Time of Your Life

Percy climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitories. The seventh years really didn't have a whole lot to do anymore; N.E.W.T.s lasted for two weeks, but ended the week before the regular exams did because the students needed the classrooms and the Great Hall for their exams too. As today was the Wednesday smack dab in the middle of the younger kids' exams, there were no classes for the seventh years. Most of them were out on the grounds taking advantage of the sunshine. Percy, being Percy, had been in the library; if he was out in the sunlight too long he tended to get freckly--very freckly--and he always felt embarrassed about his freckles. Not that anyone had ever told him he looked bad with freckles, just that he didn't feel it was very professional.

The seventh year boys' dorm was at the very end of the hall. Percy had always loved this room. It was the smallest of the dormitories along this hallway, warm and cosy. Three beds had been put into the room, dividing it into three equal parts; there were two windows and one door. All three of the boys who had shared this room for the last seven years had added their own touches. The bed on the left side of the door had two photographs hanging over the bed and one on the side table: a picture of the occupant's family, a picture of the three roommates taken at the end of their first year, and a picture of the occupant's "girlfriend", although it was she who had asked him and she who refused to let him go. The bed on the right side of the door was continually covered with sheet music; various musical instruments were frequently scattered about nearby. The centre bed had a Gryffindor Quidditch team pendant hanging over it, as well as a very recently added picture of the bed's occupant, in full regalia, standing with six other people, holding aloft a trophy and sobbing. Another very recent picture--from the same day--just underneath that one had his other two room mates with him; they were gripping each other's shoulders as they stood in a circle, jumping up and down and screaming like maniacs, to hell with dignity.

Percy opened the door and looked around, savouring, as he usually did, the peace and the comforting feeling that came from knowing three such different boys could share this room and be friends. The centre bed was mussed and empty, but the bed on the right was occupied by a boy with longish sandy brown hair held back from his grey eyes by a red-and-gold sweatband. The boy was idly strumming a guitar, looking morose. He looked up and offered a wan smile. "Hi, Perce. All booked out?"

Percy took the teasing with good grace. "Hi, Toby. No, I just thought I'd come back up here and see if the exams had let out yet."

"Nope." Tobias set his guitar aside. "I was just tuning my guitar...it sucks that they won't let me play at graduation."

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road...

"Did they say why?"

Tobias shrugged. "Just that they don't think it has any place at a serious ceremony. Actually, that's what McGonagall said...I think Dumbledore would've let me, but..."

Percy hummed in sympathy. "Well, you know we'll always listen to your music, Oliver and I." He looked around the room. "Incidentally, where is Oliver?"

Tobias chuckled. "Quidditch pitch."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"That's what he said when I told him you were in the library, funnily enough."

Percy sat on his bed and looked at the picture on his bedside table. Penelope Clearwater's nose was blotchy yet from Ron's dripping tea on it the previous summer. She gave him a haughty, superior look as he picked up the frame. He sighed.

"Why do you still have that thing?" Tobias asked.

"Dunno...it's not like I need to keep up appearances for you guys." Resolutely, Percy placed the picture face-down in a drawer and replaced it with another framed photograph of the three roommates in a rare light moment, throwing snowballs at one another. The picture was only a couple of years old, but oh, how long those two years felt!

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go...

"We had fun that day, didn't we?" Tobias said, reading Percy's mind as usual. The roommates had become close over the years. "You really should've gone out for Quidditch, you would've made a good Chaser."

Percy shook his head. "That was Fred and George's domain. I didn't want to step on their toes."

The door opened just then and Oliver burst in, whistling, his broom slung over his shoulder. Percy brightened as he came in. "Hey, Oliver."

Oliver grinned. "Hey! Read out the library already?"

"Twice," Percy grinned back. "How'd it go?"

"Man, I hope I make a Quidditch team," Oliver breathed. "The thought of giving any of this up..."

Tobias chuckled. "I'll come to all your games if you come to all my concerts."

"Deal!"

"I'll come to both," Percy said quickly. "And you guys will...um...I don't know what I can invite you to in return."

"Dinner, on occasion," Oliver suggested. "At your parents' house, maybe. I've heard about your mum's cooking."

Percy smiled. "Maybe."

Oliver flopped onto his bed. "Can you believe it? We're graduating in two days!"

Tobias slumped. "Some graduation. You know they've cancelled the dance?"

Oliver shot up. "What?!"

Percy winced and nodded. "Er, yeah. Couple of Hufflepuffs got too rowdy, so the Powers That Be cancelled the dance. That and they don't think it's safe, what with Black on the loose and all."

"What's he gonna do to us?" Oliver muttered mutinously.

Tobias sighed. "So much for one more night of revelry and merriment. We don't even get to spend the night in Hogsmeade this year."

Oliver groaned. Percy shook his head. "Come on, you guys...there's still a Hogsmeade trip on Friday."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in going with everyone else?" Oliver asked philosophically. "Half the fun is getting to go, just us seventh years...just the graduates."

His friends looked so bummed that Percy vowed then and there that he would do something about it. Somehow or other, he and his friends would get that chance they wanted.

~~~

"Fred, George, come here, please."

It was to their credit that the twins immediately got up and stepped into the hallway with Percy. George immediately began on platitudes: "Perce, I promise, whatever it is, we didn't do it."

"I know," Percy told him.

Fred frowned. "Then what...?"

"I need to ask you two a very serious question, and I need your promise that you won't mention it to anyone."

So make the best of this test and don't ask why...

"We promise," George said slowly, exchanging a slightly alarmed glance with Fred, "but...Perce, what is it?"

Percy looked at the two sternly, suppressing the urge to smile. "You two know every secret passage in Hogwarts, yes?"

"Yes," the twins chorused.

"How many are there that Filch doesn't know about?"

"Three," Fred answered instantly. "They all--oops," he added guiltily.

Percy shook his head. "I'm not yelling at you. Now for the question: should one want to get into Hogsmeade on a moment's notice, which would be the best passage to take?"

"One?" George repeated warily.

"Well, let's say three. Specifically, three seventh years who would otherwise miss out on a tradition of partying in Hogsmeade?"

Fred frowned, but George dropped his jaw, then laughed. "Well, the one-eyed old crone's hump, of course--the mirror on the fourth floor is blocked, and the Whomping Willow is planted over the entrance of the other. You just tap her hump and say 'dissendium'."

Percy grinned. "Thanks, George."

"Whoa, hold up," Fred said finally. "You, Percy Ignatius Weasley, are thinking about not only sanctioning wilful breaking of the rules, but actively participating in such?"

Percy chuckled. "Please, Fred. Aren't you the one who suggested I remove the rod from my arse?"

It's not a question but a lesson learned in time...

Fred had the grace to blush. "I didn't mean for you to overhear that...you're a bit of a jerk sometimes, but you're still my brother."

"And you two," Percy said fondly, catching both of them about the necks, "are pains-in-the-arse sometimes, but you're still my brothers."

"Perce...gerroff!" Fred squeaked, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. Percy laughed, ruffled their hair, and let them go.

~~~

Percy looked at his friends. Oliver was idly tossing a rubber band ball up and down. Tobias was oiling a string on his guitar, still wearing his mortarboard from earlier that day, askew over one ear. Percy smiled and sat up straighter. "So, who's up for that night of revelry?"

Tobias frowned at Percy. "How are we going to do that?"

"Um, go to Hogsmeade? Duh..."

"How?" Oliver asked, practical for once. "We're not allowed."

"Does that ever stop Fred and George? I have a way out if you want to go."

Oliver set down the rubber band ball and sat up straighter. "Let me get this straight. You are suggesting we break rules?"

Percy laughed. "Fred said the same thing when I asked him for a secret passage. Yes, I am...we deserve this. Besides, have I ever been adverse to breaking rules when the situation called for it?"

"No, but you're usually careful not to get caught," Tobias said frankly. "How do you propose to do that this time? Madame Rosmerta will know."

"I wasn't thinking the Three Broomsticks," Percy told him. "I thought we'd go to the Hog's Head...you know, that other little pub, the one students don't usually go to?"

"But...why?" Oliver asked.

Percy steepled his fingers. "Point the first: We've just graduated. Technically, there's nothing they can do to us anymore. Point the second: We deserve a break. Point the third: We're legal--we can drink whatever we want. Point the fourth: I know the bartender at the Hog's Head."

"How?" Tobias asked.

"Last year...I gave Penny the slip by telling her I'd meet her for a drink, then going to the Hog's Head instead. I wanted some time alone. I was friendly, and the bartender thawed out...we had a very nice conversation. He said to come back any time, specifically after graduation. Last time I was in Hogsmeade, he reminded me of that. I told him that the all-nighter thing was probably off, and he said it didn't matter."

Oliver grinned. "How do we get there and when do we leave?"

"Don't forget me!" Tobias added.

"Good."

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right;

I hope you had the time of your life.

~~~

Percy stepped into the tunnel, then helped Oliver and Tobias into it. Tobias knelt and examined the thing on the floor. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Probably not," Percy answered, starting down the corridor.

Oliver looked. "Perce--it looks like an Invisibility Cloak. Do you know how rare those things are?"

"Yes, but Fred and George use this tunnel," Percy told him. "It's probably a joke knockoff...like it'll turn you blue or something. Come on, let's go..."

The three teenagers crept down the corridor in the dark, with only Percy's wand-light leading the way. Oliver, who was right behind him, leaned over and whispered in his ear, "What say you we give the light to Tobias and let him go on alone?"

Percy was thankful Oliver couldn't see him flush. "I don't think that would be very fair on Toby. Besides...it's our last chance to do something like this. Let's stick together."

"You scared?"

"Hell, yes."

Percy could hear Oliver's quiet chuckle.

So take the photographs and still-frames in your mind...

Finally, they reached the end of the tunnel. Carefully, Percy lifted the trapdoor. It was the cellar at Honeydukes. Percy looked around, then clambered out. "Coast is clear. Hurry up."

Tobias and Oliver scrambled out behind him; Percy closed the trapdoor, and the three snuck out of the candy shop and into the street. As neither Tobias nor Oliver had ever been to the Hog's Head, they followed Percy through the winding streets and to the small, weathered establishment. Tobias shivered as he looked at the sign. "This place looks a bit...dodgy," he said uneasily.

"It's fine," Percy assured him. "It's a nice little place...looks strange, smells strange, but it's fine."

"What does it smell like?"

"You tell me." Percy pushed open the door and ushered his roommates into the room.

Tobias wrinkled his nose slightly against the smell of what might be goats. Still, he and Oliver joined Percy in approaching the bar. A familiar-looking man with grey hair and a slightly grumpy expression looked up from where he was reading something and listening to a radio, then almost smiled when he saw Percy. He closed the book and spread his hands out, as if to ask, What'll it be?

Percy hesitated, glanced at the beverage list. Oliver and Tobias were watching him, waiting for a cue of some sort from him. Swallowing, he said, "I'll have a firewhiskey, please."

Oliver requested a mug of spiced currant rum, and Tobias screwed up his courage and asked for a Bloody Mary. The bartender fixed the drinks for them; Percy paid for them with one of the Galleons he had won from his bet with Penelope on the Ravenclaw-Gryffindor Quidditch match. The three retreated to one of the small tables to have their drinks.

"What was he reading?" Tobias asked in an undertone as the bartender returned to his book and radio.

"The epic novel Go, Dog, Go," Percy answered. Oliver suppressed a laugh. Tobias just looked confused until they explained.

Oliver raised his mug of rum. "To us!"

"To us!" the other two echoed, raising their glasses. The three clinked them together, then began bravely sipping. Percy had had firewhiskey before--once--and that had been an accident, he'd accidentally taken a drink of his father's tea. Still, it meant he wasn't quite as startled by the taste as he might otherwise have been. The tomato juice in the Bloody Mary cut most of the taste of the vodka, and Oliver's mother tended to make Rum Raisin ice cream with actual rum.

After a few minutes, Percy set down his glass. "Remember our first Hogsmeade visit?" he asked his friends.

Oliver grinned. "Even you stopped acting like a junior Minister of Magic and acted like...well...a kid in a candy store when we went into Honeydukes."

Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time...

"Remember the day you fell out the window trying to catch that ball we were tossing around?" Tobias asked Percy.

"And you guys had to haul me back in with your scarves because everything else tore too easily," Percy chuckled. "Remember when we organised a chess tournament one Christmas?"

Oliver set down his mug and folded his arms on the tabletop, grinning. "Remember that summer you guys spent at my house, when Toby lost at Exploding Snap and had to go out on the street corner selling plums wearing a purple dress with a sign around his neck that said 'Plum Boy'?"

"Yeah, and some old lady called the bobbies and said there was a creepy guy standing on the street soliciting money."

Tobias rolled his eyes at his friends. "Remember that time Oliver got a cherry pit stuck up his nose?"

Percy and Oliver both started laughing. "I'd forgotten about that!"

"I hadn't. Nor have I forgotten the time we went ice skating and Percy cracked his tailbone trying to execute a triple-toe lutz..."

"Only because he was trying to impress you," Tobias said quickly.

Percy blushed. "What about the time you jumped out the window wearing a Superman cape to prove to Catalina Davidson how incredibly macho you were? How many bones did you break with that?"

"Felt like all of them," Tobias said ruefully as Oliver laughed. "Remember the time we told that new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher that we were each other, and he went on to call us by the wrong names for the rest of the year?"

"Remember the time we made up the answers to the questions because we knew that the inspector didn't know his arse from a hole in the ground?"

"Or that time we..."

The three were soon lost in a flood of reminiscing. They pulled up every amusing story and joke they could remember from the last seven years. Even straight-laced Percy had his light, prankish moments.

Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial...

Oliver dropped his chin to his hands. "Remember the day Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater were attacked last year?"

This wasn't remotely amusing, but it was definitely something that hit home. Percy shivered involuntarily. Tobias reached out and gripped one of Percy's hands and one of Oliver's.

"Fred thought I was upset because Penelope was a Prefect, and I didn't think it would have dared attack a prefect," Percy said slowly. "It wasn't...and it wasn't just that I was supposed to be her boyfriend. It was just that all of a sudden it hit me that it could happen to anyone, any time...that it could happen to one of you guys."

"Specifically, me," Tobias said wryly. "I'm the Muggle-born here, remember?"

Oliver looked back and forth between his friends. "But then Ginny was taken..."

"Ginny," Percy said quietly, "was the one who opened it in the first place."

"What?"

"She didn't know she was doing it--her diary was possessed, You-Know-Who took her over."

Tobias bit his lip hard. "Do you think You-Know-Who is really gone for good?"

Percy thought for a long minute. "No," he said finally. "Dumbledore doesn't think he's gone...I don't either."

"Neither does Hagrid," Oliver added.

Tobias frowned. "How do you know that?"

"I was talking to him earlier today...earlier this morning." Oliver hesitated. "You heard about Buckbeak?"

"I heard he'd attacked Draco Malfoy--serve him right too."

"Yeah, but Lucius Malfoy was right pissed...said Buckbeak was a dangerous creature and not fit to live. He'd been sentenced to be executed back in February...today was the appeal. Buckbeak lost. He's going to be executed at sunset."

Tobias gasped. "That's awful! Oh, poor Hagrid...he must be miserable!"

Oliver nodded. "He wasn't crying...he was just so helpless, like a little kid. It was upsetting...but I had to go meet you guys. I hope Harry and your brother and Hermione can help him out."

Percy frowned. "They can't go down there. They're not supposed to be on the grounds at sundown."

"Has that ever stopped them before?" Tobias pointed out. "They've even wound up in the Forbidden Forest, from what I've heard. Besides, Hagrid's their friend...they'll want to look after him."

For what it's worth, it was worth all the while...

Percy looked down at his hands. "I worry about him. He was always smallest and skinniest, you know?"

"I'm going to assume here that you mean Ron, not Hagrid," Oliver interrupted, a bit of a smile playing about his lips.

A reluctant grin tugged at Percy's mouth. "Yeah, I do. He and I were quite close when we were younger...I kind of left him behind when I started Hogwarts, but..."

"But you love him and you'll always look out for him," Oliver supplied. Percy nodded. "I feel the same way about Macky. Granted, she's only six, but still. Ron needs to grow up someday, Perce, but he'll never stop needing you."

"You sure about that?"

"Positive."

"Only fools are positive."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive...damn," Percy sighed as Tobias and Oliver began laughing. "That was mean, Ollie."

Oliver shrugged. "Sorry, mate. Couldn't resist."

Percy shook his head and finished off his firewhiskey. "We'd best get going...we're going to get caught if we're here past sunset."

Reluctantly, Oliver drained his mug; Tobias sipped up the last of his Bloody Mary. Waving a cheerful farewell to the bartender, who gave them a strange salute with his left hand, they set off across the town for the sweetshop so they could get back to school.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right;

I hope you had the time of your life.

Glancing out the window as they headed up to the tower, Percy thought he saw a couple of figures darting across the grounds towards the Forbidden Forest. Shaking his head, he turned to his friends and gave them both a hug. "I hope you guys had fun tonight."

"I'm gonna remember this for the rest of my life," Tobias vowed.

"Same here," Oliver added. "Thanks, Perce."

"Thanks for coming." Percy smiled at his friends, his blue eyes twinkling. "Race you back to the tower?"

"Last one there's a Flobberworm!" Tobias called, setting off. Laughing, Percy and Oliver chased after him.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right;

I hope you had the time of your life.

----------------------------

End theme: Graduation (Friends Forever) by Vitamin C

Harry Potter, copyright J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, and Bloomsbury Publishing

Song text, copyright Green Day

All original characters and material, copyright KelseyPotter