Work Text:
Percy stumbled slightly as stepped out of the fireplace at the Burrow.
“Oh good, you’re here. I just put the roast on the table,” Mum said, pausing to press a kiss on his cheek.
Percy exhaled and took a seat across from Ron and Hermione.
“Today?” his sister in law mouthed silently.
His nervous demeanor must have given him away. He nodded back. She nudged Ron in the side before whispering in his ear. Ron raised his eyebrows and grinned.
Percy began to serve himself from the bowl of potatoes in an effort to have something else to think about.
He had already done the hard part two weeks ago. And that had gone much better than he anticipated. Today wasn’t going to be hard. It was just going to be awkward. And maybe a little humiliating.
As he tucked into his food, he silently observed the rest of the family. All his siblings (sans Charlie) were there, each with their significant other. His two nieces were also seated at the table, Victoire kneeling on a chair between Bill and Dad, Dominique in her high chair between Ginny and Fleur. The signs that his brothers and sister were part of their own families and forming their own households.
He wanted that.
He was well on his way to that.
He just had to tell them.
The dinner plates were emptying quickly and even Ron appeared to be slowing down. If he was going to do this today, now was the time.
Percy loudly cleared his throat. The din of conversation quieted and all of the eyes around the table turned toward him.
“I uh…” He looked nervously at his family.
Hermione gave him an encouraging smile.
“I have an announcement.”
“I just replaced my cauldrons, Perce. Don’t tell me I need thicker ones.”
His mum and Hermione shot George a filthy look.
Percy adjusted his glasses. “I haven’t been in that department for—nevermind. What I wanted to tell you all is that I’ve been…well, I’ve been seeing someone. For quite some time. And it’s rather serious. I would like to bring her to dinner next week.”
Mum clapped her hands together. “How wonderful! Oh, I knew you were dating someone. A mother can always tell. Didn’t I say Arthur?”
“Yes, you did, dear. Son, you could have brought her today. You know that any guest of yours is always welcome here.”
“I know. It’s—”
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Ginny interrupted. “Girls are finally going to have the numbers in this family, aren’t we?” She tickled Dominique’s arm and the baby giggled.
Ron gave him a smirk and Percy sighed. His family was not making this any easier.
“You’ve already met her.”
Angelina slapped her hand against the table so hard that the flatware rattled. “Ha! I told you, Fleur, didn’t I?”
Percy shot a confused look at her. “Told Fleur what?”
“You’re dating Katie Bell, aren’t you?” Fleur smiled.
Harry scrunched his nose. “Katie Bell?”
“What’s wrong with Katie?” demanded Angelina.
“I like Katie! It just surprises me!”
“Nothing’s wrong with Katie but there’s a lot wrong with Percy,” George said.
“George! There’s nothing wrong with Percy and Katie’s a lovely girl.”
This was getting wildly off track. “Mum, I’m not—why would you think I was dating Katie?”
“Bill saw the two of you having lunch in Diagon Alley last week.”
Percy narrowed his eyes at Bill. “And you run off to tell the whole family who I’m having lunch with?”
“I didn’t tell the whole family. I only told Fleur.”
“And I only told Angelina!”
Ginny let out a disgusted noise. “And Angelina apparently didn’t tell anyone else because I was totally out of the loop on this!”
Percy rubbed his temple. “That was a working lunch and there were two other people there. We’re working on an interdepartmental—”
“Percy,” Hermione interrupted in a quiet tone, raising her eyebrows.
Right. He was getting off track. Percy took a deep breath. “I'm not dating Katie Bell. I'm dating Lavender.”
Harry furrowed his brow, a confused look on his face. “Lavender? The only Lavender I know is, well…”
Harry made a vague gesture in Ron’s direction.
“Yes. Lavender Brown. That’s who I’m talking about.”
The table fell silent.
Bill broke the quiet first. “Look Perce, the joke was a hit last year but you have to switch it up.”
“Even Celestina Warbeck releases a new single once in a while,” Angelina added.
“Unfortunately,” muttered Fleur.
Percy locked eyes with Ron, silently begging for help. Ron sighed and nodded.
“It’s true. Percy told me two weeks ago.”
“What?” gasped Molly.
“You’ve known for two weeks!” Ginny shrieked.
“Mum, the situation is less than ideal I know but—” said Percy.
Ron cut him off. “It’s bloody weird. But the only reason I was with her as long as I was is because Lav’s a good person and I didn’t want to see her hurt. She deserves to be happy. Percy and I talked and Lavender and I talked—”
“And Lavender and I talked,” Hermione added.
Ginny’s mouth dropped open. “I missed that too? There’s a lot of talking that doesn’t seem to involve me.”
Ron ignored her. “I’m fine with it and Hermione’s fine with it so no one else here should have a problem.”
Bill furrowed his brow. “Ron, you’re really okay with this? I know that you’re married now and the relationship was…complex. But you were engaged to this girl and now she’s involved with your brother.”
“I dumped her three days before our wedding and left the country to elope with my best friend, who I was in love with for our entire relationship. I figure I owe her one.”
“It’ll be awkward for a bit but we’re all focused on moving forward,” added Hermione.
“Exactly. I’m happy, Hermione’s happy, Lavender’s happy, Percy’s happy. So if that’s all settled, Mum, what did you make for pudding? Please tell me it’s chocolate.”
“No, this is not settled!”
Ron gave his sister a confused look. “Why not?”
Half the table began to speak at once.
“How do you know she’s not doing this as some sort of revenge on Ron?”
“When did this happen?”
“ How did this happen?”
“What do you two even have in common?”
“Why did everyone stop telling me things?”
“Oh, the story of how it started is very sweet. Lavender was on an absolutely dreadful date and Percy swooped in and saved her,” Hermione said.
Percy felt his cheeks warm.
“That girl has the worst taste in men,” said George.
Percy rolled his eyes. “Get all your jokes out now. I don’t want her to be embarrassed next week.”
Harry’s forehead was creased, studying Percy intently. “But what—when they said you were dating Katie, I was confused because you two have nothing in common. But you and Lavender have even less in common.”
“They don’t need anything in common. Lavender is right fit. And Ron always said that she was—OW!” George grabbed at his leg under the table. “Damn Ang, you didn’t have to kick me so hard.”
“She didn’t,” Dad replied flatly from George’s other side.
“We get along very well and have plenty of shared commonalities.”
“Really? Percy, you work in a very… uh, conservative Ministry department and Lavender works at a makeup shop.”
Hermione scoffed. “It’s not just a makeup shop. They have multiple locations and excellent products and Lavender is a huge part of that. In fact, she was just given the opportunity to buy into the business and has an ownership stake.”
“You’re quite the Lavender defender, Hermione,” Bill smirked.
“Almost as if she’s compensating for something,” George added.
Hermione rolled her eyes. “I genuinely do like Lavender. And admittedly, it is a little easier to like her now. But my point is that maybe they don’t have exactly the same interests but they have very similar values. They’re both ambitious and enterprising.”
“But Percy, you’re so…intellectual,” Angelina said.
“While we don’t have the exact same acumen, her intelligence compliments mine quite well.”
Ginny snorted. “Really? Because she was dumb enough to think that Ron was in love with her.”
“Hermione is the smartest person I know and thought the same thing,” Harry pointed out.
Fleur shook her head. “I was more considering that Lavender is very bubbly and you are more… what is the word?”
“Stodgy?” suggested Bill.
“Ouch,” said Percy.
“Boring?” Ron added.
“That’s worse!”
“Reserved?” Angelina said.
“Yes! Reserved. Thank you.”
“I suppose our personalities are different, but we both do take pride in how we present ourselves. I’m eager to take her to the Ministry formal next month, which is why I wanted to tell you all now.”
“Who’s ever eager to go to a Ministry formal?” asked Bill.
“Lavender,” Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny answered in unison.
“She loves that shit,” Ron added.
Fleur shook her head. “It’s just hard to understand.”
“On paper, Hermione and I don’t have the same interests. But we work and I’m still as in love with her now as I was when I was 15 and she loves me. Percy loves Lavender and she said she loves him too so let’s just believe them.”
“You told her you love her?” Ginny said.
Percy glared at Ron, who shrugged. “I wasn’t planning to give you all a detailed report on the state of my relationship but yes. I told you it was serious.”
The room fell quiet except for Victorie clinking her spoon against her plate.
“Well,” started Mum. She paused for a moment and everyone’s eyes were on her. “I always thought that Lavender was a very nice girl.”
Ginny scoffed. “Mum.”
“I have! She just wasn’t the right girl for your brother.”
“But she might be the right girl for my brother,” George said.
“Does she make you happy, Percy?” Dad asked.
“Yes. I’ve not—yes, I’m very happy.”
“Then we’re happy to have her at dinner next week and all be on our best behavior.” Dad said, giving an unusually harsh look around the table. Everyone nodded.
“Oh, we almost forgot to tell you! Victorie showed her first sign of magic yesterday!”
The table burst into excitement and Percy heaved a sigh of relief as the conversation moved in other directions.
As everyone finished the chocolate ganache cake his mother had made, Percy pushed back his chair and waved his wand to send the dishes to the sink. He figured it best to step out of the room so his family could gossip about him as they were clearly dying to do.
“Percy, you don’t have to do that. I’ll help,” said Mum.
“No, Mum, I got it,” said George, standing up and following him into the kitchen.
Percy began to fill the sink with warm soapy water when George approached the drying rack.
“Look, I’m sorry for all the jokes. Ang tells me I might have gone too far.”
“You did give fair warning last year but thank you. Apology accepted.”
George nodded and rubbed his chin. “Hey, uh, brother to brother. Is it true?”
“Is what true?”
“That thing I was talking about earlier when Dad kicked me. You know, how Ron always said that Lavender can—“
“Your apology to me involves you bringing up the prior intimate relationship between my girlfriend and our brother?”
For once, George looked chagrined. “Uh, sorry. You’re right, not cool of me.”
“Forgiven,” Percy said. George nodded and turned away.
“George?”
“Yeah?”
Percy smirked. “Brother to brother…everything you’ve been told is highly accurate.”
“Nice.” George nodded, picking up a glass to put in the cabinet.