"Reckon Dad'll notice if we take a few of these?" George asked, holding up a bag of chocolates.
"Duh, it's just us and Prissy home for the next week." Fred answered, pulling a face at his brother.
Molly had gone to her aunt's for the summer, taking Ron and Ginny with her, something about looking after old people in the family or something like that and Bill and Charlie had left that morning to stay at a friend's house, leaving Arthur to look after the remaining three Weasley children.
"Ugh! This is torture. It's so boring without anyone else here."
"We could always go bother him."
The brothers shared a look before bolting up the stairs and round the bend.
"Percy! Percy! Percy!" They chanted as they burst through their brother's bedroom door, only to find, he wasn't there. He wasn't sat at his desk doing his boring summer homework or sat on his bed reading his boring books or even on the floor looking at his boring collection of rocks.
They looked at each other in confusion. "Well, now what?" George asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Isn't it obvious, o brother mine? We snoop!" Fred replied, a grin growing across his face.
Going through Percy's room was always fun. Opening books they found two photos, one of Percy and a slytherin boy that looked like he'd had too many bludgers to the head with a heart drawn in the corner and one of Percy and a random hufflepuff boy in the year above them. Corey Diggory? Something like that. 'Best friends' the borders of the photo read. As they studied the photos each if them noticed something. Percy was holding hands with that slytherin, swinging them back and forth, giving him a peck on the cheek and then the scene replayed. They threw that one across the room. In the second one, Percy was laughing, embracing his 'best friend' while in hysterics.
"Didn't think he had any friends."
"Yeah me neither."
They continued to search the room, finding nothing of interest until they opened the bottom drawer of Percy's desk. In it was a glass bottle, a long glass bottle with the label ripped off, shoved in hastily and hidden under papers. Amber liquid rolled about sadly, only a few dregs left in the bottle. He opened the top and gave it a sniff.
"Blegh! Smell that!" He exclaimed as he pointed it toward his brother.
"Eugh! What is that? It's burning my nose!"
They left the room, bottle in hand and went on a hunt for their brother. As they searched the house, a sense of concern settled over the twins.
"Percy? Percy?"
When they passed the bathroom a second time, they heard retching. Opening the door, they found their brother, hunched over the toilet. Heaving.
"Percy?"
"Go'way."
That wasn't normal. Not for Percy, anyway.
"I said g-" a slapsh hit the bowl and the twins winced.
"I don't think you're very well, Perce."
Their brother threw up. Again.
"I'm gunna go get Dad." George said, fleeing the room. George didn't do well with sick.
"You okay, Perce?" Fred said, kneeling down next to his brother. Stroking his hair back off his brother's forehead, he noticed something. Call him disgusting but Fred knew sick. It didn't...smell right. It smelt like the bottle they found.
"Leave me 'lone."
Fred placed the bottle on the ground next to him. He continued to stroke Percy's hair away from his face, the curls more dishevelled with each pass.
"Do you want me to get you a glass of water? You don't look very well."
"...yesplease." as Fred was filling up one of the little mouthwash cups their mother kept in the cabinet, Arthur walked in, George hiding behind him.
"Boys? George said Percy wasn't very well-" Fred watched as their father's eyes landed on the bottle on the floor.
"Go wash up for dinner, you two."
"But Dad-"
"Now, please."
George looked all too ready to set the table and make the drinks, while Fred was a little reluctant to leave his brother puking in the toilet.
"I'll make you a big glass of icy water, 'kay Perce?" He said as he left the bathroom.
Arthur sat down next to his son, taking the bottle in his hands.
"So, you're drinking now?"
"Whattdyou care?" Percy answered, cheekily.
"I do care, of course I care, I just didn't expect this from you, Percy. I thought I had at least another three years."
"You, you don't care." He slurred. Laying his cheek on the rim of the bowl he looked his father in the eyes.
"You never. You never care! Never!"
"Woah, woah, no need to shout at me, I just want to know you're okay. And of course I care, I'm your dad."
Percy scoffed. "Coulda fooled me."
Arthur looked at his son. And his son stared back at him, tired and defeated. Then, the unexpected. Percy started crying. Sobbing. Big, fat, ugly tears.
He pulled his son close, rubbing his back.
"What do you mean by that, son?"
"Why don't you love me like them?"
He froze.
"Hey, hey, hey, of course I love you."
"Not like them you don't! You don't invite me to play quidditch or go shopping with you! You don't listen to me when I tell you what I can do at school! You don't take me for drives! You don't ever do anything with me! You don't love me like them!"
Arthur felt a sharp pain in his chest and a lump form in his throat.
"You only love me 'cuz you have to." He sniffled.
Arthur blinked away the tears forming in his eyes and cupped his son's face, forcing him to look him in the face.
"I love you Percy, I love you so very much. Sometimes I look at you and it hurts. I love you so much it hurts. You understand me? You're growing up so very fast and it scares me. You're so mature, so intelligent, so grown up, and it scares me because there's people out there that are going to pretend to love you, just to hurt you and I don't want that. You're a very special boy, Percy. You're my special boy."
Percy sniffled again and buried his face in Arthur's chest.
"You promise?"
"I promise."
Never in a million years did Arthur think he'd have to promise any of his children that he loved them. But Percy, his tiniest baby, had always been so sensitive. Had always been old enough to handle so much, so much pressure and rough loving but one wrong move and he broke down. Went silent. Stopped eating. Broke as if he was made of porcelain. His porcelain son. Not like his siblings, made of wood, easy to ignite, hard to put put the fire. Strong and imposing, day in, day out. Not Percy. Percy sat in the back of the cabinet, catching the eye, but too special to use.
"What's brought this on, anyway?"
Percy shook his head.
"Come on, son, tell me."
"Divination homework." He mumbled into his dad's shirt.
"Oh? Have they really made the course that hard?"
Percy shook his head.
"It's stupid."
"Tell me."
Percy took a shakey breath.
"It was that stupid seeing glass. I looked too long. First cedric died and I was on trial and then me and you had an argument and I moved put and you all hated me. You all hated me! Especially you! None of you ever spoke to me ever again and then Fred died. It's stupid! I told you it was stupid!"
"And that led to the drink?"
Percy shook his head again.
"I couldn't stop seeing it, dad. It was too real. It wouldn't go away."
Arthur held his son closer and rubbed circles into his back, slowly lulling him to sleep, just like he did when he was a baby.
As Percy drifted off, he whispered, "Promise not to leave me alone, dad?"
"I promise, son."
Arthur sat on the floor, holding his porcelain son.