aperfectthird | → o1. [video]

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[The feed opens quite abruptly on a young man looking into the device with a combination of consternation and confusion. A finger appears and taps on the screen, then the view promptly swings around to a pair of perfectly polished dress shoes. The view shakes for a moment before coming back to Percy's face, brow still furrowed.]

Oh, I think it's one of those communication devices - felly - no - telly - telephones? Is it on?

[He speaks loudly now.]

Hello?! Can anyone hear me?

[Beat. He looks worried, biting his lip, then squares his jaw, thinks for a moment, and continues. His tone is firm and authoritative, though those who know him well might be able to spot a very fine thread of fear running through it.]

If anyone can hear me, then I demand safe passage back to England immediately. I am employed by the British government and I guarantee that the Minister will not be pleased to find I have been taken.

I await your response.

Now how do I turn this off?

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[There is a long moment of silence as Percy stares at the screen, and there's that awful feeling in the pit of his stomach like he's missed a step on the way down the stairs - the same ugly cold awful feeling he gets every time he looks at George.

Then, he rallies:]

George! I might have known you'd be behind this. What is the meaning of all this?!

Come off it. Georgie's good, yeah, but not enough to pull off all this.

[It's me, Percy. Don't you dare shut down, not now, because Fred needs you to look at him. He'll joke it off with all the rest, laugh about it as though it's the same game they've been playing since they were nippers, but not with Percy. Not today.]

[Oh, he's looking. He's staring, and then he's shaking his head, swallowing down the hot guilt that's boiling up his throat.]

No. No. This is impossible. This is not happening. This is some kind of sick joke, and when I find out who is responsible, there are going to be consequences.

[This is not the reaction he was expecting. It's hard to know what to expect, when he has something of a point. Fred knows he isn't supposed to be here, isn't supposed to be alive (but he isn't, is he? not really, not when he knows so clearly that he's dead and lost to the world), but he is and isn't that supposed to be a good thing? Shouldn't they be happy?

But instead, Percy is on the defensive and Fred is feeling rejected which clearly leads to being angry because when do any of the Weasleys say what's really on their mind? 'Why are you looking at me like I'm something foul?' 'Why are you telling me I'm not real?' 'Why aren't you calling me your snot nosed little brother like you're meant to?']

Really, Perce? We grow up with magic, taught near nothing is impossible and this is what you decide isn't real? I'm right here, you bloody prat!

The dead don't come back to life!

[For a moment, his grief and pain are writ large over his face, unable to hold them back as he stares at the brother he just buried, the brother he lost, the brother he killed - and then just as quickly, he reels it all back in, shuttering again, taking in a breath that almost doesn't shake.]

It's one of the three basic rules of magic. A magic-user cannot create something out of nothing, cannot replicate true love, and cannot resurrect the dead.

[Another moment of staring, and then he closes his eyes, looks away.]

It's impossible.

[Fred's not blind, and he's not stupid. He can see Percy is struggling, hurt and possibly even scared, and that's fine. That's expected, because they all are. But Percy is Percy, business as usual, and he's reciting the three basic laws of magic as though Fred's five years old again, despite the fact he's lived through a war, died for that war, and damn sure deserves to be treated like a fucking adult, even if his own brother doesn't believe he's real.

Which leaves us with one hurt, rejected and severely hacked off Fred Weasley. Fun for the whole family.

Anger deep set in an unwavering glare, Fred doesn't so much as breath for longer than anyone interested in having oxygen in their lungs should be capable of. Luckily, he's not one of those people. Not anymore.]

Reckon it'll be a comfort to you then, that I haven't been resurrected. Just as dead as the last time you saw me, so. Cheers to that.

[He smacks the device away and it cracks against a wall, a faint 'Unbelievable--' audible behind the electronic feedback before the device cuts off.]

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