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Percy didn’t mean to keep it a secret. It wasn’t much of a secret to begin with, anyone who really needed to know about it knew about it: Penelope, of course, as Percy’s best friend; Marcus Flint, as Oliver’s rival-best-friend-hidden-third-option thing; and the woman they bought their kneazle-cat mix, Snitch, from.
“It” being Percy’s long-time relationship with Oliver Wood, former Gryffindor Quidditch captain and current starting Keeper for Puddlemere United.
Percy smiles to himself as he thinks about the day Oliver came home, grin big and bright, as he shouted about being promoted to the starting lineup. He’d been ecstatic, picking Percy up and spinning him around- before setting him down so he could propose on the spot. Oliver had, of course, spent his increased salary money on a ring and several expensive gifts- including a box of exotic quills, a muggle record player, and a new set of dress robes.
It’s been a month since then. Percy is currently at the Burrow, eating dinner with his family- his entire family. Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, and his parents. Normally, family dinners included extended members as well– Hermione, and Harry, and anyone else that had become “basically family by association,” or the rest of the family’s significant others, like Fleur. But today, Percy had sent an owl to everyone saying he had a matter to discuss with the family, and only the family.
It’s clear no one knows what he might say, considering how tense the mood is. Percy might be getting the idea now that telling his family he had “serious news” wasn’t a good idea, since the last time he did the same thing, he ended up disowning everyone on the spot and disappearing for a few years.
Yes, that might have been an oversight on Percy’s part.
They eat supper together, chatting amongst themselves. Fred and George are up to their old tricks again, though the pranks are a lot more amateur than they used to be: whoopee cushions on seats, salt sprinkled into drinks, store-bought charms that turn your hair vibrant colors. The most elaborate joke they’ve pulled so far is revealing to everyone they’ve charmed Fred’s prosthetic leg to shock people when he kicks them- but not every time, only at random. Most times, the kicks just hurt a lot.
Percy jumps as he’s kicked in the shin by a hard, metal foot, quickly followed by an electric zap that stings through his pants. “Fred!” He hisses, kicking back. George yelps this time, and another foot attacks Percy, this one softer but still just as mean.
“Mind who you’re kicking!” George scolds, “We’re not so identical anymore, you know!”
“You’re basically the same person,” Percy scoffs.
“Honestly, you three!” Molly cuts them off loudly, “Can’t you stop fighting for one dinner?”
“Aw, we’re not fighting, Mum,” Fred waves her off.
“We’re just playing around,” George agrees. Molly turns to Percy, who just shrugs.
“You’d know if we were fighting,” Percy says, “They would know if we were fighting.” He turns his stern glare towards the twins, who both shudder in unison. The family all exchanged confused looks. Good, it means the twins didn’t snitch about the time Percy Depulso’d them down the stairs for waking him up too early several years ago.
Molly just huffs and shakes her head.
The conversation continues for a short while before it dies down. Bill eventually runs out of fun stories from Egypt, talking about charting new catacombs and trying to figure out how to undo new curses he’s discovered. Percy suggests reporting his findings to the Egyptian Magical Parliament, so they could send people to research it further. Ancient Magic is, after all, significantly understudied in the Old World. Percy would kill to get his hands on a tome of Ancient Egyptian alchemy and conjuration.
Bill, of course, laughs him off. “Way to take the fun out of curse-breaking,” he says with an amused grin. He reaches over the table to pat Percy’s arm, to let him know the teasing was all in good fun, but that doesn’t mean the comment doesn’t sting.
“There’s plenty of fun to be had in reading,” Percy sniffs.
Charlie has fun tales from his time on the dragon reserve in Romania. Most of them, of course, involved him or someone else getting hurt in some way. He has a new burn scar to show off on his left hip, from a new dragon they received straight from the Baltics.
“No idea how we got stuck with a Ukrainian Ironbelly,” Charlie snorts, lifting his shirt to show everyone the horrible scar he’d been given. “There’s a sanctuary in Kazakhstan that’s much closer. Feisty little bloke, too. Took off a finger from one of our apprentices.”
Percy grimaces. Of course, he’s the only normal child in the family with a normal job. Bill breaks curses and deals with enchanted undead on a daily basis, Charlie lives in the wilds of Romania tending to man-eating fire-breathing dragons, Fred and George own a joke shop of all things, Ron is training to be an Auror, and Ginny is receiving contracts to play Quidditch professionally.
His parents should be glad he chose the ministry. With perfect NEWTs in every subject, including Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and advanced Potions, he could have gone into anything! Merlin, could you imagine Percy actually doing something dangerous? No, he’s had enough excitement for one lifetime.
(Not that the ministry isn’t dangerous, per se. Percy deals with his own number of radicalists who think Kingsley is a poor minister, and a handful of former Death Eaters who haven’t been arrested yet. Percy’s probably built up a small immunity to poisons just from drinking his tea every morning.)
“So, Perce,” Fred drawls, kicking Percy again. Percy clenches his fist before he jumps over the table and gives in to his childhood fantasy of beating both twins into the ground with only his bare, bony hands. (Lovingly, of course. As a loving big brother who only means to teach them manners.) “What’s this serious news you’ve got to tell us?”
“Here to tell us about your new report on magic carpets?” George teases, scooping a pile of peas onto his spoon, clearly debating whether or not he should fling them across the table. His eyes glance around the room slowly, taking in each target- before deciding not to attack. Yet. “Or tell us the mortality rates of Apparition?”
“No, and no,” Percy frowns, “But if you need to know, the mortality rate of Apparition has gone down exponentially since Hogwarts lowered the price of classes from 12 galleons to-”
“No one cares!” Ron groans, slamming his hands against the table.
“Ronald!” Molly scolds.
“Everyone, let’s please be quiet and let Percy say what he needs to say,” Arthur says gently, though his pinched brow says sit down and behave before I have a heart attack. “Then we can have dessert afterwards. Does that sound alright, Mollywobbles?”
“It does, Artie,” Molly says pleasantly, her previous ire quickly forgotten.
“Right,” Percy nods, standing up and opening his mouth to speak. He’s hit with a wave of anxiety, a moment of Is this the right time? He refuses to back down, though. He can’t live his life worrying that every bit of news will cause some kind of rift, though technically it always has. Every promotion, every update of his life, every new thing that happens to him has always made things worse.
Becoming Prefect, becoming Head Boy, being promoted to Junior Assistant to the Minister, becoming Scribe for the Wizengamot- it’s all been one big mess. The most recent news, the one of Percy moving out of his miserable London flat for a much nicer home in Dorset, seems to have healed a bit of the divide between Percy and the rest of the Weasleys. It is, after all, much closer to the Burrow–though that wasn’t his reason for moving. He can always Apparate closer to the Ministry of Magic, but Oliver is bone-tired after hours of Quidditch practice every day. It’s just nicer to be closer to Oliver’s practice pitch instead of some stuffy government building.
Percy can’t complain, their home is lovely.
Would this news cause issues? Surely not, his family loves Oliver. They’ve never mentioned anything about Percy dating a man, either, and he came out years ago- so it’s not like they would suddenly become homophobic.
Right?
Percy breathes in, breathes out, opens his mouth again, and forces himself to blurt out, “I’m engaged.”
Percy waits for a response… but none comes. Everyone just stares at him in varying degrees of shock. Percy stands there, slowly losing his nerve as his family remains completely and utterly silent. “Well, come on,” he prods, furrowing his brow, “Say something.” When they don’t say anything, he starts to chew on the inside of his cheek- stopping once he tastes blood.
“You’re engaged?” Arthur eventually says, “To who?” The question seems to break the tension in the room as everyone relaxes, most with sighs of relief.
“You guys don’t know either?” Charlie says, patting his chest right over his heart, “Thank Godric. I thought I’d forgotten he was dating someone!”
“You think you’ve forgotten?” Ginny exclaims, “I live here, and I don’t know who he was talking about!”
“That’s quite rude, all of you!” Molly chastises, before looking guilty, “Though, I don’t seem to know who you’re engaged to either, Percy.”
Percy just blinks at all of them, his mouth opening and closing uselessly. “You don’t?”
“No, no, we know!” Ron nods, “That girl! The one from Hogwarts!”
“With the blonde hair?” George asks, and Ron nods quickly.
“Prissy Clearwater!” Fred snaps his fingers with a grin.
“Her name is Penelope,” Percy says in defense of his best friend, then he says quickly before Molly can congratulate him, “And no, it isn’t her.”
“We’ve got no idea who it is, Percy,” Bill decides to be the brave one and simply asks outright. “You never told us you were dating someone.”
“I didn’t?” Percy says, confused. He looks around and, upon seeing everyone’s blank expressions, he just sighs. “I… guess I didn’t. My apologies, I thought we were so obvious- Penny and Marcus caught us immediately-”
“Marcus? Marcus Flint?” George laughs.
“Yes, Marcus Flint,” Percy rolls his eyes, “Penny and he caught us immediately. We weren’t exactly very shy about it, we’ve been dating since my sixth year-”
“That’s seven years!” Bill’s mouth drops wide open, “How could you never mention this to us?!”
“How could none of us notice this?” Charlie says more accurately.
“But- but I caught you with Penelope my first year!” Ginny exclaims.
“Yes, well-” Percy blushes lightly, “Things happen, people break up… and sometimes your ex-girlfriend happens to be a lesbian who only realized she was after you were dating for half a year.”
Ron snorts and tries to hide it by covering his mouth with his hand.
“So if not Penelope, who is it?” Ginny demands.
“Oliver,” Percy says, as if it were obvious (and he thought it was. He doesn’t let just anyone follow him around on Head Boy patrols, or snog him in the Quidditch locker rooms.) “Oliver Wood.”
The family is quiet again. Percy is, quite frankly, growing tired of it.
“You’re gay?” Ron says in surprise. Molly’s face is pale with shock, and Arthur doesn’t look much better.
“I’m- I’m bisexual!” Percy sputters, looking around quickly, “Oh, don’t tell me-”
“You didn’t tell us that either,” Bill shakes his head. Percy looks quickly at Fred and George.
“You two found-”
“We’re not going to tell the whole family we found a Quidditch magazine of shirtless men under your bed!” Fred raises his hands innocently. Then he grins, “Well, now we might. But come on, who do you think we are!”
“That’s private information, that is,” George nods, “Would be rude of us!”
Percy feels touched, for a moment, that his brothers kept his secret for him. But now he feels stupid, because he had thought they’d told the whole family immediately, and everyone was just fine with it. But now he knows that they didn’t know, and they’re only just finding out when he tells them about his apparently secret relationship of seven years with another man.
This is not the ideal situation.
“Also, we didn’t know the bisexual bit,” George adds on, “Just figured you fancied blokes.”
“Right. Well…” Percy clears his throat, reaching up to straighten his tie- only to remember he isn’t wearing a tie. Damn, he wishes he were. It would make fidgeting and dealing with anxiety much easier right now. “I’m bisexual. Surprise.”
“Obviously, we support you,” Ginny is the first to respond, “This doesn’t change a thing, you’re still you, our nerdy brother-”
“Yes, of course we support you!” Bill sputters, standing up and reaching awkwardly towards Percy, struggling between deciding on a hug or a squeeze or something else- and he ends up settling for a pat on the shoulder.
“Seven years,” Charlie says in wonder, “With the boy you shared a dorm with for the entire time you were at Hogwarts. A Quidditch player.”
“Percy, you dog,” Fred grins, jumping up and rushing around the table just to wrap his arm around Percy, “I didn’t know you had a single romantic bone in your body!”
“Are you why Oliver disappeared to celebrate in his dorm after winning the Quidditch Cup?” George teases, punching Percy in the arm a few times. Percy goes bright red and looks away, shifting uncomfortably.
“What Oliver and I do in our private time is none of your concern,” he answers stiffly. George laughs, and Fred leans against him for support as he, too, breaks into a giggle fit.
Percy, nervously, looks at his parents. “Are you alright?” He asks. They still haven’t responded to any of this: to Percy being bisexual, to Percy being engaged to a man, to Percy having a secret relationship for seven years.
The twins crowd a bit closer to Percy; it’s suffocating if he’s being honest, but he also thinks it may be their way of trying to show their support for him if their parents don’t respond well.
Molly still seems in shock, struggling to take everything in. She reaches for Arthur’s hand and squeezes tight, and he seems to get the message.
“We still love you, of course,” Arthur says slowly, picking his words carefully for both him and his wife, “This is just… a shock. I mean, you’re talking about all this so casually- and we’ve had no idea. You’ve lived this entire life and told none of us.”
“I suppose I forgot,” Percy says, which he knows is a weak excuse, “I am terribly sorry, I am. I just had other things going on these past few years.” He had many things going on these past few years, most of which he spent estranged and isolated in a cold London flat. Telling his family about his boyfriend wasn’t exactly on his mind when he had to go into work with Death Eaters running the place.
“We understand,” Arthur says, “But… we’ll need some time.”
Percy nods, pursing his lips. It wasn’t outright rejection, but he thinks this might feel worse. He’s allowing himself to feel hopeful- he knows he’ll be devastated if some point in the future, he gets a letter from Mummy and Dad telling him that, no, they will not be attending his wedding.
Charlie, sensing the tension, stands up and claps his hands together. “Well! This was serious news,” he says, “I think it’s time for that dessert Dad mentioned.”
“Exactly what I was thinking!” Fred grins, shoving Ron out of the way as he rushes towards the kitchen. Dessert is soon passed out to the whole family, though Percy lingers in the kitchen with his thoughts. He eats slowly, picking at his shortcake with his fork, getting crumbs all over his plate.
His mind is on his parents, their reactions, and what the future may hold. He still hasn’t mentioned anything he wanted to say- hasn’t asked for people to fulfill empty roles. Hasn’t mentioned maid of honor, or best man and groomsmen, or ring bearer, or flower girl (or boy), hasn’t even started looking for an officiant, they just now picked out a location and are trying to find decorations and seating arrangements and-
“Hey,” Bill says, leaning back against the counter to rest beside Percy.
“Hello,” Percy says stiffly.
“You keep glaring at that cake, it’ll probably catch on fire,” Bill comments helpfully, setting his dirty plate and fork in the sink carelessly.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done accidental magic,” Percy shakes his head, “The cake wouldn’t catch on fire if Voldemort himself held a wand to my face.”
“It was a joke,” Bill says awkwardly.
“I know,” Percy replies. They’re quiet again. Percy doesn’t know what to say to Bill. He’s apologized for everything he’s done during the war, or rather, what he didn’t do, but there’s no way he could possibly make up for missing his oldest brother’s wedding. It’s not that he didn’t want to go, of course, he did; but he figured the family wouldn’t be happy to see him there if he did show up. He was, after all, a traitor. It wouldn’t have been safe, anyway.
Percy worked at the Ministry. Bill’s wedding ended when Kingsley sent word that the Ministry had been taken over by Death Eaters. If Percy had been seen at the wedding of a known Dumbledore supporter- well, he probably would have been killed or tortured the moment he showed up for work the next day.
“Congratulations,” Bill eventually says, “On your engagement. No one said it when you announced it, so- congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Percy bites the inside of his cheek- wincing when it starts bleeding again. He should stop doing that. “It’s… a mess trying to plan everything,” he admits, “We only just now settled on colors for decorations. I wanted Gryffindor colors, but he wanted Puddlemere- yellow is, of course, the only common color between the two, not good for a main color.”
“If you think it’s hard now, try planning it in the middle of a war,” Bill jokes again, and Percy manages to let out a chuckle at this one.
“We tried,” he admits, setting his cake down gently- he can eat it later, or maybe Ron will snatch it away and save Percy the trouble, “He was running parcels between England and Scotland, and I was working at the Ministry- we figured we could die any day now, might as well die married. We were going to elope, and tell no one- I would have lived in Scotland for the rest of my life!”
“None of us would have known,” Bill says seriously, placing a hand on Percy’s arm, “I’m glad you didn’t elope.”
“Yes, well, it would have made things even, wouldn’t it?” Percy attempts a joke of his own, “I missed your wedding, it’s only fair if everyone else skips mine.”
“Why would you say that?” Bill says, looking disturbed and upset, “We would have hated to miss your wedding. I would have hated to miss your wedding.”
Percy looks up at him and realizes he can’t find a reason why. Bill’s never been one for revenge, not against his family. But that doesn’t mean Percy feels any better for missing Bill’s wedding. They’d be even if Bill skipped his- Percy wouldn’t have to feel guilty anymore every time he looks Bill in the eyes. “Deserve it, don’t I?”
“Percy…” Bill says sadly.
“We’re looking for a best man!” Percy says quickly, ignoring Bill’s saddened expression and the comforting words that were sure to come from his older brother’s mouth, “And groomsmen, and a maid of honor, and bridesmaids, and- well, everyone.”
Bill notices that Percy is trying to avoid any serious conversations, and he doesn’t seem to like it, but he settles down and plays along anyway. “You got any ideas?” He asks, and Percy shakes his head.
“Well, just one, actually,” Percy says, smiling to himself, “I was going to have Fred and George be the flowerboys. Just to see what they toss out instead of flowers.”
“That’s evil,” Bill says seriously, “I think you should bring that up to them immediately.”
“Maybe I will. Oliver will be furious,” Percy says, still smiling.
“Oliver. Oliver Wood,” Bill hums. He clearly has something to say, but he doesn’t say it. Percy nudges him.
“Go on.”
“I don’t remember him much,” Bill admits, “I know there were only two boys in your year- you and him- but I don’t remember him. Busy with my own problems, I suppose.”
“Entering secret vaults in the school while students were petrified left and right, yes, I know,” Percy says snidely.
“He’s a famous Quidditch player now,” Bill continues, ignoring Percy’s commentary, “He looks handsome enough, I guess. Never pegged you as… a Quidditch liker.”
“I had a lot of time to grow fond of his personality,” Percy says.
“Helps that he’s built like a model,” Bill grins and elbows Percy gently.
“William!” Percy scoffs, glaring at him. At Bill's insistent smile, he huffs and looks away. “Fine, yes, it didn’t hurt that I shared a room with him while my hormones went crazy, and I could watch him work out daily. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Yep,” Bill says, clearly proud of himself, “Good job, little brother.”
“I despise you,” Percy mutters under his breath.
“You should bring him over next time,” Bill suggests, and Percy just shakes his head, “I’m serious! All you kids seem to know him well, but I don’t-” Percy calls Bill “old” under his breath and gets smacked on the arm for it, “-and Mum and Dad certainly don’t know anything about him but his name. It’ll be good for us to meet him!”
“I don’t even know if Mum and Dad are okay with me marrying a man,” Percy argues, “I can’t bring Oliver here to face that.”
“They’re just worried. Once they know that Oliver isn’t some weirdo who’s going to hurt you, everything will be fine,” Bill says gently. “They don’t know how to react. It’s not exactly common for… well, you know…”
“For men to marry other men,” Percy says bitterly, “Even though it’s not illegal.”
“It’s not,” Bill agrees, “But it’s still not common. They just need to get used to the idea. That’ll be easier if they can think of Oliver as a nice, handsome man who loves you, rather than some random man you’ve dated in secret for seven years.”
“You might be right,” Percy concedes tiredly, “And I didn’t date him in secret. All of you are just stupidly oblivious.”
“You dated him the entire time Ginny was at Hogwarts, and no one knew,” Bill says, “That’s a secret.”
“I made out with him at the World Cup,” Percy scoffs, “You guys are just-”
“You did what?” Ron pokes his head into the kitchen. Fred and George, smelling drama like the little yappy puppies they are, follow suit- followed by Ginny, who is also another bastard puppy who smells drama (but Percy likes her better), who is then followed by Charlie, who likes being part of the group.
“Percy here is just telling me how he snuck away from you all at the World Cup to get handsy with his boyyyyyfriend,” Bill teases, ruffling Percy’s hair just to be mean.
“You are a grown adult!” Percy snaps, pushing away from Bill harshly, “And we were not talking about that! We were discussing Oliver coming with me to the next dinner, but it’s not a good idea-”
“Oliver’s coming to dinner next week!” Fred cheers, running off to alert the entire house (which is really just Molly and Arthur). The rest of the family responds with varying degrees of excitement, most of them discussing how they haven’t seen Oliver in so long.
Bill smirks over at Percy. Percy scowls at him. “Guess he’s coming to dinner,” Bill says smugly.
“I hope you can’t make it to my wedding, actually,” Percy grumbles, storming away to do damage control. His mother has probably had an entire heart attack by now. “You’re going to be the Worst Man who stands in the back of the ceremony and can’t see anything!”
“That means I don’t have to dress up for it!”