"Congratulations, 'Mione," (Y/n) mused as Hermione did a little happy dance around the room, clutching her prefect badge to her chest.
"Can't imagine who else would've been made the Gryffindor prefect, though," Ginny murmured under her breath. "No offence to them, but Lavender and Parvati aren't all that responsible, are they?.. Wonder who was made as Hermione's counterpart. My money's on Dean."
"Hm. Dean is the most responsible Gryffindor in their year, isn't he?" (Y/n) agreed. She didn't seem to fully be in there and she was, in fact, not fully there. She was listening in on the boys' funeral. "But Ron and Harry are Dumbledore's favourites."
"True," Ginny grinned. "Want me to take your school lists down to Mum?"
"Yes, please," the girls chorused.
"Ooh, can you ask your mum to pick up my shipment of fabric?" (Y/n) asked. "I put in the order via owl a week ago specifically so that it would arrive around the time we went shopping."
"Yeah, I will," Ginny agreed, taking hers, Hermione's, and (Y/n)'s shopping lists before heading from the room.
"Let's go tell Ron and Harry," Hermione said excitedly. She took (Y/n)'s wrist and tugged her along to the boys' room before throwing open the door and tearing into the room. (Y/n) rolled her wrist as she held it in her other hand.
"Did you— did you get—?" Hermione spotted the badge in Harry's hand and let out a shriek. "I knew it!" she said excitedly, brandishing her letter. "Me too, Harry, me too!"
"No," said Harry quickly, pushing the badge back into Ron's hand. "It's Ron, not me."
"It— what?"
"Ron's prefect, not me," Harry said.
"Congratulations, Ron," (Y/n) said genuinely.
"Ron?" said Hermione, her jaw dropping. "But... are you sure? I mean—" Her face grew hot as Ron looked around at her with a defiant expression on his face.
"It's my name on the letter," Ron said.
"I..." said Hermione, looking thoroughly bewildered. "I... well... wow! Well down, Ron! That's really—"
"Unexpected," said George, nodding.
"No," said Hermione, her face warmer than ever, "no, it's not... Ron's done loads of... he's really..."
The door behind her opened a little wider and Molly backed into the room, carrying a pile of freshly laundered robes.
"Ginny said the booklists had come at last," Molly said, glancing around at all the envelopes as she made her way over to the bed and started sorting the robes into two piles. "If you give them to me, I'll take them over to Diagon Alley this afternoon and get your books while you're packing. Ron, I'll have to get you more pyjamas, these are at least six inches too short, I can't believe how fast you're growing... what colour would you like?"
"Get him red and gold to match his badge," said George, smirking.
"Match his what?" said Molly absently, rolling up a pair of maroon socks and placing them on Ron's pile.
"His badge," said Fred with the air of getting the worst over quickly. "His lovely shiny new prefect's badge."
Fred's words took a moment to penetrate Molly's preoccupation with pyjamas.
"His... but... Ron, you're not..?" Ron held up his badge. "I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Oh, Ron, how wonderful! A prefect! That's everyone in the family!"
"What are Fred and I, next-door neighbours?" said George indignantly as his mother pushed him aside and flung her arms around her youngest son.
"Wait until your father hears! Ron, I'm so proud of you, what wonderful news, you could end up Head Boy just like Bill and Percy, it's the first step! Oh, what a thing to happen in the middle of all this worry, I'm just thrilled, oh Ronnie—"
Fred and George were both making loud retching noises behind her back but Molly did not notice; arms tight around Ron's neck, she was kissing him all over the face, which had turned a brighter scarlet than his badge.
"Mum... don't... Mum, get a grip..." Ron muttered, trying to push her away.
Molly let go of him and said breathlessly, "Well, what will it be? We gave Percy an owl, but you've already got one, of course."
"W-what do you mean?" said Ron, looking as though he did not dare believe his ears.
"You've got to have a reward for this!" said Molly fondly. "How about a nice new set of dress robes?"
"We've already bought him some," said Fred sourly, who looked as though he sincerely regretted his generosity.
"Or a new cauldron, Charlie's old one's rusting through—"
"Mum," said Ron hopefully, "can I have a new broom?" Molly's face fell slightly; broomsticks were expensive. "Not a really good one!" Ron hastened to add. "Just— just a new one for a change..."
Molly hesitated, then smiled.
"Of course, you can... Well, I'd better get going if I've got a broom to buy too. I'll see you later... Little Ronnie, a prefect! And don't forget to pack your trunks... A prefect... Oh, I'm all of a dither!" She gave Ron yet another kiss on the cheek, sniffled loudly, and bustled from the room.
Fred and George exchanged looks.
"You don't mind if we don't kiss you, do you, Ron?" said Fred in a falsely anxious voice.
"We could curtsy, if you like," said George.
"Oh, shut up," said Ron, scowling at them.
"Or what?" said Fred, an evil grin spreading across his face. "Going to put us in detention?"
"I'd love to see him try," sniggered George.
"He could if you don't watch out!" said Hermione angrily, at which Fred and George burst out laughing and Ron muttered, "Drop it, Hermione."
"We're going to have to watch our step, George," said Fred, pretending to tremble, "with these two on our case..."
"Yeah, it looks like our law-breaking days are finally over," said George, shaking his head.
And with a loud crack, the twins Disapparated.
"Those two!" said Hermione furiously, staring up at the ceiling, through which they could now hear Fred and George roaring with laughter in the room upstairs. "Don't pay any attention to them, Ron, they're only jealous!"
"I don't think they are," said Ron doubtfully, also looking up at the ceiling. "They've always said only prats become prefects... Still," he added in a happier tone, "they've never had new brooms! I wish I could go with Mum and choose... She'll never be able to afford a Nimbus, but there's a new Cleansweep out, that'd be great... Yeah, I think I'll go and tell her I like the Cleansweep, just so she knows..." He dashed from the room, leaving Harry, Hermione, and (Y/n) as the last ones standing.
For some reason, Harry found that he did not want to look at the girls. He turned to his bed, picked up the pile of clean robes Molly had laid upon it, and crossed the room to his trunk.
"Harry?" said Hermione tentatively.
"Well done," said Harry so heartily it did not sound like his voice at all, and still not looking at her. "Brilliant. Prefect. Great."
"Thanks," said Hermione. "Erm— Harry— could I borrow Hedwig so I can tell Mum and Dad? They'll be really pleased— I mean, prefect is something they can understand—"
"Yeah, no problem," said Harry, still in a horrible hearty voice that did not belong to him. "Take her!"
He leaned over his trunk, laid the robes on the bottom of it, and pretended to rummage for a bit while Hermione crossed to the wardrobe and called Hedwig down. A few moments later, the door creaked as Hermione cracked it.
"Harry," (Y/n) sang, strolling over to the boy with her hands clasped behind her back. "I'm sure Dumbledore's got reason for picking Ron, yeah? It's a lot of responsibility, you know? And with everything that's gone on this year and everything that will go on, I'm sure you'll be glad for not needing the extra responsibility." Harry turned and stared. "Let's be happy for Ron, hm? He's got five older brothers and you as a best friend." Harry silently nodded and (Y/n) rubbed his arm before pecking his cheek. "I'm very proud of you too, you know? You're so cool and casual even after everything you've—"
A wide smile came to (Y/n)'s face as Harry engulfed her in a hug. She was quick to wrap her arms around his torso and beam up at him.
"Drop the smile," Harry jeered. (Y/n) stuck her tongue out and Harry's upset demeanour broke and he cracked a smile.
"I'll see you this evening," (Y/n) said. "I've still got to unpack everything Lily got for me and then I've got to pack my trunk... Why do I always wait until the end of the summer? Well, at least I never really unpacked my stuff— Oh, but I've got to repack my mum's trunk." Groaning, (Y/n) set off out of the room. No sooner had she exited was there a loud crack followed by a shriek from (Y/n).
Harry found himself staring after (Y/n), growing quite upset that his heart fluttered when (Y/n) praised him. He also was furious with himself for still having feelings for the girl that politely turned him down due to having a (now dead) boyfriend. He couldn't do that to (Y/n), not now.
By six in the evening, Molly had hung a scarlet banner over the heavily laden dinner table, which read CONGRATULATIONS RON AND HERMIONE— NEW PREFECTS. She looked in a better mood than she had been all holiday.
"I thought we'd have a little party, not a sit-down dinner," she told all the kids as they entered the room. "Your father and Bill are on their way, Ron, I've sent them both owls and they're thrilled," she added, beaming.
Fred rolled his eyes.
(Y/n) patiently waited for Harry to finish getting himself butterbeer. She blinked as he held out the glass for her. Smiling, she accepted it, still waiting as Harry served himself. No sooner had he done so did Mad-Eye Moody stump down into the kitchen.
"Oh, Alastor, I am glad you're here," said Molly brightly as Mad-Eye shrugged off his travelling cloak. "We've been wanting to ask you for ages— could you have a look in the writing desk in the drawing-room and tell us what's inside it? We haven't opened it just in case it's something really nasty."
"No problem, Molly..." Moody's electric-blue eye swivelled upward and stared fixedly through the ceiling of the kitchen. "Drawing room..." he growled as the pupil contracted. "Desk in the corner? Yeah, I see it... Yeah, it's a boggart... Want me to go up and get rid of it, Molly?"
"No, no, I'll do it myself later," beamed Molly. "You have your drink. We're having a little bit of a celebration, actually..." She gestured to the scarlet banner. "Fourth prefect in the family!" she said fondly, ruffling Ron's hair.
"Prefect, eh?" growled Moody, his normal eye on Ron and his magical eye swivelling around to gaze into the side of his head. Harry had the very uncomfortable feeling it was looking at him and moved away toward Sirius and Remus.
"Well, congratulations," said Moody, still glaring at Ron with his normal eye, "authority figures always attract trouble, but I suppose Dumbledore thinks you can withstand most major jinxes or he wouldn't have appointed you..."
Ron looked rather startled at this view of the matter but was saved the trouble of responding by the arrival of his father and eldest brother. Molly was in such a good mood she did not even complain that they had brought Mundungus with them too; he was wearing a long overcoat that seemed oddly lumpy in unlikely places and declined the offer to remove it and put it with Moody's travel cloak. Not long after their arrival, more members of the household slowly arrived with an ecstatic Mary being the last.
"Well, I think a toast is in order," said Arthur when everyone had a drink. He raised his goblet. "To Ron and Hermione, the new Gryffindor prefects!"
Ron and Hermione beamed as everyone drank to them and then applauded.
"I was never a prefect myself," said Tonks brightly from behind Harry as everybody moved toward the table to help themselves to food. Their hair was tomato-red and waist-length today, making them blend right in as a Weasley sibling. "My Head of House said I lacked certain necessary qualities."
"Like what?" said Ginny, who was choosing a baked potato.
"Like the ability to behave myself," said Tonks.
Ginny laughed; Hermione looked as though she did not know whether to smile or not and compromised by taking an extra-large gulp of butterbeer and choking on it.
"What about you?" Ginny asked, thumping Hermione on the back.
Sirius, who was right beside Harry, let out his usual barklike laugh.
"No one would have made me a prefect, I spent too much time in detention with James. Lupin was the good boy, he got the badge."
"I think Dumbledore might have hoped that I would be able to exercise some control over my best friends," said Remus. "I need scarcely say that I failed dismally."
Harry's mood suddenly lifted at the reminder his father had not been a prefect. All at once, the party seemed much more enjoyable; he loaded up his plate, feeling unusually fond of everyone in the room.
Ron was rhapsodizing about his new broom to anybody who would listen.
"... nought to seventy in ten seconds, not bad, is it? When you think the Comet Twi Ninety's only nought to sixty and that's with a decent tailwind according to Which Broomstick?"
Hermione was talking earnestly to Remus about her view of elf rights.
"I mean, it's the same kind of nonsense as werewolf segregation, isn't it? It all stems from this horrible thing wizards have of thinking they're superior to other creatures..."
Molly and Bill were having their usual argument about Bill's hair.
"...getting really out of hand, and you're so good-looking, it would look much better shorter, wouldn't it, Harry?"
"Oh— I dunno—" said Harry, slightly alarmed at being asked his opinion.
"I'll have to disagree," (Y/n) chirped as Harry slid away from them in the direction Fred and George were huddled in a corner with Mundungus.
"Oh?" Molly mused.
"Nothing screams 'Bill Weasley' more than long red hair," (Y/n) said, peering around the table for anything that might be light on her stomach. In truth, she was absolutely dreading returning to Hogwarts. She was, likely, the only one in the room feeling such. She'd rather not spend the whole night throwing up her stomach.
(Y/n) perked up upon hearing a bit of Tonks's rambling from across the room. They had quite the amused crowd gathered around them and stopped talking abruptly at the sight of (Y/n) staring daggers at them. They were extremely quick to wrap up their story.
"—and Mum had the audacity to blame me over it!" Tonks exclaimed. "She's real sly, isn't she? And she's never caught either because she's got this perfect image in everyone's eyes."
"Expect when she broke her nose," Fred piped up. Silence rang through the room as several laughs were stifled.
"I wish I had gotten expelled," (Y/n) jeered.
"No, no. No, you don't," Lily said, panicked. "You'd be stuck here all year."
"Exciting," (Y/n) said, turning and making for the stairs.
"(Y/n), get back here and eat!" James laughed.
"I'm not hungry," (Y/n) said. "I might just be too ill to return to Hogwarts if I eat a singular bite," she said, glancing over her shoulder before skipping up the steps.
"(Y/n)!"