Me, My Sister and I.
The Caulder-Weasley home was as silent as a typical Weasley home could never be. Percy was at work for the day, leaving no one for Audrey to argue with. Little Lucy was in the bath tub, giggling quietly and playing with what was left of the purple soap spuds. Her mother sat on the edge of the tub, trying – and so far failing – to persuade her to leave the water.
The third and last occupant of the chalet bungalow sat cross-legged on the floor of her mother's art room. Upon a stool before her lay a sheet of paper that was covered with paint, the tubes of which were scattered by her side. Molly was humming to herself, paintbrush in hand – she was nearly done with her master piece for the day. The little girl bit her lip, tilting her head in concentration. She let the brush in her hand swipe carefully, a neat black line emerging and perfecting the smile on the painting of a pretty brunette. Molly sat back and gave her painting one last glance; pleased with the result, she quietly began to collect her mother's art supplies to return them to their shelf.
As she stood up her eyes strayed to the clock on her mother's desk: half past one, it read. A slight frown etched itself upon her pale face; she hadn't planned on finishing so soon, expecting to be done later on in the afternoon. Molly placed the tubes on the top shelf (in order of the shades of the rainbow) with relative ease. She had inherited her physical features from both of her parents – her height and lanky build from her father, her hair and soft facial features from her mother. Her long nose, however, was her father's through and through. She had no reason to dislike it but would have preferred Audrey's cute, button one; on the bright side, it wouldn't have been half as useful to her as her height
Once Molly finished with the tubes of paint, she picked up the few brushes she had used and walked to the kitchen, no rush in her demeanor whatsoever. Time had been abundant and frankly quite irritating to the nine year old. She detested sitting idly and yet that was what she was forced to do frequently for the past month. It already felt like a year since school had ended and she couldn't wait to return to her Muggle teachers and classmates. Turning the tap of the sink on, she glumly reminded herself that she had an entire month of sun before she'd be able to sit in class again.
Molly rinsed the brushes thoroughly as she thought of what she could do for the rest of the day. Reading was always a safe option, though the weather was too pleasant to be wasted. If only she played Quidditch, she could have Flooed to her Aunt Ginny's house; nevertheless, her rational fear of extreme heights denied her of that luxury. Shrugging, Molly decided to ask her mother to take them to the park – it had been a while since the family had last been there.
Molly dried the utensils off with some tissue and ran back to the art room. She threw the brushes into a mug haphazardly, excited about her idea. She skidded to a halt at the door to her and Lucy's room, unaware of the smile adorning face.
"Are you done with your painting?" Audrey asked over her shoulder, wrestling a summer dress over Lucy's head.
Molly had momentarily forgotten about the activity she had been slaving over the past hour. "What?"
"The painting… are you done, dear?" Audrey repeated calmly, which was quite a feat as Lucy was trying to peel off her pink unicorn pants.
Molly shook her head dismissively. "Yes, Mum. Forget about that, though… I think it would be nice if we went to the park today," she suggested.
Lucy let out a shriek and clapped her hands. "Swings!"
Audrey sighed thankfully and took the opportunity to pull Lucy's pants up. "That's a lovely idea, Molly. Get yourself ready and I'll prepare some sandwiches." Now that Lucy was distracted over the prospect of playing outside, Audrey was able to dress her up with no difficulty.
In a matter of minutes, the three were long gone and in the neighbourhood park, searching for a nice shady spot to have their picnic. Molly spotted a tree near the playground and pointed excitedly. Audrey nodded in approval and Molly grinned at Lucy. "I'll race you there!"
Lucy obliged and ran as fast as her pudgy legs could carry her. That wasn't enough to beat her older sister's longer legs hence Molly slowed her pace to a few feet behind the giggling redhead. She let her win by quite a lot and collapsed dramatically to add to the effect. Lucy clamped her small hands over mouth, her pink-tinged face nearly bursting with joy.
"Mum!" she cried as Audrey came within earshot. "I won, I won!"
"Yes, I saw you win, love," Audrey replied with a smile. She placed the basket down and sat near Molly's lying form. "That was very sweet of you," she added in an undertone, her eyes shining with emotion. Moments like these made everything worth it for Audrey.
Molly acknowledged her mother's words with a slight smile, otherwise pretending to not have heard her. "Sit and eat, Luce. I promise we'll play later."
And so they played after a light lunch of sandwiches and apple juice – just as Molly had promised.
Molly was pushing Lucy on the swings for the umpteenth time when Audrey came to the two, her purse tucked under her shoulder.
"Are we leaving so soon?" Molly asked disappointedly.
Audrey chuckled. "Not unless you'd like to," she replied. Thankfully, Lucy was too preoccupied with giggling to herself – lest she saw her mother, she would have been making one of her renown tantrums.
"Then where are you off to?" inquired Molly, not missing a beat.
"I reckoned you two deserve some ice cream. I'll just walk to the store and back in a matter of minutes. Take good care of your sister, Molly."
Molly nodded and rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mum; don't I always?"
Audrey beamed at her eldest daughter and placed a quick kiss on her forehead. "I love you," she said and repeated it louder for Lucy to hear. Audrey waved and left, wishing she had her camera on her person.
"Molly, I want to slide now!" cried Lucy, not long after their mother left. Molly slowed down the swing and lifted her five year old sister, holding her hand once she placed her on the ground. Lucy let go and ran off, arms flailing. Molly watched her from where she stood and laughed quietly to herself; her sister would never cease to entertain her.
Molly followed Lucy and arrived just in time to watch her slide down. At the bottom, a boy – a few years older than Molly – plopped himself at the edge, refusing to let Lucy pass. The little redhead's lower lip began to tremble, too terrified to kick and screech as she would have done if it were someone she knew. Molly stalked over, rage taking over her senses. Why would he pick on someone less than half his age?
"Oi, you! Move it!"
The boy looked over at her and grinned – he was missing a tooth. "What will you give me?"
"I'll give you a treat, now let her pass!" Tears were beginning to stream down Lucy's face and Molly wanted nothing more than to make the boy cry twice as hard.
"Let me see the treat first," he replied stubbornly, arms crossed over chest. He let out an indignant huff and turned his head from Molly.
"I'll give it to you behind that tree," she pointed to the large oak by their right.
The boy looked curious and obliged. "All right but if you don't, I'll get my friends and you'll be in big trouble."
Molly nearly kicked him as she picked up a sobbing Lucy. Hugging her tightly, Molly whispered reassuring words into her ear. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here, Luce. You're safe as long as I'm here." Eventually, Lucy's tears subsided to hiccups. Smiling, Molly wiped her wet face. "Mum's on her way with – "
"Oi, I'm waiting!" interrupted the boy from his place underneath the tree.
Everything that came afterwards was in such quick succession that Molly was barely able to process it. One moment she was seething with rage and the next, the boy lay on the floor, a branch strewn across his chest and his figure barely moving. Lucy began to cry.
Molly watched as a woman rushed over, her feet stuck in place. She let out a breath as she heard him groan, satisfied that she hadn't killed him; nevertheless, she left him mildly to severely injured. Whatever the case, the git deserved it – it'd hopefully teach him a much needed lesson.
Molly grabbed Lucy's hand and steered her away from the scene to their picnic spot. She pulled her sister into her lap, caressing her flaming curls. Lucy tucked her head into her sister's shoulder and whimpered. "I wanna go home."
"Shh," cooed Molly, still stroking Lucy's hair. "We'll go home now."
Molly wasn't bluffing because she had spotted her mother's petite figure making its way towards them, hands laden with ice cream. Molly gave her mother a reassuring smile at her questioning look. "Can we eat it on our way back, Mum?"
"Of course."
The walk home began as a silent one, all three girls slurping their ice cream. Audrey held Lucy on her hip, a lemon lolly in her free hand. "How was your day, girls?"
Lucy's short attention span was focused on the cone in her hand, forcing Molly to answer.
"Nothing we couldn't handle," she replied with a shrug. Molly had no intention of hiding today's events from her mother, though she thought against speaking in front of Lucy lest she began to cry once again.
"Molly is my big sister," Lucy inputted, grinning at her mother.
Audrey watched as Molly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. She was proud in her and Percy's efforts; her baby girls were growing up better than how she had ever imagined them to be.
Audrey gave Molly a one armed hug; Lucy wrapped her arm around Molly's head, pulling the three into a group hug. Grinning, Molly hugged them back, wishing her father was here as well – then it would have been a perfect family moment.
"Lucy! There's chocolate in my hair!"
Audrey stepped out of the hug and laughed at the sight of the half-eaten cone sticking out from the back of Molly's head; the brunette, instead of shouting as would be expected, removed it and stuck it on her forehead instead.
Lucy clapped gleefully. "Unicorn!" she shrieked.
Molly joined in with her mother's laughter, grateful for her family; without them, she would have had a rather dull summer indeed.
Author's Note:
Hello and thank you for taking your time to read this. (: It's been quite a while since I've last written and I'd like to thank my friend Nezz for giving me the idea. :D Audrey's character was based on how a good friend of mine portrays her, so kudos to her! Love you both. xx