Muggle | 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑊𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

Chapter 44

Sending Fred a promising wink, I followed Sirius out of the corridor and through one of the halls.

     "Yes?" I asked eagerly when we stopped, expecting him to finally give me an explanation.

     But instead, he did something that completely caught me off guard.

      He dug his hand in his coat's pocket and took out a small wrapped up box. "Happy birthday, Lexi." Sirius smiled, handing it to me.

     I looked up at him in disbelief and then smiled back happily, opening the box. As soon as I did so, my jaw dropped at what I saw inside.

     It was a beautiful black necklace that looked oddly familiar, with one single grey and crystal-looking stone as its jewel.

     "Thank you, Sirius," I said cheerfully.

     I then looked up at him again, only to see him frowning in confusion; as if that wasn't the reaction he was expecting or hoping for.

     "Do you want me to put it on for you?" he asked, forcing a brighter expression on his face.

     "Sure! Thanks," I chuckled, giving him the necklace and letting him put it around my neck.

     "It was a gift from an old friend," he explained.

     "Really? It was yours?" I asked interestedly, turning to face him as I looked down at the necklace.

     "Yeah," he nodded. "It meant a lot to me, once. So make sure to take good care of it for me, will you?"

     But instead of answering, I uncontrollably went forward and hugged him, catching him off guard as I was overwhelmed by emotions.

     "Thank you," I muttered with a smile.

     I couldn't see his face, but I could tell that Sirius was smiling too, as he finally gave in and hugged me back, placing his chin on the top of my head comfortingly. "You're welcome, kiddo."

***

The next few days passed quicker than I thought it would and September first was just around the corner.

I sat there in our room, reading through my new potions' book which I had gotten for my birthday, with Hermione by my side as she went over her homework for the hundredth time.

There was a sudden noise outside our window and when we looked up, we saw an owl knocking on the glass with its beak.

"That must be our letters," said Hermione, standing up to let the owl in. "And about time, too! Here, this one's yours." Hermione then gave me my letter and went to open hers.

I took the letter in my hands and stared down at it, my heartbeat speeding up. I had actually gotten a Hogwarts letter! For me!

     This was a dream coming true.

You're still not a witch, though, said a nasty voice in my head, but I decided to ignore it when Hermione yelped out.

"Oh, my God!" she gasped, holding a Prefect badge in her hand. "I – I made it! I've got the badge!"

"Congratulations!" I stood up and brought her into a hug, acting surprised.

"C'mon! We gotta tell the boys!" she said excitedly, running towards the door. "Oh, I bet Harry has gotten one too!"

I swallowed uneasily at those words, following her out and towards Ron's and Harry's room.

Hermione went tearing into their room, her cheeks flushed and her hair flying as she held her envelope in her hands. Everyone else was there, including Harry, Ron, Fred and George.

Harry was holding Ron's badge in his hands, observing it. Although, Hermione didn't know that.

"Did you — did you get — ?"
She spotted the badge in Harry's hand and let out a shriek. "I knew it!" she said excitedly, brandishing her letter. "Me too, Harry, me too!"

"No," said Harry quickly, pushing the badge back into Ron's hand. "It's Ron, not me."

"It — what?"

"Ron's prefect, not me," Harry said again.

"Ron?" said Hermione, her jaw dropping. "But... are you sure? I mean —"

She turned red as Ron looked around at her with a defiant expression on his face. "It's my name on the letter," he said sternly.

"I..." said Hermione, looking thoroughly bewildered. "I... well... wow! Well done, Ron! That's really —"

"Unexpected," said George, nodding.

     "No," said Hermione, blushing harder than ever, "no, it's not . . . Ron's done loads of . . . he's really . . ."

The door behind her opened a little wider and Mrs. Weasley backed into the room carrying a pile of freshly laundered robes.

"Ginny said the booklists had come at last," she said, glancing around at all the envelopes as she made her way over to the bed and started sorting the robes into two piles. "If you give them to me I'll take them over to Diagon Alley this afternoon and get your books while you're packing. Ron, I'll have to get you more pajamas, these are at least six inches too short, I can't believe how fast you're growing... what color would you like?"

"Get him red and gold to match his badge," said George, smirking.

"Match his what?" said Mrs. Weasley absently, rolling up a pair of maroon socks and placing them on Ron's pile.

"His badge," said Fred, with the air of getting the worst over quickly. "His lovely shiny new prefect's badge."

Fred's words took a moment to penetrate Mrs. Weasley's preoccupation about pajamas.

"His... but... Ron, you're not...?"

Ron held up his badge, slightly red on the face and ears.

Mrs. Weasley let out a shriek just like Hermione's.

"I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Oh, Ron, how wonderful! A prefect! That's everyone in the family!"

"What are Fred and I, next-door neighbors?" said George indignantly.