Disclaimer: See Chapter one

Author's Note: Well, I have to apologize for neglecting this story so much, but real life has been dreadful. I'm currently taking 7 classes, working 2 part time jobs, and trying to complete a double major and diploma program at the same time.

Anyway, no matter how long I go without updating, please remember that this story will never been abandoned – I've got it all worked out to the last chapter, I just need to find some time to actually write! My beta has also been swamped with real life, so please forgive any errors, although feel free to point them out.

Without further ado, I give you Chapter 14 . . . .

Chapter 14

Charlie wandered into the kitchen on this fine Saturday morning. So far, he was the only one up and around. Dad was at work, something about an emergency that had come up, and Mum had been spending her weekends at Hogwarts. There was heaps of work to be done if Hogwarts was going to be habitable for the children come September, and every wand was needed to finish by the deadline. Fred and George were at their shop, and Ron and Ginny were Merlin knew where with Harry and Hermoine. That left him alone in the kitchen, as neither Bill or Percy had gotten up yet. Lazy Sods. But speak of the devil and he shall appear . . .

Bill came crashing into the kitchen, blinking blearily, and nearly costing Charlie an eye, in his haste to summon tea. When Charlie had subsequently disarmed him, pushed him into a chair and watched him drink two entire cups of tea, he deemed his older brother awake enough to initiate conversation.

"So . . . you two were up late, hmmm?" Charlie began, studying his own cup of tea, and delicately casting a line into the idle morning silence.

"Blimey Charlie, you've really mastered the subtle skill of interrogation. They should put you in charge of extracting confessions. I can see them now, bowing to your unsurpassed skill of fishing for information," Bill was clearly more awake now.

"Hey! I work with dragons!! Subtle gets you eaten." Charlie glared, casually kicking Bill in the shin. At the return kick, he sniffed daintily, in a manor not unlike their mother (and which for that reason, was never performed within her hearing). "Besides, you didn't answer my question."

Bill sighed, and Charlie could almost pinpoint the moment that all the levity was sucked out of the room. "Percy woke me up. He was in the kitchen, making tea, and I guess he broke something. I went in to talk to him, to apologise. And I asked him why he didn't come to us when it happened. He thought that we would have sent him away if he came asking for help. He didn't say in so many words, but I could tell." Bill broke off, pursing his lips grimly. Charlie shook his head. Shouldn't surprise us, he's always been independent, too independent. Still, stupid bugger. We're family.

"Anyway, he just looked so . . . broken . . . and hurt. And I think it was all a little much for him. He, well, he broke down, started talking about Penny, and about finding her. Merlin, Charlie, he's the one who found her." Bill closed his eyes, clearly remembering, and Charlie couldn't help but wince. This just all gets better and better, doesn't it? Perce just can't seem to catch a break.

"He started crying. I don't think I've seen him cry in . . . huh, I can't even remember when the last time was. And he let himself cry for a while, but once he got control of himself, it was like a wall came down. A solid, completely impenetrable wall. He apologized for waking me, and that was that."

The two brothers sat quietly for a few moments, each contemplating their infuriating younger brother who was so determined to push them all away.

Finally Charlie spoke, "Well, I guess it's a good thing I was up early then."

Bill waited, but it was clear that Charlie wouldn't continue without prompting. "Yes, oh wise one? And why is that?" Charlie grinned at the disdainful tone. "Cause I invited little Oliver over for a friendly game of Quidditch, and it sounds like Percy could use a spot fun right about now."

"Little Oliver? Charlie, he's taller than you are, when are you going to drop the little?" Bill asked a smile fighting to break out.

"I can't help it! He was knee high to a grasshopper when he was always following me around, begging to be allowed to play in first year. It's not my fault he grew after I graduated!" Charlie crossed his arms and leaned back defiantly in his chair.

"Oh I see, how silly of me." Ignoring Charlie's mutter about 'sarcasm not becoming him', Bill continued, "And are you sure this is a good idea? Does he even get along with Percy?"

"Oh, yes, in fact, I'd say they were best friends in school. I suppose it helped that they were only 3 Gryffindor boys in their year, and that Oliver was so stubborn. Probably also helped that Perce was my brother – Oliver probably thought it would get him closer to Quidditch, but yeah, they're quite good friends. As soon as Oliver got on the team, Percy came to every game and practice. Granted, he usually read, but he was there. I asked Oliver once how he managed to get Percy to come, and he just blinked up at me, all innocent like, and said 'I just asked him.' I rarely ever saw one without the other, for the first few years." Charlie finished, and raised an eyebrow. In the language of brothers, this clearly said 'so there.'

"Alright, I bow to your superior knowledge, and hope that it is greater than your interrogation skills. But do you really think that Percy will agree to play a game of Quidditch?" Bill sounded incredulous. And not without good reason. Percy never plays Quidditch with us. Charlie reminded himself. Still he was reasonable confident that between Bill, little Oliver, and himself, Percy would be on that broom.

"We just won't give him a choice."

* * *

When Percy finally stumbled into the kitchen an hour later, he looked still half-asleep. Charlie watched from the door as Percy made himself some tea and drank it in one gulp, boiling hot, in a way that made Charlie wince. Percy was made of sterner stuff apparently, as he just poured himself another cup, and proceeded to write a brief letter. Charlie watched all of this silently, and curiously, wondering who in the world Percy would be writing to. When Percy walked stiffly to the window, presumably to call Hermes, Charlie made his move. In a classic big brother style, he had swiped the letter, sat down at the table and begun reading it before Percy even noticed it was missing.

"Charlie!! What the bloody hell are you doing?!! That's my mail, it's private!!" Charlie ignored Percy indignant shriek, idly thinking My, Percy sounds like a first year girl today and scanned the short note for the third time. He was on the last sentence, when Percy grabbed the note from his hands.

"Do you mind?" Percy hissed, and boy, if looks could kill . . .

"Nope. Don't mind at all. Go right ahead and mail it, Perce." Charlie grinned, in a way that was sure to infuriate any sibling. Percy opened his mouth, still glaring, and then closed it. He opened and closed his mouth for a few seconds apparently speechless in indignation, before barking out "Private!!!" and turning back to the window, where a very bored looking Hermes had been observing them. Charlie was silent as he watched Percy secure the letter, and give Hermes an absent pet or two before sending him off. It wasn't until Percy sat back down to his cup of tea, glaring poisonously at the room in general and his brother in particular, that Charlie spoke up.

"So . . . " He trailed off hopefully, while looking casually at the ceiling.

"Hmmph."

Sighing internally, because Percy never would make anything easy, he studied the various burn marks on the ceiling, no doubt left over from some Fred and George experiment, and reflected that maybe Bill was right. This interrogation stuff was not his cup of tea.

"So . . . . what was that?" Charlie winced at his own question, but still looked across the table, one eyebrow quirked inquisitively.

"It was a letter." Yup, Percy is definitely not going to make this easy.

"I know that! I mean why the bloody hell are you writing to Draco Malfoy – Lucius Malfoy's son – asking him to bring you some work that you forgot from the office and oh, by the way, be on the look out for the new security systems the Minister has put in place?" Yeah, subtle really isn't my thing. And never mind Dragons, if I tried any more of my subtlety with Percy, I think he'd eat me!

"You're just like Ron! Draco is nothing like his father! He's just doing me a favour, and picking up some stuff I forgot at work. And since Kingsley has decided to enforce my vacation by not allowing me into the office, I can't get them myself!!!" Percy was looking really quite pissed. Charlie realized he'd touched a nerve, although he couldn't quite see what that would be. Quickly, he tried to salvage the conversation.

"Look Perce, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, why are you asking someone to bring you some work? You're on vacation." Percy rolled his eyes.

"Yes, and if I actually did no work for the next week, we'd never get back on our feet! We're behind as it is and if Kingsley wasn't so stubborn. . ." Percy looked so disapproving that Charlie wondered exactly how bad things were at the ministry. Certainly their father was being kept busy, but Charlie was under the impression that the situation wasn't desperate. Of course, Percy could just be being a drama queen. But he still had to wonder.

"Well, like it or not, you are on vacation. And we're going to make sure you actually take a break." Charlie spoke matter of factly, but inside he was almost fighting down a grin. Percy was completely outnumbered, he just didn't know it yet.

"We? Who exactly is we?" Hmmm, Percy sounds suspicious. Can't imagine why.

"Me and Bill. We're your big brothers, and it's our job to get you to relax." Charlie noted that Percy didn't look any less relieved at this statement. Narrowing his eyes, Percy studied him intently. Charlie simply whistled innocently, grinning madly in his head.

"Yes, and that doesn't make me feel any better. Where is Bill, anyway?"

"Oh, he's around here somewhere, don't worry," Charlie replied brightly – perhaps too brightly, as Percy's suspicion seemed to deepen, but before he could pursue that line of questioning, noise from the hall drew them to leave the kitchen and investigate. Charlie grinned when they found Bill and little Oliver, both holding a couple of brooms, and looking mischievous.

"What all this then – Oliver? What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Percy lumbered into the hall, and then stood gaping.

Oliver grinned wider, and winked at Charlie, "Oh, you know, it was such a beautiful morning, just perfect for a nice friendly game of Quidditch, and I thought 'now where would I find some talented people to fly with . . . ' and you lads'll be just honoured to know that you were the first people I thought of. And don't give me that old sad excuse about you not flying well – I'm the one who tutored you first year." Now that made Charlie's ears perk up, and from the looks of it, Bill's curiosity was also peaked. Over the sputtering and glaring coming from Percy, Charlie asked,

"What's all this about tutoring? I never heard anything about this?"

"No? Well, I'm not surprised. See Percy here, well, he didn't want to do badly in front of everyone, especially after Madam Hooch had gone on and on about how wonderful his older brothers had been, and how he must be such a natural. So he pretended he couldn't even get his broom to float. And then after class, we made a deal – I'd teach him how to fly, and he'd help me train to get on the team."

Bill was frowning by the end of the story, and when Oliver finished, he jumped in. "But Percy, I don't understand. You knew how to fly before you got to Hogwarts."

Percy was glaring at all of them now, his mouth in a thin line. He was silent for a few seconds, until Charlie wasn't sure that he was going to answer. Finally he ground out,

"No, I didn't."

"No, Percy, that's not possible. All of us knew," Charlie denied firmly. Percy merely pursed his lips and didn't answer. Charlie sighed. Clearly Percy was not going to answer. Blimey, it's like pulling teeth to get a straight answer out of him these days! Percy finally spoke up, and Charlie thought maybe was going to answer after all.

"If you're all quite through – " He was abruptly cut off by Oliver, who slung his arm over Percy's shoulder, ignoring the way he stiffened, and grinned,

"Well lads, Quidditch waits for no man! Are we playing or not?" And before Percy could even open his mouth to protest, Charlie and Bill grabbed their brooms and were helping to shepherd him out to the back garden. Charlie's thoughts however, were not at all on the beautiful day, or on the game they were about to play, but on his little brother and all the secrets he seemed so determined to keep.