Chapter Text
Steve Harrington hadn't pictured his last departure from King’s Cross Station going quite like this. He had assumed that as both a seventh year and a prefect he would have the chance to gracefully depart from the platform, maybe take a moment to admire the train and reflect on his previous years. Honestly he should know by now that his expectations would always be shattered by the flaming ball of chaos that is his cousin, Dustin Henderson.
“Steeeeeve!” Steve winced as Dustin once again screeched directly into his ear. “We’re going to miss the train! What are all your muscles for if you can’t even push a cart?”
Steve bit back a sharp retort, ignoring him to focus on taking a step back before ramming his whole left side against their trolley. It finally came unstuck, bursting free from the portal between the Muggle station and the wizarding one.
Steve grabbed the back of Dustin’s robes and gently shoved him through after the trolley.
“It would have been a hell of a lot easier if some dumbass hadn’t packed every piece of nerd equipment he owns. Haven’t you ever heard of a Shrinking spell?” He quickly followed Dustin through the portal and continued guiding both the trolley and his cousin towards the train.
Dustin rolled his eyes dramatically, “I’ve told you a million times Steve, some of my equipment is delicate and non-magical so shrinking them could mess with the internal systems. Do you even listen when I’m talking to you?”
Steve took a deep breath and mentally vetoed his first few responses before simply saying, “Maybe if you made any sense I would. Now get on the train and find your fellow dweebs, I have to go to the prefect meeting.”
Dustin huffed in mock offense one more time before grabbing his over-full trunk and dragging it onto the train’s steps. The last whistle started blowing, so after a moment Steve followed just a step behind him.
As his cousin scampered one way down the long corridor of train compartments, Steve turned the opposite way toward the front of the train. As he walked, he tried to formulate an excuse for being so late to the meeting. Somehow, he didn’t think that the Head Girl and Boy would accept Dustin’s love for muggle radio equipment as a valid reason.
Fortunately, as he reached the prefect’s compartment he heard raised voices. Cheering his own good luck, he slipped in quietly and sidled along into a seat next to Robin before he looked up to see what the ruckus was about. In the middle of the compartment Carol Perkins and Nancy Wheeler were facing off, both with their hands twitching towards their wands. Carol was looking down her nose at Nancy in a way that Steve knew she had practiced in the mirror, and Nancy’s picture perfect demeanor was cracking as she glared daggers at the other girl.
“Do you really expect me to believe that you earned Head Girl solely based on merit, Perkins? I’ve never seen a prefect that so blatantly skates by on nepotism,” Nancy spat.
Carol’s expression stayed perfectly unbothered, and if anything it seemed like Nancy’s words made her more smug. “And I’ve never seen anyone so desperate for validation. Not getting enough attention at home Wheeler? Has Mummy been too busy cheating on Daddy to give you enough praise?”
Nancy’s eyes widened as her face rapidly turned a concerning shade of purple. Her glare was quickly becoming murderous, but before she could respond the compartment door opened and Professor Clark strode into the room.
He had an artificially large smile on his face as he stepped right between Nancy and Carol. “Now ladies, this is no way to begin the school year. We need to start patrolling the train, so let’s take a deep breath and move on. If you have any formal complaints, you know my door is always open to you.”
Steve had to fight back a smile as he watched the emotions warring across Nancy’s face, knowing her compulsion to follow a professor’s directions would win out over continuing the argument. She took a short breath through her nose and out her mouth before nodding and turning sharply to walk over to Steve. She primly settled on the bench next him and smoothed her skirt, staring ahead with her trademark clenched jaw.
Carol watched her go with a smirk, before smiling sweetly at Professor Clark. “Sorry about that, sir. Wheeler and I were just discussing a difference of opinions, but I apologize for causing a scene.”
He shot her a slightly incredulous glance, but nodded. “Of course, Miss Perkins, no harm done. Now, let’s get to work. I’ve made a list of this year’s patrolling partnerships, so once you have checked it I would like you all to begin patrols.”
Steve was overjoyed to notice that he had once again been paired with Robin, and when he caught her gaze he lifted his hand for a fist bump. She winked at him and returned it with gusto, which was a sharp contrast to her reaction last year. It wasn’t until they had patrolled together for several months that she had warmed up to him, but since she had gotten caught up in the Chamber of Secrets craziness with him they had been inseparable.
Once the prefect’s meeting had ended and they were free to go about their patrols, Robin launched herself at him for a very tight bear hug. “I’m so glad to see your stupid face, Dingus! You have no idea how awful summer was at my house, my mom got the idea in her head that we should clean out the attic. I’ve been sorting through dusty photo albums and moldy clothes for months, I have no idea how one attic can hold so much useless crap.”
Steve wheezed, patting her back until she let go of him. “Jesus Rob, let a man breathe. And actually I do have an idea of what your house was like, you wrote to me almost every single day. Your poor owl is probably ecstatic that you’re finally back at school so she doesn’t have to make so many trips.”
Robin smacked his arm, but she was still beaming at him. “I should pretend to be annoyed right now, but I’m too happy to see you. Although I’m sure that will wear off pretty quickly since I’m stuck patrolling with you.”
Steve laughed and gave her another hug. It was ridiculously good to see her face, so he couldn’t really act out their bickering routine either. His father hadn’t given him a choice in becoming a prefect and he had originally loathed the extra responsibilities, but being close with Robin made every tedious duty worth it.
Robin’s grin faded a bit when she asked, “How was your summer? I know you wrote back, but my best friend sense tells me you skipped over quite a bit.”
Steve tried to keep his expression neutral as he shrugged. “Not that much to tell. Too much time listening to Dustin nerding out about everything, a couple stuffy events my dad made me go to. Nothing too crazy.”
He didn’t want to mention how many hours he had spent practicing defensive spells, tucked into a small room in the basement of his family’s manor. He’d spent many sleepless nights repeating spells until his head ached furiously, but somehow that felt better than waking up in a cold sweat from nightmares of dark tunnels and sharp fangs. He’d have to come clean to Robin eventually because she could read him like a book, but now wasn’t the time.
Robin searched his face and didn’t seem impressed with what she found, but she let it go. “If you say so. I know I’ll have to pester you for anything more detailed than that, so we might as well actually start doing our job.”
He smiled at her gratefully, then held up his hand in a salute. “Yes, m’am. Prefect Harrington reporting for duty.”
She rolled her eyes at him, then yanked his arm down so she could link their elbows. “Okay, the annoyance is coming back to me now. Let’s go scold some teenagers.” Arm in arm, they strolled down the corridor in search of someone to give detention.
For the next few hours their patrol was relatively calm, including only a few minor spats between students being easily resolved by reorganizing compartments. Steve used to hate patrols with a burning passion, but with Robin by his side it was almost fun. They were strolling back up the train, giggling about something when one of the compartment doors burst open. A student staggered into the corridor, and upon seeing Steve and Robin he rushed towards them.
The pair of prefects made equally disgusted faces as the student approached. His head had swollen to almost twice its size, and to add insult to injury he was also violently sneezing sardines out of his nose. Between sneezes, he looked pleadingly up at Steve.
“Help me! Those stupid nerds…. They hexed me! I wasn’t even….even doing anything. You need to… do something about this!” While he spoke, Steve was able to get a better look at his face and vaguely recognized him as a Hufflepuff third year. He started to get the sinking feeling that he knew exactly who was responsible for this.
He exchanged a significant look with Robin, and she said, “Okay, you’re going to be fine. I’ll bring you to a professor, I don’t think I’ll be able to resolve two hexes at once. Steve, you go figure out what happened.”
She firmly but gently guided the student back up the corridor, taking great care to avoid any stray fishes. Steve turned back to the compartment and took a deep, calming breath before opening the door. As soon as he did, the inhabitants of the compartment turned to stare at him with a spectrum of guilty to indignant expressions.
As he expected, Dustin was in this compartment with his friends. Steve recognized them as the usual troublemaking group excluding Lucas, Will, and El, who were most likely already at Hogwarts since their parents were staff. That left Dustin, Mike, and Max, which was a volatile combination at best.
What he hadn’t expected was that the other occupants of the compartment were three older students. Eddie Munson sat at the far end by the window, and next to him on the seat were his friend Jeff Wilson (a seventh year Hufflepuff) and a fourth year Ravenclaw that Steve didn’t know. They looked significantly more spooked by the sudden appearance of a prefect, and the fourth year had sat up with a determined look on his face. His expression brought to Steve’s mind the image of a small dog ready to face down any opponent, its protective instincts triggered.
Deciding to ignore the older students for now, Steve put his hands on his hips and stared down the third years. All three looked back at him with falsely innocent expressions, and both Max and Dustin surreptitiously slid their wands into their robe pockets.
“What do you have to say for yourselves, dipshits? I know it was you with the sardine hex Dustin, you were practicing that all summer.”
Dustin stood up and began to defend himself, gesticulating wildly. “Steve, he deserved it! He was talking shit about Will and Eddie, and he called El a freak!”
Steve felt a bolt of anger at his words, but he had to be the responsible one in this situation. “That’s all really shitty and I get why you’re angry, but hexing someone on the train? How did you think that was going to go down? I’m going to have to report what happened, Robin had to take him to a professor.”
Dustin puffed out his chest indignantly and opened his mouth for a rebuttal but before he could start, the fourth year Ravenclaw interjected.
“I wouldn’t expect anything else from King Steve. You’re allowed to bully people all you want, but when someone tries to defend themselves from a bully you run to tell a teacher.” He had a nasty sneer on his face and was on the edge of his seat, like he was prepared to get in Steve’s face if he needed to.
Steve was taken aback, but not surprised. Before he could defend himself at all, Max piped up. “Shut up Gareth, that’s not even what’s happening here. Steve may be a narc, but he’s not bullying anyone.”
Gareth glared at her, betrayed. “Are you serious? I’m trying to help you, Mayfield.”
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “I don’t need help defending myself from Steve, he’s an oversized puppy with daddy issues and a savior complex. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Steve gaped at her, surprised and a little offended. Eddie chose this moment to jump into the conversation, hopping to his feet and bending almost completely in half in a deep bow. When he straightened up, he had a placating smile on his face. “What my dear friends mean to say, your Majesty, is that they were only defending themselves against some cruel accusations. That other student chose to enter our compartment and provoke us, so isn’t it their right to respond accordingly?”
Steve sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes briefly and wishing this whole situation would go away. “Look, I get it. It sounds like the other kid got what was coming to him, and I’ll tell Professor Clark your side of what happened. I just meant that if you were going to get revenge, this was a really stupid way to do it. You’re on an enclosed train with a ton of prefects and teachers, and the other kid could easily tell anyone that it was you. Dustin being stupid doesn’t surprise me but I expected better from a Slytherin, Max.”
Eddie and his friends all stared at him, gobsmacked. Max looked much more chastened now, despite her crossed arms. She nodded and grudgingly replied, “You’ve got me there, I guess. Doesn’t mean you’re not a narc, though.”
Steve shrugged. “You’re not wrong, but you know I’ve got your back as long as you’re more discreet next time.”
At this, Eddie burst into incredulous laughter. “Wow, Red. You’ve really got the King wrapped around your little finger.”
Steve turned to him and scowled. “Maybe, but don’t think I didn’t notice it was these two defending themselves from those ‘cruel accusations’, Munson. What were you guys doing, sucking your thumbs?”
Eddie didn’t respond immediately, and when Steve met his gaze the other boy was looking at him curiously. An intrigued smile slowly spread across his face as he leaned back against the window and lifted his hands in an exaggerated shrug. “I’m a lover not a fighter, Stevie.”
For some reason, the nickname made Steve’s brain go completely blank. Something squirmed in his stomach and he could feel his ears redden slightly. He blinked a couple times, then managed to respond lamely, “Uh, right. Whatever. I’ve got my eye on you, Munson.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Eddie’s smile got impossibly wider. “I sure hope so, Harrington.”
At a complete loss for words, Steve turned on his heel and left the compartment. Once he had walked down the corridor a few compartments, he turned to the wall and softly thunked his head against it a few times.
He took a deep breath and tried to push the incident aside, then continued down the corridor towards the prefect’s compartment. This was going to be a long train ride.