Percy Weasley

Snow crunched under Percy’s hurried steps, his face pulled tight in emotions he wouldn’t allow to surface. His heart hurt, ached with every beat that sent him crashing into an oblivion of obscurity. He didn’t dare look back at the warmly lit Burrow behind him. It had been a foolish mistake to return, a fantasy of an idea that he would be welcomed back, not with open arms but as warmly as they could all manage. It had been a year and four months since Percy had last seen the Burrow, a year since he heard anything from his family apart from the casual paths crossing with his father at work. It was something he longed for, each day the desire to return and make amends growing stronger.

Loneliness was a brutal companion, something Percy once craved now a burden around his neck. It pulled him down, leveled him mentally when he was alone with his thoughts and showed no mercy. It was why Percy worked as long as he did, took on added projects and tasks. Not because he was an ass kisser, though he was, but it was to keep him busy, away from the pollution in his own mind.

“Weasley!”

Minister Scrimgeour’s voice echoed through the garden Percy was rushing to get away from. He wasn’t overly fond of the man that claimed the title of Minister of Magic and in the beginning he convinced himself that he wasn’t too terrible; he remembered Percy’s name at least. And he was apparent in his reasons for keeping Percy around, reasons that had nothing to do with his ability or work ethic. Liking him more than Crouch Snr. and Fudge did nothing to stop the sweeping anger that Scrim had blindsided him, used him in the most heinous of ways to get to Potter alone.

“Damnit Percy, slow down will ya!”

His vision blurred, not from emotion but the mashed parsnips Ginny and the twins had hurled at him after he spoke briefly with his mother, came out to explain the genuine reason he was at the Burrow. Percy stopped as he drew in bitter air that matched the blood pounding through the normally well composed ginger. There was a tremble in his arms as he forced himself to stop moving, and carefully Percy turned. Through his smeared glasses he could make out the wide-eyed stare he received at the sight of him covered in food.

“Bloody hell,” Scrim breathed with pity.

“I just couldn’t resist dropping in to see them - I’d been dying to catch up?” His words were laced with venom, spouting the excuses Scrim gave his family to their sudden appearance. He knew he was being used to get to Potter, that he was easiest excuse to show up at the Burrow but Percy never imagined being tossed to a pack of wolves and left there. He assumed it would be cut and dry, a quick chance for him to explain himself on his own terms to his family while the Minister spoke with Harry.

“None of this went according to plan,” Scrim began. “I didn’t get anything useful from Mister Potter and you . . . well.”

Percy knew what he was getting at, didn’t need him to mention the mess that covered him head to toe. It hurt in ways Percy never thought could, believing he experienced it all during his trial and then again when he left the Burrow. But it kept piling on, kept getting worse with every rejection from his family. Now he’d been driven out from the place he considered home before he had the chance to explain or apologize and it weakened his resolve.

“I’m sorry, if I had known your family was -”

“You’d what?” Percy snapped, his voice carrying through the surrounding openness. He rarely raised his voice to anyone, it took a special kind of fracture in him to make him succumb to it. Everyone knew of his estrangement from his family, common knowledge that Scrim had easy access too. There was no excuse for his manipulation, the way he saw the loneliness in Percy and preyed upon it. “You wouldn’t have used me as a pawn to get to Harry if you knew my family was going to throw food at me until I left?”

Scrim paused, realizing Percy caught him in his own game. “If you knew I was using you, why’d you agree to this? From my understanding Mister Weasley, you left your family on a rather bitter note. Surely you didn’t expect a happy reunion.”

Percy’s eyes narrowed dangerously, his head tilted slightly. Never in his life had Percy felt compelled to punch anyone in the face, let alone the Minister of Magic, until now. “You’re an absolute f***wit,” he snarled under his breath. He knew nothing of Percy’s situation, had no concept of why he left or how difficult it was let alone why he kept his distance all this time. No one did. Everyone assumed it was a vanity project, a sweet spin on the truth to make him a villain.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Scrim challenged, asserting his authority.

“We’re all screwed. You’re no different from Fudge.” Percy removed his glasses to clean them, his heart raging in his chest to the poisonous emotion. The things he was saying, just the mere way he spoke to Scrim was grounds for termination but Percy didn’t care. He had leverage, knew too much; secrets of Fudge and now the current administration to be easily let go without fear of it hitting the front page of the Prophet. “Always looking for a scapegoat, thinking your these brilliant master manipulators when even a first year at Hogwarts could see through you. You will make us lose the war playing your stupid little games.”

The look on the Minister’s face was hard to place, the blurred image of him just feet away giving Percy a headache. “You knew Fudge was using you and you still . . .”

Percy’s brows lifted in a dare for Scrim to finish the sentence. He was tired of being condemned for his decision, judged by outside eyes. In that moment, Percy felt so much like his brother’s, the condescending expression on his face at news he already knew. “What do you mean Fudge was using me?”

“You don’t think he brought on someone who just narrowly escaped his trial on as junior assistant because of your record, did you?”

Percy rolled his eyes heavily, the parsnips cleared from his glasses, no smears remaining as he placed them back in his face. He either didn’t lay the sarcasm on heavy enough or lacked the skills his brothers had in making it both obvious and amusing.“I was being sarcastic. And yes, I chose a job I was clearly being used in over my family. Someone had to keep connections in the Ministry if my father refused too. He couldn’t comprehend that he could maintain good standing in the Ministry and quietly support Harry at the same time. Instead, he put targets on my mum’s and siblings backs. So while Fudge thought he had me under his thumb I was paying attention to everything in case they were ever in danger from the very facility that was supposed to protect them.”

It was the first time Percy admitted to what he was doing behind the scenes, anger blowing his cover to the wrong person and the only protection his family had left was now in jeopardy. Still, there was no remorse on his face, nothing that showed he regretted any of his actions from the past. Percy would do it all again if it meant his family was safe.

Scrim’s head bowed as he took in everything that was thrown at him, a small understanding to the sacrifices Percy had made to keep those he loved safe. “So you kept your distance to maintain the persona you weren’t aligned with them or their beliefs. Very noble of you.” Percy eyed him, unsure if he was now facing sarcasm of his own. “So why did you agree to this, why come here and risk everything?”

“Because I wanted to see my bloody family! I wanted to test the waters and see if there was any hope they would forgive me.” But they wouldn’t and he knew that now. Mashed parsnips fell from his suit and into the snow just outside the Burrow. He could see his mother in the kitchen window, staring out at them as Percy fought not to breakdown just yards away. Voldemort and his followers were killing people faster than the Ministry could deal with, targeting people in the Ministry like Percy who had knowledge and he was left to fight it alone.

“I only came with you - even agreed to bringing you here for purely selfish reasons; to see them. I just wanted to go home and see all of my family at Christmas, to apologize for how I left and to let them know I’ve been looking out for them, trying to protect them.” Percy sniffed, a mixture between his admission and the cold making his nose run. “But I didn’t get that far because you threw me under the bus immediately with your stupid comments when we arrived. You made them hate me even more.”

Scrim crossed over to him, his free hand coming down roughly on Percy’s shoulder before he removed it to shake off the parsnips that clung to him. “That was never my intention with this. I hoped it would help resolve some family issues while I obtained what I needed from Potter. Truly, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t lie, I’m just collateral damage to you.” Percy once would have accepted the apology, but the damage had been done, his only chance to fix things not just irreparable but gone. Percy’s head shook as he forced himself to look away from the Burrow. “I can’t stay here any longer with my mum watching. Let's go.”