A/N: This story is a sequel to my other fic, House of Cards, but, like almost all my stories, it can be read alone. It might make more sense if you've read that one first, though!

All my stories form one timeline, and there is an overarching story (see my profile for details and chronology) but they each have their own plots too. Some feed more directly into the overall plot than others; this one is focused more on character relationships, but it does make mention of wider events. I hope you can enjoy them all by themselves as well as part of the 'series', but just a warning: This one, as a sequel, does contain spoilers for House of Cards.

Really appreciate anyone who takes the time to review any of my fics, I'm always trying to improve my writing and love feedback!

I also have a Tumblr dedicated to my fanfiction, with the url aebbeswriting - please check it out, give it a follow if you like my stories, and feel free to interact with me there, if you have questions (anon is switched on), thoughts, requests (no promises to fulfil them though) etc.

The scene in the Great Hall on the evening of the first of September did not really change much year to year, Albus thought, observing the four long tables piled with food, the mass of laughing, chattering students, the little bunches of newly sorted first-years, and the general hubbub. And yet this year was different. He remembered back to his own first evening, and smiled slightly as he thought of his terrified eleven-year-old self. James hadn't helped his nerves. In fact, thinking about it, James had been the cause of most of his nerves. Even at twelve, his brother had been confident, loud and popular. There had been no way Albus was going to be able to compete with him.

He'd got past that, of course. He'd felt no need to compete with Jamie for years (it helped that all his school marks had been significantly better than his brother's). But still. Being at Hogwarts without him was a weird feeling. That first year, he and Rose had been among the little ones of the family. Victoire had still been at school, Fred and Dominique behind her, and James and Louis behind them. One by one they'd left, and now it was Albus who was the seventh-year – and not only a seventh-year, but Head Boy. It was his last September. And so, although it hadn't changed, it was different.

"Al?"

He looked across the table to his cousin Molly, who was sitting opposite him and looking at him expectantly, her own prefect's badge gleaming on her chest.

"Sorry. I was miles away. What did you say?"

"I said, when's the first prefect meeting?"

A meeting. Yes, that was his responsibility now, and he felt his heart sink a bit. He'd quite enjoyed being a prefect, but Head Boy was different. He wasn't James; he wasn't a leader. Not that anyone in their right mind would have made James Head Boy or prefect. However, he smiled at Molly.

"Tomorrow morning, as far as I know." He glanced across at the Hufflepuff table, looking for Farah Jilani, the new Head Girl, but he didn't see her. Instead, his eyes fell closer, on the other end of his own table, where Sapphie Jordan was talking to Rose. He hastily looked away. He and Sapphie were finished. Over. Had been for months, and he was fine with it now; they were even back on friendly terms. He didn't have time to think about Sapphie this year, what with NEWTs as well as being Head Boy.

"It's all right, Al." Molly leaned forward towards him, and her voice was kind and reassuring. "You don't need to worry – you'll do a really good job."

Albus frowned. Molly was too damn perceptive, even if she hadn't quite cottoned on to exactly what he'd been thinking. She was also a year younger than him, though, so he didn't need her mothering him.

"I'm not worried," he lied. "Just looking for Farah. We're supposed to be running the thing together."

Half an hour later, the plates were mostly empty, and the hall was filled with crowds of students all moving towards their common rooms. Albus stood up with the rest, and headed for the door.

"Aren't you supposed to look after the first-years?" his friend, Gareth Llewellyn, asked with amusement.

Albus looked back. Molly already had the gaggle of new Gryffindor first-years following along behind her, and a couple of other prefects were hovering round. He grinned.

"Nah, Moll's got it under control. Come on. I'll have enough to do after we have the meeting tomorrow – I want to relax tonight."

They headed out of the hall and along a corridor.

"So, what did you think of Clearwater's announcement?" Gareth asked.

"What, about having a Yule Ball?" Albus shrugged. "Sounds like a lot of work. And I bet Farah and I have to help. I could do without it, to be honest."

"Well, you don't have to go," Gareth suggested. "I mean, I'm sure it's not compulsory. You could just hang out in the common room with the third-years and below."

"Don't tempt me. I've been dragged along to formal parties at the Ministry before. I really don't want to have to go to another one."

Gareth laughed. "I doubt it'll be much like the Ministry parties, though. You never know, it might even be fun."

They got no further in their conversation. From up ahead in the corridor came a distant crash, a scream, and then the sound of voices shouting. People around them either stopped or rushed on towards the noise, a buzz of alarmed chatter breaking out. Albus and Gareth glanced at each other, then hurried towards whatever was going on.

The scene they found around the corner was one of chaos. Several third-year Gryffindors seemed to have clashed with some Slytherins of the same year, wands had been drawn, and several hexes cast. Luckily, being thirteen-year-olds at the beginning of their third year, there was a limit to the damage they were capable of doing, but they'd caused uproar, and there was a great deal of noise. Several first-years were screaming, apparently thinking they were under attack.

Albus took all this in within the first couple of seconds, and also realised that he needed to do something.

"HEY!" he shouted at the top of his voice, over the noise. "EVERYONE STOP, RIGHT NOW!"

To his surprise, it worked. It took only a few seconds for the culprits, along with everyone else, to realise that they were in the presence of the Head Boy, and things faded to a sheepish silence. Albus, looking around, quickly identified those responsible. In the middle of it were Padraig Finnegan and Artemis Magorian, both of whom he knew quite well because, quite apart from Padraig's parents being friends of his own father, they were both part of his cousin Lucy's crowd. Along with them were a couple of other Gryffindors he knew vaguely, and several Slytherins he recognised but couldn't put names to. Weylin Nott, one Slytherin he did know by name, was also standing there, though his wand wasn't drawn and he had his hands in his pockets as he stared at the ground. Nott had never been much of a troublemaker before, as far as Albus was aware, but his family had. In fact, his parents were currently in Azkaban after some very unpleasant incidents the previous year.

"What exactly d'you all think you're doing?" he asked, glaring round at them all.

Several people began to talk at once, a confusing jumble of accounts, and it was clear he wasn't going to get a straight story. More people were pouring round the corner to see what was going on, and one of them elbowed her way to the front.

"What's happening?" Farah Jilani, the Head Girl, asked Albus, gazing at the scene with consternation.

"Good question," Albus said. "Casting jinxes in the corridors, is what it sounds like."

The Head Boy and Girl exchanged looks, and Albus saw his own dismay reflected in Farah's face. They'd both hoped that this year would be quieter than last, but this wasn't a good start.

"Is anyone hurt?" Farah asked.

"Tansy got hexed," Padraig said in the momentary pause. Tansy Kent, a Gryffindor, had taken something to the face that had a spread of what looked like purple fungus across her cheek, and was blinking back tears.

Albus bent to look at it. It didn't seem like the kind of thing that would be hard to reverse, so he tried out an anti-jinx spell, and the purple began to fade. Healing spells were one thing he was good at.

"Well, I'm not going to ask who fired that one," he said, "since you all seem to have joined in anyway. But you can count yourselves lucky it's the first night, or you'd all be losing points."

"And we're not going to be lenient on this sort of thing this term," Farah put in sternly. "Anyone who's caught firing hexes or jinxes, or anything else, at another student can expect a detention at the very least."

Albus nodded. "Now get yourselves into your common rooms before we have the staff coming to find out what's going on."

The seventh-years stood and watched as the younger students slunk off in different directions, then the three of them, Albus, Farah and Gareth, looked at each other.

"Well, this isn't exactly the best start to the year," Farah said with a sigh. "I was hoping we weren't going to get any more of that kind of stuff. When are you lot and the Slytherins going to stop laying into each other?"

"Don't ask us." Albus shrugged. "It's not like we ever got involved. But I'm pretty sure everything that happened last year is only going to make it worse. A lot of the Slytherins – and people from other houses too – had relatives in the League, and now everyone knows the League was just a front for more Pureblood supremacists and Dark Arts stuff. It's just gone and stirred up bad feeling again. I've no idea who started that little fight – it could have been any of them, little idiots – but Tansy Kent's a Muggleborn, and well… you know where Weylin Nott's parents are, and why."

"Well, we need to stop it." Farah looked determined. "Nip it in the bud. I mean, of course, the League's awful, but it's just stupid, turning it into a house thing! It's just another form of bigotry." She gave him a questioning look. "You do agree with me, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Albus smiled at her. "We can definitely do our best. I just hope it's enough."

Lucy Weasley had come to school for her third year with several clear ideas in her head. None of them involved dealing with her friends brawling in the corridors, and she gave Padraig and Artemis an exasperated look as they told their story at breakfast next morning. Strictly speaking, she was not supposed to be at the Gryffindor table, since she was a Hufflepuff, but she had never let that stop her.

"You're idiots. What was the point?"

"Hey, we didn't start it!" Padraig began indignantly, but Lucy hadn't actually stopped for an answer.

"Okay, well anyway, that's not important. You have to tell me what you think of my idea. Tilly and Max like it, don't you?" She looked at the other two sitting with them: Max Bailley, her fellow Hufflepuff, and Matilda Thomas, the sole Ravenclaw representative of their little group.

"What idea?" Artemis said blankly, then her eyes fell on something sitting on Lucy's lap under the table. "Luce… is that a duck?"

"Yep." Lucy smiled proudly down at the basket. "This is Basil. Look, isn't he gorgeous?" She lifted up a half-grown duckling briefly. It looked around, and quacked faintly, before she hastily put it under the table again.

Her friends exchanged glances.

"Are you allowed to bring a duck to school?" Padraig asked with a grin.

"Are you allowed to cast jinxes in the corridor?" Lucy countered briskly. "But actually, there's no rule that says I can't. I checked last term."

"Bet Clearwater makes one when she sees him," Max commented.

"I don't see why. He's less trouble than a cat, and makes no more mess than an owl. Anyway, Padraig and Artemis haven't heard my idea yet. So here it is. I think we should start a drama club."

The two who had already heard it looked expectantly at Padraig and Artemis for their reactions. The two Gryffindors looked at each other, then back at Lucy.

"What d'you mean… a drama club?" Artemis asked at last. "You mean, like… acting?"

"Yes, exactly!" said Lucy enthusiastically. "Inter-house, of course, so you'll have to get over all your stupid fighting. And only for third-years and below, because if we let older people in, they'll try and take over. What d'you think?"

"I don't want to act, though," Padraig said doubtfully. He looked at Tilly and Max. "Are you two in on this as well?"

"I think it's a good idea," Tilly said with a shrug. "I mean, I'm not that keen on acting either, but there's loads of other things we can do, right, Lucy? We can do stuff backstage."

"I just said I'd help if they let you do it," Max put in. "But I bet they won't."

"They will." Lucy looked determined. "It's a brilliant idea. And they have the stupid gobstones club. Why shouldn't they let us do this? So, are you two in?" She looked at Artemis and Padraig.

"Yeah, okay." Artemis looked more enthusiastic once she'd thought about it. "I think it could be fun!"

Padraig groaned. "I don't. But fine. So long as you don't make me act."

"Great!" Lucy beamed. "I'll go and ask Professor Clearwater straight after breakfast!"

"Absolutely not," Professor Clearwater, the Deputy Headmistress, said briskly, barely glancing at the girl on the other side of her desk. "Quite out of the question. Didn't you hear the announcement I made at the feast?"

"Which one, Professor?" Lucy asked politely. "The one about the first Hogsmeade trip being on the first Saturday in October, or the one about each house being allocated their own day for Quidditch practice, or the one about the new library system, or the one about the Yule Ball being this year? I heard them all, Professor, but I don't see…"

Professor Clearwater looked up from the parchment she was writing on.

"This isn't a discussion, Miss Weasley. I'd have thought it was quite obvious. What with organising the Yule Ball, we are going to be very busy this term, and no member of staff can be expected to give up their own time to start some silly club. That's the end of the matter."

"But we don't need a member of staff, Professor. We'd run it ourselves, and we'd do it all in our own time. It would just be for third-years and below. And I'd organise everything. I mean, there's nothing to absolutely stop us, is there? There's no rule to say we can't."

"I am saying you can't, Miss Weasley," the professor snapped. "It's nonsense, and I won't have it affecting your school work. Please stop arguing with me."

There was a tap at the door.

"Come in!" Professor Clearwater called, and the door opened to reveal the Head Girl.

"Oh, sorry, Professor," Farah said, when she saw Lucy. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I just brought the copies of the new prefect duty rota."

"You didn't interrupt," Professor Clearwater said. "Miss Weasley was just…"

"I was just talking about the inter-house drama club I'm starting!" Lucy jumped in. "I thought it could be something to help all the houses get along, you know?"

Farah looked at her with interest. "Really? That's a good idea! You'll have to tell me more about it. Here's the rota, Professor." She held out a piece of parchment to Professor Clearwater, who took it.

"Thank you, Farah. And don't get too excited. I've just told Miss Weasley that it's utterly impossible."

"Oh, really, Professor?" Farah looked deeply disappointed. "Well, I suppose it would be quite a lot of work. But… well, Albus and I were actually trying to think of ways to encourage a bit more… friendliness between the houses. After everything that happened, you know? And, I mean, some sort of club could work."

Professor Clearwater laid the prefect duty rota on the desk in front of her and sighed deeply.

"I am not going to ask a member of staff to help you with this, nor am I going to make any special concessions for it," she said.

Lucy, seeing her weaken, lit up. "You don't need to, Professor, honestly! We'll do it all ourselves!"

"And I'll help them, if they need it," Farah offered.

Professor Clearwater looked sternly at both girls.

"I'm letting you do this because I believe that you're right, Farah – a bit of inter-house co-operation is sorely needed. So I'm not going to stand in your way, as long as it's not impacting anyone's academic performance, and as long as it really does contribute to some sort of school unity. That means that all four houses must be equally involved. As soon as I see that not happening, or the schoolwork of anyone involved suffering, I shall stop it at once. Understood?"

As soon as they were outside, Lucy turned to the Head Girl, beaming.

"Thanks, Farah!"

"No problem." Farah looked at her with slight bemusement. "It's a good idea, if you can pull it off. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well…" Lucy looked doubtful. "I don't mean to be rude, but we actually really wanted to do it just ourselves. The third-years. We were going to see if anyone first and second-years wanted to join, but it would be just us running it."

"Fair enough." Farah smiled at her. "Well, let me know if you need anything. And I'll come and see your show."