The Big Brother Club
Summertime was upon the Burrow again. This meant that all of the Weasley children were home. In this particular afternoon, Arthur Weasley was working in his shed on some kind of Muggle contraption, while his wife, Molly, was out visiting friends. She was showing off their youngest child, Ginny. She was having tea with her friends, who absolutely adored her daughter. Molly had left the two eldest children, Bill and Charlie, in charge when she left with their little sister.
The afternoon had been very peaceful for the most part. The twins and Ron were playing in the yard with toy broomsticks. Percy was by himself in his room reading one of his brothers' spell books. Bill and Charlie had discovered that if they gave him a long enough book it would keep him out of their hair for hours on end. Percy was probably the most annoying sibling that Bill and Charlie had. He would always hang around them, pestering them with questions. Bill was very happy to find a way to pacify Percy.
Bill and Charlie were enjoying an afternoon playing chess. They were currently downstairs in the kitchen. Suddenly, the backdoor burst open, and the three younger brothers came running in. Ron was still practically a baby at three years old. It looked like Fred and George were chasing him. They had gone by so quickly that neither Bill nor Charlie noticed that they didn't see the identical looks of anger on the twins' faces.
"What do you think they're up to?" asked Charlie as he moved his pawn.
"I have no idea," replied Bill mildly. "As long as they're not bothering us, I don't really think there's a problem."
There came the sounds of yelling from upstairs. Either Fred or George was yelling. Bill and Charlie could not hear what Ron was saying. The yelling went on for another five minutes before…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" shrieked Ron at the top of his lungs.
Bill and Charlie nearly fell out of their chairs when they heard Ron's terrified scream. They jumped into action. "What was that?" asked Charlie frantically.
"I don't know. It sounded like Ron," answered Bill. He stood up. Charlie stood up as well. They both raced up the stairs. They stopped when they came to the hall. "What happened up here?" asked Bill sharply, surveying the scene.
Ron was crying and sobbing. Percy had his hands on his shoulders; he was glaring at Fred and George. Fred had his arms crossed over his chest. He looked very angry. Ron's teddy bear lay on the floor. Bill was getting angry by the second, "I want an answer," he demanded.
"He started it!" shouted Fred. George nodded. "He broke my toy broomstick!"
"Yeah! He deserved it!" added George.
"But, what did you do to Ron?" asked Charlie calmly as he went to go pick up the teddy bear. He immediately dropped and exclaimed, "Ah!" The bear had sprouted two extra legs and scuttled away like a spider.
"My bear!" cried Ron, sobbing harder. It sounded as if he was starting to have difficulty breathing. Percy rubbed his back.
"Okay, I think I know what happened now. Ron broke your toy broomstick, Fred. So you decided to get back at him by transfiguring his bear into a spider. I am I right?" asked Bill.
"Yep!" answered Fred, happy that his older brother agreed with him. George nodded eagerly in agreement.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" shouted Bill at the top of his lungs, scaring everyone in the hall. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT? HE'S JUST A BABY!"
Fred and George started to quake with fear. Charlie was the least startled out of the other children. Fred and George ran and took cover behind him. "DON'T GO AND HIDE BEHIND CHARLIE! YOU'LL BE LUCKY IF MUM DOESN'T KILL YOU WHEN SHE GETS BACK! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO YOUR BROTHER?! AND OVER A TOY BROOMSTICK! THAT THE STUPIDEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD OF! YOU COULD HAVE TRUMATIZED HIM FOR LIFE!"
"Bill…you're scaring me! And he's not a baby! He's three!" cried Fred as he clutched Charlie's leg.
"Bill, you're scaring me, too," admitted Charlie. "Look, they're sorry. Aren't you sorry, Fred? George?"
"I didn't do anything wrong!" exclaimed George.
Ron was sobbing harder than before. Percy decided it was time to get out of there. It was best to leave it to Bill and Charlie. He pulled Ron until they were in the bathroom. Percy turned on the sink and wetted a towel. He proceeded to clean Ron's face. Ron whimpered and tried to pull away from him. Percy had a firm grip on Ron's wrist.
"Come on," said Percy gently as he rubbed the towel much more gently. "Let's get cleaned up. You don't want Mum coming home and seeing you like this." As soon as he was done with the towel, Percy got a bunch of tissues and put them up to Ron's freckled nose. "Blow," he said. Ron blew. "Again," said Percy.
"I didn't do anything wrong. It was an accident," said Ron. He wanted someone to believe him. He looked up at Percy, his blue eyes seemingly the size of saucers. "It was an accident."
"I know," said Percy. "Come on, let's go and get a biscuit." Ron perked up a little bit. He followed Percy to the kitchen. They glanced down the hall to see that Bill was still yelling at the twins, while they quivered behind Charlie for protection. Percy took Ron's chubby, little hand as they went down the stairs.
They got to the warm kitchen. It was just as Bill and Charlie had left it. There were still chess pieces on the table with a few that had fallen on the floor when they had left earlier. Percy went to a jar and pulled out two biscuits. He handed one to Ron, which he happily took.
"Feel better?" asked Percy after eating his cookie.
"Why'd he change my teddy into a spider?" asked Ron as he sniffled. "It was an accident."
"I know," repeated Percy. "Did you say you were sorry?"
Ron nodded. "I went and got my teddy. Fred was still mad. He said since I broke his toy broomstick that something should happen to my teddy."
"That was very mean of him," said Percy sympathetically. "Don't worry. Bill and Charlie are taking care of it."
"Yeah," said Ron still looking very sad. Percy did not like his younger brother looking so sad. It was not his fault that he broke the broomstick. He was just playing with it. It was not even a very good toy broomstick. It was all their parents could afford that was why Fred must have been very upset about Ron breaking it.
"Let's go to my room for a while until Bill and Charlie are done sorting this whole thing out," said Percy.
Ron nodded and stood up. He really wanted to be carried, but he knew that Percy would not. Ron missed being carried. He did not get to be carried as long as the others because Ginny had been born soon after he was. He had the least amount of time to enjoy being the baby. He followed Percy to his room.
Percy's room was always the neatest one out of the entire house. He made his own bed in the mornings and never had any clothing on the floor. His desk had a stack of blank parchment on top along with a three quills in a neat row. He had his comic books and other things on shelves.
Ron spotted something to his liking in Percy's ultra clean room. It was a Chudley Cannons blanket on top of a pillow on the bed. It was orange and made out of fleece. It was not very big. Percy followed Ron's eyes to the blanket. He picked it up and handed it to Ron. "Here," he said.
Ron wrapped himself in the blanket. He smiled. He wanted to go to a game just like his big brothers. Charlie and Bill talked about the Chudley Cannons all the time. "Do you want to hear a story?" offered Percy.
Ron nodded. "What do you want to read?" asked Percy. Ron walked around looking for something to read. He spotted a neat stack of comic books. The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle. He picked one up because the bright colors attracted him. "Um…Ron that isn't really…," started Percy, noticing that Ron was starting to look upset again, "never mind."
Ron's eyes brightened as he nodded. Percy wanted to sigh. Comic books were not real storybook stories. It did not matter as long as Ron was happy. It did not matter. Ron and Percy laid down on the floor on their stomachs. Percy opened and started reading to Ron. He had the blanket wrapped around him protectively.
Ron giggled as Percy tried to change his voice from character to character. Together they made the sound effects. Percy ended up reading ten comic books to Ron. He even taught Ron how to read a little bit. He already knew the alphabet, so it was not that hard for Percy to teach Ron how to read a little bit.
By the end, Ron was yawning and ready for his nap. He was rubbing his eyes in an effort to stay awake and out of irritation from his earlier crying. Percy helped him onto his bed. Ron yawned one last time before closing his eyes. Percy made sure that the blanket was covering him before going back and reading his comic books again.
Ten minutes later, Charlie opened the door a crack to peek inside. "Is he okay?" he whispered. Percy nodded, "He's taking a nap."
"Oh," whispered Charlie as he entered the room. "Do you want me to move him to his room?"
Percy shook his head, "It's okay. He can stay. I don't mind."
Charlie smiled as he looked at the comic books spread out on the floor. "Dad bought these for Bill. Then he gave them to me, which I then gave to you," he said. "It's becoming quite a collection."
"Yes," said Percy with a nod. "But, I don't think I'll give it to the twins. They'll just wreck it. I'll give them to Ron instead."
Charlie looked at Ron for a moment before ruffling the fiery locks. They were like silk to the touch. Ron turned in his sleep. "You know you guys aren't that much trouble when you're asleep like this," observed Charlie.
"I am not that much trouble awake either," scoffed Percy.
"Yeah, right," said Charlie with a laugh. Ron began to stir. Percy put his finger in front of his mouth to signal Charlie to be quiet. Ron relaxed again. In a lower tone, Charlie went on, "I'm going to go and check on Fred and George. Bill is making them sit in separate corners until Mum comes home or when Dad comes in from the shed."
"I'm surprised that Dad didn't hear Ron scream. It made my heart stop," said Percy.
"Mine, too. I'm pretty sure that's what made Bill so angry at the Fred and George," admitted Charlie with a grin. "Anyway, you did pretty well today, Percy."
"What are you talking about? I just felt sorry for him because of what Fred did," said Percy. "Did you find his teddy bear?"
"Not yet. Bill and I will hunt for it later on," said Charlie. "I think it went to the attic. The Ghoul should have it. I'll leave you to read right now. Just holler when he wakes up. I think I'll go and get the bear right now. Bill is probably still mad."
Percy nodded and Charlie left. He continued to read the comic books. Maybe, things were not as bad as he thought. Charlie was right. Even the twins were able to look innocent when they were sleeping. Ginny always looked innocent. Having so many younger sibling some times annoyed Percy, but there were times when he did not mind so much. Ron stirred a little bit again, then relaxed. He's not so bad, admitted Percy to himself, Not bad at all.
Much later, Charlie came back with Ron's bear. By that time, Ron was waking up. Charlie had set the bear at edge of Percy's bed to greet Ron when he had awaken. Charlie was reading the comic books with Percy on the floor. "Ah!" screamed Ron in terror. He pulled the Chudley Cannons blanket closer to shield himself from the bear.
Charlie and Percy sprung to their feet. "What's wrong?" asked Charlie. "It's your bear. I found it in the attic. There's nothing wrong with it. The spell that Fred put on it wore off by itself. It wasn't permanent."
"No bear! No bear!" exclaimed Ron as he held onto the blanket. Percy picked it up and glanced at Charlie.
"Ron," started Percy in a steady voice. "It won't hurt you."
Ron shook his head. He clutched the blanket so tightly that his little knuckles were turning white. "No," he whimpered. "I don't want."
"Okay, okay," said Charlie calmly as he took the bear from Percy. "No bear. What do you want?"
Ron looked around Percy's room, making him rather nervous. "Are you sure about this?" hissed Percy to Charlie. He held up his hand to silence Percy. Ron stopped and looked back at them. "Well?"
"The blankie," replied Ron. "I want the blankie."
Charlie glanced at Percy. It was no ordinary blanket. It was a limited edition Chudley Cannons blanket. It was given to Percy when he was two. It was the first Quidditch game he had ever attended. The other children had not been to a game yet because there was too many of them to take at one time. The blanket was a rare collectors' item.
However, Percy thought about it. He was a big boy. He did not have a use for it. Ron was only three. Percy knew that Ron needed it more than he did. Never mind the value of it. He sighed, "He can have it."
"Yea!" shouted Ron happily as he started bouncing in Percy's bed. "It's mine!"
Percy and Charlie looked at each other and laughed. As soon as Ron calmed back down, they all trooped downstairs to find Bill sitting on the sofa. In the corners of the room, Fred and George were sitting quietly. They did not even turn around when Charlie, Percy, and Ron came down. Bill looked at them. He saw that Ron was dragging the blanket with him.
"I thought you found—"
Charlie cut off Bill, "Never mind that. Ron got something from Percy." Bill nodded and stood up.
"I'm tired. Yelling takes a lot of energy. I don't know where Mum gets the energy," said Bill as he stretched out. "Okay, I think that we can do something else for a while."
"I wanna draw," said Ron, not letting go of his new blanket. He sat down on the floor and grabbed the crayons.
"Do you mind keeping an eye on Fred and George?" asked Bill. Ron nodded. "Okay, we'll be in the kitchen. Just yell if they try anything."
Bill and Charlie started to leave for the kitchen, but Percy did not move. Charlie turned around, "What are you waiting for Percy? You're coming with us," he said. Percy blinked in surprise as he turned to look at Ron who was happily drawing on the floor with the blanket next to him. "He'll be fine," said Bill. "Come on."
Percy followed them to the kitchen. It was the first time he had ever been invited by them anywhere. He usually had to tagalong. Bill went to the pantry while Charlie took a seat. Bill took out three bottles of butterbeer. Percy took a seat next to Charlie. Bill handed one to each of them. They took a sip.
"It's so tiring," said Bill. "I guess we earned the butterbeer this time, didn't we, Charlie?"
"I think we did, but did you have to yell so loud, Bill? You really scared them," said Charlie just before taking a sip.
Bill shrugged. He looked at Percy and smiled. "You did pretty well today, Perce. You really deserve the butterbeer after what you did with Ron afterwards. You're not a half bad big brother."
Percy beamed with pride. Bill and Charlie both ruffled his hair, which he didn't like very much. He was proud of himself nonetheless. It was the first time in his life that he felt like he belonged with his brothers.
A few minutes later, their father came in. "What have you been doing while I was gone?" asked Arthur, wondering why it was so quiet.
"Nothing," chorused his three eldest sons before dissolving into laughter. Arthur smiled, but was rather perplex. He decided to wait until Molly was home rather than ask what happened.
It was a memorable day. It was the day that Fred and George learned not to do anything bad while Bill was in the house; he was not as calm and relaxed as he always appeared, even though he had a high tolerance. Fred and George also learned that Charlie could be used as a good shield against almost anything. It was also the day that Ron acquired his Chudley Cannons special edition blanket and his fear of spiders.
It was the day that Percy had joined the Big Brother Club.
AN: What do you think? It's just a short story that I had brewing in my head when I was busy writing my Percy story. I decided to write it down before working on my paper for my class. I wrote this with the characterizations that I will be using. This story focuses on the three older, more enigmatic Weasley boys. ^_^ It is also the first short story that I have ever done.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.