Year One, Part Five: Percy's Very Bad Horrible Day
Now, to be fair, I love Snape. He's just so mean and nasty and dark that I find it very sexy, greasy hair and large nose notwithstanding. But he's a right bastard here. Lets just assume he's having a very very bad day as well. I don't know, maybe Lucius isn't putting out or something…
Poor Percy…he has some serious self-worth issues that we see the beginning of here.
Percy was having an outstanding bad day.
It'd started when he woke up late and had to run into Transfigurations class thirty minutes late, robe and tie-less, with his vest backwards and his hair all over the place. He'd been subject to snickers and pointing from the first year Slytherins but that was pretty far from something new. He was used to it and so had studiously ignored them, refusing to rise to the obvious bait.
However the way Oliver had neither defended him as he was prone to do or joined in had stung more than a thousand people staring and laughing ever could. Oliver was his friend whereas those other people…they were just people. They didn't matter any but Oliver just…ignored him. Turned away when he sat next to him and anything he said was met with a cold silence.
He would have preferred to have Oliver laughing and pointing to ignoring him. The taunting left him boiling but the silence left him strangely cold inside. He would have liked the heat over the chill any day of the week.
Things had gotten steadily worse from there. His ink bottle had leaked all over his essays for Potions and Charms. Flitwick was willing to wait a day for the essay but Snape had not only given him a zero but had taken ten points for Gryffindor for carelessness and not knowing a proper clean up spell. And then another five points for not having his robe.
Then he'd had to miss lunch so he could redo his essay for Flitwick and he was now starving. He hadn't eaten all day, hadn't been to supper yet and wasn't entirely sure he really wanted to go and face his house having lost fifteen points. They'd been tied with Slytherin the night before and now they were probably just behind Ravenclaw and it was his fault.
History of Magic hadn't really gone any better. He'd been so worn out from the day thus far that Binns had put him straight to sleep and he hadn't taken any notes on Merlin or Camelot and now was going to have to go back to the library soon and get information so he wouldn't fall behind.
But really he didn't mind all of that. Any other time he could have gone back to the dorm and sat in his room and listened to Oliver talk excitedly about the Quidditch practice he'd just seen and how happy his friend was would wipe out his own miserable day. Oliver was good at infecting others with his mood and Percy kind of…relied on that.
But Oliver was still mad at him and Percy couldn't understand why. It wasn't like he'd told some kind of huge lie, it had just been a tiny fib. He hadn't want Oliver mad of course but he really hadn't wanted to go out and he hadn't wanted to hurt Oliver's feelings. Besides his mum had always told him that sometimes a little white lie was okay to tell.
Since he hadn't wanted to hurt Oliver's feelings and he hadn't done anything but gone back to the dorm go to sleep couldn't this constitute a little white lie?
So wrapped up in his thoughts was he that he collided with a very solid figure. He almost fell backwards onto the ground but a cold and slightly clammy hand gripped his arm and held him upright. He looked up then swallowed. Professor Snape, the most feared teacher in Hogwarts and, arguably, all of the Northern Hemisphere.
Black eyes burned into him and he couldn't help but let out a tiny squeak of fear. His brothers had told him more than once not to let Snape bother him but he found he couldn't help but feel the urge to scream like a girl and run away.
"Mr. Weasley what, if you don't mind me inquiring, are you doing so far from the Gryffindor dorm?"
"I…um… got lost?"
Snape arched a thin eyebrow at him. "You got lost?"
"Yes?" He squeaked.
Snape didn't look at all amused. "You either are lost or you aren't. It's not an overly complex question and I'd think you could at least begin to comprehend it." Percy blinked and looked around in a panic. He didn't recognize any of the portraits or statues lining the walls so he was definitely lost.
"I'm lost." He said meekly.
Black eyes narrowed. "The incompetence of first years never ceases to amaze me. Even the exceptional ones insist on expressing stupidity on a consistent basis. Come with me."
Percy nodded silently and followed after the man, entirely too afraid to do anything else. It only took a few moments for Snape to lead him to the Great Hall. The Potions Master turned and sneered at him and Percy felt his cheeks flaming as some of the other students slowed down (And in the case of some Slytherins stopped and stared out right.)
"Would I be correct in assuming, Mr. Weasley, that you'll be able to find your way back to your dorm without getting lost again, or would you like me to guide you the rest of the way?"
Percy bit his bottom lip hard and nodded again. He took a step back and, careful to avoid the eyes of his fellow students, took off at a run for his dorm. His eyes were burning but it was different from the way they burned when he'd been reading too long or focusing too hard on something. This was the type of burning when his mother punished him, rare though those occasions were.
And he was determined to not cry in the hallway. It was bad enough Snape had made him looking like an idiot and a baby in front of the rest of the school…crying would only make it that much worse. And really he didn't want to cry but he just felt so…exposed.
He just knew everyone was laughing and talking about him.
He could just see his brothers shaking their heads in disgust and Oliver laughing at him with his other, normal friends.
And then he was, for the second time that day, crashing into someone. He fell this time and hit the ground with an audible thud. A bolt of pain ran up his arm from his elbow and his hand burned fiercely. He stared at his hand for a moment and took in the way his hand had been scratched up in the fall.
That was it, the last straw. It didn't really hurt that much but he just couldn't take this day anymore. He wanted to go home and curl up in his mother's lap and at the moment he wasn't even ashamed to think like that.
He was just tired.
He bowed his head, covering his face with his hands, and started crying. He was sure he looked like a total idiot at the moment but he didn't feel like he could do anything else but cry at the moment, no matter how girly or stupid it made him look.
"Percy?"
Percy groaned and curled up onto himself. "Go 'way Oliver."
"You're in the middle of the hallway crying." Oliver pointed out calmly. "I can't very well just leave you out here can I? I'd be a lousy friend if I did that."
"You aren't my friend."
"…I'm not? Since when?"
"You won't even talk to me!"
He wasn't yelling, he wasn't yelling, he wasn't yelling and he wasn't crying harder. Nope. He wasn't. This was so humiliating.
Oliver was silent for a moment then warm hands were on his arms and hauling him up. He sniffled but allowed himself to be lead by Oliver. They walked to the tower and, after Oliver gave the password to The Fat Lady, through the common room. Percy was glad to find the Common Room was devoid of all signs of life and no one else could see him like this.
Oliver set him down on his bed then climbed up after him. Percy sighed, curled up around his pillow, and watched his friend through clumped eyelashes. Oliver's feet were dangling over the edge and his hands were folded in his lap and he looked more serious than Percy could recall ever seeing. He decided he didn't like seeing Oliver so serious.
It didn't suit him.
"I'm sorry I wasn't talking to you and let all of those idiots say that stuff about you." Oliver picked at a loose thread in his robe and Percy had to quell the urge to reach over and make him stop it. His mother hated that sort of thing but at the same time Oliver probably wouldn't have to hand his robes down through a bunch of younger brothers.
"It's okay."
"No it's not. I just did it to make you mad." Oliver muttered. "And…you know…because I knew you wouldn't like it."
"I deserved it."
"No you didn't." Oliver glared at him and Percy looked away. He couldn't even apologize properly. "You… I was just…look, Percy, don't lie to me. If you don't want to do something say so and that's fine. I don't mind. But I don't like liars. I can't really…tell you why. But I don't like it."
"Okay." Percy said without hesitation. If that's what Oliver wanted then he was pretty sure he could manage it. No more lies. Oliver smiled at him then tilted his head off to the side.
"So what happened?"
"Happened?" Percy repeated. Oliver nodded then made a vague gesture.
"Yeah. What made you…you know."
Percy smiled slightly at the uncomfortable look Oliver had on his face. At least he wasn't the only one who wasn't exactly enjoying this. Then he held his pillow tighter and began retelling his entire day in detail, carefully omitting the parts about Oliver's constant silence throughout the day.
When he was finished Oliver was staring at him, an oddly calculating look in his eyes. Percy opened his mouth to ask what was going on in Oliver's head but the other boy jumped up and flashed him a bright smile.
"I'm going to go to the kitchen and see if I can get us something to eat. You stay here, okay?"
Percy nodded then watched as Oliver walked out. He was all too happy to not have to leave the dorm and, to be brutally honest, wouldn't terribly mind never leaving again.
Without really meaning to Percy drifted off to sleep before Oliver returned and wasn't able to ask the other boy about that weird look he'd been wearing.
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Dream Weaver: How they're separate from everyone else is a definite theme in this story, so it's good that you can see the difference in their relationship already. As they get older it's important to how they act.
PWeatherby: No people skills… It's true, he has none what so ever. It's sad but…endearing.
Brien: I was temporarily unmotivated but I am again. And so here we go. Oliver is…something. What I'm not sure. But something.
Mugs: You hurt Percy! I should sic Oliver on you…He'd probably beat you up you know. He's very protective.
Santurion: The end! No my dear…it's only the beginning! Scary thought, right?
Wiccan: I think I'm back into the swing of things now, so the next part should be up within a few weeks.
Ookami: They aren't complex, the situations around them are complex. We must understand the difference…
Sheep: You're depressed and have dangerously low self-esteem? …huh. Interesting.
Ruby: Yeah. Percy doesn't get much love. There are what, maybe five pages of P/O stuff? It's just not right… Glad you like it.
Nay: Welll….no. This is my baby, my epic and…well, just because nothing happens with the couple until later doesn't mean you shouldn't be interested or that things should be rushed. It's supposed to be a slow and sweet build up, where development and growing are the key points.
International: Ah, you picked up on 'Jamie' being unisex. Is Jamie a Jamie, or is Jamie a James…questions questions. You'll find out soon enough, after all Bill is brining Jamie home this Christmas.
Treana: Your suggestion has been noted. Thanks for it, I like constructive reviews. And Percy is cute…kind of. In that geeky way that I, personally, love so much.
Faith: I agree completely. Something in Percy's personality has always screamed 'Slytherin' to me and somehow I believe his family has something to do with him being a Gryffindor. He just seems…almost out of place. Not totally, as I'm sure some kind of courage and selflessness lie within…but still. Out of place.
JD: Since you asked so nicely.
Crouching: Well, I'm gay and I wasn't 'aware' of it until I was 14 (He says as if he's so much older now) so no…no on is going to realize they're gay at 11. Most people don't even begin to realize they're sexual until they're around 12 so…
Mechante: As you should. Not liking Percy…shame on you. I love Percy. Not as much as I love Wally or Jou or Richie, but he's a strong fourth. (And really, what more can you hope for with those three as competition…) And if you say I did well with Oliver I'll take your word for it. You've read enough of my stuff to know. Heh.
