Annabeth Chase and Things Are Getting Intense

Chapter Twenty Three

Everyone at the table froze, and their heads all swiveled to look out the window. Ginny even stood up to get a better view of it. Annabeth narrowed her eyes as she watched Percy Weasley striding across the lawn and towards the front door. But he wasn't alone.

"Arthur, he's—he's with the Minister!"

And sure enough, that was Rufus Scrimgeour, the new Minister of Magic, walking next to Percy Weasley. The man had grizzly gray hair that grew wildly, giving it the appearance of a lion's mane, and he walked with a slight limp. He posed a very different figure than Fudge had, with his bowler hat and crisp suits.

No one was saying anything. They were all in some kind of shock, apparently. Before anyone would move, the back door was flung open and there stood Percy W., with the Minister of Magic at his side.

He looked around the kitchen before saying stiffly, "Merry Christmas, Mother."

"Oh, Percy!" Mrs. Weasley sobbed before throwing herself into her son's arms.

Scrimgeour just stood in the doorway, leaning on his cane as he watched the somewhat one-sided reunion.

"You must forgive this intrusion," he said when Mrs. Weasley had calmed down. "Percy and I were in the vicinity—working, you know—and he couldn't resist dropping in and seeing you all."

Watching Percy W., Annabeth wasn't sure if that was true. He stood there awkwardly, looking around at the family with an air of seriousness before he started avoiding all their gazes. He stood stick straight and everything about his posture said that he didn't want to be there at all.

Which meant that the Minister had his own reasons for being here. And Annabeth had a sneaking suspicion as to what those reasons were.

Mr. Weasley, Fred, and George were staring at Percy with stony faces. They didn't forgive him, and Annabeth didn't see any reason for them to.

"Please, come in, sit down, Minister," Mrs. Weasley said, bunching up her hair and straightening out her clothes. She didn't seem to notice the tension in the room, too preoccupied with Percy and the Minister. "Have a little purkey, or some tooding, I mean—"

"No, no, my dear Molly," Scrimgeour said. He had probably checked with Percy before coming in so that he'd have some sort of false familiarity with the family, which just made Annabeth more suspicious. "I don't want to intrude, we wouldn't be here at all if Percy hadn't wanted to see you all so badly..."

"Oh, Percy!" Mrs. Weasley said tearfully, reaching up to kiss his cheek.

"...we've only looked in for about five minutes, so I'll have a stroll around the yard while you catch up with Percy. No, no, I assure you I don't want to butt in! Well, if anybody cares to show me your charming garden... ah, that young man's finished, why don't you take a stroll with me?"

And that confirmed Annabeth's suspicions. Scrimgeour was looking right at Harry, whose plate was indeed empty, but so were Ginny's, Fred's, Annabeth's, and Fleur's. The Minister wanted some kind of private talk with Harry, most likely to try and sway him to the Ministry's side. Annabeth didn't like it, not at all.

"Yeah, alright," Harry said slowly, rising from his seat. When he passed Annabeth, he muttered, "it's fine. Fine," he repeated as he passed Mr. Weasley.

"Wonderful!" Scrimgeour said, standing back to let Harry past. "We'll just take a turn around the garden, and Percy and I will be off. Carry on, everyone!"

He ushered Harry out the door, put a hand on his shoulder, and led him out into the garden. The door slammed shut behind them, leaving everyone in tense, awkward silence. Annabeth made sure she could see Harry out the window, preparing herself to jump into action the moment she was needed.