Ron
Bill was head boy.
Charlie was Gryffindor quidditch captain.
Percy is a prefect.
Fred and George are the biggest pranksters Hogwarts has seen for generations.
And then there's me. What am I going to be?
I got my letter today. I went down to the kitchen for breakfast this morning and there it was, at the bottom of the pile with Percy, Fred and George's. I remember when Bill got his. It was such a big deal, mum cooked a special dinner and we had a party to celebrate. When I'd read my letter and told mum I was going she just said, in her typical hurried manner:
"Oh that's good dear. Give me your letter so I can get your things at Diagon Alley. I'm afraid we can't afford to get you a new wand, but you can have Charlie's old one. And I'm sure Percy would give you Scabbers, Arthur and I said we'd get him an owl for becoming a prefect. Isn't it wonderful, he could be head boy in a few years, the second in the family!"
When Bill got his letter he didn't get a second hand wand, or his brother's old rat. A rat! I mean really, why I can't have an owl, or a cat I don't know. Well actually I do; because Mum and Dad would have to starve for a month to afford it. But a rat… I'd even take one of the gnomes rather than Scabbers!
Dad was chuffed though. He grinned at me and ruffled my hair, said I'd be the next great Gryffindor. That's another thing; what if I'm not in Gryffindor? All the others have been, but maybe it would be a good thing if I wasn't; I would certainly be different, although if I were in Slytherin I think dad would disown me. And there's no way I'm clever enough to be in Ravenclaw, and Fred and George will never let me live it down if I'm in Hufflepuff… Looks like I'd better be in Gryffindor then.
And I'm dreading the sorting. Fred and George said it's a test, then Fred muttered something ominous about fighting a troll, but I'm not gullible enough to fall for that. Well, sort of. It couldn't be true could it? No-one's ever told me how you get sorted, only that it happens in front of the entire school. Well whatever it is, I know it'll be deathly embarrassing when I fail horribly.
I'd been looking forward to going so much, but now, thinking about it, there's so much that is bound to be a disappointment, to me and to people's expectations of me. And so much that could go wrong. I mean what if none of the others like me? I've never really had friends outside my family, never really needed any, and now I don't know how to get one.
I can just see it; I'll turn up at Hogwarts in my hand-me-down uniform, with a tatty old wand, a flipping rat, and all these expectations of me. They'll take one look at me and laugh, and the others kids from rich old pureblood families will look down on me, and all my teachers will see my red hair and freckles and assume I'll be great like the others, then after a few days, a few weeks they'll realise that I'm not. I'm ordinary, and even a bit below average.
I just wish I could be special, stand out, make them all proud. But there's nothing left to do, they've done it all already. Maybe if I foil a plot by an evil megalomaniac to rule the world… Yeah right.
Oh, I'm being stupid. This is what I've wanted for ages, since Bill left. Focus on the good things Ron: Freedom from the twins, learning magic, meeting new people, watching quidditch games, going to Hogsmeade (although not for a few years yet), no nagging mother, learning to fly properly, seeing the famous giant squid, all the ghosts Fred's been telling me about… Yeah it'll be great, I'm not worried, it'll be fine. Everything's going to be fine. There's nothing to worry about, it'll be fine. It'll be fine. It'll be fine. It'll be fine.
Yep. Totally fine.
Oh Merlin.
A/N: Long time no dig, sorry about that. I know someone asked for Hermione, but I'm finding her really hard to do for some reason, so I thought I'd write Ron instead until I get a brainwave or something. Thanks for reading.