Chapter Three

by Rosa241

Here it is, chapter three, this is where the changes really start - don't worry I'll the story really moving soon, I just need to set the scene first!

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter, all of this belongs to JK Rowling

"Exactly when are they coming?" Uncle Vernon all but shouted as the four of them sat waiting in the Dursley's front room. Harry could see how uncomfortable Uncle Vernon was, whilst Aunt Petunia had insisted on everyone looking their best – except of course for Harry – who half suspected that she just wanted the Weasley's to think that they were lower class.

"Ron's letter said about elevenish, I'm sure they'll be here soon." Harry hoped they'd be here as soon possible; he'd been waiting for this ever since he'd first got the letter. Two weeks was really a long time to wait, he'd been dying to leave ever since returning here. He loved being with the Weasley's it felt like home to him, he felt like he really belonged. If it was possible he'd missed his friends even more this summer, especially with Aunt Petunia insisting that everyone stick to the disgusting diet Dudley had been put on. Thankfully Harry had sent letters to all of his friends, practically begging for anything sweet to eat. Hagrid, Hermione, Ron and Sirius had all sent him rather a lot of deserts, Hagrids had found their way straight to the bin – he wasn't exactly the best of cooks.

A knock at the door disturbed his thoughts; he couldn't help but grin as he heard Ron's excited tones. Before he knew it four Weasley's had invaded the Dursley's house, Ron , Fred, George and Percy now stood in the living room, each one casting mesmerised eyes over Aunt Petunia's 'decorating'.

"Hope you don't mind Harry but dad had to work, urgent apparently, he thought it best if I...kept these three company." And for once Harry didn't mind, whilst it was true he'd never seen eye to eye with Percy he couldn't help but shudder as he thought about what the twins would get up to if Percy wasn't here.

"Mum and Ginny are picking up Bill; he had some business in diagon alley so they said they'd meet him there." Percy announced, his eyes widening as they spotted Dudley huddled in the corner, clutching his fat bum like a lifeline – clearly he remembered Hagrid's visit. Harry was about to speak up when Uncle Vernon cut him off.

"Oh so your father does work does he? I had wondered..." His pig like eyes cast judging glances on each of the Weasleys. "I mean after all yourkind do like to live in...well...let's just say a less civilised culture." Harry felt his jaw drop, why couldn't the great muggle ever keep his mouth shut? He could see Ron about to say something when a surprising source piped up.

"Our kind!" Percy's eyes had narrowed at Uncle Vernon, who appeared to be sizing him up. "I think you'll find that our kind are perfectly civilised and I'll thank you to remember that in this room there are five of us and three of you, so I'd hold your tongue." Harry couldn't help but smile, it wasn't often someone stood up to uncle Vernon like that.

"Now Harry, I presume your things are upstairs?" Percy directed his question to Harry however his eyes never left Uncle Vernon, who was quickly looking more and more like a beetroot with every second. "Fred, George why don't you two head up and get them, I'm sure you'll find your way."

Harry registered the identical evil grins now crossing the twins faces, he knew full well they were going to do something to Dudley, he was sure Ron had told them all about his bullying cousin. He somehow held back a grin as he saw them go; Percy had clearly seen their looks and hadn't done anything about it. He couldn't help but wonder if he half wanted them to do something, but that definitely didn't sound like the Percy Weasley he knew.

It was only now that he fully looked at Percy. He was as tall as he'd always seemed, he looked the same – his hair slightly shorter than it had been – but there was something different about him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but he knew there was something.

"Right, well I suggest we get going, this house is well... let's just say it's a bit of an acquired taste, the decor that is." Percy turned to leave, not before stopping to look Dudley in the eye. "So you're the infamous Dudley, it's strange; I hadn't imagined you to be so...full."

Harry heard rather than saw the less than subtle laugh Ron barked out. Okay, there was definitely something different about Percy, the Percy Weasley he knew would never have so obviously made fun of someone like that. Whatever had changed about him, Harry was starting to like it.

It didn't take long for them to meet up with Mrs Weasley, who of course engulfed Harry in what was possibly the biggest hug in the world – honestly he thought his ribs might actually break. Percy, Mrs Weasley and Bill had apparroted them back to the Burrow, which was not the most pleasant of experiences to say the least.

Mr Weasley had already arrived back when Harry and the others came down for dinner. He was once again engulfed in a rather forceful hug before being questioned thoroughly on his summer so far. Needless to say that Mrs Weasley had been less than impressed at the diet Aunt Petunia had placed him on. He wouldn't have been surprised if she'd marched down there herself and had words with the pair of them.

"Honestly, a growing boy needs some meat and proper food on his bones, not all this ladeeda fruit. I mean how does she expect him to grow to be strong and healthy?" Molly all but screamed as she loaded Harrys plate with another lot of food, not that he minded of course – when it came to Mrs Weasley's cooking his stomach seemed to stretch to extraordinary lengths.

"To be honest mum I think that 'growing' is the last thing that that lot need!" Fred – or at least Harry assumed it was Fred – announced, causing laughter to erupt from the entire table, even Percy managed a smile.

"Oh Percy dear that reminds me, Oliver, when's he coming again?" Molly's question brought Harrys mind racing back to the world cup in less than a week.

"I'm meeting him in diagon alley on Sunday afternoon." Percy looked over towards his mother with a slight grin, he was clearly more than a little impressed with his best friend joining them. "Took him a while to convince his parents to let him come, they're still not entirely comfortable with the whole wizard thing. According to Oliver he's the first known wizard in his family, came as quite a shock to his mum and dad."

"I can imagine it must have been quite a shock to have someone come to your house and suddenly announce your only child's a wizard." Arthur spoke, his voice seemed like a comforter to Harry. Arthur was the first father like figure he'd had in his life – uncle Vernon didn't count – so being back with him was somewhat of a relief. It was the first time for a while he felt like he was at home.

"Ouch! Ron that was my foot!" Percy yelled, sending Ron a hurtful glare as he winced. "Honestly, you could be more careful that really hurt."

Ron made a non apologetic shrug, at which Percy huffed and continued eating his food, whilst Bill rolled his eyes at Harry. It was amazing that he'd been here for only a few hours and he already felt like he'd never left since the last time he was here. He'd come to think of the Weasleys as his family, they treated him like one of their own and even though they didn't have much, they seemed happier than any family he'd ever met. He knew so many of the Dursley's friends who were super rich and spent all their time arguing and hating each other.

He looked round at the family he'd come to know, Molly was hovering over her husband eagerly listening to his tales. Ginny was laughing as Ron engaged in a food fight with Fred and George whilst Percy and Bill were intently discussing something Harrys ears had missed. He sat there, content and happy and for the first time he found himself realising just how lucky he was.

it was later that night, Mr and Mrs Weasley had retreated to the living room with Ginny and Beryl – the family cat – whilst the rest of them now sat round the back of the Burrow engaging in their own fun. Fred and George were sat intently gazing over a piece of parchment, Bill was listening to Rons complaints about Malfoy whilst Percy was engrossed in a book.

"Bill?" Harry had wanted to ask a long time ago but only now had he worked up the courage. "Is it just me or...well..."

Bill smiled at me before flicking his ponytail as he shook his head. He obviously knew what was on the youngsters mind cause he immediately set about explaining.

"You're wondering why Percy seems so different? Right?" Harry nodded his head, already feeling his face flushing pink. "I was a little surprised at first too, after Ron explained what happened though, it made sense."

"You wouldn't believe it Harry, I almost didn't and I was there." Ron's voice betrayed some sort of emotion that he couldn't quite pick up, whatever he was talking about was clearly something big.

"You see Harry, when Percy first started at Hogwarts he was a little well...quiet. He got bullied quiet a lot, Charlie and me tried to help but we couldn't be there all of the time. I don't really know most of what happened but I know it wasn't a pleasant experience for him, he tried to make like he wasn't bothered but...I know it was hard for him. Eventually he and Oliver got friendly and things settled down, but since then he gets really defensive when people make fun of him. So every time Fred and George or anyone else made fun of him he...well...you know what I mean." Bill explained with a pained expression.

Harry blinked in shock as Bill's words sunk in. He knew that Percy wasn't exactly every body's cup of tea but he'd never dreamed of anything like this. Harry knew what it felt like to be picked on. He suddenly felt very guilty; in all honesty he was one of the people who'd spent his days poking fun at the prefect. He'd never even thought that there'd be a reason behind the way the older male often acted towards them. In actual fact he'd only really seen Percy acting 'up himself' as George had remarked one night when they'd been making fun of him first. Now that he thought about it, when was the last time – or even the first time – he'd had an actual conversation with Percy that didn't end in someone making fun of him?

"Anyway, we were in diagon alley – mums idea of a family trip out –"Ron continued, thankfully stopping Harrys depressing thoughts. "We were in Zonkos - Fred, George and me - when guess who comes over?"

"Malfoy?" He muttered, despite already knowing the answer.

"Yep! Him, Crabbe, Goyle and Marcus Flint, you know the Slytherin Quidditch captain? They started saying things, you know about us."

"Yeah, ordinarily we'd ignore them but this time they were talking about Ginny, started going on about what happened to her, talking about putting her under the imperious curse again, what they'd make her do..." Fred's eyes darkened as he and George entered the conversation.

"I was about to smack him one." George announced picking up where Fred left off. "That's when Percy came up..."

Flashback

"Oi!" A familiar voice rang out from behind, turning Ron saw his older brother storming towards them. Not that Percy looked anything like his older brother now, there was something so...unusually angry about him.

"Oh look, if it isn't little prefect Percy." Marcus Flint's grating voice so easily mocked him.

"You are so pathetic! God, you're so bored with your own dismal life you spend your time trying to make others miserable, or trying to get some sort of reaction. Well do you know what I've had enough of you and your snide, sarcastic and spiteful...If you really want a reaction then just keep pushing me and see where it lands you." Percy's voice was laced with unnatural venom.

There was something so strange about watching your usually so placid brother sending hateful daggers towards the Slytherin Captain. They'd never really thought of him having a temper. He'd shown it once or twice but never anything like this. He sounded so angry, so...enraged all of a sudden. It was so...abnormal.

"But you won't do that, will you Flint?" A smug smile settled itself on Percy's face. "Cause you already know what happens when you push me too far...don't you? You figured that one out the hard way! Well let me tell you now, either you leave my family alone – all of them! – or we revisit a little spell you spent a while getting acquainted with a few years back."

Flint's face had fallen and he'd already begun backing away. If Ron didn't know any better he'd say Flint looked scared, but how could he be scared of Percy? No one was scared of Percy! Yet here he was, pale, glaring intently at the prefect and looking...somewhat terrified.

"And as for you three, well, lets just say that since I'm going to be head boy next year I'll be keeping an extra close eye on you three, and mark my words – one toenail out of line and I'll be raining down on each of you! Now, as I said before, leave my family alone." Within a flash all four Slytherin's were gone, each of them so obviously terrified at the murderous look on Percy's face.

Ron turned to his brothers, both of which were gazing in absolute awe at the now smug Percy whose eyes had yet to leave the spot Marcus Flint had recently vacated. The rest of the day was spent in silence, three brothers sat shocked at the sudden outburst whilst the other was clearly struggling with something.

End Flashback

"Wow!" Harry couldn't help but smile as he pictured the look on Malfoys face. He found himself hoping that Percy would keep an eye on the Slytherin bully; he'd love to see him get busted. After all it was about time. A sudden thought came to his mind. "Wait a minute, what did Percy do to Flint before?"

"Don't know, he won't tell us, must be some big secret. Anyhow, since then we've sort of been laying off of him a little and found him to be a lot less, well Percy like...things just seem better this way. Much as we like teasing him, we sort of like it better when we get on." Fred admitted.

"Then when we got that letter from Bill – we sent him one telling him what happened – he mentioned about Percy getting bullied, apparently Flint was a key player...I can't believe we didn't know...never told us." George had the decency to look decidedly guilty. Harry loved the twins, they were always amusing and had no problems lightening a mood, but they could take it too far at times and lord only knows that Percy was usually at the receiving end.

"He didn't tell anyone, I only know cause Oliver told Charlie, he was worried...apparently – " Whatever Bill had been about to say was cut off as Percy spoke up.

"Okay, so once your done dissecting my life maybe it's about time we went inside, it's going to start raining soon." Bill sent his brother an apologetic glance - clearly they'd been talking louder than they'd realised - before ushering everybody inside.

It wasn't until now that Harry found some sort of intense anger bubbling within him, he hated Flint for bullying Percy, he hated the twins for picking on him – well he didn't hate them but he was pretty ticked off – and most of all he hated himself for making another person feel the same way he'd been made to feel most of his life. He quietly made a silent vow to himself as he wandered back inside, he'd make sure Percy knew how sorry he was.

So there we are, I needed a reason for why Percy acts the way he does - hope its okay. Enjoy!