Author's note 1: Many thanks and apologies to the readers who never gave up hope on this story after all these years. You are indeed better people than I. Figuring out how to format this chapter was a struggle for me, and eventually I put it away and moved on to other things, intending to come back to it, but never quite working up the motivation to do so. Thank you for pushing me forward. I hope you like it, and it's easy to read.
CHAPTER 5
Arthur, Molly and Audrey migrated to the Weasley kitchen.
"Thank you," Audrey said as Molly set a plate of biscuits and glass of milk in front of her before setting a similar place for herself and Arthur at the table. Audrey picked up a biscuit and absently tapped its edge against the plate. Her hands had stopped shaking, but nervous energy remained. "I'm sorry," she said. "I should have come to you sooner."
"Why didn't you?" Arthur asked. "I'm not blaming you for anything," he added quickly. "I just..."
"Oh, we don't need to talk about that right now," Molly said.
"It's all right," Audrey said. "I don't mind." She took a deep breath. In truth, she *didn't* mind, but that didn't magically make talking about it any easier. "I didn't know that I was...the night of the battle, I didn't know that I was pregnant. I wish I had. We could have left early. We could have celebrated or something and not even been there, but I didn't know."
A tear slid down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away before setting her biscuit back down on the plate. She had no appetite, after all.
"When the Ministry said that it would handle the rest of the search, I stopped by your department, sir," she said to Arthur. "But I always lost my nerve before approaching you. You didn't know me, and I didn't know you, and I know Percy wanted to reach out and try make amends for...well, he wanted to talk, but he didn't know how to begin. And I didn't know how you would take me, so I never stayed long enough to meet you."
Arthur nodded. He vaguely remembered a message or two about a woman trying to reach him, but he just assumed it was Ministry business.
"A few days later," she continued, "when I realized ... I was so upset. Not because I don't want children, and certainly not because I don't want them with Percy - I can't imagine a better..." she stopped again, closed her eyes and swallowed. The memory was still too fresh. When she opened her eyes, they were watching her, looks of genuine sadness - not just for themselves, but for her as well - were etched on their faces.
"It's all right, dear," Molly said as she reached out a hand and gently rubbed Audrey's arm. Her free hand rested on the tabletop, fingertips barely touching Arthur's as he bowed his head and sniffed. His eyes glistened.
"I know it's irrational," Audrey said, "but when I found out I was with child, it felt like it was God saying he had taken Percy away – that he was gone, but a little piece of him had been left for us. And after that, some days it was all I could do to get out of bed in the morning - when I could even do that..." She dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. "Anyway, that's why. I hope you can forgive me."
"Of course," Arthur said. "Absolutely. There's nothing to forgive."
They lapsed into a brief silence before Molly spoke.
"How did you meet?" she asked. It was far from the most pressing matter at hand. Trivial, really, but she couldn't help it. She wanted to know everything. Audrey smiled at the memory and covered her mouth - stifling a laugh - Molly realized.
"Oh, it's silly - and it's going to sound awful of us," Audrey said. She smiled again, and Molly could almost pretend the wetness in her eyes was from tears of joy. "We met in Diagon Alley at the stationery shop near Flourish & Blotts," Audrey continued. "I work in the legal department and had just been promoted. Most of my duties had been in research for arbiters, but with the promotion, I'd be helping to write briefs that would go directly to members of the Wizengamot...
"Can you help me find a quill?" Audrey asked. "And maybe some very good ink and parchment?" The clerk turned with a broad grin plastered to his face. His dark hair was slicked back so severely he could have passed for bald if it had been a different color. She was amazed he had any product left for his moustache. And yet, bits of wax crusted at the edge of the coils he had tried to make of the tips. Everything about the man screamed conniving salesman, but he was the only one available.
"Now, I am not an expert of office supplies but even I knew this man was completely incompetent," Audrey said to the Weasleys. "We got to the inks first, and that was when I saw Percy for the first time. He was waiting out of the way, a package under one arm and a book in the other hand. I actually thought he was quite handsome, even then. I don't think he noticed we were there until the clerk picked up a bottle of ink and tried to tell me it was one of the most superior inks on the market - made from the juice of berries picked by blind monks at midnight of the three-quarter moon - which he assured me would provide the richest color I had ever seen.
"Percy looked up from his book at that, caught my eye and shook his head. Somehow, it was like we had an entire conversation in two seconds without ever speaking a word. I don't know exactly what I was thinking, but I gave him a little wink and plucked the ink from the clerk's hands"
"So, tell me, these blind monks...were they born blind or were they blinded by the berry growers? Because, I heard that makes a difference..."
"I caught the clerk completely off guard, and it must have tickled Percy something fierce, because he just threw back his head and laughed - silently mind you - and I just remember thinking 'My god. What a lovely smile. I'd very much like to see that again.' As we went from department to department, Percy followed along, and every time the clerk made some nonsense claim, I'd ask an even more ridiculous question and we'd just smile at each other as the clerk floundered until he came up with the most absurd of answers."
She closed her eyes and let the memory wash over her before speaking again.
"It probably would have been cruel if the man hadn't been a complete liar out to swindle me for every knut..."
"And here's a new product you're sure to enjoy," the clerk said. "Ink bottles are bulky, and even the best unbreakable charms can fail. With this new quill, the ink is actually inside the feather -"
"I'm sorry, no." Percy interrupted as he stepped between them. "I can't let you do that." He took the quill and turned to Audrey. "You don't want this," he said.
"I beg your pardon!" the clerk exclaimed. "What would you know about -"
"Yes, hello," Percy said to the clerk. "Here's what I know: Your blind-monk berry ink attracts insects and doesn't absorb well into the parchment you're peddling - parchment I might add that may feel pleasant and roll up nicely but tears easier than tissue - and as for this," he said as he held the quill under the clerk's nose, let's put it over here with the rest of the rubbish, where it belongs." He gave it a toss and watched as it landed amid a heap of discounted Rita Skeeter endorsed Quick Quills.
"I don't know if you've ever seen Percy...not just argue but...actually *make* an argument," Audrey said. "The way he wields words and facts and figures...it's like watching a knight go into battle. The clerk stared at him, his mouth gaping open like a fish. Fortunately for him, I suppose, an older woman came up then. Said she was teaching a group of children in her neighborhood to write and needed to know if there was more lined parchment in the back. He rushed off to look, and then it was just Percy and me."
"Not that I don't appreciate you getting *him* off my back," Audrey said, "but I do still need to find good supplies..."
"Well, what is it that you're hoping to gain?"
"Oh, I don't even know," she answered. "All I know, is I can start out with a perfectly nice, new quill and a fresh bottle of ink, and everything looks marvelous for about 10 feet. Then, I start getting this odd texture on the parchment and everything seems to be a little sloppier. And by 20 feet it's nigh unreadable - and I can't be sending things off the Wizengamot like that!"
Percy nibbled on the side of his thumb for a moment while thinking through her predicament.
"Right," he finally said. "You're in the wrong department."
"What on earth do you mean? I see quills and -"
"No no no," he said with a smile as he steered through the crowd and around shelves and past displays. "A lot of people quite reasonably think that good penmanship requires practice and great penmanship requires expensive quills, ink and parchment. But all you really need is a good knife."
He stopped in a tiny alcove at the opposite end of the store. It was different from the rest of the shop. It smelled of leather and hot coals. A glass display case beneath the counter held a dozen or so knives and daggers. The walls were lined with sheathes and pouches. She actually was admiring one long sheet of leather that appeared to roll up and had a straps for a knife, a few quills and even a bit of parchment - traveling desk set; no rucksack required - when a man walked up from a back room.
"Ah, Mr. Weasley!" He said. "Here to pick up your blade? Thomas is wrapping it up in back for you. Shouldn't be just a few moments."
"Oh, no need," Percy said. "A demonstration is in order." The man - William - nodded.
"I see," he said with a slight smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.
"The assistant brought out Percy's knife," Audrey told the Weasleys, "and it was utterly unremarkable. Oh, it was high-quality steel with a good hilt, I could tell that right away, but to hear him talk about his wondrous knife, I was expecting some sort of ornate, jewel-encrusted monstrosity of thing. But it wasn't like that at all. It was..." she paused, searching for the right words. "It was uncomplicated. Efficient. Good."
"How much for this quill?" Percy asked William.
"That old thing?" William said as he looked at the feather, plain and small as if it had come from a pigeon. "Those are a sickle a dozen."
"Perfect," Percy said as he deposited a few knuts onto the counter. He took the quill and stared at it for a moment, before running his hand down it, ruffling the edges. He rolled it back and forth between his palms and then, with a shrug, bent it in several places before stabbing the tip into the counter a few times. When he was done, the quill looked like it had spent a year in the bottom of a first-year's school trunk.
Percy took his knife and carefully shaved away the tip of the quill until it formed a sharp point. He dipped the quill in an inkwell by the register, wiped off the excess and began writing on a small piece of scratch parchment. When he was finished, he blew lightly across the wet ink before handing the paper to her.
Audrey looked at Arthur and Molly. She could see Percy in both of them, and it was at once comforting and disconcerting.
" He handed me this scrap of paper, and the first thing I noticed was how perfect it looked. Every letter was neatly formed and connected together with just a touch of flourish. I was absolutely amazed. And then I read it."
"What did it say?" Arthur asked.
"It said 'My name is Percy Weasley, and you have beautiful eyes.' "
"Well, this is quite lovely indeed," she said very-nearly casually. "But I suppose you've been taking caligraphy classes since you were a child. How do I know it's not just you?"
Percy smiled and ran a hand through his hair before answering.
"To be honest, my mother has excellent handwriting," he said, "and she IS who taught me, but if you need proof..." He twirled the quill around in his hand, before extending it's battered, feathered end to her.
"It was the most marvelous quill I had ever used," Audrey said. "It wrote like it had been just plucked fresh from an eagle."
A bell began to chime outside the shop. Percy jumped and checked his watch before swearing.
"I have to get back to the office. If I'm too late, my colleagues could move to abolish the knut or some such nonsense," he said. "But it was very nice to meet you."
"Wait!" Audrey said as she hastily finished writing and pressed the piece of parchment into his hands. In neat script without a smudge, drip or scratch, her name and office number stood out beneath Percy's words. "I thought maybe we could get lunch some day. Compare knives or something."
"I'd like that very much," Percy said. They stood there, smiling at each other until the bell's tune ended and its familiar bongs for the hour of day began. William, the shopkeeper, cleared his throat. "Right," Percy continued with a jump. "I've got to-"
"Go," Audrey finished. "I'd hate to lose the knut, after all." She watched him with a smile as he backed out of the shop's alcove, narrowly missing a display of quills as he turned and just catching a stack of books that threatened to topple over as he brushed by. When she turned back to the counter, William and Thomas were both there, watching her with poorly hidden grins.
Molly wanted to know everything. Audrey told them about the many lunches she and Percy had shared. Lunches soon became dinners, and dinners soon became dates. They were both busy sorts, dedicated completely to their respective offices, and yet, all their free moments were spent together.
She told Arthur and Molly about so many firsts (leaving out the largest for propriety's sake). First kiss. First just-because gifts. The first moment she realized she was head-over-heels in love. She told them about taking Percy to meet her parents - her mother adored him immediately, and even her father had been pleased at the neat, hard-working young man his daughter had finally brought home. And she politely ignored the tear that threatened to spill from Molly's eye as she told them of the first time she met someone important to Percy.
Audrey had been expecting a visit to the family homestead. Maybe even a stop by Arthur's office or a trip to the Weasley twins' joke shop. Instead, he took her to a quidditch pitch and they cheered on the Puddlemere United reserve team against the reserves from the Appleby Arrows. This was the day she convinced Percy that wizards didn't have the corner market on everything. With a few well-timed snaps, they compared photographs taken of Percy's friend, keeper Oliver Wood, mid-save.
Percy's, developed by the local wizarding photographer, had perfect composition and caught every second as Oliver flew to the farthest of his hoops in a streak of blue and gold and swatted the quaffle away.
Audrey developed her own photographs, using a muggle technique.
Percy watched her, bathed in red light as they stood in a small closet, and awed as images began to form on glossy paper beneath a pool of liquid. He leaned in close to her and breathed deeply. The chemicals stung his nose, but it was worth it to be so near her, to lose himself in her scent.
When the process was complete and the photographs dry, Percy couldn't help but marvel at them. There were three. The first showed Oliver with crystal clarity as he leaned forward on his broom, heading for the hoop as his eyes focused on unseen chasers to his left. In the second, his arm stretched high into the air, a look of pure determination on his face as his fingertips barely found purchase on the quaffle. The third photograph caught him mid fist-pump with a triumphant grin.
"This is amazing," Percy said. "I didn't realize it was so close - he nearly missed!" Percy lined the photographs up on the table and placed his next to them. "Look at that!" he said. "Mine's just a blur of action. Yours..." he reached out a hand and grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer to him. "They're beautiful," he whispered into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her.
Audrey smiled and pulled the photo of Percy from her robes, staring at it as if he were really there, smiling back at her.
"From that day on, I think he was done with wizard photographs." Audrey slid the photo – a little worse for wear after so much time on a public wall – over to Arthur and Molly. "This was taken just a few weeks before..." her voice trailed off and she swallowed deeply.
Molly reached over and took one of Audrey's hands in her own as the girl let loose a sob.
"I'm sorry," Audrey said again. "You deserve to know, and I…"
"It's all right," Molly said. "We don't have to speak of it tonight if you don't want."
"But I do," Audrey said. "I do. I haven't talked about it to anyone, not really, and it's just been sitting there, weighing on me. I couldn't bear to face my own parents, and…" She stopped. Took a deep breath to compose herself and tried again.
"We were at the ministry that night," Audrey said. "It was the night of your other son's wedding, right?"
"Yes, our oldest son Bill," Arthur said. Audrey nodded.
"I had taken some dinner to Percy. He was throwing himself in his work, trying not to think about the wedding. He hated not being there."
"He was invited!" Arthur exclaimed. "I watched Bill mail the invitation myself!"
"I know," Audrey said. "I know. But Percy didn't want to take away from Bill's day…"
"Sweetheart, are you sure you don't want to go? We could probably still make the reception…"
"I am absolutely positive," Percy said.
"But he's your brother."
"Yes, which is why I want him to have a happy wedding and a happy reception with no drama from the black sheep of the Weasley family."
"You really think that-"
"You don't know, love," he said. "Every time I go there, there's some sort of spectacle. Last time, my brothers threw mashed potatoes at my head. They're better off without me there, trust me. Besides, I'm working on a letter."
Audrey nodded her head.
"All right, well, I brought you some food." She set the plate in front of him, and he smiled gratefully. He offered her a bite, but she declined. She loved to just watch him. It made her smile, and when she smiled, so did he, and it was amazing.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked. She'd been feeling ill for a few days.
"Yes, much. Must have been something I ate."
"I told you, raw fish is just not a good idea."
"Shut it, Weasley, it's delicious."
He couldn't help but laugh and was just about to speak when a loud bang could be heard in the hall. They rose from their chairs and poked their heads into the empty hallway. It was late, so there was nothing to be seen, but they could hear fighting down the way. Percy pulled out his wand.
"Stay here."
"Not a chance."
Together, they crept down the hallway. When they neared an intersecting hallway, they heard a commotion and flattened themselves against the wall.
"Minister, I have to get you out of here; we're under attack!"
"I KNOW we're under attack, you bloody fool! Why the blazes do you think I'm not leaving!"
Percy and Audrey shared a glance. It was Rufus Scrimgeour, the minister of magic, and a member of his security detail.
"Sir, protocol dictates I get you to safety!"
Scrimgeour lowered his voice. They could barely him when he spoke next.
"I don't give a damn about your protocol. This is MY house, and if you want to drag me out of it, you'll have to fight me, too." Percy peered around the wall. The guard had his back to Percy, and began to raise his wand. All sense left Percy. He could have fired off any number of curses, hexes, charms or spells but instead rushed forward grabbing the man's wand arm with one hand and jerking him back with the other, shoving him to the ground behind them.
"I believe the minister said he was staying," he said. The guard looked at him dumbly as Scrimgeour cast a quick binding charm. It had been a combination of surprise and luck that let Percy get the drop on the guard, but the minister didn't seem to care.
"Thank you," he said as he searched for a name.
"Weasley, sir" Percy said.
"Ah yes. Arthur is it?"
"Percy, his son." The minister nodded and slapped his shoulder.
"Well, Percy Weasley, shall we take back our ministry?"
The three them charged through the halls, pulling workers from their offices, pointing the shell-shocked ones toward exits and recruiting the rest to the cause as they continued toward the source of the blast. A bolt of red sparks would have taken off the minister's head if he hadn't ducked just in the nick of time. That was when they saw the death eaters and hell broke loose. Curses were flung this way and that as they pushed the tide back.
The death eaters seemed to be thinning, and for a moment, it gave them hope that maybe they were coming out on top. Finally, they reached the underground level. The lower levels of a research wing. It wasn't until they saw the stream of death eaters come pouring through a hole in the wall that they realized just how much trouble they were in. They fought hard, but he fact was that they were outnumbered and the hall was beginning to quake and crumble.
Together, they sent a wild burst of energy outward that pushed the rest of the death eaters back through the hole they'd come, creating a bottleneck. At last! An upper hand! They had begun to erect a magical barrier to patch the hole when stones began to fall overhead, scattering them. There was explosion in the department above. That part hadn't been a lie at least.
Everyone ran then. The death eaters who were coming in. The ministry defenders, retreating to more stable ground. If it weren't for the masks, it would have been difficult to tell who was who as they all tried tried to escape. But periodically, someone would remember this was a battle and small skirmishes would break out, with hexes and curses flung every which way.
It was one of these that struck Scrimgeour square in the chest.
Audrey grabbed him as he fell and Percy tossed a hex and a protective barrier so fast that Audrey barely had time to register them before they were on the move again, each with one of Scrimgeour's arms over their shoulders.
Her tea had gone cold.
"I don't know what it was," she said. "It could have been a falling rock or a falling body, I just remember this tug as Percy got knocked off his feet. I tried to turn back for him, but the crowd kept pushing me farther away. When I was able to look back-" a burst of air escaped her lips, almost like a laugh. "I saw his hair first. He was helping a man up."
"Percy!"
"It's all right! Keep going; I'll be right behind you!"
Audrey nodded hauled the minister up the stairs, finding hidden reserves of strength from she didn't know where. As she ran, she could hear him mumble something about thin walls. They must have made it topside, and he didn't need to say more for her to understand. She elbowed her way to the edge of the crowd.
"Reducto!" she yelled, making a hole in the wall just big enough to squeeze through. In the commotion, no one else even noticed.
Once outside, they both fell to the ground. She crawled to the minister and waved her wand over his form, lying unmoving except for the shaky, uneven rise and fall of his chest as he struggled for breath. But she was no healer. The magic required to treat his wounds – if it were even possible – was too much for her. It stung her body until she dropped her wand from the pain, and when she tried to pick it up to try again, Scrimgeour grabbed her hand.
Rufus Scrimgeour was the minister of magic. He was a leader and a politician. He could be a diplomat when required. But before and above all that, he was a soldier. A war hero. And he knew the score. He squeezed her hand tightly, and she squeezed back, watching his face as fear and worry drained away, replaced with a smile for a life well-lived and a calm sense of peace. His grip loosened, and Rufus Scrimgeour was gone.
Audrey closed her eyes and shed a tear for the man she hadn't known in life but knew more intimately than most in death. It was then that she noticed the quiet. It was too quiet. She turned back to the ministry and for a moment was surprised to see it standing there, in full. What should have been a wing collapsed to near rubble stood tall, looking ever the shabby abandoned store it pretended to be. It was a testament to the wards that surrounded it. Even the hole she had put through the wall seemed filled and solid, not unlike Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross.
She wanted to run once more into the breach. To find Percy and bring him out, but her body wouldn't move. So she sat and waited for him. Listened, hearing only the sound of her own breath and a handful of cars driving down the road.
There was a crack and a bang. She smelled smoke. She looked in all directions, and when she couldn't find the cause, she looked up. At first, she just thought they were fireworks. Then the green sparks took shape, forming the skull and snake. The Dark Mark.
The minister was dead. The Ministry had fallen, and Percy was nowhere to be found.
She ran.
"I'm sorry," Audrey said. "I shouldn't have left him. I thought for sure I'd get home and he'd walk through the door..."
Molly reached out and took Audrey's hand in her own. Her other hand held Arthur's tightly. No more mingling of finger tips, just outright, hand-holding.
"It wasn't your fault, darling," she said kindly.
"No, it absolutely wasn't." Arthur reached over and took Audrey's other hand, and together, like the circle their entwined hands made, Audrey felt somewhat complete for the first time since Percy went missing.
Later that night, Molly refused to let Audrey leave. It was much too late to be riding a broom all through London, and much to dangerous, too. It had only taken a little convincing to get her to accept the invitation to stay, and it was made all the more willingly after Molly invited her to stay in Percy's old room. It would be a side of him she had never known.
Audrey was just cleaning up in the bathroom when Arthur entered the bedroom. Molly was turning down the sheets and had opened a window to let some fresh air in. It smelled like a rain storm was coming.
"I suppose I ought to be heading out," he said. Molly held an old teddy bear of Percy's to her chest. She kissed its head once before setting it down on the bed, it's tiny furry head resting on the edge of the pillow. "If you'd like, I could come back tomorrow."
A fat drop of rain fell on the window sill and a rolling thunder could be heard in the distance. Still, Molly stayed silent.
"I'll head out then," Arthur said. He turned and was almost out of the room when she spoke.
"You could stay," she said. "That storm will be here any minute, it'd be a shame to get caught out in it. Not that it'll be much better here with all the leaks. The twins are coming over in the morning to thatch the roof."
With all the magic that went into creating the wards around the house, it seemed the environment was supersaturated with it. Trying to fix the roof by magical means hadn't accomplished much of anything.
Arthur nodded. It didn't seem right to follow Molly to their bedroom. Not yet. Not after everything that happened between them. He went instead to Bill's old room and settled in among the boxes that created a small wall between the door and bed. He listened to the rain hit the roof, some of it falling through and landing as a steady drip into an old tea cup.
Being there, he felt an odd sense of comfort. It wasn't perfect, not by far, but it was home. And for now, that was enough.