Chapter 5
The Percy Problem

Ginny stirred the sauce on the burner with her wand as the delicious smell of alfredo sauce drifted through the air. She sniffed it approvingly, pleased with herself. Behind her, on the other counter, Mrs. Weasley was chopping up tomatoes for the salad.

"When are Bill and Charley gonna get here, mum?" Ginny asked, not looking away from the sauce.

"Well, their stuff arrived today, so they should be here soon." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Why should they need to send their stuff earily?" Harry asked. "Mmm . . . that smells good Gin," he added as an after thought.

"Thanks." Ginny replied. "And they need to send their stuff earily because they're going to apparate here." Harry scratched his head.

"Hm. Guess I should've known that one . . ." Harry said, looking sheepish. Ginny laughed.

"It's alright Harry. You did grow up with muggles." she assured him.

"So . . . er . . . what are you cooking, Gin?" he asked, a bit embarrassed.

"Alfredo sauce. We're having fettuccini alfredo for dinner." Ginny told him, then smacked his hand with her wand as he tried to dip his finger in for a taste. "Not until dinner!"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were acting like newlyweds." Hermione chuckled, who had been standing in the doorway the whole time. Both Ginny and Harry turned vibrant shades of red. Ginny hurriedly turned back to the sauce, her neck the color of her hair. Harry glared at his friend.

"Oh, go snog somewhere with your boyfriend." he grumbled. Hermione laughed.

"Thanks for the suggestion Harry. I think I'll do that," she said over her shoulder, walking off to find Ron. Harry grimaced.

"Okay. Too much unwanted information." he sighed. Ginny laughed.

"You'll have to get used to it Harry. They'll be doing it a lot, I'm sure." she said, grinning at him. The corners of Harry's mouth lifted into a smile as well.

"Oh, and are you the expert?" he challenged, leaning on the counter towards her.

"Yes I am." Ginny said, grinning.

"Care to prove it?" Harry asked.

"And if you two are done flirting, we need help setting the table!" a very loud, very annoyed, and very over protective brotherly voice broke in. Ginny immediately straightened away from Harry, Harry himself almost snapped to attention like a soldier, and they both turned the shade of the tomatoes that Mrs. Weasley had just put in the salad. George or Fred Weasley, whichever one, was glaring at them from the doorway.

"Oh honestly George!" Tsunami somehow magically appeared, glaring up at her friend. "Leave them be for god's sakes! We've already got the table set anyway!" With that, she tugged him out of the room by his ear. Their departure was followed by wails about ear abuse from George accompanied by Tsunami's grumbling.

"Er . . . I forgot . . . I, uh, have some homework I need to finish!" Harry stuttered, and practically fled from the kitchen. Ginny looked after him, wonder what was wrong with him.

"Well, don't worry Ginny dear. You almost had him." Ginny jumped at her mother's voice. She had totally forgotten she was there.

"Mum, I-I don't know what you're talking about." Ginny denied. Mrs. Weasley turned to her only daughter, salad bowl in her hand.

"You just keep telling yourself that. I'm sure your brothers would like that." Mrs. Weasley told her. "You know how they are about you being with a "real" boy."

"I don't care what my brothers say about me being with a boy." Ginny said, turning back to the sauce before it burnt.

"Than why are you letting them ruin your chance with Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked. The very same question would still haunt Ginny long after dinner.

--- ~* ~*

Dinner, Tsunami mused later, had certainly been an interesting affair. Mr. Weasley, finding out that she was muggle born, had dozens of questions about muggles, and Tsunami was happy to answer all of them. Harry seemed strangely relieved by this, though Tsunami had no clue as to why. Two new additions to the table were the two oldest brothers of the Weasley Family, Charley and Bill. Tsunami was enraptured by both of them and the way they described about what they did. Charley was working in Romania with dragons, while Bill was everywhere finding treasure for Gringotts. Tsunami listened, fascinated, as they told her all about their jobs. She nearly laughed every time Percy gave her a dirty look across the table or pretended to ignore her. She did note, more seriously, how he finished his dinner quicker than all the others, than excused himself to go work on what he called "Ministry Business". Mrs. Weasley sighed heavily as Percy climbed the stairs to his room.

"What's the matter, Mum?" Charley asked, once he was sure Percy was out of earshot.

"Well, I'm worried about Percy." Mrs. Weasley confessed. Bill frowned.

"Any particular reason?" he asked.

"I'm worried about him because he barely comes out of his room. I only really see him right before he leaves for work and at dinner. Otherwise than that, he stays locked in his room, working. It's starting to worry me." Mrs. Weasley told them. Tsunami frowned, thinking. How could she get Percy out of his room? Well, one thing she knew, it wasn't going to be easy . . .

--- ~* ~*

She was running . . . running . . . she didn't know where she was going. Around her, the darkness closed in on her from every side. Laughter . . . high pitched and evil . . . a memory that she'd tried to bury years ago was coming back to haunt her. He was coming for her . . . there was no way for her to escape. Her body wasn't her own. The writing on the wall, blood red, written by her not knowing she'd written it. There were feathers all over her robes, a shining accusation.

"No . . ." she whispered. "I didn't do it . . . I didn't mean to!" But no one would listen. No one was there to save her . . .

Ginny sat up in bed stifling a scream. She stared straight ahead, still breathing hard. Finally, she looked around the room, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. Neither of the girls that were sharing a room with her had awakened. Tsunami was still sprawled out on her bed, snoring loudly, an old looking teddy bear resting near her head. Hermione was also asleep, though she didn't look as horrendous as Tsunami. She curled around a stuffed rabbit that Ron had won for her at the fair in Hogsmeade a few weeks ago. Though she looked serene at first glance, a closer look reviled an evil grin. Ginny rolled her eyes as she swung her feet off the bed, thinking about how first glances didn't tell you anything. Beside her, Tsunami grumbled and rolled over and mumbled something that sounded strangely like "Mondo . . ." Hermione only gave an evil chuckle.

Ginny shook her head, then grabbed the wool blanket off her bed, slipped into her fuzzy blue slippers, and quietly left the room. She tiptoed down the stairs, her slippered feet barely making a sound on the wood floorboards. She shuffled over to the worn couch in the living room and curled up in her blanket. She jumped about two feet when a voice behind her spoke.

"Gin? What are you doing up?" she looked behind her, and was surprised to see Harry, munching on an apple.

"Oh Harry . . . I didn't see you there." Ginny said. "I just . . ." Ginny searched her mind for a suitable excuse, but came up with none. "I just had a nightmare, that's all." she sighed. Harry frowned, and, still munching the apple, walked over, and sat down beside her.

"Do you wanna tell me about it?" he asked. Ginny mumbled something, her head in her blanket. "What?"

"Riddle . . ." she muttered, a little louder this time. Harry's brows lifted, finally understanding.

"Gin . . . you know it's not your fault." Harry told her, rubbing her back in a comforting gesture.

"I know Harry . . . it's just . . . every time I think about it, I feel like a fool for being hoodwinked by him." Ginny told him, rubbing her arms for comfort.

"Ginny, did you hear what Dumbledore said?" Harry told her. "He said that greater wizards, maybe wizards even greater than Dumbledore, have been tricked by him! You were a first year witch!" Ginny had no answer to that. He had a good point, but that still didn't help much.

"So, why are you up?" Ginny asked, changing the subject so abruptly it left Harry startled.

"Er . . . well . . . I just . . ." he stuttered, trying to search for a reason other than the fact that his scar had been hurting. "I just couldn't sleep, that's all!" Well, it wasn't totally a lie. Ginny raised an eyebrow at him.

"Any particular reason?" Harry was getting slightly worried. She didn't sound like she believed him.

"Er . . . well . . ."

"C'mon . . . spill it." Ginny prompted.

"My scar hurt." Harry confessed on a sigh, finally running out of options. Ginny frowned.

"Really? Has this happened before?" she asked.

"Well, ya . . . once or twice." Harry confessed. "It's only occasional, though. I don't think there's a lot of reason to worry."

"If you say so." Ginny told him, and left it at that. After hours of talking, they finally fell asleep.

--- ~* ~*

It was good, Ginny thought later, that Tsunami and Hermione had come downstairs first in the morning and woken them up. The way they'd been sleeping on the couch, any one of her brothers would've had a fit and probably thrown Harry out into the snow in his pajamas. Ginny had been sleeping with her head on Harry's shoulder, and Harry's head resting against her own. Harry had one arm around her waist, almost pulling her towards him. The blanket was wrapped around both of them, encasing them in a warm cocoon.

They were both startled awake by a "You two are so lucky Harry threw my camera out the window." Both she and Harry had looked at Tsunami, who was grinning cheekily down at them, with bewildered looks. "If I did have my camera, though . . . this would be great blackmail." Both Ginny and Harry turned a vibrant shade of red.

"You'd better get up while you still have the chance!" Hermione announced breathlessly, racing down the stairs. "The boys are coming down!" That seemed to set both Harry and Ginny in motion. Harry almost vaulted to the other end of the couch, and would've sent the blanket flying had Ginny not been sitting on it. Everyone clearly heard the distant thunder of three teenage boys and three adult men running down the hall and down the stairs to get good places at the table for breakfast. None of them really spared much of a glance at Ginny or Harry, all being oblivious to what had been going on because they were too focused on getting to the table and none of them saw anything out of the ordinary. Tsunami sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Boys." she muttered.

"Here, here." Hermione agreed, and she and Tsunami walked over to find places at the table to sit. Harry and Ginny looked at each other.

"Well . . ."

"Er . . ."

"Shall we go have breakfast?"

"Alright." Harry and Ginny happily walked off to the kitchen, hoping there'd be at least some bacon left for them.

--- ~* ~*

Breakfast wasn't as wild as she had thought it would be Tsunami thought afterward, as she looked around the table, finishing up her bacon. She scanned the table taking everything in. It seemed as if someone was missing. Well, both the twins were there, Ron and Hermione were there, as were Harry and Ginny. Bill and Charley were down too, barely speaking to anyone and finishing huge portions of scrambled eggs, toast and jam, cereal, bacon, and sausages, and both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there. Tsunami blinked, realizing just who had been missing.

"Mrs. Weasley . . . where's Percy?" Tsunami asked. The whole table seemed to still. Even Bill and Charley stopped shoveling food in their mouths for a second.

"He's still in his room, Tsunami. He's working again . . . you know how it is." Mrs. Weasley said airily. "I'll need to take a tray up to him-"

"I'll do it!" Tsunami volunteered, almost shooting from her seat. She practically raced out into the kitchen and grabbed the tray. "I'll meet you guys in the garden after I bring it up to him!" With that, she hurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Do you think this has to do with Percy's aura?" George whispered to his brother. Fred rolled his eyes.

"What do you think?" he asked. George looked a bit sheepish.

"Good point."

--- ~* ~*

Percy was working on his "important" report for the Ministry, when a knock sounded at his door.

"Yes?" he called, not looking up from his work.

"I brought you up breakfast since you missed it." said a muffled voice from behind the door. It sounded like Ginny's . . .

"Come on in." Percy said. The door opened with a creak.

"Jesus Perce. You're STILL working?" Tsunami asked. Percy's temper shot up.

"Don't you have someone else to annoy right now?" Percy asked. Tsunami laughed, setting his tray down on his desk.

"Nope!" she told him cheerily, sitting down in a chair and putting her socked feet up on one of the shelves of his bookshelves. This succeeded in annoying Percy further. "Let's see . . . it's impossible to annoy Fred and George . . . " Tsunami started, slowly ticking the many people in the household off on her fingers. "You're mother and father are too sweet to annoy . . . I don't have anything to annoy Ron or Hermione about . . . both Ginny and Harry ignore me when I'm annoying . . . Bill and Charley just laugh at me and tell me I'm doing a good job and to try it out on you . . . "

"They what?" Percy exclaimed, whirling in his chair to face her. Tsunami grinned at him.

"They tell me I'm doing a good job and to try it out on you!" Tsunami told him. Percy looked furious. "Hey! You've finally looked away from work for a second!" Percy glared at her, before turning back to his work.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work." he growled.

"Ya, ya. Blah, blah, blah." Tsunami said in a mocking tone. "From what I hear, the only time you stop working is at certain meal times and on the way to work."

"Where did you hear that from?" Percy asked, scribbling furiously. "No wait-let me guess. Fred or George? Or Ron maybe?"

"Your mother." Tsunami told him. Percy turned to stare at her in disbelief.

"Mum?" he asked. Tsunami shrugged, as if it was nothing.

"Well, ya." she said. "She said that you were working so hard and not taking any breaks that it was starting to worry her. And I if I remember correctly, everyone at the table agreed." Percy nearly choked on the roll he was eating.

"She said this at the breakfast table?" he exclaimed. Tsunami frowned at him.

"No, she said it at the dinner table last night. Why?" she asked. "You know Perce, I bet you haven't had a real break in years."

"Of course I have!" Percy exclaimed. "Did you hear that we went to Egypt a while ago? We went and explored the pyramids there! That was taking a break!" Tsunami rolled her eyes.

"Oh right." Tsunami said, rolling her eyes. Then her voice went a couple octaves lower and took on an accent similar to his own, seeming to imitate one of his younger twin brothers. "'It was like he wasn't even there! He was holed up in his room the whole time, working on "stuff for school", as he called it. The time he actually came out for one day to see the pyramids, he fretted all day about not getting the bloody work done. Scared the hell out of me . . . I think he's turning into a work-o-holic!'" Tsunami gave him a pointed stare, and he turned away guiltily. Tsunami fell back into her regular American drawl with ease. "Sounds to me like everyone's worried Perce. I think you need to take a break."

"Alright, alright." Percy sighed. "Let me finish this first."

"When is it due to your boss?" Tsunami asked, frowning.

"June 1st." Tsunami stared at him as if he'd suddenly sprouted horns.

"Percy, for pity's sake! That's six months away!" she exclaimed. "I'm sure you're not writing a book on the stupid subject, what ever that may be!" Then she paused and blinked, as if remembering something. "Hey what ARE you working on anyway?" she asked, pulling the papers out from under his quill.

"Hey! Give those back!" Percy demanded, leaping up.

"Ooo. Standard ink . . . Interesting topic Perce." Tsunami said, rolling her eyes. "What was your last one? Oh! I remember! Cauldron thickness!"

"Give them back now!" Percy shouted, lunging at her. Tsunami laughed, jumping out of his way.

"Nope!" With that, she disappeared out the door. Percy scrambled up from the floor.

"Hey! Come back with those!" Percy saw her rounding a corner towards the stairs. As he did, he saw Tsunami sliding down the banister. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're so slow! It's probably from being cramped in your room too long!" she called up to him. Percy's neck began to turn red, and he glared at her then took off down the stairs. When he entered the kitchen from the bottom of the stairs, he saw she'd climbed around to the other side of the table across from him. "What took you so long?" she taunted.

"Give me back my notes!" Percy shouted at her. All the yelling and stomping around was drawing everyone in from the snowy garden. They all stared in shock as Tsunami waved the papers at him across the table.

"What Percy?" Tsunami asked him. "Irked that I have you're precious papers? Afraid I could do this . . . " Tsunami took the two papers. A tearing sound was heard. Percy stared in shock. Tsunami burst into laughter. "Gotcha!" she exclaimed, holding up the paper, still intact. Percy's neck turned even redder from embarrassment and anger.

"You little--!" he exclaimed, beginning to run around the table. Tsunami grinned and headed towards the family room. They circled the couch a couple times, Tsunami laughing her head off, Percy cursing at her while trying to catch her. Finally Tsunami stopped by the fireplace, holding the papers about an inch away from the fire. Harry, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys had come in to watch the spectacle. Percy turned pale.

"You wouldn't . . .?" he asked. Tsunami glared at him. Her mood seemed to have suddenly changed.

"You wanna test that theory?" she asked in a saccharine sweet voice, moving the papers a millimeter closer to the fire. Percy froze. "See, the thing about you, Percy, is you spend so much time trying to make your family proud of you, that you're totally blind to the fact that all your attempts are only making them worry." Percy stared at her.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" he sputtered. Tsunami's glare intensified.

"Bullshit." she said, and heard Mrs. Weasley gasp. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Percy Weasley." Percy glared at her, his lip lifting slightly in a snarl. "Good Percy. Get mad at me. Show some emotion. I'm sure it's a first for you." Tsunami spat nastily, deliberately baiting him.

"Tsunami . . . " Mrs. Weasley stepped forward to stop her, but a hand on her shoulder made her pause. Mr. Weasley was staring at Tsunami and Percy fixedly.

"Hold on Molly." he said. "Let her talk. I think she knows what she's doing."

"You don't know anything about me . . . you can't know what I'm thinking." Percy growled, having not heard his mother or father.

"Maybe not." Tsunami admitted. "But I sure can read your aura just fine." Percy, along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Charley, frowned. "Yes, that's right. I think you've figured it out. I'm an aurasee. And I can see your aura just fine. And it's dimming. Do you know what that shows, Percy?" Percy shook his head numbly in the negative.

"It means a person's soul is fading." Fred, or George, whichever one, answered.

"Right." Tsunami agreed. "And I think I know why yours is. When a person's soul is unused, the person slowly wastes away, without even knowing it. Soon all you're left with is an empty shell. A person without a soul. And that's what you're becoming." Tsunami told him. Percy shook his head in disbelief. "You may not believe it, but it's true. And it's happening because you're giving up all activity to work. A soul can stand that for only so many years, otherwise it begins to waste away. A soul needs to be exercised, Perce. It needs to be let loose, to have fun." Tsunami's voice had turned less mad and had turned sadder. "You really want these notes?" she asked, holding up the notes.

"Yes." Percy growled, putting down the urge to say 'no'.

"Stubborn, stubborn." Tsunami sighed. "Fine. I guess you pushed me to it." She moved the notes back towards the fire, and made a move to throw them in.

"No!" Percy shouted. Tsunami paused and looked at him in mild interest. "Alright. What do you want?"

"I want you to take the rest of the day off." Tsunami said. Percy stared at her.

"But think of all the work-"

"That can wait." Tsunami finished. "You're choice Perce. Either you take the rest of the day off and play with the boys and I and Hermione and Ginny if they want to, or your precious notes go into the fire." Percy seemed to be fighting a very hard eternal battle. "It's up to you." Tsunami moved the notes even closer to the flames until they almost caught on fire.

"Alright!" Percy exclaimed, and Tsunami raised an eyebrow at him. "Alright! Fine! I'll take the rest of the day off!" Tsunami eyed him suspiciously.

"No work. Not a mention of it!" Tsunami warned.

"I know!" Percy growled. Tsunami grinned girlishly again.

"Promise?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes! I promise!" Percy exclaimed.

"Good!" Tsunami said, and tossed the notes into the fire. Percy's jaw dropped.

"B-b-but y-you said-!" he exclaimed. Tsunami stared at him innocently.

"You actually don't think those were the real notes, did you? The real ones are still up in your room! I just hid them in your bookcase while you were getting up from falling on the floor." she said innocently. Bill and Charley burst into laughter, and Fred and George grinned proudly. Percy, on the other hand, looked as if he was about to blow up. "Uh . . . you did, did you?" Tsunami asked nervously.

"You are so dead!" Percy shouted, lunging for her. Tsunami ducked out of the way of his arm and sprinted towards the front door. She hurriedly slipped into her snow boots, sending a glance over her shoulder at Percy, who was quickly coming down the hall. Her boots finally on, she grabbed her coat off the hook and practically flew out the door. Percy skidded to a stop right at the door, then struggled into his snow boots, swearing softly as he did so. Finally he grabbed his coat off the hook, noticing his twin brothers already had their boots and coats on and were opening the door. Percy ran out the door after them, and was promptly hit with a face full of snow. He sputtered, wiping the snow out of his eyes and off his glasses. When he could finally see again, he spotted the twins and Tsunami laughing their heads off at him.

Still wiping the snow out of his eyes, Percy stood, forming a snowball in his hand and chucked it as Fred. Unfortunately for Fred, he didn't notice in time and got a snowball in the face that sent him back into the snow. He sat up, coughing and sputtering. Tsunami chucked another snowball at Percy, but this time he was ready, ducking out of the way.

Harry ran out into the snow, gathered a snowball in his fist, then lobed it as hard has he could at Percy. Percy gave a yelp as the snowball hit his back, sending cold snow down his shirt. He turned, and his eyes, twinkling, landed on Harry.

"Alright Potter. You've done it now!" he said, forming a snowball in his hands. He then threw it at Harry, who ducked out of the way. The snowball flew over his head, giving Ron a face full of snow.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, spitting out snow and wiping it off his face.

"'Tis the season for giving!" Percy shouted. "Look Ron! I just gave you a face full of snow!"

"Oh, are you gonna get it!" Ron exclaimed, quickly forming a snowball. But before he could straighten to throw it at his brother, a huge chunk of snow was stuffed down his shirt. He straightened with a yelp, turning to face the one that had done the dastardly deed while trying to clean out his shirt at the same time. To his surprise, he found his brown haired girlfriend and Ginny laughing hysterically at him. He started towards Hermione and Ginny, the snowball in his hand raised. The two girls shrieked and began to run.

They didn't finish their snowball fight until lunch.

--- ~* ~*

They all came in, rosy-cheeked and bright-eyed, to warm soup and hot chocolate for lunch. They all laughed and talked, letting themselves warm up a bit.

"Well? What do we want to do next?" Hermione asked. Tsunami lazily stretched her arms over her head.

"I say we should play a board game." she suggested.

"How about Risk?" Percy suggested. "I really like that game."

"That's because it's the only game you're good at." George teased, and Percy's neck began to turn a dull red.

"What about you George? What do you want to play?" Tsunami asked.

"Monopoly." George replied.

"That's because it's the only game you're good at." Percy told him. Tsunami smiled. Oh yes, things were going her way. Tsunami leaned back on the couch, and content to watch Percy argue with George the rest of the night about what game they were going to play.

************ Preview of the next chapter (Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas):

The doorbell rang, breaking merrily in on their lunch.

"I'll get it!" Fred and George announced in unison, hopping up from their seats. Tsunami listened intently, confused and distinctly curious as to what the twins were up to. She thought she vaguely heard voices that sounded strangely familiar, and she strained harder to hear them. As she did, though, Fred came striding back into the room, a grin of confidence on his face.

"Tsunami!" he said in a singsong voice. "I have a surprise for you!" Tsunami warily raised an eyebrow at him, but rose and walked over to him. "Well? C'mon! Close your eyes . . ."

"Why do I have a really bad feeling about this?" Tsunami asked Fred, as his palms covered her eyes.

"Oh, don't worry. It's not that bad." Fred assured her. Tsunami felt George's aura getting closer, as well as two familiar auras that she hadn't seen in a long time. She smiled. "Oh, well, I guess you've figured it out then." Fred sighed. "You probably felt their auras." Fred lifted his hands from her eyes and Tsunami's face split into a grin. She walked up to her friends in the doorway, still grinning all the while.

"Kat! Trunks! What are you doing here?"

(Author's Note- Sorry the Christmas Sequence is taking so long, guys. I just have a lot I want to fit in. I'm writing about Christmas in July . . . what a cliché.)