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Crystal
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Part Six
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"I think you've had enough of that," Bill charmed the bottle of butter beer out of George's hand. George muttered mutinously at him but didn't try to recover the bottle.
Charlie, who had taken over reading duties after Bill had begun swearing every third word, placed another piece of parchment in the Read pile. It was amazing how much six lengths of battered, stained parchment had changed the Weasley's universe. Charlie had thought he understood what Percy went through during the eighteen months since Penelope's death. Now, Charlie realised how naïve and arrogant that assumption had been.
Hearing Percy's raw brother's emotions as he fought for survival and sanity had been harrowing. But the three attempts Percy had made to leave Crystal with Muggle families had been heartbreaking. Each time Percy had got to the point of leaving her only to change his mind and run again. After the third attempt, only eight months ago, the family had contacted the Netherlands Muggle Authorities. Their 'social workers' had decided Crystal was 'at risk', whatever that meant, and attempted to take her from Percy. Percy had fled through Belgium and into France, where Percy's second last parchment had stopped.
"Are we going to read the last one?" Charlie asked reluctantly.
"Give it 'ere," George leant forward. "You sound like a frog."
"No, George," said Molly. "I want to read it."
The Weasley men all started arguing against the suggestion but Molly silenced them with a few well-chosen words.
"Percy needs all of us to be strong for him. How can I help him if I can't read a piece of parchment?" Molly watched her husband and sons accept her argument. Part of her wished they wouldn't but that was the part that wanted everything back as it was when Percy was a schoolboy. Molly quashed the emotions and took the parchment from Charlie's outstretched hand.
"Dear Family,
"It's Christmas again. The third Christmas without you, the second without Penelope and the first with nothing to eat. Crystal and I are alive which, I suppose, I should be thankful for.
"Last night I read the letter I wrote to you two years ago. The one that you'll probably never see, just like you'll never see this one when we die of cold in this bloody forest.
"What prat wrote that letter? Was it me? Was I that pig-headed and stupid? I suppose I was. I still am. If I wasn't we'd be in a nice warm town instead of this run down shack. This place isn't draughty, it's got a bloody gale blowing through it. Merlin's beard, I'm starting to sound like Charlie.
"Do you know what I thought when I read that Christmas note? I thought how well I'd copied her - that Prefect Percy Act that was always 90% MacGonigall 10% Percy. For some reason I didn't trust myself to do the job. I had to be someone else to do it. Makes me wonder now if Penelope loved McGonigall-Percy, Arthur-Percy - he worked at the Ministry, you know - or just plain Percy.
"Problem is I'm not sure she ever met the real Percy. I don't know if I have either.
"Boxing Day. He came this morning and I've never been so glad to see someone in all my life. He didn't stay long. Just gave me some food and told that the Thing that killed Penelope is dead. Why aren't I happier about that? Am I such a bad person?
"He said I can go home soon. Question is, do I want to go home? It would be so easy to let him take Crystal home. To walk out into the snow and die. To forget.
"I don't want to be a Griffindor any more. I want to be a meek little Hufflepuff. Being brave is too damn hard. I do want to go home but I can't because I'm not your Percy any more.
"I'm sorry. These letters are all pathetic and stupid. Bit like me really.
"Sorry, Percy."
Molly calmly placed the parchment on the table and walked from the room. Bill moved to follow her but Arthur stopped him with a quiet, "let her be."
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Percy looked out the window at the garden bathed in the afternoon sunlight. He had woken feeling refreshed and more at peace than he could remember. It was almost as though the last few years had been a particularly bizarre dream. If it hadn't been for Crystal he might have believed that none of it had happened.
He was considering going downstairs when there was a soft knock at the door. When Percy opened the door his mother grabbed him in a rib-bruising hug.
"Don't ...you ...ever ...doubt that we love you! Do you hear me?" Molly looked up at her son, her eyes full of love, pain and understanding.
"Yes, Mother." Percy nodded solemnly and hugged his mother. Finally, he was truly home.
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Epilogue
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Percy ran the comb through his hair and turned to Crystal who was sitting on his bed.
"What do you think? Does Dad look OK?"
Crystal looked up at her father. She really wasn't sure about the way he looked. He didn't look like Daddy any more. His face wasn't fuzzy and his hair was all short. He looked sort of funny.
"Silly Daddy!" she said firmly.
"Silly Daddy?" Percy knelt down and tickled his daughter. "No, this is a silly Daddy."
"Percy," his mother called from downstairs, "hurry up. You'll be late."
Percy carried his giggling daughter downstairs to her doting Granny.
"I'll be back before six o'clock," he kissed both Weasley ladies on the cheek before throwing a handful of floo powder into the fire.
"Have fun!" Molly called after him. It was amazing how much difference three days had made to Percy, he was still too thin but he looked much more like his old self.
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The town of Hogsmeade was bustling with Hogwarts students. No place in the town was busier than the pub.
Ron and Ginny Weasley were fighting their way through the crowd in the pub. Hermoine Granger and Harry Potter were trailing behind the two tall redheads, all of them looking in vain for a free table.
"There you are at last," Madam Rosmerta walked up to Ron. "There's a table reserved for you in the back right corner. You can't miss it."
"But..." Ron said. His protests fell on empty air; Madam Rosmerta had returned to the bar.
The quartet found the table easily enough. It was marked with a flashing magical sign that read 'Reserved-Weasley'.
"You're sure you didn't reserve a table, Ron?" asked Ginny.
"For the third time, no!" Ron glanced at the table and noticed that someone was sitting there. "They've got a cheek. That's our table, the sign says so."
"Ron," hissed Hermoine as they neared the table. "Perhaps we should go. It could be a trap. What if it's someone working for you-know-who?"
"Don't be silly, Hermione," Ron replied. "Besides Harry and I can deal with you-know-who. There's nothing worse than that."
"I don't know," said the hooded figure. "George with a hangover is a very scary sight." Percy flicked back his hood and smiled at them. "Hello Ronald, Virginia. Hermoine, Ha..."
"Percy!" Harry rushed past his friends and grabbed Percy by the hand, which he shook fiercely.
"So," said Percy in his best Prefect Percy voice, "I hear, Harry, that you were involved in an altercation at Halloween. I take it that I don't have to punish anyone for you?" He gave the gob-smacked Ginny a stern look, which he then spoilt with a very Bill-like wink.
"Uhhh, no thank you," Harry muttered. This couldn't be Percy, could it?
"Percy, you're back!" cried Ginny, suddenly. She threw herself at her unsuspecting brother, knocking him off his chair and Harry off his feet in the process.
Ron and Hermione looked down that the pile of limbs that was Ginny, Percy and Harry.
"Must you be so embarrassing?" Ron muttered, hiding his excitement at seeing his brother again in nice, comfortable annoyance.
"Face it, Ron," Hermione laughed. "You wouldn't change them for the world."
"No, I suppose not." Ron sighed as the two of them helped the others to stand. "I suppose not."
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The End
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Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has commented on this story. I really appreciate the encouragement and all your kind words. Any negative comments were appreciated too, cheers, Kazza
Crystal
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Part Six
--------
"I think you've had enough of that," Bill charmed the bottle of butter beer out of George's hand. George muttered mutinously at him but didn't try to recover the bottle.
Charlie, who had taken over reading duties after Bill had begun swearing every third word, placed another piece of parchment in the Read pile. It was amazing how much six lengths of battered, stained parchment had changed the Weasley's universe. Charlie had thought he understood what Percy went through during the eighteen months since Penelope's death. Now, Charlie realised how naïve and arrogant that assumption had been.
Hearing Percy's raw brother's emotions as he fought for survival and sanity had been harrowing. But the three attempts Percy had made to leave Crystal with Muggle families had been heartbreaking. Each time Percy had got to the point of leaving her only to change his mind and run again. After the third attempt, only eight months ago, the family had contacted the Netherlands Muggle Authorities. Their 'social workers' had decided Crystal was 'at risk', whatever that meant, and attempted to take her from Percy. Percy had fled through Belgium and into France, where Percy's second last parchment had stopped.
"Are we going to read the last one?" Charlie asked reluctantly.
"Give it 'ere," George leant forward. "You sound like a frog."
"No, George," said Molly. "I want to read it."
The Weasley men all started arguing against the suggestion but Molly silenced them with a few well-chosen words.
"Percy needs all of us to be strong for him. How can I help him if I can't read a piece of parchment?" Molly watched her husband and sons accept her argument. Part of her wished they wouldn't but that was the part that wanted everything back as it was when Percy was a schoolboy. Molly quashed the emotions and took the parchment from Charlie's outstretched hand.
"Dear Family,
"It's Christmas again. The third Christmas without you, the second without Penelope and the first with nothing to eat. Crystal and I are alive which, I suppose, I should be thankful for.
"Last night I read the letter I wrote to you two years ago. The one that you'll probably never see, just like you'll never see this one when we die of cold in this bloody forest.
"What prat wrote that letter? Was it me? Was I that pig-headed and stupid? I suppose I was. I still am. If I wasn't we'd be in a nice warm town instead of this run down shack. This place isn't draughty, it's got a bloody gale blowing through it. Merlin's beard, I'm starting to sound like Charlie.
"Do you know what I thought when I read that Christmas note? I thought how well I'd copied her - that Prefect Percy Act that was always 90% MacGonigall 10% Percy. For some reason I didn't trust myself to do the job. I had to be someone else to do it. Makes me wonder now if Penelope loved McGonigall-Percy, Arthur-Percy - he worked at the Ministry, you know - or just plain Percy.
"Problem is I'm not sure she ever met the real Percy. I don't know if I have either.
"Boxing Day. He came this morning and I've never been so glad to see someone in all my life. He didn't stay long. Just gave me some food and told that the Thing that killed Penelope is dead. Why aren't I happier about that? Am I such a bad person?
"He said I can go home soon. Question is, do I want to go home? It would be so easy to let him take Crystal home. To walk out into the snow and die. To forget.
"I don't want to be a Griffindor any more. I want to be a meek little Hufflepuff. Being brave is too damn hard. I do want to go home but I can't because I'm not your Percy any more.
"I'm sorry. These letters are all pathetic and stupid. Bit like me really.
"Sorry, Percy."
Molly calmly placed the parchment on the table and walked from the room. Bill moved to follow her but Arthur stopped him with a quiet, "let her be."
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Percy looked out the window at the garden bathed in the afternoon sunlight. He had woken feeling refreshed and more at peace than he could remember. It was almost as though the last few years had been a particularly bizarre dream. If it hadn't been for Crystal he might have believed that none of it had happened.
He was considering going downstairs when there was a soft knock at the door. When Percy opened the door his mother grabbed him in a rib-bruising hug.
"Don't ...you ...ever ...doubt that we love you! Do you hear me?" Molly looked up at her son, her eyes full of love, pain and understanding.
"Yes, Mother." Percy nodded solemnly and hugged his mother. Finally, he was truly home.
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Epilogue
--------
Percy ran the comb through his hair and turned to Crystal who was sitting on his bed.
"What do you think? Does Dad look OK?"
Crystal looked up at her father. She really wasn't sure about the way he looked. He didn't look like Daddy any more. His face wasn't fuzzy and his hair was all short. He looked sort of funny.
"Silly Daddy!" she said firmly.
"Silly Daddy?" Percy knelt down and tickled his daughter. "No, this is a silly Daddy."
"Percy," his mother called from downstairs, "hurry up. You'll be late."
Percy carried his giggling daughter downstairs to her doting Granny.
"I'll be back before six o'clock," he kissed both Weasley ladies on the cheek before throwing a handful of floo powder into the fire.
"Have fun!" Molly called after him. It was amazing how much difference three days had made to Percy, he was still too thin but he looked much more like his old self.
--------
The town of Hogsmeade was bustling with Hogwarts students. No place in the town was busier than the pub.
Ron and Ginny Weasley were fighting their way through the crowd in the pub. Hermoine Granger and Harry Potter were trailing behind the two tall redheads, all of them looking in vain for a free table.
"There you are at last," Madam Rosmerta walked up to Ron. "There's a table reserved for you in the back right corner. You can't miss it."
"But..." Ron said. His protests fell on empty air; Madam Rosmerta had returned to the bar.
The quartet found the table easily enough. It was marked with a flashing magical sign that read 'Reserved-Weasley'.
"You're sure you didn't reserve a table, Ron?" asked Ginny.
"For the third time, no!" Ron glanced at the table and noticed that someone was sitting there. "They've got a cheek. That's our table, the sign says so."
"Ron," hissed Hermoine as they neared the table. "Perhaps we should go. It could be a trap. What if it's someone working for you-know-who?"
"Don't be silly, Hermione," Ron replied. "Besides Harry and I can deal with you-know-who. There's nothing worse than that."
"I don't know," said the hooded figure. "George with a hangover is a very scary sight." Percy flicked back his hood and smiled at them. "Hello Ronald, Virginia. Hermoine, Ha..."
"Percy!" Harry rushed past his friends and grabbed Percy by the hand, which he shook fiercely.
"So," said Percy in his best Prefect Percy voice, "I hear, Harry, that you were involved in an altercation at Halloween. I take it that I don't have to punish anyone for you?" He gave the gob-smacked Ginny a stern look, which he then spoilt with a very Bill-like wink.
"Uhhh, no thank you," Harry muttered. This couldn't be Percy, could it?
"Percy, you're back!" cried Ginny, suddenly. She threw herself at her unsuspecting brother, knocking him off his chair and Harry off his feet in the process.
Ron and Hermione looked down that the pile of limbs that was Ginny, Percy and Harry.
"Must you be so embarrassing?" Ron muttered, hiding his excitement at seeing his brother again in nice, comfortable annoyance.
"Face it, Ron," Hermione laughed. "You wouldn't change them for the world."
"No, I suppose not." Ron sighed as the two of them helped the others to stand. "I suppose not."
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The End
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Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has commented on this story. I really appreciate the encouragement and all your kind words. Any negative comments were appreciated too, cheers, Kazza
