52 Years Apart
6 February 2020
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Dom and …"
There were an assortment of cries which said a variety of things: 'Dad!', 'Grandad!' or 'Arthur!'. Everybody laughed. "Happy birthday to yooouuu!" They finished with a flourish.
There was a lot of clapping and whooping as two birthday cakes were set down onto the table. At one end, Grandad's big chocolate cake was covered in so many candles it was pretty much a fire hazard, and on the other end there was an '18' shaped cake covered in multi-coloured icing and dotted with candles.
"Make a wish!" someone cried as Dominique and Grandad exchanged looks before taking deep breaths and blowing.
"That cake was delicious. And all the other food you cooked – it was a feast! Thanks, Grandma," Dominique said, smiling up at her grandmother. "I'm just going to find Grandad now – I'm going to give him my present."
"You're welcome, dear. I'm sure you'll find Grandad in the garage," the old woman replied.
"As usual!" Dominique laughed, before making her way out of the crowded room and going towards the garage. She thanked all of the people who wished her happy birthday as she passed – she always loved her birthday. She didn't mind that she shared it with her grandfather; in fact, in her opinion, it made her birthday all the better.
She descended the stairs down into the garage: a small room lit by an array of different size and shape light bulbs, all of which were sticking out at odd angles around the room. There were shelves piled high with scraps of metal and electrical wires, trays of nuts and bolts, and what looked like a game console in the corner, complete with a TV. In the middle of the room was a cluttered table, and on the cluttered table Arthur Weasley was tinkering with what looked like an aeroplane engine, only it had pieces missing.
Dominique cleared her throat, and Grandad turned around. "Hey Grandad," she said. "I've got your birthday present here."
"Oooh, thank you, Dom! I think I've got yours here too."
"You open yours first, Grandad."
"Okay."
As he opened the neatly wrapped presents and saw what it was, he grinned; a boyish grin that lit up his eyes and made him look so much younger than he really was. Dominique always wished she could bottle that grin and have it for safekeeping.
"Oh – it's just what I wanted!" he said.
His granddaughter laughed. "I thought you might say that."
It was a year's subscription to a motorbike magazine (with special owl post delivery) and an oddly-shaped piece of metal which was in fact a missing piece of the aeroplane engine that was lying on the tabletop.
"How did you know that this was one of the last three pieces that I needed?" he asked. The teenage girl raised her eyebrows.
"All I had to do was ask Grandma. Apparently you go on about how hard it is to source every dinner time!" she replied. Grandad looked sheepish.
"Anyway …" He changed the subject. "Here is what I've got for you.I hope you like it."
The box was small, but size didn't matter to Dom. Carefully, she unwrapped the packaging to find … a necklace. A beautiful gold necklace with a tiny working clock pendant. Small but perfectly formed.
"Oh, wow … I love it, Grandad. Thank you. Really." Dominique didn't know what else to say. She'd been expecting something more … him. A piece of broken machinery or something. But what he'd given her …
"Did you find this all by yourself?" she asked.
"Yep," he replied. "I'm glad you like it."
She fixed the catch around her neck; it fit perfectly.
"Thank you, Grandad …"
"You're welcome. So, how's work going?"
"Quite well, actually. It's really interesting, my apprenticeship with the Muggle Studies teacher. It's also weird to think that I'll be teaching these people one day. If Lysander decides to take Muggle Studies to NEWT level, then … I could be teaching him! But I love my job, seriously. And it's all thanks to you for getting me interested in Muggles!" she exclaimed.
"Don't mention it," he grinned.
"How's retirement?"
"Oh, it's going well, thank you. It's nice to be able to sit back and relax. But I never feel like I'm pottering around the whole time, because with all this family and all these friends, we've always got someone popping over. And this aeroplane engine's doing well. Thanks to what you gave me, I only need to find two more parts!"
Dominique laughed.
"That's great, Grandad. Now, changing the subject, I just had a thought … Did you know that, for Muggles, an 18th birthday is more important than a 17th one?" the girl asked.
"Actually, I think I did know that," the man replied.
"So, if you're 70 this year and I'm 18, in a way we're celebrating two big birthdays this year. That's nice to know."
"Yeah, it is."
"Happy Birthday, Grandad."
"Happy Birthday, Dominique."
Yay for family fics! Thank you very much to YellowTail555 who was able to beta this for me at such short notice – you're great. Now. This story was written for:
Weasley Relationships Challenge AND Competition by Fire The Canon: I got the pairing Arthur/Dominique.
Minor Character Boot Camp Challenge by HedwigBlack - Character: Dominique Weasley, Prompt #18: Feast
You Favourite House Boot Camp Challenge by ToxicRainfall – House: Gryffindor (Arthur Weasley), Prompt #44: Speechless
Family Boot Camp Challenge by The Original Horcrux – Family Pairing: Arthur/Dominique, Prompt #28: Object