Going Postal: letter
Insane House Challenge: Missing You
Hard piñata
Word Count: 321
There's another letter from his mother. Percy picks it up, and the temptation to read it is damn near suffocating.
Maybe there's a part of him that misses his family, that wants more than anything to return to the Burrow. But so much time has passed, and be has put so much distance between himself and his family. He even has trouble looking at his father when they end up in the lift together.
At first, he could convince himself it's because he's angry with his father. But that isn't quite right. Percy now realizes that he's angry with himself. That anger, coupled with the shame that turns his insides acidic, prevents him from even dreaming of returning.
His family would welcome him with open arms; Percy knows that, but he still hesitates. He doesn't deserve their love.
He lifts the envelope, turning it over in his hands. Tears sting his eyes, and he blinks them away stubbornly. How many letters has be burned? How many times has he turned his back on his family, desperately pretending they do not exist? He doesn't deserve his mother's kind words and sweet promises. If he reads about how much she loves and misses him, how desperately she wants to just hear from him, he might finally break down. Merlin knows he's so close to shattering as it is.
His hands tremble. He almost tears the envelope open. Almost.
He can't bring himself to do it. It doesn't matter how much he misses them, how much he wants the world to go back to normal and be part of the family again.
But he can't. In the end, he is still a coward who doesn't deserve to be a Gryffindor any more than he deserves to be a Weasley. His regrets mean nothing in the greater scheme of things.
All he can do is sit back and wait, forever hoping the world will chafe.