Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me.
A/N: Please consider leaving a review if you are still reading and enjoying this story!
Content Note: While until now the Weasleys have been too relieved and worried to think about the fight and Percy's prior actions, cracks are going to start forming in that façade. No one's behavior is going to be perfect.
Chapter 6: Chary
Charlie had somehow convinced Mum to wait outside while he talked to Percy, and now Bill is standing here dumbly with his parents.
Mum is crying, and not the relieved tears of a few minutes ago. Bill remembers her agonized sobs after Percy had slammed the door in her face after his and Dad's row, and when Percy returned his Christmas sweater after Dad nearly died, and when he didn't show up for Bill and Fleur's wedding.
Annoyance arises unbidden in him at the thought that Percy had upset their Mum again, but he shoves it away with a prickle of shame. Percy was obviously traumatized. Bill can't blame him for this.
Dad turns to Bill. "Should I not have said anything?"
Bill resists the urge to snap, Why would you ask, when it clearly went over so well? It's not worth being angry with Dad, either, when he looked so lost and confused. Percy had at least let Mum hug him, even if he didn't hug her back. But Percy had flinched every time Dad moved toward him or even spoke, as though he expected Dad to curse him.
Bill can only imagine how awful his father feels. Bill knows he will never forget the stomach-churning horror he felt when Percy collapsed in front of him. The thought of his children experiencing that kind of terror makes him want to be sick, and to hunt down and kill every last Death Eater out there so his kids never have to share a world with that kind of evil.
"He wanted to know," Bill responds, fighting back a sigh. "There was probably a better way to do it, but it's too late now."
They wait for a few more minutes, until Mum can't stand it anymore. She knocks on the door. "Percy? Are you okay? Charlie, is he okay?"
Charlie soon slips out of Percy's flat and shuts the door behind him. "He's packing now. He's agreed to come to the Burrow."
Bill can't help but note—he's packing, Charlie had said. Not, he's okay. Bill feels another flare of shame, because he's incredibly grateful that Charlie dealt with Percy's breakdown at the news his torturers had escaped, and Bill didn't have to witness it.
"And Mungo's?" Bill asks.
"Drop it, Bill," Charlie says firmly. "It's not happening. He looked like he was going to make a run for it when I asked."
Bill bristles a bit. Why was Charlie so dead set against trying to get Percy to the hospital, when he so clearly needed help? But then again, why was Bill so eager to send him off to Mungo's for that help? You don't want to deal with him, he thinks. That's why you want to stick him in the hospital.
"And did he tell you why the Death Eaters were keeping him?" Dad asks.
The worry on Charlie's face somehow becomes more pronounced. "I asked. He said he didn't know."
Dad frowns. "How could he not know? They had him for months, they must have interrogated him—"
"Arthur," Mum says sharply. "It doesn't matter why, it just matters that he's safe now."
"Well, yes, Molly, of course," Dad looks chagrinned. "But understanding why they captured him could be very important to his safety."
"I know," Charlie replies. "But Percy is not ready to talk about it. He needs some time and space to sort things out, I think."
"We can get him that once he's home," Mum says. "He can have his old room all to himself."
Bill briefly catches Charlie's eye. They both know that having his old room at the Burrow isn't going to be near enough to get Percy well. But what is? The sound of Percy's stuttered, labored breath and the terror in his eyes fills Bill's head again.
The flat door creaks slowly open and Percy emerges, pulling a half-empty trunk behind him. There's a huge rip in the trunk, as though someone had slashed it open, hastily mended with Spell-O tape. Hermes, looking fairly beat up himself now that Bill gets a good look at him, sits on top of it.
Percy's panicked reaction to Bill pulling his wand before is still fresh in his mind, and Bill resists the urge to cast a quick reparo on the trunk. Mum, unfortunately, doesn't.
"Your trunk! Let me—"
She pulls her wand out and points it in Percy's direction. Percy's body seizes up with tension, his eyes snapping shut. He drops the trunk, and Hermes, dislodged from his perch, gives Mum a reproachful screech. The awful sounds of Percy's rough, shaky breathing fills the corridor.
"Oh. Oh, Percy," Mum breathes. Dad is wide-eyed and pale.
"It's fine," Percy whispers, pushing his glasses up and pressing his hands over his eyes. "It's quite fine, thank you. The trunk is adequate as it is."
Bill's heart is clenched painfully as he leans down and picks up Percy's battered belongings. Watching Mum and Dad realize how badly Percy was hurt was almost worse than realizing it himself.
"Of course, sweetheart," Mum murmurs gently as tears run down her face. "Let's get you home."
The Burrow looms larger than Percy remembers. His childhood home had for years appeared small, lopsided, and shabby in his mind, but now it seems tall, almost imposing.
Mum holds Percy outside for a few minutes and points out changes they've made to the house while Arthur and Bill, still carrying Percy's trunk with Hermes perched atop it, go inside to talk to his siblings.
"To warn them how mental you are, do you think?"
Percy feels nauseated as they finally enter the Burrow. He hadn't thought he'd ever return here, not as he'd languished in the Death Eater prisons and not for years before that.
Fred, George, and Ginny are lined up in the kitchen, reminding Percy of when Mum would force them to deliver a mumbled apology for taunting him. He half-expects them to start pelting him with cooked vegetables.
And then Percy gets close enough to really look at them, and his stomach lurches. The right side of Fred's face is twisted, contorted, wrong. His skin is red and scarred, and the deformity runs down his entire body, Percy realizes; Fred's right arm is gnarled, his posture warped.
"F-Fred," he stutters. "Y-you…"
"Still can't tell us apart, huh, Percy?" Fred says. His face moves stiffly, wrongly as he speaks. "I'm Fred, that's George. But I know, the missing ear is gross. And he used to be so handsome."
And then Percy notices that George is missing an ear. He tries to speak, and fails. Is that a crooked smile on Fred's damaged face? A grimace of pain? A sneer of contempt?
"You didn't tell him?" Ginny turns toward the older Weasleys accusatorily.
"Uh," Arthur looks to Bill and Charlie. "I thought you would have—"
"No, er, sorry," Charlie stammers. "I guess I thought someone would have, or I didn't think, we should have—"
"I lost the ear in a fight," George interrupts, explaining mechanically. "And Fred has curse damage from Dark Magic," He was hurt in the last battle at Hogwarts, back in May. When Harry killed Voldemort."
Percy can't help it; he flinches like he's been slapped. Percy had used that name once, in an attempt at bravado during an early interrogation with Rookwood. He'd been worse than slapped, then.
"George," Mum admonishes. "I know it's more common to use that name now, but it can still be difficult for some people."
"For useless nutters, that is," Oliver's voice adds. "Look what happened to Fred, who was actually fighting to stop You-Know-You. And you're expecting them to fawn over you, you stupid prat?"
George mutters an apology. "It's fine," Percy replies. He's said that a lot since he's been out, as though the words might become a magic spell. He looks back at his disfigured little brother—no, his most disfigured little brother. "Are you…?"
Fred shrugs, another stiff motion. "It doesn't hurt much anymore. I can move around and do magic fine, but I still can't fly. I guess we have that in common now."
Percy nods, unsure of how to respond. A few moments of awkward silence pass.
"Ron's with Harry, by the way," Ginny finally says. "He should be back soon."
"More like he'd rather hex his own eyes out than see you," Oliver suggests cheerfully.
"I think he's back now." Bill is standing at a window, peering out. "Who's that he's with?"
"He's bringing some Aurors over," Ginny explains. "They're going to work out a schedule, so that someone's always guarding the Burrow while—" She stops, glances over at Percy. "Just in case."
Percy notices that Ginny has changed drastically as well—the maturity in her face, the strength behind her voice, the confidence in how she carries herself. When Percy left, she was a child. Now she's a young woman. Percy had spent her 17th birthday trapped in that room. He's missed so, so much.
"Things must be mad at the Auror Office since word got out about the raid and the Death Eater breakout." George says darkly. "Everyone wants to know what's going on, what they could be planning." His gaze lingers on Percy for a moment too long to be comfortable.
Percy feels the blood drain from his face. Are the Aurors going to want to question him? He doesn't know what the Death Eater's plans are.
"You think they're going to believe that?" Sweat breaks out on his palms, his forehead.
"Well," Mum says briskly. "You'll all have to catch up later. I need to get Percy settled so he can rest."
"Shouldn't Percy—" Arthur starts to ask, but Mum cuts him off with a severe, "Later, Arthur."
Percy lets Mum sweep him up the stairs as the full weight of what's happened, what's he missed, and the danger he's still in, begins to crash down on him. He can feel himself shaking, blinking back tears.
"Welcome home, Percy!"