IV

The room was dark save the lone ray of light that leaked in through the curtain from the lampposts outside. Everything in the room appeared gloomy and dull and the atmosphere was thick with tension. On the bed lied Percy as he stared up at the ceiling in a trance. He would be leaving in the morning. His clothes were packed and everything was ready but that wasn't what concerned him.

Fragments of his earlier conversation with the rest of the Order were still on his mind. He remembered hearing both George and Fred would be doing the same job as he except with Bill. At the time it didn't register completely but now he felt its effects fully. He was worried over their safety but was somewhat reassured that Bill was with them. However, this triggered the fact that he was still isolated from them. Dumbledore had sent him a notice that said he had not told his parents—or anyone else for that matter—what he was doing and said, "I felt it would be better for you to break it to them." Percy laughed at his words but knew Dumbledore was right. He would tell them eventually but the uncertainty he felt was still very much evident. It had been over a year since he spoke to his father or anyone else in his family face-to-face.

And he was supposed to just say, "Sorry I couldn't tell you before but I was secretly working for Dumbledore and keeping tabs on Fudge the entire time. Now I have to go to Ireland to do some negotiations with creatures that could possibly kill me with one bite. I'll try to send you a postcard. Bye!"

Percy narrowed his eyes. Somehow that just didn't seem right. He had debated writing a letter but then he felt that would be a cowardly thing to do. Then he had actually Apparated in front of the Order's headquarters to face them before Disapparating out of sheer fear and stress. Why couldn't Dumbledore just tell them? The question ran through his mind the entire afternoon and evening. It was currently midnight and he still wasn't sleeping.

With a grunt, Percy turned over to his side and closed his eyes wearily.

"One way or another, I'll get it out," he murmured exhaustingly.

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The morning was a beautiful one but Percy wasn't able to enjoy it as he quickly scrambled out of his bed, casting a quick spell to make it. Usually he did this manually but he was in such a rush that he was casting spells all over the place to do the simplest tasks. Eventually he managed to gather his things and eat an extremely small breakfast before saying a quick good-bye to Mrs. Figg, who had watched Percy the entire time, offering her help when possible.

"Be careful!" was all that Percy heard as he Disapparated out of the house.

With a crack, he arrived in an empty alley near Buckingham Palace. He couldn't risk actually appearing out of nowhere in front of a place where dozens of Muggles passed by. Grabbing his bag, he ran down the block and could faintly make out the large figure of Marcus and the petite form of Penelope. Someone else was there but Percy didn't bother to study any harder as he finally came up to them, breathing in deeply and dropping his bag to the ground.

"Sorry I'm late," he gasped out as he tried to gather what dignity he had left.

"It's all right. We weren't waiting too long," came a gentle voice.

The voice sounded too familiar in Percy's mind and he already knew who it was when he looked up. Smiling at him, Penelope looked the same as ever since graduation. Beside her, Marcus grunted at him and muttered something about hating latecomers. Percy stopped at the third figure. He was almost as tall as he with dark eyes that were staring back at him inquisitively. Oliver Wood. The name rang up in Percy's head and he smiled slightly at him and everyone else.

"Long time no see."

Oliver snorted. "Yeah, well, it seems someone was doing a lot of hiding from old friends," he accused, his voice light with humor yet Percy detected the hidden resentment behind those words.

Penelope laughed. "Yeah, Perce. I mean Dumbledore told us what you were doing the entire time since we graduated but still…," she added, looking slightly guilty at what she said.

Percy shrugged and kept is face stoic. "That's not an excuse, though. But we're together now, right?" he replied, keeping his voice light.

Suddenly Marcus slugged him in the arm and Percy looked up at him in surprise. "Hey, you changed," the other man said, a strange look in his eye as he watched Percy. The redhead arched an eyebrow and looked Marcus up and down before settling on his face again.

"Yes, I could say the same for you," he remarked with a half smile.

And amazingly enough all of them laughed heartily at that. Percy blinked in mild surprise. "All right then…," he murmured quietly. He hadn't expected such a response but it was pleasing.

"All right, I say we better get going now! We have a lot of Fudge's old troops to track down and even more creatures to 'negotiate' with," interjected Oliver, an old look of authority in his eyes. Everyone obliged and gathered their belongings without a word, even Marcus. Percy was more surprised by him out of everyone else.

Just then, Oliver handed them tickets and Percy looked at them closely. They were airline tickets. Somehow that surprised him but he couldn't figure out why. How else would they get there? Apparating was out of the question considering they would have no idea where to land. Obviously a portkey was not an option. It was much too tricky to organize one secretly. That left the Floo Network but Percy didn't think they were staying with anyone who had that available. Dumbledore mentioned them being in the countryside where there weren't too many inhabitants. They were to stay in an abandoned house that they managed to fix up on the inside without anyone noticing. Spells and charms were put on it to keep Muggles out but it was in such a remote area that it was barely a threat.

Penelope looked up at Oliver curiously. "Are we Apparating to the airport?" she inquired lightly.

"Sure, why not? There would be no harm in doing that," he replied, shrugging nonchalantly before slinging his pack over his shoulder. "Though we should head out to an emptier area first," he added with a short laugh.

Percy folded up his ticket and placed it safely in his pocket as everyone else began walking ahead of him. He followed along distantly. Oliver and Penelope were talking animatedly and even Marcus joined them occasionally. It made Percy feel slightly shunned from their "group." Shunned, right. I wouldn't be surprised. The thought hovered on Percy's mind like a constant nagging and he still felt it as they lurched to a stop in an empty alleyway. Oliver did a quick scan before nodding to the others. And then all at once, they disappeared with a single unanimous crack only to reappear in front of the airport where, fortunately, nobody noticed their sudden arrival.

"Well then, let's get onboard shall we?"

Oliver then continued talking with Penelope and Marcus excitedly while ignoring Percy. At that thought, the redhead shook his head. No, Oliver wouldn't do that. They probably just grew closer as the years passed. It's not like I've been keeping touch with them. But that did little to reassure him.

Once they entered the plane, the foursome found themselves stuck with the job of stacking their belongings on the top shelf. It took a good lot of pushing and cursing to finally get it done and once it was, they all plopped down on their seats in exasperation.

"I don't know how Muggles can live like this," joked Oliver. Beside him, Penelope giggled and Marcus grunted in agreement.

Percy just sat down quietly in his seat behind the three of them and pulled out a small book from his inside pocket. A few minutes later he was lost in his own world until Penelope's voice brought him back to reality.

"…Percy? So what do you think about this?"

The redhead glanced up and blinked at her dumbly. Both she and Marcus had turned in their seats to look at him but Oliver remained still in his seat. Percy glanced at him before returning his gaze on Penelope. "The situation? You mean why we're heading out to Ireland?" he queried.

Marcus shot him an annoyed look. "Duh! Gee, where's your head, Weasley?" he replied irritably.

Percy flashed his eyes at him angrily before covering it up. "The name is Percy and my head is on my shoulders being held up by my neck just as yours is," he retorted dryly.

Penelope stifled a snort as she resisted laughing and Marcus looked dumbfounded.

"Now, as for Penelope's question… I don't know what to think. Goblins, gnomes, giants, besides the fact that they all begin with 'g,' are extremely temperamental creatures to deal with and I don't really look forward to doing it but I will for the sake of the Order. Now as for the following Fudge's men and making sure they don't make a mess of things, I have no problems with," continued Percy evenly.

A giggle sounded from Penelope. "You sound so casual, Percy! What happened to that high-strung, sometimes obsessive boy I knew back in Hogwarts?" she remarked, her eyes glinting.

"He died a long time ago," was Percy's reply before realizing what he said. He briefly smacked himself on the head mentally. "I mean, no, I don't mean it in that sense exactly…," he drawled before deciding to put an end to his hopeless explanation. He shook his head and this time both Penelope and Marcus laughed.

"Well, I wouldn't say you changed that much if that was what you were trying to say," Penelope offered helpfully. Percy smiled slightly at that and nodded.

And then Oliver turned around to face him. The latter was surprised by the serious expression on his face when he had been so humorous and light-hearted with Penelope and Marcus. "So what happened to you? A change of friends, perhaps? Or did you just get bored with us?" he asked sharply.

"Oliver…," murmured Penelope as she looked over at Oliver worriedly.

Percy blinked in surprise. "What? No, of course not!" he exclaimed in shock and pain. It was anything but that. But he knew he was an idiot for never keeping in touch with them after Hogwarts, even Penelope. Back then he was such a loner and workaholic. After he started doing assignments for Dumbledore, though, he grew to realize his mistakes but never knew how to solve them.

"All right," said Oliver in a clipped tone. Penelope and Marcus shared significant glances with each other before turning around and consulting quietly with Oliver, abandoning Percy to the solitude of his book once again.

Only this time, Percy wanted desperately to be included in their conversation. A voice told him to leave it be and he obeyed reluctantly. He buried himself in his book, trying in vain to forget what had just happened. The truth and realization came to him finally and he knew that out of everything else they were going to do on their assignment, bridging his broken relationship with the others would be the hardest. And for once he didn't have any clue where to start.

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TBC

Ah, so tired. I think I'm on my way to becoming an insomniac. And you know, I only realized recently that the title was spelled incorrectly. "Halycon" as opposed to "Halcyon." How in the world did I not notice earlier? I have no idea. That goes to show how absentminded I am. It's actually rather embarrassing. Blah. :P

Revised: 10/10/04