Deviance from the Pattern
The Potter family was among the most famous families in the magical world, especially in Magical Britain where the birthday of the Boy-Who-Lived became a national affair. It was the day the boy who lived was born. In the first four years of his life, Godric Potter was left out of the spotlight, and the Potters have eluded and even hidden from the press as much as possible. The Potters wanted their privacy and to ensure Godric lived a more peaceful life in his early years. It wasn't until his 5th birthday that the Potters revealed Godric Potter personally to the world and not only was this just a simple announcement but also a charity event. This day became one of the hottest events of the season and people are curious about who were the ones invited.
Neville Longbottom watched nonchalantly as the people around him are cheering and greeted the birthday boy, Godric Potter. Today was also his birthday (A/N: Technically, we all know it as of July 30th but in this story, they are the same as the Potter siblings). So, he could not understand why he is here celebrating someone else's birthday. Ever since Neville's parents were attacked by the Lestrange and rendered mentally ill, Neville stayed with his strict and rather paranoid grandmother, Augusta Longbottom. She was well known and respected in the magical community but she has gone far in years and she was a bit of a traditionalist in rearing children, especially with her grandson. For the past five years, Neville has not shown any sign of magic and this made her a little worried. While she always tells her grandson he still has time, Neville already knew at that age that his grandmother was a little disappointed. As the son of the first son of the Longbottom family, he is expected to lead and run their family. That's a lot of pressure to put on a five-year-old boy.
His relatives were also not very helpful. They were a prideful family and his uncles have a habit of comparing their children with each other, and that usually includes Neville as the not-so-good example. This treatment at home and the fact that he is often ignored, ridiculed, or disappointed only made Neville timid, shy, and a little jittery especially when faced with too many people he barely knows. This did not give Neville any favors. This personality trait of his is only seen as a weakness in a family who prided themselves as brave and strong.
Because Augusta was a little paranoid about people, Neville rarely gets to meet other people outside familial ties nor did he experience the same celebration or at least a party for his birthday as Godric. Granted the boy is the Boy-Who-Lived. All he usually gets is presents and a cake delivered to his house from his family. They never even got to visit him except during important events. He was a little envious that Godric gets to meet his cousins but they never get to visit him during his birthday. He didn't want to go anywhere on his birthday but his Uncle Algie forced him to be there. "You are the heir of the Longbottom house; you need to be here" his uncle declared.
"Hey, Neville." A voice behind him almost made him jump. When Neville turned, he saw nine-year-old Percy Weasley with his dark red curls, freckles, and sapphire blue eyes behind his glasses. "How are you?"
Neville met Percy when Uncle Algie introduced him to the Weasley family. They were a nice family even though they were a little odd. But the younger ones were more interested in talking with Godric than him and the older ones did not seem remotely interested in the party.
Neville does not know what to say. He shrugged and watched the Godric Potter as he laughed surrounded by every kid who was present on his birthday except Neville and Percy. Percy's younger siblings, Ron and Ginny were there trying to get Godric's attention as well. After all the Weasleys have known the Potters for years and were among the very few who were able to have personal contact with them during the first four years of Godric Potter.
"Oh, um, Happy Birthday too by the way," Percy muttered shyly. Neville blinked at Percy. Neville didn't know Percy very well but how did he know his birthday?
"Oh, my dad told me. He used to be friends with your dad." Percy answered seeing Neville's confused look. Neville nodded and gave him a shy smile. Percy smiled and grabbed Neville towards his older brothers and Fred and George who were among the few kids who didn't like the noise in the living room and decided to take refuge at the Potter's Library. They were also accompanied by Susan Bones and a young Luna Lovegood who was twirling around the room.
*****
Percy Weasley has always been different from his family. He wasn't outgoing, talkative, so fascinated by muggle things, boisterous and he wasn't crazy about quidditch. His parents were always worried about him since he also has difficulty getting along with other children. He was quiet, serious, and spends most of his time reading in his room. He was happy this way but his mother always try to get him out to play with his brothers or even the neighborhood children (A/N: I salute all the introverts who experience this as well). His brothers don't seem to like him. His constant reprimand of dangerous activities and additional information he shared that was not needed to be known made his brothers think he is annoying. But his older brother Bill did not seem to mind Percy's difference. He seems to think it was interesting. The twins on the other hand like to prank him, his younger siblings tend to ignore him, and his other older brother Charlie is barely even there even though they live in the same house.
His family even tried to invite boys his age like Oliver Wood and Cedric Diggory. He got along with Cedric a bit but they were still wary about Percy's overly sharp intelligence and the need to blurt out facts out of the blue. Percy never understood why he needs to be like his brothers. Everywhere he goes, everyone expects him to be a "Weasley" which he did not get because he is a Weasley but what exactly is being a Weasley mean. He didn't seem to like to act like this.
Molly's effort to push Percy to come out and make friends only made the boy miserable. She was a little worried that his son might not get to be sorted to Gryffindor. The traits he showed do not seem to be Gryffindor material and she wanted to push her little boy to act a little braver mostly because Percy was overly cautious on many things or wanted to know too many things like instead of helping with degnoming the garden, he winds up learning about gnomes more.
Arthur tried to always include Percy whenever he gives his children attention but the boy rarely talks or even acts out that he often has trouble trying to find at least a similar interest to his third son. When he took Percy to his work with him, the little boy was very excited. Arthur was really happy. He hoped to get a child to at least work with the Ministry and maybe stay in Great Britain. His older sons wanted to pursue careers elsewhere and his younger children were still a bit young to think about what they wanted to be when they are older. Percy was so receptive to everything that he asks a lot of questions about the ministry and how they work. He even wanders off to other departments and asks around. It did annoy a few people but it helped that Percy wanted to go to work with him though he did worry from time to time about the little boy getting lost.
Arthur was a little proud and worried at the same time. Sure, he wanted a son who would work for the Ministry but Percy, despite his age, seem to have taken interest in politics and how government works. He just wanted Percy to work in administrative positions not become Minister of Magic. He was even a little peeved when he was looking for the wandering Percy only to find him talking with Lucius Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy of all people! He always taught his children to never judge others but he hasn't taught Percy about the differences between Light and Dark Wizards yet.
"Percy!" Arthur called and grabbed his son as he hid him protectively away from Malfoy.
"Weasley." Malfoy greeted coldly.
"Malfoy," Arthur replied the same. Percy just glanced at the two men curiously. He had never seen his father this agitated before.
"This is your son?" Malfoy raised his eyebrows curiously at Percy. This only made Arthur hold Percy even more firmly and protectively. It was obvious he is his son. Percy may have fewer freckles and his hair isn't exactly flaming red but more wine-colored but he is a Weasley
"Interesting," Malfoy commented but didn't say anything more as he left the father and son without saying goodbye.
Arthur did not like that comment. He does not want Malfoy to find any of his children interesting. He knows Malfoy won't do anything but why did he picture him stealing his son and boiling him in a pot? Bad image! Bad brain!. After that Arthur brought Percy less. A lot of people often asked where his son was, especially Sirius Black who has taken a liking to Percy but he would simply tell them his son is spending time with his friends and even if Percy was with him, he refused to let him wander the ministry alone anymore.
Because of this incident, Arthur and Molly sat down with all of their children and started telling them about the dangers of talking with strangers and being careful with interacting with some wizards, especially those who came from wizard families who practiced dark magic like the Malfoys. Bill and Charlie both questioned their parents about the implications of dark magic because they believed it isn't that bad and they have friends who came from dark families. This did not make their parents happy and got them grounded. Percy and the twins decided not to ask and Ron and Ginny were still too young to understand.
Despite the worries of his family and how they keep forcing him to make friends by inviting children from their neighborhood, Percy managed to gain a friend by himself. When he wandered around their neighborhood he got lost and winds up in the Lovegoods backyard. Lilian Lovegood, the mother of Luna Lovegood, was Percy's favorite person in the world. Despite her new age personality and odd belief in things that probably don't exist, he enjoyed spending time with the Lovegoods especially when Lilian does her experiments.
That was when Percy met Marcus Flint. The Flints and the Lovegoods happen to be good friends although both families practiced different sides of magic. Technically the Lovegoods as most intelligence-seeking people tend to be more neutral in their views on magic and do not really care about light and dark as long as their thirst for knowledge was satisfied. Knowing that the Flints were one of those people whom his family categorized as dark, Percy never really told his parents about him.
Marcus was very big and tall for his age. Although he was as much of a fan of quidditch as Percy's family, he also has other interests and doesn't need to talk about Quidditch all the time. He would play with Percy and Luna and even beat Percy in chess. This was surprising especially as Marcus is not as sharp as Percy. Marcus even liked to read some muggle comics and listen to some of their music although he hides it from his parents and even keeps a small stash in the Lovegood's household. He was however knowledgeable in the world of politics because Marcus' father was head of the most ancient and noble house of Flint and as many children from old magical families have to learn it at an early age.
Percy learned from Marcus that the Weasleys (and the Prewitts) have seats at the Wizengamot too but haven't been occupied for a while. It was costly to maintain a seat and the Weasleys have faced sanctions before – over what, Percy was not sure. His father was the head of the Weasley family after his older brother died without an heir during the war. But Arthur didn't have any interests in politics nor the money so their seat has remained unclaimed.
Bill knew that Percy would often sneak away from home to meet up with Marcus when he thought no one was looking. The rest of the family just thought he went to visit the Lovegoods again. His mother was not happy about it but it was better than keeping the boy at home. Hey, at least he is going out. Bill wasn't prejudiced between the dark and light families so he never questioned Percy with his friendship with Flint nor did he say anything to his family. But he did worry that Percy will have a hard time growing up. Bill loved his family but sometimes they can be overbearing, especially his mother, and Percy wasn't very good at blending in so much with family dynamics and has trouble feeling like he was part of the family. He also didn't want to crush Percy's spirit so he believed that Percy should be left to explore the world on his own.