"I knew it!" yelled Ron, punching the air.
Harry had returned that afternoon to say he had been cleared.
"You always get away with stuff!"
"They were bound to clear you." said Hermione, who had looked positively faint with anxiety when Harry had entered the kitchen and was now holding a shaking hand over her eyes. "There was no case against you, none at all."
Y/n just slinked an arm around Hermione's waist. "I told you he would alright." He chuckled.
"Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering you all knew I'd get off." said Harry, smiling.
Mrs. Weasley was wiping her face on her apron, and Fred, George, and Ginny were doing a kind of war dance to a chant that went. "He got off, he got off, he got off..."
"That's enough! Settle down!" shouted Mr. Weasley, though he too was smiling. "Listen, Sirius, Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry..."
"Malfoy..." Y/n said his good mood disappearing.
"What?" said Sirius sharply.
"He got off, he got off, he got off..."
"Be quiet, you three! Yes, we saw him talking to Fudge on Level Nine, then they went up to Fudge's office together. Dumbledore ought to know." Mr Weasley said.
"Absolutely." said Sirius. "We'll tell him, don't worry."
"Well, I'd better get going, there's a vomiting toilet waiting for me in Bethnal Green. Molly, I'll be late, I'm covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in for dinner." Mr Weasley said as he turned to leave.
"He got off, he got off, he got off..."
"That's enough Fred, George, Ginny!" said Mrs. Weasley, as Mr. Weasley left the kitchen. "Harry, dear, come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast..."
Y/n let go of Hermione now as they sat themselves down opposite Harry and Ron sat beside him, looking happier than they had done since he and Y/n had first arrived at Grimmauld Place.
"Course, once Dumbledore turned up on your side, there was no way they were going to convict you." said Ron happily, now starting to dish great mounds of mashed potato onto everyone's plates.
"Yeah, he swung it for me." said Harry but he suddenly clapped his hand up to his head.
"What's up?" said Hermione, looking alarmed.
"Scar." Harry mumbled. "But it's nothing...It happens all the time now..."
None of the others had noticed a thing, all of them were now helping themselves to food while gloating over Harry's narrow escape, Fred, George, and Ginny were still singing. Hermione looked rather anxious while Y/n looked at him concerned but before either could say anything, Ron had said happily. "I bet Dumbledore turns up this evening, to celebrate with us, you know."
"I don't think he'll be able to, Ron." said Mrs. Weasley, setting a huge plate of roast chicken down in front of Harry. "He's really very busy at the moment."
"HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF. HE GOT OFF..."
"BE QUIET!" roared Mrs. Weasley.
Over the next few days Harry could not help noticing that there was one person within number twelve, Grimmauld Place, who did not seem wholly overjoyed that he would be returning to Hogwarts. Sirius had put up a very good show of happiness on first hearing the news, wringing Harry's hand and beaming just like the rest of them. Soon, however, he was moodier and surlier than before, talking less to everybody, even Harry, and spending increasing amounts of time shut up in his mother's room with Buckbeak.
"Don't you go feeling guilty!" said Hermione sternly, after Harry had confided some of his feelings to her, Y/n and Ron while they scrubbed out a mouldy cupboard on the third floor a few days later. "You belong at Hogwarts and Sirius knows it. Personally, I think he's being selfish."
"That's a bit harsh, Hermione." said Ron, frowning as he attempted to prise off a bit of mould that had attached itself firmly to his finger. "You wouldn't want to be stuck inside this house without any company."
"He'll have company!" said Hermione. "It's Headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix, isn't it? He just got his hopes up that Harry would be coming to live here with him."
"I don't think that's true." said Harry, wringing out his cloth. "He wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked him if I could."
"So you asked him?" Y/n said and Harry just nodded.
"He just didn't want to get his own hopes up even more." said Hermione wisely. "And he probably felt a bit guilty himself, because I think a part of him was really hoping you'd be expelled. Then you'd both be outcasts together."
"Come off it!" said Harry and Ron together.
Hermione merely shrugged. "Suit yourselves. But I sometimes think Ron's mum's right and Sirius gets confused about whether you're you or your father, Harry."
"So you think he's touched in the head?" said Harry heatedly.
"No, I just think he's been very lonely for a long time." said Hermione simply.
"With the way he has had to live the last fourteen years can you blame him for feeling lonely?" Y/n said.
At this point, Mrs. Weasley entered the bedroom behind them. "Still not finished?" she said, poking her head into the cupboard.
"I thought you might be here to tell us to have a break!" said Ron bitterly. "D'you know how much mould we've got rid of since we arrived here?"
"You were so keen to help the Order." said Mrs. Weasley. "You can do your bit by making Headquarters fit to live in."
"I feel like a house elf." grumbled Ron.
'Well, now you understand what they have to do everyday." Y/n said as he scrubbed.
"And what dreadful lives they lead, perhaps you'll be a bit more active in S. P. E. W!" Added Hermione hopefully, as Mrs. Weasley left them to it. "You know, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to show people exactly how horrible it is to clean all the time...we could do a sponsored scrub of Gryffindor common room, all proceeds to S. P. E. W, it would raise awareness as well as funds..."
"I'll sponsor you to shut up about spew..." Ron muttered irritably, but only so Harry could hear him.
The end of the holidays were approaching now and Y/n could not deny that it would be nice to leave this dusty, musty house, where half of the cupboards were still bolted shut and Kreacher wheezed insults out of the shadows as you passed.
The fact was that living at the Headquarters of the anti-Voldemort movement was not nearly as interesting or exciting as any of them would have expected it to be. Though members of the Order of the Phoenix came and went regularly, sometimes staying for meals, sometimes only for a few minutes of whispered conversation, Mrs. Weasley made sure that they were all kept well out of earshot and nobody, not even Sirius, seemed to feel that they needed to know anything more than what they had heard on the night of Harry's arrival.
On the very last day of the holidays Y/n and Harry were in their bedroom. Harry was sweeping up Hedwig's owl droppings from the top of the wardrobe while Y/n had begun packing his clothes when Ron entered their bedroom carrying a couple of envelopes.
"Booklists have arrived." he said, throwing one of the envelopes up to Harry who was standing on a chair, then passing one to Y/n. "About time, I thought they'd forgotten, they usually come much earlier than this..."
Y/n just finished packing the clothes he had bought with Hermione and her mother into his trunk then opened his letter. It contained two pieces of parchment, one the usual reminder that term started on the first of September and the other telling him which books he would need for the coming year.
"Only two new ones." Harry said, reading the same list. "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, by Miranda Goshawk, and Defensive Magical Theory, by Wilbert Slinkhard."
Crack.
Fred and George Apparated right beside Harry. He was so used to them doing this by now that he didn't even fall off his chair.
"We were just wondering who assigned the Slinkhard book." said Fred conversationally.
"Because it means Dumbledore's found a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." said George.
"And about time to."' said Fred.
"What d'you mean?" Harry asked, jumping down beside them.
"Well, we overheard Mum and Dad talking on the Extendable Ears a few weeks back." Fred told Harry. "And from what they were saying, Dumbledore was having real trouble finding anyone to do the job this year."
"Not surprising, is it, when you look at what's happened to the last four?" said George.
"One sacked, one dead, one's memory removed, and one locked in a trunk for nine months." said Harry, counting them off on his fingers. "Yeah, I see what you mean."
"Professor Lupin was not sacked..." Y/n reminded him. "He chose to leave on his own terms, despite my wishes he had stayed."
"What's up with you, Ron?" asked Fred.
Ron did not answer. Y/n and Harry looked around. Ron was standing very still with his mouth slightly open, gaping at his letter from Hogwarts.
"What's the matter?" said Fred impatiently, moving around Ron to look over his shoulder at the parchment.
Fred's mouth fell open, too. "Prefect?" he said, staring incredulously at the letter. "Prefect?"
George leapt forward, seized the envelope in Ron's other hand and turned it upside-down. Y/n and Harry saw something scarlet and gold fall into George's palm.
"No way." said George in a hushed voice.
"There's been a mistake." said Fred, snatching the letter out of Ron's grasp and holding it up to the light as though checking for a watermark. "No one in their right mind would make Ron a prefect."
The twins' heads turned in unison and both of them stared at Y/n.
"We thought you were a cert!" said Fred, in a tone that suggested he had tricked them in some way.
"We thought Dumbledore was bound to pick you!" said George indignantly.
'You don't get into as much trouble as Harry and with winning the Triwizard and everything!" said Fred.
"I suppose all the Grindelwald stuff must've counted against him and Harry's got people calling him mad..." said George to Fred.
"Yeah." said Fred slowly. "Yeah, you've both caused too much trouble, mates. Well, at least you two have got you're priorities right."
He strode over to Y/n and Harry clapping them each on the back while giving Ron a scathing look.
"Prefect...ickle Ronnie the prefect..."
"Oh, Mum's going to be revolting." groaned George, thrusting the prefect badge back at Ron as though it might contaminate him.
Ron, who still had not said a word, took the badge, stared at it for a moment, then held it out to Y/n as though asking mutely for confirmation that it was genuine.
Y/n took it. A large 'P' was superimposed on the Gryffindor lion. He had seen a badge just like this on Percy's chest on his very first day at Hogwarts.
The door banged open. Hermione came tearing into the room, her cheeks flushed and her hair flying. There was an envelope in her hand.
"Did you...did you get...?"
She spotted the badge in Y/n's hand and let out a shriek.
"I knew it!" she said excitedly, brandishing her letter and rushing forward to hug him. "Me too, Y/n, me too!" She cried hugging him tightly.
"I am sorry Hermione." Y/n started not wanting to ruin her moment of joy as he handed back badge back the badge to Ron.
"It...what?" Hermione said confused.
"Ron is the Gryffindor prefect, not me." Y/n told her.
"Ron?" said Hermione, her jaw dropping. "But...are you sure? I mean..." She turned red as Ron looked round at her with a defiant expression on his face.
"It's my name on the letter." he said.
"I..." said Hermione, looking thoroughly bewildered. "I...well...wow! Well done, Ron! That's really..."
"Unexpected." said George, nodding.
"No." said Hermione. "No it's not...Ron's done loads of...he's really..."
The door behind her opened a little wider and Mrs. Weasley backed into the room carrying a pile of freshly laundered robes.
"Ginny said the booklists had come at last." she 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 Mrs. Weasley 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 Mrs. Weasley's preoccupation with pyjamas.
"His...but...Ron, you're not.. ?"
Ron held up his badge and Mrs. Weasley let out a shriek just like Hermione's before.
"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 Mrs. Weasley did not notice, arms tight around Ron's neck, she was kissing him all over his face, which had turned a brighter scarlet than his badge.
"Mum...don't...Mum, get a grip..." he muttered, trying to push her away.
She 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 Mrs. Weasley 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 this generosity.
"Or a new cauldron, Charlie's old one's rusting through, or a new rat, you always liked Scabbers..."
"Mum." said Ron hopefully. "Can I have a new broom?"
Mrs. Weasley's face fell slightly, broomsticks were expensive.
"Not a really good one!" Ron hastened to add. "Just...just a new one for a change..."
Mrs. Weasley 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 all 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, sniffed 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 curtsey, 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.
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 another 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 on a happier note. "They've never had new brooms! I wish I could go with Mum and choose...She'll never be able to afford a Firebolt or even a Nimbus, but there's the 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, Y/n and Hermione alone.
For some reason, Harry found he did not want to look at Hermione. He turned to his bed, picked up the pile of clean robes Mrs. Weasley had laid on it and crossed the room to his trunk.
"Harry?" said Hermione tentatively.
"Well done, Hermione." 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 worriedly looking at Y/n to see he was looking at her with a look of concern for Harry as well. "Erm...Harr...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 the 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 be rummaging for something while Y/n held out his arm and gently whistled crossed to the wardrobe and Hedwig flew down from the wardrobe landing on it and he then left the room with Hermione.
"What do you think was wrong with Harry?" Hermione quietly asked him.
"I am uncertain, he never made mention of desperately wanting to be a prefect in the past, for him to suddenly seem angry about it is odd..."
"Why do you think neither of you were made prefect though?" Hermione asked now as they came to the stairs.
"Perhaps Dumbledore does not wish to add to the pressure that is already upon Harry and myself. Ron was most likely the next best choice after us too." Y/n suggested and Hermione seemed to be thinking about this now. Y/n looked over the banister and saw a familiar shade of red hair. "Here." He held out his arm with Hedwig for her and she took the owl. "We can continue this topic later, for now you should let your parents know. They will very proud of you...I know I am." Y/n said giving her a smile.
Hermione just leaned forward and began to kiss Y/n now.
"Do you two have to do that in front of people?" Ron's voice complained causing Y/n and Hermione to break away. She went very red in the face and made her way down to the first landing.
Y/n turned to Ron now. "I do not believe I got a chance to say it...but well done Ron." Y/n said with a smile.
"Uh... thanks." Ron grinned nervously. "Didn't really expect it you know?"
"I am sure you will make a fine prefect Ron. Y/n said. "Now if you excuse me, I am going attempt to grab a snack from the kitchen."
"Oh bring me something if you do." Ron said before heading to their room.
Y/n just shook his head and began to walk down the stairs stopping on the bottom stair. "Mrs Weasley." Y/n called out to her as he saw her standing getting ready near the front door.
"Yes dear?" Mrs Weasley said. "I'm afraid you will have to be quick as I'm about to leave for Diagon Alley."
"Yes, that is why I wish to speak to you..." Y/n said as he took something out of his pocket now.
It was odd how widely their possessions seemed to have scattered themselves since they had arrived. It took them most of the afternoon to retrieve their books and belongings from all over the house and stow them back inside their school trunks. Harry noticed that Ron kept moving his prefect's badge around, first placing it on his bedside table, then putting it into his jeans pocket, then taking it out and lying it on his folded robes, as though to see the effect of the red on the black. Only when Fred and George dropped in and offered to attach it to his forehead with a Permanent Sticking Charm did he wrap it tenderly in his maroon socks and lock it in his trunk.
They were about in the hallway when Mrs. Weasley returned from Diagon Alley around six o'clock, laden with books and carrying a long package wrapped in thick brown paper.
"Here you are dear." Mrs Weasley said as she handed Y/n more books than she had anyone else. Something Hermione was quick to notice.
"Thank you Mrs Weasley."
"It's fine dear." She smiled and then handed him back a small gold key and turned to Ron who took the brown package from her with a moan of longing. "Never mind unwrapping it now, people are arriving for dinner, I want you all downstairs." she said, but the moment she was out of sight Ron ripped open the paper in a frenzy and examined every inch of his new broom, a shocked expression on his face.
"But...this...this is a..." Ron barely managed to utter.
"What is it Ron?" Hermione asked.
Ron just ripped off the rest of the paper to reveal a nimbus two thousand that Hermione and even Harry looked surprised to see.
"But there's no way mum could afford one of these..." Ron said in shock. "Where did she get the money for one?"
"I gave it to her." Y/n said.
"You?" Ron said looking at Y/n. "How did you get her to take the money? She always refuses."
"I told Mrs Weasley to take money from my vault for some extra books I wanted and to buy you a Nimbus." Y/n said as he began to examine his new books. "She of course refused to at first, but I decided to use her own words against her, that you deserved a reward for making prefect. She was hard pressed to try and refuse after that, although I am afraid however that it will be included as your Christmas and Birthday present this year."
"It's brilliant!" Ron exclaimed as he suddenly hugged Y/n in a moment of pure joy.
Y/n was surprised but let out a chuckle as he hugged Ron back for a moment. "I am glad you like it Ron. Congratulations once again."
Down in the basement Mrs. Weasley 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 Y/n had seen her all holiday.
"I thought we'd have a little party not a sit down dinner." she told Harry, Ron, Y/n, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny 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.
Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, and Kingsley Shacklebolt were already there and Mad-Eye Moody stumped in shortly after Harry had got himself a Butterbeer.
"Oh, Alastor, I am glad you're here." said Mrs. Weasley 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 wanted to open it just in case it's something really nasty."
"No problem, Molly..."
Moody's electric-blue eye swivelled upwards 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 Mrs. Weasley. "You have your drink. We're having a little bit of a celebration, actually..." She gestured at 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 either him or Y/n who was talking with Hermione, It moved away towards Sirius and Lupin.
"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. Mrs. Weasley was in such a good mood she did not even complain that they had brought Mundungus with them, 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 travelling cloak.
"I can hazard a guess he is hiding those cauldrons in it." Y/n whispered to Hermione as they were each handed a drink.
"Don't let Mrs Weasley hear you, She's in a such a good mood with the news." Hermione said back.
"Another reason why I am not putting up a fuss." Y/n said. "She has been very good to us all and could do with a nice cheering up after all that Percy has said and done."
"That was nice what you did for Ron and Mrs Weasley earlier." Hermione said now.
"Ron is our good friend after all." Y/n said. "And besides, he has always wanted this, now he will not feel so stuck in his brothers shadows."
Hermione just nodded her head. "I don't mind Ron being a prefect, But I do really wish we could have done it together." Hermione said gently hugging Y/n's side.
"I know, as do I." Y/n said resting his head to the side atop of hers. "It would have been a nice excuse to spend more time together. Still, there is always the prefects bathroom..."
"Y/n!" Hermione whispered and he began to smile and chuckle amused.
"I am jesting with you Hermione, though, I do think you and Ron will like the bathroom. It has the most excellent bubble bath." Y/n told her.
"When did you use the prefect's bathroom?" Hermione asked him.
"Harry and I used it to discover the clues from our eggs." Y/n explained. "And I stayed a little longer after he left to go over things in my mind."
"Oh?" Hermione said "What sort of things?" She asked.
"The second task, how to breathe underwater for an hour, The Yule ball...Kissing a certain someone..." he said as he kissed the top of her head softly. Hermione just closed her eyes and smiled.
"Well, I think a toast is in order." Mr. Weasley called out now and he raised his goblet. "To Ron and Hermione, the new Gryffindor prefects!"
"To Ron and Hermione!" They all said.
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 towards the table to help themselves to food. Her hair was tomato red and waist-length today, she looked like Ginny's older sister. "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 and 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, Sirius?" Ginny asked as Y/n began thumping Hermione on the back.
Sirius, who was right beside Harry, let out his usual bark-like 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 I would be able to exercise some control over my best friends." said Lupin. "I need scarcely say that I failed dismally."
"As would I if it had been given to me." Y/n said.
Harry's mood suddenly lifted. His father had not been a prefect either. All at once the party seemed much more enjoyable, he loaded up his plate, feeling doubly fond of everyone in the room.
Ron was rhapsodising about his new broom to anybody who would listen.
Hermione was talking very earnestly to Lupin 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..."
Mrs. Weasley 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, he slid away from them in the direction of Fred and George, who were huddled in a corner with Mundungus.
Mundungus stopped talking when he saw Harry, but Fred winked and beckoned Harry closer.
"It's ok." he told Mundungus, "We can trust Harry, he's one of our financial backers."
"Look what Dung's got us." said George, holding out his hand to Harry. It was full of what looked like shrivelled black pods. A faint rattling noise was coming from them, even though they were completely stationary.
"Venomous Tentacula seeds." said George. "We need them for the Skiving Snackboxes but they're a Class C Non-Tradeable Substance so we've been having a bit of trouble getting hold of them."
"Ten Galleons the lot, then, Dung?" said Fred.
"Wiv all the trouble I went to to get 'em?' said Mundungus, his saggy, bloodshot eyes stretching even wider. 'I'm sorry, lads, but I'm not taking a Knut under twenty."
"Dung likes his little joke." Fred said to Harry.
"Yeah, his best one so far has been six Sickles for a bag of Knarl quills." said George.
"Be careful." Harry warned them quietly.
"What?" said Fred. "Mum's busy cooing over Prefect Ron, we're okay."
"But Moody could have his eye on you." Harry pointed out.
Mundungus looked nervously over his shoulder. "Good point, that." he grunted. "All right, lads, ten it is, if you'll take 'em quick."
"Cheers, Harry!" said Fred delightedly, when Mundungus had emptied his pockets into the twins' outstretched hands and scuttled off towards the food. "We'd better get these upstairs..."
Harry watched them go.
Hermione moved now to find Y/n who was stood alone for a moment listening out for conversation when he heard Kingsley Shacklebolt's deep voice that was audible even over the surrounding chatter.
'"..why Dumbledore didn't make Potter or Grindelwlad a prefect?" said Kingsley.
"He'll have had his reasons." replied Lupin.
"But it would've shown confidence in them. It's what I'd've done." persisted Kingsley. "Specially with the Daily Prophet having a go at them every few days..."
"Hey, is everything alright?" Hermione asked Y/n worried.
"I am fine." Y/n nodded. "I thought I would try to listen out for any useful conversation I could overhear."
"Anything interesting?" Hermione asked but Y/n shook his head.
"Nothing we did not already know." He said and sipped the butterbeer in his hand now. He watched as Mad Eye Moody was sniffing at a chicken leg with what remained of his nose; evidently he could not detect any trace of poison, because he then tore a strip off it with his teeth.
"...Okay It's not the firebolt but the Nimbus still packs alot of speed even the older models..." Ron was saying to Tonks.
Mrs. Weasley yawned widely. "Well, I think I'll sort out that boggart before I turn in...Arthur, I don't want this lot up too late, all right? Night, Harry, dear." and with that she left the kitchen.
"I've been meaning to ask you." Hermione started now and Y/n turned his attention back to her. "What were those extra books you had Mrs Weasley buy in Diagon Alley?"
"Oh, I Had her buy books for the grades above our own, I always like to learn as many spells as I can." Y/n told her.
"You're not planning on disappearing again like year to focus on them, are you?" She asked him.
"I am not." Y/n assured her. "I plan to spend a majority of my free time learning in your company."
"Speaking of company..." Hermione began and Y/n looked at her. "Do...you maybe want to stay with me tonight? Like we did back at my parents."
Y/n was surprised by this question. "I have been sleeping okay since we have arrived here...but I do not deny that I miss resting my head next to yours." he admitted. "We also will not be able to do so once back at Hogwarts, but what about Ginny?" Y/n asked.
"I actually already spoke to her about it." Hermione said nervously. "She teased...a lot, but said she didn't mind."
Y/n hummed in thought for a moment as Hermione looked at him. "Alright, We cannot be caught though. Can you tell Harry and Ron that I will not be back tonight then and I shall make my way up to yours and Ginny's room to wait for you." Y/n said.
Hermione didn't look too thrilled to be the one to explain to Ron and Harry why Y/n wouldn't be in their room that night but her desire to stay with him won over.
Y/n had left the kitchen now as he quietly walked up the stairs in the hall past the stuffed elf-heads, but as he approached the first landing he heard noises. Someone was sobbing in the drawing room.
"Mrs Weasley?' Y/n called out.
There was no answer but the sobbing continued. He climbed the remaining stairs two at a time, walked across the landing and opened the drawing-room door.
Someone was cowering against the dark wall, her wand in her hand, her whole body shaking with sobs. Sprawled on the dusty old carpet in a patch of moonlight, clearly dead, was Ron.
All the air seemed to vanish from Y/n's lung out of shock. Ron couldn't be dead, no, it couldn't be Ron was downstairs...
"R...r...Riddikulus! Mrs. Weasley sobbed, and Y/n looked to see her pointing her shaking wand at Ron's body.
Crack!
Ron's body turned into Bill's, spread-eagled on his back, his eyes wide open and empty. Mrs Weasley sobbed harder than ever.
"R-riddikulus!" she sobbed again.
Crack.
Mr. Weasley's body replaced Bill's, his glasses askew, a trickle of blood running down his face.
"No!" Mrs. Weasley moaned. "No...riddikulus! Riddikulus! RIDDIKULUS!"
Crack. Dead twins. Crack. Dead Percy. Crack. Dead Y/n. Crack. Dead Harry...
Y/n quickly moved over to Mrs. Weasley now and moved into her line of sight. He wanted to deal with the boggart but given that his wand was in his trunk there was nothing he could do but try to calm Mrs Weasley down. "Mrs Weasley!" He called out her name. "It is alright, it is not real, everyone is safe." He tried to tell her.
"What's going on?" Lupin had come running into the room, closely followed by Sirius, with Moody stumping along behind them.
"It is a boggart professor." Y/n said pointing behind him.
Lupin looked from Mrs. Weasley to the dead Harry on the floor and seemed to understand in an instant. Pulling out his own wand, he said, very firmly and clearly. "Riddikulus!"
Harry's body vanished. A silvery orb hung in the air over the spot where it had lain. Lupin waved his wand once more and the orb vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Oh...oh...oh!" gulped Mrs. Weasley, and she broke into a storm of crying, her face in her hands.
"Molly." said Lupin bleakly, walking over to her. "Molly, don't..."
Next second, she was sobbing her heart out on Lupin's shoulder.
"Molly it was just a boggart." he said soothingly, patting her on the head. "Just a stupid boggart..."
"I see them d...d...dead all the time!" Mrs. Weasley moaned into his shoulder. "All the t...t...time! I d...d...dream about it..."
Sirius was staring at the patch of carpet where the boggart, pretending to be Harry's body, had lain. Moody was looking at Y/n, who avoided his gaze. He had a funny feeling Moody's magical eye had followed him all the way out of the kitchen.
"D...d...don't tell Arthur." Mrs. Weasley was gulping now, mopping her eyes frantically with her cuffs. "I d...d...don't want him to know...Being silly..."
Lupin handed her a handkerchief and she blew her nose.
"Y/n, I'm so sorry. What must you think of me?" she said shakily. "Not even able to get rid of a boggart..."
"It is nothing Mrs Weasley." Y/n told her. "Professor Lupin taught us how many people struggle with boggarts. To be worried for your family's safety is nothing to feel silly about, I am honoured that my safety is of your concern at all." he gave her a gentle smile.
"I'm just s...s...so worried." she said, tears spilling out of her eyes again. "Half the f-f-family's in the Order, it'll b...b...be a miracle if we all come through this...and P...P...Percy's not talking to us."
Y/n decided not to give his opinion on Percy but keep quiet instead.
" ...What if something d...d...dreadful happens and we've never m...m...made it up with him? And what's going to happen if Arthur and I get killed, who's g...g...going to look after Ron and Ginny?"
"Molly, that's enough." said Lupin firmly. "This isn't like last time. The Order are better prepared, we've got a head start, we know what Voldemort's up to..."
Mrs. Weasley gave a little squeak of fright at the sound of the name.
"Oh, Molly, come on, it's about time you got used to hearing his name...look, I can't promise no one's going to get hurt, nobody can promise that, but we're much better off than we were last time. You weren't in the Order then, you don't understand. Last time we were outnumbered twenty to one by the Death Eaters and they were picking us off one by one..."
Y/n felt his blood run cold at the thought of his parents fighting against some of the people in the room and downstairs. He knew Moody was still watching him.
"Don't worry about Percy." said Sirius abruptly. "He'll come round. It's only a matter of time before Voldemort moves into the open, once he does, the whole Ministry's going to be begging us to forgive them. And I'm not sure I'll be accepting their apology." he added bitterly.
"And as for who's going to look after Ron and Ginny if you and Arthur died." said Lupin, smiling slightly. "What do you think we'd do, let them starve?"
"I would spend my entire vault contents before I see that happen..." Y/n added.
Mrs. Weasley smiled tremulously. "Being silly." she muttered again, mopping her eyes.
Y/n had changed into his pyjama's and was now sitting on Hermione's bed ten minutes later when he heard the door open and saw her entering.
"How did it go?" He asked her.
"Awkwardly... I can't believe you left me on my own to explain to them what we were doing!" She said a little annoyed. "Harry couldn't even look me in the eye while Ron's in a sulk now for some reason."
"That will be because he has to leave the door unlocked and Kreacher can get in I suppose." Y/n said. "It was a good thing I left anyways, I just..." But before Y/n could finish his sentence Ginny entered the room.
"Why does everyone do that when I enter the room..." She said annoyed.
"Do what?" Hermione asked carefully as she sat down on her bed next to Y/n.
"Stop their sentence mid conversation. I'm only a year younger than you lot yet I'm treated as if I'm a baby." Ginny ranted.
"We were not talking about anything of particular interest Ginny, Just about tonight's sleeping arrangements." Y/n said.
Ginny perked up now and shut the door. "You sharing a bed you mean, aren't you two lovebirds cute. She teased with a grin.
"Ginny!" Hermione blushed a deep red.
"You most definitely take after Fred and George than you do any of your other brothers." Y/n said.
"Thank goodness." Ginny smiled. "Could you imagine if I was dull and serious like Percy? No thanks."
"Turn around Y/n, Ginny and I need to get changed." Hermione said now regaining her composure.
"Very well." Y/n said and he got up to stand near the doorway facing it. He then suddenly felt bed covers being thrown over his head. "So much for trust..." He said but it was muffled by the covers.
"We do trust you Y/n." Hermione said as she began to change.
"We just don't trust your boyish instincts." Ginny added.
Y/n just waited as the two changed and when the bed covers were pulled from him he turned to see Ginny was in her bed and Hermione had the covers in her hand. "You had better climb in first, It will be easier for me when I need to leave early in the morning." He pointed out.
"Right, course." Hermione said and she got into bed first laying the covers over her.
"Look how coordinated you two are." Ginny said amused.
"Be quiet Ginny." Y/n and Hermione said in unison causing Ginny to laugh.
Y/n just turned off the light and climbed into Hermione's bed now and she felt him wrap his arms around her waist and hold her close to him. Hermione just put her hand on top of his.
"Goodnight you two..." Ginny said in a sing song voice but both just ignored her as they closed their eyes.