During the last several months, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had disappeared. In just disappearing as they had the trio had left a very frightened and curious public wondering about what it was they were doing to end the ongoing war.
The Boy-Who-Lived, The Chosen One, had been in the paper more in the last year then he had in the first fifteen years of his life, with people everywhere claiming to have sighted him, claiming to know where he was.
Hermione Granger the injuries she had sustained in October had made the front page, and soon her name to appear more and more in the papers.
And because two members of the trio were famous, so was the third.
Ron Weasley had finally gotten the recognition he had always wanted, and he didn't even know it. He, Harry, and Hermione hadn't read a paper in months, because none of them wanted to know about the deaths of any loved ones. They had a job to finish, and they were so close to being done. Only one more horcrux and then Harry had to face Voldemort and destroy the last piece of his soul that was left. At this point, the trio felt like they couldn't stop, because they'd probably never be able to start again.
But there did come a point in time where Ron just wanted to sleep in his own bed, and Harry and Hermione weren't going to complain with a good, hot, and home cooked meal from Mrs. Weasley.
So in early April, the trio wearily trudged through the brush near Ron's house that they had apperated into in their exhaustion, their minds focused only on clean, dry clothes and a comfortable bed.
Mrs. Weasley welcomed them with a big hug and several large bath towels to use to dry off. When all three, even Ron, had claimed that they were too tired to eat, Mrs. Weasley led them up to separate rooms that they could use to sleep in.
The walls of his room were still orange. There was still a hole in the bedspread, and a small pile of book were still resting in the corner under an old bath robe. But Ron's room had never looked better.
Ginny was staying at Hogwarts still, the twins were in the flat above their shop, and Bill, Charlie, and Mr. Weasley were all out doing various tasks for the Order, which was now under the command of Kingsley Shacklebolt. Percy, who had made up with his family just after Christmas and had moved back in when he could no longer pay rent, and Mrs. Weasley were the only ones staying at the Burrow, and the next morning when Percy went downstairs for breakfast he was shocked to see Ron, Harry, and Hermione sitting at the kitchen table, quietly discussing something between themselves.
Ron may not have known how infamous he had become in the last several months, but Percy did. He'd read every paper that the golden trio had been featured in, and now regretted that he was on such bad terms with his brother and the savior of the wizarding world.
To Percy, this was the perfect opportunity to talk to his younger brother, fix things, and regain ground in the Ministry, where he had been demoted severely after the minister had realized that Percy and Harry hadn't been as close as he had origionally thought, and that Percy couldn't tell him anything about the Order or what Harry was up to because Percy knew no more than he did.
Briskly, Percy offered a `good morning' to his mother and then turned to Ron, Harry, and Hermione, who had stopped their conversation to look up at him.
"What's he doing here?" Ron asked, his voice harsh and quiet. Percy winced at the tone his brother had used. Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as he had thought.
"Your brother apologized just after you left, in January. He's been welcomed back by everyone else in the family, and you would've known that long before now had you accepted any of the letters we sent you." Mrs. Weasley replied tartly, more upset than angry. She had been worried constantly for her youngest son and his two best friends, and seeing them alive and eating was enough to dampen her concern to focus on her annoyance.
"Mum, you know why we couldn't let any owls near us! I mean, Voldemort could've easily followed them to us, he's tracking us as we speak." Ron replied, not moving his blue judging gaze from his older brother. "But we're sorry that we worried you. Welcome back, Percy."
"I could say the same to you, Ron." Percy replied easily, as he sat stiffly in a chair and ate some breakfast. It would be worth it to get to work late if he could get what he wanted; support for the ministry from the golden trio would be priceless. "You've been off for months."
"Yes, well, months was how long it took to do what needed to be done." Harry answered vaguely, slowly buttering a role. His sharp green eyes were making Percy feel like he was being slowly studied and torn apart, making him feel vulnerable and young. No teenager should have eyes like Harry Potter did.
Hermione Granger heaved a sigh and ran a hand through her long and tangled brown hair. When she took her head up from her hands, Percy saw that she too had haunted look to her dark brown eyes. "And we aren't anywhere near done." She murmured, her voice worn and tired.
"Maybe not, but we're closer than we were before." Harry replied, his voice gaining a commanding tone. He sat up just a little straighter in his chair, and just put his shoulders back a little farther, but the effect was startling. No longer did Percy look at the Boy-Who-Lived as a scared first year his brother had befriended, nor did he see Harry as the attention-seeking brat the papers had once made him out to be. It was only then that Percy saw how resilient and powerful Harry Potter was.
Somehow, it made him seem all the more dangerous. Now he knew he had to get Harry to back the Ministry, and the best way to do so was to get Ron's agreement. Right away, he decided that he needed to talk to Ron about the ministry's position as soon as he could get his younger brother alone.
But talking to Ron alone wasn't as easy had it had once been. Before, Ron would at least have polished his broom or raided the kitchen by himself. Now, it seemed, he Harry and Hermione did everything but sleep together, and Percy wasn't sure how to approach his brother about the matter when Ron was half asleep.
Percy finally got his chance later that night, when he was heading to bed after a very late night at work. Voldemort had attacked again, and he had been called in on his day off.
He heard hoarse whimpers and quiet cries in pain, and rushed to Ron's room to see that the door was open, and the bed was empty. He backtracked down the stairs and followed the noises until he came to the twin's room, where Harry was once again sleeping.
The scene he saw made him stop dead in the doorway. His younger brother was solemnly brushing Harry's black fringe away from the famous scar that at that moment was a sore red and badly swollen. Ron's eyes were focused on his best friend with an intensity the Percy had never seen on the normally laid-back young man's face before.
He was Ron. He was supposed to be laughing, smiling, or embarrassed. He wasn't supposed to be thinking.
Percy knew that this line of thinking was a little harsh on his part; after all, Ron had become a prefect in his fifth and sixth years, but he couldn't stop to consider this train of thought. All he could think about, at that moment, was the intense look on his brother's face.
When Ron finally noticed Percy standing by the door, he quietly rose from the edge of the bed and guided Percy out, pulling the door closed behind him. Percy, too stunned to argue, followed meekly.
"What was that?" He finally hissed as they reached Ron's room.
"What? That?" Ron replied evenly, absently picking up his room. "That's what happens whenever Voldemort does a really bad attack."
"How did you know to be there, then?" Percy asked. "The noises he was making weren't that loud."
"No, they weren't, but Voldemort's done large-scale attacks before, and that's always Harry's reaction. When you left for the ministry, all important, I knew that someone was going to need to be there for Harry tonight."
"Why you?" Percy asked, irritated. "Why not Hermione?"
Ron threw a small, empty smile Percy's way and said, "Because she did it last time." Percy gasped as Ron pulled off the old, ratty shirt he had been wearing that day and pulled on a worn cotton night shirt. His body had gained several small scars, some of the cuts fresh, a few of them years old. Ron again smiled wearily as he climbed into bed. "And if you think I'm bad, you should see Harry."
"Bu that's just it, Ron!" Percy hissed, his temper getting the better of him. The well-thought-out lecture he had originally constructed flew out the window. "If Harry would just work with the ministry, you, him and Hermione wouldn't be hurt so often. You wouldn't be in so much danger all the time, and you wouldn't have to disappear for months. You could even go back to school, and get a job. Just the adults what you know, and let us handle it!"
"No, Percy, I couldn't." Ron replied tiredly, his face weary.
"Couldn't what?"
"I couldn't return to school, because that would bring the fight there and put others in danger. I couldn't tell the adults and trust you to handle it, because I've seen how badly you lot can muck things up. And I couldn't trust Harry to anyone but myself, because no one else knows him like I do. I know what you're trying to do. You trying to make me agree to tell the ministry all about Harry and what we do, just like you tried to get Harry to tell on Dumbledore. It won't work. Harry's Dumbledore's man through and through, and I'm Harry's."
"But…but why you? Why not Hermione?" At this point, Percy wasn't asking for the ministry. He was asking because a small part of him still remembered Ron as his little brother.
Ron smiled. "Because she's Harry's woman. He needs both of us to finish what the three of us started." His eyes slowly closed, as he drifted off to sleep. "I know that this is hard for you to understand, Perce, and I'm sorry for that. You've never had a friend like Harry, and you can't understand what could be more important than school, work, and knowledge. But trust me, Percy, I know what I'm doing. I have my priorities in order." Soon after, Ron drifted off to sleep.
But Percy couldn't sleep, and tossed and turned all night, his brother's words ringing in his ears. Wasn't blood thicker than water? Ron should have stayed with his family, not gone running around with his friends.
But then, Percy had left his family for work. If friends were water, work was vinegar.
Maybe Ron knew something that Percy would never know. Maybe, there was more to Harry than just an icon, just a celebrity. Maybe…maybe, for once, his younger and thicker brother was right. Maybe some things, like friendship, were much more important.
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