Chapter four as promised! :) Hope it satisfies your cravings for the time being!
Chapter Four-Unexpected Encounter
The bright mid-morning sun shone in Percy's eyes as he pulled on his outfit. Stretching out his stiff limbs, he picked up his glasses and put them on.
''Morning, Hermes." he gently stroked the speckled-gray plumage of his barn owl, who hooted softly. "Catch anything of interest last night?" He peered to see a mouse with a snapped neck inside the cage.
Thankfully this was a type of cage that allowed an owl safe passage in and out without help of the human, so they could bring their meals with them.
''Think you could eat that already? I don't want it smelling up the room."
Hermes appeared to have understood as he bent down and devoured his prize.
"Thank you." Percy turned on his heels and headed downstairs for breakfast.
Descending the staircase, he noticed an odd silence. No yelling, laughing or explosions. The aroma of a morning meal was also absent. "Hm...I guess I woke to an empty house?'' he asked aloud to no one. On the dining room table next to Percy's favorite teapot, there was a note.
"-Perce, everyone..well..Mom, Ron and Ginny went out on the town for Merlin knows what reason...something about brunch or whatever with Lavender's mother...I dunno. Anyway, breakfast is in the oven, you'll have to make your own tea since I know you're particular. You went to bed early last night. I hope you're ok. See you after while. Love, Bill.-"
'At least other than Dad, you have the common decency to leave me a notice. I guess it's another trip to town. Now, to heat up some food.'
Casting a few heating charms, Percy's meal became hot and he gladly partook in a silent, peaceful meal for the first time in months. Stomach full, he grabbed his trusty sidebag and sauntered out, apparating to town.
'Ahhh, the library. I can catch up on that one book I had yet to finish.' Stepping through the aged oak doors, Percy bid Mr. Ollivander good morning and trekked upstairs as usual.
The elder wizard smiled 'Today's going to be a good day for you.'
Outside down the street, a boy was carefully treading his way through the crowds, hoping nobody could track him. Earlier before he snuck out, he cast an appearance manipulation charm to mask his recognizable features.
'Shit..last thing I need is an auror tracking me. ''Oh my...the Prince snuck out!'' Bleh. I need a break.' Scanning the perimeter; the temporarily-shortened, brown-haired, green-eyed male locked eyes onto a giant building with tall oak doors. 'Library, perfect. Nobody would expect me to be there. Believe it not, I can read too.'
He headed inside, slowly walking into the cathedral-like domain. Mr. Ollivander looked up and lightly smirked, watching the teen approach. ''You might as well take those off. You know you could never fool me, Marcus." he whispered as the boy rolled his eyes. This man gave him his wand, had foresight, the works. He's known him his entire life. Any attempt to disguise himself would prove futile. The Ollivanders were always weird that way...knowing things.
Sighing in defeat, he removed his charms in the empty library. The few present were Marcus, Mr. Ollivander and Percy. "Well, you know I can't afford to be found out. You'd have people swarm the place."
"You have less chance of that happening on the top floor. I suggest you go up there."
"Sure and thanks." Marcus obeyed and left to the top floor. The wizard looked after him, knowing that not many go up there since it's an advanced section. It's funny...that is right alongside the fairytales.
As soon as he reached the top, the Prince headed to the fairytales section. Picking up a copy of 'Adventures of Merlin the Mage', he began stepping about, face in book. Out of all the books in his castle library, they didn't have this one.
Percy was also walking while reading at the same time, he was three chapters into an advanced Transfigurations book until he bumped into a 'brick wall'.
"Oof!" the redhead fell back, his glasses toppling off his nose. "I-I'm sorry...I didn't see you."
The other occupant grunted in a deep, rough voice, rubbing his head "Yeah, neither did I." he froze immediately, fearing he's been caught. But noticing the boy's glasses were off, he relaxed.
Realigning his frames, Percy peered at the boy only to quickly avert his eyes. 'I bumped...into the Prince. Oh shit. Wait...what is he even doing here?'
Marcus seemed to catch the fact Percy recognized him but what caught him off guard was that he wasn't fangirling over him or gawking. Interestingly, it was nice. The silence was getting rather awkward so he broke the ice.
"Uh..are you ok?"
"I-I'm fine..thanks."
"Need a hand?" he extended a large palm to the redhead only for him to reluctantly take it. A strange spark ignited within both when their hands touched.
'What was that?' Percy mused.
'Was that from the carpet?' Marcus inwardly queried.
Accioing their books, Percy responded apprehensively "I-If I may be so bold...why are you here? I mean, outside the castle walls without an escort?"
"I wanted to be by myself for a while. I always have people up my arse and I get fucking tired of it.''
Surprised by his use of colorful language, he replied "Oh, I see. Well, I can't blame you for wanting a change of pace. In the uh, meantime, I guess it doesn't hurt to know the town on a personal level."
"Yeah. I know the town already, it's just I haven't ventured out by myself since I was a little kid and that was when I snuck out. Scared the shit out of my mum and dad. At least I got a bear and some sweets out of it.''
Percy found himself lightly laughing, which was unexpected. What could he say...a much smaller version of the prince going on his own adventure sounded adorable. Marcus grinned, his teeth rather large and crooked but realizing he was exposing them, he quickly shut his mouth. Despite his nearly perfect body, he was sensitive about his teeth so he never smiled in photos. If they caught it, it was rare.
He asked the redhead "Are any of your friends here?"
Percy's smile faded slightly. "Well, he's in a cage and won't be out 'til tonight to hunt mice.''
This unnerved Marcus a bit. 'No friends? I thought everybody had them, at least one that wasn't an animal.' "I see. Uh, what about your siblings, if you have any?"
"They're at work, hanging out with a friend, and at some brunch thing and won't be back probably until tonight so I'm on my own for a while. I'm hoping to head to the museum or somewhere after here." 'I can't believe I'm telling him this. Why is that?'
Flint did not know what came over him but he decided to ask "Hey, I don't exactly have many places to go myself after this so, if you want, maybe we can hang out? Catch some lunch?"
Shocked by the offer, Percy replied "S-Sure. I wouldn't mind that but uh, how did you get here without having fans bombard you?"
"Just some auror-grade appearance manipulation charms. It's nice when one of your buddies is one of the palace guards. She's cool.''
"Alright, well, when would you like to go?''
''Right now if you want. I know a nice place on the other side of town or would you like somewhere closer?"
"I've never really been outside of here but wherever is fine with me." Percy smiled, shyly.
"Excellent. We can banter on the way."
"How about we check out our books first?"
"Oh yeah..."
Heading towards the front desk, Marcus reapplied his disguise then both boys checked out their choices and left the library.
Mr. Ollivander waved them off, smiling warmly. 'Thank Merlin.'
Twenty minutes later, the boys ended up at the Sunrise Café-a casual wizarding eatery that featured a variety of beverages, soups, sandwiches and various other scrumptious comfort meals. Percy ordered a salad and chips while Marcus had the grilled three-cheese sandwich-it was his favorite as a child, leave him alone.
"I haven't been here in forever. The décor surely has changed." Marcus mentioned after swallowing a bite.
''Yeah, the owner is finicky and likes to rearrange things every few years. She's kinda quirky."
"So, you come out here often? Ok..that sounded so cheesy and clichéd."
Percy lightly grinned "It's ok and I do whenever I'm not out running errands for the folks. It's a busy household." He reminded himself to stay silent over the real reasons for the time being.
"Tell me about it. Do this, be there, go with 'insert their name here'...it's nervewracking. But it's an obligation as the prince.'' he whispered those last three words.
"Frankly, I don't know how you can stand it but I guess it comes with the territory."
"Hm, when you mentioned your siblings hanging out with a friend or at a brunch, why didn't you go along?"
He sighed "To be honest, I don't like their company...the ones of my youngest sibling, anyway. They...irk me.'' 'Don't wanna say it's because they're pampered stuck-up snobs and piss him off.'
Marcus nodded "Temperament and personality, it sounds. I know that type too well. You sound like you come from a big family, how many siblings you have?"
"There are seven of us...six sons and one daughter, she's the youngest. I'm the third eldest. And we all look alike...the red hair and freckles are our trademark except the curls are rare." Percy pointed to his head, moving a few stray curls out of his lens-covered sapphire eyes.
"You know, we've been talking for a little while now and I've never even asked your name."
"My name is Percy Weasley...it's short for Percival."
Flint sounded out ''Percival...an Arthurian romance name, I like it. You don't hear it too often." 'And he just said ''Weasley''.' a flash of a bitchy redhead flirting with him crossed his mind. The prince continued "It's nice to meet you, Percy, although you already know my name." they shook hands in belated formal greetings.
"It's a pleasure. Why don't we finish before our food gets cold?"
"Right."
Once their delicious meals were consumed, they paid the bill and left Sunset Café.
"Hey Percy, want to check out the museum? There's a new medieval exhibit going on...my parents apparently lent out some of our family's artifacts. I mean, if you want to check them out."
It's not every day Percy got to see some of the Flints' heavily guarded treasures, so why not? "I'd like that."
The teens wandered over to the museum, observing the current exhibitions and the newest one. Marcus gave him all the extra details his family purposefully left out. The curly-top was in awe over the collection of weapons, armor, and other magical gadgets. The Flints were a warrior clan, so it was of no surprise many of these were meant for conquest.
After the museum, they further traipsed about town..hitting a few new places. It was nearly sundown when their fun came to an end. Sitting on a park bench, nibbling on miniature cinnamon buns, they gazed at the pond's willows.
"Shit,I need to go." Marcus grunted, seeing as though he was supposed to have been home hours ago. He was having such a good time, it flew by.
"Yeah, I must head home too. It was great hanging out with you, Marcus." Percy smiled as he finished the last cinnamon bun.
"It was fun, really." Before he could leave, he turned around "Think you wanna hang out again sometime? We can write."
"Sure." Percy scribbled down his address and placed it into the still-disguised prince's palm.
"I'll owl you soon, Percy. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Marcus." With that, the prince apparated to Dragonheart Castle...leaving the redhead alone on the bench. As the sun quickly faded behind the horizon, Percy did the same. Once he headed inside, he noticed everybody was home...chatting about and an explosion was heard from above. The twins were experimenting yet again. He vaguely wondered what the hell the twin terrors were concocting this time until his little brother's voice snapped him out of his musings.
''Oi! Where have you been? You should have been home earlier. Mum had company and the place needed tidying.''
Percy shrugged "I was in town. You all were out, so was I. Now if you'll excuse me." Percy passed Ron as he trekked upstairs.
Shutting the door, he fell onto his bed with a smile. This was the best day he's had in years. One-he met the prince in the most unexpected place. Two-they hung out and got kind of acquainted. Three-he saw some of their fascinating treasures, and Four-Marcus wanted to hang out again...with him.
'Oh yeah, it's been a productive day. How long can I keep this to myself though, that is the question. Good thing we'll owl one another in between. I just hope this lasts...at least for a little while.'
See?! Told you Percy would get a little happier! XD Let me know your thoughts! Stay tuned for the next chapter!