I'll Protect You
When dad had first told him that he would be an older brother, he was ecstatic. When he first held the boy…his baby brother in his hands he was scared. Little Charlie was so …small. Like a hairless cat. Then Charlie, who was still asleep, wrapped his small hairless fingers around his fingers, and his grip was so tight. That was the moment that he had decided that he would protect his brother no matter what.
Mum and Dad said he was going to be born in September, but then one night mum cried. Dad rushed her to St. Mungo’s and told Bill to take care of Charlie. Mum and dad didn’t return till the evening of the next day. Charlie was scared, so he went up to the centre and pulled out a small stool making scrambled eggs.
When dad came in the afternoon, he was alone. “Mum’s still in the hospital with the baby.” Percy was premature, he said.
“He was so eager to meet his older brothers that he came early,” dad said a little tearily.
They were eager to meet baby Percy too! Baby Percy wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital, so dad came to take them there.
When he met the baby, he was sleeping. The first thing he noticed was that Little Percy was even smaller than Charlie. If Charlie was a hairless cat, Percy was more of a hairless mole rat. Then he sneezed. And it was just about the cutest sound he had ever heard before opening his bright blue eyes much like his own, and in that moment he knew he would never deny the boy anything.
Charlie gasped behind him. At first Bill thought that he was gasping at the baby, but then he turned around and Charlie was now looking back and forth to the baby and his blue dragon. waiT- BLUE DRAGON?
As long as he can remember, Charlie’s Dragon, his favourite one, was red in colour, and Charlie never parted with it. When Charlie stepped towards the baby, Bill instinctively stepped forward, already protective of the little one.
But Charlie paid him no mind, mouth still open in awe as he said, “You like the dragon? You can have it!” thrusting the dragon towards the boy who was now staring at them curiously.
Bill was embarrassed to admit , it took him so long to understand what had happened. Percy had sneezed and accidently magiked the Dragon blue. Merlin, that was crazy! Most children don't show magic until at least a few months. Charlie himself took four months when he managed to vanish Dad’s eyebrows off. His little brother managed to do that hours out of the womb! His little brother was the coolest!
Later that day, Bill overheard Charlie whispering to the boy.
“Don’t worry little one, Dragons always protect their treasures! I will always protect you!”
Bill smiled. Little Percy would be loved and protected, he had no doubt.
Percy himself was never a lot of trouble. Growing up, either him or Charlie could spend hours with the kid without worrying about him crying or throwing a tantrum. He followed instructions to a T and if you leave him sitting in one spot, he would still be there even after hours.
But the twins were the exact opposite. They were loud and crier. They had thought that Percy would find the twins annoying and that they might not be close. But what happened surprised them all.
Percy was protective.
Bill had noticed this very early. But even he was surprised at how cute the little soldier was when it came to his brothers. He would swat ants and flies if it scared the twins, while he himself was scared as well. As time passed, he grew protective of the twins. A lot. Bill knew what that felt like.
The twins always got in trouble, so sometimes Percy would take the blame. Most of the time he wouldn’t succeed.
It started small, as most things tend to.
The twins broke a vase - “I broke it mum! I was looking at the patterns and it slipped!”
They saw the twins break it, but Percy didn’t know that.
Mum and Dad didn’t punish the twins.
“No!” Mum scolded, “you are not keeping a pet Gnome in the house!”
“It was me mum!” 6 year old Percy defended, “I was reading a book about gnomes and wanted to study it closer!”
“It was in the twins room,” Arthur said, trying to look angry, and failing miserably.
Little Percy didn’t notice. “It must have slipped out while I wasn’t looking!” he tried again, before sneaking a glance at the twins and telling them discreetly to keep quiet. Only it wasn’t very discreet at all. Bill tried his hardest not to laugh as both Mum and dad failed to keep their amusement at bay from Percy’s antics. Charlie made no such effort as he eagerly quizzed Percy on more animal facts, who was now explaining about some Egyptian cat breed.
Charlie loved listening to his little brother talk. When he first learned something new, mum and dad would praise him, but he soon found them distracted by one of his other siblings. Ron and Ginny were too young to do anything but babble. The twins enjoyed it at first, but they always got bored after a few minutes. Bill was always attentive, but he had started Hogwarts a year before and he wouldn’t be there until the holidays. But Percy always listened, even if it were for the tenth time and Charlie was talking about the same dragon, he never refused to listen. Percy even asked questions. He was also a curious child, and he would join him in research which for his age was little more than turning pages and passing him the books. So now Charlie will listen to him.
“Did you know that gnomes can run an average of 35 miles per hour? It is faster than the fastest domesticated cat breed, the Egyptian mau! Obviously, an average kneazle can average upto 80 miles per hour, but they are magical beasts, so that is a given-” he was saying, clearly enthralled at the prospect.
This is another thing he Percy did. Distract. If just taking the blame wasn’t enough, he would then continue to distract the others with enough talks that was impressive for his age and soon, everyone would be either too amused or amazed at him that the twins would go unpunished or just mildly winded. Bill watched amused, as his parents were already shaking their heads silently. Dad didn’t even try to hide the pride in his eyes, and while mum tried (keyword: TRIED) to hide her own mirth at her witty son, Bill knew that the resolve would soon break.
And it did. Mum eventually gives in to Percy.
"Alright. Fine. But it needs to stay in your room." Mum says the last part with a sigh. She gives Percy a look at his smile and shakes her head.
Percy 165 - Mum 0. Bill was surprised he hadn’t lost count yet.
His eyes travelled to the twins, who were despite everything smiling brightly - all their attention only on the brother who saved them from being grounded for the whole month.
Soon, they started following Percy around baby ducklings waddling to their older brother, and everytime they would look at him, their eyes shined like he had hung the moon in the sky.
Sometimes skipping the blame all together jumping straight for a distraction.
“Fred! George! Stop making your brother cry!” Molly cried exasperated.
“Mum! Mum! Look! An owl!”
***