Cordelia Lyra Malfoy had always been different from the rest of her family. Her family were blood-supremacists who tried to teach their views to their children. Cordelia never believed with their views and would be punished for it.
She never felt a...
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The portrait hole swung open to reveal the rest of the Order members who started to walk out of the tunnel. Everyone had turned to see who was coming in. Remus and Kingsley were in front. Bill and Fleur came in next. Amos, Adele, Arthur, and Molly, took up the rear, looking very angry.
"Uh-oh," mumbled Cordelia, when she saw the frightening look on their parents' faces.
Fred and George were too busy making jokes in an attempt to lighten the mood to see who had come in, but stopped and turned toward Cordelia when they heard her mumbles.
"We forgot to wake up your parents," she said in a low, shaky voice. Fred and George followed Cordelia's eyesight before landing on their parents. They knew they were in trouble when they saw the expression their mother was giving them as she stormed towards them. In all of their years of pranking and getting detentions, the twins had never seen their mother so angry.
"Oh shit," said Fred, his skin going pale. George grimaced, unable to say anything.
"House empty, no note! We had to wake up to Remus' Patronus to inform us we're about to fight. Do you lot know how scared we were to find that you were gone? Our only hope was that you were here, not captured by Death Eaters or snatchers!" Molly's raised voice filled the room, her anger directed at the group before turning her attention to the twins. "I thought you two would have learned your lesson after you pulled that stunt years ago."
"We didn't think. Sorry, mum," said Ginny, who was hiding behind her much taller brother.
"Ginny, you shouldn't even be here!" exclaimed Molly. "You need to go home now!"
"I'm staying, mum!" the younger girl yelled.
"No, you're not! You're not of age!" her mother argued.
"But I'm in Dumbledore's Army!"
"A children's gang!" Molly spoke, exasperated.
"A children's gang that fought him before," mumbled George, causing the mother to turn on the young adults.
"And you lot! What were you thinking?! How could you have brought her here! She is too young!"
Cordelia, Fred, and George hung their heads in shame as guilt filled their bodies, murmuring, "sorry."
"We tried to keep her back, Mum... Both her and Cordi, but you try arguing with those two. They're too stubborn," argued Fred.
"I appreciate your concern, Fred, like I said a million times: I'm fine," Cordelia assured her husband yet again, her voice filled with annoyance.
"You're not fine. You were sick just this morning and you haven't had an appetite in a long time. I was surprised that you didn't lose your dinner when we Apparated," her husband argued, shaking his head. Adele looked at her daughter with concern.
"You've been feeling ill?" she asked with a frown, putting a hand on her forehead to check for a fever. "Maybe you should go back with Ginny."
"I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth, pushing her adopted mother's hand away. "There will be injuries and Madam Pomfrey is going to need my help."
"I'm not going back," shouted Ginny, frustrated tears threatening to escape her eyes. "I can't sit at home while everyone I love is here. I won't know if any of you will return. It would be torture!"
"Ginny, dear. I understand this can't be easy for you, but no one under age can stay. It's too dangerous. We can't take the chance of you getting hur-" Arthur argued before being interrupted mid-word when he became distracted at seeing the portrait open up to reveal last person he had ever expected to see.
The argument was all but forgotten as Percy stood in front of the portrait. His usually pristine clothes looked wrinkled, and his hair was a mess. The family stood and stared at the young man, mouths open in shock.
"Am I late? Did I miss it?" he asked, his voice out of breath, as if he had just ran through the tunnel. He looked frantically around the room before noticing his family's tense and shocked stares. Percy stared back at his family as he stood in front of them. Nobody said a word as the tension grew.
"So... How is little Teddy?" Fleur asked Remus, feeling uncomfortable and trying to remove herself from the conversation.
"He's brilliant," said Remus, quickly joining the new conversation in an attempt to lighten the mood and give the family some privacy.
"Do you have a photo?" asked Cordelia, joining in, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.
"I was a fool!" Percy's loud outburst interrupted the new conversation and caused Cordelia to jump. She had never heard the quiet and timid man raise his voice like that before. "I was an idiot, a pompous prat, a - a -"
"A Ministry-loving, power-hungry, family-disowning moron?" Fred finished for him, his stern glare pouring into his brother's soul.
"Yes," sighed Percy. "Yes, I was all those things."
It was silent for a moment as the family shared a glance.
"Well, at least you realize it now," said Fred, stepping forward and offering his hand for his brother to shake. Percy accepted the handshake, his lips twitching into a smile, Fred's doing the same.
"Oh, my boy!" Molly sobbed, bringing her son into a bone crushing hug. Percy returned his mother's hug, his eyes meeting his father's while he was unwilling to let go of his mother.
"I'm sorry, dad," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Arthur was at a loss for words as he wiped away a tear. Rather than saying anything, he joined them in the hug. The three of them stayed in each other's arms for a long moment before pulling away.
"What made you come to your senses, Perce?" asked George as the parents and son broke apart from their hug.
Percy thought for a moment as he took his glasses off to wipe them. "Well, it started at Christmas the year before when Fred and Cordelia told me about their engagement. I realized how much I missed everyone, and that I was missing out on important events in your lives. What really drove it home was when the Ministry started rounding up Muggleborns and I saw their true nature. I know many Muggleborns who have never done anything wrong, and none of them deserve to be thrown into Azkaban. It took a while for me to get away. They've been arresting deserters left and right, but Aberforth sent word about what was happening tonight and I knew it was the right time to leave them for good and to make amends."
"Well, we do look to our prefects in times like these" teased George, imitating Percy's voice. The others let out small laughs, the tension being cleared.
Percy started to catch up with Bill, being filled in about the wedding and everything else in their lives.
"So, you're sisters-in-law now," he said with a chuckle, turning his attention to Fleur and Cordelia. Both women smiled, glad that the family was back together.
Dennis Creevy rushed into the room, causing some people to turn their attention to the young boy.
"What's going on, Dennis?" asked Neville.
"They know Harry's back. Snape wants everyone in the Great Hall immediately," he announced with a shaky breath.
"It's show time," said Kingsley as the Order watched the students file out of the room before making their way to the Great Hall. Ginny had somehow slipped past her parents, who were now distracted by Percy's presence, and joined the students.
Fred grabbed Cordelia's hand, interlacing their fingers and giving it a squeeze as they followed behind the group.
