Ginny tripped down the stairs, having just relinquished the bathroom to a sweaty Hermione. "Ginny!" a voice came from above and Ginny looked up. Esme leaned over the staircase 2 floors up. "Ginny, do you think you could ask my Dad about clothes for me? I'm not wearing bloodstained clothes, nor Tonks' sweatpants and t-shirt all day," Esme called down. "Er... I guess," Ginny called back, continuing down to the bottom of the steps. She peered inside the parlor, which was empty, and then tried the first floor library.
"Charlie!" Ginny cried, running through the door and crashing into her elder brother, who was sitting leisurely on the table conversing with Molly. He had a very grim look on his face, his blue eyes shiny with unshed tears. Charlie gathered his sister in a hug, kissing the top of her forehead. "Hey Gin," he said, his voice hoarse. Ginny went to kiss him on the cheek, but froze when she realized how sad Charlie looked. She turned her head, her eyes meeting her mothers. "Oh... she told you, then? About Percy?" Ginny asked quietly. Charlie nodded, but Molly froze. "What do you know about Percy?" Molly said, flabbergasted, her hands clutched at her chest. "He told us- me, Ron, Harry and Hermione, yesterday. Ron and I found his diary when we were cleaning out his room and we confronted him with it. He was very hesitant about it, but Esme I think convinced him to tell us." Ginny frowned- she hated how everyone expected her to be in the dark about everything.
Molly pulled Ginny out of Charlie's arms into her own. "You knew all the time, mum?" Ginny squeaked, the breath slowly being compressed from her chest. Molly nodded solemnly. "Someone had to remember, just in case," she whispered, her voice choked with tears. Ginny looped her arms around her mother's middle and gave her a squeeze. "Well, I suppose that's two less children I have to tell. Would you go find Fred and George for me, dear?" Molly asked, releasing Ginny and smoothing down her hair. Ginny agreed- when did she become the finder of people? "Oh, have either of you seen Professor Snape?" Ginny asked as she was leaving, freezing at the door frame. "Sorry, dear. He hasn't been here all morning," she answered and Ginny left.
She left the library, nearly running into Percy carrying two cups of tea. He said good morning with a flat tone, breezing by her quickly. Ginny frowned and pushed her way into the kitchen. Fred and George sat at the breakfast table, muttering quietly to each other and shooting dirty looks at Harry and Ron, who were silently drinking pumpkin juice on the counter. "Morning, all. Mum wants to see you two in the first-floor library," Ginny said to Fred and George. She saw Harry and Ron give her a distinct look, and she nodded. "Brilliant- it'll be nice to know what is going on here for a change," Fred grumbled, the two of them sliding their chairs out from under the wooden table. Ginny gave both of her brothers large hugs, both of them giving her a strange look in return. "What was that for?" George asked, giving her a wary look and reaching backwards to check the back of his shirt. "You'll see," she said mysteriously, walking away from them to sit with Harry and Ron. George gave a nervous look to the three of them at the counter, looking dourly at their glasses of juice, before walking out of the kitchen with his brother.
Harry, Ron and Ginny drank pumpkin juice and tea in silence, occasionally looking up when a door would slam. At the final one, a bandaged Neville walked in escorted by Remus Lupin. "Hey, look who isn't unconscious," Remus joked, patting Neville's shoulder as he went to sit with the group. "Hi guys," Neville said, his breath a bit labored. "How you holding up, Nev?" Ron asked, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Alright. No dain bramage," he said with a straight face. When no one laughed, he shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "No dain bramage... brain damage... did someone die?" Neville asked, his voice shrinking with temerity. "Come on Neville, let me bring you up to speed," Ginny said, pulling Neville into the dining room.
"It's morning," Harry said. Ron looked up from his empty glass at Harry. He got out of his seat and started pacing around the other side of the counter, going back and forth in front of the stove. "This can't leave you, me or Hermione, alright. You've got to swear that no one else finds out about this- not Ginny, not Mum, no one," Ron nearly shouted, pointing at Harry threateningly. Harry leaned back on his stool, surprised at the outburst. "Right," he replied, sitting a bit straighter and looking a little more concerned. So Ron began to replay the events of the night before, his eyes never reaching Harry's.
Ron poured himself a cup of tea and dumped nearly the entire pot of sugar into it. He slid down into the stool next to Harry and slumped over his cup. "Now I've got to wrap my head around this. I don't know how much more of this I can take," Ron finished. Harry looked sadly at his best friend. In his most heated moments of anger, he admitted, he had wished this on Ron- he had wished this on practically everyone. As he watched Ron visibly trying to keep himself together, Harry felt the urge to take all of it off of Ron's shoulders. He was hesitant to make a move towards Ron, unable to decide what he should do, what he should say.
"It could be worse," Harry offered, wincing while he said it. Ron guffawed and drank some more of his super-sweet tea. "Not so easy, is it?" Ron replied darkly. Harry frowned, but said nothing. Ron sighed heavily, pushing himself back from the counter, and turned to face Harry. "Don't worry about it, Harry," Ron said, knocking the rest of his tea back. "It will be okay, Ron. I know it will. Do you think maybe Occlumency might help?" Harry asked. Ron's eyebrow knitted as he mulled it over. "Protecting my brain from my brain? I don't know, Harry..." Ron frowned. "It's worth a shot. Either that or you can turn yourself over to Hermione for testing," Harry shrugged. At that, Ron cringed. "No thanks- the Polyjuice Incident has scarred me for life, ha ha," Ron said, slightly amused by his pun. The two sat in silence for a bit, before Ron rose to his feet, his eyes in a far away place. "Come on," he said slowly, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him off of his stool. Ron stopped and let go of Harry's hand, pulling open a drawer and grabbing a handful of towels. "Ron," Harry said sharply. Ron looked up, his eyes not nearly so hazy. "What did you see?" Ron slammed the door. "Run upstairs and get Esme, go!" Ron shouted, breezing past Harry and down the hallway, stack of towels in hand.
Harry chased after Ron until he hit the staircase. Taking the steps two at a time he made his way to the third floor. He wasn't entirely sure which room she was in, so he ran to the first one he saw. The door flew open in front of him, and he was hit with a barrage of loud music. Romantic guitars and violins plucked and whined through the room as Harry spied a robed Percy leading Esme, in a t-shirt and sweats, around the bed and couch or the bedroom. Esme giggled and then apologized as she clomped on Percy's foot. He spun her around, dipping her down to the tango music. "Remind me to thank your mum for the dance lessons," Esme chirped. Percy flushed red and smiled. "I'm sure she'll be delighted to hear it," Percy replied, spinning her out and then back in.
"Er... Esme?" Harry finally voiced. Both of them turned to the door, Percy pulling his wand out and the wireless on the table near the bed shut off. Esme and Percy jumped a bit away from each other. "Yes, Harry?" she asked. "You've got to come downstairs," he said grimly, and Esme pulled away from Percy towards Harry. "Why?" she inquire, concern edging her voice. Harry bit his lip. "I don't know... but Ron..." Harry didn't have to finish. She pulled a green robe from off the couch and threw it on as she sprinted out of the room. Harry followed her downstairs, followed by Percy.
"Severus, I'm going to hex you if you don't stop moving!" Molly's stern voice echoed in the parlor. With a strangled gasp, Esme froze outside of the large entryway. Snape was strewn on the couch, blood dripping from a gash across his forehead. "DAD!" Esme ran over as Percy and Harry reached the ground level. "He'll be fine, dear," Molly reassured her, her wand stitching the line of blood quickly. "Dad, what in the hell did you think you were doing?" Esme screamed. "Don't be so melodramatic, Esmerelda. It's hardly a flesh wound," Snape sneered from his reclined position. "Don't minimalize this! What did you do? Walk into Walden MacNair and give him a whop on the head or something?" she shouted back, her eyes blazing. "Don't be stupid. You left a lot of loose ends in San Francisco and Vancouver and I had to go seal them up. If you had slightly more foresight you would have made sure you didn't have any friends wandering around with my England address!" Snape bellowed, a the newly healed scrape shining bright red with the shout, his hand pressing deep on his waist.
"So, this is my fault then? My fault that the Death Squad sought me out at work, my fault that the Death Eaters are after you for being a traitor?" Esme's voice dropped low and threatening. "Oh, for Merlin's sake, Esmerelda, do stop whining about utter nonsense. Thomas Avery set some sort of bomb in your bedroom in case you came back- shabbily, I might add- and the blast sent your plastic mobile across the room and it hit me in the head. That man couldn't set a useful explosive if his life depended on it." Snape replied dryly, lounging on the couch, Molly giving him a look. Esme exhaled vehemently and sat down on the floor next to him.
"You could have told me you were going," she said after a time. "I hardly have to report my whereabouts to you," he replied, sitting up from the couch. "Don't be so obnoxious, Severus," Molly lectured, grabbing the bloody towels. He shot her a dirty look, and he finally noticed Harry and Percy standing in the doorframe. "I'm sure you two have other places you should be," he sneered, and Harry's eyes narrowed. "There are a lot of people out to kill you Dad, and if you do something horribly moronic like wander back into San Francisco again, I'd like to have the opportunity to say goodbye, alright?"
Snape heaved a deep sigh, resting his hands on his knees. "I suppose that's fair," he acquiesced. Esme wrung her hands and bit her lip. "I got a bag of your clothes at the front entrance- get out of those pyjamas," he said finally, a minuscule grin on his face. Esme rolled her eyes and got to her feet, giving her Dad a kiss on the cheek. "At least you weren't completely devoid of sense," she smirked and flounced out of the room. Percy followed her out, but Harry couldn't help but notice how dark the black robe looked under Snape's compressed hand.
"Okay, continue with the dance lesson," Esme curtsied to Percy, freshly washed and wearing a fluttery yellow skirt and pink blouse. "Alright," Percy shrugged. Esme smiled happily reaching into the bag her father brought and taking a small rectangular machine from within it and placing it next to the wireless. She slid a smaller oval into the rectangle and fiddled with the buttons on it "What is that?" Percy asked, leaning over her shoulder to examine the machine. "It's a muggle music player called an iPod. Lovely little machine- I've got a ton of songs on here and I thought for the waltz we'd go a little more modern... all we need is a 3-count, right?" Esme said, running her thumb over the pads until she found the song she wanted. "I think this should be fast enough. Thanks a lot for doing this JJ- I always feel like such a fool dancing and well... this is a nice distraction," Esme admitted, giving him a half smile. Percy agreed and took her hand, his back perfectly straight. "This one spins a lot," he instructed before giving her a confused look as the guitars in the song started playing the intro to Judith by A Perfect Circle. "Go with it Perce- it's the right beat," she said, trying not to laugh. He raised an eyebrow and started going through the motions.
Esme came to a sharp halt as she noticed the four standing in the doorway. "How many siblings do you have, Percy?" she asked. Percy turned his head to see Charlie, Fred, George and Ron standing outside the doorway. "6. Esmerelda Snape, that's Charlie, Fred and George," Percy introduced blandly. "Hi," Esme smiled, giving a nervous wave. She looked at Percy, who was giving a wary stare at his brothers. "I'd better leave you guys alone. Hey Ron, have you seen Hermione?" she called, giving Percy a smile before walking out of the room, linking her arm with Ron and dragging him away. A moment later, she ran back in, over to the iPod and turned it off. "Sorry, sorry, continue," she said quickly, running back out the door.
"I am going to take a wild guess and say you had that conversation with Mum," Percy said dryly, leaning back on the couch. Fred, George and Charlie came through the door and took various positions against the wall, but said nothing. "Right." Percy said quietly looking down at his feet. "I can't believe that six years of my memories have been altered," Charlie said hoarsely, running a tanned hand through his short red hair. "I wish it wasn't," Percy replied, sighing. That was the only thing said for about five minutes, when Percy couldn't take it anymore.
"Say something! Don't just stand there and look at me like I'm off my head. I'm not going to go on some raging, murderous rampage- I've had plenty of therapy to prevent that," Percy shouted frustratedly. Fred and George looked like fish out of water, while Charlie was frozen. "It's just so unfathomable," Charlie shrugged, his eyes scanning Percy. Percy rolled his eyes. "God, I'm going to have to do the same thing with Bill, aren't I?" Percy let himself fall over the arm of the couch and plop down onto the cushions. "Why didn't you say anything?" George asked timidly, the first sound he had made since walking in. "You're not even supposed to know about it now! If Fudge finds out..." Percy trailed off shaking his head. "Look, there's no records of the kidnaping ever happening, alright? 65 people had to have their memories modified anywhere from a couple of hours to 6 years; all of my personal record files are restricted; every effort has been made to make sure no one knows about this. I still have to see a therapist every week. If I want to go abroad I have to have military clearance by the country I want to visit. I can't participate in any physical activity for competition, even if it's Quidditch in the backyard with my brothers; and if I so much as touch a person with malice, I'm dead. My life is completely regimented and rule-oriented, and I don't like it, but it's who I have to be. I didn't want any special treatment then, and I don't want it now. I'm sorry you all had to be dragged into this," Percy finished, exhausted despite the early afternoon hour.
"If it's really that much of a problem, I'm sure Mum can obliviate this out of your heads," Percy added. "No. I don't want anymore fake memories in my head," Charlie said quickly, his teeth clenched. "Don't be daft, Percy. It's just a lot to take in, is all. Give us some time, you know," George explained. Percy sat up on the couch, his legs still dangling over the side. "I know," Percy sighed, rubbing his temples, "I guess I'm just tired of talking about it. If it's not you, then it's Ron and Ginny, or Mum and Dumbledore. This is a conversation I wasn't planning on ever having with anyone."
"Ginny really punch you?" Percy gave a confusing look to Fred, who was busy studying the hardwood floor. "Yes... she did. Rather hard, actually," Percy said. Fred bumped himself off of the wall and walked over to Percy. He extended a hand towards Percy, a lopsided grin on his face. Percy, with a small smile, took it. And immediately turned blue. "Brilliant Fred, it works!" George cheered, peering into Fred's palm and seeing the small disk strapped to his middle finger. "You are too easy, Perce. Way too easy," Fred joked, pulling the Joy-Bluer off of his hand and patting Percy on the back. "Don't worry, dear brother, it'll wear off in five minutes," George consoled Percy with a huge grin. "It had better," Percy frowned, but his eyes were light. "Damn straight- that robin's egg blue is a horrid color on you," Charlie piped up from his spot on the wall.
"So that's what you missed being in hospital," Ginny concluded. Neville sat on the dining room chair, his mouth ajar. After a moment, Ginny crouched down to catch Neville's eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Remind me never to be unconscious again," Neville muttered, running a nervous hand across his jaw. Ginny smiled. "It is a lot to take in, but I just thought you should be kept in the loop," Ginny replied running a hand down his arm comfortingly. His cheeks flushed and a grin spread across his face. "Thanks, Ginny. It's nice to be in the loop," he agreed warmly, not able to keep the smile off of his face. He took Ginny's hand and gave it a squeeze; she felt strangely close to Neville in that moment. The end of Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts had inextricably tangled the two of them in to the swirling chaos that was the Trio's lifestyle. It was strange for the two of them to look at each other and realize that both of them weren't the people they though they were. Neville looked at Ginny and saw a person who dealt with obstacle after obstacle and kept pressing on, determined to face the next one. She was a person in her own right- no longer Ron's younger sister, but a productive member of 'the group.'
Ginny looked at Neville and didn't see the pudgy boy who had shakily asked her to the Yule Ball. She saw a genuine desire to contribute, and the smile of someone who had finally found their place in the order of things. The two of them had been on the outskirts for so long, just bit players in the drama of Harry Potter. The Department of Mysteries had done for Neville and her exactly what the tasks for the Sorcerer's Stone had done for Ron and Hermione- made them part of the Harry Potter gang in the defense against evil. Neither of them could explain why that was such a good thing, but it was. Maybe it was the espionage and secrecy, maybe it was the desire to be a part of something greater, maybe they were envious of the close bonds that Harry, Ron and Hermione shared and they wanted to feel that. In any case, Ginny recognized her and Neville were in the same boat, and it was nice.
Author's Notes: Thanks Silver Mirror, db and my dear, sweet Miss Piratess (when she gets to this chapter) for the lovely reviews. I can't believe that I'm 13 (lucky number 13) chapters in- every time I write I'm amazed that my imagination is still going :) This was a fun chapter to write, I hope you guys enjoy it. You're all fabulous! Hurray!