A/N: I do not own or profit from Harry Potter.

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Chapter 18: Turning Points

The door swung open, and the first thing to be seen in his apartment was the empty bottle on the floor.

Percy sighed, put down his groceries, and went to the bedroom.

George had come prepared. He had another bottle in his hand, and several more untouched ones stood nearby, waiting attentively to be devoured.

"George..."

"Peeerrrcyeey." George slurred. "I cammmme...a say hello."

"Well, hello." Percy deadpanned, his sarcasm going past his brother as he helped George to his feet. He'd heard that one's personality when drunk was always the opposite of when sober. That was certainly the case for George-his usual alert cheeriness had disintegrated into a sluggish, staggering emptiness. As he supported George and led him to the bathroom, he sincerely hoped he never found out what he was like when drunk. Although, he had to admit, it wasn't only the beer that had changed George's personality.

"Here you go." He found himself crooning as if to a baby. A moment later George's head was shoved into the shower and doused in cold water. Above his splutterings, Percy heard a loud knock on the door.

"When it rains, it pours." He growled in his throat, leaving George to flail as he slowly woke. Scooping up two butterbeer bottles, he started for the door, hoping George didn't decide to try and hang himself with the shower curtain while he was gone.

He took down the spells and wards and opened the door to find his landlady.

"Mrs. Mayberry." He forced a smile.

"Mr. Weasley." She was angry, her wrinkling eyebrows knitted together. "This is not a pub. I cannot have strange men of nondescript appearance wandering into my establishment, reeking of alcohol, and slurring together swearwords of which I have never heard the like! My other tenants were shocked at his appearance. And you, always such a good tenant!"

Percy stared down at her, unable to find words for a response, as her eyes drifted past his rumpled shirt to the two bottles in his hand, and she gasped in disapproval.

"Mrs. Mayberry." He tried to regain her attention. "I am so sorry. My...half-brother is mentally disturbed and badly in need of medical care."

Mrs. Mayberry's face relented to allow a little pity.

"Yes." Another voice piped up as a second figure rushed to Mrs. Mayberry's elbow. "He is. Mr. Weasley? I'm your half-brother's nurse, Lucilla Van Slop." Percy bit back a groan as Angelina Johnson edged past him gracefully and into the apartment. "How is your brother? Has he taken his medication?"

"Um...no." He was aware immediately that the girl had a good deal of experience on him in the department of lying and play-acting.

"Oh, my! I'll have to get him his tonic before he has another seizure and loses control. I'm so glad he came here, where we can keep him contained." Oozing medical concern, Angelina grabbed one bottle from his hand and disappeared into the apartment.

Brilliant.

He gave a half-smile at Mrs. Mayberry, who looked properly ashamed now.

"I'm so sorry." She murmured, glancing away, and he was made aware suddenly of the other faces peeking out of doors up and down the hall. Morgeuse's slippers, George must have made one hell of a scene. What had he done? But Mayberry was still talking. "I didn't know. I just hope the incident won't be repeated." She said stiffly, distinctly embarrassed.

"Yes." He said, hoping she would go away so he could go and check on the two mourners camped in his bathroom.

She leaned closer, her eyes taking on a conspiratorial glint. "I wouldn't have come at all, you know, but Mr. Gastapalos was very upset because he apparently said something to his daughter. But I trusted you. You've always been a good tenant."

"Well, thank you, ma'am." He glanced back as a loud thump came from within the apartment. "I really have to go." He shut the door. If only she knew all the things he'd done in and to her building, she wouldn't have trusted him quite so much. Oh, well. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, and he and Gavin had had some fun knocking chunks out of the boiler room walls.

He pushed into the bedroom. George was sitting dully drunk, just balanced on the edge of the bed as Angelina sobbed at him. For a moment, Percy stood and watched her screech, her calm outside persona now gone, before touching her on the shoulder.

"What?" She snapped, pushing him away. "Can't you see we're talking? Can't you see..."

"I can. He can't." He told her. "Scream at him tomorrow, but he won't remember a thing you say tonight."

She buried her face in her hands. Obviously the fight was not new.

He pushed down a pang of sympathy at her helplessness, let her cry and reached for George. It was the most practical and effective action he could think of to do. "Come on, George, let's go to bed." He tried to get his brother into a sleeping position. This time, George was compliant, and allowed himself to be tucked in. After a moment, Percy heard Angelina's robes rustle as she stepped forward and helped pull the covers over George.

"Um..." He knew what to do with George. Take away his beer and keep him quiet. Feed him. It was as basic as taking care of a baby, putting aside the fact that babies didn't drink beer. With Angelina, he had no idea what to do. He didn't even know what she was properly. She'd been Fred's girl, hadn't she? Was she George's now, or Lee's? Or perhaps she's still Fred's, he mused.

"Can I stay?" She asked him tearfully, a hiccup in her voice.

"Sure." He said, wishing she wouldn't, but knowing that sometimes there was just no getting rid of women. This was going to be one of those times for George (well, for him) and Angelina.

"Thanks." She shuffled into the main room, and he couldn't be sure suddenly just how sober she was.

"Purceeee?" The voice was muffled.

He turned back. "Yes, George?"

"Can you schweep in here toonite?"

"All right." Percy came back and filched a pillow from his bed, tossing it on the floor. "I'm here."

He shut his eyes. Tomorrow he had to work. Today he had had a date. And he was already wishing he could go back to see Audrey again.

Should've kissed her, he thought as he rolled over on the floor. It wouldn't have made any of the rest of the night go away, but all the same. I should have kissed her.

.

He dreamt only fitfully for hours, at long last delving into long sleep. He woke the next morning to find George gone. Annoyed, he pushed himself off of the floor and hurried into the main room.

George was stretched out on the couch, with Angelina Johnson next to him, their arms wrapped around each other. Both were sound asleep, and looked to be in serious danger of falling off the cushions. Less than a meter away, Charlie and Lee were sitting watching them.

"When did my apartment become a sanctuary for congregation?" He growled.

Lee had his arms wrapped around his knees, and was rocking from side to side, eyes fixed on the pair on the sofa. Charlie glanced up at Percy and shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"I don't dare hope yet, but I think we hit a turning point last night." He said calmly. His calm tone expressed an absolute resignation with the situation that Percy hated. Resignation to this as normal. He'd been smoking, his voice had gotten all gravelly.

Rolling his own eyes, Percy headed for the shower. He let the steam roll over him and the water darken his hair as he stood beneath it.

A turning point, Charlie had said? As in, change? He hadn't been aware things would change. It seemed like ten years since he'd looked on Hogwarts, flaming and crumbling at the edges. And since then every day had been a repeat of the one before. He'd begun to take for granted that George would always be drunk and sorrowful, Fred would always be gone, he would always have nightmares, Bill would always be scarred, his mother would always be in grief, the Ministry would always be in turmoil, and nothing would change.

But no, he realised, he had to recognise that he had changed since the end. It was with some shock that it occurred to him that he had only met Audrey last month. And before then, there had been no Audrey or Lucy. It was odd, but it was difficult to think of himself before them. So some things had changed. He'd been more cynical then. Less sure. Less confident. It had been the age of fear, the days of a slow and steady fight. Since the War had ended, he'd taken more refuge from its aftermath with Audrey than his own family, even if he had only met her in July. I suppose that's a standing testament to the true failure of my relationship with my family, he thought a bit bitterly as he stepped out to dry himself.

Things had changed, he admitted. Since Audrey, he'd experienced companionship, happiness, conversation, genuine concern from her and her mother. Things his family didn't have time to give. And he had no one else to receive from.

He shaved and dressed and came out for breakfast to find Charlie burning bread and scorching eggs on the muggle stove with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Put that thing out." Percy took it from him and pinched it out, burning his fingers in the process.

Charlie nudged him and nodded toward the living area. Percy glanced back to find Lee, Angelina, and George with their heads together over the coffeetable, papers spread out in front of them.

Performing a soothing charm on his burnt finger, Percy gave his brother a quizzical look.

"They're planning new products for the Wheezes." Charlie murmured to him. "I don't know what Angelina said to him while they were fighting last night, but it really set him off. He woke up and said he wants to reopen Weasley's Wizard Wheezes on April Fool's Day and make it a big extravaganza."

Percy bit his tongue and gave back the cigarette.

.

Percy waited for Wiffle to be brought in again. He'd scheduled another appointment with Mrs. Tonks and her elf at once, and this time he wasn't about to leave without getting the answers he wanted.

Mrs. Tonks swept in and stopped at the doorway. Percy felt his stomach sinking a little as she sat across from him with no sign of Wiffle. Surely she wasn't so utterly dense that she would keep him from talking to the elf. He was only an elf...

"I'm sorry. Wiffle is very distraught." She told him, and bit back the urge to glare at the older woman. She really wasn't going to let him see Wiffle. Endor's eyebrows, there was a dead man in the ground, and a killer/birth mother on the loose, and she...This was Ministry business. He could force her to bring Wiffle out to him. He had every right. For that matter, he could just tell her to sit there and go find Wiffle himself. Forget her. She was the daughter of Death Eaters, no doubt...

"But I think there are a few things you would like to know." She interrupted his thoughts, bringing him back into the room.

"Yes ma'am." He responded slowly.

"Wiffle said you asked about Lucius Malfoy, and his...personal affairs." He said carefully.

"I did. Do you have any additional information regarding Mr. Malfoy?"

She shook her head. "But Wiffle has told me some things...That lead me to assume some things. I...I don't have definite evidence, but as things have gotten back to normal, I've tried to put things together." She stopped to collect her thoughts. "Bella's death made me think again about how things were, how it was for her and Cissy. I've gathered some information from Wiffle about his own experiences and the gossip from the rest of the elves."

"What is it, Ma'am?" He asked, straight and to the point.

She gathered her breath. "I don't know what it is that you are looking for. But knowing Lucius Malfoy as I did, I think he may have been having an extramarital affair."

No surprise. "Do you have anything else?" She had better know more...

Andromeda chewed her lip. "Lucius Malfoy was close to my age, and I remember, he was always obsessed with the idea of pureblood supremacy. He was downright rude to Ted at school, and he tried to 'befriend me' and give me advice on how to be 'successful'." She put air-quotes around the word. "Not because he really cared at all, but simply because he didn't want to marry a woman whose family was sullied by a dishonourable sister. But as you know, things went another way." She shook her head to dismiss the thought. "Narcissa was never as harsh on the topic as he, she just loved...well, God knows what she loved in him, but she didn't care as much about blood or heirs. Only about him. That was her downfall, I'm afraid."

"Once when Nymphadora was young, just an infant, I took her to Diagon Alley, for some shopping. I met Narcissa there. She was...terrified. She was always easily frightened, but just this once, when no one was around, we spoke for a few minutes. She seemed desperate, and she asked me about what to do with a newborn baby."

Percy's jaw twitched as he wrote it all down. "Do you have a date for all of this?"

"Um, it was autumn. Around Hallowe'en. 1976, I think."

"And what happened?"

"Well, a long story short, she acted as if she were pregnant. She asked me about what to do, whether it was hard to take care of a newborn. She asked me how hard it was to keep one quiet. She also asked me if it was possible to change a child's appearance to make them look like someone else. But," She hastily added, seeing he was about to ask a question, "Cissy wasn't pregnant. I asked her, and she said no. She's a good liar, but she's weak around some people; Bella and I could see right through her."

"And...?"

"And that was how it sat until I got Wiffle back." She ran a hand over her hair, her prim appearance and surroundings belying the turmoil that was all of their past. "I asked him about how it had been. He was willing to tell me, of course. He said that Narcissa hadn't been pregnant. When I pressed him, he admitted that Lucius had had an affair. Not a mistress, and I don't think it was likely a long thing. Merlin knows it was probably more her idea than his. She was always jealous of Cissy..."

"Ma'am." Percy pulled her back on topic. Spit it out, he silently urged. Surely she had a name.

"Wiffle said that Narcissa helped deliver a baby, and then told him to get rid of it."

"Who was the mother, did Wiffle know?"

"Wiffle didn't know that the child was Lucius'." Andromeda said, still prim and yet subtly evading having to answer his direct questions as he stared fixedly at her. "I don't think even Narcissa would have guessed something like that. He said that the mother was Bella."

Bella?

"My sister Bellatrix. Bellatrix Lestrange."

Bellatrix...

Percy felt a hard knot form in his throat. It tasted like vomit.

Andromeda leaned forward. "I never told anyone. The child wasn't the first victim of Bella's, and not the last." She was staring at him oddly, not sure how to read his silence.

He stared at his papers, nodding politely."Yes, Ma'am." Shit. A thousand more descriptive, more adult words were flying around his head, bouncing off the walls of his brain like snitches gone amok. Filthy little...The monster...How...?

Well, it explained Audrey's determined personality, that was for sure. And the hair. He raised his eyes involuntarily to the black-haired woman across from him. This was Audrey's aunt. This was Audrey's only living relative...well, sort of.

Oh, God. She wasn't only Draco's half-sister-never-met, but his cousin now, too. He shut his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose, upsetting his glasses. This could not be. It was the wrong woman. A man like Lucius Malfoy had to have more than one mistress. Yes, Bellatrix Lestrange wasn't the one. No, no, no. He'd prove this one wrong.

Mrs. Tonks was staring at him, trying to read his expression. "That's what you were looking for?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Yes ma'am." He quickly scribbled it all down. "And um, did Wiffle say when this was?"

"No, no exact date that he mentioned. Probably early in 1977."

"Was the child male or female?"

"Female."

Shit.

"How exactly was the child got rid of?"

"I...I don't know. Wiffle said he left it somewhere. It must have died of neglect shortly afterwards." She shrugged and looked at him curiously. "Has the body been found?"

He shut his eyes and murmured something in response. Somehow or other he managed to politely dismiss himself and get out of there. No, no, no. This was wrong. Clarity broke through and he faced her again. "I need to speak to Wiffle. Now."

"I'm afraid you can't..."

"Mrs. Tonks, I'm a representative of the Ministry of Magic, and I am ordering you to summon your house-elf."

There was a pause as each stared the other down, mouths set. At last, she gave him one long look of disapproval before turning to call Wiffle.

.

Percy pushed through the doors of the Hall of Records, Wiffle's testimony clutched in his hand. He'd find a loophole somewhere. He'd find a problem, come up with an issue. He'd find the whereabouts of Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange on that night. He'd find James and Carol, the other two workers present on the night that Audrey had been found. Surely some details were out of place.

Oh, yes, when it rains, it does pour. One good thing, one good thing from his family once, and the only other good thing, Audrey, had to be ruined. Gone. Things couldn't just get better, could they? One thing or the other, his life was never going to be whole again, he snorted bitterly to himself.

Only one persistent thought was pulsing through his brain: That Audrey was not the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange. Not. Couldn't be.

Bellatrix Lestrange would have killed any squib child of hers. Such a disgrace on her own name would have been blotted out and burned, not stashed in some far-off bakery to be found later. Lestrange didn't have so much mercy. And Narcissa? Wouldn't she, too, have been eager to kill a child that proved both her husband's unfaithfulness and her own insufficiency? Wasn't Bellatrix rumoured to be manically devoted to the Dark Lord himself?

He ran a hand through his hair as he thumbed desperately through paper after paper.

If Audrey were Lestrange's daughter...She'd be half a Black, half a Malfoy, both the half-sister and the cousin of Draco Malfoy. Somehow the double relationship made his view of the situation so much worse. Not to mention, Lestrange had been killed by his own mother...How would she take to finding out all this?

On the other hand...How would Mother take to this?

Molly Weasley can be very dangerous when you cross her. Hadn't he said that very sentence to Audrey?

Oh, Agrippa's nylons, this wasn't good.