A/N: Hey there! Welcome back to the insanity of the If You Dare challenge, courtesy of Slytherin Cat! Look up the challenge for a more thorough explanation on HPFC. I've written a couple of one-shots for this one; you can find them in this story, "I Do Indeed Dare". I'm going to have to mention it on my profile, though, because NO ONE IS READING THESE! NOOOOOO! Lol… anyway. Enjoy!

Stutter

Prompt #264: Stutter

Percy Weasley stood in the living room of the Burrow along with Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George, staring with wide eyes at the crone-like old woman squinting at each child in turn.

"Merlin, Molly," the old woman said, making Percy flinch, "What a large brood you have here!"

Percy glanced anxiously at Mother, who was holding a sleepy baby Ron in her arms; her lips were pursed, but she didn't respond to the old woman's comment.

"Children, this is your great-aunt Muriel," Mother said. "Why don't you introduce yourselves?"

Great-aunt Muriel shook her head and sighed. "No manners whatsoever, Molly!" she sniffed. "They should knowwhen and how to greet a guest! Do they know any etiquette, girl?"

Bill, who was holding Percy's hand, tightened his grip, and Percy hoped that his fingers didn't crack. If they did, he was sure it would hurt horribly and that he would scream, which would be extremely rude. Percy was determined to show that he had manners and was respectful.

A quiet snigger interrupted his thoughts; the twins were whispering conspiratorially to one another, most likely planning a prank on their great-aunt. Percy scowled at them; they were being disgraceful! He should tell Mother…

"Well?!" snapped Great-Aunt Muriel, and Percy started. "What is your name, boy?" she demanded, squinting at him with a sour look.

Percy quailed under her gaze and opened his mouth mutely. For a moment, he struggled to say something, but his voice seemed to have vanished.

Great-Aunt Muriel gave him another cursory look, her crooked nose now mere centimetres from Percy's scared face. "Is the boy mute, Molly?" she shrieked, and Charlie made an explosive snort of laughter that ended in a strangled cough.

"N-n-no!" Percy squeaked, stumbling over his words in his fear. "I-I'm n-not—not—I'm not m-mute!"

Great-Aunt Muriel made a noise of either disgust or surprise. "Aha!" she grunted. "The boy has vocal chords."

"Y-y-yes, ma'am!" Percy agreed, nodding so vigorously that he got a cramp in his neck and stopped. "Would—'ould—y-you like.. like a glass of—of w-water?" he stammered out.

Great-Aunt Muriel frowned. "Molly!" she squawked. "Molly, what's wrong with the boy? How old is he?"

Molly spoke up, "He's six now, aren't you, Percy?"

Percy nodded timidly. Normally, this made him quite happy; he was six years old! Only five more years until Hogwarts! At Hogwarts, he'd be the top of his class; he'd be a Prefect and a Head Boy and he'd make Mother and Father so proud…

"Six years old, eh?" Great-Aunt Muriel repeated. "Well, is that true, Percival?" she snapped, eyeing Percy beadily and waiting for confirmation of this fact.

"Y-yes-s, G-great Aunt-t-t-ie M-mu-uriel!" Percy gasped.

Great-Aunt Muriel crowed with derisive laughter. "Six years old and still can't speak?!" she sneered. "Molly, I expected better! He needs a good beating… out to whip that stutter out of them. It's the only way!"

Percy gave a whimper of fear and hurt; how could anyone say that about him? Mother and Father were so proud of him; he was smart and more grown-up than any of his brothers, and he spoke very well, and… and…

Before he could stop himself, Percy burst into tears and ran from the room.

"Perce!" he heard Charlie shout in distress, and he knew his older brother would come running after him soon to cheer him up. He refused to look back or stop, however; he fled to his bedroom and shut the door behind him, still careful not to slam it, and flung himself down on the bed, sobbing. From the living room, he heard the sound of explosions and the twins shrieking with laughter mingled with Ron's cries of startled anger; they had pulled off some prank the moment he left the room. A moment later, Great-Aunt Muriel was screaming angrily about how ill-behaved the twins were, how George's ears were misaligned, and the twins protesting to Mother that Great-Aunt Muriel had deserved to be pranked for being so mean to Percy…

Percy's lip trembled again and he buried his face in the pillow. He had tried to be good and kind, so why did Great-Aunt Muriel hate him?

A moment later, he heard the door open and looked up; it was rude to ignore a person when they entered the room.

Bill, Charlie, and the twins filed into the room; from the living room, Percy could still hear Mother trying to calm down Great-Aunt Muriel. Charlie was looking somewhat ashamed of himself, Bill looked torn between amusement at the twins' prank and annoyance at their misbehaviour, and the twins were looking quite smug as they grinned at Percy.

"Don't worry, Perce," Charlie said soothingly, patting Percy's back. "She's an evil old crone, so don't listen to her."

Percy sniffed. "But—but she hates me! And I don't have a stutter, and I can talk right!"

Bill smiled at him. "We know, Percy. You were just nervous! There's nothing wrong with that!"

Percy nodded. Bill was right; Percy had been rather scared of his great-aunt.

The twins grinned at Percy, clambering onto his bed. "Great-Auntie Myurel's just plain mean!" Fred declared, nodding emphatically.

"Yup," agreed George. "We made her umbrella go boom." With this, the twins collapsed onto each other, laughing hysterically.

"That was very rude, Fred and George!" Percy reprimanded them sternly. "You were very foolish!"

"Oh, give it a rest, Percy," Bill sighed, smirking somewhat. "The old bat deserved it! She was mean to you, and the twins didn't hurt her anyhow."

"Nope," grinned George.

"But no more umbrellas for her," Fred and George sniggered in unison, cracking up again. Charlie and Bill laughed, too, but Percy was still frowning.

"You should behave for company!" he protested, but his admonitions fell on deaf ears as the boys began to act out the prank once again.

Percy sighed exasperatedly… and moments later, he joined into the fun.

A/N: Well? Well?! WELL?! DO YOU LIKE!? Lol… Anyways… yeah, I hope you enjoyed it… REVIEWS PLEAAAASSSEEE! I need to know if you're even reading this thing!

Love,

Arwen ;)