Disclaimer: As I've claimed before, and I'll claim again, I do not own Potter Property.
3
"Look, Louis, do you want the cookie?" Roxy asked, pushing her red hair behind her ears.
"Yeah," Louis, one year her younger, said, cross his arms and narrowing his eyes.
"Then you have to put on the dress," Roxy continued, holding out the blue sundress.
"I'm not wearing your dress!" he said again.
"It's not Roxy's dress," Lucy, two years his older, said. "It's mine."
"Like that makes it any better!" Louis shouted.
"Do you want the cookie?" Roxy asked again, holding the dress out.
"Fine," Louis growled, taking the dress.
"Now go into the bathroom and change," Lucy instructed, pointing the bathroom at Shell Cottage. Slouching and dejected, Louis trudged into the bathroom.
3
"Percy's getting really nervous about her," Audrey said, gazing at the four kids playing in her back yard. "He isn't convinced."
"We 'ave no doubt about Louis," Fleur said. "'E went zhrough a phase where 'e 'ad a terrible time controlling 'is magic. Bill worked wizh 'im, zhough, and zhe problem is less pronounced, now."
"We're kind of worried about what'll happen when she goes to secondary. Hopefully, it won't be too awkward. I mean, we did the best we could. She's currently enrolled in my old school, actually."
"What'll you do if she does get a Hogwarts letter?" Ginny asked.
"Withdraw her and send her off on the train, I suppose," Audrey answered, a hint of sadness tucked within her words.
"You don't want her to?" Angelina asked, picking up on the cues.
"It's not that. I just…" Audrey sighed. "It's difficult enough trying to keep a hand on Molly…I can't imagine how much more difficult it'll be when I'm the only one without any magic…"
"Molly always was a handful, though. Lucy isn't nearly as hyper as Molly," Ginny said.
"It's just…I don't know how I'm going to handle it," Audrey admitted.
"Try not to worry about it too much," Fleur said. "You will do fine."
Audrey nodded and offered a half-grin, familiar guilt rearing its ugly head. She wanted so much for Lucy to be non-magical, to have something to share with her. Molly had always been closer to her father, the pair of them oddly matched, really; Percy, the reserved, up tight ministry official, and his rather eccentric, hyper active daughter. From an early age, she showed an aptitude for magic, her father tutoring her along the way. Lucy, though, hadn't shown any quantitative evidence of magical capabilities. While both girls had been raised in a very low-magic household -- Audrey not taking kindly to being around magic constantly -- they had marginally been raised as muggles, going to muggle schools, partaking in muggle sports, and doing muggle activities. Just like Audrey had done. As soon as Molly had started getting a handle on her magic, she had lost a lot of interest in those kinds of things (with the exception of football). Lucy, on the other hand, was still heavily involved with her muggle friends and other various activities. In fact, she was slated to go to the same school as few of them come fall. But if she was accepted into Hogwarts…
Audrey bit back the thought and grinned at the story of Lily's first foray into magic -- a fury that led to a few broken vases.
3
Lucy jumped into the pool behind her house, trying to escape from the heat. Louis and Roxanne followed after her, the three of them splashing and squealing with delight. Rose, James, and Fred all looked into the water, cautious. Hugo came up behind Rose and pushed her in.
"Ronald Hugo Weasley!" she cried, pulling herself from the pool. "I'm going to kill you!" She chased down her brother, soaking wet, and threw him in the pool.
"They're so annoying!" Roxanne said, floating in the cool water.
"I know," Louis said.
He glanced at Lucy. The pair of them nodded and snuck up on Roxanne. Together, they submerged her under water. She flailed for a few seconds before resurfacing. She jumped on Lou and dunked him for a few seconds.
"You little rat!" Roxanne cried, holding him there.
"Woah, Roxy," Fred said, her older brother pulling her off the littlest Weasley. "Don't kill the kid."
"He dunked me first!" Roxy shouted, pulling away from her older brother.
Lucy watched, slightly amused, as Louis gasped for breath.
"I'm gonna kill you!" Louis shouted.
"No you don't," Dom said, coming up behind his little brother and putting him in a wrestling hold. Lou struggled against him and they began their usual routine of fighting.
"Argh!" Lou shouted. "Help me, Luce!"
"I'm coming!" Lucy replied, jumping onto Dom's back. There was no way she was going to let the moment for entertainment pass up. Dom fell backwards in the water, pinning Lucy there for a few moments. When she came back up, she and Roxy both tried to get Dom under.
"Vicky!" Roxy called. "Vicky! Help us!"
"I can't, hon," Vicky replied, her hands on her rounded belly. "Maybe next time."
"Uncle George!" Lucy called. He always answered her calls. Sure enough, he cannon balled into the pool and quickly subdued Dom.
"Uncle G!" Dom shouted, pulling away. "That's no fun!"
"Maybe not for you," Uncle George replied, continuing to play with Dom. "But to me, it's hilarious."
"Who wants to play Marco Polo?" James shouted.
Soon enough, everyone was swimming away from Rose, who was 'it'.
3
"You know," Molly said, her blue eyes glinting with excitement. "The final exams weren't nearly as difficult as everyone said they were. I mean, everyone -- even Dom -- said they were going to be really difficult. They were really easy. I mean, it wasn't like I paid attention most of the time, but it really wasn't hard. Lysander had a bit of trouble, though. After, he made us all dress up like fairies and run through Hogwarts. He's such an idiot. I couldn't believe he actually wore a skirt, though. It was quite the sight. I thought Professor Wolfe would give us a detention, but even he laughed! And I hadn't seen Flitwick that unnerved all year!"
Audrey sat down in her seat across from Percy -- Lucy on her left, Molly on her right.
"You know, Molly," Percy said. "You really shouldn't goof off at school. It distracts from other people's studies and then it's your fault when they fail."
"We never distract people. If they want to watch us, they watch us. We don't force them, and we wouldn't dare anger Madame Pince. Lorcan did it once, and he got detention for a month."
"Mum, when do I get to go to Hogwarts?" Lucy asked, looking up from dinner.
"Maybe this year, but I really don't know."
"You don't get to go Hogwarts, Luce," Molly said. "You don't have any magic."
"Molly," her father growled, quickly putting her in place.
"When will you know for sure?" Lucy asked, ignoring her sister.
"On your birthday."
"Ok."
Audrey and Percy exchanged nervous glances; either way this turned out, one of them would be heartbroken. Audrey didn't know what to think; she didn't want Percy to be disappointed, but she didn't want to lose her youngest daughter, either.
3
"Happy birthday, Uncle Harry!" Lucy said, waving at her uncle.
"Hey, Luce," he said, giving her a brief hug.
"Lucy!" Roxanne shouted. "Louis won't wear the Hawaiian skirt!"
Grinning, Lucy went over to the other two youngest Weasleys.
"Louis," Lucy said, crossing her arms. "You need to wear the skirt."
"No I don't," Louis said angrily. "I'm sick of wearing skirts!"
"It's not a skirt," Roxanne insisted. "It's an accessory. Now take off your pants and put it on."
"No!"
"Then leave your shorts on and put the skirt over it."
"No!"
"Do you want a piece of cake, Lou?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah."
"Then put on the skirt."
"And if you want the frosting, you'll need the coconuts, too." Roxy held out the coconut bra.
"Oh, come on!" Lou whined.
"Do you want the cake and frosting?" Lucy asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Fine," Louis grumbled, taking the costume and slipping into the bathroom of the Burrow.
3
"Are you guys sure she hasn't…?" Percy asked softly, looking at all his brothers.
They all shook their heads.
"It'll be fine, Perce," Harry said. "Even if she isn't, she still has Audrey. I mean, it'd be so much worse if Audrey was a witch. She'd be even more ostracized."
Percy grimaced at the thought. It would have been worse if she was a full-blown squib. He suppressed a shudder.
"Look," Charlie said. "Just because she doesn't have magic doesn't mean she's any less of Weasley."
"I know, Charlie. But she's from a magical world. You know? Even though we run a low-magic household…I got really lucky with Audrey…she won't be as lucky…I just…I really want this for her," Percy muttered, running his hands through her hair. "Sometimes I think I'm being selfish, you know? All I want is for her to have everything I had…and then some."
"That's not being selfish, Perce," Ron said harshly.
"Audrey was so disappointed when Molly got her letter," Percy muttered. "I…I'm not sure I want…it feels like I'm putting myself before her…"
"Stop it," George said. "It isn't going to make you feel any better, acting like this."
"Your feelings are perfectly normal," Ron said. "I felt the same thing with Rose. I wanted her to be a witch, even though I knew if she wasn't, I would still love her, the idea of her missing out on so much broke my heart."
Percy nodded. The pair had adopted Rose as a toddler and hadn't had a solid idea of who her parents were. For all they knew, she was the daughter of a pair of the most muggle people in the world. Despite the adoption officer's confidence in her magical abilities, neither of them saw solid use of them until she was nine.
"Lucy's currently going to Audrey's old school, isn't she?" Bill asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, at least she has someone to share the experience with."
"It'll be good for her, either way," Ron said with finality.
"Dinner!" Ginny called.
3
"I hate board games," Lou mumbled, sitting down next to Molly at the table at Shell Cottage.
"Get over it," Molly replied. "I'm red."
"Why do you get to be red? I want to be red!" Lou shouted angrily.
"You're always red," Molly said. "Besides I'm the only Gryffindor here."
"No you aren't," Vicky said from the stove.
"You don't count," Molly said, "because you're graduated."
"Once a Gryffindor, always a Gryffindor, hon," Vicky replied.
"I still don't understand why we can't go outside," Lou grumbled.
"It's raining," Vicky answered smoothly, scooping some macaroni and cheese into bowls for them all.
She flicked her wand and the bowls smoothly slid onto the table. Lucy took her bowl and started to eat as her younger relatives set up the game board. It was good; Vicky always made a mean lunch.
"Who goes first?" Lou asked, sitting back in the chair with his bowl.
"Oldest to youngest," Molly said, reaching for the dice.
"I believe I'm the oldest," Vicky said, holding out her hand.
"Oh come on!" Molly said, indignant.
"It's always oldest to youngest, Molly," Lucy said, pointing her spoon incriminatingly.
"I hate it when it rains," Lou mumbled.
"Get over it," Vicky said, rolling the dice. She moved her piece -- the black one -- and picked up a tactile card to be played at a later date.
"Do you have a name for the baby?" Lucy asked, watching Molly move her piece.
"Not this again," Lou groaned. Vicky hit him with her spoon.
"Yes, Teddy and I have come up with a name."
"Well…what is it?"
"I can't tell you. It's a secret."
"Vicky!" Lucy pressed, taking the dice. "You can't not tell us!"
"It's Flora Andromeda Weasley Lupin," Louis said.
"You weren't supposed to tell anyone, you prat," Vicky said angrily, throwing her spoon at her brother. It him square between the eyes. He blinked, stunned for a moment, and then stuck his tongue out. Vicky returned the gesture.
"You're so rude, Louis," Lucy said, pushing him slightly.
"Yeah? Well at least I'm going to Hogwarts!"
"So am I!" Lucy replied.
"No you aren't!"
"Yes I am! Why wouldn't I be going to Hogwarts?"
There was thunder over head and lightening streaked across the sky.
"Because you, unlike me, don't have magic!"
"I do to!"
"No you don't! When was the last time you used magic? Huh? Yeah, that's what I thought, you don't have magic!"
"Shove it, Louis!"
"Oh! Are you all angry because you know I'm right?"
"No! Because you're wrong!"
There was another clap of thunder, and the howling of wind.
"Yeeaaah…I'm sooooo wrong. That's exactly why you're enrolled in a secondary school!"
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Lucy yelled.
The lights went off.
"Bloody hell," Vicky muttered, fumbling around trying to find her wand. "No…I didn't mean that…rats!"
Louis started laughing.
"Shove it, you," Vicky snapped. "Lumos. Is everyone ok?"
"Yeah," they all mumbled.
"Dom!" she shouted up the stairs.
"What?" he yelled back.
"Go to the basement and check the breaker!"
"Ugh."
Dom thudded down the stairs, his wand raised above his head. He wasn't wearing a shirt. Lucy couldn't hold back her giggles.
"You're impossible," Dom muttered, shaking his head.
"You should be wearing a shirt," Vicky snapped back. "You knew Molly and Lucy were coming over."
"Is something wrong?" a light voice came down the stairs.
"Bloody hell, Dom!" Vicky shouted, following after her brother. "You brought a girl here while we were babysitting?"
Molly started giggling.
"What's so funny?" Louis demanded.
"I walked in on them…kissing…in a broom closet on the third floor," she said, trying to suppress her giggles. "You should have seen the look on their faces when I found them!"
3
"They were good for you, I hope?" Percy asked, his hand on both of his daughters.
"They were fine, Uncle Perce," Vicky answered.
"No problems, then?"
"There was a slight snag with the power, but I wasn't sure if it was the storm or if Lou just lost control again; he and Lucy were engaged in a bit of a row, nothing too serious."
"He accused me of not having magic, dad," Lucy said angrily.
"There's nothing wrong with you not having any magic, Luce," he said gently.
"But I do have magic!"
"It's ok, really," Percy said. "You don't need to have magic to be a Weasley."
Lucy crossed her arms, displaying her Weasley stubbornness.
"Thanks Vick," Percy said, quickly hugging his niece. "Hold on tight, girls. We're going to apparate."
3
"Louis," Roxanne said, holding out the pink, puffy dress she had fetched from her closet. "If you want the candies mum got for us, then you're going to have to put this on."
"That's not fair! Lucy doesn't have to wear a dress!"
"We're wearing pants, so you have to wear a dress," Roxanne replied, not missing a beat.
"That's not fair!"
"How is it not fair?"
"I...I…"
"Do you want the candies?" Lucy asked, dangling the bulging sack of sweets in front of the youngest Weasley.
"Yes…"
"Then put on the dress," Roxanne said.
Lou glanced between the candies and the dress a few times.
"Fine. I hate both of you."
He grabbed the dress and went into the bathroom.
3
"Lou, why're you in a dress?" Ginny asked, looking at the little boy.
"Don't ask," he muttered, sucking on a lollipop.
Audrey grinned and shook her head; the kid seemed to always be in the middle of some crazy ploy. Although, more often than not he was the victim of Lucy and Roxy. The two of them tortured the youngest Weasley like the little brother neither of them had. To be honest, she was surprised no make-up was involved. She remembered well the days she used to shove Mick in a dress, throw on a wig, and put on lipstick on him.
"So the big day's coming up, huh?" Ginny said, sipping at her tea.
"Yeah; Percy's convinced she'll get the letter," Audrey said, resting her chin on her hand.
"Why? What reasons does he have?"
"Says she's shown it, but we didn't pick up on it. Like one time, when she was…seven or eight…we all went to an arcade, and she got angry at a machine and the thing caught on fire. I told him over and over and over again that it was an old machine and the stupid thing probably had faulty wiring, and he believed it at first. Now, he'll have none of it. And then, the other day at the Cottage, the power went out when Lou and Luce were arguing. There was a stinking thunderstorm and he blamed it on her magic. I don't know what to do with him. He isn't being logical at all about this. We're in for a tough few months if he keeps on like this."
"Are those the only two times?"
"He keeps on about others, but all of them have more logical explanations. Most of them electronic failures -- radios getting fuzzy, the computer crashing, and that sort of thing. It's like he's blinded himself or something."
"Well…I'm sure he'll come around."
"I certainly hope he does. If he's right, he's going to be absolutely impossible."
3
"Louis!" Lucy shouted. "Louis! I have a new dress for you!"
"No! No no no no no no no no!" Louis said vehemently. "I am not wearing a dress today!"
"Do you want pizza?" Lucy asked, knowing her mum always got pizza for birthdays.
"Uh…"
"Do you want cake?" Roxy asked.
"Do you want icecream?" Lucy continued.
"What about soda?"
"Give me the dress! One of these days, I'm going to kill you!"
"And all my friends will see him, too," Lucy said, stifling a giggle as Lou slipped into the bathroom.
A group of her friends from primary -- the three she'd be going to school with next year if she didn't get into Hogwarts -- were coming over to help her family celebrate. She guaranteed them entertainment. Louis in a pink flowered dress would be enough entertainment for anyone.
3
Audrey put the last of the trash in the barrel and looked around. Percy sat on the couch, staring out the window, an almost desperate look in his eye. Audrey sighed. It was ten thirty, and still he waited for the letter. She wondered who wanted it more; him or her.
She sat down next to him and held his hand.
"She'll be fine," Audrey said, squeezing his hand gently.
"I know," he said and sighed.
"We should get to bed. Luce is going to want to spend all her gift cards tomorrow."
"Yeah," Percy said, reluctantly standing up from his perch.
3
"Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum!"
Audrey groaned and rolled over.
"Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum! Mum!"
"What?" she grumbled.
"I got the letter!"
"What?" Audrey sat up and looked at her youngest daughter, her auburn hair messy from sleeping.
"I got a Hogwarts letter!"
"What's all the ruckus?" Percy muttered, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
"I got a Hogwarts letter, dad! I am magic! I told you, didn't I?"
Audrey grinned at her daughter's excitement, biting back the bile that rose in her mouth.
"That's fantastic!" Percy shouted, jumping out of bed. "Come on, I'll make you a special breakfast." He grabbed his daughter's hand and led her outside, the two of them giggling.
Audrey laid back down in the bed, her eyes closed, a sense of helplessness beginning to overwhelm her. She was the only one, now. She was the only one without magic. She knew it was coming, she had. Since the day Percy had told her that he was a wizard, and since the day she realized what that meant. They ran a low-magic household to keep everyone on equal footing, so the girls couldn't pull anything that Audrey would be helpless against. If any one of them did, they would have to contend with their father. Luckily, they hadn't dealt with that yet.
But just the knowledge that she was less powerful than them…that they could do things to her that she was defenseless against…it unnerved her. She was their mother. She was supposed to have the upper hand. She was supposed to be in control. Not anymore. She groaned.
There was no way he could stay in here forever. Lucy would wonder where she was. She would wonder why her mum isn't happy, why she's holed up in her room, sulking for ostensibly no reason. Audrey hauled herself from the bed and slipped into the kitchen. It was early, only seven on a Saturday. Molly wouldn't be up for at least another hour.
Lucy and Percy sat at the table, a stack of pancakes in front of each of them, a bottle of maple syrup half empty. Audrey stood in the hall and listened to their conversation.
"The first thing you need to know, Luce, is that magic is a tool. It's a tool that is only to be used to benefit others, understand?"
"Yes," the girl said, struggling to swallow a mouthful of pancakes.
"You might meet people who want to use it to their advantage, to use it to hurt people. You need to avoid them. Nothing good ever comes of them. You see this scar?"
Audrey knew he lifted up his sleeve, showing her the mark from a curse he got in the war.
"That was given to me by a man who used magic for evil."
"Did it hurt?"
"Very much. He used magic to kill. What we need to do is use magic for protection, not only to protect ourselves, but to protect others, understand?"
"Yes."
"Now, in this household, we do not use magic for every little thing. Some households do. Not us. We only use magic for protection."
"And to get the wizarding channels on the television," Lucy added.
"Yes, and to get the wizarding TV channels. Magic is too important and powerful to be used for frivolous things. If I catch you misusing magic, you will be disciplined. Understand?"
"Yes."
"The second thing you need to know is that I'm very proud of you."
Audrey grinned to herself and came around the corner, sitting in her usual seat across from Percy. She was proud of their daughter, too, even if she wasn't ready to admit it out loud.
"G'morning, mum," Lucy said, her blue eyes bright.
"Good morning. Are you excited to go to Hogwarts?"
"Yes!" she said energetically. "Dad, what house do you think I'll be in?"
"You know…I'm not really sure. You're smart enough to be a Ravenclaw, honorable enough to be a Gryffindor, and hard working enough to be a Hufflepuff. I really don't think you'll be a Slytherin. But any of the others is fair game."
"Which one were you in?"
"Gryffindor, of course."
"Then I want to be in Gryffindor, too."
"You know, Uncle Mick was in Hufflepuff," Audrey said.
"Really? Uncle Mick went to Hogwarts, too?" Lucy asked.
Audrey nodded. Although she found out through Percy's brothers…
"Whatever house you're in," Percy said, "we'll still be proud of you."
"So when do I get a wand?" Lucy asked, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
"In due time," Percy said, stifling his laughter.
"How about next week? All four of us can go, like we did for Molly," Audrey said. "Sound good?"
"I can't wait!"
333