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Finding Courage on the Battlefield
Percy was a coward. He knew that. This time he was too cowardly to stay with his family and watch his parents and his brothers and sister grieve the loss of Fred.
Oh, Fred.
He had wasted so much time doing what he thought was right, time wasted with his family. His family that had opened their arms when he finally came to his senses and saw the error of his ways. And now he would never get that time back with his little brother, who died today fighting for the good side.
So he offered to join the party to search for survivors on the battlefield. He pushed George and Ron back towards their mother when they immediately stood to offer their support, told them to take care of her. He shook his father's hand, but avoided eye contact and walked away quickly as Ginny broke down again with Bill and Charlie.
He pushed his own grief down and focused on his job. He looked out over the battlefield filled with debris and bodies. There had to be survivors out there, survivors that still had a chance to be saved, survivors that needed him.
He walked forward and put out a few small fires with a flick of his wand. They were given instructions; red sparks for the deceased, green for alive, black for death eaters; dead or alive, it didn’t matter. The Aurors would handle them.
He heard a spark boom overhead and looked up to see red. More deceased.
There had to be survivors out here.
He approached a figure donned in all black, a white mask upon their face. He looked away and drew his wand to shoot black sparks into the sky, walking quickly away in case they were still alive.
Without watching where he was going he tripped over another body on the ground and landed on his side with a thud. The body barely moved but a small whimper escaped their lips and he moved to his knees to get a closer look. The body was covered in dirt and there was drying blood on their leg where a large gash ripped into their skin but he could make out the Slytherin crest on the sleeve of their jumper.
His eyes traveled up to the face of a young girl, a few years younger than his now-deceased brother, and saw tears running from the corners of her eyes. He reached out and grasped her shoulder to turn her onto her back and she flinched, reaching blindly for her wand. He panicked and kicked it out of her grasp.
“It’s over,” he said firmly.
Her eyes sprang open and met his, terror written all over her face.
“Did he win?” She rasped out.
“No, your precious dark lord didn’t win,” he growled.
She closed her eyes tight and in the next instant, she had catapulted herself into his lap, her arms coming around his neck in a tight embrace.
He froze, scared that she was going to strangle him. He tried to scramble out of her grasp when she started shaking and mumbling incoherently.
“Oh thank Merlin!” She sobbed into his ear. “I was so terrified, I didn’t actually want Potter to give himself up but I was so terrified he was going to kill us all.”
She pulled back and looked him in the eyes again, snot running down her muddy face. “Did Potter really win?”
Percy shook his head, yes, and she grasped him even tighter. “Please, I didn’t mean it! I was just a coward, I wasn’t going to give him up, I promise! Don’t send me to Azkaban, I’ll never survive there and I never gave my allegiance to him, I swear it!”
Percy couldn’t bring himself to send up black sparks. He knew her shame of being a coward. He pointed his wand towards the sky and whispered verdillious, the green sparks exploding above them.
He dropped his wand and wrapped his arms around her back, pulled her closer, and ran his hand through her dirty hair.
“It’s ok, you’re safe. I’ve got you.”
She sobbed harder in his arm, her anguished cries echoing across the battlefield.
He rocked her in his lap and shushed her as her cries finally subsided. She pulled back and wiped her eyes and nose on her sleeve.
“I’m sorry, I got your shirt all wet.” She rolled off his lap onto the ground and grabbed her wand, tucking it into her pocket.
She glanced up at him as he stood, embarrassed. “You look familiar,” she said as he offered his hand to help her up.
He smiled briefly, “Percy Weasley, Miss Parkinson.”
She grasped his hand and stood up, not letting it go.
“Thank you, Percy.”
He placed his free arm around her back and guided her back towards the castle. She hobbled next to him, not putting much weight on her injured leg.
“How do you know who I am?” She asked meekly as they slowly made their way through the debris.
“I was head boy, I knew everybody.” He stated.
She nodded her head and fell silent. As they drew nearer their destination she suddenly stopped. “Will they forgive me?”
“I’ve recently come to know true remorse myself. Own your mistake, apologize, and ask for forgiveness. It may take time but if I know anything about these people, this family, they will accept you.”
She gripped his hand tighter and took a deep breath.
“Will you come with me?”
Percy took a deep breath of his own, ready to face what was awaiting him back in the great hall.
“We will do it together.”