Written for:

Olympics - Coxed Eight: The Leaky Cauldron

Bad Movie Tuesday - The Avengers: [location] Ministry

Around the Globe Challenge - Write about a steamy affair

Hamilton Challenge - 13. [lyric] "I'm willing to wait for it.", [scenario] Write about someone having an affair, [character] Percy Weasley

Hogwarts OWLS - Potions: Start your story with a sad beginning, Write about taking things from someone who won't miss it, Write about two or more people meeting up. Prompts used: Restriction: Don't have any physical children in your story. (IE, you can have ghosts of children or adults that have a young mental age, but no live children.) Restriction: Don't mention Hogwarts. Word: Help Colour: Red Action: Run Action: Reach Action: Climb Action: Pull Colour: Green Colour Tan


The Time When Sirius Picked the Gift


Hermione glanced at the letter the owl had delivered and frowned slightly before letting out a sigh. At least he had tried. She understood that Ron couldn't get home a day early, and maybe he was right. It wasn't fair to keep pushing him to come home early.

But it was her birthday and she had only gotten him to ask if he could take an early portkey.

She dropped the letter onto the side of her desk, determined to get on with her work and forget about the disappointment that faced her that evening. She had hoped to see Ron, and the longer she had gone without a letter, the more she had hoped that he was going to just show up and take her somewhere nice. Or even have a nice night in.

Therefore Hermione had made no other plans.

After ten minutes of staring blankly at the top file on her desk, she realised someone was standing by her desk. She quickly looked up, spotting Remus.

"Hermione? Is something the matter?"

"Remus! I'm sorry, I just lost focus for a moment there," she stated. "I just…"

"You're upset about something," Remus finished. "I've known you long enough to be able to tell. What's happened? Is it to do with your birthday?"

Hermione nodded, her gaze falling on the letter.

"May I?"

She nodded and Remus reached for the letter, opening it and reading.

"It's not selfish to want to see your boyfriend on your birthday," he muttered, sounding mildly annoyed. "Put something nice on tonight, Sirius and I will take you somewhere. A nice family dinner."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel like you have to—"

"I was actually going to invite you for dinner tomorrow as a late birthday meal. I assumed you had plans tonight," Remus stated. "But it's just as easy for us to do tonight. We'll be by to pick you up at half-past seven, alright?"

Hermione beamed at him, nodding her head. "Thank you."

Remus returned the smile. "Of course. You know if you ever need us… you're family, Hermione."

"I know. You're my family too," she insisted.

Remus turned to walk away, before quickly turning back. "Sirius chose your gift and I'm very sorry in advance."

"You know, I get scared everytime I hear those words."

Remus nodded. "I feel like I should have this printed on a card and hand it out to everyone."

...oOo…

Hermione bumped into Percy out in the hallway on her way from the office. He looked up with a momentary look of irritation before spotting Hermione.

"Percy, I'm so sorry," Hermione said. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

Percy shook his head, smiling at her. "It was me. I was too engrossed in thinking about the law that had been sent up to the Minister about House-Elves. It's being fought against. I read through the proposed changes."

"It went to Kingsley? Those things are supposed to go through me first." Hermione gave him a hurt look.

"I sent a copy of it to you this morning," Percy stated. "I expect you're so busy, that you've not come to the report yet?"

"Thank you. Are you on your way home?"

Percy nodded, reaching up to fix his glasses. "I have some reports to drop home, and then I was going to look around Diagon Alley for a while."

"Well, if you have time, look out for me. Sirius and Remus are taking me to dinner tonight and I suspect we'll be going to the Leaky Cauldron. I have to say that the food there is excellent. I don't know why people pay expensive prices to go elsewhere."

"I have to agree," Percy replied. "Can I escort you to the floo?"

Hermione's smile widened. "Of course!"

...oOo…

Sirius always knew how to cheer her up.

He was the biggest flirt, but she allowed it, knowing that he was completely devoted to Remus and would never do anything to hurt him. It was nice to be flirted with in such an easy manner. Men were usually slightly intimidated by her, seeing as Hermione was best friends with Harry Potter. Or it could have been because of how opinionated she was.

There had even been a wonderful time when Percy had seemed to be flirting with her, though, reminding her of the small crush she had felt for Ron's older brother when she was younger.

There had been something about the way he took charge as a Prefect from her first day that had fascinated her, and she loved the conversations they would sometimes have at the Ministry if they saw each other during lunch. He was one of the few men that could actually sit and debate with her, rather than letting things get heated because Hermione had a different point of view. She admired the way that he stuck to his guns over what he thought or believed, but was willing to listen to the other side of things.

The light flirting had ended quickly when she had moved into Ron's flat. She couldn't blame Percy. She and Ron had kept things quiet for a while before mentioning that they were 'seeing' each other. They hadn't told many people that it was serious enough for Hermione to consider living with Ron.

...oOo…

After Hermione ate her slice from the cake Remus had ordered for her birthday, she watched Sirius lift a box from the floor. She immediately looked at him suspiciously.

"Happy birthday, Kitten!" He smiled innocently at her.

Hermione glanced at the box and then up at Sirius. "It's not going to make sexual sounds when I touch the box, is it?"

"Love, that joke is so last year!" Sirius gasped dramatically. "I wouldn't do something so crass… again."

Hermione snorted, but reached out for the box. She met Remus' gaze, narrowing her eyes at his amusement, before pulling at the lid.

Hermione was frozen for a moment before she slammed the lid back down, her eyes wide and her mouth open. She slowly looked up at Sirius, who was smirking widely. "It was modelled after me," he stated. "But I've got a good few inches on that!"

Remus reached for the box, opening it carefully before letting out a snort. "I think you've gotten a bit mixed up there, love," he said. "It's this that has a good few inches on you."

"Sirius, I don't need—"

"Just keep it!" Sirius insisted. "I clearly can't return an item like that. Ron travels a lot after all." The grin was back. "And even when he's there, I can't imagine he's able to keep up with you. You know, I was just saying to Remus the other day—"

"And that's where I step in," Remus interrupted. "I don't think Hermione needs to hear anything more."

"All I'm saying, Kitten, is that no-one is as lucky to have what's in Remus' trousers. So—"

Remus loudly pushed the chair away from the table. "Sirius!"

The bill paid by Sirius, the trio headed towards the floo, Hermione clutching the box. She had never owned an item like this before, but… there had been times where she had wondered, and this was bigger than Ron.

Not that she'd admit that in front of Sirius, of course. Maybe it wasn't as unwanted as she led him to believe.

As though he could read her mind, he smirked. "If you don't know how to get started, just give me a call. I'm sure me and Remus could—"

"I'm so sorry, Hermione. I shouldn't allow him out in public…" his smile turned devious. "Unless he's on a leash."

"And a tight one at that."

Sirius moved forward, eager to join in, but Remus gave his head a shake. "Goodnight Hermione, we're home this weekend, so if you find yourself waiting on Ron, you're welcome to come over at any time. Teddy is back from Andromeda's in the morning, and would be delighted to see you."

"I'll definitely do that. I'm sure he'll want to see his mother once he's back, so I'll stop in for a bit."

She tilted her face, and he kissed her softly on her cheek, Sirius quickly moving to kiss her too. "Goodnight, Kitten."

"Are you leaving?"

Hermione spun around, her gaze falling on Percy. He was clutching a gift-box and smiling warmly. "Are you staying?"

"I would have, but if you're going home…" he trailed off uncertainly.

"Love, you stay here and enjoy your birthday," Sirius pushed. "We're a bit too old to be staying up past midnight."

"It's only ten," Hermione pointed out.

"Exactly, which only gives me and Remus two hours to shag," Sirius informed her, with an excited grin.

She couldn't help herself. "Two hours? Special occasion?"

Three sets of eyes stared intently at her. "Surely… how…" Percy spluttered. "No, that's my brother. I don't want details."

"Kitten, two hours is nothing," Sirius murmured, losing the smirk now. "Me and Remus… look, let's talk properly tomorrow. It's your birthday and Percy has a gift for you."

"Okay," Hermione replied, her head spinning slightly at the information. Sex with Ron was usually done in an hour and a half. And that was when it was a special occasion.

She bid the men goodnight before turning to Percy, who smiled warmly, offering his arm. "What would you like to drink?"

...oOo…

The pair were seated for almost an hour, when a flash of red hair caught her attention. She looked past Percy to see her boyfriend at the far end of the bar. He spoke to Tom for a moment before taking a tray of food, heading back to the rooms.

Something inside Hermione made her stay silent, slipping her bag onto her shoulder and moving from the seat, her eyes on Ron's retreating form. Her wand pointed at her feet and she quickly silenced them so they'd make no sound. She turned, pointing her wand at Percy's feet as he followed.

"Hermione what—" he began, frowning in confusion as he followed with her jacket, his own, and the two gift-boxes.

"I just… Ron's here and he's got a room."

Percy's frown deepened. "Maybe I should go and find him, and—"

"No." She was firm in her answer, She moved up the stairs, listening out, her eyes searching. She spotted Ron turning at the far end of the hallway and followed, freezing at the end of the wall, as he knocked on a door.

"Lav-Lav, open up!"

"Won-Won! I'm so hungry. Shall we eat and get back to it?"

Hermione thought she was going to be sick at the giggle that followed Lavender's words. She waited until the door closed before turning to Percy.

"He said he wasn't back until tomorrow. He's… he's in there with his ex-girlfriend. Instead of spending my birthday with me, he sent an owl telling me I was selfish to even ask him to see if he could come back a day early, and—"

Percy balanced the gift-boxes and jacket under his arm, and took Hermione's arm with his other hand. "We're not doing this here," he insisted. "Come on, let's get you home and we'll—"

"Home?" she replied, glaring at him. "Home belongs to the man who is currently sticking it to Lavender Brown. The next time I set foot in that place will be to collect my things and hex him so bad that his penis gets covered in boils. I know a great spell that makes permanent spots and boils appear!"

"I'm sure you do, but… we're going to my flat. You can make your plans there. Anyone could come out of the rooms right now. You take these and wait by the floo. I'll be right along."

Hermione hesitated, but the tears at what she had seen were now threatening to fall and she felt tired, drained. She would have time to deal with Ron later. She nodded and headed to the stairs.

She paused on the top step, listening. A knock at a door.

"Percy? Wha… what are you... why are you here? Please don't ment—bollocks! My nose! Perc—"

There was a sudden silence and it took a few seconds before she heard the sound of a door close. She hurried down the stairs, not wanting Percy to know she had stayed up there to eavesdrop.

...oOo…

Hermione looked around the room, taking in the brown, inviting looking sofa, and the green and tan patterned rug that she wanted to feel underneath her feet. Without waiting for an invitation, she slipped her shoes off, setting them next to the fireplace. As she moved, she felt something brush against her skin, and quickly realised it was a spell that removed all traces of floo travel. She forced a smile on her lips as she followed Percy to the sofa. He gestured for her to sit, before heading to a cupboard nearby and searching through.

He pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey and poured a generous measure for each of them, quickly moving to hand one to her.

"I didn't even open the present you got for me," Hermione muttered.

"There's no rush," Percy said, taking a seat by her and turning to look at her. "I'm sorry about my brother. I'm sorry that you found out that way, and I'm sorry that he was stupid enough to do that to you."

"Should I have known?" Hermione asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

Percy reached out, his hand resting briefly on her wrist. "Hermione, I can't imagine what goes on in yours and my brother's relationship, but I don't ever believe that you could have done something so wrong to cause this. If he was unhappy, he should have left. But from what I thought, you both were happy together. Ron was saying these past couple of months…" he trailed off.

"What? He was saying what?"

"That he was going to marry you one day," Percy muttered angrily. "He was so happy with you, he was planning to marry you, yet he… he does this!"

"Well, I can tell you for certain that he's not going to be even dating me, let alone marrying me," Hermione informed him. She gulped down some of the drink, the burn in the back of her throat soothing her slightly. "I'll pack later and get Sirius and Remus—"

"No," Percy stated, standing up. He grabbed some parchment and started writing quickly. "They will pack for you. You don't need to be there right now, not when you're hurting. I'll sleep on the sofa tonight and you can take the bedroom, if you don't mind staying." He paused, waiting for Hermione to nod in agreement. "Which furniture is yours?"

"The corner armchair," Hermione said. "The two large bookcases and all of their contents…"

...oOo…

The firewhiskey left a slight buzz, but Hermione was far from tipsy. She hinted at another one, but Percy had smiled, shook his head slightly, and placed a butterbeer into her hand instead.

"Being hurt and hungover isn't going to make things better, trust me."

"It might help," she whispered.

"Do you remember Penelope?"

Hermione blinked at the change of topic, but nodded. "A little," she said. "I remember seeing you and her talking a few times and I spoke to her once—twice in the library I think."

"Nice wasn't she? Kind to everyone, helpful." Hermione nodded, wondering where the story was going.

"She did the same thing. I had a key to her place, and she said she was ill, so I thought I'd surprise her. I left work early and got Tom to make soup up, I got a lovely arrangement of flowers for her and chocolate, of course."

"Of course," Hermione murmured.

"And I went into the house and she wasn't sick at all. She just wanted to cancel our plans that evening because she wanted to spend the day with some guy she barely knew called John."

Hermione's eyes widened and she closed the distance on the sofa, her hand on his. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

Percy shook his head. "I didn't tell anyone except for my brother. I was… I was ashamed. I wondered what I had done, and I thought if I told people the truth, well, they'd tell me that it really was me. I went to Bill, and he told me that it wasn't me." Percy fiddled with the glass for a moment. "He said that if she really loved me, she wouldn't have done that to me. But still I… I thought maybe I was working too hard and not making time for her. I still blamed myself, so I gave her another chance. I didn't do as much overtime, I made more time for her. In the meantime, she carried on with John behind my back. I caught them two months later, and this time I ended things completely."

...oOo…

After Percy's revelation, Hermione found that she understood Percy more. She had noticed that he worked less, but had assumed it was because he had begun establishing a name for himself at the Ministry, rather than being the eager man not long out of Hogwarts

She wasn't surprised that he had kept it to himself, after all, Percy was quite a private person. The subject changed to something lighter, before Hermione reached for the gift-box.

"You didn't have to get me anything," she said, reaching for the sides of the lid and lifting it. Her eyes widened once more and she began to shove the lid back on, but Percy grabbed the box out of her hands, and reached inside.

"Miss Granger," he gasped, trying not to laugh at her reaction.

"Sirius bought it for me," Hermione stated, defensively. "I would never use it, I had… well, I don't have anyone anymore." Her eyes snapped from the dildo to Percy. "Not that I would ever even think about—"

"Don't be embarrassed," he said, ducking his head and trying to catch her gaze. "There is nothing wrong with having needs. Everyone has them!"

"Needs or dildos?" Hermione asked, wondering why her mouth-filter had broken.

Percy chuckled at the question. "Needs, but please don't look in my bedside table when you sleep in my room tonight. I don't want you to find my collection of dildos."

"Bedside table. I bet they're under your mattress." She jumped off the sofa, running towards the bedroom, and Percy darted after her. "Or under your pillow!"

She climbed on the bed, crawling across it and pulling away one of the pillows. She heard the springs as Percy climbed on after her. "What about under this one?" she said, laughing.

Percy laughed as he grabbed her, gently pulling her away, but she pushed him, forcing him to roll over on the bed, Hermione straddling him.

Their eyes widened as they realised their positions. "I'm sorry," Hermione murmured first. "I shouldn't have been snooping. I was joking around, and…"

"It's okay. I like hearing you laugh. There's nothing embarrassing in here anyway."

"Nothing? No adult magazines?"

Percy shook his head. "Well, there is this." Hermione's mouth dropped open slightly as she realised he was still holding the dildo. It was a dangerous position to be in, straddling a handsome, slightly older man on his bed, whilst he held a very nice dildo in his hand.

But even with that thought, she reminded herself that her and Ron were over. He knew her thoughts on cheating. In Hermione's eyes, they had ended the moment he first slept with Lavender, and she didn't know how long they had been at it.

She was free, single. Percy was handsome, and he was looking up at her in a way that told her he wouldn't even consider pushing her away if she were to make a move.

Plus, his reaction to the two hours. She found herself wondering how much longer than two hours this could last?

She leaned down, pressing her lips to his. He responded quickly, and neither said a word as each article of clothing hit the floor.

...oOo…

The tweeting birds woke Hermione, and she sighed as she looked around. Percy's eyes flickered, her movements waking him.

"Should we talk?" she asked.

"Over breakfast," Percy replied. "It's easier to have an important conversation without an empty stomach."

He got up, grabbing his pyjamas and pulling the trousers on. He put the top on the end of the bed. "I can run your things through the washing?"

She reached for the top, but shook her head. "I'll be fine. I'll use a cleaning charm, after all, I'll just be going straight to Sirius and Remus' place."

She headed to the bathroom to take a shower, before pulling the pyjama top over her. With a quick charm, the t-shirt almost reached her knees, and she headed out to the living area.

Percy's eyes widened at the sight of her, but he offered her a plate. "Eat up."

...oOo…

"Hermione, before you say anything… I know last night happened because you were upset, rebounding over my brother, and that it would never have happened otherwise. I know you'd never… so we could just go back to how things were."

Hermione slowly shook her head. "You know, I used to have a crush on you. Even when you flirted with me before I moved in with Ron. I think… I'm hurting over Ron, I'm upset, so this is why it's happened now, but it doesn't mean it can't happen again in the future."

Percy smiled. "So if I were to give you time to recover, time to heal, you'd let me take you to dinner?"

"Just dinner."

"It wouldn't be proper to bring you to bed on the first date."

Hermione grinned, raising an eyebrow. "You did it before the first date," she replied.

Percy laughed before taking her hand. "Just so you know, I am willing to wait for it, Hermione. I will wait until you're ready to be with someone again, and I would never hurt you like that. I would just like to know that my wait won't be in vain. If you ever decide you don't want me to…"

"I'll tell you," Hermione assured him.

...oOo...

"He won't be needing this," Hermione said, grabbing a photo-frame from on top of the fireplace and removing the picture, shoving it into the fire. "Or these." The cinema tickets from their first date followed the photo."

"Hermione, are you going to throw everything he had in the fire?" Harry asked, looking up from the box he was packing.

"Not everything he had. He had me, he had my love, he had my trust, and he had everything I could offer. And the thing is: he's not even going to miss it because he has Lavender now."

"Just say the word and we'll go to that room and deal with him."

"Oh. Percy already punched him in the face."

"Percy? Ron's brother Percy actually punched someone?"

...oOo…

Percy set down his report on the coffee table, and looked over at the door, wondering who could have knocked. He stood up and walked over.

"Who is it?"

"Hermione."

He pulled the door open quickly. "Come in. Do you need something, or—"

"Six months and you haven't given up on me yet?" she interrupted, walking into the flat.

He paused. "Should I have?"

"No. I just mean… didn't you meet anyone else in that time? Go on a date?"

"I waited like I said I would," Percy replied, fixing his glasses and pushing the door closed. "Why would I waste my time on dates with other women when I've already met a woman that I know for a fact that I would be happy to be with?"

"And if I wanted another six months?"

"Then I shall celebrate your birthday with you once more, but just as your friend. Hermione, we've spent the last six months getting to know each other, and the more I know, the more I want to be with you. I'm not going to give up waiting if there's a chance."

She smiled at the words. "If I say I'm ready, I've healed as much as I can, and that I know I want to be with you? No ifs. I am ready!"

Percy didn't say a word. Instead, he pulled Hermione close and lowered his head to allow their lips to finally meet once more.


Thanks Dina for the help :)

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