Harry gasped as the first cold raindrop hit his arm. He heard Hermione shift around next to him and looked up at her. He had been lost in thought for the past thirty minutes. Both of their heads turned heavenward. The bruise-colored clouds above were tearing open.
“We better make a run for it,” she said. She had lapsed into uncharacteristic silence after Ron had left to speak with Percy. Harry had left her alone. He knew that brain of hers was going full force, and he didn’t want to interrupt her. They reached the porch’s protective eaves just as the rain emptied in a nearly-solid sheet of water from the skies.
“Close call,” Harry said.
“I think we’d better get used to close calls. I have feeling we’re going to run into a few of them in the near future. If we’re lucky,” Hermione replied grimly. She started pacing the length of the porch. “What is Ron doing up there? What are they talking about?!?!? It’s so frustrating just having to just wait!” Her hair crackled with electricity from the air.
“C’mon, Hermione, this situation has to be handled a certain way. What is Ron supposed to do? Once Percy ‘fesses up, if he ‘fesses up, he can’t just say, ‘Well, jolly good, thanks for the info, I gotta toddle off and go spill the beans to Harry and Hermione’. This is a serious conversation. They’re brothers, after all, that means something,” Harry finished, shrugging.
Hermione stopped pacing. Now her eyes were shooting off sparks, just like her hair. “What’d you just say?”
“What? That Ron and Percy are brothers?? Hermione, you know this, it’s not some revelat-”
“No, no, no, Harry! Not Ron and Percy! I just “ brothers, of course “ he’d have been close to “ he might have known what was going on “ what he’d plan to do with the Horcruxes “ maybe he changed his mind at the last minute…?” she seemed to have forgotten that Harry was there. But no. “Harry! Do you have the locket that you found when you were with Dumbledore?? Better still, do you have the letter from inside the locket?” Hermione was bouncing on the balls of her feet. She seemed ready to explode.
Harry caught some of her excitement, though, in truth, he was a bit exasperated as well. As Ron had often said, why couldn’t she just tell them what she’d thought of instead of tossing non sequiturs into the air and demanding they tag along blindly till they caught up? “Hermione! Look, my brain doesn’t move as quickly as yours does. Slow down, tell me what you’ve thought “”
The back door burst open between them and Ron came out of the Burrow, his face unreadable. Hermione and Harry each grabbed one of his arms.
“So!?!??!”
“That was…a lot to take in,” Ron began. “But, I can tell you one thing, for sure “ we aren’t going to Godric’s Hollow in the next few days.”
“Ron!!” Hermione squealed. “We’re dying here! Tell us what Percy said!”
“Yeah, Ron, how’d it go?” As anxious as he was, Harry couldn’t help but smile to himself. Hermione most certainly did not like being uninformed.
“Look…there’s a lot to say,” Ron pitched his voice low, “Mum’s up and about, and I heard the twins heading down for one more breakfast before they head back to Hogsmeade for good. We need to go somewhere we won’t be overheard.”
“Yes! Also, Harry and I were just discussing the locket and I thought that “” Hermione stopped herself, continued, “But that can wait. We want to hear what you found out, Ron,” she twisted her hands together impatiently.
“Well, there’s the broom shed. It’s not pretty, but no one else will be around,” Ron suggested. The three of them looked at each other, looked at the torrent of water falling from the sky, and dashed towards the rickety wooden building.
They all stood for a moment in the small, dusty shed, catching their breath. Harry couldn’t help but remember that the last time he was in this shed, he was with Dumbledore. He tried to ignore the sadness that seeped into the cracks of his heart and took out his wand, pointed it at himself and his friends in turn so that their damp clothes steamed dry. Without a word, Harry and Hermione settled themselves on the small wooden bench that held several moldy jars of broom polish, and gazed expectantly up at Ron, who was leaning against the latched door.
Harry noticed that Ron seemed uncomfortable at their solemn attention. He cleared his throat. “So, well, where do I start…?” he trailed off, overwhelmed.
“How about with why we can’t go to Godric’s Hollow? How did Percy know we were going to be there?” Harry urged. He understood how Ron was feeling, but he was eager to hear what had transpired between the brothers.
“Well…” Ron started, “Ok, look you two, I want to say one thing before I get started here. I believe that Percy told me the truth. Or, I think that he thinks everything he told me is the truth…I mean, I don’t think he’s trying to trick us…” Ron threw his hands in the air in frustration, “Do you know what I’m saying?”
“You trust his motives,” Hermione offered.
“Yes,” Ron gave her a grateful smile, continued “So, here’s what happened. Percy told me he’s been questioning the Ministry’s effectiveness for awhile now, especially since Fudge got booted from his position. He said that “ that although Scrimgeour is tough and most of the lower-level Ministry employees respect and even fear him, there’s a lot fighting and backstabbing at the top. No one trusts anyone else anymore and people have been spending more time since Scrimgeour’s appointment gossiping about this one and that one rather than doing their jobs,” Ron paused, grinned, “You can imagine how Percy felt about people shirking their jobs.” He leaned against the rickety shed door, crossed his arms over his chest. He was settling into his story.
“Well, Scrimgeour had been keeping Percy close by for awhile, ever since last Christmas, when they came here under false pretenses,” Ron looked disgusted for a moment, then went on, “I guess he felt that Percy had proven his loyalty or something. When…when Dumbledore died, Scrimgeour told Percy he had a very important project for him, and “” Ron didn’t seem able to go on.
“What is it, mate?” Harry questioned.
“Ron?” Hermione stood up, placed a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s just “ just “ how stupid Percy was!! For someone so smart, he was just so “ so blind to how they were using him to get information on “on Harry, and Dumbledore and “”
“Everyone has a part of them that wants to feel important, Ron. Fudge, Scrimgeour, Umbridge “ they all saw that part of Percy and used it to their benefit,” Hermione said softly and sat back down next to Harry.
“Yeah, well, Harry, you know if I hadn’t promised you I wouldn’t deck him…” he trailed off, then picked up the thread of his story again, “Anyway, Scrimgeour came to Percy after he heard about Dumbledore’s death. He asked Percy to accompany him to the funeral and, as he put it, ‘be his eyes and ears’. Percy was to report back to Scrimgeour everything he possibly could about what was said or done by anyone close to Dumbledore at the funeral. But “ but the Minister made it clear to Percy that he wasn’t to approach Harry. Or, for that matter, you or me, Hermione.”
“Why?”
“Because he had his own plans for us, right, Ron?” Harry asked.
“Yeah,” Ron sighed, “Scrimgeour trusted Percy’s loyalty to the Ministry to an extent - although, by that time, Percy was beginning to have doubts of his own - but apparently not enough to question Harry…who, aside from a few Death Eaters, was the last person to spend any time with Dumbledore. Scrimgeour also had enough information at hand to know that what Harry knows, all three of know. He had something else in mind for us…”
“What was it?” Harry pressed.
“He found a way to listen in on our conversation at the funeral, according to Percy. A few nights ago, the night of the rehearsal dinner, Percy was working very late “ he actually came right from the Ministry to the Burrow that night “ and he said he was trying to keep his mind off the wedding. He was feeling bad about not coming to the wedding, he said, he wasn’t sure how everyone would react if he did show up,” Ron paused, cleared his throat, “Anyway, the offices were empty and dark, Percy thought everyone had gone home for the night. He walked past this supply closet, you know, where they store quills and such and “ and, ok, here’s where I am taking a leap of faith regarding Percy “ I have a hard time believe that the Minister wouldn’t be more cautious, but it was late and no one’s perfect right? So, Percy walks by this closet or whatever it is, and the door’s cracked open a bit. He hears Scrimgeour’s voice coming from inside of it. He stops, of course. It’s late, there’s no one else around, and why is the Minister of Magic in a storage cupboard?”
Harry’s was perched on the very edge of the bench. Hermione hand was latched onto his shoulder in a death grip. “Ron!!” They both cried.
“Right. Right! Ok, so Percy hears the Minister’s voice coming from the supply cupboard. It seemed to be a one-sided conversation. Scrimgeour was talking to someone, but Percy didn’t hear anyone else, and he could only see Scrimgeour’s back. Scrimgeour was saying something like, ‘Good, good. Well, you’ve been able to avoid detection so far, I have faith in you…we know they’re heading to Godric’s Hollow shortly after that Weasley wedding, Potter himself said it. That’s the key “ you have to follow them there and report back to me, once you discover what they’re doing.’ Percy said that Scrimgeour paused for a moment, as if listening to someone. Then he said, ‘Yes, yes, don’t worry about that. The Ministry appreciates your assistance with this. You’ll be compensated accordingly.’ Percy said that the Minister almost caught him eavesdropping. He turned and practically ran back to his desk, trying to be as quiet as possible. Scrimgeour showed up about fifteen minutes later, blustering at Percy for being such a hard worker, et cetera, et cetera, and suggested to him he should attend Bill and Fleur’s wedding. And come back this week with a full report. And…and that’s that,” Ron seemed exhausted.
The three of them looked at each other for a minute, and then Hermione leapt to her feet. “What does this mean? Who could the Minister have been talking to? Do we believe Percy? Sorry, Ron, but do we? God, I think this creates more questions than answers and I’ll be “” she was interrupted by a pounding on the shed door.
“Who is it?!?!??!” The three of them cried in unison.
“It’s Ginny - and it’s pissing down house elves out here, so open the bloody door!!” They all laughed and Harry swung the door open. Ginny stood there, her red hair plastered to her face in wet strips.
“Gin, I’m sorry,” he started gently, taking off his jacket and putting it around her shoulders, “We’re just discussing some stuff that’s “”
“I know, I know,” she rolled her eyes, “only for the Secret Order of the Society of You Three.” She took any bitterness out of the words with a rain-soaked kiss. “I just came to tell you lot “ come to lunch, Mum says. Actually not just Mum “ Lupin’s here. And he says he needs to talk to all of you. He says it’s about Grimmauld Place.”
The Time is Now by Hermione816
Chapter Notes: Ron reports back to Harry and Hermione - what exactly prompted Percy to warn them all? An overheard, and very suspicious, conversation at the Ministry.