May 2, 1998
Percy Weasley started his day just as he had for the past couple of years, in silence.
In the beginning Percy had relished in the silence, baskining in every moment of it in his modest flat near the Ministry in London. He had been able to make a decent salary from his job in the Ministry, and while wizards and witches had no real understanding of the real estate market, Percy understood enough to know that he had a prime piece of land within the city.
However, the silence slowly crept in more than he realized. He had been so used to the clangs of his mother making breakfast, the random explosions from the twins' room, the back and forth of people walking up and down stairs. All of these things meant home to him.
Now there was only silence.
At first he had tried to rationalize the feeling that empty silence had left in him. He didn't need any of the distractions that he used to have, he was perfectly happy now. There was no more Fred and George coming into his room at all hours of the day, no more of his mother yelling at him to come out of his room, no more of the hustle and bustle of the Burrow.
The Burrow was noisy, full of life. It was vibrant and noisy and chaotic and until he had left he had never realized how much he had loved it.
He had loved the chores there, even if he didn't like doing them. He had loved being a part of a family, even if they were all crazy and he was the only sane one. He had loved both of his parents and wanted to make them proud, even if it felt as though he was constantly falling short.
Percy was a Weasley.
While it was true he was probably the most straight-laced of them all, he was still a Weasley. He still yearned for things that only a Weasley who had grown up in the Burrow could. Just because he had a fundamental disagreement with his family (one which he had slowly realized over the years was something that he had been wrong on), didn't mean that he wouldn't fight tooth and nail to protect them.
And as he stared into the setting sun bathing its hues of oranges and reds over London, knowing that he had heard rumors of a coming attack on Hogwarts, Percy made a decision.
He was tired of the silences in his life. It was time to reach a hand out and embrace the noise. He needed to let his carefully constructed guard down and reconnect.
He had no idea that there would be a much more ominous silence before the battle was over.