Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Thanks to those who reviewed!

A/N: I'm kinda disappointed with this chapter :( I forgot to mention one important fact in the previous chapters and finally put it in here, I just don't think I wrote it right though. I'm sorry about the state of this chapter!

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Chapter 10: Summer

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Dear Penny,

I don't know if anyone's told you yet, but my dad's won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Draw! I couldn't believe it when I heard it, mum was beside herself, screaming and crying and hugging dad. I almost forgot to keep my Mask on from all the excitement.

Everyone's decided to spend most of the gold on a trip to Egypt to visit Bill. I think Ron's the only one who noticed my uneasiness. It's not my D.M. this time. I really am nervous about seeing Bill again, I won't rant this time, you already know what I'll say.

As much as I'm nervous about the trip, I also can't wait to see the pyramids! I'll have to be cautious of Fred and George though haha.

The point of this letter wasn't to tell you about the trip. I had a strange dream much like the one I told you about last summer.

I was in the drowning city again except it was perfectly fine and there was no war. Actually, I think this was hours before it happened.

I was with Ron, who looked and acted like some angst consumed prince. I don't know why, but I was trying to prevent him from doing something awful, I can't remember what. I had a feeling that I knew something very important that he didn't know and needed to know. However, before I could say anything, some guards approached us holding a woman. We seemed to recognize each other, and I had a feeling of dread come over me when one of the guards said she was a human. Ron seemed disgusted, and I felt betrayed, but I couldn't understand the meaning of these feelings.

After that I woke up to my D.M. gaining and losing control over my body. I felt very upset, and it was frustrating because I didn't know why.

I'll contact you as fast as I can if anything worse happens, I have to pack my bags.

Percy

PS: Picture this; Ron attempting to speak over the phone to his friend Harry by shouting at his muggle uncle. I kept trying to get him to lower his voice, but he was too engrossed with using the phone for the first time. What was funny about the whole ordeal was by the end when the muggle hung up the phone on him and he became indignant.

Chuckling softly, the young man folded his letter and tied it to his owl, whispering instructions to her before sending her off. It was at this point that the door was knocked and opened quietly. Percy turned to his visitor.

Ron stepped inside with a sheepish smile. "I just spoke to dad about the phone; he reckons I shouldn't have shouted either."

"I figured," Percy snickered. "Are you going to call back and apologize?"

"Merlin no!" Ron dumped himself on his brother's bed. "I've heard they're absolute beasts, there's no way I'm calling back."

"Beasts?" Percy frowned.

"Well they've lightened up a little, from what I heard," Ron shrugged. "Harry tells me they're frightened of him now."

"And this is good because…?"

"They'll leave him alone most of the time," he faced his still uncertain brother. "That's a good thing."

"I suppose…"

Not wanting to discuss his friend's private life, Ron turned on his stomach and grabbed a pillow to cushion his chin. "Still feel like leaving?"

Caught off guard, Percy looked away. As much as he'd like to say 'no' he knew Ron would catch his lie. For some reason, although the D.M. had been calmed down after that kiss with Oliver, the desire to leave had gradually grown. It wasn't only about getting away from the family, there was something else behind it and the D.M. refused to tell him what it was.

"You don't want to leave, but IT does," Ron scowled at the floor.

"How did you-"

"Ever since I found out you're a Dark Magnar, I've realized you've become very expressive," Ron gave him a small smile. "Plus, I know you more than you give me credit for."

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Percy laughed.

-

Dear Perce,

OH MY GOD! CONGRATULATIONS! I hope you have fun at Egypt, don't get too beat up around Bill, you know he loves you (how many times must I repeat myself?). You have no idea how jealous I am of you haha; looking at mummies and hieroglyphics! Lucky! Lucky! LUCKY!

Something tells me that that dream means something. I mean, if your D.M. reacted so dramatically, then maybe there's a connection between it and the dream. It's possible that you were predicting the future or something.

Whatever the case, you must make sure you have control over yourself. Tell Ron and Ginny to keep an eye out for you. Meanwhile, I'll be looking up dreams and try to find an answer to this.

I was going to owl you before your letter arrived.

I got an owl from Marcus just a few hours ago. His parents are thinking of putting the mark on him a little earlier than we'd hoped. He says his parents are confident about You-Know-Who's return and expect to present himself to him to receive the mark.

1. We need to think of a plan to help Marcus escape.

2. We need to warn Dumbledore or someone about You-Know-Who returning.

3. I don't know what step three is yet, but I'm freaking out right now.

Penny

PS: haha that lightened up my mood!

Numbly, Percy folded the letter and turned back to his family who were still eating breakfast. He looked at Ron and Ginny who noticed his change of mood and were now looking concerned. He shook his head and excused himself from the table.

"I need to go to the Owl Post, I'll be back in a few minutes," he said as he grabbed another toast and went off to his room for some money. Everyone looked at him in surprise before slowly turning back to their food.

Ron followed his brother while Ginny watched on anxiously.

"Did something bad happen?" he asked as Percy stepped out of his room.

"Not yet," he said as he walked to the door. "I'm just going to mail something to Dumbledore, I'll be back soon."

Ron frowned as his brother shut the door behind him. He was about to go after him, but his mother cut through his thoughts.

"Ron! Get dressed we're going to see the pyramids today!"

-

Dear Penny,

I've warned Dumbledore of what you told me. He immediately replied telling me the Flint's are being closely watched. So far nothing's been going on; he thinks Marcus's parents only told him about marking him just to scare him. How is Marcus? I can't owl him from over here because the post is too expensive for that distance, and Perpetua doesn't like going very far.

Things over here are going as well as it can be. The D.M. didn't do anything incredibly life threatening, although I felt its presence surface a lot when we were in the pyramids. Something about it confused me, when I was inside the pyramid it dragged me to one of the chambers where the mummies were held, while I was interested in looking at the hieroglyphics, the D.M. pulled me to a blank wall as if it was trying to tell me something. I didn't find out what it was because mum called me over. I think the twins wanted to trap me in there haha.

Other than that, the D.M. has been pretty calm. I don't think anything bad will happen, so you don't have to worry about me.

Oliver owled me, he says that he's at his grandmother's house in Scotland for the vacation. He seems to be doing well.

-Percy

PS: We should meet up at Diagon Alley, we'll be staying at the Leaky Cauldron the day before school starts.

Folding the letter, the bespectacled boy turned to the large owl Bill let him borrow and tied the letter to his leg before sending him off. He smiled faintly at the disappearing dot, recalling how his brother warned him about how vicious Perpetua could be. For the few days he had her, she wasn't violent at all.

"I think she's taken a liking to you Perce."

He jumped with a yelp at the voice and turned to his brother with a blush of embarrassment. Bill found it amusing.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he ruffled his hair playfully and walked past him to the rest of the family who were sitting at the dinner table. Percy watched him laugh at a joke someone said, feeling the faint urge to wallow again.

'I mustn't do that again,' he thought to himself firmly as he walked to the table as well. 'I'm not a child.'

He sat between Ron and Ginny, helping himself to the food at the middle of the table while listening to the conversation.

"Ron put that thing away it's causing a raucous," scolded Mrs. Weasley, pointing at the whirring Sneakoscope beside her son. He sighed and put it in his pocket, it barely did anything to muffle the noise.

"I still can't believe you bought it," Bill commented, stirring his soup. "After all the warnings I gave you."

At this the twins started snickering to themselves, watching with teary eyes as their older brother lifted his spoon to his lips. Percy watched suspiciously, knowing they must have done something…

The sneakoscope whirred even louder.

"Ron! Just put it in your room or something," Mrs. Weasley said irritably. Sighing again, Ron grumpily left the table. The twins continued to snicker.

"Um…Bill?"

He sipped his soup and the twin's were crying in their effort to not burst out laughing. He looked up at Percy. "Yeah?"

Nothing bad seemed to happen. Maybe it was an inside joke that the twins were snickering so much. "Er… never mind," he went back his own dinner.

Later on Ron told him the twins put beetles in Bill's soup.

-

The town was much calmer than the main city, occupied by middle class residents who gave them a warmer welcome than the cold fast paced citizens of the city. He contemplated on staying in this area after his research was done, but hopes for that were dashed away when his companion reminded him of their duty to their work.

In order to improve the health of society, they must travel to find cures. That was the promise they had made to their country before they left for their journey. It didn't seem that it would be over anytime soon either considering how quickly diseases cropped up.

Shaking away these grim thoughts, he followed his friend to the bustling market.

"We should have enough to make dinner," his friend spoke lightly. He nodded vaguely. His friend looked at him worriedly. "Are you still thinking about him?"

"What? Who?"

She blinked in confusion. "The young man you healed of course! It wouldn't be surprising to think of him, what with him disappearing like that without thanks or anything," she huffed.

"That was strange," he admitted, looking over the first stand when they reached the market. "But I wasn't thinking about him."

"Oh?" she picked up a sphere shaped carrot and eyed it skeptically before putting it down and picking up another one. "Well I was."

"Took a fancy to him, did you?" he teased. She glared at him before paying the vendor.

"I was worrying over whether he was from the royal family or not." They moved over to the next stand, this time of packaged meats that were kept cold by the vendor's power to cool them with her hands. "He had the exact characteristics of a Magnar and don't you think he seemed too well cared for to be a citizen? And there was that necklace too…it looked expensive."

"You worry too much," he patted her shoulder and paid for the meat he wanted. "Magnar's aren't only from the royal family; he was probably just a rich citizen or something."

"But if we get caught here-"

"We won't, not unless-"

"Everyone move aside for Prince Fordan!"

Taking a second to look at each other in fear, they hurriedly pulled up their hoods and took off to where they were staying.

-

Oliver opened his eyes unwillingly to the sound of his mother calling him for breakfast. Sleep still clung to him as he dragged himself out of bed, but with the fresh air of a new day, the dream he had was slipping away. This time he only minded because it was so different from any of his other dreams. This felt familiar.

"Mornin' Gran'," he kissed her cheek and sat down heavily, digging into the breakfast his mother set before him.

"Mornin' Oliver," his grandmother greeted back with a smile. "Had a good sleep?"

"Yes," he bit into his bacon. His grandmother and mother eyed each other before eating their breakfast as well.

"Had any good dreams?"

Oliver looked up at his mother confusedly, nodding hesitantly. He suddenly noticed the tense aura that radiated off the two women. "Is something wrong?"

"No," they said in unison, their smiles a little strained. "Everything's fine."

Frowning, he went back to his food, missing the worried looks the two women gave each other.

-

The family hugged Bill and Charlie tightly, saying their last goodbyes and making promises for another family get together. Percy watched in a daze at all the content and much tanned faces of his parents and siblings, wondering if this is how he would be treated once he left Hogwarts for his own life. For once the D.M. left him alone and he didn't know whether to be thankful or not. While it was nice to see the family together, he couldn't help feeling a pang of jealousy over his older brothers.

'Stop it,' he ordered himself, turning away and pretending to make sure all his luggage was packed.

"Have a good term, Perce," Charlie startled his younger brother by patting his shoulder.

"Yeah, do your best," Bill chipped in, ruffling Percy's hair. "Just don't kill yourself over it."

He blushed in embarrassment, feeling like he was being pat in the back by unreachable Gods and not his brothers. His arms twitched in an effort to try to hug them like they did with the others, but they were gone before he could move any further. He watched mutely as they said their goodbyes again before the family took the portkey to Diagon Alley. He watched wistfully at the smiling and waving forms of Bill and Charlie before they washed away by the pull of the portkey.

-

By the time she reached Diagon Alley, the place was much emptier than she expected. She figured as much seeing as it was the day before school started and everyone already had their school things. Although now that she looked harder, there were still some last minute shoppers running around.

Sighing, she entered the Leaky Cauldron and sat down on a table in the corner where she could see everything. She didn't have to wait long. By the time her she took off her robe there came the sound of people crashing over each other.

"Ron get your arse off my face!"

"Ouch!"

"Don't you dare fart!"

"Penny!"

Smiling, the blond got out of her seat and hurried over to the crowd of a family. Spotting her friend she hugged him tightly only to notice something she didn't like.

"You've gotten thin!" she smacked his arm. "Have you been eating we-oh!"

Percy blinked perplexedly at her, unaware that he had removed his mask by accident and was seconds away from shocking his family. "What?" he knitted his brows.

"Mask! Mask!" she hissed, flailing her arms. "You dropped it!"

"Hello Penelope," Mrs. Weasley walked over to the two. Percy jerked in surprise and hurriedly put on his mask, hoping his mother didn't notice him suddenly sprouting up a few inches. "Everything well?"

"Y-yes," she stammered back, not sure on how to take Mrs. Weasley's guarded look. "How was Egypt?"

"Wonderful," she was looking her up and down now, it was becoming unnerving. "Well then, I won't be keeping you and Percy, you two need to catch up on lost time and all…" She turned away and went back to the rest of the family, scolding the twins for making rude gestures behind her back.

"She's been like that about you ever since she found out you were my girlfriend," Percy groaned as they made their way out of the Leaky Cauldron.

"She was never like that to me before," Penelope mumbled, making the pattern on the brick wall with her wand. "It's not like I'm stealing you or anything."

"She's just being a mother," Percy smiled fondly. "Although…I think she's fine now, she's giving us freedom right?"

They walked through the archway and into Diagon Alley, while more costumers arrived; it was still kind of empty. The two friends silently walked to Flourish and Blotts.

The store owner panicked when he saw them. "M-Monster Book of Monsters?" he quivered. Penelope and Percy shook their heads and the man sighed and laughed in relief. "Thank goodness…is there anything I can help you with then?"

"It's all right, I'm sure we can manage," Percy said politely. Penelope raised an eyebrow and watched the store owner nod and go back to whatever he had been working on before. She followed Percy upstairs to where they had hidden last year when he had first shown her his true form.

"Marcus said he'd be here soon," she said conversationally once they reached the top. "He said he's glad his parents are being watched."

The mask was lifted. Like before Percy was pale, small and slender with dark red hair and crystal blue eyes. He smiled again, much more relaxed this time. Penelope's uneasiness left her and she smiled as well.

"I'm glad nothing bad happened while I was gone," Percy said, leaning against the wall. "To be honest, hearing about You-Know-Who returning…" his smile slipped.

"You were five weren't you?" she said quietly. "You remember."

He nodded slowly, then shook his head. "I didn't come here to talk about that actually-Marcus!"

Penelope spun around and shrieked in surprise to find the tall Slytherin standing so close to her. It was like a large bear was about to attack her. "Damnit Marcus!" she put a hand over her pounding heart. "Don't stand so close to people like that without them knowing!"

He looked down at her blankly, not at all startled by her reaction. He continued staring her down, making her cross her arms, looking uncomfortable. He smirked.

"You enjoyed that didn't you!" she burst out again, jabbing a finger at his chest.

"Yep," he said simply, smirking even more. "I missed your entertainment."

"How are you?"

He looked at Percy, amusement calming down. "A little worried actually. Have you heard about Sirius Black?"

"Yes, my parents are worried about that too," Percy nodded. The sound of the door opening made the three look downstairs and see Fred and George walk in with their father. The store owner seemed to be panicking again. "I didn't want to talk about that though."

Taking off his glasses and fiddling with them, Percy motioned the two to follow him deeper into the shelves, closer to the back. Penelope eyed his friend carefully; he seemed to be anxious.

"Percy?"

"Penny, you remember what I told you in our third year?" When her friend shook her head he didn't seem disappointed. "About my family tradition? The trials?"

-

Oliver looked around Diagon Alley. His mother was busy looking over his list of school things, muttering under her breath unaware that her son was turning this way and that as if in search of something.

'He's here,' he thought, feeling light headed. He pressed his hand against his warming chest, peering around the un-crowded streets, excitement surpassing his frustration of not finding him. He walked ahead experimentally and felt his chest warm up even more.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh?" he turned to his mother distractedly, still looking around for the familiar shock of red hair. Rolling her eyes, his mother steered him into a store.

"You'll go to the Quidditch store after we get your things."

Feeling his chest grow even warmer to the point where his heart was hammering, he looked around the store wildly. "I'll see you in a few minutes," he said dazedly, walking away from his perplexed mother.

He was in here; he knew it, but-

They kissed slowly, basking in the few hours they had with each other. It was rare for the day to be so peaceful and the place to be empty. They continued holding each other even after they broke their kiss. The tanner of the two rested his head on his partner's shoulder, humming in content as they lay on the bed.

"I must get back soon," Fordan said quietly. Quaron held him tighter in response.

"Don't ruin this peace, we never get to see each other like this," he mumbled, nuzzling into the curve of Fordan's neck. "I missed you."

Fordan smiled and kissed the top of his head affectionately. "I'm worried about my brother."

Quaron's smile fell into a scowl. "Now you've really ruined the peace."

"Sorry," he smiled at the pouting man and pulled him in for another kiss…

"What. On. Earth."

Oliver opened his eyes, just now realizing they were closed, and found himself staring into frightened blue eyes. It took him another few seconds for him to realize that he was kissing the owner of these eyes. Gasping he pulled away, cheeks burning in embarrassment, but feeling oddly happy and jittery. Percy seemed to be in the same state, lightly touching his lips with a lost look.

"I would think you would at least give him a warning, but I guess you're the needy type," Marcus smirked, trying hard to stifle his bubbling laughter. Oliver glared at him. "Or the demanding type."

Oliver looked at the dazed out Percy and felt embarrassed again. "Sorry…I don't know what…I…" he sighed and shrugged helplessly. "I didn't know I was doing it I just…"

"It's all right," Percy said faintly, a small smile on his face. As much as Oliver was delighted to see the red head not upset, he couldn't stop the feeling that something wasn't right.

-

hmm...the ending's not quite right... Review please