A/N: Written for QLFC's Season 6, Round 6. I'm Chaser Two for the Montrose Magpies. It has also been entered in multiple challenges on the Hogwarts forum, prompts are all listed in the bottom A/N so as not to give anything away.

Huge shout out to my wonderful teammates who are also stellar betas. Thank you so much, ladies.

Word Count: 2,010 words.

brothers don't let each other go into the dark

The words rattled around Percy's brain. The woman who'd spoken them continued talking, continued walking along the corridor with her friends, unaware that Percy, who had overheard her, had been shaken to his core.

"If I hear anyone say 'Happy Birthday' one more time…"

It was mid-September. Time had both flown by and dragged on slowly and he'd hardly noticed; he was so focused on simply surviving the year. Each day felt the same — the same errands, the same dull pains. The papers were still filled with articles he couldn't bear to read and whenever he met another person's gaze, their eyes were still so shadowed.

He knew that Hogwarts had reopened, if only for those who wanted to return. Many families were keeping their children at home. The Ministry was still in shambles, as was the rest of the country, and so Percy hadn't really paid much mind to the fact that summer was ending.

Everything ended, after all.

Except that wasn't true. Time didn't end; it continued forward, second by second, day by day. People were wearing brighter colours again and there had been several days of rain that had made Percy pull out a light sweater to combat the damp London weather.

"...say 'Happy Birthday' one more time…"

Time ticked on and there would be birthdays to celebrate. Christmas would arrive before they could blink; the first Christmas Percy would attend back at home in several years... It would be their first Christmas without Fred. Then it would be a new year, a new year without his brother. April would come next and...

His thoughts stuttered, Percy unwilling to think much further. It was painful enough to imagine family events without Fred there, with George a shell of a man, but their birthday was just over six months away.

Standing in a now-empty corridor with a stranger's half-finished sentence ringing in his ears, Percy made a decision that would change everything.

Sometimes it baffled him, just how serendipitous it all was. If he hadn't been walking past that group at that exact moment to catch that snippet of their conversation, he never would have lifted his head out of the fog that had enveloped each of the Weasleys. Percy hadn't been home since the funeral, although his parents and each of his siblings had been to see him. George had come the most, apparently determined to ensure that Percy would not blame himself, but how could Percy not?

He had been right there; he had been at Fred's side when he'd been duelling Thicknesse.

He should have protected his brother. He should have been there for his family and should never have abandoned them, never let his ambition and anxiety overwhelm him. Every night before bed, he was filled with regrets, the taste of guilt and bourbon on his tongue.

Waves of hopelessness had crashed over him until he could take no more. That morning, Percy had left the house, determined to run away from his troubles — again. They needed Ministry workers in France to help with the British refugees. Or maybe he'd go to South America with a backpack and a lie about finding himself, instead of the truth that he was escaping.

"...'Happy Birthday'…"

He took several deep breaths and turned on his heel, away from the Ministry, and Apparated back to his apartment instead. He wasn't going to run anymore. His life was already filled with missed opportunities and wrong decisions. For once, Percy was going to try and do something.

The nights lengthened as the temperature dropped.

His family were still concerned, but Percy found himself able to laugh. He went back to the Burrow and cooked for his parents, one of the only things he'd learnt to do whilst living on his own. He bought Ginny a broom with the money he'd been saving, one expensive enough that she raised her eyebrows and her jaw dropped, but Percy managed to assuage her concerns.

Where he was planning on going, he wouldn't need it.

November came in shades of grey. The sky was laden with ice cold rain or hail, the buildings damp and cold and the commuters bundled in woollen coats, bustling from A to B with no intention of stopping. Percy bought a bright blue umbrella, striped with yellow and green. It was ostentatious, almost garishly so, but it reminded him of Fred. He kept it in the corner of his apartment, right by the front door so he saw it every time he left for work, and every time he came home. It kept him focused on what was really, truly important.

Their family wouldn't have to celebrate a birthday without Fred. Not even a Christmas. Percy had a plan, and though it was likely going to kill him, it felt worth the risk. It would work perfectly because technically, if it did go wrong, Percy wouldn't die. He would be obliterated.

Time magic was a very dangerous thing. That was something he'd gathered back in second year, the first time he'd stumbled across the concept when reading a sixth yearbook to try and impress his yearmates, at least at first. Then it been truly interesting by Chapter Two. People normally failed when attempting time travel, because they tried to change too much. For Percy, it would all be very simple.

If the spells he was going to cast worked, he would be taken back in time and he would save Fred. In the current timeline, he would cease to be. No one would miss him or worry about where he'd gone. They would not remember.

Even if the spell didn't work, the outcome would be the same. His very existence would be erased from the timeline.

Percy could only assume that his family would be better off. One less mouth to feed and he wouldn't break his Mum's heart when he abandoned them all — he wouldn't distract his brother and let him die on a warm spring night in May.

Three times, he had nearly decided that it was too difficult. Each time, he had flipped a sickle that was so worn down he could barely tell heads from tails. He'd first used it when he was ten years old and the twins eight. He had claimed the coin was charmed to tell which one of them was speaking, heads for George as he was the clever one and tails for Fred because he was an ass.

Fred had threatened to tell their Mum that Percy had sworn, and both twins hadn't believed him.

He'd used it seven times in a row, just to prove that he could tell which was which. Back then, the twins hadn't known that Percy had messed around learning some muggle sleight of hand in an attempt to impress his Dad. The twins hadn't thought that anyone could tell them apart and he'd let them keep up the pretence.

It hadn't actually been a lucky, magic coin until Percy had started flipping it before Quidditch matches to give Oliver some piece of mind. He'd flipped it before asking Penelope Clearwater on their first date, and he'd flipped it the night before the Battle as he'd gathered up his courage.

Three times, Percy had nearly given up and decided to accept that his brother was dead and there was nothing any of them could do. Each time, he flicked the coin in the air and it landed on the back of his hand. Heads for George. Three times, Percy had taken a slow breath and got back to work.

Either he would save his brother or he would save his family, in the long run. The people he cared about wouldn't lose out — that was all that mattered.

The air was a kaleidoscope of colours. Spells were being cast so fast that Percy could barely focus on running through the school, although he hesitated to call it that. Hogwarts had become a battlefield.

He had hoped to go back before the battle had begun, but his luck had run out and put him directly amongst the action. He cast a hex, one which would cause the person's skin to burn and itch, and then a blasting curse — stronger spells than he'd perhaps used when he'd first fought, but now he knew how many lives would be lost, how many people the Death Eaters had tortured and killed in the months beforehand.

Now was not the time for hesitancy.

After everything he'd been through and sacrificed, Percy was determined that nothing would get in his way. He raced through the grounds of Hogwarts, up and down stairs and through corridors that were barely recognisable.

He saw Fred first and Percy nearly faltered. Fred was duelling, surrounded by Harry, Ron and Hermione as well as himself, the other Percy Weasley. He'd arrived just in time. Percy glanced around wildly and then cast a spell, smoke pouring in from all angles. It was thick and viscous and people started to cough, spells streaking through the air. Percy held his breath as he ran toward his other self and then, with a quick prayer for luck, threw the Portkey in his pocket at the other Percy's back.

It connected and the man disappeared.

"Everybody down!" Percy roared, vanishing the smoke with another flick of his wand. Hermione had put Bubble-Head Charms around Harry and Ron, the three of them looking at him with distorted features, and he threw a Shield Charm around them before grabbing his brother by the neck.

The explosion shook the halls of Hogwarts. Percy couldn't even tell where it had come from, just as he hadn't the first time around, but this time, he was prepared. There was screaming, Fred swearing, and stone clattering to the floor, but Percy didn't let go of Fred, even as they flew through the air. His Shield Charm held.

"The Shield Charm held," he breathed to himself, giddy with relief as the dust slowly started to settle. His hand was still clasped tightly around his brother's.

Fred was dazed, blinking up at him and surrounded by rubble and parts of a suit of armour. "Who the fuck are you?"

Percy had thought of what felt like every possibility, up to this point. What he hadn't planned for was for his little brother to draw his wand, a snarl on his face.

"Fred, it's me; it's Percy — "

"No, it's fucking not. You're wearing red and tangerine striped socks and a pinstriped suit. Percy would never."

Slowly, Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out his lucky sickle, pressing it into his brother's palm.

"I swear it's me, Fred. You're right, something happened and well, it's a long and complicated story involving time travel. Okay? I broke a thousand laws, but I've saved your life and — "

George was shouting Fred's name and came leaping over a chunk of stones, dropping down beside them. The relief was so clear on his face that Percy wanted to cry. They all got to their feet, checking for injuries and Percy felt like he could breathe for the first time in months.

He'd saved his baby brother. He was exhausted but he'd done it.

Fred was still eyeing him warily, turning the coin over in his hands even as he tried to calm down George — and then, of course, there was the matter of the Other Percy, who was currently trapped in a safe house Percy had bought after the Ministry had fallen. Designed like a panic room, changing the passwords was the one thing Percy had done before he'd come to the battle.

Glancing down at his striped socks, Percy wanted to laugh. Of course Fred had noticed. Of course it wasn't going to be as easy as just saving his brother. He didn't care. Fred laughed at something Ron had said and Percy found himself laughing too. Whatever happened, it was worth it, to hear his brothers laugh again. He had no regrets.

A/N:

- QLFC Round 6. August: Percy Weasley. Optional Prompts: (dialogue) "If I hear anyone say 'Happy Birthday,' one more time...", (object) Sickle and (word) striped.

- Hogwarts Assignment 1 - Potions: Task 1 - Bezoar: Write about saving someone's life.

- Character Appreciation: P14. studious (trait)

- Disney Challenge: S5. Step In Time - write a time travel!au.

- Showtime: 12. Baptize Me - (situation) doing something for the first time

- Amber's Attic: T6. Compass: Write about someone finding their way (figuratively or literally)

- Lyric Alley: 15. Look out 'cause here I come

- Ami's Audio Admirations: 6. Top 40 Singles — Write a fic where the main theme is not about romance.

- Em's Emporium: 10. Ana - Write about someone doing their best and succeeding.

- Angel's Arcade: Lin Kuei - Smoke: (word) smoke, (plot point) holding hands, (emotion) exhaustion

- Lo's Lowdown: Q6. "The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone." – Harriet Beecher Stowe (quote as inspiration)

- Bex's Bazaar: OE2. Colonel Hathi - Write about one of the wizarding wars.

- Chocolate Frog Cards: 2. (Bronze): Uric the Oddball: Write about an unusual near-death experience.

- Days of the Year: June 1 2018 - Flip a Coin Day: Write about the result of flipping a coin.

- Seasonal - Summer Prompts: (word) Travel

- Shay's Musical Challenge: Hamilton - write about someone who won't give up

- Gryffindor Themed Prompts: Percy Weasley, (trait) courageous