Percy paced slowly up and down the corridor, thinking how much he needed to
talk to a counselor, when a door appeared to his right. He walked up to
it, took a deep breath, turned the knob, and entered the Room of
Requirement, where it had been decided his counseling sessions would be
held. Three of the four chairs in the room were occupied by his parents
and a friendly-looking man he'd never before seen, probably the counselor.
Dumbledore had informed him that his parents' presence had been requested
at the first meeting to give the man --Percy could not remember his name--
a greater understanding of his background and history and help him to
conclude what might have led up to that point. He sat down in the empty
chair, and the strange man spoke. "Hello, Percy. My name is Mr.
Whiddock," ...Whiddock, that was it... "I work at the Hogsmeade branch of
St. Mungo's Psychiatric Department, and I'm here to talk to you and help
you overcome some of the problems you may be facing in your life right
now." "Hello," ventured Percy, still a bit nervous. He'd never much liked
talking to people, especially about his feelings and such. Mr. Whiddock
continued. "I've invited your parents to come and help answer some
questions about your background so I can get to know you better, Percy."
Percy just nodded.
"We'll start with some questions about your family life... What's life been like for you at home, Percy?" He wasn't sure how to respond. "I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean," he stated candidly. "Well," pursued Mr. Whiddock, "What is the atmosphere like? Do you have any siblings? What are your relationships with family members like?" "Oh." He wasn't even sure if you could call his dealings with his family "relationships". "I have six siblings; two older brothers, three younger and one sister, also younger." "And what are their names? How old are they?" "Ah, there's Bill, he's 23; Charlie, who's 21; Fred and George --they're twins-- are 15; Ron is 13, and Ginny is 12." "Hmmm." Mr. Whiddock had been taking notes the whole time.. "So, Bill and Charlie --those are the oldest?-- are they out of the house?" "Yes, Bill works for Gringotts as a cursebreaker in Egypt, and Charlie works with dragons in Romania." "Were you very close to them?" "Not really, no. They were both nice to me, always, but they preferred to play with each other, Quidditch and things..." "Do you play Quidditch?" Percy laughed dryly at that. "No, I don't fancy breaking any bones. I'm no good for sports, anyway." Another "Hmmm" followed by, "And your younger siblings?" Percy rolled his eyes. "The twins are... how to put this... not very tolerant of me, I suppose. Ron and Ginny were close like Charlie and Bill. Not much room for me in their social structure, and I didn't see any need to make room." "What do you feel Fred and George didn't tolerate in you?" He thought for a short minute trying to come up with the best words. "My.. well, my bookishness, for one thing. They never cared to learn, not like I did, like I always have. And when I made Prefect 5th year they harassed me endlessly for it. I think what they can't put up with is the simple fact that I enforce the rules, their mortal enemies. They don't see the inherent value in any kind of law and order and prefer to cause mass chaos, which is inevitably my duty to clean up," he uttered grudgingly.
"Do you have any comments, Arthur? Molly? Anything that you think might help me?" Both shook their heads. Mr. Whiddock nodded and scribbled more vigorously on his notepaper. "These questions are for you two. Now, what do each of you do for a living?" "I work in the Misuse of Muggle artifacts Office, and Molly stays at home." "Have you noticed a change in Percy's behavior?" "Well," Molly began, "he was always up in his room reading when he was younger, and when he came home from school during the summer he kept to himself a lot too. He's never been much of a people-person, and we didn't think it mattered. That's just how he was. He never interacted much with anyone else, so there was really no chance for anyone to notice if a change had occurred."
"Ah. So you don't know that much about Percy. What about you? Just his family in general. Is there any history of mental illness in your family?" Arthur frowned. "Well, Aunt Edna, Percy's great-aunt, she... committed suicide. Poisoned herself. The twins have ADHD, and Ron has ADD. It's possible Percy could have ADD too." Yes, they'd mentioned that to him about Ron, but never the twins. He'd have tried not to be so harsh on them if he'd known... and apparently it was possible for Percy himself to have it. That was odd. They'd never said anything... "So besides Edna, are there any other family members that have died in Percy's memory?" "My father George," said Molly, "He died when Percy was less than three months old. Percy was the last grandchild he ever met." Percy knew about this too; there was a picture in a small frame on his mother's bedside table of Grandpa George holding his at the ripe old age of one month. That's who George had been named after. Fred was named after his father's father. Everyone up until Ron and Ginny had been named after some member of the family history. Percy was named after his great-uncle Percival (married, ironically, to Edna) who had gotten very high up in the Ministry, and in whose footsteps Percy wished to follow.
"Hmmm, yes." Mr. Whiddock took more notes. "Now, has either of you been married before?" At last, a safe question. Percy could finally rest easy. Of course neither of them had been married before. They had always been the perfect couple, ever faithful and true. He leaned back in his chair to wait for the inevitable answer in the negative... "Yes." What? Surely he'd been mistaken, he just hadn't heard right. His father hadn't just said... "Which one of you?" asked Mr. Whiddock. Arthur continued, "Me." No. No no no no no. It wasn't true. It just couldn't be. And yet... it must be, and it was. "You are divorced now, is that correct?" "Yes, we divorced three months after marriage, without children. I was only nineteen when we were married, and didn't know what I was doing... It was over a year and a half after the divorce that I met and married his beautiful mother here." Molly blushed and giggled. Percy sat and stared in shock. He realized what he was doing and tried to act relaxed, but inside he was panicking that some sign of his true thoughts would surface. He had to show complete support to his parents if he hoped to get it in return.
He didn't remember much of the rest of the meeting, except that he agreed to come back next week at the same time and place. He got up from the chair and walked out with his parents. As they were about halfway down the hall, Arthur looked at his son and said, "Well, I guess you learned something new today." Percy gulped and smiled, saying "It's okay." Molly added, "We all make mistakes." "Really," Percy insisted, "I don't care. What matters is that you two are happy now. That's all I care about." Molly and Arthur smiled at their son. They were at the dormitory door by now, so Mr. and Mrs. Weasley bid Percy goodbye (with a kiss from his mother that made him blush somewhere into the spectrum of infra-red) and went to their temporary accommodations with Dumbledore. After uttering the password, "Figelus," Percy climbed into the Common Room, and up the stairs to his dormitory. He collapsed onto his bed, put up a silencing charm, and sobbed into his pillow until he fell into an exhausted sleep without dreams.
"We'll start with some questions about your family life... What's life been like for you at home, Percy?" He wasn't sure how to respond. "I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean," he stated candidly. "Well," pursued Mr. Whiddock, "What is the atmosphere like? Do you have any siblings? What are your relationships with family members like?" "Oh." He wasn't even sure if you could call his dealings with his family "relationships". "I have six siblings; two older brothers, three younger and one sister, also younger." "And what are their names? How old are they?" "Ah, there's Bill, he's 23; Charlie, who's 21; Fred and George --they're twins-- are 15; Ron is 13, and Ginny is 12." "Hmmm." Mr. Whiddock had been taking notes the whole time.. "So, Bill and Charlie --those are the oldest?-- are they out of the house?" "Yes, Bill works for Gringotts as a cursebreaker in Egypt, and Charlie works with dragons in Romania." "Were you very close to them?" "Not really, no. They were both nice to me, always, but they preferred to play with each other, Quidditch and things..." "Do you play Quidditch?" Percy laughed dryly at that. "No, I don't fancy breaking any bones. I'm no good for sports, anyway." Another "Hmmm" followed by, "And your younger siblings?" Percy rolled his eyes. "The twins are... how to put this... not very tolerant of me, I suppose. Ron and Ginny were close like Charlie and Bill. Not much room for me in their social structure, and I didn't see any need to make room." "What do you feel Fred and George didn't tolerate in you?" He thought for a short minute trying to come up with the best words. "My.. well, my bookishness, for one thing. They never cared to learn, not like I did, like I always have. And when I made Prefect 5th year they harassed me endlessly for it. I think what they can't put up with is the simple fact that I enforce the rules, their mortal enemies. They don't see the inherent value in any kind of law and order and prefer to cause mass chaos, which is inevitably my duty to clean up," he uttered grudgingly.
"Do you have any comments, Arthur? Molly? Anything that you think might help me?" Both shook their heads. Mr. Whiddock nodded and scribbled more vigorously on his notepaper. "These questions are for you two. Now, what do each of you do for a living?" "I work in the Misuse of Muggle artifacts Office, and Molly stays at home." "Have you noticed a change in Percy's behavior?" "Well," Molly began, "he was always up in his room reading when he was younger, and when he came home from school during the summer he kept to himself a lot too. He's never been much of a people-person, and we didn't think it mattered. That's just how he was. He never interacted much with anyone else, so there was really no chance for anyone to notice if a change had occurred."
"Ah. So you don't know that much about Percy. What about you? Just his family in general. Is there any history of mental illness in your family?" Arthur frowned. "Well, Aunt Edna, Percy's great-aunt, she... committed suicide. Poisoned herself. The twins have ADHD, and Ron has ADD. It's possible Percy could have ADD too." Yes, they'd mentioned that to him about Ron, but never the twins. He'd have tried not to be so harsh on them if he'd known... and apparently it was possible for Percy himself to have it. That was odd. They'd never said anything... "So besides Edna, are there any other family members that have died in Percy's memory?" "My father George," said Molly, "He died when Percy was less than three months old. Percy was the last grandchild he ever met." Percy knew about this too; there was a picture in a small frame on his mother's bedside table of Grandpa George holding his at the ripe old age of one month. That's who George had been named after. Fred was named after his father's father. Everyone up until Ron and Ginny had been named after some member of the family history. Percy was named after his great-uncle Percival (married, ironically, to Edna) who had gotten very high up in the Ministry, and in whose footsteps Percy wished to follow.
"Hmmm, yes." Mr. Whiddock took more notes. "Now, has either of you been married before?" At last, a safe question. Percy could finally rest easy. Of course neither of them had been married before. They had always been the perfect couple, ever faithful and true. He leaned back in his chair to wait for the inevitable answer in the negative... "Yes." What? Surely he'd been mistaken, he just hadn't heard right. His father hadn't just said... "Which one of you?" asked Mr. Whiddock. Arthur continued, "Me." No. No no no no no. It wasn't true. It just couldn't be. And yet... it must be, and it was. "You are divorced now, is that correct?" "Yes, we divorced three months after marriage, without children. I was only nineteen when we were married, and didn't know what I was doing... It was over a year and a half after the divorce that I met and married his beautiful mother here." Molly blushed and giggled. Percy sat and stared in shock. He realized what he was doing and tried to act relaxed, but inside he was panicking that some sign of his true thoughts would surface. He had to show complete support to his parents if he hoped to get it in return.
He didn't remember much of the rest of the meeting, except that he agreed to come back next week at the same time and place. He got up from the chair and walked out with his parents. As they were about halfway down the hall, Arthur looked at his son and said, "Well, I guess you learned something new today." Percy gulped and smiled, saying "It's okay." Molly added, "We all make mistakes." "Really," Percy insisted, "I don't care. What matters is that you two are happy now. That's all I care about." Molly and Arthur smiled at their son. They were at the dormitory door by now, so Mr. and Mrs. Weasley bid Percy goodbye (with a kiss from his mother that made him blush somewhere into the spectrum of infra-red) and went to their temporary accommodations with Dumbledore. After uttering the password, "Figelus," Percy climbed into the Common Room, and up the stairs to his dormitory. He collapsed onto his bed, put up a silencing charm, and sobbed into his pillow until he fell into an exhausted sleep without dreams.
