Disclaimer: I don't own any of the recognizable Characters They and the world of Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling. Any Original characters were created by me and anyone who wants them can use them. Not making any money off of this please don't sue.
Note: This another fic in my Disillusionment verse. In many ways this is a follow up to Bill His brother and a parrot. This is set during Order of the Phoenix during the time Author Weasley is in the hospital.
Question of Sanity
Penelope Hornby entered the room to see a rather handsome man with long red hair sitting by his father's bedside while he slept. "Your Bill aren't you?" She asked recognizing him from pictures Percy had shown her years before. When he nodded looking, tired she continued. "I'm Penelope Hornby I used to date your brother Percy." She saw the scowl and realized Percy still wasn't talking to his family.
"It's nice to meet you." He said not really meaning it. "I thought your last name was Clearwater?" He asked after a second in the twins letters they had complained about Percy getting a girlfriend before them.
"It was before I got married." She said proudly. "It's just when I heard Arthur Weasley was admitted as a patient I had to come see." She saw him glance over his father. "Don't worry Healer Smetwick is wonderful and he'll be fixed in no time."
Bill wondered how she knew the healer and had to ask. "Are you a healer here?" She could tell by his quizzical look that he wasn't sure about her.
"I'm going to be." She said happily. "I was just in a meeting to determine where I'd be assigned to do my apprenticeship." After a few seconds of silence she finally asked the question. "Exactly what happened between your family and Percy he won't talk about it at all."
Bill just shook his head. "I don't really know all the details except he believes the ministry line about You know who not being back." She could tell from his expression he didn't believe the ministry line. "By the way do you see my brother often?"
"Not really." She said calmly. "We meet for lunch rarely but in general I'm too busy with my healer training and husband to spend much time socializing with friends." She could see by his expression he was worried over something. "Why do you ask?"
"Last time I saw Percy he was acting a bit crazy." He said a look of bewilderment on his face. "He was bickering with a strange parrot that I'm very sure someone had been enchanting."
Penelope Hornby had to suppress a laugh. "The parrot belongs to the person in the ministry he's seeing." She said trying to allay his fears. "They were probably hiding in the other room and sent the bird out to torment Percy." There she thought close enough to the truth and still far enough away not to get Percy outed to his brother.
"I really have to go now I hope your father gets well I'll tell Percy to come visit." She could tell by his face he doubted Percy would come and privately she agreed. Whatever was going on between him and his family was going to take awhile to solve.
The End.