Another War

Chapter 5 : Where's the Peacocks?

"And who might you be?" Narcissa Malfoy asked politely, holding out a glass of cider to her new guest. Percy was feeling a bit uncomfortable- not that he would ever say that to the Malfoys. He was vastly underdressed compared to the Malfoys and their other guests, who Percy knew were all dark families.

The Malfoy tent was elegant, but too bawdy for Percy's tastes. The color skeme was nice; soft gold, cremé, and white. But there were too many ridiculously expensive things like vases inlaid with emeralds and white gold, and paintings with pure gold frames that were dotted with diamonds, that showed that the Malfoys wanted to present their wealth to everybody.

"I'm Perseus Olympas, Mrs. Malfoy," Percy said, holding out his hand in the diplomatic sign.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Olympas," Narcissa replied, placing her hand in Percy's.

"Likewise."

Percy put a chaste kiss on the back of her hand before pulling away.

"If you don't mind me asking, which line are you descended from?" Narcissa asked, a mischievous glint in her grey eyes.

"Poseidon's line, Mrs. Malfoy," Percy replied a bit slowly, wondering why Narcissa looked so nefarious at the moment.

"As I thought. My husband has just been so obsessed with your line-"

"Draco, why don't you introduce Mr. Olympas to our other guests?" Lucius interrupted, his cheeks red as he narrowed his eyes at his wife. Narcissa giggled and waved goodbye to her son and Percy, leading her husband over to another guest.

"You'll pay for that later," Lucius mumbled to his wife, pinching her butt. Narcissa squealed, jumping a bit, letting out a laugh that resembled ringing bells.

"We'll see, dear husband, just who will be paying."

Draco let out a small, soft chuckle as he watched his parents walk away, bickering lowly.

Percy saw how relaxed Draco was, how open his expression was contrary to when he was in the top box. There, he held the façade of a cocky, confident boy with a holier-than-thou attitude, and Percy could help but admire him more.

He knew how tiring holding a façade was. He did it every time a monster attacked him and his friends. He pretended to be a laid-back, confident guy that had no worries about the outcome of battle. That very façade was what made the people around him calm, more confident in their abilities. That very façade was what made a lot of people and monsters underestimate him.

On the inside, Percy would think up of at least 100 ways things could go wrong, who could get hurt, who could die. Percy's mind was always sent on overdrive, his body on autopilot as he fought as many monsters as he could, protecting his friends at all costs. This confident, laid-back façade took will-power to unhold, to keep it running for so long. It slowly ate away at him, breaking him down bit by bit until he couldn't tell whether he was acting in his façade or not.

Acting as someone else turned you into someone else. Thankfully, Draco hasn't gotten to that point, but Percy was mere feet away from it. He would soon realize that being sent to the Wizarding World was the only way for him to find himself again.

What Percy also noticed was the way that Draco's own façade would flicker when he glanced at Harry Potter, who was always talking and laughing at his friends.

Harry Potter had done something to hurt Draco, badly, and Percy wanted to know what it was. What had made Draco hurt enough for him to put up the façade of a cold, sneering, pompous boy- a typical villain in Harry Potter's little world.