Love is the Child of an Endless War

Jasper had some time to analyze the events of the day at his Gran's house. He arrived at a few conclusions. Most of which were quite disturbing. He determined that dead Narcissa Malfoy smelled exactly like roasting cow. He recognized it right way because his Gran was fixing a pot roast for supper. He didn't eat meat; Mummy didn't either, so Aloysious didn't fix it often. Uncle Fred and Uncle George usually had a full pig barbecuing at the annual Weasley Wizarding Wheezes company picnic though. Roasting flesh had a peculiar odor. It didn't seem to matter much what animal was being cooked. They all smelled an awful lot a like. And he recalled very clearly the image he'd focused on in his mind of that old Malfoy hag roasting in hell for killing his mother before his father's wand went off.

Burrowed into the wing chair in the fireplace corner Jasper watched while his sister and his dog popped out of the fireplace to run Gran and Remus ragged. Mummy must be at home now. He hoped she was all right. Father might be telling Uncle George even now what he, Jasper, had done to put her and the babies in danger. Jasper couldn't stop thinking about it. His heart started pounding anxiously. He caused so much trouble, and most of the worst of it he did without even thinking he was. They'd never had found out about the indoor Quidditch matches he'd organized, or the amount of money he'd made taking bets and placing his own on the outcome. Now there was an example of intentional trouble making that had never hurt anyone. But let him sneak out just once on the chance he might get to see Milli, and his whole world was falling apart.

Nobody at The Burrow understood, could ever possibly understand what he had done. Every time Jasper closed his eyes unbidden visions of Narcissa Malfoy's hideously blistered face, the boiling blood burbling up through every pore in her body invaded his brain. Figuring he blinked once every 2.3 seconds, it was more dead Narcissa Malfoy than anyone could tolerate, let alone one emotionally wretched twelve year old boy.

Remus and Gran tried getting him to talk about it, but he couldn't. He wouldn't have been able to talk about it even if Father hadn't warned him not to. They thought he was worried about his mother, which he was. More worried than he could stand to think about, incinerating dead witches was preferable. That's how bad it was. Remus kept pushing the chocolate bars; insisting that Jasper eat at least one. He promised Jasper that if he finished one he would start to feel better. Jasper couldn't manage more than a mouthful of one. The chocolate made his stomach hurt. Remus was a nice man. Generally he was very kind and soft-spoken. When he wasn't a savage snarling snapping monster chained beneath Gran's bed. Remus shared his soul with that monster and Jasper didn't feel he'd benefit from the understanding of a monster at the moment. Even if Remus was a nice man, Jasper didn't want to become part monster.

He supposed that Remus did know what if felt like to hurt someone so horribly without really meaning to. Equally he supposed there wouldn't be much relief for him in finding out just how much Remus understood. Excusing himself from the table with complaints of a stomachache he went up to bed early and got into his father's old metal bunk. Shaking so hard that the ancient, rusty, metal springs creaked in time with the ghoul's chain clanking. Rufus padded up after to him. Crawling under the bed, scratching on the floor, to snore non-comfortingly from beneath. Gran would pitch a hissy if Jasper invited him up on top. Rufus wouldn't be much help up there anyway. Some occasions in life were upsetting enough where even a very large dog was no consolation at all.

Phil walked into the room uninvited. "Jasper, what is the matter?" She asked climbing onto the bed with him. "You look funny."

Phil was so innocent, he thought, too young and too innocent to understand any of this. Not the gut churning terror he'd felt that day. Not how horrifyingly mean and sick in the head Narcissa Malfoy was. Certainly not all the bad things she'd said about Weasleys, or the way she'd hurt Mummy. Just thinking about it made him ill. His heart had been pounding for so long it was really starting to hurt. It hurt so much he thought the pressure of it would explode his head open. Mummy was hurt, she was going to have the babies too soon and he hadn't been able to do anything to protect her. He'd killed Narcissa Malfoy, all right, but he'd been too late to stop her from cursing his mother.

Phil wouldn't get it. That he'd meant to stop her from attacking his family ever again. He didn't want her to get it; she didn't need to know. Phil would be afraid of him if she knew. He was almost afraid of himself. Looking luminous by the last light of day her blue eyes were wide and curious. Observing him shrewdly.

"Go away, Phil!" Jasper demanded.

Used to it by now, she ignored him. "No, I won't. I think you're ill. Do you feel ill?"

"I don't want you here!" he shouted, "Go to bed and leave me alone!"

Stubborn curiosity transformed itself into the slightest bit of fear on Phil's face. He knew he looked angry. He was hoping he'd scare her away. Better to do it now and get it over with. He shoved her off of the bed with one hand. She wasn't suspecting the attack and hit the floor hard. His feet landed on either side of her, growling, "I mean what I say! I don't want you near me! Go away!"

Phil scrambled to her feet, scrubbing at her eyes and darted out the door. Sinking back down to the edge of the bed Jasper found he couldn't catch his breath. He'd hurt his sister on purpose. That proved it then, he truly was terrible. When it grew dark enough, he was leaving. He would take Rufus and go away. His family would miss him for a time, he figured, allowing for a small wallow in self-pity. Mummy would miss him the most, but with two new babies in the house it probably wouldn't be for very long. Uncle George would miss him too, unless something terrible happened to the babies or to Mummy. Then George would likely be glad to be rid of him. Resolving to leave when it was late enough, Jasper settled back on the bed watching the sky growing blacker behind the gnarled blackened limbs of the ancient apple tree outside of his father's old bedroom window. Twisted, tainted, old limbs bent in the breeze, taunting and frightening him just like the insidious reaching arms of a dead witch.

Phil didn't come back. Likely she'd never speak to him again. Gran came up, though, to say goodnight and tuck him in. Gran wasn't very proficient at tucking. Somehow, despite the seven children, the fine art had eluded her. Even Remus, who'd never had children, was better at it. Due to the full moon, however, he was unavailable. Jasper cringed at the sound of his howls. Making shushing noises to Rufus who wanted to sing too, while he submitted to his Grandmother's inexpert attentions.

"There you are, dear," Gran said pulling the covers up too high and imprisoning Jasper tightly with a death tuck under the mattress. If he stayed like that all night he'd wake up stiff as a board. Fortunately he had no plans to stay the night. "You don't look very comfortable here, Jasper," she said purveying his mummified form. "Wouldn't you rather go sleep in the twin's old room with your sister tonight?"

"No. I'm fine," Jasper replied exasperatedly. Gran liked to hover and fuss, usually Jasper didn't mind it all that much. He knew it was a mother thing, and Gran was a mother many times over. She couldn't help hovering. He had to convince her he was fine in here, because this room had the apple tree exit. The twin's old room didn't. Even worse, the twin's old room had Phil. Phil wouldn't let him sneak out of the house tonight for all the lies, bribes, cajoling, threats, or down right intimidation in the world. He'd have to knock her unconscious to make his escape.

"I know you've had an upsetting day," Gran told him patting his bed linen bound shoulder sympathetically. "But I want you to try to get some sleep anyway. Your Mummy is going to be just fine. I had your aunt Ginny early and look how hale and hearty we both are all these years later. So, don't you worry, Jasper, everything will be all right. You'll sleep in your own bed tomorrow night I'll bet. And you'll have two brand new babies at home to take your mind off of your troubles."

That sounded pretty reassuring actually, and Jasper felt as close to calm as he had since frying Narcissa Malfoy from the inside out. Which really wasn't all that calm. He wished Gran would go away and go to sleep so he could leave. He'd have to leave by the window and he needed to get Rufus out somehow first.

"I'm fine," Jasper repeated grumpily. "I'm just tired and I want to go to sleep. Okay, Gran?"

Molly was mildly suspicious since she knew Jasper to be a chronic insomniac, just like Percy. Jasper had experienced a significant physical and emotional trauma, though, so it wasn't impossible that the poor little thing really was exhausted. And if she didn't go back downstairs to her own bed soon Remus would never shut-up that infernal howling. The last thing any of them needed tonight was a visit from the Ottery St. Catch-pole police department.

"Okay," Gran agreed smoothing his curls, making him wonder for a moment where he would be sleeping the next night. Chances were he'd never be tucked in ever again. That wasn't a bad thing though, he reminded himself firmly. Twelve-year-olds don't need tucking. He managed just fine all by himself at Hogwarts. And there was no point reconsidering things now, he'd made up his mind. When Gran fell asleep he was leaving. He needed his broom first, but after one quick stop at home to check on Mummy that was it. He thought he'd try flying to Norway first. His aunt Ginny told some nice stories about the elves who lived there.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Percy hadn't thought he had much choice but to do what he did with Jasper. Still, climbing the stairs, resigned to having to worry George and Penny, he felt guilty and responsible for the fact that Jasper had disappeared, again. Penny's screaming had finally ceased but the roiling in his gut continued because he hadn't heard anything that resembled the healthy cry of a newborn baby.

Rounding the corner at the top of the landing presented him with the despondent spectacle of George collapsing in a grieving heap on the floor outside of his bedroom. He slid down the wall, hunching over his heart and dropped his red head into his hands. Percy's roiling gut caved in. He reached George's side before he realized he was even moving. "George, what's happened? Is Penny all right? Did something go wrong with the babies? George, for pity's sake look at me."

Offering him a tremulous smile George reassured him, "They're all right. I wasn't so sure they would be for a while there. The maternity witch said the girls are small, but not too small and Penny has lost a lot of blood. But they'll be okay. I was just about to lose it in there and I didn't want to breakdown in front of Penny." Wiping his eyes on his sleeves he stood back up. Relief bubbled up balloon to fill the empty place in Percy's stomach. Uttering an ecstatic yelp of glee he picked George right up off the floor in a bone-crushing embrace.

"Bloody hell, Percy!" George choked out. "Put me down before someone gets the idea that we're actually fond of each other."

"Oh, right." Percy promptly set George down. Then he remembered he had some not so terrific news to share, and if he might have gotten his hands on Jasper at the moment he'd have turned him over his knee and wore out his behind for pulling a stunt like this. Tonight of all nights, when George had so many other worries on his mind.

"Mother just rang for you," Percy said. "She wanted to see how Penny was doing and also...well.....she had a sneaking suspicion that Jasper had evil plans this evening when she put him to bed. And she was right. When she went up to check on him a little while ago she found he'd snuck out of my old bedroom window, down the apple tree."

"He did what!" George exclaimed, muttering something extremely deprecating and rude about Jasper beneath his breath. "What can he be thinking of? Honestly, that boy can be all but unforgivably stupid sometimes, for all that he's always spouting off about how intelligent he is! What will I do now? I can't leave Penny alone here, and I don't want to tell her why I'd need to go!"

"I'll go look for him," Percy offered insistently holding up a hand to forestall George's objections. "No, listen to me, now. I'll find him. I've recovered twenty-three missing soldiers in thirteen different European nations. I can find a little boy who has only been missing for a few hours. Trust me to do this. You stay here with Penny, she needs you."

Not feeling as though he had the right to relinquish his responsibility for Jasper, even to Percy, George was more than a little reluctant to acquiesce to that offer. In his heart, and his mind, Jasper had become his child, his obligation. He acknowledged Percy's paternity, and Percy's love, but he didn't think of Percy as Jasper's real father anymore. Penny's plaintive call from the bedroom swayed his decision. He agreed to let Percy search, for a while. If he didn't find Jasper in an hour he was calling out the all British Wizarding Guard, and then going out to look for himself.

Fortunately, Percy didn't need to go far. Shoving his arms into the sleeves of a jacket he borrowed from George because it was a chilly summer night he stuck his wand into his back pocket, and headed out the side door. His plan was to Apparate to The Burrow first. If he could figure what direction Jasper was headed in his search could be speeded up significantly. Just before popping out of the garden he noticed the pale flickering glow of torch coming from the direction of the barn. Percy unsheathed his wand. After the mayhem up at Hogwarts today he was as unsettled as he'd been at any time in his whole life. There was more to the roots of this mess than Narcissa Malfoy's insane Weasley vendetta, he was certain of it.

Sticking closely to the shadows, Percy picked his way cautiously across George's dark lawn. Poor security, that, George needed to install some outdoor lighting and soon. Armed guards wouldn't be a bad idea, either, come to it. He followed the glimmer of the torchlight closely. It was being carried low. Somebody didn't want to be noticed. It did actually occur to him that intruder in the barn was his wayward offspring, but he wasn't about to take any chances. And if he just happened to stun the trousers off of Jasper, or immobilized him with "Petrificus Totalus", well that would be a lesson to him, wouldn't it?

Stepping out of the dark, Percy swung the barn door wider in it's arc. An entrance point left clearly marked. Somebody could use a few lessons in subterfuge and sneaking.

"Jasper, what are you doing?" Percy called out quietly to the narrow shadow, all but invisible crouching next to Lord Voldemort's stall. "Lumos!" he spoke the spell to his wand illuminating the interior of the barn and his son's startled face.

"What do you mean what I am doing?" Jasper asked, getting into his game quickly. Quite obviously concealing something behind his back.

"It's a simple enough question," Percy said. "What are you doing? Here? Now? I specifically told to go to your Grandmother's house and stay there."

Jasper was put on the spot. But his father's arrogance annoyed him. Who was he to demand answers and explanations? Who was he to give out orders? "I am not one of your soldiers," Jasper responded huffily with every bit of pre-adolescent attitude he could muster. "I don't just follow orders."

"It's just as well that you aren't," Percy observed wryly. "You'd make a terrible soldier. You're about as discreet as a half-ton Hippogriff sneaking around out here."

The jibe stung. Jasper had begun thinking of himself as something of an expert on sneaking about and getting into trouble. Maybe he wasn't up to par with Fred, Harry, or George, yet, but he'd certainly been working at it hard. Now Percy, the pompous Gryffindor prefect, had the audacity to undercut his evil. What did a rule-abiding drone like Percy know about the fine art of sneaking?

Jasper squared his shoulders, drawing himself up to face his father's derision. At full height he reached the middle of Percy's chest. When had he gotten so big? Percy wondered. He must have sprouted a full inch or two since he'd lost his appendix. "You've grown some," Percy noted.

As if that were something Jasper didn't already know. His mother had taken him shopping twice since Christmas because he was outgrowing his clothes so rapidly. His limbs were sprouting at an unimaginable rate. It was quite painful, actually. He often woke up in the middle of the night with stabbing pains in his arms, his groin, and his long legs. As if he needed another reason to not sleep. Even his back ached occasionally, but what hurt the most about growing up was his heart. Sometimes it hurt more than he could bear. But he wasn't about to share that with Percy. Jasper ground his teeth together in a mutinous grimace as his father's commentary continued, "but you are still only a boy, Jasper. I know you like to think of yourself as grown-up but that doesn't mean you have the right to do anything you please. George is worried sick about you and so is your Grandmother. I can only hope your mother doesn't know about this little escape of yours. She has enough trouble to contend with tonight. Don't you think? Or weren't you thinking?"

"Why should you care if Uncle George is worried?" Jasper shouted angrily, irritating Lord Voldemort. He jumped aside in just enough time to narrowly escape being flogged by the Dark Pony's swishing tail. "You don't even like him!" Rufus barked an agreement. Jasper cringed at the sound, making shushing noises to quiet Rufus down.

"You don't want George and Penny to know that you're out here?" Percy queried, astutely, declining in the moment to respond to his son's wicked accusation that he lacked brotherly love. "Why not? What did you come home for tonight?"

"I came to make sure my mum is all right," Jasper responded, irritated by the need.

"You didn't trust your Grandmother to relay the message? Why didn't you think about using your mirror? Something tells me that you aren't being entirely truthful with me, Jasper. What are you holding there behind your back?"

Jasper hurled his broom at Percy's head, but he missed. It landed into a pile of straw instead. "Why did you have to come back here!" he raged insensibly. Angry that he'd been caught, furious with his snooping father, and sick to his stomach at the thought that George might walk out into the barn at any moment. Percy ducked the flying missile with ease. He'd had years of dodging practice; it was one of the things that made him a decent Keeper. What he didn't have was years practice at controlling his temper, and Jasper was pushing the limits of his rage.

Percy lashed out, grasping Jasper easily with one hand jerking him close enough to meet him nose to nose. "I should break that broom over your rear end," he threatened quietly, with a deliberate shake. "You're a spoiled little monster, Jasper Weasley. Answer me now, or I might just do what I say. Where have you been tonight, and where were you going?"

Jasper wasn't frightened, he was simply too angry to be. "You don't know me!" he spat out, not in the least bit intimidated by the fact that he was dangling off the floor by several inches. "I didn't mean to hurt her today! I'm not a monster!"

Percy lost his grip, and Jasper stumbled backwards into the hay. Realizing that he'd just made a serious error in judgment by letting his sharp tongue get the best of him, again, Percy tried to regain some common ground before he lost his son. He took a couple of very deep breaths. Keeping a close eye on Jasper in case he decided to make a run for it. The boy was wiry, quick like a weasel. Jasper was inching himself back up into the straw. If he regained his footing he'd be gone. Percy knew that the same way as he knew that the sun would rise tomorrow, the way he knew that he'd lost Penny forever to his stupid little brother, the way he knew that Jasper and Phillipa were the best things that had ever happened to him. He'd give up every ounce of magic he had to regain just one day of their lives that he'd missed out on.

"I know you didn't mean to hurt her," Percy said speaking slowly, but thinking fast. "You were fighting for your life, Jasper."

"Don't pretend like you don't what I mean!" Jasper cried, disgusted by the insult to his intellect. "I killed Mrs. Malfoy! I wished that fireball out of your wand!"

Percy scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous! Who do you think you are? You're just a boy, Jasper; you haven't got power like that. Most fully grown Wizards don't ever acquire such powers. I killed Malfoy. The combination of my curse and the hatred that's been boiling her insides for fifteen years is what killed her, and good riddance to her."

Jasper eyed his father with open suspicion. His arrogance was legend, Weasley family legend; his games of one-up-man-ship went virtually unchallenged in the family annals. Percy was a pompous, arrogant, git. Even his Gran said so, albeit reluctantly. Jasper had never wanted to believe anybody as much in his whole life as he wanted to believe Percy at that moment.

"You did?" he whispered hesitantly.

Percy crouched down so he could look Jasper in the eye, swearing silently by all that he held dear that he would make him believe it, "I did." Holding out his hand in a gesture of conciliation he offered to help Jasper up, and as he did so, he apologized for his poor choice of words, "I don't much like having objects hurled at my head, Jasper. As rude and childish as you are at times you don't deserve to be called a monster. I'm sorry I said that to you."

Jasper flushed, brushing straw off of his sore backside, where he'd landed pretty hard when Percy stopped shaking him like a rat-terrier and dropped him on the ground. "I'm sorry I threw it at you." He mumbled scuffing straw off his shoe.

"You have quite a nasty temper there," Percy commented. "I daresay you'll want to try harder to keep it in check."

"I will, if you will," Jasper dealt cheekily.

Percy grasped the broom out of the hay and noticed a rope rigging in the works hanging off the handle. "Long trip?" he speculated, making out the vague shape of a harness.

"For Rufus," Jasper admitted. "He can't keep up with me when I fly."

"Don't worry Rufus, he won't be flying anywhere for a good long while," Percy promised Rufus. Who, willing to traitor his loyalty for a few kind words and a pat, wagged his tail and licked Percy's hand. Percy, glaring meaningfully at Jasper over his spectacles, added. "When I tell George what you've been up to he'll probably be donating this broom to charity." Jasper moaned miserably, and Percy caught a glimpse of a very downcast expression before Jasper turned his head, but he clearly heard him say "He's going to hate me for this."

"I don't doubt he'll have a few unpleasant sounding things to say to you tonight," Percy agreed. "But I know that George loves you. There isn't anything you could do to change that."

"How will he love me if Mummy's been hurt?" Jasper blurted out his worst fear in a moment of unwary and exhausted angst. "It's all my fault she's having the babies too soon. I was supposed to stay in the castle today. She had to come looking for me! Mrs. Malfoy hurt her with that curse when she was trying to protect me!"

Jasper's adolescent reasoning took Percy by surprise. Too much of the time he equated Jasper's intellect with maturity and failed to take into account that his son still saw the world through a child's eyes. "No, Jasper. That isn't right. Your mother started having pains before we even realized that you were missing today. Sometimes that happens, babies come too soon and nobody really knows why. It isn't your fault. It isn't anyone's fault. What other crazy notions have you gotten into your head tonight?"

"First I'm a monster! Now you're calling me crazy!" Jasper said hotly. "You have a lot opinions about me for somebody who hardly even knows who I am!"

Percy bit his tongue again. It was really becoming quite sore, and he was desperately in need of a good, hot, Fire Whiskey to numb it, and his raw throat. "Jasper," he said, "it's only a figure of speech. I don't think you're crazy, and I don't think you're a monster. I think you're my son, and I've been worried about you. This has been a very long day for both of us. Why don't we go up to the house and I'll fix you something to eat? That way we can keep our mouths full and avoid saying anything else hurtful tonight. What do you think?"

"Is she all right?" Jasper asked with a fearful glance at the glowing windows of the house.

"Your mother is fine," Percy told him, "and you have two new sisters. They are all just fine. Now will you please come into the house? I swear that if you don't your uncle will be calling out the All British Wizard's Guard to scour the earth for you before daybreak. Which, by the way is not so far off. And your Grandmother has been up all night worried about you. We need to let her know that you're safe."

"He's going to be mad at me." Jasper prevaricated in typical stubborn pre-teen fashion.

"Growing madder by the second I think," Percy acknowledged. "Come on then, let's go in and get it over with."

"You're coming in with me?" Jasper queried.

"What else are fathers for?" Percy returned.

Jasper shrugged miserably, and Percy marveled at the way he shifted from an obnoxious, smart-mouthed adolescent, to a vulnerable little boy and back again. It struck him, suddenly, that in the six months since his return that he had never hugged his son. Never touched him at all, except for the most casual gestures, unless he counted shaking him until his teeth rattled the way he had just a moment ago. He preferred not to count that. He had an easy affection with Phil who was still young enough to sit on his lap and ride on his shoulders, but approaching Jasper with affection was like trying to pick nettles. Jasper could be as prickly as a newly quilled hedgehog.

The darkness and the solitude of the barn inspired Percy to make an uneasy confession. "I still remember the day I realized I was going to become a father. I re-counted the days on my calendar twenty-three times because I couldn't believe I'd made such a mistake. Your mother and I were very young." He paused for a moment to clear his throat. "We were having some problems in our relationship too, and I was really worried that she would be upset with me. That she wouldn't be happy about having a baby so young."

Jasper looked up at his father curious about the sudden desultory change of tactics. "She told me I was unplanned," he said matter-of-factly, as though reciting ancient history. In some ways it was the ancient past, Percy conceded silently. Certainly it seemed so to Jasper. And some days he even thought if Jasper didn't resemble him so much, if Phil hadn't inherited every bit of his stubbornness, it would be easy to be convinced that they really were only George's children. Yet, at other moments he recalled with excruciating accuracy the way Jasper had felt moving beneath his palm, still squirming in Penny's womb, or the expression of astonishment on his wrinkled face as he looked around at the world for the first time. And he would never forget the last few times he'd made love to Penny before leaving on his life-altering mission that was doomed to failure. He'd replayed every one of those nights over and over in his head all the years of their separation. Wondering if he'd ever have the chance to love her again, and swearing that if he did she'd never spend another night of her life alone. On one of those nights before he'd left her for the last time they'd created Phil. So much between then and now had been lost and could not ever be regained.

"Unplanned is right," Percy agreed, the corner of his mouth quirking up as he looked back on all of his life's unplanned moments. "But once I knew you were coming, Jasper, I wanted you more than I've ever wanted anything in my whole life. Your mother said you were our unexpected gift. It didn't always seem so to me at the time, but she was right about that. You and Phil have been the very best unexpected gifts. Try and remember I told you that the next time I say something that hurts your feelings, will you?"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Drained and fatigued to his very bones George entered into his library dragging his arms through the sleeves of his dragon-hide jacket. Scarcely focusing on his surroundings he mumbled to Percy, "I'm going out to look for him now. Penny is absolutely exhausted, she needs to rest and she won't do it until he's found. She's lost so much blood she's not even supposed to get out of bed, but if I don't go now I think she will. The babies need feeding, too, and she's so distracted she's having trouble nursing. I swear I'm going to beat that child when I find him."

Taking pity on his younger brother who looked tired enough to fall asleep where he stood, an actual capability he had that he shared with Penny, Percy interrupted him, "George, you're babbling. The babies are tired. They'll be fine. By tomorrow she won't be able to feed them enough. I'll go fix her something to eat and you don't have to go anywhere. Jasper has found his way home."

Blinking his reddened eyes George spotted the slender silhouette hesitating near the fireplace hearth. "Jasper! You terrible boy! What have you been up to all night?" Percy riveted his thoughts onto Jasper, willing him to hold steady until he could deflect George's boiling point. Quivering in the heat of the fire, Jasper's pale features were lit in dismal relief. His eyes were the only things plainly visible on his face. They were enormous. Glowing in the dark, filling with abject despair.

"George, wait just a second." Percy counseled his brother with a halting gesture. B

But George was gone too far in his dressing down of Jasper to pay any attention. Frowning unpleasantly at his errant nephew, his voice cross with fatigue and harsh from concern. "Do you have any idea how much worry you've caused us all? Do you think the whole damned world just revolves around you? Do you ever consider anybody else's feelings? Your poor mother has been beside herself! Couldn't you have just this once thought about her? Gran has probably broken out into hives waiting to hear whether you're dead or alive! You'd better be ready to give me one good reason why I shouldn't turn you over my knee right now and wear out your behind!"

Percy briefly closed his eyes cursing his own stupidity for being reluctant to let George in on everything that had gone on in the greenhouse with Jasper that day. Watching for Jasper's reaction he anticipated that he would bolt for the door and when he did Percy had the foresight to lunge for him before he got away. Too late in realizing it to catch him, Percy stumbled headfirst over the ottoman, before understanding that Jasper wasn't running away from George, he was running to George.

George rocked back into the wall from the impact of colliding with his nephew but managed to scoop Jasper up in his arms as easily as though he were little Phil instead of a gangly pre-teen with terrifyingly rapid lengthening limbs. Too knackered to register much more about the situation than that his anger was receding quickly now that he knew Jasper was safe, George was certain with the knowledge that the boy must have done something absolutely terrible. He was trembling from head to toe. The pounding of his heart reverberated against George's palm through Jasper's ribcage. Holding him thankfully tight he asked, "Jasper, what in the bloody hell is going on with you tonight?"

Jasper had thought he'd been dealing with the whole, "A crazy woman wanted to kill me today and for an excruciating while I believed my Mum was dead and that it was all my fault because she was trying to protect me. So I roasted said crazy woman alive before she could kill anyone else. Then when I found out that Mummy wasn't dead, but she was having the babies way too early I pretty much felt completely responsible for the untimely death of my unborn siblings and now I'll just be leaving home for good because no one will ever love me anymore" thing pretty well today. Refusing to give into the emotions that threatened to drown his sanity, he'd come up with what he believed to be a down right workable plan.

His descent down the apple tree was managed using the convenient footholds left there by previous generations of trouble-making Weasleys. He'd learned, while dangling between limbs, that Rufus, who now outweighed him by a good ten stone and was almost as tall as Mummy when he stood on his hind legs, could climb trees too. He also could be counted on not to bark at inopportune moments. Even when there was something really good to bark at like the shadow cat scurrying across the road in front of them. Or that creepy chap dressed in threadbare robes hanging around the alley in Hogsmeade, smoking a cigarette and staring unnervingly at a nervous, young boy and his improbably enormous wolf-hound out for a late night stroll.

Despite Jasper's dislike of the dark, and unfamiliar situations in general, the two of them had gotten all the way to Hogwarts, without the aide of magic or any grown-ups, using a handful of nicked floo powder and some careful timing. He'd reclaimed his Split-Twig 350, forgotten in the chaos of dead Death Eaters and early labor pains in the broom shed at Hogwarts. Flying low and slow so that Rufus could keep up, he navigated his way back to River Otter Lane without incident. Not too shabby for a boy who wasn't allowed to ride the Knight Bus by himself. The only glitch in his plan had occurred when Percy showed up catching him unawares in the barn.

What he hadn't realized in the hours that passed between ten p.m. and the darkness before dawn was that the frantic pounding in his chest was his heart telling him that he should be absolutely scared out of his wits. Judging from the way his legs felt ready to buckle beneath him it was a realization long past due. George walked into the room and the bottom of Jasper's stomach dropped out. Suddenly it didn't matter how angry George was with him. For the first time since he'd walked into Greenhouse Number 5 Jasper felt safe. It didn't seem quite so necessary to hang onto the rigid control he'd been exercising over his emotions all that long day and night. More than anything he wanted to tell George that he was sorry. Sorry about Mummy and the babies. Sorry, even, for killing Mrs. Malfoy. He was too dangerously close to bawling for words so he silently shook his head into George's shoulder.

George gave Percy a questioning glance over Jasper's curly head as if to say, "What do you know about this?" Exhaling heavily, Percy ran his own shaking hand through his hair, moving his head from side to side thinking what was done, was done. It would be better to let Jasper tell George what he would, when he was ready, than it would be for him to make assumptions regarding the upset on Jasper's behalf. There would be time enough later to fill George in on all of it and he'd willingly take his own lumps then.

George was frantically imagining all of the horrific possibilities that might have caused his nephew this much emotional distress. It had been a very long time since Jasper had clung to him for comforting this way. What sort of awful trouble had the child gotten himself into now? Apparently no assistance was in the offing from Percy's useless direction. "All right, Jasper, you're doing a fair job of convincing me not to give you a spanking. Will you tell me what's the matter now? I can't help if you won't talk to me. Have you been worried about Mummy?" George probed, digging for the root of the problem. "Did something happen at The Burrow to upset you? You haven't gone and hexed all of Gran's garden gnomes again; have you?"

Wisely considering that his son might divulge more in the absence of an audience Percy wordlessly excused himself to go upstairs to visit with Penny. He should be feeling jealous of Jasper's relationship with George, he thought turning right out of the library into the big kitchen. Usually it gnawed on his gut like an invisible Thestral devouring a raw carcass in plain view. Leaving only the aching bare bones and no signs of a legitimate culprit. Tonight he felt immensely relieved that Jasper had George to comfort him. He was obviously on over load, more upset about the events of the day than Percy knew.

He'd been away from civilization for too long, Percy thought miserably. Sudden death, gruesome corpses, and a constant imminent threat to life and limb had stalked him for so many years both during the war and afterwards incarcerated in that hellhole, that he'd learned to compartmentalize the horror. He'd taught the innocent, fresh-faced, young soldiers under his command to do the same. Learn to ignore the horror, or be prepared to lose your mind, was what he advised his fellow combatants when the reality of war became overwhelming.

Jasper wasn't much younger now than some of the soldiers who had fought at Percy's side. He was growing up fast, but at twelve he was still a little boy, not a soldier. And if Percy had anything to say about it Jasper never would fight a war. He'd never have to learn how to deal with that kind of ugliness on a daily basis. George had kept Jasper safe, sheltered, and Percy knew now that it had been far too much for him to expect Jasper to sit alone in silence at The Burrow. He had been trying to protect him until he could smooth the situation over, but sending him away had been a mistake. He should have gone with him, or brought him back home. He should have told George everything right away. But it was too late to change things now.

In the kitchen he piled a plate high with an enormous stack of buttered toast and made a pot of weak green tea for Penny. He'd promised George that he would feed her and that was something he could do fairly assured that he wouldn't cause anyone anymore emotional distress. He'd stay there to cook for her, and to do whatever else needed doing as long as they needed him. If George didn't rip off his head after he talked to Jasper tonight, that is. He stacked a tray with the tea and toast and took the stairs two at a time to see how Penny was faring after enduring eight hours of early labor and an excruciating double delivery.

She was pale as a ghost and swaying alarmingly over the tiny sleigh-bassinet next to her bed. George had ordered the bassinet custom built for two from the same company that had made his bed custom built for ten, or so. He thought like a husband, or a lover, much more than a friend, and never anything close to being a brother. "Penny! What the hell are you doing? You aren't supposed to be out of bed!"

"I think she might be hungry," she replied weakly with the preternaturally calm maternal focus of a woman who has won a bloody, hard-fought battle to bring life into the world.

"Get back into bed before you fall over," he demanded, crossing the room with quick strides and setting the tray down on her bedside table. Following up his orders with physical force he deposited her on the pillows and tucked her in. "I'll bring the baby to you." One of the tiny creatures was resting in the eerie, seemingly breathless, manner of a new infant adjusting itself to having lungs. The other was flailing irritably despite of, or perhaps because of, being tightly swaddled in a fuzzy pink blanket. He rested a large palm on the chest of the sleeping infant feeling reassuring breath raising the minute chest, before handing the squirmier one, who was working herself into a high thin wail, into her mother's waiting arms.

Percy watched her unselfconsciously while she opened her robe and tried to get the under-nourished bundle to suck. He sat on the chaise next to her in bed watching her perform the same intimate act he'd seen her do hundreds of times for their son. Only this time it was George's child in her arms. For a moment he thought perhaps it wasn't right for him to be there, that George should be there in his stead. But that didn't seem right to him, either. None of it was right. It just was.

As he closed his eyes a vision of Penny in the past flashed across the back of his lids. He'd been nudged awake in the middle of a cold and bleak winter's night in their old flat. Missing her warmth next to him in bed and wondering what was keeping her so long. For a change Jasper wasn't crying. He'd found her standing over the Weasley cradle that time, not moving, not making a sound. Dripping hot tears all over the blanket that covered the baby. And he'd felt his gut clench. Giving birth to Jasper had finally relieved her of the disturbing crying jags that possessed her so suddenly and frequently during her pregnancy. Her incredible peace and serenity in the early weeks of Jasper's life had left Percy feeling so happy and grateful there were times he'd swear he caught a glimpse of heaven in Penny's eyes. He'd been terrified that depression would haunt her after the birth the way it had with his mother so many times. But there she was, sobbing silently over the baby's cradle and he couldn't begin to fathom what might be wrong. When he asked, "What's the matter?" she'd seemed surprised, had not in fact even realized that she was crying. And she told him that she loved just watching Jasper sleeping, that it made her so happy. "I can't believe that sometimes I'd wished I wasn't pregnant. How could I not have wanted him? Not wanted this? Percy, he's just perfect."

Her tiny daughter started sucking in earnest. Making Penny flinch at the echoing contractions that accompanied every gulp and swallow. She eased back onto her pillows, closing her eyes, trying to relax and Percy thought for a minute that she'd dozed off. Then she asked him, "Aren't they absolutely gorgeous?"

He smirked in his place behind her, confident that she wouldn't see his expression. She and George had managed to produce two, long, wrinkly, overly thin identical daughters with caps of dark curling hair and what promised to be truly genuine blue eyes. Really they resembled nothing so much as a pair of wizened, miniature house-elves, only with perfect, tiny shell pink, human ears. "They remind me of Jasper as a newborn," he told her.

"You said Jasper looked like a midget house-elf," Penny reminded him.

"His looks have improved considerably," Percy offered up reassuringly with a smile in his voice.

Penny laughed at him because she had a weakness for funny guys. Their sense of humor was what drew her to the Weasley men in her life, not the red hair as her mother presumed. Although, the red hair and the long legs certainly didn't impede her attraction. She appreciated Percy's well-honed dry wit, his coping mechanism for dealing with a lifetime filled with adversity and enforced responsibility. She had so many very good memories of Percy. The first time they'd made love. The incredible youthful passion they'd had for one another. Utterly unhampered by children needing attention, or bills that needed paying, or impossible jobs that needed doing. Their only urgent need had been to become as close to one another as it was humanly possible for two people to be, and they had fulfilled that need time after time.

She even remembered their bad times fondly. Like when Percy had returned to his virtually impossible to manage double life as both aide to the Minister of Magic and Dumbledore's covert spy with her encouragement. At least as much encouragement as a young inexperienced mother of a colicky infant was capable of giving to him. He'd returned one late evening, tired and frustrated, to make what she perceived to be a rather harsh and unnecessarily nasty judgment with regard to the condition of the flat and her housekeeping abilities.

Without a single word of response, without even acknowledging his presence in the room, Penny laid a very tiny, Jasper, who was fitfully screaming at the top of his very tiny lungs, down in his cradle and swept herself out of the flat. Disappearing right before Percy's mystified gaze.

She didn't bother to comb her hair. She didn't change the overlarge, spit-up stained shirt of his she'd been wearing. It had been March in London, and she hadn't even grabbed a jacket for herself. Fortunately, she'd already been wearing shoes. For hours she'd wandered the lengths of Diagon Alley in the cold dark barely even noticing where she was, or what she saw there. Too simply and purely relieved to be away from the constant ringing of her baby's screams in her ears to notice anything else at all.

Somehow she wound up at a corner table in the Leaky Cauldron, where the proprietor, knowing her for a regular customer, took pity on her and gave her a pot of weak tea on the house. She hadn't even thought to bring a single sickle out with her. She sat at that table, all by herself, ignoring the persistent aching of her leaky breasts that told her Jasper needed a nursing. Avoiding even thinking about the fact that she was a wife and a new mother. Enviously watching advanced magical training aged students at another table bouncing galleons off their nose into tankards of ale, as a challenge to buying the next round of shots. Her own studious days had been forever washed down the tubes with pints of blood, sweat, tears, new baby spit-up, and breast milk.

Percy found her there. He wasn't cross with her, didn't scold, didn't do anything at all but sit down next to her at the table as though he'd planned on meeting her there for drinks after work all day. He talked to her about the weather, and the latest news in the Daily Prophet. Laughed about something stupid Cornelius Fudge had done; there was never any shortage of derisive laughter on Fudge's account, he had been such an imbecile. Finally, Penny became convinced that he had sold Jasper to a black market baby dealer in Knockturn Alley. He was behaving so much the same as he had before they'd made a baby together; it was almost as though they hadn't. When she asked him what on earth he had done with the baby, Percy had assured her that Jasper was safe. Being hand fed Sugar Quills and entertained with juggling. Penny didn't need to ask whom he'd been left with then. And after about half an hour more of just talking and holding her hand he'd asked her if she felt ready to go home, and when she said 'yes', he enfolded her in his long arms and told her that he was sorry, that she was beautiful and perfect, and that he would always love her.

"I have never stopped loving you, Percy," Penny said.

"I know that, sweetie," Percy replied.

"The hell of it is that I love George, too," she said. "I love him so much. And I've never seen him so happy as he was tonight. He actually started to cry. He's so dear to me, Percy. I can't imagine my life without him anymore."

"I take it you didn't tell him about the fabulous reunion sex we had," Percy said.

"Absolutely not," Penny affirmed. "He was upset enough about the kissing."

"Good call," Percy admitted.

Penny gently traced her daughter's miniscule nose, and delicate brow bones, laughing, "She looks like George all ready."

"She does," Percy agreed. His fingertip followed the baby's face in Penny's path.

"Has George gone out to look for the little beast? As if I don't have enough on mind. Jasper would pick tonight to pull a stunt," Penny whispered quietly trying not to disturb her new infant's feasting.

"The little beast has already returned to his roost," Percy said. "He's downstairs in the library with George right now."

Heaving an enormous sigh she didn't even know she'd been holding, Penny breathed with relief. "Thank heaven! I swear that child will be giving me gray hair before I'm forty!" A momentary silence fell across them, and then Penny shuddered on a suppressed sob. Automatically Percy moved closer. Wrapping his long arms around her, letting her lean against him. He had learned early on that she was soothed soonest by touch, and he wondered if George knew that about her now, too.

"You're tired," he said sympathetically.

"I am tired," she admitted sounding sad. "And I'm feeling pretty badly about Jasper. He went through a terrible ordeal today. I'm not always a very good mother to him. I feel as though I'm always failing him when he needs me the most."

"Penny," Percy remonstrated with her dabbing at her cheeks with a tissue himself since both of her hands were occupied. "Don't be ridiculous. You're a perfectly wonderful mother. Jasper adores you. He was ready to tear Malfoy to pieces today to protect you." He forewent telling her that he'd also short-circuited his own run-away attempt by coming home first to make sure she was all right.

"But--" she sniffed harder, and finding the tissue non-sufficient shrugged a shoulder up to wipe her eye on. "When you were gone----when I thought I'd lost you, I wasn't very nice to him then."

Her words made his heart ache. He knew her body as well as his own. He felt as if he was a part of her still and because of that he felt her pain stronger than his own. And he knew she wasn't up to confronting the past with him tonight. For that matter he didn't feel ready for it, either. He hadn't ever asked her for anymore than what she'd told him that day in the hospital waiting room. All he knew was that her grief had made her desperate and that George had saved her life. He was fairly certain he never wanted to know any more about it than that, and just as certain that he would have to know it all. Especially since it involved Jasper. "Penny, don't try and talk about all of that tonight. You're tired and it will just upset you," he said patting her hip gently. "Relax and get some rest, I'm not going to go anywhere. We'll have other times to talk."

"I think I've waited too long to tell you all ready," Penny objected. "Let me tell you about it now, Percy. So I know you understand."

"Okay," he agreed cautiously. "But only if you don't upset yourself. You've been through enough for one day. You'll end up putting the baby off her feed and George will have my head. Besides," he added almost reluctantly, "I think you're over emotional at the moment. I don't want you to say anything to me now that you might regret when you're feeling more like yourself."

Feeling soothed by his familiar presence and the baby's rhythmic suckling Penny half-laughed through her tears. "Then you wouldn't want me to tell you now that I'd run away with you in a heart-beat if it weren't for the children?"

"That's exactly the sort of thing I wouldn't want to hear just now," he agreed with her amiably.

"I was afraid you wouldn't understand," Penny confessed with a sigh. "But you'll get to know Jasper better and maybe you will. I didn't think I could live without you, or rather I should say I didn't want to live without you. What sort of mother does that make me? Not a very good one, I'm afraid. I was going to leave Jasper behind. I couldn't take care of him. I could hardly bear looking at him. I took an entire bottle of sleeping pills when he was out with George." She stopped, and swallowed. Gagging on the bitter memory. "I woke up in the hospital. And George was just livid with me. You can't imagine it, Percy. I never imagined that George could get so angry. He told me that----that Jasper thought I had died, too."

Percy's eyes were welling up with tears, and he was glad to be out of her sight line. "George loves you, Penny. I don't doubt that. He isn't angry with you anymore, and he must know that you weren't yourself when that happened. Jasper is a very bright boy. Don't you think George tried to make him understand?"

"Understanding a thing, and believing in it just aren't the same," Penny said regretfully. "It is my fault, Percy. Don't you see that? It's my fault that Jasper doesn't sleep well at night. It's my fault that he's always acting out for attention. If only I hadn't been so stubborn about getting help. It's one of the few times in my life I actually regret not listening to my mother. Jasper was there with George when he found me. Imagine how awful that was for him! It just makes me cringe to think of it. I almost destroyed myself and I nearly took Phil with me, too. It didn't even matter to me at the time. I would have done anything to be with you, wherever you were. I was so stupid. I risked every thing about us that really mattered. I hate myself for it some times. I don't blame Jasper for hating me for it some times, too. I wouldn't blame you, either, Percy."

Percy wanted to sound undismayed, although he could feel his heart re-breaking along familiar lines for her, and for Jasper, and for himself. His heart broke for all of them, his tiny shattered family. "I don't hate you, Penny. I could never hate you. You did the best that you could. Look how far you've come. Some people sink into depression and never come back out of it. You did, and you made a whole new life for yourself and our children. That took a lot of courage."

"More than you know even, I think," Penny choked. "I have to do this, you see? I have to stay married to George for Jasper's sake, for Phil's, even for my own. I need George. We need George. I can't start all over again, Percy. Not even for you. I can't rip my family apart again."

"I'm not expecting you too, sweetie," Percy said soothingly. "If you're looking for forgiveness, Penny, there is no need to ask me for it. You're thinking about what's best for the children. I always knew that you would make a good mother for my children someday. I can hardly complain about it now that you have become exactly that."

"Do you really feel that way?" she asked him anxiously. "Because somewhere deep inside of me, pushing and clawing at the good mother and George Weasley's wife, there's still a love-sick teenager that's absolutely crazy for you. I'm afraid that George knows it, too."

"He's an idiot, not a fool," Percy agreed. "I won't tell you that this is going to be easy for any of us. But I think we'll manage it, Penny. We can all be bigger than this situation. I love Jasper and Phil, I love you, and Lady of the Loch help me I even love George. For all of our sakes, I mean to try to make this work. But for right now I think you'd better have something to eat and get some rest."

"All right, I will," Penny promised. "I just want you to do one thing before I sleep. Will you bring Jasper up here to meet his new sisters? I can't wait to see the look on his face when he does."

Percy took the stairs two at a time again, sliding down the corridor's high gloss wood floor and into the library to find Jasper sprawled on his back across the sofa cushions, his head pillowed on George's knee. George's head lolled back against the corner of the rear cushions, and they were both deeply asleep. Moving in quietly, loathing to disturb them Percy crouched down low next to Jasper's ear to whisper Penny's invitation. Tired though they were, neither one of them could resist her summons.

It was love at first sight, Jasper decided. He stood gazing in awestruck wonder at Penny's perfect twin accomplishments. Upon finding out that his uncle George was calling his identical siblings Prudence and Charity, Jasper nicknamed them Tru and Dare, claiming that Prudence and Charity were two very big names for two very small girls. After professing his undying brotherly devotion and caring to the helpless pair, he crawled into bed beside his mother and promptly fell asleep in her lap.

Jasper was resting easy because he'd unburdened his conscience to George who had an uncanny way of knowing when Jasper was telling the whole truth, or not. George professed to still be very cross with him for disobeying his mother at Hogwarts, and for taking off tonight at Gran's. Worrying everyone half sick. He was not in the least bit disturbed by Jasper's confession that he thought he'd fried Narcissa Malfoy's innards by wishing an "Incendio" spell onto his father's wand. He told Jasper that Narcissa had been a wicked old witch whose heart burned for vengeance far too long. She wanted to punish the people she held responsible for her family's misfortune and her anger is what seared her alive. It was true, George admitted, that Narcissa had suffered some terrible bad luck in her life and had reason to be bitter, but misfortune and grief was a part of living. Hurting other people in the name of your own pain never fixed anything.

In which case, Jasper argued, hurting him by giving him a spanking wouldn't fix anything, either. George happened to disagree with that, he called it faulty logic. He said there was empirical evidence that spanking Jasper fixed his attitude, but he didn't mean to do it tonight. He was too exhausted from helping Mummy have the babies to make a proper job of it, and Jasper knew from experience that if his uncle meant to do a thing, he meant to do it right. He did look exhausted, too, and Jasper felt guilty for making him worry. There were little half moon marks on his right hand and he told Jasper that was from Mummy squeezing it very tightly. Having babies was hard work and she'd needed something to hold onto. George's eyes looked very red as though maybe he had been crying, although Jasper wasn't sure about that. He'd never known George to cry. Maybe he was just very tired.

Uncle George did make him call Gran to apologize for running away from her house and making her worry. Also he had to agree to help her out every Saturday morning in her garden as penance. When Phil came home he would have to say sorry to her as well, and promise never to hurt her again. Because she was his sister and he was supposed to take care of her. But the thing that eased Jasper's mind the most was when George told him not to worry, that no matter what stupid thing he ever did, he was always going to love him. That made it easier to fall asleep.

Percy and George left Penny blissfully contented, surrounded by three fourths of their joint, offspring and convened downstairs in the library to have it out one more time.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Jasper seems to be feeling calmer." Percy offered up a salvo trying to diffuse George's obvious irritation.

"Yes, I managed to get a good bit out of him after you took off, and after hearing what he had to say my opinion is that you're at least partially responsible for his actions tonight."

"Right," Percy agreed with sigh, unwilling to antagonize his brother and feeling a touch of guilt. "Well, I admit that you have a knack with him, George. He's very attached to you."

"Why didn't you tell me, Percy? Do you think I would have sent him to Mum's today knowing how upset he was? Has being a renegade foreign criminal left you with an ounce of rational sense in your whole stubborn, pompous, arrogant head?"

"I'm sorry!" Percy declared put on the defensive, "I thought I was doing the right thing! After everything else that happened today when Penny's labor started I figured sending him and Phil to Mother's was the best thing for everyone tonight. You wouldn't have wanted to have him here, listening to her scream her head off, would you? What could you have done for him, George? You needed to be with your wife. She was certainly in no position to be worrying about Jasper."

"Maybe that's the case, and maybe it's not!" George protested hotly, "The point is it wasn't your decision to make! Jasper is my responsibility. You don't know him the way that I do! If I had known everything I needed to know I would have been in a better position to make the right decision for him and for my wife. What if he'd been hurt tonight? What if there are more deranged Death Eaters out there looking to take their anger with us out on our children?"

"I don't doubt that there are," Percy stated calmly. "Acquiring power automatically entails acquiring enemies. You and Fred have become very powerful men. Haven't you ever been threatened before? I can't believe you've never taught Jasper to be cautious, or that you would allow him to wander around by himself, especially at night!"

"He does know better than to sneak out at night, Percy, but he's just a child! Children do stupid things when they're frightened and upset! At least he had the sense to come home." George paced in front of his fireplace and Percy flung himself down onto the leather sofa with a groan.

"I hate to tell you this, George. I mean, really, you have no idea how much I hate telling you this. But Jasper went back to Hogwarts and fetched his broom tonight. I found him out in the barn trying to fix a sling harness for it to carry Rufus away in. He had planned on running away and I caught him in the act."

George stopped his pacing. His hands clenched into fists as he stared Percy down. "Well, consider it a good thing for you that you did catch him! Because I could tear you apart with my bare hands right now, just imagine how I'd feel if my son had actually disappeared!"

Percy waved away George's threat with a scoff. "You don't scare me, George!" he pronounced with great bravado. His voice dropped down to a whisper, "It's your wife that I'm afraid of." Swinging his legs to the floor, he sat hunched over staring at the ground between his shoes. "I don't want her to be any more worried about him than she already is. Please don't tell her about Jasper planning to run. I think you needed to know, that's why I told you, but she doesn't."

"That's not your call to make anymore, either!" George raged.

"I know it's not!" Percy said, standing up to glare down over his spectacles, taking advantage of his superior height. "That's why I said please!"

George wasn't in a favor-granting mood, and he rarely agreed with Percy. However, this time he did. "I suppose you're right," he said, reluctantly. "I don't relish keeping secrets from my wife, but at least I won't share this news with her anytime soon. That little wretch! Where does he suppose he'll go? How many times have we warned him not to go off on his own? How many times does he need to be told that he's only a boy and isn't ready to deal with the big bad world all by himself? You'd think what happened today would have taught him something about how dangerous life can be."

"You'd think," Percy acknowledged. "He's a determined little blighter though, George. Whatever notions he's gotten into his head this time, he thinks you're all better off without him. He's scared of what he can do."

"I'm scared of what he can do too," George said pacing again. "Well, I'll just take away his broom. That will put an end to those crazy plans. He can have it back on his twentieth birthday after he's acquired some common sense."

Percy drew a big breath getting ready to go out on a limb for his son. "Look, I already know what you're going to say, this isn't my call, either. So, I'll just tell you that I think Jasper's been through enough for one ordeal. I don't think you should punish him anymore for what's happened tonight."

George twisted his hands fitfully through his hair. Suddenly he ceased twisting. Tearing his hands off his head in an outraged motion he held them up for his brother to see, "Look at me, Percy! Do you see what your dying has done to me? Raising that child has turned me into you! Here I am pacing the floor like a boring miserable ex-prefect; worried about doing what's right, judging other people's behavior, and trying to set a good example! And there's you begging leniency for a convicted troublemaker! You just had to go off and die, didn't you? The natural order of the universe has been turned onto its head, and it's all your fault!"

"You've become very responsible in my absence. I'm actually somewhat impressed," Percy said tormenting his brother with ill-concealed glee. "I think I'll get myself a drink. Would you like one?"

Percy pressed the hidden latch behind the fireplace mantel and stood back while the meticulously concealed panel swung away from the wall exposing George's liquor cabinet. With a few deft flicks of his wand, and a well placed thump on the wall he unlocked the glass fronted doors and helped himself to a bottle of vintage, oak barrel aged Breath of the Deadly Dragon; a brand of fire whiskey several expensive grades more potent than the Old Ogden's that could be consumed for small cost by the common folk in taverns and pubs across the country. Point of fact, George's favored, pricey brand of whiskey made Old Ogden's steam like fermented corn swill by comparison.

"It's good to be you, George," Percy said wryly, his tone only faintly derisive, pouring himself a generous splash into a mildly dusty tumbler. "Though you should have a word with your elf, it appears that he hasn't been dusting very well in the library lately."

"You even manage to make hard work and success sound like it's a character flaw when it comes to me, Percy. I'll bet you think Penny stays with me just for the money. You can't believe she actually prefers life with a humorous jokester like me to going to bed every night with you, the stud muffin." Snatching the scorching bottle of whiskey out of Percy's grasp George poured a dram for himself. Disgustedly purveying the dusty tumbler before swallowing back his shot.

"I think Penny stays with you because she's in love with you," Percy said swallowing his own urge to retort in anger. "I've just spent the last half hour with her listening to her tell me so. And I resent you implying that she loved me only for my body! Penny and I are soul mates. Our relationship wasn't all just about the sex!"

"You have no idea what it's been like for me, Percy. You don't have a clue how hard I've worked to make her feel about me the way that she does. How hard I've tried to be a good father to Jasper and Phil," George retorted with an intemperate snort. "You got her so easily you never even appreciated what it was that you had."

"That's bollocks! I've always loved Penny. I was a good father to Jasper!"

"When you were around, maybe," George said. "When you weren't more concerned with your job, your mission, than you were about your family."

"My family has always come first with me!" Percy said feeling a flush of hot anger creeping up his neck.

"Right," George said. "That's why you left her pregnant and with a small child to raise in order to chase down a girl you'd lost half-way across the continent. One who was probably already dead before you even left to find her."

"That girl was my responsibility," Percy said grinding his teeth, unable to release the tension in his jaw. "Dead or alive, it was my job to bring her back."

George caught Percy's gaze and held it. They stared at each other in silence while the last spoken words swirled in the air between them, settling down to stay.

"Great Gryffindor's Ghost," Percy muttered sinking to the floor. "It was my job."

"It was a war," George replied. "Soldiers are supposed to be sacrificed in war. Sometimes wives, and children, and families are too. But you didn't have to go, Percy. Not that time. It was your choice. Your duty won over your family again. I'm sure you believed you were doing the right thing. I know you meant to come home. But you didn't. I was there for her and you weren't. If it's any consolation winning her wasn't easy for me. She's never stopped loving you, but I've worked hard at making her love me too."

"My heart bleeds for you, George. I've spent the last eight years sleeping on the floor of a concrete cave with bars on the windows; alone and quite celibate I might add. You, poor filthy rich little troll, you've had to suffer my wife's grieving over me after you've had sex with her."

Sod you, Percy. George thought. I don't owe you any explanations. You're the one who left. Having already suffered through years of the slings and arrows of his family's disapproval George didn't feel the need to justify his life with Penny to anyone anymore. But having Percy back, feeling his anger and jealousy was like being eviscerated daily with a toothpick.

"She is my wife now," George said. "And I love her and the children. They are everything to me. Everything I always wanted and some things I never even knew I was missing out on."

Percy moodily sipped at his whiskey, letting it burn hurtful words off his tongue. "I guess that's supposed to make me feel better?" he queried giving George a dark look.

"No," George replied. "It's supposed to make me feel better. I can understand how the circumstances of our relationship might reflect poorly on me, or even on her. I haven't really given a damn what anyone else thinks about it, until now. I moved into your cottage with Penny a month or so after we got the news that you'd disappeared. She wasn't well and she needed somebody to be there for her. Maybe that didn't look so great to people on the outside looking in. I didn't care then, and I don't care now, because she needed me. And Jasper needed me." He paused, rolling a thought in his head. One that he had never shared with anyone before, and it rolled off his tongue before he thought about it too hard. "No one has ever really needed me before. I liked the fact that she and Jasper needed me. I got used to being needed. But I never pressured her into a relationship." He stopped. Stared at the wall behind Percy's head for a minute before meeting his eyes again. "I won't deny that I wanted her. I wanted her so badly some nights I thought it would kill me. I drove myself nuts. I drove Fred nuts. But I slept on that damned sofa every single night and I never touched her. Not once, not until she asked me to."

"I suppose she asked you to marry her too," Percy said with an irritated twitch. Sod you, George. You could have found somebody else. You've wanted Penny since you were a kid, and you never even tried to find anybody else.

"She did actually," George said truthfully. "For the children's sake. So I could be a legal guardian to them. I don't try and fool myself that she was in love with me then. She wasn't. She slept with me, she made love with me, but it wasn't me that she wanted. She didn't really want me for a long time. I never gave up trying though. I made love to her like I meant it until she believed that I did, and then finally she started to mean it too."

Percy didn't want to think about George making it with Penny, especially if she'd been thinking about him while she was doing it. He kept his eyes in his tumbler and didn't respond.

Pouring another healthy dram for himself, George wandered over to look out the window. "It's a full moon tonight. Another reason Jasper wouldn't stay the night at Mum's. I should have realized it. Remus' howling unnerves him." He kept his gaze to the glass where he could monitor Percy's lean reflection staring him down in the window. "This incident tonight, you know, it's you all over, Percy. Just by virtue of your earlier birth you've always believed that you were so much smarter. Always thinking that you know better than the rest of us do. Well, let me tell you something I know that you apparently don't quite get yet. That boy is my son, now. I'm sorry it hurts you, but I won't change that fact for anyone or any reason. You have no right to keep from me anything that affects Jasper's well-being, and if you ever do so again I won't allow you to take him anywhere without my supervision ever again."

"You bandy that word 'son' around a lot," Percy sneered. "And I'll grant that you treat him like he's yours, but I distinctly remember being there at the moment of his creation. I can provide explicit details of the occasion for you if you'd like."

George dismissed Percy's claim to sire without bothering to turn around. "That doesn't mean a thing anymore, Percy. I started the proceedings to adopt Jasper and Phil as soon as Penny and I married. The adoption has been final for years."

"I know that. Penny's told me so already," Percy acknowledged grimly. "I know you've never been one to leave things to chance. But even you, with all your gazillions, can't legally adopt other people's children without the full consent of both parents."

"You were dead!" George protested.

"I'm not anymore," Percy replied almost humorously. "Don't misunderstand me, though, George. Despite my arrogant pomposity I don't fail to appreciate everything you've done for my children. Nor am I foolish enough to think I could ever take them away from you. You've got the money, and the connections, to have my corporeal state permanently altered. Failing that, you might bribe one of your vest pocket officials to deport me or have me incarcerated into Azkaban prison." He finished his character lambasting with a final swallow of valuable brew and turned to exit the room.

"I wouldn't have you killed," George responded coolly, halting Percy in his tracks and leaving the other two grim possibilities hanging in the air for his continued perusal. "Penny and the children wouldn't like it. For some reason they're rather fond of you. To say nothing of the way Mum would get after me. I'd hate to disappoint her now that she's finally decided I'm actually a good man. Fred is still waiting to receive his seal of approval. Even Fred might not like my having you killed. And although you irritate the hell out of me, I really wouldn't want to see anything else truly terrible happen to you either. You have no respect for me, Percy; I understand that. I've made Jasper and Phillipa wealthier than you even imagine they are and I've cared for them every day since your disappearance like they were my own. But I've also made your wife love me, more than you, even, it would seem. For that I can accept your scorn, but I wouldn't want you to walk away from me tonight thinking I'm a murderer."

Percy shoved his hands into his pockets. He studied his shoes for a moment, still wearing his worn-out looking trainers despite George's best advice that an upgrade in footwear would increase his job prospects. He needn't worry about finding a job any longer, because of George. A new pair of shoes might go some ways to establishing his new image as the young headmaster of Hogwarts. But Percy was long done with being concerned with appearances. "Well, I am a murderer. I've had to do a lot of things I'm not very proud of in order to survive. And I realize how good you've been to Penny and the children when I couldn't be," he said quietly. "That's why I haven't inveigled any of my murderous and thieving friends from prison into assassinating you or burgling your fortune."

"Very decent of you not to inflict your criminal acquaintances onto the family. I appreciate it," George remarked casually striding across the room and helping himself to another tot from the bottle before capping it securely and storing it again in his locked cabinet. "Speaking of burgling, remind me to re-spell this lock on the liquor cabinet. So, now that we've declared our mutual respect and affection, do we need to hug?"

"Absolutely not," Percy refuted with a shudder.

George slumped wearily into a library chair, hunched over his whiskey. "What will we do about our Jasper then? Why does he tell me he thinks he killed Narcissa Malfoy in that scuffle at Hogwarts? What really happened out there?"

"I killed Narcissa Malfoy, that's what happened out there," Percy insisted forcefully. "I have told Jasper so, and you have to back me up on this. We must convince him of it. I've been forced to kill many more evil persons for less grievous offenses than intentionally kidnapping my son and threatening to harm my family. One more death on my soul won't tip the scales against me any further than they are already. And I've survived hell once, if that's my destination I imagine I'll make it through again."

"What happens when the investigators come to question him?" George queried thoughtfully, not in the least surprised by Percy's confession to being guilty of violent crime. He swirled his tumbler between his hands watching the liquid inside flow and steam like molten lava.

"A discreet bribe should do to stop them from asking very many uncomfortable questions. Narcissa Malfoy isn't the first disgruntled, disenfranchised, Death Eater to allow dreams of vengeance to boil her blood. She won't be the last, either," Percy replied easily. "Jasper can't be questioned without a guardian's permission in any case. Penny and I will swear to the fact that I cursed the Malfoy witch in self-defense and that will be the end of it."

"The bribe is no matter, I can handle that confidentially. But he's too smart to be deceived about this, Percy. He thinks he had something to do with her death," George said relying on his knowledge of Jasper. "I haven't seen him this frightened since--- well, then there's Draco to consider." He gulped the rest of his drink to resist divulging the rest of his thoughts.

Not at all disposed to consider whatever threat Draco might impose Percy prodded, "You've not seen him so upset since when? Nothing like this has ever happened to him before; has it?"

"No, Jasper is malevolent enough on occasion, but he's never truly harmed anyone before," George sighed. "He's capable of performing some impressive wandless magic when he's upset though, and I haven't seen him this upset since we found Penny when----well, he was there with me when I found her."

"Oh," Percy responded quietly, declining to divulge any knowledge he'd gleaned from Penny during their recent emergency postpartum cuddling. He sounded more confident than he felt, "I'll take Jasper with me to Hogwarts when the new term starts. We can speak to Harry; arrange for some private defense lessons for Jasper. He can learn to manage the most dangerous aspects of his magic efficiently. That will make him feel more confident that he controls it, rather than having it control him. And the less we say about this incident, George, to anybody, the better it will be for all of us. That means keeping quiet around Fred, too. Can you do that?"

George rolled his eyes. "Contrary to your long held belief, Percy, Fred really is only my twin. Not the other half of my brain. Yes, of course, I can a keep a secret from him if I have to. And I agree with you. Haven't you realized by now that I would do anything for Jasper?"

"I know that you would," Percy admitted. "So, do we understand one another?"

"I guess we do, but let's not make a habit out of it. Agreeing with you gives me a stomachache."

By silent mutual accord the currently reconciled brothers revisited their charges in the manor's big bedroom. Penny and Jasper still slept soundly. In his slumber Jasper appeared to be an innocent and cherubic child. His long lashes bent curling on one sweet rosy cheek. His still childish hand resting open palmed on his mother's thigh. But the babies were stirring fretfully.

George stood over them beaming with besotted paternalistic adoration. "The voracious little beasts are hungry again," he mused. "At this rate they're going to drain Penny down to a husk." Glancing over at his peacefully sleeping wife he added, "I hate to wake her, but I don't want to wait until they start squalling."

"Prop her up on pillows," Percy suggested, "if you adjust them right, she can feed them in her sleep. I've seen her do it."

"Not twins," George disputed skeptically.

"Sure she can, George. She has two breasts. You're an innovative genius; make it work. For the inventor of the Invisible Head Hat this conundrum should be resolved in a snap. And as tired as she is, I think you're going to have to get creative fast," Percy said. "I'm going to drag your lazy ass house elf into the kitchen and force him to help me make enough food to sustain an army. That should help keep Penny fattened up well enough to weather the feeding demands of two tiny voracious beasts. You look like you could use a bit of down time yourself."

"I'd like nothing better than to crash for awhile in bed next to my wife," George admitted staring longingly at his fluffy pillow and Penny's flushed cheeks. "But my half is occupied." He stretched out a hand to gently stroke Jasper's silken curls.

"I'll put the knight-errant into his own bed," Percy offered lifting Jasper un-protesting out of the pillow nest he'd made for himself on his mother's lap.

"Sir Give-Us-Grief-A-Lot," George quipped dryly, gently nudging Penny into wakefulness.

"You're going to miss him when I take him to Hogwarts," Percy chided with a grin.

"If he agrees to go," George acknowledged, assisting his bleary-eyed wife into a semi-reclining position.

"Oh, he'll go," Percy said assured. "His girl is there."

"His girl?" George asked looking up from his pillow shuffling. "Millicent, the prefect's girl, do you mean? She's an older woman, and already spoken for."

"It's worked out alright for you." Percy, speaking without a grudge offered George a generous olive branch and elbowed his way sideways out the bedroom door to avoid banging any of Jasper's dangling limbs on the door jam.

George turned to smile joyfully at his weary, but still beautiful, curly haired wife and their two perfect twin daughters to find himself agreeing again with Percy, "So, it has."