Work Text:
It was three in the morning and Percy Weasley planned to stay awake forever. Who needed sleep? Lazy people, that's who. He had downed four vials of Pepper Up potion, eight Sleep Not doses, two Sleep-Be-Gone tablets, and one Tiredness Repellent capsule in order to get his work done on time, and it was working well for him. He saw no reason to ever go back to sleep; between paperwork and organizing and new spell legalization and law revision and orphanage donations, he had too much to do to ever fall asleep.
On the other hand, he felt so tired and his bed was so inviting... Although, a sneaky part of his mind piped in, if he got one look at Fleur Delacour—Weasley, Fleur Weasley, and not your Weasley, the other voice argued—he'd be reenergized immediately.
Percy stopped writing. "No," he sternly told himself, then looked upstairs to check if anyone heard him. They would probably think he was going mad, talking to himself. Percy rather thought he'd gone mad a long time ago, when he'd fallen in love with Fleur. He hadn't been able to help himself, really. He'd gone to the school on business for Barty Crouch and left with a missing heart. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, even if the only thing she said to him was, "Do you want somezing?" without looking up from her DADA book. Percy had just stood dumbly in front of her, squeaked out a, "No!" and ran away. Fitting, that she hadn't spared him a first glance, let alone a second one, and fallen for his brother instead.
Percy cast a diagnostic spell over his head. He must be incredibly tired to allow himself to think about Fleur.
"Mental functions have slowed two-point-three percent since you have last cast this spell," a monotone male voice reported. Percy wondered why the voice was male. Was magic male, then? Was the spell creator sexist?
Percy stood up, knocking over his chair in the process. It made a lot of noise. Percy couldn't remember why he wasn't supposed to make a lot of noise, but that didn't concern him very much. All he needed was a strong cup of tea and some of those sugar candies and he would be good to go. He'd be able to forget about Fleur once and for all. He only thought about her when he couldn't control his thoughts, anyway. He might even be able to finish editing Shaklebolt's speech by five o'clock.
"Percy, dear? Are you still awake?"
Percy turned towards the staircase with an inward groan. Of course, that's why he wasn't supposed to make any noise. "Sorry, Mum. Did I wake you?"
"No, no. I just couldn't sleep." She motioned to the counter. "Do you want some tea?"
"Sure Mum." He fiddled awkwardly with his papers while her back was turned. It felt uncomfortable to sit here, not thinking about Fred at all, while his mother's eyes were obviously puffy and red. She'd been crying over him, and Percy, like the horrible brother he was, had completely forgotten. He felt like an utter git.
She handed him a cup of tea and sat down next to him. "Two sugars, just how you like it." An uncomfortable pause. "You do still like it that way?"
"Of course," not, "Mum. Haven't changed a bit. See, I'm still the overachieving, stuck up, family-loving prat I always was. Just took a while for me to remember the last part."
She smiled, her eyes watery again. Percy looked away. He didn't know how to comfort her. Sticking his head in the mud worked for him (as everyone had reminded him) but his Mum needed to brood and cry some more. Shamefully, Percy hoped she wouldn't do it on his shoulder.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Molly asked, sniffing and looking hopefully at Percy. Percy wished he could tell her a happy dating story to cheer her up, but he'd be lying. He'd be lying...
"Yes, Mum," he said. For once in his life, Percy would lie. His mother didn't need to hear about his one-sided love affair with Fleur Weasley. "Her name's Audrey and she works in the legal department with Hermione and Leanne. She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I asked her out one day a few days ago and she said yes..."
And as he told his mother the story, he decided it was a nice story. A nice, sweet story he could one day tell his children.
The next day, Percy asked out Audrey. She said yes, and Percy realized that even though he couldn't get over Fleur, Fleur wasn't the only woman in the world. He didn't know how to quit loving her, but maybe a little more time was all he needed. Audrey was nice and pretty and actually interested in him. He could still fall in love with Audrey, and one day, his heart would be only hers. She'd just have to wait a little longer.