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Percy Colors	By : IndigoInsane Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 5868 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter I swear. This is just my way of expressing my Percy fixation without making any sort of profit I swear.

Chapter List
- 6
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- 8
Cotton Candy

            Percy didn’t have much of a sweet tooth but he gladly ate the cotton candy given to him by his niece. “Thank you Victoire.”

            Pleased with herself the two year old toddled off to continue helping her mother pass out various goodies purchased at the food stands. Off in the distance other young children were dragging their parents off to see various exhibits and even a few magically powered carnival rides. Percy was staying in the shaded area covered in benches with a few other tired adults.

            “Tell your brother to stop bothering me about children.”

            “What?” Percy turned behind him to see Severus eyeing Bill with disdain.

            “I wasn’t bothering anyone! Just a bit curious.” Perhaps sensing the imminent danger her husband was in Fleur joined the three of them with Victoire at her side and baby Dominique in her arms.

            “Curious? About what?”

            Bill shrugged, still uncomfortable under the full attention of his former professor. “Children.”

            Fleur lit up instantly, “O! About zat, could you please watch ze children on Saturday?”

            Percy wouldn’t have minded in the least but given the current mood of his husband it didn’t exactly sound like the best idea so he had to decline. “I’m sorry but I think we might be busy as well that night.” Disappointed Fleur thanked him for considering before spotting Ginny and moving to join her.

            Bill sat down to join him, snatching a few strands of candy from his lap. “That’s fine. Perfectly fine,” he would have continued but seemed to be withering under the heavy concentration of Severus who had sat down beside him.

            For the sake of his brother Percy felt that is was best for him to intervene. “Babysitting isn’t that horrible Severus. We’ve done it before remember?”

            “Your idiot brother wasn’t talking about that,” Severus snapped.

            “There’s no need to be angry Severus, I’m sure he didn’t mean to offend. Right Bill?” Percy only paid half-hearted attention. Slight arguments such as this were hardly new and his mother made quite a sight in the distance cooing over her newest grandchild while waving for Andromeda to bring Teddy over.

            Bill was very quick to agree with his brother, “Absolutely. It just took you two so long to get married we were wondering if you two were considering a brood of your own.”

            “Absolutely.”

            “Never.”

            Startled, Severus and Percy turned to face each other. “What do you mean?” Percy asked, “Mother and Father have plenty of grandchildren.”

            “What do I care about other people’s children?” Severus retorted. Suddenly Bill was feeling incredibly awkward to be sitting in the middle.

            “That’s horrible Severus, having a niece or nephew over is more than enough for me. Can you imagine the nightmare it would be to keep a child out of my paperwork constantly? And what about your potions lab?”

            “There is an incredible invention called the lock. I’ve also heard several spells will make do.” Oh yes, Bill wanted to melt into himself. He swore it was only thoughts of Fleur and the children that prevented him from doing so.

            “Well fine then. Exactly where are we going to get a child?” You know what, Bill would settle with suddenly being set on fire so he could politely run away.

            “In case you have forgotten there was quite recently a war going on meaning there are orphans everywhere. Or we could always find a willing witch-“

            “Don’t you dare finish that sentence Severus.” It could actually be quite pleasant, a nice burning sensation to replace the hippogriffs dancing in his stomach.

            “Well, I think you would be great parents.” Was that him speaking? When the two arguing wizards remembered there was someone in between them and begun glaring at him Bill realized that yes, he had spoken up.

            Severus at least seemed somewhat pleased. “Even your brother agrees, and he’s already started a new batch of Gryffindor’s to terrorize me.”

            “I don’t care what my brother thinks!” Percy snapped then quickly apologized, “I’m sorry Bill I think you have plenty of good opinions and your children are wonderful.” Now he turned back to Severus, “I just don’t want to keep any of them.”

            “It would be different with a child of our own.” Severus insisted. “We wouldn’t let ours run loose without proper clothes.” Great, now his brother in law and former professor was criticizing his skills as a parent just because Victoire couldn’t always keep her dress on. They were itchy; the little girl had informed both of her parents herself.

            “Just because Bill has troubles keeping track of his children doesn’t mean we will do any better.” Oi! In case no one had noticed Dominique could crawl faster than a baby dragon. Charlie had confirmed it last week when he had to help him find the baby somewhere in the attic before Fleur came home.

            Bill was wise enough to keep his trap shut on the subject since once again he was being ignored. “Nonsense, it would only take discipline. Our children could easily be far ahead by their first year of Hogwarts.”

            “Who said they would go to Hogwarts? I don’t want any child of mine exposed to all the inner house fighting. The other day I had Ross refusing to work with Jones or Carmine because they used to be in Slytherin. Forty years after their school days and people are still obsessed with what house people were in. It’s just ridicules, besides it’s so important to be fluent in another language these days I was thinking about a school in Italy or even Spain.”

            “So you have been considering our options.” Severus certainly sounded smug.

            “Only very briefly and you can’t deny the benefits of being bilingual.” Bill spotted Ron and Hermione walking by and tried to subtly wave like a lunatic to get them nearby. It didn’t work of course.

            If either man saw a flailing idiot sandwiched between them they didn’t comment on it. Instead Severus continued to pursue the subject of children. “It will have to be Russian. I know my supplier in Berlin has been cheating me on the accounts because he claims he can’t write in English.”

            “You think everyone is trying to cheat you. Or sleep with me which is just ridicules.” Bill had to roll his eyes, without him and Charlie it was a miracle Percy had remained oblivious towards everything outside his studies. At least that was Snape’s problem now.

            “I only speak the truth. Now about nurseries, all those pastel colors are simply to nauseating to endure. Greens will do nicely.”

            “Would you stop assuming that you have convinced me already!” Several strangers turned to look at the three causing Percy to blush and continue quietly. “Bill’s already spent months complaining to Charlie about how he and Fleur can’t agree on how to raise the children. We can’t even agree on the proper way to cook breakfast.”

Deciding it was time to save himself Bill spoke up during a lull in the argument before someone remembered he was alive and could hear. “I think I hear Victoire calling for her daddy.” While it was certainly tempting to stick around and defend himself he was fairly sure no comments were meant to be spiteful.

Before he could make his grand escape three steps from the bench Snape had him pinned down with a look. “Weasley, stay here and tell your brother he’s making the wrong decision.”

“Nonsense. Bill, I can’t watch any of your children if I’m saddled with my own.” Damn it he was so close.

Before Bill could say anything Severus was speaking as he stood up to stop Percy from leaving. “As if that would be a great tragedy, Dominique was the one to vomit under the couch.”

“Exactly. Children vomit Severus. All the time and I’m not including the horrible stories about having to watch the twins, Ron and Ginny when they were sick with the dragon pox.” Wait a minute; Bill didn’t have any memory of that happening.

“That’s because your parents bred beyond their capacity and forced you to help raise your siblings. We’re smarter than that. Also, our children won’t vomit.”

There was no way that Bill could allow Snape to outright insult his parents. “Wait a damned minute-”

“Shut up Bill. Go help Fleur or Ginny watch the kids would you?” Dismissed completely Percy turned his full attention to his husband. “Severus, we are talking about natural bodily functions that everyone has.”

Severus was still perfectly nonchalant. “With the exception of some poor infant in an orphanage that we are meant to raise.”

It was getting difficult for even Percy to guess if Severus was still being serious or not but he still had to keep arguing. “Nonsense. Although useful there has to be more criteria than that. What about a family history of squibs or illness? No, no, you have to be incredibly careful about proper research.”

Seeing his chance Bill practically ran towards the other side of the fair where he met with his mother.

“Oh dear, where did Percy wander off to?”

“He’s off arguing with Snape about their future complacent, well-dressed, trilingual child with the ability to never barf and a family history of immunity to everything.”

If Molly found anything Bill had said the least bit odd she didn’t blink twice. “I was wondering when they were going to start a family.”



            Taste of Summer

            It was officially the second week of summer and Percy’s first day of his vacation. People were still meandering about happily exposing themselves to the sun. Except for Percy, he was stuck in the Minister’s home finishing several last minute reports. Of course he could look at the beautiful outdoors from a comfortable window seat in the study. Kingsley’s home overlooked a park. One that he could be relaxing in with a good book, Percy couldn’t help sighing over his stack of papers.

“Are you still upset? Because I believe we should be directing our emotions elsewhere.” Kingsley had better be referring to strangling the Head of the Department of Mysteries for suddenly demanding that a box of reports be read through.

Percy tore his gaze away from the window just long enough to glare, “Aren’t these extremely confidential and for your eyes only?” The way the poor assistant had gone on early that morning the variously sized boxes were likely to burst into flames just because of Percy’s presence.

With all the wisdom in the world Kingsley merely shrugged, “Then she should have given me more than three days. Besides, it was a sign from Merlin himself that you were here this morning.”

“That will certainly teach me to stay over.” Percy muttered before turning the page. At least the information was interesting. Who knew that there may be a Rosier running around the Czech Republic?

Arms wrapped around him despite Percy’s attempts to shrug them off. “You can’t possibly mean that. I thought you enjoyed yourself quite a bit.”

“Maybe,” Percy bluffed, “but the morning after certainly isn’t worth it.” He grabbed a small journal from the top of a stack Small, cramped, handwriting stood out in blue ink and Percy caught the number four written several times each page just casually skimming through a few pages.

Kingsley didn’t take the hint but he did leave only one arm around Percy when they moved to an overstuffed couch. With a certain amount of glee he attacked a handful of papers with a quill. “So many chances have been dashed. I will have to jinx Mrs. Emmaline Ross if she continues to use paperwork to ruin my summer.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you for hours. See? You don’t even listen to me.”

“Nonsense. Every word you speak is pure gold. Hand me a new quill will you?” One was reluctantly handed over and the two sat in silence for some time. Percy stewing in frustration and Kingsley as charming as ever. For both of them the room gradually began to shrink until the open window seemed to dominate the entire wall.

Percy couldn’t help but stare at it in longing. From the other end of the room he could see the treetops rustling in the wind, the bright sunshine. The first time in his entire career that he took a vacation to enjoy himself and his boss pins him down…To work! Merlin’s pants he needed to get his mind out of the gutter. That type of thinking had been the source of his problems in the first place.

The hand that had been fiddling with the waist of his trousers suddenly shot up to the back of Percy’s neck. “I was thinking the opera for our next date.”

“Date?” Percy had to set the sheets of paper aside. “Is that what you think last night was?”

Kingsley was all smugness, “I’m hardly the person to question your virtue.” If Percy was a violent person he certainly hit the older man. Instead he carelessly threw the papers aside and gave up on reading.

“I’m going.” He was halfway towards the door when Kingsley began to follow.

“Perfect. There’s a sandwich shop on the corner.” There was no use in trying to talk Kingsley out of it. All Percy could do was stay two steps ahead while he was bombarded with casual chatter. Even when he passed the shop and headed straight for the wooded area of the park he was followed.

It was still infuriating when Percy sat under a tree and was joined seconds later. “Would you go away?”

“No because I refuse to let this opportunity slip out of my fingers. You are much to amazing to be used as a one-night stand.”

Percy sighed, grateful no one was around to listen to the Minister of Magic describing his sex life. “I used you for a one-night stand actually. And I don’t mind in the least.”

“But I do.” Of course someone walked by just as Kingsley was pulling Percy closer to him.

Prying none too gently at the fingers tracing the outline of his hip Percy tried to remain staring at the ground. “You have my deepest apologies then.” More casual walkers approached, definitely interested in what was going on.

Kingsley didn’t particularly care. “You’re not going to just ignore this.”

“Ignore what?”

“We slept together; I have feelings of an intimate nature towards you.” Percy winced; did he have to raise his voice? Before he could find a way to quiet him down or point out the openly interested group of people Kingsley continued. “I think you are brilliant Percy and I want to date you.”

“Don’t say that!” Percy hissed. “Are you insane? This is going to be all over the papers tomorrow. My mother reads the Prophet every day!”

Kingsley chuckled, “I think she’s read much worse. Now, what about the opera on Saturday? I believe that wonderful Louisa Medina has come up with what is supposed to be the masterpiece of her career.”

“Are you listening to me at all?”

“No. Would you prefer dinner and a play? I’m not sure about anyone as popular as the theater near Diagon Alley but we could manage.” All the while Kingsley kept a very pleasant tone and even waved to a young witch with a camera. Percy did his best to disappear off the face of the earth.

After a while Percy realized his efforts were in vain. Standing up only worsened the problem as Kingsley’s hand not so subtly moved lower. “I’m going home.”

“See you Saturday.”



Romeo

“Would you remember to say your lines?” Angelina Johnson, head of the student run drama department yelled. “Come on Oliver, we only have a couple of weeks practice before spring sports start up. How are you going to lead the football team if we have to keep doing the same scene over and over again?”

Oliver Wood, who happened to make a charming Romeo, stared off of the stage at Angelina rather sadly. “I can’t help it. I know we’re supposed to be doing the big scene where Romeo sees Juliet and falls madly in love but I can’t help it. Have you even looked at Percy’s ass in those tights? It’s amazing!”

Angelina ignored the snickering from the rest of the group, Percy’s humiliation and Lavender’s indignation. “No Oliver,” she couldn’t help bringing up both hands to rub her temples, “I haven’t and although I’m sure it’s a lovely sight-”

“I’d say!” Lee Jordan interrupted from the crowd as Percy grew redder.

“Shut up Jordan. You’re not even supposed to be in this scene.” Angelina had to take several deep breaths before continuing. “Wood, just pay attention to Brown and stop missing your lines. Weasley, move to the back.”

With a minimum of fuss the directions were followed and soon the students started the scene over again. Lavender was every ounce the fiery young woman, Percy stayed with his back to the wall and Oliver once again missed his cue.

“Damn it Wood what was it this time?” At least Oliver looked properly ashamed as Angelina scolded him.

Eventually he was allowed to speak up. “I was just thinking about a little change in the play.”

Lavender was the one to reply first. “No! I’m Juliet. We’re not having your boyfriend cross-dress to steal my part.”

Percy was of course equally loud with his protests. “For the last time that was Oliver’s idea! I don’t want to be Juliet.”

Angelina stopped her pacing to collapse on a seat in the front row. “We’ve been over this Oliver. Everyone keeps their assigned roles.”

“No, nothing like that. I was just thinking about a little script change.” Judging by Oliver’s beaming smile Angelina’s life was going to be descending into a lower level of hell. Why did Romeo’s understudy have to get the measles? Seemingly encouraged by Angelina’s resigned stare Oliver perked up a bit while moving in front of Fred and George to continue. “I was just thinking it always just seemed like Tybalt is jealous of Juliet ya know? I mean Romeo may be a bit of a dunderhead but he’s hot and instead of wanting a piece of kickass red-head he goes after his thirteen year old cousin!”

“What’s your point Oliver?”

“Tybalt and Romeo should be the ones to hook up.” Several students, including Percy, were immediately protesting crimes against great literature. Others were delighted by this new turn of events. Fred and George loudly proclaimed that Mercutio and Benvolio had to be sleeping together and Lavender wanted to marry the prince.

They were so caught up in their arguments that no one paid attention to Angelina yelling at them to shut up. In a fit of desperation she was forced to run backstage and flick the lights on and off several times. Sadly resorting to preschool tactics worked, they shut up and looked at the ceiling with an almost comical confusion.

Angelina walked through the cluster of curtains onstage and motioned for everyone to gather around her. “Everyone, we have memorized our lines for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. That’s the play we’re performing. Oliver, if you have to look like an idiot and close your eyes for half the play go ahead. Percy, keep your back to the wall and stop looking pretty. Fred! George! Get your hands off each other and keep it at a smothering tension. I’m sorry Lavender but royalty isn’t in your future. Everyone else get back to your positions.”

Slowly the scene was set again with nearly half the actors still moping. Things even went well until the part when Romeo and Juliet danced together. Not so subtle longing glances were cast at an annoyed Tybalt. Mercutio and Benvolio kept dancing with each other and of course Juliet stomped on Romeo’s feet more than once when the prince fluttered by.

All Angelina could do was shrug. They were saying the right lines and managing to look at each other at least.

Three weeks later Romeo and Juliet: The Only Slight Revised Edition premiered.

Forgotten Secret

Everything was quite comfortable in Lucius’ room. At first Percy had felt ridicules and more than slightly belittled sitting at the older man’s feet but with a warm fire and hands in his hair Percy was soon to drowsy to care. It seemed he would be staying the night since Draco wouldn’t be home for several days and Narcissa was still in Florence.

“Our families used to be quite close.”

Percy opened his eyes and tried to understand what had just been said. To help Lucius allowed him to move back a bit so he was more or less sitting on his own. “Close? I was under the impression our families have always hated each other.” His voice took on a slightly amused tone. “Something about the Weasleys being blood traitors.”

            “That barely started three centuries ago, how else would your family have remained pure? I am referring to something at least several decades before that.” Percy certainly disagreed with most of what Lucius was saying but he still waited with interest for him to continue speaking. Lucius was never one to pass up an opportunity to lecture.

            Patiently Percy waited for Lucius to continue even as he was pulled back and Lucius reached around him to start undoing the clasp on his robe. When Lucius instructed him to lie in front of the fire however, he gave up. “Then what was it that really caused the hatred between our families?”

            Lucius didn’t look up from where he was shedding his own robes. “Unfortunately the Malfoy records lack any specific information. They go from warm business relations and several visits to neighboring estates and then nothing. Perhaps your father would be able to provide more information?” It was obvious from his tone of voice that Lucius doubted that Arthur could remember his lunch let alone obscure family information. But it wasn’t outright rude which was as much as Percy could ever expect from him. Besides, his father had never been comfortable telling any of the Weasley children the names of his own brothers let alone any sort of family history so Percy hardly expected him to be of much help on the subject.

            Percy needn’t worry about any more jabs against his family and how best to deal with them because that was it for conversation of the coherent variety for that night. When Percy woke up it was Sunday, his clothes were neatly laid out and he was alone.

            He didn’t mind, there were a variety of reasons for Lucius to leave, his wife or son most likely although an important piece of business would not be out of the question.

If anything Percy was glad that Lucius hadn’t stuck around if something important came up. At first the two had been much more cautious about their affair but lately Lucius had become less so. It had gotten to the point where the only precaution Lucius was seriously taking was to make sure the house was empty when Percy visited. He heavily suspected that it was only well used influence and ‘donations’ that kept this entire mess from the papers. There was also the very likely fact that Narcissa and Draco knew…

When that trail of thinking came up for Percy he couldn’t help but delay getting out of bed for a few minutes to think it over. Was this an accepted part of Malfoy family life or did Narcissa and Draco hate him for such a selfish affair?

Oh Merlin what would his mother think if she found out? He had been single for so long that she had to be suspicious, was it time for him to start dating someone he could introduce to her? But that would certainly mean ending his relationship with Lucius. Or did it? Pushing those questions out of mind Percy was soon dressed and using the floo back to his office without breakfast.

Technically he had the day off but he couldn’t resist seeing if Marsco had completed his assignment. A quick check with the secretary told him he hadn’t, which gave him the excuse to wander to the other side of the Ministry. If Percy was worried about looking suspicious it was unfounded, he had a reputation for working constantly and helping out in just about every department.

He did make a point of finding Marsco and reminding him to stop flirting with his assistant and fill out some paperwork. Then it was off to check the records.

The Records Building was divided into several dozen categories, and the level of suffering depended on exactly what you were researching. Percy gazed with longing as he passed the neatly organized corridor dedicated to 14^th century woodworks. If only he didn’t have to keep descending down various flights of stairs that grew more and more feeble with every floor.

Finally after what seemed like forever he was standing in front of an ancient grey door that he had to shove open. He had been in this particular room once as a child with his father and unfortunately it looked as if that was the last time anyone had been in there. Papers were scattered everywhere in only the vaguest of chronological order and without care many of the older books and journals were crumbling into dust. Lighting was nonexistent and a layer of grime coated everything.

Everything Percy would have expected in a room dedicated to the history of his family. With a minimum of sighing and thankful he hadn’t worn his best robes he dived in. It was overwhelming, completely unorganized but thorough enough to include every marriage, birth, death and even receipts for everyday purchases.

After well over an hour Percy could only conclude that at one point the Weasley family had been modestly wealthy. It was several more hours before Percy had to stop for the day to go home and rest after stopping by his office first. For his hours of labor Percy also walked away with several ancient deeds showing several Weasley homes being sold to several different families, the Malfoys not being one of them. Meaning he had wasted most of the day. Aside from that there were no other business dealings or other records, aside from a few duels mentioned in the paper that would indicate a feud between the families.

Resigned to a day wasted Percy grabbed a few papers that had caught his eye and headed back towards his office. Judging by the infrequent number of people he saw Percy could tell how late in the evening it was. At least it still wouldn’t be unusual for him to still be hanging around with the rest of the witches and wizards too busy to cease work and go home for anything beyond the occasional meal, and rare social interaction pertaining to something outside the Ministry.

Percy had been proud to be a part of such a small, exclusive group that required such dedication. But lately…Percy could only see his pristine office with his name on the door and think about how comfortable he would be at home at such a late hour. How many hours had he spent organizing every square inch of space when he could have been enjoying a cup of tea and novel?

At least with every item so perfectly in place a thin envelope stood out even more next to a row of quills on his desk. Standing at the foot of his desk Percy neatly tore it open and began to read. It was a letter from Lucius politely requesting his company that evening. Unusual given that his wife was supposed to be back and Percy was tempted to stay at home given how tiring his day had already been but he thought better of it. Percy did not even want to imagine how a Malfoy would react to being stood up no matter how weary it left him.

The documents were re-gathered and Percy dragged himself to the fireplace, grateful that after six months Lucius had consented to connecting the floo in Percy’s apartment to his study. He had also given several hints on how not to look like a blundering idiot while being flung at high speeds that Percy found particularly useful when he managed to step gracefully into the study where Lucius was waiting for him at his desk.

It took a few moments but Lucius did look up from a small ledger after Percy had sat down across from him. “I almost thought you had other business. I didn’t interrupt anything did I?” Of course Lucius would be proud of the fact that there was no other business that would be considered more important than a summons from him.

“I was caught up in researching the history between our families.” That certainly caught Lucius’ attention.

“Show me what you found and come closer.” Without question Percy walked around the desk and allowed Lucius to pull him onto his lap. It felt incredibly childish and eerily reminiscent of his father reading him bedtime stories as a child but Percy pushed those thoughts out of his mind and watched Lucius calmly looked the papers over. “Deeds?”

“Mostly yes, there are also other business transactions showing my family was forced to sell off most of their assets. I couldn’t uncover why though and absolutely nothing ended up in Malfoy hands.” That in itself was unusual because they were the only pureblood family not to benefit from the Weasley’s financial downfall.

Percy shared this observation with Lucius who was intrigued. “You are correct. We can also be sure that the Malfoy’s did not directly drive your family into debt because the laws at the time would have meant that any Weasley assets would have been given to my ancestors instead of sold to someone else.”

“That doesn’t leave out something more subtle or give us a reason for this decades long feud.” When Lucius ignored him in favor of looking the deeds over again Percy started to wonder if this was something beyond curiosity for him. Certainly this was an interesting piece of trivia and looked to be deceptively complicated but why?

Just as Percy was about to break the silence Lucius brought a few yellowed pages that had once been part of a ledger to his attention. “Orders for dozens of yards of fabric and lace in the middle of the Weasleys selling everything they own?”

The sudden revelation startled Percy and although Lucius showed no outward signs he could see some surprise in the man’s eyes as well. Without a word Percy was lifted off Lucius’ lap and being led out of the study. Instead of turning the usual left towards the bedroom they took a right and soon found several staircases leading up and into an ornate hallway bearing many stern faced portraits and the Malfoy coat of arms everywhere. At the end of the hallway was a large wooden door that radiated enough magic to make Percy’s eyes water.

Without a word to Percy Lucius continued to lead him down the hall until they were standing in front of the door and it was being opened. Seeing the inside of the room and various archways leading to other areas Percy’s first thoughts were that this was the ideal place to keep a family history instead of some musty little hole in the Ministry’s more poorly kept area.

Everything was very neatly organized onto bookshelves and clearly labeled. Tapestries, maps and even jewelry were put on display with dates and other notes beside them. Percy could even see a fleet of model ships charmed to sail across a large table engraved with images of oceans and continents along the surface. All this was gleamed from only a quick view before Lucius had grabbed his hand and started pulling him further back through several archways.

The room they stopped in was less decorated and smelled heavily of old paper and ink but that was no concern as Lucius showed him the date scribbled on the top of the page before setting it down and directing Percy towards several shelves to begin searching.

Even with two people and a good idea of what they were searching for it became abundantly clear after hours of searching that the thoroughness of the Malfoy records put them at a disadvantage. Every single minute detail of each business transaction, invitation to a social event and who was in attendance and every other possible aspect that could be recorded was there. Logically Percy knew Lucius had to be as exhausted as he was when it was suggested that they stop for dinner but he couldn’t help but feel as if he was being granted a favor by the older man. Perhaps it was true and he was faking any fatigue to be considerate towards Percy. Lucius had survived two wars on the losing side with his wealth and family intact after all.

            Percy stopped his thoughts there and focused on following Lucius outside and towards the back porch where an outdoor dining set was in place. It wasn’t until a house elf had scurried of the kitchens that Percy thought to ask where Narcissa was.

            The reply was brief and more or less that it was nothing Percy should worry about. Still nervous about another member of the Malfoy family suddenly barging in Percy tried to at least appear calm as he ate his dinner. If Lucius noticed the frequent glances towards the backdoor or windows he didn’t comment on it. Instead he chose to completely shred any peace of mind that Percy had. “Severus knows.”

            His tea spilled when Percy dropped his spoon harshly against the cup but he hardly noticed that the rest of his meal was ruined. “Severus knows. About us?”

            Lucius raised an eyebrow in half amusement. “That’s hardly a well kept secret Percy. What I meant was that Severus knows that I am very interested in the history between our families. Now that we have the best idea of what we are looking for he will be joining us tomorrow.” With that said the blond calmly resumed eating to give Percy time to stare at the tablecloth and try to re-gather his thoughts.

            Did he know? Percy doubted Lucius did or perhaps he didn’t care. Either way he wasn’t going to bring the subject up. Lucius hardly deserved to know the complete story anyways with how secretive he was being about his motivations towards solving this mystery.

            In a daze and far more focused on the rocks in his stomach Percy realized that he was standing in front of Lucius’ bed with a pair of pajamas in hand with no idea how he had gotten there. Hearing Lucius behind him preparing for bed he followed suit with many questions still in his mind.

            They didn’t have sex that night which was somewhat unusual but something Percy was grateful for. In his current state of mixed emotions he doubted he could do much besides lay there and catalog everything wrong with his current situation. Hardly the most considerate behavior for anyone else involved.

            That didn’t mean that Percy immediately lay down and went to sleep. Far from it, he couldn’t remember actually sleeping at all besides fitful dozing in-between worrying. Sometime in between tossing and turning Lucius pulled him to lie against him with firm instructions to be still and sleep.

            The morning was hardly much better, after a quiet breakfast with Lucius they were back in the room they had started searching yesterday. Of course Severus was there but one benefit of being sleep deprived and wound tighter than a pygmy puff trapped in a room with Fred and George was that he couldn’t bring himself to feel any sort of awkwardness.

            Based on Severus’ dourer than usual attitude Percy could guess that he knew only as much as Percy did. Even as the three worked diligently Lucius provided no answers as to why an interesting piece of trivia was so important to him. But he was getting impatient, when they stopped for a light lunch in one of the less formal dining rooms Lucius barely touched his food before returning to the search.

            Alone for the first time in over three years Percy was relieved that their parting had been so quiet and to their mutual satisfaction. It would certainly have made the following conversation even more unbearable. The moment Lucius stepped out of the room Severus had was looking up at Percy with an intensity normally reserved for when a student had failed him in a particularly horrible way. “I am no friend of Lucius’ Percy. Draco is my godson because Narcissa and I have remained close despite her marriage to a philanderer. To be even more honest the only reason I came was bribery and I suspect Lucius is taking his own sick amusement out of reminding me that no matter how many affairs he has Narcissa won’t leave him and I’m obligated to hear her constant complaints on the subject.”

            Percy made the effort to look up from his plate when it seemed obvious he was expected to respond. “I’m sorry Severus. I don’t know why-”

            Severus waived him off, “Narcissa knew this would be a problem the day she met him. If she ever thought that Lucius would be monogamous it was delusion on her part. As for why he has deviated from his usual harlots completely lacking any thought I do not know and more importantly I do not give a damn.”

            Oddly enough Percy felt reassured at Severus’ words. It was something he had always liked about the man, even when others complained about his off putting personality Percy found his biting sarcasm refreshing. Of course he was still being harshly judged by his ex for having an affair with a married man but at this point in Percy’s social life saying he had anyone to converse with counted as a plus.

The two finished their meal in silence and that was it for interaction between them as Percy rushed back to continue the search. Re-entering the now familiar room without Severus the only acknowledgement from Lucius was to point out a stack of letters on a small table next to an under stuffed couch that looked promising.

Needing no further encouragement Percy sat down beside him and began reading at random. The letters were from further back than he had previously been searching and dealt more with business than personal affairs. Nothing of particular interest stood out aside from a few most likely illegal uses of tariffs but that was far from surprising. When Lucius had told him how little the Malfoy family actually paid the Ministry in taxes he had nearly fainted. Of course that had most likely changed now that the war was over and it was more important than ever to stay on the light side of the law…

A hand squeezing his thigh snapped Percy out of his idle thoughts. Already blushing in anticipation of chastisement he turned to see Lucius instead eyeing him with a smug triumph. In his hands was a pristine but old piece of paper. A closer look revealed it was a marriage certificate as they had suspected, complete with a date and the signature of Elaine Weasley. The only other oddity was the lack of a signature on the opposite line.

Lucius turned the paper over and read the faded handwriting out loud. “Betrothal between Elaine Weasley and Caspius Malfoy severed.” That was it. No further explanations or reasoning behind it. The most likely conclusion being the Weasley’s sliding financial state.

Or at least that’s what they thought at first, the same envelope that contained the certificate also held several letters exchanged between Caspius Malfoy and Uriel Weasley. Sitting close together Lucius and Percy took turns reading aloud the letters between the two as the revelations became increasingly disturbing.

Apparently the betrothal was supposed to be impossible to call off because an earlier contract signed stated that Caspius Malfoy acknowledged the child of an unmarried Elaine as his own daughter. The law was on the Weasley’s side when they appealed to the courts demanding that a marriage take place for the sake of both parties honor. Seemingly with no grudge the Malfoy family had agreed to the marriage until the Weasley’s were suddenly on the edge of bankruptcy.

Seeing an opportunity the Malfoy’s were the ones to go to the courts to strip the Weasley’s of their status because of their new economic state. Because of the Malfoy connections they won their appeal and were no longer required to follow through with any marriage. Several weeks later Caspius Malfoy and Rebecca Lestrange were married. More than enough for a grudge in Percy’s opinion.

Surprisingly Lucius agreed. Seeing that Percy was caught off guard by this he explained, “A good Malfoy remembers their children first. My ancestor had no other children besides his daughter and should have behaved reasonably. In my opinion the Malfoy family owes the Weasleys a marriage.”

Brandy

Percy woke up feeling as if he had chewed on a piece of cotton and then fallen headfirst down several flights of stairs. Combined with the heaviness in his limbs and a nauseas feeling it was no wonder he couldn’t focus on anything besides a swirl of lights and the heaviness in his body. He was moving also but that was all he could describe.

            There was a sort of tumbling sensation and then a pop sound just as Percy passed out. The first time he opened his eyes Percy could slowly piece together that the swirling lights had been replaced by darkness and he was lying down. Still feeling completely muddled Percy could only remain conscious for a few moments before falling back into something that felt deeper than sleep only to wake up again for a brief time and repeat the pattern.

            It felt like days but only a few hours later while the stars were still out, Percy finally woke up with some awareness of his surroundings only to immediately turn his head to the side and vomit into a conveniently placed wastebasket. He was lying in an unfamiliar bed with stiff sheets and mildew smelling pillows. That was it for observations as Percy failed to find any relief for the pounding headache and constant nausea he was suffering. He didn’t immediately black out again but his senses were still far to muddled to make sense of anything and his body felt sluggish and cumbersome.

            Far too caught up in empting his stomach Percy didn’t notice someone else was in the room until a hand was roughly grabbing his shoulder and jerking him up. A vial was shoved in his face and for a moment Percy had the state of mind to resist until a familiar voice spoke.

            “Drink this you idiot child unless you want to die of dehydration.” Severus Snape, his former professor? To unbalanced to consider the slight chance of polyjuice potion or simple bad intentions Percy allowed himself to be manhandled into a sitting position against the headboard and swallowed as the vial was tipped back for him. To his great relief the nausea and head pounding dimmed to a bearable level although he was still quite a leap from coherency.

            This didn’t stop Severus from launching into a tirade as Percy’s glassy eyes tried to stay focused on him. Percy couldn’t make out most of it although he did understand the general theme of him being an idiot.

            If Severus noticed his audience was far from lucid he hardly cared. Carried away by his anger he was soon striding around the room continuing his tirade. Percy sunk back against the headboard and drifted off.

            When Percy woke up again the light from the windows on either side of him nearly blinded him before he dove headfirst into the pillow. The entire night was a blur to him and Percy spent the next minute or so trying to piece together what happened. Except he couldn’t remember actually going anywhere outside his apartment and he had no idea what he was doing in some strange bedroom. Until proven otherwise he would assume he had been kidnapped and was about to be murdered. All he needed to do was work past the pounding in his head so he could start to care.

            That didn’t prove terribly difficult when the door was slammed open to reveal his former potions professor carrying a tray with fresh food on it. Feeling incredibly uncomfortable Percy sat up as the tray was placed on his lap and he realized how hungry he was. Until he looked up to see Snape standing over him glaring. “Exactly how much of last night do you remember Weasley?”

            Percy’s voice cracked as he replied, “Not much sir, just promising to meet Oliver Wood down the street.”

            “Try harder than that Weasley. A bar correct?” The last sentence was spoken with such disdain that Percy couldn’t help but flinch.

            “Yes…” There were other bits and pieces, mainly blurry memories of waking up at various intervals of the night dizzy and feeling sick. “I was here earlier?”

            “Only due to your incredible luck. Weasley you are an idiot. Eat something while I explain.” To scared to explain that he was fairly sure his stomach had shriveled up and died Percy began with a long sip of his tea. Snape’s eyes never left his face, especially as he began speaking again. “You are an idiot for not noticing the men that were standing across the street from that bar. An idiot for being oblivious to them following you inside and an even bigger idiot for being willing to drink whatever is shoved in front of you.” Severus never raised his voice but he still spoke with the type of cold fury that had Percy paralyzed on the bed.

            Looking away Percy felt something twisting inside of him. There were brief images of a gold colored drink being pushed in front of him and feeling so special. Now he just felt sick. Snape was right, he really was an idiot. To add to his mortification and disgust he knew it was abundantly obvious he was just barely holding back tears. Perhaps Snape would appreciate that he wasn’t a sobbing mess and leave it at that.

            A loud sigh brought Percy’s attention back to Snape who was rubbing the bridge of his nose with a look of weariness. “Weasley you are physically fine. And I am assuming you have learned a very valuable lesson.”

            Percy nodded very quickly.

            “Good,” Severus actually sat beside Percy on the bed. “Be grateful that lesson did not come at a much higher price. Eat, sleep, do nothing tomorrow or even for the next week and then go out and do something productive. Do you understand?”

            “Yes.”

            Severus picked up the tray and stood up, “Good. The bathroom is the door to your left, feel free to draw yourself a bath. Lunch is at two.” Without another word he walked out the door and gently closed it.

            Percy spent a the better part of an hour trying to remember everything from last night before giving up with the feeling it wasn’t something he wanted to obsess over. Taking comfort in the shuffling he heard downstairs Percy stood up on shaking legs to head outside and thank the man who had saved him properly.

Author’s Notes: I’m not dead! Just really slow, I’m sorry, I give myself a free pass for June because that was an incredibly busy month but I don’t have an excuse for this month. I just want to give a special thanks to those of you that have taken the time to leave me such thoughtful reviews- reading over those gave me the inspiration for that final push to get this chapter done.

Cotton Candy- Just thought I’d reverse the idea that Percy would be the one to want kids. And I never get to write little kids so their really, really brief appearance was fun.

Taste of Summer: Kingsley is just to fun to resist. That and I have a love of flustered Percy.

Romeo: Working in my idea that Romeo and Juliet would have been so much better without the title characters falling in love. The Twin has a very long rant about how badass it is to have two families that hate each other so much that passing each other in the market causes a riot. This one just reeked cute to me.

Forgotten Secret: Viola! This chapter’s time sucker. Not counting my insanely long notes this chapter is the same as the last, 13 pages. This was 6 pages. And there will definitely be a sequel, I just need to decide between the happy ending where they get married or the possibly more realistic one where they don’t, please feel free to give me your opinion or any other options you see.

Brandy: Finally I get around to drugging Percy. Believe me this could have been a lot more tragic but I decided to leave most of that unsaid.

Ok, I’m shutting up now so leave a review while I start typing away. Also, I re-counted my paint sample collection and it’s officially 493. Yeah, I look like a crazy person carrying them around in a zip-lock baggy with my laptop and The Twin gleefully digging through them. But I’d have to say it’s worth it. And to those reading this on AFF I am trying to to fix the odd formatting but aside from going to every single paragraph where they decide to stop indenting for whatever reason and pushing the space button about ten times I don't have a solution.
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