Hellooo readers! Here's another chapter. Remember they'll keep coming as long as you keep reviewing.
Chapter 9: Don't Get Them Killed
Percy missed his pillow. It sat lonely and dejected on the cold tiled floor- much like himself in this hospital bed. He wished he could retrieve it, but his fit of rage at his father had used up what very little energy he had, and he couldn't use his wand to retrieve it for that wand, too, was somewhere on the floor, also lost during his fit of rage. Now he was lying pillow-less in his bed trying his best not to fall asleep, or even close his eyes for that matter.
It could have been hours or a couple minutes since Percy had sent his father scurrying out of his room. Percy sighed. He didn't know what to think of his father, right now. He was still so angry at him- at all of them for being blind fools. Even though it was Percy who left the family, he felt betrayed by his father. But that's what one feels when someone they admire- even love- turns out to be little more than a sheep blindly following a man that will, surely, one day lead his family to the slaughter. And there was nothing Percy could do to change that. He had tried, Merlin, he had tried to show them how completely wrong they were. And for a moment-one brief moment he had felt hope that his father would understand why Dumbledore was not to be trust with their lives. But that hope was crushed the moment his father had the nerve to admit that he was putting the lives of their whole family in his hands based entirely off of friendship. The fool!
Percy didn't understand friendship. He had never he had a true friend in his life. He had had Penelope, yes, but that was different. Besides her nobody at school ever liked him. Hell, none of his siblings ever liked him for that matter. Growing up, Scabbers was the closest thing he ever had to a friend. How pathetic was that? The only one he could share his secrets with, whom he could go to for comfort was a rat. Was it any wonder why he wanted to grow up so badly? What's the point of being a child when you don't have any friends?
The door creaked. What now? He thought. Percy forced his weak body to look up. For a moment he was sure he was seeing things. Albus Dumbledore walked into his room.
"I hear you lungs have healed up nicely." Dumbledore said closing the door behind him. Percy stared at him speechlessly, so he continued. "I ran into your father in the hall. He seemed quite upset."
Percy ignored the small knot of guilt in his stomach. "Yes, well, we had another disagreement." He said stiffly.
"Your disagreement seems to have left you without a pillow." The old man picked up his pillow off the ground.
Dumbledore handed it to him and he weakly took it and put it behind his head. "Thank you." Percy said.
The renowned old wizard peered at him over his half-moon spectacles. "Percy, forgive me for my ignorance, but is there something I have done to personally offend you; something that doesn't involve politics?"
Percy paused for a moment, frowning. Indeed there was something personal he'd never forgive that old man for, but was it right to tell him? On the other hand, what did he have to lose? He looked up and forced himself to look into Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes.
"Yes, there is." He said, his voice unwavering. "Back when the Chamber of Secrets was opened... How is it that three second-year students, twelve-years-old children, somehow managed to solve a mystery that you, the Great Albus Dumbledore, couldn't unravel?
"They are quite remarkable children. I would think you would know seeing how one of those children is your brother." Dumbledore said.
"I'm not talking about them. It is your intelligence and cleverness I am questioning. Why couldn't you solve the mystery? You were a teacher at Hogwarts when the Chamber of Secrets was first opened. You knew Myrtle was the only one to have seen the monster. Why didn't you question her? And if you did, and she told you about the creature's eyes, how did you not make the connection between them and a snake- the icon of Salazar Slytherin?"
Dumbledore sighed and put his hand on the railing at the bottom of his bed, "The past always seems obvious in hindsight, Percy." he said wisely.
"If you were half as great as everyone believes you to be, then you should have been able to see the signs long before Ginny was taken down to the Chamber of Secrets." Percy said desperately. "But instead you took my brothers and I aside and told us that Ginny had been taken somewhere in the depths of school to die and there was nothing you could do about it. When my family needed you most- when I needed you most, you just gave up."
Dumbledore studied him silently with intense, thoughtful eyes hidden behind half-moon spectacles. Percy didn't know what to do. He decided to just keep going.
"Do you have any idea how that felt? My sister was as good as dead and I thought that it was my fault. I was the older brother; it was my job to look out for my younger siblings. But I failed- I failed miserably to protect them. Do you know how that feels? To fail the ones you love the most?"
A somber look found its way onto Dumbledore's face. "Unfortunately, Percy," he said sadly, "I do. . . You and I are more alike than you or anyone can imagine.
"When I was your age, I too, was very ambitious. I dreamt of power and glory, and was going to set off and leave my family behind in order to follow those dreams; I was going to travel the world. Then my mother died, as did my father, and I was left to take care of my younger brother and sister, so I could not leave. You see, my little sister, Ariana, was emotionally and physically scarred from a traumatic experience she had had as a young girl. She couldn't control her magic, thus was never sent to Hogwarts. My family and I had agreed long ago that we would do anything possible to keep her condition a secret, lest she be locked up in St. Mungo's for the rest of her life. So it was up to my brother and I to take care of her.
"I felt trapped and wasted! I had so much potential to be something great, but I couldn't leave my brother and especially my little sister behind. Then I met someone who shared my ambition and my dreams of power and glory began to rekindle. Then we were sorely reminded by my brother, Aberforth, of my duty to my family. He said truths that my friend didn't want to hear and a violent duel broke out between the three of us." Dumbledore took a deep breath. "Ariana tried to intervene, but was struck be a stray curse and killed. To this day I do not know which of us cast that fatal curse, it is a fact that haunts me still."
Dumbledore wiped away a tear that had been making its way down his cheek.
"I failed my family. I failed to protect my siblings. I failed the ones I loved the most, and it has been and always will be my greatest regret." Dumbledore looked back at him with moist, blue eyes. The old man put his warm hand on Percy's.
"Percy, you have the chance to make amends before it's too late. If you choose not to, it will not be you, but your family who will live with that regret for the rest of their lives. Please trust me when I say that that is not a burden I would wish upon anyone I care about."
His hand left Percy's and the cool air quickly stole all the warmth it had provided.
"As for what happened four nights ago," Dumbledore told him. "It was not Harry's fault, but mine."
Percy wasn't surprised. "How is that so?" Percy asked, more tired than curious.
"Harry was tricked by Voldemort into believing that someone he loves dearly was being tortured in the Department of Mysteries. He went to rescue him himself, for all the professors he trusted had, for some reason or another, left the grounds. I had a feeling that something like this would happen, that Voldemort would try to draw Harry away from the safety of Hogwarts. Only I made the foolish mistake of not warning Harry ahead of time, in fact I did quite the opposite and spent the school year avoiding him, even when he sought out my attention. Thus, it is my fault Harry did what he did that night, which has unfortunately led to this."
Dumbledore sighed, "I cannot ask you to forgive me, and do not expect you to. It is my only hope that you learn from my mistake and know just how imperative it is that we not avoid the people we care about," he said with his blue eyes twinkling.
The two men sat in silence. "I'd think it best if I left you now, so that you may get some rest," he said leaving Percy's beside.
"Professor," Percy said suddenly. Dumbledore turned around. "Look after them, my family. . . Harry and Hermione as well. . . Please don't get them killed."
Dumbledore smiled understandingly. "Goodnight Percy, sleep well." He quietly left and Percy was alone once more.