A/N: This is for the lovely Amber (Cheeky Slytherin Lass) for the Spring Fic Exchange on HPFC, with the pairing PercyPenelope and the prompt paper flowers, along with the quote below. I hope you enjoy. :)
please don't favorite without reviewing! C:
Disclaimer: I don't own HP.
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Forget-Me-Not
"Fear is only a verb if you let it be; don't you dare let go of my hand." - – Andrea Gibson
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Penelope remembers her Hogwarts days as if they happened yesterday. Her Sorting and her House and her O.W.L.s and her N.E.W.T.s all swirling through her mind. But there is one thing that she remembers best of all. It's not Harry Potter (the famous Boy-Who-Lived), or the death of Dumbledore (a tragic day in the Wizarding Word), or even the return of Voldemort (He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, which she always found completely ridiculous – why shouldn't people call him by his name?).
But no, it's something – someone – much simpler that she can still picture clear as day.
Percy Weasley, to be exact.
She remembers him and his Weasley-red hair and his Prefect badge and that smile of his. And those beginning days in their relationship, she thinks, she loved the most – the secret embraces and kisses in the corridor. She'd return to her common room, grinning ear to ear, and would sit making paper flowers – Penelope has always had a knack for origami – for hours while her friends pestered her about why she was smiling. Her answer was always just 'him'.
On their first date, Percy bought her forget-me-nots. "You said that they're your favorite," he had said, blushing.
"They are, thank you," Penelope had replied, then kissed him on the cheek.
And the years that followed washed by in a tidal wave of uncertainty and distress. Whispers of the return of the Dark Lord met her ears every time she turned a corner. She would never admit it to anyone, but she was scared. The only relief she felt was when she was with him. With Percy. And he'd pick a bouquet of forget-me-nots and she'd leave them in a vase on her bedside table for weeks – they were like her own personal good luck charm.
Then the rumors became truths. Penelope's time with Percy was cut short. And it hurt. Because the flowers on her table had wilted and she hadn't been sent any more in weeks. The fear that he'd forgotten her grew. It was ironic, really – she knew she should've picked a different favorite flower.
But when Voldemort attacked Hogwarts, Penelope Clearwater was on the front lines fighting for her school. Fighting for her friends. And so was he. As soon as Percy spotted her, he'd rushed to her side and grasped her hand. All the fear of him forgetting her was soon forgotten, and she grinned from ear to ear and kissed him. It was romantic and gentle and passionate all at the same time – she could still remember it after all these years.
And then the Dark Lord spoke to them, asked them to hand over Harry Potter. Penny remembered thinking to herself that he was honestly thick if he thought they would ever do that. But fright still enveloped her because they were losing, and she gripped her wand and Percy's hand much tighter than before.
"Fear is only a verb if you let it be," she had whispered to Percy, trying to reassure him and herself at the same time, before sternly tacking on, "don't you dare let go of my hand."
"Never," was his promised reply. And she believed him.
They fought – fought long and hard, never ever letting go of each other.
They won.
Penelope went back home. Percy regularly sent her forget-me-nots. All was well.
Penelope and Percy had won, and she still remembers it as if it all happened yesterday.
And even though they grew apart and broke off their romance and he's happily married to Audrey with two little girls, Penny doesn't regret any of it. Because she remembers him and he never forgot her. And once in a blue moon, she'll find a forget-me-not lying on her doorstep.
All is well.
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fin.