Strange Ties--Percy Jackson/Harry Potter

Chapter Twenty Three

Percy

It happened so fast that Percy didn't have time to think about what he did. He looked down at the floor where Ron laid unconscious. He breathed heavily through his mouth while he tried to figure out what to do with him. He thought about hiding him somewhere until he woke up so no one would find him, but luck wasn't on Percy's side that day. As Filch rounded the corner, Mrs. Norris led him straight to him.
Filch's scowl deepened, his stern gaze fixated on Ron's unconscious body, "Murderer!" he bellowed.
"He's not dead!" Percy said. Filch leaned over at Ron and inspected him. Once Filch established that Ron was still breathing he grabbed Mrs. Norris and stood up.

"You'll be reporting to Professor McGonagall's office immediately," Filch declared, his voice unwavering. "Weasley needs to be taken to Madam Pomfrey at the hospital wing for emergency assistance!"

As soon as they dropped Ron at the hospital wing, Filch led Percy to McGonagall's office. Filch took the liberty of explaining the situation first.
"And I walked in the hallway and I saw Ron Weasley on the floor, his face covered in blood, and Percy Jackson standing right over him!"
McGonagall shifted in her seat, "Thank you Mr Filch, I will take this from here," she said. Filch nodded and left the room leaving the tension in the air palpable.
"Mr Jackson, now why on earth would you do that to Mr. Weasley?" she asked calmly.
"He punched me first. What else was I supposed to do? Stand there and let him beat me up?" he argued.
"He punched you first?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Yes," Percy answered.
"Why would he do that?"
He rolled his eyes, "I don't know, we didn't really have a chance to talk."

"Right, well we need to talk to Ron as soon as he wakes up to confirm that he did punch you first," She said, "Normally this type of situation would mean weeks of suspension but given that you have a habit of not attending classes I do not want to make that worse. I will be needing to talk to Professor Dumbledore about this. For now you are dismissed, but you should know that Hogwarts does not condone any violence and there will be consequences for your actions."

Percy walked out the office and headed towards his room, the 'consequences' part didn't bother him as much. Getting in trouble his whole life he had a pretty clear idea of what was going to happen. At least he thought so.

On his way there he saw a crowd of people at the entrance of the hospital room. From afar, he met Valerie's eyes and she began walking towards him. Great, just what he needed.

"What happened? Madam Pomfrey said you almost killed him"
Percy rolled his eyes, "That's just dramatic, I didn't even hit him that hard"
"Both of his arms are broken, he has a concussion, a broken nose and both of his eyes are black. Not to mention he has several sprain injuries too"
"Oh" he didn't regret defending himself, but he didn't want to cause that much damage either.
"What happened?" she asked. He told her what he remembered before Ron punched him.

"It just came out of the blue. I don't know, I lost control" he explained.
"Wait, why would he hit you first?"

Percy shrugged, "I have no idea," he said as he looked at the crowd trying to enter the wing. "He's going to be okay right?"
She nodded, "Madam Pomfrey said he should wake up in a few hours. Are your knuckles going to be okay?"
Percy looked at his bloody, bruised (and probably broken) knuckles. "Yeah, they've survived worse"
"So you get into fights a lot?" she asked.

"Yeah, I mean no, not really. Kind of"
Valerie looked like she was about to ask something else when suddenly Hagrid came throttling down the hallway with a nervous look on his face. "Did ye take my Bruffles?" he asked Percy.
"What?" he said, startled.
"My Bruffles, did ye take em? The ones on my special shelf?" he repeated.
Special shelf? "Um yes" he answered.
Hagrid started to pace around the hallway while fidgeting with his hands. He whispered something to himself too low for Percy to hear.
"Did ya eat em?" he said nervously. Percy nodded, and Hagrid's face etched with worry.
"Oi, Percy! What've ya gone and done?!" Hagrid exclaimed, his voice laced with concern.
"Why what's the matter?" Valerie asked.
"Those Bruffles were an experiment that I made with new herbs! They weren't meant to be e​​aten they are not safe!"