CHAPTER 3
Percy followed Audrey across the lawn, feeling suddenly very lumbering and out of place, for she seemed to float along and greet every child and caretaker. She knew the name of every single child, and even had some try to call her over to play with them. She gave one of her exuberant laughs as she turned them down, but promised she'd definitely spend time with them later. The very air seemed to warm around her as she gaily laughed and continued across the lawn.
They reached the edge of the property and she turned around and gave an appraising look over Percy.
"Did you have a place in mind for our meeting?" she asked.
"Well, I had thought our meeting was going to take place in your office, so no. Did you want to apparate somewhere? We could eat at the Ministry's cafe. Are you familiar with it?"
Audrey made a face.
"I'm familiar. Why in the world would I want to eat there? They have the worst food I've ever eaten," she said with certainty.
"What's so wrong with the food there?" Percy had never found anything all that wrong with their food, and didn't understand why she was so vehement in her dislike.
"Flavorless whitebread cafeteria sandwiches and limp day-old salads. You can't possibly think that's good food!" she said, obviously appalled.
"They have good soup on Thursdays."
She made a face of horror. "You eat there every day, don't you?"
Percy felt his ears turn pink.
"You do!" she laughed, practically pointing at him. "Haha– Oh no… No. We're not going there."
She said, disappearing beyond the sign and hedges so quickly he had no idea which direction she had gone. Perhaps she had apparated away to avoid him completely. Percy put his hands in his pockets.
"Come on!" she said, suddenly appearing in front of him between two overgrown shrubs, waving for him to follow her. He quickly trailed her, robe still draped over his arm.
"We're going past the Apparition point," he said, following her as she started to stomp through a thicket of brambles that seemed to magically avoid attaching themselves to her, while catching and tearing at the hem of his trousers with every step.
"I know that. We're not apparating, we're walking."
He stumbled behind her, almost losing his footing as they then past over a creek with very slippery stones, his leather loafers having little grip.
"Is there a particular reason we are avoiding the path?" he grunted out as he avoided another spill.
"It's shorter this way," she said with a shrug, before giving him a teasing smile. "Why, afraid of a little mud on your shiny shoes, Percival?"
He set his mouth tight and silently followed her. They made their way through the hanging branches of a willow tree, and then the thickets opened up to a Muggle street.
Percy usually thought of himself as adept at Muggle relations. He was able to keep a low profile, not stand out as an oddity, and avoid speaking to them. He had never much thought about Muggles, other than how to avoid them and keep them happy in their bubble of ignorance.
The war changed things, as he suddenly had to think of them almost constantly. How could he protect them, without looking like he was protecting them. How many of them had children who were going to be dragged away from them. How many of them would find their spouses gone or dead for marrying them. How many of them would find their relatives missing, on the run because they happened to be born magical.
Still, he never thought about the day to day life of a Muggle person. He didn't know much about their cultures, their money, their everyday existence. He knew he had a bit of a paternalistic view of Muggles, and could do better, but it was hard to make the time to do that.
Audrey's pace finally slowed down, and they stood in front of a restaurant with a flickering neon sign that read 'El Mejor.'
"We're going to a Muggle restaurant?" he asked, searching about his person. Did he have one of his emergency Muggle paper monies on him?
"Yeah, you have a problem with Muggles?" asked Audrey, giving him a challenging look.
"Of course not," Percy blustered. "I just don't know if I have any Muggle money on me."
"Well luckily this place is very cheap, so you won't owe me much."
They entered and Audrey stepped up to the register to chat with the man behind the counter, leaving Percy to look at the menu on the wall. It was all in Spanish. He resignedly squinted at it, hoping something would pop out that he knew. He knew what a taco was, and using latin root words, he could guess a translation here or there for the rest.
"Do you like pork and soup?" Audrey asked, taking pity on him. He nodded in the affirmative, and she ordered for them both. It only took a few minutes before she was handed two large plastic bags completely filled with much more food than Percy thought was reasonable. He made his way to a table, but Audrey gave a shake of her head and indicated for him to follow her.
"I figure we can eat back at the office," she said. Percy felt mildly disappointed. Now that they were going to eat with one another, he thought they'd at least get to sit in the restaurant for a bit. The thought of heading back to her busy office was unappealing, but he nodded and followed her. He silently took the heavy bags from her, and started their trudge through the woods again.
"You know, you seemed to talk a lot more in your office," Audrey suddenly said, looking sideways at him.
Percy gave a noncommittal shrug. He supposed he did. He had a lot to say about forms and procedure, as there was a lot to discuss. Here, walking with two giant bags of food next to Audrey...
"I guess I don't know what to say if there's not an agenda," he said, knowing he sounded boring.
She looked at him for a moment, giving him an assessing look.
"Well then, let us pretend we're back in my office and you just arrived. What's on the agenda today, Mr. Weasley?" she said with a mock curtsey.
He felt a smile work its way onto his face.
"Well Ms. Morales," he said in his most mockingly ostentatious tone, which was not as much of a stretch as he would have liked. Deciding she might think he was actually that ridiculously pompous, he decided to try and keep his tone neutral. "I came regarding the issues you've been having in funding and manpower for the child welfare program. I know… someone with some political sway who wants to be of assistance, but I wasn't sure what they could do to help."
"That's so great you want to help! We can always use more volunteers at the home."
"Oh no, I meant…" He had not meant himself at all. He'd meant Harry.
She was regarding him with a smile unlike any of the others she'd given him in their acquaintance. She had given amused smiles, teasing smiles, sarcastic smile; but right now, her smile held a promise of admiration and companionship he hadn't known in years.
"I'd love to volunteer at the home" he blurted. What had he done? He knew next to nothing about children and had no idea why he said he would volunteer.
"I have some forms you can fill out back at the office. Maybe you'd be a good story book reader," she said with an even wider smile. Percy could imagine about a dozen people who would be better equipped for such a task. Well now he couldn't let her know he had not come with the intention to volunteer. What had he even volunteered to do? Childmind?
"Unless you want to help with the office side of things? Though, you deal with that so much, maybe it'd be nice for you to get to relax with the children."
Percy couldn't think of anything less relaxing than spending time with those children. All the ones he'd met seemed wary of him. If he were a child, he'd would be wary as well of a stranger coming in. Who wanted a gangling rule-loving ginger lolling about? Maybe he would have a chance to see Audrey, though. That could be nice.
"Would you mind us having a picnic instead of going back?" Audrey asked him. Percy happily gave affirmation, and in no time they had conjured a blanket and were seated next to the creek Percy had nearly fallen into earlier. Audrey looked at ease curled up on the ground with all the various dishes laid out for them. Percy had no ass, as the twins had teased him about for years, so managing all his long unpadded limbs on the ground was not an easy or comfortable task for him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd sat on the ground, much less had a picnic. He stiffly perched, while Audrey served up food for him. She filled their takeaway bowls with soup, fresh radish, onion and an assortment of other finely chopped vegetables she sprinkled on top, then went on to unroll the tacos from their metallic paper, putting an incredible amount of violently green sauce on top of her own.
They ate in companionable silence for a bit, the only sound gracing their ears was the trickling of the creek, occasional bird song, and the rustle of that metal paper around their tacos- aloonimium?
"You enjoying your pozole?"
"Very much so, yes," Percy answered truthfully. Percy had been worried the bright red soup would be too spicy for him, but it was instead comforting and delicious. "It reminds me of something my mum might make."
"Is she a good cook?"
"Very."
"And this is British cuisine? I've never really seen the appeal."
"Well you've not really had great British food until you've eaten at Molly Weasley's kitchen."
"Wait a moment," said Audrey putting down her soup and staring at Percy agog. "Weasley!"
"Yes?" he said, looking confused.
"Your mum is THE Molly Weasley! She took down Bellatrix Lestrange! Your brother is Ronald Weasley! He helped Harry Potter take down Voldemort!"
"Yes," he said nodding, amused to see Audrey put on unsure footing for once. "Harry is the 'someone with political sway' I was talking about who could possibly help the children."
"You know… you know... him?" Audrey said, sounding dazed.
"Yes."
"Well… Well, that's good…" Audrey needed to take a few breaths, before she seemed to steady her nerves. "So… In what capacity was Mr Potter wanting to help?"
Percy explained how he had told them about the current issues facing her department at dinner the night before, and how Harry had asked if he could 'pressure' someone somewhere to make things better for the kids.
"But he might want to volunteer in other capacities… I told him you were the person to talk to about all this."
"You talked to Harry Potter about me," she said, looking a bit awe-struck again.
"Well, yes. And my family," Percy blurted out before feeling a familiar blushing sensation work its way down his face. He hated his complexion. What must she think about him, talking about her to everyone like this? Between this and showing up at her office, she must have thought him the biggest jackass in the world.
Instead of teasing him, Audrey gave him a warm look.
"I can see why this would be a matter he cares about, given his history," said Audrey, blessedly ignoring Percy's deep blush. "Our biggest issue, of course, is funding. There's only so much we can do to have the government fund more money here. Individual contributions are a good source as well. It's quite difficult to get the home the attention it needs in general, but in the wake of everything, it's easy for abandoned children and orphans to not get much consideration compared to issues that affect the most people. People are still trying to put their own lives back together, after all."
Percy knew all too well the toll the war had taken on families, but couldn't bare to dwell on it in front of Audrey.
"Do you think it would help to have some press attention on your home, perhaps? Harry doesn't like the press, but maybe for a fundraiser, he'd be willing to put in some time."
"Percy, I think that would be amazing. I'll put together a list of resources and past donors, some policy changes that would be helpful for him to be familiar with. Even if he just were to come and see the children, no press or anything, that alone would be amazing. But a fundraiser aided by him? I just… I think I'm actually vibrating thinking about that as even a possibility!
She flopped across the picnic blanket and gave him a vigorous hug around his knee, as she hadn't quite been able to reach any further than that in her exuberant wiggle.
"I'll see what he can commit to," Percy said with a laugh. "Don't get too excited, though. I don't know what all he will or can do!"
"I'm Latina. We're always excited," Audrey beamed, lying back on the blanket. "If Milo ever met Harry Potter, you might just get to see him smile."
"He seems to smile enough around you," Percy said, remembering how she'd been able to make the stoic child laugh in the ministry halls.
"Ah, any kid will smile at a good raspberry sound," she said, unabashedly giving a demonstration with a hearty 'pfthttttt', that took Percy aback a moment. Another smile broke out on his face. Even when she was at her most unladylike, she was infinitely charming.
"You're good with all the children, though."
She gave a modest shrug before laughing. "Considering I'm surrounded by them every day, I'd better be at least ok!"
"Is that what made you want to work in the Magical Child Welfare department?"
An oddly closed expression appeared on Audrey's face.
"Yeah sure," she said quickly, sitting up to gather all the leftovers she had, her hair tumbling down her shoulder in a wave. He fumbled with his watch a moment, so he'd stop staring at her. She put a preserving charm on the food and with a wave of her wand the leftovers were in their bags again, as if they had not touched them.
"Oh no," she let out, suddenly standing, then pointing to his watch. "Look at the time. We'd better head back in."
Percy wasn't sure he wanted to go back to work. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so at peace. He was content to sit on a blanket in the woods with her for the rest of the day, a rare feeling for him.
"How much do I owe you for the food?" he asked as they strolled back to the office.
"Nothing. In fact, the leftovers are yours," she said, a grin on her face. "You've volunteered with the kids, and are trying to get Harry Potter to help them too. That earns you the best, and cheapest, tacos and pozole in London! If it makes you feel better, I'll steal one taco from your bag to eat in your honor tonight."
"I haven't done anything worthy of honor," he muttered to his feet. He had meant it to sound teasing, but the words felt so true and vivid he couldn't manage to say it with anything but hollowness.
Audrey stopped walking and gave him a long hard look.
"I don't know you very well, Percival Weasley," said Audrey, all soberness in her expression, "but you work every day to bring families together. You brought our cause to the attention of someone who could make a huge difference. I remember hearing about your family. I hadn't put it together until you mentioned your mother, but you were all there. You're the only family who had every single member fight in the Battle of Hogwarts. That includes you. I'd say all that's worthy of honor."
Percy didn't know how to respond to such words, so didn't. His mind reeled back to the battle. The heat from unchecked flames. The smell of pulverized stone in the air. The ringing in his ears. The feel of his throat as he screamed and screamed. His stomach clenching and joints aching as he dragged at his brother's lifeless corpse. The smell of the bodies that no charm seemed to be able to dissipate.
"At least a taco's worth of honor," Audrey said, elbowing him in the side, knocking him back to reality.
"What?"
"I said I'd eat a taco in your honor- all your deeds get you at least a taco's worth of honor."
He reluctantly smiled in return, and they amicably walked the rest of the way to her office in silence. She didn't seem to notice he had hovered in another time thinking of the battle. He wished he could scourgify his mind of it. Everything about it made him feel tainted and brittle. He watched Audrey smile at some birds in the tree, looking so care free and untroubled. Percy doubted he had ever beheld the world like that in his whole life, but knew he never would be able to now. She was so unspoilt and happy, he almost felt like his presence might ruin it.
The moment they passed the Magical Child Welfare sign, the quiet woods gave way to the sound of loud children. It hit in a wave, a contrast so artificially stark that only discreet silencing charm barriers could have provided it.
They walked into her office, just as colorful and chaotic. This time Percy deftly avoided a stampede of kids as they ran past him. She had him fill out his volunteer form as she looked through the leftover bad for her 'honor taco.'
"When can we expect you back?" Audrey asked.
"Whenever you need a volunteer," replied Percy.
"So now? Tomorrow?" she asked, before laughing a bit. Percy must have made a face, for she quickly waved a hand at him."No no! I'm kidding! You have a very busy job. Would you want to come here Saturday? If you're not busy."
"I'm definitely free. Will you be here?"
"I'm definitely free too," Audrey said with a smile. He had stood there staring at her, for far longer than propriety would ever approve.
The black man from earlier that day approached them with a smug smile on his face.
"So! How was your date?"
"It wasn't a– -" Percy began, as Audrey let out a no-nonsense, "None of your business!"
"Ah and here I was just joking! I didn't know it was actually a date, Morales!" Obasi chuckled. Audrey gave him a playful swat and pushed him over towards his desk.
"Uh yes. I need to go. Thank you for the food," Percy said, color rising up his neck. He'd need to take a potion or do a charm before he came back that weekend to keep his blushes in check.
"See you here at ten thirty?" Audrey asked.
Percy nodded his assent, smiling in kind, before apparating back to his very colorless office.
After the chaos of Audrey and her office, his stood out as tame, boring and colorless. Most would chose those same adjectives to describe Percy himself, and he didn't disagree. Audrey probably thought so as well. Compared to anyone, she was vivacious and colorful, but compared to him? Percy thought it ludicrous that he'd shared the same space with someone like that.
His office now felt downright depressing. It had never bothered him before, as he liked it quiet and without distractions to do his paperwork Now he found himself restless the moment he sat down. He wasted minutes sharpening his quill and fiddling with his ink, not wanting to start, but finally relented when he thought of all the people who could be hurt or inconvenienced by his dawdling with their paperwork. He had powered through a large portion of his endless inbox by the time the clock indicated the day was ending, when he heard a knock at his office door.
"It's open," he said, putting his quill down, and looking up to see, "Ron!"
His little brother hulked in the door frame, shifting from foot to foot, looking uncertain. For a moment neither said anything, both seemingly shocked to find themselves in this position. Percy was the first to act and haltingly rose from his seat.
"Come in, come in," Percy gestured, seating them both in the guest seats, hoping this would make his brother feel more at ease. Ron flopped into the chair, and his knees pointed up to the ceiling as his chair was too low to the ground for his tall frame. So much for putting his brother at ease. After a moment Ron waved his wand to make the chair a bit bigger, then sat back down in it, looking much more dignified.
"Would you like something to drink? Some tea perhaps?"
"No thanks," Ron said, long fingers nervously fiddling at a hole in the knee of his trousers. Silence stretched between them, wide as any quidditch pitch. Fractious tense energy seemed to pour from Ron, and Percy was yet again reminded that his brother was no longer the little boy he'd known. The weary way Ron carried himself, the blank look that came over his eyes at times, the way he always stood as if poised to go into action… It all painted a sad picture of stolen youth. Ron was a child soldier, damaged by a war he had no place being in. His little brother was only eighteen. He should have been attending school, lazing about Hogsmeade, going on dates with Hermione, and have his biggest worry be his N.E.W.T. results. Instead, his brother was here in Percy's office, looking thoroughly worn-out with a large amount of stubble gracing his jaw.
"So– " "Well!" They began at the same time.
Percy tried to keep from laughing at himself, and at the absurdity of their situation. Two brothers who used to be able to talk so easily at one point, so unable to do so now. Well, perhaps they never really spoke much. They more argued than anything, but at least that had been easy enough to fall into.
"So, what brings you here, Ron?" he asked mildly, hoping to not accidentally rile his brother, whose shoulders were slowly tensing closer to his ears.
"Hermione," Ron said quietly before looking at his brother with determination. "I'm here for Hermione."
Percy nodded, waiting for Ron to say whatever he had to say. At one point in time Percy would have lead the discussion, coming to conclusions, and dismissively writing off the initiative it took for Ron to come here. He now knew it was best to idle in situations like this.
Ron took a breath before a calm seemed to come over him.
"I'm going to need your help with 'family reunification' for Hermione," said Ron. The look on his face promised that if Percy did not give said help, there would be hell to pay. Percy willed himself not to flinch. Whatever silent challenge Ron had been weighing against Percy seemed to be temporarily resolved, and he began to relate what had brought him here.
"Before we left to help Harry," Ron quietly recounted, "Hermione needed to keep her parents safe. She modified their memory so they don't know she exists, they have different names, and are off somewhere in Australia. Even Hermione doesn't know where, because she didn't want Voldemort," Percy flinched, "and his lot somehow getting to her parents through us."
"That is some amazingly complex spell work for a teen not even out of Hogwarts," Percy said, shaking his head in amazement.
"You don't know the half of it," said Ron with a humorless laugh. "She even put some spells on them to make them untraceable by owl. I'm at a loss as to where to start, because that was my first thought. Just get to Australia and send an owl with a tracker on it, or a portkey could work to get at least one of them back. Hell, even follow it on a broom," said Ron, staring at his knees again, fingers twining like spiders, an image Percy would never repeat to his arachnophobic brother.
"There are definitely some other methods our office can help you with," Percy began, but he was quickly cut off by Ron.
"I don't want your office on it, I want you on it," said Ron fiercely. "I know how hard you've been working for all these other families, and you're the guy to see on this. That work might be pressing, but Hermione is more important than any of them, and has done more for winning this war than anyone except Harry."
"I know," said Percy, putting up a placating hand.
"No you don't know," Ron said with a shake of his head. He wrenched himself from his chair and walked towards the one window.
"You don't know. No one can really ever know! but Harry and I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for her ten times over. We all owe her so much. This stupid bleeding government owes it to her. Every person you know owes it to her. She's been through– "
Ron abruptly stopped himself, looking almost physically pained. Whatever the horrors they witnessed in the war, it haunted Ron deeply. He hadn't shared much of what had happened. In fact, most of what Percy knew was either from stories at the Ministry, or Bill. Ron's fingers traced along one of the winding scars on his arm. Percy noticed, for the first time, Ron was missing the ends of two of his fingers.
"Does Hermione know you're here?" Percy asked as gently as he could.
"No," said Ron blinking and coming back to himself. "I'd like to keep it that way until things are more sorted. We have some time, at least. She's barely said a thing about getting her parents back."
"Why is that?" Percy confusedly asked. The idea of focused and determined Hermione putting off something so important was disconcerting.
"A lot of reasons," Ron said with a shrug. "She hasn't talked about it much, but I know her. Honestly, part of it is that she wants to be here for me and our family, but I won't let her do that.
And I know she's afraid of how per parents will react when she undoes the memory charms she put on them. She's dragging her feet to avoid that. Then the other day I found a piece of parchment where she was doing the maths for how much it would cost to find her parents, and it's a lot. She doesn't have anything but the clothes on her back and a pile of books. Even her old house is just sitting there empty.
I want to take care of as much of this as I can for her so she doesn't have to think about it. I'm broke as hell, but they're recruiting me to be an Auror. The recruitment signing bonus should cover a lot of the costs. I already have another few jobs lined up I can make some money at, so the galleons part I can get done. I just need your help on the finding them end of it."
Percy gazed at his brother, before a small smile worked its way onto his face.
"Ron, you don't have to worry about the money. I can– "
"I'm not taking one sickle from you!" Ron snarled.
"And you won't have to," Percy said firmly, hoping to keep Ron at bay long enough to get everything out. "I can do some paperwork. There's a discretionary fund for helping with the costs of these things, as so many people simply can't afford portkeys and travel expenses after the war. Australia's government has been accommodating as well, so I'm sure our office can have this sorted fairly quickly. When Muggles travel internationally they leave a long paper trail, and then when they move they have to register with the Muggle government. Unless they've decided to 'live off the grid' as they call it, her parents will probably only take a few weeks to locate, perhaps less if we pressure their government. Given Hermione's importance in the war, I'm sure Kingsley would make that happen."
"How do we know Death Eaters didn't use this method to track them down already?"
"Well, things were rather chaotic last year. It's so easy for forms to get lost. And they didn't want anything to do with Muggles, so if a few of us accidentally inform them of the pathways withint Muggle governments to find people… Well… That was only natural outcome of a busy Ministry," smiled Percy. He fondly recalled a great number of times they thought he was a bumbler, when in fact he had hidden forms with addresses of Muggleborns, or had lied about the state of Muggle government paper trails.
"Led a little office rebellion, did you?" Ron said, almost laughing.
Percy glared.
"The ones who got caught 'accidentally' withholding information didn't just get a slap on the wrist. You saw the dementors all over the place when you broke into the ministry last year, I'm sure."
"Right," said Ron, holding up a hand. "Sorry. I didn't mean to undermine what people risked here. So… So that's all there is to it then, for Hermione and her parents?"
"Yes," said Percy, giving a smile to assure Ron there were no hard feelings.
"I thought this would be a whole lot harder," said Ron, his expression showing incredulity.
"Just a whole lot of paperwork," said Percy before quickly adding, "which I'm happy to personally do for the both of you."
"Fuck, I just knew it was going to be another horrible hard to do thing… I'm not used to things going easy on us… Is that really it?"
"That's really it."
For the first time in Percy's presence, the air seemed to go out of Ron and his rigid posture sank until his head was in his hands. Ron's relief seemed to make him shake, whether with laughter or tears, Percy was not sure.
Knowing his younger brother would never want to be seen so vulnerable, Percy loudly busied himself gathering forms and paperwork so Ron could collect himself. After a minute or two Ron gave a wobbly 'thanks' from behind his hands, before wiping at his face.
"Of course. I'm assuming you will accompany her to Australia to retrieve them?"
"Course I will," Ron let out, still looking pale.
Percy nodded.
"So the Aurors, huh?" Percy asked.
"Yeah," said Ron, looking at his hands, half a smile working its way onto his face. "They must be off their broom for wanting someone like me."
Self deprecation was part and parcel for Ron, but Percy hated to see him think so meanly of himself. He had never done much to encourage Ron over the years, and had always just assumed Ron was fine. None of the siblings had encouraged Percy, after all.
Percy thought to how Audrey had handled him earlier that day, and how she'd propped him up so nicely when he'd been loathing himself. Percy didn't deserve to have that sort of support at all, but Ron surely did.
"You're a bit of a hero, Ron. Of course they'd want you."
Ron made a dismissing gesture. "I'm a dropout who doesn't even have N.E.W.T.s."
"What good is a standardized test compared to your experience?"
Ron gave him an incredulous look. "Should I be asking you a security question? There's not a Death Eater pretending to be my brother here, is there?"
"No."
"Head injury?"
"No!" Percy said, letting out a short laugh.
"Sorry, just had to make sure. Percy Weasley saying tests aren't as good as experience. I'll have to tell Fred an– " Ron cut himself off, making a face. The two forcibly ignored his faux pas.
"Well, the Ministry must be pretty desperate to want the likes of me, anyways. I'll probably get myself or someone else killed the first day on the job."
"Don't say things like that," Percy snapped.
"Sorry," Ron said quickly, "I shouldn't joke about dying so soon after– "
"You can't joke like that. And you can't keep belittling yourself like that either. Do you really value yourself so little?"
Ron's face turned mulish. "I didn't come here for one of your patented lectures, Percy."
"Fine" said Percy shaking his head. "But if you continue saying things like that about yourself, I won't help with Hermione's parents. Their case can go to the back of the queue."
Ron sat up in his chair, gobsmacked.
"You can't do that!"
"I don't want to!" said Percy, hoping he wasn't causing a truly irreparable rift. "But it's the only leverage I have. You won't do it for your own sake, but you'll do it for Hermione."
Ron couldn't argue with that, and kept his mouth firmly shut. His eyes flashed in anger.
"Here's your lecture, then," said Percy, his voice firm. "The Aurors will be lucky to have you, Ron. You'd already been in two battles with Death Eaters by the end of your sixth year. Most auror recruits haven't even been in real duels by the time they have graduated the academy. Mix in this last year, and you probably have more experience than any recruit they've ever had. You are an accomplished and powerful wizard. Don't forget it."
Ron still looked like he wanted to hit Percy, his arms crossed and fists flexing, but his expression softened after a moment.
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
"I'm fair convinced you are an imposter, now. You've never been much for flattery."
"Well, maybe I should have."
"I guess I can't stay mad when you lay it on so thick, like that."
"Guess not," Percy agreed.
With that they went to work writing down all the information they could on Hermione's parents: their real names, fake names, past addresses, profession and interests, and everything else Percy could think of. Ron seemed to know every answer.
"I think that should do it, then. I'll submit the documents by tomorrow, and will update you as soon as I hear anything."
"Thanks," said Ron before asking, "What's this?"
He was pointing to the plastic take-away bag Audrey had given Percy.
"A plastic bag."
"I know it's a plastic bag, thank you. No I mean, since when do you get Muggle takeaway?"
"I had lunch with a work colleague," Percy replied rather formally. For some reason he wanted to keep his rendezvous with Audrey private. "By the way, I have a proposal for Harry."
"Don't let Ginny here that," chuckled Ron.
"Yes… Very humorous."
Percy went on to explain his and Audrey's ideas for a fundraiser and publicity with Harry's help, as well as the volunteer opportunity the coming Saturday.
"Harry'd gladly empty his vault to help a bunch of orphans, but I don't know about the publicity bit…" Ron said, scratching at his chin. "He's been pretty burned by reporters and papers. I mean, the way they keep twisting about every damn word he says, and even straight up lying a lot of the time. Then everyone starts believing it."
"Yes. Yes I know…" That horrible guilt Percy kept feeling was back. He'd somehow forgotten how he had believed the media's portrayal of Harry a few years ago. Compared to his betrayal of his family, it had not weight all that heavily on him. For all intents and purposes, Harry was family, really. Ron had basically adopted him their first year, and no one objected. He'd always been a quiet and sweet kid. In first year he'd asked Percy hundreds of questions about things and actually listened quite raptly in a way Percy's own siblings never did. Granted, this was mostly because Harry was starved for information on the wizarding world, but that didn't make the sombre kid any less endearing. And then like that, after Harry had been through a terrible trauma, Percy decided to turn on him and badmouth him along with the rest of the world. He'd even written a letter to Ron saying to drop the friendship that was as close as any brotherhood. Yet now, when at the Burrow, Harry didn't seem to have a hint of resentment towards Percy. He treated him as kindly as ever.
"After everything that has happened, no one is going to listen to yet another sad story about the aftermath of the war, kids or no. It'll just get lost in the mix. I think getting Harry is pretty key, honestly. So… If we want to convince Harry on this, instead of going straight at him, you should have him meet the kids first, then approach on the rest. Once he's personally involved he'll go all in."
"Thanks Ron. I know Audrey would be thrilled."
"Audrey? Isn't that the Child Welfare worker you were talking about for so long the other night?"
Percy wished he could disapparate to his flat on the spot.
"Er, yes."
Ron had an amused look on his face as Percy colored, but said nothing.
"Right, well I'm off. I'll tell Harry about the kid thing and get Hermione in on it too. Keep me informed on all this Australia stuff?"
"Of course. If you like I can charm the documents to be about Auror things or something so she doesn't catch on as quickly."
"Yeah, that'd be great. I can't keep it from her for long."
Ron thanked him again and left.
Percy let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and sank in his chair. He supposed he should be happy with how everything had gone. Ron seemed pleased with him. He and Audrey had spent a lunch break enjoying each other's company. Well, he had enjoyed her company at least. She probably was happy to be rid of him. Still, Percy felt tense and empty.
He understood why Ron had gotten overwhelmed by things going well. To some it might seem like an extreme reaction, but after all they'd gone through, sometimes happy emotions were just as exhausting as negative emotions. The two would get so mixed up tha all it left was the dead calm in between. They were all still raw from everything, and Percy didn't know when these wounds would heal up.
He'd barely been through anything, compared to the rest of his family, but he still woke up in cold sweats, his wand aloft and pointed at nothing in particular. The clock on his wall of filing cabinets let out a whistle, and was flashing 'go home, already!' at him. He had nothing to go home to, except his owl Hermes, but he was rather tired and complied with the little timepiece.
He filed the last of his papers, grabbed his takeout bag and went out into the hall. He was feeling more and more exhausted with each step, that by the time he was halfway to an apararition point he decided he'd rather Floo instead. He abruptly turned around and a woman walked straight into him.
"Oh!" she let out, seeming not to realize she'd even ran into a person at all.
He murmured an apology then looked up from the ground to see Penelope Clearwater. He hadn't seen her since before the war had begun, and was relieved to see she was ok. She looked much the same as she ever had, trim, pale and perfectly curled hair. Her usual fresh face, however, was looking ruddy and tears were in her eyes.
"Percy!" she let out after a moment, clearly trying to stop herself from crying. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you– I need to."
"Penelope, are you alright?"
"I just got back from Canada. Most of us were hiding there, you know."
Penelope was Muggleborn and like many others, that meant she had to flee the country. He knew she was going to escape before the Ministry fell, of course. He'd been the one to help her with her paperwork for an emergency portkey so she and her family could safely evacuate if they didn't have time to move the usual way. He had checked on her flat and family home, both of which were empty with no signs of a struggle, after the Ministry fell. He hadn't read anything in the papers, so had to assume she was safe.
Eight months before the fall of the ministry they had parted ways. They'd broken up, not due to anything wrong in their relationship per se, but because in times of war, it just was too hard to maintain a relationship like theirs. She needed time to prepare to make a life abroad until everything blew over, and Percy was not going to leave Britain with her. Not that she asked. In truth, their relationship had not been going anywhere, despite its length. They met like clockwork, would listen to each other complain about paperwork, their jobs, congestion at the Floo Network, then would enjoy a sensible meal and finish with fine, if much of the time tepid, sex. Things had been… fine. She was always willing to listen to him, a trait that made her infinitely more dear to him than most, since Percy was almost always ignored.
"What's the matter, Penny?" he asked, using her old nickname they only used in private. He conjured a handkerchief she immediately put to use. He'd never seen her cry before. In fact she's always been rather placid, never giving away much emotion. He supposed that was another trait he had liked in her when they initially got together. His own family was so loud and impassioned, he found it exhausting much of the time. He wanted that passion back instead of the dull husks everyone seemed to be.
Penelope shook her head and dabbed at her face.
"My brother...We just found out my older brother… His family... They found his body and– I thought that maybe it was a m-mistake, but it wasn't. We hadn't heard from him in a few weeks, but we thought it-it was just because he was busy… He had been living as a M-Muggle safe for so long… Why would Death Eaters target him this late?"
"And you're sure it was Death Eaters?" Percy grimly asked.
"Yes. They... Wrote terrible things… Terrible things on his body…"
Percy had never met her brother. He was magical, like Penelope, but upon graduating Hogwarts had gone on to Muggle college and become an accountant, living a almost wholly Muggle life. He was so much older than Penelope that they had little to do with one another. He had his own life. Her brother even had– had a wife and two children.
"And the rest of the family…?" Percy asked, dreading having to hear the answer.
"They killed his wife and my niece and nephew are m-missing," Penelope let out.
Percy let out a small hiss hearing this.
"Penny, I am so sorry," he said emphatically, giving her a hug she returned with more force than she ever had in previous embraces. When she finally let go he searched his person and finally found what he was looking for.
"Here is my card. I work with family reunification. On Saturday I am going to the Child Welfare office. If you like, you can come with me and we can see if they know anything about your niece and nephew."
"Oh thank you, Percy," she said giving him a hug and kiss on the cheek. "I'm so grateful I quite literally ran into you."
Percy nodded, giving her a sympathetic smile. He knew what it was to lose a brother. As horrible as it was to witness, at least he knew his brother had gone fast and his body hadn't been toyed with. He was dead and buried and that was it. Penelope's situation was, in some ways, much worse. She might not have been particularly close with her brother, the age gap being so wide, but that didn't make it any less painful to lose him. She had lost many people, though, and had no idea how much they had suffered, or if their children had even survived.
Feeling even more unsure on his feet, Percy darted into a nearby office and used their private Floo so he wouldn't have to walk any further. He wanted to crawl into bed, clothes on and everything, but went about his usual routine instead. Clean glasses, remove robe, spell away soot, feed Hermes if he hadn't found something for himself, then sit down for dinner while listening to the Wireless current events.
Percy sat at the table and sluggishly heated his leftovers with his wand. The smell brought him back to his picnic with Audrey, and he ate the warming food, feeling a bit better than he had before. As he showered and prepared for never like that even as a child,as far as he could remember, so it was hard to imagine being like her as a full grown adult.
Some of his brothers used to be like her, but the war had changed them. He wondered if they'd ever be like her again. In many ways Ron was the same- still teasing, loyal, insecure, and strategically minded. But now a sombre edginess cut through Ron– it cut through all of them. With George, it threatened to cut him to ribbons. At times, Percy wasn't so sure he wouldn't be cut to ribbons too.
The one thing he had that kept him tethered in place was that he had others who were depending on him. After his job concluded, well, he wasn't so sure what would keep him grounded. Audrey seemed to flash in his mind. Her smile. The busy office. The children who were so happy to see her. Maybe he'd find purpose there, as she had. Sleep took a while to find him, as always, but the next morning he woke without having had one nightmare.