Title: All the King's Men
Author: Perse
Rating: PG-13
Category: drama
Summary: The Weasleys face the possibility of a terrible loss. Two months later, a miracle seems to have occurred. But there are more questions than answers, and much damage to be undone as a shattered family tries to put itself back together.
Disclaimer: The characters and situations of Harry Potter do not belong to me. I make no money from this story. Please don't sue.
Author's Note: I love the Weasley family, but I find Percy's character especially interesting because he never really seemed to fit in. This story started with a vague idea of finding some way to get Percy reunited with his family after OotP; then it took on a life of its own. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Lost and Found
...............
"He's alive?" There was a combination of fear and hope in the question.
"Remus didn't say anything about his condition. But he's at St. Mungo's...they wouldn't have taken him there if they couldn't help him. Come on, Molly."
"What about the children?"
"I'll stay with them, Molly," a grizzled voice piped in. "Don't worry."
Instead of looking comforted, Molly Weasley looked more worried as she glanced uneasily between Mundungus and her husband. She was torn between going to the child she had nearly lost and staying with the young ones she still felt the strong need to protect. And she would have preferred almost any other Order member to Mundungus.
Arthur stepped back to her side. "They'll be fine; they're perfectly safe here."
It took a few minutes more, but soon she was following Arthur out the door of number 12 Grimmauld place, whispering cautions and instructions back. As they disappeared and Mundungus drifted back towards the kitchen, an unnoticed red head popped out from behind the banister and disappeared up the stairs.
A few seconds later Ginny Weasley had crept into the room her brother shared with Harry Potter. She quietly shut the door behind her and went straight to Ron's bed. "Ron? Ron! Wake up!"
He groaned, waved a hand at her as if he were swatting at a fly, and rolled away from her.
She pressed her lips together in frustration, then smacked him hard on the shoulder.
He came awake with a surprised, "Ow!"
A few feet away Harry abruptly shot upright, wand in hand. He must have been sleeping with it under his pillow. Being as he wasn't fully awake and was just pointing it rather shakily in their direction, Ginny felt it prudent to get out of the line of fire. "It's just me!" she hissed as she hit the floor.
"Ginny?" Harry asked. He whispered a soft "Lumos" to light the room before lowering his wand with a relieved sigh. He dropped back against his pillows, trying to calm his breathing.
Meanwhile, Ron had sat up and was rubbing at his shoulder. "What the bloody hell did you think you were doing?"
Ginny climbed back up onto Ron's bed. In retrospect, it probably would have been better not to frighten two boys who faced death eaters and Voldemort on a semi-regular basis. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry, Harry."
"It's all right," he responded, having recovered somewhat and sitting up to join the conversation.
It wasn't all right, but she had been too caught up in what was happening to stop and think.
Ron, however, was not so inclined to let it go. "Why are you creeping around in here in the middle of the night, hitting me..."
He probably would have kept going, but Ginny cut him off. "They found him."
Ron stopped in mid-sentence, mouth hanging open. "What did you say?" he asked dumbly.
"They found him. Remus called...Mum and Dad just left."
Ron looked shell-shocked. Harry suddenly seemed much more alert, scooting forward to the edge of his bed with an intense look on his face. "Is he..."
"I don't know. He's at St. Mungo's; that's where they're going." She paused, trying to keep her voice steady. "I don't know how he is."
................
The red-haired man found that he had to be more careful at this hour of the night. Though there were less witnesses, there were also no shoppers to blend in with. Only a few people were on the street at all. He made doubly sure that none of those few were watching him before he approached the window of Purge and Dowse Ltd.
A few minutes later, after a short stop at the Inquiries desk, he headed for the 4th floor. He took the stairs at a jog, 2 or 3 at a time. He was gasping for air by the time he reached the ward, but he didn't stop or even slow down until he spotted Remus Lupin near a curtained-off area.
"Remus," he called.
Lupin turned around. "Bill," he returned, tone mixing relief and anxiety. As Bill made a beeline for the curtained area, he hurried to place himself between Bill and it.
Bill didn't wait for him to speak. "How is he?"
Remus hesitated. "Perhaps you should wait for your parents. They'll be here soon."
What he wasn't saying spoke volumes. Bill felt his heart plummet into his stomach. "He's...he's not..."
"No, no. He's alive. He's conscious. But..." he trailed off, seeming not to know how to deliver this news, whatever it was.
Bill stared at him for a moment, then pushed past him.
The healer moved to intercept him, but appeared to rethink it. It could have been the determined look on his face, but more likely it was because she easily recognized the family resemblance.
He pulled the curtain aside and stepped in, letting it fall shut behind him.
He was sitting up. He was pale and had a few bruises on his face, but he actually looked pretty good, all things considered. He didn't look up, as he was playing with something in his hands. Bill stepped a bit closer and realized that it was his glasses.
"Percy?"
The younger man looked up and squinted at him. It took him a moment to figure out the problem before he fumbled with the glasses and placed them back onto his face. But when he looked up at him again, it was with no more recognition than he'd shown before. "Yes?" he confirmed, as proper as if he were speaking to a complete stranger.
Bill had an urge to grab him, shake him for scaring them, and then hug him tightly and never let go. But he held back, sensing that something was off. Percy had pulled formalities with him before, but this seemed an odd time to be doing so.
He took a cautious seat on the side of the bed. "How are you?" he asked ambiguously, though he was unable to keep the concern from his voice.
Percy shrugged, seeming uncomfortable. "Okay," he replied, entirely unhelpfully.
With a sigh, Bill launched into deeper waters. "Percy, I know we've all had our issues in the past, but...please, don't shut us out now."
Percy's expression took on a pained hint. "I'm sorry," he said, voice breaking slightly. "But I don't—"
Bill moved closer, thinking perhaps he had broken through Percy's usual wall. He placed a soothing hand on Percy's knee. "It's okay. Everything will be all right."
"No!" Percy flinched away from his touch, seeming more agitated by the second. "You don't understand—I don't know you!"
Well, that stung a bit. Sure, they weren't as close as they probably should be, but he was still the big brother here. Bill told himself to remain calm as he said, "I know we haven't been close for a few years now. But we were once, Perce. I'm sure you've been through hell, but..."
"No! That's not—" Percy gripped his bed sheet in frustration. "I don't know who you are! I can't remember you!"
Bill stared at him for a few seconds, not really processing it. "What?" he asked dumbly.
"He seems to have lost his memory." Bill spun to face the voice. The healer had stepped inside the curtain, but hung back as the brothers interacted. She stepped forward now, and offered a hand to Bill in introduction. "I assume you're one of Arthur's sons?"
"Bill," he acknowledged, then added, "big brother of the brood," as he was accustomed to doing with anyone who knew of his large family.
She nodded with a smile, then addressed her patient. "Did you catch that Percy? This is your brother, Bill."
Bill looked back to his brother, who had a frustrated, lost look on his face. He still showed absolutely no sign of recognition, but he studied Bill's face intently. It was as if he was trying to memorize the face. "You really don't know who I am," Bill stated softly.
"I don't even know who I am," Percy responded in kind.
It took a few seconds for the shock to pass. Then, with a bit of effort, Bill gathered himself and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Percy. As she pointed out, I'm your big brother, Bill."
Percy stared at his hand, then his face, then hesitantly stuck his own hand in his brother's. The hand was limp, his grip almost nonexistent, though his fingers twitched as if he were trying. The implications of that were not lost on Bill, but he tried to school his face such that his powerful emotions would not frighten his already scared little brother.
There was an awkward silence, though Percy didn't seem to notice it. He no longer seemed agitated by Bill's presence; instead he seemed a bit relieved. He was still confused, but apparently the knowledge that this was his brother had given him something concrete to latch onto. After a few minutes of studying him, he asked in a small voice, "Do you know what happened to me?"
Bill opened his mouth, shut it again, and thought about how much to say before he answered. "You've been missing for over 2 months. We've been terribly worried about you," he confided.
"I can't remember...anything..."
Bill reached to comfort him before he could think better of it. He replaced the hand on his knee, and Percy flinched but did not pull away this time. "It's okay. We'll figure it out, all right?"
After a moment, Percy nodded hesitantly.
Bill turned back to the Healer. "Aside from the memory, how is he?"
She glanced at Percy, then suggested, "Why don't we step outside and talk?"
Bill stiffened a bit, then decided that it probably would only make Percy uncomfortable to hear them discuss his injuries. But Percy reached for Bill's hand before he could move away. He still couldn't manage a grip, but he did hook his fingers slightly around his brother's. "No! I mean...please don't go," he finished softly, fear in his eyes.
Bill met his brother's eyes and felt his heart break. This was completely uncharacteristic for Percy. Even as a child, he had rarely showed this kind of need. And he didn't even know Bill now. He only knew that this man was his only connection to his own identity. Bill took a moment to sit back down and say softly, "It's okay, Perce. I'll be just outside the curtain, and I'll be right back. I promise."
Still looking unsure but now a little embarrassed about his reaction, Percy released him and took to looking down. Bill stood and looked down at the bowed head. He felt a brief stab of the pure fear he'd been fighting all summer as he wondered what had happened to his brother and how his family would ever deal with this situation. Fighting it back, he reached to ruffle the normally neat red hair. Percy glanced up at him, a slight smile playing his lips in response to the sign of affection.
Bill returned the smile. "Try to rest, all right?" he coaxed, then turned and went to join the Healer and Lupin outside the curtain.
"Do we have any idea what happened to him?" he asked them both in a quiet tone.
The two exchanged a glance, then Remus responded first, giving him the short version of that night's events. "We had a tip on the location of some of the newer death eaters. A headquarters, of sorts. We went to try to apprehend them, but the house was abandoned. Empty, except for Percy. He was unconscious, tied to a chair in the basement. We were," he paused, glancing at Bill before continuing, "we were shocked to find that he was alive. He didn't regain consciousness until we got him here."
Bill processed that, brow furrowed, before he turned to the Healer. "What's going on with the amnesia? Is this some kind of spell or charm?"
She shook her head. "I thought so at first, but I really can't be sure yet. I can't tell you exactly what happened to him. Physically, he has some cuts and bruises over most of his body, in various stages of healing. There were a couple of cracked ribs. His nerves have suffered some damage, as I'm sure you noticed."
Bill nodded, jaw set in anger. "Suggesting that he was tortured," he concluded. He had expected it, but that didn't make hearing it any easier.
She nodded in confirmation, but added, "None of it is life-threatening. He'll heal. Physically, he should heal fairly quickly."
"And psychologically?"
"That's a much harder question," she admitted. "I can tell you that he's confused and frightened. But I can't gage the psychological effects of his ordeal, because he doesn't remember it. Of course, that could be a psychological effect in and of itself."
"Heh hem," a feminine voice interrupted them.
All three looked up to find that a woman had appeared in the previously blank portrait on the wall. The Healer excused herself and moved closer to hear her message, and Bill turned to Remus.
"This just doesn't make any sense. He's alive, he's fairly well...why would they just leave him behind?"
Remus met his eyes with a serious gaze and shook his head slightly to indicate that he didn't know. "We still have many questions to be answered."
They were interrupted as the Healer returned to their sides. "Arthur and Molly just arrived. They're on their way up."
Bill sighed. "Look, whatever you do, don't let my Mum and Dad see him without warning them first." Deciding that he had been gone long enough and wouldn't learn much more right now, he turned back to the curtain. "I'm going back in with him." He paused to visibly gather himself before he plastered an encouraging smile on his face and stepped back inside.
..............
"Are you sure they didn't say anything else?"
Ginny looked as if she was considering throttling her brother. "For the fifth time, that's all I heard."
Harry glanced uneasily between the two siblings. They were taking turns pacing the bedroom. Ginny's cheeks were tinged pink with frustration. Ron, on the other hand, had gone rather disturbingly white.
Harry was unaccustomed to this position. He was usually in the thick of a crisis; not sitting on the sidelines as someone else experienced it. But since he had come here a month into summer vacation, he had been seeing things from the other side of the fence.
Things had been very tense around here. He was still grieving for Sirius, and being in this house had been very difficult for him at first. The four Weasleys residing here had walked a bit of a tightrope with him, trying to avoid upsetting him and be as supportive as they could. But they were also dealing with their own crisis. Percy's disappearance had taken a terrible toll, even before he'd arrived. At times, their attempts to be familial with Harry only seemed to increase the tension between them as they snapped at each other.
Around her brothers, Ginny had been consistently coming across as the voice of reason and peace. But the added stress of this night—of knowing that something had happened but not knowing what—was costing her some of her control. Harry knew she would hold her own in a shouting match, and that things might get ugly. But he half feared that Ron would collapse before they reached that point.
As his friend stalked past him, glaring in his sister's direction, Harry reached out and caught his arm. With only a little resistance he pulled him to sit beside him on the bed. "Let's take a breath, all right? They'll let us know as soon as they know something."
Ginny calmed herself a bit, but Ron was shaking his head almost convulsively. "No. No, not if he's dead. If he's dead, they'll wait as long as they can. If he's dead, they'll want to tell us in person. If he's dead..."
"Stop saying that!" Ginny snapped at him, eyes shimmering a bit.
Harry gripped his shoulder. "Breathe, Ron," he commanded.
Ron shrugged out of Harry's hold, but did as he said. As he shut his eyes and fell silent with deep shaky breaths, Harry's hand flopped uselessly to the bed. He knew from personal experience what it was like not to want comfort. But he'd never realized how difficult it was to be unable to give it to someone you cared for.
He observed Ron as his best friend slowly calmed down. To an outsider's view at least, Ron had never really seemed that close to Percy. In fact, the only Weasley who had was Ginny. But Harry knew that there was love there, even when it wasn't readily visible. Harry had always envied the Weasleys their closeness, and he knew how painful the schism with Percy had been. But this...sometimes, Harry thought it was worse because it was Percy. Oh certainly it would have been an awful situation with any of the children, but the bad feelings between Percy and his family members seemed to make them feel the loss more deeply. They loved him despite everything, but their relationships with him had been in tatters before his disappearance. For the last two months they had worried that he might die without feeling that love.
Ron opened his eyes, though they were clouded with no less worry that they had been a few minutes before. Ginny swiped at her eyes, then came and dropped to a seat on her brother's other side. Ron slipped an arm around her, and she leaned her head against his shoulder.
Harry watched the two of them helplessly. He didn't know what was going to come of this, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could stand seeing the Weasley family shattered.
.................
tbc
Reviews are welcome!