HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PERCY! :D

I love Percy and feel that he's misunderstood quite a lot, so I remember his birthday every year: August the 22nd. Bless his heart (and can you believe he'd be 43 nowadays?) O.o He ooooooooooooold.

Nymphadora apparated to the Ministry, yawning as she made her way toward the lifts to go up to her office. It was extremely inconvenient for her to be at work so early when she'd also been doing late night shifts for the Order.

She stepped into the lift with another yawn, turning to face the door and raising an eyebrow at the red-haired young man who joined her. "Weasley!" she greeted him enthusiastically.

He frowned at her. "Ms Tonks," said Percy Weasley formally.

"How are you enjoying working under Scrimgeour?" she asked him with a smirk. "He used to make us all run around in circles, but at least we got things done."

She paused for a moment, regarding him curiously. "So tell me...are you blind, or what are you up to?

"I assure you that I can see perfectly fine," said Percy coldly. "Thank you for your concern, Nymphadora."

"You know better," she said warningly. "And that applies to more than just calling me Nymphadora."

"You, out of all people, should understand being different," Percy retorted.

"Oh, I do," Nymphadora said coolly. "But I didn't run away. Do you imagine yourself safe?"

Percy merely looked away from her, studying the design of the lift doors. "Nowhere is safe," he said shortly. "But who's to say that I must choose a side?"

Nymphadora stared at him intensely. "The Ministry will fall to the Death Eaters," she hissed. "I am sure it will! Can't you see the corruption that's creeping in?"

"I'm not stupid," said Percy quietly. "I see things happening."

"If you're neutral, you're the enemy," Dora told him, "because you could fall either way. I don't have to tell you that people are concerned about you, Weasley."

The man did not reply, merely nodding as the lift doors opened. "Good day, Ms Tonks," he said, and walked away.

Nymphadora rolled her eyes and looked up at the ceiling as the doors closed and the lift began to move again. "Weasleys," she sighed to herself.

She smirked in amusement as she recalled that Percy could have been one of her brothers-in-law. No, her life was complicated enough without the Weasley Clan drama. But she still hoped that Percy would turn out all right in the end—in spite of himself.