Author's Note – The twins and Percy finally confront each other head on! And I was able to make this chapter longer than the last. I'm so proud of myself (probably more than I should be).

My Brother's Keeper

Chapter 9

Okay, Fred had to admit that he always thought that he would end up getting arrested for something or another. But he would be damned if he was going to allow himself to be arrested for rescuing his brother of all things. Fred looked at George and saw the same steely resolve, and then he looked at Percy…

Who had already stepped forward to give himself up.

Charlie yanked Percy back. "You were not just about to do what I think you were about to do, were you?"

Percy glared at his older brother. "It's not like we can just resist arrest, Charlie."

"He's right." The young, handsome auror said, stepping through threshold toward Percy. "It would be better if you just gave yourself up. Any mix up can be sorted out at the Ministry."

With a burst of speed that not even his children knew he was capable of, Arthur jumped in front of the auror and quickly drew out his wand, jabbing it painfully into the auror's neck. Arthur wasn't just some low-level Ministry lackey and the butt of everyone's jokes. He was a survivor, a soldier, of the War and he was going to show this arrogant kid just who exactly he was dealing with.

"Dad… what are you doing?" Percy asked. He sounded as though he was just as shocked as Fred was. The sound of heavy footfalls from upstairs signaled the arrival of Ron and Ginny, both of whom froze at the sight of their normally amiable and slightly scatterbrained father threatening another wizard.

"Resisting arrest." Arthur said simply. The auror flinched when Arthur dug his wand into his neck, but other than that refused to react.

"I didn't come alone, you know." The auror said simply. "I would hate to have to use force, especially since you know that's how… accidents happen." The auror stole a lingering glance at Ron and Ginny, still standing frozen on the stairway.

At that, Percy wrenched his arm out of Charlie's grip and stood by the door. "Let's go." Percy commanded, his voice sounding strained.

Ron and Ginny jumped down when they realized what Percy was doing. "We're not little kids, Percy! We can take care of ourselves! You don't have to do this!" Ron yelled, his face burning a deep scarlet.

Fred glanced at his twin, who nodded. "Shut up, Ron." Fred grumbled as he and George went to join Percy.

The auror, however, continued to stare impassively at Arthur, who was looking horrified at his children. "Might I suggest you take your cloaks?" The auror suggested, finally turning to look at the three. "It is quite cold tonight."

MBKMBKMBKMBKMBK

Fred paced the small, dank room that was currently housing himself and his brothers. All he knew was that it was located somewhere deep within Ministry, although Fred couldn't tell where exactly they were. They could be underground or in the highest floor for all he knew. He turned to face his brothers who were sitting against the wall dejectedly.

"Well, Perce," Fred said. "I'm afraid I've got some bad news."

Percy turned to look at Fred, his face fearful. "What?" He whispered.

"This is definitely going on your permanent record."

George snorted with laughter and Fred grinned at his brothers. Percy, however, just buried his head in his hands, though. Damn, Fred thought, I was hoping I would get something from him. Fred had honestly just wanted to make Percy feel better. He wasn't dealing with this nearly as well as he pretended to be. It was no surprise really. Who could deal with something like this? And Percy, although nobody seemed to remember, was still just eighteen.

"Why won't you just talk to us?" Fred demanded, suddenly irritated at Percy's need to be in control all the time.

Percy jumped up in a flash, his face flushed. "Because you're bullies!" He snapped, angry with Fred's accusing tone.

George got up to stand next to his twin, his face twisted up in anger. "We are not!"

"Yes, you are!" Percy insisted. "You play all these mean pranks and then you say 'Oh, lighten up, Percy' or 'It was just a joke', but they hurt."

Fred opened his mouth to say something in their defense, but Percy interrupted. Now that he started, he found that he couldn't stop. "Oh, and why can't anybody else play a prank on you two? You can dish it out but you can't take it?"

"What are you talking about?" Fred demanded. "We can take a joke, unlike you!"

"Tell that to Lilith Gray."

"That Slytherin chick? She was a bitch!"

"And you humiliated her in front of the entire Great Hall because she got you back on some stupid joke you played on her!" Percy said. "You don't care if you hurt somebody's feelings because you two only care about yourselves. It always been just Fred and George and nobody else. You won't let anybody else in."

Fred's whole body radiated with anger. Fred was not a bully and neither was George. How dare Percy call them that? "You're one to talk." Fred said low and slowly, pure fury lacing his words. "Do you even have emotions? All you do is worry about yourself. You don't care who you step on as long you get to the top."

Percy's eyes flashed with a mixture of emotion. "I really don't like you sometimes." He said quietly before moving away. He collapsed in a corner far away from them and buried his head in his hands again.

Fred and George moved to their own corner, too angry to talk or joke. Fred didn't know how long they sat there like that. It could have been hours, or just a few minutes. There were no windows in the room, or anything else for that matter, so it was impossible to tell the passage of time. But then he noticed that Percy was starting to act strangely again. He was sitting there, staring into the corner opposite of him, his face an expression of pure horror. With a sudden jerk he stood up and walked towards them. George opened his mouth and was about to tell him off, but then he noticed the fear in his eyes. "Want to sit down, Perce?" George said instead.

Percy nodded before sitting down rather stiffly. Fred observed that Percy was sitting closer to them than he normally would, but didn't comment on it. "There must be a guard standing outside." Percy explained in a rather shaky voice. "I don't why else I would be seeing…"

Percy trailed off, and if Fred was honest with himself he was glad. He really didn't want to know what Percy was seeing in a place like this. He was just grateful that Percy seemed lucid. Maybe he was getting better?

The awkward silence descended again, making everyone uncomfortable. "They locked us in at night, you know." Percy said suddenly in a quiet, despondent voice. Fred and George looked at each other apprehensively, afraid that Percy had just lost hold of his lucidity. "At the Siebenkees Institute for Higher Learning." Percy explained, noticing the looks on the twins' faces. "All of the Associates lived in faculty housing and at night they locked us in. There was no way to get out; the windows were barred shut and there were guards surrounding the area. They said it was for our protection, that in a research facility that worked with dangerous spells and potions there was no way of knowing what could happen. I bet you think I'm pretty stupid for believing them. Or, I guess… just… too ambitious."

"We don't." George said, but Percy didn't seem to hear him.

"I was making friends. Can you believe it?" Percy asked them, a strange expression flitting across his face. "Me, the friendless wonder of Hogwarts. Although I don't really have any friends anymore. Some of the Associates that lived with me… they kept disappearing. One night I'd go to bed and when I woke up in the morning someone's stuff would be missing and they'd be gone. The Researchers told me that they had quit, that they couldn't handle the stress. By the time you guys came, my building was almost half empty."

"Percy…" Fred began, but Percy just kept talking.

"And of course I just believed every word that they said… That's not true, I didn't just believe them unquestionably. Sometimes I would say to them 'Oh, Augustus would never have just quit, he would have told me' or 'Sarah was so dedicated, she could handle anything'. And then they would say how proud they were of the work I was doing, tell me that the others just couldn't cut it, but that I was something special. And… I guess, if you've been insulted and picked on as much as I have you just learn to take what little praise you can get. I just ignored any bad feelings I had. My friends could be dead now and I did nothing."

Fred was starting to get a little worried now. "Percy, you don't have to…"

"No!" Percy suddenly snapped, finally looking at his brothers for the first time since his confession began. "You said you wanted me to talk, so I'm talking. I just need you to listen to me right now."

George held up his hands. "Alright then," he said, "tell us everything. Anything and everything you ever wanted to say, say it now. We're listening."

Percy stared at him for a few seconds, before glancing down, blushing. "I… well, I don't know now. Nobody's ever actually asked me for my opinion before… I can't think of anything to say."

Fred couldn't help it. He burst out laughing and from the echo he could tell that George was laughing as well. Percy stood up, red-faced and embarrassed, and was about to march back to his corner when Fred grabbed his arm and yanked him back down.

"You're kinda weird, you know that?" Fred said after the laughter died down. "Don't get offended, take it as a compliment." Percy just looked at him as though he didn't know whether or not that was a compliment. "Look," Fred began, "we know that you care about us, I'm sorry for what I said. And we're sorry if we hurt your feelings with our pranks. We never really wanted to hurt you. It was just… you're always so serious and wound up so tight. We just figured that one day you would just, I don't know, get it and laugh."

"I'm sorry I said you two were bullies." Percy said, although Fred distinctly heard him mumble "you are, though", but ignored it. "And…" Percy trailed off, looking away. He didn't finish what he was going to say, but Fred suspected that it had something to do with his ambition by the look on his face. They sat there in silence, but it was a different kind of silence. Better. "I never thought your jokes were that funny." Percy said suddenly.

"What!" George looked absolutely scandalized. "What do you think is funny, then?"

Fred grinned. "Yeah, tell us a joke!"

Percy looked a little apprehensive. "A joke?"

"Yep!" Fred nodded.

"Uh…" Percy looked down, obviously racking his enormous brain for a funny joke. "Oh!" And then Percy's face lit up in a genuine smile, which was something that Percy rarely ever aimed at them. "What did the fish say when he ran into the wall?"

"What?"

"Dam!" Percy just looked too pleased with himself.

Fred and George groaned. "That… that was horrible, Percy." George said, shaking his head. "Honestly, where did we go wrong with you?"

Percy shrugged, "I like it." He said simply.

"Let's make a deal." Fred said suddenly. George and Percy turned to look at him.

"What kind of deal?" Percy asked.

"We promise not to, in your words, 'bully' you anymore if you promise to lighten up." Fred replied. "Because I'm liking this cheesy-joke version of Percy much more than crazy-obsessed Percy."

Percy folded his arms, a frown on his face. "What if I don't think I need to 'lighten up'?"

George laughed. "Oh, you definitely need to lighten up. Fred bet 10 sickles last year that you'll eventually have a nervous breakdown and kill everybody."

To be continued…