Perfect Prefect Percy
Note: When I was half way through this, I realized that Percy's actual birthday was coming up. How ironic, right? So I decided to stop procrastinating, like I have with other stories) and finished this so I could post this on his actual birthday, today. I believe he's 31? Anyways, in this story he's actually 21. Now, in no way am I encouraging drinking (though the characters are all of age) in this story. I just thought it'd be a way to get Percy to come out of his shell for just one night. I mean no offense, it's just for entertainment.
Warning for DH slight, very minor spoiler in this part: There's a character in here that technically shouldn't be, but I can't stand not putting him in. So I did, and I am glad to have done so. He makes everything complete, you know?
Please review and tell me what you think!
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If their mum knew about this, they'd be dead.
Every single one of them.
But it didn't stop the Weasley brothers from going to The Leaky Cauldron, all thoughts on one thing; getting drunk. Not just because they all could, but because it was Percy's birthday, and they all knew he'd never experienced this kind of party.
And who better to throw it than his brothers?
Everyone was there; Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, and of course Percy. Ginny wasn't allowed to join, since it was a boy's night out and, mainly, because she didn't want to anyways after they told her what the plans were. Besides, she was still too young to see how stupid her brothers could really be.
"Ok," Bill stated, clapping his hands together, silencing his younger siblings for just a moment. It was Fred and George that interrupted his "authority" by mockingly giving a bow as he began to speak. "Alright you two! Now, here's the plan for tonight."
They were all standing outside The Leaky Cauldron, eagerly awaiting the moment they could go inside. Ron, especially, was on the tip of his toes, wanting to have his first taste of a Firewhiskey.
"There's really not much to get into, just behave. There's no need to get out of control and there's no need for any inappropriate… jokes," Bill glanced at Fred and George, who both stared back as innocently as they could. "It's not everyday that our dear Percy turns 21, so we must make the best of it."
"Oh don't you worry," Fred spoke, smiling mischieviously. "We've planned few things that'll make this night quite unforgettable."
"For us and for the Ministry, unless we keep it controlled," George finished.
Percy raised his head at the statement, scrunching his eyes together. It was bad enough to have his brother's practically drag him out of the house to get drunk, but to get the Ministry involved with one of their pranks… He wouldn't be to surprised if he found out the next morning that he no longer had a job.
Bill just stared at the twins, his expression blank. He can't say he didn't expect something to happen. With a sigh, he continued with his short speech.
"Before we go in, we need to settle on something. There must absolutely be someone sober to make sure we all don't make complete drunken, out-of-control fools of ourselves."
"I simply refuse!" Fred and George said together, crossing their arms as if their statement was final. Bill already knew that asking them was out of the question, unless he wanted a face full of dragon dung in the morning. He looked over to Charlie, who glared dangerously at him.
The only other person would have to be…
"No!" Ron suddenly yelled, now understanding the situation. He didn't wait two years to have another chance of getting a Firewhiskey for nothing! "Why do I have to be the sober one? Fred and George would be better for that, who knows what they'll do if they're drunk!"
"Now now little brother," Fred replied smoothly. "What we don't know is how you will react to being drunk. We can't take that chance, now can we?"
Ron was one more word closer to punching Fred in the face when Percy spoke up.
"I can be the sober one if Ron doesn't want to be."
"Shut your hole, Perce," Charlie said, waving his hand at him. "We aren't here just to be drunkards. It's your birthday! What kind of brothers would we be if we refused the birthday boy a couple of drinks?"
"Responsible ones?" Percy answered, a stern look on his face. It wasn't hard to figure out which parent Percy took after.
"Can we go in now?" Fred finally said with irritation. Looking through the windows of the building was making him slightly more impatient than he would have been. Bill nodded and pulled open the wooden door for his brothers. Ron was the last, a frustrated look on his face.
Bill gave a sigh. "I'll switch with you if you want."
"What?" Ron asked, his eyes showing a glimmer of hope. "Really?...This better not be some sick joke."
"Don't worry, I'm serious," Bill reassured. He pushed Ron inside. "You haven't had the joys of a Firewhiskey, why deny you now? Besides, I doubt you'd be able to handle a drunk Fred and George."
Ron smiled, remember just why he loved his eldest brother. "Thanks Bill."
Bill nodded as he followed Ron in, joining the others at a table in the back corner of the building. They just barely fit into the booth when a waitress came up to them, a tired smile on her face.
"What'll you all be having tonight?"
Everyone started talking at once, making Bill wonder what he was getting himself into. He waved his hand at them, almost magically getting them to stay quiet. "We'll all start with a bottle of Firewhiskey each at the moment."
The waitess looked over each of the brothers, almost as if she was seeing that they were all of age. Her eyes stopped momentarily on Ron, looking as though she wanted to say something to him.
Percy was quite close to standing up and telling the waitess he was 16 just to be kicked out and avoid getting drunk, but the others foresaw this before he had a chance. Fred had clamped his hand over Percy's mouth, smiling serenly at the waitress, who had finally left to put in their orders.
"Don't be a stick in the mud, Perce," Fred said as he pulled his hand away from Percy's mouth. "A few drinks won't kill you."
"Well actually, if you drink too much you can--"
Charlie was the one to shut Percy up this time. He was sure that when they leave that night, he'd have a slight limp in his right foot.
In no time the waitress returned to their table, six bottles of Firewhiskey on a tray; they each took one.
"I thought you were going to be the sober one," Ron asked Bill as he saw him pop open the bottle cap.
"I will be," he answered, pulling the tip of the bottle by his lips. "Can't a guy have a drink? You can't get drunk off one bottle."
The others followed Bill, poping the tops off the bottles before pouring the liquid into their mouths. Charlie looked quite used to the taste, the expression on his face was more content than the others. True that Fred and George have had a few drinks before, they still weren't used to the taste of a Firewhiskey. They drank their bottles in small amounts, getting accustomed to the strong taste.
It was Ron and Percy who had yet to take a sip. Percy once had a few drinks of Firewhiskey himself, but he destested the idea of getting drunk. He knew that once he drank it, he'd end up like the others; fumbling idiots who won't remember the rest of the night. Charlie didn't give an explaination as to why this was a "good" idea, but instead shoved the bottle into Percy's mouth, making him take a drink.
Percy cringed as the strong taste touched his lips. He pushed Charlie's hand away in annoyance, letting it silently be known that he'd take a few drinks as long as no physical force was used.
Ron, on the other hand, was new at the drinking game. He stared at the bottle, unsure of what to do. Fred looked over to him.
"You put it to your mouth, you see," he said, his voice showing the seriousness that his eyes lacked. "And you take a gulp."
"I know how to take a drink, thanks!" Ron muttered angrily, though still not touching the bottle to his lips. Bill, who sat on the other side of Ron and who was half way done with his bottle, put a hand on his youngest brother's shoulder.
"It won't bite, Ron," Bill reassured him, only slightly joking. "If you don't like the taste, you don't have to finish it. We're not going to force you to drink if you really don't want to."
Percy looked as though he wanted to put his thoughts in on Bill's words about his own situation, but kept the bottle near his mouth as Charlie eyed him suspiciously.
"Perce, you don't count," Bill finally said, giving a smirk. "You're the birthday boy. We have to force you to get drunk. Which reminds me…"
He picked up his practically empty bottle of Firewhiskey and raised it into the air. "Can't forget the toast!" The others followed suit, raising their either full (Ron's), barely full (Percy's), halfway full (Fred and George's) or nearly gone (Charlie's) bottles into the air as well, putting them together.
"To the birthday boy, Perfect Prefect Percy!" Bill said in a cheer.
"To Perfect Prefect Percy!" The others chanted, letting out a quiet roar of cheers as they clanked the bottles together. Percy was red in the face, but couldn't force away the smile he was starting to show. He appreciated what his brothers were doing for him, though as foreful as that was, and he couldn't let them down.
With a last sigh, Percy took the bottle and started to chug down the liquid inside. The other Weasleys went quiet and watched, eyes full of shock, as Percy gulped down every last drop of Firewhiskey.
When he finished, he looked up and saw everyone's eyes on him, and he shrugged in response. Not a second later did the Weasley brothers let out a cheer, Charlie patting Percy on the back as Fred and George whistled at their brother's attitude change. Even Ron got the courage from Percy's actions to finally take a sip of Firewhiskey. He may not have liked the taste at first, but he knew he wouldn't quite mind it by the end of the night.
Not like he'd remember, anyways.
It only took a few hours for everyone, excluding Bill of course, to be horridly drunk.
The twins were laughing stupidly at their jokes. Bill wouldn't find it out of the ordinary if it wasn't for the fact that their current laughter was caused by Fred receiting "There once was a man from Nantucket…"
Charlie looked wide eyed at Fred and George's conversation, not laughing nor scolding. He had actually replied to one of the jokes with "If his ear were a what?"
None of it would be all too shocking if it wasn't for the fact that Percy laughed just as loudly as the twins. He hardly ever laugh, at least not as loudly as he was that night. Bill hadn't heard him speak for a while; he was mostly just laughing almost pathetically.
Ron looked rather drained as he took his sixth bottle of Firewhiskey into his pale hands. He didn't look like he had enough, but the new feeling was overwhelming. Bill almost wanted to take the bottle out of his hand.
"Are you alright, Ron?" He asked loudly over the laughter from the others. Ron raised an eyebrow.
"CAN YOU SPEAK LOUDER? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Ron shouted, leaning closer to Bill. The older Weasley's eyes widened, not quite sure how to take in the drunken form of his youngest brother.
"I said--" Bill started again, but Ron shook his head.
"LOUDER!"
"I said are you alright!!" Bill finally yelled out of frustration. Ron looked at him, slightly confused.
"OF COURSE I'M NOT A KITE!" Ron replied, shaking his head. "I THINK YOU MIGHT BE DRUNK, BILL."
"I'm not drunk!" Bill stated firmly. Charlie, who had come into the conversation at the last minute, gave a laugh. "What??"
"You said drunk," he answered, giving a wide grin. Bill closed his eyes and started to rest his head in his hands. He forgot how easily amused Charlie was when he had too much to drink.
Ignoring his brothers for just a minute, Bill looked down at his watch for the time. They had entered The Leaky Cauldren around eight and now it was nearing midnight. He knew that if he didn't have each of them home soon, their mum would go out looking for them, and they couldn't have that.
"Alright, you lot," Bill said over his brothers and the other people in the bar. Ron looked as though he was going to ask him to speak louder, but Bill put a hand over his mouth. "We best get going back now, before mum gets all crazy with worry."
She'd worry anyways, he knew. All they told her was that they were going out to celebrate Percy's birthday and that they wouldn't be out too long. No doubt if the hands on the clock were still on "Out" past midnight, she wouldn't rest until she found them. As long as none of the hands went to "Hospital" or "Prison" Bill felt as though they were in the clear.
Though after looking at Fred and George, who were secretively whispering and laughing to each other, Bill could almost mentally see everyone's hands turn to "Prison."
He got up from his seat, motioning for the others to follow. In an instant he knew something was wrong and didn't know what until he counted his brothers.
"Four? Who's missing??"
It didn't take him long to realize the reason for the party had been the one missing. Percy was no where in sight and Bill knew that none of his brothers were in the shape to tell him anything.
He quickly put the correct amount of money for the drinks on the table before guiding his brothers outside. The streets were almost bare with the exception of a few wonderers from Knockturn Alley. There was a small amount of wind making its way through the streets as well, only slightly brushing Bill's hair in his face; it was actually starting to stress him more with the situation.
For once, Bill agreed with his mum that he needed a hair cut.
"Perce can't swim can he?" George suddenly asked, causing Fred to burst into fits of laughter.
"WHAT?" Ron yelled, putting his hand against his ear to try and hear better.
"I ASKED IF PERCY CAN SWIM OR NOT," George yelled back, smiling like an idiot at his younger brother. It amused him to see Ron so drunk while at the same time unaware of the fact that he, too, was drunk.
Charlie let out a groan. "Not so loud, will you? You're giving me a headache."
Bill, on the other hand, turned towards George, half curious, half worried. For once that night, he wanted to hear what he was going on about.
"Why do you ask? Did he go for a swim?"
"Well yeah," Fred cut in before George could say anything. "Why else would good ole Forge here ask? So he could find out whether or not Percy had a stick up his --?"
"Wait, so he went swimming? Where?" Bill interrupted, his eyes growing wide. Now he knew his mum would kill him; the rest of the lot would surely follow, come to think.
"I guess there's a creek nearby. He said," Fred cleared his throat and did a very bad impersonation. of his older brother. "'I been such a wet blanket all these years, I oughta loosen up a bit. Get rid of all them cauldron regulations in my 'ead.'"
George burst out laughing at the impersonation, while Charlie crouched to the ground with a hand on his head, obviously starting to slowly sober up. Ron looked confused, his eyes scrunched up, trying to figure out what was being said. He mouthed the words "Salutations in my bed?" before giving up.
"And then he said he'd take a swim in the creek down the road," George continued as his laughs died down. Bill didn't wait for them to say anything else before rushing towards the only place he knew could possibly contain a creek.
He finally reached the edge of the town where there was a small creek, holding his breath so he could possibly hear anything that might give away the exact location of Percy. All he could hear was the rushing sound of water and birds chirping in the surrounding trees. Only seconds later did he hear his brothers come up behind him, a lot more quiet than they had been all day.
"That him, right Bill?" Charlie coughed, pointing to part of the creek on their right. On the other side of the water, Percy stood tall on top of a smooth rock that stuck out over the edge of the ground. His hands were on his hips, his chest puffed out. The brothers made their way towards him, some of them interested while the others were worried.
Bill, who was completely sober, and Charlie, who could at least now understand what was going on, walked closer to Percy as they could. It had been the first time in years that they've seen him look truly… determined.
"I shall demonstrate to each one of you that there's more going on in my head than cauldron regulations and all work in general!" Percy yelled and in response, Fred and George clapped their hands as they whistled. Bill, however, started to reach for his wand. "I'll show you just how party-fun I am!"
"Percy, you're drunk," Bill stated rather obviously, and Charlie nodded in agreement. "Get down from there right now!"
"Who are you, mum?" Percy asked as he laughed loudly, only encouraging the twins to cheer him on. Bill aimed his wand at the two before muttering "Silencio." Their cheers stopped quickly causing them to look dumbfounded at each other. They moved their mouths to confirm that they couldn't speak. Ron's own mouth dropped, not knowing they were under a spell, and closed his eyes tiredly.
"No, but really Perce, it's better that I'm here and she's not," Bill answered calmly, trying to rationalize with him. "So you best get down so we can all go home, before mum comes out looking for us. If she saw what you were doing, she'd curse you to the end of time. Do you really want--"
Before he could finish, Percy gave a shrug and jumped the few feet that seperated him from the water. Just as Bill started to say the levitating spell, he dropped his wand.
Percy, who looked pleased with disobeying his older brother up until he landed, stood ankle deep in the water, now looking confused. Bill waited to hear Percy's angry voice about how his party-fun plan failed, but instead was pleasantly surprised to hear something else.
Instead of being angry, Percy burst out laughing. It was different from the laughs he shared earlier; they were more sincere and … normal, to say the least. Charlie was the one this time who joined in, momentairly forgetting about his headache. The other three soon followed, though Fred and George's laughs came out soundlessly. Bill looked at each of his brothers, from Percy, who laughed as he sat back in the water, to Charlie, who was holding his sides from the force of his laughs, to Ron, who was laughing as loudly as he had been talking, to the twins, who were rolling on the ground with their own silent laughs.
Quite frankly, Bill didn't see the humor in Percy's almost-death defying stunt, but the fact that no one was hurt made him smile. True, Percy had acted dangerously, but now that he was safe, the idea of laughing became appealing to the oldest brother of the Weasley family.
And he did just that.
The next morning, Percy woke up when the sun broke through the thin fabric of his curtains, hitting him square in the eyes. For a split second, he forgot about what had happened the previous night until reality set in. His head throbbed with pain while his mouth tasted bitter. A strange smell hit his nose and he sat up despite his brain screaming "lie down, lie down!"
He looked down at his shirt, realizing it was the sorce of the smell. There wasn't anything visibly on the fabric, though he couldn't tell without his glasses, but as he reluctantly put his sleeve to his nose and sniffed, he quickly remembered most of last night. The smell of Firewhiskey told him he had gone drinking with his brothers and the smell of murky water told him he had gone for a rather pathetic swim.
It wasn't a dream after all.
Though he hated to admit it, and he knew he never would to his brothers, Percy really did have a great birthday.
As he reluctantly got up to get dressed, his bedroom door flung opened. Mrs. Weasley stood in the doorway, her eyes full of fire.
"M-Mum," Percy stuttered, not knowing what to say. He didn't know whether she found out about last night or not, but it was obvious by her rage and the way he most likely looked.
And because Bill stood behind her, giving an apologetic smile.
"I don't want to hear it!" she yelled, causing Percy to cover his ears. Her voice rang through despite his efforts, making his headache even worse. "I can't believe that you would allow your brothers to take you out drinking."
"I, um," for the first time, Percy had no explanation. He could have very easily said that they forced him to drink but it didn't seem right. There wasn't much time to reply though as Mrs. Weasley continued.
"I want you downstairs right this instant. I'll be having a talk with you and your brothers!" Mrs. Weasley then stomped downstairs, leaving Bill in the doorway.
"Sorry mate," he finally said, making his way inside the room. "I tried getting you all inside without waking mum and dad up, but mum has some super hearing sense or something. Besides, it didn't help that Ron couldn't keep quiet."
Percy didn't remember how he got home, but gave a small grin anyways, as if to say thanks before continuing to pick out some clothes that looked presentable for the lecture their mum would soon be giving. "How's everyone else doing?"
Bill shrugged.
"Alright, for the most part. Ron has a bit of a sore throat. No shock there. Charlie still has a headache. Fred and George didn't really seem effected, actually… but they still smell awful bad."
Percy nodded while he finally put his glasses on. The shirt he was wearing no longer looked white and his pants were wrinkled almost beyond repair. He gave a sigh while Bill started to leave, allowing Percy to change into nicer clothes. Before closing the door, he turned towards his younger brother.
"Oh, and Perce?" Percy looked over at Bill, who gave a smirk. "Do check to see if the water's deep enough next time, would you?"
Percy grew red as Bill left, not from anger but from embarrassment. Either way, he guessed they all learned their lessons by all of this.
Ron would be less likely to touch a Firewhiskey for quite some time. Charlie surely woudn't want a skull spliting headache again. Though, Fred and George apparently didn't seem at all effected, but they did learn to keep quiet.
And Percy…
He realized that despite getting drunk and acting like a fool, last night allowed him to become more loose and carefree. And to also vow never to get drunk again.
It was Bill who learned not to volunteer to watch his drunken fool brothers again.
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They're drunk so don't mind any OOC moments.
Hope you enjoyed!