I've Got You // Perciver

Chapter 5: Memories of Misery

CW: angst, allusions to self-harm (pressing fingernails into palms) (it only happens once, towards the end of the chapter), mentions of people dying, incidents that are borderline child abuse (not 100% sure if they can be considered child abuse so I don't want to say so), this chapter is exactly what it says on the tin: these aren't good memories for a reason

Please read with caution and take care of yourself

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[9 years old]

Percy had run into his room, locking his door behind him to keep the twins out. He had wanted to be alone and they always took his stuff. The twins had went and told their mum who had unlocked his door and tore apart his room all while screaming at him to stop hiding things from her because she was his mother and he was supposed to trust her. His mother hated when she thought her children were hiding things from her.

After she'd trashed his room, she'd left him to clean up the mess as a punishment. Percy had felt like someone had punched him in the chest as he struggled not to cry. Percy didn't have his wand yet so he'd had to try and pick up his room by hand. He'd come across one of his dragon figurines that his uncle Fabian had given him when he was a little kid, around 4 or so, only to see that it had been broken in half when his mother stepped on it.

That was how Bill had found him an hour later, trying not to cry and hyperventilating as he sat on the floor with his room trashed, clutching the broken toy in his hand. 'Percy, what happened to your room,' Bill had signed as he crouched down next to Percy. 'Mother,' Percy had replied.

Bill, who was used to what happened when his mother got like this, had squeezed his shoulder and told him to go get Charlie, who had been in his own room at the time.

They had gone back to Percy's room to find it spotless; everything had been put back in its place and even his dragon figurine (that Bill had handed to him as soon as he walked in the door) was fixed.

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[12 years old]

Percy had noticed the pictures sitting in a box labeled 'attic'.

The top one was the one from his first day of Hogwarts: the one his mother had taken of him and his older brothers before they left to board the train. Another one was of Percy's 6th birthday: he was grinning up at the camera and lifting his new book on trains that he'd gotten from their neighbor, Mr. Lovegood. The last one was of Percy on his fathers shoulder after he'd caught the snitch (his very first one!) during a practice game when he was 10. Charlie was cheering in the background as he ran up to Percy and gave him a high five.

Percy had felt confused.

What were the pictures of him doing in this box and why were they going up to the attic where the ghoul lived?

Percy felt the burning of unshed tears as he looked at the pictures, waving at the miniature version of his father and sucking in a sharp breath when his father stopped to wave back with a big grin. His father hadn't looked that proud of him in a long time.

He glanced around to make sure no one was looking before he snatched the pictures and hurried up to his room, locking the door behind him. He hurriedly shoved them into his suitcase right as a loud bang sounded at his door.