Deconstruction

Chapter Twelve: The Man In The Trunk

Remus called upon the Weasleys to meet with him for lunch, but he wasn't overly surprised that Arthur couldn't make it. Molly had prepared warm soup with sandwiches for them to eat as her sons filtered in. Molly had spent most of her time cleaning the house over and over again. Anything to keep herself distracted from her worries.

"I'm just trying to make sure that no vermin get in here," said Molly as she wiped down the countertop. The lines around her eyes were deeper. "I'm sorry that Arthur couldn't make it. The Minister had to meet with him."

Remus nodded as he took a sip of his drink. He put it down and said, "That's why I'm here, Molly."

She stopped her cleaning for a moment and turned to face him. She asked, "Did you hear anything yet? Kingsley has all of the information from Tonks' search, doesn't he?"

"Sorry, I'm a little late," said Bill as he came in. "There's so much to do at the bank today. Where's the others?"

"You're the first one here," Molly told him. "It's not unusual for people to be so busy today." Bill leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"So, what's been going on?" asked Bill, turning his attention to Remus.

Remus answered, "There's going to be a big meeting with the Minister and other ministers and representatives. Everyone's got their hands full with that. The Order should be having a meeting about it soon."

"This is about Percy, isn't it?" asked Bill.

Remus didn't have a chance to answer because Charlie, Fred, and George Apparated in. "Hullo Remus," greeted George. The others eyed Remus, seemingly knew that there was something wrong. "What were you talking about before we came in?" asked Fred.

"I have some news about the search for Percy, but it's not really good news," admitted Remus. "With the big meeting that's going to be happening all of the Aurors have been redirected to cover security for visitors. That includes Kingsley."

Molly looked horrified at what Remus was saying, so much so that she interrupted him before he could continue, "You mean to tell me that no one will be free to go and look for Percy?"

"That's what I came here to tell you. Kingsley's really sorry about it, too."

"If I had known that this is what was going to happen, I would have just let Tonks keep looking regardless of what she thought of us," exclaimed Molly angrily. "At least I know that she cared enough to stay with the case."

"I went looking for her, but Tonks decided to take a holiday," said Remus almost wincing as he waited for Molly's next reaction.

It was Charlie who expressed the general opinion of the room, "She went on holiday? Why would she do that? She sent all the information, but it was all in pieces. Damn it."

"She must have been mad if she left town," said Fred. His voice was uncharacteristically soft. He had been very quiet since the investigation had begun. "I was just thinking how Percy was before. No matter how we treated him, he'd never do anything to me or George. He would just walk away in a huff, but perhaps Tonks might be right. Maybe we didn't know him at all."

Molly sniffled. "It was like having a stranger in the house," she agreed reluctantly. "I thought I knew him the best." Bill, who was standing behind her, gently rubbed her shoulders.

"I was going to say just because the Aurors can't continue looking, doesn't mean that you can't," pointed out Remus. "You have all the information that Tonks had given Kingsley and he since he can't continue, it doesn't mean that he won't give it to you."

"Maybe, Oliver had something and just didn't tell Tonks," said George. "I mean for someone who was so thorough with everything else, she didn't really question Oliver that deeply. Fred, why don't you and I drop by to see him?"

"I guess we haven't got much of a choice, but to take over ourselves," agreed Bill. "Here, I'll make some inquires at the bank. Charlie, why don't you go into the Ministry and ask some questions there? Maybe there were other things that Tonks didn't get to."

"And Fred and I will go to Oliver's place. That was Percy's last known address," said George as Fred nodded.

Molly didn't say anything, but she served lunch. Everyone eat in silence. Her sons finished their meals quickly and went out the door to hunt for their missing brother as fast as they could.

Tonks and Oliver arrived in the quiet town where the hospital was situated. Tonks, knowing more about the Muggle world, knew that they simply couldn't step onto the hospital grounds to just ask about Percy. They didn't even know for sure if he was there, and Tonks had left without doing an research like she normally did. Oliver had even less of an idea how to get to the hospital. The whole idea of having a large place like that ward in St. Mungo's made him unease.

Tonks looked up the phone number of Dr. McCoy's residence, but she tried to call the hospital first. They had checked into an inn with rooms next to each other. Oliver was playing around the with the television.

"Would you mind lowering the volume?" asked Tonks loudly.

Oliver turned and retorted, "I would if I knew how."

"Give me that," ordered Tonks, grabbing the remote out of his hand. She turned off. "I'm trying to make a call." She held up her hand before he could say anything else. "Hello, I would like to speak to Dr. Gregory McCoy."

The voice on the other end sounded stress as he replied, "I'm sorry, but Dr. McCoy is unavailable at the moment. Would you like to live him a message?"

"No," replied Tonks. "Do you know when he'll be available?"

"I can't say. The hospital is currently on lockdown," answered the voice. "I have to go now." The line went dead.

Tonks hung up. Oliver stared at her. "Nothing?" he asked.

"No, the hospital just went under lockdown," she replied. "That means that if he's in there, we won't be able to know for sure."

"What about going and talking to Dr. McCoy directly?"

"You mean going into his house and waiting for him?"

"What choice do we have?"

Tonks couldn't help, but feel anxious about what was going on. "There's no telling when he'll be back there," she whispered.

Oliver pointed out, "We could just wait. It's better than sitting here or trying to get past all the Muggles without using magic. Besides, Dr. Shah said that they were friends. He was the one who made arrangements."

"Maybe, there's something in the house."

"You know you've got the daring to make a good Auror," said Tonks. "But you don't have the morals for the work."

"How do you know that for sure?" asked Oliver. "All I really care about is finding Percy."

"Then, we'd better go," said Tonks. "We need to get there before it gets too late. We want to be there before he gets back to his house."

"We need to get you some different clothes," pointed out Dr. White. "And you need to stop calling me doctor."

"What do you want to be called then?" he asked with some amusement.

"Gwen."

"Gwen," he repeated as if feeling out her name in his lips.

She just realized something and asked, "I still don't know you're name."

"It doesn't matter," he said calmly. "We won't be together much longer anyway."

Gwen bit her lower lip and tried to smile for him, but was unable to. She nodded as if she truly understood. "I can't say that I won't miss you. You helped me understand something about myself that I didn't understand before."

"Good. Then we're even."

"Let's go and get some new clothes and some food. I have my wallet with me," she said, changing the subject. She cleared her throat as they continued in silence. She truly didn't understand why they couldn't stay the way they were. She had come to need him. He was the closest person she had to a friend in a long time.

She was going to have to let him go and she didn't even ask how he was able to lock the door back at the hospital. She knew that he wasn't going to give her an answer. The next thought she had was that she had to protect him. He was going to separate from her in order to protect her. That much she was able to sense. Defying all logic and reason, she knew that he was trustworthy.

She was afraid of losing him.

Fred and George stopped by the Oliver's flat. They were a little surprised by the location. They didn't go into the Muggle world that often, and it was almost unbelievable that Percy would live in such an area. They were preparing to go inside when they noticed an elderly gentleman was watching them.

"You look like that other young man who used to live there," he commented as he squinted at them through his glasses.

"Did you know him?" asked Fred anxiously. "Have you seen him?"

"No, I have not," replied the gentleman. "He was not very open. He would leave on most of the weekends unless the other one was here."

"Weekends?"

"Yes, but that was until he had to go to the hospital down the street. One could never really tell how troubled a person is."

George asked, "What do you mean? Why would he need to go to a hospital?"

"I do not know."

"Thank you," said Fred. "But we'd like to get inside and we have a key."

"Yes," confirmed George. "Thanks." They waited until the gentleman was on his way before Fred unlocked the door using his wand. They walked into the flat which was as cold as a tomb.

"This place is huge," commented Fred. "But it looks like no one's here."

"Maybe Oliver's at practice," said George. "Why don't we just get going?"

Fred wandered to the mail and started to rifle through the papers. "Do you remember how Ron had to send a letter to Harry through Muggle post?" he asked.

George nodded, "And he had to up postage stamps on them. It's proof of payment."

"Then, why was Percy receiving Muggle post?" asked Fred as he opened the envelope. "It's a bill."

"A bill?" asked George as he walked up to Fred and read over his shoulder. "I guess Percy going to the hospital is true. What was he there for? When was he there?"

"Months before he disappeared," whispered Fred. "He was still working in the Ministry. We didn't see him since before then. He must have been sick the entire time."

"Why didn't he go for treatment at St. Mungo's? Why did he let the Muggles treat him? They cut people open like fish for crying out loud," exclaimed George as he started to look around. He was opening cabinets. It seemed that Oliver hadn't cleaned out some of them because one of the drawers had a prescription bottle in them. "Look at this, Fred."

"What?"

"It's a bottle. It's got something I can't read, but it's got to be one of those Muggle potions," said George. "It says here that it's for the treatment of clinical depression. It's for Percy. There's another name on it, M. Shah." He glanced at Fred. "What does this all mean?"

"I don't know," muttered Fred. "I just don't know."

He walked around and stared at one of the drawings on the wall. It was a delicately drawing of an owl. "George, come and look at this," he said loudly.

George walked over and saw the picture on the wall. "That's nice, but it's not moving."

"I know that," snapped Fred. "But look at the way it's drawn. I think Percy drew this."

"Are you sure? I didn't think he was that artistic," said George skeptically.

Fred lifted the picture off the wall. "Remember, whatever we know about Percy might be wrong, but this might have something." He took it to the table and slipped off the backing.

The twins gasped at the same time, "Oh God."

It was a drawing the resembled something like "The Scream" except it was the face of a Dementor. It had been done completely in pencil, but the picture practically leaped off the page. Its face was a rotting mass of flesh, but its eyes, nostrils, and its mouth were pronounced. "I think we'd better take this with us," whispered George. "I'll go look for more pictures."

Fred went through and started searching through the rest of the mail. He went up the stairs while George took all the pictures off the walls. Fred found the empty bed room and found Oliver's room. He opened the closet and drawers. Things were missing. It was fairly obvious that he was gone. "George, Oliver's gone. He's not going to be back for a while. He must have gotten out while the going was good," he announced as he went down the stairs. "What else did you find?"

"Portraits," answered George as Fred joined him at the table. "Here's one of Penelope. The others I don't know, but one of them is a Death Eater."

Fred studied the pictures. "He drew all of these and Oliver kept them in plain sight." He saw the picture of Penelope with her eyes closed, while the other two had their eyes opened. "Her eyes are closed. He must have drawn this after she died."

George looked at the picture of the other young man. "He looks like he's around Percy's age. Probably someone he knows, but I have no idea who he is. Maybe, he knew him from work."

"Or he could be Alistair Xavier," said Fred.

The twins stared at the last picture hard. It was a picture of a beard man with angry flashing eyes. He had thick dark hair and a thin aristocratic nose. He looked very regal indeed, but Percy had drawn the Death Eater symbol on his forehead.

"We need to take this to the Aurors," said George. "So, Oliver left?"

"Yeah," answered Fred. "It seems that he left, but not too much in a hurry. He was able to make it look like he wasn't going anywhere."

"That's another person gone missing," muttered George. "No wonder Tonks was losing it. It's like Percy's a vortex or something."

"More questions than answers," agreed Fred. "Let's get out of here. There no telling if Oliver will be back or not, but if he does get back, I've got a lot of questions for him."

As soon as nightfall came, Tonks and Oliver were at the residence of Dr. McCoy. He lived in a townhouse near the hospital, and it was obviously built decades ago. He lived at the end of a quiet neighborhood. The electric lights were on in the homes and in the streetlamps. Oliver was the first one at the door as Tonks looked around. He used his wand to unlock the door. They quietly crept into the house.

To their surprise, the house looked normal. However, when Tonks tried to flicker her wand on, it wouldn't work. "What the—"

"My wand won't work either," finished Oliver. "I mean we got inside easy enough. Let me check the door to make sure we can get out." He tried the door and found that he could still open it. "This is weird."

"I don't want to turn on the Muggle lights in case the neighbors notice," said Tonks. "But we won't be able to see once we step away from the windows. The only reason why we can see right now is because there are the lampposts outside."

"Maybe there are candles or something," suggested Oliver. "I don't understand why we can't use our wands."

"Maybe there's a spell in the house," said Tonks as she looked around. "It might be the reason why Dr. Shah trusted Dr. McCoy with Percy's secret."

Oliver shook his head. "I don't think so. From what I could tell from Dr. Shah, she wouldn't have told anyone unless she was given permission to do so, but I don't think Percy would have agreed to do it unless he knew Dr. McCoy ahead of time."

Tonks sighed. "Enough of this talking in the dark," she announced as she turned on the light. "I don't think any of the neighbors are going to be outside anyway. It's too dark. Let's close the curtains just the same." Quickly, they closed the curtains.

"There has to be something in this house that doesn't allow us to do magic," said Tonks. "We have to figure out what it is."

"Dr. McCoy could be home at any minute," said Oliver. "So let's make this quick."

Tonks started walking on the carpet and noticed the floorboard was loose. "Oliver, get off the carpet. There's something loose under it." Oliver moved off and so did Tonks onto the other side. "Okay, let's move this aside."

Together they slide the carpet aside and saw that there were two long planks for floorboard loose. "Careful. Watch your fingers," said Tonks as they lifted on both sides to move the first one. They did the same with the second one. "It looks like a trunk. By the looks of things, it hasn't been here for very long."

"What could be inside it?" whispered Oliver.

"Only one way to find out," answered Tonks as she walked around to the edge where she could see the lock. "Let's hope that he didn't lock it." She slide the latch and opened the lid. She gasped so did Oliver.

There was a body folded into the trunk. It was obvious that it was the body of a man, but he wasn't decomposing. He looked around his mid to late thirties and his graying, short brown hair looked like someone had clipped a lock of it.

"I think we just found Dr. McCoy," whispered Oliver.

Tonks would have responded, but neither of them knew that the spell on the house that prevented magic from being used was just disarmed. "Stupefy!" roared a voice from behind them. Oliver and Tonks dropped.

A tall dark figure slowly walked towards them. He stopped for a moment and dipped down close, studying Tonks' face. He traced a finger along her jaw line, ignoring Oliver all together. He knew that the neighbors would have heard some of the noise. He also knew that the police would be coming by soon to look for Dr. McCoy, so he didn't even bother to cover up the body. He picked up Tonks and hoisted her over his shoulder. He went to the fireplace and lit a fire. In less than an instant, he was gone with his unexpected prize.

AN: There's a cold reality. Another death. There are a couple of things that were introduced that lead up to clues. Ones that Tonks had missed, even though she might be the closest one to finding Percy. It's kind of ironic that Oliver would break into someone else's home as Fred and George broke into his. This is probably the last time you will see Percy and Gwen together in a chapter. By the next one, they have already separated.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. This story belongs to me and cannot be posted anywhere else without my permission.