Hello, everyone!
This is the FINAL story in the Gryffindor Bravery Collection.
The other stories in this collection are:
A Gryffindor For Sure
A True Gryffindor
A Family of True Gryffindors
My Father, The Gryffindor
So make sure to check those out if you have not already!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Percy stumbled down the hallway, the dim light of the lamps lining the walls reflecting off of his glasses and making it hard to see as he ran as fast as he dared down the hall towards the commotion that was surely the Battle of Hogwarts.
He was going to be too late, wasn't he? He was usually so brave; he didn't understand why he'd been such a coward these past few years, leaving his family when they needed him the most, living in denial. He needed to show them that he still cared about them, that he wasn't the coward he'd been acting like recently. But this tunnel… it was so long, and he feared that he would never make it in time.
Percy cried out as he tripped and somersaulted forward, doing three flips before finally landing back on his feet again. Living with the twins meant he had to be very quick and graceful since the twins sent him rolling down hills and slides and ramps and even stairs a few times (but they apologized for that), so Percy had learned how to land on his feet.
The minute Percy climbed to his feet, he stumbled again, but this time, he managed to grab something to keep him standing as a bright light invaded his eyes.
"Am I too late?" he asked, straightening his glasses. "Has it started? I only just found out, so I-I-I-" Percy stuttered to a halt as he found himself face to face with his entire family. Almost everyone was in the room with him. Bill, the twins, Ginny, his parents…
Percy swallowed the urge to run back through the tunnel as he looked from one person to the next. A blonde woman beside Bill- Fleur, his sister in law- was speaking loudly, and Remus Lupin was also speaking, but Percy was too shocked to hear what they were saying.
"I was a fool!" he finally exploded, unable to contain the apology he'd been putting off since he first walked out the door of the Burrow. "I was a pompous prat! I was… I was a…"
"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron?" Fred supplied.
Percy swallowed. "Yes, I was."
Fred grinned, humor sparking in his eyes, as he held out his hand.
"Well, you can't say it any fairer than that."
And just like that, Percy was welcomed back into the family with open arms, even from his father.
"Well, this is nice and all," Percy said, "and I am so thankful you've forgiven me, but don't we have a war to fight?"
Eyes widened, as though they'd all forgotten about that until now.
"Let's split up into pairs," his father suggested. "Me and your mother. Bill and Fleur. George and Remus. Percy and Fred. Move out, everyone!"
They all ran in separate directions, Percy ending up right beside Fred.
"You know," Fred said as they sprinted through the castle. "I wasn't really surprised about your anger that day… I was more surprised by your cowardice. I always knew you were a Gryffindor, and that's why I was so surprised when you stopped acting like it. Good to know that Gryffindor sprit is still in there."
Percy smiled. "It really is," he said before him and the joker burst out of the hallway and straight into battle.
Death Eaters were left and right, and Fred and Percy fired spell after spell after spell, but the Death Eaters kept appearing, seemingly out of no where.
The battle raged around them (even Hermione, Ron, and Harry appeared at some point), but Fred and Percy were focused on one Death Eaters in particular. The Minister. Pius Thicknesse.
"Minister!" Percy called. "Did I mention I'm resigning?" he shouted before transfigurating the man into a sea urchin.
Fred roared with surprised laughter. "You're joking, Percy. I don't think I've heard you joke since-"
Percy saw the falling wall before Fred did. A spell hit the wall behind Fred, and it exploded to bits. The crumbling debris was going to fall right on Fred, and more than likely, kill him.
Percy screamed Fred's name before allowing instinct to take over, and he leaped forward with strength he didn't even know he had, and shoved Fred out of the way of the falling wall.
Percy felt a heavy weight settling on his back, heavier than anything he'd ever felt before (and he'd once been pinned under a bookcase that weighed more than all the Weasley children combined, but that's a story for another time). The last thing he saw was Fred's face peering down on him, tears streaming down his face, and begging for Percy to stay awake.
Percy couldn't have even if he wanted to.
His eyes slipped closed. Percy Weasley fell asleep, and he never woke up.
The battle seemed muted as Fred screeched, holding onto Percy's body like a lifeline.
"Fred, there's nothing you can do for him!" Harry shouted. Him and Hermione were standing behind him; Ron had disappeared some time before the wall fell, pulled away by the various duels and battles occurring throughout the castle.
Fred dragged his brother behind a pile of debris before he wiped his tears and joined the battle once again, ready to avenge his brother.
The minute the war ended, Fred broke down. He fell to his knees beside Percy's body, lying in the Great Hall, wondering why Percy had done that. It was going to be Fred; why had Percy died in his place?
Fred knew the answer. Percy cared too much about Fred to let him die; Percy would rather die than let his little brother die instead.
Fred heard a sob from behind him, and soon enough, his whole family was at his side, crying over their lost brother, their lost son, the lost Gryffindor.
Sometimes Fred thought Percy was too brave for his own good… He turned out to be right.
Speech after speech after speech. That was all Fred listened to during Percy's funeral, and they were great speeches. Hermione talked about how Percy was her first friend at Hogwarts; Ron talked about how Percy used to scare away the monsters under his bed and how he would defend him, laughing through his tears; his dad told them about the day Percy was born and anecdotes from the boy's childhood, saying how his son was the bravest person he ever knew.
Fred was the last one to give a speech.
"I'm not going to give a long speech," Fred said, gripping the podium, "because my brother can be described as so many things, but only one of them truly matters in my eyes.
"If I were to remember my brother at all, I remember him as brave. Not smart, kind, protective, although he was all of those things. His courage is what stands out to me the most.
"I always thought he was too brave for his own good, and turns out, I was right. He was brave enough to push me out of the way of a falling wall and die in my place. I never would've asked him to do that, but if he were here right now and I told him that, his answer would be… you don't have to. Percy would've saved any of us, my brothers, my sister, my parents, Harry, Hermione, his friends, even a total stranger. No matter how many times we would tell him that we would never ask him to save us, he would still do it because that's the kind of person he was.
"So when you leave here today, I want you to remember Percy Weasley as brave. If you forget everything else you've heard today, please remember that because we are not just mourning the death of some random person. We are mourning the death of a Gryffindor, and that Gryffindor will be remembered. Thank you."
Fred stepped down, and he saw tears in everyone's eyes, but his eyes were only focused on the picture of Percy at the front of the room. It was really outdated; Percy couldn't have been more than seventeen in that picture. He was standing with his best friends, Oliver Wood and Audrey Hunter, and he was smiling. He looked happier than Fred had seen him in so long.
Percy Weasley was brave. Selfless. Courageous.
And that's how Fred was going to remember him.
I know it a little choppy, but oh, well. I didn't think it was bad (although the other stories in the Gryffindor Bravery Collection are better, I think).
Anyway, I love feedback (but keep it kind or constructive criticism because any flames will be ignored and reported if necessary), so please tell me what you thought in the form of a review or a PM, and make sure to tell me which story in this collection was your favorite!
Thank you all for reading! Have a nice day! Goodbye, everyone!