Percy's face was white and streaked with blood and tears. His eyes held a furious light that Bill had never seen in them before. Bill thought he had never been so pleased to see someone in the whole course of his life. Percy faltered at the sight of his brothers, taking a step backwards, and his white face going whiter still. "George, Bill. George, I…"he stopped, unable to continue, his voice breaking with emotion. The fall of the two Death Eaters had left the three of them alone for a moment, islanded in a strange calm in the midst of chaos. George stepped forward and gripped Percy's shoulder. "It's okay Perce, I know. I knew when it happened. Fred's dead, isn't he?" Percy nodded, fresh tears coursing down his cheeks. George pulled him into a hug, and the two clung together, both sobbing, unable to do anything but hold each other.
Bill put a hand on a shoulder of each of his brothers, pulling them apart and round to face him. "What happened, Percy?" he asked. Not that knowing would make things any better, but he needed somehow to understand. Percy had at least been with Fred when he died, and George had known, and been felled by the knowledge, of Fred's death at the moment it happened. Bill felt he did not understand as either of his brothers did, and he needed to, he needed to…
Percy swallowed, his arm still round George's shoulder. "We were in that corridor by the Room of Requirement," he whispered, his voice shaking. "Ron and Hermione and Harry turned up, God only knows where from. F-Fred and I were duelling those two Death Eaters who'd backed us down that way. I felled one of them – it was Thicknesse, his hood fell back – and I told him I was resigning. Fred – Fred thought that was hilarious. He was so pleased I'd made a joke." Percy's voice broke on a sob, and George pulled him close again. Percy choked, and swallowed, and rubbed at his eyes furiously, knocking his glasses askew. "Ron and the others stupefied Fred's Death Eater – we thought we were safe for a moment. Then", he swallowed again, but continued determinedly, choking back his tears. "It was like the world exploded. From nowhere – we thought we were safe…" Bill nodded, his face grim. He remembered the huge bang, the flashing lights, the feeling of the world shifting under his feet. And George – George falling down beside him under the weight of an instant appalling realisation.
Percy's voice dropped still further. Above the crashes and screams filling the castle, Bill had to strain to hear him. "The wall, the wall came down. Fred was under it. I don't know if the spell hit him or if it was the wall itself. I was calling him, but I knew he was dead – I knew. Ron was trying to pull me off him. He was still smiling…" Percy broke down completely then, his sobs shaking him until he gasped for breath.
Bill pulled both his brothers close, so that their arms were tangled in a three-way hug. "Come on, Percy, breathe. It's …" Bill's voice tailed off. He couldn't say "It's okay" when it so clearly wasn't, when it never could be again. He wanted to be the clever, strong, brave older brother, putting things right for the others, but this time he couldn't – no one could.