Chapter Text
Percy hadn’t even been on the Hogwarts Express for ten minutes before he’d already managed to make a fool of himself. Figures. He walked through the cramped corridor filled with the usual hustle and bustle of students. He felt everyone’s eyes burning fiercely into the back of his skull, awkwardly shuffling past stacks of discarded trunks and owls and…a miniature cactus singing a lullaby? He didn’t think you needed one for school, but what did he know, he’d only found out he was a wizard a month ago. He peered curiously through the smudged windows of the compartments praying to find an empty seat.
He was close to giving up entirely when he passed what felt like the hundredth full compartment— considering for a brief moment settling in with conductor before letting out a sigh he continued the futile search. The train jerk beneath and the whistle shriek loud enough to rattle the windows. Just as he was about to drag his feet to the next window he heard a strangled sort of yell behind him. He whipped around coming face-to-face with stocky boy with messy bright red hair tumbling forward. The good news was the boy had a soft landing. The bad news, Percy was that soft landing.
“Blimey, mate! Didn’t see you there” he grunted, using Percy’s shoulder to push himself off the ground. He straightened then offered the boy who he had been sprawled upon a moment, a hand to where he was crumpled on the floor where his face had been precariously close to a pink wad of chewed gum.
The red-haired boy hauled him to his feet in one, quick, smooth pull, brushing the dirt off the front of Percy’s sweatshirt.
“Sorry about all of that. I’m Fred by the way,” said the newly dubbed ‘Fred’ rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly “I swear the first years keep getting smaller,” muttering the last part under his breath.
Percy blinked. Honestly, he didn’t really understand that last comment seeing as he wasn’t much shorter than the boy— only a few inches.
His growing list of questions were cut off suddenly when he felt something wet and hot start dripping down his face.
“Oh for fu—“ he swore using his cotton shirt sleeve to stem the flow, pressing it against his nose. The sharp metallic scent invading his nostrils. It was just his luck to get trampled before he even entered the school.
“Oh, shit,” Fred was rummaging in his pockets for… what Percy didn’t know. Hopefully a packet of tissues.
“‘Oh, shit’ is right,” mumbled Percy as he prodded at his nose. He didn’t think it was broken; he’d had enough of those to know.
He looked up and saw two Freds. He knew he hit his head, but it was really a bit early in the school year to be getting concussions. He tried to save those for at least after Christmas.
“Christ Fred, what’ve you done to one of the firsties,” Fred number two chuckled, huffing out an incredulous laugh. “You know Mum would kill you if she gets a letter saying you’ve maimed a student before we’ve even set foot in the school!”
“George, I swear I didn’t-“
“I can’t believe it— you— you didn’t step on him did you!” His laughter rang out sharp and loud. So startlingly loud in fact Percy saw one or two curious heads peek out of their compartments.
Great! Just great! What’s one more person seeing him standing there like an idiot.
Wiping tears from his eyes he managed to somewhat calm his raucous laughter, dropping a hand on Fred’s shoulder to steady himself still grinning.
“George Weasley,” George beamed, holding out his free hand, posture easy and relaxed.
“Percy Jackson” they shook hands— Percy was really hoping he didn’t get blood on him. Now that would be embarrassing.
Fred tilted his head, eyebrows drawing together. “You’re not from here are you? Don’t sound like it anyways. American?” he guessed.
Percy nodded, already prepared to answer all the questions most Brits tended to ask. ‘No, he didn’t own a gun. Yes, the yellow school buses are real.’
But instead Fred just hummed, apparently content. That was everything he needed to know about Americans.
“Well! Now that we’re all well acquainted, I think we ought to get you into a compartment,” George smiled, wrapping an arm around Percy’s shoulders and leading him down the hall, weaving their way through people with Fred trailing behind them.
They walked past countless compartments as George rambled on about all the times he and Fred got into mischief on the train.
Being completely transparent, Percy really didn’t give a shit about the time Fred walked into the girls' lavatory instead of their own compartment. He didn’t mention that, of course. Answering politely whenever there was a break between George’s endless chatter, which, was luckily scarce.
“Well, this is where we leave you,” said Fred, stopping in front of a dingy compartment, studying the contents inside.
“Wait—what?” Percy asked, eyebrows knitting together.
“It’s time for you to get out of the nest; spread your wings,” George said with a wink, placing a comforting hand on Fred’s shoulder, who pretended to wipe a tear from his cheek.
“Good Luck!” they chimed in unison, and with a quick nudge forward they turned and bounded down the hall off to god knows where. Probably to stomp another first year, he thought bitterly.
Percy just stood there in utter awe. Of course this would happen to him on his first day of school. No one else could possibly manage to get their face smashed into the floor of the train. He tilted his head back scoffing sharply. God, he knew he had bad luck… but this— this was ridiculous.
Staring at the carriage door he gathered up his courage to knock. His hand hovered over the door as he listened. He could hear two muffled voices inside. How was he supposed to go to a magic school if he couldn’t even knock on a door.
Sucking in a huge breath of air, he knocked with his free hand, grimacing when he saw rusty coloured specks dotting it. Sliding the door open he came face-to-face with two boys: A lanky red-head, with a blotchy face covered in freckles and the other, with raven black hair and sharp green eyes hiding behind a pair of thin circular glasses with a wad of tape holding them together.
‘Well,’ he thought miserably, ‘at least I’m not the only wizard being held together by sellotape.’
They were both looking up at him expectantly. Oh, god. What was he supposed to do now?
“Erm, hi. I was wondering— if you wouldn’t mind of course… everywhere else is full…” Heat crept up his neck as he stammered. He knew he looked like a fool, hair an unruly mess of curls, dried blood splattered all over his face and ratty shirt to top it off. Just perfect.
“Oh, alright,” the red-haired boy patted the seat next to him and Percy practically dove into it.
The thin, emerald eyed boy sitting across from him tried to give him a smile— tried being the key word, it came out more like a grimace. Percy wasn’t even upset over it, he knew he looked a mess.
“Percy Jackson,” he grinned, plastering a smile on his face and holding out his hand.
“Harry Potter” the boy with glasses stated, grabbing Percy’s outstretched hand, not even seeming fazed over the rust-coloured specks that were smeared on the back of his hand.
“Ron Weasley,” the boy sitting next to him smiled cheerfully, holding out his own hand.
Percy gaped at him. No way. No fucking way.
“You wouldn’t happen to know a Fred and George Weasley, would you?” Percy asked, already knowing the answer from the matching mop of flaming red hair.
“Know them?” Ron snorted, rolling his eyes. “I’ve shared a room with those two eejits”
“Well, they’re the ones who stepped on me!” Percy huffed, gesturing vigorously at his bruised nose.
Ron barked out a laugh, slapping a hand on his knee while Harry just stared at the pair, gaping.
“Blimey mate, sorry about those two. They don’t notice anything until it’s right under their noses”
“Yeah, well my nose doesn’t appreciate being crushed” Percy grumbled, rubbing his nose for emphasis. “Any more brothers I should steer clear of?” He asked, smirking.
“Just my older brother Percy— he’s an ass,” Ron responded with a matching smirk.
Their conversation was interrupted suddenly when the door slid open. An older woman with wild curly hair pulled back tightly into a bun, pushing a trolley full of different types of colourful sweets. Even from his spot by the window, Percy could see at least nine different types of lollipops. There was a stack of thick, brightly coloured chocolate bars, their slicing wrapping glinting the the light,
“Anything off the trolley, dears?” She asked with a warm smile, eyes lingering on Percy long enough to notice—and to hate it.
God, all he needed was another sympathetic adult.
“I’m all set,” mumbled Ron with an embarrassed smile, holding up a rather pathetic sandwich.
Percy kept his eyes down, fiddling with his sleeve, not wanting to admit that he didn’t have any money.
Or much of anything, for that matter. His meagre belongings became apparent the moment he stepped onto platform nine and three quarters, every other child having a massive trunk and newschool bag. All he had was a small, battered trunk and a tattered school bag falling apart at the seams.
Harry sent a quick glance towards the pair. Then standing up he picked about ten different types of sweets, each more colourful than the last. He handed the plump woman a large, solid gold coin before flopping back into his seat arms overflowing with various different toffees and chocolates and lollipops and sherbets and— well, you get the idea.
Percy’s eyes lingered on the stash before he yanked them away, scolding himself. He didn’t expect his mother to give him any money for the train. Hell, they could barely afford his books for school, even with the secondhand book scheme Hogwarts had. He kept offering his savings to her, the ones he made at Yancy last year selling chocolate. He’d do anything to make the worry lines between her brows disappear. She tried to convince him that they were fine, but he knew better. He’d seen her sitting at the kitchen table, a pile of bills surrounded her. Next thing he knew she was taking up extra shifts at her shitty job, just so he could go to this school. It felt like shit.
His spiral was cut off when he saw Harry looking at him expectantly, like he just asked a question
God, now they must think he’s an idiot.
He shook his head, trying to clear the fog that seemed to invade his brain during his spirals.
“What was that? Sorry. I must have zoned out” He asked, feeling the tips of his ears burn red.
Harry just smiled and repeated his question of asking Percy if he wanted anything to eat.
“You know I don’t mind,” he gestured toward Ron, who was already elbows deep in chocolate frogs. Handing Harry some little metallic cards.
“It’s fine, I’m really not hungry,” It was a lie and Percy knew it. He hadn’t eaten barely anything in the last few days, with his mother working late almost every evening it just wasn’t the same. He hardly was going to ask Gabe to eat dinner with him. They weren’t that kind of family. The image of him and Gabe sitting eating at the kitchen table almost made him gag.
Still, he wasn’t going to eat this nice boy's food no matter how hungry he was.
Harry just shrugged and continued to ask Ron what all the sweets were. Ron went into a very enthusiastic explanation of what all the chocolate frog cards were, how many he owned and which ones he still needed.
Percy was almost regretting not taking up the offer of all the food. That was until he saw Harry’s face turn positively green after a jelly bean.
Jesus Christ, what’s wrong with these wizards.
They continued chatting, Percy swapping between bouncing his leg and staring out the moving train window, and joining the conversation. It was interesting getting to hear about Ron growing up with a wizarding family. He already knew a few basic spells, well claimed to.
His stomach ached and panged with hunger as he spoke with Harry and Ron. Harry asked Ron about his family, and them getting to hear all about Ron’s brothers and little sister Ginny.
“So Percy, what’s about you? What’s your family like?” Harry asked, they had just learned about Charlie, Ron’s second eldest brother who worked with dragons.
“It’s really just me and my Mom,” Percy responded. “ I’ve got a stepdad as well, he’s an ass though.” Leaving out the bullshit story his mother always told him about his biological dad. ‘Lost at sea’ she would say. He knew that was just a roundabout way of saying that he got her pregnant at nineteen, and couldn’t be bothered to take care of a kid. Some father figure he was.
Harry just hummed in response asking Ron more about Charlie and Percy continued watching the Scottish countryside whizz past. It was weird seeing so much green. He wasn’t used to seeing all the fields and woods like this, much to Harry and Ron’s amusement, he was entranced by the view.
Their conversation lulled right up until Ron gasped telling them he had to show them something. Ron took out his pet rat Scabbers— yes rat, who apparently had just been chilling in his pocket this whole time. Percy couldn’t even be surprised by anything at this point. It wasn’t the weirdest thing that he’d seen before— not even today. He swore on the way to the train station he’d seen someone with one eye. But he put it down to his sleep deprived state. Maybe he was kinda crazy. He saw funny things like that all the time.
“George gave me this spell to Scabbers yellow. D’you wanna see?” Ron asked, he was already clearing his throat and pulling out his wand, so Percy didn’t really see much point in responding.
Just as he opened his mouth to start the incantation, their compartment door slid open revealing a girl with bushy brown hair.
“Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville’s lost one,” she spoke in a bossy tone and Percy noticed her bunny. He wasn’t in much of a position to comment, his own canines were rather sharp.
Shaking their heads, Percy expected her to leave, but instead she seemed fixated on Ron, eyes darting from his wand to Scabbers.
“Doing magic already, let’s see then,” she smiled eagerly, leaning against the door frame.
Ron stared at him increadously, conveying his thoughts clearly. ‘who the fuck is this girl?’
Clearing his throat and gripping his wand so tight his knuckles turned white, he spoke stiffly
“Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow.”
Percy would love to tell you about how amazing the spell was— really he did. But there was one itty bitty, tiny issue. Scabbers stayed the same. Exactly the same. Minus his whiskers twitching once or twice, he was still resting on Ron’s lap, unchanged and bland.
Percy couldn’t help but laugh, snorting as he did so. God these wizards were really something. This earned him a weird glance from the girl leaning against the doorframe, while she stared at Ron whose ears started blending in with his unruly hair.
“Are you sure that’s a real spell,” she asked. “Well if it is it’s not a very good one, is it? I’ve tried a few simple spells myself, and they’ve all worked for me— gosh sorry! I've forgot to introduce myself. I’m Hermione Granger.”
“Ron Weasley”
“Percy Jackson” Percy grinned, while rummaging through his pockets looking for his crushed up pack of mints.
“I’m Harry Potter,”
“Are you really!” She asked, raising eyebrows. “ I’ve read all about you!”
She proceeded to chat to Harry who looked as happy as Percy did when he was given an English test. Somewhere between dying and wishing he was already dead.
Ron and Percy kept sneaking glances at each other and getting increasingly giddy as they held in their laughter. Ron, who Percy had noticed now was only slightly pink in the face rather than a violent shade of red, wasn't doing a great job at it, letting out a few stray snorts, trying to cover it up with awkward coughs.
“Well, I best be off, help Neville look for his toad. You’re welcome to come if you want,” she said, standing up from where she had perched herself and making her way out of the compartment.
“Blimey mate, I thought she’d never leave,” Ron grumbled, huffing out a laugh when Harry rubbed a hand over his face.
Percy leaned back in his seat. Maybe this school wouldn’t be hell after all.