Ron's head hit the pillow like a lead weight. It had been a long night. Esme had practically carried Percy up the stairs to the bedroom his mother had pointed out as his. After some time there, she calmly had her father get in contact with the San Francisco Auror Department before going into the kitchen to make dinner.

Molly had been a woman possessed. She had been on the fire all evening with Bill, Charlie, Fred and George- arranging their return home as expediently as possible. Fred and George, surprisingly, had been the most resistant. Getting their joke shop up and running was harder than they thought, what with Fred taking classes in business management and bookkeeping , and George recruiting investors and directing renovations on their new location- a dilapidated corner shop in diagon Alley across the road from Langston's Dangerous Plants Emporium. It was only when their father, in a rare mood of strict anger, had come on the fire and given them the tongue lashing of their life, followed by threatening to make sure they'd never get an investor in England, that they had agreed to report to 12 Grimmauld Place the next day. Bill had been ambivalent about the move- but had requested that Fleur come with him. Dumbledore had agreed and the two of them were set to arrive in two days. Charlie, calm with an edge, agreed at once and was being, as far as Ron knew, escorted at this moment to the Romanian Ministry of Magic for departure to England. Dumbledore had spoken with Minister Fudge, who immediately agreed to put Oliver Wood under protective custody at a safe house in Scotland.

The Order had been called in that evening and Esme grumbled as her spaghetti for 12 had to become spaghetti for 26. Once again, the children had been blocked from attending, and the doors had been warded against any eavesdropping. Without Fred and George's guidance, the four of them had given up trying to listen in and had retired to the kitchen to eat.

Esme had been pretty silent, her head lost in the clouds all evening. She said very little at dinner, taking to staring at her spaghetti and shooting glances at her father. As Molly started serving dessert, Kingsley arrived with a note which he handed to Snape. He looked at it before handing it to his daughter. Esme took the note without looking at it and ran up the stairs. Ginny had remarked that she had never seen Snape look so despondent. Ron had to agree.

Ron turned over in bed, putting the pillow over his head. The ache of sleep deprivation was abated by the thoughts running through his mind. The revelations of the day; Percy a victim of Voldemort... no wonder he stayed in denial of His return. No wonder he was closed off. Guilt sparked in his mind- he should have known this, should have at least guessed it, shouldn't have written him off. All the Weasleys had wrote him off... except Mum; she probably had guessed at his reasoning. She knew, didn't she? She always knew.

A door slamming shocked Ron out of his reverie. He got up, his head a bit foggy and dizzy, and padded to the door, pressing his ear against the wood. A female voice started screaming fuzzily. Ron walked over to Harry and, hesitantly gave him a push. "Harry?" Ron said quietly. Harry didn't move. "Harry!" Ron tried again louder. Still nothing. He put his fingers on Harry's neck- still a pulse, but breath barely moved across his lips. Ron ran out the door to their bedroom and crashed into the room across the hall. Hermione and Ginny slept soundly covered in quilts. He ran over to Hermione and shook her hard. "Hermione!" Ron yelled, fear in his voice. She didn't move. Neither did Ginny. Ron, sweat breaking out on his forehead, ran out of the room and stopped. He closed his eyes and listened close. A deeper voice was bellowing upstairs. Ron peeled down the corridor and took the stairs two at a time, going to the floor above.

"Don't you fucking dare, Jeylon!" he heard the female voice yell. "Then tell me Aerith, what the hell should I do? I wasn't even close with Oliver and they're threatening to take him out! My family is deep in the middle of this war and they aren't going to hide from this. I've got to do something!" Percy yelled. Ron edged closer to the sound, stopping in front of the door.

"What? Offer yourself to the Evil Empire? What the hell do you think they're going to do, lock you up and say 'you came in, so we'll leave your family alone'? Don't be stupid! They either want you dead or they want you to kill, either way, you aren't going to save your family. It's better if we just stay out of the way," the voice he now recognized as Esme shot back.

"What are you suggesting? Run away to America? To Tibet? How far out of the way should we be? Mars?!" Percy yelled. "We should be fighting this, and you know it." The room was silent for quite sometime. Ron raised his hand to open the door, but stopped for a reason he couldn't explain.

"Do you think you can control it? Really?" Esme practically whispered. He didn't hear Percy say anything else, but after a few errant sounds, he heard the sound of footsteps getting closer. Ron froze as the door opened to reveal Percy holding a suitcase. Ron imagined his face looked much like Percy's: abject surprise coupled with shock. From over Percy's shoulder, he could see Esme, eyes made larger by the coke-bottle glasses she was wearing, staring at him with confusion.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked Percy, who jumped a little at the sound of his voice. He just stared at Ron. "Percy?" Ron said, worry creeping into his voice. Percy looked back over to Esme, and Ron followed his eye line. As soon as Ron made eye contact with Esme, her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth. "No way. No fucking way..." she muttered, stepping closer towards him. "How are you awake?" Percy asked, and Ron turned back to find Percy's eyes searching him for something. "What did you do? I can't wake anyone up, what the hell did you do!" Ron's voice elevated, but the comment sheeted off of Percy, who looked to be puzzling stuff together in his head. Ron was startled as a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. He changed his perspective again to focus on Esme, who had pushed him against the wall.

Percy closed the door gently and looked at Esme strangely. Esme had her hand against Ron's shoulder and was staring him in the eye. Ron looked terrified; Percy put his hand on her arm and Esme seemed to come back into herself. She let go of Ron and backed away, collapsing on the couch.

"There were six of us that survived, Jeylon. And six of us still survive." Ron turned to see Percy look from Esme to him and back. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, his eyes still jetting back from Ron to Esme. "That... that's impossible... you can't seriously be thinking... Ron's four years younger than me, he wouldn't have been involved," Percy finally said. Esme shook her head. "Look. Six of us got out, right? Two years at the Institute and all that crap that Fudge made us go through- then four years later Lian...er... Krisgios was killed," both Esme and Percy gulped. "I... I don't know but... I mean... look in his eyes, JJ! Krisgios is in there, I swear it."

At the mention of the name, Ron released a breath he didn't know he was holding. His body seemed to relax of it's own volition, and he slid down the wall he leaned against. "The brain. The brain in the Department of Mysteries was him. That's why I'm having all the dreams, isn't it?" Ron said, his voice calm with a strangled tone to it. Percy raised an eyebrow, then his eyes narrowed. "Fudge is a paranoid git- probably thought he'd come back from the dead or something. Keeping his brain though... that's a bit over the top, even for him," Percy thought aloud, shaking his head. Esme shook her head. "Wait, brain? Department of Mysteries? What?" Percy sighed, dropping his suitcase. "Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione and two other children chased after You-Know-Who in the Department of Mysteries, which is in the Ministry of Magic. While there, Ron got concussion and was attacked by a brain. Apparently, it was Li... er... Krisgios's," Percy explained. Esme looked at Percy, disbelieving and puzzled. Something seemed to click in her head, and her mood turned fierce. "That fucking bastard... I can't believe... fuck!" Esme shouted, picking up the lamp and throwing it against the wall.

"Well... that's why he's awake- the spell didn't work on him," Percy said sadly, his suitcase dropping from his hand. He crouched down in front of Ron, who was emotionless. "It doesn't explain everything, but it explains a lot," Ron said dully, his eyes far away. Percy looked down at his hands, balancing on his knees. "It explains the dreams, but not the intuition, I know. Do you know how to get rid of him? In my head? Madam Pomfrey gave me some salve but it doesn't hardly work anymore, and I'd really like to stop having those dreams... of you..." Ron trailed off, the images in his head coming unbidden. It was Percy he was watching in those dreams- the full weight of that finally sunk in.

He wrapped his arms around Percy in a death grip, burying his head in Percy's shoulder. A fog seem to lift from Ron's head, and he looked up to see Esme holding her wand. She gave him a sad smile before tucking it back into the band of her sweatpants. Percy pulled back from Ron and took his left hand in his right. Percy pulled Ron's hand and placed it on the back of his neck. Ron's fingertips tripped along the back of Percy's neck, amazed to find several raised, squarish bumps tracing the length of his neck. Ron pushed himself up and looked around Percy's head. Nothing. "It's a glamour- so no one sees," Percy said. Percy moved Ron's hand and put it on the soft underside of his wrist. Only one bump, but it was rectangular and extended almost completely across it.

"There's one on the other wrist, a couple on the base of my back. They're suppressors- for the majority of the mental memories, as well as the physical reflexes and abilities. Fudge had them put in all of us when we were released... he used to work in Magical Law Enforcement before he became minister, you know. He wanted us all dead originally; frankly I can't blame him," Percy explained. "I could," Esme shot, massaging life into her fingers. Percy shrugged. "One of the many rules we have to live by," he said lifelessly, tucking his hands into his robe pockets.

"Do you remember any of it, anything after we were rescued?" Percy asked Ron. Ron didn't think so, but closed his eyes and tried to focus on what he had seen in his dreams. He concentrated, trying to spin past the images of torture to anything else.

Ron's eyes shot open. "I've got to go. Harry's up," Ron said curtly, rising up against the wall. Ron smiled. "I don't want to give him any more trouble than he already has," he explained.

"I could probably brew up a stronger Dreamless Sleep potion to help. The memories aren't technically yours, so it should help you get some more sleep," Esme said, giving Ron a small smile. She gave Percy a peck on the cheek. "I'd better be getting back to bed," she said, her voice light and whispery. She picked up Percy's suitcase and breezed past Ron, the small case thunking against her calf as she moved. Percy scowled, and Ron made a motion to comfort. "She's just trying to protect you, I think." Percy smiled a little and reopened the door. "Yes. I get that," he said simply, letting Ron out.

When Ron made his way back to his room, Harry was sitting on his pillow, knees buckled to his chest. "Nightmare?" Ron asked, turning away from Harry to gently close the door. Harry shrugged. "Cedric, Sirius; same old torture," Harry said dryly, his eyes narrowing when Ron visible flinched. "You?" Harry asked. Ron sat down on his bed, not giving a response. Harry got off of his bed and sat down on Ron's.

"This is my attempt to be more compassionate- humor me," Harry joked. Ron didn't laugh. Ron sat cross-legged on the bed, his head in his hands. "Everything is moving so fast. I keep trying to play catch up but as soon as I manage to wrap my head around one thing, I'm already half way through something else, and I didn't even realize it. I'm not cut out for this," Ron complained, sighing heavily at the end. "There is too much going on in my head and I'm not even in control of half of it. I knew you were going to be awake; I was thinking about something different entirely and then there it was. Harry was going to wake up," Ron growled frustratedly.

Harry frowned. A moment flittered through his mind, a cutting remark about how Ron was finally getting what it felt like to be him. Bile raised in his throat- he couldn't believe he had thought that. He pushed the thought out of his head and tried to think of something comforting to say. "It's trite, but you do get used to it. You just... learn to be on autopilot all the time. React as opposed to thinking about it, that is," Harry said, his focus not on Ron, but about a foot to the left. Ron nodded in accordance.

"You going to tell me where you were?" Harry asked mildly, leaning back on his hands. "Percy was trying to leave again- Esme and him were arguing about it and it woke me up." At Harry's raised eyebrow, he added, "I tried to wake you up, but I couldn't." Ron hadn't looked at Harry since he had come into the room, and Harry, in a rare air of perceptiveness, had noticed. "Don't make me drag it out of you, Ron." Ron bit his lip. "Can we talk about this in the morning? I'm wrecked and it's... 12...30..." Ron trailed off, disbelief coloring his face. It was 12:15 when he had woken up the first time- no way only 15 minutes had passed. "Ron?" Harry prodded Ron. Ron looked back at Harry, but dropped his eyes before they could connect. "I gotta get some sleep. G'night," Ron said shortly, slipping his legs under the covers. Harry got up and, giving a passing look back at Ron, slipped back into his own bed.

The house was bustling with Harry woke up. Ron was still passed out in bed, snoring heavily, and Harry decided to leave him be. He tossed on some clothes and clopped down the stairs into the kitchen.

"Harry! Long time no see, old chap!" Fred called from the counter. "Indeed! It's been too, too long," a hand that could only have been George's smacked him on the back. "Hey guys," Harry replied cheerfully, sitting down at the breakfast table and pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice. "Have you seen Hermione this morning? One of the aurors had her trying to break bits of wood with her hand. Never pictured Hermione for the fighting type," George said, sitting across from Harry. "Yeah, she was teaching me a bit of hand to hand yesterday. Mr. Green's been teaching it to her ever since her family moved. You haven't happened to spot Neville yet, have you?" Harry asked, draining his glass and shoving a round of toast into his mouth. George looked up to Fred, who shook his head. "No, not yet. Mum said he should be back round lunch," Fred answered.

Presently, Hermione strolled into the kitchen, her hair tied into a knot at the top of her head and a purple sweat suit. "Good morning, Fred, George, Harry," she said flippantly, pouring herself a glass of water from the sink and gulping it down. "Crikey, Hermione. Didn't know you were the karate kitty type," Fred cooed, leaning over the counter. She gave him a wry smile and put the glass down gently on the counter. "I'd watch yourself if I were you, Fred. I'm off to take a shower- is Neville back yet?" she asked grabbing a towel from the drawer and wiping her forehead. Harry shook his head. Hermione shrugged. "See you in a bit," she said, walking towards the hallway.

Percy bumped into Hermione as he walked into the kitchen. Begging her pardon, she walked past her and through the swinging door. "Morning..." Percy's voice trailed off as both Fred and George turned around. Percy got very quiet, moving slowly to the kettle on the stove. He pulled open the cabinet door and reached up for a cup when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" George's voice had a lethal quality to it. Percy poured himself a cup of tea and dropped a square of sugar into it. "Same thing you are, I imagine. Trying not to be murdered," Percy replied dryly, turning to face George. Percy spun a teaspoon through his tea, tapped it gently and tossed it into the sink, taking a deep sip. "Where is your precious Minister now? Why isn't he protecting you?" Fred piped up, rising from his seat across Harry and strolling towards his twin. The two stocky twins were imposing together, creating a human wall barricading Percy against the countertop. Percy craned his head beyond his brothers, and then swerved around them. "Good morning, Harry," Percy dipped his head at Harry, who gave him a small smile back. Percy made a sharp left and headed back to the hallway.

Fred launched himself towards Percy, his fist primed and ready to hit Percy in the back of the head. With a preternatural sense, Percy slid to the right, spinning on his heels just in time to duck George's fist. Harry saw Ron running down the stairs two at a time, and jumped up from his seat, sliding between George and Percy and pushing George towards the breakfast table. Percy, oddly still, stood awaiting Fred's next blow. It didn't come- Fred found his fist being twisted behind his back and being slammed face-first into the wall. "Fred, get a grip," Ron said quietly, holding his brother against the wall. "Let off!" George and Fred said simultaneously. Ron let go, and following Ron's lead, Harry did as well.

"Thank you Ron, Harry. It's nothing I didn't deserve, but I appreciate you stepping in to prevent my brothers from injuring themselves," Percy thanked, his voice the flat, droll tone that he usually spoke with. He took a sip of his tea, not a drop spilled, and slipped past Fred's glaring form into the hallway. "Oh right," Percy stopped and said aloud. He ducked past Fred and went back to the stove, grabbing another cup and filling it with tea. "Harry, do you know where the honey is?" Percy asked, beginning to open up cabinets. "Two more cabinets over," Harry replied, Fred and George giving him disbelieving looks. "Harry, I can't believe you're speaking to him! After all the bullshit he said- he called you a mental case!" George argued. "He is," Percy said nonchalantly, pulling the small pot of honey from the shelves. "I am," Harry agreed, and shot Ron a grin. Ron chuckled, leaving Fred and pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice. Fred and George shot each other looks. "You've missed something, alright? Something big. I'm sure Mum will explain later because, frankly, I have neither the energy nor the willpower to do it," Percy spoke pointedly to the twins, before carrying the two tea cups out of the kitchen. Ron patted George on the shoulder, giving him a hopeful smile.

Author's Note: SORRY!! It's been over two weeks since I've last posted and I'd like to take the opportunity to apologize for that. One of the journal communities I'm in had a challenge and I've been driven by plot bunnies to complete those- so DDTRH was neglected. But here I am, jumpstarting my brain so that I can complete the story. Again, any bits of confusion you may have, please notify me of them so I can clarify them in future chapters :) Happy Birthday John :)