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Chapter Text

In a big family like the Weasleys', with many kids of many different ages, it is not easy to treat all of these children the same. Some would say it is not possible at all. People outside the family, who are familiar with them, might have a special understanding of the family, depending on who they think of first, when they hear the name.

Most witches and wizards over the ripe age of 40, ministry officials and mothers and fathers of their kids' friends, would first picture Arthur and Molly. The power couple who manage to have and raise 7 children, while having barely enough money to do so.

Other people might associate the family with the oldest son William. Bill was well known at Hogwarts for being incredibly friendly, getting Outstanding on all 12 O.W.L.s, and having married the beautiful Fleur Delacour.

There's also those, who knew Charlie in school. During his time, he was Gryffindor's seeker, as well as Gryffindor's quidditch team captain. He was less popular amongst the majority of the school's students compared to his older brother. He didn't lack the academic knowledge nor the social skills in his circle, however. And even some who have never heard of him back then, now know the Weasley brother who studies dragons in Romania.

Of course, there are also Fred and George. The pranksters of the school. Whenever you found your dinner floating around the Great Hall, you could be sure to know the culprit.

Then, there's Ron. Not only an excellent keeper at quidditch, but most have heard of him due to his close friendship to the boy who lived. He is not only his best friend, but also has he helped him through the darkest of times. Ron is seen as a hero in many people's minds.

Last but not least, there is the youngest Weasley, the only daughter. Ginny has been under the blinding lights since she started dating Harry Potter. Other then that there is obviously the association to quidditch, as she, as well as almost all of the Weasley siblings, did outstandingly at the sport. She is also the only one, who joined a professional quidditch team and is currently still on the pitch.

The family is so big that one tends to forget about one of them, but that's alright. It's hard not to forget about one in nine names.

But why is it, that people always forget about Percy?

Nobody ever thinks about Percy Weasley first, right?

During his time at Hogwarts, most students thought of him as a stuck-up teachers-pet, who thought he was something better than the others just because he was a prefect and later head-boy. He had very few friends back then.

There was Penelope Clearwater, a Ravenclaw from his year, who was just as obsessed with her studies as him. There have been dating rumors about them since sixth year which both of them denied. Percy was being picked on nonetheless. It was either both of them who were made fun of, or there were those, who saw the beauty of the girl and instead decided to start joking about him being to ugly for her. In reality they have only ever been friends.

The other person he regularly spent time with, was Oliver Wood. The attractive boy who had been made quidditch captain by his brother when he had graduated. He was also Percy's roommate. Not to be mistaken, there had been more Gryffindor boys in their year, but Percy never got an answer as to why it was only the two of them sharing a dorm, while all of his brothers slept in rooms of three or four at least. Oliver never seemed bothered by this arrangement.

He was always nice to Percy, even after all of the jokes he had heard his friends make about the boy. He never agreed or even answered when students (sometimes even Percy's own brothers) spoke him their condolences about his roommate. Percy started considering him a friend around the end of fifth year. Nobody ever really knew about how close the two really were.

At the Burrow, things were different. Obviously, it is difficult for two parents to notice and comment every move, each of their seven children made. So what Percy had learned in his early childhood, was to be an easy child. He had tried to keep his younger siblings in line and not to cause any trouble himself. He wanted to make his parents proud of him and in very few occasions, he succeeded at that.

The act of trying to take care of his siblings, is probably what got him the nasty reputation with his brothers. In their teen years they were barely better than some students at Hogwarts. They constantly bickered with him, making jokes and playing pranks on him just to see 'perfect Percy' get mad.

But that's pretty much everything that was about him at home. He understood. His parents had to care more about the younger ones than the oldest. Charlie and Bill were out of the house, one of them even married, Fred and George were not to be kept in control and Ron was getting himself nearly killed every second day, for over seven years. Ginny got her share of the attention just for being the only girl.

But Percy was overlooked. And it was okay that way. His siblings only saw what they wanted to see and that was a wanna-be control freak whose only friends were his pseudo girlfriend and his books. In his parent's eyes, he was the easy one. He did what he was supposed to, he didn't argue and he was always quiet and polite.

His family was the most important thing in his life. Sometimes he just thought that maybe, he wasn't the most important thing for his family.

Luckily, they are all out of school now. Even Ginny had graduated last year. The twins had opened their own joke shop and though one might think, that that means they have not changed a single bit, you would be mistaken. Percy assumed the same at the beginning. 

Especially because, at the time, he didn't know any better. See, after he had graduated, he took his report card with the same 12 O.W.L.s as his oldest brother had gotten, and applied at the ministry. 

It had always been Percy's dream to work at the ministry and possibly, later in life, be voted as minister. He moved into a nice flat as soon as he got his first paycheck and for too long a time, he barely stayed in touch with his family.

Long story short, he made a whole bunch of mistakes during this time and was left utterly unhappy with his position at the ministry. It seemed not everybody viewed him to be fit for a high-ranked leading position. So he quit. He quit and he apologised to his family. 

He was forgiven and he was welcomed back with the open arms of his mother. He had spent a long time after that adjusting back into the family and dealing with his guilt for leaving and abandoning them for a job.

At first it was obvious that his brothers, especially the twins, didn't forget about all of it as quickly as their mother. But they came along. Everybody did eventually. Now, Percy lives in his childhood bedroom again, and is desperately searching for another job.

As mentioned, his two younger brothers opened a shop in Diagon Alley. Percy felt a bit behind, because he didn't even pay his parents a galleon of rent, due to his non-existent income, while his brothers, two whole years younger than him, have their own flat above the shop. 

Percy had visited the shop several times and though it isn't his area of expertise, he had been impressed and extremely proud of his brothers. It was going well for them. They wouldn't become rich, but they did present a decent competitor to Zonko's. What made him most happy of course, was to see his brothers work their dream job and have fun with their very own business. 

Over the past year, he had gotten much colser to his siblings, the twins specifically. He was glad to finally build a steady and lasting relationship with his family.

Not to forget the others. He had watched his sister win quidditch games for Holyhead Harpies and read multiple articles about Ron's great work as an auror. His brothers abroad, had visited a few times and were more than happy to see their brother again.

Life was going well for Percy right now, if only he didn't have to look for a job.

His mom told him to take his time, that she had fed him for 17 years and that she could do it now too, but obviously he wanted to take some weight of his parent's shoulders. He was living there and he insisted on paying them a little bit of money.

If only he could find a career he liked....

Chapter Text

The next day, Percy did his usual routine.

Get out of bed

Help mum with breakfast

Scan the newspaper for job advertisements

Do chores

Help prepare lunch

Go on a walk because Molly wants him out of the house sometime

Usually when he came back from his walks, he would have gone to take a shower. This time, when he entered through the creaking front door, he heard his mum talking to someone in the living room.

He would have suspected it to be Ron or Ginny being home early, since those two still officially lived there. But his intuition was wrong. He walked into the big room and the tall figures standing there, instantly turned to look at him.

"Percy! Glad to see you." Charlie came up to him and wrapped him in a warm hug. And oh, was he not used to his family and their physical affection. He tried his best to hug his brother back properly.

They soon let go again and with a grin, Bill also strode toward him to throw one arm across his shoulders. "Long time no see, Percy."

"It's good to see you too." Over his brother's shoulder he saw his mother's big smile. He pulled away again and looked between his brothers. "What are you doing here?", he asked.

"We're both off this week, and there's no better place to spend your holidays than at home, right?", Bill answered.

Molly interrupted the brothers, "Well, you three do your catching up, I'll go and look after the food." When she reached the doorway to the kitchen, she came to a halt once more and turned around, "-and before I forget, Freddie, Georgie as well as Ron and Ginny will also come home sometime in the afternoon, so it's gonna be the entire family for the evening!" Percy couldn't help but smile at his mother's enthusiasm.

Molly turned around again and Percy sat down on the small sofa with Bill and Charlie.

"Are you guys staying the entire week?", he asked his brothers. They both nodded and Charlie explained that they had made plans to take a week of vacation at the same time, specifically so that the family could be together again. 

Percy felt more comfortable around his family than he had ever before and at least Charlie seemed to notice the difference. Every time Percy asked them questions and he did so with a steady voice and taking up more space in the conversation, he raised his eyebrows ever so subtly, a bit surprised at his brothers newly gained confidence.

"Well, I think we talked enough about us. What has been going on for you recently? Found a job yet?", Bill asked.

"No, I'm still looking. I'm starting to feel like nobody is hiring people in administrative jobs anymore. I've applied for like, ten positions in the past weeks and I only ever hear the same response. 'I'm really sorry, but we have enough staff in our administration at the moment.' Other than that, I haven't really been doing much."

Bill reached out to give him a light pat on the shoulder. "You'll find something, I'm sure." He slightly leaned in his direction to loudly whisper, " -and if you don't, there are always a bunch of dragons in Romania that need supervising."

Percy chuckled and just then a light punch landed on Bill's upper arm. Percy had already prepared for them to playfully fight just like Weasley siblings always used to do, but the two men just laughed it off.

It was still weird to him that they were all grown up now. Though none of them had changed drastically, the slight change to his siblings witt was more than enough of a difference. Of course, Percy found it rather comforting that he wouldn't have to worry about his siblings picking on him anymore.

When their mother called them to the table the four of them sat down to eat. Lunches during his childhood had been loud and sometimes even overwhelming. This time, there was one single conversation going and every person at the table could participate in it. 

As much as he enjoys a calm atmosphere, he had gotten so used to the noise and the full house that he often misses having all of his family members there. 

That made him even more excited for the upcoming evening.

Just two hours later, the fireplace erupted in bright green flames. Ginny stepped out into the room, her eyes wide and her jaw dropping as she sees the unexpected visitors.

She ran across the room and threw herself at Charlie, quickly let go and ran into Bill with the same pace.

They give her the same explanation as they had Percy, earlier. Ginny tells her brothers about her day and the birthday party she was invited to. One thing Percy notices, is how she doesn't only speak in the direction of Charlie and Bill, but she also turnes to speak in Percy's direction. She's telling all three of them.

The next time the fireplace goes up in flames, it's the twins stepping out. With this addition, the house starts to feel more and more like home.

Ron and Arthur also arrive at the same time, both coming back from the ministry. The surprise on people's faces everytime they see Charlie and Bill in the living room makes Percy smile widely.

The whole family finally together, sit down on the sofa, some chairs pulled from the dining table and Ron gets comfortable on the floor. 

It was everything Percy had grown to detest as a child and a teenager. The twins speaking at the same time or finishing each other's sentences, Ron being confused and not understanding the topic or just everybody wanting to tell something simultaneously. 

Today, he found it perfect. The overlapping stories and the many different voices. Because today, whenever he wanted to speak, he could and he was asked many questions about his day too.

Truly, it couldn't have been better. 

The twins still made just as many jokes, but now they weren't full of spite or actual intentionally hurtful comments. 

He wondered if he had ever felt so comfortable in his own home before. And he was pretty sure he could answer that question with a no. But that's OK. Because he did now.

Chapter Text

After a long and delicious dinner, Molly and Arthur had gone off to bed. Not much later, did Ginny and Ron do the same. That left the five oldest brothers alone in the living room. 

It had been long since the last time they sat like this. It must've been, because Percy isn't sure he remembers them ever having sat together in this exact constellation. 

"She didn't find it funny at all-", George smiled uncomfortably,"-I have to admit, it was so stupid. Honestly, I deserved the cold shoulder I got after that." 

If Percy had payed attention, he would know what his brother had just told them. Purely based on context clues and Bill pinching the bridge of his nose, his best guess was that he had played a prank on his girlfriend Angelina. An unsuccessful prank at that.

"Merlin.... I wonder how that girl hasn't left you yet. How does she put up with that?", Charlie added.

"No idea, can't do it myself most of the time", Fred said with fake disappointment in his voice and his expression. 

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side. You're my other half. Other halfs say encouraging stuff, not drag them in front if their siblings." And with that, they were both out of their seats and running across the room. 

Maybe not all of them had matured equally.

The maniacs disappeared into the kitchen and Charlie cleared his throat. "So-, anything else that happened? Maybe something that doesn't make me want to fake disinheritage papers."

Bill rolled his eyes with a smile and started talking about a small house in the countryside, that he and Fleur were thinking of moving into. "Apart from it just being beautiful, it's also bigger than our current flat and it's closer to the Burrow. It would be really nice not to live so far away." 

"Yeah that would be nice." Percy looked at his brother with a warm smile. With a soft voice he continued, "Whenever I move out again, I hope not to live too far either. But that might take another year anyways, so..." He shrugged.

Because of their conversation, Percy hadn't payed attention to how the footsteps in the next room, not only slowed, but apparently even stopped for a while. The twins approached the door and as they reached the doorframe, the other three men were already looking in the right direction.

With a smug grin Fred leaned against the hard wood and held up a bottle. "Which one of you was smart enough to hide two bottles of firewhiskey under the sink and in between the soaps?"

"Thinking we wouldn't find it, huh?", George shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Hiding alcohol from our poor mother."

"That was my doing for once. Technically, I only wanted to store it until I left, but since you two found it already-", the twins looked at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to finish his sentence. "-we might as well open one of them."

"I knew we could count on you Charlie. Everyone want a glass? Perce?", Fred looked at him. For a second he thought about it. He wasn't very keen on the idea of alcohol, but it was only his brothers around and he was at home,...

"Sure, give me one as well." 

"You got it Percy!" The twins brought five glasses to the living room and set them down on the small coffee table. 

After the first burning sip, Charlie laughed. "Ah, this reminds me of the good old times, partying in the common room after every single quidditch game we won." 

For the first time this night, Percy didn't have much to say. He had never been to any of those parties and that wasn't just due to his general disliking towards the sport, but more because he didn't feel comfortable around those people. 

While the others talked about their favourite parties and discussing exactly what they liked about every single game that had been the cause for said party, Percy's thoughts trailed back to his special moments on those days.

During his first four years at Hogwarts, he used his roommate's absence to study in the otherwise empty dorm. The noise from the common room was a tad annoying, but nothing ever kept him from his work as the distraction in the following years.

When Gryffindor won the first game of the fifth year against Hufflepuff, Oliver didn't stay downstairs at the party for long, before he rushed up to the dorm, just to ask if Percy wanted to join the celebration.

Of course, the redhead had disagreed back then, told his friend he wasn't one for partying. Even though Percy was convinced Oliver wasn't quite sober anymore, he clearly remembers the other boy's expression falter. 

That didn't stop the boy from asking him to join the party, everytime they won, every single year after that.

After one more glass of whiskey, Fred had come to the conclusion, that now was the perfect time to talk about his failed relationships. "She was nice and all, but no matter what I did, she always managed to turn the conversation back to quidditch. It's not like I don't boast of my skills myself, but she only ever wanted to talk about what quidditch career I could strive for."

"Oh yeah, the quidditch fame. Such an inconvenience to life, really", Charlie said sarcastically. "Why did you even go out with so many girls, if you knew that most of them were only interested in you because you were on the team?" 

"Now tell me one thing you grand mastermind, how was I supposed to know if they only like me because I'm a quidditch player?", Fred answered.

Bill nudged his brother with his elbow to signal him that there would be no end to this discussion. Charlie leaned back in the sofa, turning his gaze from the twins over to Percy.

He hesitated before speaking, but obviously decided to simply go for it. "Perce, now that we're already talking about girls, you never actually told us about yourself dating anyone." 

Percy knew what he wanted to ask but Fred intervened, "Oh, Charlie. You missed the best of Hogwarts' gossip about our dear brother right here."

"Yeah, the whispers said that Percy was snogging Clearwater behind the bookshelves of the library. Denied it a hundred times of course. Makes the situation even more suspicious, if you ask me." George continued.

"So, tell us now, what actually happened between you two?"

"The one-time fling?"

"The most gut-wrenching heartbreak, because dear ol' Percy was rejected by the girl of his dreams?"

"Perhaps a still ongoing long-distance relationship?"

"I'm intrigued now, which one of those incredible plots has gotten the honour of a story to tell?"

"Oh, Merlin." Bill looked just as annoyed as Percy felt. He had to admit that they were right about one thing: Denying it as often as he did, really didn't help his case. 

"Her and I were friends. We never dated or anything", he said as calm as possible.

"Now that's disappointing. I already had the entire story written out in my head. The title was 'Percy Weasley and his secret love affair'. You're destroying the entire thing." Fred pat his twins shoulder in support of his 'disappointment'.

"But did you ever date anyone at school, or had a crush on somebody?", Bill asked.

The attention of all of his brothers was on him again and since he didn't answer right away, the twins shared a triumphant look.

"Oh, there was! I might only have to change a name in my story", George exclaimed.

"No, there was nobody. I never dated anyone at school. I told you a million times." He was probably as red as a tomato, according to the fact that even Bill was now grinning with malicious joy.

"So, no girlfriend but a crush. Stop fighting it Perce, we can read you like a book. Who was it?", George wiggled his eyebrows.

Percy covered his face with his hands and groaned. How could he get out of this situation without revealing anything else?

"Come on Percy, we've all had our first crushes, there's no shame in it", Charlie tried the slower approach.  

"There is no one." He stated once more.

"We've switched to present tense, interesting", Fred commented. For the remarkable observation he got a high-five from George.

George then continued, "Let's do this strategically then. Who could Percy like? If we think about people very similar to our brother, the only person who could do, is Clearwater. And we've ruled that out."

"Genius thinking, George", Fred praised.

"So if we instead consider the proverb 'opposites attract', who would Percy's greatest opposite be?"

Even Bill was impressed by his brother's conclusion. And though Percy tried not to react in any obvious way again, he knew that they were on the right path.

"Could we please not?" He was completely ignored. 

"The quidditch players! Of course!", Charlie said. "Fred, George, who was on the team after I left?" 

"How did I not think of this? Well, we have Angelina-but I doubt Percy would be a home-wrecker. Maybe Katie Bell?", George regarded his brother and waited for an answer.

"No, why would I like her? She was so arrogant", Percy said.

"Who else do we have...? Alicia!"

His brother quickly took notice of his grimace as he heard the name and before Percy could even open his mouth to respond, George had already started speaking again. "That's all of the girls though."

After a moment of silence and four brothers thinking of other possible options, Bill's eyes flickered up to his brother's face again.

"What about the boys on the team?" Bill spoke with a steady voice and no matter how much Percy searched for judgement or perhaps even disgust in his tone, he didn't find it. 

The twins looked confused for a second, because Bill had just introduced the unexpected possibility, that their brother might not be straight. 

Just as Percy wanted to start panicking in fear of them reacting unaccapting towards him, Charlie continued the list of names. "I made Oliver Wood captain, so he would be one. Wasn't he also your roommate, Perce?" 

"Well, I mean-" 

The twins gasped and all four brothers looked at him with smug grins, as they successfully figured out Percy's crush.

"You have to tell us Percy. When did you suddenly get the idea you wanted to snogg our captain?" Fred chuckled. 

Again, Percy hid his face in his hands. When he looked back at the others however, their smiles had turned much more genuine and Percy felt a little overwhelmed by the fact that he had basically just come out to half of his family and they were fine with it.

Their acceptance gave him the last bit of confidence he needed to tell them the rest of the story too.

He took a deep breath. "I didn't actually realise that I liked him like-, that, until we left Hogwarts. But that doesn't matter now anyways. I didn't know it back then, he's not into guys and I haven't even seen him since then. So, it's not like I still have a crush on him, really. I liked him back then and realised it too late." 

"So, no snogging our captain in the changing room? I already replaced Clearwater's name with his in my head." Fred emptied his glass again with an exaggerated sad frown.

"No, that was years ago. And as I said he only ever dated girls, so...", Percy stated the obvious.

"I wouldn't assume anything based on that. Just because he likes girls doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't like boys too", Bill added.

"Be realistic. How high are the chances? But it doesn't matter to me anymore. Let's talk about something different, please." 

And for once, his siblings actually let it go when he asked them to. The evening came to an end an hour later, when they all decided to head off to bed.

Even though Percy knew he should be a bit embarrassed about his brothers now knowing one of his biggest secrets, he couldn't help but be happy. 

He is finally getting closer to his family. 

Chapter Text

                                          Fred

Contrary to the twins' original plan, they ended up in their old bedroom after the previous evening. When Fred woke up that morning, he had chosen to let his brother sleep in and headed downstairs.

He was greeted by the sunlight illuminating the living space through multiple windows. Following an alluring smell and quiet sounds into the kitchen, he found Ginny and Bill standing by the stove. They were supervising two pans over the fire and cooking water for some tea at the same time. 

"Lovely morning, isn't it?", Bill said as soon as he caught sight of him. After an appropriate answer and a subsequent question about everyone else's current occupation, Bill continued. "Mum's headed off for some groceries, Ron and dad just left for work and the rest is apparently still asleep."

"How long did you stay up last night? Usually Charlie and Percy would be the first ones up", Ginny chuckled. 

"Those credits go to the empty bottle of firewhiskey that is since hidden under my bed." Fred winked at his sister who let out an exaggerated gasp before laughing.

"So that's what you all do when you have an evening to yourselves? Did Percy drink some too?", the girl asked.

"Oh yeah, sure, 'told us some of his deepest secrets. If only you'd been there to hear...", he said, his words dripping sarcasm. But, well, if only she'd been there to hear.

She rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the bacon frying in the pan. "I'm sure he did. If you wanna be useful Fred, could you take some mugs from the cupboard?"

He did as asked and Bill poured the hot water in the cups and added tea-bags. He looked back at his sister who was flipping the bacon. "Gins, you mentioned a birthday yesterday. Who's birthday is it?"

She put the utensil down and grabbed three plates. "It's Zola's birthday on Saturday." She turned to look at two questioning expressions and further explained, "She's one of my teammates. And she's got quite the thing for one of Montrose Magpies' players and sice they'll be playing at the charity event on Saturday, that's where we'll be going."

Fred frowned and asked, "What? Where is a quidditch charity event, that I don't know about?" He took one plate and one cup of tea and carried it to the dining table. His siblings followed closely behind.

"Well, it's not a stadium they're playing at, but more like an improvised pitch. I can't remember the village's name, but it's not that far from here. The tickets are actually rather affordable because it's supposed to attract as many people as possible. The players also stay longer after the game and give out autographs for the same purpose. The event itself is made of much more though, other than quidditch", she nodded at her words, "I imagine it will be quite nice."

"Ah, alright. Who are the Magpies playing against?", he asked while chewing his first bite of breakfast.

Not like him, Ginny chewed and swallowed her food before speaking again. "Puddlemere United."

Fred nodded his head. He did so, until the moment he suddenly stopped and sat up straight in his chair.

His brother gave him a concerned glare and his sister regarded him with a raised eyebrow. 

"Bill, tell me- which one of our past-and previously mentioned-aquaintances plays for Puddlemere United?" He must have stared at his brother like he had gone mad. 

A bit terrified by Fred's behaviour he answered, "I don't-", he stopped. Ginny looked in between the men, like not being in on a joke. Bill's face lit up. "Indeed I do know who's on that team."

For a second the two just beamed at each other, Ginny slowly giving up on understanding. When a set of footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, Fred turned back to his sister and with a quiet voice he asked, "You wouldn't mind if the rest of the family also went to that event, would you?"

She shook her head with a confused smile, just before Percy entered the kitchen. 

"Perfect", he said with a grin, and then greeted his older brother.

When George and Charlie had finally woken up, they couldn't immediately let them in on the information because Percy was still around. They had to wait all the way until afternoon to gather the right people at one spot.

Ginny had left for training and just when Molly had left the living room, the brothers were discussing the idea.

Charlie and George were on board before even hearing all of the details. 

The plan had been made: They would tell the entire family about the event and invite them all to spend some kind of family day together. Most will love the idea just because they will be able to watch two professional quidditch teams play for a pretty cheap price.

When it came to Percy, quidditch has never been a topic which could lure him to do something or go somewhere. But the words 'family day' and 'charity' would convince him too.

Additionally, due to too many factors that could make their plan fail, they would have to tell Ginny and Ron about the set-up, with the twist of not outing him in the process. 

They themselves, would act like the event coordinators didn't give out any information on which teams would compete. They would tell their parents to do the same, because 'they want to surprise Percy with meeting his old roommate and friend'.

As mentioned they would have to tell their little siblings something else. Those two were actually the biggest threat to the plan. The chances of one of them messing up and accidentally saying the names of the teams, were pretty high.

Ginny could get too excited about the birthday party and tell the tale about her friend's crush. Ron was the one who would start rambling about quidditch until he can't hold back on the names.

They had to feed them some story, the two would believe and find important enough to keep quiet for.

Of course, the brothers found just the right solution to this problem:

They would make Ginny and Ron believe that Percy got drunk enough the last evening, that he accidentally told them about having a crush on a Puddlemere United player. The prick wouldn't say which one it was though. 

And because a Weasley's best trait is nosiness, they would drag him there to find out who his crush is.

You can call them geniuses at this point.

With a plan in mind, they waited patiently for dinner. All family members united again, they introduced the idea.

For the dramatics, Fred grabbed his glass in the middle of the meal and started clicking his spoon against it. "Dear family, my brother and I had an idea."

George took over. "Gins told us about a birthday party she was invited to, which is actually a quidditch charity event", he could see his parents' eyes going wide, "and since the tickets are so cheap-"

Fred interrupted and looked at Percy "- and sold for a good purpose-"

George continued again, "we wanted to ask, if everyone would be free on Saturday for a little family day?"

The responses were just as expected. Bill and Charlie faked their excitement to fit their cheering family's. Percy was not as emotional about it, but he agreed to go 'solemnly for the good purpose'.

After dinner they dealt with the next steps of the plan. Fred and George had to act fast, however. They would need to go home that day, as they had to open the shop the next.

When most people left the table and went upstairs, only Percy stayed behind to help their mum with the dishes. George just put a hand on his brother's shoulder and told him, "You help mum everyday, now that we're home, we can do it for once."

Percy looked like he had seen a unicorn dance with a goblin in front of his own eyes. The twins were a bit disappointed at his low expectations.

When it was save to say that Percy was up in his room, they rushed their father from the sofa to the kitchen and while actually scrubbing the dishes, they told them just what they had thought of.

Their parents bought it easily.

Molly and Arthur seemed happy to hear about Percy's friendship. No one in this house has heard much from Percy about his friends back in school, so it was kinda understandable.

Continuing with their siblings was more simple. Ron and Ginny both had rooms to themselves, so they just paid them a goodbye visit and they might have mentioned something secret before leaving to go home.

Ron reacted a little annoyed at having to watch what he said on a day he can never seem shut up. Ginny was excited about the idea and told them she was now nervous to find out who it was.

So after a long day and way too much thinking having been done, Fred and George flooed back to their flat and went to sleep, feeling proud of yet another brilliant idea.

Chapter Text

Saturday had arrived quicker than Percy would've liked it to. Not that he was dreading a day out with his family, but the last time he had actively gone outside to a place full of people that had nothing to do with his work, well, it had been some time.

His motivation faded even further as the Burrow was buzzing with movement. Every family member getting ready to leave and packing whatever they could possibly need for the next few hours.

Mum had packed a basket with some emergency lunchboxes and water, while their dad had counted and recounted the tickets multiple times, making sure they hadn't lost one of them. Ginny had asked all of her brothers if her hair looked good from the back as she had done it herself and couldn't see all angles. 

When Percy told her it looked just fine, (so did every other brother apparently) she still didn't believe him and went to pester mum. 

Percy himself, didn't run about too much. He paced his own room, not to bother anyone else, trying to find the emotional strength in him to survive this day. Much to his disappointment, his thoughts couldn't bring him the peace he was looking for.

He left his room again to reassure his dad that they had all of the tickets, tell his mum that they won't die of dehydration because they all have money to buy something at the event and he even made an approach to tell Ron he was excited to see the game. Weirdly enough, Ron wasn't as talkative as usual.

When they finally assembled all people in the living room, dad explained the quickest route to the location. Everyone would floo to Diagon Alley and the rest of the way they would have to apparate. 

They followed his instructions on who would go first, so mum started off, followed by Charlie, then Bill, Ginny, the twins, and after most of the waiting, it was finally Percy's turn.

As third to last, he stood in the fireplace, took a handful of floo powder and spoke "Diagon Alley". He blinked once and right when he opened his eyes again he stood in a different room. A room stuffed with his family at that.

They waited for Ron and Arthur and the latter began explaining the exact spot they should all apparate to. Percy turned to the twins who clearly weren't listening, so he gave George a light bump with his elbow.

"Alright, everyone got it?", his dad asked with a bright smile.

They all answered accordingly and Percy gathered all of his concentration to imagine the right place in his mind.

Not to brag or anything, but once more Percy landed right at the desired location. He had always been a good wizard with a knack for perfectionism, so his eyes now seeing the same picture he had in mind, made him fond of the skills he had acquired after hard and long training.

Looking around him, he was pretty sure that everyone else had not done that bad of a job either. He found his mum, his dad, his sister and exactly four of his brothers.

And that would've meant that everyone had actually done well, if it wasn't for the fact that Percy had five brothers. It didn't take him as long to realise who was missing. It was Ron. He took a glance at his watch, only to see that they were right on time. They wanted to be there at 3 p.m. and they had actually made it.

But Percy didn't have the time to congratulate his family on their great time management, because he was already busy trying to track his younger brother's location.

It actually didn't take as long as expected. Ron had just messed up by a few meters and landed in between some trees, which hid him away from the rest of them. 

They were finally able to enter the event grounds.

They actually had a little bit of time to spare, as there weren't that many people around, so getting to the stands wouldn't take much time. It was only then, that Percy noticed he didn't now which teams were even playing.

The only logical decision was to ask one of the twins. They planned the entire trip so surely they would know.

"Fred, you never mentioned which teams would be playing today", he looked over at his brother.

Fred shrugged, "Didn't say. Prolly wanted people to think it's the big ones, to get more people to attend. You can't blame them for that though, it's charity after all."

Of course Percy knew he was right. It was a bit odd that Fred, of all people, was trying to lecture him on why this was the only reasonable option. He nodded at his brother and looked around the rest of their group to try and read their opinions on this. Nobody gave away anything other than fond smiles. Obviously Percy was the only one that had been left in the dark about this fact.

As they walked around the event, they made out multiple spots to get food and drinks, as well as some little shops that sold donated products. There was also a little ice cream parlour, which only made sense regarding the hot weather. 

At said parlour, Ginny found the birthday party she was attending. She waved a quick goodbye to her family and rushed off to the group of girls.

"I think we should slowly make our way to the pitch. Is anyone in need of a last-minute snack?" The twins smiled brightly at their father and Bill also stated that he could use some chips. "Everybody else, go with mum please and you three come with me."

While Percy followed his mum, he thought about how they might look to people on the outside. A big family made entirely of adults, and the parents still managing everyone and giving commands like they did when their children were still small and and in need of directions.

He found it sweet how their parents treat all of them. He definitely found it annoying as a kid, especially because no one would follow their parents' instructions, but now it made him quite happy to be part of this big and slightly more controllable hoard.

Their mum led them around a lot of corners and through big groups of people until they stood in line at the ticket check. After a short minute of queueing, they continued to find their seats on the improvised stands.

Percy got comfortable and soon after, the others arrived as well. The four men carried paper plates filled with chips. Dad had brought two, of which he hel out one to mum. She was reluctant to take it at first, as she had stated earlier that she didn't want anything to eat. Eventually she accepted her husband's nice gesture.

The game was set to begin in about 15 minutes and so most people started to gather on the stands.

Percy looked around in search of his sister and her friends. He did in fact spot a group of girls around the size of Ginny's party, though he couldn't make out if it was actually them from afar.

After a few more minutes had passed, the volume of the crowd grew with the increasing excitement. He understood, the suspense was not for the weak. He wasn't even that into quidditch and he could feel the effects of the upcoming surprise.

His family was a clear indicator for the described atmosphere. They were buzzing in their seats. He tried to push down the smile that was forming on his own face, he was just happy to see his family be completely in their element.

The only one who alerted Percy, was Ron. Contrary to the rest of the Weasleys, he seemed to be in a good mood, but something was clearly bothering him. He was accustomed to being a complete and helpless victim to his brother's quidditch rants before every game.

Usually Ron would analyse the wind, talk about his favourite players and who was most likely to win the game. Even if Percy connected his behaviour to the fact that they didn't know who was playing, he expected more words coming from Ron.

He checked the time again and as he lifted his gaze, a man standing on a special platform in between the stands lifted a magical megaphone to his mouth: "Hello, and welcome everybody to this amazing game today!"

The crowd erupted into cheers. "We are very grateful that such an enormous amount of witches and wizards have found their way to this pitch to watch two incredible quidditch teams compete, to support our local shelter for magical creatures. We gathered here to raise not only the necessary funds to help preserve species and prevent their extinction, but so general awareness of the importance of this issue."

Percy was listening attentively. He has always had a soft spot in his heart for magical creatures after having read a certain famous book about them. This was probably the most obvious quality he shared with his older brother. Only that he would never go as far as to leave to the other side of the continent to study some of them.

"I feel very honored to have been given the chance to host this special game in which two of our most beloved teams fight tor the win." The man held his hand to his heart. The redhead didn't know if he should be aware of the man's identity, but he didn't seem very familiar and his speech didn't suggest otherwise.

Percy guessed that the game would begin then but the man intervened. "Before the players can fly out and steer all of your attention away from me-" he laughed "-I want to remind you that all of the players will be staying around the grounds for a little longer, to give all of you a chance to get an autograph from your favourite player." 

The audience applauded in anticipation. Percy was almost as eager as the other people on the stands now. The commentator had really laid it on thick. 

He was excited to see which teams thay have managed to to book for this occasion. Would the guy really put on such a show, only to then disappoint everyone by welcoming teams onto the pitch that nobody knows? Surely he wouldn't.

"Without futher ado, please welcome: The Montrose Magpies and Puddlemere United!"

What?

He must be joking. What the fuck.

But as the stalls opened and the players flew out, Percy saw that he was indeed not joking.

Puddlemere United.

Oliver.

What the fuck.

Chapter Text

The teams were flying circles around the pitch, making sure to give the audience an adequate show. They looked tiny from his perspective, but no distance could make Percy miss the light brunette hair that he had been especially fond of, since the first time he ruffled through it, its strands sliding through his fingers, the soft feeling staying behind.

He could also never mistake the muscular build of the same man he had seen undressing at least halfway in their shared dormitory for many years in school. Those broad shoulders he used to pat to provide comfort when Gryffindor had lost a game, and the same long legs Percy knew to be able to carry the man for multiple laps around the pitch. The only difference to the man's physical appearance was that all of the features he just described, looked more-, let's say improved..., maybe more prominent, Oliver was a grown man now after all.

None of these observations calmed the panic that has risen inside of him, however.

Percy glanced in both directions and checked the others' reactions. Their eyes were neatly trained on the pitch, captured by their passion and not paying attention to the internal breakdown he was having right next to them. Mum noticed his searching glares and looked at him for a short second. She gave him the brightest and warmest smile before turning back to the pitch where the players had settled in their positions.

Ron was looking better too. The pre-game nerves seemed to have left and the excitement has fully taken over. The one thing Percy couldn't find in their expressions was surprise. He searched for it so desperately, especially since the amount of surprise and shock he felt himself was almost unbearable. Maybe they hid it well, but they just didn't look excited about the reveal.

He wanted to say something to either of his older brothers, but no set of eyes ever found his. They should have heard the name and realised what was bound to happen. What Percy was going through right then. Not a singular one of them made an approach to react to his gaze that had to burn holes in their skulls.

He tried to redirect his attention to the action in front of him. He couldn't help but to feel lost in the situation. His mind was rattling with thoughts, words rushing through his head, but before a coherent thought was able to form, everything went blank.

The quaffle was thrown into the air and the game officially began.

It was everything he didn't need. The noise around him that would make his ears ring for the next few days, the speed of the people flashing across the sky and then there was Oliver.

His eyes found the keeper just where he was supposed to be. The man was hovering near the hoops, guarding them from any attempt the Magpies would make to score. Percy regarded him for an uncertain amount of time, he simply couldn't look away.

What made it even more infuriating was the fact that as long as the other team doesn't come near one's own hoops, the keeper didn't really have much of a job to do. That made it easier for Percy to get lost watching the familiar man on his broomstick.

The longer he stared and squinted his eyes, the more he could catch the remaining details. He was well past the point of caring if any of his family members would catch him staring at the man, even as the crowd cheered after Puddlemere had scored their first 10 points, he could only look at Oliver.

The thrill didn't last long since the Magpies were already on their way to even out the score so Oliver had to prepare, but Percy was already swayed when he saw that Oliver kept up his old habits. Back at Hogwarts, whenever his chasers scored, he used to fix his posture, sit up a little straighter and subtly curl his fingers into a fist with a proud smile. He still did that apparently, and it still fazed Percy in the same way apparently.

He should really be watching the rest of the game, analyse the other players’ strategy, first of all he should finally take note which players were even present. He should estimate how much the wind and the sun, the temperature in general, influenced the game. He should try to predict a player's next move or how the match would end. Just like he did, when his family was unaware of his theoretical interest in the sport. Just like he used to do with Oliver when watching the other houses compete, to take notes of their tactics.

Pained, he tore his eyes off the man and gathered up all of the missing information. The commentator wasn't wrong, the day was truly beautiful and the wind was not strong enough to affect the game in any way worth mentioning. The sun was quite strong, but it worked in Puddlemere's favour since the Magpies had to fly right in its direction.

He didn't know many of the other players and he wasn't interested in learning their names. He was trained to detect a player's talent and skills in the shortest amount of time, he didn't need to be prepared when he was the viewer.

The credits for his incredible skills definitely go to Oliver. The boy was the only reason Percy ever showed up to any game and even if nothing in the name of Merlin could make him ride a broom and play himself, he did quite develop a liking to the sports theoretical part. He did owe that to Oliver.

His attention jumped between watching the game and watching Oliver. The redhead wasn't able to calm down as much as would probably be for the best but he could contain himself.

Percy watched the game with interest. Every time Puddlemere scored he cheered along with the crowd as well as his family and every time the opposite happened and one of the Magpie's chasers managed to trick Oliver, he sat and hoped the other wouldn't be too disappointed.

To say it the muggle way, he felt like he was on a rollercoaster of feelings. His obviously still existent crush on the even more gorgeous Oliver Wood, the fury he felt toward his brothers for not even meeting his eyes when it started and the thrill of seeing the game.

Over the two hours it took for Puddlemere's seeker to catch the snitch, Percy had come to the realisation that Oliver didn't only become better looking, but he has also become a better keeper. Not that he had expected otherwise, but knowing the talented Hogwarts student, he couldn't imagine him improving his skills further when going professional.

Now that he saw it with his own eyes, he couldn't believe that he ever doubted Oliver's ambition in any way.

The game had ended with the score 270:140 for Puddlemere. The crowd went mad of course. Some in a cheerful and happy way and some in a slightly disappointed and almost sad kind of way.

However, Percy couldn't properly focus on Puddlemere's success, when all of his thoughts were occupied by a certain issue.

To his left Ron stood up from his seat and on his other side his mum did the same. He went along and helped gathering all of their stuff to finally leave the stands again.

On the way down the wonky stairs, while his dad shared his opinions with his children, Percy took the opportunity to get an idea of how he ought to bring this up to his brothers.

It was difficult. How should he even explain what this confrontation is about? Was he supposed to be angry at his brothers for not being sorry? But that wouldn't be right either. All they knew about his relationship with Oliver was that he had a crush on him in the past. He had made sure to emphasise the fact that he didn't feel like that towards the man anymore.

So what should his brothers even be sorry for? Not knowing that he was going to be there? And Percy isn't sure what he had expected them to do. None of them were obligated to play the knight in shining armour and drag him away from the pitch so he wouldn't have to face his past crush.

Honestly, he felt stupid now. What was he blaming them for? They came to watch a game of quidditch and none of them could've known that he was gonna play.

The entire situation made his head hurt.

He had obviously been very deep in thought, as he didn't notice that his oldest brother had settled into a slower speed and was walking beside him. Back in reality, he looked over at Bill who was smiling at him with the same understanding and comforting gaze that never held judgement.

Bill spoke first. "That was certainly a surprise, wasn't it." He chuckled lightly under his breath.

Percy only nodded in response. He didn't really know what else to say so he let a moment of silence happen.

"Only question left is: was it a good or a bad surprise?" And for a second Percy thought about it. After a deep breath and still no useful result, he sighed and shrugged. "It's okay if you don't know that yet, I understand that that was probably a weird way of seeing him again after such a long time."

Percy felt a question rise and he almost spoke it out loud before containing himself. That only resulted in a whole stream of more and more questions he wanted to ask Bill. He didn't let a single one slip out of his mouth.

He nodded absentmindedly and they fell into a comfortable silence again. He searched for the right words to tell his brother what he was thinking, and saying that the crush he had declared as forgotten and moved on from was suddenly all he could think of, wasn’t gonna cut it.

“Were you-…, I don’t know, surprised? When you heard that Puddlemere played, I mean. None of you really reacted in any obvious way and compared to you lot, I was so utterly shocked and perplex-“he chuckled, “-at first I wasn’t sure if you might’ve forgotten about what I told you.”

“I’m so sorry Perce, I didn’t want to make you feel that way and surely the others didn’t mean to either.” His serious face slowly shifted back to a smile. “That really was quite a coincidence, wasn’t it?”

Percy started rambling like he had waited for his brother to say this. “If only you would know just how lost I felt”, he actually laughed now. “How is it, that right after I talked about liking someone for the first time in my life, he randomly appears ‘first chance he gets.”

His laughter was definitely louder than his normal talking voice because Fred seemed to have caught that last part he had said. He turned around rapidly, “Are we talking about Percy’s lover again?”

Fred’s statement travelled even further to the front of their group and Molly stepped in. “Freddie, don’t you make fun of your brother, I swear-!”

And though Percy was grateful for his mother’s concern and support, he couldn’t help but laugh at his younger brother’s remark.

“He’s not teasing me mum, it’s alright.”

His mom’s following look was pure confusion. She saw his bright smile and those of his brothers and without any other words she turned back around to talk to her husband.

Percy and Fred started giggling and they giggled like crazy. It only earned them more glances of confusion, but he didn’t really care about that right now. After having felt left out of jokes for his whole life, it made him feel truly incredible to be part of the reason for his family’s entertainment.

The evening was far from over, however. The sun was still up high and from what he heard his father say, the man didn’t see a reason to leave the event before the sun had set.

Percy wasn’t opposed to the idea, he had felt considerably more calm and relaxed since his little emotional combust.

Arthur led them all inside one of the big tents on the grounds and since the sign on the outside had said “The Bewitched Bite” he knew what to expect.

Once again, this time the entire family, they had found their way to the food vendors for something to eat. They sat down at the biggest table they saw and ordered food.

While Charlie and the twins ordered the most absurd and dubious sounding thing on the menu, Percy stuck to his comfort dish: mashed potatoes with meat balls. It tasted amazing nonetheless.

Percy finished his food in a normal amount of time and since his brothers were still picking at, rather than eating the bright blue fish they were served, he decided that he would have enough time to go to the loo before everybody would’ve finished their food.

When he told them that he would search for the toilets and be right back, his brothers got oddly quiet. He left the table along with the weird silence and followed a few signs which led him to the toilet stalls.

It shouldn’t have taken him too long to get back to his family but when he arrived at the table there were no traces left of the silence from before.

He wasn’t quite close enough yet to understand what his older brother was murmuring in a low voice and at the point where he finally would’ve been able to listen in on whatever they were discussing, Charlie ended his sentence and it was over.

His brothers were acting even more strange than usual.

Percy chose to ignore his siblings’ behaviour and sat down next to George again. The younger one’s plate was finally empty and the glowing fish was gone. Though, based on his face, the last bits of the fish weren’t any better than those he ate when Percy was present.

“Alright kids-, Percy, you didn’t hear yet, so: Your brothers decided that they wanted to go about the event to pass by some vendors and Charlie wanted to go to the organizer’s tent. We wanted to know if there’s anything else you wanted to do, dear?”, Molly told him.

“Oh, the organizer as in the animal shelter? I would love to go there. The rest sounds good too, what are you and dad going to do then?”, he answered.

Arthur chuckled a bit, “Ah, those old limbs aren’t doing as good a job as yours, son. We’re gonna sit down at that ice cream parlour your sister was at earlier and have some ice cream and coffee. What I have to ask all of you though, is that if you come across one of Puddlemere’s players, you ask for an autograph for me too.”

Fred laughed and rose from the bench. “Sure we will, dad. Come on then guys, no time like the present.”

Bill payed what they owed and the others followed the twins out of the tent.

“Where do you want to go first? I don’t want to be biased but I vote the shelter.” Charlie smiled from ear to ear. Unfortunately, as they were now only six people left, voting wasn’t really the most efficient way to make decisions.

The three oldest brothers wanted to see the magical creatures first and the youngest ones wanted to begin with looking around the mini-shops.

“Honestly, why can’t we just go around and look for the quidditch players? That’s what we’re all here for anyways.” Ron was slightly annoyed at them, or at least that’s what it sounded like.

Obviously, Ron couldn’t know why Percy wouldn’t exactly want to do that and he wasn’t going to tell him now of all times.

Percy was just about to retreat his vote from the discussion as he got the feeling that arguing would lead to a fight, but then Charlie whispered something to Fred who’s face immediately lit up. The latter nodded to whatever idea his older brother had proposed and Charlie turned back to face the rest of the group.

“Bill, Percy, would it be okay for you if we just split up into two groups, so we can go to the magical creature shelter without being rushed by certain someones-”, he faked a cough and George hit him with his elbow, “-and Fred, George and Ron can go around to pray on the quidditch players on their own.”

Percy smiled at the wording. “I don’t mind that idea. Just, how are we going to find each other again before we leave?”

“Oh, yeah you weren’t there for that. Mum said that we all meet again at the entrance at about half past nine”, Charlie clasped his hands together. “Now, before everyone heads off: Fred, George, could I have a moment?”

The twins looked surprisingly relaxed as they stepped aside with Charlie. Percy definitely would be more taken aback when being asked such thing. It didn’t sound like the twins were in trouble or anything, but maybe not causing any unnecessary trouble was exactly what Charlie was talking about with them.

While the three of them were discussing something very intensely, Bill tried to engage in some conversation with Ron and him.

Whatever was so important that they took over five minutes whispering about, had finally come to an end and the two groups split up in different directions.

The shelter was really interesting. It was well managed regarding the tiny space it was given. It was obviously too small to keep many animals in, but they did have quite a few to see.

Those creatures, that could not be kept in captivity for even a day, were still present over magical pictures, to show the visitors what they looked like or what and how they ate or in some cases even some special things they did.

Percy was positively stunned when he was shown a moving picture of a mooncalf dance.

The three Weasleys were able to pet a kneazle as well as a niffler, though Percy made sure he took his watch off before he went near the niffler. Scattered all over the place, were flying information cards which Percy read attentively.

They also talked to one of the people working there, an elderly man, who told them about the work at the actual shelter and what he has experienced in the past.

They were told what the funds from the event were going to be used for and how one could always come to the shelter for a visit or to help out some time.

Many people might find things like that boring. Reading and learning new information, going around and listening to peoples’ opinions or experiences…. Percy loved those things. It’s what made Percy the person he is today.

Maybe he is just a nerd who likes to read, but now it doesn’t bother him anymore.

He couldn’t possibly estimate the time correctly, which they had spent inside the shelter’s tent, but he would guess something like an hour and a half

It was twenty to nine when they left to go around outside for the last bit of time that they had left. After a while of walking around, the only thing that one of them bought was a stuffed animal. Of course it was Charlie, who had seen the little dragon, identified it as a Hungarian horntail and could not leave it behind.

Percy was looking around and randomly spotted three familiar redheads at a shabby-looking table, drinking butterbeer.

“Hey guys, Ron and the twins are sitting over there, should we sit down with them?”, he asked.

“Yeah, sure, why not. Might be a tad easier to have them back at the entrance on time, when we all just go together. We’ll probably save ourselves the searching later”, Bill answered with a grin.

He must’ve been reading his mind, Percy thought. It was not uncommon for one of the other three to show up late when asked to be somewhere at a specific time, but also just never showing up whenever it’s ‘inconvenient’, would not be anything new.

Percy was walking behind his brothers which meant that he was also the last one to pull one of the chairs back in order to sit down. He never actually got to do that because Fred stopped him.

“Perce, since you’re still standing, might grab some more butterbeers for the three of you, would you?”

“Uhm, sure-“, he looked at Bill and Charlie “-do you both want butterbeers or something else?” But both had decided on the suggested beverage.

The bar to order the drinks was just around the corner and while he made his way over there, he crammed in his pockets for the few galleons he had on him.

Obviously, he had not thought to look up while searching for his money.

He came to regret that, when he lifted his head again and looked straight at Oliver.

Standing just two mere meters in front of him, he was leaning against the wooden surface with his right arm and handing over some money with his other hand. He was casually talking with the guy who made his drink and even if Percy hadn’t been listening, he could imagine that Oliver had just said goodbye to him.

He wasn’t ready for what was about to happen next.

Oliver was about to walk away when he stopped in his track. He looked directly at Percy and finally, Percy thought, it was Oliver’s turn to be completely shocked.

For a moment Percy was scared that the situation would become insanely awkward. But what was he thinking? It was Oliver Wood standing in front of him, one of the nicest people he knew.

And oh, from up close he looked even more beautiful than he had in the air.

“Percy! I can’t believe it-! It’s so good to see you.” The man quickly put his drink down at the bar again and strode towards Percy to wrap him in a hug.

Percy tried to be normal about it, but it was clear that he was failing miserably. He could properly feel bis face go bright red as he tried to lift his own arms and hug him back. At the same time, he wanted to respond to Oliver’s words, but when he opened his mouth, he just started stuttering.

Oliver chuckled and let go of him again. When Percy could see his face again the man was smiling widely at him and the redhead attempted to speak again.

He sighed a bit at his own stupidity, but he beamed when he spoke, “Hi Oliver, it’s great to see you too.”

Oliver’s face didn’t falter and Percy felt it had been way too long since he had seen his friend smile with such joy. He could still call him a friend after all, right?

“You’re here with your brothers, right?” Percy nodded. “I was talking to them for the past half an hour or so, but none of them mentioned that you were here as well. Getting a butterbeer I suppose?”

“I was at the shelter’s booth with Bill and Charlie until now. We just saw them here, so we wanted to sit down with them.”

“That sounds nice.” And obviously, Oliver still knew his brothers as well as he did back at Hogwarts. He quickly looked back to the man at the bar. “Could we have three more butterbeers actually, Ludwig?”

“Sure thing”, the man answered and took the money Oliver handed him. Percy wanted to protest. After growing up with a moderate amount of money, one develops a disliking towards other people wanting to pay for you.

He shot Oliver a glance that he knew to explain exactly what he wanted to express, and Oliver smiled his gorgeous smile at him. With this, he seems to have declared the silent discussion as over and continued.

“You don’t mind if I squeeze myself in between the lot of you at the table, do ya’? Technically, I only planned to stay for one drink, but as long as I’m welcome I think I’m gonna stay a little longer.” Oliver smiled at him again with that smile.

Percy wasn’t going to be the one sending him away.

“I don’t mind.”

They held a sort of conversation which one could compare to small talk but without the weird vibes and the standard questions. When the man, apparently Ludwig, was done pouring the remaining drinks, they were able to go back to the rest of the Weasleys.

Oliver essentially told him about when he had run across his brothers. According to him, they met at the small quidditch vendor and after an extensive post-game talk, Oliver invited them to some butterbeers.

The redhead had to think about one day in sixth year, when he was being picked on overly much, Oliver had come to his rescue and after threatening the twins with more intense training sessions for the rest of the year, they had left their brother alone for the next two months.

That day, after Percy expressed his admiration for the other’s skills in handling his siblings, Oliver had told him that he basically felt like an ‘honorary Weasley’. It was true in a way. The brunette knew all of his siblings and because of quidditch he had become quite close to most of them.

Even though Percy wasn’t sure if the man himself would recall ever having said that, how he approached the group of siblings now, did prove this statement.

Oliver said that he already talked to the twins, as well as Ron, before, so naturally he only went up to the oldest two, set down the drinks he carried and gave them both a lose hug.

Percy noted the way he hugged them compared to the way he had Percy. It was quite different to say the least.

Percy sat down on the same chair he had pulled away a few minutes ago and Oliver walked towards another table to drag an additional chair over. He set it down right next to Percy.

The redhead was sure that if the deep blush on his face from before had faded, it would come back at that point. Lucky or unlucky him, the color was still as prominent as it had been at the bar so nobody would notice him blushing now, specifically.

Having six Weasleys sat at one table, chances were high that one of them would start talking about quidditch, but when you add Oliver Wood and the current circumstances, there was basically no other option.It was not surprising that his brothers wrapped his friend up in a steaming conversation about quidditch. Percy didn’t participate in the conversation as he didn’t have much to say, but he made sure to listen closely for whatever Oliver answered.

In his usual environment, at home, Percy would just zone out for a bit until the conversation changed to a different topic. However, this time he was just fine with listening to whatever the man next to him had to say.

He watched Oliver smile with pride when Ron asked him about how he liked playing for Puddlemere. Percy noticed just how much Oliver loved to talk about his job, but also how he would subtly steer the conversation in a different direction so that everyone of them would tell something about themselves too and it wasn’t just Oliver in the centre of attention.

He was nervous to say the least. Earlier, on the stands Percy had been straight up scared to see his friend again and he felt the same kind of rush now. His hands were shaking a bit and he hoped that the last of sunlight that still shone, would make his blush less noticeable.

Merlin help him, he was in love.

After all the time that had passed, Percy thought, nothing really changed that much, did it?

Percy continued to drink his butterbeer and after quite some time spent with genius jokes and loud laughs, every glass had been emptied and the sun had hidden behind a hill.

Bill checked the time and announced that it was time to go.

Slowly and without anticipation, they all got up to leave and say their goodbyes. One after another went up to Oliver to hug him and to say goodbye. When it was time for Percy to step up to his friend, Oliver directed his gaze to the table and then back to Percy.

“Actually, Perce-, could you help me bring those back real quick? ‘Wouldn’t want to give Ludwig more work.”

Of course it had to be him. Again, he wasn’t sure if he had run out of luck or if this was all he ever whished for.

He chose not to give it too much thought. “Yeah, sure. Uhm-“, he turned to his brothers and was met with knowing expressions. Why could they never be subtle?

Bill was obviously the only one with enough composure to answer appropriately. “If that okay with you, we’ll go ahead and whenever you two are done, just come to the entrance as well. You can find the way back?”

Of course he could, he was well enough trained at reading maps and instructions-, “I’d be glad to walk him back. Bye you guys”, Oliver interrupted his thoughts.

“See you later, Percy”, George said and winked at him, and with a bunch of matching grins the group left the two of them behind.

Percy looked over at Oliver who shook his head with a small smile. “We better bring these back then”, he said and started to take as many of the glasses he could carry, the rest of them were swept up by his friend.

Neither of them said anything as they walked the short distance to the wizard behind the bar and put down the glasses. Oliver thanked the man again and when he turned around Percy followed him.

Percy felt the silence weigh him down more, because he knew that now would be the time he also had to say goodbye again and go home as if nothing happened.

Before he could open his mouth Oliver looked at him with a look that Percy knew too well. He was trying to form a question but couldn’t find the proper words.

“What is it?”

After a deep breath the brunette asked, “When do you have to be at the gates?”

Percy was a bit confused and looked at his watch as he answered, “It’s currently a quarter past nine and at about half past nine I should be back, though a few minutes off won’t matter, I suppose.” He looked back at Oliver, who’s eyes caught on his own. “Why?”

“Just enough time for a little detour I’d say”

Oliver’s so called ‘detour’ led them around the grounds, and though there was nothing too special to see or anything, Percy thought that it was really nice.

This time, as they were now completely alone, they didn’t talk about quidditch.

“By the way, where do you live right now? I think half a year ago, I looked up the address to your flat, but I was told that it was unoccupied.” Oliver looked at him from the side with an interested gaze.

Percy had almost forgotten how much he adored Oliver’s Scottish accent when he spoke in that soft and quiet voice he barely used. It made him smile pathetically.

“I moved back to the Burrow when I quit at the ministry, so-, it’s been almost an entire year now.” He was embarrassed about the fact that he had been unemployed for such a long time, but telling Oliver felt surprisingly easy.

The man beside him nodded understandingly, which gave him this weird urge to tell him more. He was sure he would listen to him.

“I tried to find another job since then, but nobody really wants to employ people who worked for the ministry. Now, of course, I understand-”, he chuckled. He looked over to face Oliver who smiled. “Joining the ministry wasn’t my smartest choice.”

“You’ll find something you truly like, I’m sure of it. You’ve got a bunch of people around, who love you and will help you to find something. It’s gonna work out eventually”, Oliver reassured him.

Percy nodded and stared straight ahead again.

It is truly insane how much two old friends can talk about during just one 15-minute walk.

It felt like no time had ever passed. They talked about their time at Hogwarts and Oliver had this habit of touching his arm, whenever the funny part of a story came up.

Percy felt the swarm of butterflies in his stomach come back to live and he has never appreciated the feeling more.

He started to notice familiar landmarks around them and he knew that the gates were not far anymore. Just a minute later the Weasley family came into sight.

Before they were close enough for them to hear their words, they stopped and looked at each other. While Percy tried to keep the big smile that had formed in a somewhat normal extent, Oliver let his own joy be on full display.

“It was really nice to see you again Percy.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“Now that I know where you’re staying-, I’ll write to you, alright? And maybe we can meet up sometime again?”, Oliver looked at him expectantly.

The stubborn smile fought its way through Percy’s self-control, “I’d really like that. You’ll have to write your own address into the very first letter though, so I know where to send mine to.”

Oliver’s eyes widened. “Oh. Yeah, right. Of course.” He started searching all of his pockets, “maybe I could write it down now, so I don’t forget, but I only have, … this.” He pulled out a card picturing himself in his quidditch robes.

Percy erupted in laughter as he realised that it was a picture to sign for fans. Oliver joined him and they were loud enough to make his family finally notice them.

Oliver turned to wave at them and then pulled the quill from the chest pocket of the flannel Percy was wearing. He watched his friend quickly scribble down his address on the back of the card and the hand it over to him alongside the quill.

Percy was quicker this time and pulled Oliver into a tight hug, smiling into the man’s shoulder. “Bye, Ollie.”

“See you soon, Perce.”

They pulled apart and with the biggest smile Percy walked towards their audience. Everyone was smiling at him brightly for a quiet moment and before the situation had the chance to become uncomfortable, his mum clapped her hands together once and spoke. “Well, now that everyone’s here, let’s get back home.”

Arthur led the group away to the same spot they had apparated to before the game.

Molly let herself fall behind and joined Percy in the back.

“Did you have a good day, dear?”, she smiled at him so brightly and with such honesty that Percy thought he could see tears forming in the corners her eyes.

“Yeah mum, I did.” His fingers tighten on the card he was holding.

What a day.

Chapter Text

Percy could barely get any sleep that night. He lay wide awake in his bed, staring at the wooden ceiling and remembering every place on his body Oliver had touched that day.

His skin was tickling, feeling like he had been hit by lightning in the best way possible. Though Percy was very fond of his hygiene, he thought about those extreme quidditch fans who stated that they would never wash their hands again after having shaken their favourite sportsman’s. He could relate to the feeling a little better now.

That night, Percy let himself dream while awake. He knew that he shouldn’t interpret Oliver’s behaviour in a way that couldn’t have been further from reality, but all the words Oliver had used and the honest smile he had said them with….

How could he not imagine what it would be like if he could hear him say such things more often, maybe on a regular basis.

Percy thought about what he would say to Oliver, how he would confess his feelings for him, if only he had the bravery for it. He thought about how it would feel, if Oliver would speak to him again in that reassuring voice and how he would tell him sweet nothings.

For just this one night he let his mind wander to Oliver, and how he might actually stand a chance at love for the first time.

When the sun had finally made its way over the horizon, Percy slipped out of the covers and got ready to start his daily tasks.

He took his time getting dressed, and went downstairs to be greeted by a familiar smell coming from the kitchen. Ginny seems to have developed a new habit of making breakfast, though this time Molly was by her side.

“Morning mum, morning Ginny, need any help there?”

Molly stopped the chopping and looked at him. “Good morning, Percy. Thanks for the offer, but I think we’re set”, she smiled and nodded at him. Just as she wanted to return to the carrots in front of her, she obviously remembered something. “But-, could you be so nice and open the window, dear? That bird’s been pecking at it forever.”

“Yes, of course mum.” Percy left the kitchen and walked into the living space. It was not hard to find the window she meant, as the owl was still pecking harshly at the glass.

He opened the window to let in the strange animal. He doesn’t remember having ever seen it before. The ministry owls usually had a tag on one of their feet, which this one didn’t, and their mail arrived via their own family owl.

The brown bird dropped exactly one letter on the windowsill and after further investigation he didn’t need to ask any more questions.

To: The Burrow

     Percy Weasley

From: Oliver Wood

He let the owl fly back to its owner again, he would take some more time to answer the letter and would send Hermes with his response later.

He shoved the piece of parchment into his pocket.

Though breakfast smelled amazing already, he couldn’t wait for it to be over again.

Dear Percy,

I hope this letter finds you well and that the following grammar mistakes don’t cause you a fatal headache. I feel like the moment I came home today, there were a million more questions I wanted to ask you but didn’t have the chance.

Of course, I have to start off really basic by asking how your day has been until now. I have to admit that I didn’t do the math on when my owl would arrive at yours, but I’m just gonna guess that you’ve already had lunch. How are Molly and Arthur, by the way? I haven’t seen them for quite some time and I forgot to talk to them yesterday! What a horrible third impression that must’ve been. Please apologize to your mother in my name.

Further, I would like to invite you to a small café near my flat. They serve the best coffee you will have ever tasted in your life, I promise you will love it Perce. Whenever you respond to this letter, please let me know if you would be up to that, then we can talk about the ‘when’.

I wish you a wonderful rest of your day and I’m really looking forward to your response.

-your Oliver

Ps: I know you wont talk to your parents about my truly horrendous behaviour last night, I guess I’ll have to do that myself next time I see them.

Dear Oliver,

Whenever have you developed a liking for writing centered? I am positively surprised by how your style of writing has improved since Hogwarts, I would almost go as far as to state that I am proud of your new manner.

Regarding how my day has been, I can not tell you anything worthy of mentioning. The reason behind this being that another one of your scholarly skills is in desperate need of reviewing. How little faith in your owl do you have, that you are under the impression that it would need over half a day to travel to England?

My parents are just fine, thanks for asking. My dad has actually been learning about technology in the past months and he is downright obsessed with it. You know how all of that works, right? He is thinking about acquiring a ‘compter’? He is fascinated by whatever this thing might be capable of. For your information, no, I have not apologized for your horrible way with your friends’ parents. I did tell them you said hello, however. They say hello back.

As for getting some coffee together, you must not have asked me, you know just how much I love coffee and biscuits. Just tell me a da date and I will be wherever I am supposed be, my schedule is rather empty since I am unemployed.

I, as well, hope that you have, or according to my mathematical skills, had an enjoyable day and that Hermes finds your flat quickly and does not leave as many scratches on your window as your owl did on ours.

-Percy

Ps: I strongly advise you not to go and seek my parents, as my dad might corrupt you into teaching him how to use a ‘compter’. Also, who said that you will see them again so soon?

Dear Perce,

I am very disappointed to see that you have such low expectations when it comes to my manners and my skills in writing letters. If I’m honest though, I have to admit that the only reason why I got used to writing centered, is that I have to write an endless amount of formal letters since joining Puddlemere. Yes, quidditch players also have to be educated.

I also don’t appreciate that you have the audacity to insult my miscalculation, after I specifically expressed that I did not try to get it right. Really, Percy?

I’m happy to hear that your family is doing great and that your dad is still on to learn about the best things life has to offer. I personally don’t own a ‘computer’(spelled correctly), but my mum has one at home. If your dad ever needs a proper computer training, I would be more than happy to do that.

How does the 25th sound? That’s next Thursday, if that’s relevant to you. I would have liked to set the date a little bit earlier (can’t wait to see you again), but unfortunately, I’m in Ireland with Puddlemere until Wednesday. I thought about asking you whether you would prefer to go to the café for breakfast or dinner, but then I remembered that you used to complain you couldn’t sleep after having caffein in the evening, so, as long as that hasn’t changed, I suggest that you come around at 8 a.m..

What are your plans for this week? I can’t imagine it to be as boring as said it to be when you are at THE Burrow. Now that I think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever been there, have I? I guess we must meet more often then, so you can finally invite me there. :) Sounds like I will get my chance at a good third impression anyway.

Exited to see you.

-your Oliver

Ps: I’m sorry about the scratches, she’s a beast, I know, I promise she’s lovely when she doesn’t do that. I gave Hermes a pat, he’s really cute as well.

Dear Oliver,

You have a strong tendency of asking me to tell my parents things, that I can guarantee I don’t tell them for your own good. Bill once told my parents about a date he had gone on with Fleur and he accidentally mentioned that it was a muggle restaurant they went to. He then got in a rather unfortunate situation which I think you would call ‘double trouble’.

Next Thursday sounds wonderful, I will make sure to be on time and I sincerely hope that you will be too.

I do not have many things coming up this week. However, I did get invited to the twins’ joke shop, because apparently they want to hear my opinion on some of the new items they have in stock. I do not know if it is a good idea to go there, as I can not imagine that, what they have told me is the entire truth. I suppose I will find out what they have planned tomorrow.

When do you leave for Ireland? It certainly sounds really intriguing. Have you ever been there before? Which countries have you visited yet in general?

I wish you the best of luck and that you have fun during your stay. When you are in Ireland, please make sure to give Hermes some water and biscuits before you send him off to me again, otherwise he will turn comparably manic as your owl. We need to invest more time in training our birds.

If you so desperately want to mee see my parents again and throw yourself into the chaos of the Burrow, I think we can arrange further get-togethers.

I am not too opposed of seeing you again either.

-y your Percy

Ps: The second paragraph is supposed to sound slightly sarcastic, I am unsure if I got that across.

Pps: We are heavily overusing postscript.

My dearest Percival,

I came up with a genius idea. I could invite your parents to dinner at my mom’s. That way, I can do two things at once and have my long-awaited, flashing third impression AND I can show your dad how computers work. Remind me to do that. (Naturally, you’re invited as well.)

Wonderful, the address is attached to the letter. :)

I think that you shouldn’t worry too much about your visit to the shop. The twins seem to have changed quite a lot thinking of how they used to act around you in school. Of course, I can’t be the judge of that, if you are not sure what to expect with them, I’m sure it is justified. Tell me what happened whenever you can.

1. I leave tomorrow morning, so I’m currently packing.

2. Yes, I’ve been to Ireland twice before, every time for quidditch.

3. I have been to a few countries in the past. With Puddlemere, I’ve been to Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Norway and I’ve even been to Bulgaria once. Otherwise, I have never been the type to go on holiday to other countries and since I travel with the team now anyways, I don’t do it much in my free time now. The only holiday abroad I’ve been to, was as a child in Spain with mum.

Thanks for the nice words, I truly appreciate your wishes. Don’t worry I will give Hermes the best of treats I can find over in Ireland, so that he’ll spare poor Percy.

I suppose it's settled then. We can discuss whenever we can meet again, on Thursday. I’m glad to hear that you are just as excited as me to get together more frequently.

Also, you being sarcastic has always been one of my favourite things. You could have let that statement slide without the explanation though, it is true at the end of the day.

-yours, Oliver

Ps: ‘Overuse’ he says, while using it a second time in the same letter. Tsk-…

Honoured Oliver Wood,

Do not address me with that name. Ever.

No.

Dinner at your mom’s sounds amazing, she is a lovely woman. Just leave my parents out of your plans, as I mentioned, you do not know what you are getting yourself into.

About my visit to the shop, I have not left yet. They told me to be there at 5 p.m. and when I send this letter to you, I will floo to them. I am slightly calmer than before, and I have to admit that you are most probably right. I do not know how much you have heard of my life during the past, estimated, two years, but after all that has happened, they have been really wonderful towards me. The next letter that hopefully finds its way to you in Ireland will contain the details of this evening.

I am not sure why I was so surprised by your list of holiday destinations, but you’ve certainly made some incredible experiences. I would like to hear more about your travels when we meet, if you are willing to tell me.

Additionally, I would like to learn more about your team, as you mentioned it. Do you have to be present at any important gathering or event after we have our coffee? I fear we have so much to talk about, it will require more time than anticipated.

-your Percy. I. Weasley

Chapter Text

Percy handed the folded parchment to the waiting animal and opened his bedroom window to let the owl fly away.

After a long sigh and an internal prayer to Merlin, he got downstairs. “Mum, I’m leaving!”, he yelled somewhere in the direction of the living room.

He grabbed a handful of floo powder as his mom came in through the front door. “Leaving already, dear? Will you be back for dinner”

“They wanted to show me some new products, so I really can’t be sure how long it will take.”

“Oh, of course. If you can’t make it on time, make sure to eat something at your brothers’ or pick something up in Diagon Alley, alright? Have fun at the shop, Percy.” She smiled at him and stepped out of the house. Just before he was able to throw the powder to the floor, she yelled again. “-And don’t let them do anything stupid!”

He almost laughed while he said, ‘Fred and George Weasley’s flat’. The flames lit up around him and when they vanished, he stood in a different but familiar fireplace. Percy took a few steps inside the room and looked around him. He was surprised to find nobody around and judging by a lack of sound, he figured that they were still down at the shop.

He knew their flat well enough to find the stairs which led to the back of the shop. When he passed through the door to the storage area, he still found nobody, so he went even further, through one more door to the shop.

Finally, lingering near the entrance, he saw the twins talking in low voices. Another thing that he almost couldn’t believe was possible.

Fred caught sight of him, and he turned to Percy with a wide grin. “Hello, Percy!”, George followed his brother’s gaze and continued.

“Sorry for leaving you upstairs, we thought you’d come through the front, after a little stroll through Diagon Alley.”

“No, I didn’t have the time for that today, I was occupied otherwise.” The words were out of is mouth before he could actually think about what he had just said. When he saw the twins smirking and sharing a knowing look, he rolled his eyes at himself and sighed.

“Occupied doing what exactly?”, George asked as the other twin dramatically winked at Percy.

“We must know, Percy. You cannot hide any more secret affairs from us.”

“Yeah, totally.”

If Percy hadn’t known his brothers so well, he would say that they were acting extremely annoying and sticking their noses in someone else’s business again. But, as mentioned, he knew what they used to be like in school, so, this was nothing unusual.

“Not that this ought to be of any interest to you, but I was writing to someone about a rather urgent matter.”

“Sure, …. Believe that if you will, I do not.” Fred crossed his arms with a frown. “I suppose asking who this incredibly important person is, won’t get me an answer, right?”

“Right.” Percy could only imagine what he’d have to listen to, if he told them. “It’s also not the reason as to why I am here, so hopefully, as long as you guys didn’t lie to me, there are new items you wanted to ‘show’ me.”

He regarded their expressions as they turned into this bored look, which he knew all to well by now. “Would we ever lie to you, Perce?” He answered George’s question with a more than appropriate look.

“Well then-, might as well get started.”

Percy followed his little brothers to the back again. The storage truly wasn’t meant to hold the amount of boxes it did. The room was rather small and stuffed with as many shelves as it fit. Sweeping shouldn’t be a difficult task, considering the use of magic, but it didn’t look like the twins had bothered doing it for a while now.

To sum it up, it was Percy’s biggest nightmare.

“You really need to start organising in here, this is horrible.” He let his gaze wander across the walls, barely visible behind the stacked containers. The words used to label these boxes, were smeared and hardly readable anymore.

Because of his short inspection of the room, Percy missed another wide-eyed look from the twins.

“That’s not what we’re here for today.” Fred gave the word to his brother.

“So don’t wreck your ginormous head over this, we already have an idea how we can fix this mess.” George ended his sentence and disappeared in the chaos.

When he came back into sight, he was holding something interesting looking, but at the same time he was already speaking again. “For now, instead, you can focus on our most genius new inventions.”

“Did he mention that we came up with them.” Fred pointed between the two of them and smiled smugly.

“Yes, the term ‘our inventions’ implies that they were, for a fact, your ideas.” Percy returned the facial expression.

Fred chuckled quietly at his answer. He wasn’t annoyed?

The package in front of George was now free of all wrapping, and the man reached inside to take one of the items.

He pulled out a bag of sweets that looked normal enough. Of course, there had to be some sort of twist to it.

“These, my beloved brother, are delicious sweets. There’s pear, red apple, lime, orange and cherry, -obviously.” He opened the bag and extended his hand towards Percy.” Try one.”

What followed was a long, silent glare and no approach at all, to take one of the wrapped sweets.

George rolled his eyes and took one of them out of the plastic bag himself, and then he turned to Fred who followed suit.

Percy was visibly confused. Obviously, these sweets weren’t just simple, harmless, teeth-rotting products for sale, right? After a lot of internal contemplating and against his best judgement, he gave in and grabbed one as well.

He watched their every move unwrapping the sweets to make sure they definitely couldn’t exchange them. When Fred was done, he popped it into his mouth and waited for the others to do the same.

Percy was really close to letting his regrets vanish, as the apple flavour spread across his tongue. It tasted really good.

And for a whole minute he was actually able to enjoy the sugary flavour.

He truly liked it, until he noticed Fred turning a bit blue. Percy was close to panicking. His brother had probably swallowed the thing and was quietly choking and running out of breath!

George started laughing as he, himself, turned pink.

Well, it was certainly calming to see that he did not have to magically reanimate his brother on a random Tuesday, but what didn’t help was the fact that the two of them also started laughing at him.

The twins had reached an extremely high complexity of colour, that left no doubt regarding what Percy probably looked like right now.

When he looked down at his hand, he learned that he has turned green.

He had the strong urge to react, immediately. He could’ve stormed out of the room in rage, screamed at the two-, Merlin, he could’ve burst out in tears, because he should have known that something of the sort would happen eventually!

Percy didn’t even fully realise it himself, but when he didn’t get mad at his brothers, something clicked. The twins’ oh so contagious laugh had never caught onto him, it had infuriated him at the very last.

But today, today Percy started laughing with them. And he felt wonderful, because today he was fairly sure that it wouldn’t be the last time this would happen.

They all laughed even harder, pointing at their miscoloured features, comparing each other to absurd things until they slowly calmed again.

Percy wiped a tear from his eye, still smiling and catching his breath. “How long does it take to wear off again? I would prefer not to give mum a heart-attack.”

Fred shrugged. “Last time we tried them, I was back to normal within a few hours, George on the other hand, looked like a lemon for half a week.”

He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. What? Half a week? There was a chance that Percy had to walk around being green for half a week?

“Don’t worry Perce, I think the colour suits your curls rather well.” George said with a grin.

Though his brother’s statement was little reassurance, Percy let his worries be pushed to the back of his mind. He would see to this issue later.

The twins showed him two more things. The first one was a potion one could put into food, which made the consumer’s ears grow five times their original size. First and foremost, it had the purpose of a good laugh, but apparently the person with the giant ears could also hear better.

Luckily, they did not plan on any more visual presentation.

The last product a rather simple set of cleverly hexed dice, that would always provide the desired number. The three products were of good quality, and they blended in well with the others on the shelves.

As it was getting closer to seven p.m., the three of them knew that it was already too late for dinner at the Burrow. The twins were kind enough to invite Percy to some toast and tea.

The day had been good, against all of his expectations. He wasn’t quite sure how helpful his reviews and opinions on their new products were, but they did thank him for all of his feedback.

At the table the conversation got a bit more bland, which was very unusual with the twins being there, but Percy figured that they were probably just tired.

They had settled into a peaceful quiet and ate their toasts, when Fred cleared his throat.

“Uhhh- Percy? We wanted to talk to you about one more thing, today.”

“Sure,” he looked in between the two of them, as they looked kind of nervous? Should he be worried? “What is it?” He kept his voice as steady as possible.

George looked at him, holding his tea with both of his hands. “You know how everything at the shop is very chaotic and all…, and we have tried our best to keep everything organized, but you know us.” He chuckled. “And-, oh don’t even get me started about book-keeping!”

Fred intervened, “Oh yeah, not even with the help of magic does that make any sense to us! And you would think that magic would do the job.”

Yes, of course Percy knew how complicated book-keeping could get and how magic was basically useless in this field. That was what Percy knew, that was what Percy was good at.

“I can help you with that, if that’s what you’re asking. I can teach you how to do all that.” He nodded, but Fred squinted his eyes a little.

“That’s not really what we want to ask you. Much rather, we wanted to ask you to help at the shop, in the way of… working here? With payment and the sort”, he said.

Percy blinked once, twice and even after the third time it was hard for him to believe that this was not just a fever-dream. They just asked him to work with them!

“Like a job?”

George nodded hastily. “Yeah, exactly that. Only if that’s something you would want to do, of course. It’s nothing compared to the job you did at the ministry and the salary cannot compare either, but…, if you would consider it perhaps, that would be awesome.”

Once again, Percy was at a loss for words. Obviously, he had always wanted to work at some big place, doing something important and make a name for himself. But, if he was honest with himself right now, working alongside his little brothers, at the business that they had worked very hard for, ….

It sounded better than he would’ve ever thought.

He always liked doing administrative stuff, but at the shop it would not be quite as boring as it had been at the ministry.

Deep in thought, he forgot paying attention to the other red-heads sitting in front of him.

“You can say no, that’s okay with us, don’t feel pressured to do this just because it’s your brothers who asked.”

Percy looked at George wide-eyed. “No! -I mean, no. It’s not that I don’t want to do it, I’m just not completely sure about it yet, either.” He couldn’t and shouldn’t make any important decisions this fast. “Is it okay, if I owl you in a week or so? This is not a clear no, however.”

The twins were visibly glad to hear this answer and so was Percy. This was definitely something he should think about well, but at this moment, there were barely any things he could think of, that would’ve been indicators to reject their offer.

The siblings stayed at the table a little longer, talking about what exactly Percy would do, if he took the job.

The evening came to an end and Percy left the twins’ flat with a bright smile.

When he arrived at the Burrow via the floo-network, he had already forgotten about his special appearance. He was quickly reminded when he heard his mother gasp out of shock, so he made sure to explain the situation before she was able to set foot into the fireplace herself.

She wasn’t too pleased with his new looks, but when even Percy can laugh something off, it can’t have been that deep.

Percy went upstairs to get ready for bed.

Lying in his bed, his last thoughts before falling asleep were about how, in the morning, he could send his next letter to Oliver, telling him about the strange but good day he had had.

Sleep took over and Percy dreamed the sweetest of dreams that night.