Written for the QLFC Finals round 1
Team: Pride of Portree
Position: Seeker:
Word Count (excluding author's note):1133
Mum always loved to tell the story of the day I was born. Thing is, even though it was about my birth, I wasn't the main character. No, Bill got that privilege.
Apparently, I decided to come along early. I've never been all that good at waiting for stuff; clearly that started early. Dad was out of the office investigating some muggle something-or-other and Mum couldn't get hold of him. She was in pain, worse than she had been with any of the others, and despite trying to hide it, she was scared. She shouted up the stairs for Bill and Charlie, to tell them that they'd need to watch Percy, Fred and George while she went to the hospital.
When Bill came down the stairs, he could see that mum was in trouble, despite her attempts at smiling. Panicking, Bill's accidental magic flared and Apparated them both directly to Saint Mungo's. At this point, Bill passed out and Mum was taken off to have me.
When Bill woke up, the first thing he asked was "how's my baby brother doing?" He says it's because he knew nothing could ever keep Mum down for long, but Mum says it's because he loves his siblings more than he'll ever admit out loud.
I was fine, clearly, and so was Mum after a few healing spells that no-one ever wants the details of. Bill was a hero and I was… there. Yep, even at only minutes old I was on the sidelines of the story.
Charlie was a Quidditch fanatic. His first year at Hogwarts all he wrote home about was how unfair it was that he couldn't join the team yet. His first summer back he was determined to perfect his moves, ready for the try-outs in September. Bill was busy with homework and girls. Percy could barely get off the ground on a broom. Fred and George never took anything seriously. So it was down to me, his five-year-old brother, to help him practise.
Credit where credit is due, Charlie was a great teacher. I played every position except seeker, which was where Charlie really excelled. Still, he'd have been happy with anything, which is why I found myself dodging bludgers, blocking shots and attempting to score, though obviously not all at the same time. Everything I know about Quidditch I owe to Charlie, and even after he made the team we still played every summer until he moved away. I miss that, even now.
Percy has always been a snobby know-it-all madman. Even before he started at school he wanted to study, ready for Hogwarts, or read textbooks for pleasure like a crazy person (don't tell Hermione I said that).
As soon as Bill and Charlie were old enough to leave the house regularly and do their own thing, Percy was burdened with me and the twins. He was a nightmare!
"Be quiet, all of you! Some people are trying to study."
"Percy, shut up, you're not even at school yet!"
"Nevertheless, one can never be too prepared for academics."
"Yeah, well, one can never be too prepared for my bum!"
Even as kids, Fred and George thought themselves to be comedians. Personally, I didn't mind sitting still. Of course, it wasn't quite as good as playing Quidditch with Charlie, but it was certainly preferable to playing with the twins, where I was usually the butt of their jokes. Once Fred and George had tired of teasing him, Percy would usually settle in the big armchair with some kind of heavy textbook and read quietly to himself. Fortunately, he never complained too much when I would squish into the chair next to him and silently stare at the pages, pretending to understand.
After a while, Percy stopped bringing the huge volumes downstairs, instead settling down with thinner books containing larger print and, occasionally, pictures. Curiously, I squashed myself into the chair with him, and saw pictures of unicorns, fairies and robed men with creepy eyes.
"What's this, Perce?" I asked him, surprised.
"Does it look interesting?" Percy asked. I nodded slowly. "Good. I thought perhaps we could read it together. Has Mum taught you to read properly?" I shook my head this time.
"I can read a bit, but not the long words. Mum says I'll be able to soon, but she's always busy, so I don't know how yet."
"Well then, let's see if we can remedy that, shall we?"
From that day on, Percy only brought children's books downstairs. The two of us would sit close together on the sofa (not cuddling, don't listen to George) and read fairy tales and other fascinating books.
Fred and George were awful. They turned my teddy into a spider, they hid horrible things in my room, they blamed me for things they'd done. You name it, they did it. Honestly, I never really got close to them until we were much older. I was thirteen, and we were staying in The Leaky Cauldron with Harry and Hermione before school started. One morning I woke up earlier than usual, to find Fred and George whispering to each other in the parlour downstairs.
"Hey, Ron, come join us!" Fred said, looking up.
"Yeah, we were just heading out," George added. Shrugging, and not seeing what they could possibly do to me in the alley, I grabbed my coat and went with them. Surprisingly, they turned a corner off Diagon Alley and continued walking as if this was perfectly normal.
"Knockturn Alley?" I asked, surprised at our destination.
"Of course, where did you think we were sneaking off to?" Fred replied, striding down the pathway like he hadn't a care in the world. We entered Borgin and Burkes, a place I knew from Harry's little excursion the previous summer.
The twins appeared to be haggling over something on the counter, but I wasn't paying attention. I was checking out the rest of the stock. The hand of glory was nice, but Harry mentioned Malfoy looking at it, and I certainly didn't want anything that he'd been near.
The array of poisons were a little concerning, as was the pile of what looked like human remains. Really, I was a bit scared of the place. I was very relieved when George came to bring me back outside.
"Look, don't tell anyone where we've been, OK?" Fred asked. "Not even Harry and Hermione. This is our little secret."
Our little secret. Suddenly, the outing seemed so much more important than it ever had before. They didn't have to take me with them, didn't have to let me in on their secrets, but they did. And I would guard it with my life because, like all my other brothers, I loved Fred and George more than they'd ever know.