The Love of a Brother
A/n: And now I'm contradicting myself, because this has sort of been done before. I did put a twist in there though. So it's not entirely cliché. Entirely.
Disclaimer: as we all know, I don't own any of it.
She couldn't believe it. Well, she could. If she stopped to think about it, everything fit perfectly. The oddities she had been noticing would make sense. She just wouldn't believe it. It simply was not possible. 'So why,' Ginny Weasley asked herself, 'am I sneaking up into Percy's room, looking for evidence to prove something I don't want to prove, and that can't be proven anyways, because it isn't even possible?' She answered her own question. 'Because, I just have to make sure that I'm insane, and I didn't really see what I thought I saw at lunch.' She stood at his door, hesitating, as she remembered all that had happened in the last few days.
Harry had come to the Burrow a few days ago, the summer after his sixth year. He would never have to go to the Dursley's again. Ever. And that was enough to make Ginny's entire summer. She had never seen Harry so happy; he was positively radiating joy, which was a big change for the normally moody teenager. A good change, it did his facial features justice.
Then today something unexpected happened. Percy came home. Fred and George weren't too thrilled about it. In fact, they had been fuming for over an hour now. Her father hadn't said much. Her mother was so happy she had started crying and fixed everything in the house for lunch. Harry looked like he was trying as hard as he could to look happy, but wasn't pulling it off too well. And Ron. Ron, well, to tell you the truth, Ron looked worried. For the life of her Ginny couldn't figure out why, but then again she didn't really care.
She was secretly overjoyed, but didn't let it show. She knew how Fred and George felt about it, and wasn't willing to risk offending them. It wasn't worth it. But she truly was glad that her brother was home.
He was the brother that she told all her secrets to, knowing that he would never tell. He was the one she went to late at night, after having one of her frequent nightmares, the ones where she revisited the Chamber of Secrets. Percy was always the one she could go to, to tell about her problems, her fears, her hopes and dreams. And he would always listen. Never laugh or make fun of her, never tell her he was too busy with something to hear what she had to say. He'd drop whatever he was doing and listen closely, nodding and agreeing, or holding her and stroking her hair while wiping away her tears, whichever the situation called for.
No one else in the family took her seriously. No matter what she said, they would just smile and pat her head, like she was a doll. They didn't listen to her ideas. They didn't think she actually contribute anything useful. She would always be the baby in their eyes. Ginny hated it, she wasn't five anymore. So when Percy had left, when the only person who treated her like she was a real human being with some sort of intelligence left, she nearly went insane. She wrote him letters all the time, begging him to come home. He never wrote back.
She had, on more than one occasion, considered taking her own life, she was that depressed. For a brief period of time she had been a cutter, but that had stopped as soon as the twins found out. She had never seen them so angry, at least not at her. They had given her a scolding that rivaled one of their mother's. The shock of Fred and George giving her a lecture had been enough to convince her it wasn't a smart thing to do, and she had stopped, if only to prevent another one.
But none of that mattered now. She was just glad her brother was home. She could forget about how he nearly caused her to kill herself, she could forget about him never returning her letters, because he was back. Percy was back, and the Weasley's could start being a family again.
Ginny struggled to hide her joy behind a mask of impassiveness all through lunch. She sat, too thrilled to even eat, and silently observed him. To her surprise, she was the only one watching him. She had been sure that the meal would consist of everyone staring at Percy, but it was completely normal. Ginny was half expecting him to start talking about work, and faulty cauldrons or some such rot. Everyone ate and talked as if nothing were different. It was almost like he had never left.
But Percy, on the other hand, was different. He hadn't spoken more than three words to any one Weasley. But this could be explained away. He was embarrassed, he hadn't been home in over a year, and they all figured he would come around eventually. But there was more than that. He wore long sleeves, despite the sweltering heat that was expected this time of year. His face was lined far beyond his twenty-one years, and the awful haunted look of his eyes suggested he had seen things that no one should ever have to see.
Ginny had been staring for a while when it had happened. Even though Percy wore long sleeves, they were loose. As he reached across the table to grab the rolls from Fred, his left sleeve had somehow rolled back to his elbow. Ginny's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes staring at Percy's forearm. The Dark Mark stared back at her.
He had been quick to notice his mistake. He looked around frantically to see if anyone else had noticed. Ginny quickly averted her eyes, and he didn't see. He didn't know she had seen. The rest of lunch, for her at least, was nothing more than trying to prove her own insanity, and being thankful she hadn't eaten anything, because if she had she knew she would have been sick.
Percy couldn't be Death Eater! He just couldn't. Sure, he was being really stupid before, yeah, he had sided with the Ministry. But there was no way in any of the nine levels of Hell that he was a Death Eater. He wasn't evil, just confused! He wouldn't side with V-V-V…. Ginny cursed herself mentally for not even being able to think his name.
She shook her head, as if trying to clear her mind. She still stood outside Percy's door. Now she wasn't even sure she was going to go in his room. She had almost convinced herself that it had been a trick of the light. Of course there wasn't a Dark Mark on Percy's arm! She couldn't believe she'd actually thought that. She turned to walk back down the stairs. Then she heard a crash inside Percy's room. Without thinking she opened the door and rushed in. He was lying on the floor; it looked as if he had fallen from a chair. He jumped up as soon as he saw Ginny, and whipped out his wand, his mouth forming the words of some curse.
But she was quicker.
"Expelliarmus!" she shouted. Percy's wand flew from his hand. "Stupefy!" He fell to the ground in a heap, unable to move. Ginny felt the tears flowing down her face as she walked over to Percy's unmoving form. She knelt on the ground next to him and looked into his eyes. The haunted expression was gone, and they now burned with a fury so passionate she was half expecting flames. She turned her gaze to his left arm. With shaking hands she pulled up his left sleeve. Her eyes confirmed what she did not want to believe. Percy, did indeed own a Dark Mark.
Ginny felt herself going numb. It was odd, really, to feel oneself going numb, rather oxymoronic in fact. She heard someone running up the stairs. Actually, it sounded like a lot of people. She was not mistaken. Her entire family, plus Harry, now stood in the doorway, questions half formed on their lips. She didn't give them a chance.
"Someone get some rope, we need to bind him," she said. The other Weasleys, and Harry, didn't bother to hide their confusion.
"The spell won't last forever," she replied to their unasked queries, as if it explained everything. And with that she sat down in the chair Percy had fallen from, closed her eyes, and for the entire world appeared to have fallen asleep. For at least a minute no one made a move, until finally Fred conjured some rope. With a quick nod to George they both moved in and tied Percy's wrists together, then his ankles. In their haste they failed to notice the reason why they were doing this in the first place.
When Percy started to show some signs of life, Harry finally asked.
"Gin, what's going on? Why are we tying up Percy?" The answer came, not from Ginny, as everyone had been expecting, but from a detached sounding voice behind them.
"Look at his arm." Ron said. Harry spun around quickly, his eyes narrowed suspiciously at his friend.
"Just do it." Harry turned back around and knelt next to Percy's now struggling form. With a hesitation that almost looked like fear, Harry reached for Percy's right sleeve.
"Other arm." After casting another suspicious glance in Ron's direction, Harry grabbed Percy's left arm, which he was vainly trying to hide. After a brief silence filled only with the sounds of Percy thrashing around on the floor trying to break his bonds, Harry spoke.
"Mr. Weasley, someone needs to contact the Aurors."
"…"
"Now!" Harry added with emphasis when no one moved. Fred, George, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley immediately ran downstairs, to floo Tonks or someone, Harry supposed. That left just him, Ron, and Percy. The memory of Ginny's presence was long gone. She knew they had forgotten about her, but she wasn't about to alert them to her being there. And apparently, Harry was ignoring the fact that Percy was there too. He turned on Ron, his voice laced with venom, his face contorted in an ugly snarl.
"YOU KNEW!" He shouted. "You knew and you didn't tell anyone? Ron, he's the enemy! He's fighting for the other side"
"But Harry…he's my brother."
"No Ron." Harry's voice was gentle now, gentle, but almost tired sounding. "He's a Deatheater, nothing more. You need to learn to tell the difference. Once a person gives themselves over to Lord Voldemort," Harry didn't notice Ron's failure to wince, "they sever all former ties. Maybe he was your brother once upon a time, but not now, and not ever again."
And with that he left the room, leaving Ron and Percy 'alone.' Ron checked to make sure Harry was really gone, and then locked the door. Percy had long since stopped struggling.
"Get me out of these, will ya Ron?" he asked, sounding impatient.
"Yeah, sorry." As Ron was untying Percy, he started lecturing him.
"What were you thinking, coming back?"
"I was asked to check up on you." A pause, and the lecturing reversed. "Why would you let on you know? They'll start wondering how you found out, asking all sorts of questions, you might let something slip."
"You know that wouldn't happen Percy. Anyways, now that they know who you are, you need to get out. That was the whole point of you leaving last time, but for some unknown reason you told them you location."
"I know. The Dark Lord wasn't very pleased with me," he said in a small voice, as if it was painful just to talk about.
"Right, so, go somewhere, and for God's sake Perce, don't tell anyone this time. Them knowing the location of two Deatheaters isn't good."
"So, you're definitely staying then?"
"Of course, I'm not going to abandon my post, besides, they don't have a clue."
"Well, they wouldn't would they? I mean, you're not marked."
"I will be tonight, you know that. You're going to be there right?"
"Wouldn't miss is for the world. I'm proud of you little brother."
"That means a lot to me Perce." Ron glanced nervously over his shoulder. "They're coming, you need to get out. Here, take your wand."
"Wait, they'll know you let me go."
"No they won't, I'll tell them you escaped."
"Ronald, they'll never buy that."
"Sure they will. Hurry up Percy, apparate or something."
Percy still looked hesitant.
"I'll be fine, just get out."
Percy didn't move.
"Go, go now, I'm not going to let them send my brother to Azkaban!" Ron was almost in tears. He wasn't going to let his brother get caught because of him.
"Alright," Percy finally said. "I'll be at Malfoy Manor if you need me for anything."
"Fine. Tell Draco I said hey, and I'll see him tonight."
And with a loud 'pop' Percy apparated out of the house. Ron turned and saw Ginny; his mouth opened in horror. She had seen it all, she knew, and more importantly, she would tell.
It was true. Ginny had seen the entire thing. She knew the truth about both of her brothers now. But she wasn't sure what she was going to do about it. Should she tell? Should she try and protect her brothers? Did they even deserve protecting?
Just then Ginny heard someone shout an Aloha Mora and the door slammed open.
"Where is he!" screeched Harry. He seemed almost frantic. He had been so certain he had caught a Death Eater, caught an enemy, and now he wasn't here.
Ginny made her decision.
"He escaped," she said quietly. "He somehow got his wand and apparated. We couldn't stop him."
Ron breathed a silent sigh of relief. She wasn't going to tell. He was safe.
"Yeah, we tried Mum, we really did," Ron added. He turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" his mother asked.
"Out," he replied. "Oh, and, Mum, I'm going to be back late tonight.