A Memorable Tale

59 | Prefect

I stared at the badge that slipped out of my envelope from Hogwarts, "prefect" engraved in the bronze.

Prefect.

Just like Cedric.

I sat on the couch, continuing to stare at it as if it were going to disappear if I looked at it long enough.

My mind went back to a couple years before, when Cedric first got his prefect badge.

He had sent me five letters, each one inviting my family over in different words, his excitement laced in the ink and packed in the envelope.

His parents had made a whole feast only for the five of us. We had leftovers for weeks.

And then there was me.

On the couch in the living room with a ceiling I couldn't reach and a chess board on the table with no one to play with.

An empty seat on my right for my brother.

An empty seat on my left for my best friend.

And an empty couch in front of me for my parents.

I dropped my hands into my lap and looked up at the obnoxious chandelier hanging from the ceiling and closed my eyes, feeling a dramatic tear slip from the corner of my eye, then more, to the point where I had to cover my eyes to keep them from forming into rivers on my cheeks.

I was prefect. I kept repeating that in my head so I felt like I was crying happy tears.

•••

A knock sounded from the front door and I sat up, rubbing my eyes and checking the clock. 4:37pm.

I combed a hand through my hair and made my way to the door, opening it to see— "Guys?"

"Hey!" Sue sang. "The party is here!"

"What party?" I rubbed my eye again. Mandy, Padma, Morag, Lisa, and Sue all stood at my doorstep, each carrying a different food. "Did I miss an invite?"

Morag held up a letter and I quickly recognized my mother's fancy calligraphy that she uses in her letters.

I'm sure your Hogwarts letters have come in by now. I know it may be asking much, but I was hoping that you could celebrate with Y/N? I can't come home quite yet and she's been alone for far you long. If she gets prefect, she'll want someone to be with her! Thank you so much!

I looked at the letter for a while and nodded slowly. "C-Come in then."

"You're house is huge!" Mandy noted immediately, her voice bouncing off the tall cream walls. "Do you have a library and a gym and all that stuff that mansions have?"

"The gym would be of no use to anyone in this house, Mandy."

"You have a library?!" Somehow, she had made it to the other side of the house, although her shouts didn't seem to get any quieter.

Padma scoffed. "Mandy, take off your shoes before coming inside!"

"Oh! Sorry!" She came running back, slipping out of her black sneakers before sliding across the polished wooden floors with her cat socks.

I would've worried about the mess but I didn't actually do anything to make the place messy.

"Sorry for coming unannounced," Morag said. "We thought you knew since your mum told us to come over."