Percy Weasley has always been up in the air; worried about what people think of him and can't make decisions. He's lost, unable to control himself from floating up into the cloud cover of people who don't understand him. But it's his complete opposi...
It was as though the dramatics at Hogwarts was meant to start before classes even started. Through the rest of the evening and into the next morning, everyone knew that Ron Weasley and Harry Potter had missed the Hogwarts Express and took it upon themselves to steal their father's car and fly to school where they crashed into the Whomping Willow.
Most of their family, except the fourth year Weasley twins, were furious. Percy was beyond angry, which he showed as he yelled at his youngest brother before breakfast and after their mother's howler exploded in the Great Hall.
"Don't you love family drama?" Ravi sighed as he watched Percy, red-faced, storm to their first class of the day after screaming at his brother.
"The Weasley's are like the unrealistic family on a comedy television show, " Archer said.
As they went through the rest of the their classes for the day, Archer, who was previously beyond excited for the school year, was now nervous. After taking their O.W.L's last year, their classes were now harder and more vigorous. There would be no goofing off like Archer had done every other year.
Somehow by some magical force, and much to his confusion, Archer had managed to receive an outstanding grade in Potions. He was pleased he would be able to continue the class because he did like it, and he liked to think that he was quite good at it.
Ravi, however, did not achieve an O in the class, and that meant that after their sixth class of the day the two boys parted ways, Ravi to the Gryffindor common room and Archer towards the dungeons.
The chairs and tables were full in the Potions classroom, all except one...one right next to Percy Weasley in the front row. Dread filled Archer from head to toe as he slumped towards the chair next to Percy, who was skimming through this years Potions text book, Advanced Potion Making. Archer sat down quietly, propping his leather bag against his chair and running his hands through his blond hair.
Percy didn't even glance up before muttering, "That seat's taken."
Archer turned to look at Percy, who still didn't even look up, and scoffed. "Um, it's the only empty seat in the room." Percy ignored him, as though Archer wasn't even there.
As he rolled his eyes, Archer decided that it was no use to argue with Percy, who kept his eyes glued to his potions book. He squinted at him, thinking that maybe after a few moments, he could just sit down and get on with the class. But there was only silence. So Archer decided that he would have to take matters into his own hands.
"Guess I'll just sit on the floor."
And so he did. Archer took his bag off the chair and dropped it to the ground and took a seat on the grungy floor of Professor Snape's potions classroom. A few student's snickered as they watched Archer pull his potions book from his bag as well a scroll of parchment, preparing. Percy, still not looking up from his book, just shook his head. Archer knew it was a matter of time before Snape marched in and yelled at him, which then would likely provide the opportunity to actually sit in the chair.
When Snape strolled into the room, his robes billowing dramatically behind him, he did exactly as Archer had expected. Archer sat in the chair beside Percy, who still paid no mind to him. That was until Snape required everyone to work with the person sitting next to them to begin the first potion of the year. Percy was very unhappy with this, and as he prepared a cauldron and the ingredients for the potion he muttered, "I hope you know what you're doing."
Archer narrowed his eyes at Percy. "I got an outstanding in this class," he stated pointedly, "I think I know what I'm doing."
As they worked on the potion, Archer could not help but be annoyed with Percy, and honestly everything around him. It was not uncommon for people to underestimate Archer's ability to do simple or even difficult tasks, like brew a potion that he knew absolutely nothing about. Many of his peers saw him as an unmotivated and sassy Muggle born who liked to fool around with boys in broom closets and break rules. Even though he did enjoy doing those things Archer was very motivated at times. Most of that came from the desire to prove others wrong.
Archer and Percy prepared the potion, taking turns tossing and cutting ingredients and stirring the potion in near complete silence, only occasionally asking the other to pass a knife or lessen the heat of the cauldron. For the most part, Archer didn't even know what they were brewing, he just read the ingredients and tossed them in.
Time ticked, and eventually Archer became bored with the silence. He glanced up at Percy, whose lips were pressed tightly together as he analyzed the color of the potion. Little beads of sweat formed at his temples, and his red hair became frizzy from the humidity in the room.
"So, uh, how was your holiday?" Archer asked Percy hesitantly as he dropped a sprig of lavender into the potion and watched it begin to dissipate into the liquid beneath it.
Percy didn't respond, and Archer assumed that he, once again, was just ignoring him. But after a moment, Percy shrugged and cleared his throat. "It was alright," he said, "I spent most of the time researching different career options based on my O.W.L.'s."
Archer nodded, a very over-enthusiastic nod. This conversation was going to bore him as much as the silence. "Very interesting," Archer said, "Sounds like a very productive summer."
"What did you do? Get high and break the law?"
The clipped tone of Percy's voice and the speed of which he replied shocked Archer. He raised his eyebrows at the sarcastic comment, though Archer knew there was some truth behind Percy's statement.
Archer chose not to reply to Percy. Instead, he kept his head down and the two finished the potion in silence. By the end of the hour, Snape instructed them to vial the whatever-it-was-they-made and hand it in, where they would discovered who failed at the potion and who succeeded. Then finally, they were dismissed.
During the walk back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Archer was walked quickly. He wanted to get to his dorm before Percy, that way he could tell Ravi what was said to him.
What Percy said, the question he asked, wasn't what bothered Archer. It was more the fact that it was Percy himself that said it. He was always one that was straight and to the point, not making assumptions or berating others for their choice of life style. Yes, Archer had been scolded multiple times by Percy the Prefect for breaking the rules but Percy never made any other judgmental comment about it.
The truth was that Archer actually respected Percy, even if they didn't quite get along. Percy worked hard at his course work and was motivated to create a great life for himself. What Archer had heard throughout his years at Hogwarts was that the Weasley's struggled. Percy seems adamant that his life was going to be different. And he certainly took no bullshit from anyone.
You see, there was a very big difference between Archer and Percy.
Percy did things because he just wanted to look better among people.
Archer did things because he just wanted people to look at him.
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