All the King's Men

By Perse

Chapter 3: Family Meetings

...............

"Ow! Would you watch where you're going?"

"And how exactly would I do that?" George Weasley hissed back at his twin. It was pitch black with the clouds and early morning fog hiding the moon. They had apparated to Grimmauld Place only a few minutes before, and his eyes hadn't adjusted yet. He expected that there were worse things he could have run into than Fred, no matter how bad his brother's current mood was.

They made their way to Number 12 with only a few more bumps and bruises. But as soon as they crossed the threshold, George ran into something else. One would really think someone would have moved that umbrella stand by now. But, no. It crashed to the floor, the sound deafening in the near-silent house.

They both winced and held their breaths.

But the expected explosion didn't come. Tentatively they looked towards the wall before sharing a sigh of relief. "Looks like somebody finally got rid of Mrs. Black," Fred mused. Then he turned on George. "When did you become such a klutz?"

Huffing indignantly, George ignored the question and pushed past him, walking deeper into the house. Fred followed with a smirk that George could sense even without seeing it.

They heard footsteps scurrying down the stairs and went to meet them. It was their little brother and sister, Harry Potter in tow.

Ron stopped short a few feet from the base of the stairs when he caught sight of them. "Oh. It's just you."

"Well it's good to see you too, baby brother."

"We thought you were Mum and Dad," Ginny explained, coming around Ron to hug each of them. Ron simply gave them a dirty look.

Harry reached the bottom stair and came to stand beside his friend. "Hullo Fred, George," he said softly.

"Hiya, Harry. So what's going on?" Fred asked.

They all stared at each other for a moment, Fred and George inquisitive; Ron, Harry, and Ginny confused. "You don't know?" Ron exclaimed. "Well then what are you doing here?"

"Dad sent Errol. The message just said to come. Something about a family meeting."

They'd been having rather a lot of those in the past two months. George wondered if it wasn't simply his parents' way of making sure they were all still in one piece. There really hadn't been any actual news to tell in quite a while.

But once he thought about it, it did seem a bit odd that this one was taking place so early in the morning. "Percy?" he questioned with trepidation.

Before any of them could answer, footsteps sounded from behind them. They all jumped as a new voice interrupted, "Hey, I thought I heard voices!" Mundungus ambled toward them from the kitchen. "Fred, George! Good to see ya.' I didn't know you kids were up," he addressed to the three younger ones. Apparently they were looking at him with varying degrees of worry, for he studied them a moment and then said, "Now look, there's no need to be worryin' so much. Your parents will be back soon, and I'm sure everything'll be just fine."

Fred had had enough of the confusion and burst out, "All right, what the bloody hell is happening here?"

Ron and Ginny exchanged a look. Harry was looking at both of them in a peculiar way. When they didn't speak up, he did. "Your Mum and Dad went to St. Mungo's. To see Percy."

George and Fred stared at him with twin expressions of shock. "They found him?" George whispered.

Recovering a bit more quickly, Fred cleared his throat and asked seriously, "How is he?"

Ginny shrugged helplessly and cast a somewhat pitiful look at Mundungus as she said, "We really don't know any more than that."

Mundungus didn't get the hint until all five of them were staring at him. Then, he was no help whatsoever. "Oh, sorry kids. If I knew more, I'd tell ya.' But your parents didn't know any more than that when they left. Come on. Let's go sit down; get a drink. Nothin' more you can do right now."

With a little coaxing, Mundungus led them into the kitchen. A tense silence fell over them. The five of them took seats around the table as Mundungus summoned a butterbeer for each of them. George considered asking for something stronger, knowing that Mundungus would happily provide it. George figured he and Fred were easily Mundungus' favorite Weasleys. And the man was getting himself one, after all. But Ginny had settled at George's side, and Ron directly across from him, and he couldn't bring himself to do it. With a sigh he began to sip the butterbeer, and he let his mind drift back to the first family meeting they'd had at the beginning of this dreadful summer.

..................

..Flashback..

When Dad's head had popped up in their hearth, insisting they come to the Burrow right away, they knew it must either be very good news or very bad.

They had quickly apparated back to the Burrow.

"Why does everything happen in the middle of the night?" George groused as they entered through the kitchen. But despite the words, his voice was tense.

Fred stopped short a few feet into the kitchen. George ran into him. Off-balance and tangled together, they both tumbled to the floor.

George was thinking up a few choice words for his twin, but when he looked up the words died in his throat.

Their mother was at the sink, washing dishes. By hand—no magic in sight. And despite the fact that two of her children were in a pile on the floor, two children she hadn't seen for a few weeks, their normally over-affectionate mother barely spared them a glance. "Boys, thank goodness you're here. Your brother and sister are in the family room; go wait with them please."

George and Fred exchanged a confused glance before climbing to their feet. "Uh...Mum? Are you okay?"

Molly Weasley finally focused on her sons, an expression of tension and ill-concealed worry on her face. Nevertheless, she attempted a smile for their benefit. "Your father will be home soon. I'm sure everything will be fine." She didn't sound too sure. "Please, go sit with Ginny and Ron."

Anther glance was exchanged, but they did as she asked.

Ginny sat in a chair near the fireplace, staring at a random point and blinking owlishly. Ron had apparently lost the fight with alertness and was sideways on the couch, snoring lightly.

The twins greeted their sister quietly. "Dad isn't home yet?" Ginny asked, stifling a yawn.

"Apparently not."

Still looking a bit bleary, she told them, "Mum hasn't come out of the kitchen since she dragged us down here. She wouldn't tell us anything."

Resigned to waiting, Fred took the other chair near the fireplace. George nudged Ron. His younger brother slowly sat up, blinking sleepily at George. "What's goin' on?" he asked.

"Don't know yet," George responded, settling beside him.

Ron yawned and curled against his brother's shoulder, obviously still half-asleep. George rolled his eyes, but didn't move him.

Silence fell over the siblings. With nothing else to do, George was left with his thoughts. The last time they'd been woken in the middle of the night, it was because Ron and Ginny had tagged along to the Ministry and done battle with a bunch of death eaters. The time before that, their father had been brutally attacked by a giant snake.

What was coming this time? At least the two youngest Weasleys were here and in one piece. Unconsciously he tightened an arm around Ron, who shifted sleepily against him.

Finally Fred piped up, "This is ridiculous. If it's that important, we shouldn't just be sitting here."

"Mum swears Harry's fine," Ron volunteered in a mumble. Though his eyes were shut, he was apparently trying to stay awake.

"It was the first thing we asked," Ginny put in, and both twins nodded. That was the natural assumption, and frankly the first thing they had been concerned over as well. Knowing that his friend was not in danger had evidently given Ron enough of a sense of security that worry wasn't keeping him awake. Ginny remained somewhat alert, though apparently they had been left in here with no news for a good while.

It was frustrating, to say the least.

Eventually they heard the kitchen door open once more and quiet voices conversing. George jostled Ron slightly, and his younger brother pushed away to sit up on his own in an effort to wake up. As they all stared warily towards the kitchen and the slowly approaching footsteps, George identified all three voices. Mum, Dad, and Bill.

He breathed a slight sigh of relief, realizing he'd been worried about his brother. But now the entire family was here; at least everyone they could expect to be here. Whatever was going on, at least they were safe.

His father's thinking was apparently on the same lines. "Is everyone here?" he heard Arthur ask Molly as they headed towards the room.

Molly was nodding. But as they entered Fred put in, "I suppose if we're waiting for Charlie it will be a while yet," in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Ron snorted, still rubbing his eyes in an attempt to wake up, and added, "If we're waiting for Percy, it will be even longer."

George would have expected that comment to make Arthur's face darken, as mention of the rift with Percy still tended to do. Instead, his father's falsely calm façade crumbled for a moment. In its place was a look of sadness mixed with pure fear.

Bill clapped a supportive hand on his shoulder and the moment passed, façade firmly pulled back into place.

The four youngest Weasleys had noticed however, and all sat a bit straighter. "Dad, what's going on?" Ginny asked warily.

Arthur took a deep breath. "Let's all sit, shall we?" he gestured for Molly and Bill to sit.

But the younger ones had had enough waiting. "Something's happened with Percy?" Fred ventured, based on the earlier reaction.

Again the eldest Weasleys exchanged a look, all of them seeming hesitant to say this. George felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Finally Arthur said slowly, "Percy is...well, we don't know where he is. He seems to have vanished."

"Vanished?" George repeated dubiously, glancing between his parents and Bill. He'd somehow been expecting something much worse. So Percy had gone off somewhere, serving only to worry his family. His feelings for Percy were a jumbled mess anyway, but the most prominent was usually anger. He couldn't sort them out now, which probably contributed to what he said next. "Maybe he finally snapped and just wandered off," he suggested.

The looks he received told him clearly that his parents were taking this much more seriously.

Arthur ignored his comment and continued, "He didn't show up for work—for 3 days in a row. No call, no owl—nothing. Since that's not at all like him, Fudge finally decided to ask me about it. Of course I hadn't seen him, but it certainly sounded like cause for concern."

"Maybe he took an unscheduled vacation," Ron volunteered uncertainly.

"If it was you, sure," Ginny shot at him. "But Percy? He'd get off his deathbed to go into work." She turned to their parents with worry evident on her face. "So what are you thinking?"

Bill spoke, "We checked out his apartment. Nothing was out of order. But there were no signs that he'd been there in the last few days. Hermes was awfully hungry and anxious to get out. We asked around—no one has seen him. He is simply gone."

After a few minutes of silent processing, Fred offered, "Are you sure it isn't something for the Ministry? Maybe Fudge thought you would notice his absence, but didn't want to tell you the whole story."

"The Order and the Ministry have been building more amicable relations. I doubt he would jeopardize that. Besides, I'm sure they wouldn't expend resources to start their own search if that were the case."

"Then what is the case?" Ron asked bluntly.

After a few more exchanged glances, Arthur finally spelled out for them, "We have to consider the possibility that he's been abducted."

Ginny sucked in a breath. Ron's eyes went wide with shock, his fingers digging into the couch cushions. George stared at them for a moment, then exchanged a glance with Fred. As far as they were concerned, Percy had already been the source of too much torment for this family. It was probably that thinking that made it so hard for him to take this with the severity that his parents were. Seeing Ron and Ginny's fearful reactions to their father's statement only made him more angry.

"What would He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named possibly want with Percy? Someone to organize his papers? Write him a report on the effects of dark magic on cauldron sales?" He didn't realize how much malice was in his voice until Ginny looked at him with a stunned expression. He looked away.

"True, Percy's job is fairly menial in and of itself," Arthur said carefully. "But he's had access to the uppermost levels of the Ministry; been privy to several restricted meetings."

"Of course, it might have nothing to do with the Ministry," Bill put in. "He's also connected to the Order."

"Not directly," Fred spoke up.

"But they may not realize that."

"They'd notice pretty quickly," George snorted carelessly.

Arthur shut his eyes tightly. Bill chastised, "George!" as Molly made a sound that was suspiciously like a whimper. George looked at them funny, trying to figure them out.

That was when it finally sank in that this wasn't new speculating for them. They must have gone over and over the possibilities with the Order before coming to their children. This was serious.

Then he thought about what he'd said, and his face went slack.

If Percy was with death eaters...if he didn't tell them what they wanted, they'd try harder to convince him. When they realized that he wasn't able to tell them, he'd become useless. There's no need to keep useless things, and no need to risk them telling your secrets.

By their reactions, most of his family had already figured that out. "Oh, God," George mumbled, dropping his face into his hands.

"We don't know that that's the situation. We really don't know anything for sure yet."

...End flashback...

..................

Two months later, and they still didn't know anything for sure...except that it became less and less likely that Percy had wandered off the radar on his own. And every day made George feel worse for his flippant initial reaction.

Life marched on. Both the Order and the Ministry conducted searches, and both continued to come up empty. Meanwhile, intelligence told them that Voldemort was gaining new followers. There were other matters to attend to. The family had watched as everyone around them slowly began to give up hope on the lost Weasley.

Their parents had shortly moved to Grimmauld Place with Ron and Ginny as a precaution. He and Fred had moved out before all of this had started. Molly had tried to cajole them into moving in to the old Black house as well, but they had declined. They had each other for protection.

That argument hadn't gone over very well.

But stopping their lives wasn't the answer. They visited frequently, especially with all of those family meetings. But he and Fred had agreed that they didn't want to be forced into protective custody. Worrying about Percy was bad enough. Living in fear was just not conducive to their personalities.

Charlie had held a similar view. He had come home as soon as he'd been contacted and stayed for the first month, trying to help. When the Order's efforts continued to produce nothing, he eventually had to face that he was of much more use in his old position. Despite the danger they'd all agreed on that, even Molly. And yet, the day he'd headed back to Romania, they'd all clung to him as if the world were ending.

Bill and Charlie had been away from home for years. Percy had been gone for the last year. But even then, the family had never really felt broken. Not like this. Whenever they were away from each other, it felt as if something important was slipping away. But whenever they were together, they tended to fight over the most insignificant things. George supposed he should be grateful for the almost palpable silence between them now.

An unbearable amount of time later, they heard the front door open and then shut. They all jerked and turned towards the sound, though not one of them moved to get up.

It was with a strange mixture of relief and dread that they watched Arthur and Molly enter from the hallway a few moments later.

Molly looked as if she'd been crying on the trip home. She tried to offer them all a comforting smile as she sank into the nearest available chair, but it wasn't really very comforting at all.

Still, no one spoke. After glancing around the table, Arthur took a seat beside his wife. They shared a look, and she nodded to him. With a deep breath he began, "Earlier tonight, the Order raided a reported death eater hideout. We don't have a detailed account yet and we certainly don't know the events that led up to it on their side, but the house had been abandoned. Our people found Percy in the basement."

"Alive?" Ginny asked softly. She knew what the answer likely was, but somehow George suspected that she needed to hear it confirmed. He felt the same way.

"Yes," Arthur hastened to assure. "Yes, he's alive. He's actually quite well, all things considered. The Healer expects him to heal fairly quickly."

There was a collective sigh of relief around the table. With the vague sensation of something inside him finally melting, George allowed himself to smile. He slipped an arm around Ginny, who threw her arms around him for a quick hug in return. Across the table, Harry clapped a hand on Ron's shoulder and the two friends shared a relieved smile. From his corner of the kitchen, Mundungus grinned along with the family.

Fred, however, was watching their parents closely. "There's something more," he stated after a few moments.

The celebration paused as everyone else turned to look back at Arthur and Molly again.

Arthur nodded reluctantly. "He has amnesia. He has no memories of his capture or the last two months...or anything before that." He paused, watching the varying degrees of shock and incomprehension around the table, then spelled things out for them. "He doesn't remember us at all."

......................

tbc