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Percy stood outside his bedroom door, knowing he needed to go in there, but finding he couldn’t. He knew he should listen to his mum about going to bed. He knew he had to do as he was told. After all, at 7, he was the responsible one, according to his dad. He always jumped in the bath when he was told to, brushed his teeth without arguing and he went to bed and stopped reading when it was lights out. No arguments.
But tonight he found he was unable to even walk into his bedroom, let alone sleep in there.
He looked up and down the hallway, seeing if any could see him being naughty. He didn’t want to be naughty. He was a good boy, mum said so. But he had tried to tell her about the monster and she hadn’t listened. She was too busy dealing with the twins’ latest experiment and told him to just do as he was told and go to bed.
He took the last step towards his door, took his shaking hand, and opened it. As soon as the door opened, there was a shriek, and he slammed the door closed and moved backwards until his back hit the wall. How could he go in there when there was something that probably wanted to eat him?
He took a few deep breaths before deciding to go ask his big brothers. Bill was 11 and had been to Hogwarts. Percy bet he would know how to get rid of monsters.
With that thought he knocked on the door timidly, waiting for an answer. 10-year-old Charlie opened the door to the room he shared with Bill, the smile on his face falling as he saw his little brother at his door. “What do you want?”
“Charlie, don’t be mean. What’s up, Percy?” Bill asked from where he had sat up on his bed.
“Umm.. there’s… I mean,” Percy tried to explain, but felt silly with both of his brave big brothers looking at him. “It doesn’t matter,” he said, defeated. With the way Charlie was looking at him, they would just laugh at him anyway, he thought. Like they laugh at everything about him.
“You sure, Perc?” Bill asked again.
“He said he’s fine. Go to bed, Percy, before you get us all in trouble,” Charlie said as he shut the door in Percy’s face. Percy heard Bill and Charlie argue as he stood outside their room, unsure what to do, but neither came back out to talk to him.
Percy fought hard to keep his tears at bay. He was a big boy and Charlie said big boys that cry get beat up. Percy didn’t want to be beaten up.
Instead, he headed up the stairs to his parents’ room. His dad would be there now if all the other kids were in bed, Percy thought.
And he was. Percy pushed his mum and dad’s open door and saw his dad sat at his desk fiddling with something. “Dad,” he called out, waiting for a response.
Arthur hadn’t heard him and continued to mutter to himself.
“Dad,” Percy called a little louder, but got the same response.
“Dad,” Percy practically shouted, causing Arthur to jump and send some of the things he was working with flying.
“For Merlin’s sake, Percy, was that necessary?” Arthur called back angrily. “This is ruined now. Why didn’t you knock or something?” Arthur berated him.
Percy stood in his parent’s doorway feeling small and silly, “but, I called,” he said quietly, so quietly it was drowned out by his father’s annoyance.
“Just go to bloody bed, Percy. I thought you were a good boy,” Arthur said before grabbing his wand and closing the door on Percy, not even trying to find out what his son had wanted him in his annoyance.
Percy had to push his hands into his eyes to stop his tears from falling. He was a good boy; he knew he was. He just didn’t want to be eaten up and die because of the monster in his room.
He took a few deep, ragged breaths before he headed downstairs, where he heard his mum in the kitchen.
He stopped at the bottom step, worried about how much trouble he would be in with his mum. After all, his dad hadn’t listened.
He wasn’t sure how long he stood there until his mum turned round. “Merlin, Percy, you gave me such a fright,” Molly said as she turned and saw him standing there.
Molly swished her wand and ignored the plates dipping into the sink and wishing themselves. “You should be in bed, shouldn’t you?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.
Percy looked down at his hands, playing with the hem of his pyjama sleeves. “But, mum…” he started.
“Percy, love. It’s getting late, and it’s time for bed,” Molly said as she walked towards him and pulled him in for a hug.
Percy melted in his mum’s embrace. She was holding him tight, and he was safe. She would listen to him, he thought as he wrapped his arms as far around her as he could and cuddled close.
“I love you. Now, bed, my love,” Molly said as she pulled away from her boy.
“Mum, there’s … there’s a monster in my room. It wants to eat me,” Percy said quickly before his mum ushered him away.
Molly sighed, exhausted to the core. “Percy,” she said warningly.
“What? There is. It’s going to eat me, mum,” Percy said, his voice rising in his fear.
“This is why you aren’t allowed to read those muggle books. They aren’t good for your imagination.” Molly tutted as she walked forward and started moving Percy towards the stairs.
“Mum, there is a monster. I swear. It’s in my room and it keeps growling. I’m scared, mum,” Percy admitted in a quiet voice, wishing his mum would listen. Wishing someone would listen.
“Percy. Enough love. There are no monsters. Nothing is trying to eat you and it’s time for bed,” she said sternly.
“Can’t you just come look, mum?” Percy almost begged.
“No, Percy. I have too much to do, and I only just got Ron and Ginny down for bed. I need to finish this and you need to go to bed,” Molly answered him, too tired to fight imaginary monsters. “Ask your father,” she said as she nudged him up the stairs.
A dejected and terrified Percy walked back up the stairs until he was standing back in front of his room. There was no point asking his dad. His dad was mad at him for interrupting whatever stupid muggle thing he was playing with. And now his mum wouldn’t help him.
Percy sat down, watching his door. He suddenly burst into tears, terrified he was going to be in big trouble or eaten because no one would listen to him and it wasn’t fair.
It wasn’t his fault Charlie and Billy thought they were too big to listen to him, or that his dad didn’t care as long as he wasn’t interrupted or that his mum was so tired from the little ones she had no time for him.
Percy curled up on his knees, sobbing. Nobody had time for him. They would rather he be good and quiet, even when he needed them.
“I hate them, I hate them all,” Percy said to himself as he sobbed. “When I’m big, I’m running away and never coming back,” he howled.
“Your going away?” a small voice asked, surprising Percy so much his sobs stopped.
He turned around to see both Fred and George looking at him, holding hands. Just seeing the two of them stood together made him cry more. Everyone else had someone. He had no one.
“Don’t cry. I’m going to get mummy,” George blurted out, starting to panic.
“Don’t bother,” Percy said, as he lifted his head to see the twins. “Mummy doesn’t care, daddy doesn’t care, Bill and Charlie doesn’t care and Ginny and Ron aren’t big enough to care if I get eaten. No one cares,” Percy said before the tears started falling down his face again.
“I care,” Fred blurted out quickly.
“What?” Percy asked.
“Yeah, we care. You can’t get eated, we’d miss you,” George said as he hung off his twin’s arm.
“Nobody would miss me,” Percy said sadly.
“Nuh, huh. We would. You're cool,” George replied.
“I’m not cool. Charlie is cool, Bill is cool. I’m just me,” Percy trailed off lamely, fighting back more tars.
“You are so cool,” Fred said as he moved closer to Percy. “You help with the dumb work mum makes us do, and you help us stay safe when we do periments.”
“Experiments,” Percy corrected his brother, unable to stop himself.
“Yeah, see, you're smart. Smart people are cool. You know, cause they aren’t dumb,” George blurted out, with Fred nodding his head next to him. “And you tell us the nuggle stories. The ones about the princess. Cause we don’t got Princess here.”
“No, we don’t have fairy stories about Princesses. We have Babitty Rabbit,” Percy said as he wiped his face with his sleeve.
“Yeah, and Babitty is weird. I like the one with the glass shoe and the sisters who chop their toes off,” Fred said with a grin.
“You would, you goblin,” Percy said with a wet laugh.
“I like the one where the brothers become swans and the sister has to help them, cause there’s lots of them, like us,” George added softly.
“That is a good one,” Percy said as he smiled softly at his brothers.
“So, I gots a plan,” Fred suddenly blurted out.
“You have a plan. And what is it?” Percy asked his brother suspiciously.
“You sleep in our room and tell us nuggle stories and you don’t get eated. And then mum will check on you first when she checks on Ginny and Ron and the monster will see her and run away because nobody upsets mum when she’s tired. She gets cranky,” Fred said with a beaming smile.
“Oh, that’s a good plan, And all I have to do is read you a story,” Percy asked.
“Two stories, one each, and we all have to snuggle together because you don’t got anyone to snuggle, and that’s just bad,” George said happily as he turned to walk back into their room. Fred and Percy following him.
Molly opened Percy’s door, half asleep when she woke up to tend to Ginny. There on her son’s bed was Arthur, who she had just left in their bed, telling her how much of a terrible mother she was and how she would never see her children again after they moved out.
It took Molly’s tired brain a few moments to realise there was a boggart in her child’s room.
As soon as she had gotten rid of it, she rushed out of Percy’s room to find him. She opened the twins’ door and felt her breath leave her in relief. There, between the twins, Percy was snuggled close, an arm wrapped around each of them.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen, love,” Molly said to an asleep Percy, ashamed of herself and Arthur. After all, it wasn’t like Percy to tell tales or make up stories.
She left the boy sleeping and promised herself she would apologise to Percy in the morning for the way he had been dismissed when there was a problem he tried to tell them about.
Percy never got his apology, and it wasn’t a one of either, his being dismissed for either his father’s work or his mother’s need to care for the other children. It hurt Percy, knowing no one was really listening to him, that they never really listened, but at least he had two people in his corner.
His twins were loud and annoying and often blew stuff up, but they loved Percy and even checked there were no other monsters in his bedroom for him. He was lucky he had his twin brothers, Percy thought. And he was lucky because they would be friends forever and nothing could ever take them away from one another.
It was a comforting thought or Percy as he grew up, feeling more and more separate to the rest of his family as he aged, but no matter what, no matter how many disagreements he had with the others in his family had, he had Fred and George.