What Were You Doing Out There in the Dark?

Chapter Three

Fragmentation

By the time that they came back, Arthur noticed that Percy had settled enough that he was sleeping soundlessly.

"That's good," Arthur whispered to Molly.

"Good?" Molly echoed incredulously.

"Err… well, yes," Arthur realised that was the incorrect answer. "He hadn't been asleep when I've left."

"What's good about this, Arthur? You tell me."

"Well, it was worse!"

"Worse?" Molly wagged a finger at him. "What's worse than this exactly?"

Percy made a sound during his sleep that made Arthur's heart thump ten times faster.

"Shhh," Arthur looked at his wife angrily. "Quiet!" he warned in a whisper.

When he'd come back and seen Percy asleep, Arthur felt relaxed enough that even he'd started nodding off to sleep when he heard Percy's snores. The beep-beep-beeps of the magical monitors also helped. A part of Arthur was glad that Molly didn't have to see him when he was fitful and sobbing, but at the same time, a bigger part of him was a little resentful that he had to see Percy in that state when she hadn't had to. As Percy slept, the sounds that he made were still very loud and not Percy-like at all, who usually slept quite deeply. He had never snored before, had never made a sound like that.

"What's wrong with his face, Arthur?" Molly asked. She was as fuming as ever, and Arthur knew that he had lost the fight without even trying.

"We can talk about this tomorrow."

Molly stood up from her chair, the squeaking gave Arthur a coronary. "Quiet!" Arthur whispered back in a hoarse tone.

"Oh no, you don't, Arthur Septimus Weasley. I want to talk about this now." She placed her hands on her hips in her usual 'I'm displeased with this situation' manner. Sometimes, he hated how stubborn his wife could be. Arthur was so exhausted. He thought having her around might mean that he might have a little kip whilst she watched over Percy. No such luck. "I receive an owl from you at Merlin-knows-what-time-in-the-morning, telling me that my son has been beaten half to death with no explanation. And now, you're trying to tell me that you want to talk about this tomorrow, which is the most ridiculous, ludicrous thing that I've ever—"

"Why don't you ask him?" Arthur challenged.

"You know what?" Molly looked unhinged. "Maybe I will. Clear this right up!"

Arthur knew what a lost cause looked like when he saw it. And when it came to his wife, he knew that if he didn't tell her right now, she wasn't beneath waking up his battered son to coerce him into telling her what happened.

"Fudge strangled him," Arthur admitted.

"Oh no, don't you do this to me," Molly looked angrier. "I want to know what really happened, Arthur."

"It is what really happened!" Arthur put his hands up in a sign of defeat. "Kingsley himself came to talk to him after he talked to Percy. He said that there was…there was evidence proving it." He didn't know what kind of evidence that was, but if an Auror said something like that, he supposed that it was true! Why would Kingsley lie about something like that?

"What kind of evidence?" Molly put her hands back onto her hips.

"I don't know. I haven't thought to ask!"

"Well, then it hasn't happened! The Minister! Do you hear yourself?" Molly asked. "You sound just like Fudge when he's talking about one of his conspiracy theories about Dumbledore."

Arthur felt like he'd been slapped in the face. "I do not."

"Do you know how ridiculous this sounds like? Why in Merlin's name would the Minister of Magic strangle him for? And if he were going to attack one of us for information, it wasn't like Percy was going to give him anything!" when she asked, he was beginning to be swayed. Kingsley had let on that there was some part of this that Percy didn't want them to know. Why? Had there been an altercation? Had Percy done something wrong to initiate this situation? "Is that what story he's told you? Honestly, you'll just about believe anything!" Arthur puffed his cheeks out. He was getting irritated at how much blame his wife was putting on him. And for what? "Did you try asking him why?"

"He wouldn't talk to me," Arthur plainly said.

"Yes, well, that's because you've had a fight," Molly answered.

"It's not about the fight," at least Arthur didn't think that it was. "He's frightened."

"Frightened of what? That Fudge is going to come out from behind him and give him another blow?" Molly reiterated and when she said it like that, Arthur knew that his concerns sounded silly at best. Stark-raving mad at worst.

Arthur rubbed his neck. "Err…"

"Well, we can settle this once and for all," Molly then turned around to shake Percy awake from his sleep.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake…let the boy sleep." Arthur found it strange to call Percy a boy when he was technically a man.

"He's a young man. He'll be out faster than a wand," Molly seemed to ignore him. This would sure drive tension between them for the unforeseeable future. He loved his wife to death, but sometimes, he did feel like she treated him like a buffoon. She shook him even harder. Percy's eyes practically flew right open, and he sat upright.

"Now, look what you've done," Arthur chided. He'd never get Percy to get back to sleep now.

"I've not done anything," Molly replied.

"Mum?" Percy's voice was still hoarse.

Molly didn't seem like she cared. "Percival, tell me what you've told your father."

"What I've told dad…?" Percy looked confused. Poor bloke just wanted to sleep, but his mum wouldn't let him.

"He hasn't actually told me—" Arthur was cut off by his wife.

"All this business about Fudge," Molly said, and Percy went as white as his hospital gown. But Molly kept rattling on as if his child wasn't absolutely traumatised. "It's a preposterous thing to suggest that the Minister of Magic would do something like this! And for what too!"

Percy reached out to hold his neck almost protectively, massaging it with his thumb.

"I don't know, mum," Percy answered back, his voice hoarse, probably from all the crying. "You're right. It's ridiculous."

Molly looked at Arthur with a holier-than-thou expression. Sometimes, he detested when his wife thought that she knew something better than he did. "Now, tell your father what really happened."

"Molly, I—"

"Percy," Molly cut Arthur off with a look shot at him.

Percy laid back down on the bed. "I got into a fight with some mates at the Leaky Cauldron," he finally said.

Arthur wasn't even sure that if Percy had some mates. He wasn't even sure if Percy had ever had a drink.

"Yes, and?"

"We had a few tipples, and then I don't remember what happened," Percy sounded detached from the story. Like he wasn't involved in it. "Suppose we've gotten into a fight. Suppose it was a physical fight." As Percy talked, his voice sounded clearer, but Arthur knew that was not what happened. He knew that even though Kingsley's story seemed absolutely mental, it was the truth of what had happened.

"A fight?" Molly looked at him like he'd lost his gobstones. "Your father is sitting here, standing guard over you because you've decided to get pissed and then got yourself into a scuffle with a couple of boys?"

Percy winced. Arthur didn't say that he found him in the Ministry. "I suppose."

Molly sighed deeply. "That's what's happened then," she gave Arthur a pointed look. "Then what's this story about the Minister strangling you? Did you invent that after you've downed a few drinks?"

"I can't recall," Percy was lying through his teeth. Arthur knew that.

"You can't recall?"

"No," Percy answered. "But I'm alright."

"You won't be in a minute if I have anything to say about it," Molly stood up, and the rickety chair went back with a squeak.

"I don't know what's been happening to you these days, but this is unacceptable, Percy," Molly firmly stated. To which his son just nodded his head like he understood, like just a few hours ago, he wasn't crying so much that Arthur felt like ripping his ears out just so he wouldn't have to listen to him. "I understand you and your father getting into a bit of a row, but this is beyond that. Now, come on, Arthur."

Arthur's eyes flicked towards Percy's face. He looked so unlike himself. "Come on?" he reiterated with a confused tone.

"Yes, Arthur," Molly said in an irritated tone. "We're leaving."

"Oh," Arthur didn't think he wanted to leave. "If you don't mind, Mollywobbles, I'd like to stay," Arthur still hadn't processed the fact that he'd found him like that in the middle of the Ministry courtyards. "Just to see this through."

"As you like, love," Molly looked at him like she thought he was mental for being so. "But don't come to me, crying because you've not slept properly." It looked like his wife hadn't slept properly herself. There were shadows under her eyes and the older that she got, the more precious sleep was to her. She'd endured too many sleepless nights with the kids before. "I hope you're happy, Percival. Your father's giving you more than you deserve by staying here with you," she told Percy. She had been the one that cried after he left, knocked on his door to try and talk some sense into him and sent him Christmas jumpers. Now, she was looking at him like he was something stuck on her favourite shoes.

When they were left alone, Arthur smiled at Percy. "She doesn't mean that," he said, and he didn't know if he was trying to convince Percy or himself. "But it does sound a little funny. You know when she'd mentioned how odd it was. What Fudge did to you." He hoped that Percy would give him an explanation or tell him what had happened.

"And what was that?" Percy asked bitterly, and there was something vacant in his eyes.

"Err…"

"What did he do to me?" he was almost challenging him. Percy knew as well as Arthur did that Kingsley hadn't told him anything. Tears were filling his eyes again and he flopped backwards towards the bed. He looked angry.

"What do you think this will mean? For your job?" Arthur prodded along. "You can't exactly go into the office again."

Percy snorted. He didn't look like he cared much about that, but he said nothing.

"Please talk to me."

His son looked like he was debating that for a while, but he did sit up a little bit straighter and nod his head. But then Percy remained quiet for a few beats. "Here," Arthur said, pulling out a water bottle that he'd stashed into his work bag.

"Are you going to tell anyone?" Percy asked, looking like a small child that was trying to get his big brother not to rat them out on his parents. He wondered if there were things that Bill and Charlie knew about that Arthur didn't. "Are you going to tell mum?"

"Do you want me to tell them?" Arthur wouldn't mind being the mediator like Kingsley had been.

Percy took the water bottle, Arthur wagered, to be polite. He looked so frozen and white with shock. "No."

"Then I won't tell anyone." He supposed that Percy would insist on something to ensure that Arthur wouldn't tell anyone, like an unbreakable vow, but he didn't. He kept staring listlessly at the wall.

Percy didn't look convinced.

"I promise I won't," Arthur was sounding on the edge of begging. "I promise."

He seemed to relax. Arthur flicked his eyes towards the clock. They'd been up all night, he reckoned, with Percy being asleep for maybe an hour or so. He bet he looked just as sleep-deprived as Percy did.

"You were wrong," was the first thing he'd said as he hunched his shoulders together.

"About?"

"About the Minister."

Arthur didn't think he was wrong about Fudge if what happened really happened. He took the job, and now, Percy had been strangled for some reason that Arthur couldn't fully comprehend. "How so?"

"About why he chose me to work for him," Percy explained.

He tried to imagine what it was that Percy was trying to lead up to, but his mind had come to a blank.

"He doesn't want you to spy on us, or Dumbledore, you mean," Arthur stated.

"No," Percy looked like he almost found that rather amusing even then.

"Then what did he want?"

Percy was toying with the sleeves of his shirt, his eyes onto his bed, avoiding, avoiding, avoiding. "Me."

"You?" Arthur didn't think he understood.

Percy nodded his head. "I could tell that the minute I walked through that door, he took one look and me and…" he half-shrugged, but he knew what he wanted to say. "He found me attractive."

Never in his life did Arthur think that Percy would've told him that this man, who was twenty years older than him at the very least, looked at his own son and saw him as an object of sexual interest. Especially when he knew that Percy looked a touch younger than he was supposed to, with his spotted, pale skin and lanky frame. Some people might not even think he was of age. They'd card him at a pub.

"I know when he offered me a job, it was because he was sexually attracted to me," Percy's tone was low and steady. "I still dressed like I've just been out of Hogwarts. I think he liked that."

Arthur didn't like the way this conversation was going, because he knew that Percy recycled his clothes from Hogwarts. He'd put on colour charms on his old Gryffindor ties so that they were black, grey or dark blue. He still hadn't grown into Bill's trousers. He was just a few inches shorter than Bill, a stone thinner than him, and it made him look like he was wearing an older sibling's clothes. And to think that Percy was insinuating that Fudge knew that, that he saw that, that it sexually attracted him to Percy, made him feel sick.

"He asked me out for some drinks a few times," Percy added on. "I've turned him down a few times—as politely as you could, but after some time, I thought…I thought I was being rather rude and agreed to go out with him."

Arthur had never imagined a situation where he'd be talking to Percy about blokes in that kind of sense. Did Percy even like blokes that way?

"I'd have a pint of butterbeer, and he'd take me home," Percy replied quietly. "He knew where I lived but I'd…I'd never told him before. And that didn't sit well with me. I'd endured it for a while. It must have been a few months, but then he'd started talking about how he wanted to leave his wife so we could go out properly." He was shifting in his bed uncomfortably. "I told him I wasn't interested in him like that. And he said…some things."

"Things?" Arthur prompted.

Percy looked away from him, out into the window. "He knows that I've been with older men before," was how he began that sentence. "In fact, I…I prefer it. So, he felt like he could…" he made small circles with his hands.

"Older men," Arthur echoed. He understood the concept of dating someone older than you, supposed to be more mature. But Percy suggesting that Fudge was an 'older man' was downright vile. "Fudge is at least twenty years older than me! Your father!" then he finally asked, "Is that what you mean by older men?"

Percy met his eyes for a moment. He was white as a sheet, but then he nodded his head.

"For bloody hell's sake, Percival," Arthur shook his head in disbelief.

Percy swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I don't know how you manage to snog these men without worrying they'll have a coronary from the excitement." Arthur's voice was tinged with anger and disappointment, and Percy didn't look like he missed that with the way he flinched. "This is not how I raised you to be like! What else have you done?"

The way that Percy stared at him let him know that the conversation was going to be over with. Disappointment didn't begin to cover what Arthur was feeling.

"I'm not like that anymore," Percy then decided that was the perfect time to drop the bombshell of, "I'm married."

Arthur snapped his head up. He hadn't even met that Penelope girl when he'd been dating her. Now, he was married?

"Married," Arthur echoed incredulously. "When did you have the time to find someone and get married? During your lunch break, perhaps?" he knew how Percy's work schedule was like. He worked from dawn until dusk, then stayed for an extra four hours just to recheck everything. When did he have a chance to meet someone? Much less fall in love with them!

"There's no need to be childish," Percy, who Arthur just noticed did indeed have a ring on his finger, said.

"And he knew about this affair with Fudge?"

"It wasn't an affair," Percy barely sounded convinced himself that it wasn't. That surely helped Arthur. "He knows. I've gotten really uncomfortable. I…the Minister knew where I lived," Percy stammered. "He asked me to do some…things." Arthur didn't want to imagine what those things were. "And I…at the time, I was…I agreed to—"

"I don't want to hear about this," Arthur finally said.

Arthur listened to the whirring of the machines. When he looked at Percy, he no longer saw his child lying there on the bed. He might as well be a stranger, a stranger with lifestyle habits that made Arthur feel like he'd been walloped. The lack of sleep, the sickly-sweet scent of the last hot beverage he had wolfed down, and the wonky tiles all made him want to run away. Abruptly, he stood up and took one last look at Percy. "I'll be heading home."

Percy, who looked a little lost, asked, "Will you be back?"

"No, Percy, I think things should go back to the way that they were," Arthur answered crisply. "I don't think that we should be talking to each other anymore."

He didn't know that Percy even liked blokes, much less had countless flings with blokes that were old enough to his grandfather. There was nothing long with his sexuality, but the problem was when it came accumulating with all these secrets all out in the open all at once, all of them putting Percy in a light that Arthur never thought he'd seen him in.

That would be the end of that. Arthur figured that some relationships were too broken to even begin to repair them. How was he supposed to be there for someone that kept most of his life away from his family?

At home, he and Molly barely spoke about what happened at the hospital. The next day at the Ministry was business as usual. There wasn't anything on The Daily Prophet about Fudge strangling his assistant. Percy's absence was written off by every department. Fudge himself didn't look panicked or overwrought with anxiety, more so than usual. He was more paranoid than ever, but that was mostly because he believed all that crock about Dumbledore wanting his position!

He'd barely slept that night and he was thinking of clocking off early for the first time in five years. He just didn't think he could make it to the end of the working day without ending up flat on the ground.

But when he'd returned from his lunch break, Perkins had stood up from his desk. "There was a letter in," he gestured towards the owl on Arthur's desk. "It's from one of your sons. They want you to take him from the hospital. He says he doesn't have anyone else to take him. I hope you don't mind. I've said yes and I'll cover for you."

"Oh," Arthur answered. If Arthur had been the one to respond to his letter, he would've told Percy to ask his spouse to take him back home. But now, he supposed that he had no other choice. "Wonderful."