"Knock knock." George waited for a moment, then pushed the door open. "Dad? We're coming in." Arthur looked up, then jolted in surprise. It no doubt felt like an ambush, seeing four of his seven children—a quorum for sure—all crowded into his shed.

"What is it?"

"We've spent the last three days searching for Percy." George said. "All of us. Bill's taking more time off from his job—"

"Gonna have to work on Christmas at this rate."

"And Fleur's helping too."

"And?" Arthur asked.

"Nothing." George said. "I know we thought maybe Percy would come back and this whole thing would blow over, but—" he looked at Ginny, who nodded. "But now we don't think that's going to happen. He's been gone three whole days, and we have absolutely no idea where he is."

"What happens now?" Arthur asked.

"Well, you're going to get up," George said, "and we're going to go inside and tell Mum what happened in the argument."

"No—no. George, your mother will never forgive me. I can't hurt her like that, she's been through enough."

"We can't keep lying to her!"

"Yes we can! George, you don't understand, but I love your mother. I will not tell her about this, I cannot hurt her like this—"

"If you really love her, you'll tell her the truth." Bill said. "You need to be honest with her, even if the truth hurts. A relationship—a marriage—is built on truth, not lies."

"Bill, you've been married less than a year." Arthur said coolly. "I don't need advice from you."

"What, because we are young, we know nothing?" Fleur snapped. "If I had not spoken ze truth, our relationship would not have survived! I had to remind your wife zat I did not love Bill just because of his good looks, but also because of his good heart! And perhaps it 'urt her to know that she had misjudged me, perhaps I created more tension by saying that, but look what happened! We are all better and stronger because of speaking ze truth. You think we are young and know nothing, Monsieur Weasley, but we 'ave lived through a war too."

"Fleur," Bill said gently, "I really don't need you to fight my battles for me."

"What? Someone had to speak to 'im in clear, simple language."

"I think phlegm—sorry, Fleur—is right." Ginny said. "If Mum finds out you've been lying to her, it'll get ugly. You need to tell her the truth even if it'll hurt her."

"It's been three days and we haven't found Percy." Bill said. "It's clear, to us at least, that this is really serious. I mean, we don't even have a clue as to where he could be. Mum's under the impression that it was some silly, petty argument. She needs to know the truth, that it was more serious than that. Now, Dad, you've got a few options. You can either walk in and tell Mum yourself, or Charlie and I will drag you upstairs and make you tell her."

"Where do George and Ginny factor into the dragging?" George asked, rolling up his sleeves. "I'll drag him if I have to."

"You and what muscles?" Charlie scoffed.

"Fine." Arthur muttered. "I'll do it. I—I suppose I don't see a world in which I keep this a secret and it ends well for me." He sighed, took a swig from the bottle of whiskey next to him, and headed for the door. As soon as his back was turned, Charlie aimed his wand and vanished the bottle of alcohol.

The group slipped inside the house and up the stairs. Ginny knocked on the master bedroom door, which was closed. "Mum?"

"What is it, Ginny dear?"

"Err . . . it's all of us. Dad has important things he needs to tell you."

"Oh, uh . . . come in." Inside, Molly was sitting on the bed, her hair rumpled and her eyes swollen. The lamp was lit, casting a warm glow around the room. The others filed in, squeezing in, lining the walls. Molly sat up straighter and folded her arms. "Am I about to learn what exactly transpired in the argument that caused Percy to leave the house and not come back?"

"You are." Arthur said. He took a deep breath, swallowed, but didn't say anything.

"Well?" Still the silence continued.

"It's my fault." George said. "I started the argument. Percy asked me when I was going to reopen the joke shop and I snapped, starting yelling at him that he was pushing me too far. He said he was worried about me. Things escalated. I punched him. Then I told him that I wished he'd died instead of Fred. That we all thought that."

"George, you didn't." Molly's hand had gone to her mouth.

"I did. Look, Dad was involved in the argument too, but I started it. It's mostly my fault."

"No, it's not." Arthur said. He'd finally found his voice. "Percy asked if we really all thought that. I told him that yes, sometimes I did think things would be easier if he'd died instead of Fred. You have to understand, Molly, I was drunk and I was so tired of everyone constantly squabbling, and George had just punched Percy in the face . . . I really did think, just for a moment, that things would be easier if he'd died instead."

Molly stared at him. The blood had drained from her face and her eyes were wide. "Arthur . . ."

"Molly, I—"

"How could you? How could you?" She climbed off the bed and walked towards him, her voice growing louder. "How could you say that to our son?! We talked about this—when we joined the order, we talked about how we bear the thought of losing any of the children, any one of them, so where is this coming from?!"

"Molly, I was angry, I—"

"And you've never said anything like that to any of them in anger before, have you?"

"Well we've never lost a child before, have we?" He snapped.

"I—I don't recognize the man you've become!" Molly said. "The Arthur Weasley I knew could never be so cruel!"

"Molly, I—"

"I think you should leave."

"Molly—"

"Get away from me, please! I can't look at you right now!" She turned and collapsed on the bed, crying again. Arthur looked around the room, then fled down the stairs. They all heard the thump of the back door as he left.

"Well." George muttered. "That went well."

"Mum?" Bill sat down on the bed next to her. "Mum, we've got a plan worked out. In the morning, I'm going to file a missing person report for him. We'll probably get the whole auror department looking for him."

"I just don't understand." Molly wept. "I don't understand. How could your father say something like that?"

"I don't know." Bill muttered. "I don't know."

"I don't know if we can fix this." Molly sobbed. "I just don't know."

"We'll try our hardest." Ginny said. "Come on, Mum. How many Weasleys does it take to find one missing brother?"

George snorted. "Probably about as many as it takes to change a lightbulb. Which is to say, more than you'd think. It's going to take all of us."