A/N: For BelleD'Opium's Character Death challenge. My characters were Sirius and Percy, and my prompt was Silence.
Percy didn't miss the irony of the situation – fighting side by side with this of all men – a man he barely knew; a man he didn't care for one iota, but whom his entire family loved. Sirius, he felt, had slid into his own vacant position in the Weasley family, and for all that he had left it open of his own idiotic will, he felt a resounding resentment for the dark man at his side. Returning to the Burrow to find Sirius there – warmly loved, deeply belonging, and absolutely everything he, Percy, could never be – had been almost enough to make him walk back right out the door. He might even have done so if his mother hadn't promptly swept him into a tight embrace, gushing tearfully about her relief that he'd finally come home.
The rest of his family was less welcoming. Charlie, Bill, and his father all maintained a slight distance, though they never outright said anything. His remaining siblings, surprisingly and most particularly Ginny, steadfastly maintained a certain level of unforgiving animosity. He was forced to watch as they joked and chatted with Sirius in a way they never had with him; to watch as his entire family demonstrated their love and devotion for this, this convict.
He knew he was boring - too academic for the tastes of the Weasleys. He knew that he was a poor fit. But the presence of this welcomed intruder in his home made his outsider status all the more unbearable. He also knew that Sirius didn't trust him; buried in his eyes was the question, "Why now?" and Percy knew he could never convince him that he'd returned only because he'd seen the error of his ways, rather than as part of some nefarious plan.
And now, somehow, he and this man whom he couldn't quite detest, but could certainly never like, had become separated from the others, here at the edge of the forest. The roar of the main battle was dulled by the distance, but the near shouts of Death Eaters as they crashed closer and closer through the underbrush were growing louder, and they both had their wands trained in the general direction of their voices.
"Alright, Percy?"
"Sure. You?" His voice shook a little, to his eternal dismay.
Sirius was silent a moment. "You've stayed solid so far," his voice was a little pensive but determined, "So here it is, mate. You turn on me, on your family, and you will regret it… But for right now," he paused again, hesitantly, Percy thought, "For right now I'm going to trust you to have my back. Is that a stupid move?"
Percy failed to entirely swallow his indignation at finally hearing the mistrust voiced. "A stupid time to be discussing it, don't you think?"
"Not at all."
"Then no, it's not a stupid move. I'm on your side. I always have been." The rage bubbled up a moment. "I love my family, Sirius," he said firmly. "And not you, nor anyone else, can ever change that."
He fancied he could feel Sirius smirk condescendingly, but a sharp nod was all he saw.
One minute. Two minutes. The silence between them seemed to stretch on forever as the noises coming through the forest grew louder and louder. Percy's wand hand was shaking when the Death Eaters finally broke through the trees.
He and Sirius took out two instantly, the element of surprise giving them a slight advantage. This left three, and Percy wasn't terribly fond of the mismatched odds.
"Why hello, Bella!" Sirius' voice was confident, boyish, but Percy's dread increased at the naming of Voldemort's most devout and insane follower.
Sirius was answered with a gleeful cackle. "He's mine," she said sharply. "Take the boy."
At her direction, the two men beside her began shooting spell after spell in Percy's direction and his focus was immediately consumed.
Deflect. Shield. Stupefy. Deflect. Deflect. Dodge. Deflect.
His desperation was beginning to increase and he forced himself to dodge more often, allowing him to better his offensive technique. He finally downed the first Death Eater, and was simultaneously rewarded by the second with a spell grazing sharply across his cheek.
The occasional stream of the Blacks' banter began to filter through his concentration, now that he had only one opponent to concern himself with, so he knew they were both going at it strong.
Deflect. Deflect. Stupefy and dodge and Stupefy again.
A stray spell from their fight flew his way just as his own Death Eater – Rabastan - shot an Avada Kadavra at him. Percy dropped reflexively to the ground and fired a return Stupefy at Rabastan. He paused a moment, catching his breath as the man collapsed, then Percy heaved himself to his feet just in time to watch a streak of green slip gently into Sirius' chest.
A blanket of oppressive silence dropped down onto the world, broken shortly by Bellatrix's triumphant scream.
"Stupefy!"
She fell to the ground, a look of devastating elation frozen on her face.
Percy stared blankly at the corpse of Sirius Black. Intruder. Criminal. Casualty. And all he could think was that his family would cry more tears for this man than they would had it been Percy lying in the dew-ridden grass. His complete absence of feeling beyond this single petulant thought was disconcerting, to say the least, and he tried desperately to feel mournful or even just regretful. In his failure, the silence around him, and within him, grew deafening.
He knelt beside Sirius' body, carefully shut his eyes, and whispered, "I'm sorry."
Empty words in an empty silence.