Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

Overcoming Arrogance (Percy Weasley)

So my hints were too obvious then...

As many of you guessed, this one is about Percy and I hope you like it!

Sometimes I couldn't believe the cheek of the man sitting in front of me, it was as if he had no idea how rude and hurtful his actions could be. I mean, if I used his own words, then we were on opposite sides of a battle. He had chosen the ministry over his family and I had chosen his family over the ministry. I had chosen to believe in Dumbledore, to believe in Harry, and had left my job at the ministry and he had done the very opposite. He had abandoned his family and sought out power, like I knew he would do. You couldn't be best friends with someone for almost 10 years without knowing their personality and if there was one thing I knew about Percy Weasley, it was that he ambitious - perhaps too ambitious.

But with what right was he sitting in my living room, watching me like he was waiting for me to say something?

"Get on with it Percy," I said finally, standing across from him. He was sitting on my sofa, staring silently up at me and I crossed my arms over my chest. "You came down the floo network and told me you needed to say something - so hurry up, say it and then get out of my house."

"You know," he marvelled and I struggled not to roll my eyes; we were going to be here a while. "I expected my family to act so coldly towards me but I certainly didn't expect this sort of behaviour from my best friend."

"But I'm not your best friend," I said coolly, the lie leaving my lips like it was the truth. "I stopped being your best friend the moment you abandoned your family."

He scoffed slightly, rising to his feet and crossing the distance between us. "So, Dumbledore got to you too then? Why believe the old coot's lies? Voldemort isn't back -"

"Then who killed my parents Percy?" I asked softly, looking up into his eyes. My question threw him off and he looked around the room uncomfortably. But I kept going, he needed to see some sense before it was too late. "Who killed my parents during the quidditch world cup? The death eaters rounded them up and killed them and whose orders do the death eaters act on? You saw the destruction during the world cup - Merlin, we rescued people together Percy, I cried in your arms when I received the news - and yet that's not enough proof? What about Harry seeing him with his own eyes?"

"Harry is lying," he said dismissively, still not looking me in the eyes. He cleared his throat and walked around the living room before heading to the fireplace. He looked over each of the photo frames on the fireplace and I watched his shoulders stiffen when he didn't find himself in a single one. I'd removed his photos when it got too painful to see his face every day.

"Don't insult Harry in front of me, Percy," I warned him quietly. "Hurry up and say whatever it is you came here to say before I throw you out of my home and place wards against you."

He let out a sigh, looking at me from over his shoulder. "I'm here to offer you a job."

"A job," I repeated incredulously.

"What money are you surviving on?" He asked in evident concern, turning fully to face me. "Come back to the ministry - you can't live like this for long. You need to get some stability back into your life."

"I didn't know you cared," I remarked dryly with a roll of my eyes.

"Of course, I -"

"You certainly didn't care when you'd turned your back on your family." That shut him up. "Thanks for the offer Percy - really - but I'm not interested in getting my old job back."

"It's not your old job." He straightened the tie around his neck and I wanted nothing more than to strangle him with it and shake some sense into him. "A secretarial position has been opened up - I need a secretary."