Summary: What happened when Dumbledore called Michael and Marilyn to his office? What would be expected of Hogwarts’ Head Boy and Head Girl?

An Unlikely Pair

“You had better have a very, very good reason for waking me at this ungodly hour, Michael.”

Marilyn Janus was understandably cranky at having been roused from her sleep at three o’clock in the morning. She gave her fellow head prefect what she hoped was a venomous look but it wasn’t easy looking venomous when you could barely keep your eyes open.

Seemingly taking no notice of her irritability, Michael merely stated, “Dumbledore wants us.” He then turned and swiftly went down the corridor leaving Marilyn to follow. The git could at least have waited for me, she muttered with gritted teeth. As if hearing her, his head whipped around, glancing at her before he slowed down allowing her to catch up until both of them were walking swiftly side by side.

They were both anxious, knowing only very special circumstances would have them meeting Dumbledore at such an inopportune time, something so direly important that it couldn’t wait. Marilyn had managed to pull a robe over her rather flimsy nightgown but Michael was clad only in navy pajamas underneath a black pullover. His dark hair was in an unruly mess, his bangs falling over his eyes reminding her of that boy, Harry Potter.

It irked her that even at that hour, he still looked no less handsome with his disheveled hair, which only made him look rather little boy adorable. One of her friends had confided in her that she found Michael so fetching as to want to “lick him all over”. Marilyn had only groaned at the thought of someone perusing her partner as a rather large, human popsicle.

When they had finally reached his office, Michael had gallantly allowed her in first. She hadn’t even bothered thanking him; if he wanted to be a gentleman, fine but she wasn’t feeling much like being a lady at the moment.

“Good morning, Professor. “ Her voice faltered a bit at the rather grim expression on his face as he answered her greeting with a silent nod.

”Take a seat, please, both of you.” He motioned to two chairs near his desk.

He was silent a while as he stared down at the table, strewn with parchment, sighing deeply before raising his head.

“I’m sorry for waking you both. It seems there has been a rather disturbing development.”

A look passed between the two prefects - since the events of last year, when Dumbledore had announced to the whole school that Voldemort had risen again, they had known they would have to prepare for the worst. Marilyn felt her stomach clench and she could see in Michael’s eyes that he was also steeling himself for whatever Dumbledore had to say.

“Voldemort has taken control of Azkaban with the help of the dementors. “

Somewhere, Marilyn could hear the crumbling of all her delusions. There was no room for that small, admittedly unrealistic hope inside her that Voldemort hadn’t really returned, that the Potter boy had been merely suffering from spider’s venom and Diggory had merely suffered a regrettably fatal accident. Still in a state of shock, she was still listening though Dumbledore’s voice now seemed to be coming from far, far away.

“With them returned to his side and a host of prisoners willing to assist him in exchange for their freedom, there can be no doubt that he will actively seek to regain his power. “

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she almost flinched, before realizing it was Michael’s. His face was still turned to the front though and normally she would have pushed him away with a curt reprimand. Now, she realized that she liked having his hand there, it was comforting and just what she needed though it would be raining goblins before she would admit it.

“Will Hogwarts be in any danger, Sir?”

Michael asked in a clear, steady voice. It was typical of Michael to get straight to the point.

"I'm afraid so, Michael."

As he spoke, Marilyn noticed that his eyes flickered to Michael's hand on her shoulder. Michael seemed to have noticed as well because he swiftly removed his hand, only to have Dumbledore shake his head in amusement.

"It would do you both good to stick together in times like these. As Head Boy and Head Girl, the students will all look to you to lead them and be guided by your example."

It was hard for her to look at Dumbledore as she felt the real weight of her responsibilities suddenly bear down upon her. For the first time in her life, she felt unable to rise to a challenge. How was she supposed to ensure the students remain calm when she wasn't sure that she wouldn't break down? Looking over at Michael she felt her own fears start to recede as she realised that she couldn't have wished for a better companion in this.

This was Michael after all. He was everything she wasn't, with a knack for keeping calm in all situations yet without holding in whatever he felt. If he was angry, he would say so. If he was worried, he would say so. Somehow, no matter what he was feeling he could still remain composed and calm while letting his eyes say whatever he hadn't. He had the kind of eyes you could get lost in: the deep blue that reminded you of rivers, lakes and the sea with a way of making you feel you could drown in them if you looked long enough. She made sure she had little occasion to stare into those eyes

Marilyn, on the other hand was the type whose emotions were shown clearly on her face but ask about them and she would immediately clam up. She supposed it was the stoic in her. Last year, when she had an aching wisdom tooth, she had been too wrapped up with school to bother with it until it was beginning to trouble her sleep. When she finally went to have Madame Pomfrey look at it, the school nurse was quite shocked upon finding out she had put up with it for more than a fortnight. “It’s only pain, after all.” That was all she had to say when Madame Pomfrey had berated her for not coming to the hospital wing sooner.

Taking a deep breath, she asked, “What do you want us to do now, Sir? Will this involve the other prefects as well?”

Dumbledore nodded. “I won’t tell you too much yet, it might be a little too much for you to take at this time. Just be prepared for whatever may come your way. Our main preoccupation is ensuring that Hogwarts is kept safe. I think that it means as much to all of you as it does to me. That is the reason I’m giving you the chance to defend it as well. Young you may be but only a fool would underestimate witches or wizards whatever their age.”

“Thank you for your faith in us, Sir. Defending Hogwarts, would this mean we might have to fight, Sir?” Michael had asked the question that was also on Marilyn’s mind.

With a pained expression and a note of sadness in his voice, Dumbledore answered,” I hoped we could avoid that but if the castle is attacked, you would have no choice but to defend yourselves. Though I will not and must not leave Hogwarts, I cannot be at all places at all times so as prefects, you must keep your eyes and ears open to any threats posed to the students and this school.”

Opening a drawer, he pulled out two small velvet pouches and handed one to each of them. Michael opened his to find a pair of fingerless gloves and a plain unadorned ring that seemed to be made of iron. From Marilyn’s bag, she pulled out a small dagger, beautifully crafted with a hilt of silver encrusted with small emeralds and a ring similar to Michael’s albeit smaller.

Smiling at the look of wonder on their faces, Dumbledore proceeded to elaborate on the items they had just received. “Those gloves, which, Michael, I suggest you put on now are quite rightly called the Gloves of Focus. They serve the same purpose as your wand, enabling you to cast spells with as much precision as with your own wand. That dagger, Marilyn, belonged to that illustrious founder of your house, Salazar Slytherin himself. To a true Slytherin, it gives a measure of protection against hexes and curses besides being quite a formidable weapon in itself.”

Marilyn stared at the dagger, fascinated with the exquisiteness of its craftsmanship, It was light yet by just looking at the blade she knew it was potentially lethal, with tiny grooves that looked like teeth on the edge to give, she suspected, an extra bite. She looked over at Michael who was amusing himself by making doves and flowers shoot out of his hands. Now, she wondered, what were those rings for? She was soon to find out.

“Put the rings on,” Dumbledore motioned. Hesitatingly, Marilyn slid the ring onto the ring finger of her right hand and felt…nothing.

She noticed Michael was also fiddling with the ring on his finger. “These rings will now allow you to communicate with each other. If one or the other of you is in mortal peril, the ring will function as a portkey, transporting you to your partner’s side.”

“Communicate, Sir? As in, he could read my mind?” Looking over at Michael, he didn’t seem to be at all happy with the idea either.

“Now, you needn’t worry, it won’t go so far as to allow you both to have a thorough look into each other’s heads. Think of it as being able to owl each other without having, to erm, use owls.”

That saves us a lot of parchment, eh, Marilyn.

Haha. Very funny, Michael.

It happened as naturally as breathing. They were speaking to each other but without actually opening their mouths to say anything. She relaxed a bit when she found she couldn’t steal into his head, which meant he couldn’t creep into hers either. She gave a sigh of relief as Michael did the same and she couldn’t help but laugh while Michael grinned back at her.

The old twinkle was back in Dumbledore’s eyes as he looked from one to another.

“Now that wasn’t so bad, was it? I suppose I’ll let you off to your dorms now but before you go, there’s just one last thing,” he raised a finger in emphasis.

“Yes, sir?”

”If you have any doubts about your being able to handle yourselves, remember this. We had situations like this in mind when we chose the both of you as heads, we wanted to be sure that whoever was selected would, above all, be able to work together and complement each other in every way.”

Marilyn raised an eyebrow at Michael.

Complement each other? Almost sounds like matchmaking to me.

Michael flashed her a most winning smile.

I’m not complaining. Frankly, I could have done a whole lot worse.

She had to valiantly resist the urge to smack him.

“An unlikely pair you may seem to be, opposites in practically every aspect but each of you has strengths the other does not possess. Together, I hope you will try to keep the students united, regardless of background, creed or house. Put your own differences and prejudices aside, should you have any but try to allow for the fact that it may not be easy for your peers or even yourselves to do.”

Just then, an owl flew in through the window, interrupting Dumbledore’s little speech. He took the letter it held before turning back to the two.

“That is all for this moment. There will be a school meeting at breakfast and I don’t have to tell you what must be done. Now, try and get some sleep. “ He sat down at his desk to read the letter he had just received as a couple more owls flew in, bearing more messages.

Walking listlessly down the corridor back to their dorms, Marilyn looked up at Michael and unwittingly let a thought slip. Subconsciously, she supposed later, she must have wanted him to hear her.

I don’t feel like sleeping yet.

Me neither. Wanna talk?

Yeah, let’s go up to the Astronomy Tower.

They were as stealthy as possible, not wanting Filch to catch them. It would have been awfully embarrassing to have the head prefects caught wandering after hours and with each other.

Sitting in the tower, side by side on the floor, they talked or as Dumbledore put it, ‘communicated’. As thoughts are so much faster than the spoken word, they managed a rather long conversation in less than half the time it might have taken if they were speaking.

Waiting for the sun to rise, they talked about themselves, about their families, their hopes and fears for the future. They wondered about what would happen at Hogwarts and worried about what would happen if the students got the feeling that they would have to choose sides.

Michael, I just want to know…did you ever think I would end up a Death Eater?

Frankly, no, I never did.

Why not? It seems that here, everyone assumes that most, if not all Slytherins will eventually come to bad ends and go over to the Dark Side if they haven’t already.

Remember what Dumbledore always says? It doesn’t matter who you’re born as, where you come from, what matter is who you grow up to be. It’s the choices we make that will eventually determine our future, not the stars or our lineage.

Did anyone ever tell you that you’re really wise for your age?

I get that all the time.

Did anyone also ever tell you that you’ve also got a really, really big head? I’m not talking about the one in your pants, either.

Now that you mention it, I suppose so, on both counts, by the way.

I so did NOT need to hear that.

It was funny hearing laughter in their heads but the two soon got accustomed to it as they would have to become accustomed to each other over the coming year.

Just promise me something, Marilyn.

I don’t like making promises unless I’m sure I can keep them.

Try this once. Whatever happens, don’t keep anything from me. No secrets, same for me. You can’t hide anything anyway, I’ll bug you senseless and never let you get any sleep.

Wonderful, I have finally found out what a git Michael Hardin is. Alright, then, if it’ll make you shut up, I promise.

Finally it was daybreak and it was time for them to go wake the other prefects, who would, in turn awaken the other students for the breakfast gathering. As they sat in the Great Hall waiting for Dumbledore, Michael couldn’t resist some mental prodding.

Your hair’s a bit of a mess, you know.

I know, Michael and you don’t look all that great either. Now, quit looking over here.

That bothers you? I’ll keep doing it, then.

Marilyn was now quite sure that finding out that Michael Hardin had a sense of humor was something she could have done quite well without. It was going to be an interesting year all right.

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