A.N. Written for round 11 of the QLFC.
Team: Pride of Portree
Position: Keeper
Song: Hero - Enrique Iglesias
Lyric Prompt - I can kiss away the pain.
"Mummy!" Percy cried, running through the back door of the Burrow.
"What's wrong?" Molly replied, instantly turning all her attention from her twin toddlers to her third child. Percy was a rather excitable child, and sometimes his exuberance led to injury.
"I fell over!" Percy wailed, holding out one skinny arm for inspection. Molly grasped it gently and turned it around, examining it for any sign of trauma. One small cut was all she could see. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. All of her children so far had inherited the melodramatic streak her family was known for.
"Well then, dear, let's see if we can make that better," Molly said, smiling.
"Are you going to use the Magic Kiss, Mummy?" Percy asked excitedly, all thoughts of pain momentarily forgotten.
"Of course I am," Molly replied as she pulled Percy into a hug. Using the hand hidden behind his back to point her wand at the cut she performed a quick, silent healing spell while simultaneously pressing her lips to the injured limb. When she drew away the cut had completely vanished.
Percy gazed at his newly healed arm in awe. He regularly saw his parents performing magic with their wands, but it was rare to see this special magic unique to mothers. While Percy thought all magic was amazing he had a secret love of the Magic Kiss that far exceeded his regard for other spells.
"Thanks, Mummy!" Percy called out, already running back out of the door and into the garden.
Molly shook her head, smiling fondly as she turned back to her twins, fast asleep in each others arms. She hoped her other children would turn out to be a little calmer than Percy.
Molly's hopes were in vain as her twins turned out to be even worse than Percy. They got into trouble almost daily and were injured almost as much as a result. Once her final two children, Ron and Ginny, grew old enough to join their siblings in both games and horseplay they began receiving their fair share of Magic Kisses too.
In Ginny, Percy found a kindred spirit. He loved to play with his little sister, whereas his brothers were all at the awkward ages where either they were too old to play or too young to even consider playing with a girl. Ginny, however, was determined to earn not only their respect but also their admiration, and so she gravitated towards Percy, who would help her practise the rough games their brothers favoured.
Of course, playing with boys who were much larger inevitably led to accidents for Ginny, which in turn led to more frequent applications of the Magic Kiss. It seemed to Molly that every day she would be disturbed by the pair running through the door to demand healing. Not that she minded, of course, as long as it was only small cuts and scrapes. She dreaded the day something worse would happen to one of her children.
"Mummy! Mummy!" Percy called out breathlessly, entering the room at a slower pace than his usual sprint. Molly turned to look at him, her expression turning from tender to anxious as she gazed at the limp form in his arms.
"What happened?" she asked as she levitated Ginny's prone form onto the sofa.
"We were playing with my broom," Percy panted, not quite recovered from dragging the weight of his sister across the garden. "She wasn't even going that fast…" He trailed off under his mother's disapproving glare.
"Percy, I have told you time and time again that Ginevra is too young to be flying around," she said sharply, still waving her wand over her daughter, performing silent spells that Percy was unfamiliar with. "Now, I need you to go and tell Bill what has happened."
"Why?" Percy asked, confused.
"I need him to look after you and your brothers while I take your sister to the hospital." Molly replied. "She could be seriously injured."
"Can't you just kiss it better, Mummy?" Percy enquired. It had always worked before, and he saw no reason that should change just because Ginny was unconscious.
"Really, Percy, you're ten years old now. Big boys don't believe in fairy stories like that." Molly said. Still watching her daughter intently, she did not see the devastated expression on Percy's face.
Percy stayed awake that night until he heard the crack of apparition that signaled his mother's return. He opened his bedroom door silently and sat at the top of the stairs, listening to the conversation his parents were having below.
Percy sighed in relief when he heard that his sister was going to be fine, and then tensed when he heard his own name mentioned.
"...silly Percy thought I could just kiss it better!" his mother said, and his father laughed. Percy slunk back into his room, dejected. He tried not to feel too disappointed; as his mother said, he was a big boy and it was better not to believe in childish games any more.
The next morning, Percy took his broom out of the shed and gifted it to Ron. When questioned, he told his parents that he thought he was too old for silly games like Quidditch now and should really be focusing on studying for Hogwarts next year.
Percy spent most of the remainder of his childhood alone. Instead of games and sports, he read and studied. While the other boys in his dormitory were play-fighting, he was writing essays. His family eventually got used to the change in his personality, and at Hogwarts no-one knew him as anything other than a diligent student.
Although he never admitted it to himself, Percy shied away from anything that could cause him injury. A studious school life followed by a nice, safe desk job at the ministry did not give him much opportunity to get hurt. He did this not out of any love for his new lifestyle, which was lucky because he was a big boy, and big boys don't get Magic Kisses, no matter how much they may want them.