Where's Percy?
Molly Weasley couldn't cry anymore. It felt like her tears were dried up. She looked at Fred, her Fred who was now lying peacefully. Somewhere deep down, she hoped that he would suddenly wake up and tell her all this was a joke.
But, she knew that it was not going to happen. He was gone, gone forever. George was hard to handle. He was crying continuously, screaming and breaking things. They had to give a Sleeping Drought so that he could fall asleep.
Ginny wasn't feeling good either she held tightly to The Boy Who Lived and occasionally cried on his shoulders.
Surprisingly, it was Ron who was quiet. Molly thought it was his coping mechanism. He hadn't talked to anyone since that incident just like his father,Arthur.
Charlie and Bill didn't know how to feel. Bill had Fleur for support and Charlie just wanted this bad dream to end.
Hermione being herself was going to places making sure everyone was alright.
Arthur stood up and said,"We need to discuss about the funeral."
"No," a voice said. Everyone looked at the owner and found it was Ron."We can't do this without George. George.. he would want to be included."
Charlie was skeptical,"I don't think he is in the right state of mind."
This time,Ron shouted,"He didn't get to see him at his last moments! At least, he should have the right to contribute in this funeral."
Right, Molly thought. George wasn't with Fred at that time. It was.. it was Percy.
She said almost like a whisper,"Percy.. Where's he?"
This seemed to remind everyone about the missing red-head, the one that was disowned.
Arthur panicked,"Did something happened to him too?"
Almost everyone become visibly worried. Bill tried to maintain his composure but he couldn't deny that he was worried too.
Harry assured them that Percy was fine. He was there after the war. But, the question was, "Where's Percy?"
The funeral took place 3 days later.
Everyone who was close to Fred had decided to attend it. Those were alive at least, tried to attend it. Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet obviously attended the funeral. Even, some strangers who the Weasleys didn't know personally attended too.
It was hard for everyone to control their emotions particularly for George. Ron, Bill and Harry managed to bring him to the funeral. However, George couldn't take it anymore when others started to give their speech.
He didn't understand why they were giving speech. It was Fred's funeral not a bloody damn program. When it was the time for the 4th speaker, George almost jumped from his seat,"Stop with all these nonsense! None of you care about him."
As the oldest brother,Bill felt responsible for George's action. He tried to make George sit down with Ron's help. They held his shoulders pulling him backwards. But, George was a force to reckon with. Bill tightened his grip on him and Ron made him drink a sleeping drought. George soon drifted to sleep.
The Weasleys apologised to the guests. None of them were offended because they knew George was suffering. After all, he had lost a part of himself. Him and Fred were almost the same person.
George didn't get down from his room for dinner that day. The Weasleys were eating their food silently.
Hermione decided to break the silence,"Today's event went well." Ron with an irritated face replied,"Is that your definition for well?"
Ginny snapped at her brother,"Do not talk to 'mione like that RONALD!"
Molly shaked her head in disappointment. She couldn't tolerate this argument anymore. She was so done with all of these.
Not looking up from his food,Arthur asked,"Did Percy come today?"
This threw all the Weasleys including Harry and Hermione into deep thoughts. None of them had seen Percy today. Charlie was in Romania when the fight between Percy and his father happened. Till this date, he couldn't understand what exactly happened that threw his brother off the railings.
Since childhood, Percy was a bit sensitive. He couldn't take the twin's jokes all. That doesn't mean the twins jokes were fine all the time. Sometimes, they did cross the limit, especially when it came to Percy.
Percy was ambitious too. He always wanted to be the best. He always wanted to be noticed. Charlie didn't get the chance to talk to his brother properly.
Percy had returned during the war. Charlie would remember how Percy fought bravely. The memory was a bit blur because of the chaos. But, he realised his brother's work as a Gryffindor.
When Percy first attended Hogwarts,Charlie was skeptical whether he was really a Gryffindor. As years went by, he was sure that the sorting hat made a mistake while sorting Percy. But, Percy's presence in the war proved that Percy was a Gryffindor.
Despite all their differences, despite Arthur disowning Percy, Charlie had expected him to attend Fred's funeral. His absence seemed to deeply hurt everyone.
Ron slammed his plate on the table,"Blimey! That guy is still acting like a Prat. He still thinks highly of himself. After all this time, I thought he finally realised his mistake."
Ginny sighed,"I can't believe he didn't attend the funeral. That so called Perfect Prefect Percy."
Harry tried to make them calm,"Maybe we didn't see them?"
Bill snapped,"We are not bloody blind."
Fleur put a hand on her husband's shoulder."Calm down, 'Ze might 'zave attended. 'E may 'zave missed 'zim."
Molly started crying suddenly.
Arthur shouted at him children,"Look at what you have done! All of you CALM DOWN!"
Everyone went to console their mother.
After dinner, Charlie went to talk with Bill. "Bill, we need to talk in private." Fleur nodded, signing her husband to go.
Bill and Charlie went outside to talk. Charlie took a deep breath,"Please, Bill. Don't react. We need to find Percy. We need to check whether he's alright or not."
Bill calmly replied,"After everything he has done, he finally had an opportunity to make things right. Yet, he didn't use it. I don't think we wants to do anything with us."
"Please, Bill. Once just once. We know how Percy is. He may be a prat, he may be a stick in the mud. But, he isn't heartless to miss his OWN BROTHER'S FUNERAL!" Charlie pleaded.
Bill looked softly at his younger brother. Once again, he couldn't deny his younger brother's request. It was time to find out, "Where's Percy?"