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"And how do you reckon that?" Ginny queried with a snort.
"Well, it's like this," Ron began, "Hermione here is a straitlaced rules enforcer, and to balance her out, they need a fun loving, laid-back sort of chap—which I am. Obviously, it has to be me."
Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend and shook her head. Hopefully he was joking. She thought he was joking, anyway.
"Nah, my money's on Harry," George said.
All eyes turned to the black-haired young man. Harry, though seemingly somewhat uncomfortable with everyone watching him, shrugged his shoulders and opened his envelope. Reaching in to its depths, he produced an identical prefects' badge to Hermione's, and smiled at George. "Should have made that bet, George—you would have won."
Another round of congratulations rang in from around the room, while Hermione darted around the table and hugged him. She was pleased—not only was Harry still her friend, but they would now be working together more closely than ever. Harry truly was a great choice.
One among the company was not as thrilled as the rest. Ron sat back in his chair, a hint of a scowl upon his face as he thought of Harry getting the prefects' badge. It was another example of the Boy-Who-Lived getting something that he did not, and Ron was frankly getting rather tired of it. And Hermione's reaction was a little more… affectionate than Ron liked.
"Ron!" a voice hissed from his side.
Startled, he turned, noting Ginny's glare.
"What?"
"You are not going to do this, Ron. Let go of your jealousy!"
Scowling, Ron turned away from her. "Don't worry, Ginny, I won't say anything."
"Your body language is saying it for you, Ron," Ginny insisted. "Why would you have wanted the badge anyway, Ron? It's not like you truly wanted to enforce the rules and deal with the responsibility of being a prefect, do you? Think of it—the boring meetings, the time you'd need to do patrols, having to obey and enforce the rules. Think about it!"
A little shamefaced, Ron considered Ginny's points, knowing she was right. He did not want to worry about rules and such—he wanted to play Quidditch, play chess, do his homework (preferably as quickly as possible), and have fun. Being a prefect would put a major damper on all that. Better Harry than him.
On the other hand, part of the reason he had wanted to become a prefect was because he would get to spend more time with Hermione. Now, that time was Harry's.
But Harry was his best mate, and he had already told Ron he had no interest in Hermione in that way. Perhaps it was for the best this way—Ron had a good idea of what Hermione's feelings for Harry were, but knew that Harry could not return them. With them both being prefects, they would have time alone, true, but Hermione would learn fairly quickly—if she did not already know—that she could not have a relationship with Harry. Added to that, Harry would be the one with the responsibility, and he would also protect Hermione from others who may fancy her. None of Neville, Seamus, or Dean had ever shown much inclination for her in the past, but she was becoming more fanciable all the time, after all. Better she was with someone who was already taken, than someone who might be sniffing around her.
Besides, Harry was a good bloke, and he deserved to have some good come into his life. So Ron sucked up his pride and extended his hand to his friend, congratulating him for becoming a prefect. Harry's responding smile and thanks was all Ron needed to know that he had made the right choice in being gracious.
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