They were supposed to Apparate straight to the Hog's Head, but Fleur had asked Bill to quickly stop back by Muriel's before they did. After hearing his 'not goodbye, goodbye' to Charlie, she had wanted to leave something behind as well.
"Mr. Ollivander," Fleur said, walking over to where he sat on Muriel's sofa, still looking frail, but also healthier than she was used to seeing him these last few weeks, "May I ask a favor?"
"For you, my dear, anything!" he said, trying to stand up, though Fleur urged him to remain sitting. "After all your kindness, I would be happy to help however I can."
She held out an envelope with a letter inside. She'd come back and scribbled it down hastily; likely the fastest letter she'd ever written in her life.
But the message had been important. It had been to her parents, with a separate section specifically for Gabrielle. She had wanted to tell them that she loved them and not to worry about her. She'd been so very happy these last few years and, honestly, her entire life. If this was the last message they ever received from her, please do not be sad. She would have died doing the right thing; the thing she believed most in.
"In the event something happens to me," she asked, "would you please put this in the post?"
Ollivander took the letter, reading the names and who it was addressed to. He seemed to suddenly realize what she was asking, looked up at her with a seriousness in his expression, but eventually nodded. "Yes, of course."
She forced a smile, knowing the letter was safe with him.
"I do hope it does not come to that, though," he added.
"As do I," she said, leaning forward to hug him, knowing Bill was waiting for her. "Take care."
"No, you please take care," he said, his smile watery. "Good luck to you. To all of you."
Bill had been watching across the room, his aunt standing beside him. Fleur could hear her saying, "She could have asked me to send it," but Fleur had made her choice in Mr. Ollivander very deliberately. She did not trust Muriel not to misplace it or simply forget about it. She'd likely excuse it away with something like, "Oh, the French don't care about goodbyes anyway…"
She looked at Bill, who smiled. His parents and all the others had already left for the Hog's Head. It was time that they joined them.
"Don't be stupid and get yourselves killed," Muriel said, though her expression did soften as she said, "Be careful. And give them hell."
"We will," Bill said, giving Fleur's hand a squeeze to indicate they were about to go. Fleur took a deep breath as they suddenly were pulled out of Muriel's, only to reappear moments later in the middle of the dingy, uninviting looking pub—one that made the Leaky Cauldron look like a high-end resort. There were already several very familiar faces grouped around in the room, including Bill's parents, Remus, and Kingsley, as well as some people Fleur had never seen before. They were all roughly her age.
Aberforth, who Fleur had met only a handful of times, had stopped speaking to everyone to look at her and Bill.
"Just how many more of you are there?" he said, sounding aggravated.
"As many as it takes," Remus said, smiling a bit. "Strength in numbers."
"Strength for what, exactly?" Aberforth said. "What is it that you lot plan to do tonight?"
"We can't entirely be sure," Kingsley said, "but it's best we're prepared for all outcomes. Once it's discovered Potter is here, there will be a response. I'd rather be over prepared than under."
"Where is everyone else?" Fleur asked, wondering where Bill's siblings had gone; Luna and Dean. They'd all been coming here, but none of them were anywhere to be seen.
"Went up to the school already," Aberforth muttered, adding under his breath. "Using my pub as a bloody train station."
"How are they getting into the school?" Bill asked, but Aberforth already seemed to have anticipated the question. He'd walked over to his mantlepiece, where a portrait for a young girl hung, and only then did Fleur realize it was slightly ajar off the wall, like a door. When Aberforth pulled on the frame, it swung open exactly like a door.
"Be on with it, then," he said, gesturing toward an opening that appeared to be hiding behind the portrait. "It'll take you up to the castle."
"Where did this come from?" Remus asked, stepping forward to examine the opening. "I thought I knew all the ins and outs of this castle."
"Yeah, so did those twins of yours," Aberforth gestured to Molly and Arthur. "They said something similar. Turns out Hogwarts is full of surprises. More than any one person can possibly ever know."
It was a tunnel, Fleur quickly discovered, taking Bill's hand and following him and the others up and inside. Once in, there were smooth stone steps that eventually gave way to an earthy floor. Lamps were hanging on the wall, lighting their way as everyone began the trek—Remus at the lead, followed by Kingsley, she and Bill, Molly, Arthur, and that group of young strangers behind.
After a few minutes of walking, Fleur heard one of the strangers telling Arthur, "I played Quidditch with Fred, George, and Harry, so I know them, but I'd left school before the D.A. formed. I didn't get the message directly, but Angelina let me know."
"I let a few people know," said the girl Fleur assumed was called Angelina. "Oliver was one of many. I didn't see my coin, though Katie saw hers. She'd turned up on my doorstep to let me know, but by then I also got a direct message from George telling us how he, Fred, and Lee were going to Hogwarts and that they were going to fight. To get moving and tell everyone."
In front of the pack, Bill asked Kingsley if he knew anything of what was happening in the castle. Kingsley had hummed for a second before offering, "If anything happened, it's still all within Hogwarts. To the best of our knowledge, Snape hasn't alerted anyone yet. Aberforth said that other than Harry, Ron, and Hermione setting off the Caterwaul Charm when they arrived, the village had been otherwise quiet. If Snape had signaled any sort of alarm, the village would have reacted. It's swarmed with Death Eaters currently."
"So you think they are unaware that Harry is there?" Fleur asked.
"That's exactly what I think," Kingsley said. "But I don't see that lasting long."
After several more minutes of walking, they reached another stone staircase, much like the one on the other end of the tunnel where they'd come in. It was the one called Angelina who asked, "Where does this come out?"
"Let's have a look, shall we?" Remus said at the front, having reached a door and pushing it open.
What was on the other side was nothing that Fleur expected. A vast room, very rustic and cabin-like with its wood features and paneling. It was enormous, filled with people—young people, students—and hammocks hanging from the ceiling and any crevice they could fit one. There were bookcases filled with books, banners of blue, red, and yellow hanging among the hammocks; a large wireless station in the corner.
It was like nothing Fleur had ever seen.
"What is this place?"
"Gang's all here!" announced Fred, smiling at them as he turned away from the group he was chatting with. George and Lee Jordan had done the same, breaking away to greet their Quidditch friends. As Fred passed Bill, he swatted him and said, "Nice of you to finally join us."
"You were supposed to stay put until we had a plan," Molly snapped at her sons, swinging her gaze around onto Ginny particularly. "You weren't supposed to be here at all! You're underage."
"Loads of people here are underage," Ginny countered, clearly attempting to imply to her mother that it didn't matter at this point. Underage or not, she was planning to be a part of this. Fred and George had barely even acknowledged their mother's concern, offering no more than lazy shrugs that seemed to say, "What's done is done."
Thankfully for them, Molly was now barely paying attention given that Ron had suddenly emerged from the crowd and was grinning at his mother and father. They hadn't seen each other in ages, and immediately Molly looked as if she barely realized anyone else was in the room. Her eyes had filled with tears at the sight of her youngest son.
"Hey, Mum," Ron said with an anxious smile. "Hi, Dad."
"Ron!" she said, rushing forward to crush him in a sort of smother hug. "Oh, Ron…!" She pulled back and looked at his face—studying it, inspecting it, rubbing a smudge of dirt off of it. "Are you alright?" She hugged him again and a few tears fell down her face. "I've missed you so much! I've been so worried."
"I'm fine, Mum," he said, his eyes a little wide-eyed with the intense attention as he continued to be squished in her arm. "I'm fine. I promise."
Hermione had come up beside Ron, and Molly had eventually broken off Ron to hug her as well, the tears still coming. Ron was hugging his father, answering some question Arthur had asked about the dragon.
While all of this had been happening, Bill had torn away with Kingsley and Remus to speak to Dean and some other boys Fleur didn't know. Two of them looked like absolute hell—swollen, cut, bruises of various colors all over their bodies. They'd obviously been through some terrible things; they looked to be attempting to catch the others up on what exactly was happening and where they were.
It took a moment for the obvious question to be asked.
"Where's Harry? What's happening?"
"Harry's looking for something," Ron said, and they all turned to him. "We think it might be the lost dia-dum—"
"Diadem," Hermione corrected on the spot.
"Yeah. That. Whatever," Ron said. "The famous lost crown thing from Ravenclaw."
Bill had wandered back over at this point and stood beside Fleur, but he addressed his brother. "Harry's looking for the lost diadem of Ravenclaw? The one that's…lost, and has been for ages. The one no one knows where it is?"
"Which is why he's obviously looking for it," George quipped. "If it was the famous found diadem of Ravenclaw, he wouldn't be searching the castle at the moment, now would he?"
Bill shot his brother a silencing look, but quickly looked back at Ron. "What's he need it for?"
"It's important," Ron said.
"Yes, but why?"
"Because it is," Ron said, his gaze narrowing on Bill, almost as if daring him to push it further. "Look, I don't have the time to get into it, but Harry needs to find it and he's gone up to Ravenclaw Tower to see what it looks like so we can get an idea of what we're looking for."
"He hopefully will be back soon," Hermione added, checking the time. She seemed anxious and looked toward the opposite side of the room, as if willing Harry to appear then.
"Hopefully," Ron said, and when Hermione shot him a look, he quickly added, "Right, sorry, when Harry is definitely back, we'll see what he has to say. Go from there."
The room broke into a commotion then, people splitting off into their separate conversations and speculating what was happening. Fleur had turned to Bill, gesturing over to where Remus and Kingsley were still talking to one of the very bruised young men.
"Did you discover anything?"
Bill nodded. "This room we're in, it's a special room. A secret room Snape and the others can't access. Neville over there—" He gestured to the bruised boy who looked to be doing the most talking, "you've heard Ginny mention him, he seems to have a handle on everything happening here at the school. He's been working on the inside resistance. He's the one who figured out this hiding space and invited everyone else here inside to escape what's happening out there."
She nodded, taking all of that in. "Why is he so hurt? Has he been fighting already?"
Bill nodded a little. "That's apparently a direct result of what's happening out there and what they're trying to escape. Ginny wasn't sugarcoating how bad things are, and it's apparently only got worse. But it's clear they're all fed up. They're ready to take the school back and do whatever it takes to—"
"Where are you going?" came Fred's nearby voice, causing Fleur and Bill to turn and see that Hermione and Ron were breaking away from the group, now heading toward the exit together.
"To the toilet," Ron shouted back, picking up pace to a bit of a jog.
"We've got one of those in here," a random voice shouted back. "Just over there."
"Not that one!" Ron called back, but if they said anything more, Fleur didn't hear it. Both he and Hermione had disappeared.
"What was that?" Bill muttered, looking over at Fred.
Fred shrugged to say he didn't know. "When nature calls?"
Bill chuckled, looking back over a Fleur. She grinned and said, "Perhaps they wanted some alone time together? If not now, then when?"
"In a toilet?" Bill made a face. "Here I thought I'd finally talked some sense into that kid…"
She laughed, feeling strange about laughing given everything happening around them, but a part of her knew it was a good thing. Much like taking some alone time together, now was the time to laugh since who knew if there'd be much of a chance for any later? The anxious knot in the pit of her stomach continued to tighten more and more as the minutes passed. She couldn't be sure whether waiting for things to happen was the worst or the best part. She was ready for something to happen, but at least they were all safe in this room.
Out of reflex, she stepped forward and hugged Bill around his middle, feeling his arms wrap around her. She had no idea what to expect, but she felt it important to grab onto him as much as possible while she still had the chance.
He was currently recounting his talk with Charlie to his parents and the twins; about how Charlie was trying to get here, though no one felt he'd be able to make it in time without some sort of Portkey. Fred mentioned how Charlie was clever enough to make an illegal one, though their mother didn't seem to like that idea.
"It would get him into serious trouble."
"Oh no, not trouble," Fred said sarcastically. "Because us Weasleys are all so well behaved, after all. Breaking into Gringotts, broadcasting illegal radio programs, getting ready to fight the Headmaster of Hogwarts in clear revolt…Yes, let's be sure to stay out of trouble."
Everyone, even Molly, had a laugh at that. By the looks of it, the laughter once again felt rather cathartic for everyone in that moment; a way to let off some anxious energy.
Leave it to Fred or George to provide the reprieve, and while Fleur didn't know it then, she would forever remember Fred's face in that moment. His amused smile; his always infectious personality; the way George mirrored his amusement in an identical way.
It was something that she'd never quite get used to ever seeing on its own in the years to come.
She'd have to, of course. Not that she knew it then. She never could have suspected how much she'd eventually think about these quiet and calm times from "the before", but she would spend much of the rest of her life remembering these jovial, lighter moments in the future.
Because in that next moment, the door to the room would suddenly open to reveal Harry, having returned from his task in the castle. He would immediately announce that Voldemort was on his way, that Snape had made a run for it, and that they were barricading the school.
"We're fighting," he announced.
A huge cheer had rung through the room once Harry made his announcement; people all started surging forward, out into the castle with their wands drawn. It was never more clear to anyone standing there that these people were fed-up and fearless. They'd spent the last school year being abused and mistreated, and they'd reached their wits end. They were out for blood.
So much was happening all at once now. Harry recalled to everyone how Snape had apparently run at the first sign of trouble; Voldemort was coming. And if Voldemort was coming, that meant all of his supporters were coming too.
This was it. This was not a drill.
Bill looked at Fleur, who looked back at him apprehensively, but also as if she'd expected exactly this; she was as ready as she could be. That was how he felt—as ready as he could be. He'd battled it out in these corridors before, and while he'd lost some of his face that time, he was better prepared this time. They'd been anticipating this; waiting patiently for it, even.
It was time to end this once and for all…or die trying.
As he looked at his wife, he could only hope that if the 'die trying' part had to come into effect, that it was either only him or both of them. The only scenario he could not fathom being able to get through was her being taken; him being left behind to deal with the fallout of a life without her.
"I'm going!" Ginny had snapped from nearby, arguing with their mother while Remus and the rest of the Weasleys looked on. "I have to go!"
"You're underage!" their mother shouted, just as Harry joined the group of them—the first time Bill had got a proper look at him. He seemed oddly calm and collected considering everything going on. Then again, if anyone had been anticipating this, if anyone was ready for it, it was him.
"I won't permit it!" their mother said to Ginny. "The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"
"I won't!" Ginny shouted back, a fire in her that Bill had seen shades of in the past—especially in recent years—but never to his magnitude. She'd never looked so adamant in her life, even yanking her arm aggressively from her mother's grip.
"I'm in Dumbledore's Army!"
"A teenagers' gang!"
"A teenagers' gang that's about to take him on, which no one else had dared to do!" Fred chimed in.
"She's sixteen," their mother shouted. "She's not old enough! What were you two thinking, bringing her with you?"
Fred and George had nothing to say to that, and simply avoided eye contact with her. Bill knew on some level, being closer in age with Ginny and likely seeing what she was capable of during their D.A. meetings gave them a flawed perspective. Bill had no doubt Ginny was scrappy and a fighter—she'd already survived so much. But she was also his youngest sibling who—as his mother pointed out—was sixteen. She was underage. It was hard to reconcile her respectable desire to fight with her obviously limited abilities.
And if he was honest, the selfish part of him wanted one less person to worry about. The last time he'd found himself in the middle of a fight with Death Eaters with Ginny around, he'd been so distracted trying to protect her, he'd ended up not protecting himself. The next thing he knew, Greyback had been on top of him, tearing into his face.
"Mum's right, Ginny," Bill said, trying to make his tone sympathetic. "You can't do this. Everyone underage will have to leave. It's only right."
"I can't go home!" she shouted back at him, tears of frustration in her eyes. "My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and—"
She met Harry's eyes then, looking—begging—for him to say something on her behalf. There was a silent conversation between the two of them that Bill couldn't begin to unravel, but he was ultimately relieved when even Harry began to shake his head to say he couldn't agree with her. He seemed to want to protect her as much as they did.
Ginny, however, looked betrayed.
"Fine," she said, though she was very much not 'fine.' She was devastated and looking into the tunnel that went back to the Hog's Head. "I'll say goodbye now, then, and—"
She didn't get to finish that sentence because of the sounds of footsteps coming from the tunnel; the sudden sight of a man emerging from it instantly distracted them all. Bill didn't immediately believe what he was seeing. The man—awkward, lanky, and tripping a bit over his own feet—suddenly took proper shape in front of them.
The absolute last person he expected to see tonight was now standing himself up straighter in front of them.
"Holy shit," he heard George barely whisper beside him, evidently just as surprised as Bill was.
It was Percy, who was now standing there, panting and adjusting his crooked glasses on his face. He evidently had not been expecting to run into this group specifically because after asking, "Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I—I—"
He stopped, as if startled. He quickly looked around, his eyes darting from one member of his family to the next.
No one said a word. No one seemed to know what to say. Percy had turned up for…rebellion? Most of them hadn't seen him in over a year; since that fateful Christmas dinner at the Burrow when he'd turned up with Scrimgeour. This was the very last thing Bill had expected to happen tonight, and that was with loads of weird shit already happening. You could cut the tension with a knife.
From beside him, he felt Fleur touch his back reassuringly. She cleared her throat and suddenly, almost as if trying to diffuse things, said, "So—'ow iz little Teddy?"
If Lupin answered that, Bill couldn't find himself to listen. He, as well as the rest of his family, still hadn't said a word; all of them were still staring at Percy. Percy, meanwhile, looked like he'd been almost petrified to the spot. Everyone seemed to be waiting for someone else to speak—or in his family's case, waiting for Percy to speak.
Finally, Percy yelled, "I was a fool!" loud enough that even Fred and George jolted. It took a lot to give them a start.
"I was an idiot," he continued, his emotion palpable. "I was a pompous prat, I was a—a—"
"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron," said Fred plainly.
Despite himself, Bill found himself nodding slightly. That about summed it up.
Percy looked awkward and swallowed. "Yes, I was!"
There was a pause at that, everyone seemingly still digesting what was happening. Bill looked at the twins, who were looking at each other; Ginny and their father were both looking at their mother, who still seemed absolutely shocked. Percy just kept looking at all of them.
"Well," Fred finally muttered, "you can't say fairer than that."
With that he stepped forward and held out his hand for Percy to shake.
Shit, if the twins could forgive Percy for this—for anything —then the world really must be coming to an end that night. Still, Bill couldn't help but grin, watching as his mother burst into tears, pushed past Fred, and pulled Percy into a strangling hug. Their father soon joined them after Percy personally apologized to him. Bill could have sworn he'd noticed some tears in his dad's eyes as well.
He felt Fleur's hand on his back again, and when he turned to look at her, she smiled at him. He smiled too. If all else failed tonight, at least he could say his family finally reconciled. Small victories.
"What made you see sense, Perce?" George asked.
Percy started rubbing his eyes under his glasses, explaining that he'd apparently been planning this for a bit; that it was hard given that the Ministry was imprisoning traitors all the time. He had to be covert and do what he could. He'd been in contact with Aberforth, who had apparently let him know what was happening at Hogwarts tonight. He'd had chosen to finally act.
George and Fred were immediately cracking jokes on him, but for once it felt good-natured and not like their usual, more negative rapport toward each other. It was as if every one of them felt the true seriousness of the evening and how nothing should be left unsaid—all of the fights and rows were not worth taking into this battle.
And as the three of them began making their way toward the castle, Bill and Fleur in tow, it was then that Percy made proper eye contact with him for the first time. Percy smiled sheepishly, his expression silently saying, "Alright, then?"
Bill returned with an equally silent. "We'll be fine."
Percy continued to smile a little, turning to Fleur then and saying, "So you're my sister-in-law now?" He reached out to shake her hand. "Nice to properly meet you."
"You as well," Fleur said, shaking his hand as they exited the room. "I 'ave 'eard much about you."
She'd said it politely, because that's what one often says when meeting someone, but Percy frowned. He looked immediately apologetic, glancing awkwardly at Bill.
"Yeah, I won't pretend it was good," Bill said, "but let's keep that in the past now, shall we? Let her form her own opinions. We can start fresh, Perce."
"Right, yes, that's exactly what I'm hoping to do. To prove to everyone that while I may have been rather blinded by ambition and desire to rise above our humble roots, I do want—"
Bill reached out and patted Percy on his shoulder, which immediately made him stop talking. He hadn't meant to do it—old habit, really—but for the briefest of moments it was like they were children again. Percy getting too wordy and talking entirely too much when he didn't have to; Bill patting him on the shoulder as a way to get his attention; to shut him up; to let him know he didn't always need to say every thought in his head. Not everything needed the deepest of explanations; sometimes less was more.
And just like when they were kids, Percy stopped talking and reined himself in. He again sheepishly grinned, as if silently apologizing.
They reached the main stairs then, and Bill looked down below once they reached the edge. He could hear the sounds of the voices carrying up—Fred and George, who were already well ahead of them, were among them and especially loud. They were chanting something about taking back Hogwarts.
"I'd assume we're going to the Great Hall," Bill said, seeing Percy nod and Fleur look to them to lead the way through the confusing stairways. He sometimes forgot she wasn't as well versed with the castle as he was, often thinking she'd spent more time inside it when she'd been here that year for the Tournament. As it turns out, she'd never gone above the third floor, and that was only to visit the library on occasion.
They'd walked in silence for a bit, mostly listening to the voices and chants of the people below. Bill soaked the charged atmosphere up. He couldn't help but briefly pause as he reached each floor's landings—looking around them and almost trying to commit them to memory as if it may be the last time he saw them. He'd long since said goodbye to these hallowed halls, but at the moment, he had to wonder if they'd now be saying goodbye to him.
Because Voldemort was coming. He almost couldn't believe it. He almost couldn't fathom that this all may possibly end tonight, one way or another.
"I didn't completely abandon you all, you know," Percy suddenly said, cutting into Bill's thoughts as they began descending toward the fourth-floor. "I did keep in touch."
"How's that?" Bill asked skeptically. "Because my memories of you these last few years are that of you turning up and being a prat at Christmas, and the one time I saw you across the lobby at Gringotts and you took off in the other direction."
"I've already told you I was an idiot for my behavior," Percy muttered. "But I was talking about the letters I sent. Did you get them?"
"You didn't send any letters. I'd remember if—"
But Fleur had made a quick gasping sound behind them; Bill immediately swung around, fearing that something had happened to her. What he found was Fleur taken by surprise, staring at Percy.
"Ze letters," she said quietly. "Ze anonymous ones. Zat was you?"
Bill turned and looked at Percy, who was nodding eagerly, happy to see Fleur understood. "Yes, that was me!" He started walking downstairs again. "I sent them to all of you! After the fall of the Ministry, I got demoted down to a desk clerk who files paperwork. The officials in charge—"
"The Death Eaters," Bill corrected, throwing him a look. "You can speak freely now, Perce. Call them what they are."
Percy nodded a little as if that obviously made sense. "Right. Yes. The Death Eaters didn't trust me on account of being a Weasley—even after some of the other, more tenured Ministry employees vouched for me. It didn't matter. I lost everything and got sent to do mental work so that they could keep an eye on me. I learned quickly that I was nothing more than a blood traitor to them."
"I suppose realizing that sooner rather than later is something," Bill muttered. "Despite it being glaringly obvious from day one—"
Percy ignored him. "I found my name on a list of potential spies and traitors. I almost think they wanted me to find it—it came right across my desk in my filings one day. Not that I wasn't already concerned, but that was the nail in the coffin. I may not be at the top of their list, but I was on it. It was only a matter of time.
"And your names were all on it as well," he continued, "so I started to panic. But I couldn't panic of course, because then they'd have sent me to Azkaban or killed me. So I put my head down at work, biding my time, trying to figure out what to do. Then another day, another paper came across a colleague of mine's desk—she and I were friendly and in the same boat with families we were afraid for. We were always trying to help each other when we could.
"It had coded dates on it, and I'd seen something similar in the past. They were planned raids—for example, at Diagon Alley, which would of course include the twins' shop. That's common sense. Also raids of different Ministry departments, including dad's."
He sighed heavily. "I did what I could do to warn them anonymously, hoping they'd listen, but if I'd been caught leaking that information, they would have killed me. All I could do was send them and hope everyone heeded my advice."
He looked at Bill. "I'm telling you, at one point, the official—" He paused to correct himself, "the Death Eaters were relishing in the fact of letting me know they were hunting my family. They purposely would make sure I could hear them because they wanted me to know. They were livid when Fred and George weren't there when they raided their shop. Same with Dad skipping work and not coming back. They said they were determined to find you and Charlie since they had to believe one of you was hiding Harry or had information. I could only hope you'd gone into hiding because they had half a department scouring deeds and documents trying to find where you may have lived."
"We never 'as ze opportunity to change ze deed to ze cottage from Muriel's name to ours," Fleur told him. "She tried, but ze Ministry 'ad fallen at the same time, and it seemed to 'ave been misplaced."
"It wasn't misplaced," Percy said. "I took it. It's how I knew where you were."
Bill and Fleur stared at him, the three of them finally reaching the ground floor. "You took it?"
He nodded. "I ran into Muriel the day she turned up to the Ministry to file the paperwork. I'd been on my way out. It was before things had fallen, likely only days before your wedding. She had confronted me to tell me I was being a cruel son. That for someone so clever, I was very foolish."
Bill chuckled a little, clearly able to picture that scene playing out exactly with Muriel. He'd actually liked to have seen it, but he had to remember he was trying to forgive Percy from here on out. They were moving forward, not staying in the past.
"She also told me I needed to be more like you," Percy said to Bill. "How you'd done everything right and how you were even buying Shell Cottage to start your new life." He sighed. "So, when everything fell apart and I heard about what had happened at your wedding—when I started to see the signs that they were going to hunt you all—I went up into the official records office, made an excuse to be there, found the paperwork Muriel had just submitted, and took it. I couldn't do anything for mum and dad, everyone already knew where they were, but I'd hoped to buy you some time. Hoped perhaps mum and dad could escape there with you."
"Shit," Bill muttered, sensing Fleur's eyes on him and meeting them. "That's why no one ever turned up for surprise inspections and meaningless raids. They really couldn't trace the cottage to us."
Fleur nodded slowly and turned to Percy. "I suppose we should zank you for zat. Who knows what would 'ave 'appened ozerwise…"
Percy shrugged. "I did what I could. I never knew if it would actually help, and l know I should have done more, but…" He took a deep breath. "Just know that it wasn't only tonight that I'd made a choice to fight back."
A/N: Many of you guessed the letters were Percy. 10 points for you.
I have a strange soft spot for Percy in ways I've already touched on in earlier chapters of this story (always the odd man out; sandwiched between two sets of brother/best friends and not having that himself; having to watch them have it). I see him as lonely and always overcompensating for that—not that it excuses his behavior, but it makes him interesting to me.
I also imagine we'd get a slightly different version of him around Bill, since he's the younger sibling in that scenario when we're so used to seeing him as the older one. It's nice to play a little with that dynamic.
Anyway, as always, thanks for reading!