Hello everyone! I've wanted to write a character study about Percy Weasley for a long time, so there we go :)

The chapters' titles are inspired by song, this chapter's title is inspired by the song "Only a pawn in their game" by Bob Dylan.

DISCLAIMER: I regretfully don't own Harry Potter, otherwise I would make a TV series out of it.

Reviews are appreciated :)

18th and 19th June 1996

Percy Weasley was so tired that he didn't even feel like reading.

With a sigh, he put "A Comprehensive History of Magical Transportation" by Ulysses Goodway back on the night table without having read a single page. The book was indeed terribly interesting but he was so exhausted that he couldn't keep his eyes open.

It had been another very long working day.

The Ministry hadn't had a moment of peace since that infamous mass breakout in Azkaban six months before. The Daily Prophet kept asking for updates, witches and wizards from all over the country sent owls and even Howlers non-stop, complaining because the Ministry didn't do more. Percy snorted: did the people really believe that those dark wizards would let themselves be captured in a few months? Sirius Black was still at large after three years, now another ten dark wizards were running free!

But that wasn't all. Percy wished that the mass breakout were the only problem. No, the cherry on the cake arrived on April 21st, when Albus Dumbledore had gone into hiding after hexing the Minister for Magic, his Senior Undersecretary and two Aurors!

Dumbledore.

The man he had once called the greatest wizard in the world, whom he had admired despite his many eccentricities, the man who had appointed him a Prefect and a Head Boy. Now this man was pretending that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back, scaring the whole wizarding world based only on the words of a fourteen years old boy.

Percy felt really sorry for Harry Potter because he was sure that he didn't lie purposefully. The boy had witnessed his parents' murder, spent years living with a Muggle family who made him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs and on top of that he had witnessed the death of a fellow schoolmate during a tournament he wasn't even supposed to take part to. No wonder that he had nightmares, heard voices and was terrified by Dementors. No wonder that he had associated Cedric Diggory's death with his own memories of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. No wonder that he imagined Dementors where there weren't any. This was obvious to anyone and certainly to Dumbledore too.

Dumbledore was manipulating an unfortunate fourteen years-old boy! He was plotting against the Ministry of Magic with that Order of the Phoenix of him. Worse: he was recruiting underage students, who were too young an too much in awe of him to escape the brainwashing!

Percy shook his head. At first he had wanted to believe that his former headmaster was just getting senile, that it wasn't his fault. But then he accompanied Fudge and his Aurors to Hogwarts after the so-called Dumbledore's Army had been discovered, and he was forced to change his mind. Dumbledore knew perfectly well what he was doing, he was purposefully conspiring against the Ministry! Merlin knew how long he had been planning that!

But even more than by Dumbledore, Percy was disappointed by Professor McGonagall. She had been his role model at Hogwarts: clever, confident, serious about schoolwork and rules and disinclined to joke, yet kind and caring behind the no-nonsense attitude. She had been everything he wanted to be... and now she was siding with a plotter. On that infamous night at Hogwarts, she stood by Dumbledore and even threatened to fight against the Minister Fudge and his Aurors! Percy had been utterly shocked.

Of course, it was very hard for the teachers to distance themselves from Dumbledore. The older ones like McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick had been at Hogwarts for decades. Dumbledore himself had been Headmaster for almost forty years and had been teaching at Hogwarts since 1901. Percy understood that it must be very distressing for his former teachers to turn away from Dumbledore. But at some point even the most staunch of Dumbledore's supporters had to see that the man was running amok! Not to mention the staff's unreasonable attitude towards Dolores Umbridge! At first, Percy had understood the staff's mistrust of her: she was, after all, a newcomer without teaching experience and as such her advice was likely unwelcome. But that didn't justify the staff's openly hostile, even mutinous behaviour! At first he had been dubious about her 'theory only' approach to her subject but he had to change his mind after the Dumbledore's Army was discovered. Those ill-advised kids were looking forward to fighting against the Ministry, to follow in Dumbledore's footsteps. And Percy was ready to bet that those Dumbledore's Army's children included his siblings.

He turned over in his bed with a deep, shuddering sigh. He was awfully worried for them.

He knew perfectly well that his parents and his brothers who were of age had joined the Order of the Phoenix, they had discussed it several times before Percy left. He had no idea where the Headquarters were and who the other members of the Order were, but he was willing to bet on some of his former teachers and the Auror Alastor Moody - another delusional guy, he thought with a scoff. He had never informed Fudge, though. Contrary to what his father believed, Percy was not going to sell his family, to see his parents and sibling handed to the Dementors - because that was what they were heading for.

He shivered and turned over in his bed again.

His parents and his older brothers were trying very hard to get a one-way ticket to Azkaban, just like that Sturgis Podmore bloke who had been trying to break in the Department of Mysteries. And his younger siblings were going to follow suit!

After hearing of Podmore's arrest, Percy had spent a sleepless night worrying about his family. They were risking Azkaban just because his father followed blindly an egotistical old man and a mentally disturbed boy! It was after that sleepless night hat Percy had decided to contact Ron. He had thought that maybe he could save at least his younger siblings before it was too late. But Ron had never written back - he probably believed Potter's delusions too.

Percy had briefly considered writing to Ginny, but Potter had saved her life in the Chamber of Secrets and it was no mystery that she had a crush on him, she was not going to be reasonable. There was no point at all in writing to the twins, it was not like they had ever listened to him!

Percy turned over in bed for the umpteenth time. The idea of his family at the hands of the Dementors made him sick. Maybe he should have tried to reason with them before he left, to show them how wrong and mislead they were.

But no, his father had already made up his mind - and doomed the whole family, including his younger siblings. That was the reason why Percy had decided not to visit him at St. Mungo's hospital, despite knowing that he was badly hurt. Only Merlin knew how he had been injured, Percy thought with a snort.

"Stop thinking about that or you will spend a restless night" Percy told himself firmly, turning off the lights with a flick of his wand.

OOO

At first, Percy didn't mind the loud noise. His sleep was more and more often taunted by the screams of his family coming from some Azkaban cell.

Only this wasn't a voice but a high-pitched whistle. After an instant, Percy recognized it and stood up with a jolt.

It was his Ministry badge.

The whistle meant that there was some kind of emergency and that Minister Fudge needed to see him urgently. It had already whistled two times that year - for the mass breakout in January and for the Dumbledore's Army in April. What could be going on now?

Maybe the Azkaban fugitives had been found. Maybe Dumbledore had been found. Maybe one of his family members had been arrested, he thought with a shiver.

Percy got out of his pajamas and dressed quickly. Less than five minutes later, he was emerging from a fireplace in the Ministry's Atrium.

The Atrium was packed with people and Percy recognized many Aurors. He dearly wanted to ask one of them what was going on but he wasn't sure that he wanted to hear the answer. Then he heard Fudge's voice calling his name behind him. He turned and gasped.

An unlikely trio was approaching. In the middle walked Cornelius Fudge, awfully pale, wild-eyed, his hands fidgeting nervously with his bowler. On his left side was Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Aurors, with his confident, limping swagger and a hard, unreadable expression. And then, on Fudge's right side, Albus Dumbledore, deadly serious.

Percy was confused. Dumbledore didn't look like one who had just been caught, Fudge didn't look triumphant. What was going on?

"Come to my office with us, Weasley" Fudge said in a high-pitched, quivering voice "I need you to take notes and then I'll have to give a statement to the press"

What was going on?

"What happened, Sir?" asked Percy while they approached the elevator.

Giving the impression that he was summoning all of his strength, Fudge answered feebly: "You-Know-Who broke into the Department of Mysteries tonight"

Percy gaped.

"S-sir...?" he spluttered after a moment, not sure that he had understood correctly.

They got into the elevator and they were already passing by level five when Fudge managed to speak again.

"You-Know-Who is back. I saw him with these eyes" he whispered so weakly that Percy had trouble hearing him.

It couldn't be. It couldn't. They had spent a year declaring that it was a lie. It was absurd. It was impossible. One did not simply come back from the dead. But Fudge looked so upset that Percy didn't dare to ask other questions.

They had reached level one and soon they were sitting in the Minister's office.

Could that really be? Had Dumbledore, Harry Potter and his father been right all along?

"Please fetch some brandy, Weasley" said Fudge, who had found his voice again. But his hand was shaking so much that he spattered some brandy on his cloak while trying to drink. He managed to take a sip of brandy and then turned to Dumbledore, looking resolute.

"Very well, Dumbledore. I am listening. Weasley, take notes"

And Dumbledore spoke.

He explained that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named didn't die when he tried to murder Harry Potter and that he transferred some of his abilities - like speaking Parseltongue- to the kid. He explained how Peter Pettigrew -and not Sirius Black- had betrayed the Potters and reunited with his old master, how Peter Pettigrew had disguised himself as a mouse - Percy's mouse- and was then recognized by Black on a picture in the Daily Prophet. He explained how Barty Crouch Jr. had disguised himself as Alastor Moody in order to bring Harry Potter to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, how the dark wizard had used Harry Potter's blood to obtain a new body, how Harry Potter had escaped death because his wand and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's one shared the same nucleus. He explained that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was looking for a prophecy that concerned him and Potter and was hidden in the Department of Mysteries, which was the reason why Sturgis Podmore and others had been constantly standing guard. He explained how Potter and his friends had been lured to the Department of Mysteries by Lucius Malfoy and other Death Eaters - including the fugitives. He explained how the Order of the Phoenix had been alerted and had intervened, resulting in Sirius Black's death. The other students and Order's members who had been there were unharmed, he added, and Percy was certain that his old Headmaster was speaking to him.

"I trust, Cornelius, that you are going to believe me readily this time, instead of wasting another year" Dumbledore concluded.

Percy had trouble keeping his mind from wandering and his hand from shaking.

So that was it.

Dumbledore, his former teachers, Harry Potter, his family had been right.

Fudge had been wrong. Percy had been wrong.

And He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back.

Half an hour later, when Dumbledore was finished, Percy didn't think that he would find the strength to stand up again.

"Before this conversation I asked something of you, Cornelius" Dumbledore said firmly "Please do as I asked".

Fudge turned to Percy and spoke, his voice still very feeble.

"Weasley, write a decree with the following content: educational decrees from number 22 on are abolished and Professor Dumbledore is reinstated as Headmaster with immediate effect. Write a note to Madam Umbridge informing her that her assignment at Hogwarts is over and she should return to the Ministry. Also write a note to the Auror Department stating that both Dumbledore and Hagrid are cleared. Scrimgeour here knows it already but... better to have everything written down. When you're done bring me the papers for signature. Oh, and contact the Daily Prophet and tell them that I am going to make a statement in an hour"

Dumbledore nodded and left with a rather harsh "good night, gentlemen",

Percy walked to his office next to the Minister's one and dropped in his chair, grabbing his head.