Going Postal: a reunion
Prompt of the Day: butterbeer
Bumper Cars: false
Insane House Challenge: mentor and student
Hard piƱata
Word Count: 647
Percy can't help but grin when the door to the tavern opens and Filius Flitwick steps inside. The Charms professor had always been his personal favorite, but he hasn't been able to keep in touch with his old mentor after leaving Hogwarts. "Professor!" he calls brightly, gesturing the short wizard over.
Flitwick beams at him. "Percy Weasley," he says, climbing onto the stool and taking a seat before clapping Percy on the back. "Good to see you, dear boy. I hear you're making your way up nicely through the Ministry."
Percy's face floods with heat. It isn't actually false. He's made great strides, but it hasn't been as rapid as he would like, especially after the Barty Crouch debacle the year before. Still, he's going places. Fudge has taken an interest in him, and it's only a matter of time before everything falls into place.
"Can I buy you a drink?" Percy asks. "I can tell you all about it."
Flitwick considers for a moment before nodding. "A gillywater, please," he tells the barmaid.
"And I'll have another butterbeer," Percy adds.
The woman nods and busies herself preparing the drinks. She sets the glasses before them, and Percy pays.
It still feels strange to be able to treat others. He's spent years being poor, but things are finally changing. His ambition that his brothers would mock him for is finally paying off. All he had to do was sever ties with those who would hold him back.
"I always knew you would do extraordinary things," Flitwick says proudly, stirring his drink before sipping it. "I've taught several Ministers, and mark my words, Percy. You have all the makings of a leader."
Percy takes a deep drink of butterbeer, the foam tickling his face as the warm liquid spreads through his body. "Thank you," he says.
So many people would laugh at him or tease and mock him for his dreams of moving up in the world. Even now, there are those at the Ministry that seem to think he's some sort of idiot, that his advancement is little more than a fluke. But Professor Flitwick talks about him with such pride that Percy feels tears threatening to fall. He blinks them away quickly, forcing his attention back to his butterbeer.
"You were always such a clever boy," the other man says, gently patting Percy's hand. "I often found it so strange that you weren't a Ravenclaw."
"I wanted to be," he admits. "I thought I belong there."
The Sorting Hat hadn't. It had seemed to think Gryffindor or Slytherin would have been his best match. Percy had felt no connection to his family's House, but it had been familiar, and he jumped on, desperate for some sense of stability.
Silence hangs between them. Percy finishes his drink just as Flitwick sets his empty glass on the bar with a content sigh.
"It was good running into, Percy," Flitwick says brightly, offering him a proud smile. "I rarely have proper reunions with my old students. It seems as though I only know what anyone is up to by reading the Prophet.
Percy nods his agreement before hopping down from his stool. "Nice to see you, Professor. Thank you for believing in me."
It's all he's ever wanted. The world so often feels like it's such a burden, like it's on his shoulders and dragging him down. But someone is in his corner; someone knows that he is worth so much more.
"It's easy to see potential in people," the tiny wizard says, carefully climbing down and landing on his feet with a soft thud. "As clever as you are, I won't be surprised if I hear about you being sworn in his a Minister within the decade."
Percy beams. He remembers why Professor Flitwick had always been his favorite.
Now he just has to prove the man right.
