There were many things in Percy Weasley's life that he regretted. Many things he did that he was not proud of. Many things that now had him cringing at the memory of what he had done.
To say that he was embarrassed about certain things he had done in the past would be an understatement.
At the top of the list was that period so long ago, when he had chosen to believe the lies the Ministry fed him over what Harry had to say.
Percy refused to think about it. He had been an idiot back then; so full of himself and high on the position he had gained. He was ashamed to say that growing up, he had been embarrassed of his father and what his profession was. He had vowed that he would make something of himself, and he had.
Unfortunately, it was at the expense of his family. He was lucky his family was forgiving. Well, his parents were forgiving. It took his siblings a lot longer to be able to forgive and forget.
But he supposed the biggest thing he ever regretted was falling in love with Pansy Parkinson. Because for the life of him, Percy couldn't remember exactly why he had fallen for her.
Oh she was undeniably beautiful, but physically beautiful women were a dime a dozen. He was surrounded by beautiful women everyday: Fleur, Hermione, Angelina…
But Pansy had this cold beauty about her. It was a look-but-don't-even-think-you're-good-enough-to-touch-me look. She looked down her nose at everybody, was sarcastic, rude, snobby. And Percy Weasley had fallen for her hard.
Hey girl, is he everything you wanted in a man?
You know I gave you the world
You had me in the palm of your hand
What WAS it about Draco Malfoy that had women forgetting who they were and what they stood for just to get a taste of him?
He had the most powerful witch in today's world in his bed and he had ruined it by bedding HIS witch.
Percy bared his teeth at the 'loving' couple that had shown up at the Ministry's Annual Charity Dinner, watching through narrowed eyes as Pansy reached one long, elegant hand out to smooth Draco's collar. The action had him downing the contents of his glass in one shot and slamming it down hard on the bar.
They made a good-looking couple, he thought darkly. Both tall and blonde; they had the aristocratic thing down pat. They looked and acted like wizarding royalty; Draco's tall muscular frame to Pansy's statuesque body.
Pansy looked amazing. The halter neck dress she wore draped her body like a jealous lover, hugging every curve and leaving nothing to the imagination.
She had regained her pre-pregnant form effortlessly, her body still long and slender, her once protruding belly now flat and taut.
He had heard they called their son Jonathan Jr after Pansy's father. Percy remembered seeing photos of them in Witch Weekly, Pansy holding a perfect blue-eyed baby boy standing beside a cold-looking Draco Malfoy. "The Malfoy Perfection," the headlines had screamed. Draco Malfoy finally had the son he was proud of.
Percy's eyes narrowed. DJ was as near to perfection as one could get and if his arsehole of a father couldn't see that, then he didn't deserve him!
So why your love went away
I just can't seem to understand
Thought it was me and you babe
Me and you until the end
But I guess I was wrong
Hell, he had been deluded in thinking that their relationship would last. He woke up remembering the heat of her touch, the brush of her lips and the sound of her voice. Percy had never been a romantic- in fact despised the emotion- but thanks to one deceptive blonde that had all been thrown out the window, and Percy and found himself waxing lyrical about her.
Percy muttered a curse, taking a gulp of his drink. He had been stupid. Pursuing her relentlessly, refusing to take no for an answer, ignoring the scathing insults and the mocking laughter, most of it coming from her. Percy didn't know what it was but he knew that he just HAD to have Pansy Parkinson as a permanent fixture in his life.
And when she HAD finally given in to him, for the first time in his life Percy had felt content.
For the majority of his life Percy had felt the need to constantly prove himself: to his father, to his brothers to the wizarding world.
But when Pansy entered his life, Percy felt as if for the first time he didn't need to prove anything to her.
He had grown up the outsider of a big noisy family. His six siblings were all very much alike: outgoing, mischievous, noisy, and athletic.
He had born the brunt of their jokes for the majority of his teenage years, and when he had gotten a job with the Ministry of Magic he had assumed that they would start respecting him. Man had he been wrong.
They had in fact gotten worse. His parents were disappointed in him, his brothers mocked him and his sister refused to speak to him. It had been a hellish few months, prolonged by the fact that he had been too stubborn to admit he was in the wrong. But when Hermione and Krum had been kidnapped, he had been forced to rethink things. Especially when Krum ended up dead.
He had CRAWLED back to his family then, seeking for forgiveness that most had been reluctant to give. His siblings had only forgiven him because Harry had.
The only friend he had, had surprisingly been Pansy. She had spoken to him when his own flesh and blood refused to. They had both been the outcasts, forming a tentative friendship that had later turned into something else.
Percy scowl deepened. That 'something' obviously meant NOTHING to her.
Now girl, I remember everything that you claimed
You said that you were moving on now
And maybe I should do the same
Funny thing about that is
I was ready to give you my name
Thought it was me and you, babe
And now, it's all just a shame
And I guess I was wrong
The day he and Hermione had walked in on Draco and Pansy screwing, lingered in his mind like a bad smell; the tangle of bodies, the heavy breathing the ecstasy on both their faces. It was an image that no matter how much he drank he could not get out of his head.
It had been the first time in his life he had lost it. He stormed over to the withering bodies and hauled them apart. He then set about proving to the world that you do not mess with Percy Weasley and what he considered was his.
The only thing that had stopped Percy from killing Draco with his bare hands had been Hermione.
She had dragged him off her husband and literally flung Percy across the room. She had then turned to Draco, staring at him through cold, almost dead eyes. The whole room seemed to stand still as husband and wife stared at one another. Draco looked dazed and Hermione looked ready to finish off what Percy had started.
Instead, Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She then turned on her heel and walked out on them.
Percy grunted as he nursed his glass, glaring at the blonde couple moodily. Hermione had the power to castrate Draco Malfoy and get away with it. And what did she do, she bloody just walked away. Damn stupid woman!
His scowl deepened as he watched Pansy tilt her face towards Draco's and give him a peck on the cheek.
Draco leaned down to accept the kiss, a large hand resting lightly on Pansy's waist with startling familiarity.
They must've been going at it for ages. Screwing around behind both his and Hermione's backs, lying through their teeth.
"Ignore them," A warm sultry voice breathed in his ear, making him shiver. Percy downed the contents of his glass and turned to greet the beautiful brunette that had sidled up next to him.
Hermione Granger had turned into one drop-dead gorgeous woman. Gone was the bookish almost nerdy little girl that had nagged them all to a distraction, and in her place was a woman who was sexy enough to make a man stop in his tracks and forget his mama's name.
Like tonight, she stood before him in a dress that really should be illegal. At least illegal considering she was like a sister to him, and he didn't like the look that over half the men in the room kept shooting her.
The dress itself was blood red and figure hugging. Her arms and shoulders were bare and the scars that usually adorned her upper body were nothing but a faint line, and one had to concentrate to see them. She probably had used a disillusionment charm to cover them. It flowed over her body like it was painted on, emphasizing the curves of her hips. It was also backless, showing off the phoenix tattoo at the base of her spine.
Her hair flowed down her back like a dark waterfall, her make-up was minimal, but then Hermione Granger had the type of face that didn't need make-up.
Percy almost wished it was Hermione he had fallen for, but then dismissed the notion. That would be almost like incest.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered, his eyes going back to his ex.
"Riiiiggghhhttt." Hermione drawled, settling in the seat next to him. "And if you glare any harder you'll burn a hole right through them."
Don't want to think about it
Don't want to talk about it
I'm just so sick about it
Can't believe it's ending this way
Just so confused about it
Feeling the blues about it
I just can't do without ya
Tell me is this fair?
Percy grunted as he signalled the waiter for another glass.
"Hell, that's a lot tamer than what I WANT to do to them!" he muttered, nodding as the waiter slid another glass in front of him.
"Like I said, ignore them," Hermione murmured, taking Percy's glass from him and downing it in one go.
"Easier said than done!" he muttered, turning his glare on her. "How do you do it?" he asked her quietly, his eyes straying BACK to the blonde couple. "How do you ignore the fact that the man you married is now married to someone else and has a baby with them?"
Hermione lifted graceful shoulders, her gaze drifting to the couple in question.
"I – distract myself with someone else." She grinned, her eyes then slanting to the other side of the room, where a tall and darkly handsome ex-Slytherin stood talking to Harry.
"What IS it with you and Slytherins?" Percy asked dryly. "First Malfoy, and then Zabini." Hermione's smile turned wicked as she winked at him.
"Because they're sexy." She laughed, her gaze going back to her companion. As if he could sense her gaze, Zabini paused and turned to stare at her, a small smile tilting the corner of his lips.
"And you know what I'm saying is true," Percy snorted as his gaze drifted back to the blonde couple.
"You know everyone thinks you're sleeping with Zabini to get back at Draco," Percy said bluntly, watching as his friend flashed her date a quick grin and then turn her attention back to him.
"Percy, baby, I learnt a long time ago not to give a damn about what people think. They will think what they wanna think. Whether it's the truth or not." She shrugged, her eyes drifting over the people on the dance floor.
"And you're able to forget him?" Percy asked, nodding to Draco who danced with his new wife. "Just like that?" Percy asked, snapping his fingers.
An unnamed emotion crossed Hermione's beautiful features as her gaze fell on the man in question. She took her time in answering.
"No," she said honestly, "I won't lie to you, Percy. It's been one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life." She turned dark eyes on him. "To forget about the man that I had pledged my life to." Her eyes drifted back to her ex. "And between me and you, I'm not FULLY over him. But like someone once told me, I have a son to think about and wallowing in self pity is not going to help a little boy who's heart is broken as well." She lifted slim shoulders, turning back to him and shaking off her sombre mood. "Besides, the way I see it, it's their loss not ours."
Percy studied his friend through narrowed eyes. He wished he COULD move on, just to make things a little easier to breathe, but at the moment he couldn't.
"But with BLAISE?" Percy asked, nodding to the dark Italian. "What happened to Charlie?" Hermione rolled her eyes as she shifted in her seat.
"Contrary to what your mum and everyone else believes, it's not ME Charlie is in love with." She chuckled, signalling the waiter for two more whiskeys.
That was news to Percy. At any given chance his older brother was flirting with the witch in front of him.
"Oh, are you sure about that?"
"Positive." She leaned closer to him. "Think about it, what type of women does your brother constantly date?"
Percy frowned as he searched for his brother, his eyes narrowing on his date: typically beautiful, tall, elegant, dark eyes, and dark skin. Percy shrugged.
"Wouldn't have a clue," Percy confessed, frowning at his companion. Hermione chuckled.
"Let's just say he IS in love with someone, and no it's NOT me, and yes she IS with someone else." Hermione shrugged again. "It's a bit of unrequited love. She doesn't know and he won't try anything because he respects her partner too much." Percy scowled.
"How do you KNOW all this?" Percy demanded. Hermione chuckled turning to glance at his older brother and his date.
"Your brother needed someone to unload to, and that someone was me." Percy snorted, not knowing whether to believe her or not.
"Tell me something, Hermione," Percy asked quietly as he watched Draco spin Pansy onto the dance floor. "Does it get any easier?"
Hermione's lips twisted, nodding to the waiter that slid the two whiskeys in front of her.
"There are times when it seems like it does, but then you fall into that pit again and it seems like you can't climb your way out of it." She slid his whiskey in front of him. "And then you go and try and prove to the world that you're not dying inside." She took a sip of her whiskey, her dark eyes never leaving his.
"Then how do you deal?"
"By taking it one step at a time," she replied, reaching out and smoothing his collar.
"And taking it one day at a time. Your family is here for you Percy, don't try and do this by yourself," Hermione finished.
Percy frowned as Draco lowered his head towards Pansy, his lips brushing against hers lightly. Jealousy ripped through him as his whole body tensed.
"Percy!" Hermione clicked her fingers in front of his face, snapping him out of his red haze. "Ignore them. Don't look at them. You go over there and cause a scene and Draco wins. Not only does he have your girl, he can cause the otherwise emotionless Percy Weasley to react. Turn away, don't look at them and pretend that they're not even there!" Hermione soothed.
"HOW!?" he snarled between clenched teeth.
"By taking your glass and joining me with your family on the other side of the room. Don't give them the satisfaction of knowing that your attention is on them." Hermione stood and held out a hand.
"Come on, let's join your family."
Percy stood, downed the glass and took Hermione's hand. There were not too many people that had Percy Weasley's determination. That's what he was known for. When he wanted something, he was determined to get it. And right now, Percy Weasley was determined- even if it was the last thing he'd ever do- was to forget Pansy Parkinson, even if it killed him.
