Ron was rhapsodizing about his new Cleansweep Thirteen to anybody who would listen. ". . . naught to seventy in ten seconds, not bad, is it? When you think the Comet Two Ninety's only naught to sixty and that's with a decent tailwind according to Which Broomstick?"
"That is a decent upgrade on the Eleven to be fair" I said. "I've got that and it does naught to 70 in 11 seconds, they've managed to shave a second off the time in just 2 models"
"I'm still using a Comet Two Sixty" said Tonks. It was one of the best back when I played Quidditch at Hogwarts a few years ago, but these days it would never keep up"
"Merlin, I rode a Thunderstreak 100 back in my day" Marlene said. "It would look antiquated compared to modern brooms I reckon"
Ron looked very smug.
"Nothing beats Harry's Firebolt though" said Amy
"Wow, you've got a Firebolt?" Marlene said to Harry, amazed.
"Thanks to me!" Sirius said
"Yeah, but I don't brag about it" Harry said "Were you ever a prefect Marlene?"
"Nah, your Mum was though obviously. No one could ever compete with her when it came to Prefect criteria. She pretty much had it in the bag from day one of first year. I took school seriously but I was never as gifted as Lily, nor did I quite have her work ethic and ultra sensible approach to stuff"
"Speaking of being ultra sensible, D here could give Lily a run for her money, by the sounds of it" I said, nudging her with my elbow
"Hey, I might be sensible but I'm not exactly gifted" Demelza said, blushing slightly. "I get pretty average grades just like you two"
"Demelza, don't put yourself down. You've beaten Amy and I on every exam so far by a comfortable margin. You're easily in the top 5 of our year, plus you're good at Quidditch. You're very much more than just average"
"I'm definitely not as good as you two at Quidditch"
"Mate, that's nothing to be ashamed of. Amy has professional blood and I've clearly just been blessed with innate talent. Anyway, you're a much better Chaser than Amy"
Demelza fist bumped me. "Thanks"
I got the feeling that Amy wanted to say that was only because she almost never played Chaser, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.
Hermione was talking very earnestly to Lupin about her view of elf rights. "I mean, it's the same kind of nonsense as werewolf segregation, isn't it? It all stems from this horrible thing wizards have of thinking they're superior to other creatures. . . ."
Mum and Bill were having their usual argument about Bill's hair.
". . . getting really out of hand, and you're so good-looking, it would look much better shorter, wouldn't it, Harry?"
"Oh — I dunno —" said Harry, slightly alarmed at being asked his opinion; he slid away from them in the direction of Fred and George, who were huddled in a corner with Mundungus.
"Mum, Bill's an adult, he can do whatever he wants with his hair! Honestly, you should let all of us decide that anyway, but definitely Bill!" I called to them
"Just because he's an adult, doesn't mean I can't give him advice!" Mum replied
"Advice, more like relentless nagging!" but I was interrupted by
". . . why Dumbledore didn't make Potter a prefect?" said Kingsley.
"He'll have had his reasons," replied Lupin.
"But it would've shown confidence in him. It's what I've done," persisted Kingsley, " 'specially with the Daily Prophet having a go at him every few days. . . ."
"Umm, guys..." I said, subtly indicating that Harry was within earshot, who then moved away further down the table.
"He heard, didn't he?" said Kingsley
"Yeah" I said, biting my lip "bit tactless that"
"I'm gonna go back to our room, pretty tired" said Demelza "You coming, Gin?"
"In a bit" I indicated to Harry
"Oh, ok, I get it" Demelza said, and she and Amy left.
I walked up to where Harry was, being shown a picture by Moody. Marlene was also looking on in interest.
"Original Order of the Phoenix," growled Moody. "Found it last night when I was looking for my spare Invisibility Cloak, seeing as Podmore hasn't had the manners to return my best one. . . . Thought people might like to see it."
"There's me," said Moody unnecessarily, pointing at himself. The Moody in the picture was unmistakable, though his hair was slightly less gray and his nose was intact. "And there's Dumbledore beside me, Dedalus Diggle on the other side . . .
"There I am!" said Marlene "and I wasn't killed two weeks after this was taken, as I'm sure you were about to say!"
"I was. It's gonna take a while to get used to the fact you're still with us, McKinnon"
"But you're glad I am, I hope?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" said Moody, a confused look on his face.
"I mean you never know with Alastor" Marlene muttered, but only so I could hear her.
"That's Frank and Alice Longbottom —"
"Neville's parents?" I asked. It was only now that I remembered that I'd never found out why Neville lived with his grandmother.
Yeah, poor devils," growled Moody. "Better dead than what happened to them . . .
"What happened to them?" said Marlene
"Oh of course, you wouldn't know, because it happened after you... anyway, I'll tell you when everyone's gone to bed. Ginny, Neville has a right to tell you when he feels comfortable" said Moody, and the finality of his tone meant it would be no use arguing.
"That's Emmeline Vance, you've met her, and that there's Lupin, obviously . . . Benjy Fenwick, he copped it too, we only ever found bits of him . . . shift aside there," he added, poking the picture, and the little photographic people edged sideways, so that those who were partially obscured could move to the front. "That's Edgar Bones . . . brother of Amelia Bones, they got him and his family too, he was a great wizard . . . Sturgis Podmore, blimey, he looks young . . . Caradoc Dearborn, vanished six months after this, we never found his body . . . Hagrid, of course, looks exactly the same as ever . . . Elphias Doge, you've met him, I'd forgotten he used to wear that stupid hat . . . Gideon Prewett, it took five Death Eaters to kill him and his brother Fabian, they fought like heroes . . . budge along, budge along . . ." The little people in the photograph jostled among themselves, and those hidden right at the back appeared at the forefront of the picture. "That's Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, only time I ever met him, strange bloke . . . That's Dorcas Meadowes, Voldemort killed her personally-"
"I'm still so proud of Dorcas. Standing up to You Know Who like that, not many could have done it. Only James and Lily I admire more, they did it and got away unscathed three times! Sadly, it was 4th time unlucky of course" Marlene commented.
. . . Sirius, when he still had short hair . . . and . . . there you go, thought that would interest you!" Moody continued. Of course it did interest Harry, those were his parents. Next to them stood that cowardly fucker Wormtail, and the fact he had narrowly escaped death twice now despite deserving it gave me a brief surge of anger.
"Yeah," said Harry, attempting to grin again. "Er . . . listen, I've just remembered, I haven't packed my . . ." He was spared the trouble of inventing an object he had not packed; Sirius had just said, "What's that you've got there, Mad-Eye?" and Moody had turned toward him. Harry crossed the kitchen and slipped through the door, I quickly followed him.
We went upstairs and Harry stopped on the landing, allowing me to embrace him. "I'm so sorry" I whispered into his ear.
"What was he playing at, showing me that and acting like it was a treat!" Harry spat
"I know, I know, they call him mad for a reason..." I said, soothing him by stroking his folded arms.
Harry relaxed
"Ohh that's wonderful, thank you Gin, I love you so much"
"I love you too"
We broke apart. I kissed him on each cheek and allowed him to do the same to me. We were just about to say goodnight and go to our rooms, when we heard noises. Someone was sobbing in the drawing room. We moved over to it as silently as possible.
"Hello?" Harry said.
There was no answer but the sobbing continued. Someone was cowering against the dark wall, her wand in her hand, her whole body shaking with sobs. Sprawled on the dusty old carpet in a patch of moonlight, clearly dead, was Ron.