Fuzzy – Rolls on floor laughing! Thanks!

Duj – Thanks, and yeah, I agree about Umbridge's text!

Silver Mirror – Thank you!

Yeah – yeah, he is!

Kungzone – Don't worry, he will do!

Chapter 3

The next time Percy looked at the clock, it was coming up to eleven o'clock at night. He knew that his mum would kill both him and Ron if she caught them downstairs this late! "Come on, Ron," Percy said. "Let's get to bed, it's almost eleven."

"What?" Ron looked up at the clock, shocked. "When did it get so late?"

Percy chuckled. "Sometime whilst we were talking and doing your homework it appears."

Ron laughed and put the ink and quill back into the draw he had gotten them from and Percy stacked the plates in the sink and began running the water. "You head up to bed," Percy told Ron. "I'll wash these up and I'll see you in the morning, ok?"

"No, Perce, I'll stay and help," Ron insisted.

Percy mock sighed. "As long as you're in bed right after!" he said, sharing a smile with his younger brother.

"And what are you going to do to make sure I am?" Ron teased. "Come and tuck me in?"

"If I have to!" Percy told him and the two shared a laugh and finished putting away the pots.

"What is going on in here?" Molly Weasley demanded, walking into the room. Then she saw both Ron and Percy. "What are you two doing down here at this time? It's eleven o'clock at night! You especially Ronald, should be in bed!"

Ron shot a sideways glance at Percy, who gave him a small smile and a roll of the eyes. Ron grinned back. "I know mum," he answered. "We were both just going up."

"And what were you doing down here anyway?" Molly asked.

"Erm..." Ron started and looked across at Percy again.

"Well?" Molly asked.

"Percy was helping me with my homework and we lost track of time mum," Ron said.

Molly had a disbelieving look on her face and Ron didn't quite manage to stifle a sigh, which both Percy and Molly heard. Molly had a look of shock on her face.

"Apologise, Ron," Percy told him quietly from behind him.

"I'm sorry mum," Ron told her, yet he didn't dare look up.

"And I'm sorry for not believing you," his mum told him, pulling him into a hug. She then pulled out and pulled Percy into the hug as well. "Now bed!" she told them when she finally let them go.

"Yes mum," both Ron and Percy murmured together. Percy took a chance and put his arm around Ron's shoulders to lead him up the stairs. Telling his brother to apologise had also been a chance, since they had only started on the road to making up tonight, but Percy could see that his younger brother was no child anymore. Ron didn't protest and allowed his older brother to lead him up the stairs. Once at Ron's room, Percy removed his arm.

"And here was me thinking that you were going to tuck me in," Ron teased and Percy playfully swatted him on his head.

"Goodnight," Percy said, heading towards his own room.

"Goodnight," Ron responded and Percy was sure that he heard a tone of wistfulness in his brother's voice.

Both Ron and Percy got changed into their pyjamas quickly and then Percy crept back along to his brother's room, just as Ron was climbing into bed. Once Percy entered, both started giggling and Percy quickly tucked Ron into the bed. "Is this house always so cold?" Percy asked.

"Always," Ron told him as he snuggled down into his bed. "I'm too old to be tucked in, really," he then said.

Percy just laughed, and then dared to give his brother a quick kiss on his forehead. "I'll see you in the morning," he told him, as he quickly blew out the candle and slipped out of the room and back down the corridor to his own room.

The next morning, both Ron and Percy slept late. Percy was the first to wake and he dressed and went down to the kitchen automatically, without thinking about it. His mum was in the kitchen, but Professor's Dumbledore and Snape also were. Percy wanted to kick himself for not thinking that order members or other people staying at the house would be in the kitchen. He was just glad that Fred and George weren't in the kitchen, because neither would speak a civil word to him. Not that he blamed them, but he knew that it was upsetting his mum, he could tell that just from the way she scolded the twins for it. Luckily he was saved from any awkward conversations by Ron entering the kitchen, still wearing his pyjamas, but he had a jumper on over the top, it was still cold in the house.

Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore were still talking, but they did look up at the two Weasley brothers now in the kitchen. "A late sleeper, I see, Mister Weasley," Professor Snape commented.

"Well that tends to happened when you're still sat in the kitchen at eleven o'clock at night, doesn't it boys?" Molly interjected.

"Yes mum," Both of them murmured, much like they had last night, both looking suitably chastised.

Ron shared a quick glance with Percy and then quickly looked away. He looked towards the table since there was nowhere else to look and he was greeted with the twinkling eyes of his headmaster and a smirk and a raised eyebrow from his potions professor. He quickly looked back towards Percy, now certain that he could look at his brother and not dissolve into laughter. 'It's at times like this when you wonder why you bother getting up in the morning, isn't it?' Percy mouthed across to him and Ron quickly had to turn a giggle into a cough.

"Are you ok dear?" Molly instantly asked.

"I'm fine mum, honestly," Ron told and shot a glare at Percy, knowing that his brother would know that he didn't mean it.

Unfortunately for him though, his mother saw the glare and misinterpreted it. "Oh, don't tell me that you two are fighting again!" she exclaimed, exasperated. Both Ron and Percy opened their mouths to insist that they weren't fighting but she cut them off. "Well you can both sit at the table until you sort this silly argument out, you were getting along so well last night!"

"But mum..." Percy started to say.

"No buts, from either of you. Now sit!" Molly ordered and both Ron and Percy did as they told. They knew that if they argued back they would be in major trouble and you just didn't argue with their mum when she was in one of these type of moods.

So both Ron and Percy found themselves sat at the kitchen table opposite from Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, whilst their mother was making something or other on the stove behind them. Both of the brothers looked at each other and then looked away, very quickly for fear of laughing and making the situation worse than it already was. This did not however escape the notice of one Professor Severus Snape. "So, what is this argument of yours about?" he asked silkily.

"We aren't arguing," Ron hissed at him. "And even if we were, it would be none of your business!" Professor Snape looked shocked, he had been secretly impressed with Ron's control yesterday, but now the boy had gone and spoilt it.

"Ron," Percy said quietly. "What's wrong? That wasn't like you."

"Nothing's wrong, Perce," Ron said with a sigh.

"Then apologise to Professor Snape immediately," Percy told his younger brother, whilst making a mental note to talk to Ron about what was wrong later, when they were alone. That was if he could get Ron alone and Ron didn't go off at him for making him apologise.

Instead, Ron apologised without a fuss. "I'm sorry Professor Snape," He said, looking at his teacher. "That was very rude of me." Ron then looked towards Percy for approval and was rewarded with a warm smile from his brother. Looking back at Snape, Ron was acknowledged with a slight nod of the head from his teacher.

"Well then," Albus broke the uncomfortable silence that hovered. "I think we're done here then Severus. I'll see you at the Order meeting later I presume?" Severus nodded and then stood up and left without even a backwards glance at the two Weasley brothers still sitting at the kitchen table. "You don't mind if I stay until the Order meeting, do you Molly?" he then asked.

"Of course not," Molly said as she turned around. She then looked at her two sons. "Are you two finished fighting now?" she asked.

"Yes, mum," Ron said and fled the kitchen, back up to his room. Percy looked after him worriedly.

Seeing his mother also looking worried, he said "I'll go and see if he's ok and he left the room and climbed the stairs to Ron's room. He knocked gently on the down. "Can I come in please, Ron?" he asked gently.

He received a muffled "Sure" and opened the door and stepping in to see Ron laid face first across his bed.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked, sitting down next to him.

"I finally get them all to see that I'm not a child anymore and then I go and ruin everything by acting like a complete child!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ron, you remember what I said about everyone making mistakes last night?" Percy asked.

"Yes."

"Well, mum made a mistake this morning when she thought that we were fighting, but no bad has come out of it, has it? You made a mistake this morning when you snapped at Professor Snape, but no bad has come out of that, has it?"

"You had to tell me to apologise," Ron said. "You shouldn't have had to do that. I shouldn't have said what I had at all and I should have apologised instantly."

"Ron, you're sixteen, and whilst yesterday you proved that you're no longer a child, you still have some very strong emotions which go hand-in-hand with growing up," Percy told him. "You won't always act as you did yesterday, but you've got to bounce back. People will let you off for your slips because you are a child in years, even if not one in mind. It is clear to see that what happened in the Department of Mysteries has changed you."

"It is?" Ron asked.

"Yes, it is," Percy, told him. "You've started to see things through a different point of view, you've realised that there is more than the one you know in the safety of Hogwarts Halls. I don't know much about Harry and Hermione, and I've barely seen them, but it does not appeared to have had the same effect on them as it has on you, nor on Ginny. Yes, they are all more aware of the threat, but you have seen that this also comes with doing things that aren't easy, that you don't want to do and that it isn't just about playing the hero."

"I told Professor Dumbledore yesterday that I would cancel Hogsmeade trips when he asked me for my opinion," Ron admitted in a small voice.

"Well, there you go. I doubt that even Hermione would agree with that, she'd just suggest a teacher escort or something," Percy said.

"But the teacher's can't protect everyone!" Ron exclaimed.

"Hey, I know, I agree with you on that one, but what I'm trying to say is that Hermione won't see it like that. Because Hermione's so intelligent she thinks that she'll be able to protect herself because she knows so many spells and thinks that what happened in the Department of Mysteries to her was a fluke and that she only couldn't defend herself because what was cast on her was a dark curse."

"Oh," Ron said.

"Indeed," Percy told him with a smile. "Now why don't you get dressed and we can go down and see if mum will give us something to eat before lunch since we haven't even had breakfast yet!"

"Okay," Ron said as Percy left the room. When Ron had changed and came out he found Percy sat on the stairs waiting for him. "Thanks for taking time to explain that to me," Ron said to him.

"Well, what type of older brother would I be if I didn't?" Percy asked.

"Not a very good one!" Ron joked and the two entered the kitchen laughing. No one was in the kitchen so Percy poured them both glasses of pumpkin juice and Ron found some cookies in the biscuit tin and the two sat down for their snack.

Molly entered a little while later and shook her head. "I don't think that I'll ever understand you two!"

"We weren't fighting earlier, mum," Percy told her. "We were only joking on, no harm was meant out of it."

Molly looked shocked. "Oh. I'm sorry dears," she apologised.

"It's ok mum," Ron told her. "Everyone makes mistakes and ends up apologising. You'll make mistakes again, I'll make mistakes again, everyone will make mistakes again and we'll all end up apologising."

"That's very wise," Arthur said as he entered the kitchen.

"Dad!" Percy exclaimed as he was taking by surprise by his father's voice.

"Don't do that dad!" Ron told him. "You almost gave me a heart attack! Mind you, I should probably expect to be attacked in this house!"

"Hello Arthur dear. How was work? Lunch won't be ready for a while, I'm afraid," Molly told him.

"That's ok," Arthur said as he sat down and told a swipe out of Percy's drink. Percy very quickly reclaimed his drink, causing Ron to laugh.

"And yeah, Dad," Ron began. "Someone very wise did say that to me." Percy started, but both Molly and Arthur looked at their youngest son expectantly. "My brother told me it," Ron said, smiling at Percy. Percy smiled back, but he knew that his cheeks were going pink.

"Indeed," Arthur said with a smile and he began to say something else when a loud shrieking was heard.

"I hate that portrait!" Ron groaned. "But I guess we'll just have to live with it."

Fred, George and Ginny entered the kitchen. On seeing Percy the twins froze and their looks became instantly cold. "We'll be eating in our room and then going straight back to the shop mum," Fred said. "We're really busy. You joining us Ginny?" Ginny nodded and the three left for the twins' room.

Percy just looked down at his hands, trying to ignore the obvious snipe at him, after all, being really busy had nothing to do with eating in their own room, and at the same time he was telling himself that he deserved the jibe.

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