I do not own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.
-Rooney1077
Perci had visited Edgar Roy's family over the summer. She couldn't help it; the guilt was overwhelming. She needed some kind of closure. And she thought seeing the family of the man she killed doing well might help.
His murder was covered up, and seemingly didn't matter since he worked for Lord Voldemort. It didn't appear in the Prophet. No one talked about it. His family were the only ones who cared. Perci found out where they lived with the help of Andrew and Leo's skills put together. Andrew wanted to come with her for support, but Perci knew she needed to do it alone. She also didn't want Andrew to see her possibly break down. She was still the leader of Camp Half-Blood–she didn't need anyone to see their leader weak.
Perci, dressed in winter robes, knocked on the Roy family's front door with a shaky breath. After a moment a little boy with light brown hair and blue eyes opened the door, with an innocent smile. His eyes flashed, confusion dancing in them. "Momma! Some lady is here," he called.
Perci's heart thudded in her chest, waiting for Roy's wife to come to the door. Perci glanced around. Maybe she could get out before the woman saw her. She had no idea what she was going to do, what she was going to say. The boy looked exactly like his father. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. He haunted Perci. The boy turned around, and went to find his mother. Perci looked around, and spotted a picture of the family. They all looked so happy. Perci tore that happiness away from them. She could hear the light footfalls of who, Perci assumed, to be the wife. Perci caught one glimpse of her face, and erupted into flames before flying away from the small house.
She felt like a coward. She wasn't sure what had come over her. Perci couldn't go back, though. Seeing those two made the guilt grow. What if that had been her? What if it were her son that was left fatherless? What if it were her, a widow, that now had to solely provide for her family? Her husband, the love of her life, gone, not waking up to his side every morning? Perci couldn't imagine the pain she had caused them. Though, Perci could imagine the pain Edgar Roy had caused many families. That was one of the only things that kept her sane.
Perci had killed people before. In the Titan War she had killed many demigods that had sided with Luke and Kronos. She also practically killed Luke, handing him the knife that would end his life. However, this death felt different. Guilt consumed her.
Chiron hadn't allowed her to leave the camp for a whole month. He offered to help her, and help he did. Andrew had spent a lot of time with her. He was a very good distraction from everything. Perci could not call him from Hogwarts to ask him to come over, though. She needed a new distraction, but she didn't want one. There was only one person she wanted and she couldn't have him. It made her miserable.
Weeks went by, all the same as the first few days. Perci continued to help Slughorn teach the Potions class. She was glad she got an opportunity like that. Dean continued to "bump into her". They talked a lot. He liked to draw her, even the little things. Perci enjoyed being able to just sit and listen to him talk as he drew her. He was able to take her mind of some things. Dean was quite the artist. Perci also continued to see Edgar Roy, in her imagination and nightmares. At times she would awake in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, screaming. Roy followed her everywhere. It was beginning to drive her insane. She hadn't told anyone. She thought about Iris messaging Chiron. She, every so often, thought about sending Sirius an owl, but then she remembered what happened, and feels a small pang in her heart.
Perci's favorite time of the year was fast approaching– Quidditch season. The magical sport was the only thing she had been looking forward to. Just thinking about it got her through the dreadful school day and copious piles of homework, that she only attempted and then begged Hermione do help her.
Perci soon found out that Dean was going to try out for the Quidditch team, too, the next day. Although she was excited and ready for tryouts, her nerves often got the best of her. Perci couldn't remember the last time she touched a quaffle, let alone threw one into a goal. She definitely improved her flying skills, while flying through the skies of England, Scotland, the States, and many other incredible lands. That's where she was now–in the locker room, changing into her old, worn out Quidditch gear. As she strapped on her knee and elbow pads, she glanced around at the smelly locker room. Everyone was bounding around in excitement. Perci was sure the chatter and yelling could be heard from the astronomy tower. She loved it.
Her shelf had stayed the same as it was from all those years ago. It was untouched, as was her uniform and broom. Perci's old Twigger 90 broomstick laid on top of her shelf, a thin layer of dust on it. Perci grabbed it, wiping the dust and grime off of it, gently. The old wood and smell of the branches intoxicated her. Perci could just remember the last time she rode that broom. She appreciated that no one touched her equipment. Perci always used to freak out when someone touched her gear, and would often threaten the boys that she would sneak into their dorm and tear their balls off. Needless to say, it worked like a charm. Perci had wanted to keep it all in tip top shape, for she wanted to play for England's National team, and didn't need anyone messing up her only broom. It had taken her 3 years to save up for it. Things were so simple back then.
Perci stepped out of the locker room, the cold, moist wind nipping at her skin. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. There had been many days like this one since everyone found out about Voldemort's return. It seemed as though the sky reflected everyone's mood, dark and gloomy. As soon as Perci stepped foot into the pitch a wave of emotions hit her like a ton of bricks. She remembered the excitement she felt before a match, the fear that Zeus was going to strike her out of the sky, the freedom she felt as she sore through the air, and the pride when her team won. Life was better all those years ago.
Perci nervously fingered the number 4 patch on her Quidditch robes, and began toward the large, rambunctious group of people in the middle of the pitch. She joined an irritable Harry and Ginny as they spoke to each other quietly. Harry caught sight of her, and raised an eyebrow. He turned toward her and crossed his arms. "You're late, we've been waiting 15 minutes for you," he informed.
Perci grinned, and rolled her eyes. "Calm your tits, Potter. A queen is never late. Everyone is simply early." Ginny snorted at 'queen', immediately earning a playful glare. Harry shook his head; taking off his glasses, he rubbed his eyes.
Harry looked at the crowd of people, groaning. He was the captain this year, so the pressure to find a great team, one who'd win Gryffindor the Cup, and would live up to past teams, was great. Harry cleared his throat softly. "Er, this morning I'm gonna be putting you all through a few drills just to assess your skills." No one paid attention to him, except for Ron, who stood like a statue away from the group, his eyes wide with barely hidden fear. He was extremely pale, and kind of green. Perci could hear his heart beat quickly with her newly enhanced hearing from her training with Chiron. She stifled a laugh at the poor, scared ginger boy's face. "Quiet, please!" Harry tried to call over the noise.
Ginny sighed at Harry's pitiful attempt. "Shut it!" She yelled, finally grabbing everyone's attention.
Harry flushed slightly and nodded a thanks to her. "Alright, er, now then. Just because you made the team last year, does not guarantee you a spot this year. Is that clear?" Harry asked. Everyone just stared at him, not saying anything. It was clear they didn't quite respect the Chosen One. "Good," Harry mumbled, hiding his irritation.
The drills were easy for Perci, but hard for many others; she had greatly improved her flying skills over the past few years. Harry had set up levitating cones, and each player had to fly through the cones, and not hit them; though, the cones constantly moved as each wizard or witch flew through them. Harry flew to the side, taking note of each player's skills and faults.
Percy had gone through each set of cones at least 5 times before taking a break off to the side. She watched everyone struggle to get through the drill. Ginny and McLaggen seemed to be the better flyers out of everyone that tried out. Ron struggled through many drills throughout the tryout, it was only a little pitiful. Harry stopped them all after an hour and thirty minutes, telling them to go get a drink and rest for a few minutes. Perci and the other players all went back to the locker room to rest, which to many meant more horse play. Perci had the strong urge to bash their heads in, but promised herself she would revisit the topic later.
Perci sat next to Ron, trying to console him after his hard time during the drills. "It's okay. They're just field drills for field players," she said. "You're trying out for keeper. The scrimmage is when you need to bring it." Ron groaned, but nodded, and began to tell her about the keeper position. He then looked up, groaning once again before quickly leaving. Perci frowned, and glanced where Ron had looked. Dean towered above her, sweaty from all the hard work. His smile never wavered.
Dean plopped down next to her with a small smile. She couldn't help but notice the number Dean was wearing, number 5. Perci felt a jolt go through her. That had always been Fred's number. Dean was wearing his old uniform. Perci even noticed the sew work she had to do in their fourth year after a game against Slytherin where one of their beaters had hit Fred in the chest so hard, he had torn his uniform in half. Perci had spent hours sewing the uniform back together with Fred above her, correcting everything she did. She was surprised Fred and George hadn't stolen their uniforms and taken it with them after their expulsion from Hogwarts.
Dean was very close to her. "You were great out there," he complimented, his voice low and soft. "How did you learn to fly like that?" He broke the touch barrier, lightly setting his hand on her knee.
Perci plastered on a smile, and tried to ignore the hand on her knee and her quickening heartbeat. "Thanks, I've been practicing," she informed.
Dean frowned, confused. "How could you have practiced? I thought you were–"
Perci tensed, gritting her teeth. "On the run?" Dean nodded. She shrugged her shoulders. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." Dean raised an eyebrow and motioned down at her short sleeved uniform shirt. Perci flushed, stammering, "If I were wearing sleeves," she trailed off. Perci looked up, slightly embarrassed at her not so smooth talking, and noticed Dean staring at her face–no, her lips.
He began to lean in, his hand moving up. Just as he was about to kiss her, Dean moved slightly to the side, his lips on her ear. "Meet me in the Room of Requirement tonight. I want to show you something." His hand rested on her thigh. Perci's heart thudded loudly. She could feel her finger nails grow into talons; they dig into the palms of her hand, warm blood slowly dripping through the cracks between her fingers. Her eyes were slightly lidded, but her glowing orange irises were still visible. Her heart beated faster. Dean pulled away, and left with the rest of the Gryffindors back to the pitch. It took her a few minutes to regain her bearings before she headed out to the pitch. Harry and the rest or the players were huddled in a circle.
"Okay, for the rest of the tryout we will be scrimmaging. Ron, you're the first captain. McLaggen, second captain. Choose your team, and get in the air," Harry ordered, finally regaining his confidence.
Ron and McLaggen quickly picked their teams, Ginny and Perci being on opposite teams with Dean on Perci's team. They all mounted their brooms after figuring out who was playing what. Harry released the quaffle and the other balls and the game begun. With both Dean and Perci as chasers on McLaggen's team Ron had a hard time blocking their shots. McLaggen's team ended up losing 20-10 before a 5th year kid finally caught the snitch for Ron's team after at least an hour. Harry then gave an annoying long speech in which Perci thought she was going to pass out from boredom. He eventually let them head back to the locker room. Everyone bounded with excitement, talking about the scrimmage and how they did, though Perci didn't. She couldn't focus on anything but what Dean had told her before. Meet him in the Room of Requirement. He wanted to show her something. A few thoughts ran through her head as she changed out of her clothes and into her Gryffindor robes, thoughts that would make Molly and Arthur Weasley and her parents (if they were alive) surely cringe. Though, that's probably not the only thing that would make them cringe. Her plan would make them cringe, and all the other things she's done would definitely make them cringe. Perci wasn't proud of the woman she was turning into, and she was sure her parents wouldn't be either.
She stuffed her quidditch robes into her locker, grabbed her books and wand and headed out of the locker. Perci walked back up to the castle avoiding eye contact with everyone and anyone. Her tan skin grew hot and slightly gold. If anyone noticed they surely didn't say anything. In mere minutes she was in the dormitory. Perci threw her bag on the ground by her bed and practically ran to the laboratory. She threw a bit of water on her burning face, hoping that might help. As soon as the water touched her face, it turned into steam. Perci didn't understand what was happening to her. She didn't know what to do. She looked to the side, seeing her nails morph into talons. She gripped the sink hard, cracking it slightly. Perci was sweating by now and was about to find her minor when she heard a sound behind her.
Perci looked up into the steamy mirror, her orange eyes glowing, and glanced to the right. Her heart quickened its pace. Edgar Roy was glaring right at her. Perci squeezed her eyes shut, hoping by the time she looked again, Edgar Roy wouldn't be there. She opened her eyes and glanced to the right. Suddenly a green light enveloped Roy and his body fell to the ground.
'What's wrong with me?' She thought.
A cackle filled the silent room, a cackle that she would never forget for as long as she lived. Perci turned around slowly, seeing Bellatrix Lestrange kneeling by Edgar Roy's stiff body. She poked his grey cheek and grinned. Bellatrix looked up.
"Oh, darling, you killed him good," she purred, moving towards her. Perci grit her teeth and turned back to the sink.
"Wake up," she told herself. "Wake up, wake up." Her heart pounded in her chest. Her skin grew hot again.
Bellatrix giggled. "You aren't sleeping, lover. This is real." Bellatrix snaked her arms around Perci's waist holding her to her chest, not flinching at her burning gold skin. Perci growled and quickly turned, grabbing the death eater by the throat, her talons digging into her throat. Perci growled at her and lit her hand on fire, about to burn the bitch's face off, but the woman disappeared from her hand and so hit Edgar Roy's body. She was alone in the laboratory, her hand still on fire.
Perci fell to her knees and crawled to a toilet. She threw up the little bit of food she had at lunch. Perci pulled herself to her feet, hearing laughing and footsteps approaching. She moved out of the laboratory and back to her bed. She was changing out of her sweaty robes when Hermione and Ginny walked in.
Hermione plopped onto Perci's bed. "How was Quidditch? Does it feel good to be back?" Perci pulled on a new pair of underwear and a bra before turning back to the girls.
"It was alright. Still things I need to work on, but it felt good–normal." Perci replied.
Ginny raised a brow. "You kicked arse! Our team this year is gonna be great. We're gonna win the cup." She nudged Perci. The green eyed girl grimaced and nodded.
Hermione noticed unfortunately. "What's wrong with you?" She asked bluntly. The witch had noticed a huge change in Perci's personality. She could sort of understand with everything that's happened to her, but something seemed off from her usual off-ness.
Perci shrugged, "yeah I'm good. I'm actually just gonna go see Slughorn." Hermione raised her eyebrows. "He needed my help." With that Perci left the room and hurried down the dormitory steps and into the common room, hoping not to bump into Dean. Perci sped down the halls, looking out for the person she was searching for, one of the only teachers besides Snape she trusted. Perci knocked on McGonagall's office. She heard a strong 'enter' and opened the door. Minerva McGonagall looked up, her face stone hard, but turning soft seeing Perci. A soft smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Perciana, how are you?" She asked, putting her quill down. She noticed Perci's frazzled look and got up, motioning for her to sit at the chair in front of her desk. "What's wrong?"
Perci hesitated. She wanted to talk to someone about everything: the man she killed, everything that happened in the Manor, her Phoenix side. She wasn't sure where to start. "Did you ever see things when you first became an animagus?"
Professor McGonagall frowned and sat beside her. "No, I did not. But then again, I didn't become one illegally. What are you seeing?"
"Bellatrix Lestrange. And..." she paused, taking a deep breath. Not many people know what she did at the Ministry of Magic a few months ago. "And the man I killed, Edgar Roy, a death eater." McGonagall didn't even flinch at her confession. She took a shaky breath took off her hat.
"Have you told Professor Snape about this?" Perci shook her head. "The people you are seeing- can they touch you? Can you touch them?"
Perci frowned, but nodded. McGonagall grew pale. She went back to her desk and sat down carefully. The old witch took a deep breath and looked to Perci. "We must get Professor Snape. He is more...qualified, per say, in this area. This stays between us and Snape." Perci's confused look deepened. She had no idea what was going on, but she nodded. "Wait here while I find him." With that McGonagall was gone, her green robes flapping behind her. It was only a few minutes before McGonagall appeared again with Snape.
"Tell him, Perciana," McGonagall told her. Snape frowned, looking down at the girl. Perci sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly; she was exhausted.
"I've been seeing Bellatrix and Edgar Roy," Perci stated bluntly. Snape's facade did not change. He had had few interactions with Roy. He never really cared for the death eater. Though the situation did peak his interest.
"You may just be mad, did you ever think of that?" He 'joked' monotonously. Perci scowled and was about to give him an ear full, but McGonagall interrupted.
"They can touch her, Severus," she said softly turning to him, "she can touch them." Then it dawned on Snape what the old witch was getting at. The ex-Potion's Master stiffened, his heart racing. He would rather this happen to anyone but Perci, and well, Lily.
"I have an inkling of what may be happening, though I cannot be sure. I must look into this." Snape turned to leave. He needed to get out of there, talk to Dumbledore.
Perci frowned. "Wait! Snape, I'm having..." Snape turned slowly, waiting. "I'm having control issues." Perci turned slightly pink.
"Remember what I told you all those months ago. Remember the books I made you read." Was all he said before he walked out the door.
Perci turned to McGonagall with an irritable look on her face. "Well, that was a waste of time."
It was late by the time Perci made it back to the Gryffindor common room, though the entire room was buzzing. It seemed as though everyone was there. Lee Jordan waved her over, standing over two people playing chess. Perci nodded before motioning that she'd be over in a minute. She accidentally caught Dean's eye. Perci groaned, remembering that she was supposed to meet Dean in the Room of Requirement hours ago. Dean grit his teeth and went back to doing his paper, not giving her a second look. Perci sighed, making her way over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She took a seat by Ron in the couch, groaning loudly. Hermione gave Perci a sympathetic smile and patted her on the knee.
"Good job today, Ron," Perci complimented, nudging the ginger.
Ron grinned confidently and nodded. "Thanks, mate," he chuckled. Perci rolled her eyes. "But I have to admit, I thought I was gonna miss that last one. Hope Cormac's not taking it too hard," he added. Ron nudged Hermione's arm with his shoe, getting an irritated grunt in return. "He's got a bit of a thing for you, Hermione. Cormac." Perci widened her eyes, and glanced down at Hermione seeing her cheeks turn red. She looked back to Ron and gave him a slight shake of her head. Ron had to know that Hermione had a crush on him.
Hermione grit her teeth and looked up from her newspaper. "He's vile." Was all she said on the matter. Perci looked over at Harry, who had been considerably quiet since she arrived. He usually loved talking about Quidditch. However, the boy was too preoccupied with his little spell book to know what was going on.
Harry suddenly shifted towards her, brandishing his book. "Have you ever heard of this spell? Sectumsempra?"
Perci squinted at the page, shaking her head. "No, sounds dumb, though." Harry rolled his eyes, going back to reading his book.
Hermione slammed her paper in her lap. "If you had a shred of self-respect, you'd hand that book in," she said angrily.
"Not bloody likely. He's top of the class. Even better than you, Hermione." Ron piped up. Perci stared at him. How stupid did he have to be? She rubbed her eyes, tiredly.
Hermione glanced over at Harry, ignoring Ron completely. "I'd like to know whose that book was. Let's have a look." She moved to take the book from Harry's hands, but the boy coiled back, hugging it to his chest.
Harry got up, backing away from her. "No." Perci rose an eyebrow. Did he dare cross Hermione?
The witch out her hands on her hips. "Why not?"
Harry began petting the small book. "The binding is fragile," he said uncertainly. Hermione laughed, repeating him, before lunging toward him, Harry backing away quickly.
Perci rolled her eyes and took out her wand. "Accio," she said, pointing her wand at the book. In a second, it flew out of Harry's hands to her. Harry gave her an annoyed look as she opened it roughly to the first page. "Half-Blood Prince?" She muttered. A odd feeling washed over her as she remembered back to her Camp Half-Blood days. The witch shook her head-that didn't make sense.
"Well, what does it say?" Hermione asked impatiently.
Perci shifted, throwing the book. "'This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince'." Hermione frowned looking at the page. Harry snatched the book from her hands, taking Perci's spot on the couch. "You know, Harry, having cheat codes in that book for potion making isn't going to make you better. You aren't going to have that for the exam, I'll make sure of it." Before Harry could say anything else, Perci was already standing by Lee Jordan, joking about who knows what.
It was a week before she heard anything from Snape. It was definitely a hard week. For some reason, Perci was missing Fred more than ever. She almost wrote to him, but thought it better not to. She couldn't have it intercepted by death eaters. Dean ignored her ever since she blew him off. He wouldn't even speak to her in Potions. Perci continued to see Edgar Roy and occasionally Bellatrix. She continued to tell McGonagall about it. She even told her what she went through in the Malfoy Manor. The Transfiguration professor promptly switched Draco Malfoy out of her Potions class. That was the one good thing that had come of that week.
Snape had called her down from her second class, Alchemy, to his new office. She walked into the empty Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to see Snape waiting at his desk. He flipped through a large, leather bound book before glancing up at her. "Sit down," he said monotonously. His voice carried much better in the large, open room than it did in the dungeons. Perci sat in the table closest his desk. "I have come to believe that Mrs. Lestrange is, in a way, possessing you. Almost as the Dark Lord did with your brother last year. Hopefully, you will be a better Occlumency student than he was. Although, that is not hard to do."
Perci rose an eyebrow, her mouth agape. It was a lot to take in. She was being possessed by that bitch? That didn't make sense, though. She wasn't like how Harry was last year. "I–" she wasn't sure what to say.
"Tell me, what is your connection to Edgar Roy?"
Perci's heart stopped. She searched for how to explain everything. Would Snape tell Dumbledore or McGonagall? Would they tell the Ministry? Would she go to Azkaban? And what if she did? What would happen to Harry? To Fred? Perci took a deep breath. "I killed him...with the Killing Curse." Snape stared at her, wondering if teaching her how to perform the Killing Curse was a good idea. Probably not one of his best.
"What does he do? And Bellatrix?"
Perci shuffled in her seat. This wasn't something she really wanted to talk about. "He just... stares at me or dies over and over again." Perci could feel her skin grow hot. Her breathing was quickening. She shut her eyes tightly. She couldn't think about Bellatrix. Every time she did, her mind always wondered to the dungeons of Malfoy Manor.
Snape narrowed his eyes as Perci's nails grew into talons, her hair catching on fire. The girl opened her eyes, and Snape could feel fear creep into him. He shook it off. "Potter!" He raised his voice. He got up from his desk and moved towards her. "Perciana! Perciana!" He snapped. Nothing stopped her. The table and chair was now alit. Snape pulled out his wand. "Aqua Eructo!" A powerful jet of water erupted from the end of his wand and hit Perci directly in the chest, extinguishing the fire and knocking her on the ground. Snape let out a sigh when he heard Perci groan. Taking her control issues into consideration, Snape knew this was not going to be easy.
Perci gently took off her soaking wet robes, cursing Snape the whole time. She understood why he needed to do it- she lost control and put him and herself in danger. Snape told her to come back next week for her first Occlumency lesson, which she wasn't looking forward to. Perci remembered what Harry was put through last year, and she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to handle it.
Perci stood in front of the mirror, staring at herself. She traced the long scars across her abdominal muscles. Her hand stopped when she came across the word 'monster' carved into her skin. It was very slightly pink, but still deep. It was jagged, Perci remembered Bellatrix carving it with her finger nails. She could easily remember her screams and the other witch's cackles. Perci shivered, shutting her eyes. When she opened them once again, a familiar red headed, tall boy was standing behind her. He stared at her stomach, glancing often at her back. He reached out to touch her, but his hand went through her shoulder. That's how Perci knew Bellatrix wasn't the cause of this.
She turned around to face him. Fred stared down at her with a warm smile and sad eyes. Perci wanted to touch him, but knew she couldn't. She needed him to hold her, to tell her she was going to get through this. She didn't need anyone else. She didn't care about anyone else. She didn't understand what was going through her mind when she started that flirting "distraction" crap with Dean. Dean was a good person, and she didn't need to bring him into her mess. In the end, nothing could distract her from the man standing in front of her. She hated it, but she could never hate him. Perci was starting to realize that maybe life was too short. And especially for an ex-demigoddess witch in this age and situation. For all she knew, she could be dead the next day. So Perci wasn't sure why she was wasting time, why she wasn't doing exactly what she wanted to do, what she needed to do. Perci was tired of being miserable. She was–
Hermione interrupted her inner monologue. "Perci, you in here? Slughorn sent me to come find you. You're–" Hermione walked up the stairs and into the dormitory before coming to a halt, seeing her. The young witch turned pale, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes. Perci went back to staring at herself. Hermione approached cautiously, taking in every scar, every discoloration of her skin. Hermione glanced at 'monster' on her stomach and choked.
"When Ron called us down that day, the day Remus and Sirius brought you home," she started softly, "and I came down and saw your thin and bloodied body on the kitchen table," Hermione shut her eyes for a moment, a tear escaping her eyes, "that was the day when I first wanted to kill Voldemort. Kill him myself. Before that, it was just a mutual feeling amongst everyone. Everyone wanted him gone, dead. But that day, I wanted to be the one to do it...kill him because of what he did to you."
Perci fought back tears. She clenched her fists, willing herself not to cry. "He wasn't the one who did this to me, 'Mione. Bellatrix and Malfoy. This is their doing." Hermione closed her eyes and looked away. She hated imagining the things Malfoy and the death eater could've done to her. "Somehow, every time I see Malfoy, half of me wants him to suffer as I did. But the other half remembers the scared, innocent little boy who hid into my dressing room, running away from two bullies. The little boy who wrote to me a month later, thanking me and hoping he would get sorted into Gryffindor. Then, I don't want him to hurt, to be angry. I don't want anything bad happening to him because in the end, he's still that scared little boy." Hermione was partially confused. Was Perci talking about the same Malfoy as she had come to know? "Maybe I'm just mad," she added. "I mean, who wouldn't want the torturer dead?"
"What about Bellatrix?"
Perci scowled. "Oh, believe me, Hermione. Bellatrix will die someday, and it will be by my hand. I will make her suffer." Perci's eyes were cold and dark. The room seemed to shift and it frightened Hermione, and not much frightened the young witch. Perci's mood then seemed to switch. She turned to her bed and began putting on muggle clothes. She threw on her Weasley sweater and jeans before looking for her wand.
Hermione snapped out of it, remembering the reason she went looking for Perci. "Slughorn was wondering why you didn't show up to class. He wanted me to find you and–"
Perci threw her wet robes in her dirty laundry basket. "Just tell him Snape needed to see me." Perci walked past Hermione and headed down the steps to the common room. Hermione caught up, jogging after her.
"Perci, where are you going?" Hermione called.
Perci threw on a jacket and scarf before turning back to the girl. "I have an errand to run. Save me some pumpkin juice from the feast." With that Perci transformed and flew out of the window of the common room. Hermione groaned and made her way all the way back down to the dungeons to pass on Perci's lie to Slughorn. She loved the girl, but sometimes Perci drove her mad.
Perci stood right outside of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, staring into the window. It was practically empty, all except for Fred and George laughing along with an older woman and what looked like could be her grandson. The little boy stared at the Trick Wand and the Screaming Yo-Yo with a look of wonderment. It made Perci smile. She loved how their products could make people happiest even in the darkest of times. Perci glanced around, trying to find some reason why she shouldn't go in there. Perci had been standing outside of the shop for at least 20 minutes. She was scared they wouldn't want to see her. Why would they after the way she treated them?
The old woman and her grandson walked happily out of the joke shop past Perci. "Thanks, Grams. Can we go look at the broomsticks now?" He asked excitedly.
The grandmother smiled. "Anything for you sweetheart."
Perci turned back to the shop window and took a deep breath. She pulled open the door, flinching at the ringing of the store bell. Perci looked around at the walls full of products and grinned. Every time she saw the store it was like the first time. Although, this was only her second time inside the shop. Perci could feel the twins behind her, but she continued to look at the products. "D'you know where I could find a spell-checking quill? I plan on taking the N.E.W.T. exams early." She asked. Perci turned, looking up at Fred and George. They look older, tired. They, of course, wore the same clothes and hair, but Perci could easily tell them apart. George was the first to hug her. Her wrapped his arms around her waist and scooped her up, twirling her around.
"So good to see you, Prissy!" He placed her back down on the ground, laughing happily.
"Great to see you too, Georgie," Perci grinned. She turned to Fred who continued to stare down at her, expressionless. George glanced over at his brother and then down at Perci. He coughed awkwardly and patted Fred on the back.
"I'll just go...count the money," he muttered, looking for an excuse to get out of the uncomfortably situation. Perci smiled at him, promising to catch up later. Fred crossed his arms and looked around, anywhere but the girl standing in front of him.
"Fred, I–" Perci began, but Fred stopped her.
"What're you doing here, Perci?" He sounded tired, and annoyed. Perci was taken aback a bit. Fred had never acted so cold towards her as he did now. He wouldn't look at her.
"I, er," Perci ran a hand through her dark, wavy, tangled hair, "I needed to see how you were. If you were alright..." she trailed off. Fred finally looked at her. His eyes were stony; Perci could tell he was hurt and pissed at her. She understood why: she ignored him for months, made him think she might've not been okay and that he was the reason, left him when he needed her, and after all of that she ignored him again. After Perci thought about it, she had been a total bitch.
"I'm fine. Now, why don't you go run off to Dean. He'll give you that comfort crap or whatever you want." There was an edge to his voice that kind of broke Perci's heart. She frowned. How could he have known about Dean? Then it dawned on her: Ron. Ron had been pissed about the whole Dean situation and probably told on her. There would be some serious ass licking when she got back to the castle.
"Fred, I'm not with Dean. There's nothing between us. He was just a-a distraction." Perci's voice was almost pleading.
Fred rolled his eyes, trying to hide all the hurt she caused him. He wasn't going to let her back in when she was probably just going to throw everything away again. "A distraction from what?" He scowled.
Perci sighed. "From you! From everything that's happened in the past two years. From the torture, to the animagus crap, to me killing that death eater!"
Fred's scowl didn't waver. He backed away from her and ran his hands through his short hair, wanting to pull it out. "Stop trying to make me feel sorry for you! I'm tired of that shit!" His voice was raised now.
Perci scowled. "I'm not trying to make you feel sorry for me, Fredrick." Her voice was low and irritable. "I gave you the reason I started things with him. It's over. It's been over for weeks." Perci threw her jacket to the ground in frustration. "And why does it matter to you who I may or may not be with?"
Fred gave her a humorless laugh, rolling his eyes. "You can't really be that thick, Perci. Do you not even remember what happened right before you abandoned me? Or did it mean that little to you?" Fred's voice was soft now. Perci remembered back to what happened that day.
She closed her eyes, and sat on the ground. "I didn't even kiss him. It was just flirting, Fred. It meant nothing." Fred stared down at her. Perci put her head in her hands. "I know I hurt you. I know what I did makes you it trust me, hate me probably. I understand that. I didn't do it because I didn't want to see you or I didn't care about you or lov–" Perci sighed, "I did it to protect you. To protect George, your whole family. You guys don't understand how that was the hardest decision of my life. Even trumps that time I had to give Luke that dagger," she muttered to herself. "The death eaters, Voldemort, they know what I did and they know what I can do. I was scared that if they found out that you meant something to me, they'd use you against me. Or hurt you. Or kill you. And I'd rather go through everything that's happened in the last two years a million times than put you in danger. If anything happened to you, I don't know what I would do."
"I don't need protection, Perci." Fred was now sitting next to her.
Perci laughed. "Oh, I know. I know you can hold your own. But if I had to do it all over again... I wouldn't change a thing." They sat on silence for what felt like hours. They didn't look at each other or speak to each other.
After a while, Fred got up. He stared down at her, seemingly debating something in his head. He held his hand out. "We have a few butterbeers made up, if you want some. I'm sure George wants to talk to you, too."
Perci looked up. "Do you have blue cookie crumble?" Even after the whole thing with Sally, Perci still loved her blue cookies, and had it with her butterbeer every time. Fred nodded. Perci got up and took his hand. Before she could walk up the steps to the second level where George was waiting for them, Fred pulled her to his chest and hugged her tightly.
Perci hadn't felt that at home for a long time.