Chapter 15 – Prefects

Harry fell out of the grate onto his knee which collapsed under his weight and throbbed with pain as he landed on the dark oak floor. He quickly tuned around sat upright as he heard a yell of frustration and the smashing of the glass in the coffee table. He watched as Sirius took his foot out of the coffee table and started to yell in frustration.

"The sweet-toothed bastard, fucking disrespectful old man! Ugh" Sirius Roared as he threw his fist into the wall. Remus caught Sirius' arm before he could take another thump at the wall. "Let go! Fuck sake Remus, Let go!"

"Promise you aren't going to hurt yourself again and I will" Remus said calmly and steadily. Sirius nodded and Remus released his arm, Sirius collapsed down onto the worn sofa behind the now broken coffee table and put his hed in his hands, Remus patted him on the back before coming over to Harry. "Are you alright?" He asked Harry.

"Yeah, I mean its only two weeks".

"Two weeks which are rightfully ours with you! We have missed too much already!" cried Sirius from behind his hands.

"That's not our fault Sirius" Remus called over to him "Come on let get you up" said Remus as he tried to pick up Harry from his position on the floor. Harry tried not to wince, but his leg lurched with pain again and he gritted his teeth. "You are hurting?"

"Landed awkwardly after I came out of the fire, I didn't manage to keep my balance" explained Harry as he was placed back down onto the floor and Remus summoned some cushions, so he was more comfortable. He used his wand and the spell he used previously to form an ice around his knee as well as performing a small diagnostic spell, he then summoned a potion from upstairs. He passed it to Harry who drank it, grimacing at the taste but the relief was almost instant, his knee stopped throbbing and he felt like could stand up again. He nodded and Remus lifted him up onto his good leg and Harry made his way over to the Sofa with Sirius who had now fixed the table.

Remus placed the cushions around his knee again "You will be okay, it might just be sore for a few days, that's all, no real damage".

"Thanks Remus"

"You're welcome" replied Remus sitting back down next to Sirius this time giving him a one-armed hug sighing as he did so. "I too thought that would go differently, but we can't go against his wishes, we need Dumbledore to work with us on the order as we are such a minority" He glanced over at Harry and then Sirius before settling on a determined look "We will try again, you won't be going back to that place Harry, not if I can help it."

"that I can doubly ensure" Sirius said as much if not more determined than Remus. "Come on, lets go give everyone their letters, we only have a couple of days to organise a trip to Diagon Ally to get everyone's supplies" Remus and Harry nodded, and stood up to make their way to the kitchen. There they found Mr Weasley as well as Bill. Upon the stove there was a pot filled with vegetables and something smelling fresh in the oven. The three sat down, Harry on the end with his leg elevated as usual, Remus and Sirius sat opposite, everyone moved down slightly to join them.

"How'd it go, Bill?"

"Well, no one has tried infiltrate the secure vaults yet, the Goblins with our help are working on getting even better defences. As much as they are not part of the war effort like last time, they do protect their own kind and so in turn help us by ensuring some of the dangerous objects hidden in their vaults do not leave them".

"Good, well that is something!" exclaimed Sirius.

"I'm guessing the meeting didn't go as planned?" asked Mr Weasley.

"No, not to plan. Harry still has to go back next summer for two weeks, but we are going to try and talk to him again, perhaps when we finally convince Fudge the Dark Lord has returned and the minister agrees Harry must be safe because from this summer, it is evident, rogue dementors attacking Harry, it can't just be a coincidence" replied Remus.

"You are right, those underage must be kept safe, as they are clearly not allowed to defend themselves." Replied Arthur at that moment Mrs Wesley came into the kitchen, her robes covered in dust, she quickly used her wand to remove the dust.

"Ah Bill Dear!" so good to see you back! Thank goodness you are alright! I thought it was only going to be for a few days?"

"It took longer than I expected but I gained a promotion while in discussion, so it was worth it."

"That's wonderful to hear! I'm so proud of you!" she exclaimed encasing Bill in a hug. Sirius rolled his eyes quickly. Harry smiled trying not to laugh as Bill went as read as a tomato. "I'm going to start serving dinner now, can you get Ron and Hermione, its their turn to lay the table?" She asked Bill.

"Sure Mum" replied Bill standing up and walking from the room.

"Now how did that meeting go?" she asked Remus and Sirius.

"Not the best, but we finally have the kids Hogwarts letters. What day is it best to go? There's only five days to go before the start of term so we are going to have to act fas.t"

"Shops are only open a few hours on a Sunday and some aren't open at all so perhaps Monday, we can go in as a big group and split up to make sure everyone has what they need in the safest way possible."

"Sounds good Molly" replied Sirius as the remainder of the household came into the kitchen and sat down except Ron and Hermione who passed out some cutlery and glasses before sitting down. "Here's everyone's Hogwarts letters" Sirius said passing them out to Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Harry and the twins.

"We will be going to Diagon Ally the day after tomorrow so read your lists carefully!" lectured Mrs Weasley as she tarted handing out the plates. Remus stood up to help her "We won't have time to mess about, either take those lists with you or make your own list of what you need! We won't be able to go back afterwards!" Mrs Weasley handed a plate of sausage, mash and vegetables to him and promptly joined the table. He picked up his fork and gingerly started to eat it, the impact of the meeting with Dumbledore starting to hit him.

Even though Sirius was free now, he still had to go back. He was never going to escape that place, he was always going to be a weak, pathetic freak. The hope that had been holding his head up since the trial had gone and he was being crushed with the darkness within him. His head filled with images of his Uncle forcing him into his cupboard and taking off his belt, the room started to get blurry as he felt his heart beat as if it was protruding outside his chest as his throat closed making it hard to breathe. He stuffed some mashed potatoes into his mouth to force himself to snap out of it but ended up swallowing hard. Not knowing what else to do he quickly stood up and made his way to the bathroom where he threw up the small amount of food he had just eaten, and sat down, no longer in control of anything, tears running down his cheeks. There was nothing he could do to help himself at that moment, so he clawed at his cut arm trying to open any remaining healing cuts.

After successfully opening up his arm again he managed to calm down enough to force air into his lungs. Once he could finally breathe properly and the room had stopped going blurry, he stood up and cleaned himself up ensuring all the blood had indeed been vanished from sight, he then washed his face before making sure he flushed the toilet as to ensure no evidence of his wobble remained. He then made his way back to the kitchen where Mrs Weasley was hugging Ron and Hermione tightly.

"My little Ronikins! A Prefect! I never thought I'd see it!" she wailed hugging them even tighter. Harry sat back down where he was sitting and was thankful that all the dishes had been cleaned away, he wouldn't have to force the other half down.

"Are you alright Harry?" asked Remus quietly "You have been gone for a while".

"Yes, I'm fine, just took longer than I thought, wanted to be careful to make sure I didn't hurt my leg after what happened earlier with the floo,"

"That's understandable, why don't you open your Hogwarts letter?" replied Remus, Harry nodded and took the letter and opened the seal, there was the usual cover letter letting him know that the Hogwarts Express would be leaving on platform 9 and ¾ at Kings Cross station on the first of September. He then looked at his textbook list and discovered that he needed two new textbooks for this year, the Standard Book of Spell: Grade 5 and Defensive Magical Theory, he made a mental note to make a list of what he needed before going.

"Well done Harry too! Prefect! Three Prefects here!" Mrs Weasley wailed coming over and hugging him too. Prefect? He knew nothing of being a prefect, he didn't have anything extra in his letter.

"Mrs Weasley, I don't think I have been made a prefect" replied Harry.

"Sorry Harry, I just assumed you would be one too,"

"Its okay." Harry replied before calling down the table "Congratulations Ron, Hermione you two deserve it!" Ron's grin became wider and became more of a smirk. Harry resisted to roll his eyes knowing that Ron was chuffed he had finally beaten Harry at something.

"Chosen by Dumbledore himself!" Ron exclaimed excitedly pinning his new red badge on his t-shirt and puffing his chest out just like Percy used to. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Remus and Sirius were having similar trouble keeping a straight face, both of them thinking it was funny Ron had been chosen.

"Don't worry Harry, not everyone is chosen to be prefect, your dad wasn't a prefect only Remus was one, they only did it because he's supposed to be the good influence! I think it's only one boy and one girl from each house these days, all they do is patrol the corridors. You aren't too disappointed?" asked Sirius.

"Oh no, I'm fine with it, happy for my friends for sure, but with OWLs this year and Quidditch I think it would be best if I could concentrate on that anyway" replied Harry "Can't wait to get back on the broom once this thing is fixed."

"It won't be long, hopefully only another three weeks and you can start walking on it properly again"

"Yeah, not too long now" Harry smiled, even though all he wanted to do was hide away somewhere. Mrs Weasley threw a celebratory supper later that night and told Ron he was allowed to have a special thing of his choice for school this year. Everyone came together and played exploding snap, drank butterbeer, laughed and joked. Harry made sure to look like he was enjoying himself and was happy for both Ron and Hermione. But he couldn't help but think deep down, how did Ron become prefect over him? When was Ron ever responsible? Hermione was an obvious choice as she was the most responsible and sensible person, he knew but Ron not so much.

They stayed up a little later watching a movie on the TV, Ginny had taken her usual place next to Harry and leaned into him for warmth. When Ginny was there was the only time, he had that little bit of relief from his darkness, like she was the only candle lit in a dark room. Her perfect chocolate eyes, her sweet-smelling hair and her beautiful lips and soft skin always knew what was needed for Harry, to calm him when he was anxious and lift him out of his darkest hole, he needed her and he was sure he gave similar comfort to her.

It was only when Ginny started to fall asleep that Mrs Weasley ordered them to bed, Harry made his way up to his room and was about to close the door but was stopped by Hermione. Harry gestured for her to come in and let her sit down on the chair he had just taken a pile of clothes off. He then sat down on his bed and congratulated her once again "Well done Hermione, I had no doubt you would be prefect."

"Thank you, Harry." She was silent for a bit "Sorry about Ron."

"No need, I mean its about time he had some responsibility."

"That's true, maybe he will start growing up a bit" both of them laughed at this statement. Hermione fidgeted with the sleeve of her cardigan as if she wanted to say something to him. It took her a while to get the courage to talk, Harry was patient and didn't push her.

"How are you doing with everything? Are you alright?" she finally said,

"I'm okay just sorry I can't help out around here."

"I mean, I'm just a bit worried, you seem distracted?"

"Do I? I didn't know, I think its harder when we are here, there's so many people. You and Ron seem to be closer."

"Uh yeah I mean we are close" Hermione blushed "So do you and Ginny."

"Uh yeah I guess we are" replied Harry. A yell could be heard from down the stairs.

"I'd better go, Mrs Weasley seems to be on the war path."

"Alright, Night Hermione"

"Night Harry, I'm here if you want to talk" Harry nodded his thanks as she closed the door, exhaustion was soon taking over as he got ready for bed. Once he was ready, he pulled the blankets over him and soon fell into an uneasy sleep, filled with a whale of a man and a brown leather belt.