I'm glad you like this newdevelopment. I have re-written this chapter so many times so I'm sorry I haven't updated before now. I hope you like this.
'Be by the fireplace 9:07 tonight if u want 2 c Percy ever again'
Oliver re-read these words at least thirty times before it really sunk in.
It must be a joke. It had to be a joke.
If it was, it was a pretty sick joke.
Oliver began to cry. He really began to cry. He scrunched the note up tightly into his palm and hurried towards the main house. He scooped up a phone from a table and jabbed in his parent's number. As soon as the other end picked up he started to sob into the phone.
"Mum!"
"Oliver? What's wrong? You sound like you're crying." Oliver's mother said calmly.
"It's Percy. Someone's taken Percy. Please come." Oliver stuttered, tears staining his face. Before Oliver had put down the phone, there was a crack and his mother was beside him. She took one look at her broken son and threw her arms around him.
"Mum! Percy's gone!" Oliver wept, holding out the crumpled piece of paper in his shaking hand. She read the note and brought her hand up to her mouth.
"Oh no." She whispered. Oliver started to cry harder.
"Look, we have to tell Molly and the family." She said, placing her arm back around Oliver's shoulders. Oliver nodded his head and coughed out a small sob.
"Okay, just a second." Sarah Wood gently moved her son to a seat in the kitchen, which was the nearest room. She picked up a small amount of floo powder from the floor and threw it into the fire.
"The Burrow." She said purposefully. The flames erupted in a mountain of green sparks and the view of the Weasley's kitchen appeared to her. Ron and Ginny were sitting at the table and Molly was fussing over supper. Ron and Ginny hardly noticed the floating head in the fireplace and Molly started to talk without taking her eyes off the food she was preparing.
"Hello there!" She chirped happily. "How are you?"
"Um, Molly, I think you'd better come to Percy's house." She said solemnly.
Molly put everything down and slowly turned towards the fire.
"Why? What's wrong?" She asked warily.
"Please, just come quickly, I'll explain everything when you're here." Sarah stated calmly.
Molly turned to her children and quickly ushered them towards the fire. Sarah left them and within a few seconds, Ron, then Ginny, then Molly had appeared in the kitchen of the Wood household. Molly saw Oliver sitting on a chair, his head in his hands, shaking uncontrollably.
"Oh love what happened?" She asked softly, moving to the brunette, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"It's Percy." He sobbed. "I'm sorry Molly!"
Sarah tightened her grip around her son and whispered soothing words to him.
"What happened?" Ron asked urgently.
Sarah held out the note. Molly grabbed it and read the words once, twice, three times, each repetition bringing tears faster from her eyes.
She dropped the note to the floor and brought her hands up to her eyes.
"Percy." She whispered.
Ginny grabbed the slip of paper from the stone floor and read it herself, Ron peered over her shoulder to take in the words.
Ginny gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Ron simply looked stunned.
"Ron, go and get Dad." Ginny ordered quietly, turning to her brother. Ron understood and disapparated, only to return less than a minute later with his father.
Arthur took one look at the scene and opened his mouth to ask what had happened, when his daughter handed him the paper.
Once it was read, Arthur's eyes darkened out of both despair, and anger. He took his wife in his arms and comforted her, trying his best to appear brave when inside he was being torn to shreds.
He sat his wife in a chair and went to kneel down before Oliver.
"Oliver? When did you find this?" He asked softly, trying to find out some more information as he held the piece of paper up.
"About fifteen minutes ago. I couldn't find him an- and then I went into the spare room and th- the window was open and that note was on the bed." He stuttered, bringing his hands down to his lap. Tears stained his bruised cheeks.
"It's okay Oliver. I'll go back to the ministry and get some people from the Department of Missing Persons. We'll find Percy, don't worry." He smiled. Oliver nodded numbly and his mother took him into a desperate hug, trying to take on some of his pain herself.
Arthur nodded at his children who were comforting their mother and he apparated back to the ministry.
Everyone was silent as they waited for Mr Weasley to return. When he was not back after five long, torturous minutes, Ron stood up from his place on the floor beside his mother.
"I'm going to get the rest of the family. Shall I get Peter too?" Ron asked Sarah.
"Yes please Ron." She smiled in thanks, looking up from her son, who had stopped crying and was now looking blankly into space. Ron nodded and left the room with a pop.
"Molly I'm so sorry." Oliver suddenly whimpered quietly, breaking the silence that had settled on the room yet again. Molly looked up from her daughter who she was cradling against her for comfort and smiled sadly towards her son-in-law. Her eyes were red and puffy and they looked hollow and distant.
"It's not your fault. And never think that it is. Don't worry, Perce'll be back."
Oliver stared at her for a long moment before he lifted himself painfully from his chair and walked over to the red haired woman. He held out his arms like a child asking his father to pick him up. Molly opened her arms and hugged the brown haired boy. Ginny moved from the two towards Sarah who placed her arm around the girl's shoulders.
Oliver removed himself from the embrace and turned to his mother.
"Mama." He mumbled as he stumbled towards her. Sarah rushed towards her son and brought him close to her, letting his head fall against her shoulder where tears began to stain. The two didn't notice the pops that sounded when Ron returned with his four brothers, his uncle Andrew and Oliver's father.
Peter Wood instantly joined the embrace shared by his son and his wife and they stood there for a long time, silently consoling each other.
Meanwhile, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George had swiftly gone to hug their mother and for the first time in their lives, Fred and George both shed a silent tear.
They were drawn from their anaesthetized state when Arthur returned with seven ministry workers.
"Please sit down." One of them offered kindly to the room of people. Peter conjured a few more chairs into the room and they all sat, except for Bill, waiting for the ministers to start their investigation. Sarah did not let go of Oliver's hand and Bill stood behind his mother, holding her shoulders, protecting her from an invisible assailant.
"This is a terrible thing to happen to anyone so we will try and start our search as soon as possible." One kind looking wizard started. "First, we will need to ask a few questions."
A few people in the room nodded in understanding.
"Now who was here when the incident occurred?" Another asked.
Oliver looked up and raised his hand slightly.
"Oh my. You didn't get these trying to fight them off did you?" A kind elderly woman asked Oliver, referring to his bruises. Oliver shook his head.
"It was a Quidditch accident." Sarah explained. The woman understood and smiled kindly.
"Now can you tell us exactly what happened?" The woman asked, drawing up a seat in front of Oliver. Oliver started to speak but kept his gaze fixed on his lap.
"Well, Percy had just helped me into bed because I just got back from the hospital this morning." There were a few sympathetic looks exchanged by the ministry workers. "And I fell asleep. I woke up and he'd brought me a hot water bottle. I got up and started to look for him and after a while I found where he had been. He must have been asleep in one of the spare rooms because the sheets were disturbed. The window was wide open and I found the note on the bed." Oliver couldn't continue, he leaned against his mother and tears fell from his eyes once more. Ron picked up the note from the wooden table and handed it to one of the officials.
The kind woman nodded and stood up from her seat. She walked to her colleagues and they talked in hushed voices for a few moments. Each person in the room strained to hear what they were discussing.
"We think that it's best to send out a secret search party but we will not be able to do anything full scale until we hear what the offenders have to say. This sounds like a ransom situation so we can hope to have Percy back soon. Now, is it possible to inspect the room in question?"
Oliver nodded and stood up, wincing slightly. Sarah made a move to stand up and help him but he smiled slightly and this gesture urged her to stay seated. Silently, Oliver walked from the room, four wizards following him.
"Are you alright Molly?" Asked a middle aged wizard, coming to sit by her.
"Yes, I'm alright Joe." She replied, putting on a brave face. Bill squeezed her shoulders slightly. The old friend of the family smiled re-assuringly at her and stood up again.
"Percy didn't have any enemies did he?" One witch asked the room softly.
"Well only every obsessive fan of Oliver's." Andrew stated, speaking for the first time. The rest of the room agreed.
"Well was there anyone specific?"
Everyone thought for a while until Andrew spoke again.
"Not that I can think of. Most people got used to them both and congratulated them. They never really had any trouble from anyone about it. Oh, apart from that nurse at the hospital. Amelia Jones I think her name was. Yes, I made a complaint about her."
"Really? Well, we shall definitely investigate that. St Mugos yes?"
"Yes, she's pretty well known for being rude so I doubt it would lead to anything." He said despondently.
"Well, we always make sure to investigate any lead. You never know, it might turn up something."
The four wizards who had investigated the spare room returned after fifteen minutes. It was now dark outside and Oliver was beginning to worry even more.
"Well, we have some good news." One of them proclaimed proudly. "This is obviously not a professional hit. There were fingerprints everywhere and some hair on the carpet. We should be able to trace them quickly."
Oliver and Molly both audibly sighed with slight relief.
"Well, it will soon be seven past nine so we should all leave and let Oliver deal with this floo message. Have you set up the tracking system?" One wizard asked his colleagues. Two of them nodded and they all left the room. Sarah gave her son a soft, quick kiss on the cheek before she left and everyone gave him encouraging looks as they exited the room. The twins gave him a thumbs up with made him smile slightly and gave him an extra ounce confidence.
He waited in silence for five minutes in front of the fire. He fiddled nervously with the hem on the pyjama top he was still wearing. He knew that the others were just outside the door and he knew there were wizards in the other fireplaces in the house, monitoring the conversation which was yet to come, but Oliver couldn't help but feel completely alone.
Oliver would never be able to forgive himself if Percy was hurt.
Percy must have gone to sleep in the spare room because he didn't want to disturb Oliver. If only he had insisted on Percy getting into bed with him, maybe this would never have happened.
Suddenly, the fireplace roared into life, green flames extending far up the chimney. Oliver's heart was beating faster than it had ever done before.
No head appeared.
A voice, echoed through the room.
"Hello Oliver."
I will try and update soon but these are the chapters that I am trying to make ultra special. Please review and tell me what you think. xxx
