FIC for: lethereality
Title: Hindsight
Recipient: lethereality
Fic or Art: Fic
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Percy Weasley, Penelope Clearwater, Tonks, Bill Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt
Warnings: Multiple character deaths
Summary: Percy Weasley must stop living in blindness and start facing the truth about what his life has become.
Notes: This was definitely a challenge as I had never written Percy before, but I was glad for the chance. I hope it fits in well with what you want, lethereality.
Percy Weasley, dedicated to the neat and orderly, stacked the remaining papers on his desk into a neat little pile to be dealt with later. Due to all the troubles that arose from the war, he was falling behind on his regular workload. Falling behind for him was only being a day ahead of schedule, but it still displeased him greatly. Clearing the mess off his desk at least made him feel more orderly.
Lately, the Ministry was having trouble with what the Minister deemed “vigilante” groups working outside the Ministry’s order that were trying to fight in the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his followers. These groups were a danger to themselves and to others and inhibited the Ministry’s ability to effectively deal with the war. They had to be stopped.
He knew the Order of the Phoenix was one, but he couldn’t give out any details about them as he didn’t know anything about what they did or how they operated. It seemed like there were more groups popping up now, copying the Order’s style. Or maybe they were all apart of the Order, no one really knew. The Minister had a few people on his list already that he wanted to target and even a few surprising Ministry members that he wanted to keep a watchful eye of.
Percy hadn’t seen this list yet but he was keeping track of the people that the Minister had openly targeted so far. It wasn’t long before the Minister called Percy into his office and had him join in, in an effort to get control on the situation. To his surprise, he’s been assigned to Penelope due to their relationship and was to find out what sort of business she conducted when she wasn’t working. His past relationship with Penelope was an asset and gave him an advantage to finding out any extra information about her. Percy thought the accusations were preposterous, though he kept that to himself, as Penelope had never been one for breaking rules. In fact, she was as much a stickler about them as he was. But Percy wasn’t about to disobey a direct assignment from the Minister.
The problem though was that he and Penelope had broken up a few months ago. She had accused him of being overly devoted to his work and that he was no longer there for her the way she needed him to be. He had responded that she had always known how important his work was to him and that they were just growing apart. Their break up had been clean and amicable.
Admittedly, it had been quite awkward running into her around town. They were both creatures of habit and still frequented the same places. So to spare them both anymore awkward run ins, he tried to avoid those places where he was likely to meet her. He did miss them though. But on a chance run in with Penelope outside the Ministry one day not too long ago, she took him aside and told him that avoiding their usual stops was ridiculous and that they should be able to see each other around and remain civil. Percy agreed and started going back to his usual places. Though he did have to admit, it was difficult seeing her sometimes, especially when she was with another bloke, arm in arm and smiling.
She seemed suspicious of him at first when he approached her, maybe a little over eager on his part, but she seemed to regard it as an attempt to resume their relationship. Pushing any feelings or awkwardness aside, he tried to maintain a casual contact with her. Once she seemed convinced that he had no other motives, she appeared to relax a bit more around him again.
Eventually, he had got the information that Minister had wanted. Penelope never actually told him but little things had started to add up. Like the frequent visits to a small bookshop in a muggle part of London, and she hardly ever talked about her job at Gringotts anymore. But it was through a small journal that he learned she had been recording the names of certain Ministry members and tracking their funds. She had been writing in it when he dropped by one day, and left it on the sofa when she went into the kitchen to make tea.
She stopped as she came into the room, holding two cups of steaming tea. He looked at her and held up the book, not quite believing what he had just read. Putting down the tea, she sat across from him, and folded her arms.
“So you’ve figured it out then? I suppose the Ministry sent you?” she said as though she’d been expecting this.
“What is all this Penny?” he asked.
“What it looks like. So, going to turn me into your boss then for ‘undermining’ the Ministry. I expect you’ll be getting a promotion,” she said with a bit of bite in her tone.
“But why? This doesn’t make any sense. Why would you go against the Ministry? You’ve always been so sensible,” he said, really trying to make sense of it.
She snorted. “Why? Oh, Percy, you’ve always been blind when it comes to your beloved work. It’s right in front of you now so surely you can figure it out,” she said, getting up suddenly. “The Ministry isn’t the perfect institution you think it is. The Minister isn’t so wonderful.”
“Now Penny, they do have the people’s best interests at heart. You may not always agree with our methods but we’re doing our best to-”
“Don’t be stupid, Percy. Do you know how much corruption is going on in the Ministry now? There are people taking advantage of what’s happening right now and using the situation for their own gain. Everything’s such a mess with everyone running around in a million directions at once, no one’s doing anything about it. And people like you who are pretending everything’s just peachy is what’s making it worse,” Penny said. She was pacing back and forth now, completely worked up.
He had always rather enjoyed seeing her get worked up over manners she felt passionate about. Even now, he had the oddest urge to kiss her, but he suppressed it. “Well, that maybe so but if the Minister knew, he would put a stop to it,” he said confidently.
“Sure he would. Right after he keeps the Ministry from collapsing in on itself. Certain things are going to be overlooked in order to maintain the image of an efficient Ministry. I’d be surprised if he wasn’t aware of some of what’s going on, and I’m not sure he’s entirely opposed to some of it either,” she added flatly.
“Who are you giving this information to?” Percy had to ask.
“To people who aren’t just flopping around, concentrating too much on the wrong thing. I’m only assisting others who can actually help where the Ministry’s lacking,” Penny replied. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like my book back.”
He set the book down on the table and stood up slowly, facing her. “You know, I’m going to have to speak of this to the Minister.”
She nodded. “Yes, I wouldn’t expect you to do anything less than you’re job. And well, I’m only doing mine.”
Percy stared at her, wondering how they came to this. To being on such opposite sides. How could things shift that quickly? He thought of his family; they were on opposite sides now. It seemed things had been shifting all along. “If you knew what I was doing, why didn’t you say anything earlier?” he asked.
She gave him a small, sad sort of smile and said, “Because I’ve always been rather fond of you, Percy Weasley.”
Percy took a step forward, not sure what he was doing. He wanted to kiss her because she was beautiful even when she was being difficult, to reprimand her for doing something so foolish, and to just throw his hands up and not care one way or the other. In the end, he did nothing.
“I suppose I should go,” he said though he didn’t really want to.
“Yes, I suppose you should,” she said stiffly. He recognized that tone; she used it whenever she was upset and trying to remain cool.
In a last effort to somehow try to mend the situation, he started again, “Penny, I…” He didn’t know what he was thinking, he only felt more foolish, something he hated. He turned to leave.
“Goodbye Percy,” he heard Penny say.
***
It was an even greater surprise when he found himself not saying anything about Penny to the Minister at work the next day. He had meant to, really, Percy did have every intention of presenting his knowledge about Penny but the workday went by so quickly that he couldn’t seem to find the time. Percy wasn’t delusional, contrary to what his brothers might say, he knew the reason he didn’t say anything about Penny didn’t have anything to do with being too busy.
Percy’s findings would have been the conformation they needed to openly go after certain people. But he couldn’t seem to bring himself to do it. And he hated himself for that. He had always prided himself on being resolved to his principles; he even went against his own family. He couldn’t afford to be weak now.
He also hated the confusion that she had started in him. First, his family, then Penny-they all seemed so convinced that what they were doing was right. These were the people that had been closest to him, the ones he had trusted most. When had he stopped believing in them?
But how could he doubt the Ministry? He had worked so hard at his job, dedicated himself to it completely, even giving up his most important relationships. He couldn’t stray from his path now, not when he’d sacrificed so much. The Ministry couldn’t fail him.
For the next few weeks that followed, he continued not to say anything. The Minister hadn’t asked him yet about his progress so he didn’t have to blatantly lie, which he wasn’t sure he could do. He dreaded the moment when he would be asked directly because he really wasn’t sure what his answer would be though either made him uneasy.
That all soon changed though, about a month after he last saw Penny. His façade was starting to crack, or rather, the cracks were just getting larger. A message had come in about a few buildings that had collapsed in a Muggle part of London. The Ministry couldn’t keep up with all the disturbances going around in the surrounding areas; there had been more reports of Muggles acting up lately that had been taken as instances of dark magic because there was an increase of magic everywhere so the seemingly Muggle incidents were pushed to the side.
The location of the shops sounded familiar, and he started to feel apprehensive. He decided to accompany the Hit-Wizard and a fellow coworker, Terence Higgs to the site. Two of the buildings had been reduced to rubble and there were lots of Muggles crowding the edges of the restriction barriers that had been put up. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach as he took in the damage. He recognized the area.
They blended into the crowd, watching the Muggle workers move about the rubble. Terence nudged him, “Do you think it was a fire?” he said.
“Could be, but we’ll have to see if any dark magic was in use,” he replied.
“There was some magic in the area before the incident,” said Terence.
“Under here!” one of the Muggle fireman shouted. A few other Muggle workers rushed over and started to sort through the debris. They emerged carrying a body.
The odor of burnt flesh and blood lingered, his stomach churned. He saw them carrying another limp body and he felt something inside him clench painfully. The mess of curls and lifeless form looked frighteningly familiar even covered in soot and grime. Without thinking he took a few steps forward. He heard Terence call his name and he stopped.
Suddenly, he felt very sick and light-headed. Quickly, he moved away from the crowd and was sick in the nearest in the rubbish bin. He retched until there were only dry heaves. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
“All right now, Weasley?” he heard a female ask from behind him.
Percy turned around and to his surprise, saw Nymphadora Tonks. He just stared at her, taking in her odd appearance from her magenta hair that stopped sharply at her chin to her bright red shirt that clashed horribly with her hair to the multi-colored varnish on her nails. She was so garishly loud, he almost felt sick again.
“Maybe you should have a lie in, you don’t look too steady on your feet. I’ll tell those Ministry blokes you were feeling peaky,” she said.
Percy felt his face flush in embarrassment at her seeing him in such a pitiful state. Straightening up to his full height and trying to retain some level of dignity, he said, “No, I have a job to do.”
“You sure? Cause you really don’t look so good. Scenes of trauma can really--”
“I’m fine,” he said, his voice betraying him by shaking slightly. She gave him a doubtful look and he felt a stab of annoyance. Why was she here pestering him. “What are you doing here? No Aurors were assigned to come down here,” he said sharply.
“Yes, well some of us thought it best to investigate the scene down here,” she said.
“Investigate what?” he demanded, narrowing his eyes.
“Look Weasley, you just do your job, if you can manage it, and I’ll do mine. Okay?”
“Why would any Aurors come here? It was only a few Muggle shops.”
She raised a magenta-colored eyebrow. “I think we both know it was a bit more than that.”
“Surely, Aurors have more important things to do than come here and look for signs of possible dark magic. It’s our job to find out what happened here, and when we do find out, we’ll let the rest of you know,” he said, growing more irritated by the sight of her.
Tonks opened her mouth to reply but was cut short by Kingsley Shacklebolt. “Got a body count, Tonks. Five Muggles dead, eleven injured, and two of our own dead,” he said somberly.
“No, who?” Tonks gasped.
He paused, “Jones and Clearwater.”
Percy felt his stomach knot up again. “The bodies, what’s happened to them?” he asked, surprising himself.
Both Kingsley and Tonks looked at him. “The Muggles have taken them at the moment but we’ll get them,” said Kingsley.
Percy nodded, trying to keep his mind on the task at hand, on anything other than what he had just seen. Like these two, why were they really here? Percy suspected it was more than just Ministry business.
“Clearwater…Penny-didn’t you two-” Tonks started but stopped at the look on his face. “Er, well, guess we’d better get back to work then.”
“You’re here for the Order, aren’t you?” Percy asked abruptly. There weren’t any accusations or sharpness in his voice now. Tonks and Kingsley shared a look. “Penny-she was apart of it too, wasn’t she? I know she was handing off information about Ministry funds to somebody.”
“I’m sorry, Weasley,” was all Kingsley said to him before turning away and heading back towards the crowd.
Tonks gave him a sympathetic look. “Just be careful who you put your faith into, wouldn’t want it to be misguided,” she said. “I’m sorry, Percy. If you need to leave, I’m sure they’ll understand.”
***
The rest of the afternoon was a fog, really. He couldn’t recall exactly what he did when got back to work or going to his flat or what he did once he got there. He didn’t remember getting ready for work the next day. However, once he was at work, the fog seemed to lift.
Terence entered the office and headed straight for Percy, perching himself at the edge of Percy’s desk, something that annoyed Percy to no end. Before he could tell Terence to remove himself, he spoke in a rapid, somewhat hushed voice. “Have you heard about the fire at that Muggle shop this morning? The Prophet’s connecting it to what happened yesterday and that train that derailed last week in Manchester. They’re claiming that dark magic was involved in all those incidents and that the Ministry purposefully hasn’t done enough of a job dealing with it.”
“What? How?” Percy exclaimed. “I thought those Muggle incidents were being kept under wraps until the Ministry can rule anything out. And how can they say the Ministry isn’t purposefully doing enough”
“I dunno how they figure dark magic, but they are connecting names. There were witches or wizards who were all killed or seriously harmed during those incidents. The Ministry’s not having an easy time keeping things quiet on top of everything else,” Terence said.
“Well, how can they expect the Ministry to keep track of everyone who does magic these days and react to every single thing that happens?” Percy said.
“That’s just it,” said Terence, lowering his voice even more. “The Ministry does keep track where magic happens in order to intervene in case of Muggles witnessing it. All those events happened in mainly Muggle areas. Some people are starting to reckon that the Ministry was aware and just didn’t make an effort to get involved until it was too late.”
“That’s ridiculous. It’s not as if we’re here sitting on our arses, trying to decide what to do next,” Percy said indignantly.
“Well those witches or wizards who hurt or killed are all suspected of ‘working against the Ministry’ so some reckon that it was deliberate that the Ministry didn’t act quick enough or give it enough attention.”
Percy opened his mouth, a smart reply already forming but he stopped suddenly. An uneasy feeling had come over him. “Ridiculous,” he muttered. But was it really so?
Terence shook his head. “I dunno, lots of things aren’t how they seem anymore. Stuff isn’t adding up. Well, I’ve got to get back to work. You can check today’s Prophet for yourself. Bastards, they used to lick the Ministry’s arse and now they never have a kind word to say.” Percy watched him leave, what he had said running through his mind. He rubbed his temples; his head was really starting to ache now.
His father’s words came back to him though it had been over two years now. It seemed his father had turned out to be right after all. He had accused the then Minister, Fudge, of only wanting to use Percy to spy on his family and their connection to Dumbledore. He remembered how upset he had been at his family for thinking that, for believing that the Minister couldn’t possibly be interested in him for his skills, only his family’s connections. Percy had wanted so badly to separate himself from his family’s reputation as a bunch of queer, poor Muggle lovers, to prove himself. But in the end, he had done as his father predicted and he’d been too blind to see that it had been happening all along.
Now Penny was dead and he didn’t even speak to his own family anymore. Even after the Ministry admitted that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back and Fudge was sacked, he couldn’t bring himself to face them. So they had been right, but they never really supported his aspirations to rise to power in the Ministry anyway. His brothers never took him seriously-Bill and Charlie were always the cool older brothers, Fred and George always caused some sort of trouble but they always seemed to get away with it. Everyone always looked out for Ron no matter how much they picked on him, and Ginny was already different being the only girl, no matter what she thought. He had to set himself apart somehow.
What came next? What did you do when you started realizing that everything you had put your faith into had gone to shite? He wasn’t brave enough to quite his job, and admittedly he still harbored certain ambitions as foolish as it was; he knew that if the Ministry went down, he’d go down with it. There wasn’t any way to escape that, he supposed that’s what he got for being the Ministry’s whipping boy.
He wasn’t brave enough to contact his family either. What would he say to them? “I was bloody wrong and you were all sodding right all along. I’m sorry for being such a git.” Somehow, he couldn’t picture himself saying any of that. It really wasn’t a matter of pride anymore (how much pride did he really have left), it was more just him being a prat. He already felt like a fool, soon it would be obvious. Percy couldn’t go crawling back home like that, miserable and pathetic.
It seemed there wasn’t much else to do but wait for everything to unfold.
***
Percy, numbly, went through all the usual motions of the day. He actually clocked out early, which for him was leaving at the same time as everyone else. But instead of going home, he found himself at Penny’s flat.
He hadn’t known why he had come here. It’s not as if he was expecting her to be there. But now that he was here, the vague idea to look through her things for anything connecting her to the Order entered his head. He tried her door. It was locked of course and couldn’t be opened with any simple spells, not that he expected it to be. He didn’t know what he expected. It’s not as if he could really protect her, it was a bit too late for that.
Percy leaned his head against the door, his hand resting on the knob. At that moment, he would have given anything to have Penny open the door and chide him for being so ridiculous, yell at him, tell him to shove off and that she never wanted to see him again. Anything.
“I’m sorry, Penny,” he murmured.
Just then, to his right, he heard the cracking sound of someone Apparating. He saw, with a start, that it was Bill who looked equally surprised at seeing him.
“Percy?”
“Bill,” he said, straightening up stiffly. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here on business, not that it’s any of your concern. Why are you here?” he shot back.
“I was…I mean I…” he trailed off, not sure how to explain himself.
“Look, if you need a few minutes, I can--”
“I’m fine,” he said curtly.
“You sure?” Bill asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes,” said Percy through gritted teeth. Had he been looking ill lately? That patronizing “you sure” was really starting to get under his skin. Bill looked as though he was going to further comment on his well-being but Percy decided to change the subject around before he could. “Why exactly are you here again?”
Bill narrowed his eyes. “I already told you,” he said slowly. “Stop changing the subject around. If you’re not here to make nice with that door, then why are you here?”
He stared at Bill for a few moments, taking in his expression-cold distrust mixed with curiosity and decided there wasn’t really anything worth covering up anymore. “I was trying to get into Penny’s flat. I know she has a book, a journal, with names, stats of Ministry members, and I was going to collect it and anything else connecting her to the Order.”
Bill looked genuinely surprised at hearing Percy words but before he could respond, the door to Penny’s flat opened and Tonks looked at them both in surprise. “What are you two doing out here? I thought you’d be inside already, Bill. You can Apparate into the flat now. Er, hello, Percy,” she said.
Percy nodded at her and turned back to Bill.
“In a minute, Tonks, Percy was just telling me why he was here. So you wanted to collect anything linking Penny to the Order, why? Planning to turn it over to the Minister? I expect the Scrimgeour would reward you well for that--”
“I’m not doing it for the Ministry,” Percy spat.
“Then why are you doing it?” Bill said.
“I-I don’t want her name to be dragged through the mud when this all gets out and it will,” Percy said in a clipped voice. “I just wanted to…”
“You wanted to protect her,” Tonks said. Percy stared hard at her for a moment and then turned away from them both.
“I won’t be getting in your way, then,” he said, not looking at them.
“Perce, wait,” Bill said. Percy looked over his shoulder at him. “If you want to stay, you can, but we’re taking all of Penny’s documents.”
He saw a flash of pity cross Bill’s face and something in him turned inwards at that. “You don’t have to pity me,” he replied coldly.
“Really? Because you’re a pretty pitiful case, Percy. But go if you want. I wasn’t trying to do you any favors, I was being sympathetic. It’s what you do when you’re not a cold-hearted bastard,” Bill said.
Percy started to reply but realized he had no reply for that.
“So are you coming in or not?” Bill asked.
Percy nodded and followed him inside. Tonks shut the door behind them.
***
He had been right, of course. All the events of the past few months were coming to a head. The Prophet had finally started on the story they’d been after for a while now. After releasing all the names of the wizards and witches that had died in those seemingly random Muggle events, they had connected all of them to groups outside of Ministry regulation. They then proceeded to accuse the Ministry of letting those attacks happen in order to eliminate those “vigilante” groups.
The Ministry had become a madhouse after that, having to deal with those accusations on top of actual reported Death Eater attacks. A few people had even been thrown out of the Ministry for posing as Ministry workers trying to get more details for their stories. And reporters were targeting members of the Ministry when they weren’t at work, trying to get statements from them when they could be more easily harassed. Scrimgeour briefed Ministry employees on the responses they were to give to reporters or anyone else who asked about the Ministry’s motives. Their response-the Ministry has no agenda other than to rid the wizarding world of evil, fanatical wizards and to keep the people safe.
It wasn’t long before Percy was targeted by a reporter and questioned. The reporter, a short man in olive robes and an eager look on his face, approached him as he sat in the Leaky Cauldron for a later supper one evening. He started with questions that Percy had been expecting so he gave the standard responses but as he heard himself speak, he stopped.
So far, he had done everything that he was supposed to do and tried maintain an image of order for himself and the Ministry, which was exhausting. He had done that for three years now at the Ministry and he had nothing to show for it except headaches and an empty life. He wasn’t certain that those people had been purposely “eliminated”, but he was aware now of how corrupt the Ministry had become. And he didn’t want to contribute to it anymore.
“Sorry?” he said, missing what the reporter, he had forgotten his name, just said.
“Has the Ministry become corrupt?” the reporter repeated.
“Yes,” Percy answered before he could think about it.
A flash of surprise crossed the reporter’s face and the quill he was dictating into fell flat on the table. “Really? Would you say that’s affecting the way the war’s being dealt with?”
“Yes. That’s not to say the entire Ministry is full of corruption and dishonest people; there are plenty of good people who are actually trying to do something help others.”
“What’s made you come forth with this statement? No one else from the Ministry has admitted to anything. They are all staying on the Ministry’s side,” he pressed.
Percy shrugged. “I’m just tired, I suppose. Tired of doing what’s easy, of acting as though everything is all right. I only want to be on the right side; the Ministry and these so-called vigilante groups are all on it somewhere whether they like it or not. Eventually we all have to make important choices, I’ve made some that I’ve come to regret but I’ve stuck by them, but that doesn’t mean I have to keep making them. Everyone’s been speculating about what’s been going on, no sense in letting the rumors persist when it can be cleared up.”
“Are you willing to clear up the rumors?”
“I’m not claiming to know everything. I can only say what I’ve experienced and I’m not speaking for anyone else,” he said. The reporter urged him to continue so he did. He didn’t name any specific names or mentions details about the Order but he spoke of his role in seeking out information on outside Ministry groups. It wasn’t much, and it would never match whatever the Order did but it was the truth.
Percy wasn’t brave enough to stand alone or separate himself from the institution he dedicated himself to over three years ago. But he wouldn’t allow himself to be so blind anymore.
Recipient: lethereality
Fic or Art: Fic
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Percy Weasley, Penelope Clearwater, Tonks, Bill Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt
Warnings: Multiple character deaths
Summary: Percy Weasley must stop living in blindness and start facing the truth about what his life has become.
Notes: This was definitely a challenge as I had never written Percy before, but I was glad for the chance. I hope it fits in well with what you want, lethereality.
Percy Weasley, dedicated to the neat and orderly, stacked the remaining papers on his desk into a neat little pile to be dealt with later. Due to all the troubles that arose from the war, he was falling behind on his regular workload. Falling behind for him was only being a day ahead of schedule, but it still displeased him greatly. Clearing the mess off his desk at least made him feel more orderly.
Lately, the Ministry was having trouble with what the Minister deemed “vigilante” groups working outside the Ministry’s order that were trying to fight in the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his followers. These groups were a danger to themselves and to others and inhibited the Ministry’s ability to effectively deal with the war. They had to be stopped.
He knew the Order of the Phoenix was one, but he couldn’t give out any details about them as he didn’t know anything about what they did or how they operated. It seemed like there were more groups popping up now, copying the Order’s style. Or maybe they were all apart of the Order, no one really knew. The Minister had a few people on his list already that he wanted to target and even a few surprising Ministry members that he wanted to keep a watchful eye of.
Percy hadn’t seen this list yet but he was keeping track of the people that the Minister had openly targeted so far. It wasn’t long before the Minister called Percy into his office and had him join in, in an effort to get control on the situation. To his surprise, he’s been assigned to Penelope due to their relationship and was to find out what sort of business she conducted when she wasn’t working. His past relationship with Penelope was an asset and gave him an advantage to finding out any extra information about her. Percy thought the accusations were preposterous, though he kept that to himself, as Penelope had never been one for breaking rules. In fact, she was as much a stickler about them as he was. But Percy wasn’t about to disobey a direct assignment from the Minister.
The problem though was that he and Penelope had broken up a few months ago. She had accused him of being overly devoted to his work and that he was no longer there for her the way she needed him to be. He had responded that she had always known how important his work was to him and that they were just growing apart. Their break up had been clean and amicable.
Admittedly, it had been quite awkward running into her around town. They were both creatures of habit and still frequented the same places. So to spare them both anymore awkward run ins, he tried to avoid those places where he was likely to meet her. He did miss them though. But on a chance run in with Penelope outside the Ministry one day not too long ago, she took him aside and told him that avoiding their usual stops was ridiculous and that they should be able to see each other around and remain civil. Percy agreed and started going back to his usual places. Though he did have to admit, it was difficult seeing her sometimes, especially when she was with another bloke, arm in arm and smiling.
She seemed suspicious of him at first when he approached her, maybe a little over eager on his part, but she seemed to regard it as an attempt to resume their relationship. Pushing any feelings or awkwardness aside, he tried to maintain a casual contact with her. Once she seemed convinced that he had no other motives, she appeared to relax a bit more around him again.
Eventually, he had got the information that Minister had wanted. Penelope never actually told him but little things had started to add up. Like the frequent visits to a small bookshop in a muggle part of London, and she hardly ever talked about her job at Gringotts anymore. But it was through a small journal that he learned she had been recording the names of certain Ministry members and tracking their funds. She had been writing in it when he dropped by one day, and left it on the sofa when she went into the kitchen to make tea.
She stopped as she came into the room, holding two cups of steaming tea. He looked at her and held up the book, not quite believing what he had just read. Putting down the tea, she sat across from him, and folded her arms.
“So you’ve figured it out then? I suppose the Ministry sent you?” she said as though she’d been expecting this.
“What is all this Penny?” he asked.
“What it looks like. So, going to turn me into your boss then for ‘undermining’ the Ministry. I expect you’ll be getting a promotion,” she said with a bit of bite in her tone.
“But why? This doesn’t make any sense. Why would you go against the Ministry? You’ve always been so sensible,” he said, really trying to make sense of it.
She snorted. “Why? Oh, Percy, you’ve always been blind when it comes to your beloved work. It’s right in front of you now so surely you can figure it out,” she said, getting up suddenly. “The Ministry isn’t the perfect institution you think it is. The Minister isn’t so wonderful.”
“Now Penny, they do have the people’s best interests at heart. You may not always agree with our methods but we’re doing our best to-”
“Don’t be stupid, Percy. Do you know how much corruption is going on in the Ministry now? There are people taking advantage of what’s happening right now and using the situation for their own gain. Everything’s such a mess with everyone running around in a million directions at once, no one’s doing anything about it. And people like you who are pretending everything’s just peachy is what’s making it worse,” Penny said. She was pacing back and forth now, completely worked up.
He had always rather enjoyed seeing her get worked up over manners she felt passionate about. Even now, he had the oddest urge to kiss her, but he suppressed it. “Well, that maybe so but if the Minister knew, he would put a stop to it,” he said confidently.
“Sure he would. Right after he keeps the Ministry from collapsing in on itself. Certain things are going to be overlooked in order to maintain the image of an efficient Ministry. I’d be surprised if he wasn’t aware of some of what’s going on, and I’m not sure he’s entirely opposed to some of it either,” she added flatly.
“Who are you giving this information to?” Percy had to ask.
“To people who aren’t just flopping around, concentrating too much on the wrong thing. I’m only assisting others who can actually help where the Ministry’s lacking,” Penny replied. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like my book back.”
He set the book down on the table and stood up slowly, facing her. “You know, I’m going to have to speak of this to the Minister.”
She nodded. “Yes, I wouldn’t expect you to do anything less than you’re job. And well, I’m only doing mine.”
Percy stared at her, wondering how they came to this. To being on such opposite sides. How could things shift that quickly? He thought of his family; they were on opposite sides now. It seemed things had been shifting all along. “If you knew what I was doing, why didn’t you say anything earlier?” he asked.
She gave him a small, sad sort of smile and said, “Because I’ve always been rather fond of you, Percy Weasley.”
Percy took a step forward, not sure what he was doing. He wanted to kiss her because she was beautiful even when she was being difficult, to reprimand her for doing something so foolish, and to just throw his hands up and not care one way or the other. In the end, he did nothing.
“I suppose I should go,” he said though he didn’t really want to.
“Yes, I suppose you should,” she said stiffly. He recognized that tone; she used it whenever she was upset and trying to remain cool.
In a last effort to somehow try to mend the situation, he started again, “Penny, I…” He didn’t know what he was thinking, he only felt more foolish, something he hated. He turned to leave.
“Goodbye Percy,” he heard Penny say.
***
It was an even greater surprise when he found himself not saying anything about Penny to the Minister at work the next day. He had meant to, really, Percy did have every intention of presenting his knowledge about Penny but the workday went by so quickly that he couldn’t seem to find the time. Percy wasn’t delusional, contrary to what his brothers might say, he knew the reason he didn’t say anything about Penny didn’t have anything to do with being too busy.
Percy’s findings would have been the conformation they needed to openly go after certain people. But he couldn’t seem to bring himself to do it. And he hated himself for that. He had always prided himself on being resolved to his principles; he even went against his own family. He couldn’t afford to be weak now.
He also hated the confusion that she had started in him. First, his family, then Penny-they all seemed so convinced that what they were doing was right. These were the people that had been closest to him, the ones he had trusted most. When had he stopped believing in them?
But how could he doubt the Ministry? He had worked so hard at his job, dedicated himself to it completely, even giving up his most important relationships. He couldn’t stray from his path now, not when he’d sacrificed so much. The Ministry couldn’t fail him.
For the next few weeks that followed, he continued not to say anything. The Minister hadn’t asked him yet about his progress so he didn’t have to blatantly lie, which he wasn’t sure he could do. He dreaded the moment when he would be asked directly because he really wasn’t sure what his answer would be though either made him uneasy.
That all soon changed though, about a month after he last saw Penny. His façade was starting to crack, or rather, the cracks were just getting larger. A message had come in about a few buildings that had collapsed in a Muggle part of London. The Ministry couldn’t keep up with all the disturbances going around in the surrounding areas; there had been more reports of Muggles acting up lately that had been taken as instances of dark magic because there was an increase of magic everywhere so the seemingly Muggle incidents were pushed to the side.
The location of the shops sounded familiar, and he started to feel apprehensive. He decided to accompany the Hit-Wizard and a fellow coworker, Terence Higgs to the site. Two of the buildings had been reduced to rubble and there were lots of Muggles crowding the edges of the restriction barriers that had been put up. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach as he took in the damage. He recognized the area.
They blended into the crowd, watching the Muggle workers move about the rubble. Terence nudged him, “Do you think it was a fire?” he said.
“Could be, but we’ll have to see if any dark magic was in use,” he replied.
“There was some magic in the area before the incident,” said Terence.
“Under here!” one of the Muggle fireman shouted. A few other Muggle workers rushed over and started to sort through the debris. They emerged carrying a body.
The odor of burnt flesh and blood lingered, his stomach churned. He saw them carrying another limp body and he felt something inside him clench painfully. The mess of curls and lifeless form looked frighteningly familiar even covered in soot and grime. Without thinking he took a few steps forward. He heard Terence call his name and he stopped.
Suddenly, he felt very sick and light-headed. Quickly, he moved away from the crowd and was sick in the nearest in the rubbish bin. He retched until there were only dry heaves. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
“All right now, Weasley?” he heard a female ask from behind him.
Percy turned around and to his surprise, saw Nymphadora Tonks. He just stared at her, taking in her odd appearance from her magenta hair that stopped sharply at her chin to her bright red shirt that clashed horribly with her hair to the multi-colored varnish on her nails. She was so garishly loud, he almost felt sick again.
“Maybe you should have a lie in, you don’t look too steady on your feet. I’ll tell those Ministry blokes you were feeling peaky,” she said.
Percy felt his face flush in embarrassment at her seeing him in such a pitiful state. Straightening up to his full height and trying to retain some level of dignity, he said, “No, I have a job to do.”
“You sure? Cause you really don’t look so good. Scenes of trauma can really--”
“I’m fine,” he said, his voice betraying him by shaking slightly. She gave him a doubtful look and he felt a stab of annoyance. Why was she here pestering him. “What are you doing here? No Aurors were assigned to come down here,” he said sharply.
“Yes, well some of us thought it best to investigate the scene down here,” she said.
“Investigate what?” he demanded, narrowing his eyes.
“Look Weasley, you just do your job, if you can manage it, and I’ll do mine. Okay?”
“Why would any Aurors come here? It was only a few Muggle shops.”
She raised a magenta-colored eyebrow. “I think we both know it was a bit more than that.”
“Surely, Aurors have more important things to do than come here and look for signs of possible dark magic. It’s our job to find out what happened here, and when we do find out, we’ll let the rest of you know,” he said, growing more irritated by the sight of her.
Tonks opened her mouth to reply but was cut short by Kingsley Shacklebolt. “Got a body count, Tonks. Five Muggles dead, eleven injured, and two of our own dead,” he said somberly.
“No, who?” Tonks gasped.
He paused, “Jones and Clearwater.”
Percy felt his stomach knot up again. “The bodies, what’s happened to them?” he asked, surprising himself.
Both Kingsley and Tonks looked at him. “The Muggles have taken them at the moment but we’ll get them,” said Kingsley.
Percy nodded, trying to keep his mind on the task at hand, on anything other than what he had just seen. Like these two, why were they really here? Percy suspected it was more than just Ministry business.
“Clearwater…Penny-didn’t you two-” Tonks started but stopped at the look on his face. “Er, well, guess we’d better get back to work then.”
“You’re here for the Order, aren’t you?” Percy asked abruptly. There weren’t any accusations or sharpness in his voice now. Tonks and Kingsley shared a look. “Penny-she was apart of it too, wasn’t she? I know she was handing off information about Ministry funds to somebody.”
“I’m sorry, Weasley,” was all Kingsley said to him before turning away and heading back towards the crowd.
Tonks gave him a sympathetic look. “Just be careful who you put your faith into, wouldn’t want it to be misguided,” she said. “I’m sorry, Percy. If you need to leave, I’m sure they’ll understand.”
***
The rest of the afternoon was a fog, really. He couldn’t recall exactly what he did when got back to work or going to his flat or what he did once he got there. He didn’t remember getting ready for work the next day. However, once he was at work, the fog seemed to lift.
Terence entered the office and headed straight for Percy, perching himself at the edge of Percy’s desk, something that annoyed Percy to no end. Before he could tell Terence to remove himself, he spoke in a rapid, somewhat hushed voice. “Have you heard about the fire at that Muggle shop this morning? The Prophet’s connecting it to what happened yesterday and that train that derailed last week in Manchester. They’re claiming that dark magic was involved in all those incidents and that the Ministry purposefully hasn’t done enough of a job dealing with it.”
“What? How?” Percy exclaimed. “I thought those Muggle incidents were being kept under wraps until the Ministry can rule anything out. And how can they say the Ministry isn’t purposefully doing enough”
“I dunno how they figure dark magic, but they are connecting names. There were witches or wizards who were all killed or seriously harmed during those incidents. The Ministry’s not having an easy time keeping things quiet on top of everything else,” Terence said.
“Well, how can they expect the Ministry to keep track of everyone who does magic these days and react to every single thing that happens?” Percy said.
“That’s just it,” said Terence, lowering his voice even more. “The Ministry does keep track where magic happens in order to intervene in case of Muggles witnessing it. All those events happened in mainly Muggle areas. Some people are starting to reckon that the Ministry was aware and just didn’t make an effort to get involved until it was too late.”
“That’s ridiculous. It’s not as if we’re here sitting on our arses, trying to decide what to do next,” Percy said indignantly.
“Well those witches or wizards who hurt or killed are all suspected of ‘working against the Ministry’ so some reckon that it was deliberate that the Ministry didn’t act quick enough or give it enough attention.”
Percy opened his mouth, a smart reply already forming but he stopped suddenly. An uneasy feeling had come over him. “Ridiculous,” he muttered. But was it really so?
Terence shook his head. “I dunno, lots of things aren’t how they seem anymore. Stuff isn’t adding up. Well, I’ve got to get back to work. You can check today’s Prophet for yourself. Bastards, they used to lick the Ministry’s arse and now they never have a kind word to say.” Percy watched him leave, what he had said running through his mind. He rubbed his temples; his head was really starting to ache now.
His father’s words came back to him though it had been over two years now. It seemed his father had turned out to be right after all. He had accused the then Minister, Fudge, of only wanting to use Percy to spy on his family and their connection to Dumbledore. He remembered how upset he had been at his family for thinking that, for believing that the Minister couldn’t possibly be interested in him for his skills, only his family’s connections. Percy had wanted so badly to separate himself from his family’s reputation as a bunch of queer, poor Muggle lovers, to prove himself. But in the end, he had done as his father predicted and he’d been too blind to see that it had been happening all along.
Now Penny was dead and he didn’t even speak to his own family anymore. Even after the Ministry admitted that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back and Fudge was sacked, he couldn’t bring himself to face them. So they had been right, but they never really supported his aspirations to rise to power in the Ministry anyway. His brothers never took him seriously-Bill and Charlie were always the cool older brothers, Fred and George always caused some sort of trouble but they always seemed to get away with it. Everyone always looked out for Ron no matter how much they picked on him, and Ginny was already different being the only girl, no matter what she thought. He had to set himself apart somehow.
What came next? What did you do when you started realizing that everything you had put your faith into had gone to shite? He wasn’t brave enough to quite his job, and admittedly he still harbored certain ambitions as foolish as it was; he knew that if the Ministry went down, he’d go down with it. There wasn’t any way to escape that, he supposed that’s what he got for being the Ministry’s whipping boy.
He wasn’t brave enough to contact his family either. What would he say to them? “I was bloody wrong and you were all sodding right all along. I’m sorry for being such a git.” Somehow, he couldn’t picture himself saying any of that. It really wasn’t a matter of pride anymore (how much pride did he really have left), it was more just him being a prat. He already felt like a fool, soon it would be obvious. Percy couldn’t go crawling back home like that, miserable and pathetic.
It seemed there wasn’t much else to do but wait for everything to unfold.
***
Percy, numbly, went through all the usual motions of the day. He actually clocked out early, which for him was leaving at the same time as everyone else. But instead of going home, he found himself at Penny’s flat.
He hadn’t known why he had come here. It’s not as if he was expecting her to be there. But now that he was here, the vague idea to look through her things for anything connecting her to the Order entered his head. He tried her door. It was locked of course and couldn’t be opened with any simple spells, not that he expected it to be. He didn’t know what he expected. It’s not as if he could really protect her, it was a bit too late for that.
Percy leaned his head against the door, his hand resting on the knob. At that moment, he would have given anything to have Penny open the door and chide him for being so ridiculous, yell at him, tell him to shove off and that she never wanted to see him again. Anything.
“I’m sorry, Penny,” he murmured.
Just then, to his right, he heard the cracking sound of someone Apparating. He saw, with a start, that it was Bill who looked equally surprised at seeing him.
“Percy?”
“Bill,” he said, straightening up stiffly. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here on business, not that it’s any of your concern. Why are you here?” he shot back.
“I was…I mean I…” he trailed off, not sure how to explain himself.
“Look, if you need a few minutes, I can--”
“I’m fine,” he said curtly.
“You sure?” Bill asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes,” said Percy through gritted teeth. Had he been looking ill lately? That patronizing “you sure” was really starting to get under his skin. Bill looked as though he was going to further comment on his well-being but Percy decided to change the subject around before he could. “Why exactly are you here again?”
Bill narrowed his eyes. “I already told you,” he said slowly. “Stop changing the subject around. If you’re not here to make nice with that door, then why are you here?”
He stared at Bill for a few moments, taking in his expression-cold distrust mixed with curiosity and decided there wasn’t really anything worth covering up anymore. “I was trying to get into Penny’s flat. I know she has a book, a journal, with names, stats of Ministry members, and I was going to collect it and anything else connecting her to the Order.”
Bill looked genuinely surprised at hearing Percy words but before he could respond, the door to Penny’s flat opened and Tonks looked at them both in surprise. “What are you two doing out here? I thought you’d be inside already, Bill. You can Apparate into the flat now. Er, hello, Percy,” she said.
Percy nodded at her and turned back to Bill.
“In a minute, Tonks, Percy was just telling me why he was here. So you wanted to collect anything linking Penny to the Order, why? Planning to turn it over to the Minister? I expect the Scrimgeour would reward you well for that--”
“I’m not doing it for the Ministry,” Percy spat.
“Then why are you doing it?” Bill said.
“I-I don’t want her name to be dragged through the mud when this all gets out and it will,” Percy said in a clipped voice. “I just wanted to…”
“You wanted to protect her,” Tonks said. Percy stared hard at her for a moment and then turned away from them both.
“I won’t be getting in your way, then,” he said, not looking at them.
“Perce, wait,” Bill said. Percy looked over his shoulder at him. “If you want to stay, you can, but we’re taking all of Penny’s documents.”
He saw a flash of pity cross Bill’s face and something in him turned inwards at that. “You don’t have to pity me,” he replied coldly.
“Really? Because you’re a pretty pitiful case, Percy. But go if you want. I wasn’t trying to do you any favors, I was being sympathetic. It’s what you do when you’re not a cold-hearted bastard,” Bill said.
Percy started to reply but realized he had no reply for that.
“So are you coming in or not?” Bill asked.
Percy nodded and followed him inside. Tonks shut the door behind them.
***
He had been right, of course. All the events of the past few months were coming to a head. The Prophet had finally started on the story they’d been after for a while now. After releasing all the names of the wizards and witches that had died in those seemingly random Muggle events, they had connected all of them to groups outside of Ministry regulation. They then proceeded to accuse the Ministry of letting those attacks happen in order to eliminate those “vigilante” groups.
The Ministry had become a madhouse after that, having to deal with those accusations on top of actual reported Death Eater attacks. A few people had even been thrown out of the Ministry for posing as Ministry workers trying to get more details for their stories. And reporters were targeting members of the Ministry when they weren’t at work, trying to get statements from them when they could be more easily harassed. Scrimgeour briefed Ministry employees on the responses they were to give to reporters or anyone else who asked about the Ministry’s motives. Their response-the Ministry has no agenda other than to rid the wizarding world of evil, fanatical wizards and to keep the people safe.
It wasn’t long before Percy was targeted by a reporter and questioned. The reporter, a short man in olive robes and an eager look on his face, approached him as he sat in the Leaky Cauldron for a later supper one evening. He started with questions that Percy had been expecting so he gave the standard responses but as he heard himself speak, he stopped.
So far, he had done everything that he was supposed to do and tried maintain an image of order for himself and the Ministry, which was exhausting. He had done that for three years now at the Ministry and he had nothing to show for it except headaches and an empty life. He wasn’t certain that those people had been purposely “eliminated”, but he was aware now of how corrupt the Ministry had become. And he didn’t want to contribute to it anymore.
“Sorry?” he said, missing what the reporter, he had forgotten his name, just said.
“Has the Ministry become corrupt?” the reporter repeated.
“Yes,” Percy answered before he could think about it.
A flash of surprise crossed the reporter’s face and the quill he was dictating into fell flat on the table. “Really? Would you say that’s affecting the way the war’s being dealt with?”
“Yes. That’s not to say the entire Ministry is full of corruption and dishonest people; there are plenty of good people who are actually trying to do something help others.”
“What’s made you come forth with this statement? No one else from the Ministry has admitted to anything. They are all staying on the Ministry’s side,” he pressed.
Percy shrugged. “I’m just tired, I suppose. Tired of doing what’s easy, of acting as though everything is all right. I only want to be on the right side; the Ministry and these so-called vigilante groups are all on it somewhere whether they like it or not. Eventually we all have to make important choices, I’ve made some that I’ve come to regret but I’ve stuck by them, but that doesn’t mean I have to keep making them. Everyone’s been speculating about what’s been going on, no sense in letting the rumors persist when it can be cleared up.”
“Are you willing to clear up the rumors?”
“I’m not claiming to know everything. I can only say what I’ve experienced and I’m not speaking for anyone else,” he said. The reporter urged him to continue so he did. He didn’t name any specific names or mentions details about the Order but he spoke of his role in seeking out information on outside Ministry groups. It wasn’t much, and it would never match whatever the Order did but it was the truth.
Percy wasn’t brave enough to stand alone or separate himself from the institution he dedicated himself to over three years ago. But he wouldn’t allow himself to be so blind anymore.