I'm BAACKKK :P
(edited may 5th)
Percy's POV:
As the door to the bookstore opens, a bell rings cheerily to alert the storekeeper that we had come in. That is to say, it would have alerted the storekeeper if the store wasn't full to what had to be breaking laws about maximum capacity. We followed closely behind Mrs. Weasley as she forced her way through the crowd to the back of the bookstore where the previously used novels sat. Referencing the pair of lists that had come earlier this week, Harry and I picked out some relatively nice copies of all the books we needed. We both had our arms full as we pushed our way through the store to the end of the line, leaving the Weasley family to debate which books they could or could not re-use.
We are in line behind a taller woman, with a pointy nose and a sharp jawline. She looked too strict to try and start a conversation with. I didn't want to turn around so I resolved myself to stand in silence. The line is going so slowly I think I'm going to die. I start tapping my foot. Tap tap tap tap.
I'm dieing.
Eventually, we reach the front of the line. The clerk at the register is a kindly looking man who rings up our books with a pleasant smile. We gather them in our arms and make our way out of the store. Outside, Harry and I drop onto a bench to put down our books and look over our supply lists. We add on a list of things that I should have gotten the years before to my list. When the Weasleys exit the store we all decide to make our way to the potion supplies store because it's the only other place that the Weasley's need to head before they go home.
We walk down the cobbled street, the sun shining in our eyes. Briefly, I attempt to shift my books so I can shade my face with my hand, but give up when the pile starts to tip dangerously. We push our way through the door and into the cool store. The walls are lined with small bottles of powders, bits and bobs, and liquids. I can feel all of them, somehow, even the ones that aren't liquid based. I resist the urge to run my hand along the bottles in fear of breaking one or getting kicked out of the store. Giving up on finding what we need myself I wander up to the counter and ask the clerk for help. She points us towards a corner of the store and soon I'm trying on dragonskin gloves, blue, of course. I pick out a good-size cauldron as Harry gathers a bag of the little bottles.
We bring our things up to the counter and pay, exiting the store and joining the Weasly family outside.
"Hey, want to go out for some ice-cream?" Harry asks his friend "It's still pretty early, and you don't have anywhere to go, right?" Ron agrees, excited, before sheepishly turning back to his mother to ask permission. She smiles and nods, once again, we set off across the cobbled pathways of the alley. We wander into the parlour. It's a quaint little place, with the names of the flavours painted on the walls in different fonts. I immediately requested the largest serving of the first blue ice cream I saw, blue raspberry. Everyone else orders and I, because I ordered I first, received my cone first and begin to devour it as Mr. Weasly pays the staff and grabs his cup of cookie-dough chocolate chip. Harry inisists on pressing a few coins into Mrs. Weasley's palm. We make our way into the bright sunlight outside and crowd around one of the picnic tables on the sidewalk outside the store.
"So, you said you went to a summer camp in America?" Mrs. Weasley asks. I nod, then quickly gulp down the ice-cream in my mouth.
"Yeah, it was really cool" I pause to take another bite of the cone in my hand "It's all greek themed, and there are all these cool activities." I add in afterthought "It's specifically for dyslexic or ADHD kids".
"Oh, you have dyslexia?" Mr. Weasley asks kindly "There are potions that can help with that when you go to school. They're not an exact fix, but they do help". I can't respond because my mouth is full, but I nod gratefully. The table lapses into peaceful, hungry silence.
After we finish our ice cream, we bid each other goodbye and Harry and I head to our hotel room. Harry lays down on his bed and I, sensing an opportunity, flop onto him with most of my weight. I'm awarded with a muffled oomph and a whine of "Percyyyy you're so heavyyy". I stand and stretch my back.
"C'mon, we should go downstairs and get some dinner." Even though it's only around five I'm tired from a long night of thinking about whether or not to tell Harry everything. The time travel, the demigods, everything. I should, and I know that… but, he was so upsetted by how I was gone for two years. I don't want to tell him that I had, or would have, left him for seven. It's selfish, but, he doesn't have to know, right? I can always tell him later on, when it isn't pressing salt into a fresh wound.
Harry stands and I'm thrown off of my train of thought. We wander down to the pub and order some food. I sit, staring into space, lost in thought as we wait.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" Harry asks, and I realise that I've been staring at him I turn, blushing.
"No. Sorry, I was just thinking." He smiles innocently and there's a pause.
"I'm glad you're here," he says.
That's when I decide. I can't break this peace. I'll tell him about it all eventually, just… not now.
Two days later, Hermione meets us in the pub in the morning. Her parents left her with us to wander the alleyway and buy school supplies. Yesterday, Harry and I had each gotten some new robes for school. We had also tried to get the 'special order' from the owl store, but apparently, there had been a problem while they were bringing it to the store and we were told to come back the next day.
We wandered out into the alleyway with Hermione and headed immediately to the bank to exchange some of her mortal- er… muggle money. Why did they both have to start with M? Ughhh. Anyways, we were going to go exchange the money Hermione's parents gave her for some of the wacky coins that I can't remember the name of.
We walk into the bank and follow Hermione to the counter. She hands the goblin the wad of cash and waits as we stand in awkward silence as he leafs through the bills twice and counts out a small pile of coins. He slides them off of the counter and into a pouch, and sends them across the counter to Hermione.
We leave the bank, talking amiably, and make our way across the street. "So what do you need to buy?" Hermione asks.
"Um… Well, we need to get my thing at the owl store and I need a wand, right?" I look at Harry in confirmation.
"Oh yeah! I totally forgot… Um, yeah. We do need to do that" he pauses "And… other than that I think we're good to go…" he trails off, thinking.
"Ok, well," Hermione says "I need my books and a new set of robes." she pauses "We can split up and I'll grab my robes and books and you can get Percy his wand".
We agree to meet up in the same place in two hours and set off to go grab me a wand. Whoo! I'm surprisingly excited for this. Magic. Like my brother. I'll be able to do the cool things he can do with him. And keep him safer. Keep him safe from whatever might kill him later. Should have killed him because I wasn't- Oh-kay that's a dark track of thought. Going back to normal happy thoughts.
We stopped in front of an older brick shop with a wooden sign hanging over the door. Ollivanders it read. We walked into the shop and the man at the counter looked up. His hair was stark white. His eyes were silvery and moonlike. Overall, he was a bright spot in the dark room.
"Harry Potter, 11 inches, holly, with a phenix core, yes" he pauses and considers me "I don't think I've met you. You're a Potter, definitely" He hums and invites me further into the store with a wave of his hand."Tell me son, what is your name?"
"Percy" I say "or- Perseus. I go by Percy though" he nods and I stand awkwardly.
"Ok, Percy" he says "You're here for a wand, I presume?" I nod and he continues "let me get some measurements and then we can start trying out some wands" He flicks his wrist and a measuring tape flits around me, stretching itself to measure all sorts of things, like the diameter of my wrist and the width of my shoulders. He catches it and pulls out the tape, nodding at the numbers that appeared there before hurrying to the back of the shop. He returns to the desk with an armful of boxes. He opens one "Here," he says, handing it to me.
I hold the wand in my hand awkwardly and sneak a confused glance at Harry. "Well, give it a wave" the store owner commands, and I do. Boxes go everywhere with a loud bang. "No, no, that won't do" he mutters and snatches the wand from my hand. He holds out another one, but snatches it back as soon as I grip it. He opens another box and gives me the wand. I wave it. Water. Everywhere. Oh no. Ollivander, that's his name I remind myself, grabs his wand, and dissipates it. I apologise, but he waves it off and snatches the wand from my hand. We continue trying wands with varying levels of success. Success meaning that I don't blow something up.
"Perhaps…" trails off and runs into the back of the store. He returns and removes a wand from a deep blue box. It feels different. "This one is special," Ollivander says, "It's made of driftwood with a kelpie-hair core. I have a feeling it might work" I reach out to touch it. As soon as my fingers brush it's hilt it shatters. A thousand tiny pieces of wood shoot outwards and embed themselves in the walls. Oh no. Thats… that's really bad. I look up into the store owner's eyes, worried.
"Oh my gods I am so sorry" I apologise profusely "I can pay for that. I- er.." I'm surprised to see a maniacal joy in the wandmakers eyes.
"Oh no don't be sorry. I haven't had a wand react like that in years. This is why I'm a wandmaker! I love myself a good challenge," He smiled widely, before muttering "Well, it's unconventional, but, it might work" and rushing, once again, into the back of the shop. "Pumice stone, 15 inches, with a phoenix core, stiff, and good for defense. It might be a little unconventional, but we're wizards. What isn't unconventional for us?" he laughs before handing me the wand. It's surprisingly light and feels as though it's rushing with power. I examine the handle, the cool, light grey stone is dappled with tiny holes and there are swirly patterns engraved into it. Tentatively, I flick it and a little jet of water shoots out of the tip.
"This is the one." I say decisively and Ollivander and Harry, who had taken up residence near the door to avoid the life-threatening miscasted spells, agreed. We thanked the kind man and paid for the wand. I slipped it into the pocket of the pair of trousers Harry had bought for me and we left the store to go find Hermione at the meeting spot. Buying a single wand took nearly two hours. Wow.
"Hey, can I see your wand?" Harry asks. I extract my new wand from my pocket and hand it over to him. He turns it over in his hands and looks me in the eyes. "I like it," he says, handing it back to me. I slide it back in my pocket.
"So, um… none of the other wands were made of stone" I start "is that weird?".
Harry nods "I've never seen a stone wand, although I'm not sure why… maybe it's just because it's heavy? Or perhaps just harder to make. Obviously, they work, so I'm not really sure why it isn't more commonplace." I hum in agreement and we keep walking. We reach the street corner and sit on the bench that conveniently rests there. Hermione shuffles over with two large bags.
"We can go to the pet store now," she says "There's about an hour until lunchtime." We agreed and walked in the direction of the multipurpose owl and pet store. Upon reaching the store, I glance into one of the large windows and see a vast assortment of creatures of all kinds, most of which I can't name. There are owls though, and a couple of cats too. I think I see a tank with some toads in the back.
We walk into the store and make our way towards the counter. I note that Hermione has peeled off from the group to go pet an orange cat with a smooshed face. At the counter I slide my paper slip across to the employee, who is different from the one yesterday with lots of piercings. She picks it up and shuffles to the back of the store. She walks back, carrying a covered cage with her wand and says "here you go" in a bored tone. I slide it across the counter and whip off the cloth. Inside is a small goldfish. Hello. I say and he stops suddenly before turning to me. Hello Lord, he responds. His form flashes suddenly, shifting, and he now resembles a miniature skeleton from a sea-serpent. Like small Bob. I bite my tongue and push back the bad memories. I smile grimly before I think you can call me Percy. What's your name? He responds I don't have a name, you could give me one? He questions. No one seems to react to his change in appearance, so I chalk that up to the mist.
I nod and announce "I will call you smaller Bob." I'll remember Bob and small Bob the way that they want to be remembered. Happily.
Suddenly Hermione walks up to the counter with the cat I saw her approaching earlier and an armful of cat supplies. She places them on the counter and holds the cat. "I'd like to buy all of these. And him" she says to the clerk.
As the clerk goes through the items to find the price Harry asks Hermione "Um… are your parents okay with this?".
She nods and says "they should be. Besides he'll be at Hogwarts with me most of the year. I need some company in the girls dorms anyways. And he's so adorable. I couldn't resist. Also, it's nearly my birthday."
"Yeah, he is pretty cute" I agree and Harry mutters his concord. We settle into a comfortable silence and Hermione pets the soon-to-be-hers cat.
"That will be twenty eight galleons and four knuts." the cashier says and Hermione pulls out her cash pouch. She counts out twenty one galleons and then turns to Harry, embarrassed.
"Can I borrow seven Galleons?" She asks "I'll pay you back at school." He nods and forks over the cash, laughing quietly.
Four days later, and it was time for us to go to school. Fudge had come last night and told us that he'd arranged for us to carpool with the Weasleys and Hermione to get to the train platform in some ministry commissioned cars. Now we were sitting on the curb outside the pub, waiting for them to show up. A shiny black car slowed to a stop in one of the parking spots outside the pub and Mrs. Weasly and her husband climbed out, arguing.
"-treating him like a child. It makes no sense not to tell him about Black!" Mr. Weasly was saying.
"Yes it does" Mrs. Weasly retorted. "It makes perfect sense. Harry would be terrified. You know how much trouble he and Ron get into, wandering off like that."
"Well, wouldn't it be better for him to know that he's got a mass murderer after him then?" Mr. Weasly retorts.
"A mass murderer?" I question, announcing our presence to the two adults. Both look down, shocked.
"Er, no.. it's nothing. What are you two doing outside?" Mrs. Weasly asks and both adults exchange a glance.
We climb into the car, which is larger on the inside. Wacky. Still, it's rather crowded, and I squish between Harry and Hermione. Momentarily, I think, oh god, I'm glad Leo isn't here before lapsing back into thought about the serial killer that's apparently after Harry. Serial killers are bad. Serial killers after Harry are especially bad. Maybe… this is what would have killed him in that future? I'll protect him though, I confirm to myself, letting my thoughts wander once again.
I double check that the ticket is in my back pocket before noting the platform number, in case I get lost. Nine and three-quarters. Hmmm okay what?
"Hey, um…" I start "Where exactly is this platform?".
Harry chuckles and cryptically responds "Between platforms nine and ten, silly."
I slump in my seat "but platforms are whole numbers?".
"Oh, suck up." he says jokingly "at least you don't have to find it on your own."
That's when I decide to make a considerable effort not to get lost.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA that took longer than expected….. Um. well my only excuse is that I got burnt out and then writers block hit me like a train (haha puns). I'm updating my update schedule again. Once every TWO days. Mmmkay have a good day everyone!