That evening at the Burrow, Molly cooked a big meal for the family. Ginny helped her mother out in the kitchen while the boys stayed with their father in the living room playing some sort of card game. It was a good deflection from the family tragedy that everyone desperately needed, even if it was only going to last a few hours. Once everything was ready to eat, they gathered at the kitchen table. It was a little awkward due to the fact that although one brother and son was gone forever there were two empty chairs. Throughout the dinner, everyone had to ignore the elephant in the room.

They all kept up the chit-chat, talking about something, anything that came to thought in order to distract each other but nothing truly worked. The pain of losing Charlie was in the back of all of their minds.

It was awful. Solemn and awful.

Later that night, just after Ginny got done brushing her teeth, she headed to her room to try and get some sleep when she suddenly heard the sound of a glass shattering in Ron's bedroom which caused her to jump. She hesitated for a few moments before gently pushing the door open. When she stepped inside, she saw Ron down on his knees, carefully picking up pieces of a glass he had apparently just thrown against the wall.

"Ron?" Ginny questioned. She knelt down beside him and began helping him clean. "Be careful, don't cut yourself." Ron nodded but didn't say anything. "I know how you feel," she continued. "I miss Charlie so much."

"It isn't just that." Ron quietly responded as he pulled his wastebasket towards them so they could throw the glass away. "It's..."

"Percy?" Ginny already knew.

"Yeah." Ron slowly shook his head. Percy should have stayed at the house, he should be here right now with all of them, but apparently work and his job was more important to him then his own family. "How come we aren't good enough for him?"

"I wish I knew."

She didn't know what to think about Percy anymore. They had their issues, but even Ginny thought their family problems would be set aside for something as emotional as an upcoming funeral. The two of them both wanted to hate Percy, but they just couldn't. They were mad at him, but they didn't hate him. Despite everything that had taken place, Ron and Ginny still loved their older brother. Yet, the family had just suffered such a tremendous and painful loss and it still seemed like Percy wanted nothing to do with any of them.

It really did hurt. Not knowing what else to do, once all the broken pieces of glass were picked up, Ginny threw her arms around Ron's neck and hugged him tightly.

The both of them, along with Fred and George had taken Percy's fight with their dad very personally. Throughout the whole time that Percy had been away, each one of them at one point or another had talked about how much of a prat Percy was and that he wasn't worth getting upset over. However, it was obvious that deep down they didn't really believe that deep down. Percy was more important to them then they would want to admit.

Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny had always been sort of taken care of by Percy at one time or another, especially when they were little during the first war. Even though they all agreed that Percy was too uptight and could be very pompous and arrogant at times, he had always been a constant person in their lives. When Percy just suddenly left and cut off all contact with all of them, the older brother who the youngest Weasley's had always known as the most responsible one had just kind of abandoned them. They were so taken aback by it that they didn't really know how to deal with it, so they reacted with anger. If they truly didn't love Percy or care about him, they wouldn't have been as upset as they were for the things he had said when he had the argument with their dad, and the things he done afterwards like sending back Mom's Christmas sweater.

They tried to act like Percy didn't matter to them, but they had all secretly wanted and expected him to come back. But at that moment, Ginny began to serious wonder if that would ever happen. If a death in the family didn't want to make Percy stay and be with them, what would?

Perhaps reconciliation wasn't possible after all.

As the two youngest of the Weasley family continued to comfort each other, Arthur had just gotten out of the shower. He had on a bed robe and slippers as he entered his bedroom and saw his wife, laying on her left side, her back to him as she tried her best to fall asleep but she couldn't stop thinking about her children. Molly wasn't crying, she had no more tears to shed. Carefully, Arthur sat down on the bed, knowing she was still awake.

Taking a deep breath, Arthur reluctantly asked; "Molly...do you...blame me for this?"

Molly quickly turned around and sat up. "What?" She asked, shocked by the question. "That's crazy talk. How could I ever blame you for Charlie?"

He shook his head. "No, not for Charlie. For Percy?"

"Oh, Arthur." Molly reached out and touched his hand. "No, not at all." They couldn't believe the situation. One of their sons was dead but yet at that moment they seemed more concerned for their third born who was still very much alive. They honestly didn't know what to do about Percy anymore.

"Did he seem strange at all to you?" Arthur then asked.

"No, he was fine after you left us to get the others, he was just fine." Molly insisted. "It was just until Bill got here...Percy completely ignored him and kept talking to me."

Arthur rubbed his chin as he smiled a little. "Percy hugged me after we got back."

"I know, I saw."

That made the both of them tear up. Arthur and Molly both thought they had Percy back at that moment. They really did.

"But he wouldn't go hug Ginny, or Ron, or..." Arthur trailed off. "It was like he didn't want to be near them."

"He must think they're still mad at him." Molly responded. "They are, I know they are. But they would forgive him."

Arthur exhaled heavily. They shouldn't be talking about this right now. Yes, they were worried about Percy but they needed to be focusing on Charlie at the moment. He took his wife's hands. "Listen, Percy will come around. Right now, we have to find out what happened to Charlie. Whoever did this could be trying to break our family, but we can't let them." Molly leaned forward and hugged Arthur tightly. Her husband was right, although their hearts were hurting, they had to remain strong because they still had six other children who loved and needed them.

This wouldn't break them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The day of Charlie's funeral was kept very private as only family and close friends were invited to attend. Auror's who were investigating Charlie's murder couldn't guarantee that none of the other members of the Weasley family weren't in danger. They also unfortunately had no strong leads on who had committed the crime or any kind of motive.

Once everyone had arrived, they all began to slowly walk into the graveyard. There was no viewing of the body, no one had any long speeches prepared to give. A funeral was such an awful thing, so it was going to be kept short. Everyone was still upset, so Mr. and Mrs. Weasley didn't think there was a need to prolong the ceremony any longer than it needed to be. They all loved Charlie and would miss him for the rest of their lives. Now, they all needed to mourn their own way. Charlie's coffin lay near an open hole in the grass, ready to be lowered. One by one, each person who was attending lined up in a row and placed a red or white rose on the ground as they walked by it.

Percy was the last to do so, lingering on longer than anyone else. It was so strange to be here right now amongst everyone else, knowing that he was the one who had made this happen. He tried not to look at his mother and father as he didn't want to see them in such a state of grief. Percy wished that he could tell them that soon, they would never even remember this day.

Percy made eye contact with Bill who gave him a nod which Percy returned while Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny simply ignored him which he expected and didn't care. Arthur and Molly worked the spells to lower the coffin into the earth. After a great puff of dust, the ground was covered and Charlie Weasley's headstone rose up with the inscription;

'Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory no one can steal.'

Percy frowned after reading the words before angerly straightening his tie. He returned to work that afternoon and after walking through the main lobby of the Ministry, heading to his office when his brows furrowed as he saw of all people, Penelope, waiting outside of it.

"Penelope?" He questioned, getting her attention. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm so sorry about Charlie." Penelope approached him and hugged her boyfriend. This was the first time she had seen him since she had heard the news.

"Thank you."

She bit her bottom lip. Percy could tell that Penelope had come here for more then to wish him condolences. "Is something wrong?" He then asked.

"Percy...did you have anything to do with it?" She knew it was inappropriate to ask such a question, but Penelope couldn't help it. It was just that night at the apartment was scary. It was just so unlike Percy. He just stared at her, seemingly shocked by the question.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't-"

Percy gently took Penelope's wrist and guided her inside his office so they could continue their talk in private. "What in the world are you talking about?" He demanded once he closed the door behind them.

"It was a couple of nights ago at your apartment, you had been drinking and you said, you said..." Penelope quickly calmed herself. "Percy, you basically said you wanted your siblings to die so that you could be an only child."

He blinked, acting as if he had forgotten all about that.

"I don't even remember that." Percy said, putting on his best poker face. "I was angry. I may not have the best relationship with them right now, but I wouldn't hurt them, ever."

'Damn it. Why would I ever tell her that?' He mentally cursed himself. It was because Percy never thought he would actually carry through on what he had said.

"Would you like to go somewhere with me?" Percy then asked as he quickly tried to think. He needed to do something to take Penelope's wariness off of him. "I just need to get out of here."

"I thought you don't get off until six?"

"Well, the work is mostly done for the day. Besides, I need to make up for missing our date, don't I?" A smile came to Percy's face as he remembered how much Penelope liked horses. "How about getting a carriage?"

That caused Penelope to smile back at him, and she agreed. As the two of them left the Ministry, a scary thought quickly passed through Percy's mind.

Was he going to have to...no. Percy refused to even consider it. Never...not Penelope.

Percy paid for a grand carriage drawn by two beautiful horses, one was all black, one was all white, both had long manes. As the carriage began to give them a ride throughout the town, Percy began thinking of what he should tell his girlfriend. He wondered if he should tell Penelope the truth about why he told her what he did about his siblings a couple of nights ago. She would always listen, that's the thing Percy loved the most about her.

Percy and Penelope both leaned back in their seats, Percy actually found this relaxing which was something he desperately needed right now.

"How are you parents holding up?" She asked.

"They're...functioning." Percy replied. "I think they're putting up a front for our sake."

"How about you? How are you doing?"

Percy rubbed his right temple with his index finger.

"It's really strange, Penelope. I really feel strange. Ever since I looked into that mirror."

"What mirror?"

"The Mirror of Erised."

Penelope quickly sat up.

"You looked into the Mirror of Erised? When was this?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Is this what that night at your apartment was about?" Penelope then questioned. "Did it show you something about your family?"

"It showed me being happy being an only child." Percy then closed his eyes, working up some tears before he continued miserably. "And then Charlie actually died." That was right. Charlie was gone. Nothing could be done to change that. Percy had work to be done, and he never left a job unfinished.

"Oh, baby, come here," Penelope wrapped her arms around Percy's neck. "It wasn't your fault." She now felt terrible about what she had asked Percy back at his office. She knew that he wasn't capable of hurting somebody like that, especially his own brother. "Percy, I'm sure everyone who was born into a big family has wondered what it'd be like to be an only child. You don't need to feel guilty for thinking about that."

Percy hugged her tighter and then smiled because he knew at that moment Penelope no longer suspected a thing.

"Thank you," he responded.

Penelope then looked into Percy's sad eyes. "Listen, I don't think you should be alone tonight."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Well, I have a roommate." Penelope placed a hand on Percy's upper leg, right near his groin area. "You have your own place."

Percy looked down at her hand for a moment before looking back up and raised an eyebrow at what Penelope was suggesting. They had only done this once before.

"Alright."

Penelope then directed the carriage to take them to Percy's flat. However, for some reason his girlfriend's sudden flirtatious behavior made Percy begin to start thinking about his oldest brother. Bill said he was engaged to Fleur...Fleur Something.

Engagement...marriage...children.

He had to stop that.

It was in that moment did Percy know...Bill would be next.