Well, while listening to the Deathly Hallows audio book I was struck by how quickly Fred accepted Percy's return to the 'good side' and it got me thinking. Out of those random thoughts came this! I hope you like it!
Rated T for language.
'You actually are joking, Perce. . . . I don't think I've heard you joke since
you were—'
…
'Joking? I never joke, Fred, especially when my reputation is at stake because of our father's idiocy.'
'Idiocy! IDIOCY!'
Fred had taken two steps towards Percy and had clenched his fists. It had been all he could do to not hit his brother.
'It's the MINISTRY that are being Idiots and denying You-Know-Who's back, Percy! Why can't you see that?'
Percy took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He wasn't the type of person to lose his cool and shout. No, that was something his younger brother did, and was doing.
'If You-Know-Who really was back then the Ministry would be doing something about it, not sticking their heads in the sand!'
'But why would Harry say he was back if he wasn't? Do you honestly think he'd make something like that up? Do you not think he'd tell the truth about how Cedric Diggory died? He would never lie about something like that!'
'Harry Potter has been…disturbed—'
'Bollocks has he!'
'Don't swear, Fred! Not in my flat!'
Fred laughed out loud at the comment.
'Oh, well I apologise for spoiling the atmosphere in your flat, Perce, then again, you made the atmosphere in my home bloody impossible to live with so I think I'm allowed! All you have to do is apologise to Mum and Dad, Percy. Say you believe them and—'
'But I don't. I don't believe them. Any of them. Harry, Dumbledore, Mum or Dad.'
Percy looked at his brother but then had to look away. Fred was staring at him. He glanced up a few seconds later. Fred was still staring him straight in the eye. After a few seconds Fred walked slowly up to Percy and stopped inches from him. Percy took a deep breath and drew himself up to his full height. He looked through his glasses at Fred, trying to be as intimidating as possible but Fred was not phased.
'When,' Fred said firmly, 'has Dad ever lied to you. When has Mum ever said something to you that you couldn't believe was the absolute truth?'
A smirk pulled at Percy's lips and he went to start talking. Fred cut him off.
'And I'm not talking about petty childish things, Percy. Stuff like telling us eating our greens would make our magic stronger, or that playing in the mud would turn us into a gnome! I mean fundamental truths that they brought us up on, that made us know the difference between right and wrong, that made us stand up for what we believe in. They would never lie to us about something like this, Percy. You. Know. That.'
Percy met his brother's stare but was the first to blink and look away.
'I'm not coming back. I've made my choice, and they've made theirs.'
Fred stepped back away from Percy and turned on his heel.
'You're an arse, Percy, and when the truth comes out,' he'd arrived at the door and turned back to look at Percy, 'everyone will know it.'
He walked through the door. Percy shut his eyes expecting to hear it slam shut but the noise never came.
The door remained wide open and he understood his brother's actions. Percy knew that when Fred was angry, everything he did meant something. The open door was Fred's reminder that Percy could walk back home at any time, with an apology and his tail between his legs and he would be welcomed back with open arms.
But Percy was as headstrong as any of his brothers, more so in fact. He knew he was doing the right thing, they'd see, they all would. They would see he had made the correct choice.
He had always been taught to respect authority. So he was doing.
'No—no—no!'
…
'No, Fred! I'm not coming home!'
'But…' Fred looked genuinely confused, 'but, why not? You can't deny the fact that You-Know-Who's back, Perce. Fudge saw him with his own eyes. The Prophet's finally telling the truth so they can at least start to try and protect themselves. It proves that Mum and Dad were right in what they-'
'No it doesn't!'
Fred laughed in disbelief at what Percy had just said.
'Oh this should be good! Come on then, smart arse! How do you work that one out?'
Percy reddened at Fred's name calling. He refused to drop to his brother's level of disrespect.
'All it proves, is that You-Know-Who has returned, we don't know when it happened, or under what circumstances—'
Fred growled in frustration and started pacing backwards and forwards.
'Why can't you admit you were wrong and we were right? I know it's hard for you to admit you've made a mistake, but people will think better of you for doing it!'
'When I have infallible proof that Harry's story is true then I will admit I was wrong, but up until then…'
'What? Up until then, what?'
Percy sighed, not knowing how he was going to finish that sentence.
'Look, Fred, I'm not coming home. My duty is to serve the Ministry and the people of the Wizarding Community in the best way I can.'
'Then help Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix! They're the one's who've been spying on You-Know-Who for the longest and have the best idea of what he's doing!'
Percy laughed out loud.
'I suppose they think they can do better than the entire Ministry!'
'Well. They have been doing for the past year.'
Percy glared at Fred and once again they entered into a battle of wills. Percy lost. Again.
'I'm not coming home, Fred.'
Fred turned and walked towards the door.
'Damn right, you're not!' he yelled at the door in front of him.
He wrenched the door open and slammed it shut as hard as he could.
Percy didn't need to analyse his brother's actions this time. He had made his feelings perfectly clear.
'I was a fool!'…'I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a—a—'
'Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron.'
…
The Howler had come as a surprise to Fred. George was already upstairs in their flat, leaving Fred to lock up the shop and set the charms and wards on the building. Had the owl arrived a minute later it would have been buffeted back by the wards and would have had to wait until morning to deliver its letter, but luckily for Hermes, he had arrived just in time.
Fred had not recognised the bird, so distracted he was by the Howler. He wasn't distracted by the fact that he had received one; they had had many from unsuspecting victims of their products with demands of apologies and compensation, it was the fact that it had arrived so late in the evening and the letter had not burst open instantly that had caught his attention.
It was definitely a howler, the envelope had all the distinct markings of one, but it wasn't doing what it should be: howling.
Fred picked up the letter and turned it over. Ink started to appear on the back and Fred quickly readjusted his grip so to not distort his viewing of it.
Fred,
Only open this if you are alone.
Regards, Percy
Anger bubbled up inside him. How dare he make demands of him? He had a mind to destroy the thing instantly, but there was something inside him that wanted to open up the envelope and see what his older brother had to say to him. It was the same thing that had made Fred go to Percy not once, but twice, to try and make him see sense.
He understood Percy more than he liked to admit too. He understood his ambition, his frustration at, in some sense being 'held back' by circumstances out of his control. He understood the burning desire to prove that what he believed in was right and worth his time and effort, and understood how much disbelief in those things by others was sometimes unbearable.
Most of the time he understood and that was why he had gone to try and talk his brother round. But the rest of the time he didn't understand at all, and that's why after two failed attempts, he hadn't tried again.
He took a deep breath and opened the envelope. Instantly it became animated and hovered in front of Fred.
'Good evening Fred, it's Percy,'Fred tutted and rolled his eyes at the formal greeting his brother had given him.
'I want to keep this short, to reduce the risk of you being found or overheard. I'll get straight to the point.
'You were right. All of you. Harry, Dumbledore… and Mum and Dad. You have…no idea how hard it is for me to admit that, but even someone as stubborn as me has to admit the truth when it's staring him in the face. I'm just sorry it has taken me this long to realise. And to think, I'm supposed to be the intelligent one.'
Fred tried his hardest not to laugh at Percy's joke, but he couldn't help but chuckle.
'The Ministry has been corrupted beyond belief, I've reason to believe You-Know-Who has the Minister under Imperius, and is, therefore, running the Ministry.'
'Bloody genius you are, Perce! It's taken you how long to work that out?'
'People are disappearing left, right and centre and I don't know whether my acting skills are good enough to stop me going the same way. That's why I've sent you this.'
Fred held his breath, not wanting to make any noise that would make him miss a word of his brother's message.
'I'll try to get out, I will, I just don't know how long it will take. It could take weeks, months, I just don't know, but if I don't make it out…please tell Mum and Dad I'm sorry and that I believe them. I know that can't reverse the harm I've caused but hopefully it'll…I don't know, give them the image of the son I should have been instead of the one I turned out to be. But please, Fred, don't tell anyone about this message. I'm taking a huge risk by sending you this, if Hermes gets intercepted or caught, then I'm a dead man, but considering things aren't looking good anyway, I needed to be sure that Mum and Dad would get my message. Please don't tell anyone about this Fred, not even George, the fewer people that know about my change of allegiance the better.
'All my personal things are in order, and instructions have been left with the family Lawyer should things…not go as planned. Keep your head down and stay out of trouble.'
There was a pause in which Fred heard Percy take a deep breath.
'One more thing, Fred. Thank you…for coming to see me those two times. I'm sorry I was less than welcoming, so thanks…for not giving up on me.
'Goodbye Fred. Oh, and I was joking before, well, partly anyway, and it was a pretty pathetic attempt; go after them and fight, Fred, I'll join you as soon as I can.
Regards, Percy.'
The letter ignited and the ashes fell to the floor.
For a few minutes Fred just stood and stared at the pile on the floor, only moving to lean against one of the product stands for support.
He decided he would do as Percy asked. He knew Percy had to do this his own way, and it would be one less thing for his family to worry about. In their minds, as long as he was doing as he was told at the Ministry, he was safe. He knew that on one hand, it disturbed his Mum and Dad somewhat, but on the other, they knew that he was safe. They could live with his stupidity, but he wasn't sure how they would cope if he died.
With a wave of his wand the pile of ashes disappeared, and with another, the wards put up around Wheezes. For another night, they were safe.
'No! Fred! No!'
…
He wouldn't, he couldn't accept it. His brother couldn't be dead. Fred could get out of anything; survive everything that was thrown at him.
But a look into his wide open eyes told him it was true. His brother, Fred Weasley was dead.
And it was his fault. Fred had been distracted, laughing at something he had said and not paying attention to what was going on around them. They all had. They had all stopped and not moved away from the danger and to safety just because of something he had said.
'I'm sorry, Fred, f-forgive me, please!'
'…Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron…'
He had ignored it, he had ignored that small voice in his head that told him his parents were right and that he should stand by them and his family. He could have helped, he'd been Assistant to the Minister! He was in an ideal position to help those who had known the truth from the beginning.
But his ambition had got in the way.
'…Well, you can't say fairer that that…'
Fred had forgiven him, just like that. No questions asked.
He had done as he had asked as well, kept the message to himself and left him to his own devices, protecting him in the way Percy had requested.
'…but Percy lay across Fred's body, shielding it from further harm…'
The least he could do was protect him now.
If you could review it would make me very happy :D