Character

"Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem."

--W. Somerset Maugham

There was a reason he hadn't told anyone about Penny when they were dating. It just didn't fit into his character. He wasn't supposed to be the type to fall in love with another person so easily--not that he had loved Penny. No, far from it. In fact, she had been the one to ask him out. At the time he hadn't thought anything of her and turned her down. Really, he had better things to do. Study, attempt to reign in his brothers, watch his sister...

Really, he had just been making excuses then, just as he was now. Their break-up had been much like their relationship--quiet, unannounced. He was never one to make a fuss. And, of course, he was right to break up with her. He was always right. They just weren't meant for each other.
Of course, always being right did have its own downsides. Such as now, when he was wrong. It wasn't the first time, of course. It's impossible for any one person to go through life never being wrong until they reach the not quite still tender age of twenty-one. No, he had been wrong several other times before in his life--it was just something that he made sure not to make habit. But now, now made up for all of those times that he was right. Right now, at this very moment, the way he was feeling and the fact that what he had just done was very, very wrong, made up for all the times when he should have been wrong but wasn't.

It had started just under a year ago. He had been twenty for only a few weeks and he had the day off--for once. He had been in a muggle bookstore, somewhere where he could go to escape the beginnings of what was promising to be a terrible war. It was somewhere he could go to escape who he was. He had been sitting there, reading a book. It was Peter Pan, if he remembered correctly (which he did). He was completely immersed within its pages, when a small voice dragged him away from Never land.

"Umm...excuse me?"

It was whispered, as if afraid to break the fragile paradise he had discovered within those pages. He looked up.

"Yes?"

His response had come out quite a bit sharper than he had intended. He always did lack interpersonal skills.

"Well, I didn't want to interrupt you," the speaker was a short girl in an odd, old-fashioned blouse and a full, knee-length skirt, "but I need a book for a report for school, and you're sitting right in front of it." She had blonde hair with a slight reddish hue to it. And a bonnet. Honestly, who wore a bonnet in this day and age? "So, if you could...move?" She looked to be about in her last year in school.

"Oh, yes...right."

Percy stood. She was short. Really short. Well, not so short. She really only came up to his mid-chest--but that wasn't uncommon seeing how tall he was.

"Well...you can get back to your novel now."

Wait--had she already gotten the book? She must have, there it was in her arms. But that meant that he had--

"Hello? Are you still with me?"

"Oh. Sorry. I--"

"Went off to Never land for a bit there, did you?"

Wait--what?

"I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

"Never land. You are reading Peter Pan aren't you?"

Her cellular phone rang before he could answer. Really, muggles had some of the most interesting inventions. Now he was sounding like his--

"Bye then, Peter," she called as she walked off, answering her phone after the sixth or so ring. "Hello? This is Annie. Who--oh! Hey!"

It only struck him after she had walked off that his name wasn't Peter.

#

Looking back on that day, he smiles, even now. But he quickly replaces that smile with his trademark haughty expression. It's simply not in his character to smile. But then, he tended to do a great many things that were simply not in his character when he was with her. Had tended to, anyways, because he would probably never see her again. Strike that--he would never see her again.

It was several more weeks before he got another day off and, to be perfectly honest, it was the shortest amount of time between two such days that he had had--ever. Once again he returned to the little muggle bookstore where he knew he wouldn't be bothered. He wandered the overstocked aisles for a while, carefully stepping over piles of books of various heights. Really, couldn't the store keeper be bothered to at least keep the things he had no room for in the back? He turned a corner--

--and there she was. Sitting on a somewhat short stool and reading a book. This time, she was wearing her school uniform--a black blazer and skirt with a white blouse and a black tie. The outfit seemed to severe for her for some reason. But that wasn't what really caught his eye. No, it was her shoes. They were leather, nothing unusual about that except...they had a tall wooden platform sole, at least 7 centimeters high and, here was the strange part, the heel was cut out of the platform. Merlin, how did the girl walk in those?

"Yes? What is it you want?"

Without realizing it, he had approached her, and now was standing right by her...with absolutely nothing to say (for once).

"Um..." Well that certainly wasn't out of character for him. He never did know what to say around...girls. So, as he always had, he resorted to saying the first thing that came to mind. "My name isn't Peter."

"What?" She looked up sharply. "Oh, it's you." She went back to her book.

"My name isn't Peter," he said, this time a bit more insistently.

She sighed. "What are you going on about?" This time, she hadn't even bothered looking up. It was strangely intimidating.

Somehow, he wasn't quite sure how, he was able to sum up his usual brisk tone. "Several weeks ago I was sitting here, in this bookstore, when you interrupted me. I was reading a book, Peter Pan--" He stopped halfway through his tirade. She was staring at him.

"You're weird, Peter."

"My name isn't..." He trailed off. There was simply no point. Why on earth should he bother arguing with the first girl he had had time to speak to in...he didn't even know how long. "What's your name?"

"Annika. Annika Hansen."

"What brings you here, Annika?"

"School work," she said, using the same tone of voice he used when speaking with Fred and George. Merlin, she must think he's some kind of idiot.

#

These occurrences continued on like this for several weeks. Finally one day, as he was reading a book of muggle plays, she appeared out of nowhere and asked:

"Would you like to get some coffee?"

"I don't drink coffee."

"Oh." She stood there for a bit, quite awkwardly. "Well. good-bye then, Peter." She turned to leave.

"Where do you live?"

"What?"

"Where do you live?" he reiterated. "I'll walk you home."

#

It had seemed a simple thing then, walking her home. But it had quickly grown up into something very complicated. Suddenly, he found that he was seeing her more and more often. He even requested a few days off at work, just so he could take her here or there. And, quite suddenly, he realized that he had fallen in love. No, not fallen. That was too refined a word for what had happened. He had stumbled quite haphazardly onto love.

It had happened one day, as he was walking her home. He could feel it in the air, something was different. Something was going to happen. Finally, they had reached the stoop of the house she shared with her mother. He bent down and kissed her lightly. They exchanged goodbyes. She put the key in the lock. He turned and began to walk away.

"I love you, Peter."

He froze. He turned back. He looked at her. Suddenly, he found the words tumbling mindlessly out of his mouth.

"I love you too, Annie."

That was when he knew. He was going to have to end it. It just wasn't safe for a muggle like her to be...involved with a wizard. Not in this day and age. No, if anything happened to her because of him...He would have to end it. He had known it from the moment she had asked him for coffee. There was no way they could ever be together.

Of course, she had cried, called him a liar. Actually, she called him a great many things that he had not known she knew. But, that was it. It was over. Of course, he didn't cry over the fact. Percy Weasley never cried. It just wasn't in his character. Except, maybe, just this once. Because falling in love wasn't in his character, either.

#

Weeks passed, he found another bookstore to go to on his now infrequent days off. He found himself constantly reminded of her. Especially on days like this. He stared at the simple sheet of parchment in his hand. Bill was getting married. He had been invited. She had always said that family was the most important thing in life because even when you were lost and completely in despair, they would be there for you. He picked up the response card and turned it over in his hand. She would have loved to see a wizard wedding. He laid it on the desk and grabbed a quill, dipping it in ink. She would have loved to meet his family; she would have loved his family. He circled his response.

There are many things that are in Percy Ignatius Weasley's character. Pride, intelligence, responsibility, ambition. But there are many other things that are not. Percy just doesn't allow room for them in his life. He is responsible and must take great care when dealing with the things precious to him. He does whatever he must to ensure that those nearest to his heart, though they may never know or understand it, are protected and safe from harm and hurt.

"Forgiveness does not always lead to a healed relationship. Some people are not capable of love, and it might be wise to let them go along with your anger. Wish them well, and let them go their way."

--Real Live Preacher.

(end)