Percy Weasley
1. Growing up his father was his hero.
When he was young he looked up to his dad. Arthur was kind, hardworking, and loyal; he had a loving wife and kids, as well as a job that he loved. That was what Percy wanted, to be a good man and a good life. The older he got the more he realized that the job that he loved was not great, his dad worked all of the time and was almost never around and it didn’t pay well either. Both of these realization led to more realization. One his dad had connections everywhere, he was choosing to stay in his department. Two, his dad doesn’t care that he is the sole provider for a family of nine, he loves his job and he is not giving it up. Three, he was going to be better than his dad. He would work in the ministry, he would get a good job that paid well, and would be able to provide for his family; even if he hated it. He would also make sure that he would be there for his kids.
2. When Voldemort came back he believed Harry, but he could stand with him.
Percy had known Harry for four years by this point. He was Harry’s prefect and head boy. These were two positions that Percy was proud to hold and he didn’t take them lightly, so he made sure that he knew each of the new first for all three years that he held these titles. This was on top of the fact that Harry was Ron’s best friend and as such he had essentially become another brother to Percy. All of this is to say that Percy trusted Harry. If Harry said that Voldemort was back then he was back. However, at the time of the third event Percy was at the Ministry, facing an inquiry for everything that had happened with Barty Crouch Snr. These inquiries coupled with some rather sensitive information that Fudge had gathered about Percy meant that he couldn’t move against the Ministry of Magic. At least not openly.
3. Sensitive information and a hidden talent
It's a little known fact that Percy can draw, and by little known, only three people were aware of this. Those people were Hagrid, Oliver Wood, and Penny Clearwater. Hagrid knew because part of the care of magical creatures homework was drawing and labeling creatures. Oliver knew as he was his roommate and best friend since they were eleven. Penny because he liked to draw her and things for her, when they were together. One day when leaving the office for the evening Percy accidentally left his sketchbook in his desk. Fudge found it while trying to get information on Dumbledore as he was getting increasingly paranoid. Within the sketchbook there were a number of things that he would rather keep a secret including; that he was bi, slightly in love with his best friend, that he was most definitely in love with Penny, and that she was pregnant.
4. Penny and working against the death eaters.
Just because he could help the order and Harry openly didn’t mean that he wasn’t fighting against the death eaters. The first year after Voldemort came back was quiet and allowed for Percy to keep him down for the most part. Fudge had promoted him to keep him close to hopefully spy on his family. That's why he started a fight with his father and left, so that he couldn’t be used against his family. That to say that the fight was not completely fake and a lot of what he said was stuff that he had been wanting to say for years. It kept his family safe but it isolated him and meant that, when he became the first of the Weasley kids to get married, none of them even knew. In fact even twenty years after the war ended and Voldemort was gone they still didn’t know. Penny got pregnant a year and half after they graduated, and Percy was planning on telling his family during the summer, but everything happened before he could. The wizarding world is still widely old fashioned, and looked down upon kids that are born out of wedlock. Penny and Percy decided to give their kid the best chance they could and got married; a few months later Piper Elizabeth Weasley was born. However, after the first year things got bad and the death eaters started to take over the Ministry; the muggle-borns were being targeted. To help Percy created a smuggling ring to get the muggle-borns out of England. He continued to do this until the battle of Hogwarts.
5. Three Marriages and three kids.
Penny was his first wife and Piper his eldest child. His marriage to Penny was a short one, they were married for just a year. Penny and Percy got married on December 13, 1995. A year later Penny had to go to Diagon Alley for some things for Piper and some potion ingredients. Unfortunately, this visit to Diagon Alley coincided with a death eater raid. Neither Penny or Piper survived the raid. After the war Percy met his second wife Audrey. Audrey was an auror, that he met while visiting Ron at work. The two were complete opposites and didn’t agree on much but did like each other. They went out for two years before Percy proposed. They were married for seven years and had two kids together: Lucy Weasley and Molly Weasley II. Lucy was their eldest and was named after Audrey’s mom and when Molly was borned Audrey insisted that she should be named after Percy’s mom. Percy wasn’t very happy about it but agreed and Molly was named. This became a pattern in their marriage, Audrey would want or do something Percy didn’t agree with but he would let her have her way. The marriage was very toxic and abusive. The abuse was mostly emotional and mental but occasionally would become physical when Percy tried to stand his ground. Lucy was three and Molly was about to turn one when their marriage ended. After a particularly nasty fight about parenting styles, in which Percy was practically begging Audrey to be more present for Molly and Lucy, Audrey stormed out of the house and Percy never saw her again. At first Percy didn’t think anything of it, it would hardly be the first time she stormed out after a fight, but he didn’t see or hear from her for three days after the fight he started to get worried. However, after the third day, he came home to find all of her stuff missing and divorce papers on the kitchen counter. She gave him full custody of Lucy and Molly; she also quit her job and moved out of the country. Lucy and Molly were both too young to even remember her and were raised by a single dad. At least until his third marriage. Percy’s last marriage and the one who helped raise Lucy and Molly was to Oliver Wood, Percy’s best friend.
6. New job and falling in love.
After the war, Percy hated working in the Ministry but he stayed for nine years after the war. After the war he stayed to help rebuild the ministry and then he met Audrey and stayed to be close to her. After she left him he quit; he hated and felt drained working there. Percy didn’t know what he wanted but knew he could stay in the Ministry, so he took a job at the Hog’s Head to get money coming and working and figuring out what he wanted. It is at the Hog’s Head that he reconnected with Oliver whom he had lost touch with after graduation. Percy had always been a little bit in love with his best friend but never told him because he didn’t want to ruin their friendship; after starting work at the Hog’s Head Oliver came in and had lunch there almost everyday. It was during these lunches that Percy refellen in love with Oliver. However, Oliver ended up asking him out before he could get the courage to do it himself. This happened three years after his divorce and Percy was still a little shaky about new relationships, but it was Oliver. It was another three years before they got married. About a year into their marriage, Aberforth Dumbledore passed away and left Percy the Hog’s Head.
7. Family and Amends
After the war, Percy made amends with his family. But he did tell them everything; he told them about the blackmail and how he picked a fight so that he could be used against the family. He told them that sending back the sweater at Christmas was to keep up appearances. He told them about helping smuggle the muggle-borns out of the country. But he didn’t tell them what they used against him. He didn’t tell them that the fight wasn't fake. He didn’t tell them about Penny or Piper. He didn’t tell them that he knew the sweater was meant to be a guilt trip or that it arrived just a week after he lost Penny and Piper. He didn’t tell them that he almost gave up and ended right there. He didn’t tell them that the smuggling ring was what kept him alive during this time. Amends were made from both sides but Percy was still the outcast but not quite the same way as before. Ron refused to listen to what he had to say and never forgave him. After he saved Fred during the battle of Hogwarts, the twins didn’t care why he did what he did; they were just glad he came back when he did. They both also made a point to get lunch or dinner with Percy once a week after the war, either together or separately. Charlie was the only one who knew everything and he made sure that he was always available to Percy. Bill, similarly to the twins, didn't care what had happened or why it happened, only that he was back; he also made sure he met up with Percy at least every other week for breakfast or lunch. Ginny was stubborn and refused to listen to Percy for close to a year, until Percy yelled at to listen to him please. That shocked her into listening because never yells. After that she apologized and they called or wrote to each other at least once a week, sometimes more.