"Look at the crowd here. I've never seen Diagon Alley with this much people before," said Rose as she looked around. Witches and wizards walked about. She searched for a familiar face. "There they are." Rose pointed to the middle of the crowd where a bunch of red heads walked. She pulled Scorpius's hand. "It must be Dad. He's going to be off to Hogwarts coming September." Scorpius stumbled behind her, but Rose insisted on pulling him. "Hurry up. I want to see how Dad got his wand and all," she said excitedly.
Scorpius pulled his hand away from Rose. "I can walk on my own, thank you very much," he said. He straightened up and walked alongside Rose. "I never knew you could walk this fast. Why don't you when you know well we're going to be late for classes?" he asked succinctly. Rose shrugged. Scorpius sighed. "Figures," he muttered as he followed Rose.
"Now has everyone got there letters?" The boys nodded. Molly smiled at Ron. "I'm very happy that you're staring Hogwarts now." Ron smiled. He looked tall now with a gangling awkward body, big hands, big feet and a pointed nose. "Now you lot go into Flourish and Blotts and pick out the books you need." She turned to Ron. "You come with me. You too Ginny. We're going to have robes done and then follow your brothers afterwards."
Ginny walked briskly beside her mother. "Can't I come too?" she asked.
"No," replied Molly sternly. "We have been over this a million times. You can go to Hogwarts if it is your time to go." Molly shifted her eyes to Ron. "Here we are." She opened the door to the store which sold second hand robes. "Good morning," said Molly gleefully as she entered. "My son's starting Hogwarts this September. I would like to have one the right size for him."
The woman behind the counter nodded. "All right, Mrs. Weasley." She looked at Ron and took out her measuring tape. "Oh, not the twins, is he, this one. I believe he has the older boy's structure. What was his name again? The smart one?" asked the woman.
Molly smiled. "Percy," she replied quickly.
"Oh yes, Percy," said the woman. "That boy was wonderful to talk to when he walked into my shop." She took Ron's measurements. "And this is your youngest son, I presume? I have never seen him." Molly nodded. The woman walked back to the counter. "I have just the set of robes for him. I'll be back in a while. I think they belonged…" he voice trailed off as she went to the back of the room.
Scorpius looked stunned. "Your dad used to get second hand robes?" Rose nodded for she already knew this. Scorpius's mouth went dry. He could have never imagined what it would like to own second hand robes, and to think his father buys him a new one every summer because he grows tall pretty fast. "Why doesn't he just wear some clothes belonging to Charlie and Bill?" he asked.
Rose shrugged. "Maybe because Uncle Fred and Uncle George had already taken them." Scorpius nodded understandingly. Rose turned to him. "Dad also got a second hand wand, you know. He had never really bought his own until recently." Scorpius looked aghast. Rose nodded. "Sad, but true," she added as she turned back to her father.
"There you go," said the woman as she handed Molly a large box. "It's all that will fit him." She looked at Ron and smiled pleasantly. "I hope you have a good term in Hogwarts. I believe you will enjoy your stay there." She nodded at Molly. "You have a pleasant day. I will see you again nest year," she looked sideward at Ginny, "for your beautiful daughter's robes, I presume?"
Molly nodded abruptly. "Yes." She turned to her two children. "Come on now. Your brothers are waiting for us. I believe your father would be waiting for us by now." She turned back to the woman and waved. "See you again next year and thank you for having the robes we just needed." The woman nodded. The three Weasleys left the store and headed towards Flourish and Blotts. "We still do have to buy an owl," she said dryly.
"Why?" asked Ginny.
"Because Percy is a prefect," replied Molly. They had reached Flourish and Blotts. "Arthur, you're here." Arthur turned and nodded. He looked delighted to see the three. "Have you bought the boys their books yet?"she asked. Arthur nodded. "Good. I'm off to buy Percy's owl for a while." She looked at Ron. "You coming?" Ron nodded. Molly took Ginny's hand. "Come on then," she said and walked hurriedly out of the bookstore.
Ginny raised her eyebrow. "What's your hurry, Mum?" she asked.
"It does not concern you, Dear," answered Molly. They managed to squeeze through the crowd. "It gets a little crowded in here every time. I already warned Arthur about this, but no, he had to pick this day where crowds would go wild and buy all their children's things for their first year." Ron looked at his mother. For a while he thought he heard an ungrateful tone of voice, but he dismissed it from his thoughts. He knew his mother would never regret marrying his father. "Here we are."
Ginny tugged her mother's robes. "Mum, how come Percy gets an owl? Bill did not when he became Head Boy and Prefect," she pointed out.
"Bill's different," said Molly as she looked through all of the owls in front of the store. She sighed when she saw how much they cost. "Well, I guess this will have to do," she said, reaching for one of the owl cages. "Come on now, you two. Let's go inside and pay for them so we could get back to the others. We would be back in time for lunch, I suppose."
Ron watched as his mother shelled out money to pay for the owl. "If I become prefect, will I get an owl too?" he asked.
Molly smiled faintly. "We'll see, Dear." She took Ginny's hand. "It's best we be off now. At this rate we're going, we'll end up eating lunch here." Ginny and Ron looked at each other. Molly and her children made their way back to Flourish and Blotts.
Percy squirmed upon seeing the owl. "Thank you, Mother," he said. Molly nodded and handed him the cage with the rattling owl inside it. He looked at the twins who looked back at him grudgingly. "I told you studying and good behavior pays off very well." He cockily threw his head back and walked out of the store with his books tucked under his left arm.
"Have we got everything?" asked Arthur, turning to Molly who nodded. "Then I believe we must get back now, shall we? The crowd is getting too many." He clasped his hands and eyed Ron. "I am very proud of you. We'll be seeing you to Hogwarts too this year." He smiled and placed his hand on Ron's shoulder as they walked on. "I think we can expect a lot from you. You're a smart kid. Make the Weasleys proud once more."
"Didn't I?" Percy said smugly when he heard this. He had been waiting outside for the rest of his family.
Fred restrained himself from rolling his eyes. The rest of the Weasley family walked on and made their way back to the Burrow. Ron's eyes sparkled as he brought his new second hand things into the house. He couldn't believe he was to start Hogwarts too like all of his older brothers. He walked straight to his room when they arrived home and dumped everything onto his bed. He took a step back and looked at his things proudly.
"I hope I can see how Dad' years at Hogwarts were. He refuses to tell them to me every time I ask." Rose eyes twinkled with excitement as she leaned forward to study all her father's old things. "Look at them, Scorpius. Everything Dad has to do with is a hand-me-down. Look at his robes." She looked at her father. She could not understand how he could smile even with those things. She then looked at Scorpius who seemed to be thinking the same thing she was.
Scorpius took a deep breath. "I don't know how I will manage to wear a second hand robe." He looked a little guilty. "I never knew people could wear them. I told Dad that they ought to shut that shop down. I never knew people actually went in to buy from there. I rarely see customers," he said.
"Yes, I don't know," George muffling voice came. Ron heard it. He turned and saw the twins pass by his room. He raised his eyebrow and followed silently behind them. Luckily for him, George didn't completely close the door and he could clearly hear the conversation from beside the wall near the twins' room. And unless you looked very hard for him, he could not be seen.
"He is very indifferent lately. Not only is he very snotty," said Fred. "Didn't he think of Mum and Dad? Didn't he look at their reactions closely? He must have noticed by now that they had rushed things here and there." Ron heard a clunk. "I might be a troublemaker and I'm proud of it, but I think of our family more than I show it and you know it and I don't overdo what I do." Ron heard another clunk. "If Mum offered me an owl, I wouldn't have taken it."
"Me too," agreed George.
"Didn't he notice?" came Fred's voice.
"I don't know. By the looks of it, he didn't. I guess he was so full of it. I bet Bill would have given him a rather good whack if he found out about this, not to mention Charlie," George said in a most serious voice. "Ron and Ginny didn't seem to see it either, did they?" he asked.
"No," replied Fred. "They're excusable. They're still young. It's not their fault."
Ron blinked. He did not understand what the twins were talking about. He quietly sat down on the floor and leaned on the wall behind him. He tried to recall what had happened in Diagon Alley, but he still could not understand what the twins were talking about. He pressed his ears against the wall so that he might understand more. Fred had always said if you want to find out something, you have to do it on your own.
"Percy knows it well," said Fred.
"I'm sure," said George.
Ron heard something heavy being moved. "I don't know how he holds his head up high after that. Mum and Dad, they love him and he's got a head full of it now," said Fred. "I'll never forgive him for today, not until he does something good, not until he tells a joke to my face defying what he used to believe him, as if he is transformed a new man!" he exclaimed.
Scorpius laughed. "Now he thinks he's a Sear. I'm starting to like that Fred bloke." Scorpius looked at Rose. She didn't look to happy about hearing that. "I'm sorry about saying that. I know you'd like it more than I do." Rose still didn't look too happy. Scorpius sighed. "I guess everything would be different if he didn't die, huh?"
"It's not that," said Rose. She fought back her tears as she lookedat Fred. "What he said, all of it, it became true. It's just…" he voice trailed off. She looked at the twins thoughtfully. "They were so close. They shared everything. They were always there for each other. No wonder Uncle George thought it to be painful speaking about Uncle Fred. I can't imagine losing Hugo," she whispered.
Scorpius whispered in a low voice, "I can't imagine losing you," though it seemed that Rose did not hear what he just said.
"You're dreaming," muttered George.
Fred laughed. "I can see it now, George. I can see Percy leaving us and never returning. I can see him disobeying Mum and Dad. I can see him not coming back for Christmas or Easter or the summer. He's out there somewhere and never writes to us and never sees us and never thinks we exist. I can see him completely gone from us and-"
"And I don't like the sound of that," interjected George.
"I'm not done yet," said Fred. "I can see him out of this world away from us hating us!" Ron held his breath. He didn't want Fred to continue. He shut his eyes as he tried to discharge Fred's echoing voice from his head. "But like I said, I'll forgive him. In front of us, all of us, I can see him saying sorry." Fred's voice suddenly dropped into a tone between sadness and happiness. "I miss the Percy we used to know," he said.
"Me too," said George. He suddenly laughed. "You have great plans for Percy's life, you do. Where did you get all of that?" Ron heard another clunk.
"No idea." Ron suddenly froze. He heard footsteps coming near him. "I think there's someone around here," said Fred. Ron could feel a chill run up his spine. He held his breath. He could feel his feet go cold all over. "Nope, no one's here." Ron let out a sigh. "Not." Fred appeared behind Ron and grabbed his shirt. "How long have you been here?" asked Fred.
"Just now," lied Ron. Fred rolled his eyes. "Okay, I've been listening, but it wasn't too long," he lied again. Fred glared at him. "Okay, I was listening the whole time and you can hex me now if you want to," he said shortly.
George walked up to them. "You've been there?" He raised his eyebrows. "Didn't you notice the spiders?" Ron looked to his side and saw a trail of spiders. Color drained from his face. George laughed weakly. "So now you see them. Technically, we can't hex you here, but I'm sure we will when we get to Hogwarts." Ron's face contorted. George eased his. "Just don't tell Percy what you've just hears," he said lamely.
Fred let go of Ron's shirt. "Now go on. Go back to your room and pack. George and I have a lot of things to do that doesn't need you poking around them." Ron looked at him uncertainly. "We're just pissed off about Percy. It's not you." He turned around. "Come on, George. Let's do it." He looked back at Ron for a moment, smiled, then went back into his room, closing the door behind them.
Before Ron could reach his room, he met Molly on the way. She smiled for him. "Ronald," she said in a soft voice. Ron looked at her. "I can't believe you're going to Hogwarts too. You've grown so big now." She gave him a warm smile. "Don't look at me at me like that. It's all right. I know you'll do very fine when you get to Hogwarts."
"Even if I get more detentions than I do House points?" Ron asked.
Molly thought for a moment. "I don't know about that yet, it depends." Ron bit his lower lip. "Don't worry. We'll be proud of you whatever you become." She gently pinched his cheeks. "You're my son and no matter what you do I will be proud of you," she assured him.
"What if I don't become like Bill or Charlie or Percy? What if I'm just another student at Hogwarts?" Ron asked, sounding a little nervous now.
"I don't need you to be any of them, Ron," said Molly with a mother voice. "Just do your best at school and that's all what counts. Have fun and enjoy what childhood you've got left. You'd be of age before you know it and I'm sure you'll want a childhood to look back to. I'm not saying that you have to go as far as Fred and George, but I believe that even if you don't achieve what your brothers do, you'll still be our Ronald. Just be yourself and never change who you are right now. Your father and I will already be happy enough to buy you an owl," she said happily.
"You don't need to," said Ron quickly.
Molly looked puzzled. "I thought you said you wanted one?"
Ron grinned. "Maybe next time when I get old enough to buy one with my own, but I still do want one," he said honestly, making his mother smile even more. "Hey Mum, I'll be in my room packing right now. I can't wait to get to Hogwarts myself." Molly nodded as Ron ran off to his room to do his packing. Ron went into his room cheerfully. "I'm going off to Hogwarts," he said to himself, "I'm going to make my own story from now on. I won't be Bill, or Charlie and definitely not Percy. I might not be as witty as Fred and George, but I will be me. They'll see. It's my life now."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Everything keeps moving fast
What I want is what I have
Right now, I'm closer that I thought I could be
It's my life, my time to find the answers
Don't always know what kind of road is in front of me
But I'll go slow wanna remember every moment
That this is by the goodness ride has ever been
It's my life
-Bo Bice-
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Determined fellow, isn't he?" said Scorpius. Rose gave him a simper. Scorpius shook his head. "Though as I see it, it's not anymore like father like son. You're not a boy, but you do take a lot after your dad, don't you?" Rose shrugged as the scene faded away once more. "Funny how a lot of things can be the same with you and him now that I see it."
"Oh shut it, Scorpius."
A/N: Thanks for reading and I hope you guys keep on reviewing. The next chapter is the story finale, hope you read that too! Really, thanks for everything!
LAST NEXT CHAPTER: But They Were Happy