Deconstruction
Chapter Three: The Weasley Brothers
Tonks had to make arrangements to meet with the Weasley brothers, but it wasn't going to be as easy at it sounded. All four of them were busy and normally, she didn't see them unless there was a meeting for the Order. Each of them had their own lives and none of them seemed overly concerned about Percy. To a varying degree, Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George barely acknowledged Percy's existence.
The first person to start with was Bill Weasley. As the oldest, he more or less was the main representative of his family. He was the natural born leader of the pack and he was perhaps the biggest risk taker out of his siblings. Tonks liked how modern he looked with his dragon fang earring and long hair.
She had managed to arrange a meeting at his office at his workplace, Gringotts Bank. She normally wouldn't seek him out for a social call, but this wasn't one. Tonks was hoping that he had heard from Percy, but just didn't advertise it with the family. Bill agreed to meet with her in his office, which over looked Diagon Alley.
A goblin admitted her to the offices and guided her to Bill's office without saying a word. She knocked on Bill's office. "Come in," he said as Tonks opened the door. He looked up at her with a smile. There wasn't much on his desk because he really hated doing paperwork, but he was only there for the Order. She returned her smile just before closing the door behind him. "So, what I have I done in order to get a visit from you, Tonks?" asked Bill jovially.
"Do mind if I sit down?" asked Tonks as she took out a notebook and a quill from her pocket. "I need to ask you a few questions."
Bill nodded obligingly as he asked, "So, what did you want to ask me?"
Tonks took a deep breath because she wasn't going about to beat around the bush. That wasn't her natural style. "Have you heard from your brother, Percy, lately?" she inquired.
Bill's eyebrows furrowed as he shook his head. "No, I haven't. Why?"
"Then, you don't know. No one has seen your brother for the past twelve weeks."
Bill looked flabbergasted as his jaw dropped. "No one's seen him for three months?" He said the last part slowly. "That's impossible. He was the one who turned in Fudge. Why that was—"
"Three months ago," provided Tonks. "No one has seen him since that day. He walked out of the Ministry and just vanished into thin air. I was wondering if you heard from him since then."
"I already told you. Not a single owl from him. Percy stopped talking to me months ago. Do you think something's happen to him?"
"I don't know yet. Your father just asked me yesterday to look into it. Do you know anyone who might possibly know where he might be?"
"No one. To tell you the truth, I never really took much interest in what Percy was doing," admitted Bill. "I'm sorry. I wish that I knew something. It must have been too long. We were expecting him to contact us after Fudge's arrest, but he never did. We thought that he was going to ask about joining up with us."
"Did anyone extend an invitation to him right after?" asked Tonks.
"Dumbledore had suggested that my dad do it, but my dad disagreed. He said that we should wait for Percy to come. Both of them have a lot of pride, Tonks," replied Bill. "That's the reason why the row lasted for as long as it has. I don't think my mum knows about this. She hasn't really been all that worried. She said that she was glad that Percy just got out of the Ministry and gave Fudge what he had coming."
"Do you know why Percy would suddenly just do that to Fudge?"
"I can't say. I mean he had plenty of time turn him in between the incident in the Department of Mysteries and when he actually did it."
"No one was expecting that. Percy had appeared to be one of Fudge's supporters throughout the whole thing. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself."
Bill raised his eyebrow at her. "So, you saw him at the Ministry that day?"
"Yes," answered Tonks. "I saw him." She shifted uncomfortably under Bill's gaze as she squared off her shoulders. "If that's all you have for me, then I'll have to proceed with my investigation."
"Are you going to question my brothers?" he asked as she rose to her feet. "Because I doubt they have anything more than I do."
"You never know that," said Tonks calmly. She pocketed her quill and notebook. Bill gave her an uncertain look as he requested, "Would you mind keeping me appraised of your investigation?"
"I'll see what I can do," replied Tonks noncommittally. She had a hard enough time reporting to Kingsley, and there was also Arthur to contend with. "I am already reporting to your father, Bill. I sure he'll pass on anything I find out. I'll see you later. At the next meeting."
Bill nodded as he rose to his feet as well. He strode to the door and opened it for Tonks, allowing her out. As soon as she stepped outside, she heard him close the door. She had a feeling that Bill was going to start making inquiries of his own because he was bored with his desk job for the bank.
Tonks continued until she was out of the bank. She wasn't too far away from Fred and George's store, Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, but she decided to question them last. She'd rather stick to her plan of questioning the brothers in their birth order. Tonks took out her notebook to check where she could find Charlie.
Charlie Weasley had recently relocated to Scotland to be closer to his family and the Order. There was a dragon reserve up in the Moors that required his expertise. Tonks hadn't seen him as often as she had seen the other brothers, but he had always been very friendly to her. They had the common interest of Quidditch.
Tonks Apparated there without delay because she wanted to get to Charlie before Bill sent an owl. The chill caught up with her almost instantly. The dragon reserve was far off any major roads that the Muggle drove on. The desolated, rocky area was very uninviting that only a few Muggles who liked hiking and spelunking ever made it near even to the reserve to cause concern. There were also wards that kept them from getting close enough to even see a dragon. Although, there were some reports ever once in a while that surfaced about the dragons when they took flight.
Scotland's Loch was one of the grounds that the Muggles went to as a tourist spot, but Ness was never there for them to see. The Loch Ness was real, but it didn't remain in the lake because the wizards had taken great care in transporting the water dragon close to the reserves. Tonks' father once told her how his family had taken a vacation to see the famed monster, but he later found out that it wasn't even there. Her father said he was both relieved and disappointed at the same time.
Tonks craned her neck upward to the sky to look for any dragons that could flying above her. There were none to be seen. The dragons were only allowed out at night, but ever once in a while one would get loose. Tonks pulled her cloak closer to her as strong breeze spun around her. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated as she looked for an entrance among the dense trees to get inside the reserve. Carefully, she studied the ground and saw that there was a trail that was full of heavy tread from boots. She followed into a pair of trees that didn't look like they were naturally planted together and simply stepped through.
She was greeted by a smiling young man who looked a few years younger than her. "Hullo, Miss."
"Hullo. I'm looking for Charlie Weasley. Tell him that Tonks is here to see him."
"You know Charlie? He's a great bloke. Knows more about dragons than anyone here. Why do need to see him?"
Tonks smiled at the young dragon handler and asked again, "Please. This is urgent. I need to speak with him."
"What are you doing, Rodney?" asked a voice from behind them. "Tonks? What are you doing here?"
"Charlie, it's good to see you. I had to come to ask you a few questions."
"Sure," said Charlie as he watched Rodney go off with the other dragon handlers. "Is this about—"
"This isn't about that," Tonks cut off. "Percy hasn't been seen for the last three months." She waited for Charlie's expression. He had almost the exact same reaction that Bill had. The look of astonishment on his face was even more expressive. "I've just come from talking with Bill. I'm going to be questioning Fred and George next. I won't be able to ask Ron and Ginny anything while they're at school. And I think that they have even less information than the rest of you."
"What do you need to know?" asked Charlie.
"When did you last see him?"
"Almost a year ago. I tried to talk to him face to face. I didn't tell anyone else in my family. I wanted him to go back and talk to our dad, but he wouldn't. He was always so bloody stubborn."
"Did he contact you at all by any other means?" Tonks wrote down Charlie's answer as he shook his head. "You didn't hear from him at all?"
"Nothing. The last letter he sent to any member of our family was to Ron during the school year. Ron said it was a letter to congratulate him about being a prefect," replied Charlie as they continued to tour the grounds. Tonks gave him an inquiring look. He answered the look without hearing her question. "Percy wrote to warn Ron about being friends with Harry Potter and about Dumbledore being wrong and mad. Perhaps, Percy was hoping to get someone from the family on his side."
"Or he was trying to further isolate himself from the family," pointed out Tonks. "Your brother is certainly good at burning his bridges."
Charlie stopped in his tracks and shook his head. "Percy is just ambitious and it tends to blind him to his own faults that's all. He wouldn't be so cruel to my parents. He put them through a lot, but my mum's never given up on him."
"What about you?"
"He's my brother, Tonks. I may not like him very much, but that doesn't mean I don't love him," replied Charlie simply.
"He doesn't sound so loveable to me, Charlie."
"Do you think something awful happen to him?" His voice was strained with worry. "I mean he changed the Ministry for the better. Fudge was his only real victim. I can't imagine anyone hurting him."
"Then tell me, do you know someone who was close to him after he left the family?"
"I don't know anyone. He didn't say. I heard that he used to go with a girl when he was in Hogwarts. Her name is Penelope Clearwater. She was in Ravenclaw. Maybe, he might have still kept in touch with her. Who asked to go looking for Percy in the first place?"
"Your father did," replied Tonks. "He got worried. From what I could tell from Bill, it took a lot of swallowing of pride from your dad to come up and ask where he's been. Did you like Bill expect him to join up with us?"
Charlie looked away for a moment. "I don't know. I was just expecting him to come home. For all that Percy is, he's still a part of the family. We're not the same without him. I don't understand why he'd just leave without saying anything. I mean is he really missing or did he just leave?"
"I don't know that yet," answered Tonks truthfully. "So, far I started with questioning you and your brother first. I looked up his file in the Ministry. He didn't have an address, so I was hoping that you might know where he lived. I mean even he couldn't live at the Ministry. He had to have a life outside of it, no matter how dull it was."
"I never bothered to get to know his friends," admitted Charlie as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I didn't even think he had any. I never really cared to know. I wish I had more to give you, but I don't have anything else. I think that Fred and George might know more. They spent more years at Hogwarts with him than me or Bill."
"Your father told me to keep him up on anything I find," said Tonks. "I never took the time to get to know Percy and I did see him from time to time at the Ministry. As near as I can tell, he didn't have any friends there either."
Charlie sighed. He glanced at her. "Sometimes, I think he only turned out that way because of the way we treated him. He was always so different from the rest of us. He's the quiet one and always so serious. Did you know that his sorting at Hogwarts took the longest? I'm pretty sure that hat had the hardest time figuring out where he was supposed to go."
Tonks nodded in agreement. Yes, Percy was different from the rest of his family. There was a lot going on about him that they didn't know about nor did they have the patience to take the time to work out. "If you don't mind, I have to leave to get back to London to interview Fred and George."
"You're probably better off going now because I don't have anything more to give you," agreed Charlie. He escorted her back to the entrance of the dragon reserve in pensive silence. He was probably racking his brain, trying to figure out where Percy could have gone. "I hope that you find him soon. If you have any questions or if you're wondering about something that I could possibly know, don't hesitate to contact me again."
"Thank you, Charlie," whispered Tonks. "I'll try my best. Take care."
"You, too," he whispered back as he turned back to the reserve. Tonks wrote down a brief note about the interview and decided to move onto the next one. She was about to discover that even as identical twins, Fred and George still had their own unique differences.
After he was remanded to his cell, he closed his eyes for only a short while. He only got by a mere hours of sleep and ate as little as possible. He was haunt by nightmares and the Muggles had a tendency to spike the food with their drugs that made his mind even more muddled. However, he soon found himself asleep.
It was one of his reoccurring nightmares. In this one, he is walking down a cold, long corridor light with dim lights. His glasses felt heavy on the ridge of his nose and a voice tells him that it was time for him to identify the body. The body under the white cloth. The body in the metal drawer. The door swung open for him as he walked up to it. Slowly, he crept towards the only open drawer where a pair of feet stuck out from under the white cloth. There was a tag on one of the big toes.
His breath was harsh as his heart began to pound against his ribcage. With trembling hands, he reached for the cloth with both hands to pull it back to see the person under it—
He woke up gasping for air. His hands darted out, reaching for nothing. He tried to remember where he was. When he did, it calmed him down again. He was safe where he was. That was one of the good things of the hospital.
He was safe.
Safety was just an illusion. The hospital was only safe to the truly deluded. All of them were trapped in some way. He was just as trapped as the rest of them, but he wasn't that safe.
Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes was one of the most successful shops in Diagon Alley. The business was one of the top competitors against Zonko's Joke Shop. WWW, as Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes was called by frequent shoppers, was constantly expanding their line with new pranks and great jokes every month. Fred and George Weasley were considered marketing and business geniuses. They were now the most successful out of all the Weasley siblings.
As part of their newfound success, they moved out of the Burrow. The Weasley home remained empty since the summer before last. Fred and George helped out their family's financial situation by helping Ron and Ginny with their school supplies. Things were looking up for the Weasleys thanks to the twins.
Tonks walked into the joke shop and one of the more goofier employees walked up to her. He was only goofy because of the glasses with swirls in them and the funny hat. "Welcome to Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes!" he declared in an overly cheerful voice.
"I'm looking for Fred and George Weasley," said Tonks as she held out her arms in a defensive stance. "I'm here to ask questions about their brother." She figured it would be the fastest way to get the attention of the twins.
"I'll see what I can do. They're in the back," said the employee as he scampered off. Tonks blew a sigh of relief that lifted her bangs as she looked around.
The shop had been expanded to suit the needs of the growing WWW line. To think, Fred and George had dropped out of school only to create a successful business. Their escape from Hogwarts was one for the record books. Tonks nearly touched something that caught her attention.
"I never thought you were the type who would go after shiny objects," observed a very amused redhead as his brother grinned at her. Tonks had to look at them when they were talking because their voices sounded alike. "Do you want to go out and talk about it? We're due for a break."
"We just had a break five minutes ago, Fred," pointed out George.
Fred laughed and said, "We're the bosses, George. We can take another break. Let's go and grab a bite to eat."
"I'll buy," offered Tonks. Silently, grateful that neither of them asked which brother she was had referring to.
"Then, I guess we'll take another break," agreed George with that the three of them proceeded outside. They took the short walk to the Leaky Cauldron because it was the closest place. Fred opened the door for her and his twin.
Tonks allowed them to get comfortable before she started her informal interview, but it was before they even had a chance to place their orders to Tom. "I wanted to talk to you about Percy," she merely said as she looked at them.
The expressions on their faces immediately separated the twins. Fred's face twisted in anger as George's became more questioning. "No one has seen him since that day in the Ministry. After Fudge was arrested and he turned in his resignation. It's been three months. Your father has asked me to go and look for him."
Fred was the first to respond, "We haven't heard from him. And if he walked out on Fudge, then that's what he did to us."
"I know that you are angry about your brother leaving your family the way that he did," placated Tonks. "But that doesn't change the fact that he's gone and no one has heard nor seen him in that time."
"And you're wondering why no one bothered until now?" demanded Fred, totally monopolizing the conversation. George looked like he wanted to say something, but he wasn't given a chance to. "That's what he does. He walks out on people. He doesn't know what it means to be loyal." He slide the chair out and got to his feet. "And I'm not going to waste time talking about him, while there's work to be done."
He stormed out of the pub just as Tom had come up to take the orders. There was a brief awkward silence. George broke it by placing his order and then Tonks placed hers. As soon as Tom was gone, George said, "You'll have to forgive Fred. Percy's a bit of a sore spot for him."
"I understand," said Tonks. She was an only child, but that didn't mean she didn't understand how someone could feel betrayed by a family member. Her mother had done the same thing to hers, so Tonks knew what it meant to go one's own way. "So, was he telling the truth when he said that you haven't heard from him?"
"Did you talk to Bill and Charlie already?"
"Yes. They haven't heard from him."
"We haven't either. Things haven't been the same since Percy left. We're not even at our house. We can't stay there because of what's happening. My mum doesn't go there at all. Maybe, he's at the Burrow," suggested George.
"Does Percy know your family moved out?"
"It wasn't common knowledge. We had to be careful who we told. My dad probably thought that Percy was going to come to him and talk, but I guess he never did. Percy's got too much pride to apologize or admit he's wrong, but my dad just wanted him to come and talk."
"Okay, I'll check the Burrow," said Tonks as she made note of it in her book.
George shifted uncomfortably and sighed. "We did see someone not too long ago. Not Percy, but his flat mate," he confessed.
"His flat mate?" she repeated. "You mean you know where he moved out to?"
"Not exactly."
"Start from the beginning."
George sighed again as Tom came back and dropped off their orders and drinks. He licked his lips as he began, "It wasn't too long ago. Wait, it was. His flat mate was a friend of ours and the captain of the Quidditch team for the majority of the time we were on the team, Oliver Wood. Fred was happy to see him at first until he mentioned that he was living with Percy. After that, he got pretty shirty with him. Oliver left soon after that."
"So, Percy and Oliver know each other."
"They were in the same year at Hogwarts," confirmed George. "They were roommates at the dorms. I suppose they were friends. I never saw them together though, but then again, I avoided being around Percy as much as possible. Oliver was also pretty bad when the season was going on, and we had our own thing to do."
Tonks jotted down Oliver's name on a single page. She was going to have to do some reason. "But Oliver Wood is the keeper for Puddlemere United. He's one of the best Quidditch players that England's seen in ages," she said.
"Yeah, he was on the reserve team when started out. We've been following his game since then," said George. "Although, he's been off lately."
Tonks nodded as she finished off her meal. They had been eating and drinking while they were talking. "You should bring something back for Fred," she suggested.
George looked at her as she pulled out the money out of her little money satchel. But he shook his head, "I'll bring something back for him myself. I'm sorry that you couldn't ask him any questions."
"It's okay," said Tonks as she placed enough money on the table for her and George's meal. "I'll talk to you later. Your father will probably tell you what's going on." She was on her way just before she could barely hear George say, "I hope you find him."
AN: The truth is that Percy's own brothers don't know him. They have a tendency to underestimate his character. The great part of this fic is that I get to play around with some of the characters that I normally don't use or ignore all together. It also allows me to utilize characters that I've been wanting to play around with for a while.
kirikarin. I do not own Harry Potter. This story belongs to me and cannot be posted anywhere else without my permission.