AU! No Voldemort.

THC

Prompt: (last line) It was times like this that he regretted saying yes.

WC: 987/1000

"Come on, Percy, you have to walk faster!" nine-year-old Charlie whined, trying to adjust the dragon costume around them. It was dark inside, and it smelt like Aunt Muriel, mothballs and Bill's dirty socks.

He missed Bill and couldn't wait for his older brother to come home for Christmas. This was the first time Charlie had to share his costume with someone else other than Bill, and because his other brothers were all really small or stupid (or both in Ron's case), Percy was the only logical choice.

Unfortunately, Percy was turning out to be incredibly annoying.

Charlie almost tripped over his own feet when Percy refused to budge behind him. He sighed and turned his head to look down at his younger brother. "Percy…"

"I don't want to be a dragon," Percy grumbled, scowling up at Charlie from where he was crouched behind him. He looked really uncomfortable walking behind Charlie like a bear. "I want to be a pruh-fessor!"

"You can't be a professor, Perce. You're too young," Charlie said, shaking his head. "You told me you'd be my costume partner this year. You're the one who agreed to this!"

"But I don't want to! Mum made me do this!" Percy's eyes filled with tears. "Dragons are stupid! I wanna be a pruh-fessor!"

Charlie groaned as tears streamed down his five-year-old brother's face. He hated it when his younger siblings cried because Mum would always yell at him for it—Bill never had that problem because he was the more responsible one.

Charlie turned his head and looked through the small holes in their dragon costume to see if Mum was around. When he noticed she was dressing the twins in matching snowmen costumes, he glanced down at Percy. "Okay, how about this? If you stay here and help me be the best dragon I can be, you can be a professor next year and I'll even help you out with your costume."

Percy stopped sniffling and furrowed his brow. "You will?"

"Of course! I'm your brother and I'll help you! I'll even teach you how to read bigger words so you can teach Fred, George and Ron. That way, you'll be a real professor, huh? What do you think?" Charlie knew he had to sweeten the deal enough for Percy to agree to his request. He really needed Percy to be the dragon's rump—or as Bill and Charlie liked to say and snicker: buttocks.

"Okay, I'll do it," Percy said in a self-important tone. "But I don't want to crawl—crawling's for babies. I'm a big boy now."

Charlie rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, I'll think of something."

He looked around for something and his eyes landed on Dad, who was sitting in the corner of the living room with a strange Muggle item in his hands. Charlie said, "Come on, Perce. We can ask Dad to help us."

Percy awkwardly shifted from foot to foot as he walked behind Charlie, bumping into him every few moments and almost sending them tumbling headfirst onto the couch. Charlie grimaced but did his best to reach Dad in one piece. He yanked the dragon's head off and gasped for breath. "Dad, we need your help."

Dad looked at them with a grin. "Well, hello there, Oh Ferocious Dragon! What can I do for you?"

Charlie reached over and unzipped the back half of the costume. Percy's head popped out immediately, and he scowled at Charlie. "You stink!"

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Let's just agree to disagree, shall we?" Dad said, stopping their petty squabbling. "Now, what's wrong?"

Charlie explained, "Percy doesn't know how to walk like a dragon. We need your help. Can you help us?"

Percy pouted and was about to say something when Dad interrupted him. "Yes, of course! I have just the thing. Come with me."

Charlie and Percy elbowed and shoved each other as they did their best to follow Dad out the door and towards the garden. When Percy saw they were heading towards the shed, he piped up, "Mum says we're not allowed to go in there. It's dangerous."

"But if Dad's with us, it can't be dangerous, can it?" Charlie argued, seeing an opportunity to go into the 'forbidden' shed. After all, Dad didn't have to answer to Mum, did he? Charlie knew it was easier to make Dad say yes than persuading Mum into anything.

Dad hesitated for a second before saying, "You two can come inside with me. It's mostly safe, I think."

"I'm not going in there. It's dangerous," Percy reiterated, but Charlie was already dragging him towards the shed after Dad.

"Dad's with us. Nothing will happen."

Famous last words.

The booming sound of screwdrivers, wrenches, and hammers crashing to the ground made Arthur whirl around, his heart pounding in his chest. He found both Percy and Charlie crouched together near the shelf, their arms protecting their heads to avoid getting hurt. Percy had tears streaming down his face and Charlie looked ready to bolt.

Arthur winced as Molly came storming into the shed, balancing a red-faced Ron on her hip. She took one look at the scene in front of her and barked, "What happened here? Arthur, why are the children in the shed?"

Arthur said sheepishly, "I was just looking for something for their costume, dear."

"They could have gotten hurt!" Molly cried, shoving Ron into Arthur's arms before hurrying over to help Percy and Charlie up. "I told you two to never come in here, didn't I? Why can't you just listen to me?"

"Sorry, Mum. Dad said it was safe," Charlie said quickly, and Arthur gaped at him with disbelief. His son was good.

Molly gave Arthur a dirty look over her shoulder as she extracted Percy from the still-unzipped costume and carried him out the door. Arthur groaned; it was times like this that he regretted saying yes.