Chapter Nine
The Woes of Mrs Weasley
When Alaw and Hermione came downstairs that evening, they found that the kitchen table had been moved against the far wall and a spread of nibbles laid out on it.
"We're having a bit of a party," said Mrs Weasley happily as she came in from the pantry. "Not a sit down dinner, I thought it would be nice."
A spangled banner had been pinned up over the food that read 'Congratulations to our new Perfects!'.
"Oh, thank you," said Hermione, her face going a little pink. "This is really very kind."
"I'm getting a drink," said Alaw, turning towards Sirius who was already holding out a bottle of beer. "Do you want something, Mrs Weasley?"
"Oh I don't think so dear," said Mrs Weasley hurriedly but Mr Weasley, who had just come in with Ron and Neville, clapped his hands.
"That's an excellent idea, I'll open a bottle of Elvish Wine. Come on Molly, so we can toast the young ones?"
Mrs Weasley was persuaded to take a glass, and then another as more and more people arrived. The twins immediately drew Mundungus to one side when he turned up and fell into quiet discussion over in the corner. Hermione was talking to Lupin about what it was like to be a prefect, with Kingsley and Tonks occasionally joining in, and Ron was waxing lyrical about the new owl he'd been given. Alaw leant against the wall, a plate in her hand and munching on mini sausage rolls in a pensive way. Sirius came over with another couple of beers in his hand.
"Want one?" he asked, proffering a bottle which Alaw took gratefully. Sirius leant against the wall beside her.
"What has you looking so thoughtful?" he asked. Alaw took her time chewing before answering.
"Dumbledore."
"Ah," Sirius sighed. "You're not trying to work out how to poison him are you?"
"No!" Alaw cried indignantly, but then she paused. "Although, if he did drive a car I would be very tempted to slash his tyres. But no, I'm still wondering why he's made me a prefect."
Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"I thought it was Snivillous who chose the perfects."
"Usually, but I don't think Snape did this. He'd have picked Pansy Parkinson, if he was trying to please the rich people. Or Daphne, if he was being fair. But he'd never pick me.'
"Give you a lot of flack does he?" asked Sirius sympathetically. "He hasn't changed. He was a slimy, sneaky little git even when we were in school."
"Actually, he's not so bad," Alaw said fairly. "I mean, he turns a blind eye to a lot of what Theodore and his gang get up to, but he doesn't let them get away with really bad stuff. And he looks out for the rest of the Slytherins too, he really does. And he saved my life once."
Sirius looked shocked and Alaw elaborated.
"In first year, Quirrel tried to poison me on Voldemort's orders, but Snape was there and gave me an antidote. I think he's in a tricky position, he can't be seen to care about Halfbloods and Muggle-borns, or he'll be in trouble with the old families, or Voldemort now."
Sirius looked sceptical and took a long swig of his beer.
"Well, maybe it was Dumbledore who chose you, maybe he's trying to make it up to you."
"Ugh, that's what Hermione said and I don't believe it for a second," Alaw complained. "No, he's up to something, I just don't know what. Maybe - maybe he's hoping to keep me so busy this year that I'll have no time to fight against Voldemort."
"Leaving the Flames without a leader?" Sirius said slyly and Alaw started, staring at him in shock.
"How did you find out?!" she demanded and Sirius chuckled.
"Ron told me, don't worry, he didn't spill too much info," Sirius added hastily as Alaw turned her gaze furiously on Ron. "We expected you to get organised, though I have to admit I wasn't expecting the name. I like it."
"It was supposed to be a joke," Alaw muttered grudgingly. "Anyway, I'm not the leader."
"Of course you are," Sirius said. "And I'm proud of you."
Alaw raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"You're not angry? Not going to tell us to drop it and stay safe?"
"Bollocks to that," Sirius snorted. "Do you think the Marauders would have sat quietly and done what we were told? No, I trust you not to do anything too stupid."
"Thanks, that's flattering," said Alaw sarcastically. She glanced around to make sure no one was in hearing distance. Mrs Weasley was messing with Bill's hair and most people were focused on his attempts to escape. Alaw had a feeling that Mad-Eye was watching them through the back of his head however, so she dropped her voice to a murmur.
"So, if you think we're doing the right thing, are you going to help us?"
Sirius frowned and took another swig before answering.
"I'll give you advice, of course I will, but don't expect me to let you in on any Order secrets. I couldn't do that to Dumbledore."
Alaw scowled at her plate but nodded slowly.
"That's fair I guess. Though I'm not sure how we'll keep in touch once I'm in school. We can't exactly put this stuff in letters and I'd have to go all the way to Dufftown just to get a decent signal on my phone."
Sirius frowned in thought and then perked up, as if an idea had occurred to him, but before he could speak, Mad-Eye came over to them.
"Look what I found when I was looking for my spare invisibility cloak last night," he growled. He pulled an old, faded photograph from his pocket and showed it to Sirius. Alaw craned her neck to have a look too.
"Bloody hell, I'd forgotten about this," Sirius muttered.
The photo showed a group of people waving and smiling at the camera. It was a magical picture so the subjects were of course moving.
"Is that you?" Alaw laughed, pointing to a figure in the middle. "Jesus Christ you look young!"
The younger Sirius in the picture was surprisingly handsome, with shorter hair, boyishly styled. He was standing between a group of young men Alaw recognised, because she had seen another picture of them when they were still at school. Professor Lupin, Peter Petigrew, and James Potter.
"That's Lilly Potter, James's wife, this wasn't long after their wedding."
Alaw felt an odd twinge in her stomach as she looked at the Potter's. They looked so happy, arms around each other and beaming at the camera. They looked barely older than Alaw was now, and knowing their fate made Alaw feel very strange. A few years after this photo had been taken, they had had a little boy, Harry.
Dumbledore had told Alaw that Voldemort, for reasons best known to himself, sometimes chose specific magical children to hunt down and kill. Harry Potter had been the sixth, and Alaw the seventh.
"When was this taken?" Alaw asked and Mad-Eye flipped the photo over to look at the back.
"1979. And Dumbledore still looks the same as ever."
He turned the picture over again so they could look at it.
"There's me," Mad-Eye grunted, pointing to himself. "And Marlene McKinnon, sharp girl, smart, had a come-back for everything. Poor woman was killed in '94 by the Death Eaters. She'd just had a little girl of her own, but she didn't make it either."
Alaw felt another swoop of sadness. Just a year before she was born and Voldemort went into hiding.
"Dedalus Diggle, Hagrid, obviously hasn't changed a bit, Edgar Bones," Moody continued pointing people out as he named them.
Alaw glanced at Sirius who had a strangely pained expression on his face as he looked at the picture. She was extremely relieved when Mrs Weasley came over to them and interrupted.
"Alestor, we've been meaning to ask you for ages, there's something in the desk in the drawing room. We haven't wanted to open it just in case it's something really nasty. Could you take a look?"
"No problem," said Moody, his magical eye swivelling up to look through the top of his head. "Drawing Room? Oh yes there it is, yeah it's a Boggart. Want me to go up and take care of it?"
"No no, that's alright. I'll deal with it before I go to bed."
Alaw took the opportunity to escape and sidled over to Neville who was picking at the buffet.
"Hey," he greeted as Alaw leant past him to grab a couple of cheese sandwiches. "Congratulations."
"Thanks," said Alaw. She eyed Neville shrewdly. "You're not disappointed are you?"
"Disappointed about what?" Neville asked and Alaw nodded her head towards Ron.
"You know, the whole prefect thing."
Neville shook his head and picked up a fresh bottle of beer.
"Merlin's beard no, sounds like way too much pressure on top of our school work. No, Ron'll do a much better job of it than me. And Hermione was an obvious choice."
Alaw smiled slyly and glanced across the kitchen at Hermione, who was laughing with Ginny and Tonks about something.
"Shame though, if you'd been picked for prefect, you and her could have spent a lot more time together this year," Alaw observed casually and Neville choked on his beer. Alaw thumped him on the back as he fought to catch his breath.
"What's that - I don't - what?" Neville spluttered. Alaw sniggered.
"Oh come on, you obviously like her."
"I do not!" said Neville crossly. "I mean, I do, as a friend, but not like that!"
"Sure, sure, whatever," said Alaw, grinning evilly and turning away to go over to Hermione, leaving Neville looking confused with beer down the front of his robes.
About an hour later, after another vodka and coke and listening to Ron's relief at not having to rely on the family's elderly owl, Errol, to carry messages for him anymore, Alaw decided to go to bed. Tomorrow was their last day before they went back to Hogwarts and she wanted to visit the Mended Cauldron one more time. She had several private message threads running with Muggle-borns all over the country wanting to know more about Voldemort's return and she needed to reply to them before they went back to school.
After tiptoeing past the portrait of Sirius' mother, Alaw mounted the creaky staircase, yawning hugely. She was exhausted and she was starting to get a headache for some reason. But as she passed the first floor landing, Alaw paused, hearing someone sobbing inside. She peered through the crack in the door and saw Mrs Weasley slumped against the far wall, shaking uncontrollably with her wand clutched in her hand.
"Mrs Weasley, what's the matter?" Alaw asked in shock as she pushed open the door.
Then she froze as she saw what was lying on the floor between them. Ron, dead. Ice flooded the pit of Alaw's stomach and panic clutched at her throat. No, that was impossible! Ron was downstairs, she'd literally just seen him! Then she caught sight of the open desk in the corner and she understood what was going on.
"Oh no, no, Mrs Weasley, it's not real! It's just a stupid Boggart!" Alaw cried, hurrying around the fake corpse and falling to her knees beside Mrs Weasley.
"Re - ridiculus," Mrs Weasley wailed, pointing her wand shakily at the corpse. There was a great crack, and the Boggart turned into Mr Weasley's body, his glasses askew.
"No!" Mrs Weasley cried, hiding her face, great fat tears running down her cheeks. "No! Ridiculus!"
There was another crack, but Alaw wasn't interested in who the Boggart was impersonating. She threw her arms around Mrs Weasley and blocked the Boggart from view.
"It's alright, it's not real, they're all fine downstairs," she said soothingly as Mrs Wealsey shuddered and cried into her shoulder. "Shh, it's not real. Come on, let someone else get the little bastard."
Then another, clear voice behind them said,
"Ridiculus."
Alaw glanced over her shoulder to see that Lupin, Sirius and Mad-Eye had entered the room. It was Lupin who had his wand out and the Boggart cracked again, this time turning into a floating, silvery sphere, a miniature moon. Then it exploded into a thousand tiny wisps, floating away in an instant.
"Alright Molly, it's gone, it's alright," said Lupin calmly as Mrs Wealsey totally broke down in Alaw's arms.
Lupin and Sirius came over and helped to hoist her to her feet. Alaw didn't let go and kept her arm wrapped firmly around the older woman's shoulder.
"It can't hurt you, or anyone," she said, rubbing Mrs Weasley's arm with her free hand. "It's gone."
"Oh Alaw," Mrs Weasley sobbed. "I - I wish you hadn't seen that, I'm being so silly!"
But the tears kept coming and she had to stop taking suddenly as grief gripped her again.
"I'm just so worried!" she gasped, clutching Alaw to her tightly like she was her own daughter. "All the time! I see them dead in my dreams! Arthur, the children! Half the family's in the Order, what if Arthur and I are killed and we never made it up with Percy? And who will look after Ron and Ginny and the twins?!"
"Come on now Molly, that's enough," said Sirius firmly. "We're much better off now than we were last time. We're prepared, and we know what Voldemort's plans are."
Alaw felt Mrs Weasley give a horrible jolt at the sound of the name. Lupin put a hand on her shoulder and drew her away from Alaw.
"Look, I can't promise that no one is going to get hurt, no one can promise that. But we'll look after each other. Percy will come around, it'll only be a matter of time before Voldemort moves into the open. And as for the others, do you really think we wouldn't look after them?"
Terrible guilt was gnawing at Alaw's stomach. She had been so angry recently at being treated like a child, but Mrs Weasley's tears were being home to her the realisation that no matter how grown up she felt, Ron, Ginny and the twins were still Mrs Weasley's babies. Just because they were older didn't mean their parents stopped worrying about them. And Percy! She had meant to contact him weeks ago, but it had completely slipped her mind.
"I won't let anything happen to Ron," Alaw blurted out. "Me and Hermione, we'll watch out for him! We've all got each other's backs."
"Oh Alaw," Mrs Weasley sniffed. "You're a good, kind girl. Sensible, I'm so glad Ron found a friend like you!"
But that only made Alaw feel worse. Several minutes later, as she was getting into bed, she wondered if the Weasleys would have even been involved with the Order if Ron hadn't befriended her back in first year. If anything happened to them, would it all be because Ron got trapped in a room with Alaw and a Boggart?
A sudden, horrible pain lanced through her chest and Alaw sat up with a hiss, pressing her hand against her heart.
"Fuck off!" she growled through gritted teeth. Somewhere out there, Voldemort was up to something foul.
"Speaking to yourself Jones?" asked the empty portrait on the wall.
"You fuck off too!" Alaw snapped at snide voice which only humphed in reply.
Alaw was walking down a long, dark corridor again. When she came to door at the end, she tried to open it, but it was locked, and no amount of hammering worked.
"Let me in!" Alaw cried angrily.
"Come on Percy, don't be a prick! Open the fucking door!" Alaw called, banging on the wood with her fist.
She was in a very bad mood today. She hadn't slept very well, her dreams had been full of that infuriating door that wouldn't open and now she was faced with another one during her waking hours.
"Go away!" came Percy's muffled voice from inside the flat. "Or I'll call the Law Enforcement Squad!"
Alaw had managed to coax Percy's new address near Diagon Alley from Ron, but after making her way there, Percy had slammed the door in her face.
"Oh come on!" Alaw moaned. "This is so stupid! We're mates Percy! You always looked out for me when you were at school! Are you really going to start treating me like shit because the bloody Ministry has a wand up its backside?"
There was no reply this time and Alaw seethed.
"Ok fine!" she snarled. "Be like that! Just know that the only reason I'm here is because your mum was in fucking tears last night and I had to comfort her! And if you don't let me in and talk to me like a grown-up, I'll just shout for all your neighbours to hear that the crazy old mudblood Alaw Jones is here to see you!"
That did it. Percy yanked the door open and glared at her.
"This is so typical of you!" he hissed. "Fine! Come in, you have ten minutes to say your piece, then I really am calling the Squad."
"Like hell you will," Alaw snorted as she stalked past him into the flat. "You don't want anyone at the Ministry to find out you've been talking to the enemy."
The flat was small and very much like Percy, painfully neat and minimalist. She noticed that his old head boy badge was displayed proudly in a velvet lined box on the mantel piece, but there wasn't a single photo of his family in sight.
"What do you want Jones?" Percy asked, folding his arms and standing stiffly by the door.
"Ron's been made the Gryffindor prefect," said Alaw and Percy's eyebrows shot up. "And Hermione too. I'm the Slytherin prefect."
"You?" Percy asked sceptically.
"Yep, don't worry, Snape hasn't lost his mind. It was Dumbledore. Seeing as I'm his little puppet according to the Ministry."
Percy scowled and squared his shoulders.
"Dumbledore is trying his best to undermine the Ministry. He's a danger to this country."
"Oh yeah he's twat," Alaw agreed and Percy winced. "But I'm not here to talk about Dumbledore."
"What are you here to talk about then?"
"You, and your family. Didn't you hear me say that your mum was crying her eyes out last night? She's terrified that something is going to happen to her and your dad before they have a chance to patch things up with you."
Percy's scowl cleared and he looked worried for the first time.
"Why? What could possibly happen to them? Are they ill?"
Alaw squinted at Percy as if he was being dim.
"No idiot, Voldemort's back. She's scared they'll be killed by him or his followers."
Percy gave a great sigh and rolled his eyes.
"Oh for goodness sake," he snapped. "You're still spouting that nonsense?! Look, Alaw, I know you went through a lot when Black kidnapped you, but this has to stop! You're going to get into serious trouble with the Ministry of you keep spreading these lies! You-Know-Who is not back! He's dead, trust me, I know!"
"No Percy, you don't know. All you know is what the Ministry has told you. For once just think for yourself, you're too clever to parrot what Fudge wants you to! Look, I know Crouch told you last year how Voldemort lost his powers, when he tried to kill me as a baby."
Percy certainly hadn't expected her to know that and he opened his mouth then closed it a couple of times as he tried to think of an answer. Alaw carried on before he could interrupt.
"I know Crouch told you how they found Voldemort's body in front of my cot, how the Killing curse has bounced off me and hit him. But his spirit survived! It got away, and last term he got one of his followers to build him a new body and now he's back and has all his powers. I know this because I saw it happen. I swear Percy, I'm not crazy and I'm not lying. Why would I lie about this?!"
She knew before she'd even finished that it was pointless. Percy was just shaking his head in a pitying sort of way.
"Look, Alaw, this is all fantasy," said Percy in a maddeningly soothing voice. "You were tortured by Sirius Black at the end of term, he put these crazy ideas in your head. You-Know-Who is dead, and Dumbledore is just using your story to depose Fudge. He wants to be Minister himself, and he'll use fear to get there!"
Alaw had to fight very hard not to lose her temper. Getting angry and punching Percy would achieve the opposite of what she had hoped in coming here. Instead she threw up her hands.
"Ok, you know what? Fine. Don't believe me. Believe the Ministry. Just, please go and see your mum? Let her know you're ok."
"I'm sorry," said Percy coldly. "But I won't see my parents until they stop helping Dumbledore in his schemes."
"They're helping him fight Voldemort," Alaw snapped. "Just - at least write to them! Please! You wouldn't be like this if you'd seen how frightened your mum was."
"I think your ten minutes are up," Percy said, as if she hadn't spoken and Alaw buried her face in her hands.
"Fine," she sighed. Her anger was slipping away, now she just felt hopeless. "I guess I'll be getting a lot of this this year. Good, just being called a mudblood was getting old, 'crazy bitch' will liven things up considerably."
"Out!"
"I'm going, I'm going. Oh, but before I go, I meant to tell you to take care of yourself. And watch your back around Lucius Malfoy, he's like Voldemort's right hand man."
Percy just stared at her as if she had lost of mind and Alaw marched out of his flat, feeling that she'd had a wasted journey.
It was the first of September and Grimmauld Place was in a state of extreme chaos. The portrait of Sirius' mother was screaming bloody murder but no one was bothering to cover her up because all the commotion in the hallway would wake her up again anyway. People kept tripping over the many trunks cluttering the hall and Mrs Weasley was bellowing at Fred and George, who had tried to levitate their luggage downstairs and knocked Ginny down all the way to the ground floor.
Alaw was sitting on her trunk in the corner so that she was out of the way and Hermione was beside her, trying to persuade Crookshanks to get in his basket and not scratch her in the process. Ron's new owl Pig was hooting shrilly in his cage. Ron hadn't wanted to name him that, but Ginny had called the animal by this name from the start and now it wouldn't answer to anything else.
"Where the hell is Sturgis?" Mad-Eye asked angrily, stumping up and down in front of the front door and checking his pocket watch. "He was meant to be here twenty minutes ago!"
"Why do we have to wait for this person?" Alaw asked as Sirius appeared from the kitchen.
"Sturgis Podmore," Sirius explained. "He's supposed to be part of the guard but he's getting unreliable lately."
"Guard? What guard?" asked Neville.
"The guard to take you lot to the station. To make sure Voldemort doesn't try anything."
"Oich," Alaw sighed irritably. "I forgot I was being tailed these days."
She'd been most put out to find Tonks waiting for her when she came out of Percy's flat yesterday, and the young Auror hadn't left her side for the rest of the afternoon, following her to the Mended Cauldron and then back to Grimmauld Place.
Sirius smiled and then he glanced at Mrs Weasley and Mad-Eye to make sure they weren't paying attention. Once he was satisfied that they were distracted he took something out of his robes.
"Here," he muttered, handing Alaw the brown paper package. "Don't open it here, Molly won't approve, but it'll help us keep in touch without having to rely on owls."
Alaw nodded and stuffed the package out of sight into her satchel just as Mrs Weasley gesture to her.
"Alright, Ron, Neville, Hermione and Alaw, you come with me now and leave your trunks and pets, Alestor's taking care of the luggage. Oh for goodness sake Sirius! Dumbledore said no!"
As the young ones moved forward, Sirius shrank down onto all fours and transformed into the big black dog. Alaw chuckled as the mutt barked and waged its tail enthusiastically. Mrs Weasley frowned.
"Fine, on your own head be it!"
After the many chains and bolts on the front door had been slid back, Mrs Weasley led them all out into the warm September sun. Sirius gave a joyful bark and bounded up and down the pavement, chasing his own tail and snapping at a couple of mangy pigeons. Mrs Weasley pursed her lips in such a disapproving way, Professor McGonagall would have been proud.
"Very dignified," Alaw snorted, as Sirius came up to them with a stick in his mouth. Ron threw it and the dog went taring after it.
"Come on, we're going to be late!" Mrs Weasley snapped.
At the end of the street, there was an old woman waiting for them and she spoke with Tonks' voice.
"Wotcher," she said quietly when they reached her. "Better get going hadn't we Molly?"
"I know, I know!" Mrs Weasley moaned. "But Alestor wanted to wait for Sturgis! How can muggles stand to travel without magic?"
Hermione and Alaw exchanged exasperated glanced. This kind of casual derision was harder to tackle than full on prejudice, because calling it out would seem petty. The walk to King's Cross was uneventful, other than the entertainment for Sirius and his stick. Voldemort didn't jump out from behind a skip to try and murder any of them and they made it to the barrier between platforms nine and ten without incident.
Despite the fact that the closest stop to Cefn-Y-Bedd was Crew, Alaw had only used it once. Circumstances had always placed her in London at the start of the school year so she was quite used to surreptitiously leaning against the barrier and skidding through to platform nine and three-quarters.
The Hogwarts Express was waiting for them, blowing steam over the crowd of students and parents. Most people were already in their school robes as most magical parents wouldn't let their children go out in public wearing trousers, Statue of Secrecy or not.
As always, Alaw and Hermione attracted a lot of stares in their jeans. Alaw pulled her hoody up to cover her hair, she didn't want a stink bomb to the back of the head before term even started.
"Oh thank goodness, here's Alestor with the luggage," sighed Mrs Weasley as Mad-Eye materialised under the wrought iron arch that spanned the platform, Fred, George and Ginny hot on his heels.
"Don't think we were followed," Mad-Eye grunted. "But best get this lot on the train quick."
They found an empty compartment and loaded their trunks into the racks above the seats. Then Mrs Weasley gave her children, Alaw, Neville and Hermione a tight hug each.
"Look after yourselves," she said tearfully. "Be safe! Please be careful."
"We will be," said Hermione reassuringly.
Alaw felt that twinge of guilt again, and hoped against hope that Percy came to his senses soon. It suddenly struck her how lonely Mrs Weasley was, now that all her children were away from home most of the year, and Mr Weasley was at work all day.
As the conductor whistled and Mrs Weasley chivvied them onto the train, Alaw knelt down and hugged Sirius quickly.
"I'll be in touch," she whispered, scratching him behind the ears for the benefit of the crowd. "See you!"
Then she hopped into the compartment, just as the train began to move off.
"Right," said Hermione, once the platform had disappeared behind them and they were creeping through London. "We need to go to the prefect carriage now."
"Oh god, I'd forgotten about that," Alaw groaned. "Ok, fine. So, Neville, I need you to track down the people we thought might be interested in joining the Flames."
"Got it," said Neville excitedly.
As he headed off down one end of the train, Alaw turned and despondently followed Ron and Hermione to the other end, wondering which of her male classmates she was going to be saddled with for the rest of the year.
Draco had never been in the prefects' carriage before. It was far more luxurious than the others he'd seen, with comfortable armchairs grouped around dark-wood tables instead of threadbare benches. There was a bar over in the corner and Draco had been handed a complimentary pumpkin juice when he came in.
The Head Boy, Cedric Diggory, and head girl, Cho Chang, were already there when he arrived and had greeted him before returning to their own conversation. Draco had therefore sat in an armchair by the window and take stock of the other prefects. The fourth years were all huddled together gossiping but the new third year choices were still divided down house lines.
Hannah Abbot and Ernie McMillan from Hufflepuff were chatting amiably at the bar. Draco grudgingly admitted that they were both decent choices. Dim though Hufflepuffs usually were, they were both fairly bright and would no doubt do a good job.
From Ravenclaw there was Anthony Goldstein, a pretentious prat in Draco's opinion, and Padma Patil, who was clever, but dull. The Gryffindor contingent wasn't there yet, nor was the female Slytherin prefect. Granger would of course have bagged the badge, but Draco had no idea which of the male Gryffindors she'd have to endure. None of them had enough brains to wipe their own arses without a map.
As for his partner for the next two years, Draco had a feeling it would be Daphne. Pansy had been writing to him obsessively over the summer and she hadn't mentioned receiving a badge, so Uncle Sev must have decided to choose someone who actually deserved the thing. Daphne was from an old, respectable family, she had decent academic scores, and she had performed well on the school Quidditch team last year.
Draco didn't mind Daphne too much, even if she did spend an awful lot of time with the Gryffindors and that Muggle lover Cameron Boyle. Perhaps Marcus would finally get over his no girls policy and let Daphne on the Slytherin Quidditch team this term.
The door to the carriage opened and Draco turned his head expectantly. There was Granger, of course, her red prefect badge pinned proudly on her Muggle jacket. Behind her came Weasley, and Draco's eyes widened in surprise. Weasley? Really? The pickings were certainly slim in Gryffindor house, but even Longbottom would have been a better choice than Weasel King.
But then Draco felt a stab in his stomach as Alaw walked in and closed the door behind her. No, surely not. Uncle Sev would never be so stupid as to pick a Muggle-born! When Alaw caught sight of Draco she froze, an oddly pained expression crossing her face. They stared at each other for a few moments, neither sure what to say.
Draco was cursing his bad luck. Before putting him on the train, his father had given him one last lecture about growing a backbone this year. The Dark Lord was counting on him, Theodore, Vincent and Gregory to recruit more Purebloods to the cause, and to make sure the mudbloods knew they were no longer welcome in the wizarding world. Theodore had been crowing all summer about how he was finally going to pay Alaw back for all her insolence, and Draco had been miserable the entire time.
Alaw had been his friend for a year or so, he liked her, they had plenty in common and she made him laugh. But they had both agreed at the end of last term that, with everything changing so fast, it would no longer be safe for them to be friendly. Draco had vowed to himself that he would never speak to Alaw again, never look her in the eye, and stay as far away from Theodore's plans for revenge as possible. He'd been terrified that the Dark Lord would peer into his mind and see his weakness for Alaw. Thankfully, Draco was a decent Occlumens and that hadn't happened. But here he now was, unable to escape.
"Alright, gather round people," called Cedric. "We're going to give you your instructions."
Alaw hesitated before walking over to the chair next to Draco's. She sat down and leant casually away from him towards Granger, who was on her other side.
"Alright folks, I'll be quick, don't want to keep you cooped up in here all day," said Cedric. "You're prefects now, and that means you'll be taking on a few extra responsibilities. You should be the first port of call for any student in your house who is struggling, be it with school work or personal matters.
The teachers expect you to keep an eye on your fellow students, and inform them if you think someone isn't coping. You're to help the first years find their way around the first few weeks, and to hand out punishments to anyone acting up."
Draco glanced around the circle of prefects. The appearance of Alaw had dampened any pleasure he would normally have felt at having a little bit of authority. Cho took over the explanation.
"You all probably know that you can only hand out communal detentions to people from your own house, since they are your responsibility. If you have trouble with a member of another house, ask the prefect from that house to help, or Cedric or me. You can't dock house points either. If a situation gets really out of hand, get hold of a teacher."
Draco had to restrain himself from snorting. Communal detention was a joke, just sit in a room for an hour on Saturday morning with the half a dozen other delinquents and whichever grumpy teacher had drawn the short straw that week. It was a handy time to catch up on homework.
Cedric and Cho outlined the rest of their duties, which boiled down to helping the teachers with whatever they required. They were then served an early lunch, vegetable soup followed by cold pheasant and delicate little cakes for pudding.
"I've never had pheasant before," said Granger once they were all done eating. "It's quite nice."
"Can't your family afford the meat, Granger?" Draco asked scathingly. Granger and Weasley shot him annoyed looks.
"Shut up Malfoy," Weasley snarled and Alaw immediately put a hand on his forearm, her eyes wide in a 'don't start a fight' kind of way.
She glanced at Draco but didn't say anything to him, nor he to her. It was going to be pretty difficult to perform their prefect duties without speaking to each other for two years, but Draco was determined to try.
His father had been very specific about that.