The children may seem a bit mature for their age. They are seven.

Timeline – Just before Christmas Holidays.

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO and HP series. They belong to the great authors of the century, RR and JKR.

Words – 2769

Percy stuck out his tongue a bit as he scratched and rewrote the word – understood – again. This was the first time that he had written more than four sentences on his own. Keeping an eye on the door, he added the full stop and held the paper from afar to admire his work.

The seven year old boy couldn't help but smile. He had done it!

"Pepe! Time for school! It's your last day before Christmas Holidays and you are not missing it!" His mother called from the hall. Percy stuffed the paper in his bag, closed the zip and ran out his room. He couldn't wait for the first period.

It was a strange feeling. He was never eager for any side of his education. Percy had always hated school. Every part of it.

Walking through the Halls was bearable only because Harry was with him. Everyone seemed to ignore him when Harry was around. But when he wasn't…

…it was hell on Earth.

The moment they separated, Percy'd be ambushed. He'd then have to run around the halls to escape the other kids who would laugh and through plastic cans at him. Making sure that the bell would ring when Percy was farthest from the classroom was their morning goal. He was always late to class which put him on the teacher's wrong side.

During class, he tried to sit in the back, at the corner. It was out of the way and far from the teacher who seemed to skip the fact that he was dyslexic and had ADHD.

Oh no, she knew his problems and made it a point to highlight it everyday. He was the joke of the class.

They would try to spit paper balls at him through cafeteria straws whenever the teacher's back was turned. Percy was even sure that she sometimes did catch them at the act and ignored them.

He couldn't understand why they hated him. He had seen Harry's upper level class and his classmates used to make fun of him too, but Harry was pro at ignoring them. Percy wasn't.

But today, it was all going to change. He was going to turn everything by 360 degrees!

Or was it 180?

"See you." He mumbled to Harry as the older boy nodded and went up the stairs. The school was crowded and noisy and Percy could hear boys running towards him. Bracing himself he chanted in his head, ignore them, just ignore them…

"Hey freak! Get out! You're damaging the air!" Dudley shouted. As expected the entire hallway burst out laughing. Percy bit the inside of his cheek and walked straight past Dudley towards his destination.

"Didn't you hear me, loser?" Dudley growled and grabbed Percy by the back of his shirt. Percy's hand struck out on reflex, that he couldn't even control it. It hit Dudley's flabby forearm with a sharp smack. The boy let out a yell clutching his arm. Percy could tell he hadn't hurt it that bad. But it did turn red.

"Freak!" He spat. Percy stared at him. Everyone was waiting.

Percy spun on his heel and walked inside the room to everyone's shock. He took his usual place and took out his paper. The speech he had written stared back at him in his untidy and barely legible scrawl. But, he had taken days to write it down and he could say it out better than reading. The class slowly piled up and the bell rang as the teacher entered.

Mrs. Whitaker was a short woman with sharp facial features and grey eyes. She gave Percy a subtle glare before arranging her books.

Percy honestly did not know what he had done to make her hate him like that. But she did.

"I am hoping most of you reviewed yesterday's topic… yes, Mr. Jackson? Is there something you want to say?" Percy had raised his hand while she was speaking.

"Y..yes. I have something to say to everyone." Percy stood up, clutching the paper. His legs were shaking. Luckily, no one could see them.

"We're gonna miss Christmas." A boy muttered and many laughed.

Percy licked his lips and stared at the paper which was twitching.

Just do it!

"I'm not like you."

"You got that right!"

"I may look diff…ferent, but I'm still human. I have feelings. It's wrong of…of all of you to make fun of me."

Percy looked up for a second. Everyone was waiting for him to mess up.

"You should not… pick on me. It isn't right. I…I "

Percy tried not to panic. He could read what was written next. He could hear people laughing.

"Don't laugh!" He shouted suddenly. He slammed down the paper and glared at them.

"I'm trying to say what I feel –"

"Trying." Mrs. Whitaker murmured. The entire class was clutching their stomachs now.

"You're mean!" Percy yelled at her. The class went quiet. She glared at him.

"How da –"

"You know I can't read properly or pay attention! You're supposed to let me extra time for homework, but you don't! It isn't my fault!"

"I can't favour you, Jackson. Now sit down!"

"No!" Percy shouted. He was angry. "You're not coaching me, because you don't know how! May be you should quit being a teacher and be a prison guard instead!"

The pen in Harry's hand moved at a pace much faster than an average human could write and focus. Harry didn't blink during the entire sum and when he was done, he rechecked it and put it in his bag. He was the last to leave the class.

Mr. Newman gave him a steady stare for holding him up as he left.

The only good thing about lunch time was that he got to meet up with Percy. Sitting at the usual place and ignoring the taunts some kids threw at him, he started on his lunch. After five minutes, Harry looked around feeling a little worried.

Percy was always sitting when Harry came and this was the first time Harry was the first. Dropping his spoon, he turned in his spot. There was no sign of his little brother in the large unruly crowd of kids and preteens.

Harry looked over at Dudley's table. They were laughing raucously and bragging about… someone.

Harry got up, put the last sandwich in his bag which he slung over his shoulder and walked towards his cousin.

"Runt's had it coming for a long time. If he thinks that he can just up and say some stupid stuff… well, he's mad." Dudley chuckled. Harry's nostrils flared. He knew who they were talking about. The same person they always talked about during lunch.

"Where's Percy, Dudley?" Harry asked. Dudley spun around and Harry blinked. Dudley's nose was red and his eye was black.

"What's it to you?" Dudley grunted. Harry bit his lip to stop himself from saying anything about his face.

"Doesn't matter. Where's he?"

Dudley got up and glared at him. Harry glared back easily. Harry was a bit taller, but Dudley was relatively larger. The odds of it turning into a fight were quite high.

"What's it to you…freak?" Dudley whispered.

Harry stepped closer. "Last time. Where-is-Percy?"

Dudley swallowed but still didn't back down. Then he grinned.

"Hold him!" Someone shouted from the side and suddenly, at least four hands grabbed Harry by his back and neck, dragging him into a corner. A large group of students were now around them and yelling, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Harry was in no mood for this. He spun around ducking as another person tried to hold him, slipped out from everyone's grip and kicked two of them, behind the knees in one move. He grabbed his back and slammed straight into Dudley, knocking over the boy as he raced out of the ground. People were shouting and swearing at him from behind, but Harry realized where Percy was.

Percy pressed his palm over the cut on his forearm. It hurt too badly, but the stinging was not welcome. He sighed, brushing his hair from his eyes. It was growing longer than he had intended. He shook his head. He took another look at the paper where he had written his speech and crumpled it in his hand, angrily.

"Perce?" Harry's voice came over the left.

"Over here." Percy whispered. It took a while for Harry to find the trash can behind which Percy was.

Percy saw Harry come into view and saw that his brother was resisting a grimace.

"I look horrible, don't I?" Percy asked, slowly. Harry pressed his lips together for a moment before helping Percy up.

"Come out from there. Sit here." Harry said softly. Percy stumbled out from the stench and they went closer to the wall marking the perimeter of the school area.

Harry quietly took out a small towel from his bag and poured some water over it. He started dabbing it carefully over Percy's cuts and bruises over his face and hands.

"Anywhere else?"

Percy sighed before pointing his knee where there was a nasty cut. Harry poured some water over it and watched as the wound disappeared.

"What happened this time?"

Percy bit his lip and stared at his healing gashes.

"Um. I might have made everyone in my first class angry. They hate me. All of them." He mumbled, almost mashing up the words.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Harry give him a careful inspection.

"They don't hate you, Percy – "

"They do!" Percy insisted and shoved the piece of paper in his hand towards Harry who stared at it.

"Did you write this?"

"Look on the back."

Harry turned around and read the words.

'We hate you. Go and die, freak.'

Harry glared at the paper and tried to calm down. What was wrong with others? Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

"Does it hurt anywhere?" Harry asked when he was sure that he wasn't going to shout.

"No."

"Right then. Hungry?"

"No."

"Thirsty?"

"No."

"Percy…"

"Yeah, okay."

They didn't eat anything else other the lone sandwich that was in Harry's bag.

"I saw Dudley's face. Good job." Harry said. Percy smiled.

"Thanks. You think we can get back at him? I didn't get to kick him."

Harry let out a breath. "Percy… no, you are not going to get into a fight, intentionally. It isn't right."

"Harry, come on! I wanna get back at him properly! You can help! We can take them down –"

"No." Harry said firmly. Percy's shoulders sagged.

"But – "

"No. Percy, we aren't getting involved in anything –"

"We're already involved… what's 'involved' mean?"

When the last bell rang, it was a stampede to get out. No causalities, luckily.

"Let's go, Percy! Or we'll miss the bus!" Harry said, pulling on his hand. Percy was looking back at others to see if anyone was watching them. But Harry pulled him on the yellow school bus.

They sat in the middle. The older and larger kids sat behind while most girls sat in the front.

Harry heard laughter and saw Dudley and his friends pointing at Harry and Percy making rude comments.

Gritting his teeth, Harry nudged Percy's elbow. "Let's get down here."

Percy blinked and looked outside.

"We're not there yet."

"I think it's best if we walked. Dudley's planning something."

Percy nodded. The moment the bus slowed down, they hopped out.

Unfortunately, they clearly heard many footsteps following them. Harry and Percy turned to see all seven of Dudley's friend circle following them. Dudley smirked. The black eye really complimented him.

Harry pulled on the black school jacket. Keeping a careful lookout on how far the other boys were, he kept an eye on the snow-covered pavement. The faint sunlight was warm on their faces and Percy sighed.

"Just ignore them. Don't listen to whatever they say." Harry whispered. Percy didn't want to, but agreed.

"Hey, Potter! Turn around, let's see what you're made of!"

Harry frowned. He couldn't believe that seven year olds could be so rude.

"Jackson, you're such a wimp! You actually lost it in Mrs. Whitaker's class!"

He saw Percy clench his fists for a moment before relaxing them.

Dudley and the others kept up the insults. When there was only a block left, Dudley shouted, "Yeah, keep walking. Go home to Mummy, Princess!"

Both the boys stopped walking.

"Damn." Harry muttered.

Sally sighed. The boys weren't supposed to be late. They should have been here at least 20 minutes ago. May be the teacher was lecturing on Holiday safety precautions and such. May be Harry got held up and Percy was waiting for them.

She stirred the batter for the cookie dough as it thickened. Tasting it a bit, she smiled when the sweetness was just right. Now she had to add the blue food colour.

She jumped when the bell rang. She adjusted the bowl onto her hip and went to look in the peep hole. She could see the top of Harry's unruly hair.

Sally opened the door and took one look at her bruised and battered sons. She dropped the bowel which shattered into thousands of pieces with the dough spilling out. Pulling them in, she said, "Oh dear God, what happened to you two?!"

Her boys looked terrible. Percy's left cheek was red turning purple. His neck had hand prints as if someone had tried to choke him. There were cuts on his face and hands. Harry's lip was bleeding and he had a bump on his head. His skin was scratched by the side of his neck.

She acted immediately pulling them in and taking their bags to drop them on the couch. She took them to the backyard and also a brought a bucket of water for Percy.

While the plants leaned towards Harry, Sally started pressing the wet cloth against the cuts on Percy's skin.

It took a while, till all that was left was some discolouration and Harry's bump.

Sally wiped her hands on her jeans and leveled them with a look, "Mind telling me what happened?"

Before either boy could respond, there was an earsplitting shriek from House no. 4. Sally, Percy and Harry turned to see Petunia screaming about the battered condition of her 'precious Diddykins.'

"They didn't want to negotiate." Harry said, looking back at his mother. Percy bit his lip, trying not to laugh.

Sally narrowed her eyes and folded her hands.

"Honestly, we tried to ignore them, but they kept insulting us, calling us names and sort."

"They were mean." Percy mumbled.

Sally sighed and brushed Harry's hair out of the way. "Your hair's much longer. Both of yours. You're going to be heartbreakers when you grow older."

Harry frowned. Percy on the other hand looked shocked, "That's not good, is it?

Sally burst out laughing. She pulled their hands up as she stood, still laughing.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked, confused.

She shook her head and steered them in still chuckling. She loved it, how they brightened her day without even trying to. They were the perfect sons.

And right now, they were staring at her completely baffled. She couldn't stop laughing.

At least, not until she saw a piece of paper sticking out of Percy's bag. Reaching for it, she let go of their hands.

Percy's eyes widened. "No! Mom, I –"

Sally held the paper high, so he couldn't jump for it. As she read it, her mood deflated severely.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to – "

"Why are you sorry?" Sally asked surprised. "I'm so proud of you! You took a stand! Did you show this to everyone?"

Percy shuffled his feet, "I kinda read a part of it out loud. But them, I got angry because everyone was laughing and…and Mrs. Whitaker was making jokes and it wasn't fair!"

Sally turned the page around to see what his classmates had written. There went her day.

She kneeled down and said, "We need to make dough for the cookies. Will you help me?"

Harry and Percy stared. "Mum, what are you doing?"

"Well, I'm going to clean up this mess now, before making a new batch of dough." She said indicating the smashed bowl.

"No, no, I meant why are you randomly –"

"Changing the subject? I'm not, actually. But there isn't any need to discuss this. Are you really going to listen to those children who don't know you? It's better sense to believe what someone who loves you says, right?

The silence made her smile. She took started picking up the pieces of the bowl, wiping the dough off the floor.

Two pairs of small hands hugged her from behind. "Love you, Mommy."

Sally smiled, "Love you, honey."

The next 'The Memory' update is coming on soon. Stay tuned!

Cabba.