'Every now and then life deals us a blow that send us reeling,' this was the first thing Percy's therapist had told him and it was something that had stuck with him. His father had finally convinced him to visit a muggle therapist, through much heart ache and arguing, after the death of Fred. It was a death that Percy blamed on himself.
A drop of sweat rolled its way leisurely down his face, disappearing before he could catch it with the back of his hand. He would have cursed but his mind was too occupied. Flashes of green and red accompanied by raised voices all shouting various incantations was the scene that he found himself in. All at once he found himself duelling with his old employer back to back with his brother who appeared to be duelling with a not so nice death eater.
Sending a curse at Thicknesse Percy bellowed, 'Hello Minister! Did I mention I'm resigning?'
'You're joking, Perce!' shouted Fred, as the Death Eater he had been battling collapsed to the ground in a heap. Fred looked at Percy with glee, 'you are actually joking Perce…I don't think I've heard you joke since you were-'
The air exploded. Fred collapsed, echoing the movements of the Death Eater, due to a wall of Hogwarts that had gone rouge after suffering a blast.
Percy awoke chest rising and falling at double speed. It was at night when it was hardest to keep the nightmares at bay, to stop from reeling over the blow. 'Stupid war, stupid nightmares, stupid him!' He thought his hands balling up into fists at his sides.
It was all his fault and he would never forget that. Why had he turned his back on his family? If only he had realised his childish ways sooner. It was his fault and his fault alone that Fred was dead leaving George in such a sorry state.
An older sibling was meant to look out for his younger siblings, meant to protect them, take the bullet for them. Percy had failed as an older brother in his own eyes. He had failed himself and his family. But most of all he had failed Fred.
The memory of Fred's last laugh still playing at the corners of his mouth before they went still – never to move again – would haunt Percy for as long as he lived. Unable to rest easy in bed he made his way to the bathroom. The slight that greeted him in the mirror was pitiful. Hair stuck up everywhere in clumps and large dark grey bags surrounded his eyes.
He began to try to make himself look more presentable when, in the mirror, he noticed his girlfriend Audrey stumble in clearing her eyes of sleep with the back of one of her hands. She slipped her arms around Percy's waist and rested her head on his shoulder.
'What are you doing up, more nightmares?' Audrey asked her voice containted hints of both worry and sleep.
Percy nodded not wanting to relive them even through speaking of them. Audrey kissed the back of his neck, grabbed his hand and led him back to their bedroom.
After the 'dreams' of Fred it would be superfluous to say that Percy had a rough night. He lay awake listening to the sleeping sounds of Audrey, stroking her hair as she curled into him and tried not to think about the past. However, he had no time to dwell on a rough night's sleep as the take ahead of him was coming soon. A task that left him the same nervous feelings he experienced when he had found that he had to take a 'test' to get sorted into a house. Only this time there would be no relieve, no happy or easy ending. Today Percy was going to see George for the first time since the accident.
Molly and Fleur had conducted a plan to bring George and Angelina Johnson, Fred's ex, together, in hope they could come to terms with the reality of the war and heal their wounds through supporting each other. A lunch was to happen and damned if it didn't run smoothly.