A/N: Recovering as fast as I can with modern medicine. Also, I've decided to announce that Astoria will now be the official mascot of this story. Don't like it? Well...just like it. Pretty please?
If you want to talk to me or just want to find more Haphne stories, the discord code is: discord 'dot' gg/pKSdvJQvhU. Also found in my profile!
Replace the dot with a "." after copying and pasting into your browser. Or just use the bolded letters at the end to put directly into the discord join.
I sometimes hang around there, but if you want my attention you'd probably have to ping me. My at is ComboSoilder.
Just to reiterate from chapter 1, Hogwarts starts at 13, meaning 5th years (Percy/Penelope) are essentially 17 years old and also the adult age in the wizarding world.
And no, Sirius is not Harry's father. I really need to clarify that. That's just...more drama on whatever absurd amount of drama this story already has lol.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any works by J.K Rowling.
Chapter 16
1 Month Later - October
Percy Weasley casually deflected another spell from the Potter boy.
"Slow." Was all he said.
Another spell came. He didn't even bother to attempt to deflect, but rather he took it straight in the chest.
It didn't even faze him.
"Too weak."
Percy raised his wand and sent a stunner straight at Harry, knocking him over.
"Have you learned nothing?" Percy grumbled.
"Expelliarmus!"
Percy's wand flew out of his hand, but he managed to quickly grab ahold of it, quickly turning it towards the caster.
Percy raised a shield as another spell flew at him. "Protego!"
"Enervate!"
Penelope's voice echoed into the fight. "Good!" She called from the side. "There's two of you! Use that to your advantage!"
Spells were now coming from 2 directions, one from Daphne, and the other from the refreshed Potter.
That didn't really deter Percy very much. Instead, he held strong to the spell and watched the two younger students carefully.
Eventually they started to tire, and Percy saw an opening.
He quickly lowered the shield and fired a leg locker jinx at Daphne, causing her to slip. Percy then immediately turned towards Harry who was startled, and shot a pimple jinx straight at him.
"Furnunculus!"
And just like that, the fight had ended. Penelope immediately rushed to Daphne's aide, as she was closer to the girl, and Percy slowly approached Harry.
"I seriously wonder if anything I'm teaching you is getting through, Potter." Percy growled.
Harry let out a groan and slowly got up. "When are you going to stop calling me that?" Harry complained.
"Until you can best me."
Penelope slowly came from the side, holding onto a slightly wobbly Daphne. After a few moments when Daphne was able to stand normally, she shrugged Penelope off and snapped at the older girl.
"I'm fine!" Daphne snapped.
Penelope had a hurt look on her face, but she still managed to give Percy a small smile.
"Why don't you fix Harry up?" Penelope asked softly. "Then we can call it a night."
Percy only shrugged. "No idea how."
Penelope narrowed her gaze at him. "Seriously? You don't know how?"
"Nope." He said, popping the 'P'.
Percy caught Harry muttering quietly. "What an ass."
Penelope groaned in frustration. But before she could say anything else, Daphne had already grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him away.
"It's fine," Daphne grumbled. "I'll just take Harry to Poppy. I have some stuff to grab there anyways."
"See you Penny!" Harry called.
The door to the Room of Requirements slammed shut, leaving the older student couple alone with each other.
Percy felt Penelope's hand lightly slap him at the back of his neck, eliciting a yelp from him.
"Ow!" Percy winced. "What was that for?"
"Can't you lay off Harry just for a second?" Penelope asked furiously. "It's been a month and the two of you have been at each other's throat the entire time!"
"It's not my fault he's not getting it!" Percy argued.
"He has been getting it! Slowly! You can't just expect him to knock you out of a duel within a month!"
"Well he should! Harry Potter, born into a rich and famous family, should completely obliterate bottom feeding Percy Weasley and rags into nothingness with a few swishes of his hand!"
Penelope scoffed at him. "Is that what this is really about? You're still going on about that?"
"It is how it is, Penny."
"And for the millionth time, Perce, he didn't grow up like that!"
"Another thing we disagree on," Percy said curtly. "Besides, it's not like you're doing so well with Daphne either."
Penelope let out a sigh, as she slumped onto one of the couches in the room. Percy soon followed, sitting next to her with his arm around her neck.
"She's been angry ever since I told you," Penelope pouted. "Daphne just ignores me now, even when I try talking to her!"
"She'll come around," Percy muttered. "If I can't stay mad at you, how can she?"
Penelope rolled her eyes. "That's because we've known each other for ages!" She exclaimed. "I can't even get mad at you!"
"It really has been a long time, huh?" Percy mused. His eyes suddenly widened at a realization. "Speaking of long time…Penny, it's tomorrow isn't it?"
"…shoot!" Penny mumbled. "You'll come with me right?"
"You know I always do."
"Good. Then let's go to sleep. I really don't feel like walking all the way back…especially with tomorrow on my mind."
Percy raised an eyebrow. "In here? We're breaking so many rules just by doing this."
"Oh please," Penelope waved her hand. "Just for tonight without that. And if you want to get technical, we're breaking rules tomorrow as well."
"Penny, I promised you that I'd do whatever it took for you to become Minister," Percy said. "You know I just got accepted into the Ministry…if a teacher catches me here…the rules-"
"I know," Penelope mumbled, cuddling closer to him. "But you're already leaving 2 years early. I want you to spend time with me, Perce…"
Percy thought for a few seconds, but Penelope's puppy face pout was really getting to him. Eventually, he did concede.
"Fine…" he sighed. "But we can't do this too many times. And I hope you come up with an alibi for me tomorrow."
Penelope grinned, and then turned their couch into a bed with the Room of Requirement. Both of their clothes suddenly transformed into nightwear.
"Love you, Perce," she whispered, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek before turning in for bed.
"Anyone else asking me to break rules…" Percy muttered. "But when you ask me, Penny…only you…."
＊＊＊
Daphne watched as Harry laid on the hospital bed with an annoyed look on his face.
"Did he really have to?" Harry complained.
Daphne did her best to hold in her laughter, but couldn't help but curve her lips into a small smirk.
"I think you look cute with those pimples," Daphne commented.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh, make fun of me now. But when you get hit by one of these…"
Daphne put a hand to her chest, pretending to be hurt. "Me? Make fun of you? I'm just stating what Tori already thinks!"
Harry looked confused for a second, but then he smiled when Daphne went inside Poppy's office to pull Astoria out.
"Papa!" Astoria cried, jumping onto him. Then she frowned slightly when she saw the pimples on Harry's face. "Um, what happened to you, papa?"
"An ass with a wand, that's what!" Harry cursed.
"Language, mister!" Daphne scolded. "Not around Tori!"
"Sorry…"
Poppy then emerged from her own office following Astoria. She held a clipboard in her hand and went over to show Daphne.
"Your girl's health is in decent condition," Poppy said. "The only thing I would recommend is a more diverse diet and some time outside. More vegetables and fruits, and the time outside would seriously get her the vitamin D she needs. Otherwise we could get her supplements for that."
Daphne groaned. "It's Harry's fault for always letting her eat whatever she wants," Daphne complained. "Honestly! All she has to do is ask and he gives in!"
"Not always…" Astoria mumbled from the bed with Harry.
"99% of the time, young lady." Daphne countered.
Harry just did his best to hide under the covers, but Daphne glared at him even harder when he tried to shrink away. He tried to give Daphne a charming smile but Poppy apparently decided they didn't have time for this and dropped the bomb on him.
"This is the third time this month, Harry." Poppy grumbled. "I'm not treating you this time! Daphne, we're going to have a mini test right now! You're going to be treating him."
"Huh? She's going to be treating me?" Harry whined. "Daphne? You've done this before right? With this specific jinx?"
"Poppy only taught me the theory," Daphne smiled evilly. "There's a first time for everything though!"
Harry turned towards Poppy with a pleading look on his face.
"Come on, Poppy." Harry pleaded. "This is the last time, I promise!"
Poppy sighed, and just walked over to a table at the corner of the hospital wing.
"Even if I wanted to, I can't. I have to finish this first." Poppy said. "Last month our groundskeeper found a bunch of roosters dead on the Hogwarts grounds. Apparently there is some creature we haven't been able to identify going around eating up all our roosters."
"So that's what you've been doing," Daphne realized, looking over at Poppy. She watched as Poppy swabbed what appeared to be pieces of some animal.
"Any roosters that we leave outside just end up in a bloody mess," Poppy explained. "And if we leave someone to watch over them, nothing comes out! It's as if the creature knows…well, anyways…get to it, Daphne."
"Right." Daphne nodded, pulling out her wand. "Tori, I need you to get off Harry."
"But you're going to do bad things to him, mama!" Astoria whined.
"It'll only be bad if you get in the way," Daphne scowled. "Now hop off so I can make papa better. Unless you want to be kissing his cheek with all those disgusting pimples on his face!"
Astoria turned around to get a better look at his face, before scrunching up her own.
"Ewwww! No thanks!" Astoria blanched, quickly hopping off the bed.
"You turned her against me…" Harry muttered with a horrified expression on his face.
"Just hold still and let me perform the spell!"
After a few botched tries later, each of them enlarging the already large pimples, Daphne eventually managed to get rid of the jinx. Poppy gave him one last look over before she cleared him.
"Oh, that reminds me," Poppy said before they took their leave. She thrusted a few potions into Harry's hand and gave him a few papers.
"I want you to keep taking those every day," Poppy said. "It's only been a week since the lung transplant, so we'll still need those to stabilize it. And please try to avoid too many physical activists, okay? I left some additional instructions for you in my notes, so be sure to follow them!"
Harry gratefully took the potions and gave the healer a smile. "Thank you for everything with the lung, Poppy," Harry said. "I'll try not to move too much, but I can't promise."
Poppy sighed. "That's the best I can hope for, I guess."
"Thanks for teaching me everything too!" Daphne waved. "I'll see you sometime next week, Poppy!"
The three of them thanked Poppy and said their goodbyes to head back to Ravenclaw Tower.
Before they left, Harry managed to cast the spell Penelope created for hiding Astoria. They carefully and hurriedly went through the castle to get back to Ravenclaw Tower.
"So, Daphne," Harry started when they were walking.
Daphne turned to him with a curious look on her face, silently telling him to go on.
"I noticed you were still a bit angry at Penny…" Harry said.
"I am angry at her," Daphne growled.
"Come on, Daphne. It's been a month. She's helped us out quite a bit. Can't you just drop it already?"
"I will not! She told someone else without asking us! What if it was someone who wanted to hurt us?"
"But it wasn't!" Harry argued. "Yes, Percy Weasley may be an absolute prick, but he hasn't told anyone, has he? If he did, we probably wouldn't be here!"
"Ugh!" Daphne moaned. "I will think about forgiving her. Okay? But not now. Later!"
A voice suddenly appeared in front of them, startling them.
"Talking about forgiveness? That suddenly reminds me..."
Jamie Potter and a group of Gryffindor boys ranging from first to third years appeared in front of them. They all seemed to be red faced, and clutched bottles in their hands.
Daphne watched as Harry groaned, instantly stepping up to shield Astoria.
"What do you want, Jamie?" Harry asked, annoyed.
Daphne quickly pulled Astoria from behind Harry, to behind her. Daphne recasted the spell from Penelope just to make sure it was active.
"It'll be okay," Daphne whispered to Astoria. "Just stay behind me and keep quiet, okay?"
Astoria nodded and hid behind Daphne, peeking her head out from behind to watch the encounter.
"I just wanted to say hello to my little brother!" Jamie grinned. "Funny how we ran into each other tonight, huh?"
"Funny," Harry said sarcastically. "It's nice seeing you but we're sort of in a hurry, so…" Harry made a motion to move past the group, but two of the boys immediately shoved him back when he tried to go past them.
"Come on, Jamie," Harry grumbled. "We're too old for this. We all have classes tomorrow, so let's just all head to bed."
Jamie snorted. "Classes. Please." He rolled his eyes. "I'm the chosen one. I killed the dark lord, Voldemort," Jamie said the name tauntingly. "What can the classes here teach me?"
The boys around Jamie looked at him in awe, especially when he said Voldemort's name out loud.
Harry just gritted his teeth. "Well, brother, I guess not all of us are as talented as you. Some of us still need sleep, as they have to attend said classes tomorrow."
Harry made another motion to move past them, but this time, Jamie shoved him back.
"Woah," Jamie said. "Not yet, little brother. I still need my apology."
"For what?" Harry snarled.
"I need your girlfriend over there to apologize to me."
"Leave her out of this!"
Daphne raised her eyebrow. "I don't recall doing anything to you."
Jamie rolled his eyes. "Really? Start of the year? You tried ratting me out?"
"Ohhhh!" Daphne's eyes lit up. "That's what this is about! You're still salty about that!"
"No! I'm just asking for an apology that I rightfully deserve!"
"Yeah…how about no." Daphne snorted. "Now move out of the way."
Jamie and the rest of his gang immediately had their wands out. Their hands were a bit shaky, and their stances were a bit awkward.
"Give him his apology!" One of the boys slurred.
Harry took his dueling stance and noticed Daphne pulling her own wand out.
"I'm not letting you catch me by surprise this time," Harry snarled.
The two sides stared at one another, both unwilling to make the first move. However, Jamie rubbed his eyes and squinted at them.
"Who's that behind you?" He muttered.
Daphne cursed inwardly. The spell on Astoria must've fallen off or just stopped working.
"I swear I'll get the hang of that spell later," Daphne mumbled. She shared a look with Harry and he immediately nodded, understanding what she was trying to say.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted, pulling a wand from the group into his hand.
"Protego!" Daphne erected a shield in front of her, hiding Astoria behind her.
Spells fired across the corridor as the two sides tried hitting one another. The most vicious one was Jamie, who shot a multitude of spells. However, he wasn't as good as Percy or Penelope, so the spells bounced harmlessly off Daphne's shield.
Daphne watched as Harry effortlessly dodged or shielded any oncoming spell. She had to chuckle. The idiots attacking them weren't any good, especially compared to the two 5th years they dueled every week.
"I can handle his little goons!" Daphne shouted at Harry, as she sent another stunner towards one of them. "You take care of your brother!"
Harry nodded, as he jumped into more of the forefront of the fight. Daphne immediately drew fire by shooting spells more aggressively out.
Daphne watched out of the corner of her eye as Harry furiously sent spell after spell at Jamie. The Gryffindor boy was no match for him. His eyes were widened in surprise when Harry didn't even use a wand, and rather just sent spells from his hand.
Harry would soon tire out, this Daphne knew for sure. Wandless magic was really the only magic he could perform, but it was extremely tiring for him.
They would have to end this fight fast.
"How could you be doing this?" Jamie screamed furiously. "How are you holding your own against me? ME!"
Harry didn't say anything in response. The only sounds were the furious firing of spells and their incantations.
Daphne finally finished off the last one of the Gryffindor goons with a stunner. She turned back to Harry to see him starting to tire. His moves were becoming much more sluggish and a strong bead of sweat fell from his face.
It was time to end it.
With one well placed stunner, Daphne sent it at Jamie while he was distracted with Harry. The spell landed squarely on his chest, sending him to the ground.
Harry collapsed onto one knee, and Daphne hurriedly ran up to check on him.
"I'm fine," Harry wheezed. "Just…need a moment…catch my breath. Tori…is she okay?"
Daphne looked back at Astoria, who looked deathly pale at witnessing the fight in front of her. "Come here, Tori," Daphne pulled her towards them. She scanned the girl for any injuries and was relieved to find none.
The little girl was soon wrapped in a tight hug by both Harry and Daphne.
"You're okay." Harry whispered. "You're not hurt. Right Tori?"
Astoria shook her head. "No, papa."
Daphne was the first to let go. She rushed over to the downed students and saw that the stunners knocked them all out cold, including Jamie. She scrunched up her nose when they started snoring.
"Seriously? They were drinking?" Daphne asked in disbelief. "We'll, at least they probably won't remember anything tomorrow morning."
Harry walked over with Astoria holding onto his hand. "My idiot brother once again does something like this…" Harry mumbled. "Thanks for stunning him, Daphne. I had a feeling any longer and the tides would've turned against me."
Daphne gave him a small smile. "Of course, Harry. And I'll do it again if I had to."
"I know you would," he chuckled. "Come on. Let's get back to the tower. I have a feeling someone heard all of this noise. And if they see Tori here…"
As they ran back, Daphne looked at the little girl next to her. She cursed the bad luck they had with the encounter. They only took the little girl to get checked up with Poppy, and already that was a risk telling the healer.
Daphne doubted that they'd be able to take Astoria anywhere around the castle anytime soon.
Penelope clung closely to Percy, as her scarf blew against the wind. It was a fairly windy day, and the clouds covered whatever sunlight there was.
Saturday meant no classes. Normally they would spend that day lounging around or just relaxing, but today was a special day for Penelope. They carefully snuck out of Hogwarts and into Hogsmeade to use the floo network.
The two of them walked through the graveyard, passing by tombstone after tombstone. Eventually, they reached a certain tombstone, where a man stood with his back towards them, and smoke coming from his mouth.
"You know those things will kill you, right?" Penelope asked.
The man didn't respond. The silence allowed for her to continue.
"But you never did listen to me, did you…dad."
The man turned around. Sunglasses covered his eyes, as his own dark trench coat blowing against the wind.
"No, I certainly didn't." The man chuckled humorlessly. He sized up Percy for a second before shrugging. "You brought Weasley along again?" He asked.
"You know I basically consider him family."
"As do I," the man said curtly. His face softened as he fully took in the two 17 year olds before him. "The two of you seem healthy," he commented. "Tell me, how are things at school?"
"Going okay," Penelope said. "Percy finally got into the Ministry, just like he's always wanted."
The man gave another chuckle. "You're still chasing that same dream, Perce?"
Percy nodded. "I am, sir." He said. "Whatever it takes to get Penny to become Minister. Even if it means licking the boots of those idiots." Percy muttered the last few words.
"She doesn't deserve you," the man said.
Penelope growled and gave her dad a light tap on the shoulder. "Shouldn't it be the other way around?" She pouted.
They stared at each other for a few seconds until the man snorted. Everyone broke into laughter, unable to hold in the inside joke.
"Yeah, there should be some threats coming towards the boyfriend by now," Percy joked, laughing along with the dad and daughter.
Eventually the laughter died down, to a few chuckles. The man smiled at the couple, seeing how happy they were.
"Your mother would be really happy right now, Penny," he muttered. "Just seeing you laugh like this…that's all she ever wanted."
A sad look appeared on Penelope's face. "She'd also want you to come home," Penelope whispered. "Dad…enough of-" Penelope waved her arms around frustratingly. "-whatever this is. Mum's gone. So just…come back home…dad."
Her father shook his head. "I have to finish what I started. Those people…they'll pay for what they did to your mother."
"Haven't you done enough?" Penelope asked, anger showing through her voice. "Haven't you had enough blood on your hands? How many has it been, dad? 3? 7?"
"9" The man answered. "And I still have 3 left."
"You don't have to! Just leave them, dad! Just…"
"I can't. Not until they're all dead. Not until they paid their toll."
Suddenly, Penelope's father clutched his chest as he stumbled, falling to his knees. Percy and Penelope immediately rushed to his aid.
"Sir?"
"Dad!"
The man shoved them away. "I'm fine! He snapped.
Penelope wasn't having any of it. She angrily pushed past his arms and pulled apart his jacket to reveal a dark, veiny and bloodied chest.
"D-D-Dad? Why are you c-cursed?" Penelope stammered.
The man immediately pushed her away and covered the wound back up with his jacket.
"Bad intel." Was all he said.
"You have to get help!" Penelope cried. "Dad, those curses can kill you!"
"I know," he said, forcing himself to stand up. "This one will."
"What are you talking about dad? St. Mungos can treat curses!"
"They couldn't," the man coughed. "Only the caster could get rid of it."
"Then get the caster to get rid of it!"
"Too late," he chuckled. "Killed him already."
Penelope just stared at her father in horror. "Then come home, daddy." She whimpered. "Spend whatever time you have left with me."
"A month, Penny. And I still have 3 targets."'
"…"
"Why…?"
"Because I made a promise. I said I would kill them all and I will."
Penelope just looked at her father sadly before she turned away. "I'm sorry daddy. I can't. I can't watch you end it all like this. I've watched you done enough. Goodbye…daddy."
Penelope gave one last look at the tombstone before she left. "Goodbye, mum," she whispered.
And with that, the only ones left was Percy and Penelope's dad.
＊＊＊
"You have my blessing to marry her."
Percy stared at the man incredulously. "I haven't even said anything."
He only shrugged. "I've known you since you were a kid, Perce. Besides, it was bound to happen. When are you proposing anyways?"
"I don't know," Percy muttered. "I just wish we could do it and have the wedding before…you know…" Percy gestured at the man's condition.
"Hey, as long as you make her happy," the man chuckled. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a book with an envelope tucked inside. "Here, Perce," he offered the book.
Percy slowly grabbed it, and opened the page with the envelope. He gave it a quick squeeze and gasped.
"I can't take this, sir!" Percy said.
"You can and you will." The man grumbled. "I already left Penny enough for two lifetimes. Use this for your family, kid! Lord knows Arthur is struggling."
"But sir…"
"Ah, ah, ah! No but's, kid. Take the money. And if it makes you feel better, consider it payment for taking care of Penny all these years."
"It's not a service," Percy mumbled. "Not when I love her."
"I know, kid," the man said softly. "Why do you think I've always been so easy on you? You've always been like a son to me."
Percy blinked, as a small tear fell from his eye. "Really?"
"Yeah. Always have."
Percy threw his arms around the man, pulling him into a hug.
"I promise," Percy whispered. "I'll take care of Penny. I'll do whatever it takes for her to be happy, for her to accomplish her dream."
The man patted his back gently. "I know you will, son. I know you will."
They held the embrace for a few seconds until they pulled away.
"The book," the man started. "Contacts I've managed to build over the years. It also contains info on important people. That'll be your ticket, Perce. If you want to get my daughter into that minister position, the two of you will need it."
Percy nodded. "Thank you sir. I'll be sure to put it to good use."
The man waved him away. "Now get out of here. You still got lots to do. Besides…I need a few moments with…my wife."
Percy nodded, and went off for Penny. He gave one last look over his shoulder to see Penny's father standing there silently, overlooking the grave.
"Goodbye...father."
A/N: This is just the tip of Penelope and Percy's backstory. More shall be revealed in the short spinoff after this story. I'll drop snippets of their past throughout the story, but a scene where we see them and Penelope's dad probably will be the last scene where we just focus on THEM.
Thank you everyone for all your kind words last chapter! I'm trying to get better as fast as I can soon, just so I can write more! (and do other stuff in life).
Thank you for reading this far!