So we'll be getting back to some more serious subject matter now after that comic relief...

11. Percy: Sunrises

Percy looked next to him to see Fred.

For a brief moment, Percy's heart skipped a beat, and then he realized that this wasn't at all real. It wasn't possible, of course, and he thought himself gullible for believing it for even a millisecond.

They were at Hogwarts. It was May, and the place was a war zone. Fred was laughing and throwing hexes and saying something, but Percy couldn't understand a word. All the sounds around him were drowned out, as if he was underwater. Everything felt cold. He knew what was going to happen, but he couldn't move. His feet were planted to the ground and his arms were stuck to his sides. All he could do was watch the scene unfold.

Watch as the rubble of an explosion buried Fred.

And unlike the real event, he couldn't rush to Fred's side. He could only watch as his family grieved and cried. He couldn't shake Fred's limp body and pray that it shook back.

Percy was severed from everything around him, and it was the worst feeling ever.

Then, he woke covered in cold sweat.

Percy had apparated to a small meadow somewhere on the outskirts of the Burrow. It was a place he often came to think when he used to live at home, and there was nothing like it in the middle of London. It was still quite dark out and the yellowed grass was frosted over. Percy sat on his coat and watched his breath steam in the cold January air. The sky was mostly dark blue, but over the horizon Percy could see hues of purple and orange peeking through.

He had, for the most part, calmed down since his nightmare. As soon as he woke up, he splashed his face with some water, but it took a few minutes outside in the cold air of the meadow to get his heart to stop racing. The dream was worse than what had actually happened, because in the dream he was completely helpless. It was as if he was separate from everything around him.

As Percy watched the sun slowly rise, he realized that Fred's death would have felt exactly like that if he never came to his senses some months ago. Months? Percy thought to himself. Hell, it's been over half a year.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed in the meadow, but it was long enough to watch the sunrise.

When Percy walked into work, his supervisor didn't even notice he was late.

"Weasley," the old man greeted. "You were requested elsewhere."

Percy frowned in surprise. "Elsewhere?"

"Wizengamot. Court scribe," his supervisor replied. "After the trial, you're wanted in Administration Services. Get to it, Weasley!"

Percy rushed back to the elevators, still in a daze. It had been a while since he was a court scribe, and was rather surprised that the opportunity was presenting itself. Then again, the Wizengamot had been especially busy lately.

Percy organized himself as quickly as possible, then settled in to start recording the trial. When he looked up, his eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the person on trial.

With his skinny wrists clasped by chains and looking absolutely ragged, Rodolphus Lestrange weakly stood in his cage in the centre of the room. He bared his teeth like a vicious animal as the Wizengamot filed into the room.

"The Wizengamot calls Auror Jacob Henry Inselberg as witness," the Chief Warlock ordered. Percy quickly began writing.

Percy briefly looked up to see a man only a few years older than him walk into the room. His face was blank, and Percy couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu come over him. He couldn't recognize the man, but he had a feeling that he had seen him before.

"Mr. Inselberg," one of the members began, "what did you see Mr. Lestrange doing the day you apprehended him?"

"Actually, it was my trainee that had initially noticed him," Jacob answered. "When I looked over, he was already pulling out his wand. From the looks of it, the spell he was planning was quite destructive."

"To hell with you blood traitors!"

"Don't record that," the Chief Warlock muttered to Percy. "Very well then, Mr. Inselberg. You are free to go. The Wizengamot now calls Miss Audrey Lyra Callaghan as witness."

Percy's hand froze. Audrey was the trainee? Suddenly, the gears started to spin in his head. He began writing again, and looked up briefly to see Audrey enter and take her seat. Her eyes flickered and landed on him, then quickly turned back to the Chief Warlock. Percy had never before seen that expression on her face. He had seen her angry, frustrated, bored, happy, and hurt, but this was something else entirely.

She looked positively frightened.

Immediately after her entrance, Lestrange started cackling. The magical chains restraining him tugged at his limbs and his laughter faded into a tortured whimper.

"Miss Callaghan," one of the members started, "your mentor claims you were the one to notice Mr. Lestrange. Is this true?"

"Yes," Audrey answered. Her voice wavered slightly.

"What did you see?"

"A suspicious, cloaked man. He was acting very evasive."

"And your first intention was to attack him?"

"I shall object to that, as it is a loaded question," the Chief Warlock interrupted. "Rephrase, please."

"What was your first intention, Miss Callaghan?"

"Mr. Inselberg and I agreed to question the man, but when we looked back he was already pulling his wand out," Audrey answered. "It was late August and Diagon Alley was extremely crowded. The spell he was starting was long and likely destructive, so we decided to disarm him. That led to a duel."

That was when it hit Percy. Lestrange was the cloaked man in Diagon Alley the summer before. Audrey Callaghan, a former Slytherin and an Auror trainee, had captured Rodolphus Lestrange. A sense of dread filled Percy as he realized this, not only because it had occurred to him that he and his sister were dangerously close to a murderous lunatic, but also because this development made him feel even worse about the way he treated Audrey.

"Did you recognize the man as Rodolphus Lestrange prior to attacking him?"

Audrey frowned. "No. We only noticed it was him once he was unconscious. His cloak concealed his face."

"Miss Callaghan, we have reason to believe your apprehension of Lestrange is personal. Reconsider your answer."

"I didn't recognize him until after he was knocked out. How much clearer can I possibly be?" Audrey's voice was filled with desperation.

"Is it true you suspect Lestrange for having murdered your parents and brother during the Second Wizarding War?"

Percy paused from writing and looked up. Audrey was gripping the handles of her chair so tightly that her knuckles were white, and her bottom lip was quivering. Her face was paler than he had ever seen it.

"Chief Warlock, please! What relevance does this hold?" Audrey asked desperately.

"As intrigued as I am, Miss Callaghan is correct," the Chief Warlock admitted. "Make the question relevant, or leave the witness."

There was a pause before the member asked, "Do you have any personal reasons for attacking Lestrange?"

"Still irrelevant, as I didn't recognize him until after the attack. This is ridiculous!"

"She is correct," the Chief Warlock said. "I have heard enough. All in favour of guilty, raise your hands."

The vote was unanimously in favour. Percy couldn't imagine why the Wizengamot member would have pressed Audrey so much if they were all going to vote against Lestrange anyways.

"You bloody Callaghans! You're a disgrace to Salazar himself, to hell with you all!"

Lestrange was subdued, but when Percy looked back to Audrey he could see that the damage was already done. Her legs were locked in a stance that looked ready to start a duel, yet her face held the expression of cornered prey. Audrey raced out, and Percy tried to push her out of his mind to finish scribing.

And yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't forget Audrey's startled and frenzied expression for the rest of the day.

When evening came and work arrived to a close, Percy didn't feel ready to return to his flat. The idea of sleep haunted him, with the previous night's dream still fresh in his mind. Instead, he opted for a walk to Flourish and Blotts to buy a book. He was running low on reading material, and if he wasn't going to sleep that night, he might as well have had something to keep him busy.

The streets weren't quite as snow-covered as they were in December, but the stone pavement was still blanketed by a thin layer of white ice. A few sporadic flakes began to fall in the midst of darkness, but for the first time in his life, Percy wasn't thinking about how foolish he was for forgetting a hat in early January.

Percy welcomed the warmth of the bookstore as he stepped inside. He took off his mitts and unwound his scarf to let it hang across his shoulders. Immediately, he headed for his favourite section: History and Ancestry.

The history of the wizarding world was probably the most intriguing subject to Percy. Just to think of the developments that were made in the past centuries was exciting. Of course, his siblings loved to make fun of him for it.

As soon as Percy came to the entrance of the History and Ancestry aisle, he stopped dead in his tracks. There, standing before him reading the back of a book, stood Audrey. Her eyes flickered to the side to glance at him, but she didn't look up from the book.

"Sorry for being a git."

He didn't know where the words came from, and Percy realized he didn't even think about them. Percy always thought before he spoke.

"When?" Audrey asked quietly. Her face was less confused and more disinterested. She continued to read the back of the book. Or, perhaps, she was only avoiding his gaze.

"Back in the summer," Percy answered. "When I nosed around about how you knew Daphne Greengrass. It wasn't any of my business."

Audrey scoffed and looked up from the book she was holding to meet Percy's eyes. They were incredibly green, Percy realized, in every light he saw them. "Listen, you don't have to feel sorry for me because my family is dead," she said coldly. "I saw you were the scribe during the Lestrange trial."

"That's not it. I'm not giving you a pity party, so you can relax," Percy replied. "George told me a while ago that he met you again at Christmastime, and how he knew you. I think today was just the slap in the face that I needed to make me realize I had been rude. So I'm sorry."

Audrey's cold exterior seemed to melt slightly. Maybe it was the pink in her cheeks, or the faint smile on her lips that did it. "Apology accepted," she said finally.

Percy nodded then looked at the book in her hands. "The Evolution of Medieval Duelling. That's a good book."

"I know," Audrey agreed, her smile growing. "My copy... got damaged. It's a long story."

"Tell it to me over a cup of tea."

The words escaped Percy's mouth before he could stop them, and it clearly caught Audrey by as much of a surprise as it did him. Since when did he stop thinking before he spoke? It was very unlike him.

"I mean, if you're busy–"

"I'd love to."

Listening to Audrey talk felt inexplicably calming.

Even as she rambled on about the story of how she lost her other copy of The Evolution of Medieval Duelling, it didn't sound like rambling to Percy. Instead, it sounded like a calming melody, or an interesting tale. Maybe it was her voice, or her inflections, but Audrey had a skill for making any words that came out of her mouth sound interesting.

Or maybe it was just Percy.

Nevertheless, Percy was surprised that Audrey had agreed to go to tea with him. She always looked like she wanted nothing to do with anyone, and he hadn't exactly been the nicest person to her in the past. However, she agreed, and now they were both laughing and holding steaming cups of tea in their hands.

Percy would probably try the whole not thinking before speaking thing more often.

"Do you miss your brother?"

The smile melted off Audrey's face and Percy mentally kicked himself. He wasn't even sure how they arrived to the topic. So much for the not thinking before speaking strategy working in his favour.

After a long pause, Audrey answered, "Every single day. I think about Brady more, because his body was never found. At least with my parents I know exactly what happened."

Percy was surprised she even answered; he really thought he blew that one. "I always feel guilty when I think about Fred because I realize it was a lot harder on George, and because it feels like it was my fault."

That was the first time Percy had talked to anyone other than family about Fred. He had always been scared to open up to other people, thinking they wouldn't understand, but when he told Audrey it felt like a weight was being lifted from his shoulders.

"You want to talk about guilt?" Audrey asked. "The night my parents got killed, I went drinking at a muggle pub, after weeks of begging to just go beyond those stupid walls. I could have protected them, or been taken with my brother, wherever he was taken, but I wanted to make a silly point. The past is the past, though. You just have to leave it behind you and keep on going."

Audrey smiled faintly, but Percy could tell it wasn't genuine. Not to his own accord, or so he thought, Percy reached across the table they were sitting at to grasp Audrey's hand. She looked surprised at first, but quickly squeezed back. Her smile widened and it made Percy feel strangely peaceful. That was a change from the uneasy feelings he would get from the moments of silence between them.

"Thanks for the tea, and for listening to me spout like an idiot," she said quietly.

"You know, there's only one way you can make up for it," Percy said jokingly.

Audrey laughed lightly. "And what's that?"

"Now you have to listen to me spout like an idiot."

"Fair enough, Percy. Spout away."

"You're pretty late."

Percy immediately drew his wand as he heard the voice come from the darkness of his flat. Suddenly, the lights turned on to reveal George leaning on one of the walls with a smirk on his face. Percy's heart slowed down, but only a little.

"Bloody hell, how did you even get in here?" Percy asked as he hung his coat.

"Your defensive spells are so predictable," George said with a fake yawn, following his older brother into the kitchen. "Anyways, I wanted to come to ask if you were going home for dinner this weekend, only to find that there's no one here. Keeping secrets, are we?"

"Sod off, George," Percy said with a glare, as he poured himself a glass of water.

"Well, you know I find out everything anyways," George said.

"I'm sure."

"I only kid. I'm glad you have a life, Perce. It's refreshing. What's that there?" George said, reaching into Percy's bag from Flourish and Blotts. "A book? I take back the part about having a life."

"I say again: sod off, George."

Kind of dramatic and kind of cute? Thank you for anyone that favourites and reviews this story :)

Also, just going to put it out there that I do have plans to bring back Daphne so... worry not ;)

Final note: I decided to start a blog for updates/character blurbs for this story. Just search for the tumblr url strongholdhp :)