Pen Name: dilly
Website: http://www.prefectsbathroom.com
Rating: PG (for the time being)
Primary pairing: Several slash and het pairings.
Summary: Percy finds an old book and a new friend.
He had seen her every day for the past four years. Sometimes in the hallway with her black, curly hair flying wildly in her wake, a stack of books hugged to her chest and one shoulder lightly grazing the wall beside her. Sometimes in the library with a pair of reading glasses on the end of her nose and a messy black bun peeking out over the stacks of books she fortified herself with.
It was just now, sitting with the other prefects, that he realized that he'd never spoken to her. He knew her name, a lot of her habits, the way she constantly had a big strand of hair twirled together on the left side of her face because of her tendency to wrap it around her finger when nervous. He knew the kinds of books she liked to read. The people she liked to talk to. The clothes she liked to wear. But he hadn't once spoken to her. Not until...
He sat down in the nearest available seat in the prefect's cabin. She sat across from him with book in hand. She looked up when she felt his eyes on her.
"Weasley isn't it?"
It took him a moment to answer. "... Yes. Percy Weasley. Clearwater, right?"
"Penelope Clearwater." She held out her hand and he took it, shaking it firmly.
"Nice to meet you."
"Pleasure," she said tersely and went back to her book.
And that was all. But Percy couldn't get it out of his mind. No, it wasn't the result of a fifteen-year-old boy's hormones. Percy wouldn't allow himself to sink so low as to not be able to get someone out of his mind for such a reason. Not to mention that those hormones didn't seem to respond much to girls... It certainly wasn't that.
He watched her more closely when school began. Always behind a book, with her head down, behind something. As everyone around her talked to themselves at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall, she looked down at her food as she ate. He'd seen her speak once at her table. When someone bumped into her as they passed and apologized, she told them not to worry. He wanted to speak to her. To catch her in the hall and just talk to someone who understood what it was like to be the quiet one in a crowd. The thoughtful one, the responsible one, the "boring" one. But "the shy one" went along with all of that and he simply couldn't find the courage to approach her.
Percy wasn't often one to be late to class. When he was, he usually came sauntering in with a note from Dumbledore folded in his hand. But the night before, the twins (or he assumed it was the twins, as that was a safe bet) had somehow made his clothes too small to the point they might fit a toddler, but certainly not a fifteen year old of any stature. He'd finally had to borrow some clothes from Oliver Wood, who had no morning class, and had just returned from breakfast. A sweater that was down to Oliver's hips and up to Percy's waist, baring his midsection if he stretched his arms up and billowed out at the shoulders, and a pair of corduroys that fit a few inches above Percy's ankle where the robes would usually end. But of course, the robes were a few inches above the hem of the trousers. And now he was running through the rapidly emptying halls to class with three thick books threatening to slip out of his grasp at any moment and his bag hanging precariously on the crook of his elbow. He knew he looked ridiculous. He certainly felt ridiculous. But he would NOT break his record of perfect attendance.
And then he fell. Flat on his face. In front of a small group of snickering Slytherins.
He straightened himself up, giving a glare to the Slytherins that made them walk into their classroom with self-satisfied smirks, and gathered his books. Advanced Charms for the Advanced Wizard, The Stone Ages to the Middle Ages, Advanced Tarot Spreads and... No, he had three books, what was this one?
The bell rang, dropping his empty stomach into his feet. He shoved the anonymous book into his bag, scrambled up and ran to class, his perfect record tainted.
In fact, he completely forgot about the book he'd found until late that night. Once he'd finally found a way to get his clothing the right size again and returned Oliver's, who was quite amused at the entire situation and jokingly offered to let him borrow his clothes again if he ever needed them. It was late, but Percy had plenty of homework to do. He situated himself on his bed and poured out the contents of his bag, picking through the things he kept there and organizing them. There was the little black-bound book. He furrowed his brow and picked it up again. It was thick, but short. The pages were yellowed and brittle with age. He was almost afraid to risk opening it.
"What's that?" Oliver asked, peering over a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages (Percy was certain Oliver had read that book at least a hundred times) from his own bed.
"It appears to be a book." Percy answered shortly.
"Well, I can tell that much from over here." Oliver leaned a bit over his own book, trying to get a better view. "What kind?
"I don't know. I think it's what I tripped over in the hall this morning on the way to class."
Percy heard the familiar sound of a stifled laugh and frowned.
"Well, Perce, open it up, then. See what it is. Don't leave us in suspense!"
The prefect's frown deepened, but he did as the other boy said. He carefully opened the front cover. The binding made a sound that made Percy quite worried that it might fall apart at any moment. The front page was adorned with silver letters that had worn away. He had to lean down and squint to read it.
"The... Un... I'm guessing that 'Unabridged'... Diaries of..." Percy gaped, unable to believe his eyes. "Rowena Ravenclaw! This... this is rare. And a first edition from the looks of it. This is impossible to find anywhere anymore. How could anyone leave this laying around in the hallway! How utterly irre--" Percy was startled by a sudden downgrade was formed next to him on his bed when Oliver flopped into a sitting position next to him.
"Someone must've dropped it. Maybe you can ask some teachers? Can I see it? Wow, that looks really old. Maybe it's Flitwick's. He's the head of the Ravenclaw house isn't she?"
Percy raised an eyebrow at Oliver as he spoke. He'd never seen the boy get this excited over anything but Quidditch. Percy was utterly shocked that Oliver was showing any interest at all, certainly not as much as this.
"Er... Yes. I'll ask Professor Flitwick. If it doesn't belong to him then it's likely to belong to one of the Ravenclaws. Maybe he's seen one of them with it."
"Good thinking!" Oliver clapped his hand on Percy's back, causing him to lurch forward slightly. But he didn't pull it back. It lingered there, rubbing a little up and down. Percy shifted his weight.
"So. I've got that settled. I should get to my homework now..."
"Yeah..." Why was Oliver looking at him that way? Percy just looked back uncertainly. One of the boys that shared their room rolled over in his sleep. Oliver jumped to his feet immediately, blushing a little. "Well, you should start then... getting late, eh?" He smiled and went back to his own bed.
Percy jumped up out of his seat the moment the bell sounded for lunch and scurried up to Flitwick's desk as the rest of Charms class filed out.
"What is it, my dear boy?" the little professor squeaked good-naturedly. He was quite used to Percy needing to see him on an urgent matter after class.
"Professor." He looked about, making sure that the last of the other students had left. They were alone, but he lowered his voice. "I found something in the halls yesterday and I wanted you to have a look at it."
Flitwick looked interested now, this deviating from the usual "urgent business" that Percy approached him with generally involving someone misbehaving or some use of a charm that he'd failed to mention in class. "Let's have a see then, shall we?" He pulled up his reading spectacles and adjusted them on his nose.
Percy opened his bag and carefully pulled out the book, wrapped in thick cloth so that it wouldn't be damaged by any of the other things in his bag. He carefully pulled the cloth away, revealing its contents to the professor.
"It's a first edition of the Unabridged Diaries of Rowena Ravenclaw," Percy said before he had a chance to ask. "I tripped over it in the hallway. Does it belong to you?"
"Oh, my, but it's lovely. May I?" he asked. Percy nodded and the little professor took the book and opened it carefully. "It's in lovely condition, isn't it. When poor, dear Penelope came to me and told me she'd lost it I was quite worried that it'd be gone for good. They're worth quite a lot, you know."
"Yes, of course. Quite rare. You say it belongs to Penelope? Penelope Clearwater?"
"That's her. Poor Ms. Clearwater. She looked quite upset about the ordeal. It's a family heirloom, you know. Yes, yes. I'd say that it's quite good that it was found by a good fellow like yourself."
Percy took a little breath at the compliment, causing his chest to puff out a bit. "I was just doing what was right, bringing it to you."
"Of course, of course." He smiled warmly up at Percy as he closed the book and offered it back to him. "Would you take it to her? I'm sure that she'd want to thank its saviour personally."
"M-me?" A cannon ball had chosen that moment to drop into his stomach, but he took the book. "Certainly. She should be at lunch now with the rest."
"As should you," Flitwick said with a friendly grin. "Now, off you go. I have a paper or two to look at. Shoo."
Percy nodded and tried to return the grin, but something didn't let him. He quickly re-wrapped the book, turned and left the classroom walking briskly to the Great Hall.
Penelope was there, of course, at the Ravenclaw table. She was more set apart from the rest of them than usual, though, at the far end of the table with a seat free on either side and across. She was staring down at a bowl of soup in front of her, leaning on one hand and looking completely miserable. He approached her nervously.
"May... may I sit?"
Her eyes traveled slowly up to his and she raised an eyebrow. "This is the Ravenclaw table. Aren't you Gryffindor?"
"Well, yes, but I needed to talk to you."
She shrugged and gestured to the seat across from her with the hand not holding up her head. He sat slowly and wiped the spot free of any crumbs or dust before setting the wrapped book on the table in front of him. Penelope sat up straight with interest.
"What is that?"
"I found this in the hallway and Professor Flitwick said it belonged to you." He pulled back the fabric. Her eyes went wide as saucers and her jaw went slack.
"Y-y-you..." she stuttered before giving up and looking up at him with a huge, bright smile. One he hadn't seen on her face since she'd been sorted into Ravenclaw four years ago. "Thank you. Oh, thank you." She took the book and hugged it to her chest. "I was so afraid. I thought if anyone found it they'd surely keep it or sell it for, you do know it's worth around five thousand galleons?" Percy nodded. "I should have never taken it out. I wanted to show Professor Flitwick and, oh, I never thought I'd see it again!"
Percy's entire body felt warm and he couldn't help but smile. She looked quite radiant smiling like that. "It wasn't a problem. Really."
"I don't know how to thank you." She looked up at him, biting her lip nervously. "Perhaps... my friendship. It's not much but i-it's all I can think."
Percy moved his mouth but no words came out. A hint of pink touched Penny's cheeks and she stared down at her book.
"Nevermind... it was silly to--"
"No," he said suddenly, interrupting her. "I mean... That would be wonderful. I'm honoured. You rendered me a bit speechless is all."
Her enchanting smile returned, much to Percy's relief. "Good. I'm glad." She laughed. "I never thought I'd be so glad to have nearly lost something so precious to me. Thank you."
Again, Percy was speechless and he was very glad when the bell sounded and saved him from having to answer again. He stood quickly, gathering his things and muttered a goodbye.
"I'll see you later, then," said Penny.
"Yes..." Percy smiled. "I'll see you later."