Disclaimer: I own no part of Harry Potter or its associated canon nor, any other already copyrighted material.

(A/N):

Chapter 30

Mercy

Though Harry appeared to be happy and unconcerned while they made their way back to Hogwarts, his mind as actually racing with plans and idea he had put off until this moment. Now that the Horcrux were destroyed, save Nagini, there was even more to do. He mentally made a list of people he had to talk to as soon as possible. Ron was first as always, his strategic gifts far outstripped Harry's own and he needed them now more then ever. After going over the ideas that had formed with his best friend, he would need to speak with McGonagall and Fudge. If Ron agreed with his ideas, those two weren't going to like this.

Then he would visit Hagrid. He had spent even less time with the half giant this year and last, but the professor indicated he understood that Harry had a lot to deal with and he didn't mind. Harry still felt sorry he hadn't visited him more often. He also had to get in touch with Fred and George somehow. Those two were getting hard to find, by their own design and even Hedwig was taking time to track them down. He needed to talk to the DA and Professor Keystone and…

His head whirled with the plans and meetings he needed to execute in the coming week. Maybe he could settle it out after a bite to eat. He had burned the morning and first hour after noon in meeting the Headmistress and destroying objects of pure evil. Now his stomach was loudly protesting as they headed to the Great Hall for a late lunch. He was so focused on satiating his appetite that he nearly ran over the small and bizarrely dressed messenger that raced up to him.

Dobby looked even more hyperactive than usual and, with the eye wrenching combination of clothes, appeared slightly insane. The others waited at the door as he knelt to greet the elf on eye level. As he did, Dobby nearly exploded at him. "Master Harry, Master Harry! Message! Urgent!" Harry stole a glance at his friends and noticed Ron's quizzical expression. He tried to calm the elf down by grabbing his shoulders.

"Dobby…Dobby! What is it?" The elf was either very scared or had actually lost his mind. He managed to spit out a few words.

"Miss Weasley's brother!" They all glanced at Ron, who was glancing back and forth to the girl on either side, thoroughly confused. Dobby shook his head furiously. "No, NO! Her other brother."

"Dobby…she has six brothers. Which one?" The elf still seemed flustered and was talking half sense.

"At the hospital." Harry nodded slowly, trying to put together what the elf was saying into some sort of logical whole.

"Yeah… Percy's been at St. Mungo's for a while now." The elf was spluttering still trying to form a sentence. With an apologetic glance to Hermione, Harry drew back his arm and slapped Dobby solidly. Hermione still glared reproachfully at him and Ginny seemed a little startled. Dobby, on the other hand, didn't look the least bit angry. Instead he actually calmed down and looked thankful.

"Thank you Sir. Dobby needed that."

"Uh…sure. Now…what were you trying to say?" Dobby focused and spoke quickly.

"Headmistress McGonagall sent me to find you. There is trouble at the hospital! Mr. Weasley is doing terrible things and demanding to see you!" They glanced at each other, not entirely sure how to respond to the elf's statement.

"You…mean Percy?"

"Yes! Mr. Weasley! The Headmistress wants you right away." He glanced up to find Ron and Ginny's eyes widening, Hermione staring at Ron, concerned.

"Thanks Dobby." Rising, he released the nodding elf. Collecting the others with a glance, he turned away from the meal he so desperately wanted. "Come on." Setting off at just under a run he could hear the others following behind him. After a few steps he broke out into a flat dash, the others keeping pace. Harry just caught a slash of white as he passed a cross hall and a few moment later Professor Keystone was running right next to him, speaking rather easily.

"Something I should know about Mr. Potter? Or do the four of you just randomly run through halls on Saturday afternoons?" Though he was keeping up the pace, Harry couldn't match his ease of speech.

"St. Mungos's…Percy doing…something." The professor's eyebrows rose a little. Shrugging, he raced ahead and spoke the password to let them by the gargoyle. He waited and followed them up as they ascended to McGonagall's office. Harry slowed and pushed through the half open door, the others hard on his heels. McGonagall span from where she was standing at the window, concern evident in her as she looked over the four of them. As Harry panted out the question, he noticed the deeply unsettling look on her face. "Dobby said Percy…what's going on?"

She hesitated, casting a worried eye to the red hair siblings, but eventually answered. "Something happened at St. Mungo's. From what I know, he's gone completely insane and begun attacking everyone in the ward. He's currently holding one of the Healers hostage and demanding…to speak with you." Harry knew without glancing back that his friends' faces were as pale as his. He felt a little sick at the revelation and instantly he wondered if this was some sort of plan on Voldemort's part. He must have let Percy live for a reason. "I just heard about this a few minutes to ago and sent Dobby to find you. The hospital is requesting that you come. He's somehow taken down three Aurors already."

Harry did turn and looked over his friends. He had already made his choice and knew they would follow if he asked. Confirmation came in each of their eyes only a heartbeat later. "Let's go." With a sharp nod, McGonagall tossed him a white pillow, singed at the edge. For a moment, he stared at it, utterly confused. It was so out of place in the office and he couldn't remember ever seeing its like anywhere in the castle.

"It's a portkey. They sent it with the message. It will take you directly to the fifth floor tea room. They're expecting you there." Nodding he turned so they could grab on as well. Hermione, Ron and Ginny each took one of remaining corners and held tight. To his surprise, Keystone grabbed an edge. With only a shrug of his shoulders in response to Harry's questioning look, he waited for the portkey to take hold. A second later, it did.

They landed solidly in the corner of the tea room; instant silence coming from the room's other inhabitants as they did so. Glancing around, Harry instantly recognized the new arrangement for what it was, a makeshift command center. Aurors were gathered around a table with one of the Healers, whom Harry could only assume was chief of some kind, and poured over what appeared to be a map of the hospital. All eyes turned to him as he dropped the pillow and headed for the table, flanked by the other four. One of the Auror nodded at him sharply in greeting before returning his eyes to the map.

"Mr. Potter."

"What's going on?" The Auror glanced at the others, who had also joined Harry at the table, before answering. He spoke in a clinically detached tone, as if they were discussing the weather forecast and not, what Harry assumed was, a hostage situation.

"Approximately half an hour ago Mr. Weasley rose from his bed, drew his wand and began to cast an assortment of destructive spells at everyone and everything. When a Healer tried to stop him, he took her hostage and began demanding to see you. We have him pinned down against the wall of the closed ward, but we can't get a clear shot to stop him."

"Is it possible he's under the Imperius Curse?"

"If he is…it's a very good one to pass detection here. He faced You-Know-Who and was left alive…correct?" Harry nodded and ignored the name. Now was no time to deal with someone who hadn't gotten the memo. "This could be his doing…which means the danger is even greater." Harry took a moment to process this before turning to the door and taking a few steps. He turned back and focused,

"I'm going down there. You three stay here." Just as they were all about to object, Keystone spoke in a voice of quite authority,

"He's right." They each turned to stare at him. "Whatever's going on with your brother, the only person he wants to see is Harry. There is no telling how he'll react…or how he's been programmed to react to anyone else. There's also the question of how his siblings would react on seeing him. I take it you haven't notified his parents yet?" The Auror shook his head slowly. "Good. Let's go Harry." Following his student out, they left the others shocked still, mouths hanging open.

They slowly descended the one flight of stairs, sliding past a number of Aurors waiting tensely, wands drawn. Reaching the doorway, Harry caught a quick glance inside the room. Apparently the lights had been destroyed because much of what he could see within was lit by only a few lamps. From the slice of a look he got, he could see a bed, turned on its side for cover, on each side of the room. Two Aurors were crouched behind each, wands drawn, keeping their heads down.

"I'll look first; see if I can get some idea what we're up against." Harry nodded in agreement. The professor sidled up to the wall and slid to the door way. Taking a breath he popped his head around for a second and came back. "Okay…it's definitely Percy." He jerked a little as Percy's voice rang out from the room, laced with more hate than Harry had ever heard.

"If Harry Potter isn't here in the next five minutes, I'm going to kill her!"

"He means it." One of the Aurors nearby swallowed hard and readied his wand at the professor's assessment. He moved into the room, crouching low to join his comrades. Those further up the steps retreated, covering the stairway from the higher door. "He's back against the wall, wand to her throat," the professor demonstrated with his finger, "can just barely see him around her. She's too shocked to scream." Harry considered it for a moment.

"Then…let's give him what he wants. If I can get close…" the professor shook his head slowly.

"What could you do? More likely than not he's meant to kill you as soon as he can. You're a strong wizard, but even you will need a wand to break through a masterful Imperius. And by the time you got close enough to draw and make sure you didn't hit her with your one shot, he could kill you with almost no effort."

"You have a better idea?"

"Kill them both. He hasn't done much damage…yet. But he will kill her eventually and then the Aurors will kill him. This way we minimize any more people being killed between now and then." Harry shook his head slowly. Though he was estranged, Molly and Arthur would never forgive him if he let that happen and Ginny… He didn't want to think about that.

"No. There has to be a way to stop him. I won't let her die just to stop him. She's an innocent." For the first time, he saw genuine annoyance cross the professor's face. "What?"

"Sometimes innocents die. That's how war goes. They have been for months; you didn't try to save them." Harry knew it was true, but his eyes focused on the door none the less.

"This one I can do something about." Keystone dropped his head a little frustration. Though his words were harsh, they were spoken just above a whisper.

"Damnit Potter, now is not the time for your hero complex. Even if you do somehow get close enough to attack, the second he sees your wand, you're dead and so is she. And you've got bigger battle to live for right now. So unless you have a way to break a command spell without magic then you…you…" He trailed off as his vision floated to the side. Harry waited for a moment and was a little spooked when a slow grin formed across the man's face. "That's just crazy enough to work…" His eyes refocused on Harry. "You really want to save her?" Harry nodded quickly. "Then just maybe…"

Harry stepped slowly into the darkened room, hands held up before him. He walked slowly and turned between the two beds. It was exactly as the professor had said. He could just see Percy peeking out for a half second from behind the terrified healer. The only part of him readily visible was his hand resting on her shoulder, holding the wand to her neck. His eye also became visible as he looked over her shoulder through the small space between her robe and the wand. Harry could see it had a glazed quality that almost certainly meant he was cursed. "I'm here Percy. What do you want?" The man's head moved a little as he looked Harry over and his eye settled on the scar.

"Come closer Potter!" Harry took a few tentative steps forward. "Your wand! Drop it!" Drawing his wand from his sleeve, he set it carefully on the ground and kicked it to the wall. "Good…now…closer." Harry slowly walked forward trying to keep Percy's attention on him.

"I'm here Percy…what do you want?" Instead of answering, the cowering red head simply watched him approach. Harry continued stepping forward, carefully scanning the woman's position and where he might find an opening. When he met her eyes, he tried his best to look reassuring. Considering the situation, it was little surprise it didn't help.

"Stop!" Harry froze at the command, dismayed at his position. He was close enough Percy could cut him down with almost no warning, but too far away to attack before the strike came. He switched the woman's position and held her with his opposite arm around her neck. As he did so, Harry noticed Percy's other wrist was red and blood began dripping down the woman's shirt. The wand moved quickly to aim instead at Harry, his eyes burning with hate as he stared at the scar. Harry's hands were raised to his sides, waiting the next move. One shook a little as he stood there. "Now…you die! Ava-"

Harry spun as he ducked, his hand darting into the air over his head. The silent accio slapped the sword grip firmly into his hand as it spun through the air from where Keystone had thrown it directly behind him. He took less than half a heartbeat to adjust to the grip and complete its current revolution. When he did he aimed for the only thing he could reach and took the flat of the blade to Percy's wrist. His hand was slapped back into the wall, the shock causing him to both drop his wand and let go of the woman to slump to the ground. It took only a fraction of a second for Percy to recover and try to lunge at him.

Harry rose rapidly, still spinning and grabbed the sword with both hand. Instinct and Keystone's training kicked in as he flipped the sword around, his hands guiding it straight back along his arm toward his opponent's undefended chest. Bracing his leg to stop his backward thrust and dropping his elbow he angled the sword down, hopefully to less vital organs. The blade was so sharp he felt only a slight shudder until Percy's stomach reached the guard and made the weapon jerk forward in his grip. He felt Percy slump forward, his head falling just over Harry's left shoulder and his arm, which had been moving to strangle him, over his right. He turned his head to find Percy; eyes clear once more and filled with shock.

"Harry…?"

"I'm sorry." Percy stumbled back off his shoulder, the blade withdrawing as he did so. The sword fell to Harry's side with his hand, just missing the floor. Percy fell back to the wall, clutching his side. He looked up at Harry holding the bloody sword and then around at the rest of the room. His gaze returned to Harry, total incomprehension in his eyes.

"Harry? What…?" Harry could just hold his suddenly returned emotions in check. His wand silently flew across the room at his thought and slipped into his waiting hand.

"I'm sorry Percy. They'll explain later. I'm sorry…"

"Harry?" He never noticed the stupefying spell before it hit him, causing him to slide to the floor unconscious. Barely a moment later half a dozen people rushed by, four Aurors and a pair of Healers. They immediately surrounded Percy, some guarding, some checking the healer and some fixing the damage Harry had done. Harry turned away. He had done what he had to do.

Passing Keystone, he handed the blood soaked sword back. The professor nodded solemnly and tore off a piece of sheet to wipe it clean with. Just as Harry was about to head for the stairs, on of the Aurors behind him spoke in horror. "Bloody hell…" Turning, he found this statement ironically appropriate. On the wall in the corner, which had been previously hidden in shadows once the lights were knocked out, there was a message written by the hand of a madman. It was written in blood. Percy's blood he realized a moment later, the cut on the man's arm now making sense.

Behold my mercy and despair

Cold rage began to balance guilt at what he had done. "Mr. Potter? Look at this." He eyes shifted to one of the Aurors kneeling over Percy and he instinctively caught the shiny object thrown his way. Looking down, he turned the small object over in his hands and found a silver nametag, singed at the edge, that he remembered very vividly. A second later the corners dug into his hand as he gripped it tightly and felt the echo of Tom's magic. There were no spells in it now, but there had been. "Must have pulled it off before he went down." Harry nodded in confirmation of the errant assumption and glanced over the scene again.

He turned away from the message and moved on. Harry continued past the Aurors nodding appreciatively at him, past the Healers thanking him and past the couple patients staring at him. Slowly climbing the stairs, Harry entered the command center where only a few people remained including his anxious trio of friends. He stared at them for a long moment, not sure exactly what to say. How did you tell someone you had just stabbed their brother to save his life? "It's over. I…I…"

"Saved Percy's life." The professor's voice sounded from behind him. In response to Keystone's statement, Ginny rushed forward and threw her arms around him. Harry hugged her hard, letting her embrace push the doubt from his mind for the moment. He would tell them what he had done and she might not be so forgiving, but for now, he held her. Hermione also hugged him around the shoulders as Ron clapped him firmly, offering a thankful nod. Keystone waited a moment before speaking again, letting them have a bit of peace. "Let's go home. They'll take care of him here." He glanced to the lead Auror. "Call his parents." The man nodded and hurried off to the stairs. A moment later Keystone gestured to the stairs. "Shall we?"

Following his students out, the professor carefully deflected any questions fired their way. The further down they went, the more curious glances they gathered, though Aurors had blocked the doorways to keep patients from rushing them. Harry couldn't reach the lobby and apperate back to Hogsmeade soon enough. He desperately wanted to be alone…or maybe just with Ginny…but he knew it wasn't to be. Harry was only half surprised to see a school carriage waiting for them at the station. He knew the others could see the threstrals now and the animals showed particular interest in the sword as the professor passed. He oddly chose to ride hanging off the side, a foot on the floorboards, leaving them in half solitude.

Rolling through the gates and hopping out at the door, Harry stared up at the school once again. By the clock the afternoon was only a couple hours old and he was already wishing for his bed. He could feel it now, there wasn't much time left. Every hour, every minute would be vital if he was to have any chance of pulling off the tasks necessary to win, much less survive the coming battle. Keystone was right. People, innocent and guilty alike, died in a war. But Harry would end it. Soon…there would be no more innocents dying needlessly at the hands of a madman with too much power who was terrified of dying.

Harry stayed like that, staring, for so long Ginny eventually shook him a little. Glancing around, he noticed they were alone. "You okay?" He nodded slowly, trying to look reassuring. "The professor said he'd talk to McGonagall and have the elves send some food up to Ron and Hermione's room. He also said to get some rest." Harry nodded slowly and let himself be led through the halls, just the grip on his arm making him feel a little better. Passing silently through the portrait, he was thankful to collapse on the couch next to her. He had thought, once, that after Oliver's, and his own, nightly practice for a week prior to big games, he would never feel that run down again. But that had just been physically draining, this had drained him completely.

He leaned into her and let his body fall to the side. Before he realized it, his head was in her lap and he was lying on the couch. He could feel her smoothing his hair and it was oddly comforting. Just a few minutes like this and dinner would arrive. He would eat and then he'd explain what happened. He didn't know what words he would use to explain that he had stabbed her brother, but they would come. He just needed a moment of rest before he told them about the message Percy had written in his own blood. Just a moment…until he…

Harry woke up blurrily and instantly knew he wasn't in his bed. For one, his pillow wasn't nearly this comfortable, this warm or this inviting. And two, it didn't gently stroke the side of his head while he slept. After taking a second to reacquaint with his body, he rolled onto his back and looked up into the blurry form he knew was Ginny. He blinked a couple times but she refused to clear up. His glasses… "Here." She slipped them gently onto his face and she resolved into sharp focus. He just stared up at her for a minute, an involuntary smile forming on his lips.

"You've been asleep for six hours. Ron brought you some dinner, but it's a little cold right now." He was flooded by…gratitude…thankfulness…love. He had no idea what he had done to deserve Ginevra Weasley as his guardian angel, but he would be eternally thankful it had happened. Overwhelmed by her dedication in watching over him, he knew confession time had arrived. He stared up into her eyes knowing it couldn't be put off any longer.

"Ginny…I stabbed Percy." Not so much as an eyelash twitched and her hand never missed a beat against the top of his head.

"Why?" There was no anger in her voice, no accusation, only curiosity. She just wanted to know.

"To break the Imperius Curse on him."

"Okay." And that was it. She had accepted his reason and moved on. He felt it was too easy and the desire rose to defend himself despite the fact not even her eyes were accusing him of anything.

"They were going to kill him other wise, it was the only way. I had to…" Her hand moved to his lips and silenced him.

"Harry…I understand. You did what you had to do. And you saved my brother's life. You don't have to apologize for that. He's not the only one of us you saved from Voldemort's control. Remember?" He vividly flashed back to the Chamber and knew, he knew, that if anyone could relate to accepting any cost to be free of Tom's control, it was her.

"'ello?" Ron's head popped over the back of the couch a moment later. "Hey mate, thought I heard you out here."

"Hey." Ginny finally took her eyes off Harry to glance at her brother.

"Harry stabbed Percy." Ron looked thoroughly impressed at this knowledge.

"Good one on him. Prat deserved it. So…" he turned to Harry, "why?"

"To break the curse on him with the professor's sword." Ron nodded in agreement.

"Works for me. Thanks for saving him by the way. He's a prat but mum'd crack if she lost him."

"Yeah…no problem…"

"Oh! You're up." He glanced over to find Hermione, dressed in some bright red satin pajamas that eerily matched Ron's hair, padding into the room and leaning over the back of the other couch. He noticed Ron taking a slightly longer than necessary look at her before quickly filling her in.

"Harry says he stabbed Percy with Keystone's sword to break the Imperius Curse on him." Hermione looked a little surprised.

"Really? He's all right now though, right?" Harry nodded, suddenly feeling a little odd having this conversation from Ginny's lap. He started to sit up but she held him firmly in place. In a display of agility he had never seen from her before, Hermione leapt the back of the couch and landed softly in a sitting position on the cushions, her hair floating back down around her shoulders. Harry glanced to Ron, who had an idiot grin on his face, before looking back to her. "Well, you can't just leave it at that. Tell us everything."

"Sure. Just as soon as I get something to eat." This time Ginny helped him up and he began to look over the small spread Ron had brought up. As he slowly worked his way through much of it, he told them what had happened. When he had finished, with the message in blood, he had also devoured all the food that had been sitting there except one small cake he had saved for dessert. He suddenly realized that if Ginny had been sitting there all this time, she hadn't had a chance to eat herself. He turned to her sheepishly, glancing at the empty platters. "Sorry…I should have saved some…" He was silenced as the cake leapt from the table to her waiting hand.

"I already ate. Thanks though." All he could do was stare at her as she began on the cake and meekly accept when she offered him half.

After sneaking their way back to the tower, the pair managed to sleep in a bit the next morning and it was nearly noon by the time Harry roused himself from bed and got dressed. A list coursed through his mind and he set off to accomplish each task on it. Heading for the Hall first he found Ron and Hermione sitting side by side and working on a late breakfast. Taking a seat across from them he offered his usual greeting of an inclined head, which they returned. He ate quickly, for once hoping Ginny wouldn't arrive soon. He was pretty sure she would sleep even later than he had since she hadn't had his nap.

After wolfing down his lunch at a pace that even impressed Ron, he popped to his feet and gestured to the door. "Sorry Hermione, but I need to steal Ron for a while." She glanced up from the copy of the Prophet she was perusing and hit him with an odd look. She glanced back and forth, obviously wondering what they were cooking up.

"Okay. See you later." It was only a touch of the hand, but even Harry could see the feeling it carried for those two. Ron lingered another moment before rising and following his friend out.

"So…what do you need?"

"To talk." Harry noticed him stiffen a little. "About the war," he amended. Ron relaxed again as Harry led the way down a couple side corridors and pushed open a random classroom door. Finding it empty, he stepped in and waited for Ron before closing it. A quick pass of his wand set up a silencing spell and a couple wards to make sure they wouldn't be interrupted. He stepped up to the vacant teacher's desk and leaned against it before continuing. "I've got a couple ideas I wanted to run by you, see what you think."

"Yeah, sure. What have you got?"

"Okay…first up…Hagrid. I'm going to see him right after this…"

Harry was as good as his word. Immediately after finishing his strategic chat with Ron, he stole out the doors and down to Hagrid's hut using his cloak. After what he hoped wouldn't be his last visit to his old friend, and a bit of a drink, he returned to the castle and headed for the owlery. Writing off a quick message to the twins he handed it to Hedwig. The owl actually sighed, as much as an owl could be said to sigh, at seeing the address, or rather, lack there of. Having known her so long, Harry could tell what she was thinking.

"I know. But you're the only one who can find them." It could also have been the following tap of a wand that she objected to. With no other owl he could trust, he had been forced to protect her as best as he could. She ruffled her feathers as she always did when the disillusionment took effect. Soon it just appeared there was a letter hovering in mid air on the perch. Feeding her one last treat and giving what he hoped she would read as an apologetic smile, he lifted her to the window and released her into the day.

He watched her disappear into the horizon before heading to the school proper. He mentally checked off a few of the things his list and thought on the others. "Dobby?" The elf appeared before him a second later.

"Yes Mr. Harry?" Harry pulled out a small roll of parchment, magically sealed, from his pocket that he had written up during the meeting with Ron.

"Could you take this to the Headmistress?"

"Yes sir!" The elf vanished a heartbeat later and Harry headed for the common room. Though she would suspect nothing immediately, he doubted she, or Fudge for that matter, would be too happy when they found out why he wanted to meet with them.

(A/N): If you feel it is warranted feel free to review. I welcome any and all opinions.