Title: You Needed Me -- 3 July 1995
By: PepperjackCandy
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: You recognize it? It's J.K. Rowling's.

A/N: This may actually end up being the same universe as "Dust Will be the Serpent's Food." In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like that idea.

Yeah, I know Harry acts a little irrationally here sometimes, but this starts about a week after the end of his fourth year, and so his nerves are just the *tiniest* bit on edge.

Also, this is what I guess you'd call a fongsic. Or something. A songfic turned inside-out. See, I came up with the pairing, the ending, and the basic plot and long about Harry's first nightmare or so, the song that applies to it just sort of came to me. It's the old Anne Murray song You Needed Me. Yes, for anyone who can remember the days when you couldn't get away from that song, it's old and hokey, but it really says what I want to say, so there it is.

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Percy Weasley sat at his desk in this Ministry of Magic offices. They hadn't appointed a new head of the Department for International Magical Co-Operation yet, and, frankly, Percy had nothing to do.

His father had told him to take some time off. His mother had told him to take some time off. Hell, even Cornelius Fudge had told him to take some time off. But he couldn't. He *had* to work, or what else did he have to live for?

It was just as well he didn't have any work to do, since his thoughts kept drifting to recent events. Fudge - Mr. Fudge - kept insisting that Voldemort hadn't risen, but Percy didn't believe him. His younger brother's best friend, Harry, had seen it with his own eyes.

Harry. Harry Potter. Percy worried about that young man. Harry had recently seen things that no-one should ever have to see - not just the rebirth of Voldemort, but the heartless murder of innocent Cedric Diggory, as well.

He sighed and looked at the clock. He still had half an hour before lunch. He stared out the window for another minute, then flipped idly through his MagiDex, that held the names and addresses of all of his business contacts. Well, it held his parents' address, and Bill's, and Charlie's, and Hermione's . . . he stopped when one card suddenly leaped into his hand.

Harry Potter
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging, Surrey

That clinched it. It must be a sign. He had to go to Little Whinging to check on Harry. There were still fifteen minutes before lunch, but he figured he could be forgiven, so long as he returned from lunch fifteen minutes early, and he couldn't imagine that he wouldn't be even earlier than that, since all he was going to do was check on his brother's friend.

Like as not, Harry was fine, and he'd thank Percy, a little perplexedly, perhaps, for his concern, and Percy would leave.

But what if he laughs? A voice asked Percy. He'd be glad to see Ron, of course, or Fred and George, but you've never been particularly close. He'll probably laugh at you.

For once in his life, Percy ignored the voice of his self-doubt and did what he felt in his heart was right.

He stood and walked out into the corridor. He passed the department secretary's cubicle, and was about to tell her that he was leaving for lunch, but then he realized that she hadn't been in to work since they'd temporarily shut down the department until they could appoint a new department head.

So, shrugging, he walked into the park that surrounded the Ministry of Magic offices, and Apparated to Little Whinging.

Soon, he was standing outside Number 4 Privet Drive, and he could hear raised voices from inside the house. Concerned, he knocked on the front door.

A terrified blond woman opened the door. "Thank heavens you're here!" She breathed. "It's my nephew. He's gone completely . . . ." She looked beyond Percy into the street and didn't see any kind of vehicle. "But how are you going to take him away?" She asked.

"Don't worry, Ma'am. I can handle it." He hoped he came across as confident. "I'm with the Ministry of Magic."

"Oh? Oh!" Her eyes widened as she took in Percy's robe. She shrank away from him, looking afraid. "Well, do whatever you have to do to him. Just make him stop!"

Percy *almost* enjoyed the look of fear on the woman's face. It beat the helplessness he felt most of the time, certainly.

"Where is he?"

"Upstairs. Second door on the right."

Percy need not have asked for directions. He was able to follow the sounds of a raised voice, which was punctuated by hollow thumping sounds, all the way to the correct room.

The door was locked, but alohomora opened it right up. Percy couldn't believe what he saw there.

Harry, still wearing his Hogwarts school robes, was pounding his fists into the wall and swearing floridly. Every few hits, he'd punch through the plaster and move down a step to an undamaged section.

"Bloody - " Percy exclaimed as he threw himself at Harry. He knew that Harry would resist attempts to restrain him, but judging by the red smears his fists left on the wall, something needed to be done - soon.

With a skill born of nineteen years of wrestling with siblings, he rushed in, grabbing Harry's arms and holding them behind his back, while pushing him off-balance. Percy held tightly, so that Harry wouldn't drop hard, instead lowering him gently to the floor and holding the younger man down by sitting on him. Harry struggled agains Percy, trying to throw him off.

But Percy wasn't so easily unbalanced. While holding Harry steady, he reached into his pocket for his wand. "Sedo!" He incanted, hoping the sedative spell would be enough and he wouldn't have to resort to stupefy or even the full-body-bind. But whatever it was, he'd do it to protect Harry from himself.

Fortunately, that seemed to be enough. Harry stopped struggling and burst into tears. Percy climbed off and gathered Harry against him, holding him gently as sobs wracked his body. Harry can't have eaten in days, Percy wondered as he felt the younger man's birdlike form, he's always been thin, but this . . . .

Percy held Harry, rocking slowly back and forth, until the blonde woman, whom Percy guessed must be Harry's Aunt Petunia, showed up again. "I thought you were here to take him away."

Percy couldn't possibly interpret the woman's tone, so he asked, "Would you like me - us - to?"

"Of *course*! He's insane. And dangerous. I wouldn't have called for help if I didn't want him out of here."

Help? Percy's pulse raced. She must mean the Muggle authorities.

Just then, he heard someone knocking on the door.

Percy's eyes widened. "Get rid of them."

"But . . .?"

"I'm with the Ministry. He's a wizard." Percy said pointedly. When she hesitated, he touched his wand.

She flinched, even though he hadn't done anything. "All right. I'll do anything you say. Just don't hurt us."

He heard her heading downstairs and making excuses to the police officers. Harry felt limp and heavy in his arms, as if he'd gone to sleep. He probably needs the rest. Percy mused to himself, wondering briefly if the sedative charm he'd used had been too much.

He looked around the room, noticing that the walls were full of holes and streaked with reddish-brown marks that must be Harry's blood. He glanced at Harry's hands and flinched. They were bloody and red. They looked like raw meat. He had no medical training, but Molly had a cleaning spell she used on her children's cuts and scrapes, and he figured at least he could try to keep Harry's hands from getting infected.

Once that was done, he looked again at the damage Harry had done to the room. "Reparo." He whispered as he indicated the holes in the walls. Suddenly, the holes were gone and the blood streaks were cleaned up.

He walked to Hedwig's cage, opening it. On impulse, he whispered, "I'll see you at my flat this evening," to her as he carried her to the bedroom window, which he opened, allowing her to fly out.

Petunia came back upstairs just as Percy was helping a groggy Harry to his feet. "We'll be in touch about where to send his things, ma'am." He said curtly as he walked Harry to the stairs. There was no way he could safely make it down the stairs like this, so he levitated Harry, getting a small, perverse, satisfaction from the look of horror on Petunia's face as he used the wingardium leviosa charm.

He lowered Harry back to his own feet and led the sleepy boy out of the house with a snarled, "Don't tell *anyone* about this."

Together, they left Number 4 Privet Drive far behind them.

Percy, reluctant to rouse Harry, supported him as they walked down to a local park, where he sat the younger wizard on a park bench. He sat next to him, pulling his head down to rest on his shoulder. This is nice, he thought as he relaxed up against Harry. Where did that thought come from? Harry is Ron's friend. Not mine. He'd never be *my* friend.

He looked at the sleeping teen. I suppose I should wake him up. He thought reluctantly as he looked around to make sure they were alone. "Enervate!" He whispered softly.

Harry awoke with a scream that drove the birds from the trees overhead.

Percy pulled him to his shoulder, patting his back gently. "It's all right, Harry." He crooned softly as Harry struggled against him.

"No it isn't!" Harry violently wrenched himself from Percy's grasp. "Nothing'll ever be all right again."

He lurched unsteadily to his feet. "Where are we?" He looked around, then down at Percy, startled. "Percy? What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you from the local constabulary. Your Aunt -- Petunia? -- called the police. You were. . . causing quite a ruckus back there."

Harry looked down at his wounded hands and winced. "Yeah. I seem to remember something about that." He looked up at Percy. "How did you get me out of there?"

Percy smiled at him. "I'm with the Ministry, remember. I just let her think that I was sent to take you into custody. Now I just have to get you to the Burrow . . ."

"No!" Harry exclaimed. "I don't want to go there! I . . . don't want anyone to know where I am!"

Harry's desperation touched Percy and, he felt like an idiot offering, but he felt it was worth a try, "would you be willing to stay at my flat? It's small, but . . ."

Harry smiled a bit sadly. "You'd be willing to put me up?"

"Of course I would." Percy insisted.

"Thank you."

Harry's thanks made Percy feel warm inside. "You're welcome. I'd offer to take you out to eat, but unless there's a wizarding restaurant around here . . ." He pulled a Galleon and a couple of sickles out of his pocket.

"Don't worry about that. I've got a few Muggle pounds on me. If I'm right about where we are, there's a coffee shop around the corner with pretty good sandwiches."

"But . . ."

Harry gave Percy a look that silenced the older man instantly. "Look. You don't have Muggle money. So unless you're going to let me reimburse you for putting a roof over my head . . ."

"Of course I won't!"

"Then let me pay for lunch and we'll call it even."

Percy reluctantly agreed. They walked around the corner, Percy hoping that he could wrap his mask of self-confidence around himself in such a way that no-one would notice that he was wearing a wizard's robes, since he couldn't take them off. All he had on underneath was linen underwear.

Soon they were seated in a booth, eating corned beef on rye, chatting as if they were old friends, and obligation and the Ministry of Magic were the farthest things from Percy's mind.

An hour later, they emerged from the restaurant and walked out to the edge of town, still talking animatedly. Percy, it turned out, really was something of a closet Quidditch fan, but he feared ridicule from his siblings, since he really didn't have anything like a favorite team. He just enjoyed watching the ballet of the players in flight.

Still, he could talk positions and strategy as knowledgeably as any Harry knew, and more than most. Thus it was that as they headed out of town and along towards the next town over, that Harry was able to put the memory of Cedric's death behind him for a little while.

Eventually, darkness fell, and Percy was able to signal for the Knight Bus, which showed up almost immediately. They climbed aboard and Percy began fishing in his pockets for his money. The fare came to twenty-two sickles for the two of them, but Percy only had one Galleon and two sickles, which was three sickles short.

"Here." Harry said, never meeting Percy's eye, as he handed over a few sickles that he had in his pocket. It had been like pulling teeth to get Percy to allow him to pay for lunch. He didn't want to hear his new friend's objections to this. Finally as the bus started moving, he looked up at Percy. "You can owe me."

They were the first passengers on the bus this night, so after another stop to pick up a stranded witch in Cardiff, the bus pulled up in front of Percy's building.

Harry and Percy climbed down from the bus and took the walk-up to Percy's flat.

"It's not much." Percy warned him as he opened the door.

He was right. It was the smallest flat Harry had ever seen in his life. It reminded him of the old Muggle joke about putting the key in the door and breaking the window.

Then his eyes widened. Sitting in the window, between two other owls, was Hedwig. "Hedwig!" He exclaimed, running to her side and scratching her gently behind the wings.

He recognized one of the other owls - Hermes, Percy's owl, but the other one . . .

"Penelope's owl." Percy said in a disgruntled tone, as if he'd heard Harry's thoughts. "She's probably wondering where I am."

He took the note from the owl's leg and read it. "Yep. She wants me to go to dinner with her."

"Then go." Harry said simply. "I'll just fall asleep on your couch anyhow. I'd be no fun to be around."

"Nonsense." Percy responded. "I'm not about to leave you alone after everything you've been through."

"I'll be fine."

"I'm *not* *going.*"

"Fine. Then you can just sit there and watch me sleep on the couch!" Harry realized he was yelling, but he didn't care anymore.

"Good. I think I will." Percy picked up a book and emphatically sat down in the one armchair in his living area.

"Good." Harry flopped down on the couch, pretending to be asleep, but soon enough, he really was.

Harry awoke feeling constricted, claustrophobic. He could hear echoes of the voices from his dreams, taunting him. They told him that he should have died. That Cedric didn't deserve what had befallen him. And when he felt weight on top of him and his elbow ran into an obstruction, he knew what had happened. They, whoever they were, had locked him in a coffin and they were going to bury him alive. He could almost hear the thumps of the dirt against the top of the coffin.

"Help! Help me!" He yelled, reaching forward to pound on the top of the coffin and finding . . .

Nothing.

"Lumos" A quiet male voice said and Harry squinted into the light, expecting the worst.

Suddenly, though, he realized that he was on a couch, and that the weight over him was actually a very soft woolen blanket. Someone came over to sit next to him, gathering him into his arms, and Harry realized who it was. "Percy." He breathed quietly as the older man held him tightly.

"Are you all right?" Percy asked. "Sounds like you were having a nightmare."

Harry nodded, reluctant to let go of his protector. "I was."

"Want to talk about it? I can make us some hot chocolate."

Percy pulled his head back to look directly into Harry's eyes. Percy had nice eyes, Harry decided. They were a warm hazel. And so full of understanding.

"That'd be nice."

"Harry?"

"Hm?"

"Would you mind letting go? I can't get into the kitchen with you holding on like this."

"Oh. Sorry." It took great force of will for Harry to release Percy. By then, his eyes had adjusted to the light, and as Percy put his glasses on and stepped into the kitchen area, Harry saw a blanket and pillow on the floor next to the couch.

"Percy?" He asked.

"Yes?"

"Where are you sleeping?"

"Right there." Percy indicated the pillow.

"Oh. Why aren't you sleeping in your bed?"

"Because you're sleeping in my bed."

Suddenly, Harry felt awful. "Oh, Percy. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have assumed that . . ."

"Don't worry about it." Percy interrupted, taking two mugs from a shelf. "I wouldn't have let you sleep on the floor anyway. If you'd slept on the floor, I would have done, too."

A few minutes later, Percy came back into the living area with a tray bearing two steaming mugs. Harry took one. "Thanks."

"You want to talk about it?" Percy asked, sitting in the armchair.

Harry shook his head. "No. Just the usual, you know?"

Percy, correctly assuming it was about either Cedric's death or Voldemort's return, nodded and sipped his hot chocolate.

Harry got his first good look around Percy's flat. It was, as he'd noted earlier, tiny, but there were little homey touches scattered around. Pictures of assorted redhaired Weasleys smiled and waved from their frames, and the end table was covered with what looked like a hand-crocheted doily.

"Ginny made that." Percy said proudly as he saw Harry noticing it.

"Really? I didn't know she did things like that."

"Oh, yes. She knits, too. Nearly as well as Mum does."

Harry's eyes lit on another photograph, then. One of Percy and a brunette. Harry stood and picked it up. "This is you and Penelope, right?"

Percy blushed. "Yeah. At our engagement party over Christmas."

"You're engaged? Congratulations!" He beamed.

"Thanks." Percy said without enthusiasm, making Harry think that all was not well between Percy and Penelope.

After they'd finished their hot chocolate, Harry and Percy lay back down to go to sleep. Harry wondered for a moment what would happen if he'd ask Percy to hold him until he went to sleep, but thought better of it immediately.

Instead, he lay back on the couch, alone, but not as lonely as he'd feared, as Percy lay down on the floor next to him. "I'll leave the light on." Percy said as he reached up to touch Harry's shoulder gently. "Will that be all right?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

And with that, both men went back to sleep.