There is life outside your apartment - I know it's hard to conceive.
Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Time: Noon
Location: Leaky Cauldron
Characters Involved: Percy & Charlie Weasley
Rating: G, at least for starters
Odd how suddenly things can hit you.
Like late, late, late on a Monday night - Tuesday morning, rather, as it was three AM when Percy suddenly found himself staring at the date he'd just printed on the top of a document as if he'd never seen the numbers before.
Between documents, memos, schedules and timetables, he wrote the date probably dozens of times every day, and saw it written even more. He managed to keep track of meetings and appointments, it wasn't as though he didn't know what day it was, but suddenly it was as if he'd been smacked upside the head with what it meant.
When did it become the middle of November? Where had the last few months gone? Vanished into a blur of Flooing back and forth between his office and his flat, of ever more hours at the former and less at the latter - he had the sneaking suspicion that, more than just once or twice, he'd simply forgotten to go home at night. Not that that was a new habit, only-
There had been so much work lately. Initiating contacts and plans for the Triwizard Tournament on top of his usual duties, and the Minister's office seemed to keep piling more and more on his desk. He'd let himself fall into old habits, wrapping himself up in work so completely that everything else had almost ceased to exist. Just as he used to do when he'd been at such odds with his family, he'd been so damned determined not to think about them, not to acknowledge how badly he missed them or how much it hurt - losing himself in work had become second nature. He hadn't meant to do it now, but... habits were powerful things.
Now he felt as though he'd just woken up. To a bucket of icy water in the face. Had he even been outside lately, at all?
It was anathema to Percy to take a day off, so after scrawling a quick (and hopefully coherent) note to his mother, he took himself home for about two hours' sleep before returning to work. However, when lunchtime rolled around, he shocked everyone by leaving his office. Taking the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron, he ordered a modest meal, then took his gillywater and found a small table near the back.
As he waited, he watched the noontime crowd moving about, shouting and laughing, showing off their purchases. He felt as if he were still blinking himself awake from a particularly vivid dream - how had he managed to lose track of well over a month? Perhaps, after lunch, he should take a quick turn around Diagon Alley. He needed to find Mum a birthday gift, after all.
His meal arrived and he tucked into it with a will.
Time: Noon
Location: Leaky Cauldron
Characters Involved: Percy & Charlie Weasley
Rating: G, at least for starters
Odd how suddenly things can hit you.
Like late, late, late on a Monday night - Tuesday morning, rather, as it was three AM when Percy suddenly found himself staring at the date he'd just printed on the top of a document as if he'd never seen the numbers before.
Between documents, memos, schedules and timetables, he wrote the date probably dozens of times every day, and saw it written even more. He managed to keep track of meetings and appointments, it wasn't as though he didn't know what day it was, but suddenly it was as if he'd been smacked upside the head with what it meant.
When did it become the middle of November? Where had the last few months gone? Vanished into a blur of Flooing back and forth between his office and his flat, of ever more hours at the former and less at the latter - he had the sneaking suspicion that, more than just once or twice, he'd simply forgotten to go home at night. Not that that was a new habit, only-
There had been so much work lately. Initiating contacts and plans for the Triwizard Tournament on top of his usual duties, and the Minister's office seemed to keep piling more and more on his desk. He'd let himself fall into old habits, wrapping himself up in work so completely that everything else had almost ceased to exist. Just as he used to do when he'd been at such odds with his family, he'd been so damned determined not to think about them, not to acknowledge how badly he missed them or how much it hurt - losing himself in work had become second nature. He hadn't meant to do it now, but... habits were powerful things.
Now he felt as though he'd just woken up. To a bucket of icy water in the face. Had he even been outside lately, at all?
It was anathema to Percy to take a day off, so after scrawling a quick (and hopefully coherent) note to his mother, he took himself home for about two hours' sleep before returning to work. However, when lunchtime rolled around, he shocked everyone by leaving his office. Taking the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron, he ordered a modest meal, then took his gillywater and found a small table near the back.
As he waited, he watched the noontime crowd moving about, shouting and laughing, showing off their purchases. He felt as if he were still blinking himself awake from a particularly vivid dream - how had he managed to lose track of well over a month? Perhaps, after lunch, he should take a quick turn around Diagon Alley. He needed to find Mum a birthday gift, after all.
His meal arrived and he tucked into it with a will.