Percy was arranging a few things on his desk when Diana, a sweet little girl with lots of braids, came skipping up toward him. He spotted her out of the corner of his eye but continued what he was doing. Sometimes despite approaching him, they didn't wish to talk, simply observing what he was doing.
"Mr. Weasley!" Diana beamed, her mouth with its missing teeth on full display.
"Hi, sweetie," He smiled at her warmly.
"Mr. Weasley, I gots a question," She declared.
"And what is your question?"
"Why are you so big?" Diana was swaying side to side.
The question made him pause. Slowly, he turned to her. "You mean tall?" He clarified.
"No," She giggled like he purposefully said something funny. She held her arms out wide. "Big. Like my mummy when she had my brother!"
He was not big whatsoever, somehow maintaining the same lanky form he had as a teenager. So he had no idea what she was referring to. "Pardon?" He said warily.
"You're big," She repeated, nodding like it made sense and to her it probably did.
It took him a moment or so, but he realized she was likely saying that because of his slightly too big jumper he wore that morning. The shop he'd gotten it from was out of his size so he had to go one up.
"Oh," He laughed lightly, "it's just a bigger jumper, that's all."
But that explanation did not sit with her. She tilted her head to the side and looked at him as critically as a five year old could.
"No, it isn't."
/
"Does anyone want to share how your weekend went?" Percy stood at the front of the classroom, looking around for any volunteers.
Several hands shot up. Their faces reflected their excitement and they all kept chanting me, me, me! He laughed.
"Settle down. You'll all have a turn. Hmm, why don't you go first, Jodi?"
The little girl gave a squeal, her pigtails going every which way. "I got a kitty!"
"Did you?" He said. "That's very nice. Billy?"
"My daddy took me to the zoo!"
"Fascinating," He nodded. "I've never been. Rikki?"
"My brother drownded," Rikki said with an unusually somber look to her.
Percy felt the wind knocked out of him. Rikki's parents had only just welcomed the infant a few months ago. "Oh.."
"What does drownded mean?" Another child piped up.
"It means he's dead. Right, Mr. Weasley?" Someone else looked at him expectantly.
"Yes," He said slowly. "Oh, honey, I'm so-"
Then Rikki's face took on a cheeky grin. "Just kidding!"
He suddenly felt like he should be very afraid of her.
/
"Mr. Weasley," Davy marched up to his desk.
"Yes," He put his chin on the tops of his palms.
"You're my favorite teacher!" He announced in his most important voice.
"Well, thank you, Davy. That's very kind," Percy reached over to ruffle his hair.
"If I had someone else, I'd punch them in the face," Davy said seriously.
Percy wasn't sure if he should be flattered or not.
"That's...unnecessary."
/
"Mr. Weasley?"
"Yes, Nicky?" He saw a stain on the side of the boy's mouth. Peanut butter, to be exact. He took a wet wipe to clean it off. Thankfully, the boy didn't protest.
"Are you single?"
He let out a fond sigh. "Yes, Nicky."
"Oh," The boy paused. "Yeah, I thought so."
He rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
"Don't worry, Mr. Weasley!" Jayne ran up to his side and gave him a hug. "Somebody will love you someday!"
He patted her back. "Thank you."
/
Percy stood waiting for his students to finish using their respective bathrooms. He was in between where they met and in front of him, the ones that were done had gathered in a line as they were instructed to do. Sometimes they got fussy while waiting but today, they were listening quite well.
"Mr. Weasley," Eddie came out with the front of his denims unbuttoned and zipped. He quickly bent down to help him and so the other children couldn't see it. "I need help!"
"I see that," Percy was about to touch the zipper when he heard Eddie tell him,
"It might be wet. I peed a little."
He stifled a snort. Not the most disgusting thing he'd ever touched in his time as a teacher.
/
He was aware of Nelly and Peter staring at him. He thought they would eventually get bored of it but they continued to do it. In the meantime, he was writing a report he needed to fill out. No one mentioned how much bloody paperwork being a teacher meant having. It wasn't near as much as when he worked in the Ministry, but still enough to keep him busy.
"Did you two need something?" He said with his eyes still on the parchment.
They glanced at each other.
Peter decided to cut to the chase. "Mr. Weasley, how old are you?"
"Twenty six," He responded.
They gasped.
"Wow you're old!"
"I'm not that old," he said.
"Yeah, you are," Peter insisted.
Poor little Nelly looked to be on the verge of tears. "Are you gonna die soon?"
/
"Mr. Weasley, are you still single?"
"Hello, Billy," He greeted instead of answering the question right away.
Billy made a whining noise, tugging on his trousers. "Mr. Weasley!"
"Billy, I'm not sure that's appropriate to ask," He said.
"What's...proprit?"
"Appropriate," he corrected. "It means that I'm not sure you should be asking me that. Sometimes you don't ask certain questions."
"But it's important," Billy's lip trembled.
"Alright," He gave in, knowing he was likely to regret it. "Why do you want to know if I'm single or not?"
Billy leaned in closer to whisper in his ear. "My mummy thinks you're cute."
Instant regret.
"Does she?" He felt a bit uncomfortable.
The little body nodded eagerly. "She told my Auntie Kathy she really wants you on her bed. I think...I think she wants to show you her new sheets. They're really soft."
Percy now knew he would never be able to look at Mrs. Johnson in the eye ever again.