Chapter Text
His head was still spinning like a marry-go-round as he set foot into the abandoned classroom they had their frequent meetings in. Every time Percy felt close to dropping the strange encounter with his brother into the void of his memories, the suggestive smile of the younger one spiralled back up and left him confused once more.
Why would his brother ever suggest him being… Different.
All his life he had worked as hard as possible to fit in with the other Weasleys, all his life he had fought this lingering feeling of being an imposter.
Percy had realised his differences from the other Weasleys when he was still a little child, the memory of him leaning against the kitchen door frame, watching the others play cards and fill the house with laughter while he struggled to fall asleep at his usual time engraved in his mind. The tears dropping onto his plaid pyjama, while his sobs were drowned by their joy.
Sometimes he still felt like the eleven-year-old boy, sitting on the wooden chair in front of the Great Hall - all eyes set on him - as he begged the sorting hat to spare him from Slytherin and put him into Gryffindor. For once, he wanted to feel like a true Weasley, he imagined the disappointed look on the face of his brothers if he wouldn’t join their table, he wouldn’t be able to bear it.
So what had he done wrong? Why didn’t he blend in, where was his mistake?
He studied for hours to make his parents proud, he was prefect, he had the perfect girlfriend - shouldn’t that be enough? Hadn’t he given enough?
He felt arms wrap around him from behind and let a small sigh out as he rested his head against Penny’s shoulder, dropping his worry for the evening.
“Hi”
He whispered, and a smile hushed on his face, she was his safe haven after all and no words from Fred could ever change that.
“Hi - I missed you”
Penelope whispered back, hugging Percy tight against her smaller body and inhaling his smell of parchment rolls and mild soap. She would never get enough of him, she adored him. How he softened up when they were together, their long nights of studying and passing little notes in the hallways. It was the teenage romance she had always wished for coming true.
She didn’t want to let go of him this soon, but she knew too well that Percy wasn’t ready to make their relationship public and any second the other prefects would join them, so she loosened her grip.
Percy turned around and smiled softly at her before he went for his favourite seat in the front row, leaving her in the middle of the room. It was hard to hide their relationship. In moments like these, he wanted to tell the whole world how much he loved her, but he wasn’t quite ready yet. Every time he tried to talk about it, his voice just left his body, leaving him empty.
He observed the other prefects coming in, watching them closely. Each time one of them looked too long or too intensely at him or Penelope, he felt burned with hot coals. Did they know?
The Weasley knew he was pathetic, but things like this needed time. A relationship was something to be tendered in private. Perhaps a habit he had picked up from the more prestigious pureblood families, where PDA was highly frowned upon.
As he expected, there wasn’t much new coming from the meeting. The only thing to really spark his interest - beside a hexed note from Penny with a doodle of them hugging - were the supervision shifts for the Halloween decorations. Though he wouldn’t admit it, he loved the authority given to him in those special moments. He would be the one in charge of a whole afternoon, as he volunteered to coordinate the spectacle.
Besides that nothing had happened last week or was to come in the following one, the school ran as smoothly as it was supposed to be and there was only his nightly patrol with his girlfriend to look forward to this evening.
The room slowly cleared after the head girl had dismissed them, leaving only Percy and Penelope behind. He turned around to face her beautiful blue eyes in the row behind him. She reached out to brush her hand through his red hair, and he chuckled softly, leaning into the touch of his girl.
“How was your day? I haven’t seen you in the Great Hall all weekend…”
Her ocean eyes were strained with worry, more and more frequently she noticed how Percy skipped on meals, too consumed by his work.
“Oh- I, I guess I just forgot about lunch. I was really busy with my essay on potions - Snape was merciless with his homework. He really wants us to dig deep into the matter, rightfully so.”
This was an uncomfortable topic for Percy, he didn’t like the worry on her face, so he got up and reached for her hand, pulling her up.
“Would the young lady mind accompanying me on my nightly stroll?”
The blonde noticed the playful expression on his face, reserved exclusively for her. She nodded and pulled him into a kiss.
She didn’t mind being a silly teenager in love as long as Percy was with her, in fact: She loved it.
They left the room with an appropriate gap between them as they started their walk to make sure all students were in bed.
It was a quiet night in the castle and from the windows facing west moonlight hit the dark corridors. The only other living-being was Mrs Norris which they crossed twice on their way, each time Penny tried to playfully kick the cat while Percy pulled her away.
The second time though he lost his balance and they both fell against the nearest wall, the tips of their noses touching.
“Hi”
He whispered. It was kind of their thing, he realised.
“Hi”
She whispered back before closing the gap between their lips, pulling him into a soft and romantic kiss. The boy's hands played with Penelope's blonde hair, pulling ever so slightly as she pressed herself nearer against his body.
It felt intimate. It was intimate. It was the feeling of first love.
Ever so abrupt was the ending though, as they jumped away from one another, hearing the disapproving hisses of Mrs Norris.
Suppressing their laughter they continued their stroll through the dark castle.
Percy hadn’t even noticed the direction his girlfriend had pulled him to until he found himself in front of the kitchen.
“What are you doing? We're not supposed to be here, after finishing our patrol we are supposed to head straight to bed.”
His brows furrowed, and the typical Percy came through, never keen on disobeying any rules.
“You probably haven’t eaten all day, I am worried. It’s really just a small snack before we’re headed to our dorms. I promise.”
She hooked her pinky with his and brushed with the other hand over his eyebrows to make them soften.
“Come on, Percy”
With a small grunt, he followed her after making double sure no one was watching him (little did he know about his brothers and the Marauders map…).
The kitchen still smelled like the food served for dinner and made Percy realise just how hungry he really was besides the tight knot of anxiety in his stomach.
A little house elf walked up to them, staring with her big cloudy eyes.
"What do you wish, Master, Mistress?"
The redhead blushed in a flaming red. Though it was his biggest dream to be treated as an authority, he hadn't quite got used to it.
"A cheese sandwich would be nice… I suppose?"
He looked at Penny, searching for reassurance. She nodded with a small smile, admiring his flushed cheeks.
"Anything for you, Mistress?"
The house elf addressed her, but she just shook her head and led her boyfriend into a corner to sit down.
"Relax, it is fine"
While the boy hadn't noticed, his body had stiffened up and his hands were clenched into fists.
He let out a deep breath, looking around. He had never been in the kitchen before, it was off limits. It was a nice place though as he now realised. It reminded him of his home, a cramped kitchen with a delicious smell.
"I'm not sure about this, Pen. We could get into trouble, big trouble. Rules are there to be obeyed and give guidance."
The blonde nodded, her eyes full of empathy. She was aware of the role rules played in his life, but she was sure that a little fun and experimentation wouldn't kill him.
"I know this stresses you out, Percy. But it's important for you to eat. You wouldn't want to pass out during a lesson, would you?"
She reached with her arms around his body and drew him into a hug as his tension slowly softened up.
Neither of them dared to move, they just clenched onto each other as if their life depended on it. Only when the house elf brought Percy's sandwich, he slowly freed his arms to eat while staying close to Penny.
This was probably the time most precious to him. He loved to be near her.
Even if it wasn't intentional, he hurried his sandwich down to get out of the kitchen. It took him less than five minutes to finish the last crumb and after handing the plate back to the house elf he got up immediately.
"We should leave now, Penelope"
He looked serious, his brows furrowed, and his posture was stiff. Penny realised that she might have pushed him a bit too far too early. There was no sign left of her silly happy Weasley.
She nodded and got up as well, leaving the kitchen with him. Quietly they made their way to the Ravenclaw common room where he hugged her goodbye.
The prefect was relieved to finally be alone.
It had been a long day, and he just wished for his bed. He trotted up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower and climbed through the portrait into the empty common room.
Everybody was asleep, just like it was supposed to be, and he couldn't stop a relieved sigh leaving his mouth.
He continued to his dorm, ready to fall into his bed.
But to his surprise there was still a candle burning in his room. Wood sat in his nook at the window, staring out into the quiet night.
"Hi"
He whispered as he came in, concerned what was going on with his classmate.