Waking From Intellect

Percy stared at Hermione, trying not to be obvious. He was actually discussing advanced academic subjects with her- Arithmancy...which had somehow veered back into Ancient Runes, of all things- and she was keeping up. What's more, she seemed genuinely interested. And this was one of Ron's friends? Even Ravenclaws would usually be gone by this point in the conversation.

Unfortunately for Percy's intellectual drive, a rather loud argument had chosen to break right outside his door at that very moment.

"Why would we know where she is? She's friends with you, not us!"

"But she's not in Ginny's room, and she didn't come upstairs to see Harry and me."

"Well, she certainly didn't tell us where she was going."

Percy raised an eyebrow at Hermione while the argument outside continued. "Seems that you're wanted."

"Seems I am." They looked at each other awkwardly, surfacing back into the world where Hermione was just his little brother's friend and not someone he could keep to himself for active debate. "I suppose I ought to go see what they want then." Percy thought (no, definitely NOT hoped, he told himself) that Hermione didn't look very enthused at that.

After she joined the others in the hall, he could still hear some of the conversation. "Not very good at finding someone in your own house, are you Ron?"

"What... why were you in HIS room?"

"Didn't want to interrupt Ginny on her quest to hunt down you and Harry. Now why don't you two tell me why you were looking for me?"

Percy could hear various footsteps heading back to the stairs to Ron's room, and dire threats coming from the twins. Absently opening his book, he realized that with the siblings that lived in his house, it would probably be a while before he got another conversation in which he wasn't insulted for talking about academics.

He had just found his place when he heard a rather soft sniffly wail from outside his door. "Perrrrrcy. Let me iiiiiiiiin. I (sniff) can't do anything right!"

"Well, come in Ginny." He said concerned, turning to face the door. Not at ALL prepared for the site his eyes met. "What happened? Did a spell backfire? And what's that on your face?"

She sniffed again and walked over to his bed, where she collapsed, tears leaking down her face in black streaks, and hair tumbling everywhere. Not to mention her robe...Percy winced.

"It's Ron and Harry... they laughed at me. Said my robe was silly-looking."

"Well... I'm sure we can fix it- just tell me what happened to it. And, Gin, what's wrong with your face? There are black marks under you eyes. You just sit here, and I'll get you some cocoa, and go see to those two."

"NO! No. Don't go yell at them, or tell Mum." Ginny looked terrified. Well of course- she wouldn't want to get her 'hero' into trouble, even if he had just been a total arse to her. "My robe is supposed to look like this- like Andromeda's- and the marks on my face is just from crying, I was wearing muggle face paint, and when I started crying it came off."

Percy was rather angry at his youngest brother. How dare he upset Ginny- she was so fragile, and Ron knew it. But it would be best for him to stay as calm as he usually was, and find her motivation for this ridiculous behavior. "So. Why did you do that to your robe?"

"I thought it'd be prettier this way. Everyone thinks Andromeda is pretty, and this is how she dresses. It wasn't supposed to be this short, but... Hermione even TOLD me it looks silly! Why didn't I listen to her!" And Ginny threw herself all the way down on his bed, sobbing into her arms.

"Shh, shhh," Percy murmured as he went over and sat next to her, rubbing her back. "Its ok- they've done stupid stuff in front of you before- and it's not you that looks silly, its just that the robe is a bit odd. You're too... nice for a robe like that, Ginny. Now, you tell me what they said to you."

"Harry just asked if I was ok, and if I needed some help. But Ron said that I was a bloody stupid moron, and that even he had more sense than to dress up like a clown. And he and Harry were laughing the whole time I was there- even before they said anything... and then I ran back to my room. And then they came down, and I thought they were going to apologize, but all they wanted to know was if Hermione was in there!"

Percy looked at his little sister. The righteous anger was cooling a bit, and now that he knew that nothing serious had really happened. Ginny was just being rather theatrical. It sounded like they weren't laughing at her, not exactly, but just being idiots. He was going to have to talk to them though. Ginny was a very fragile girl- he couldn't have them hurting her, even unintentionally. "You just sit here, and I'll get you some nice cocoa then, alright?"

He left before she could respond, apparating down to the kitchen and grabbing the necessary ingredients, then apparating back to his room. He gave her the mug, performing a quick heating spell on it, and she sipped, sniffling softly. Ginny had always clung to Ron when it was time for fun, but for emotional support she sought out Percy- especially since Ron was often the cause of her troubles.

"Today's a bit hectic, that's all Gin. Just give Harry a chance to catch up with Ron, and maybe tomorrow you can spend some time with him, ok? And you and Hermione get along very well. I'm sure that she'll make them be nice to you, if nothing else." Ginny smiled up at him, a bit wobbily.

"Ok. Can I stay here a bit though? And... can you not tell Mum what I did to my robe?"

"Well... how did you change it anyway?"

"Practical application of Transfiguration. Easy stuff- I've been helping Mum with mending since I was a first year, and this is just a bit harder."

Percy grinned. "Well, then I'm sure you don't even need my help to change it back. You're very talented at that Ginny. I've got some things to do- but you can stay here as long as you want."

Percy left his room, knowing his sister well enough to realize what she wanted most then was to be alone. Now was as good a time as any to go deal with Ron though- insulting their little sister in front of others was really not acceptable. When he got to Ron's door, he could hear muffled voices.

"Ron," he said as he knocked, "could I have a word with you?"

Percy could hear groaning inside, something like "What does he WANT?" in Ron's voice as the door creaked open. It was cracked just enough that Percy could see half his brother's face, filled with a rather irked-looking scowl. "Look, Percy, I'm a bit busy here- making plans for tomorrow, you know, so if you could just go bug Fred or something that'd be great."

Percy reached out and grabbed his younger brother's collar, gently pulling him into the hall. He might be wiry, but he had a good 5 inches on Ron, and the extra weight that came with it made him a bit stronger. "Oh, no- I need to talk to you now. Away from your friends."

Once Ron had actually closed the door, Percy stood there glaring down at him with his arms crossed. "Why were you picking on Ginny?"

"I- what? How was I picking on GINNY? I've barely talked to her today!"

"When she came up to see you and Harry, you laughed at her and said some very mean things- you'll be apologizing to her tomorrow."

"No I won't- I wasn't laughing at her, just something Harry'd said earlier, but she deserved being laughed at anyway- Percy, did you SEE what she's wearing? Mum'll kill her if she finds out, and we'll have to disown her if anyone else does. Bad enough Harry's finally found out she's insane, we can't have the whole school knowing! If any of her friends find out about this..."

"Ron. Ginny is not insane, she's 14. And Harry's part of the problem- I don't think she'll be able to say a whole sentence for the rest of the time he's here or even be in a room with him without going red."

"Which is different from normal in what way? She's Ginny! She's always an emotional twit! Now can I go back to Harry and Hermione before they decide to come looking for me or are you going to continue this absolutely pointless nonsense?"

Percy just looked at him. "Fine. But if you say one thing while we shop tomorrow-"

"I'll be a good little boy, okay?" Ron gave a glare that looked rather silly, and went back into his room, opening the door wide enough that Percy could see it was still an orange colored mess. Very distasteful.

Percy was left staring at a closed door with very few options open to him- he couldn't go relax in his room unless he wanted to disturb Ginny even more, and his parents were downstairs listening to the wireless and worrying about the latest developments in the fight against Voldemort- a fight Percy had not wanted to acknowledge the existence of, a fight the Minister of Magic still refused to acknowledge had began once more. Percy had always thought Cornelius Fudge to be a very wise man, but now that there was so much proof that Voldemort had risen and Fudge refused to waiver, he found himself doubting.

He wondered how much Harry knew of the news. Ron had been banned from telling him some of the more spectacular happenings, and he doubted that Hermione would have told him the more worrying information the Prophet released, as it refused to give its sources these days. Not that it gave out much vital information- but enough for Hermione to know that she and her parents would be in very real danger if she returned to Hogwarts, as were the families of all other muggle-born students. Some families had already suffered, but there had been no cases of entire families dying accompanied by the dark mark. No- it was much subtler now- people who died of "accidents" were almost always muggle-born or muggle supporters these days.

Percy shook his head, trying to clear it of these seriously unpleasant thoughts. Better to be young like Ginny, and sheltered from the knowledge of what was happening- though she'd seen her share of horror at a younger age, she'd still come out of it very young in a way. The only things that could ever hurt or shock her now were the ones she loved. No. Now was not the time to worry- he was going to Diagon Alley tomorrow- he might as well make up a list since he couldn't get to any of the books he had wanted to read.

What should he buy? A new quill, as his old one was getting a bit hard to write with. Maybe a warmer cloak for the winter- not that he went out enough to get proper use of it. Definitely any books or journals on new magical discoveries. He'd been wanting one of those pocket compasses that always pointed a person in the direction he or she needed to be headed for a while now, but wasn't sure he wanted to spend that much. Just something good and practical- let Ron spend his money on sweets and the twins on pranks and prank supplies. He wouldn't be the one short of spending money when Christmas came round, and it was time to buy presents. Percy always had been the one with extra, even as a little kid.

He'd wandered back down the stairs and was hovering on a landing. Tomorrow would be an interesting day. He hadn't been shopping with any of his siblings since he'd attended Hogwarts and the guests would add to the difficulty of keeping everyone under control. Fred and George were old enough to go off on their own- Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione would probably have to stay with him, though. While Ron and his friends were likely mature enough to handle shopping on their own, he couldn't allow it with Harry the great target of everything evil. Ron and Hermione probably wouldn't want to leave Harry, and Ginny he didn't trust to the twins.

Ron would probably put up a fuss and scowl a lot.

He walked over to the door of his room, concern managing to conquer annoyance- as it always did. "Ginny, you alright yet? Did you fix the robe?"

Her voice came slightly muffled through the door, but held a tone of frustration rather than the sadness it'd had earlier. "Oh Percy! It won't go back right!"

His sister opened the door, looking much better than she had before- her hair was back to its normal state, and the robe was still a bit small, and completely out of proportion, but at least it was once more covering her knees, a body part wizards tended to forget the existence of. Her face was now smeared with black all over though, and her shoes- well- he hoped she had an extra pair.

He smiled down at his sister, who was scowling horribly, looking like she normally did when trying to solve a problem. "You're supposed the be the one with the knack for transfiguration, but let's see what a few years of experience can do to help, hmm?"