Chapter 1: An Unexpected Homecoming
A/N: Neither Syrus nor SteffieSnape own anything from the Potterverse, nothing, only their imaginations and their OC's. Just wanted to make that clear if you didn't know.
Molly Weasley bustled around her kitchen hurrying to get dinner ready while making sure nothing burned and everything was just right.
I need to make sure everything is perfect for Madison's birthday! I hope she'll like the food! Molly thought, checking on the roast in the oven.
Suddenly she heard a knock at the door. She didn't know who would be knocking since Arthur would have just apparated inside.
Probably one of those door to door salesmen… Molly thought.
"Just a minute!" Molly yelled, hurrying to close the oven and get to the front door.
As she unlocked the door she said, "Thanks for dropping by but I really don't – "
She suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence when she realized that on her doorstep was none other than Percy Weasley. He was carrying a parcel and he was looking at Molly very seriously.
"Percy?" Molly asked in shock.
Molly just continued to stare at him in shock, not knowing what to say to him at all.
"Umm…can I…come in?" Percy asked hesitantly.
Molly shook her head as if she was coming out of a trance and said, "Oh, yes, yes, of course!"
She led him to the living room and looked at him, still slightly in disbelief. She never thought Percy would come home again.
Breaking the awkward silence, Percy said, "Mum…I am so sorry. For everything…" he paused, trying to go on but finding it difficult.
Molly could only continue to stare at him, in disbelief.
I must be dreaming, she thought.
"I had been so caught up in my job and things that I forgot what was really important."
Molly opened her mouth to interrupt but Percy stopped her, placing a hand on her arm.
"You… and dad… our family. It was so foolish of me to think that I didn't need you. After all that you and dad did for me, I just spit in your face. I don't think there is anything I could say or do that could really make up for what I did, but I hope that you could forgive me… some how."
Molly tried to speak again, but this time no words left her mouth. She was completely stunned.
"I know it's a lot to ask of you, but I would be so grateful if… you could accept my apology." He finished, looking at her seriously as he waited for her reaction.
Molly looked at him, not knowing if she should just let him come back after all that happened. But as he looked at her imploringly, all she could see was her little boy. She knew then that she had to forgive him.
It must have been so hard for Percy to come to us like this…I have to let him come back. Molly decided.
She looked at Percy with her eyes brimming, and she said, "Of course I forgive you, Percy."
Percy smiled, but then his smile quickly died.
"What about dad, and everyone else? I don't think they'd want me back," he said.
"I'll talk to your father. Don't you worry," Molly said confidently, just glad that Percy finally came home.
"Thanks mum," Percy said.
They stood silently for a few more moments.
"Well, I guess I should get going now, you did seem busy with cooking before I came," Percy said, beginning to leave the living room.
"No! You can't just leave after coming home finally! Please, at least stay for dinner. Ron and Hermione are coming with their daughter Madison. It's her birthday today! She's three years old," Molly said, smiling when she thought about Madison.
"Oh, really? I was just going to stop by their house tomorrow, but this will be much easier," Percy said. "Oh, by the way. This is for you."
Percy picked up the parcel he brought with him and handed it to Molly. As she opened the parcel, tumbling out were violet dress robes, lush and of luxurious velvet. Molly looked at them with appreciation.
"Oh, Percy, these are beautiful! They're my favorite color too!" Molly said, feeling very pleased, "These must have been so expensive…"
"I think it was money well spent. Go on, mum. Try them on," Percy said.
"Oh, alright," Molly said, her eyes lighting up.
She ran inside quickly and put them on, relishing on the feeling of the robes on her skin. She came out to show Percy.
"Thank you so much! This is really wonderful!" Molly said, smiling.
Percy smiled back.
Then he said, "Oh, just a moment. I had something for Ron and Hermione's child, but I had left it back at my house since I thought I'd be seeing them tomorrow. I'll just go get it right now."
Percy suddenly apparated out of the room. Just then, Arthur apparated in the house.
"Hi hon," Arthur said while giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Are Ron, Hermione, and Madison coming soon? I wanted to get out of my work robes."
"They will be here soon, but I think you have enough time to change. But, I have to tell you something," Molly said seriously.
"What?" Arthur asked curiously.
Molly knew it wouldn't be easy getting Arthur to accept Percy again, but she had to try.
"Well…" Molly started saying hesitantly, "I wanted to talk about…Percy…"
Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly in distaste.
"What about him?" he said with disgust.
"Umm…he…uhhh…" Molly continued slowly.
"He, what?" Arthur asked, looking like he was getting close to losing his temper.
Just then Percy apparated back into the room with another parcel in his arms. Arthur heard the slight pop sound caused by apparating into a room and turned around.
"Well…he's…here," Molly said.
Arthur did not say anything to Percy and just glared. Percy looked very uncomfortable, and thenhe tried to break the awkward silence.
"Umm… hello, dad," Percy said.
"What do you want?" Arthur asked simply.
"I was so out of line. I really – " Percy started saying.
"It is too late for this, Percy. You should have thought about that before you said anything, or moved out of my house," Arthur said, the pain apparent in his voice.
Percy looked at him in dismay, not knowing what to say.
"Arthur, everyone makes mistakes. Percy's come back home! At least give him a chance…" Molly suddenly interrupted.
Arthur did not answer her, and just stuck to glaring disapprovingly at Percy some more. Their conversation was interrupted when they heard a large roaring noise come from the fireplace. Ron, Hermione, and Madison were now there. Ron dusted himself off as he walked out, while Hermione dusted herself and Madison off. After taking a few more steps, they realized who was in the living room with Arthur and Molly. Neither Ron nor Hermione knew what to say, while Madison just stayed silent as if she instinctively knew something was wrong with the situation. Molly decided to try to break the ice.
"Ronald, Hermione…Percy just came home today. He's going to stay with us for dinner," Molly said, smiling a little nervously.
"I was going to stop by at your house tomorrow to see you three, but mum invited me to dinner tonight," Percy said.
Then Percy bent down to Madison's level.
"Hello, Madison. I'm your uncle Percy," he said.
Madison scampered behind Hermione's legs and waved.
Hermione smiled politely, but still standoffishly and said, "Oh, she's just like that around…strangers."
"Well, Madison, I have something for you," Percy said, offering Madison the parcel he had in his arms.
Madison looked cautiously at it, but did not take it. Hermione then just decided to take the parcel to be polite and set it down behind her by Madison. Ron finally spoke up.
"It was nice of you to think of Madison, but you really didn't have to get her anything," Ron said, in a similar tone to Hermione's.
"I think I owe you all more than I can give you after everything that's happened," Percy replied seriously.
"Really, Percy, you shouldn't have," Hermione said.
While they were all talking, Madison had directed her attention to opening the parcel. Suddenly she spoke, interrupting the adults and bringing the attention to herself.
"A broom, mommy, a broom!" Madison said with excitement while jumping up and down and clapping.
"Oh, a broom," Hermione said with little enthusiasm, already knowing she'd be chasing her around the house to no end.
Molly thought this was an opportune time to tell everyone that dinner was ready.
"Okay, everyone, let's get outside so that we can eat!" Molly said, ushering everyone outside.
There was a table set up outside for everyone, and Molly hurried forward and conjured a chair for Percy since they weren't expecting him. Percy looked around the yard as the sun set. The trees that lined the yard were as gnarled as ever and grass looked like it had grown nearly to the height of his knees. As he looked at the pond, he noticed there was now a fountain there that wasn't there before.
"Other than the fountain in the pond, everything's just the way I remember it," Percy said to Molly while smiling.
Molly smiled back. Suddenly everyone heard two pops caused by apparation. They looked toward the noise and saw that it was Fred and George.
"Sorry we'relate," said Fred.
"We had to close up the shop," said George.
"But there was no way we were missing our favorite niece's birthday!" said Fred.
"Well, not to mention our only niece, but still our favorite!" George said while smiling.
"Gred! Forge!" Madison said excitedly, running toward them to give them a hug.
After they both gave her a huge hug each, they looked up and noticed who was there. One person in particular.
"Percy?" Fred said in disbelief.
"What are you doing here?" George said, looking at him questioningly.
"I owe you two an apology as much as I do to everyone else. I am really sorry for my behavior in the past," Percy said to them both.
Fred just looked at Percy in slight distrust. He just didn't know what to make of this situation at all. George felt the same way, so he decided to take attention away from Percy by giving Madison the present they brought for her.
"Hey, Madi! We have something for you that you're going to love!" George said, reaching into his robes for something.
Oh, no…Hermione thought, feeling sure any present from Fred and George was just going drive her crazy.
George pulled out a little wand for children and handed it to Madison.
"Oooo…" Madison said as she took the wand in her little hand.
"Go on, give it a wave!" Fred said.
As she waved it, little sparkles came out of its tip. As she waved it around abit more, everyone realized that the little sparkles spelled out Madison's name.
"Wow, guys. That's the most non-trick wheeze you guys ever made. I'm impressed," Ron said in awe.
"Thank you, Fred, George. That's a really great present," Hermione said, relieved that at least their gift wouldn't be giving her more stress.
"Well, we're not done yet!" said George.
"What's a birthday party without our famous Wild-Fire Whiz Bangs!" said Fred.
Fred took a bunch of them out of his robes, and set them on the ground. Then he cast a fire lighting charm to set them off. As they whizzed, banged, and exploded all over the place, everyone watched with appreciation and amusement, especially Madison. When they finally seemed to die down, everyone took a seat for dinner. They set up a special chair for Madison with a few books to give her height right by Hermione's chair. When everyone had been served the birthday cake, a couple more of Fred and George's Whiz Bangs went off randomly, startling everyone.
Hermione smirked to herself and thought, Only Fred and George…
Finally when dinner had concluded, Fred, George, and Percy apparated to their homes, while Ron, Hermione, and Madison flooed home. After putting Madison to bed, and as she was getting into bed with Ron, Hermione gave voice to the thoughts that had been nagging at her since Percy had unexpectedly popped back into their lives.
"Ron, why do you think Percy just showed up like this to apologize after so long?" Hermione asked.
"I have no idea. If you ask me, I just think he's a nutter," Ron said, not giving Percy's return much thought.
"It can't just be that. It just didn't feel right at all to me. The Percy I remember was so self-righteous and self-serving. I mean, I sincerely doubt that the Percy we knew would ever try to right his wrongs. There has to be a reason for this," Hermione said with conviction.
Ron, on the other hand, didn't want to botherthinking about it.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, but maybe he's actually realized that he was a git," he replied.
"Maybe…" Hermione said with much reluctance.
"Why don't we talk about this later... I'm tired," Ron said with a yawn.
"Alright. Good night, Ron," Hermione said, a little disappointed.
Ron gave her a little kiss on the cheek and said, "Good night, Hermione."
Ron settled under the covers and quickly fell asleep. Hermione, on the other hand, was kept awake by her thoughts.
Especially with the way that Madi was acting around him, there had to be something wrong. She usually can pick up on these kind of things before others can… I know there is something else to this, I just know it! Hermione thought, stumped as to what, exactly, it could all mean.
Violet Black sat in the Leaky Cauldron, sipping a drink, and looking constantly at her watch.
What is taking Draco so long? It's already getting late…Violet thought, getting a little worried.
As she looked to the door for the twentieth time, she saw someone with hair so blonde it was almost white walk in. She smiled. As he got closer, she saw he was carrying a single red rose.
"A beautiful rose for a beautiful lady," Draco said, while smiling sweetly and handing her the rose.
"Oh, Draco, thank you!" Violet said, smiling back.
"So what's the news you have for me that would warrant you calling me here so urgently?" Draco asked while raising an eyebrow.
"Draco…" Violet said, smiling in delight, "I got the transfer! I'm going be an Auror for the Ministry of Magic here!"
Draco's face lit up.
"Really! That's fantastic!" Draco said, impulsively leaning forward and giving Violet a kiss.
When they pulled away from each other, Violet took Draco's hand.
"Now we can spend more time with each other rather than just a few hours at a time," Violet said.
"Yeah… I've really been missing you a lot…" Draco said, giving her hands a little squeeze.
"I know, me too," Violet replied.
For a while, they just sat, taking each other in, when Violet realized that it probably was getting very late.
"Maybe we should get going now… I did tell Ginny I would owl her when I got here…" Violet said, sad that her meeting with Draco had to be so short.
"Oh, alright…" Draco said, also feeling disappointed.
As they walked out of the Leaky Cauldron, Violet looked at Draco, and saw that he had a thoughtful expression on his face.
After tapping the appropriate bricks on the wall behind the Leaky Cauldron to get into Diagon Alley, Violet asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Draco smiled and put his arms around her.
"Come home with me," Draco whispered, holding her tight.
Violet hugged him back and said, "I guess I can tonight since it's so late."
Then Draco pulled away slightly and smiled at her.
"No, I mean… permanently… forever…" he said softly, running a hand through her hair.
Violet was shocked. She wasn't expecting something like this so suddenly.
"But, Draco, what will I tell my parents? They're not going to be too pleased with that, you know?" she said.
"We'll deal with your parents later. Let's just concentrate on what we want, now," Draco said.
"But what about Ginny? I told her I would be moving in with her," Violet said, seriously considering this.
"If she really needs a roommate, she can probably find someone easily around her school," Draco said, not willing to give up on this, even if it was something that impulsively came to him.
Draco then tilted her head up slightly and kissed hervery passionately. When Draco finally pulled back, they were both slightly breathless.
"Come on, you know you want to!" Draco said playfully.
Violet smiled and said, "Hmmmm…"
Before Draco could say anything else, Violet just engrossed him with another passionate kiss.