Rating: It is probably cleaner than any Disney cartoon you can name.
Category: Gen, Character-centric.
Disclaimer: I promise I will stop leeching off JKR when I am richer than the Queen.
Much thanks to: durendal, miss breed, and vanityfair for the fantabulistic beta. You make my English speaking good.
Spoilers: Uh, not much, but it probably will not make much sense if you haven't read all 5 books. I'm not saying it will make sense even if you have.
Dedications: Weasleys, piglets, and Weasley-lovers. And especially to Rach, who writes the best Percy there is, because she's the one who made me love him and she makes me want to write and then she makes me post them.
Percy I. Weasley has a huge family of nine, and he turns eleven years old today. He knows that because he is in charge of reminding the Weasley Calendar to flip a page every day, and also because he has it noted down in a little planner made of recycled parchment paper. He likes to know that he is growing up day by day, unlike his younger siblings who all seem to be growing backwards, even though he knows that is against the Laws of Nature.
Especially Fred and George. They are twins and are always in a world of their own of loud explosions and silly twin jokes that Percy does not particularly get, nor does he really care to. Fred and George, however, cannot seem to leave him alone for some reason. If they are not making fun of him, they are hiding his belongings or destroying the make-shift library next to his bed. Most of the time, Percy simply yells at them to either go away or shut up, usually both. Other times, he tells on them to Mother, mostly because Mother listens.
Like that one time they tore up his favourite book (The Fountain by Quentin Trimble) to make paper broomsticks and flew them at him. It was painful but he didn't show it. Instead, he asked Mother why the twins were always getting in his way, and Mother said, "That's just your brothers' way of showing love, dear." But he did not believe her. He thinks Fred and George hate him even though he doesn't know why, and it makes him sad sometimes.
And then there are Ronald and Virginia, the babies of the family. They are only a year apart in age so they are constantly joined at the hip, and they are too young to understand the important adult things that Percy does. He watches them fly on their mini-broomsticks, making an unnecessary mess of the house by hovering just low enough to the ground for them to kick over everything in their way.
Percy has older brothers as well. Two of them, to be exact, Bill and Charlie, but he's not terribly close to either of them. Charlie is always off some place with Bill, playing with fire or Quidditch, whichever comes along. It is almost like being the only child in a family with three sets of twins. Nobody really tells him anything. That's fine though; his head already feels swollen from all the things he knows. Perhaps it is just difficult to find the right corner in which to fit in a crowd this big. At times he even yearns for a less lonely place to belong to; that is, when he has the time to think about it.
Percy is a very busy boy, after all.
He used to read story books and Muggle fairytales from Father's collection. He especially liked the story of this boy called Jack, and a magical beanstalk that grew so tall that it led to the house of a giant who was supposed to be scary but really was not. He felt that Jack should have listened to his mother's instructions and sold the beans instead of getting into so much trouble. Percy is very good at following instructions and safety rules. He has never had anything explode in his face. But he is happy that Jack got everything he wanted in the end.
He reads stories after stories of good versus evil; from the minute he wakes up, at meal times, until he falls asleep with the book on his face at night. He reads till his worlds start to blur and Mother has to get him a second-hand pair of glasses that are rather over-sized for his face. Mother says that he'll grow into them, or she can put a Shrinking Charm on them, but Percy likes them that way.
Then he discovered Real Books.
There is an ancient library near The Burrow with such Real Books arranged in alphabetical order for easy referencing, much like the ones in his own make-shift library. Books that tell real things, things that have happened and are important. Hours after hours, Percy immerses himself in a fascinating universe of facts and figures, and at the end of the day when he returns home for dinner, he shares his world with his family ("Did you know that in 1891, the Pensieve was ruled out of Wizengamot - that's the Wizard High Court, by the way - as a source of evidence because it was potentially misleading and also because it was possible to change the memories with very advanced magic?") while everyone else drowns him out with details of the latest Quidditch matches.
Percy delights in sharing the things he knows, so he talks and talks and sometimes somebody listens. He doesn't think very much for playing Quidditch himself. Sure, he enjoys watching a game or two--especially if his brothers are playing--but it is not exactly important in the scheme of things, he decides; he can barely dare to say that out loud. It makes him embarrassed sometimes that his family doesn't care about more important things. Percy doesn't like feeling embarrassed about his family.
There are times where he suspects his youngest brother, Ronald, knows. He can't exactly explain what it is that Ronald knows but one time, when he and Ron fought over who got to wear Charlie's new Prefect badge, Percy thought for a moment that maybe he did have a favourite brother after all. Of course there is a possibility that Ronald just likes shiny things.
Ronald doesn't always seem to know what to want, but Percy gave him his old Wizard's Chess set a few Christmases back anyway. He was pleasantly surprised when Ronald turned out to be a natural whiz at chess, and since no one else in the house appreciated such intellectual games, Percy and Ronald ended up as chess buddies. Ronald wins most of the games, which is frankly annoying to Percy, but he is glad, and oddly proud, that finally there is something Ronald is good at, and that Ronald has him as a good influence in his life.
And sometimes they talk; other times they sit in silence and are buddies.
This morning, Percy wakes up especially early to the aroma of his Weasley birthday cake. He takes extra time to comb his sticky-uppy hair neatly and starts pulling on his best socks and robes while he mentally drafts out Thank You notes for all the presents that are neatly stacked up at the foot of his bed, because that is the right thing to do. Percy learnt his Ps and Qs very well, and he always makes sure to greet people, especially adults, with courteous handshakes. George and Fred tease him a lot for that, sometimes even Ronald, but he does not think there is anything wrong with being polite. Rude and shabbily-dressed people do not get taken seriously.
Percy takes himself very seriously.
He carries all his presents and pads down the stairs into the kitchen to open them with everyone because he feels like being with his family. Virginia has made him a doll with a long body, red woolly hair, hand-painted freckles and glasses. She says it is a Percy doll but Percy doesn't agree that he looks anything like that. Ronald gives him a lump of clay, which he explains is a model of a chess knight. The twins present him an empty box that explodes loudly in his face when he removes the lop-sided cover. It wasn't funny when it happened last year, or the year before last, and it certainly isn't funny now. Bill is off visiting a friend in Egypt, but he has taken the time to owl Percy his old Prefect's badge, which Percy polishes and pins on immediately. Charlie has bought him a miniature dragon tooth chain to hang at the end of his wand, and Mother has added more shelves to his overflowing Library.
Of all his birthday presents, his favourite is the one from Father: his very own Ministry of Magic wax seal (and a Muggle fire lighter).
Percy likes to listen to the stories from the Ministry that Father tells them after work each day. He quite fancies becoming the Minister of Magic himself when he grows up, and he knows he will make Father and Mother proud. It is still a long way to go, he knows, but he can already imagine the look on their faces when the day arrives for him to shine, and it will be perfect.
In fact, he likes the idea of working in the Ministry so much that a few months back, he made a Ministry of Magic seal for himself from melted candle wax, and carving a big "M" in the mould with a butter knife. It took time but the effort had certainly been worth it, he feels. Percy has been writing little notes and letters to his family members ever since, just so he could stamp them with his seal, and they all go something like this:
Dear Charlie,
Will you please remember to make your own bed today?
P. S: It would also be appreciated if you could kindly not leave your shoes all over the floor. I keep tripping over them.
Sincerely,
Percy Weasley
--
Dear Mother,
Thank you for the wonderful dinner. Your cooking is as splendid as always. I will gladly help you with the dishes later as nobody else wants to.
Love,
Percy
--
Dear George (and Fred),
No, you most certainly may not charm wings on Scabbers and use him as a Snitch for Quidditch. In fact, I believe you still owe Ronald an apology for killing Boo when you used it for the same reason.
Attached is a ball of yarn that, I feel, is more suitable as a Snitch.
Your brother,
Percy Weasley
--
Dear Virginia,
Please pass the sugar bowl. Thank you.
Regards,
He sends them off with their family owl, Errol, but it is rather inconvenient as Errol has to recuperate for hours each time due to exhaustion, so he uses his pet rat, Scabbers, instead. Scabbers has been in the family for the past 5 years and while it doesn't seem to do much other than sleep and eat (useless according to Ronald, but Percy believes otherwise), it can be surprisingly intelligent at times. Like owner, like pet, he thinks.
Most of his letters get sent right back to him, sometimes torn, usually with insults attached. Ronald does that, too, but Percy thinks that is because Ronald wants to be like Fred and George as he is too young to know what is good for him. Mother, on the other hand, tends to kiss him on the cheek whenever she gets a note from him. Percy has always been sort of a Mummy's Boy, and the twins tease him about it, but it makes him happy in a way. He likes to think that he got his ambitious trait from her. He knows she is--ambitious, that is--because she cooks an extra lot whenever anyone does well in something. Percy can see a lot of things when he is just watching.
One day last summer, while helping with spring cleaning, Percy found a box in Mother's drawer that was fraying at the edges, full of letters from him to her, and he decided that he would never make his mother cry.
Tonight after his birthday candles have been blown out with a special wish and the Thank You notes sent out (stamped with the real MoM seal this time!), and he tucks the Hogwarts Acceptance Letter, which has arrived this afternoon, under his pillow, he goes on his usual rounds to make sure his siblings are all in bed with the candles blown out. He has been pretending to go on Prefect rounds for a while now. He has read all about what Prefect duties are in Hogwarts, A History, and has even made up passwords to different rooms. He says the passwords before entering even though they don't really work, but it is good practice, he feels.
Ronald and Virginia are already in bed when he enters their room, and he hears them bickering like an old couple about blowing out the night candle. As always, Virginia is terrified of some monster that lives under beds and wardrobes (this time it is a "Karky Snorgle", according to Ronald) because that Lovegood girl who lives around the corner likes to make up stories to frighten Virginia whenever they meet in the weekend play school. Percy doesn't think very highly of people who believe in nonsense, people like the Lovegoods.
Sometimes Percy feels like he should be getting paid for being the big brother, but they are family.
"Both of you should know better than to believe in something that silly," he sniffs. "Wardrobes are for clothes, and monsters that can fit under beds are terribly small and should hardly be frightening," says Percy. Ronald usually nods and agrees uneasily to calm Virginia down, while still stealing furtive glances at the wardrobe. Percy just doesn't like it when Virginia or Ronald cries. He knows what it is to be frightened. He remembers being scared during the war against You-Know-Who that ended when he was five, but he doesn't tell them that. Instead, he teaches them a new word a day from his tatty dictionary, so that one day they will grow up and make a name for themselves, like he will.
Bad things don't happen to important people, he believes.
By the time he is back in his bedroom, he is giddy with excitement. George and Fred, who share the room with him (much to his dismay), start mocking him when they see him taking the Hogwarts letter out from underneath his pillow, but Percy doesn't care. Someday, when they decide to grow up, they will understand. So he snuffs out the bedside candle and starts getting ready to bed, changing into his sleep clothes. His Weasley jumper, with a big yellow P knitted on the front, is the first thing to hit the floor.