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Content Note: Discussion of compulsive and dissociative behaviors.
Chapter 9: Desultory
Charlie is waiting nervously when Ginny emerges from Percy's room.
"How's Percy doing?" he asks.
Ginny collapses on the couch next to him, her body heaving with a long, noisy sigh. "He wanted to know how many N.E.W.T.s I was taking."
Charlie smiles wanly. "Sounds like Percy."
"Yeah. But…" Ginny turns toward him, her expression grim. "When I went in to see him, Percy was just staring at the wall. Talking to himself."
Charlie's stomach lurches. "Talking to himself?"
"Muttering under his breath. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but his lips were moving."
"Bloody hell." Charlie had heard stories about Frank and Alice Longbottom, tortured into insanity by Death Eaters, grumbling and giggling to themselves in the incurables ward. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Ginny replies with a grimace. "And I'm not finished. While we were talking, he just broke off mid-sentence and was staring right through me. Like he couldn't hear me at all."
Charlie scrubs a hand over his face. "When I was at his flat, he did something like that. I was trying to get his attention for a few minutes, but he didn't seem to hear me."
"It wasn't just that he couldn't hear me," Ginny continues darkly. "It was almost like he was hearing someone else."
Charlie frowns. "You think Percy's hearing voices?"
"And maybe seeing people, too," Ginny adds. "Do you know of any curses that do that?"
Charlie shakes his head. "No, but Bill might. He's gone back to Shell Cottage for the night."
"I'll ask Hermione. But if it's not a curse…" Ginny rubs her eyes tiredly. "Luna said Ollivander used to talk to himself, when the Death Eaters first threw her in a cell with him. Because he had been alone for so long. Maybe this is a more extreme version of that."
"Could be." Charlie leans back, trying to process. Had it really just been a day ago, when they found out Percy had been rescued? Charlie feels like he's aged years.
Ginny yawns. "You should get some sleep," Charlies says to her. "Are you staying here?"
"For now, yeah. Burrow's practically full again, with Percy back and you and me staying here. You can take Ron's room, by the way. Ron's going to stay with Harry, at Grimmauld Place."
"Probably for the best." Charlie can't keep the harsh edge out of his voice.
"Look." Ginny lets out another weighty sigh. "I know it was shitty of Ron to ask if Percy apologized the second he got back. But you weren't there when Percy left. You didn't hear the things he said, about Dad and Harry."
Charlie had heard this before. After the row, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny talked about Percy like he was some hateful Ministry ghoul. Charlie knew what a work-obsessed, arrogant prat Percy could be, but he had trouble believing everything his younger siblings' said.
Charlie had watched fights in his family blow out of proportion so many times, with Percy spinning a single joke into a grievous assault on his personal dignity and the twins seizing on one pompous comment from Percy as justification for a barrage of mean-spirited pranks.
The never-ending frustration of trying to manage these battles was one of the reasons he'd been happy to take a job on the other side of Europe. Dragons could be much more reasonable than the Weasley clan.
"I heard plenty about it from you lot," Charlie replies, working to keep his voice level. "But it shouldn't matter what he said, not now. Not when he's just been rescued from a Death Eater prison, when he's hurt—"
"I know!" Ginny interrupts. Her eyes flash with intense emotion, making her look startlingly like their Mum. "I know that. Which is why I told Ron to shut his mouth. I do want Percy to be safe and okay. But I am still angry about what he did."
Charlie opens his mouth to argue, but Ginny cuts him off again.
"I can do both. I've thought about it, and I've decided." She raises her chin, speaking with finality. "I can I love him and still think he's a giant git. I can be angry with him and still also be worried about him. And I am." Ginny meets his gaze, and Charlie can see the concern in her eyes. His annoyance deflates. "I'm really worried about him. What should we do?"
"I don't know." Charlie hates to admit it, especially to his little sister, but he doesn't. "If he has time to adjust and feel safe, maybe he'll…get better."
Ginny nods, but doesn't look particularly comforted. "He'd probably feel a lot safer if those Death Eaters bastards were in prison."
"Yeah." Charlie's stomach churns with a mixture of fear and hatred at the thought that Percy's torturers were still out there. But the steely look in Ginny's eyes makes him a bit alarmed. "But that's not your job, got that? Leave it to the Aurors."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Ginny replies, waving her hand. "Let the Aurors and the Ministry handle it. Because that's worked out so well for us before."
"Different Aurors, different Ministry!" Charlie calls after her as she heads upstairs. She has a point, though. But what else can they do?
Days crawl by in a stressful mix of tension and boredom. There's no progress on the escaped Death Eaters—no attacks, no captures by the Aurors. Everyone at the Burrow is constantly on guard, aware of the danger.
Molly focuses her energy on trying to feed Percy up, pouring her love and worry into a succession of giant, rich meals. She has to stop, though, when Percy starts throwing up the food.
"His stomach's just not used to it, Mum," George had attempted to console her. Which of course made Charlie think about how Percy had been more or less starved during his captivity.
Charlie tries every day to get Percy to go outside—he figures Percy would be desperate to stretch his legs and breathe fresh air, after spending so many months locked up. But Percy refuses.
"If it's all the same to you," Percy says, not making eye contact. "I have—I need—I—" His gaze fixes briefly over Charlie's shoulder, and he flinches. "I need to attend to matters here."
Percy doesn't seem to do much but sleep and shuffle aimlessly about his room. After a few days, he starts writing, and quickly burns through the Burrow's stock of parchment and ink. Charlie notices with a sinking feeling that Percy never dares to ask them for more supplies, though.
"I'm guessing the Death Eaters weren't falling over themselves to make sure he had what he needed," Bill comments bitterly as he delivers to the Burrow a pile of parchment topped off with an array of Self-Inking Quills.
For the most part, they have no idea what Percy spends the hours writing. Percy does give Ginny a scroll, though.
"He made me a study guide for the Arithmancy N.E.W.T.," Ginny explains.
"You're not taking Arithmancy, are you?" Charlie asks, confused.
"I'm not," Ginny replies, examining the scroll. The parchment is so thickly filled with Percy's handwriting that it's almost entirely black. "I told him the subjects I'm taking. I guess he didn't hear me."
Ginny gives him a significant look. Percy's troubling behavior hadn't lessened—if anything, it was getting worse. Charlie had found him many times staring at a wall or the floor, muttering furiously to himself. Or he'd break off in the middle of a conversation, eyes skittering off to fix, as far as Charlie could tell, on someone who wasn't there.
"Are we sure he shouldn't see a Healer?" Arthur ventures nervously after a few days. "For his own, er, safety?"
"He's dead set against going to Mungo's," Charlie responds, a bit more vehemently than he intends. Their father had been spending most of his time either working at the Ministry or in his shed out back, doing Merlin knows what. It almost seemed like he was avoiding Percy.
"Yes, you've said. But if he's not well, er…" Arthur rubs his balding head. "Perhaps we need to take him anyway?"
"How? Are you gonna Stun him and haul him there?" Fred says. "It's not like Mungo's can fix everything," Fred adds meaningfully, gesturing at his curse-ravaged body.
Arthur looks guilty and retreats to his garden shed. But as much as Charlie wants to defend Percy's right to make decisions for himself, he sometimes can't help but wonder if his Dad is right. What if Percy can't get better at the Burrow?
Charlie tries to gently pull information—any information—out of Percy, with no success. Whenever he asks anything about the Death Eaters or his imprisonment, Percy visibly shrinks away, refusing to make eye contact, struggling to hold back tears as he claims not to know anything. He looks so fragile and frightened that Charlie doesn't have the heart to press him any harder.
After several days pass in this excruciating manner, Ron, Harry, and Hermione arrive one evening at the Burrow. Charlie is surprised to see Hermione—Ron and Harry have stopped by several times, to deliver updates on the search and ask if Percy has revealed anything useful, but Hermione has been studying at Hogwarts.
After a round of greetings, Ginny offers Hermione the Arithmancy scroll. "Here, Percy made this. You're taking Arithmancy, right? You'll get more use out of it than me."
"Oh?" Hermione scans the scroll, her eyes widening. "This is very thorough! Did Percy make this from memory? I didn't know he was such an expert—"
"Er, Hermione," Ron interrupts awkwardly. "You had something to tell us, remember? About Percy?"
"Yes, yes, that's right."
Hermione sets the scroll aside as the Weasleys—besides Percy, of course, who remains sequestered in his room—gather around.
"You know something about Percy?" Ginny demands. "What? How?"
"I heard some rumors from my contacts in the muggle-born community," Hermione explains. "So I did some research." She pulls scrolls and stacks of parchment out of a small beaded bag and arranges them on the kitchen table.
Charlie picks up one of the pieces of parchment, examining it. He blinks in surprise—it's a blood status certificate, an odious document from the reign of Voldemort and Death Eaters at the Ministry.
"And?" Fred prompts.
Hermione's eyes are bright, her voice slightly breathless. "And I think I might know why the Death Eaters took Percy."