A/N: Sorry for the delay but writing was very low on the priority list. But here's the next chapter! Enjoy?

Disclaimer: Not mine

"Happy Birthday dear Percy! Happy Birthday to you!"

Percy allowed himself to smile for the first time in nearly a month as his family finished their horribly off-key song, as their voices faded- thankfully- into silence and the flickering candles were offered to him expectantly, his nervousness fluttered to the front of his mind once again and his blue eyes closed as he made his wish.

Forgive me.

Cheers jerked him from his thoughts and he could only watch the lingering smoke drift slowly up and hope that forgiveness was a prominent family trait. The evening passed in a almost lonely blur, despite the crowded house.

It was a small party, only family and close friends were present, and the close friends were Ron's, only there because his birthday was near enough to the end of summer that Harry and Hermione were staying over. There was nobody close enough to him to invite to a small party, Percy refused to let that bother him, in fact he pushed the thought forwards. Studied it, and used it to support his decision. He wouldn't be missed.

The night wore on slowly and the effort of keeping a consistent smile on his face was becoming painful, but fortunately, nobody ever paid much attention to perfect Percy, so when it faded into quite brooding it always went unnoticed.

Its ironic, He thought, that they would chose my birthday as their deadline. Laughter bubbled from his lips, luckily it came immediately after an apparently hilarious joke from one of the twins, so he only received strange looks for having a sense of humor, not laughing randomly. The sweet numbing chatter of his family filled the room as the cake was handed out, Percy allowed himself to relax.

He even laughed when the twins made his icing splatter around the room, coating everyone -mostly him- in thick chocolate goop. He couldn't be mad, not tonight, not for something as insignificant as an icing explosion. Now that got him some weird looks.

"Perce! You can laugh!" George's eyes were comically wide and his twin was looking exaggerated shocked over his shoulder. His almost-smirk broke the silence and the conversations started up again.

I'm going to miss this. The thought was sudden, and unexpected. His smile slowly melted away and he tensed once again as the impending meeting was brought to the forefront of his mind by a single innocent thought.

The night ended too soon.

Percy was standing near his window. The quiet of the room a complete opposite to the chaos inside his head. It was dark, and the white shifted and spun behind his eyes. What if I'm wrong? What if this- No. I can't think that. I can't refuse, not now. I need- I need to do this. He glanced towards the clock, 11:02.

58 minutes. You can do this, this is right. They'll understand…. eventually…. maybe…. probably not. No! They will. Shaking he dropped onto his small mattress, face buried deep in his pillow. "This is the right thing to do."

Well, saying it aloud doesn't do shit.

"Fuck!"

The pillow was starting to become suffocating. His sweater felt too hot and his wand seemed to be burning a hole in his pocket. Staring at the roof didn't help either.

I could be something important, somebody important. I had the marks for it. Was I right to wait? To hold myself back? He slowly traced the crescent moon shaped scars that littered his palms, they had never healed properly. No, I can be somebody from joining the cause too, I can change the wizarding world for the better, I can make a name for myself. This is right.

11:25

Oh Merlin, they'll never forgive me! What if they hate me when they find out what I've done? What I'm going to do. Will they- will they think that I betrayed them? That I'm a traitor? No! they won't! I can explain it to them, Mum will understand and- and so will Dad. The twins- will they use this as proof? Proof that I would turn my back on them for the sake of my ambition? Maybe. But that's- that's ok. Right? Because they would be wrong.

Right?

11: 39

Percy was sitting under the feeble light from his weakest Lumos spell, his quill hovering over a single sheet of parchment, ink dripping slightly. "Ok Perce. You can do this, just write. Find a way to somehow say something that doesn't make you sound like the arrogant self-centered money-minded perfect prat that you've been pretending to be for the last year. No problem."

The inkpot made a spectacular smudge against his door, and the parchment was of better use as a crumpled, messy pile anyways.

11:57

I'm doing this to protect them.

I had no choice.

This is my only option.

11:59

"I'm so sorry."

At exactly 12:00 a familiar massive black owl arrived at his open window. It impatiently held out a letter, intelligent eyes trained on the nervous redhead. Percy took a deep breath before reaching for the envelope, the second his fingertips brushed the aged paper the tell-tale pull of a portkey grabbed hold of him. With a shout he was gone, a piece of parchment drifted slowly down to the ground where he once stood.

The owl shrieked before swooping down and grasping the note in sharp talons, it then flew through the open window, once again fading into the night.

Percy was unceremoniously deposited in the center of a circle. A circle of people robed in black and with hoods hiding their faces.

One stepped forwards, "Percival, have you decided to join us? To fight for our cause?" His voice was ancient and rough and the shadows shifted with his words.

"I have."

"The choice cannot be unmade."

"I know."

The man rested a hand on the younger man's shoulder, "Then welcome, brother."

The Weasleys were frantic, after all when one of your family members disappears -mere hours after you last saw him- without a word… Panic starts to set in. Especially when the person who had vanished is a neat freak and his room was trashed with ink splattering the walls, ripped parchment and other various items scattered about the room.

They spent hours searching the room, the house and the garden- all of them, even the twins were worried. Although Percy had been considerably absent for the past year and a bit he had always -always- left something stating that he was gone, it never said where he went but it always provided a time around when he thought he would be back. This time there was nothing.

They waited until late into the night but when the sun rose once again and Percy had been gone for twenty four hours without a word, the Aurors were called to investigate. Days turned into weeks and weeks to months but there was no sign of the bespeckled Weasley, the investigation was eventually called off due to lack of evidence and resources.

A/N: Again sorry for the delay :) Also feel free to leave recommendations or suggestions as to what you think you may want to happen, I'm open to other opinions :D Thanx for reading!