Chapter One
The office is barren today, with almost everyone anyway on vacation, Percy Weasley and Dean Thomas are some of the only people in. Shortly after graduating college, Percy got a nice job at some big wig company hours away from his family home. He started renting an apartment and made a point to not visit his family more than necessary. Recently, his youngest brother, Ron, started college. The same one Percy went to in London. Percy wasn't very surprised when Ron contacted him soon after starting school, now that they were closer to each other. He was surprised, however, that the reason Ron contacted him was to actually ask him if Dean could intern at his company. As a Director, Percy was able to put in a good word for Dean and was pleasantly surprised to find out that Dean is actually a great worker and a good work buddy to have. The disappointment that his little brother didn’t actually want to hang out with him was outweighed by the joy Percy felt at having Dean as his new friend.
"Boss, You heading home for the holidays?" Dean asks when the hour starts to near the end of the shift. Christmas is in 7 days and today is the day the office closes. They were some of the only ones who chose to work on the last day before holidays.
"No, probably not. Any plans for your holidays?"
"My parents are still in Greece, so I might just go skiing in the mountains. There's this amazing ski lodge that my father never stops talking about."
"They aren't coming down for the holidays?"
"Unfortunately, no. They decided that it would be cheaper to not visit and just see me next year." Dean notices the look on Percy's face, pity but also understanding. They are two people who will spend their Christmas holidays alone and probably unhappy. "Come with me."
"What?" Percy sputters out.
"Come with me. We'll leave tomorrow for the ski lodge and spend the holidays there." Dean smiled at his friend, knowing that the man would probably spend the entire holidays hold up in his apartment, working instead of enjoying the season and relaxing.
"I have too much work-"
"I'm not taking no for an answer, Perce." Dean smiles that fake innocent smile of his.
"Fine but there's no way I am skiing." The only response he got was laughter.
The next day, Percy wakes up early as usually and goes about his morning routine: drink a black coffee, eat a piece of toast, start answering emails and finishing reports. He'd already packed his bag last night and showered and dressed before heading to his sitting room. Dean arrives to pick him up hours later, looking as though he's just rolled out of bed.
"You know, you didn't need to get up so early. You could have slept in." Dean chastises him upon seeing Percy’s awake state.
"After 5 months of interning, you would think you would know me well enough by now." Percy lets out a rare laugh.
"Mind if I play some tunes?"
"As long as it's not Christmas music."
"Live a little, Perce." There's something about the way Dean says the teasing comment that doesn't make Percy feel self-concise. A rare occurrence in his life. Normally, he's used to feeling of constantly being bullied and made to feel inferior than others. Having his quirks and nerdy happens used to ostracize him from the others in his family. It's nice having a friend who wants to actually spend the holidays with him.
Dean messes with his phone and puts on a playlist. Work Song by Hozier starts playing softly in the car. Percy wouldn’t say this type of music is his favourite. He’s always enjoyed the delicate sounds of classical music over the noise that can be songs with lyrics. Call him pretentious but he likes what he likes. The younger of the two pulls up the map and starts them on the long 9 hour journey to the mountains in Scotland.
After a couple stops, too many songs, and Percy getting lots of work done, they finally arrive at the ski lodge. They check in and get the keys to their room; a single room with two double beds. The lodge has a dinning hall where all meals can be purchased. They spend a short time unpacking and then head down for a mediocre dinner. After such a long journey, they decide to save the skiing for tomorrow and have an early night in.
The next morning, Percy finds himself up slightly later than his usually 5am. He gazes out the window at the mountains visible from the windows view. He notices that the sky looks a little dark and gloomy. Not the kind of weather that he assumes would be ideal for a ski day. He doesn’t pay it much mind though and instead favours waking up Dean to start the day.
"Ugh, Why are we up so early?" Dean complains.
"Breakfast starts in 15 minutes. Get ready and we can eat before heading to the hills."
"You're gonna actually ski with me?" Dean asks hopefully.
"I will give it a try but I'm warning you that I have never tired before. If I somehow injure myself, I'll lower your pay."
"I’m an intern, I don't get paid."
The breakfast is slightly better than the dinner. Percy finds some fruit and pancakes to eat and his precious coffee. They settle down for some much needed fuel.
"So, how do you ski?"
"Oh man, we are in for an afternoon." The younger chuckles at the look of horror he receives.
Dean tries to explain the basic mechanics of skiing and keeping your balance to Percy, who barely understands what the other is saying. Last time he played a sport, it was football and his bothers made him the goalie just so they could repeatedly hit him with the ball. He is certainly the least athletic of his family. Although, that’s not too say he doesn’t enjoy sports. His family often go to every game the Chudley Cannons plays in. He quite enjoys those games despite having no desire to play any sports. He certainly never thought he’d even be skiing.
After tackling the bunny hills and getting Percy started with skiing, they decided to move on to some of the bigger hills. Percy somehow manages not to fall over too much. They work on that for a while, have a short lunch and go back to skiing. Multiple times, Percy tries to take a break to focus on his work but Dean stops him every time, dragging him back to the fun.
Finally, they decides- and by they, he means Dean decides- that Percy is good enough to try one of the bigger hills. Over the course of the day, Percy notices the increase of darkness in the clouds and the chilly wind that seems to pick up. He wanted to suggest that they wait until tomorrow, earlier, but there still seems to be a ton of people out skiing. Multiple workers are out too. Surely if it was dangerous to be out here, they would have stopped everyone, right? He continues along with no complaint instead.
The big hill is intimidating.
"Just remember to step off when I say so, no hesitating. You got this." They are up in the air on a ski lift being brought higher and higher away from Percy's comfort zone. No way is he gonna survive this.
"I don't know if I can." His stomach feels like it's spinning in circles. Looking down at the distance between his feet and the snow below, he feels like he's gonna puke. Is he afraid of heights? He never thought he was before. He should not have agreed to go on this trip. Now, he looks like a total idiot. He's older than Dean, he should be able to do this. He knows that age has no relevance to skill, but the embarrassment he feels at seeing children aged 6 skiing happily down these huge hills is too much.
"Don't worry, I'm here with you." Dean pats him on the shoulder.
Once they reach a certain part, Dean doesn't so much as say go as he does grab Percy and guide him off the lift in a way a parent might for their child who has just learned to ski. Once they are away from the lifts, Dean gives him a small push. Percy lets out a sound that is not flattering and somehow manages to stay up as he starts to move down the hill.
The chilly wind blisters his cheeks as his heart races trying to rival that of his speed. Dean catches up with him and makes some noises of excitement as he goes even faster. During their journey, Percy doesn't notice the wind getting worse. Not until he feels the wind pushing against his body. The snow starts coming down heavier than the light sprinkle that was falling that morning.
Percy swerves suddenly out of the way of a tree that comes crashing down on the ground, blown over by the wind. He looks around and notices he can't spot Dean any where. He continues down the path ahead of him, but finds himself skiing directly off a cliff that was not visible to him until it was too late. Percy lets out a loud scream as he lands slightly awkwardly. Pulling himself up with slightly sore muscles and pain, he continues skiing, trying to call out for Dean. If there are any responses, Percy can’t hear them over the sound of the wind.
The trees get denser and denser and the hill seems to flatten out. The pain in his ankle is becoming unbearable the longer that Percy stays up-right. The storm starts raging even worse than before. Percy can feel his anxiety peaking. He’s warm all over, despite the cold, from exertion. The redhead isn’t sure how much longer he can travel in this storm. The adrenaline is living his body and he's now becoming fully aware of his shitty situation and the likelihood that he might die here. Fuck, this is why he doesn’t do sports.
Just as he starts to think that he needs to sit down and contemplates if he should risk taking off his gloves to type a message to his family in case his found ever gets reception or gets found, He spots a cabin. A lovely wooden cabin in the middle of these random woods. The cabin has a nice farm attached to it and appears to be handling the storm well. Percy pulls himself towards the door with the last of his strength and knocks.
No response.
He knocks again.
Still no response.
Maybe it isn't polite and Percy is cringing at the thought, but he checks the knob and the door isn't locked. Who doesn’t lock there door? He guesses people who live in the middle of no where don’t usually have to worry about trespassing. He detaches himself from his skis and enters the home. The pain in his ankle is blinding now. With each step, his eyes prickle with more tears.
The home is warm and cozy, with lovely oranges, reds and browns decorating the room. There's a couple different rooms branching off from the large living room and kitchen space that makes up the main entrance area. There's candles every where; none are lit up, obviously. There's also a large red brick fireplace. Percy goes over to it and uses the available wood and pack of matches on the table to lit it. He removes his snow covered ski clothes that have soaked in and left him more wet. The room off to the right appears to be the owners bedroom and has various clothing items for Percy to change into. He decides on a red jumper with a random sports team on it and a pair of loose brown plaid PJ pants. He settles down on the ugly brown couch in front of the fire place with a warm throw blanket. The redhead doesn't pay much attention to his hurting ankle. It doesn’t yet appear to be bruised or seriously injured. He probably just rolled it and the pain will go away after some sleep.
Percy finds himself falling asleep rather easily after getting settled. His thoughts are filled with worries about Dean and worries about work. He finds himself dreaming of the noises he hears throughout the night, transforming the howling of wind into the sounds of beasts, chasing him down and leaving him frightened. When the beasts get too close, their faces morph into crude versions of his young brothers. The beasts speak and remind Percy that he is worthless, terrorizing him.
Percy startles awake from the nightmare and finds himself faced with the nightmare he is going through in real life. Then the door to the cabin opens and a figure dressed in winter clothing with a large bag strapped to himself walks in. The man’s face is obstructed by the hood and scarf he wears. He looks nothing like the beasts from Percy’s dreams and yet the axe the man is holding causes Percy to scream out in terror.