Disclaimer: I just own the plot!
Review Responses:
ElavielBlack – It seems I did lose most of your last review, fanfic must have been funny but I got this one! I think Snape knows way more than people realise! Bill, well Bill will have to deal with things soon! George is my favourite twin too but I think they're both capable of being more than a little unpleasant in the books and their relationship with Percy's never been that great but don't worry they'll have to deal with things too within the next couple of chapters, though if you don't want to hurt them by the end of this chapter I'll be surprised! Thanks for the review!
lilyqueen777 – Ron does understand, I think he's way more understanding than people give him credit for. As for giving Percy an easier time, well once you've read this chapter you'll see how much I'm not doing that at present! But things may get better! Thanks for the review!
Silver Mirror – The twins are mean! But they'll start to realise that sort of, soon. Thanks for the review!
LaLa-the-panda – Glad you like my fic and the update is here!
Cooldot – I know cliffhangers are evil! So am I though! Bill is rather a bastard in this story isn't he? As for him being the cool one well a lot of people considered cool by their peers are actually pretty unpleasant! Sirius was cool at school and look at what he did to poor Severus! You may find he has a few redeeming moments later on though. As for the twins I used to love them but then I realised that some of the things they do are pretty unpleasant and I've never liked the way they treated Percy. Snape won't be turning them into mice again but he's back in this chapter! He'll be back later on as well and in the sequel he's there quite a bit! I think you're right anyone would be sick of Fudge by now so I had to have Percy stand up to him but as Arthur said it's not the wisest career move, or is it? I'm afraid this chapter's rather short again but it just had to end where it did in order for me to torture you all with the ending! See I really am evil! The next one's a bit longer though, I have to admit the chapters for this story are a bit short but that's the way they keep coming out I'm afraid! The chapters for the sequel on the other hand are currently driving me nuts because they keep getting longer and longer! Still I hope you'll enjoy this chapter anyway, it's more action packed than the others. Thanks for the review!
What You Leave BehindEmphasis
Chapter 7: Those Who Pay the Price
"Dress me up for battle, when all I want is peace. Those of us who pay the price come home with the least."
Harry and Hermione both arrived on the Friday evening following Percy's altercation with the twins and on the Saturday he was again left in charge of them all, including Ginny, Ron and Fred and George while their parents and Remus Lupin went to Hogwarts to meet with Dumbledore. Bill and Charlie had headed out to meet some old school friends in the hopes of finding people to recruit for the Order.
Hermione was busy doing her summer homework and badgering a quiet Harry to do the same while Ron had made his escape and headed off to find Fred and George. Ginny was curled up in a warm patch of sun reading a novel she was engrossed in and Percy was reading through some reports in his room. Snape was in the house somewhere, researching something in its small, but Dark Arts specific, library and with him in the house Percy felt the twins wouldn't dare to cause too much trouble. They'd been very wary of the man ever since the incident when he'd turned them into mice at an Order meeting. Even taking that into account though Percy was beginning to think things were far too quiet for him to be comfortable; no house with Fred and George in was ever quiet, unless it were the calm before the storm. The storm of course generally being aimed at him. Percy began to wonder if he was developing an extreme case of paranoia, then decided he didn't care and went to investigate anyway.
He came across Harry and Hermione easily enough; Harry had all but fallen asleep over a book Hermione was trying to force him to read. Percy briefly considered mentioning that the earlier version of that particular text was much more interesting before it had been edited to conform to popularly accepted ideas, but then thought better of it and left the room before they noticed him. Both of Ron's best friends had been decidedly cold towards him since they had arrived and Percy was determined not to end up in a fight with either of them.
After finding Ginny on her own with her book and exchanging a brief smile with her before leaving her in peace, he assumed Ron must be with Fred and George but instead he found him sat alone in his bedroom. "Hi, how come you're not with Harry and Hermione?"
Ron looked up with a thoughtful expression on his face, "Hermione was boring us silly, thought I'd make my escape. Went to find Fred and George."
"Where are they?" Percy asked curiously, "I've been looking for them myself, I got suspicious because the house was too quiet."
Ron shrugged and refused to meet his eyes, turning red.
"Ron, where are they?" Percy repeated.
Ron still couldn't meet his brother's gaze. "I don't know," he muttered defensively.
"Ron, I hate to tell you this, but you don't lie very well."
Ron sighed, "They went to interrupt that ministry thing."
"They've what?!" Percy took a deep breath and continued in a calmer tone, "Please, tell me that's a joke!"
"No. I didn't know if I should tell you but..." Ron trailed off; Percy had raced out the door with a worried look in his eyes, a moment later the sound of the front door slamming floated up to him.
Ron was left pacing impatiently, unsure of what to do. He was worried by the concern in Percy's eyes when he had left and he felt sure that, had either of their parents been in, Percy would not have gone alone. However there were no other members of the Order present in the house, just him, Ginny, Harry and Hermione...and Snape. Of course, it reminded Ron all too clearly of the time during the previous year that he, Harry and Hermione had made the same stupid mistake and how it had resulted in a man's death. Making up his mind he raced off to the small sitting room where he had last seen Snape looking over some papers.
Snape looked up as Ron entered and scowled before he had even registered who it was, clearly visitors were not exactly welcome. Ron swallowed his somewhat irrational fear of the potions master, well it seemed irrational until he remembered Fed and George as mice, and poured out the whole story of the twins' latest plan right up until Percy's sudden departure after them.
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Percy's mind was racing, he was genuinely concerned for his younger brothers, not only because if they were caught they'd be in serious trouble but also because sneaking up on an inexperienced auror recruit might not end well for them. The incident with Snape had proved that the man worked by instinct to ensure someone was no longer a threat without causing them permanent harm, hence the transfiguration into mice, but Percy knew that aurors had a nasty habit of starting out with a 'shoot now, leave asking questions to the healers who put them back together again' attitude.
On exiting Grimmauld Place Percy apparated immediately to the sight of the training exercises. Fred and George were there, just as Ron had said, and seemed in the process of setting up numerous pranks for the unsuspecting auror recruits. The unsuspecting auror recruits who Percy noticed were conspicuous by their absence considering how late it was.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Percy winced at the pompous note that had crept into his tone.
"Oh god, look who's here!" George rolled his eyes.
Fred frowned. "I suppose ickle Ronniekins, the perfect prefect mark two, told you where we were?"
Percy weighed things up for a split second. "No he didn't, I worked it out for myself and don't talk about him like that. He's your brother and he wouldn't have told me if he didn't care about you!"
"So he did tell you!"
Percy could have kicked himself, the twins had, for the hundredth time to date, caused him to trip over his own words fairly spectacularly and tell them exactly what he'd been trying not to.
"That's not important!" he snapped, "Do you two have any idea how dangerous this is? Now get home right now!"
"Since when do we take orders from you?" Fred sneered.
"I'm not giving you orders, I'm trying to keep you safe!"
"Yeah right!" Fred snorted derisively, "What exactly is there out here that could hurt us?"
"For God's sake Percy apart from your daft Ministry pals there's no one out here for miles," George argued.
"There is no one out here for miles, haven't you noticed the ministry training party are pretty damned late if they're going to show up at all. God knows what's going on but we need to get out of here!" Percy's worry was growing with every moment the aurors didn't arrive.
"I wouldn't stick around anywhere you were if you paid me!" Fred snapped and apparated away, presumably (well hopefully) home.
George scowled at Percy and went to follow suite when his look became one of bewilderment, "I can't apparate."
"Don't mess me around George, what do you mean you can't apparate? How exactly did you get here in that case?!"
"No I mean it's like there's something stopping me."
Percy tried to the same effect, "An anti-apparition field. Damn! The Ministry weren't supposed to have one of those up."
"Well if they have then I'm guessing they've finally arrived," George pointed out, "So why don't you just find them and ask them to take it down so we can leave?"
Percy frowned, realising he could hear voices getting closer. He shook his head suddenly and grabbed hold of George, sticking a hand firmly across his mouth to keep him quiet and pulled him down behind a nearby bush. "Be quiet!" he whispered.
George opened his mouth to answer but then saw through the branches of the bush a number of figures in robes, the only problem was they were all in black.
He glanced at Percy to see a grim look on his brother's face. He lifted a finger to his lips and gestured for George to stay still.
The figures were talking quietly amongst themselves.
"Well there's a few less aurors we'll be dealing with soon!" one of them laughed.
Another nodded, speaking in a deep yet feminine voice, "We might not have them all yet, I think one or two made a run for it, but they won't get far if they can't apparate."
Percy's blood ran cold as his mind jumped to the conclusion that the aurors wouldn't be showing up anywhere ever again most likely. The figures showed no signs of stopping in the area though, much to Percy and George's relief, until suddenly there was a small explosion and one of the figure's robes became a bright neon pink, complete with lacy bows. Percy couldn't see what had happened exactly but George knew, after all he'd only planted the joke ten minutes ago. Immediately all hell broke loose, the figures were furious and seemed not to realise that it had been something their companion had trodden on. "Whoever did it must be nearby, find them!" a woman's voice snapped.
There weren't many places to hide in the nearby area and Percy could see that any investigation of the area would bring them quickly to him and his brother; unfortunately, though he could see this would be a problem, he had no idea what the solution might be. George looked at him with desperation in his eyes and was not at all comforted at seeing it reflected in Percy's. Percy placed a hand on his brother's arm and gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to communicate that he wouldn't let anything happen to him, before taking a firm hold on his wand and standing up to stun one of the figures.
George was horrified, he had never exactly thought Percy would be the most useful person to have in a battle situation but his kamikaze tactics were worse than George would have expected. He grabbed his brother's robes and pulled hard, bringing him to his knees back behind the bush. The look Percy gave him though made him quickly let go, Percy looked furious and disbelieving and then it hit George that Percy hadn't been trying to fight them in order to win, he had been trying to keep his brother out of it, distract the Death Eaters into thinking he was alone. Obviously this was no longer an option, but as Percy struggled back to his feet to meet another Death Eater coming round the side of the bush he pushed George forcefully behind him, ignoring his brother's protests entirely.
There were five of them Percy had ascertained when he had stood the first time, all looking the same as the robes that had fallen victim to the prank had been put right with a flick of a wand. Only four of them should have been still on their feet but unfortunately the fifth had obviously been revived by one of the others and now all their attention was focused on the two Weasleys. He instinctively positioned himself between George and the one who posed the largest threat.
Percy had a moment's advantage in that the five figures were obviously surprised at the sight of them and it took a moment for them to continue reacting. Percy used the advantage to stun another of them and whirled to face a third before hearing his brother cry out. He looked back to see George lying on the floor and was at that moment hit with a searing pain in his head. Blood began to drip onto his glasses and he brought his hand up to his face in horror. He quickly turned his attention to the Death Eater he had been facing and stunned him as well. The only problem though with constantly stunning your opponents was that if you couldn't keep the others busy there was nothing to stop them simply being revived again.
Of the three still standing one was simply watching, their posture suggesting they were vaguely entertained and that the moment they stopped being entertained it would all be over, "You see child, you're not the only one who knows how to stupefy someone," the same female voice he'd heard before sounded as he turned desperately towards his brother.
George was now several metres away from him and a Death Eater was advancing on him, wand upraised purposefully. Percy could rarely remember feeling so angry in his life, his brother was going to be killed because he had been too afraid of looking like a fool by telling someone what was going on when he had first found out days before.
He looked at the figure approaching George and in one terrifying moment it was all perfectly clear, there were no grey areas everything was in a glorious black or white and it was a simple choice: us or them. The problem was easy, Percy needed them out of the way as soon as possible so as to not have them simply coming back at him and George again and again. The spell he used was the logical alternative, a spell designed to knock someone out with all the effect of a very sharp blow to the head, even if revived the person would be dizzy, disoriented and suffering from the headache from hell; not the best conditions to fight in.
Even as Percy cast it though he knew he wasn't knocking the figure out, there are certain spells which if used with different amounts of force produce different effects and when you're giving someone a blow to the head then too much force can produce a devastating effect on the human brain, and once that shuts down so does everything else. Percy knew exactly what he was doing, knew precisely what effect it would cause but it was only after he had cast it, watched a human being cry out in dismayed shock and pain, heard the thud of a lifeless body hitting the floor that the true reality of his actions hit home.
The horror on his face was seen clearly by the two remaining Death Eaters, both of whom now advanced to where he was stood in front of his brother. Percy attempted to stun them but found himself blocked easily and curses being sent in his direction which he had much more difficultly in blocking. The only thought that rang out clearly in his confused head was that he had to stop them, he had to remain standing, had to protect his brother.
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Severus Snape was not an easy man to shock. He had seen a hell of a lot, too much in fact for his relatively short years. The revelation that Fred and George Weasley could be so stupid or that their brother could be so impulsive in his will to protect them didn't surprise him at all; having Ron Weasley asking him for help on the other hand, well that was certainly a new experience.
He wasn't sure why he hadn't waited for some of the other members of the Order members before racing off after the senseless Weasleys other than something just didn't feel right. The same sixth sense that had kept him alive since turning spy for Dumbledore proved infallible as always, unfortunately.
As he drew near his destination he saw Percy stood between two cloaked and hooded figures in black and the prone body of one of his brothers. There were three more black robed bodies lying unmoving, and living or dead was at that point anyone's guess, on the ground nearby. The other Weasley twin was no where in sight. Percy had a large cut on his head and he was distractedly swiping blood out of his eyes, eyes which held an anger and determination Severus had rarely ever seen. Tinged with a hint of desperation, Percy's emotions shone clear through his spectacle rimmed blue eyes. And Severus wasn't the only one who could see those emotions.
Sensing Percy's fear, the two remaining figures were edging ever closer to him. Even as Severus began to run he knew he was too far away. They had not yet seen him, but he didn't care if they did, his hood was raised to prevent his identity being revealed to them. He could only watch helplessly as Percy sank to his knees in pain from whatever the latest curse had been to hit his slender form. His wand dropped from uncontrollably trembling fingers and Severus despaired of arriving in time to do anything but exact a little revenge.
The hood of a black robe fell back to reveal long, jet-black hair and an unmistakeably feminine face; Bellatrix Lestrange.
Percy seemed to recognise her as well as he fell forwards in a failed effort to move away from her, or so Severus initially thought. In a move so quick that it bore great testament to human resilience that Percy was still capable of it, Percy lunged forwards and came up with a knife, pulled out of the top of the woman's boot, which he drove without hesitation into her leg. Severus could have laughed at the abject shock on Bellatrix's face, stabbed with her own weapon, out-witted by a man many years her junior and of no battle experience. Severus settled for a wicked smirk before finally drawing close enough to disarm and restrain the two Death Eaters. It was only after he had done this that he turned to Percy Weasley, intending to offer a rare word of praise, to find him slumped and unmoving on the ground, his wand snapped in half beneath him.
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Minerva McGonagall had, in her time, thought of Severus Snape as many things but as she approached the appalling scene before her she saw a side of him she hadn't seen before. His usually impassive face was unguarded, emotions flitting across it as he turned Percy's body over with a tenderness and concern she would not have easily believed him capable of if she hadn't been watching it herself. She rushed across and knelt beside him, causing him to jump slightly and his emotionless mask to slip back over his features as he noticed her.
"Is he...?" she found herself too fearful to complete the question. She could see his brother's chest slowly rising and falling but Percy was exhibiting no signs of life.
"Barely," Severus answered briskly, "We need to get both of them to St Mungo's immediately."
Minerva nodded, oddly reassured by the man's calm control.
Between the two of them they were able to transfer the two injured Weasleys to St Mungo's while a team of aurors was dispatched to deal with the Death Eaters.
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The quote this chapter title comes from comes from a song by the Isley Brothers called "Harvest for the World".
I am so sorry about the delay on this but my computer needed mending and I've just come back to university a few days ago so this is the first time I've found to post but it shouldn't happen again. Sorry about that.
I'd love to hear what you thought of this.