A/N: I know I’ve already dedicated this story to my little sister but I’d like to dedicated this chapter to her and my brother. I suppose writing the Weasley family’s take on Percy’s death brought a few things home to me about my siblings and I realised that as much as I may want to kill them sometimes I would kill for them all the time (a cheesy line from Cheaper by the Dozen but it’s true none the less) so this is for David and Joanne.
The love that normally lay in Molly’s eyes was gone; it was replaced by all-consuming grief. She never even noticed when the six others landed in the kitchen. In fact, when Ellie gently took her hand, Molly stared at her like she didn’t even know who she was. Every member of the family was taking the news differently; Arthur sat silently in the chair next to his wife, his expression similar to hers, although his was tinged with guilt. Bill was staring at a crumb on the floor that must have offended him, judging by the way he was glaring at it; on the other hand, Charlie was gazing at the thin air in front of him with an unreadable expression. Fred and George were gaping at the bowl of fruit that sat in the middle of the table with disbelieving expressions on their faces. Ron slowly sank into the nearest chair and put his head in his hands, while Hermione stood beside him with her hands resting on his tense shoulders. Ginny curled into Harry’s side and began to sob, the realisation of what had happened finally sinking in. Ellie let go of Molly’s hand, rushed towards Charlie and wrapped her arms around him; he allowed himself to be encapsulated in her and buried his face in her hair. Dumbledore sat down at the end of the table and allowed the family to grieve.
“Tell me what happened, Harry?” Mrs. Weasley asked after a long time. Harry glanced at his headmaster, who nodded gently before he answered. All eyes in the kitchen turned to him and waited expectantly.
“Voldemort wanted to know where we were.” Several of the room’s occupants shivered at the name of the most feared dark wizard in the world. “But Percy refused to tell him, so he killed him,” he whispered.
“Typical Percy couldn’t just say that he didn’t know; he had to play the hero,” George muttered. Ellie smacked him around the head and glared at him.
“What did I tell you about respecting the dead?” she hissed.
“Why should I show Percy respect now that he’s dead? I didn’t show him any while he was alive!” George shouted at her, before he stormed from the room. Fred followed his brother sulkily. If they thought that was the end of the argument then they were sadly mistaken, because Ellie trailed after them into what sounded like the sitting room, their voices travelled loudly and clearly into the kitchen.
“Don’t start with me, Ellie!” George shouted.
“I’ll start all I want,” she declared with equal volume. “Do you even realise that your brother is dead?” she said more gently.
“What kind of question is that?” Fred barked angrily.
“I really don’t think you understand what that means. He’s never coming back!”
“We know that! Do you know what the last thing we said to him was?” George asked. There was a moment’s silence, in which Harry assumed Ellie had shaken her head, before Fred’s voice continued.
“We told him that we hated him, and that he was no brother of ours!” the male voice broke with emotion.
“That doesn’t matter now. All that’s important is that you show the rest of the family you love them,” Ellie’s voice was on breaking point as well. “Your mother is beside herself, and she doesn’t need you reminding her of all the bad feelings that were thrown about!”
“Well I’m sorry, but we can’t change that now,” George said matter-of-factly.
“I’m not asking you to change it; I’m asking you to try and make it better by going in there, holding your mother and never letting her go. You don’t realise how much they mean to you until they’re gone.” Ellie had reached her limit. There was the sound of a loud sob, followed by Fred and George returning to the kitchen red-eyed, where they pulled their mother into a tender embrace. Molly’s howling was only just audible as she cried into the shoulders of her sons.
“What else did he say, Harry?” Arthur continued.
“He refused to betray us. Voldemort offered him his life, but he wouldn’t tell him anything,” Harry said proudly.
“He should have just said that he didn’t know, because at least then he might have had a chance,” Bill said in disappointment.
“He could not say that,” Dumbledore quietly interrupted.
“What do you mean, Albus?” Molly stopped crying momentarily.
“Please sit down, Molly; there are some things that I need to tell you about Percy.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because you deserve to know and because it would do Percy’s memory a great injustice to keep it from you.” He beckoned the others to the table and waited for them to be seated before he continued.
“After the events that occurred at the Ministry of Magic last year, I received a letter from Percy. He expressed his apologies for the way he behaved and the many terrible things that he said, not only about myself and Harry, but also to you.” He indicated the family seated around the table.
“He conveyed his desire to be useful in our battle against Voldemort. I met with him soon after and we discussed the many ways that he could be useful. He was happy “ perhaps through shame- to help. Since then he has provided us with information on Voldemort’s spies within the Ministry. Because of Percy’s fall in position and the well-known disagreement with you, some people were a little looser with their tongues than they would have otherwise been. Percy was able to discern the locations of some Muggle attacks that we were then able to prevent and helped save many lives. He was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and as such he knew the location of our headquarters and knew that you were living here. I had hoped that he would make an attempt at reconciliation, but evidently that was not meant to be. If he had told Voldemort he did not know where you were, Voldemort would almost certainly have known that he was lying and killed him sooner,” Dumbledore finished gravely. A shocked silence filled the air.
“Oh, Percy!” Molly gasped.
“So he was all right after all?” Fred shook his head.
“He did you all proud. He didn’t give in; he refused to give you up,” Harry told them.
“If only he could have done that last year,” Charlie said grimly.
The four students and their Defence teacher were allowed to leave Hogwarts for the day to attend Percy’s funeral. They had been subdued for the week that had followed his death; Ginny and Ron were constantly exhausted. Harry quite often woke to find Ron sitting up in bed, fully clothed and wide-awake; Hermione had been told by one of Ginny’s roommates that she had been crying during the night. Harry knew there were no words of comfort that he could give; he had suffered losses of his own and understood that sometimes the best thing to do was to let the grief run its course. The morning of the funeral they dressed in their best black robes and took a Portkey from the headmaster’s office to Grimmauld Place. The house was gloomy. Death hung in the air, polluting every corner, sucking any trace of happiness from the place. Molly was undoubtedly suffering more than any other member of the family; she was sitting at the table with silent tears flowing down her cheeks.
At exactly eleven o’clock, Arthur activated another Portkey to take them to their destination. This was a small building and graveyard situated on top of a hill; there were no other buildings in sight and the nearest road was miles away. There was a large group of people waiting at the front doors of the building. Harry recognised Minister Bones, several members of the Order, Hogwarts professors and Penelope Clearwater. Penelope had been Percy’s girlfriend at the time of his death. When the Weasleys arrived everyone cleared a path for them. Molly and Arthur led the way through the doors and into the building beyond.
The structure was one enormous room, and in the centre there was a platform covered by a blood-red cloth. Percy’s still form lay on this dressed in his finest robes. About fifty chairs were arranged in a u-shape around it, and on the side not surrounded by chairs there was a small podium. The Weasley family, Harry, Hermione, Ellie and Penelope sat in the first row of chairs. Once everyone was seated, Arthur rose from his chair and stood at the podium, gulping several times before he was able to speak.
“We are here today to celebrate the life of Percy Ignatius Weasley, my son. As many of you know, I have six sons, but Percy was quite unlike any of the others. Molly and I have always tried to do what was best for our children, as all parents do, and although we may not have much in the way of money, we have always had love. We have encouraged our children to be their own people and to make their own way in the world, and that is what Percy did. Harsh words were exchanged in the heat of the moment but none of them were meant; he was our son and we loved him, always have and always will. We want you to know how proud we were of you, Percy, and say thank you for the joy you have brought to our lives. We hope that in death you will find the peace you so desperately wished for.” Arthur returned to his seat and wrapped his arm around his desolate wife’s shoulders. After him Bill rose.
“I always thought that Percy and I got on better than the others because we were so alike. Both prefects, both Head Boys, and both of us were more academic than the rest of them. I always felt like he looked up to me. I’m proud to have had a brother like him and I hope I’ll see him again soon,” Bill finished, returned to his seat and Charlie took his place.
“I’ll be honest and say that you got up my nose a lot, Percy. You always stuck to the rules like glue, and that annoyed me. When you said the things you did, I never thought that I’d forgive you, but I’ve changed my mind. None of what happened matters; in the end you came through and that is what counts. Really, when you think about it, I wouldn’t have Ellie if it wasn’t for you, so I have a lot to thank you for. So, thank you, Percy.” When he was finished Fred and George replaced him.
“We never got on. You kept the rules and we broke them,” Fred began.
“You thought we were wasting our lives,” George said.
“We thought you were wasting yours,” Fred added.
“It looks like we were wrong. We’re sorry for everything, Perce,” George concluded. After them it was Ron’s turn.
“I always felt like you were suffocating me, but I know now that you were just trying to help. You didn’t sell us out and that’s important. You remembered who you were and who your family were. In the end you were still one of us. Thanks, Percy.” Ron alighted the platform to make way for the youngest member of the Weasley family.
“There’s a hole; a hole in our family and a hole in our hearts. We don’t always get on but we’re always a family and we don’t seem to appreciate that. We’re not the same and we never will be again, because without you we’re not the Weasley seven but six, and that just doesn’t feel right. I miss you already and I’ll always love you,” Ginny sobbed, Arthur made his way to her and comforted his daughter with a hug.
“If anyone else would like to say a few words they would be more than welcome,” he told the group. Ellie was the first to volunteer.
“I’ll never forget the first time you told me off. I was two years old and was hovering around your mum’s hot cauldron. Even though you were barely five you shouted ‘Elizabeth Alexandra Jane Potter! Get away from there now!’ and then you frog-marched me out of the kitchen. I hated you for it but I see that you were just trying to do the right thing. You didn’t always get it quite right, but your heart was always in the best place. You didn’t give in, you endured, you stood fast and I respect you for that. You’re more like your family than you would like to be and that was what saw you through. Thank you. I’ll never forget you.” As Ellie left the platform she gave Percy a gentle kiss on the forehead. Professor’s Dumbledore and McGonagall, and finally Minister Bones followed her. The group then moved solemnly outside to the graveyard.
Arthur levitated the platform bearing Percy outside; they were led to a tombstone bearing the family name. He put the platform on the ground; gave one last consoling look at his wife before he whispered ‘ Infodio’ and Percy disappeared forever.
A/N2: Infodio = To bury, dig in.
I feel terrible now that he’s finally gone is that normal?
Thank you to Ashley and Maeve, my literary saviours.
Anyways the next chapter is… Let’s Talk About Tom.