fic for midnight_birth: Breaking the Rules (Percy, Charlie, PG)
Title: Breaking the Rules
Author: lazy_neutrino
Recipient: midnight_birth
Rating: PG
Character(s): Percy, Charlie
Warnings: None
Author's Notes: Happy Holidays to my dear recipient! I hope you enjoy this. Sincere thanks to aunty_marion for the beta!
--
'See?' With his gloved hand, Charlie pulled the bramble back.
'I can't -' Percy dropped on to his hands and knees and crawled forwards. The long grass was wetter than he had expected and his trousers were soaked through immediately. There would be hell to pay when Mum found out, he thought grimly, not that it seemed to matter when it was Fred or George.
He snorted. Above him, Charlie made a shushing sound.
It was no good. He still couldn't see. Throwing caution to the winds, Percy grabbed hold of a hawthorn bush. Using it for support, and blind to the havoc the brambles were wreaking on his robes, he manoeuvred himself into the hedge and peered through.
The autumn mist hung over the meadow and for a moment he struggled to see anything at all. He rubbed the condensation from his glasses and squinted.
At the far edge of the meadow, a second field dipped down the hill to a long line of trees. On the horizon, far beyond the forest, the rocky points of mountains pierced the grey sky.
Lights flashed at the forest's edge. Percy pushed his glasses firmly up onto his nose. A rumble came from within the trees, and then a shout.
'I told you.' Charlie's breath drifted across his cheek like thistledown.
'What is it?' Percy whispered.
But all Charlie said was, 'Wait.' He squatted beside Percy, and took off his gloves, shoving them into the pockets of his robe. Reaching up, he pulled down a long tendril of bramble. 'Blackberry?'
Percy nodded eagerly. They sat together in silence, gorging themselves on the fat fruit until their lips and fingers were purple with juice. At last Charlie whispered, 'Now,' and squeezed through the hedge into the meadow. Percy wiped his mouth and followed suit.
The mist was beginning to lift and from the distance he heard men shouting to one another, deep, gruff voices in a language he had never heard before. He glanced at Charlie in confusion. Charlie was leaning forwards, chewing on his thumb, his whole body tense as he stared down at the forest.
Percy shifted into a sitting position. His knees were waterlogged and he was fairly sure his robes would never be the same again.
There was another great thump from the forest, as if someone had dropped an Erumpent. More shouting. Percy tensed.
And something lumbered out of the evening mist.
It was not so broad as a house nor yet so tall, and yet the rusty scales that feathered every inch of its enormous back reminded Percy of nothing so much as the red-tiled roof of the Burrow. As it swung its enormous head from side to side the huge golden eyes narrowed into slits.
Involuntarily Percy shrank back, and the reassuring weight of Charlie's arm settled around his shoulders.
The dragon grunted. A puff of flame floated from one nostril and disappeared.
Half a dozen men emerged from the trees, laden down with ropes and chains. One climbed up onto the dragon's back, a length of chain slung across his back. The dragon seemed to ignore him. Then suddenly, it shrugged, throwing the man thirty feet into the air among a sea of whistles and catcalls. A second man detached himself from the group and began edging towards the dragon from just outside its field of vision.
'Won't someone get hurt?' Percy whispered.
Charlie shook his head. 'It's quite tame,' he whispered back. 'Fireballs are like that: people think they're fierce but they're big kittens really.'
The second man was on the ridge of the dragon's back now, and edging cautiously towards the head. The dragon twitched. The man froze. Leaning forwards, he started to scratch behind the huge beast's ear. The dragon's eyes widened. It tilted its head. Smoke billowed from its nostrils.
Charlie grinned. 'See what I mean?'
And now the man was slipping the chain around the dragon's head and drawing it tight. The Fireball roared its irritation. Its tail thrashed from side to side, uprooting a small pine tree and throwing it into the air. The man on the dragon's back leapt nimbly to the ground and bolted into the forest. The spectators scattered. Percy closed his eyes in horror.
When he opened them again, the chain had been drawn tight around the dragon's neck. It raised an enormous claw and began to scratch at the links, then tilted its head to attempt to chew at them, but this was equally futile. The dragon threw up its head and howled. A great gout of flame sent steam into the damp air and scorched the trees.
Charlie's hand tightened on Percy's shoulder as they began to drag the Fireball back into the forest. 'All over now. We'd better get back.'
'The trouble with Fireballs,' Charlie said as they started back towards the castle, 'is they're not very bright. They had a Horntail last year - bad-tempered brute. It got away and ate four of the horses.'
'I didn't see any horses.'
Charlie gave a wicked grin. 'Looks like they learned a lesson, then.'
'How did you know they would come?'
'I was down here two years ago, on a dare, and I saw them then. It was amazing.' Charlie' face was alive with enthusiasm. 'There's a dragon fair in the Torridan mountains every November; I looked it up.'
'Isn't that a bit dangerous, so close to Hogwarts?'
'The Romanian breeders know what they're doing. The dragons are well looked after.' They were climbing a shallow hill now and Percy had to hurry to keep up. His breath was a white cloud on the autumn air. Like dragon smoke. The image pleased him.
'I'm going to work with dragons one day,' Charlie continued as they crested the hill. 'There's a big reserve near here. I might try to get a job. Or maybe Romania.'
'I was just thinking,' Percy said slowly. 'That won't make Mum very happy.'
'Mum'll get over it. Anyway,' Charlie gave a wicked grin, 'Bill's decided he wants to be a curse-breaker. Dragons are nothing compared to that.'
'Did Bill dare you? Two years ago?'
'Mm.' Charlie glanced at him. 'Look, Perce, don't tell Mum about that. She'll have a fit.'
'I wouldn't.'
--
It was dark by the time they reached the castle and the tall iron gates were locked and chained. Percy stared up at the high walls, his mouth dry with fear.
'It's too late,' he said in despair. 'How are we going to get in?'
'Leaf pile,' Charlie said enigmatically and set off along the side of the wall. Frowning, Percy ran after him. They had covered about a third of a mile before Charlie stopped, walking up to a small heap of stones seemingly piled at random by a birch stump. 'Here.'
'That's not a leaf pile.'
'You worry too much.' Charlie drew his wand and pointed. 'Ascensus.' Two strands of grey rope emerged from the end of his wand; as Percy stared, the strands wove themselves together and stiffened into a ladder. 'Up you go.'
Percy scrambled up the ladder and crouched on the top of the wall. He turned to his brother, eyes wide, as Charlie joined him. 'That was amazing. I thought you couldn't get in and out of Hogwarts.'
Charlie shrugged, but his face flushed with pleasure. 'It's just Apparating you can't do. Anyway, Bill says there's a lake in Yorkshire somewhere - ' He broke off. 'We'd better get back first, before we're missed. Lumos.' He pointed the wand straight down as a narrow beam of light shot from it. 'There you are. Leaf pile.'
There was indeed a leaf pile. It was the largest leaf pile Percy had ever seen: a leaf pile so high and so wide that he could have hidden all of Gryffindor House in it and had room for several Hufflepuffs as well.
'I'll go first,' Charlie told him. 'Hagrid leaves his rake there sometimes. Mum's not going to be very pleased if you lose an eye.' He leapt lightly down. 'It's OK. Jump!'
Percy jumped.
For the briefest of instants he was flying and then his feet hit leaves. They slithered past him, their rough edges scraping at his robes, leaving damp tracks across his hands and face. He sank, screwing up his face and closing his eyes as he went under.
Charlie grabbed his arm, pulling him upwards and out.
Percy was grinning so hard his face hurt. 'I thought I was going to drown in leaves. That was brilliant!'
'Not bad.' Charlie returned the grin. 'We've missed dinner. House elves?'
House elves! Percy nodded in awe.
As they slipped in through the kitchen door, a strange feeling of uneasiness crept over him, as if they were being watched. He looked around sharply, just in time to see a burly dark-haired figure slip round a corner. Wondering if he should tell Charlie, he hurried after his brother.
'Try this.' Charlie passed him a plate of steak and kidney pudding. 'Or there's treacle tart.' He gave Percy a sharp look. 'Something up?'
Percy hesitated. Why spoil the evening? 'Nothing.' He took an enormous slice of tart and bit into it. Charlie gave an approving nod.
His dreams that night were full of dragons. He rode the Fireball through the skies, wheeling and diving, scattering the fishing eagles. Charlie and Bill, outmanoeuvred on their Hungarian Horntails, rode beside him, casting admiring glances in his direction.
When he woke up he was starving.
At breakfast the unease came over him again and he looked up to see a boy watching him from the Slytherin table. He had seen the boy before; he was a year or so older than Percy and remarkably ugly. The boy gave him a triumphant sneer and turned his back.
Percy poked his bacon miserably. Had the boy seen them last night? Were they going to get into trouble? He looked along the Gryffindor table, trying to catch Charlie's eyes, but his brother was laughing and joking with a bunch of bigger boys and Percy didn't know if he should interrupt.
The first lesson of the day was Potions. Normally he found the subject easy but this morning everything seemed to go wrong. An unguarded flick of his knife sent a shower of chopped lacewings flying across the room; a few moments later, his shaking hands emptied half a bottle of Mandrake extract into his cauldron instead of the requisite three drops. His potion turned an angry mauve and began screaming. Percy dropped his pestle and buried his face in his hands.
Professor Snape was beside him at once. A flick from his wand silenced the potion. 'Five points from Gryffindor,' he announced, and then, very quietly so that only Percy could hear him, 'Tired, Weasley?'
Percy stared at the floor in misery. He had been right about the boy. And now Professor Snape knew, and that meant everybody knew, and he was going to be expelled from Hogwarts.
'When you've cleaned away this mess,' Professor Snape indicated the potion, 'Professor McGonagall wants to see you in her office.'
It was almost a relief.
--
Professor McGonagall had been more than fair, he acknowledged, as he staggered out of her office and down the stairs. He wasn't going to be expelled. Charlie wasn't going to be expelled. And a week of detentions was quite generous under the circumstances. Wondering if Charlie would be doing the detentions with him, he headed for the quad to find his brother.
Charlie was there, as Percy knew he would be, tossing a Quaffle from hand to hand and chatting to two other boys. One of them nudged the other as Percy crossed the grass and they nodded to Charlie and walked away.
'Hey -' Percy recoiled as his brother wheeled round to face him.
'She's taken me off the Quidditch team.' Charlie's eyes were hard. Percy waited, not daring to breathe.
'You had to tell them,' Charlie said, his anger coming out in a rush. 'It could have been our secret, but no. Tell-tale Percy strikes again.'
'I didn't tell. There was a boy -' But he could see from his brother's face that Charlie didn't believe him.
'Oh, yeah? Funny you didn't mention it at the time.' Charlie shook his head. 'I thought it might be different once we got you at Hogwarts. Just give you a chance, that's what I told him -'
Percy drew himself up to his full height. 'Told whom?'
'Never mind.' Charlie sighed. He took a step forward then stopped. 'I tried, Perce. I really did. ' He looked as if he was about to say something more but then he bit his lip and turned away, heading in long strides across the quad.
'I didn't.' Percy said, almost to himself, and then, louder, 'I didn't.'
But Charlie was too far away to hear.
END
Author: lazy_neutrino
Recipient: midnight_birth
Rating: PG
Character(s): Percy, Charlie
Warnings: None
Author's Notes: Happy Holidays to my dear recipient! I hope you enjoy this. Sincere thanks to aunty_marion for the beta!
--
'See?' With his gloved hand, Charlie pulled the bramble back.
'I can't -' Percy dropped on to his hands and knees and crawled forwards. The long grass was wetter than he had expected and his trousers were soaked through immediately. There would be hell to pay when Mum found out, he thought grimly, not that it seemed to matter when it was Fred or George.
He snorted. Above him, Charlie made a shushing sound.
It was no good. He still couldn't see. Throwing caution to the winds, Percy grabbed hold of a hawthorn bush. Using it for support, and blind to the havoc the brambles were wreaking on his robes, he manoeuvred himself into the hedge and peered through.
The autumn mist hung over the meadow and for a moment he struggled to see anything at all. He rubbed the condensation from his glasses and squinted.
At the far edge of the meadow, a second field dipped down the hill to a long line of trees. On the horizon, far beyond the forest, the rocky points of mountains pierced the grey sky.
Lights flashed at the forest's edge. Percy pushed his glasses firmly up onto his nose. A rumble came from within the trees, and then a shout.
'I told you.' Charlie's breath drifted across his cheek like thistledown.
'What is it?' Percy whispered.
But all Charlie said was, 'Wait.' He squatted beside Percy, and took off his gloves, shoving them into the pockets of his robe. Reaching up, he pulled down a long tendril of bramble. 'Blackberry?'
Percy nodded eagerly. They sat together in silence, gorging themselves on the fat fruit until their lips and fingers were purple with juice. At last Charlie whispered, 'Now,' and squeezed through the hedge into the meadow. Percy wiped his mouth and followed suit.
The mist was beginning to lift and from the distance he heard men shouting to one another, deep, gruff voices in a language he had never heard before. He glanced at Charlie in confusion. Charlie was leaning forwards, chewing on his thumb, his whole body tense as he stared down at the forest.
Percy shifted into a sitting position. His knees were waterlogged and he was fairly sure his robes would never be the same again.
There was another great thump from the forest, as if someone had dropped an Erumpent. More shouting. Percy tensed.
And something lumbered out of the evening mist.
It was not so broad as a house nor yet so tall, and yet the rusty scales that feathered every inch of its enormous back reminded Percy of nothing so much as the red-tiled roof of the Burrow. As it swung its enormous head from side to side the huge golden eyes narrowed into slits.
Involuntarily Percy shrank back, and the reassuring weight of Charlie's arm settled around his shoulders.
The dragon grunted. A puff of flame floated from one nostril and disappeared.
Half a dozen men emerged from the trees, laden down with ropes and chains. One climbed up onto the dragon's back, a length of chain slung across his back. The dragon seemed to ignore him. Then suddenly, it shrugged, throwing the man thirty feet into the air among a sea of whistles and catcalls. A second man detached himself from the group and began edging towards the dragon from just outside its field of vision.
'Won't someone get hurt?' Percy whispered.
Charlie shook his head. 'It's quite tame,' he whispered back. 'Fireballs are like that: people think they're fierce but they're big kittens really.'
The second man was on the ridge of the dragon's back now, and edging cautiously towards the head. The dragon twitched. The man froze. Leaning forwards, he started to scratch behind the huge beast's ear. The dragon's eyes widened. It tilted its head. Smoke billowed from its nostrils.
Charlie grinned. 'See what I mean?'
And now the man was slipping the chain around the dragon's head and drawing it tight. The Fireball roared its irritation. Its tail thrashed from side to side, uprooting a small pine tree and throwing it into the air. The man on the dragon's back leapt nimbly to the ground and bolted into the forest. The spectators scattered. Percy closed his eyes in horror.
When he opened them again, the chain had been drawn tight around the dragon's neck. It raised an enormous claw and began to scratch at the links, then tilted its head to attempt to chew at them, but this was equally futile. The dragon threw up its head and howled. A great gout of flame sent steam into the damp air and scorched the trees.
Charlie's hand tightened on Percy's shoulder as they began to drag the Fireball back into the forest. 'All over now. We'd better get back.'
'The trouble with Fireballs,' Charlie said as they started back towards the castle, 'is they're not very bright. They had a Horntail last year - bad-tempered brute. It got away and ate four of the horses.'
'I didn't see any horses.'
Charlie gave a wicked grin. 'Looks like they learned a lesson, then.'
'How did you know they would come?'
'I was down here two years ago, on a dare, and I saw them then. It was amazing.' Charlie' face was alive with enthusiasm. 'There's a dragon fair in the Torridan mountains every November; I looked it up.'
'Isn't that a bit dangerous, so close to Hogwarts?'
'The Romanian breeders know what they're doing. The dragons are well looked after.' They were climbing a shallow hill now and Percy had to hurry to keep up. His breath was a white cloud on the autumn air. Like dragon smoke. The image pleased him.
'I'm going to work with dragons one day,' Charlie continued as they crested the hill. 'There's a big reserve near here. I might try to get a job. Or maybe Romania.'
'I was just thinking,' Percy said slowly. 'That won't make Mum very happy.'
'Mum'll get over it. Anyway,' Charlie gave a wicked grin, 'Bill's decided he wants to be a curse-breaker. Dragons are nothing compared to that.'
'Did Bill dare you? Two years ago?'
'Mm.' Charlie glanced at him. 'Look, Perce, don't tell Mum about that. She'll have a fit.'
'I wouldn't.'
--
It was dark by the time they reached the castle and the tall iron gates were locked and chained. Percy stared up at the high walls, his mouth dry with fear.
'It's too late,' he said in despair. 'How are we going to get in?'
'Leaf pile,' Charlie said enigmatically and set off along the side of the wall. Frowning, Percy ran after him. They had covered about a third of a mile before Charlie stopped, walking up to a small heap of stones seemingly piled at random by a birch stump. 'Here.'
'That's not a leaf pile.'
'You worry too much.' Charlie drew his wand and pointed. 'Ascensus.' Two strands of grey rope emerged from the end of his wand; as Percy stared, the strands wove themselves together and stiffened into a ladder. 'Up you go.'
Percy scrambled up the ladder and crouched on the top of the wall. He turned to his brother, eyes wide, as Charlie joined him. 'That was amazing. I thought you couldn't get in and out of Hogwarts.'
Charlie shrugged, but his face flushed with pleasure. 'It's just Apparating you can't do. Anyway, Bill says there's a lake in Yorkshire somewhere - ' He broke off. 'We'd better get back first, before we're missed. Lumos.' He pointed the wand straight down as a narrow beam of light shot from it. 'There you are. Leaf pile.'
There was indeed a leaf pile. It was the largest leaf pile Percy had ever seen: a leaf pile so high and so wide that he could have hidden all of Gryffindor House in it and had room for several Hufflepuffs as well.
'I'll go first,' Charlie told him. 'Hagrid leaves his rake there sometimes. Mum's not going to be very pleased if you lose an eye.' He leapt lightly down. 'It's OK. Jump!'
Percy jumped.
For the briefest of instants he was flying and then his feet hit leaves. They slithered past him, their rough edges scraping at his robes, leaving damp tracks across his hands and face. He sank, screwing up his face and closing his eyes as he went under.
Charlie grabbed his arm, pulling him upwards and out.
Percy was grinning so hard his face hurt. 'I thought I was going to drown in leaves. That was brilliant!'
'Not bad.' Charlie returned the grin. 'We've missed dinner. House elves?'
House elves! Percy nodded in awe.
As they slipped in through the kitchen door, a strange feeling of uneasiness crept over him, as if they were being watched. He looked around sharply, just in time to see a burly dark-haired figure slip round a corner. Wondering if he should tell Charlie, he hurried after his brother.
'Try this.' Charlie passed him a plate of steak and kidney pudding. 'Or there's treacle tart.' He gave Percy a sharp look. 'Something up?'
Percy hesitated. Why spoil the evening? 'Nothing.' He took an enormous slice of tart and bit into it. Charlie gave an approving nod.
His dreams that night were full of dragons. He rode the Fireball through the skies, wheeling and diving, scattering the fishing eagles. Charlie and Bill, outmanoeuvred on their Hungarian Horntails, rode beside him, casting admiring glances in his direction.
When he woke up he was starving.
At breakfast the unease came over him again and he looked up to see a boy watching him from the Slytherin table. He had seen the boy before; he was a year or so older than Percy and remarkably ugly. The boy gave him a triumphant sneer and turned his back.
Percy poked his bacon miserably. Had the boy seen them last night? Were they going to get into trouble? He looked along the Gryffindor table, trying to catch Charlie's eyes, but his brother was laughing and joking with a bunch of bigger boys and Percy didn't know if he should interrupt.
The first lesson of the day was Potions. Normally he found the subject easy but this morning everything seemed to go wrong. An unguarded flick of his knife sent a shower of chopped lacewings flying across the room; a few moments later, his shaking hands emptied half a bottle of Mandrake extract into his cauldron instead of the requisite three drops. His potion turned an angry mauve and began screaming. Percy dropped his pestle and buried his face in his hands.
Professor Snape was beside him at once. A flick from his wand silenced the potion. 'Five points from Gryffindor,' he announced, and then, very quietly so that only Percy could hear him, 'Tired, Weasley?'
Percy stared at the floor in misery. He had been right about the boy. And now Professor Snape knew, and that meant everybody knew, and he was going to be expelled from Hogwarts.
'When you've cleaned away this mess,' Professor Snape indicated the potion, 'Professor McGonagall wants to see you in her office.'
It was almost a relief.
--
Professor McGonagall had been more than fair, he acknowledged, as he staggered out of her office and down the stairs. He wasn't going to be expelled. Charlie wasn't going to be expelled. And a week of detentions was quite generous under the circumstances. Wondering if Charlie would be doing the detentions with him, he headed for the quad to find his brother.
Charlie was there, as Percy knew he would be, tossing a Quaffle from hand to hand and chatting to two other boys. One of them nudged the other as Percy crossed the grass and they nodded to Charlie and walked away.
'Hey -' Percy recoiled as his brother wheeled round to face him.
'She's taken me off the Quidditch team.' Charlie's eyes were hard. Percy waited, not daring to breathe.
'You had to tell them,' Charlie said, his anger coming out in a rush. 'It could have been our secret, but no. Tell-tale Percy strikes again.'
'I didn't tell. There was a boy -' But he could see from his brother's face that Charlie didn't believe him.
'Oh, yeah? Funny you didn't mention it at the time.' Charlie shook his head. 'I thought it might be different once we got you at Hogwarts. Just give you a chance, that's what I told him -'
Percy drew himself up to his full height. 'Told whom?'
'Never mind.' Charlie sighed. He took a step forward then stopped. 'I tried, Perce. I really did. ' He looked as if he was about to say something more but then he bit his lip and turned away, heading in long strides across the quad.
'I didn't.' Percy said, almost to himself, and then, louder, 'I didn't.'
But Charlie was too far away to hear.
END