Chapter 18

A Recollection

"Perce, what's up?" asked Subash. All of them bore worried expressions as they walked.

"Nothing, I — I just want to — be alone right now. Please."

Susane nodded, and headed to the dungeons; Roger appeared lost as a frog, and decided to follow Susane. Subash made to turn, but Perce, seemingly on impulse, beckoned him to stay. Puzzled, Subash lay an arm gently on his shoulder, and followed him.

The Sunday breeze was as chilly as Perce's mind. He was overcome by fragments of memories, flashing past his eyes. He attempted to resist them — he did not want to be reminded. He walked faster, in a futile bid to escape his thoughts. Perce gave a deep sigh.

"Perce, are you alright? What's up, mate, this is the first time you're being so — uh —" Subash was looking sideways at his friend.

"You know what he said, right? Dumbledore?"

"Well, yes. I'll never forget his face, he looked as creepy as a spider."

Perce chuckled. "'One's thoughts have the power to command respect, and so does the power to control them.' Those were my mother's words..."

Subash raised his eyebrows, as the memory of the conversation with Perce the previous year struck him. It was when Perce had, for the first time, spoken about his mother. "What —"

Perce shook his head. "She said that, yes, I can't be wrong. She had something to do with Dumbledore, in that case."

Just then, to his horror, Subash realized that they were heading to the second floor, and to the most horrendous place in Hogwarts, where his worst fears lay. "Not the library —"

"What?" Perce glanced at him.

"Oh, no, I meant — definitely, yes, Dumbledore — that cheeky old man, he did have something to do with your mother. D'you think he killed her?" Subash said, very casually, busy trying to evade the library. He realized what he had said only too late.

Perce stopped so abruptly, he almost tripped. "Are you — insane? What in Merlin's name —"

"Oh no, no, no, I — I'm sorry, it — it slipped," he said, with an apologetic look. "How about we head that way instead, I heard that's a — nice place?" Subash pointed in exactly the opposite direction, giving a desperate smile. "I heard it has some nice breeze and good scenery and..."

Perce sighed.

"Subash, you're pointing to a bathroom."

"Oh dear," Subash turned around, and blanked seeing that he was indeed pointing to a bathroom — incidentally, for girls. "No, I — I meant it's that way, you know, not exactly right there, if you know what I mean. There's apparently some nice — uh..."

Perce stared at him. "Nice what, exactly?"

Subash groaned in irritation. "Oh, for Merlin's sake, I'm pretty sure there's something nice about it, just come with me." And Perce was dragged by the elbow. There was little resistance, though; Perce was engaged in an internal war, intense enough for a twelve-year-old.

Well aware that he was being carefully led away from his favourite abode, Perce followed Subash. There was some sense of comfort with Subash, something Perce was, regretfully, unable to explain. Maybe this was called friendship.

As they approached a flight of stairs, Subash visibly gleeful, Perce decided to stop and seat himself. He heaved a sigh, his eyes closed. His friend sat beside him, rather bemused.

"Those were my mother's words..." he heard Perce whisper.

Perce still had his eyes shut, and Subash was looking at him, trying to comprehend his role in that situation. To his bewilderment, Subash noticed then that there was a pearl of a tear hanging from Perce's eye, threatening to fall.

"Perce?" He said, shocked.

"Hmm?" Perce said, looking away. His voice shook.

"Are you — what happened, Perce?"

"No — nothing, just some — just some dust, give me a — a moment." His voice cracked enough to give him away.

"Cut the crap and talk to me." Subash ordered, in an annoyed yet kind voice. He had never seen Perce in a weak position, never in all of a year and a half.

Perce Jordan, on the other hand, had been overpowered — by anger, grief and longing at the same time. There was a painful lump in his throat. He was angry, for the first time, at Albus Dumbledore. He knew not why, though — did he expect the Deputy Headmaster to relate to him his acquaintance with his mother? It was evident that Dumbledore was not obliged to. But couldn't he have done so, just so that Perce could know more about his mother? Even if he did not, why did he have to so cruelly remind him of her? Was it so wrong to perform a prank?

It was an astonishing fact that he could remember a lot of the time with his mother. With her, it had always been magic — be it her care, or her work. Meta Jordan had been beautiful; she had auburn hair that rested on her shoulders, a vibrant smile, pitch black eyes and, by happenstance, a sharp tongue. Often, he would simply sit in his mother's room, to observe her absorbed in her work. Perce could never comprehend the spells or the potions or why she would almost dance with her wand, but he simply enjoyed the proceedings. She had always been lively in her room — either grinning or frowning to herself in silence, or chattering away to Perce, seemingly forgetting his age. Most frequently he heard from her about "The responsibilities a wizard was vested with, given the power of magic." She had always been critical of the Ministry, for according to her, wizards had always abused their power.

There were times, however, when her door remained closed. Nobody was to disturb Meta Jordan when it was so.

Accompanying the thoughts about his mother were the memories of Bunny. The mansion served as a play arena for Perce and the rabbit, much to the anxiety of his parents. Paintings would be knocked off, vases shattered, tables overturned; the books were unharmed, though, for Perce was instinctively protective about them. Bunny would refuse to sleep anywhere but on Perce's bed. He held his rabbit too close to himself — far too close. Even the years that had passed did not wipe away Perce's longing.

He had been harshly reminded of everything that he was beginning to slowly accept and forget. He did not ever want to lose control of himself.

"I — no, really, I'm — I'm fine, Subash."

"No, Perce, you're not fine. What did Dumbledore — I mean, what does Dumbledore have to do with your —"

"Nothing, I really don't know."

"Hey," Subash rested a hand on his shoulder. "You can't really coop yourself up, you know. You should talk. I really don't know if you want to talk to me, but there must be somebody..."

"I — it isn't like —"

A sniffle was heard. There was silence for a long time. Subash was quite surprised that he had managed to even talk in that circumstance. Somehow, he knew not to break the silence.

Perce let out a long sigh, a very shaky, careful sigh. He slowly began talking, and his voice shook frequently. He was reluctant to reveal that he too had a weakness, but he went on — it was soothing to know that Subash cared. He spoke, as memories continued to dash past in his mind. There were some instances where he was torn between laughter and sorrow.

He told Subash that he missed his mother. He wished she had been there the day he received the letter, and the day he boarded the Hogwarts Express. He wished he could watch her work, and now actually be a part of it. He wished that he could've shown Bunny the grandeur of Hogwarts. He stopped not after long — he did not want to delve anymore into his recollections. The lump in his throat was slowly melting, and his lips stopped trembling.

"Look, Perce, I'm not really good at counselling and stuff, but thank you for telling me all that. I — I'm uh... well, this is awkward... but just know that I understand, okay? I really do."

Perce nodded, smiling at him. "And I'm uh — sorry, if I ranted on too much... I just thought —"

"You weren't till now, but now you are. This is where you shut up."

Perce laughed. "You're a great friend, you know."

He received a smile in return. They sat in silence for a while. Perce's mind still carried the same thoughts — but somehow, they now seemed far away, as though in some distant, untouched region of his brain. Were all those emotions just a phase? He felt a serenity, a calm; he was at peace with the world.

"Uh — well, d'you wanna go somewhere else?" Subash gave a little smile. Clearly, he did not want to be seated idly on a nice Sunday. Perce gave a shrug, and assented, grinning.

Subash led the way. Again, the path was chosen to carefully avoid the library. As they walked, they seemed to draw nearer to some voices. Two voices, two very merry voices. They turned round a corner, and caught sight of a person with four hands and hair a mixture of auburn and brown. The two second year pupils gasped, before realizing that it was in fact two older students, who had just been interrupted while engrossed in some intimacies. At the sudden sound, they split apart, blushing furiously. Subash took no time in recognizing them. Neither did Perce.

The boy stood there, still holding his partner's hand, with deep red blobs presenting themselves on his cheeks. His auburn hair sat in curls, in a messy state, and his green eyes reflected innocent embarrassment. Edward Pattinson had his eyebrows arched, as he tried to stutter. His girlfriend, Victoria Parker, grinned slightly. Perce noticed then that her eyes were coloured a brown identical to the shade of her hair, and she was almost as tall as 'Eddie', as he was referred to.

"We will just — uh — pretend we saw nothing, right?" said Perce, half-smiling. Subash was partly embarrassed, though grinning uncontrollably.

Eddie struggled to form a sentence. "Um... well — thank you — I mean, everyone knows of course... but it's still — you know — um... I really —"

Victoria then spoke, almost giggling. "Don't worry about that. We'll get going, I guess. Eddie, I need help with Sproutie's work..." And so, she deftly dragged Eddie away.

"So this is what you meant by 'nice place'," Perce said.

Subash laughed, and so did Perce. It was one of those meaningless, purposeless laughs, which stretched far beyond what its cause deserved. Breathless, they seated themselves on the floor, gasping for air. "Oh — oh Merlin —" panted Subash.

"Enjoying yourselves, I see." said a familiar, intimidating voice. "May I join?"

Perce needed no effort in recognising Garold Selwyn. "C'mon, Subash."

"That's good. That fear is very good." Garold had a nasty smirk on his face. "Better remember that before daring to hex a pure-blood. You made a mistake this afternoon, and that better not be repeated."

"We'll do whatever we please, and that useless pig deserved it." Subash was shaking with anger.

"Subash, no, stop. Get moving."

Perce was pulling him away, when a bang was heard — just in time, Subash was heaved out of the way by Perce, as Garold's hex hit the wall, leaving a black mark.

"Better keep your friend under control, Jordan." Garold snarled.

"Oh shut up, you arrogant buffalo." Subash said, savagely.

Garold's wand slashed in the air again. Perce was positioned right against the wall, with Subash right next to him, providing them no opportunity to dodge in time. Perce was aware that he was incapable of drawing his wand before the curse would hit, yet he ventured to take it out, and raise it —

"NO!" screamed a voice, another bang followed, and an inch away from his nose, Perce saw Garold's curse rebound. The two second year students whipped their heads around to see again the curly auburn hair. Edward Pattinson had his wand raised, with a frown upon his forehead.

Garold chuckled. "This is a sight to behold. I am absolutely terrified of this Hufflepuff." He raised his wand again, marking the beginning of a duel.

The first curse was fired by Eddie. This proceeded to a show of colours, with Perce and Subash still by the wall, staring, until Garold had an abnormally swollen wrist, and Eddie a gash on his shoulder and ears elongated like those of a rabbit. Garold groaned, and a jet of golden light blasted from his wand. Eddie whipped his own in the air, deflecting it — but it flew in the direction of the two younger wizards.

Eddie's eyes widened. "DAMN —" He was going to cast a shield, and Garold now had a grin forming on his face. But to both of their surprise, the golden light rebounded again, but this time Perce had his wand raised, and his eyes twinkled. He passed a small smile to Eddie, who winked. The grin had been wiped off of Garold's face. He flicked his wand, and there was a purple jet of light that shot from its tip. Eddie's eyes widened as he recognised the curse. As for Perce, he would never forget that curse, though the mark on his chest had disappeared the previous year.

By then, a small audience had formed on either side of the passageway, with an air of anxiety and confusion. Few of them held looks of admiration, and even excitement. The Hufflepuff students stared in alarm. It was widely known the kind of wizard Garold was, and the Hufflepuffs did not want to lose their best Seeker in decades.

Eddie sprang aside to avoid the curse, crashing his injured hand to the wall, and yelped. Garold grinned again, a terrible grin that stretched his scar, and raised his wand once more…

There was then a roar from the crowd, and many held their wands, threatening to unleash a volley of hexes. Victoria Parker had just arrived, and shouted indignantly, shooting a curse at Garold. The latter realised that he was devoid of choices — he simply blocked it, and shot a curse back at her; tapping his wrist to restore its size, he then disappeared from the place. Victoria managed to shield herself, and went forward to aid Eddie.

"He — he came here to help us," said Perce, since Victoria appeared as though she could blow up. Subash nodded, as he observed the triumphant crowd disperse before casting a concerned look at Eddie. One of them even went on to comment on how Victoria's arrival had cured Eddie.

"Thanks a lot for that," Perce added, grinning at Eddie.

"Yeah, thank you, er — Pattinson," Subash put in, with an embarrassed smile.

"Please call me Eddie," he smiled. "And that's alright, I've had brawls with Garold before. What did he want with you both, though?" Eddie asked, steadily sitting up.

"He's just —" began Subash.

"— irrelevant," interrupted Perce. "Right now, you should be in the hospital wing."

Victoria was torn between anger and awe. "Yeah, alright, you idiot of a Hufflepuff, let's get to Pomfrey now," she said, with an exasperated sigh. Eddie smiled.

Perce and Subash helped Eddie up, and they slowly walked to the wing. Victoria disgruntled Eddie when she leisurely touched his rabbit-like ears. The other two, accompanying them to the wing, couldn't help but smile.

"You cast that shield, didn't you?" Eddie asked incredulously. Perce nodded, smiling. Subash grinned proudly.

Victoria raised her eyebrows. "You're in second year aren't you? What's your name?"

"My name is Percival Jordan, I'm called Perce."

"Perce Jordan... I think —" began Eddie.

"Well, here's the hospital wing," cut in Victoria. "Don't worry, Perce, and —" she glanced at the other second year student.

"Subash Shastri."

"— Perce and Subash, there's no place for discrimination at Hogwarts. Just let your prefects or seniors know if this ever happens again. I know Greyfall, Hadner Greyfall, he's a nice bloke, he'll surely help." She grinned at them, and received two curt nods. "Now time to let go of these fluffy, nice little ears, then —" she touched Eddie's transfigured ears again.

"No, Vic, get off —" he chuckled.

Subash and Perce silently left the couple, grinning to themselves.

A/N Today I wish two people a very happy birthday - one whose birthday has long passed, and on whose I intended to publish this chapter, and the other whose birthday is coming around. Thank you for reading (: