's fine."
The realness behind the smile was gone almost as soon as it'd shown itself, and annoyance flickered in her usually kind, grey eyes.
"Ted," Andy said before she could stop herself; he was by no means the only person not yet present, but it'd slipped out. Trying to cover, she continued less curtly, "Remus, a few others from Hufflepuff and Slytherin..."
Lily didn't miss the annoyed tone, or the smile dropping from Andy's eyes, but she said nothing and didn't let it affect the smile on her own face.
"I'm sure Remus'll be here in a minute," she said with a grin, trying to distract the Head Girl. "He wouldn't like to let down the Gryffindor side with a tardy mark."
"Of course," Andy agreed politely, not distracted but determined to be nice. "He's usually only a cause for concern if my cousin's been up to something again."
"That's true," Lily agreed, nodding her head. "And entirely possible. Though I just saw James and he didn't seem to be up to anything, and when one of them is, the other usually is too," she was rambling again, "so hopefully, they're up to nothing and Remus will be here soon!"
Adjusting his bag on his shoulder, Remus turned a corner and walked up just as Lily said his name. He slowed to a stop, looking between the two girls with an eyebrow raised, wondering what exactly he was supposed to have done.
"Ah," said Remus, returning Lily's smile and shaking his head. "No, I'd never do that." As though he had not, two days before, very nearly been caught involved in things that would've easily cost Gryffindor fifty points. Per Marauder. "Aren't you running late, for you?"
Lily blushed slightly and nodded. "I was in the library, and I missed dinner, and then I got distracted a little, but I'm here now!"
"And I still beat you." The last was said with a grin as she tried not to think about what, or who, exactly she had been distracted about. He would surely hear about it soon enough.
Though curious about Lily's having suddenly gone pink, Remus didn't ask. He just nodded slightly to Andy - sincerely hoping that the meeting wouldn't devolve into a brawl - and slipped past her into the room, taking a seat a few rows back and gesturing to Lily to follow.
"I'm not sure that merits congratulations," he teased mildly with a slight grin of his own. "People expect me to run late. You, however..." He trailed off, lifting a shoulder in a half-shrug as though to say it was all rather a shame.
Lily followed Remus into the classroom, sitting down in the chair beside him and tucking her hair behind her ears.
"You're tardiness must be rubbing off on me," she replied with a grin to match his. "We'll have to stop spending time together, Remus. It's the only thing for it."
"It's for the best, really," he agreed solemnly, but the levity was short-lived. As he took stock of those present - and not - a slight frown creased his brow.
"No Ted yet?" he asked, lowering his voice to a whisper and leaning a bit closer to Lily.
Lily glanced around the room as Remus leaned in towards her and shook her head.
"Doesn't look like it," she said with a frown, in a whisper to match his. "I have a bad feeling about this meeting already..I really hope he doesn't show up too late."
Taking another glance around the room, she added, "The Hufflepuff fifth year prefects aren't here either."
Her disdain for Ted was irrational, and she knew it. He was well liked by professors and students, intelligent, talented, very good at his job - but none of that had managed to override the fact that he irritated her. Whether he'd said anything overtly or not, she felt constantly judged, constantly compared to Bella. This was not exclusive to Ted; in a family so well known as hers, it happened almost automatically - everyone made assumptions, everyone had ideas about the Blacks, everyone certainly had an opinion about Bellatrix one way or another, and Andy was well schooled in ignoring it for the most part. From her counterpart, however, it rankled. It was more offensive, somehow, more apt to throw her into a temper, if she caught the slightest hint of it from Ted. This feeling of being boxed in with the rest of the Blacks had opened a floodgate of minor things about Ted that annoyed her, things she'd not have even noticed about anyone else, until just his name was enough to set her teeth on edge.
It was, in short, going to be a tiresome meeting so far as Andy was concerned, but it had to go well. Things were increasingly desperate outside the school; the war was going badly and everyone knew it. She was under no illusions that a solid, united front of prefects inside Hogwarts would make the student body any less terrified, but if they could help at all, it was their responsibility to do so. They couldn't do that, she knew, with divided leadership, and so she had determined to do her best to be professional today.
With that in mind, she'd shown up characteristically early and was greeting prefects at the door, doing her best to look calmer than she felt.
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"Hi Andy," she greeted the Head Girl as she walked in. "Sorry I'm a little late, am I late? I think I'm late. Anyway, I was in the library, didn't realise the time, sorry."
She was rambling and she knew it, but she was still a little out of breath and the conversation (not an argument, she noted to herself) with James had thrown her a little.
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"Ted," Andy said before she could stop herself; he was by no means the only person not yet present, but it'd slipped out. Trying to cover, she continued less curtly, "Remus, a few others from Hufflepuff and Slytherin..."
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"I'm sure Remus'll be here in a minute," she said with a grin, trying to distract the Head Girl. "He wouldn't like to let down the Gryffindor side with a tardy mark."
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Adjusting his bag on his shoulder, Remus turned a corner and walked up just as Lily said his name. He slowed to a stop, looking between the two girls with an eyebrow raised, wondering what exactly he was supposed to have done.
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"And I still beat you." The last was said with a grin as she tried not to think about what, or who, exactly she had been distracted about. He would surely hear about it soon enough.
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"I'm not sure that merits congratulations," he teased mildly with a slight grin of his own. "People expect me to run late. You, however..." He trailed off, lifting a shoulder in a half-shrug as though to say it was all rather a shame.
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"You're tardiness must be rubbing off on me," she replied with a grin to match his. "We'll have to stop spending time together, Remus. It's the only thing for it."
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"No Ted yet?" he asked, lowering his voice to a whisper and leaning a bit closer to Lily.
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"Doesn't look like it," she said with a frown, in a whisper to match his. "I have a bad feeling about this meeting already..I really hope he doesn't show up too late."
Taking another glance around the room, she added, "The Hufflepuff fifth year prefects aren't here either."
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