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The Other Weasley	By : absumoaevum Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 4156 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I profit from Harry Potter. I do not own nor do I profit from any of the characters herein. Everything but the plot of this fanfic is property of J.K. Rowling.

Chapter List
- 1-Dreading New
- 1
The Other Weasley

Chapter 1: Dreading New

1 August, 1997

The view from Percy Wealsey's kitchen window was not a good one. As he sipped his tea that morning – and indeed, every morning – it was always the same: the marble-white wall of Gringott's Wizarding Bank standing solidly feet away from his kitchen sink seemed to stare back at him with glaring disapproval.

Today, he decided, he deserved it.

Besides, he hadn't taken up residence in Diagon Alley, nor this flat in particular, for the view. And it certainly hadn't been for the spacious accommodations. Percy hardly spent any time in the place, normally. His work hours wouldn't allow for it. So, this flat, located atop a tiny building and wedged between Gringott's and Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, was purely utilitarian.

He leaned with his back against the counter space between the sink and the stove, thinking vaguely as he did every morning that he ought to get some curtains for the wretched kitchen window. Bleary-eyed, he surveyed his living room. It was Spartan, nearly bare except for the neatly organized bookshelves and single, squat armchair under another window, this time with a slightly less depressing view overlooking the rooftops and Muggle London beyond.

Honestly, he was scarcely ever at his flat. He wondered why it even mattered to him that it didn't feel like a home. And why was he thinking of home, anyway? It was stupid to dwell on such sentimental things.

Percy sighed and poured the remainder of his tea into the sink. He needed to get changed for work. As his former boss was fond of saying, "Progress waits for no man." He disappeared into the bedroom, leaving his empty mug on the counter next to an invitation trimmed in gold.

You are warmly invited to celebrate the union of

William Arthur Weasley

and

Fleur Isabelle Delacour

On Friday, August the 1st, at Three O'clock in the Afternoon

The Burrow

Twenty minutes later, Percy arrived at the Ministry of Magic in a blaze of green flames. He ducked out of the fireplace and strode across the Atrium, headed from the lifts. Though there were many people about, nobody greeted him. In fact, no one so much as glanced in his direction until he reached Level One, Minister for Magic and Support Staff, where he passed a group of workmen gathered near the office door. A few of them nodded at him, grinning, and one even croaked "Mornin'" in a rather sinister way. Percy returned a tiny smile and entered the office. It was, after all, a little early for cheerful workmen.

Percy spent his work days in the room preceding the Office of the Minister for Magic – more of a lobby, really. His job was to run interference for the Minister, to make sure only the most pressing items disturbed Scrimgeour during this difficult time. And to do whatever else the Minister deemed necessary, which may or may not include getting tea from the little café downstairs in the employee lounge.

The lobby was a large rectangular room with the hall door at one end, several smaller desks on either side for advisors and secretaries, and one large desk – his desk – between the world and the Minister's office door. It was to this desk that he now advanced, thinking pointedly of the state of his in-tray. And it was on this desk that a young woman sat, her arms were crossed over her ruffled magenta blouse, her lips pursed into one thin pink line. She looked like she'd been waiting for him to show up. That was never a good sign.

"What are you doing here, Weasley?" said the young woman. Percy couldn't ignore her, exactly, because she was the only other person there, but he avoided her narrowed eyes as he moved calmly to his chair and sat down. She twisted around where she sat to glare at him. He opted not to look at her. Instead, he reached for the papers in his bulging in-tray. She slapped his hand away.

He took a deep breath and said without looking up, "I work here, Audrey. Now, go file something, why don't you?"

She didn't move, but continued to bare down on him furiously. "I gave you the day off!"

Of course she did. As the Junior Undersecretary to the Minister and de facto office manager, it was Audrey's privilege to force vacation time on anyone she chose. Still, he hadn't asked for her to interfere. Percy scowled.

"I didn't ask for—"

She waved away his protestations with an annoyed flick of her hand. "You didn't have to ask!" she said. "It's your brother's wedding today, Percy Weasley! You go home this instant, throw on some dress robes, for Merlin's sake style your hair, and go to that wedding!"

"How did you know about Bill's wedding?" He certainly hadn't told her, and Bill worked at Gringott's, so it wouldn't exactly be office gossip.

Audrey smiled. "It was in the Daily Prophet. They have wedding announcements every Friday."

"Lovely," said Percy, glowering at his ink bottle. Audrey would read the wedding announcements. He just wanted her to go away so that this day could begin so it would end. Was that too much to ask? The last thing he needed was Audrey meddling in his personal life any more than she already had done.

"Yes, isn't it?" Audrey replied. He knew she thought it was sweet, that it would be thoughtful to give him the day off for his brother's wedding, but he didn't have to tell her how impossible it would be for him to attend. Everyone at the Ministry knew about Percy's estrangement from his family.

"Audrey—"

"Stuff it, Weasley. I don't want to hear another word from you. Get up!" she said, and when he didn't oblige, she added, "Get up or I'll hex you into jelly, scrape you into a jam jar, and take you there myself!"

Percy really did stand up then. He grabbed a folder at random from his in-box and said, "Leave it, Audrey! I am—"

But what he was Audrey never heard. There was shouting from out in the hallway then several green and purple blasts of light from under the door. Instinctively, both Percy and Audrey drew their wands.

Silence. Audrey slid off of his desk as Percy slipped the folder back onto it. They looked at each other.

"The Minister?" Percy mouthed.

"In his office," said Audrey. Her voice was tremulous.

Percy gestured back with a tilt of his head. If they could get to the closed door behind them and warn the Minister, maybe Scrimgeour could escape whatever danger was surely coming. Percy started backing toward the door, but he kept his eye on the hall entrance ahead. Audrey mimicked him, rounding the corner of his desk. He saw the goosebumps on the back of her neck.

Whatever fear he felt, he knew the first priority had to be to protect the Minister. He had almost reached the door when the group of workmen he had passed in the hallway blasted through the hall door into the office. Splinters of wood shot in every direction.

"Where is he?" roared a thick-set man with shaggy dark hair. He brandished his wand where a whip-like stream of red light illuminated several dark figures as it coiled through the air, lashing out at filing cabinets and office chairs and reducing them to crumpled heaps.

A gangly man pointed toward Percy and Audrey. "Over there!"

"Guard the door!" said another. Three men started forward through the wrecked room.

Percy panicked. "Get down!" Audrey obeyed immediately, ducking behind the desk as Percy cast a shield charm. It expanded at the center of the room, fragments of wall and door and office equipment pinging off of the invisible force. Dust billowed, filling the air with grayish mist.

The Minister's office door flew open behind Percy and Scrimgeour's gruff voice made him jump. "What in the name of—"

"Minister, run!" Percy shouted over his shoulder. Then it came to him, unbidden, and he knew he was right. "Death Eaters!" Percy's heart hammered against his ribs. They were being invaded. This was a coup. He had to save the Minister. But he was frozen, rooted to the spot, his wand still outstretched, still casting the shield charm.

"Step aside, boy! Quick!" Scrimgeour bellowed, shunting Percy out of the way and drawing his own wand. Percy's shield charm disappeared as he dove behind the desk with Audrey. There were more yells from the Death Eaters and answering spells from Scrimgeour.

Percy caught a glimpse of Audrey's face streaked with tears, her blue eyes wild and boring into his. For a moment, all of his focus centered on her.

"It's ok, it's ok," he said, trying to soothe her, but she just shook her head and shoved him in the shoulder.

"The Minister!" Audrey's voice was fierce, sharp with desperation, and Percy became aware again of the bursts of blinding colored light. Flashes of green, of red and white, blazed weirdly in the dusty room. Scrimgeour was barking spells and thrashing his wand through the air, single-handedly holding off the attack. Audrey stood up, pointing her wand toward their attackers and shouted, "Impedimenta!"

Percy hesitated for only a second longer before scrambling to his feet. A jet of green light whizzed by his left shoulder. He jerked back, firing spells at random in the direction of the Death Eaters, not knowing if they hit anyone or even how many of them there were. "Incarceratus! Protego!"

Beside him, Audrey fell to the floor. Some pulsing orange light was spreading from her chest to her arms and legs. She twitched and coughed on the ground, her gaze distant with pain. Percy wanted to help her – do anything – but another spell skimmed his cheek, scorching the skin there.

Scrimgeour grabbed the front of his robes as blood gushed over his jaw, into his mouth. The Minister was bleeding, too. The sleeve of his shirt was soaked in shockingly bright crimson. "Weasley! Take her and get out of here!"

"Minister—" Something hit Percy like a ton of bricks. The desk. It bowled them both over as it flew through the air, crashing into the door behind them.

Percy was flat on his back. More debris. More shouting. A man stood over him, pointed his wand at him. Then darkness.

Percy came to with every inch of his body throbbing dully. He was still in the lobby room, though it didn't look much like an office space anymore. Every object in the room was broken and a thin coating of dust had settled over everything. A heavy weight on his shoulder turned out to be Audrey's head, which was lolling there lifelessly. She was bound and gagged, her skirt ripped and her blouse disheveled. Percy could see handprints, both in blood and bruised into her skin, on her arms and legs. He tried to move, only to find that he was also bound with thick cords. The strip of fabric cutting into the corners of his mouth rubbed painfully in the wound on his cheek.

How long had it been? What was going on? Where was everyone? Percy's mind reeled. He stared helplessly around the room for some means to free himself. Shifting his shoulder a little, he tried to nudge Audrey awake, but her head just slid down his chest into his lap.

There were two people standing over a prostrate figure who could only be the Minister at the center of the room. One of them, a tall, gangly man with a pock-marked face and greasy, shoulder-length gray hair, pointed his wand at Scrimgeour. A jet of light hit him in the chest, and Scrimgeour gave a grunt of pain. His muscles tensed so tightly that it looked like they may snap his bones, but he did not cry out.

"Oi, looks like the ginger's awake!" The man who had spoken started toward Percy. His beady brown eyes squinted at him maliciously, a leer made jagged with scars twisting his features. "What you want to bet he's a Weasley?"

"Leave them," said the other man, the gangly one, from beside Scrimgeour. "We'll deal with them later."

"Don't hurt them!" Scrimgeour said, coughing. "It was me. It was all me. I forced them to aid me in my escape."

"Not much of an escape, was it, though?" said the gangly man.

The burly man with the twisted face had returned to Scrimgeour' side. He leaned low over the Minister, sneering down at him in delight. "Recognize me, Scrimgeour? It's been a long time."

"Antonin Dolohov," said the Minister. He coughed again, and this time blood gurgled up over his lips and ran in scarlet lines down his cheek. With a great heave of effort, Scrimgeour spat in Dolohov's face.

The gangly Death Eater laughed as Dolohov stood up, wiping bloody spit from the crook of his nose. He kicked Scrimgeour hard in the gut and Percy thought the Minister's face contorted in agony, but a moment later he realized it was laughter. Laughter.

Just then, two men entered the room through the door, or rather, where the door had been. One Percy recognized immediately as Pius Thicknesse, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The other, wearing an unpleasant smile and his blond hair tied back, Percy didn't know.

"What are these two doing here?" asked the blond man, glaring over at Percy and the still-unconscious Audrey.

"They tried to stop us, Yaxley," said Dolohov, now wiping his bloodied hand on his workmen's uniform. "Scrimgeour says he made 'em do it."

"And did he?" said Yaxley brusquely, turning to Percy and staring at him with cold eyes. He noticed Percy's gag and rolled his eyes. With a flick of his wand, the fabric digging into Percy's mouth disappeared.

Percy looked at Scrimgeour lying on the floor, bloody and defeated, still defiant till the very end, still trying to protect them. Their eyes met.

"Yes," he said with more resolution than he felt. "Yes. I've only just recovered." Scrimgeour closed his yellowish eyes and turned away from Percy. When he reopened them, it was with all of his focus on Yaxley.

"So," said the Minister. "Now you've got me. What are you going to do with me?" His words were punctuated by little coughs. More blood spilled over the edge of his lips.

There was a little pause as Yaxley peered shrewdly down at Scrimgeour, then he said, "What did you do to him?"

"Desk," said the gangly man, gesturing to Percy's destroyed desk sticking halfway out of the wall.

Yaxley nodded. "Of course. Thicknesse, why don't you tidy up a bit?" Dolohov seemed to find this funny. He guffawed into his sleeve as Thicknesse swept his wand from his robes and began waving it around the room with a flourish.

Why wasn't he speaking? Was Thicknesse with the Death Eaters after all? Percy's mind was racing with questions, and in his lap, Audrey had begun to stir. He willed her to stay quiet long enough for him to figure a way out of this mess.

Meanwhile, Yaxley had joined Dolohov and the gangly man at the Minister's side. "Where is Harry Potter?" he asked, as if hoping if he sprung the question on Scrimgeour that he would give a knee-jerk reply.

But the Minister looked up at Yaxley with cool indifference. "I have no idea."

"I have ways of forcing the truth out of you, Minister," said Yaxley.

"And you'll find you've wasted your time," said Scrimgeour, resting his head on the plush carpet.

A shadow passed over Yaxley's face. "Rookwood!"

The gangly man – Rookwood – jumped at the sound of his name, then noticed Yaxley's outstretched hand. He rummaged around in his pockets for a moment, then produced a little vile of colorless liquid and placed it in Yaxley's hand, which Yaxley in turn showed to Scrimgeour.

Scrimgeour only laughed again, a gargling sound that sent chills down Percy's spine. Audrey murmured indistinctly from his lap. Percy could see the muscles of her neck tensing. Don't wake up, he thought. Please don't wake up.

Around him, the room was righting itself under Thicknesse's ministrations. Chairs were tucking themselves under desks and in-trays were restocked with notes and folders. Ink bottles whose contents had been splattered against cracked walls refilled and the walls settled again into smooth expanses of beige. It was all so surreal, sitting bound, watching the Minister for Magic tortured and dying as a demolished room put itself back in order. And he'd absolved himself of all responsibility for this travesty. It didn't feel right. But what else could he do?

A tiny groan escaped Audrey's throat, muffled against his robes. Across the room, Yaxley straddled Scrimgeour and gripped his jaw, forcing it open, with one hand while he poured the entire vial of Veritaserum into his mouth. The Minister hacked and struggled. More blood dribbled from his mouth.

"Now," said Yaxley, his voice barely above a whisper, "Where is Harry Potter?"

Scrimgeour's choking rasp sounded nothing like him. "I… don't… know."

Yaxley looked disappointed. Scrimgeour had closed his eyes. He was gasping now. His fingers twitched where they lay limply at his side. "Wake up, old man. Wake up!"

Scrimgeour did not wake. Yaxley shook him by his jaw, but the Minister hung lifeless in his grasp. His head hit the ground with a dull thud, his face turned toward where Percy sat helpless. The ghost of his last laugh still lingered in his lips.

Percy turned away from the grizzly scene. He looked at the room, now completely reassembled, his vision blurred and warped by tears. It was so peaceful-looking, so familiar and safe, totally silent now in the aftermath of death. His desk was perfectly in order, down to the neat row of quills.

There were no shouts from the hall behind the newly-restored door, no flashes of green light. Where was the revolt? If this was a coup, why was the entire Ministry not battling, ripping itself open from within?

"Quiet, isn't it?" said Yaxley, his voice razor sharp in the silence. He stepped over Scrimgeour's body toward where Percy sat slumped against the wall, cracking his neck as he walked. Kneeling in front of Percy, Yaxley pointed his wand directly at his chest.

This is it, thought Percy. He's going to kill me.

"Defendo." The ropes binding Percy fell away. "Now, don't you have some work you should be doing for your Minister here?" Yaxley nodded at Thicknesse who was staring blankly at the Minister's office door. His breath was foul, sickening sweet, like rotten fruit. Percy could feel himself start to gag and he tried to suppress the urge. Yaxley smiled nastily. "He'll be needing some tea."

Percy didn't move. It couldn't be true. This Yaxley person couldn't actually expect him to carry on with his work day as if he hadn't just seen Scrimgeour murdered, as if nothing at all had happened.

In front of him, Yaxley cocked an eyebrow. "Make it snappy." He stood up and offered his wand-free hand to Percy. Slowly, his whole body shaking with dread and disgust, Percy took it. Yaxley pulled him to his feet. Audrey lay of the floor, her torso bent strangely, her arms still tied tightly to her sides.

"Dolohov, wake her up, would you?" The man with the scared and twisted face nodded and moved to Audrey as Yaxley led Percy away, past Scrimgeour's body, to the hall door. "Tea, two sugars. Run along now. When you get back, everything will be just fine." He slapped Percy on the shoulder in a fatherly sort of way and handed him a handkerchief. "For your face," he explained.

Percy felt dazed. Tea. Two sugars. Scrimgeour had taken his with a spoonful of honey. Two sugars. He was going to faint. No. He forced himself to stand up straight. He wiped his cheek with the handkerchief. It came away bloody. He grasped the doorknob with trembling fingers and turned it.

"Oh, and mind you come straight back, Mr. Weasley," said Yaxley. "Don't make me come find you."

When Percy returned with the tea, Scrimgeour's body was gone. Audrey was sitting at her desk, the one nearest Percy's on the right-hand side, looking bemused but unharmed. The other desks were still empty, but it was early. Most support staff didn't bother coming in until after lunch anyway. Everything was exactly as it had been every other day he'd come into the office.

"I gave you the day off!" said Audrey vaguely.

Percy stared at her. "W-what?"

"I gave you the day off for your brother's wedding. I wanted you to go…" Her voice trailed off.

She had obviously been confunded. He decided to ignore her, choosing instead to ruminate on the complete normalcy of the world outside of the hall door as he approached the Minister's office. Employees had bustled around him in the lounge without even a whisper of anything amiss. The workmen were gone, but they'd left a sign outside of the Office of the Minister for Magic:

Undergoing Remodeling

We Apologize for the Noise!

That was one way of putting it.

Percy reached the Minister's office door. The tea was scalding in his hand, but he held it tight. It felt right that he should be in pain. Someone should be. Scrimgeour was dead. The Ministry had fallen into the hands of Death Eaters.

He knocked.

"Enter," said Thicknesse. Percy let himself in.

Yaxley was still there, standing next to Thicknesse behind the huge desk that was the focal point of the room. Sunlight streamed in through open curtains, and though Percy knew it wasn't real sunlight – they were, after all, underground – he couldn't help but think that a stormy, moonless night would have been more appropriate.

"Your tea," he said, then added, "sir."

"Thank you," said Thicknesse. His voice lacked any emotion, any tone at all. Percy decided he was under the Imperius Curse, probably cast by the blond man beside him.

Percy set the tea on a coaster on the desk and turned to leave.

"Mr. Weasley," called Yaxley. Percy stopped. He made himself face the two men opposite him. "We'll be needing you to stay late tonight. So much to do, what with a new Minister. Very sad about Minister Scrimgeour, dying suddenly like that, and right here in his office and all." Yaxley looked bored. "We're just so glad Thicknesse was able to step in so seamlessly. Aren't we, Mr. Weasley?"

Percy didn't want to die, so he said, "Yes." He tried to put all of his hatred and revulsion into that word.

"Good," Yaxley said. "Oh, and I have your wand here." He produced it from his robes and held it out to Percy.

Numbly, Percy crossed to the desk and took his wand. He pocketed it without a "thank you," since they had taken it from him after knocking him unconscious with his own desk.

Thicknesse looked at him with empty, imperious eyes. "You may go."

Percy went. Back out in the office lobby, he sat down in his chair and stared at his in-tray. The first thing on the stack was a letter addressed to "The Minster for Magic". He rested his elbows on the desk and held his head in his hands. His cheek stung and his body ached. The Minister was dead. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had taken control of the Ministry at last. His parents had been right all along. His parents! The wedding!

A shadow passed over Percy and he jerked his head up, but it was only Audrey.

"You have the day off, Weasley," she said again, looking so thoroughly confused…

Percy's heart broke. He returned his head to his hands so she would not see the tears fall. "Not anymore."
- 1
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The Other Weasley