Tuesday night prefect rounds were the most uneventful of the week, in Molly Prewett's measured opinion. Not to mention the fact that she had the added misfortune of being paired with Emmeline Vance for patrol duty. She was a lovely fifth year girl, but she has a tendency to catch every passing illness and it meant that Molly was often left wandering the corridors on her own several times a month. She knew she probably should have found a replacement, but patrolling wasn't that dangerous.
It wasn't even that boring, she mused, as she wandered past the empty fifth floor Arthimancy classroom. It gave her the opportunity to see parts of the castle that her normal class schedule didn't give her time to explore. She found the whole experience of being a prefect very enjoyable and harboured a secret hope that next year, she might even be made Head Girl.
Molly was a well-liked sixth year and the unofficial mother of Gryffindor house. All of the younger students came to her with their worries and she helped them cope with homework, homesickness and rocky friendships. Most Gryffindors seemed to be happily settling into the school routine, which meant that they were probably happily starting to plot late night mischief. Tonight, however, she hadn't heard a peep. That is, until she peered around the corner and spotted the Head Boy, Arthur Weasley, standing quite still in the dark at the far end of the hallway.
Molly was just about to walk into the corridor to greet him, when he spoke.
"Hello there," he greeted a tall suit of armor. "Is everything alright?"
Reaching a hand into the alcove, he helped someone – Molly could only see a head of golden blonde curls – to her feet. The student, who was clearly from one of the younger year groups, thrust her palm in Arthur's direction with a wail.
"I c-couldn't r-remember the p-password and the fat lady w-wouldn't let me in so I w-went to find a t-teacher but I got l-lost and f-fell on the stairs and now I'm b-bleeding!"
Molly thought she recognized the distressed voice.
"Oh dear, that must have given you an awful fright! Come over here to the window so that I can see your hand better. It's Alice, isn't it?" Arthur led the girl to a long stained glass panel and hoisted her onto the low sill.
Alice nodded miserably and Molly's heart went out to her tiny cousin. Alice Prewett was the smallest first year in Hogwarts, let alone Gryffindor. She was desperately shy at the best of times and although Molly had been doing her best to see the girl comfortably installed in the Tower, she was convinced that Alice was having a hard time making friends.
"That looks like a painful cut," Arthur was saying. "But it's not too deep. I'm going to clean it out with a tiny bit of water, do you think you can manage that? Excellent!"
A light mist shot from the tip of his wand and he gently dabbed her skin with his handkerchief. Alice scrunched up her face but didn't cry.
"Now the only question is, how brave are you feeling?" Arthur asked, cheerily. "Because we can go and look for Madam Fernsby now, but it's quite late to be wandering all the way to the Hospital Wing when she might not be there. If you thought you could wait until morning, I have a handy little trick to keep your hand clean."
This caught both Alice and Molly's interest. Arthur had fished a flat, square packet out of his robes and was proceeding to tear one corner of it.
"What is it?" Alice asked, her sobbing long forgotten. She was looking closely at the peach-coloured foam square that was nestled inside the paper.
"It's a very special Muggle invention! They call it a 'plaster'. See this middle part here? It's all soft and it keeps your cut clean. It's clever, isn't it?" He indicated that she should hold her wrist up to the light again.
"Why is it so sticky?" Alice's voice was louder now, her curiosity overtaking any wariness she had felt before. Molly couldn't blame her; everyone in Gryffindor seemed to relax when Arthur Weasley was around.
"The edges are sticky to make sure it stays in place until the morning, when you and I can go and find Madam Fernsby and have her heal you up." He explained. Does that sound like a plan?"
Alice nodded and watched as he positioned the 'plaster' over the graze on her hand. "Can I stick it down?"
"Of course you can. Now, what can we do about that torn sleeve?" He wondered.
Alice considered the tattered edge of her robe sleeve, and said brightly, "There must be a spell that would fix it, mustn't there?"
"Good idea." Arthur agreed. "I think a Reparo spell might do the trick. Have you cast it before?"
"N-no," Alice faltered. "But I'm good at Charms so far."
"Then I'm sure you'll have no problem with this spell. Have you got your wand?" he asked. "Hold it lightly, rotate it clockwise once tap the cloth and say the words."
"Which words?" Alice frowned. "Latin ones?"
"Yes, have you got your dictionary in your bag?" He watched her scoop it out and flick to the right page. "Does it tell you what the word for cloth is?"
"Yes, I found it!" Alice pushed back her shoulders, pointed her want at her left sleeve and declared in a confident voice, "Pannum reparo!"
Even from the other end of the corridor, Molly could see the glee on Alice's face as the damaged fabric knit itself back together.
"Alice, well done! You got it right the first time you tried!" Arthur smiled and admired her newly repaired robe. "I think that definitely merits five points for Gryffindor, don't you?"
"Thank you Arthur!" Alice sounded delighted and Molly's eyes teared up a bit.
She couldn't help thinking that if she had noticed Alice's sleeve was torn, she probably would have fixed it herself without thinking, instead of using the opportunity to teach a younger student something important. She had a feeling that her cousin would never forget how to use the Reparo charm in future, all because of Arthur Weasley's thoughtfulness.
"Now, how about you and I walk up to Gryffindor Tower together?" Arthur suggested, lifting a jubilant Alice to her feet again and gesturing down the corridor in Molly's direction. "After all, even Head Boys have a curfew to stick to!"
About to be discovered, Molly raced back the way she had come, making a beeline for the Gryffindor portrait hole. Because of her haste, she missed hearing Arthur make plans to meet Alice for breakfast in the morning, in theory to make sure the plaster had done it's job, but mostly to make sure that the little girl made it safely to the nurse's office before classes began.