Percy had been picking up dishes to put into the soapy water, trying to drown out his brothers, but to no avail. Finally, he simply couldn't take any more of them speaking to him as if he were some child, and not their older brother, and with a splash, the plate he held dropped from his hands as he balled them up and turned to face his family.
"Of course it's all about me being an idiot, or a prat, or what not, right?! It couldn't possibly be because I didn't even know there was anything wrong until bloody Friday! That I've gotten so bloody used to waking up to visions of my brother's death almost every night for five years that another nightmare was almost a relief!"
By now he was trembling, and as the reality of what he'd just admitted hit him, he felt a great wave of shame. Yet now that the words had begun, it was impossible to stop them, so he just closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see their faces.
"And I thought the spot was George's doing, and then I find out Penny's sharing my dream, and now her brother's dead and she thinks it's a witch that did it, and then Fred again, and I couldn't even drink it away, and I just don't know what's happening anymore..."
With every word, he leaned back harder against the counter until it was the only thing keeping him from collapsing to the ground. The one thing he had thankfully not blubbered out was that for at least one moment, he had wondered if it would be better to be dead.