𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕡

43- The Black Sheep

"Don't get too close; it's dark inside
It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide"

TW// child abuse, homophobia, excessive drinking

...

As the summer days dwindled, owls were sent out to each student of Hogwarts. The envelope they would receive was tailored to their upcoming classes, and responsibilities granted to them by their professors. For seventh years, this meant the possibility of becoming head girl or boy.

Now, not anyone was given this title. The student had to have shown exemplary leadership skills throughout their education, among other characteristics that their professors would take note of. It also helped if the two students had worked together beforehand because a bond prior to their partnership would prove to help them get their jobs' done.

Getting the letters gave people mixed feelings, of course. Some were excited to greet the new school year while others were sad to see their summer go. Ted was one that liked to ignore the fact that anything was happening at all.

Hayden Tonks had worked out a system with Ted after three years of him refusing to open his Hogwarts letters. She would open the letter, and only talk of the badges he received that year, completely disregarding the textbooks he needed. The only time those were brought up were when they needed to plan when he was going to get them.

A cool Saturday morning brought forth three siblings coloring in coloring books as their parents sat back and watched with a mug of tea. They would've missed the tapping at the window had their dad not seen the owl fly towards their house.

As the owl had all the previous years, it stuck out it's leg for someone to remove the envelope, which was more of a parcel at this point. Hayden quickly freed the owl from the package, making sure to give it water before the fly home.

Hayden watched as Ted ignored the letter now on the table in front of him. He chattered on with Alfie as if nothing had happened. She wasn't expecting anything else from him, but it was his last letter, so maybe it should mean more to him than it did in the past.

"Ted," Hayden said, wondering if she ought to just open the letter anyway. "Your letter is here."

Ted looked up briefly, long enough to see it, and then turned back to the drawing he was co-parenting with Bobbie. It seemed he had no more care for the letter than he did in the past.

"Why don't you open it?" His dad, Fred, suggested.

Ted sighed and placed the crayon down. The shift caught Bobbie's attention briefly, irritated that her brother decided to call it quits on their drawing. She wasn't much intrigued in the sight of her brother opening the envelope to find two badges, one surprising him enough to stare at it unblinkingly.

Fred and Hayden shared an intrigued look, silently urging Ted to show them what he got.

"I'm head boy?" Ted said questioningly, flipping the two badges around to show everyone.

One was for Quidditch Captain, which Ted so humbly expected. The second had an undeniable "HB" in the center that was explained by McGonagall in the letter to be for Head Boy.

To say the least, he was stunned. Hadn't he just talked to Andromeda about this? Him being chosen for Head Boy wasn't in the realm of possibilities, or so he thought. He wasn't sure if he would even want to be Head Boy as the title came with lots of responsibilities, but on the bright side, if Andromeda got Head Girl, then he'd get to spend a whole lot of time with her.