All the King's Men

By Perse

Chapter 4: Structures

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

Two days passed. Percy's Healer had moved him into a private room where he could be both observed and guarded.

His other siblings hadn't even been to see him yet. The Healer, whose name Arthur had finally remembered as Melina Pryce (after Molly reminded him, that is), had thought it best not to overwhelm Percy with anyone else until she had finalized her diagnosis.

That did not mean that Percy was lacking for visitors. Bill was working short hours at Gringott's in order to spend as much time as possible with his brother. Percy still seemed much more comfortable with him than anyone else. Arthur and Molly had come twice each day, once together and once a piece. Percy was warming up to them a bit, but seemed to do better one-on-one.

Still, there were no signs of returning memory.

The third day, Arthur returned to work at the Ministry for part of the day. When he arrived at the hospital later, Molly met him at the entrance to the ward.

"How's he doing today?" Arthur asked as he greeted her with a hug.

"Better, I think. He seems more comfortable with me each day," she said with a smile. "Healer Pryce wants to meet with us before you see him."

A few minutes later they took seats in the office, the same seats they had taken days earlier when the news had been broken to them. The Healer smiled encouragingly at them as she took her own seat on the other side of the desk.

"At this point, I can say with a good amount of certainty that this is not the result of a charm or even spell damage. It is a psychological effect of trauma."

Arthur nodded slightly. They had been expecting that. "So where do we go from here?"

"There is nothing physical keeping his memories away. With most cases of amnesia, memories start to return on their own. I think it would be best to let it happen naturally. But you can help it along; he's more likely to remember if he's with the people he was close to and in a familiar place."

"We can take him home?" Molly asked hopefully.

She smiled. "Yes. I think that may be the best thing for him."

Unfortunately, the relief of having him out of the hospital had to war with worries about exactly how the home situation would shape up. Arthur shared a slight smile with Molly before asking, "What about the other kids? Isn't it going to be a bit overwhelming to take him home and make him face a bunch of new people..."

"That's certainly a valid concern," she acknowledged. "I was going to suggest that we keep him here a couple more days and let him get used to the idea of going home. We do still need to be careful not to overwhelm him. He should meet his siblings before he goes home with them. Just take it slowly, all right? Bring them in one at a time."

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

"Healer Pryce thinks it would be best if we take him somewhere familiar. He's never even been in this house. We need to take him home."

"Molly, I understand what you're saying. But please, hear us out," Remus tried to placate.

Molly was pacing in frustration; Remus had stood to try to calm her. Behind him, part of the Order sat around the kitchen table. They had held a meeting earlier in the evening before Molly and Arthur returned from St. Mungo's. It was now quite late, but Bill, Remus, Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt had remained behind to discuss things with them. From his position at the end of the table, Bill watched the others exchanging uneasy glances.

He was thrilled with the idea of bringing Percy home. And he understood why his parents felt the need to take him to the Burrow. It was important to his recovery. But he also understood the point of view that the rest of the Order had settled upon. The Burrow wasn't as safe as Number 12 Grimmauld Place. And their lack of knowledge about the motives and specifics of Percy's abduction was forcing them to be a bit paranoid now.

"There was a reason we moved the rest of you here. There's no reason to think that it's any safer now," Kingsley said.

"They could still come after Percy," Moody put in gruffly. "Or someone else; perhaps someone with a bit more information on the Order," he said pointedly, his normal eye focused on Arthur and the other vacillating between Molly and Bill.

"Oh, please! They could take any of us off the street any day if they really wanted to!" Molly burst out.

"It isn't as if we wouldn't be on our guard," Arthur put in from his seat in a slightly calmer but no less serious manner.

The arguments went back and forth. After a length of time Remus finally suggested tentatively, "It is possible that we could fortify the house and the immediate grounds. With protection spells and wards—we could make it relatively safe."

"Relative to what?" Moody groused.

"It is possible," Kingsley admitted as if Moody had not spoken. "It would still be a risk, however. Are you willing to take it?"

Molly and Arthur met each other's eyes. She nodded slightly. He looked to Bill.

Bill met his father's steady gaze. As the eldest, he felt the weight of this decision much as his parents probably did. The Burrow was certainly best for Percy and his recovery. But it wasn't just his safety they had to think about; it was the younger kids too. Percy needed to be with them as much—and likely more—than he needed to be in the house. But despite the worries, the Order could set up some formidable magical protection. And there would be enough wizards in the house to handle things. Finally, he nodded to his father.

Arthur nodded as well. "We're taking him home," he announced. "But at the first sign of trouble, we'll move. No arguments, I promise."

Moody clearly did not like this, though he grudgingly agreed.

Though it was still obvious that some of them thought this a bad decision, the whole room seemed to breathe a slight sigh of relief as they reached a consensus. Molly finally sank into a chair, and the others began to stand in preparation to leave.

"What about Harry?" Bill put in quietly.

Everyone paused. The relieved mood came down a few notches.

Moody was the first to state the obvious. "He'll have to stay here, of course." He didn't seem to understand why there would be conflict about that.

But Bill did. His parents saw Harry as essentially one of their own children. Heck, the whole family felt that way. They weren't going to feel good about leaving him here.

Sure enough, he watched as his exhausted mother visibly gathered herself for another argument.

But it didn't even get started. Arthur declared softly, "They're right, Molly. He's much safer here. And while we have a good case for having Percy at the Burrow, we don't have that with Harry."

Molly looked upset. "He's still grieving, Arthur. He's just been doing it quietly. He shouldn't be alone; he needs to be with people who care for him."

"Even if our attention is elsewhere?" Bill put in. "Of course, it has been all summer," he added as an afterthought.

"He won't be alone." At the quiet words they all looked at Remus, realizing that he had been unusually quiet for the last few minutes. He glanced up to meet their gazes, a pained expression in his eyes. "They are right, Molly, he is much safer here. But he won't be alone. I care for him as well."

"Of course, Remus," Molly said after a few beats. "I don't doubt that you can look after him. I just..." she paused, at a loss for how to explain this without insulting Remus. She had entirely too many children that she was trying to worry about.

"I understand, Molly," Lupin stated kindly. "But it isn't as if we'll be sending him back to Privet Drive. And he can certainly visit."

It was obvious that no one was completely pleased with the decisions and arrangements as they stood. But everyone could at least grudgingly agree at this point. As it was so late, they decided to call it a night.

Moody and Shacklebolt left a few minutes later. Bill was exhausted. Now that things had been settled, fatigue was kicking in with a vengeance. He was abundantly grateful that he had accepted a room in the house and didn't have to make his way back to his apartment. He bid his parents and Remus good night and headed for the stairs.

He was about three stairs up before he even noticed that he wasn't alone. "Ron," he said with a small sigh. "You're supposed to be in bed."

From his seat midway up the staircase, his youngest brother shrugged. "Wasn't sleepy," he offered simply.

"Really, because you look like you're about to fall asleep right here." Despite the words, he wasn't really chiding. He had honestly expected to catch one of them eavesdropping, though he had rather expected Ginny. When Ron made no move to get up, he climbed to his brother's position and settled beside him. "You heard all of that?"

Ron said nothing, just nodded slightly.

He nudged Ron's shoulder. "Hey, cheer up. Harry can visit sometimes. And school starts up again in a month; then we won't have to worry about all of this."

"Oh, yeah. 'Cause our school years are usually so very stress-free," Ron said sarcastically. When Bill cast him an odd look, he took a deep breath and shook his head. "Never mind. Sorry...I'm just tired."

Bill let it go. They'd all been on edge for so long, it was going to be a while before things calmed down, despite the fact that Percy had been found alive. His condition and the tension over the Burrow's safety weren't going to help matters much.

With a yawn he heaved himself to his feet and then pulled Ron up with him. He placed a steadying hand on his little brother's back and steered him up the stairs. "Let's get to bed, kiddo. I've got to get up early so I can spend some time with Percy before work."

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

"Morning, Perce."

Percy's face lit up with a shy smile when he caught sight of his brother. "Morning," he returned.

Bill returned the smile as he shut the door behind him and came over to the bed. "I brought you something." Percy scooted over to make room for him and Bill settled beside him, pulling a small box out of his bag. "I thought that before you met the rest of the family, I should give you a little crash course."

At the mention of family Percy became obviously nervous. But he shouldered it bravely and nodded for Bill to continue. Bill opened the box to reveal a small stack of photographs. Percy leaned over to look curiously.

"You want me to start at the top, or would you like to pick?"

Percy looked at him, still uncertain. When Bill gave him an encouraging nod, he cautiously reached into the box and pulled out a picture.

Bill was prepared to identify if for him, but this one didn't need it. "Mum and Dad," Percy murmured.

Delicately, he placed it on the bed in front of them. The he reached back into the box, less hesitant now. He studied the new photo for a moment, then handed it to Bill questioningly. "That's our brother, Charlie. He's older than you; younger than me. He works with dragons in Romania."

"Dragons? That sounds cool."

Bill raised an eyebrow in amusement. He'd heard Percy use the words 'crazy,' 'suicidal,' and 'no room for advancement' in reference to Charlie's job in the past. "He's not here right now, but he's planning to come for a few weeks soon."

Percy took the picture back. Charlie smiled up at his little brother and waved. He simply held it for a few moments, apparently memorizing the face. Then he reached to place it beside the one of their parents. "How many brothers do we have?" he asked.

"There are six of us," Bill answered, then laughed as Percy's eyebrows shot up and couldn't resist adding, "and that's just the boys."

He regretted it when Percy began to look nervous and overwhelmed again and quickly confessed that there was only one sister. Percy gave him a dirty look, told him that that was still far too many, then reached for the box again. As he pulled out the next photo, he smiled. Then he turned it towards Bill. "Who was this one again?" he asked innocently.

It was a picture of Bill. He narrowed his eyes at Percy, who was trying to keep his lips from quirking.

Percy was teasing him.

With a laugh, Bill grabbed him gently and proceeded to muss his hair. Percy protested, giggling. He hadn't heard Percy giggle since he was 10. In fact, he hadn't been this close to Percy in almost as long. He rather appreciated this sweet and less-jaded version of his brother.

And he hated himself for thinking that. He knew this situation was hard for Percy, and he would never have wished this fate on someone he loved.

Still, he held onto him for a minute as Percy settled and simply rested in his grip. There was no awkwardness then, or when he let him go. Percy simply reached to right his glasses, which had been knocked askew, then took the picture of Bill and placed it with the others. He studied that arrangement for a moment, then moved Charlie's picture over and placed Bill between their parents and the next eldest brother.

The organization was so characteristically Percy that Bill felt a pang in his heart. Somewhere in there was still the same brother who had obsessed over his grades and responsibilities, and his later his job. The same brother who had chosen that job over his family and severed his ties with them, who had made their mother cry over him for months.

But when he turned back to Bill with a smile on his lips, that old Percy was very hard to see.

Bill pushed those thoughts aside, needing to focus on the here and now. Percy had pulled out the next photograph and was studying it. After a moment he asked, "These are recent, right?"

"Most of them."

"This one's younger than me," he deduced, showing it to Bill.

"Yes..." Bill pulled it closer before he released it and continued, "That's George."

Even from the small confines of the picture plane, George was making an impression. He moved partially out of the frame, then reappeared with a candy in his hand. He popped it into his mouth, chewed for a moment, then stuck out his tongue. It was now yellow with pink polka-dots.

Percy laughed. "He looks like a handful."

"That's putting it mildly," he responded dryly. Bill wasn't sure he'd ever seen Percy laugh at the twins' silly antics before. He watched as Percy carefully placed George next to Charlie and reached in for the next picture almost eagerly.

"This is our sister?" he asked a moment later.

Bill glanced at the picture and nodded. "That's Ginny. She's the youngest. She's grown up a bit since that was taken, though." The photo had been taken just before her first year at Hogwarts, and Ginny alternated between looking down and glancing out at them with a shy, sweet smile. Bill wished he had found a more recent shot of her, because she had matured a lot since then.

Having been told that she was the youngest, Percy placed her on the far right-side of the bed and left space between her and George. The next picture he pulled out brought a confused look. "George again," he stated with uncertainty.

"No, sorry. That's Fred," Bill told him.

Percy looked from the shot of George already in its place to the one in his hand. "Twins?" he asked with a definite bit of dread.

Bill couldn't help a small chuckle as he confirmed that.

"How do you tell them apart?"

Bill opened his mouth to answer, then realized that he didn't have one. When the boys had been little there had been much talk of minuscule birthmarks and clusters of freckles, but as they'd grown the family had simply learned to tell them apart. He hadn't actually thought about it in a long time, and as such he really didn't know how to describe it. He realized abruptly that while Percy was going to have enough trouble remembering so many of them, it was going to be near impossible with the twins. No wonder he sounded so concerned.

He made a mental note to talk with Fred and George about this. They were likely to only make things harder.

To Percy he said, "Don't worry. We'll dye one of their heads purple or something. They'll probably be up for it; those two are by far the nuttiest and most easy-going Weasleys."

Percy smiled, but it lacked the ease he had shown earlier. Trying to shrug off his worry, he placed Fred beside his twin and reached in for the next to last picture.

"That's Ron. He's the youngest boy, though he's gotten taller than Fred and George," he said nodding towards the other pictures on the bed.

Percy studied them for a moment, then added, "I can still tell that he's younger, though." Then he looked surprised by something Ron had done in the picture.

Bill craned his head to see. The picture had been taken to show Ron holding his new broomstick with pride. Unfortunately, he had somehow managed to trip over it. Bill winced, suspecting that that showed a tendency towards self-doubt. From what he had heard of this past Quidditch season, Ron had dealt with a lot of that before finally overcoming it with a win. To Percy he said, "He's really not a klutz. It's just...well, whereas the twins are usually causing trouble, Ron just seems to find it naturally."

Percy nodded thoughtfully. He carefully placed Ron between George and Ginny.

"I probably should have put in a picture of Harry," Bill mused absently as he watched. When that only earned him a blank look, he continued, "Harry is Ron's best friend. But he's practically a member of the family; he'll probably be around a good bit."

Still no sign of recognition. Percy went back to the box and Bill sighed. He had half hoped that, as Percy seemed to have retained a basic knowledge of the wizarding world, Harry Potter would be included in it.

Percy pulled out the last picture. This one he spent a long time studying.

Bill had debated including it. But the set was incomplete without it, and he felt that the implications of that were far worse than the actual picture.

"I don't look very happy," Percy finally said softly.

The Percy in the picture looked fairly ticked off that he had been interrupted in the midst of whatever he was working on. After giving them an annoyed look he went back to his papers and began pointedly ignoring them.

"Must have caught you on a bad day," Bill offered lightly.

It was a lie, and he felt bad for it. Most of their pictures of Percy were like that. He had searched for the shot of Percy's graduation from Hogwarts, in which he looked a bit arrogant but was also at least a bit happy. But as he had thought of this late last night, then stumbled out of bed to go to his apartment and get pictures together from his own collection, his options were limited.

Percy accepted his flimsy explanation, though he still looked at the picture uneasily. With utmost delicacy, he reached out and adjusted all of the pictures until there was space between Charlie and George. Slowly, carefully, he placed his picture between his brothers. Then he straightened up, taking in the entire family. Bill watched him for a few moments, then shifted to place an arm around his shoulders. Percy leaned into him. "I wish I could remember them," he confessed softly.

"I know," Bill responded, just as softly. He gave into a brotherly urge and pressed a soft kiss in Percy's hair. "But even if you never remember, we'll give you plenty of new memories. I promise."

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

tbc