OTLP is a second place winner in selenhekate's competition Childhood Memories. I am very proud of this story.

Harry Potter does not belong to me, he is the creation of JK Rowling, Warner Bros., and other various companies involved with this series

A Birthday From Hell

The crisp air bit at the swaying leaves as it rushed through the trees, leaving a soft, cool breeze to break from the heat wave they seemed to be having. The temperature had cooled since it hit August where the leaves slowly began their annual metamorphosis of colors. The lush greens that had been born in spring and thrived in summer were coming to a close as they turned orange and red. The week towards autumn was one of grace as school was soon starting up once again. Children would soon be packing for their annual trip to that big red and black train to take them back to a haven most called a second home. On this particularly warm day, a large group gathered in the house most of them grew up in. The old, rickety house looked as if it were held up by some undistinguishable energy. It had lovingly been named The Burrow for quite some time.

Under large tents, many long tables and chairs had been set up. The matriarch and patriarch sat with a group of people as they spoke. While they would all get together once a week for various dinners, it was a rare occasion to have the entire Weasley clan at the same venue at the same time. Molly sat in one of the chairs she had conjured that morning and spoke with her eldest son as she held the newest addition to their ever-growing family. They had all come such a long way from where they had been almost two and a half decades ago. Most of her children had babies of their own, her youngest grandchild being her sweet Lily from Ginny and Harry and one of her grandbabies had two little tots of their own.

Molly looked around at all of her family in attendance. In one corner, she could see her youngest child Ginny with her husband Harry. Their eldest child was sitting next to them chattering on about something. Their other two were starting up a friendly game of Quidditch. Over there, she could see Lily and Al, Ron and Hermione's Huge and Rose with their father, she saw Fleur and Bill's two youngest, Percy's Molly and Lucy, and her second oldest son Charlie was helping setting up teams. Molly also saw George, his wife Angelina and their eldest son Fred. It was quite the herd they had over there and it brought a smile to Molly's lips.

Her oldest son, Bill was sitting next to her as he played with the baby on his mum's lap, his sweet granddaughter. "How's Fleur?" Molly asked him. She watched as the inner battle began in her son's eyes. None of them were sure what happened, but for the last fortnight, Fleur had been in St. Mungo's on the fourth floor for Spell Damage. No one could figure out what had been used on her or what had happened. She watched her son tear up and shake him head. "Never you mind, Bill." She told him softly. There was no need to darken the family affair and Molly was really unsure why she even brought it up. Instead, she diverted her eyes back to seeing who was at the family gathering and who was not. Angelina and George's youngest child, Roxanne sat with a few of the older adults as she loved hanging around. Audrey – Percy's wife – was sitting next to Hermione as she prattled on about this and that. Her husband seemed to catch his attention with his first great grandchild as well as his grandson Luis. From the corner of her eye, she could see Bill stand up and walk over to his father, son, and grandson. Four generations of Weasley were in that bunch.

"Gram?" Molly turned her head to see her sweet Roxanne. She had moved away from where some of the adults were sitting and went to her uncle's seat.

"Yes, Roxanne?" Molly asked the teen.

"I was wondering if we could start a new family tradition."

"And what would that be, pet?"

Molly watched as the normally outgoing child fidgeted with her hands as she looked to the ground. "Well, I was wondering if we could all tell about our most favourite memories. I know I have a few and I'm sure everyone else does."

Molly smiled at Roxanne and nodded. "That does sound like a good idea. Why don't you go gather every one and we can give it a try, what do you say?" Roxanne nodded and dashed out of the seat much quickly as to when she arrived. A good twenty minutes later, the covering of the tent had been resized to accompany the entire clan as they sat in a circle. Many of the younger children were on the plush of the grass as the adults took the seats. Molly found she wasn't holding her great granddaughter much longer – having gone back to sit on her mother's lap. "Rox, why don't you explain to everyone what you want to start as a new tradition?"

The girl nodded and stood from her place on the grass. "Well, I kind of got this idea the other week while I was sitting in the family room with Mum and Dad." She briefly looked to her parents to see if they knew when she was talking about. Roxanne began again. "Dad was talk to Mum more about Uncle Fred and how they had so many laughs and I got to thinking of all the times I was happy or sad and felt like sharing it with my family.

"But there are always so many people at these gatherings – even with some missing – we would be here still the next year if everyone went. What I figured we could do was pick two or three people to share either their fondest or not to fondest memory of their life. I want it to be like a storytelling type of thing; instead of getting out the pensive… do people like that idea?"

It was her father who spoke first. "I think that's a brilliant idea, love." Roxanne blushed at the pet name and smiled. "So who is going this time around?"

Roxanne chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about it for a moment. She kind of wanted to go this year, but didn't want to sound arrogant about it. She was not an arrogant person. "I think that Roxanne should share something this year. And how about Percy and Charlie? You each can share a memory today." She was so glad her grandfather said something. With another smile to her grandfather, Roxanne nodded. "Rox, do you want to go first?" At that, she shook her head. While she knew what she wanted to say – which memory she found the most endearing, she was not the kind of person to take charge. Be outgoing, yes, a leader, heck no. "Percy, why don't you go first then?" Being put on the spot was not what Percy looked like he wanted. However, with a doleful nod, he stood and seemed to take "centre stage".

"Does it have to be a fond memory?" He looked at his niece. She just shrugged. If he had no happy memories he wanted to share, then so be it. He could give whatever story he wanted. With that, Percy lapsed into his memory. "My eighth birthday party…" he began with a shudder, as if he wanted nothing to do with that type of memory. Roxanne made a look towards her father where she at first saw the longing she usually noticed when he thought about his twin, but quickly changed it to a stifled chuckle. This was going to be good.

The day was 22 August 1984. It was more closely known as Percy's Eighth Birthday to the Weasleys. Everything had been set up – the tables were toppled with foods of all sorts, presents were pushed to the side and a large, chocolate éclair cake waited at the end of one of the tables. Children were running back and forth in some type of racing game they had made up. Most of the adults had already arrived including the kids' Aunt Muriel, their uncle Bilius on their Dad's side as well as his other brother and his family. Molly worked in the kitchen still scurrying around trying to get everything clean and ready for her son's party. The birthday boy sat on one of the chairs in the kitchen as he watched his Mum. "Mother." He called to her. Molly stopped cleaning for a minute to look at her son before going back to cleaning. It was her way of telling him he had her attention. "I do not know if I want this party. My last one was not so grand."

Molly stopped immediately what she was doing to turn and look at her third child. "And why not, Perce?" She asked him softly. He was at a tender age and she knew full and well about that. Sitting down in a chair next to him, she looked him in the eye, now giving him her undivided attention.

"Well… Uncle Bilius is here and Fred and George like him so much. I know something bad is going to happen. They could steal my presents or dump pumpkin juice on my head." He muttered, losing the prim and proper speech he usually used. His brothers may be two years his junior, but he was wary of them constantly. "It's my birthday. Can't we do what I want to do?"

"And what is it you want to do, pet?"

"Not have a party?" He looked hopeful towards his mother.

Molly shook her head and sighed. "Everything is already set up, Percy. Everyone is already here. We can't just send them home." Molly watched as Percy tensed up. "Tell you what, love. I'll speak to Fred and George and your Dad with talk to his brother. Sound good?" She just seemed to get a nod out of him and took that as a sign he was willing to let the show continue. "I made all of your favourite foods as well as your favourite type of cake. Just for my big birthday boy." Molly hugged her son and she could feel the smile he produced. With everything squared away, Molly went back to her duties she had begun and Percy left the kitchen to find one of his younger siblings.

If he was truthful with himself, Ginny was his favourite sibling. She was quite fun to be around – though he wouldn't tell anyone that. He found the rambunctious three-year-old in the family room playing with some new doll-thing she had gotten. Their birthdays were eleven days apart and had just celebrated hers. "Hi, Ginny." He said sweetly to his only sister. The toddler looked up to see one of her brothers and smiled before standing. Percy found his arms full of Ginny as she slammed into him.

"'Ercy." The little tot called to him, leaving a slimy kiss on his cheek. His nose crinkled but nonetheless stood up to bring her outside. "'lay wif me!" she screeched.

"Of course I'll play with you, Ginny. Let's go outside though. That's where everyone is, okay?"

"Kay." The duo walked outside only to be witness to what Ginny thought was fun. "Me! Me! Me!" Letting go of her brother's hand, Percy watched his sister run towards their uncle Bilius where he was using his wand to flip Ron in the air. Deciding not to go that way, Percy found his father under one of the tents with his aunt. Aunt Muriel was not someone Percy enjoyed. She had an air of superciliousness that he couldn't seem to grasp.

"Hello Father. Aunt Muriel." He greeted the adults. His hair was mussed by his father as he greeted his son back. "Mother said you would talk to Uncle Bilius about acting out and stooping to the twins' levels." With that, his father nodded and made his way over to his brother.

The day seemed to be going fairly smooth. There were a few incidents that involved his twin brothers and uncle, but nothing spectacularly huge. It was time to open his gifts. The first one he opened was from his parents. It was a double present that contained the newest version of Hogwarts, A History and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. While the latter one he wasn't too keen on, he was still grateful for them anyways. "Thank you Mother. Thank you Father." Percy said. The next one was cylinder-like. As he opened and tossed the paper away from the gift, he couldn't find anything that said whom it may be from. When he looked at the packaging he got a tad excited. The front said something about making your own toy broom to fly but when he went to see what was inside and open it, a whole bunch of long, straggly things flew out of it, a few bopping him in the face.

When looking for the culprit, he could see Fred, George, and Uncle Bilius trying to hold in their laughter. "What the bloody hell is this?" Percy demanded.

"Percy Ignatius Weasley, you watch your language around your younger siblings!" came the screech from his mother. His ears turned pink at using profanity in front of his mother and sister.

"Mother, I thought you were going to talk to them?"

Molly gave a wicked glance at her twins before turning her eyes back to Percy. "I thought I did."

"But Mum, we were just trying" George started.

"To make his party seem funner." Fred finished.

"What are those things?" Percy asked, ignoring his brothers. Molly shook her head, unsure as to what they were. Looking to his father, Arthur did the same. With a look to each adult, he found them with eyes filled with as much confusion as his own. It wasn't until he got to his Uncle Bilius that he should have known who to accuse. "Where did you get those wretched things?" He asked his uncle.

"They're a muggle joke item a lot of kids like, Percival." Percy scrunched his nose at the clearly wrong pronunciation of his name. "The muggles call them Snakes. I thought they were awesome."

"They most certainly are not awesome." Percy grumbled.

"They no look snakes." He heard his sister as she inspected one. "I gots snakes in my 'ook."

"No, Gin. Not like real snakes. They're like… they're like… they're like toys, I guess." George told his curious sister.

"Toys? Ginny like toys." She said, referring to herself in third person.

Once again ignoring his siblings, Percy turned to his mother. "I told you I didn't want a party, Mother. And I still don't want one." With that, Percy got up from the special chair his Dad made for him and went inside the house to his bedroom.

It wasn't until much later that he heard a knock on his door. Ignoring it, Percy turned on his side to face the wall away from the door. There was no one he wanted to see or talk to right now. Again, his party had been ruined by the banes of his existence. Fred and George always put him at the end of their jokes. They teased him, made fun of him, and used him in their pranks… and they were younger than him! How in the world did he get so unlucky? The incessant knock came to his door once again, only this time, the person didn't wait for him to open it for them. "I'm sorry this party wasn't what you wanted, son." He heard his father say. "Your brothers and uncle want to apologise; why don't you come downstairs?"

"Don't want to." Percy mumbled into his bed sheets."

"Come now, Perce… this is your day still. Your Mum and I feel really bad that we didn't stop this from happening."

"But it still happened. They still pulled one of their childish jokes out again."

"Percy, they're six. They are children."

"Uncle Bilius isn't a child. Why is he lowering himself to what they do?"

"Because he is a child at heart, Percy. You're uncle never really wanted to grow up. So he didn't."

"I still don't want their apology." Percy felt the bottom of his bed dip, indicating his father had sat down. "They're not really sorry, Father."

"Sure they are. They just love joking with you, son."

"Why can't it be with someone else? They all seem to love it." Hastily, Percy wiped away the tear streaks that had fallen down his cheeks. "I don't."

"I know, son. I know." Arthur just said. "Mum still hasn't cut the cake yet. Do you still want some?" He said, trying another tactic. Percy just shrugged. "Come now, Percy. Your mum worked really hard on this cake. She made it just for you."

"I know, Father." He muttered once again. "Can we just send the twins to live with Uncle Bilius? All three of them would love it."

"I think you'd miss them too much."

"That is where you're highly mistaken. I love them as my brothers, but the pranks need to stop."

"You know they won't."

"I know."

"Just let them have their fun, Perce. It's all good and clean. Come on now, I hear your mother has a surprise waiting for you."

This perked him up. "A surprise?" He asked, sitting up to meet his father's gaze. Arthur nodded with a smile.

"One I think you'll enjoy a lot."

"Okay." And with that song and dance played, the father and son duo went downstairs where a lit cake was waiting for them.

"Look up, Percy." Arthur whispered in his son's ear. When he did as he was told, he was in bright lights the words Happy Birthday Percy written in bright reds and golds.

"Wow…" was all he was able to say.

"Like it?" Arthur asked him. Percy just nodded dimly. "Go sit down at the table. I think Ginny wants to sing to you." Percy did just that and saw his little sister looking at him with a wide smile.

"'Appy 'Irfday 'Ercy." She told him happily, arms stretched wide to accommodate her brother for a birthday hug.

"Thank you, Ginny." He smiled.

There were many wet eyes after that memory. It was a great and fond one indeed, even if it meant being at the end of his brother's pranks and jokes. "I think that was my favourite birthday." Percy said afterwards, looking at his little sister. Even after all these years, Ginny was still his favourite and now she knew it.

"I'm still sorry about that one, Perce." George said. Percy just shrugged and moved to pick up his daughter and hold tight onto her. He rested his head on her shoulder and smiled.

"Uncle Bill, I do believe that it is your turn to give us your favourite memory." Roxanne said, turning the attention away from her uncle and back to her. She watched as he was about to protest before she smiled at him. "Please? I'm still thinking on how to word mine." Bill just nodded and began lapsing into his own favourite memory. A memory he could never forget, despite how old he was.

Author's Notes: D'aww... what everyone thought would be Percy's most hated memory turned out to be his best! I loved his memory.

This story is unbeta'd at the moment; hopefully someone could take a look at it and tear it to shreds and make me sad. D= (Don't make me sad... just review?)