Percy was in the midst of re-reading a section in his Charms textbook. He'd been unable to concentrate properly, attempting to read it for about ten minutes now. He had an exam coming up, the second one so far. Admittedly, he hadn't received a staller score on the first one. He chalked that up to the overall gloomy atmosphere that was looming over Hogwarts with that whole Black situation. It wasn't a failing grade by any means, but much lower than he was used to seeing.

It was also fairly difficult to study; Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore didn't want people wandering around the castle and so for the time being, unless supervised, students were not permitted to go to the library. They were instructed to stay in their towers, with many choosing to be in the common room. Now, Percy probably could have gone up to his dorm to study but he felt that as Head-Boy, he ought to be around everyone else to not only keep an eye on them but to be available in case anyone needed help.

The past couple of years reminded him that his position was not the most important thing in the world. Nor was getting the absolute best grade possible.

He still wondered from time to time how things might be different this year if Harry and Ron hadn't saved Ginny in time.

He didn't like to think about that.

A few feet ahead of him, Ron and Hermione were in a serious discussion, if their facial expressions indicted anything. They were whispering and Hermione kept pointing up to the staircase that led to the boy's dorms. Strangely, Percy noted Harry wasn't with them. That was odd; the three of them rarely were apart except for class and dormitory differences. Besides that, they were always together.

"Well what am I supposed to do?" Ron sounded annoyed. "He won't listen to me. I tried."

Hermione put her hands on her hips. "Well, clearly it wasn't enough!"

"Oh, why don't you try then if you're so clever?" Ron told her, crossing his arms.

"Girls aren't allowed in the boys dorms," Hermione said.

"That didn't stop you on Christmas."

Hermione shushed him, glancing in what she believed to be a subtle manner at Percy. He pretended not to have heard by flipping through a page in his book, despite already giving up on reading it.

"Ron, be quiet! He'll hear you."

"Oh, come off it, Hermione. That was two years ago. What's he going to do about it now?"

Then Hermione had an idea. She bypassed Ron's question and her eyes brightened up. "Ron, you should ask him to talk to Harry."

"What? No way!"

"Why not?"

Percy was intrigued to hear his brother's answer as well. He tried not to let it bother him, trying to tell himself he had to respect Ron's wishes. One of the things Percy was trying to do was change the way he interacted with his siblings. Be more willing to seek them out and pull back when they really didn't want him around. He was intentional about changing their relationship, seeing the way they'd slowly drifted apart over the years.

"He's busy," Ron told her. "Got some exam coming up. He's probably using every bit of free time he's got to study. You really shouldn't bother him. He's a right menace if you do."

Percy frowned. Studying was important to him but most certainly not as important as when his siblings needed him and he hated to think that they'd probably avoided coming to him because they knew how he'd react. Snapping shut the textbook, he got to his feet and approached his brother and his friend. "Is everything alright?"

"Aren't you studying?" Ron had his head tilted in confusion.

"I'm taking a break," Percy said, simply. "Now, is either one of you going to tell me what's going on?"

They exchanged a look.

"Well-"

"It's Harry," Hermione blurted out.

Percy frowned again. "What's wrong with Harry?"

Ron ended up telling him. "He's in the dorm," he said. "He won't come out."

"He won't come out?" Percy repeated in bewilderment. That wasn't like Harry to do so. He may not have known many details about the boy-being that Ron was much closer to him-but even he knew that.

Ron nodded.

"Why not?"

Hermione hesitated. "He's embarrassed about fainting on the train."

"And mistaking Malfoy and his goons for dementors," Ron added with a scowl. "Malfoy won't shut up about it."

"Have you told a teacher about this?" Percy asked them and only received silence in return.

There was his answer.

"No," Hermione admitted. "We didn't think about that."

"Don't want to make it worse either." That came from Ron.

"I see," Percy said, thoughtfully. "And he's up there, in the dorm still?" Ron nodded.

"He wouldn't come out for breakfast or lunch. Says he's not hungry. He even skipped out on practice!"

Percy thought he heard Oliver wailing about something earlier but initially shrugged it off.

"I'm worried about him," Ron said, looking helpless. "He's never been like this. I didn't know he was bothered by Malfoy. He's never been before."

Beside him, Hermione huffed. "It doesn't help that everyone's been talking about it. They think it's funny and it's not!"

Percy sighed. He'd overheard some laughter at Harry's expense and put a stop to it immediately. He gave the couple of first years a lengthy lecture about how it may have felt amusing to them but it wouldn't be if they'd been there. He tried to stop it when he heard it but it was hard when that was going on as frequently as it was.

He rubbed a hand across his face.

"What do we do now?" Ron said, looking up at Percy with worry in his eyes.

Percy made up his mind. "Why don't I go talk to Harry?" He offered. "You two stay down here and I'll see if I can get through to him, alright?"

"Alright," the two of them said in unison.

Percy turned around.

"Percy?"

He glanced over his shoulder. "Yes, Ron?"

His brother gave him a genuine smile. "Thanks."

Percy opened the door, gently knocking on it. Harry was on his bed, faced down and gripping the pillow. "Can I come in?"

Harry practically jumped a foot in the air and turned around, obviously not expecting Percy of all people to be there.

"If that's okay," Percy said, kindly.

Harry shrugged, not looking as surprised now. Percy closed the door behind him, walking over to the boy's bed where he sat on the edge, smiling. Harry was glancing at him, unsure of how to proceed. Percy didn't blame him. It wasn't like they'd interacted a ton during the two, almost three years that they'd known each other. Known of each other was probably more accurate.

"Ron told me you haven't been going to meals," Percy said, gently.

Harry looked down. "I'm not hungry."

Conveniently, the boy's stomach gave a low rumble.

Percy chuckled. "I think your stomach begs to differ."

Neither of them said anything after that. Percy knew he'd need to do better than this; talk to the boy more so he would get used to it. Harry was quickly finding a place within the family whether he knew of it or not. Mum was probably going to adopt him one day and be done with it.

Harry glanced at him and spat out the question that must have surely been on his mind. "Why are you here?"

"Just want to make sure you're alright," Percy said.

"...Why?"

Percy removed his glasses, wiping them delicately with his shirt. It was more of a stalling tactic, giving him time to think of what he wanted to say. It wasn't easy, admitting to one's own wrongdoing, especially when you thought you were doing the right thing, only to find out otherwise. "I'm making things right," he eventually said. "I haven't been the Prefect or brother you all deserve and I want to fix things."

"Oh," was all Harry said. That wasn't what he expected, evidently.

Percy's smile was soft. "Now, will you tell me why you've decided you aren't leaving? I don't think your professors will take too kindly to you not showing up for class."

"Snape will be happy," Harry said, bitterly. "Not like he wants me there, anyway."

He fell back on the bed with a flop, putting the pillow directly over his face. Percy was still sitting in that same spot and he shifted slightly. "Does this have anything at all to do with Malfoy?"

Harry peeked out from under the pillow. "Ron told you."

It wasn't a question.

"He did," Percy agreed. Harry groaned and the red-head hid his smile at how uncharacteristically dramatic the boy was being."Hermione told me you were embarrassed. Is that true?"

Harry sat, holding onto the pillow in front of him. He toyed with a loose thread on it, twirling it around his finger. "I humiliated myself in front of the whole school."

"You did no such thing," Percy tilted his head so he could meet Harry's eyes.

"Yes I did!" Harry insisted. Then he mumbled something else, something that the red-head didn't catch.

"What was that?"

"And in front of Cho," Harry repeated, begrudgingly.

"Cho?" Percy was surprised. "Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker?"

Harry only glanced at him in response.

"She's a pretty girl," Percy commented. Privately, he felt she wasn't anywhere near pretty as Penny, but now was not the time for that kind of comparison. "I can see why you fancy her."

Harry flushed.

Must be his first one, Percy thought.

"Harry," Percy momentarily paused to gather his thoughts, "I know this seems like the worst thing in the world right now but it's really not a big deal."

He didn't get to finish talking because Harry glared at him.

"What I mean is," Percy said, calmly, "we've all had embarrassing moments. It will pass, trust me. Malfoy might be bothering you about it now but he'll forget about it and find something to talk about."

"Says you," Harry said, glumly. "You didn't faint."

"No," Percy conceded. "But I've done things I thought were much worse."

"Like what?"

"I was around your age when I fancied a girl before I got together with Penny. She was the first girl I ever fancied and I was so nervous to talk to her. Oliver kept telling me to do it but I kept fretting I would mess up."

"Then what happened?" That piqued Harry's curiosity.

Percy smiled wryly. "I approached her one day at lunch. I specifically remember I was drinking lemonade when I had to cough and it got all over her."

Harry's eyes widened.

"Oh, yes," Percy shook his head with a slight laugh at the memory. He could laugh at it now Back than, it was a different story. "Right in her face, too. I was mortified."

"What happened after that?"

"Well, I wish I could tell you there was a happy ending but unfortunately, I never spoke to her again and she transferred to Beauxbatons shortly before fifth year."

Harry blinked. "Er, Percy, what was the purpose of that story, then?"

"To show you we've all been embarrassed, Harry," Percy said. "I know it isn't easy to get over, especially not with gits out there like Malfoy-" At that, Harry grinned. "But you will. Trust me, in a year or even a few months down the line, it won't matter."

"Not unless Malfoy's still talking about it."

"Malfoy likes to hear himself talk," Percy said, dismissively. "If you really want to get at him, pretend he doesn't exist. Malfoy likes attention, if you don't give him any, he'll get bored."

Harry looked like he was considering it. "Alright," he decided.

Percy grinned and said to himself as more of an afterthought, "Now if only I could get Oliver to act that way with Flint..."

Harry laughed, knowing full well how Oliver had difficulty controlling himself around the Slytherin captain. "Thanks, Percy," he said, sincerely. "You're really not as bad as people say."

Percy ruffled his hair like he'd do for his younger brothers. "Anytime, Harry."

If you have any requests (for this series or in general that's Percy related) please comment! If you've already done so, don't worry I didn't forget! I have a couple I'll be getting so very soon

Also, I have a poll set up on my profile about what Percy centric fic I should do after I'm finished with my current one and if you guys could go vote that would be so appreciated!