A Memorable Tale

18 | Pets, Creepy and All

As school approached, I had to go to Diagon Alley for my textbooks and ultimately decided that I could do it alone.

There, I ran into Hermione and Ron, who were struggling with their Care of Magical Creatures textbook.

I stroked the spine of Hermione's Care of Magical Creatures textbook and handed it back to her, a sigh of relief escaping her. "Thank goodness. I thought I would have to fight it for the rest of the way."

"Every animal has a part of them that they like being pet," I said fondly as I patted Dipper's head.

Ron nodded, stroking his rat's back. "Scabber's likes it when I pet his back."

"An odd thing, that is." I forced a smile, trying not to seem insensitive to Ron. He always insisted that the rat had been in his family for years, but since a rat really only lived for three years or so, I worried that he just kept holding a new rat from the sewers every so often.

I was also never very fond of rats.

"So you came here by yourself?" Hermione asked.

"Yep. Cedric's been practicing like crazy since he's this year's Quidditch captain for Hufflepuff and he's the Hufflepuff prefect!" I grinned proudly. "My dad's at work, and Draco's being forced to train so he doesn't make a fool of himself at another Quidditch game."

My hoodie's hood was grabbed and put over my head. I turned, my face brightening. "Fred! George!"

"Don't tell me you're moping over Malfoy not hanging out with you," Fred drawled, slinging his arm around my shoulder.

"Oh, never."

"Good." George took my hood off my head. "Don't mope for someone like that."

Percy came over with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley trailing behind him, his back abnormally straight and his chest sticking out, clearly displaying a badge. His Head Boy badge.

I smiled. "Percy, you got Head Boy?"

He gave you an elegant nod. "Indeed. It's splendid to see you, Y/N." He held out his hand and I hesitantly took it, wondering where the pompous accent came from.

"Yes, splendid to see you," George held out his hand as well, mocking Percy's accent.

"Simply splendid," Fred mirrored.

I snickered and took each of their hands. "Absolutely spiffing."

Percy rolled his eyes and strode over to a nearby shop, maintaining his unnatural posture.

Compared to his other brothers (the ones I've met, anyway), Percy was far more uptight, as if someone had pulled his trousers up far too high.

I get that someone in that family had to be, but it was still a bit off-putting.

There was also Charlie Weasley. I had read endless articles and books about him and what he does. He takes care of dragons! If I had a job like that, I would never want to leave it.

"Wanna head to Sugarplum's Sweet Shop?" offered Fred.

My gaze flickered to Mrs. Weasley, who was giving an ill-hidden look of suspicion. "Sure."

The twins gave each other a look of triumph and dragged me to the nearby sweet shop.

I followed them in the sweet shop and glanced at a collection of sweets that Cedric said he liked. "So what did you come in here for?" I asked, placing a bag of the sweets on the counter.

"Lee Jordan and us have created this elaborate plan," George said, placing a single sickle on the counter similarly to the blokes that offer to pay for a girl's drink in a bar - not that the sickle was enough to pay for it.