Once he was settled at the kitchen table again, he sighed and raised up his chin. Neck exposed. Trusting. Remus too tended to fuss over the bandage, but he was much more efficient at the task than Sirius. Ed watched the man with a calm eye.
"How's it feeling? Does it hurt?"
"It itches more dhan I like. How's the jaw?"
Remus paused for but a moment.
"Fine, actually."
"So I saw. You are not being entirely human, are you?"
With this question, Remus froze his movements completely. Ed sat, neck still exposed, patiently awaiting an answer. Remus grabbed his chin and gently lowered it to look him directly in the eye. His kind eyes meeting Ed's gold steadily.
"Would that affect your opinion of me?"
"No."
"And you're certain you're a Muggle."
Ed snorted, and rolled his eyes. Remus let go of his chin and Ed raised it again for him to continue his fussing.
"How'd.."
"You didn't fall from my punch. I don't know vwhat is mixed vwith you, but it is plenty tough."
Remus blinked.
"That's..certainly true." Remus muttered softly. Then with a flick of his wand, the bandange taped itself back into place.
"I vwill not be telling de others if dhat..." Ed said as he rubbed at the bandage with his left hand.
"No...they already know about my...condition..."
Ed nodded. His stomach growled. Loudly. Ed cringed in embarrassment.
"Speaking of conditions..." and Remus with a laugh.
"Vright...bottomless pit in me is having demands that come first. Like alvways."
The door banged open. Hermione came tearing into the room. Her cheeks flushed and her hair flying. There was an envelope in her hand.
'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 own letter. "Me too, Harry, me too!"
"No" Harry said quickly, pushing the badge back into Ron's hand. "It's Ron, not me."
"It--what?"
"Ron's prefect, not me." Harry said.
"Ron?" Hermione said, her jaw dropping. "but--are you sure? I mean--"
She turned red as Ron looked around at here with an defiant expression on his face.
"It's my name on the letter" He said.
"I.." said Hermione, looking thoroughly bewildered. "I..well...wow! Well done, Ron. That's really--"
Ron tossed a rolled up newspaper at her, looking annoyed and miserable.
Hermione caught it, and, being Hermione, unrolled the just-delivered newspaper and glanced at the front page. She gasped and went pale in the face. Wordlessly, she handed it to Harry. He looked at the front page of the Daily Prophet and blinked. It read:
XXXXXX
Muggle Mixup for Ministry Officials
Written by Rita Skeeter
It was a claimed to be a case of mistaken identity by Ministry official, but the evidence points to a blunder of outrageous proportions, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Eye witnesses to the scene at the Ministry of Magic claim that a short young man, bagged in the traditional manner for Muggle witnesses of the courts and escorted by a woman claiming to be a squib, was attacked outright with the obliviation charm mere steps from the courtrooms by none other than the Head of the Aurors, one Rufus Scrimgeour.
If the attack were not embarrassing enough, it seemed the young man in question was not a Muggle at all. Eyewitness saw this mysterious fellow easily dodge the charm, and then perform a spectacular wandless feat of magic--neatly encasing his would be attacker in a conjured stone fist.
A rather large crowd of angry wizards continually surrounded Aurors at the scene until forcibly dispersed late in the evening by a several Ministry officials.
The stone fist was later to be found a mystery in of itself, as no known canceling charms would cancel it, and a series of transfigurations, devised by the wizard Albus Dummbledore, once Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, managed to free Mr. Scrimgeour from his erstwhile captive state. Further transfigurations are now rumored to be applied daily to keep the stone fist dissolved properly.
:::
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