Painfully logical, tragically beautiful. That's good enough for me -- January 1993 (DONE)

Penny and I were finishing up with our Prefect duties for the evening.  We were passing the rounds to the next set of Prefects.  Just finishing up capping the evening for them, I took hold of Penny's hand as we walked away.  I checked the time and we were too late to eat dinner with the rest of the school.  "Would you like to go and see what the snacks are?  There will not be any supper left, but there is always food in the Great Hall," I said to my girlfriend.  I was unsure how I had been so lucky to have Penelope as a girlfriend.  She was beautiful and extremely smart and ambitious.  I knew that we both were ambitious and goal oriented, but I did not know how she fell for me.

I grinned at Percy.  I knew that it was hard to get him to loosen up, but I would get him to be not so uptight.  There was a difference between following rules and behaving... and then there was Percy.  But he was so sweet and kind.  Everyone seemed to tease him for everythign and that was why he thought he did not fit in with his family.  I felt bad for him a little bit.  "Well... instead of going to the Great Hall, why don't we go straight to the source?  We could actually get some real dinner instead of just snacks," I suggested.  I wa snot sure if Percy would be up for going to the kitchens; that might be pushing everything with the rules.  It was not against the rules to go down there, but most students do not go down to the kitchens.

Well, I was not sure if I wanted to go down to the kitchens.  But then again, I did enjoy the idea of spending as much time as possible with Penelope before having to go to our separate Houses.  I smiled at her and squeezed her hands.  "I suppose we could see what they have for us," I said, figuring that it would not be such a bad thing if we were to go down to the basement.  I only went down there for rounds... why not grab some food for once?  I was actually feeling slightly rebellious, though I really was not breaking any rules.

I grinned, glad that he had agreed.  I figured that we could end up sneaking onto the grounds or something to be able to eat.  I knew the professors would nto say anything to us... we were just grabbing something to eat while doing our Prefect rounds.  That was a likely story, right?  I just had to try to get this guy to agree to it.  I led him down to the basement.  "Perce, you don't need to be so nervous.  We're not doing anything against the rules," I said, giggling a little bit.  His hand had gone all clammy.  I recognized the signs of him being extremely nervous.  I had to call him out on it.

I wondered how long it was going to take her to notice that; Penelope was always good at noticing the details that others could easily miss.  "Actually, Penny, by wandering around the castle after our patrol is breaking a rule," I pointed out, trying to be a little playful but then again trying to point out to her that we should not be out for too long.  The professors only gave a little leniency when it came to rounds and how long they let the previous 'shift' stay out and about.  I knew because I had discussed this with Professor McGonagall numerous times.  I had wanted to know because of what others were doing, not just so Penny and I could have time after the patrol to hang out.  We had time throughout our days to do that, too.

I rolled my eyes at him.  Of course he would have to ruin the moment slightly.  "Loosen up a bit, Perce.  We still have plenty of time since our rounds ended to be able to grab some food before heading back to our dorms," I informed him.  I knew that we were allowed a certain amount of time and we were still in that time frame.  I tickled the orange on the painting to enter the kitchen and pulled the portrait open.  "C'mon... let's see what we can choose from," I said, pulling him into the kitchen with me.  Immediately the house elves started to bring us a lot of different things.  I found my favorite elf and grinned.  "Midge," I said, smiling at the cute little elf.  She helped clean up the Ravenclaw tower and I had often stayed up long enough to see her.  There was an odd bond here.  "We were doing rounds on Prefect duty... do you guys have anything that's actually dinner food?  We did not get to eat anything earlier," I explained, seeing that they were all bringing us treats rather than food that was substantial.

I graciously took a cup of pumpkin juice that they had brought up.  I followed where Midge led Penny.  I was surprised to see a little table set up by the fireplace they had down there.  I raised my eyebrows at my girlfriend in surprise and realized she looked the same way.  We both sat down and the elves brought over some delicious roast, trimmings and all.  "Thank you," I said politely as they all backed away while bowing at us.  house elves always were intriguing to me.  I had no idea anything could have such devotion to strangers.  We started to eat and I looked at Penelope.  "Did you have this little date planned all along?" I asked her, smiling.

I laughed and shook my head.  "No, but that would have been an excellent idea," I said.  I leaned in closer and added, "I think Midge planned it."  I would not put it past the house elf.  I saw her looking at us while she frosted some cookies.  I flashed her a grin and returned my attention to my boyfriend in front of me.  "How is everything with your family?" I asked him.  He had been telling me how worried he was with going back home for the holidays.  he always felt like an outsider.  I felt really bad for him, I truly did.  I had told him to bring it up to his mum or dad, but I doubt he did.  He never talked to them about the way he felt.  And it was probably because he was scared that they would view him even more differently than they already did.  I put my hand atop of his while we ate to let him know that I was here for him.

I sighed and shrugged, washing down my food with some more pumpkin juice.  I declined the refill from the house elf politely.  "It was as I expected.  I just don't belong there," I admitted.  "Even when I try to loosen up, it's never enough for them it seems.  I don't understand why I get as much crap as I do; Bill was always smart, too.  But I guess since he was adventurous it was okay.  But to be smart and rule abiding, well, that makes me a menace to the family."  I knew my parents tried to make it not so, but my siblings did not make it easy to be with everyone during the holidays.  At least while at Hogwarts, I could separate myself a little bit from them.  I still did enjoy sitting with them at one meal during the day; we were still family after all.  But I was just growing tired of the constant teasing and bickering.  That was why I longed for moments with Penelope.  She helped me feel better.  Not once did she tease me for being the way I was.  I could not help it.  Things had to be a certain way, I followed the rules... grades had to be top notch.  I had high expectations for myself and for others.  Apparently that made me an easy target for the entire school to tease me.  I pretend like it does not bother me; and I am able to do something about some of the disrespect, but it wears on a person.  Believe it or not, I did not have high self esteem like the rest of my family.

I wanted to talk to Percy's brothers and sister about this.  No, it was not their fault the whole school picked on Percy, but they certainly could hold back their own comments.  I really did feel bad for my boyfriend.  He could not wait to leave school and get into the real world where he could actually fit in someplace.  I squeezed his hand and looked him in the eyes.  "You are not a menace to your family, Percy.  Teasing is their way of showing affection," I said.  I knew that was how the twins behaved constantly.  I knew it had to get hard sometimes, but that was the way they let him know they cared.  I did wish that it would be easier for him.

I brought her hand to my lips and kissed it lightly.  I knew she was trying ot help, but she did not understand everything in my family dynamics.  It went Bill and Charlie, the twins, and Ron and Ginny.  Then there was me.  I was the odd ball out.  I just did not fit in anywhere.  When I came to Hogwarts, I thought that I would fit in better with some crowd.  But I still stood out like a sore thumb.  Me and the other prefects got along, but it was not like I had any extremely close friends that I woudl be sad to leave -- except for Penelope.  "Perhaps," I said, not wanting to argue with her about it.  I glanced up at the clock.  "We probably will want to be heading back."  I really did not want to talk any more about me and my family.  It just depressed me.

I knew that we had plenty of time still, so I knew what he was doing.  I smiled at him and stood up.  I did not mind; I knew it was hard for him to talk about everything like that.  I would not enjoy talking about it either.  I thanked all of the elves and we walked hand in hand towards our dorms.  it was nice that we did not have to separate until we were almost there.  I walked a little slowly on purpose, though.  "Percy, are you alright?" I asked.  I was not sure if he was.  He seemed really quiet now, after I brought up the holidays.

I looked over and smiled at Penny.  "Of course I am," I assured her.  As we walked, we chatted in whispered tones.  "How is everyone with your family?  Were the holidays better than mine, i hope," I said with a slight chuckle.  I knew that it had been an odd couple of years for them.  She and Professor Lupin were half siblings, they found out that Desdemona -- who was good friends with Penny -- was a half sibling to Lupin shortly after they had lost their father, and it just seemed like it was a hectic time getting everyone to come to terms with all of that.  I could only imagine how the family gatherings seemed.   And I was curious as to where Desdemona was now... her parents moved all over the world every year.

I nodded.  "The holidays were quite entertaining to say the least," I said.  "I would say probably ended up being better than yours.  That's why I said you should have come with me and not worry about dealing with all of the drama with your siblings."  Everyone was great.  It was so much fun to be around everyone.  Desdemona was unable to come, but we were all still in touch with her.  I was glad to have someone my age to hang ouot with at most family functions, though.  I love Lucy and Will to death, but at times they seemed extremely young compared ot me.  And at other times, they seemed so mature.

I was happy to hear that her holidays had gone better than mine.  I had wanted to go with her to her family, but I knew how Mum would react.  It was best to just endure being with my family than endure my mother's attitude for me for missing it.  "Perhaps next year," I said, figuring that I might just have to break it to my mother that I was growing up and having real relationships.  We were at the part where I would have to bade Penelope goodnight.  I stopped and took her in my arms.  "Goodnight, Penny," I said, leaning down and giving her a kiss.  We both smiled at each other one last time for the night and made our way to our dormitories.