Previously:
"I admit it was good but I still haven't gotten whatever they put in my shampoo out," Percy said with an amused smile.

Hecate smiled. She knew how the Stolls had done it and had forgotten about it until Percy brought it up. It was fortunate because now they didn't need to worry about it. "How are you hiding it?" She asked. "Are you dying it?"

Percy blushed. "No, I'm using he Mist," he replied.

Hecate nodded. "Good," she said. "A few more things before we continue. Only your father, a man named Dumbledore and Arthur and Molly Weasley will know about you so you will have help."

"Are we meeting them now?" Percy asked.

Hecate turned an appraising eye onto the son of Poseidon. "You know, you are smarter than you look," she said.

"I get that a lot," he said cheerfully as he followed his father and Hecate up the stairs.

So the past several days with the red haired filled family hasn't been so bad as I expected. Granted, I wasn't sure what to expect but it wasn't anything normal. The Weasley family was poor; they didn't struggle for money but they didn't have a lot of it either. I was surprised at their eagerness to let me in (the parents anyways) when they were already stretched for space.

Now I've got the morning at the Weasley household to a routine. Every morning, around four, I went out to the fields and summoned some monsters to practice. Sometimes even Hecate would come, teaching more of the magic in this world, or my dad would come, teaching me more of my demi-godly powers. Then, around five or so, I snuck past the twins as they ate breakfast to take a shower and head back downstairs for breakfast. That's when sleepy-head Ron came stumbling down the stairs, sitting at the table and grumbling about how early it was. Arthur would come down not long after, kissing Molly on the cheek and grabbing some food and motioning for me to follow.

That was my cue for me to follow him to work.

I adored work. Especially Mr Crouch, my boss in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. I spent every waking moment working my butt off for the man.

I hated it.

Who flipping cared how thick cauldron bottoms should be?

Nevertheless, it was a part of my act and I had to play the part.

Before I could go very far today however, Molly stopped me. "Percy, dear, Arthur and the boys are going to get Harry today, please be home by five so you can, er, welcome him," she said, careful to not say 'meet' since the twins and Ron were right there. The sleepy head was till stuffing his face in a way I miss doing.

I nodded, my lips twitching in a smile. This part to play was hard to begin with but it is growing more and more difficult to keep up. We've already had to obliviate Ron and the others twice because I couldn't control myself. That's why I tend to stay in my room when I am here. "Alright, Mother," I agreed. "Are Charlie and Bill coming today?"

Molly smiled, acknowledging my half smile and nodded. "Yes, they're bringing Hermione as well. You were able to get tomorrow off, right?"

I hated it but to keep up the act of a pompous, arrogant git, I rolled my eyes. "Of course, Mum, though I will have loads of paper work to catch up on." I assured her.

She pulled me into a hug and I closed my eyes. Every time she did that, it reminded me that I liked being a part of a family. Something I'm forgetting more often because of what happened at camp.

"I hate doing this," I whispered in her ear, referring to my attitude.

"You'll find the opportunity to stop soon enough," she whispered back before pulling away.

I nodded in her direction, straightened my robes and walked out the door.

Once I arrived at the Ministry, I headed straight for Mr. Crouch's office. Also part of my morning routine.

"Mr. Crouch, sir?" I knocked on the office door.

"Oh, come in, Weatherby!" Came the Ministry worker's deep voice.

I sighed, opening the door and walking in. "It's Weasley, sir. Percy Weasley," I corrected...again. "How are things today?"

"Well enough, Weatherby, well enough," Mr. Crouch hardly looked up from his papers. "How is your report coming along?"

"I dare say I'll have it for you by Tuesday," I informed him-arrogantly, I might add. I ignored the 'Weatherby' seeing as he wasn't going to get it right anytime soon.

"That soon, eh?" He glanced up at me in slight surprise. "Very well, Weatherby, you best get on with your work now."

"Yes, sir," I said, backing out of the office and closing it behind me. I had quite a few reports in my bin already.

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I arrived back at the Burrow-which I've been calling home more often-later that day, exactly at five. Walking in, I was bombarded with questions.

"Percy, where's Dad?" Ron demanded in concern.

"We were suppose to go get Harry, what's keeping him?" Fred added.

"Who know what they're doing to him now?" Ron dramatized. "They were starving him earlier this summer!"

I rolled my eyes. "Ron, I hardly think a sugar free diet is qualified for starvation," I interrupted in my normal haughty tone. "As for Father, I'm sure that what ever is keeping him is highly important and relevant so I would suggest being patient."

With that, I headed up stairs to my room to finish the cauldron report.

Half an hour later, I heard Molly shouting at the twins for feeding one of their candies to Harry's cousin. Harry, Ron, Hermione (who had gotten here a few hours before me) and Ginny seemed to have escaped Molly since I heard them climbing the rickety stair case to Ron's room.

I went to my door and listened through the crack to hear what they were saying.

"...big row," that was Ginny, it's been nice having a younger sister, "because Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop."

Which I totally supported but of course they don't know that.

Suddenly I opened the door, my newly acquired glasses hanging on my nose and my face adopting an annoyed expression.

"Hi, Percy," Harry greeted.

I eyed him. His hair was a mess, covering the scar people seemed obsessed about and his glasses covered bright green eyes, brimming with amusement. "Oh, hello, Harry," I said, softening my tone a smidge. "I was wondering who was making all the noise. "I'm trying to work in here, you know-I've got a report to finish for the office-and it's rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs."

"We're not thundering," Ron corrected, irritated. "We're walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top-secret workings of the Ministry of Magic."

"What are you working on?" Harry asked, still slightly amused.

"A report for the Department of International Magical Cooperation," I said, sticking my nose in the air a little. "We're trying to standardize cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin-leaks have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year-"

"That'll change the world, that report will," Ron said sarcastically. "Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks."

My face heated up as I tried keeping in a laugh because he was absolutely right. I quickly regained my composure. "You might sneer, Ron," I said angrily, "but unless some sort of international law is imposed, we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow-bottomed products that seriously endanger-"

"Yeah, yeah, all right," Ron cut me off and headed upstairs again.

Ok, I was embellishing it a little but I slammed my door closed anyway. Once it was safely shut, I laughed, shaking my head in amusement. Sometimes I didn't mind Percy Weasley's character. The nonsense I somehow came up with on the fly only added to the effect.

Then my eye caught the piles of parchment on my desk. I groaned. Who knew wizards had to do this much writing for their jobs?

I had to get this in by Tuesday. Why did I do that to myself? I'm only half of the way through and I've been working on this report for a week now.

If Annabeth were here, she'd be able to-

No.

Stop thinking about her, Percy, she's not worth your tears.

I slid down my door to sit on the floor, tears falling down my cheeks. -What did I just say?- Burying my head in my arms, I let out a frustrated groan.

It still hurt.

Every moment of it.

It hurt like it did the first day.

The nightmares were just as bad.

The dreamless sleep potion Molly acquired for me didn't help either. We ended up putting a mufflo spell on my bedroom. Even then, the others are saying they've heard something at night.

Suddenly, I forced myself up. Crawling over to my desktop, I hoisted myself into my chair and stared at the parchment. Picking up the quill, I forced my brain to work. Fortunately, Hecate got glasses for me to be able to read without any dyslexic problems and let me tell you, it made my life way easier.

I got three quarters of the way finished before a loud bang from outside brought me out of the zone. Now, there is nothing worse than something bringing you out of the zone. I had just figured out a brilliant way to end the paper and my surrogate older brothers had to pull me out of it.

I clambered to the window and opened it. "Will you keep it down?" I shouted, genuinely annoyed.

"Sorry, Perce," said Bill, grinning.  "How are the cauldron bottoms coming on?"

"Very badly," I said peevishly as I realized I was turning into my character too much at the moment. But who can blame me? The bang made me jump and spill ink all over the parchment so I'll have to redo it.

A couple hours later, we were outside sitting around the tables Bill and Charlie were playing around with before I was able to reverse the effects of the spilled ink and was almost finished now.

Despite my growling stomach and watering mouth, I stuck to character and talked about work almost the entire time. "I've told Mr. Crouch that I'll have it ready by Tuesday," I started haughtily. "That's a bit sooner than he expected it but I like to keep on top of things. I think he'll be grateful I've done it in good time, I mean, it's extremely busy in our department just now, what with all the arrangements for the World Cup. We're just not getting the support we need from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ludo Bagman-"

"I like Ludo," Arthur said absently. "He's the ones who got us such good tickets for the cup. I did him a bit of a favor. His brother, Otto, got into a spot of trouble-a lawn mower with unnatural powers-I smoothed the whole thing over."

"Oh, Bagman's likable, sure," I said with slight annoyance, "but how he ever got to be Head of Department..." I sighed. I genuinely did not approve of the man. "When I compare him to Mr. Crouch!-" I still didn't see much of a difference " I can't see Mr. Crouch losing a member of our department and not trying to find out what's happened to them."

I suppose he's got that going for him.

"You realize Bertha Jorkins has been missing for over a month now? Went on holiday to Albania and never came back," I finished with a pointed look at Arthur.

"Yes, I was asking Ludo about that," he said with a frown. "He says Bertha's gotten lost plenty of times before now-though I must say, if it was someone in my department, I'd be worried..."

"Oh, Bertha is hopeless," I agreed with a slight smile. "I hear she's been shunted from department to department for years, much more trouble than she's wroth. All the same, Bagman ought to be trying to find her. Mr. Crouch is taking it quite personally, she used to be in our department you know. I think he liked her too but-" I sighed dramatically and took a sip of my drink. "-we've got too much to do already with the World Cup and then we need to prepare for another huge event right after."

Here's where I'll have some fun. I love antagonizing my 'younger brother'. If they don't directly ask about it, at least I know they'll be intensely curious. "You know the one I'm talking about father," I said loudly for the others to hear, "the top-secret one."

I smiled innocently when Arthur and Molly sent me a long suffering look. I looked on, satisfied when Ron rolled his eyes and leaned into Harry and Hermione to whisper something. Being annoying to family never grows old.

I spent the rest of the meal in silence, eating my food and listening to the others talk about the game the next day.

"...last time it lasted five days," Charlie was saying. "It took them that long to find the snitch."

"Wow-I hope it does this time!" Harry said with a huge grin on his face.

Everyone was wrapping up the meal, picking up their plates and grabbing the empty food dishes.

I sniffed in response to Harry's spoken wish. "Well, I hope it doesn't!" I said as pompously as I could. "I shudder to think what my inbox would be when we get back!"

"Afraid someone might put dragon-dung in it again, Percy?" George asked with a sly grin.

So it was them. I always suspected-they're too much like the Stolls for it not to be-but I could never be sure. My face heat up as I tried to keep from laughing. "It was a fertilizer sample from Norway!" I corrected heatedly. "It was nothing personal!" What was this nonsense I was spewing from my mouth? Of course it was personal, Percy Weasley is an absolute jerk.

I stormed off with my plates in my hands and only barely caught Fred saying, "It was-we sent it" to Harry and Ron.

As I walked by Arthur, I was still holding back a laugh but I managed to tell him I needed to talk to him and Molly later tonight.

I waited in my room, pacing the floor, avoiding the creaky floor board before I realized there was a silencing charm on my room. Then I gave up and walked all over.

My room was small, not that I needed much space in the first place. The desk but the window held my minotaur horn and the watch Tyson gave me. Riptide never left my pockets. My bed was more of a pile of blankets in the corner as I didn't care for beds anymore. I had a practice dummy in the other corer and a worn rug on the floor. The windows were small but they let in quite a bit of light during the day. Now it was night so I had a few candles lit on my desk for the light.

I practically wore a hole in the rug by the time Molly and Arthur got up to my room.

"Everyone is asleep, what did you want to speak to us about, dear," Molly asked kindly.

"Two things for now," I said, still pacing. Molly just moved to my desk, used to my antics by now and Arthur stayed where he was by the door. "One, did you know that Harry was being mistreated?"

"Well, we knew of course that his Uncle andA Aunt weren't very welcoming of magic and that might have been one reason whey they shut him out of their lives," Molly started. "Ron received a letter saying he was being forced into a diet for their...larger son. So of course we went along som sweets from him."

I shook my head, slightly disappointed. I had thought Molly was more observant than that. She knew some of what I'd gone through before I told her. "I suppose you didn't want to see it and that is why you didn't but it was-perhaps still is-more than that," I informed them seriously.

"What do you mean?" Molly asked, her face draining of color. It was probably a good thing she was sitting down.

"Harry-in all possibility-was abused," I said, eying her carefully. I needed to make sure I caught her if she fainted.

"How-how do you know?" Arthur asked.

I faltered, faintly, in my pacing but kept moving. Faster and faster in my nervousness. "It takes one to know one," I started. "I could see it in his words and movements. He speaks slowly or hesitantly, as if he's unsure if he's allowed to speak. His form is smaller than what you would expect. Must be lack of nourishment when he was younger. I don't think they hit him. No, he doesn't flinch when people move suddenly. However, it could very well have been a psychological abuse. I could see his brain working quickly to register the information put in front of him yet he hides it. If I had to guess, I'd say it was an abuse very similar to mine."

I shuddered, thinking back on my first step-father, Smelly Gabe. 'Brain boy' echoed in the back of my head in his harsh words.

"He forced himself to achieve less in school than what he could do just so they would leave him alone," I stared out the window, having stopped pacing a long time ago, "but it didn't work and the habit has carried to this world if your description of him is correct." I whispered, almost to myself.

"Oh, Percy, my dear boy," Molly suddenly said, bringing me out of my thoughts. She attacked me, bringing me down to meet with her embrace, pinning my arms to my side.

"Why is he with them?" I asked, almost begging for the answer.

"Dumbledore says it's because of his mother," Arthur said. "She did something for him the night she died, leaving a magical barrier around him, protecting him from You-Know-Who. It was a blood connection so he had to go to his mother's sister."

Molly released me finally as I let this information sink in. I was very tempted to take Harry to live with me someplace.

"You can't tell him you know," I said, looking at Molly carefully. "He's very good at hiding it-almost as good as me. He'll be on the defense if you tell him."

Molly nodded. "Of course, now what was the other thing you wanted to talk about, dear?" She asked as she wiped away tears.

Now I groaned in frustration. "Percy Weasley is literally everything Percy Jackson is not," I started. "Do you have any idea when I can cut the act?"

Molly let out a shaky laugh along with Arthur. "I don't know dear," she said, calming down. "I am sure the opportunity will present itself."

"One thing we need to know before tomorrow," Arthur started. "You learned how to apparate, right? That is how you will be going to the World Cup."

I smirked. "Not apparate but I will be able to get there tomorrow, don't worry."

Here's a disclaimer on some of the conversations in this and future chapters, I do not own the Harry Potter of Percy Jackson books, I am not nearly good enough at writing for that to be true.

I hope you liked this chapter, it was sort of a filler until we got to the World Cup. You'll like that chapter ;)