Percy was anxious, overwhelmed, and above all, angry at the way his family was treating him. And the worse of it was, he didn't have any sort of defense against it all because he knew he deserved every word. Some fucking Christmas.
He'd finally pushed his chair back from the table and left, only giving his family a curt "goodnight." As he went. There was only so much he could take. He'd done them the favor of coming in for Christmas, albeit late because of a report he'd left overdue on his desk that he had to finish, but he was still there. Ungrateful, that's what they were. He should have stayed in London.
His feet took him upstairs, and before he could correct them, he was throwing open the door to his childhood bedroom and tossing himself onto the bed. Which caused the other occupant of his former bed to startle awake in surprise, since this was not where he was supposed to be sleeping.
A lit wand was stuck under his nose, illuminating a pale and scared looking Hermione.
"I beg pardon." Percy said, his heart racing. What was Hermione Granger doing in his bed and bedroom?
"I'm sorry." Hermione replied, lowering the wand so that it wasn't pointing at his face. "Habit."
"Er, sorry to be rude, Hermione, but this is my room." Percy said, his voice tinged with a hard edge of pomposity. "What are you doing in here?"
"Pardon me, but while this may be your old room, this is where your mother directed me to sleep." Hermione replied, tossing her hair back and allowing a matching tone to creep into her own reply. "You're in the attic with Ronald."
"Oh." Was all Percy could say. It made sense, since his extended absence at The Burrow certainly forfeited any claim to having his own room in the already crowded house. He looked around the room, his stomach doing a funny flip as he realized his mother had kept it exactly the same in his absence.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked. Percy swallowed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Erm, it's nothing. Sorry to have disturbed you." Percy replied. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and turned around. He didn't really want to go up to the attic, but he certainly wasn't going back down to the kitchen to have the mickey taken out of him by his brothers. And he couldn't stay here.
"It doesn't seem like nothing." Hermione said quietly. "Percy, I know you... You're-"
"I beg pardon, but you don't know anything about me." Percy snapped.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Hermione said softly, looking away.
"Forgive me, I'm being a prat, I'm just not in the mood tonight." Percy countered. "I'd really like some rest away from my brothers."
"Stay here then." Hermione said, retrieving her wand from the side table. She waved it, and a squashy mattress conjured itself on the other side of the room by his desk.
"I shouldn't do that; it wouldn't be proper." Percy huffed, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"Oh, shove it and get some sleep already." Hermione threw back. She untangled a blanket from the pile on the bed and threw it onto the mattress. One of the pillows from the top of the bed followed suit. Then she flopped down and turned her back to him.
Percy blinked, completely at a loss for what to do. He could go up to the attic and lie sleepless until Ron came in and started snoring, or he could lie sleepless here in his old room with his brother's best friend entirely too close for comfort.
"Go to bed, Percy." Hermione snapped from beneath his comforter, and Percy sat down on his newfound mattress in a fit of pique. He certainly wouldn't be changing in here, so he had to settle for shucking off his shoes and divesting himself of his belt, leaving him in uncomfortable jeans and the Christmas jumper his mother had cajoled him into wearing.
"Goodnight." Came a small voice. Percy had to smile at Hermione's contrite tone.
"Goodnight, Hermione." He replied. He had to smile a little at the absurdity of his situation. He was in his room, alone, with a beautiful witch in his bed. And he wasn't going to make a single move to capitalize on it. Goodness knows Ron and Harry would have his head if he even tried. If there was anything left once Hermione got done with him.
Sometime later, Percy was startled out of fragile sleep by a muffled groan and frantic muttering. He had his wand in hand and illuminated before he was even fully awake, searching the small room for the danger.
Beside him on the bed, Hermione tossed and cried out again, her eyes screwed up in anguish.
"Hermione." Percy grasped her hand, which was clutching the sheets for dear life. Her eyes shot open, and for the second time that night, he found himself with a wand pointed at his throat.
"Easy now, you're safe." Percy tried to keep his tone even. Merlin's beard, her wild eyes didn't even seem to recognize him. She panted quietly, blinking in the bright wand light. Then she seemed to come back to herself.
"Percy." She said softly. "I'm so sorry. I forgot where I was, that Vol- I mean, that he's gone. That we don't have to run anymore."
"It's okay, Hermione. You're safe." Percy found that he was pulling himself up to sit on the bed, enfolding the tiny witch into his arms. She still felt like skin and bones under his hands, and she was shaking with fear still.
"If it's any consolation, I know over sixty defensive spell variations and a hundred and thirty-two offensive spells." He found himself saying. Hermione hiccupped a laugh.
"Of course you would catalogue every spell you've ever known." She said softly. "Actually, that's a good idea. You could color code the index so you know where to fill the gaps of your knowledge."
"Absolutely." Percy said. "I'll show you my compendium sometime."
"I think I'd like that." Said Hermione. He felt a damp patch start on the breast of his jumper and realized that Hermione was crying silently.
"I'm a bit rubbish at comforting people." He said by means of apology, and gently rubbed his hand over her back. Again, he was startled by how bony and small she felt in his arms. Was his mother not feeding her enough? Surely that was an impossibility, she was always shoving food on Harry when he looked too underfed.
"You're all right." Hermione replied, hiccuping softly. "Just having someone there helps. Sometimes when I wake up alone in my flat, I'm too scared to move. It's like being petrified all over again."
"Would a calming draught help at all? I could brew one up for you." Percy offered. Every problem had a solution, once you tried a few different options.
"I was worried about developing a habit so I've laid off them for now." Hermione admitted.
"Oh." Was all Percy could say. He had no idea that one could develop a dependency on potions like that, but anything could be a drug if used often enough, he supposed. But that meant that the witch beside him was in that much distress that she had turned to substances to help her function... Percy felt a stirring of... well, something in his chest.
"You must think I'm mental." Hermione sniffed.
"No, no, that's not it at all, Hermione. I guess I never knew, well, the extent of what you went through, is all." Percy explained. "I've only recently come back into the family fold, you know."
"I know. And I think you're really brave for it." Hermione replied quietly. "Something Professor Dumbledore said once is that it takes courage to stand up to your enemies, but more to stand up to your friends. Family, too, I expect."
Percy was touched. He hadn't thought that Hermione had noticed his quiet war with the rest of his family as they learned to trust him again.
"I suppose when you get a ride of lions together, you're going to see some bared teeth." Percy said, hoping he sounded sage spouting this rather lame allegory.
Hermione snorted, but her tears seemed to be slowing. Still, she kept her head on his shoulder. Percy let his arm settle around Hermione, and they lapsed into quiet silence. Soon, Percy heard Hermione's breathing even out and become deeper.
Slowly, Percy lowered the sleeping witch onto the bed and pulled the blankets around her. A shaft of moonlight fell on her pale cheek, illuminating the dark circles under her eyes and the sharp outline of her cheekbone. He also noticed fine lines around her eyes that hadn't been there before.
He was just getting up when a hand grasped his.
"Stay." Hermione breathed, her eyelids fluttering. "Percy, please..."
"All right." Percy said, laying down next to her on top of the covers. Hermione sighed and lay still, curling up on her side. A loose curl fell across her face and Percy delicately plucked it up and laid it aside, his thumb brushing Hermione's cheek by accident as he did. She sighed gently, and Percy found his heart thumping rather hard in his chest.
What was this soft and warm feeling he was experiencing, lying here next to Hermione Granger? Did he fancy her? Surely, he respected her as a witch, a friend, and a fellow former Prefect. But fancy her? He would have to think on that.
He was still thinking as he drifted off to sleep.