I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Note: Hello everyone. I wanted to let you know that I will be away the first half of next week so I won't be posting until later in the week, though I will try to post something on Sunday to account for it. Thank you for reading and hope all are doing well.

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Extended Family

Chapter 91 – Prefect Portrayal

Takes place during Harry's fifth year, starting after Chapter 98 of Family.

"You know, this hurts," George said, looking aggrieved.

"It really hurts," Fred said, looking agreed.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked them worriedly.

"Just…that," the twins said, pointing at the badge on his chest and shuddering theatrically.

"Our little brother, a prefect," George sighed.

"How have we let this happen?" Fred moaned. They flinched at the Stinging Jinxes Alicia shot at them. "Ahem," Fred coughed, rubbing his rear. "Prefect Potter, I want to report an incident of a student casting a spell at another student without proper supervision."

"You can't go running to him to act like a prefect when you were just lamenting that he's a prefect," Alicia said crossly.

"Why not?" they asked, dodging when she shot more Stingers at them.

"I don't see any spellcasting," Harry said mildly.

"You need to get your eyes checked then mate," George grumbled.

"I mean, she could be using a spell I'm not familiar with, so I wouldn't be able to say if she was spellcasting at all really," Harry said with a hint of a smile.

"Aww, using my circuitous logic and establishing a loophole to benefit me, I am so very proud of you baby bird," Alicia gushed and hugged him.

"Look at you, playing favorites," Fred said with disgust.

"Never. I'll prove it." Harry reached into his medic pack and pulled out a bandage. "Here, medically treated bandage. Perfect for spells that might be related to a Stinging Jinx."

"Very funny," Fred grumbled while the others laughed. He still took it however and made a show of putting it on over his pants.

"Ready for your first patrol?" Katie asked.

"I think so," Harry said. "Bit daunting but I think it'll be okay."

"Don't worry, we're keeping these two in the tower tonight," Angelina smiled. "Let you start off easy."

"Harry wouldn't take points from us," the twins said indignantly.

"He might not," Hermione said as she walked to the corner. "I might however, with due cause."

"You'd have to catch us first," Fred smirked.

Hermione crossed her arms. "And you two think I can't?"

"Hey now, wouldn't that be fun," George mused with a menacing smile. "Our brains against yours. Superior wits versus intellectual wit."

"Oh look at the time," Harry said, putting an arm around Hermione's shoulders as she puffed up angrily. "We better get going, don't want to be late to our first patrol." He steered her out of the common room but not before Hermione spitted the twins with a stern look. She pointed at her eyes with her pointer and middle finger and pointed it back at them. When the twins gave her the salute, she opened her mouth but by then Harry pushed her out of the common room.

"Will you stop that!" George complained, rubbing his rear. He and Fred had laughed loudly when the portrait door closed but jumped when Alicia shot them both with more jinxes.

"Will you two stop being prats?" Alicia asked.

"No," they replied.

"Then also no."

"You know, I actually would pay good money to see you three go at it," Angelina said. "You two are clever but so's she. And she's determined and driven enough, like you two."

"I don't think we'd survive the experience," Katie smiled. "Hey, Ron, Ginny, question for you two. Who'd come off the better in a fight between Fred and George against Hermione?"

"Hermione, no question," Ron said. He snorted at the wounded looks on the faces of Fred and George. "You two are committed to your nonsense and she's committed to stopping nonsense for the most part. The difference is, she's not lazy."

"Hey, we work hard," the twins said.

"Yeah, but you're also lazy," Ginny said. "If you can get away with not doing something, you do. She's the type of person to do everything to the letter because she likes it."

"Eh, they're not wrong," Fred conceded, shrugging.

"I'd argue but feeling a bit lazy," George admitted, shrugging.

They all broke into laughter.

-0-

"I'm going to get those two. You just wait. I'm going to catch them at it."

Harry smiled softly at his friend. "At what?"

"I don't know yet but I'll catch them and make them stop it," Hermione sniffed.

"I know they like to skirt the rules a bit," he snorted at her look, "okay, a lot, but they usually mean well overall. They like making people laugh. Though some of their stuff is a bit rough but one could argue that those they are rougher too typically deserve it."

"I suppose," she sighed. "It is a bit surprising. Alicia told me that they were much worse their first two years."

"Oh? I wonder what happened that made them mellow out a bit," Harry mused.

After signing the patrol book at the prefect office, Harry and Hermione began walking their side of the castle. This being their first official shift, they were doing the first patrol shift as well: after dinner to the late evening. Most of the students they would encounter at this time were the older ones with the younger ones being in their common rooms and dorms with an earlier curfew.

"This is a bit tiring," Hermione said as they patrolled. "I never thought that looking around would be tiring but it somehow is."

"You're spending too much energy looking," Harry said.

"What do you mean?"

"You turn your head a bit too much and you're looking intently at everything."

She blinked at him. "Well, yes. That's what one does when they're looking for anything out of the norm."

Harry grinned. "Sorry, let me explain it this way. Try to notice things out of sorts but not go looking for them."

"What's the difference?"

Harry hummed. "Like here, this hallway we know there's the alcove there. But don't look into it if you don't need to. If you notice a light or hear something, then look into it, but don't go looking for details if none are sticking out at you."

They turned the corner. "And this hallway, we know there's a classroom that's not generally used. We know the door stays open so we can walk past but if the door is closed when it shouldn't be, or if there is something suspicious about it, then we look further."

"But wouldn't that be less thorough?" she asked.

"Sure, but you spend less energy and focus on it and you can conserve your energy a bit. Besides, we'll be back past this area again multiple times so the more out of place something is…"

"…the more likely we will see the next time we pass by." Hermione nodded. "That makes sense. How did you come up with this?"

"It's how I look for the Snitch. I have a rough idea of what an area looks like and if I notice gold or something fast, I look again and try to focus."

"Oh that's very smart," Hermione said.

"Occasionally, I can be," Harry said in a snooty voice. He snickered when Hermione poked his side.

Later on as they were repeating the circuit they noticed that the door to the classroom was closed. "Now we know something's up," Harry said.

Hermione waved her wand. "Two people inside and it's well after curfew for most students." She walked up to it and rapped on the door sharply a few times before opening. "Alright then, what's going on in here?" She said the last word at a yelp as she saw two students in rumpled clothes break apart hurriedly.

Harry looked at the two caught students briefly before he looked up towards the ceiling. When Hermione looked at him questioningly, he made awkward hand gestures. "Uh, Miss," he coughed, face turning red, "your shirt."

The girl squeaked with dismay and hurriedly buttoned up her shirt, her face looking like a tomato.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Okay. Names and years please, House too."

"Lillian Henly, sixth year Ravenclaw," the girl said sheepishly.

"Timothy Lakes, sixth year Hufflepuff," the boy said just as sheepishly.

"Not quite past curfew for them then," Harry said. He was already feeling awkward for intruding on a very intimate act. The fact that they were older made it feel even more awkward.

"Right. Five points apiece for…interactions of an inappropriate nature," Hermione said, somehow staying straight-faced despite the blush growing on her cheeks.

"Oh that's not bad," Timothy sighed with relief. "Not that I was complaining!" he said as he saw Hermione's expression turn belligerent.

"We should go then," Lillian said hurriedly.

"Not until you tidy up," Hermione said.

The two sixth years stared at her for a moment before they quickly moved the desks back and did a quick cleaning charm before they ran out of the classroom. Harry waited until the footsteps faded completely before he snorted. "'Not until you tidy up'. Really Hermione?"

"Well I wasn't going to clean up after them!" Hermione said sharply, her face bright red.

"I wasn't going to either," he laughed. "I'm just impressed you had the wherewithal to say that without cracking."

"Honestly," Hermione huffed as she started to walk down the hallway once more. "I've heard that this sort of thing happens but I never imagined I'd be one to break it up. Why would you do that in a classroom?!"

"They're in different Houses. Makes sense I suppose. And there's usually not a reason to be in this part of the castle after hours," Harry said prosaically.

"Why are you defending them?" she asked indignantly.

"Just saying I can understand how it happened," Harry retorted.

She sighed. "It's going to be a long three years of breaking up that sort of thing." She glared at him suddenly. "Harry James Potter, don't you dare let me catch you in that kind of situation!"

"What?! Hey! What makes you think you will!" Harry exclaimed, blushing furiously.

"You're a boy!"

"That's profiling! I should be saying that I don't want to be the one catching you!" Harry ducked as Hermione shot a spell at him and he tore off down the hall with her chasing after, shouting at him.

-0-

"I thought you'd be back sooner," Katie remarked when Harry and Hermione walked back into the Gryffindor common room that night.

"He got us into trouble," Hermione hissed, glaring daggers at him.

"What? Really?" Alicia asked, perking up.

"I wasn't the one casting spells at my so-called best friend," Harry retorted, dodging out of Hermione's poke range.

"What did you do?!" Angelina asked.

"Well it started with us catching two people in a classroom being…inappropriate," Harry said.

"Ooh who?" Fred asked.

"We can't say," Hermione said sharply.

"Boo," George said.

"Anyways, Hermione said she better not catch me ever and I said I should be the one that I never want to catch her and she chased me down the hall shooting spells at me," Harry said indignantly and the others burst into wild laughter.

"Why did you run back to the prefect offices?!" Hermione shouted, making the others laugh even harder.

"I needed a witness and help!"

"Did you two really get in trouble?" Katie asked, clutching her stomach from laughing.

"No. Moira just said we need to try and be more reserved as prefects," Harry sighed.

"My very first patrol, tarnished forever!" Hermione groaned. "Being told off by the Head Girl!"

"We weren't told off! She was laughing! She didn't even give us a warning or write us up or anything! She even said we did a good job at handling our first incident!"

"Relax Hermione," Alicia giggled. "Sounds like it all went well." She patted the other girl's arm comfortingly before breaking out into more giggles. "Besides, this is one of the reasons Harry is prefect with you after all."

"Letting her cast spells at me and question my theoretical activities?!" Harry exclaimed.

"Precisely, you're helping her relax. She can't act like that with literally anyone else in her year," Alicia said pertly.

The expressions on Harry's and Hermione's faces sent the others into gales of laughter.

-0-

Daphne smiled softly when she saw Harry waiting for her at the office. "Have I kept you waiting?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I only just got here myself." They signed the book and began their patrol.

She looked at him carefully. It was the start of the second term, barely a few months after what happened on Halloween. Daphne had been so scared for Harry, worried about him. Seeing him right after, how devoid of life he was, terrified her. It was somehow worse than how he was after the attack by Crouch Junior. When she heard the story, of how Harry had found the Horcruxes, how he was one, how he helped break them and end the threat of Voldemort forever, she had been appalled at the lengths he had gone.

She was saddened to hear how he was affected by it all and how he was still dealing with the aftermath.

However, seeing him up and about, slowly returning to who he was before the event, heartened her. "I have something for you," she said, and handed him something. "It is from Tracy."

"Oh, chocolate. Thank you and thank her for me too, please." He opened it and broke it in half and offered her half.

She smiled. "It is all for you. I have my own but thank you." Her smile widened when he ate it readily. "Not many would accept something wholeheartedly from a Slytherin without checking it first."

"I trust you and Tracy," he said simply.

Her smile was even brighter. "How are you doing?" she asked as they walked.

"I'm fine," he said, almost automatically. Then he smiled wryly. "Actually fine, kind of weird to say that and mean it." He flexed his right hand. "I've got full range of motion back and it throbs a bit here and there but nothing permanent was done, thank goodness. Things have been better more or less."

"Why more or less?"

He sighed. "Had an interesting Christmas holiday. I'll tell you later."

She nodded, respecting his privacy.

"How have you been?"

"Oh you know, trying my best to keep Tracy's wilder impulses in check while succeeding in classes. The same old thing. Also trying to keep Astoria focused."

"Is she doing better?"

"She is, thank you for asking. I still believe she has the aptitude for Potions, she just chooses not to do well in it for reasons known only to her."

They happened on a building argument between students from Slytherin and Ravenclaw. However, as they rounded the corner, the students took one look at both of them and immediately stopped. The Slytherins threw nervous glances at both Harry and Daphne while the Ravenclaws were more nervous around Harry. Some unprompted apologies came from both groups and they fled in opposite directions.

"Drat," Daphne murmured as she watched them run. "Did not even give me a chance to take points away."

"Taking points away isn't the point," Harry snorted softly.

"No, but it is one of the few enjoyable things about the position," she said with a faux-innocent smile.

He chuckled. "I wonder why they stopped when they saw us."

"Those in my House know not to irritate me overmuch," Daphne said. She looked genuinely sad when she looked at him next. "For you however…"

"Ah right." Harry's sigh was deep, coming up from his feet. "Well, at least they stopped." They walked on in companionable silence for a bit.

"Is this your favorite corridor or something?" Daphne asked as they continued their circuit. "You smile when we walk here."

"Well my favorite hiding spot in the lower castle is here," Harry said with a small smile. "It's very cozy and Luna and I used to leave little notes for each other in it when we first became friends."

"Adorable," Daphne said warmly.

"It's a nice spot. The tapestry covering it is nice too." He blinked when he saw the tapestry moving, rustling slightly. "Guess someone is using it now."

"It is about curfew for most of the younger students." Daphne gave him a look.

"Okay, have at it," Harry smiled.

"You throw the tapestry back so they see me standing here with the light behind me," she said excitedly. She schooled her features into her expression of stern disapproval, the one Tracy got a lot, and nodded when she was ready.

Harry threw the tapestry back and she opened her mouth but they both froze when they saw the occupants of the alcove and said occupants also froze.

Time slowed to an awkward drawn-out crawl as Daphne and Harry stared dumbly at Angelina and George who were in a very compromised position and they stared back in horrified silence.

"Uh, a little privacy please?" George joked weakly.

"Oh no, not again," Angelina whispered.

Daphne turned to Harry and she bit her lip to keep herself under control. The look on his face was priceless and she summoned all her will to keep from breaking. "I will handle this if you like," she said, voice barely trembling.

Harry nodded thankfully and turned and ran.

Angelina and George tried to untangle themselves and fell over onto the stones, grunting in pain and annoyance. Then they looked up when they heard Daphne cackling with glee. The girl was laughing so hard, she held onto the wall for balance, her whole body shaking from her laughter.

"Ah me," she said, chuckling and wiping her eyes. "I have never seen him make that sort of expression. That was a treat." She looked at George and Angelina. "No punishment for today. The emotional damage you have done to each other just now is more than enough and I have been treated to see Harry look like that. You might want to go back to your tower however."

She walked away, giggling to herself.

-0-

Cedric smiled when Harry gave him his last form for the year. "Thanks Harry. Good work this year by the way. You're a solid prefect."

"Thank you," Harry smiled back. "It's not that bad being one actually."

"Wait until you're Head Boy," Cedric warned. "So much more work and responsibility."

"I don't know if that's possible for me."

Cedric winked. "It just might be."

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dude356 - Glad to hear it. The chapter turned out really well and I thought it was very funny too.

Ghostwriter - Thank you.

guest - The camping chapters turn out to be very funny ones somehow but I was particularly happy with the beginning of this camping one. The dialogue between Harry, Katie, and Dahlia just got me just right. Katie's revenge was just so good too.

odonnellz0099 - Oh taxes, so annoyingly stressful. I was really happy with how the Bunnies were in this chapter, they really shone as individuals in my opinion.

justafanboy - Thank you. I haven't had any major plans to stop though it is taking me a bit longer to think of chapter ideas. Even when I start my next project, I hope to continue to have things to do in this setting. I also have an idea for a mini-series in this setting as well.

poka - Getting their just desserts.

joouve25 - Glad it picked you up. The camping chapters just lend themselves to hilarity somehow and I'm all for it.

alix33 - Unceasing gonging and drumming from Kreacher.