AN: Written for the lovely Courtney because badges are very dear to her, and I understand. Also for the Opposite Day Challenge.

I.

The badge is a symbol of everything he's ever wanted. It shows that he is more than just some plain student.

Now, with the badge pinned to his chest, he is Percy Weasley, Head Boy of Gryffindor, someone to be respected, someone with power.

II.

"Why don't you two get a room?" George teases as Percy polishes his badge at the kitchen table.

"Don't be ridiculous," Percy shoots back, holding it up with a smile and admiring the way it shines so beautifully in the light.

"I expect he'll announce his engagement to the bloody thing in a month," Fred laughs.

"I give it a week," George says.

Percy ignores them, eyes rolling. "Perfect," he says quietly, fingers caressing the surface gently, his smile spreading.

III.

Something has changed. Percy no longer sees the Head Boy badge as just a mark of status. It's something so much more.

He doesn't know how it happens, nor can he explain what the change is. But the badge has become a part of him, something closer to him than his very family.

Slender fingers fumble awkwardly as he pins the badge to his pajamas, always directly over his heart.

IV.

"It's not weird!" Percy insists.

"It is a bit," Oliver says with a shrug. "Most people take them off eventually, Perce. But you carry it to the bath!"

Percy scowls, covering the badge with his hand as though to protect it from his friend's words. Oliver doesn't understand. None of them do. His badge is precious to him, more precious than anything.

"I just don't feel right just leaving her behind."

"Did you just give it a gender?"

Color heating his face, Percy turns away. "I wouldn't expect you to understand, Wood," he snaps, marching off to his bed and throwing himself onto his mattress.

V.

"They don't understand us," Percy whispers, kissing the badge. "They don't know what it's like to have something so beautiful and perfect in their lives. But I do."

VI.

At the Ministry, Percy is forced to wear a different badge. They laugh at him when he tries to explain what his old Head Boy badge means to him.

But Percy refuses to replace her completely. She rests on his chest, beneath his robes, always close to his heart where she belongs.

VII.

Audrey enters his life, and Percy loves her enough to try to separate himself from his badge.

He places a parting kiss to his beloved, caressing her edges one last time before placing her in his nightstand drawer. "It's not that I don't love you anymore, darling," he assures her. "But Audrey wouldn't understand what we have. And-"

His sentence is cut off by a choked sob. He'd promised himself he wouldn't get emotional, but saying goodbye to the badge who had stayed with him faithfully for so many years hurts.

"All good things must come to an end," he continues shakily, wiping a tear from his eye. "That's the way it is. Cruel and unfair, but that's life."

Closing his eyes, he shuts the drawer.

VIII.

Percy listens to Audrey's soft breathing as she sleeps beside him. Biting his lip, he inches away from her, quietly opening his drawer, his fingers curling around the familiar weight of his badge.

It has been nearly a year since he's held her, but it still feels like the most natural thing in the world. "I couldn't stay away from you, my love," he whispers, placing her on his chest where she belongs.