"What?" Bill picked up on Percy's annoyance. "What is it?"
"It's nothing," but that was ineffective as his brother pushed past him to look out the window.
"He looks familiar," Bill said, screwing up his face as if to recall a name.
"He's my dormmate," Percy said shortly.
"Oh, yeah! What's his name? Godric, it's on the tip of my tongue-"
"Oliver," Percy supplied. "Oliver Wood."
Quidditch fanatic and continual pain in my bum
Bill snapped a finger. "That's right! He used to follow Charlie around all the time." Yes, I remember. A grin came over his face. "It drove Charlie absolutely batty." His eyebrows raised a little when Percy stayed where he was, never moving. "Well?" He was expectant.
"Well what?"
"Aren't you going to go see him?" Bill said.
No
"Oh," Percy said awkwardly. "I don't know..."
"Why not?" there was no judgment, just curiosity. "He did come all this way, Perce." His face turned more serious. His eyes drifted to the window then back to him. "Is he bothering you?"
"What?" Percy was taken aback.
"Is he bothering you?" Bill repeated. "Does he bully you?"
Isn't this ironic?
"You can tell me," Bill urged. "I'll go deal with him."
"He's not bothering me," Percy shook his head.
"He isn't?" Bill was skeptical.
"No."
His brother relaxed. "If you say so. But if that's the case, why don't you want to see him?"
You really don't want to know the reason why
Percy couldn't come up with anything that sounded sensible. He shrugged.
"I can come with you," Bill offered. "That way you won't be alone."
"You don't have to," Percy said.
"And miss out on a chance to spend some time with my baby brother?" Bill pinched Percy's cheek. His hand was swatted away. "Not a chance."
"I'm not a child anymore," Percy scowled.
"You'll always be my baby brother," Bill said with affection. His hand swept in the direction of the bedroom door. "Shall we?"
It was late. Everybody else was asleep or otherwise in their rooms. Bill and Percy crept downstairs, passing by the couch where Charlie was passed out on. One of his arms was hanging off, a biscuit with a bite taken off it. He let out a loud snore, which somehow didn't wake himself up. Although, it was nowhere near as bad as when Ron snored. Bill shook his head, amused.
"Should've seen the way he stuffed himself. You'd think he'd never eaten before."
Percy couldn't help but note that the Christmas tree was put back up in the corner of the room. The ornaments were repaired and everything was fine again-it was as if it had never fallen.
Thanks to you
They put their jumpers and a hat on with a warming charm-courtesy of Bill-for added warmth. They snuck out the front door, the snow blasting them in the face, sticking to their skin but luckily not doing more than that. Around the Burrow they went, coming face-to-face with a beaming Wood.
"Err, hello," Percy said.
"I know it's late," Wood was sheepish. "But I wanted to give ya your gift."
"I told you, you didn't have to get me anything," Percy said.
"And I told you, I wanted to."
"I like him," Bill said, nudging Percy.
Wood took notice of Bill, face brightening up. "Oh, you're Bill! I haven't seen you in ages."
"Nice to see you, Wood," Bill chuckled, extending his hand for a shake, which was done heartily. "Still playing quidditch?"
Oh, don't get him started
"Course!" Wood beamed again. "I'm hoping to get on Puddlemere after this year."
Bill nodded approvingly. "They're pretty good. I've followed them for a while."
"I've been practicing," Wood said. That was an understatement but Percy didn't say anything. "I hope I'm good enough. I heard they turn at least two dozen people away each try-out season."
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Bill assured him. "I remember seeing you play for Gryffindor. You were great, a little on the obsessive side but still great."
Wood took that, even the part about him being a little obsessive, as a compliment. "Thanks!"
"Bill, could you give us a minute?" It was kind of stupid to have his brother come all the way out here, stay for not even five minutes and now was being urged to go back inside.
But his brother didn't seem to have an issue with it. "Sure," he nodded. "I'll make sure no one else is up." The wind was blowing the snow around so ferociously that it was difficult to see much beyond a couple feet. Bill seemed to vanish as he rounded the corner.
"What are you doing here?" Percy turned back to Wood, whom he noticed was shivering.
"Came to give you your gift," Wood told him, producing a...package out of his pocket. Percy was given the distinct impression that Wood was not the best at wrapping.
Oh and you are?
"You came all this way to give me a present?" Percy couldn't conceal his surprise. "I thought you were waiting to send it through the mail or wait until we got back to school?"
Wood shrugged. "Didn't wanna wait and 'sides, this is a little too heavy for the mail."
Too heavy?
What is that supposed to mean?
"Oh.."
Wood handed it to him, one of those eager smiles on his face. "I hope you like it," he added.
Percy glanced down at it. "Do I have to open it now?"
"No," Wood shook his head. "You can wait if you want."
He shivered again, shoving his hands in his pockets. He was obviously cold.
"You didn't put a warming charm on, did you?"
This seemed to stump his dormmate, who paused. "Huh. Didn't think of that."
"Clearly," Percy mumbled. He brought out his wand and murmured the charm. Instantly, Wood looked better, more relaxed.
"Thanks mate. So, how's it going?"
"How's what going?"
"You know," Wood jerked his head towards the Burrow. "You're still in one piece so it couldn't have been that bad, right?"
Wrong
He seemed to sense something was wrong when Percy inched his head downward. "Something happened, didn't it?" He guessed.
You could say that
My family thinks I hate them and I'm pretty sure they hate me right now
"You don't want to know," Percy sighed.
"That bad?" Wood frowned.
"Worse."
Wood didn't say I'm sure it wasn't that bad. He didn't even urge Percy to talk about it.
"Maybe things will be better tomorrow," Wood was optimistic.
"I wouldn't count on it," Percy said truthfully.
An emotion that Percy couldn't identify came over Wood's face. "That's not fair."
"What isn't?"
"The way they treat you," Wood said strongly. "They treat you like rubbish-no, rubbish gets treated better than you do!"
"Don't exaggerate," Percy had to speak up in order to be heard over the howling wind.
"I'm not," Wood gave him a look. "You know how they treat you isn't right."
No, not it wasn't.
"Dunno why you don't tell 'em off for it."
Right, because that was the solution. They'd surely stopped then.
"Absolutely not," he said immediately.
"Why?" Wood demanded.
"It won't help anything."
"You don't know that. I think it'd get their attention," Wood said confidently.
Trust me, Wood
It wouldn't
"Believe me, it's not a good idea," Percy said. He didn't want to talk about this anymore. "How, err, is your break thus far?"
"Good," Wood shrugged. "We've got family coming over tomorrow. Mum's going mad trying to get everything cleaned up but it already was clean anyway. Dad's got the basement all ready for us. Me and my cousins are either outside or we're downstairs doing somethin'. We've got plenty of snacks too."
"Are...are you and your cousins close?"
"Oh, yeah!" Wood said enthusiastically, then toned it down. Probably because Percy and his siblings...weren't. His dormmate shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah. We get along okay."
"Lucky you," Percy tried not to sound bitter.
"Don't be fooled," Wood said, "we fight too. Used to all the time when we were kids. Mum was not happy," he chuckled at this.
Is this supposed to make me feel better?
Because it isn't
"Is that it?" Percy asked. "I should go back in. Don't want Mum or anyone else seeing me out here."
"Oh, yeah," Wood nodded. "That's fine. My mum would probably have a fit, too. She's always worrying I'll get sick."
"I'll...I'll see you," Percy said awkwardly.
"Yeah," Wood smiled. "I'll see you too."
"And, erm, thank you," Percy held up the present. The wrapping paper was starting to get damp from snow falling on it. "Thank you for this."
"You don't have to thank me," Wood told him. "But you're welcome anyway and remember, you don't have to get me anything."
"Yes, yes," Percy said. "You've told me."
He didn't stay to find out what means of transportation Wood used to get there. He went back inside where Bill was. His older brother had drawn a mustache on Charlie's face. Percy had forgotten how much of a deep sleeper Charlie was. Fred and George had used it to their advantage many times.
"How'd it go?" Bill asked.
"Fine," Percy shrugged.
"I see he gave you a present," Bill observed.
"He did."
"Are you going to open it yet?"
"You're as nosy as Ginny is," Percy criticized but was unable to suppress a smile. A real one. Godric, he missed Bill. He missed how close-literally-they used to be.
"I'm your older brother. It's my job to be nosy," Bill grinned.
"For your information, I'm not opening it yet," Percy said. "I'd prefer to wait."
"Better put it away before Fred and George see it," Bill said. "And if anything happens to it, tell me. Even if it's after I leave. I'll handle it."
"You don't have to," Percy said but he couldn't deny that it was nice to hear.
Bill smiled, ruffing Percy's hair which he did not appreciate. They both turned their heads at the sound of a thud. Charlie had rolled off the couch and onto the floor, face planting. Bill smirked as Charlie was groaning.
"That hurt...oi, where's my biscuit?"
Bill snorted.
Charlie got to his feet rather clumsily, shaking his head as he regained his bearings. Then, he noticed Percy and exclaimed, "Percy!"
"Hello," Percy let out an oof when he was pulled into Charlie's arms.
"Did you just hello me? Did he just hello me?" Charlie looked from Bill and then back to Percy. "You don't say hello to your own brother!"
"Would greetings and salutations have worked better?"
"My baby brother is finally using sarcasm. I couldn't be prouder," Charlie cooed, pinching both of Percy's cheeks.
Percy swatted his hands away. "Stop that."
"I think Percy here needs a lesson on respecting his elders," Charlie said slyly.
"Now now," Bill put a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "It's late. Mum will have a fit."
Charlie huffed. "I was going to tickle him. Remember when we used to pin you down, Perce?"
"I remember you made me wet myself," Percy muttered.
"Right, that was part of the fun."
'Fun' he says
"Hang on," Charlie said, "what are you two doing up anyway? I thought you were going to bed, Bill?"
"I wanted to talk to Percy first," Bill said, glancing at him.
"And? How'd that go?"
"I'm right here," Percy said, annoyed.
Charlie pretended to be surprised, poking him on the forearm. "Oh. Guess you are."
"He's concerned, Perce," Bill said, trying to avoid an argument stirring up. "We both are."
"You have no reason to be."
"We're not stupid, you know," Charlie said. "We can tell you're acting differently."
"I'm not acting differently," Percy denied.
"We've noticed it a while ago," Bill said, looking guilty. "But we didn't say anything because we didn't know how."
"We told each other we would this time," Charlie said. "You can thank me for that. Bill was being a pansy but I talked him into it."
Bill scoffed but otherwise didn't remark on that. "Anyway. We just wanted to talk to you, see what was going on."
"There's nothing going on," Percy rubbed at his arm. The room was getting warmer and he didn't like it.
"You can't fool us," Charlie said. "We know you too well."
"He's right," Bill confirmed. "Come on, Percy. Just tell us what's wrong. We can't stand to see you like this."
"Like what?" Percy played dumb.
They humored him anyway. He knew that they knew that he knew what they were talking about.
"You used to be different," Charlie said, frowning as he struggled to come up with his words. "Happier."
Percy felt a bit nauseous.
"You don't smile as much," Bill said quietly. "You're tired. You're thin," he gestured to Percy's body.
"I've always been thin, Bill."
"Not like this," Bill retorted. "Do you ever eat anymore, Percy? It sure doesn't look like it."
Percy had nothing to say.
"We don't know what's wrong, but we know something's wrong," Charlie said, determinedly.
"We want to help but we can't do that if you don't tell us," Bill said softly.
Percy couldn't look at either of them. "I...I want to go to bed."
"Percy-"
No. No. He couldn't stay out here for this...this interrogation.
"I want to go to bed," he said firmly.
Bill was defeated. "Okay."
Charlie couldn't believe this. His jaw dropped a little. "What? You're letting him go?"
"It's late," Bill said.
Percy passed them both. He could hear Charlie whispering furiously.
"What was that about? Why'd you let him go? I thought we were supposed to talk to him."
"Do you see it going anywhere now?" Bil demanded. "We can't force him to tell us, Charlie."
Percy didn't hear what his brother said in response to that. But he was halfway up the stairs when Bill spoke to him again.
"Hey, Perce?"
He turned.
"Why don't you come with us tomorrow?" Bill suggested.
Percy's eyes narrowed. "Go where?"
"Anywhere," Charlie said.
"Let's spend the day together," Bill said. "We haven't done that in ages."
It was unexpected. Percy couldn't actually remember the last time he'd spent an afternoon with his brothers. The twins, Ron or Ginny usually fought for their attention as well as their parents. It just naturally happened that Percy was left out. He'd accepted that and now-
He didn't plan on doing anything but keeping himself in his bedroom. He didn't want to go but he also did.
"You...want to spend time with me?" Percy blinked.
His brothers looked like they were seconds away from tackling him in a hug.
"Of course we do," Bill said and Charlie echoed that statement.
"Very well, I suppose we can do that," Percy felt very warm inside that had nothing to do with the warming charm.
"Brilliant," Charlie grinned. "Night, Perce."
"Night, Percy," Bill said.
"Good night," Percy whispered.
/
His door was shut. The room was still dark except for the light coming in from outside.
He stared at the wrapped gift that was sitting on the floor, as was he-crossed legged. It was hard not to feel curious as to what it might be. He chastised himself for it. And against his better judgment, he slowly and quietly pulled the wrapping paper off.
He could tell even without unwrapping it that it wasn't another book.
Way to be ungrateful
Look at all the books you got; books you've read a thousand times and you're whining because they got you books
He didn't mean to be ungrateful. Percy was appreciative of anything he received but he had to admit, it was slightly tiring to get the same kind of gift for his birthday and Christmas. It was the only thing people seemed to know what to get him.
Books.
He was given books pretty much every time. They were nice. But sometimes Percy wished he could be given different things like everyone else. Ron was obsessed with the Chudley Cannons and he didn't only receive their merchandise.
But why did Percy only receive books?
Well, correction.
He would get his Weasley jumper.
But beyond that, it was books. Perhaps it was the easiest. No need to overthink about the possibilities when they could just hop over to the second hand store and find something.
He was stalling.
Percy peeled off the wrapping paper to find a snow globe. There was a dolphin in the middle of it, leaping out of what was supposed to be water.
This was not a book.
This was far from a book.
Mesmerized, he gently shook it and watched as blue specks, which he reckoned were supposed to be the snowflakes, floated around inside. His thumb caressed it and he could not take his eyes off it.
This was not a book.
But it was so much better.