Disclaimer: Does not own.
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"Everything is such a mess, Mr. Crouch."
Percy Weasley stands with his pale freckled hands tucked into his jacket's pockets. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Everything is so bloody confused, fear is heavy in his heart and he's not sure how long he can keep juggling all his problems before he drops them.
Looking down at Mr. Crouch's tombstone, he sighs and turns his head away. The man he had considered a hero is now gone. And Percy walks blindly, feeling his way along the path that he thinks Mr. Crouch once took.
"I think this load has finally broken me."
Percy thinks about the chaos at the ministry, the Harry Potter issue… and then he thinks about his family, which is perhaps, the biggest problem of all.
They refuse to look at him. They fail to see that he is only harsh with them because they are holding him back and he is not built to move in reverse.
His family's judgment has been clouded after listening to the nonsense against the Ministry that people have been spewing. If that is what they want to hear, fine, let them be. They should not feel obligated to listen to their own son.
As much as Percy knows he doesn't belong there, he still wants to return home. He wants to be there listening to the ticking of his family clock as the scent of cinnamon and wood spreads through the house. He wants to spend another late night with his sister, Ginny, as they share stories both real and fabricated.
Percy wonders if his little sister remembers the late nights they spent together and the long conversations they shared. Or if when she sees him she only notices a monster who is able to reduce his own mother to tears or a bitter man too stubborn to speak with his father. He realizes she may be blinded by what he's become, and may no longer remember the boy who sat in the old wicker chair and shared his fears and dreams with her.
A lot has changed. But the thought of being forgotten still makes his heart falter.
There is nothing Percy Weasley wants more than to be tucking his little sister into bed, pulling the blankets up to her chin and patting her soft hair after a late night of listening to her talk about unicorns and exotic birds and other beautiful things.
But he lost that chance a long time ago. Percy understands now that he is no child, and that what he needs to do is grow up and forget about such silly, unimportant memories, but that doesn't stop a small shard of his heart from clinging to the past, staying behind with Ginny.
Even though they are his family no longer. He can walk alone now. It's what he's always wanted.
Expectations surround him like a fence and he understands that he must get back to the ministry or chaos will erupt.
"Goodbye, Mr. Crouch."
He says, tightening his scarf around his neck and bowing his head in respect.
And, alone, Percy walks away from any chance of following in the footsteps of his hero.
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a/n: Pointless Percy fic. Please -x a million- review if you would be so kind. I know it's nothing special, but I'd still lovelovelove to hear what you think.